We returned to the dorm at around 2am that night. Sungmin was already asleep as I got started on the night's worth of schoolwork on the floor reluctantly in my room. I was halfway through my physics homework when Donghae came into the room with a yawn.

"Kyuhyun, I need to sleep. Let's turn out the lights," said Donghae. I looked up at him.

"Hyung, two more hours," I said, flipping through my books to gauge how much I needed to do.

"No. You know I can't sleep with lights on. Go study on the kitchen table," said Donghae, rubbing his eyes. I hesitated.

"But hyung, Heechul hyung is going to walk in sometime soon, and I really don't want to be there alone when he walks in," I explained. "Hyung, please. My final exams are in three weeks."

Donghae laughed. "Kyuhyun, I sympathize with you, but I really need to go to bed, and it's almost 3am. Really, you should be sleeping too."

"I really have to finish this though, hyung. I haven't finished my homework on time since I joined the team and the teacher was really short with me this morning. Please, hyung," I pleaded. Donghae ignored me.

"Stop it. Turn out the lights," said Donghae, getting into his sheets. I sighed, then thinking of a solution, I glanced Donghae.

"Hyung, what if - what if you slept on the couch in the living room tonight?" I suggested carefully.

"What?" shouted Donghae, looking extremely bothered. "Cho Kyuhyun, I've been cutting you an incredible amount of slack, and now you're walking all over me? Do you want me to regret treating you like I have been?"

I sighed. I guess that was asking for way too much. "No, hyung. I'm sorry," I said. I got up with my books in my hands and bowed to Donghae before turning out the lights and leaving the room.

I set my things down on the kitchen table for a second, but then shuddered as I imagined Heechul walk through the door in a bad mood and taking it out on me. I hesitated, then made my way into Ryeowook's room with my books in my hands. I turned the doorknob and walked inside to see Ryeowook watching dramas on his laptop again in his bed. Ryeowook looked up at me from his bed.

"Kyuhyun!" yelled Ryeowook delightedly. I saw him shift over in his bed to make room for me.

"Hey," I said with a smile. I hesitated a little. "Um, can I study in your room?" I asked. Ryeowook's smile faltered; he was clearly expecting me to watch his drama with him.

"Um..." said Ryeowook, then he glanced at his desk. "My desk is a bit messy, but if you don't mind, go for it."

"It's okay. I can study on the floor," I said, and I started on my physics homework again. I was working for just a few minutes when Ryeowook started talking to me.

"Ugh, I hate this guy! What is his problem?" he said with an angry expression on his face.

"Um - " I said, unsure of how I was supposed to respond. However, Ryeowook wasn't expecting a response; he was immersed into watching again a second later. I turned my attention back to my schoolwork, but I couldn't concentrate; I really wanted to watch Ryeowook's drama with him. I had finally begun my when Ryeowook gasped.

"No, no, no! Oh, no! That wasn't supposed to happen!" he yelled, his eyes wide. I looked up in surprise, only to see his eyes fixated on his laptop. I was confused for a second, then I laughed, realizing that he was commentating on the drama again. I looked at my physics homework, then looked up at Ryeowook.

"Ryeowook, don't you ever have schoolwork to do?" I asked. Ryeowook gave me half a glance before looking back at his laptop screen.

"Kyuhyun, I go to an arts high school. The school basically guarantees me good grades."

"But your standardized college entrance exams," I said, confused.

"I've told you before, I'm applying with celebrity status," said Ryeowook. He looked at me. "Why do you ask?"

"Um - well, I just wanted someone to study with, but you're never studying," I said, looking at my work again.

"I do study. You just never see me at it," he said, looking at his screen. "Kibum's been studying too, lately. He goes to an arts high school, too, but I think he wants a decent score on his entrance exams."

I looked up at him. "How late does he stay up to study?" I asked. I'd only spoken to Kibum once or twice since joining the team two months ago, but maybe it was about time I tried getting close to him, seeing as he and Ryeowook were the only two members on the team who wa the same age as me. Ryeowook glanced at the clock.

"He's probably awake now," he said.

"Thanks," I said, and I picked up my books to leave his room.

"Bye," said Ryeowook half-heartedly. I waved, but he was already totally absorbed into his drama again.

I turned the doorknob to the room that Kibum shared with Yesung, Hankyung and Eunhyuk carefully without knocking; I didn't want to wake anyone up with my knocking. I poked my head inside. To my relief, the light was still on. The three hyungs were asleep, and Kibum was on his bed with a textbook and a notebook on his lap. He looked up at me with a blank expression.

"Hey," I whispered. "Kibum, do you want to study with me?"

Kibum stared at me for so long without saying anything, and I felt so uncomfortable that I that I shifted my eyes away from him without realizing it. I opened my mouth to tell him to forget it when he finally spoke.

"Did you just drop honorifics with me?" he asked, his face still expressionless.

I stared at him as I slowly thought back to what I had said to him; indeed, I had spoken to him informally. I felt my face grow hot as I realized the mistake, and I almost started bowing with apology, but then I stopped myself. "Yeah. But who cares? We're the same age. Let's feel comfortable with each other. I mean, we're still on the same team," I said informally with a small smile. Kibum looked at me again. I thought he would start shouting, but to my surprise, he nodded.

"Fine, whatever. I don't really care. But I was actually just going to go to bed," he said without even the slightest amount of expression on his face.

Confused at this mixed message, I backed out of the room with a flustered "Okay," and closed the door. Not having found a place to study, I sighed and returned to my darkened room where Donghae and Sungmin were sleeping. I laid down on the floor and without having finished the homework again, I fell asleep.

The manager hyung drove me to school the next morning before anything else for my hour of class of the day. After the hour, the other students went outside for physical education and the teacher and I were left alone in the classroom when the teacher asked me to see my homework.

"I don't have it done," I said, hanging my head. "I'm really sorry."

The teacher got more angry than I had ever seen him before, and started a long lecture. I listened to the whole thing without saying a word, but towards the end, he ordered me to get up and put my hands on my desk. I paled and finally spoke.

"Sir, I know I deserve it, but - but would you please, please let it slide? I promise, no matter what happens, I'll have it done tomorrow," I said, looking into his eyes.

"You've said the same thing for two months, and never once have you finished the work I've assigned you. Is it too much for me to conclude that just words aren't getting through to you?" he asked, clearly furious at me.

I hesitated. "No, sir, but I really might not be able to walk afterwards if I get another beating. I got one on the weekend and it actually already kind of hurts to just sit here," I said seriously, looking up at him. To my surprise, I saw the corners of his mouth twitch as if he were going to smile; I guessed that he rarely heard students speak so frankly to him. He then sighed, pulling up the chair in front of me and sat down so that we were sitting facing each other with my graffiti-covered desk between us.

"Kyuhyun, you do realize that I'm asking you to do the bare minimum, right? You're only doing half of what the other students in the class are doing."

I nodded and shifted my weight in my seat. "Yes, sir," I said reluctantly. There was a silence, then the teacher sighed.

"If you don't rank within the top 20 in the school in the coming final exams, I will no longer be preparing take-home work for you."

My heart dropped.

"But sir - there are 600 students in the graduating class," I stuttered. "That's - that's unrealistic. And sir, I'm going out of the country the week before exams, so - "

"As far I I know, you've never missed top 10 since you entered high school. And if I'm not mistaken, you've topped the rankings last year," he said, looking into my eyes.

I sighed. "But I wasn't even training back then," I said. "I could spend all my time studying. This time around, I'm lucky to have three hours a day to study. And sir, I'm really not exaggerating when I say I get less than three hours of sleep a day. I'm so tired all the time, and - "

"Kyuhyun, you chose to do this because you wanted a shot at a top ten college," he said. "You won't make it if you don't rank in the top 20 in the school at least."

I lost my words as his sank in. As much as I didn't want to believe it, it was true.

"I also don't want to be wasting my time putting together the take-home work for you when you're not showing me that you can handle the college entrance exams. You're also wasting yours if you're not going to go all the way."

I hesitated, then nodded. "Okay. I'll try harder."

The teacher nodded and smiled. "Good. I just want the best for you."

"Yes, sir. Thank you," I said. He finally dismissed me, and with worry flooding me as to whether I could make the rankings, I walked towards the manager hyung's van to start the workday.