Setting: 2 months later, Woollim High

Hoya and Sungyeol sat together on the hallway floor with their legs sprawled, leaning against their lockers as they both fought with chopsticks over who would get the last bite of Hoya's leftover japchae he made the previous night. With their mouths wide open and ready to snatch the prey, it was only a matter of weaving the noodles into their chopsticks before the other person could knock their work over. After that finished, you repeated to create a useless battle over leftovers where no one was winning.

"I made this in the first place, let me have the last bite," Hoya growled, playing with his chopsticks like claws.

"You probably had a whole plate to yourself last night. It's been months since you made japchae, let me have it!" Sungyeol crashed his chopsticks with Hoya's and sent one flying across the hallway.

"Shibbal nom!"

Sungyeol swooped the last of the noodles up with his chopsticks and cradled it into his mouth, accentuating his chews in front of Hoya's. He swallowed his mouthful and grinned, unable to let Hoya live this down.

"Get my chopstick back," Hoya demanded.

"I think I'll pass," Sungyeol laughed.

Hoya and Sungyeol watched as a girl with brown shoes and complemented knee socks stop her stride in front of the metal chopstick, bending over to pick it up with her delicate fingers. She walked over to the boys and crouched down to pass the chopstick back to Hoya.

"Hana! Thanks a lot," Hoya smiled, taking it back from her.

Hana smiled. "See you in class!" She proceeded on her way down the hall.

Hoya and Sungyeol's eyes followed her walk down the hallway as her skirt bounced up and down to reveal a glimpse of the wonder that was underneath, intriguing Hoya in all kinds of ways. "I want her."

Sungyeol chuckled, last bits and pieces of sesame seeds and chopped vegetables off of his chopsticks. "She's in your statistics class right?"

Hoya nodded. "And she was in your literature class before, right?"

"Yeah." Sungyeol placed his chopsticks on top of Hoya's bento box, his lips to get the lasting taste. "Dongwoo also likes her."

"I know," Hoya smirked. "He doesn't stand a chance."

"Who doesn't stand a chance?" Woohyun called out. 

Sunggyu, Woohyun, and L had just entered the building after spending their environmental science class outside in the sun, their hands dirtied up from taking a short field trip to observe the water quality of a nearby pond. They approached Hoya and Sungyeol, overhearing a little of their conversation from down the hallway.

"We were talking about Yoo Hana, and how I'm gonna beat Dongwoo too her," Hoya confidently played.

"I don't know," L started. "Dongwoo has a thing for her."

"We'll see what happens." Hoya declared. "Place your bets now."

"You," Sunggyu said.

"You," Woohyun agreed.

"I don't know," Sungyeol started, scratching his head. "I might have to go with Dongwoo on this one."

"Same here," L shrugged, not surprised that him and Sungyeol felt the same way. "When we had literature together Dongwoo was all over her, and I wouldn't be surprised if she returned the favor."

Hoya rolled his eyes, refusing the hear the truth from any of them. "We'll see."

Joining the party, Dongwoo and Sungjong ran down the halls hollering at each other in excitement. Everyone turned to watch the commotion they were starting as they skipped down the halls with giddy hearts and obnoxious laughs.

"I got the gig!" Sungjong screamed out, jumping up and down while holding onto Dongwoo's shoulder.

"MWO?!" The five of them yelled in unison. Sungjong and Hoya sprung up from the ground at the great news.

"Yup! In 2 weeks, we'll be performing at his parents' bar," Dongwoo beamed. "As Infinite!" 

"Approved by our manager and everything, this is our first public performance together!" Sungjong added, lurching forward to punch the air and give a high kick with glee. "We might even get press for it!"

"It's really happening," Sunggyu smiled, wrapping his arms around L and Woohyun. "And the last time we performed at Itaewon, we were still Eye Candy." 

Reminiscing back to that rainy winter day, Eye Candy performed their hearts out to everyone in the audience. Strawberry Fields went to attend to watch in support and ridicule, scoping out their competition to spot their playing style and see what they needed to do to be better. They had a small confrontation before it started, ending in Sungjong exploding on everyone and taking down Sungyeol. To some of them, it was the night when L and Sungyeol ran away to have their brawl. To L and Sungyeol, it was the night where their feelings took over control to share their first kiss. 

The members huddled together, continuing to place their arms around each other to connect and form a circle. Everyone was pumped and jammed their hands in the middle to allow for the news to sink in.

"We've been working so hard as trainees, but more than anything we've been working hard as musicians for years. From performing at our houses, parks, parties, bar gigs, we've come so far and I've never met such a dedicated group of people willing to do anything to make it big. Most of all, we're all watching out for each other to make sure we're achieving everything we can. There is nothing in the world that can stop us from becoming the greatest band the world has ever seen." Sunggyu lost his breath, concentrating on every word he would say to encourage his friends to keep on going.

Two months passed, and the month of March brought the start of a new school year, new season, newly blossomed flowers, and new beginnings with the members of Infinite. New classes and newly formed friendships between the two bands brought new memories and moments together. Since forming as one band everyone had learned to get along with each other, spending practically every waking minute with each other at school and practice. Even their most difficult relationship, Sunggyu and Woohyun, called a truce and started taking a great liking with each other, and after their relationship improved it also brought closer connections with other members of the group. 

Their new status as a united band brought their popularity at Woollim High at an alltime high that they even started to develop a following of dedicated fanboys. Of course it would be the female population that would contribute the most to their fancafe, going as far as to update their member profiles and do as much as they can to help out their oppas in anyway they can, even if the Infinite boys declined. Rumors of their impending debut resonated with the general public, and shameless promotions on social networking websites from their company and other famous musicians jumpstarted their early popularity without even performing fully as one group. Their competition videos became widespread throughout the nation, being the number one most searched topic on streaming websites. Infinite was expected to be the next biggest band of Korea.

"Let's do this!" the second oldest cheered. With his hand at the top of the pile, Dongwoo pushed down on everyone's hands to start everyone off.

"SHUT UP AND RUN!" 

Setting: Saturday, Seoul National University Hospital

"Oppa."

L sat on a park bench with his eyes closed, his acoustic guitar lay on his lap as he fell into a deep slumber. On a sunny afternoon, the heat was getting to him and making him tiresome.

"Oppa!"

A finger poked L's side, but he stayed unresponsive as his head drooped to the side.

"Wake up oppa!" Dasom punched L straight into his knee, striking the right nerves to wake him up and kick the air on reflex.

The momentum of his kick brought him to recline and slide his towards the edge of the seat, catching himself and his guitar with his elbow before he fell off the bench. L blinked his eyes several times, his near vision focusing on Dasom's cheery face.

"Stop sleeping!" she cried, poking L's knee again in succession.

L scratched his eye with one hand and hugged his guiar with the other, helping his eyes regain sensitivity to the sun. "I wasn't sleeping, I swear!"

Dasom frowned. "Liar!"

L feels nothing but pure joy whenever he is around Dasom, his heart feeling fuzzy and his mind with abnormally happy thoughts. The vivacious little kid was enough to wake him up, and even with her sickness she had more energy than him. He patted on the empty bench next to him for Dasom to sit with him, squeezing his sister's cheeks when she climbed up.

Sungyeol walked holding two ice cream cones in each hand: a mint chocolate cone for himself and a strawberry cone for Dasom. Both cones started melting in his walk and dripped hands, he brought his own cone to his mouth to take a quick as he hurried over to L and Dasom's park bench. A dab of ice cream touched his nose, but he could care less or notice that it happened. Sungyeol passed Dasom her cone, the strawberry ice cream dripping onto both of their hands. Dasom took her cone and her hand to get any liquid ice cream off.

"Dasom!" L scolded. "Did you even wash your hands?"

"Nope," she answered, ignoring her brother's requests and slurping the ice cream up.

To start off their Saturday, L and Sungyeol went to pay a visit at the hospital just as the nurse was about to take Dasom on a stroll around the hospital. L encouraged the nurse to let them take her out for the day instead. It was against the nurse's orders for the 2 of them to leave with her at the time, but after some coercing on Sungyeol's part the nurse allowed for them to take Dasom so long as they stayed close to the hospital. The 3 of them headed to a nearby park, a peaceful area isolated from any major streets in the area. The change of seasons and clear weather was something to be spent with the people you care about the most. Without any indication of how much time she had left, L wanted to spend his day where it mattered.

"You really didn't want ice cream?" Sungyeol mumbled, immersed in the deliciousness of his own cone.

L rolled his eyes, taking his guitar by the reigns and strumming a chord. "Every day is different. One day you're restrained, and the next day you're a choding."

"And that's what you like about me," Sungyeol chimed, elbowing L in the side. 

It was a pleasure for Sungyeol to all the time much to L's dismay. L took the string which played the highest note and plucked it, hearing the shrilled sound resonate. 

Sungyeol and Dasom squirmed in their seats from listening to the awful noise L had made. Dasom balanced her cone gingerly between her thighs to block her ears from the piercing note while Sungyeol closed his eyes and wished it would stop. 

"Play something better!" Dasom cried, shaking her head in annoyance.

L chuckled, placing his palm on the guitar mouth to stop its vibrancy. It was a beautiful day, the trees surrounding them releasing pink and white petals to the ground. L closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to appreciate the city in full bloom. He opened his eyes and felt exhilarated, patting his guitar to create a steady beat. "Do you want me to play our song?"

Sungyeol stopped midway to taking another of his ice cream and raised an eyebrow. What song is that?

Dasom nodded her head profusely and clapped her hands in excitement. "Yes please!" She slid her fingers into her hospital gown pocket and took her guitar pick out, holding it out in front of L to take and play with. Her brother smiled at her at took the pick, his dimples showing as he prepared to play.

A slight out-of-tune chord played, alarming L to tune one peg to get the note at the right sound. He strummed one more time, the strings rolling off the tip of Sungyeol's old guitar pick delicately. 

L frowned, passing his guitar to Sungyeol to help Dasom wipe the sticky cream off with his hand. His face felt uncomfortable, scrunching his nose as his palm felt the melted goo. "Damnit Dasom!"

(((())))

Hoya pushed the door open of Lee's BBQ, the smell of sizzling meats and sesame oil inviting him to come inside and take a seat. He held the door open for Dongwoo, walking in with his mouth gaped open from watching different families at their tables placing slices of chadol, bulgogi, and more exquisite meats on their grills. Dongwoo took a whiff of it all, his mouth watering from the deliciousness that would eventually reach his mouth. Hoya followed behind and closed the door, his stomach grumbling and ready for a filling dinner.

"For 2?" a waitress asked, taking menus for the both of them.

"For 7," Hoya smiled. "We're not all here yet."

"I can sit you down and start you guys off first."

"Yes please," Dongwoo and Hoya both said in unison, glancing at each other and nodding their heads in agreement that they would not waste another minute for their slow friends.

The waitress led them to a table of 7 close to the back of the restaurant, passing Hoya a stack of menus to keep for everyone else. She picked up the top of the grill and lit up the burner to start them off. "What would you like?"

"Everything," Dongwoo sputtered out, sitting down in his seat and eyeing the empty grill. "Get us everything."

Hoya rolled his eyes. "Can we start off with samgyeopsal, chadol, and ojingeo?" 

The waitress wrote down their orders and walked away.

Dongwoo was enamored by everything around him, the setting, the table, and most of all watching as different parties at the restaurant devoured their food. "So this is Sungyeol's restaurant?"

"No, his grandpa's restaurant," Hoya corrected, unwrapping his chopsticks.

Behind Hoya was a large TV screen, showcasing a flashy commercial for Cass beer. "You want to drink?" Dongwoo asked. "I can pay."

Hoya shook his head. "Let's wait for everyone to get here and then we'll drink."

The waitress came back balancing 3 plates of meats on her arms, carefully placing each one on the table. She started off with placing the chadol on edges of the grill, and to top off the middle she took the ojingeo and poured it into the middle. A spark lit up the grill in an orange burst of flames for a second, frightening the 3 of them momentarily until the fire settled down. The waitress bowed and walked away.

"You got ojingeo?" Dongwoo asked, his eyes wary from staring at the squid tentacles cook on the grill.

"It's fresh, the best you can get around Seoul," Hoya promised, using his chopsticks to flip over a piece of it. "It might be my favorite thing here."

"Said like a real cook," Dongwoo teased, flipping over a few pieces of beef brisket to cook. There was still a plate on the side of bacon waiting to fill his stomach, and Dongwoo wanted to finish everything off as soon as possible so that he can gorge in more scrumptious meat. At the same time, he was grossed out by the smell of squid being cooked in the middle. "I'm not a fan of squid."

Hoya snickered, watching a specific piece of tentacles cook to pink. "When everything is marinated, they're soaked in a mixture of soy sauce and peaches. I think it works really well with the squid." Hoya picked up the cookied piece of squid and held it in front of Dongwoo. "Try?"

Dongwoo raised his eyebrow, glaring at it as if it would somehow attack him and hurt him. "I really don't like squid."

"Quit being a baby," Hoya scolded, bringing his chopsticks back and forth to feed Dongwoo. "Your mouth is huge, I'm sure you can fit one tentacle inside."

"I don't want squid!" Dongwoo whined, picking up a thin slice of brisket and dropping it into his mouth. He exaggerated his mouth motions to eat it and show Hoya that he was satisfied without the squid. "I'm eating something else. See?" he said with a full mouth, swallowing whole the tasty bite.

Hoya suddenly had an idea. "Eat this piece of squid, and I'll back off Hana."

Dongwoo's eyes lit up at Hoya's words, cautiously taking looks between Hoya's evil stare and the squid hanging from his chopsticks. Recently Hoya had taken a liking to Hana much to Dongwoo's displeasure. At the start of the new school year Dongwoo and Hana no longer shared classes with each other, but now Hoya has the same statistics class as her. Dongwoo felt threatened, he was willing to do anything to get her and especially beat Hoya, but he was unsure if he could do it at the cost of his pride and taste buds. 

"What's it going to be?" Hoya teased, waving his chopsticks in circles.

The squid tentacle stared at Dongwoo. He could not bear to look at it any longer, its little suction cups looking like a tiny monster that would eat Dongwoo whole. It was to eat it or be eaten, and with a fine woman on the line Dongwoo was willing to do anything. Dongwoo closed his eyes shut and opened his mouth, hesitating in his seat as he waited for Hoya to place the squid on his tongue. Every passing second felt like a horror movie, shaking in his seat for it to happen. Finally, Dongwoo's tongue felt the touch of roughly textured meat, closing his mouth to pull it off the chopsticks and bite it. He scrunched his face, the squid rubbery and sticking onto the roof of his mouth. He thought of a song in his head to get rid of the thought of eating an unappetizing piece of sea creature, taking a huge gulp to swallow it all. He stuck his tongue out to prove that he ate it all and opened his eyes, disgusted by what he just ate.

At the look of Dongwoo's displeasure, Hoya laughed hysterically. It was nothing but amusing to him to see how much Dongwoo whine about something so little. "You did it!"

"I know," Dongwoo groaned, picking up a piece of brisket to cleanse his palette.

"I'm not giving up on Hana," Hoya admitted, taking a chopped up ring of squid body and eating it whole.

Dongwoo's jaw dropped, furious that he was forced to eat an unpleasant piece of squid. On top of that, it felt like the tentacle was onto his neck and throat as it went down to the depths of his stomach. "Geu saekki."

The door of the restaurant flung open, Sunggyu, Woohyun, and Sungjong walked in to join Dongwoo and Hoya for dinner. Woohyun spotted their friends with a table in the back, leading Sunggyu and Sungjong since it was their first time at the restaurant. On the table, their plates of brisket and squid were halfway to finishing with a full plate of uncooked bacon still on the side. "You started without us, s?" 

Dongwoo and Hoya looked up, holding no regrets for starting early. "We got here right on time," Hoya retorted.

The 3 of them took seats around the grill, all of them eyeing the pieces of already cooked meat on the grill. Woohyun had gone to the restaurant many times and knew what to expect every time he was there. Sunggyu and Sungjong were hypnotized by the sizzling meat, its oils occasionally dropping to the bottom furnace and igniting a small flame burst on the grill. The waitress came back after seeing new people join the party. "Anything you would like?"

"Can we get 2 bottles of chamisul?" Sunggyu asked, anticipating a night of letting loose after being given a day off. The waitress left to get their alcohol.

"When are you going to put the samgyeopsal on the grill?" Sungjong asked, his mouth watering from staring at the bacon and thinking about how delicious it will taste. 

"Help us finish the last of the brisket and we can put it on," Dongwoo encouraged.

Everyone took turns picking at the slices of brisket, Woohyun, Sunggyu, and Sungjong taking more than one piece at a time to make up for their late attendance. 

"Where are L and Sungyeol?" Dongwoo asked.

Probably making out. Hoya thought to himself.

Sunggyu indulged himself in a mixture of squid and brisket, his mind wandering off to a bliss of food heaven. "They're 5 minutes away. They could not catch the same train as us," he mumbled with a full mouth.

"Sounds like a familiar story," Sungjong complained. "A certain someone overslept while we waited at the subway station for 30 minutes."

"Woohyun was supposed to call and wake me up," Sunggyu defended.

"I called and texted you 50 times!" Woohyun groaned, pouring the plate of bacon onto empty parts of the grill. "We could have been here long before."

"Why does this not surprise me," Dongwoo laughed. "Just because you're old doesn't mean you have to act like it."

"Aish," Sunggyu whined, feeling the blame from everyone. "When is the alcohol going to come?"

"An alcoholic and an ahjussi, what a mix," Hoya commented.

"All of you need to get off my back and eat your food!" Sunggyu ordered, flipping over pieces of bacon on the grill.

"Yes sir," Sungjong snided sarcastically.

A familiar jingle played on the TV, and with the clock striking to 6 it marked the start of a nightly entertainment news segment popular for everyone around the nation. The show was hosted by celebrity gossip reporter Han Jye-Mi, known throughout the nation as one of the most gorgeous women inside and out. People fall in love not only with her looks but her overall personality exuded. She knew the juiciest of everything in the Korean entertainment world, and being on her show was a blessing and a curse.

The waitress came back cradling a stack of seven cups and bottles of soju in each hand. Woohyun stood up help her settle everything on the table, passing every person a cup including L and Sungyeol's empty seats. She opened up a bottle and passed it to Woohyun before leaving. 

"I've been waiting for this all day," Woohyun cheered, generously pouring soju for everyone person to the table up to the cup's brim.

"Are we going to wait the other 2?" Dongwoo asked.

"No," everyone else said in unison, not waiting another minute for them to have fun.

Woohyun slammed the bottle on table and grabbed his cup, raising it in the air for an unwinded toast. "Who's ready to-"

"And now we got the scoop on Korea's rising idol rock band, Infinite."

"That's us!" Sungjong exclaimed, staring at the TV. Everyone lurched forward and turned their seats to watch the TV, stopping midway to their cheers in shock that they were talking about Infinite.

"These 7 boys started off as popular high school bands known around Seoul, Eye Candy and Strawberry Fields. Their future debut has been the talk of the town by many, their status surging with the public faster than any other idol group. They are the most anticipated band in the country's history."

"They're actually talking about us," Dongwoo grinned, shifting in his seat from excitement.

"This is really happening," Hoya smiled, trying to keep his composure compared to everyone else sitting at the table.

"Maybe they're going to talk about our gig next week!" Woohyun exclaimed.

"But more than their music we got the scoop on the band's 2 visuals, Kim Myungsoo, who goes by the stage name 'L', and Lee Sungyeol."

Flashing on the screen was a picture of L and Sungyeol walking along a sidewalk. This picture was taken during the evening and in the corner timestamp, it was taken a few months ago during the winter.  Sungyeol's hand was yearningly wrapped around L's shoulder as L's arm surrounded Sungyeol's waist, the two of them holding onto each other tightly as they walked through the snow. L's head was buried under Sungyeol's chin, showing a clear profile of his side as it looked like he was trying to avoid a chilly draft. Sungyeol's lips were placed at the top of his forehead as if he was kissing it. On the side of the screen was a picture comparison of separate school pictures of both L and Sungyeol to show that the faces in the suspecting picture were in fact Kim Myungsoo and Lee Sungyeol.

At that moment, L and Sungyeol casually walked into the restaurant and to the back where the rest of Infinite was sitting. After starting their day off with Dasom, both of them felt confident that the night with their best friends would end well. As they approached the table, they saw the ghastly look on their friends' faces as they were watching the television screen about the 2 of them. L and Sungyeol gingerly turned their heads to find their faces plastered onto the news report for everyone around Korea to watch.

"This picture from several months ago was passed onto us recently, showcasing that these visuals used to have a past as lovebirds. Is the relationship still going on? Was this a fling of the past? Stay tuned next week to confirm! After our commercial break, we will talk about shocking new developments between singer Se7en and actress Park Han Byul!"

The news report went to a commercial break. 

L and Sungyeol grew pale, watching the reactions of their friends from watching the news report. It was unexpected for them to see their relationship outed to the general public on national television, and with their best friends along their side they could only imagine the trouble they have put themselves into.

Hoya, Dongwoo, and Sungjong waited nervously, feeling uncomfortable from watching what they had already known from before. They eyed each other, the silence between all of them intensifying the situation. All 3 of them already knew of their relationship, but there were two people sitting at their table that had yet to find out. Two people, whom after months of the relationship occurring, finally found out through a news report that L and Sungyeol were dating. 

Those people were Sunggyu and Woohyun.

(((())))

"Yes. Yes, I know. Yes, we're all together right now."

They all stood by the railing of the Han River, overlooking the scene of the moon and city buildings reflect on the water. It was a rough start to the night, and everyone but Sunggyu stood silently and anxiously as they waited for him to finish a gruelling phone call with Jong Yeop about their most recently broadcasted news report. 

L and Sungyeol stood nervously side-by-side, both of their bodies trembling in fear of what would happen next. It was a tough subject for the both of them to talk about, and upon walking into the restaurant their secret life was revealed. Almost immediately after the report was showcased, the leader received a call from their director to talk about their scandal. By the river, Sungyeol knew that the whole time Woohyun was looking straight at him, but he turned to the side to avoid any eye contact with him. L was also worried, knowing that Sunggyu was an iron fist when it came down to problems like this. It was only a matter of waiting for what would happen next. Everyone was scared.

"Have a good night Jong Yeop-sshi." Sunggyu hung up the phone, placing it in his back pocket.

"What did he say?" Sungjong asked, who hooked his arm with Dongwoo for support.

Sunggyu took a deep breath. "Well, it's an understatement to say that he's mad at us."

Woohyun stood on the edge of the sidewalk with his arms crossed, balancing himself as he hung off the curb. "Sungyeol, how long have you been dating him?"

Sungyeol looked up to finally see Woohyun eye-to-eye. He could not tell any kind of emotion his friend was feeling, but knowing Woohyun for many years he knew at least of one emotion he may have felt: betrayal. Sungyeol knew that he was the idiot in this situation. He knew that it was no one else's fault that this happened but himself. He expected the same thing that happened with Hoya to happen here now, except elevated and intensified because Woohyun found out on TV. "It..." Sungyeol's voice cracked, dry from the horror he was anticipating between him and his best friend. "It started before the competition," he admitted.

Woohyun bit his lip and closed his eyes, unable to say a single thing to him.

"And you're still dating him?" Sunggyu asked. He was absolutely livid about the whole situation, but he did his best to keep his composure in front of everyone.

L looked down at the ground and nodded his head.

Hoya could feel the tension between the four of them rise, slowly inching his way towards Dongwoo and Sungjong on the side.

"Sungyeol, why didn't you tell me?" Woohyun asked, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "So you guys even dated when we used to hate each other?"

"And that's the reason why," Sungyeol tried to reason, taking a step to explain everything to Woohyun. "I was tutoring him and-"

"You were tutoring him?!" Woohyun yelled, losing all control of his emotions. He felt as if his whole relationship with Sungyeol had been a lie.

"It wasn't like I planned for this to happen! And what difference does it make now, cause were all friends." Sungyeol screamed, rubbing his head in frustration. "Woohyun, you have no idea how sorry I am about not telling you. But there was never a good time for me to say anything out loud, and it was because I was trying to protect everyone here. Maybe I should have explained everything earlier, but a lot of things happened and I was doing my best to protect my friendships and relationship. You have every right to be pissed at me, and honestly I'd be furious too if I found out on a television show that my best friend was dating someone."

"On top of that, we're public figures Sungyeol!" Woohyun scolded. 

"I know, I know."

"Between the 3 of us, we were always a bit of free spirits who did whatever we wanted with whoever we wanted. Things are different now. We can't keep secrets anymore, because people are trying to follow us to get the inside scoop on our lives. We can't afford to sneak around with anything anymore. Now that we have fans, we can't all just be walking around holding hands and kissing whoever we please."

"I get it, I understand!"

"Do you really understand right now Sungyeol? You not only betrayed me, but you put everything on the line! You put ALL of our music careers on the ing line!"

"Woohyun, try to calm down," L put his hands up to try and alleviate the situation. "This is as much my fault as it is his."

"L, stay out of it," Woohyun put his hand out in front of L's face. "This conversation between us 2 has been long coming."

"No," Hoya muttered. "Don't take it there."

"You know how things got all ed up with us?" Woohyun threatened.

"Don't do it," Hoya begged, clenching his fist and getting ready to step in when necessary.

"How did things get ed up between us?" Sungyeol repeated. "Say it. I dare you to say it."

"Can we all calm down now," L cried.

"Woohyun, don't say anything," Hoya pleaded.

"When your mom died!" Woohyun screamed out of passion.

"Of course, when my mom died!" Sungyeol complained, hurt that one of his closest friends would tell him something like that again. "What's new Woohyun! Tell me something I don't know!"

"We need to stop fighting right now," Dongwoo mediated. "Everyone is heated and no one is thinking clearly, so we all need some time to calm down and figure everything out. We're talking about how much this might mess up our public image, but we're yelling at each other in public when we're supposed to be a band! We can't resolve anything if we act like this!" 

"There is a loophole to everything." Sunggyu finally spoke, walking towards the railing to look away from everyone.

His words temporarily silenced the argument between Woohyun and Sungyeol, and everyone patiently waited for their leader to elaborate.

"What does that mean?" the maknae spoke, squeezing Dongwoo's arm.

Sunggyu took a deep breath, watching the waves crash onto the railing concrete. During this whole time Sunggyu avoided speaking out his opinion, because Sunggyu was just as confused as everyone else. His feelings turned 360 degrees every second, starting off furious, turning into sympathetic, changing into frustrated, and now everything had become confusing. Sunggyu spit into the river, his saliva dropping into the water to create a ripple that outlined the reflection of the night's moon. He finally spoke. "The broadcast said that the picture came from the past."

"Get to the point," Sungjong barked.

Sunggyu took another deep breath, clasping his hands together and closing his eyes. "If we can prove that L and Sungyeol's relationship happened in the past for their next broadcast, we'll be fine. We just can't be in relationships now with our growing popularity. Jong Yeop-sshi gave us an ultimatum, and we have 1 week to give an answer. The Friday before our performance."

Woohyun and Sungyeol looked at each other, and beyond their struggling relationship they both knew in each other's eyes that the ultimatum would not be good for anyone. Dongwoo and Sungyeol continued to link arms with each other for support, holding onto each other tighter as they waited for the results. Hoya crossed his arms and leaned against the railing, biting his lip and hoping for the best with not only L and Sungyeol's relationship but his and everyone's music career.

"What is it?" L asked.

With one last breath, Sunggyu turned around and opened his eyes to look at one of his oldest friends in the eye. "If you and Sungyeol are no longer in a relationship, we stay a band. If you and Sungyeol keep your relationship, we disband."

The sinking reality of Sunggyu's words stabbed everyone like a dagger. No one had dreamed that all of them would have made it this far to making it, but now choices had to be made between personal happiness and their future career. 

The truth hit Sungyeol hard, his gut feeling like it was going to explode from the burden knowing that his relationship put his friends in jeopardy. Everything he had done was out of love, and now love was the reason the scandal is happening. Maybe today is the expiration date. Sungyeol tried his best to have a glimmer of hope that everything between him and L would work out, his eyes tearing up and his heart beating fast in fear of what would happen next.  The same person who brought everyone into the band together was now the same person who could make it fall apart, and Sungyeol was confused between his responsibility as a friend and a boyfriend. He wanted everything to work out, but he knew that only one thing was going to fall through.

"I just..." L started, closing his eyes to prevent himself from showing any tears in front of anyone. "Sunggyu, I can't leave Sungyeol."

"You what?" Sunggyu asked, raising an eyebrow.

His words shocked everyone. Woohyun, Hoya, Sungjong, and Dongwoo's eyes widened after hearing his straightforward confession, all of them mixed with emotions. Sungyeol looked up, his heart beating faster. He took a step forward to make sure he heard correctly.

"I can't leave Sungyeol," L confirmed, nodding his head confidently.

"So you'll let your friends burn in the dust for one person?" Sunggyu instigated, shoving his hands down his pockets and taking a deep breath.

"I've been through so much with Sungyeol, and I don't know where I'd be right now without him."

"Are you saying that we're going to give up our music careers so that you'll be happy?" Sunggyu implied.

"I'm saying that nothing is black and white right now. I'm saying that this is a hard decision, and that I can't figure anything out right now." L explained.

"You're acting selfish right now," Sunggyu declared bluntly, trying to keep his anger in.

"I said that I can't figure things out right now, I need more time. We have a whole week anyways-"

"If you were a friend, you would be willing to throw all of this silly stuff away for the band," Sunggyu interrupted, unable to comprehend L's thought process.

L ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I'm willing to do anything for the band, and you know that already. I'm not myself without the band, but this isn't silly. If you were a friend you would understand that this is difficult."

"What is so difficult about this? You're willing to do anything for the band, and if you guys stay together there won't even be a band!" Sunggyu lurched forward to grab onto L's shoulders.

Everyone immediately jumped in to break the 2 of them up. Woohyun squeezed himself in the middle to divide them away from each other. Sungyeol grabbed onto L's waist and pulled him back with Sungjong grabbing onto L's arms so that he would not attack Sunggyu back. Dongwoo and Hoya held onto each one of Sunggyu's arms to control him. 

"This is getting out of hand!" Dongwoo yelled out, struggling to keep Sunggyu from leaving his grasp. "Arguing and hurting each other won't solve this issue! I think everyone needs some time alone and away from each other to think things through, because right now no one is being rational."

L was out of breath, distraught about the scandal and what that would mean for everyone in Infinite. He felt every emotion in his body draining his energy, his face pale from desperation. "Sunggyu, you're one of my oldest friends but you have to understand that this is really difficult for me!" He gasped for air, tears streaming down his face as he made one last plea. "It's a dream to one day be like CNBlue, or something even better than them. All 4 of us share the same goals: you, me, Sungjong, and Dongwoo. And I want nothing more but to achieve them, but I want Sungyeol by my side to. And Woohyun. And Hoya. If it wasn't for our relationship, the 3 of them would not be here today. All the missing pieces fell together, and I owe it to Sungyeol. So please, as a friend, understand that I haven't made my decision yet. I need more time."

"Friend? Friend?!" Sunggyu shrugged Dongwoo and Hoya's arms away and walked towards L, but Woohyun pushed him back in time before he reached him. Sunggyu pointed his finger at L, not even listening to a single word he said before. "Right now I'm looking at the face of someone who's not a friend." Sunggyu pushed Woohyun away, who stumbled into L, Sungyeol, and Sungjong.

Sunggyu brushed his shirt off, blinking his eyes several times to stop himself from tearing up. "Myungsoo, do the right thing," he gasped under his breath.

Unable to look at everyone any longer, Sunggyu somberly closed his eyes and proceeded to walk away from Infinite. 

And there ends this crazy chapter. 

This has been a crazy ride for all of you, and the very last bonus chapter and very last chapter of this whole fanfic is properly called The Encore. I already know how this story is going to end, but do you know??

As my first fanfic, this has been such a fun time writing. I've been learning English for a while now and I hope that everything was easy to understand. I love creative writing and as always I want to thank all of my subscribers, commentors, and anyone who has stumbled across this and read it. For my work to even be read and acknowledged means so much. 

This fanfic started off really only planned to have 5 chapters, but as I thought more in-depth to the story I figured out ways to write even more. I mean heck, my bonus chapters are even intense. If you are one of those readers who have lasted this long to read the bonus chapters, thank you so much! 

As you leave a comment, I am really curious. Let me know what you've thought about this story and let me know what your favorite chapter was! Honestly, I have so much fun reading everyone's reactions towards everything because it's nice to see what you all thought about it and I like to read what people predict will happen next. Tell me your favorite parts and chapters of this whole fanfic, because I enjoy finding out. :D

I love everyone who has read this and supported it in any way. Now get ready for the final chapter!