CHAPTER THREE:Nam Woo Hyun

 

 

The training that day had been rough. Way too rough. SungGyu had kept on asking for more and more from the younger members. More accuracy, more passion, more flexibility, more, more. He was aiming for a perfect synchronization, a dignified stage performance and his sharp eyes didn’t let go of anything. Each day their rehearsals lasted longer. Now that they finished learning the steps with their choreographer, it was time for just the six of them to polish their dance. SungGyu was meticulously checking every detail. In a month they were going to perform their newest single and their fans deserved the best. People, the directives, they all were expecting something big from them. It was a lot of pressure, yes, but they could handle it. They had to. They were Idols.

 

With just a twenty-minute rest they managed to eat their tasteless food before getting back into their training. Singing while dancing was tough but they were getting better at it. DongWoo still needed to practice his breathing and L had to stop thinking and start feeling.

 

After SungYeol stopped his schedule with Infinite, their dance, their performing songs and the preparations for the comeback suffered a massive modification. SungYeol’s presence had disappeared from them. Infinite was uncomfortable with it. They didn’t want to change a thing since they were still waiting for their tallest member to come back. It was weird to sing just the six of them and it was weirder to dance without him when they knew he was available. To not listen to his voice when they knew it was his turn - his well earned lines. They weren’t strangers to that feeling, for every time they went to a live show to dance, they felt awkward whenever a member was missing.

 

After all, Infinite was composed by seven people.

 

Not eight. Not six. Seven.

 

 

“Is it right?”

 

Asked SungJong with a weak voice after repeating the same step he had been working on for a week now.

 

“Since yesterday you’ve been doing it right, how come you pick up girl groups' choreographies so fast but not ours?" HoWon said as he dried the sweat from his neck. His words were soft and lifeless. Even he - the last one to give up - was finally showing his lack of energy.

 

“Hyung, are we going to do it again?” DongWoo asked fearfully after he finished his energy drink getting a hidden but piercing look from MyungSoo.

 

“God no. No more, Hyung,” WooHyun begged as he trapped SungGyu’s shoulders with his hands and started shaking him strongly. With difficulty the oldest boy managed to push WooHyun away to set himself free. The movement actually made him dizzy.

 

“Well…”

 

SungGyu started completely aware of the almost dead expression his dongsaengs had. He managed to catch his own face on the mirror's reflection. Pretty much the same.

 

“I guess that’s it for today.”

 

While WooHyun jumped to celebrate, the other four relaxed their bodies, grateful for their leader’s compassion. But it was expected since they had been giving their best during the past days. SungGyu felt stupidly proud of them that he couldn’t hide his emotions.

 

“Go buy us some iced coffee SungJong,” SungGyu ordered with a pleased smirk that faded way too soon as he received an extended hand in exchange. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll pay.”

 

“I’ll buy seven so when we get back Yeol-hyung can drink it too,” SungJong grinned getting a kind pat on his head by DongWoo. WooHyun smiled.

 

“I’ll go with you,” the later offered taking their leader’s wallet. “We’ll be back soon.”

 

Both of them left the dancing room but not even a minute later they came back without coffees. Behind them was their manager Geonam. He had a serious expression that stood out between the confused ones of the two idols.

 

“Hyung? We just finished,” SungGyu said standing up from the floor to meet the manager. “WooHyun and SungJong were only going for some iced coffee.”

 

“I know,” Geonam said calmly before directing the errand boys to stay close to the other members that were already sitting on the floor. SungGyu followed but didn’t seat, he just leaned on the cold mirror.

 

“Do you have something to tell us?” HoWon looked questioningly the older man.

 

“Yeah, I have an announcement to make you, guys,” his voice didn’t sound good. Just like them, SungYeol’s scandal had affected him too. “I hope you can understand that this are the CEO’s orders. We all have different points of view but Lee JungYeop-nim, the directives and I thought it was the best for all of you.”

 

“What’s going on?” WooHyun’s eyes were serious even if a slight smile was painted in his lips.

 

“Today Lee SungYeol is going back home.”  

 

“What?” whispered SungJong as DongWoo opened his mouth.

 

“We’ve been noticing how SungYeol’s presence is affecting you, guys. I don’t mean to say it in a bad way but you’re getting distracted by him. The PD from the reality is kind of stressed because lots of the recordings need to be cut. They don’t have enough material because you keep on spacing off and we don’t want to cancel the reality when you’re almost done with the episodes.”

 

“Then why did you let him stay to begin with?” This time MyungSoo spoke.

 

“No one was really okay with that decision, but because SungYeol asked for it the CEO gave in,” Geonam said bluntly not missing the way SungGyu’s eyes lowered to his feet. “ We can’t do it anymore, having him here is only making things worse. Yes, he’s been getting better thanks to the counselor he’s been looking but… Guys, you don’t even rest well since SungYeol keeps screaming or simply because you’re waiting for him to suddenly wake up in the middle of the night. You all have dark circles under your eyes, the make up can’t cover it anymore. Do I have to say something else to make our point clear? Do I have to get another member sick for you to understand?”

 

The maknae shook his head as Hoya released a sigh. None of them were looking at their manager.

 

“Why can’t you tell us what’s going on?” DongWoo had his eyebrows knitted as he looked up to their manager. “At least tell us when he’s going to come back.”

 

“I can’t tell you because it doesn’t depend on us. It all depends in how things are solved,” their manager kept his voice low, trying to calm down the aggressive atmosphere that was growing in the dance studio.

 

“But he needs to come back soon. We’re doing our comeback in less than a month.”

 

“And we can’t really go without him,” Hoya surprisingly supported WooHyun’s words.

 

“I promise we’re doing everything we can to solve this. We want too to keep SungYeol in Infinite. We all want that but for now we have to be prepared for the worst.”

 

When Geonam said those words SungGyu’s heart dropped. Not only because of the news but also because of the expressions s held. It seemed the colour of their cheeks had been drained and the light from their eyes had faded away. Behind all the feelings they had, sadness was present in their hearts.

 

“So that’s why you disappeared his presence from the comeback.”

 

MyungSoo’s trembling voice pierced the silent studio while he clenched his hands into fists. He was angry. WooHyun just kept looking at their manager as if he expected him to say it was a joke. But he never did. Next to him, hidden behind his arms was Hoya who wasn’t planning on seeing the reality. SungJong on the other side was shaking his head while DongWoo just kept that hurt look on his features.

 

“I don’t want SungYeol-hyung to leave Infinite…”

 

The youngest member expressed everyone’s feelings with such a simple phrase. His vision completely blurred with the held tears.

 

 

The announcement Geonam gave them ended up being real the moment the group found out must of SungYeol’s stuff was gone. His clothes, some of his books and CDs, his care products, even his favourite coffee mug was gone. The only stuff left were meaningless, almost useless things that now only caused a hole in their stomachs.

 

The whole way to the dorms the members had hoped to meet SungYeol before he left, to at least send him off but they had failed to catch him. Yes, the technology was advanced - they had smart phones, SMS, e-mails, twitter - they lived in the same city and still they felt SungYeol had gone to an unreachable place.

 

He wasn’t with them.  

 

 

Now that they were just six in the dorm SungGyu could only feel helpless. He wasn’t at ease, not that he had been ever since the scandal, but not having SungYeol with them made him feel a lot more insecure. Before he felt he had a bit of stability in the situation. That he had a slight control over the situation. That the younger boy was secure under his wing but now he wasn’t so sure. Sungyeol wasn’t in his rangeview. What if the directives ended up kicking SungYeol out from Infinite? The dongsaengs would never forgive him.

 

He would never forgive himself.

 

For the next four days he kept thinking what could he do to make it all better. What could a hopeless leader, with no power over the directives, do to keep strong the members and save the lost one? Things weren’t working so well for him now. SungGyu’s hair was starting to fall and the insomnia had taken over him. His appetite was gone. How could he help the others when he was starting to crack?  Was he good enough to be called their leader? SungGyu didn’t know anymore.

 

“I still can’t believe he left without saying goodbye.”

 

Out of the darkness of the room came WooHyun’s voice waking SungGyu from his own thoughts.

 

“W-what?” he asked without thinking before closing his eyes tight at his own stupidity. Soon after he heard a snort from the top bunk bed. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

 

“That’s my line,” WooHyun said poking his head from the bed just to catch the sight of their leader’s face. His long fringe resembled a reddish halo thanks to the gravity. “When you’re asleep you don’t move around that much. I knew you weren’t sleeping. What’s going on?”

 

“Nothing,” SungGyu said turning to face the wall as he decided to end the conversation yet he knew WooHyun wasn’t going to give up with that answer. He could listen how the younger boy went down before he left the edge from the mattress dip because of the added weight.

 

“Hyung. Seriously, what’s wrong? Is it SungYeol?”

 

No answer.

 

“The new album? or the live performances that are around the corner?” WooHyun’s voice went faster as he felt warmer his back. “The music video? Hoya’s athlete’s foot? The new choreography—?”

 

“Yah! It’s nothing. Go back to your bed!”  SungGyu said sitting on the bed. His eyes piercing WooHyun’s unwavering ones.

 

He wasn’t in a good mood.

 

The poor sleep he had had and the never-ending worries kept him in an irritated mood therefore he ended up raising his voice at WooHyun who simply smiled at him. Slowly the younger male moved forward just to catch a better sight of the leader’s eyes. SungGyu frowned not feeling uncomfortable with the sudden short distance. But that creepy smile…

 

“You know you can trust me, right?” WooHyun said finally pulling away. “Being the leader doesn’t mean you can’t show your insecurities to us. You’re a human too, Hyung. And I’m your right hand.”

 

SungGyu blushed in embarrassment. He had been caught.

 

“Shut up…”

 

“I mean it,” WooHyun smiled. “Since SungYeol left you’ve been pushing us so hard. I thought the practices couldn’t get worse before the scandal. But you proved me wrong.”

 

“I just want us to concentrate on something else.”

 

“I know, I know. And we all thank you for that—well no, SungJong doesn’t,” WooHyun said getting a soft smile from his leader. “Finally.”

 

SungGyu raised his eyebrows questioning.

 

“Since SungYeol left you haven’t smiled sincerely. It’s a pain in the to see your forced smile,” The younger boy barked a laugh.

 

“Yah!” SungGyu was about to push WooHyun from the bed when a buzzing sound interrupted them. Both males froze.

 

“Hoo, a phone call in the middle of the night! How romantic! Do you have a girlfriend, Hyung?” WooHyun joked as he reached for SungGyu’s iPhone. His smile disappeared when he noticed who was calling. With a blank expression he handed over the mobile.

 

The memories from that terrible night came back as SungGyu saw SungYeol’s smiling face appear in the screen. Somehow he had a hunch things weren’t going to be okay.

 

With quick steps he left the room and went to hide in the bathroom locking the door behind him.

 

“SungYeol?” his voice cracked a bit, his feelings showing off.

 

Since the boy left he hadn’t answered any call or message from any member. Why was he suddenly calling their leader? Did something happen?

 

“Hyung?”

 

SungYeol’s voice sounded in a calm whisper.

 

“Can I ask you for a favour?”