“Kim Ryeowook, do you have any idea what time it is!?”

Ryeowook sighed when he heard Heechul’s upset but way too awake voice, making it obvious the other probably hadn’t even gotten ready for bed. “Yes, of course I do. I’ve been trying to sleep for an hour after all.”

Silence greeted him for a couple of seconds, then the older cat hybrid spoke up again, “Want me to turn on the speakers so Hannie can listen as well or would you prefer to talk to only me?”

“I think I’d prefer only you tonight.”

“Okay, hang on.” Heechul told his boyfriend he’d have to talk to in private for a moment, then Ryeowook couldn’t hear a lot anymore from the other side until Heechul spoke up again. “Alright, I’m in the living room now. No one should be able to overhear our conversation here, at least not at this time of the night.”

“That sounds good to me.”

“So tell me, baby, what’s going on?”

Ryeowook sighed and closed his eyes, hugging Gwangmyeong a little closer with his otherwise free arm. “I can’t stop thinking about the conversation we had when we last met.”

“Which part do you mean?”

“The one where we talked about ear scratches.”

“Missing them already, huh?” Heechul asked with amusement in his voice, making it obvious that he didn’t expect a positive response.

“Yes,” Ryeowook admitted quietly and opened his eyes again to stare into the darkness of his room, only illuminated by the tiny bit of light that made it from Kyuhyun’s room to his own. Whenever they were home and not doing something together the other had started to study because apparently it was only a little over a week until midterm exams would be held. They sounded extremely scary!

“Repeat that for me, please.”

The younger cat hybrid sighed. “Yes, I think I do miss them.”

“Wow… You must either feel really lonely or really comfortable with Kyuhyun. I’ll frankly say now that it’s the latter.” Since Ryeowook didn’t know what to say in response, both of them were quiet for a couple of seconds until Heechul spoke up again. “Really, Wookie, what is it?”

“I… I think it’s a mix, actually,” the younger hybrid admitted quietly. “I got so used to always having you around to cuddle with, always having you hug me and spoil me that now it’s strange to have none of that anymore. And then Kyuhyun is so kind to me, so understanding, so respectful… I still can’t understand why.”

“Oh my baby… I hope you’ll come to understand that someday and learn about your own worth! No one should be raised the way we have been and the way so many of us are… They should stop telling us we’re worthless!”

“But we are inferior to humans.”

“No, baby, not anymore. We used to be because we were created to provide entertainment and to be entertainment, something to show off wealth with, but more like a statue than anything else. Now we’re entering a society where those old masters still think that way while their children grow up more independently and treat us like we’re all on one level. And that’s the way it should really be.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re awesome? If you think about it, we are actually the superior ones—we have a better sight, better hearing, and can smell better. We get along with both humans and animals and are generally a more tolerant species than humans. Yes, they created us for their entertainment, but we’re still part human, we should still have the same rights they do.”

“That argument can be used in both directions, hyung.”

“But we’re closer to humans than we are to animals. Just think about it, okay? Hangeng and Kyuhyun and Ara have already understood that quite a while ago and so have Eunhyuk, Donghae, and I. It’s just you who’s been in that system for too long and whose personality never had the chance to fully develop without restraints. You’re also generally shier and more timid than we are, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s really cute, actually. And I know that through Kyuhyun you too will understand eventually that we’re all equal.” Heechul sighed. “But this isn’t even what we’ve been talking about in the first place. What else is it that makes you this comfortable around Kyuhyun, can you point it out? I’ve never seen you accept someone into your life that easily and quickly.”

“What are you saying? Have I not given him a hard time? Am I not still giving him a hard time? That’s not fast. Everyone else would’ve done it much faster.”

“Yes, but you are not everyone else, you are you, Ryeowook, and it’s good like that. For you, accepting his hugs and pondering getting ear scratches from him after just a few months is fast. And don’t get me wrong, I can totally understand why it’s taking you long to accept anyone at all as a regular part of your life. You only ever heard what I told you on the phone, but believe me, Hannie’s start with me wasn’t all that easy either. I was at the same point you are at, Wookie. I couldn’t believe him when he said he’d stay until he kept me for a month and then another one and then a year, but I think it was only when we got the shelter shortly before you moved in with us that I truly accepted that Hangeng would stay with me, that he wouldn’t be like everyone else, because we were just building something together and it was something I played a part in, something he couldn’t push me out of just like that.”

“It took you one year to really become comfortable with Hangeng-hyung?”

“Not quite, but it did take me one year until the worries that I might be too much for him or that he might simply get tired of me completely disappeared.”

“You never told me you had them for so long.”

“I didn’t want you to worry about me. But now that you’re in the same position I was in, I guess sharing my experiences with you can only end up being helpful.”

Ryeowook thought about what he had heard for a while, unsure what exactly to make of that new piece of information. He had truly never known how much on edge Heechul had been during all of that time. What else had the older kept to himself?

“Hyung?”

“Yes?”

“You should’ve told me. All of that. That you felt insecure, that even after living with Hangeng-hyung you still had a lot of worries and doubts. That you would have preferred me to be with you.”

“I did tell you that I wanted you to live with us.”

“But you always said you want that for me and not for yourself.”

Heechul sighed on the other end of the line. “But Wookie… If I had told you any of that, you would have been even more reluctant to ever leave. I didn’t want that for you either. Whenever I kept quiet, it was because I was thinking about you.”

“I never asked for that, hyung.”

“I know. But to me it always seemed like the better option in case something wouldn’t work out or for whenever you’d leave us again. I’ve known all along that the more I bind you to me and the more I told you about all of those things the less you’d want to ever leave.”

Ryeowook closed his eyes again for a couple of seconds. Of course Heechul was right, he would have fought even more to stay with Heechul and Hangeng if he had known those things, but it still made him feel strangely empty and even a little disappointed that Heechul had never shared those things with him and also like he was burdening Heechul by telling him all of those things.

“But I have to know!” a young girl’s voice suddenly made it through the phone to Ryeowook. “Oppa! Was Rella a prince or a princess?”

“For god’s sake, you two should be in bed!” Judging by the clarity of Heechul’s voice, Ryeowook could tell the older didn’t even bother to take the phone away from his ear.

“But Sohyun-ah keeps on telling me that Rella can’t be a man if the prince is also a man!” Hyuna argued from the background.

“Everyone knows Cinderella was a girl!” Sohyun defended herself.

“Girls, can’t we talk about that tomorrow? I’m talking to Wookie right now.” The younger cat hybrid knew none of the others would notice it, but to him Heechul sounded incredibly tired and exhausted. Was it because of all the things they had been talking about? Or maybe the fact that he had told Heechul he actually wanted to know more about what was going on in the other’s life, even if it was something troublesome? Or maybe it had just been a tough day on Heechul? If only he could tell…

“Alright, girls, good night.” Ryeowook blinked when he heard those words, realizing he had missed out on a part of the conversation on the other end of the line. “Wookie, are you still there?”

“Of course I am.”

“Then here’s a deal for you: When you call me on Monday night, I want you to tell me about Kyuhyun’s ear scratches.”

“You what!?” The younger cat hybrid exclaimed, quickly covering his mouth a moment later when he realized Kyuhyun probably hadn’t even known he was still awake.

“No need to scream off my ear,” Heechul grumbled unhappily. “But your reaction tells me you understood what I said quite well.”

“But hyung—“

“No ‘but hyung’s. You’ll do it this weekend or you’ll keep on suffering from not doing it for quite a while. You’ll always ask yourself what it would be like and you’ll die of nervousness. Don’t do that, okay? I like the living version of you.”

Ryeowook rolled onto his side, facing the wall. After re-arranging his blanket a little, he hugged Gwangmyeong close to himself again. “I don’t know if I can do it.”

“You said it yourself in the text message you sent me earlier that didn’t make sense to me at that point that he did really good with the cats earlier today. Just go ahead and ask him, feel free to also tell him you’re nervous about it.”

“He probably knows that already.”

“And I bet he’s nervous, too.”

“Why? It can’t be that much of a big deal for him, can it?”

“Of course it can, Wookie! It’s a big deal for you and he’ll want to do good since it’s you. There’s no reason why he wouldn’t be nervous as well. And remember, of course he’ll make mistakes, but that’s natural. Show him what you like, don’t be afraid. If you think that’ll help, visit the pet shelter again so you can demonstrate it with a real cat.”

Ryeowook whined. “Why do I have to?”

“Because you don’t have a cute little hybrid who will eventually move in with you guys to save you if necessary.”

“Oh, I hope so!” the younger hybrid replied without thinking about it.

Heechul on the other end laughed. “You do? Not too long ago you would have given a lot to have more company.”

Those words successfully made Ryeowook shut up. It was true. How much had changed in those few months? “Well… I was all on my own during the days… Now I also work a lot, though it’s still kind of lonely here… Especially because Kyuhyun has to study a lot…”

“Too late, my baby, I already know you don’t want to share Kyuhyun with anyone.”

“That’s not true,” Ryeowook protested weakly.

“Is it not?” Heechul asked back with triumph in his voice because he already knew he was right. “Remember the deal, Wookie. On Monday I want to hear what his ear scratches are like.”

The younger cat hybrid sighed. “It’s not like you’d let me forget about it anyway…”

“True. If you don’t mind, I’ll go get ready for bed now, alright? It’s been a long day and there’s even more work ahead for Hannie and me.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“We told you about that other shelter we’ve been watching, didn’t we?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Well, they’re right on the verge of crashing. A week at the max, as Hannie says, then they’ll be off the market and we will have to be ready to take in at least some of their hybrids. It’ll get quite full again here. Be happy you’re out there!”

“Alright, I will be.”

“Now sleep well, baby Wookie, okay?”

“You too, hyung. Please tell Hangeng-hyung I’m sorry for not having talked to him as well.”

“I’m sure he’ll understand. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Yes. I miss you, hyung.”

“Don’t miss me too much,” Heechul replied and ended the call without waiting for an answer.

Ryeowook rolled around to put his phone back onto his nightstand, then he curled up into a small ball again and stared aimlessly into the darkness. While he thought about the conversation he had just had with his best friend as well as the task lying ahead of him and that would obviously have to be fulfilled the next day, he could hear occasional sounds coming from the other side of the hallway until Kyuhyun apparently gave up on studying any further and eventually got ready to go to sleep, yet Ryeowook still had trouble finding enough peace to also fall asleep.

“Ryeowook,” someone called out softly, repeating his name a few times, then a hand started to shake him lightly. The cat hybrid whined and tried to turn away, unwilling to wake up when it felt like he had only just fallen asleep. “Hey Ryeowook, you really need to wake up.”

He slowly opened his eyes to find Kyuhyun crouching next to the bed, obviously trying to wake him up. “Why?”

“Because it’s a little before eight. If you don’t get up soon, you’ll be late for work.”

“Late for…” Ryeowook repeated before the message sank in and he sat up with a start. “What time is it?”

“It’s 7:52 right now. Get up and get ready, alright? I’ll prepare breakfast for you. What would you like to eat?”

The cat hybrid shook his head, trying to catch up with what was going on while his brain still seemed to work on getting started at all. “I… I don’t know. What day is it even?”

Kyuhyun chuckled. “It’s Sunday. Do I have time to prepare some buns and eggs?”

“I…” Ryeowook frowned, contemplating that question for a moment before he eventually nodded. “If you turn on the oven now, you should. Turn the water on once you put the buns into the oven, then both the eggs and the buns should be ready at the same time.”

“How many eggs would you like? One as always?” The cat hybrid simply nodded in response. “Alright, then I’ll start making breakfast. I’ll see you downstairs.”

Ryeowook nodded once more and watched as Kyuhyun got up with an amused smile and left the room. The slightly older man groaned and hid his face in his hands for a moment. He had never overslept before! He dropped his hands after a few seconds and scrambled out of bed, hurriedly getting some clothes to put on for the day before he went to the bathroom to get ready.

By the time he went downstairs, he was not only more awake but it also smelled deliciously of warm buns. He entered the kitchen to see Kyuhyun was just waiting for the alarm to go off, but he looked up when Ryeowook came in and smiled. “Good morning.”

The cat hybrid forced himself to smile back lightly. “Good morning. Thank you for waking me up and for making breakfast.” He looked down, feeling bad because he hadn’t managed to get up in time when Kyuhyun had so much to do.

“No need to thank me. I could tell you were thinking about a lot of things last night, so I figured you wouldn’t be able to sleep well.”

“What about you?”

“I set an alarm in order to wake up in time.” When Ryeowook looked up, Kyuhyun’s smile appeared to be rather forced as well. “I still have so much studying to do…”

“Will you tell me if there’s anything I can help you with?”

They made eye contact and after a moment’s hesitation, Kyuhyun nodded. “I’m not sure if there will be anything out of the ordinary, though. You get up with me whenever you can, you cook great meals, you join me when I simply need something else to do than studying and you do so much more around the house. That’s already a lot of help.”

Ryeowook hesitated but then he nodded, sad that he couldn’t help Kyuhyun in any other way but glad that what he was doing seemed to be helpful at least.

“Do you want to tell me what’s been bothering you so much?”

The cat hybrid thought about it for a moment, then he shook his head, figuring he’d simply talk about it later that evening. “Not now,” he replied with the hint of an apologetic smile. Kyuhyun nodded in response and Ryeowook was once again grateful that the other simply accepted it when he didn’t want to talk about something and that he usually didn’t ask further about it. “Can I help you with anything?”

“How do you usually take out the eggs and the buns at the same time?”

“I generally check the buns a little before the alarm goes off and then turn off the stove if they’re ready and open it so they can cool off a bit while I take out the eggs when the alarm rings and then I’ll take care of the buns. But if you want me to, I can do the eggs now so you’ll only have the buns to worry about.”

The slightly younger man nodded again, this time in understanding, then he glanced at the alarm clock and afterwards into the stove. “Do you think they’re good?”

Ryeowook moved closer to take a proper look as well, then he nodded. “Yes, I think so.”

“Great, then let’s get breakfast started so you won’t actually be too late, alright?” Without waiting for an answer, Kyuhyun turned off the stove and opened it, then he got cooking gloves to take out the buns.

It was a busy day at the restaurant and Ryeowook once again had the feeling like he should be working faster somehow, though he had no idea how he’d be supposed to do that. Pilkyo and he had become a pretty good team at cooking together and working out the things the other one was not quite as good at, so everything nevertheless went well in the overall result.

The second he said goodbye to his colleagues and was on his own again that afternoon, though, his thoughts went back to his conversation with Heechul and his nervousness returned. He had that night only to ask Kyuhyun about those ear scratches. The next day, he’d be in university again so he wouldn’t be at the apartment for most of the day; lately he came back mainly to eat and sleep because he still studied until the late hours when he was in university.

“I’m back,” he called out when he entered the apartment.

“Welcome home,” Kyuhyun answered from a rather unusual direction. A moment later he came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand. “How was work?”

“It was busy again today, but other than that nothing out of the ordinary,” Ryeowook replied with a slight shrug as he took off his shoes. “How is studying going?”

“I ended up falling asleep on my books,” Kyuhyun revealed with a grimace and Ryeowook couldn’t help but smile at that.

“The night was a little short, huh?”

“Did you still hear me going to bed?” The cat hybrid nodded. “Woah, no wonder you didn’t wake up this morning! Do you also want some coffee?”

Ryeowook shook his head. “No, I’m fine without any. Do you already know what you’d like to eat for dinner?”

“How about Hangeng-sshi’s fried rice? It seemed rather easy to make and we haven’t had that in a while.”

Ryeowook nodded. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll check if I have everything here, if not I’ll go and get a few groceries. I’d have to go tomorrow at the latest anyway. When I go, is there anything you’d like me to bring?”

“Actually, anything chocolate related will be fine,” Kyuhyun replied with a sheepish smile that revealed he knew Ryeowook wasn’t too happy about that answer and the hybrid indeed clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“I’ll have to find a way to cook even healthier for you when it’s exam time!”

“I’m sorry. It just kind of helps me to stay awake and more or less focused on my studies.”

Ryeowook sighed. “Yes, so you’ve said. I’ll see what I can arrange,” he promised. After all, he wouldn’t interfere with Kyuhyun’s studies, he knew how important it was that the other did good at all of his exams.

“Do you want me to come along?”

“Not if you don’t want to.” He hesitated for a moment before he added, “I think I’d prefer watching something together later over going grocery shopping with you now, if that’s fine with you.”

Kyuhyun nodded. “Sure. Let’s take a walk one of these days, though. I think I really just need to get out and move around a little.” Afterwards, he sighed. “I guess I better go back to studying then… Let’s do something nice when midterms are over and something even nicer when finals are eventually over and I’ll just have to work, alright? I can’t neglect you like this all the time, after all!”

“You’re not neglecting me. It’s important that you do well in university, after all. And I’m busy during the days now as well.”

The younger man inclined his head a little. “Thank you, you’re sweet, Ryeowook. Will you need money to go grocery shopping?”

Ryeowook shook his head lightly. “No, I won’t, I still have enough on my card.”

“Alright then. Don’t forget you can also use that money just for yourself, alright? You don’t need to spend it on groceries only.”

The hybrid blushed lightly since Kyuhyun hit the nail on the head by reminding him that it was his money—he would have most likely spent all of it on groceries in the end otherwise. On the other hand, he also hadn’t found anything so far that he had really wanted to have and he had only just gotten his first salary! “I won’t forget it,” he assured the other nevertheless.

Apparently more or less satisfied with the answer he had gotten, Kyuhyun left to continue studying, so Ryeowook went on to see what groceries he’d need to get to make Beijing fried rice, then he went to the store.

After dinner, Kyuhyun studied a little longer before he knocked on Ryeowook’s door. The older looked up from where he had been sitting at his desk, reading a book he had borrowed from Fei since he was done with all the not-university-related books Kyuhyun owned.

“Hey there. Am I interrupting anything?”

Ryeowook shook his head. “Not at all. Do you want to take a break from studying?”

Kyuhyun nodded. “I feel like the words are becoming unclear and the letters start doing funny things in front of my eyes… I can’t concentrate anymore.”

“No wonder. You’re studying almost nonstop lately.”

“I also have a lot that I need to remember.”

“But if you don’t take breaks every now and then and relax and get distracted, can you really take all of that information in and remember it all as good as you have to?”

Kyuhyun shook his head. “No, I can’t. That’s why I’m here now!”

Ryeowook smiled at the other’s enthusiasm to do something else. “Alright. Is there any movie you’d like to watch?”

“As long as it doesn’t involve anything school related, I’m actually fine with anything.”

The slightly older man laughed softly. “Okay, let’s see what we can find,” he replied, put his bookmark into the book and the book on his desk, then he got up and walked over to the other. “Let’s go.”

Kyuhyun nodded, then they went downstairs together and picked a movie. The younger one put the DVD into the player and then sat down with Ryeowook, both of them sitting comparably close together like they did a lot lately—always leaving enough space that they usually didn’t initiate skinship right away but close enough to show there was the option of skinship later on, mainly depending on whether Ryeowook felt like it or not.

As they watched the movie, the cat hybrid’s thoughts drifted off to his latest talk with Heechul once again. Biting his lip, it took him almost half of the duration of the movie until he finally had the courage to speak up, “Kyuhyun?”

“Mmm?”

“Do you want to try it?”

The hybrid could see Kyuhyun turn his head from the corner of his eyes but he continued to stare at the screen even when the other spoke up, “Try what?”

“You know…” Ryeowook took a deep breath to try and calm down while at the same time gathering the courage to say his next words, “Scratching my ears.”

For a couple of seconds, neither of them said a word and the cat hybrid was already wondering whether he had really said those words or maybe just thought them when Kyuhyun replied, “If you’re certain about it? If you really want me to do it, I’ll try.”

Ryeowook slowly looked up to meet Kyuhyun’s gaze. He realized Heechul had been right, both of them were insecure about what they were about to do and somehow it comforted him a little to know neither of them really knew what to do or what else this evening would bring.

Eventually, he nodded with a shy smile. “Yes, I want you to try it.”

Kyuhyun nodded softly and turned around a little in his position so he was facing Ryeowook. The younger raised his hand but then stopped again in his tracks. “Ryeowook? If I do anything you don’t like, you’ll tell me, won’t you?” The cat hybrid glanced up for a moment and nodded lightly, receiving a slightly nervous smile in return. “That’s good then.”

Kyuhyun moved his hand a little further up before hesitating one last time, then his fingertips came in touch with one of Ryeowook’s sensitive cat ears. His ear twitched a little at the unfamiliar contact and the cat hybrid was certain even Kyuhyun had to hear his loud beating heart. The younger slowly rested his palm against the dark fur of the cat ear.

“It’s so soft,” he mumbled and Ryeowook glanced up again to see the other was entirely focused on what he was doing. He slowly started to caress the ear, every soft and cautious.

The touch felt a little strange to Ryeowook. It wasn’t quite the same as it had always been with Heechul and Hangeng, though he couldn’t point his finger at the difference aside from the obvious fact that Kyuhyun had less experience.

The slightly older’s nervousness slowly faded while Kyuhyun caressed his ear, gradually going further down until he gently started to scratch the base. After a couple of seconds, Ryeowook lightly leaned into the touch, closing his eyes halfway as he was able to relax into the comforting action little by little.

Ryeowook let Kyuhyun explore at first, coming to the conclusion that he was indeed doing better than Hangeng had in the beginning. Then again he also assumed Kyuhyun did have a bit more experience than he admitted. Or maybe he was just talented…

Noticing the other went more and more into a direction he was fine with but didn’t like as much as the part Kyuhyun had just scratched, Ryeowook once again collected all of the courage he had left before he shyly spoke up, “Could you stick more towards the middle?”

The younger man instantly changed direction. “Like this?”

The cat hybrid nodded almost unnoticeably and, feeling the need to explain himself, he added, “It’s not that I don’t like it towards the outside, I just prefer it where you are right now.”

Kyuhyun laughed softly. “There’s no need for you to justify yourself. I want to learn how you like it, after all, and not just how to generally do it.”

Ryeowook hummed softly and simply let Kyuhyun do as he pleased for another while, relaxing a little more. As the tension slowly left his body, he suddenly realized just how tired he was and had to stifle a yawn.

The younger stopped what he was doing, gently trailing his fingers over the cat ear again before pulling back. "You should go to bed early today.”

“What about you?” Ryeowook asked and looked up again, a little sad that the scratching had ended already but relieved at the same time because he finally knew he didn’t have to be afraid of asking for scratches anymore.

Kyuhyun shook his head in response. “I’m afraid I’ll have to study some more.”

“But you hardly get any sleep at all lately,” the slightly older man protested weakly, not wanting to upset Kyuhyun while he was also worried about him.

The latter shrugged, the motion seeming almost helpless. “That’s what university is like. You just have to decide in life: you either want to keep up a healthy sleep pattern and have a social life or you decide to get a good degree and hopefully earn a lot of money eventually. Luckily I get the latter and at least a semi-social life now that you’re here with me, don’t even get me started on all the other perks your presence brings along.”

Ryeowook shook his head lightly, wondering how Kyuhyun managed to point out how positive it was that they lived together probably at least once a week. “Don’t stay up too late, though, alright?” he said eventually as he got up.

Kyuhyun flashed him a smile and nodded. “I’ll try not to.”

“Okay. Good night, Kyuhyun.”

“Good night. Sleep well, Ryeowook.”

"You, too.” They smiled at each other, then Ryeowook turned away and went upstairs to get ready for bed and catch up on some of the sleep he had missed that night.

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Hey guys, I'm uploading this a day early this week because I'll be really busy this weekend. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and lovekyuwook, I hope this chapter is to your satisfaction :)