This is bad. Like really bad. None of them could reach their usual vocal range, reducing to awkward off tuned voices or hollowing sounds of breath. Watching their own teammates doing the warm up exercises made them even more anxious. Their vocal trainer massaged his temple and let out a loud sigh.

"This is worse than I thought," he commented. The members bit their lips and fidgeted uncomfortably. Could it be that it was because that they were exhausted that their voices lost it's life? "You guys are trying, I can see that, but you are in no conditions to be performing any live singing with this standard."

"We'll... We'll do our best," Onew answered. It was not as if they have never lip synced before, but now of all times would be even more damaging to their vulnerable image. They were lacking in their choreography, lacking in their energy level, lacking in their strength to do sharp and precise dance movements, lacking the enthusiasm... Their voices was one of the things they should not and could not be lacking in.

"Unfortunately, your best at the moment is not very satisfying. Who is doing Taemin's high notes in dream girl?" Key rose his hand. "Try it."

Key cleared his throat and did simple warm ups by letting out simple vowels.
“eobsi neon” Key tested.
“eobsi neon nae gyeoteul tteoNA”

The trainer shook his head sadly. “Jjong,  you try it.” Key bit the bottom of his lip and flushed a shade of red. Jonghyun did the same warm up exercises before singing the lyrics of the song.

“eobsi neon nae gyeoteul tteona~”

“Good, but you’re playing it safe. Try your high note on Stranger,” the trainer instructed cautiously, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Natseon eodumman sone namaisseo~OO” Jonghyun coughed, breaking the note apart before his voice could change the tone of the lyrics.

“See what I mean? If you can’t handle Stranger, you wouldn’t be able to handle the other longer notes in Lucifer or Juliette. I’m not saying this only of Jonghyun, all of you have been affected in a bad manner from this accident. It’s inevitable, but I think lip-syncing will do more good than bad at the moment.”

"Is there no other way around it?" Minho asked softly.

"I don't want to risk it. SHINee is known to be CD-quality singers. If you go out there and sing like this, it will only damage the good image you have been keeping so far. I believe it's the injuries to your ribs that is affecting your breathing capacity. Once it has healed considerably, and I have verified your capabilities, I'll allow for all of you to start singing live again."

"Alright, we'll start on a simpler note today; try to stretch your vocal muscles a little," the vocal trainer announced, stepping to the piano to play simple notes which the members mimicked with their voices. It was far less exertive compared to the vigorous dancing they had to do earlier, but listening to the voices that they had once been so proud and confident over, diminish to what remained of it now, they all felt utterly disappointed in themselves.

"We'll try recording the voice overs for all your songs, starting from the chorus," the trainer said after awhile. "Don't worry too much of the high notes for now - we'll do that another day. As usual, as a group first, then we'll touch up with all the individual voices and ad libs. All of you grab some water and meet back in the recording studio in five," the trainer instructed professionally. The team nodded and bowed respectfully at the trainer as they dispersed for their break. They each grabbed their bags, while Minho grabbed Onew's as well. Onew would have thanked the younger if not for the fresh memory of betrayal on his mind. Instead, he looked away and headed for the door, suppressing a sigh.

They dragged their battered bodies slowly through the corridors, listening to different rooms emit different genres of singing with looks of longing. Some thought of the regrets and self-hate that was conjured in them for not being able to live up to their own standards; some had lingering thoughts of Taemin - how he would fare if they were already doing so badly with their light injuries; others thought of the event as a whole - how that seemingly normal day, just yesterday, had turned their careers around, in line with the tumbling of their van. Just yesterday morning. It has not even been 2 days but so much has already happened - arguments, yelling, crying, screaming, breakdowns, secrets being revealed, reconciling, bonding... After more than 10 years of knowing each other, since their trainee days, they never thought there could be so much they have yet to learn about one another. They once thought they were just business associates, slowly as they grew to like one another they truly became a team, bonding and becoming real friends. Over the years, they became a family. Everyone was an equal - no matter whether they were older or younger, more experienced or not, earned more money or less. They each had their special talents, and each had their weaknesses; but everyone respected that.

They refilled their bottles from the water fountain before heading to the studio in an unusual silent atmosphere. Jonghyun was playing with his phone, looking through the recent news about them; Minho peeped over the tiny windows on the doors to look at the trainees and the experienced doing their individual training or recording; Key was listing all the possible ideas of apologies down on his notebook, just aimlessly following the head in front of him; Onew, well, he could only focus on his crutches.

Recording was a total chore. It took an average of more than an hour to record just one song, even though there were cuts for the parts they could not fit in. There was interchanging of roles, mistakes when one member forgot that the lines had switched, adlibs, overlapping of voices - all that took effort and time to record. At the end of the day, even the physically non-exertive singing was taking a toll on them.

"We're not making any progress, let's just wrap up for today," the trainer finally switched off the devices for the recording with a small sigh. The members glanced at the clock - 22:15; much earlier than they would usually end, but even they could tell that their voices were starting to sound draggy, not in accordance to their upbeat songs that had much need for liveliness. "Get lots of rest tonight, I hope to see better results tomorrow. Don't take things too hard, everything will get better in time," the trainer smiled softly, a smile that set all work affairs aside.

The members thanked the trainer, grateful for that little leeway that was given to them. Onew called the manager to inform him that they were done for the day, while the other members cleaned up the area, picking the empty bottles that now laid around. Their manager came to pick them up not long later and they made their way to the car park. They still hesitated before entering the van; no matter how much they tried to hide their fear, it still showed.

Inevitably there was an empty seat that stayed cold at the back where Taemin was supposed to sit and where Onew would usually sit beside, telling jokes that only Taemin would find funny. Onew tore his eyes away from the empty seat and faced back to the front, memories raking his mind was he watched buildings go by. The other members were utterly exhausted but no one even so much as leaned their head against the frame of the vehicle. They pulled their seatbelts on and sat rigidly upright and alert. It did not help at all that there were still fans surrounding the vehicle from all sides, chasing them as closely as they could. As they drove close to their dormitories, the crowd grew bigger. The manager rolled down the window at the security house to verify their identities in order to gain access to the tightly controlled area.

"3 girls are looking for SHINee," the security guard announced.

"You know what to do about fangirls, sir," the manager shook his head lightly.

"This is different, these 3 girls have been kneeling here for hours and the other fans are starting a fight, throwing eggs and vegetables at them," the security shouted over the loud fan screams.

"Those fans are doing everything they can to gain attention," the manager rolled his eyes.

"And they're injured too. No matter what, they are still human and I think they would fall sick if they stay out here for any longer. At least get them out of here; I don't want to end up having to call the ambulance," the security guard injected. To everyone's surprise, Onew pulled open the door and stumbled out, garnering more screams and squeals.

"Jinki! Get back in here!" the manager scolded. Jonghyun slid the door open and hopped out to assist the leader.

"It's them..." Onew murmured, staring in disbelief at 3 girls who were kneeling in one straight line with their heads bowed. They looked like a mess - their hair having obvious evidence of been pulled at, egg shells and sticky substances stuck against their skin and clothes, and debris of cabbage gone bad draped off their hair. One of the girls had bandages over her head, a small patch of red on the corner, similar to Jonghyun's but even more severe. Another had bandages peeping over the scarf wrapped around her neck and the last had her arm pulled in a cast.

"What are they doing here?" Jonghyun hissed, anger evident in his voice. Onew hushed him softly.

"I think they're here to apologize," Onew answered hesitantly, even though it was already pretty obvious.

"Let's go, hyung, I'm never going to forgive them," Jonghyun answered sharply, not even bothering to keep his volume low. A few fangirls surrounding them sent more death glares at the trio that knelt on the cold, hard road.

"It was an... an accident, Jjong," Onew whispered in uncertainty, also feeling the burning hate for the cause of their misery.

"They caused it!" Jonghyun spat, pointing an accusing finger at the trio. "If it were not for them, nothing would have happened! It's because of them that we are arguing, it's because of them that we have to make all these unnecessary adjustments to our songs. We are a five-man band, not a four-man band!"

"They didn't want it to happen either..." Onew replied in a whisper.

"Why are you defending them, hyung? Why?" Jonghyun screamed in exasperation, angry tears streaming down his features. "It's because of them that Taemin is so badly injured right now! If it were not for them, Taemin would be with us right now, we would be giving our usual performances, having our usual schedule, not doing all these extra training to amend things!"

"Minnie loves his fans," Onew answered simply, a sad smile touching his lips. "He would have forgiven them too. He would have definitely done that." 

Oh gosh, how long as it been? 2 weeks? T-T I'm so sorry; so many of you have been asking me to update too. Well, on the upside, my exams are over - Hurray! And thank heavens because my results came out to be not too bad. On the downside, I've got more exams in 2 weeks... again. Sigh. There's so much that I want to do - writing all my fics (without getting interrupted), reading all the books that I have bought but have not even removed the plastic wrappings, watch all the sitcoms sitting in my harddisk, watch all the enormous load of activities SHINee has been having recently... But I can't. But I'm actually getting used to this lifestyle... which is a good thing because I still have 2 more years of University before I plan to go to the States to get my Masters. Oh, all the life decisions~  

Sidenote: Many of you have been anticipating to see how Taemin's condition is, but it has only been 2 days so far, and well, his recovery isn't at the speed of light, so it's going to take awhile more. I'll be speeding up the story a little once the emotions of the members start to settle down a little and everything starts going back into its routine, but for now, just wait a little more (;