Ryeowook pov

We are walking along the street, Kyuhyun and me. I’m nervous being with just him, but I’m kind of happy as well. It’s almost like the guy walking the girl home just that we’re both guys and we’re not taking the other home. Another difference is that the guy and girl would talk unlike us. Though the atmosphere isn’t as awkward anymore and I’d like to talk with Kyuhyun, I don’t know where to start. What does he like? What is he interested in? Even though I observed him for a while now, I hardly know any of these things. He hasn’t talked much in school so there was no chance for me to overhear something and it’s not like I’m following him home to get to know more. From the past week with Eunhyuk and him I know that he likes games and studying, but that’s about everything. Both are things I don’t have much interest in so I can’t really start a conversation with that. Leaves me with three possible things to talk about. One thing, I’m not certain if I can gather the courage to say, and another thing, I currently don’t want to talk about, drop out for now and leave me with just one possibility. It’s just a short one, but if I start with that, I may be able to say one of the other things. Or Kyuhyun realizes I want to talk and starts a conversation himself. I can only try and see.

My eyes are directed to the plastered path we walk on as I open my mouth and let the first sentence escape.

“I’m sorry for not talking to you earlier.” My voice is soft, but due to the silence around us Kyuhyun can hear me perfectly. He looks at me a little surprised at first, but his face soon shows understanding.

“It’s fine”, is all he says while looking forward. I take a deep breath and gather my courage, more relaxed now after having finally said something to him.

“I like it when you sing.” Kyuhyun stops in his tracks. He turns to me, even more surprised than before, and remains silent. I stop as well and finally look up to him. “I heard you in class. You’re voice is really soft. I like it.” My voice is louder now and I seemingly have more confidence. “Why don’t you sing more often? It’s a waste.” Finally Kyuhyun seems to get out of his surprised state and clears his throat.

“Thanks. There weren’t really any occasions for me to sing so I’ve hardly done so lately.” He doesn’t blush, but it’s obvious that he feels embarrassed. It gives me even more courage to see him so defenseless and an idea pops up in my head.

“How about…” A faint smile appears on my face.”…you practice with Sungmin, Yesung and me?”

“Huh?” And again, Kyuhyun is surprised. It’s kind of fun to see his reactions and how flustered he is. “When… when do you practice?” Now he even starts to fumble with his fingers. My smile gets bigger.

“Tomorrow, directly after school. We meet up at the music room, but we can go there together with Sungmin. Do you have time?” My head almost automatically tilts over to one side at my question. Sungmin once told me that it makes a person cuter to tilt the head by 20° and since then it became a habit whenever I subconsciously wanted to appear cuter, to get the answer I wanted to hear for example. It seems to work on Kyuhyun pretty well, because he moves back and forth from one foot to the other in nervousness.

“Sure. I… I’d like to… practice with you.” I smile reassuringly at him and Kyuhyun relaxes a little. I’m excited at the thought of hearing Kyuhyun’s singing voice again, but I try to hide it as good as possible. Instead I turn to the path and go on. Kyuhyun follows and we continue our way towards his place. While we walk, I start to talk about Sungmin, Yesung and our practice. About some songs of mine and how I intend to include him. He smiles at my babbling and asks a questions or commentates every now and then. Our conversation is easy, but meaningful. It’s the first time we actually talk like that. It feels great and time starts to fly like a bumblebee in the sky. Too heavy as though it could actually do so regarding the laws of physics, but somehow doing it anyway.

Kyuhyun pov

Is this really happening? Does this mean Ryeowook and me are more than just working partners? I’m confused. Though I really want to sing with Ryeowook, it was a big surprise to get the offer from him. Especially after today’s beginning I wouldn’t have expected him to even talk with me, but there he is, completely calm, telling me he likes my singing and offering me to join in his practice. What happened to the Ryeowook from before? How can he be so relaxed when he was so awkward with me just a few hours ago? The dancing made me relax too, but that it would have such an effect on him is more than irritating. I’m not sure which Ryeowook is the real one. The shy and conservative one or the straightforward and talkative one. Or can he be both? I don’t know. I only know that I’ll have to sing in his presence tomorrow and that makes me really nervous. At least it’s relatively easy to talk with him right now as he does most of the talking part. Normally I’m the one to keep the conversation going, but with my confused mind I can’t do much more than to react to Ryeowook. Fortunately that’s enough to get safely to my place.

I open the front door and let Ryeowook enter first. After closing it I yell the usual ‘I’m back!’ into the house and get rid of my shoes and jacket.

“Kyu, my dear. Were have you been?”, my mom says and comes around the corner. “Oh, Ryeowook is here too.” She waves at him happily. “But where is Eunhyuk? Didn’t you want to work today?”

“Something came in between. Ryeowook is just here to get his things”, I explain quickly. I don’t really want Ryeowook and my mom to start a conversation, because it would leave me out again, but it seems like I don’t even need to care about that. Ryeowook just greets her shortly and immediately goes up the stairs. I don’t follow him. Instead I take a look at the kitchen and the food my mother is preparing. It looks delicious as always, but my gaze lands on a dish I don’t remember my mom ever cooking. “What is this?”, I ask and turn to the stove where she stands, one hand pointing to the unfamiliar mixture of food.

“Oh, that’s one of Ryeowook’s recipes. It’s a hot carrot salad, you should try it later.” So that’s why I haven’t seen this dish before. If it’s Ryeowook’s recipe then I should definitely taste it. Maybe there is indeed a benefit for me when he and my mom and sister get along so well.

I hear Ryeowook’s steps on the stairs and turn around to get back to the entrance. He carries his bag over his shoulder and smiles at me happily. I return the smile and give him enough space to put his shoes on. After he’s done, he looks back up at me and our gazes meet like they did several times today. His chocolaty eyes emit happiness and peace. It spreads through my body like a warm wave and calms me in a way that makes me feel completely snug. I truly love him. Just seeing him being so happy makes me forget about the world and whatever worries I might have. It’s like the apocalypse could come and I wouldn’t care as long as Ryeowook is standing there. As long as I can hold him near me. My heart is filled with the love for him and I wish I could give him all of it. But I know I can’t. Not now, not this minute, not this day, but maybe tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. Some time in the future for sure… But for now I need to keep it, save it up for later. I can only give him little pieces once at a time when the situation allows it. That must be enough. It’s only for now…

Ryeowook… Can I give you my love? Would you accept it? Or reject it…? Can I be certain you wouldn’t push me away if I tell you? What is on your mind? Can there be a place for me in your heart? There is so much I don’t know. So much I want to know, need to know so I can be of help to you. I want to be your protector, the person you can always talk with, the one you can trust no matter what may come. I’m willing to give you everything. There is just one thing you must receive. Take my love. Take all of it and hold it close. Please.

I write this down in my notebook after Ryeowook and me finally managed to say goodbye for today. One might think I feel depressed because I can’t give him my love, but after todays happenings I can’t feel anything but contentment even though I have these thoughts. My body and heart still are warm and my mind is flooded by imagines and memories of a happy Ryeowook. Nothing can take this happiness from me and therefore I easily drift of into my perfect world that I thought only exists during the sleep. This night I dream of Ryeowook humming a happy tune under the all-so-familiar willow.

Eunhyuk pov

I’m excited and nervous as I go to school together with Donghae the next day. Will Ryeowook and Kyuhyun talk with each other? Did the awkwardness disappear? Or are they back to square one? What happened on their way to Kyuhyun’s place? It drives me crazy to not know what happened after we said our goodbye! It probably shouldn’t excite me like that, but I do know more than the others so I’m not sure if you could just consider me a bystander. Especially after the things I did for them. Though those were originally for me… But in the end I’m still more than a bystander. I’m not involved in their love problems, but I’m affected by the consequences. Which is, by the way, even worse than being the one involved. Kyuhyun and Ryeowook can be happy it’s love they’re feeling otherwise I might have gone crazy already due to their stupid behavior. Though love doesn’t exactly make the situation better, I can at least be sure they won’t have a physical fight. They do want just the best for each other in the end and that relaxes the situation and my position in between a lot. Sadly it doesn’t change the fact that their behavior is of the stupidest form. Or it was. It may have changed by now. Gosh, when are we finally there!

After 5 more minutes of thinking and assuming, Donghae and me reach the school grounds. I let Donghae accompany me to my classroom, because I feel a little guilty for not giving my best friend much attention lately. It takes longer than I want it to, but Donghae sure has fun telling me about the fishes in his recently obtained aquarium.

As we finally reach my destination, I take a quick look inside and feel a wave of disappointment wash over me. Ryeowook and Sungmin aren’t here yet. So much for the question if Kyuhyun and Ryeowook are talking with each other. How long do I need to wait until I can guess what happened yesterday? As it turns out, longer than I would like to. Ryeowook arrives just a few seconds before the teacher and therefore doesn’t have time to do more than quickly wave at us. With just that I can hardly even say if the greeting was directed at Kyuhyun as well or not. At least Ryeowook looks at him every now and then so he doesn’t ignore him completely. Unfortunately his gazes haven’t changed from before. Thus to be able to say something about their current relationship is impossible. I got to wait until the next break then. Were the lessons always this long?

Finally break comes after what felt like hours and I just hope Donghae won’t be here immediately like normally. Fortunately he does take a few minutes today. That’s totally enough time for me as Ryeowook stands up before anyone else even had the chance to and turns toward me and Kyuhyun.

“Good morning, Eunhyuk!” He smiles brightly and takes a step to stand in front of my desk.

“Morning, Ryeowook!”, I return to him, but I am dumbfounded as he just walks past me and turns his gaze to the person sitting next to me. Ryeowook swiftly takes a seat on the windowsill before starting to talk.

“Good morning, Kyuhyun!” His smile is even bigger now much to my surprise and Kyuhyun seems to be agitated by it as well as he smiles back almost as happily.

“Good morning, Ryeowook!”

“I’ve told Yesung and Sungmin about today. They are thrilled to hear your voice!” Is that what I think it is? “Sungmin was just happy to hear about a new practice partner, but Yesung almost burst due to the excitement of having a new potential rival!” It really is what I think. So they somehow managed to agree on Kyuhyun joining Ryeowook’s daily practice. I wonder who made the first step? Did Ryeowook offer him to join or did Kyuhyun ask? In any case, it’s a relief for me that they finally managed to get to a friendly basis. And how they are smiling at each other! If I were a girl I’d probably jump in happiness and excitement, but gladly I’m not female and don’t make myself suspicious by doing something like that.

My chain of thoughts is interrupt as Donghae now enters the room. Though I can’t hear more of Kyuhyun’s and Ryeowook’s conversation, the warmth and bliss coming from them is overwhelming.

As I turn to the entrance of the classroom, where Donghae is calling me from, my gaze lands on Sungmin. He’s observing the happy pair with a soft smile on his lips until he notices me looking at him and takes a step toward me.

“Hey, Eunyhuk. Can I take you up on that offer from before?” I need to think for a while before it dawns to me.

“Sure! Come join us anytime! We always have a use for a good athlete.”

“I’ll do so then. Ryeowook seems to be pretty busy with his new friend.”

“Are you jealous?” I actually didn’t want to say that, but it just escaped my mouth. Sungmin looks at me a little dumbfounded at first, but relaxes soon and smiles at me.

“Rather than that, I’m happy he finally has some other friends to rely on.” So it’s like that. “That also gives me the chance to befriend some new people”, Sungmin adds and winks at me.

“Let’s go then and show them what you can do!”, I say and we join Donghae at the doorframe. Together we go to the basketball field, where we meet my other friends and a few acquaintances we like to play with. Siwon and Shindong join our team and with the previous warmth, coming from two specific people, still being in my body, the five of us manage to win every game that Thursday.

Ryeowook pov

I’m happy.

Kyuhyun pov

I want to see more.

There are so many faces of Ryeowook that I want to see. So many emotions I have yet to discover. I could be content with his happy self, but I know there is more to him. I’ve heard him talk and quarrel with Sungmin and Yesung endless times, but I never got to see his emotions on his pretty face. Being part of his practice may be my complimentary ticket to all the things I have yearned for. There is a lot I know already, a lot I love about him, but it’s hardly enough for me. I want to see everything so I can say with pride that I truly love him.

School is over in the blink of an eye. The whole day did Ryeowook and me talk during the breaks and I honestly look forward to see Ryeowook sitting at the piano. I’m nervous too, but I know that will fade as soon as I’m singing. It has always been that way and I’m sure it won’t change even in front of the person I love. Music has been a kind of passion to me ever since I was small. It relaxed me, but most of all did it give me a feeling of security and strength. I hope my music will give others the same feelings.

“Hey, Kyuhyun! Let’s go!” Ryeowook is already standing at the door and waves at me, urging me on to hurry up. I quickly gather my things and go to him. Sungmin, who stands behind Ryeowook, takes the lead and guides us to the spacious music room. As we arrive, Yesung is nowhere to be found. So we start with some small exercises to warm up our voices until he finally gets here.

“Wookie!” I hear Yesung sooner than I see him and I wish I wouldn’t have turned around just then. Yesung catches Ryeowook in a tight embrace and isn’t willing let go until Sungmin steps in to separate them with force. So much for my good mood. At least I can be rather sure that Sungmin doesn’t want anything from Ryeowook. Sadly that doesn’t change the fact that my mood was instantly killed. This Yesung guy will see where he stands when we finally get to the singing part.

“Hyung! Let’s hear what you and Sungmin practiced the last two days!” Ryeowook’s gentle and happy voice somehow manages to evaporate parts of my anger.

“Oh… Ah, sure Wookie”, Yesung answers and nervously tries to brush a strand of hair out of his face where there is none.

“Hyung”, Ryeowook says in an accusing voice. “You did practice, didn’t you?” He turns to Sungmin and looks at him with big, sparkling eyes and a smile. “You did, right?”

“Of course we did!” It seems more like Sungmin tries to appease Ryeowook rather than saying the truth, but it works. Ryeowook is happy again and goes to the piano where the sheets are already laid-out. He starts to play and Yesung hesitantly joins in. It doesn’t take long before Ryeowook angrily shuts the piano and turns to the singer.

“As if you practiced! What did you two do all this time?” Sungmin starts to blush and Yesung fumbles with his fingers. I can’t help but giggle at the scene before me.

“Kyuhyun!”, Ryeowook says sharply and I try to contain my laughter. “So? What did you do?” Sungmin’s blush faded, Ryeowook is his best friend after all, and he starts to explain.

“I’m sorry, Wookie. On Tuesday I was working on the paper as well and yesterday… well, we just didn’t feel like practicing much. It’s not like we totally didn’t want to, but we thought it would be nice to do something else for once.”

“And I anticipated your duet…” Ryeowook’s pout melts me on the spot. “Can’t do anything about that, I guess. How about we let Kyuhyun sing then?” All gazes are directed at me.

“Sure”, I say more than surprised at the sudden change of topic. Ryeowook then lists a variety of popular songs and I choose one that I sang some time ago. The small boy excitedly fumbles in his folder until he finds the right sheets and puts them on the piano. Then he starts to play the intro and the soft and familiar melody envelops my body. My mouth opens on its own and the words escape it like they have always been on the tip of my tongue just waiting for this moment. I sing, but I hardly notice it. My whole body is fixated on the tune coming from the piano. It feels like I’m the one accompanying the piano rather than the piano accompanying my vocal. I just adapt to the feeling coming from it, coming from him.

Suddenly the world starts to darken around me. All I see is the piano and Ryeowook. We continue to play our music like nothing happened, but the feeling between us begins to intensify as there is nothing else to focus on. Then the blackness starts to flicker and finally bursts into a variety of colors, dancing and swirling around us, moving according to our harmony. It’s like a festival has broken out, yet I hardly see the colors as my focus lies completely on Ryeowook. The person that pulls these colors out of my heart.

Ryeowook pov

It’s like my hands move on their own. My focus is completely shifted to the person beside me. The only thing I hear is his voice, so soft and beautiful, and vaguely the accompanying piano in the background. Kyuhyun mesmerizes me in a way so that all I can think of is the music we’re performing. I could close my eyes and my hands wouldn’t make a single mistake, but I don’t want to miss this beauty around me. All these colors, these feelings and Kyuhyun in the center. It feels like my heart opens up when I see him and my own colors start to flow and mix with his. Everything I am, everything I was and everything I want to be is within these shades of red, blue and yellow. Together with Kyuhyun’s, they create the most beautiful picture I have ever seen. A picture that moves according to our tune. A picture that represents our feelings. A picture that makes us one.