Woohyun let out a mock roar of fury and threw himself at Xioumin’s legs, entangling them and causing the detective to fall back.

Dongwoo took a deep breath and braced himself.  

It was all going to plan.

He jumped from the vent, pain running through his legs as he crashed into a chair underneath. Wasting no time, Dongwoo took out the original USB from under his watch and threw it to Sunggyu. The leader caught it and fumbled to insert it into the laptop.

“Dongwoo hyung!” Sungyeol yelled, grabbing hold of two policemen at once. “Xioumin!”

Xioumin seemed to have realised that the USB he had crushed was a dupe. He kicked Woohyun off and raced towards Sunggyu. Dongwoo moved fast, grabbing the chair next to him and skidding it across the floor to collide with Xioumin’s legs. The man toppled over but was on his feet in an instant.

The burst of static, then clear melodic voice that filled the courtroom froze Xioumin completely. Dongwoo huffed out a sigh of relief.

“To think a ’s been on my team for this many years. Ugh, it makes me sick to even think of it. And if you, hyung, didn’t come in to charge him with the hacking, he’d still be on the team.”

Xioumin’s face was thunderstruck as the video began playing in the screen and audio filled the room. The policemen dragging Sunggyu away released him, their faces confused. Sunggyu sniffed and brushed down his blazer, uncaring of the eyes that landed on him. After all, why was Infinite’s leader speaking like that with the detective in charge to bring Sungjong down?

Dongwoo heard a gasp from behind. Sungjong on the accused stand looked at though his heart had been torn out of his chest. Dongwoo winced. Of course. Jongie and Hoya hadn’t known the plan.

 “Well you’ve got your SM CEO to thank for that.”

“Ah, what do you mean Hyung?”

“Parksoo’s the one who put me on the case. He gave me a nice bonus if I could fit up the on your team.”

Hushed murmurs arose, people switching to staring at Xioumin instead. The journalists were scribbling furiously and cameras flashed again and again. Xioumin spluttered, glancing desperately at the judge, whose face was set seriously.

Dongwoo fought back a smile. Evil always got what was coming back to them, one way or another.

 “Wow hyung, you must’ve had to work hard to find something that’d fit.”

“It was easy. You just put a laptop into his room and control the hacking from here.”

 “Hyung, can faggots even hack?”

“What do you think, Sunggyu-ah? They can’t even do their nails properly.”

That’s it, Dongwoo thought and he felt almost faint with the relief that overcame him. He was worried that any moment now, someone was going to wake him up and reality would hit him with jarring force and dread. But the pain in his legs and sweat running down his neck was real, just as this was real.

It was over. No one could convict Sungjong now.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Myungsoo excitedly jumping up and down with Sungyeol as Hoya looked on with a smug grin.  

 “We just need to wait for the courtdate, huh hyung? Then the can go behind bars forever.”

“I might have some fun with him first actually. You know, Sunggyu-ah, there’s nothing more sweeter than the sound of a screaming when you pull off their fingernails.”

 “You sound like you’ve done this before, hyung.”

“I don’t even know how many I’ve fitted up. Maybe you can come along, Sunggyu-ah. When I have my session with Sungjong.”

 “Could I, hyung? I have so much I need to take out on the brat. He’s given me too much headaches.”

Dongwoo laughed, feeling as though a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders. And the final nail in the coffin went in. Xioumin was not just guilty of setting up Sungjong, but also god knows how many others, and they’d just proved it through this video.

And he had to give it to Sunggyu. Though seeing the leader act cute was incredibly cringe worthy, Sunggyu had acted out his role of devoted hoobae to perfection.

The screen turned black. The video ended.

An expectant silence had descended on the courtroom. The prosecutor kept opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, while their defending lawyer was stood up with a beaming smile on her face. The audience’s faces were either set in mournful defeat or stern anger. And, Dongwoo saw with approval, most of the other idols were pissed.

Sunggyu laughed, breaking the silence. He turned to face Xioumin and scrunched up his face in an aegyo expression.

“Sorry hyung,” Sunggyu smirked, “I think we’ll have to cancel our next appointment.”

Dongwoo almost couldn’t blame Xioumin for his scream of absolute fury as he charged at Sunggyu. He would have probably punched Sunggyu too if Sunggyu had spoken to him like that, with condescension dripping from each word.

Sunggyu laughed, and he was still laughing as Xioumin grabbed his collar and pushed him against the wall, raising a hand to strike. But Dongwoo was quicker and he threw Xioumin off Sunggyu before landing a right hook that knocked the man clean out.

Dongwoo stared down at the unconscious figure with narrowed eyes, and when he lifted his gaze at the approaching policemen, they backed off slightly.

The judge banged his hammer against the table hard, his voice booming. “Lee Sungjong, cleared of all charges! Arrest Officer Xioumin now! My god, what is going on here!”

Dongwoo watched everything happen in slow motion. Sunggyu running to hug a weeping Sungjong, being joined by Woohyun. Sungyeol, Myungsoo and Hoya rushing over, and Myungsoo grabbing his arm to bring him along, and they collided into a tight group hug, all seven of them, finally together. The tears wouldn’t stop streaming from Dongwoo’s eyes as he clutched Hoya and Sungjong as tightly as he could before allowing their parents to take them off him.

Time passed by as though he was in a dream. They went out to greet the Inspirits, who screamed and cheered as they bowed together as a group of seven. At some point, the fans started singing again and Dongwoo cried so hard, he needed Woohyun to support him. He kept hearing cameras clicked and had a feeling he knew what tomorrow’s newspapers pictures would be.

Dongwoo – and from what he could see, the other members as well – kept receiving pats on the backs. Sungjong’s mother hugged them so tightly that Dongwoo almost couldn’t breathe. The other idols kept hugging them too and Dongwoo laughed his usual laugh as he patted their behinds in reply.

Amidst all the celebratory chaos, Dongwoo kept a constant eye on Sungjong. He almost couldn’t believe that they had their maknae back. Sungjong stuck close with his parents and Myungsoo, though Dongwoo saw him constantly glancing back at them. Sungjong had stopped crying, his face schooled into a neutral, grown up look that suited him well.

“Hyung, look.”

Hoya’s voice sounded close to his ear and Dongwoo turned to see where Hoya was pointing. It was towards the old woman who had housed Hoya and Sungjong. She was speaking to a policeman – the same officer who had made sure no policemen went into the toilets with them, Dongwoo realised with a start. It was a nice sight with the old lady smiling tentatively and the officer continuously smoothing back his hair nervously. Something was obviously blooming.

Hoya grinned. “That police officer is the one who let me and Sungjong go when he found us in the closet.”

Dongwoo squinted at him. “You’re in the closet too?”

Hoya spluttered. “No! I meant we were hiding in the cupboard and – “

“Coming out of the cupboard?” Dongwoo laughed as Hoya aimed a kick at him.

He couldn’t stop laughing, even as journalists kept crowding around them. At that moment, it didn’t feel as though he could ever be sad again. He saw Sunggyu frown at him from beside Hyungdon, and giddily realised that he was probably entering his more annoying hyper state.

A hand gripped his shoulder and Dongwoo turned to see Shinhwa’s Kim Dongwan smiling at him.

“Ah sunbaenim,” Dongwoo bowed. “Dongwan sunbaenim. Haha, we have almost the same names. Dongwan. Dongwoo. Haha. Ah, sorry sunbaenim.”

Dongwan laughed too and clapped his shoulder. “Good work today.”

Before Dongwoo could say his "thank you"s, Dongwan left, hurrying after the other Shinhwa members. Dongwoo watched them go. Infinite should last at least at long as Shinhwa do, he thought determinedly. Infinite and Shinhwa had their similarities, Dongwoo mused to himself, especially with regards to zombie maknaes.

They eventually got into their van, their managers batting the reporters to the side. Waving again to the fans, they settled themselves in. Warmth filled Dongwoo to see all the seats full, especially with Sungjong  sitting in between Myungsoo and Hoya, safe and sound. Everything was as it should be.

He wanted to stay awake to cherish the moment longer, but as Sungyeol’s head fell onto his shoulder, and Woohyun started snoring in his lap, sleep overtook him and his eyelids closed.

For the first time in a long time –

his dreams were sweet.

“I can’t believe I’ve got the part!” Sungyeol shrieked and jump and down, prompting Dongwoo to laugh again.

“Yah! Come here!” Dongwoo patted the sleeping bag next to his. “When does the drama start?”

“Next week,” Sungyeol said with a huge gummy grin. “I’m going to be one of the main characters!”

Dongwoo smiled at his eagerness. It was about time Sungyeol got something good. Out of all of them, he was the one always hoping to make it big as an actor. But when the calls came in, it had been Myungsoo, Hoya and Woohyun chosen the most. Dongwoo ruffled Sungyeol’s hair fondly. The younger kid hadn’t shown it much, but it must have hurt.

“Do your best!” Dongwoo roared. “With all your power!”

“Alright, alright! Calm down.” Sunggyu walked into the hall, dragging his mattress behind him. “Guys, time for bed!”

After the courthouse, they had came straight back to their house – their first house, the one they had dreamt and trained in together. Woohyun had wanted to book a hotel as a treat, but Myungsoo had insisted on spending one last night in this house. Purely for the memories.

It was hard to resist Myungsoo’s pout and here they were, making a circle with their sleeping materials in the centre of the living room. Woohyun squeezed in between Dongwoo and Sunggyu, Minding his arm, Hoya carefully laid himself down next to Sungjong, who was next to Myungsoo and Sungyeol.

“This is nice!” Dongwoo whooped and clapped his hands. “Yes!”

“Are you even going to sleep tonight?” Woohyun muttered. “I’m shattered.”

Myungsoo got up to turn off the lights and they were quiet for a few minutes, until Sungjong spoke.

“Hyung,” Sungjong whispered, “I’m so grateful for everything you’ve all done. Really, I can’t – “

The hall exploded into groans.

“Too cheesy, too chessy,” Wohyun whined, pulling his blankets up to cover his face.

“Sungjong, you’re not allowed to be sickening like this!” Sungyeol yelled.

Sungjong said nothing, though Dongwoo twisted around in his blankets and could see the maknae hide a smile.

“Guys, just a heads up for our forthcoming timetable,” Sunggyu said sternly. “We – “

“Need a holiday,” Hoya said with a yawn. “I can’t do anything with my arm anyway.”

“Holiday,” Sunggyu nodded. “Three weeks to spend with our families and recover. After that, we’re on Happy Together.”

“All of us?” Dongwoo questioned.

“Jaesuk hyung called me,” Sunggyu explained. “He says that we can have a special episode. Where we tell about everything that’s happened so far.”

They mumbled their approval, prompting Sunggyu to continue.

“Sungjong,” Sunggyu called out.

“Yes, hyung?”

“Jinho hyung called me. He said that you could have a spot on Crime Scene as a regular if you want.”

Dongwoo’s eyes widened. This was big news. He grinned as the others cheered and patted Sungjong on the back.

“And after our holiday,” Sunggyu continued, “we’ll do a few more week promoting our singles before bowing out and having another long holiday.”

“Sounds good to me,” Dongwoo said, leaning over Woohyun to fist bump Sunggyu.

“Now, sleep,” Sunggyu said and he lied down.

They didn’t talk about Xioumin or SM’s CEO, who from what Dongwoo heard on the news, was under investigation. They didn’t talk about how hard it had been for them, or how their bodies were drained of energy and full of lasting bruises and humiliation. They didn’t talk about how scared they all had been or how sad it had been to make new enemies with people they had thought as old friends.

Because it simply didn’t matter anymore.

Dongwoo listened to s’ steady breathing, pinching himself to stay awake just a little longer so that he could savour this delicious, sweet moment. If a comet crashed onto their house that night, Dongwoo decided, he wouldn’t mind. It was worth it. It was all worth it for this peaceful moment –

Ring, ring, ring.

“Oh, the phone.” Myungsoo pointed out. “Sunggyu hyung, it’s your phone.”

Sunggyu frowned and fished out his phone. His eyes widened as he saw the number on the screen and he sat up.

“Jungyeop sasagnim!” he answered. “How was your surgery?”

Dongwoo sat up too, and so did the other members according to the loud rustling.

“It went well?” Sunggyu sighed. “Ah, that’s a relief, hyungnim. Yeah, we’re okay. Did we have any problems? Well - ”

The moon chose that second to cast its light through the window, illuminating the entire group. Dongwoo’s cheeks ached with the force of his grin as Sunggyu smiled at them, his eyes glinting with the determination and promise for the future.

“No problems, hyungnim...We’re all going to be just fine.”

Okay. Wow. With 45,000 words, this has been the longest fanfic I’ve ever written. I hope you’ve all enjoyed it. I’m really going to miss everyone’s comments and all the reviewers. Thanks to everyone who kept encouraging me!

This fic was going to take a dark turn halfway through (Sungjong and Hoya gets found out by Xioumin, and Infinite have to work extra hard and fast to save their maknae who’s being tortured, and at some point, Sunggyu had to whip Sungjong to make Xioumin trust him so he could get the recording), but anyway, I’m glad I went for the less painful path. ;)

I was inspired to make this fic by watching the Korean movie “The Attorney” – serious a great film! Give it a try!

I’d really appreciate it if you could leave your final thoughts!

Thank you again! And may Infinite last forever! =)