Kyuhyun bursts through Yesung’s door. He steps angrily towards Yesung’s bed. At the sudden intrusion, Yesung squints his eyes and covers his face with his hand.

Kyuhyun angrily shouts, “Yah! What did you do to my Wookie? He is crying now. All he wanted to do was to get you to eat with us.”

“Kyuhyun-ah, I did not mean what I said to Ryeowook. Calm down.”

“Calm down? My Wookie is crying because of something you said, and you tell me to calm down? You might be my hyung, but once you hurt my Wookie…”

Hearing the commotion, some of the members rise from their seats at the dinner table. Heechul, being the current oldest, hurries to diffuse the situation. Hankyung follows behind. Shindong and Sungmin attempt to follow but stay in their seats with a glare from Kangin.

Heechul attempts to placate Kyuhyun, “Now, Kyuhyun. Settle down NOW. This is between Ryeowook and Jongwoon. I’m sure they can settle it themselves.”

With one last glare thrown at Yesung, Kyuhyun is guided out of the room by Heechul. As Heechul passes Hankyung, Heechul gives Hankyung a stare of you-better-find-out-what-is-going-on.  Yesung who had sat up from his bed during the brief argument with Kyuhyun falls back into his bed with a thump. Hankyung walks towards Yesung’s bed and sits on the edge.

“Jongwoon-ah, what has been bothering you lately? You’ve been oddly quiet, skipping meals, and avoid spending time with the members.”

“Well…it’s nothing. Just something small. There is no need for you to worry, Hankyung-hyung.”

Hankyung frowns at Yesung’s answer. He knows something is bothering the younger man, but the Yesung is too stubborn to realize that his hyungs and dongsangs were willing to lend a helping hand.

“I believe in you. If you ever need someone to listen, your hyungs and dongsangs are here.”

With that, Hankyung pats Yesung’s head and leaves the room. Closing the door behind him, Hankyung exits the room. Waiting impatiently outside is Heechul, Shindong, Sungmin, and Kangin. Kyuhyun’s gaming could faintly be heard in his bedroom.

Arms crossed, Heechul asks, “Did you find you what is going on?”

“No…he can be quite stubborn.”

Heechul nods to show his agreement.

Sungmin questions, “What are we going to do about this?”

Kangin steps forward to answer, “Well, we don’t really know what happened. Ryeowook is crying too hard to understand him. Kyuhyun is too angry and doesn’t know the whole story himself. Yesung is too stubborn to talk. The best thing to do is to tell Leeteuk when he comes home. For now, we have to make-do with this situation. Sungmin-ah and Shindong-ah, comfort Ryeowook and try to calm him down. Kyuhyun is best left alone to simmer. Heechul-hyung and Hankyung-hyung, why don’t you guys try to find the truth from Yesung-hyung?”

Everyone nods at Kangin’s plan. Kangin,too, has a mission. His mission is to clean up their forgotten dinner, wait for the others to come back to the dorm, and explain the situation to them.

MEANWHILE:

Yesung snuggles closer into his bed when Hankyung leaves the room. He knows that he should apologize to Ryeowook as soon as possible and that Kyuhyun had every right to scream at him. Yesung puzzles over why the other members were showing concern over himself. An obvious answer strikes his mind. Yesung being sad and moody is okay as long as he does not show it to the fans. Occasional slips were fine in which the members could pretend to care for him by giving him fake hugs and slaps on the back. However, snapping at the other members and hurting precious Wookie’s feelings were a big no-no. Boy, is Leeteuk going to be mad when he returns to the dorm. A sharp knock interrupts his thoughts.

Heechul’s voice pierces through the wood, “Jongwoon-ah, it’s me and Hankyung. We are coming in to talk to you.”

Before Yesung could even think of a reply, Heechul barges in. A slightly embarrassed Hankyung follows Heechul. Yesung pushes his body out of the warm comforts of his bed. He combs his messy hair with his fingers. He glances at Heechul and Hankyung. Heechul is standing with arms folded across his chest. Hankyung migrates to the edge of Yesung’s bed. An odd silence settles in the room. The three members stare at each other, wondering which one is going to break the silence first.

Yesung decides to be brave, “Heechul-hyung and Hankyung-hyung, what do we need to talk about?”

Heechul grunts and rolls his eyes, “As if you don’t know. We suspected something was wrong with you for a long time. Ryeowook crying just confirms it. Something is bothering you and you need to spill it, NOW!”

Hankyung nods along and inputs, “And don’t deny it. Don’t say nothing is wrong. Something is bothering you, and you’re just too stubborn to say it out loud. Are you going to force us to guess it or are you going to tell us? We’re brothers so it is okay to spill everything.”

A troubled look appears on Yesung’s face. Inside his mind, he debates whether to tell his hyungs or not. Will they laugh at him? Will they really care about his troubles? Or maybe they will just pretend to care just so his performance could return to normal? Or maybe, just maybe they will lend a helping hand to him? Yesung quickly dismisses the last question from his mind. That situation is highly unlikely to happen.

“Well…it all started approximately a couple days ago. Manager-hyung gave me a lecture after a show. He said that I was too weird and that I needed to tone it down a bit. I guess I was just feeling a bit down after that.”

Heechul is about to ask about the ice pack when Hankyung interrupts, “You’re not weird, Jongwoon. You are you. The ELFs love you for who you are. There is no need to show less of your personality.”

The edge of Yesung’s mouth tilt upward into a semi-smile, “Yeah. Thanks for cheering me up, Hankyung-hyung. I guess I should just keep being myself and ignore what manager-hyung said.”

Hankyung gives a chuckle, “Of course. Now, when Ryeowook calms down, you better apologize to him. And you understand why Kyuhyun got angry, right? He can be so possessive sometimes.”

“I understand perfectly. I’ll apologize to Ryeowook as soon as he calms down.”

Hankyung ushers Heechul out of the room. Heechul glares at Hankyung.

As soon as Hankyung closes the door,  Heechul angrily slaps Hankyung on the arm, “Hey! What about the whole icepack thing? After Yesung talked to the manager, he asked for an icepack. We should’ve asked why!”

Hankyung rubs his arm, “You know that Yesung would not have told us. He would have clammed up and refused to talk. We should let Leeteuk take care of that.”

WITH YESUNG:

Yesung sighs again. He had told the truth but not the whole truth. The group did not need to know what had really happened with the talk with the manager. It was between him and manager-hyung. At least now the Suju members weren’t going to bother him for a while.  Yesung’s mind drifts back to the talk:

START FLASHBACK:

Yesung had just finished the broadcast. He was eager to return to the dorm for a much needed shower. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots his manager, ChinHo, beckoning to him with a finger. His mind wanders what could manager-hyung want with him. He thought he had completed the broadcast in a well manner. He hadn’t said too much and his image was still pretty solid. Yesung follows the manager into an empty room. The manager closes the door behind Yesung. Yesung jumps startled when ChinHo slams the door. ChinHo forces Yesung to sit down in a seat. ChinHo pulls a seat across Yesung. He stares at Yesung for a moment. Yesung could see anger in ChinHo’s eyes. Yesung is puzzled as to why there is anger.

After a moment of staring, ChinHo speaks, “Jongwoon, do you know why I called you here?”

“No…why?”

“It’s about your performance during the broadcast. It’s disgusting and shameful.”

Shock surges through Yesung’s brain, “W-w-what?”

“You heard me. Your performance out there . as in your parents will be ashamed of you. Your image is to be weird. But, it is getting out of hand. I mean, really? That dance is starting to become boring and not funny. You’re starting to become pathetic. Scratch that. You are pathetic.”

By now, Yesung’s eyes start to water.

ChinHo continues to rant, “You need to tone it down a lot. Or start a new image. Right now, your image . a lot. I can’t believe I didn’t see this sooner. You are embarrassing the name Super Junior. You are embarrassing your members. And you are embarrassing SM Entertainment. Get your act up or I’ll pull you out of the group with a “solo”.”

“What do you mean, solo?”

“As in I pull you out. The news will be informed that you are working on a solo album. In reality, you are not. Your fans and the news will soon forget about you. You’ll fade into oblivision.”

“B-b-but. My members.”

“Ahhh. Your Super Junior members? Ha. They will soon forget you. It’s not like they pay much attention to you right now. They pretend to care about it. Don’t you get it? Many of the members have confided in me about you. How they don’t like you in the group. Some of the members have even talked to each other about how insiginificant you are. To them, you are nothing but a waste of space. They don’t care about you.”

“They do care!”

“Pathetic. They don’t. It’s all just an act. You better get you act together, alright?”

“I’ll be less weird. Is what you said about the members true?”

“Of course it is true. Get it into your thick skull! They don’t care about you!”

With this, ChinHo smacks Yesung across the head. A bruise starts to form on Yesung’s face. Slight swelling could also be seen.

With a sneer, ChinHo adds, “You better remember what I’ve told you. Now get out! And get some ice for that nasty bruise. You got that bruise when I accidentently hit you cause you weren’t looking where you were going, alright?”

“Yes.” With that, Yesung walks out of the room. He asks for an icepack from a noona.

FLASHBACK END.

Yesung looks into the mirror. The swelling had gone down. The bruise had been easily hidden with makeup. Yesung decides to head to the rooftop to look at the stars. He sneaks out of his room. To his surprise, the living room and kitchen were dark. None of the members seem to be here. Yesung puts on a jacket and puts on some shoes before heading out the door and to the rooftop.

At the rooftop, Yesung could see the night stars. He marvels at them as they glisten in the night sky.  He wishes he, too , could be a star. If he were a star in the night sky, he could shine brightly without a worry. He would bring joy to other people. His mind once again wanders back to ChinHo’s lecture. Was his manager right? After what happened today, the members seem to genuinely care for Yesung. Is it all an act? An complex weave of lies? Or is it the truth?

Deep into his thoughts, Yesung did not hear footsteps behind him. He nearly jumps when arms wrap around his stomach. The arms give Yesung a tight squeeze and don’t let go. A voice whispers in his ear.

“I heard what happened today. What is bothering you? You can tell me. Please tell me. What you told is not the whole story, right?”

With those gentle words of his lover, Yesung breaks down. Tears flow from his eyes. Muttered words come from his mouth as he relaxes into those gentle arms.

“I hate my life.”

Who is Yesung's lover? Hehe. Did I make ChinHo seem mean enough? This is my first KPop fanfic. My first multi-shot fanfic. Usually, I only write oneshots cause I think of an idea but I can't stretch it.