Ryeowook stirred in his sleep, instinctively rubbing his eyes before opening them slowly, one after the other. His head was thumping and he felt sick to his stomach, had he really got that drunk last night? He got drunk usually but not like that, he’d never woken up in an unfamiliar house. Sure he’d woken up in some stupid places, like the time he woke up in a Church he’d never even seen before, but a house? Did someone really take him home?

"Where am I?" Ryeowook panicked, trying to remember what happened last night. His memory failed him and he couldn't remember a thing. He looked around the big apartment, not recognising it even a bit. 

"I brought you home, you were too drunk to tell me your address," a voice said from behind him. Ryeowook spun around to see Kyuhyun, sitting next to him and offering him a glass of water and two tablets. 

"I'm guessing you'll need these, you look very hungover," he commented. 

"Thank you," Ryeowook said quietly, gratefully taking the water and tablets, knowing full well he definitely did need them. 

Kyuhyun wore his grey plaid pyjama trousers and a plain black t-shirt, looking admittedly adorable. His hair was messy and all over the place, obvious bed hair, however, it was better than Ryeowook's at that moment. 

Ryeowook looked over to Bella curled up on a blanket, he smiled gratefully at the fact that Kyuhyun had even accommodated for his dog, getting a sense that he probably wasn’t a dog person considering how incredibly spotless the apartment was.  

"Thank you so much for bringing us here, I'm really grateful. I definitely owe you," Ryeowook smiled at Kyuhyun, it was a warm genuine smile. 

"Ah, don't mention it, it was nothing really," Kyuhyun blushed slightly, amazed at himself that he did such a good thing. He knew he had a good heart really. 

"But," he continued carefully, “why were you so drunk last night? You couldn't even talk or walk. I mean, there’s drinking for fun, but that…” he asked gingerly, not quite sure if it was his place to ask or not. Kyuhyun wasn't totally insensitive, he knew there were boundaries to what people will talk about. Ryeowook laughed emotionlessly, shaking his head. 

“Honestly it’s just stress, I know it was stupid. In my defence, I haven’t been that drunk in a while but there’s been a lot going on recently, ” he admitted, placing the glass of water on the coffee table and standing up. He walked over to the big floor to ceiling windows and looked across the gorgeous view of Seoul, tall, posh buildings for miles and miles, Seoul had one of the most incredible skylines in the world, he was sure of that, although probably a biased opinion. 

"Your apartment is beautiful, and you get this view as well, it must be nice, I wish I had your life," he said, muttering the last part of the sentence, still staring out of the window in awe. Imagining what it would be like to wake up to this, instead of a cold house in the suburbs with a leak in the roof.

Kyuhyun laughed softly, standing up and joining Ryeowook by the window. The pair looked at the view in silence for a few seconds before Kyuhyun looked down at his feet. 

"You don't," he whispered. 

"Hmm?" 

"Want my life." 

Ryeowook went quiet. 

"Yeah, sorry, that was insensitive. I have no idea what your life is like. I guess I just mean I want your home, and your money,” he said, dreaming about a life with lots of money, or even just a life with enough money for nice things.

"Materialistic possessions," Kyuhyun began, looking Ryeowook in the eyes, ”are not everything. Really.” 

"I know, but I just hate struggling, is it wrong to want to live comfortably? I earn bare minimum wage in a coffee shop,” Ryeowook sighed. 

"I'd rather that," Kyuhyun said. Ryeowook looked up at him in shock. 

“You’d rather struggle? Look at your house, and the money you make, the things you can do and buy. You never have to worry about losing your home because you can't pay out enough money," he said, utterly confused at how someone so rich could possibly want to live like he did. 

“I do struggle, just not with money, I struggle in different ways to you. Like I said, materialistic things aren't everything. I want real friends, I want to leave work at a reasonable hour, I want to go to work to do only what’s in my job description without the extra pressure. I guess I just want to live life for once," Kyuhyun said, voice becoming more somber as he talked. Ryeowook smiled sympathetically. 

“Well, can’t you just invest a bunch of money, move into a smaller place somewhere more downtown and get an easier job? You could still get a well-paid 9-5 job and just earn a reasonable amount of money,” Ryeowook quizzed. 

"I've grown quite attached to this house, moving would be stressful. Most importantly my Father wouldn't approve. He's a rich entrepreneur that has always pushed me to overwork myself to get the best job that I can, if he found out that I quit the job he'd worked so hard to help me get and the house that I earned because of it, he fought hard to get me the position at work that he did. He’d be so disappointed in me, I don’t enjoy calling him my Father, and I don’t think he deserves to be called that anymore, but I don’t want to be disowned by him,” Kyuhyun explained, Ryeowook nodding along quietly. 

"I understand," Ryeowook replied softly, truly seeing Kyuhyun’s point of view for the first time, maybe Kyuhyun’s life wasn't as amazing and fancy as he thought it was. Maybe it wasn’t all fancy dinners and tailored suits, 5 star hotels and luxury spas, because he didn’t even have time to do any of that, he didn’t have time to even spend the money he made, Kyuhyun’s life was far from the perfection Ryeowook had thought it was. 

“Sorry, I’ve been blabbing on about my life and problems,” Kyuhyun apologised, “I wasn’t trying to undermine your struggles. I do try to be grateful that I have a warm, comfortable home to return to each day.”

“Ah it’s alright, it’s good to open up about things like this rather than keep it bottled up. I’m sorry I assumed your life is amazing, I just wish sometimes that I could go a few hours without checking my bank account to make sure no surprise payments have gone out, and I wish I could just have a small amount of spare money to spend on myself each month, but what with the rent being so expensive this close to the centre of Seoul. On top of other bills, groceries, pet insurance, dog food, it drains every penny until I’m constantly living in my overdraft,” Ryeowook looked down awkwardly at the floor, twiddling his hands and fidgeting on the spot. 

“Sorry to hear that,” Kyuhyun uttered, realising that maybe as much as he wanted an easier, lower pressure job, he didn’t want to have to struggle that much financially.  

“So anyway, as for friends," Ryeowook perked up, "you can always come into the coffee shop when it's not busy and meet my friends there, they'd love you! They're all super nice," he beamed. Kyuhyun laughed. 

"I'd love that," he smiled back, "and you can come round here whenever you want and live in the lap of luxury for a bit. I could definitely use some company sometimes, it’s very lonely, I’m not friends with anyone from work outside of work,” Kyuhyun admitted. 

"Thank you," Ryeowook said, "but I don't even know your name," he suddenly realised, eyes widening.  

"Oh, yes I was thinking that last night, my name is Cho Kyuhyun." 

"I'm Kim Ryeowook, and that's Bella over there," he pointed to the happy Dalmatian curled up on the nice thick blanket in the nice warm house. 

"Bella is my best friend, I've had her quite a few years now. She can be your friend too now! See you've already gained 2 friends!" Ryeowook laughed, waking Bella up from the noise. 

"Bella meet your new second owner, Kyuhyun," he introduced. Bella looked at Kyuhyun nonchalantly before ignoring him and closing her eyes again. “Yeah she can be pretty blunt sometimes, she loves you really. Hey so when I come round here, can I bring Bella?" he asked. Kyuhyun glanced over to the peaceful dog. 

"Hmm, I suppose so..." he said reluctantly, having bad visions of muddy paw prints on his white carpets. 

"She's a very clean dog you know, anyway I wouldn’t let her come in dirty I’d make sure to clean her paws first if we’ve been for a walk,” Ryeowook stated proudly. Kyuhyun nodded and smiled. 

"Okay, okay, she’s fine then,” he chuckled. 

"Yay!" Ryeowook cheered. "I should probably go home, thank you for this, Kyuhyun," Ryeowook said gratefully. 

Kyuhyun smiled softly at him, he was just glad he had a new friend, or two friends rather. And not just that but this new friend was so different to him. He wasn't a snobby, rich, business man or woman like his current "friends". 

After meeting Ryeowook, for once, Kyuhyun was truly happy.