First of all I'm sorry for the huge delay. I promised to have this chapter out a weeks after the previous one, but I struggled a lot with it. It was hard to put everything I wanted in it without making it too tedious and long. I just hoped I conveyed all the information I wanted in it.

I would like to point out one thing - this chapter was planned from the very beginning. I don't want you all to think I'm being b*tchy, but it wasn't because of the requests that I wrote it. Understand I never go along with requests if I have a plan made in my head, so you might write all you want and ask me to do stuff, but if it doesn't fit into my own plan it won't happen (hence my slight irritation at 'Make it KyuMin, not MinKyu'... c'mon, you should learn by now already!). That was just to get anyone off their high horse, it was not because of you that this chapter was written. However, I appreciate all the input and SUGGESTIONS, demans are not welcomed though. I'm not one of the authors asking what the reader wants to see, I write this story for myself to enjoy just as much as for you.

Okay, this stretched out for too long, you're prolly dying to read it finally! (delusional author is delusional XD).

***

The ringing was incessant and it was making him want to throw something at the wall. he wasn’t having the best of days, or weeks even. He was in a slump and he made it clear that he didn’t want to be disturbed.

But the ringing was continuing and so he kicked his legs of the table and shuffled slowly towards the entrance door. Without looking into the peep hole he swung the door open.

A boy…or rather young man was standing before him. Wrinkled t-shirt, crumpled jeans. Messy hair. Since when they were letting in poor students?

‘Who the hell are you?’ He croaked out. He hadn’t spoken to anyone in a few days aside from that one phone call, which he barely remembered since he was torn out of sleep.

The student sized him from head to toe with poorly hidden disgust. And then he spoke.

‘Hopefully your new house help?’

***

Sungmin’s studio was soundproof but since he wasn’t working much last few days he kept the door to it opened and he could hear all the sounds from the rest of his house. And there were lots and lots of sounds.

There was vacuuming, clattering, shuffling, rustling, banging, a lot of cursing. And there was humming. That last one was what lured him out of his studio and made him find a spot on the floor beside the door out of his bedroom, even if he could hear it only from time to time when the person doing it was close enough to his room.

Cho Kyuhyun. It was the name of the poor looking student that started to clean his apartment a few days earlier. Although, he supposed the guy wasn’t really poor. He seemed very arrogant but pressed to get money for some reason Sungmin didn’t even think on dwelling about.

If Heechul didn’t order him to clean the place he wouldn’t even think about hiring anyone, he was fending for himself well and little dirt never killed anyone. At least he hadn’t heard of such cases. And now he had a stranger in his house, looking into every nook and cranny, obviously throwing away everything he deemed unnecessary. Not that Sungmin cared, as long as the kid didn’t enter his studio he could throw out the whole apartment.

But there was something else about that Kyuhyun. He made him hear melodies in his head again. To say that Sungmin had something akin to a ‘composers’ block’ was an understatement of the millenium. He was in a total slump. He hadn’t composed or written anything worth showing to his agent for months. He was still good with all the pieces he finished the previous year and he could go on for some time without creating anything new, but he was miserable. Music was his world. It was like air, he was almost suffocating without all the notes playing in his head. There was only silence. Jongwoon pushed his comeback a couple of months giving him more time, but with how things were Sungmin was sure there was no way in hell he would create what his singer friend needed.

And then Kyuhyun came and started humming. And the soft notes were registering in Sungmin’s head again setting on the music sheets in his imagination, creating melodies he never heard before. The first song was already there, it didn’t have any lyrics yet and it was quite simple, but it already had a singer.

***

Sungmin heard a muffed shrill as he was running through the notes he managed to put on paper. He was propped against his bed’s headboard, lost in the music, when the piercing sound filled the apartment and made him jerk his head up in surprise. Next, thudding of someone running through the apartment and shutting the front door reached his ears and he furrowed his brows.

Apparently, something made that Kyuhyun guy into a little, shrilling girl.

Untangling his legs from the messed sheets Sungmin got up and peeked out of his room. Apartment was silent. He walked out of the bedroom completely and with tilted head he moved towards the front door. He could hear mumbling through the slightly ajar door. They probably bounced off after being shut with such force, it sometimes happened and he probably should have it fixed. Heechul was storming out of his apartment so often he must have broken the locking mechanism.

‘Monster… how can he live with that…IN THE BATHROOM! Monster…’

Sungmin furrowed his brows at the mumbling. Apparently, the cleaning guy didn’t escape like other house helps that he was trying to hire, but he had some kind of a mental breakdown.

Following the guy’s words Sungmin jogged barefooted towards the main bathroom. He was surprised to see that it was tidied of off all the trash that was clattering it and clothes from the bath were spilling from the laundry room at the back of the spacious bathroom. He moved slowly towards the bath and saw long centipede sitting at the bottom.

Oh. A Bug.

He turned to look towards the door as if he were able to see mumbling Kyuhyun and then at his feet, his toes wiggling. He could squash the bug but he wasn’t wearing anything. Tilting his head he sighed and jogged back to his room to retrieve something to put on his feet, because apparently everything that was left in the hallway miraculously disappeared in the last couple of days.

Just when he was ready to go to exterminate the bug he saw that the cleaning guy stomped with determination towards the bathroom. Sungmin followed him and peeked from around the doorframe to check what the man was planning. His brows raised and he barely contained a chuckle when he saw Kyuhyun spraying a deodorant onto the lighter creating a flame that probably fried the creature on the bottom of the tub. The whimpers escaping the man’s lips were priceless.

Sungmin went back to his room with a smile. He had idea for an upbeat song Heechul was bugging him about for that girl group.

***

The ping of the elevator brought Sungmin from his sleepy haze. He was exhausted, he barely slept the last few days while trying to line up songs for Yesung's album. He finally got music flowing through his head again and didn’t want to lose even a single note. Unfortunately, it was wearing him out and he was starting to see double from the lack of sleep. He thought that the walk in the still slightly chilly weather of early spring will wake him up. He didn’t think he would end up at Hyukjae's workshop, spending half of the afternoon with the man. He knew that Hyuk was showing him his new designs and probably half of them would end up in his closet, but he couldn’t care less. He just wanted to feel the presence of his friend even if said friend was overly loud fashion maniac. Thankfully, Hyuk refrained from throwing a hissy fit about his clothes for the day, God bless small miracles.

Sighing tiredly he made his way towards his apartment where he would lie down and sleep for a few hours before some lilt in his head awoke him again.

He noticed before that the hallway was completely cleaned out of all of his shoes and knew that it was safer to toe off his sneakers in his own bedroom if he didn’t want them to vanish. His hoodie was blocking most of his vision and what was left of it was clouded with sleepiness. But he saw the movement on the periphery.

‘Hello Sungmin-ssi.’

The lanky house help that was rummaging through his apartment last few days bowed cautiously.

Sungmin took off his hood.

‘Oh… You’re…’

‘Kyuhyun. Cho Kyuhyun. I clean your apartment since five days ago.’ The younger boy supplied before Sungmin could even speak. Of course he knew who he was. He must have looked more out of it than he thought. He shook his head.

‘Yeah, I know. The food doesn’t order itself.’ Running a hand through his hair for a moment he considered a quick shower. His tired brain shouted loud no. So sleep it was, no matter how gross he was. ‘I’m tired. You can go now. And I already ate.’

Without further explaination he walked towards his bedroom. He didn’t care if Kyuhyun went home or stayed. As long as he could just sleep.

However, when he opened the door to his bedroom he suddenly became more awake.

‘What?!’

The room was clean like never before. It wasn’t so shiny and organized even when he first moved it. No trash, papers, food wrappings, food bits. Nothing. And there were new sheets on the bed!

‘Something’s wrong? You said I could clean it.’

Thankfully, his body was too exhausted to make sudden moves because otherwise he would jump up out of his skin from surprise when he heard his house help’s voice behind him. Instead, he turned around and looked with his wide and stinging eyes at the man before him.

‘No… it’s just…’ H tried to find words in his head but apparently every functioning cell in his head was shutting down already.

‘Clean?’

He processed the word and looked again towards his bedroom. ‘Yes. Clean.’ He took a few steps in. ‘Was it always that big?’ He started to look around in wonder. The boy mumbled something behind him and in a few moments the front door shut. He must have really gone home.

Looking again at the fresh looking bed Sungmin sighed and pulled the hoodie, along with the t-shirt he had underneath, off himself and threw it onto the floor. On the way to the adjacent bathroom he the button on his jeans and by the time he walked up to the shower they already slid down his hips, piling in a heap on the bathroom’s floor.

He vaguely remembered picking up his clothes and dropping them in the hamper, that was a new addition in his bathroom, before dropping completely unconscious into his bed.

***

It wasn’t that he was being disturbed. But more often than not Sungmin was just dropping his work in the middle and wandering into the room Kyuhyun was cleaning at the moment. He knew he surprised the man a few times, especially when Kyuhyun was hanging laundry on the balcony on that one day. But he just needed to get closer to that melody the younger male was humming. He liked it, it was light and easily sank into memory. The songs he was making had that quality, if he were to believe what critics were saying and fans of groups he composed for wrote on the forums.

But aside from humming, there was another plus of Kyuhyun's presence. Sungmin didn’t feel lonely. Last few months he was trying to fight the slump he was in and didn’t really interact with people all that much. he knew he was an introvert and liked spending his time alone, but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy some human companionship.

There was always Siwon, too. The model liked invading his personal space way too often and even once managed to weasel his way into the studio. But after he left greasy stains on the music sheets Sungmin pretended he never heard the man knocking again. Sungmin knew that at some point Kyuhyun had the pleasure of meeting Siwon, he could hear their exchange at the door and was highly astounded by the younger’s lack of social skills. The kid was almost as bad as he was.

And so Kyuhyun was bustling about the apartment, making so much noise that it should be distracting. However, it only managed to bring sounds into Sungmin’s life again and he was more productive than ever before. And that was even with all the breaks he was taking to stalk his house help or creep up at him.

All in all, Sungmin was thinking about sending Heechul some kind of a thank you card for placing that add in the newspaper. He was furious at first that his agent pulled such trick on him, but in all of the years they were working together the crazy CEO was always right and never did Sungmin come out harmed from whatever Heechul planned for him. And hiring Kyuhyun turned out to be kind of… therapeutic for him and his slump. It was also good that the first five people who answered the add run screaming when he started to show them around.

A little over two weeks after Kyuhyun started his crusade against filth in his apartment, the place was spotless. It was clean, dusted, vacuumed, his clothes – at least those that were left -  were clean and folded and there was perspective that he might get home cooked meals. There was no way things could go wrong.

***

Going out and meeting people in crowded bars or engaging in pointless blind dates, that some of his friends were trying to rope him into, never his interest. He felt uncomfortable and irritated in large gatherings. Besides, with his predominant preferences he was most likely to get beaten somewhere in the dark alley. Not that he wasn’t able to put up a fight, he was more than capable of that. However, homophobic jerks always traveled in packs and number definitely beat skills. He was no Jet Li, and even the actor wouldn’t be able to take on group of five or six thugs that thought being gay transmitted like some infection.

Agencies very rarely could provide him with a male companion, and if they could those were always muscled and huge foreigners. He had to settle and it wasn’t like a pair of natural s wasn’t nice to the touch. He only needed to let the steam off and relax, doing it himself with the help of his toys didn’t exactly scratch the itch properly all of the times.

Heechul was furious whenever he hired a companion. Yeah, there were those three times when he was robbed, but it wasn’t like he couldn’t replace those things. He understood his agent’s irritation when one of the hookers turned out to be working for their competition and stole a few rough projects he was working on at that moment. He could always record them again and they were just preliminary works, but those were the things he really cared the most about.

Sungmin resigned from having hookers over for some time, he even managed to meet a sweet young, college boy during one of Hyukjae's fashion shows and they had a nice few months together. It was before the boy couldn’t stand being always ditched whenever his partner was struck with an idea and run from bed to his studio.

He was a ual being, he liked a good roll in the hay and didn’t want being single to affect that. Hookers were much easier to deal with than someone he would eventually have to date, because the idea of a booty call seemed to affront all of the guys he suggested it to. he didn’t have time to date, or rather, he was too bad at it. Music was his all since he could remember and he would give it his whole attention. Once he stormed out of the cinema in the middle of the movie because an idea for the melody struck him. it wouldn’t be that bad if not for the fact that he was there with someone else and he was their drive.

And so, as often as he managed to dodge Heechul, he was buying himself some good time. he didn’t think that Kyuhyun's presence would change that.

However, Sungmin learned the hard way that there was no way he would ever get laid when Heechul and Kyuhyun joined forces and the house help spread all over the agencies that he had herpes. He wasn’t a public figure and he was using a pseudonym which meant there was no way it would affect his work. but it affected his ability to relax.

Despite that, he couldn’t sulk for long because Kyuhyun started to cook. Proper home made food. it was a little under or over cooked at the beginning. and very simple. But still home made. And food beats at that moment, so he could overlook that his house help was becoming more and more obnoxious and rude. Yup, he could definitely ignore lack of and the snaky comments from Kyuhyun for the food.

***

Closing the door to the studio behind himself Sungmin slumped into the chair in front of his computer. He sighed and released the grip he was holding on the USB drive. He looked at it and cringed. There were the final versions of Yesung's songs on it. With lyrics even, sang by Sungmin himself since he didn’t trust anyone else to convey the lyrics like he wanted them to be. If this got out he would be finished, he didn’t think Heechul would forgive him something like this. And Jongwoon… the man would probably stay calm and wouldn’t give him a hard time but then the album would have to be cancelled.

Leaning his head on the backrest he closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his free hand. he could feel all of the facial hair that grew already there, and it spoke volumes about how long he didn’t touch a razor, since he wasn’t really gifted with that much of body hair. Hell, his legs were almost bare and the little hair he had there was so light Jungsu often he was secretly getting waxed.

Shaking his head Sungmin’s thoughts came back to how Kyuhyun just saved his career. That Chinese hooker might not have known who she ed but she sure knew how to snitch things. And probably thought she might discover something money worthy on the USB drive too.

Surrendering his car and all of the future hook ups was a small price to pay for Heechul not finding out. He was grateful to Kyuhyun, who probably didn’t even know how important was what he did.

***

Nuzzling his head against the soft cotton Sungmin sighed and tightened his hold on Kyuhyun's waist. The house help was currently cutting up vegetables for the stew and sweet potatoes were waiting their turn to be sliced, dried and made into delicious homemade chips.

‘Hmmm?’ Kyuhyun hummed distractedly, his hands working fast with the knife.

‘Nothin’, warm…’ Sungmin mumbled as well as he could with half of his face plastered against the younger’s back.

It wasn’t anything knew or surprising anymore. Sungmin clinging like this to Kyuhyun was just a common, everyday occurrence since a few weeks ago. Whenever Sungmin was feeling like wrapping himself around something soft and squishy he was seeking out Kyuhyun and just entangling the man regardless of what he was doing. Sungmin was adjustable, he didn’t mind moving when he was hugging Kyuhyun so the man could go around his stuff. It couldn’t be the most comfortable way to work, but the younger complained very little, so Sungmin never took it too seriously.

But the way they were at that moment was the best, Kyuhyun was completely stationary, sometimes only turning a little to reach for something, but not enough to disturb Sungmin’s nap. Because yeah, Sungmin was able to sleep standing as long as he could still feel the warmth emanating from the man. However, at that moment Sungmin didn’t want to sleep. He was slightly drowsy but more focused on the smell that was enveloping them. it wasn’t of the food yet, too soon into cooking for that. No, it was the smell he knew well only because all of his clothes smelled the same, but this time it was coming from Kyuhyun's t-shirt.

He knew for a fact that Kyuhyun wasn’t washing his clothes at his place, which meant he was simply using the same laundry powder or fabric softener. And he probably bought them together, too.

Smiling softly Sungmin inhaled. This was kind of an awesome day. He finished a song in the early morning and could spend rest of it clinging to Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun shifted a little and Sungmin legs automatically adjusted him so that he wasn’t in the way.

Yeah, this was kind of perfect.

***

Kyuhyun was perfect.

That was Sungmin’s thought while his fingers were the guitar strings absentmindly. He couldn’t tear his eyes from Kyuhyun's lips as the younger sang with hesitation. But his voice… his voice was perfect. So deep and rich, but with the hint of youthfulness. It was clear and smooth in both high and low notes. Sungmin heard a lot of good voices in his career, Jongwoon's being one of the ones he loves working with the most, with it’s husky and emotion filled timbre. However, while Yesung's voice was like a blanket wrapping him in warmth on the cold winter evening, Kyuhyun's was like a warm spring breeze – refreshing.

He didn’t know what to expect when he asked his house help to sing the song for him. he had troubles with singing it himself for some reasons and he couldn’t imagine a woman singing it. from the humming Kyuhyun was doing all the time he assumed the man wouldn’t be the worse test subject. What he got exceeded his hopes. He found the singer for the song. And for many others that suddenly started to form in his head.

***

He knew that Hyukjae showing at his door with tons of bags hanging from his arms wasn’t a harbinger of anything good. First, it meant that time of year when he would have to come out of his apartment and meet people came. Second – Hyukjae didn’t take off his shoes, ever. He didn’t want to imagine what a fit Kyuhyun will pitch if he sees that his perfectly polished floors were being marred by the ugly loafers that the stylist was wearing.

And of course he was right. Kyuhyun and Hyukjae clashed immediately and he was pretty sure he could say goodbye to doing any work for the rest of the day. all his energy would be spent on trying to keep himself from punching Hyukjae for insulting his style. Not that he had any, or cared about having it, but he always enjoyed punching Hyuk and this would give him a good excuse.

Instead he just kept picking on his t-shirt while listening to the banter. And secretly taking Kyuhyun's side. It was quite enjoyable to see Hyuk shrieking and becoming all red about the clothes that Kyuhyun cut for rags. Also, he imagined that slap his best friend placed on both of his cheeks would leave a nasty mark. He didn’t even need to punch him anymore!

***

There was some movement in his room but he couldn’t bring himself to even lift his head and check. Through barely opened eyes he saw the familiar outline of Kyuhyun's body, the man was placing something on the nightstand.

Sungmin knew that he was drugged. It wasn’t the first time this happened but before Heechul at least gave him a kind of a warning, just stuffed his face with those sleeping pills that would take down an elephant. He understood the gesture, but didn’t appreciate it. Of course there was no chance he would get enough sleep before his schedules and meetings began, Heechul’s desperate measures were based on years of previous experiences. Still, he felt cheated and wanted to punch someone. Again.

A hand touched his forehead before it moved to his messy hair and patted the tangle that formed there. He wanted to leaned into the touch when familiar smell of Kyuhyun's body wash, which was the same kind that Sungmin had in his shower, enveloped him. All thoughts of punching people left him and he drifted back into the land of sleep. He didn’t know when the ended because he still felt it before he lost consciousness to the dreamland.

***

‘… and he stayed whole two days here just making sure you’re okay. He’s an annoying piece of but I guess I should have given him a little more credit. And you know how satisfied Heechul is with his work, you’re keeping to your agenda like never before!’

Hyukjae was chatting away, his scissors holding hands making a fast work of cutting all of the overgrown and uneven strands from Sungmin’s head, while the composer was trying to keep his head up and not fall asleep again. He was even nursing thick and black, like a tar, coffee. Those damn pills were stronger than before.

However, he heard everything that his friend was saying while trying to make his resemble a proper human being again.

‘Kyu is perfect.’ He mumbled tiredly before sipping at his coffee again.

Hyukjae stopped cutting and bend a little around Sungmin to partially look at his face. ‘Perfect?’

‘Food… voice… perfect.’ Once again Sungmin went for short answers because that was as much as his brain was willing to supply him with at that particular moment.

Hyukjae chuckled and went back to styling his hair. ‘The brat seems to care for you. I mean, who wouldn’t – you’re so pitiful it’s hard to not want to take care of you. Wonder how he’ll take in your make-over. He probably didn’t see any of your previous TV appearances, he might not recognize you even.’

Sungmin grunted at that and gulped down the rest of the coffee that was still in his mug. There was more in the coffee maker, and if Kyuhyun knew that he brewed it that strong he would probably make him eat some salads or other horse food to neutralize the caffeine. He needed to remember to clean the machine before the younger came over.

Of course Hyukjae was still going at it like a chatterbox making Sungmin remember that those awful pills always gave him a monster hangover. And he didn’t even get properly high.

‘Can you shut up?’ He finally groaned out.

There was a loud laughter from behind him before he felt a brush cleaning his nape from all of the hair.

‘Nope! Did I ever?’ The stylist chirped.

Knowing that his friend finished Sungmin shook his head a little. It felt lighter without all of the hair that was currently being swept from the floor by Hyukjae. He turned and searched for the mirror that was hanging over the chest of drawers in the living room.

Clean shaven and trimmed he once again resembled the same student he was a few years back. Each time Hyukjae was doing this for him he was trying to find any changes in his face, but it was as if he was still looking at the face of the boy who went down onto his knees before his parents only to get beaten and thrown out of house in a matter of minutes.

Sighing, he pushed the thoughts away.

‘Don’t sigh with relief just yet, darling!’ Hyukjae came back from throwing the hair into the trash. ‘We’re getting you a facial, and not the kind you’d appreciate!’ The words were followed by a cackling laughter.

Sungmin scrunched his face because even he felt disgusted and really, there wasn’t much that could make him feel sick. But Hyukjae's jokes topped it all.

***

He heard the door being opened, and a few moments later soft footsteps, as he was looking over the documentation for the meeting he had to attend in the afternoon. He knew he had to, he was an associate in Heechul’s agency, his decisions and signatures were as crucial as Heechul and Shindong’s and he was needed there to discuss the terms of the agreements. But he knew that Heechul made him into his partner only because he was thinking of going freelance after his contract ended. He liked working for Heechul, he had freedom in deciding for whom he would work and after his long partnership with his agent he also knew who to avoid. But being a composer and lyricist was more of a freelance work. He would never abandon Heechul, who was the sole reason he had everything that he had at this moment of his life. Kyuhyun and his amazing cooking and cleaning skills included.

He never asked Heechul why he suggested that Sungmin became his partner in business, but suspected Jungsu had some part in that decision. Despite his smug and a little y personality, Jungsu was too much of a busybody and he lived worrying about others. Meaning, he probably painted a really catastrophic picture for Heechul for the man to want to keep an eye at Sungmin, even if it meant sharing his company with him.

Finishing the paragraph in the documents Sungmin put them down and headed towards the living room. He knew Kyuhyun went to the kitchen, he heard the water running. The same moment that he emerged from his room he saw Kyuhyun walking out with a glass of water in hand and a paper looking like some bill in the other, looking down at it.

‘Kyuhyun.’ He said as a greeting.

The house help lifted his head, a small smile playing on his lips before his expression froze into that of a total shock.

‘Who… are you?’

***

Sungmin kept drumming the melody in his head on the table while watching TV. Not that he exactly knew what he was watching, it could have been anything because his mind was occupied otherwise.

Kyuhyun was acting strange. It wouldn’t be anything new since the man wasn’t exactly normal in general, but last few days he was a completely new kind of freaky. His snark toned down a lot and he was almost acting shy. Sungmin was sure that he didn’t know Kyuhyun all that well yet, but he thought he could safely say that Kyuhyun was anything but shy.

The way he reacted to Sungmin’s new look was also kind of unexpected. He just stood there gaping. At that was what he was doing quite a lot these days. He was just staring at the composer. Sungmin knew that, he could feel the younger’s eyes on him and he often caught him looking. He just decided not to mention that. Kyuhyun apparently had that impression that his employer was somehow detached from the world. And yeah, Sungmin often closed himself in his own thoughts because it was easier that way to stay focused on his work. However, he was much more attentive than Kyuhyun thought. He remembered all the trivia and details the younger told him from his life, he remembered his school schedule and what subjects he feared the most.

Sighing Sungmin leaned heavier on the couch and the sound from the TV. He shouldn’t overanalyze Kyuhyun's behavior because the last time he did it he thought his parents will be okay with him being gay and it got him kicked out of house. It was easier to take things as they were and wait for the other party to do the work.

***

Kyuhyun's breath evened out and it was obvious he fell asleep finally. Sungmin started to think that the younger won’t relax and close his eyes for the night at all.

He thought that Kyuhyun already got used to all the cuddling and hugging and didn’t expect the tensing of every muscle in his house help’s body when they lied down on the couch together to watch TV. They have never cuddled like that but with all the full body contact he was initiating for a couple of months already he assumed this wouldn’t be a problem. Unless he was reading Kyuhyun’s behavior wrong and this whole sudden nervousness and tensing had other meaning.

Shifting slightly he moved a little up and in a moment Kyuhyun's long arms wrapped around him and younger’s face pressed into his neck releasing warm puffs of air from between slightly parted lips. Sungmin moved his arm carefully, so not to wake up the man in his embrace, and placed his hand on the brown strands on Kyuhyun's head. He them a few times earning what sounded like a pleased sigh from the man.

Aside with all the obnoxiousness and sarcastic attitude towards everyone and everything Kyuhyun was… adorable. He was tall and lanky, awkward as hell with his long limbs. But whenever he wiped off that smirk or frown from his face he was simply cute. His cheeks were puffing up whenever he was smiling and Sungmin had to stop himself from reaching out and poking him in them quite a few times already. But maybe he shouldn’t have. It seemed Kyuhyun was starting to seek out those touches and Sungmin had to admit that he felt more grounded and peaceful than he did in years whenever he had Kyuhyun's warmth close.

It was a little like living and sleeping in the same bed with Hyukjae felt like. Only different. He and Hyukjae tried going out during university but their one failed attempt at , which ended with both of them in fits on the floor, told them they should never go that way again. With Kyuhyun all he felt was affection and there was no mocking in their touching.

Which brought him to remember what his best friend told him before. That Kyuhyun cared for him.

A long leg started to push in between his and he had to quickly open his knees to let it in.

Kyuhyun cared for him. Suddenly he wondered to what kind of feelings that caring stretched. Did it mean that Kyuhyun saw a hyung in him? Or there was something more to it?

Sighing, which he was doing a lot these days, he shifted back to look at the younger’s face. He was really adorable. Quickly, before his brain again brought up how much of a bad idea it was, he placed a soft kiss on the slightly damp forehead of his house help, letting all the strange thoughts lock behind the door he should never open.

***

With nasty food poisoning, which made him suffer for much longer than he supposed it should, Sungmin didn’t really have the will to ponder over Kyuhyun's behavior. The younger took such good care of him during those days that when he finally had enough energy to leave the bed all he wanted was to snuggle into Kyuhyun all the time. Which he was mostly doing if the younger allowed him to. Only after a few days he noticed that Kyuhyun was sleeping over at his place, most probably to be able to keep an eye on him.

Sungmin remembered that during the first night he was holding onto someone the whole night, too. And he couldn’t think of anyone else who it could have been but Kyuhyun. It made him feel slightly better, comforted. And he liked having the house help around all the time. Not for the fact that he was there whenever he wanted something, but also because it felt more lively. Of course, Kyuhyun was spending a lot of time in the apartment working, but the sound of the TV in the evening, early morning grinding of coffee from the kitchen or the humming that seemed to constantly come out of younger’s throat were making Sungmin full with elation of some kind.

When the day came that Kyuhyun gathered all of his things and headed back to the flat he was sharing with Donghae leaving Sungmin alone for the evening and night, the composer didn’t know what to do with himself. He stood in the middle of his living room for a long time after the door closed behind the house help. The itching that was crawling under his fingers whenever Kyuhyun was close spread all over his body and made him want to go after the man and ask him to spend one more night in the apartment. Or the next week.

Instead, Sungmin did something he wasn’t doing often because it was spoiling his working process by giving him ideas for songs much different from those he was expected to make. He pulled out one of the rock CDs and put it on, speakers blaring the loud drums and guitar all over the place successfully deafening the thoughts swirling furiously in his head.

***

Wanna go out this Friday to drink, meet my friends and listen to some music?

Bouncing his leg to the melody coming from his headphones Sungmin kept thinking about the sudden invitation Kyuhyun sprung up with. They have never left the house together before, aside from the trip to the optician. And that wasn’t really much of going out, that was an errand he had to run no matter what and would have gone with anyone.

This time there was no business-like purpose for that outing. It would be spending time together not as an employer and his house help. Sure, Kyuhyun mentioned there would be his friends and there would be a band in which one of his university buddies sang. However, the way Kyuhyun was fidgeting and looking down, avoiding looking into Sungmin’s eyes… it was as if he was nervous about asking him to join. Like people were always when they were asking someone on a date.

Swallowing thickly Sungmin pushed the replay button on his player. He didn’t remember anything from the melody he was listening to just a moment ago.

A date.

He shouldn’t assume.

However…

With slight trepidation Sungmin reached towards the memories of Kyuhyun from the last few weeks. Memories which he closed behind solid door in his mind and avoided touching upon at any cost.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know, that he didn’t notice. He just chose to put it down to Kyuhyun's dislike for human interaction. All the nervousness and tension the younger was suddenly in. Even though they cuddled and stayed close most of the time there was always that feeling that Kyuhyun would jump and run at any given moment.

Sungmin refused to acknowledge that those were the signs that the younger was attracted to him in any way and it was making him clamp up and tight as a string.

Sighing with frustration Sungmin tore the headphones off and reached for his phone.

***

Heechul took off the headphones and placed them neatly on the desk. He sat silently for a moment, brow scrunched, before he looked up at the composer sitting next to him.

‘That’s Kyuhyun, right?’ Was the first thing he asked and saw how Sungmin’s eyes widened with surprise. ‘You thought I wouldn’t recognize the voice? I’ve been in this business for years now!’

Sungmin shook his head and leaned back on his chair. ‘Yeah, so that’s Kyuhyun. Do I do something about this?’

For a moment Heechul was considering his answer.

‘I feel that there is much more behind that question than asking about opinion on his voice.’ He finally voiced his thoughts.

No one spoke for the next minute or so.

Sighing Heechul run a hand through his hair. ‘Okay, so the voice and the song – you have a gold mine sitting currently in your living room. This could be a number one material, rookie of the year and so on. Obviously he didn’t have any training, but I doubt anyone would even notice. Haven’t heard a voice that good since Jongwoon's demo. If you decide to talk to him about this and do something I call shotgun on the contact. It would be his decision which agency to choose but I want to be the first to present him with my proposals.’

Sungmin nodded to everything his friend was saying. He was thinking along the same lines but wanted a confirmation seeing how lately he had troubles with staying objective when it came to Kyuhyun.

‘Now the other thing Ming. What’s going on?’ Heechul didn’t like to beat around the bush. But still silence answered him. Taking to Sungmin when the man didn’t want to disclose his thoughts and feelings was like talking to a wall. But he knew this was an important discussion and he would do everything to make the man spill what was on his mind. ‘I can always bring Jungsu, you know you’ll tell him everything, but I can’t vouch he won’t do anything reckless. Like, let’s say, confront the reason of your sulking.’

Sungmin scrunched his face before rubbing both his hands on it and then into his hair which resulted in some strands standing up.

‘I think Kyuhyun might like me.’ Finally the composer muttered.

Rising his brow Heechul regarded his business partner with question. ‘Yeah, that’s pretty obvious. I don’t think anyone would clean your puke if they didn’t care for you. He’s a good employee, albeit bratty as hell.’

‘No!’ Sungmin was obviously irritated and it was kind of new. Heechul just waited instead of saying anything else. ‘He LIKES me! The touching, looks… he’s always looking! And he started to act strange around me. He’s nervous, blushing even. Heechul, I think he’s crushing on me.’

As Sungmin let those words leave his mouth he groaned and hid his face in his hands. It was ridiculous to speak it aloud. Felt so much more real, and terrifying, than when it was just an idea in his head.

Heechul was silent for a moment before he sighed again.

‘And that’s bad why?’ The agent asked with amusement only to be glared at by the composer. ‘Okay, calm that raging puppy glare. Explain, why you’re so freaked out by it?’

Sungmin took a big breath. Heechul knew how much he hated explaining things. It demanded analyzing his feelings and he definitely didn’t like doing that. But the agent was right, it was better to talk it out, to have other person confirm or negate his doubts.

‘I’m not freaked out. I don’t know what to do about it.’ Sungmin said in a low voice. ‘What if I imagined it?’

Heechul looked long at Sungmin before answering. ‘I don’t think you imagine it. Kyuhyun cares about you a lot, that much is obvious for anyone to see. I trust you noticed other things about him too and you were never a delusional person.’

Sungmin mulled over the words before nodding, more to himself than to Heechul. ‘Okay. But what do I do about it?’

‘Go for it?’ A look of total panic made him sigh and continue. ‘I mean, don’t force yourself on him of course, but if you say he’s already attracted to you why not try it out?’

‘I don’t know if he realizes it himself yet. He seems unsure about his own behavior.’ Sungmin looked down at cookies shaped like pumpkins that Kyuhyun made for him in the morning. Things like that made him think there was so much more to Kyuhyun's actions than simple employer-employee thing.

‘Sungmin.’ Heechul’s voice was more serious than through the whole discussion. ‘Even if he doesn’t realize it yet, he will at some point. I know how reluctant you are to take first steps towards anything, be that business or relationship. But the fact that your family ed up when you tried to be honest with them doesn’t mean everyone will. When Kyuhyun gives you a clear sign of interest, and I mean he will speak the actual words, you’re going to make that move. I never let you make a bad decision and this time also, you’ll follow my words.’

Sungmin didn’t have a response for that. He knew Heechul was right and he knew he could trust his agent. From day one of their partnership the elder male always somehow took care of him. And now that he had Heechul’s approval, he knew what to do.

***

As much as Sungmin knew that Kyuhyun was attracted to him, he wasn’t sure about his own feelings. Or rather, he was denying that they went further than simply carrying for the boy. Heechul gave him green light, told him to try make something out of this thing that could be between him and Kyuhyun, but Sungmin wasn’t completely sure what that thing was. He didn’t want to just use Kyuhyun's feelings to get laid. And it seemed he would be doing just that if they started something at that moment. He knew that in this sudden attraction that Kyuhyun felt for him, the younger would just throw all caution to the wind and later regret his actions. Sungmin didn’t want that. He liked Kyuhyun and never wanted to hurt him.

***

Looking the way he did it wasn’t surprising that Kyuhyun was drawing attention in the bar. It was a moment Sungmin regretted still not making a move at the younger male.

Kyuhyun was standing at the bar with some long-legged girl who was obviously giving him signs that she would gladly take him to some dark corner and have her way with him. And apparently Kyuhyun knew her enough not to be freaked out by her actions. Or maybe he was simply used to them… Sungmin wasn’t exactly sure how Kyuhyun behaved with girls, he just assumed that he was just as awkward as normally.

With slight irritation Sungmin looked around and spotted a familiar blond head pushing its way through the crowd’s shoulders. Hyukjae was almost as short as he so there was no way of seeing him over other people’s heads. Unless he was among middle schoolers.

Quickly leaving the booth Sungmin maneuvered himself around so that he reached his best friend without as much as brushing against other people. He hated being in such cramped spaces, he had enough of shoving and pushing around in school to have a very light ‘punch ‘em all’ trigger.

‘You’re so pretty! Why can’t you look like this always and save me the embarrassment!’ Were the first words from Hyukjae who immediately threw his arms around him and squeezed. He must have already had quite a few drinks before arriving here. ‘So where’s Kyu? And sweetcheeks?’

Chuckling a little Sungmin turned his head towards the bar and immediately his face fell. The model-like girl in impossibly short leather skirt was Kyuhyun's forearm suggestively and looking at him with clear intent.

‘Oh…’ Hyukjae's voice reached his ears from the side. Before he knew it he was being dragged to the bar. He didn’t really register what his friend was saying because he focused his eyes on the girl before moving them to Kyuhyun, whose face screamed relief.

Oh… so maybe he wasn’t so happy about the girl’s advances.

A pull and shove later Sungmin found himself plastered against his house help’s body, his arms automatically going around the familiar form. He was very pleased to note how fast Kyuhyun's arm came to wrap around him in a very intimate manner. The girl muttered something while giggling and disappeared in the backroom.

Later on, when he was looking at the retreating taxi with Kyuhyun's drunk body in it he knew he should have done something. He had a clear opening right there, they were alone so often and Kyuhyun never left his side again, clinging and snuggling into him in the booth more and more  with each beer he drank. He knew that properly placed hand and slight lowering of his voice to whisper something into Kyuhyun's ear and they would be riding that taxi to his place together. Kyuhyun's behavior was that obvious.

But Kyuhyun was drunk. And Sungmin still wasn’t certain if he wouldn’t just want to get rid of him in the morning. There was no point in spoiling what they had for now.

***

Staring as Kyuhyun ate ice-cream wasn’t the wisest decision he had ever made. It was downright stupid. After the whole weekend of mulling over what ifs here he was transfixed by the pink tongue of the man sitting opposite him, tongue that was expertly lapping at the melting concoction that was slowly sliding down his long fingers.

His dry spell was going for longer than ever and with knowledge that, most probably, he had a very attracted to him and eager man right in front of him, literally, was making his libido remind about itself. And in the most embarrassing way.

Shifting in the chair he winced at the almost electric shock that shot to his groin. He was glad Kyuhyun chose for him these pants. It wasn’t as obvious what was going on in them.

‘What’s up? I got it somewhere onto my face?’

Sungmin snapped from his stupor. The younger’s eyes were fixed on him, clear confusion written all over his face.

Oh great, Kyuhyun caught him leering.

***

This was the right moment. They have spent half of the day on this concealed date that Kyuhyun asked him on and it seemed that the younger was much more relaxed than last few weeks. Sungmin caught him staring many times and Kyuhyun only smiled at him and didn’t jump off or tense all that much. Even in the cab, when he was massaging the house help nothing gave away that Kyuhyun was nervous.

Kyuhyun was at peace with his crush. And how did Sungmin know? He just knew. And it was making him more elated than in a long time. That Kyuhyun accepted whatever it was that he was feeling and this ‘date’ was a sign that he was trying.

So yes, this was the right moment. Sungmin just needed to steer him towards vocalizing himself. Heechul clearly stated that Kyuhyun needed to tell him he wanted this.

His hand sneaking into Kyuhyun's hair was the first step, he knew how the man enjoyed this particular gesture even though Kyuhyun himself probably never noticed his own purrs of satisfaction. He was going to pull out all of the things he knew the other liked and use them and by the end of the day Kyuhyun won’t have a choice but to ask for more himself.

Elevator door pinged and opened.

‘Oh, they are so adorable! I know you told me about them, but you should have snapped a picture and prepare me for all the lovely feelings that beam from them!’

His hand froze and he barely held in the whine of disappointment.

***

‘So, how long you two have been together?’

Sungmin jerked his hand out of Kyuhyun's hair at the question. He knew that the younger was feeling uncomfortable and wanted to somehow ease his nerves. He didn’t expect to be asked so straightforwardly about something that shouldn’t be anyone’s concern.

‘We’re not together.’

Kyuhyun's words were like bucket of ice water. Of course they weren’t together. Sungmin still didn’t make a move even though the opportunity presented itself more than once in the last few days when they were enjoying the summer in the countryside. However, he saw how hard Kyuhyun was studying and he knew that this year was the man’s final at university and he needed to focus. Distracting him with seduction didn’t seem fair considering how well the younger was taking care of him whenever he had a deadline.

But the speed with which Kyuhyun answered the question and the irritation hidden in his eyes spoke volumes about his feelings.

Sighing Sungmin clenched his jaw and decided to give his own response for once. ‘Kyuhyun works for me, he takes care of the apartment… and basically everything else.’

There was a moment of silence during which ZhouMi gave him an incredulous look before it melted into pity.

‘Yeah… okay. If you say so.’

Sungmin swallowed as his eyes locked with the Chinese man’s. ZhouMi knew.

***

It was like a rollercoaster of emotions, those last few weeks.

Sungmin refrained from making any moves, after the dinner at Siwon’s place. He was thrown off by Kyuhyun's denial of the nature of their relationship. However, no matter how he looked at it, Kyuhyun still seemed very attracted to him and seeking out his company so Sungmin didn’t think twice before going back to his routine of hugging the younger male whenever he could. He was afraid that if he didn’t Kyuhyun would be too anxious to touch him.

He didn’t know if all of his actions were making any difference. He was trying to spend as much time as possible outside of the apartment where they seemed to only have business relationship. Their excursions to the countryside and eating out was supposed to make Kyuhyun more comfortable, to make him think of them outside of employer-employee sphere.

The mission to get Kyuhyun to admit that he wanted something to happen between was taking so much of Sungmin’s  energy and focus that he didn’t notice how time passed. They were already getting ready for the showcase.

The thought of seeing Henry was brightening his mood considerably, taking his thoughts away from the issue of all those unresolved feelings between him and Kyuhyun. He hoped both of the younger males would get along. With the lack of contact with Sungjin Henry was the closest Sungmin had to a younger brother.

Humming the new song he already composed for Kyuhyun to sing he exited the bathroom. he had to use the guest one because Hyukjae was still pimping Kyuhyun for the evening in his bedroom where he set his work station.

He was flipping through the bills that Kyuhyun allowed him to touch – one time he shredded a bank statement and now he was banned from dealing with his own finances – when the door to his bedroom opened.

Kyuhyun didn’t look much different from his normal self. Just more… elegant. The perfectly fitting suit was outlining his body. Grey shirt worked just right with the black suit, his hair styled into disorder, not completely up but uncovering his forehead more than normally.

Sungmin smiled to himself seeing the awkwardness in every single of Kyuhyun's moves. He knew how uncomfortable the other was in the suit. Probably as much as Sungmin was himself. Official functions weren’t his thing, but this was a formal showcase with a party afterwards. Even if he wasn’t staying at it, since Henry's agency wasn’t too happy with the fact that the violinist was leaving them and Sungmin didn’t want to rub it in their faces, he still needed to look appropriate for the evening. As did Kyuhyun.

‘Ugh… okay?’ Kyuhyun looked a little unsure as he tugged at the sleeve of his jacket.

Swallowing thickly Sungmin looked to the ground before turning his head towards the entrance door. ‘Yeah. Let’s go?’ He started to walk to the hallway. He really didn’t want to give his full description of how well did Kyuhyun look.

***

Something was wrong, off. Even Henry noticed and asked him about it despite not knowing his mentor’s house help. Kyuhyun wasn’t himself, even more than before they came to the showcase. One could have thought that Sungmin wasn’t paying much attention to his behavior with how he was fussing over Henry, but he really was. He was even more aware of Kyuhyun than of his own favorite protégé, not that Henry minded it all that much. He knew how his mentor could be when his mind was troubled with something. They spent enough time together to get each other moods. And Sungmin was glad for that because it was as if he had a younger brother again.

The afterparty already started and Henry was supposed to be there already, but he asked for fifteen more minutes from his agent, who was already glowering towards Sungmin and Shindong. He knew that they were from the agency Henry was transferring to and that Shindong was there to already talk some business with Henry’s manager, who apparently was going to move the companies with the boy he was given the charge of – Heechul had no objections, that meant he wouldn’t have to search for a new guy and could save up on the training and the assistant manager who he would have to employ for the first few months. They both, Sungmin and Shindong, weren’t going to attend the afterparty and so they had only this much time with the violinist.

Sungmin tore his eyes away from Kyuhyun's form. The younger male was the beautiful violin lying in the case on the vanity. He seemed too deep in thought to notice anything at all and Sungmin sighed before turning towards Henry again.

‘We’ll go Henry.’ He finally mumbled quietly. He didn’t feel too good about cutting what was already a short time they had to catch up. It would be some time before either of them could meet again, especially since Henry was so busy with his showcases and tour. And it would be another four months before he transferred agencies.

The Chinese boy, although he grew so much that it was hard to think about him in that category, smiled with understanding before his eyes darted quickly towards Kyuhyun and returned to Sungmin’s face.

‘Yeah hyung, I get it.’ His accent was as thick as ever, but at least they didn’t need electronic translators to converse anymore. Sungmin wasn’t too good in English and he knew maybe two phrases in Chinese. ‘I heard you bought tickets for all showcases, hopefully my watchdogs will let you come backstage after one of the performances.’ He glared towards the guy standing in the doorway.

Sungmin chuckled. ‘When you move to us we’ll get all the time to meet up.’ He nodded to his own words and once again turned to look at Kyuhyun, who right now dropped all act and was openly displaying his discomfort, hands pushed into his slacks’ pockets, eyes focused on some point on the wall.

With a promise to keep in touch as long as he’ll be in the country Henry hugged Sungmin tightly, holding him for a couple of seconds longer than before. when he released the elder male he could feel a burning stare at his ear.

He definitely wanted to get to know Kyuhyun more, since the man obviously meant a lot to his hyung. However, he certainly would avoid meeting him before the two of them resolved their issue.

With one last wave at Henry, Sungmin motioned for Kyuhyun to follow him out.

Sungmin knew he had to bring up whatever was happening in Kyuhyun's head when they get home. It was now or never. He doubted there would be a moment better than this one. Kyuhyun's feelings were closest to surface than ever and he needed to make a use of that.

***

With lips still burning from the searing kiss he looked at hastily dressing Kyuhyun.

What had just happened?

Hundreds of thoughts were swirling in Sungmin’s head and he was trying to wrap his mind around the words that spilled from Kyuhyun's mouth before the younger shot up from the bed and out of the room. He finally had Kyuhyun admitting he wanted him, albeit he was still surprised to hear it, to know how jealous the younger felt. And Sungmin knew that making that move, kissing Kyuhyun, was the best thing he could do. Heechul was right, everything clicked into place and with Kyuhyun under him, pressed against him, he finally let go of the apprehension. He wanted Kyuhyun just as much, wanted him on so many more levels than just ual – which he was afraid might have been the case when he fist realized Kyuhyun's attraction.

But now Kyuhyun was already dressed and leaving.

A small spark of hope, that the younger would stay and they could talk about it like they should have, instead of making out like teenagers, ignited in him when Kyuhyun suddenly wavered in his steps. Not really stopping, but slowing down, Kyuhyun turned his head and looked at him. There was tears in his eyes but they couldn’t mask the obvious accusation and disappointment.

Sungmin breath caught and he couldn’t move, couldn’t even utter a weak Stay.

And then Kyuhyun was gone from the apartment. And probably from his life.

***

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