On December twenty-first, the twenty-fourth day since Ryeowook met Yesung, a certain trio was gathered at Leeteuk’s apartment, munching on Chinese takeout as they discussed the upcoming Christmas party. They were all rather convinced that something needed to happen then, but they weren’t exactly sure what. At the moment, however, Sungmin was fighting with Kyuhyun over who would get to eat the last fortune cookie.

“I’m older! I’m the hyung! You should respect your hyungs, Kyuhyunnieeee! Let me eat it!”

“I’m the youngest! I’m the dongsaeng! You should be nice to your dongsaengs!”

“Hey! I am nice to you guys!”

“Oh yeah? You never buy me anything or take me out to dinner or anything like that!”

“Because you’re always so busy!”

“I am not!”

“YA! Both of you be quiet!” Leeteuk tossed his fortune cookie at Kyuhyun, who caught it on reflex, as he answered the phone, which neither of the other two had heard ringing. “Hello?”

“Hyungggg!!”

“Hey, Zhou Mi; wait a second, I’ll put you on speaker.”

“Mimi! I’ve missed youuu! How’s Paris? Is it absolutely gorgeous?” Sungmin bounced over toward the phone, completely abandoning the fortune cookie he’d worked so hard to get. Kyuhyun took advantage of this and slid the cookie into his pocket nonchalantly before plopping down on the couch next to Leeteuk.

“Paris is amazing! You wouldn’t believe the shops here! There are so many designer shops; it’s like Heaven! I’ve bought an entire new winter wardrobe and it is fabulous! You all should get psyched for some pretty awesome Christmas presents, too. Oh, oh, oh, and guess what? I’m coming home early! I’m going to be flying back on Christmas Eve!”

The three exchanged glances before all blurting out, “Don’t tell Wookie!”

“Wait, what?”

“Don’t tell Wookie,” Leeteuk repeated. “We’re having a Christmas party at Siwon’s on Sunday. Don’t tell him you’re coming back and surprise him there!”

“Okay! Ohhh, and speaking of our Ryeo, would you happen to know who he has a cute little crush on? He refused to admit to me that he was crushing on someone but I know he is!”

Sungmin and Kyuhyun looked at each other before bursting into laughter – even those who weren’t physically around Ryeowook could tell! Why couldn’t Yesung? Leeteuk was doing his best to be the level-headed, mature one of the bunch but he wanted to laugh so damn bad.

“It’s Kim Jongwoon – he’s a vocal coach. I don’t know if you—”

“Little Ryeo likes Yesung hyung?!” On the other end of the line, Zhou Mi literally squealed. “He’s in Hangeng hyung’s store all the time so I see him a lot! We talk whenever we see each other and oh my gosh!! Those twooooo! I bet they’re just adorable together! But Yesung hyung can be kind of slow on the uptake sometimes…”

“Exactly,” Kyuhyun said, cutting into Zhou Mi’s squeals and spasms. “We’re all pretty convinced that he likes Ryeowook back, but he won’t admit it to himself so he won’t really act on his feelings. We want to try to get at least one of them to admit it.”

“I don’t care what this plan is, but I am so in!”

“We wanted to do something at the Christmas party, Mimi!” Sungmin chirped, smiling. “I mean, with all of us there, we figured that we’d definitely be able to come up with some way to get one of them to confess.”

“Is Heechul hyung going to be there?”

“It’s Heechul. Would he really miss an opportunity to get presents and torment his dongsaengs?” Leeteuk raised an eyebrow at Zhou Mi’s question.

“…Touché. Well, if he’s going to be there, then we should definitely be able to get them to confess. What kind of plan did you three have in mind, anyway?”

Kyuhyun looked at the others before answering. “Well…”

“HEY!” Sungmin interrupted him, suddenly noticing his severe lack of fortune cookie. “Kyuhyunnnn! YOU TOOK MY COOKIE!”

Leeteuk’s signature laughter, mixed with Zhou Mi’s, filled the room along with Sungmin’s threats and Kyuhyun’s taunts as the Bunny chased the evil little Gamer around the space, all planning momentarily forgotten.

~~~

On December twenty-third, Ryeowook found himself alone in his apartment, staring at his notebook and clutching his purple teddy bear to his chest with one hand. He honestly wanted to try to write something but he just couldn’t figure out what. Besides, every time he tried, he started shaking and that was just never very productive at all. Finally, with a sigh, he picked up his phone, hesitantly dialing a certain vocal coach’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Jongwoon hyung…”

“What’s wrong, Ryeowook? You sound kind of down.”

“I…I’ve been trying to write, hyung, like you told me to. I swear I’ve been trying. But it’s so hard. Every time I start writing something, I start freaking out a little bit and then I can’t get anything done. I was…um…wondering if we could maybe meet somewhere and you could help me some?”

“Absolutely, Wookie! I told you I’d always be here for you. Where do you want to meet?”

“Do you think we could meet up at Coco Bean? I know it’s closed, but I have an extra key and I really want some honey tea right now.”

“Sure. I’ll meet you there in a bit, okay? And wrap up! It’s cold out today!”

Ryeowook giggled. “Yes sir!” he chirped before saying goodbye and hopping over to his closet to find a thick winter coat. Even the knowledge that he was going to get to see his hyung soon made him feel so much better.

~~~

When Jongwoon arrived at Coco Bean almost forty-five minutes later, he peeked in the window and saw Ryeowook sitting at an empty table with two steaming cups. He knocked on the glass, smiling.

The boy jumped up, bouncing over to the door and pushing it open after unlocking it. “Come in! I made you some tea too, in case you wanted some. If you don’t, you don’t have to drink it. I just thought that you might like some after coming all the way into town…”

“I’d love some, Ryeowook.” Yesung grinned, plopping down at the table and taking a sip of the tea as his dongsaeng sat down across from him. “So how can I help you?”

“I…I can’t figure out where to begin. And I still get so nervous.”

“Well, in terms of where to begin, how did you write compositions when you were in University?”

Ryeowook leaned back in his chair, biting his lip as he looked up at the ceiling. “I would listen to the sounds around me,” he whispered after a while of thought. “All of the sounds. The pattern of someone typing on the computer. The speed of a person’s steps. The rhythm of half of a telephone conversation. Anything was inspiration. Anything and everything. If you listen hard enough, there’s a rhythm and a song beneath any everyday action. After that, I would just play around with the notes and the sounds and how they worked together. I don’t really know. A lot of it just seemed natural.”

“Then close your eyes.” Yesung repeated his request when Ryeowook raised an eyebrow in confusion. When the young man’s eyes were finally shut, he continued. “Listen. Just listen to what’s around you and tell me what you hear.”

Cars passing on the street. Honking horns. Muffled snippets of conversation as couples or friends passed by the front window. A child’s giggle. This voice in the empty shop. The barely-there sound of Jongwoon breathing across from him.

“Good. Now listen deeper for that line connecting them all. Let the sounds blend together into a melody, something only you can hear.”

Ryeowook took a deep breath, clearing his mind and just letting the sounds wash over him, trying desperately to hear the common thread keeping all of those sounds in harmony with one another. After a few minutes, he slowly looked up.

“I can’t hear it,” he whispered, a note of panic in his voice. “I could always hear it. I can’t hear it.”

“Don’t be upset if you don’t get anything right away. You’ve been through a lot and you’re a little out of practice, so it may not come as easily to you as it once did,” Jongwoon said gently, smiling softly at his friend. “How about we just work on writing notes right now, okay?” Ryeowook nodded a little. “Alright. You know the song I bought you? One Fine Spring Day?”

“Yeah…”

“Did you look at it enough to know the tune?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you think you could write it down?”

“I guess…”

“Why don’t you give it a shot? Just so you can get used to writing down notes again. If you need help writing, I’m right here. And I know the song really well, so if you forget the tune, I can help you out with that too.”

“Okay. I’ll give it a shot.” Ryeowook picked up his pencil, flipping to a blank page in his notebook. He paused for a second, trying to remember how the song started, before he slowly began to write.

Yesung kept his eyes on Ryeowook as the younger man struggled to write down the melody. He watched his hands, those small, perfect, slightly-trembling hands that fit oh-so-nicely into his own. He thought about how he felt calmer and happier around the barista than he did almost anywhere else and how he could never get him off his mind. And as he sat there, watching his friend, a single thought crossed his mind, a thought that he didn’t immediately snuff out as completely insane.

“Ryeowook?”

“Hmmm?” When Yesung didn’t respond, Ryeowook sighed and looked up, only to find the other man staring at him. “What, hyung?”

“How do you know if you’ve found that one person you want to spend the rest of your life with? How do you know when you’re found the one?”

Ryeowook blinked, surprised by the sudden deep, philosophical question from the man who was usually just a big goofball. He thought for a moment before answering. “Well…This is going to sound really cheesy,” he warned, turning light pink.

“Try me.”

“My mom used to say that you knew you’d found your soul mate when you found someone whose hand fit perfectly in yours,” he mumbled, feeling stupid.

Yesung smiled that smile that made Ryeowook’s heart flutter. “That’s not cheesy, Wookie. That’s sweet.”

“Whatever, hyung. Why are you asking about finding the one all of a sudden anyway? Have you found some girl you really like?”

“Well, something like that,” Jongwoon said with a laugh, his mind straying back to that morning three days ago when he woke up to the sight of a certain someone next to him. Ryeowook suddenly felt his throat begin to close up in that way it always did when he was depressed and he coughed slightly, trying to get the image of Yesung laughing with a gorgeous young lady out of his brain. That really wasn’t helpful when he was trying to write new music. Scratch that; it really wasn’t helpful ever.

“Hyung, I can’t remember how the song goes,” he said quickly in a desperate attempt to get his mind back on the project at hand.

“I can hum it for you if you want. I won’t sing the lyrics since you’re mostly focusing on the music right now. Besides, the song isn't really suited for my voice anyway.”

Ryeowook nodded, his heart swelling at the thought of getting to hear the sound of Jongwoon’s voice, whether it be singing or humming.

“Okay, just a second.” Yesung closed his eyes, letting the sound of the music run through his brain before he began to hum softly.

Trying very hard to concentrate, Ryeowook listened carefully, writing down the notes he heard and telling Jongwoon to restart so he could catch those he missed. After quite a bit of trying, he finally got the first half to the song down on paper and couldn’t help but smile proudly.

“Look, hyung!” He held up his notebook, letting the other see his slightly-messy but still very much there work. “I did it!”

Jongwoon leaned over, ruffling Ryeowook’s hair. “Good job, Wookie! It looks great! If you want to practice just writing down notes, this is a good way to do it. Just pick a song and write it down. When you’re comfortable enough with that, then you can move on to creating your own work, okay?”

“Kay!”

“I hate to leave you, but I’ve got a meeting at SM in a few minutes; it’s my last one before I’m going to get a bit of a break. I’ll be off of work most of next week, so we can hang out then.”

“And at the Christmas party on Sunday! Don’t forget!”

“Oh! Right! Do you want me to pick you up at your apartment, since I now know where you live?”

Ryeowook flushed red at the mention of his sad living quarters but nodded anyway. Yesung already knew, so it wasn’t like he could hide it any longer.

“Two-fifteen?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay! I’ll see you then!” Yesung grinned as he hopped up. “Thanks for the tea! Have fun writing!”

Ryeowook’s heart sank when Yesung turned away from him and started toward the exit and he longed to yell after him, to get his attention, to scream out that he really didn’t want the other man to go. As soon as Jongwoon had disappeared out of the door, Ryeowook hit himself several times on the head, wrinkling up his nose.

“Bad Wookie! Bad, bad Wookie! You shouldn’t feel that way toward hyung! Stop, stop, stop! He’s your friend, nothing else.”

His heart, however, had different ideas and was content to long after Jongwoon in a way that his brain really didn’t like. 

Hello, my precious little cupcakes! ^^

I am soooo sorry about not updating sooner!! I have been beyond-busy (my professors seem to have taken a liking to tormenting me with tons of work) so I haven't been able to write! But I got a 100 on the Art History test I had last week, so all my hard work paid off! ^^ I'm really excited~

I just finished this (seriously...finished this right before class and I'm posting it right after class~) so I hope you enjoy this update~

love,

afallingstar