"And next up, we have Seoyeon! She comes from a small city in South Korea just outside of Seoul. She won national contests and is now heading overseas for international contests! So give it up for our talented Seoyeon!"

    The audience went wild. Seoyeon stepped onto the stage, and the applause dimmed. She stood close to the microphone and waited for silence. Then, she pulled her flute from behind her back and the crowd waited anxiously for the music.

    Seoyeon opened her eyes suddenly, and sat up. She looked around, and remembered where she was -or more like, what she was in. She was alone in the dark room. Her ears were no longer ringing, but instead, she had a pouding headache. It made it feel as if her head were going to explode. Just then, Kyungsoo walked into the room and saw she was awake.

    "Hey, Kyungsoo." Kyungsoo looked at Seoyeon and sat close to her on her bed. His big eyes scanned her face thoroughly, and they opened wide. He gently pushed Seoyeon back to lay her down. He grabbed the rag from the bowl and layed it across her forehead. She looked at him strangely. 

    "How did you know," she whispered. Kyungsoo looked down at her and shrugged. Seoyeon was lying still for quite a while, wondering how she was going to help these boys. She sat up on her elbows, and Kyungsoo tilted his head to look at her. 

    "Say your name, Kyungsoo." Kyungsoo frowned at her and shook his head, pointing to his throat. "I know you can't speak, but that doesn't mean you can't mouth words." He blinked and tried to mouth his name. "Say Dyo," Seoyeon said. Kyungsoo mouthed this name easily. "That name is easier," Seoyeon asked. Kyungsoo nodded. "Well then, Dyo it is." The corner of his mouth twitched up in a partial smile. 

    "Try whispering. Do you know how," Seoyeon asked. Kyungsoo frowned and knitted his brows in attempt to remember. He shrugged and shook his head. Seoyeon sighed. "Try breathing out while you're mouthing the name," Seoyeon urged. Kyungsoo took a deep breath, and did as Seoyeon said.

    "Dee..." Kyungsoo's eyes grew a thousand plus sizes and his jaw fell open. Seoyeon urged him to keep trying. "Dee... Oh... Deeoooh... Dyoo... Dyo. Dyo! Dyo!" Kyungsoo's face lit up and he jumped to his feet. Seoyeon clapped for him and smiled largely. 

    "Good job, Dyo!" Kyungsoo looked down at her and smiled, showing his heart-shaped smile and perfect teeth. "What a beautiful smile you have," Seoyeon whispered to him. He blushed and sat quickly beside her again. He gestured to his throat frantically and pointed to Seoyeon. "Tell me what you're trying to say," Seoyeon said. He scowled and nodded.

    "Ssssh... Sshow... B-B-Boys!" It was still a whisper, yet to Kyungsoo, it sounded like a shout. He was beyond thrilled. He jumped around wildly, smiling like a fool. Seoyeon swung her feet out of the bed and stood up on her stronger leg. Kyungsoo quickly wrapped his arm around her waist to support her. Together, they hobbled through a hallway and into another room, where six boys were sitting together. Two boys were laying in beds, and another was curled up like a dog at the foot of one of them. Seoyeon bowed to them, but regretted it as soon as she felt the wound in her back tear. She smiled through it and spoke.

    "I'm Seoyeon," she said. The boys bowed back to her and looked her over carefully. "What are all of your names?" The boys stood, except for the boys laying in bed. The boy curled up at the bottom of the bed sat up and shivered. 

    "I'm LuHan," one boy said. He reached out to grab Seoyeon's hand, but he was nowhere near her. "I'm... Also blind," he said, nervously. Seoyeon quickly snatched up his hand and shook it firmly. 

    "We will work on that," Seoyeon said. LuHan smiled and found his seat in the large windowsill again. Another boy approached her and looked at her face, then the ground. He reached out his hand, and Seoyeon grabbed it softly. 

    "That's Baekhyun," another boy said. "He can't hear," the boy said. The boy that spoke for Baekhyun tapped him on the shoulder. Baekhyun looked at him with desperate eyes. He signed out the words "Seoyeon. She says she will work on it with you." Baekhyun let a tear stream down his face, and he thanked Seoyeon with his eyes. 

    "I'm Kris," the boy who spoke for Baekhyun said. "I-" He stopped to cough, and took him quite a while to recompose himself. He shivered violently. "I'm dying," he chuckled nervously. Seoyeon sat close to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. 

    "We'll work on that, okay?" Kris attempted to smile, but he was obviously in pain. He curled back up at the foot of the bed. LuHan piped up.

    "The one sitting here beside me is Sehun. He hasn't talked ever since he came here. He seems to only want to be with me," LuHan said, quietly. Seoyeon shook Sehun's hand, and reassured him with her eyes that it would work out.

    "We'll work on it, okay? Won't we, Kyungsoo," she said, turning around. Kyungsoo nodded quickly. There were still boys left to greet. They looked at Seoyeon desperately.

    "C-Can't... Move..." The boy on her right with pitch black hair and dark circles under his eyes spoke out first. "T-Tao," the boy said. Seoyeon grabbed his hand out from underneath the covers and it. His eyes grew wide. "Feel..." Seoyeon smiled gently and his face. 

    "We'll work on it." Tao smiled slightly and squinted his eyes shut, as if trying to remember something. Seoyeon moved across the room to another bed, where a tan boy with thick and luscious-looking lips lie. 

    "His name is Kai. He also can't move," LuHan said. "He can talk, but he doesn't want to. Something bad must have happened." Seoyeon brushed the back of her fingers against Kai's cheek. He looked up at her with chocolate puppy-eyes. She cupped his jaw in her hand and smiled at him.

    "Hey. We'll work on it." Kai looked down, then closed his eyes, as if he was agreeing. Seoyeon stood and counted on her fingers.

    "There are twelve boys here, right?" Kyungsoo nodded. "Where are the other 2?" Kyungsoo peeked his head out of the door and thought hard. He shrugged and sighed heavily. His eyes openend wide and he jumped up and down, attracting the boys' attention. "Kyungsoo has something to show you guys," Seoyeon said, proudly. 

    "Dyo... L-Lu... S-Sehuuun... K-K-Kreease..." Kyungsoo whispered. He blushed and tried again. "T-Tao... Ba-Baek... Bacon... K-K-K-K-K..." Kyungsoo looked wistfully at Kai, and closed his eyes, trying his hardest to pronounce the name. "Kaaaaai... K-Kai..." Kyungsoo smiled meekly and blushed. The other boys smiled and gasped out of awe. Seoyeon snuck out of the room, and left Kyungsoo to celebrate with the other boys. As she limped down a hallway, she heard crying. She peeked in through a doorway and saw a head of curly red hair and long legs curled up in a close-drawn ball in a corner. 

    Chanyeol sat with his face buried in his knees in a room with no light. His cries were muffled by his arms, but they still echoed throughout the hallways. Seoyeon crept into the room and knelt beside Chanyeol. She wrapped him in a tight hug, startling him slightly. She 'ssh-ed' him and comforted him. Chanyeol looked up at Seoyeon and saw the concern in her eyes

    "No one loves me, Seoyeon," Chanyeol said. Seoyeon clutched Chanyeol's hand and stared his harshly in the eyes.

    "Says who? How do you know that no one loves you," Seoyeon asked. Chanyeol sniffled and looked away.

    "Jongdae... He says I'm-" Chanyeol stopped to sob. Seoyeon pulled Chanyeol into her lap, despite the pain she was in. His upper half was in her lap, whilst his long legs were sprawled across the floor. She his head and hushed him, calming him quickly. 

    "Thank you," Chanyeol said. "Seoyeon..." Chanyeol sat up and sighed, letting a few more tears fall from his eyes. "You can go and do whatever you were doing," Chanyeol said, scooting back to his corner. "I want to stay in here for a while longer." He buried his head in his arms again.

    "As much as I don't want to," Seoyeon said, standing. "I'll respect your wishes. You know where I'll be." She winced and hobbled out of the room, stopping outside the door to rest against the wall.

    She took a deep breath and continued on. She wanted to find the last two boys. Finally, she came to a staircase. She sighed and slowly made her way down. About halfway down, she felt her leg giving out. She was about to fall when a set of arms wrapped around her torso from behind. She looked back and saw a round face smiling nervously into hers. 

    "Are you okay," the boy asked. His voice was soft and shaky. Seoyeon stood up straight again and thanked the boy.

    "I'll be okay," she said. They both made their way slowly down the stairs, and entered a dining room at the end of the staircase. There, sitting at the table, was another boy. At the sound of the a door opening, he jumped to his feet and scrambled out of the room.

    "Yah! Junmyeon! It's me! Come back," the boy shouted. The other boy, identified as Junmyeon, carefully tiptoed back into the room. "Suho, this is Seoyeon -the girl Kai was telling me about," he said. "My name is XiuMin, or Minseok," he said, holding out his hand. Seoyeon grabbed XiuMin's hand and shook it carefully. He was soft. 

    "Is there anything... Wrong... With you two?" XiuMin looked toward Suho, who nodded. 

    "Very... Afraid," he whispered. Seoyeon reached out to touch his arm, and he jumped away. She frowned and aproached Suho, who drew his knees to his chest. 

    "It's okay... I promise I won't hurt you in any way." Suho smiled partially and looked away. Why were these boys so insecure. Seoyeon looked at both of the boys and smiled. 

"We can work on that."