Practice ended late.  April gathered her things quickly and hurried downstairs.  She was dripping with sweat but didn’t bother to wash off.  Her practice clothes didn’t match her pink flip-flops but she didn’t care how ridiculous she looked as she was in such a rush.  Her window of opportunity was narrow as the banks closed early on Mondays and the banks would barely be open during her waking hours on Tuesday.  Her rent and her ability to stay in the dorms depended on that money. 

            Outside the company building it was a busy workday but no different than any other day.  Bursting out the front door April just missed the ‘walk’ sign not 30 feet away.  At home she would have stone-walked it but one of her primary rules of living abroad was to follow the traffic laws until you get the hang of it.  She stood, weight on her toes, on the very edge of the sidewalk ready to sprint down the street the second the light changed.

            And then she was off, a charge of adrenaline and she was sure she could make it, she had to make it, her housing was on the line.  And then the moment that changed everything.  Her pink flowery stupid flip-flop came off and sailed into the intersection.  Had she been smart and worn sneakers nothing would have happened, had she been smart and not gone after the stupid pink flowery flip flop nothing would have happened.  But at that moment, April, who was usually exceptionally intelligent was in fact quite dumb.  She turned and ran unevenly after the flip flop.

            Sometime weeks later April remembered hearing a voice call out behind her, but she couldn’t understand what they had said and hadn’t paid much attention anyway.

            April found herself lying on the ground in immense pain.  The sky was a beautiful shade of blue that day and she was staring straight up at it disoriented and not hearing all the car horns around her.

            A stranger’s face came into her field of view.  His face was concerned and he was speaking to her.  April was still out of it, almost her entire brain was being used for breathing and just stared at the stranger who sounded like he was a mile away.

            Someone was holding her hand, no they were checking her pulse.  She was gradually becoming aware of the situation around her and the fear came creeping in.  She began hyperventilating and tried to get up but another pair of hands stopped her.  A voice from behind spoke a word that she recognized ‘don’t’.  

            April tilted her head a little bit and saw the first stranger talking on a cell phone.  If she had fully grasped the situation she would have realized that he was calling the paramedics, but the only thought that floated through her head was, ‘why is he standing in the street like that?’  She tried to get up again and she was almost sitting straight up when the world turned upside down.  A pair of hands caught her head only inches above the pavement.

            She was looking at the sky again but now it seemed black, no it seemed like nighttime.  Then everything went out.

 

            Donghae, Kyuhyun and Sungmin were supposed to have had a meeting about choreography for the upcoming single.  They were supposed to meet the new choreographer in a rehearsal building that the company owned.  They arrived together and only shortly after discovering an empty studio did Sungmin get the call that the choreographer wouldn’t be able to make it today.  Although annoyed at being dragged out for no reason, the boys were also really excited at having an unexpected hour off in the middle of the day.

            On their way out they decided to check out some of the lower studios and peak in on the new trainees.  Although they were all working very hard one new trainee stood out more than the others.  She caught Donghae’s eye immediately, she was clearly a foreigner but what was so impressive was that even when everyone else was taking a water break, this girl was off to the side practicing again and again.  Her brown hair was falling out of its bun and she was dripping with sweat but every time she did the sequence she seemed to gain energy rather than lose it. 

            The boys left before the practice was over and headed for a less conspicuous exit from the fairly well known building.  Unfortunately less conspicuous is still conspicuous and it didn’t take long before someone came up and asked for an autograph, then another and another.  The boys enjoyed meeting their fans and being able to sign autographs for them but sometimes it could also be a burden.  On this day though they were able to continue walking after the three girls had left.  They had decided to use their free time to go have lunch at a small shop about two blocks away.  They were coming around the side of the building when Donghae noticed a familiar silhouette with a messy bun standing impatiently on her toes at the edge of the sidewalk.  Practice must have let out and she looked like she was in a hurry.  When the light turned she took off just as the boys were getting to the sidewalk.  About half-way across the street the girl’s flip flop went flying off in a perpendicular direction.  The girl paused for a second and looked back at it as if she wasn’t sure if she should go after it.  Instinctively Donghae yelled “Don’t go, I’ll get it for you on the next turn.”  The girl didn’t seem to hear him or else she didn’t understand and she took off after the flip-flop anyway.  At that very same moment a taxi decided to run the light, a taxi full of teenage girls with cameras.

            It was a messy scene and terrifying to witness, the cab struck her just as she was bending down to retrieve the shoe.  It hit her with great force and she ended up face up on the pavement some distance away.  The taxi didn’t waste any time sitting around and took before the police could be called.  The boys were familiar with situations like these in their own lives but never before had they seen an innocent bystander caught in the cross fire of overzealous fans. 

Though horrified the boys couldn’t stand and do nothing.  The girl wasn’t moving and didn’t respond as they called out to her.  Donghae kneeled over her, “are you okay?” in retrospect he knew it was a dumb question, but it’s the first one everyone always asks.  The girl didn’t respond, she didn’t even look at him, she was staring straight up, eyes fixed on the sky.  He tried again, “what’s your name?” still nothing.  He was getting anxious, “can you hear me? Blink if you can hear me.” The girl was still unresponsive, he stood up and took out his phone.  He took a deep breath while dialing trying to look and sound calm considering that cameras were multiplying by the second.  After calling for the ambulance he also called his manager and described the situation.  Sungmin and Kyuhyun had been kneeling too, she was very pale and there was an ever growing pool of blood on the pavement, Sungmin felt for her pulse.  By the looks of her he felt like it was a miracle she was even semi conscious at point.  She even tried to sit up, Kyu put his hands on her shoulders to stop her.  And again a few moments later he caught her falling when she had almost sat up. 

            What was probably only a few minutes felt like an eternity, the ambulance and manager-hyung arrived at almost the same time.  Donghae and Kyuhyun went right to talk to the manager but Sungmin stayed with the girl.  Once they had her in, Sungmin announced that he was going to ride with her.  The manager frowned but didn’t argue and Sungmin got into the back of the ambulance.