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Kim Ryeowook wakes up, his dress shirt drenched in sweat. He immediately clutches his heavy head to secure it, as it feels like it could fall off any moment.

After a second or two at concentrating on acknowledging his splitting headache, he looks up. This room is not is. But he knows it all too much; how often has he visited this room, sitting right there, on the bed, joking, pushing, shoving with him, and breaking his own heart in the process....?

He lets a loud grunt escapes his lips, and if he hated himself before this, he hates himself even more now. He manages to sit up, slowly. He looks to his right side, secretly expecting someone there to be looking over him (as though he were recuperating from an accident, maybe), but the room is empty, and last night's mistakes are slowly starting to come back to him.

It looks like it is still dark outside, and now would be the perfect time to leave, he figures. He gets up, grabs his jacket and manages to find the bow-tie he wore yesterday in one of his pockets (he must have secured it for him). As he makes his way to the door, he looks back at the bed, and he decides he should make up the bed, before finally opening the door to make his way out of the room, and eventually out of this apartment he loves so much.

After slowly and softly closing the door to the room he was in, he turns around and momentarily looses his balance at the surprise of seeing a silhouette sitting at the dining room table. The silhouette gets up, and flicks the lights on.

He looks absolutely amazing, and it feels as though Ryeowook had not yet woken up from the dream he is suddenly sure he had earlier tonight. He smiles instinctively, but makes quick work of shoving this smile far, far away from his lips, as he brings his jacket closer to his heart (quite probably in a feeble attempt to shield himself from the conversation he knows is coming).

"Hey."
"....Hey....Did..I wake you up?"
"No, I couldn't sleep. You...You feelin' better...than yesterday?"
"Yes. I mean, no, but..yes."

They are both whispering at this point, and Ryeowook grimaces at how ridiculous he thinks he always sounds in comparison to him.

"I'm sorry for.."
"It's fine."

Cho Kyuhyun's response cuts his sentence short, and Ryeowook hugs his jacket a little tighter as he tentatively utters another sentence.

"I'm really sorry, I don't know what came over me..."
"You okay? You worry me...us to no end when you do stuff like that."

Kyuhyun smoothes his hair away from his forehead, and Ryeowook looks, transfixed. There are thousands of things he could do right now to sound cooler, stronger (to sound more like him), but he can't bring himself to even move his eyes away from the younger man as he speaks.

"I really thought you were gone somewhere, and when you tried to open my door yesterday, I was so happy I found you. I...We were all so worried about you."

The thought of just leaving had crossed his mind more than once in the last few days, and he suddenly cursed at how Kyuhyun knew him inside and out. A sudden pang of frustration overcame him; knuckles turned to white, clutching his jacket ever tighter.

"Why would you?"
"? Mm?"
"Worry. Why would you?"
"You usually never.."
"So what?"
"...So...I thought something serious had happened."

Kyuhyun nervously fiddles with his fingers, and Ryeowook marvels at how beautiful he is, even when he is nervous or worried. And he hates it. He hates it so much that he wishes he could go blind. And deaf. And heartless, if it were possible.

No, nothing serious happened. I'm fine. Don't worry about me. You have no reason to. He should say it. He has rehearsed it so many times, now. He should gather the courage to say it. But he doesn't.

"Sorry for worrying you...I mean, all of you."

He successfully moves his feet one in front of the other, and starts making his way to the apartment door. As he walks past Kyuhyun, he can swear his mind almost sings when he brushes his hand against the younger man's shirt.

He gets to the door, bends over and fumbles to put on his shoes as quickly as he can muster. The clumsy deed done, he gets up and looks at Kyuhyun with what he considers the fakest smile he has ever had to put on for any audience in his whole life.

"Tell Jongwoon hyung that I'll call when my head c