The group stared at the vehicle in front of them, none of them willing to make the first move. Kyuhyun sighed at the sight of them.

"Come on guys, I know how you feel but none of you are walking back home. Get in the car; there is no point getting paranoid. I'm sure the fans will keep out of the way after Heechul hyung's scolding." Kyuhyun held the door open for them. Heechul had offered to send them home with the other Suju members wait for their manager to pick them up, since the car wasn’t large enough to hold so many people. Jonghyun wriggled his nose with disgust. Finally, Onew stepped forwards.

"Come on, hyung is right. We can't walk home. We will just end up getting in the car anyway. It's getting late; all of you need to rest. We shouldn't trouble Heechul hyung for any longer, just get on. I'm sure Heechul hyung will be extra careful today," Onew said when he saw the looks of disbelief on the members face. He slipped into the car, acting as an example and waved his hand, ushering them in.

Minho stepped in the car hesitantly and Jonghyun had to literally drag a protesting Key in. It was probably the first time that everyone seated at the back put on their seat belts. All of them refused to budge from the waiting area until visiting hours were over. The Suju members managed to get them some lunch in between but the food was hardly touched. Finally, the nurses had to force them out when visiting hours were over. Taemin didn't wake up despite their persistent wait; or according to the doctor, it could be that he was awake, but just too weak to even show that he was.

When they finally reached back to the dorms, none of them felt like resting. They felt as though they have not done much the entire day, other than crying. Even with their aching bodies, their minds were racing to do something. It was Onew who finally sighed and gathered everyone together.

"We need to plot out what we are going to do from now on," he pulled out a pen and a notebook out of his bag.

"What do you mean 'what we are going to do’?" Key asked wide-eyed. "Taemin is not with us; hyung, you can't dance; Jonghyun has a whiplash, it's highly unlikely that he can dance either; and that leaves Minho and I. You expect that we can hold activities with just the 2 of us dancing?"

"The sunbaenims managed to find a way around it, we need to set an example to our hoobaes as well," Onew bit his lip in obvious worry. "I should be able to dance in a while; Heechul hyung practiced hard even when he was injured too. We'll idols; singers. Our voices are just as important as our dance. We won't be able to hold off all concerts till Taemin is well; that's for sure. We need to sort out all our positions and distribute his singing parts. Jonghyun's voice is the most compatible with Taemin's, but he has more than enough parts; I was thinking of giving Minho and you more parts instead."

"But that's like... taking away Taemin's pride. You know how hard he worked for those lines." Key frowned, the tears welling up again. "He'll be so sad to know just how easily we can replace him. He has always been so sensitive about issues like these."

"We have to continue our activities... We need to appeal to the public or we'll lose our standing. You know how those fans are; remember how some of the fan clubs closed down because we took too long in making a comeback? We'll be nothing without our fans. Furthermore, SM wouldn't allow us to just to sit around. Even if we don't plan ahead, SM would start distributing roles for us instead. Hyung is right, it will be better if we handle the distribution within ourselves," Jonghyun said as he swept his hair back in frustration.

"Well, that's not fair!" Key screamed, almost stomping his feet childishly. "The Super Junior sunbaenims had 12 other members to back up for Kyuhyun hyung's recovery; we are but a five-man team! Without Taemin... Without Taemin..." Key finally broke down in sobs. He didn't want to even think about what would happen without Taemin. He wanted it all to end; he just wanted his careless maknae back. He would stop nagging at Taemin to not leave his milk around, he would buy all the milk that silly kid wants, he would even eat that mess that Taemin calls cooking... Key clutched his chest unconsciously as he started gasping for air between his sobs.

“Kibum!” Onew jolted up on his good leg, catching Key just as his knees buckled. Onew stumbled unsteadily and the both of them ended up falling to the ground together. “Get his painkillers!” Onew barked urgently, his hands floundering over the sobbing boy, trying to sooth some of the pain away.

“It’s okay; it’s going to be okay.” Onew whispered as he rubbed Key’s back repeatedly.

“It’s not okay... I want Taemin... I want him back...” Key choked out between sobs. Minho passed the capsule of pills and a glass of water to Onew. Onew took a pill out and forced Key to stop hiding his face. He handed the pill and water to the other but it was just violently swung away, making a loud crash where the glass shattered into pieces.

“I’m not taking those!” Key screamed. “This pain is nothing! It’s nothing compared to Taemin’s!” He slapped Onew’s hand away and jolted up, running for his room; all the while, clutching his chest tightly. He slammed the door shut loudly, but his loud sobs could still be heard from every inch of the dorms. Silence dawned upon the other members as all of them stared at the shut door.

“I’ll... I’ll go clean that up...” Minho finally offered with a sigh. Onew shut his eyes tightly and counted slowly to twenty, taking in deep breaths with each count.

“Hyung...”Jonghyun called out with a desperate voice, but Onew kept on counting in his head. “Hyung, what’s going to happen to us from now on?”

“I don’t know, Jjong...” Onew whispered after taking his twentieth deep breath, his eyes still tightly shut. “We’ll just have to stay strong until Taemin’s back. I wish I could do more as your hyung and as your leader, but I’m sorry Jjong, I’m sorry I’m such a let-down.” Onew rubbed his fingers over his temple, trying hard to think of something that he could do. Jonghyun wrapped his arms around the older.

“You’re not a let-down. I’m sorry, hyung. I knew that you were feeling pressurized but yet I still asked such a stupid question. We’re going to be okay; Taemin is coming back to us one day... We just have to hang on until he’s back.” Jonghyun rubbed the elder’s back soothingly. Onew gulped a few times, holding back the tears he promised himself not to let out before finally slipping his eyes open with a sigh.

“Thanks Jjong... You’re right; we are all going to be okay,” he forced out a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes as he peeled Jonghyun off him. “It’s been a long day; you should take a rest too. We’ll continue discussing tomorrow when Key is a little more cooled down. Take your painkillers before you sleep, okay? Don’t make me worry for you too.” Onew ruffled Jonghyun’s hair lightly. It made him feel better knowing that someone was hanging on strong, but it made him feel bad as well. He felt as though there was so much more that he could do as a leader for all his lovely band mates. Onew clutched onto the capsule that held Key’s painkillers tightly as he struggled to stand. Minho had already swept up the broken shards of glass and was mopping up the area. Onew took his crutches and limped over to Minho, balancing on one leg as he places a hand on the younger’s shoulder.

“Minho, go and take a rest after you’re done. We had a long day. Take your painkillers, arasso?” Minho nodded stiffly as he continued mopping the area. Onew went over to the kitchen to take a plastic cup and filled it with water. He stuffed the capsules into his pocket and balanced on one crutch, and clipping the other horizontally to the ground under his pit while he held the cup. He tried his best not to spill the water between his mini hops as he made his way to Key’s room. Lifting his hand off the crutch, he knocked on the door. He could still hear the soft sniffs, though the sobbing died down relatively.

“Key, it’s me, Onew. Can I come in?” After a long while, there was still no reply, so Onew opened the door slightly and peeped in. For once, he was grateful that the company removed the locks on the doors. Key sat on his bed with his knees against his chest as his sobbed silently. The bed was sprawled with many little things - the microphone made out of tin foil, the present that Key requested Taemin to give for his birthday, the present Onew knew that Key planned for ages to give to Taemin, all their albums and posters, the seashells that the duo collected from Barcelona, there was even the horrid portrait of Key that Taemin drew; which Onew couldn’t understand why Key even kept. And then, there were pictures; countless of them - polaroids of just Taemin and Key together; with the others just tossed aside. Onew never saw Key’s bed this messy before.

“Key...?” Onew called out again as he struggled his way in, settling the cup on the bedside table. He slowly settled himself by the bedside, putting his hand gently on Key’s shoulder. “Come on, Kibum... You need to take your painkillers and catch some sleep.” Key shrugged away Onew’s hand once the topic became clear.

“Go away,” Key croaked. Onew frowned; he hated it when people cried, but he hated it more when s cried, especially more so when he knew he couldn’t do anything to help the situation. With a sigh, Onew kneeled over on his good leg and started stacking up the things on Key’s bed.

“Don’t touch them!” Key shouted pushing Onew away. Onew fell back on his side with a groan. Key started stacking the stuff on his bed by himself, pulling them away from Onew.

“Key, please. Hurting yourself like this isn’t going to help anyone; even if you feel the pain, Taemin’s pain wouldn’t lessen. It hurts us to see you like this.” Onew pleaded. Key’s hands stopped abruptly at his words. He bit his lower lip for a moment before he started to lose it. He pushed everything off his bed, sending CDs out of the photobooks, polaroids fluttering in the air, and some of the seashells broke at the impact of hitting the ground. He smashed his fist against the soft sheets in frustration before his tensed body gradually started to slump over.  

“I know...” Key covered his face with his palms, sobbing harshly again. “I know I can’t take away his pain... but I want to understand his sufferings... even if it’s a little, I want to feel a little closer to him...” Onew pulled himself up and hugged Key against his abdomen as he leaned against the bed frame.

“We need you, Kibum-ah. I know it’s hard; it’s hard for all of us too; but we need you to stay strong. Where is the Key umma that I know and love?” Onew pulled back and sat on the bed facing Key. “We have to keep SHINee going without Taemin for a while... only then, can he return to us smoothly; you understand don’t you?” Onew pulled Key’s hands away to wipe the falling tears.

“Leave me be, hyung... I’ll promise to do our activities properly, but I just want to have this connection that reminds me of Taemin every second of the day. If laughing hurts, maybe it would remind me that I shouldn't be laughing while Taemin is suffering,” Key mumbled tiredly.

“Fine,” Onew huffed in defeat. “If you don’t take your painkillers, I won’t take mine either.” Onew took out the capsule and put it in Key’s palm, curling the slender fingers over the container. Onew shut his eyes again, counting only to five this time, as he tried to calm himself down. With a determined huff, he got on his feet and started clearing up the mess Key made again. Key stared at the pills in his hand and then at his leader who had obvious difficulties in picking up the things.

“Hyung, this is my decision. Don’t think that I would give in just because I see you suffering,” Key warned with a wavering voice. He knew that that wasn’t the case. He knew that if he saw how much pain anyone else was suffering because of him, he would do anything just to prevent that. But he was determined this time, and he didn’t want Onew to suffer just because of his own personal reasons but Onew just responded with a gentle smile.

“I know.”