EPOV

    He had never been so happy to see Kyuhyun and Ryeowook in his life. How Sungmin had managed to talk about udon and soba for 15 minutes straight absolutely flabbergasted him. At this point, he just wanted to see Hae.

   “It’s about time you two got out here,” he grumbled.

   “Sorry about that guys, we got caught up in making the crepes,” Ryeowook apologized.

   “It’s no problem dear, Eunhyuk and I were having a great conversation,” Min added.

   “Yeah…it was absolutely riveting,” Hyuk mumbled.

   Both Kyuhyun and Ryeowook had to stifle some laughs.

   “Well, if you like Ryeong and I can go back in the kitchen, so you can finish the conversation,” Kyuhyun teased.

   “NO!” he yelled, eyes widening in panic, “I..I mean…I want to talk with both of you too and I want to eat my crepe now,” he said trying to get his voice to go back to normal.

   Ryeowook took pity on him and set down his crepe and then set Min’s down.

   “Here you go, feel free to add some of the extra toppings, there’s whipped cream, toasted almond slivers, more fruit…”he said while gesturing to the little bowls of toppings.

   “This looks fantastic! What do you recommend on mine?” Sungmin asked excitedly.

   “Hmm…you have banana in yours, so I would do a dollop of whipped cream and some almond slivers to garnish,” Ryeowook said.

   He admittedly went a little crazy on his own toppings, sprinkling more strawberries, whipped cream, cookies and adding a few almonds too. When he looked up, he saw three pairs of eyes looking at his crepe.

   “What now?” he asked defensively.

   “Where does it all go…?” Ryeowook thought aloud.

   “Maybe he’s like a cow and has separate chambers in his stomach…” Kyuhyun said.

   “God…if I had his metabolism, I could eat anything…” Sungmin said enviously.

   “Can you guys just eat your crepes and leave me alone,” he said with a pout on his face.

   “Fair enough, what would you like on your crepe Kyu?” Ryeowook asked.

   “Well, you seem to be the expert on topping combination, so you choose for us.”

   “Let’s keep it simple and just do whipped cream, after all, we already have a lot of flavors in the crepe itself” Ryeowook said as he put some whipped cream on the crepe.

   “Oh My God!! This is so good!!” Sungmin moaned, as he ate a bite of his crepe.

   “What did you do to these banana’s?! They are literally melting in my mouth!”

   “Im glad you like it Min, I caramelized them with a bit of rum, just to give them some extra flavor.”

   “I bet the people in heaven don’t eat this well…”Sungmin said dreamily as he took another bite.

   Eunhyuk caught Kyuhyun rolling his eyes, but just smiled as he dug into his own crepe.

   “You’re very sweet Min, Im so happy that you like the food.”

   At this point, it was obvious that Kyuhyun was getting a little jealous that his lover’s attention was elsewhere and Hyuk watched in amusement as Kyuhyun called for his lover’s attention.

   “Ryeonggu!” Kyuhyun whined.

   Ryeowook turned to him, curious as to what Kyuhyun was up to this time. But before he could even ask, Kyuhyun stuffed a piece of their crepe into his mouth.

   Mouth full with his own crepe, he watched as the two flirted, taking turns feeding one another the crepe. It was so sweet  he could almost suffocate the two. But he couldn’t be angry with the two of them. Their relationship was so fresh and so new that they couldn’t help but want to monopolize each other.  Fate had taken this long for them to be with one another and he wasn’t about interrupt their happiness, not when it had taken this long to find it.

  He looked over at Sungmin, who was now looking at his crepe with pure horror.

  He swallowed his food before asking, “Hey Min, what’s wrong?”

  This jolted the two lovebirds out of their trance as well.

  “I..I forgot to take a photo of my crepe.”

   Kyuhyun stifled a laugh while Ryeowook looked lost at the other's horror.

  “Just take a photo of it now”, he suggested.

  “But it won’t be the same!!” Sungmin wailed.

  “Don’t worry Min. If you like, the next time you come with your family, Ill make them again and you can take photos then okay? For now, why don’t you just finish this one.” Ryeowook said gently.

   Sungmin brightened immediately at this, but then looked confused, “You mean, I can come back?” 

   Ryeowook and Kyuhyun gave each other knowing looks (great they’re already doing telepathy with one another, he thought), and Ryeowook laughed.

   “Of course you can come back! We’re friends now aren’t we? And since you’re family couldn’t come tonight, I still owe you a dinner!”

  “You know you’re not just restaurant owner to me or a fanboy to Ryeowook, you’re our friend”, Kyuhyun said with a smile.

  At this point, Ryeowook was poking Kyuhyun to stop saying fanboy so disrespectfully and they were back in their own world, playfully bickering like an old married couple.

  “You know, both of them were like this before they got together you know.”

  Sungmin looked at him, confusion written all over his face.

  “If they take a liking to someone, they’re very dependable people, they’ll never turn their backs on you. So you shouldn’t feel like an outsider, they consider you a friend now and that’s that. And of course I consider you a friend now too, so quite looking so confused and eat your crepe.”

  “Thanks Eunhyuk.”

  “Just Hyuk is fine, Im already calling you Min.”

SPOV

   He wasn’t going to cry. He wasn’t going to cry. He was so close to blubbering like a baby after hearing Ryeowook, Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk’s words. They were all so kind, he never expected to meet such wonderful people in his life. His work and family kept him pretty busy, so meeting up with friends became rather difficult and he watched many of his friendships disappear over the last 8 years.

    And when Ryeowook had asked him to come to Joie, he merely thought it was Ryeowook’s way of showing gratitude, but now it was clear that Ryeowook had asked him to come to Joie as a friend and that meant everything to him. He never would have dreamed that the chef whose career he had followed so religiously would become an acquaintance of his, much less a friend.

   And sure Kyuhyun was a regular at Oishi, but he didn’t really think his relationship went beyond that, so it was a shock to find out that Kyuhyun considered them friends. In fact, when he watched Ryeowook, Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk interact, something in him knew how precious they were to one another. Their bond was something he envied. And when he heard Eunhyuk refer to Kyuhyun and Ryeowook as his best friends, he honestly felt like the odd man out. He had spent so much time opening his restaurant and starting a family with his wife, he had neglected his friendships and by the time things were calming down on the home front and the business front, he found that he didn’t really have many friendships to come back to. It was the one thing in his life that he regretted and now it seems that fate was giving him back that chance to have friends again. And he couldn’t ask for better people, they were warm, fun and honestly he just enjoyed their company.

   He looked around the table, Kyuhyun and Ryeowook were across from him, giggling and bickering like school children, Eunhyuk was beside him, shoving massive amounts of whipped cream in his mouth and he couldn’t help but smile, these were his friends.

   “Min, if you don’t eat the rest of your crepe, Ill gladly eat it for you,” Hyuk said, eyeing his plate.

   “Don’t you dare touch mine!! How the hell do still have room in your stomach?! It’s actually getting a bit creepy…”he said as he dug back into his crepe.

   Sungmin noticed that Eunhyuk smiled in satisfaction as he dug back into his crepe and that’s when it hit him…he had said that because he was worried about me? He wasn’t going to cry, he wasn’t going to cry. He really loved these guys.

RPOV

    He watched now as Sungmin and Eunhyuk started bickering, like they were old buddies and couldn’t help but chuckle. He was glad that the two met tonight, the two seemed to hit it off and looked like they would be good friends in the future. 

   When he felt the long comforting fingers of a certain someone entwine with his, he smiled.

   “What are you thinking about?” Kyuhyun asked.

   “That sharing a home cooked meal with the people you love and care about really is one of the greatest pleasures in life.”

   He smiled when he felt a gentle squeeze come as a response. Sometimes gestures are better than words and that one squeeze was more than enough for Ryeowook to know that Kyuhyun felt the exact same way.

    He gave a reassuring squeeze back to Kyuhyun and saw a smile form on the latter’s face. It was rather nice to know that the smallest form of contact could bring a smile to Kyuhyun’s face and it would be a blatant lie if he said it didn’t make him smile either. Every time Kyuhyun touched him, whether it be rubbing circles on his hand, or the slightest touch to his back, or a simple kiss on the forehead, made his heart beat faster and brightened his mood.

   “It’s weird that this is the first time that all of us are having dinner together isn’t it?” Kyuhyun voiced.

   “I know right, it feels really natural doesn’t it?” he replied.

   “It’s probably because you’ve both known Hyuk for a long time” Sungmin answered.

   “That’s true, but I mean it goes deeper than that, they knew me individually from one another, we’ve never had dinner together, so it is kind of odd how easily this dinner is flowing and I think that has a lot to do with you being here Sungmin.” Hyuk said thoughtfully.

    “Ah jinjja…you guys are seriously trying to make me tear up. But thank you, I haven’t had friends for a while, so it’s nice hanging out with you guys.”

    “What, did you give them food poisoning?” Kyuhyun joked.

    “Shut up Kyuhyun! For your information, you’ll find that when you open a restaurant and start a family, maintaining friendships becomes a bit difficult!” Sungmin retorted.

    “Don’t worry we’re pretty easy to maintain,” Hyuk answered.

    “Right! All of us have busy schedules, so we don’t expect to be able to meet up every week, plus we all stay in contact through texting, so you should exchange numbers with Hyuk and then we can create a group text and set up dates to meet!” Ryeowook cheerfully added.

   “Next week Ryeong is meeting my parents though, so how about the week after next we meet up?” Kyuhyun asked.

  “Wow, you’re moving quick aren’t you?” Hyuk stated.

  Ryeowook watched in amusement as Kyuhyun and Hyuk started bickering. He then switched his focus to Sungmin, who seemed to be in a daze.

   “You okay Min?”

   “Yeah, I was just thinking that I could get used to this.”

   Ryeowook smiled, “You’ll have your hands full once you meet Hae, he and Hyuk manage to turn every meeting into their own love fest.”

   “Who’s Hae?”

   “His full name is Donghae, but everyone just calls him Hae, he’s my boyfriend. And we do not turn every meeting into a love fest!!”  Hyuk interjected, a slight blush entering his cheeks.

   “And he happens to be my very reliable sous chef here at Joie.” Ryeowook added.

   “Hyuk, I don’t know how you can deny Ryeong’s statement, remember when you introduced me to him! You two wouldn’t stop flirting, no matter how much I begged!” Kyuhyun said.

  Sungmin laughed, “Well, Im looking forward to the next time we all meet up.”

KPOV

      And with that said, the rest of the evening went by in a flash, they four of them recounting old stories about their past, and discussing the latest events truly made it seem as if they had just gotten to Joie. When a text came from Hyuk’s phone, Sungmin suddenly wondered about the time and was shocked find out that it was already 11pm.

   “Geez, it’s already 11?! Oh man…I better go, my wife is probably going to kill me for staying so long, I better get going.”

   “Hang on, let me pack you up some to go bags of food. Perhaps that will soften the blow a little bit for staying out so long,” Ryeowook said with a wink.

   “Kyuhyun you are so lucky Im happily married…” Sungmin mumbled.

   “Hands off Min, Ill kick your if you make a move on him.” Kyuhyun shot back.

   “First of all, I have a black belt, so if anyone’s is getting kicked- it’s yours and second, I told you Im happily married idiot.”

   “Calm down both of you, what Min is trying to say is that you better hang onto him Kyuhyun,” Hyuk said.

   Kyuhyun groaned, “I already know he’s too good for me, say no more.”

   “Yeah, but it works both ways, he’s lucky to have you too even if he is way out of your league,” Hyuk said with a smile.

   Sungmin sighed, “Yeah, as much as I hate to say this, I think you fit with him perfectly.”

  “I really need new friends…” he grumbled.

   Ryeowook came back with a cart on which three huge bags lay. “Okay, I packed a bag for each of you. Hyuk, Im guessing that text was from Hae right? So you’ll probably be taking off soon too won’t you?”

  “You’re psychic aren’t you?” Hyuk asked.

  Ryeowook laughed, “No, I just know how possessive he is of you, so I took a lucky guess,” motioning the “lucky guess” part with air quotes.

  “You know what Kyuhyun, he’s perfect for you…absolutely perfect…you two can be little devils with each other,” Eunhyuk said as he took his bag off the cart.

  Kyuhyun laughed, he loved Ryeowook’s sassy side, it was so much fun to watch. It’s part of what made them hit it off so quickly.

  “Here Min, I made sure to pack lots of sweets for your kids and your wife. Give them my regards and we’ll set up another date where we can all meet okay?”

  Sungmin was so touched that he quickly hugged Ryeowook, “Thank you so much! You’re seriously a lifesaver!”

  “Im so telling on your wife!” he pointed accusingly.

  Sungmin smirked, “She’s worse than I am, she’s the reason I became such a fan of Ryeowook’s food, so Im the least of your worries.”

  Kyuhyun paled, “Oh God…you can’t be serious.”

 “You better believe it!” Sungmin said happily, he then quickly pat Kyuhyun on the back,   “don’t worry though, at most she’ll just hug him and fan girl over him” he said throwing the words back at Kyuhyun. 

 “How the hell is that supposed to make me feel better?” he was starting to feel like the next time they met he was seriously going to self-combust.

 Ryeowook laughed, “Min don’t give him too hard a time.”

 “Wait! Ryeowook, did you remember to put in the butter cookies?!” Hyuk asked with serious concern.

 Ryeowook sighed, “Of course, they’re in the little bag at the top of the bag.”

 “I take it back, you’re an angel,” Hyuk said happily. 

 “Just go see Hae will you? He’s probably dying to know how tonight went", Ryeowook said with a smile.

  After waving goodbye to Sungmin, they hugged with Hyuk, who was already munching on the butter cookies.

  “I told Donghae that I sent you with butter cookies, so if you don’t save any for him, you’re screwed! Actually, he'll probably screw you regardless-so nevermind” Ryeowook yelled as Hyuk entered his car.

  “Yah!! Why would you tell him, now I have to share! And must you yell that out in the parking lot?!” 

  “What can I say, I know he was disappointed that he wasn't able to come and watch your reactions all night...so I had to give him something to look forward to” Ryeowook said.

  “Devil!!” he yelled as he quickly drove off before Ryeowook could say anything else to him.

EPOV

He smiled, tonight had gone perfectly. Good friends, good food, there wasn’t really anything else he could ask for. And now he was headed to Hae’s apartment. A perfect end to tonight’s dinner. He received a text from him earlier saying that his aunt and uncle were tired, so they had left early and to come to his apartment when he was done with dinner.

   He pulled into the underground parking lot and made his way to the lobby. He could have used the elevator to get to Hae’s floor, but he didn’t feel like waiting for it, he was eager to see his boyfriend. And he wouldn’t admit this to anyone, but he was feeling like he should probably burn a few of the calories he had just eaten that night…

He juggled the bag Ryeowook had given him, while pulling out his spare key from his back pocket. 

   When he entered, he saw that Hae was sitting on the couch, watching some kpop program.

  “Hey Hae! Wook gave us lots of leftovers, so ill put them in the fridge.”

  “You better have saved me some butter cookies” he heard as he was putting away the food in the fridge.

  He walked over to where his boyfriend was sitting, clearly entranced with the program and placed the little bag of cookies on his head, “I did.”

  He was so tired at this point, he went to Hae’s closet and grabbed a pair of his sweats and a t-shirt and changed. Then he walked back out to the living room and decided Hae’s lap looked like the perfect pillow.

   “So how was the dinner?” Hae asked while playing with his hair.

   “It was good, Im glad they finally got together,” he said yawning.

   “Speaking of them getting together, something occurred to me.”

   “Hmmm…?” his eyes were closing at this point as he scrunched his face cutely.

  “Ryeowook told me that this was a thank you dinner because you suggested he go to Oishi. When did you tell him to go?” he was too tired to hear the hidden agenda in Donghae’s voice.

  “He texted me last Sunday night where he should go to eat.” He murmured.

  “And didn’t Kyuhyun text you as well that night?” Donghae prodded.

  “Yeah…he wanted to double check if I still couldn’t make it to Oishi that night" he said, already feeling dream land approaching him. 

DPOV

   He was pretty amused at this point. The best time to question his boyfriend was when he was half asleep- he always answered truthfully when he was dead tired. He had wondered why his boyfriend wasn’t more surprised at the news when he texted him earlier spilling the beans. It was all starting to make sense now.

   “So you still want to deny that you didn’t have anything to do with them getting together?” he questioned.

   “Are you mad at me?” his sleepy boyfriend asked.

   “No, of course not baby, Im just surprised. The last time I suggested that you should introduce the two of them you said that you didn’t really think they would hit it off, didn’t you?”

  He heard the other sigh, “I lied, they are a match made in heaven…I guess I was just hoping that if they did get together it would be by fate introducing the two…”

  “So what happened to waiting for fate to happen?” the other asked amused. 

  “I got impatient and it seemed like fate wanted me to give it a helping nudge, so I did. And if you think about it, I didn’t do much... I just told Ryeowook where to go that night. Fate pretty much did everything else. I mean come on, what are the odds that they get stuck in a freak storm in probably one of the coziest restaurants out there…if that’s not fate then I don’t know what is.”

  “You really are a hopeless romantic aren’t you?” he cooed.

  Hyuk opened his eyes, “I suppose I am.”

  Donghae bent down to kiss his boyfriend, “You think they’ll ever catch on to what you did?”

  “You know, they’re pretty much genius in every regard, but Im pretty sure they both view me as an idiot, so let’s leave it like that, it’s more fun that way.”

  “You’re right, it’s more fun this way,” he said trailing his hands over his boyfriend.

  “Im starting to think we’re talking about two different things.”

  Hae smiled, “Maybe we are. Thanks for saving me some butter cookies by the way.”

  “I ate way too much tonight, so it’s only fair.”

  “Shall we work off those calories?” he purred suggestively.

  “You realize Im dead tired here!” the other cried out.

  “Ill do all the work tonight” he said while carrying the other into the bedroom.

Hyukjae sighed, "Just because you're doing all the work, doesn't make me feel any better...my poor is going to be so sore in the morning"

Donghae just gave a chuckle and kissed him, effectively cutting off his complaints. 

RPOV

   Kyuhyun had stuck around to help him with dishes, which at first he refused because he knew that Kyuhyun was probably dead tired by now. But Kyuhyun had insisted, arguing that it would go faster with two people and that it was the least he could do after Ryeowook did all the cooking.

  He kept sneaking glances at Kyuhyun as he washed the dishes. Who knew doing dishes could look so y?

  “Enjoying the view?” Kyuhyun asked.

  He quickly focused on drying the dish in his hands and heard the other chuckle. Well, at least Kyuhyun kept his promise, he had given his cheeks an hour to be pink free, but since more than an hour had passed, he guessed that his cheeks would now be getting their work out. He smiled, he actually loved that his body reacted so honestly to Kyuhyun, there was something very comforting in knowing that even if he couldn’t express in words what he wanted, his body could show it for him.

   “I suppose my cheeks gave me away…” Ryeowook mused.

   Kyuhyun grinned, “Im glad your cheeks are so honest.”

Suddenly he watched as Kyuhyun’s smile morphed into a pout, “I can’t believe Sungmin!”

    “You’re seriously still upset about that?” he laughed. “Im sure he was just teasing you Kyu.”

    Kyuhyun looked at him, doubt written all over his face.

   “Someone is easily jealous” he said with a small giggle. 

   Kyuhyun looked back at the dish he was washing, “Unfortunately I can’t deny that…I can’t help it, I get so nervous that you’ll disappear, or that you’ll find someone you like better…I go into panic mode just thinking about the possibility.”

   As odd and perhaps deranged as it was, there was something strangely satisfying in hearing those words. He already had gone through two mental breakdowns tonight because he felt insecure that Kyuhyun didn’t like him as much as he liked him. And of course there was always the worry that Kyuhyun would tire of him…

   He was starting to think he was the only one with concerns, so he felt happy knowing that Kyuhyun had his own set of worries and now it was his turn to try to lay Kyuhyun’s concerns to rest. He set his dishtowel and dish down on the counter and walked over to Kyuhyun. He hugged him from the side, nuzzling his head into his shoulder, “you know I have no intention of walking away from you either and I don’t want anyone but you. So have some faith in me.”

  “And I don’t plan on going anywhere…except..”

  “Except?!!” Kyuhyun panicked.

  “Except of course if you decide to go somewhere, then ill follow.”

KPOV

   He set down the wine glass he was rinsing and turned towards Ryeowook.

   “Do you mean that?” he demanded.

   “Of course, Im at a point in life where I won’t just be happy with only my career. And since you bring me happiness, Id be a fool to let you go wouldn’t I?” Ryeowook said happily.

   “Since when did you become the one who knows what to say?” he said while pulling him closer.

   Ryeowook smiled, “What can I say, I learn from the best.”

   And suddenly the willpower to behave vanished and he just had to kiss him. Ryeowook seemed to have the same idea because he had pulled his shirt collar to bring Kyuhyun’s lips down to his. He grinned, he liked it when his boyfriend got impatient- it turned him on. Ryeowook’s lips instantly welcomed Kyuhyun’s. He could feel his petite boyfriend was starting to lose strength, so he quickly lifted him onto the counter again so he could continue to melt his lover with kisses. Each , each nip, each flick of the tongue earned him incoherent moans that instantly had him craving for more.

   When they finally broke apart, both of them had pink cheeks and disheveled hair. 

   “I guess it’s a draw this round isn’t it?” Ryeowook panted.

   “A draw on what?” Kyuhyun asked puzzled.

   “Our cheeks,” his petite lover replied.  

   He laughed and kissed his forehead, “well, we still have plenty of time to duke out more of these “battles”.”

   And once again Ryeowook gave him one of those smiles that would probably melt an igloo, “Im looking forward to them.”

  Kyuhyun smirked, “Well Im ready for round two.”

And thus it began again…

Author’s Note: Oh My God!! I can’t believe I finished this story!! I have so many things I want to say! Thank you for sticking with this story! I received so much support and that really gave me the encouragement to keep writing! Also…it was because I received support that this sequel was born, so I thank everyone who asked for this sequel because it was a lot of fun to develop this story! And finally, Id like to say Happy KyuWook Day!! :D 9^th Anniversary…time is flying by so fast…too fast.