I left the hotel room with my luggage before Heechul came out of the shower; I was willing to skip the morning's shower in exchange for not having to face Heechul after he came out of the bathroom, and the awkwardness that was sure to follow. I wasn't sure what I would be expected to do in such a situation. Was I supposed to pretend it never happened, or was I supposed to be expecting a beating once he came out of the shower? Whichever it was, I wasn't likely to find out if I could avoid the situation completely. And either way, we were flying back to Korea in a few hours, and I was glad that Heechul wasn't living at the dorm anymore - I wouldn't even have to deal with Heechul back at the dorm. Being in constant fear was exhausting. I would have been much more terrified to face him at the dorm after the incident, but since he wasn't anymore, I just needed to make sure that I avoided him during practices and performances, which was much easier than having him around the dorm all the time.

It was still early in the evening when we finally returned to Korea, but being exhausted from the trip, all of the members fell asleep as soon as we got to the dorm. However, my exams began on the next day, so after washing up, I came back out into the kitchen table for a final review of the content with all of my books. I was reading for a few hours when Seunghwan hyung and Jinsoo hyung came out of their rooms with a pile of papers to go through. I got up reluctantly and bowed to both. Seunghwan hyung looked surprised to see me.

"Kyuhyun, it's almost midnight! Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Um - my exams begin tomorrow," I said, stating the obvious. Jinsoo hyung looked at me.

"You have to write exams for nine straight hours tomorrow. I'm sorry I'm asking you to go to bed again, but you really should," said Jinsoo hyung.

"What?" I asked, with a small frown. "What do you mean? The exam schedule says I only write two exams tomorrow, so it would only be three hours."

Jinsoo hyung looked surprised for a second, then turned to Seunghwan hyung. "Sunbae, you said you were going to let him know," he said. I looked at Seunghwan hyung in confusion in time to see a look of horror cross  his face.

"Oh god, Kyuhyun - " said Seunghwan hyung, his hand on his face. "Oh god, I'm so sorry! How did I forget - "

I just stared at him with my mouth open. "Are you saying - are you saying I'm writing..." I looked up. "Which - which ones am I writing tomorrow?"

"The first three days' worth," said Seunghwan hyung, his face still in his hands. "I got so caught up with the music video, Kyuhyun, and I - " I ignored him.

"So that's..." I ran through the subjects in my mind. "Oh my god, I have to write - physics tomorrow as well?" I paled. "Hyung, I'm not ready for it yet! I was planning on dedicating all of tomorrow night and the night after just on physics!"

"I'm so sorry, Kyuhyun," said Seunghwan hyung with his hand still on his head.

I swallowed and looked at Seunghwan hyung and Jinsoo hyung in turn. "Hyung, sir, can I possibly write just physics on the day that it's supposed to be?"

Jinsoo hyung looked troubled, but shook his head. "You're booked for performances the whole week, Kyuhyun, except the times that you're supposed to be writing."

"Oh my god," I said, then I put my head down on the table. "Hyung, how could you do this to me?" I groaned.

"Kyuhyun, I'm so, so sorry. I - I feel so terrible," said Seunghwan hyung, then he swallowed. "I know you've worked so hard for this and I've - "

I closed my eyes. "O - okay. Let me just - " I stuttered, my hand shaking as I ran it through my hair. "Let me just study. Please. May I have the common area to myself tonight?"

Seunghwan sighed and looked at me. "Kyuhyun, I'm so sorry for thinking I could manage for you when - "

"NOT NOW!" I screamed. "PLEASE!"

There was a silence, maybe of shock that I had yelled at the manager hyung, while I took my seat again and opened up my physics book. I bit my lip and picked up my pencil with my shaking hand. The two manager hyungs watched me for a few seconds.

"I'm so sorry, Kyuhyun," repeated Seunghwan hyung, then he walked into this room again, with Jinsoo hyung on his tail.

Then calming myself down, I took a deep breath and started studying again.

At 5:00am, I was still studying physics when Seunghwan hyung came out from his room.

"Kyuhyun, please go to bed," he said. I sighed.

"Hyung, you're still trying to tell me what to do after what happened," I said, not looking up from my work.

"I'm just saying - it might be better to - mess up on one exam rather than all of them," said Seunghwan carefully. At this, I turned my head to glare at Seunghwan hyung.

"I'm not messing up any exam. Especially not when I did everything right." I closed my eyes. "I did everything right," I said again. I bit my lip. I heard the words come out of my mouth like someone else had said them, and the truth of those words made me realize how unfair this was. "I did everything right," I repeated slowly.

Then I finally broke down and I started to cry.

Seunghwan hyung calmed me down a half hour later, and guided me to bed. I couldn't believe I actually fell asleep, given how distressed I was, but I was so tired from the trip, the long flight and the lack of sleep for the last few weeks; falling asleep just on the couch in the living room took no time at all.

Seunghwan hyung was tapping me awake in two hours, and I opened my eyes a slit with difficulty.

"Kyuhyun - " he said. I rubbed my eyes and looked into his eyes.

"Exams," I said in a raspy voice, still not fully awake.

Seunghwan hyung bit his lip. "Yes," he said.

"Now?"

"Right," clarified Seunghwan hyung.

"I can't." I closed my eyes again.

"You've been doing nothing but work and study for the last three weeks. Please, Kyuhyun," he said. I opened my eyes again to look at him, and saw the manager hyung looking possibly even more distressed than me.

"It doesn't matter. I can't do this," I mumbled, closing my eyes and turning my head away. "I might as well get caught up on my sleep if I'm going to fail my exams anyway."

"Kyuhyun, come on," said the manager hyung, taking me by my arms and pulling me up. "I know you're stressed, and I know I didn't help. I'm so sorry. Please."

I sat up and bowed my head. "Hyung..."

"Please get ready, Kyuhyun. Please," he said. I finally looked at him and nodded.

"I came this far," I said tiredly.

"Exactly," he said, then he patted me on the back as I slowly got to my feet to get dressed.

I was still scanning through my notes for last-minute reminders when the manager hyung pulled up in front of the school about an hour later. I was about to step out of the van when the manager hyung spoke.

"Hey," he said. I looked at him. "I got these while you were asleep. Just... if you feel dizzy - or if you're tired," he said. He held out a plastic bag for me to take. I took the bag and looked inside. To my surprise, it was filled with small chocolates and caramels: the sweets that we were never allowed to eat. I bit my lip, wondering whether I would be able to even bring myself to touch these.

"Good luck, Kyuhyun," he said with a pained expression.

I just nodded, and without saying anything, I stepped out of the van and walked into the school with heavy feet. I was going to need the luck.

Once I got to school, the teacher took me into a separate, closed room where I would be writing my exams. I felt my heart in my throat, and I almost felt as nervous as I had been on my debut stage. "So you're writing six exams today and six on Thursday, as you know," he said. I nodded uncertainly as my stomach tightened itself into a tight knot. "Is a 10-minute break between each one okay with you?"

I hesitated, calculating in my head. "I think they may have to be 5-minute breaks for me to be able to make my schedules afterwards," I said quietly.

The teacher nodded, and put the Korean Literature paper in front of me. "I'll be back in an hour and a half. Good luck," he said. I sighed.

"Thank you," I said, then after calming myself down with a deep breath, I picked up my pencil and started on the exam.