CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Myungsoo woke up, his head ringing in pain. All he could see was shattered pieces of glass above him and a dark, red liquid dripping onto the grey cement. He squirmed in his seat before realising his car was turned over. He reached over to unlock his seat belt when a sharp pain struck his abdomen. A metal piece that used to be the end of his belt was now painfully twisted and stabbed into his body.

Blood was staining his shirt and he let out a shaky breath as the pain worsened. He took a piece of glass nearby and hastily cut the thick, black fabric immediately regretting the decision once the metal end deepened into his body. He hissed in pain before he fell out of his seat, his head colliding with the top of the car. Myungsoo crawled his way out through the broken window, using his elbows to hold his weight up. Tiny bits of glass punctured his skin as he did so but nonetheless continued, leaving drops of blood on the ground.

Myungsoo winced, the drumming inside his head turning into a familiar sound of voices echoing through his mind. That one voice that called his name made his body numb yet he felt a stronger need to stand up. He hurriedly got his wobbly feet planted on the ground and he forced himself to get up. His vision was blurry, the only thing he saw was colours in forms of indistinct shapes but his legs seemed to have their own minds as they continued to slowly step towards a particular direction.

The voice in his head got louder and he pulled his hair in frustration, now finding the voice unpleasing to him. He fell to his knees, an immediate sharp pain struck the skin yet the voice continued to raid his mind. He harshly pulled his hair, the voice replaying inside his head like a horror story. Why was the voice so unpleasing? Why did it hurt so much but at the same time made his heart beat in an impossible way? His palms found their way to the ground as a mix of sweat and blood trickled their way down his forehead. A sudden cerebral feeling rushed up his spine and he let out a loud groan as this time images attacked his mind.

"Eunji!" a little 6 year old boy cried out, "Ji, look!" A young girl the same age as him ran towards her friend, crouching down next to him.

"Look Ji! It's a gar-garda-gardanie!" he stuttered on the long word but nonetheless spoke cheerfully. The girl let out a giggle, "Myungie, it's called a gardenia." said Eunji, pronouncing the word perfectly despite her young age.

"Yeah! That's what I meant!" Myungsoo smiled, "Aren’t these the ones that eomeoni said abeoji gave to her when they were young?" Eunji nodded, "Appa said that they were her favourite gifts from him." Myungsoo reached out to touch the white flower as Eunji continued speaking, "Eomma has a lot of flowers at the back of the house and she tells me that all flowers have meanings."

Myungsoo looked towards her, "What does the gar-den-ee-a mean?"

Eunji straightened with a grin on her face, reciting the words her mum had told her, "Gardenia means love, purity, joy and beauty. It also means secret love. Eomma says that appa gave them to her because he loved her secretly ever since they were children." Myungsoo nodded, although not understanding much of what she said.

He tilted his head before reaching out to pick the white coloured flower, turning towards Eunji. The latter looked confusedly at her friend as he stepped his way closer to her. He gently tucked her hair behind her ears and placed the stem of the flower in its place, fiddling with it until it stayed put. When it did, Myungsoo leaned back, smiling as it matched perfectly with her wavy hair.

Eunji touched the fragile flower in her hair and let a shy smile linger on her lips as Myungsoo continued to stare at her. A hollow voice was heard and the pair looked behind them. All was seen was a blurry, unidentifiable figure walking towards them. Myungsoo looked back at Eunji and saw her stand up to walk towards the person. He squinted his eyes, watching as both Eunji and the figure disappeared into a endless amount of white.

He abruptly stood up, following after them only to end up in the middle of no where. Everything was gone; not one trace of anything around him. "Eunji?" he called out, "Eunji!" The little boy suddenly found it hard to breathe and he felt his environment close around him. He thrashed from left to right, fighting an invisible force before the whiteness fully took over him.

A blood stained stretcher was rushed inside the emergency side of the building. The inside was plagued with white walls and large amount of active people dressed in the same colour. People were running around, hastily needing to get to their destination as a life probably depended on it. There were families that stood by doors, tears running down their faces as they waited for that one confirmation from the doctors. In the long hallways, either death of life could occur. The one thing that you'd thought was reality suddenly becomes just another memory before you know it.

A large amount of doctors and nurses rushed towards the stretcher, orders being thrown around as they did their jobs. Finding out all the information they could about him, they made a call.

"L! Oh my god, where ha-" "Do you know someone by the name of Kim Myung Soo?" a deep, serious voice came from the other line. Sungyeol froze in shock, not expecting an unfamiliar voice but nonetheless answered, "Y-Yes. W-Why? Did something happen?" The rest of the Infinite members gathered around him, realizing his expression completely changed. The next words that came through the line made Sungyeol loose all the colour in his face, looking at his friends in utter disbelief.

"L… H-He…" the boy stuttered out. Sunggyu grabbed his phone, listening to the words the person said before he raked his hair. "I understand, we'll be right there," his voice came out forced and almost broken. As soon as he hung up, he gave s a look, grabbing his coat, "L's in the hospital. Let's go."

Wonho sped through the roads, switching lanes every 5 seconds.  Cars slammed on their breaks, letting out curses as they were seconds away from dying. The teenager continued to race down the car packed highway, all the traffic rules he had learnt thrown out the window. He repeatedly looked at the clock, hoping that the flight would be heavily delayed. Adding more risk to his actions, he grabbed his phone and dialled the one number that he remembered other than his own. He pressed the phone to his ear, switching to yet another lane as he stepped on the accelerator.

"Jung Eunji…" he whispered hopefully, "Answer this phone right now." The number you are trying to call isnt-

Wonho cursed, hanging up before dialling the number once again, "Answer… Please. Just this once." He was yet again met with the voicemail and it took all of his self control not to throw his phone out of his window. Deciding that his phone was useless at a time like this, he threw it to the passengers seat and stepped on the accelerator, practically zooming through the cars.

He arrived at the airport only in a few minutes time, running inside the large building. He scanned through all the signs around him pushing through the crowded place. Please, please, please… Still be here…

"All passengers boarding the 12:47 flight to Los Angeles, California please head towards Gate 12 within five minutes. All passengers boarding the 12:47 flight to Los Angeles, California please head towards Gate 12 within five minutes."

Wonho spun around, spotting the large sign that read the gate number he was looking for. He ran, trusting the lazy Eunji to be late to her destination like usual, selfishly wanting her to loose her passport like the clumsy Eunji she was, hoping, longing that the Eunji he knew and loved would still be here to make the right decisions for herself.

He spotted the gate guarded by three guards and he instantly craned his neck to find the dark haired girl amidst the line. He panicked; there was no sign of Eunji. He continued to run, finally spotting a wavy haired girl ahead, just passing through the gates. "Eunji! Jung Eunji!" he cried before he was pulled back by the guards.

"Passport please?" the man asked. Wonho ignored him and continued to toss and turn in the grip of the guards. "Jung Eunji! EUNJI!" he shouted.

Wonho turned towards the guards. "Please," he pleaded, "Please. My friend's on that plane. She- She can’t leave. She's making the wrong choice. Please, I'm begging you. I can't let her leave." Wonho was making a scene, getting looks from strangers as he continued to plead but the boy didn’t care. Definitely not at a time like this.

He slowly fell to his knees, gripping onto the guard's sleeve, "Please. If I cant go, at least make her come out. Her best friend- Her other half, he got into an accident. She has no idea but he needs her. I just need to get her and I'll come out."

The guards looked at their boss but the man gave a firm shake of his head before he nodded towards the exit. Before Wonho could process what happened, he was being dragged towards the exit. He squirmed against the strong grip and repeatedly called out Eunji's name.

"The flight to Los Angeles, California is now ready for take off. Gate 12 is closed."

Wonho lost all strength in his body, the noise around him turning into nothing but a buzzing sound. Before he knew it, he was standing outside the airport, the midnight air creating goose bumps in his skin.

A sound of loud humming filled his ears and he jerked his head up, finding a plane taking it's place into the sky.

And taking Eunji with it.

Wonho ran towards the front desk, out of breath, "Where is Kim Myungsoo's operation room?" The nurse, calmer than normal looked through her computer before turning towards him again, "ER-06." Wonho could only mutter a thanks before rushing towards the room, only scanning the hospital signs for help.

"Hyung!" he called out, spotting Infinite. The six boys simultaneously looked up and Wonho couldn’t help but notice the amount of dread on their faces. He walked over to the maknae who was on the verge of tears and placed an arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer, "It's fine. He's going to be fine." He looked up at Sunggyu, "Have you told Naeun yet?"

"We've been trying to contact her, but at this late hour I don’t think she would be awake." Dongwoo replied before dialling her number once again.

Wonho gave Sungjong a soft pat on the head before walking towards Sunggyu in the corner. "What did the doctor say?" he asked carefully, knowing fully that the leader was trying to be calm as possible. "He was barely breathing when he got here. One of his kidneys is damaged and his head took quite a great blow. But…" Sunggyu trailed off in his own thoughts.

"...but?" Wonho wanted him to continue. Sunggyu looked up at him, a mixture of sadness, hope and confusion in his eyes, "Wonho-ah… He was found at least 5 meters away from his car. There were no signs of other possible ways he could've gotten that far from his car other than… other than him walking there himself."

Wonho crossed his eyebrows, taking in the information Sunggyu had told him, "So, you're telling me… that L woke up just right after the accident?" Sunggyu could only nod.

The large doors of the emergency room pushed open and the seven boys stood up as a middle-aged doctor walked out, removing his gloves. They stood in front of him, wanting nothing but positive words to come out of his mouth.

"He's stable." the doctors words were enough to make the boys let out a sigh of relief, "His breathing is back to normal but he lost one of his kidneys. A few tests will be done after he's conscious just for precautions."

The man chuckled when the boys had to hold on to each other after their legs lost strength.

"He's fine." he gave a fatherly smile, "He'll be moved to room 265 in a few minutes."

"SHE'S WHERE?!" seven voices shouted. Wonho winced, the amount of decibels from them created a sharp pain in his ear. "She went to California," he confirmed once again. Infinite, Wonho and Naeun were driving to the hospital the very next morning after they had assured Naeun that her boyfriend was fine.

"But why would unnie do that?" Naeun asked, "It's just so sudden." Wonho racked his brain for a white lie he could pull of, "Her closest relatives contacted her and wanted her to come to California. Her grandfather was ill and they wanted her to at least see him."

"Her grandfather? I remember hearing L say that she had no grandparents left though," Sungyeol said.

"O-Oh. R-Really?" Wonho stuttered, "Maybe I heard wrong. She was speaking  bit to fast at that time."

"Did she really have to leave that quick? She didn’t even say goodbye…" Naeun sadly spoke.

Sunggyu looked through the rear view mirror at her expression before he caught Woohyun's eyes. The two exchanged looks and they knew that they were thinking the exact same thing.

What if Myungsoo asks for Eunji when he wakes up?

The eight teenagers opened the door to room 265, immediately finding Myungsoo's unconscious body laying on the hospital bed. The room had blue walls, the window facing the morning sun as its rays lit up the room. There was a vase of flowers on the bedside table and a few chairs by the far wall.

Myungsoo had a bandage wrapped around his head and he had a number of scratches on each of his limbs. Naeun immediately went up to him, pulling a chair to sit by his side, "O-Oppa…" She hesitatingly took his hand in hers and held it up to her face, feeling his cold skin on her cheeks. Tears immediately filled her eyes and she closed them, a single tear dropping down to Myungsoo's hand.

Sunggyu her hair comfortingly, not knowing what else to do, "He's fine, Naeun. Just asleep."

Sungyeol went to the other side of the bed and softly punched Myungsoo's arm. "You impatient little idiot. Look what you did to yourself." he scolded him, his voice cracking as he looked at his best friend's condition.

After that, no one else in the room spoke as they silently watched Myungsoo.

Naeun felt something move and she stirred awake, looking down at her hand which was entwined with Myungsoo's. She looked up at his face and she straightened as soon as she saw his eyebrows crease together.

"Oppa?" she spoke, shaking him gently, "L oppa."

"Is he waking up?" Woohyun said as he shook the rest of the group awake.

Myungsoo's eyes fluttered open, a bright light immediately stinging his eyes. He let out a soft groan and Naeun let out a happy cry wrapping her arms around his neck. Myungsoo fell back a bit and Hoya gently pulled Naeun back.

"Careful," he told her, "He's still weak." Naeun nodded before pulling back, a wide grin still plastered on her face. Myungsoo sat up, scanning his surroundings as Sungyeol helped him lean again the headboard.

"You feeling alright, Myungsoo?" Sungyeol asked him.

"What am I doi-" Myungsoo's eyes suddenly widen. 

He pulled the wires that were on his skin and threw his blanket away from his body. He was muttering incoherent words and his eyes were looking all over the place.

"L, what's wrong?" Dongwoo asked, "Where are you going?" Myungsoo ignored his question as if he hadn't heard them and threw his legs on the edge of the bed. A sharp pain struck his abdomen and he groaned, clutching the spot.

"L, lie back down. You're still recovering." Sunggyu told him but Myungsoo just pushed him away. He continued to stand up only for his knees to break in, making him collapse. Naeun caught him just in time and she pulled him back up to the bed, "Oppa, lie back down. It’s not good for you."

Myungsoo harshly pushed her away, "Get away from me! She's still waiting for me. She needs me."

Naeun froze at his sudden outburst and Hoya grabbed hold of Myungsoo's arm.

"L, sit back down. You're don’t know what you're saying." he told him. "Stop touching me!" Myungsoo yelled, "She's at the park. She's still waiting for me. She wouldn’t leave without seeing me." Myungsoo tried to stand up again before Sunggyu grabbed hold of his shoulder's, "L, sit back down now. No one is at the park."

"She's there. I know she won't go." Myungsoo whispered to himself, "She's there. She told me she was going to be there. I'm late. I'm already late."

"Who are you talking about?" Sungjong asked, confused. Myungsoo looked at him, "Eunji. Eunji's waiting for me. She always waits there. I'm never late for it."

"Eunji's not there anymore," Wonho spoke, "She, uh, went on a holiday." Myungsoo furrowed his eyebrows, "But I saw her a few days ago. She wont leave me. She never leaves me. She didn’t tell me anything. She cant leave me!"

"She didn’t tell us anything either. Not even Naeun." Woohyun said, trying to calm him down.

"Why would she tell you guys anything?! It's not like she knows you!"

Silence filled the room. Sungyeol let out a dry laugh, "Yah. Of course we know her. Stop playing jokes."

Myungsoo scoffed, "I would know who you guys are then."

 Sunggyu instantly grabbed hold of Myungsoo's shoulders, staring into his eyes, "L, listen to me. What's my name?"

Myungsoo pushed his arms away, "How would I know that?! Leave me alone! I need to go to Eunji!"

"L, listen!" Sunggyu said harshly before pointing to Naeun, "Who's she?"

Myungsoo looked at Naeun, the look in his eyes changing as he did so. Sunggyu let out a sigh of relief when he saw the change only to find Myungsoo charging towards her.

"You! You did something to Eunji!" he yelled at her, "What did you do to her?! You took her away! Where is she?!"

Dongwoo and Hoya pulled him back as Naeun tried to keep her tears in.

"Sungjong!" Wonho called out,

"Call the doctor."

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Author's Note: Here's another late chapter! Yay! (Throws confetti) Hehe... Sorry. It's longer that usual though. I rushed the ending cause I'm half asleep right now so sorry if it's crap. Anyway, thanks for being patient everyone!

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