Wednesday, April 25, 2009…

            I woke early that morning, eager to beat Ryeowook to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone.  Now that Kyuhyun and I were on speaking terms and not trying to kill one another, I felt that working on reestablishing my platonic relationship with Ryeowook was top priority.    That being said, I made one of his favorite dishes for breakfast, kimchi fried rice, with several more side dishes in an attempt to wow everyone in the dorm.  As soon as the food started cooking, the two most reliable eaters wandered into the kitchen, ready to stuff their faces. 

            Kyuhyun made coffee while Hyukjae set the table.  With all the glances back and forth from Kyuhyun to me, I could tell that Hyukjae was waiting for all hell to break loose.  It wasn’t going to, of course, but he seemed ready, just in case.

            “What are you making?” Kyuhyun finally asked, setting a steaming cup of coffee beside me on the counter and looking over my shoulder.

            “Kimchi fried rice,” I answered proudly.

            “Ah, kissing up to the love interest, I see.  You should have told me first.  I would have let you know that he already left for an early voice recording.  He had to try to fit it in before our video shoot later this morning.”

            “What?” I asked, hoping he was lying.

            “Go see for yourself,” he offered.

            I just couldn’t believe he wasn’t pulling my leg.  I’d gotten up before seven in the morning and hadn’t seen any sign of anyone having gotten up before me, but sure enough, he was long gone.  I’d spent the night in my own bed and Ryeowook was in his room with Leeteuk, and only our cranky leader remained, chewing me out for waking him.  I returned to the kitchen, shuffling my feet.

            “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll tell him how good it was when I see him,” Kyuhyun offered.

            I threw one of the kitchen towels at him and scowled.  I leaned against the counter, no longer concerned with the food I was cooking, and took a sip of my coffee.

            Immediately, I began choking on it and spit it out in the sink.  “What the hell?” I hollered, rounding on Kyuhyun.  “Why is there salt in my coffee?”

            “I said that I’d forgive you and that I promised not to physically touch you, I didn’t say I wasn’t going to get any revenge.  Of course, putting salt in your coffee isn’t quite enough to make up for kissing my boyfriend, so you can expect this to happen again in some fashion or another,” Kyuhyun warned me, leaning back in his chair and giving me a smug look.

            “I’m going to burn the rice,” I told him, turning to the stove and cranking up the fire.

            Hyukjae jumped to his feet and pushed me out of the way.  “Enough of that!  It’s not the rice’s fault that he’s a merciless !  Damn it, I’m hungry!”

            Hyukjae yanked the spatula out of my hand and began to stir the rice up.  I sighed and then took over once again after Hyukjae made me swear on my mother’s soul that I wouldn’t harm the breakfast.  I made it and let them both eat it.  The gobbled it down as if they hadn’t eaten in a week while I only picked at it.  I was eager to make amends with Ryeowook and get our friendship back to normal…or as close as I could get it.  All this work had accomplished nothing. 

            “How did you avoid doing any retakes?  Aren’t you supposed to be one of the main singers?” I accused him, bitter about having to feed him while Wookie didn’t get to eat.

            “Jongwoon and I spent all damn day there yesterday, thank you very much!  It’s my voice that repeats over and over again in the background, so of course they have to make me sing that one part for three hours straight before they even record any of my other lines.  I get to go back there on Friday too.  My throat is killing me.  I’ll probably be puking blood by the next session.”

            I rolled my eyes.

            “Dumb , that’s totally happened to me before when we were recording for KRY.”

            Actually, now that I think back to it, I think Ryeowook said something about that because he was in such a panic about it.  I think I just forgot because he didn’t die of blood loss like I hoped he would.

            “I thought we filmed all the dance scenes for the video already.  We did the acting one where we all walk around and then we filmed the dancing.  What could possibly be left?” Hyukjae asked, looking from Kyuhyun to me to see if either of us knew what was going on.

            “The singing part,” Kyuhyun said, raising his brows.  “Duh!”

            “Shut it, maknae,” he said, pretending to be offended.  “I didn’t ask for your lip.”

            “Apparently, we just stand around in this one and look pretty.  Which means they’ll mostly film me and Donghae,” he informed us.

            I smacked the back of his head and he accidentally spit out some of the rice he’d just put into his mouth.  “They’ll mostly film Siwon and Heechul then,” I complained.  “I’ll be lucky if they take more than two shots of me.  I don’t have that many voice bits in this song.”

            “I don’t want to stand around all day,” Hyukjae grumbled to himself, snarling down at his plate.

            Once Kyuhyun finished eating, he took off to take a shower, leaving just Hyukjae and I to clean up.  To my surprise, everyone else was either upstairs or they’d already left for the day, aside from Leeteuk who was determined to sleep in.  At least Hyukjae was nice enough to stick around as I picked up and even offered to do the dishes as I packed up all the food to be eaten later. 

            “I’m sure Wookie will eat that once he gets back.  They won’t serve him any food at headquarters when he needs to be singing.  I’m sure he’ll appreciate it then,” Hyukjae said encouragingly. 

            “That wasn’t as much the point as having the chance to talk to him.  I need to apologize for putting him in the position I did.  It wasn’t right of me, even if I do have feelings for him,” I explained, putting away the containers in the refrigerator. 

            “I don’t know if you need to apologize,” Hyukjae said, scrubbing out the pan I’d used.

            “Of course I do,” I insisted, walking over to the drying rack and taking out a plate to towel it off.  “I shouldn’t be going around kissing taken people.”

            “No,” he agreed, “but you should have done it before you had competition.”

            “I shouldn’t have done it at all.  He’s never thought of me like that.”

            I stood there, spacing out as I thought of my sorry lot in life, drying the same plate for God knows how long when Hyukjae finally splashed me with water and I jumped back in surprise. 

            “Snap out of it already,” he warned, smiling at me.  “Overthinking it isn’t going to get you anywhere.  You’re right, Wookie’s taken now and there’s nothing you can do about it.  You also already know that he’s going to forgive you, since he considers you his closest friend here, so quit worrying about it.  The past is the past.  Let it be and more ahead.”

            “Hah!” I laughed bitterly, putting the plate back where it belonged.  “I wish it were that easy.  I know that it was only for a couple seconds, but I can’t stop thinking about kissing him.  How the hell do I stop that?”

            I heard Hyukjae turn off the water he’d been using to rinse the dishes, but I didn’t pay him any mind until suddenly he grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him.  Startled, I looked up at him.  His eyes bore into mine, no longer a hint of the cheerful humor he’d exhibited only a few moments ago present within them.  Instead, I found an intensity hiding there in the depths, a yearning that longed to escape.  Then he closed his eyes and, before I could comprehend his intentions, he bent his head down and kissed me.  I was so shocked; I just stared at him with wide eyes, unable to move a muscle.  Hyukjae continued to kiss me, his tongue the seam of my mouth.  I wasn’t about to open it for him, but then he grasped the back of my head as he angled his head more, while his other hand lightly touched my waist, and I gasped at the sensation of his hands on me. 

            Reflexively, my eyes closed as his tongue explored my mouth.  I grew lightheaded at the feeling of his lips against mine and realized that it actually felt good.  It felt right.  This wasn’t the first time we’d kissed.  It wasn’t the second.  It wasn’t even the thirtieth.  Hell, I’d los