"No, please," I said in a state of panic as the manager hyung returned to the living room from the hallway, but he just glared at me.

"Go to your room," he said quietly.

"Sir - "

"NOW!" he screamed. I stayed where I was for a few moments, but the manager hyung raised a hand above his head and made to hit me. I closed my eyes and flinched, but the blow never came. I looked up at him after a little bit, while one by one, the members came out from their rooms, rubbing their tired eyes. Leeteuk shuffled out of his room a few moments later, still clearly half-asleep. He glanced at me still on my knees, then he ignored me and turned his attention to the manager hyung. I had just finished lowering my head when the manager hyung roughly pushed my shoulder forward.

"I said, go to your room," he said harshly. I looked up at Leeteuk for a little to look at his expression, but  he had his head turned away from me. I hesitated, then I lifted my body up from my knees, but I couldn't move my legs; I couldn't feel my feet from being sat on for hours upon hours. I put my hands down in front of me and put one foot down on the floor, but there was no way I could stand on it. I looked up at the manager hyung.

"I can't," I whispered.

"I don't care how you get there. Go to your room," said the manager hyung, not looking at me. I bit my lip and struggled to stand with the wall as support, and a few moments later, somehow got to my feet. I took a few steps, but then stumbled and fell.

I swallowed and stopped trying to get up when the manager hyung glanced at me.

"Cho Kyuhyun, what part of 'go to your room' don't you understand?" he asked.

I sighed and tried to stand again, but I realized that my legs weren't going to come to anytime soon. I was hesitating when the manager hyung yelled, "Cho Kyuhyun!" again.

I bit my lip, then I started crawling on all fours into the hallway and into my room, my face feeling hotter than ever, and tears welling up in my eyes again. Just as I reached my room and grabbed the door to close it, I heard the manager yell, "So that's what you wanted when you had him on his knees out here the entire night?"

I slowly closed the door, my eyes closed in anticipation of what was about to happen. I heard a few undiscernable phrases uttered by the manager hyung as he shouted at the members. I closed my eyes and put my face in my hands.

Each minute felt like an hour - I didn't know what was happening out there, and the harder the manager hyung was on them, the harder they would be on me, no doubt. He had waken them up in middle of the night already, about which they must not have been too happy about, so all I could do was pray that the manager hyung wouldn't be too harsh with them. About a quarter of an hour later, I heard footsteps as everyone started moving, then Sungmin and Donghae returned to the room. I looked up at them in apprehension, and realizing that both of their eyes were dry, I felt slightly relieved, but I glanced them both.

"How - how was - " I started, but I wasn't sure how to phrase it without seeming too rude, so I stopped. However, Sungmin understood anyway.

"He just told us to stop being unreasonable with you, and to think of your health when we're punishing you since you're so sick all the time," he said. "Then we all got one hit each. Jungsu hyung got five."

I bit my lip and looked down. "I'm so sorry. You didn't even do anything - and I really tried to stop him, but he just - "

"I know," said Sungmin. I looked at Donghae, who got under his blanket and laid down to go back to sleep. I expected Sungmin to go back to sleep as well, but he whipped open his laptop instead. "But he also told us - "

I looked at him with concern, but Sungmin didn't say anything and gave his laptop his undivided attention. I wanted to know what else the manager hyung said, but I felt so sorry to Sungmin that I couldn't interrupt him. A few moments later, Sungmin gasped.

"Wow, he's right. I can't believe this," he said. I looked up at him.

"Hyung, what exactly - "

"Come look," he said, motioning me over to his bed. I reluctantly moved towards his bed. I glanced at his laptop and saw that he was reading fanboards again. I hesitated, unsure of whether I was ready for anti-comments right now, but I clenched my teeth. I was going to have to know eventually anyway. I braced myself for all that was to come, but I was taken by surprise as I read the comments.

"I had a good laugh! The way he stood up after his fall was amazing."

"How fast he got up afterwards showed how dedicated he was. It looked like it hurt, too... I somehow like Kyuhyun more after today."

"I saw the broadcast, and probably the only reason why that song caught my attention was because of the fall. I downloaded the song though, and I really like it!"

"It kind of broke my heart how he got off the stage with his head down... Keep your head up, Cho Kyuhyun. It's okay!"

"How did that fall not affect the rest of his performance??? Incredible professionalism, especially from a rookie singer."

"He looked like one of those stand-up dolls when he got up so fast!! ^^"

I just stared at the screen in shock. "I'm not getting hate?"

"No, that what Seunghwan hyung was just saying. They're focusing on the way you got up, not the fact that you fell. Our download rankings apparently improved since this afternoon, too. No one understands it," explained Sungmin. My mouth dropped open.

"This is - this is unbelievable," I said, shaking my head. The internet community that had been so cruel to me was defending me when I made the biggest mistake so far in my career? I was still in surprise and shock when Sungmin spoke.

"By the way, Ryeowook started crying again when he got hit," said Sungmin, giving me a meaningful look. "And yeah. He took his own this time."

I bit my lip. If Ryeowook still had his own room, I would have gone into his room to apologize to him and comfort him, but he now shared a room with Leeteuk; there was no way I could just go into his room now. After hesitating a little, all I could think to do was to text Ryeowook an apology. I waited a little while for Ryeowook to text back, but I didn't get a message back from him. I felt troubled as I laid down on the floor to sleep - I just hoped that it wasn't because he hated me.

The next morning, Ryeowook woke the rest of us up like every other day, and when he woke me up, I took him by his hands. "I'm so sorry," I said, barely awake. Ryeowook hesitated, then soon nodded.

"I know," he said, then he forced a smile as I sat up. "Come outside for breakfast," said Ryeowook, then he got up and left the room quickly. Donghae had clearly left the room already, but Sungmin was in his bed, still snoring.

"Hyung," I said, shaking him awake. Sungmin started and opened his eyes.

"Huh?" he asked, opening his eyes halfway. "What's going on?"

"Hyung, you have to get up. You fell asleep again after Ryeowook woke you up," I said.

"Okay," said Sungmin, rubbing his eyes. "I'm up, I'm up."

I got up and walked into the hallway carefully; I was still aware of what had happened last night. I went into the kitchen to grab my breakfast from the table, then moved into the living room like every other day just as the managers left the dorm to take care of some things before starting the day. The other members were sitting around the living room in a circle while eating their breakfast, but as soon as I walked into the living room, the conversations and laughter died down. I felt my face flush, and I didn't know what to do. I hesitated, then I cautiously knelt in a corner with my breakfast in my hands. However, I soon received several disgusted looks from Leeteuk and Kangin, as if to say, "Why do you think you deserve to eat breakfast today?" I silently lowered my bowl of food, and just stayed on my knees and dropped my head. Soon, the other members finished eating and returned to their rooms to finish getting ready. After the living room had finally emptied, I started eating, but I couldn't finish, my heart being so heavy after last night. I silently got up and started working on the dishes when I saw that there was an uneaten bowl of food left on the table; I wasn't sure who hadn't eaten - I was looking at my lap the entire time - but I left the bowl on the table.

Soon, I had finished the dishes and the manager hyung returned with our printed schedules. He started handing them out to everyone as we gathered in the living room.

After a little while, we had all received our schedules, but there was still one piece of paper left in his hand.

"Donghae - " said the manager hyung, looking around. I also looked around, but Donghae was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll check in our room," I said hastily, and I rushed into my room and opened the door. However, Donghae wasn't there either. I glanced into the bathroom as I returned to the living room, but the door was open, revealing the empty bathroom. My heart beating faster, I half-jogged into the living room again.

"Hyung, he's not in our room," I said uneasily.

"Didn't you and Sungmin see him this morning?" asked the manager hyung with a frown.

"He left the room before I woke up," I said, looking at Ryeowook. "But you saw him when you woke him up, right?"

Ryeowook started nodding, then he suddenly stopped and widened his eyes. "Wait, no, I woke Kyuhyun up first, then I got distracted and didn't wake up either Sungmin hyung or Donghae hyung."

My heart skipped a beat.

"Wait - " said the manager hyung, then he rushed into the room I shared with Sungmin and Donghae. He checked everywhere after a quick glance around the room: under the bed, in the closet. "DONGHAE!" he yelled, to no response. The manager hyung then whipped out his cell phone and started dialing. He stayed on the line for a few minutes, but he hung up without saying anything. "He's not answering," he muttered. He looked at me and Sungmin. "He did go to bed after last night, right?" We nodded. "You didn't know he left?" he asked, enraged.

I looked at Sungmin, but he looked so surprised that he had frozen into place. "I'm so tired nowadays, so I don't wake up and I just sleep until the morning," I said, glancing at Sungmin. "And Sungmin hyung can always sleep through anything."

"So you didn't know he left - but no one saw him this morning?" asked the manager hyung. He was greeted by shakes of heads around the room.

The manager hyung finally looked panicked more than anything. He called the other managers to alert them of the situation as the members broke out into worried conversations. The manager hyung silenced us after his call.

"We're going to go out and look for him. In the meanwhile, stay in the dorm. We'll take care of schedules and cancel what we have to."

The manager hyung put his hand on the front door to leave when a phone rang. The manager hyung stopped and looked at us hopefully, then Leeteuk spoke in surprise.

"Wait, it's Donghae!" yelled Leeteuk, then he answered his phone while the rest of us fell silent.

"Donghae? Where are you?" shouted Leeteuk into his phone. "... What? Are you - ... Oh god, what - " A look of horror crossed Leeteuk's face, and we all looked around at each other. "Okay. Donghae... Oh god," said Leeteuk slowly, then he lowered his phone from his ear. We waited for him to speak, but Leeteuk didn't say anything.

"Jungsu, is he okay?" urged the manager hyung. Leeteuk drew in a breath to speak, but tears welled up in his eyes and he just let the breath out. "Where is he?" asked the manager hyung, walking over to Leeteuk and shaking him by his shouders. Leeteuk took a deep breath.

"He's with his father in Mokpo," said Leeteuk, the tear in his eye finally falling. "They think he's going to pass away very soon, and Donghae says - " Leeteuk stopped, and I felt my heart drop. Leeteuk bit his lip for a few seconds, then after wiping his eyes, continued in a shaky voice.

"Donghae says he's asking to see his twelve other sons."