Act 21- Leaving back broken hearts and angry souls

Light chattering and cheerful laughing was filling the room and created a carefree and happy atmosphere. All of the seven boys were in a great mood and in high spirits and they were sure they would keep on with their great mood. They talked about this and that and laughed about all sorts of things and while the seven of them had fun, without really realizing the time went by. Already half an hour went by in a blink of an eye and because of a something Sunggyu couldn’t quite pinpoint yet he had a bad feeling in his stomach.

Something’s gonna happen today…- This thought suddenly crossed his mind and he pulled Woohyun’s sleeve to get the attention of his younger member who was currently discussing the importance of aegyo with Hoya and the later was more than happy as Woohyun finally stopped talking about a topic which was as uninteresting for him as talking about a red bicycle  in China.

“What’s wrong Gyu?”- Woohyun turned around immediately and faced his a little worried looking leader.

Meanwhile Hoya let out a exhausted sign. “Oh gosh he finally stopped…”
“Did you say something???”- Woohyun asked immediately as he heard the rapper but the latter shook his head with all his might and pointed in the direction of Sunggyu. “Sunggyu hyung wants to talk to you so focus on him…completely!”

“Yeah, yeah I got it but you can’t deny it! Aegyo is important and you’re bad at it! Actually you’re pretty cute when you’re together with Dino hyung so why are you so …not cute if you do aegyo?”

“Jesus christ, just shut up! Your hamster wants to talk to you for god’s sake!”- Hoya stressed with red blushed cheeks and flee as fast as he could before Woohyun would talk more about his and Dongwoo’s relationship.

“Woooohyunnnniiieeee!!”- Sunggyu whined and tagged unto Woohyun’s sleeve again to finally get the younger’s full attention.

“I’m sorry Gyu, I just had to tease our king of sass since I had this rare opportunity. So what’s the matter you look a bit worried.”

“Yeah I am worried, did you look at the watch? We’re here for at least 35 minutes but no coach or dance trainer, no manager and no staff at all…I have a bad feeling about this…”

“Oh you’re right, that’s really unusual. Maybe the others know something.”- Woohyun wondered and turned around to have a look what they were doing and just like before most of them were mainly talking without even noticing that something was strange.

“Hey guys do you know if something’s changed with today’s schedule? We’re supposed to practice for quite some time but as you can see we’re still along here.”

“Maybe we should give Seonho hyung a call, he’s our manager so he should know, right?”- Sungjong suggested but before one of them were even able to get their phones out the door banged open and an everything but happy looking person entered the room.

He had this frightening atmosphere around him and the moment he walked into the room, all the good mood which had been there disappeared within seconds.

He looked around and eyes all of the seven boys with a judging look while the said boys had absolutely no clue who that person could be. Sunggyu was the first to break the awful silence and walked a step forward to the not familiar guy. He bowed in perfect 90 degress before he stretched out his hand for the around 27 years old looking man.

“Hello I’m Kim Sunggyu and I’m the leader of the up coming boy group INFINITE, how can I or we help you?”- He asked politely with a charming smile resting on his face while the bad feeling in his stomach got worst.

“I know who you are and I know who they are…”- He looked at Sunggyu with an icy look before he left his eyes wander to the other six boys who were by now standing in a neat row.

“…and from today on you’ll all be in my care.”

“Oh..okay, please take care of us then.”- Sunggyu bowed again before he took a place at the row next to Woohyun.

“So first things first before you even get the idea of getting your manager into his or even the CEO let me tell you something, both of them are really busy people so I got the job to look over you and I can promise you I will. I did my research on you guys and yeah I don’t really know what I should say about that….”

“What do you mean by that?”- Woohyun asked cautious as if he had already sensed that the man in front of them were up to no good.

“Well I saw your audition taps and all the other practice taps you recorded and let me ask a thing, how long are you already together by now, just approximately?”

“Around a year.”- Myungsoo answered and the man nodded his head.

“Exactly and your goal is it to debut in a few months in the best case and together as seven ,I guess.”

“ Yeah that’s the plan, why do you even ask if you know it already.”-Hoya rose a eye brow,checking the other from bottom to top out. He was clothes in mainly black clothes and his arms and legs, which could be seen due to the short pants and the sleeveless shirts, were full of muscles. He had short hair which in some way resembled the army short hair cut.

“Oh that’s simple because at your rate you will debut in maybe another one and a half years and not as a whole of seven.”- He said matter-of-factly without even a bit of a sympathy or even heart in his voice although he certainly know that he was talking not alone about the future of the seven but also their dreams to be crashed.

“W-what do you mean?”- Sunggyu asked shocked and the man who still hadn’t introduced himself properly smirked for a split of a second before his expressionless face came back.

“It means that is this long time you must have done nothing but eating and sleeping ….you haven’t improved at all, let’s start with you anyways Sunggyu. So you’re Kim Sunggyu and one of the two main vocalists, as much as I heard you cried about that you weren’t the leader and in the end you got the position because the actual planned leader begged the CEO. Is this right by now?”- He asked and again a small smik made its way on his face but instead of answering his question Sunggyu was like frizzed even though it was the truth to hear it like that hurt.

“It’s not like that! He didn’t whine about it and I didn’t beg!”- Woohyun tried to defend his hyung but was shushed right away.

“I wasn’t asking you and I’m not done yet. So Sunggyu since you’re now the leader it’s your duty to make sure that your fellow member improve but yeah you didn’t really improve yourself so I guess it was to hard and yet again it is also your responsibly to look after everyone and I don’t really see that from you. I even heard that you and Woohyun had a day off out of the blue while the others were working…Is there a reason for it? Oh and then again, you should keep an eye open for everybody so nothing bad happens to them but a mouse told me that all of the other five had been out all night long including going to a bar and getting wasted. Can you say something about that?”- He asked but kept on talking before Sunggyu could even think about an answer.

“Enough of your not existent leader skills, let’s talk about your other positions. You are the main vocalist along with him.”- He stated and pointed to Woohyun, who was by now burning with anger.

Who the hell is that guy to talk to Sunggyu in that way!- He thought sourly and was just about to step forward to give the unfriendly stranger a good lecture but he was held back by Sunggyu’s hand. The leader flashed him a small smile and looked back to hear the other out.

“Yes I am.”- He answered as calm as possible.

“Mhmm but your voice is not good, your style isn’t good either. You can’t hit high notes well and you have problems with harmonising. This is really bad but your dancing skills are even worse. You resemble an 50th years-old when you dance, there is no power or energy behind it, no passion at all. You know that the leader is supposed to be a role model for s, right? You will have the most responsibility on your shoulders…”  

“I..I know.”- Sunggyu mumbled and looked down the floor to avoid the piercing look he was receiving at the moment, he felt so miserable, as miserable as he never felt in his life.

I really must be failure..- He thought bitterly while Woohyun got more and more angry as the time went by and as he noticed that Sunggyu was slightly trembling he literally lost it.

“Who the hell are you to speak like that to him?!”- He asked angry and glared at the man.

“I will be your coach, manager and trainer all in once for the next weeks, that’s who I am. But let’s continue with you Mr. Sunshine. To make things a bit more comfortable I start with the good things I can say about you, you’re a bit better off with dancing and singing as your lovely leader but that’s basically all. Maybe you would have quite the looks but you’re to chubby. Look at your face, you will never become an idol if you’re that fat. Okay you seem to be popular with the female stuff in the company but still, your looks aren’t’t enough by now.”- He said and checked Woohyun out from top to bottom.

“You also have to seriously work on your vocal skills everything you sing sounds the same whether it’s a happy song or a sad.”- He said and then went over to look at Myungsoo with his intensive stare.

“So you’re the infamous Myungsoo with the boys over flowers look, I have to admit you’re a real eye candy. But besides your looks there isn’t much to say about you. I’ll be blunt, you’re voice sounds like from an anime character. We can’t work with his, what have you been doing all this time? If you can’t do something about that singing  voice of yours you should think about becoming a model or an actor instead of a member in an idol group.”- He said and left the slightly shocked boy to think about the things he just got to hear.

The man walked over to Dongwoo and Hoya who were standing closely next to each other and as he came closer Hoya took one step closer as well unknowingly to cover his emotional boyfriend a bit.
“Howon alias Hoya you and Dongwoo behind you are the rappers and the dancers of this little group right?”

“Yes, do you have a problem with that?”- Hoya asked and you were able to hear how annoyed and pissed the younger was.

“Well yeah, I have a problem with you, I would say.”

“Is that so? Then say what you want to say…”- Hoya breathed out and looked the guy right into the eyes.

“I heard that you actually wanted to be a vocalist but your vocal skills are just to bad so they put you in charge of being the rapper and since the position of a rapper just suites dance better.”

“Y-yeah and what’s the problem with that?”

“The problem is that you seem to hate rapping, no passion, no feelings, nothing. You rap as if it was the worst thing in the world. No one will like it. It’s . You dance really well and your dancing is the only reason why you’re here. You failed around 20 audition before you got accepted here, right?”- He asked smirking since he was almost sure that the young dancer hadn’t talked about that period of his life with any of his friends and just as he thought all of the other six had an shocked expression on they faces.

“Yes that’s true but it doesn’t matter anymore, I’m here and so it will be.”

“No not really if you keep up your bad work you will be kicked out, there are thousands of great dancers out there who can sing or rap. But will you be accepted by another company again? You quit school in order to practice more, right? So you can’t do any other job anymore. Oh and you can’t go home either, if I’m not wrong your family especially your father was against the whole idol with but you still came all the way to Seoul. Poor you I would say.”

“Just…just shut up!! What the hell do you even want! Don’t go around and talk about my business as if you knew everything!!”- Hoya yelled angrily and wanted nothing more then to go up and take that guy by the collar. Fortunately for him Dongwoo grabbed his hand in the right moment and his brain started to work again, so he took a step back again and tsked instead of hitting the other, which had brought him quite some trouble in the end.

“Let’s go over to Dongwoo, Dongwoo you’re also a rapper and a dancer and in my option from all the people in this room you seem to be the most promising. You love what you do and so are the results, you still have to work on yourself but there is a way to make something big out of you. But you’re the eldest among all of them yet you still have nearly no sense of responsibly in you. You’re one of the childish ones here and even though you’re a nice guy that’s no good. Nobody can relay on you if you’re like this. You can not help anybody with this attitude just think about it. You will be a burden to the people around you.”- He said and turned his back to the hurt feeling Dongwoo.

“This , what the heck…”- Hoya mumbled pissed and caressed Dongwoo’s back while the other looked deeply hurt by the words.

“That’s not true Woo, you’re no burden at all, you’re our angel, okay?”- Hoya whispered encouraging and keep on rubbing the older’s back in a comforting way.

“Sungyeol, I can’t really say something about you besides that you’re really tall which is in a way a good thing but besides that your face looks extremely young but maybe you will mature. Anyways your skills are average, generally speaking everything about you is average so I can’t really promise you a bright future with that. Maybe that will change but since you’re part of the company you didn’t really change.”- He said and on to go to Sungjung.

“Can you stop this now? What is that supposed to be? Are you basically telling us that we’re or what?”- Woohyun asked angry and Sunggyu continued after he finally found his voice again.

“S-stop it it’s seriously enough, I g-got it, w-we got it. Sungjong is the y-youngest among us so do not say this harsh stuff to him.”

“Well it’s not harsh stuff it’s just the truth and I certainly will tell him my option about his skills, that’s why I’m here.”

“I said you should not, it is enough!”- Sunggyu voiced out with all the courage he still had in him after the speech he got earlier.

“Shh I’m talking now.”- The man said sarcastically and before Sunggyu could say another thing he started with his last sculling.

“Sungjong to be honest I’m not so sure why you’re here. You joined this team as one of the last once but I don’t know why, maybe because of your face. Since the other things are average just like in Sungyeol’s case but your singing is even worse than Sungyeol. I would recommend you to become a model, you can earn at least as much as being an idol if not more just think about it.”

“W-what are you even talking? He will stay with us! He is a part of our team and nobody is useless here.”- Sunggyu said angry as he couldn’t believe the cocky attitude the older man had.  

“If you say so but as I already told you in your current state you all will never debut, not in a group nor solo.”- He said and the whole room went silence afterwards, the day started good and now they were in a situation they had never thought would come in such a way.

“So I’m done with telling you my point of view after observing you for quite some while, now it is your decision if you want to come tomorrow to practice or not. For today you all are dismissed to think about the future you want to have and to think about if this business here is the right thing for you. Oh and by the way my name is Kim Junbae, I’m in this industry for quite a while and I can make you become good men but it will be exhausting and you will want to quit during the harsh training if you not already have the desire to do so. I personally asked to work with you since you would be the first boy group of Woollim if you would be to debut. So just think about it and maybe we will see each other tomorrow.” - He said and shortly after left the room, leaving seven more or less either hurt or lost looking boys behind.

As the said man left the room, the room was still in an uncomfortable silence. Everybody was more or less in their own world of thoughts, trying to process the harsh words they received from a person who seemed to know them but they didn’t know them. A few of them where burning of anger while other were simply hurt.

Woohyun for his part couldn’t stand it anymore and took Sunggyu’s cold hand in his and pulled the still shocked looking older with him.

“Guys let’s go home. That was enough for today. We can talk at home as well.”- He said and walked out of the room with Sunggyu trailing behind him.

“Come on Woo let’s go home.”- Hoya whispered to the slightly sobbing man in his arms. Dongwoo had always been sensitive to such topics and that not only he got scrolled but everyone of them got his heart to arch.

Sungyeol on the other hand stretched his hand out for Myungsoo to hold and the other immediately grab it. They all walked out of the building with heavy steps and many things on their mind.

While walking Sunggyu turned around to check that everyone was out of the building and noticed the glassy eyes of their youngest.

He breathed in strongly to calm himself a bit because he also felt like crying but this wasn’t the right time to do so, that Junbae guy was talking the truth he wasn’t worth being a leader so it was finally time to act like on. He muster together all his will power and put a small smile on his face before he called out to the youngerst of them.

“Hey Jongie, come here. Don’t look so down, okay? We will all stay together, now and forever I promise you.”- Sunggyu said sweetly and as he voiced out his sincerely wish and promise they first tears rolled down Sungjong’s face.

“H-he was such an .”- Sungjong sobbed and found himself in a tight hug within seconds.

“I know Jongie but we will show that jack that we’re made for this business.”- Sunggyu brushed through Sungjong’s hair with much love to calm the youngest down.

“Okay.”- He sniffed and whipped the last tear from his cheek.

They all entered their dorm and after a short ‘good night’ they all went to their shared rooms since they didn’t really felt like talking anymore.

As Sunggyu finally reached his bed he dramatically let himself fall unto it and buried his face into one of the pillows and without his knowing the tears of shock and realization he kept in all the time started to pour out.

“Gyu.”- Woohyun said softly and took a seat next to the sad older. Not failing to notice that he was crying even though he was trying to hide that fact.

“Don’t cry…come turn around so that I can see your face.”

“I-I don’t want to..”

“Come on.. Don’t be like that.”- Woohyun mumbled and caressed the back of Sunggyu’s head.

“Hyunnie did I really fail that much?”- Sunggyu mumbled into the pillow, trying hard to suppress the urge to sob.

It broke Woohyun’s heart, he had sworn himself to never let the older cry again and here he is with the love of his still young life crying as if someone had died.

Woohyun couldn’t stand it anymore and picked the older up so he was in a sitting position, he immediately tried to cover his face with his hands but Woohyun was faster.  He took Sunggyu’s hands in his and placed two tender kisses on them before he brushed the tears away.

“No you did not.”- He said calmly.

“W-will we ever be t-together? T-That is my only wish….”- The older asked slightly sobbing and again Woohyun brushed the escaped tears again and cupped Sunggyu’s face.

“We are infinite,  we are together now and we will be together in future, all seven of us. We will show that guy that we can do it, okay?”

“Mhmm.”- Sunggyu nodded lightly and a small smile found its way on his face.

“Now gimme a good night kiss and let’s sleep so we’ll be up early so we can kick that guy’s a bit, I think the others and especially Hoya would like that idea.”- Woohyun grinned and finally a laugh left Sunggyu’s mouth.

“Yeah I guess so, he looked like he wanted to rip up that guy’s head.”- Sunggyu snickered and placed a loving kiss on Woohyun’s lips.

“Well I wanted to punch that .”- He mumbled thinking back.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, let’s sleep.”

“Okay good night. Hyunnie”

“Good night Gyu.”

The day started off so great but it ended in a day nobody would be able to forget to easlyly and even though all of them were thinking about different stuff they all came to the same decision in the end.

We will show him that we can debut together as seven.

Hihi hey guys how have you been? Hope u all like that chapter even though the new guy is quite an x,D I've read that they and expecially Sunggyu got a lot to hear in their trainee days and that he used to cry a lot in front of Woohyun (poor baby TT_TT) so I thought I include it in my story~ Btw the things about Hoya are really true and they really used to say that Myungsoo had an anime like voice :x

Thanks for reading~

(Word count approx. 3900)