The ride to the apartment wasn’t long. Once they had entered the building, they rode the elevator up and went to the right door and once inside the apartment, Donghae took over to give Ryeowook a quick tour around. Unlike Kyuhyun’s apartment, this one was on one floor only, which he figured was more common, but it also took up more space on this floor. There were three bedrooms—one was Ara’s, the other a guest room, and the last one was shared by Eunhyuk and Donghae. The latter revealed that they had used to have separate rooms, but since at some point they had started to spend every night together anyway, they had changed his bedroom to make it a guest room instead, though his collection of stuffed animals had mostly stayed in his former room.

Ryeowook was also briefly shown around the kitchen where Kyuhyun, Eunhyuk, and Ara had already started to take out snacks and drinks that wouldn’t need to be cooled, so Donghae mainly explained to Ryeowook where he could find everything he might need that night. Afterwards, Donghae showed him where the bathroom was, then they did some last-minute furniture moving when Kyuhyun pointed out things wouldn’t work out as planned if everything stayed where it was.

Once all of that was done, the doorbell still remained silent, so Kyuhyun once again turned to Donghae. “Alright, I guess it’s time now to give you your birthday present.”

“Finally! I thought you were never gonna say those words!” Donghae exclaimed, making Eunhyuk and Ara laugh.

“Well, I hadn’t wanted to do it in the restaurant since I didn’t want other customers to get annoyed over us any further.”

“Whatever. Can I have it now?”

“Impatient kid!” Kyuhyun commented, but then he went back to the kitchen area where he had apparently left the tickets. Ryeowook watched as the other returned and handed the small package over to Donghae who studied it for a couple of seconds and then looked up.

“A concert at the Bubble Pop? And tickets that will be valid all day?” When Kyuhyun nodded, Donghae hugged him tightly. “Thank you!! This is so great!” He took a step back to look at Eunhyuk instead, waving the tickets in front of his face. “Hyukkie, Hyukkie, look at this! They got us tickets for a concert and we can play at the water park all day! Isn’t that fantastic?” With another sudden move, he turned around once more and took an excited step towards Ryeowook who was quick to take a step back. Donghae pouted. “I keep on forgetting that you don’t like hugs…” He sighed and looked down, his eyes landing on the tickets once again, bringing the bright grin back to his face. “Anyway, thank you so much! This is a really great present.”

“It was actually Ryeowook who overheard a conversation at the mall that was about this concert and who thought you might like it,” Kyuhyun revealed.

“Really?” Donghae looked at Kyuhyun for a moment, then back at Ryeowook, his smile warm, happy, and honest. “Then I can tell you that you were absolutely right with that!”

The doorbell rang, announcing the first guest. Donghae’s dog ears immediately perked up and his tail waved softly. “They’re here, Hyukkie, noona!” he exclaimed and hurried to the intercom.

As he passed Eunhyuk, his boyfriend took the tickets from him with an amused smile. “Noona, can I put these into your room? No one should enter that one after all, right?”

Ara nodded. “Of course you can.”

“Thank you.” Eunhyuk went over to the door that Ryeowook had learned belonged to Ara’s room while the other three remained standing in the living room area, listening to Donghae’s excited voice as he invited his friend upstairs.

As time passed, the apartment got really full. Music was playing, people were laughing and chatting about all kinds of things. Kyuhyun was talking to almost everyone sooner or later. At first, Ryeowook had stayed by his side, but at some point he had simply sat down on the sofa, watching various guests hand around controllers for some video games they were playing that seemed to be very well known among the people who were there. Ryeowook was asked if he wanted to play along more than once, but he politely declined every time, figuring he’d do bad anyway, so he’d rather simply watch both the games but also how hybrids and humans chatted with each other comfortably. He was reminded of Heechul telling him they were all equal and that the younger generation had already realized it and during that evening he could clearly see it. In this apartment, no one seemed to have an advantage or a disadvantage because of their race, everyone was simply having a good time together.

“Is anyone up for karaoke?” one of the girls asked at some point.

“Sure,” some other guests replied right away, so the girl turned around. “Donghae-oppa~?”

Donghae came over to them mere seconds later. “Yes?” He seemed to be in a fairly good mood, but Ryeowook also realized his speech wasn’t quite as clear as it had been in the beginning of the evening.

“Do you have a karaoke game?”

“Of course I do! Let me check,” Donghae replied and looked through his games. The girl helped him and within a couple of minutes they had set up the next game, even handing out microphones. “Ryeowook, why don’t you sing, too?”

The cat hybrid looked at the microphone suddenly presented to him and then up at the dog hybrid before he shook his head. “No, I’m fine.”

“Why~? Kyu said he was told you like singing but then you never sang around him.” Donghae pouted at him.

Ryeowook realized the other was right, but he nevertheless shook his head. “I probably won’t even know the songs.”

“I won’t either. So what, it’s just fun to sing along, even if you mess up the lyrics,” one of the guys sitting near him replied with a grin.

Ryeowook looked at the guy, at the microphone, up at Donghae, and then back at the microphone. He knew that by then everyone was watching him, expecting him to participate. They would surely laugh in the end when they realized his voice was no good. But he also couldn’t say no, could he? What if they would think he did it because he didn’t like them, he couldn’t ruin this evening for Donghae, could he?

He gulped but eventually took the microphone from Donghae, hearing the others cheer. The girl who had suggested the game sat down next to him, also holding a microphone. “Let’s sing a nice duet together! Do you prefer upbeat songs or ballads?”

“I don’t mind, it’s up to you,” Ryeowook replied quietly, holding on to the microphone tightly while trying to calm his nerves down.

“Then let’s sing DBSK’s Hug. Do you know that song?”

As if on cue—or maybe it actually was on cue—a part of a song was playing. Ryeowook looked up to make sure it really was that song, then he nodded; he had already heard it on the radio a few times. “Yes, I do.”

“That’s cool, then let’s do it~” the girl said and pressed some more buttons. The game was loading for a moment, then the starting screen came up. The young woman blew into her microphone, then she said, “You should pay attention to the bottom part of the screen.”

Ryeowook nodded and watched his part of the screen, forcing himself to relax as good as possible. She started to sing first and Ryeowook got a glimpse at both the lyrics and the melody and how both were portrayed on the screen. When the lyrics began on his part of the screen, he sang along as well, softly at first, trying to figure out how to hold the microphone and how to adjust his voice to try and hit every note on the screen, slowly gaining a little more confidence. Yet when people around him quieted down, his insecurity grew again. Why did they stop talking? He didn’t do all that bad, did he? He tried to focus on the TV and the song, but it was difficult with more and more people watching him. Or maybe they were watching the young woman beside him instead and he was just sitting too close to her for him to be able to tell the difference.

The moment the song ended, Ryeowook lowered both the microphone and his head, not wanting to see how the others reacted. It would probably be bad anyway.

One of the guys on the sofa whistled softly and a moment later, the girl next to him hugged him tightly. Ryeowook’s entire body tensed up at the sudden action, so he only noticed with a slight delay that she was talking, “—so beautiful? Do you want to sing some more? Let’s do another song together! Should we try another slow song? I think those would fit your voice really great!”

“Hey Sunny.” Ryeowook instantly knew it was Kyuhyun who was right there, saving him again, and while he was grateful for the other’s appearance he also felt bad because it seemed like Kyuhyun always had to save him, speak up for him, and explain things for him. That shouldn’t be the case! He suddenly realized how much he still had to grow, how much work he’d have to do to get out of his comfort zone. He shouldn’t burden Kyuhyun like that. “Why don’t you allow me to kidnap Ryeowook for a second? He must be thirsty, I don’t think I’ve seen him drink a lot tonight and now he even sang with you.”

The young woman slowly let go of him. “Alright, if you insist?”

“I do. Don’t worry, I’ll let him come back if he wants to.”

“Then it’s alright.”

A hand appeared in Ryeowook’s vision and he looked up to find Kyuhyun standing in front of him with a soft smile. He hesitated, but then he shyly took the hand, allowing Kyuhyun to pull him up and then further to the kitchen area. Ara, Eunhyuk, and Donghae were also standing there at that moment when they arrived and the young woman flashed him a soft smile. “Is there anything you’d like to drink, Ryeowook?”

The cat hybrid softly shook his head. “I can do it myself,” he replied and let go of Kyuhyun’s hand again, but Ara shook her head.

“Please, I insist. I’m here right now, so allow me to get you something.”

Ryeowook hesitated, watching her for a couple of seconds with a doubtful gaze. This wasn’t the way he had learned it! When it seemed like Ara was serious about her offer and wouldn’t take it back, though, he eventually nodded softly. “Some water would be nice.”

Ara nodded and went around the counter to get what he had asked for. Behind him, a new song was started.

“Ryeowook, I didn’t know you could sing so well!” Donghae used his opportunity to speak up, causing Ryeowook to look up again. Sing so well? No, Donghae couldn’t really mean him, could he?

Eunhyuk nodded, though. “There aren’t many people who can sing so well. No need to lack confidence over your voice, everyone was amazed at your singing. No one judged you, okay?”

Ryeowook hesitated, unsure whether he could truly accept that compliment or not, but then even Kyuhyun jumped in, “They’re right, your voice is really beautiful. I’m glad you gave in and sang in the end, even though I’m sure you didn’t do it willingly.”

“What do you mean he didn’t do it willingly? He did accept the microphone,” Donghae argued.

“I’ll explain it to you when you’re sober, Hae.”

“I am sober!” Donghae tried to defend himself, though he stumbled a little over the last word until he could get it right.

“Hae, all of us know you get tipsy after just one drink,” Eunhyuk argued.

“You do, too,” Donghae replied with a pout.

“But I don’t fight it off.”

“Meanie.”

“You know I love you,” Eunhyuk replied and leaned closer to give Donghae a kiss. Ryeowook was quick to look away, blushing deeply at the intimate action he had just witnessed.

“Ryeowook?” a young woman spoke up, a voice he recognized to be Ara’s. When he looked up again, Ara held out a glass for him and by her side, Eunhyuk was hugging his boyfriend comfortably but they had stopped any other intimate actions. “Here’s your water.”

“Thank you, Ara-sshi.”

Ara nodded and let Ryeowook take the glass. He drank some of the cool liquid, suddenly realizing how thirsty he had actually been, but he still forced himself to stop drinking after about half the glass had been emptied, not wanting to upset his stomach in the end.

“By the way, I’m curious: Do you have any experience with alcohol?” Ara asked further, watching him intently and the others, too, turned towards him.

Ryeowook looked down once again and shook his head, slightly embarrassed since having experience with alcohol seemed to be quite a normal thing. “Hangeng-hyung and Heechul-hyung offered me to try some from time to time, but I never accepted that offer,” he explained.

“If you change your mind, feel free to try anything here or ask for suggestions, okay?” Kyuhyun next to him spoke up, making Ryeowook look up hesitantly just to be faced with a warm smile. “This is a safe space for first experiences with alcohol. The four of us have already learned our limits and we usually make sure not to cross them, but we’ve tested a lot as well.”

“There’s no need for you to worry about anything,” Ara explained, “We’ll always make sure no one here will embarrass themselves, especially among ourselves.”

“Then again, we’ve also started drinking mostly when we’re together, so we’re all pretty familiar with each other’s drinking habits and alcohol tolerance,” Kyuhyun added. “We’ve learned to always watch out for each other. Since you’re a part of our family now, it is only natural that we’ll also watch out for you and that we’ll give you the chance to test your limits and taste whatever you’d like as well.”

The other three nodded and Ryeowook looked at each of them, but then he looked down again. “Thank you, but I think I’ll be fine.”

Eunhyuk laughed. “This was no call for you to start drinking right away.”

“We just want you to know you have this option. So whenever you want to try it and feel comfortable enough, you can go ahead and ask us at any time if you could try a bit of our drinks or simply take a drink on your own,” Ara replied. “Take your time, alright? There’s no need to rush anything.”

Ryeowook nodded softly. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank us,” Eunhyuk replied, but Ryeowook shook his head.

“No, I mean it. Thank you for taking care of me and for treating me like a family member right away,” he explained further.

An arm was wrapped around his shoulders in response and he could feel Kyuhyun hold him close for a moment before letting go again. “You’re most welcome, Ryeowook.” Their eyes met for a couple of seconds and they smiled at each other and all of a sudden that warm feeling of belonging was back, replacing part of the fear of being out of place and of not being enough.

He stayed with Kyuhyun again from that point onwards, still watching the games from time to time but also listening to the conversations the other was having, trying to learn even more about him and the people around them.

“Oppa~” Ryeowook jumped when Sunny was suddenly beside him again and he hurried to take a step away from her, afraid she might hug him all over again. Kyuhyun looked up from his conversation as well. “Aish, I didn’t do anything to you~” Sunny whined, her voice a little bit slurred as well and she shook her head, then she continued to speak, though, “Oppa, will you sing another song for us?”

Ryeowook looked at her hesitantly. “I don’t know… I don’t think so.”

“Why not? Your voice is so great!”

“If you want to, we could do a song together,” Kyuhyun offered. When their eyes met, the slightly younger man shrugged. “If not, we can just as well stay here, I’m fine with either option.”

“But I am not,” Sunny interfered before Ryeowook had the chance to respond. “You haven’t sung at all yet, Kyuhyun. So you have to sing! And I think your voices would match really well! So please sing a song for us together?”

Ryeowook looked back and forth between Sunny and Kyuhyun, unsure if he should really agree, if he could decline them at all, if they had said what they truly thought about his voice. In the end, he slowly nodded. “One song?”

Kyuhyun nodded in confirmation. “I think I already know a song that’ll fit.”

Sunny ran back to the sitting area. “Guys, we do get our encore!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

The others looked up and into their direction, and cheered when they spotted Ryeowook and Kyuhyun, making some space on the sofa so the two newcomers could sit down. Ara was sitting on the other sofa, smiling warmly at them and Ryeowook shyly responded to that smile.

Kyuhyun skipped through the songs until he found the one he had probably been thinking about. “Do you know this song?” he asked and turned to look at Ryeowook.

The song was called Friendship and was by a band called FT Island, but Ryeowook had neither heard of the song nor of the band so far, so he shook his head. “No, I don’t. But it’s fine, we can sing it anyway.”

The younger man nodded and put the song on. The microphones were passed on to them and once the screen was divided, Kyuhyun did the same as Sunny had earlier. “Your screen is the one on the bottom again.”

Ryeowook nodded and watched his part of the screen, waiting for his turn to start, but when Kyuhyun next to him began singing, he got distracted for a moment. Even after their months of living together, he hadn’t known the other had such a good voice. It was indeed very similar to his speaking voice and at the same time so much clearer, warmer even, softer.

The cat hybrid glanced back at the screen, trying to focus on that instead and on the melody in order to not be taken completely off guard once his own part would start.

As he listened to the song and began to sing as well, he realized how beautiful it was. The lyrics told of a long friendship with deep trust that had already seen happiness and tears but promised to last through whatever hardships might still come as well as the good times.

Ryeowook couldn’t help but think about Heechul as he sang the song but also wonder slightly why exactly Kyuhyun had picked it. Did he already see such a deep friendship in them? Was he simply hoping for such a deep friendship? What were his thoughts? Or had the other songs simply not fit in his opinion? Were there any further thoughts behind choosing this song in the first place other than Kyuhyun probably liking it?

When they finished, everyone around them clapped, some even whistled, others asked for an encore. Ryeowook glanced at Kyuhyun insecurely, but the other’s eyes were sparkling with joy. Their eyes met for a couple of seconds and Kyuhyun tilted his head lightly as if he was nonverbally asking if anything was wrong, then he turned back to the others and put the microphone on the table in front of the sofa.

“Sorry guys, no encore from my side tonight. Be happy I gave you an encore from Ryeowook in the first place,” he replied with a grin and stood up, holding a hand out for the cat hybrid. The slightly older man hesitantly grabbed it and stood up as well, placing the second microphone on the table. He heard Donghae’s friends protest as they left the circle again to stand by the counter once more.

Once things had calmed down and the others were concentrating on the next round, Ryeowook shyly turned to Kyuhyun. “You have a really beautiful voice.”

The slightly younger man smiled warmly at him. “Thank you. I really love singing…”

“But you never do…”

Kyuhyun shrugged. “Well, in the beginning I hadn’t wanted to scare you off with it in case you wouldn’t like it, and then I hardly got to listen to music in the first place.”

“I’m sorry. I hadn’t meant to keep you from doing somethi—“

“Ryeowook!” Kyuhyun interrupted him, dramatically rolling his eyes. “Listen to what I’m saying, okay? I deliberately chose not to sing in the beginning and then I was too busy focusing on my studies. If anyone should apologize for keeping me from doing the things I love, it should be the administration of my university for having me take so many courses and barely allowing me any time at home with you and not you apologizing because we first had to take some time to figure out how to live together. Alright? And now don’t be looking down all the time and don’t apologize. There’s absolutely nothing you did wrong and nothing about you that would force me to fully stop something I enjoy doing. Okay, Ryeowook? You’re doing nothing wrong by being yourself.”

Despite the other’s request not to do so, the cat hybrid cast his eyes down. Even though Kyuhyun did his best to reassure him that everything was okay, he couldn’t help but again feel out of place and like a failure. Was there really nothing he could ever do right at his first try? Sure, Kyuhyun had said he liked his voice and all that… but he didn’t know any songs that he could possibly sing, so that wasn’t all too helpful.

Ryeowook looked back up, desperately searching for a change of topic that wouldn’t once again end in Kyuhyun telling him all kinds of things that sounded too good to be true and at the same time still held a negative edge that Kyuhyun probably hadn’t even intended but that Ryeowook couldn’t help but notice.

His eyes landed on a cocktail that a girl who was standing nearby was playing with while chatting to her friend and suddenly the thought of trying alcohol didn’t appear all that strange to him anymore. It was something everyone did, wasn’t it? Why had he always refused to try any when Heechul had asked him? At least he would have known whether he was fine with drinking or not…

“What does it taste like?”

“Huh?”

“That.” Ryeowook nodded over to the glass the young woman was still playing with.

Kyuhyun turned around but it still seemed to take him a couple of seconds until he figured out what the cat hybrid was talking about. “The cocktail?” the younger man asked as he turned back around again and Ryeowook nodded in response. “Do you want to try it?”

“Is there a chance to only try a little bit?”

Kyuhyun nodded. “Come on,” he said and walked around the counter. He looked at the drink again, then he got several bottles from the fridge and mixed a small amount in a glass that he then handed to Ryeowook. “Here you go. But I should warn you, it’s a little bitter because it usually has quite a lot of alcohol in it.” The hybrid nodded and sniffed on it a little, then he tried it. A moment later, he grimaced when a burning sensation ran down his throat and Kyuhyun laughed. “Right, I probably should have warned you about that as well! Let’s see…” He thought a little while Ryeowook set the glass down. How could people drink so much of that willingly?

“Ryeowook, do you like caramel?” The cat hybrid looked up at Kyuhyun and raised an eyebrow, but when the other didn’t add anything else, he nodded softly. “Alright, then let me try something else.” He got some milk and another kind of alcohol from the fridge, but then he hesitated. “Wait, is it true that cats can’t drink milk?”

Ryeowook nodded. “Yes, it is, but as long as it’s not too much, we hybrids are usually fine with it.”

Kyuhyun nodded as well, obviously satisfied with the answer as he rinsed out the glass he had formerly used, dried it, and then mixed the milk and the liquor in it, filling the entire glass this time.

“That looks like you’re certain I’ll like it,” Ryeowook commented.

Kyuhyun shrugged. “I simply know for sure that noona likes it, so even if you should not like it, I can simply give it to her.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes, I do. But well… I already had my drink for tonight, I won’t drink more when I still have so much studying to do tomorrow…” He sighed and Ryeowook nodded lightly in response, but he could still tell Kyuhyun was unhappy with the situation.

He looked back at the glass and shyly sniffed it again. What he could smell did seem better than what he had tried before. After glancing at the glass for another moment, he hesitantly took a sip. This time, there was only a faint note of the alcohol as he swallowed it. He curiously tried a slightly larger sip and then looked up with a small smile. “You were right, I do like this one.”

Kyuhyun beamed at him. “That’s great! I already had a feeling that you’d prefer that one, at least for now. But it’s still great to hear that I was right.” Ryeowook drank a bit more, enjoying the taste of soft caramel with just the hint of alcohol that he wasn’t sure everyone would taste or if it was just because of his cat senses. “I actually used more milk for you for now to make the taste rather mild. The relation of alcohol and milk can be varied however you like it,” Kyuhyun revealed further.

Ryeowook nodded softly. “I think it’s really good like this.”

“I’m glad.”

As the night progressed, Ryeowook became more and more tired. He wasn’t used to staying up late and he could tell that Kyuhyun, too, was getting tired, yet the other acted like he was still in the mood to party with the others while at the same time never leaving Ryeowook’s side. Despite feeling grateful because of that, the cat hybrid also felt like he was ruining the fun for the other, but he tried to ignore those doubts at least for that night.

It was at a point when Ara, Eunhyuk, and Donghae were standing around them again that Kyuhyun said the words Ryeowook had secretly wished to hear, “I think Ryeowook and I should leave soon.”

“Why~?” Donghae protested immediately with a cute whine, but his voice betrayed how drunk he was already.

Ara on the other hand nodded. “Do you want me to call you a taxi?”

Kyuhyun shook his head. “I’ll do that on my own. Do you think you’ll be able to manage the party on your own from now on?”

His sister nodded again. “Yes, I think I’ll be fine. Even if you two leave, I won’t be the only sober person around, after all, so if I can’t manage I’ll find someone who will help me for sure.”

“Okay, noona. But if you need me to come back, don’t hesitate to call me, alright?”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” Kyuhyun bid his sister, Eunhyuk, and Donghae goodbye again, still wishing them to have a lot of fun that night. When he was done, Ryeowook bowed lightly towards the other three.

“Good night.”

“Good night, Ryeowook, and thank you for coming,” Ara replied and the other two hybrids agreed. Donghae seemingly automatically took a step towards him again, just to get his head smacked by his boyfriend.

“Yah! You being drunk doesn’t excuse you hugging Ryeowook!” Eunhyuk protested.

“Whyyy~? He has to get some love as well!” Donghae protested.

Eunhyuk shook his head. “Not this kind of love.”

“Why~!? I want to give him love!”

“Give me love instead!”

“Okay.” Donghae hugged his boyfriend tightly and leaned up to peck his lips.

Kyuhyun next to Ryeowook chuckled. “C’mon, Ryeowook, let’s go before Hae changes his mind again.”

The cat hybrid hesitated, but then he nodded. “Okay, let’s go,” he agreed and waved softly towards the other three. As they went to the exit, he also had to wave towards Sunny whom they met again on their way. It took quite a while to get out because Kyuhyun bid almost everyone whom they met goodbye and talked to them a little, but Ryeowook didn’t mind it at all. He knew that if this was a party where he knew everyone, he’d also take quite a while until he’d get out.

Once they arrived in the hallway, Kyuhyun took out his phone and called a taxi service to pick them up while they walked to the elevators and eventually also got into one. When he ended the call, Ryeowook spoke up again, “Why can’t we take the subway?”

“They’re out of service for a few hours during the night.”

“Oh…” Ryeowook pouted lightly. Though it made sense, of course, that even public transport wasn’t usable all day, he somehow hadn’t expected this.

Kyuhyun looked around for a moment and then leaned against one of the walls. “So what do you think about tonight?”

The cat hybrid took a moment to think about everything that had happened, that he had seen and heard and felt. “I don’t know… It was… so much.”

“I think you did really good.”

“Huh?” Ryeowook looked at the younger man in confusion, not understanding what Kyuhyun was referring to.

The latter simply shrugged in response. “At first I have to admit I had been torn between bringing you anyway and asking you if you wouldn’t prefer to stay home.” There it was again, that pang inside his heart because he felt like he had once again let Kyuhyun down. He was certain there wouldn’t have been such a question with any other hybrid—they would have wanted to come along and they would’ve had a great time. He gulped but tried to keep his expression neutral as he continued to listen. “I had already assumed you’d never been to a party, and after finding out how little you enjoy being in a large group of people, I had wondered if the party might trigger anything as well. I knew it would be loud and none of the others would know about you being uncomfortable with skinship while they are generally comfortable with skinship and initiate it quite often.

“But then I also thought that I wanted you to come because it’s a big thing for Donghae and you’re a part of my family now and that excluding you from this would do a lot more damage. Plus, you’d probably be exposed to those kinds of parties sooner or later anyway. We also had the chance to finally spend some time together outside the apartment again, I finally heard you sing, you seemed to have a good time as well… And since you took tomorrow off, you can calm down from this mass of people and from the loudness and all that and then start into your next week of work in a relaxed manner. So that’s good, isn’t it?”

Ryeowook hesitated, but then he nodded. “Yes, I guess it’s good. I’m glad that I was able to go to the party. But I still don’t understand…” He bit his lip, unsure if he should really finish his sentence.

“… why I said that you did good?” Kyuhyun asked and when their eyes met, Ryeowook nodded softly. A moment later, the elevator doors opened and they both left the small cabin but then stayed in the lobby while they waited. “Easy: the situation was foreign to you and you didn’t really know anyone around, but you stayed calm, you talked to people, you tried out new things, and you allowed yourself to relax and enjoy the evening. You found something to concentrate on that wasn’t the amount of strangers around you and at the same time you held up your comfort zone in a way that didn’t offend people. Aside from Sunny and Hae, no one even tried to get too close to you, after all, right?”

“That’s true.”

“I’m certain Hae’s friends will remember you as ‘the one with the great voice’.”

“I don’t think so.”

“That’s because you don’t know how good your voice is. Remember when you heard me sing for the first time? When you were singing, everyone looked at you the way you looked at me in that moment.”

Ryeowook blushed a bright red when he realized he had been found out. It was embarrassing to know Kyuhyun had noticed him stare for a couple of seconds and at the same time it made him wonder if it was true, if the others’ talking and staring had really been because his voice was as good as Kyuhyun claimed it was. Had he really left such a good impression despite the fact that he had barely talked to anyone aside from Kyuhyun, Ara, Donghae, and Eunhyuk? That couldn’t really be, could it?

“Ryeowook?” The cat hybrid looked up again when Kyuhyun called his name. “The taxi is here. Let’s go home and get some rest, okay?”

The slightly older man nodded and they left the building together. The air outside was colder than Ryeowook had expected and he wrapped his arms around himself as they hurried to the car waiting for them. They got in on the backseat and Kyuhyun told the elderly man in the front where they wanted to go, then both of them put on their seatbelts—Kyuhyun with a slight delay—and leaned back.

Ryeowook looked outside and up along the façade of the building they had just exited. Bright lights revealed where the party they had just left was held and he couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on his lips. His doubts would certainly come back the next day, but for this night at least it was okay to feel happy and to feel like he had done something great and as if he really wasn’t a burden to those around him.

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As you guys can probably imagine, this part of Donghae's birthday was even more fun to write! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D

I hope you all have a nice day and a relaxing weekend~