Sungjong looked around the van at the rest of the members who were all in various states of sleep. Once they had climbed into the car, people had put on sleep masks and neck pillows for the two hour ride to the venue.  He should have been asleep too especially considering that he had not gotten any sleep the night before. Sungjong was too worried to sleep and practiced alone until the sun rose and the other members began to wake up.

In addition to being worried though, he was excited. So excited to get back on the stage to feel the heat of the lights and the roar of the crowd that he could not sleep even if he wanted to. Sunggyu had turned around after they had been in the car for an hour and saw that Sungjong was still awake, he muttered that Sungjong should get some sleep before going back to sleep himself.

The van finally stopped and the engine cut off, signaling to Sungjong that they had made it. He shook Myungsoo and Woohyun who were both passed out next to him and used his voice to wake everyone else up, “Wake up! We’re here!”

Sadly no one else was as excited as Sungjong for this performance, and he could not see why not. They should be as elated as him to be seven again instead of six. But maybe they had gotten used to being six and were worried about being seven.

Everyone woke with a chorus of groans and “already?” but soon made their way out of the van to mill outside uncertainly until their managers led them to the correct place.

Sungjong turned to Sungyeol, who looked the most awake, “Are you excited?”

Sungyeol looked at him surprised, “I—“

“Because I’m excited!” Sungjong cut him off before he could say more than the one syllable, and pranced away to bother Woohyun, leaving behind a very confused and annoyed Sungyeol.

They were led over to a tent where a group of workers was waiting to outfit them with in ear monitors and mics. Their cool hands unabashedly ran up the back of shirts and threaded wires up to the ears and tucked the packs into the back waistbands.  Once that was done a group of stylists came over to do some last minute touch-ups on their makeup and hair. Dongwoo was scolded for having leaned up against the window on the ride there, causing half of his hair, which had been spiked up, to lay flat. But the problem was not that big because in just a few minutes the stylist had fixed his hair and it all stood spiked up.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” their manager said once he saw that everyone was ready, “We are late, the university has been stalling the crowd for us! So please run to stage now!”

Sungjong didn’t need to be told twice and was already out the door and sprinting towards the stage steps. He bounced impatiently at the steps, waiting for everyone else to arrive.  They were going to do three songs and then leave again. It was frustratingly short but Sungjong could also not help but be thankful that it wasn’t longer; his endurance still needed a lot of work.

They climbed the stage as seven, getting into formation for their first song. The fans in the audience screamed shrilly as soon as the first member stepped onto the stage and did not stop screaming till all seven of them were there. Before the music started Sungjong heard something amazing though, the fans were chanting in unison:

WELCOME BACK LEE SUNGJONG! INFINITE IS SEVEN!

The music started and drowned out the crowd, but Sungjong’s face was lit in the brightest smile ever as he started the choreography for their first song. 

END

A/N: Thank you fo reading up to now! I hope you enjoyed the story! The end was always going to be when he got back on stage! But really thank you to everyone who subscribed, left comments, or just silently read from the shadows! I appreciate every one of you! ^___^