I took out the broom from the cleaning closet and started sweeping the extra-large practice room. There was no way I would finish in half an hour anyway, and if I stayed until I finished, I would be yelled at again for being tardy and holding up the group. If I left without finishing, I would be yelled at for not doing the jobs that I was assigned properly. Either was a bad situation.

I swept a corner of the room, then I stopped. I was going to be in trouble whatever the hell I did, so why even put in the effort?

I threw the broom back in the cleaning closet and sat down on the floor against one of the walls, frustrated and tired. I'll just accept the consequences, whether it was a lecture or a beating. This seemed to be key. I couldn't let them see that anything that they did rattled me. This was when I decided; whatever they put me through, I wouldn't show that it bothered me. I felt that not trying to fit in right now, not accepting anyone and just focusing on myself, was the best way to get respect on the long run. I took a long breath. This might come across as cold and distant for now, but this was the only way to survive as a newcomer and the youngest in a group like this.

After looking around the room for a little bit, I noticed that this being the largest practice room on this floor, it had a shower room attached to it. Since I was dying for a shower, I stepped inside. That no one else noticed this was surprising, but I wasn't complaining. I took 10 minutes for a cold shower, then when I was finished, I took out my schoolwork from my bag. I had 20 minutes that I could spend studying - it could be 20 minutes of extra sleep that I got tonight. I opened up my history textbook and started reading. A half hour later, I was still sitting on the dusty floors, making notes on my history textbook when the door opened. Here it comes, I thought, and I looked up. It was Ryeowook. He had clearly showered already as well, presumably in the shower room on the first floor.

"Hey, the manag - managers are here," he said. He was clearly surprised to see me just sitting here, obviously having showered. He then looked briefly around the room to see that it was still dirty. "You didn't clean?" he asked, perplexed.

It was clear that I didn't anyway, so I didn't bother lying. "No," I said, putting my things back in my bag. Ryeowook looked at me for a little bit, then left the room without saying anything. Wondering if he felt betrayed, I followed him outside the room. As we went downstairs, I saw that the rest of Super Junior was waiting to get on the minibus.

"How's the room looking?" asked Leeteuk. This was directed to Ryeowook.

"Huh?" said Ryeowook. "Oh. Um - it looks... looks..." he stuttered. Leeteuk raised his eyebrows. Ryeowook was clearly caught between telling the truth and protecting me.

"Sorry," I said, cutting Ryeowook off and looking right at Leeteuk. "It doesn't look too great."

Leeteuk frowned. "You didn't finish?" he asked.

"No," I said. "Sorry." This was the first time I actually apologized to him because I had actually done something wrong. But at least whatever happened to me now would happen because I deserved it.

"How far did you get?" Leeteuk asked. I hesitated a little.

"Not far," I said, looking at my feet. Thankfully, everyone except Leeteuk, Ryeowook and I had gotten on the minibus, so he got on without saying anything. Ryeowook stepped inside as well, and I followed. However, Leeteuk was standing near the bus driver to let Ryeowook pass, and I came face-to-face with Leeteuk as Ryeowook walked past to take a seat. I lowered my eyes a bit to stare at the level of Leeteuk's neck.

"How far?" he asked again. I wasn't sure how to package my answer nicely.

"I... started," I said. Leeteuk frowned slightly.

"Don't you know we're responsible for keeping the rooms clean?" asked Leeteuk quietly, sending a chill down my spine.

"I do," I said in honorifics. At this time, the bus started moving.

"Don't you also realize that if you're assigned to do something, that you're responsible for it and if you don't do it, the whole group is put in a compromised position?" he asked again quietly. I stayed silent.

"I'll see you back in the apartment," he said, moving towards the back of the moving bus. I bowed, and took one of the empty seats near the front. I was worried the entire trip back, but I tried not to show it by continuing to read my history textbook. Once we reached the apartment, it was 3am. Everyone was so tired that no one spoke; we got in the apartment in silence. I was the last to enter the apartment, so I closed the door behind me and started taking off my shoes then -

"Cho Kyuhyun, come here. Get down," said Leeteuk from the living room. My stomach tightened a bit, but then I finished taking off my shoes, stepped inside, and took my bag off my shoulders. I started walking towards Leeteuk. "Get down," he repeated. He had picked up the broom that was used to clean the suite. I was clearly on the receiving end of physical punishment again, which had become all too familiar in the last few weeks. I was in position in a few seconds, and then Leeteuk began the lecture. I was too tired to really register what he was saying, and most of the other members were also too tired to even care. However, Siwon, Donghae and Sungmin were standing there watching, perplexed.

"How many?" asked Leeteuk. I would normally have asked for as many as he would like, but this time, I didn't think I could take too many.

"Five," I said. Leeteuk nodded.

"Fine," said Leeteuk, "get ready."

Then he delivered all five, without breaks in between. I thought the less I received, the harder they would be, and was prepared for the worst. However, Leeteuk was tired too; the didn't hurt as much as I expected, although this isn't to say they didn't hurt. I was sure they left marks that would last a few days, but that would be all. I got to my feet after Leeteuk was finished.

"You can go," said Leeteuk, placing the broom against the wall.

I dropped my head for a fraction of a second, then grabbed my bag and ignoring everyone who was watching, walked into Donghae and Sungmin's room without acknowledging anyone.

I threw my bag across the room to the corner that I was supposed to sleep in and sat down on the floor. I tried to forget what just happened, for my own sake. After I had calmed myself down sufficiently, I realized that I hadn't gone so long without sleeping before in my life. I looked at my watch. 3:10am. We had practice again at 9am the next morning, so we would have to get up by at least 7:30am. Realizing that I would only get four hours of sleep even if I didn't do my schoolwork, I decided to just go to bed. I got up and moved to the door to get the extra blankets from the living room. I opened the door at the same time, and I saw Sungmin and Donghae standing against the wall on the other side. I was thankful for the few seconds that they had given me to be alone in the room - I was sure that both of them wanted anything more than to lay down in their beds. As soon as I left the room, giving them only the slightest of bows, they went inside.

I grabbed the blankets from the closet in the now-deserted living room and went back to the room. I remained expressionless as I spreaded them across the floor, and I noticed Donghae and Sungmin eyeing me slightly. Then, Sungmin spoke.

"You okay?" he asked. I glanced at him for a second.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I said with a small frown, straightening the corners of the thick blanket. Both Sungmin and Donghae stayed silent. I hoped I showed them that I wasn't rattled. However, it was still silent after half a minute and neither Sungmin or Donghae even moved. I broke the silence. "Thanks for earlier today," I said to Donghae, referring to the punching incident with Minhyun.

"Oh, that," Donghae said. "Don't thank me. Ryeowook was the one that saw. He couldn't be the one to stop him, just because Minhyun trained for longer. He just asked me to make sure nothing happened."

"Yeah, well... thanks," I said, looking away. Both Donghae and Sungmin got into their beds.

"Kyuhyun, the lights," said Sungmin. I got up, crossed the room and flicked them off. I then returned to the corner of the room and laid down on the floor. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.