Wednesday, December 24, 2008…

            Although I made it a point all morning to complain about being forced to leave the dorm and celebrate the holidays with Kyuhyun’s family, no one took me seriously, least of all Kyuhyun.  Perhaps it was the forty-five minutes it took me to get my hair just right or the mound of cookies I stacked in a plastic container to share with them, I apparently looked eager to go. 

            “I could have had the tv all to myself,” I grumbled, buttoning up my shirt in the bedroom.

            Leeteuk laughed at me, still lounging around in his bed since he wouldn’t be leaving until later.  “Listen to you,” he said, shaking his head.  “You almost sound as excited as Kyuhyun.”

            “Kyuhyun?  Why would he be excited?”

            “Because he’s very attached to you and he hates it when you go places without him,” Leeteuk said, glancing at me over the book he was reading.

            “He just hates to be left out in general,” I reasoned, leaning towards the mirror to investigate the slight hint of circles under my eyes.  “This time he had someplace to go and I didn’t.  It’s not the same.”

            I watched Leeteuk through the mirror as he tilted his head to the side.  “Really?  That’s what you tell yourself?  I’ve never seen people as stuck on each other as you two are and in this much denial about it.”

            “What?” I questioned. 

            My stomach began to churn.  Was it possible that Leeteuk knew about my feelings for Kyuhyun?  Of all the Super Junior members, the only one that knew a thing was Sungmin.  I had to tell someone and I’d always felt that Sungmin would be the most understanding member.  And he never proved me wrong.  Although I can’t say that he understood my interest in Kyuhyun—he often wondered how I could stoop so low—but he was nothing but supportive of the fact that I was gay.  I have my theories behind his easy acceptance of this, but that’s a story for another day.  I was less sure of how the other members would react to such news.  Would they freak out about changing in front of me?  Would they look upon me as a sinner?  Would they be disappointed?  And Leeteuk of all people, I could never bear it if he thought ill of me! 

            “What do you mean, hyung?”

            Leeteuk sighed heavily.  “Nothing, nevermind.   I think you’ll understand me someday.  I hope you and Kyuhyun have a wonderful Christmas!”

            “You too, hyung!” I said, relieved that he wasn’t being serious and heading out the door when Kyuhyun started calling my name.

            By the time I got to the door with my container of cookies, Kyuhyun was fully dressed and ready to leave, impatiently staring at me.  Again, as I slipped my feet into my shoes, he held my coat open for me.  I was relieved that I didn’t have to juggle the cookies in my arms as I tried to put it on, but Kyuhyun took it one step further and wrapped my scarf around my neck and then buttoned my coat up for me. 

            “Do you want your hat?” he teasingly offered.

            “No!” I said, appalled at the idea of putting on a hat when my hair actually looked half decent for a change.  Kyuhyun smiled at me in amusement and opened the door, pushing me out of the dorm and saying good-bye to our hyungs. 

            “Good riddance!” he shouted, pulling the door shut and heading for the elevator. 

            “You’re going to make them mad,” I warned him.

            “I don’t have to see them all day, so I don’t care, but I’d rather not anger mom and dad right from the start.  My poor parents have been waiting for us downstairs for three whole minutes now,” he mockingly lectured me.

            “If you were the one running behind and not me, you wouldn’t feel guilty at all.”

            We walked into the elevator and Kyuhyun hit the button for the downstairs ramp, where we had them drive so that we could get picked up without getting seen by our fans.  “I’m the youngest in the family—I’m the baby—so they don’t care if they have to wait on me a little.  You should know better.”

            I rolled my eyes and shook my head.  “Santa is bringing you a whole heap of coal this year for all your evil ways and I’ll be damned if I share any of my presents with you.  You didn’t earn a dang one of them.”

            “If you had a giant bowlful of candy from Santa and he didn’t give me a single piece, I bet you’d share most of yours with me,” he countered.  “Even if all the others went without too.”

            “Only because I can’t stand to hear you whine.  You’re such a baby!”

            “Just admit that you love me most!”

            “I will not!  I obviously love Sungmin more.”

            Suddenly, the evil smirk plastered across Kyuhyun’s face suddenly vanished and he looked directly at me.  “You do not love Sungmin more!”

            “Yes, I do.  He’s nicer to me than you are,” I informed him.

            “I didn’t see him inviting you to come over for Christmas when he found out you’d be sitting at home, alone all day,” Kyuhyun pointed out.

            “But he spent all day with me yesterday baking.”

            The elevator door opened then and Kyuhyun’s mother immediately hopped out of the car, opening her arms wide.  Kyuhyun frowned at me, only for a second, and then rushed out of the elevator to give his mother a suffocating hug.  I smiled to myself, enjoying the fact that I always knew just how to get under Kyuhyun’s skin if I wanted, and followed him.  Mr. Cho had gotten out of the car, but remained by the driver’s side and simply raised is hand up to greet me.

            “Good morning!” I called out, nodding at him.

            When Kyuhyun and his mother finally quit hugging, she instantly turned to me.  I tried to hand her the container of cookies, but she wrapped her arms around me instead and Kyuhyun was quick enough to grab the container from me so I wouldn’t lose my grip on it and spill them on the ground.  He was rather fond of my baking abilities, after all, and was expecting to eat at least half of them himself. 

            “Wookie, we were so happy when you said that you’d come over this year!” she said, patting my back. 

            I hugged her back, leaning down a little since I was actually taller than her.  “Thank you so much for inviting me!”

            Mrs. Cho backed away, but hadn’t released my arms yet.  She looked up at me, managing to intimidate me in a way only a mother could, despite her small stature and innocent face.  “You’ve lost weight.  Have you been skipping meals?”

            “Ah,” I said, faking a smile and looking at Kyuhyun for help.  “No, I swear that I eat when I can, but we work so hard, we don’t always get enough sleep.  I don’t think I’ve lost any weight.”

            “He has,” Kyuhyun insisted, a gleam in his eye as he gave me a smug look.  “Look at his clothes.  Don’t they seem loose, mom?”

            “These jeans are meant to look baggy!” I defended myself, glaring at Kyuhyun as he took a cookie out of the container and began munching. 

            “Well, I’m making lots of food today and I’ll send some extras home with you,” she said, finally releasing me and heading for the open car door. 

            Kyuhyun opened the door for me, silently laughing, and I snatched the cookies from him before sitting down and scooting over to the other side.  “Quit eating all the cookies, they’re for everyone!” I snapped, pouting about the fact he’d thrown me under the bus to his mother.

            “You’re right,” he said, squeezing my knee.  “I ought to share some with you so you don’t wither away.”

            I smacked him in the arm hard and Mr. Cho smiled as he glanced at us through the rearview mirror.  “Kyuhyun, are you buckled up?”

            “I’m buckling right now!  And so is Wookie!”

            “I’d really hate to think that people who miraculously survive horrible car accidents would forget to buckle their seatbelts when they ride in the car.  Look at how good your mother and I have become at remembering to buckle ours now.”

            “And every time I’m in the car with someone and they don’t buckle up, I tell them about how you barely managed to survive,” his mother continued.

            I could see the embarrassment on Kyuhyun’s face of being lectured on car safety by his parents.  His face was turning red, even as he was nodding his head at them and agreeing with everything they said for the next several minutes until Kyuhyun asked if Ahra was dating anyone, if he was coming over for dinner too, and if Mr. Cho approved of him, successfully diverting the attention from him to his older sister.  Kyuhyun then sat back in his seat and rested his head on my shoulder, as listening to Mr. Cho rant about Ahra’s string of bad boyfriends never seemed to require anyone to speak with, and his monologue lasted the rest of the way to his house, and Kyuhyun was sound asleep beside me.