There was panic in the manager hyung's voice. "Kyuhyun, whatever you do, don't leave the dorm until I get there. Do you understand? Kyuhyun. Talk to me."

I flipped the cell phone closed without saying anything else - I was in no state to leave the dorm right away anyway. At that moment, Ryeowook and Eunhyuk returned to the room.

"Did you call the manager hyung already?" asked Ryeowook, seeing the phone in my hand. I closed my eyes and nodded.

"Okay, good," said Ryeowook, and he patted my arm as he took the phone from my hand to set it back down on the bedside table.

"I just - I don't know what to do," said Eunhyuk, still in his state of terror.

I sniffled and let the tears in my eyes roll out onto my cheeks. The tears of hurt and disappointment had turned into tears of pain as I calmed down and became more aware of my surroundings again.

"Can I have some time alone?" I said quietly.

"I - I don't think we should leave you alone for too long right now," said Eunhyuk, clearly nervous. "I just don't - I - Kyuhyun, I'm so sorry. I can't believe - I was the only one that didn't drink today - I should have been the one to stop him before he went so far."

I didn't reply; I was just trying to push the flood of intense pain out of my mind.

"Kyuhyun, I know this might be awkward, but I feel like we should try to take care of the wound," said Ryeowook, putting his hand on my back.

At that moment, Siwon appeared at the doorway.

"How does it look?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"We haven't looked at it yet, but Siwon, can you get him some clean clothes? We have to change him out of his bloodstained ones eventually," said Eunhyuk.

Siwon nodded and left the room, but he returned in a short while.

"Hey, I can't find any of his clothes in the closet. Doesn't he share with Sungmin hyung and Donghae?" said Siwon.

"He never got to use the closet. His suitcase is in the storage closet in the living room," said Ryeowook.

"Seriously? It's been over a month and he still hasn't been able to unpack?" said Siwon, aghast, but he directed his feet towards the living room and was soon back with my suitcase.

"Kyuhyun - if you feel more comfortable, we'll just help with the wound and you can change into your new clothes on your own," said Ryeowook.

"That's fine," I managed, wiping away my tears.

"Okay," confirmed Ryeowook. "You're okay if we start, right?" He asked. I nodded, and soon, I felt my pants being pulled down carefully. I grimaced in pain as I heard everyone else gasp.

"Oh god," said Siwon, turning his head away.

"I can't - this looks - " said Eunhyuk, getting up, but Ryeowook pulled him back.

"Hyung, please," said Ryeowook with a shaking voice. "You had the cotton swab ready, right?"

"Um, yeah," said Eunhyuk, clearly disturbed.

There was a pause, and then I felt a harsh sting as the cold cotton swab touched me. I flinched away with a sharp intake of breath. "Wait," I whimpered, gripping Eunhyuk's wrist. I released my breath, and no one moved for a moment.

"Kyuhyun, let's get this over with," said Eunhyuk after a while. I nodded, wiped my tears and let go of his arm.

He and Ryeowook finished cleaning the wound and dressed it in silence while I clenched my fists as tightly as I could to manage the stinging pain.

"We'll leave you alone to change," said Ryeowook after he was done, patting my back. "Take your time."

I consented, and the three of them left the room.

I had finally stopped crying, finished changing - albeit with more difficulty than I first imagined - and had laid down in the bed again when I heard the front door opening.

"Where's Kyuhyun?" I heard through the closed door.

"He's in my room," said Ryeowook. I heard footsteps getting closer, and the door flew open. The manager hyung stood at the doorway with Eunhyuk and Ryeowook on his tail.

"Kyuhyun, what happ -" said the manager hyung as I slowly got to my feet to acknowledge his presence, and bowed slightly. I saw his eyes move from my puffy face to my suitcase on the floor.

"What happened?" said the manager hyung with a frown.

I looked away, but Eunhyuk spoke.

"Some of the hyungs got angry with him, and - well, Kyuhyun was being punished for talking back, but then..." he trailed off.

"But I know you do that to him all the time. What changed?" asked the manager hyung.

Eunhyuk hesitated, but Ryeowook spoke. "He - he bled today," he said, looking at his feet.

The manager hyung turned around to look at Eunhyuk and Ryeowook with the coldest, most serious glare I had ever seen on him. "Are you saying you beat him until he bled, all for talking back?" he asked quietly. I felt a shiver at the amount of anger in his voice.

"Okay," he said a few moments later, when Eunhyuk and Ryeowook were silent. "I'm going to speak with Kyuhyun alone."

"Yes, sir," said Eunhyuk. Both left the room, closing the door as they left, and I was alone in the room with the manager hyung.

 There was a long silence where neither of us spoke, then the manager hyung finally opened his mouth.

"Are you okay?" asked the manager hyung. When I didn't say anything, he hung his head. "That's silly of me. You're obviously not."

He sat down on the bed, but got up again when he saw me stay on my feet.

"I'm so sorry that this happened. I've told Jungsu that hitting between members should never happen when either end is angry or emotional, but I guess he was drunk and his judgment wasn't the clearest. I'll be sure to confront him and the rest of the team about this."

I stayed silent as I wondered whether anyone would have acted differently if they weren't drunk. Somehow, I felt like blaming it on their being drunk was just an easy excuse out. A few moments later, the manager hyung spoke again.

"Kyuhyun, I think you were emotional and unable to really think clearly when you were on the phone. Am I right?" he asked carefully.

"Hyung..." I said, looking at the ground. "I'm so sorry. I know you've worked hard to get me this far."

"Kyuhyun, listen to me," he said, putting his hands on my shoulders. "This could be the end of your music career."

"I know," I said. "I never should have accepted the offer to join this band."

"Don't let your emotions get in the way of your future. You do realize that terminating the contract means you can't appear on air for seven years, right?" said the manager hyung. I looked at him and nodded.

"I'm ready for that," I said. "Nothing is worth this. I don't want to burden you any more than I already have, so I'll make arrangements to move out right away."

"You're being irrational and rash. I know you're making the biggest mistake of your life."

"Hyung, I appreciate you doing this, but like I said, it's not worth - "

"Two weeks," said the manager hyung. "Wait two weeks to make your decision."

"Hyung, I've already made it," I said.

"Then give us two weeks to change your mind. Please."

And then he got on his knees.

"Hyung, what - oh, come on, don't do this," I said, flustered. "Stop. Please."

"Just two weeks," he said.

"Hyung, please," I said, my eyes filling with tears again. "I know I won't change my mind, so please don't make me suffer through for another two weeks."

"You're not ready to make a huge decision like this right now. So give it two weeks. If you haven't changed your mind at the end of the two weeks, I'll be able to let you go."

I closed my eyes in frustration, but then took the manager hyung by his hands to pull him up. "Okay, hyung," I said with a sigh. "Two weeks."

"You won't regret it," he said, taking my shoulders in his hands again.

"But can I have a few favours in return, hyung?"

"What are they?"

"Firstly... please don't confront the team about what happened tonight."

The manager hyung hesitated. "Kyuhyun, I have to address this. This is a huge issue."

"I want to make the decision based on their real feelings. I don't want you to artificially guilt them into treating me better," I said.

The manager hyung ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Okay, but that means none of them will be punished for doing what they did today."

I nodded. "I'm okay with that. And the other thing is, hyung... Could you possibly give me and Donghae hyung a day off tomorrow?"

"To do what?"

"Hyung, I can barely even walk right now. There's no way I can perform."

"I understand that, but why is Donghae involved in this?"

"He's not. But... but hyung, I think he needs the day off more than I do. I - I think you know about his dad."

The manager hyung paused. "Okay," he said. "You can take the day off tomorrow. As for Donghae, he already has schedules booked tomorrow, so I can't give him the day off. But I promise I'll give him one sometime this week."

I nodded and smiled faintly. "Yes, sir. Thank you so much, hyung."

"It's worth it if it makes you reconsider," he said. I bowed my head. Why did he want me on the team so much? No one else wanted it. Not the members, not the fans, not even me. What was he seeing that the rest of us weren't? As these thoughts ran through my head, the manager hyung nodded.

"Okay. I'll have to start making arrangements for tomorrow since you'll be missing at the performances," said the manger hyung. "Take care, Kyuhyun. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Okay, hyung. Thank you - and I'm so sorry," I said with a bow. And after a warm, comforting pat on my back, he left the room.