“Okay guys, we’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.”  Leeteuk said.  Everyone was gathered around in the dorm again, dressed this time.  I think it’s best if we split into teams.  Firstly this place is a mess and is definitely not suitable environment to bring a girl into.  In charge of cleaning will be me, Yesung, Shindong and Kyuhyun.  Next we have to decide which room will be April’s and do some rearranging.  In charge of moving rooms will be Kangin, Sungmin, Donghae and Siwon.”  Knowing that they got the short end of the stick in terms of manual labor there was a chorus of sighs.  Leeteuk smiled mischievously before he continued.  “Since April really has nothing to call her own, we’re going to be doing a lot of shopping and in charge of this will be Zhou Mi, Eunhyuk, Heechul and Henry.  Finally Ryeowook will take the next shift at the hospital and then sub into the cleaning team.  We have less than two weeks let’s all pull together.”  Everyone put their hands in and did a ‘hwaiting!’ 

          Leeteuk could have put himself on the shopping team but instead he chose cleaning, he was regretting it before he even started.  The twelfth floor had four bedrooms a bathroom, kitchen and living space.  Donghae and Ryeowook shared a room while Leeteuk, Heechul and Shindong each had their own; currently Zhou Mi was staying on their couch.  Downstairs had the same set up except that there were only three bedrooms and a larger living space.  On the eleventh floor Eunhyuk and Yesung each had their own rooms while Kyuhyun and Sungmin shared.  Leeteuk and Shindong cleaned the twelfth floor while Yesung and Kyuhyun cleaned the eleventh.  Before they could even think about moving furniture they had to get everything clean. 

          Leeteuk started with the bedrooms his own bedroom was the easiest to clean and after that came Heechul’s then Donghae and Ryeowook’s and lastely Shindongs which was the most messy.  He changed the bedding and made everyone’s beds whilst hanging the blankets out to air.  They all left clothing lying around, Leeteuk was no better than any of them but it was much more gross when you were picking up someone else’s sweaty gym clothes or undergarments.  They would have to be better about laundry in the future as they couldn’t leave stuff like that lying around with a girl in the house.  Even if he started now he would probably be doing laundry all week.      

          While Leeteuk cleaned the bedrooms Shindong worked on the kitchen.  The dishes were piled high in the sink, so high that had any of their mothers seen it they would have fainted.  Shindong started there getting dishpan hands from scrubbing so long; after that he cleaned the counters and the stove top. At this point Shindong was thoroughly annoyed with Leeteuk for putting him on the cleaning team.  He sat down with his elbow on the table and his head on his hand to take a rest.  One day down, eleven to go.

          Downstairs Yesung started with the bathroom cleaning the bathtub, sink, toilet and counters.  He figured he’d get the worst part over with first.  He wore rubber gloves and a bandana over his face for cleaning the toilet.  ‘By all means the maknae should be doing this,’ he thought to himself.  Kyuhyun had disappeared into his room as soon as the real cleaning started.  After finishing the bathroom there had still been no sign of Kyu.  “Ya! Kyuhyun!”  Yesung yelled as he rapped at the door.  “Come out here and sweep the floors!”

          “Hyung I’m busy cleaning my room right now.”  Kyuhyun responded innocently.

          “Ya! Cho Kyuhyun!”  Yesung forced the door open and found Kyuhyun peacefully sitting on his bed with a book. “You call this cleaning?”  Yesung grabbed Kyuhyun by the ear and dragged him into the living room where he put a broom in his hands and commanded, “Sweep!”

          Kyuhyun swept begrudgingly.  Just because he’d allowed April to stay didn’t mean he’d signed up for a draft of manual labor.  It was just some girl, what did he care if the place was a little messy.  When he was done sweeping he tried to sneak out quietly but Yesung caught him and handed him cleaner and a sponge, “wash the windows.”  Kyuhyun through the sponge in the bucket and made a splash, “you’ll have to clean that up too,” Yesung shouted over his shoulder.  Kyuhyun disliked this idea from the beginning but now he hated it, he shouldn’t have agreed to this.  The new arrangement was going to turn his life upside down and he wasn’t okay with it.

          Over the course of several grueling days the cleaning team managed to, in addition to all their pre-comeback work, do all the laundry and ironing, clean out the freezers, refrigerators and pantries, change the towels, toothbrushes ect., vacuum, mop dust, clean the blinds, wash the curtains and remove all the trash.  They also checked the smoke detectors and first aid kit and made it a habit to open the windows every day for fresh air.         

          Yesung even cleaned his turtles’ habitat and upstairs cleaned Heechul’s cat carriers.  He put away the dog pens, food bowls and toys for now as the dogs would all be staying with their families at least for the time being.  No dogs lived in the dorm permanently but from time to time members brought their pets to stay, especially Eunhyuk and Sungmin. 

 

          Ryeowook was hanging out with April, he had written down a few things that he had wanted to say in English but he had lost his nerve.  He sat next to April holding one of the excessively large stuffed animals that Zhou Mi had given her; it was a stuffed cow he held across his lap.  Ryeowook talked about nothing, he talked about the weather and politics in the news, he didn’t really know what he was talking about he was just trying to fill time; he figured she didn’t understand what he was saying anyway.

           April motioned toward the wheelchair in the corner; she wanted to get out of bed.  She had been doing this often over the past few days, she couldn’t go anywhere by her own volition but she did like the change of pace sitting in a chair instead of bed.  Ryeowook was afraid to help her by himself so he had a nurse come assist. 

          “You know you’re going to have to learn to do this by yourself if you’re going to be her caregiver.”  The nurse walked him through the process step by step only acting as a safeguard to make sure there were no accidents.  Once April was situated she kept looking at the door. 

          “You want to go for a walk?”  Ryeowook asked.

           April slightly bent her head forward, which meant yes. 

          Ryeowook took her out into the hall; he pushed her down the end where the nurses’ station was.  “Say hi to the nurses.”  April smiled. 

          The nurses smiled and waved at April, some of them still got giddy when they saw one of members.  It didn’t bother Ryeowook, to April it probably seemed like they were just really friendly. 

          They were restricted to just the one wing of the hospital.  This wing held all the private rooms and had some semblance of security.  Because the members were coming and going in secrecy they had to be very careful where else they showed their faces in the large public hospital.  One wrong move and they could be surrounded in less than five minutes.  Less than ten seconds if they were out on the street.  He was more worried for April’s safety than anything else.  It was fans be overzealous that started this mess and he was sure that there were a few people out there who would trample even a hospitalized girl if necessary.  Additionally they had no reason to believe that April knew who they were and they wanted to keep it that way.  If the situation was already traumatizing adding the stigma of the public eye wasn’t going to help April recover emotionally. 

           After a little time out in the hall and visiting with the staff Ryeowook brought April back to her room.  He was going to put her back in bed but she held tight to the handles of the wheelchair.  “You don’t want to lie down?”

          April looked in the opposite direction of him, which meant no.

          “Okay, you can stay in the chair, but only until you get tired, then you’re going back to bed.”  April scrunched her nose up.  “I know you’re bored of laying around all day but you need to rest if you want to heal.”  April sighed.  “It’s rough I know but I really want to see you healthy.”  Ryeowook patted her head.  April smiled. 

           Soon April looked like she was ready for a nap; he gathered his courage and decided to put her in bed by himself.  He did it just as he was taught and had no problem.  April fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, Ryeowook felt accomplished.  He watched her sleep.  She was so light, she couldn’t weight more than 39 kilos maybe less. 

 

            The shopping team definitely got the best job.  Zhou Mi in particular was happy; the four were going to a mall.  It wasn’t going to be an easy time considering the amount of people who are out and about in the summer.  They would have to split up and enter from different points, they were disguised as well as they could be but that usually didn’t stop people from spotting them.  Zhou Mi and Heechul were going to start by buying her clothing, Heechul advised Zhou Mi well about what would be easy for her to put on and take off based on his own experience.  Zhou Mi remembered well as he was a trainee when Heechul had his accident.  Zhou Mi had been introduced to Heechul by Hangeng and had helped him while the rest of the members were busy filming and performing.  One thing was for sure, with Heechul and Zhou Mi buying her wardrobe April was going to be the best dressed girl in Korea (and if not she’d at least have the most interesting wardrobe). 

            Loose fitting skirts and sundresses would be easiest for April to wear.  They bought her plenty of options in different colors and patterns as well as shirts, shorts, pants, light sweaters and wraps.  Zhou Mi even bought her some cute hair accessories.  The price could have been quite high however the boys bargained well and were able to use their charms to their advantage.  In the end they barely had to splurge to get her a good start.  Neither of them were used to shopping for girls and hoped the April liked the clothes they bought her. 

            Eunhyuk was looking for room furnishings.  They wanted to furnish the room new so that she could feel that it was really hers.  At first he was looking at pink furniture that probably would have been more suitable for a seven year old girl than a 23 year old.  In the end he settled on a white desk and dresser with a light yellow nightstand and bookshelf.  He wanted the colors in the room to be bright and happy.  The bed was simple but comfortable, a must for someone who was still going to be spending a lot of time there.  Eunhyuk wanted to make it into a daybed so he also bought lots of multi colored pillows.  He picked a light blue lamp to sit on the desk and a comfy purple computer chair for when she was ready to sit at it.  Eunhyuk also bought light sheer curtains and darker blue drapes for nighttime.  He finished it off with a fuzzy throw rug to put near the bed.    

            Henry was in charge of all the small stuff.  He picked out a blue and green geometric bedspread and really comfortable sheets and blankets.  He also covered the pajamas and even the underwear.  Describing April’s build to the sales lady was one of the most uncomfortable moments of Henry’s life, he felt like he was on some ridiculous hidden camera show.  The sales lady kept showing him a variety of types of styles of bras and .  Henry felt his cheeks getting hot.  “Just give me whatever you think a girl my age would like,” he said exasperated. 

            “How many?”

            “I don’t know; a week’s supply?  How do I know how much underwear a girl needs?” 

            The lady filled a very obvious bag with all her choices.  “Don’t you have any other bags?”

            “Nope.”

            “Ugh…whatever…how much?”  The price was probably a little too high but Henry didn’t want to stay in the shop any longer than he had to.  Without trying to bargain he paid the lady what she asked for and left quickly.  Henry found Eunhyuk, “hyung do you have another bag I can put this in?”

            Eunhyuk laughed hard at Henry, “sorry I’m having all the furniture delivered.”  Henry hung his head as he carried all the women’s underwear. 

            Together the two picked out new towels and toiletries for April.  After that they thought about the things they had in their own rooms, was there anything missing? What other kinds of things might she need?  Were there any more comforts they could give her? 

            “A laptop?”  Henry suggested.

            “Bad idea.  Picture this.  She’s sitting browsing one day and stumbles upon a fan site or a group picture of us, think of how confused she’s be.  It’s going to be hard enough keeping her away from the TV during comeback, a laptop would exacerbate the problem.”

            “Books?”

            “We don’t know what she likes to read and they’d have to be in English.”

            “We’ll get her just of few of the best sellers in the U.S.  There are a few books in Canada that everyone is reading, they’re probably the same in the U.S.”

            “Proof that it’s the same difference.”

            “Ugh.”

            It wasn’t as easy as Henry thought it would be to track down English copies of the books.  In the process he also found some pretty posters of skylines and sunsets, he decided they would make good decoration for April’s room.  He also bought a bulletin board and white board as he thought that they would be useful.  He stayed away from picture frames as they would have no pictures to put in them. 

            It was nice spending money feeling like it was for a good cause.  Of course the shopping trip wasn’t perfect, quite a few fans were snapping photos here and there but they kept their distance and all the boys were appreciative of that.   

            They shopping team left all the goods in the eleventh floor living room, they couldn’t do anything with them until they decided whose room was going to become April’s.  That was going to be an interesting discussion.