A few months after Kyuhyun’s drama-filled appointment, Mr. Kim was in his barber shop, hastily finishing up a haircut on a fine Wednesday night. There were several customers in the waiting area, unusual for so late on a weekday, causing the barber to perspire as he feverishly snipped away at his customers’ hair. Ryeowook was locked in his own personal battle, seated at his desk in his usual corner of the shop, tenaciously cramming for an early semester math test. 

A gust of warm wind ruffled the boy’s papers as the door opened, accompanied by the earthy smell of early fall leaves and the distant chirping of a few lingering summer crickets. A figure entered the shop and strode towards the barber, the sound of their shoes clicking against the wooden flooring. A quiet, barely discernable cough escaped the person’s mouth, querying the barber for his attention. 

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait your turn. I’m unexpectedly swamped today,” the man replied distractedly, not even bothering to look at the newcomer as he finished up with a customer and called up the next. “Ryeowook-ah, please help Mr. Choi at the counter! And sweep up as well!” 

Ryeowook stood up instantly, yanked out of a math-induced stupor by his father’s voice, the pencil he had previously been twisting in his fingers clattering to the floor. 

“Coming!” 

The boy headed towards the cash counter in a daze, fractions and mathematical terms spinning around his head. But when he passed the newcomer, he stumbled and jerked to a stop, surprised. 

“Mrs. Cho, what are you doing here?” 

The woman shook her head, smiling politely. 

“I’ll talk to you and your father later, Ryeowook-ah. For now, you should help your customer over there and then sweep up, right?” She said, pointing to the cash counter. 

Ryeowook nodded tentatively then continued on with his tasks, preoccupied. Once he finished up, he trod over to the waiting area and took a seat beside Mrs. Cho, staring at his feet as he swung them back and forth, nervous. 

“So, Mrs. Cho,” he started timidly, “How is Kyuhyun? He didn’t call me for a long time now! I tried calling him so many times but no-one picked up. Is he angry at me? Is Mr. Cho okay now? When is he coming for his next haircut? Is Kyuhyunnie still singing? Will-” 

“Whoa, hold on there Ryeowookie,” interrupted Mrs. Cho, trying to stem the flow of questions. “Kyuhyunnie is okay. He isn’t even close to being angry at you – what made you think that? In fact, he’s quite unhappy that he hasn’t been able to communicate with you. My husband has blocked and deleted your phone number and Kyuhyunnie forgot to write it down before then, so he hasn’t been able to call you to tell you he’s okay. And because your number has been blocked, we can’t tell when you call us either.” She sighed. “That man is very traditional in his ways, it’s irritating. Does he think he can stop his son from meeting his good friend for long?” She shook her head, disapproving. “In regards to whether Kyuhyun will be coming here for a haircut, I’m not sure. Kyuhyun definitely wants to return but my husband has someone watching him practically around-the-clock. And in addition to that, when Kyuhyunnie is at home, my husband only lets him do things from an approved list – which is typically limited to homework, cleaning or watching educational TV shows - while under his or his nanny’s watch.” She huffed, “I keep telling him that that’s no way to raise a child, much less one that’s a teenager, but he doesn’t listen! I doubt my son’s going to tolerate it for much longer.” 

“But Mrs. Cho, did he stop singing? Did Mr. Cho make him stop? Did he cancel the vocal instructor and make him stop singing at church?”

She waved the issue away. 

“As if I’d let my husband do something like that. I love Kyuhyun’s voice more than anything! I told my husband I would give him hell if he even thought about cancelling our son’s vocal instruction or pulling him out of the choir, and if there’s one thing my husband can’t handle, it’s an angry me!” 

Ryeowook smiled and clapped, cheering on the woman. 

“You’re so brave, Mrs. Cho!” 

“Hah, as if my pig-headed husband can hold a candle over me,” she said, bragging. “You may think he’s the brains behind this relationship, but it’s definitely me!” 

“So then you want Kyuhyunnie to become a singer too?” 

Mrs. Cho mulled over the question. 

“Regarding his future, it’s not what I want that matters. Whatever makes Kyuhyunnie happy is what makes me happy!” she announced, a fierce grin painted across her face. “Which reminds me, my son asked me to give this to you. Well, actually, he asked me to give this to your appa to give to you. My son’s always embarrassed when it comes to giving gifts.” She handed Ryeowook a knotted plastic shopping bag. 

The boy quickly unknotted it and glanced inside, seeing a small, thin package wrapped haphazardly in notebook paper and beside it, a letter folded up into quarters with the words OPEN FIRST hastily scrawled across it.

“Actually, I was supposed to come here several weeks ago to apologize for my husband’s brash behavior,” Mrs. Cho commented, “But Kyuhyunnie stopped me and told me he wanted to prepare something to send to you. I didn’t even get to have a look inside when he gave the bag to me. This is so exciting!” she finished, squealing. 

Ryeowook laughed at her enthusiasm, bubbling with anticipation himself. He took the letter out of the bag and slowly unfolded it. It read: 
 

Dear Ryeowookie,

I’m sorry for ruining your birthday. I’m sorry that I didn’t buy you ice cream. I’m sorry for ruining your first haircut. And I’m sorry that my appa hurt you. I hope your head doesn’t hurt. I’ll make it up to you later. 

Don’t worry, my appa didn’t hurt me and I’m okay but I’m grounded, I can’t play games and I’m being watched all the time. He doesn’t want me to talk to you or see you at all! I’m writing this note for you at school because appa will see me if I write it at home. It ! 

You better like my birthday present for you! I worked very hard on it and you should be grateful for being the first person to listen to it ever. When I become famous, there will be lots more so you should feel special. Actually, I want to know how much you liked it so send me an email praising me here: [email protected] You better send it soon! I’ll be waiting. 

From, Cho Kyuhyun

At the bottom of the page were several awkwardly drawn coupons. Five were for ‘1(one) free ice cream’ and the other five were for ‘1(one) free head massage lasting no more than 5 minutes’. They were all listed as courtesy of Cho Kyuhyun Enterprises. At the bottom of each coupon was a section of minute, indiscernable writing. 

Mrs. Cho chortled. 

“That’s quite a letter! What’s with the formality? And why is there a change of tone halfway through? From apologetic to demanding? And those coupons! Is that mess at the bottom supposed to be fine print?” She burst out into frenzied laugher. “Even though he tries really hard to deny it, my son is truly just like his father in some ways.”

Ryeowook was delighted, his smile stretching from ear to ear. He removed the present from the bag and quickly unwrapped it. 

“Oh, it’s a cd!” he chirped, turning it over. 

It was a generic cd case complete with recordable cd. Kyuhyun had scribbled Songs by the soon-to-be famous rock star Cho Kyuhyun across the front of the case. On the inside cover was a messily-written tracklist consisting of several rock songs and one ballad. An arrow pointed to the ballad song with the message: My vocal instructor made me sing this one. 

Ryeowook giggled. He bounced on the spot, feeling giddy, wanting to listen to it right away. 

“Actually, if I’m not mistaken,” Mrs. Cho said, peering at the album over Ryeowook’s shoulder, “My son recorded all these songs with the help of his vocal instructor one day when my husband was overseas on business. He had asked me to keep his nanny distracted so he could sneak out to his instructor’s friend’s recording studio. From what I recall, Hyerin, his instructor wasn’t very happy about his choice of songs, saying something about how bad rock songs are on the vocal cords, but naturally Kyuhyunnie annoyed her until she gave in. I had no idea he was doing it for you!” 

Ryeowook hugged the cd, treasuring it as if it was a precious jewel. 

“I’ll be Kyuhyunnie’s first fan!” he declared. 

Mrs. Cho nodded approvingly. 

“His first groupie!” he added.

Mrs. Cho choked, spluttering. 

“What? Where did you hear that term Ryeowook-ah?” 

“On TV! It means to be a super dedicated rock fan, right?” 

She tittered, shaking her head. 

“Oh, so that’s what you thought it meant! Well, Ryeowookie,” she spoke gently. “How about you stick with the term ‘dedicated fan’ or ‘number one fan’ instead? It sounds so much better that way!”

Ryeowook considered the statement for a moment then nodded. 

“Good, good!” She clapped her hands. “Hm, I wonder if your appa is done yet. If I’m gone too long, my husband might get suspicious.” She craned her neck to check on the barber. 

“Why?” 

“Because according to what my husband believes, right now I’m like a ninja inside enemy territory.” She put a finger to , making a shushing gesture. “So you have to keep my visit here a secret from him, okay? Otherwise Kyuhyun will be in trouble.” 

“Okay!” said the boy, still hugging his new cd close. 

“By the way, Ryeowookie, is your appa okay?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she watched the barber hard at work. 

“Hm?”

“Well, it seems like he’s had quite a number of customers today. Doesn’t his wrist hurt? He has carpal tunnel syndrome, right?”

Ryeowook nodded. 

“Appa gets injections every week now. They help him a lot with the pain so that he can move better. And I help out too! I can do haircuts for all the regulars myself now. Appa doesn’t even have to watch me!” He grinned, proud of himself. “Because of that, appa is okay most of the time. But I think he’ll need an ice pack today.” He glanced at his father, who was anxiously snipping away at a new customer’s hair. 

“Oh, that’s great Ryeowookie! But why aren’t you helping him tonight? He looks like he could use some help,” Mrs. Cho said, concerned. 

Ryeowook chuckled nervously.

“I have a math test tomorrow. If I fail, I’ll have to do after-school math classes and miss music club. My teacher is so mean.” He bit his lip, terrified. 

“Oh, no! Well, you should get back to studying then shouldn’t you? Fighting!” she said, shooing him off. 

“But- But, I want to…” Ryeowook looked down at his cd, troubled. 

“I’m sure Kyuhyun wouldn’t be happy if you failed your test and missed music club because of him, right?”

Ryeowook shook his head, but still seemed torn between his desire to listen to the cd and study for his test. 

“Give me the cd, Ryeowookie,” Mrs. Cho said kindly, holding out her hand. “I’ll watch it for you until your appa is done with all his customers, all right? You should focus on studying right now. I’ll give it back to you before I leave.” 

Ryeowook looked between the cd and Mrs. Cho, uncertain, but a strict look from the woman made him relinquish it to her for safekeeping. 

“Keep it safe for me, okay?” he mumbled, then padded off, sending the cd in her hand worried glances every few paces. 

While Ryeowook was gone, Mrs. Cho took out her cellphone and sent an SMS to her son: 

Mission complete! He loved it! And your letter was so cute Kyuhyunnie! Why don’t you give your mother coupons for hugs and kisses? Such a picky boy.

She then sat back comfortably in her seat, turning the cd over and over in her hands, inspecting every inch, wishing she could listen to it as she reminisced about the time in her childhood when she and her friends wanted to form a band of their own. 

About an hour later, she heard the heavy footfalls of the exhausted barber as he approached the now empty waiting area. She stood up and promptly dropped onto her knees and then into a formal bow, her forehead touching the floor. 

“I apologize for the disturbance that my husband caused and for what he did to your son. It was inexcusable and rude.” She extricated a small package from her bag and offered it to the man, still bowing. 

The barber smiled gently, unmoving. 

“Mrs. Cho, you don’t need to apologize for the mistakes of your husband. You had nothing to do with it and I know you and your son are very kind. Ryeowook and I have already put the event behind us. To be honest, I have to apologize as well for not sending your husband on his way without Kyuhyun. I kept thinking ‘what if something happened to him and I could’ve stopped it?’” 

“Oh don’t worry about that,” she said, waving away the barber’s worries as she rose from the bow and sat formally, still on her knees. “My husband is loud and brusque but he wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt Kyuhyun. As I said before, he treasures the boy as much as he treasures himself. I was honestly surprised when my son told me what he did to Ryeowook - he’s never touched Kyuhyun at home, ever. I had an idea that something was bothering him about the barber shop - the things he would grumble about at home! I knew that he didn’t like Kyuhyunnie singing so I had assumed the base issue that was worrying my husband was specific to Kyuhyun’s choice of future and your family’s ‘follow your dreams’ mantra, but to hear that he directed all his anger at Ryeowookie! The second I found out I yelled at him for ages about his misplaced anger and his denial and- argh! I told him to come back here and apologize but he resisted. I even ignored him for weeks, but that man. is. so. stubborn,” she growled, passionately frustrated. “I don’t know what to do with him!” 

She took several deep breaths, calming herself as she stood up. 

“Regardless, I apologize on his behalf. I know that’s probably not enough, but it’s all I can do at this point.” She bowed once again, this time at a ninety-degree angle. 

“Mrs. Cho, please don’t feel like what happened was your fault in any way,” Mr. Kim said firmly. “What your husband did is inexcusable and I will not permit him to enter my barber shop unless he’s here to give my son a heartfelt apology. I trust you and your son, Mrs. Cho, but the bridges between my family and your husband were burned the second he touched my son. Please put yourself in my shoes and know that my hands are tied in this matter.”

Mrs. Cho managed a weak smile, dispirited. 

“I understand. If someone had done something similar to Kyuhyunnie, I would be much, much more unreasonable.”

The barber nodded, relieved that the woman was aware of the predicament he was in. 

“Regardless of all that has happened, I’m happy that our sons are still friends. Don’t you agree Ryeowookie?” She asked the curious boy who had wandered into the conversastion, unable to maintain his concentration on his math notes any longer. 

“Mm-hmm, but…” He stopped. 

Mrs. Cho cocked her head.

“What is it, Ryeowookie?”

The boy hesitated, then continued on, afraid of what the answer would be. 

“Will I- Will I ever see Kyuhyunnie again?” 

Mrs. Cho gave him a sad smile. 

“Unfortunately, it’ll be impossible for Kyuhyunnie to come see you personally, Ryeowook-ah. And my husband will likely never allow you to see Kyuhyun either.” 

“Oh,” replied Ryeowook, forlorn. 

“Buuut I’m sure if you sent him an e-mail at the address he included in his letter, he’ll be very glad to communicate with you over the internet. You know Kyuhyunnie, he has his own ways of getting things done - even when he’s banned from using a computer and being watched twenty fours hours a day, seven days a week.” She winked. “And come to think of it, he could probably help you out with your math dilemma as well!” she added as an after-thought, returning the cd she had been guarding. 

The boy perked up as he accepted the cd from the woman. He turned to his father, grinning and bouncing on the spot. 

“Appa! Kyuhyunnie gave me a music cd! Can I listen to it on your computer? And can I use your noise-cancelling headphones? And send Kyuhyunnie an e-mail?”

“What about your test, Ryeowook-ah?” The man asked warily. 

“It’s dinner time now, appa, I’ll go back to studying after we eat, okay? Now can I use your stuff?” He stared at his father, his eyes shining with anticipation, still bouncing. 

Mr. Kim chuckled, unable to fight his adorably eager son.

“Sure, I think I left the headphones in the cabinet. But-” he called out to Ryeowook, who had already started sliding away, “...make sure you get back to studying for your math test after!” 

“Okay! Mrs. Cho, I’m going to listen to Kyuhyun’s cd now! Thanks for coming! Bye!” He waved and made his way to the stairs. 

“Oh, wait, Ryeowook-ah, there’s one more thing that I’d like to mention before you go,” Mrs. Cho said, quickly following after him. 

The boy stopped just short of the stairs and turned around, his eyebrows quirked, curious. 

“I don’t know when Kyuhyun will come in next for a haircut but I can guarantee that when he does come, you should be prepared for a very super intense cleanup haircut. Knowing Kyuhyun, he won’t allow anyone else to touch his hair. He’s a very sensitive boy and doesn’t like change. I wouldn’t be surprised if his hair is all the way down to his shoulders by the time you see him next! You won’t be able to see his eyes, like a bearded collie!” 
She laughed raucously at her own joke. 

Ryeowook smiled. 

“I’ll be ready for him next time Mrs. Cho! I’ll come up with a nice rock star haircut and cut his hair myself!” He gave her a cheesy thumbs up, then bounded up the stairs, still holding the cd close. 

She chuckled and turned to Mr. Kim. 

“Your son is very charming,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “I can see why Kyuhyunnie likes him, even though at first glance, they seem like they have opposite personalities. It’s too bad he gave up his lifelong dream of becoming a singer. I still remember when he sang for us. He was like a nightingale with his melancholic, clear voice. For a voice like that to be lost is so unfortunate.” 

“Don’t worry Mrs. Cho,” Mr. Kim soothed. “Even though Ryeowook won’t become a professional singer, I don’t think he has any intention of not singing casually. He’s still active as ever in his music clubs and he spends most of his time here and at home singing.” 

“Ah, yes! I remember how he sings when he cuts hair. What a cute boy. Maybe I’ll come here for my next haircut,” she said, glancing at her watch. “Oh no, it’s gotten pretty late! I have to go!” She gathered up her things. 

“Well, I welcome you to drop by whenever you’re available. And bring Kyuhyun if you can,” said Mr. Kim, yawning as he stretched his arms above him. 

Mrs. Cho nodded, hastily shrugging on her jacket. She dashed over to the door, resting a hand on the handle. 

“I apologize for leaving so abruptly. I left the package that you didn’t want in the waiting area. It’s for you and your family, after all. It was nice visiting again after a long while. I hope your wife is doing well! Take care, bye!” She pushed the door open and hurried outside. 

Mr. Kim yawned once again and trudged over to the front of the store, turning over the sign. He then slowly plodded over to the waiting area, kicking off his shoes and throwing himself onto the couch. He unwrapped the package, revealing a very expensive brand of flavoured chocolate truffles.

“Well, there goes my dinner. I deserve it; what an exhausting day!” he said wearily as he popped a few of the delicacies into his mouth and loaded his farming game on his phone, too tired to deal with the throbbing pain in his wrist.