The manager hyung stepped inside the dorm about half an hour later. Both Leeteuk and I bowed to greet him, but I felt dizzy as soon as I got up, and so had to sit down again.

"What the hell happened?" asked the manager hyung. Leeteuk and I looked at each other for a few seconds, then Leeteuk looked away from me to speak.

"Kyuhyun can't keep any of his food down," said Leeteuk calmly.

"Why is that such an emergency?" asked the manager hyung with a frown.

Leeteuk hesitated, then spoke for me again. "He hasn't eaten in over three days."

The manager hyung's eyes widened as I hung my head with my eyes closed. There was a silence, then the manager hyung asked, "Why not?"

Both Leeteuk and I stayed silent.

"Start talking or both of you are going to get it," said the manager hyung, starting to raise his voice. Leeteuk still didn't speak, but I was so scared of the manager hyung's beatings that I had to say something; I've never been on the receiving end of it before, but I had heard the other members complain about how hard it was. I thought for a brief moment, then opened my mouth.

"I felt like I had to keep my weight down," I lied.

"And you thought the best way to do that was to stop eating for three days?" shouted the manager hyung, furious.

"I'm sorry, hyung," I said, looking into my lap. Even then, the burning pain in my stomach was too much; I pushed down on it involuntarily with my arms. "I guess I had a lapse in judgment."

"Okay, let's get you to the hospital," said the manager hyung. I nodded and got up from my chair. He put my arm around his shoulders to lead me downstairs as Leeteuk took my other arm.

Once we were at the emergency room at the hospital, I sat on the edge of the bed while the manager hyung and Leeteuk both stayed standing. The three of us bowed slightly when the doctor came into the room. He took a brief look at my chart, then nodded.

"So what seems to be the problem?" he asked with a comforting smile. As Leeteuk explained that I hadn't eaten and that my stomach was rejecting all the food, the doctor nodded and looked at the chart again.

"Oh, and he had the chills just before he started eating," added Leeteuk, stealing a glance at the manager hyung, whose expression stiffened.

"Okay," concluded the doctor. He took his eyes off the chart and looked at us. "I'll just take some blood for electrolyte tests, so we know where you're at."

We nodded in understanding, then he left the room. When we were left alone in the clinic room, the manager hyung looked at both of us in annoyance.

"If you expect me to believe that crap about weight loss, you're very much mistaken," he said. I looked up at him and paled. "Now tell me the real reason."

Feeling smaller than ever before, I just sat on the bed with my head down for a second, then sighed. "Hyung, it's only because I did this that I decided to stay on the team," I said, glancing at his face.

The manager hyung opened his mouth to retort, then registering what I had just said, opened his eyes wider. "Does that mean you've chosen to stay?"

I nodded. "Thanks for giving me the two weeks," I said with a slight smile.

The manager hyung bit his lip to keep himself from smiling too widely, then touched his forehead with his hand. I looked up to glance at Leeteuk's expression, wondering whether he would be disappointed at my declaration to stay on the team, but his expression didn't change. I guessed he really was indifferent.

I looked at the manager hyung and saw that him take a breath to say something, but the door of the clinic room opened, and a nurse entered. The manager hyung closed his mouth, and the three of us gave small bows as she blushed. I guessed she was familiar with Super Junior.

"Could I get you to roll up your sleeve?" she asked bashfully, her face as red as a beet.

I was still wearing Leeteuk's sweater from earlier that night. I didn't want to stretch the cuff of the sleeves as I pulled it up above my elbow, so I took it off instead. "Thank you," I said, looking at Leeteuk. Leeteuk gave a forced smile and nodded, taking the sweater in his hand. I looked back at the nurse, who had gotten even redder. I instantly regretted taking the sweater off as I blushed as well.

She tied the rubber band around my arm and I felt a nervous chill as I felt the cold alcohol swab touch the cusp of my arm. I saw her take the needle out and place it near the vein, but I noticed that her hands were shaking as she got ready to put the needle in my arm. I bit my lip in nervousness as I continued watching, and felt the sting as the needle pierced my arm. Unfortunately, as she tried to find the vein, her hand was shaking so much that I could feel the needle tip jerk around inside my arm.

"Wait," I said with a grimace, and the nurse withdrew the needle from my arm hastily, blushing even more. I laughed a little in an attempt to make her less nervous. "Please. Take it easy."

I clenched my fist for her again, but she still wasn't able to find the vein. I let out my breath as she drew the needle out again. Watching this, the manager hyung finally spoke.

"Maybe we should ask for a different nurse. One who isn't your fan," said the manager hyung. I was instantly mortified; could he have been any more rude to the first fan that I had encountered since my debut?

"Hyung, how can you say that?" I rebuked, then I turned to the nurse again with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. Please continue."

It took her four tries in total to get to the vein. When she finally found the vein, we both sighed with relief, then meeting each other's eyes, embarrassed laughter escaped our mouths.

"Thank you," I said with a small bow as she left the room with the vials of blood. She bowed back and left the room in a hurry.

Within half an hour, the doctor returned with the bloodwork and a bag of IV fluids. "You have a bit of an electrolyte imbalance and dehydration, which is explained by the repeated vomiting. The red blood cell count is also a bit low, but that's explained by the starving. We just have to be careful because that could be the beginnings of anemia, but it should be no problem with good diet," he said with a reassuring smile. I nodded. Nothing serious. This was good.

He hung the bag of IV fluids on the pole at the side of the bed, and started connecting it with the lines. "I'll just get you to lie down in the bed," he said, and I did as I was told. He found the vein with ease, and started the drip. He collected my charts in his hands, then when I thought he was about to leave, he turned to face us again, but he had a serious face.

"At the same time that I have to respect doctor-patient confidentiality rules, I also have the obligation to report suspected child abuse cases," he said. Confused as to why I was being told this, I looked up at him from the bed.

"Um, okay," I said, unsure of what else to say.

"Your chart lists your occupation as singer-student, and that you're under temporary guardianship of your manager. Is that correct?" he asked. I looked up at the manager hyung uneasily, then I nodded. The doctor looked into my eyes. "I know that there is a pressure to keep your weight down as a singer. Has your manager been starving you?"

"WHAT?" yelled the manager hyung, enraged.

My eyes widened in shock as well. "No, no, it's nothing like that," I said quickly. "He was actually really upset that I did this to myself."

The doctor looked at the manager hyung, who was staring at him with his arms crossed. "Can I ask you to leave the room for a minute?" asked the doctor. The manager hyung looked like he might protest, but then he left the room and closed the door without saying anything. After he left, Leeteuk and I both looked up at the doctor, who sat down on a stool in the room.

"We really do eat right. We have nutritionists who make sure that we get enough food for the amount of activity we have," explained Leeteuk with a small smile. I nodded in agreement, but the doctor still looked skeptical.

"I didn't do this to lose weight," I said, looking up into his concerned face.

"You've never had to go through long periods without food before?" he asked, clearly still unconvinced.

"No, we've never - " I stopped, remembering. "We've had one 24-hour crash diet." Then seeing the doctor's face harden and Leeteuk turn around to look at me, I widened my eyes. "But it was tightly controlled. It was one day, and we all agreed to it," I added hastily.

The doctor nodded. "I see," he said. He got up from the stool that he was sitting on.

"You're not reporting us, right?" I asked, looking up at him nervously from the bed.

"No, not unless you want me to," he said, looking at me and Leeteuk in turn.

"NO!" yelled Leeteuk and I at the same time. The doctor smiled.

"Good to hear that you guys are well. Good luck with your activities," he said, opening the door to let himself out.

"Thank you," I said from the bed, feeling uncomfortable that I wasn't able to bow lying down.

"Stay healthy, both of you," he said, then after acknowledging our nods with a nod of his own, he left the room. The manager hyung returned to the room before the door closed.

"Cho Kyuhyun, do you understand what this might have caused?" he asked, shaking his head. I turned my head to look at him.

"I'm sorry. I never thought things would escalate this far," I said ruefully.

"Stop being so rash with your actions. And stop doing things like this without letting me know first," said the manager hyung in clear frustration.

"Yes, sir," I said, avoiding his gaze. I wondered whether the manager hyung would scold me until the IV fluids ran out; I looked up at the bag to find it not even a quarter empty, and sighed. As expected, the manager hyung drew in a breath to scold me further, but Leeteuk spoke first.

"Hyung, maybe we should give him some peace and quiet until he's a bit healthier," whispered Leeteuk.

The manager hyung sighed and closed his mouth. The three of us stayed silent for about two hours, when the nurse who had had such a hard time drawing my blood came into the room to stop the drip.