“I—no, I’m fine, really,” but he’s really not, but Kyuhyun doesn’t want Ryeowook to worry anymore than he already has, he’s not worth the fuss.

"Cho Kyuhyun," Ryeowook says warningly, "if you don't tell me this instance, I'll—"

"What? Break up with me?" Kyuhyun is being rash and impulsive and he knows it, and he knows he's hurt Ryeowook from the look in his eyes.

"Don't say things like that," he says in a small voice. "Of course I'm not going to break up with you." But his voice breaks noticeably at the end of his sentence, and Kyuhyun detects the fear in his tone with a sickening jolt to his stomach like an electric shock.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs. "I'm sorry, I'm stupid and I'm sorry, I—"

But Ryeowook cuts him off, kissing him so hard that the air seems to leave his lungs all at once, and his brain retains just enough of its basic functions for him to kiss back. Ryeowook's arms are tight around Kyuhyun's waist, and he thinks that he would gladly forgo breathing if it meant he could kiss Kyuhyun forever, just like this.

They fight like this a lot, about big things or nothing at all, but they both know it's because Ryeowook is a worrier and Kyuhyun is too convinced that he is a burden to Ryeowook, and that he should carry his troubles on his own.

But when they kiss, it's like they've crossed all these barriers to get to each other, and things get just a little bit better each time.

word count: 261