Kyuhyun slept until the almost noon.  He’d never set his alarm the night before, so he only woke when the sun was finally high enough in the sky to flood his room with light.  As he opened his eyes, he wasn’t surprised to find himself alone.  Ryeowook usually woke up before him.  He would have liked to wake up and continue where they’d left off the night before but Ryeowook seemed a little nervous about their kiss and he didn’t want to upset him.  He had come on a little strong.  It wasn’t exactly his style to half- anything but he understood that it wasn’t always going to be received well.

            He got up and trudged out the door and into the hall.  He opened the door to Ryeowook’s room, just to double check that he wasn’t in there with Hyungsik, but the kid was lying on top of the covers by himself, still passed out from drinking too much.  Kyuhyun walked over to the side of the bed and grasped the covers tight and then took a couple steps back and yanked on them as hard as he could until Hyungsik hit the floor.

            The kid woke with a start, flailing his arms around in the air, stunned from falling out of bed.  “Good morning, sunshine!”

            Hyungsik stilled, looking up at Kyuhyun with furrowed brows.  “G-good morning, hyung.”

            “Sleeping a bit late today?”

            Hyungsik glanced towards the nightstand to look at the clock, nodding.

            “Well, it’s time to get up and go home before someone misses you.  You have your own members, you know,” he said, heading back for the door and nearly running into Changmin.  “Hey!  You still here too?”

            “I slept in Leeteuk’s room last night but I came back down because I forgot my coat,” he said, smiling over at the youngster.  “And I thought I ought to warn you that I think something’s wrong with Sungmin.  You might want to go check it out.”

            “Why?”

            “Just go out there and look,” Changmin said, tilting his head towards the living room.

            Kyuhyun pat his arm and as he headed down the hall, he heard his good friend chatting up the kid.  “No…no, when he does that it means he really likes you.  Trust me.”

            When Kyuhyun walked into the living room, Sungmin was standing on a kitchen chair and dusting the ceiling fan off.  Looking around, he noticed cleaning supplies all over the room—window cleaner, a vacuum, washcloths, a duster—he hadn’t seen this since that time he and Jongwoon weren’t talking for a week.  That was a nasty fight but he’d never seen the apartment cleaner since they’d moved in.

            Kyuhyun walked over to the chair and looked up.

            “Oh, Kyuhyun!” Sungmin said, getting off the chair quickly.  “I didn’t know if I should wake you or not, I think he really does need time to think, but then again I'm worried.  Oh, perhaps we should just let him be.  I don’t know what to do!”

            Kyuhyun stretched his arms.  “What you should do about what?”

            “Ryeowook found out what Jongwoon told you.”

            Kyuhyun opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.

            “He’s really upset right now and thinks you don’t want to be around him anymore and that you’re making fun of him for his feelings.  So he left and I don’t know where he went.  And Jongwoon ran away when I got mad at him, so I don’t know exactly what was said between you two,” he said, rambling on and on.

            “Wait,” Kyuhyun said, scratching his head.  “You mean to tell me that Ryeowook thinks I don’t want to be around him?  After everything that happened?”

            Sungmin nodded.  “He left a couple hours ago for a walk.  And it’s freezing out!”

            “We were kissing last night.  Did he tell you that?  Or did he forget?”

            “He does remember but he isn’t sure if you kissed him back to prove you were better or if you were just teasing him.”

            “Are you kidding me?” he loudly asked, beginning to get pissed off and frustrated.  “He thinks I’d kiss him just to show him I’m a better kisser?  It never dawned on him that I just wanted to kiss him?”

            “Why would you want to do that?” Sungmin asked, clearly confused.

            “Because I’m attracted to him.”

            “Wha-what?” Sungmin asked.  “Do you have feelings for Wookie?”

            Kyuhyun sighed and began to walk back to his room to change.  “Why is that so hard to believe that the idea was completely overlooked?”

            Sungmin followed him.  “You’ve never showed any interest in him before.”

            “I’m a little slow.”

            “A little?  Cho Kyuhyun!”

            “What?” he asked, picking up his phone and dialing Ryeowook’s number, then frowning as the voicemail picked up.

            “What are you going to do?”

            “I’m going to go looking for him,” Kyuhyun said, shooing Sungmin out of his room.

            “Look for who?” Hyungsik asked, walking out of Ryeowook’s bedroom with Changmin.

            Kyuhyun gave the boy a death glare before shutting the door on the whole group and getting changed.  He was still trying to figure out how Ryeowook could have so incorrectly interpreted last night.  Wasn’t his interest in him evident in the way he’d touched and kissed him?  How could Ryeowook think he was only teasing him?  Then again, his own feelings had gone from one extreme to another in only a few days but always with the underlying source of all the turmoil being his unrealized desire, this hidden pull towards his best friend.

            The trio was standing around in the kitchen talking to each other in hushed voices as Kyuhyun walked past but at least they didn’t try to stop him and ask any more stupid questions.  He rushed down to his car and began to wander around the neighborhood.  If Ryeowook walked around outside too much, he’d likely be spotted by fans, so he couldn’t bank on finding him just strolling down the street.  He tried some of the neighborhood restaurants and cafés, phoned the studio, called one of the managers but every idea came up short.  Kyuhyun realized he might have to wait until Ryeowook wanted to be found but he didn’t stop looking.

            Sungmin was scrubbing the kitchen floor on his hands and knees.  He was nearly done removing the dirt stains from under the table when a bouquet of flowers was under the table at him, a mix of pink and red roses.  Looking past the flowers, Jongwoon was kneeling on the floor as well, his head under the table.

            “I’m sorry about this morning but I have a good explanation,” he said, crawling further under the table towards Sungmin. 

            Sungmin took the flowers from Jongwoon, letting his hand brush against Jongwoon’s and then he brought them to his nose and smelled.  Jongwoon was well aware that they were his favorite flower.  “What is it?”

            “I already knew that Kyuhyun loved Ryeowook but Ryeowook deserves to hear it from him, not me,” he explained.

            “Did Kyuhyun tell you that he loved Ryeowook?” Sungmin asked, playing with the flower petals.

            “No,” he said, scooting next to Sungmin when he was distracted and leaning in to kiss his cheek.  “The reason I knew was because Kyuhyun acts so much like I did when I first fell in love with you.”

            “How does he act?” Sungmin asked, a smile beginning to spread across his face.

            “Kyuhyun talks about Ryeowook all the time, he constantly tells him where he’s going, his eyes always follow Ryeowook, he touches him more than he should, he monopolizes him…” he said, reaching over and brushing back the hair that had fallen into Sungmin’s eyes.  “His mood is completely dependent on how things are with Ryeowook.  It’s been going on a very long time now, I just think that Kyuhyun didn’t realize how strong his feelings were and what they meant because no one had ever tried to come between them before.”

            “So, what did you tell Kyuhyun when you went out?”

            “I told him that he should distance himself from Ryeowook so that he’d have the chance to get over him and find someone who will love him.  He agreed but he clearly didn’t take it well.  He couldn’t even stick to his promise the first night.  He slept in Ryeowook’s room, probably some notion of doing it just one last time before ignoring him.”

            “And what about Victoria?”

            “That was completely her deal.  I didn’t know anything about it until he told me and I never called her up to make her provoke Kyuhyun like she did but it clearly sped up the process,” Jongwoon said.  “The only trouble is, I don’t even know if Kyuhyun realizes why he’s so upset yet.”

            “I think he does,” Sungmin said.  “He seemed to think his treatment of Ryeowook was rather straightforward last night and wondered how it could have been so misinterpreted.”

            “It probably was obvious but Ryeowook is so used to Kyuhyun being oblivious to his flirtations, he assumes that Kyuhyun would never make a move on him.  And he never has.  But if you think about it, Kyuhyun already treats Ryeowook like his boyfriend.  Kyuhyun has to do something drastic like make out with him before Ryeowook notices a difference in Kyuhyun’s behavior.  And it’s not a surprise that Ryeowook takes it the wrong way.”

            “Poor Wookie!”

            “Poor Wookie should have said something years ago.  It’s poor Kyuhyun!  Poor Kyuhyun never had a clue that Ryeowook loved him and he had no reason to suspect that his own feelings of love were anything other than brotherly until it appeared as if Wook was involved with other people.”

            “Wookie’s been suffering for so long,” Sungmin said, looking at his bouquet.  “I wish they could be as happy as we are.”

            “Maybe they will be,” Jongwoon said, wrapping his arms around Sungmin and pulling him close.  “Am I forgiven?”

            “Yes,” he said, “but next time you should tell me what’s going on.”

            Jongwoon nodded and began to lean forward when Sungmin’s phone started to ring loudly, startling Jongwoon enough to hit his head on the tabletop. 

            Sungmin dug out his phone.  “It’s Wookie, thank God,” he sighed, answering the phone immediately.  Jongwoon smiled at his boyfriend and grabbed the flowers.  He stood up and began rummaging around for a vase as Sungmin listened to Ryeowook’s venting.  He sincerely hoped that all the turmoil would come to a swift end.  All Kyuhyun needed to do was admit his feelings for Ryeowook and then his own life could go back to normal and everyone would finally be happy.  In theory.