KPOV

     Before getting into his car he texted Ryeowook that he was leaving work and that he would probably get to the restaurant close to 5:00pm. For once he was nervous about seeing Ryeowook, after all he hadn’t a clue as to when someone was supposed to confess their love, was a week to soon? Should he wait until they had been dating a month? Or should he wait longer? Kyuhyun sighed…this drive was going to be a long one…

RPOV

     Ryeowook was feeling good, he had just about all the preparation work done for all the dishes he was making and felt confident that the timing should be perfect. He heard a buzz coming from the counter top and saw he had received a text from Kyuhyun

From: KyuKyu

Im leaving the office now, so I should be there ~5:00pm, can’t wait to see you! <3

     Ryeowook smiled, if Kyuhyun got to Joie at around 5, then they would have an hour together before the others arrived and nothing sounded better than having Kyu all to himself before Eunhyuk, Sungmin and his family showed up.

     Ryeowook knew he was in love with Kyuhyun, he wasn’t going to deny it, nor did he want to. He didn’t care if most people thought it was too early, he knew his emotions and he knew for certain that he had fallen in love. He wasn’t quite sure when he had fallen, but he recognized that he was in love when he became aware of a couple of signs.

     The first was that he was excited to share his news with Kyuhyun. And in some regards this may seem like a trivial detail, but it certainly wasn’t for Ryeowook. Sharing news had a deeper meaning to him. It meant that he wanted to share his triumphs with Kyuhyun and he wanted to share in Kyuhyun’s triumphs too. And not only the triumphs but also the sad or frustrating parts of their day or their lives.

  The other point that told him he was in love was the fact that he just loved spending time with Kyu, even just texting with Kyu or chatting with him for hours in the evening seemed to brighten the smaller's mood.

   And then there was that wierd euphoric feeling that he felt when he watched Kyuhyun eat his food. As odd as it may sound, this was something rather critical. The level of eagerness and happiness he felt when he saw Kyuhyun try his food for the first time was something so unexplainable. He had never felt that sort of joy before and he didn’t want it to disappear either.

   But like Kyuhyun, Ryeowook was scared. He didn’t want to say anything yet because he didn’t know if Kyuhyun felt the same yet and he couldn’t bear the idea of ruining their relationship because he said the three magic words too early. He was already tearing up at the thought of them breaking up and quickly pushed the upsetting idea to the back of his head and got to work on setting the table for the guests that would arrive later.

KPOV

     Kyuhyun let out a sigh as he was about 15 minutes still away, but he was now sitting in traffic. His mind went back to when they last saw each other. It was last Monday evening- the day after he had just met Ryeowook and he was on his way to Joie just like was now.

Flashback

     Kyuhyun parked his car in the small parking lot that was near the restaurant. He was already impressed. The restaurant was on top of a steep hill so the view must be pretty spectacular.

     He was a bit nervous because he didn’t really know what to expect. Ryeowook had texted him to come to dinner at Joie at 7:00pm, but he had no clue if Ryeowook just invited him to eat or if he was going to eat with him…after all Joie was open until 9:30pm and Ryeowook was the head chef, so he wasn’t quite sure how this was going to work out. But more than anything, all he really wanted was to see Ryeowook again. Before leaving the car, he checked himself in the mirror. His hair looked good, he had parted it to the side before he came, and he wore a dark blue dress shirt with black slacks. He knew Joie wasn’t a super fancy restaurant but it had a classy casual feel to it, so he didn’t want to under dress either.

     His eyes widened when he entered Joie, the place was gorgeous. The interior was humbly sized and the décor was breath taking, not because it was exorbitant or lavish, but because it had this intimate, romantic feel to it. The lighting wasn’t dim, but it wasn’t too bright either. The source of light came from different sized round lanterns hanging from the ceiling with fairy lights weaved among them. Tucked nicely in the corner of the restaurant was a beautiful mahogany grand piano. But strangely it didn’t take away from the rest of the setting, in fact it almost blended away in it’s corner.

     Each table was beautiful, and Kyuhyun liked that the square tables weren’t completely covered by huge white table cloths. Instead they had rectangle table cloths that were much thinner than the widths of the tables. The rectangular cloth was centered in the middle of each table and that way the deep chocolate wood was still visible to the eye. After all, it would be a pity to hide the tables. They were clearly made from an expensive wood and the deep mahogany color gave the whole restaurant an earthy vibe. The tables were also clearly well thought out. They weren’t over crowded with lots of décor. They simply held two small bread plates, the napkins which were folded intricately, two wine glasses, the silverware and finally a small purple iris in a small round glass vase stood at the center of the table. All of the details made the restaurant welcoming and comforting, but help maintain a degree of sophistication. Kyuhyun was impressed.

     Once he finished taking in the décor of the place, that’s when it finally hit him…no one was there…in fact the whole place was empty. But this made no sense… wasn’t it supposed to be the most crowded at this time? And that’s when Ryeowook came out from the kitchen.

RPOV

    Ryeowook looked at his watch it was 6:30pm and Kyuhyun would be at Joie within a half an hour, so he decided he should go unlock the restaurant. Normally at this time of hour, Joie would be packed and there would be couples everywhere enjoying the earthy romantic ambiance of the restaurant, but tonight it was completely empty.

   Before leaving the kitchen he quickly pulled out his phone so he could style his hair once more, moving his bangs to just the right place. He then checked his appearance. He had kept it simple with a white-buttoned long sleeve shirt, a chunky cable knit cardigan and a pair of dark rinse jeans. Satisfied with his look, he unlocked the door-it would just be Kyuhyun and him. They had the whole night to get to know more about one another and reconnect just as they had the previous night. He looked back and admired the setting, glad that Joie was closed today.

     The timing could not have been more perfect, currently Joie had been closed for several days due to a few kitchen renovations, but in a day Joie would be back in full swing and the restaurant would be filled like it was normally, but for now Ryeowook took advantage of the timing and had the idea of inviting Kyuhyun for dinner. He was excited for Kyuhyun to try his food. He felt like it would help Kyuhyun understand him better because while he tried his best to communicate his emotions to others, sometimes words were not enough and cooking a home cooked meal was his way to express what could not be said. After unlocking the door, he quickly headed back to the kitchen to make sure everything was well prepared. He heard someone entering the door and quickly turned off the oven pulling the the potato gratin and rack of lamb out so it could rest for a little bit before he cut into it. He left the kitchen to see Kyuhyun admiring the restaurant.

     Ryeowook didn’t quite know what he was doing, all he knew was that as soon as he saw Kyuhyun standing in there, his legs just started moving on their own and he was instantly in Kyuhyun’s arms.