Seconds

            “Okay, I admit it,” Victoria said, heading over to the table with homemade mint chocolate cheesecake.  It was a debate over who was drooling over the dessert more just looking at it.  Kyuhyun and Changmin loved food more than most people on the planet, but few people appreciated cheesecake quite as much as Ryeowook.  And Victoria knew this, which is how she managed to lure them over to her and Changmin’s apartment for a change.

            “Admit what?” Ryeowook asked, distracted.

            “You and Kyu are no longer in any danger of being considered a sinking ship,” she admitted, setting it down and picking up the knife to cut into it. 

            “You can just cut it into fourths if you want,” Changmin instructed her.

            Victoria stood at the head of the table and looked down at her boyfriend with a measure of tolerance, but he was clearly not getting a fourth of a cheesecake.  Ever.  “This is very rich and I won’t be accused of ruining anyone’s diet.  All I need is a bunch of managers getting upset with me because I’m fattening up members of boy bands.”

            “One eighth is fine,” Kyuhyun smiled up at her sweetly.

            “Cheesecake is cut into sixteenths,” she corrected him.  “And if anyone here gets more than that it will be Ryeowook, since I suspect he may actually weigh less than me and he could use a little bulking up.”

            Both Changmin and Kyuhyun scowled at her while Ryeowook beamed.  He perhaps didn’t appreciate her reasoning—she was clearly just jealous—but he didn’t care as long as it got him a bigger piece at the moment.  He was going to have to move away from Kyuhyun to keep him from eating off his plate, though, if he really did end up getting more.

            “You don’t think we went a little overboard, do you?” Kyuhyun asked.

            “With the multiple PDAs?” she asked, cutting into the cheesecake.  “You totally did!  You could have spread that out over a month or two and your fans would have been just as pleased.  How are you possibly going to follow that up now?  Another long streak of nothing?  I sure hope not!” she said, handing the first plate off to Ryeowook.  “Happy belated birthday, dear!”

            “Thank you!” Ryeowook said, grabbing the plate and immediately digging in.

            “We don’t have a lot of SJM events planned at the moment, you know.  It isn’t like they’re going to see much at the moment,” Kyuhyun defended himself.  “And we eventually have new Super Junior music coming out, but that’s not tomorrow or anything.  We kind of had to make that one count for a little while.”

            “I suppose,” she agreed, cutting another slice and handing it to Kyuhyun.

            “Do I have to go last?” Changmin complained.

            “No, I’m going last,” Victoria pointed out.  “But our guests are getting served before you are, that’s for sure!  Quit being a baby!”

            Changmin sighed impatiently.  “At least I get to eat leftovers.”

            “Don’t be silly,” she said, shaking her head and finally handing him a plate.  “I’m not stupid enough to keep leftover cheesecake around here or I’ll end up eating half of it.  I’m sending it home with Wook.  I made it for his birthday, after all.”

            “WHAT?” Changmin asked, clearly outraged at the thought.

            “You don’t have to send any home with us,” Ryeowook insisted.  “I think I’ve gained a few pounds after eating all the cake that people have been giving me and then Kyu took me out to eat.  We ate out all weekend, actually.”

            “Speak for yourself,” Kyuhyun said, placing his hand over his husband’s mouth.  “Poor Vic doesn’t want the temptation hanging around and we should be gracious and take it off her hands for her.”

            Changmin glared at his best friend from across the table.  “If this weren’t possibly my only piece, I’d throw this at you right now,” he threatened.

            Kyuhyun narrowed his eyes at his friend and then began to play with his phone, aggressively punching the keys.  When Changmin’s phone pinged a minute later, it was clear that their argument had moved to being discussed via text where Victoria and Ryeowook couldn’t interfere with it.  They went back and forth like this for a minute or two, ignoring their dessert, and Victoria finally sat down with her own piece and began to eat. 

            “Anyway, back to what we were discussing.  How much did you get yelled at for your romantic getaway?” she inquired.

            Ryeowook shrugged.  “I didn’t answer the phone when Jonghoon and the publicist called today, so I really couldn’t tell you.  Kyu?”

            “I was busy, so I couldn’t answer the phone,” Kyuhyun only said, setting down his phone and beginning to eat his cheesecake again.

            “What?” Victoria said, looking from one to the other with a disgusted face.  “Why is it you two never catch any hell for what you do?  When Changmin and I decided to move in together, you would have thought we told them the world was coming to an end!”

            “If my fans find out, you’ll wish the world would have come to an end,” Changmin muttered before stuffing another forkful into his mouth.

            Victoria smacked him on the arm.  “Seriously?  I think they favor you two!  What do you have to do to get reprimanded?  Release a tape?”

            “Should we?” Kyuhyun shot back, arching his brow.

            “It would probably raise your popularity,” Changmin complained.

            Ryeowook gave them all a dumbfounded look.  “The things you people come up with!” Ryeowook said, disgusted.

            “As if I would ever agree to that,” Kyuhyun huffed.  “My mother would kill me.”

            “You’d probably do it if you didn’t have your parents’ reputations and peace of mind to consider though,” Ryeowook said, staring them all down at this point for even discussing such