Sunggyu and Sungyeol barged into the liquor store, both of them breathing heavily from their previous chase. As they stepped on the doormat, a sensor rung a bell to mark the presence of their arrival. Sunggyu placed his hand on Sungyeol's shoulder, leaning into his arm for balance. The place was repulsive with half painted walls and mold appearing in the corners. It was dimly lit, one of the ceiling lights blinking in the corner of the store. The cashier was in the front aisle mopping the floor with earphones on, completely disinterested with whoever entered the store. Sungyeol tried to look for a place to momentarily hide until the coast was clear. He stepped forward with Sunggyu following from behind, walking down the main aisle until he spotted a back hallway and pointed. "Hyung, look over there."
In the back corner was a hallway which led to the bathrooms and an emergency back exit. "That's our escape," Sunggyu decided, stepping forward as a leader to pull Sungyeol to the back of the hallway. The both of them hurried through the aisle to get to the back of the store.
Before reaching the back, Sungyeol's front pocket vibrated and lit up from his phone. He stopped Sunggyu from walking to the back and pulled him to the toiletries section of the liquor store, crouching him down in front of the tampons to hide. Sungyeol took out his phone to see who was calling as Sunggyu scrunched his face at the sight of womens' products. Myungsoo was calling and Sungyeol immediately answered.
"Myungsoo-ah," Sungyeol answered, whispering so that no one else in the liquor store could hear them.
"Ya, I'm with Hoya-hyung in the subway. You're on speaker," Myungsoo replied.
"Ask Myungsoo if he escaped," Sunggyu demanded, tugging on Sungyeol's arm.
"Did you escape?" Sungyeol asked.
"Yes, we did. We got on the subway just in time. where are you?" This time Hoya was the one talking.
"I'm with Sunggyu-hyung, and we're crouched down behind an aisle of..."
Suddenly the front door swung opened, and the bell rang once again to signify someone's entrance. Sungyeol dropped his phone in shock, hoping that it was not one of their managers. In the aisles, Sunggyu and Sungyeol peaked through the metal cracks of the shelves to try and spot who had arrived. It was their worst nightmare; on the other side of their aisle approached one of their managers. Sunggyu and Sungyeol grabbed onto each other, frightened that they may get caught. Sungyeol almost let out a fearful breath when Sunggyu grabbed onto his mouth to cover it.
Sungyeol picked up his phone with one hand motioned for Sunggyu to change aisles. The two of them crawled around the aisle to wrap around the store and sneak behind their manager, taking careful steps to make the least amount of noise as possible. They noticed their manager make a sudden movement, and in their steps they paused behind an aisle of chips to watch his next move. Sunggyu and Sungyeol both held onto their breaths, Sungyeol digging his fingers into the leader in fear. Their manager turned around and looked at the cashier, who in all of this time had yet to notice the game of cat and mouse. Sunggyu held onto his own hand, feeling the grooves of a golden ring band he was wearing. Finally, after spending some time looking around the manager decided to give up and walk towards the entrance. His looming presence finally left the liquor store.
"Get to the back exit," Sunggyu whispered. Both of them nodded at each other, still crouched down and crawling towards the hallway. Just when they reached the hallway and thought everything was ok, they heard the bell ring again for another person walking into the store. Sungyeol panicked, prompting him to smother Sunggyu's mouth and tackle him into the a random door in the back and fall onto a tiled floor. Sunggyu and Sungyeol's limbs were tangled, Sunggyu looking like he was about to burst in anger from Sungyeol's sudden attack. Sungyeol pressed his finger against Sunggyu's lips to tell him to stay quiet.
Since he could not talk, Sunggyu looked around at his surroundings to see the room he was in. The cold tiles reflected a reddish color in the light, and two bathroom stalls with full toilets. To the right wall, he also noticed that right next to the sink was a broken dispensor for sanitary napkins and tampons. "Sungyeol, we're in the girl's bathroom."
Sungyeol was startled, standing up from his seat to look at his surroundings nervously. He was dumbfounded, feeling like a little kid who was scared of girls. He realized that he was still on the line with Myungsoo, taking his phone out again to talk. "I'm... in the girls bathroom right now," he finally spoke.
"You're what?" Hoya questioned.
Outside the door were foot steps approaching the door, and with fast reflexes Sunggyu pulled on Sungyeol's arm and into a bathroom stall. He closed the door behind him, locking it shut and standing in close parameters of Sungyeol. Sunggyu's body was completely pressed against his, as if he was giving Sungyeol a very close back hug.
"Sunggyu and I are sharing a bathroom stall. Lay low for about an hour or so, and then head out to Lotte World. Let's meet at 2 at the Jamsil-dong station, ok? I'm going to call Sungjong now. I'll keep you updated," Sungyeol rushed under his breath, immediately hanging up the phone. He quickly called Sungjong on speed dial to explain the situation to him, but right after he called him they heard footsteps reaching the bathroom. Sungyeol panicked and shoved the phone down his pants, completely hysterical and missing his actual pocket. The two stayed silent, holding their breaths to wait for the footsteps pass. The door finally opened.
"Mom, I really need to go to the bathroom!" a voice said as the bathroom door opened.
"Don't worry honey, we're here. You can go now." A mom had brought her kid into the liquor store bathroom to use, but noticed a murmuring sound in one of the stalls. It was coming Sungyeol's phone down his pants, and Sungjong was trying to yell at him for attention. Sunggyu elbowed Sungyeol to turn off his phone, bumping Sungyeol into the wall. That was then the mom noticed one of the stalls having four legs under the door, concerning her. "Actually, let's go to a different bathroom honey," she said nervously, covering her child's eyes. The two of them rushed out of the bathroom.
A dial tone came from Sungyeol's pants from Sungjong hanging up the phone. Sunggyu and Sungyeol let out an exhale of relief as the door closed, their beating hearts finally slowing down.
"That's a close one," Sunggyu whispered, putting his hands on Sungyeol's shoulders.
"Tell me about it," Sungyeol agreed, taking a step back until his was completely brushing Sunggyu's thigh. "So what do we do now?"
"Well first of all, can we get out of this bathroom stall?" Sunggyu demanded.
Their bodies were suffocating each other in the bathroom.
"Ah, yes." Sungyeol reached over to unlock the bathroom door and the both of them stumbled out. "Ok, now what do we do?"
Sunggyu cracked his knuckles and neck. "Let's just go to Songpa until we go to Lotte World."
"That's a stupid idea!" Sungyeol whispered loudly.
"How is that stupid?!" Sunggyu argued.
"Because they know we'll be there!" Sungyeol complained. "That's exactly where they'll go to find us. We have to hide for a while until they give up."
"And where do you propose we go then?" Sunggyu snapped.
"I don't know, anywhere but this girl's bathroom!" Sungyeol yelled.
"AISH-" Sunggyu rubbed his forehead. "Ok, let's go."
The both of them exited the girl's bathroom casually, trying to go unnnoticed. They looked towards the store and saw the cashier still mopping the floors, unphased by her surroundings. Sunggyu pushed Sungyeol towards the emergency exit to leave.
"Ok, I have an idea," Sungyeol announced.
"Great, I can't wait to hear this," Sunggyu said sarcastically.
"Gwangjin is right next to Songpa. Let's go to Neung and hang out at the park," Sungyeol suggested.
"The Children's Park? That's already an amusement park, you want to go to one right now?" Sunggyu discussed.
"Well, I don't know!" Sungyeol yelled, putting his hands behind his back. His eyes lit up at another idea. "There's a zoo there, too!"
Sunggyu squinted his eyes. "A zoo?"
"Yeah, why not?"
Sunggyu raised his eyebrow. "Animals?"
"Yeah."
"Seriously?"
"Animals are great!" Sungyeol grinned, his gummy smile. Once he planted the idea in his head, he could not escape it. He pulled on Sungyeol's hand to guide him towards the exit of the back alleyway. Sunggyu allowed for Sungyeol to drag him, rubbing his forehead in shame for going to the zoo.
(((())))
It was a quick subway ride to the Children's Grand Park Station, yet brought Sunggyu and Sungyeol far enough to spend a couple hours at the zoo without the worry of a manager nearby. They stood on the corner of the street, waiting to cross and enter the park. Sungyeol's face lit up with pleasure as he watched many people enter, especially from seeing many grops of children walk in with their families and field trips. Even Sunggyu let out a smirk from watching the little kids revel in delight. The sight was amusing for the both of them, and in a matter seconds they would also be one of those kids.
"It's green, hyung," Sungyeol pointed out, the crosswalk finally allowing for them to go.
Sunggyu rolled his eyes, trying to play cool leader. "Why couldn't we have just gone shopping or watch a movie?"
"Because animals!" Sungyeol exclaimed. He took Sunggyu's hand and pulled him across the street with a silly grin on his face. "I haven't been to the zoo since I was maybe 10 with my family, so this is a very exciting moment for me. I remember that my favorite animal was the giraffe because it was really tall, but I also liked the monkeys a lot. Which animal do you want to see first?"
Sungyeol looked over his shoulder and saw a disinterested Sunggyu playing with his ring, putting it on and off his index finger.
"Hyung!" Sungyeol yelled at him.
Sunggyu hesitated, looking up at the back of Sungyeol's head. "Oh, what?"
"Have you been listening?" Sungyeol asked.
Sunggyu blinked his eyes. "Oh yeah, of course I was listening!" he tried to convince. "You like monkeys."
After hearing the leader talk, Sungyeol smiled and felt assured that he heard at least one thing from his sentiment. The both of them finally arrived at the entrance of the Children's Grand Park. Sungyeol's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, ecstatic to journey into the park after so long. Sunggyu did not show any time of facial emotion for their arrival, getting his wallet from his back pocket. Sunggyu and Sungyeol stepped forward to buy two tickets for the park, and as they received the tickets Sunggyu handed coins to pay for the both of them. Sungyeol tried to speak, but Sunggyu blocked him with his arm to prevent him from stepping any closer to the cash register. Sunggyu took the tickets and handed one of them to Sungyeol.
"Thanks for the ticket hyung," Sungyeol smiled.
"Yeah, it's nothing," Sunggyu shrugged, strolling past the entrance and finally stepping into the park. "So where do we go first?"
"I asked you that question earlier," Sungyeol started. "You choose."
Sunggyu his lips and looked up at the sky, trying to find an answer in the sky for a place to go.
"Smile!" Sungyeol yelled.
"Huh?" Sunggyu looked down and was caught in the act of Sungyeol taking a self-photo of the both of them. Sungyeol held a peace sign as he held his phone out for the picture, snapping a shot with the both of them in frame. To Sunggyu's dismay, the phone caught him with his mouth open in the act of saying "huh" with one eye closed and his tongue out. The phone displayed the selca on the screen, and Sunggyu cringed in embarrassment. "Take it again!" the leader demanded.
Sungyeol smiled and put the phone back in his front pocket. "It's a great picture!" he grinned, lifting his chin up and ignoring Sunggyu's complaints.
"AISH... chincha!!" Sunggyu rubbed his forehead and dropped his hands to his sides, giving up on Sungyeol. "Let's go."
The both of them nodded at each other and walked forward to approach the park map. Children's Grand Park consisted of a lot of things from not only a zoo, but a small amusement park and botanical garden. Sunggyu and Sungyeol inspected the color-coded map, trying to see where to go next.
"You know Sunggyu-hyung," Sungyeol began, placing a hand on Sunggyu's shoulder. Sunggyu began to side-eye him. "I don't really spend time with you that often! Like I said earlier this place brings back a lot of memories for me, and what better way than to spend it with you?" His smile was warm and made his cheeks big, really hoping to spend a good day with Sunggyu.
Sunggyu was embarrassed and touched all at the same time. It was a fact that he does not spend much time with Sungyeol, but he figured that as a leader that he should make the best out of the day until they head to Lotte World. "So where do you want to go first?"
Sungyeol scanned the map one last time, inquiring their first plan of attack at the zoo. He was unsure himself what to do first, and with the whole day ahead of him Sungyeol did not want to make a boring decision. That was when he noticed ahead of him the sign for a gift shop. He grinned. "I know where we're going next."
(((())))
Sungyeol walked into a small outdoor stadium smiling from ear-to-ear wearing a pink poncho with flappy pig ears and a swirly tail right on his . He leaned against the fenced border of the area where the animal show was taking place, shoving his hands in his pockets. He took a deep breath of the warm summer air and disgusting smell of animal feces and let it all out, still happy at the end of it. Sungyeol was desperate to relive his past memories and make the best of his time at the zoo. He looked to his side and noticed Sunggyu was not next to him, so he turned around and saw Sunggyu in the distance.
Sunggyu looked more than dissatisfied as he plodded towards Sungyeol, sporting a yellow and brown poncho of a hamster. His eyes were squinted as he glared at Sungyeol, as if Sunggyu was the hamster himself.
"God, if you're any slower we're going to miss the show!" Sungyeol complained, flailing his arms around.
"I'M COMING!" Sunggyu screamed, his voice cracking as he walked towards Sungyeol. He let out a bashful sigh. "Why do we have to wear these ponchos-"
Suddenly, the loud sound of a trumpet roared throughout the stadium and scared the both of them to grab onto each other. An elephant approached Sunggyu and Sungyeol at the fence, splashing his trunk onto a small pool next to them and exploding water all over the both of them. The elephant made another booming trumpet sound and took one giant step closer towards the boys, his steps vibrating the whole stadium. He extended his trunk to reach out to the boys, leaving Sunggyu completely petrified to dig into Sungyeol's chest.
"HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" Sunggyu shrieked.
"No he doesn't, he loves you!" Sungyeol laughed, rubbing on Sunggyu's back.
The elephant's trunk touched the back of Sunggyu's neck and paralyzed Sunggyu, who looked like he was on the verge of crying with his eyes completely shut. He retracted his trunk for a second before he made one last move to wrap his whole trunk around Sunggyu and Sungyeol for a tight hug. The elephant made one last noise of contentment, closing his eyes as if he was smiling.
"WHAT IS HE DOING?" Sunggyu yelled in right.
"He's hugging us!" Sungyeol grinned, laughing at the whole situation. He thought it was adorable at how scared Sunggyu was for the elephant. The fearless leader was finally scared, and Sungyeol could not help but snicker at his agony. In a way he felt bad for doing this to him, but at the same time he knew there would never be another chance to be with his hyung in this setting. He was having the most fun he had in a very long time.
"I don't want him to hug me anymore! He got me wet!" Sunggyu complained, pouting his lips and squinting his eyes.
"Smile, hamster!"
"What?!"
And without a wasted second, Sungyeol snapped their second selca of the day. In the final product Sungyeol is showing off his gummy smile with a thumbs up, his hair completely drenched from the water and pig ears from the poncho pointing up. Sunggyu on the other hand looked irked in the picture, his eyes looking at Sungyeol and his mouth open midway to yelling at him. Finally, the picture caught a glimpse of the elephant's trunk at the bottom of the picture encapsulating the pig and hamster in a warm hug.
(((())))
To continue their trip at the zoo, Sunggyu and Sungyeol walked side-by-side holding mountain-sized cones of soft ice cream in their hands. Both of them were almost waterproofed by their ponchos except for their hair and shoes, both of them squishing water on the sidewalk to leave a trail. Several people at the zoo started recognizing Infinite's leader and choding strolling around and followed their water trail, taking pictures of the back of their heads and trying to get as much of a piece of them as possible.
Sungyeol took a bite of his soft ice cream when he noticed a girl laughing at him from behind. He turned around to see what was going on and saw a little girl and a teacher chaperone closely following the boys. He quickly stopped Sunggyu to turn around.
"It's Infinite!" the little girl pointed out, jumping up and down.
Sunggyu and Sungyeol looked at each other and smiled at her innocence, crouching down to look at her eye level. They did not want to attract attention to themselves, but they appreciated their younger fan.
"And what's your name?" Sunggyu smiled.
"Mikyong," the little girl smiled, placing her hands on her plaid school skirt and swaying from side-to-side.
Sungyeol laughed. "Mikyong, you know who we are?"
The girl put her finger to as if she was thinking, puffing her cheeks. "Naega haja!" she finally spoke.
Sunggyu and Sungyeol burst out into laughter, entertained by the little girl's actions. Her chaperone looked a little embarrassed, pulling back on her shoulder to leave. "Alright, let's stop bothering them."
"Wait wait wait!" Sungyeol put his hand out to stop them from leaving. He pulled on the little girl's arm. "Hyung, hold onto my ice cream!"
Sunggyu took Sungyeol's ice cream and rolled his eyes at his antics.
Sungyeol reached into his front pocket to get out his phone, unlocking it and holding it out. "Mikyong, Sunggyu, get in the picture!"
When Sunggyu realized what Sungyeol was doing he could not do anything but smile. His heart felt warm from seeing Sungyeol's interactions with Mikyong, a side of him that he had never seen before. He had the heart of a child as much as Mikyong, and it made him feel like a proud leader to see him care for his fans. Sunggyu and Mikyong leaned on Sungyeol's shoulders to get ready for another selca. As Sungyeol focused the picture, he snapped another moment at the zoo.
In this selca, Sungyeol held both of his arms out to try and capture both Sunggyu and Mikyong. He had his mouth wide open midway to smiling. The little girl was perfectly aimed, her white smile b from seeing her oppas to make her day. And finally, there was Sunggyu whose face was halfway cut out in the picture. He was also beaming, but it was to no avail for the two ice cream cones he was holding covered his smile.
"Are you kidding me?!" Sunggyu grumbled as he saw another failed selca on Sungyeol's phone.
(((())))
The two Infinite members sat on a bench right in front of the monkey exhibit and observed three monkeys playing with each other on a bed of rocks, amused by the view. The monkeys were fighting over a ball in the exhibit and climbed over each other, cackling at one another in fun. They were still wearing their animal ponchos, Sunggyu once again playing with his ring and juggling it in his palm. Sungyeol was finishing up a text to Sungjong and placed his phone back into his pocket.
"Jongie, in about an hour we're gonna head out to the Jamsil Station," from Sungyeol.
"Did you text Sungjong?" Sunggyu asked.
"Yeah." Sungyeol let out a loud yawn and stretched his arms out, holding out his fists and extending his long legs out. Even though he felt relaxed, he was still tired from the lack of sleep he had the day before. "Sorry, Woohyun and I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Tell me about it," Sunggyu agreed, scratching his eyes. "I just want to sleep there." He pointed out at a soft bed of hay and other natural material in the corner of the monkey cage.
Sungyeol looked on and nodded his head. "Don't worry. It's almost Friday and our weekly promotions are almost over. But the zoo is fun right?"
"Kind of," Sunggyu shrugged, pouting his lips and turning to look at Sungyeol. "It's a shame they don't have giraffes here anymore. You really wanted to see them," Sunggyu commented.
"I know!" Sungyeol exclaimed, hiding his hands in his face. "What a disappointment!"
"You know what's also disappointing?"
"What?"
"Before this moment, I've never been to the zoo before," Sunggyu admitted.
"Chincha, you're kidding!" Sungyeol was in complete shock. "I love the zoo so much!"
"I know, it's weird." Sunggyu stood up and walked over to the monkey fencing, holding his ring in his hand. "Honestly, I don't LIKE animals."
Sungyeol laughed, thinking back to a moment of their past. "Hah! Remember that one time you were scared of the dogs on that one show?"
"Exactly! Animals just need to leave me alone," Sunggyu said, shaking his head thinking of that moment. "I was so scared of them. But I mean, this has been fun! I've had a good time so far. The animals haven't killed me yet." He laughed awkwardly, thinking about how scared he was when the elephant touched him with his trunk. He continued tossing his ring in his palm.
Sungyeol stood up and walked towards the fence. "I mean, you just have to give them a chance!"
Sungyeol leaned against the fence and patted on the leader's shoulder, but the unexpected touch scared Sunggyu to fling his ring towards the monkey's bedrock. The golden band shimmered in the sunlight as it fell onto a sewer right next to the bedrock, the ring richocheting between the drain before inevitably falling into its dark depths. Sunggyu and Sungyeol leaned over the fence, watching as the accident unfolded in utter disbelief. Sungyeol raised his hand to cover his gaping mouth while Sunggyu let out a shrilled cry.
"NO!" Sunggyu yelled out, extending his hand to stop as if it would reverse time.
Sungyeol had no idea what to do, still in shock that Sunggyu lost his ring. He turned to Sunggyu, who looked like he was going to cry. "Hyung... egumonina-"
"You're a ing idiot!" Sunggyu roared, turning to look at Sungyeol. His eyebrows were furrowed in disappointment and hatred.
"I had no idea that was going to happen! I'm so sorry," Sungyeol pleaded, his eyes watery and his heart beating fast. Sungyeol felt his cheeks turn hot, feeling emotional and about to cry.
"No. Don't even say it," Sunggyu screamed, putting his hand out at his face. "I didn't even want to go to the zoo today. You know what!" In that moment, he pushed Sungyeol's chest away with much anger, causing Sungyeol to stumble back. "JUST GO!" He was breathing heavily, his face bright red from the frustration. In this moment, he wanted nothing to do with Sungyeol.
Sungyeol looked at Sunggyu, his eyes turning red from the tears dripping down his face. His face was apologetic and sincere, yet Sunggyu could not see through it. His mouth wavered and he bit his tongue to try and stop his crying. He crossed his arms and looked towards the sewer, the ring long gone. Finally he looked back at Sunggyu, who looked like he was going to attack him. Sungyeol felt defenseless and let out a small whimper with his tears and turned around to run away.
Sunggyu took a deep breath to try and calm down, leaning his elbows against the railing. He dug his face into his hands, rubbing his hair in frustration from everything. Reflecting on the day, he had never been so annoyed in his life. He took a couple more deep breaths to calm down, shaking his head at what had happened. He was forced to go to a zoo with Sungyeol, play with elephants, take some embarrassing self-taken pictures, and now he had lost his ring. For him the day could not get any worse.
But then he remembered Sungyeol's kindness to him towards the whole day. He also remembered Sungyeol's laugh, and how it made him feel good. He remembered that even in his childish moments, Sungyeol made him really happy today.
"I've made a mistake," Sunggyu realized, his face completely switched gears from anger to worry. He no longer cared about the ring; he only cared about that he hurt one of his friends. Sunggyu turned around in a panic, trying to see what direction Sungyeol had gone. He was no where in the near distance.
"!" Sunggyu screamed. Many families and field trips around the area looked at Sunggyu, who was having a mental breakdown and swearing. Many parents and teacher chaperones rushed to bring their children away from the man who was screaming in a hamster poncho. Sunggyu blinked his eyes several times, and in an effort to find his friend started running in a random direction in hopes of finding Sungyeol.
(((())))
It had been 30 minutes, and Sunggyu ran around the whole park to try and find Sungyeol with no luck. Sunggyu tried to call him, but Sungyeol had turned off his phone at this point and was completely unreachable. He backtracked his journey with Sungyeol around the zoo, including running around the park streets and botanical garden to try and find him. Sunggyu was completely out of breath, and settled next to a fountain near the entrance of the zoo. He plopped down next to the fountain base and felt like lying down, his heart beating fast and his body in a complete sweat. Sunggyu let out an angry roar, frustrated by everything that happened. He felt terrible for yelling at Sungyeol, and even though he wanted to give up he not only wanted to find his other member but his friend.
Sunggyu's body collapsed and fell onto the base fence of the fountain, still taking deep breaths to calm down. He closed his eyes shut, trying to imagine their moment at the monkey exhibit one more time and take everything back. He tried replacing that moment when he yelled at Sungyeol, but Sunggyu knew in his mind that it happened. Sunggyu let out another cry and opened his eyes. He looked up at the clear sky, hoping for some sort of miracle to happen.
Sunggyu sat up and brushed his poncho, taking another deep breath to calm down. He looked around the park, staring at each happy person in the park hanging out with their families or enjoying their field trip. Sunggyu rubbed his eyes and blinked to regain some sort of consciousness, and in the distance on the opposite side of the fountain he saw a figure of a slim guy sitting down. His face was pale and lifeless, his elbows on his knees and looking down. Sunggyu blinked again to see who it was: it was Sungyeol.
After a long search, Sunggyu had never felt so happy seeing him that he climbed over the fountain to wade in the water towards Sungyeol, not even bothering to run around the fountain. Sungyeol heard the splashing sounds of someone and turned around, shocked to see his hyung straddling in the water. "Sunggyu?!" he yelled out.
Sunggyu was out of breath, pushing away the dancing water to get to him. The poncho could not help in shielding him from any water, but he no longer cared. "Sungyeol!"
Sungyeol stood up in shock, raising his hand to his face. Without thinking, he also jumped in the fountain to get to him.
"Sungyeol! I'm sorry I yelled at you for the ring. It was an accident and I wasn't thinking!" Sunggyu screamed.
The two of them finally reached each other, the water falling on top of their heads and spraying their bodies. Sunggyu and Sungyeol were completely immobile, both of them emotional from everything that happened that day. "I know!" Sungyeol understood, walking towards Sunggyu. "I'm really sorry too. It was an accident! I know how much that ring meant to you since your-"
"I know it was an accident! I've had it for years now, but you know it was never your fault. I mean, I care more about our friendship than a stupid ring!"
"I... I just wanted to have a good day at the zoo. Like old times before I became an idol," Sungyeol admitted. He wanted to say another word, but the fountain water splashed in his face unexpectedly leaving him speechless.
Sunggyu laughed. "I had a great day today, and it was all because of you!"
The words touched Sungyeol's hear, the both of them completely regretful for everything that happened. In the middle of the fountain, the both of them hugged each other laughing hysterically. They both looked like idiots standing in the middle of the fountain, but neither person wanted to let go of the embrace. Their friendship had reached a breaking point, but what mattered the most was that they were able to overcome it. Their friendship had never felt stronger than before.
(((())))
"I guess I wasn't really thinking, wasn't I?" Sungyeol complained, looking at his soaked phone dripping on the subway train to Jamsil Station. He let out a sigh, realizing that the fountain completely fried his phone.
Sunggyu laughed, taking out the phone from his pocket. It was completely functioning and safe from the water because he had several screen protectors and a waterproof case on it. The both of them were still wearing their animal ponchos on the subway. "Mine's alright." He placed the phone on his knee.
"Ah, now I have to buy a new phone. This !" Sungyeol groaned, placing his phone on the seat.
"I'm sure it won't be too bad," Sunggyu encouraged, placing his hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"At least this is still fine..."
"What's still fine?" Sunggyu asked.
Sungyeol reached under his poncho to pull out a tiny black silk bag from his front pocket. He held the bag in front of Sunggyu's face with his fingers. "This is for you."
Sunggyu raised an eyebrow and put his hand out for Sunggyu to gently drop the bag onto his palm. Curiosity overcame him as he opened the bag and poured the contents out into his other palm. His eyes widened in shock, revealing a silver ring with an elephant on it. The ring was light in weight and textured. Sunggyu juggled the ring in his hands and smiled. "An elephant?" he joked.
"I mean, they are your favorite animal right?" Sungyeol laughed, remembering their encounter at the zoo. "It was one of the more cheaper rings at the gift shop."
"Shut up." Sunggyu smiled. He put the ring on his right ring finger and held it out in awe, letting out a small smirk. Sungyeol had never given him a present like that, and even though the ring was not that expensive the meaning and quality of it was irreplacable. Sunggyu was overwhelmed with his relationship with Sungyeol, and up-and-down relationship yet a friendship he could not live without. "Let's take a selca together," Sunggyu smiled. He picked up his phone from his knee and extended his arm out to take a self-snapshot of the both of them. "I mean, you probably lost all of our pictures together."
Sungyeol smiled, feeling warm from Sunggyu accepting his gift. "Selcas with Sunggyu are the best."
After a long day together, Sungyeol scooted in his seat to move his head next to Sunggyu's shoulder. Sunggyu took his free arm to wrap around Sungyeol's shoulder. Sungyeol put out a peace sign in between the two of them and Sunggyu joined him to show off the ring that Sungyeol gave him. He snapped the picture.
In their final picture together, Sunggyu and Sungyeol were perfectly fit in the picture without anyone cut out. Both of them were smiling happily with their peace signs, nothing blocked out. Their poncho hoods were on, showing off Sungyeol's pig ears and Sunggyu's hamster ears in its entirety. Both of them stared at the picture on Sunggyu's phone once it appeared..
"It's perfect! Finally," Sunggyu snickered.
"I don't know. I still think the elephant picture was better," Sungyeol chuckled.
An announcement was made that the subway was arriving at the Jamsil Station, prompting Sunggyu and Sungyeol to stand up from their seats. They walked over to the subway doors, their large ponchos brushing on everyone and everything around them. Everyone took pleasure in watching two grown men wearing cute animal ponchos. The doors slid open and Sunggyu and Sungyeol walked out, both of them grinning in excitement for making it to Songpa.
"We made it!" Sungyeol grinned, letting out another yawn and stretching his arms out.
"It feels good. Finally," Sunggyu agreed, stretching his sides after their subway ride sitting down.
"You guys made it!"
Sunggyu and Sungyeol heard the familiar voice of someone and turned around startled. Both of their mouths gaped open in shock. In front of them were Hoya and Myungsoo, both of them sporting a purple and black mini-dress with high heels in the middle of the subway. Hoya and Myungsoo also looked at them, both of them wet and wearing a pig and hamster poncho each. They all looked at each other, deep down inside cringing at their fashion choices.
"I..." Sungyeol started, speechless from seeing Myungsoo in a tight, black dress.
Sunggyu stared down Hoya, wearing a shimmering purple dress with large heels with a very low cut. Then he turned to look at Sungyeol, realizing that what they were also wearing was embarrassing. Sunggyu began to speak. "That dress really flatters your s."
The last chapter is Woohyun/Dongwoo/Sungjong! How will they get to Lotte World?
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