2.

Obsession

A/ N #1: Remember, the time frame of this story is around mid-September, just after Infinite finished "Be Mine" promotions :)

 

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“Yah, Lee Sungjong, take a break,” called Hyoan hyung, one of Infinite’s managers, on behalf of all the other staff members in the recording studio. Sungjong had been repeating his lines in Infinite’s Japanese version of “Can U Smile” for the last two hours. No one was even remotely satisfied with his sound; Sungjong knew he wasn’t a great singer, but what they wanted seemed to be too much. He envied Dongwoo and Hoya, who had wrapped up their parts in just an hour each.

 

“Yes sir,” Sungjong mumbled under his breath as he abruptly exited the recording room, eyes glued to his feet.

 

Sungjong shuffled out of the stuffy, uneasy studio and into the dimly lit halls. He wiped the layer of sweat covering his forehead with the back of his hand and heaved a sigh of frustration. He didn’t know where the other Infinite members were, but he didn’t care. They didn’t appeal to him to be too comforting, at the moment. He wanted to be alone.

 

Mindlessly, Sungjong took turn after turn around the halls. His hair and neck were still sweating from concentrating in the studio. A faint sound of music flowed into his ears, making him pause. He began to follow the sound.

 

When he finally stopped, he found himself standing in front of the practice room. Sungjong recognized the music as Hyuna’s “Change”. He slipped into the dim room silently, becoming enveloped in the shadows. A girl was dancing fervently in the middle of the room, facing the mirror. Her hair was in a bun and she wore a loose yellow shirt and black shorts, with white sneakers. Sweat gleamed on her face and arms. Her movements were powerful and passionate, but not exactly graceful and charismatic, like the original artist.

 

Stepping forward a slight step into the dim light of the room, Sungjong stood against the wall, watching the girl dance. She messed up a couple of times, which threw off her concentration and made her mess up even more. Sungjong rolled his eyes but continued to watch.

 

Finally, the song ended, and the girl shut off the music player, panting heavily. Fanning her face with her hand, her head turned carelessly toward the spot where Sungjong stood. Catching Sungjong in sight, she jumped back in surprise, eyes wide.

 

“Um… Sungjong sunbae??” she called, edging closer.

 

She was looking at him with those horrible eyes. A pair of twinkling brown specks that seemed intent on melting Sungjong’s face off. Sungjong stood frozen in place, the fright of her eyes spreading through him miserably. Silence protruded the room.

 

“You call that dancing?” Sungjong finally spoke, the words coming out with a harsher tone than he had intended. What was that? A simple ‘hello’ would have been okay, but no.

 

“What? Uh.. I…” mumbled Hyera, her eyes glued to the dark figure of Sungjong.

 

“There’s this thing called rhythm and beat in dancing. Just because you’re moving, that doesn’t mean you’re getting it. Have you learned nothing from Dongmin hyung??” Sungjong scolded, unable to believe that those words were actually coming from his mouth. Once again, the presence of this girl in front of him was driving him to some unknown edge. “You and your jerky movements are going to get you nowhere!! Not only are you going to ruin things for yourself, you’re going to take your team down with it! If you’re going to practice, practice right!!”

 

Sungjong took a few steps forward. His legs were shaking. Fresh sweat dripped from his hair. He just wanted to yell and scream at this girl, until her eyes stopped glaring at him. But Hyera just looked at him, eyes glittering more than ever.

 

“Can you hear me?! I’m telling you, that your dancing is not good enough!! You’d better take my word for it, if you’re going to stay with our company any longer!! Until those ridiculous movements turn into REAL dancing, you’re going to be a FAILURE, no matter how hard you try!!” Yelled Sungjong, towering over the small girl. He didn’t know how, but he had ended up looming right in front of her. Why he was acting this way was beyond him. But he knew that somehow, it wasn’t his fault. It was the girl’s fault. It was her eyes.

 

A single, thick, tear drop fell from both of the girl’s eyes onto her cheeks. The wetness in her eyes only made them even more brilliant and menacing. Her pupils trembled as she let out a shaky breath. Sungjong felt himself shaking all over, fearful of the eyes that bore into his face with dreadful accuracy. He wasn’t conscious of his own actions, but saw through his eyes that his hand was reaching up to smear a drop of tear off of Hyera’s face. His hand then moved to her eyelid, and then the side of her face.

 

“You have the ugliest eyes I’ve ever seen,” spit Sungjong, in a low voice.

 

More tears streamed from Hyera’s flashing brown eyes. With a sudden movement, her hand was raised, and Sungjong’s face was jerked sideways as Hyera struck him right on the left cheek with a slap. His skin stung from the hit.

 

Furious, Sungjong turned his head right back and glared at the girl. Tears flowing freely onto her cheeks, her frightful eyes glowered at Sungjong with sincere hatred.

 

“I don’t need this from YOU, of all people,” said Hyera, in a barely audible croak.

 

Sungjong seemed to be unaware of any of his own movements, other than the fact that his flesh was heating up uncontrollably. Otherwise, he felt as if he was only watching his own body move. He edged closer and closer to Hyera, the two almost colliding except for Hyera’s retreating few steps. Sungjong continued to push himself forward into her; she stepped back foot after foot, nervously and abruptly.

 

The two figures stood almost in the middle of the practice room, where the light was the brightest, where rays of light became trapped in Hyera’s eyes, making them shine even more, until Sungjong’s head screamed in misery at the sight of them. He had to do something, to make this horrible pain stop. He couldn’t explain it, but something about her eyes made him want to go insane, every time she was in front of him. Sungjong grasped Hyera by her shoulders in haste. He would do anything to make her eyes stop. He pushed his face into hers, making contact at the lips. Squelching his eyes shut, Sungjong held himself still, feeling Hyera’s lips against his. He could feel his own sweat dripping over his face, as well as the hot tears on Hyera’s cheeks.

 

The shock seemed to paralyze Hyera, but only for a moment. As realization spread through her mind, she used all of her upper body strength, resisting, squirming under Sungjong’s firm grip. After a brief struggle, Hyera managed to push him away. Sungjong tottered back, panting, eyes displaying pure shock at his own action.

 

“YOU CREEP!!” wailed Hyera, and bolted out of the practice room.

 

Sungjong’s legs gave way under him, and he collapsed onto the floor. No complete thoughts formed in his mind, but the image of Hyera’s menacing eyes would not leave his head.

 

 

****

 

 

Sungyeol was woken by a harsh thumping sound. He opened his eyes sleepily, the ceiling of his room coming into view. Where did that sound come from?

 

He turned his head to the right, in the direction of the two-story bed next to his own. Sungjong lay in his top bunk, clutching his white, furry teddy bear. In fact, the boy was gripping it with so much force that his knuckles were turning white. One of his elbows jutted out awkwardly from his sleeping form, near the wall. He must have hit his elbow and made the thumping noise.

 

The brown strands on Sungjong’s forehead were wet with sweat, while his eyebrows cringed in a frown. He seemed to be having some sort of nightmare in his sleep. Eh, we all have nightmares, Sungyeol thought, turning his head to go back to sleep.

 

“I’m sorry…” moaned Sungjong. Sungyeol looked at the boy quizzically.

 

“I’m sorry… don’t look at me…” murmured the sleeping boy, face contorted, body squirming in seeming frustration.

 

Sungyeol sighed. He d around the edges of his bed, looking for something to throw at Sungjong. After a moment, Sungyeol discovered a sock under his left leg. He rolled the sock into a ball, raised it in his hand, and flung it at Sungjong. The sock-ball hit the sleeping boy right in the nose. He didn’t wake, but only turned his body slightly.

 

Stifling a cackle, Sungyeol turned his head to face the wall and went back to sleep.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

The girl stood motionlessly, in plain view. Her face and form were clearly visible, although the rest of the surroundings were gray and foggy. Thick, clear tears rolled out of the girl’s dreadful, brown eyes. Though her tears in her eyes made her pupils quiver, she didn’t look away. She didn’t even blink. Her piercing eyes just continued to produce unspeakable, wretched tears, focused on the onlooker as if he were the reason for her sadness.

 

“Ya!! Lee Sungjong!!!”

 

Sungjong awoke unexpectedly. He blinked once, then twice. A smiling Hoya hyung peered at him. “Get up sleepy head!”

 

Slowly, Sungjong became more and more conscious. He slowly detached himself from his teddy bear, realizing that it and his hands were hot and slippery with sweat. He reached up and patted his hair. A few strands were noticeably damp. Sitting up, the memory of his horrific dream flooded into his head. The girl, Hyera.

 

As soon as the name popped in his head, Sungjong’s hand went up to touch his lips. It all came back to him – why Hyera was crying in his dream, what he’d done to her the night before.

 

“Lee Sungjong, any day now, please,” Hoya called from the floor, “Get up, out of bed, and start packing.”

 

Sungjong stretched his stiff muscles and climbed down from his top bunk. His clothes were damp. The horrors of his nightmare still clinging to his wet strands of hair, Sungjong d around a drawer for a clean shirt. Then, his head perked up as he processed what Hoya had said. Sungjong looked down at Howon, who sat on the floor, a large box next to him. His hyung was rummaging through the contents of a basket of items the roommates had neglected long ago. It contained stuffed animals, old CDs, Sungjong’s secret snacks (‘how old are those?!’), random hats, and other junk.

 

“Hyung, what are you doing?” inquired Sungjong, lifting the damp shirt off his skin and replacing it with a clean, pink T-shirt.

 

“Sorting through our things, seeing what we need and what we don’t when we move,” replied Hoya, fidgeting with a small, handheld calculator. It wasn’t working. Hoya shot it into the trash.

 

“Huh? When we move?”

 

Howon looked up at Sungjong, a small grin forming on his lips. “We’re moving out of this dump, lil bro,”

 

The words sank into Sungjong’s mind. Grinning, Sungjong jumped in excitement. “Woo hoo!! Wait, we’re finally moving into a new house??” cried Sungjong.

 

Hoya nodded proudly. “We got first place on M! Countdown, remember? Twice, actually. The CEO called us early this morning. He said buying a new dorm for us will definitely be worth it. Sungjong-a, we’ve really done it! We’ve earned this for ourselves!” Hoya raised his hands in excitement. Sungjong took them in his own hands and jumped two more times.

 

“So he’s already got us a new house?” Sungjong asked.

 

“Mmm… I don’t think so. I think Hyoan hyung’s directions were for us to pack up, and move in to the company, until we get our new house.”

 

“Hey!” barged in Sungyeol, “Second batch of trash, give me all you’ve got!!” he yelled, with gloved hands and a yellow apron. Hoya pushed the trash can his way.

 

Sungjong sat beside Hoya, mind wandering back to his dream. What am I gonna do when I see that girl again? 

 

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A/ N #2: Hello! For those of you who are familliar with my last story... I'm sorry to say that this fic will not be a daily-updated fic like Candy Kiss :(

Instead, I promise that I will update weekly! It will most likely be on the weekend.

Yes, Infinite-dorm thing, yepp they move in right away to their new house... but not in my imaginary fanfic!! hehe~

I hope these chapters aren't too long! Later on, they get very spontaneous in size; I just stop whenever I feel like I've come to a good stopping point!!

Thank you all for reading!

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jellyfriedgreen7
Sorry if I sent out an update notification! The story just has a new poster :)

Comments

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kpop_and_ramen12 #1
Chapter 19: this is my favorite Sungjong fanfic of all time! please make a sequel!
Smileonce133 #2
Chapter 19: wish there's a sequel
eMargs
#3
Chapter 19: This is my new favorite among all Sungjong fics I've read, no doubt. Sungjong-centered fics aren't all too common, much less ones where he's paired with a female. It's really refreshing to see him characterized differently from the usual frivolous role he takes. Reading this, I kind of wished that a real Hyera existed, just so I could ship her with Sungjong. Also, I'm not exactly a Myungsoo/Jiae shipper (although I do like Jiae), but the fic made this pairing very convincing.

Even if there could have been other ways for this story to end, this kind of conclusion felt so painfully raw and realistic that I can't even complain.
xdreammerx
#4
Nooooo this ended too fast!! :( it was kinda abrupt for me... the ending rounded up the story nicely though i wish there was more...
On the other hand, i'm looking forward to whatever that video may mean too! I guess it's abt the girl group:)
And yes we'll be connected by being inspirits hahaha:) i dun really have any inspirit friends in real life:(
lymeries #5
I really enjoyed this story:) I know I haven't commented yet, but I think reading the last chapter really gave me the incentive to do something:)

I like how you shaped and concluded the whole plot. Its realistic, and timed well:) your language is on point too, which I really like (Grammar Nazi here!) Oh, and finally, I see a fic where Jiae is actually nice and not a complete :D. I've seen so many fan girls hate on her I feel a little...ㅜㅡㅜ

I was hoping for something longer though:D I WANT MORE. Keke, maybe a Sequel?
jellyfriedgreen7 #6
@Caramel_NyamNyam: Hmm, maybe it's because they're the same age?
@xdreammerx: I love Myungsoo and Jiae together too!
@honeylove: Hehe, I hope you were okay with the ending?? ^x^
honeylove
#7
*gasps* I can't stop grinning like an idiot! Don't be sorry for the myungae, because I LIKE IT!!! xDD
and I like it when you added ChodingYeol too xP
Please, please don't let Sungjong and Hyera have a heartbreak at the next chap TTATT
xdreammerx
#8
Hehehe i like and myungsoo together:) their interactions in this fic are quite cute :) Omg i had this weird feeling inside of me when they were kissing :x ok it's prob cos i was imagining the scene and how the characters were feeling~ Hahah.
Nyam--
#9
LOVE THIS! Finally a fanfic were Jiae isnt a complete , Love Hyera as well, so cute! >w<
I always thought that Jiae and Sungjong were quite close in YAMO though, might just be me.