“Hyung . . . Have you noticed anything different about Donghae lately?”

Leeteuk looked over his shoulder and across the practice room to Donghae. The black t-shirt and sweat pants he wore hid Donghae’s lean figure. Sweat matted his hair to his face and Leeteuk saw the exhaustion etched on his face. The Super Junior members had been practicing for the past couple of hours and were taking a short break. Only Donghae, Kyuhyun, Shindong, Eunhyuk and Leeteuk were still in practice room, and Eunhyuk had approached Leeteuk almost immediately after the break began.

Leeteuk shrugged at the worried Eunhyuk who stood by his side. “He seems pretty tired, but all of us are. Promoting a new album always takes a lot out of Donghae.”

“I know, but hyung, look at him. He’s losing weight and he looks dead on his feet.”

“You’re his roommate,” Leeteuk said, carefully watching Donghae, trying to see if there was anything more going on than the normal fatigue of being an idol. He was leaning up against the practice room wall, eyes closed and head tilted up towards the ceiling. Leeteuk could see the bags under his eyes from across the room. “Has he been sleeping?”

“I don’t think so,” Eunhyuk replied, wringing his hands nervously. Donghae was his best friend and  Eunhyuk just knew something wasn’t right. “He’s never in bed when I go to sleep or when I wake up. This morning I found him on the balcony of our apartment and the way he was looking over the edge . . .” Eunhyuk shuddered. “I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

Leeteuk nodded. He knew both he and Eunhyuk were thinking the same thing. The anniversary of Donghae’s father’s death had just passed—a time of year that was always hard on Donghae.

And that kid is naturally lonely to begin with, Leeteuk thought with a sigh. Maybe that, plus promoting the new album, plus the anniversary is really getting to him.

Just then Donghae collapsed into a heap on the hardwood floor.

“Donghae!”

Leeteuk and Eunhyuk ran to Donghae who was already struggling to sit up, shaking his head slightly. When they reached him, Eunhyuk helped Donghae sit up and lean against the wall while Leeteuk sent Shindong to get their manager and Kyuhyun to bring some water.

“Donghae,” Eunhyuk said, kneeling by his friends side. “Are you okay? What happened?” His hands fluttered from Donghae’s head to his arms to his legs. “Are you hurt?”

Donghae made a weak effort to push Eunhyuk’s hands away. “I’m fine,” he murmured, blinking.

Eunhyuk thought his eyes looked glassy and unfocused. “How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked Donghae.

Donghae sighed, annoyed. “Six.” He grabbed Eunhyuk’s hand, forcing it down. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

Eunhyuk scoffed. “You just collapsed! You call that ‘fine?’”

“It’s nothing,” Donghae said. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, as though holding it up himself took too much energy.

“Yah!” Anger surged through Eunhyuk’s body, driving him to his feet, and he had to fight the desire to slap some sense into his friend. “This is not nothing! You haven’t been sleeping, you hardly eat anything, and you’re getting thinner by the day! That isn’t nothing, that’s something dangerous!”

“Hyuk Jae.” Leeteuk grabbed Eunhyuk by the shoulders, half restraining and half consoling. “Stop it. Let him be.”

Donghae hadn’t even flinched at the Eunhyuk’s heated attack and still had his eyes closed. A quiet snore escaped his lips and Eunhyuk’s eyes widened.

“Really?” he said, astonished and angry. “He’s already asleep? He probably didn’t even hear a word I said!”

Leeteuk patted Eunhyuk on the shoulder. “He probably needs sleep more than a lecture.”

Just then Shindong and Kyuhyun came rushing back into the room, a couple managers close behind, followed by the rest of the members.

The managers knelt next to Donghae, one on his cell phone dialing for an ambulance, while the members all gathered around with Eunhyuk and Leeteuk.

“Donghae!” Ryeowook cried, looking on the verge of tears. “Is he going to be okay?”

“How long has he been unconscious?” one of the managers asked, kneeling next to Donghae.

“What’s the matter with him?” Kangin asked.

“He looks pale,” Siwon mentioned.

The buzz of questions and comments and concerns suddenly ceased as Donghae let out a loud snore.

“He’s just asleep?” one of the managers said, sitting back in shock. He turned to face Shindong and chuckled a bit. “I didn’t know this is what you meant when you said Donghae ‘passed out.’ Don’t you think you were being a bit dramatic.” The manager stood. “He just tired.”

“Donghae’s been acting strange lately,” Leeteuk said. “Eunhyuk is worried about him and so am I. We don’t think he’s been sleeping at all. Can’t you at least take him to the hospital to get checked out?”

The manager sighed and shook his head. “Promoting a new album is always hard. He just needs sleep. If we take him to the hospital, even if it’s nothing, the press will find out about it and it will negatively affect the company and the album. So, why don’t we just call it a night and you can all go home and get some rest?”

Eunhyuk scoffed and took a step forward. “That is the stupidest excuse—”

“Hyuk Jae,” Leeteuk said, this time placing his hand on Eunhyuk’s chest to stop him going any farther. Eunhyuk didn’t look happy, but he didn’t say anything else.

Leeteuk turned to the manager and bowed. “We’ll do that. Thank you.”

The manager eyes Eunhyuk warily. Then with a nod, both managers left the practice room.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind them, Eunhyuk rounded on Leeteuk and exploded. “What was that? You and I both know something’s wrong! Donghae needs to go to the hospital and—”

“Yah!”

Everyone turned in surprise to see Donghae struggling to stand. Siwon rushed forward and grabbed Donghae’s elbow to steady him. When Donghae had his balance he shrugged Siwon off and looked at Eunhyuk. “You sure are yelling a lot today. I told you I’m fine.”

“You are not fi—”

Donghae lifted his hand and smirked. “I don’t want to argue. I want to sleep. So, I’ll be going first.” He walked towards the door, then turned right before exiting and gave a cute little wave. “Annyong!”

The members stared in shock as Donghae left, until Kangin broke the silence, saying what everyone else was thinking. “What the hell is going on with him?”

*******

“That idiot,” Eunhyuk muttered, kicking a pebble in the dark as he walked down an alley back to the dorm. “I’m fine. I just need sleep. Pfft. If he would actually sleep when he’s supposed to and eat and take care of himself I wouldn’t have to worry so much. He needs someone to knock some sense into him is what he needs . . .”

It was almost midnight. After Donghae left, everyone had gone. Siwon and Kangin decided to follow Donghae back to the dorm and make sure he got there safe. Everyone else had went for some ddukboki. But Eunhyuk was still feeling angry and worried about Donghae and decided to go for a walk to cool down before returning to the dorm.

Something was obviously going on with Donghae, and it irked Eunhyuk to no end that he didn’t know what it was or how to help. He talked to Donghae about everything. Why wasn’t he doing the same?

Eunhyuk stopped, running his hands through his hair. “That punk.” He kicked the pebble hard into the dark alley to vent his frustration.

“Ouch!” An annoyed explicit came from the dark shadows of the alley where Eunhyuk’s pebble had flown.

Eunhyuk couldn’t see anyone and he sighed. He was in no mood to be polite to a stranger today or to apologize. “Aish. How annoying!” he muttered, hoping whoever he’d hit didn’t recognize him.

“Really?”

A shiver raced up Eunhyuk’s spine as the person he’d hit stepped forward out of the shadows. The man was a little taller than Eunhyuk with a powerful build and he wore a black leather bikers jacket. Just barely visible in the dark alley, Eunhyuk saw a tattoo on the man’s neck that looked like a dragon.

“I’m sorry!” Eunhyuk apologized, earnestly. “Really, I’m very sorry. I should have been more careful.”

The man advanced towards Eunhyuk. He was tossing something up and down in the air and after a second Eunhyuk realized it was the pebble he’d kicked.

“Who do you think I am?” the man asked, stopping just inches away from Eunhyuk. His breath reeked of cigarette smoke and beer. Eunhyuk tried not to gag.

“I-I don’t know.”

The man smiled. “I am your teacher.”

“Teacher?”

“Yes. I feel it’s my responsibility to teach you some respect.”

Eunhyuk didn’t have time to react as the man’s fist shot forward and caught him in the stomach. He cried out and double over in pain, sinking to his knees onto the concrete. Struggling to speak with the wind knocked out of him, Eunhyuk said, “Please, don’t. I’m sorry. I really am sorry. I don’t want any trouble.”

“And I didn’t want to get hit with this pebble,” the man said. He pointed to a small red spot beneath his eye. “First lesson: There’s no such thing as forgiveness without recompense. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”

The man lifted the pebble high above his head and stretched his arm back before letting it snap forward. Eunhyuk closed his eyes, but felt the sharp sting on his cheek as the pebble hit.

He inhaled sharply, but didn’t move.

This guy is crazy! Eunhyuk thought. His heart was hammering against his chest and filled with adrenaline he was suddenly acutely aware of everything around him—the smell of a rainstorm brewing, the sound of this crazy man’s heavy breathing, and the sound of rushing wind.

“Lesson two.”

Eunhyuk scoffed and couldn’t stop his tongue. “You mean there’s more?”

“You still haven’t learned to respect your teacher.” The man slapped Eunhyuk across the cheek.

Something inside Eunhyuk snapped and all the anger and worry boiling inside of him bubbled over. He surged to his feet and shoved the man. This caught the man off guard and he stumbled backward a few steps before recovering.

“You are not my teacher and I am in no mood to play games!” Eunhyuk yelled. “This is the only warning I’m giving you—get out of my way or I’ll make you get out of my way.”

The man threw his head back and laughed. His laugh was so cold that Eunhyuk actually shivered despite it being a rather warm summer night.

It was at that moment Eunhyuk became aware of other figures emerging from the shadows. He spun around and realized he was surrounded by four other men. Some held long metal pipes, others had small blades that caught the moonlight. Eunhyuk’s stomach dropped and there was only one thought in his mind—run!

Without a second thought, Eunhyuk spun around, deciding to take his chances against his original enemy who was weaponless, and ran. He was quick and nimble on his feet from years of dancing and might have made it past his assailants if he hadn’t been tripped. One of the men out their metal pipe, which caught Eunhyuk in the shins and sent him sprawling to the concrete.

The man laughed again, crouching down in front of Eunhyuk. Then he stopped and said, “Shall we teach him another lesson?”

The first blow came as someone kicked him in the stomach, but soon Eunhyuk was being attacked on all sides. He threw his hands up to protect his head and face. How was he going to get out of this?

“Stop!”

Someone kicked him once more in the ribs before the villains turned to see who dared interrupt their fun. But Eunhyuk didn’t have to look.

“Donghae, run!” Eunhyuk yelled, pushing himself up only to have someone kick him again.

“I said stop!”

Behind him, Eunhyuk heard something that surprising—the sound of fighting. And it wasn’t Donghae grunting with the blows.

Eunhyuk rolled over and saw Donghae. He was fighting two of the five men surrounding Eunhyuk, one already incapacitated on the alley floor. Donghae wielded one of the metal pipes like a sword and was mercilessly beating the villains.

I don’t believe it! Eunhyuk thought, sitting up. Just hours ago he’d seen Donghae collapse from exhaustion. How was he fighting like that? Where had he learned to fight like that?

His assailants seemed just as surprised. The two fighting Donghae had all fallen back and the man who’d hit Eunhyuk with the pebble was staring on in disbelief.

“Have you had enough?” Donghae asked, cockily. “I was just warming up.”

Eunhyuk noticed for the first time what Donghae was wearing—a shiny silver and blue spandex one piece with a black cape. Eunhyuk tilted his head and scoffed. “I’m dreaming,” he muttered. “I must be dreaming. Those guys knocked me out and now I’m dreaming.”

“Are you just gonna stand there?” Donghae asked, walking towards the villains with a slight swagger in his step. He raised the metal pipe, wagging it in front of their faces with a mischievous grin. “Or are you gonna run?”

A flash of metal caught the moonlight as one of the men pulled his knife. Before Eunhyuk even had time to process what was happening, the knife was speeding through the air towards Donghae.

Eunhyuk gasped and closed his eyes. Even if he was dreaming, he didn’t want to watch Donghae get hit by a knife. But the surprised gasps of his assailants, followed by the pounding of several feet running down the alley, made Eunhyuk open his eyes.

He looked around to find he was alone, just catching a glimpse of one of the villains rounding a corner out of the alley. “What the—?”

“Eunhyuk.”

Eunhyuk turned to the direction of Donghae’s voice, but didn’t see anybody.

“Up here.”

Eunhyuk lifted his eyes and gasped. There was Donghae—hovering ten feet above the ground, with a huge, stupid grin plastered to his face. Eunhyuk felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his head as he watched Donghae fly through the sky, then land gracefully beside him.

“Are you okay?” Donghae asked.

“Yup,” Eunhyuk muttered. “I’m dreaming.”

And then the world went dark.