"Are we all for tonight's dinner?" a young boy asked, looking up to Eunhyuk with dreamy eyes.

Eunhyuk was in the kitchen, trying to arrange things for setting the table in a more or less decent way. He tiptoed, stretching arms as far as he could, to take some piled plates out of a cupboard.

"Wait, I'll help you!" Eunhyuk felt the warm touch of a small hand on his shoulder. He turned his head just a bit to look at a smiling Ryeowook, who did his best to hold the plates in his arms and protect them from falling down, crashing on the floor.

"Thank you!" Eunhyuk responded to the smile, but soon after was trying to go after the other man in the dining room, preventing him from setting the table all by himself. He totally forgot about the presence of the younger boy, who stood some meters away from the two, watching the scene.

The blond one was promptly blocking Ryeowook by putting both his hands on the other one's upper arms, trying to hold him still, and embarrassedly spoke: "Ryeowook-ssi, really, you don't have to! I didn't ask you to come to our place to do the chores!"

"A small thing like this one wouldn't bother me anyway...let me do it!" Ryeowook was still smiling, a bit out of courtesy but also because that was his personality: he wanted to help as much as he could "I'm my parents' only child and I've been living on my own for quite a while now, so...I'm used to it!" he said, while walking around the round glass table and placing plates one after the other in front of the seats.

"I'll help you as well!" the younger boy rushed to Ryeowook's side and added the still missing necessary on the silk blue table cloth.

"Thank you, Jonghyun" Ryeowook once again smiled to the younger boy and Eunhyuk seemed like being woken up from a dream, as he remembered about Jonghyun's question from earlier: "Uhm, Jonghyun, Donghae doesn't know about this dinner at all...I just told him that I arranged something with other two friends of ours and asked him to go and pick them up."

Jonghyun, the younger boy who was trotting beside his seniors, was a rookie singer from the agency where Eunhyuk and Donghae worked. He was the same promising rookie singer who was about to debut soon into the Korean musical industry and could profit of Ryeowook's precious collaboration to prepare himself in the best way ever. He was the peculiar "natural fresh" kind of guy, the one who enjoyed being around other people and looked at seniors with dreamy eyes full of respect and high esteem. He wasn't quite tall, but had a nice oval face and big dark puppy eyes, fitting his age and his external appearance, that sometimes were hidden by his long brown fringe of hair. He looked at his best condition while displaying his contagious smile whenever in a good mood. And being granted the chance to attend a dinner at Eunhyuk's place with his dreams' role model, Ryeowook, wasn't as usual a thing as anything else, so he tried to enjoy it as much as possible.

"Ryeowook-ssi!" Jonghyun called him, while passing on to him the cutlery "You said you are used to housechores, do you really live on your own?" he asked again, looking quite disappointed when the other man hummed and nodded in reply "I always thought a good-looking and famous man like you was used to have people queueing in order to be with you! I thought you might have been even married!" 

Ryeowook burst into laughter upon hearing that and couldn't help but covering his mouth with a hand, as he enjoyed that funny moment. His eyes went to lay on the boy's figure and he smiled as he restored his usual way of being: "So you thought I was a kind of playboy? I'm not that kind of guy actually...I really dislike it! I prefer a quieter existence and well...there was someone...but it's been almost ten years since the last time I've fallen in love so..."

"Hey!" Eunhyuk checked the phone for a short instant and then looked straight into Ryeowook's eyes, smiling: "You must definitely avoid one of the friend coming over tonight then! He's the epitome of playboy! Pretty everyone wants him as a boyfriend, and I know quite a lot straight men would gladly turn gay to even profit of a one night stand with him!" Ryeowook couldn't help but immediately blush while listening to the unmerciful description Eunhyuk was making of his friend. He guessed the two were pretty close and that this friend was the rather perfect kind, one of those who bragged a lot even without actually saying a word about themselves. "However, Jonghyun-ah, you can perfectly tell that Ryeowook is the shy type, right? It doesn't take a lot of time to understand that! But...seriously, ten years? What have you done in this whole time? Abstaining from any love relationship? I'd be dead..."

"But you've got Donghae hyung!" Jonghyun was saying, lightly punching on Eunhyuk's upper arm, until this one let out a small fake whine. The both of them looked at Ryeowook, eagerly waiting for him to open up on his personal views on love: "Just...I hadn't had time to think about love...really...or better, my only love is music and I'm devout to my piano...that's me...I'm sorry to disappoint you!"  he shrugged "And...please Jonghyun, don't be so polite! I'm not that much older, just relax and be comfortable with me, okay? Or I might feel a grandpa instead..." he blushed again, then hopped, a bit startled due to the fact that the entrance door was being opened by Donghae, who was showing the way inside to a couple of friends, those Eunhyuk were mentioning before.

Ryeowook couldn't think of anything else but that mysterious playboy guy he had heard of, already imagining to confirm his thoughts from before.

Donghae looked at him pretty surprised and Ryeowook felt like welcoming him back with a warm smile, his lips quickly curving upwards as he pointed at the magnificent set table for dinner: "What does this mean?" Donghae's jaw dropped and his eyes were hurriedly looking for Eunhyuk who was placing a boiling hot delicious roast on to the table, sniffing the air while doing so, much satisfied with his cooking attempts. He took off his soft cooking gloves and hugged Donghae tight, slightly pecking on the boy's lips with his: "This means that I wanted to spend some quality time with friends" he mumbled, placing his face right under the crook of Donghae's neck, ready to eagerly kiss him there and whisper into the boy's ear a sweet "welcome back home" even if Donghae had left home only a couple of hours before.

He was brought back to reality when a noise of glass shattering into million tiny shining chippings on the floor was clearly heard by the present people.

Eunhyuk immediately turned to see what happened behind him and looked at a slightly terrified Ryeowook, whose gaze was fixed on the other side of the room, right at the door, where Eunhyuk knew was Kyuhyun standing, with Yesung behind him. His eyes went back and forth from the pianist to his friend and witnessed pure horror depicted all over Ryeowook's gentle features, as this one had his mouth opened and jaw dropped, eyes widened and seemingly lifeless and hands, the same which were holding the now broken glass, visibly shaking. Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes as faster as possible, not wanting to leave the poor pianist. His lips tightened into a serious line and his chest began furiously pounding up and down as he started breathing very quickly, maybe to control whichever contrasting feeling he was now dealing with.

---ooo---

Kyuhyun's pov

I knew that Eunhyuk was intently looking at me with questioning eyes. Donghae as well. And Yesung immediately lifted a hand to pat my shoulder, I had felt his moves behind my back, and his hand was still there, as if he wanted to hold me back from stepping forward. But I didn't care: I scrolled it off, with a snap as I lifted my shoulders and took one step only. I'd have never imagined to meet him there...in my own friends' house.

"R-Ryeowook?" I asked, not wanting to advert my gaze from his figure. That was him: I remembered him like the boy I left at school ten years ago, only that there was his grew up version standing right before me. He had matured into a young adult man, but his eyes were the same as those I remembered: bright and this time trembling of fear all the same, like the last time I could see him before parting ways...his eyes had always been the part of his body which I liked the best...they were the only access to his soul, and nobody could be granted access that easily...I was one of those lucky people, maybe the luckiest...but I lost my keys, and for a good reason...

"I...I think...I have to go now..." I heard him stutter as he looked elsewhere and turned his back on to me, bending over the sofa and grabbing his jacket, which he gently rested on his forearm, crossing arms and looking nervously down on to the floor.

"Wait!" Eunhyuk blocked him and grabbed him, pulling the black sweater he was wearing by the back. Ryeowook was forced to halt. He lifted his head and nervously bit his lips, wetting them form time to time with the point of his tongue "Wait! Why do you have to go this early? We didn't even had dinner!"

"Right...why do you have to go?" I felt like bursting out, words were coming up from down my throat as I felt a burning sensation winding me and getting possession of both my stomach and my face, which, I knew, had become slightly redder.

Eunhyuk looked at me again and asked, frowning: "Do you guys know each other by chance?" he pointed at me, before switching direction and pointing at Ryeowook.

"Yes!" I istinctively replied, while Ryeowook let out a pretty embarassing low sound that wanted to seem a "no".

"Yes or no?" Eunhyuk kept on asking again, this time glancing over Ryeowook a bit longer. This one was trying to avoid to answer as much as he could. Good, because I was dying to witness the moment when Ryeowook had to reveal what kind of person was in truth. And I wasn't rushing at all. I enjoyed watching his cheeks getting redder and redder as he blushed nonstop, his thick eyelashes blinking multiple times as if he thought that, by closing and opening his eyes, he would have just woken up from a terrible nightmare. His hands were torturing one another and by then I knew for sure he couldn't bite his lips anymore in order to hold back the answer, if he didn't want to taste his own blood. I enjoyed every single instant. I ignored the reason why Eunhyuk and Donghae wanted to bond a friendship with a such a false person, a liar of the worst kind; but I had to do my best to unmask him in front of them and stop this farce...besides, I really didn't want to give him any more reason to show up in my life again...the faster he disappeared, the better for all of us...especially me...

"Yes..." Ryeowook finally sighed and I found myself screaming internally out of satisfaction "...we knew each other, but...everything's in the past...it's a story from very long time ago..."

"Wait, what?! In the past?" I didn't expect him to answer that way. He really considered those events as settled? With which heart did he manage to forget about Ahra? I couldn't retain myself any longer. I felt like gritting teeth and jumped over him, holding him by the collar of his sweater, close to my face as I tried to release my mounting anger: "Tell me how my sister managed to become part of your past? Tell me, Kim Ryeowook! Because if I were you I couldn't simply try to survive with the thought of killing a human being! Instead, you went abroad and start anew, while I'm here struggling with the painful memory of watching my sister as she laid lifeless in your arms, covered in blood! Everything reminds me of that afternoon! Everything reminds me of her death and...you..." I screamed and cursed at him, scrolling him by the collar, wanting so bad to hurt him until he got some sense back into his mind. But instead Ryeowook stood still, silently receiving my raging scene, shutting eyes in fear and shaking. Yesung hurried to block me. He entoured his arms on my shoulders and pulled me back, so that Ryeowook could breathe normally again.

I watched as he lost his balance, falling on the floor with a soundly thud. Donghae went to kneel beside him as he tried his best to help him standing again, or at least conducting him on the sofa, where he could sit more comfortably, but Ryeowook shook his head and held his arm out, to prevent him from getting any closer.

"What's this about, Kyuhyun?" Eunhyuk asked me, totally puzzled and quite shocked by my reaction. How could I blame him? He had never witnessed such a thing before, least of all from me. Yesung knew...that's why he supported me with that hand on my shoulder at first, and then by blocking my whole body before I could actually hit Ryeowook.

I kept my angry stare on him, it was like I was sure I could have flashed him with my eyes and he couldn't handle any more of that situation; but something strange happened, something that unexpectedly held me back, confusing me more than ever. Why was Ryeowook still sitting on the floor, strongly pushing his back against the lower part of the sofa seats, tilting his head backwards and gritting in an almost disumane way, growling and pressing his hand palm against his right ear. There was definitely something wrong going on. My anger suddenly disappeared just like it had firstly surfaced in me. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but looking at him in that suffering state, made me really worried...it wasn't like him...and I wanted to make sure that he was okay, but I simply couldn't move further and stood still on my place, not feeling any of my limb willing to cooperate.

Donghae finally approached him and wound him by the shoulders, looking extremely disquiet, while Ryeowook slowly let go of his ear and placed his head to rest on the sofa, going back to normally breathe and relaxing his facial features. He hold his hand on his chest and took a couple of deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" Donghae asked him, helding out a hand to help him.

"Y-yes...it's just...I...I need to go home...I'm not feeling well..." he said with a low mumble, fumbling while speaking. He was uncertainly keeping his balance and looked for Donghae's help to stay up.

"I'll bring you home..." Donghae looked at Eunhyuk as if to seek permission and, once being granted it, since he was still wearing his jacket and had his car keys with him, he helped Ryeowook on his way to the door, throwing a deadly glance right at me when he passed me by. I didn't know what to do then. Yesung still held me firmly in his arms, and I followed Ryeowook's back with my eyes, noticing that he couldn't walk properly, but instead he trudged on his way out.

Maybe my reaction was a bit exaggerated and the occasion wasn't one of the best, since Eunhyuk wanted to discuss his wedding plans and therefore formally propose to Donghae, even though he had already asked him to marry, but I'm sure that no one in Ryeowook's shoes would have reacted the way he did! I am not able to hurt anybody even if I'm willing to! And despite past events, half of my heart still didn't want anything bad to happen to him...at all! That was what made me weak: the past...

I heard the door clicking as it had been closed, and Yesung let me go. He was looking at me pretty disappointed, but worst, he was implicitly asking me to check Eunhyuk's reaction. My other friend seemed not to be amused by what happened and I felt deceived in my own self. I threw a fit in somebody else's house and moreover I kind of exposed the bond that linked Ryeowook and I to undesired people...not that I didn't love them, but I didn't want Eunhyuk and Donghae to know about what really happened to Ahra and why Ryeowook was involved...it meant reveal my whole heart and it had been ten years that my heart dried and locked itself from receiving any kind of deep emotion...

It wasn't a coincidence that, the last time my heart felt special, it was owned by the man I wanted so desperately to forget about: him...