Before Soo Min could come any closer, her mother reached out, gently touched a spot on her neck and caught her daughter as she collapsed. “This silly girl! What are you doing drunk in the middle of the day?”

She shivered slightly as she carried her daughter up to her room. “It’s a bit chilly in here. Wait a minute,” she looked down at the unconscious girl. “Did you invite ghosts into the house again?” Mrs. Kim just shook her head but looked otherwise unfazed.

Woohyun just stared at the scene in shock. Mommy? Drunk? Oh buttery biscuits…

Infinite had noticed a strange person holding Soo Min and decided to investigate. They followed the elegantly dressed lady up the stairs, where she unhesitatingly opened the door and placed the girl in her coffin bed.

“Now where’s Freddy?” the lady asked herself as she searched the room. When she finally found him, she placed the skeleton in the girl’s arms and kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you when you wake up, darling.”

Infinite’s mouths dropped open; their eyes went from the lady to Soo Min to the lady to Soo Min and back again. This was… her mother? The possibility of this beautiful, refined woman with shiny, wavy black hair, smooth, porcelain skin, and the grace of a ballerina being related to their disturbing, awkward friend with Joker-like smiles, a love for all things gruesome, and the most chilling glares was beyond inconceivable.

They ran down to Woohyun only to find him muttering to himself with his head in his hands. “Woohyun! Woohyun! You won’t believe what just happened!”

“I think I made a mistake,” he cried, peering up with anxious eyes.

“Yeah whatever, we don’t care.  Soo Min’s mother is here!”

“I made a mistake,” he groaned, rubbing his temples.

“We know you; we’re not surprised. Anyways, what should we do? Her mother knows we’re here and she’s found our things! Pretty soon, we’ll be out of a place!”

“And a friend,” Sungjong added sadly.

“I know.” He lifted his head up suddenly.

“Yes?” they crowded around him eagerly. “You have a plan?”

“I know… I made a mistake,” he dropped his head and sighed.

“Guys, just leave him alone. He’s no use when he’s sulking like a woman past menopause who has just found out that her husband has been sleeping with a nineteen-year-old e,” Sunggyu said. “There’s just no hope.”

“Then our best option is to wait and see what happens,” Hoya conceded.

----------

The peaceful silence was suddenly assailed with high-pitched—gleeful?—and almost unintelligible screams. Infinite, who had been napping—with the exception of Woohyun, who had been mentally stuck in his “I made a mistake” drone—rubbed their eyes and got up to check on the noise. They crept closer to the kitchen, growing tenser with each step as the mysterious sounds became clearer.

“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”

They had finally entered the kitchen, faced with one of the most horrifying scenes in their life.

Soo Min was chasing her mother—arms outstretched and Freddy dangling from a baby bag on her back—who was in turn chasing her with a thin and jagged knife. There they were, running… no, flying towards each other in circles.

“Soo Min, watch out!” Sungjong cried out in alarm. The interruption distracted her, causing her to slow down.

And then the knife went through.

“Ugh!” they heard her grunt. “Nice aim, Mommy! Bulls-eye!”

Infinite very slowly opened their eyes and peeked through their fingers, expecting to see their crazed friend celebrating in a pool of her own blood, but instead, they found her struggling to pull the knife out from Freddy’s eye socket.

Who was this person? Here was a lovely, doting daughter with naturally bright smiles and a seemingly inextinguishable glow, albeit her violent side was still intact. But this… this was a side that none had seen before.

“How do we get her to stay like this?” Dongwoo wondered out loud.

“Grow some s, give birth to her, and then play ‘Duck Duck Stab’ with her,” Sungyeol suggested.

Her mother winked. “Thank you, darling, I’ve been practicing.”

“Come meet my friends!” Soo Min stood up and dragged her mother to where the boys stood. “Meet… Infinite! Infinite, Mommy. Mommy, Infinite.” She waved the freed knife back and forth between the respective parties.

“I knew it! What did I tell you last time about bringing home strays?” Her mother wagged a long finger, adorned with an intricate ruby ring.

“But these ghosts aren’t out for revenge! I think…”

“Bloodthirsty?”

“Only me.”

“Murdered?”

“Not sure.”

“Then how did they die?”

“Never asked; I always assumed it was from their own stupidity.” Infinite’s faces grew sour.

“Have they committed any violent acts recently?”

Soo Min nodded. “They cut my hair and forced me to wear normal clothes.” She stuck out her tongue in disgust at the memory.

“They did?” her mother beamed. “Then they can stay as long as they want!”

The family might as well have just killed them; the shocks they were receiving that day rivaled those from a defibrillator. What? No screams of horror? No demand for an immediate exorcism?

Like mother, like daughter, they thought, shaking their heads.

----------

That night, they watched as the duo flowed in sync around the kitchen, preparing a meal in a way that was incredible to watch yet impossible to understand. The two didn’t stop to ask what other ingredients were left nor did they pause to check on the other’s progress; they understood each other so well that there was no need for words.

As they all sat down for dinner, her mother fervently asked Infinite questions while Soo Min “translated”. “How I wish I could at least see you boys. This would make the whole situation a lot easier. Anyways, are you guys from this time period?”

The questions continued steadily, all along the same topic until she suddenly began her interrogation. “So which one of you is in love with my daughter?”

Woohyun spit out his food, while the rest choked, which he thought of as karmic payback for laughing at him. Her mother pointed to the source of the messy explosion. “I believe that was Woohyun-sshi,” she looked to her daughter for an affirmative response before staring back at the unfortunate ghost with a warning expression, “is that true?”

Her eyes suddenly darkened and dark clouds appeared above them. Now they knew where Soo Min got her scary aura. Definitely like mother, like daughter.

“What is he saying, Soo Min?” she asked.

“Nothing at all; he’s as pale as a ghost!”

Soo Min started laughing and her mother joined in. To Infinite, they appeared as an evil family, happily isolated in their malevolence, cackling at their guests’ despair. An elderly man dressed in a traditional butler outfit suddenly appeared behind them, fading in from the black hole that was surrounding them. He refilled the mother’s wine glass and contributed to their dark mirth.

“Ah, Sebastian,” her mother greeted. “You’re finally awake! Please sit down and help yourself.”

“I apologize for my lateness; long flights do exhaust me terribly. I hope you’ll excuse me but I can’t possibly join you when you have guests present, madam.”

He nodded respectfully towards the Infinite members. In response, their eyes grew wide and their chopsticks fell out of their frozen fingers.

“Can you see them clearly?” the mother asked.

He shook his head. “They’re not impure enough for me to accomplish that but I can sense them,” he turned towards them. “There are seven of you, correct?”

They nodded and were surprised to see him smile back.

“They are all good boys, madam, not to worry.”

The conversation steered in another direction as Soo Min and her mother discussed the economic situation in the United States, her mother having just been at Wall Street. Infinite tried to follow the topics of stocks and trades, indices and derivatives. Woohyun was just as puzzled the rest of them but he was grateful that the attention had been diverted away from him… for now.

After they finished eating and Sebastian had cleaned up the table—with a little help from Hoya and Sungjong who were intrigued by the strange man—they silently followed their hosts into the living room where several deep navy, maroon and violet suitcases lay strewn in the middle. Her mother handed the only black bag to Soo Min. “This is for you.”

Her eyes brightened and she opened it only to frown quickly after. She reached in and pulled out a light tan asymmetrical dress.

“I don’t like this,” she said simply, pouting.

Infinite almost fainted at the sight of her face. Soo Min… aegyo… can… not… compute…

“But honey, look! It’s a beautiful design! It would match you wonderfully.”

“You know I don’t wear things like that. And it’s not even black,” she pouted again.

“You don’t like it?” her mother’s expression grew dark again.

Needless to say, Soo Min joyfully had another dress to add to her collection that night. She was about to leave to hang it up when her mother stopped her. “I have something else for you. That was the bad news; here’s the good,” she said, drawing a black metal box out from behind her back.

Soo Min’s expression when she opened the carrier differed in every way; she was too shocked to even smile. “This,” she could only say as she pulled out a clawed glove, a brown fedora, tattered boots neatly stored in a plastic bag, false yellow teeth.

And finally, her hand grabbed ahold of a striped red and green sweater. Freddy Krueger’s costume. The original—no doubt about it.

Their only wild card burned before their eyes.

-----------------------------

Myungsoo: Because the author is above doing such a thing as self-promoting…

Dongwoo: she has asked us to do it for her!

Hoya: She has a new story out!

Woohyun: It’s starring… what the hell? Forget this…

Sunggyu: Don’t be such a lemon; you can’t be the star in everything.

Woohyun: Namstar.

Sungjong: Hyung has been sulking a lot lately. You’re going to get ugly wrinkles and then fans will call you Namwrinkles.  

Sungyeol: Here’s the link, you beautiful fans! *throws kisses*

Sunggyu: Stop messing around and give them the link!

Sungyeol: Let’s have fun tonight. *winks*

Sunggyu: And you always wonder why we call you “unreliable”…

Hoya: Because that bad guy can’t be trusted, here’s the link:

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/141047/the-monstrous-world-we-live-in-action-gang-gangs-infinite-myungsoo-romance

Dongwoo: Woohyun, tell them who’s the lead.

Woohyun: Myungsoo.

Sunggyu: Tell them properly! I'm sorry, you guys. It’s Myungsoo. Aish… just go do your aegyo already.

Woohyun: 

Infinite: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! Bye for now!

Woohyun: 

Sunggyu: Stop it already! No more!