Ryeowook was not a light sleeper but he could not quite sleep through someone stumbling through his bedroom door in the dark, banging into the dresser and starting to shout obscenities at it, and then falling onto the bed, their shoulder slamming into his stomach. 

            “Kyuhyun!” he cried out, rolling his best friend off of him before doubling over in pain.  He could already smell the liquor and the light.  Kyuhyun hid his eyes with his arm, rolling onto his back.  “Where the hell have you been?”

            “Out with Jongwoon.”

            “You and Jongwoon went drinking?” Ryeowook asked in disbelief.

            “Go ask him if you don’t believe me,” he said. 

            “I believe you,” he said, looking Kyuhyun over with concern.  If Kyuhyun was offering to let him check his story, then he was telling the truth.  But Jongwoon wasn’t the drinking type, which unsettled him.  “Just how much did you drink?”

            “I don’t know, I lost track,” he groaned.

            Ryeowook lifted Kyuhyun’s arm to look at his face, causing the younger to flinch from the light, and pressed his hand against his cheek, feeling his skin.

            “You’re hot.”

            “You’re awfully forward tonight.”

            Ryeowook rolled his eyes at the maknae and replaced his arm over his eyes.  If he was capable of being a smart then he was already starting to sober up a bit, thank God. 

            “Kyuhyun, whatever possessed you?” Ryeowook asked, not expecting any reasonable answer to come forth.  “I’m going to give Woonie a piece of my mind in the morning.  Do you feel sick?  Do you want to go to the bathroom?”

            “I already threw up at the bar and on the way home.”

            “Splendid,” he grumbled as he began to roll Kyuhyun closer to the edge.  “Stay on your side like that, just in case you pass out and get sick again.  I don’t want you to choke on it.  Geez, I thought you outgrew this a couple years ago.”

            “Every once in a while, I have good reason to get wasted.”

            “Oh really?  Enlighten me.”

            “I will once the room stops spinning.”

            “So help me God, Cho Kyuhyun, if you puke in my room—”

            “Stop shouting!” Kyuhyun hollered.  “My head is pounding enough already!”

            “Shhh!  Calm down, I wasn’t shouting,” he said, a little softer.  He pulled his comforter up to Kyuhyun’s shoulder and then reached back to kill the light, since Kyuhyun seemed particularly sensitive to it.  He then got up and went to the kitchen for a glass of water and a pain killer, hoping that he could at least handle that much without getting sick again.

            When he returned to the room, Kyuhyun was lightly snoring and Ryeowook had to shake him awake and help him sit up to take the meds and rehydrate a little.  “Do you want anything else?”

            “No,” he mumbled, lying back down once the water was half drunk. 

           Ryeowook put the glass down on the closest dresser and then climbed back into bed.  He scooted over to where Kyuhyun laid and began to rub his back.  “I don’t know what your problem is tonight but the next time you’re upset about something, talk to me instead of going out to drink.”

           “What if you’re my problem?  Who the hell am I supposed to go to then?”

           Ryeowook sat up and leaned over Kyuhyun so he could look him in the eyes.  “Are you mad at me for something?”

           “No, I was just throwing out a hypothetical situation.”

           “Are you sure?”

           “Yeah,” he said, his voice little more than a croak.

           Ryeowook continued to rub his back, knowing that always seemed to help with his perpetual achiness when he noticed his shoulders shaking.  At first, he thought Kyuhyun was silently laughing about something but after a couple sniffles, he realized he was crying instead.

            “What’s wrong?”

            “Nothing,” he said, his voice little more than a whisper.  “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

            Ryeowook debated pushing the matter but decided he ought to wait until Kyuhyun sobered up a bit more.  They’d just flown in the day before and he knew Kyuhyun hadn’t gotten much sleep.  He desperately needed some rest.  That usually was the root of most of his problems and why he’d so often gotten sick in the past.  He continued to rub Kyuhyun’s back until his breaths began to regulate.  When he pulled back, Kyuhyun reached for him and drug Ryeowook’s arm around the front of him, holding it to his chest.  Ryeowook was pressed against his back and tensed up, not understanding what Kyuhyun wanted.  But as Kyuhyun appeared just to want him to stay close, he began to relax against him and snuggled into his warmth.

            “You’re the best friend I have.”

            “You’re my best friend too,” Ryeowook said, smiling wide and hugging Kyuhyun tight.

            “Even if I don’t show it, I want you to remember it.”

            “Okay,” Ryeowook agreed, humoring his drunken ramblings.

            “I feel like such an idiot sometimes,” he said, his voice laced with pain.  “I don’t know why you put up with me.”

            “Don’t say things like that.  It makes me sad that you even think that way about yourself.”

            “You deserve a better friend than me.”

            “Shhh,” he said, trying to hush him.  “Get some rest.  We can talk about this in the morning if you still feel bad but I think you just drank a little too much tonight.”

            Kyuhyun didn’t reply but he pressed Ryeowook’s captured hand against his chest and wrapped his fingers around it.  It didn’t take long before Kyuhyun’s breathing slowed again and Ryeowook stayed next to him, holding onto his friend.  There was something wrong.  Even drunk, Kyuhyun didn’t act this emotional.  Was that why Jongwoon drank with him?  But why would Kyuhyun turn to Jongwoon when he was down instead of him? 

            Ryeowook was almost willing to believe that Kyuhyun had been honest about having a problem with him but then why would he come to his bedroom to sleep?  None of this made any sense and if Kyuhyun didn’t seem better by the time he woke up, he’d go see Jongwoon to get the details.  And if he didn’t comply, Sungmin would get it out of him.  He wouldn't rest until he got to the bottom of this odd behavior.