-

 

“Easy, girl. Don’t you think you have had enough?” Your friend Hwa Ye worriedly glanced at you when you downed yet another glass of the clear liquor in one shot.

 

Ignoring her, you simply put the glass back on the counter top, signaling the bartender to bring you another one, and swiped your mouth with the back of your hand.

 

“Nope, not yet. One more.”

 

Hwa Ye sighed, knowing better than to argue with you when you were in a bad mood, and turned her attention towards the bartender, trying to convince him to minimize the amount of liquid he poured into your glass.

 

Your thoughts swiveled back to three hours prior.

 

-

“I’m sorry!! I didn’t mean to…”

 

“Get out.”

 

Your voice was low, dangerous, cold and so not you. You felt, rather than see, a shiver going through the room. The voice which previously apologized grew a bit panicked.

 

“But I-“

 

“Get out. Out of my house. Out of my life. Get. OUT!!”

 

-

 

You grumbled and flung your arms on the countertop, head resting in between your arms.

After you verbally threw the boys out of your home, you had simply stood up and walked out of the door, mind still in a daze.

 

You had no idea what you had done the first two hours. You knew you had aimlessly walked through the city, ignoring the odd looks you got from passers -by.  After all, it was getting quite chilly outside, and you weren’t exactly warmly dressed.

 

You had just followed the path your feet dragged you to, closing yourself off from the world, that is until you had heard your name being called. Blinking, you had regained your senses and were slightly confused when you found yourself in an unknown part of town you didn’t know even existed.

 

“Oh, God, I am so glad I found you!” Hwa Ye, a close friend of yours, was out of breath from running at top speed towards you. When she finally caught up with you, she immediately pulled you into a tight hug.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

You had merely shrugged, not feeling the need to answer. You had felt the tears sting behind your eyes, but they refused to roll down, which irked you quite a bit. You were sure that if you cried, the knot of guilt, anger, shame and helplessness inside your stomach would loosen up and make you feel better. But how much you wanted to cry, the tears did not come.

 

That was not good.

 

Hwa Ye had pulled away, scrutinizing her eyes and observing your face. She was visibly relieved when she didn’t find any tear marks across your face, but then did a double take when she looked straight into your eyes and found them empty, as if your being had been ripped off of its emotions.

 

That was definitely not good.

 

“Let’s get something to drink. You need it.” She decided, and softly put an arm around your shoulders, gently leading you towards a little café not too far away. You just let her pull you with her, not really caring where she would bring you.

 

-

 

You felt a light tap on your arm. The bartender, who gave you a radiant smile, put the drink you ordered in front of you.

 

“For the lady. Cheers!”

 

You curtly nodded and took a sip from it, ignoring Hwa Ye’s looks of dismay.

You tried to feel something. Anger. Sorrow. Grief. But it was all in vain. Somehow, your emotions had been shut off, which frustrated you greatly. You took a larger sip, downing half of the glass of tasteless liquor.

 

Hwa Ye eyed you from the corners of her eyes. You were lifelessly, almost as a living doll, and she was not used to that. This was one of the few moments she saw you being totally introvert, ignoring the world and just lock you up into yourself.

 

She was worried, but did not push the matter. You needed an outlet right now, and she was determined to give you one. Even if the one solution was to drink all sorrows away.

 

Hwa Ye was definitely relieved she only needed twenty minutes to find you in this huge town. She got alarmed by the urgent phone call forty-five minutes ago, and immediately understood the dire situation when the caller mentioned the broken porcelain cat.

 

-

 

“She’s out of control. We didn’t get any grip on her. She just walked out of the door, not bothering to take a jacket or her wallet with her. We’re really worried about her.”

 

Hwa Ye gasped: “You don’t think she would do something rash, don’t you?”

 

The voice on the other end let out a choked sigh.

 

“I really hope she doesn’t. That’s not in her character, either. But I said it earlier, she’s out of control. Right now, she’s a stranger. Someone we don’t know at all.”

 

Hwa Ye nodded, even though the boy on the other end couldn’t see it. “What do you want me to do?”

 

“Find her. Find her as soon as possible. You’ve known her for a much longer time than we have. You can find her and put her into safety. And please, If you can, return her to us.”

 

“Will do. Don’t worry. As soon as I find her, I’ll let you know and bring her home.”

 

“No, that’s not what I meant. Don’t bring her to the house yet. It wouldn’t do her any good to be here around the seven of us right now. Try to ‘return’ her. Right now, she’s a stranger in her own body.…”

 

There was a slight pause.

 

“We don’t need a stranger. We only want her, no one else. Only her.”

 

-

 

Hwa Ye found out the boy hadn’t lied. You were so not you, a total stranger captivated in the body of the young woman Hwa Ye had known since high school. Returning you to your old self proved to be a hard task, but Hwa Ye would not give up. Not at all. You were too precious to her and Infinite to be left alone.

 

You were zoning out, eyes fixated on the green walls behind the bar. It was the perfect moment to inform Infinite about your whereabouts, Hwa Ye decided, and discreetly turned away from you to make a call. The phone was picked up after the first ring.

 

“Hello?”

 

“I found her.”

 

A breath of relief, and she distantly heard him share the news with six other people before returning his attention towards the phone once again.

 

“And?”

 

“As you expected. Not responding, downing drinks at one go, refusing to cry. She’s going down. And fast.”

 

A slight gasp.

 

“Tell me where you are. I’ll come pick her up and try to get her out of that state. See you in fifteen minutes.”

 

“Okay. Wait, just one more thing.”

 

She could almost feel the curiousness of the boy through the phone. Hwa Ye slightly smiled.

 

“Thanks for caring so much about her, Dongwoo-shii.”

 

-

 

“That’s enough, honey. That’s the seventh glass already. I really can’t afford to buy one more.”

 

You pretended not to hear her and reached out for your glass, but her hand quickly grabbed it before you could do.

 

You turned your attention towards Hwa Ye, giving her a glare, but she did not falter and stared back at you with an equally fierce gaze.

 

“Don’t you think it’s time you go back home? You can’t stay here forever. And you need to sort things out with them, even if you really, really don’t want to see those boys right now. But the faster you clear things up, the better. I bet they’re all worried sick about you and anxiously waiting ‘till you return home.”

 

“They won’t be waiting for me.”

 

Hwa Ye was slightly surprised you were finally answering with a full sentence, consisting of more than three words, and she took this opportunity to try to strike up a decent conversation. Maybe there would be a breakthrough this time?

 

“And what makes you think so? They don’t seem like the type to just abandon you when-“

 

“I threw them out.”

 

Oh.

 

Well, so far for that breakthrough.

 

You took the opportunity of Hwa Ye’s baffled state to make a swift grab for the drink she took from you earlier, but before you even could do as much as touch it, it was once again taken away by someone else.

 

‘Is this some kind of conspiracy?’

 

You blinked, staring a bit at the empty space where the glass had been a few seconds ago, before slowly lifting your head and watching a very familiar figure downing the drink himself and getting very surprised when he realized what exactly you had been drinking.

 

“Water? You’ve been drinking water this whole time?”

 

“So what if I have? I hate the taste of alcohol. Now give me another glass, for God’s sake!”

 

Dongwoo firmly put the glass down and gave it a light push, sending it in one line over the countertop and straight into the bartender’s outstretched hand. You huffed.

 

“Smooth.”

 

“Well, I do have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

 

“I noticed. Now, why can’t I get another drink? Better yet, why are you here?”

 

Dongwoo frowned. “Isn’t that obvious? One, if you drink, then you can’t talk to me. And two, I’m taking you home, of course. You can’t stay here the rest of your life. Or this day, for that matter.”

 

You gulped. “I don’t think I’m ready yet to go home. Or to face you guys.”

 

Dongwoo slightly smiled. “Did you already forget you threw us out of the house? You don’t need to see the boys at all, we aren’t there anymore. Just try to relax when you get home and when you feel ready, and then meet up with us again.”

 

Watching the two of you interacting, Hwa Ye could do so much as simply gawk at the situation displayed right in front of her. It had taken her almost one hour to get a sentence or three squeezed out of you, and here Dongwoo had managed to get you engaged into a full conversation within barely ten minutes. It made her wonder how he did it.

 

One thing was sure. Even though he sometimes looks like an idiot – who in their right mind would stick their finger into a ‘biting’ nutcracker? – he had this charm over him which made people feel at ease and safe.  

That could be the reason you opened up so fast to him.

 

You suddenly stood up, startling both Dongwoo and Hwa Ye.

 

“Let’s go home, Dongwoo. I’m tired.”

 

For a moment, Dongwoo was lost for words, but then he quickly scrambled up and a huge smile was prominent on his face.

 

“Really? I mean, I thought you would- never mind, let’s just get you home. Here…”

 

He threw you his car keys, which you effortlessly caught.

 

“I’ll pay for your drinks. I’ll be back within a minute. Make yourself comfortable! You still know which car it is, right?”

 

You nodded before turning on your heels and heading towards the exit, before suddenly turning around again, grabbing Hwa Ye and almost suffocating her in a bear-hug.

 

“Thanks, Hwa Ye-ah.”

 

And then you were gone before the poor girl could even understand what happened. She let out a chuckle and turned towards Dongwoo, who finished paying for the drinks of both girls. He was a gentleman, after all.

 

“How’d you do that? I’ve been trying and trying to get something out of her with no success at all, and when you came in, she totally loosened up. Thumbs up for you.”

 

Dongwoo sheepishly smiled, rubbing the back of his head with one hand.

 

“Ah, thanks, but you got the hardest part. You were there for her when she needed someone, and I’m pretty sure she was quite a handful to handle. You cleared the path for me, so to say, and that made it easier to get through her.”

 

Hwa Ye laughed.  “Say whatever you want, Jang Dongwoo-shii, but it was obvious she finally started to let out some of her frustrations as soon as you got here. You have a good influence on her. Now go and don’t let her wait. The sooner you guys sort things out, the better.”

 

Dongwoo chuckled and patted her on the shoulder.

 

“Well, if you say so. I’m still relieved she managed to get over the initial shock herself. But now I need to hurry, she’s probably already wondering what’s taking me so long.”

 

Hwa Ye nodded and they bid each other goodbye before Dongwoo hurried towards the exit of the café. Hwa Ye watched him leave, a small smile on her face.

 

“I have a good feeling about this.”

 

-

 

The ride home started out in silence. You were lost in your thoughts and just watched the scenery flow by. Dongwoo had his attention focused on the road, for there was quite a lot of traffic. Every now and then, he subtly looked at you from the corners of his eyes, but you were way too immersed to notice. You finally broke the silence.

 

“How did you know where I was?”

 

Dongwoo swiftly took a turn before answering you.

 

“I got a phone call from Hwa Ye. She had promised me to call me as soon as she found you.”

 

“I see. Well, that’s quite obvious, actually. But why didn’t you guys look for me?”

 

“You think we didn’t?”

 

“Oh…”

 

“When you were gone for about an hour, we started to look for you. We know you can handle yourself pretty well, but we were still worried. But we did not find you, so I called your friend, who promised me to keep me updated. And then she luckily found you and called me, and… yeah, now we’re here.” Dongwoo casted you a sidewise glance and reached out for your hand, giving it a soft squeeze before letting go. He smiled comfortably at you, and you found yourself smiling back at him.

 

You averted your attention and once again gazed outside, but were surprised when you found yourself in a familiar neighborhood.

 

“Ah, we’re…. home.”

 

You started to feel uneasy. Dongwoo parked the car in an empty lot in front of the apartment. He turned off the ignition and took out the keys, leaving the two of you in the dark. You took a deep breath before opening the car’s door and stepped out. Without looking up, you quickly darted towards the entrance, Dongwoo following you, and you did not bother waiting for the elevator. Instead, you decided to take the stairs.

 

You finally stood in front of your door. The feeling of uneasiness had grown and had settled in your stomach, and added itself to the already existing knot, growing in size. You took a deep breath and jabbed your keys (which Dongwoo had given you a few seconds ago) in the keyhole, effectively opening the door.

 

It was pitch dark inside, so you switched on some lights. The first thing you noticed was how clean it was. There were no trousers, no shoes, no shirts, no life-size stuffed dinosaur, and no polka dotted underwear.

 

And no Infinite.

 

You let out a shaky sigh, not quite believing your eyes. You had somehow hoped the boys would still be in your apartment, waiting for you to return. It seems that, for once, they actually listened to you and had left. You closed your eyes.

 

“You all… really left…” the pain in your voice was obvious.

 

Dongwoo grew worried and confused. “Well, you kinda forced us and… you were quite angry so we thought it would be best to move away…”

 

You let out a strange sound, something in between a hiccup and a sniffle. You were about to retort something, when you eye caught the sight of something at the very end of your shelf of figurines.

 

You eyes grew and without thinking, you made a mad dash towards your shelf. You pushed some of the figurines to the side in quite a rough manner– Dongwoo had to perform a diving stunt to prevent yet another figurine to be scattered around the room – until you got your hands around the figurine that stood at the very back of the shelf.

 

“My cat! But how… it’s not broken anymore! Who- no, how did- Oh God, my cat!!”

 

It was as if the strength in your knees suddenly left your body, and you sank to the ground, the cat tightly pulled towards your chest.

 

A nervous chuckle emerged from Dongwoo.

 

“Ah, do… do you like it? We kinda managed to find the pieces and some of us glued it together. It’s not as good as it used to be, so I and the other members would totally understand if- oohmpf!”

 

You tightly wound your arms around Dongwoo’s waist, head buried in his chest. He was now quite lost and didn’t find anything better than awkwardly patting your head.

 

“Uh… you okay?”

 

There was a muffled answer. “Thank you. Thank you so much! I thought I lost it forever!”

 

You lifted your head, looking him straight into the eyes, and your own eyes were slowly starting to shine again.

 

“This cat was always more than just a porcelain cat to me. You know I received it from my parents, but it’s also a lucky charm. My mother got into a car accident when I was fifteen. The doctors thought she wouldn’t make it, because she had been into a coma for about three weeks and there were not the slightest signs of improvement. So I and father were already preparing to say our goodbyes to her. One day, however, I brought this cat to the hospital. I have no idea why I did that, but I left it next to her bed, thinking that a little part of me would be there with her if she would die that night. The next day, father received a phone call from the hospital. They told us mother had woken up. The doctors were quite shaken by it, they didn’t deem it possible she would ever wake up, and yet she did. We immediately ran towards the hospital, to confirm with our own eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen father run so fast in his life…” you trailed off.

 

“From then on, I kept the cat close to me. It might be stupid, but I believe that somehow this porcelain figurine prevented mother to die. That’s why it’s so precious to me. It held our family together.”

 

Dongwoo was staring at you, mouth slightly agape.

 

“Whoa, I never knew! That’s quite… intense.” He struggled to find the right words, but you didn’t listen to him. You let go of his waist and started to fumble around.

 

“Where did I put my phone? I really need to call the other members and tell them how glad and grateful I am they put it together! Oh…” A sudden realization made you stop in your tracks. You turned towards Dongwoo with a horrified expression.

 

“They… will they be mad at me? I mean – I did tell them to get lost. And not in a very nice way. Oh no…” You buried your face in your hands. “I’m horrible. They probably never want to see me again. How do I ever tell them I’m sorry?”

 

“Don’t worry, you just did.”

 

Your head snapped up so fast, you thought you could almost hear the muscles pop. That voice, which was low and smooth, was definitely not Dongwoo’s.

 

“Woo- Woohyun?”

 

A chuckle.

 

“In the flesh, girl.”

 

You stared in bewilderment as you saw all Infinite members, excluding Dongwoo, piling out of the kitchen and two bedrooms and into the living room, forming a small group around you and Dongwoo. Most of them kept their distance from you, feeling just as uneasy as you and refusing to meet your eyes.

 

“You guys… how did you…. Why are you…Huh??” You were definitely lost for words, still not completely understanding the situation. You suddenly swirled around to face Dongwoo and jabbed a finger into his chest.

 

“YOU! I thought you said they were gone!” you accused him.

 

But Dongwoo looked as equally bewildered and lost as you did.

 

“But… they told me they would leave when I went to pick you up. I don’t understand…” He trailed off when Sunggyu slung an arm around his shoulder.

 

“We initially planned to leave and find a temporary hotel to shelter in, but after discussing it with the other members, we felt it wouldn’t be right to just leave the home without properly passing our apologies, no matter how angry she would be. So we stayed. And for the record, Dongwoo-ah, you’re too easy to read and too honest. If you knew, you would have told her we were waiting, and then there would be a chance she didn’t want to come home. So we left you out of the plan. Sorry, man.”

 

The look of utter disbelief and dismay on Dongwoo’s face was so comical, laughter bubbled up from your throat. You tried to hold it in, but in vain.

 

You started chuckling quietly, then it rapidly expanded in a full-blown belly laugh, leaving the boys stare at you in wonder. You wiped a tear from the corner of your eye.

 

“Guys… I’m so glad you’re still here!”

 

This was all it took for the boys. You practically felt all uneasiness on their faces melt away and they broke into huge grins.

 

“Noona…”  Sungjong practically leapt into your arms, holding you tight. “Noona, you’re not mad anymore?”

 

You warmly patted him on the back, returning the hug. “No, I don’t think I am.”

 

Sungjong pulled away with watery eyes, but with a huge and genuine smile.  He soon got pulled away by Sungyeol and Woohyun, who were teasing him for almost crying and playfully scolding him for ‘taking advantage of your noona when she’s in a vulnerable state’.

 

You smiled and wanted to point out that Woohyun was also prone to ‘take advantage’, but you suddenly noticed that his left hand had a bandage around it. Your eyes widened yet again and you grabbed his hand.

 

“Woohyun? What happened?”

 

The boy gave you a smile. “It’s just a small cut, nothing to worry about, honestly.”

 

You gave him a stern look, and he quickly gave in.

 

“Well, Yeol and I were mending the cat together, and I sort of picked up a shard bare-handed.”

 

You gave him an incredulous look. “The Nam Woohyun, the greasy boy, the teasing flirt, the vocal who stole every fan girl’s heart, the man who likes to get on my nerves, actually glued my cat together?!”

 

He cringed. “Ah, if you say it like that, it almost sounds as a crime being me. But yeah, we did.”

 

You didn’t need more words. You flung your arms around his waist him and squeezed, holding him as close to your body as possible. The poor boy was totally taken aback. For once, you were willing to hug him. And you  even took the initiative. You didn’t need to look up to know there would be a look of utter shock on his face.

 

The snickering of the other Infinite members, however, took Woohyun out of his daze and warmly returned the hug with a smile, winding his arms around your upper back and resting his head on top of yours. The both of you couldn’t enjoy it for a very long time, however, because someone – you had a strong gut feeling it was Sunggyu- suddenly smugly called out ‘GROUPHUG!’ and the two of you were surrounded by twelve feet and twelve arms and six male bodies, who were all squeezing and pulling and tugging.

 

You yelped, but soon found yourself laughing amongst the mess. Some moments later, everyone broke free, laughing and yelling at each other. You warmly looked at them, before suddenly remembering something.

 

“Oh, guys, wait… if you haven’t found a hotel yet, you’re always free to… you know… crash here?”

 

Sunggyu arched an eyebrow, then the upper corner of his right mouth went up a tiny bit.

 

“You saying that you’re willing to share your apartment with seven boys? You sure that’s a good idea? What if we break something?” he teased.

 

You scowled and managed to elbow him lightly in the stomach.

 

“Shut up. I was only offering. It’s fine if you don’t want to. I would totally understand after what happened today.”

 

Sunggyu secretly smiled, and then looked at the other members.

 

“What do you guys say?”

 

Sungjong piped up. “I really, really want to stay!”

 

Sungyeol vigorously nodded and Woohyun joined him. “I’m not letting the opportunity slip to possibly have another hug like that. I’m in.”

 

You sighed. ‘Why did I ever hug him? Now he will get cocky about it… ‘

 

You eye fell on the porcelain cat, and you smiled.

 

‘Ah well, it’s okay. It’s totally worth it’.

 

 

Sunggyu cleared his throat. “Well then, we all have unanimously voted for staying here, if you don’t mind…”

 

You shook your head. “Not at all. Or I wouldn’t have offered it in the first place.” You glanced around. “But I would really like it if the place would stay as tidy as it is now.”

 

You saw Sunggyu shift uncomfortably. “About that…”

 

He got cut off by Myungsoo and Hoya, who suddenly were speeding off into the kitchen. You curiously looked at the other members, before suddenly smelling something burned. You wrinkled your nose in an attempt to discover what exactly had been burning.

 

The kitchen door went open and in went Myungsoo and Hoya, with a large, black-burned cake in between them. Hoya frowned.

 

“Ah, why did we forget about the cake? We wanted to bake you one before you got home, to say we’re sorry, but somehow it ended up like this.” Hoya prodded with one finger into the black mass, trying to poke a hole into the rock-hard cake.

Myungsoo mimicked his actions, but he put a bit too much force in his hand, resulting in making a perfect hole but also getting his finger stuck in the cake. He muttered some profanities under his breath while unsuccessfully trying to get his finger out without breaking it.

 

“Ah, I guess we’ll need to order take-out, then.”

 

Sungyeol's dry remark made you fall into another laughing fit, high-fiving the tall choding.

 

Dongwoo just shook his head, but he was laughing too, and he went took out his cell to order pizza.

 

“Ah, It’s my treat! I’ll get my wallet from my room!” you yelled, unaware everyone in the room just froze.

 

“Ah, wait-“

 

Too late.

 

You had opened the door to your bedroom and immediately froze in your tracks. Sunggyu nervously put a  hand on your shoulder.

 

“Ah… remember I tried to tell you why it was so tidy in the living room? Well… that’s kinda the reason…” he nervously chuckled, eyeing your expression and body ready to run for his life when needed.

 

You could only gawk at your room. Everything, really everything that was previously spread out in the living room, was piled up into your own room, covering the bed, the closet and all available stairs. The huge dino was placed on top of it all, and it stared at you through its beady eyes as if to mock you.

 

You took a deep breath, took a step backwards so you left your bedroom, and closed the doors once again. With a fake smile, you turned around, emitting a dangerous aura and scaring the living crap out of everyone.

 

“Now, who’s brilliant idea was this?”

 

Six fingers were point towards Woohyun, who nervously gulped.

 

“Uhm…. I’ll clean up later?”

 

“NAM WOOHYUN!! GIVE ME BACK THAT HUG! YOU DON’T DESERVE IT AT ALL! AND DON’T YOU DARE RUNNING AWAY FROM ME!!”

 

Woohyun shrieked and ran for his life, the others either snickering or laughing out loud at their main vocal.

 

Living together with Infinite had finally returned to its normal, everyday behavior.

 

 

 

-

 

_{Waaah, my first story is over! I've been working approximately six hours on this second chapter :/ the words just wouldn't come out right, so the ending might seem a bit rushed. I hope}

 

_{you liked it though! A huge thanks to all the subscribers and the kind people who commented. Each of you made me one happy writer ^^}

 

_{And if I FINALLY did it right, there should be a beautiful poster right above the story. I'm such a noob ;_;}