▬ Chapter 22: Final Chapter: Fixed Star ▬

In the middle of the night, Mr. Jason’s phone rang.

“Ugh,” he groggily latched his hand onto the table beside his bed and felt for his phone. Once he took a hold of his white phone, he answered sleepily. “Yes?”

“Mr. Jang Hanbyul?” A girl spoke on the other line.

“This is him speaking?” he replied, still with closed eyes. He wondered to himself who could’ve had such an emergency to call a sleeping man in the middle of the night. With a sigh, he sat up on his bed and ruffled his hair.

“I’m sorry to interrupt but I have urgent news for you regarding Miss Kim Annhee.”

“Excuse me?” Surprised, he quickly jolted out of the bed, getting ready to head out. “Um, did you call Sunggyu? I thought that he was the primary guardian listed?”

“Yes, but we couldn’t reach him. However…” the voice turned apologetic.

Mr. Jang stopped his movements and with both eyes wide open, dropped to his knees on the ground. His arms slumped to his sides and tears started to fall. He couldn’t believe what he just heard. It was as if everything around him became still. It was his turn to ask himself what he should do.

He let out a scream, clutching his head.

“Hanbyul!” Mr. Donghoon came barging in. “What’s wrong?!” He helped Mr. Jang get on his feet.

“Hanbyul, we heard you scream,” Mrs. Byul helped his husband get Mr. Jang back on the bed. “What happened?”

All three of them were silent. Mr. and Mrs. Ha turned to their friend with worried faces. In a few minutes, all of the Infinite members, including Minhyeol, gathered inside his room.

“Mr. Jang?” Dongwoo rubbed his tummy.

“Is it a nightmare?” Sungyeol scratched his head.

“It must be more than that,” Hoya rubbed his chin, thinking of a more valid reason.

“S-Sunggyu…” Mr. Jang began to speak.

“Now that you mention it, where is Gyu hyung?” Woohyun inquired.

Sungjong ran outside and checked the room next door. “Sunggyu hyung’s not here!”

“Gyu… hyung…?” Myungsoo’s eyes widened as he thought of a possibility.

“I’m counting on you, Kim Myungsoo.”

“No…!” At that realization, he ran to his room to get changed.

“Myungsoo oppa?” Minhyeol turned back to the door where Myungsoo just left.

“Everybody, get changed… now!” Myungsoo ordered. “I can only think of one reason Gyu hyung is not here.” He scrambled to get his jacket and zipped up before rushing downstairs. “I’m going ahead!”

Once he was out, he got on his motorcycle and sped up. “Damn it, Gyu hyung! What the heck are you doing?!”

Once he arrived at the hospital, Myungsoo rushed to the emergency room.

“Where’s Kim Sunggyu?!” he slammed his hands on the table, startling the nurse.

“Mr. Kim was just taken to the surgery room with Miss Annhee,” she replied. “Mr. Kim was wearing a donor’s name tag for Miss Annhee so the doctors rushed to do the transplant once he was taken in.”

“Damn it!” Myungsoo slammed his hands on the table again and tightened his fists.

“Myungsoo!” Dongwoo called out with the rest running behind him.

Myungsoo, who was too confused and angry to even cry, shook his head with clenched teeth.

“Mr. Jang told us everything along the way,” Sungyeol put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

“Why would he do something like this?!” Woohyun yelled in rage.

“We’re in a hospital. Calm down.” Hoya warned Woohyun.

They all knew that they couldn’t stay calm but they just had to try their best. Getting angry over something like this wouldn’t bring him back. Heck, even standing there wouldn’t bring him back. Everything was useless.

Myungsoo sat on the chair next to the emergency room and covered his face with his palms. He wanted to get rid of the pain, the loneliness he felt, the insecurities, the doubt… everything. He didn’t want to face the world like this. He didn’t want to lose his friend. But of course, knowing how Sunggyu always deeply cared for his sister, he knew that he would probably do something like this.

But Myungsoo wasn’t prepared to face reality.

Sunggyu’s final words kept repeating over and over in his head.

“You’re telling me to keep your promise because you had this in mind?!” He stood up and punched the wall behind him. “I thought you were better than that, hyung!” He punched the wall harder. He was about to punch for the third time when Hoya stopped him.