Infinite's Girl (A FanFic)

Chapter 4: The First Night

A few minutes after Myungsoo went in his room, the door opened once again, and someone with small eyes enters. His eyes widen for a moment, and he turns to Sungjong, an eyebrow raised. Sungjong quickly stands up. His reaction with this guy is totally different from his reaction with Myungsoo, I note to myself. Following right behind the small-eyed guy is a shorter boy, his smile playful as he jokes with a blonde-haired guy with a grin that shows his gums. They both stop joking around and notice me sitting on the couch. I immediately stand up out of courtesy. I give a slight bow as Sungjong introduces me. "Hyung, this is our new friend, Lauren Kwon. She'll be living with us from now on. Mom asked me to accomodate her." The small-eyed man eyes me for a moment, his face expressionless. The shorter man bounded towards me with a warm smile and takes my hand to shake it. "Hey there! Nice to meet you! I'm Woohyun! Nam Woohyun! Have you heard of Infinite?" I open my mouth to respond, but the blonde-haired man walks over to me and gives a friendly pat on my shoulder. "Yo! I'm Dongwoo! Jang. Dong. Woo!" he cheerfully says. I smile politely at them and they smile back. Their eyes then shift to the small-eyed man. He gives me a tentative smile and holds out his hand. "I'm Sungkyu. Kim Sungkyu." I walk over and shake my hand. "Pleased to meet you." I reply. He gives a curt nod, swivels his eyes to the other people in the room and jerks his chin up, giving Woohyun, Dongwoo, and Sungjong a motion to follow him. Sungkyu gives me one last look and walks in a room, followed by the other three. I sit back down on the couch and give a long sigh. Suddenly, I hear a yell from the room Sungkyu and the other three went in. Then a fit of laughter followed. The door to the room burst open and a tall boy ran out laughing, his gums showing as he does so. Right behind him is Sungkyu, his hand holding on his behind. The tall boy stops and looks at me, obviously puzzled. Sungkyu catches up with him and slaps the back of the tall boy's head. I stifle a giggle. The tall boy does not retaliate. Instead, he turns to Sungkyu and jerks his finger towards me, "Who's she?" I stand up and give a slight bow. "Good afternoon. I'm Lauren Kwon, and I'll be living here from now on." The tall boy's eyebrows shoot up in astonishment. Sungkyu begins to explain, "Jongie's mom asked us a favor to let her live here." The tall boy's mouth formed an "O", and he nods in understanding. He turns to me and hold out his hand, "Pleased to meet you. I'm Sungyeol. Lee Sungyeol." I hold Sungyeol's hand and shake it. As I do so, Sungyeol gives an almost 90-degree bow. I quickly follow. He looks up and smiles. He turns to Sungkyu with a triumphant grin, "Man, did you know how long I waited there?" Sungkyu's eyes narrowed, and Sungyeol quickly hung his head. "I'm sorry, hyung. I shouldn't have done that. It was irresponsible." Sungkyu nods and walks back to his room. As he does so, I see a blotch of paint at the back of his pants. I let out a snort. Sungyeol beams at me victoriously. "Brilliant, isn't it? It's his favorite pair of pants, too." I nodded, my lips trembling as they attempt to stop me from laughing. Sungyeol gives a fist pump in the air. "Sungyeol!" Sungkyu yells, and Sungyeol dashes towards the room Sungkyu is in. "Yes, hyung!" Judging from the reactions Sungjong and Sungyeol gave, Sungkyu is probably the leader of the group. The door opens once again and Woohyun steps out. He gives me a warm smile. "Hey, wanna cook dinner with me?" I nod, grateful I can do something. Woohyun gestures a "ladies first" and I walk to the kitchen, Woohyun following me. Woohyun hands me a spare apron. "Usually it's Leader who helps out in the kitchen, but he's, uh, kinda busy right now." Woohyun casually says. I nod in understanding. Throughout our cooking, I stay silent, with Woohyun doing most of the talking as he talks more about Infinite and its members, who's in what room, who does what, who goes where. Woohyun seems nice and friendly, always trying to cook up a conversation when the air around us becomes awkward or silent. We finally finish cooking. I begin setting the table and Woohyun yells,"Dinner!" The first one out, surprisingly, is Myungsoo. He walks past me and sits on a chair, his hands on his pair of chopsticks already. "So, what's for dinner, hyung?" Woohyun brings out the rice cooker and sets it on the middle of the table. He then brings out the beef stew, kimchi, some small saucers with various vegetables and small fish, and a large bowl of seaweed soup. Myungsoo's eyes widen as the meals are set before him. "Hyung, there's meat! There's meat!" he exclaimed. He raises his voice and announces, "THERE'S MEAT!" Immediately, the door of the room the other members are staying in bursts open, and Sungyeol is tumbling out. He dashes towards the dining table and plops down on a seat. He grabs his pair of chopsticks and bounces up and down on his chair, "MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!" he chants. Myungsoo's eyes were twinkling with excitement, and he asks Woohyun, "Why'd you cook meat, hyung?" Woohyun winks at me and smiles. "To welcome our new friend, of course!" he says as he motions a hand at me. Myungsoo looks at me and gives me a slight grin. I smile back and he turns back to the beef stew in front of him. Oh, the wonders meat could do. Sungjong skips to a seat and drags it back. He looks at me and motions for me to sit on the chair he offered. I mouth a "thank you" and I sit on the chair. Sungjong sits on the chair right beside mine. Sungkyu and Dongwoo come out last. Dongwoo is fist pumping the air as he makes his way to the dining table. Sungkyu is smiling as he walks to the dining table. They both sit, and Woohyun follows. Sungkyu gives everyone a look and asks, "Where's Hoya?"

"One of the manager-hyungs told me he's still filming for his new drama." Dongwoo says, his eyes still trained on the beef stew in front of him. Sungkyu nods and says, "Thank you for the food!" The rest follow the pre-meal formality, and I do as well. We dig in the mini-feast Woohyun and I had prepared.

During the dinner, the atmosphere is lively. Sungkyu begins asking me where I study, what I study, what I plan to do after I graduate college. I find out five of the members actually study in the same university as I do: Sungkyu, Dongwoo, Sungyeol, Hoya, and Myungsoo. I learn the age sequence of the members and find out about their activities. Myungsoo sometimes gives me short answers when I ask him a question, but most of the talking is done by Woohyun, Dongwoo, and Sungjong.

Before we know it, it is 8:30pm. Woohyun, Sungjong, and I bring the dishes to the sink and wash them. There are no leftovers, despite the feast we had cooked up. Afterwards, Sungkyu calls the others to the living room. When everyone has assembled, Sungkyu clears his throat and begins talking. "Ok, so we have a new member in the house. What we have to talk about now is where Lauren sleeps." I quickly reply before anyone can make a suggestion, "I can just sleep on the couch. It's fine really." Woohyun clicks his tongue as he shakes his head. "Tsk Tsk Tsk. No no no. That's not good. You just moved here and we make you sleep on the couch? We won't be good hosts now, won't we?" Sungkyu looks at me and we lock gazes. I give him a pleading look and he closes his eyes, showing that my message gets through. Sungkyu speaks up, "No, Lauren's right." Woohyun begins to speak up, but Sungkyu holds up his hand to quiet him, and Woohyun reluctantly complies. Sungkyu continues. "We should remember that Lauren's a girl, and we can't have a girl sleep in one of our rooms." Sungkyu turns to me, "We have some spare pillows and blankets, we'll give you one to use. Is that alright?" I gratefully nod and smile. "That would be perfect." I say. Sungkyu nods and continues with his talk. He addresses Sungjong and Myungsoo about their mistakes in the dance they have been practicing. He reminds Woohyun to vocalize before going on stage. He tells Sungyeol to not sleep in tomorrow, receiving snorts and scoffs from the other members. I look around confused, why the sudden reaction? Dongwoo leans over and says in a low and quiet voice, "Wait and see tomorrow, you'll have a show to watch the first thing tomorrow." He winks at me before he turns his attention to Sungkyu, who reminds him to be careful with the hard-to-say lines in his rap. Finally, Sungkyu dismisses us and we all go prepare for bed. Dongwoo and Woohyun help me set up my bed. Sungkyu turns the lights off in the living room, leaving one lightbulb turned on, "You're not scared of the dark, are you?" Sungkyu asks, his concern genuine. Somehow, it feels like he is a big brother. I shake my head no, and Sungkyu nods and turns the last lightbulb off. I close my eyes and begin to doze off.

Somehow, it feels comforting to have others living with me, no matter how annoying or irritating they are.