CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:Sense

 

 

The last interview had been tiring. At least that was what Infinite’s leader thought as they reached the parked SUB. He didn’t know if it was him but the air in the meeting area had been suffocating. There had been moments when SungGyu had to concentrate on his breathing. It all could be thanks to the obscure and thick atmosphere the hotel room had, or the fact that the occidental decorations overwhelmed him. He was used to lighter and simple surroundings.  Maybe the thick curtains brought a claustrophobic sensation to SungGyu?

The first interview had been situated in Woollim’s building. It had been quite relaxing seeing that the questions were the usual ones teenager magazines asked. But the second one had been in a pretty expensive hotel in the depths of the Gangnam district - Interview that added a small photo-shoot session.  This one was for W Korea.

Before, SungGyu used to feel a tad self-conscious whenever he had to share a photo-shoot with MyungSoo but as the years passed he had started to gain confidence.

SungGyu believed he had his own unique charms.

“That ed up …”

Even if the voice came in a murmur SungGyu still heard it. As on reflex he turned from the passenger’s seat to the back where L was, his eyes busy glaring straight into the window. Not the outside, the window itself.

It was a hidden secret that MyungSoo had the most colorful vocabulary in Infinite.

“She wasn’t that bad,” SungGyu said but there was no reaction from the younger male who had a frown smudging his features.

“That knew you weren’t in your best condition,” the answer came loud as MyungSoo moved his head to face his him, the sudden action started the leader. There was a displeased look carved in the younger’s face. “And still she dared to ask you to sing for her.”

“It’s okay,” SungGyu shrugged. “And stop calling her that.”

“It wasn’t even necessary for the interview,” the visual added leaning forward to his leader, arms crossed tightly. “And not in accordance with that, that woman kept pushing SungYeol out of the group.”

“Why are you so sensitive over SungYeol?”

“Because it is SungYeol.”

Even if it hadn’t been direct, the interviewer had made a few not-so-innocent comments that tended to exclude their tallest member. From the very beginning SungGyu had noticed her real intentions. It had been pretty sly from the interviewer but SungGyu managed to not lose SungYeol in his words, to keep him present. In all, said lady made the interview heavy and burdensome for both young males.

A sigh left SungGyu’s lips before he lifted the arm from the passenger’s seat and moved to the back, taking lazily a seat next to the younger man. The action caught MyungSoo off guard.

“You did well even with that… annoying you every three seconds,” SungGyu felt better as he released the five letter word, same word that brought a soft smile to L’s lips that slowly got erased.

“I just didn’t want to bring more trouble to you, Hyung.”

His voice came pretty dull as he said the last line. Silently L leaned back while his fingers played clumsily with the cords of his hoodie.  

There was no sound in the SUV as SungGyu eyed L’s unreadable face, then he looked deeper into MyungSoo’s body language. Without noticing a half smile crawled to SungGyu’s lips before he patted with care the younger’s knee.  Action that made L turn his head to the leader. His mouth slightly opened.

“Well you might still have the name but your L image is long forgotten, you know?” SungGyu teased as he punched the younger’s shoulder. “So you reacting every now and then wouldn’t be so bad. And it makes interviews more thrilling for me.”

MyungSoo snorted. “Sorry to disappoint you but that was a once in a lifetime.”

“How come?” SungGyu asked amused.

“I have to protect my Prince Idol title.”

SungGyu barked a laugh.

“What?”

“And my CF King title too.”

Now both males were laughing as SungGyu gave up on trying to find the concordance between that and their recent conversation.

“Are you really older than SungJong?”

 

Just like that, the awkwardness between leader and visual disappeared. SungGyu didn’t need for MyungSoo to ask forgiveness, he never thought it was necessary. In fact, the thought never crossed his mind. What both needed was time, time for the younger male to show his sincerity and for the leader to see it. SungGyu believed that actions said more than words.

MyungSoo had made plenty of mistakes and he had had his fair share of difficult moments where he just didn’t know who he was. But in all of those named before, the young man had proved how capable and sincere he was. Comparing DongWoo with him, the rapper was an open book. L might be the hardest to understand but SungGyu never failed to see his real intentions.

Between their comments and SungGyu introducing himself slowly into L’s world, none of them noticed Geonam entering the van; at least not until they felt the movement from the SUV as they went forward. 

Little by little their talk subsided until they were in a peaceful silence. It had been so long since SungGyu last felt comfortable in the van.  It was a shame the way to the Champion Show’s set was rather short from Gangnam.

 

“You finally arrived!”

Between the busy hallways filled with known faces and fresh ones they caught sight of Infinite’s maknae who was already wearing their stage clothes and make-up. His expression was a bit stiff but still he managed to smile as he reached them.

“Did it go well?”

“The last interviewer was a—” MyungSoo started.

“Bit intense, but both went well.” SungGyu ended. “How was the recording?”

“Recording Incarnation is tiring, but we promoted well,” SungJong nodded as they started to walk again.

“Are we all here now?” SungGyu asked feeling the youngest lower their pace.

“No, DongWoo’s missing, but Hyoan-hyung said he was already on his way.”

“Hoya and WooHyun?”

“About them, hum, there’s a thing…”

SungJong finally stopped walking making the older males turn. MyungSoo sighed knowing perfectly what the youngest member meant with that unfinished phrase. There was no need to conclude it. It was so obvious. 

“Where?”

“In our waiting room. The staff left before they got heated up.”

“Whatever,” the snort that came from their leader surprised both members. “Let’s go to the make-up room, L-ah. Geonam-hyung will arrive soon with our stage clothes.”

“Right,” MyungSoo murmured.

“If you see DongWoo tell him to come directly, SungJong. We can’t waste more time. We’re the first ones.”

“But Hyung,” SungJong said a bit louder catching the hem of his leader’s shirt. “I really think you should go see them.”

“Hoya’s smart enough to not hit him in the face,” SungGyu said bluntly.

“But it’s about SungYeol.”

As soon as those words left the youngest male’s lips L’s calm eyes opened.

“Where’s our room?” MyungSoo wasted no time in asking while SungGyu gave their maknae a confused look.

It wasn’t usual for other members to be the cause of those 91-liners’ fights.  They mainly fought because Hoya gave up on ignoring WooHyun’s actions or something among those lines. Knowing the cause was different SungJong had worried. Along with those feelings went MyungSoo that followed the maknae closely as they reached their waiting room. SungGyu right behind them.

“You’re the less indicated to talk bout that.”

Hoya’s voice could be heard from the other side.

“Somebody found their sharp tongue, huh?”

WooHyun’s voice came clear as soon as MyungSoo opened the door.  It seemed the quarrel had ended since the two members weren’t in each other’s necks anymore. Sure HoWon’s hair was disheveled and their clothes looked rather messy but other than that no physical damage was visible – though WooHyun was slightly hunched, an arm holding his stomach.

When they heard the door open, both turned to the arrived members. Words got stuck in their throats as they saw SungGyu walking inside. They had expected for him to say something but their leader kept quiet. He just took a seat on one empty chair, leaving his iPhone and earphones on the small coffee table. His eyes never turned to the troublemakers.

“What happened with SungYeol?”

It wasn’t SungGyu but MyungSoo the one that asked turning to both 91-liners.

“Don’t you know what that bastard did?” WooHyun said getting a disgruntled expression from their leader. “Don’t give me that look, Hyung. That idiot caused more trouble than what we knew.”

“He didn’t,” Hoya rolled his eyes. “One thing is what the media says.”

“Stop being so blind, HoWon.”

WooHyun went closer to the dancer but stopped as Hoya walked to the front.

“Want another punch?”

The suggestion made WooHyun slightly back up.

“What happened?” L asked again ignoring completely the others’ bickering. Soon a smartphone was shoved to his chest. It seemed the apparatus had the answer to his question so MyungSoo turned his attention to what was displayed on it. Silence fell in the room as his expression tightened.

“Hoya?” SungGyu asked not liking the change on L.

“The media found relevant the fact that the people involved in SungYeol’s scandal were in a relationship,” the dancer put it bluntly.

“Koreans found it relevant?” SungGyu mumbled to himself as MyungSoo gave back the smartphone to WooHyun. The disoriented look on his face called the leader’s attention.

“They were in a relationship?”

“SungJong,” Hoya groaned as MyungSoo managed to give the maknae a glare.

“What? I just found it weird,” SungJong words came in a slow questioning sound. 

“Well, you aren’t the only one,” WooHyun said walking closer to their leader. “Apart from weird, words like disgusting, gross, unnatural and righteous came along. But that’s not the worst part. People have started to say that SungYeol, of Infinite, is homophobic. In other words we are homophobic.”  

“So if the involved one was a black man the he would’ve been racist? That’s stupid!” Hoya groaned.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“People don’t make sense, SungJong,” SungGyu said softly as he eyed the younger members.

“Sense or not, this is a problem for us now,” WooHyun turned to their leader. “We can’t say, no we aren’t homophobic, because people won’t like it and we can’t say, yes we are, cuz people won’t like it either! We were in a safe neutral area and now we’re on the spot.”

“Which side are we?” SungJong asked in a low voice.

MyungSoo snorted, “does it matter?”

“Hyung!” WooHyun said loudly.

“Not even four days ago you changed our choreography to keep SungYeol present on stage and now you’re overreacting like this,” Hoya pointed out, memories coming back to SungGyu.

“I didn’t know there was more into his scandal,” WooHyun hissed. “Why he didn’t tell us this? We could’ve been prepared. I don’t know! Aren’t you mad at him? Why did he hid this from us?!”

“Because it’s not relevant,” Hoya was getting desperate again.

“For us it is! Hyung?!” WooHyun turned to see SungGyu wanting to get an answer from him.

“What do you want me to do?” SungGyu asked not losing their eye contact. “You just said it, there’s nothing we can do.”

“You knew about this, didn’t you?” WooHyun breathed as he stood right in front of SungGyu. There was no need for him to listen to the answer. WooHyun knew it already. “Why you didn’t tell us?”

There was no need to lie.

“It wasn’t my place to do.”

“You can’t do that. Not when our comeback keeps falling down,” WooHyun groaned. “Our sales aren’t as good as our last album. The song on the radio is the fixed one. Our video can’t be shown on any network and JungRyul-hyung just told me they’re planning on redoing it so it can appear on TV!”

Even if it hurt, WooHyun was right. This comeback was turning into a nightmare, not only to the members but the directives and everyone involved with Infinite and Woollim.

It was hard for them to work as a six member group and the subunits but it was harder when they knew their work barely gave any fruit. The fact that SungYeol had hidden that simple thing from them did make them feel a bit hurt. What else was SungYeol hiding from them? Didn’t he have the trust to open up to them?

“Our video on internet keeps gaining more views than any other on the company’s channel,” SungGyu said calmly as he reached for his mobile phone.

“Hyung—”

“What WooHyun? What?!” SungGyu threw his iPhone as he stood up. It didn’t matter his throat itched. “What the hell do you want? There’s nothing to do but accept it! If you want to whine go to our CEO or whatever! Just not us! I’m tired of your useless whines that do nothing but dig deeper the hole we’re in!”

It was his last lines that brought a painful look on WooHyun’s face. In other times he would’ve been quick to amend his words, but SungGyu was really tired. He was so fed up of the spoiled attitude WooHyun was having.  SungGyu knew it was his fault but right now he wasn’t going to give in.

He had had enough.

Nothing else was said as WooHyun walked out of the waiting room, not before pushing the arrived member in the process.

Wrapped kimbap fell to the floor.

“Did something happen?” DongWoo asked as he knelt to pick up the food, his eyes looking at the opened door where WooHyun ha disappeared. Hoya was soon by his side.

“And this?” The dancer murmured raising a roll. Somehow breaking the silence from the waiting room seemed a bad idea for him.

“SungYeol made them for us,” DongWoo grinned not really reading the mood. “He said to give our best.”

“Yeollie-hyung,” SungJong murmured as MyungSoo carefully took a roll. His eyes looked gently at it for some moments before he placed it on the coffee table close to their leader.

“Hyung?”

L’s small voice broke the spell SungGyu was in. The older man didn’t even notice when DongWoo arrived.

“Sorry guys,” SungGyu managed to say before he raised his face up to the ceiling. Eyes closed tightly. “I keep making things worse for you all.”

There had been no time for them to tell DongWoo what happened or even taste SungYeol’s kimbap since JungRyul arrived soon to get the missing three members to the make-up room. Things started to move faster since Infinite was the first one to go on stage. Being the ones doing comeback, they were the chosen ones to open with Wish You Love.

In automatic SungGyu followed the orders given to him – close your eyes, move here, move there, get this on – just like a doll, he followed without giving it too much thought. He couldn’t even feel the itching sensation from the thick layer of make-up or the raspy sensation on his throat. Right now he was disconnected from everything. Right now he was the perfect Idol.

Minutes later they found themselves again in the waiting room. WooHyun was still somewhere outside but right then they left the responsibility of finding him to Hyoan.

 

“I think you need to buy a new one.”

SungGyu raised his eyes from the broken iPhone when he heard Geonam’s suggestion.

“It’s just the screen.”

By reflex SungGyu answered the soft smile his manager gave him before he was asked to follow the older man. Without energy SungGyu walked out of the waiting room and into the halls. As they walked they kept being stopped by the polite greetings and nice comments.

“The staff will get soon to the waiting room so you can prepare to open up,” Geonam said as he stopped in front of a small room. After knocking he let SungGyu get inside. Soon a young woman with a staff tag greeted them before she started working on SungGyu’s earphones and controls. After the job was done she left.

“But there’s a thing SungGyu-ya,” Geonam said after he gave him the black microphone. The young leader turned to see him. “You’ll have to lip sync.”

As soon as those words were said the automatic cycle SungGyu was broke.

Lip sync.

“What?” It came as a whisper before he eyed deeper Geonam’s orbs. For him, their manager had judging eyes.

“It was an order from JungYeop-nim.”

SungGyu shook his head. Confusion and anguish eating his thoughts. “But I sound better than yesterday. I can do better than in Inkigayo. Fans barely noticed it.”

“It’s not about them noticing it,” Geonam paused as he messed with his hair. “Your results came out.”

“My results?”

Things weren’t making sense that day.

“What’s going on, Hyung?”

“I don’t know either. But you won’t be signing tonight.”

Not at all.

 

 

Ranting Zone,

So, how was it?

Now, SungYeol was late to open up to the other members. How will this affect Infinite? Do you really think WooHyun’s mad at SungYeol because of that? And oh god, we’re so close to know what’s actually going on with SungGyu! Let me tell you, ever since I started this fic I thought about SungGyu’s medical situation. Was this too much drama for your strong hearts? Hoho, I'm so, so happy SungGyu finally answered back to WooHyun! He deserved it, right? Also! MyungSoo keeps being an enigma for too many people, right? Watch out his every move, he might give away his real feelings. And DongWoo, he just came with the kimbap! How did he take SungYeol’s news? Hoya and WooHyun… I believe their bickering will never stop but I enjoy to write them just so I don't mind, do you? and that mature SungJong, ah, such a cute kid.

          It was a bit difficult for me to write their waiting room conversation because of the topic they were talking. If anyone felt offended please don’t. I just tried to make the point clear… 

Now, I have a really big announcement to make. I’m leaving to Quebec for three months or so (anyone from there?) and I won’t be having a laptop, therefore. No updates. I will keep writing in my notebook (I’m the kind of writer that still uses pen and paper ^^) so I hope I’ll have lots of chapters when I go back to my country… I will check the page every now and then and tublr too so, if anyone feels like sharing something or following me ^^”

I hope you can wait for me and my stories.  Pretty please?

My precious readers, I’m really, really happy with all your support and shown love! Thank you for the never ending subscribers, the wonderful comments and the upvotes! I’m truly grateful for them and I don’t know how to thank but writing longer chapters and faster updates.

I’ll see you soon!

Love, Vico