The members of Super Junior, a South Korean boy band of incredible and everlasting fame, lived on two separate floors of a brick apartment building in Seoul. The outside of the building was completely unremarkable in its urban unkemptness. The fact that there lived inside 13 special and immensely talented boys was betrayed by the large number of people that were always coming and going. Their neighbors constantly complained of the racket made by teenage girls as they came looking for their favorite members.  This had led to many creative attempts to shoo the girls away without further angering their neighbors or garnering band press, but that was a story for another day.

 

Inside the apartment on the eleventh floor all the members were assembled in a line. This was unusual as the members were quite busy these days, still popular despite the fact that they had debuted many years ago and were past what was considered the usual shelf life of a boy band. At any given moment they were leaving for individual activities or otherwise occupied relaxing.

 

More unusual was the fact that the apartment was completely silent. Usually members, when they did not have schedules, were in the dorm could be found scattered around doing various things. They ‘relaxed’ as strenuously as they worked, to the point that ‘catching up on sleep’ could still mean coming home to experimental cuisine on the walls

 

Perhaps the last time it had been this silent had been when they had realized that two of their members were not home from the hospital after a terrible accident, or that one of their dancers was leaving the group for good, that another …

 

Never mind. It never got any more pleasant for the fact that it had happened before. Silence still spelled trouble.

 

Only deliberately slowed breathing and miserable snuffling—Donghae—could be heard. Leeteuk knew Donghae was a crybaby and so had directed his glare at him to begin with, breaking him easily.  Leeteuk knew it was mean, but if he broke Donghae first then the others were quicker to follow and then they could be done with this miserable silence.

 

Leeteuk held out the reason for his calling them all, the lifeless carcass of Yesung’s turtle. Not a mark was on the turtle, which looked like it was sleeping.  Only Yesung had known it was dead, just by looking at him. The first thing he had done upon getting home from vacation, after greeting the worthless members gathered in front of him, had been to check on his turtles. It had been the first time in two and a half weeks his room had been opened. He had backed out of his room with a cry, devastated.

 

Leeteuk had taken the animal from its cage before calling all the members into the living room.

 

“So” said Leeteuk. “Who did Yesung ask to look after his turtles? Answer me!” he added with a shout, startling everyone present. “I do not have time to watch you all look at your shoes. Who did this hyung tell to look after his turtle?”

 

“No one,” answered Eunhyuk with flushed cheeks.

 

“Ah, thank you Eunhyuk. Are you sure?” asked Leeteuk. Eunhyuk was not expecting to have to speak again after having answered Leeteuk’s first question.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Are you answering my question with a question Lee Hyukjae?” Eunhyul went from red to pale.

 

“Yes. I mean no, hyung. I mean yes! No I’m not and yes I’m sure?” he stumbled.

 

“Are you? Then why is Yesung’s turtle dead?” Yesung sniffed beside him, the only member not in line.

 

“Ddangkoma, why is it,”—another  sniff—“he dead? Are you accusing one of the members of turtle murder?” Eunhyuk fell silent and did not bother to answer again. He merely shook his head.

 

“Would you like to change your answer then, Hyukjae?”

 

“I’m not sure, hyung. He didn’t ask me though,” muttered Eunhyuk, clearly wondering why he was being yelled at.

 

He left Eunhyuk for the time being and surveyed the others with a piercing gaze. Shindong was the next to catch his eye.

 

“Shindong-ssi, did Yesung ask to look after his turtle?” the unlucky Shindong shook his head. Leeteuk moved on only after Shindong started squirming, leveling his glare at each member in turn. “Ryeowook? Kyuhyun? Sungmin? Siwon?”. They all shook their heads.

 

One by one they shook their head no. “Let me guess, Yesung didn’t ask a single one of you?” said Leeteuk. They shook their heads again no, happy that Leeteuk had been the one to say it, instead of them.

 

“So he didn’t ask any of you?” asked Leeteuk, pretending to be curious. They nodded with various degrees of enthusiasm.

 

“So he didn’t ask, you all, assumed someone else was doing it, but regrettably, didn’t bother to check?” Leeteuk tapped his check in mocking thought. “Regrettable.” No one disagreed with him.

 

“Yesung,” he said turning to the boy beside him, “I guess this is your fault. You should have asked one of them directly.” Yesung looked up at him with hurt eyes, tears pooling instantly. There were a few hisses as the boys inhaled sharply in shock. Everyone was trying to talk over everyone else.

 

“That’s a bit much—“

 

“We would have done it if he had asked—,” said Eunhyuk weakly . Leeteuk glared and he shut up.

 

“You should have known better than to expect anything from selfish, idiotic members like these. Do better next time,” continued Leeteuk coldly.

 

“Hyung!” protested Kyuhyun. The change in direction of the conversation seemed to have given them whiplash.

 

“And they call you idols, “said Leeteuk disgustedly. “If only everyone knew how rude and self centered you were, what I have to put up with. Maybe it’s good that I’m going to the army now, so you can reflect on who you are as individuals.”

 

Donghae had stopped sniveling and he and the others were staring at Leeteuk in shock. He tapped a foot and stared back at them.

 

“What, did I say something wrong? You can’t take care of each other’s things—er pets—but you want more responsibility? Want me not to worry because everything will be fine when I come from the army? Are you all so special on your own now that you don't care about other members? How could I be so unlucky to be the leader of a group like this?” asked Leeteuk flatly.

 

Yesung attempted to come to their rescue. “Hyung! That’s too harsh. I thought – well I hoped someone would check. I forgot to ask.” Leeteuk waited, hoping he would go on, but he stopped.  Leeteuk sighed.

 

“Like I said, it’s your fault.” repeated Leeteuk. Yesung flinched. “Or do you not want to take responsibility for them?”

 

“It’s not that, it’s just…they’re my pets. I thought someone would check. We always look after each other’s things when someone’s gone.” He murmured reluctantly, staring at the ground. A few members shifted guiltily.

 

“But they didn’t.,” repeated Leeteuk disgustedly.

 

“Hyung—”said Kyuhyun, affronted.

 

“Don’t call me ‘hyung’ Cho Kyuhyun. Yesung is your hyung and look how much you care for him,” sneered Leeteuk.    Leeteuk was running out of ways to insult them and purposely aimed low.

 

“Enough!" burst out Yesung, surprising them all. He always had a soft spot for his dongsaengs.

 

“Leeteuk Hyung, don’t be so unkind to them,” said Yesung quietly but firmly. “They didn’t mean anything. I mean, I know how busy everyone is. It’s just a, it’s just a turtle. ” Yesung stuttered bravely.

 

Indeed, Leeteuk suddenly became aware of the cold dead thing he was still holding in his hand. At Yesung’s words, the room quieted instantly.

 

“Oh my God,” said Kyuhyun. “Hyung, Yesung-hyung , you don’t have to say that about your pet. We should have taken care of him like he was our own.” Murmurs of assent.

 

“Yeah, Leeteuk’s right. We’re selfish pricks.” Leeteuk let them bash themselves for a few moments.

 

“That’s right,” Leeteuk cut in sternly. “The second we start choosing ourselves over everyone else then we are done. Super Junior is done and I won’t have a band to lead.”  A band to come back to, he added silently.

 

Still silence in the dorm, this time contemplative. Leeteuk hid a smile that was threatening to break. His dongsaengs were so cute when they were trying to think.

 

“Now apologize to Yesung,” said Leeteuk. 

 

There was pause and then everyone rushed to surround Yesung. Leeteuk was engulfed in the group hug as well. He patted Yesung consolingly on the head, while the other members begged forgiveness.

 

“Let’s have a nice service for him, huh?”

“I’ll buy you a new one!” whack

“I mean I’ll help you pick one out, if you want?”

“Hyung are you alright? “

“We’re the worst dongsaengs ever”

“We’re so sorry!”

 

Very many of the latter. Leeteuk turned away from them so they wouldn’t see his proud smile. Many wondered why Leeteuk had been made the leader of this group.  Leeteuk knew he had had a hard time adjusting, having been chosen because he was older than Heechul by a few days, as opposed to due to any inherent skill. But every once in a while, at times like this when he was able to show each other why they still needed each other, he liked to think that he had earned it.