Taste

            Ryeowook’s mother smiled sweetly and tapped her son’s cheek, walking into the apartment.  “I was in town, visiting my aunt, and I thought I’d stop in to see you and Heechul before I headed back home.  I tried to call your cellphone after school let out, but it kept going to voicemail.”

            “I, ah…I turned it off.  The battery was running low.  I’m sorry.”

            “Your brother’s not answering his phone either, but that never surprises me,” she said, slipping off her shoes and setting her purse down on the couch.  “He always avoids talking to me as much as humanly possible.  Is he home?”

            “No,” Ryeowook admitted, closing the door and following behind her.  He kept looking towards the hallway, wondering if he should run into the bedroom and warn Kyuhyun about his mother’s presence, but should he warn his new boyfriend to stay locked up in his room or come out and visit with her?  Which would Kyuhyun prefer?

            Before he had time to come to a conclusion on the matter, the man in question appeared in the doorway of the living room.  Kyuhyun leaned against the frame, watching them intently, and was luckily still fully dressed and didn’t look as rumpled as Ryeowook.  Thankfully, his mother would not think it odd for him to look a little ragged after teaching high schoolers all day.  She had raised two sons, after all, and one of them was Heechul.

            “Oh!  Wook, you didn’t tell me you had company over,” she said, finally noticing Kyuhyun on the other side of the room. 

            Ryeowook took a deep breath to calm his nerves—there was no going back now—and he walked over to Kyuhyun, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him into the room.  “Mom, this is Cho Kyuhyun.  He’s a new friend of mine that I met through Yesung.  He was roommates with Yesung in college.  Kyu, this is my mother.  She was in Seoul visiting my great-aunt and stopped by to see Heechul and me.”

            Kyuhyun stopped short of Ryeowook’s mother and offered his hand, a shy smile forming.  “Pleased to meet you.”

            “Same,” she said, her eyes twinkling.  “I rarely ever get to meet any of Ryeowook’s new friends.  I hope I’m not intruding.”

            Kyuhyun shook his head.  “I talked your son into inviting me over for dinner and he was going to make me chicken karaage.  I used to live in Japan for several years and grew fond of eating it while I was there.”

            “Did you move to Japan for work?” she asked, heading into the kitchen.

            Kyuhyun glanced over at Ryeowook, who was biting his lip nervously.  He would prefer if Kyuhyun didn’t reveal the real reason he’d gone to Japan, but he couldn’t exactly pull him aside and explain his reasoning at the moment.  Kyuhyun seemed to pick up on Ryeowook’s nervousness though.  “I, um…I just headed there for a few years after college to see the world a bit.  I’ve recently come back to South Korea because I hated being so far away from my family and friends.  I’ve been staying with Yesung for the last few weeks, trying to decide if I wanted to get an apartment in Seoul.”

            Ryeowook’s mother nodded her head in understanding.  “It is best to do your travelling when you’re young, of course.  After you get married and start a career, it becomes much harder to do.”

            “Kyuhyun is a novelist, mom,” Ryeowook informed her.  “He can technically do his job anywhere he can bring his laptop to.  Would you like to stay for dinner?”

            “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?” she asked, looking from her son to Kyuhyun.

            “I don’t mind as long as you promise to tell me a few embarrassing stories about your son,” Kyuhyun said, sounding sincere.  “I have trouble getting as much out of Yesung.”

            “Deal,” she said, winking at Kyuhyun.

            Ryeowook playfully narrowed his eyes at his mother as he walked over to the chicken and began prepping it for dinner.  “You be careful.  Remember, I know stories about you as well.”

            She dismissed his words with a wave of her hand and sat down at the dinner table.  “I taught him everything he knows about cooking, you know, Kyuhyun.”

            “I should be thanking you then,” Kyuhyun said, walking over to the rice maker to help Ryeowook out.  “Your son’s been feeding me the last couple days.  I had to escape from Yesung’s apartment for the sake of my sanity and Ryeowook’s been keeping me full.  I’m an awful cook.”

            “He’s terrible.  He made breakfast this morning and even Heechul wouldn’t eat most of it,” Ryeowook told her, gathering the ingredients for the batter. 

            Her brows rose.  “That is a bad sign.”

            Kyuhyun nodded, filling the rice maker.

            “How is your brother?  He called me to tell me that he was working on snagging some romantic prospect, but he didn’t tell me anything else about her aside from saying she was famous and had a lot of money.  I’m not sure if I’m a fan of your brother dating people just to improve his social status.”

            Kyuhyun looked up from filling the rice maker, first listening as Ryeowook’s mother spoke, then looking over at Ryeowook.  Ryeowook glanced over at him briefly and gave him a slight smile.  “I’m not either, mom.  But if it makes you feel better, he failed miserably.  I think he’s off moping somewhere.”

            “Well, I’m not happy that he’s unhappy, but I don’t think he should be going after some poor girl just for her money either.  A woman wants to feel loved by the man who’s dating her.”

            “Everyone wants to feel loved by the person they’re with,” Kyuhyun spoke up, looking back down at the rice maker to continue his task.

            Ryeowook’s mother tilted her head to the side, as if considering his words.  “Right.  I take it you have some experience in his matter.  I’m afraid that I limit my reading to trashy romances, cookbooks, and a number of magazines.  You must be somewhat well known in your field of writing, Kyuhyun.”

            “I don’t want to sound as if I’m boasting,” Kyuhyun only said.

            “He is,” Ryeowook cut in.  “He’s written several top sellers.”

            “And you’ve had a few lovers only after you for your money?” she asked.

            “Plenty of people wanted the position for that reason, but I generally see through them.  The moment you become even a little famous or rich, you find yourself hounded by fans who don’t care if they know anything about the real you.  They just care about the image and it becomes a task, weeding them out from those that have sincere interests,” he explained, turning on the rice maker.  “So when you find someone who actually loves you for yourself…you tend to treasure them much more.”

            “I should hope so,” she only said.  She then leaned forward to take a closer look at the flowers on the table.  “These are beautiful, Ryeowook.”

            “Kyuhyun bought them for me,” Ryeowook informed her.

            A smile spread across her face as she them.  “You have excellent taste, Kyuhyun.”

            Kyuhyun’s head wiped towards her and he looked over at her with startled eyes.  For a moment, his mouth dropped open and he fumbled for an explanation.  “I just, um…I knew your son loved purple and I…I picked the best ones I could find in that color.”

            Ryeowook’s brows furrowed as he glanced over at his boyfriend, trying to figure out why Kyuhyun seemed so nervous.  Perhaps it was best if he tried to lead the conversation a bit more.  “He also picked up cheesecake for dessert.  I suppose I’ll have to share.”

            “You’d better share with your mother,” she playfully warned.  “Remember, I carried you around for nine months and gave birth to you…and that was highly debatable after having your brother.  I was afraid I was going to end up with another kid just like him!”

            “I suppose I should,” Ryeowook conceded.  “Although technically, Kyuhyun bought it, so it’s his.”

            “I didn’t buy it for myself,” Kyuhyun said, walking over to the counter where Ryeowook worked and looking through the drawer.  “Do you have a corkscrew?  I was banking on you having one.”

            Ryeowook reached into the drawer and found the corkscrew right away.  He handed it to Kyuhyun, letting his hand linger in his boyfriend’s a little longer than necessary, since his mother was preoccupied, sniffing the flowers.  Kyuhyun’s hand was shaking.  Was he nervous?  When Ryeowook squeezed his hand, Kyuhyun’s eyes connected with his.

            I love you, Ryeowook silently mouthed.

            “So do I,” Kyuhyun softly responded, squeezing his hand back before releasing it.  Then he walked over to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of wine.  “Would you like a glass of wine?”

            “I suppose just one wouldn’t hurt,” she answered.  “But I still have to drive home after dinner.”

            Kyuhyun began to open the bottle of wine he’d originally put aside to share with Ryeowook and poured three glasses.  He immediately took a large gulp of his the moment he was done pouring and Ryeowook had to stifle a laugh.  He’d never thought of his mother as nerve wrecking.  His brother was so much worse to contend with, but Kyuhyun seemed to have such an easy handle on him already.  Heechul had scared away more than one love interest of Ryeowook’s in the past, long before anything serious had taken hold, and Heechul defended his behavior claiming that if they couldn’t handle a little drama, they weren’t good enough for him.  It meant they wouldn’t be able to handle the difficulties that naturally came up in relationships, according to his older brother