“To start from the beginning, Kim Hana is a close family friend of our manager Kim Junghoon,” Leeteuk began his speech. He seemed calm and natural while speaking in front of the crowd and the cameras. His expression was proper, but gentle, emphasizing the nature of the situation.

“She had been having a hard time back in the USA so she traveled to Seoul to experience the country of her relatives. Kim Junghoon promised to Kim Hana’s late halmoni to take a good care of her in Korea. As a manager of Super Junior, Kim Junghoon’s life is very work filled and busy, so as Kim Hana arrived, he also decided to hire her as an assistant to the group. Even though she was there to help us, all of us - the members of Super Junior - took it as our responsibility to take care of our dongsaeng. Kim Junghoon’s friends are our friends. His family is like ours. We all feel ashamed, that we let her down like this…”

I stood on the backstage of the press conference, looking at Leeteuk talking on the stage. Kim Junghoon stood beside him. The members were all set up in a row behind the two of them. All of their expressions were serious, as they heard the soeech.

“We want to apologize to Hana, as well as to our fans, and everyone who we caused trouble and concern.”

With this, Leeteuk, Junghoon, and all the members made a 90 degree bow.

‘Babo, it’s not your fault. No-one’s blaming you,’ Kyuhyun had said to me in the car last night. He had noticed how close to tears I had been.

Kyuhyun’s bold and he says what he thinks, right? So I should believe him, right?

I still didn’t.

“Kim Hana is like our little sister, so we ask, that everyone could treat her well. During the short time she’s been staying in Seoul, she has been a great help to all of our members. All of us have been able to rest more, and so work harder,” Leeteuk continued. “Thanks to Kim Hana, we’ve been able to do our very best for our upcoming album.”

I found myself smiling a little, as I felt touched by Leeteuk’s words. He had been honest for my reasons being here - except for the assistant part - and he seemed to be speaking sincerely for his thankfulness too. I wished it was true.

Kim Junghoon was the next one to talk.

“Hello, I am Super Junior’s manager, Kim Junghoon,” he introduced himself and bowed. “As for the incident that took place yesterday, I feel responsible… Gladly, Super Junior’s member Kim Heechul arrived to the scene on time, and with the help of Amber from F(x), he was able…”

Heechul was the one who helped me? The thought sank into my mind. I had not known. He had not said anything to me, not in the hospital, nor when we got back to the dorm.

“Unfortunately, as you can see, Heechul also got hurt during the incident…”

Heechul had been wearing dark shades that fully covered his eyes. He now proceeded to remove the shades, revealing a black eye.

I took a sharp breath, even more shocked. I hadn’t seen him the whole morning without the shades...

Heechul helped me, and got hurt himself…

The fact, that a member of the group was also hurt, made the press react. Cameras kept flashing, taking pictures of Heechul, and I could now hear more talking from the audience.

“Kim Hana is currently recovering from her injuries. Her arm was fractured, as well as she got a concussion and a lot of bruises. I would like to ask everyone to consider, that she is only a human being and she doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment. Neither does our members.”

Junghoon-ssi…

I kept peeking at them from backstage, being careful that no-one would see me. Even though Kyuhyun had taken my phone last night, as soon as I went to the bathroom, the reality of my face was revealed. I had stared at myself in the mirror for a while, looking at the blue and purple color that had started to form on the right side of my face. It wasn’t too swollen, but the bruising itself looked pretty bad.

Junghoon was still in the middle of talking, when Heechul suddenly started to move off the stage.

What is he doing…? They’re not finished yet, I thought and I could see from the other members’ faces that they were thinking the same.

Heechul walked calmly to backstage, approaching me.

“What are you doing?” I hissed at him, shocked from his actions.

He grabbed my right hand - the one that wasn’t hurt - nodding to the stage.

“Come with me.”

I stared at him, realizing what he was trying to do. I quickly shook my head.

“Nonono, I’m not going ou