“Ryeowook! You won’t believe what happened today!” Kyuhyun called out the moment he entered the apartment.

The cat hybrid went to the doorway of the kitchen leading into the hallway to watch Kyuhyun take off his shoes and then approach him excitedly. “What happened?”

“Some of the places you submitted an application to wrote an email back and today I got one asking you to come in for a job interview. Isn’t that great?” the younger one replied and beamed.

Ryeowook was speechless for a moment. A job interview? That meant someone actually wanted to see if he could work for them, someone might actually want him? “When do they want me to be there?” he asked eventually.

“They asked if next Monday would be okay for you. I haven’t answered yet because I wanted to check with you first,” Kyuhyun replied with a bright smile.

Ryeowook thought about it for a moment until he realized there was nothing he really had to think about. “Yes, that’s fine by me.”

“Great! They asked to see you in the afternoon, so do you want me to come along?”

“Do people usually do that? Take others along?”

Kyuhyun shrugged softly. “If there’s someone who’s free and willing to go, some do. So, do you want me to come along?”

“If… if it’s not a bother for you?”

The younger man shook his head right away. “No, it’s not. I’m just really curious about how it’ll go and what you’ll have to do!”

After another moment, Ryeowook nodded. “Then it’s fine by me.”

Kyuhyun beamed at him and gave him a thumbs-up. “Great! I can’t wait to see how you’re doing! Let’s look up typical questions later so we can practice answering them together, okay?”

“Can they be that difficult?” the young hybrid asked and frowned lightly.

The younger man nodded. “Oh yes, believe me, they can be. Some of those questions are really tricky! My father helped me find good answers and the internet helped, too. Now I will help you, okay?”

Ryeowook looked down, but after a couple of seconds, he nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Kyuhyun.”

Ryeowook and Kyuhyun sat down in the afternoon to look through questions together and the cat hybrid realized how much of a good idea this had been. He wouldn’t have expected a lot of the question Kyuhyun found online. Where did he see himself in five or ten years? Yes, that was indeed a good question! And why should he be hired for that job. Yes, why him and no one else? He took notes as Kyuhyun helped him answer everything and that evening he was still going through the answers, trying to memorize them, when a sudden melody interrupted him. At first, he didn’t care about it any further until he looked up while trying to repeat an answer by heart and saw that the screen of his phone had lit up and the tag ‘Hangeng’s shelter’ could be read on it. Realizing the melody meant a call was coming in, he quickly grabbed his phone and answered it, hoping to do so in time before the line would go dead.

“Yeoboseyo?”

“Yah, I thought you would just leave me hanging like this!” Heechul’s nagging voice instantly resonated.

“I’m sorry, hyung. I was just doing something and didn’t realize it was my phone that was ringing…”

“What were you doing?”

“Kyuhyun and I were looking for job interview questions earlier and he helped me answer them. I took notes and now I’m trying to remember the answers he helped me form.”

“You two looked up job interview questions?”

“Yes. It’s because of the applications Kyuhyun sent out for me… And because one of the places asked me to come in next Monday,” Ryeowook revealed shyly.

“They did!?” Heechul exclaimed. “Congratulations! That’s so cool!”

“Congrats, Ryeowook,” Hangeng said as well and it was only then that the young cat hybrid realized he must have been put on speaker again and that both of his friends were around.

“What place is that?” Heechul continued. “I’m so happy for you! I hope you know that I expect a call from you the second your interview is over, don’t you?”

Ryeowook couldn’t help but smile at his best friend’s enthusiasm. “I know, hyung, I know. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a call,” he replied and then added which place had given him a positive answer.

“Those guys were hiring? And they asked you to come in for an interview?” Hangeng asked in surprise once he had heard the name. Ryeowook simply hummed in response. “Woah, that’s great! I really hope they’ll take you even though you’ve never worked anywhere except for the shelters before… If they want to, I can set up a recommendation letter for you. It won’t be worth as much as a former restaurant’s letter of recommendation, but it might still be helpful.”

“Thank you, hyung. That’s really kind of you.”

“It would be so cool if you could get that job!” Heechul replied as well and then sighed. “Hannie, can you believe that? Our baby is really growing up. He’ll have a job soon!”

“Nothing’s set in stone yet, Heechul.”

“Yes, but if he doesn’t get this job, a different place will take him in… Someone just has to accept him! And then I hope that everyone who rejected him will visit the place he’ll work at sooner or later so they’ll know what they’re missing out on!”

“Hyung, you’re too kind,” Ryeowook objected and squirmed a little on his desk chair, uncomfortable with his best friend’s flattery.

“You only say that because you only ever get good food!”

“Hyung, I’m also working with instant stuff.”

“Yes—occasionally. And whatever you do with it still tastes really good!”

“And what if I do this job and then don’t feel like cooking here anymore?”

“Do you really think that could happen to you?”

Ryeowook sighed because he knew Heechul was right. He would probably always cook properly because that was not only how he had learned to cook but also because he simply preferred to cook without using too many instant items—he wanted to make sure the people he was cooking for stayed healthy and would be able to do a lot that day without having to eat too much because his meals would provide all the necessary nutrients.

“Anyway, good luck for your interview! If there’s anything you can’t answer while you’re getting prepared, don’t hesitate to call and we’ll all try to help you, alright?” Hangeng offered.

“Alright. Thank you, hyung.”

“Good night, Wookie-baby~” Heechul pretty much sang and Hangeng repeated after him.

“Good night, hyungs,” Ryeowook replied and ended the call, then he went back to repeating the answers he had listed.

The week went by faster than Ryeowook desired. Some more places asked him to come in for a job interview and by the end of the week the hybrid felt like he wouldn’t be able to rest at all during the next two weeks.

And then, in the blink of an eye, it was Monday. For the first time in two weeks he had trouble sleeping even though he was holding Gwangmyeong close to himself the entire time. Yes, he did need some hope for a bright future! He was nevertheless up before Kyuhyun was and made them breakfast, unsure how to get through the six hours of loneliness.

Somehow apparently he did get through, though, and even had lunch prepared in time for when Kyuhyun returned to the apartment. It was no secret that the other noticed how nervous he was, but neither of them mentioned it any further until they had to get going and then eventually arrived at the restaurant that was hiring. A sign announced the place was closed for the time being, but when Kyuhyun knocked, someone was there quickly to answer the door.

“Are you one of the applicants?” the employee on the other side of the door, who turned out to be a dog hybrid, asked and Ryeowook nodded. “And who are you?” he asked further and eyed Kyuhyun.

“I’m keeping him company,” the latter replied matter-of-factly.

“Then please come in, both of you,” the dog hybrid replied and stepped aside to let them pass, then he closed the door and locked it. “Please follow me,” he said afterwards and led them further into the building until they reached an office. They had to wait for a couple of minutes and Ryeowook came to realize just how long a minute and even a second could stretch when you were anxiously waiting for something.

Eventually, the door opened and another dog hybrid exited the office, looking confident. Ryeowook quickly looked down, feeling like he was doomed to fail when the other looked like he already had the job.

“Please wait here until your name will be called,” the employee asked of them and bowed softly, then the two dog hybrids left again.

Ryeowook had no idea how much time had passed by the time a rich looking man stepped out of his office and took their appearances in. “You must be Kim Ryeowook.”

The cat hybrid bowed in return. “Yes, sir.”

“Please come in with me.”

Ryeowook nodded and glanced at Kyuhyun who simply smiled at him encouragingly and patted his back, then Kyuhyun leaned back against the wall, making it obvious that he wouldn’t come along. The hybrid gulped at the thought of being on his own during this, but he nevertheless turned back to the man in front of him, bowed lightly once again and then went into the room.

The two weeks passed like that. Kyuhyun accompanied Ryeowook to his job interviews and the cat hybrid was always insecure, always expecting the restaurant to turn him down, so he was even more surprised when Kyuhyun came back from work on the Friday after his last interview to tell him one of the places he had talked to wanted him to come in once more—to show off his cooking. This time they had gotten an appointment in the morning, so even though Kyuhyun assured him he wouldn’t have to, Ryeowook expected to go to the interview on his own, making him feel sick.

On Monday morning he got up at the same time as always, but still while he was getting ready in the bathroom, he realized something was off. When by the time he was done Kyuhyun’s alarm still hadn’t gone off, he frowned and went to the other’s bedroom door, carefully knocking on it. At the lack of a response, he knocked again and eventually opened the door to find everything still dark and Kyuhyun still fast asleep.

The cat hybrid frowned and, after hesitating for a moment, he went over to the bed. “Kyuhyun? Kyuhyun, wake up,” he called out softly—getting no response. He tried again with the same result. After a third time, he bent down shyly and gently shook the other’s shoulder. “Kyuhyun, you need to wake up!”

Finally, the other stirred a little and eventually opened his eyes. “What?” he asked sleepily and tried to turn away.

“Kyuhyun, why aren’t you getting up? You need to go to work,” Ryeowook reminded the other unhappily, worried that something might be wrong.

When he didn’t get a response, Ryeowook already thought the other had gone back to sleep, but then Kyuhyun turned to lie on his back and looked up at him through half-opened eyes. “Pabo. Don’t you know what day it is?”

“How could I forget?”

“I promised you to go with you, didn’t I?”

Ryeowook felt a lump form in his throat at those words, so he cleared his throat in hopes to be able to nevertheless speak properly. “But you can’t miss work just like that, can you?”

“Of course I can’t… I’ll just tell my boss I feel sick today and that I threw up during the night if he doesn’t believe me, then I can stay home. And I’ll tell him tomorrow that I feel much better than I did today. It’s as easy as that.”

The cat hybrid just stared at Kyuhyun in a mix of disbelief and surprise for a moment, needing a few seconds to take in that Kyuhyun was talking about lying for him just so he could come to this second stage job interview with him, but then he shook his head. “No, you shouldn’t do that. You shouldn’t lie to your boss just because of me. Hurry up and go to work, I’ll get breakfast ready downstairs.”

The younger man sighed and sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Why can’t you just let it go and let me sleep…” He groaned and looked up again. “Ryeowook, you don’t understand what I’m saying, do you? I won’t go to work today. I promised you that I would come with you to all of your job interviews so you won’t have to go alone, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. And even though I think it’s cute that you’re starting to tell me when you don’t like something, I’ll appreciate it later—after I slept some more. My alarm will go off in…”—Kyuhyun looked at his clock—“thirty-five minutes. Then I will call my work to tell them I’m sick today. I can still go to work on any other day and I can also work overtime on those days, but you can’t go to this job interview on just any day. It’s today, so I will come with you today unless you can assure me that you’ll be fine on your own. I’m not sure you can, though, because when I went to the bathroom last night I heard you tell your friends about how afraid you are to go to this job interview on your own today. So let me sleep a little longer, try to rest a bit, and I’ll see you again in half an hour, alright?”

The cat hybrid just stared at Kyuhyun for a couple of seconds. The other had obviously expected him to protest and he had been lucky enough to find a valid argument that left little room for the cat hybrid to object any further while remaining reasonable. And he could tell that Kyuhyun really did want to go with him—if not only for him, then also for himself and because he was curious about the result.

In the end, Ryeowook hung his head as he gave in. “Okay,” he mumbled and went back to the door, only turning around once more when he was there. “I’m sorry for waking you up then. Sleep well.”

“It’s fine. Rest a little, alright? I’ll see you later.”

Ryeowook hummed in response and closed the door behind himself, leaning against it as he thought about Kyuhyun’s words. He closed his eyes and slowly, the meaning behind them sank in, and he realized again that the other cared about him incredibly much. They had only known each other for such a short period of time, how was it possible for Kyuhyun to care so much about him that he even skipped a day at work when he usually seemed to be fine working at that place? Why did he risk getting not only his parents but now also his boss upset?

That warm feeling in the pit of his stomach was back at those thoughts and he still neither understood it nor Kyuhyun’s attitude. How did any of this match? How could any of this be?

Two hours later, they were back to one of the restaurants where Ryeowook had already had a job interview. After making the cat hybrid change into work clothes, they were quickly allowed to enter and led to the kitchen. Quite a lot of people were gathered there in the hybrid’s opinion and one of them briefly informed Ryeowook about hygienic standards he had to stick to—one of them being that he wasn’t allowed to try what he was making. He bit his bottom lip, never having cooked before without trying his meals to make sure they would be good in the end, but he figured he’d simply have to trust his instincts and better smelling senses then since those were usually right about what he was making and what he should add even though tasting the dishes was a more reliable source for improvement. Afterwards, he was shown around the kitchen with the side note that he could also always ask if there was something he needed but couldn’t remember where to find it, then he was simply instructed to prepare a five-course-meal—it had to include an appetizer, a soup, a salad, a main dish, and a dessert that everyone could try a little from. It shouldn’t be too much for them to be full after the first plate already.

Ryeowook nodded and looked through the ingredients he had once again, taking some time until he was able to decide what he could make that would fit together very well and would include all of the courses the jury wanted him to make.

When he started, his movements were a little clumsy. His hands were shaking and he had to pay close attention that he wouldn’t end up hurting himself as he cut an ingredient and that nothing would drop to the floor, but as he continued to cook the different meals and could see in the other’s first reactions that they liked the appetizer and the soup, he was getting more confident and was able to focus better on what he was doing. The timing worked out almost perfectly, making him a little unhappy since he was usually able to do better, but he figured it would be fine considering how nervous he was and that he was working with a kitchen he wasn’t familiar with.

Eventually, he served the last dish, making sure to always look at the plates and only up far enough that he would be able to tell if there were any remarks or further wishes, then he went back to the cooking area where he cleaned up the last bits after himself. One of the other hybrids who were working at that place helped him get the dish washer ready and turn it on, explaining quietly that they’d need the dishes again later when they were opening the restaurant.

When they were done, Ryeowook’s jury was done as well and when the shy cat hybrid looked up, he could see Kyuhyun’s eyes shine and a smile on his face that the other was nevertheless trying to hide. He felt a little relieved just seeing that because he knew whatever would happen, at least one person was happy with what he had made.

When the crew was complete again, the boss spoke up. “Kim Ryeowook.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’ve done a good job today. The ingredients you used worked very well together and your seasoning was good. If you were asked to make variations like adding more spices or making it less spicy, would you be able to adjust your meal?”

“Yes, sir.”

“If you were asked for a bigger portion or a smaller one, to leave something away or to add something else, would you be able to do it without problems and make sure the dish still won’t lose its flavor?”

Ryeowook glanced at Kyuhyun and then back to the boss. “I believe so, sir.”

“Do you work with recipes?”

“Not a lot anymore. I mainly learned how to cook from those older and more experienced than me. They also taught me to always try what I’m making. Since that won’t be possible here, I suppose I will work with recipes in this place and also try to take them home with me in one way or another so I can see what I can vary in case there are special wishes coming in,” he replied with a few more glances at Kyuhyun, but the other seemed to approve of what he was saying.

“If you don’t like a recipe the way you read it and think something should be changed, will you inform us about your idea?”

The cat hybrid’s eyes widened at the unexpected question and he glanced at Kyuhyun again. The other was eyeing the boss instead and then nodded barely noticeably, so Ryeowook gulped and looked back at the other man again as well. “Yes, sir. I would tell you about my suggestions, but if you don’t agree, I will make the dish the way you are asking me to do it.”

The man nodded. “You will hear from me during the next couple of days,” he replied without letting Ryeowook see whether that answer had been the right one or not.

The young man nodded and bowed towards the staff, then he went over to Kyuhyun. After allowing Ryeowook to change back into his own clothes, they were led out and the restaurant was closed behind them. When they sat in Kyuhyun’s car, Ryeowook closed his eyes without yet fastening his seat belt. All of a sudden, his entire energy seemed to leave him and it was when he opened his eyes again that he noticed his hands shaking a little. He closed his eyes once more, feeling his heart beat fast against his rib cage. Those last questions had brought back all of his former nervousness.

“Are you alright?”

When Ryeowook opened his eyes, he could see Kyuhyun watching him, so he sat a little straighter and finally buckled up, then he nodded. “Yes, I guess I am.”

“You’re still nervous?”

The cat hybrid looked down. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“What if they didn’t like it? Or what if my answers were wrong? Those questions at the end were really tough…”

“I’m actually surprised you heard them for the first time today,” Kyuhyun admitted and Ryeowook raised an eyebrow. Surprised? “Companies like to ask if there’s anything you can think of that they might change so they can see whether you put a lot of effort into your research. They’re usually asking about their advertisement or procedures inside the company. In my opinion, you did really well today. I don’t want to get your hopes up too high in case this doesn’t work out, but from what I heard them say, you left a pretty good impression. I didn’t hear everything, of course, since one of the other employees usually talked to me, probably to keep me busy and from eavesdropping, but I still caught a few of the things they were saying.”

Ryeowook nodded softly and smiled at Kyuhyun insecurely. “Thank you.”

“You must be hungry now after all of that cooking and you weren’t able to eat any of it. Do you want to simply eat out so you don’t have to worry about cooking anything else today?”

“I’m honestly not sure if I can eat anything right now…”

“You already didn’t eat much for breakfast, so just wait until we get somewhere and you’ll change your mind! Will pizza be okay for you right now?”

“Anything you’ll like will be alright.”

“Alright.” Kyuhyun flashed him another smile and then started the engine.

Three quarters of an hour later, Ryeowook had to realize Kyuhyun had been right—he had been starving! Eating something felt a lot better than he had expected at first.

Two days passed during which Ryeowook was in a state of being caught between relaxing and anxiously waiting for a phone call from the restaurant he had cooked at. He was aimlessly staring out of the window while trying to come up with an answer for one of Kyuhyun’s questions, one he didn’t even know how the other had been able to think of it, when his phone suddenly lit up and the melody he knew by then started playing. Within a heartbeat, he put the pencil down and grabbed his phone instead, seeing an unknown number on its screen. With shaking hands, he answered the call. “Yeoboseyo?”

“Hello. Is that Mr. Kim Ryeowook speaking?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

The other person introduced himself and Ryeowook quickly recognized the name of the restaurant where he had been invited for a second job interview at as well as the name of the boss who had done the interviews. “Are you still interested in our offer?”

The cat hybrid swallowed against the lump in his throat that had built there within mere seconds, but his voice was still trembling when he answered, “Yes, sir, I am.”

“Then I would like you to come in sometime until Friday to sign the contract and so we can discuss any further details because you got the job.”

Ryeowook was speechless. Those words repeated in his mind without quite sinking in, leaving him unable to fully comprehend what the other had said. “C-could you repeat that, please?” he stuttered eventually.

“The job is yours.”

Another moment passed until the truck of realization hit him. He had passed. All of his preparations with Kyuhyun had paid out! He had the job, they wanted him!

Realizing after a couple of seconds that he still hadn’t said anything, he eventually made himself speak up, “Thank you. Oh my god, thank you!”

The man on the other end of the line laughed. “Why are you thanking me? If my impression of you is correct, you will be an enrichment to our team. I would like you to start working for me next Wednesday, so on the first of September. If you have any appointments after that, please make sure to bring your calendar when you come in to sign the contract, alright?”

“I will, I will. Thank you!”

“I’ll see you soon then. Have a good day, Kim Ryeowook.”

“Thank you. You too, sir!”

The line went dead, but Ryeowook only took away his phone in order to stare at it in disbelief and joy. He had to call Heechul and Hangeng to tell them! But shouldn’t he tell Kyuhyun about these news first? Yes, he should, he’d have to wait for a little longer until he would be able to call his best friend. Kyuhyun had worked with him for all of this, so he had to be informed first!

Forgotten was the question he had been given as he hurried downstairs to plan a nice meal instead. He had to make something good, after all! If him having lived with Kyuhyun for one week was a reason to celebrate, this would definitely count as a reason for a good meal as well!

When he arrived in the kitchen, a quick glance at the clock revealed that he didn’t have the time to cook anything fancy because fancy meant time consuming—and Kyuhyun would return rather soon. With a slight shrug, he settled for pancakes instead, in the mood for something light and sweet he could make quickly before the big meal in the evening. Ignoring the fact that he’d be done way too early, he started to prepare the dough, humming happily as he did so.

To keep himself from calling his best friend, Ryeowook busied himself around the house, realizing there was a new set of laundry he could do and doing some cleaning that wouldn’t have been necessary. Finally it was time to start heating up the pan and set the table while he waited for the butter to melt so he could start making the pancakes.

He wasn’t entirely done yet when he heard the key in the door lock.

Leaving the pancakes in the middle of their preparation, he almost ran out of the kitchen, still smiling brightly. “Kyuhyun!” The other barely got the chance to enter the apartment and close the door behind himself, then Ryeowook stood in front of him. “You won’t believe what happened today. The restaurant called and said I got the job. Can you believe that? I got the job! They want me to cook for them!” he exclaimed.

Kyuhyun’s expression changed from surprise to joy when he processed the news as he put down his bag absentmindedly. “They did? Oh my god, that’s great! Congratulations!”

Apparently without thinking about his actions, Kyuhyun stepped closer and pulled the cat hybrid into a tight hug and at that very moment Ryeowook did the only reasonable thing he could do—he hugged Kyuhyun back tightly with his arms and cat tail. It was a way to express his happiness and at the same time a reaction he had known would come. Only when the thought hit him that this reaction should have rather come from Heechul or Hangeng, he slowly leaned away again, but somehow his good mood wasn’t torn down despite the unexpected hug, instead he was still beaming at the now once again confused Kyuhyun.

“They did! They called a little over an hour ago. I wanted to make something fancy but— Oh my god, I think my pancake is burning! Get ready, we can eat soon, okay?” he babbled along and with one more eye contact and his unbroken smile, he hurried back into the kitchen to save the pancake that had indeed started to get rather dark.

It was only when he took the pancake out of the pan that he heard Kyuhyun move again and he realized the hug had indeed not only been unplanned but had also surprised at least the younger man quite a lot since he had gotten a very unexpected reaction in return. When Kyuhyun came back into the kitchen, though, he seemed to share Ryeowook’s joy.

“What did they say when they called?” he asked curiously.

“I was asked to come in until Friday so I could sign the contract and talk about all the details with him. He’ll probably tell me then when I’m supposed to work other than that he wants me to start next Wednesday. Isn’t that great?” the cat hybrid asked and turned to look at Kyuhyun before he took out the pancake and put the last bit of dough into the pan instead.

“It really is! Do you want me to come along when you do all of that? I could look over the contract with you. Since I’m assuming you’ve never signed one, there may be things in it that I will notice that you wouldn’t recognize right away.”

“That would be very nice of you,” Ryeowook replied with a shy smile. “Do you know if there’s anything going on anytime soon? They also want me to bring along my calendar in case I have anything going on…”

“It’ll be Donghae’s birthday in October, you should try to get that day off. Other than that, I don’t think there’s anything else going on anytime soon,” Kyuhyun replied with a slight shrug. “By the way, instead of cooking tonight, what do you think about going out to eat? Or maybe we could simply get some cake that we could also eat here. I already missed out on our one month anniversary, so let’s celebrate both one month together and your first job today!”

Ryeowook thought about it for a moment, but then he nodded. “Let’s go out to eat,” he said with a shy smile. “I’ve never eaten in a restaurant before, I want to know what it’s like.”

“Great!” He could hear Kyuhyun grin as he said that word, making him smile as well.

He only called Heechul briefly that day to tell him about his successful job interview, but he couldn’t help but feel even more excited when he ended the call, knowing how happy both Heechul and Hangeng were for him. It seemed like the day was getting better with every minute that passed! At the same time, a strange sadness started to follow him through the remainder of that day.

He only spoke up about it when he and Kyuhyun sat on the sofa that night. He felt happy and sad at the same time, full after all the food he had gotten at the restaurant and the dessert that had followed but also as if something inside him was missing.

“Kyuhyun?”

“M-hm?”

“Today is a strange day… I feel so happy, but at the same time I’m sad… I think I miss Heechul-hyung and Hangeng-hyung… With them, today wouldn’t have been possible and don’t get me wrong, today was a really good day! I had a lot of fun and it feels like today was another new start for me because I’ll get the chance to start a real work soon for the first time in my life. But it’s weird to be here today without Heechul-hyung.” He was quiet for a moment, trying to sort his thoughts while he felt Kyuhyun’s eyes on him. Apparently the other noticed he wasn’t done yet because he didn’t say anything else, and after a couple of seconds, Ryeowook spoke up again, “When you hugged me earlier today… I was reminded of Heechul-hyung. He would have also hugged me. I think I miss that, I actually miss having him around and hugging me whenever he wants to do so. It’s probably strange to hear me say something like that…”

Unlike what Ryeowook would have expected, Kyuhyun laughed softly. “He probably got you used to skinship, huh?” The cat hybrid looked up for a moment, but besides the other’s amusement he could also see sincerity in the other’s eyes, then Kyuhyun held out an arm. “Do you want a hug now?”

The cat hybrid just looked at the outstretched arm for a couple of seconds, then he slowly scooted closer until he sat right beside Kyuhyun, allowing the other to wrap his arm around him. This time, it felt strange to him. There was the comfort he had learned to find in Heechul’s embraces and the closeness he had also started to enjoy from Hangeng and Heechul, at the same time the other didn’t smell like either one of Ryeowook’s good friends, leaving him a little uneasy. The fact that he felt better with the hug confused him, though, and left him wondering whether it was just because he had gotten so used to someone hugging him every so often during the time he had spent with Heechul or if Kyuhyun would really turn out to be the third person he felt comfortable enough with that he wouldn’t mind skinship.

As the movie went on, Ryeowook stopped thinking about it at some point. The day was taking its toll on him and he noticed himself get more and more tired and his eyes felt incredibly heavy…

“Ryeowook.”

The cat hybrid jumped and sat up a bit straighter. He blinked and saw the end credits run over the screen, making him realize that he had fallen asleep at some point. That thought was quickly followed by the realization that he had actually used Kyuhyun’s shoulder as a pillow.

“I-I’m sorry,” he stuttered out right away and blushed, scooting away a little out of habit.

Kyuhyun next to him shook his head. He seemed to be a little sad at the loss of their physical contact, but he didn’t say anything about it. “It’s fine. Today was a tough day for you and it’s late already. Why don’t you go ahead and get ready to sleep while I’ll turn everything off here?” he suggested with a soft smile.

Ryeowook hesitated, but since he was still tired, he nodded slowly. “Okay… If you say so?”

Kyuhyun nodded. “I do. I need you to be fit tomorrow, after all, when we go ahead and sign your contract.” He grinned and winked at the cat hybrid. Now go to bed, alright? Sleep well, Ryeowook.”

“You, too,” the slightly older man mumbled and went upstairs, but the reminder of what they would do the next day made it difficult for him to relax again.