Station Thirteen  

~ warming up  ~

Soft lips touched his’ as warmth crept on his cheeks. He was utterly surprised by the act, but did nothing to pull away from his old best friend. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes and reciprocated the kiss, savouring the moment as if somebody’s controlling his mind or yet his heart.

“ARGHHHHHHHH!” Ryeowook whined, his voice muffled by the tons of pillow covering him. He can’t stop his mind from reminiscing the events this afternoon. And he fears that it will haunt him forever if he will not do something about it. After the kiss, the walk back home was quiet between the two. He couldn’t meet the other’s eyes and surely the rest of the night was awkward too.  Kyuhyun didn’t say anything and he took it as a cue to not bring up the topic....until he calms down, at least for now. He couldn’t understand himself as well, knowing that he didn’t pull away immediately and even kissed him back. “What were you thinking Ryeowook???? Kissing your friend? Your male friend?? What would he think of you now?” he continued to argue with himself.

“NO. This is Kyuhyun’s fault! He kissed me first!” he insisted. “.......and I kissed him back...”

“What did I do to suffer in this kind of situation?????” he beat himself with one of the pillows around him.

“What kind of situation?” a voice asked. His grandma came back into her room after going to the bathroom.

“You’re back,” he stood abruptly from the bed that he messed up and went to guide the old woman back to bed. “You should have called me when you were done.”

“I’m sick but I’m not too weak to be escorted in and out of the bathroom,” she stated. “Aren’t you going to rest now? I’ll be fine. It seems that the medicines Kyuhyun brought kept the flu away.”

“It’s good then, but we need to make sure it doesn’t come back or you wouldn’t have any infections so I’m staying here grandma,” he tucked her under the bed covers before picking up a few pillows to go to the couch and make his own sleeping place.

“Your neck will hurt if you sleep there. Why don’t you join Kyuhyun back in your room?”

 “I promised to take care of you grandma,”

“You being here is already enough. Go take a rest before you get sick as well,”

“I’ll stay for a while here grandma,” he only smiled. Knowing that her grandson is as stubborn as her daughter, she let him do what he wanted. The moment his grandmother fell asleep Ryeowook dialled Sungmin’s number on his phone. Surely he is still awake at this hour.

“What made you call me tonight?” his friend greeted from the other line.

“What a nice way to greet your best friend huh?”

“I was dozing off here at the front desk. I’m trying to sleep while the nurses do their rounds.”

“Overtime again?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” he replied. “Now you better have a decent reason for disturbing my precious nap.”

Ryeowook stared first at the sleeping figure of his grandma before letting a deep sigh. “Sungminiieeeeee what do I do?????” he cried out in minimized voice.

“Why? Did anything happen? How was your grandma?” his voice sounded worried.

“It’s not about her... it’s about me....”

“What happened to you?”

“K-kyuhyun kissed me,”he whispered. Silence. And after that he heard him squeal loudly that he had to pull away the phone from his ears to avoid his eardrums being hurt.

“Finally!!! He made a move! I was afraid that both of you will be stuck in this whole friendship thing. What did he do after that? Did he confess?”

“No. It was... i-it was... awkward... I mean I can’t look him in the eyes without blushing or feeling shy! He didn’t say anything but he keeps on treating me in a nicer way... I mean... My heart’s beating nervously whenever he’s near me now. I don’t know how to describe it Min... it’s as if I’m seeing things in a new way now. What is happening to me?” he rambled on the phone.

“Ahhh I guess he’s giving you time to sort out your feelings,” Sungmin said. “Let me ask you Wook, have you ever thought of falling in love with a friend?”

“I-I don’t know,” he was flustered.

“Let me rephrase my question. Have you ever thought of falling in love with him?”

“With Kyu?”

“Duhh of course,” Sungmin rolled his eyes.

“I...Umm...”

“The way I see it Kyuhyun have already seen through your friendship and realized that there’s more deeper feelings involved. I don’t know when... it’s only him who can answer that but I sure he’s been treating you way more than a closest friend should be.”

“We’ve always been close like this... when we were young...”

“That’s right and that is why you confused these feelings too. I’ll give him credit for realizing his feelings first and taking a step for the both of you. Wookie perhaps the people around you can see how different you are from all the people in Kyuhyun’s life. And these is all based from our observations... you might find out more when he lays out his love for you.”

“Sungmin... I never thought I will hear your love advice like this,” he chuckled.

“Don’t hold yourself back now. I know you’ve been waiting for this for so long. It’s time to let yourself be loved by the right person,”

And Sungmin’s words lingered in his mind for the rest of the night as lay on the couch. He thought over his friend’s words and thought about the times he felt his heart race just by thinking of Kyuhyun. He raised his arms, his fingers touching his soft lips that were kissed by his childhood friend just hours ago. He understood everything. Even those big decisions