If only she wasn't allergic to alcohol, hyeyeon would've probably drunked herself to death.
She places her 24th empty cup of milkshake onto the table by her bed and reached down to open her mini fridge and pulled out her next one.

''dwaesseo...'' her brother suddenly comes in and snatched the cup away from her.'' it's been three days. How much longer r u gonna be like this?''

''molla.'' she puts on her headphones and was about to tap on a song on her phone when her brother snatched her headphones right off her ears. Since her rejection from her first love, hyeyeon has been doing nothing but sit in bed all day while listening to music and sipping on her milkshake and also scrolling down tumblr or twitter of course. Anything to get her mind off her first love.
Seongjo knew that she needed some time alone. I mean, her sitting around scrolling down tumblr all day is waaaaaaaay better than some people who sits around in bed while wailing like a ghost as they sob over their breakup. Hyeyeon seemed to take it in all fine.but of course anyone would know better that the smile she had was as fake as ever.

''hyeyeon-ah...u need to get out of here.common.'' seongjo said with a tinge of worry in his voice. Hyeyeon closed her eyes slowly and tilted her head back till it touched her bed frame.she really dosen't wanna go through this topic.
''what's past is past. Maybe there are other guys out there better than Donghae. I know u r taking it well and i-''
''ani...'' hyeyeon's shaky voice intercepted seongjo's.'' i'm not taking it well...'' a teardrop escaped the corner of her eye and streaked down her face.

Hyeyeon took a few seconds to gulp back her sob to speak but the moment she opened , another sob escaped . She opens her eyes and water seemed to gush out endlessly.

''hyeyeon-ah..'' seongjo pulled his sister into his broad chest and carressed her head.'' it's okay.''

''no...no it's not okay oppa!'' she burried her face in his chest and fisted a handful of his sleeve.'' Donghae was right there in front of me. He was there from the start. But i didn't see him and now it's too late. It's all my fault. I was stupid and oblivious and now it's over."
''but hyeyeon....'' seongjo continued caressing her hair.'' maybe it's not meant to be.''
''well why couldn't it be oppa?? Why couldn't it?? I've loved him so much over the years. I waited for so long.i endured all that for him. But he hates me now-''

''donghae dosen't hate you.'' a third person's voice came from the hallway.it was eunhyuk. And hyeyeon could recognize his voice of course but she'd rather not look up to show the latter her ugly sobbing face.

TBH the reason seongjo came upstairs and into Hyeyeon's room was to accompany eunhyuk who had came to meet stella. Cuz lemme tell you, this house is so big, hyeyeon got lost searching for the toilet once. And even that was 6 months after they had moved in.

When eunhyuk entered, Seongjo pried his sister off him , '' u have a good talk with eunhyuk first. I'll leave u guys in private.''
''hhmm..'' she nodded, but still kept her gaze down. The tears still flowing and her shoulders quivering.

''stella...'' eunhyuk took a sit next to the sobbing girl.
''i know u don't like talking about this now but...Lee Dong Hae.....'' he reached out for her hand and held it warmly in his. 
''i've known that kid for as long as i can remember. And from all the time i've known him, one of the biggest traits of him is that he will forever put his friends first.That's why he would still bully u, his first love, back then cuz-''
''cuz u told him to. And he cared for u more than me.'' hyeyeon continued his sentence. Surprisingly, it was on the dot. How did she know that? 

Well... The puzzle pieces start to fall in place in these three days that she has been thinking on how harsh life is. It all made sense now why Donghae would be the one crying if his hyungs fight or why he would be really be (extra) upset more than the rest if she messed with his hyungs (like taking away their privillage of reading magazines. Yes, i'm talking about Lee Teuk.) He cared for his hyungs.a lot. And perhaps too much.

''and here comes the part where u tell me to let him go right?'' she held her breath to control her sobs.

''ani.''

''what?'' she looks up at him with a puzzled expression.
''hwang Stella i'm here to root for u to get Donghae back. I'm sure that there is hope for both of u.'' eunhyuk places a hand on her shoulder. Sure his words were encouraging, but hyeyeon felt almost no effect as she stares at her crossed feet sadly.

It's confusing really.they way she feels now.
A part of her has given up hope. Totally.
But another part of her wanted to try again.
Just once again.

Hyeyeon shook her head with a tired groan, just thinking of this makes her feel worse than having a period cramp.''why did u come oppa?''

''to help u.'' eunhyuk suddenly grabs her wrist and pulls her out. '' you're going back....to work with us.''

''wait what?'' hyeyeon mumbled. She didn't even get the chance to register anything in her brain untill eunhyuk pushes her into the car and got into the driver's seat.
''where r u taking me?''
''the SM building. I've asked Lee Soo Man. U gonna be our assistant again.''
''wait...WHAT?!'' 
''trust me hyeyeon. It's gonna be okay.'' eunhyuk gave her an encouraging look. Hyeyeon leaned back in her seat and wraps her fingers nervously around her seatbelt that was strapped across her chest.she dosen't know what this guy is thinking, but she felt this driving force inside of her telling her to just try it out anyways.

And with a boom bada boom. Eunhyuk's car sped across the streets of seoul,
otw there, hyeyeon couldn't stop coughing her gut out. Her eyes were watery and red as she leaned back with a sigh. Who knew that coughing could be so tiring?
''whoa hyeyeon. U want me to pipe down the air-conditioner??'' eunhyuk turned to her.
''yes..*cough* please. *sneeze.*'' hyeyeon rubbed her nose with a groan. Eunhyuk then pressed a button near the steering wheel before pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to her.
''thanks oppa.''

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

''hyunngg..'' ryeowook silently nudges lee teuk and showed him a message on him phone. It was from eunhyuk.
''stella is with me. We on the way up.''

lee teuk's expression brightened upon reading the message.'' kids! Eunhyuk is on the way up with hyeyeon. We can start practice now.''

''wait..hyeyeon?!'' chanho suddenly panicked.kibum realized the younger's sudden anxiousness and turned to him with a slight tilt of his head.'' wae?''
''urn...m-m-mr. kim, is it okay if i go down and get a drink? I'm kindda thirsty.''
''urm..sure. Can u also get me an ice caramel macchiato on the way?''
''yes sir.'' and he sped off without another word.

''why was chanho in a hurry? He needed the toilet?''kangin jumped a bit when chanho slammed the door shut behind him.but his question was left hanging when the door suddenly opened again. Everyone's head turned towards the door simultaneously.upon seeing hyeyeon, everyone had mixed reactions to it.

''h-hyeyeon?''

''hyeyeon~~~~~~!!!!!''

''urgh...hyeyeon.''

but of course the second type of reaction came from most of the members.

''why did u bring her here?'' kangin didn't even try to hide the annoyance in his voice.
''she's our assistant again. Isn't it great??'' ryeowook chirped.
''yeah, more like your slave.'' she rolled her eyes.
''hey, it isn't slavery if u getting paid.'' siwon poked her cheek.

Though it's contradicting actually. Since hyeyeon's family owns half the company.so technically SJ is working under her...while she is working under them. You know what i mean? No? Urm..nevermind.

''though is it really necessary for us to pay her?  i mean...she does own half the company.'' yesung shrugged.hyeyeon gave her a side glare with a cheeky smile.
''so u guys do understand the fact that if any of u give me any of your shizzy crap , i have the power to exterminate u guys into hell..'' she immitated an evil chuckle with somehow sounded more like an old man coughing.

''our hyeyeon won't do that to us right?'' sungmin jumps up and wraps his arms around her waist from behind and puts on a pouty face.
''i might have to consider that.'' she ruffles the latter's hair.though she suddenly bends over and flinches when sungmin poked her sides-

BAM!!

Everyone turned to the door.
''Donghae?''  kyuhyun immediatly realized who left when he saw Donghae's usual spot left with nothing but his sweater. 
Hyeyeon looked down disappointedly at her feet with a sigh. 
''hey.'' siwon hissed as he nudged the maknae. The SJ members (well at least those who r already okay with Hyeyeon) planned this whole 'bring hyeyeon back as SJ's assistant so that she can see donghae more often' thingie actually. They really didn't expect for Donghae to react like this towards her presence.

''urm...i g-guess he needed t-the toilet. Hahahahh.'' kyuhyun laughed nervously.
''w-well do u guys need anything now? '' she asked.'' since my work has started, i should be doing something by now.''

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
''hey that b*tch is back. She is such a shameless . How dare she come back here after all the trouble she did.'' 
''ikr! She really is stupid.''

The other female workers gossiped aloud as Hyeyeon was there right in front of them, sorting out the outfit for SJ's comeback performance.

I dunno if they are...dumb...stupid..ignorant..or all three.
Maybe they purposely wanted hyeyeon to hear their harsh gossips.
 I dunno.
But it was as clear as a flowing river that hyeyeon could hear every word they were saying but she chose to ignore them anyways.
 Partlycuz what they were saying was true.

Back then when she suddenly left and disappeared from SM, everyone had to work extra hard to cover up for her part of the job that she left hanging.

And here's another thing. Someone has been leaking audio files or information on the idols to the public.As a result SM would have to ransack youtube to claim copyright on the audio and all that shizz.a leaked video or a leaked audio file has a huge impact on the company cuz if it happens, then the comeback of the artist would have less value since the fans knows of the details anyways. As a result the company shares would fall, if it gets worse SM might go bankrupt.This leakage of audio and information to the public can only happen with the help of an insider.

And no one else is a bigger suspect other than Hwang Hye Yeon.
Why? Cuz when she left last time, it was a known 'fact' that she had worked with SM only to collect info. to bring SM entertainment to their downfall. 

Of course she only spread that lie to cover up the fact that she was actually the only sister of one of the biggest CEO on earth and had to move to America for 'CEO training'. But i guess people took it too seriously even though Hyeyeon didn't take action or aything.
like hello r they stupid? If hyeyeon wanted to bring down SM she could've down it a long time ago.
Haven't they ever thought that maybe she didn't leak the informations to bring down SM cuz she isn't such a bad person? Well no.

Cuz right now out there is a REAL bad person out there to bring down SM . Just two hours after she started working here just now, SNSD's comeback MV got leaked.coincidence much?

And it dosen't stop there. For the rest of the day, wherever hyeyeon goes....gossip follows.

At the end of the day , hyeyeon's last job was to sort out the make-up and stuff in SJ's lounge.it took quite a while since there was a lot to sort but alas it was done and she flops down onto the couch, letting her hair hang over the arm rest.
She rubs her arms and lets out a cough, she should've put on extra layers this morning.

Fall is coming to an end and the nights are cooler than ever.

The lights were dim and the comfort of the couch was tempting her to just go to sleep right then. She closes her eyes. 5 minutes. Just a 5 minute nap and she'll go home after that.

I'm sure everyone can relate to this. When u close you eyes at 9pm , telling yourself that u'll wake up again in ..let's say...half an hour? What happens? U sleep...and when u wake up, it's already the next day. 

Donghae was the only one in SJ's practice room to do some dance practice for their comeback. It was already 1 am but he wasn't planning on going home.why? Cuz hyeyeon would probably be there...playing starcraft with kyuhyun till dawn.he is trying to avoid her as much as possible.

'' Donghae-ya. Stop dance practicing and come home. We have a showcase tomorrow.'' said the text that Donghae just got from Lee Teuk. He glances at the watch. 1.26 am. Yeah, it's probably time for him to stop. But he felt that he'd rather sleep in SJ's lounge rather than go home cuz he was too tired to take the ride home anyways.

''eh?'' donghae was puzzled to see that the lights of the corridoor leading to SJ's lounge was on. Which means that there was someone inside...but who? Kibum? For all he knows the members hate sleeping in the lounge cuz they said that it's too stuffy.could it be....a burglar??

He quitely twists the doorknob and pries the door open.from where he was standing, he could clearly see that there was somebody laying down on the couch across the room. But due to the dim light, he couldn't see who it was.

''no way..'' he could recognsize that sky blue hoodie from this afternoon.with a heartbeat of hesitation he his heels and was about to leave when hyeyeon suddenly starts coughing vigorously. She sounded really sick and he couldn't find it anywhere in his soft heart to leave her like that. He went to switch on the main light and saw hyeyeon shivering there as she lied on the sofa. Well it was no surprise that she was cold seeing how she was only wearing a sleeveless blue hoodie and a pair of casual shorts.

Her lips were already pale and her cheeks were a bright shade of red.Donghae places his palm on her forehead and felt her temperature shoot through the roof. His hand twitched away from the heat.

''h-h-hyeyeon? Hyeyeon! R u okay??'' he shook her but all he got as a reply was a furrowed eyebrow and a weak moan.
''h-hyuk jae?s-siwon? '' she tried to decipher the face in front of her right now but everything seemed to be a blur.
''i'm dong-.....'' he paused for a while and took off his jacket.'' we have no time for this. Common...i'll bring u to the...''

*wait a minute...it's 2 in the morning.taking a taxi is too hasty and there's no pharmacy open at this hour.aisj* donghae ran to the closet and rummaged through the performance clothes for something or anything he could use as a blanket for hyeyeon.the sound of hyeyeon's coughing made him more anxious by the second. Luckily he found one of heechul's fur jackets and snatched it in a hurry before putting it around hyeyeon.

he looks around the room again.
*cloth...i need a cloth* he hurried to the make up table and pulled out a square palm-sized towel from the cupboard.sure, it's meant to be used to wipe the table clean, but at least it's still clean, dry and white.tbh he could still smell that the towel was fresh from packaging.

He went back to where hyeyeon was laying down and saw that she was trying to get up.
''hyeyeon..'' he knelt down next to her, '' lie down, u r sick..''
''no..i..*cough*..my bag...*couggghhh*''
''lie down.'' he grabbed her shoulders and pressed down so that she would lie back down, and covered her with the jacket again. 

Actually Hyeyeon knew that she was sick since a few days ago, but she didn't know that it would get this bad this soon. So she had her fever pack in her bag and wanted to get it but she was too sick to get up...or even talk.

Donghae had no choice, he needed to bring her temperature down fast. He ran to the make-up table again, grabbed what seemed to be a bowl (actually meant for disposal of tissue paper when they remove their make-up) and ran outside. As he filled the bowl with water in the toilet, he was holding up his phone to his ear by his shoulder. But no one picked up. Not lee teuk or even eunhyuk. Well it's almost 2 in the morning, obviously they would be asleep.he eventually gave up and slipped his phone in his back pocket with a frustrated sigh.

As quick as lightning, donghae filled up the bowl and ran back to hyeyeon in the room. Not hearing her cough anymore struck a sense of relief yet panic in his heart.
*is she asleep?? Or...did she faint??!!*

he didn't have any time to hesitate. He knelt down next to her, rolled up his sleeve and dipped the towel in the bowl of cold tap water before wringing it dry and wiping her face with it.
It only took a few dabs on her skin for the towel to go dry again.donghae wets the towel again and wipes down her neck.

''oppa...'' her cold weak hands held onto his. ''i hmm emm mm'' she mumbled.
''just hold still. It's gonna be okay.'' donghae dabbed the damp towel on her forehead, dripping some of the liquid on her collar. 

*gwaenchanha.gwaennchanha.* donghae chanted to himself to keep him calm but lol no, it ain't gonna be fine. hyeyeon is already coughing herself half to death but he had no choice, the best thing he can do now is try to keep her temperature down at least till it's dawn and help arrives.

By 2:30am, and his 128793486th failed call attempts to any of s, donghae's hands had already gone tired.his wrist fell so weak that even the wet towel felt heavy. He places his palm on hyeyeon's forehead again. Still hot. But at least a bit better than when he first started.

After placing the towel on her forehead again, donghae pauses for a while and looks at her painful expression. His heart felt so painful to see her like this. He wished that it was him instead to go though this torture. She may be a bad fighter but when it comes to being sick, she is weaker than ryeowook in arm wrestling.

(start flashback....)
preschool...
as donghae was walking alone through the coridoor of his school after the school bell announced the end of school for that day, one of the teachers suddenly approached him with a desperate expression.
'' Lee Dong Hae. I need u to help me.''
''yes teacher?''
''Hwang Hye Yeon is your classmate right?''
''yes maam.''
''she is currently in the sick bay now. Can u look over her for a while? The other teachers are in a meeting and i need to rush home. Her brother will come to pick her up soon.''
''Hwang Hye Yeon??!!!'' donghae didn't even hesitate to race to the sick bay as fast as he could.

His heart cracked to pieces to see his first love lying there looking so pale and weak.he's never seen her so vulnerable and the panic started to kick in.
''Hyeyeon? Hyeyeon!! R u okay?'' he shook her, but all he got as a reply was a weak moan.'' it's okay. Your brother will arrive soon. Do u need anything?''

''it's....cold.'' she mumbled.donghae immediatly took her hand and started rubbing it. '' r u still cold now?'' he placed a palm on her forehead and looked at her worriedly.

donghae was barely 12 , he had no idea what to do in a situation like this. Under his touch he could feel hyeyeon's petite 8 year old body shivering under the thick blanket. He wanted to do something to make her feel better.
That's when he remember that his mom would always put a towel on his head when he has a fever. Searching through the cabinets, he found a blue towel and ran to the toilet to get it wet 
but when he got back to the sick bay, all that was left was his bag on the floor and the blanket left hanging on the side of the bed. That's when he heard the sound of the engine of a car. He looks out the window which was directly facing the school car park and saw a familiar black car driving away, hyeyeon leaning against the car window.

(end flashback...)
''a bit more.'' he throws the towel into the basin again and wrung out the water.*don't worry hyeyeon. I couldn't take care of u that time, so now i will. I promise.* when he spreads out the towel to put it on her forehead again, he saw red stains on the cloth. He looks down at his hands.

''aish.'' he pulled down his sleeve to wipe off his palm. He probably wrung the towel too roughly ( or too much) cuz the skin all over both the palms of his hands seem to be peeling off to the point that blood was seeping out of some of the cuts. To make it uglier, his fingers were really wrinkled from being in contact with water too much.

She takes off his watch and bracelets and placed in on the table next to the basin before continuing to wring the towel.
------------------------------------------------
hyeyeon woke up. Her head heavier than kyuhyun's ego and her lips painfully dry.

she used her elbows to arch herself up but when she leaned over in her sitting position, she felt something fall off from her forehead.

A towel? 

She picked up the object and looks around. That's when she realized that next to her, on the table was a basin of water.

Why is this towel here?
What's going on??
Why is heechul's fur jacket around her?
Why does she feel like...

''urgghhmmm'' groaned again when her head started throbbing. It felt like someone is banging her head from he inside. She pressed her wrist onto her temple and tried to shake the throbbing away but that only made it worse as she starts seeing purple spots and stars all over the room.

When her vision became clear again, she saw a familiar looking bracelet on the table. Yeap, no doubt it was her leather bacelelet...that she gave donghae before.

''donghae??'' she looks around. No he's not in this room. But this bracelet means that donghae was here, no doubt. Just then lee teuk came bursting through the door, breathing heavily and his face trickling in sweat.
''hyeyeon!! R u okay?! '' he knelt down next to the couch in front of her.'' donghae texted and said that u were really sick, why didn't u tell me u were sick?!''

''i...'' hyeyeon starts coughing again.lee teuk shook his head at her and stood up as he pulled out his phone.'' that's it. U going home right now.''
''oppa...'' hyeyeon's cold hands grabbed onto lee teuk's wrist.'' w-where's Donghae?''
''he rushed to schedule. Did u know that he stayed up all night to take care of u?''  lee teuk seemed to be pissed off for some reason as he tried reaching manager hyung.

''i was so stupid, i should've heard my phone.'' he was reprimanding himself. When lee teuk woke up from his sleep this morning, he got 128793486 missed calls from donghae a gazillion more texts.

''Hyung! Stella is sick! She's in our lounge.''
''hyung i need u, please come over now.''
'' i think it's a high fever!!!!''
''her coughing won't stop. Hyung i need help!''
''hyung please reply! This is an emergency!''
'' hyeyeon is really sickk!!''
''dammmit hyung pick up your calls!!''
''lee teuk hyuuunngg!!!''

looking at the time the messages was sent, donghae had messaged lee teuk at least 9 times every 5 minutes.
and at the end of all the messages...

''hyung, i need to go for schedule. Even though i didn't get any sleep from taking care of hyeyeon all night, at least her temperature is going down. What a relief. When u wake up and read this, please immediatly go the lounge.''

as if lee teuk wasn't flustered enough, donghae sent that message at 7am and lee teuk only read it at 8am and to make it worse, it takes 30 to the SM building from SJ's house.

Lee teuk really hates it when stuff like this happens cuz he won't stop blaming himself, thinking that he had failed as a leader.

Thanks to his high level of professionalism, donghae went on with work as usual. He has once not slept for 3 days due to super show, not sleeping for one day is almost nothing for him. But he had to admit that this time not only was he kind of sleepy, but his wrist were tired that he dropped the mike a few times when he was doing rehearsels for being an MC.

Hyeyeon rested over a few days in bed and when she felt a bit better she forced herself out of bed to get breakfast herself instead on depending on her maids all the time.
A glass of milk and two cookies was enough for her since her appetite had shrunk ever since she got sick.

''lee dong hae.'' she dug into her pocket and  pulled out donghae's bracelet that he had left in the lounge after taking care of her that day.the object being twirled in between her fingers.
*perhaps....do u still like me?*