Warning: More sadness incoming. Also...edited poster. Oops.
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January 5th 2015

“Once upon a time, the group lived together in harmony, then everything changed when the Netizens attacked…” Sun-EE from Symphon-EE muttered to themself as they sat on Yue’s left, running their fingers through her hair soothingly. Yue tried to hide a scoff, burying her face into her knees to try and muffle the sound.

“Not funny, Sun…” She gently scolded, although she was too exhausted to put any fire into the remark. Acid Teochii hadn’t slept since the news of their previous member’s death hit them.

Myung had been curled in the corner of the living room, glasses-less and exhausted. Every now and again they heard him mutter to himself, the words unable to be distinguished through the heartbroken sobs. Vann had tried to talk to him to pull him out of the mindset he had fallen into, but Myung had just appeared to stare right through him, ignoring every word that had come out of the elder’s mouth.

Hanni had fallen onto the couch, trembling madly as he tried to get a hold of himself, struggling to put the information he had just gained in order in his mind. It just didn’t make any sense.

Once Marco had received the call from Hyo’s mother, he had gone completely silent. No talking, no tears… nothing, he had just stopped. He appeared to have broken down, as if someone had just pulled the plug on his generator… and no-one could snap him out of it. Marco was currently sat in the corner, staring blankly into space, cheeks still damp but tears gone from his eyes.

Cho was curled up in a ball, face buried into Sherlock’s chest as she sobbed. He hushed her, running fingers through her straightened hair while trying to keep his own tears at bay. Sherlock couldn’t deny the guilt that was swelling in his chest, wrapping around his heart and crushing it. He’d argued with Hyo so much during the few months they’d lived together… if he’d just been more mature, if he hadn’t argued back, or if he’d tried to settle things with the other member… Hyo might not have left.

He might not have drank himself to oblivion then choked on his own sick after he’d lost consciousness.

Of course, the netizens weren’t helping the matter. Once Hyo had left, the internet had blown up, 50% taking Hyo’s side on the matter, 50% taking “OT10”’s side… The fans taking Hyo’s side were supportive, letting him know that they were there for him no matter what. They weren’t cruel, not even to the remaining members of Acid Teochii. They were mature, calm and collected, only wishing what was best for the Chinese member.

However, the members not taking Hyo’s side were cruel. They wished death upon him, leaving racist comments about how the Chinese member was attempting to ruin things for the rest of Acid Teochii. They tore him apart. The hate that had spiralled Hyo into the frenzy that made him leave in the first place got worse, so much worse. They called him terrible things, sent him hate mail, attacked him in the streets of Beijing… they had caused his depression to get so much worse.

They’d caused Hyo to ultimately kill himself.

Sherlock attempted to blink back the tears forming in his eyes, nuzzling his face into Cho’s hair and inhaling the sweet coconut scent that she used in her shampoo. He allowed the scent to surround him, comfort him that the members would stick together and hopefully grow into better people from the tragedy currently surrounding them.

Jin was currently in the corner of the room with Myung, trying to coax him out of the shock he had fallen into. He was shaking, tears no longer falling since he didn’t have the strength any longer. None of them had slept at all.

The remaining members of Acid Teochii were periodically slouched over the main living room, excusing themselves to get tissue from the bathroom or crying. None of them could talk to each other without bursting into tears. They may not have known Hyo long, but the smug Chinese boy had been their friend, their colleague… someone they had shared a living space with for several months.

Finally, Myung spoke up.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry everyone…”

Vann quickly looked up, still sat next to the boy. “What? Myung what are you sorry for?” He asked, voice cracking slightly through the strain his sobs had put on this throat.

“I failed you all, I was meant to be the leader, I was meant to be there for you all and support you all, and now Hyo is dead. I did a terrible job, one of my members is dead.”

“Myung, calm down…” Jin tried, reaching out to put a hand on his leader’s shoulder. He tried to hide his wince of hurt as Myung flinched back from him, tears spilling over once more.

“No! I don’t deserve your comfort!” He cried, shuffling away from Vann and Jin until he couldn’t get any further away. “I’m so sorry, I failed you all. I’m a terrible leader. Everyone is having breakdowns and falling into depression, everyone is hurting. This is my entire fault, I shouldn’t be a leader.”

“Myung, stop it.” Ae-Cha spoke up from her place on the couch, looking over from where she’d slumped next to Yuuki. “This isn’t your fault, just stop it, you aren’t helping. You aren’t helping at all. Just stop.”

Myung just hiccupped in a vain attempt to stop his frantic sobs.

“Myung,” Jin muttered, slowly approaching the distraught teenager. “This isn’t your fault, please calm down.” His voice broke slightly as the sobs began to start up again. “We can’t lose you too.”

The blue haired boy quietened a little, finally focusing his gaze on the brunette in front of him. Everyone was staring at the two now, all teary and tired, but too worked up to even attempt to sleep.

A knock on the door pulled everyone from their trance, but no-one moved to answer it. After almost a full minute, another knock sounded, Hanni getting to his feet and lethargically making his way over and opening the door.

Stood in the doorway was Jimin, her eyes worried and her arms out ready for a hug.

“Hanni,” She started, but she didn’t know what else to say as Hanni just let himself settle into his girlfriend’s arms, the tears beginning to flow again.

Behind Jimin was a girl none of them really knew, clutching a pair of car keys nervously as she watched the rapper break down in Jimin’s arms. Kin didn’t know any of the members, not even Hanni. She’d only recently found out that Jimin was dating at all… but she knew that Hanni looked terrible, like he hadn’t slept or eaten in weeks.

“Come in, guys.” Vann said after clearing his throat. “Hanni-ah, let go of Jimin for a few seconds for her to actually get inside the dorm, alright?”

Hanni nodded minutely before slowly letting go and stepping out of the way, allowing the two girls access into the dorm. Jimin hurried in, before grabbing hold of Hanni again, holding him as tightly as she could. She didn’t know Hyo, and with what she’d heard of him, she didn’t like him very much… but the pain of losing a friend, even one who was always arguing with everyone… she felt terrible. Acid Teochii must have been going through so much pain, she knew, even with hardly knowing any of them.

All the faces in the room were drawn and tired, cheeks damp and grubby from shed tears, eyes puffy and bruised from the salty tears and lack of sleep.

Kin slowly stepped into the room, pushing her blonde and electric blue hair behind her ear, just so she had something to do with her hands. She scanned the room, focusing on the bundle of pain that was Myung in the corner.

Truthfully, it was the acidic blue hair that had caught her attention. Slowly, nervously, she began to walk over to him, slowly kneeling down.

“Hey there,” She muttered, trying to attract her attention. “Do you want me to get you anything to help?” She bit her lip, struggling to find words to help. She had never been good with tears and people being sad, it made her feel awkward and useless, but she couldn’t just stand around when people were hurting.

Myung just appeared to stare right through her before he slowly lowered his face back onto his knees.

Kin started at him for a few seconds. “…okay,” she drew out, standing up and looking over the huddles of members. “I’m going to make some tea, who wants some tea?”

“Just make 10 for us, 10 cups of tea will do.” Ae-Cha told her from the couch. “and thanks.”

Kin frowned a little, beginning to count the members. Myung, Vann, Hope, Jin, Ae-Cha, Yuuki, Sherlock, Hanni, Marco, Cho and Yue… “But… don’t you have 11 members?”

“Not anymore,” Ae-Cha snapped back. “Hyo just died, remember?”

“But…Yue…” Kin tried, only to be cut off by Ae-Cha.

“Is not part of Acid Teochii and never will be. I will not allow her to replace Hyo.”

“Hey,” Sun-EE piped in, growling slightly. “That’s not fair! It isn’t her fault!”

“I don’t care.” Ae-Cha sighed, before curling back up on the couch.

“Okay,” Kin drew out again with a frown. “So, 11 Acid Teochii members, myself, Jimin and the twins over there… so that’s… 15 cups of tea. Oh, fun…” She muttered to herself while walking into the dorm’s kitchen.

Jimin flinched at the fact that Hanni didn’t even protest to someone entering his kitchen.

Another knock resounded at the door, but this time, the door opened by itself, revealing Namjoon stood in the doorway.

“Guys,” he started, his voice choked. Namjoon looked terrible, dishevelled and messy. His hair hadn’t been combed and his clothes looked as though they had been slept in. “I’m so sorry, I came as soon as I heard. I’ve been so busy that I didn’t… I didn’t have chance to…” Namjoon sighed, rubbing at his wet eyes and walking into the dorm. “CEO Lee has given us all permission to go to China for Hy…for his funeral. As soon as we know the date, we’ll go.”

Marco flinched slightly, before slowly raising to his feet and walking out the door.

“Marco, wait,” Namjoon tried but Marco just continued to walk, ignoring the older male.

It was now that Kin came out of the kitchen, trying to balance 15 cups of herbal, chamomile tea on a tray without spilling a drop. It wasn’t exactly an easy feat. Seeing Marco’s retreating back, she frowned a little, putting down the tray.

“You can have my cup, sir,” She told Namjoon before hurrying out of the room, following Marco and kneeling beside him as he fell against the wall, sliding down it with a sob.

“It’s not fair,” He whispered into the silent air. “He’s my best friend, he’s not meant to leave.”

Kin bit her lip, staring at the distraught boy with concern. “Hey,” she tried soothing. “It’s okay…” At Marco’s complete non-reaction, she muttered to herself in Mandarin. “What can I do… gah, I feel so useless.”

Marco looked up a little bit with a frown, causing Kin to blush in embarrassment. “You speak Chinese?” He asked, his voice quiet and shaking, but fluent around the Chinese tongue.

Kin stared at him for several seconds, eyes wide. “You do?”

“Of course I do, I’m Chinese, I grew up there.”

“Me too!” Kin exclaimed with a grin. “How’re you feeling?”

That was probably the wrong thing to say as Marco appeared to shut down again, crawling back into his shell.

Hearing footsteps coming up behind her, Kin turned a little bit, seeing Yuuki approaching. His eyeliner was smudged, a little bit of it having begun to trickle down his face where the tears had been flowing. Noticing that Marco wasn’t going to respond to her about how he was feeling anytime soon, she turned towards the purple haired man, frowning slightly.

“Don’t worry yourself too much,” Yuuki explained with a small, sad smile. His usual bite and sarcasm wasn’t behind his words, he was too exhausted from the lack of sleep. “Marco…he’ll be okay, he’ll recover. Let’s go have some of that tea, okay?” Kin nodded slightly before slowly heading back into the dorm, reluctant to leave Marco despite hardly knowing him.

Yuuki sighed, staring down at his friend and gently putting the cup of calming tea into Marco’s hands. “You need to calm down, Hyunki.” Yuuki told him, all formality gone from his words. “This is unhealthy. I know you’re upset but shutting down like this won’t work. Drink the tea, then come back to the dorm. We have to stick together for this. Alright?”

Yuuki saw Marco give a tiny nod of the head. Satisfied, he straightened up. “Good,” was all he said before he turned, making his own way back into the dorm, ready to try and cheer up anyone he could.

They had a long way to go before his cheering up would work.