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CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

❝ANEVERLASTINGTHOUGHT❞

A smile stretched across Woohyun’s face as he stuck his head out of the window. The view was magnificent. The wind whipped through his hair. The sound of cars honking and zipping back and forth along with them was exhilarating. The brunet had a clear view of the sunset orange sky with the sun high above them. They were so high up in the sectors, and yet everything around him seemed to go on and on, both up into the sky and down below. He had never seen anything this amazing.

Woohyun pulled back into the car, giggling. He almost felt giddy with excitement. Everything he was seeing now was a nice change of scenery from the usual dark and desolate streets of the lower sectors of South Hallow. The brunet glanced to his left; Sunggyu was behind the wheel, next to him, a small smile playing on his lips. Woohyun then glanced through the rearview mirror of the car they were all in, looking at Sungyeol, L, and Sungjong, who were in the backseat.

L was gazing out of the window quietly. His face was expressionless, but Woohyun could see the eagerness shining in his eyes. Sungjong was in the middle, humming loudly to himself, swaying back and forth slightly in his seat. Sungyeol’s face was plastered to the window, pointing to various buildings and places that he had recognized or been to before. Apparently, Sungyeol was originally from sector seven, like Sungjong, so he was familiar with many of the sights that they were all seeing here and there.

It was obvious to Woohyun that everyone was enjoying themselves. It was obvious that they haven’t traveled this far into South Hallow together before. Woohyun was even surprised that Sunggyu seemed to be enjoying himself as they flew through the streets of sector eight.

The rebellion leader wasn’t lying when he had said that they could easily get into sector eight without any difficulty. A couple of days after the briefing, the INFINITE members piled into a car and journeyed towards sector eight. Once they reached sector four, the car suddenly took off from the ground and into the air.

To this day, Woohyun continued to deny the very unmanly scream he released, clutching onto Sunggyu’s arm as the car flew through the sky.

“We’re almost there,” Sunggyu said, pressing a couple of buttons that adorned the dashboard. And then, suddenly, a holographic display appeared between him and Woohyun. It was a map of sector eight again, but much more detailed. It was like he was looking at a bird’s-eye-view of the sector below. Sunggyu’s fingers hovered over the display as Woohyun felt the car slowly deviate from traffic. Two blinking dots appeared on the display. One was red, and the other was blue. The red dot was quickly moving on the map, approaching the other. Woohyun assumed that they were the moving red dot.

“Even if we got into sector eight relatively easily, stay on guard everyone,” Sunggyu ordered. Everyone nodded. The easy-going ambiance that the car had earlier was now gone; it grew edgy. Woohyun gripped his seatbelt with nervousness, his knuckles turning pale white.

Nothing bad was supposed to happen. The objective was to go in, pick up the supplies, and then go home with Sungjong and Sungyeol while Sunggyu and L finished up the rest. Woohyun was already looking forward to the return trip back home. He couldn’t wait till he stepped back in the safe comforts of the headquarters.

Woohyun’s eyes widen at his thought process.

Home.

When did the INFINITE headquarters become a haven for Woohyun?

When did he begin to see it as a refuge from this harsh world?

Was it when Sungjong said that he belonged with them, that he was a part of INFINITE? No, it’s felt like a home long before then. It wasn’t the headquarters itself that made it felt like a place he could return to whenever; it was the people, the people of INFINITE, who made it feel like home. Sunggyu made it feel like home.

When Sunggyu saved his life, it wasn’t just his life that was rescued.

Those words he uttered to Woohyun, I’ll never let go.

Sunggyu may had just said it to ease Woohyun’s mind since he was literally hanging on to dear life outside of the elevator, but to Woohyun, those words meant a lot.

It was a promise.

He had promise to never let go, and Woohyun held that promise dear to his heart. That was the first time Woohyun saw past Sunggyu’s strong bravado and cold façade. The brunet didn’t comment on it back then, but he could tell that Sunggyu was just as scared as Woohyun was as he held onto the latter. Woohyun had never felt that scared in his life before, but Sunggyu’s words gave him strength.

Sunggyu may be harsh and unnecessarily angry with Woohyun majority of the times, but he had not once stopped protecting him, looking out for him. Woohyun was grateful for everything the older man has done for him so far.

The way he defended him against Kris when he was being tortured showed that the man actually had a heart, that he had cared about those around him. When Sungjong declared that he was a part of INFINITE, Sunggyu didn’t refute that statement. Sunggyu accepted him just like the rest of them. He had even let him sit in on the mission briefing, explaining to Woohyun about this and that about South Hallow. In a weird twisted way, Woohyun thought, Sunggyu may actually care for the brunet. Just a little, though. Care in a friendly way, of course.

Woohyun was forever in Sunggyu’s debt.

Like Sungjong said, Sunggyu was like the father of INFINITE. He could see what Sungjong meant. He made INFINITE feel like home.

Woohyun gave a small smile at the thought, his grip on the seatbelt loosened. Just thinking about all the things Sunggyu has done for him made him feel a bit relieved despite the situation.

“Are you just going to sit there all day with that creepy smile on your face or are you coming?” Sunggyu ed, pulling the brunet out of his thoughts.

Woohyun blinked, realizing that the car was no longer in the air. They had landed in an empty, dark alley. The buildings around him were so colossal that he could barely see the sky. Barely any sunlight filtered onto the streets.

“Am I going to have to break your nose again to get you to listen to me?” Sunggyu exhaled, knocking on the passenger side window. The brunet jumped at the action, surprised to see everyone already outside, waiting for him. The brunet apologized, quickly getting out of the car.

“Bi’s place isn’t too far from him. No more than a ten minute walk,” Sunggyu explained, his voice low. He kept glancing at the entrance to the alleyway. A few people walked by the alley, but none paid enough attention to see the members of INFINITE looking conspicuous. “I didn’t want to park too close for in case it gained unnecessary attention, but not too far for in case we need to make a quick getaway.”

“Ah,” Sungjong exclaimed suddenly. “Before we go,” he pulled out a pair of sunglasses and attempted to shove them onto Woohyun’s face. He accidentally stabbed Woohyun in the eye a couple of times. “Since you’re our local terrorist, Woohyun, and your face is plastered all over the city, we need to hide your identity!” He pulled on the hood of the jacket Woohyun was wearing–courtesy of Dongwoo–and forced it on Woohyun’s head haphazardly. When the youngest member of the group was done messing with him, Woohyun fixed the hood and glasses, tucking in some of his hair that was sticking out from under the hood.

“Let’s hurry up and get to this Bi guy’s place!” Sungyeol complained. “I want to get my hands on some of that new merchandise!” As everyone piled out of the alleyway, a hand on Woohyun’s shoulder stopped his movement.

“Woohyun,” Sunggyu called. Woohyun turned to him, raising his brow at the older man. The others continued on, not paying the two of them much attention. “I want you to have this.”

Sunggyu pulled a gun from out of one of his many holsters that decorated his fancy–lies–getup. Whoever told Sunggyu that wearing a sleeveless black vest with a side buttoned shirt underneath and a ginormous orange scarf on top was fashionable should die.

“Keep this on you, okay. Nothing should happen, but you never know in these kinds of situations. You remember everything I taught you, right?” Sunggyu handed the gun to Woohyun. The brunet’s hands shook nervously; he wasn’t fond of them. He eyed the weapon with apprehension.

Woohyun swallowed the lump in his throat, gripping the gun tighter. “Um …yeah,” he whispered. He looked to Sunggyu, still not really knowing what to do with it. He frowned, his brows furrowing.

Sunggyu sighed, “Just put it in your holster.” Woohyun quickly did as he was told, happy that Dongwoo attached a holster to his belt after letting the younger wear his clothes again. He didn’t feel comfortable walking around with a gun in his hand, like Sunggyu does ninety percent of the time.

The caramel haired man leaned forward, making sure that the gun was latched in Woohyun’s holster correctly before patting his shoulder and leaving him behind to catch up to the others. W