Sunggyu had closed his eyes for what felt like minutes when a sudden noise woke him up again. He opened his eyes and saw that someone was taking a seat on the stool next to the bed. After settling down, the person finally lifted up his head and the boy realized it was Youngjun-hyung, his manager. At the same time, the other realized that Sunggyu was awake.

“Oh! I’m sorry for waking you up,” he apologized.

“No, it’s fine,” the boy said smiling. He was just really happy to have company.

Youngjun smiled as well. “Good. How are you feeling?” he asked concerned.

“I’m fine, just a little bit tired but with a good night’s sleep I’ll be better.”

“I’m glad,” the manager said. “What have you been doing?”

“Nothing really,” Sunggyu answered shrugging. “Just eating, thinking and sleeping I guess.”

“Well, that’s good. You need to rest to get better,” Youngjun advised. The younger nodded.

After answering, both of them became silent, each engrossed in his own thoughts.

The boy then glanced at his manager and cleared his throat.

“Hyung?” Sunggyu called, breaking the silence.

“What’s the matter?”

“How is um… what did the company say?” the younger wondered timidly.

“About the incident?” Youngjun clarified.

The boy nodded. “About that, and about the others.”

“Right now Jungryoul-sunbae is fixing your schedules. As for the rest, they had a reunion with the CEO this morning,” the other said. “I’m not sure how everything ended though,” he added quickly.

Sunggyu caught the lie but decided to let it slip. He knew his manager was trying not to strain him and he appreciated the thought, but he still felt guilty because he wasn’t able to be there for the other when they needed him.

“Sunggyu-yah,” Youngjun called breaking the other’s train of thought. “There is something you need to know,” he said, his face turning serious.

This made the younger’s body jerk involuntarily. “What happened?”

The oldest caught the movement and sighed. “I tried to contact your family and tried to tell them about your accident, but they didn’t answer so I left a message. Just moments before I reached your room I received the response,” he said while eyeing the boy’s expression. The other frowned.

“And what was their answer? Sunggyu asked, but somehow knowing it already.

“They won’t come,” he stated.

Sunggyu sighed and released a laugh, though it was a bitter one. He was aware that his parents were on a family trip out of the country. And when he said “family” he meant his mother, father and noona only. Obviously they weren’t going to return to Korea just because of him.

“They didn’t ask if I was fine,” he said as if stating the obvious.

Youngjun nodded. “I’m really sorry Sunggyu-yah,” he said. “But you know that if you ever need something, you can always call any of us managers,” the man added while putting a comforting hand in the boy’s shoulder. The other nodded. The boy closed his eyes and warmed into the other’s touch.  Then slowly, he moved towards his manager’s body, the other wrapping his arms around the younger until he was surrounded by them. He could feel the warmth emanating from the oldest and he was pleased.  

It was then when he realized that this was what he was wishing for since he woke up in the morning. Human contact. He wasn’t really a lover of skinship, but sometimes he just needed it. And at that moment he finally felt safe. He felt like someone cared about him. He knew he was been unfair with the others; they weren’t there with him because they were completing their schedules, not because they didn’t want to.

As the oldest he always tried to keep his emotions hidden from his dongsaengs to show them that he was s strong leader. But right there, with his hyung’s arms around him he felt he could finally let go of himself. He felt a lump in his throat and his eyes welled up in tears. Sunggyu looked up to see Youngjun’s face and opened his mouth ready to pour everything-

A sudden knock on the door sounded startling them both. Youngjun quickly let go of the boy and got up. The younger whimpered at the sudden loss of warmth.

Without waiting for permission the door opened and a man in a dark suit entered the room. It was a company representative.

The rep stared at both and looked clearly surprised to see Youngjun in the room.

“What are you doing here?” he asked without introduction. “In 20 minutes you should be picking Lee Sungyeol, Kim Myungsoo and Lee Sungjong up and transporting them to their next schedule,” he said frowning.

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll leave right away,” he answered flustered. He bowed and headed to the door. He glanced at Sunggyu once more before exiting and closing the door leaving the boy alone with the representative. It was something the manager didn’t want to do but had to for his and the other’s sake.

I’m sorry, he muttered before rushing to the van.

Back in the room Sunggyu felt as if his safe haven had just been ripped away from him. He looked at the representative with dread. His chest was closing again, but since it was not like the last time, he ignored it. The fear of the previous day didn’t compare to the one he was feeling at the moment.

The representative stared at the boy with an impassive expression. Then he walked to the bed and stood right at its foot.

“Your schedules have been moved for exactly one week,” he said, just as abruptly as before.

“I understand,” the boy answered solemnly.

“I hope you also understand the trouble you have caused to the company,” the rep continued. “Not only were you unable to control your team members but now you have given dozens of personnel extra work to try to cover for your incompetence,” he said harshly.

The boy shrank in his bed and nodded with shame.

“You will receive a pay cut for now but it is still under debate whether you are going to continue been part of INFINITE or if you are nothing more than a stigma to the group,” he continued without consideration.

Sunggyu went cold. The severity of the situation hit him in the gut. Was he going to be kicked out of INFINITE?

The rep proceeded. “You will be expected to be nothing more than perfect from this moment on. Consider your position as the leader compromised as well. The fact that you are unable to understand the deficiencies in your group just proves that our decision to appoint you as the leader was a fiasco. You have failed to the public. You have failed to the company. You have failed to the team.”

You have failed to the team.

Sunggyu was dumbstruck. He had failed to the team.

The rest of the scolding went unheard. Sunggyu was just too shocked to listen. He was too shocked to feel anything at all.

He didn’t realize when the representative wrapped up the reprimand. He didn’t see the man heading to the door. He didn’t hear it closing with a slam. He didn’t register the light diminishing with the passing of the hours. He didn’t notice his chest closing even more. He just didn’t acknowledge his surroundings anymore.

You have failed to the team. You have failed to the team. You have failed to the team. You have failed…

Sometime after, the door opened once more, the lights of the room were and a blur of bodies came in.

He felt someone coming closer while others yelled. He felt himself been surrounded by a group of people and he felt someone pulling him into a hug. That’s when his eyes finally focused.

A/N: Hello!!! I updated sooner this time^^

Is just that I'm so happy:) Why? I reached 52 subscribers!!! Thank you!!!

It is because of your support that I can continue writing^^

Again, thanks for all your comments and upvotes. I really appreciate them!!!