There were many things he should have been doing. For one, the dance needed verification on a number of matters. For another, he hadn’t finished composing a piano piece for class. Those were supposed to be his two top priorities while waiting for the romantic hours of Valentine’s Day. Or, even better, perhaps Ryeowook should have been spending time with Sungmin, getting lost in those large, twinkling chocolate eyes.

Yet somehow, he wasn’t doing any of that. Instead, Ryeowook was fussing over what to wear. Over and over again the little voice in his head told him that it didn’t matter. Kyuhyun wouldn’t care because he didn’t like Ryeowook as more than…well, as more than a stranger basically.

It was just ridiculous and a waste of energy to throw shirt after shirt out of the way in hopes of finding the perfect outfit for someone who wouldn’t give a flying rat’s .

Ryeowook sighed, slumping in front of his closet, arms crossing over chest. Was it really pointless? Would Kyuhyun think he was just being lazy and immature by not dressing up though? Would he think Ryeowook was desperate for dressing up?

“So troublesome,” he mumbled, shaking his head slowly. Wait. Why was he making such a big deal out of it? He was dating Sungmin. It didn’t matter what Kyuhyun thought because they were just hanging out. No one else’s feelings or actions should upset Ryeowook besides Sungmin’s.

Smiling with relief, he stood up, casually grabbing what he wanted to wear and pulling it on. There, getting dressed wasn’t so bad after convincing himself Kyuhyun didn’t matter.  

Just as Ryeowook got his shoes on, preparing to tie the laces, a text message came to disturb him.

Kyuhyun says: I’m at the gates. Hurry up

I say: Sorry, be there in a minute!

He scrambled to finish the knots, clumsily rising to his feet. Stumbling, Ryeowook snatched his beige knapsack off the desk, knocking over one of Kyuhyun’s many notebooks on the way. Gritting teeth, Ryeowook crouched down, fighting to keep his center of gravity as he picked up the mess of papers and flung open booklets.

“He’s going to be so annoyed,” the boy mumbled, collecting nearly all of the materials and setting them back on the table. Ryeowook swung back around towards the door but then came to a staggering halt when he caught sight of another misplaced paper. Sighing, he leaned down, picking it up and flipping it over.

The writing was uniquely Kyuhyun’s but there was something harsh and sharp about the penmanship. It was a letter – a very angry letter, at that.

Ryeowook gazed long and hard at the addressee, heart skipping a beat when he made out the name. Below it was a list of ten things…

Bzzt!

“H-Hello?” the boy answered his phone, forcing the tremors from his voice.

Kyuhyun made an irritated noise, saying, “I told you to hurry up. What are you doing?”

“Oh sorry,” Ryeowook apologized, placing the letter on the desk and walking to the door quickly, “I’m really coming this time!” he insisted, earnestly, descending the dorm building steps two at a time.

“Yeah, I’m sure you are,” he answered sarcastically, “If you really didn’t want to spend the day with me you could’ve said no when I asked.”

“How?” he demanded, frustration bubbling over as brisk air rushed at his face. “You asked in front of so many people so of course I couldn’t reject you!” Ryeowook winced at a particularly chilly gust of wind.

Kyuhyun snorted, “You could’ve easily done it but you were too worried about your image as president.” He sounded as if he were smirking, which wouldn’t be a far off guess.

Ryeowook snarled incoherently, brows knitted. Why did Kyuhyun always have to say everything so blatantly? It was bad enough that he could predict Ryeowook’s thought process, now he had to go off rubbing it in his face?

A thought occurred to him then. Why did it feel so…normal to be arguing with him like that? They had been through so many things…shouldn’t the air have been more uncomfortable? Even as roommates they rarely spoke without an awkward air hanging in the room.

“What are you doing standing there?”

The deep, smooth voice was right behind Ryeowook, shocking him to the core. He whirled around, phone falling to his side. “K-Kyu?”

Kyuhyun stared down at him, eyes half lidded and sparking with impatience. A scarf had itself wrapped around the attractive boy’s mouth, covering the bottom half of his face. “You were taking a long time,” he explained blandly, fingers wrapping around the smaller boy’s hand, “let’s go already.”

And, for some unknown reason, Ryeowook allowed himself to be pulled away. Maybe he was too preoccupied thinking about the lack of awkwardness between him and Kyuhyun. Maybe it was something else entirely. He just didn’t know, nor did it appear he was going to find out.

They settled into the backseat of the taxi, hands no longer clasped together. Ryeowook stuffed fists into pockets, afraid of being grabbed by Kyuhyun again. It felt like he was betraying Sungmin by simply holding someone else’s hand. Then again, that “someone else” was also Cho Kyuhyun so perhaps feeling weird about it was perfectly acceptable – not an overreaction at all.

Ryeowook closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. He really needed to calm down. All of the nerves in his body were wired, daring to tear or freak any moment. If that happened he would definitely lose every bit of emotional sanity and Ryeowook really needed every bit of it.

“So where do you kids wanna go? The city?” the taxi driver grunted, driving through the only road.

Kyuhyun planned on that originally but then he saw the look of pure anguish on his companion’s face. “Ah…no,” he answered.

Surprise clouded Ryeowook’s eyes.

“On the outskirts of the city is that small town, right?” At the driver’s nod, Kyuhyun went on, saying, “we’ll go there. It’s quieter.”

Ryeowook smiled happily; glad to be away from the city. The last time he had been inside of a city, he and Minho had been beaten to a pulp, on top of being robbed shamelessly in a gambling house. Going to populated, claustrophobic places like that were definite no-no’s. “Thank you, Kyu,” he said, softly, not bothering to mask the relief in his voice.

“Not yet.” He smirked, eyes gliding slightly over to Ryeowook. “There’s still more to be thankful for, just wait a bit.”