I'd expected a letter from Seunghwan hyung the next day, since that's what he'd implied in the letter, but I didn't get one the next day, or the next week. I guessed that he indeed decided that he didn't want to ruin my birthday or the days following.

But exactly two weeks later, Jinsoo hyung handed me an envelope as I sat in bed in the morning. Excited, I slit the envelope open with my finger and opened it hurriedly, but then realized that it was just a letter from school, reminding me of the graduation ceremony that was to happen in a week. Dismayed, I looked up at him.

"Did Seunghwan hyung give you anything to give me by any chance?" I asked shamelessly.

"No, nothing," said Jinsoo hyung with a frown.

"When did you last see him, though?" I asked, desperate.

"I saw him just yesterday in the board room. He didn't talk about you at all," he said.

I sighed, saddened, then Jinsoo hyung glanced at me carefully.

"What exactly are you expecting?" he asked.

"Nothing. Forget I said anything," I said reluctantly.

If it were Seunghwan hyung, I knew he would have pushed me until I confided in him, but Jinsoo hyung just nodded.

"Okay. Have a good day," he said, then he turned around and left the room.

The new manager had dropped me off at school at 7:30am on the day of my graduation, as instructed on the letter. I made my way to my classroom, which was already full with the kids getting ready for the graduation ceremony. It was of a jolly atmosphere, and I had just taken a seat on my chair when the teacher came to my desk.

"Kyuhyun, it's been a while, hasn't it?" he said. "You never came to school once after your entrance exams."

I laughed and bowed a little in my seat. "Sorry, sir," I said.

"I saw the report," he said with a warm smile.

I smiled back. "I'm going to Kyunghee," I said. "I did it after all."

"I know. I'm so honoured to have taught you," he said.

I shook my head. The honour was mine. "Thanks for being so understanding with my schedules, for the entire year, and - " I said, starting to choke up. He had done so much to help me get here, and I appreciated him so much. "Just - thanks. Thank you so much."

"My pleasure," he said, then he put a warm hand on my shoulder for a split second before walking away. I saw him walking out of the classroom.

I smiled a little and started fiddling with my fingers on my desk. The door barely even closed behind the teacher when I heard a frustrated scream.

"CHO KYUHYUN!" I heard. I looked up in confusion to see a classmate take long strides towards me. I froze in my seat, frightened, when he started shouting.

"YOU TOOK A SPOT YOU DIDN'T DESERVE AT KYUNGHEE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN MINE!"

And then when he got close enough, he took me by the collar and pulled me up to my feet. And before I could do anything, he clenched his fist and swung it into my jaw. I felt my lips being ground into my teeth, and my head turned with the impact. And then I realized - I'd been punched.

"WHAT THE HELL!" I screamed, then I pushed him away until he lost grip on my shirt. I tasted salty blood in my mouth, and within seconds, I saw another fist coming towards my face. I stepped backwards and ducked, and thankfully, the punch missed. I instinctively curled my own hand into a fist and drew it back when I heard Seunghwan hyung's voice in my head.

You're a public figure now, Kyuhyun.

I froze, my fist still held up and trembling. Then slowly, I lowered my hand and looked at him, who was breathing hard with poison in his eyes directed at me.

"I didn't use celebrity status. I got into my unversities on my own," I whispered. I felt my lower lip swelling up, and I touched it. I felt a sting on my lip, and when I took my finger away from it, I saw blood on it.

"We're supposed to believe that?" he scoffed. When I stared at him in disbelief, he smirked. "He's so smart that he didn't even have to come to school for weeks at a time, but still gets into one of the best universities. Of course he didn't use celebrity status. Cho Kyuhyun the genius," he jeered.

I bit my lip, trying to keep myself from yelling. I looked at my feet for a few seconds, then I realized that I'd done nothing wrong. I lifted my head and glared at everyone around me.

"You don't have to believe me. I know the truth," I said.

"So why don't you show us your entrance exam slip, Kyuhyun? Where is it? Let's see how well a celebrity has to do to get into Kyunghee."

I felt another surge of anger coming up. "I don't know about you, but I don't carry around my exam results everywhere I go," I said.

"Because you can't justify getting into Kyunghee with your scores. I mean, who wouldn't get into Kyunghee using celebrity status?"

"I didn't use it!" I shouted.

"He's obviously lying," said one classmate, folding his arms across his chest.

"I wrote the entrance exams, same as you, and - " I said, my voice shaking with anger.

"Probably. Probably got some undeserved boosts here and there, too," said one of my old friends.

"I didn't - " I began angrily.

"STOP LYING!" he shouted.

My face flushing with anger, and I drew myself up to my full height. And as I did, the room silenced.

"I'm not lying," I said through clenched teeth.

"Well, even if you didn't use it, the schools obviously know that you applied, and they're obviously going to take you, you being a 'celebrity' and everything."

I restrained myself from swinging a punch at him with all of the self-control I ever had and sat back down in my chair. I'm a public figure, they're not, I thought to myself. I couldn't lose control, no matter what.

I had to get out of here.

I drew my cell phone out of my pocket and opened it with a shaking hand when he gave a shrill laughter.

"What, calling your manager, Cho Kyuhyun?"

I ignored him, but my whole body was shaking in anger.

And with my hand over my bleeding mouth, I pushed past everyone until I was out of the classroom into the empty hallway.

I finally called the new manager on my cell phone when I was on the school grounds, being set up to begin the graduation and told him that I wanted to return to the dorm. I didn't tell him about the punch, although I probably should have in order to soften the blow for when he saw me, but I couldn't. When his van finally arrived at the back door, I got into the passenger seat. The manager did a double take. The cut was on the left side of my face, so it was clearly visible.

"What the hell happened?" he asked, clearly outraged.

I didn't say anything and pulled down the visor to look at the mirror attached to it. The lip was purple and swollen to twice the size and there was blood caked around the corner of my mouth. I sighed and was bringing my hand up to wipe off the blood when the manager took me by my wrist and gave me a rough pull.

"You're such a damn amateur!" he shouted.

"The kid punched me, I couldn't do anything!" I yelled.

"You think you can do anything now that you're off promotions? You think you can mark up your face all you want, now that you're not performing every day?" he said, almost grinding his teeth.

"So what was I supposed to do? Fight with him? Punch him back?" I asked in contempt. I'd held back fighting just so that I wouldn't get in trouble, and I was in it anyway?

"Don't get punched! How is that so hard?" shouted the manager, shaking me roughly by my shoulders.

I glared at him.

"You're the one that left me alone with a bunch of boys that I don't get along with," I murmured, but then the manager raised his hand above his head and slapped me across the face, making my eyes water.

I was glaring at him with my hand over my cheek when he crossed his arms.

There was a long silence, then he faced front.

"Who was it?" he asked, sounding like he couldn't be bothered with the matter any further.

I sighed and shook my head. "A classmate. It doesn't matter," I muttered.

"It does matter. We're going to press assault charges," said the manager matter-of-factly.

I looked up in shock. "You want to press charges? You'll ruin this kid's life for punching me?"

"Whatever needs to be done," said the new manager with a shrug.

"Pressing charges won't heal the cut any faster, it's a waste of time!" I shouted.

"The company will deal with it. You just have to - "

"How can you so easily ruin a person's life?" I whispered in disbelief. "You just slapped me, I'm not pressing charges against you!"

The manager looked like he was speechless, then I shook my head.

"I'm just going to call my parents and tell them not to come to the graduation ceremony," I muttered, then I flipped my phone open.

When I got back to the dorm, the rest of the team was out in the living room, eating breakfast. I attempted to walk past the living room and into my room when Donghae stopped me.

"Kyuhyun, come back out here," he said just as I passed the living room. I sighed, and I turned my feet back towards the living room. I gave a small bow and when I came up, my head was hung low, but Donghae didn't miss it.

"Kyuhyun, what happened to your lip?" he asked, dropping his plate on the floor and getting to his feet. I raised my head and looked at him, but by that time, all the other hyungs were looking at me with curious faces. And as soon as they saw my lip, each of them got to his feet. The first to rush to me was Ryeowook, who almost sprinted towards me as soon as he saw me.

"What happened to your lip? What - why aren't you at your graduation?"

"A classmate at school punched me," I muttered quietly, turning my head away from Ryeowook's grip.

A silence fell, and there was an uncomfortable pause before Eunhyuk stood up.

"I'll get some ice for it," he said, then he walked into the kitchen. Then Kangin spoke.

"Which jerk was it? Hyung'll go beat him up for you," he said. I smiled a little, which burst the lip open again, and I grimaced.

"You didn't punch back, did you?" asked Leeteuk worriedly.

"No, I - I didn't fight back. We won't be in trouble," I said. And as I said those words, I was so proud of myself that I smiled again, and again, frowned with the pain.

"Good for you," said Leeteuk with a proud smile. "Thank you."

I smiled back again just as Eunhyuk returned to the living room with a bag of ice wrapped in a towel. "Do you have any schedules though?" he asked, holding the ice against my lip. I took the ice from him and looked at Jinsoo hyung, who was still sitting on the floor with his breakfast. He shook his head.

"Not for a week."

I nodded in appreciation. "Hopefully, by that time, the cut would have healed and the bruise will be gone."

Jinsoo hyung nodded back. "And the rest of it, we'll somehow work out with makeup."

"Okay," I said, then I sighed and walked back into my bedroom.

I spent the entire day formulating how I would apologize to Seunghwan hyung. In fact, I'd been doing this all last week as well, now that I had so much time. I had thought about writing a letter, but I wanted to do this properly. Writing a letter was cowardly, and I was going to face him like the man that I was and ask him for forgiveness on my knees.

It's always easier said than done. It's especially difficult to admit your faults, although it is so obviously yours, to a person that you love. You're afraid of being judged, afraid that he wouldn't forgive. But I knew I should apologize, and I was ready to.

And to do just that, a few days later, I was sitting outside the practice room that I'd never been to before. In fact - I'd never been on this side of the building before. I had looked through every single window on this side of the building before coming to this room. I saw the manager hyung sitting on a chair with his head down, apparently catching up on some sleep while his team was practicing. It seemed like nine girls, and I watched for a second before deciding that I didn't want to interrupt their practice. And so I just sat down against the wall outside the practice room. I had time. I could wait.

I had my face in my knees with my arms around my legs on the floor when I heard someone walk down the hallway, closer to where I was sitting. Embarrassed at my state, I didn't meet his eyes and just stared at the floor, but the footsteps slowed as they approached me. Confused, I looked halfway up and saw gleaming dress shoes and black dress pants stop in front of me.

"What do you think you're doing?"

I looked up all the way, and to my surprise, I saw a company representative standing in front of me with a frown.

"Sir," I said. I scrambled to my feet and bowed quickly, which the representative promptly ignored.

"Do you not know that boys aren't allowed in this part of the building?" he asked.

"Um - " I didn't know what to say. I did know that I wasn't allowed here as a trainee, but I'd thought the rules might have changed now that I'd debuted. "Uh, no, sir, I - "

He held up a hand, and I stopped talking.

"Who are you waiting for?" he asked sternly. "One of the girls?"

My eyes widened. "No, no, sir, I was just here to speak to - the manager hyung - "

"I'm sure," he said coldly.

I turned my head slightly to look at Seunghwan hyung through the window again, hoping that he'd see me being yelled at and would come to my defense, but he still had his eyes closed with his head bowed and arms crossed. I sighed and looked at my feet again when the representative spoke once more.

"Come to my office. Ten minutes," he said. My jaw dropped.

"Wait, sir, I - I promise, I don't even know their names," I said quickly.

"We'll deal with that in my office," he said, shooting me a threatening glare.

"I swear, I'm only here to see Seunghwan hyung, I - "

"I'm not going to talk about it now. We'll deal with that in my office," he repeated, then he walked away from me again as I stood there in frustration. Why did no one believe me?

I slowly sighed and picked up my bag from the floor before stealing another glance at Seunghwan hyung. He was still sleeping.

I half walked into the room to speak to him, but I'd just gotten into so much trouble for just sitting here - what would happen if I actually walked into the place?

Exasperated at myself, I just turned to a stairwell and started climbing the stairs to the representative's office.

I knocked when I got there, but he wasn't yet in his office, and I ended up waiting for another half an hour before he finally showed up at his office. I bowed nervously and followed him into his office, and I stood a few feet away from his desk while he took his own place behind his desk.

"So why were you where you were?" he asked.

I sighed. "I was there to see Seunghwan hyung, I just had something to say to him, so - "

"What was it?" he demanded. When I remained silent, he picked up the phone at his office. "I'll call him right now. You can say what you wanted to say over the phone right now."

I bit my lip and shook my head. "I - I wanted to say it in person," I said quietly.

The representative looked at me like he didn't believe a word I said, then to my horror, he picked up his phone and started dialing. A few seconds later, he started speaking into his phone.

"Hey. I've got Kyuhyun here in my office. He says he was waiting outside the practice room that your team is practicing in now to speak to you," he said. He waited for a second, then clarified. "Kyuhyun. Cho Kyuhyun from Super Junior." He waited for a few more seconds, then smirked. "Yes, really. Difficult to believe, I guess."

I hung my head and sighed. Of course it was difficult to believe. He thought I hated him. "So make a trip here. Let's both hear what he has to say," finished the representative, then without even a good-bye, the representative hung up the phone and studied my face. I couldn't maintain eye contact with him and stared at my feet. A few minutes later, the door opened, but I didn't move.

"I'm here," said Seunghwan hyung's voice hurriedly, ringing into the office.

"Please, come in," said the representative. I heard Seunghwan hyung get closer and stand beside me. I saw him with his arms crossed, looking at me. He walked closer until he was standing in front of the desk as well, but he turned his body sideways to face me. Feeling like I now had two people against me, I turned my head away a little, but Seunghwan hyung spoke.

"Kyuhyun, what happened to your - " began Seunghwan hyung, his widened eyes on my swollen lip.

I didn't answer and just stared at my feet with my brows slightly furrowed at the situation. I didn't ever meet his eyes. I mean - how could I? I'd just gotten him into trouble.

The representative watched the two of us from behind his desk, then he spoke to me.

"So, Kyuhyun, he's here now. Go ahead. Tell him what you wanted to say."

My mouth remained closed and I just chewed on my lips. I didn't even give indication that I heard anything. Seunghwan hyung looked at me, confused.

As I stayed silent, the representative crossed his arms.

"Say it now, or you'll be in bigger trouble than you ever imagined," threatened the representative.

No, I'm not going to say it in front of this representative, no way -

The representative left a few more seconds of silence, then he finally spoke again.

"Who are you dating?" he asked harshly.

I looked up and swallowed a scream of frustration by biting down hard on my tongue.

"You're dating one of my girls?" asked Seunghwan hyung, looking shocked.

My chest tightened at hearing that phrase. "My girls". It sounded so protective, and I'd only ever heard him say "my boys" to refer to us. But I reminded myself that he cared about me more than anyone else, even himself.

"No, I'm not, I don't even - "

"So what were you doing there?" asked the representative, getting up from behind his desk. I instinctively took a step back.

"I told you, I was waiting for Seunghwan hyung, I just - "

"So why can't you say what you wanted to say?" he asked.

I paused. "It's - it's private," I said, my face flushing.

There was a silence while the two of them processed my words.

"I see," said the representative skeptically. "So private that you can't say whatever it is you need to say in front of me."

"No, sir," I said defiantly. The representative sighed with frustration, but I didn't look up.

"Kyuhyun," said Seunghwan hyung. I didn't look at him as I turned my body a few small degrees. "Look at me."

I looked up and into his eyes for the first time in months. His tone had been stern, but his eyes were as warm as ever. I finally felt more at ease, and I was breathing out just as he asked his question seriously. "Kyuhyun, are you dating one of my girls?"

I shook my head. "No, sir," I whispered.

We looked into each other's eyes for a few moments, then Seunghwan hyung broke his gaze with me to look at the representative.

"I know Kyuhyun. He can't tell lies. And I know he's not lying," he said.

The representative was still looking at us doubtfully, but he soon sighed deeply.

"Fine. I'll let this one go," he said, looking at me. I let out a breath of relief and bowed my head a tiny bit to show my appreciation. "But if I see you on the girls' side of the building again or near those girls, know that consequences will be dire."

I nodded. "Yes, sir," I muttered.

The representative clicked his tongue in disapproval before turning his attention to Seunghwan hyung.

"And you," he said ferociously. I saw Seunghwan hyung look up out of the corner of my eye. "Keep a closer eye on your team so that none of this nonsense happens again."

Seunghwan hyung nodded. "Yes, sir."

"You're both dismissed," he said, and we both bowed before walking to the door.

Seunghwan hyung reached the door first and opened it, and held it open for me. I followed him out into the hall. As soon as the door clicked closed, Seunghwan hyung his heel and faced me. Flustered, I froze in place.

"Kyuhyun, what are you doing?" he asked, annoyed.

I looked up at him, flustered that he was so angry. "I just - "

"Stay away from the girls. Are you - "

"I really - really was just there to try to find you," I said, my voice barely audible.

There was a silence, then Seunghwan hyung looked up into my eyes with his bottom lip between his teeth.

"I'm - I'm really sorry," he muttered. "I - I'll pay you back soon. I'm really sorry."

He then turned his back on me to walk away with heavy feet when I grabbed his arm. "Wait, hyung, that's not it," I said. I turned him around until he was facing me totally, and I grabbed both of his arms. Then with all the courage I had, I bent my legs to get down on my knees.

But Seunghwan hyung didn't let me. He pulled me up by the arms back on my feet before either knee could touch the floor.

"Kyuhyun."

I looked up and into his eyes, and my eyes began welling up with tears of shame.

"I - I'm so sorry for - for everything," I managed.

And as soon as I lowered my head and started crying, he pulled me into a tight hug and chuckled.

"You're still such a baby," he said, then he patted me on the back and let me cry into his shoulder, holding me against him tightly.

*Author's Note: #SUJU6THYEAR

Thank you for being together for six whole years, thank you for giving us your all. Thank you, thank you, thank you.