“Annyeonghaseyo.”  The manager said quietly as he wheeled April in.

           Leeteuk bowed humbly.  “Welcome.”  Behind him Donghae, Eunhyuk and Sungmin did the same.  Kyuhyun lurked behind them peering around the corner or his bedroom door.

            April surveyed the area; the apartment wasn’t really that big.  The front door opened in the living area which extended to the kitchen.  Opposite of the kitchen was Sungmin and Kyuhyun’s room and then Yesung’s; now April’s; room.  After that was a recess with the bathroom, linen closet etcetera and finally opposite the living room and closest to the front door was Eunhyuk and Donghae’s room.

            They were frozen near the door; no one really knew how to start or what to do.  April yawned.  Leeteuk realized that it was late, it had been a long day for her and she was probably more tired than usual.  He didn’t want to overwhelm her.  “Do you want to see your room?”  She nodded shyly.

            Sungmin took her in and Donghae followed while Leeteuk saw the manager out.  “Thank you for everything.”

            “It’s been my pleasure, I think you guys are doing a great thing, more than what others might.”

 

            Eunhyuk was at Kyuhyun’s door; he was leaning on the door frame and just sticking his head inside.  “Why don’t you come out and say hello?”

            “No, I think I’ll avoid her as best as possible.”

            “You’re going to run into her fairly quickly, it’s a small apartment.”

            “I’ll take my chances.”

            “And what happens when you do cross paths?  She’s never even seen you before; she’s going to think you’re a burglar who’s broken in.”

 

            Sungmin and Donghae were standing awkwardly in April’s room describing how Zhou Mi, Heechul, Eunhyuk and Henry had shopped for her and decorated the room.  April looked down with a guilty expression.

            “Don’t worry,” Donghae said.  “Shopping is like playtime for them, they love it.”  April looked up but she didn’t seem to believe him.  “No, really.  If you ask Zhou Mi what his favorite sport is, he’ll tell you shopping.”  April smiled; it seemed she found it funny.  The smile didn’t last for long though as she yawned again.  She was eyeing the bed.

            “Do you want to sleep?”  Sungmin asked.

            April nodded yes.

            “Do you want to change first?”

            April’s eyes popped open and she vigorously (at least for her) shook her head no.  As Sungmin thought, this was going to be complicated.

            Donghae rearranged the day bed so that April could sleep.  Sungmin gently and carefully put her in bed.  “Are you comfortable?”  She responded with a tiny yes nod.  “I guess we’ll leave you then, will you be alright on your own?”  Another tiny nod.  “On the other side of this wall,” he motioned to the wall her bed was up against, “is my room.  If you need anything just tap on the wall like this.”  He demonstrated.  They both said, “Sleep well,” and April gave one last little nod. 

           

            Outside the room Donghae was looking nervous.  “Sungmin-ah, do you think we should have put pillows or something beneath the bed?  What if she falls out?” 

            “She won’t fall out, she sleeps as still as a stone.”

            “But what if she has a bad dream?  Or wakes up in the middle of the night and forgets where she is?”

            “She’s going to be fine, and that’s why I told her she can tap on the wall.”

            “But what if you don’t hear it or she forgets or gets disoriented.  She’ll try to get up out of bed and fall.”

            “Okay,” he said calmly.  “I understand, but this is as new to me as it is to you.  I’m nervous too but April is probably more nervous than the two of us combined.  This is her first night here, and that’s scary but she also hasn’t had an ounce of privacy in the last two months.  I want to go back in there and check on her and stay with her just as much as you do but she’s not a little kid and she needs some time to herself.”

 

            April dreamed a lot that night, but in her dreams it was winter.  She was at home; she was filling out piles and piles of applications, why and for what she didn’t know.  There was a knocking at the door and she through a blanket over the papers.  The dream changed.  She was slamming a door and walking out into the snow with a bag.  She was furious but at what, she didn’t know.  The last part of the dream was of being trapped in the white box again.  She woke up in a cold sweat.  She sat bolt upright, her heart was racing and she was breathing heavily.  She thought she was at home at first, she opened to call to her sister…but nothing came out.

            She was gasping for air and it still didn’t come to her, the room was spinning, she was starting to wheeze.  Just when she thought she was going to faint, someone opened the door.

 

            “April, kwaenchanha?” 

            April fell back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling.  She realized herself now, though it didn’t make her any less frustrated.

            Donghae kneeled at the bedside, “Kwaenchanha?”  She nodded minutely.  He felt her forehead.  “You’re a little warm, you don’t look so good.”  She pushed his hand away and turned her head.  “I should call the physician.”  She looked back at him, then directed her gaze at the clock and then back at him.  She rolled her eyes angrily.  “You want to go back to sleep?  One yes nod. “Are you sure you’re okay?”  Sigh, eye roll, yes nod.    

 

            It’s not that April really wanted him to leave but she was overwhelmingly frustrated.  The dreams weren’t pleasant but she was getting somewhere.  She still didn’t know how’d she gotten to Korea, she adamantly didn’t want to see her family but didn’t know why.  She figured at least a six month block of her memory was gone.  It was lost to the abyss just like her voice. 

 

            It’s not that Donghae heard her by chance.  He couldn’t sleep and he knew she wasn’t going to sleep soundly in a new environment.  He had set up on the floor outside her door and was drifting in and out of sleep there.  It’s there that he went back to after April dismissed him.  About an hour later he woke up to a thud.  “Ugh!”  Eunhyuk had tripped over him in the dark on his way to the kitchen for some water.  “What the…?  What the hell are you doing there?” 

            “I-uh-I-was – ” 

            “You’re being a creeper that’s what.  Tsk, sleeping outside of a girl’s room.  Get up and go to bed!” 

            Eunhyuk was irritable when he was tired and Donghae wasn’t in the mood to argue and wake up April again, he did as he was asked.

            Sungmin slept, but he slept lightly.  Every little noise Kyuhyun made woke him up.  It didn’t help that Kyuhyun stayed up all night playing computer games. 

           

             By the time morning came around everyone was exhausted, no one had slept well.  It was a new day and new challenges awaited them. 

             Ryeowook was the first to get himself out of bed.  He quietly crept downstairs to make breakfast. Henry had instructed him to make eggs, bacon and toast.  The smell was enough to get everyone on the eleventh floor up, except for Kyu who never woke up easily.  April was awake too, Sungmin found out when he knocked before sticking his head in.  She was staring at the ceiling, she seemed bored.  “Have you been up long?” She turned her head no.  “Are you lying?”  She nodded yes.  “Ha, you should have knocked on the wall and gotten me up.”  April didn’t give a response.  “Are you hungry?  Ryeowook made breakfast.”  April’s stomach growled and Sungmin took that as enough of an answer.

             Sungmin helped April to sit in one of the regular chairs, upstairs of course this wouldn’t have worked.  It suited her, being out of hospital equipment.  Of course the cast made it awkward but she managed.  The food was really good, the boys sat around April, still in her sundress, in their pajamas and sweats.  Kyuhyun rose last but didn’t come out of his room. 

             April noticed a tall dark haired figure peering out from a crack in the doorway but just as she looked its way, it disappeared.  The night before she had also thought she’d seen something like that and dismissed it.  She counted the men in the kitchen, there were four, two for each room, that’s all there should have been.  She was tired she must have been seeing things; still the idea of a shadowy figure lurking around corners gave her the creeps.

             The boys were too involved with their food to notice April watching the bedroom door so intently. 

             For a second Kyuhyun thought he was caught, he closed the door tightly.  His stomach growled, the food looked good.  He paced the room, he’d just have to wait a little while for her to wash up or go back to her room and then he could slip out and get some eggs, if there were any left.  He was already annoyed with her and they hadn’t even crossed paths yet.

             “Why are they eating so slow?”  He was talking to himself.  “Just eat the food and go about your business.”  Little did Kyu know his chance was about to arrive.

 

             The door intercom buzzed.  Everyone looked up.