Lee Sungjong awoke with a start. He was practically taking a shower with his own sweat albeit the cold atmosphere he was in. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands violently and looked around. He was still in the comfort of his and Hoya’s room. Sungjong sighed heavily. ‘Same dream yet again,’ he thought mournfully. For almost two weeks, he was plagued by the same dream in his sleep sporadically. Truth be told, he did not know if he could even consider it as a dream because it was more of a nightmare than a dream. It was always a vision of him and the edge of the rooftop of the apartment complex – INFINITE’s dormitory to be exact. In his dreams, he always jumped off the edge or attempting to jumped. But just before he could jump or his body would reach the ground, he would wake up; pale like he had seen some ghost, panting as if he was chased by some horse and drenched in his own sweat.

The clock on his phone indicated that it was only 2 am. Looking around despite of the pitch black darkness, he checked whether he had woken up Hoya. Sungjong silently went down from his bunk bed and slipped out of his sleeping garments to don a set of normal attire. Ignoring the fact that his stomach has been protesting ever since he woke up, he sluggishly walked towards the living room and sat on the cold, marbled floor. He cast a silent glance towards the door to his lover's room. From the time that he and Kim Myungsoo became a couple, Myungsoo always insist that they should be rooming with each other. But Sungjong preferred for them to stay in different rooms. Stubborn and jealous as he is, Myungsoo at first did not agree about them sleeping in a separate room stating the fact that they were lovers and he did not want Sungjong to be away from his line of sight. Nevertheless, Myungsoo eventually caved in.

Sungjong tried to make as little noise as possible as he crept out of the dark apartment and climbed the stairs up to the deserted rooftop. No one was there, save for the cool, spring gust. It was so silent that he could clearly hear the complains of his stomach, reminding him that he had yet to eat a meal for the day. In the distance, city light could be seen producing light pollution. Of course, the light would still be on in the megalopolis even at this very hour. Sungjong scrutinized the rooftop. He shivered at the resemblance of the current situation to the ones in his dreams, minus the rain.

The scene was the exact replica of the nightmare that had been plaguing him. Everything perfectly matched with the one in his nightmare. Weird at it is, he had only been up in this rooftop once in his lifetime, excluding this night. How could it appear in his dreams, in perfect details no less?  Savouring the calming breeze, Sungjong decided it was only a nightmare and that he shouldn't think much about it. True, there were times he contemplated suicide especially when he and Myungsoo would have some petty arguments and pointless fights. But the thoughts always faded away when they would make amends with each other. Still, he could not deny that with every harsh word that Myungsoo accidently thrown his way, his heart died little by little. Myungsoo could be a very temperamental man and when the both of them fought, Myungsoo would always explode and Sungjong was the receiving end of Mungsoo’s exploding temper.

After an hour of contemplating about his relationship with Myungsoo, Sungjong returned to his room and promptly fell asleep. For the next few days, the same dream replayed. Sungjong found himself always running to the rooftop after he woke up from his nightmares. The strangest thing, however, was the knowledge that he always woke up when the clock struck two.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kim Myungsoo glared at the paper bags full of groceries in his arms plus to the choding who was whining since they departed from the supermarket for not buying him his favorite cup of coffee. He really should have made the other members buy these stuff much more bring Lee Sungyeol together with him. Unfortunately, the rest of the members have their respective schedules and only them, the maknae line was free that day. It was Sungjong’s turn to go grocery shopping but lately something was off with him. Usually, when it’s their turn to buy groceries they would accompany each other and Sungjong, being Sungjong would be hype up because he could be alone with his lover. This time, the impossible occurred. Sungjong was still sleeping on the couch, and Myungsoo had no heart to wake his lover up. As he could recall, Sungjong had gone to sleep early last night. Sungjong didn’t even bother to wait for Myungsoo to arrive from his schedules. If his lover had gone to bed early, why was he still tired? And when Myungsoo checked him last night he was on his bed, on his shared room with Hoya, so why was he on the couch now? There were bags under his eyes which confused Myungsoo even more.

When they were about to cross the road to their dormitory, a security guard of the building next to their dorm stopped them. They bowed slightly to the middle-aged man, wondering what they could have done to piss off the guard. “Did we do anything wrong, sir?” Sungyeol asked very politely, so unlike him. Despite of the chodingness Sungyeol had, he could be very polite and respectful to people older than him. Well, most people older than him. The guard smiled and shook his head lightly. “No, you didn’t do anything. There is one thing I thought you should know, though.” Myungsoo frowned while Sungyeol looked like a gaping fish. Did anyone tried to break into their dormitory while they went to buy groceries?

"Myungsoo-shi, you should advise him to not stand too close to the edge all the time. It's dangerous and he could fall."

Okay, now Myungsoo was really confused. "Him? Who’s ‘him’, sir? There are other 5 people living in our dormitory aside from us."

"Lee Sungjong, of course. Lately, he's been visiting the rooftop far too often. I saw him standing at the edge at night too, just standing there. You really should tell him to stop doing that. It won't be good if he happens to lose his balance or slips off the edge."

Sungjong had been standing at the edge of the rooftop.

The 'edge'.

Myungsoo swore his heart ceased to beat for a moment there. The guard left ad Myungsoo walked to the safety of their dormitory in a daze. Why would his lover do something as stupid as that? Was he feeling upset or depressed? Was he ignoring Sungjong that much lately? Was Sungjong contemplating… suicide? With that thought in mind, Myungsoo dumped all the groceries he was holding to Sungyeol and dashed out of the elevator as soon as it reached their floor. If something happened to Sungjong, Myungsoo would never be able to forgive himself. Just as he opened the door to yell his lover’s name, a load “L-hyung!!!” echoed and the next he knew, he was sprawled on the floor and was being straddled by their maknae with a mirthful glint in his eyes. Sungyeol who was walking behind Myungsoo can only complain of how disastrous his day could be, starting from not able to drink his lifeline – his daily dose of coffee to picking their groceries one by one as it scattered on the floor when he was accidently included in the spectacle as the MyungJong couple toppled over him. Trust Myungsoo and the obsession of gravity for him. After picking up the groceries that was within his reach, Sungyeol merely walked away from them grumbling that he has enough of the misfortunes to last him for a day. “Hyung! L-Hyung! Aigoo… Hyung, where did you go? I was so scared… I thought you’re going to leave me all alone forever!”

Myungsoo frowned at that and raise a lone eyebrow. Sungjong didn't look depressed or upset at all. Maybe he was mistaken. Maybe Sungjong just wanted to have some fresh air. "Ne, hyung! Why didn't you wake me up? I can't believe I've wasted Sunday morning sleeping when I could be with you! Or maybe you already prefer Sungyeol-hyung over me!"

Sungyeol who was drinking his coffee in the kitchen nearly choked. “Ya! I heard that Lee Sungjong!”

"Sungjong, get off of me! I don't care if you waste your Sundays or whatever. And don’t include Sungyeol-hyung to this; we just went out to buy some groceries. Just be thankful that we haven’t awakened you from your beauty sleep when it was suppose your turn to go shopping. Hmph!" Myungsoo growled as he pushed Sungjong off of him to get up. Sungjong pouted and muttered "L-hyung is so mean!" to himself before helping Myungsoo to pick up the remaining scattered grocery items that Sungyeol didn’t bothered to pick. The handsome visual never got his 'much needed peace' that day. His lover constantly talked and followed him around, not caring if his L-hyung were listening or not. Later that night, Sungjong went to bed early again. Myungsoo thought their diva maknae was exhausted from all the talking he'd done that day. Maybe the guard had seen the wrong person, Myungsoo thought. Nothing seemed amiss with Sungjong.

Tak.. Takatakataktaktak…

Kataktaktak… Takatak…

The clock struck two.

Myungsoo’s fingers came to an abrupt halt on the script that he was skimming and trying to familiarize when a sound of a glass braking followed by a sharp gasp from the living room resonated throughout the silent apartment. Curious, he silently opened the door in his shared room with Sungyeol to see what the commotion was all about. What he saw struck a chord in his heart. A panic-stricken Sungjong was hastily getting dressed and dashing out of the apartment in record time. Myungsoo shook his head to assure himself that what he just saw was real. Throwing the script down on his bed, he ran out of the apartment and scanned the road for any sign of Sungjong running down the street. No such luck. He only just noticed it was raining outside. 'Where the hell did the maknae go?'

"Lately, he's been visiting the rooftop far too often. I saw him standing at the edge at night too, just standing there."

Myungsoo's eyes widened as he recalled the guard's words. Praying to God it wasn't true, Myungsoo looked up… and his heart stopped for a little while. Sungjong was up there, standing at the edge and probably soaked to his skin. The wind started blowing a little more violently. Myungsoo couldn't move. He was frozen where he stood. "Jongie… Sungjong…" And then, it happened.

Sungjong jumped off the edge.

"SUNGJONG!"