Chapter 9 – Ready?

            Kyuhyun splashed a hand full of water on his face to wake himself up.  He groaned when the water splashed onto his shirt but was too lazy to go and clean it up.  Anyways, it was too late to change and he was on break today so why not?  He dried his face on the towel and walked out to the seemingly empty dorm.  “Anybody home,” he asked lazily, walking towards the kitchen. 

            Once he stepped in, he spotted a note on the fridge.

We didn’t want to bother you so we let you sleep.  We’re out on our individual schedules right now!  Ryewook made some food!  Eat it!  Then rest more!  We have a group event tomorrow!

Love,

Yesung

(And Ryeowook…)

            He smiled at the note before opening the fridge to check out what his hyung had cooked up for him.  He smiled even wider when he realized that it was a nice big plate of pork chops, his favorite.  The man grabbed the plate and quickly settled himself on the kitchen table with a plate of rice and kimchi.  He dug in and his mind went off to who knows what.

            The maknae was so indulged in his breakfast/lunch/dinner that he didn’t hear the door creak open near the back of the dorms.  Near silent footsteps padded themselves down the hallway as her nose led her down to the kitchen.  Her hair stuck up in multiple places and her pink Minnie mouse pajamas were crumpled to the point of no return.  She walked into the kitchen and spotted her oppa, eating away at his meal.  The man didn’t notice the little girl until she had reached for his pajama pants and tugged on it.

            He looked down in surprise and put down his utensils before picking her up.  She gently rubbed her eyes and opened , asking him to feed her.  He couldn’t help but chuckle at her gestures as he set her down onto his lap.  “Are we going to do this again sweetheart,” he asked, using his free hand to scoop up some rice. 

            She nodded and quickly accepted the spoon of rice into .  “Taste good,” she muttered in between chewing.

            Kyuhyun continued to smile as he alternated feeding her and himself.  By the end of it, both were completely full.  He got a cup of nice hot tea for himself and a cup of milk for the girl before dragging her to the living room.  Of course, he had cleaned up beforehand.  If he didn’t, who knows what Ryeowook would have done?  “Can we watch Mulan,” Sa-Hyun asked, more awake after her meal with Kyuhyun.

            “Exactly what I was thinking,” he said, giving her a wink before setting her down in the sofa.  He put on the DVD and then settled himself next to the little girl, each with their own respective drinks. 

            It wasn’t long until the two were cuddling next to each other, fast asleep.  Again.  And that was how Sungmin found them, after realizing that his daughter had, yet again, walked off in the middle of their nap.  He couldn’t help but smile at the two before making his way to the couch.  He attempted to reach for his daughter, but she quickly clung tighter onto Kyuhyun’s arms.  He sighed before turning to the other, wondering if he should wake him up.  He didn’t dare disturb him, he’s already done enough of that. 

            But standing there, staring at his old lover, physically hurt him.  He clutched his chest as he watched the other’s hair slowly fall into his eyes, going along with gravity.  Then he couldn’t stand it anymore.  His hand slowly reached over and the moment her touched the other’s hair, it seemed as if time had stopped.  Sungmin brushed the hair out of the other’s eyes and he couldn’t help but smile to himself.  “God I miss you,” he whispered to himself.

            Suddenly, a hand tightened around his wrist and his eyes widened in fear, thinking that the other had woken up.  He closed his eyes for a moment before looking up.  He sighed in relief when he noticed that the maknae still had his eyes closed.  But—

            “D-Don’t leave me,” Kyuhyun said, barely above a whisper.  “Don’t leave me.”  With that, the hand around Sungmin’s wrist tightened even more and he could do nothing else but collapse onto the carpeted floor onto his knees.  His already broken heart seemed to break anymore and the physical pain in his chest enflamed.

            “How do you always manage to do this to me,” Sungmin whispered, feeling his tears slowly drip down his cheeks.  “I can never stay strong in front of you.  Ever.  No matter how much I pretend.”

            As much as Sungmin would love to admit everything to the man in front of him, he couldn’t.  He couldn’t bear to tell the other that everything was a lie.  That all they went through only lead him to this.  That his heart ache was all for nothing.  It doesn’t make sense, but all that matters is that it makes sense to him.  The only thing is, can I bear to watch him fall in love with someone else?  Sungmin shook his head.  It’ll be a while before that happens and I doubt that I’ll be there to watch it.  He took a deep breath and wiped his tears with his free hand before settling his head on top of Kyuhyun’s blanketed feet and closing his eyes yet again, too tired to deal with anything. 

            And there they lay, sleeping.  Attempting to hide themselves from the real world, even if it’s just for a moment.

^^^^^^^^^^

            “Sungmin, it’s time that you wake up,” Leeteuk said, gently shaking the younger from his slumber.

            Sungmin batted his hands away and Leeteuk laughed as he walked away, knowing that he had done the job of waking him up.  The man took a deep breath and sat up from his position, rubbing his eyes at the same time.  He yawned and stretched from side to side, not bothering to completely open his eyes just yet.  “Sa-Hyun,” he whispered between his yawns.  He reached out and started to feel around for his daughter but stopped and smiled when he was able to reach a warm pair of hands.  “There you are sweetheart.”  He took the hands and gently rubbed them against his cheeks.

            The hand suddenly went stiff, causing Sungmin to frown and look up, his eyes wide open.  In his shock, his eyes met Kyuhyun’s intense glare and he was completely frozen.  He didn’t dare move.  Not one bit.  The maknae’s hand was still against his cheek, but he couldn’t concentrate enough to actually move it away from his face.  What do I do?  What do I do?  What do I do?

            In what felt like forever, but only happened to be thirty seconds, Kyuhyun jerked his hand away.  “Would you mind getting off of me,” he asked stiffly, trying to build a barrier around himself.

            Sungmin could only nod as he scooted to the side.  Kyuhyun stood up and walked directly to his room, attempting to control himself.  The older didn’t know that he was holding his breath until he could feel himself heave in a breath of relief.  He looked at the spot that the younger had laid and smiled bitterly at the thought that they had spent the night together.  His daughter suddenly slumped onto the couch and his train of thought quickly changed.  He reached over and gently brushed the young girl’s hair out of her face.  “Sweetheart, it’s time to wake up,” he whispered again, glad to be saying it to the right person now.

            Sa-Hyun’s eyes slowly blinked open and Sungmin couldn’t help but smile at the view in front of him.

^^^^^^^^^^

            “Kyuhyun, your phone is ringing!  Hurry up and answer it!  We have to go soon,” Yesung yelled from outside the hallway.

            Kyuhyun sighed as he hurriedly dried his hair.  “Can you answer it for me?  I swear I’m almost done,” he yelled back.

            “You owe me,” the older yelled back before putting the phone on speaker.  “Hello?”

            “Hello?  Hyung?  It’s Nathan Park.”

            “I’m sorry, this is Yesung.  Kyuhyun’s getting ready right now, but can I take a message?”

            “Oh…uhh…you see, I had asked Kyuhyun hyung to come and have dinner with me sometime this week and I was just wondering if he was free this Friday night?”

            Ryeowook looked over at the phone in his boyfriend’s hands and silently squealed, dragging Eunhyuk and Donghae out of their respective dorms to listen into the conversation.  They surrounded Yesung, who glared the others, attempting to keep them out of it.  “I’ll double check with him, but he should be free for dinner on Friday.  Where were you planning on having it?”

            There was a moment of silence.  They couldn’t see it, but Nathan was doing his silent victory dance on the other end.  He couldn’t believe that he might actually have a chance.  “I was planning on taking Kyuhyun-hyung out to the new restaurant down in Gwanghwamun.  I heard that there was going to be a festival down there and I figured he might want to go out and see it with me after dinner,” he said, trying to get everything out in one go.  If he had stopped, he knew he would have forgotten all of the Korean he had learned just for this moment.

            The rest of the members, except for Kyuhyun, who was still stuck in the bathroom, had now surrounded Yesung, trying to keep their excitement within.  They couldn’t believe that their maknae was getting asked out on a date.  Plus, it was with Nathan Park.  They knew that he was a nice guy and a great ballad singer.  The fact that he was really good looking was a bonus.  Suddenly, Donghae couldn’t take it anymore.  “It’s a yes!  Of course he’ll go,” he said out loud, earning a glare from Yesung.

            “Really?”

            “Yes,” the group members said, except for Yesung, who continued to glare.

            “Wait, hold on,” Yesung said, shushing the other members.  “Sorry Nathan-shi, everybody’s getting ahead of themselves.  I’ll ask Kyuhyun to call you back later, but I’m pretty sure that he’ll say yes.”

            “Thank you so much hyung,” Nathan said.  “I better go now!  Have a good day!”

            “Thanks, you too,” he said before hanging up the phone.  As soon as he did, a refreshed Kyuhyun rushed out of the bathroom only to face 18 pairs of eyes on him.

            “What,” he asked, wide eyed and confused.

            The members had to resist an aww and cuddle him.  “Nathan Park called,” Yesung said, handing the younger his phone.

            Kyuhyun thought for a second before smiling.  “Oh, him,” he said, sticking his phone into his pocket.  “What did he want?”

            “He asked you out on a date,” Ryeowook gushed, clinging tightly onto Yesung’s arms.

            “Oh no, it’s not a date,” the younger insisted, waving his hands around, completely flustered.  “He just wants to hang out and ask me for advice.”

            “Sure he does,” Eunhyuk teased, giving him a wink.

            Behind them, another door opened and closed, and the man slowly approached the group, wondering what the conversation is about.  “He wants to take you out on Friday night if you’re free,” Yesung explained, trying to not embarrass the younger.

            “So, what do you say about the little date Kyu,” Donghae asked.

            A pink blush slowly started to appear on Kyuhyun’s face and he turned away from the group, only to meet the eyes of the man who had just stepped out of his dorm room.  Sungmin.  His breath hitched and his mouth seemed to move without a second thought.  “Yes,” he muttered, his eyes looking straight into his ex-lover’s.  “Yes, I’m going with him on Friday.”  Kyuhyun broke eye contact and looked back at the group, who started to pat him on the back, listening to little cheers.

            The other stood frozen, not sure whether to move forward and let his presence known or to stay in the background.  But there is one thing he did know for sure.  He felt as if someone took his heart, tossed it onto the floor, and stomped on it a million times.

            He isn’t ready.

^^^^^^^^^^

A/N:  So, I was supposed to update two days ago…but bad news…I got rejected.  Oh well, I guess life goes on…

I’m so sorry for taking so long, but I hope you guys enjoy it!  Please leave a comment?