I somehow got the broom on the bus without being caught by anyone, but what to do with it when I got there was a lot more worrying. Everyone was on the bus already when I got there a few seconds later after the second last person had entered the bus.

"Where were you?" asked the manager hyung with a frown as I hastily sat down next to him; he was the closest to the door of the bus.

"Uh - " I said, then I smiled as the bus started moving. "I think you'll appreciate it," I said, then I gave him the broom that I had just stolen from a practice room.

"What?" said the manager hyung with a frown. "What is this?"

"Are you coming to the dorm now?" I asked.

"No, the managers have a meeting at the office until... really late," he said.

"Oh," I said, then I took the broom from him again. "I'll need this then."

"Did you steal this?" asked the manager hyung, goggling at me.

"I borrowed it. On someone else's orders," I said quickly.

"Someone wants to beat you again?" he asked.

I hesitated, then I looked back at the rest of the bus to make sure that no one was listening in on our conversation. No one was. "No. Not me."

The manager hyung frowned at me. "Who?" When I didn't say anything, his eyes widened. "Minhyun?" he whispered.

I nodded, and the manager hyung took me by my shoulders. "Kyuhyun, you should know better than anyone else what he's going through. Take care of him."

"Hyung, you have no idea how much he bullies the trainees," I whispered. "He deserves this."

"Kyuhyun - " he started, but then shook his head and sighed. "I'm disappointed in you. I thought you, at least, would welcome him with open arms."

"Are you kidding? Do you know how much he beat me when I was a trainee?" I retorted angrily. "Like I said, I can't think of a single person who deserves this more than him. Besides, he probably knows how to deal with this. He's been doing this to younger kids for years and years."

The manager hyung ignored me and turned his head away in the direction of the window, but I wasn't going to change my mind about this just because he wasn't talking to me. Just when I thought about how much easier my trainee life would have been without Minhyun, I just couldn't forgive him.

The manager hyung and I didn't say anything for the rest of the ride back, and I got off the bus last with the broom with the manager hyung's disapproving eyes on my back, but I didn't really care. If there was one person in the world deserved this beating, it would be Minhyun.

The managers didn't come upstairs to the dorm with us, so I was free to give the broom to Leeteuk as soon as we walked into the suite. Leeteuk took it with a whispered "Thanks", then put his bag down on the floor and scanned the living room, clearly looking for Minhyun.

"Baek Minhyun," said Leeteuk with that frown that I knew so well as Minhyun took a seat on the couch. Minhyun looked up and got to his clearly exhausted feet. Everyone else, including myself, just stood around the living room to watch. I turned my attention to Leeteuk and Minhyun, who were standing facing each other with a three-metre radius around them in all directions.

"Why do you think I assigned you to do something if I didn't want it done?" asked Leeteuk, crossing his arms with the broom still in his hand. Minhyun didn't say anything and just glared right back as Leeteuk raised his eyebrows. "You don't know what I'm talking about?"

Minhyun finally lowered his eyes. "I do," he said curtly. I saw his face flushing, probably with embarrassment at having everyone watch, then I saw him glance at the broom uneasily. A rush of satisfaction overcame me - Minhyun, you'd forgotten how much it hurts when you were the one that was doing the beating, hadn't you?

Leeteuk squinted at Minhyun. "So why are you still on your feet? Get down," he said. Minhyun clenched his teeth and looked like he might protest for a few seconds, then he slowly got down the same way I had done for the first beating that Minhyun had given me. I suppressed a smile.

Then, to my shock, I saw Leeteuk swinging the broom harder than he'd ever done for me, including when I'd made that Dancing Out mistake.

"Start doing things right," said Leeteuk with a disapproving look ten hard later. Minhyun got to his feet again, his face redder than I'd ever seen it, and Minhyun bowed to Leeteuk as he walked away and the circle dispersed.

To be honest, for me being on the team for six months, I didn't really get hit very much, and to be fair, I deserved a lot of the beatings; the harshest beating that I got before that huge one that Kangin gave me was when I got drunk on a work night and slept in - and honestly, who could argue that I didn't deserve it? On the other hand, Leeteuk had much, much less patience with Minhyun. Perhaps it was because Minhyun had trained for longer and was older than me, so that his expectations were higher, or maybe it was because a 14-membered team was that much harder to handle than a 13-membered team to handle. Whatever it was, Leeteuk gave him much more frequent, harsher beatings than he had ever given me; for the first week, Minhyun received a beating almost every day, and for the smallest things. The breakfast was late, the laundry wasn't done right, he wasn't showing enough respect. Even then, I rarely felt sorry for Minhyun, thinking back to my trainee days.

Exactly two weeks after he joined, Minhyun received yet another beating just before bed for slacking off during practice at the dorm. After it, Minhyun laid down to sleep on the floor and I was on the couch in the living room again. We still hadn't exchanged a single word to each other since he joined the team, but since I barely even felt awkward anymore and unlike the first night when I had trouble falling asleep because of how uncomfortable I was, I fell asleep right away.

A few hours later, though, I was woken up when the front door opened and closed. I assumed it was the managers returning to the dorm, but no one had come in; confused, I sat up on the couch. As I looked around blankly, I realized that Minhyun wasn't on the floor next to me anymore. In panic, I realized that the door opening and closing wasn't someone coming in - it was Minhyun leaving the door. I immediately sprang out of the couch and rushed to the front door. I quickly slipped on my shoes and rushed after Minhyun.

I made myself completely quiet and tried to listen for the footsteps, but the footsteps were making their way up, not their way down. I frowned and quietly followed the footsteps upstairs.

I opened the trapdoor to the rooftop silently to be greeted by the sight of Minhyun sitting against a wall under the starry sky, but he was with someone else. I stayed frozen to where I was for a little while, and in the darkness, I was able to make out that Minhyun was sitting against a wall, and it was Seunghwan hyung who was walking towards him; It actually hadn't been Minhyun who had just left the suite to go upstairs, but the manager hyung.

I concentrated as hard as I could to hear what they were saying and moved a tiny bit closer to them so that I could see them better. I found myself a hiding place behind a chimney, and watched them from behind it.

"So what do you want to talk about?" asked the manager hyung.

There was a small pause, then when Minhyun spoke, I realized, to my horror, that he was crying. "I can't do it anymore. It's too hard," said Minhyun through his tears.

"I know," said the manager hyung, putting his arm around Minhyun's shoulders. "It's hard being a newcomer."

"No, I mean it. I - I can't do it anymore," said Minhyun.

There was a long pause while I bit my lip, remembering myself in that exact position.

"You know, Kyuhyun said the exact same thing to me," said the manager hyung, rubbing Minhyun's arm.

"He's the person I really can't stand," said Minhyun, suddenly sounding angry. "I can - I can get over all of the b - beating, but - I can't stand him."

I felt my heart drop and my face flush faster than it ever had, and it took me a while to focus on their conversation again. The manager hyung then looked at Minhyun. "If he's giving you a hard time, I'll confront him about it."

"That's exactly it," said Minhyun with a sigh. "It's that - he doesn't give me a hard time. We sleep next to each other every night, and he doesn't care. I know he's been through the same - and I know we've had a rough past, but he - he wouldn't even confront me about it. He just - "

"Did you ever start a conversation with him?" asked Seunghwan hyung.

"No, I can't," said Minhyun with a sigh. "I can't. I'm in the wrong."

There was a small pause, then I saw the manager hyung Minhyun's head.

"Kyuhyun will warm up, Minhyun. If you just - "

"No, hyung, I can't do this. I can't do it anymore," said Minhyun, buring his face in his knees.

"Minhyun, Kyuhyun's done this too. He's said that he wouldn't do this anymore, but he pushed through it. I asked him to give it two weeks to see if anything would get better. He's still here, Minhyun. So please. Two weeks."

Minhyun shook his head. "I can't. Even if things do get better - how am I supposed to ever feel comfortable with Kyuhyun? I understand my mistakes, and honestly - I can't ask him to forgive me."

"I promise you he will. Kyuhyun has a big heart."

"No, what I've done to him is unforgivable. And that's all I can think of when I look at his face. I'll never be able to look at him and not feel terrible, ever again."

"You wouldn't have felt this way if Kyuhyun had opened up to you from the beginning," said the manager hyung.

"Probably not," sighed Minhyun. "But if he did, I'd maybe still be bullying him."

"Aw, Minhyun," said the manager hyung, and I saw his silhouette give Minhyun a hug.

"Hyung, I'd rather not do this. I'd rather start over."

"What do you mean?"

There was a silence, then Minhyun spoke.

"I contacted J One Plus Entertainment yesterday, asking them to take me as a trainee." There was a small pause. "They said yes, hyung."

There was a shocked silence, and I bit my lip to keep my chest from tightening too much.

"Does SM know?" asked the manager hyung quietly.

"I actually haven't signed the contract for the debut yet, so I can still leave whenever I want. SM doesn't have to know until it has to know," replied Minhyun with his head down.

"Minhyun, this is the best it's going to get in terms of your career," said the manager hyung painfully.

"No, I asked - I asked J One Plus to take me as an actor. If this is what I'm going to have to deal with in a band, I'd rather choose a different path," said Minhyun, leaning his head back on the wall. "I'm ready to compromise that much of my career for this."

"Minhyun, I'll ask you to do this well. Please give it two more weeks. Please."

"The offer I got from them is only valid for one," said Minhyun.

"Then stay for the one week. Please."

Minhyun shook his head. "Hyung, nothing's going to change in one week, except how hurt I'll be." There was a short silence, then Minhyun gave a small laugh. "Who knows? Maybe I'll be the best actor in the country someday."

The manager hesitated for a long time, then he nodded. "Okay. I respect your decision, Minhyun. I hope there are no regrets later on."

"Me too," sighed Minhyun.

"When will you be leaving?" asked the manager hyung.

"Hyung, actually, I ordered a cab downstairs, and my luggage is downstairs already. I don't want to waste your time when I'm not even going to be part of the group anymore. I'm moving into a motel for now, and then I'm going to see what J One Plus does for me."

"Minhyun, have you really thought hard about this decision?" asked the manager hyung one last time.

"Yeah. Thanks for the concern, and I'll never forget everything you've done for me. You - you're incredible," said Minhyun with a small smile, and he started crying again.

"It's okay. You've grown a lot in two weeks, Minhyun," said the manager hyung with a small laugh.

"Hopefully for the better," said Minhyun, then the two of them got up. In surprise, I hid behind the door before quickly making my downstairs to the suite again.

I hurriedly laid down in the couch, but no one followed me into the suite. I felt my eyes well up with tears again as I realized that I was ultimately the one person to drive Minhyun off the team, and I was so overridden by guilt and pain that I didn't feel anything else. But then a few minutes later, I realized - why am I lying here right now? Why - why am I not rushing downstairs to stop him?

I wiped my tears and ran to the front door again, and pulled open the door without bothering to put my shoes on. I ran through the hallway, my bare feet on the cool tiles that had been chilled by the cool autumn air when I literally ran into the manager hyung on his way in the suite halfway between the suite and the stairs.

Seeing me, he stopped me from running by holding on to my arms and frowned. "Kyuhyun, what are you - "

"Hyung, where's Minhyun hyung?" I asked urgently, barely able to keep my voice steady.

"He left," said the manager hyung with a sigh. I stared at him for a few seconds, then I lost all strength in my legs.

"Kyuhyun!" yelled the manager hyung. He grabbed me at my elbows, trying to break my fall, but I fell to my knees anyway.

No, no, not yet. Please. Let me try to make this right.

But realizing this wasn't going to happen, that I was too late, that I had missed my chance, I buried my face in my hands and started sobbing. The manager hyung didn't try to stop me. He didn't try to say it was okay, or try to bring me up to my feet again. He just stood there with me on my knees at his feet. I only looked up a few minutes later, and I opened my mouth with more difficulty than ever.

"Hyung, I'm so, so sorry."