Another shiver wracked through Ryeowook's body, the small boy curling himself further into a ball in an attempt to conserve some type of warmth. The heater in his room had been broken for the better half of the week, Yesung unable to get anyone in to fix it until at least tomorrow afternoon. Instead Ryeowook was left to spend his nights as a human ice block, trying to fight off the autumn chill.

He could feel the cold start to seep into his bones, ridiculous number of layers doing nothing to ward of the frosty night as he curled further into his thick blankets. He had his warmest jumper on over his winter pajamas and the warmest pair of fluffy socks his mother had knitted for him last christmas on, all doing very little to keep the cold out.

Rolling over in his cocoon of blankets he lifted his head, frowning when he realised it was only just past two in the morning. He snapped his eyes shut, hoping that if he willed himself to not think about how cold he was he would finally get some sleep.

Eventually he reopened his eyes, groaning when he realised that only a few minutes has actually passed. He gave up on sleep, shivering as he threw the pile of blankets off himself. Deciding that something warm like hot chocolate would probably trick his brain into thinking he was warm enough to sleep Ryeowook wrapped his lightest around his shoulders, finding his slippers before he quietly exited his room, trying to be as silent as possible as he padded down the stairs.

Reaching the bottom floor a muffled clattering from the kitchen froze Ryeowook, fear rushing through him as the odd noises continued. Mustering up his courage he snuck into the common area to peek around the corner wall beside the entrance, body sagging in relief as he realised it was someone he recognised before he frowned in confusion.

Across from him Kyuhyun was stood in the kitchen, moving around rapidly while surrounded by a seemingly random array of pots and pans.

Ryeowook stopped dead, unsure of what to do. Ever since their kiss - although Kyuhyun insisted on referring to it as 'the incident' - things had been slightly awkward between them. Despite everything Ryeowook still struggled to fight the blush that rose when Kyuhyun smiled at him, cheeks turning bright red and heart racing at even a thought towards the party. Although nothing else had happened between them that night or the days since Ryeowook knew it will still hanging over both of their heads. 

in a deep breath Ryeowook inched closer to the boy flying around the kitchen. Up close he was able to see more of the bench top, the granite surface covered in flour and globs of... something all over the place.

“Kyuhyun?” Ryeowook whispered, wincing as the other boy let out a loud yelp, whirling around to face him. He too had flour dusted across his left cheek, alarmed eyes softening at seeing Ryeowook, before widening once again in panic.

“Ryeowook!” he nearly shouted, catching himself at the last moment. “What the hell are you doing up!?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Ryeowook replied, watching Kyuhyun suspiciously as the taller boy tensed when he fully entered the kitchen. Glancing at the trays that lined the back half of the bench Ryeowook's eyebrows quirked in amusement, walking over to the rack with a smile.

“Are these... cookies?”

“No!” Kyuhyun immediately replied, wilting quickly under the amused stare of the other. “...maybe?”

Ryeowook turned back to the rack, the 'cookies' a mess of oddly shaped dough, almost like lumps as they cooled.

“Can I try one?” Ryeowook asked, picking up one with a smile.

“I wouldn't you'll probably die.” Kyuhyun mumbled, watching on worriedly as Ryeowook bit into the cooled biscuit. Despite the amount of chocolate in the cookie it was weirdly savoury with an odd texture, almost getting stuck in his throat as he tried to swallow the treat.

“...They're okay.” Ryeowook replied eventually, not having the heart to hurt the pouting boy that stood across from him as he took another bite.

Kyuhyun just watched for a moment, Ryeowook finishing the cookie before the taller quickly walked over, pulling the smaller boy into a tight hug.

“I know they are absolutely terrible but bless your heart you are too sweet for your own good.” Kyuhyun sighed, Ryeowook laughing as he returned the embrace.

Kyuhyun was warm, much warmer than the heap of blankets that sat atop his bed back up in his freezing room, Ryeowook melting into the hug. When he felt warm again he pulled away, looking up at the other with a gentle smile.

“Well, considering my room is a freezer and I'm obviously not getting any sleep tonight, how about we make a batch together and we can figure out where you're going wrong?”

With a delighted grin Kyuhyun nodded, moving away from Ryeowook to grab a clean set of bowls to use from the cupboard, the smaller boy quickly measuring out ingredients with ease.

"As head chef you are officially on muscle duty, so get mixing."

"Aye aye captain!" Kyuhyun saluted, Ryeowook stifling a giggle as Kyuhyun set to work. As they rolled out the new batch of cookie dough Ryeowook couldn't get the content smile off his face, awkwardness and confusion that he'd felt between them the past week continuing to melt away - something about just being around the other boy always seemed to relax him.

When they had the batch in the oven Ryeowook sighed, leaning against the counter as the lack of sleep caught up to him. A loud chortle from the boy across from him made him raise an eyebrow, watching as the amused boy shuffled up beside him, alarmed as Kyuhyun brushed his fingers gently against his forehead.

"You managed to get some dough on yourself dummy." Kyuhyun whispered, Ryeowook's blush returning full force as the tallers other hand moved to cup his cheek, holding him gently in place. Ryeowook did his best to stay calm, willing his heart to sit still for once while the other leaned in towards him. Eventually Ryeowook couldn't stand it anymore, flailing around the kitchen in embarrassment while Kyuhyun continued to laugh at him.

When they took the cookies out of the oven half an hour later, Kyuhyun was proud that he ("you mean we" Ryeowook warned as Kyuhyun gloated happily) finally managed to produce a batch that was officially Ryeowook approved. They're still not perfect, too chewy and sagging a bit in the middle but neither of them cared, wrapping themselves in a shared blanket on the sofa to enjoy their treats.

"You know...we havent really talked about that thing since...you know..." Kyuhyun eventually started, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

"You know I know." Ryeowook whispered, trying to ignore the awkwardness that was starting to seep back between him.

Kyuhyun shoved the smaller boy gently."Shuttup, I'm struggling here!"

Ryeowook chuckled softly, letting the weird silence fall between them again as he turned to face the plate of cookies in front of them. "It's a hard topic to talk about isnt it?"

Kyuhyun sighed. "I feel like we're making this more awkward than it should be. We didn't do anything wrong, right?"

"Right."

"Then why are we being such es over this!? We're stronger than one kiss together!"

"Stop yelling idiot." Ryeowook shushed the other boy, Kyuhyun wincing at his accidental rise in volume. A moment later he felt the heat rise to his cheeks, taking in what Kyuhyun had just said. "We are...I don't know why I keep getting so embarrassed over the ki--the incident." he mumbled.

"I think we just need to accept that it happened and start moving on. You're more important to me than anything, I'm not going to let the incident get between us." Kyuhyun replied, words serious compared to the light tone he was trying to convey.

Ryeowook smiled, feeling much more at ease since the conversation had started, turning to face the other boy. "I think you're right, our friendship is much stronger than our ability to avoid each other."

"Yeah......friends" Kyuhyun eventually replied, almost sad smile crossing his face. For a moment Ryeowook felt like he'd said something wrong again, heart nearly thumping out of his chest, but in an instant Kyuhyun was back to his familiar teasing smirk. "So if either of us gets stupidly awkward again the other totally has permission to call the other a ."

"Shouldn't you pick something that isn't likely for you to be called normally?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Kim Ryeowook, snark expert I see." Kyuhyun retorted.

Ryeowook sighed at the silence that fell between them again as he leant tiredly against Kyuhyun, finally at ease after days of dancing around each other. "...why were you up at three am making cookies anyway?" he mumbled from under his share of the blankets, looking up at the other boy frozen mid chew, nearly choking on his cookie.

"Uuuuuuhhhhh" Kyuhyun hesitated, Ryeowook smiling at the pink now dusting his cheeks. "Reasons...that totally don't involve avoiding ridicule at the hand of my idiot roommate."

Ryeowook snorted. "Last time you nearly burnt the dorms down - you're lucky I found you before anything worse happened."

"You wound my precious ego!"

"Oh such a shame, how will you ever recover now?"

Ryeowook still wasn't quite sure why Kyuhyun really was trying to bake in the early hours of the morning, but with the taller boys delighted smile and pink-stained cheeks directed at him Ryeowook found he didn't really care any more.