My idea of ​​going to the Kenma bridge had given me a thrill to share more adventures with Ryeowook. It had been a few days since we first left his house together and in the following days I was thinking of new things we could do. I wanted to see Ryeowook showing his smile, I wanted him to enjoy the cool breeze in the afternoon, the blazing sun at noon or the firefly show that was occasionally in the evenings.

I wanted to see Ryeowook enjoy his life, he didn't deserve to be locked in a four-walls-room, not like that. And yet I didn't risk meeting his father, confronting him and asking him to let his son out. Somehow the idea terrified me.

Ryeowook had told me various things about him and the way I imagined him didn't make me want to try it either. But my mind was strange, I was scared but I also thought of new ways to make Ryeowook smile, I tried to remember events from my childhood or thought of new places to visit in the future.

So one day at Ryeowook's house I dared to ask him "Ryeonggu, would you dare to go out with me more?"

Maybe I did not think the right time and said it without thinking. Ryeowook was lying on the floor staring at the ceiling while reading a book while I was sitting on the bed with my phone. Ryeowook upon hearing me dropped the book in his hands and it fell on his face. The sound woke me up that I turned to see him and immediately went to him to take the book from him.

"Are you okay?"

Ryeowook now had a red nose and forehead and his eyes seemed to want to cry. And I panicked.

"I'm so sorry, Ryeonggu. I'm sorry" I apologized many times. I mentally cursed myself for not thinking of the right moment.

I helped lift Ryeowook off the ground and hugged him sideways while his forehead and nose with my right hand to take away the pain, if I could somehow take it away.

"Sorry to think the idea would make you happy" I apologized again. Moving lightly my body to somehow show that I was sorry.

Ryeowook upon hearing me pounced on me and hugged me by the neck. His face was colliding with my cheek and I could hear him shed a few tears.

"Forgive me Ryeonggu" I said desperately while hugging him again like that and his hair with one hand.

"Thanks Kyuhyun" I heard him say.

My hand stopped moving and my body went still. Well, it wasn't the reply I expected. I pulled away from Ryeowook and turned to face him.

"What did you say?" I asked confused.

"Thank you Kyuhyun" he repeated again and this time wiping his tears from his eyes. "Thank you for being so good to me"

My heart had stopped a few moments ago thinking that I had said something wrong and now it tells me this. God, Ryeowook was going to kill me with a heart attack like that. I lowered my head and breathed a sigh of relief.

"My God, Ryeonggu. Don't scare me like that."

"What do you mean?" He asked and moved away from me a bit, kneeling in front of me.

"I thought I made you cry because you didn't want to go out"

Ryeowook got it right away and his ears turned red. This time he was the one who apologized to me for scaring me. And he gave me another hug. This person was really going to kill me. He is too honest and pure.

"So you agree with the idea?" I asked curious.

"I don't know, Kyu. I'm scared that my father will realize that I'm not at home."

"But if we get back before five we can do it. Trust me."

That day Ryeowook hesitantly accepted my proposal, trusted me, and drew some courage from his pure heart. He had made me promise myself to take care of Ryeowook when we were outside, I promised myself that we would keep the agreed time so not cause problems, I promised myself that I would be careful with our surroundings and with the people we saw outside.

I promised myself to be brave for Ryeowook.

We both did.

~~~

From now on, I take Ryeowook to different places at least once every two weeks.

We tried to go out on days when his father was late to get home and so he didn't realize that Ryeowook was missing.

I took him to my university, my house, the market, to the clothing store and to other different places. We spent 8 months like this, going out to several places.

"Ryeonggu, you already know almost the whole town" I told him lying on his lap, while he read a book with one hand and my hair with the other.

"It's thanks to you" he lowered the book and stared into my eyes with a smile. His hand kept my hair.

I liked these moments, seeing Ryeowook happy, calm and feeling the breeze of the air through the window. It was a feeling of peace. From two months ago, I realized that I liked Ryeowook and yet I hadn’t told him. I didn't want to break this happy image of Ryeowook that showed he was satisfied with what he had now. I was afraid of being rejected and not seeing him again.

It had been more than a year since I first met shy Ryeowook. Now he was no longer shy, he would tell his thoughts, he would scold me if I left his room dirty or if I forgot something at his home. He would hit me on the arm or chest when he was unhappy with something or complained about my bad jokes. He smiled more, laughed more, told me his thoughts about his books or showed me pictures of his mother.

Ryeowook had changed, he was a happy person now and I wanted him just for myself. Somehow, it started to bother me to think that others might want to be friends with Ryeowook, it wouldn't take much effort anymore because Ryeowook was more open. I started to get annoyed when I first introduced him to Changmin and Ryeowook smiled at him. It bothered me to think that cute Ryeowook would no longer be mine alone.

Over time, these annoyances became more constant, I felt restless and wanted to see Ryeowook more often, not just after school anymore. I wanted to see him laugh, I wanted to see his expressions when he met new places, I wanted to experience things together. Just the two of us.

I was feeling selfish and didn't want to scare Ryeowook with these awkward thoughts that I preferred not to say anything about how I felt.

I turned to see him and smiled back, caressing his cheek, Ryeowook rested his face on me and took my hand in his. "It was all thanks to you" he repeated.