Good Morning

            Ryeowook was up early, making pancakes.  He had nothing important to be up early for himself.  He had the day off and had nothing planned until the afternoon.  He should have been sleeping in, since he hadn’t gotten home from deejaying until well after midnight.  But this was a big day for Kyuhyun.  He’d been practicing hard for weeks already for an audition to play the role of Don Lockwood in Singing in the Rain.  He’d been singing and rehearsing lines and tapdancing until their other roommates were about ready to throw him out.  Eunhyuk kept telling them all he hoped Kyuhyun didn’t get the part because he worried that the youngest maknae would continue to practice tapdancing late into the night while he tried to sleep.  But secretly, Ryeowook hoped that Kyuhyun did get it.  He always wanted to see his best friend succeed, even if it did mean some sleepless nights for the others.  Ryeowook never feel asleep early, since he deejayed late at night, so Kyuhyun never kept him awake anyway.  And besides, he kind of liked hearing Kyuhyun sing the songs around the apartment.  They were catchy.

            “Good morning,” Kyuhyun belted out, walking into the kitchen.

            “Good morning.” Ryeowook sang back, smiling to himself. 

            “We’ve talked the whole night through.  Good morning,” Kyuhyun sang, walking up to Ryeowook and wrapping his arms around him. 

            “Good morning to you,” Ryeowook sang back, laughing afterwards.

            “And why are you up so early?” he asked, looking over Ryeowook’s shoulder at the food on the stovetop.

            “I got up early to make you breakfast, so you would be full for your audition today.”

            Kyuhyun leaned in and kissed Ryeowook’s cheek.  “I love you!  This is why you’re my favorite!”

            Ryeowook reached up to pat his cheek.  “I know.  Now be good and set the table for me.”

            Kyuhyun continued to sing the rest of the song as he walked around the kitchen, grabbing plates from the cupboard, utensils from the drawer, and orange juice and syrup from the refrigerator.  By the time he was finished, Ryeowook had piled a plate high with pancakes and set it on the counter for him. 

            “Do you think I will get the role?  Honestly?” Kyuhyun asked, walking over to grab the plate.

            Ryeowook looked over at him in surprise.  Usually the young alpha was so cocky and full of himself, he didn’t need reassuring, but apparently, he was feeling a little nervous about the audition.  He knew he was a wonderful singer, but he wasn’t the greatest dancer.  Perhaps that was what made him second guess himself.  “I know you will!” Ryeowook assured him.

            The alpha smirked back, seemingly convinced, and grabbed his plate, heading over to the table.  Around that same time, Eunhyuk shuffled into the room.  Ryeowook turned around to greet him and Eunhyuk scowled at him.  “You rotten brats woke me up with that infernal singing of yours.  I swear to God, if I have to hear that god damn song one more time, I’m going to—”

            The omega held out a plate of pancakes to him.  “I made you breakfast, hyung!”

            Eunhyuk’s eyes widened at seeing the pile of hot pancakes.  “You did?”

            Ryeowook nodded.

            “Just for the hell of it?  You’re not going to ask me to do anything later because you made me breakfast?” he asked, although he still took the plate and walked over to the table. 

            “Just to be nice,” Ryeowook promised.  “I wanted Kyuhyun to have a good breakfast before he left for his audition today.”

            “Ah,” Eunhyuk said, nodding as he looked over at the youngster.  “Good.  You’ll finally quit tapping around the apartment at midnight while I’m trying to sleep.”

            “Unless I get the part,” Kyuhyun reminded him, his mouth full of pancakes.  “Then I’ll have to practice.”

            “You will get the part,” Ryeowook insisted, walking over to the table with a plate full of sizzling bacon.  Both the men pounced on the meat and scooped up most of it, adding it to their plates.  Old habits die hard.  Back in the day, when more of them lived together, they had to fight to get just a scrap of food.  Now there were only four of them living in the apartment and Ryeowook always made more than they could possibly eat, but they always fought over it as if they wouldn’t get enough.  “Are you going to save any for me?”

            Eunhyuk had the decency to look guilty over grabbing a dozen slices of bacon.  Kyuhyun never did.  He just smirked as he bit into the first slice.

            “I invited Donghae down for breakfast as well.  You need to save him something to eat,” Ryeowook informed them.

            “Oh, Hae’s coming over?” Eunhyuk asked, reaching up to fix his unruly hair.  Kyuhyun started chuckling and winked at Ryeowook.  It was so obvious that Eunhyuk had it bad for the beta he’d been friends with for years, they were still a little confused as to why nothing had happened between them yet.

            As if on cue, they heard the front door open and close.  Within seconds, the short beta walked into the kitchen, his eyes glued to a notebook he was holding, humming to himself.

            “Good morning, Hae,” Ryeowook greeted him.

            “Good morning,” Donghae mumbled, running into the chair and stopping to scribble in his book before sitting down. 

            “Coffee?” Ryeowook asked.

            “Please,” he said, setting down his notebook and looking at the pile of pancakes that Ryeowook set down in front of him with bloodshot eyes.  “Oh…yum!”

            Ryeowook started laughing.  “Hungry?”

            Donghae nodded and started digging in.  “I’m not sure when I ate last.”

            “When did you sleep last?” Kyuhyun asked.

            Donghae shrugged.  “I’m not sure about that either.”

            “Well, that makes two of us.  I was a little too nervous about my audition today to get any sleep.”

            Ryeowook set coffee down in front of Donghae and then sat down beside Kyuhyun with his own plate full of pancakes.  “You’ll probably crash the moment you get back from the audition.”

            “Actually, I kind of thought we could go out and celebrate it being over when I get back from the theater,” Kyuhyun said, giving Ryeowook a hopeful look.  “What do you think?  It’s been ages since we’ve gone out drinking together!”

            It had been, but Ryeowook already had plans.  “I’m so sorry, Kyu!  I have a date with Yesung this afternoon!”

            Kyuhyun growled and looked back down at his plate, stabbing a pancake.  “That ?” he grumbled.

            Ryeowook smacked Kyuhyun in the chest.  “What do you have against Yesung?  He’s one of your friends!”

            “Oh, did I do that out loud?” Kyuhyun asked, smirking.

            “It’s nothing personal,” Eunhyuk pointed out.  “He likes Yesung as a person.  After all, we all used to be in Super Junior together.  You don’t work and live with someone for a couple years without growing an attachment to them.  But Kyuhyun dislikes all your boyfriends.”

            Ryeowook sighed, stealing some bacon off of Kyuhyun’s plate since there was no more on the table.  “You do dislike all my boyfriends.  But you’ve always liked Yesung.  You even think he sings well, which is saying a lot.”

            “It is saying a lot.  You think I sing like and I’m still the one professionally singing,” Donghae pointed out, glaring at the young alpha.  Kyuhyun often complained about the fact that although Ryeowook and he were far better singers—and no one could argue that—Donghae and Eunhyuk were still the ones performing.  It was due more to their stage presence and Donghae’s songwriting than their talents as singers, but it still made Kyuhyun a little angry.  And it made Donghae angry to be told he wasn’t a good singer.

            “You do sing like ,” Kyuhyun pointed out.  “And I do like Yesung, but he’s not a good fit for Ryeong.”

            “Why not?  He’s been very sweet,” Ryeowook pointed out.

            “Well, for one, he’s only a beta, so if you end up mating with him, you won’t be able to have pups and I know you’ve always wanted pups,” Kyuhyun said.

            “Couples can adopt,” Eunhyuk threw in, playing devil’s advocate.

            “It’s not the same as having your own and Ryeonggu has always wanted his own,” Kyuhyun told him.  Ryeowook didn’t bother denying the fact.  Kyuhyun was his best friend and they’d spoken about the topic before.  Ryeowook often confided things to Kyuhyun that he didn’t to others.  It was true, but it wasn’t a deal breaker for him.  If he fell for someone hard but they weren’t an alpha, he would be willing to overlook it.

            “Why else?” Ryeowook asked.

            Kyuhyun thought this over for a moment as he munched on a piece of bacon.  “Because he’s not an alpha, he’s a little too laid back about letting you flirt with other guys.  An alpha would put all the guys around you in their places.  No one would be confused as to who you belonged to.”

            “He totally has a point.  Everyone thinks you belong to Kyu,” Donghae pointed out, laughing.

            This time, Ryeowook reached across the table and smacked Donghae. 

            “He’s not wrong,” Eunhyuk pointed out.

            Kyuhyun just grinned at this and wisely remained quiet. 

            “Yesung trusts me to remain faithful to him.  He doesn’t feel the need to threaten every other wolf that comes near me just to prove we’re together,” Ryeowook explained.

            “Almost nobody knows you’re dating him,” Eunhyuk said.  “An alpha wouldn’t stand for that .  He’d make sure everyone knew you were taken.  Even if you weren’t dating and he was just interested, usually alphas are pretty possessive of wolves they’re interested in.  It’s usually obvious to everyone.”

            Ryeowook glanced over at Donghae, who was back to humming softly to his song and running his finger over some lyrics he’d written.  The beta was oblivious to Eunhyuk’s interest in him.  He didn’t know how that was possible when the rest of them could see it so easily.  They were best friends and worked together, singing and touring as D&E, the only subgroup of the old Super Junior group they’d once been that was still making music.  The rest of the group had broken up years before.  Wasn’t the fact that they were still together a big indicator of what they meant to each other?

            Donghae looked across the table at Kyuhyun.  “Is that really all you have against Yesung?”

            Kyuhyun shook his head.  “I don’t think their personalities match up well.  Yesung is very withdrawn most of the time and kind of depressed.  Ryeowook’s outgoing and almost always happy.  I just think, in the long run, they wouldn’t make each other happy.”

            “But you know what they say.  Opposites attract,” Donghae disagreed.

            Kyuhyun shook his head.  “I don’t actually think relationships like that work out.  I think it’s more likely that people who have more in common together will work out.”

            Eunhyuk grinned wide and leaned forward.  “So, tell me Kyuhyunnie…who do you think Ryeowook has the most in common with?”

            Ryeowook glanced over at Kyuhyun as he gave their roommate a death glare.  Then Kyuhyun turned to Ryeowook.  “I have to run to make the audition on time.  Thank you so much for breakfast, Ryeonggu!  I know it will bring me luck,” he said, leaning in and kissing Ryeowook’s cheek.

            “You don’t need luck,” the omega told him.

            Kyuhyun rushed around the apartment, gathering everything he needed, and then quickly left.  Ryeowook continued to eat and Donghae switched between eating and writing, but Eunhyuk sat back in his chair and stared down the omega. 

            “What, hyung?”

            Eunhyuk took a long breath and glanced over at the closed door of the apartment.  “You realize who you have the most in common with, don’t you?”

            The omega popped a piece of pancake in his mouth and gave the alpha a suspicious look. 

            “When are you and Kyuhyun just going to stop ing around and just go out together?” Eunhyuk asked.

            Ryeowook’s mouth dropped open, in shock.  “Hyukkie!  Kyu and I are best friends!”

            “You’re in some serious denial if you think this is friendship,” Eunhyuk informed him.  “And I’m positive that he knows he loves you and that’s why he hates everyone you date.”

             Ryeowook looked over at Donghae who grinned at the omega.  “Kyuhyunnie is totally hung up on you!  It’s so obvious!”

            “He is not!” Ryeowook insisted.  “We’re just friends!”

            Eunhyuk shook his head.  “Alphas and omegas can’t be close friends like you are without one or both of you having feelings for the other.  It’s just the way of things.  You’re just deluding yourself if you think Kyuhyun is merely friends with you.  He’s had feelings for you since we were still singing together in Super Junior.”

            “He has not!” Ryeowook insisted, grabbing what was left of his plate and Kyuhyun’s empty one and walking over to the sink with them.  In all these years, Kyuhyun had never made a move on him.  Sometimes they flirted together a little, but it was in both their natures to do so.  Ryeowook often flirted with people.  It was normal behavior for him.  Less so with Kyuhyun, admittedly, but he knew that Kyuhyun only did it for fun.  It wasn’t serious.

            “If you don’t believe me, all you have to do is ask him,” Eunhyuk said, going back to eating his pancakes. 

            Ryeowook looked over his shoulder at the smug alpha.  “I will!” he insisted, piling dishes into the sink and turning on the hot water.  As if the stupid alpha should talk.  He was completely smitten with Donghae and refused to say anything about it, but that was also what worried him a little.  What if Eunhyuk was right?  What if Kyuhyun was hiding his feelings the same way that Eunhyuk was?  Was that possible?  Could he be right? 

            The poor omega was distracted the rest of the morning and cleaned the whole apartment to try to keep himself from overthinking things, but the more he thought about it, the more he began to wonder.  Was Kyuhyun in love with him?  And if so, what did he think of that?

I'm a little curious what you think of this post-Super Junior wolfau, where the members are clearly still friends and some of them are confused about their relationships.  More to come...