When Kyuhyun awoke the next morning, or rather the next afternoon, he found that Ryeowook had already left. The bed in the guest room was already made, the room looking even cleaner than it had before Ryeowook even came in. The magazines and stacks of papers Kyuhyun had left in the living room before he went to bed were neatly kept and cushions arranged. Kyuhyun walked over to the kitchen and a smile spread across his face. A plate of fried rice was waiting for him along with a piece of paper underneath the plate. Kyuhyun picked the paper up, reading it.

Thank you.

Ryeoook must have already left in the morning. Kyuhyun fell asleep around five earlier and he usually slept like the dead. He must have missed Ryeowook knocking onto his door to let him know that he was leaving. Setting the paper aside, Kyuhyun found a spoon and sat down, taking a bite of the fried rice that Ryeowook must have made.

“God, this is so good.”

Kyuhyun , absolutely whenever he tried to cook. He was used to eating out, everyday waking up and heading down to a nearby restaurant or just eating cereal or any junky food he could find. Now, having something home-cooked felt so good, not to mention that this fried rice was exceptionally delicious. It also wasn’t only fried rice, it was kimchi fried rice – one of Kyuhyun’s absolute favourites.  

While digging through his food, Kyuhyun’s eyes scanned the letters on the paper. Ryeowook’s handwriting was neat and tiny, just like the man himself. It was weird, Kyuhyun never would have thought just two words could brighten his whole day but it kind of did. Ryeowook’s simple thank you meant a lot. It sounded almost too kind. Not many people were like that now in such a busy and modern time.

After washing the plates and cleaning up a bit, Kyuhyun headed out to get some groceries – more like junk food to stock in his fridge and decided to drop by Changmin’s house. Changmin and his wife Victoria, had just had their second child and Kyuhyun hated to admit it but the baby was too adorable. Kyuhyun found that he was always coming up with excuses to drop by and visit the kids. When the door swung open, Victoria greeted him with a huge cheerful smile.

“Kyu!” Victoria waved him in, “What brings you here?”

“I was just getting some stuff and decided to drop by.” Kyuhyun told her and then grinning, squatting down and holding his arms wide. “Hey there, cutie! Look how much you’ve grown!”

The little girl that ran into Kyhyun’s arm giggled as Kyuhyun picked her up and threw her up in the air. When Kyuhyun caught her, she smiled wide at him, her tiny hands cupping Kyuhyun’s cheeks as she leaned down to peck Kyuhyun’s lips.

“Uncle Kyu!”

“My Areum looks so grown up now!” Kyuhyun cooed, playfully flicking her tiny nose. “Shhh, don’t tell your omma I said this but I think you’re even prettier than her now!”

“I’ll keep it a secret!”

The five year-old held out her pinky finger and Kyuhyun did the same, giving her a pinky promise. He kissed the beautiful girl long silky hair before he settled her down, asking her where her baby brother was. Areum took his hand and brought him to the living room where his best friend’s wife was holding a nine-month-old chubby baby boy in her arms.

“What have you been feeding them?” Kyuhyun joked as Victoria smiled, carefully passing Haneul to him. “They’re growing so fast!”

“They really are.” Victoria nodded, smiling as she ruffled her son’s hair.

“Where’s Changmin?”

“Oh, he went out just a while ago to Yunho’s place. He’s helping him paint the place.”

“Ahh,” Kyuhyun nodded. “He’s having a baby too, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, twins apparently. But his wife’s out of town for a meeting with a client. That girl never stops working even when she’s almost popping twins!”

Kyuhyun continued chatting with Victoria while he held the baby close to him, his hair now and then. Haneul just like his sister was an easy baby. They never cried unless they were hungry or bothered by something that made them uncomfortable. Victoria could just leave her babies anywhere and they would just crawl around and entertain themselves, not giving a damn about anything that happened around them.

“Hey I heard that you’ve finally got some new neighbours.” Victoria grinned as she cut up some fruits for Kyuhyun.

“Who told you?”

“Who else.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “My brother of course.”

“Right.” Victoria’s brother lived just a couple floors above of him.

“Donghae thinks they’re cute and you know how my little brother has very great taste in men.” Victoria grinned.

“Ah well, only one of them is moving in. The other is the boyfriend. But they’re kind, I met them last night.”

“So which one is the attractive one?”

“The boyfriend. He’s totally hot. His name is Siwon.” Kyuhyun admitted.

“Hot huh? You don’t usually go for the hot ones, you’re usually into cute ones.”

Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “I’m not going for him. He’s taken.”

“Since when has that ever stopped you?” Victoria winked before pushing the plate of apples and strawberries towards him, taking her baby who was falling asleep in his arms.

“That was one time and I had no idea that she had a husband! She told me she was a university student!”

Victoria snickered, “So the hot one is not the one that moved in huh?”

“No,” Kyuhyun replied. “I guess they must have just started going out or something.”

“Why’d you say that?”

“Well… Ryeowook’s furniture wasn’t coming in until the morning so I offered Ryeowook to use my guest room for the night. I was just thinking that they must just started going out since Siwon didn’t offer his house. I mean… They’re dating after all, why would he allow his boyfriend to sleep in a stranger’s house?”

“Omo, I never thought of that! Wow, now that you mentioned it…” Victoria leaned forward, “Do you think there’s something juicy going on?”

“You always think of the worst.”

“You were the one who thought of it! Come on, don’t you think it’s weird? They could be cheating on each other for all we know, or maybe the hot one is married and is cheating with your new neighbour!”

“You watch too many dramas.”

“And read too many books apparently.” Victoria laughed, throwing her hair back. “Your books mostly.”

Victoria and Kyuhyun continued chatting for some time before she left Kyuhyun with the kids while she cooked up dinner for Changmin and Yunho, Changmin’s older brother, who was also dropping by. After about an hour, while Kyuhyun was helping Victoria set the table for dinner, Changmin returned