fic: Turbulence (SuJu- Ryeowook/Kyuhyun friendship)
Title: Turbulence
Length: One-Shot
Author: M_K Yujji
Rating: PG
Genre: friendship, angst
Pairing/Characters: Ryeowook and Kyuhyun friendship, YeWook, QMi
Warnings: RPS
Disclaimer: Though real people are used as characters, this fic bears no resemblance to their actual Real Lives and these people are not owned by me.
Comments/Notes: I wrote this ages ago, it seems but I never intended to post it to the general public. It's original purpose came and went and I put it away and forgot about it until I started going through my list of unposted fic bits and stumbled across it again.
Also, if anyone actually reads my author's notes, please check out This Post and drop me a suggestion/prompt, okay? I'm still about 15 days worth of prompts short!
Summary: If the path of true friendship were easy, everyone would be friends.
~*~*~
Ryeowook wasn’t exactly sure when it started.
He was even less sure why it started.
One day Kyuhyun just seemed to forget that he and their friendship existed.
He stopped invading Ryeowook’s room for peace and quiet - and calm companionship - while he played his games.
He stopped insisting that Ryeowook cook for him.
He stopped acknowledging Ryeowook’s existence at all.
At first, Ryeowook had pouted and maybe stamped his feet a little. In a fit of pique, he decided that if Kyuhyun didn’t want to talk to him then that was okay by him. It wasn’t even like he’d ever been Kyuhyun’s closest friend, after all, or like Kyuhyun was the only friend that he himself had.
Somehow that had turned into a silent cold war between them.
Ryeowook refused to be the one to bend. Always before he’d bent over backwards for friends and family and fans - apologizing when he’d done nothing wrong, changing himself to suit everyone else’s needs, scrambling over himself trying to make everyone else happy. He was, quite simply, tired of it.
If Kyuhyun wanted to look up and remember they were supposed to be friends some day, well… He knew where Ryeowook lived.
That didn’t mean he didn’t have half moon scars forming on his palms from where he clenched his fists so tightly he bled to hold back the urge to txt, im, call, or hell…even take up that ridiculous game just to get Kyuhyun’s attention again.
Every day was a battle with himself and his urge to simply go back to the way things had been before. He wasn’t in the wrong and he knew that, but maybe if he apologized anyways….
Every day he managed to restrain himself.
Somehow at the end of the day as he lay in bed staring up at whatever ceiling was over his head that night, it felt more like losing than winning.
~*~*~
Henry was the first one who tried to talk to him about it.
He plopped down next to Ryeowook where he was sprawled out on one of the couches in their dressing room. When the older man just ignored him, going as far as turning up his ipod and hunching further into the cushions, Henry sighed and reached over to tug out the earbuds.
“Hey! I was listening to that.”
“Yeah, and busting your eardrums from the sound of it. I’m not that easy to ignore.”
Ryeowook just pouted and looked away, turning off the ipod as a concession to Henry’s point.
“Right.” Henry sighed and prodded Ryeowook with one finger. “So what’s your problem, exactly? Why are you giving Kyuhyun the cold shoulder?”
“What?!” Ryeowook sat up abruptdly, staring at his friend in complete disbelief. “Me?! Giving him the cold shoulder?!”
Henry made a show out of rubbing his ears at the octave Ryeowook’s voice hit by the last word, but simply nodded reasonably. “Yes. You’ve been ignoring him for weeks. And now it’s starting to spread over to the rest of us too. Why?”
“He started ignoring me first!”
“You do realize you sound like a five year old, right?” Henry rubbed his temples this time. “It’s Kyuhyun. I doubt he did it on purpose.”
“And that makes it okay? That he can completely ignore someone he’s supposed to be friends with for weeks and not even care??? One of us could die and unless they made an announcement on that stupid game, he probably wouldn’t even notice!”
Taking a shuddering breath, Ryeowook wrapped his arms around himself and reminded himself to breath and not get worked up.
Hadn’t he decided already that it didn’t matter that Kyuhyun obviously didn’t give a damned if he lived or died?
The look on Henry’s face was far more severe and disapproving than Ryeowook had ever seen before and he couldn’t help but cringe away slightly. “Ryeowook… That’s not fair or nice and you know it. This isn’t like you, so I’m going to ignore that you even said that. Hopefully you’ll be back to normal before you’re stupid enough to say that to anyone else.”
Then he got up and left Ryeowook feeling even more depressed than he already had.
~*~*~
Donghae dragged Ryeowook out for ice cream the next day. Somewhere in between a long involved story about how the differences between dogs and cats not making them any less cute when they were cuddled together and a philosophical monologue on vanilla and strawberry being perfectly complimentary flavors, Ryeowook figured out that Donghae just wanted everyone to be friends again.
~*~*~
Siwon took him to church.
By the time it was over and he could escape, Ryeowook was more than a little traumatized and he’d sworn off religion forever.
~*~*~
A short break that let them go back home to Korea was more than welcome, but it made the tension and distance even more noticeable.
It also stacked the odds against Ryeowook considerably when there were suddenly eight more guys determined to get to the bottom of everything.
~*~*~
He’d expected Sungmin to be on Kyuhyun’s side. Sungmin had always liked Kyuhyun better than Ryeowook.
He hadn’t expected Jungsu and Yongwoon to take him aside and give him their version of Mom and Dad’s Special ‘Friends Play Nice’ Talk. Or for Eunhyuk to corner him and advise him that sometimes it’s just better to let it go, man. Why are you being so harsh? Is it really worth all this?
During some rare KRY studio time, Jongwoon flat out refused to switch places and forced Ryeowook to stand in the center. It was a small room, usually meant for one or two. Three people meant that he was practically squished in between Jongwoon and Kyuhyun and he couldn’t help but stare at the microphone with wide betrayed eyes the entire session.
If even Jongwoon - who loved him more than anyone ever had and was always on his side - was against him in this…
That night he went straight to bed as soon as they got home and pretended to be asleep any time someone checked on him.
He couldn’t help but notice that no one really made very much effort to see if he was okay and if he hadn’t already been silently crying under his blankets, that dismal realization would have been enough to drive him to it.
~*~*~
Someone changed his ringtone from Miracle to a Lady Gaga song. He wouldn’t have even recognized it except that it was some unreleased demo that Mi had obsessed over for weeks, playing it on repeat until everyone had been ready to strangle him or break the radio to get away from it.
He’d have suspected Mi, but the gangly singer was taking the break as an opportunity to spend time with his parents and hadn’t come back to Korea with them. The other likely suspects were remarkably good at playing innocent and none of them would help him change it back.
He endured less than a day of his phone singing out Iiiiiiiii wish you were here…. Iiiiiii wish you were here before he realized that whoever had tampered with the damned thing had also gone through and deleted every picture he had that wasn’t of Kyuhyun.
He finally cracked.
The next day he went out and bought the brand new Droid phone he’d seen on television.
~*~*~
Shindong’s grand plan involved locking Ryeowook and Kyuhyun into a dressing room and leaving them there over night.
Though they took turns slamming fists against the door and hollering for him to grow up and let them out, it didn’t take long to figure out that he’d left.
Rather than actually speak - or even look at each other, really - they took far corners of the room and made themselves as comfortable as possible until someone came and let them out.
Ryeowook fell asleep shivering in his corner.
When he woke up hours later, he opened his eyes just in time to see Kyuhyun shoving his way out past Donghae and Jongwoon.
Confused by the warmth surrounding him, Ryeowook couldn’t help but gape slightly as he realized that it was Kyuhyun’s jacket wrapped around his torso.
~*~*~
“Ryeowook….” Geng sighed and settled down next to Ryeowook on the stairs. There weren’t many places one could go in a dorm for privacy, but the stairwell had become an unspoken ‘safe’ zone. If anyone needed time alone, they took sanctuary in the stairwell and it became out of bounds for the rest of the band.
That Geng had broken it…. It was a sign of how seriously he intended to not be deterred.
But Ryeowook couldn’t be angry. Not with Geng.
Jongwoon was the one he loved with all his heart, but Geng was the one that had tested that emotion in the quiet recesses of his mind and soul where he didn’t admit it out loud. Geng was the unrequited crush that he still had a weakness for, even after all this time.
“Geng.”
“This can’t go on, you know… I don’t know what happened, or what’s wrong, but… you’re brothers. Whatever it is can be overcome.”
Ryeowok sniffled slightly and rubbed his eyes. Geng’s simple conviction, the compassion in his voice… The way he didn’t automatically assume it was one or the other…
It was more than Ryeowook could reasonably withstand. He leaned against the older man, borrowing his strength… Only for a moment… only until he could find his own again.
Geng’s arm came up and around Ryeowook’s shoulder. “Tell me?”
And Ryeowook did, in sniffling fits and starts.
Everything spilled out. From his absolute confusion about why Kyuhyun had stopped talking to him and his tearful wondering if he’d done something wrong without being aware of it to his decision not to be the one who surrendered first. From his hurt at the callous treatment to his miserable worry that Kyuhyun’s newfound dislike of him was starting to extend to the rest of the band. From his frustration of not being able to go to the person who usually fixed his phone for him to crying himself to sleep every night wishing that Kyuhyun would notice how much he really was missed.
Even the renewal of his long buried worry that maybe he should never have said yes when SM had called him to come be a last minute replacement.
The older man never said a word, just listened without judgement, without scorn. He let Ryeowook vent, understood that the release of built up poison meant more than any false words of reassurance.
When all the words were gone, when Ryeowook was past tears or upset and was simply numb with exhaustion, Geng hugged him close and kissed his hair. “Arguments that don’t seem to have a solid beginning, usually stem from a misunderstanding. I bet… if you asked him… Kyuhyun probably feels the same way that you do…”
Protest died on Ryeowook’s lips as he remembered a jacket wrapped around his shoulders to protect him from the cold, a jacket that was even now tucked under his pillow like a secret security blanket.
He sighed and snuggled closer, too tired to think about it. “Maybe he does.”
~*~*~
Before he could make a decision one way or the other, Heechul took it out of his hands.
Ryeowook didn’t have it in himself to be surprised when Geng gently herded him to the living room where Siwon was depositing a protesting, wiggling Kyuhyun on the couch in front of Heechul.
Since he’d figured out that Kibum was responsible for the phone incident - with help from Mi on the song choice - that had only left Heechul and if there was one thing you had to hand Heechul… His flair for the dramatic didn’t stop him from being brutally blunt.
He waited until both parties were firmly seated with Siwon and Geng stationed on either side to make sure they didn’t escape, then he glared at them both.
“It was funny listening to Geng bitch about it for the first couple of weeks. It was still somewhat amusing watching everyone’s attempts to help you drive you batshit since you’ve been home. But now you’re just getting on my fucking nerves. You’re both whiny little emo bitches.”
Ryeowook glanced away.
“You live in the same house. That two grown men can go without speaking to each other for …” He paused, glancing to Geng for a number, but it was Ryeowook and Kyuhyun who answered together.
“46 days.” “39days.”
They glanced at each other for the first time in weeks, Ryeowook’s lips pursed in annoyance at Kyuhyun’s lower number while Kyuhyun just looked surprised at the higher count.
“That’s not right.”
And even though he’d half-decided to take Geng’s advice to heart, Ryeowook found himself glowering at the floor. “I’m not stupid. I can count, you know. You started ignoring me right after that stupid show we were on… The… whatcha call it.. The one where we all kept messing up. 46 days ago.”
“But that was-” Kyuhyun shook his head. “I was busy!”
“You were playing that stupid game,” Ryeowook muttered.
“That’s how I think! Besides, I wasn’t talking to anyone while I was thinking.”
Ryeowook’s stomach twisted as he shook his head. “Not true. You talked to everyone but me.”
“But-” Kyuhyun cut himself off, obviously trying to remember if Ryeowook was right or not. Then he shook his head. “I didn’t talk to them, they talked to me. Everyone kept bugging me except you-” He sighed and rubbed his hair. “I thought that meant that you at least understood that I needed some space to think. And then when I did need to talk about it, you were ignoring me.”
“You ignored me first,” Ryeowook insisted again, but his voice was hesitant and weak even to his own ears.
Arguments that don’t seem to have a solid beginning, usually stem from a misunderstanding.
He bit his lip and glanced at Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun looked at the older men standing around them like some kind of almighty triad of judgement and made a face. He grabbed Ryeowook’s arm and stood up, forcing Ryeowook up with him. “If you’ll excuse us.”
Then he darted to the right, using Geng as a safety block to get Ryeowook out of the room before Heechul or Siwon could react.
He dragged Ryeowook into the first bedroom - Ryeowook’s thankfully and with Jongwoon mercifully absent - and locked the door behind them.
It was only a moment later that Heechul slapped a palm against the door. “And don’t you come out until you’ve settled your differences!”
They stared a the shadows under the door, but apparently at least one, if not more, had decided to take up station outside it.
Kyuhyun rolled his eyes and reached over to turn on Jongwoon’s stereo while Ryeowook just watched wide eyed and confused.
A quick search around the desk and Kyuhyun held up a notebook and pen before scribbling out a quick note.
If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell a soul.
Still confused, Ryeowook nodded and waited for another quick scribble.
Kyuhyun hesitated for a moment before raising the new note up to Ryeowook’s view.
Zhou Mi and I are dating. That’s what I was thinking about.
“You are?!” Ryeowook could only gape for a moment. He’d known of course, their band mate had had a crush on Kyuhyun from day one - anyone with eyes could see that. And he’d known that Kyuhyun was at least fond of Mi. Zhou Mi was forgiven for a multitude of sins for which anyone else would die a horrible messy death.
In his more romantic daydreaming, he’d even schemed of ways to get the pair together.
But he hadn’t ever expected that either one would ever dare to make that leap.
Kyuhyun motioned for him to be quiet and glanced over at the door as if he was afraid that Heechul had somehow magicked himself under it.
He flipped the page and started a new, longer note.
I wanted to get your opinion about everything since I know you’ve been keeping track of it - Kyuhyun rolled his eyes slightly as Ryeowook fidgeted and blushed at having been caught out - maybe even see if I could make one of your ideas work. But then when I tried to talk to you about it, you completely snubbed me.
Ryeowook tried to think back to Kyuhyun’s reckoned ‘first day’. He finally shrugged helplessly and motioned for the notebook.
When? What were we doing?
Rehearsal. Everyone else had gone out and we stayed behind to go over some vocal bit they wanted us to try.
Ryeowook remembered that day. It was the day after he’d come so close to taking up StarCraft and he’d been particularly irritated with himself over the weakness. He’d made an extra effort to ignore anyone and everything around him that had not been their vocal coach or the dance instructor.
So it had been his fault all along and he’d never even realized?
He bit his lip and looked up at Kyuhyun, stricken.
Kyuhyun rolled his eyes and swatted Ryeowook upside the head with the notebook before scribbling out another note.
Not all your fault. Not all my fault. We’re both stupid. Cats and dogs. Bound to misunderstand each other, right?
Ryeowook hesitated for a moment before taking the notebook back and flipping to a fresh page.
Strawberry and Vanilla?
Kyuhyun shook with silent laughter.
Did Siwon take you to church too?
Shuddering, Ryeowook nodded frantically before grabbing the notebook.
Horror movie stuff. I’M TRAUMATIZED. I may scream like a little girl if a priest comes within 100 meters of me. NO LIE.
You scream like a little girl anyways.
Ryeowook shoved Kyuhyun with a laugh.
So do you.
You realize Jongwoon was totally taking up almost the entire recording room to squish us together, right?
Ryeowook made a face, not surprised by either fact - that Jongwoon had done it, or that he’d missed it.
I thought Sungmin was going to set my clothes on fire.
nah. He thought we were both being stupid. He’d have done something a lot more drastic.
At least no one messed with your phone.
Yeah, but you got that new one, right? Can I see?
So Ryeowook dug out his shiny new Droid for Kyuhyun to admire.
Remind me to set you up with your old ringtones later, okay?
Kyuhyun hesitated for another long minute before adding another note.
Hey, can you do me a favor? He continued at Ryeowook’s inquisitive look. I need help picking out a present for Zhou Mi.
Ryeowook bit his lip again and held the notebook, staring at the words for a long moment before he took the pen.
I thought you would ask Sungmin for something like that? Or Geng.
You’re closer to us than Sungmin… And Zhou Mi and Geng tell each other everything. He made a face. Asking Geng is like taking out a full page add in the paper and getting a thirty second commercial spot in the middle of one of those stupid dramas the idiot likes so much.
Ryeowook’s lips twitched and he couldn’t help the grin that escaped.
You shouldn’t call your boyfriend an idiot.
The disgusted look on Kyuhyun’s face had Ryeowook laughing out loud again.
Eww.. Do not use that word in my presence again.
Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfr-
He nearly rolled off the bed laughing when Kyuhyun jerked the notebook back out of his hands.
Bitch. Seriously. Help me?
Sighing in contentment, Ryeowook nodded and reached out a hand for the notebook.
Of course. What are friends for? Then a mischevious little impulse had him adding another line. but helping friends buy their boyfriends presents?
Kyuhyun made as if to hit him over the head with the notebook again, but just rolled his eyes.
They sat there together for a few minutes before Ryeowook reached over to add one last line.
I’m glad we’re friends again.
Kyuhyun smiled and flicked his nose.
Me too. I missed you.
Ryeowook hesitated for a moment, then crawled over to snag something out from under his bed. He handed it over to Kyuhyun with a sheepish look.
Kyuhyun stared at the two plastic wrapped boxes that proudly declared themselves ‘StarCraft Battle Chest’ and 'StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'. They'd never been opened, but the edges of the plastic were torn from where Ryeowook had worried at them off and on for the last 40 days.
He was half afraid Kyuhyun would laugh at him, but instead, the younger man pulled him into a tight hug.
“If you ever want to learn… I’ll be happy to teach you.”
And even though he knew he was going to suck at it, somehow Ryeowook knew it was exactly what he wanted.
~*~*~
fin
Length: One-Shot
Author: M_K Yujji
Rating: PG
Genre: friendship, angst
Pairing/Characters: Ryeowook and Kyuhyun friendship, YeWook, QMi
Warnings: RPS
Disclaimer: Though real people are used as characters, this fic bears no resemblance to their actual Real Lives and these people are not owned by me.
Comments/Notes: I wrote this ages ago, it seems but I never intended to post it to the general public. It's original purpose came and went and I put it away and forgot about it until I started going through my list of unposted fic bits and stumbled across it again.
Also, if anyone actually reads my author's notes, please check out This Post and drop me a suggestion/prompt, okay? I'm still about 15 days worth of prompts short!
Summary: If the path of true friendship were easy, everyone would be friends.
~*~*~
Ryeowook wasn’t exactly sure when it started.
He was even less sure why it started.
One day Kyuhyun just seemed to forget that he and their friendship existed.
He stopped invading Ryeowook’s room for peace and quiet - and calm companionship - while he played his games.
He stopped insisting that Ryeowook cook for him.
He stopped acknowledging Ryeowook’s existence at all.
At first, Ryeowook had pouted and maybe stamped his feet a little. In a fit of pique, he decided that if Kyuhyun didn’t want to talk to him then that was okay by him. It wasn’t even like he’d ever been Kyuhyun’s closest friend, after all, or like Kyuhyun was the only friend that he himself had.
Somehow that had turned into a silent cold war between them.
Ryeowook refused to be the one to bend. Always before he’d bent over backwards for friends and family and fans - apologizing when he’d done nothing wrong, changing himself to suit everyone else’s needs, scrambling over himself trying to make everyone else happy. He was, quite simply, tired of it.
If Kyuhyun wanted to look up and remember they were supposed to be friends some day, well… He knew where Ryeowook lived.
That didn’t mean he didn’t have half moon scars forming on his palms from where he clenched his fists so tightly he bled to hold back the urge to txt, im, call, or hell…even take up that ridiculous game just to get Kyuhyun’s attention again.
Every day was a battle with himself and his urge to simply go back to the way things had been before. He wasn’t in the wrong and he knew that, but maybe if he apologized anyways….
Every day he managed to restrain himself.
Somehow at the end of the day as he lay in bed staring up at whatever ceiling was over his head that night, it felt more like losing than winning.
~*~*~
Henry was the first one who tried to talk to him about it.
He plopped down next to Ryeowook where he was sprawled out on one of the couches in their dressing room. When the older man just ignored him, going as far as turning up his ipod and hunching further into the cushions, Henry sighed and reached over to tug out the earbuds.
“Hey! I was listening to that.”
“Yeah, and busting your eardrums from the sound of it. I’m not that easy to ignore.”
Ryeowook just pouted and looked away, turning off the ipod as a concession to Henry’s point.
“Right.” Henry sighed and prodded Ryeowook with one finger. “So what’s your problem, exactly? Why are you giving Kyuhyun the cold shoulder?”
“What?!” Ryeowook sat up abruptdly, staring at his friend in complete disbelief. “Me?! Giving him the cold shoulder?!”
Henry made a show out of rubbing his ears at the octave Ryeowook’s voice hit by the last word, but simply nodded reasonably. “Yes. You’ve been ignoring him for weeks. And now it’s starting to spread over to the rest of us too. Why?”
“He started ignoring me first!”
“You do realize you sound like a five year old, right?” Henry rubbed his temples this time. “It’s Kyuhyun. I doubt he did it on purpose.”
“And that makes it okay? That he can completely ignore someone he’s supposed to be friends with for weeks and not even care??? One of us could die and unless they made an announcement on that stupid game, he probably wouldn’t even notice!”
Taking a shuddering breath, Ryeowook wrapped his arms around himself and reminded himself to breath and not get worked up.
Hadn’t he decided already that it didn’t matter that Kyuhyun obviously didn’t give a damned if he lived or died?
The look on Henry’s face was far more severe and disapproving than Ryeowook had ever seen before and he couldn’t help but cringe away slightly. “Ryeowook… That’s not fair or nice and you know it. This isn’t like you, so I’m going to ignore that you even said that. Hopefully you’ll be back to normal before you’re stupid enough to say that to anyone else.”
Then he got up and left Ryeowook feeling even more depressed than he already had.
~*~*~
Donghae dragged Ryeowook out for ice cream the next day. Somewhere in between a long involved story about how the differences between dogs and cats not making them any less cute when they were cuddled together and a philosophical monologue on vanilla and strawberry being perfectly complimentary flavors, Ryeowook figured out that Donghae just wanted everyone to be friends again.
~*~*~
Siwon took him to church.
By the time it was over and he could escape, Ryeowook was more than a little traumatized and he’d sworn off religion forever.
~*~*~
A short break that let them go back home to Korea was more than welcome, but it made the tension and distance even more noticeable.
It also stacked the odds against Ryeowook considerably when there were suddenly eight more guys determined to get to the bottom of everything.
~*~*~
He’d expected Sungmin to be on Kyuhyun’s side. Sungmin had always liked Kyuhyun better than Ryeowook.
He hadn’t expected Jungsu and Yongwoon to take him aside and give him their version of Mom and Dad’s Special ‘Friends Play Nice’ Talk. Or for Eunhyuk to corner him and advise him that sometimes it’s just better to let it go, man. Why are you being so harsh? Is it really worth all this?
During some rare KRY studio time, Jongwoon flat out refused to switch places and forced Ryeowook to stand in the center. It was a small room, usually meant for one or two. Three people meant that he was practically squished in between Jongwoon and Kyuhyun and he couldn’t help but stare at the microphone with wide betrayed eyes the entire session.
If even Jongwoon - who loved him more than anyone ever had and was always on his side - was against him in this…
That night he went straight to bed as soon as they got home and pretended to be asleep any time someone checked on him.
He couldn’t help but notice that no one really made very much effort to see if he was okay and if he hadn’t already been silently crying under his blankets, that dismal realization would have been enough to drive him to it.
~*~*~
Someone changed his ringtone from Miracle to a Lady Gaga song. He wouldn’t have even recognized it except that it was some unreleased demo that Mi had obsessed over for weeks, playing it on repeat until everyone had been ready to strangle him or break the radio to get away from it.
He’d have suspected Mi, but the gangly singer was taking the break as an opportunity to spend time with his parents and hadn’t come back to Korea with them. The other likely suspects were remarkably good at playing innocent and none of them would help him change it back.
He endured less than a day of his phone singing out Iiiiiiiii wish you were here…. Iiiiiii wish you were here before he realized that whoever had tampered with the damned thing had also gone through and deleted every picture he had that wasn’t of Kyuhyun.
He finally cracked.
The next day he went out and bought the brand new Droid phone he’d seen on television.
~*~*~
Shindong’s grand plan involved locking Ryeowook and Kyuhyun into a dressing room and leaving them there over night.
Though they took turns slamming fists against the door and hollering for him to grow up and let them out, it didn’t take long to figure out that he’d left.
Rather than actually speak - or even look at each other, really - they took far corners of the room and made themselves as comfortable as possible until someone came and let them out.
Ryeowook fell asleep shivering in his corner.
When he woke up hours later, he opened his eyes just in time to see Kyuhyun shoving his way out past Donghae and Jongwoon.
Confused by the warmth surrounding him, Ryeowook couldn’t help but gape slightly as he realized that it was Kyuhyun’s jacket wrapped around his torso.
~*~*~
“Ryeowook….” Geng sighed and settled down next to Ryeowook on the stairs. There weren’t many places one could go in a dorm for privacy, but the stairwell had become an unspoken ‘safe’ zone. If anyone needed time alone, they took sanctuary in the stairwell and it became out of bounds for the rest of the band.
That Geng had broken it…. It was a sign of how seriously he intended to not be deterred.
But Ryeowook couldn’t be angry. Not with Geng.
Jongwoon was the one he loved with all his heart, but Geng was the one that had tested that emotion in the quiet recesses of his mind and soul where he didn’t admit it out loud. Geng was the unrequited crush that he still had a weakness for, even after all this time.
“Geng.”
“This can’t go on, you know… I don’t know what happened, or what’s wrong, but… you’re brothers. Whatever it is can be overcome.”
Ryeowok sniffled slightly and rubbed his eyes. Geng’s simple conviction, the compassion in his voice… The way he didn’t automatically assume it was one or the other…
It was more than Ryeowook could reasonably withstand. He leaned against the older man, borrowing his strength… Only for a moment… only until he could find his own again.
Geng’s arm came up and around Ryeowook’s shoulder. “Tell me?”
And Ryeowook did, in sniffling fits and starts.
Everything spilled out. From his absolute confusion about why Kyuhyun had stopped talking to him and his tearful wondering if he’d done something wrong without being aware of it to his decision not to be the one who surrendered first. From his hurt at the callous treatment to his miserable worry that Kyuhyun’s newfound dislike of him was starting to extend to the rest of the band. From his frustration of not being able to go to the person who usually fixed his phone for him to crying himself to sleep every night wishing that Kyuhyun would notice how much he really was missed.
Even the renewal of his long buried worry that maybe he should never have said yes when SM had called him to come be a last minute replacement.
The older man never said a word, just listened without judgement, without scorn. He let Ryeowook vent, understood that the release of built up poison meant more than any false words of reassurance.
When all the words were gone, when Ryeowook was past tears or upset and was simply numb with exhaustion, Geng hugged him close and kissed his hair. “Arguments that don’t seem to have a solid beginning, usually stem from a misunderstanding. I bet… if you asked him… Kyuhyun probably feels the same way that you do…”
Protest died on Ryeowook’s lips as he remembered a jacket wrapped around his shoulders to protect him from the cold, a jacket that was even now tucked under his pillow like a secret security blanket.
He sighed and snuggled closer, too tired to think about it. “Maybe he does.”
~*~*~
Before he could make a decision one way or the other, Heechul took it out of his hands.
Ryeowook didn’t have it in himself to be surprised when Geng gently herded him to the living room where Siwon was depositing a protesting, wiggling Kyuhyun on the couch in front of Heechul.
Since he’d figured out that Kibum was responsible for the phone incident - with help from Mi on the song choice - that had only left Heechul and if there was one thing you had to hand Heechul… His flair for the dramatic didn’t stop him from being brutally blunt.
He waited until both parties were firmly seated with Siwon and Geng stationed on either side to make sure they didn’t escape, then he glared at them both.
“It was funny listening to Geng bitch about it for the first couple of weeks. It was still somewhat amusing watching everyone’s attempts to help you drive you batshit since you’ve been home. But now you’re just getting on my fucking nerves. You’re both whiny little emo bitches.”
Ryeowook glanced away.
“You live in the same house. That two grown men can go without speaking to each other for …” He paused, glancing to Geng for a number, but it was Ryeowook and Kyuhyun who answered together.
“46 days.” “39days.”
They glanced at each other for the first time in weeks, Ryeowook’s lips pursed in annoyance at Kyuhyun’s lower number while Kyuhyun just looked surprised at the higher count.
“That’s not right.”
And even though he’d half-decided to take Geng’s advice to heart, Ryeowook found himself glowering at the floor. “I’m not stupid. I can count, you know. You started ignoring me right after that stupid show we were on… The… whatcha call it.. The one where we all kept messing up. 46 days ago.”
“But that was-” Kyuhyun shook his head. “I was busy!”
“You were playing that stupid game,” Ryeowook muttered.
“That’s how I think! Besides, I wasn’t talking to anyone while I was thinking.”
Ryeowook’s stomach twisted as he shook his head. “Not true. You talked to everyone but me.”
“But-” Kyuhyun cut himself off, obviously trying to remember if Ryeowook was right or not. Then he shook his head. “I didn’t talk to them, they talked to me. Everyone kept bugging me except you-” He sighed and rubbed his hair. “I thought that meant that you at least understood that I needed some space to think. And then when I did need to talk about it, you were ignoring me.”
“You ignored me first,” Ryeowook insisted again, but his voice was hesitant and weak even to his own ears.
Arguments that don’t seem to have a solid beginning, usually stem from a misunderstanding.
He bit his lip and glanced at Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun looked at the older men standing around them like some kind of almighty triad of judgement and made a face. He grabbed Ryeowook’s arm and stood up, forcing Ryeowook up with him. “If you’ll excuse us.”
Then he darted to the right, using Geng as a safety block to get Ryeowook out of the room before Heechul or Siwon could react.
He dragged Ryeowook into the first bedroom - Ryeowook’s thankfully and with Jongwoon mercifully absent - and locked the door behind them.
It was only a moment later that Heechul slapped a palm against the door. “And don’t you come out until you’ve settled your differences!”
They stared a the shadows under the door, but apparently at least one, if not more, had decided to take up station outside it.
Kyuhyun rolled his eyes and reached over to turn on Jongwoon’s stereo while Ryeowook just watched wide eyed and confused.
A quick search around the desk and Kyuhyun held up a notebook and pen before scribbling out a quick note.
If I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell a soul.
Still confused, Ryeowook nodded and waited for another quick scribble.
Kyuhyun hesitated for a moment before raising the new note up to Ryeowook’s view.
Zhou Mi and I are dating. That’s what I was thinking about.
“You are?!” Ryeowook could only gape for a moment. He’d known of course, their band mate had had a crush on Kyuhyun from day one - anyone with eyes could see that. And he’d known that Kyuhyun was at least fond of Mi. Zhou Mi was forgiven for a multitude of sins for which anyone else would die a horrible messy death.
In his more romantic daydreaming, he’d even schemed of ways to get the pair together.
But he hadn’t ever expected that either one would ever dare to make that leap.
Kyuhyun motioned for him to be quiet and glanced over at the door as if he was afraid that Heechul had somehow magicked himself under it.
He flipped the page and started a new, longer note.
I wanted to get your opinion about everything since I know you’ve been keeping track of it - Kyuhyun rolled his eyes slightly as Ryeowook fidgeted and blushed at having been caught out - maybe even see if I could make one of your ideas work. But then when I tried to talk to you about it, you completely snubbed me.
Ryeowook tried to think back to Kyuhyun’s reckoned ‘first day’. He finally shrugged helplessly and motioned for the notebook.
When? What were we doing?
Rehearsal. Everyone else had gone out and we stayed behind to go over some vocal bit they wanted us to try.
Ryeowook remembered that day. It was the day after he’d come so close to taking up StarCraft and he’d been particularly irritated with himself over the weakness. He’d made an extra effort to ignore anyone and everything around him that had not been their vocal coach or the dance instructor.
So it had been his fault all along and he’d never even realized?
He bit his lip and looked up at Kyuhyun, stricken.
Kyuhyun rolled his eyes and swatted Ryeowook upside the head with the notebook before scribbling out another note.
Not all your fault. Not all my fault. We’re both stupid. Cats and dogs. Bound to misunderstand each other, right?
Ryeowook hesitated for a moment before taking the notebook back and flipping to a fresh page.
Strawberry and Vanilla?
Kyuhyun shook with silent laughter.
Did Siwon take you to church too?
Shuddering, Ryeowook nodded frantically before grabbing the notebook.
Horror movie stuff. I’M TRAUMATIZED. I may scream like a little girl if a priest comes within 100 meters of me. NO LIE.
You scream like a little girl anyways.
Ryeowook shoved Kyuhyun with a laugh.
So do you.
You realize Jongwoon was totally taking up almost the entire recording room to squish us together, right?
Ryeowook made a face, not surprised by either fact - that Jongwoon had done it, or that he’d missed it.
I thought Sungmin was going to set my clothes on fire.
nah. He thought we were both being stupid. He’d have done something a lot more drastic.
At least no one messed with your phone.
Yeah, but you got that new one, right? Can I see?
So Ryeowook dug out his shiny new Droid for Kyuhyun to admire.
Remind me to set you up with your old ringtones later, okay?
Kyuhyun hesitated for another long minute before adding another note.
Hey, can you do me a favor? He continued at Ryeowook’s inquisitive look. I need help picking out a present for Zhou Mi.
Ryeowook bit his lip again and held the notebook, staring at the words for a long moment before he took the pen.
I thought you would ask Sungmin for something like that? Or Geng.
You’re closer to us than Sungmin… And Zhou Mi and Geng tell each other everything. He made a face. Asking Geng is like taking out a full page add in the paper and getting a thirty second commercial spot in the middle of one of those stupid dramas the idiot likes so much.
Ryeowook’s lips twitched and he couldn’t help the grin that escaped.
You shouldn’t call your boyfriend an idiot.
The disgusted look on Kyuhyun’s face had Ryeowook laughing out loud again.
Eww.. Do not use that word in my presence again.
Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfr-
He nearly rolled off the bed laughing when Kyuhyun jerked the notebook back out of his hands.
Bitch. Seriously. Help me?
Sighing in contentment, Ryeowook nodded and reached out a hand for the notebook.
Of course. What are friends for? Then a mischevious little impulse had him adding another line. but helping friends buy their boyfriends presents?
Kyuhyun made as if to hit him over the head with the notebook again, but just rolled his eyes.
They sat there together for a few minutes before Ryeowook reached over to add one last line.
I’m glad we’re friends again.
Kyuhyun smiled and flicked his nose.
Me too. I missed you.
Ryeowook hesitated for a moment, then crawled over to snag something out from under his bed. He handed it over to Kyuhyun with a sheepish look.
Kyuhyun stared at the two plastic wrapped boxes that proudly declared themselves ‘StarCraft Battle Chest’ and 'StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty'. They'd never been opened, but the edges of the plastic were torn from where Ryeowook had worried at them off and on for the last 40 days.
He was half afraid Kyuhyun would laugh at him, but instead, the younger man pulled him into a tight hug.
“If you ever want to learn… I’ll be happy to teach you.”
And even though he knew he was going to suck at it, somehow Ryeowook knew it was exactly what he wanted.
~*~*~
fin