Sungjong watched from backstage as Infinite performed their final goodbye stage for this round of promotions on Inkigayo.  He tried not to be disappointed or sad, but he just couldn’t help be feel that way. Despite all his effort and hard work, the doctor still would not let him dance.  He would always tell Sungjong, maybe next week, we’ll see how it is next week. The next week would arrive and Sungjong would inevitably still be twinged with pain or the doctor would see an imaginary limp or grimace and decide he wasn’t ready yet.

What Sungjong didn’t understand was why he hadn’t been allowed one of those chairs or ‘thrones’ that other injured group members used. Why was he the only one that had to sit out completely, his voice still worked perfectly fine. He was still better than Yeollie-hyung and everyone knew it. But the fans were ecstatic that Sungyeol got to sing more; they had finally let up on their constant stream of twitter mentions and fancafe posts asking Woollim to let Sungyeol sing.

The three minutes passed by agonizingly slow, or at least it seemed that way to Sungjong. He stared at the TV and noticed that Infinite were no longer on the screen. A quick look around showed him that the room was still empty, where had the others gone? He got up and opened the door to peek out into the hall, all he saw were interns running to-and-fro. No one else.  Maybe they were doing an interview somewhere. Sungjong decided that he would go search them out. The door closed behind him with a quiet click and he set off down the hell. The other waiting rooms were quiet but sometimes the occasional laughter would come drifting out through the door into the hallway.

His wandering brought him to the stage area where he could peek out and see the audience and the stage. Sungjong watched for a moment, trying to put himself into the mindset of a performance, but he found that it was too hard to do now. It had been so long since he had been on stage that he worried that he would never be able to do it right again.

“What are you doing here?” A voice asked Sungjong suddenly.

Sungjong jumped and turned around to face the person who spoke and found himself face to face with a camera, “Ahh! I’m…”

“Sungjong from Infinite right?” the man in front of him asked.

“Yes, I’m Infinite’s Sungjong!”

“Glad to see you! It has been some time since you were here.”

Sungjong plastered a smile on his face although he could not remember who this man was, his mind was frantically trying to recall a name or station or company that the man could be from, “Yeah, I have really missed being here. I came today to support the rest of the guys as they did their goodbye stage.”

The man put on a good natured smile, “Yeah it is too bad that you missed out on this whole round of promotions! Though I have to say you look to be in great health, hope you will be back on the stage soon.”

Sungjong nodded, “Me too! Thank you, but I have to go find the other members now…”

“I know where they are,” the man smiled again and turned around motioning for Sungjong to follow him, “Follow me.”

Sungjong shrugged and decided that he might as well follow the man, it wasn’t as if he knew where the others could be, and he had already been wandering around the building for about twenty minutes. With his luck they would be back at the waiting room now wondering where he had gone off to.  Sungjong felt his pocket for his cellphone but found that it was not there, he must have left it in the waiting room. So much for sending the others a text. Plus the man said he knew where they were so, there really wasn’t any reason to text anyone.

Sungjong looked up and realized they were headed for the exit, “Wait why are we leaving the building?”

“Because that is where we’re going.”

“Are the other members outside already? Why would they go out without me?” Sungjong looked around nervously now, he did not like the feeling this man was giving him. And much to his surprise Sungjong realized that they were no longer alone, two other men, much larger men than himself, had appeared behind them.

The man with the camera just laughed and motioned for him to follow again.

Sungjong shook his head, even though the other could not see, “No, I think I will just go back to the waiting room now. Thank you for your help.”

He turned around and tried to skirt past the other men, but they stepped into his path and glared down at him, “Excuse me please.”  He tried to make his voice sound fierce and commanding, he squeaked instead. He felt his face get hot.

“Now now Sungjong, just come along outside, don’t cause a scene.”