Myungsoo~

“Hey, you’re in the building, right?” Yongguk hyung asked over the phone.

“Yeah,” I said, breathing heavily. I turned down the music in the room and threw a towel over my head. “Why?”

“Can you come up to my office really quick? I have something I want to talk to you about,” hyung said. I looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. Why was hyung still in his office?

“Yeah sure, I’ll be there in five,” I said. I grabbed my backpack and sweatshirt and left the room, turning the lights off. The building was almost empty except for the occasional employee. I took the elevator up to the president’s office.

I pulled open the heavy wood door and entered the familiar office. The plush leather sofas, the clean lavender smell, the huge windows; it was all familiar from the many times President Choi let us play up here.

At the other side of the room was Yongguk hyung sitting at the desk, looking tired. He had dark circles under his eyes and his usual playful, joking aura wasn’t present.

“Hey hyung,” I said, sitting down on one of the sofas. He stood up from his desk and sat down across from me. He sighed tiredly and loosened his tie. I looked at him worriedly; I’ve honestly never seen him like this.

“Don’t look at me like that,” hyung smiled a little. “I’m not gonna pass out on you or anything.”

“Well you look like you might…” I mumbled. “Are you getting any sleep these days? Are you eating well?”

“Wow, who would’ve thought the day would come when this kid would ask me these questions…” hyung muttered. “Don’t worry, I know how to take care of myself. But enough about me; how about you? School going alright…?”

“Yeah, I guess…” I said. “Same as usual.”

“That’s good…” Yongguk said. “Well, you probably know this isn't why I called you up. It’s getting late so I’ll get straight to the point. Myungsoo, what do you think of debuting as a kpop idol under our company?”

It took me a moment to comprehend that…

“I what?!” I asked, eyes wide. “A kpop idol?! Are you being serious hyung? Me? Maybe you should got get some sleep.”

“I’m being serious,” hyung said sharply, shutting me up quickly. “Myungsoo, even you know our situation, right? CC isn't doing too well. We’re suffering, and AJ’s gonna take this as a chance to push us down. And knowing them, they’ll make sure to push us hard enough so that we can't get up ever again. We need a new group to debut under us. It’ll show that we’re fine even when we lost so much.”

“But… Why me?” I asked softly. “Hyung… you know I can't do this. I’m just not made to be like… that. I’m sure there’s plenty more talented guys out there.”

I have an extreme phobia of standing in front of crowds, glossophobia. There was no way I could do this.

“Myungsoo, phobias can be cured. It’s not a permanent part of you,” Yongguk said calmly. “And we don’t have time to find someone. I’ve already got the other members; we just need one more. And even if we did have time, we wouldn’t be able to find someone like you. You’ve got the skills and the face. You’re perfect for this group. Please Myungsoo, I’m sincerely asking you to do this for me, for… Sohee.”

I took in a sharp breath at her name and I blinked hard.

“Fine,” I said shakily.

Hyung sighed with relief and said, “Okay, I’ll introduce you to the members tomorrow. The group’s gonna be called Infinite.”

“Infinite…?” I asked as Yongguk got the contracts. I quickly signed them without reading them.

“Yes, Infinite. Including you, it’ll be a seven member boy band,” Yongguk said. “Be excited, the other six are pretty… special.”

“Oh yay,” I said sarcastically. “I am so excited for this. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

Yongguk slapped my head, “You better, ‘cause starting from now on, you won't be getting too much. For the next two months, you’ll be living in hell. Never before have we attempted to get a group together this quickly, and I am not gonna let our hastiness show.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been living in hell this past week…” I muttered.

Yongguk smirked, “Just wait. You’ll want to come back to this the moment I introduce you to your managers.”