“It’s okay not to be okay.”

It was past midnight and honestly all Kim Heechul wanted was to crash in bed and maybe cuddle up with his loving cat, Heebum, if that rascal was up for it. Heechul expected to be greeted by his dongsaengs when he entered the door. Donghae would usually still be up doing god knows what in the living room while Ryeowook would either be …. Well…. Heechul didn’t know. No one was home and Heechul wondered where Donghae was. Ryeowook had Sukira and although Heechul didn’t know what the magnae did, he knew that Ryeowook never came home straight after work.

Heebum purred and rubbed his head against Heechul’s legs and Heechul greeted him back lovingly patting his head and his tail. Heebum meowed thrice and Heechul raised his brows.

“What do you mean?” Heechul asked the meowing cat.

Heechul knew his cat well. Too well that sometimes it freaked himself out. His cat was staring at him with those very dark beautiful orbs that shone under the lights. The cat meowed again and rubbed his head against Heechul’s legs with pressure as if he wanted to push Heechul. When Heechul didn’t budged, trying to gauge what his cat was trying to tell him, his cat hissed and gave up, dropping onto the floor, ever the lazy he was.

“What’s going on, Heebumie?”

Heebum ignored Heechul, his eyes focused on the hallways leading to the rooms. Heechul shrugged knowing that there was something going on but he was just too lazy to entertain the thought of whatever that was going on. Heebum and whatever that was going on could wait till he got his seven hours of beauty sleep.

Heechul should have known that Heebum doesn’t bull. His cat knew what was going on because as Heechul walked across the hallway towards his room, he stopped in his tracks. He heard deep voices whispering back and forth. The universe big star frowned. He knew whose room it was and he damn well recognized those voices that came from that room. And they didn’t match. What were these two troublemakers up to this time? He pushed open the door and the little weirdo scrambled to their feet, both of them jaws wide and screaming in shock.

“Hyung! You scared us!” Henry shouted, still breathing hard.

“What are doing here?” Heechul then quickly raised his hand. “Wait! I don’t want to hear this. I don’t want to get involved …. For once. I’m just going back to my room and pretend I never walked in here.”

Heechul spun around and counted to three in his head. He expected his magnaes to call him back and dragged him into their master plan, whatever it was. He was, not to brag or anything, one of the best pranksters in the group. Everyone included him when they had something up their sleeve. He felt pretty betrayed when the magnaes allowed him to just leave without saying a word. Heechul stomped back to the room with his hands on his hips.

“What are the both of you up to?” Heechul demanded to know.

Kyuhyun gave Henry a smirk and a wink. “Told you he’d come back.”

That little head. “What’s going on?”

“Well…. Erm…” Henry shifted his gaze from Heechul to Kyuhyun. “We… We… Ryeowook hyung is using drugs!”

Oh. “I know.”

Kyuhyun and Henry gasped and stared at him as if he was out of his mind. Heechul shrugged and took a seat on Ryeowook’s bed, hugging one of the giraffes toys. The two poor confused boys waited for an explanation and Heechul bit his lower lip, unable to find a way to explain how he knew to his younger members.

Heechul knew because it was plainly obvious. At least to him, it was. Heechul spent about a great deal hanging with Ryeowook when he ended his enlistment. While he was away, the apartment and room arrangement changed and he found out that he was going to be living with Ryeowook and Donghae. Kangin and Leeteuk went back to live with their family and that left the three of them there. Heechul didn’t liked it at first. He was close with the older members more than the younger ones. But, Heechul managed to bond well with Ryeowook and Donghae. Those two members were the type that cared for the world and Heechul always learnt a thing or two about kindness when he hung around them. Donghae had his own views on what was right and what was wrong and Ryeowook did too.

Over the months, Heechul spent time bonding with Ryeowook through watching dramas together. Both of them were pretty much losers without girlfriends to hang out on Friday nights or any other nights for that matter, and spent time watching movie after movie, drama after drama. It was fun, Heechul had to admit. Even if it sounded a little lame. Living with someone, you kind of learn everything new about them every day. Sometimes, you’d think that you know a person inside out but honestly, you just don’t.

Ryeowook knew good and bad. He knew right and wr