Chapter 135 - Mistakes Upon Mistakes

The atmosphere around the table was somber. None of the boys had been in touch with K and even though they had not been too involved, the loss of a child, they could still feel it. Felix and I.M had long thought that once they retired they would adopt or hire a surrogate for their child while Apollo and Gyeom had not given this much thought. But over the years as they had grown, they had all discussed about how their children would call each other uncle. There were little things that they had collected over time to show their children over the years when their fame had declined. Out of all of them, K had been the one who had been the most passionate about having children. 

Other than the four of them no one knew that K was a part of many sponsorship programs for under privileged kids as well as played an active role in designing curriculums for gifted students. They all remembered how in their initial days during downtime, he would go to the orphanages with small toys and spend time with children. The biggest down side to their fame had been that Adam had had to give up that or else the press would hound the kids there. It had taken a while for Adam to get over that loss. And at this time the loss was a hundred times bigger if not more. 

Silently, they filed into the nanny van to go to the stadium. Finally when they were about to reach, did Gyeom say, " I don't think Alice and Adam would want us to tell the truth and reveal their pain to the world. Phillippe said that Adam's phone is not working and he had received a message that Adam would talk to him after today. Do you think we should have the agency reveal that Adam has suffered a small injury due to which he might not be able to perform today?"

The others nodded while Felix continued, "K has always protected and guided us well. It is now our turn.."

But they could not have expected that the moment they alighted from the van, they would be shocked by the sight. As they walked towards the stage with leaden steps and little excitement for the upcoming show, they saw K hanging onto a rope as he practiced the entry for his solo song. While they stared in wonder, Adam got off the rope, jumping onto the stage, his energy on par with the song. In fact he looked even more energetic.. And anyone who saw him would not have believed that this man had just suffered such a major loss.."

Finally, I.M found his tongue and said softly, "Does he think he is superman or something?  Why is he here? He should be with sister in law!"

Felix nodded agreeably, " He may be able to handle it but it has been difficult for Alice! She would need him to heal.."

It was Apollo who had the biggest premonition as he said," He is not being strong. There is no sense of loss in his eyes. Is it possible that he doesn't know?"

"No, no.. Sister in law was in such shock. And even when she returned she was so pale. Even if she did not want to say anything, K would have noticed and asked.", added Gyeom. 

But at this point they could all see that he was either handling this too well or the worst thing had happened and he did not know anything..

I.M narrowed his eyes in thought. If he were to compare all of them to Alice's nature, he believed that he was the one who most resembled her in personality. If it was him, he would have suffered silently but he would have wanted to rely on his lover. But he would not have hidden anything.. That could mean only one thing...

Striding forward, I.M interrupted the dance and jumped up the stage, causing the stage and sound director to curse but paying them no heed he simply caught Adam by the t shirt and took off his microphone with the other hand. "We'll be back in a minute.."

To say Adam was shocked by I.M's behavior would be an understatement. I.M was the least physical of them all. Maybe because he feared that other boys would not be comfortable with him or whatever he was never one to initiate physical contact.. He had learnt to accept it with them but this was a first. K, let the man drag him straight to the dressing room. The others soon followed in and closed the room behind them..

"What are you doing here K?", I.M interrogated.

"Practicing, I.M. Something we should all be doing since we have a show in less than four hours."

"Are you not concerned with Alice?"

A turbulent look entered Adam's eyes but it was quickly covered as Adam frowned, "Why do I need to be concerned? Just because she had dinner with Lucas and returned to the hotel with him? I trust her. And anyway since we are all staying in the same hotel, I think it's understandable.."

As everyone looked at each other and came to the same shocking realization, I.M once again took the lead and questioned," Adam? Did you return to the hotel last night?"

"Of course I did?"

" And did you talk to sister in law?"

Shaking his head, Adam said, "No. She'd fallen asleep. So I.. Anyways, why are you guys so worried when I am not.."

Gyeom, unable to take the stress, burst out, "Because you don't know! Yesterday... sister in law.."

Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he thought of breaking the news and Gyeom turned away. He would not be able to tell the news. He did not have the guts..

Before anyone could gather the courage to say something, however, there was a desperate knock on the door as a crew member said, "The press is here and the fans have already started to line up outside. Chairman Lucas has decided that some of the fans will be let in earlier so that they can see the sound checks also and feel closer to the band. Everyone please be ready.."

K clenched his hands at the name of the man and strode towards the door without paying attention to the other members as he said, "Let's have a good show tonight, guys. Come on, we need to focus."

Gyeom wanted to stop Adam but the man was long gone. The other people in the room felt at a loss at this moment. Felix shook his head and said," We have no option right now. If he leaves now, then he will be spotted by the media and we cannot have that. We don't know when Lucas will pull back his support and let the media feed on their pain. We can't add to that.."

"But we cannot let him do this knowing what we do.", Gyeom protested.

"And we won't.", said Felix as he leaned closer and for the first time they all planned to sabotage their own act and their own friend.

Apollo was the dance leader and the most experienced amongst them. It was why he was given the most difficult steps in the choreographies. Tonight's choreography consisted of a step where he would have to jump over Gyeom and Adam while holding Gyeom's hand

Gyeom and Apollo were both nervous at this point. As they finished one set after the other in the program and proceeded to where they pulled their plan, they knew that even a small mistake could end up in Adam being dangerously harmed and so could Apollo and Gyeom. At long last they reached the point and Apollo leaped up and caught Gyeom for support while Adam lay down in position. But as Apollo would have straightened, Gyeom let go so that Apollo lost his balance and fell on top of Adam's foot. Adam could feel his foot twisting at an unnatural angle and he almost fainted in pain as Apollo rolled off and apologized, the medical staff on stand by ran forward to check. Apollo too took the fall and could feel the jolt of pain on his leg while Gyeom leaned in close to Adam and whispered," Something is wrong with sister in law. You need to go to her urgently. Trust us and go.."

Finally, the urgency pierced into Adam and he looked in question at Gyeom. As the medics checked him over, he could already feel the pain subsiding and looked over in concern at Apollo. He had been careful to not hurt him too much but was Apollo alright? Receiving a similarly urgent yet reassuring nod, Adam felt back and pretended to be in immense pain.. Finally the medic stepped back and ordered an X-ray for the man and Adam was taken away on a stretcher.