It was early in the evening; the shadows were growing long but the light was still warm. Sprinklers were going and little kids were running around outside. Ryeowook chatted happily, walking in the street while Kyuhyun listened from the sidewalk. It was a cool time of day which was good. The outfit he’d chosen felt stifling and pushing around a thirty pound bike wasn’t helping. Speaking of which, why wouldn’t this thing turn!? It was like every time he moved the handle bars the whole bike would lean in that direction. He felt almost ridiculously stupid when they reached a crossing and Ryeowook had to help him turn his bike. Possibly the only thing that was making this okay was Ryeowook’s voice. And the fact that no one was around to see them.

They eventually reached the school. Since it was technically still summer, the parking lots were empty and so were the cement basketball courts. It was plenty of open space all devoid of people.

“Okay, Kyu. We’re here.”

“And so we are.” The taller did a quick scan of the horizon. Not a person in sight.

 “Nobody’s going to see us, Kyu. Who comes to school during summer?” Was he that obvious? As Ryeowook parked his bike, Kyuhyun lightly touched the cool metal tucked away in his pocket. He could do this. He would do this.

“Come on,” Ryeowook called, “let’s learn how to ride your bike!”

The first part of the lesson went okay. It took a surprisingly long time for Ryeowook to teach him how to even mount his bike. Kyuhyun kept tilting it to get on which was apparently bad for balance. Eventually, Ryeowook had had to hold still the bike while he swung his leg over. That actually worked, and now Kyuhyun was balanced precariously on his seat.

“Okay, now we’re going to learn how to coast” Ryeowook said. “You just take one of your legs and push off from the ground. No pedaling. Like this.” He demonstrated floating a good few feet before stopping himself. “Now you try it.”

Kyuhyun frowned, gripping his handlebars. The bike was very awkward with the seat digging into his .

Using his right foot, he moved about two inches. “Dammit,” he cursed.

“That’s okay. Loosen up a little and try again.”

He tried again. And again. And again. Each time he made it barely half a foot before losing balance and tipping. It was both painful and frustrating. He became more tense with each tip. Ryeowook stopped him around the tenth time, when his face was on fire from embarrassment and anger.

“My foot keeps hitting the pedal; I can’t get any momentum!” he snapped. And it was so true! His feet barely touched the ground; how the hell was he supposed to push off!?

“Kyukyu, it’s okay.” Ryeowook gently touched his arm. “I should have let you get used to the bike first. Here,” he hopped off his bike and placed it on the ground, “I’ll hold you steady while you ride. That way you can get a feel for the balancing.”

Kyuhyun looked at him warily. “You’re not going to do that sitcom thing where they push you and then let go right?”

“No, trust me. That doesn’t work at all.”

The shorter came up beside him. Placing one hand on the back of his seat and the other on the bars, Ryeowook kept him balanced as he carefully lifted his feet off the ground. Almost immediately, his entire upper body tensed up. It was like everything had been put on high alert. His hands would not have moved from the brakes unless you pried them with a crowbar. He really couldn’t remember to breathe either and that wasn’t good.

After a good minute of no movement, Kyuhyun heard Ryeowook shift a little. Then, a hand was rubbing his back and the latter’s gentle voice was whispering, telling him to relax. The warmth eased his tense muscles.

Letting out a shaky breath, Kyuhyun began to pedal. The moving was hard at first; he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was going to fall over, crushing his boyfriend. But Ryeowook did a good job keeping him steady. Slowly, he found himself pedaling faster. And faster. And faster. And the unbalanced feeling fell away as flight took over. Kyuhyun nearly laughed out loud. He was still as tense as hell but now he was moving somewhere.

“Okay, we’re going to turn up here!” Ryeowook yelled into the wind. Reaching the end of the parking lot, Kyuhyun turned to go the other direction and-

He felt it before it happened.

The turn was way too sharp, completely throwing him off balance. Like when he’d been pushing the bike, the contraption leaned in the direction it turned, and Kyuhyun was eating asphalt. The ground scraped harshly at his wrist pads, yet his entire body felt the blow of the bike. A silver chain spilled out onto the street infusing panic throughout his mind. And throughout all this shock and pain, basically one thought ran through his mind: Ow.

“Kyuhyun!” Ryeowook’s voice cut through the daze. “Are you okay!?”

“I’m fine,” he groaned, hastily snatching the metal away.

His boyfriend, who was luckily not on the side of the crash, hurried over. Ryeowook kneeled down. “Oh my gosh; I’m so sorry I let go; I wasn’t strong enough to keep you from falling; I’m so sorry.”

The words barely made it through his adrenaline addled mind. Kyuhyun blinked at him with confused eyes , discreetly slipping the chain back in his pocket. Then grinning, he stuck out a scratched leather hand. “And you made fun of my gardening gloves.”

Ryeowook covered his mouth, eyes wide. “You’re not hurt?”

“Nope,” he shook his head. “Maybe a little shell shocked, but not hurt.”

“Oh thank goodness.” Ryeowook grabbed his hand in relief, and Kyuhyun tried hard not to laugh at how dramatic his boyfriend was being.

After a minute: “Can we get up now?”

“Oh yeah!” Wrapping his hands around the other’s, Ryeowook pulled him into standing position. The shorter dusted him off a bit before smiling up at him. “Let’s ride a little slower this time, okay?”

Laughing, Kyuhyun agreed.

Picking up his salmon bike, they continued their biking lesson. Kyuhyun did go a lot slower this time. He was every bit as wooden too. But with the help of Ryeowook, he was able to ride smoothly and make turns without falling over. You know, after the third time.

They finally stopped when Ryeowook admitted he couldn’t feel his arms anymore. Kyuhyun was little sore too, but only because he’d been so freaking tense the whole time. Not that he could admit that. Ryeowook had basically spent the entire lesson yelling at him to “loosen up!” but he just couldn’t help it. It was like whenever he got on the bike he could not relax.

They spent the rest of the time attempting to coast. Although his balance had improved, Kyuhyun still could not get the required momentum. He once made it two feet before falling over. Again.

That was okay though. Every time he would simply touch the chain in his pocket and suddenly he would feel a lot better.

By the time they realized it was dark out, it was nearly too dark for them to see. They figured it was best to go home, so pushing their bikes they headed that way under the glow of streetlamps.

“We got a lot done today!” Ryeowook announced proudly.

Kyuhyun chuckled, “All you did was push me around on my bike while I fell over.”

“That’s not true!” he protested. “You learned how to get on your bike and how to pedal. Oh, and how to use the brakes and how to turn. Just remember, don’t turn your whole body; only turn the handles or else you’ll tip.”

“Got it.”

“And learn how to relax. You can’t ride a bike if you can’t relax.”

“Got it.”

“And use both brakes! I noticed you were only pressing one whenever you panicked.”

“Got- Wait, I never panicked!”

“Yes you di- Oh wait, you were in a constant state of panic weren’t you? That’s why you were so wooden!”

Ryeowook laughed when Kyuhyun tried to shove him but ended up tripping on sidewalk ledge. Kyuhyun couldn’t help laughing either. These were the moments he liked best. Not the hyper, anniversary obsessed Ryeowook who was hell bent on having fun. No, he liked the teasing, comfortable Ryeowook who could make him smile no matter what. 

They eventually turned the topic back from biking to school to the anniversary. Ryeowook was quite excited about it thanks to their evening together, and Kyuhyun didn’t have the heart to change the subject.

They reached Kyuhyun’s house first. Ryeowook walked him to the door, leaving his bike by the driveway.

“Okay,” he said, opening the door. “You sure you don’t want to come in?”

Ryeowook shook his head. Kyuhyun felt the smallest twinge of disappointment, but let it go when the shorter smiled up at him. There was no way to explain it, but there was something breathtakingly beautiful about the shorter. His cheeks were round and so was his body; owl glasses shielded his eyes, and he was in constant need of a haircut. But when he smiled… when he smiled, Kyuhyun felt like he’d accomplished the greatest thing in life.

“You’ll get to ride all by yourself tomorrow,” Ryeowook’s voice said.

“Huh? Oh yeah.” Kyuhyun nodded, shaking himself out of his daze. “The biking, right.”

“Be excited, Kyu! After tomorrow we go on our bike ride to the lake.” He gave his arm a squeeze. “Six months together!”

Kyuhyun smiled. “Yep, six months.” And they smiled in anticipation under the dim porch light.

But then Ryeowook’s smile melded into confusion as he continued squeezing his boyfriend’s forearm. “Kyukyu, no wonder your arms got tired so easily; you’re too skinny!”

The taller yanked back his arm. “Oh, just kiss me and go home already.”

The shorter did just that, but Kyuhyun watched him ride into the night, regretting his words already.

_____________________

Please comment if you were surprised Wookie is chubby. I kind of hinted at it in previous chapters, but I just want to know how many people automatically think of him as skinny.