Day 7 – December 21^st

Victoria was back in the storage closet, trying to find anything at all that might tell her more about Ryeowook. The more she knew, the better it would be to talk to him. Plus, with Kyuhyun always around, she never had the opportunity to approach Ryeowook even though they were all living together.

No one spoke about the feelings floating around inside the apartment, but everyone knew the tension was there. Kyuhyun made it blatantly obvious that he didn’t want her food and she was just fine with not cooking for the jerk. Ryeowook was caught somewhere in the middle, trying to keep the peace. Victoria smiled at the thought. He was such a sweet person. She couldn’t blame Kyuhyun for wanting him…but it still wasn’t right.

Not only were they employer and employee, they were both men. Ryeowook deserved a nice girl and Kyuhyun certainly didn’t deserve him. They shouldn’t be together and Victoria was frustrated that somehow the world had brought those two together.

She pushed past several boxes marked “Kyuhyun” and finally let out a cry of triumph when she found a small, sturdy box with Ryeowook’s name printed on it.

Hooking her fingers under the lid, she pulled it open, frowning when all she found was a video camera. There was nothing else, just a few cushions and the video camera’s charger. Pushing aside one of the cushions, she found a folded sheet of paper.

Carefully, she opened it, reading over the few lines.

One and a half years.

Never forget.

It wasn’t like Kyuhyun’s journal at all. Victoria wasn’t even sure she understood what was written. How did a video camera relate to those words? Confused, she folded it back up and placed it in the box before shutting it.

“What’re you doing back here?”

Victoria whirled around, standing up. In the doorway was Kyuhyun looking royally pissed. He came closer to her, stepping over boxes here and there, “I said: what’re you doing snooping around our personal belongings?”

“It’s just storage and I was trying to clean,” she half-lied. The first time she had come in it was to clean, so it wasn’t technically a full lie.

“Yeah well, if we wanted to clean it we’d have the maid do it or do it ourselves. Get out.” Kyuhyun waited impatiently as she reluctantly stood up and headed for the door. He watched her walk off, disappearing around the corner. Frowning, he looked back to where she had been crouched over and approached it.

Kneeling down, he saw the box marked “Ryeowook” and popped the lid off.

Inside, there was an out-dated silver and black video camera that still used tapes. Kyuhyun lifted it up curiously, popping the tape insertion open. There was nothing inside. Placing it back into the box, he lifted the cushions up, seeing the folded letter and on the other side an aged, dusty photo of a rather chubby boy and a tall, gangly boy.

They were both physically awkward as many adolescents are, but they seemed happy and that’s what struck Kyuhyun hardest. He stared hard at the short round child with glasses and the gentle smile. No matter how much time had passed, he could still see traces of Ryeowook in that face. The cheek bones appeared through layers of fat and skin and his skin was still the same soft white it was presently.

Kyuhyun smiled faintly, brushing his finger across the image. If he had known Ryeowook at that time…if he had been the person in that photo…what would it have been like?

“Come on, hurry up!” Kyuhyun called, laughing and racing ahead of Ryeowook.

The other boy cried and yelled for him to slow down, grinning anyway. They ran through the large fields of Kyuhyun’s house, sneaking away. Ryeowook finally caught up when Kyuhyun slowed and rolled through the grass, holding his stomach as giggles overtook him.

“Why are you so fast?” Ryeowook gasped, pushing his glasses up and wiping sweat from his forehead. He sat down next to his best friend who couldn’t stop laughing. “And what’s so funny?”

“We beat the servants again,” Kyuhyun sighed, smiling contently, “That’s what’s funny. They can’t outrun two kids. How sad is that?”

“You’re always so mean to them,” Ryeowook scolded lightly, unable to help laughing a little too. He looked around the open lands, seeing his friend’s large house in the distance. “Man, your house is always so much fun to play at.”

“I like your house a lot more,” he responded, rolling over to squint at the round boy. “No one bothers us.”

“Is anyone bothering us now?”

“No, but that’s beside the point,” Kyuhyun scoffed, smirking. “Your house is still fun.”

“If you say so,” Ryeowook flopped onto his backside.

“Hey, Ryeowook?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you run away with me?”

The boy laughed, eyes drifting over to look at Kyuhyun. “Always.”

He blinked a few times, shaking his head. The photo was back in his hand, the closet was enclosing him once more, and the silence was all consuming. That wasn’t the childhood he had been given. There was no one else in that field. There was no one that responded to his question.

It was stupid to even fantasize about it. Kyuhyun smiled humorlessly.

Packing everything back up, he stood and left the room.

Upon coming outside, Kyuhyun ran into Victoria and Ryeowook sitting at the kitchen table. “What’s going on?” he prompted, seeing their smiles and distracted excitement.

“Well, I want to go out tonight since it’s the last time and I was asking if Ryeowook would come with me,” she explained.

Since when were you two on such familiar name bases? Kyuhyun grimaced. “If he’s going, so am I.”

“But—”

“—something wrong?” Kyuhyun interrupted icily. His threat hovered over all of them.

Victoria bit her lip. “…No.”

“Where do you want to go?” Ryeowook sighed, smiling warily.

“Uhm, somewhere loud and big,” she grinned, excited at the mere prospect of having some fun. Clubbing in the same, safe rich clubs was boring. That’s all she had ever been exposed to and now, for possibly the last time, she had a chance to do something wild and fun. “And we can invite more people if you’d like.”

“I’ll make some calls,” Ryeowook offered, “I’m sure they would like to come.”

“Who?” Kyuhyun leaned over his shoulder possessively.

“Taemin, Minho, Key, Onew, and Jonghyun would be okay, I think,” he responded, pulling his phone out already, “Anyone else?”

“Oh great, I’ll invite some girlfriends,” Victoria beamed, standing up and pulling her phone out. She disappeared into her bedroom, closing the door.

The moment she was out of eyesight, Kyuhyun tilted Ryeowook’s head back, kissing him deeply. They breathlessly broke apart, only to come back together in rushed touches and clumsy, needy fingers. Kyuhyun pulled Ryeowook up towards him, hands sliding everywhere and anywhere.

“We’re really close,” Kyuhyun breathed in between heated kisses.

“One night,” Ryeowook chuckled, happy to be free of the tension for just a moment, “and then everything goes back to normal.” He missed the routine and waking up in Kyuhyun’s arms. All of those self-help books were starting to get annoying and repetitive. Ryeowook already knew that he held feelings for Kyuhyun, but to what extent he would act on them was up for discussion.

Self-help books did not discuss those things.

***

“She’s really out of it,” Kyuhyun muttered, grunting as he helped Ryeowook carry a passed out Victoria to her friend’s car. He had decided that the safest plan would be to contact her parents, explain the situation, and send her home with one of her friends. It didn’t make much sense to have her come back and risk the possibility of using more underhanded tricks to get her way.

Then again, Kyuhyun also just wanted an excuse to not have her around a day earlier – even if she would have to come back to collect her stuff later. At least then she wouldn’t be a permanent residence anymore.

“Done,” he sighed, shutting the backseat door. Patting the car twice, the driver pulled out, some of her tipsy friends sticking their heads out of the windows and shouting goodbyes.

Kyuhyun turned to Ryeowook and they exchanged a long, tired look. Neither of them was good with partying. They were good with drinking, but that was an entirely different kind of fun. “Home?” they said at the same time, grinning at their timing.

Ryeowook stepped out of his room after showering and collecting some of the things he needed: wine, truffles, and movies. Silently, he walked down the hall to Kyuhyun’s bedroom. The door was open and waiting for him.

Stepping inside, he saw Kyuhyun tugging a loose t-shirt on, his flannel pajama pants low around his hips. Ryeowook eyed him more closely than he knew was appropriate, but it was difficult to not look. For an entire week, he hadn’t been able to touch Kyuhyun – ually or not – and it was finally starting to dawn on him how much he had missed everything about Kyuhyun.

“What are those?” he walked over, taking the truffles.

“I bought them yesterday,” Ryeowook answered, smiling, “I was looking for something else, but I saw those and figured they might be a nice snack.”

“Cute,” Kyuhyun mused, leaning down and kissing him chastely. Taking one of the movies at random, he walked over to the DVD player and popped it in. The screen flashed blue as it began loading. “Come,” Kyuhyun took Ryeowook’s hand, pulling him over to the bed.

They leaned back against the headboard, the wine set down on the side table and the truffles placed between them. “This movie is called ‘Attack on the Pin-Up Boys’,” Ryeowook stated.

“Is it a comedy?” Kyuhyun tilted his head.

“Yes, it’s a comedy,” he mumbled, picking up one of the chocolates and pressing it to the seam of Kyuhyun’s lips.

The latter smiled, opening his mouth and taking it. Chewing softly, he nodded in approval. “That tastes great.”

“I’m glad,” Ryeowook chuckled, taking one for himself, “we’re finally alone.”

“Oh? You’re happy that she’s gone?” Kyuhyun teased.

“Do you want me to be sad?”

He frowned, but then chuckled and pulled the blankets up, wrapping his arm around Ryeowook’s shoulders. “…I found a video camera in the storage closet.” The slender body in his arms tensed and Kyuhyun fought back the pang in his chest. Why did I bring this up?

“It’s just an old memento,” he murmured, forcing himself to relax back into Kyuhyun’s arms.

“…ah,” Kyuhyun said softly, tightening his arms around Ryeowook. He didn’t want to give him up – never. No one could understand that unrelenting wish. In theory, Kyuhyun could see Hyungsik feeling that exact same way, but he couldn’t sympathize. In his eyes, he was the only one who could really love Ryeowook that much.

How could anyone else have ever felt so much passion for the beautiful man? That didn’t make sense. Everyone had just one person. That’s how Kyuhyun saw it. So how was it possible that Ryeowook could have two?

Clearly, if Hyungsik died, he couldn’t have loved Ryeowook all that much. He let death tear them apart. Kyuhyun was the one who was meant to be with Ryeowook. He had to be.

“When do we leave for Paris?” Kyuhyun suddenly asked.

“Tomorrow night,” Ryeowook replied, “I’ve already gotten confirmation about the apartment over there. It’ll be ready for us when we arrive.”

He nodded anxiously. Soon…soon I’ll have an answer.