"I've told you everything now, so can we sleep?"

"Yah! I thought your gossip would be a bit more interesting than that!"

"Kangin and Heechul hyung fighting? Leeteuk seemingly trading his best friend? That is interesting!"

"Hae, living away from the dorms, you really miss a lot..."

"What?"

"We all know what's going on up there, the walls and ceilings aren't that thick!"

"Oh...I guess I really miss a lot."

"Yep."

"I miss you, Hyukjae."

"I'm sure you do."

"But you're here now."

"I am."

"We haven't had a night alone in a while."

"Hae..."

"And sleep really isn't that crucial to...

"Donghae..."

"YAH! DONGHAE!"

Wait, that didn't happen...

"LEE DONGHAE! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?"

Donghae's eyes sprung open. He was sitting in the upstairs dorm, in the living room. Hyukjae was on his left, his head lolling to the side, eyes shut. Kangin was on is right, fists clenched and legs crossed. Yesung was standing in the middle, eyes of all the members on him. Except for Heechul. He must be at work.

"Yes, Yesung-hyung. I was just resting my eyes. I'm sorry." Donghae looked at the ground, embarrassed. Yesung scoffed.

"This is why we don't let you and Eunhyuk spend time alone anymore. Look at you both, exhausted." Donghae said nothing.

"Anyhow, continuing. You all know that Teukie-hyung is leaving in a few days. I'm not going yet, but soon, you know it'll be my time. I just wanted you all to prepare for that, and also, more importantly, name the lead singer who I want to take on my parts once I'm gone."

"Funny, because I'm the lead sing-"

"Kyuhyun, shut your mouth or I'll make sure I ruin all your lines when you leave," Yesung hissed at Kyuhyun, who smirked.

"Lucky for me I'm not old," He whispered under his breath. Yesung pretended to hear nothing.

"Anyways, I'd like my lines to go to...and don't I hate saying this, but to go to Kyuhyun." Kyuhyun jumped up and hugged Yesung. Ryeowook noticeably didn't move an inch from his position.

"Trust me, I'd rather Ryeowook take them just so you won't be so smug, but his voice tone doesn't match mine. SM told me." Yesung looked apologetically at Ryeowook, who still didn't look up. Donghae ignored the scene in front of him and looked at Hyukjae. He was passed out. Donghae smiled softly, reaching over and moving his head to his shoulder. Hyukjae barely moved at the small change, except for the arm wrapping itself around Donghae's waist. I'm happy we'll be leaving for the army together, that way we won't have to nominate each other to be the resident dancer, or rapper, or anything. At least we'll go together.

The atmosphere in the room was very tense. Whenever someone mentioned military service, people got scared. It was a natural instinct, even for Kangin. He looked more nervous than anyone in the room. Donghae had wondered, was he scared they would call him to to fight? They could, whenever they wanted, if needed. It must be daunting, being the only one with real training. Heechul was trained as a medic, but he was so weak they probably would avoid calling him up unless absolutely necessary. They were all dancers, not soldiers. It would be scary to see how Hyukjae would cope in he army. Donghae knew he was strong, but he wasn't fighting strong. He was dancing, graceful, fluid strong.

"So I'm done here. I just...wanted you all to know." Yesung broke the silence and sat down in their circle. It looked like a group meeting...Donghae must have slept through the beginning without realizing. He noticed Siwon poking Hyukjae. Before he could snap at the face of super junior, the sleeping man sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Can I say something?" He asked sleepily. Everyone nodded in return. Donghae tried to catch his eyes, ask what he was going to say, but he couldn't find them. His face was turned far away from Donghae.

Hyukjae got up slowly and went to where Yesung has just been standing. He leaned against the small table in the middle of the room, blinking a few times and shaking his heads. Throwing a smile at Siwon, he started.

"I'm going to take my turn this meeting to just...ask, share, I dunno, I just want to say this." Everyone looked at him worriedly. Siwon smiled again, and Donghae became frustrated. Clearly they had spoken of something. Siwon knew something about Hyuk that he didn't. Surely this wasn't right.

"There's a lot of tension, a lot of stress in this house, and it's getting to everyone. I might seem distant, but I can tell. There's unneeded fighting, disagreements, just everything is collapsing. Teukie-hyung is leaving in a few days and I'm to take control. I know you don't all have the same respect for me as you do for him, so it's going to be a strong leader. I'm not the tallest, not the strongest, not the oldest, not the second oldest. I'm not the most of anything. But I can take on this job. And...and I need you all to stop arguing."

There was silence. Kangin clenched his jaw.

"I'm scared we'll far apart. So stop. Just...get along. If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything. If you have a complaint, come to me, and I'll deal with it. But I can't focus on a thing when you all argue. So please, just stop it. We all know how easy it is to hear stuff around here. Plus, there's just tension in the air. I can feel it now. Just find an outlet, or talk to me. But we can't keep locking everything away. We are nothing without each other. Better behavior will help us."

"Funny you're not telling this to Heechul." Kangin said it under his breath, but Hyukjae's sudden pause meant everyone heard. Donghae's eyes immediately went to look at him, shock written all over his face. Kangin looked up to see everyone staring at him, but the person who's gaze he met was none other than their leader's. No one breathed.

"Repeat that." It wasn't a question, it was an order. Leeteuk's eyes filled with anger, and everyone knew something was about to happen. It was rare that he expressed his anger in front of other members, but times had changed. Hyukjae balanced himself on the table.

"Jungsu, leave it, reall-"

"No. Say that again. I'm your leader. Say it again."

"Heechul...it's funny he's not saying it to Heechul." Kangin whispered it again, but it confirmed it. Leeteuk clenched his fists. Everyone moved slightly, ready to leave.

"No, I want you all to stay. You need to hear this, and so do they." He stood up and turned to face the wall, running his fingers through his shortened hair before grabbing his waist, digging into his hips. Donghae moved closer to side, not wanted to feel this relentless rage. Everyone held their breath once more.

"How DARE you. I cannot believe you, Youngwoon, you know, I really can't." Leeteuk spun around. "How many times do we have to go over this? Huh? You LEFT. YOU. LEFT. US. There is nothing to it, no more, its simple, you just packed up and left after some STUPID mistake. YOUR stupid mistake! And you know who looked after us? You know who stood by us, by me, by every single member one by one during ALL of this? HEECHUL. YOUR HATED, DESPISED, HEECHUL. I told you this, you knew, we ALL told you how great it was for you to be back, yeah, great, but also how Heechul had grown. Matured. Yet you still treat him like an alien. I just, I...HOW? ARE YOU THAT BLIND?" His lips were shaking, his hands clutching tighter, one hand now on his head. Kangin tried to speak, but Leeteuk cut him off, his voice breaking.

"He cared for me. He really did. I was getting ready to quit, you know that. I called you and told you. You, Hangeng, Kibum, all in one year. I wanted out. I wanted out of this place. But he was there. He was depressed, ready to leave, but still there."

Both parties had tears in their eyes.

"AND THEN YOU TREAT HIM LIKE THIS. YOU JUST GO AND TREAT HIM LIKE A HORRIBLE PERSON BUT HE'S NOT. HE'S NOT, YOUNGWOON. AND HE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS! YOU...you know, after your last little rant at him, he spent 3 hours in his room crying? He wouldn't shut up about you for days, so upset. You know he almost died before his birthday? You know he asked the army to transfer him over to active duty? You know everything he's had to go through since you left? It's not all happy flowers and cakes for him. And then YOU PUT HIM THROUGH HELL IN HIS OWN HOME! NO WONDER HE'S NEVER HERE!"

"Leeteuk..."

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU. YOU REALLY CHANGED, YOU KNOW THAT? HOW CAN I LEAVE YOU HERE WITH THEM? HOW CAN I TRUST YOU WHEN YOU ARE DESTROYING THE ONE MAN WHO CARES? THE ONE MAN WHO HELD US TOGETHER? WITHOUT HEECHUL WE WOULD NOT BE HERE. HOW CAN I JUST LEAVE YOU HERE?"

"Leeteuk...I-"

"YOU DISGUST ME. THE SNARKY COMMENTS, THE CLENCHED FISTS, ALL OF IT. GO TO THERAPY. GET A GIRLFRIEND. BUT LEAVE HEECHUL OUT OF THIS."

"Donghae..."

Donghae realized the voice wasn't Kangin's. He looked up to see Hyukjae clinging onto the table for dear life, his face pale and eyes wide. He was breathing heavily, and his body was slightly hunched. His entire being was shaking. Donghae's eyes met his, and he saw the pure fear and terror in his eyes. Hyukjae was breaking apart. Something was wrong.

"I'm telling Lee Soo Man. I'm telling him EVERYTHING. Heechul doesn't deserve this. And when he comes back, if I hear one bad thing, I swear, I WILL NOT LET THIS-"

"STOP!" Donghae screamed and ran to Hyukjae. Suddenly everything became very clouded. Kangin stood up and started shouting back. Ryeowook clutched onto his knees and stared at the two men screaming. Yesung ran to Kangin and tried to calm him, but to no avail. Sungmin stared at Kyuhyun, trying to figure out what to do. Siwon ran between the men, trying to form a block. Shindong followed.

"PLEASE STOP! CAN'T YOU SEE..." Donghae was screaming, his voice cracking under the strain to rise above the noise. Leeteuk continued yelling, but Kangin took a quick break.

"If that BRAT can't cope, maybe he should just move in with his BOYFRIEND." The words were spat out as insults. Donghae reeled back, letting go of Hyukjae for one second.

It was one second too long.

The dancer fell to the floor, collapsing at his feet, his eyes rolled back into his head, his hands falling limp. Donghae watched as his head hit the table, then the floor. The screams didn't stop. The argument continued.

Donghae shreiked.

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