Chp 75

Kyuhyun... It's been hard on you.

When I got on the bus, I finally looked out the window to notice the combination of the colourful evening sky complemented with the hot, red sun. Just outside the window, I was intrigued to see palm trees; it finally hit me that I was in a different country. I finally forgot my tired body and even the pressure of my exams, and started enjoying the view.

"This is my first time seeing palm trees in real life," I said to Ryeowook, who was sitting next to me.

"Really?" he said half-heartedly, but there was a perpetual smile on his face as well; he was also too busy taking in the views.

"Okay, guys, can I get a bit of attention?" asked the manager hyung with a wide grin. We all reluctantly took our eyes off the window looked at the manager hyung. "Same rules as every other trip we've had so far. Be in your hotel rooms by 10pm at the latest. Since all of the work you're doing is going to be during the day, your workdays are short. There should be no exceptions to the curfew. I don't care what you do in your rooms, but just make sure you're in your rooms by then. Is that clear?" he asked. We made sounds of understanding.

"Also, the bar and the food downstairs is free, but no eating without permission, and please, don't get visibly drunk. Are we clear on this too?" We agreed again.

"Right, and everyone, try to be on time every morning. Otherwise, have a good time, everyone. Have the night to yourselves, and work begins tomorrow morning at 7am for the music video filming. We'll meet with the staff in the conference room on the first floor."

As soon as he finished talking, the bus pulled up to the hotel. I just stared at it in awe; it was the biggest, the most elegant hotel I'd ever seen.

"Wow," I whispered. Ryeowook looked at me and beamed.

"This is going to be really, really fun," he said.

"Okay. Stay on the bus while I check us in," said the manager hyung, then he stepped off the bus while the rest of us started chattering excitedly. Soon, the manager hyung was back.

"Your luggage is being brought up to your rooms as we speak," said the manager hyung. "Two people to a room. Teuk, you're by yourself so you can take care of the boys easier," he said, handing Leeteuk an envelope, presumably with the access card in it. "The room assignments are reverse-age, like always," he said. I smiled and looked at the manager hyung for a moment, then I realized what he was saying. The excitement disappeared, and my mind went blank. My smile slid off my face to be replaced by horror. No. The manager hyung wouldn't do that to me. I looked up at the manager hyung, panicked, but he didn't notice; he just held up the next envelope. "So, Heechul and Kyuhyun," he said, holding out an envelope for me to take. My mouth dropped open. Thoughts of Heechul being in a bad mood in a room alone with me in it flashed by, and the kicking incident filled my head again. Oh god, if that happened again and if there was no one there to help me -

I swallowed in nervousness. Before I could get any words out, though, he was on to the next envelope. "Hankyung and Kibum... Jongwoon and Ryeowook," he said, giving Ryeowook an envelope, who beamed in excitement with having to room with his favourite hyung.

"Oh my god," I muttered with my eyes closed. Did I really have to room with Heechul on this trip, for an entire week? I stole a glance at Heechul, who was clearly also unhappy; my heart dropped again. I wondered whether I should insist on a room change, but it was clear that doing so would make Heechul hate me even more. And really, who was I to dispute the assignments?

"Okay, boys. Get inside," said the manager hyung, and everyone rushed off the bus and into the hot summer air. Just outside the bus, I opened the envelope and handed Heechul one of the access cards without saying anything. Heechul also took it without saying anything, and we maintained an awkward distance as we went upstairs into our room. We stepped inside our room in silence. I bit my lip and reminded myself that it was going to be like this for the whole week, and tried to start a conversation.

"Sunbaenim - " I started, but Heechul turned his head to look at me with a glare.

"A few things," he said, looking at me. I closed my mouth immediately. "I can't stand any type of a mess in the room, so keep everything clean. I'm not going to wait an entire day for room service to clean your mess. At the beginning and end of the day, I get the shower first. I can't sleep unless it's pitch black and completely silent. So if you have sleeping habits, I suggest you find a way to get rid of them. Don't lay a finger on any of my things. I also can't stand being late, so if you don't wake up in the morning on your own, I'm not going to try to wake you up."

"Y - yes, sunbaenim," I said, blood rushing to my face; I felt like I was being scolded already.

"If you ignore anything I've just said or make mistakes, don't expect to be able to stand after I'm through with you," he said as coldly as ever.

I bowed in fear and carefully stepped inside the room after Heechul. After he had chosen his side of the room, I followed him inside as well. I considered unpacking, but I didn't think I could stay in the room alone with Heechul without feeling scared; I just put my backpack back on, and left the room to find a quiet place to study for a couple of hours before curfew.

 

 

When I went downstairs to the lobby, though, the bar caught my attention before anything else. I hesitated, then I called the manager hyung.

"Hyung, am I allowed to drink?" I asked.

"Yeah. There's no drinking age here. But don't get drunk," he warned.

"Okay, I won't," I assured.

"Two glasses of wine at a time, maximum," he said.

"Okay, hyung," I said. I closed the phone and finally smiled.

I got myself a glass of wine and sat down at the counter. I opened my book to study, knowing it really must have been a strange sight, but I ignored the stares; I started reading my history textbook while sipping my wine when a chair next to me moved. I looked up to glance at who it was, and to my surprise, it was Kibum with a beer in his hand. "Hey," I said informally.

"I can't wait to see you much you're going to drink once you're of age in Korea," he said, sitting down next to me. I smiled.

"I just like wine," I said. I looked at the wine glass in my hand, and swirled and smelled it this time before taking a sip from it. I nodded in appreciation, and Kibum snorted at my aptness in wine tasting. He then took a drink from his own beer.

"You don't like other drinks?" he asked.

"I do. But I really like wine," I said. Kibum laughed, and after another sip from my glass, I started reading my book again.

"God, you always make me so nervous with your constant studying," said Kibum. I shrugged.

"You've got to do what you've got to do," I said without taking my eyes off the book. We sat there in silence while I continued studying and Kibum continued drinking for a long time, then Kibum looked at his watch.

"There's only 15 minutes until curfew," he said, putting his glass down and getting up from his chair. I sighed, knowing that I'd have to go back to my room with Heechul. I got up grudgingly and emptied the last of the wine. We walked with each other to our rooms, and then bid each other a good night before walking into our respective rooms.

 

 

I quietly stepped inside, and bowed to Heechul, who was playing with his phone. He took a glance at me as I sat down on my bed. "I'm going to go to bed now," he said. I hesitated. There was still another five or so hours that I could spend studying; the fact that I would have time to study after 10pm every night had been comforting to me, but if Heechul wanted to go to bed at 10pm every night in pitch-black darkness -

"But - but sunbaenim, I - I just have exams that I really need to do well on, and - " I said carefully.

"Are you arguing with me?" said Heechul, on the verge of explosion again.

"N - no, I just thought you might - "

"Go study somewhere else," he said, glaring at me.

"But I'm not allowed to leave the room," I pleaded. Heechul frowned.

"Do I need to beat it into you?" he asked, raising his voice. My heart started racing.

"No, sunbaenim. I'm so sorry," I said, getting up and bowing.

"Turn out the lights," ordered Heechul.

I bit my lip. I couldn't go to bed now. I picked up my bag, and turned out the lights in the room. I then walked into the bathroom, flicked on the lights, and sitting down on the toilet cover, opened my book and started studying.

 

 

I crawled into bed at 3am that night, as silently as possible. Thankfully, I didn't wake Heechul up as I got under the covers of my bed. Then breathing a sigh of relief, I closed my eyes, and appreciating the fact that I was sleeping on a bed for the first time in months, I fell asleep.

 

 

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Heechul's shower. I sat up in my bed and looked at the clock. 6:23am. I yawned and waited for Heechul to get out of the shower, but there was a knock on the door soon. I opened it, and one of the coordinators was standing there. I bowed to her, and she held out two sets of clothes on hangers, protected by the dry-cleaner bags.

"This one's yours," she said, indicating one of the bags.

"Okay," I said, taking note.

"Come downstairs for hair in half an hour," she said.

"Will do. Thank you," I said with another bow, I closed the door and I laid Heechul's clothes carefully on his bed.

The morning went without trouble. Heechul and I ignored each other for the most part, although Heechul did that in nonchalance while I did it in fear. Heechul left the room before I was ready, and I finally breathed a sigh of relief after he left. I felt like I could finally get ready for the day in peace, and finally felt excited to start the day.

 

 

The music video filming began in the pavillion of the hotel when it was still cool. However, as the day went on, it just got hotter and hotter. Soon, we were all dancing in the scorching sun, and it was to the point that the make-up coordinators were drying off the sweat on our faces after each run. A music video filming was always difficult, but the sun and heat made it almost unbearble. The managers had to remind us to continue smiling and laughing throughout the music video; if he hadn't, I'm certain that all of us would have been grimacing through the entire thing. When it was mid-afternoon and I had lost count of how many times we went through the dance and felt like I couldn't go on anymore, the camera director, producer and the managers exchanged a few words and nodded.

"Okay, that was a good take. Monitor in the shade, guys," he said, and breathing a sigh of relief, we all finally went into the shade and cooled ourselves off with cold water. We then crowded around the tiny screen.

"What do you guys think of this take?" asked the producer. We watched and there was general approval, but Eunhyuk wasn't as impressed.

"Kyuhyun's still so stiff, though," said Eunhyuk uncertainly.

"But it's not a mistake. He's awkward every time. Filming it again isn't going to fix it," said the camera director. Hearing this, Eunhyuk nodded.

"That's fair. As long as Kyuhyun's okay with it," he said, looking at me. Flustered, I nodded; I had never been asked for my opinion on a performance before.

"Okay, then we'll go with this take," he said, and we were finally allowed to step inside the cool, air-conditioned hotel.

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Comments

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secretanimelover #1
I might actually cry. This fic has always been so special to me and I used to come back and read my fave chapters regularly. I am so grateful that you are letting us all have access to it again. Thank you so much!
ferris_wheel
#2
Chapter 151: Thank you, i always go back to this whenever i need something to read. So thank you
mykyunie #3
Chapter 150: Love it very much
kyunniebiased4life
#4
I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE THIS UP AGAIN! I had to get a web archive from this to be able to read it. Thank you so much for allowing us to revisit this amazing story of our beloved maknae. Its a little bittersweet reading about Jonghyun, but I still love this so much.
bananajun
#5
hey, thank you so much for bringing this back.
mikaella_suju #6
Wahh I didn't know you republished this again. I literally searched the whole web just so I can re read
this again. I remembered messaging someone on Twitter asking for the link for this on wayback machine (webarchive.org). I really love this, its been years since I've read this but I still remember how good this was. Thank you for writing such an amazing fic!❤
Maymayz #7
Chapter 150: Oh my god you opened it again!!!!! I'm tearing up😭😭😭
Thank you so much for your hard work💙💙
mykyunie #8
Chapter 151: I do not understand why you are not satisfied with this job. I am not a writer, I only dedicate myself to reading the works of others, and believe me I have read many, many fics. and I must tell you that this fic is wonderful.
You cannot imagine how infinitely grateful I am that you allowed us to read it again since you stated that you did not intend to republish it.
This was the first fic I had the opportunity to read here at AFF and although I have read it many times each time I have done it, I end up in a sea of ​​tears because of the emotional roller coaster that Kyu had to go through to win the love of his hyungs and also about living the accident and recovering to achieve success.
thank you very much.
Henry9599 #9
Chapter 151: hello, i was wondering if there was sequel for "kyuhyun its been hard on you" ? I really really love that story. I really hope you can consider about sequel or one shot about suju if you are avialable. Really thank you for your amazing and lovely stories
Fridel2
#10
Chapter 151: I remember being blown away by the concept and the talent you showed. I'll keep an eye out for your AO3 ~