“Why couldn’t you just keep your mouth shut?” Woohyun said, his voice surprisingly soft considering what just transpired in the CEO’s office.

            “Ow, can you dab it a little bit lighter, Sungjong?” The maknae mumbled an apology and placed the wet towel less firmly on Sungyeol’s scratched up cheek. They were in a quiet hallway off on the side, near the CEO’s office. Sungyeol sat on the bench while the youngest Infinite member nursed his new throbbing bruise. Hoya stood at the corner quietly speaking to their manager as they kept an eye on the other members.

            “Sungyeol,” The main vocalist puffed out an aggravated sigh and bent down in front of Infinite’s childish member.

            “I’m sorry. I mean, how could you stand it? After everything he said, how could you just sit there and watch how he…” Sungyeol asked gently, his hands flexing in and out of tight fists. “…bashed what Infinite does, what we do?”

            Woohyun didn’t respond at first. He cautiously looked to his left and right, making sure only the five of them were there.

            “As much as I’d like to do a number on his face and kick his little greedy , getting the CEO on our bad side is not a good idea. With one mistake, we could be goners, and worse yet, no longer be Infinite. You remember what happened to SS501, right?”

            “I thought you said they disbanded because they wanted to pursue solo careers and complete their military service?” Sungjong questioned.

            Woohyun rolled his eyes, “Ugh, I told Sunggyu hyung it wasn’t a good idea to keep secrets from you guys, but he wanted to protect you.”

            He looked at Hoya who merely shrugged, “Well, you, L, and Sungjong.”

            “How would that protect us?” Sungyeol fumed, “We can already tell he’s a greedy bastard and don’t you think knowing the full extent of his wrath would be extremely helpful in my case?”

            “You’d probably do the same thing all over again,” L said as he walked around the corner with Dongwoo and tossed Sungyeol an ice pack, “Here. The secretary lady got it for us.”

            “Thanks Dongwoo hyung, L,” he grumbled, placing the ice pack on his cheek.

            “Sungyeol-ah,” Dongwoo sat next to Sungjong, setting down a first aid kit in front of him. “You should be grateful to Sunggyu hyung. If it wasn’t for his smooth talking to the CEO who knows what would have happened to you the last time, and now, this time too. I mean, can you imagine what he has to say to him right now?”

            “I know, hyung,” Sungyeol interrupted and patted Dongwoo’s leg. “I’m sorry I’m being such a pain. I just can’t—”

            “—shut up for once?”

            “Sunggyu hyung,” Dongwoo called out in relief. Sunggyu didn’t even spare the main rapper a glance as he walked straight towards Sungyeol.

            “Hyung…?” Woohyun questioned as their leader roughly pushed him away from where he was sitting in front of Sungyeol. “What are you…”

            BAM. Sungyeol fell on the floor with a smack, his eyes widened in shock as he put a hand over his cheek, the one that wasn’t supposed to be bruised.

            “Hyung!” Sungjong cried and clung tightly to Sunggyu’s arm to restrain him.

            “Sunggyu!” Infinite’s manager rushed to the scene with a shocked Hoya in tow.

            “Everyone, leave. Now.” Sunggyu growled through tight lips. The Infinite members froze in their spots, not sure what to do. Seo Jin looked from one startled face to another. He knew it took a lot to make Infinite’s leader this angry. They’ve only seen him like this one other time. Seo Jin shivered inwardly.

            “Sunggyu…” The manager tried to reason, placing a gentle hand on his shoulders.

            “Seo Jin hyung, take the kids to the car. Drop them off to wherever they need to go. They should enjoy their well-deserved free time. Hee-gun hyung can come pick up Sungyeol and I later.”

            “Hyung,” Sungjong pleaded, still clutching the leader’s arm.

            “Come, Sungjong-ah,” Hoya said gently and removed the maknae from Sunggyu’s arm. He gave a curt nod to their leader and left with the resistant Sungjong.

            Woohyun stood up and signaled everyone else to leave as well. Their manager hesitated, but decided against interfering. He knew Sunggyu had a responsibility to take care of s and knew he wouldn’t do anything without a good reason, especially if it concerns the wellbeing of Infinite and its members. It was also a little known fact that when Sunggyu got angry, no one should stand in his way.

            When the hallway quieted down from the footsteps of the leaving Infinite members, Sunggyu stretched out a hand to the twice-injured Sungyeol who just rearranged himself to sit on the ground.

            “Sungyeol-ah.” No response. Sunggyu kept his face as neutral as possible.

            “Sungyeol.” Still no response.

            “Lee Sungyeol.”

            At the call of his full name, he looked up to give Sunggyu a small grimace and patted the ground next to him. Sungyeol tried to read his leader’s face as Sunggyu sat opposite him, his legs crossed together on the floor.

            “I’m sorry, hyung,” He mumbled, reluctant to fully face the man who probably saved him from the CEO’s wrath. He twisted his fingers together and remembered Mr. Suh’s beat red face as he tried to throw a vase at Sungyeol when he was hastily shoved out the door. When he thought about the CEO’s actions, Sungyeol only got angrier and angrier. He slammed his fist into the ground, startling Infinite’s leader. “But, he deserved it.”

            When Sunggyu didn’t say anything, Sungyeol continued, “All he cares about is money and his reputation. He doesn’t care about us. I mean, the way he talked to Woohyun hyung, Sungjong and L…hyung, you don’t know how hard it was to not put my fist in that bastard’s face.”

            “Sungyeol—” Sungyeol was on a role and didn’t want any interruptions.

            “I know I did wrong and went against your orders. I know I’m not supposed to make these comments to the CEO in charge of technically our lives, but how can you not? I know he won’t throw me out. I’m not naïve, hyung. The only reason why he hasn’t done anything is because he knows Infinite is bringing in the big bucks.”

            Sunggyu stayed silent for a while, contemplating what Sungyeol said.

            “How long have we been together as Infinite?”

            “It’s been 3 years.”

  “Do you like being part of Infinite?”

  “Of course, hyung!”

  “If you had to choose between Infinite and a lifetime supply of Ton Katsu, what would you choose?”

  “What kind of question is that? It’s Infinite, Infinite, Infinite!”

  Sunggyu paused for a moment and kept his face as stern as possible.

  “How much are you willing to sacrifice to keep Infinite together?”

  “What?” Sungyeol asked, caught off guard by such a serious question.

  “What are you willing to sacrifice to keep Infinite together?” Sunggyu repeated slowly as he looked at his fellow Infinite member.

            Sungyeol thought about the deep friendships he’s shared with the other members, from the fights and occasional annoyances to the surprises and hard earned victories. He lightly smiled as he remembered the birthday party they threw for him a couple months ago. Hoya and Dongwoo did a silly dance, Sunggyu and Woohyun sang a duet, L and Sungjong baked an awful chocolate cake. Even when they were spending late nights in the dance studio, they were still happy to celebrate his birthday. Infinite wasn’t just a seven man group of singers and dancers, it was a family, and an irreplaceable one at that.  

            “Hyung,” he lifted his eyes to meet Sunggyu’s gaze, “I would give up everything.”

            And that’s when Sungyeol finally understood what Sunggyu was asking of him. He felt a little guilty for his selfish behavior and averted his eyes from the leader’s unreadable ones. There was a reason why Sunggyu was Infinite’s backbone. Although he had his occasional laziness and bossy behavior, he also had strength, confidence and wisdom that many of the other members admired, though they would never admit it.

            “I’m truly sorry, hyung,” Sungyeol apologized again, but with a better understanding of what he was apologizing for. “I’m sorry I was not protecting the Infinite that we have all built up together.” The hallways echoed a little from Sungyeol’s quiet confession. He bowed his head in front of him, waiting for his leader to respond. Sunggyu leaned on the back of his hands.

            “I can’t believe he backhand slapped you.”

            “What?”

            “If he was going to hit you, he might as well have used his fist. Your skin must be really sensitive for that to have bruised you,” Sunggyu said, a playfulness twinkling in his eyes.

  Sungyeol gave off a humorous laugh, “I think he had a couple of rings on.”

  “Really? Let me see…oh, yeah, I can see a little triangle shape right there and a circular one over there.”

            “Oh, great, hyung. I always wanted my bruises to come in geometric shapes,” Sungyeol rolled his eyes as Sunggyu gave a hearty laugh. Infinite’s leader grabbed the first aid kit sitting beside the bench.

  “Hold still. I’ll patch this up for you.”

  “Both, you mean. I’m pretty sure you left another bruise on my other cheek.”

  “Both,” Sunggyu replied, placing a large bandage on each side of his face. “I’m sorry about that Sungyeol.”

  Sungyeol just waved it off and grinned, “It’s okay, hyung. I was being an idiot. I deserved it.”

  Sunggyu grinned back, “You got that right.”

            After Sungyeol was scolded by his leader, he and Sunggyu spent a few more minutes just chatting, about Sungyeol’s newly developed vinegar pranks, Infinite’s disastrous bathroom schedule, Sunggyu’s new hairstyle, anything. It has been a while since these two have spent anytime just talking. With all the busy work that they had to do to get ready for their comeback, Infinite never really got a chance to have some one-on-one with each other. This was one of the rare moments that Sungyeol would treasure.

  “Okay, I think it’s time to call Hee-gun hyung. The others are probably enjoying themselves already,” Sunggyu said as he got off the floor.

  “Yeah,” Sungyeol replied and eyed the first aid kit. “Hyung, you go on ahead. I’m going to return this first.”

  Infinite’s leader nodded, “I’ll wait for you by the entrance.”

  “See you in a bit!”