[00SJ27] I like the way you move

words: 783
rate: PG13
(Day 27 of the Fanfiction series.)

“I want to be a dancer.”

The other members of SJ-M glanced towards the second-youngest member who had spoken up so abruptly as they sat around the table eating breakfast on the fourth-last day of the fanfiction challenge.

“You… do… dance…” Hankyung said in a placating tone, “You danced last night… on stage.”

“Do you mean when the hyungs do their dance solos?” Henry asked as he idly played with a tube of raspberry lip gloss,

“What? No. They can all dance to their hearts’ content, I mean in stories,” Kyuhyun stated as he leaned back in his chair and folded her arms over his chest, “Apparently I don’t dance enough in real life to warrant being a dancer in stories, but what is the point of stories if not to be different from reality!?”

“The stories should still be believable,” Ryeowook said innocently, not knowing the barb his words had.

Kyuhyun stared at the other man with hurt in his eyes just as Donghae clapped his hand over Ryeowook’s mouth.

“C’mon, Kyuhyun, do you really want to be a dancer?” Siwon asked,

“I would like the option,” Kyuhyun muttered, shooting another glare at Ryeowook who was prying Dongahe’s hands from his mouth,

“What is it with everyone and having options?” Hankyung asked, “If you want something, then go get it. Eeteuk wants children, so, fine, we let him think whatever he wants in that head of his. We’ll let him believe Hongki is his son. Shindong wants to be paired with guys, then he should go out and meet some guys.”

“Shindong’s straight,” Henry interjected,

“Donghae wants to be with DBSK, fine, so he joins Cassiopeia,” Hankyung continued, “If you want something, then get it. Kyuhyun, if you want to be a dancer in stories, then be a dancer in real life!”

“That’s too much effort. Can’t I be a dancer just in stories?” Kyuhyun asked, a slight whine in his voice,

“Imagine if you had Donghae dress up like you just so you could convince writers that you’re a dancer?”

Zhou Mi laughed,

Kyuhyun turned his gaze to the China man beside him.

Henry glanced at Kyuhyun and then groaned, “Oh, Buddha, no…”

“Can he really?” Kyuhyun asked, sitting up straighter in his chair,

Zhou Mi blinked, “I was kidding?”

Kyuhyun, ignoring him, turned his eyes to Donghae who sat across from him, “Hyung… Hyung, can you?”

Donghae blinked, “But I…”

“Please?” Kyuhyun stared at him imploringly,

“Did he just say please?” Siwon whispered to the SJ-M leader,

“Forget that, did he just call Donghae ‘hyung’?” Hankyung replied,

Henry touched his hand to the other man’s forehead, “Doesn’t feel hot…”

Kyuhyun smacked his hand away, “Quit it before I throw your lip gloss off the balcony.”

“Evil!” Henry exclaimed, suddenly clasping his beloved item to his chest,

Kyuhyun turned his attention back to Donghae, “Hyung? Please?”

Donghae blinked, gaped, and looked at the other members for help. When they didn’t reply, he muttered, “Traitors,” before turning back to Kyuhyun, “I… I… ’m not tall enough?”

“Insoles!” Kyuhyun replied,

“Our… our hair is different,” Donghae suggested,

“Wigs!” Kyuhyun piped,

“I… don’t do power notes,” Donghae said weakly,

“Voice-over!” Kyuhyun grinned,

Donghae glanced at the other members who watched in stunned silence. Kyuhyun, apparently, was dead-set on having Donghae pretend to be him just so he could be a dancer in fanfictions. His eyes finally rested on Zhou Mi.

He grinned.

“Well…” he began slowly, “If I’m going to pretend to be you, it has to be pretty authentic so the fans don’t realize the switch.”

Kyuhyun nodded violently in silent agreement as the members gaped in surprise.

“That means,” Donghae said, “That I’m going to probably have to sleep with Zhou Mi.”

Kyuhyun blinked and then abruptly stood up, grabbing Zhou Mi’s arm as he did so, “To hell with being a dancer!”

He walked off to his room, dragging Zhou Mi along with him.

“It’s so wrong because we know what they’re probably doing in there,” Siwon shook his head as he looked at his half-eaten breakfast, suddenly without an appetite.

“We always know what they’re doing in there,” Hankyung rolled his eyes as he stood, taking his empty plate with him to the kitchen,

“Aren’t you worried?” Ryeowook piped,

“About what?” Donghae asked,

“What happens when Kyuhyun tells this to Heechul-hyung?” Ryeowook prompted,

“Then, we’re one more day closer to Heechul winning the challenge?” Donghae asked,

“What if Kibum’s around when Heechul’s told about this and Kyuhyun mentions what you said about Zhou Mi?” Henry reminded,

Donghae blinked, “He… wouldn’t…”

Henry raised a brow, “This is Kyuhyun we’re talking about.”

“Oh Buddha, you’re right!” Donghae groaned as he buried his face in his hands, “Do you think he’ll keep quiet if I promise to switch places with him?” He jumped from his seat and raced to Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi’s room, “Kyuhyun! What if – AH!” Donghae, who had walked freely into the room, was suddenly back in the hallway, the door closed securely at his back; “Well… that’s a different kind of dance.”

Ryeowook looked up, “Really? I want to see!”


(Day 28: Hierarchy)

[00SJ26] In the Club

words: 888
rate: PG13
(Day 26 of the Fanfiction series.)


It was the fifth-last day of Heechul’s challenge and none of the other members could truly believe that it had gone on so long. It did not help that they kept finding reasons to complain. It did not help that these reasons were so unbearable they had to own up to them. It sure as hell did not help that Heechul had a constant smug smile on his lips and not a conversation went by when he was not bragging. No, it did not help.

Super Junior – M were having a slight reprieve from Heechul, fortunately. As they were in China promoting Super Girl, they had a few day’s rest before having to return to Korea and Heechul. What was unfortunate was that they could not escape the challenge. Hankyung had been closed to banning the members of SJ-M from reading any fanfictions while promoting in China, however the members ignored him and, when he tried to enlist the help of Eeteuk, they ignored “Mother” also.

So, it was with no surprise, but with quite a bit of regret, when the members were gathered in a dressing room and Donghae mentioned the challenge.

“I think I have a complaint to make,” Donghae spoke up from his chair after the last of the stylists left the room and the members were there alone.

One by one, the other members turned their attention to Donghae. Once all of them were looking at him, he began,

“Eunhyuk just told me all about how he made a complaint before about DBSK and SJ pairings,” Donghae explained, “And he was ranting about how he can’t have friends anymore… but, you know what? I want more DBSK and SJ pairings!”

“I swear, if Cassiopeia attack us, I’ll blame you,” Hankyung murmured as he leaned his head against the back of the couch where he sat in the dressing room.

“Seriously!” Donghae exclaimed, “I don’t see why we have to stay within our group. If Eeteuk and Kangin can have children outside of the group, then we should be able to be paired up with other groups!”

“You’re paired up with Jessica from SNSD a lot,” Shiwon commented from his chair,

“That’s not the same thing! I want to be paired up with DBSK!” Donghae replied,

Zhou Mi glanced at the younger man beside him on another couch, “Hey Kyuhyun, if you could be paired up with someone from DBSK –”

“Don’t answer that!” Henry warned just as Kyuhyun swiftly replied, “Changmin.”

“You said that awfully fast,” Zhou Mi raised a brow,

“You did say that fast,” Henry’s own brows rose in surprise,

Kyuhyun shrugged as he crossed his arms, “It’s an obvious choice. I like them tall and Changmin certainly fits that criteria.”

“I’m tall,” Zhou Mi muttered,

“And he’s a curious mix of manliness and cuteness,” Kyuhyun continued nonchalantly,

“I… I can be more manly,” Zhou Mi stated,

“I think you just described Yunho,” Ryeowook blinked,

“No, no… it would definitely be Changmin. Yunho’s too ol –” Kyuhyun swiftly glanced at the man beside him. He cleared his throat as he looked away, “Yunho belongs to Jaejoong anyway.”

“You were about to say old –” Zhou Mi accused,

“I was –”

“You can’t have Yunho!” Donghae stood from his chair, arms crossed over his chest, “I call Yunho as mine. Besides, you already said Changmin – you can’t just switch suddenly with every whim!”

“I just said I wouldn’t choose Yunho!” Kyuhyun stood from the couch, glaring at his hyung, “Junsu’s best friends with Eunhyuk so there must be something wrong with him; Yoochun always has horrible, horrible hair and I’d get too jealous with Jaejoong because he’s too damn beautiful. Like I said – I choose Changmin!”

“Sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Zhou Mi mused from the couch,

“It does sound like that,” Henry eyed Kyuhyun, “Are you secretly a Cassiopeia?”

“Of course,” Kyuhyun scoffed, “It’d be dangerous to live in Korea and not be one.”

“But… you’re Super Junior!” Shiwon stated,

“No, no, he’s right. I’m a Cassiopeia, too,” Hankyung murmured from his silent corner.

“See, I’m not the only one who wants more DBSK and SJ pairings!” Donghae cried happily, “From now on we will call it Dong Bang Junior!”

“That… sounds wrong,” Henry said dryly,

“That really does,” Kyuhyun stared at the other man, Zhou Mi nodding from the couch,

“Donghae-hyung, don’t let the Cassiopeia’s hear you making DBSK sound bad!” Ryeowook cried,

“I feel like I should go to church after hearing that title,” Shiwon shook his head as he turned in his chair, giving his back to Donghae,

“Ugh, I just hope the Cassiopeia don’t have anything wired in this room,” Hankyung sighed as he stood up, “They’re almost as bad as Heechul with the hidden cameras.” He strode to the door, “Come on, we have a performance to do.”

“Guys, wait for me!” Donghae exclaimed as the members all began leaving ahead of him, “I just wanted to be paired with Yunho!”

Kyuhyun swiftly walked back towards him and handed him a small, red, calling card; “Small steps first.”

Donghae stared down at the card as Kyuhyun walked away. It was a club card for Cassiopeia. Donghae sighed as he slipped it into his pocket for later. First, he had to call Heechul.


(Day 27: I like the way you move)

[00SJ25] Those who rise in the east

words: 1142
rate: PG13
(Day 25 of the Fanfiction series.)


It was the first day of the last week of Heechul’s fanfiction challenge. The members were ecstatic and, yet, found themselves reading even more fanfiction than earlier in the challenge. Eunhyuk was at the radio station that evening with Eeteuk, of course, and they had Ryeowook and Hankyung as guests to represent SJ-M.

Before the show began, Eunhyuk was swinging right and left in his chair, his expression considering as he silently watched the members present. He waited until they were the only ones in the recording room before he spoke up,

“Hey, since my last complaint was for the entire group,” Eunhyuk began, ignoring the scowl from Eeteuk, “Can I make another one?”

“That would only bring your complaints to two,” Hankyung commented,

“If it helps, this complaint isn’t from me. Well, it is, but the idea didn’t come from me, it came from Junsu and then it became a complaint from me as well,” Eunhyuk explained.

“What is it?” Ryeowook inquired as he looked up from the sheet music he was using to prepare for a radio performance,

“All those SJ-DBSK fanfictions,” Eunhyuk said, “Just because we’re all friends, it doesn’t mean we think of each other in that way. You’d think the writers would keep ships within the groups, but no, all it takes is to be someone’s friend and it causes a ship!”

“That’s like your previous complaint,” Ryeowook realized, “Your past complaint about being unable to have friends because writers assume too much –”

“Tablo-hyung’s too busy to message me back,” Eunhyuk murmured,

“– so does this count as a complaint on its own?” Ryeowook looked at Hankyung.

The Chinaman blinked, “I… How would I know? I’m not Heechul.”

“Yes, but Heechul’s not here so, you’re his representative,” Ryeowook explained matter-of-factly,

“If he wasn’t Ryeowook, he’d call you Heechul’s bitch,” Eeteuk said solemnly as he pulled on a set of headphones, “No more talking about you-know-who’s you-know-what. The show’s about to begin.”

“You calling it that, only makes it seem worse than it actually is,” Eunhyuk stated as it was Hankyung’s turn to glare at the leader.

The members went on with the show as usual. However, Eeteuk realized almost immediately that Eunhyuk was more timid and withdrawn. When the first commercial break happened, Eeteuk slid his headphones off, hanging them off his neck and turned in his seat to look at Eunhyuk,

“Can you please do your job?” Eeteuk scolded in his leader-tone.

“Yes, mother,” Eunhyuk said mockingly,

“Aw, you’re finally acknowledging the family! I knew after Kangin started the rest of you would fall in also!” Eeteuk beamed,

Eunhyuk rolled his eyes as he looked back at Ryeowook, “You know what, I’ve been thinking and this complaint gets its own complaint!”

Ryeowook blinked, taking a moment to remember what he was talking about and then, “Why? It’s the same complaint.”

“Because this isn’t just any complaint, it’s a DBSK-related complaint. Therefore, it gets its own complaint,” Eunhyuk huffed,

“I beg to differ,” Hankyung said, falling in with Ryeowook,

“And about 800 000 people would disagree with you both,” Eunhyuk countered, folding his arms over his chest,

Hankyung paled and glanced at Ryeowook, “ELFs are growing in number but… should we borrow some S♥NE?”

Ryeowook shook his head, eyes wide, “No, some of them don’t like us… how about different companies? We could borrow some VIPs?”

“No, that’s just causing unnecessary cross-company trouble,” Hankyung replied. He pulled out his phone, dialled and held it to his ear, “Heechul? I want to ask you something. What? No, I don’t care what you’re wearing. No, no, I didn’t mean it like that!”

The members watched as Hankyung’s face flushed profusely,

“No, no, I wanted to ask if you could call Yunho for me since I’m at the radio station,” Hankyung said, “Me and Ryeowook need some support so Yunho can give us some Cassiopeia.”

Eunhyuk’s jaw dropped, “You can’t do that! You’re the ones who were against DBSK!”

“Don’t say that so loud!” Ryeowook cried anxiously, glancing around to make sure no one heard, “You know that fanatics are worse than writers!” Ryeowook shuddered visibly, “Even worse is when a fanatic takes up writing!”

“No I am not trying to be a gigolo, we’re just having an argument with Eunhyuk,” Hankyung hissed into the phone,

Eunhyuk grew frantic as the commercial break was close to finishing and Hankyung was still talking to Heechul to gain Yunho’s aid. Finally, he turned in his chair to the leader.

“Hyung.”

Eeteuk blinked, “You never call me that. What do you want?”

“I need your help,” Eunhyuk said, “I know you’ve been contacting Jaejoong more often this month and with you’re help and me contacting Junsu, we can beat Hankyung and Ryeowook.”

“Ryeowook? Why do we want to beat him? He’s Ryeowook!” Eeteuk gushed as if he were talking about a cute kitten (perhaps a baby raccoon).

“Have you forgotten everything Yesung has told us about Ryeowook?” Eunhyuk questioned,

“I try not to think of it,” Eeteuk sniffed as Ryeowook cried, “What does Yesung say!?”

“See, hyung, he’s being aggressive again,” Eunhyuk hissed,

“I AM NOT!” Ryeowook defended,

“And he’s yelling,” Eunhyuk shook his head, “Him and Hankyung are enlisting the help of Yunho, so we have to get Jaejoong and Junsu –”

Eeteuk suddenly smacked Eunhyuk upside the back of his head.

“What was that for!?” Eunhyuk cried,

“You’ve been a bad influence on them!” Eeteuk answered, “Don’t teach them your homewrecker-ways!”

Eunhyuk’s jaw dropped in astonishment.

“Don’t talk on the phone when I’m talking to you,” Eeteuk scolded Hankyung.

Hankyung blinked, glanced at Eunhyuk who was still silently shocked before looking back at Eeteuk, “But… I’m talking to Heechul.”

“I don’t care, it’s still rude,” Eeteuk said matter-of-factly,

“Hyung… it’s Heechul,” Hankyung stressed, his hand over the mouthpiece,

“You three should be ashamed of yourselves,” Eeteuk shook his head, eyes narrowed, “Trying to cause strife between your Aunt and Uncle,” he looked at Eunhyuk, “Even bringing your cousin into this!”

Eunhyuk, “My what?”

“Aunt and Uncle?” Ryeowook questioned, “Yunho-hyung and Jaejoong-hyung?”

Eeteuk nodded as he looked back at Eunhyuk, “And you, stop being a bad influence! You’ll get your cousin mixed up in your shenanigans and so help me Eunhyuk, if Jaejoong calls me crying because Junsu’s gotten into all kinds of crazy –”

“HE’S THE ONE WHO COMPLAINED TO ME FIRST!” Eunhyuk whined angrily,

“That’s it, when we go back to the dorms you are to go to your room without dinner,” Eeteuk sniffed, turning forward in his seat and crossing his arms.

Eunhyuk blinked, looking at Hankyung and Ryeowook helplessly, “Can… Can he do that?”

“He has Kangin,” Ryeowook stated with wide eyes,

“Yes but…” Eunhyuk trailed off hesitantly, “But… Cassiopeia?”

Ryeowook said solemnly, “You can ask for their help, but Kangin knows where you sleep at night.”


(Day 26: In the Club)

[00CCR] Ryeowook's Guide

While at Cupcake Camp, Ryeowook decided to start his own guide. Below are a few excerts from the notebook he kept. In black ink is what he originally wrote. In red ink are Kangin's added notes and in blue in is what Ryeowook wrote back. Whether or not Kangin actually got to read Ryeowook's replies is still a mystery.

[00CC1] Calling a Muffin a Cupcake

words: 2771
rate: G
(Day 1 of the Cupcake Chronicles)

Dedicated to Sarah. She knows why.


Day One: Calling a Muffin a Cupcake

It was one of the hardest decisions he had ever made – no , no, scratch that, it was the hardest decision he had ever made. It wasn’t as if saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ was difficult, because that was fairly easy (it was a “Hell, yes!” type of deal, if he were one prone to using obscenities to express profound joy). It was the hiding it from the group of males he considered his brothers that made it difficult.

For weeks he had taken care to hide his secret from his friends. Once, the door to his bedroom began to open as he was filling out forms that he practically threw the papers into the glass tank where Yesung housed his turtles. When Yesung, who was gloriously oblivious to his surroundings at times, picked up one of the turtles without even questioning the added white vegetation to the habitat and left, Ryeowook had practically collapsed on his bed from relief. Of course, said relief lasted about half a second because then he realized the remaining of Yesung’s pets decided paper was a good substitute for food.

He wanted to buy books, materials – anything and everything that could help him learn more before he left. When he arrived, he didn’t want to look stupid in front of all the others. He didn’t want to be the novice he was. However, he knew he couldn’t buy anything because if the members found them, they would suspect and, horror of horrors, find out the truth. He knew the only research he could do was on the computer and that was late at night after Yesung had fallen asleep, but even then he had to be careful. Yesung often sung chords in his sleep and more than once Ryeowook had falsely believed his hyung had awoken. After the second night of Yesung’s sleep-singing, Ryeowook settled for sitting in the closet with his laptop as he researched for information on the internet.

But finally, after almost a month of hiding his plans and almost a year of hiding his desires, he was packing his suitcase in his dorm preparing to leave the members for the one-week vacation they were granted that summer. Many had plans to visit family, others just wanted to kick-back and relax in the dorms. He, however, had other plans.

It was extremely early in the morning when Ryeowook was packing his small suitcase, he had to board the bus at 8A.M. sharp to arrive there at 9. Also, he knew if he left without any of the members seeing him, there would be less questions. Of course, he wasn’t completely heartless; he had left goodbye sticky-notes to all the members on their dorm doors and, for the members who lived outside of the dorms, he was planning on sending them text-messages once he arrived at his destination. Such strategic planning was so they couldn’t question him or mock him.

He was almost out of his bedroom when Yesung made a noise. Ryeowook brushed it off as Yesung having a morning sleep-concert when he realized there was no melody to the words, “Where are you going?”

Ryeowook practically jumped back against the open door, his suitcase clutched to his chest as if he would die first before losing it. Eyes wild, he questioned, “What?”

“I said where are you going,” Yesung murmured as he sat up in his own bed, rubbing his eyes with a fist,

“Visiting my parents for the vacation,” Ryeowook lied, secretly promising to make it up to his hyung later for the fib,

Yesung blinked, “But didn’t your parents go to America to visit family for a few weeks?”

Ryeowook knew he was horrible at lying, he practically got hives from it. He swallowed hard, hoping his throat wouldn’t begin to swell, “Yeah… I’m meeting them there.”

“Oh… You’re going to America…” Yesung flopped back down on the bed, “Say hi to Henry’s parents while you’re there.”

“They’re in Canada, not America,” Ryeowook corrected,

“Same thing,” Yesung murmured as he pulled his blanket over his head and turned his back to his dongsaeng.

Ryeowook stood frozen in the doorway for what seemed like eternity, his suit case slowly dropping to the ground because of its weight. Finally, after he heard the first disjointed chords floating from Yesung blanket cave, he knew he was safe. Before any more incidents could happen, he bolted from the dorms and didn’t look back.

…

When the bus stopped and Ryeowook and the others piled out into the open-air, he knew he had gone and died to heaven. The area was fenced in by trees. One long and narrow wood-cabin stood before them with the sign ‘Office’ above the main doors.

“You look like a bunch of muffins!” A loud voice boomed at them. An older, muscular man stepped from the Office’s main doors dressed in khaki shirts and a black t-shirt with blue, bold print. He crossed his arms over his chest as he regarded them, “This is where you’ll get your orientation kit, map, schedule, bunk-roster, events, etcetera, etcetera. This cabin is just the beginning,” he stated, “Follow me.”

Ryeowook and the group he had travelled with went through the Office cabin, collecting all that the man had stated before following him through a back door. When they were out in the open again, Ryeowook thought for the second time that he was in heaven.

The large area behind the Office cabin was a clearing, the trees towering around. There were four large wood-cabins surrounding an area with a fire-pit. Each cabin had a sign above their doors, respectively reading ‘Mess Hall’, ‘Novice’, ‘Intermediate’ and ‘Advanced’.

The man turned back to face them, standing between them and the fire-pit, “Beyond these cabins is the lake for aquatic what-not’s and if you go behind the Mess Hall, there’s a path that leads down to another ring of cabins, that’s where you’ll be saying. Check your rosters to see what cabin you’ll be living in for the remainder of this week.”

He paused, slowly looking at all of them and Ryeowook was glad he stood at the back, something about the man’s voice commanded authority and made Ryeowook not want to meet the man in a dark alley, even if he hadn’t seen his face yet.

“I’m one of five counsellors here. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to speak to us. You’ll know who we are because we have blue on our shirts. If you haven’t realized it yet, you lazy muffins have pink on your shirts. We have three main rules here: Be safe; Have fun; and, most importantly, Eat lots!” He spread his arms wide, gesturing to the entire area, “Welcome to Cupcake Camp!”

Campers dispersed immediately, excited to go about exploring the camp before any activities truly began the following day. Ryeowook, however, was frozen in place. As other moved around him like bees in a hive, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the voice did more than scare him when it was raised. No, it also sent a slither of recognition through his brain. When the crowd around him flittered away, his eyes focused on the counsellor who was watching the campers run about, arms crossed over his chest and a small smile on his lips.

NO BUTTERCREAM-ICING WAY! Ryeowook thought and then, added aloud, “Kangin-hyung?”

Then counsellor spun towards Ryeowook and blinked, “Ryeowook!? What… what are you…” He covered the writing on his shirt, “This isn’t what it looks like.”

Ryeowook closed the distance between them and struggled to pry the older man’s fingers from his shirt. He read the blue-on-black words, “Cupcake Counsellor. Oh. My. Muffins!”

Kangin sighed, crossing his arms again, “I guess the secret’s out. Have you already messaged all the other members, then?”

Ryeowook titled his head as he regarded him, “Why the sprinkles would I do that? If I did that, they’d find out I was at Cupcake Camp to have seen you at Cupcake Camp.”

Kangin stared at him before looking away, “Stop saying Cupcake Camp so much.”

“Cupcake Camp.”

“Insolence… you’ve been hanging out with Kyuhyun too much,” Kangin murmured. He sighed and looked back at Ryeowook, “Why are you here, Ryeowook?”

“Because I want to bake cupcakes,” Ryeowook stated matter-of-factly. With his suitcase at his feet and the orientation kit clutched to his chest, he smiled wistfully at the cabins surrounding the fire-pit, “I heard about this camp and ever since all I’ve wanted was to attend at least one of the summer sessions. To think, an entire camp, an entire week dedicated completely to the planning, baking and eating of cupcakes. To find perfection in little puffs of dough. To –”

Kangin raised a hand to silence him, “I get it. No more poetry about cupcakes.”

“But surely you must love them as much as I do, Hyung. After all, why are you here, let alone a counsellor?” Ryeowook inquired seriously.

Kangin sighed, raising his hand from the air to the back of his own head where he rubbed wearily, “Obviously I love cupcakes, Ryeowook, that’s calling the icing sweet, but I guess I’ve learned to stay reserved. How else could I have gone on this long without the members knowing? Without Eeteuk knowing.”

Ryeowook’s eyes widened, “Even Teukie-hyung doesn’t know!?”

“He just wouldn’t understand,” Kangin stated in frustration as he kicked at the ground and began walking towards the empty fire-pit. He stood before it as if there were flames he could gaze into, or, perhaps, cook cupcakes over, “None of the members would and obviously you understand them not understanding since you haven’t told them either.”

Ryeowook came and stood beside him, “So… how long have you come to the camp?”

“Five years,” Kangin murmured. When Ryeowook’s jaw literally dropped, he scowled, “How else do you think I got so chubby when we were trainees? I love cupcakes, Ryeowook! If there were such a thing as cupcake-crack there would be no doubt that I’d be on it… or perhaps dealing it… no, no, I’d definitely just be taking it. I’m too selfish about cupcakes to share.”

Ryeowook slanted him a look, “If you were on a deserted island with Teukie-hyung and he was dying from starvation and all you had was a cupcake –”

“I would stare him straight in the eyes as I devoured the cupcake,” Kangin interrupted ruthlessly, swiftly and not a drop of doubt in his words. “I’m sure if you were on a deserted island with Yesung and a cupcake, you’d do the same thing.”

Ryeowook’s face flushed almost immediately, “What… why… I… I’d be like that with any of the others… don’t know why you have to single out Yesung-hyung like that.”

Kangin blinked before raising a brow, “Come on, Ryeowook. We just discovered each other’s deepest, darkest secret. A little honesty on everything else should be simple by now. You not liking Yesung is like calling a muffin a cupcake.”

“That’s blasphemous!” Ryeowook exclaimed,

Kangin smirked, “Exactly. Now go get settled in… I’ll see you later with the other campers.”

Ryeowook nodded. Before he left, however, he turned back to Kangin, “Hyung.”

Kangin glanced at him, “Yes?”

“If this is Cupcake Camp, why did you call us muffins earlier?” Ryeowook inquired, earnestly curious,

Kangin’s eyes narrowed as his smile grew, “Because you’re not ready to be a cupcake yet, Ryeowook. Oh, no, no… but by the end of the week you will be… you will be.”

…

That evening, Kangin was out sitting by the lake. He picked up random stones around him and threw them into the dark expanse of the cool waters. His cellular phone began to vibrate away from him and he snatched it up immediately, holding it to his head,

“Hi Jungsu,” Kangin greeted as his gaze drifted up to the moon above, glowing with the white of vanilla icing,

“You sound pensive… not a good thing considering we’re on vacation,” Eeteuk commented lightly,

“Yeah well, there have been some unexpected surprises and it’s only the first day of vacation,” Kangin answered, barely repressing the urge to sigh,

“Is everything okay though?” Eeteuk asked, his voice full of concern.

Kangin couldn’t help but smile, his heart warming as if it were a batch baking at 275-degrees for 18 minutes; “Yeah, I think so.”

“Then I hope you have fun while you’re away,” Eeteuk stated, “Oh, it’s too bad you weren’t here though because Ryeowook left everyone sticky-notes with his goodbyes on them.”

“He sent me a text-message,” Kangin joined, recalling that the first thing he thought of when he saw Ryeowook was that he had just read his dongsaeng’s goodbye on his phone.

“Oh! That’s what Shiwon and Kibum said too,” Eeteuk replied and Kangin knew, just knew, that the leader was nodding his head even though they were conversing over the telephone. “I wonder why he couldn’t wait to say goodbye… Yesung says that Ryeowook is going to America for the week.”

Kangin glanced around his dark surroundings, highlighted by the moon’s light. He rolled his eyes, “I bet that’s exactly where he is.”

“So did you go to the same place you always go during our summer vacations?” Eeteuk inquired casually,

“Yes,” he replied, not giving anything,

“And you still won’t tell me where it is you disappear to for a week each summer?” Eeteuk prompted,

“Not even if I was being baked alive,” Kangin muttered,

“That’s an odd way of saying it,” Eeteuk commented.

Kangin blinked, replayed his words in his mind and silently cursed. He was starting to think cupcake thoughts and that was dangerous enough on its own, not to mention when he was talking to Eeteuk. He had spent no more than ten minutes in Ryeowook’s presence and already the cupcake slang of the camp was infusing itself with his normal vocabulary.

“I have to go,” Kangin stated reluctantly, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’ll call you tomorrow night,” Eeteuk replied easily, “Goodnight.”

“Night, Jungsu,” Kangin was about to pull his phone away from his ear when he heard Eeteuk continue,

“I miss you, Youngwoon.”

Kangin parted his lips to reciprocate the words, but he heard a distinct click and the annoying beeping of being abandoned on the phone line. He sighed as he closed the connection and just stared at his phone for a few minutes. “Man, Jungsu… sometimes you’re sweeter than a caramel cupcake,” he sighed as he stood up.

He paused as he pocketed his phone and shook his head, “Note to self: de-cupcake my vocabulary.” He began walking towards the cabins, specifically his own and his bed. He was nearing the counsellors’ cabins when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Pulling it out, he read the text-message he received and shook his head, “More important note to self: de-cupcake Ryeowook’s vocabulary.”

…

Ryeowook set his phone to vibrate and shoved it beneath his pillow. He glanced around at his three other cabin-mates who had gone to sleep earlier. He knew he should have gone to sleep along with them, but he was too excited for tomorrow and what the camp had in store for its campers.

He plopped down onto the mattress and sighed with satisfaction. After so long, he was finally here. Granted, he never expected to run into another of the members at the camp and he sure as sugar never expected to see Kangin here of all people. However, at the same time, he was glad and relieved to see a familiar face, especially since it was obvious that Kangin was a veteran at the camp.

Slowly, he sat up in bed again, glancing towards one of the cabin’s windows which faced the lake. After dinner, he had spotted Kangin heading out to the lake rather than the cabins like everyone else. He wondered what his hyung was doing out there, probably missing Eeteuk.

He slipped his hand beneath his pillow, searching for his phone and pulled it out. Quickly, he typed in a text-message to Kangin and sent it. With that done, he replaced his phone in its spot beneath his pillow and lay back down on his side. He pulled his blanket over his shoulder and held it beneath his chin as he closed his eyes.

The sounds of crickets filled the void of the night as soon sugar-dusted cupcakes danced through his head. He snuggled deeper into his bed as the message he sent Kangin floated through his mind one last time before being completed overtaken by baked goods.

You’re a cupcake in my books, hyung! Completely chocolate chip!



(Coming soon, Day 2: I Don't Want to be Chocolate Chip)

[00SJ19] The Real Deal

words: 1510
rate: PG13
(Day 19 of the Fanfiction series.)


“I can honestly say I have no complaints whatsoever about Super Junior fanfiction.”

The Super Junior-M members who were practicing at the dance studio looked over at the member who stated such an unbelievable statement. It was the 19th day of their turmoil caused by the second-oldest member of Super Junior. It was Shiwon to question the statement.

Leaning his hips back against a window sill, one foot propped on the wall, he crossed his arms and raised a thick brow, “Zhou Mi… are you feeling okay?”

“Yes, why?” He smiled brightly at the other man as if he could outshine the sun,

Shiwon glanced at the other members who shrugged. He disregarded Kyuhyun who was shaking his head desperately. He looked back at Zhou Mi who was still grinning like a fool, “You said you have no complaints about fanfiction but… wasn’t it just last week that you were upset because of –”

Kyuhyun practically flew across the distance between them, landing against Shiwon and clasping both hands over the older man’s mouth, “Don’t listen to him Mimi, let’s go practice the dance again, huh?” He looked over his shoulder to his beloved, but it was too late.

The perpetual smile gone and eyes narrowed darkly, Zhou Mi was a dark presence sitting on the ground with the other members. His entire body – lanky, flailing limbs and all – was completely tense, hands fisted so tightly his knuckles were white. Zhou Mi stood up smoothly and quickly.

He threw Kyuhyun a glare, “That’s one thing I’d prefer not to remember.”

“Cool exit, cool exit,” Henry whispered from beside Zhou Mi, looking up at him, “Do a cool exit now.”

Zhou Mi glanced from Henry to Donghae who sat on the other side of him. Both nodded up at him encouragingly. He glared at Kyuhyun again before moving to walk away. He made it one and a half steps before tumbling to the ground in a pile of flailing limbs. Kyuhyun immediately ran to his side while Henry and Donghae burst out laughing as the other members watched in silent amusement.

Slapping Kyuhyun’s hands away, Zhou Mi rolled onto his back to see how he fell. His eyes travelled to his shoes where his laces were tied to one another, restricting his movement. His eyes jumped to the laughing members, “You!”

Henry and Donghae stopped laughing, glancing at one another before looking back at Zhou Mi who was trying to scramble towards them, not bothering to stop and untie his shoelaces. Zhou Mi got close to them before both stated in unison, “Kyumin.”

Kyuhyun’s jaw dropped, hands frozen in mid air on their way to comfort Zhou Mi. The other man’s body trembled as he kicked off his shoes and stood up again. His anger, however, was directed towards Kyuhyun.

“It’s bad enough that there is such a ship in the fanfiction world but even when we are paired up I’m the one always fawning over you! That’s not how it really is!” Eyes narrowed, he stated quietly, his voice like a harsh whisper, “Get comfortable sleeping in your own bed when we’re in China.” With that, he stormed out of the dance studio, the door slamming behind him as he murmured, “I hate fanfiction.”

“Oh my Buddha,” Shiwon leaned his head back against the wall, pinching the bridge of his nose in an exasperated gesture.

Hankyung sighed heavily as he stood up, “I suppose seeing it was Heechul’s doing that caused this… it’s my job to go after Zhou Mi.” Hands in his pockets, head shaking, he slowly followed the other Chinaman.

Kyuhyun, who had been watching Zhou Mi leave, turned his gaze to the two SJM members who had tied Zhou Mi’s shoes together. From the ground, he lunged towards Henry, fingers curling into the younger man’s collar, “I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL MAKE IT SO NO ONE WILL FIND YOUR BODY! I’LL MAKE IT SO YOUR MOTHER WON’T BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE YOU!” He exclaimed, shaking him violently,

“WHY – AREN’T – YOU – ATTACKING – HAE – TOO!?” Henry questioned, his words stilted since Kyuhyun was shaking him,

Kyuhyun paused, “Because he’s older than me,” he replied matter-of-factly. Then, he continued to shake him.

“How will his mother even be able to see him if no one can find his body?” Donghae questioned,

Kyuhyun froze, looking over at Donghae. He blinked and then shook Henry again, “WHY DON’T YOU STOP HIM FROM TEASING ME!?”

“BECAUSE – YOU’RE – SHAKING – ME!” Henry argued.

Finally Kyuhyun stopped and hugged the younger man to him, “I just don’t know what I’ll do if Zhou Mi casts me from his bed!”

“Apparently Buddha isn’t listening. I should go back to God,” Shiwon murmured from the window,

“Go with God, hyung,” Ryeowook nodded encouragingly from his stance on the other side of Henry. He looked back at Kyuhyun, “If he does that, just force your way back into his bed. That’s what I do,” he advised as he slowly walked over to another window, peacefully whistling as he did so.

The other members watched him warily.

“AND ANOTHER THING –” The members looked over to the door which was now open and where Zhou Mi stood, staring, “SO NOW YOU GO AFTER YOUNGER GUYS!? First you’re a cheater and now you’re a cradle robber!?”

“They’re only a year apart,” Donghae commented,

“Not helping,” Hankyung called out, standing in the hallway behind Zhou Mi. He sighed as he pushed Zhou Mi into the room so he could re-enter as well, “I’m going to call Heechul. His stupid challenge is starting to annoy me.”

Kyuhyun blinked, looked at Henry who he was still crushing in his embrace before practically throwing him at Donghae as he jumped to his feet, “No! Mimi, it’s not like that!”

Zhou Mi began walking to the other end of the room when Kyuhyun ran after him, jumping onto his back and knocking them both down to the ground, “What was that for? I’m not Shiwon! I can’t just have people on my back like that!”

“Should I be offended?” Shiwon looked at the others.

“Not at all,” Donghae insisted as he went over to Shiwon and proceeded to climb up his back, hanging off his shoulders easily.

“I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE!” Kyuhyun cried as he tried desperately to cling to Zhou Mi as the Chinaman tried to wriggle away, managing to free one long limb from the younger man’s embrace.

Hankyung sighed heavily; phone held to his ear, “Actually, Heechul, is Eeteuk there? I need some parenting advice. No, I am not trying to be a father-figure to anyone. Yes, I know I would be the mother because you’re the father… are you aware that if Eeteuk and Kangin are our parents, we’re brothers?” He paused, “Can you put Eeteuk on the phone now, please?”

“I’ll tell the fanfiction authors that our ship is the real one,” Kyuhyun insisted as he gripped Zhou Mi tightly,

Zhou Mi looked over his shoulder at him, suddenly stopping in trying to crawl away from the younger man, “Make a site.”

Kyuhyun blinked, “What?”

“Make a site. About us. About the one true pairing,” Zhou Mi stated seriously,

“No, I will not add on by saying O – T – P,” Hankyung hissed into the phone, “Put Eeteuk on the phone already.”

“I’ll make the site!” Kyuhyun promised,

Hankyung spun to face them, “Don’t make promises like that!” His attention swiftly changed back to the phone, “Hello? Eeteuk! Help! They’re fighting and causing problems!”

Slowly, the other SJM members turned their attention to Hankyung who was obviously fervently conversing on the phone. With Kyuhyun’s loosened hold on him, Zhou Mi managed to crawl out from underneath him. He stood, helping Kyuhyun up as his attention focused on the SJM leader.

“Er… no, no… Kangin doesn’t have to come down here and have a talk with them,” Hankyung insisted,

“So does this mean I can sleep with you when we go back to China?” Kyuhyun inquired,

“Oh Buddha,” Shiwon shook his head,

“No, Shiwon, you’re going back to Jesus, remember?” Donghae prompted from his place hanging off of Shiwon’s shoulders,

“No, you won’t make the site,” Zhou Mi sniffed as he walked away back to the other members,

“But Hankyung won’t let me!” Kyuhyun whined as he walked after him.

Kyuhyun, however, didn’t have to walk very far. Zhou Mi, feet clad only in socks, suddenly slipped on the smooth, wooden floors of the dance studio. He fell to the ground, all four limbs waving frantically in the air as he did so. Kyuhyun dropped to his knees by his side, fretting over him.

“Yes, that was Zhou Mi falling to the ground,” Hankyung stated, shaking his head at the scene.

“Henry, want to see something funny?” Donghae called from Shiwon’s shoulders. At the maknae’s nod, he called, “Hey Zhou Mi.”

Zhou Mi, who had gotten to his knees, rubbing his sore elbows, “Yes?”

“Kyumin!” Donghae grinned,

“Eunhae,” Zhou Mi countered.

Hankyung sighed heavily, his head drooping with exhaustion, “Eeteuk says ‘Kangteuk’.”



(Day 20: It's So Obvious)

[00OH8] Day Eight

words: 876
rate: PG
(Eight day of the O Henry series.)


Day Eight: The best letter in the alphabet

On the eighth day of vacation, the Super Junior-M members found themselves on a boat. The steady, mild rocking of the waves below was coupled with the thunderous roaring of walls of water falling around them.

“The horseshoe belongs to Canada and the other side belongs to the U.S.,” Henry stated as he stood perpendicular to the railing on the boat’s lower level. He and everyone else on the boat wore cheep, thin, blue plastic rain-ponchos to protect themselves from the mist of the waters and, when closer to the waterfalls, the drenching rain. “The Americans get the best view of the falls, but at least coming on the boat makes up for it.”

“This is so cool, Henry,” Ryeowook stated, both hands gripping the railing as he peered at the towering walls of water, the wind whipping the poncho’s hood from his head, “I’ve never gotten to see something like this before!” As Ryeowook looked around, he spotted a familiar face emerging from the inner dwellings of the boat, “Kyuhyun, come look at the Falls!”

Kyuhyun joined Ryeowook and Henry at the railing, “How’s Zhou Mi?” Henry inquired

The second-youngest rolled his eyes, “Green as seaweed. Incidentally, Shiwon’s not looking so well either, so they’re comforting one another.”

“Hankyung and Donghae?”

“On the top level of the boat with your parents,” Kyuhyun answered as he looked up at the waterfalls as the boat slowly neared, “Apparently they’re getting inspiration for new dance moves with the flow of the boat – Ryeowook, what are you doing?”

Ryeowook turned back to them, blushing slightly at having been caught, “Well, I don’t know a lot of English, so I thought while we’re here I should listen as much as possible – not to eavesdrop, but just to listen to the accent and how to properly pronounce words. Anyway,” he turned his back to the railing, “I was wondering why Canadians have a favourite letter.”

Henry blinked and then turned suspicious eyes to Kyuhyun who silently shook his head and shrugged. Hesitantly, he looked away from the ever-mischievous Kyuhyun and looked back to the oldest member present, “Ryeowook… what do you mean?”

“Canadians,” he repeated, “have a favourite letter and I want to know why.”

The maknae leaned a forearm against the railing, “Hate to tell you this, hyung, but Canadians don’t have a favourite letter.”

“But… you do! They do!” Ryeowook insisted, “I hear it all the time whenever I hear Canadians talk.”

Henry speared his fingers through his hair, slightly slicking it with the mist from the water, “I’m almost scared to ask… what letter?”

“The letter ‘A’,” Ryeowook said, “One of the first things I learned was the English alphabet, and I always hear the letter ‘A’ – and, I know it’s the letter because it’s hardly ever followed by a noun, but is usually at the end of the sentence.”

Kyuhyun watched the emotions play on Henry’s face. He saw the maknae resist the urge to either lay his forehead against his forearm, which still rested on the railing, or to sigh and roll his eyes. Kyuhyun, however, had to bite down on his lower lip to stop from laughing when Henry’s suppressive efforts ended in his right eye twitching; Ryeowook all the while staring at him with wide, innocent eyes.

“Ryeowook, Canadians aren’t saying ‘A’, they’re saying ‘eh’,” Henry explained,

Ryeowook blinked, looked at Kyuhyun helplessly and then looked back at Henry, “I don’t hear a difference.”

“Well… listening-wise I guess there isn’t much, but, they’re not saying the letter… it’s more of a… a small, inconsequential word, really,” Henry replied, “It’s used for… well, there are a lot of uses, but it’s usually used for affirmation, like asking someone to agree with what they said. Like…” He paused a moment and said, “‘It’s pretty cold here’ and then they’d say ‘eh’ afterwards to ask for confirmation or agreement from the other person.”

“So, Canadians don’t have a favourite letter?” Ryeowook asked, his expression dropping slightly,

Henry shook his head, “But if it helps, if we did, it probably would be ‘A’.”

Ryeowook sighed as he turned back to the railing as the boat drew even closer to the waterfalls. Folding his arms atop the railing, he leaned his chin on his arms, “And here I was thinking I had learned a new cultural… peculiarity.”

“Well,” Kyuhyun piped up, “You do touch on a Canadian peculiarity, but you have the wrong letter.”

Ryeowook straightened and looked over his shoulder at the younger man, “What do you mean?”

“Canadians think that it’s bad luck to say the letter ‘O’ when you’re on a boat,” Kyuhyun said in a tone so matter-of-factly that Ryeowook was almost inclined to believe him. Almost.

Ryeowook slanted him a look and turned his attention back to the waters, “I don’t believe you! You’ve lied to me on several occasions during this vacation, Jo Kyuhyun. The most recently dealt with hunting for food!”

“I do admit I have gotten… carried away,” Kyuhyun admitted, “But this time, I’m not kidding. Right Henry?”

Before Henry could reply, however, Ryeowook tilted his face up towards the sky, the boat drawing alongside to the foot of the Falls’ crashing waters as he opened his mouth big and yelled, “O!”

What Ryeowook got in return, however, was a mouth full of rain from the Falls. Spitting out the water over the railing, he slowly turned to Kyuhyun and Henry who were holding their hoods tight about their heads. Ryeowook, who had forgotten to raise his hood again, had a head full of soaked hair and a slight salty taste in his mouth. He glowered at the two younger men who were having a hard time not laughing.

“I warned you, hyung,” Kyuhyun swallowed a laugh as he shifted to hide slightly behind Henry.

“Sorry, hyung,” Henry was clutching the railing, in an attempt to stay straight as his body shook with silent laughter, “For once, Kyuhyun was right.”


(Day Nine: Kyuhyun is king of the world)

[00OH5] Day Five

words: 1055
rate: PG
(Fifth day of the O Henry series.)


Day Five: I want a lucky rabbit's foot!

Wednesday marked the middle of SJ-M’s vacation in Canada. It was close to noon when Donghae approached Henry who was now dusting a singular Ming vase in the ground floor’s hallway. Donghae came up to Henry and just squatted by the vase’s table. Elbows propped on his knees and his hands cradling his face, he stared up at Henry as the younger man continued to dust the vase.

After five minutes of complete silence, Henry sighed heavily and lowered the duster and looked down at Donghae, “Yes, hyung?”

“I’m hungry,” Donghae replied,

Henry blinked, “Oh… ‘kay… You know you can just go grab whatever’s in the kitchen and pantry, hyung. And I’m pretty sure my sister made heart-shaped cookies last night with your face on them she did out of icing…”

“Kyuhyun ate those,” Donghae sighed,

“But… he had his cookies last night,” Henry stated,

“I know,” Donghae replied with a slight shake of his head, “Do you think the manager hyungs would notice if we left Kyuhyun here in five days?”

Henry laughed as he crossed his arms loosely, “And subjugate Canada to Kyuhyun? No way, hyung.” He placed the duster by the vase and started walking down the hall, “Come on, hyung, let’s go see what’s in the kitchen.”

Donghae straightened to his full length and followed Henry to the kitchen. He sat on a stool by the kitchen’s island while Henry opened and closed cupboards, the fridge and even disappeared into the pantry for a few minutes. When he came out, his hands were on his hips,

“Is something wrong?” Donghae asked,

“There’s no food,” Henry explained. He looked around the kitchen, “Is this my house? How can there be no food?”

“Probably because Kyuhyun was up in the middle of the night eating.” Henry and Donghae glanced over as Ryeowook entered through the door from the living room. When they both stared at him confusedly, he explained, “Um… he said something about working up an appetite.”

“Working up an appetite? He hasn’t done any…” Donghae stopped immediately and looked at Henry who paled considerably,

Henry blinked, “I’ll kill him! I let him have my bed last night because he said his back was hurting!” Henry made a leap for the door but Donghae restrained him by simply grasping some of his t-shirt. “Hyung, let me go!”

“He’s sleeping and you know if you wake up Zhou Mi too, he will not be happy,” Donghae stated matter-of-factly,

“I don’t care what Zhou Mi ge does! He did the same thing that… I don’t even want to think about what they did!” Henry exclaimed,

“Just wait until they… um… come down,” Donghae insisted, “Please, Henry? I’m really hungry.”

Henry sighed heavily, “Fine… if I don’t feed you my parents will kill me.”

“Not to mention the E.L.F.s,” Donghae added,

Henry winced as Donghae released his hold on him, “Well, I’ll have to go out to get us some food. Anything particular?” When Donghae and Ryeowook both began listing off foods, Henry held up his hands in a Shiwon-like gesture to silence them, “Why don’t you both come with me?” Donghae nodded when Ryeowook looked at him nervously. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I want to but… I don’t know how to use a gun,” Ryeowook explained.

“What?”

“I don’t know how to use a gun. My parents never thought it a necessity for me in everyday life in Korea,” Ryeowook replied simply.

Henry literally sunk into a squat, his arms crossed over his knees and his face buried in the circle his arms created. His muffled words came to them, “I don’t think I even want to know.”

“I do,” Donghae said jovially as he patted Henry’s bowed head. He then looked at Ryeowook, “What does using a gun have to do with getting food?”

“Well… to get food you… you have to go and hunt… with a gun,” Ryeowook’s eyes jerked between Donghae and Henry, “And shoot the animal… don’t you?”

“ARGH!” Henry exclaimed as his arms moved to wrap over his head instead of encircling it.

Ryeowook’s eyes widened as he switched his attention from the seemingly pained maknae to Donghae, “D-D-Don’t they?”

“DONGHAE!” Henry whined,

Donghae patted Henry’s head as he looked at Ryeowook, “No, Ryeowook, they don’t.”

“But… Canadians… they need… they need to hunt for their food and they…” His head was swinging up and down as he switched his attention between the other two members, “They shoot birds and caribou… and rabbits… and-”

At this point a string of muffled English words, presumably swear words, were coming from Henry as Donghae placed his hands over the younger man’s ears. “Ryeowook,” Donghae hissed, “Canadians have grocery stores like Korea does.”

“They do!?” Ryeowook gasped, his jaw literally dropping in surprise. Almost immediately, his expression dropped and a small pout formed, “But I wanted a lucky rabbit’s foot…”

Donghae’s hands must not have been secured over Henry’s ears, for another string of muffled English came from him. Eventually, Henry straightened to his full height; doing it so fast that Donghae stumbled backwards with surprise. Landing on his backside on the ground, Donghae watched as Henry headed towards the kitchen door,

“Where are you going?” He asked,

“I know where Ryeowook got his information from!” Henry declared, “And I don’t care anymore – I’m going to wake up Kyuhyun and throw him out of my room! After…” he paused in the doorway, “I burn my sheets…”

They watched as Henry ran off, disappearing into the main hallway. However, it was only a few seconds before there was a loud crash and an even louder ‘O CANADA!’ following it.

Heading towards the door, both Donghae and Ryeowook heard a cry, “NOT THE MING!”

Ryeowook looked at Donghae, “So at Canadian grocery stores, what are those like?”

“Well,” Donghae began, throwing an arm around Ryeowook’s shoulders, “The bigger grocery stores are like ours that have all kinds of foods; but those are in the bigger cities. Everywhere else, all they sell is maple syrup.”

The younger man’s eyes widened considerably, “Really? Maybe we’ll get to see one of the small stores today!”

Donghae nodded as they entered the hallway, spotting Henry kneeling before shards and shards of broken vase; “We should get Kyuhyun to come; he seemed to know a lot about Canadian grocery stores!”



(Day Six: I'm in the zone, but...)

[00r3] Curious Red Button

words: 5014
rating: NC17
(Part of the Intimate series)


The movie ended and Ryeowook didn’t feel like moving. He was sitting in one of the couches in the other door, head leaning against Yesung’s shoulder. He felt Yesung reach over and gently tap his cheek and could hear him calling his name. Something about the raspy tenor of his voice always warmed Ryeowook; it always washed over him like warm honey. He found it amusing that Yesung was trying to wake him up with his voice when all it did was make Ryeowook stay snuggled up against him and remain asleep.

Ryeowook felt Yesung shift beside him and then felt his warm breath against his cheek, “Ryeowook,” he said lightly, “It’s time to go home.” Ryeowook pretended he couldn’t hear; “If you don’t wake up now,” Yesung said, his voice lowering until Ryeowook was the only one who could hear, “Then what I wanted to do to you in our room, I’ll do it right here to wake you up.”

“Great movie!” Ryeowook exclaimed as he jumped up suddenly, cheeks burning.

Those who were watching the movie blinked at him sleepily, then continued to walk to the door. Ryeowook began slipping on his shoes when Eunhyuk, Yesung and Donghae joined him.

Ryeowook barely heard the conversation between Eeteuk and Donghae as they discussed why Donghae was also putting on his shoes. Sleepy or no, he would’ve heard them usually, but Yesung had knelt down to help Ryeowook tie his shoes - for no reason at all - and now one of those hands were slowly sliding up the back of his calf and-

“We should go,” Ryeowook stammered, jumping towards the door and away from Yesung’s roaming hand. He practically ripped it open, ignoring Yesung’s eyes as he slowly straightened in a cat-like way; “Kyuhyun and Sungmin-hyung will probably be home soon and you know how they always forget to bring their keys.”

So, Ryeowook, Yesung, Eunhyuk and Donghae left the dorm and climbed into the elevator. Ryeowook and Yesung were the first into the elevator heading to a back corner; Ryeowook against the side wall with Yesung against the back wall so they were perpendicular to one another. Eunhyuk went to the other back corner and Donghae stood with his shoulder against the back wall, his back to them. Sensing the two were going to have a private conversation, Ryeowook took one look at Yesung and immediate looked away, his face feeling very warm.

A hush murmur of whispers came from Donghae and Eunhyuk’s corner as the elevator began to move down. Something that sounded deceptively like a groan was immediately replaced with a cough reached Ryeowook’s ears. His eyes snapped towards the other couple in the elevator but Eunhyuk waved at him, motioning that he was alright. Ryeowook turned his head to look away when he felt - not just knew, felt - Yesung move. He looked as Yesung stood before him, arms on either side of him as they gripped the railing in the elevator.

Yesung moved closer until their bodies were almost pressed against one another, moved his head beside Ryeowook’s, “You heard what I heard, didn’t you?”

“I… I don’t know what you mean,” Ryeowook whispered,

“Didn’t you?” Yesung murmured, “Well, I’m pretty sure you and I know what those two are doing over there.”

Ryeowook said nothing. He looked over at the two again. Donghae’s body was blocking his view, but he could see Eunhyuk’s head, could see him chewing on his bottom lip. He felt his face warm and knew he was definitely an improbable shade of red. He noted that Eunhyuk kept shifting his feet as if he were uncomfortable or perhaps too…

“I can do that to you too,” Yesung whispered, moving a hand from the railing and pressing it against Ryeowook’s shoulder.

“Hyung?” Ryeowook almost squeaked.

Suddenly, Yesung began moving the hand down Ryeowook’s chest and stomach and - the elevator shifted slightly as it reached the floor. The doors slid open, but no one made to move.

“Hyung?” Eunhyuk looked over at them,

“There’s something I need to get at the store, so Ryeowook’s coming with me,” Yesung explained as he turned away from Ryeowook to the others, “You two go ahead.”

Eunhyuk nodded and quickly ran out of the elevator, dragging Donghae with him. The doors slid close and Ryeowook felt a mix of dread with excitement falling upon him.

“Which store are we going to?” Ryeowook managed, trying for a light tone and only managing another squeak.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Yesung stated as he moved over to the buttons and slammed a fist against a very curious red button. Yesung grinned at him as the elevator jerked to a stop, “I always wanted to press it,”

“Hyung-” He choked on the rest of his words because Yesung began to walk back towards him, slow like a predator and its prey, an expression so intense, so sultry that Ryeowook forgot how to talk.

Yesung stood before him again, planting his hands on the railing. He leaned his face close to Ryeowook’s but the younger moved his face back until his head met the elevator wall. Yesung smirked at him, pressing his body closer until they were flush with one another. His moved his face closer, his lips a hair’s breadth away from Ryeowook’s cheek. Then, he brought his lips to Ryeowook’s ear,

“Hey Ryeowook,” he said, his voice low and seductive, “Ever wanted to have sex in an elevator?”

If his face had only been warm before, now it was on fire and he was positive his face resembled a cherry tomato. He knew he should say no, knew he should deny Yesung and demand they leave the elevator but… His body was practically shivering from excitement, his heart was pounding happily in his chest and the only words he could manage were,

“But the camera-”

“They disabled that camera a week after we moved into this building,” Yesung said, “Didn’t want people to try and steal the video tapes- so they disabled them for the safety of the security guards and for our safety. They’re there for appearance purposes.”

“Oh,” Ryeowook said before turning his head so he could meet Yesung’s eyes. He swallowed hard, “Okay then…”

Yesung raised an eyebrow, “Really? I was just kidding - I just wanted to press the red button.”

Ryeowook suddenly pressed his lips against Yesung’s. When Yesung moved to pull away, Ryeowook raised his arms, wrapping them around his neck. He pressed his body against Yesung’s, only partially surprised when he found Yesung’s body hard. All over.

He was insistent and leading when he felt the tip of Yesung’s tongue run along his bottom lip. Suddenly, he was shy and timid. He tried to pull away, but Yesung sandwiched him against the wall. Ryeowook yelped when he felt the railing against his back. Yesung pulled him away from the wall and slipped his tongue in when Ryeowook was surprised. He tongue traced and swept over every surface of Ryeowook’s mouth. He tantalized the roof of his mouth with the tip of his tongue, rewarded when Ryeowook moaned into their kiss. He ran the tip of his tongue along the side of Ryeowook’s tongue. The younger man moaned again, arching against Yesung’s body. Suddenly, Ryeowook wasn’t that sleepy anymore.

Yesung moved his hands from the railing to Ryeowook’s hips, his fingers slipping beneath the hem of his long-sleeved shirt. His thumbs rubbed circles against Ryeowook’s skin as his tongue caressed Ryeowook’s over and over again. Ryeowook pulled away from the kiss, stifling a laugh,

“That tickles,” he managed,

“Then give my hands something else to do,” Yesung murmured, his lips trailing along Ryeowook’s jaw and down his neck. His tongue traced along the pulse in Ryeowook’s neck and he had to bite down on his lip to keep silent. Slowly, Yesung began to sink to his knees before Ryeowook,

“Here!?” His voice was pitched as he pressed back against the wall,

“You weren’t complaining a moment ago,” Yesung said, his hands moving to Ryeowook’s belt, “Actually, you practically jumped me.”

“I.. I did not!” Ryeowook stammered,

“Oh, yes you did,” Yesung smirked up at him as he undid the belt, “I was the innocent little rabbit in the field and you were the vicious fox looking for a meal.”

“I-I-I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ryeowook was startled at how his voice came out hoarse and, somehow, still pitchy.

“But it looks like I’ve found my meal,” Yesung stated as he slowly unzipped the jeans.

His fingers stroked along the front of Ryeowook’s boxers which peeked through the opening of his jeans. Then, his thumbs were rubbing circles along the hardness Yesung felt. Ryeowook gripped the railing behind him, biting down on his lip painfully as he stared down at Yesung. Yesung brought the heel of his palm against Ryeowook and rubbed it up and down against him.

Ryeowook sucked in a breath and Yesung looked up at him, “Can’t look away, can you?”

Ryeowook tried to say no, even tried to look away, but all his thoughts were centred around Yesung’s hand and what it was doing to him. That part of him was throbbing painfully and somehow he had gotten even harder just by locking gazes with Yesung. Yesung grinned up at him as he stroked his fingertip up and down Ryeowook, causing his legs to falter and grip the railing even tighter in an attempt to stay standing.

“Y-Yesung,” Ryeowook murmured,

“Hmm?” Yesung stared up at him, his finger moving up and down, up and down, up and fucking down.

“P-Please,” Ryeowook stuttered,

“Please what?” Yesung asked innocently, his eyes suggesting anything other than innocence.

“Y-You know what,” Ryeowook grounded out,

“Do I?” He mused as he darted out his tongue and licked him through his boxers.

He clenched his eyes shut, “Y-Yes, y-you d-do,” he gritted his teeth,
He slowly straightened, his hand rubbing and cupping Ryeowook, “I want you to say it Ryeowook… say it so I don’t think I’m the only one who wants it… say it because I know you’re not the innocent Ryeowook everyone thinks you are.”

“You know all of that already!” Ryeowook shuddered as Yesung increased the pressure of his hand. He grabbed Yesung’s shoulders to steady himself, arching his hips against Yesung’s hand. “D-Damn it, you know!”

Yesung moved his hands to Ryeowook’s hips and ground his pelvis against Ryeowook’s sensitive and hard front, “Say it.”

He groaned as his fingers tightened on Yesung’s shoulders as he moved to press his hips even more against Yesung’s, but his hyung moved his hips away, “Hyung!” He cried,

“Say it!” Yesung grinned at him, his hips holding Ryeowook firmly and still,

Ryeowook moved his hands from Yesung’s shoulders to his face, cupping it as he pressed his lips to Yesung’s. He thrust his tongue between Yesung’s lips and massaged Yesung’s tongue with his own. He tangled his tongue with Yesung’s and when he broke the kiss, both of them were panting,

“I want your lips,” Ryeowook murmured against Yesung’s mouth, “I want them, now, on me. I want them on my skin, I want your hands on me, around me. I want everything you’ve just done but on my skin.”

Yesung smirked against his lips, “Anything else?”

“Your mouth,” Ryeowook groaned as Yesung finally allowed their hips to meet, “I want it, on me. I want to be in it. Now - damn, how I want to be in your mouth right now.”

“Now, was that so hard?” Yesung chuckled, as he slowly sunk down to his knees again. His hands slipped Ryeowook’s jeans down his hips, pulling the waistband of his boxers down with the jeans. “Now what do we have here? Haven’t seen you in awhile.”

“It’s been one day,” Ryeowook choked out,

“And you were out filming all day. I couldn’t even play with you if I wanted to,” Yesung stated.

Ryeowook was going to reply when Yesung grabbed him with his hand. His thumb circling again, this time Ryeowook’s groan echoed in the elevator. His fingers wrapped around the base of Ryeowook and pressed his lips to the tip of him. Ryeowook let out a shuddering sigh, his hands hurting from gripping the railing so tight.

Yesung pressed kisses up and down him, his tongue swirling in a circular pattern all along his length. He ran his tongue around the head of Ryeowook as his fingers mirrored the motion at the base of him. His tongue was warm and rough against Ryeowook as he caressed it along him. As he kissed Ryeowook again, he smirked to himself as Ryeowook groaned out his name,

“Hmm?” He hummed, knowing what Ryeowook would say next,

“In… In…” Ryeowook was panting, his grip loosening on the railing,

“Hmm?” Yesung prompted, moving his lips away from Ryeowook altogether.

Ryeowook opened his eyes and glared down at Yesung. Eyes narrowed, hands tightening on the railing now out of frustration, he grounded out, “Damn it, I said it before must I tell you again!?”

Yesung openly smiled up at him, “Yes.”

“Fine! Fine!” Ryeowook cried, “I want to be in your mouth Yesung. I want you to put me in your mouth. I want you to suck me. I want you to suck me hard until I can’t feel my legs anymore, until I can’t feel anything but me in your mouth. Fuck, how I want you to suck me off.”

“Hmm… ‘Fuck’…Now that’s a word I can understand,” Yesung mused, rubbing his thumb along Ryeowook.

Before Ryeowook could get mad at him stalling again, Yesung took the head of Ryeowook into his mouth. Ryeowook groaned and when Yesung took more of him into his mouth, he almost screamed. He gripped the railing as he tried to keep standing. Yesung was moving up and down him in regular intervals and all Ryeowook wanted was for him to move faster.

All day he was filming with the other members for a variety show and as much as he had fun, he had missed Yesung sorely. If Yesung was right about one thing, it was his statement of the others not knowing his true nature. They had been together for quite some time now, and when they were first intimate, Ryeowook had been scared. However, since after that first time, Yesung had uncovered a side of Ryeowook not even Ryeowook knew about. Ryeowook’s new-found appetite had gotten so out of control that Yesung had to tell Ryeowook to stop.

Holding onto the railing for all he was worth, Ryeowook subconsciously began to rock his hips against Yesung. His breathing came out as panting and once more, he couldn’t pull his gaze away from what Yesung was doing. Watching Yesung, his hyung who was always strong, now on his knees and kneeling before him, his mouth around him, made each movement, each stroke even more powerful. Ryeowook felt every thing, felt even the smallest twitch of Yesung’s lips, felt every small stroke of Yesung’s tongue, felt even the softest increase in pressure of Yesung’s fingers on his hips.

Yesung began to hear Ryeowook groan again, more than just his hips began to squirm and he knew Ryeowook was getting desperate. He began to suck on him hard, began to caress with his tongue even rougher and tightened his lips around him tighter.

“Oh Yesung,” he moaned, finally pulling his gaze away from Yesung. His head fell against the elevator wall and he didn’t even both to stifle his cries. Yesung began to graze his teeth along Ryeowook’s length and he let out another moan, “Damn, I wish that camera was working.”

Yesung blinked as he pulled his mouth away. He looked up at Ryeowook, “What? You do!?”

Ryeowook looked down at him through half-lidded eyes, “You have no idea how much I want it… and other things.”

“Oh Ryeowook,” Yesung chuckled, his voice even more gravely the lower it got. He wrapped his hand around Ryeowook, hard and soft at the same time, “If I had known you’d become like this after our first time…” He kissed the tip of him and Ryeowook jerked beneath his lips, “I would’ve seduced you a long, long time ago.”

Ryeowook pried Yesung’s hand from him and leaned down, taking a finger into his mouth. He mimicked what Yesung had been doing but with his finger instead. He grazed his teeth slow and hard along Yesung’s finger before running his tongue along it. Then slowly, he let it slip from his mouth as he straightened. He cupped Yesung’s cheek with his hand and slowly guided his hyung’s mouth to the tip of him again,

“My dear Yesung…” He smiled down at him, sweetly, innocently and somehow mischievously all at the same time, “I seduced you,” he murmured as he pressed himself against Yesung’s lips.

Yesung took Ryeowook into his mouth and was rewarded with a deep-throated groan. He grazed his teeth along Ryeowook’s length once more. He sucked on the head hard and Ryeowook shivered beneath his mouth. When he ran his teeth along him again, he put more pressure and his dongsaeng moaned his name. Ryeowook was growing desperate. He was hot all over, he could barely keep himself standing and every time Yesung moved his mouth on him, he felt bolts of lightning streak from his core. Yesung wasn’t doing anything new from all there other times together, but the fact that they were in an elevator made it more exciting. Even the camera - disabled as it was - just the thought that it had the potential to be filming them, was making Ryeowook’s blood burn.

He took Ryeowook completely into his mouth and swallowed the air. The motion of the back of Yesung’s throat and the feel of being deep-throated, rocked Ryeowook over the precipice. Suddenly the bolts of lightning weren’t going away and the heat was making him boil. If Yesung hadn’t been holding his hips, Ryeowook surely would’ve collapsed as he climaxed into Yesung’s mouth. He would’ve screamed Yesung’s name if it hadn’t been shuddering from head to toe.

When the last wave dissipated, Yesung slowly rose, sandwiching Ryeowook against the elevator wall. Ryeowook weakly raised his hands, cradling Yesung’s face, pulling him towards himself. Yesung stopped him,

“Ryeowook, I just… and you just…” He blinked, “We’ve never kissed after, the taste-”

“Don’t care,” Ryeowook murmured, pulling him into a kiss. He thrust his tongue into Yesung’s mouth, his tongue sweeping all over, tasting everything. When he was done, he pulled away, smiling smugly, “We should kiss after more often.”

Yesung raised a curious eyebrow, “You never fail to surprise me, Ryeo.”

“Please fuck me in the elevator now,” He said with a small smile that could’ve been interpreted as shy had it not been for the look in his eyes and the words he breathed.

“And you just proved me right,” Yesung smiled, brushing his lips over Ryeowook’s once more in the most chaste thing they’ve done since entering the elevator.

“I’m surprised security hasn’t done anything by now,” Ryeowook said as Yesung began to unbuckle his own belt and undo his own jeans, “We’ve been stopped in here for almost half an hour now.”

“Hush,” Yesung murmured, kissing him again, “You can only complain or comment after I get mine like you just got yours.”

“I suppose it’s only fair,” Ryeowook smiled at him as Yesung pushed his jeans and boxers down to his feet; he finished by stepping out of them.

“Damn right it’s only fair,” Yesung said as he kissed Ryeowook again, this time grinding his hard self against Ryeowook’s softened state.

“Now,” Ryeowook insisted, his hands covering Yesung’s which were planted firmly on his hips.

Yesung moved his hands to Ryeowook’s underside and with little effort, hefted Ryeowook off his feet. Instinctively, wrapped his legs high above Yesung’s waist, locking his ankles together. Yesung took half a step towards the elevator wall, shelving his hands on the railing and Ryeowook propped his forearms on Yesung’s shoulders to help keep balance of their precarious posture.

“Ready?” Yesung asked, his nose an inch away from the other’s,

“Damn, yes,” Ryeowook breathed.

Yesung found Ryeowook’s entrance and once he pushed the tip of himself in, Ryeowook groaned. When Yesung angled his hips and thrust completely in, Ryeowook inhaled a sharp breath and shivered deliciously. He leaned his head against Ryeowook’s shoulder, turned his head to nuzzle his face against Ryeowook’s neck,

“Fuck, Ryeowook,” He grunted, “You’re so damn tight it’s like we didn’t fuck last night at all.”

“Less talking, more thrusting,” Ryeowook murmured, now embracing him even tighter against him,

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Yesung smirked against his neck, salty and hot from their exertions,

“Then don’t make me say it again,” Ryeowook grounded out.

Yesung pressed Ryeowook back against the elevator wall and, assuring himself his hands were steady on the railing, thrust up into Ryeowook once, twice, over and over again. He clenched his thigh muscles and tightened his abdomen, putting more power into each thrust. Ryeowook was panting again and, had he not buried his face in Ryeowook’s neck, Yesung knew he would be panting along with him.

He felt hot. Ryeowook surrounded him like a tight glove made of fire. It warmed him, heated him, and made the fire spread out to the rest of his body. With no latex between them, he felt every moment between them, felt every clench, every thrust - oh, they didn’t do this often enough. Every single bit of friction fanned the flames, causing the fire to grow, causing more sparks to burn between them. It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough.

“More,” Ryeowook grunted, vocalizing exactly what Yesung was thinking.

“Drop one of your legs, just one of them,” Yesung murmured, his lips tickling Ryeowook’s neck.

Pressing down on Yesung’s shoulders with his forearms to keep them steady, he unlocked his ankles and slowly, ever so slowly, brought a foot down to the ground. Yesung kept Ryeowook’s hips angled properly with his own hips so they would remain joined. However, lowering one foot changed the angle enough to deepen Yesung’s place within him.

“Damn that feels good,” Ryeowook managed as Yesung tested their position but pulling out half way and thrusting back into him.

“Not enough,” Yesung said, straightening his torso but keeping Ryeowook against the elevator wall.

He lifted his hands and Ryeowook from the railing and adjusted his hands. He brought one forearm to sandwich between Ryeowook’s underside and the railing, freeing one of his arms. He brought his hand to the back of Ryeowook’s knee, the one that was still hooked over his hip. Watching his dongsaeng’s face, Yesung slowly raised Ryeowook’s knee, higher and higher.

Ryeowook sucked in a sharp breath, biting painfully on his bottom lip to distract himself from the pain where he and Yesung were joined. Yesung had always stretched him, filling him completely until he thought he would burst. However, as Yesung continued to slowly - achingly, so - raise his leg, he was being stretched even more, being filled anew as if it were their first time all over again. Finally, Yesung hooked Ryeowook’s knee over his shoulder and Ryeowook let out a wavering groan.

“Y-Yesung, i-it h-hurts,” he stammered, clenching his eyes close, tears now burning his eyes,

“I know,” Yesung said, moving his free hand to cup Ryeowook’s cheek. He brushed a few tears with his thumb, “But bear with it a little more.”

He with drew until only the head was within and, after taking a deep, steadying breath, thrust completely into Ryeowook. Ryeowook let out a groan as the pain turned to something more, something so damn more. Pelvises flush together, Ryeowook felt he was completely full. Yesung gritted his teeth and continued to push his pelvis, burrowing himself to the hilt. Suddenly, Ryeowook’s groan became a scream and Yesung had to breathe heavily through his nostrils to stop himself from repeating the sentiment.

Yesung pulled out slowly and entered him even slower. Again and again and again, he undulated. With each thrust, with each withdrawal they both shuddered together. Their cores, their bodies, their hearts completely synchronized as each joining warmed their hearts, their bodies, burning their cores until they could no longer move slowly.

Yesung moved his torso closer to Ryeowook’s, pressing his dongsaeng’s thigh closer to his torso, stretching him even more. Ryeowook bit down on his lip to stop from crying out as his body was being stretched beyond his natural flexibility. Yesung pushed Ryeowook’s thigh until he could bend anymore. He stretched his neck out the rest of the way and barely brushed his lips against Ryeowook’s. This time, when he withdrew and thrust into him again, it was deeper - excruciatingly, deliciously so - and neither could make a noise because it was suddenly difficult to breathe.

Moving his hand to the back of Ryeowook’s neck, he held it still as he locked eyes with the younger man. He engaged his attention, disallowed him to look away as he moved his hips. Faster, faster, faster he thrust. The fire was burning brightly, painfully until neither could feel anything despite their joining, until neither knew anything but each other.

Suddenly, they weren’t in the elevator but in the privacy of their room, they weren’t in a brightly lit elevator but in the romantic dimness of their room, they weren’t breaking the law in the elevator but sinning deliciously in the room. Suddenly, everything else melted away and it was just them, fire burning around them, within them and through them.

Yesung moved his hand from Ryeowook’s neck to his favourite appendage. He had been hard again for some time and now Yesung wrapped his hand around him. He pumped him once, twice and that was all it took for him to climax again. As Ryeowook hissed, he knocked his head back against the wall, clenching his eyes shut as he breathed Yesung’s name. The fire was threading through him as wave after wave of his climax passed throughout his body.

Yesung thrust once, twice and a third time. Ryeowook’s body clenched around him, pumping him tightly as he reached completion. He continued to thrust as he rode the waves of fire with Ryeowook. His dongsaeng’s name was on his lips and he moaned it over and over again until they were both depleted.

Yesung moved them away from the wall. Ryeowook unhooked his knee and as he slowly slid his leg down, Yesung withdrew completely from him. His hands remained on Yesung’s shoulders as his feet touched the ground. Yesung held his hips, keeping him steady. Ryeowook leaned back against the wall, conscious of the railing at his back and pulled Yesung with him, pulling his head until their lips met.

“That was amazing,” Ryeowook murmured against his lips,

“Just wait until tomorrow,” Yesung smiled, pulling his head back enough to see him clearly, look into his eyes directly.

“Why?” Ryeowook asked quietly, suddenly the timid person the other members believed him to be.

“Because we can watch what happened all over again,” Yesung smirked at him.

Suddenly, Ryeowook’s face was bright red, his jaw slowly dropping, “But… but-” his eyes flew towards the camera in the top corner which was aimed perfectly at them.

“I paid a hefty price to have the guards not come when this elevator starts and to turn that camera back on for this-”

“When-”

“Earlier today. And I paid another price to have them leave the security room so the monitors aren’t being watched; so, we can go get the tape now,” Yesung stated smugly.

“How did…” Eyes flashing towards the camera then back at Yesung, he questioned as he pulled up his boxers and jeans, doing them up again; “How did you know I’d agree to this?”

Yesung chuckled softly as he pulled up his own undergarments and pants, “Because I know you, Ryeo.”

“Indeed, you do,” Ryeowook agreed, pushing Yesung’s hands away and doing the front of Yesung’s jeans for him. He looked up at his hyung and smiled his smile of innocence and mischievousness as his hands brushed the front of Yesung’s jeans, “So then you know we shouldn’t wait until tomorrow to watch that tape.”

“As you wish,” Yesung grinned as he moved towards the button controls.

He reached out to press the red button, knowing it would restart the elevators just as the guards told him it would. Before he could press it, Ryeowook brushed his hand away and pushed him against the wall opposite to where they had been before. He looked at Ryeowook, one eyebrow raised curiously,

“Ryeo?” He murmured appreciatively, hands going and planting firmly on Ryeowook’s hips as the younger man pressed their bodies flush against one another,

“Since you paid so much for this, who’s to stop us from doing it again?” Ryeowook suggested, his hands moving up Yesung’s chest, to his shoulders and around until his arms wrapped about his neck.

“Who indeed?” Yesung smirked at him, leaning back against the wall as Ryeowook leaned towards him.

“Besides,” Ryeowook continued, brushing his lips against Yesung’s once, twice and a third time, “We don’t really know what that red button will do if we press it… we could be stuck here for awhile more.”

“I think you need to go on Jeolchin Notes, Ryeowook… the others have no idea you’re like this,” Yesung said, but the light in his eyes said he wouldn’t have it any other way. “But I think you need to be more clear about what you want from me, Ryeowook.”

Ryeowook raised an eyebrow of his own. He leaned in until his lips brushed Yesung’s, his breath tickling his hyung’s as he whispered, “Fuck me in the elevator again, Yesung.”

“Hmm… ‘Fuck’…Now that’s a word I can understand,” Yesung chuckled softly.

Moving his hands to cradle Ryeowook’s face, he smiled intimately before leaning in and giving him a chaste, innocent kiss.


(Sungmin&Kyuhyun's story: A Different Game)

[017] A Time for Two

theme: o17. Accidents
pair: Ryeowook/Ryeowook
rate: PG
words: 10351
#: 82/100
(Part of the For Two series.)
Many thanks to Hokum who agonized with me for a few hours trying to remember what I had written in Mandarin.


One of Seoul’s most popular evening restaurants, Suju went almost into a frenzy when a year after the restaurant’s five-year anniversary, the former head chef returned from France. He smiled at them quietly as he bowed at their greetings and cheers. Eventually the crowd broke up to go about opening the restaurant for that evening. He approached the bar where the owner was sitting,

“Shiwon-sshi, it’s been a long time,” the former head chef bowed at him,

“Ah, Henry,” Shiwon turned in his stool to face the young man, “It’s been so long since I last heard your voice. I’m honoured that after going to France you’re still willing to come and work for me again. I feel guilty that I cannot offer you your position again, but Hankyung is an amazing chef.”

“He’s most likely better than me,” Henry conceded, “While in France I grew a love for pastries and desserts. Coming back to Korea as a pâtisier is more than I could hope for, I’m just glad I can work for you and with everyone again.”

“Shiwon-sshi, here’s the soju you wanted,” The bartender said, holding a bottle on the bar counter. He held it as Shiwon turned in his stool and reached out his hand. The bartender placed the bottle in his hand and Shiwon took it with a smile of thanks, got up from his stool and headed to the back of the restaurant where his office was located. “Henry, I think you should give me a taste-test of any dessert you make tonight.”

Henry smiled at the bartender, “Whatever you want, Eeteuk-hyung.” He glanced towards where Shiwon had headed and waited until the owner was out of sight, “Hyung…”

“He’s been blind for two years now,” Eeteuk answered easily, seeing the confusion on the pâtisier’s face; “Heechul got into an accident in another job he had. He was facing permanent blindness and Shiwon sacrificed his own sight to save Heechul’s.”

“But why? Heechul doesn’t care about anyone else,” Henry stated,

Eeteuk gave him a small smile, “You’ve missed a lot in three years, Henry. Heechul’s changed, even I’m amazed when I think about it sometimes.”

“Yeah, yeah I was a jerk, it’s been two years, can people stop reminding me?” The head waiter joined them at the bar, rolling his eyes,

“You mean you can actually remember who the owner is now?” Henry teased, remembering how the waiter always forgot who the owner was,

“You remember that too?” Heechul sighed as he ran a hand through his now short hair, “Geez.”

“Anything else change?” Henry asked, smirking at Heechul’s exasperated expression, “Is Kyuhyun still head host? What about Kibum-sshi?”

“Kyuhyun’s still head host, but he’s had to cut down his hours,” Eeteuk answered, “He’s attending SM Academy of Fine Arts to be a grand pianist, and Kibum is still the sous chef.”

Henry sighed heavily, “I should go talk to him. I’ll catch up with you guys later.” With a small wave, he disappeared into the kitchens.

“Don’t you think it’s weird he didn’t even mention Ryeowook?” Eeteuk asked quietly as he pulled out glasses from his own private dishwasher behind the bar counter,

“Honestly, I don’t know what to think,” Heechul replied, “Does Ryeowook know Henry’s back?”

Eeteuk straightened and leaned against the back counter, “Why do you think he’s not working tonight?”

…

(Translation)

Henry slipped into the kitchen and tentatively approached the sous chef’s station in the kitchen. Kibum, who was inspecting his knives, glanced at Henry before turning his attention back to his knives,

“Why so cautious?” Kibum asked,

“Well… for one, you’re holding knives, and for another, I didn’t recommend you for the head chef position,” Henry admitted,

“It’s fine,” Kibum said easily as he placed down his knives. He turned to face Henry, leaning his hips against his table, crossing his arms loosely about his torso; “Hankyung-sshi makes a way better chef than I could have hoped to be.”

Henry blinked then smiled, “You’ve grown, hyung.”

Kibum shrugged, but a smile tugged at his lips all the same. “Have you met Hankyung yet?” Henry shook his head in a negative answer. Kibum called to the head chef. Tall and lithe, Hankyung came over to them, “Henry this is Hankyung, Hankyung, this is Henry; he was the former head chef.”

“Zhōngguórén ma?” Hankyung asked as he searched the other man’s face,

“Shì,” Henry replied simply. “Ni hé Kibum shì hao péngyou ma?”

Hankyung smirked, “Yi shàng de péngyou… qíngrén.”

“Ne?” Henry blinked, glancing from Kibum to Hankyung, “Zhēnzhèngde ne?” Hankyung gave a simple shrug with a smile and Henry laughed, “Henduō găibiàn yīnwèi wo líkāi!”

Kibum glanced between the two before fisting a hand and punching Hankyung’s arm, “You told him!”

“How would you know? You don’t know Chinese,” Hankyung brushed him off,

“Two can play this game,” Kibum scowled when he turned to Henry, “Comment était la France? Avez-vous rencontré beaucoup de belles femmes?”

“Tu parle français? Comment?” Henry gasped, easily slipping into French from Mandarin,

“Quand j'étais au lycée, j'ai étudié en Angleterre et en France. Je ne tu l'a dit?” Kibum asked casually, smugly noting Hankyung’s confused looks.

“Non, tu ne le faisaient pas,” Henry crossed his arms with a raised eyebrow, “France est… magnifique et oui, j’ai rencontré beaucoup de belles femmes. Très belles. Jaloux?”

Kibum glanced at Hankyung who stared at him with a displeased look. Kibum turned back to Henry and shook his head, “Non,” He smiled, “Je l’adore. L’adore beaucoup.”

Henry felt a little pain in his chest, “Ryeowook… est-il ici?”

Kibum shook his head, “Pas aujourd'hui… Il… Il a prévu un arrêt de travail…Désolé.”

Hankyung sighed heavily, “If I promise not to speak in Chinese with Ryeowook, will you stop speaking in French?” Kibum nodded, “Thank you,”

“Shouldn’t you go prepare your usual glass of wine for Shiwon?” Kibum asked, a mischievous smile on his lips,

Hankyung said nothing. He turned on his heel and stormed off.

“What was that?” Henry smirked,

“When Hankyung first started, within a few weeks of each other he managed to cause two major food critics to storm out and be escorted out - respectively,” Kibum laughed but interjecting solemnly, “I’ll admit the first time was in my defence… and the second time was because the critic was targeting Hankyung for failure. Either way, since then Shiwon made Hankyung promise to always bring him a glass of wine and he’d forget those… mishaps.”

Henry smiled as Hankyung glanced over at them threateningly, presumably knowing what they were discussing, “What are the usual desserts? Have they changed since I left?”

“Yes… We have desserts now - that’s the change,” Kibum laughed lightly, “But now that you’re here, we can have a bigger dessert menu than just ice cream and the occasional cake.”

“That’s all we have?” Henry gaped,

“We never had a pâtisier before and it’s not like desserts were ever a big demand,” Kibum reminded, “Whenever someone asked for it, Hankyung would make it.”

“Well, I plan to make Suju the place to go for desserts,” Henry smiled at him,

“If you’ve become as good a pâtisier as you were a chef, then I don’t doubt that,” Kibum smiled as he returned to his knives,

“I’ll start thinking up a new menu for tomorrow,” Henry ran a hand through his hair, “Ah… I’ll be back, I forgot my lip chap in my locker.”

Kibum chuckled, “Still use lip chap?”

“My lips are sensitive,” Henry defended as he began walking away.

“Raspberry-flavoured?”

“Naturally!”

…

Henry was coming out of the employee’s change room, applying a thin layer of his raspberry lip chap when he collided into someone. He instinctively grabbed their arm to stop them from falling,

“Ah, thanks I… Henry.”

Henry blinked, startled to suddenly be standing before a face he didn’t expect to see that day, “Ryeowook-” Ryeowook pulled his arm from Henry’s grasp; “I thought you don’t work today.”

“I don’t,” Ryeowook replied, looking away, “I came in to get the rest of my schedule however… I thought if I just popped into the office for my schedule I wouldn’t run into you.”

“No such luck,” Henry grinned at him as he pocketed his lip chap.

Ryeowook said nothing as he continued a few steps away to the office. He raised a fist, but before he could knock on the door, he felt something grab his other wrist. He glanced over his shoulder at Henry who was staring at him intently, “What?”

“It’s been awhile… can’t we talk a bit?” Henry asked tentatively,

“What’s there to talk about?” Ryeowook snapped, “I think you leaving was all there was to it, hmm?” He yanked his wrist from Henry’s hand and crossed his arms about his torso,

“I thought…” Henry sighed as he trailed off,

“You thought what? That you could waltz in here after three years and expect me to be happy to see you? Expect me to want to see you? You have got to be kidding,” Ryeowook scoffed, his voice low and laced with hostility,

“It seems more has changed here than I thought,” Henry said quietly, “You never used to be like this… You were always quiet or introverted… Never raised your voice… Never spoke with anger,” He offered a small smile, “You’ve grown stronger while I was gone, Ryeowook.”

Ryeowook narrowed his eyes, “I had to become stronger. You left me with nothing else but myself,” he spat bitterly as he dropped a hand to his side and knocked on the door, then re-crossed his arms. He heard Shiwon call whoever knocked into the office.

“Ryeowook, please - I want to talk,” Henry pleaded now before the other man could even move at Shiwon’s call.

“Then talk,” Ryeowook replied coldly,

“Not here,” Henry stressed, glancing around them,

“Then not at all,” Ryeowook said decisively, “You didn’t give me any courtesy beyond that, so why should I give you more?”

“Ryeowook-”

“What do you want to say? That you’re sorry? That you regret leaving?” Ryeowook laughed bitterly,

“No…” Henry muttered, his eyes dropping to the floor.

A feeling like his heart being twisted came over Ryeowook at Henry’s answer. He bit down hard on his bottom lip to force back a cry. “Well then,” he managed, forcing strength into his words, “There’s nothing we have to talk about then.”

Before Henry could say anything, the office door opened. Shiwon looked at the wall across from the door, “Ryeowook? Is that you?”

“Yes Shiwon-sshi,” Ryeowook bowed to the owner, despite him not being able to see it, “I was coming to see the schedule.”

Shiwon nodded as he stepped aside to let him in, “Good thing you came, I wanted to speak with you. Henry, are you here too?”

“Ah, yes,” Henry replied,

“Then please excuse us, it’s just Ryeowook I need to speak to,” Shiwon smiled.

Henry nodded before remember Shiwon’s condition and said, “Of… of course.” He turned and walked down the hall back to the kitchen.

Shiwon closed the door after Ryeowook and gestured towards the seats before his desk as he walked to the desk and grabbed a binder where the schedule was placed. He sat on his desk as he handed Ryeowook the binder, “That is the right binder right? I don’t think I have any others on my desk,”

“It’s the right one,” Ryeowook confirmed as he opened the binder and his eyes wandered over the schedule, not really taking it in, “Why did you want to speak with me?” He asked quietly, all strength gone from him and suddenly very exhausted - physically and emotionally.

“I didn’t in truth. When I called for someone to come in and no one did, I went to the door,” Shiwon pinked slightly, “I admit I heard the last bit of your conversation with Henry. I thought it best I step in, if I was wrong-”

“No, no,” Ryeowook looked up at Shiwon, “I appreciate it, really.”

Shiwon tilted his head, as if regarding Ryeowook with sightless eyes; “It had been 3 years since Henry left… I had assumed it be okay for him to return… Had I known, I would’ve asked you-”

“When we work together, he’ll be in the kitchen and I’ll be serving customers. I never have to see him,” Ryeowook said as he turned his eyes back to the schedule, “And I’ll be okay, Shiwon-sshi… It’s just that this is the first time I’ve seen him since he left… I was caught off guard.”

“And next time you run into him?” Shiwon asked quietly,

“I’ll be prepared,” Ryeowook stood and placed the binder back on his desk, “Thank you again, hyung.” He turned to leave. His hand was on the door knob before he heard his name. He glanced over his shoulder, “Shiwon-sshi?”

“I know what it’s like to be in love, Ryeowook… are you sure you’re okay?” Shiwon asked tentatively,

“Yes,” Ryeowook said firmly, “It’s been awhile since I’ve loved him.” With that, Ryeowook left the office, closing the door firmly yet quietly behind him.

…

A few nights later, Ryeowook came into work for the first time since Henry returned. It was the weekend and usually it was Kyuhyun who would host that evening since he didn’t have school, but Shiwon decided that Ryeowook would host along with Kyuhyun since the weekend would prove to be busy.

Kyuhyun returned to the host’s podium after leading a few customers to their table. He went to the touch-screen computer that was imbedded into the podium and added a number to one of the tables on the computer’s map. More customers came in and Ryeowook greeted them. Kyuhyun offered to show them a table and led them away. When he returned Ryeowook stared at him,

“Yes?” Kyuhyun asked as he went to the computer once more,

“Since we opened an hour ago, you’ve taken every customer that’s come through those doors,” Ryeowook stated, “Why?”

“In all honesty, I thought if I kept you here all night there’d be less of a chance for you to run into Henry,” Kyuhyun admitted,

Ryeowook sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, “Thanks Kyuhyun. I do appreciate it.”

Kyuhyun watched him a moment, seeing for the first time in a long time the old Ryeowook. The one who was shy and quiet, the one who was sensitive and gentle. Over the years he had seen Ryeowook change from an awkward waiter to a confident host, but there were times when he missed the old Ryeowook.

“I’ve gotten over him a long time ago, Kyuhyun… but the hurt is still there,” Ryeowook admitted quietly as the head waiter walked over to them.

“Kyuhyun, if you want to play I can cover you for a few minutes,” Heechul offered, gesturing towards the baby grand piano on the other side of the restaurant.

Kyuhyun glanced at Ryeowook, but he smiled at him in return. Satisfied, Kyuhyun crossed the restaurant and sat at the piano.

“Do you want to go on break?” Heechul asked casually as he glanced down at the computer screen.

“I can’t leave you here by yourself,” Ryeowook argued,

“Ryeo-sshi… have you ever heard Kyuhyun play?” Heechul inquired softly,

“Yes, of course-”

“Since Henry’s returned?” Heechul prompted,

“No…”

“Then please go on break,” Heechul said firmly, but gently as he looked directly at him, “Kyuhyun’s playing can… it can invoke things in people that you would never expect, especially when they’re vulnerable-”

“I am not vulnerable!” Ryeowook stated angrily,

Heechul closed his eyes as a few notes began to play from the piano. He opened them and regarded Ryeowook a moment, “You were there that night, were you not? When Kyuhyun played for the first time here?” Ryeowook nodded sceptically, “That evening, Eeteuk was affected by the music and if you don’t go on break now, it might hit you too.”

“I’m fine,” Ryeowook argued quietly as he crossed his arms, “Besides…” He glanced towards the bar just as the pâtisier exited the kitchen with a plate and brought it to the bartender, “If I can’t get through one of Kyuhyun’s songs, then it means these three years were for nothing.”

Heechul said nothing, but placed his hand on Ryeowook’s shoulder.

Slowly, the restaurant’s lively conversations hushed as the piano’s melody moved into a crescendo. It seemed as if Kyuhyun were picking only notes that would move a person’s soul. The melody wrapped around everyone who was in the front restaurant. The music would dip and cause the heart to drop with it. The music would soar and the heart would beat fast, almost painful in anxiety.

Kyuhyun sat at the piano, his eyes closed, his fingers instinctively dancing along the black and white keys. After so long, his fingers were limber and quick as they once were. Over six years ago, Kyuhyun had been ambushed and his hands injured. He hadn’t played the piano again until just over a year ago. Now, his hands moved as if he hadn’t spent a single day without using them.

Ryeowook felt his heart move with the music. He remembered the first time Kyuhyun had played in the restaurant. He even remembered that crash from the bar when Eeteuk had dropped a glass. What he didn’t remember was feeling the way he did now as his dongsaeng played.

A poignancy entered him the moment Kyuhyun pressed the first key. Even though Ryeowook had been arguing with Heechul, his heart had been on Heechul’s side. He stood there firmly, eyes on Kyuhyun’s back as the music continued. He felt each constriction of his heart, each inhale of his lungs - each staggered in their movements and causing him insurmountable pain.

He clenched his fists at his side as he felt his heart twist in his chest, digging his nails into the palms of his hands, he willed himself to remain strong. At some point, Ryeowook inhaled then did not exhale. He held onto that breath to steady his core. He bit on his bottom lip until he tasted copper on his tongue. He did all of this and all the while, while the music consumed his mind, his heart was consumed with the person at the bar talking to Eeteuk.

The music floated about the room as if it were a heavy storm cloud. Then suddenly, with no indication from Kyuhyun at all, it seemed as if his music had reached a peak, a climax. At the end, the storm cloud gave way and rained droplets of serenity amongst the customers of Suju restaurant. To Ryeowook, it shattered the last of his resolve as all the feelings and thoughts he had over the last three years suddenly slammed into him at once. He looked over at the bar, and through a veil of tears, he could see Henry looking back at him. The urge to call out to him washed over him and then suffocated him when Henry suddenly turned away from him.

Heechul felt it the moment it happened. His hand had remained on Ryeowook’s shoulder the entire time and suddenly, there was a tremble beneath his fingers. His ears heard the beginning of a cry before it was swallowed up and bit back. As Kyuhyun finished and a few of the guests clapped appreciatively, Heechul pulled Ryeowook to the other side of him so that he was blocking Ryeowook’s view of the restaurant.

Heechul stood there, hands on both of his shoulders and stared hard at Ryeowook who avoided his eyes; “I warned you,” Heechul said simply,

“I don’t need a lecture,” Ryeowook managed, his voice quiet and broken,

“And you won’t get one,” Heechul replied, “But for now, I want you to stand here like you weren’t affected. I want you to smile like you didn’t feel anything. If you can do that, at least until Henry goes back to the kitchen, then you can salvage some semblance of what you gained from these three years since he left.”

“Hyung,” Ryeowook began, his voice cracking again,

“I know it’s hard,” Heechul said as he turned Ryeowook so that he was facing the front doors now, “But I’ll stay here with you,” He promised, his hand remaining on his shoulder.

Kyuhyun joined them shortly and without saying anything, knew the change in Ryeowook. Without being asked to, he stood on the other side of his younger hyung. He and Heechul conversed casually, as if nothing was odd about them acting sentry, all the while, Kyuhyun slipped his hand into Ryeowook’s and squeezed it comfortingly.

…

“Good crowd,” Eeteuk noted as a waiter handed over an order, “Hmm Yesung?”

The waiter nodded as he looked out around the restaurant. He glanced over as Kyuhyun walked back and forth from the host’s podium, taking every customer that walked through the front doors; “Is it just me, or is Kyuhyun doing all of the hosting tonight?”

Eeteuk glanced at the podium before he turned to the back shelves and grabbed some bottles to make drinks, “Well think of who might walk out of the kitchens if he happens to walk to the tables closest to us.”

“If we weren’t so busy, I’d go talk to him,” Yesung said quietly, “I think in this restaurant, I’m the only person who’d understand the closest to how he feels.”

Eeteuk grew silent as he continued mixing his drinks. Him and Yesung had been friends since high school and while he, himself, had fallen in love with their mutual best friend, Yesung had fallen in love with him. It had been a year ago when Eeteuk had denied Yesung’s feelings and it took some time, but slowly they had regained the comfortableness of their friendship before the confession.

“Yesung-”

“No, I’m sorry,” Yesung looked over his shoulder.

“How are you, really?” Eeteuk asked as he placed the drinks on a tray and turned, placing it on the bar counter.

Yesung turned to face him and looked at him. It always felt strange talking to Eeteuk about his feelings for him, and yet, it seemed right that Eeteuk was guiding him through this. The only reason he had recovered from rejection as soon as he had - which was a week - was only because Eeteuk had been there and had talked to him. In the end, all that mattered to him was that Eeteuk was his best friend and he had not walked away from him in that part of his life.

“I’m good, really,” Yesung insisted after a moment, taking the tray from the counter, “A girl in one of my classes sat beside me, yesterday - for the first time.”

“Was she cute?” Eeteuk grinned at him,

“Eh,” Yesung shrugged as he winked, “Not as cute,” then turned and went off to bring his drinks to their respective tables.

Eeteuk smiled, watching him leave. He leaned against the back counter and crossed his arms loosely about his torso. Suddenly, Henry came out of the kitchens with a small dish and brought it over to the bar. He sat on a stool and waited as Eeteuk put the bottles he had used back on the back shelves. Afterwards, Eeteuk came over and took the fork Henry held out to him,

“This looks good!” Eeteuk smiled happily as he took a piece, “What is it called?”

“Crème caramel,” Henry answered,

Eeteuk took the small morsel on the fork into his mouth and smiled, “You do know how to spoil your hyung,” Eeteuk laughed,

“Well, you asked for a taste-test, so I’m bound to do so every time I make something,” Henry said. He leaned his back against the bar counter as his eyes moved briefly towards the host’s podium where Heechul stood with Ryeowook, “How long has Ryeowook been a host?”

“About a year and half,” Eeteuk said between bites of the creamy dessert,

“And how long has Kyuhyun been playing for the customers?” Henry inquired as he pulled his eyes away from Ryeowook to the head host who sat at the piano, playing a sweet, sad melody. “When I left it was Shiwon-sshi who played.”

“Kyuhyun’s been playing during his shifts… around a year now,” Eeteuk answered, as he averted his eyes from the piano player.

“So much has changed,” Henry sighed heavily as his eyes drifted back to Ryeowook and Heechul, “I have so much to catch up on… ah, how about Kangin-sshi? How’s he doing?”

Eeteuk nearly dropped the plate. He cleared his throat as he managed to place the plate back on the counter for Henry to take back, “He died.”

“EH!? When?” Henry spun around in his seat,

“About a year and half ago,” Eeteuk said quietly as a waiter came and gave another order. He began to make it and when the waiter left with the drink, he looked back up at Henry, “It happened pretty fast… two years ago he was diagnosed and six months later he…” he cleared his throat again before smiling, “That was delicious, thank you Henry.”

“Hyung, I didn’t… I’m sorry,” Henry said quietly,

Eeteuk shook his head, his smile not quite reaching his eyes; “It’s okay.” He glanced over at the host’s podium as Kyuhyun finished his song and made his way back to Ryeowook and Heechul. He noted something strange at the way Heechul and Kyuhyun stood on either side of Ryeowook. His eyes took in Heechul’s hand on Ryeowook’s shoulder and then saw Kyuhyun’s arm move closer to Ryeowook’s. In that instant, he understood. Ryeowook had just experienced what he had experienced just a year ago.

“Henry,” Eeteuk said casually as a waiter dropped off an order on their way to the kitchens; “What really happened three years ago?”

Henry froze. He was still sitting and all he had done was reach for the plate Eeteuk had given back, but he had froze in his movements. His hand slowly dropped to the counter and he seemed to have shut him self away from Eeteuk. A five-count passed between then before Henry grabbed the plate and bolted into the kitchens without so much as another word.

…

(Translation)

Kibum was wiping down his station later that evening when Henry came over, towel-drying a large whipping bowl.

“A lot of people liked your new desserts,” Kibum congratulated as he brought some knives over to the sink for cleaning, “But you don’t look too happy,” he noted when he returned,

Henry glanced to the other side of the kitchen where the head chef’s office was located; “When you and Hankyung-”

“Shh,” Kibum glared at him,

Henry rolled his eyes, “Lorsque tu et Hankyung commencé votre relation ... combien de temps jusqu'à ce que vous avez réalisé tu l'adorait?”

“Je ne sais pas ... ce n'est que quelques mois jusqu'à ce que j'ai pu dire: je t'adore,” Kibum admitted as he began cleaning down his counter with a wet rag, knowing the cleaning crew would clean again after him; “Je n'adore pas facilement, mais Hankyung a le dit après un mois et je ne doute pas de son amour.”

Henry nodded his understanding before going back to his station and placing the whipping bowl he was drying on a shelf. After quickly checking his station, he returned to Kibum just as he was drying his counter, “Y at-il un moment où vous vous demandiez si tu devez lui laisser? Trouver une femme, la place?”

Kibum suddenly stood up straight and looked at Henry directly. After working together for two years as chef and sous chef, they had become quite close. Now that Henry was back, Kibum felt as if a missing piece of his life had returned. He looked at Henry now curiously, as if trying to solve another puzzle, “Je pense tous les jours. Mais alors, je le vois, ou pense à lui et je SAIS qu'il n'ya personne d'autre,” Kibum answered easily, “Pourquoi?”

“Quand j'ai quitté il ya trois ans, c'est parce que je ne l'adore plus…” Henry sighed heavily as he pulled out his lip chap and applied a thin layer of the raspberry protection;

“Et maintenant?” Kibum prompted, throwing his drying towel in the laundry basket with the other rags. He leaned a hip against his counter and crossed his arms,

“En Corée, Ryeowook a été mon univers. Quand je suis allé à la France, je me suis vite realizd il était toujours mon univers, je pensais à lui tous les jours. Je suis resté en France jusqu'à ce que j'ai arrêté de l'adorer,” Henry answered, his voice quiet but firm; his gaze steady on Kibum’s.

“Et maintenant? Maintenant que tu es rentré?” Kibum questioned,

“Le véritable amour ne s'arrête pas si facilement …” Henry replied. They stood there in silence for a few moments as the other staff noisily continued about their business within the kitchen. Finally Henry broke the quiet between them; “Tout le monde sait sur tu et Hankyung.”

“Je sais,” Kibum said easily,

“Mais…”

“Hankyung a une partie de moi ne l'a jamais vu. Je me plais à penser que j'ai une partie de lui ne l'a jamais vu. C'est pourquoi je suis à ma manière, et Hankyung sait,” Kibum explained, glancing towards the head chef’s office, “Je l’adore. Je ne vous inquiétez pas si tout le monde le sait; juste si il sache.”

Henry said nothing as slowly staff started leaving the kitchen. Finally, Hankyung emerged from his office, rubbing the back of his neck wearily. His eyes spotted them and immediately he smiled, walking over to them,

“Home?” Hankyung suggested simply to Kibum who nodded.

Hankyung started to leave when suddenly Kibum grabbed his hand, stopping him. Hankyung looked back at him, startled. In the three years he had worked at Suju restaurant, and the almost three years he had been with Kibum, the sous chef had never done anything within the restaurant that would even suggest at their relationship.

Ignoring the other’s shocked expression, Kibum glanced over at Henry, “Parlez-lui.” And with that, he tugged on Hankyung’s hand and they left together.

…

Henry was just pocketing his beloved raspberry lip chap upon entering the employee’s locker room when he stopped dead in his tracks. Within the locker room, Yesung had his arms wrapped around Ryeowook. At the sound of the door opening, Yesung looked over and slowly, released his embrace.

Yesung turned back to Ryeowook so that he was a barrier between them. He placed his hands on the younger man’s shoulders, “Trust me on this, Ryeowook,” he said quietly enough for just Ryeowook to hear, “It’s better to talk to him than not to…”

“What if-”

“There are a lot of what if’s… and it’s going to hurt a lot to talk, but at least if you talk, you won’t have to think about what if’s anymore. The conversation is going to be hard and when you think you can’t take it, then come and talk to me,” Yesung prompted, “But talk to him first, hmm?”

Ryeowook nodded, wiping away betraying tears, “Thanks hyung, you’re a good friend.”

Yesung gave him a small, encouraging smile, “I know what it’s like and I knew you’d need one.” After giving his shoulder a supportive squeeze, he went to his locker and pulled out a bag. He glanced towards a doorway on the other side of the room that led to the employee bathrooms and then headed to the door, “Have a good night Henry,” He said, clapping his hand on Henry’s shoulder before leaving the two alone.

“You two seem close,” Henry noted casually as he walked towards his own locker and opened the door,

“We’ve worked together for six years,” Ryeowook said quietly with a shrug as he turned to his own locker, “He’s been a good friend to me over the years… a lot of the staff has. Now that I think of it, all of Suju’s employees are guys. Leave it to Shiwon to think up a concept for the restaurant that would rake in 70% of the female population of Seoul’s night life. And-”

“Do you know how much it killed me to see you in another person’s arms?” Henry demanded, turning to face Ryeowook;

“Do you know how much it killed me after being together for over a year - A YEAR - and you suddenly announce to the restaurant that you’re leaving for France within two weeks!?” Ryeowook demanded as he yanked his bag from his locker, “Do you know how much it killed me how after you announced your resignation you broke up with me thirteen minutes later in the parking lot!?”

“It was not that soon after-”

“IT WAS THIRTEEN MINUTES, DAMN IT!” Ryeowook exclaimed as he slammed his locker door shut, “I know Henry! That night has relived in my mind over and over and over again for years!”

“Then why won’t you let me talk to you!?” Henry questioned, “I want to explain myself! I want to tell you what happened in France! Damn it, I want to be with you again!”

“You can’t!” Ryeowook exclaimed, eyes narrowing,

“Why the hell not!?” Henry demanded, closing the distance between them;

“Because YOU broke MY heart,” Ryeowook argued through gritted teeth, punctuating each word with a stab to Henry’s chest with two fingers.

Henry grabbed Ryeowook’s hand, “Ryeo-”

“I’m not in love with you anymore!” Ryeowook declared, snatching his hand away as if having been burnt.

A silence fell upon them as Ryeowook watched the pain contort Henry’s face. He felt his heart twist and knew that Henry felt the same. He clenched his hand to his chest to stop himself from reaching out. He gripped his hands tightly to stop the rest of his body from shaking. He used all the pain from the past three years to steel himself and turn away from Henry.

“You may want to get back with me… But I don’t want to get back with you,” Ryeowook grounded out, feeling the familiar sting of hot tears in his eyes, “I spent days… and weeks… and months… and years getting over you and I finally did tonight.”

“What…?” Henry managed, his mouth dry and his lungs struggling to take in air,

“When Kyuhyun was playing the piano earlier, I looked at you. And while my heart was breaking all over again, you looked away,” Ryeowook stated, forcing strength into his words to push them out and stop them from suffocating him; “I had to go through that two times… I can’t go through it a third.”

Already feeling his heart being slashed through, Henry couldn’t find any strength to say anything. He couldn’t say or do anything as for the first time in his life, Ryeowook walked away from him. A pain that froze his entire being and left him with a painful numbness, made him wonder if he was feeling perhaps just a fraction of what Ryeowook had felt that day, three years ago.

…

The door had closed after Ryeowook for a few minutes before he appeared and cleared his throat. Startled, Henry spun towards the doorway leading to the employee’s bathroom where the bartender stood, innocently drying his hands with paper towel.

Henry turned to his locker and busied himself with taking off his chef’s jacket and tossing it into his bag with his apron, “I… I didn’t know you were there.”

“I should’ve made myself known,” Eeteuk said apologetically as he tossed the paper towel in the garbage and walked over to his locker, opening it; “But honestly, there wasn’t a right time to do it.”

“It’s… alright,” Henry insisted, blinking his eyes to fight against his tears, “Hyung… Yesung-”

“Sees Ryeowook as nothing but a friend,” Eeteuk assured him,

“How are you so sure?” Henry asked weakly,

“Because Yesung is in love with me,” Eeteuk answered simply as he pulled out his bag and slung it onto his arm. “But I’m helping him get over it.”

“Why?” Henry asked, turning his head to look at him, confused at his statement; “If he’s in love with you-”

“But I’m not in love with him,” Eeteuk said,

“Isn’t that cruel?” Henry questioned, “If he’s in love with you, is it not cruel to do that to him!?”

“Isn’t it more cruel to be with him when I love another?” Eeteuk countered easily, a small, sad smile on his lips; “I loved Kangin and I still do. I promised to love him forever, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m sorry that my best friend has to suffer because of my stubbornness, but it’s a lesser evil than being with him when my heart belongs to another.”

“Don’t you think you deserve another chance at love?” Henry asked,

Eeteuk shook his head as he closed his locker, “I’ve had the love of my life taken away from me and my heart died with him. I choose not to love again out of loyalty to Kangin and out of selfishness to not feel that pain again.”

“Just like how Ryeowook chose to walk away from me right now,” Henry stated,

Eeteuk shook his head again, “The difference between Ryeowook and I, is that the love of his life is still here. The love of his life still loves him,” Eeteuk reminded him gently, comfortingly.

Before Eeteuk left, Henry called out to him, “Hyung… loving again isn’t being disloyal to Kangin-sshi.”

Eeteuk looked over his shoulder and Henry was startled by the tears in his eyes; “I know. But how can I think of even just liking someone else when I’m still in love with him?”

…

It was a few weeks later when Ryeowook came to the restaurant an hour early. He hoped doing so meant avoiding Henry in the change room. He was buttoning up his shirt when he entered the restaurant front, immediately meeting passionately played notes on the piano. He stood there quietly as he watched Kyuhyun sitting at the baby grand piano, his eyes watching his own hands dance up and down the keys.

Ryeowook had heard Kyuhyun play often enough, but it had always been a quiet song, a slow song, something that would set the mood of the customers in the restaurant. The song Kyuhyun was playing now was loud and powerful, full of energy that not only showed on the young man’s face, but exuded from his body. He had always thought Kyuhyun was a skilled pianist due to the emotions he could draw from his listeners. Now he knew that Kyuhyun was also skilled with his ability to make his fingers waltz so rapidly and perfectly on the black and white keys. It was a side of his friend that awed Ryeowook and at the same time, sadden him at the thought that Kyuhyun had been without this talent for five years.

The music had ended long before the remnants of its effects on Ryeowook had dissipated. He was only drawn out of his reverie when Kyuhyun called his name. Ryeowook blinked before smiling and approaching him,

“If only the customers could hear you play like that,” Ryeowook stated,

Kyuhyun laughed softly, “It’s been awhile since I’ve heard myself play like that. Why so early?” He glanced at his watch,

Ryeowook shrugged, “I could ask the same.”

“Ever since I returned to the piano Shiwon’s offered me free reign of the piano before the restaurant opens. Since I don’t own a piano and there are nosy people at my school, I come here,” He answered easily, “And since you’re reluctant to answer as I have, I can only assume.”

Ryeowook said nothing as he sat on the piano bench beside Kyuhyun. He played a few keys on the piano’s high range, “Have you ever fought with Sungmin-sshi?”

Kyuhyun raised his brows at the mention of his boyfriend. After a moment, he answered simply, “All the time. Actually, it’s sort of annoying because he doesn’t get angry very easily so often I seem the immature one since I’m getting angry while he’s being very calm about the situation.”

“Was there ever a time when you felt of leaving him?” Ryeowook asked hesitantly as he watched his own hand draw out a seemingly happy tune from the piano,

“Hmm… There was,” Kyuhyun admitted, “But that was because I felt I was being too much of a burden on him, not because I had stopped loving him.”

“Have I… Have I ever told you Henry’s reason for breaking up with me?” Ryeowook asked, his voice suddenly very quiet and his expression suddenly very vulnerable,

“I don’t think you’ve told anyone. Over the years, we’ve all become good friends, but I doubt any of us had the courage to broach the subject with you,” Kyuhyun answered, “It hurt you and we didn’t want to hurt you more by probing.”

“He said he had fallen out of love with me,” Ryeowook said, his voice flat and his fingers now trembling as they continued to play, “But now that he’s back… he acts as if he never left…”

“And you don’t know what to think,” Kyuhyun prompted gently. Ryeowook nodded silently as his hands stilled on the piano, eventually pulling his hands into his lap; “I honestly don’t know what to tell you Ryeowook. There has never been a doubt in my mind when it comes to my feelings for Sungmin and he has never expressed any from his side either. If you’re looking for advice-”

“I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Ryeowook muttered,

“If you’re looking for advice,” Kyuhyun repeated steadily, “I would go talk to Boss.”

“Shiwon-sshi?” Ryeowook blinked,

Kyuhyun nodded, “According to the stories, he fell in love with Heechul the moment he first saw him, but Heechul never paid him any attention until after his accident, three years after Suju opened for business.”

“What advice could he give me though?” Ryeowook asked confusedly as he glanced towards the archway that lead to the back rooms of the restaurant.

“If the stories are true, Shiwon loved him one-sidedly for three years. If he’s known anything about doubting love and the such… or perhaps the closest person who could feel remotely as you do would be Shiwon,” Kyuhyun shrugged simply,

“And Yesung,” Ryeowook sighed,

“Yesung?” Kyuhyun asked,

“I just mean, he’s been helping me since Henry’s come back,” Ryeowook answered quickly. He had forgotten what Yesung had told him: that no one in the restaurant besides Eeteuk and Heechul knew about what had happened between Yesung and Eeteuk a year ago; “So… he would know too… because he’s been talking me through it…”

“Ah,” Kyuhyun nodding his understanding. He could tell that Ryeowook was hiding something - his hyung was a horrible liar - but he wouldn’t push if Ryeowook didn’t wish it, especially if, he assumed right, and Yesung had bound him to secrecy.

“Did Shiwon-sshi really love Heechul all those years?” Ryeowook asked then,

“Like I said, if the stories I’ve heard are true,” Kyuhyun said,

“All those years with unrequited love… and he still gave up his sight so Heechul could keep his,” Ryeowook sighed softly, “I wonder if he could help me understand what I’m going through.”

“Do you still love Henry?” Kyuhyun asked simply as his hands began to play amongst the black and white keys once more;

Ryeowook nodded then added softly, “I don’t want to… I’ve been hurt by him before… and I’ve told others I don’t anymore, including Henry… but I know I do… Even if I convince myself otherwise, my heart will still know.”

“Then I think Shiwon can help you,” Kyuhyun answered with a small, comforting smile, “He’s in his office if you want to talk to him before the others start coming to start work.”

Ryeowook returned the smile, albeit weakly, then stood and headed off to find Shiwon before Kyuhyun played more of what he could only presume was another song that would pull him back into his sadness.

…

“Come in.” Shiwon heard the door open and close. He heard someone approach his desk and sit down at the chairs,

“Sorry to disturb you Shiwon-sshi,” Ryeowook said as he settled into a chair before the desk,

“It’s fine, the managers do all the work in their own office upstairs and I don’t do any work unless Heechul’s around,” Shiwon insisted with a smile, “I was just reading.” Ryeowook caught sight of the open book, the upraised bumps on the pages guiding Shiwon to understand the book. Shiwon placed a book mark in the pages then closed the book, it had taken some time, but he had learned to read Braille two years ago. “Is there something I can help you with? It’s too early to start work,” He noted, remembering the clock had not chimed the top of the hour yet.

“Well… it’s just that… is it true you loved Heechul before his accident?” Ryeowook asked tentatively,

Shiwon nodded, “Almost since the first time I spoke to him during his interview.”

“How did you do it?” Ryeowook asked, his voice trembling then; “How did you love him for so long when he couldn’t so much as remember your name for three years?”

“I didn’t know he didn’t remember so much as my name until he confessed it to me one night. But he did ignore me for three years,” He chuckled, “He didn’t even realize we had a pianist up until two years ago.”

“How did you live like that?” Ryeowook asked,

“How did you live three years without Henry?” Shiwon countered, “The only difference is that Heechul was always there. You had a harder time than I-”

“But at least in the end, Heechul loves you!” Ryeowook interjected, his voice more fierce than he had intended. He cleared his throat, trying to reign in his feelings;

“How do you know that Henry doesn’t still love you?” Shiwon asked him gently,

“Because he told me he didn’t love me anymore when he quit! Because if he loved me he wouldn’t have left! Because if he loved me he wouldn’t be toying with me like this!” Ryeowook cried.

Immediately, Shiwon got up from his seat, came around the desk and knelt before Ryeowook, pulling him into an embrace. Ryeowook had grown exponentially over the past three years since the former head chef had left for France. He felt a swelling pride at seeing how stronger, more extroverted Ryeowook had become as if he were his child instead of just his friend. It had been a long time since he had seen this side of the younger man and he felt the need to protect his dear friend.

“I lived those three years before Heechul noticed me drawing strength from my love for him,” Shiwon said quietly as he felt Ryeowook tremble in his arms; “Every day I looked forward to seeing him, even if he didn’t see me. It was painful how he ignored my existence but I realized now having him there at all would be even more painful.”

Ryeowook said nothing, could say nothing. Ever since Henry had returned, he had relived that night over three years ago when Henry had taken him into the parking lot after announcing his resignation, and had broken up with him. With a strength he didn’t realize still remained with him, he had come to work and forced his heart to the back of his mind, only there could it be safe. He had always worn his heart on his sleeve and over the past three years, had learned to hide it. He let his heart come to the front now, allowed it out of its hiding place.

“You need to think which is more painful for you… now that he’s back, or when he wasn’t here at all,” Shiwon told him gently; “You can ignore him or you can quit - but both will be just running away from it. Eventually, as I did, you’ll have to ask yourself which is less painful for you to live through. If it’s the former, then talk to him so then you can begin healing. If it’s the latter, then talk to him so then he’ll leave you alone.”

“Either way… I talk to him,” Ryeowook managed through his tears,

“Unfortunately, that’s the only way to live without regrets,” Shiwon said as he pulled back enough so he could look Ryeowook directly in the eyes; “It’s the only way you can live again - be it with or without Henry.”

Ryeowook nodded his understanding as he wiped his eyes dry with the cuff of his sleeve. Slowly, Shiwon stood and sat in the chair beside Ryeowook’s, “Thank you Shiwon-sshi.”

The door opened to the office then, “Oh… am I interrupting something?”

“Ryeowook and I were just discussing something, Heechul,” Shiwon answered, immediately recognizing the voice. He hoped Ryeowook had gotten enough time to regain his composure.

“Is Kyuhyun done practicing?” Ryeowook asked brightly,

“I think so? I didn’t hear any music coming from the front of the restaurant,” Heechul answered, eyeing the two suspiciously,

“Ah, great, I wanted to talk to him,” Ryeowook insisted as he got up and walked to the door, “Thanks again, Sh… Hyung.”

Heechul watched as Ryeowook left and closed the door behind him. Heechul approached Shiwon, “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“He came to me under the strictest of confidences,” Shiwon said solemnly,

“You told him the wedding date, didn’t you?” Heechul watched him suspiciously as he came to Shiwon’s chair,

“We’ve been engaged for over a year,” Shiwon rolled his eyes as Heechul came and straddled his lap, “Besides… I’ve already told everyone.”

Heechul sighed exasperatedly before his expression softened, “Is he going to be okay?”

Shiwon nodded thoughtfully, “I think so.”

“Can I have a hint about what you two were talking about?” Heechul asked, his voice low and sultry,

“That tone doesn’t work with me,” Shiwon laughed, “And yes you can. It was mentioned how you never remembered my name the first few years you worked here.”

Heechul cursed as he leaned his forehead against Shiwon’s, “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

Shiwon smiled, his cheeks dimple, “Never,” he replied before capturing his lips in a kiss.

…

(Translation)

The banging at the door caused Hankyung to sit up suddenly in his chair. He glanced to his office door. He always kept open in case someone needed him all they need to do was yell. Standing in the doorway was Kibum and Henry, the busy kitchen beyond them,

“I told you it doesn’t take much to wake him,” Kibum said bitterly,

“I insisted he didn’t have to wake you,” Henry said immediately, seeing the head chef narrow his eyes, “We all know how unwell you are-”

“And THAT’S why he should’ve stayed home!” Kibum exclaimed, crossing his arms, “I told him I’ve handled the kitchen on my own before and he keeps himself in his office anyway -”

“And I refuse to stay at home,” Hankyung interjected, his voice nasally. Kibum scoffed then turned on his heel and returned to the kitchen.

“Why are you here if you’re sick?” Henry asked,

Hankyung glanced at the open door, “Sān nián qián, jīntiān shì dì yī cìdāng Kibum wen le wo,” He grinned,

Henry rolled his eyes, taking out his lip chap and applying a thin layer of the raspberry before pocketing it again, “Zhè shì juéduì de ài.”

“So what’s up?” Hankyung asked, slipping back into Korean,

“Ni céngjīng weiqū Kibum?” Henry asked, prompting the need to keep their conversation private.

Hankyung raised his eyebrows in curiosity before answering, “Rènzhēn? Dì.”

“Wo bù zhī dàoyou duōshăo ni tīngguò, dàn wo shòushāng Ryeowook zài wo líkāi zhī qián. Xiànzài wo yi jīng făn le…” Henry shrugged helplessly,

“Ni wéi dāng yāo líkāi ne?” Hankyung replied seriously, crossing his arms over his chest,

“Yīnwèi wo shì yúchun de. Yīnwèi wo juéde wo yijīng bùzài ài tā,” Henry answered. An anger, a darkness laced his words- not because of what was happening nor at how things had become, but because of himself and how he had LET things become as they were.

“Xiànzài? Ni réngrán ài tā?” The elder of them prompted, watching him carefully,

“Dāng wo shī qù le tā … zài Făguó … Wo yì shí dào wo ài tā,” Henry blinked back tears that threatened to fall; “Wo ài tā! Wo bù zhī dào gāi zen me bàn!”

“Tā tántán,” Hankyung said simply, calmly.

“Wo shìtú zhè yangzuò!” Henry exclaimed, suddenly covered his mouth; not because he remembered the door was open behind him, but to also stop himself from crying aloud.

“Băochí hé tā tánhuà. Háiyou méiyou biéde,” Hankyung told him, making to stand up.

Henry waved him off, silently telling him to stay sitting. He did so because Hankyung was sick and didn’t want to tax him. Also, he did so because if Hankyung did anything to comfort him, he wouldn’t be able to stay strong.

Hankyung stood up anyway, putting on a face mask over his nose and mouth. He walked past Henry and patted his shoulder comfortingly, “Talk to him,” He reiterated, his voice muffled by the mask. He took one stop out of the office before Henry heard Kibum yelling at him,

“Either go home or get back in there!”

Hankyung took off his mask as he sat back down at his desk. He smiled at Henry’s startled look; “That’s his way of saying ‘wo ài ni’.”

…

During his break, Henry went to the change room to find another lip chap since he had exhausted his last one. He was straddling a bench with his bag on the bench as he rummaged through it when the door opened. He locked eyes immediately with Ryeowook.

“We need to talk,” They said in unison. Henry gestured for Ryeowook to go first and he obliged immediately, if he didn’t, he’d lose all the courage he had been gathering all night.

“You hurt me, Henry - a lot. I was in love with you and you had decided to leave me long before I had any indication of it,” Ryeowook said, his flurry of words descending upon Henry like dark daggers, reminders of his guilt; “I spent weeks, months - YEARS getting over you!” He exclaimed, his fists clenched at his sides, “Whenever I was alone I’d cry because nothing could distract me and I would immediately think of you. The moment I begin to feel like I can TRULY be happy again, you decide to come back!”

Henry felt his heart twist at Ryeowook’s words. He acknowledged what Ryeowook had gone through, but couldn’t understand - probably would never understand how high a degree he had hurt Ryeowook. He stood up, “Ryeowook-”

“LET ME FINISH!” Ryeowook screamed, his voice dissolving into a sob at the end. His hand clamped over his mouth in an attempt to stop more cries to leave him, betray him; he’d rather they suffocate him. Ryeowook felt the familiar sting of tears, felt their burning liquidness and allowed them to flow. He couldn’t control both his screams and tears at the same time.

Henry slowly dropped back down to the bench. Silently, he motioned for Ryeowook to continue.

Ryeowook felt his heart throwing itself mercilessly against his ribcage, willing itself to break again and again and again. He felt his lungs shivering, trying to get air, but his throat was burning and painfully blocked with his silenced cries. He was shaking now, clenching his hands in an attempt to stop it, but he was growing weak from the effort and everything else.

When he managed to draw a breath, it was like sucking the air through a collapsed straw; “Three years,” his voice came out hoarse and broken. He steeled himself, trying to get more air; “THREE YEARS! I hear nothing from you, know nothing of you. For all I knew you could’ve di… I knew nothing of what became of you when you left,” Ryeowook managed, feeling his teeth begin to hit each other from his trembling jaw;

“And what killed me the most… What broke my heart each and every time was the fact that you didn’t say goodbye.” Ryeowook felt as if his lungs were collapsing, as if his heart had freed itself from his ribcage by slicing itself up against the bones, as if his throat were burning with acid and his eyes would never be dry again. “Despite what was between us… what you did… I had thought… hoped really… that you would have said goodbye. In memory - in honour - of what we had, even if it was for our friendship and not… us.”

The door to the change room opened and Ryeowook suddenly moved towards his locker, apparently preoccupied with opening the lock to get something from within. One of the other kitchen staff came in and went swiftly to the bathroom. He emerged a short time later, throwing a quick greeting before the change room door closed behind him. When he heard the door close again, Ryeowook leaned his forehead against the cool metal of the locker door. He needed to regain his strength, his composure, his heart; or what was left of it.

“I had truly believed that I had fallen out of love with you Ryeowook,” Henry said quietly, his eyes staring at his bag before him, unable to confess if he was looking at the other man. “I found it hard to be around you… found myself wary whenever I saw you. What my body went through whenever you were around was akin to how I felt when I fell in love. I couldn’t breath, couldn’t speak, my heart felt painful, I felt like trembling and crying… The only difference was that it was scary. ‘This can’t be love’ I told myself. But I didn’t know what to do, I knew I had to get away but the only way to hurt you as least as possible was to remove myself completely.”

“So you left for France…” Ryeowook said quietly, his voice barely audible.

“I knew leaving you so suddenly hurt you… but if I broke up with you and stayed, it would’ve hurt more-”

“You don’t know that.” He interjected, his words cold, sharp.

“It was what I believed,” Henry defended simply, weakly. He knew he didn’t have a right to defend himself. “But when I was in France and away from you, I couldn’t stop thinking of you. You were everywhere to me… your essence, your memory - it consumed me. I realized after losing you that I did love you, but I was scared. I was scared to love you, scared that someone could own me so completely and… and yet I was happy because it meant I did love you.”

“Then why didn’t you come back?” Ryeowook questioned, eyes closed now, trying to piece back the remnants of his heart,

“Because I had hurt you. I had hurt the one person I loved… Love… and it was unforgivable,” Henry said, his voice just above a whisper. “I stayed in France until I felt I stopped loving you, until I was ready to see you again.”

Then suddenly, his voice was closer and Ryeowook felt a warmth at his side. He closed his eyes even tighter, feeling his body longing for that warmth, remembering that warmth. He felt his heart weakly stir at Henry’s close presence and at the same time, felt his heart shake out of fear. How many times could it endure being broken by the same person?

“I couldn’t stop loving you, Ryeowook,” Henry whispered, “I tried… for three years… and now, it’s possibly even more than it was before. I love you.”

“My trust isn’t easily given… not anymore,” Ryeowook managed, slowly turning towards Henry and forcing himself to open his eyes and look at him. His voice caught in his throat for a moment as he took in Henry’s image; “My heart isn’t easily healed.”

“Then let me try,” Henry replied, his voice begging, his eyes pleading with him, “Let me try to earn your trust again… let me try to mend what I had broken.” Instinctively, he reached out and cradled Ryeowook’s face in his hands; “Please Ryeowook… let me try…” His voice was breaking and he was falling to his knees as his hands slipped from Ryeowook’s tear-stained cheeks; “Let me try,” He breathed, tears now running down his face, his hands falling to his sides. “Please.”

Ryeowook had never seen Henry as thus. Strong, lively, smiling - Henry, his Henry was now down on his knees, begging and crying. He thought his heart broken, but the sight before him just killed him all over again as he felt a pain in his chest akin to several knives twisting through the spaces in his ribcage.

The pain he had endured for so long was because of this man before him and yet he still loved him. Against all reason, he still loved Henry. When Henry had broken up with him, he refused himself the hope that Henry would take it back. When Henry had left, he refused himself the hope that Henry would return. For three years, the concept of hope had become a foreign entity to him and yet, now…

Ryeowook dropped to his knees before Henry and pulled him into his arms. Embracing the younger man, he managed to whisper, “I’ve waited three years for you.”

It took a moment for Henry to register what had happened, what was happening. And for the first time since they had met, he was the weaker one. He collapsed into Ryeowook’s arms, his face buried against his hyung’s shoulder. His body shook against Ryeowook’s firm hold and he felt a wetness on the top of his head telling him that Ryeowook was crying again. He wrapped his arms around him, tightly as if any less would mean the end. The end of life, of love. Of them.

“I’ll never make you wait again.”


(Epilogue)