The timing is never right. That sounds like an excuse right? Except it's not. Every time you get up the nerve to make a move he already has a new boyfriend. If that's not the case then some other disaster seems to befall your life to where your focus isn't love but something more important. "If you can't take care of yourself how can you take care of another?"

 

Kyuhyun's mother had always told him that over and over. He believed in it wholeheartedly. With his mom gone now, Kyuhyun had to make ends meet for not only himself but also his father who could never seem to hold a proper job. Kyuhyun didn't mind, it was his father after all. He appreciated his mother all

the more.

 

Kyuhyun sighed as he flipped the page to the newspaper he had, while keeping his eyes on the man who was moving so smoothly through his dance routine. The way his muscles flexed involuntarily through his movements always created a problem for Kyuhyun. The sweat dripping down his head and back didn't help either. Donghae was a professional dancer and long time friend. Which was why Kyuhyun was sitting in a corner of the practice room watching his friend while looking for a job. He already had two but he still needed a third.

 

Tearing his eyes away from the dancing machine over there, he went back to his job hunt. He circled anything that looked like he had a semi-chance of acquiring. The music cut off abruptly. Kyuhyun looked up. "Done already?" A chuckle echoed through the now quiet dance room. "Kyu, it's two in the morning." Donghae walked over to his bag, took off his sweat stained shirt. Bending over he pulled out a towel drying off then pulled out his clean change of clothes and threw them over his shoulder. Tossing in the dirty , he turned back around to face his friend. Kyuhyun had to look down at his knees to hide his blush. He hadn't expected Donghae to turn around so quickly and he had clearly been admiring the view. "It is?!.. Oh..." He however couldn't hide his pink tinged ears.

 

Donghae walked over and squatted down in front of  his friend, he lightly and playfully slapped Kyuhyun's cheek. "Your ears are red again. It's just us Kyu, you've seen it a million times no reason to be embarrassed. Kyuhyun bit his lip, if only you knew Donghae. If only you knew he thought to himself. Donghae stood up again laughing to himself and Kyuhyun cleared his throat before packing up his things. "I'm gonna go shower real quick. Meet you downstairs?" The dancer asked, grabbing his bag and heading to the door. "Yeah, Hae." Kyuhyun replied but neither needed the response, this was a routine for them. Kyuhyun patted his cheeks and shook his head a little trying to get back to friendship zone. It's where they always were anyways. Why was it getting harder and harder to keep his mind there? Putting his bag over his shoulder Kyuhyun turned off the lights to the room and left behind his inappropriate feeling for his friend.

 

 

Cup ramen at the convenience store was a ritual for the two boys. "So, find anything Kyu?" Donghae was asking about the job hunt. Once Kyuhyun slurped up a noodle, chewed and swallowed he replied, "A few but nothing amazing. Some construction work-" Kyuhyun broke off his words when ramen went flying in his face. He squinted as some had gotten into his eye. Laughter mixed with apologies filled the air. Then a napkin was being rubbed all over Kyuhyun's face. "Hae, if you wanted to swap spit with me there are other ways." He grumbled without thinking much about his words.

 

Donghae blinked then laughed some more. Kyuhyun had taken the napkin from him and cleaned up his own face. "I'm sorry, Kyu. It's just you and manual labor.. they don't mix anndd I'll keep that suggestion in mind." he winked and Kyuhyun could feel the warmth in his cheeks grow, he knew that his ears were turning red. He quickly stared into his noodles. "I can do manual labor you know." he grumbled. A hand landed on his shoulder and gave him a couple comforting pats. "Sure you can and you'll complain about it the whole time. Just stick to computers." Kyuhyun looked up from stirring his noodles around and saw the laughter in the others eyes. He loved seeing that kind of happiness in his friend. He wanted it to stay that way always. 

 

"Those types of jobs don't go for barely graduated high school people like me." He didn't mean anything by it but Donghae turned serious. "We both know you didn't have a choice Kyuhyun-ah." He pushed his noodles away not hungry anymore. "I know I wasn't moping just stating a fact. "I'll figure something out just focus on your show okay?" he looked up at his friend with a smile. Donghae didn't budge at first but he couldn't stay serious for long. Even though Kyuhyun didn't know it, Donghae couldn't resist those goofy smiles. "Alright, I will."

 

It had been a week since Kyuhyun had seen his friend as he had found a third job and Donghae was busy dancing his heart out. Oddly enough Kyuhyun had found a job at their convenience store. He always worked third shift so he never got as much sleep as he should. Luckily, Donghae hadn't figured that out yet. Kyuhyun knew he wouldn't hear the end of it if he did. Since he had been working at their convenience store he hadn't seen Donghae. That was until tonight.

 

Kyuhyun heard the bell ding while he was in the back grabbing more chips to restock the shelves. No one had come in for awhile so he figured he had time. Making his way back to the front he noticed two males had come in. They were lost in their own conversation so he didn't bother saying hello. They hadn't seen him yet anyways. He'd watch to see if they needed help before greeting them. 

 

Kyuhyun walked to the aisle with the chips and he started restocking until he heard a familiar laugh ring through the air. He dropped the chips he had been holding and looked over in the direction of the voices. He could see the dark hair that he instinctively knew was Donghae's. Kyuhyun moved out of the aisle to get a better view. In the same two seats that Kyuhyun and Donghae always shared their cup noodles, sat Donghae and someone new with bright red hair, cut short and spiked up.

 

He felt the annoyance and jealousy growing in the pit of his stomach. This was their spot. Or it was supposed to be. He always kept Donghae company when he practiced because he didn't like being alone that late while he danced. No matter how tired Kyuhyun was he did it. He couldn't now of course with his new job but he hadn't expected to be replaced...at least not this soon. Over the years Kyuhyun had gotten used to Donghae's boyfriends, not letting them bother him because Donghae always kept their time together sacred. Apparently, it wasn't sacred anymore. He went back to his chips, snatched up the ones he had dropped and put the rest away with his jaw locked tight. He marched back behind the cash wrap and waited for the two to finish and pay.

It felt like an eternity of laughter, smiles and what Kyuhyun perceived as flirtatious looks and banter as he could only see his replacement. Donghae's back was to him. The two fought over who was paying as they made their way to the register. Donghae had won. "What is that? A date? Who seriously needs to argue that much over it." Kyuhyun grumbled to himself.

 

Donghae's shocked eyes met with badly masked annoyed eyes. "Kyu?" Kyuhyun tapped his name tag. "Who else is there?" The replacement was watching the interaction between the two with confusion. Donghae smiled and leaned across the counter to playfully hit his friend. Kyuhyun however pulled back making the other's hand only hit air. The smile faltered. Kyuhyun was already ringing the two up, refusing to look at Donghae. He couldn't seem to get a grip on his emotions which were making him mean. He didn't like it, but he didn't like how close the other guy was to Donghae.

 

"$6.27" he said in a monotonous tone. Donghae just stood there for a moment trying to figure out what was going on. "Kyu.." Kyuhyun turned his eyes to Donghae's with a blank expression. The dancer silenced himself and took out the money. The other man stepped closer and leaned in to speak to Donghae. "I'll give you a minute." He wasn't sure what was going on but figured it was better to be away from the tension. Kyuhyun watched the interaction with envious eyes. They looked rather comfortable with each other. "Um..Alright, Hyuk." Donghae nodded. Kyuhyun balled his hands up into fists, nails would be digging into his flesh if he had any. Hyuk? why the nickname? He had never heard of anyone called Hyuk. He continued to watch Hyuk squeeze Donghae's shoulder and Donghae give him a small smile.

 

He looked away when his friend turned his attention back to him. "Any day now." He said speaking about the money. Donghae only clenched it tightly in his hand. "Only after you tell me what's up." He said in concern. Kyuhyun felt a pang of guilt due to the concern he heard but he refused to look at his friend. He didn't need any more emotions creeping n. Honestly, he felt like he was a girl on her period or something, this was ridiculous.

 

"And why didn't you tell me you were working here?" Donghae had put both of his hands on the counter, leaning on it. He wanted a straight answer from his friend. Kyuhyun began biting on his lip, he didn't really want to answer. "For a week and you never asked." he had chosen to ignore the first question. He didn't know how to answer it anyways. Donghae could only nod, it was fair enough. He hadn't asked as he had been in the middle of practicing when the conversation about a new job found had been going on."So.. what's with the attitude? Who pissed you off? It's rare for you to act.. like a jerk." That was a mild word even Kyuhyun knew that but he didn't want to admit to it. "Yah! I am not a jerk." Donghae smirked, "Never said you were, but that doesn't mean you aren't acting like one." Somehow the way Donghae was speaking to him was calming him down back to reason. "Whose that?" He jerked his thumb towards the door. Donghae had to look to remember he had brought his partner here. "Oh, Hyuk? He's a-...what do you think he is?" Donghae had a light bulb go off midway through his explanation. He wanted Kyuhyun to look at him but he was still staring at the counter. "Huh?" 

 

Kyuhyun wasn't expecting that question. Donghae didn't play games when he was being serious...normally. Kyuhyun looked up "I don't know. If I did I wouldn't have asked, smart one." That snarky attitude was back. Donghae just shook his head. He hopped up and over the counter and stood in front of his friend. Stepping into his personal space. "Stop being an , Kyuhyun." He had to gulp as he stared into Donghae's eyes that were freezing him in place. He looked down only to see those full lips of Donghae's that were always smooth because the guy always carried chapstick around, unlike Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun slowly brought his eyes back to his friends, not able to control the heat rushing to his cheeks, due to their close proximity. What Kyuhyun didn't know is  that Donghae had his own secrets. Everyone did. Didn't they?

 

Donghae took another step closer to Kyuhyun who was biting his lip again, staring at the minimal space on the floor he could see. "If you're worried that Hyuk is my boyfriend, Kyuhyun-ah then you're mistaken." A warm hand found Kyuhyun's first and uncurled it, entwining their fingers. Another hand went to Kyuhyun's chin, taking it between his thumb and forefinger, lifting it up so their eyes could meet. "I never thought you would get so angry. I know this is our spot but I really didn't think anything of taking my dance partner for the show to get food after practice." Kyuhyun tried not to meet his friends eyes. His heart was pounding and it was hard to breath. They didn't hold hands. Not like this. Never this close. Donghae didn't stare at him so intently and Donghae was his silly carefree friend that was oblivious to everything.

 

Apparently he had been deceived. "..How did you know?" Kyuhyun asked quietly. Donghae rubbed his thumb along his bottom lip. "I've been waiting for the day you stopped bottling everything up.. So awhile, you aren't very sneaky." he chuckled and Kyuhyun unconsciously pouted. He thought he had done a splendid job. He hated being wrong. Kyuhyun started thinking back only to have Donghae's words really hit him. "Wait, you've been wai-" A finger was put to his lips to quiet him. Kyuhyun watched with wide curious eyes as Donghae moved in closely until their lips met. Donghae's smooth lips pressed against Kyuhyun's slightly chapped ones and he ran his tongue along Kyuhyun's bottom lip. Kyuhyun opened his mouth allowing entrance to the other. This is something he had day dreamed about on multiple occasions. As Donghae's tongue slid over his, Kyuhyun was in heaven. He responded letting their tongues have their own very first dance.

 

Donghae's hand pulled on Kyuhyun's belt loop to pull him closer, closing all space between the two. Kyuhyun lifted his  free arm up and ran his fingers through Donghae's short hair. A moment later the two pulled apart, each with the same expression of relaxed bliss mirroring in the others eyes. "I don't know why I waited so long.. there's no perfect timing." Donghae muttered while taking a step back but not unlinking their hands. His thumb rubbed gently over Kyuhyun's hand.

 

Hearing those words Kyuhyun thought of his mothers words, while she had a point how was he able to pass up what was right in front of him? He had been waiting so, so very long. "Don't worry Kyuhyun-ah we'll take care of each other." Kyuhyun looked up at Donghae and smiled. That was his best friend, always knowing what he was thinking and just how much his mother's words meant to him. Maybe it was better that way. Together.

 

That sounded good.

 

"Okay. Together." Kyuhyun squeezed Donghae's hand. The belt tinkled but the two didn't budge. "Yah! There's a customer. Do your job." Donghae and Kyuhyun turned to see there was an elderly woman next to Hyuk and they both had the decency to blush embarrassed that they had been caught. Donghae hopped over the counter again. "I'll call you tomorrow, Kyuhyun-ah." Kyuhyun only nodded his ears were beat red and he couldn't reply. Taking his gaze over to the elderly lady he couldn't hold her gaze, looking in her direction but at the floor he greeted her. "Annyeonghasaeyo, I'm Kyuhyun. How may I help you?" The woman grinned knowing and asked him for some cigarettes. He obliged but the blush never left his face until after she was gone.

 

 

Donghae called Kyuhyun the next day as he said but so did his boss. "Yah! You got me fired. Take responsibility." Were the first words out of Kyuhyun's mouth upon answering Donghae's call. Laughter was heard over the line, which only annoyed Kyuhyun more, he was serious. "Okay, I'll take responsibility. Kyuhyun-ah will you be my boyfriend?" There was silence on the line as Kyuhyun blinked a few times. He hadn't been expecting that question. "Kyu?" Donghae asked confused as to what had happened. 

 

"Hello? You there?" Kyuhyun finally snapped out of it. "Sure...but only after you find me a new job." His signature smirk graced his lips and now it was Donghae's turn for silence but it was much shorter. "Alright, but don't complain when I get hit on and don't specify about having a boyfriend." he teased. "Yah!" the two continued their playful bickering as they stepped into a new chapter where timing was never perfect but that is what made life wonderful.