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Myungsoo couldn’t really tell you exactly when their nightly cuddling sessions started happening. It was some months after their debut, all of the seven boys of Infinite equally exhausted and demoralized after trying so hard and not seeing any true success. Myungsoo happened to share a room with one of the most affectionate people he had ever met, Dongwoo, and the older boy had innocently asked Myungsoo one night if they could cuddle because he missed his mom and dad. He thought it was a bit childish for a twenty year old man to be missing his parents to that extent, but Myungsoo understood that some people were extremely close to their families and they weren’t going to be able to visit home anytime in the near future.
So Myungsoo held Dongwoo close to his chest, carding his hand through his hyung’s hair and trying to ignore the broken sobs that were coming from him. Myungsoo knew there was probably a lot more to the story than Dongwoo was letting on, but he didn’t want to pressure the other into sharing information that he wasn’t comfortable sharing. Sungyeol had wandered into this purely by accident, bursting into the room to show Myungsoo some stupid funny video he found on the internet but pouting when he saw Dongwoo in Myungsoo’s arms and Myungsoo holding his finger up to his lips.
Dongwoo lifted his head towards Sungyeol and gave him an extremely weak smile, “Hey there… Sungyeollie…” And Sungyeol just knew that he had to leave his laptop next to the door and get on the other side of Dongwoo, wrapping his long, long arms around both Dongwoo and Myungsoo. The eldest was safely cocooned in a warm and fuzzy Myungsoo and Sungyeol burrito and his quiet sobs faded off completely as he fell asleep. Although the two friends began trying to quietly discuss something over a sleeping Dongwoo, they too eventually drifted off and for the first time in a long time, the three were warm and happy.
That was how the ritual started. Dongwoo and Myungsoo would invite Sungyeol into their room at least one night a week and the three would happily cuddle together, talking about anything and everything until they drifted off to sleep. The three were supposed to be the original “rap line” in Infinite and had a very unique bond with each other. The other members thought their cuddling was a bit strange, but didn’t try and question them knowing that everybody deals with stress in different ways. Hoya and Sungjong would always just give Sungyeol a knowing smile when he would grab his blanket and sleeping mask and head into Dongwoo and Myungsoo’s room. Dongwoo almost always wanted to be in the middle, but they would usually decide who would be the lucky one in the middle based off of how sad they were. They quickly found out that Sungyeol was almost always the saddest.
“I failed another audition guys…” Sungyeol sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes as he felt tears threatening to fall. Myungsoo and Dongwoo exchanged a knowing glance and immediately cuddled up on either side of him as Sungyeol began to ramble off about all of his worries.
“I just don’t understand… I want this so badly and I feel like I’m working so hard, why don’t they want me?!” Sungyeol wiggled his body down so he would be small enough to hide his face against Dongwoo’s chest, Myungsoo and Dongwoo sharing looks of concern as they both gently stroked Sungyeol’s hair and back.
“Hey, Sungyeol. You are a great actor and you’re going to make it big one day, just wait and see! One day you’ll be richer than all of us because you’ll be the star of some movie or something and you’ll have to buy us all dinner!” Dongwoo stated in an encouraging voice before looking at Myungsoo, waiting for him to say something. Sungyeol turned around from Dongwoo’s grasp and looking up at Myungsoo with wide, sad eyes like a kicked puppy and Myungsoo felt his heart skip a beat.
He opened and closed his mouth, pausing for a second before he gave a genuine smile to Sungyeol that could have blinded Dongwoo if he stared at it for too long. Sungyeol curiously watched Myungsoo as his best friend in Infinite cupped his cheeks and squished them affectionately, whispering, “They’re fools for not wanting you.”
Sungyeol tried to tell himself it was because he was surrounded by two warm bodies and that’s the reason why his face was heating up so much.
Sungyeol sometimes wondered how he got himself involved with cuddling with Myungsoo and Dongwoo, especially when the two were the craziest sleepers in all of Infinite and he was by far the lightest sleeper. Many nights were spent being awoken by Myungsoo’s violent movements while sleeping or Dongwoo’s obnoxious sleep talking. He figured that these nights were when he started to realize how much he liked Myungsoo, way more than a best friend should.
One night, Myungsoo had awoken Sungyeol by practically punching him in the face, Sungyeol’s momentary annoyance immediately forgotten when he looked at Myungsoo and saw how cute the other looked with his eyebrows furrowed in his sleep.
“What are you dreaming about, Soo? Is it scary?” Sungyeol whispered as he poked the space between Myungsoo’s eyebrows with the utmost care. He hadn’t even really been aware of what he was doing, but Sungyeol quickly realized that Myungsoo wouldn’t wake up no matter what he did. Sungyeol smiled, petting Myungsoo’s head, “I should be scared by how much I like you, huh?” He let the question trail off, almost waiting for Myungsoo to open his eyes and reply but nothing happened.
Sungyeol knew that his friend was not going to answer that question for him, thankfully, and he drifted back to sleep shortly after that. When he woke up the next morning to Woohyun banging two pots together over his head and Myungsoo didn’t mention anything to him, Sungyeol knew he had gotten away with it.
He honestly hadn’t meant for it to become a habit; it was just a way for him to relieve stress. That’s what Sungyeol told himself as he continued to caress Myungsoo’s face while he was sleeping and whisper sweet nothings to him as if they were dating. He hadn’t been thinking about the consequences at all, Sungyeol was blissfully unaware of the world around him, barely wanting to talk during their cuddling sessions so he could just “sleep” right away and start his routine.
The second Sungyeol heard Dongwoo’s snoring start he usually would turn to Myungsoo and smile widely, but today he couldn’t help but sigh. He had been doing this for around a month and it had been three months since the three of them started this crazy routine.
“How much longer am I gonna do this, Soo?” Sungyeol pouted, a gentle hand rubbing Myungsoo’s shoulder as he continued to whisper out his deepest thoughts, “You look so cute like this… I don’t think you realize how cute you are… Do you even know how badly I want to kiss you right now?” Sungyeol almost whined as he rubbed Myungsoo’s shoulder gently. Myungsoo’s eyes suddenly opened and Sungyeol jolted upright, his face draining of color. He was about to scream but he covered his mouth with his hand, practically missing Myungsoo’s mumbled statement over the extremely loud beating of his heart.
“Why don’t you just kiss me then?” Myungsoo had mumbled, looking up at Sungyeol with eyes full of curiosity. Sungyeol dropped his hand from his mouth and went to lay down again next to his best friend. He couldn’t help the slight tremor in his voice as he grasped onto Myungsoo’s arm, his palms sweaty, “W...What did you just say?”
He wanted to absolutely confirm he heard Myungsoo correctly that this wasn't some weird fever dream and it was actually happening. Myungsoo enunciated every word a bit clearer this time, “Why don’t you just kiss me then?” and it was apparent to Sungyeol that this wasn’t actually a dream.
Myungsoo and Sungyeol shared their first kiss as their bandmate slept peacefully right beside them, unaware of the relationship that was blossoming right next to him. Sungyeol couldn’t tell if it was a good kiss or not because he was too busy trembling as Myungsoo held onto him firmly as if to let him know that Sungyeol wasn’t forcing him to do this. When they part, they both let out a quiet giggle, neither believing what was happening.
They probably should have exchanged more words (What exactly are we doing?) but instead they moved closer to the door away from Dongwoo and pulled the blanket Sungyeol had brought from his room completely over their bodies. Myungsoo kept his arms firmly around Sungyeol’s waist as they exchanged affectionate kisses under the blanket and Sungyeol couldn’t help the quiet nervous laughter that kept escaping from his lips every time they parted.
They both didn’t want to fall asleep, afraid to break the magic of the moment, but they had been kissing for almost an hour and Myungsoo was beginning to get very sleepy. He burrowed his cold nose into the crook of Sungyeol’s neck but Sungyeol didn’t have the energy to complain about how cold it felt.
“Kiss me again tomorrow night, Yeollie…” Myungsoo mumbled, eyes already fully closed and Sungyeol hummed in affirmation.
He would probably kiss Myungsoo every morning and night and every second of the day if it were possible.
Waking up the next morning was confusing for everybody that was involved. Sunggyu burst open the door to try and wake the three sleepiest members up and was confused when he saw Dongwoo sprawled out alone with no blanket and Myungsoo and Sungyeol wrapped together tightly under the blanket instead.
Chalking it up to Dongwoo and Myungsoo’s bad sleeping habits, he clapped his hands loudly and started to yell, “Yah! Wake up guys! We have to be ready to leave the dorm in 20!” Sunggyu couldn’t help but notice the way Sungyeol tried to jolt away from Myungsoo like the other was suddenly on fire once he opened his eyes and sprung to his feet, pushing past Sunggyu and marching towards the bathroom with speed.
“What a weirdo…” Sunggyu breathed out, absolutely annoyed that Myungsoo and Dongwoo hadn’t moved an inch. He had to resort to grabbing a spray bottle and filling it with water, spraying it in both of Dongwoo and Myungsoo’s faces until both boys begrudgingly woke up.
“Hyung… what time is it?” Dongwoo groaned, scratching his stomach and looking up at Sunggyu with a puzzled expression. Sunggyu huffed loudly, leaving the room without saying another word. Dongwoo shuffled around the room and tried to pack his backpack and grab some clothes as Myungsoo just sat on the ground, his hands shaking as he brushed his fingertips against his lips. Was yesterday night seriously just a dream? Sungyeol wasn’t even in their room… maybe Myungsoo had just dreamed everything up and was having a scarily vivid recollection of the moment that he only made up in his head.
But as Myungsoo finally got up after 15 minutes of just staring at the wall and moved towards the bathroom, he saw Sungyeol sitting on the couch and biting his lip as he watched Myungsoo move. Myungsoo looked back at him with a nervous smile, waving as if they didn’t see each other practically every moment of every day. Sungyeol waved back as Myungsoo went inside the bathroom and closed the door, sighing happily. Sungjong furrowed his eyebrows watching the exchange while sitting next to Sungyeol, rolling his eyes as he looked back down at his phone, “God, why are you guys so weird? Why are you waving to each other? You literally slept in the same room last night.”
Myungsoo and Sungyeol didn’t properly talk about what happened that night, but both were nagging Dongwoo pretty consistently to have more sleepovers in the room together. What was once a weekly or bi-weekly tradition became almost a nightly tradition and Dongwoo didn’t have any reason to suspect anything weird about it. Every night either Myungsoo or Sungyeol would come up with a convenient excuse: they missed home, they were sad about a recording, they were lonely. The world had too many excuses and Sungyeol and Myungsoo began going through every single one they could think of.
Once Dongwoo would fall asleep (never more than twenty minutes of rubbing his stomach and talking to him quietly did the trick), Myungsoo and Sungyeol would fall into each other's arms, kissing each other more sweetly with every passing night. They kept meaning to talk about it, really they did, but there was just no time in the day to have a conversation as serious as that. Whether it was serious or not, they were just happy to feel comfort at the end of each day wrapped up in their blankets so close that they could feel every slight movement the other made.
At one point, the nightly sessions weren’t enough and Myungsoo and Sungyeol wanted even more. One mid-afternoon day in May when it was unseasonably hot, the managers let all of Infinite go from practice early and have a free afternoon. Dongwoo stayed in the practice room with Hoya as the other boys went off to do whatever they pleased. Sungyeol and Myungsoo had been the only ones to choose going straight back to the dorm to “rest”, gigantic smiles on their faces as they ran into the dorm normally so cramped by the seven boys; it suddenly felt so free.
It had started out as a tickle fight, Sungyeol rubbing the sides of Myungsoo playfully as the other was trying to organize and hang his shirts that were scattered on the ground. Myungsoo retaliated immediately, lunging at Sungyeol with a scream and laughing, tickling the taller boy all over his torso and laughing even harder at Sungyeol’s loud shrieks.
With a rush of adrenaline, Sungyeol moves to grab Myungsoo’s arms and flips the other over successfully, sitting on top of him and pinning his arms above his head. Myungsoo was panting heavily, cheeks flushed from over-exertion and a hint of something else as they both realize that the atmosphere had suddenly shifted drastically. At almost the same time, Myungsoo and Sungyeol grab onto the other’s shirts and pull the other boy in for a heated kiss.
Their kissing had been staying quite innocent considering the fact that Dongwoo was almost always in the room, but this time what they were doing felt anything but innocent. Sungyeol was quickly mouthing against Myungsoo’s neck, leaving hickeys that were going to be way too visible, while Myungsoo was grinding up against Sungyeol with the realization that he had an erection and it was all Sungyeol’s fault. Myungsoo was trying to let Sungyeol know that he wanted him to do something about it by just grinding against him, but he soon realized he was going to have to vocalize his desires.
“Yeollie… I’m hard…” Myungsoo whined quietly, poking Sungyeol’s cheek and trying to get him to stop sucking on his neck and just look at him.
The way Sungyeol looked up with the biggest smirk on his face as he slowly slid a hand down Myungsoo’s clothed chest and stopped at his waistband would be the subject of Myungsoo’s masturbation fantasies forever.
“Yeah? What do you want me to do?” Sungyeol said with confidence and Myungsoo was suddenly realizing that Sungyeol was way too good at this for his own good.
Dongwoo didn’t expect that him electing to also come to the dorm straight after practice to take a nap with his best friends in the group would end with him walking in on Sungyeol’s hand down Myungsoo’s pants, jerking the other man off while whispering in his ear. Dongwoo wanted to scream, wanted to tell them to stop, but words couldn’t leave his mouth. He couldn’t believe this was happening, wasn’t it wrong to be doing this?!
Myungsoo came (even though Dongwoo couldn’t exactly see it he could just tell ) with Sungyeol’s name on his lips, Sungyeol taking his hand out of Myungsoo’s shorts with a satisfied smile and licking the cum that coated it like it was a new dessert he was trying out. Myungsoo had a blissed out expression on his face, Dongwoo thought he looked like a kitten that was sunbathing, before he noticed Dongwoo at the door and that expression morphed into horror.
He screamed at the top of his lungs and hid behind Sungyeol, Sungyeol darting his gaze up from his hand to Dongwoo and cursing loudly, “Fuck, Dongwoo hyung! How long have you been standing there?!”
Dongwoo walked into the room slowly as if he was a robot on auto-pilot, collapsing on the ground next to the pair and grasping his head, “Is… is this why you guys have wanted to have sleepovers more often? Have you been doing this next to me while I’ve been sleeping?!”
Myungsoo and Sungyeol darted their eyes to each other nervously, Myungsoo still trying to hide behind Sungyeol as if he were a scared child hiding behind his mother. They hadn’t even talked about this properly with each other, let alone their hyung who they loved and respected.
“Hyung… we can explain…” Sungyeol began, trying to reach out to pat Dongwoo’s shoulder in a friendly gesture but because of what he had just witnessed, Dongwoo flinched and backed up slightly. Dongwoo would never want to be rude, especially to his friends that he loved and respected, he was just extremely shocked by what he saw and wasn’t sure how he should exactly react.
“What is there to explain, Sungyeol? I already saw everything…” Dongwoo trailed off, focusing on a spot on the wall and spacing out. Sungyeol bit his lip, unsure of how to act anymore now that Dongwoo had rejected his touch. Myungsoo sighed, crawling from behind Sungyeol’s torso and bowing his head at Dongwoo, “I’m really sorry, hyung. I promise you won’t have to see that again.”
Dongwoo nodded, his mind seeming to be off somewhere else as Myungsoo grabbed Sungyeol’s wrist and dragged his bandmate into the small room where their washing machine was located. Closing the door behind them, Myungsoo stared at Sungyeol with a pointed gaze, “What are we supposed to do now, Sungyeol?”
Sungyeol throws his hands up in defense, “Why are you taking this out on me? We are both responsible and honestly, Dongwoo is nice and he doesn’t seem to be a bigoted person. We probably just need to give him a few days…”
In the middle of Sungyeol’s reasoning, Myungsoo poked Sungyeol’s chest with a finger, his gaze even stronger, “I’m not even concerned about that right now, Sungyeol! What are we? Are you just messing around with me or are you serious?”
Sungyeol was surprised at Myungsoo’s behavior and too stubborn to accept losing a fight, he came right back at Myungsoo and shoved his chest lightly, “Where the fuck did this come from? I’m trying to figure out how we’re going to prevent our bandmate and friend from being traumatized and you’re suddenly coming at me with this?”
Myungsoo was not satisfied at all with Sungyeol’s reaction and answer, grunting when he was shoved and shoving Sungyeol right back. Sungyeol might have a few centimeters on him but he was as skinny as a stick and Myungsoo had a bit more muscle. When Myungsoo shoved Sungyeol, his back connected with the washing machine and he let out a tiny whimper as Myungsoo began yelling at a volume he didn’t know the other was capable of, “You didn’t answer my question! What ARE we, Sungyeol? Am I just a toy you’re going to get tired of and throw away? Or do you actually have feelings for me? Because I swear to god if you’re just playing with my heart to throw me away I’m never going to forgive you! I’m going to hate you for the rest of my life!”
It was a sea of red in Sungyeol’s eyes when he threw the first punch at Myungsoo’s jaw, it happened so fast. He was so angry that Myungsoo would ever assume that about him. How dare he assume something that awful about him? Instead of assuring Myungsoo with pretty words and kisses, he threw a punch and didn’t even flinch when Myungsoo threw one back at him.
Sungyeol grabbed a fistful of Myungsoo’s hair and Myungsoo grabbed a fistful of Sungyeol’s t-shirt, the two shaking each other back and forth for a few minutes. Sungyeol found himself with the upper hand for a few seconds, pinning Myungsoo’s back to the top of the washing machine and hovering over him. Sungyeol’s eyes had unshed tears in them as he looked down at Myungsoo’s beautiful, beautiful face that now sported a bleeding lip and a black eye. How could he hurt the boy he loved so much like this?
Sungyeol’s heart stuttered as he thought of the word again. Love. He couldn’t explain why but he loved Myungsoo. The other boy was just looking up at Sungyeol with furrowed eyebrows, confused but waiting for his response. Sungyeol could barely get the words out before he crashed his lips against Myungsoo’s.
You’re so stupid, I would never throw you away. I want you to be mine.
Explaining their “battle wounds” had proved to not be an easy task: the managers and Sunggyu were absolutely furious and nobody believed their “the washing machine fell on top of us as we were doing laundry” excuse. However, Dongwoo stepped in as an eyewitness and said that he saw the two of them doing laundry himself and Sungyeol and Myungsoo gave their hyung a bright smile that he couldn’t help but return. They hadn’t properly talked about what happened since Dongwoo caught them (and didn’t know if they ever would), but they figured that this was Dongwoo’s way of showing his support.
Needless to say though, the threesome’s sleepovers had basically stopped completely but all of the members didn’t even question it because they assumed Sungyeol and Myungsoo were fighting. However, this left Myungsoo craving Sungyeol even more than before now that he couldn’t cuddle his best friend who was now technically his boyfriend.
Sungyeol was a little scared at how hard Myungsoo was laying on the fanservice since their laundry room fight, constantly clinging to Sungyeol in all of their broadcasts to the point that their fans started to ‘ship’ them as a couple. Myungsoo had giggled happily at the discovery, searching it up on his laptop and shoving it Sungyeol’s face one night in the living room.
“They support us, Yeol!” Myungsoo had whispered in his ear excitedly as he scrolled through the countless comments of their fans who loved the “Sooyeol” couple. Sungyeol rolled his eyes and scoffed quietly, “Come on, Soo. You know they wouldn’t actually support us. They just love the fantasy of it all.”
Woohyun was sitting sort of close to them and decided to be nosy, poking his head into their conversation, “What are you guys talking about?” Sungyeol felt Myungsoo tense up next to him visibly showing how guilty he felt so he decided to help his boyfriend out by laughing obnoxiously and turning Myungsoo’s laptop screen to Woohyun, “Can you believe this shit, Woohyun? There are some fans that like the idea of Myungsoo and I being a couple, can you imagine that?”
Woohyun laughed along with Sungyeol, apparently thinking that was the funniest joke in the world, “Oh my god, that would be a disaster. Myungsoo, you shouldn’t take that shit to heart, they’re just being weird fangirls. They do the same thing to Sunggyu and I all the time and I honestly think that’s a funnier thought. Can you imagine that? Me and Sunggyu?”
Sungyeol used that as the perfect excuse to turn the focus of the conversation to the imagining of Woohyun and Sunggyu as a couple with Myungsoo closing his laptop slowly and pouting a bit. Was the idea of him and Sungyeol as a couple really that unbelievable? Why was Sungyeol just joining along in Woohyun’s jokes? Shouldn’t he try and stick up for them?
The taller boy could feel Myungsoo’s mind spinning and coming up with all of the different possible scenarios in the world and rested what could be considered a friendly hand on his thigh. Myungsoo smiled and leaned against Sungyeol as the other squeezed his thigh reassuringly while keeping up a conversation about anything and everything with Woohyun. Woohyun noticed how close they were physically and gave them a reassuring smile, “I’m glad you guys made up, you two are actually best friends so it’s so weird to see when you’re fighting.”
Myungsoo nodded happily, closing his eyes and finally speaking, “Yeah, it’s too weird when you’re fighting with your best friend. The world doesn’t feel the same without them.” Sungyeol breathed an internal sigh of relief, thankful that Myungsoo was a clingy person by nature so their excessive skinship didn’t raise any red flags. Sungyeol figured it would be best if he just let Myungsoo be as clingy as he wanted and that if he wasn’t as touchy, it would be as if they were just best friends.
However, he didn’t miss the way that Dongwoo visibly tensed up when he entered the living room with Hoya after making a trip to the convenience store. Sungyeol definitely had to try and talk to him sooner rather than later.
Myungsoo figured that if he had to pick a favorite part of his day, it was holding hands with Sungyeol in the back of the van. It seemed stupid when he was an idol and had so many exciting things that happened to him throughout his day, but it was truly the time when he felt most at peace and just normal . He knew that him and Sungyeol were far from normal, both in their public and private lives, but he figured that most people never even had a second thought about something as simple as holding hands with their lover.
The group decided that they would just have assigned seats in their van when all of them were traveling in one car to just avoid unnecessary fights. Sunggyu was designated the front passenger seat ( “Obviously, I’m the oldest” , the leader had narrowed his eyes when he made the declaration as if he was challenging the rest of them to stand up to him), Woohyun, Hoya and Sungjong sat in the middle row and Myungsoo, Sungyeol and Dongwoo sat in the back row.
Dongwoo almost wanted to protest the decision (that was made by just playing rock, paper, scissors as always) but he didn’t have any real reason he could say without outing Myungsoo and Sungyeol so he simply turned a blind eye as Myungsoo would practically jump to the back of the van and lock Sungyeol’s hand tightly in his own.
Dongwoo thought that if this was a few months ago they would probably all be laying on each other’s shoulders and joking around, but now it was just Myungsoo leaning on Sungyeol’s shoulder and whispering things in his ear that Dongwoo was certain he didn’t want to hear from the way Sungyeol’s ears would flush bright red and Myungsoo would giggle. There was a part of Dongwoo that was jealous because something that all three of them shared was taken away from him so quickly, but deep down Dongwoo knew that he didn’t want to disrupt the beginning stages of their relationship.
Maybe it was just a fling. Maybe it was just a phase.
Dongwoo could barely convince himself that when he saw Myungsoo’s eyes literally sparkle when he saw Sungyeol or the way Sungyeol was always silently considerate of Myungsoo’s opinion on everything they did as a group, even if he didn’t vocalize it. Things like offering Myungsoo his snacks and water after a long practice or making sure that Myungsoo got to shower first when they got back to the dorm because “he sweats the most, he deserves it” .
So Dongwoo always let them get a little too close for comfort in the van without protesting because he realized that since their sleepovers stopped, the couple actually never had any proper alone time and that this was their time to show their care for each other as unrestricted as they could.
Myungsoo looked like a sleepy kitten today after a particularly long schedule outside of Seoul and Dongwoo was certain if he could literally crawl into Sungyeol’s lap, he probably would. He tried to pretend he was looking out the window, but Dongwoo couldn’t help glancing at the way Sungyeol’s thumb was gently caressing the back of Myungsoo’s hand as the other boy was slowly but surely drifting off to sleep.
“...don’t wanna sleep…. Only time together….” Dongwoo picked up bits of Myungsoo’s whispered whine that was slurred because of how sleepy he was. Sungyeol simply guided Myungsoo’s head to his shoulder without any words, reaching his other hand that was not holding Myungsoo’s to run his fingers through his hair gently.
Dongwoo wanted to cry at how tender the scene was and realized he needed to properly have a conversation with the couple before their friendship was completely ruined.
Ever since Myungsoo and Sungyeol got caught by Dongwoo, they were way too scared to try anything else in the dorms at night so they restricted anything other than hand-holding to their extensive “bathroom” breaks during certain schedules. If the schedule allowed for a prolonged break, Sungyeol and Myungsoo would always claim they were going to get some “fresh air” and go to the “bathroom” and nobody would even question how long they were gone for just because they were so exhausted.
Frantic kisses in between hushed laughter could be heard in the bathroom as Myungsoo and Sungyeol would huddle into one stall, using the opportunity to just hold each other close. It was kind of ironic that these tender, romantic moments were happening in a bathroom stall, cleanliness definitely questionable, but Infinite were in the height of their Be Mine promotions and time alone was so rare.
They were in the midst of “running away” from the managers on Sesame Player, the concept making Sungyeol and Myungsoo giddy with the fact that they could potentially sneak away for a moment while filming. They had just shot an extensively long scene running around Hongdae and Sungyeol and Myungsoo had already gotten caught by their managers, meaning they were on break before the other members.
Their manager simply waved his hand in the direction of the building they were parked next to, playing some game on his phone while shrugging, “There’s probably a bathroom there, go ask the security guy in that building and try and find it.”
Myungsoo and Sungyeol grinned at each other as they ran inside the building, practically jumping for joy when they found a separate handicapped bathroom. Sungyeol laughed as he pulled Myungsoo inside, immediately pinning him against the door and giving him a long kiss, Myungsoo’s lips quivering as Sungyeol’s tongue prodded him, begging him silently to open his mouth.
Sungyeol felt lightheaded as Myungsoo opened his mouth, reaching around Myungsoo’s waist and squeezing his butt which had gotten noticeably more firm after their intense dance practices. Myungsoo pulled away to whine quietly, rubbing himself against Sungyeol with a look in his eye that Sungyeol had only seen that day he had jerked Myungsoo off in the dorm.
Every since that day, they had been too scared to go farther, not having enough time or being too scared of being caught. Sungyeol panted as if he had just ran a marathon, his dick growing heavy in his pants as he looked at Myungsoo and questioned him, “You… you wanna do more than just kiss today, huh?”
Myungsoo nodded quickly, turning his body around and rubbing his butt against Sungyeol’s crotch while blushing, “I’ve been doing some… research, you know. About how two guys fuck.” The two of them were still facing the door of the bathroom, but Sungyeol turned his head slowly to the mirror to watch Myungsoo’s face and slowly trailed his hand under Myungsoo’s shirt to play with the happy trail under his belly button.
“So you’ve been watching gay porn and picturing that it was us?” Sungyeol asked bluntly and couldn’t help but laugh at the offended expression that Myungsoo turned to give him, “I’ve been doing more research than just watching porn, thank you very much! Porn isn’t a real depiction of how sex actually works anyway.”
Sungyeol couldn’t help but trail kisses up Myungsoo’s neck because of how cute he was, Myungsoo was always the cutest to Sungyeol, whispering in his lover’s ear, “How would you know that anyway? Are you not a virgin, Myungsoo?”
Myungsoo turned in Sungyeol’s grasp to face him, the more playful mood from before suddenly disapting as Myungsoo narrowed his eyes at the taller, “I am, but are you? You seem like you were a player when you were younger, you even had an older noona fall in love with you.”
Sungyeol froze, not knowing that his teasing remark would leave Myungsoo so testy. He scratched the back of his neck and sighed, “I can’t say that I’m a virgin but I can say that I’ve never had sex with another guy before?”
Myungsoo pursed his lips, expecting the answer already but almost wanting to make Sungyeol feel guilty. Using this to his advantage, Myungsoo batted his eyes and pouted up at Sungyeol, “Does it turn you off that I’m an inexperienced virgin?”
Sungyeol shook his head, wrapping up Myungsoo in a tight embrace, “No, not at all! You know that you will turn me on no matter how experienced or inexperienced you are, right? Just you existing is a turn on for me!”
Myungsoo laughed at Sungyeol’s adorable confession, breaking free from his grasp to drop to his knees, “Let me show you what I learned from my research then, Yeollie~ I’m really eager to try it out~”
Sungyeol received his first blowjob in a handicapped bathroom from Myungsoo. It was awkward, there was lots of too hard hair pulling, accidental choking and biting, and when Sungyeol was cumming, he pulled out because he didn’t want to force Myungsoo to swallow without thinking that he was going to cum all over Myungsoo’s face instead.
So after Sungyeol received his first blowjob, he spent five minutes cleaning Myungsoo’s face with toilet paper before trying to return the favor until the manager called in the midst of it. Myungsoo cursed quietly as Sungyeol pulled his mouth off of Myungsoo’s dick and answered the call as if nothing was happening. However, he kept his hand jerking off Myungsoo, wanting his boyfriend to cum before they were forced to leave.
“No, we didn’t get lost hyung. We found the bathroom, yeah. But then we decided to have a race to the rooftop on the staircase and we’re just sitting at the top of the building now because we figured the filming was still going on. Yeah, we’re gonna come…” Sungyeol trailed off, staring right up at Myungsoo and licking his lips as he ended the call just in time to put his mouth on the head of Myungsoo’s dick and swallow his boyfriend’s cum happily.
Myungsoo complained it was dirty, but Sungyeol argued he tasted good and wanted to do it again. Myungsoo’s heart skipped a beat because he thought that Sungyeol was so sweet even in stupid, dirty situations like these. Kissing Sungyeol’s cheek and patting his butt as the taller boy stood up, they exited the bathroom as if nothing happened and went back to reality.
Sungyeol doesn’t realize when it started happening, but he really starts thinking he needs to be in love with Myungsoo. Sungyeol knew that he loved Myungsoo, but he didn’t really know how in love with Myungsoo he was. It just seemed that gradually over the course of a few months, he started putting Myungsoo before himself in so many different ways. He was so scared, Sungyeol would lay in his bed at night and think about how he wanted to have Myungsoo in his arms and he would start tugging on his hair in frustration at how sappy that sounded.
Myungsoo wasn’t as scared as Sungyeol; the feelings were strong and sure, it was scary how much that Myungsoo cared for his boyfriend, but it made him happy to feel like this. He was naturally a very clingy and loving person, and having Sungyeol by his side made him so happy to the point where he was starting to lose his “L” character the CEO had forced him to take on and became more and more “Myungsoo” every single time he was filmed.
Sungyeol is more hesitant, he wants all of these things to feel great and wonderful but he always has doubt in his head. Am I even good enough for him? Am I worth it?
Myungsoo doesn’t know how Sungyeol is feeling exactly, but he figures that the other just needs time. He’s always happy to just hold his hand and smile.
It was fine until it wasn’t fine.
Myungsoo was going to Japan extremely frequently to film for his drama and Sungyeol was going crazy.
The other members figured that Sungyeol was just jealous that Myungsoo got an acting role in Japan before he had a chance to and would give him reassuring smiles and pats on the back throughout the day when Sungyeol started throwing a tantrum. This almost frustrated Sungyeol even more because why would he be jealous that his boyfriend got an amazing opportunity? Of course he was happy for him! But it wasn’t like Sungyeol could just scream this out to the world so instead he just let himself get even moodier on the days that Myungsoo was off filming in Japan.
Myungsoo was starting to experience the crazy filming schedules and what an actor really has to go through, feeling delirious as he would collapse in his hotel room bed at strange hours in the night. He wanted to call Sungyeol so badly, he missed his boyfriend by his side more than he could ever imagine. Even if Sungyeol and Myungsoo could not be ‘public’ with their affections even amongst their members, just having Sungyeol in his sight made Myungsoo’s days happier.
It had been about three days that Myungsoo had been gone (approximately 60 hours… not that Sungyeol was counting or anything) and Sungyeol was awake again at 3 in the morning, waiting for a call that probably wouldn’t come because Myungsoo would probably be too tired to check in. Sungyeol understood that but he couldn’t help but clutch his phone to his chest and wait for the vibrations to travel through his body that alerted him of a new message. Hoya’s music was echoing through the room at a low volume when Sungyeol felt the vibrations against his chest.
Jumping up so fast he almost slammed his head on the ceiling from his top bunk, Sungyeol jumped out of his bed and ran out of the bedroom without trying to be quiet, answering the call when he got to the living room with an excited, hushed whisper, “Soo! Why did it take you so long to call!”
Sungyeol felt his stomach flip at Myungsoo’s sleepy chuckle, clutching his boyfriend’s precious bamboo pillow to his chest as he rolled around on the floor like a child, “I’m sorry Yeollie… I wanted to call you but I was so sleepy I passed out as soon as I got to my hotel every time…”
Hearing this Sungyeol pouted, stroking the top of the bamboo pillow as if it was Myungsoo himself, “Aw… I hope you’re eating well and still showering though. I don’t want a smelly boyfriend when you come home!”
Myungsoo laughed louder at that and Sungyeol could just picture the pout on Myungsoo’s face as he whined, “Of course I am showering, Yeol! I’m not gonna be stinky! You have to give me lots of kisses to make up for this, okay? It’s the longest we’ve been apart from each other…”
Sungyeol sighed, nodding as if Myungsoo could see him, “I know… It’s so hard not having you here with me…. You’re still coming back tomorrow right?” Sungyeol paused and waited for a response that never came because Myungsoo had passed out, fast asleep within a few seconds. Sungyeol realized this when he heard Myungsoo’s steady breathing, almost too scared to breathe himself as if it would wake Myungsoo from his slumber. He didn’t really know why, but he was almost afraid to hang up, as if doing so would separate Myungsoo from him. It was silly, they weren’t even together at the moment so how could they be separated?
When one of the managers went in to wake Myungsoo up for his flight, he was very confused as to why Myungsoo had been on a call with Sungyeol for the past three hours and ended the call himself.
Myungsoo and Sungyeol’s ‘talk’ with Dongwoo had been long overdue, it should have happened months ago truly, but Infinite were just starting to hit their stride and didn’t have much free time to begin with. The couple had been trying to figure out exactly when the best time to talk to Dongwoo was without the other members interfering but Dongwoo approached them before they could even really figure out the details on their own.
It was after a late-night schedule, the members of Infinite so exhausted that they could barely move their bodies to the car. Myungsoo and Sungyeol were just chatting about something mundane that had happened during the recording in the dressing room, not even realizing that Dongwoo had come up to them, quietly clearing his throat. The other members were scattered about the studio or in the car, unable to overhear Dongwoo as he exclaimed as quietly as he could manage, “I’m really sorry for the way I’ve acted over these past few months guys… I want you two to know that I care about you more than you could ever imagine and I was afraid our friendship was going to be impacted when I found out you guys were dating. It turns out that the reason our friendship started changing wasn’t because of you guys… it was because of me…”
Myungsoo and Sungyeol didn’t dare to speak, only silently placing their arms around Dongwoo’s shoulders as their hyung began to shed a few tears. Dongwoo hiccuped, pausing a moment before continuing his apology, “I really hope you guys will forgive me… I miss hanging out with you outside of broadcasts too. I understand if you won’t…. It really wasn’t fair of me the way that I acted…. But if you do forgive me, I hope we’ll be able to go back to the way we used to be…”
Myungsoo looked at Sungyeol over Dongwoo’s head, trying to communicate through his eyes to his boyfriend that of course they would forgive Dongwoo no matter what, but Sungyeol looked as if he was deep in thought, not making eye-contact with Myungsoo. Pausing for a long moment, Sungyeol finally spoke, “You know, Dongwoo, it’s gonna be hard to go back to exactly the way were before…”
Dongwoo looked up at Sungyeol with widened, teary eyes and Myungsoo stared at Sungyeol in disbelief. Was he really not going to forgive Dongwoo after his heartfelt apology? Myungsoo was completely ready to let Dongwoo back into his life as a good friend, missing cuddling with and asking for advice from his hyung.
“I don’t understand, Yeol…” Dongwoo started out slowly, his voice trailing off as he got more emotional when Sungyeol glared down at his hyung, “What do you mean, you don’t understand? You treated Myungsoo and I as if we were trash for months just because we were dating each other. I expected you of all members to be the most accepting of our relationship and you acted as if… as if Myungsoo and I were doing something wrong !” Sungyeol’s voice hitched, feeling himself get very emotional too quickly and not wanting to show his emotions so clearly.
Dongwoo slowly looked up to Myungsoo instead, tugging on his shirt, “Soo… you don’t feel that way, right?” Taking a deep breath, Myungsoo glared at Sungyeol as his pat Dongwoo’s head comfortingly, “I don’t feel that way, hyung. I’m ready for us to all go back to the way we used to be.”
Sungyeol scoffed, obviously expecting his boyfriend to take his side, and stormed out of the dressing room in a huff. Dongwoo and Myungsoo stood next to each other for a long moment before Myungsoo let out a big sigh, “I’ll… talk to him later, Dongwoo hyung. Don’t worry. It’s all going to go back to normal soon.”
Dongwoo nodded, not saying much of anything which was very much unlike him. He must have thought that after apologizing, everything would immediately go back to normal. Myungsoo understood why Sungyeol had been upset, but didn’t think that it warranted that harsh of a reaction against Dongwoo who had really just been trying to fix everything.
On the ride home, Myungsoo kept trying to put his hand over Sungyeol’s but he kept pulling away, turning his body completely towards the window and away from Myungsoo. Once they all reached the dorm, it was a race to the bathroom because everybody wanted to get ready for bed first. Myungsoo saw Sungyeol trying to race for the door, but gripped his wrist harshly, dragging him over to the driveway where the manager had parked the car.
Sungyeol glared at Myungsoo, trying to shake the younger off of him, “What? You don’t stick up for me and now you want to cling to me? Get off!”
Myungsoo narrowed his eyes, backing Sungyeol up against the wall next to their dorm, “You’re not going to take this out on me, I didn’t do anything. You were way too harsh on Dongwoo hyung.”
Sungyeol laughed bitterly, but didn’t try to flight Myungsoo’s grip this time, “If you’re so concerned with him, why don’t you go fucking date him instead of me?”
Myungsoo sighed, trusting Sungyeol enough to not hold a death grip on him and instead lifting a hand to trace his jawline, “Are you seriously jealous over this? You know I only have eyes for you, Yeol.”
Sungyeol leaned into the touch without even really being conscious of what he was doing, a rare moment of weakness appearing on his face as he blushed and looked into Myungsoo’s eyes shyly, “I… I was trying to protect us. And aren’t you afraid somebody is going to see us like this? We’re still in public technically… anybody could walk by.”
Myungsoo dragged Sungyeol over to behind their van, crouching down and pulling his boyfriend down to crouch with him. Sungyeol almost fell over and bumped his nose against Myungsoo’s, laughing as Myungsoo fell into a sitting position and Sungyeol promptly sat on his lap.
“There, nobody is going to see us now. We’re behind in between a car and a wall,” Myungsoo assured, kissing Sungyeol’s cheek.
Sungyeol ran his fingers up and down Myungsoo’s biceps, “Do you have a kink for doing things in public, Kim Myungsoo? First the bathroom and now this... “
Myungsoo’s face colored bright red, slapping Sungyeol’s chest and hissing, “Does it look like we’re doing anything dirty right now? I’m trying to just tell you how much I love you and how I want you to make up with Dongwoo because it’s important that my boyfriend gets along with all of the important people in my life!”
Sungyeol blinked at Myungsoo’s confession, showering his face with light pecks and hugging the other close to his chest, “You’re so cute. How could I ever stay mad at you for more than a minute?”
Myungsoo nuzzled his face against Sungyeol’s chest, “So please make up with Dongwoo, I know that you miss him just as much as I do. You’re just too stubborn to admit it.” And Sungyeol didn't like admitting that Myungsoo was right ( ‘Because you’re stubborn ’, Myungsoo would scoff out) but he was right. Sungyeol missed Dongwoo but just had too much pride to immediately accept the other’s apology.
The next day, Sungyeol cornered Dongwoo and gave him a huge hug. It was Dongwoo's favorite way of apologizing and Sungyeol smiled as Dongwoo squeezed him tightly.
If you had asked any member of Infinite when they debuted with Come Back Again, a first win had seemed like a pipe dream and something that would never come for them. In fact, they were terrified that if they didn’t achieve their first win soon that they would be forced to disband and fade into complete irrelevance in the beginning stages of their career.
But then, finally, after over a year they achieved their first win at the end of their Be Mine promotions. All of the members couldn’t help but feel extremely emotional and even if it wasn’t directly on the music show stage, all of them couldn’t help but shed a few tears at different points throughout the night. For Sungyeol, everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion.
Things were finally getting better.
Moving into a new dorm had been just as emotional as moving into their first one, except this time it was on a different scale. When they moved into the first time, there was so much fear and excitement about what the future would hold. Now, there was still some excitement and fear, but mainly relief to be escaping such a cramped dorm that was literally falling apart. When picking their room assignments, like always, Infinite defaulted on rock paper scissors to decide everything fairly.
Myungsoo and Sungyeol tried to hide their excitement when they found out they would be in the same room, with one more person joining them. Looking on and watching the other members play enthusiastically, Myungsoo and Sungyeol couldn’t help but pull Dongwoo into a giant group hug when it was decided that Dongwoo, Myungsoo and Sungyeol would all share the same room.
“I guess they’re back to normal now?” Woohyun commented to Sunggyu, watching the three jump around in a circle together.
The leader nodded, chuckling as he watched the three members run into their room to start “decorating” or something, “Yeah, looks like everything is the way it should be.”