Approximately one week after Kyuhyun and Ryeowook went to music camp, the barber was in his shop, quickly sweeping up after a long day at work. He hoped that he could close a bit early and spend some quiet relaxing time with his wife, the couch and several bottles of wine in the absence of his overly energetic son. He had five minutes left until the store closed and was praying that he didn’t get any more customers for the night. 

He sighed tiredly when he heard the doorbell tinkle just as he finished cleaning up. He composed himself and turned around. 

“Oh, Mr. Cho, I didn’t expect to see you here,” the barber said, surprised. “How- Uh… how can I help you?” he finished uncertainly, unsure as to why Mr. Cho was at the barber shop when his own son had previously said that the shop was off-limits. 

“Well, I was going to drop in to see my usual barber to get a haircut but it turned out that he was on vacation. So I came here. You do such a good job with Kyuhyun’s haircut so I figured I’m in good hands,” he said with practiced nonchalance. 

“Oh, well then,” Mr. Kim said, as he turned around a barber chair with a flourish. “Have a seat!” He had decided to just run with it and determine the man’s intentions as he went along. 

“How’s your wife?” Mr. Cho asked as he sat heavily in the barber chair, making himself comfortable. 

“She’s well, how is your family?” 

“Good good. Kyuhyun is at camp, as I’m sure your…uh…son has told you.” He scowled briefly before continuing on. “My wife’s well. She’s already missing Kyuhyun.” He gave the barber a thin-lipped smile. 

Mr. Kim draped a gown around the man, nodding absentmindedly at Mr. Cho’s somewhat paradoxical behaviour.

“So, just a trim then?” 

“Yes, thanks. Or- no- actually, since I’m here, I might as well get a new hairstyle – Kyuhyun always loves his hair when he leaves here. Both you and your son are very good at determining hairstyles.” 

The barber chuckled. 

“Yes, my son is quite talented.” 

Mr. Cho gazed sharply at the barber. 

“Like father, like son, right? That’s how it should be in every family.” 

“Ah, yes, I guess so? Although I would prefer if Ryeowookie was his own person.” The barber smiled professionally as he saw Mr. Cho frown at his comment. He decided to change the topic. “How about we get this fringe off your face and give your hair a little volume. Is that okay?” 

The man waved off the description. 

“Do whatever you want. My wife has been suggesting that I should get a haircut for a while now anyway.” 

“You’re putting a lot of trust in me.” He smiled sheepishly then began snipping away. 

“That’s because I trust your family’s skill in haircutting. A skill that should be passed down, I might add – at least, once your son matures into a responsible man.” 

Mr. Kim nodded stiffly, giving Mr. Cho a tight smile. He felt like he faintly knew where the conversation was going – especially in context of his son’s nonsensical babbling description of what happened the last time the Chos were at the barber shop.

The two men spent a couple minutes in silence as the barber skillfully clipped here and there, evening out Mr. Cho’s hair. 

“So…” There was a pregnant pause as Mr. Cho fumbled around for a conversational topic. “How- How’s Ryeowook-ah doing at camp?” 

“Pretty good. He sends us daily letters describing everything he does down to the smallest details. How about Kyuhyunnie?” 

Mr. Cho snorted. 

“As if Kyuhyun would send us any letters. He calls every once in a while at 8:30pm – right when I’m taking a bath – and he talks to my wife. She said that he spends the conversation whining about the fact that there’s no games, no soft bed, no television. Just like the usual Kyuhyun,” he said, chuckling. 

“Sounds like he’s enjoying himself then.” 

“I guess so, although I’d still prefer if he wasn’t there…” he trailed off, sighing.

There was another pause as the barber considered how to bring up the topic he wanted to speak about. 

“By the way, Ryeowookie said he tried to take care of Kyuhyunnie at camp but that Kyuhyunnie was ignoring him for some reason.” Mr. Kim attempted to keep the conversation light as he delved into the matter of Kyuhyun’s last phone call. “Do you know what happened?”

“No,” said Mr. Cho, feigning ignorance, “Whatever could it be?” 

“We haven’t seen Kyuhyunnie here for a haircut in a while…” 

“Oh, you know, we’ve been busy. Too much to do,” he said, giving a standard non-answer. 

“That’s too bad. Ryeowookie’s missed him. But at least it sounds like they’ve made up recently-”

“What?” interjected Mr. Cho, genuinely surprised. 

“I guess Ryeowook finally had his way with him.” 

Mr. Cho raised his eyebrow, annoyed. 

“’Had his way with him…?’”

The barber chuckled. 

“To most people, Ryeowookie seems pretty weak, right?”

The other man considered the statement then gave a slight nod. 

“Well, the most surprising thing is that he isn’t. Once my son makes a good friend, then that person is a friend for life and he will not tolerate losing that friendship. So, knowing Ryeowook, he probably cornered Kyuhyunnie somewhere and forced him to say why he was ignoring him. Even though he’s naïve at times and shorter than most other kids, my son can be pretty assertive.” Mr. Kim shook his head, smiling as he realized how much he missed his rambunctious son of his. 

“I remember when he was little, about 3-4 years old or so, and my wife and I were cooking, he used to follow me around the kitchen with his little stool and stand beside me saying ‘You’re doing it wong appa!’” He chuckled. “I don’t know how many times I heard that. He booted me out of the kitchen on the day of his 5th birthday, asking it to be his birthday present. And it’s not only me either; Ryeowookie's also had his way with the camp staff. When we first sent him to camp, he didn’t like the food there. So in true Ryeowook-fashion, he somehow charmed the kitchen staff into letting him cook with them. Of course, they don’t actually let him cook, but I’m pretty sure he somehow bosses them around anyway.” 

Mr. Cho nodded, looking unhappy. 

“Ah, no wonder Kyuhyun hasn’t been complaining about the food. He’s usually a very picky eater,” he grumbled. 

There was another pause as the barber dried the man’s hair. 

“Oh, also, how are Kyuhyunnie’s singing lessons going? Ryeowook wrote that your son’s voice is really nice and that he wants to help him become ‘the bestest singer ever’ in his words,” Mr. Kim said gently as he started styling the other man’s hair with a little gel. 

“Your son is….sweet, I guess.” Mr. Cho blanched then continued on, slight irritation present in his voice, “But my son doesn’t need to be the best singer ever. Maybe enough to charm a pretty girl - and his vocal instructor is enough for that.”

The barber nodded distractedly as he added the finishing touches, keeping quiet as he noticed the man was getting a little agitated, the friendly guise slowly dropping. 

“There we go, all done.”

Mr. Cho surveyed his new look with interest. His old fringe had hidden his receding hairline but this one pulled all the hair away from his face, exposing everything. However the barber had also given his hair lots of volume, drawing attention away from his hairline at the same time. He ran his hands through his hair a couple times, looking ambivalent.

“What do you think about it?” asked Mr. Kim. 

“You know, I haven’t had a new hairstyle in years, so this is very new for me. I don’t know whether to say I like it or not.” 

“Well, try it out. If you don’t like it then come back in a couple of days and I’ll change it.” 

“That sounds great...” Mr. Cho muttered, still distracted by his new hairstyle. He slowly wandered to the payment counter, his eyes fixed on the mirror. 

“I hope it wasn’t too dramatic for you.” 

“No, no it’s fine. I think.” He tore his gaze away from the mirror and passed his credit card over to the barber. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something.” 

The barber looked up knowingly. 

“Yes?” 

Mr. Cho looked back at him, a cold, determined gleam in his eye. 

“Look, I think it’s good that Kyuhyun has an interest in singing. It’s always important to have a hobby that can be put to good use in the future, but I hope he doesn’t get too into it.” 

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand, Mr. Cho,” Mr. Kim decided to bait the other, his annoyance at the man's words getting the best of him. 

“I’m saying that my son has an interest in singing, which is okay, but I will not approve of him getting tangled up in the music business. If it wasn’t for my wife, he wouldn’t even be at music camp right now. I don’t need any more people to add crazy irrational thoughts into his young mind.” He looked the barber straight in the eye. “So please, don’t encourage your son to spread that ‘follow your dreams and become a singer’ garbage to my son. Kyuhyun will go into law when he’s older, just like me. He has no other choice in the matter. Is that clear?” 

Mr. Kim nodded mutely, irritated. 

“Well, kids will be kids, but I’ll remember to pass that on to Ryeowook.” 

“Good. Kyuhyun has already defied me once because of your son. I know he put his mother up to this music camp thing even though I expressly told him that I would not send him to such a stupid meaningless event.” 

“Oh, I wasn’t aware of that,” Mr. Kim stated expressionlessly. 

“Yes, this was the first time he disobeyed me like that and I don’t want to make it a habit. He is my son and he will do as I say no matter what happens,” Mr. Cho went on, ranting. 

The barber nodded mutely, now trying to stifle a grin that was threatening to spread across his face. He had moved past irritation, becoming more amused as the other man continued on, angrily huffing and puffing like a pompous life-sized cartoon character. 

“I think it’s time to set some ground rules for future visits,” announced Mr. Cho self-importantly. “First, I don’t want your son to talk to my son about his future. Second, I don’t want your son to talk about singing with my son. Third, I don’t want your son to talk about music with my son. Fourth, I would like your son to decrease his physical contact with my son. I don’t want anything…unnatural to rub off on Kyuhyun.” 

“If you say so,” the barber said airily. He was still having a hard time concealing his amusement at the man’s theatrics. 

Mr. Cho picked up his credit card and nodded. He walked towards the door, pushed it open then turned around, standing officiously in the doorway. 

“I’ve been trying to keep my son away from here, but it seems like he’s grown attached to this place. Because of this, I trust that you bring this topic up with your son and educate him about the realities of life and what it means to be a real man while you’re at it.” He nodded pretentiously then stepped outside. 

The barber’s gaze lingered at the doorway for several seconds. 

Then he giggled.

“Unnatural? Does he think my son is somehow contagious?” He shook his head, still giggling and began sweeping up, whistling as he went along.