It was Ryeowook,

Who was the one being slapped.

Kyuhyun hadn’t seen it but after rushing to the scene of the couple fighting, he had seen the red glowing finger prints on the smaller man’s cheeks. When Kyuhyun asked if anything was wrong, both heads snapped back to his. Siwon was the first to break the silence, calmly telling Kyuhyun that nothing was wrong. He greeted Kyuhyun and the children and then with a push to Ryeowook’s shoulder, both of them were gone. They had gone back to Ryeowook’s apartment, Siwon shutting the door behind them softly.

Kyuhyun couldn’t remember the last time he had talked to Ryeowook since then. The latter avoided him, it was too obvious. He never opened his door when Kyuhyun knocked and whenever they crossed paths, Ryeowook would rush off almost immediately. When Kyuhyun tried locating Ryeowook at his workplace, he was often missing. He didn’t know why but it was slightly disturbing. Kyuhyun wanted to talk to Ryeowook, craved to spend some time with his neighbour. He wanted to hear his silky voice and harmonious but shy laugh.

At first, Kyuhyun was worried for Ryeowook and Siwon’s relationship. Ryeowook was slapped by his own boyfriend. His boyfriend actually hit him! What kind of boyfriend would do that? But there were times when Kyuhyun would walk into the hallway with them kissing and laughing in the corridors of their apartment. Sometimes, Siwon would also pick Ryeowook up to and fro work. A part of Kyuhyun was relieved that there was nothing wrong with their relationship but another part of him was envious. Envious towards Ryeowook for having a handsome boyfriend or envious towards Siwon for having Ryeowook as a boyfriend, he didn’t know.

It was mid-June, five months after Ryeowook first moved in that Kyuhyun received a knock on his door. Kyuhyun, who was watching in the middle of a movie, glanced to the door and got up, idly wondering who it was. When he pulled open the door, Kyuhyun stood frozen and shocked.

“Help me.”

Ryeowook’s face was full of horror – wide eyes, pale lips, tear-stained. His cheeks were bruised, accompanied with a sharp cut on the hallow of his cheekbones. He was wearing a long-sleeve shirt and baggy sweatpants, his hair looked like he had just rolled out of a messy fight. Alarmed, Kyuhyun straightened his back and asked Ryeowook what was wrong. Not being able to say anything, Ryeowook grabbed Kyuhyun by his wrist and dragged the man over to his apartment. They ran past his living room and into a room and a bathroom. When Kyuhyun spotted no danger anywhere around the room or the bathroom, he raised his eyebrow and looked back at Ryeowook confused.

“What’s wrong? I don’t see anything.” Ryeowook stated, eyes still looking around the place warily.

Ryeowook nodded frantically pointing to his small tub. “In there!!”

When Kyuhyun caught sight of what Ryeowook had been so afraid so, he jumped back leaping behind Ryeowook. “Oh my god! I’m scared!”

“Kill it!!”

“You do it!”

“Please, help me!”

“Alright, alright, get me a newspaper!”

When Ryeowook ran out of the bathroom, Kyuhyun shook his head and laughed softly. His neighbour was afraid of such a tiny creature, it was adorable. When Ryeowook came back with a stack of newspaper in his hands, he handed them Kyuhyun who shook his head and hugged his own body, cowering behind Ryeowook.

“No! I don’t think I can do it!” Kyuhyun dramatically lied, “I’m too scared!”

Ryeowook blinked up at Kyuhyun, his eyes switching from between the newspaper to his neighbour and then started rolling the newspaper in shaky hands. When Ryeowook stepped closer to the tub, his body starting to shake just as bad as his hands, Kyuhyun shook his head and laughed. Taking the rolled newspaper from Ryeowook’s hands, he swung it onto the baby spider that had been sleeping in the tub. Picking it up with the newspaper skilfully, Kyuhyun disposed it into the bin. When he returned to the bathroom to wash his hands, he noticed Ryeowook still frozen at the same spot.

“Hey you okay?” Kyuhyun asked, wiping his wet hands on his jeans.

Thankfully, Ryeowook snapped back to reality and he nodded. Both of them stood awkwardly in the bathroom, looking at each other. Kyuhyun took his time eyeing Ryeowook, taking him all in and despite how messed up he looked, his neighbour looked absolutely adorable.

“I… Uh…” Ryeowook stuttered. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Kyuhyunw waved his hands. “Are you afraid of spiders?”

“Yes, very.”

Kyuhyun chuckled, “I can tell.”

Ryeowook laughed a little too, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “Would.. Would you like some dinner?”

“I mean… I was going to have dinner. Do you… Do you want to join me?”

Kyuhyun nodded although he was not really that hungry. “Sure.”

Kyuhyun followed after Ryeowook, now curious of those scars on Ryeowook’s cheeks. Surely, it couldn’t have been form battling the spider in his bathroom earlier. He made a point to ask soon once Ryeowook was more at ease with him. Right now, he looked really flustered and Kyuhyun didn’t understand why.

“I made pasta,” Ryeowook told Kyuhyun. “I’m trying out a new recipe, I hope it tastes good.”

Kyuhyun smiled thanking Ryeowook as the latter prepared the food onto individual plates and poured Kyuhyun a glass of water. They both started eating in silence before Ryeowook cleared his throat, looking over at Kyuhyun.

“Were you doing anything important before this?” Ryeowook asked.

 “Nah, I was just watching a movie.” Kyuhyun shook his head and then closed his eyes as he moaned when the sweet flavour of tomato sauce hit him. “Oh god, this is so good!”

Ryeowook smiled shyly, “Thank you.”

“You’re a really good cook.”

“Not really.”

“Yes, you definitely are. That kimchi fried rice you made for me, I’ve been craving for it since then. I haven’t had the chance to thank you for it haven’t I?”

“It’s no problem.”

Kyuhyun continued chatting with Ryeowook asking him about how he knew how to cook so well. When they were done with their food, Kyuhyun brought his plate over to the sink and started washi