I stared at the young boy for a long time, not even taking notice of the strange name. The kid stared right back, much to my displeasure, and I turned to the rest of the team.

"What is this?" I asked coldly after having opened my mouth with difficulty. "You didn't think I'd get better in time, so you found a replacement for me?"

"No, no, believe me, we'd never replace you," said Leeteuk gently, taking me by the shoulders. Irritated by the gesture instead of comforted, though, I shook them off and turned to Henry instead.

"What are you staring at?" I demanded. I expected him to drop his head, if not begin to apologize while bowing, but he continued to stare into my eyes. I opened my mouth angrily to start scolding him for daring to maintain eye contact with me when I heard a few chuckles.

"Since when does our maknae knows how to yell at hoobae?" said Sungmin. He took me by my hand to turn my fiery gaze away from Henry, but the chuckles from around the room at my anger had made me even more furious.

"Let go," I muttered, then I began throwing everything that wasn't mine off the bed onto the floor. I didn't care who this kid was; he wasn't getting the bed that I earned only after months of work. As I picked up the third piece of clothing from the bed to drop it moodily on the floor, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Kyuhyun."

Shaking in anger, I turned my head to see that Seunghwan hyung had just made it into the room. I glared up at him, tears of hatred forming in my eyes. "I just saw you yesterday, and you didn't tell me that you were planning on replacing me."

"Kyuhyun, listen to me," said Seunghwan hyung quietly. "He's not going to replace anyone. I promise."

"Then why didn't you tell me he would be here?" I demanded, feeling my veins pulsing in my head.

"I - I didn't realize you were going to be back so soon, so - so I just - I was going to tell you eventually, but - " stuttered Seunghwan hyung.

"You came to see me every day to check up on how I was doing, and you saw me not getting any better and decided to bring him in?"

Seunghwan hyung stared at me for a few moments, then he shook his head. "No. No, Kyuhyun. Get a grip, and just stop. Leave his things alone and just - "

At that, I exploded.

"You're taking his side?" I shouted.

"No, Kyuhyun, I'm not taking sides!" Seunghwan hyung explained, also raising his voice, having lost his patience.

"Why not?" I yelled, staring at him in disbelief. "You're supposed to be on my side! You said you had no doubt that I can stand on stage again just yesterday!"

"I don't," he said, his voice still low and his eyes calm.

"Then why are you trying to replace me with him?" I said, pointing to the small kid.

"Kyuhyun, this isn't about replacing you. It's just a - "

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

Seunghwan hyung stared back for a while as if he were going to start screaming at me, but then simply turned around and walked towards the door to leave the room. And soon, I heard the front door open as he left the dorm altogether. I sighed and sat back down on the bed in frustration. When I tilted my head back, trying to calm myself down, I heard someone speak quietly.

"I want to talk to him for a minute."

I opened my eyes and looked up to find Sungmin having worked up the courage to push everyone out of the room. No one seemed keen to interfere with his wishes, and all slowly moved away from me and to the door instead. The rumbling of voices resumed in the common area, and soon, the last member had walked out of the room and the door clicked closed, leaving just me and Sungmin in it. I leaned back and lied back down on the bed. Moments later, I heard and felt Sungmin sit down on Ryeowook's bed carefully. There was a long silence in which I breathed sigh after sigh, then Sungmin finally spoke.

"I know how you feel," he said quietly. "I do. I really do."

I sighed again and looked at Sungmin. "You don't."

"I do," he said persistently. "When you joined the team - "

"That's different," I said quietly.

"How?" he insisted. "How, Kyuhyun? It wasn't different. If anything, this is better. The company's just trying Henry out as a part of the team. For us, they just said that you were going to be a part of this team!"

I stared up at him, still lying on the bed. He really didn't understand, did he?

"Hyung, back then, the company still knew that you would be able to dance and sing."

I turned my head away and stared at the ceiling, allowing the worry to overtake the anger. What if the company really did want to replace me? What if everything I've worked for has become nothing?

Sungmin took my hand in his, then sighed.

"I know you must be upset, and I'm sorry none of us told you earlier. I'm really, really sorry."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" I asked, still not looking at him.

"I - " he sighed. "We were going to tell you eventually, I swear. He's only been here for a few days."

I finally steered my gaze away from the ceiling and met Sungmin's eyes, feeling even more betrayed after those words. "Hyung, please don't lie to me now. He must have been here for at least a month."

"What? No, I'm really not lying, Kyuhyun, he came last Friday, so - look, it actually hasn't even been a week."

I shook my head. "I don't believe you."

"Why not?" he urged. "I'm telling you the truth."

I raised my eyebrows. Did he really think I was that stupid?

"No one who's new to a dorm full of sunbaes would make this big of a mess in less than a week. They'd be on their toes and on their best behaviour for at least a month."

Especially at this dorm with this group of hyungs.

Sungmin stared at me for a second, then he chuckled, which annoyed me.

"Don't laugh," I warned.

"No, it's just - " he smiled again before continuing. "He's the messiest kid I've ever seen. He doesn't clean up after himself, not in this room, not in the kitchen, not in the practice rooms - "

I was still skeptical, but I asked the burning question in my mind.

"So why haven't you beaten him into it yet?" I said contentiously.

Sungmin looked uncomfortable for a moment and took in several deep breaths as he took that many tries to speak. A few moments later, he finally opened his mouth hesitantly when the door to the room opened. I frowned in annoyance at whoever it was who'd interrupted Sungmin's speech, and looked to the door. They'd all left the room to let Sungmin and me talk in private, and who was interrupting now?

It was the manager hyung who'd poked his head inside timidly. As Sungmin and I both stared at him, he spoke. "Sorry for interrupting, but - but I thought maybe - so I - "

"What are you saying?" I asked moodily.

Sungmin gave me a slightly reproachful look at my disrespect, but I ignored him and continued glaring at the manager hyung, who looked down at his feet, not willing to meet my eyes. Feeling a pang of guilt that a hyung who was many years older than me was acting as such around me, I sat up, stopped glaring and looked down into my lap. And finally, the manager hyung lifted his head, as did I.

"I - I really hope you understand, I just - "

I frowned in confusion as to why the manager hyung was so lost for words, then I heard a deep sigh from the other side of the door.

"Get out of my way, hyung."

I widened my eyes as I saw the figure barging into the room.

"Cho Kyuhyun, you little brat!" shouted Heechul. My mouth dropped open. Why was he here? Had the manager hyung told Heechul about the incident, and did Heechul ask to come here so that he could straighten me out? I expected him to start yelling at me, but he just put on his trademark cocky smile. "I go back to the other dorm after a long day, expecting to be able to sleep and rest, and now look what's happening!"

"Hyung, you don't understand, I just got back to the dorm, and no one told me that they gave away my hard-earned bed - "

Heechul nodded and put on a more serious face.

"Okay. I know. I understand."

"You don't!" I said, exasperated. "You don't, hyung, how can you say you know when you've never been in - "

"I know," said Heechul quietly. "I know."

"How would you know what it's like for you to come back from an accident and see your space on the team taken from you like - "

Heechul stared at me silently without saying anything, listening to me shouting. And the look on his face made me realize my mistake.

He'd been through the same.

I finally closed my mouth and looked at Heechul, who gave another forced, cocky laughter before walking over to Leeteuk's bed and sat down. He put his hand on Sungmin's shoulder gently, and Sungmin got up with a nod of understanding. "I'll leave you two to it," he said with a warm smile, then he got up from Ryeowook's bed with a tight squeeze of my shoulder.

As soon as the door clicked closed behind Sungmin, Heechul wiped the smile off his face and slung his arm around my shoulders... warmly, caringly, comfortingly. We stayed like that for a few moments until I collected my thoughts. It was really true. Heechul had been through almost exactly the same. And he must understand...

I looked at Heechul, who hastily dropped his arm from my shoulders and turned his head away from me at the movement. I missed the touch right away and wished he hadn't, but Heechul was busy avoiding his gaze with me. He cleared his throat awkwardly and when I next looked at him, he had an uncomfortable smile again.

"God damn it, Cho Kyuhyun. You're just such a hassle, all the time," he said, taking me by the back of my neck and pushing me lightly back and forth. I sighed sadly and looked in my lap again. Now I couldn't even vent comfortably, knowing that Heechul wouldn't accept it.

"Hey, I know it's hard," said Heechul. "But you have to trust us. We'll protect you even if it means that we won't be on this team anymore," said Heechul, patting my shoulder. "Don't you worry."

"But the company - "

"Damn it, Cho Kyuhyun," said Heechul, suddenly expressing all of his frustration with his hands thrown up in the air. "How do you live like that?"

"Live - live like what?" I stuttered.

"Live not trusting anyone!" he said with the incredulous laugh still on his face.

I opened my mouth to retort, then I realized that I had nothing to say. Why wasn't I trusting them? It didn't make sense. I hung my head and fiddled with my figers when Heechul spoke, gently again.

"The most important thing to being on this team is to trust everyone else," he said, then he smiled. "We'll never let anyone be taken away from us. Because we're one."

"We're one..." I repeated with a frown. We're... we're one? What does that mean?

"Yeah. We're one. Super Junior is one. No matter how much we argue and how much we fight, we're one. Without you, we'll be nothing."

I felt a smile come up on my lips as I felt my heart soften. I put my hand over my heart for a moment, then I looked up at Heechul. "Funny I'm hearing you, of all people, say that," I said.

Heechul laughed loudly. "But take that with a grain of salt. You never know when I'm going to tell you to go die again."

I laughed as well in embarrassment, remembering the incident. I knew we hated each other back then, but how sensitive was I back then that I was so hurt with those passing words?

"And you have to know that it's not Henry's fault that he's here. It's the company, not him," said Heechul. "So this - " he said, bending down to the floor to pick up a piece of Henry's clothing that I'd just thrown, " - this is just immature."

I looked up at Heechul, hurt. "That's so mean. You're so mean. You were so hard on me for over a year when I first joined, but you've already taken this kid under your wing. This is just unfair."

Heechul raised his eyebrows. "He's cute. You're not cute," snapped Heechul.

I crossed my arms, pouted and was about to retort when Heechul slapped me on the back, making me wince.

"But you're a dongsaeng I treasure more than anyone else," he said, his voice a notch quieter again. I hid a smile, being so touched, but then pouted.

"You're just saying that," I said testily, and Heechul smiled as he got up.

"Of course I am. Now pick up all of his clothes and apologize to him. I'm going to let him in. Damn it, Cho Kyuhyun, we just got back from a long practice, and just because of you, the whole team can't even go to sleep."

I sighed and got up from the bed, too, and when I did, Heechul looked into my eyes genuinely with an unspoken, Are you sure you'll be okay?

"I'm fine," I said bravely. "I trust you."

I felt my cheeks blush a bright red as soon as I said it, though. God, it's so embarrassing, I was just being mopey to Heechul hyung, of all people, and I know he's going to start laughing at me in three - two -

But Heechul maintained the serious ace.

"Good," he said simply, then he turned around and opened the door to the room. I craned my neck around Heechul's figure to look into the hallway to see everyone quite close to the door, looking startled, and quickly scrambling away from it. I squinted my eyes.

"Maybe you could have made it less obvious that you were listening the entire - " I began, but Heechul cleared his throat loudly, and I sighed and faced everyone. And then, with everyone watching, I looked around until I saw the only face that I still hadn't gotten used to. He looked at me like I was some sort of a monster, and I sighed. Serves me right. After having promised myself such a long time ago that I'd never lose my temper with a hoobae, here I am.

"Okay," I said, approaching him until we were less than an arm's length away. He took a hasty step back, though, making me take another one forward.

"Okay," I said, trying to make myself less nervous as I felt every hyung's eyes on me. I saw the manager hyung standing there, too, and the nervousness almost doubled. God, this was worse than a live interview.

I took a deep breath. Here goes.

"Okay," I sighed, looking at the kid. "Okay. I'm sorry. I promise, I'm not usually like this. I just - didn't expect to anyone else besides the team here."

He stared at me blankly with fear still etched into his eyes. Feeling the pang of guilt stab my chest, I reached for his shoulder with an apologetic smile. "I - hey, I'm sorry."

He still didn't accept the apology and instead flinched when I touched his shoulder. I stared at him with my hand hovering over his shoulder for a little while, then dropped my hand to my side instead.

"Um... hey, I - I'm really sorry," I pleaded again, hoping that he would please, please say something this time, but he still wouldn't. I ran a frustrated hand through my hair, but then stopped myself, trying to be as polite as I could in this situation. "Look, all you have to say is 'I understand, hyung - ' and - "

And then I realized my mistake. Oh god, I just assumed that he was younger than me because he was a hoobae, but that probably wasn't true and that was probably why he was refusing to accept my apology. I was probably younger than him.

I stopped abruptly mid-sentence and looked into his eyes. "Um - hyu - hyung?" I said uncertainly.

At this, I heard chuckles from around the room. Oh god, they were laughing at me because I finally got it. I'm still the youngest on this team.

"Hyung, I'm really sorry," I said in honorifics. Henry still didn't accept the apology, though. I looked up at everyone, who was laughing again. I was just about to ask what was so funny when a throat cleared.

"He's younger than you," said Heechul, sounding as if he couldn't stand watching me make such a fool of myself anymore.

I raised my eyebrows and looked at the kid again. "Then why are you being so rude? I know I must have hurt you, but I told you, I'm really sorry."

"He - " said Heechul again with a sigh, " - doesn't speak Korean."

"He doesn't speak - " I repeated, then my mouth dropped open.

What?

Then why is he here?

"He's from Canada. He only speaks English."

"Why did no one tell me - "

"Because it was funny," said Heechul.

"I hate you," I sighed. "All of you."

I then looked at Henry among more snickering. God, I hate all of you.

"Um," I said, scratching my head. I could talk to him in English, I could at least say "sorry" in English... but then, I wouldn't actually get across everything I wanted to, and with everyone watching, I just couldn't bring myself to make even more of a fool out of myself. Then after long contemplation, I remembered the phrase that my friend had said in cheek that earned him a flood of laughter from every student as well as a beating from the teacher in English class, but seemed to be so fitting today: I don't need to be able to speak English. I can just use body language.

I stepped closer to Henry until there was barely an inch between my apologetic face and his scared one, and placed a hand on his shoulder. I felt him beginning to shake, and feeling terrible that I'd instilled that much fear in him with my immaturity earlier, I just pulled him closer and embraced him in a tight hug, willing for him to understand. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't hate you. I'm sorry.

But as I squeezed tighter, he just shook harder, and eventually, I let go of the hug, realizing that he still hadn't understood. When I looked into his face again after the hug, his face held even more fear than before, much to my dismay. I sighed and gave up trying to apologize, but everyone else seemed pleased enough at my attempts. When I patted the seat of Henry's pants, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryeowook reaching for my cheeks and giving me a pinch and Yesung reach for my upper lip again. I found both gestures to be so comforting, and then I laughed again. I couldn't believe I was actually enjoying this now.

"I think I almost feel a bit of fat in your cheeks, finally," he said, sounding satisfied. But at this, I looked up at him worriedly.

"Does that mean I need to start dieting again?"

I heard a loud, collective shout of "NO!", one of them from the manager hyung.

"Kyuhyun, you just have to eat what I feed you and don't even think about working out to lose weight, okay?"

I looked up at Seunghwan hyung to look at his response to Ryeowook's suggestion, but he also nodded. "Just - I don't think you'll have to worry about dieting anytime soon, Kyuhyun."

I widened my eyes. "So I can eat whatever I want now?"

"Yeah," said Seunghwan hyung.

I smiled. "Can you buy me a cake tomorrow?" I asked jokingly, looking at Seunghwan hyung. But he just nodded.

"Yeah. I'll pick one up for you tomorrow night," he said with a serious nod. As I beamed at the pleasant surprise, Seunghwan hyung gave a loud yawn.

"Okay, let's all head to bed," said Seunghwan hyung with a loud yawn, and at that, everyone began wandering into their rooms with a clap on my back and a short "Welcome back."

I heard Heechul demanding to Seunghwan hyung that he get a bed for the night if Seunghwan hyung were too tired to drive him back to the officetel, and then I remembered the problem.

I was looking worriedly at the three beds when I felt someone take my arm. I looked, perplexed, to realize that Ryeowook had wrapped my arm around his shoulders, was holding on to my side, and was trying to support me to the beds.

"Ryeowook, I can walk," I said with an uncomfortable laugh, but Ryeowook ignored me and sat me down on my bed.

"Okay, come lie down, Kyuhyun," he said, stripping the blanket off of my bed for me. I got in the bed like he instructed, and then I saw Henry's confused face. I looked uncertainly at Leeteuk, who was getting in his own bed. Leeteuk's eyes met mine for a split second before being fixed on Henry.

"Henry, you can sleep here," said Leeteuk, pointing at a space on the floor at the foot of our beds.

Henry just stared like he didn't understand, and Leeteuk sighed and got out of his bed. He left the room, and then moments later, he was back with extra blankets from the closet in the living room that I'd used to sleep on the floor for so long. He began spreading them out onto the floor with a perplexed Henry just watching. And when he was finished, he pointed to Henry. "You can sleep here," he said, pointing to the blankets on the floor.

"H - here?" repeated Henry, although I wasn't convinced that he actually knew the word.

"Yes. Here," confirmed Leeteuk. We all started getting in our beds, having solved the problem, but even after we had all settled into our beds, Henry stayed standing.

I watched him for a moment before looking to Leeteuk, who was so exhausted that he was already dozing off.

"I'll bet he's never slept on the floor before," I said quietly.

Leeteuk opened his eyes a slit and looked at Henry, who looked like he was on the verge of tears. And seeing this, my heart softened.

"Hyung, I'll sleep on the floor," I said.

"No," said Ryeowook.

"Yes," I said, looking at him. "I'm used to sleeping on the floor. I'll be okay."

"But you're sick," insisted Ryeowook. "I'll sleep on the floor. You stay in your bed."

"But - "

"No buts, Kyuhyun, just - "

"Enough," sighed Leeteuk, sitting up. "Stop arguing. I'll just sleep on the floor."

I stared at him in shock when I heard Ryeowook voicing my exact thoughts.

"What? But hyung - you're the leader, hyung. How are we supposed to be able to sleep comfortable with our legs straight when you're - "

"I said, stop arguing," he said. He kicked the blankets off and got up with a grunt. He then took Henry by his arm and led him to his own bed. "Henry, you can just sleep here from now on."

Henry got into Leeteuk's bed uncertainly, and we watched as Leeteuk laid himself down on the hard floor over the blankets.

I sat up, feeling more uncomfortable than ever.

"But hyung, your bad back," I said, starting to feel terrible.

"Don't worry and go to sleep," grunted Leeteuk. And just moments later, I heard snoring coming from Leeteuk, and a few more seconds later, I heard Henry's breathing become more even as well as he fell asleep.

I sighed and looked at the dark ceiling.

It will work with this new kid. Everything will work.

As I repeated the same phrase over and over in my head to convince myself, I heard Ryeowook's voice.

"Kyuhyun?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you thirsty or anything?"

I smiled. "No, I'm fine."

"If you need anything, just let me know."

I nodded in the darkness. "Okay."

Then a few moments later, Ryeowook spoke again.

"I'll be a much, much better friend," murmured Ryeowook. "I promise."

"You were the perfect friend as it was," I said.

"No, but I'll really start taking care of you now, as a hyung."

I snorted in the darkness.

"Hyung? Don't make me laugh, Kim Ryeowook."

I heard Ryeowook chuckle, then I felt his hand on mine.

"I'm so proud of you for getting better," he whispered. "I'm so proud of you."

I just smiled silently, not knowing how to respond, but before I could think of an appropriate response, I heard the same exhausted snores come from Ryeowook as well.