By the way Kyuhyun was talking a mile a minute in the car; it was obvious that life had gotten a little more exciting.  Usually when Leeteuk asked him what was new in his world Kyuhyun shrugged and moved on to other conversation at lightning speed.  Now he was hearing about the last several days at the house—most of which revolved around this newcomer—and how his work was going.  And although it probably wasn’t fair of Leeteuk to think this way, he had a hard time considering playing video games work, even if Kyuhyun was paid for his feedback and helped game programmers improve their product. 

            On the other hand, Kyuhyun had overworked himself when he was touring.  Kyuhyun loved to sing and he had an incredible voice but he was also rather shy and introverted.  He managed to wow the media in interviews and catered to his fans’ needs to be a visible celebrity but deep down it just wasn’t the type of person he was.  He wanted both worlds, to be able to sing and to stay at home.  The problem was, it wasn’t that easy to accomplish.  He could only really have one or the other.  At least, that’s what Kyuhyun believed.  But Leeteuk wasn’t convinced that he couldn’t just sing and put out albums without doing a billion interviews and television appearances.  He already had a following.  If he just did a few concerts here and there and the occasional interview, wouldn’t that be enough to keep people listening to him?  There was no need for him to supplement his income by exhausting himself with needless travel like other singers did, so couldn’t he find the perfect balance?

            Leeteuk missed the version of Kyuhyun that felt fulfilled, even if he had been stretching himself a little too thin.  He missed hearing his cousin’s voice.  When Kyuhyun was singing, the world seemed to stand still for just a moment and nothing else existed, not the demands of his work or the stress of being the eldest of his cousins.  What he wouldn’t give to hear that again.  Happiness.  That’s what he wanted most for his cousin.  He just didn’t know what Kyuhyun needed to get that back again.

            When they pulled up to the house, they were immediately greeted by Shindong, who asked about the flight and how work was going before heading back to work, the grounds and house requiring more work now that the snow had finally disappeared and the trees were just beginning to show signs of life.  Kyuhyun grabbed Leeteuk’s luggage himself and they walked in through the back door.

            The moment Leeteuk stepped into the kitchen, he was tackled by his brother and then pulled into a suffocating hug.  Kyuhyun managed to sneak around them and passed off the bags to Donghae, who happened to walk in upon hearing them.

            “I missed you so much!” Heechul said, kissing his brother’s cheek before finally letting him go.

            “I missed you too!  You need to call more often to let me know what you’re up to.”

            “You ought to come visit me on the set,” Heechul shot back.

            “You know that I don’t have that kind of time,” Leeteuk reminded him.

            “You’re company would not fall apart if you took a little more time off for you.”

            At the momentary lull in the conversation, Kyuhyun seemed about to introduce his new employee, who stood off to the side by the counter waiting to greet them but Heechul quickly spoke up again.

            “Ah, Teukie, this here is Kim Ryeowook, Kyu’s new cook.  We call him Wookie.  Wookie, this is my older brother by four days, Park Leeteuk,” he said, introducing the youngster.  Leeteuk walked over and shook his hand, curious now more than ever that his brother didn’t entirely dismiss his presence in the room and almost sounded as if he liked the boy.

            “Pleased to meet you, sir.”

            “Likewise.  I’ve already heard that you’re unmatched in the kitchen.”

            “Well,” Ryeowook said, blushing, “only if you’re comparing me to the others in the house.  I am really pretty average.  I don’t make anything very complicated.  Can I get you anything at the moment?”

            Leeteuk waved him off.  “No thanks, I ate on the plane.”

            Heechul returned to his previous spot, sitting on a stool at the center island where Ryeowook was chopping vegetables, and continued to munch on a bagel.  “I’ve been entertaining him by telling him stories from back in the day.  I was just telling him about how I used to dress Kyuhyun like a girl when we’d visit Grandpa here in the summer so that I wouldn’t feel weird about looking at the girl’s clothing department and going the ice cream shop.”

            “And karaoke,” Leeteuk reminded him.  “You thought that was too girly to go with just other boys and used to drag him along.  That was probably what led him to singing later.”

            Kyuhyun turned bright red.  “Shut the hell up!”

            Heechul looked straight at him.  “Make me.”

            “Ah, you two!” Leeteuk said with a sigh.  “Heechul, you should wait until Wookie’s been here a bit longer before you start telling him such embarrassing stories of your cousin.”

            “I won’t think of it the next time.  We were talking about clothes shopping because I was telling him how stinking cute he looked in this shirt and he was telling me that Minnie, of all people, went shopping with him and helped him pick it out.  Doesn’t he look adorable?  Not many men can pull off wearing a light pink shirt and khakis and still look attractive.  I’m a bit envious.”

            “I’m really not the one to ask,” Leeteuk said.  “I’m not big on shopping or following the styles.  But it looks fine on you.”

            Kyuhyun didn’t appear any more pacified now that Heechul had begun to change the topic but didn’t say anything.  Leeteuk was not deceived.  This was only because of his presence and Kyuhyun was probably already planning his revenge in his head.  Instead of letting Heechul have it, who was deliberately trying to set him off for some reason, Kyuhyun walked over to the center island and stood next to Ryeowook, looking over the various cups of vegetables and stealing a piece of cucumber.

            “Quit that.  I have it measured out.”

            “What are you making?” Kyuhyun asked.

            “Bi bim bap.  Yesung said that Mr. Park prefers traditional Korean food.”

            “I’ll eat whatever you decide to make,” Leeteuk quickly interjected.  “But that is a nice gesture.  I’m look forward to it.  I haven’t had a home cooked meal in a very long time.”

            “That even sounds good to me,” Heechul added.  “I hope that I don’t get fat from eating all your food while I’m here or I’ll have to crash diet before my next movie and that will make me crabby.”

            “I have some janchi guksu in the fridge for lunch whenever you’re hungry.  Just let me know and I can get some for you,” he offered.

            “That sounds nice and light.  Perhaps when I’m done unpacking I’ll have a little after all.”

            “So will I,” Kyuhyun piped in, stealing a little more food and Ryeowook resorted to giving him a dirty look but said nothing further to discourage him from