The blow came a couple of hours later. Media outlets released articles and articles about the matter, taking it out of proportions.

The responses were varied. They varied from concern and skepticism to rage and disappointment. The scandal was baseless but well structured making it easier to diffuse. 

The effects were almost instant. Many “Inspirits” left their fancafe. Many antis left angry comments in INFINITE’s MV. Few fans defended the group against the antis because they believed the matter would be solved soon. Fanchants during live performances got quieter and cheers disappeared.

Woollim Entertainment tried to protect it’s group image but it was too late. Variety shows refused to receive the group. Music Shows received them only because they were affiliated to a higher entertainment company, but even then, they were neglected by its people.

The days ahead were hard, exhausting, frustrating and discouraging.

But even if the whole world seemed to be against them, INFINITE didn’t give up. They couldn’t quit and they wouldn’t anyway. Not then, not there, not like that and not incomplete.

With that in mind, the group of young idols worked harder every day practicing, making their moves sharper and their voices more powerful. The training was much more emotionally heavy, but they had each other to deal with it.

The scandal might have shattered their reputation as a group, but it had strengthened their relation as a family. Together, they could deal with everything and nothing seemed impossible.

“Let’s rest for a bit,” Dongwoo said while turning the music off.

Immediately, the other five members felt to the floor exhausted. They had been training for 9 straight hours with just a couple of pauses every now and then. Howon dragged his tired body to where the water bottles were stored and threw one to each member, all of them thanking him greatly.

“The practice was good,” Sungyeol said excited while sitting up.

“Yes, it was,” answered Howon pleased.

“Hyung, can we stop now?” Sungjong asked. “I’m a little bit tired and my back is hurting,” he whined.

Dongwoo chuckled at the youngest antics. He glanced at the clock located in the room before looking back at Sungjong. “Let’s practice for 20 minutes more to finish the hour. Then we can stop,” he said.

“Yes!” the maknae yelled excited and stood up right away.

The others grunted before standing up again. Their bodies were numb but after such a long time training, twenty minutes wouldn’t hurt. Not that much at least.

They all took their positions again and Dongwoo turned the music one, proceeding with the training.

“I’m still surprised with the kids,” Hyoan commented as he watched the group stand up to practice.

“They had always been hardworking,” Jungryoul answered.

“I don’t mean that,” Hyoan responded looking at his sunbae. “After everything that has happened, I’m surprised they can still smile like that and act as if nothing has happened.” he explained to the curious looking Jungryoul. “I’m astonished by their optimism.”

“They have a great teamwork, don’t they?”  Jungryoul answered thoughtfully.

The truth is, they did have a lot of problems at the beginning, mostly because of their doubts. But everything got better within them despite everything going on.

The boys felt trapped. The yells from the reporters and the cameras shoved in their faces didn’t help at all. They had never had a serious problem with sasaeng fans but this was worse than that.

The short ride from the backdoor to their van seemed to last forever. This was even beyond the invasion of privacy, or in fact, of personal space.

“Is it true that INFINITE is over?” “Will Kim Sunggyu be kicked out of the group?” “Did Hoya really hit Kim Sunggyu and sent him to the hospital?”

All sort of stupid questions were thrown at the boys from every direction making them feel dizzy and overwhelmed.

Finally, with the help of their manager and some of the hospital staff the boys reached the van. Jungryoul immediately started it and left the hospital with all those stalkers behind.

“What the hell was that?” Dongwoo questioned once the shock had lapsed.

“Hyung, did you know this was going to happen?” Sungyeol asked his manager.

“What’s up with all those questions?” Howon asked in displeasure. Who the heck came with the idea that he had hit Sunggyu?

Jungryoul grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and retrieved his phone with the other. Then he threw it to the back where Howon caught it expertly.

“Search for the last message Hyoan sent me,” he ordered without taking his eyes off the road.

Howon unlocked the phone and searched for said message. “It has a link,” he said once he found it.

“Click on it.”

The boy obliged and he was immediately taken to an article released just an hour ago.

INFINITE’s Limit?

The popular 7-member boy band, INFINITE, produced by Woollim Entertainment has gained attention with their synchronized dance moves and unique sound, making earning them the title of Rising-dols. But with their perfect image, are there problems in paradise?

Just yesterday, the members expressed their discomfort with each other in the group during a recording for a broadcast. None of it was previously scripted giving the writers a hard time figuring what to do with the piece.

Right after that, insiders reported that an ambulance arrived at the group’s apartment complex and the boys were seen at the scene. Their leader was the one taken to the hospital by unknown reasons. It is also important to notice that during the recording, the member that was pointed the most was the leader.

Some witnesses have revealed to have heard a discussion going on inside the group’s dorm prior to the distressing call. They have alleged that the members not only fought verbally but also reached the physical level.

To make things even more suspicious, today in the morning, the members could be seen leaving the hospital really early. What is even more surprising is the fact that one of the members, Kim Myungsoo, otherwise known as L, had to be carried out of the hospital because he seemed to be unable to stand up on his own. It’s unknown whether the idols had yet another fight inside the hospital.

Today the members participated in activities without their leader. They were also seen wearing more makeup than usual making the alleged aggression more credible.

It looks that their so-called teamwork suffered from more flaws than the ones the public was aware of. Woollim has yet to release an official statement, so the only thing that matters now is to wait and see how true these facts are.

“This is defamation of the worst kind” shouted Dongwoo.

Howon and Myungsoo reread the article again to see if their eyes were lying to them, but unfortunately, they weren’t.

“Shouldn’t the company sue them or something?” Sungjong asked his hyungs.

“Yes, they should sue them,” concurred Sungyeol.

“No they can’t do that,” Jungryoul answered back.

“And why not?” L demanded.

“That magazine is known for their yellow journalism,” Jungryoul responded ignoring L’s tone of voice.

“If they are known for that then we shouldn’t worry right?” Woohyun asked hopefully. “People know there are like that so they will not believe them right?”

“Wrong,” their manager answered and parked the van at one side of the road to be able to look at the boys. “That magazine is first, not very well known to the average public but it is for the media. Two, it is from here from where the other media outlets take out the facts to write their out articles. Third, this company has never lost a lawsuit before; their lawyers are just too good. And fourth, it is because of this magazine that most of the big scandals happen. Not many have been able to counterattack their arguments,” he said.

“Then, are we over?” Sungjong said in disbelief.

Jungryoul turned to look at him and shook his head. “Do you remember the problem that occurred a couple of years ago with another boy group? The one with the fan aggression?” he asked at each of them.

“That article came from this?” Woohyun asked.

Their manager nodded. “And where are they now?” he asked the boys.

“Preparing for their next comeback and world tour,” Howon answered this time.

“See?” he said looking back and Sungjong and petting his head. “It will be hard; I’ll not lie to you. And it will require your full commitment and cooperation for this to work,” he said looking at each boy in the eyes. “If you can promise that, you will overcome not only this but any obstacle that might come ahead.”

He then looked back at Sungjong who, at the same time, was staring back at him with his wide and innocent eyes. “Can you promise me that?” he asked in such a tender way, just like a father talking to his son.

Sungjong nodded. “Yes,” he said.

“We can promise that,” Dongwoo said too.

“We promise,” the others assured as well.

Jungryoul smiled. “Good,” he said before looking back at the road and starting the van again.

“I wish they didn’t have to go through this to improve,” Jungryoul told Hyoan after a moment. “But this kind of hardships are necessary to acquire greater rewards,” he finished.

“Yes, they do,” Hyoan agreed.

Just then Youngjun appeared. He saw his other two sunbaes and decided to go to where they were.

“Good day,” he said politely.

“Hello Youngjun,” Hyoan answered.

“How is everything going?” Jungryoul asked.

The question made the youngest manager’s face fall. “With me, fine,” he answered.

“And with him?” Hyoan asked.

Youngjun shook his head. “Just a little bit better,” he responded.

Since their last visit, Sunggyu had refused to receive anyone, preferring to be alone. It was something they didn’t understand at first until his doctor had explained it to them.

The shock of having a heart attack leaves many traces. Sunggyu’s little outburst was caused by one. Apparently, he was feeling really insecure of something and meeting s made him feel even more insecurity. The others didn’t mean it but they didn’t know how to manage it either. Depression was another thing that worried doctor Kang, but with the help of Youngjun, they have been able to maintain Sunggyu’s emotions pretty stable.

The problem was that now, he was afraid of meeting s and the others were afraid of angering him again.

Hyoan turned to look back at the group which, by now, were laying on the floor relaxing their bodies.

It was true that the boys had fared pretty well as a team, but for INFINITE to truly succeed, they needed to be complete. INFINITE wasn’t a six-member boy group; It was a seven-member boy group which right now was missing its leader.

And if they wanted to bring their leader out of his seclusion, they would need a new plan. It was a little drastic but he was sure that if he succeeded in pulling it out, it would do wonders.

So with that, he took his phone out of his pocket and searched for a number he had barely called twice in his life. When he found it, he hesitated for a second before pressing the dial button. He brought the phone to his ear and waited.

Ring, Ring, Ring  

“Yoboseyo?”

A/N:

Hello. It's me again.

It's been a while, has it? Almost two years.

I know I just suddenly disappeared and left all of you confused and waiting. To be honest, I considered many times leaving the story unfinished and marking it as incomplete, but every time I thought of that, a new subscriber would appear or a new comment would be posted. This showed me that there are still those who believe in my work and wanted to see it finished. I am really grateful to those people, and everyone else who still reads the story to today. 

The second thing that made me hesitate to continue is that I no longer follow INFINITE as I used to, so I wondered if my misinformation on current events would make the story unrealistic, more than it already is. But then I reminded myself that people are not always looking for hard facts but a well-written story, so I convinced myself to continue. And who knows? Maybe picking up the story will make me fall in love with those dorks again.

 Also, I know what it feels like to have a story you like and waiting for the author to update it but it never happens. And so, after pondering for a while I came to the conclusion that I should finish this for all of my faithful readers out there. Honestly, I was surprised by some comments (a shoutout to my Russian reader!), so here I am, once again, writing for you.

I'll try my best to update as constantly as possible, probably not as often as I used to when I started but not as seldom as every other year. Yeah, I'm sorry for that. So I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the ride!

Regards~