“Being friends with Kui Xian is difficult.”

Something like the shadow of a smile, but not really looking like a smile, appeared on Kyuhyun’s lips. They were at the terrace of a café and just relaxing from a week of hard work.

“How come, difficult?”

“Because Kui Xian never shows his emotions.”

This time, the big dark eyes looked away as the shadow of a smile disappeared.

“That’s because of the last president.”

“Your father?”

He had heard rumors about the president’s father being very strict with his only son, but…

“He used to slap me whenever I cried because I was a real crybaby, always hugging my favorite teddy bear. He burned the teddy bear when I was around 4 years old. I was so sad, I cried a lot because I really liked that teddy bear. And then I started to try to smile, and he slapped me saying a president shouldn’t be too friendly with the people in his company. And then I tried to be angry with everyone, thinking this was authority, but he punched me saying people would hate me if I did that. And when I stopped having emotions, he stopped beating me.”

Zhou Mi’s eyes had become huge. That was the first time he had heard the president talk that much. The shadow of a smile appeared again on Kyuhyun’s lips.

“I used to talk a lot too. I guess I had lost it because nobody talked to me.”

“I don’t think I could’ve even imagined Kui Xian talk that much.”

Kyuhyun took a sip of his drink and shrugged.

“Just like I can’t imagine Zhou Mi being sad. You smile so much, it’s impossible to even imagine you not smile at all.”

Zhou Mi’s bright smile appeared right away.

“Well, life is beautiful, and I’m usually happy, so I try to share my happiness with other people. Everybody’s so busy nowadays, they are concentrated even when they walk and they don’t smile. So when someone paying attention to his surroundings see someone smile, usually they also smile.”

“That’s true. Your smile lightens the days at work. I noticed our employees work harder after you went to encourage them while smiling. Even on Friday afternoon.”

Zhou Mi’s face became pure sunshine.

“They do? I’m so happy! I try to make them happy too, but I never go back to see if it actually works.”

And Kyuhyun’s shadow of a smile became more like a smile when he saw Zhou Mi being so happy.

***********************************

“That movie was so sad! I couldn’t stop crying! How come you don’t even seem moved by it?”

Kyuhyun shrugged.

“You know I don’t really have that kind of emotion.”

“But this was SO sad! He didn’t deserve to die, and his wife could only meet his eyes one last time before he…”

“I know, I know… but you know I don’t cry. Men don’t cry. That’s what my parents always told me when I was a kid. And my dad hit me when I cried, so I stopped crying. It’s been twenty years since the last time I cried…”

Zhou Mi sighed and wiped off one last tear.

“But Kui Xian, this is so sad. I’m not talking about the movie there. I’m talking about you. You should be able to cry once in a while. It helps your heart to stay strong by releasing the tension.”

“I can’t cry. I don’t think I’ll ever cry again in my entire life.”

“Crying is a sad thing, but not being able to cry is worse…”

Kyuhyun shrugged again.

“I can’t do anything about it. I’m sorry to be like that.”

But Zhou Mi could see some kind of vague sadness in the eyes of the president.

*******************************

After a few months, Kyuhyun started to be able to show more feelings. But the biggest step was the day of his birthday. Zhou Mi had brought him to the restaurant to celebrate this, and after they had eaten he handed him a box.

“Open it. It’s a birthday present for you.”

Curious, Kyuhyun opened the box, only to find an adorable brown teddy bear. Zhou Mi smiled.

“I don’t know if it looks similar to the one you had when you were a kid, but I hope you like it anyways.”

And he got surprised when he saw Kyuhyun hug tightly the teddy bear, and smile like a 5 years old kid. Yes, Kyuhyun was smiling.

“Thank you… thank you so much…”

Something wet appeared at the corner of his eyes, but disappeared quickly after and Zhou Mi wondered if he had just hallucinated tears. He shrugged and just watched as Kyuhyun didn’t let go of the bear for the rest of the evening.