"Get up," Onew commanded in a gentle voice, towering over the 3 girls in front of him. Several cries of complaint could be heard around him.

"O-oppa," they whimpered, tears falling off their chins. How young are they? Onew thought. "Op-pa, we-we're s-sorry," one choked out. It was only then that Onew noticed how blue their lips had turned from the cold, and how badly shivering they were.

"I got it, so get up now," Onew answered. The girls looked at each other and finally shook their heads.

"Un-until all the me-members f-forg-give us, we w-wouldn't g-get up," another stuttered through her chattering teeth. One of the girls idly rubbed against her sore thigh, trying to keep the blood flowing. Onew grimaced slightly at the sight and finally sighed as he turned to Jonghyun.

"So?" he asked casually.

"Never; they can stay here forever if they want to," Jonghyun scoffed, rolling his eyes as he turned his back on the trio. "And don't you dare threaten me by staying out here as well, I have enough of you neglecting your body to convince us of something you think is right."

Onew shut his eyes with creases across his forehead. Without a word, he made his way through the loud fan crowd, back to the van and pulled the sliding door open.

"Get down, someone wants to say something to all of us," Onew instructed. "Hyung, you can go first, we'll be fine here," he said to the manager. Key and Minho got down the vehicle cautiously and after a minute or so, the van started moving off. Onew pointed out to the 3 girls that garnered much attention from the huge crowd. Key tsked and Minho pressed his lips into a tight line, his eyes cold in a pitless black.

"Tell them," Onew instructed the girls where the 4 members now stood in front of them. The girls moved awkwardly to press their foreheads against the ground.

"We're s-sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it," Key snarled. "Sorry doesn't help to reduce Taemin's pain."

"It's Taemin that you should be apologizing to," Minho chimed.

"Tell us; tell us what was going through your minds at that time. How did the accident happen?" Jonghyun interrogated. "Who was the driver?"

The girl with bandages smeared around her neck rose her hand up timidly. Now that they looked closely, she had burn marks around her jaw lines, those similar to what their manager suffered from. 

"How old are you? How long have you been driving for? Do you not know of the basic rules of driving?" Jonghyun continued fiercely.

"I'm b-born in '91," the girl whimpered softly. "I-I have b-been driving for a-about a y-year now."

"And? What happened? What were you doing before the accident took place?" Minho folded his arms across his chest sternly.

"I-I'm sorry; I'm r-really really sorry," she sobbed, clutching her shaking fist on her knees.

"Answer him," Key commanded. The girl glanced at Onew, hoping to find some comfort but he just turned away, looking at the blackened snow on the ground.

"I... I just... I wasn’t p-paying attention on the r-road...” she confessed, bowing her head even lower. Key snarled again and rolled his eyes.

“You have the guts to even show your face in front of us after what happened?” he injected harshly. “You don’t even have the right to be called fans.” The girls hiccupped at his piercing words.

“Oppa,” the younger girl with her arm in a cast pleaded. “Please... Please don’t say that; please don’t deny us from being your fans,” she sobbed pathetically. “SHINee... I don’t know what I’ll be without SHINee.”

"Do you think you deserve to even be our fans?" Jonghyun mocked. "Even anti-fans wouldn't do this to us."

"We... We didn't mean to," the young one sobbed. "We just... We wanted to see oppa up close."

"Forget it, hyung. Let's go; we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Jonghyun took long strides towards Onew to support the elder. Onew gave a pleading look at the other members but Key and Minho were already walking ahead of them. He shot a sympathetic gaze at the trio who were bawling harshly behind them before letting Jonghyun lead him back to their apartment.

When they arrived at their apartment, both Key and Minho were already in the 2 bathrooms taking a shower. Jonghyun set Onew on his bed and drew out clothes for the elder.

"I know what you're thinking; don't you dare try anything funny with me. I respect you, hyung; and I trust that you will respect our views on this as well," Jonghyun finally broke the silence with his stern words. Onew just let out a sigh.

"Just think about what the other fans will do to them... And it's winter, Jjong. They might freeze to death," Onew reasoned.

"That doesn't mean that we have to forgive them. Even if something happened to them, I would not regret my decision. I'll be sleeping with you, just so that you wouldn't go looking for them in the middle of the night. Sometimes, you are too nice to people - that's why they just step all over you," Jonghyun announced.

"You'll take Minnie's bed?" Onew raised his eyebrow. Jonghyun's bed was on the lower bunk and Onew obviously could not climb to the upper deck of the beds. Jonghyun froze at the question.

"I'll take a mattress and sleep on the floor, in your room," Jonghyun muttered in a softer tone.

"Do what you like; just don't hurt yourself," Onew shrugged, seeing no way out of it - what could he do with a team full of strong-minded members afterall?

After they each finished showering, Onew taking a much longer time just to prevent the water from reaching his cast, they laid in their beds. Key and Minho were already fast asleep from the exhausting day they just had, and Jonghyun was just as tired but Onew kept flipping around on his bed, unable to fall asleep.

"Hyung!" Jonghyun finally scolded. "Go to sleep," he commanded.

"Sorry," Onew sighed, laying stiff on the bed. There were still loud noises emitting from outside where the fans always camped. Instead of the usual calling of their names, it was shouts of profanities. Onew sighed and tossed on his bed again. Jonghyun sat up in frustration.

"Hyung..." Jonghyun whined. "What is it?"

"What if they freeze? And kneeling for so long, they must be aching. What if the other fans hurt them? They are already injured," Onew ran his good hand over his fringe and sat up as well. "Please, Jjong, at least send them off even if you don't forgive them."

"I swear you'll be the death of me someday," Jonghyun groaned but stood up all the same. Onew perked up and shuffled out of bed as well. "Where are you going? Go to sleep," Jonghyun slurred his words sleepily.

"Just making sure," Onew answered, grabbing his coat and zipping it all the way up. He was still in shorts but no way was he going to put on those leggings right now. This had better be quick. Jonghyun put on his coat as well and draped a scarf over Onew's neck. As they made their way out of the room as silently as they could, Jonghyun glanced at the clock and let out a soft sigh. Once they stepped out of the apartment, he turned to Onew, annoyance written all over his face.

"I must be crazy to be doing this at 1a.m." He muttered in displeasure. Onew gave him an apologetic yet grateful smile. They made their way to the stairs and paused. Onew settled his crutches down the steps, just as the therapist had taught him to, and slowly made his way down, step by step.

"I'll carry you down," Jonghyun offered. It was usually Minho or Key who would help the elder get up and down the stairs since Jonghyun had his whiplash.

"I'm fine," Onew insisted. It took them painstaking long just to get down the stairs and their thin pyjamas were not very effective in keeping them warm. Jonghyun pulled his coat tighter around him and twined the scarf around Onew's neck a few more times. He let out a heavy breath, smoking the cold air around his mouth.

"Let's go," Jonghyun announced with determination, heading towards the loud crowd. The screams grew louder as they made their way towards the crowd and fangirls started jumping excitedly at the sight of them. Jonghyun put a finger to his lips in attempt to lessen the noise but to no avail. Finally, they stood in front of the 3 girls once again. They seemed even more messed up than before, their cheeks red with slap marks and they emitted a stench of urine and feces. 

"Go back," Jonghyun commanded. The girls perked their heads up and looked pleadingly at Jonghyun before finally shaking their heads.

"Hyung can't sleep because of you girls; if you don't want us to have more reason to hate you, leave," Jonghyun spat harshly. Onew looked away, biting his lips in guilt. "I'm not going to forgive you. You staying here will only bring more hinderance to the team."

It took a long minute where the girls looked at each other and whispered in hushed tones. Jonghyun tapped his foot impatiently.

"W-w-what ca-can w-we d-do t-to g-gain y-your for-forgive-ness?" the driver squeezed out through her trembling lips.

"Nothing. There's nothing you can do now. What is done is done, and there is no going back anymore. Just leave us alone before we find more reason to hate you," Jonghyun answered nonchalantly, not even slightly affected by the pitiful sight before him. "And I'll just have you know that Onew hyung here is forgiving you only on account that he believes Taemin will forgive you; he is only acting according to how he thinks Taemin would want us to act. That does not mean it is his true wishes." Onew bowed his head low at the statement, but did not say anything to deny it. The girls turned their attention on Onew, but received no assurance.

"Leave now, so that we can go back to sleep," Jonghyun concluded, letting out a wide yawn as if the girl's apology mattered less than his sleep. The girls gulped down timidly and started shuffling out of their kneeling positions. They sat their legs beside them like a mermaid and grimaced at the needle pricking against their skin. They bit down on their lips and grabbed their thighs tightly with their hands, or hit it with their fists, hoping that the feeling would return back to them. They groaned as they slowly stretched their legs forward, using their hands to press their knees down, straightening their legs to its full length. The girl with her arm in a cast had the most trouble getting out of her rigid position with only one arm. The other fans who crowded around them snickered and mocked the girls, some were still throwing things at them even under the eyes of their beloved oppas. Finally, they winced as they bend their knees again in attempt to get on their feet, but their shaking and numb legs gave in and they fell back on their bums before even making much progress. Thoroughly embarrassed, the driver buried her face in her palms and sobbed. The quietest of them wrapped an arm around her friend and rubbed her shoulder in an up and down motion comfortingly.

"Come on, unnie, let's try again," she encouraged. Onew's eyes softened a little, feeling a little guilt squeezing in his chest. The girls tried again. They made more progress than before, but not enough to stand on their own.

"I'm not doing this anymore!" the driver screamed childishly.

"Come on, unnie, we have to leave," the other girl urged again.

Onew nudged Jonghyun with his elbow. "Help them," he whispered. Jonghyun gave him a scowl but he too had the same thoughts, even if he was reluctant to. He finally stepped up towards the girl with her arm in a cast, still struggling on her own, and stretched his hand out for her to take. The other fans screamed in jealousy. The girl looked up warily at him, her tears pooling over her round eyes. She hesitantly lifted her good hand up to clasp over Jonghyun's warm palm. The fan screams intensified and some shouted at Jonghyun for betraying them. He pulled the girl up, who stumbled into his arms, leaning against his chest. She quickly pulled herself away shakily as the fans scolded her with colorful profanities.

"Th-thank you," she thanked gratefully, blushing slightly as she stabled herself shakily on her own feet. Jonghyun ignored her and went to the other 2 who looked on in awe.

"Get up," he commanded coldly, reaching his hand down again. A fan threw a tomato that hit the driver's head just as she reached her hand out. Jonghyun and Onew turned to look at the direction of the attack but the crowd covered the identity of the aggressor. Jonghyun sent a quick glare in that direction before turning back to the girls on the ground again. "Hurry up."

The girl reached out again and grabbed Jonghyun's hand, squeaking a little in embarrassment. Jonghyun pulled her up and let her hand go as soon as he could. The girl stumbled a little but the younger girl caught her with her good hand.

"T-thank you," she half-screamed back at Jonghyun who was already helping the last girl up. As he pulled up the last girl, he finally turned to address all 3 of them again.

"Now, leave. It's late," he said coldly. The three girls supported each other as they bowed a last time. Jonghyun turned to the rest of the crowd and spoke a little louder but in a gentler tone. "Go to sleep, it's getting late. Keep it down so that we can sleep too. Good night, see you all tomorrow." He smiled a tight smile and glanced at Onew to indicate their departure. Onew looked back at the 3 girls for a second and gave a small smile.

"Just leave, alright?" he asked in a gentle tone. The girls nodded tightly and he turned back to follow Jonghyun back to the dorms.

Walking up the stairs, or limping up, Jonghyun finally broke the silence. "I was too harsh, wasn't I?" Onew glanced at Jonghyun, taking in the self-reproaching expression on his face.

"Did you mean what you said?" Onew asked instead. Jonghyun pondered for a long while, until they reached the next floor - which was quite long considering Onew's pace.

"I did," Jonghyun confessed with a sigh.

"Then you have nothing to regret over," Onew assured with a small smile. "Only lies will garner regrets. If being harsh can make them learn their lesson, that would be what we need to be."

"I don't know, hyung," Jonghyun sighed. "I really hope that they learn from their mistake because I wouldn't even want them to meet another accident ever again. But maybe I was too harsh towards them - they are girls afterall; and they seemed to have understood the weight of their actions without me rubbing it in their faces."

"You did fine, Jjong. Thanks for getting them to leave. It would have been worse if they stayed for longer. They wouldn't blame you for scolding them after what they did. They'll probably feel worse if you just treat them nicely."

"I hope so, hyung. I really didn't mean to make them cry."

Finally a quick update. The next time I update will probably be in the next weekend or so, but no promises as I have exams in the following week as well. Keep your fingers crossed x.x