“Nice job, Yeol!” Sunggyu exclaims, patting Sungyeol on the back. “I’m proud of you, kid. And you too, Howon, for not letting him rush in there.”

Howon can’t help the happy smile that appears on his face. “Hyung,” he says quickly. “We were thinking that we could look around a little more, and maybe we’ll find stashes of food.”

Sunggyu fixes an appraising look upon him. “What a man,” he murmurs, eyes soft. “Alright, remember that, Woohyun. Look for food after we explore this resting place.”

Woohyun hides a smirk. “Let’s go, hyung.” He waves his hand through the doorway. “What are we waiting for?”

Immediately, Dongwoo pulls him back. “What if they have security measures?” he worries, pinning Woohyun’s arms by his sides. “We have to be careful here, Hyunnie. It’s a government building, and those people are paranoid.”

“But this is a bedroom,” Sungjong argues, crossing his arms. “They wouldn’t do anything like that.”

“Well,” Myungsoo interjects, amused. “Who knows? Because it’s a sleeping area, everyone is vulnerable, and so implementing security wouldn’t be such a crazy idea.”

Howon sneaks a glance at Sunggyu, who has his face covered with one hand. Of course, knowing Sunggyu, he’s probably just trying not to laugh.

“Okay, guys,” Sunggyu finally declares, gathering his self-restraint. He lifts his head, glances at Howon, and smiles. “Can anyone go outside and get some sticks or something? To throw in there and test for security.”

“No need,” Sungyeol brags, body halfway into the room already. Sunggyu’s eyes fly open in shock, and Dongwoo lunges forward, but Sungyeol is already gone.

Standing safely inside the room.

“Come on,” he crows, triumphantly dancing around the beds. “It’s just a sleeping space. There’s no paranoia-”

Ever the sharp-eyed leader, Sunggyu dashes into the room and tackles Sungyeol, pinning him down onto the floor. Immediately, a hiss and a thwack resounds in the empty space. Everyone else stands shocked, but sure enough, on the wall where Sungyeol’s head had been, there are multiple darts embedded in the wall.

“ you, Sungyeol,” Sunggyu’s voice hisses. “I ing told you, and you just wouldn’t listen. What if you had died? Huh? What would we have done then?”

After a period of silence, a small voice - Myungsoo’s - hesitantly pipes up, “But he’s not, and that’s good. Right, hyung?” He pokes Howon in the ribs, and Howon yells.

“Ah, ah, yeah, hyung,” he says loudly, glaring at Myungsoo and rubbing his ribcage. “H-he’s not dead and that’s all that matters.”

Sunggyu’s head appears above the bed he had been hiding under. Howon can’t see anything but his eyebrows, but said eyebrows are in a V-shape, and Howon is pretty sure that Sunggyu is mad.

“Everyone shut up,” he growls. “Obviously, we’re stuck in here and you’re stuck out there. We can’t keep doing this, so I’m going to-”

He doesn’t even get to finish his sentence before Howon steps in.

“Wow,” he casually observes. “All white. Isn’t white your favorite color, Sunggyu-hyung?”

Sunggyu curses, eyes flaring in anger and worry, but no more darts fly out. In fact, nothing at all happens, and Howon sits down on the bed. “It was probably a one-time thing,” he tells Sunggyu. “But hey, who knows? Might as well run around the room screaming. Maybe that’ll trigger something.”

Sunggyu’s scowl deepens, and he pinches Howon’s . “If I didn’t like you so much,” he mutters darkly, “you’d be doing that right now.”

Sungjong chokes back a laugh and follows Woohyun into the room, flopping down on the bed next to Howon. “Don’t worry, hyung,” he reassures Sunggyu. “If we die, we’ll leave everything to you, and then you can live.”

“He’s not worried about you dying,” Dongwoo interrupts, flinging open a closet. “He’s worried about Howon dying.”

“Shut up!” Howon and Sunggyu yell together. They look at each other, and everyone else bursts into laughter. Sungyeol takes this chance to escape from underneath Sunggyu’s .

“It’s true, though,” he points out, combing his fingers through his hair. “It’s pretty obvious, so why don’t you tell us what’s going on?”

Thank god for Jang Dongwoo, who takes a flying leap and lands on the bed. “Who cares?” he screams in exhilaration. “Guys, it’s bouncy!”

Suddenly, Sungjong, Woohyun, and Myungsoo are all playing trampoline on their own respective beds, and Sunggyu quickly catches on, turning his back on Sungyeol to climb onto a springy mattress.

Howon nearly laughs out loud; between Sungyeol’s indignation and the thrill of jumping on a bed again, this is the most fun he’s had in ages.

If only they could stay in this moment forever.

Whoa! Things are finally rolling along in the government building! Also, I'm not sure if yall actually follow the Infinite tag or not, but I literally just posted a new story called Undying Glory. I know yall are probably here for the Hogyu, but that story is Woohyun-centric (it will eventually follow Howon as well), and the main ships will be Woosoo and Hogyu. There will be other ships like one-sided Wooyeol and one-sided Woojong, and maybe I'll imply some other ships as well. Nonetheless, it's my first venture into the long-term project world, and I would appreciate it if yall checked it out!