Changmin had never seen his friend so upset. That was saying quite a bit, too. He had been friends with Kyuhyun for years. He had seen the guy scream and rage quit when he lost at StarCraft. He watched him break hearts and have his own heart broken by men and women alike. Usually, Kyuhyun was vocal about his emotions being out of sorts.

That’s why Changmin was nervous now. His friend was quiet. Since coming over earlier that evening, he hadn’t spoken a word beyond necessary. It made their takeout food and video games a lot more awkward than it should’ve been.

When the clock struck 9pm, Changmin had had enough. Pausing the game, he turned to look at Kyuhyun who was listlessly holding the controller, eyes barely focused.

“Hey.”

Nothing.

“Kyuhyun?”

Silence.

“I saw Ryeowook kiss someone.”

His friend whipped around, eyes blazing. “When? Where? Did you see anything else? Who was it?”

Changmin’s eyebrows shot up. Oh. So, this really was the problem. “I lied. You haven’t been present at all and it’s pretty ty having to hang out with someone who isn’t even trying to be friendly.”

Guilt flashed across Kyuhyun’s face, and he sighed. “I just…I think Ryeowook is seeing someone.” His expression fell as the words tumbled out. It looked like he hadn’t told anyone about this.

“Why would you think so?” he tilted his head, surprised. Sure, they had had a rocky start, but from the stories, it sounded like Ryeowook had warmed up a lot in the past two years. Changmin would have guessed they were on their way to becoming lovers. “Wait, but didn’t you tell me you guys were doing well after what happened in Vegas?”

Kyuhyun grimaced. “He doesn’t like that story and refuses to talk about it.”

“You can’t just not talk about it,” Changmin snorted. “Mistake or not, you can’t really reverse what happened.”

“Trust me, I know,” he rolled his eyes, “but try telling Ryeowook that. He’ll probably bite your head off and then kick my for having told you.” Kyuhyun slumped forward again, expression gloomy. “Yesterday in the waiting room, he accidentally said something kind of suspicious and I haven’t been able to see him since then to confirm my thoughts.”

Changmin stood up, walking toward the door. “Why don’t we go visit him then? You know where he lives. We’ll corner him and ask. You’re clearly not gonna get over this.”

“I can’t just show up at his apartment his late!” Kyuhyun exclaimed, scrambling to his feet nonetheless. The eager look in his eyes firmly spoke against his words.

“No need to pretend, Kyu,” Changmin deadpanned, grabbing his car keys, “I know you. Just call Ryeowook and let him know you’re swinging by with some snacks a broadcaster gave you tonight. He doesn’t have to know that you didn’t actually have a job this evening.” With that, he swept out of the apartment.

Kyuhyun quickly followed.

They knocked on the door roughly twenty minutes later. Kyuhyun tried to wipe his sweaty hands, while still holding onto the crackers they had picked up from a local bakery on the way over.

Although Ryeowook hadn’t responded to the call, it was already too late to turn back now.

The worst that could happen was he opened the door and got upset, but took the crackers anyway. Oh, and he also might—probably—wouldn’t answer Kyuhyun’s questions.

Changmin was with him though, and that gave him confidence. At least he wouldn’t be alone if Ryeowook rejected him coldly. Plus, if Ryeowook did answer and said he was seeing someone else, then Kyuhyun could put on a brave face and then cry all night to Changmin.

It was fine. Fine.

The door clicked open.

A tall, extremely fit man appeared in the doorway, looking at them curiously. “Can I help you?”

Kyuhyun’s heart dropped. He checked the name tag under the apartment number. “Uh,” he stuttered, “Is this Kim Ryeowook’s apartment?”

“Yes,” he responded, frowning slightly. Turning around, he called back into the home, “Hey, Ryeo-ah, are you expecting company?”

Pet names? Oh my god. No, no, no— Kyuhyun tensed his body to run, suddenly feeling like a complete idiot.

Ryeowook rounded the corner, a phone in his hands. “No…,” his eyes lifted, locking on Kyuhyun. “What? What are you doing here?” His face immediately reddened, and he raced forward, pushing past the man.

“I called earlier,” he explained in a small voice, expression so heartbroken that not one person present failed to notice. “Uhm…uh, well, I have some gifts from a broadcaster…that they wanted me to give you.”

“Excuse me for a second, Siwon-hyung,” Ryeowook spoke to the man in his apartment, “I’ll be back in a minute.” He stepped out of the room.

“Okay, I’ll set up the next exercise. This’ll count as your break,” Siwon stated, disappearing back into the living room.

Ryeowook closed the door behind him, giving Kyuhyun a look. “You came all the way here to give me some snacks?” he raised an eyebrow.

“That guy said exercise,” Kyuhyun stated, ignoring Ryeowook’s question. “Is he not your boyfriend?”

He flushed. “No. He’s my personal trainer. I’ve been trying to work out more recently,” he looked down, embarrassed. “I just didn’t want to tell anyone because it’s sort of hard to talk about since I haven’t been doing it for long.” Ryeowook winced. “And it was lame to say that I was getting back pain just from doing squats.”

Kyuhyun’s entire body sagged with relief. “I’m so happy,” he groaned, throwing his arms around Ryeowook. “You don’t have to work out! You’re so cute how you are now.”

Changmin watched them, feeling exhausted. I hope they’ll be okay.