Panting, totally breatheless, Ryeowook rushed down the streets, hurriedly dodging - like in a slalom - several other people that quietly strolled from shop to shop, interested in the exposed objects from behind the windows, or that casually chitchatted in that unexpectedly stiffly hot afternoon.

One last glance at his watch told him that he was late, very late, and with a nervous pounding heart he could do nothing but hope and pray to find the other man still at the place of their meeting, despite his unexcusable delay.

Hair swept by the friction of the air and hopeful smile drawn on his face, the young boy looked as joyful and carefree as ever, while clutching hard his backpack on his shoulders. He still remembered the huge surprise that awaited him in the morning when, after waking up, he checked his phone and found Kyuhyun's agreement on a meeting he was a bit too scared to ask for.

Ryeowook didn't even remember when or how he had technically sent that text out, but the real thing was that it had been sent somehow and Kyuhyun had accepted. There was nothing else to understand but this.

After reaching the desired destination, the door was pushed open and a bell chimed with the motion, disturbed in its still sleep.

"Welcome!" a waitress, probably the youngest daughter from the owner's family, greeted him after clearing a little table.

Still smiling, he was polite enough to acknowledge the greet and bow his head to the girl, before stilling and nervously screening the room, intent at looking for the man he was to meet. At the beginning no one appeared in his eyes as tall and built like Kyuhyun was, and Ryeowook - about to lose hope - was on his way to turn heels and go away, but the girl had just come out of the kitchen with a tray of food and was serving a customer in the farthest back of the shop.

Upon recognizing his target, Ryeowook brighted up and tried to act as normally as possible while reaching the table and slumping down onto a chair.

"I'm sorry, I'm late... I was sneaking away from the juniors of the music club, such a nuisance every day" he briefly rolled eyes, as he explained what kept him from rushing over earlier and as fast as humanely possible.

Kyuhyun nodded without saying much, but soon felt a burdensome stare coming from the young boy sitting across from him, and had to look from Ryeowook to his bowl of steamy ramen and back to the student: "Don't you mind, right? I was quite busy today and I ended up skipping lunch" he explained with red tinted cheeks, uncomfortable for being the only one eating between them.

Ryeowook smiled and shook his head, blinking happily as he watched Kyuhyun breaking apart a set of wooden chopsticks and beginning to dig into his late lunch.

For a while they stayed like that, in complete silence, wrapped into the different sounds coming from the surrounding people and objects: tired chattering from workers who had just finished their daily shift, cooks and boss alike shouting out orders to waiters, dirty bowls being piled and left under the flushing jet of water in the kitchen, meat sizzling on the grills.

Kyuhyun added up to all that with a light slurp of his ramen broth, making Ryeowook's presence apparently invisible to his eyes.

Just apparently, though. Because Ryeowook's stomach growled in discontent and, as he thought of moving a pair of chopsticks swift and unnoticed to pick one fat dumpling from Kyuhyun's sidedish serving, he was caught, intercepted and scolded with a flashing glare.

Ryeowook pouted and responded to the same glare with one just as bad, before he could sigh and stop the waitress nearby: "Another small serving of pork dumplings here, please" he ordered, making sure to look at his best and that his bright eyes and wide smile could charm the girl for good. She blushed and nodded after taking the order.

Despite bending over his bowl to eat, Kyuhyun wasn't blind to any of the boy's actions and he tried to secretly scoff away from Ryeowook's eyes, only to manage to almost choke on his bite and cough nonstop.

"Be careful!" Ryeowook promptly filled his glass with fresh water and pushed it to the stubborn man, offering a couple of tissues that were gladly accepted.

"Are you here to talk to me about something in particular?" after various attempts of calming down, Kyuhyun was able to ask, even though with slightly hoarse voice.

"Me?" Ryeowook asked back, this time a bit startled by the question, as if he had really forgotten the reason why he wanted to meet Kyuhyun.

"You sent the text and asked me to meet, not the other way" Kyuhyun stirred his soup with the long, thin chopsticks and reproached, sounding like he could have survived perfectly fine even without that pointless meeting.

The young boy lowered a bit his head, mustering up a bit of courage before beginning his explanation: "Well, this time is my turn to apologize...for what you bumped into at my place..."

"Oh, that. There's no need to" Kyuhyun interrupted him with cold and detatched voice, without even taking a look at the sorrowful expression depicted all over the boy's petrified face "Really, there's no need to apologize"

"There is, instead! I was..."

"I don't care" Kyuhyun shrugged and announced, in his almost disturbing unconcerned voice.

Silence immediately fell and Ryeowook found himself facing a brief discouraging moment in which he was put totally off-guard by Kyuhyun's behavior. Luckily his food was served right then and he could find in it a temporary distraction, especially in the way he thoroughly dipped his first dumpling into the nearby soy sauce.

"Kyuhyun? What kind of person are you exactly? I'm curious to know more about you..." Ryeowook spoke a bit uncertainly, almost sure that the other man would have soon lost his patience, since he looked as if constantly disturbed by whatever word pronounced by the student. Indeed, Kyuhyun lifted his eyes from the ramen bowl and glanced the still awaiting boy, radiating a bad feeling of deep annoyance for the personal question just heard.

That was only the beginning though, because soon Ryeowook went on: "Are you married? Do you have a girlfriend?" he paused a little bit and watched Kyuhyun gulping down his water, focusing on the man's white throat, before suddenly realizing another thought, which he soon voiced out: "Maybe you are gay?"

Fortunately for him, Kyuhyun had already swallowed down whatever food or drink present in his mouth, or he'd have more likely suffered another coughing attack, this time more severe than before, because Ryeowook's latest question totally shocked him and left also a quite considerate amount of disgust with it: "For God's sake, no!" the man spat out "What does it make you think so?!" he almost shouted, spiteful and angered "I don't have anybody, not yet..." he corrected himself at the end, leaving Ryeowook with a mind filled with doubts and other questions.

The student was about to go back in action with his personal interview, but suddenly Kyuhyun's phone rang and he was forced to take the call: "Hey, Kim! Sure, I'm in tomorrow as well! What? The practice room? Really? That's great, thank you! You're awesome, I love you! Okay, see you!"

I love you?!

The call was brief and ended in the blink of an eye, however Ryeowook couldn't help but stare the rapid change occured in Kyuhyun, as he replied to each question and talked with the other person with astonishing kindness and a bit of overwhelming excitement. The other person's name was Kim and he or she had managed to snatch a sin