The airport really wasn’t as busy in the middle of June as one would think it would be. There were, of course, the business men going on strictly work-related trips and the occasional traveler heading off for vacation but the airport really was rather empty on June sixteenth, the two hundredth day since Ryeowook had first met Yesung.

One man was standing anxiously by the window, waiting for a specific plane to land. This was it. After exactly one hundred and fifty one days (yes, he did keep count) of not seeing the man he adored, his birthday wish would be coming true, five whole days early. He was going to see Yesung.

~~~

By some sort of miracle, Kim Jongwoon was getting to go home earlier than he’d expected. When the group he’d been working with in Taiwan debuted, he’d feared he’d be gone the entire eight months they’d originally estimated and he wasn’t quite sure he could be away from Ryeowook that long. Phone calls and video chats had been okay for a while, but he longed to hold the younger man in his arms once again. So, when he was told that he’d be going back to Korea after five months instead of eight, he could have died from happiness.

A lot had happened in the past five months, he reflected as he stared out of the window of the plane. He’d left the morning of January sixteenth without technically telling his friends where he was going, with the exception of Ryeowook. So, after they hadn’t seen or heard from him for several days, they started grilling the barista and, in turn, calling Jongwoon and chewing him out on the phone, asking how he could even think about leaving for that long and not telling anyone. He’d had to spend several hours one night going through and calling each of them, apologizing and listening to them scold him.

He’d given Ryeowook the extra key to his house before he left and quickly learned that the younger man was basically living there. His argument was that the kitchen was much better than his own and, since he loved to cook, he really wanted to use it. Yesung didn’t mind in the slightest; he told Ryeowook that he could move in completely and make the guest bedroom his own if he wanted. Ryeowook protested for a while but, with a little prodding, he caved and left his dingy little apartment once and for all.

In Taiwan, Jongwoon’s terrible sense of direction came into play and he found himself completely lost on his sixth day there. He’d wondered around for a while before eventually finding his way to the studio; when he’d called Ryeowook later that night, the younger man had giggled at his absentmindedness. Yesung didn’t mention that he’d bought Ryeowook a couple of presents while he was wondering around lost; those would be surprises for when he got back.

About a week and a half after he’d gone to Taiwan, the publishing company had called; two of Ryeowook’s songs – It Has to Be You and The Truth Is – were now being published. Ryeowook had written several more songs in the past months, but hadn’t sent them in yet because he wanted Yesung to see them personally before he did so. But still, to have two of the three songs he’d written published by the first company he sent them to was amazing. Yesung was so proud he could barely stand it.

Kyuhyun and Ryeowook had gone to the recording studio after a month or so of practicing and bickering with each other; they’d recorded their parts and sent in Kyu’s final audition tapes about two months ago. Jongwoon had no idea if Kyu had heard from the company yet; the younger man refused to tell him. He figured he’d get the information out of him in person, if nothing else.

Back in April, Jongwoon had tried to convince Ryeowook to fly down to Taiwan to spend a week with him there, but their plans had fallen through. Ryeowook told Yesung that he hadn’t been able to get off of work (which was partially true) but there was also no way that he could have afforded a ticket and lodging for the week. Although he missed Yesung terribly, there was no way he was going to let him pay for his ticket; that part of him still hadn’t changed. They’d settled for having an extended video chat one night and recounting funny stories as they munched on popcorn.

Yesung had had fun in Taiwan. It was a beautiful country and he loved spending time there, but he was glad to be going back to Korea, back to Ryeowook. He stared out of the window of the plane, willing the pilot to fly faster; he couldn’t get back soon enough.

~~~

When he heard the announcement of flight KE298 landing, he dashed toward the terminal, determined to be there when Yesung got off the plane. Ryeowook stood impatiently among the others there, watching person after person file through the door as they disembarked, growing more and more upset as each one passed. Where was Yesung? This was his flight, wasn’t it? He hadn’t missed it, had he? Knowing him, it wouldn’t be that big of a surprise, but he really wanted—

“Ryeobear!”

The familiar voice filled his ears and a smile immediately broke out across his face as he ran forward, throwing his arms around the older man.

“Jongwoon hyungggg!”

The entire world stopped in that moment and nothing was real to Jongwoon except the man in his arms. Everything was completely perfect once again. Or, it was, until Ryeowook pulled away and started bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

“Hyung, I’ve missed you so much! Teukie hyung, Sungmin hyung, Zhou Mi hyung, Kyuhyun and I have planned a big party for you tonight! It’s at Siwon hyung’s house and everyone is going to be there and we’re going to watch movies and eat and it’s going to be great! You’ll have to tell everyone some of the stories you told me about your adventures in Taiwan! I mean, I’ve told Sungmin hyung and Teukie hyung some of them during work but the others don’t know and I know that they’d love to hear them! Oh, and you have to come see Coco Bean really soon, okay? We did some remodeling and I was told to keep it a secret from you until you got back but I couldn’t keep it in anymore so you have to act surprised when you go, but it’s awesome! Siwon hyung is going to hire a couple extra full-time employees too!”

Yesung smiled; he really had missed seeing his Ryeobear all these months. Hearing his excitement was one thing, but seeing it was another entirely. “I’ll be sure to act extra-surprised so they won’t suspect a thing!” Ryeowook giggled and Yesung felt his heart flutter at the sound. That was it; he was never leaving Ryeowook for months at a time ever again. “About a week ago, you said you had something to tell me but you wanted to wait until you could tell me in person. Well, here I am. Get to telling!”

Ryeowook stopped bouncing and fake-scowled, folding his arms over his chest. “Kyuhyun is a devil.”

“And you’re just now figuring that out?” Jongwoon laughed, but quickly quieted down when Ryeowook hit his arm.

“No! Kyuhyun’s a devil because he turned in my name with that audition tape without my permission! And he tricked me into singing a solo in the recording studio, which he actually recorded and sent in too!”

“I told him not to, I swear!” Yesung said quickly, raising his hands in the universal symbol for innocence.

“I know; I’m not blaming you, hyung! Kyu did it; I’m blaming him!”

“But…” The wheels in Yesung’s head started turning. Those tapes were kept strictly confidential. Only a few people ever heard them (unless, of course, that person debuted and then they would somehow end up being released to the public) and even fewer knew who was actually singing. So, the only way Ryeowook would have known that Kyu had turned in his name was if they’d contacted him, because there was no way that Kyu would tell. And if they’d contacted him… “Wait; does that mean—”

“Uh-huh; they got in touch with me and they want to sign you, me, and Kyu together as a trio.”

“What?”

“Yeah! They had me go in with Kyuhyun three days ago and sing a little bit more for them. I was insanely nervous, but Kyu was there with me, so it wasn’t too bad. They’ve even got ideas for our group name and debut concept already. A lot of the executives seem really excited about it. They were thinking of calling us K.R.Y. – you know, the first letter of each of our names. I told them that I’d ask you and not to call you because I wanted to tell you all about it. They said if you agreed that they wanted us to go talk to our manager tomorrow and start discussing our concept. What do you think?”

“Wait…so…you’re actually willing to do this? You’re going to do it?”

“Yeah,” Ryeowook said softly, smiling to himself. “Yeah, I said I would.”

A smile brighter than the sun lit up Yesung’s face as he laughed happily, throwing his arms around Ryeowook once again. “I’m so proud of you!” he exclaimed. “I’ll do it! Oh, Ryeobear, I can’t believe you would do this! You used to be too scared to even look at music and now here you are, a published composer and a member of a new band!”

“What can I say?” Ryeowook muttered sheepishly, flushing a deep red. “I’ve had a great mentor to help me through my fears. I’m finally getting the chance to chase after my dreams and it’s all thanks to you. I don’t know what I would do without you, honestly.”

Jongwoon looked at him for a moment before doing something he’d been longing to do for months; he tilted Ryeowook’s chin up toward him and gently pressed his lips to the younger man’s in a soft, sweet, loving kiss.

It was perfect.

It was absolutely, one hundred percent, fairy-tale perfect.

Jongwoon knew it sounded cheesy and cliché, but, to him, it was. There was nothing more satisfying or thrilling than kissing the one person that you loved above all others, the one that you hadn’t seen in five months, the one who wanted nothing more than to kiss you back.

As he pulled away, he laced his fingers with Ryeowook’s and pulled him along toward the luggage terminal so they could pick up his suitcases.

“C’mon,” he said softly. “Let’s go home.”

Ryeowook smiled, moving closer to Yesung as they walked, swinging their connected hands gently.

“Right, hyung! Let’s go home.”

And that's that! Thanks so much for sticking with me through all of this, lovely cupcakes! ^^ I love each and every one of you!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all of you!! <3

Love,

afallingstar