A few days later, I was the only person in the dorm, and I was going through my bank statements on the floor. I'd been doing nothing for the whole week. I only went to the group performances, and the company still wanted the mysterious image around me, so I hadn't been booked to any individual interviews or variety shows. I also didn't go to school anymore, even when I had time. I was still wary of the entrance exams and occasionally studied out of my textbooks without guidance, but it was so hard without a goal each week. I had almost given up on going to a good university and I decided that I needed a way to keep myself busy on days like today when everyone else was working, and I finally decided that I should get myself a laptop with the money that I've made so far.

As I was wondering whether or not I should wait until my regular pay was back to buy the laptop, I heard the front door open, and the manager hyung yell.

"Kyuhyun, come out here," called the manager hyung. I got up and went into the living room with my bank statements in my hands. I wasn't looking up as I went out into the living room, and kept my eyes on my papers.

"Oh, hyung, I was just going to ask you whether I get the ten percent of my salary back with the rest of the team after promotions are over or if I really keep the 75 percent pay for the rest of the y - "

I looked up and stopped. To my shock, my teacher was standing at the door with the manager hyung; the manager hyung had clearly brought him here after school. My face flushed. "Oh my god," I muttered, then turned my back on him and looked at the ceiling for a moment. Good going, Kyuhyun. You've just told your teacher that you had a quarter of your pay taken away from you.

"Hi, Kyuhyun," said the teacher. I didn't acknowledge the greeting and glared at the manager hyung.

"Hyung, I can't believe you sprang this on me," I whispered ferociously.

"Tell me you would have had this talk if I didn't spring it on you," retorted the manager hyung under his breath. Then he spoke at a normal volume. "Kyuhyun, maybe you'd like to bring some tea out here."

When I breathed out in anger and walked to the kitchen to make the tea, I heard the teacher speak.

"You're so young yourself. It can't be easy for you to be taking care of so many boys," said the teacher. I rolled my eyes. Since when did he care so much about everyone?

"It's not just me. There are three other managers," he said reassuringly. Sure, three others, one of whom is lying in a hospital bed. "I'm just responsible for Kyuhyun and a few others, but they can all take care of themselves," Seunghwan hyung added.

Soon, I finished making the tea and brought two cups of it to the living room, then set one down in front of the teacher and one in front of the manager hyung carelessly. A few drops of the tea spilled out of each of the cups and onto the table, but I didn't clean it up and I certainly didn't apologize. I just walked around the table to the couch, and sat down next to Seunghwan hyung with my arms crossed.

The teacher didn't seem troubled and took the tea from the table to drink from it. However, Seunghwan hyung looked a lot more concerned.

"Kyuhyun, if you're going to do something, you could do it with a bit more sincerity," he said. Oh, so now he was scolding me in front of the teacher? Was he out to embarrass me today?

"You told me to make tea for you, so I did. Don't ask for more than that," I hissed. "Besides, you're not even supposed to make me do housework and chores."

The manager hyung sighed. "Excuse us for a few minutes," he said apologetically to the teacher. When the teacher nodded, the manager hyung took me by the arm and led me into my room before I had a chance to protest.

As soon as he closed the door, the manager hyung took me by the shoulders and gave me a shake. "Kyuhyun, what's wrong with you?"

"Really? Are you actually asking that question?" I said angrily.

"Yeah. You're being ridiculously immature," said the manager hyung.

"He kicked me out of his class just for being there. Is it unnatural that I don't want him at my own dorm? And then for you to invite him here - and not have told me?" I whispered furiously.

The manager hyung stared at me. "Kyuhyun, he's still a guest and your teacher. You have to be respectful," he said.

"He was going to beat me in front of the whole class, I swear."

"I know how he feels. I have half a mind to beat you right now," said the manager hyung through gritted teeth.

I looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

"Just listen to what he has to say."

"Fine," I murmured, and I followed him into the living room again.

When I sat down next to the the manager hyung across from the teacher, the teacher smiled at me, but I hated seeing the smile on his face.

"How are things going, Kyuhyun?"

I glared at him. If he cared so much, why did he kick me out of class? "So, so good. I've never been better," I said sarcastically. The sarcasm apparently didn't go through.

"That's good to hear," he said, the smile still on his face. I looked away from him so that I wouldn't have to see his smile anymore.

"Damn it," I muttered.

"Kyuhyun!" yelled the manager hyung, then when I turned my head to look at him, he slapped me across the face as hard as he could.

I looked at him in shock with my hand on my stinging cheek. "Did - did you just - "

I felt tears well up in my eyes. I don't know if they were tears of emotion or tears of pain, but I didn't really care. I got up from the couch, shaking from anger.

"I hate you both," I whispered as a drop of the tear fell out of my eye. "So, so much."

"Cho Kyuhyun," said the manager hyung, also clearly enraged, but I didn't listen and walked into my room. I slammed the door and laid down in my blankets on the floor, rubbing my sore cheek.

The manager hyung didn't try to bring me out into the living room again; he must have figured out that it was a lost cause. After I had calmed down, though, I could hear them still speaking in the living room. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I was curious. I moved closer to the door and turned the doorknob as quietly as I could and carefully pulled the door open a crack until I could hear them.

"... and I think what upset him so much is that he studied so hard between his busy schedule and you didn't acknowledge that. And I can attest to how hard he tried. The thing is, I'm not sure if I should be saying this, but he - he hasn't been all that welcomed onto the team. The other members weren't too pleased with him studying, so it took a lot for him to study, even if it were his own time. I know he got into fights with a lot of people on the team, including his only friend, the sunbaes he's most scared of, and even myself over how much he wanted to study. And for you not to acknowledge that - it had to hurt. So, in his perspective, you must know why it would have been difficult for him to understand why he wasn't allowed to stay in the classroom."

"Of course. But it really was for him."

"Right. But he gave up so much to do well on his exams. I think you know that Kyuhyun was in Malaysia the week before it, and he used his only day off there to study instead of sightseeing. And to be honest, if I hadn't made that mistake of forgetting to tell him about the exams, I'm totally confident that he would have been able to crack the top 20." There was a pause in which neither person said anything. "And I'm really sorry about his rudeness. I'll be sure to discipline him for it. But at the same time that he's mature for his age since he's been through so much, he's still - very young."

"I understand," said the teacher.

"Sometimes, he seems so young and he really just seems so small, but other times, he acts so maturely that it surprises me."

"It's hard having entered society at such a young age, I'm sure."

"Yes, but I think some of it is the by-product of him trying to reach his goals. He has a lot of dreams and a lot of ambitions. It's sometimes hard for me to decide whether I should support or discourage him, because he will literally work until he collapses if I don't stop him at the right time."

"He's definitely not easy to deal with," said the teacher with a small chuckle.

"He's really not, but then every time I want to get angry at him, or when I want to scold him for not taking care of himself, I just imagine what it would like to be him. He's just been through - so much. And honestly, when I do, all I feel like I can do is to make everything I possibly can easier for him. Through taking care of Kyuhyun, I think I almost - I almost know what a father must feel like towards his son."

The teacher didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Kyuhyun's very fortunate to have you take care of him."

"Hardly. I've made a lot of mistakes with him that I'm sure he'll never be able to forget, and some mistakes that I still feel so embarrassed about when I think about them."

"He'll learn to forgive. And I'm sure he appreciates how hard you work for him." The manager hyung sighed, then the teacher spoke again. "I feel it's almost better to see his sensitive side like we did today than for him to be that too-mature boy that pretends that nothing's wrong. Expressing his emotions has never been his strong suit."

"I agree, and I think he's gotten a bit better about it - if what just happened today happened when I first met him, I'm sure he wouldn't have cried or said what he said. It's just too bad that the only emotions that he's expressed to me so far are ones that are expressed by crying. It really - really breaks my heart. Because I don't think I've ever seen him laugh out loud yet since he's joined the team. And what I'm thinking is - is some of that my fault? Should I not have left Kyuhyun to earn his acceptance onto the team all by himself? Did I contribute in taking away the laughter of a young boy for so long?" There was another silence. "I just wanted him to get the acceptance on his own, but maybe I should have made sure that the other members accepted him from the beginning."

"I think you did the right thing. This way, there's no question that the relationships he's made are real."

I heard the manager hyung sigh. "That was my reasoning as well, and I do hope I made the right decision. I hate to think that I might have made him do something the hard way when there was an easier way."

"So I guess we both just want things to be easier for him."

The manager hyung gave an empty laugh, then he spoke again.

"By the way, I think he may also have trouble accepting you again. I think he finds it difficult to trust someone again after he feels betrayed. I'm fairly sure I'll have trouble getting his trust back after what just happened."

"Thank you for the heads-up. I'll keep that in mind."

I heard them both get up from their seats.

"So if you'd like, I can show you the way back to the school and you can follow my van in your car," said the manager hyung.

"No, I can find my own way back. I'm glad we had this talk. And if you can somehow bring him to school sometime this week, I'll..."

I stopped listening and closed the door quietly and wiped the tears that I didn't know were there. I knew the manager hyung tried hard to take good care of me, but never did I know that he cared about me so much. I felt tears of embarrassment and regret stream down my face. I guess I never knew how lucky I was to have him. Everything that he'd done for me, whether or not I liked his decision was... for me. He didn't just throw things at me; he agonized over every decision he made for me, and he was looking out for me behind my back. And had I - had I just told him that I hated him?

As I was drowned in my own thoughts, I heard the front door open and close as my teacher left the dorm, and right away, I heard footsteps get closer to the door as the manager hyung knocked on the door. He opened it and saw me crying by the door.

"Kyuhyun, are you still crying about - "

I smiled through my tears, then got to my feet. I latched onto him and gave him a tight hug that I'd ever only given my parents and gave a small laugh.

"Hyung, I love you," I said, wiping my tears on his shirt.

The manager hyung was so surprised that he didn't react for a few seconds, then he laughed. "I love you too," he said, then he returned the hug.