Ryeowook hadn’t been able to stop smiling after they exited the stage of the variety show they had just been guests at. Contrary to his usual behavior, Kyuhyun had been pretty touchy-feely with him during the show, even initiating holding hands and a backhug on his own accord. Usually it was Ryeowook who was the clingy one, especially in public, so the change was both unexpected and thrilling to him. The warmth of his arms and the sounds of his deep chuckles near his ear still lingered; making Ryeowook shiver slightly. It had been hard for him to control his facial expressions while recording, since it was pretty much what he dreamed of every night: to be held by the one person he had a huge crush on.

That’s why his mind was currently working overtime trying to decipher Kyuhyun’s sudden displays of affection; making him almost walk into a doorframe while they were exiting the building. Kyuhyun was his best friend, so his company wasn’t hard to come by, but the sweetness of his actions today was something rare. Things like these woke up that little spark of hope inside Ryeowook. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance that…

“Hey Kyu, is Kyumin going out of fashion or something? You were hanging around Wookie an awful lot today.” Hyukjae asked with a grin as they settled into their van; the door sliding shut and closing them off from the world for a while.

Ryeowook felt his heart jump at his hyung’s words. So someone else had noticed Kyu’s odd behavior as well?

“Sungmin has been annoyed by the Kyumin fans so much lately that I thought it was time promote another pairing for a change. Pity Siwon wasn’t here; we have a big fanbase with him already.” Kyu answered with a bored voice from the seat in front of Ryeowook; not even once lifting his gaze from his phone.

“There’s only so much feminizing a straight man can take.” Sungmin muttered with a scowl from beside Ryeowook and Heechul let out an amused cackle; clearly not empathizing with him.

Ryeowook on the other hand sank back to his seat; the excitement fleeing his body. Once again, he had made a fool of himself. Of course it had been just fanservice, what else could it have been? He thunked his head against the headrest, but then realized that his hyungs were bound to notice if he suddenly started to act weirdly, so he merely dug out his mp3 player and tuned out the rest of the conversation with music.

He knew he shouldn’t hope for the impossible, but sometimes Kyuhyun had these moments that made him think he was special to the younger, at least more than just a best friend--until that feeling was taken from him once again. Fanservice, Sungmin refusing to cook for him, Changmin not having the time to play with him… There were so many other reasons for Kyuhyun’s behavior that Ryeowook really didn’t know why he chose to keep believing in that one specific reason, the vain hope of Kyuhyun’s feelings being like his.

He would give up, should give up on Kyuhyun, but his stubborn heart refused to listen, so he was stuck, living for the moments when Kyuhyun showed him affection and then feeling bad afterwards for thinking it was something more.

After wallowing in self-pity for the rest of the trip back to the dorms, Ryeowook wasn’t really in the mood to do anything. Sungmin, who somehow sensed the aura of misery emanating from their eternal maknae, an