“Woah! Careful there!”

The guide’s warning came just as Seohyun hit the ground.

“Ow!”

“Are you okay?” Ryeowook felt twinge of guilt as he bent down to help his guest. The sugarcane fields weren’t that hard to walk through if a bit uneven and rockier. Still, they shouldn’t have been cutting through them, but time was short. Luckily, Seohyun didn’t seem hurt.

“No scrapes or anything?” He asked. Hastily, he helped her up, doubling checking

“I’m fine.” She snapped, brushing him off.

Trying not to feel offended, Ryeowook glanced to his side. He frowned.

Kyuhyun was standing in the back, doing nothing. The man was making no move to help his girlfriend. No sympathy. No sign of caring. Nothing. Perhaps this was his passive revenge for the cold shoulder Seohyun had been giving him the whole tour.

Ryeowook wasn’t sure what her problem was, but the amiable Seohyun from breakfast was nowhere to be found during their tour of the plantation. She had kept her mood cold and clamped, much to the displeasure of her boyfriend.

If the taller hadn’t seemed so pathetically lost, Ryeowook would’ve thought they’d had a fight. It had taken Kyuhyun forever to stop trying with his lame jokes and very awkward attempts at hand-holding. Though, he certainly didn’t do it gracefully.

“Well, sweetheart, if you’re sure nothing’s hurt then we should hurry and get back to the sugarcane!” Kyuhyun remarked.

“Mr. Cho!” Ryeowook hissed. He shot his guest a warning look to not make things worse which the taller just ignored.

“What? I’m just concerned about the weather here,” He replied coolly, “I’m not really fond of getting rained on.” The dull rumble of thunder emphasized his point.

Ignoring this, Ryeowook turned back to Seohyun, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” She roughly brushed off the dirt on her shirt, “Let’s just finish this tour.”

“Alright. Then just head this way so we can do the final portion…” His words bounced off Seohyun’s back as she walked right past him. Frowning, Ryeowook looked at Kyuhyun. The taller just shrugged.

“Hey, I’ve been trying the last two hours. Good luck fixing her.”

Ryeowook just huffed and gestured for his guest to start walking again.

But Kyuhyun was right. Sort of. Ryeowook had thought the couple would naturally get past Seohyun’s mood shift. He’d thought wrong. Now watching the two walk in silence tinged with formality, it was obvious there had already been a rift between them before ever coming to the island.

And that genius Kyuhyun wanted to propose.

“Yet he wonders why she rejected him twice.” Ryeowook muttered.

Shaking his head, he jogged to catch up with the couple. Slowly, he eased the silence into something resembling a guided lecture. It looked like his abundance of useless facts and history was worth having.

Though simplistic, the plantation and small production farm fascinated Ryeowook. The very fields they were walking through had sugar stalks taller than he was. It was akin to walking through a forest. Having spent many of his off hours wandering through its fields, Ryeowook could feel secure in his tour guiding abilities.

Ryeowook wasn’t sure that they were listening, (Seohyun seemed overly concentrated on keeping the dirt off her shoes while Kyuhyun was busy swatting at stalks of sugar) but he continued spouting off anyway. Just one more stop and they were done with the tour.

Suddenly, another clap of thunder cut off the guide’s next sentence.

“Should we really be outside right now?” Seohyun turned to the darkening sky.

Ryeowook smiled, “It’s fine! This is most important part of the tour after all!” Still, the storm-scented breeze screamed otherwise. 

He bit his lip and hastily moved them along until they reached an open pavilion with a straw roof. It was lined with tables and in the center stood a small machine on a pedestal. A group of elderly tourists were already gathered around on the benches, chatting and munching sugar stalks.

“Alright, guys! C’mon in!” Their guide gestured for them to hurry up, “We don’t want to keep this second group waiting!”

The guide for the other group was tending to a fire but the stout man quickly stood up as Ryeowook walked over. “Sorry we’re late,” He whispered. Enviously glancing at the cheerful seniors under the tent, he quickly explained the predicament with Seohyun and Kyuhyun. “He’s just not the most articulate and she’s…”

“Awful?”

“Not the word I was going for.”

“Terrible?”

“Look do you think you could lighten them up? I don’t want to take them back to hotel all ticked off and uncomfortable. Colin’s been wanting to send me back to Korea for the last month and it’d be really nice if he could see that I’m not useless.”

The mustached man chuckled. “Need an experienced hand, eh? Well, I’m not an official tour guide for nothing, Wook. Just sit your company down and we’ll get started.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kyuhyun stood off to the side with Seohyun shifting uncomfortably. Were they late or early? Ryeowook hadn’t said anything about touring with anyone else.  The second group didn’t seem bothered by their presence, though several had unsubtly glanced over to watch them.

Painfully, he smiled at a woman who was outright staring at him. She raised her eyebrows and turned away. Kyuhyun scowled.

Finishing his conversation, Ryeowook turned back to his couple. Gesturing to an empty bench in the corner, he whispered quickly. “Take a seat. They’re just starting.”

Cautiously, Kyuhyun approached the seat in the corner, hyper aware that others were watching them. However, as soon as he got to the wooden bench, he plopped himself right down, too weary after two hours of walking. Seohyun was a little more wary about sitting on dirty wood but eventually settled for balancing herself on the edge. As soon as they looked seated, the other guide immediately launched into an animated explanation of extracting sugar from the sugarcane.

Ryeowook slipped behind them, translating every few moments because, obviously, his guests could barely understand a word. Still, the other guide’s wild narration and facial expressions had just enough in-your-face personality unsettle Kyuhyun. Apparently, that was the goal. The rest of the crowd seemed to love this display, hollering and laughing every few seconds. Even Ryeowook joined in a couple times.

“What did he say?” Kyuhyun asked, when everyone around him burst out laughing.

“Nothing, it’s just the way he said it.” Ryeowook replied.

Kyuhyun sighed. This was shaping up to be a long day.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour of gibberish, the stout man completed his lecture.

“The sugarcane comes in many forms. You can chew it raw, drink it, or eat it in pieces.” Ryeowook muttered from behind as the other guide walked to the table.

“Like sugar cubes?” Kyuhyun asked.

“A little!” Ryeowook chirped, “Those factory ones use compression and glue but here they crystallize the juice from the sugarcane. They make sugar blocks!”

He motioned to the stout man who was pulling one off the nearby table. The mustached man walked over with a deformed chunk the color of honey. The older tourists ‘ooh-ed’ and ‘ahh-ed,’ Someone even snapped a photo as if it were a precious stone.

Then whipping out his machete to the delight of the seniors, he held out the sugar block and used the machete to tap off a corner. Popping it in his mouth, he held it out to the group.

“Yes, please!” Someone hollered.

Ryeowook smiled. “See? You eat it just like candy.”

The stout guide continued to hack off chunks of sugar and started passing them around. All the seniors readily picked at their sweets like their own grandchildren, popping them in their mouths as if they were morning vitamins.

Kyuhyun watched, fascinated. He’d heard of letting loose during vacation but it was a wonder to see senior citizens so easily forget the possibility of and heart attacks. 

 “Here.” Kyuhyun blinked and looked down. Ryeowook was holding out small chunks of sugar.

Barely glancing at him, he replied, “I’m good.”

“Not for you genius.” Ryeowook rolled his eyes. “For her.” He motioned towards Seohyun.

“She’s good, too”

This time Ryeowook flicked him, “Boy are you ever dense. Feed it to her. That’s what you do with the sugar.”

Looking, Kyuhyun realized that most of the senior couples were sticking the cubes in each other’s mouths. Apparently that was romantic or something.

Seohyun was sitting on the opposite edge of the seat, busy watching the other guide hack off chunks of sugar with world’s largest bread knife.

Ryeowook stuck his hand out again. “Go on.”

Reluctantly, Kyuhyun picked the smaller piece. Turning to his girlfriend, he tapped her shoulder. “Um, sweetie?” He mumbled. Seohyun jerked around, “Sugar?” He asked holding up the cube.

“Um, sure,” She reached up to take it.

“Uh, no,” Kyuhyun yanked his hand back.

“No?”

“No. Yeah. Like, um, open your mouth.” He sputtered.

 “Oh,” Seohyun furrowed her eyebrows, “Okay,” Hesitating, she opened a bit and Kyuhyun awkwardly pushed the cube in .

“Mmm,” She mumbled, chewing, “That’s good.”

“Yeah? Sweet, right?” Kyuhyun prompted, slightly hopeful.

“Mmhm,” Abruptly, she stopped chewing. Narrowing her eyes at him, she questioned, “Were your hands clean?”

“Ummm…” Kyuhyun paused, remembering all the sugarcane he’d grappled.

Sighing, Seohyun wiped her lips where Kyuhyun’s fingers had brushed them, “That’s great Kyu. I guess I’ll just go spit out this dirt cube and rinse out my mouth then.” Swiftly standing up, Seohyun brushed herself off to find the nearest water source.

Kyuhyun inwardly groaned as she walked away. Great. Another addition to this horrible day. Seohyun had been treating him like dirt before he even messed up. Now that he’d really messed up with his germaphobic girlfriend, he couldn’t even imagine the remaining week.

“Sorry.” Kyuhyun turned around to face Ryeowook. “I guess I didn’t quite think that through.”

“No kidding.” He spat.

 A flash of hurt crossed the little guide’s face before it hardened to annoyance. “Yeah, you just keep with the attitude, Mr. Cho. I’m sure that’ll sure solve all your problems.”

Kyuhyun felt a twinge of guilt. This whole day had been crap but he shouldn’t have taken his frustration out on Ryeowook. All the guide had done was help keep things level since he’d gotten here. Without him, Kyuhyun knew he wouldn’t have survived the high-strung silence all morning. No, Seohyun was the one driving him insane.

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean-” He stumbled over his words, “It’s just, I don’t get it. She was so happy earlier and now, I just don’t know what-” His voice cracked.

“I know, I know,” Ryeowook placed his hand on his back, “You two have a lot of issues to work out and you aren’t good at that, but remember out conversation. From like three hours ago? You guys still love each other, and that’ll help you patch up everything.”

Kyuhyun nodded weakly. A stranger noticing his relationship problems after half a day was not ideal, but it was a stranger who put him at ease. He already trusted Ryeowook to uphold his promise and valued his opinion more than he was willing to admit right now.

Jokingly, Kyuhyun acknowledged what the smaller was saying, “You know, you read my thoughts pretty well. Do you do girlfriends? Because I’d pay top dollar for that.”

Ryeowook grinned, “I charge double for women. The translation into male-speech takes incredible skill. But maybe, if you just talk to her about this, I’m sure you’ll have all the answers.”

“Yeah,” Kyuhyun laughed at that, “All the answers.”

“And hey,” Ryeowook sat up, taking his hand off Kyuhyun’s back, “There’s still another piece of sugar left.” He opened his palm to reveal a golden cube wrapped in tissue. Pulling it out, he held it towards Kyu.

“You want it now?”

“Well, why not?” Kyuhyun made a grab for the candy only to have his hand smacked away by Ryeowook.

“Nope!”

“What?”

“Your hands are dirty.”

“So? I don’t care about that.”

“Well you should. Now,” He pointed to Kyuhyun’s lips. “Open.”

Kyuhyun hesitated until Ryeowook started to pout. Rolling his eyes, the taller reluctantly dropped his jaw. Ryeowook smiled triumphantly and placed the sugar cube in his mouth, his soft fingers just brushing the other’s lips. Kyuhyun resisted the urge to touch his mouth.

Instead, he closed his eyes, chewing slowly. The sugar was smoother than he’d expected and a whole lot stronger. Seriously, a whole cup of white sugar wouldn’t compare to the pure saccharine sweetness that was half-processed sugarcane.

“Wow. That is a kick in the mouth.” He opened his eyes.

Ryeowook laughed, “I know right? The soda here is like syrup.”

With Seohyun sliding out of his mind, Kyuhyun laughed along, letting the sugar’s sweetness melt into his mouth.

Their moment ended when the second guide let out a sharp whistle. Bringing everyone’s attention back to the center, he began speaking in English leaving Kyuhyun lost as ever.

Seohyun slipped back over, apparently having cleansed of boyfriend germs. Not even looking at Kyuhyun, she sat down silently. Ryeowook edged back behind the two of them and started quietly translating the explanation.

“Once they’ve harvested the canes, their first step is to juice it. Most places send their cane to a factory but since this farm is so local, they actually have their own little juicer.” He pointed to the little machine in the center of the room, “It’s a hand cranked one. One person turns the crank, the other feeds the in cane, and a third pulls it out the other end.”

“Why would they need to pull it out? Isn’t that what the crank is for?” Kyuhyun asked, skeptical of the oversized pasta roller.

“You’d be surprised,” Ryeowook replied, “You have to send each cane through multiple times and each time you fold it in half again. Not to mention, that thing gets impossible to crank when the bundles are thick.”

The other guide went on for another minute. After attracting several bouts of laughter, the stout man turned to Kyuhyun’s direction. Motioning for him to come forward, the farmer grinned and spout off something rapidly. 

“Guys, he wants you to help him demonstrate the juicing.” Ryeowook gave Seo and Kyu a nudge. Kyuhyun paused. No way did he want to get near Farmer-McChatty and his happy sword.

His refusal was met with chortling and booing from the senior crowd.

“Aww, c’mon Kyu. These guests are in no shape to work that crank,” Ryeowook prodded, “You may be their only chance to try this juice.”

Groaning, the taller looked over to Seohyun. To his surprise, his girlfriend just sighed and stood up. “Well if that’s the only way we can finish this tour…”

The old men on the sides applauded and hollered as she walked to the center. Some guy actually wolf-whistled. Feeling his displeasure bearing down again, Kyuhyun grudgingly got up and followed. 

Bubbling with excitement, the second guide roughly directed them to their positions. Seohyun was placed to wind the crank while Kyuhyun was yanked over to one side of the machine, facing away from the crowd.

“Okay!” The stout man bounded to the opposite side to grab a thick bundle of sugarcanes. Ryeowook stood off to the side, amusement in his eyes. Then, motioning for the couple to get ready, he let out an animated cheer. The seniors echoed his call with elderly enthusiasm.

“Ready? Let’s go!”

With the few English phrases they knew launched out in the open, Seohyun began turning the crank and the farmer shoved the bundle into his end of the crank. Quickly realizing he was the puller, Kyuhyun bent down to catch the sugarcane rapidly rolling out. It was amazing how much juice the thing had. As it moved to his side, tan liquid poured through the sieve and down into the little bowl underneath.

The first juicing was very smooth. Kyuhyun was surprised. All he really had to do was hold it. Though, it did smash the cane into stringy fibers.

The second try was a little tougher. The other had folded the already thick bundle in half before reinserting it into the crank and Kyuhyun could feel the resistance as he pulled. He grunted from the effort. With the wheels barely turning, the cane was even harder to move.

“Go! Go! Go!” Ryeowook cheered amidst the hollering of the other guests, “C'mon Kyuhyun!”

Clenching his jaw, he dug his feet into the ground and yanked hard on the soggy fibers. Paired with Seohyun’s weak cranking, it managed to roll through.

However, the last one looked foreboding. Kyuhyun could feel his arms getting sore just watching the canes quadruple in thickness.

“Last one! You can do it Kyuhyun!” Ryeowook called as the farmer prepared to start the final juicing.

Gears ground when Seohyun began to crank, then Charles let out his loudest call yet. “AIYIYIYIYIYIYIYI!!!”

He shoved the canes straight in before Kyuhyun even had a chance to process the screaming. Grabbing onto the coarse bundle, he began to pull.

Geez, was it hard! If Kyuhyun had ever pulled a car then he would have compared it to that. Planting his feet on the ground, Kyuhyun leaned back with the cane on hand. The sugarcane didn’t budge. The crowd’s high-pitched jeering echoed in the background. Was that supposed to be helping him?

Despite all this, Kyuhyun threw all his weight into pulling back. Blocking out all other sounds he focused on stepping backwards and the canes actually moved with him. Grinning with his jaw clenched, Kyuhyun felt a surge of pride.

Suddenly the stringy, damp sugarcane tore through his fingers the other way. Nearly tripping over himself to catch the end, Kyuhyun looked up stunned.

Charles was on the opposing end, yelled something if anything, while pulling the cane back towards his side. He shot Ryeowook a bewildered look but he just mirrored his surprise.

“Go Kyuhyun!” He cheered bemusedly.

Growling, Kyuhyun pulled back on his side and gained about two inches before falling forward. The farmer was just pulling back all of his progress. Every time he pulled some to his side, the other would pull it back.

So there they were, playing tug-of-war with sugarcane. Senior citizens were on either side of them cheering and hollering. If he hadn’t been so ticked, Kyuhyun probably would’ve burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Instead, he was just determined. Weaving his fingers into the strands of the sugarcane, Kyuhyun regained his ground and yanked the bundle like rope. Charles let out a cry of excitement but didn’t even budge. Instead, he pulled it back again causing him to stumble forward.

“Go! Go! Go!” He chanted. Kyuhyun had no idea if he was cheering for him to pull or to fall on his face but it was annoying the crap out of him. It didn’t help that Seohyun had given up cranking and was just standing there gaping.

Then the guide gave another yank reversing more of his progress.

Kyuhyun snapped.

“Ryeowook!”

Stunned for a second, the guide just stood there.

“Ryeowook, get over here and help me!”

Still wary, the guide took an uncertain step closer.

Kyuhyun stumbled another step. “Seriously! Just grab something and pull!”

Snapping out of it, Ryeowook rushed to the sugarcane. “Hurry!” Kyuhyun yelled as the smaller grabbed hold on the stretch of cane before him and pulling with all his might.

“Wookie!” The short farmer seemed to renew his enthusiasm at the little guide joining the game. Letting out a shrieking laugh, he put all his strength into the tug-of-war causing both men to slide.

“Oh god! What kind of steroids is this guy on?” Kyuhyun shouted.

“Just pull harder!”

Kyuhyun was sure he was red in face. Ryeowook was already looking overexerted.

“C’mon!”

“Pull harder!”

“I just said that!”

Kyuhyun hands were sore from gripping the canes so tightly but he wasn’t about to stop now.

“Dig in your heels!”

“Ugh!” Ryeowook grunted as they nearly lost their footing again.

Letting out another playful laugh, Charles gave a sharp yank from his end. But this time, Kyuhyun didn’t slide forward. He held his ground and took another step back. And that was all they needed.

Suddenly, the tension vanished. Kyuhyun went flying backwards landing right on his , the freed sugarcane tossed aside. He would have felt embarrassed had something not flattened him to the ground a split second later.

“Oomph!” Kyuhyun felt the air knocked out of him. A solid weight collided with his chest. Gasping, he tried lifting his head only to knock foreheads with someone.

“Ow!” A warm breath hit his face.

Suddenly, Kyuhyun registered the body pressed on top of him. Blinking several times, his sight came into to focus. A pair of soft brown eyes came into view. They were shaking off their own muddled expression as the eyebrows crinkled and the eyes squinted. Captivated, Kyuhyun opened his mouth. No words came to mind.

A small laugh broke the silence.

“Smile!” Breaking their gaze, Kyuhyun turned to see a camera pointed at him and Ryeowook. A bright flash went off as an old man captured their embarrassing position complete with dazed expressions. Laughter filled the air.

Breathlessly, Ryeowook began to laugh along. After a moment of pause, Kyuhyun joined in. Slowly, his laughter increased in volume until he was laughing hysterically on the floor. All his pent up frustrations seemed to dispel in that moment. Ryeowook rolled off him as he began to shake from it. Sitting up he saw that the little guide was grinning like a moron. This only made Kyuhyun laugh harder.

“Kyuhyun!” Still amongst the laughter, the taller looked up to see his girlfriend approaching.  

Slowly, his surroundings came back to Kyuhyun. The stout man, the elderly tour group, Seohyun. And, hey! Some guy who took their photo!

The mustached tour guide proudly strode up to him, a jug of honey colored liquid in his hand. Holding out a paper cup, he dramatically filled it with the sugarcane juice before handing it to Kyuhyun. Taking a few deep breaths, Kyuhyun grinned.

“Thank you.” He said, gladly accepting the drink. The stout man then proceeded to pour Ryeowook a cup and gave both of them an exaggerated thumbs up for Kyuhyun’s sake. Then he moved onto the rest of group, all who were eagerly gathered around for their sip of the sugar.

Kyuhyun downed the cordial liquid in one gulp. The sudden sugar rush cleared his mind enough to fully calm him down.

 “Kyuhyun, get off the ground. You’re getting dirty.” Kyuhyun turned to seeing Seohyun marching up to him.  She even stuck out her hand. Still grinning stupidly and a little breathless, the taller grabbed it and pulled himself up without realizing his girlfriend had finally relented some of her frustration.  

An elderly man holding a massive old-fashioned camera pulled Ryeowook up. With a laugh, Kyuhyun realized he was the one who had taken their photo. He would have to ask to see it.

“I really don’t get what’s so funny.” Seohyun noted while roughly brushing the dirt off his shirt.

“Oh c’mon,” Kyuhyun’s gaze was still turned to Ryeowook, “You didn’t think that was hilarious?” Even though he wasn’t quite sure why himself.

“No, not really. Look, Kyuhyun,” She grabbed his chin and roughly jerked his head to face her.

“Ow!”

“Listen, Kyu,” Seohyun tightened her hold and opened . Then she closed it, as if thinking better of her next few words, “Let’s just go back to the hotel, okay? No more activities for today. I think the jetlag’s really catching up on us.”

Kyuhyun nodded, unable to really move his jaw. Letting go of his chin, Seohyun sighed and went back to brushing off his pants.

Jetlag. That made sense. It certainly explained the lightheartedness and general delirium he was feeling. Not to mention the lingering feel of Ryeowook on pressed against him. His body was still warm. Unconsciously, his eyes trailed back to where the little guide was stood conversing with the old man.

His face was still flushed and his clothes now soiled but his soft brown eyes were no longer stunned. As if sensing his stare, Ryeowook looked over at him with a warm smile.

Kyuhyun automatically smiled back. Turning his head for a better view, he mouthed, ‘Get me a copy of that photo.’

Ryeowook looked at him strangely, ‘Why?’

‘I want to remember this moment with you.’ He mouthed.

Ryeowook blushed and looked away at that. Kyuhyun had meant it as a joke but seeing how endearingly sweet the smaller looked he realized it was true. This had been the best part of their y tour and he wanted to remember it.  And as Seohyun tried smacking the dust off his back, Kyuhyun made the educated guess that it would actually be the best part of the day. He wasn’t wrong.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Sorry for the long update wait, but maybe the length of the KyuWook makes up for it? 

I want to post once a week but my computer is known for its mental breakdowns (I rewrote this chapter like five times! Grrrr...) so I hope you guys don't mind. A school break is coming up though so I will make up that lost progress!

Thanks for sticking around! =)