We exited the waiting room and followed our manager through a long corridor until we reached the door of a room. I was a little bit surprised to see that Gyu-hyung’s name was already posted on it.

“I am going to return to the company now,” our manager said. “I have to sort some things out. Stay in the hospital until I come tomorrow to pick you up.”

“We will,” Dongwoo-hyung responded.

Our manager nodded at him and added, “I leave them under your care.”

“Okay. I’ll take good care of them,” he answered while bowing.

Our manager gave us one last look before he turned around and left.

I was so excited that I would finally be able to see hyung. I eagerly opened the door and came into the room.

There he lay; sound asleep in the hospital bed. He had an IV drip attached to his left hand and an oxygen mask in his face. I guess they still needed to supply him with oxygen. I directed myself towards the bed and took a seat in the stool situated next to it. The rest positioned themselves around the bed as well, careful of not disturbing Sunggyu’s sleep. Sungyeol started caressing Gyu-hyung’s hair. Dongwoo grabbed his right hand and began it with his thumb. Myungsoo took a seat in the foot of the bed, only staring at the sleeping figure. I grabbed Sunggyu’s left hand, careful of the needle, and watched him intently. His face was still a little bit pale, but better than before. What made me happy was to watch how his chest rose with every breath. It was so different than in the ambulance, when he wasn’t breathing.

I was so mesmerized with that motion that it surprised me when I heard the door opening again. I looked up and saw that Hoya was entering to room. Apparently, I had been so concerned with Sunggyu’s wellbeing that I hadn’t realized that he hadn’t come with us. I scanned the room where we were at. No sign of Sungjong. I frowned.

Hoya came near the bed and stood next to Myungsoo. The latter looked up at the former expectant. Howon shook his head and Myungsoo seemed saddened about it. I guess it had to do something with Sungjong since he was the only one not present.

I sighed involuntarily. Just one mistake and look what it caused.

It was our last schedule for the day. All of us were tired, but we had to go on anyway. At least, the next job wasn’t that hard. We were just going to record an interview for a segment in a broadcast and then we were free to leave.

We were getting ready in the dressing rooms as always. The coordinator noonas finished retouching our makeup so we just had to wait. From the corner of my eye I could see the others doing their own thing. Sunggyu-hyung was dozing off as always. Hoya had his eyes close while moving his body to the rhythm of whatever he was listening to on his mp3. L was staring at the empty space, lost in his own little world. Sungyeol was texting with someone, probably Niel. Dongwoo-hyung was reviewing his journal, apparently checking his ‘To Do’ list. And Sungjong… was not in the room.

I looked around and searched for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was in the bathroom. As if on cue, Sungjong entered the waiting room and seated in his chair. He had a book in his hand but he wasn’t reading it. Instead he was staring at Sunggyu-hyung.

I wouldn’t have cared about it if I hadn’t noticed the hostility in his look. I knew he had had a fight with Gyu-hyung in the morning, but I didn’t expect him to continue been mad. I was watching Sungjong intently, trying to figure out what was going on through his head, when the PD came in and told us it was time. All of us stood up rapidly, the last been Sungjong I noticed, and gathered in the door. The PD then led us to the stage where we would be doing the interview. We greeted the public and the MCs and took a seat in the chairs they had placed for us.

During the beginning of the recording we answered the questions the MCs directed towards us. Even if our answers were planned before-hand, we tried to add tidbits of truth in them to make the interview more sincere.

In the 45th minute mark, 15 minutes to finish the interview, the female MC asked us how was our cooperation within the group. Sunggyu-hyung started with the typical ‘we have our arguments but we always solve them fast.’ The members continued with their own versions of the ‘communication is the best way to avoid misunderstandings’ and stuff like that. When it was time for Sungjong to answer, I got nervous, but I didn’t know why.

“Actually, our team is really good at solving its problems,” he began. “Normally, we agree on many things.”

“That’s a good thing then, to know you are not only synchronized onstage but out of it as well,” the male MC complimented.

“Yes, but normally, it is only one of the members the one that causes all the trouble,” Sungjong stated boldly.

I was taken by surprise with this. It seemed that the MCs were as well. The male MC looked at the public and jokingly said “who do you think it is?” The public immediately responded with the names of every member in the group.

The female MC saw Sungjong, now with full interest, and asked “who would this person be?”

The rest of the public was still making a lot of noise so Sungjong held his hand for them to quiet down. Unexpectedly, they did. The rest of us were still stunned at the sudden turn of events, dreading what could come next depending on the youngest answer.

Sungjong remained quiet for a couple of seconds more to increase the suspense before responding “it is no other than our leader Sunggyu!”

I couldn't believe my ears. He actually said that, in public. Was he crazy? Wasn’t he thinking?

For the next couple of minutes Sungjong continued telling why Sunggyu was a bad leader, while the rest of us tried our best to diffuse the matter, laughing and pointing at each other. Sunggyu was doing his best too to redirect the conversation to another topic. But all of our efforts were useless. Sungjong was way too excited spilling the beans, in many occasions exaggerating the truth. And to make things worse, the female MC kept throwing us extremely hard questions viciously.

It seemed that the male MC finally noticed our frightened faces because he ended the conversation and changed the topic. The female MC looked disappointed, but had to stop her questioning nonetheless. Our members and I were all relieved that it was over, but Sunggyu still looked shocked about it all. On the other hand, Sungjong was beaming. It pissed me off.

The rest of the interview happened without further incidents. The recording finally concluded, much to our relief. We saluted, bowed, and left the stage. The moment we reached our waiting room and saw our manager’s face we knew we were in trouble.

Apparently, someone had already uploaded a fancam. It showed the entire ‘cooperation’ segment, starting from Sunggyu’s answer and ending in the intervention by the male MC. Our manager took Sungjong out while we read the comments.

I knew Sunggyu wasn’t a good leader. Just look how long it took for Infinite oppas to get to where they are right now! They deserve so much better:(

Never liked him. Not since their YAMO era

He can’t even sing that well! Woohyun-oppa can easily fill his spot

It’s true! I saw their Weekly Idol episodes and every time Sunggyu was removed, they danced perfectly!

Hoya closed the laptop where we were reading the comments angrily. The rest of the members started voicing the unfairness of it all. I stole a glance at Sunggyu-hyung and saw that he was pale, and extremely vexed. Right then, our manager came in and told us to pack up our stuff and meet him in the van. The moment he left, Sungjong entered the room and started packing his things silently. His face was expressionless and his movements mechanic. At the same time I wanted to scream at him and demand him to explain, I also knew he wouldn’t have done what he did without a reason. With that in mind, I picked up my stuff and followed the members, hoping that nothing wrong came upon us.

I sighed and looked at Gyu-hyung one last time before I stood up and headed to the door. Just as I was about to reach it, I felt someone grabbing my hand. I turned around and met Myungsoo’s confused look.

“Where are you going?” he asked, the rest of the members observing from behind curiously.

I sighed. “I just want to put an end to this,” I answered wearily.

“He doesn’t want to come,” said Howon dejected.

“I will not bring him here,” I responded. “I just want to talk."

“He will not speak to you either. I tried that before,” Myungsoo added dispiritedly.

“I’ll see what I can do then,” I said. I then grabbed Myungsoo’s hand and pulled it away from mine carefully. Myungsoo looked at me one more time before returning to the foot of the bed.

I turned around and opened the door. I exited it and started closing it until I heard a faint ‘good luck’. Sungyeol. I smiled and closed the door completely.

Apparently, despite his rash behavior in the broadcast, the rest of the members seemed ready to forgive him. I could see them worrying deeply about Sungjong, and that made me happy. In that moment I felt so proud of my team that I felt my chest exploding with pride.

We will get out of this mess together, I said to myself. And for the first time in the night, I actually believed it.

A/N: There it is!!! I'm really sorry I couldn't update before, but I was studying for my finals. As an apology, I tried to make this chapter a little bit longer. I hope you liked it:)

And also THANK YOU ALL!!!!  I reached 20 subscribers!!!! For some, it may not mean much, but for me, it means a lot!!! To all my subscribers, upvoters and silent readers, I hope you continue enjoying the story^^