Ryeowook first lightly hit Kyuhyun several times after they got in the car but began to cry as they pulled away from Kyuhyun’s parents’ house and hadn’t stopped yet.  It was beginning to worry Kyuhyun because he wasn’t sure if it was brought on by embarrassment or relief or anger.

            While stopped at a red light, Kyuhyun reached over and began to rub Ryeowook’s back.  “I’m really sorry that I didn’t tell you first.  I hadn’t planned on it until we arrived and then I just knew I had to.”

            Ryeowook took out some tissues from his coat and began to dab his eyes.  “I love you.”

            Kyuhyun gently squeezed the back of his neck before putting his hand back on the wheel and began driving again.  “I love you too.”

            “I didn’t know that I’d be so happy once they found out.”

            “They didn’t just find out.  Mom’s known it forever and dad was just in denial.”

            “Your dad’s not mad at me!”

            “My dad’s liked you since he met you, since you’re actually one of the respectful members that he thinks has a good influence on me,” he said, reciting the words easily from memory.

            “It makes me feel bad because I know if I told my parents, they wouldn’t treat you the same and they’d probably disown me,” Ryeowook cried.

            “I’m not worried about that.  You know that not everyone will accept our relationship but the only person whose opinion matters to me is yours.  As long as you’re happy I don’t care what your family thinks of it.”

            Within another minute or two, Ryeowook managed to stop crying and blew his nose. 

            “On a different note, I don’t think that either Jongwoon or Sungmin have noticed you’ve stopped sleeping in your room.”

            “I don’t think so either,” Ryeowook agreed, his voice still hoarse from crying.

            Kyuhyun reached his hand back behind Ryeowook’s seat and pulled out a bottle of water, handing it to him.  Ryeowook took a drink and handed it to Kyuhyun once he was stopped at another light.

            “I can’t believe they don’t hear us,” Ryeowook says, glancing over at Kyuhyun with red, blotchy eyes.

            “Sungmin’s a really sound sleeper.  He never wakes up when I’m playing games after he’s gone to sleep and you’ve seen Jongwoon once he’s out,” Kyuhyun said, pulling into the apartment parking area.

            “Do you think that maybe we should start acknowledging Jongwoon and Sungmin’s relationship?  I get the feeling that they don’t care if we know or not and it might be best just to have that conversation finally.”

            Kyuhyun thought about it for a moment.  “Probably.  But why don’t you try talking to Sungmin about it first and see how willing he is to talk.  Jongwoon is less likely to go into any detail and I probably won’t say the right things and piss them off.”

            Ryeowook nodded and reached over to squeeze his hand once he turned the car off.

            Kyuhyun took a look around and then leaned over and kissed Ryeowook.  When he pulled away, he noticed his eyes were glazed over with unshed tears again.  It was his own fault for not warning Ryeowook what he had planned ahead of time.  Ryeowook was overwhelmed by his emotions.  If he thought the apartment was empty, he’d just drag him upstairs now and make love to him, but since it was Sunday, his odds weren’t good.

            Kyuhyun grasped the back of Ryeowook’s head and pulled him back for another kiss, this one much more heated as he tasted his boyfriend’s lips, pressing so hard he nearly lost his breath.  Ryeowook’s hands found his chest and pushed Kyuhyun back against the seat, crawling over him.  Just as Kyuhyun began to slide his hand under his shirt, his smooth skin, there was a loud knock on the window and both of them jumped, Ryeowook hitting his head on the roof of the car.

            Donghae was laughing from the other side of the window.  “Get a room!”

            “!” Kyuhyun swore, breathing hard and holding his hand to his heart.  “That son of a—”

            Donghae just ran down the row until he reached his car and climbed in before the maknaes could extract any revenge on him. 

            “Come on, let’s go in before someone else sees us,” Ryeowook said, getting out of the car and waiting for Kyuhyun outside before heading upstairs.  Once they entered the apartment, they began to hear shouting from Jongwoon and Sungmin’s room.  As they neared, they listened to the argument.

            “Hold still!”

            “I am!”

            “I can’t get it in until you stop moving around.”

            Ryeowook’s eyes went wide.

            Kyuhyun sighed, knowing full well what they were up to, and walked right in the room.  Poor Sungmin was trying to hold the headboard of his bed still as Jongwoon screwed it back together while sitting on the floor.  The slightest shift in Sungmin’s stance would misalign the holes and they’d have to start all over again.  Kyuhyun took off his coat and handed it to Ryeowook before walking up to Sungmin and ordering him to let him do it.

            Sungmin handed it over and glared down at Jongwoon, who never bothered to look back up at him, and stormed out of the room.

            Ryeowook gave Sungmin a questioning look the moment he walked into the kitchen.  “Is anything wrong?

            “He’s what’s wrong!”

            Ryeowook poured them both a cup of coffee and brought them over to the table and then tapped the table to urge his friend to sit down.  Sungmin sat down and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring out the door of the kitchen.

            “What did Jongwoon do?”

            “He’s just getting on my nerves.  I don’t know if you noticed, but we’ve been kind of involved with each other lately.”

            “Romantically involved,” Ryeowook specified, just to have it all out on the table.

            Sungmin nodded.  “I’ve had a thing for him for a while, I won’t lie, and I might have made him out in my head to be better than he actually is.  I mean, he’s cute and all, but he can be a real sometimes.”

            “You two seemed to be getting along just fine up until now,” Ryeowook said, trying to tread carefully to keep Sungmin from closing up.  “Perhaps today is just a bad day.”

            “Bad day?  He’s always like this!”

            He didn’t want to ask but he had to.  “So, why are you two only rebuilding your bed now?”

            Sungmin smiled humorlessly.  “Jongwoon says I’m too clingy and he can’t sleep.”

            “Ouch!”  Ryeowook was suddenly glad that Kyuhyun was even cuddlier than he was.  Most of the time, they were both willing participants.  It was only when he tried to get up early and met with resistance that he wished Kyuhyun were a little less needy.  “You know, Jongwoon really hasn’t been in any long relationships before.  Perhaps he’s just in a little shock over how much it entails.  I mean, you moved into his room rather suddenly and I think it’s going to be a big adjustment for him.

            “It was his idea in the first place!”

            “And moving in together always sounds romantic but it really requires a lot of patience.  Remember how hard it was when all of the members were living together?  That was really hard!  I think you should maybe give him a little time to get accustomed to it because I don’t think the problem is that you don’t have feelings for one another.”

            “No, I’m done with this!”  Sungmin said.

            Ryeowook moved his coffee cup until it was sitting right in front of him.

            “I don’t want that.  Jongwoon made it.”

            “Minnie,” Ryeowook said, sighing, “you’ve been telling me for years now that the only person whose coffee you like is Jongwoon’s.  Just drink it!”

            “I’d rather die of thirst!”

            “Minnie, you’ve liked him all this time and you’re just going to give up at the first sign of trouble now?  That’s not how it really works.”

            “How would you know?” Sungmin asked.

            Ryeowook opened his mouth but didn’t say anything.  Just because Kyuhyun broke down and finally told his parents didn’t mean that he was going to be fine telling everyone close to them and he wasn’t about to push the matter now that there was some substantial progress. 

            “Just give yourselves time to both cool down a bit before making any drastic decisions, okay?  Maybe he’ll end up realizing as he sleeps by himself that he doesn’t like it after all.  But you can sleep in my room tonight if it bothers you.”

            “No, you’re right.  I’ll give it at least one night sleeping in my own bed and we’ll see what happens.  If things get worse, I’ll take you up on it,” Sungmin agrees, picking up his coffee mug and taking a drink.

            Ryeowook smiled encouragingly but deep down he was a little worried that his friends, who he thought would be perfect for one another, were going to breakup before they even gave their relationship a chance.  He could only hope that Kyuhyun was able to calm Jongwoon down a little too.  If the lack of noise was any indication, it was going well enough. 

            Sungmin continued to vent to Ryeowook but grew less and less angry as he talked about it and even sounded a bit lovesick talking about all the little things he did like about his new boyfriend.  This was probably nothing more than their first big fight and they’d laugh about it down the road.  He could only hope.  He loved his friends and had wanted to see them happy for a long time.  Sungmin needed someone who would shower him with love and attention, someone who could make him feel safe and loved.  Jongwoon was so damn lonely, being more nerdy and introverted, he needed someone who would draw him out more and make him smile.  Ryeowook knew they would be perfect for one another; he’d seen their interactions for years and thought that all they needed was to take their relationship to the next level.  This last week had done nothing to change his mind.