Cookies. Sunggyu could smell them before the door even opened. Chocolate chip cookies, to be precise, as he took a deep sniff as the door to Woohyun’s room opened.

“Hey,” Jung Yeop, Woolim’s CEO, poked his head in, nodding at Sunggyu who sat beside Woohyun’s bed. “How are you doing?”

“Terrible,” Sunggyu answered honestly. He wouldn’t even bother to lie, as his lies are always terribly obvious. Woohyun had told him, that he was a bad liar, a few times before, and Sunggyu automatically clenched his jaw. It hurt to remember him.

The night of Woohyun's accident had been a long and grueling one for Sunggyu. Memories of that night were a faint blur to him now, which was unusual since he had always had a sharp eye for accuracy and memory; that was why he was able to lead Infinite to their famous synchronicity title.

It was five nights ago, Sunggyu faintly remembered speeding in the heavy rain in Geonam's car (illegally without a license, but in his defense he was the most cautious driver in Infinite; he just never had the time to take an official test), and barging through the hospital doors demanding to see his fellow member. Jungryul had pulled him back and shouted things at him that Sunggyu didn't remember, and he had shouted something back that he didn't remember either. Sunggyu had to admit, that the ruckus that he had made in the hospital just about turned as big as the one in his mind, which was a mess.

The leader mentally snorted in his mind; he was taken by surprise by how much power Woohyun had over him. Woohyun just had to get in an accident, and then the leader's life spirals out of control. Sitting on a cheap plastic chair, he hadn't been able to sleep well for five days, and leaving Woohyun's hospital bed always made him uneasy. Considering that the leader always valued control, this new feeling unnerved him; he hated it.

But upon looking at the younger’s sleeping face in that oxygen mask, whose eyes he hadn't seen in five days, the leader hated it even more.

“I brought you cookies,” the CEO dropped the bag on the leader’s lap as he came up to Woohyun’s side. “Fresh baked, compliments to Hoya."

"Thanks," Sunggyu said, opening the bag and absentmindedly taking a bite out of a cookie. It was sweet, but for some reason Sunggyu couldn't taste it enough to enjoy it.

"The rascals back at home are worrying about you, you know that right?”

“Rascals, sir?” Sunggyu asked distractedly.

“Infinite.”

Oh yes, Infinite, and then Sunggyu felt ten times more tired. He hasn't left Woohyun's side unless extremely necessary; he hadn't even felt like going back to the dorms after activities either, opting to spend his dorm-time next to the younger.

The drill had been usual. To everyone, Woohyun got into a car accident and was recovering from an injury to his legs. To make things easier, a saesang fan had been tailing his car when it happened. No one knew, that Woohyun had been in coma, for five days straight now. And it was taking a toll on Infinite’s leader.

Woolim’s CEO stared at the man sitting in the small chair next to him. Sunggyu was not wearing any makeup, and dark bags were clearly visible under small tired eyes, that looked even smaller through fatigue and sleep deprivation. Sunggyu looked on the verge to collapse, and Jung Yeop felt pity. Although he had reluctantly pardoned Sunggyu’s partake in most of Infinite’s activities upon request, the leader still wasn’t looking too well.

“I’m fine,” Sunggyu dismissed, sniffing in the sweetness of the chocolate. As opposed to the normal scents of clean antiseptics of the hospital, the smell of still-warm chocolate chip cookies was refreshing.

“No, you’re not,” Jung Yeop said simply. “You just said you were terrible.”

“I know.”

“Sunggyu.” The man’s voice suddenly became serious, and Sunggyu cautiously looked back up.

“Sir?”

“Go home. Get some rest.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” the CEO shot him a serious look. “Look at you. You can barely keep your head up straight. Is Woohyun’s condition really affecting you that much?”

“...” Sunggyu said nothing, and just stared down at the floor below. He had nothing to say, he couldn’t think of anything to say. He was ashamed, he felt pathetically dependent, and he hated it.

Jung Yeop sighed, “I know that it’s been five days. I know, that the longer he doesn’t wake, the less chance he has of survival-”

“Stop,” Sunggyu abruptly interrupted in half whisper, eyes widening. “Please.” Just the thought of Woohyun dying drove him mad with fear.

“This is not your fault, Sunggyu,” the CEO said. “Woohyun is not here because of you, and he wouldn’t want you to be like this because of him.”

“I...” Sunggyu closed his eyes. “I just can’t rest.”

“You need to try.”

“Do you know how many times I’ve tried?” Sunggyu’s voice cracked all of the sudden, and Jung Yeop looked down at him questioningly. “I’ve tried! Many, many times. My mind and body won’t let me. I won’t rest. I just can’t.”

The CEO paused for a bit, as a thought took over him. He was mildly surprised, but he understood that feeling. He understood what Sunggyu meant pretty well, actually, because he felt that way once before.

It had been years ago, but Jung Yeop could still clearly recall that terrible time when his wife fell ill to appendicitis, holding in the pain so long to bring it to a nursing ground for infection. The CEO recalled the fear of his wife’s death, the fatigue, stress, and depression that he went through as she fought through a five-day coma while he could do absolutely nothing but watch and hope.

He knew that feeling, and he knew what kind of people those feelings were reserved for.

I wonder...

He asked the leader curiously, “Exactly what is Nam Woohyun to you, Sunggyu?”

“We’re best friends, sir,” was the wary automatic reply as Sunggyu watched the younger’s sleeping face,  but the CEO still wasn’t convinced.

“Best friends?” he was skeptical. Even he wasn’t an idiot to not have noticed the ‘Woogyu’ brand name and fanservice that goes on behind closed doors. They were close, he was sure, and even the managers have mentioned it, almost hinting at something that seem to not be there, but was.

“I...” Sunggyu confessed, “I don’t know.”

Ah, and the CEO’s curiosity peaked again. “You don’t know...?”

“Should I be like this for a best friend?” Sunggyu sounded to even doubt himself. “I think I’m going crazy.”

“...Why?”

“I just....” the leader paused. “I just can’t imagine a world without Woohyun in it.”

As soon as Sunggyu said those words, he regretted it, because Jung Yeop had this glint in his eye that made the leader just know that the CEO knew something. All of the sudden, memories flashed through his mind: memories of him kissing Woohyun backstage, memories of Woohyun back-hugging him in the middle of the night, memories of them messing around because they needed the human contact.

Sunggyu had always chalked it up to the ‘friends with benefits’ mutual arrangement that they agreed to at the beginning. They were both healthy young men, and the idol life had always deprived them of many things, girls, dating, and  included. He had always thought, that since he was so close to the younger, best friends, that this was okay. It was okay for best friends to do this.

But the look that the CEO was giving him right now was making the leader doubtful.

“You love him.”

Jung Yeop sounded so sure of himself, and he was true.

Sunggyu nodded, “as my best friend and fellow member, yes.”

“And as something more?”

The leader bristled at where this conversation was going. “Sir?”

“Do you love him more than as your best friend?”

What? No! Sunggyu wanted to answer, but then he started to wonder. What is more than best friends? Lovers? Partners? This was unfamiliar territory to Sunggyu, it was uncharted and he didn’t really want to dwell on that matter; just the thought almost scares him.

“No,” he answered in his best confident voice. “I care for him like my brother. That is all.”

“Hmm,” the CEO nodded, and decided not to push the subject any further.

The two of them spent the next few minutes just watching Woohyun. If it weren't for the oxygen mask, he would look like he was just sleeping, to wake up the neext day. Despite this, there was still no doubt that Woohyun was fighting to live, and Sunggyu was praying for the same thing.

“How long do you plan on staying here?” Jung Yeop asked.

“How long will you allow me to stay here?” Sunggyu answered back in a dark chuckle.

Jung Yeop paused and looked at the leader, deep in thought. After a while, he fished something in his pocket and put it in Sunggyu’s hand. “I have to get back to work, but if you can’t leave here, then here, take these pills. They’ll help your fatigue.”

Sunggyu remembered when Myungsoo was going through his intensive drama work. He had asked the younger how Myungsoo had done it, to go on days without sleep, and still hold up the ‘L’ persona. It turned out that for days, Myungsoo had been living off of energy injections and pills, which although weren’t the best substitute to real sleep and rest, still worked wonders. He felt thankful that the CEO would grant him these, even though he wasn't on promotion.

“Thanks,” Sunggyu said, putting one in his mouth and guzzling it down with water.

The pills worked fast, he could tell as he could already feel the effect coming. He could finally feel his body relaxing, his muscles starting to rest as they haven’t in days, and Sunggyu felt his eyes drifting closed, and--

Wait a minute.

“You drugged me,” Sunggyu accused upon realization, appalled eyes clouded with sleep that was daring to shut his mind down. “You-”

“Sleeping pills,” Jung Yeop explained, taking out a small labeled box from the local pharmacy and showing it to the leader. “You need the rest, Sunggyu. It will do you good.”

“No,” Sunggyu groaned quietly, until his eyes drooped closed and he slumped heavily against the plastic chair that he was in.

He was fast asleep in a second.

Jung Yeop sighed, and dialed a number on his cellphone.

“Jungryul, he’s asleep. Please take him back to the dorm and let him rest.”

He looked at Woohyun’s unconscious body on the hospital bed, and then drifted his eyes towards Sunggyu’s slumped form in the small chair beside him. It was a peaceful sight to behold, but Jung Yeop knew that it was actually not so.

“You better wake up soon, Nam Woohyun,” the CEO said quietly. “For Sunggyu.”

And with that, he left the room.