Another guy was showing April pictures of people.  Some of the people were those whom she had seen in her room, others were unfamiliar to her.  They looked like they were having fun, most of the pictures looked like they were from the same apartment.  Did all of them live together?  That was too many people for one apartment; they all must just be good friends.  She was enjoying looking at happy faces though she had no idea why she was looking at them.  She wasn’t done looking at the last picture when the guy took the phone away.  Instinct told her to turn her head, but it wasn’t that easy.  It was like trying to will an inanimate object to move with your mind alone.  Like pressing against a brick wall she was finally able to see him.  He interpreted that she wanted to see more pictures, smart guy.  After that, as if to , he got up and walked to the other side of the room.  She could tell he wanted her to look at him but this was a little much.  When she could no longer follow him with just her eyes she gathered all her strength and turned her head the other way.  She felt exhausted and lightheaded as if she’d just finished a marathon and then someone hung her upside down.  She hung on a few more moments before she fell asleep.    

            Other men came and went throughout the day, she was started to recognize faces that had come in the past.  She moved when they wanted her to move but she could never stay awake for long. 

 

            Leeteuk wanted to keep it within the group, but he also didn’t want to upset anyone.  Kyuhyun and Heechul had made it quite clear that they didn’t want anything to do with April.  He thought about who was left, Zhou Mi was out of the country; Kibum hadn’t called in a while and was probably filming.  Leeteuk thought about Henry, surely someone had given him a call in the last week...right?  Leeteuk didn’t know and he didn’t know Henry’s schedule as well as he should have.  Leeteuk pulled up Henry in his contacts list; he debated a moment with his finger over the send button and then called.

            “Hyung, what’s up?”  Henry answered.

            “Have you talked to any of the members recently?”

            “No, I’ve sort of been out of touch the past week or so, what’s wrong?”

            Leeteuk gave him the short version.  “-So I was hoping to find someone who can sit with her for a few hours tonight.”

            “Wow this sounds like a real mess, I’m truly sorry to hear about all of it.  Right now I’m in Taiwan doing some work but I’m scheduled to be back in a few days.  I wish I could be of more help.”

            “No, no, it’s not your responsibility.  Just work hard and I’ll figure something out.”  Henry was the youngest and the most removed from the media scene, it was a lot to lay on a kid’s shoulders. 

            With Henry not an option and not wanting to expand the problem outside of the group Leeteuk only had two options.  The question was: who would he talk to first?

           

            Sungmin walked into April’s room just as Ryeowook was zipping up his bag.  April was sleeping again and Ryeowook whispered to Sungmin about how she had been moving.  Sungmin was pleased but concerned about how tiring that seemed for her, he was thinking about the true extent of her injuries.  He patted Ryeowook on the shoulder, “thanks for looking after her.”

            “That’s what brothers are there for.”  Ryeowook smiled.

            Sungmin watched April sleep.  She woke up briefly but seemed very groggy.  Sungmin didn’t make her move it seemed to be too taxing for her.  Soon she had fallen asleep again.  While she was sleeping Sungmin looked again at her bag of possessions.  It had been a week surely her parents would be wondering about her.  He looked at the note on her phone again.  He could tear the note off, call her parents and claim ignorance but that would be dishonest. 

 

            Leeteuk knocked on a bedroom door.  “Yeah.”

            “Can I come in?”

            “Go ahead.”

            Leeteuk politely let himself in.  Heechul was at his computer playing games. 

            “Starcraft?”  Leeteuk asked.

            “Mmm…”

            “I have a favor to ask, though you’re not going to like it.”

            “Then don’t ask it.”

            “Unfortunately I’m out of other options.  You see Kangin’s schedule tonight got extended and he can’t do his shift with April.”

            “No.”

            “I have to go soon to follow up Sungmin but then I have to work right after.”

            “Still no.”

            “Everyone else has schedules tonight, I even called Henry.”

            “Henry’s out of the country.”

            “I know that now, thanks.”

            “You should have known it before, you’re the leader.”

            “Look I really need your help.”

            “-And the answer is still a big fat NO.”

            “She’s coming around you know.  She just needs someone to be there to keep her company.”

            “Not listening…”

            “Kyuhyun’s having a harder time with this than you are, he saw the accident happen.  I really need you to be the hyung and set an example.”

            “Since when have I ever been a good example to follow?”

            “Good point, but starting today you could change that.”

            “No thanks.”

            “I really didn’t want to resort to this –”

            “–So don’t”

            “Kim Heechul you are going tonight in Kangin’s place.  No ‘ifs’ ‘ands’ or ‘buts’ about it.”

            Heechul was shocked; it was rare that the leader pulled rank, especially with him as they were the same age.    

            “I’m leaving soon,” Leeteuk said.  “You better be there at eight o’clock sharp.”  

 

            April continued to sleep soundly while Leeteuk was there.  He was very quiet as not to wake her up.  ‘Heechul better come and he better be on time,’ Leeteuk thought.  ‘If she sleeps like this all he’ll have to do is sit here.  I’m sure he can manage that.’  Around eight Leeteuk heard slow footsteps in the hallway.  “If he walked any slower he’d be going backward,” he muttered to himself.  He stood in the doorway and beckoned Heechul forward.  Heechul begrudgingly came. 

            “I’d like it noted that I’m doing this one time favor out of the pure goodness of my heart,” Heechul said dryly.  “I’d also like to remind you that as I’m technically fulfilling my duty to my country right now I’m not under your jurisdiction.” 

            “You’re still a member and you’re living at home, you can help out once and a while.”

            “Pfft.”

            “I’ve got to get going.  Behave yourself and you’ll have an easy time.”

 

            “Behave myself, behave myself…” Heechul muttered.  “Who does he think he is?”  He sat down in the chair next to the sleeping April.  But Heechul being a notorious busybody couldn’t behave himself.  After a few minutes he got bored of just sitting there.  He noticed her bag of possessions and the cell phone that Sungmin had left sitting out.  He brought all of the stuff back to the chair to sit and exam.  Somewhere along the line while he was going through her things April had woken up and was watching him.  He had gone through the rest of the bag and picked up the phone.  He examined the phone reading the English and Korean note taped to it.  He noticed her watching him.

            “This yours?” 

            She stared at him angrily.

            “You want to see it?”  He held it up with the note side facing her.  He pointed at the note, “what’s this about?”  Her heart monitor seemed to beep faster.  “Why don’t you want your parents called?”  Beep-beep-beep-bee–

          Like a lightning bolt she sat up, reached across and ferociously smacked the phone down to the ground where it shattered into many pieces.  She immediately lied back down and stared at the ceiling.  Heechul was left staring at his empty hand in disbelief. 

            “What was that about?” 

            He got no reaction. 

            “Hello in there?  Are your angry?  Why did you have to break the phone?”

            Still nothing.

            He muttered to himself, “that chic is crazy.”  He put the pieces of the phone back on the nightstand, evidence to prove to the next person what she had done. 

            April was soon fast asleep and Heechul was still sitting there bewildered.  Siwon came next and immediately noticed the broken phone.

            “What did you do?”

            “I didn’t do anything, she did it.”

            “Yeah…sure.”

            “Really, that chic is nuts.  All I did was show her the phone and she went crazy.”

            “All you had to do was sit, why did you antagonize her?”

            “I didn’t ant– fine whatever, just tell Leeteuk that I won’t be helping him out again.”

            Heechul left for home all the while replaying the scene in his head.