Broken Clockwork: Chapter 2
Title: Broken Clockwork
Fandom: Infinite
Pairing: MyungGyu (Myungsoo x Sunggyu), OT7
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Angst, Romance
Length: Chaptered
Summary: Myungsoo is sick and tired of his continuous and tiring schedules and wishes he no longer needs to deal with the life of an idol. But he realizes a little too late that he should be careful of what he wishes for as he wakes up ten years into the future, and Infinite is no longer together...
Warning: Broken!OT7
Previous Chapters: 1
Chapter 2
The waves lap gently at Myungsoo’s feet as he smiles at how much fun the other members are having. Dongwoo is acting like the fool he is by running around and splashing water all over Howon and Woohyun, and they start a water fight. Sungjong and Sungyeol are trying to outswim each other.
Myungsoo wants to capture this in his memory forever. He feels a poke from behind him and he turns around to see Sunggyu.
“Myungsoo-ah, why aren’t you having fun?”
“I’m trying to remember this forever.”
“This? Why?”
“Because it’s perfect…being here, like this, with everyone.”
Sunggyu becomes a little teary-eyed and punches Myungsoo lightly.
“Yah. We’ll be together. Forever. You know that. No matter what happens, we’ll always have each other.”
Myungsoo pulls Sunggyu into a hug despite the leader’s protests.
---
When Myungsoo wakes up, he is a little disorientated. As he stares at the white ceiling above him, the bizarre memories come flooding back to him. He groans as he tries to sit up, and reaches for a cup of water.
It’s all a bad dream. Any moment now, the members will come rushing in to check on me.
Myungsoo tries to convince himself it was all a bad dream. It couldn’t possibly be 2022. And Infinite couldn’t possibly have been disbanded. Plus, the members had all talked about it. In the hypothetical situation that they break up, they had all promised each other that they would still keep in touch. If Myungsoo had an accident, they would all drop whatever they were doing to come and check on him. Myungsoo was certain of the bonds between the seven of them.
When the door opens, he expects to see the worried face of Sunggyu. Or the swollen eyes of Woohyun, Dongwoo or Sungjong - those three had always been crybabies. Or the nonchalant faces of Sungyeol or Howon, who like to pretend that they don’t care when deep down they do. Instead, Myungsoo sees Soonjin, his manager in the year of 2022.
“I just talked to the hospital staff. They want to do one last scan before they allow you to go home.”
“Okay, sure.”
Myungsoo feels like crying. Nothing makes sense, and he doesn’t even know what to do. So what he does is follow Soonjin to get his head checked.
---
The doctors had told them that there was nothing abnormal. Apparently the car crash had caused mild swelling in a certain part of Myungsoo’s brain, but other than that everything was normal. However, the retrograde amnesia wasn’t normal. The doctors assured both Myungsoo and Soonjin that it wasn’t unheard of for patients to lose some memories when they suffered from a head injury.
But Myungsoo wonders if it is “normal” to lose ten full years of his life.
As he sits in his bedroom, Myungsoo stares into the mirror opposite him. He has aged, and it shows. There was no denying that ten years has passed since he last looked at his own reflection.
Why can’t I remember anything?
Myungsoo presses his hands against his head, and lets a few tears fall. He had looked through his phone, and there hadn’t been any contact information for any of the members. Instead, he sees a list of names of people that he’s only heard of, but never met.
He feels as though he’s been thrown into a life that isn’t his own. Nothing made any sense, and it was the furthest thing from what Myungsoo had envisioned his life in 2022 to be like.
He suddenly spots a laptop in the corner of the room, and he jumps up to open it. He thinks that there may be some answers - after all, he’s an idol and there are bound to have been reports on the disbandment. Myungsoo takes a deep breath as he enters the word “Infinite” into the search engine. He wonders if he’s ready to read about how something that he thought would last forever ended up in pieces. His hand is shaking when he finally clicks the link.
Myungsoo stares at the words in shock.
“…due to differences and conflicting interests” jumps out at him. He frowns and wonders what interests could possibly differ from maintaining the seven. They were Infinite, supposed to last forever. How did it come to this?
He spots a link to the video of the press conference, and he clicks it, hoping for some more answers. He sees the seven of them sitting at a desk. To outsiders, they all seem content and indifferent, but Myungsoo can detect the strained undertones. Reporters bomb them with questions, and Sunggyu does his best to answer all of them without giving away what the root of the problem is.
“Why are you disbanding so soon?”
“There has been…conflicting interests between the members. Not all of us are interested in pursuing a career in music. Some of us want to further ourselves in acting and hosting on variety shows. Some of us want to explore genres of music that we are unable to explore as Infinite.” Myungsoo’s heart breaks as he sees the sadness in Sunggyu’s eyes. There’s a pang in his chest as he sees Sunggyu take a deep breath, and Dongwoo squeezes Sunggyu’s arm to reassure him before he continues speaking. “As a group, I feel that all of us have pushed ourselves to the limit, and we have outgrown Infinite. We have all come to the agreement to disband, and I hope that all of you, as well as all of inspirit, bless us and support us in our future endeavors.”
Myungsoo closes the window. He can’t bear to listen to any more of the bullshit that Sunggyu was spewing out. He needed to talk to the leader badly, but he doesn’t know how. He scrolls down the page to find out what all the members are doing now in the future.
He’s an extremely successful actor. Myungsoo had already guessed based on the list of actors, actresses, scriptwriters and directors that he found in his phone. It was interesting to see a list of films and dramas he’s acted in, but remembers nothing about. He makes a mental note to check out some of his works later after he sorts out what’s going on.
Woohyun and Sungyeol are both in variety now. Both of them are extremely popular MCs for shows that Myungsoo hasn’t even heard of. He frowns as he sees that the two of them are hosts for some of the same shows, and wonders why they’re still in contact with each other, but not with him.
Howon and Dongwoo went to form a hip-hop duo. They had released some good tracks, and there’s a stab of jealousy as Myungsoo notices that both Woohyun and Sunggyu feature on some of their CDs. Why wouldn’t they ask me to record anything? Is it because I’m not good enough as a vocalist? The least they could do was ask me to feature in their music videos…
Sungjong is a model. Myungsoo gapes at how grown up their beloved maknae looks, but he sees why he is so successful as a model and fashion icon. He acts in a few dramas from time to time, but he’s noted as the nation’s fashionista.
And lastly, Myungsoo looks for news on what Sunggyu is doing. The website states that he has a few solo projects on the side as well as a rock band that can be found playing in the Hongdae area from time to time. He has also composed a few songs that have become hit songs for the newest idol groups. Myungsoo is glad that he’s doing well - but then again, he never expected anything less. After all, Sunggyu had always been the one who had the most potential going solo.
There’s a bittersweet taste in Myungsoo’s mouth. He’s glad that all of them are successful in their individual projects, but at the same time he can’t help but feel a little hurt to know that all of the others are still in touch whereas he has no contact with any of them at all.
Myungsoo checks the performance times of Sunggyu’s band, and realizes that they are playing tonight. He goes towards his wardrobe to pick out something casual to wear to Hongdae. He needs to find out what really happened between all of them ten years ago.
---
Myungsoo is wearing black. He was relieved to see that at least half of his wardrobe comprised of the color - at least he knows that no matter how many years pass, some things never change. As he stands among the crowd waiting for Sunggyu to appear, he blends in perfectly with the leather jacket and dark jeans.
Suddenly high-pitched screams fill the place, and Myungsoo looks up to see Sunggyu walk across the stage. His hyung had aged handsomely and was as charismatic as ever. Regret washes over him - why weren’t we growing old together? - but he quickly stops thinking and his jaw drops open as the band starts to perform. He feels his heartbeat speed up as he takes in the eyeliner, the skinny jeans, the way he positions himself at the mic stand and the hair that looks like he’s just had sex. The combination of it all leaves Myungsoo with his jaw open in admiration. But it wasn’t until he realized that Sunggyu is looking at him with a slight frown on his face that Myungsoo’s legs go weak. Somehow Sunggyu had spotted him among the crowd, and soon it seemed to be only the two of them in that room.
The music starts playing, and Myungsoo realizes this is Sunggyu’s forte. He had always been an avid fan of Nell and rock music as a whole, and Myungsoo can tell that their leader is enjoying what he’s doing. The thought that maybe disbanding was better for all of them flitters across his mind, but he shakes the thought away immediately. Nothing was better than the seven together. He stops thinking and instead focuses on Sunggyu’s performance, which he thought was flawless in every way.
---
After Sunggyu’s band had finished playing, Myungsoo tried to make his way through the crowd towards the backstage. He feels a sudden tug on his hand, and he looks into the face of Sunggyu in surprise. Although he’s wearing a hat and a facemask, Myungsoo easily recognizes him under the dim lighting. Sunggyu pulls Myungsoo out of the room, and leads him towards a small café that is closeby.
Neither of them says a word until they’re sitting across from each other.
Sunggyu is studying Myungsoo’s face carefully, and Myungsoo squirms a bit under his gaze.
“Why are you here, L-sshi?”
Myungsoo stiffens at the formality, and it doesn’t escape his notice that Sunggyu has used his stage-name as opposed to his real name. He feels tears start to well up but he forces himself push them back down.
“I…was in a car crash.”
He sees Sunggyu soften slightly and concern is painted on his face, but he keeps quiet and waits for Myungsoo to continue. Myungsoo can’t keep the tears in anymore.
“I lost my memory. The past ten years are gone…”
Sunggyu looks shocked and his eyes widen.
“Ten years? Jesus Christ, that’s…I don’t know what to say.”
“I…remember the seven of us still together. I need answers. I don’t know what happened. It’s all a bad dream. It’s a complete nightmare. I searched up what happened, but I know what you said at the press conference is a load of bullshit. And you called me L-sshi...why aren’t you calling me Myungsoo? Why are the six of you still friends and in contact with each other, but I have none of your numbers?”
Myungsoo breaks down in tears, and Sunggyu gets up from his seat to sit next to him. He places his hands on either side of Myungsoo’s head, and forces Myungsoo to make eye contact with him.
“Shh. Calm down. You’re extremely high-profile right now, you cannot have a panic attack in the middle of a public place.” Myungsoo chokes back a sob as he stares into the eyes of Sunggyu. The hands on either side of his head are gentle.
“Gyu-hyung, I need you to help me. Please. I don’t think I can do this alone.” Myungsoo leans against Sunggyu’s shoulder as the hands that were stroking his hair fall back. This feels like home, Myungsoo thinks. This feels…right.
Sunggyu keeps quiet for a second, but he quietly murmurs the words that Myungsoo desperately doesn’t want to hear.
“I…don’t think I can help you.” Myungsoo feels every cell in his body freeze, and he wants to get away from the coffee shop, away from Sunggyu, so he can be miserable and cry his heart out. But Sunggyu’s next words stop him from pulling himself out of Sunggyu’s embrace and running away.
“But I’ll explain what happened to help you piece that particular puzzle together. Not tonight though, Myungsoo-ah. I think you’ve been through enough already.”
Myungsoo’s heart soars as he hears the sound of his real name from Sunggyu’s lips, and hope floods through him.
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a/n: Updated! And comments would be lovely~