Ryeowook's POV

I slowly fell into a routine.  Every morning from 9 to 12 I would teach the boys about reading music and differentiating different tones.  We would take an hour break for lunch, and then from 1 to 2 the boys would practice singing and dancing.  I was happy with my work, the boys were fast learners and they progressed quickly.  However, I was getting worried because soon, they would need to work on specific skills and I really didn't know anything about rapping, and knew very little about dance.

I was pondering these issues during lunch when suddenly Onew ran into the room, smiling proudly,

"Look hyung!  He was standing outside and we brought him here!  He says he knows you!" 

I peeked over Onew and was surprised to see Henry, laughing and playing with the other young boys.

"Henli?" I asked and he looked up at me, grinning sheepishly,

"Hey Wookie"

"What are you doing here?  Is every thing alright?  Are my parents okay?"  I asked in a worried voice.

Henry shook his head, blushing lightly,

"Sorry to freak you out.  I just missed you, so I came to visit"  He pouted slightly, and I didn't have the geart to scold him.

"Aww!  So cute!"  I gushed pinching his cheek.  The boys giggled and Minho immediatley reached out to pinch Taemin's chubby cheek, causing all the little boys to tackle each other, doing their best to pinch each other.

Henry and I laughed, but I sighed, my brain returning to me troubling thoughts.  Henry looked at me questioningly and I explained,

"I can handle the singing, but some of the boys want to rap and dance.  I can't do either of those things, so I don't know how I'm going to teach them"  I furrowed my brow in frustration but Henry just shrugged, looking completely unconcerned,

"Well I can just teach them" he suggested, and I stared at him in surprise,

"You can dance and rap?"

He grinned,

"Yup!  I learned it in America, there were other types of music besides classical at music school" 

I smiled brightly, thrilled to find a solution for my problems,

"Henli, that's fantastic!  Thank you so much!"  I hugged him tightly, missing the small smile and blush that covered his chubby cheeks. 

"Can you come tomorow?"  He nodded, and rose to leave,

"I would stay and walk you home, but I have a haircut appointment"  I smiled and waved him off, indicationg that it wasn't a big deal,

"Oh don't worry, I already have an "  He looked at me strangely, but shgrugged and didn't ask about it.  He smiled and waved to the kids before hugging me again and leaving.  I finished the lesson with the boys, and quickly walked over to the bench by the willow tree.

This had been the newest part of my routine.  Now, every day after I was done teaching, Kyuhyun was always waiting for me at the bench.  Sometimes we would stop and talk before heading home, and sometimes he would even take me to get a snack.  It had become one of my favorite parts of the day.  Although, we still didn't talk much and he still scared me a bit, I actually felt like we were getting closer.

Today, he was already sitting on the bench, his eyes were closed, and his ear buds were in.  I stopped and admired him briefly.  He really was handsome, he would be a catch for anyone, but knowing he was the heir to the a huge company, I assumed he already had some idea of who he would end up with (Wookie's assuming arranged marriage).

I smiled, albeit a little sadly, it depressed me to think that he would have to marry for a reason other than love.  I knew I could never do something like that, but I also wasn't in his position, I suppose I would never understand.

I realized I had been staring at him for a few minutes now, and I flushed lightly at the realization.  I collected myself, and plopped down beside him.  He peeked open an eye, and sat up when he saw it was me.

I greeted him with a warm smile, and he returned it with a shy smile of his own.  It seemed like he was slowly coming out of his shell, and his smiles were becoming noticeably more genuine.

"Hungry?" he asked, yawning and stretching languidly.  I nodded profusely, and bounced up, excited by the mere prospect of food.  Kyuhyun stood, took the keyboard and began to walk, leading the way.  Since he never initiated conversation, I usually babbled until he eventually joined in.

"Hey, so you know how I'm teaching some kids about music?"  he didn't say anything, but he nodded.  "Well they wanted to learn about rapping and dancing so Henli siad he would help"

He stiffened slightly, but I continued,

"I guess he's going to come with me to lessons now"

Kyuhyun grunted, but didn't really say anything in response.  Seeing that this topic wasn't going to start a conversation, I switched to another subject that I thought would interest him,

"So, I think I remembered something about you yesterday" 

He looked down at me in surprise, his eyebrows raised in curiosity,

"Oh?" he questioned.  I smiled in triumph, I had finally found a topic he would talk about.

"Yup!  Last night I heard you throwing stuff and my mom mentioned something about you and your games.  Well, all of the sudden, I remembered you always carrying around a little gaming device.  I remember you were really protective of it, and you would yell at everyone who even touched it!"  I started giggling, "I remember one time you made Henli cry because he scratched the screen!"

Kyuhyun chuckled, a genuine smile on his lips.  I was distracted momentarily, he was so handsome when he smiled.  He looked good when he was cold, but when his face was lit up with a genuine smile, nothing could compare.  I quickly looked down when he turned his head and caught me staring.

"Did you remember anything else?" he asked, and I snapped out of my flustered state and nodded cheerfully,

"Oh yeah!  I remember you would practically kill anyone who touched your device, but you always let me play with it.  Even when I dropped it, you didn't get mad at me!"  I giggled, "Aww, I really must have been your best friend!"  I teased lightly.

He smiled again and nodded,

"Yup, you really were" 

I smiled brightly, this was the first time he had ever willingly talked about our past friendship.  I wondered momentarily what caused this change, but didn't think about it too much when we stopped in front of an ice cream parlor.  He led me to an empty table, and set my keyboard down beside me. 

"I'll get it" he said and was gone before I could even tell hijm what flavor I wanted.  I pouted slightly, but didn't protest figuring I would just eat it even if I didn't like the flavor.  If he was treating me, who was I to complain?

I giggled as the customers and workers all stared at Kyuhyun with obvious admiration.  I wondered if he knew how attractive he really was.  He was certainly drawing quite a crowd, and I couldn't help  but laugh as he glanced around, looking irritated and a little bit uncomfortable.

I was startled when someone sat down in the chair beside me.  He was obviously older than me, and had a charming smile, but something about him made the hairs on my arms stand on end.

"Hello" he said in a smooth voice.  "What's a cutie like you doing sitting all alone?" 

I blushed, and subtly scooted back in my chair, putting as much distance as I could between us.

"Umm, a-actually I'm here w-with my friend" I mumbled nervously, trying to avoid the stranger's penetrating gaze.  He smirked, and winked at me,

"Why don't you ditch your friend and come hang out with me?  We can have all kinds of fun"  His tone made it quite clear what kind of fun he was implying.  He grabbed my hands, and held them in his clammy grip even when I tried to pull away.  I was starting to get panicked, the stranger's eyes were roaming up and down my body, and I flinched when he his lips as if in anticipation...

He leaned closer to me and I winced, trying desperately to free my hands.  My eyes flew around the parlor looking for help.  I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when I heard a deep, menacing voice snarl,

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Kyuhyun's POV

I bit my tongue when Ryeowook mentioned Henry going to his lessons.  I didn't like the idea of the already inseperable pair getting any closer.  I knew I had resolved to leave Ryeowook alone, but everytime I saw my brother hanging on to Ryeowook by blood boiled.

My mood improved when he said he remembered something about me.  I felt the hope rising in my chest, and I couldn't help but think that maybe he had remembered our promise.  Unfortunately, all he remembered was that my gaming addiction had started at an early age.  Still, I was pleased when he noted how close we used to be, I just prayed that he was getting closer to remembering the promise that would save me.

When we got to the ice cream shop, I sat him down and went up to the counter to order.  I was in a hurry to get back to Ryeowook, but the girl scooping the ice cream was taking forever.  Her hands kept shaking and she kept letting out shy giggles for some strange reason.  I felt the creepy feeling of being stared at, and I sighed realizing I had once again become the target of the hormone crazed teenagers in the shop.

I tapped my foot waiting for her to scoop the triple fudge ripple for Ryeowook (he had always loved chocolate when we were kids), and my own order of peppermint swirl.  I sighed in relief as I gathered the cones and quickly paid for the treat.

I turned back to the table, and my eyes narrowed and my chest tightened in anger.  Some creepy sleaze was undressing Ryeowook with his eyes, while Ryeowook tried frantically to pull his hands away from the creepy .  Ryeowook looked around in panic, fear obvious in his eyes.

I strode over and snarled at the man, noting with satisfaction that he immediatley dropped Ryeowook's hands, and pulled back. 

"Why the hell were you touching my boyfriend, you scum bag?" I said in a dangerous tone.  The man jumped to his feet and bowed repeatedly, repeating over and over again how sorry he was.  I glared at him hatefully, and he flinched at the intensity in my eyes.

Ryeowook watched the whole exchange with wide, worried eyes, his precious keyboard clutched to his chest.  I shot one more disdainful look at the creep, before pulling Ryeowook to his feet, and placing my arm over his shoulder protectively.  He stiffened slightly, but I ignored it and led him out of the shop.

I strode away, propelled by my agitation.  After I had calmed down and handed Ryeowook his ice cream, we both walked, eating in awkward silence.

"Sorry" I mumbled, feeling stupid after my little fit.  Ryeowook just smiled kindly and replied,

"There's no need to apologize, you really saved my back there!"  I nodded, and the awkwardness slowly faded away.  He started teasing me playfully and as we walked into the gate's of my manor he joked,

"So I'm your boyfriend now, huh?"

I blushed slightly, and was about to protest, but I never got the chance because I was interuppted by a voice shouting,

"WHAT!?!?"

My laptop was returned to me!  *does happy dance*

As an apology, I updated all my stories, I hope you enjoy ^^

Thx for reading, and thx so much for your patience!

Location: watching some random Korean drama and trying to figure out what's going on bc there are no English subs... curse my lack of Korean language skills!  *shakes fist*

Mood: pretty good... I beat my sister at tennis today so that was an ego boost (she normally kicks my !)

Music: "Monster" by Super Junior (I'm only listening to Suju until the day of their comeback... can't wait!!!  *passes out from over-excitement*)