The room was silent for a minute or two, the manager texting something on his cellphone, Onew staring at the floor, and Jonghyun staring at Onew, concern written all over his face.

Finally, after another set of awkward seconds passed, Onew took a large breath, clenching his fists so tight that his knuckles went white from the strain.

“Kim Kibum! Choi Minho! Lee Taemin! Get out here now!” He yelled, his voice stern, but wavering ever so slightly on Taemin’s name.

Jonghyun jumped, startled at Onew’s sudden yell and the fact that he had yelled at all. Onew wasn't much of a yeller. 

Taemin shot up from his place on Jonghyun’s lap, his eyes large and puffy and his hair all over the place.

“I’m awake, Key-umma!” The maknae said, still half-asleep.

Jonghyun would have laughed at Taemin if the situation weren’t so serious.

Onew looked startled to see Taemin on the couch.

He must not have known he was here…Jonghyun mused. That show’s how out of it he is…he’s normally the most observant out of all of us.

Jonghyun placed his hand on the confused Taemin’s shoulder, trying to calm his racing heart and hoping he could do so by gaining comfort and resolve from Taemin. 

You can do this. You’ve gone through it before; it shouldn’t be an issue now. Get a grip Jonghyun.

Jonghyun heard a crash, seconds after Onew had called, and Minho came racing out of their room. He stepped out rubbing his head, an eye squeezed shut in pain.

He must have hit his head on the bunk bed, Jonghyun chuckled, only to get a glare from both Minho, who knew he was being laughed at, and their manager, who had stopped texting and was examining each of their faces in turn.

Taemin was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes when Key came out, a slighty irritated look on his face. He finished putting on his t-shirt and came to a stop next to Minho, running a hand through his short hair.

“Get up.” Their manager said, glancing at Jonghyun and Taemin. He switched his gaze to look at all of them. “Stand in a line along the wall.” Jonghyun felt Taemin’s shoulders shake slightly under his hand, but his young face showed no emotion at all as the two of them rose from the couch and walked to the wall, followed by the others.

Jonghyun glanced at Onew, but his face showed the same thing Taemin’s did – nothing. But his eyes…his eyes were sad. His chocolate colored eyes showed that he had given up. There was nothing he could do.

Their manager slipped his phone in his pocket and walked over to stand in front of them all, noticing the uncomfortable looks on each and every one of their faces.

He paced back and forth infront of all of them, his face clouded in thought, before stopping in front of Jonghyun.

“I’m sure you are already aware of what you’ve done, Jonghyun…so I won’t remind you of it much more.” The manager said, his voice oddly calm. “What you did was incredibly stupid." The manager glared long and hard at him.  “You could be fired for this! Onew, Key, Minho and Taemin can be fired for this! Tell me; did you think of any of them, any of us, because I could just as easily be fired for this as you are, when you decided to pull that stunt back at the company? Huh? DID YOU?!” The manager’s face was a bright cherry red. 

Jonghyun tried to make himself disappear into the wall. He hated it when the manager yelled at him.

“Did you?!”

“N-no…Ahjussi. I-I only thought about myself.” He whispered.

The manager sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, looking stressed to the max.

“Well, God-damnit Jonghyun! Start thinking about the rest of us for once before you do something like that again! As soon as the company finds out what happened tonight, we’re screwed!  Tonight won’t be the only time you’ll get beat over this incident, I assure you. Your pay, along with the other’s, will be docked, you’ll lose fans –“

“I’ve already lost fans!” Jonghyun cried. “Apparently nothing I do is right anymore! So why should I care if I lose a few fans that are too immature to let me have a life!”

Key looked at Jonghyun, a warning look in his eye, telling him to stop talking NOW, and Jonghyun did. He stopped, because he was crying too hard to speak, even if he wanted to.

He was so sick of all this. He just wanted it to be normal again.

The manager looked at him, his eyes softening ever so slightly, before the anger came back again.

“You should care! Because, they’re the ones that got you famous, the ones that fill your pockets with money every week!  And loosing fans isn’t your biggest problem! It’s losing your job, Jonghyun! “

“You don’t think I know that?! Stop nagging me about it and punish me for it already!” Jonghyun screamed, running the back of his hand across his eyes furiously.

Slap!

Jonghyun staggered back a step, set off balance by the sudden impact across the side of his head. He had been expecting to be hit, but honestly, not that hard.

He could already feel a bruise.

“I’m sick of your attitude, Kim Jonghyun!” The manager snarled, grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the ground. Any compassion he might have had had vanished into thin air.

The rest of SHINee stared at Jonghyun with wide eyes, watching as he scowled up at their manager, one hand to his cheek. His mouth opened to say more to his manager but a voice spoke up before his did.

“Hyung,” Minho whispered. “Please…please stop.”

Jonghyun looked up at his dongsaeng, saw the tears appearing in his eyes, and was startled. He had only seen Minho cry a few times…and here he was crying for him.

So…for that reason, he stopped. He stopped.

The words died in his throat and his hand dropped from his cheek. He blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of the tears.

“I’m sorry…so sorry…”

“Sorry isn’t going to solve around here now, Jonghyun. You’ve made your decision when you started this whole fiasco. “ Their manager said. “Now go get the broom.”

Then the manager turned to Taemin, his face blank.

“Taemin. Get against the wall.”

Jonghyun looked up at him, his eyes wide, disbelieving.

“N-no, hyung, please – please! I’ll take everyo-“

“Shut up and go get the broom!” The manager screamed.

Taemin’s face had gone so pale that he looked the same color as Onew’s shirt. The poor maknae’s hands were shaking, but he didn’t seem to notice as he slowly turned around and placed his hands against the wall.