Chapter Four:

Zhou Mi and Ryeowook wandered around the maze-like hallways, occasionally popping their heads into rooms they walk past trying to spot Kyuhyun.

“Hmm…” Ryeowook pondered, “where could he have got to?” he said on the borderline of worried.

“He can’t have gone far, though the hallways can be a maze, the school’s not really that big,” Zhou Mi replied, smiling encouragingly at the smaller boy.

“Yeah…” he uneasily replied, “unless he left school premises…”

“I was trying not to think about that,” Zhou Mi said in a suddenly defeated tone. “We didn’t check the science block!” he suddenly realised, until the bell rang loudly through the school, making the pair stop dead in their tracks.

“He wouldn’t be there I’m sure. Oh we still haven’t found him, what do we do?” Ryeowook panicked.

“Just go to lessons Wook, I’m sure he’s fine, he's only a little bit younger than you,” Zhou Mi said, patting his friend’s shoulder, who just nodded in response, heading off in the opposite direction to his class.

______________________________________________________________________

Kyuhyun stood leaning over a bathroom sink, sobbing. Trying to calm down his shaking body. Maybe he should have told the counsellor that nothing was alright at the moment. She’s just here to help, but he seemed to be so bad about talking about it, even to Ryeowook. Luckily, the latter understood this and was wary about pushing Kyuhyun to talk about it. He would always wait for Kyuhyun to bring it up or if he needed to ask, would tread carefully. However, he felt that the counsellor was always too pushy asking him about it. Some people just don’t have the sensitivity to realise when not to push something. Kyuhyun wiped his eyes with his sleeve, though still leaving his face obviously tear stained. He had come to the bathroom in the science block, as it’s separate from the main school building so no one was ever here. He left said bathroom and made his way out of the science block, not even looking at the main building that would inevitably be filled with people, namely bullies, wandering around. He pondered looking for Ryeowook, but then decided not to bother him. Ryeowook was probably busy either with a friend or he’d have his head in a book. He was actually skipping class. He just didn’t care anymore. Everything was , so why bother turning up to class now? He decided on going to the one place he knew he could feel safe and at peace.

_______________________________________________________________________

Ryeowook entered his current lesson, heart dropping when his lover wasn’t already sat in his usual seat. He took the seat next to it, telling himself Kyuhyun would join soon. 20 minutes into the lesson and there was no sign of Kyuhyun. Ryeowook looked at the empty chair nervously. Kyu didn’t skip class, what was this? His eyes trailed to the decent weather outside. He scanned the school grounds, in hope Kyuhyun would be walking about. No sign of him still. He observed the scenery of the outdoors, taking note of the trees in the distance, it was a small wood. He suddenly jumped out of his seat after a lightbulb moment regarding a blindingly obvious place that he didn’t think about. All heads turned to him.

“I have to go, Miss,” he said bluntly.

“Why on earth would you need to leave my lesson, Ryeowook?” she sternly replied, not seeming happy about a student suddenly interrupting her class to leave for whatever reason.

“I have to, uh, go to the dentist,” he came up with. She squinted at him questioningly.

“Do you have a note?” she asked.

“Ah…” he trailed off, shuffling awkwardly.

“Sit down, Ryeowook,” she ordered. In that moment he made the wild decision to just run out. I have to stop doing this he thought to himself as he quickly descended the corridors without looking back or listening to what the teacher was shouting after him, eventually making it out of the building into the fresh air. He breathed a sigh of relief as he began the shortish walk to the woods. Upon arrival, he easily remembered which path to take from the time Kyuhyun had brought him here, quickly arriving at a small opening in the woods, composed of a bench, a small shelter and a very small pond. He sighed at the younger boy sitting on the bench, his knees pulled to his chest, head buried in them and arms wrapping round. Kyuhyun hadn’t noticed the company yet. Ryeowook awkwardly stood for a minute or two, just observing his lover before building up the courage to quietly clear his throat.

“Wookie?” he looked up from his position.

“Kyu,” he replied, smiling warmly.

“How did you know to find me here?” Kyuhyun asked as he swivelled round into a normal sitting position. Ryeowook began to walk towards him to join.

“You brought me here about a year ago. You said you come here to think when you’re upset. Honestly, it took me a while to remember though. I looked all around the school, I was so worried,” he said as he approached, stopping when he reached his lover, who patted the empty space next to him. At this, Ryeowook perched next to Kyuhyun, the latter’s arm draping around his shoulder. In response, Ryeowook slid his hand to wrap around his boyfriend’s waist.

“I’m sorry for making you worry, Wookie,” Kyuhyun apologised.

“It’s no problem! I didn’t mean that to make you feel bad or anything,” he quickly rejoindered. Kyuhyun simply nestled his head on Ryeowook’s shoulder. The pair seemed to be happy just like this. They didn’t need to kiss or anything further, they just enjoyed being in each other’s protective arms. Alone. No one would come around here, especially not school kids; they knew this for sure. This was the kind of moment that the couple treasured. It was okay for all the straight couples that could have a moment like this in the middle of the lunch hall without anyone even noticing but for Kyuhyun and Ryeowook, likewise for Donghae and Eunhyuk, this moment was a rarity. And it was beautiful. The two wished they could sit there like that forever, but knew they had lives to try and live. Ryeowook briefly considered talking to Kyuhyun about what had happened earlier on in class, or what was happening to him at home, but then he realised that the younger boy was in fact happy in this moment, so why would he try and talk about the very things that make him sad? They could talk another time, this moment was perfect and he had no good reason to ruin that. After Ryeowook turned slightly to place a small kiss on his lover’s head, the two sat for a while longer, simply happy in the other’s embrace.