(Continued)

—Ryeowook’s POV—

Jongwoon hyung invited me over! Yay!

After we met Youngwoon hyung, the four of us – me, Jongwoon hyung, Youngwoon hyung and Jongjin – went to wait for our bus at the bus stop.

I spaced out and just stared blankly at Jongwoon hyung, admiring him. His facial features may not be perfect, but I love his flaws all the same. His big head… I mentioned this before didn’t I? So yeah, the point is that I like him a lot. It’s not just infatuation.

Jongwoon hyung suddenly turned around to glance at me, so I started staring at the ground. From the right corner of my eye, I saw my Youngwoon hyung’s hand clench into a fist. I was curious, so I turned up to look at what he was looking at.

Prior to looking up, I had already heard some whispers from girls. I couldn’t be bothered with them at first but, since Youngwoon hyung seemed slightly pissed off at them, I wanted to see what had riled him up.

What met my sight was completely unexpected. I saw a group of girls which was expected, but what I didn’t expect was one of them. Someone I know. Someone I used to be close to.

Someone I used to be in love with.

I widened my eyes in shock before I started to smile at her. Likewise, she sent me a smile as well.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had to make sure it was her.

“Sooyoung, is that you?” I gasped.

“Ryeowook, I knew it. Come here you,” she told me and I took three long strides over to her as she held her hands wide open. Of course, I willingly went into her embrace.

Behind me, I heard a small noise of annoyance. I heard a sound of disgust from Sooyoung’s group, too. What’s wrong with everyone?

She hugged me tightly, as if she didn’t want to let me go. If I remember right, we hadn’t exactly wanted to break up with each other, but under the circumstances, we had to. Had we not broken up, we might not be here to this day.

You see, Sooyoung’s dad is a mafia leader. When he found out that a weakling like me was with his precious daughter, he tried all sorts of ways to break us up. Well guess what? He succeeded.

[Flashback]

I was over at Sooyoung’s house, like I usually was. My family doesn’t even know of our relationship since her dad was a mafia leader and my parents would kill me, literally.

Suddenly, her dad stormed into the room with a group of men.

“Choi Sooyoung, I’m warning you for the last time; break up with this kid. He’s no good for you. A girl with a background like yours deserves a stronger man. Take my friend’s son, for instance. His name is Jay Park, or you can call him Jaebum. I must say that he has a rather rebellious streak, but that’s to be expected from a mafia leader’s son. If you still refuse to listen to me, I’ll shoot him. Then I’ll shoot you,” he threatened.

I know that most fathers wouldn’t ever say something like that and mean it, but from the look of the gang that he brought in, I doubt he’s kidding.

I looked over at Sooyoung, frightened, and all I saw was the resolution on her face. She wasn’t going to give in. I was proud of her, but it’s quite stupid to do risk our lives.

“No, appa. I won’t listen to you. If you ask me to do something else, I would. But can you please stay out of my relationship affairs?” she demanded willfully. Ok, now she’s just being spoilt and stubborn.

“Sooyoung-ah, don’t. It’s not worth the risk,” I whispered to her.

She glared at me and I shrunk back. “Never mind. Forget what I said.”

“Fine. I’ll show you something. I’ll call someone to show you that I mean business,” Mr. Kim said and pulled out his phone. “Hello? Jungil, this is Minsuk. Give the phone over to them,” he ordered. Then he put the phone on speaker and the moment I heard the voice, I froze.

“Hello? Who is this? Let us go!”

It was my umma’s voice. Weren’t they supposed to be overseas?

“I won’t tell them that they’re captured because of you, and neither will you. But if you don’t give in to my basic request, you’ll never see the two of them again.”

I gulped. My parents are in danger because of me? Oh no.

“I’ll break up. I’ll break up. I give in,” I held my hands out in surrender, my voice quivering uncontrollably. I mouthed ‘mianhae’ to Sooyoung who was fuming by now. Slowly, I backed away from her. I couldn’t risk my parents. If it were just me, then fine. But my parents are innocent.

“End the call, please,” I pleaded. Mr. Kim complied and ended the call. Before that, I could still hear the two of them shouting for their captors to release them. Silently, I whispered a sorry to them and of course, to Sooyoung.

“I promise that I’ll never be with Sooyoung ever again. I won’t be with her privately. If we’re ever together, it’ll be in the presence of others. I’m sorry,” I said, mostly to Sooyoung, and I ran out of the room as fast as I could.

“I’ll release your parents in a few hours. Thank you, Ryeowook,” Mr. Kim told me sincerely. I didn’t want to turn around. I couldn’t face Sooyoung’s disappointment.

I ran, all the way to my house. It was a good few kilometers away, but my mind was too occupied.

This incident happened in July 2002. I had just turned 15 then. I didn’t know how to face threats, and before I knew it, more than five years had passed. Even if I had known how to face threats, Mr. Kim’s threat was too much to ignore. I couldn’t have let him harm my parents.

I didn’t contact Sooyoung ever since that day. I know she was probably mad at me, but I really couldn’t risk anything as important as my parents.

We were in the same middle school and high school, and I guess that’s how our feelings blossomed. She grew up overseas and was really smart. Her learning standard was the same as that of mine, that’s how we even met. She skipped three grades, but since she studied in America, where the studies were much harder, I can understand how she skipped grades.

I still have feelings for her, up till now, but ever since I met Jongwoon hyung, my whole world changed. The moment he moved into my block in the start of 2003, I looked at him and my heartbeat became faster. I started to blush whenever I saw him, and he would smile at me every now and then, making me all nervous and stuff.

I almost completely forgot about Sooyoung, at least until now.

[End of flashback]

“Ryeowook, it’s been too long. How have you been?” she asked me. We immediately settled into a comfortable conversation about what’s gone on in the past five years.

“I learnt how to cook more dishes. I’d be glad to cook some for you, but I’m busy today. Do you school in Seoul Institute of the Arts too?” I asked.

She nodded and beamed at me. “I’m taking music and fashion. You?”

“Higher music, music and cooking. You know my hobbies and that I love singing and cooking. Have you gotten together with anyone else?” I blurted out.

Oh . Youngwoon hyung doesn’t know. If Sooyoung mentions anything…

“You know, ever since we…” before she could leak any secrets, I covered .

“Youngwoon hyung knows nothing. I don’t want my parents to find out that they were once kidnapped cause of me,” I whispered. She looked at me and nodded in understanding.

“Ever since we’ve lost contact, I don’t think I hung out with many guys. You were my only good male schoolmate,” she lied. Schoolmate my . It’s a good thing we’ve never had any physical relationship before. Purely mental.

“I understand. I’ll keep in contact then. Did you change your number?” I asked, holding out my phone. She smiled and shook her head. “Good. Neither have I.”

“Well my bus is here. I’m good to go, girls! See you soon, Ryeowook,” she told me and waved before getting onto the bus with her group.

Once they were out of earshot, Youngwoon hyung turned to me.

“Ryeowook, you know them?” he asked. He sounded fierce today.

I timidly nodded and he seemed angrier than before. I wonder what Sooyoung’s gang did to my hyung in the past. It must have been something serious or hyung would never be so angry.

“Stay away from that group of girls. They aren’t good people, Ryeowook. The first time we met them, they made fun of Shindong out loud. Not only do they not have manners, they’re so self-centered and y. They don’t even think about others’ feelings,” Youngwoon hyung told me, his hands still clenched into fists.

Sooyoung couldn’t have done that right? The Sooyoung whom I was in love with and just met was nice and bubbly, like she always had been. She wouldn’t hurt people’s feelings like that for no reason and I doubt Shindong hyung had disturbed her in any way.

“Did… did Sooyoung join in with the others to tease Shindong hyung?” I asked unconsciously. I can’t believe that my ex would ever be so mean to anyone when she was such a sweet girl.

Youngwoon hyung nodded furiously. “She started it and said the meanest things. She’s bad company, Ryeowook,” he warned me.

I don’t want to listen to him, but Youngwoon hyung never lied to me about anything before, and I don’t think he would choose now to start lying. I sighed and looked down, nodding slightly.

“Ryeowook-ah, believe both of us. SNSD isn’t someone to mess around with,” Jongwoon hyung joined in. I turned my head up to face him and raised my brow.

“SNSD?” Who are they?

“You know; Sooyoung and her gang. They call themselves So Nyuh Shi Dae – or SNSD for short – which means Girls Generation. I think Super Junior is much better name. Hehehe,” Jongwoon hyung chuckled. I hit his arm playfully.

“That isn’t nice. You know, making fun of others,” I chided. Youngwoon hyung looked at us as if we were mad. I guess I got too touchy with Jongwoon hyung. Oops…

“Ryeowook?” he asked me suspiciously. I immediately straightened up and flagged down the bus that conveniently just arrived.

“Hey guys, the bus is here. Let’s go,” I told them and got on first.

We sat like we did yesterday and we began to chat about some stuff that we did today in our treasure hunt groups. Before long, we arrived at our stop and I followed Jongwoon hyung up to his house since he invited me.

—Yesung’s POV—

How could Wookie ever know someone as horrible as Sooyoung? He seemed really close to her, and all she’s done to me is talk about how big my head is and how stupid it is to keep turtles as pets. Also, she said that my singing isn’t good. How is my singing NOT good? Is she deaf?

I mean I’m not a narcissist, but hearing someone say that my singing is bad when I top the class annually is just too much for me to handle. She probably has to get her ears checked.

I wanted to tell Wookie about her insults, but I didn’t want to ruin his friendship with her.

As much as I hate her, Wookie deserves better than to lose a friend just cause I don’t quite like her. See? I can be nice like Leeteuk too! Ok, now I’m being narcissistic.

We sat on the bus for a short while and chatted about today’s happenings within our treasure hunt groups. Apparently, Ryeowook’s group led by Kangin was second! Well sorry guys, but we were faster. Mehrong~!

I told them about our random games to get food. When I mentioned sharing food, Wookie seemed to tense up visibly. I wonder what his problem is. He always seems to be very uptight about similar things, like when my group was cheering for our win.

Maybe… Nah, that’s impossible. Why would he feel that way?

Anyway, we arrived at our block at around 3pm, an hour after school ended. Ryeowook told Kangin about him going over to my place and Kangin just shrugged. Jongjin went in without us, so by the time we went into the house, he was cooped up in his room.

I quickly locked the door since Wookie still didn’t know that I had a dog. Kkoming should be at her usual resting place – beside the other two kids’ home.

Kim Ryeowook, I’ll help you get over your fear of dogs.

Just in case Jongjin decides to disturb my plan, I went to tell him not to care about any screams or whatnot. He grinned at me sneakily. I can’t believe my brother is such a .

“Why, hyung? What do you want to do to Ryeowook hyung?” he asked me, wriggling his brows suggestively. I whacked his head hard. This guy is erted alright.

“I’m just helping him get over his fear of dogs. Do you mind if he wants to cook with your stuff? Since you both enjoy cooking so much…” I waited for a reaction. He slowly nodded, uncertain. I’m sure Wookie would appreciate this.

“Make sure he doesn’t wreck my stuff,” Jongjin warned. I chuckled lightly.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure he loves his equipment as much as you do yours. He won’t destroy any of your stuff. Remember, don’t disturb my plans to help him overcome his fears,” I reminded.

“Yeah, yeah, hyung. I’ll see you later for dinner,” he said and waved me out of his room.

Walking out, I noticed that Kkoming was still sleeping. Is there something wrong with her? She’d usually greet me when I come home.

Ryeowook was sitting on the couch, staring at some family photos displayed on top of the shoe closet. I walked to the couch and sat beside him.

“Is it that fascinating to see how I looked like when I was young?” I asked him.

He snapped out of his trail of thoughts and looked at me, smiling.

“It’s quite cute to see your entire family together. My parents who work together are constantly overseas, even when I was just a toddler. It was always me and Youngwoon hyung at home so we had to become independent pretty quick. I just wonder… you had a dog before?” Ryeowook asked and pointed to Sora, my previous dog who already died years ago.

I nodded, but then decided to troll him. “I have a dog.”

With that, I snapped my fingers and Kkoming miraculously woke up. I thought I would have embarrassed myself and end up having to wake her up on my own.

“KYAAAA!” Ryeowook screeched, almost making me deaf. His talking voice may be quite normal, but his screaming and singing? His voices are polar opposites. He jumped onto the couch and Kkoming leapt on with ease. She liked meeting strangers, for reasons unknown.

I noticed that Kkoming seemed less hyper today. Whenever I brought friends home, she would literally pounce on them. Today, she looks a little lethargic.

“Ryeowook, meet Kkoming. Kkoming-ah, this is Wookie oppa. Say annyeong,” I held her up and brought her closer to his face. Ryeowook kept backing away and nearly fell if he wasn’t fast enough to react. It’s a good thing he was fast, otherwise his head would have hit a vase and I can’t even imagine the consequences.

“I’m so sorry Wookie. Are you ok?” I asked, putting Kkoming down. It was a bad decision on my part cause she started jumping lightly at him again. Oops…

“GET THAT DOG AWAY FROM ME!” he yelled and started throwing cushions at Kkoming. I hurriedly picked her up so she didn’t get hurt.

“Ryeowook, Kkoming’s harmless. Just her and you won’t think that she’s so scary anymore, ne?” I tried to coax him into relaxing and at least interacting with Kkoming physically.

“B-but… I used to own a dog and it didn’t turn out well. I was so scared of him that Youngwoon hyung had to take care of him everyday. In the end, we ended up giving him to a relative who was interested in owning a dog but didn’t want to train one,” Ryeowook spoke, his voice trembling due to fear. I sighed.

“Dogs aren’t that scary, Ryeowook-ah. Just come closer and pat Kkoming. She doesn’t bite unless she feels that you’re a threat. Judging from what she just did to you, I’d think she likes you,” I told him and took a tiny step towards him.

He shut his eyes tightly and held his hand out, waiting for his palm to come into contact with fur. Taking it as a yes, I inched forward and let Wookie’s palm brush across Kkoming’s head. She naturally leaned into the touch and Ryeowook relaxed a lot. I literally saw how his shoulder sagged in relief.

“See? That wasn’t so bad now was it?” I asked, backing away again. Kkoming was exceptionally quiet today. Like I said, she usually greets me when I return home from school and she would never stay this still in my arms for so long. She feels warmer than usual, too…

“Ryeowook, would you mind if I head to the vet? I think Kkoming might be sick,” I asked him. I think the worry in my voice was evident enough that he agreed without hesitation. He even offered to go with me, despite his fear of dogs.

We quickly headed over to the vet which was just a couple of minutes away. I forgot to tell Jongjin, but he’s old enough to take care of himself and Kkoming might really be sick. I hope she’ll be alright.

At the vet, we sat down and waited for Kkoming’s turn. It didn’t take long; it was a weekday after all, and it’s New Year, too. I’m glad that this vet works daily without fail, changing shifts with her colleague once every few days.

“Dr. Kim, how’s Kkoming?” I asked worriedly after Dr. Kim checked up on Kkoming.

“She has a fever and a slight cold. I’ll prescribe some medicine for her that she has to take once in the morning and once at night. Make sure she finishes all the medicine, arasso? She should recover in about two days,” Dr. Kim said and typed something out on her computer. I thanked her and carried Kkoming out to the waiting area where Ryeowook was.

“How’s Kkoming?” he asked and looked at her. I could tell he cared, but he’s still scared.

“She has a fever and a slight cold. I was wondering why she was suddenly so quiet and so warm. She’ll get some medicine and we’ll go back to my house. I haven’t introduced you to my kids yet,” I told him, grinning childishly.

He seemed to jump in shock and his eyes widened. “Kids…?”

“Yeah. My two turtles, Ddangkkoming and Ddangkkomaeng. Why? You thought I had real human kids?” I asked him incredulously. He choked and I had to pat his back with my free hand.

“No, it isn’t that,” he replied, flustered. “I was just wondering why you said that,” he made an excuse for himself pretty fast. Liar! You were worried that I was a father. Little twerp! Fine, I shan’t be mean to Wookie. I’m just kidding, arasso?

The nurse called for Kkoming and I went to pay for her medicine. There goes another few tens of thousands of won. It’s a good thing my parents offered to help pay for Kkoming’s medical fees. Kekeke. I have awesome parents.

“Come on,” I told him and carried Kkoming with both arms, careful not to jostle her as she was sleeping, and Ryeowook helped me to carry the small plastic bag containing her medicine.

We made it back to my house and I called Jongjin out.

“Any idea why Kkoming was sick?” I asked him. I don’t suspect my little bro; I’m just wondering.

“Hyung, I swear I’m innocent. But I think she was already a little sick yesterday. That’s right! Appa brought her out at night, remember? I think she might have caught something or whatever,” Jongjin remembered. True, Kkoming did seem to have gotten a little wet during her walk. Why didn’t I notice? I’m such a bad owner.

I reproached myself silently and sighed, putting Kkoming down beside the kids’ home.

“Thanks Jongjin-ah. You can go back to your room now, I guess?” I told him and he nodded, trudging back in to use the computer.

“Well let’s meet my other two kids,” I said, feeling a little bad for Kkoming. I carried my turtles out and put them on the floor in front of Ryeowook.

“Any reason why you have turtles as pets?” Wookie asked me incredulously, staring at the kids like they were some kind of circus freaks.

I pondered over his question for a while. True, why do I keep turtles?

“I felt lonely but after I bought them, I felt lonelier. Nonetheless, I take care of them as best as I can. I used to have another turtle, the eldest amongst the three, but he grew too big. About this size, I think,” I used my hands to show how big Ddangkkoma had grown.

His eyes widened and he looked at me. “A turtle that big?”

“Yup. That’s why I gave him away at the start of 2011. He’s at COEX Aquarium right now, living a good life, I could say. People take care of him all day long and he gets so many visitors. I can’t help but miss him though. He was my first personal pet. Sora was the family pet, not just mine. Aish,” I sighed, remembering how Ddangkkoma would never ever listen to my commands.

“I hope to be able to meet him one day,” Ryeowook told me. “You seem pretty attached to him.”

“At first, I hadn’t known that they were land turtles. When I tried to get them to swim, all three nearly drowned!” I recounted the days when I had just acquired my turtles.

Ryeowook heard my hilarious story and burst out into laughter.

“Are you serious? Turtles that can’t swim?” he asked me in disbelief. I nodded and shrugged.

“I didn’t know either. I’ve never gotten them to swim after that, believe me,” I swore.

“Yeah, I believe you alright. Ok kids, go back into your home now,” Ryeowook chased them away.

I pouted at him but complied, bringing them back into their tanks.

“Ryeowook, since we’re free now, do you want to cook something? Jongjin has all the equipment, my house is well-stocked up and he offered to let you use his cooking stuff,” I suggested. His eyes lit up and he nodded excitedly.

“No problem Jongwoon hyung!” he said and raced into the kitchen to dig out ingredients. I think he completely forgot that he was in my house instead of his own.

After I helped him to get whatever he needed, he started to cook a meal with a main dish, two sides, a soup, a dessert and of course, a drink.

He took around two hours to cook, maybe? Within that time, I just stared at his back while he fried, chopped, diced and did everything else.

--------------------------------------------

We ate his fully cooked meal and it was gone within a half hour. His cooking was delicious.

He cooked fried rice, omelet, some bacon, seaweed soup, some fruits as dessert and some kind of tea. It was just heavenly, really.

I had invited Jongjin, the other chef, to come and eat some food with us. He gladly joined and tasted some of Ryeowook’s cooking. He gave Ryeowook a thumbs-up right away.

“Ryeowook hyung, your cooking is amazing! I mean mine is still better, but this is awesome! How can you make so few dishes taste so good? And your seaweed soup especially…” Jongjin started blabbering about spices and perfect flavour, all of which I didn’t understand.

Ryeowook, being a chef too, was so engaged in the conversation that the minutes ticked by without anyone noticing. Me? I was having fun being entertained by their conversation and enthusiasm when it comes to cooking. I only have that sort of enthusiasm for singing.

When an hour had somehow passed, Ryeowook glanced at the clock.

“Omo! It’s already 5.12pm? I have to get back already, guys,” Ryeowook told us apologetically.

“Don’t worry. We’ll still see you again tomorrow and anytime at all, in fact,” Jongjin reminded the always-forgetful Ryeowook who grinned sheepishly.

“Well Jongwoon hyung and Jongjin, I’ll be back some other day. I got to go back home and start packing my stuff for tomorrow’s camp. I’ll see you at the bus stop, ne? Will we sleep within our classes?” he asked me innocently. I smiled and nodded.

I could imagine him cheering in his mind since he was jumping around excitedly.

“Ok, Wookie. See you tomorrow then! I swear, you have to have a cook-off with Jongjin someday, arasso?” I asked. He complied easily, pepped up for the challenge.

He bid me goodbye and said bye to Jongjin as well as my pets before leaving.

Ryeowook walked away, and I stared at the empty space which he was at just a few moments ago.

I looked at how his hips swayed slightly while he walked.

I watched how he opened his door and locked it carefully and gently, as if the lock would get hurt if he was too violent with it.

I saw his angelic smile at me before he shut the wooden door and went into his house.

Why haven’t I ever noticed how mesmerizing Ryeowook is? His fluid, graceful motions and his flowing steps, like he’s floating instead of walking, they are so captivating.

His high cheekbones, small frame and voice are oh-so attractive. I can’t take my eyes off him, and I never could have. I’ve always had to tear my eyes away from him whenever he turned to look at me. His smiles are so sweet and genuine. He was such an innocent and adorable boy.

My heartbeat gets faster whenever I see him, and I’m viewing him as some form of an angel. He is one of the best things that’s ever happened to me in my entire life – apart from being born to such a caring family and having wonderful friends in Super Junior.

But towards Ryeowook, I feel completely different.

Recently, when I meet him, I completely cheer up no matter how bad my day’s been. Maybe I’ve only known him well for two days, but I know that he’s a very caring boy who doesn’t like hurting others. He’s also kind of naïve when it comes to believing others.

Oh god, what’s happening to me?

Am I…

Am I falling for Ryeowook?

I know this is shorter than usual but I was a little tired and lazy :/

So Jongwoon/Yesung finally realised his feelings. But will he do anything about it?

I’ll continue next time, so…

Please look forward to the next chappie arasso? :D

Subscribers and comments and loved! <3

See you next week~!