Heechul and Hyukjae came to visit a few days later when Sungmin was already out of bed and around the apartment, which wasn’t really that great of a thing because he was trying to sneak into kitchen on every available occasion to steal some snacks. After a call to his family doctor, Kyuhyun didn’t know why he didn’t think of doing that before, he learned that after such bad food poisoning the patient should slowly readjust his stomach to heavier food. So there were only bland chicken stews and rice porridges for Sungmin right now and he wasn’t happy.

‘You look thinner.’ Hyukjae judged as he scrutinized the form of his friend.

Sungmin grumbled and looked at Kyuhyun with resentment.

‘Maybe we should give him food poisonings more often.’ Heechul added admiring flat stomach of his composer. He was rather keen on keeping Sungmin slim in case of some TV appearance or other event.

‘If you want me to quit.’ Kyuhyun deadpanned as he set down four mugs on the table. Three with coffee and one with mint at which Sungmin scrunched his brow. Next he plopped onto the couch beside his boss, who immediately pressed into his side.

Heechul raised his brow at that but shrugged while Sungmin’s eyes widened. ‘NO.’ He said sternly and started to sip at his mint. Hyukjae was just laughing.

They were chatting about Yesung’s upcoming album and Hyukjae’s fashion show when suddenly the latter shot up and run to the door. Kyuhyun furrowed his brows shifting in his seat so that Sungmin could sneak a hand under his back. Heechul simply rolled his eyes.

In a moment they heard a loud yell.

‘Siwon, get your ungrateful but glorious here!’

Kyuhyun’s eyes widened while Sungmin groaned beside him.

It took only a minute for the bulky model to appear in the living room with his infuriating wide smile slitting his face in two. Kyuhyun pushed more into the couch and it seemed his boss had similar reaction.

Siwon looked around the flat, jaw hanging comically as his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

‘Wow!’ He exclaimed. ‘A miracle happened! This just proves God exists!’ He pointed accusingly at Heechul who almost chocked from laughter at his coffee.

‘Ugh…’ Kyuhyun groaned drawing the man’s attention to him.

Siwon looked at him. He took in how Sungmin was pressed into his side, Kyuhyun’s arm over the elder’s shoulders. They both in their home attire, comfortable sweats and t-shirts. He sighed and slumped onto the couch next to them making the pair flinch away from him. Even Sungmin, who didn’t really flinch from anything.

‘My friends, I do hope you made all this official. It’s a sin to live together without first promising before God.’ He said slowly, his hands clasped together in a preaching manner.

‘We don’t live together.’ Sungmin said from behind his mug. Kyuhyun nodded at that and squeezed the man’s shoulder.

‘Then when are you planning to make each other honest men?’ The muscle man inquired ignoring how they both rolled their eyes and how Hyukjae smacked him on the head.

‘I’m his house help.’ Kyuhyun said simultaneously with Heechul’s He just cleans here, you derp.

‘Did I really make him the main attraction of my show?’ Hyukjae directed his question to Heechul who sighed and looked at him with hard judgment.

‘Siwon, do I need to remind you that you were in Jungsu’s company before?’ Heechul asked and they all saw how Siwon flushed the brightest shade of pink and sat back without saying anything else.

Kyuhyun knew that everyone who associated with Sungmin was either a freak or a ert.

When the afternoon rolled in everyone was still there. Kyuhyun served lunch consisting of fried vegetables and curry with rice for everyone and of pumpkin soup for Sungmin. Normally the man would complain about the lack of second dish but his stomach shrunk so he barely made it through one plate but at least he wasn’t complaining – he wouldn’t trade pumpkin soup for anything else even if it didn’t have almost any salt or pepper in it and the lack of cheese was making it simply a pumpkin flavored water. But still pumpkin.

Kyuhyun didn’t remember last time when he was sitting like this doing nothing. No one was even asking why he wasn’t going about his duties, but seeing as Sungmin was tagging behind him all over the place, cleaning would have been quite hard to do.

Around five they all got surprised out of their almost comatose state, that the movie on TV lulled them into, when the doorbell rang. Kyuhyun wiggled out from under Sungmin’s body that was sprawled all over his and dragged his heavy feet to the door since no one else seemed eager to get up. Not even normally enthusiastic Siwon, who at that moment was fighting his closing eyelids, which was a quite ridiculous sight.

After checking the peep hole Kyuhyun scrunched his nose and opened the door. His best friend was staring at him with curiosity.

‘Hello, remember me? Your flatmate and presumably best friend?’ Donghae waved his hand in front of Kyuhyun’s face.

‘What?’ Kyuhyun asked and moved to the side when Hae invited himself in.

‘Bro, tell me if you’re planning on moving out. That chick from my bar, the one with huge knockers, is looking for a place to stay for a few weeks and you know I won’t say no to that.’ The elder was speaking fast as he took off his shoes and dropped them with loud bangs onto the floor before going farther into the apartment. Kyuhyun followed him while shaking his head in an attempt to regain consciousness.

When they entered the living room area Donghae stopped dead in his tracks. Hyukjae was perched like an eager puppy on the backrest of the armchair he was lounging in, ears perked up and all.

‘Hae!’ He exclaimed and Kyuhyun almost could see a tail waggling.

‘Ugh, you. Again.’ Donghae pursed his lips.

Kyuhyun looked between the men. ‘I was expecting some punching and you running out of here screaming.’ He turned towards his friend remembering his panicked stated when the stylist got the hold of his phone number.

‘We reached a kind of an… agreement.’ Donghae said slowly, his eyes narrowing when Hyukjae perked up even more, his smile widening.

‘Meaning Hyuk is at your university’s entrance almost every day with some trendy accessory from his shop and your friend agrees to be stalked and doesn’t sue him.’ Heechul said in a bored voice, only his eyes and, this time not styled anyhow, mop of red hair visible from behind the backrest of the sofa.

Kyuhyun looked with surprise at his growling friend. Suddenly Hae turned to him. ‘He didn’t buy me, really. He just really isn’t that bad and mostly keeps his hands to himself.’

‘Mostly?’ The younger inquired.

‘Don’t serve me soju when you’re wearing those tight black pants and I won’t !’ Hyuk protested.

Sighing Kyuhyun padded back to the couch and plopped down onto his spot. Sungmin was also observing the exchange so he was hanging off the backrest. The instant Kyuhyun sat he leaned back on him.

Hae moved to the sofa where Heechul was already sitting and bowed his head a little in greeting.

‘So what are we doing?’ He said while waving his hand in agreement towards Hyuk who immediately pushed Heechul out of his spot and plopped down next to Hae after asking Can I sit next to you?

‘Seeing who will lose against this movie first.’ Siwon finally spoke, his eyes unnaturally wide as he managed to wake up a little due to arrival of a new guest.

‘Who?’ Donghae pointed towards the man who just spoke and looked at his friend.

‘Siwon, creepy neighbor.’ Kyuhyun explained and smiled a little when he felt that Sungmin’s body shook with a chuckle. He ignored the pointed look his friend gave him which was surely about his current position.

Siwon looked at him with a pout and folded his hands over his chest.

Everyone laughed. It seemed like they were all good friends, just sitting there and enjoying Saturday evening. Only Heechul ed a little that Jungsu passed out for the weekend in their house after finally stuffing himself with allergy meds, which made him like koala bear high on eucalyptus.

When dinner rolled in Kyuhyun prepared light sandwiches as they all sympathized with Sungmin and shared his almost tasteless food. Siwon was telling stories from his job in China and Donghae didn’t notice, or mind anymore, that Hyukjae was propping his chin on him or taking his hand and it. Hyuk was behaving like a teenager in love and they all just let him be. Because at least he wasn’t being a for once.

‘These are the chocolates one of my fans sent. I’ll bring them when Sungmin get better, they are amazing!’ Siwon passed his phone around and surprisingly everyone seemed interested because the treats were really looking amazing, they were homemade but obviously prepared by someone who knew what they were doing.

Heechul accidentally pressed the return button on the phone while looking at the picture and he and Donghae, who was beside him also taking a peak, furrowed their brows.

‘I see you picked up a Chinese souvenir of your own there.’ Heechul commented and Siwon looked at him questioningly. He reached over the table to take the device and see what the man was talking about but Kyuhyun intercepted it on Sungmin’s order and brought it for the both of them to see.

On the display wallpaper there was a picture of Siwon making a kissy face at some ginger head guy with strong cheekbones and pointy chin. The man was smiling brightly, his eyes sparkling with happiness and he was making a peace sign with the hand that was wrapped around Siwon’s neck keeping the model close.

‘Wow, that is a big nose.’ Kyuhyun said and Sungmin nodded next to him while Siwon’s eyes widened and he almost crawled onto the table to snatch his phone.

‘No! That is… model. I mean, friend. Model friend. We were doing shows together and he has a big house there so I stayed.’ The man was rambling as he was punching at his phone with a lot of force.

Heechul’s smile widened. ‘Oh Wonnie, you don’t have to feel embarrassed. We all approve of you getting laid finally.’

Even Donghae nodded. ‘I don’t know you man but I think getting laid is what you need desperately.’ He said around the bite he just took of his sandwich.

‘So what’s his name?’ Hyukjae laid his head on Hae’s shoulder and nuzzled it.

For a second Siwon was stalling while looking at his phone before he sighed with resignation and leaned on the table with his elbows, head in hands.

‘ZhouMi. He’s the most happy and positive guy I’ve ever met. He got introduced to me during the first show the day after I arrived and on the next one he already made me move out from the hotel and move into his house cause he said he has more rooms than he can ever use. Besides, we were doing all the jobs together since he’s the discovery of the year and everyone wants a piece of him.’ The man said, dreamily sighing at the end.

‘And apparently you did.’ Heechul joked.

Siwon shook his head. ‘He took me around the city and showed me everywhere whenever we had some free time. And he cooked dinners for me and we were often taking strolls in the gardens of his mansion. He’s rich, like billionaire rich. His grandmother was making healing ointments from herbs in her village and they were so good the word spread and when his mother took over they already had a few shops in Beijing. Then pharmaceutical companies started to pursue them and now they have contracts signed all over the word but they produce the ointments only in the laboratories build on the premises of the mansion and mostly the family works there. They want to keep their secret and ZhouMi is already helping with mixing the herbs and he studies pharmacology. He’s amazing…’

Everyone was looking at Siwon with raised brows. Hyukjae finally cleared his throat. ‘Yeah, but did you get into his pants?’

Siwon blushed and squirmed in his seat as he saw that everyone leaned towards him with curiosity written all over their faces.

‘He was a perfect gentleman and never made any inappropriate move.’ He explained vaguely.

‘So~ he’s straight and just nice.’ Kyuhyun summarized.

There was a moment of silence.

‘We made out.’

The bird chirped outside. And then everybody burst out with laughter.

***

People started to head out only after midnight and only because Sungmin’s snoring was getting too loud for them to actually talk. The man woke up long enough to say goodbyes at the door. Heechul was the one to leave the last and when he was already in the door he spun around and slapped Sungmin’s shoulder to get his attention. Kyuhyun growled a little at that but got obviously ignored.

‘Henry is going to have a few showcases in Seoul next month, his agency is already setting everything up and they called me asking how many tickets and for how many shows you’ll want.’ The red head took out his planner and punched something into it.

Sungmin suddenly looked up completely awake. ‘All shows!’ He said quickly, smile spreading on his face. Then he furrowed his brows and thought for a moment before looking at Kyuhyun. The younger raised a brow at the look but didn’t say anything. ‘Two tickets.’ He added and with a happy skip turned around and went to his room leaving his agent and house help together.

Kyuhyun looked questioningly after his boss before turning to the other male. ‘Henry? Who’s Henry?’

Heechul chuckled. ‘Henry is a violin genius. The boy was auditioning for some idol agency and Sungmin was there for business. He just took the boy and taught him everything he knew. My agency doesn’t deal with classical music so we helped him sign with other one but he might be coming back to us soon after the contract expires. He started composing popular music in the last couple of years. Sungmin was crazy about the boy.’

After the man left Kyuhyun stopped in the middle of the living room and remembered the words. And dread brew in his stomach.

***

Kyuhyun googled Henry Lau.

The boy, well, he was not that much younger from him but still, looked like the cutest hamster he had ever seen. He had small crescent shaped eyes which were decreasing to slits whenever he smiled and his full cheeks rose. His nose was wide but Kyuhyun felt the urge to pinch it and he had small but plump lips. In general he was the cutest cutie, only Sungmin surpassing him and probably only in Kyuhyun's opinion. But he was biased. And apparently very jealous.

Slapping his computer shut he made Ryeowook jump in his seat in the library. They had an upcoming test in the class they shared and decided to study a little together since neither of them could get any work done at their respective homes. Ryeowook's girlfriend was too hot according to the male to ignore her for a long time and Kyuhyun would be either distracted by whiny Donghae or glowing Sungmin. He didn’t know what was worse.

‘What’s wrong?’ Wookie whispered. They were in the place where they really shouldn’t make any noises.

‘Me.’ Kyuhyun barked out and got immediately shushed by the girl at the table next to theirs. He glared at her. ‘You aren’t gonna pass it either way.’ He hissed out. In a moment she was quickly walking towards the exit and Kyuhyun had a satisfied smile on his face. Before he remembered that he was jealous. And so he scowled again.

Ryeowook rolled his eyes. ‘Whatever. We’re playing on Friday, pimp yourself out, invite Sungmin and come to listen to us. After he hears us you might even score with him.’

Kyuhyun was looking at his notes for a second, the end of his pencil tapping at the paper and leaving small dots there. He ignored the lewd comment and nodded. That was a good idea.

***

He was ready to get home when he remembered he had something he wanted to ask Sungmin about. He went back to his own apartment two days earlier, after Sungmin could eat everything again. Also he was afraid Donghae will rent his bed to some bimbo.

Quickly dropping the shoes that he was putting on he jogged back into the apartment. Sungmin went to his studio and was working again so Kyuhyun walked into the bedroom and crossed the room before knocking. He knew that the composer didn’t mind him doing so anymore.

It took three more attempts before the door opened and obviously annoyed Sungmin appeared. His eyes were narrowed and he was glowering at Kyuhyun.

‘What?’ He snapped but quickly shook his head. ‘Sorry. Forgot something?’ Somehow he was becoming more connected with reality recently. At least enough to know that he was a rude little sometimes.

Kyuhyun fidgeted in his spot.

‘This Friday… there is this band…’ He started slowly.

‘Shindong’s field, I deal only with composers.’ Sungmin replied fast.

‘No, no… it’s my friend’s band…’

‘I can’t favor friends’ friends over those who apply to agency officially. Contract.’ Again he interrupted his house help. Kyuhyun scrunched his nose and released air through his nose like an angry bull.

‘Shut up for a moment maybe? Wanna go out this Friday to drink, meet my friends and listen to some music?’ He snapped and observed how Sungmin backed a little.

The man blinked a few times before looking to the ground. He wiggled his toes.

‘Yeah, sure. Why not.’ He shrugged and walked back into the studio.

Kyuhyun raised his brows. Then he sighed. ‘So I’m… going.’ He announced and as quickly as he could left the place.

His heart was beating fast and he was blushing when he reached the elevator. Despite the fact that it was just a normal invitation, friendly one, his brain was screaming at him YOU HAVE A DATE MAN. Strangely in Donghae's voice.