~*~

Chapter XIII

All okay

10월 3일

Quietly, Sungjong crept into the common area to check on Myungsoo who was sleeping on the couch.  Even know as he was sleeping, peacefully, Sunjgong could still see the tear marks on his cheeks.  Myungsoo had stopped crying after crying for a too long time.  While Myungsoo was in the hospital, the doctors put him on a lot of drugs so that he could be better and Myungsoo didn’t have too much control over his emotions causing him to start crying out of nowhere or screaming about nothing in particular.  Today, none of them had an idea about why he was crying and it hurt them to see him crying, helpless to do anything about it.  All they could do was hug him tightly and took care of him until he was too tired to cry any more. 

Sungjong felt guilty recently.  Even though Myungsoo had tried his best to be with them, they had all been really busy lately, the little free time they had was usually spent sleeping.  Myungsoo always smiled though, telling them it was part of the job, but still, Sungjong felt guilty.  Sungjong hated to leave him alone in the dorm for hours on end to be by himself and swallow all of those pills that were prescribed to him. 

He gently brushed back his hair, tracing his fingers down his cheekbone.  Sungjong’s pale fingers traced over Myungsoo’s even paler face.  He nearly cried as his hand traced under Myungsoo’s eyes, seeing the dark shadows that never seemed to leave from underneath Myungsoo’s eyes.  He sighed.  He was used to seeing shadows under their eyes, they always had worked hard, no matter when or where.  In their debut days, they could get 4-5 hours of sleep on lucky days, most of the time they could sleep for 3.  While Myungsoo filmed for a drama, his sleeping hours were reduced again.  Woohyun managed to work off of half an hour of sleep for his To Heart promotions.  They all supported each other when it came to those times and helped each other smuggle in naps when they weren’t supposed to be sleeping. 

But this time, there was nothing that Sungjong could do for Myungsoo to chase away those dark circles under his eyes and he hated to see Myungsoo stretched so thin. 

Carefully, he reached out and laid his hand on Myungsoo’s chest.  His hand moved up and down with Myungsoo’s chest, until he moved it to the other side.  Tears pricked at his eyes as he watched the right side of Myungsoo’s chest hardly rise and fall with his left side.  The right side of Myungsoo’s chest was where there was empty space where he no longer had his lung. 

Sungjong frowned as he looked up at Myungsoo’s peaceful sleeping face.  Even though Myungsoo showed no troubles on the outside, Sungjong wondered if Myungsoo was actually that peaceful inside. 

“We’re all worried…”

Sungjong looked up and found Sunggyu looking down at the two of them.  “He’s so skinny,” Sungjong said quietly.  “He’s so thin, do you think that he’ll even be okay again?”

Sadness still shadowed Sunggyu’s gaze even as he nodded.  “He’ll be okay… he’ll be okay soon enough…”

“There has to be something that we can do so that he can be better sooner!” Sungjong exclaimed. 

A thoughful look took over Sunggyu’s face.  “We should try…”

~*~

10월 28일

“Myungsoo-yah!  Let’s go out!”

Myungsoo looked up from his computer in the living room just in time to catch his jacket that Sungyeol threw at him.  “Why?  Where are we going?”

“Out to the park,” Sungyeol said as they got to the front hall where Hoya and Sunggyu were putting on their shoes.  “Sungjong, Woohyun and Dongwoo are waiting downstairs.  Let’s hurry, okay?”

“Okay,” Myungsoo said.  “What are we doing?”

“It’s a surprise,” Sunggyu said cheerfully, closing the door behind him. 

When the four got down to the parking garage, the other three were waiting for them.  Myungsoo’s eyes widdened as he saw what was waiting for him. 

“What is this?” he asked, laughing. 

Dongwoo, Woohyun and Sungjong were standing with a row of bikes, smiling happily.  The bikes were overly decorated with streamers and lights. 

Sungyeol put his hand on Myungsoo’s shoulder, pushing him forward a bit.  “Come on, Myungsoo, let’s go!” he said happily. 

“What’s with the decorations?” Myungsoo asked. 

“It’s time to celebrate!” Sungjong answered.  “Let’s go to the park!”

“We packed everything so don’t worry,” Woohyun said, pointing to the basket on the front of the bikes. 

Myungsoo grinned, sitting down on a bike. 

“Let’s fly!” Dongwoo said, sitting down on the bike beside him. 

After they got onto the bikes, they headed out to the park.  Myungsoo biked along side Dongwoo on the way to the park, feeling lighter than usual. 

“Do you like this?” Dongwoo asked. 

Myungsoo nodded, smiling at Dongwoo.  “It’s a lot of fun.  Why did you plan this?”

“After you ummm… after your dinner, we decided to do something for you too.”

He blushed slightly, knowing that Dongwoo really meant after he had his freak out in the bathroom, but he was thankful that he didn’t say it. 

Dongwoo took one hand off of the handle bars and spread it in the wind.  “It feels like you’re flying,” he said happily. 

Myungsoo grinned at Dongwoo before looking back to the road and frowning in concentration.  Slowly, he lifted off his hand from the handle bars until he was holding his arms out to his sides. 

“Myungsoo!  What are you doing?” Dongwoo said, nearly falling off his bike in surprise. 

“Hyung, it’s fun!” Myungsoo yelled over his shoulder.  “Fly!”

“How?” Dongwoo asked. 

Myungsoo smiled, putting his hands back on the handle bars as they turned the corner towards the park. 

“Just take your hands off the handles,” Myungsoo said. “Fly!”

Dongwoo grinned as he watched Myungsoo ride down the street on his bike, his arms out to his sides as he yelled happily on top of his lungs. 

Just can’t let you go
지쳐 쓰러질 때도 (Even if I fall from exhaustion,)
그대가 내 날개가 되면 (If you become my wings,)
하늘 높이 날 수 있으니까 (I can fly high in the sky)

Dongwoo laughed and started singing with Myungsoo, speeding up so that he could catch up with Myungsoo. 

매일 밤새 기도 (I pray all night for the tomorrow)
믿고 싶지 않아 내일 꼭 (I don’t want to believe)
난 네가 온다는 착각 속에 (Even tomorrow, I lose myself to a fantasy)
빠져 살아 내일도 (In which you come back)

Myungsoo grinned at Dongwoo, replacing his hands on the handle bars.  He stood up on his peddles, peddling faster down the road. 

“Guys!  Hurry!” he yelled over his shoulder. 

“Wait up!” Sungyeol yelled as he and Hoya sped up to join Dongwoo and Myungsoo at the front of the group. 

“Hyung!  You’re going to be left behind!” Woohyun teased Sunggyu, pulling ahead from Sunggyu with Sungjong. 

“Guys!” Sunggyu yelled, biking to catch up with the others. 

Myungsoo laughed, his laughter sounding absoloutely free as he yelled out the lyrics to their song ‘Wings’ to anyone that would listen.    

The seven Infinite members started to sing on the top of their lungs as they peddled into the park. A lot of passerbys stared at them as they biked past, singing on the top of their lungs.  It didn’t matter to them that people were staring, at least that meant that they were happy and they still had Myungsoo. 

 Just can’t let you go
지쳐 쓰러질 때도 (Even if I fall from exhaustion,)
그대가 내 날개가 되면 (If you become my wings,)
영원토록 날 수 있으니까 (I can fly forever)

Myungsoo smiled as he wastched Sungjong throw Sowon his ball.  Sowon ran after it on his short legs and grabbed the ball, running just as enthusiastically back to Sungjong, ball in mouth.  Sungjong ruffled Sowon’s fur, taking the ball from his mouth and patting his head. 

Myungsoo let out a small laugh and Sungjong looked up Myungsoo over Sowon’s head.  He smiled and tossed the ball over to where it rolled to a stop at Myungsoo’s feet. 

“Go get it!  Go to Myungsoo!” Sungjong called to Sowon.  Sowon rushed over to Myungsoo, his eyes solely on the ball.  Myungsoo picked the ball up as Sowon skidded to a stop at his feet.  Sowon sat down on his haunches, looking up at Myungsoo with his big brown eyes. 

Sungjong was laughing now as he picked Sowon up and sat down next to Myungsoo.  “Hey, hyung, are you having fun?”

“Of course I am,” Myungsoo said, smiling. 

Sungjong put Sowon down on the ground and took the ball from Myungsoo.  “I haven’t had the time to talk to you recently,” Sungjong said as he tossed the ball for Sowon to chase. 

“It’s okay,” Myungsoo said honestly.  “It’s the life we chose.”

“But are you feeling okay?” Sungjong asked. 

“Huh?  Oh, of course I am, Sungjong, I would’ve told you if I wasn’t.”

“Hyung.  If you’re in pain, you are in pain.  There’s nothing you can do about it and you don’t need to hide it.”

“What do you mean?” Myungsoo asked, taking the ball from Sowon as he came back. 

“In March, I asked you if you were hurting,” Sungjong said, his brown eyes wide and calculating.  “You said yes.  The doctors helped your body heal, but that doesn’t mean that you’re not in any less pain.” 

Myungsoo closed his eyes, tossing the ball again for Sowon to get.  “It hurts less now.” 

“But it still does?”

Myungsoo fell silent as he studied the grass by his feet.  “Then, Sungjong, tell me something.  Were you afraid that I was going to die?”

Sungjong scoffed.  “Hyung, why do you want me to answer that?”

“Just tell me,” Myungsoo said sharply.  His face fell as he realized that he spoke too harshly to Sungjong and added, “Jjongie, okay?  Please?”

Sungjong sighed.  “Then you need to answer my question.”

Myungsoo nodded slowly.  “Okay.”

Sungjong hesitated, throwing Sowon’s ball for him to fetch farther away.  “Hyung, in the beginning, I never did lose faith for a moment that you would live.  The day that you promised me that you would live, I think that’s when I lost the most hope, but you restored it right away. 

“When you passed out when we were at the practice studios, Sungyeol and Dongwoo were telling me that I needed to be prepared to let you go.  I kept on insisting that you were going to live, but after that, I wasn’t so sure about it, I thought that, maybe, it was time to try to let go of my… dream of you living. 

“When you wouldn’t wake up, I thought… maybe… I was supposed to let you go. 

“So, yes, I was scared,” Sungjong said, his voice bitter.  “I was so scared that I had to let go of everything that I had planned in the future.  I was scared that there was nothing in the future.”

“You can never plan the future, Sungjongie, as much as you would like or as much as you’ll try, you can’t plan the future,” Myungsoo said quietly. 

“I want to try, because I’d be scared if I don’t try to plan ahead.”

Myungsoo frowned and took his hand.  “Sungjong, ask me your question now,” he said quietly. 

Sungjong blinked surprised, knowing that Myungsoo wasn’t satisfied with his answer, but going along with his request anyways.  “Are you still in pain, hyung?”

Myungsoo took Sungjong’s hand and placed it on his chest, over where empty space was, where his right lung was before.  “It doesn’t hurt here any more,” he said, his eyes never leaving Sungjong’s.  “I’m finished with letting the cancer hurt me.  I’m not going to let it hurt me any more.”

He slowly moved Sungjong’s hand across his chest, so that it was resting on his heart.  “It hurts here now, Sungjong,” Myungsoo whispered.  “It’ll keep on hurting until I know all of you are happy again.  We’re all suffering, it’s hard not to be in pain right now.  I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

Sungjong shook his head, blinking away the stinging feeling in his eyes.  “It doesn’t matter, okay?” he said.  “We’re okay, so it’s okay.”

Myungsoo took moved Sungjong’s hand to Sungjong’s own chest, covering Sungjong’s pale hand with his own.  “You can’t plan your future, Sungjong, so it’s okay to feel hurt about things not going your way.”

Sungjong stared at their hands covering where his heart was.  “Hyung… I was so scared… I though you were dead,” he whispered to Myungsoo, his voice barely audible. 

“I’m sorry I scared you.  You don’t need to worry about that any more, I’m still going to be right here with you.  Every step of the way.”

Sungjong closed his eyes and took in a slow breath.  Sungjong was always the one to keep his worries inside of him, keeping everything close to his heart.  All of his worries were locked close to his heart. 

Until Myungsoo placed his hand on his chest.  His touch seemed to unlock his secrets and as Sungjong let out his breath, all of his worries left his shoulders.

As Sungjong opened his eyes, Myungsoo was still sitting in front of him, smiling gently at him. 

“Are you okay?”

Sungjong nodded, smiling back at Myungsoo.  “You?”

Myungsoo smiled.  “No more pain.  It’s all better.” 

“Myungsoo-yah!  Look what I got!” Sungyeol sang out as he ran up to Myungsoo, dumping a box onto his lap. 

“What is it?” Myungsoo asked looking through the contents.  “Firecrackers?”

“Yep,” Sungyeol said proudly.  “Come on, let’s go.”

Before Myungsoo could say anything, Sungyeol was already dragging him out to a paved part of the park.  Myungsoo laughed as Sungyeol light up one of the sparklers, half screaming as it was light up. 

“Myungsoo!  Here!” Sungyeol grinned as he handed Myungsoo the sparkler. 

“What!” Myungsoo held it farther away from his body.  “What do I do?”

Sungyeol grinned and waved the his sparkler around in the night air.   Following Sungyeol's example, Myungsoo twirled his around in the air, watching the fire sparking off of the end.  

“You’re going to be okay when we’re gone?” Sungyeol asked as he watched Myungsoo wave the cracker around. 

Myungsoo looked over and smiled at Sungyeol, his face shining with the light from the sparkler.  “Of course I am, Sungyeol.  I’m more worried about you in the army.”

Sungyeol grinned.  “Hey, I survived the trainee period and how ever many years of practices, I think I’ll be fine in the army.”

“Just think?”

“I know I’ll be alright,” Sungyeol said, grinning at Myungsoo. 

Myungsoo smiled and waved his sparkler around happily.  “We will all be alright sooon enough,” he said.  When his sparkler died out, Myungsoo poked through the box of firecrackers and pulled out a bigger sparkler.  “Can we try this one?” he asked. 

“Sure,” Sungyeol said, handing up a lighter.  Myungsoo carefully lit the cracker.  The sparkler caught the spark and the end exploded with sparks.  Myungsoo yelped in surprise, but laughed as the lights danced on the other end of the stick.  Sungyeol started to laugh as Myungsoo ran around in circles, swinging the sparkler around, drawing patterns in the air. 

He stumbled as he stopped, his head dizzy.  Sungyeol caught him by his elbows, steadying him.  “Be careful,” he warned with a little smile. 

Myungsoo nodded and swung the sparkling sparkler around in a infinity sign against the sky.  Sungyeol smiled and watched Myungsoo paint an infinity sign through the stars.  Myungsoo caught Sungyeol’s eye and smiled at him.  Giving him a smile in return, he lit another fire cracker, laughing as sparks fizzed out of the end. 

For Myungsoo, it was so nice to see Sungyeol smile.  He could remember the first time he met Sungyeol.  Sungyeol had given him a big grin and cheerfully introduced himself as his hyung, but that they would be friends instead.  From that moment on, Myungsoo knew that he had found his new best friend.  Through the years, their friendship had grown and changed in so many ways, but Sungyeol’s smile always remained the same. 

“Wait, Myungsoo, watch this,” Sungyeol said, holding a lit sparkler in his hand. 

With a big grin on his face, Sungyeol carefully waved the sparkler in a pattern.  “Kim.  Myung.  Soo.  Sa.  Rang.  Hae,” Sungyeol said triumphantly and added a big heart on the end. 

Myungsoo laughed at his best friend.  “Sungyeol!”

Sungyeol stuck his tounge out at Myungsoo.  “Catch me if you can!” he yelled as he ran away from Myungsoo, leaving a sparkling trail behind him. 

“Hey!” Myungsoo tried to run after Sungyeol, but stopped after feeling a twinge in his side.  “Sungyeol-ah!”

Sungyeol turned around and his face was immediately worried as Myungsoo bent over at the waist, holding a hand to his chest.  “Myungsoo? Are you okay?” he asked, dropping the sparkler into a bucket of water to extinguish it. 

Allowing Sungyeol to sit him down on a blanket, Myungsoo took some pills out of a bottle from his pocket.  Before he could ask, Sungyeol handed him a waterbottle.  “Thanks, Sungyeol,” he said as he swallowed the pills. 

“So you’re okay?” Sungyeol asked.  Myungsoo looked over the end of the waterbottle at Sungyeol and nodded, but Sungyeol still looked worried as Myungsoo set down the water.  Myungsoo smiled and nodded again, trying to reassure him that he was okay.  Sungyeol managed to crack a smile back at him, though there were still traces of worry in his eyes. 

“Hey, Myungsoo, look at me.”  Sungyeol stood up and grabbed a few crackers, lighting them.  He handed Myungsoo one while he used another one to draw another set of letters in the air, saying each one aloud, “In.  Pi.  Ni.  Teu.”

Myungsoo laughed and leaned his head against Sungyeol’s shoulder.  He sighed happily.  Sungyeol always knew how to make him smile and laugh. 

“Thank you, Sungyeollie.”

Sungyeol ran off to chase Woohyun who had stolen the lighter and Sunggyu took his place beside Myungsoo on the blanket.  “You doing well?” Sunggyu checked.  “Not too stressful to be out here?”

Myungsoo shook his head.  “No, it’s perfect.  Don’t worry, hyung, I would tell you if there was something wrong,” Myungsoo said happily, stretching out on his back.  Sunggyu smiled and pulled him onto his lap so that he could be more comfortable.  Sunggyu laughed as Myungsoo’s face scrunched up in a yawn before he opened his eyes and looking up at the sky. 

“Hey, hyung, look, there’s so many stars,” he said happily. 

Sunggyu smiled and looked up.  “Did you make a wish yet?”

Myungsoo shook his head.  “I don’t have a wish to make yet.  I think just being here is enough for me.”  He sighed happily before looking up at Sunggyu.  “Did you make a wish yet?”

“Not yet, I still need to think of a perfect wish for tonight.”

Myungsoo smiled and looked back at the sky.  “I wonder which one of the stars is Sungyeol’s,” he said, remembering the Inspirits naming a star for him a few years ago for his birthday.   

“I bet it would be the tallest and brightest star,” Sunggyu joked. 

“I think so too,” Myungsoo said, nodding, before asking, “Hyung, which star would be yours?”

“Like if I could choose?”

Myungsoo nodded.  “Any star,” he said. 

Sunggyu smiled and looked up at the sky.  “There’s so many to choose from,” he said as he looked across the sky. 

“You can see more here than from my window,” Myungsoo said, looking around the sky.  Sunggyu smiled and ruffled his hair.  Myungsoo scowled at him and smoothed his hair back down.  “Which star is yours?” he asked again. 

“That one,” Sunggyu said, pointing to one star in a small collection of stars. 

“Why that one?” Myungsoo asked. 

“Because that one’s near other stars, that way my star won’t feel as lonely up there in the night sky.”

“Oh,” Myungsoo nodded, smiling at Sunggyu’s answer.  “Then mine can be the one next to yours.”

“Nope.”

Myungsoo sat up and turned around to face Sunggyu.  “Why?” he complained.  “Why can’t that be mine?”

“Because the star that’s Kim Myungsoo is right here,” Sunggyu said, pointing to Myungsoo.  “There isn’t a star called Kim Myungsoo yet because he’s right here with me.”

Myungsoo rolled his eyes at Sunggyu.  “Why the greasy statement?”

“Because it’s true.”  Sunggyu smiled at Myungsoo and ruffled his hair, laughing at the pout on his face. 

Myungsoo stuck the tip of his tounge out at Sunggyu before settling down again, his head resting on Sunggyu’s waist.  “Then your star isn’t up there either,” he said firmly. 

“Then where is it?”

He smiled and closed his eyes as if he was imagining where his star was.  “You know, at our concerts,” Myungsoo said, his voice soft and wistful.  “The Inspirits hold up their light sticks and they hold the stars on earth for a few moments.  I remember looking into the audience and thinking that our Inspirits are such pretty stars.”

He turned his head so that he could see Sunggyu.  “That’s where your star is.  It’s somewhere in the sea of gold, some place that we will always call home.”

“Sunggyu-hyung!  Myungsoo-yah!  Hurry over here!”

Sunggyu looked up as Woohyun called their names.  “Come on, Myungsoo, Woohyun’s got something special for us.”

Myungsoo nodded and followed Sunggyu to where Woohyun was.  When they got to the same spot where Myungsoo and Sungyeol had lit the firecrackers, the other five members or Infinite were standing there.

Each of them were holding a sky lantern, ready to let them fly. 

“What’s this?” Myungsoo laughed helplessly as they smiled at him. 

Woohyun stepped forward, holding two sky lanterns.  “Remember when we went out on New Year’s to send those wishes on the sky lanterns?” he asked. 

Myungsoo nodded.

“This one’s for you.”

“What do you mean?” Myungsoo asked, shying away from them.  “You don’t need to make a wish for me.  You already did so much for me.”

“You’re our brother, it’s our turn to make one of your wishes come true.”

Sunggyu stepped forward and hugged Myungsoo.  “Myungsoo, I wish on a star for you every night.  You said that it doesn’t matter how close to the stars you are when you make the wish; the wish is always the same.  Someday, I hope that you can touch the stars and take them in your hand.  But not today, I wish for you to stay here forever with us.”

Myungsoo smiled.  “The wishes wont come true if you tell someone.”

“I have a feeling that this one will,” Sunggyu said, smiling at him.  He gave Myungsoo another hug before pulling away to let the others step up. 

Sungyeol stepped up next to give Myungsoo a hug. “Myungsoo, when we made a plan to make wishes for you, I wasn’t sure what I would say.  This evening, I know what I want to wish for now.  When I was playing with the firecrackers with you, there was only one thing that I wanted.  I want to be here with you next year and the year after that one, and the next and the next.  Whatever infinity you had, I wish for a bigger infinity for you.”

“Sungyeollie,” Myugsoo said, smiling happily.  “Any time I have here, even if it isn’t infinity, is enough for me, especially now I have a friend like you.”

Next, Hoya gave Myungsoo a quick embrace.  “Myungsoo, it was such a long time ago since you first came down with pneumonia that started it all.  I was glad that was over, but it didn’t stop and it’s still going.  You’re even back here again.  You’ve been through so much.   

Hoya patted Myungsoo’s shoulder before stepping back and Sungjong stepped forwards to hug Myungsoo tightly.  “Myungsoo-hyung, you always took special care of me, maybe it’s because I was your only dongsaeng.  With my wish, I wish that the pain to stop soon and for all of us to be happy.”

“As long as you’re happy, I don’t feel the pain,” Myungsoo promised. 

“All of us will be happy if you aren’t in pain,” Sungjong said, hugging him tightly. 

Dongwoo stepped up next, hugging him warmly.  “Myungsoo, you’re a man with a lot of dreams.  Your dreams to be a entertainer, a idol, actor and a singer.  With all of those dreams, you have wings, even though you felt like you lost them, you’ve had them forever.  If you fly away, I’ll be here, watching from the ground and wait for you to come home.  I wish for your dreams to come true.”

Myungsoo felt his eyes fill up with tears.  “You’ll be watching?”

“I’ll be watching over you and flying beside you every step of the way,” Dongwoo promised. 

Woohyun was the last one to come forward and hug him.  “Myungsoo-yah, I have one more story to tell you.  There was a boy that I met, he was one of the most strangest and wonderful man that I will ever meet.  He became sick and as a family, we tried to help him.  We promised him that he would be infinite, that means that he has no limits, that he’s forever.

“I wish for all the promises we made to each other to keep true and never break.”

He held out an already lit candle for Myungsoo to take.  “Make a wish Myungsoo.  You heard ours, don’t wish for the same thing twice, okay?”

Myungsoo smiled shakily, his face illuminated by the lantern’s light. Tears collected in his eyes and he closed his eyes, willing the tears away.  A warm pair of arms wrapped around him again.  “Don’t cry, Myungsoo,” Sungjong said.  “It’s okay to cry, but when it’s a happy occasion, don’t cry, okay?”

He felt someone else hugging him and when he looked over, Woohyun smiled at him gently.  Myungsoo tried to smile back, but the tears poured over his cheeks, blurring his vision.

For a long time, he had dreamed of becoming a big idol in the entertainment industry.  He had hoped that some day, he’ll become someone that everyone in Korea knew.  There was a lot of things that he wished for, but there was one thing that he never didn't know that he'll get.  The one thing that he had never dreamed for became the most precious thing that he would never give up for the world. 

Infinite. 

He never thought that he would have brothers like that, who would stick with him through the hardest year of his life, during the times when he was dying or struggling to breathe. 

He took in a deep breath, trying to control his sobs.  The other six were trying their best to comfort him, wiping his tears for him and hugging him gently.

“Don’t cry Myungsoo,” Sungyeol said softly, ruffling his hair.  “Smile okay?”

Myungsoo laughed through his sobs.  Dongwoo gently wipped off his tears as Sunggyu and Hoya patted him gently, trying to make him stop crying.  Myungsoo finally managed to control his tears, though they still trickled down his cheeks steadily.  “Thank you… thank you for everything.”  He took the sky candle that Woohyun held out for him.  “I wish for all of us to be infinite, all of us are going to be forever.”  He looked around at the others, the others smiling back at him. 

“Ready?” Woohyun asked, holding his own sky candle. 

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.”

They let go of the sky lanterns and let them drift away into the sky.  Infinite watched as it floated away into the heavens, joining the stars in the sky.

“We promised you that you’ll be infinite, Myungsoo, we’ll keep that promise.”

“No matter where we go, all of us are going to be forever.  All of us are going to be infinite.”

Someday, you’ll wake you and all you have left are a handful of time, a heart full of goodbyes and your brothers by your side.

Everyone will face that destiny some day, but it’s not about the end, it’s about the new challenges and how you get over the top of those challenges. When the time comes that you need to have to face the end, all you got to do is hope that your brothers will be there for you and give you strength and hope on that day.

Myungsoo knew that he had those brothers now and until the day came.

Myungsoo wrapped his arms around Hoya’s middle, resting his head against Hoya’s shoulder sleepily.  Hoya was biking while Myungsoo sat on the back of the bike, holding onto Hoya’s waist.  The others were following behind them, carrying the various baskets and bags that they had taken to the park. 

“You hanging on there?” Hoya asked as he rode slowly back. 

Myungsoo nodded, shifting his face so that his cheek was resting against his shoulder.  “Hanging on,” Myungsoo whispered. 

Hoya laughed and Myungsoo smiled, feeling his laughter vibrate through his back.   “Did you have fun today?”

Myungsoo nodded again, tightening his arms around Hoya’s waist.  He was feeling tired, but he kept a tight hold around Hoya’s waist.  Hoya smiled at Myungsoo’s sleepy face as he biked slowly home, slow enough for the others to keep up with them. 

Myungsoo sighed happily, looking ahead at the road in front of them.  “Hey, Hoya?”

“Yes?”

“You feeling okay about going to the army?”

“Yeah,” Hoya said simply, unsure of why Myungsoo was asking. 

“Not scared?”

“Scared?  I don’t think so,” he said. 

“Are you sure?” Myungsoo asked, placing his cheek on Hoya’s shoulder. 

Hoya looked over his shoulder to see Myungsoo’s face.  He couldn’t see Myungsoo’s face from that angle, only seeing his dark hair.  “Why do you ask that?”

“Because I’m scared of when you leave me,” he mumbled.  “What’s going to happen whe you’re not here, what’s going to happen when you come back.”

“It’s all going to be the same, that’s all I’m sure about,” Hoya said. 

Myungsoo sighed happily.  “Are you sure?”

“That’s the only thing I’m sure about,” Hoya said, reaching back to put his hand on Myungsoo’s thigh.  “We’re going to to be fine when we get through this.  We already got through this year, next year’s going to be fine too.  You don’t need to be scared about what’s going to happen.”

Myungsoo smiled and leaned closer to Hoya.  “Next year’s going to be a good year.”

Hoya nodded, biking for a little bit in silence.  “Hey, Myungsoo.  Are you okay with all of this?  Like us having a comeback and leaving for service?”

Myungsoo hesitated.  “You know, when I was in the hospital, I was scared that I wouldn’t have a place to return to when I come back, I tried to resign because I thought that maybe it would be easier if I started over when I was well enough to leave the hospital.”

“You wanted to start over?”

“It might have been some of the drugs,” Myungsoo said, smiling.  “but I’m glad that I didn’t start over and I stuck with you.  When Jungyeop suggested that you go serve your serivce while I have a comeback by myself, I was really happy because that way, I knew that I had a place when we reunite as seven.”

Hoya reached back and patted his leg.  “You never needed to think that you didn’t have a place when you came back,” he said.  “You’ll always have a place with us, no matter what.”

Myungsoo smiled.  “I know.  Thank you," he said quietly, leaning his chin against Hoya's shoulder, looking up at the sky.  

Up above them, the stars sparkled high above the city lights.  Maybe it was Myungsoo’s imagination, but he could still see their sky candles floating away, far away to somewhere safe, some place where their dreams and wishes would come true. 

A place where they would be together again.  

It had been a really crazy year, but it was over, the storm was finally over.  All of them would be there in the morning, each of them would be there for each other.  

Saying that it’s okay wouldn’t be a lie any more. 

I have 2 chapters left?!?! how is that possible?!!?!? One chapter plus an epilouge and then the end ㅠㅠ I'm working on a new fic for when this is done though, I hope you'll like that one.  

I'm going to back to school this week, I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to update this week, but if I don't, it's because school has drowned me again.  Good luck to everyone going back to school!! hope you'll have a great school year ^^ 

Please comment and subscribe and upvote~~~ I'm three subs away from 100 and one sub away on sea of gold... can you help me get to 100 in the next two chapters~~~ 

Have a wonderful week!