The first thing Da Eun saw when she woke up was bright fluorescent lights. They blazed into her eyes so that when she blinked, black spots littered her vision. She didn’t know where she was, or how she had gotten there. Fright made her breathing increasingly erratic, waking up the boy dozing next to her. His  thick-lashed eyes opened slowly and he blinked a couple of times before sitting up, slightly disoriented.

“Annyeong,” Hyunseung smiled shyly, speaking to her for the first time. Fatigue clouded his gaze and he tried to cover a massive yawn, to no avail. As one yawn succeeded another, he looked down at his phone and sent a text.

His sweet innocence and beautiful eyes banished the scare and called to Da Eun’s mind a favorite childhood movie, and being as drunk on bleariness as she was, she didn’t think before blurting it out.

“Bambi!” She giggled as the door swung open. When bewilderment appeared on the boy’s face, a peal of crystal laughter rang through the air.

It was the first time that any of them had heard her laugh, and both the boy in question and the maknae that had just arrived couldn’t help but smile at her pure joy.

The giddiness soon faded, though, and instead Da Eun was left with an odd sensation of helplessness, tinged with fear as she looked upon them both.

“Who are you?” She asked, but even as she spoke her memories came flooding back.

“Omo,” she said weakly, and lay back on the pillows of the hospital bed. She couldn’t summon the strength of will to stop a single, tear from making a trail down her cheek.

“Don’t cry!” Dongwoon protested, reaching out unconsciously. Hyunseung’s lashes quivered like he was about to start dripping tears as well.

“Hyung, we should tell the others she woke up,” Dongwoon said quietly, helpless in the face of her tears. Hyunseung was just about to dial Doojoon’s number when Da Eun hiccupped and forced out a hoarse protestation.

“Don’t.”

“Wae?” Dongwoon trailed off, confused but relieved that her tears had stopped.

“Please, just tell me why I’m in the hospital,” she pleaded, trying futilely to sit up. After some hesitation, the boys helped her by placing gentle hands behind her back until she could scoot against the headboard.

“Noona,” Dongwoon began to explain, but was interrupted by a frown.

“I’m your noona?” Da Eun asked.

“Um…”

“How do you know?”

He blushed. “I- That is, we, had to give them your information in order to get you into a room.”

They opened my wallet! Now they know just how poor I am. She couldn’t bring herself to lift her head and see the pitying looks they must be giving her. But if she had done so, she would have seen that it was not pity in their gaze, but concern.

“Just tell me how I got here,” she said, not looking up.

“Noona… You… Um… You fainted,” his face flamed.

How embarrassing. Now they must think I’m weak. They’ll never hire me now.“Oh, I hit my head? That must be why I’m here,” she stated.

Dongwoon muttered something and did his best to look like a tomato.

“What was that? Mianhaeyo, I didn’t catch it.”

“I caught you…”

Now it was Da Eun’s turn to blush. “Omo, I must have been really heavy.”

“No, of course, not, noona!”

Da Eun hid a smile at his hasty compliment. “So if I just fainted, why am I here?”

“We didn’t know what to do…” Dongwoon trailed off as the door opened. “Oh! Dr. Kibum, she woke up!” He greeted the doctor, relieved, then apprehensive as the other four boys crowded in behind him.

“Hello, Da Eun,” the fatherly doctor smiled kindly at her as he took down a clipboard from where it hung next to the bed.

“Ah, hello, Dr. Kibum,” she greeted him politely, trying to get out of the bed and bow. Hyunseung and Dongwoon rushed forward to stop her, drawing strange looks from the other four. The doctor waved her back down.

“Now, now, none of that. You’re still too weak as of yet.”

“But Doctor, if I only fainted, why do I still need to be in the hospital?” She asked.

“That’s the problem. Da Eun, when was the last time you ate?”

“This morn-” Da Eun broke off. But she hadn’t eaten in the morning. She’d had been in too much of a hurry to start looking for a job. At noon, she’d been loath to spend money on a meal when she was so low on it, telling herself that she really wasn’t hungry anyway. And last night, she was too upset to think about anything. That meant that the last time she had eaten had been the morning before.

“Yesterday morning, before I went to- to work,” she choked on the last word. The doctor nodded gravely.

“An examination showed that your collapse was a combination of severe dehydration, acute hunger and consequent lack of energy, and, if I may, emotional fatigue or shock.”

The boys exchanged looks at the last, except for Junhyung, who looked as disinterested as ever.

“Am I right?” The doctor asked.

“Y-yes… I was f-fired yesterday.” Tears started to leak out of her eyes and she covered her face, trying frantically to stop them from escaping.

“If I may be so bold, why were you with these young men when you collapsed? They don’t appear to be very well acquainted with you.”

“I was looking to be hired as a housekeeper,” Da Eun explained as her tears ran out. “They were the last people I came to, but… I think I fainted when they told me they didn’t want to hire me.” Her voice became increasingly detached as she related what had happened.

“Ah, yes…”

“You see, I’m been behind on rent for a couple of weeks now and I’ll be kicked out within three days. That’s why I didn’t eat, and the dehydration was probably because I couldn’t pay the bus fare.”

“I see…” The doctor looked worried. “Who is your next of kin?”

“Nobody,” she shut her eyes against the memories of her mother that threaten to overwhelm her. Why was he asking that? Her eyes shot open and she bolted up.

“The hospital fee!” She gasped out, face as white as bone, before her eyes rolled up yet again and she collapsed against the pillows for the second time that day.