A/N: Dedicated to k_drama1210. Thank you for helping me out so much, BB~! :D

"Hangeng? I can't really see you that clearly. You're just sort of a blurb of darkness." Heechul said, craning his neck in order to see better.

"Oh, sorry." He adjusted the tilt of his laptop screen , so that it focused more on his face and less on the bright lighting of the living room. "You'd think that after all of these months video chatting , we'd get a little better at it. Apparently not."

Laughing, Heechul nodded." Yeah. So how has SJ-M been doing lately? We haven't talked about work in a while."

Hangeng forced a smile . " Good. Lots of schedules. Sort of like yours, except in China. "

He couldn't bear to tell Heechul about how .. awful things had been going. It was best for everyone if the illusion of happiness was maintained. Leeteuk certainly didn't need the extra stress, and he didn't want to burden his boyfriend with unecessary negativity. He was able to handle it alone. Surely after time the ridiculous conflict would just fade away, anyway.

"Well I'm glad., then. I was worried. We haven't really done much but promotions."

"That's good. "

"Yeah. So I heard next week you guys are coming to Korea for a while?" Heechul said excitedly.

"Yeah, Sooman wants us to practice some more. And he wants the original thirteen to do a charity concert in Busan. I've been waiting for this for forever, Chul. I really , really miss you. I can't wait." Hangeng beamed, his worries forgotten .

Smirking, Heechul started to play with his hair, wrapping a long strand around his pointer finger. " Yeah, I miss you too, baby. I miss everything. I miss talking with you face to face, seeing you smile in person, because of me, kissing you, touching you, fuc-"

"Heechul!" Hangeng exclaimed , shyly covering his face with his hands. "If someone heard you-!"

"Gege!" Henry ran into the room in tears.

Hangeng quickly sat up and put his laptop on the table. "What's wrong, Henry?"

"Gege!" He threw his arms around Hangeng'sneck, sobbing heavily on the elder's shoulder, wetting the thin fabric. "G-gege."

"Heechul, I'll talk with you later." Hangeng abrubtly shut his laptop and focused on Henry, rubbing soothing circles on his back. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

Henry cried on Hangeng's shoulder for a while until the latter could get him to talk.

"Gege. Th-they won't stop hating me. What did I do, Ge? What did I do wrong? Why does everyone hate me?" Henry buried his face in Hangeng's chest, shaking uncontrollably. 

Hearing the young Chinese - Canadian maknae say those words broke Hangeng's heart. "Henry, you didn't do anything. You don't deserve the way they treat you."

"G-gege,it's been so hard for me to smile for them when no one wants me. I'm not Korean., so E.L.F. hates m-me! I-I don't belong in Super Junior. I'm not good enough."

"Henry, that's not true. " Hangeng's voice cracked, tears blocking his own vision. "Henry Lau. You are a part of Super Junior. I don't care what anyone else says. You do belong. You do deserve it. You and Zhoumi deserve better, Henry. And it killls me I can't give it to you. But don't you dare say that you aren't good enough. Don't you dare say that no one wants you. Because we do. All fourteen of us. Your family. And you know what? Screw those fans. They aren't true, loyal fans if they exclude you."

"G-gege. I just want them to stop. I want them to leave me alone." He whimpered, clinging to Hangeng's shirt.

Hangeng pulled back to meet eyes with Henry. "Then, tell them. Stand up for yourself."

"That'll only cause more problems for Super Junior. I'm just not worth it." Henry whispered.

"Henry Lau. don't ever doubt yourself. You are most certainly worth it. That I'm one hundred percent positive of."

"Th-thanks Gege. I'm sorry for interupting your and Heechul Ge's skype date or whatever, I didn't mean to." Henry muttered guiltily, wiping his face and rising to his feet.

"It's alright, Didi. If you ever need me, don't even hesitate. I'll always be here for you, thick or thin, rain or shine. I'm sure Heechul understands." Hangeng reassured him, beaming. 

"Thanks , Gege." Henry managed a half smile at his Gege's bright expression. "So, what's for diinner?"

Hangeng's face fell slightly. He had no idea what to do about that. 

Money had been one of Super Junior M's main conflicts. Sooman had given Hangeng a very strict budget and almost no leniency, even when Hangeng continuously stressed how the finances were not nearly enough to provide even the basic necessities.

This month had been even worse, since SJ-M had been rather inactive, and the cuts to their 'allowance' made them run out of money with two weeks left before the next pay day.  The food supply was slowly receding; Ryeowook had always kept the cabinents as well stocked as he could in case of emergency, but the extreme restrictions had been unforseen and it had taken  its toll. 

"Um, I don't know. Let's see what we can find." Hangeng suggested, internally crossing his fingers that things would be better than what he thought, but the cabinents were just as bare as he expected, containing only a few packs of instant ramen and the last bag of rice.

"Ge." Henry tuggged on his sleeve as he stared into the empty space, but it was to no avail.

What was he to do? He couldn't cut down on any one's calorie intake, except his own, but he rarely ate as it was anymore anyway, since his appetite had been oddly curbed lately. He couldn't afford to pay for the groceries himself, either, since he made just enough to send to his family to help them scrape by. And there was no way he could tell Heechul or Leeteuk about their economic difficulties, when, like him, they didn't really have enough to spare, and he didn't have the heart to take their hard earned money anyway.

"Hangeng Ge." Hangeng's head snapped up at the deeper tone of Zhoumi's voice, suprised to find that the singer had entered the kitchen.

"Zhoumi. What's up?" He asked absentmindedly. 

Instead of answering, Zhoumi turned to Henry, who was poking Hangeng's side intently. "Can I talk to Ge alone? " 

Henry nodded and headed towards Donghae's room, where the sounds of thumping and laughing were originating from.

"What is it, Mimi?" He hadn't the slightest idea what Zhoumi could want to discuss.

Perching on the stool by the counter, Zhoumi crossed his arms."It's about the money, Ge. I have a solution." 

"Oh. Okay." . He had tried to keep that somewhat a secret.

"I know you've tried to hide it from us, since you don't like to burden others with worry, and how you tried to deal with it alone, but I'm going to help you. I have money, and the others do too. We've all known,and we're going to go through this together-"

"no. I can't ask that of you." Hangeng dismissed the proposal.

"It's not just you alone, Ge. We're a family; you've said so yourself. So let's do this together. We can help pay for our own necessities."

"I can't-"

"Ge!" Zhoumi rose from