It wasn’t hard to find the bakery once he looked it up on the internet.  It really was a short distance and Ryeowook swore that it was good exercise to walk to and from work every day, so Kyuhyun walked to the bakery instead of driving.  He could have just called to ask him, the phone number to the bakery popped up right on the screen (Ryeowook didn’t have a cell phone for some reason), but Kyuhyun needed an excuse to go see the bakery anyway.  It was already late January and he’d yet to go there.

            When he walked in, he was greeted by a youngster with blonde hair combed back off his face and a skinny man that was actually significantly taller than him, which wasn’t an everyday occurrence.  Kyuhyun nodded at them both and told them good morning as his eyes took in the baked goods in every nook and cranny of the storefront.  There were lines of different types of breads on the shelves and display cases full of cupcakes, cookies, brownies, bars, and muffins.  Then there was a separate display full of cakes, some with chocolate swirls on top, some with strawberries.  Kyuhyun smiled at seeing how delicate and artful they were.  He could almost picture Ryeowook making them.

            “Can we help you with anything, sir?”

            “I’m here to see Ryeowook,” he informed them.

            “He’s in the middle of baking,” the taller one informed him.  “Can I ask who you are?”

            “I’m his neighbor, Cho Kyuhyun.”

            “Kyuhyun!” the smaller one blurted out in surprise and received a harsh nudge from the other.  “Ah, sorry, Mr. Cho.”

            “You can call me Kyuhyun.”

            “Thank you.  We’ve heard Wookie talk about you, that’s why your name is so familiar,” he informed him.  “My name is Henry and this is Zhoumi.”

            “Nice to meet you both,” he said, holding up his hand.  “I just came to ask him something, but if he’s busy, he can just call me back later.”

            “Don’t be silly,” said Henry, waving him off.  “I’ll just take you back to the kitchen.”

            Kyuhyun smiled at the thought of being able to see how the kitchen looked and to watch Ryeowook baking.  He walked behind the counter and followed the youngster to the back of the bakery. 

            Ryeowook didn’t even look up from rolling out dough at a large table in the center of the room when they walked back, as he obviously wasn’t expecting anyone, but the other man in the kitchen quickly noticed him and gave them a quizzical look, stopping from mixing ingredients in a bowl. 

            “Relax, Minnie.  This is just Kyuhyun, Wookie’s neighbor.”

            Ryeowook looked up, startled.  The moment his eyes met with Kyuhyun’s his open mouth relaxed into a smile.  He looked confused, but pleased to see him.  “What brings you here?”

            Kyuhyun walked over to the table, standing close to him and looking down at what he was making.  “My friends have invited me out to dinner tonight.”

            “Oh, so you wanted to let me know not to make as much food?” he asked, looking down at his dough and beginning to roll it out some more.

            “No,” Kyuhyun said, looking over at Ryeowook, who actually looked a little disappointed.  “I was wondering if you wanted to come with.  I thought I’d buy you dinner since you’re always making me food.”

            Ryeowook looked up and gave him a questioning look.  “Really?  Won’t your friends mind?”

            “Nah, it’s a big smorgasbord of people coming.  You can invite your coworkers to come if you want, too,” he offered.  “We’re just going to a pizza place, but it’s really good.  Want to come?”

            “Sure.”

            “Great,” Kyuhyun said, placing his hand on Ryeowook’s back.

            “You’re going to get all full of flour if you get too close,” Ryeowook warned.

            “And that’s going to kill me?” questioned Kyuhyun.  “Nothing a little soap doesn’t take care of, right?”

            Ryeowook nodded and his cheeks turned pink, which had Kyuhyun wondering about.  Was it possible that Ryeowook was starting to develop feelings for him as well?  He’d been trying to take his time in getting to know his neighbor and found that he often had to ask directly about something before Ryeowook would chat about it, but found him more than willing to speak.  At this point, he figured that they were more friends than neighbors, but was there already more to it than that?

            “AHEM!”

            Ryeowook jumped a little and looked over at the other baker, who was scowling at him.  “Oh, I’m so sorry.  I forgot to introduce you, didn’t I?  Kyuhyun, this is my best friend and business partner, Sungmin.  Minnie, this is Kyuhyun, my neighbor.”

            Sungmin walked over and extended his hand to Kyuhyun.  “Nice to finally meet you!  I was starting to think you were just a figment of Wookie’s imagination.  He kept talking about you and we’d never seen or heard of you.”

            Ryeowook turned from pink to nearly red in the face.

            “I’m real,” said Kyuhyun, shaking his hand.  “I just work from home and hardly wander out of the apartment.  Plus, Ryeowook always brings me home sweets, so I don’t have any reason to come here.”

            Sungmin nodded and glanced at Ryeowook who was busily rolling out dough again.

            “I actually just ran out of one of the herbs I need for my focaccia bread, so I’m going to head out to the store for a little while.  I’d love to come with later though,” he said, looking at Kyuhyun.  Kyuhyun quickly gave him the name of the restaurant and the time they planned to meet and Sungmin left them alone in the kitchen after hanging up his apron and washing up.

            Kyuhyun watched Ryeowook as he began to cut heart shapes out of the dough with a cookie cutter, alternating the direction as he went along to get the most hearts out of the dough.

            “What are you making?”

            “Heart shaped cookies,” he said.  “I frost them with a glaze and then I decorate them with cake frosting.  Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and the kids love to order these because of all the sugar.”

            “So do I,” admitted Kyuhyun.  “Can you bring me home one?”

            “Sure.”

            “Is that all you do for Valentine’s Day?”

            “No, but almost all the cakes and bars that I sell are bought the day of, so I work like crazy for a day or two before the holiday and then crash afterwards,” he said, beginning to pull the hearts from the roll and set them on sheets. 

            “So…that isn’t really romantic, is it?  You must not look forward to it much than,” Kyuhyun pointed out.

            Ryeowook looked up at him quizzically.  “Of course I do!  I make a lot of money!”

            Kyuhyun laughed at this and pat his back affectionately.  “I’ll see you later then.  We’ll leave at quarter to six.  Okay?”

            “Okay,” Ryeowook agreed, still placing the cuts on giant cookie sheets.

            “Kyuhyun,” he called after him as he began to walk away.

            Kyuhyun turned back around to face him. 

            “Thanks for stopping by.”

            “Thanks for letting me spy on you at work.”

            Kyuhyun hurried out the door, because suddenly he felt a little overwhelmed by the vibes he was getting from Ryeowook’s coworkers.  They seemed to act as if they knew something he didn’t and Ryeowook seemed embarrassed and shy.  He couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe Ryeowook liked him and had been successfully keeping it hidden from him up to this point, but he wasn’t sure.  All he knew was that if he stayed alone with Ryeowook any longer, he wasn’t sure if he could control himself, and he didn’t want to make a move until he felt sure of Ryeowook’s feelings.  They were neighbors, after all.  He didn’t want to move because things had become awkward between them.  And he really didn’t want to give up his dinner every night. 

            Before he left, he invited Henry and Zhoumi to join them as well and then he headed back t