Minhyuk groaned as he rolled out of bed, rubbing his hip and wincing like an old man. One thing was for sure- years of sleeping on benches hadn't done much good for his back. As he was stumbling around the small room putting clothes on and running a comb through his hair (not that it would do anything- his hair refused to grow any way but up), he heard an unfamiliar sound coming from the next room over. He opened the door a crack and stuck his head out into the hallway. It was very early- he doubted even the cook, Jinri, was up yet to make breakfast. He padded the few feet to his sister's door, his bare feet barely making a sound, and slowly opened it and peeked. Across the room his sister was sitting on the bed, holding a guitar. She obviously wasn't an expert player, and just seemed to be plucking notes in a very simple pattern, but it still sounded beautiful. The guitar itself was pretty beat up- various scratches and dents decorated the instrument back and front. Moonstar didn't seem to notice Minhyuk and was totally lost in the music. 

"Star?" he said tentatively. 

She jumped and almost dropped the instrument. Minhyuk rushed forward to catch it, but thankfully she gripped it with her knees. Breathing hard, she clutched her chest. "Goshdarnit, Min! Don't do that!" 

"Where'd you get that?" he asked, ignoring her comment.

"Sanghyuk, Daiyu, and I found it in an alleyway. It was really damaged, but Jihyun from the music store fixed it up and now it's good as new."

"More like good as second-hand." Minhyuk said. He sat down beside her and took the instrument, running his fingers over the strings.

"You gonna sell it?" he asked.

Moonstar gasped and grabbed the guitar back, hugging it protectively against her chest. "No way!" 

"Well, are you gonna learn to play it?"

"I'd like to. I want to play for Daiyu. She's got a thing for guitars. But how could I get lessons?"

"Jihyun'll probably give 'em for for free." Minhyuk pointed out.

"Yeah," Moonstar agreed. "But she's already done so much for me, but I haven't paid her a cent. I can probably use the computers at the library to look up tutorials."

"You can't play in the library, Star."

She rolled her eyes. "I know, Min. But they have those private soundproof rooms."

He shrugged and stood up. A shrieking whistle sounded from the kitchen. "Ok, whatever. It's time to eat, and then we have a bunch of chores. Come on."

Hours later, after breakfast, chores, lunch, and more chores, Minhyuk returned to his room for a catnap. He had learned to drown out the noise that constantly passed by his door, but a different sound greeted his ears this time. He groggily stumbled down the hallway towards the entrance to see what it was.

A very old, hunched over man was supporting his very old wife, who looked sickly and about to pass out. The couple had obviously been through some trials- their clothing was torn and reeking of the sewer, and the man walked with a limp while the woman had a large, ugly scar in place of her left ear. The man was weakly shouting for help as the girl that worked at the front desk tried to help support the woman, who couldn't seem to stand on her own two feet anymore. Mrs. Seon scurried in from the mess hall to see what the ruckus was about. The man and the front desk girl frantically continued to shout that the woman needed help right away.

Mrs. Seon bit her lip and looked down. "I'm sorry, but we don't have any empty rooms left. You can't stay here. You'll have to get on the waiting list."

The man stopped shouting mid-sentence. He was at a complete loss for words. "Wha- I- But- she needs help! The hospital won't take us! My dear Anhwa may die!" He almost looked ready to cry. 

Mrs. Seon repeated herself. "I'm sorry, bu-"

"Mrs. Seon." On an impulse, Minhyuk broke his silence. He walked forward before continuing. "They can stay in my room. I'll move in with Moonstar." He motioned for the old man to move aside and slung the woman's arm around his shoulder, trying to not get dizzy from the sewer smell. He and the front desk girl walked the couple to his room and laid the woman down in his bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. He loved Mrs. Seon but was quite disappointed in how she handled this one. He was glad he had walked in at the time he did.

"Boy," the old man hobbled over and gave a slight bow. "Thank you. What is your name?"

Minhyuk bowed deeply in return. "It was my pleasure. I'm Lee Minhyuk."

"Call me Mr. Koh. Take care of yourself."

The girl from the front desk, who Minhyuk learned was a volunteer named Seolhyun, ran to get Mr. Koh a chair while Minhyuk quickly picked up his stuff and tossed into Moonstar's room. An hour later, Sanghyuk and Jinri helped Minhyuk get his bed into Mr. Koh's room so he didn't have to share the narrow twin bed with his feverish wife. He and Moonstar made a makeshift bed of of throw pillows. 

Darkness came. As Minhyuk tried to fall asleep, the intense summer heat sent beads of sweat down his neck. He wanted to get up and open the window, but Moonstar was using his outstretched forearm as a pillow. This was the position they always took whenever they shared a bed. Sighing, he started to recite a children's poem under his breath. The easy words and digestible plotline tugged his eyelids down, and he fell asleep with the last line on his lips.