At This Moment

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

–J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

            “Come on, honey,” Ryeowook said, nudging his husband.  “You really do have to get up now so you can shower and have breakfast before they come to pick you up.”

            Kyuhyun rolled onto his back and looked over at his husband, who was packing his bag for him.  He sniffled and reached over for a tissue.  He blew his nose and then just lay there and looked up at the ceiling.  “I really don’t feel like going.”

            “I know,” Ryeowook sympathized, zipping up his backpack and walking over to the bed.  He sat down on the edge of it and ran his hand through Kyuhyun’s hair.  “It’s been a tough week with the funerals and getting sick with a cold.  You do look really pale this morning, Kyu.  You should try to sleep on the plane ride.”

            “Kangin will probably want to chat the whole way…and you know I can’t sleep on planes anyway,” Kyuhyun pointed out.

            “Kangin is looking forward to having something to do, so I’m glad that he’s going with you.  He’ll be a positive influence,” Ryeowook said.  “I wish I was going with so I could take care of you though.  At least you’ll only be gone one night.”

            “Yeah,” Kyuhyun said, rubbing his eyes.  “I suppose that’s true.  He won’t about being there the whole time.  I won’t have to put up with diva complaints from Heechul or whining from Hyukjae.”

            “Right.  And I’ve packed all your vitamin’s into separate baggies and labelled them by date and time, so you know when to take them.  Your morning ones are sitting out on the bathroom sink,” Ryeowook informed him.

            Kyuhyun’s brow’s furrowed.  “You’re awfully organized this morning.”

            Ryeowook leaned down, resting his hands on Kyuhyun’s shoulders, and kissed Kyuhyun on the temple, then his cheek several times.  Kyuhyun wrapped his arms around his husband and kissed his cheek as well, noting that Ryeowook was being more affectionate than normal for how early in the morning it still was.

            “What would you like for breakfast?” Ryeowook asked, finally pulling back just enough to look at him.

            Kyuhyun scrunched his face up.  “I’m not hungry.”

            “You have to eat something before you leave or you’ll feel even worse!”

            “Okay…maybe some toast.”

            “Kyuhyun!”

            “Ryeowook, I just don’t feel like eating,” he honestly explained.

            Ryeowook sighed heavily and rested his head against Kyuhyun’s shoulder.  “Maybe you’ll be hungry after you’ve been awake a little while and you’ve had a shower.  I’ll make a normal breakfast and you can decide then how much you want to eat.”

            Kyuhyun smiled at Ryeowook’s unwillingness to accept defeat and pat his back several times before starting to get up.  Ryeowook jumped to his feet and headed to the kitchen to start breakfast.  Kyuhyun walked into the bathroom to take his pills and started his shower.  When he was done cleaning up and drying off, he walked back out into the bedroom.  Ryeowook had left out some warm clothes for him, but Kyuhyun still felt a little feverish and searched around for a t-shirt, finally tracking down a tan colored one in the back of the closet.  He returned to the bathroom and dried his hair and then headed to the kitchen.  He stopped in his tracks when he reached the kitchen and took a look at the table, loaded with food.  Knowing that he was more likely to eat a western breakfast, Ryeowook had cooked up a storm and had separate dishes with toast, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, yogurt, and sliced fruit.

            “What the hell is all this?”

            Ryeowook spun around from the refrigerator, carrying over a carton of milk and jug of orange juice.  “Your breakfast.”

            “This is a waste of food!”

            “No it’s not,” Ryeowook insisted.  “I called down to Kangin to eat with us too.  He’ll be here in a second.”

            At that moment, the doorbell rang.  Ryeowook jogged over to the door and opened it wide for their fellow member.  “Hello!” Ryeowook warmly greeted him.

            “Hey,” Kangin said, his eyes squinting as he smiled.  “The food smells delicious!”

            “Oh, thank you.”

            “I’m glad you called.  I didn’t have time to make anything.”

            “You’re welcome,” Ryeowook said.

            “Hey, man,” Kangin greeted Kyuhyun, smacking him on the back.

            “Hi,” Kyuhyun groaned, nearly falling forward.  He gripped the back of the chair in front of him to keep his balance and then sat down at the table. 

            There was a knock at the door and Ryeowook gave Kangin a funny look at then rushed to the door again. 

            “I knew he’d change his mind,” Kangin said, sitting down next to Kyuhyun.  “As if he’d ever say no to Ryeowook’s cooking.  Time of day has nothing to do with it.”

            Kyuhyun leaned back in his chair to see who was coming in as a very crumpled and grumpy looking Heechul shuffled into the apartment.  Kyuhyun frowned, not entirely sure if it was a good idea to wake Heechul for no reason.  His hair was in disarray, there were circles under his eyes, and he was still wearing his mismatched pajamas and a pair of slippers. 

            “I don’t understand why you’re making breakfast so early,” he said to Ryeowook, his voice scratchy from just waking up.

            “Kyuhyun and Kangin have a flight to catch,” Ryeowook informed Heechul, shutting the door behind him.

            “But you and I don’t,” he reasoned.

            “Kyuhyun has been sick the last few days and I wanted to be sure he ate something before he left,” Ryeowook explained.  “And I thought I might as well make enough for Kangin as well.  And then I thought you might want some too.”

            “But it’s so early!”

            “I said you could just continue sleeping,” Ryeowook reminded him.

            “But I’m hungry!  I drank too much last night and now my stomach feels like it’s trying to eat itself,” whined Heechul, plopping down in the chair opposite Kyuhyun glaring around at the others with half open eyes.  “Why couldn’t you just take a later flight?”

            “Hey, we didn’t make the plane reservations,” Kangin pointed out, dishing himself up a plate full of food.  “Besides, the restaurant opening is today, so I think we won’t have much time between the time we arrive and the time we have to be there.”

            “Hmpf!”

            Heechul watched as Ryeowook set down a coffee cup in front of him, sweetened with cream and sugar, and picked it up.  Ryeowook knew just the right way to get Heechul out of his cranky mood the quickest.  He was a master at manipulating his hyungs and it mostly revolved around food, thankfully, which was his area of expertise.  “I have caramel rolls in the oven baking too.  They should be done baking in a few minutes.”

            Heechul and Kangin both sniffed the air at the same time.  They were one of Kyuhyun’s favorites and even Kyuhyun realized that he would probably end up eating one before leaving, even if he did still feel a little queasy.  He just couldn’t resist them.  How the hell did Ryeowook have enough time to make all this?  He must have woken up earlier than Kyuhyun assumed he had.

            Kyuhyun dished himself up some hash browns, fruit, and toast—which was more than he had originally planned on eating—but even Kangin looked over and shook his head.  “You should eat more than that.  You know they’re not going to give you anything good on the flight and then we won’t have anything to eat until we’re done with the event.”

            Kyuhyun sighed, but realized that he was right and took a little more. 

            “You should drink some orange juice too for the vitamins,” Heechul suggested.  “Since you’ve got the plague again.”

            Kyuhyun shook his head.

            Heechul looked across the table at Kyuhyun with an icy glare.  Since Kyuhyun was sick and a little out of it, he’d forgotten the golden rule.  There is no such thing as saying no to Heechul between the hours of 3 am and noon.  Only Leeteuk could get away with that.  Maybe even Jongwoon or Kangin  because of their age, depending on what it was about.  But not Kyuhyun.  Perhaps it was because he was under the weather that Heechul allowed him a moment to retract that answer before letting him have it. 

            “Okay,” Kyuhyun said, pouring himself a glass of juice, and then drank some of it.

            Heechul returned to filling his plate and ignored Kyuhyun’s little attempted insurrection.  And it was finally at this point that Kyuhyun realized that his husband had sabotaged him.  He’d honestly assumed Ryeowook was just being nice and invited them down for breakfast out of the kindness of his heart, but this was when he realized that this had to do with their conversation about him not wanting to eat breakfast.  He’d been refusing to eat much in the last couple days.  It was partly because he was sick and he was also a little depressed still about Leeteuk losing his father and two grandparents all at once.  Ryeowook was clearly freaking out because Kyuhyun was about to leave for a full day and Ryeowook would have no influence over his husband eating anything while he was gone and he wanted to at least make sure that he ate one solid meal before he left.  So he called down his pushiest hyungs to make him eat.

            “Why you sneaky little…” he swore under his breath, watching as his husband took the gooey caramel rolls out of the oven and set them on top of the stove to cool down at little.  Finally, he removed his apron and sat down beside Kyuhyun to eat, smiling over at his husband.

            “Does it taste okay?”

            Kyuhyun nodded.  “I can’t taste it as well with my cold though.”

            Ryeowook frowned a little as he piled pancakes on his plate.

            “I can taste it and it’s the best thing I’ve eaten all week,” Kangin declared.

            “Ah, you’re so sweet!” Ryeowook said.

            “Totally being honest.  I at cooking.”

            “Sure do,” grumbled Heechul.

            “Perhaps you will make it again for me when I feel better,” Kyuhyun suggested.

            “Of course,” Ryeowook agreed.

            “, I need to get married,” Kangin realized.  “If this is what I’m missing out on.”

            “Better start the hunt then,” Heechul said.  “You don’t want to look for her in a bar though.  Maybe Kyu’s mommy will help you find a nice girl.  You need someone who will cook and clean, but who doesn’t care that you aren’t as rich and good looking as Kyuhyun.”

            “I’m good looking!” Kangin argued.  “I’m just manlier than he is.  He carries a purse around.”

            Kyuhyun rolled his eyes, refusing to start up that same argument when he didn’t feel well.

            “You’ll have to try to eat a little while you’re gone too.  I packed some snacks in your backpack,” Ryeowook informed him.

            “I’ll try,” Kyuhyun only said.

            They finished up breakfast and Kyuhyun even managed to eat a caramel roll.  In fact, he was rather stuffed by the time he was finished.  Kangin headed upstairs to get his things, but Heechul stayed behind.  Now that he had a bunch of coffee in him and sugar, he’d decided that he and Ryeowook should do some clothes shopping and was going to hang around while Ryeowook cleaned up.

            When Kyuhyun ret