So now I come to you

With open arms

Nothing to hide

Believe what I say

            “Does that change your answer?” Kyuhyun asked.

            Ryeowook had to move his hand away from Kyuhyun’s in order to wipe the water from his eyes.  “No…it doesn’t change my answer.  I’ve always wanted to marry you.”

            Kyuhyun propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at Ryeowook.  He kissed his wet cheeks.  “Didn’t you ever think I’d ask?”

            “Well, you’ve waited a long time…so I’d kind of put it out of my mind,” Ryeowook answered.

            “I thought we were too young to marry before our enlistment.  And I knew that if word got out that we were married and the government heard of it, it would cause problems, but I always knew you were it for me.  From the very beginning.”

            “So did I.”

            Kyuhyun sat up and then stood up.  He pulled his jeans off the rest of the way and then held his hand down to Ryeowook to help him up.  “Come on.  Let’s take a shower.  Then we can eat, since you complained about being hungry.  That cheesecake has been torturing me most of the day.  I only marginally crave you more than food, you know.”

            “I honestly thought I came in second,” Ryeowook teased, standing up and taking off his soiled shirt.

            “Now you know,” Kyuhyun said, grabbing onto his wrist and dragging him towards the bathroom.  “We may have to take a long shower…I really missed you.”

            “Changmin would burn down his apartment if he knew we were doing it in this many rooms,” Ryeowook pointed out. 

            “If you consider the bandmates he used to live with, we probably seem pretty tame,” Kyuhyun pointed out, walking into the bathroom and turning on the warm water to the shower. 

            Ryeowook thought about this a moment and realized just how true it was.  No wonder Changmin was so chill about his best friend being gay and had offered up his apartment to them.  Although Kyuhyun told him that Changmin stressed that they were to sleep in the guest room.  He clearly didn’t want them making love on his bed.

            “I suggest we put our clothes back on while we eat or we’ll probably end up doing it in there as well.  Especially if we make it through the bottles of the wine I bought,” Kyuhyun suggested, getting into the shower and pulling Ryeowook in with him. 

            “Well, we’ll probably have to sit across the room from each other and talk about very safe subjects then.  What would you suggest?” Ryeowook teased, sliding his hand over Kyuhyun’s wet, slippery hip. 

            “We should talk about where we want to get an apartment when we return,” Kyuhyun suggested, “since you don’t think that’s a suitable email discussion topic, although there’s nothing weird about having a roommate.”

            “I know,” Ryeowook agreed, reaching for the soap and beginning to wash his chest and abs, which was still a sticky mess.

            Kyuhyun pulled Ryeowook into his arms and began kissing his cheek and then trailed kisses down his neck and shoulder.  “Sing something for me.  I haven’t heard you sing in ages.”

            “Changmin’s poor neighbors,” Ryeowook said, shaking his head.  “They probably thought they’d be free of this for two years.

            “Changmin’s poor neighbors hear some of the best singers practicing in Korea—for free—so I don’t feel bad for them.  We can sing something together.  What should we sing?” Kyuhyun asked.

            “Sing Love U More with me…since I wrote it about us,” Ryeowook said.  “And the words seem truer now than ever before.”

            Kyuhyun smirked and reached for the shampoo.  He squirt a small amount into his hand and began to wash his hair.  “The first lines are yours, I believe.”

            “I feel a little rusty,” Ryeowook confessed.

            “I won’t judge you,” Kyuhyun promised.  “And your version of rusty still sounds damn good.”

            Ryeowook cleared his throat and then began singing, his voice full of the love he’d felt when he first penned the song, “Love you more, love you more…”

            They only had six days together, but they planned on spending every moment of it together and hopefully that would get them by for about the next nine months until Ryeowook’s release.  Kyuhyun would still be in the service, but would be stationed in Seoul by then and be able to live with Ryeowook.  They could be together then.  They were over halfway through their separation.  And if they’d lasted this long and survived, they could handle the remainder of the time.

            And instead of driving them apart as Ryeowook had feared it might, it had only brought them closer together.  Kyuhyun had proposed to him.  He’d long ago given up hope that Kyuhyun ever would.  He figured that since it wasn’t legal for them to marry in South Korea, he never intended to ask, unless it became legal one day.  Now he knew that Kyuhyun just had other reasons for waiting as long as he had.  Honestly, he was content just knowing that Kyuhyun intended to stay with him forever.  He didn’t need more.  But he was so blissfully happy. 

            Although it was painful to part a second time, it felt a little easier.  Ryeowook knew that the time would go by faster and that they could communicate more freely.  And now they were engaged.  Things that had worried him the first time around no longer worried him at all.  Kyuhyun meant to stay with him forever.  Nothing else mattered.  God damn it, nothing could ruin his good mood!  He was going to get married to the man he’d loved for nearly a decade!  Few things in his life had ever made him so happy.  Signing with SM Entertainment.  Joining Super Junior.  Falling in love for the first and only time of his life.  And now this.  He could handle the long separation this time around.  It still wouldn’t be easy, but it was more bearable, knowing what he had to look forward to when he came home.

So here I am

With open arms

            Although Kyuhyun was bound to be in the service a couple months longer than Ryeowook, he was reassigned to his home region in the final months and moved in with his parents initially.  Then he began to search out an apartment for Ryeowook and him and decided on the same one that Donghae and Eunhyuk had chosen.  For one, they both liked the apartment complex and, secondly, it seemed a little less suspicious if they moved in together if some of the other members also lived in the same building.  Plus, they were in the habit of hanging out with Donghae and Eunhyuk and didn’t want to be too far away from them.  Adjusting back to regular civilian life would be hard enough without more changes to get used to. 

            As is, there were no more deejaying or hosting shows to fill up their time once they returned, but the company was going to plan for a Super Junior KRY comeback almost immediately.  Yesung was already excited enough to call them on a regular basis, asking their opinions on costumes and stage props.  Leeteuk assured them that they were probably releasing another Super Junior album in the summer as well.  And then there would certainly be an SJM album by next winter.  They would be busy enough with new music releases until they could find new daytime gigs. 

            Radio Star, although they didn’t need another host at the moment, did want Kyuhyun back as a guest as soon as he was released from his service time.  They missed harassing him.  Ryeowook was already looking up auditions for upcoming theater performances.  That would be something he could start up again right away and would give him something to do during the day while Kyuhyun was still stuck doing his volunteer work, although they would finally be together in the evenings and on weekends. 

            Ryeowook returned home on a Friday night and flew home immediately.  Kyuhyun was waiting for him, bundled up into his winter coat, a scarf, and hat.  He was impossible to detect by any fan.  Ryeowook only knew who he was from dating him for so many years.  After a certain period of time, you can just sense your lover’s presence.  But also, he could recognize the way that Kyuhyun stood and his haphazard style of dressing himself whenever Ryeowook wasn’t there to guide him into better fashion choices. 

            Kyuhyun immediately took one of his bags from him as he approached and then pulled him into a hug.  “Welcome back.”

            “It’s safe to hug you this time?” Ryeowook questioned, hugging him tight before releasing him.

            “It is this time because I know I don’t have to give you up again,” Kyuhyun said, looking him over.  “How was your flight?”

            “It felt long.”

            Kyuhyun smiled at this.  “We’ve had much longer ones.”

            “But you’re usually with me.  Should we head out?”

            “Can’t.  I brought someone else with me, but they went to the bathroom just as you came out of the plane.”

            “Who?” Ryeowook asked, looking around.

            “Wook!” called out a loud voice from behind him. 

            Ryeowook spun around and smiled wide at hearing Henry’s enthusiastic voice behind him.  The youngster—who really wasn’t all that young anymore, but Ryeowook would never admit that to himself—ran over to him and practically tackled him.  He wrapped his arms around Ryeowook and spun him around in a circle. 

            “You’re finally back!”

            “Ah, Henry!  I missed you,” Ryeowook said, squeezing Henry one more time before Kyuhyun finally pulled Henry off his little fiancé. 

            “You’re going to attract attention,” Kyuhyun warned him.  Then he placed his hand on the small of Ryeowook’s back and directed him to walk towards the exit. 

            “Sorry, Kyu!  You probably did the same thing.”

            “No!” Kyuhyun said, shaking his head.  “I don’t dare!  If I hugged him like that, we’d probably have a dozen people giving us suspicious looks and someone would recognize us.  We can’t risk that,” he softly explained to their maknae.  “I’m still technically in the service a couple more months.  So nothing fishy can happen until I’m out.”

            “You living together isn’t weird?” Henry asked under his breath.

            “We’re roommates,” Kyuhyun stressed.

            “Whatever,” Henry said, waving his hand.  “I’m just glad that you’re finally back.  Now we’ll all be together again.  Kyuhyun’s even been allowed to record in the studio as long as they don’t release anything before his service time is done.”

            “What are you recording?”

            “The new KRY music with Yesung and an OST for a drama coming out in the summer,” Kyuhyun answered.

            “Seriously?” Ryeowook asked.  “You’re not even out yet and people are clamoring for you?  I’m a little jealous.”

            “Don’t be.  One of your old directors mailed you a script last week.  The audition is in ten days and they’re hoping you can make it,” Kyuhyun informed him. 

            Ryeowook raised his hands into the air.  “Yes!”

            “Hyung!  You haven’t asked what I’ve been up to!” Henry complained.

            “I’m sorry,” Ryeowook said, wrapping his arm around Henry.  “What’s new with you?  Have you been writing new music?”

            “Yes!  I’m ge