Infinite: Another Day Passes
Title: Another Day Passes
Fandom: Infinite
Genre: Gen
Rating: PG
Summary: Infinite spends the last day of their lives at the beach. For this prompt.
Wordcount: 1760
They stared out at the sea. It looked grey, and the sky was grey too. “It looks… menacing,” Myungsoo said.
“I dunno,” Sunggyu said. “You guys said you wanted the beach, so this is it.” He turned back, heading towards the cabin. His sneakers crunched on the wet sand. Dongwoo sat down. The rest followed suit, digging their heels into the sand like burrowing crabs. They stared out over the stormy expanse of sky.
“It’s too early for this to end,” Woohyun said. He’d only recently stopped crying, and he might start up again. Sungyeol patted him on the shoulder.
“Well, we said we’d make the most of it,” he said, but his voice was shaky, too.
“Stop crying,” Hoya said. “You’re going to make it worse for the rest of us.” Sungjong looked away. Dongwoo pointed out at the sea.
“Look. I think I see it.” It was a glowing red dot, nothing more than a pinprick of light, but its light was steady.
“They said it would hit around 0300,” Sungjong said.
“And you won’t feel a thing,” Hoya said, echoing the weather forecaster. The sea rolled in again, waves exhaling against the slick sand.
~*~
“At least it’s not crowded,” Sunggyu said, and shivered. The truth was that the shoreline was completely deserted. In a way, it was nice to have so much privacy. It had been a smooth, quiet drive down to the coast. And they could all bike on the road without having to worry about cars. They hadn’t been able to do that in a long time. The only thing they had to worry about was the noise-a high-pitched whine from the asteroid that sounded like a dog whistle.
“We might even be able to go surfing,” Myungsoo said, ringing his little bell.
Hoya studied the horizon. “Not with those waves,” he said.
“We can try,” Sungyeol said, more to snap at Hoya than for Myungsoo’s benefit, but he was cut off by his own panting as he struggled to keep up. They hadn’t been able to find a bike to fit his height.
“We’re losing daylight,” Dongwoo said, and swerved out to the front.
“What daylight?” Woohyun scoffed, but he sped up anyway, reaching out to kick him playfully.
~*~
Hoya had always been happiest when pampering himself. The pool was luxuriously pristine and the water was clear, and, lap by lap, he felt his mood beginning to lift. Eventually the rest came to sit next to the poolside.
“Yah!” Woohyun yelled, and splashed him with a wave as he came up. Hoya spluttered and swiped wildly, drawing up a wave of his own. Woohyun cackled and danced out of reach.
“Stop hogging the pool!” Hoya turned, but Sungjong was already launching a boat in the water.
“Sorry, hyung,” he said. “The wind’s just too good right now.” He tossed his head to get his bangs out of his eyes, and Hoya shrugged. He knocked over Woohyun’s boat instead and walked off, shivering in the wind. Sungjong bit his lip and kept his head down.
~*~
Sungjong spread out the blanket, and Woohyun placed rocks at each corner. The cooler took the both of them to wrestle across the sand, and when they had finished laying out all the dishes, they celebrated by cutting up the watermelon. It was messy, and the juice got everywhere, but the first slice was a bite of heaven, and each stacked rind smiled up at the sky in smug defiance. Woohyun licked his lips, juice running down his chin, and spat the seeds out all across the sand.
“Really, hyung,” Sungjong said. “You’re being so messy.” Woohyun laughed.
“Nobody cares if we litter anymore. Don’t you get it?” Sungjong stared at him, and put down his can slowly.
“That’s true,” he said, and walked over to the trash can. He dropped it in, listening for the deep thunk of aluminum against stainless steel and iron. The others came by later, to roast chicken and pork. Woohyun even cut open a pineapple to make fried rice with, and Hoya unpacked a case of beer.
Sunggyu raised his bottle. “To our last meal,” he said.
~*~
Dongwoo had a very long list of things he had wanted to do before he died, but this trip to the beach didn’t even cover half the things on the list. Rock climbing, scuba diving. Hadn’t he always been the one saying they should take a trip when they had just started out? But then they had gotten famous and they hadn’t had any time for that. But then he’d gotten to go see Thailand and Japan and Hong Kong, and he’d gotten to ride a helicopter, all of which hadn’t been on his list, so if he had to think about it, he’d probably broke even.
“C’mon. C’mon, little bird,” he said. “You really need to get off the road now. Dongwoo-hyung wants to see if he can still pull off a wheelie, okay?” The bird hopped closer. Dongwoo laughed. “No, no! Shoo, dammit!” But the bird, a tiny sparrow, only gave him a look. A seagull cry from the sea made him look up.
“Aish,” he said to the sparrow. “You better get going, gulls are no joke.” He walked further down, and he set down the skateboard, but somehow, his heart wasn’t in it anymore. He couldn’t go fast enough, and the road here was too rough for anything tricky. He picked up the skateboard again, and and walked towards the beach. Surfing it was, then.
~*~
Myungsoo watched Sungyeol pilot the helicopter. “It doesn’t really look like ours,” he said.
“Hmm.”
“Wish we had a kite instead.” They had all been sold out at the store. Sungyeol was still smiling.
“Remember the helicopter?” he said. “Gyu-jiji looked like he was going to vomit.” Myungsoo laughed.
“I thought I was gonna vomit.” He crouched down and covered his hair with his hands. “I think I might, right now.”
“Not now,” Sungyeol said. The salt and the sand must have got into his eyes, he thought. He had nothing to be crying about. He had lived a happy, exciting life. Even if he still hadn’t caught up to the rest, he’d improved a lot. And he had always tried his best, hadn’t he?
“Hey, L,” Sungyeol said. “I have a game to play.”
“Don’t wanna,” Myungsoo said. He was trying to remember happy things.
“It’ll make you feel better.” Myungsoo kept his eyes fixed on the helicopter. It didn’t look anything like the one that they had used, but he still remembered how loud it was, how scared Sunggyu had looked.
“…Okay, what is it?”
“It’s a challenge,” Sungyeol said. “It’s an acting game.”
“Oh.” Myungsoo knew that game. They had acted out plenty of characters before-old grandpas, young office ladies, mad scientists. “What is it this time?” Sungyeol steered the helicopter. Myungsoo realized that Sungyeol was tracing moebius loops in the sky. Making infinite signs.
“Act happy,” Sungyeol said. Myungsoo stared at him, mouth open for a second.
“What?”
“The catch,” Sungyeol said, “Is that the game doesn’t end. Okay?”
“But I’m not happy,” he spluttered.
“Are you or are you not an actor?” Sungyeol snapped. “Didn’t we swear to each other to improve each day? Giving up just because the world ends-that’s a rookie mistake,” he scoffed. Myungsoo stared at him.
“Are you out of your mind?” he asked.
“Nope,” Sungyeol said. “I’m winning.” Myungsoo laughed, a short, surprised bark and clapped his hands once. He turned back to Sungyeol.
“Okay,” he said. “You’re on.”
~*~
Hoya walked up to Sunggyu. Sunggyu squinted at him.
“You’re blocking the sun,” he said.
“What are you doing?” Hoya asked, and crossed his arms.
“I’m enjoying myself,” Sunggyu said. “You?”
“You looked like you were sleeping. That’s how you want to go out? You want to sleep it away?” Sunggyu glared.
“I don’t care anymore. It’s an asteroid. Big deal. I’m tired of people talking about it.”
“Fair enough.” Hoya sat down beside him.
“And what are you doing here?” Sunggyu asked.
“Enjoying the view,” Hoya said. He was staring out at the thick, rolling sea. He grabbed Sunggyu’s ankle.
“Don’t touch me,” Sunggyu said, but he didn’t move.
~*~
“I can’t sleep,” Sungyeol says.
“I’m sorry,” Woohyun snaps. Sungyeol sits up and turns on the lantern. Hoya winces.
“Do you mind? Some of us are trying to…” and he stops there. Sungyeol looks around.
“There’s no point in pretending, is there? It’s not even dark outside,” he says, and stands up. “I’m going out.” They watch him leave, and Myungsoo follows him. Sunggyu sighs.
“You guys,” he says.
“Shush, grandpa,” Woohyun says. “Who wants to be sleeping on the last night of their lives?”
“I do,” Sunggyu whines, but he lets himself be led out by the hand.
This sunset isn’t like other sunsets; it’s dark, but there is an angry red glow stretching across the horizon. The clouds have retreated for now. To the unsuspecting, it looks like dawn. The sound is much louder outside the cabin.
“When we first debuted,” Sunggyu starts. “I didn’t think we had much of a shot. I honestly didn’t think we would last this long.” Already, the temperature has increased by five degrees. The noise from the asteroid is making the trees shake-it sounds like crickets or toads in summer, but magnified, like its been run through a sound system. They have to shout to hear each other. The horizon is a red blaze now, mixed with blue to form purple.
“Hey, look,” Woohyun says. “It’s your favorite color.” Hoya doesn’t reply.
“We know,” Sungyeol says. He sounds like he might be tearing up already. They can all feel the heat washing over them, dry and scaly. Myungsoo’s hair starts to frizz.
“But honestly, you guys,” Sunggyu continues. “Even though everything is ending right now, I think when we were onstage together, I really did feel. Y’know. Infinite.” He forces out a laugh. Sweat forms on Sungjong’s brow.
“We did,” Woohyun said. “We did too.” He turns to the light, now blinding, and shades his eyes.
“We are,” Dongwoo says. He stands up and pulls up the two besides him holding his hand. “INFINITE!” He yells at the asteroid. Nobody can hear him. Sungyeol’s sobbing now, and Myungsoo’s trying not to. Sungjong squeezes his hand and looks straight ahead. Woohyun bites his lip. Sunggyu turns to look at them. He’s smiling.
“You guys, he said. Don’t cry-“
Fandom: Infinite
Genre: Gen
Rating: PG
Summary: Infinite spends the last day of their lives at the beach. For this prompt.
Wordcount: 1760
They stared out at the sea. It looked grey, and the sky was grey too. “It looks… menacing,” Myungsoo said.
“I dunno,” Sunggyu said. “You guys said you wanted the beach, so this is it.” He turned back, heading towards the cabin. His sneakers crunched on the wet sand. Dongwoo sat down. The rest followed suit, digging their heels into the sand like burrowing crabs. They stared out over the stormy expanse of sky.
“It’s too early for this to end,” Woohyun said. He’d only recently stopped crying, and he might start up again. Sungyeol patted him on the shoulder.
“Well, we said we’d make the most of it,” he said, but his voice was shaky, too.
“Stop crying,” Hoya said. “You’re going to make it worse for the rest of us.” Sungjong looked away. Dongwoo pointed out at the sea.
“Look. I think I see it.” It was a glowing red dot, nothing more than a pinprick of light, but its light was steady.
“They said it would hit around 0300,” Sungjong said.
“And you won’t feel a thing,” Hoya said, echoing the weather forecaster. The sea rolled in again, waves exhaling against the slick sand.
~*~
“At least it’s not crowded,” Sunggyu said, and shivered. The truth was that the shoreline was completely deserted. In a way, it was nice to have so much privacy. It had been a smooth, quiet drive down to the coast. And they could all bike on the road without having to worry about cars. They hadn’t been able to do that in a long time. The only thing they had to worry about was the noise-a high-pitched whine from the asteroid that sounded like a dog whistle.
“We might even be able to go surfing,” Myungsoo said, ringing his little bell.
Hoya studied the horizon. “Not with those waves,” he said.
“We can try,” Sungyeol said, more to snap at Hoya than for Myungsoo’s benefit, but he was cut off by his own panting as he struggled to keep up. They hadn’t been able to find a bike to fit his height.
“We’re losing daylight,” Dongwoo said, and swerved out to the front.
“What daylight?” Woohyun scoffed, but he sped up anyway, reaching out to kick him playfully.
~*~
Hoya had always been happiest when pampering himself. The pool was luxuriously pristine and the water was clear, and, lap by lap, he felt his mood beginning to lift. Eventually the rest came to sit next to the poolside.
“Yah!” Woohyun yelled, and splashed him with a wave as he came up. Hoya spluttered and swiped wildly, drawing up a wave of his own. Woohyun cackled and danced out of reach.
“Stop hogging the pool!” Hoya turned, but Sungjong was already launching a boat in the water.
“Sorry, hyung,” he said. “The wind’s just too good right now.” He tossed his head to get his bangs out of his eyes, and Hoya shrugged. He knocked over Woohyun’s boat instead and walked off, shivering in the wind. Sungjong bit his lip and kept his head down.
~*~
Sungjong spread out the blanket, and Woohyun placed rocks at each corner. The cooler took the both of them to wrestle across the sand, and when they had finished laying out all the dishes, they celebrated by cutting up the watermelon. It was messy, and the juice got everywhere, but the first slice was a bite of heaven, and each stacked rind smiled up at the sky in smug defiance. Woohyun licked his lips, juice running down his chin, and spat the seeds out all across the sand.
“Really, hyung,” Sungjong said. “You’re being so messy.” Woohyun laughed.
“Nobody cares if we litter anymore. Don’t you get it?” Sungjong stared at him, and put down his can slowly.
“That’s true,” he said, and walked over to the trash can. He dropped it in, listening for the deep thunk of aluminum against stainless steel and iron. The others came by later, to roast chicken and pork. Woohyun even cut open a pineapple to make fried rice with, and Hoya unpacked a case of beer.
Sunggyu raised his bottle. “To our last meal,” he said.
~*~
Dongwoo had a very long list of things he had wanted to do before he died, but this trip to the beach didn’t even cover half the things on the list. Rock climbing, scuba diving. Hadn’t he always been the one saying they should take a trip when they had just started out? But then they had gotten famous and they hadn’t had any time for that. But then he’d gotten to go see Thailand and Japan and Hong Kong, and he’d gotten to ride a helicopter, all of which hadn’t been on his list, so if he had to think about it, he’d probably broke even.
“C’mon. C’mon, little bird,” he said. “You really need to get off the road now. Dongwoo-hyung wants to see if he can still pull off a wheelie, okay?” The bird hopped closer. Dongwoo laughed. “No, no! Shoo, dammit!” But the bird, a tiny sparrow, only gave him a look. A seagull cry from the sea made him look up.
“Aish,” he said to the sparrow. “You better get going, gulls are no joke.” He walked further down, and he set down the skateboard, but somehow, his heart wasn’t in it anymore. He couldn’t go fast enough, and the road here was too rough for anything tricky. He picked up the skateboard again, and and walked towards the beach. Surfing it was, then.
~*~
Myungsoo watched Sungyeol pilot the helicopter. “It doesn’t really look like ours,” he said.
“Hmm.”
“Wish we had a kite instead.” They had all been sold out at the store. Sungyeol was still smiling.
“Remember the helicopter?” he said. “Gyu-jiji looked like he was going to vomit.” Myungsoo laughed.
“I thought I was gonna vomit.” He crouched down and covered his hair with his hands. “I think I might, right now.”
“Not now,” Sungyeol said. The salt and the sand must have got into his eyes, he thought. He had nothing to be crying about. He had lived a happy, exciting life. Even if he still hadn’t caught up to the rest, he’d improved a lot. And he had always tried his best, hadn’t he?
“Hey, L,” Sungyeol said. “I have a game to play.”
“Don’t wanna,” Myungsoo said. He was trying to remember happy things.
“It’ll make you feel better.” Myungsoo kept his eyes fixed on the helicopter. It didn’t look anything like the one that they had used, but he still remembered how loud it was, how scared Sunggyu had looked.
“…Okay, what is it?”
“It’s a challenge,” Sungyeol said. “It’s an acting game.”
“Oh.” Myungsoo knew that game. They had acted out plenty of characters before-old grandpas, young office ladies, mad scientists. “What is it this time?” Sungyeol steered the helicopter. Myungsoo realized that Sungyeol was tracing moebius loops in the sky. Making infinite signs.
“Act happy,” Sungyeol said. Myungsoo stared at him, mouth open for a second.
“What?”
“The catch,” Sungyeol said, “Is that the game doesn’t end. Okay?”
“But I’m not happy,” he spluttered.
“Are you or are you not an actor?” Sungyeol snapped. “Didn’t we swear to each other to improve each day? Giving up just because the world ends-that’s a rookie mistake,” he scoffed. Myungsoo stared at him.
“Are you out of your mind?” he asked.
“Nope,” Sungyeol said. “I’m winning.” Myungsoo laughed, a short, surprised bark and clapped his hands once. He turned back to Sungyeol.
“Okay,” he said. “You’re on.”
~*~
Hoya walked up to Sunggyu. Sunggyu squinted at him.
“You’re blocking the sun,” he said.
“What are you doing?” Hoya asked, and crossed his arms.
“I’m enjoying myself,” Sunggyu said. “You?”
“You looked like you were sleeping. That’s how you want to go out? You want to sleep it away?” Sunggyu glared.
“I don’t care anymore. It’s an asteroid. Big deal. I’m tired of people talking about it.”
“Fair enough.” Hoya sat down beside him.
“And what are you doing here?” Sunggyu asked.
“Enjoying the view,” Hoya said. He was staring out at the thick, rolling sea. He grabbed Sunggyu’s ankle.
“Don’t touch me,” Sunggyu said, but he didn’t move.
~*~
“I can’t sleep,” Sungyeol says.
“I’m sorry,” Woohyun snaps. Sungyeol sits up and turns on the lantern. Hoya winces.
“Do you mind? Some of us are trying to…” and he stops there. Sungyeol looks around.
“There’s no point in pretending, is there? It’s not even dark outside,” he says, and stands up. “I’m going out.” They watch him leave, and Myungsoo follows him. Sunggyu sighs.
“You guys,” he says.
“Shush, grandpa,” Woohyun says. “Who wants to be sleeping on the last night of their lives?”
“I do,” Sunggyu whines, but he lets himself be led out by the hand.
This sunset isn’t like other sunsets; it’s dark, but there is an angry red glow stretching across the horizon. The clouds have retreated for now. To the unsuspecting, it looks like dawn. The sound is much louder outside the cabin.
“When we first debuted,” Sunggyu starts. “I didn’t think we had much of a shot. I honestly didn’t think we would last this long.” Already, the temperature has increased by five degrees. The noise from the asteroid is making the trees shake-it sounds like crickets or toads in summer, but magnified, like its been run through a sound system. They have to shout to hear each other. The horizon is a red blaze now, mixed with blue to form purple.
“Hey, look,” Woohyun says. “It’s your favorite color.” Hoya doesn’t reply.
“We know,” Sungyeol says. He sounds like he might be tearing up already. They can all feel the heat washing over them, dry and scaly. Myungsoo’s hair starts to frizz.
“But honestly, you guys,” Sunggyu continues. “Even though everything is ending right now, I think when we were onstage together, I really did feel. Y’know. Infinite.” He forces out a laugh. Sweat forms on Sungjong’s brow.
“We did,” Woohyun said. “We did too.” He turns to the light, now blinding, and shades his eyes.
“We are,” Dongwoo says. He stands up and pulls up the two besides him holding his hand. “INFINITE!” He yells at the asteroid. Nobody can hear him. Sungyeol’s sobbing now, and Myungsoo’s trying not to. Sungjong squeezes his hand and looks straight ahead. Woohyun bites his lip. Sunggyu turns to look at them. He’s smiling.
“You guys, he said. Don’t cry-“