Of Mrs. Bamboo and Mr. Fan 

By spartace_jjang

  'Stop rolling around like an idiot, ' Sung Gyu rolled his eyes to Myung Soo, who had been wrapping his hands round his bamboo pillow.
   It was their recording of the program Sesame Player. While the other members went to play outside, they were left to rot in the dorm. With no air conditioner. With the air temperature at 30℃.
  'Hyung, I am feeling so hot right now...' Myung Soo stopped his movements. 'Can I have the fan?'
  'No, ' Sung gyu didn't even look at Myung Soo while replying. The fan was the only source of coolness in the dorm. No way would Sung Gyu give it up.
  'Aw. Gyu hyung. You are so mean,' Myung Soo pouted.
  'If you are feeling so hot, then stop moving. Rolling around will make you sweat more,' Sung Gyu suggested. 'Give me your bamboo pillow.'
  'Noooooo,' Myung Soo wailed. 'Don't touch Mrs. Bamboo. She's mine! And I am Mr. Bamboo,' he happily added.

  ‘Well, don't touch my fan then. Don't even look at it.’

  After ten minutes, Sung Gyu had already fallen asleep with the fan roaring on top of him. There left Myung Soo sulking in a corner with his claimed wife.

  Half an hour has gone. Sung Gyu was sleeping soundly while Myung Soo was constantly and complaining about the heat. Not able to bear the high temperature anymore, Myung Soo gave up and marched towards the sleeping Sung Gyu

'Hyung. Give me the fan,' Myung Soo shook his body violently using his two hands, intending to snatch the fan from Sung Gyu. Seeing no response, he proceeded to climbing onto Sung Gyu’s flat stomach and sit onto it. Sung Gyu groaned at the sudden pressure.

‘I need the fan.’

   'I have said, no,' said Sung gyu in annoyance, still closing his eyes.

   'C'mon, Gyu hyung, I am drenched in sweat now,' pleaded Myung Soo.

   Sung Gyu opened half of his right eyelid, not prepared to what he was seeing.   

  A pair of eyes.

  Myung Soo's eyes.

  The pair of mahogany eyes was piercing through him, with half of Myung Soo’s body topping over him. Sung Gyu could feel his faint vanilla scent tickling his nostrils, sending him shivers down his spine. Awkward, Sung Gyu thought. Weird. And awkward.
  Part of him didn’t enjoy this awkward and weird skinship. Yet part of him did.
 

   The eyes of Myung Soo were so menacingly beautiful that Sung Gyu swore he could stare into them for a whole day without getting bored. His eyes were magical, and as if they could tell the stories of land from far far away. Expressions were rare on Myung Soo's face, but in his pupil, every twinkle of emotions was revealed and shone on their own: longing, mischief, happiness, and some other emotions so mixed up that Sung Gyu could not name.
  'Give me the fan, hyung,' Myung Soo whispered.

    Sung Gyu didn't reply. He was too busy counting stars in Myung Soo's eyes.

  ‘Hyung? Hello? Hyung?’

   Seeing no reply, Myung Soo satisfyingly nodded. He stood up and left Sung Gyu wandering in his dense state, bent down, grabbed the handle of the fan, and with one swift move ---

   'Who gave you the permission to touch it?'
 

   Standing behind Myung Soo was Sung Gyu, who had stood up and was walking towards him. He looked wide awake and highly alert.

‘Good. I got myself into trouble. Seems like my plan doesn’t work,’ thought Myung Soo as he stumbled backwards.

‘What were you thinking?’

   Even with that sleepy voice, Sung Gyu still gave off a powerful aura that vibrated Myung Soo from head to toes, and successfully caused him to almost miss one step. Sung Gyu was leaning in, slowly yet fiercely. Myung Soo let his back crashed the wall as Sung Gyu’s hands pinned him onto the concrete with both of his hands. He was partially close now ; close enough just for Myung Soo to feel his breath that jets its way to his eyes, nose, and lips. Exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale. Every breath triggered every thump of Myung Soo's heart. They were so close to each other that Myung Soo's heart beat was clearly audible and, surprisingly, tangled perfectly with the rhythmic breathe, creating a beautifully harmonized euphony that rang in Myung Soo’s ear drums.

  'Myung-ah,' Sung Gyu whispered. 'Don't go around stealing my things. If you are Mr. Bamboo, I am more than happy to become a girl and marry with this fan. I will be Mrs. Fan and he will be Mr. Fan. He is mine.'

  With that, he walked back to his originally sleeping spot without glancing backward. He didn't have to see to guess Myung Soo's expressions.
 

  Just before he closed his eyes for a sleep again, he heard Myung Soo's . 'Hyung, you are leaning so close that I thought you are going to confess or something....'

  'Oh really? I was just confessing to my dear fan. Ha, jealous?' Sung Gyu replied cheekily.
 

  'Wh-what! No! Of course not! It just seemed a bit weird...'
 

  'I thought you did that to me just now too?'
 

  That left Myung Soo dumbfounded. Not able to respond, he muttered a lame reply and excused himself to the bathroom, bringing his bamboo rack for no apparent reason.
 

  Sung Gyu closed his eyes, finally able to satisfy his craving for sleep. 
  
 

Myung Soo V.S. Sung Gyu

                    0:1

Of Mrs. Bamboo and Mr. Fan 

By Aderation

“Myungsoo is like a bamboo. He looked like strong, happy, perfect outside,

but he is also weak, also vulnerable, same as everyone.

Just like bamboo, it looked strong, stable outside,

but actually it was empty inside,

the strong image it gives is only a façade.”

“Sunggyu is like a fan.

He looks ordinary, common at first sight,

but the more you know him, the more you feel great to know him.

He has the aura that comfort, calmed others.

Just like fan, when you feel hot, it can make you cool down.”

Once Myungsoo stepped into the dorm, his smile that was hanging on his face a moment ago crumbled down. A solemn expression was displayed instead.

“Myungsoo, you are back?” Sunggyu’s voice greeted him as he walked feebly.

“Yes,” he answered perfunctory, and shut himself in his room. His mind was consumed with the phone call from his mom, saying that his dad had just passed away.

 Once he locked himself in the room, tears started rolling down.

He felt guilty, he felt grieved. He thought about the day when he left his home and walked as a trainee. His dad had opposed him, and they even didn’t contact each other for years. The small Mungsoo had once hated his dad, and never talked to him in a fit of pique. But everything was in past tense, he didn’t hate his dad at that moment. He understood at that moment, his dad loved him. However, he could nothing now. He wanted to let his parents enjoy the fun of life when he success, he wanted to let his parents live blissfully, he wanted to let his parents experience the taste of living a day without concerning about money, he wanted to let his parents… He wanted to let his parents enjoy lots of things, but his dad had left, left with the unfinished wish from the son.

Thinking that he couldn’t repay his dad, tears flowed unchecked down his cheeks and dripped from his chin. He was too sad to cry out or wail, he just slid down and sat on the floor as still as a statue while the magnitude of his depress swept over him. When asked years later to describe his sadness in the moment he heard of the tragic news of his father’s death, his eyes would brim with tears once more, as if all those years had passed in a matter of seconds and he would say nothing. For once again he was lost in the torrid vortex of the moment.

“Myungsoo, are you fine?” Sunggyu asked as he knocked the door tenderly.

Silence. Sunggyu stood there, hand holding a bowl of congee, staring at the shut door awkwardly.

“May I come in?” he asked carefully.

“Come in.” this time Myungsoo answered, in a hoarse voice which the leader nearly couldn’t recognized.

As Sunggyu entered the room, he was almost thrown back by the messiness of the room as if World War III had just occurred there. The overwhelming wall of stench wafting from old gym socks left to ferment, cloths on the floor messily as they crumbled form the closet, CDs scattered like UFOs trying to capture the wild frontier.  He must admit that INFINITE’s dorm could never be called tidy, but what happened in this room was unbearable.

What shocked Sunggyu more was the condition of Myungsoo. He was sitting on the floor decadently, shoulder were slumped and his eyes casted down in a mournful gaze to the family photo. Myungsoo would describe his grief like death by a thousand paper cuts, for every time he remembered his loss it was another cut to his already damaged heart. None were enough to kill him, but overtime their accumulation bled her of the mental strength he had once had.

“You hadn’t eaten anything since you came back.” Sunggyu said in a tender voice, he was the leader, and his job was to comfort every one of s.

“I’m not hungry.” Myungsoo said as he pushed away the congee.

“Myungsoo, I understand your grief, but you need strength to overcome it.”

“Hyung, you don’t understand, you don’t understand the feeling as if your heart is torn into pieces.”

“I understand, Myungsoo.” The older said firmly, “I cried for two weeks when my grandmother passed away.”

“No, you don’t. He is my father, my one and only father!” Myungsoo screamed, tears bursting out. He cried as if his brain was being shredded from the inside. Emotional pain flowed out of his every pore. From his mouth came a cry from so raw that could make even the strangers around him were suddenly wet with tears.

The leader said nothing as he soothed the younger’s back, Myungsoo’s sobs echoed in the quiet room painfully.

When he cried there was rawness to it, like the pain was still an open wound. He clasped onto the older’s body for support, and then his whole body shook violently. The tears made wet tracks down his face and dripped from his wobbling chin. Clear watery snot streaked from his flaring nostrils down his red mottled skin to his open quivering. The sobs were stifled at first as he attempted to hide his grief, then overcame by the wave of his emotions and broke down entirely, all his defenses and smiling façade washed away in those salty tears. When he at last turned his face to Sunggyu he was a picture of grief, loss, devastation. It was the face of one who had suffered.

Sunggyu let Myungsoo cried his whole heart out. He understood the younger well to know that the younger prefer to hide his emotion under the cold façade. They understood their role well, they were celebrities, people who serve others, in a bad way to say is to ingratiate yourself. He understood how tired Myungsoo was, even their parent died, they were still asked to finish their work, putting on the smile.

Sunggyu embrace the younger until he had calmed down. In the dark, the two boys hugged each other, giving other strength.

(And the congee? Forgotten.)