Melting Hearts

            “Should we open presents next?” Mr. Kim asked.

            Kyuhyun brought Ryeowook in a glass of wine and sat down on the floor beside his chair instead of sitting across the room in the other chair, since Ryeowook’s parents were sharing the couch.  Kyuhyun felt a little clingier as the night wore on, which was a bad sign.  The whole time in the car, he’d held onto Ryeowook’s hand and eventually Ryeowook began to rest his head on Kyuhyun’s shoulder.  Kyuhyun was gradually becoming looser around his parents and although his mom still appeared a little uncomfortable, she didn’t say anything to try to deter them.

            Mrs. Kim passed out gifts to the boys and Ryeowook passed out their gifts to them.  Ryeowook’s parents made them go first, but Ryeowook had to go through several gifts from aunts and uncles as well and opened those first.  When they got to the gifts from his parents, Ryeowook had one extra in a thin box and his mother asked him to open that first.  It happened to be a piano music book which Ryeowook took some interest in, claiming to like the composer.  What remained were two large boxes, one apiece, and they were told to both open them at the same time.  Inside the wrapped boxes were three sets of knit scarves, gloves, and hats.  Kyuhyun looked them over and then sudden realization dawned on him.

            “Did you make all these?” he asked, shocked.

            “Of course,” she said.

            Kyuhyun smacked Ryeowook in the leg.  “All these years, you never even told me your mother made these for you!”

            “I don’t make every single scarf he wears.  I assume you’ve seen how many he has,” she pointed out.  “I just make some of them.”

            “I’ve always wanted some of these and you never told me where you got them,” he accused Ryeowook.

            “Technically, you never asked.  You just told me you liked them because they were warm,” Ryeowook pointed out in his own defense.

            “Thank you so much!” Kyuhyun said.

            “Oh, you’re welcome, Kyuhyun.  We have such a hard time coming up with things to get Ryeowook for Christmas because he just buys whatever he wants, we really didn’t know what to get you,” she admitted.  “I’m glad you like them.”

            “This is perfect.  Honestly.”

            “I’m also going to bake you cookies tomorrow morning to take with you, but they taste better when they’re fresh,” she informed him. 

            Kyuhyun grinned, clearly pleased. 

            “Open yours now,” Ryeowook insisted. 

            Ryeowook’s mother was given a diamond bracelet and two tickets to a show.  His dad was given a watch and two tickets to a sporting event, as his parents tended to go places with their friends instead of each other, having different interests in some areas of their lives. 

            “Oh, this is beautiful, honey,” Ryeowook’s mother said, putting on her jewelry.  His dad was still trying to figure out how the hell to get the watch out of the box it was in when Ryeowook cleared his throat to get their attention.

            “There is one more present,” Ryeowook informed them, “but it’s for both of you together.”

            Both of them looked over at him curiously, as they seemed to sense that there was something different about this present, since he hadn’t just come out and given it to them yet. 

            “I’m going to be honest with you…this one was Kyuhyun’s idea and I didn’t agree with him at first because I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it.  It’s a bit different than you’re used to getting from me, but Kyuhyun had some good reasoning which I couldn’t argue against, which I’ll let him explain to you after you open it,” he told them, nodding his head to Kyuhyun. 

            Kyuhyun reached behind him for one more, small package and handed it to Ryeowook’s mother.  She untied the ribbon and ripped the paper off of the golden box.  The lid lifted right off and inside, surrounded by white tissue with golden flecks were two key chains with a pair of keys dangling off of each ring.  Both of Ryeowook’s parents gave them a questioning look.

            “Their keys to your new apartment in Seoul,” Kyuhyun informed them.

            It was probably a good thing they were already sitting down, Kyuhyun realized.  Ryeowook’s mother actually dropped the box into her lap and stared at them for a moment, as if it were taking her brain a moment to process that information.  Ryeowook’s father understood much quicker and immediately downed the rest of his liquor.

            “Don’t misunderstand,” Kyuhyun quickly said, waving his hands in front of him, “we aren’t trying to talk you into moving to the city.  We just thought it would be nice if you had a place there so you could visit whenever you want to.  Wookie really misses seeing you and this way, even if our schedules are a little crazy and we can’t come to see you, maybe you could stop by and spend the weekend.  Or when you have vacation maybe you could spend some of it here.  Down the line when we have kids, you’d probably use it more than you would now, I know, but I didn’t see any reason to wait.  I bought my own parents another apartment and now that Ryeowook and I are married, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t get you one too,” he explained, afraid that if he didn’t put all his reasons out on the table immediately, they’d reject the gift outright.

            Ryeowook’s mother covered with her hand and looked down at the keys in disbelief. 

            “Well, it will take a while to decorate it anyway,” Ryeowook reasoned.  “I mean, we’ll have to paint it and pick out furniture and décor.  That will take some time.  So, I had to agree that getting it now was better than waiting.”

            “Wow,” Mr. Kim finally said, looking down at the keys in his wife’s lap.  “Where is it?”

            “It’s only a few blocks away from our place, by the river,” Ryeowook told them.  “I brought pictures if you want to see.”

            Ryeowook’s father nodded eagerly and Ryeowook stood up and pulled his phone out of his pocket and then wedged himself between his parents.  He pulled up his photos and then his cheeks turned bright red.  Kyuhyun immediately recalled that one of the newest pictures on Ryeowook’s phone was of them cuddling together.  He quickly flipped through the pictures until he got to the ones of their apartment.  “It’s a one bedroom with an office area, which I felt was a decent enough size unless you decide to retire someday and move into the city.  We’d have to upgrade you then.  And it has a balcony overlooking the courtyard, which I thought looked rather charming.  We didn’t get to see it in the summer, of course, but they showed us some pictures of what it looks like in full bloom and I think you’ll like it.”

            “Is that the bedroom?”

            Ryeowook nodded.

            “That’s bigger than ours here.”

            “The apartment has more space than the house does,” Ryeowook informed him.  “We knew you’d be missing out on not having a yard, so we didn’t want to cramp you in a small apartment.”

            “No one at work is going to believe me when I tell them what I got for Christmas this year,” he said, leaning back on the couch.  “This is incredible.  You boys have completely surprised me!”

            “So…you like it?” Kyuhyun tentatively asked.

            “How can I not?” asked Ryeowook’s father.  “Who the hell doesn’t like it when someone buys them a new home?”

            Kyuhyun grinned and scratched his head.

            “Mom?  Are you okay with it?” Ryeowook asked.

            Ryeowook’s mother looked directly at him.  “Of course.  I’ll get to see you more this way, won’t I?”

            Ryeowook nodded.  “That was our plan.”

            “I’m just surprised.  I wasn’t expecting something like that,” she said.

            “I know you weren’t,” he said, grabbing onto her hand.  “Kyuhyun was nervous that you’d get upset with us for buying it without asking you first, but we really wanted to surprise you as well.”

            “Oh, I wouldn’t get angry, Kyuhyun,” she informed him, looking over at him.  “I just don’t know what to say, I’m in shock!  I was surprised enough when Ryeowook paid off our house a few years back and that was all the more I thought to ever expect—and I really didn’t expect that off him either, but I know a lot of celebrities do things like that—but getting us a second residence is quite unexpected.  I hope that it is not too much of a financial burden for you two.”

            “I don’t know how I should answer that,” Kyuhyun said honestly, glancing at Ryeowook for guidance.  “If I tell you that it isn’t a problem, it sounds like I’m bragging and if it I say that we’re young and it’s our duty to work hard, you’ll feel guilty if we complain of feeling tired.”

            Ryeowook’s mother looked over at him, since Kyuhyun was clearly staring at him as he spoke, and found Ryeowook staring right back at him and then smiling at his husband, who was trying to be so careful about what he said.

            “We make a lot of money,” Ryeowook informed her.  “And when I say we, I really mean Kyuhyun because he’s on television and he’s got all those endorsements.  I married into money.”

            Kyuhyun rolled his eyes and shook his head.

            “And now you know why I do all the cooking and cleaning,” Ryeowook said, sighing. 

            “And you’re not in three bands and run a radio show?” Kyuhyun questioned.  “And have a number of endorsements and performed in a musical this year?”

            “We can afford the apartment, mom,” Ryeowook said. 

            “Kyuhyun, you’re my favorite son-in-law,” Ryeowook’s father informed him.

            Kyuhyun laughed at him and thanked his father-in-law and then finished off the rest of his wine.  He stood up and stretched, watching Ryeowook talk over ideas for decorating with his mother. 

            “I think it’s time for our surprise,” Mr. Kim said.

            “What is it?” Kyuhyun asked.

            “Old family movies of Wookie as a kid.”

            “No!” cried Ryeowook, covering his face with his hands.

            “Yes!” Kyuhyun said, jumping up, raising his hands into the air. 

            “Why?” complained Ryeowook.

            “Ryeowook, you’re married now, we have to show your husband what you were like as a youngster,” his father reasoned, crawling on the floor to dig out the old discs they had the footage transferred onto from the lower shelf of their entertainment center.

            “It isn’t fair!”

            “Oh, come on!  My parents have shown you every single embarrassing thing of mine and if they didn’t, Ahra certainly made sure of it!” Kyuhyun countered.  “This is only fair.  Y