By the time Infinite finished their closing statements, Dongwoo’s headache felt like a grating migraine. He tried not to show it, but every so often his face would twitch with contorted agony. As soon as the clapboard shut to signal the end of the interview, Dongwoo made as many right angled bows as he could to the staff members and rushed off to the bathroom, ignoring the efforts made by the Infinite members to hold him back to apologize.

“Aish, we hurt his feelings…” Sungyeol watched as Dongwoo disappeared into the narrow hallway. “Why did they make us answer a question like that?”

“Molla. There seems to be something off about the PD-nim though.” Sungjong murmured, slightly distracted by a mole on Sungyeol’s neck.

L shook his head several times to piece together what was happening. “Sunggyu hyung, should I go talk to Dongwoo hyung?” He asked.

Sunggyu shook his head, wary of all the eyes on his band. The staff members, main PD, and sub producers were all looking at their interview schedules, acting as if nothing happened, but the leader knew they were all watching Infinite’s movements. “Woohyun and I will go. Stay here with the managers – we have to leave soon, so get ready to go to the next schedule.” Woohyun nearly bolted to the bathroom, but Sunggyu pulled him back, forcing him to walk at a more casual speed. Something didn’t feel right.

I’m okay, it’s okay…everything is going to be alright. Dongwoo ran into a stall and bolted the door. His head felt as though it was going to shatter into millions of pieces. He bent over the toilet and shut his eyes as he felt a warm substance travel up from his stomach and gush through his mouth. That’s weird, I didn’t have anything for breakfast, Dongwoo thought as his stomach’s contents emptied into the toilet. His headache receded just as suddenly as it came. Dongwoo regained his sense of composure and his mind was able to think freely without pain anymore. He opened his eyes with a breath of relief, but nearly cried out in fear as he saw the color of the fluid he had just puked out. Something was wrong. Just as he flushed away the contents in the toilet and started cleaning up around the stall, Dongwoo heard the bathroom door open.

“Dongwoo-ah. Hyung is sorry that I let that happen to you. You know we wouldn’t have been able to get out of that situation without answering like that. We know you’re strong, that’s why we said that. Truth is, we would be nothing without you. Please come out.” Sunggyu knocked on the locked stall.

“Dongwoo, I’ll call you hyung for the whole day. Don’t be upset about what happened. We have to leave soon, please unlock the door…hyung.” Woohyun called out, hoping to pacify Dongwoo.

Dongwoo couldn’t let the other members know what was happening to him. They would tell the managers, and the managers would tell the CEO, and if what he had was fatal or extremely damaging, the CEO would kick him out of Infinite. Dongwoo believed what Sunggyu and Woohyun were saying about the interview, but he had to act as though he had been angry in order to cover up. He checked his clothes for stains, and then walked out of the stall.

“Aish, Dongwoo, you look horrible. Why are you so pale? Hyung will buy you some food, so cheer up.” Sunggyu was slightly taken aback by Dongwoo’s appearance, and immediately felt sympathy for his dongsaeng. Woohyun threw his arm around Dongwoo’s waist and escorted him out of the bathroom, back to the members.

Outside, the members, managers, and stylists were bowing their last goodbyes to the staff and PDs, with all of their things packed. The second they saw Dongwoo, Sungyeol and Sungjong ran up to apologize to him and Myungsoo followed behind them. Dongwoo saw Hoya walk up to him guiltily. They looked at each other silently for a moment, then grasped each other’s hands and sort of half-hugged each other.

“Aigoo, look at you kids. If I wasn’t your manager, I would think you were brothers.” Hyoan ushered them out into the parking lot with the vans waiting for them. “Myungsoo, Sungyeol, Sungjong, you guys have vocal training next. Get into the white van. Hurry.” The manager gave Sungyeol a small shove, since he was complaining about the order in which their names should be spoken.

“The rest of you guys, get into the black van, we have to go to a radio show.” Jungryoul manager told the boys. “Geonam and I will come with you guys.”

The members split up after getting Geonam manager promise to buy them meat for dinner when they ate together that night.

Sungyeol, L, and Sungjong climbed into the slightly smaller white van, and set off to the vocal training center. It was a good thirty minutes away, and L was keen to catch some shuteye. He drifted off almost immediately after the van started. Sungyeol and Sungjong sat next to each other leaving L to doze off on one side. They put in their earphones, and closed their eyes, but Sungjong felt a weird jolt of electricity when his hand brushed against Sungyeol’s hand. He ignored it and tried to listen to the song playing in his ear buds, but his heartbeat suddenly quickened as he stole a glance at Sungyeol’s form looking out the window. No...this is weird…I must be sleep deprived. Sungjong jerked his head back and pointedly looked away from Sungyeol and willed his galloping heartbeat to slow down. Before he knew it, his fatigue won over, and his eyelids drooped down over his eyes.

Sungyeol’s eyes fluttered open and he felt his dongsaeng’s head on his shoulder. He looked down on Sungjong’s long lashes and milky skin with a small smile curving his perfect lips. I wonder what he’s dreaming about. Sungyeol laid his head on the maknae’s head with a weird longing in his heart – he just didn’t know what it was for.

Sunggyu dropped into unconsciousness less than a minute after he sat in the van. The other members in the van were too tired to even talk to each other, so there was a stuffy silence filling the van. Barely ten minutes into the drive, Sunggyu got a call from the CEO. He picked up the cellphone in a sleepy daze and remembered to use honorifics in just the last moment.

“Hello, sir. Is something wrong?” Sunggyu spoke carefully. The CEO was like a rabid tiger waiting to pounce. He had once made Woohyun go on a water diet for a week after his voice cracked on a live performance. He had also planned to start a fake dating scandal with Hoya and another celebrity in order for the band to become more widely known. The managers had managed to convince him that such an incident would only demote Infinite.

“Sunggyu, I was monitoring the band on some variety shows.” The CEO’s voice was flat and dead, as though he was talking to air. “You need to get your act together as leader; why are all of you guys so unenthusiastic on the show? The MCs were trying so hard to make it funny, yet you could not think of anything witty to say. Do you think you’re alright just because Infinite has won a few awards? Do you see how much competition you have now with SM and JYP gearing up? Sunggyu-ah…you’re like a son to me, but if I need to, I won’t hesitate to cut you off to.”

Sunggyu nearly dropped the phones. He gulped, and hoarsely asked, “Cut off?”

“I might need to change Infinite’s leader if you don’t prove to me that you are capable. Have a good day.” And with that, the CEO hung up. Both managers in the front seats kept quiet, knowing that Sunggyu didn’t like talking about what the CEO said to him.

Sunggyu looked at Woohyun, Hoya, and Dongwoo all sleeping with their heads lolling in the back seat. He had to be a good hyung to them, to all of Infinite. He had to put in more effort. He had to...Sunggyu lowered his head to hide the rapidly forming tears in his eyes as he blinked them away.