Seeking Light - Chapter 9
Title: Seeking Light
Pairings: Kyuwook, Minwook, Eunhae, Kangteuk, Sihanchul, Heeteuk!friendship ( a lot more later, i promise)
Rating: PG13 maybe ( i'm quite violent, hehe)
Summary: Kyuhyun was born and raised as a member of the Dark Society, an organization where death and killing were inevitable and violence was part of life. Not even as he left the organization has he left that part of his life. Then comes Ryeowook, a young man who has absolutely little-to-no idea about the dark and violent reality of society. Can he shed light to Kyuhyun's darkness? Or will he fall prey to the Dark Society?
Chapter 9
Kyuhyun stood half-naked in front of the full-body mirror inside his room, with only a towel covering his lower half. His hair was still dripping but he didn't bother to dry it with a towel as he stared at the wound at the side of his torso.
He had peeled off the bandages earlier so that he could clean the wound and change the bandages with new ones, but somehow, he still hasn't done that. When he saw the stitches, he can't help but just stare at it.
To say that the stitches were unprofessional would be an understatement. Sure the wound was closed but the stitches were nowhere near surgical. They look more like the stitches used on torn clothe rather than torn skin.
Changmin nearly laughed his head off the other day when he checked the wound and saw the stitches. It took a while before he could suppress the laughter just enough so he could offer to redo the stitches for Kyuhyun.
~Flashback~
"You know, I could just stitch the wound myself and make it look better." Changmin said, chuckling. "All I really have to do is to remove these clumsy-looking stitches and restitch the wound myself."
"No." Kyuhyun responded flatly, wiping the smirk off the 'aspiring' doctor's face. Without further ado, he pulled on his clothes.
"Hey, don't tell me you doubt my skills. Come on, Kyuhyun, I've been in medical school for nearly a year before I got kicked out for experimentation on drugs. I know how to properly stitch a wound." Changmin said, slightly hurt.
"I said, no." Kyuhyun responded, making his way up to his room with Changmin following him from behind.
"Just so you know, with a stitch like that, you'll get yourself a very horrible scar. Let me fix it." Changmin insisted, almost pleading.
"For the last time, NO." Kyuhyun said coldly before closing the door in Changmin's face.
For a moment, just before he had closed his door, Kyuhyun caught a glimpse of Leeteuk who had been looking at them with a knowing smile.
~End Flashback~
Still standing in front of the mirror, Kyuhyun wondered why he had refused Changmin's offer. He knew a bad stitch can cause horrible scarring even before the aspiring doctor pointed it out to him but he somehow didn't care about that. What he cared about though was how tired that little waiter had looked in the morning after he had stitched the wound for him.
It was weird. He was never the type to care about anything and everything. The only concern he ever had was on himself and his safety. Never on another person. But now, just the thought of removing the stitches the little waiter had worked so hard for made him feel bad. Like he did something very wrong. It was very much confusing given that he never had felt this way even when he had killed more than just a few people in the past.
But then again, lately he had been feeling a lot of other things he had never felt before. And while those feelings were typically harmless, they were disturbing. In the corner of his mind, the thought that perhaps it was all because of that little waiter in Leeteuk's restaurant still lingered. But Kyuhyun had just about done everything to block those thoughts away. Why the heck would he have anything to do with all this? We just met. I don't even know his name yet. Kyuhyun thought, furiously.
The thought struck Kyuhyun. He never knew the little waiter's name. They've met twice already and he had thought about him many times in the last few days. But whenever he thought about him, he always referred to the other man as "Little Waiter". It was only now that he actually wondered about the other man's name.
Well, in truth, Kyuhyun never really bothered knowing other people's names. In fact, he barely even knew the names of half the members of the White Angel Organization. Names weren't important to him, unless they were targets for him to dispose of. And sometimes, even at that time, he wouldn't bother knowing the target's name. Right now though, he just found himself curious about someone's name.
What the hell is wrong with me? There's no reason for me to be curious about the little waiter's name! He's insignificant for me!, Kyuhyun thought to himself, finally turning away from the mirror.
Nearly ten minutes after that though, Kyuhyun was already heading downstairs, fully clothed. He had his weapons hidden from view already by the time he reached the ground floor of the main house,
As he headed for the door, he passed by Leeteuk who was lazily surfing for good channels on the television. It was his way of passing time when he's waiting for Kangin to come back from manning their group's territories.
When Leeteuk heard Kyuhyun approaching, he lookedup from the television screen. "Going out so soon?"
Kyuhyun ignored him as he went straight to the door. "You know, Heechul may be quite a miracle worker if he wants to but I don't think he can dispell the rumors he made in a short time. A lot of other gangs might still be after your hide." Leeteuk continued.
"Whatever." Kyuhyun said, flinging the door open.
Kyuhyun didn't even spare Leeteuk a glance before he stepped out of the house. Barely a minute after he left, Kangin went inside through the door which Kyuhyun didn't bother to close.
"I'm surprised tht you let the zombie out after what happened the other night. You must have a really good reason for that." Kangin said, still standing in the doorway, watching Kyuhyun walk away.
"If a near-death experience couldn't scare the mighty Kyuhyun from going out at night just to see someone, then who am I to stop him from doing what he's determined to do?" Leeteuk simply said.
"Someone, huh? I wonder who could that be." Kangin wondered, smirking.
"I've got a pretty good idea." Leeteuk responded, smiling as he continued to surf the television.
Meanwhile, Kyuhyun walked in a steady pace. Not too fast nor too slow. But his direction was definite unlike his other nighttime wanderings.
It took him less time to reach the restaurant compared to the other nights he went there. He barely even took notice of the restaurant's name which he hated so much. And unlike the previous nights, he actually managed to get inside the restaurant again and sit at his usual table in the corner. Upon sitting down, a jolt of pain seized up from his wound.
If truth be told, his wound had been aching when he left his room. And he had ignored it all the way to the restaurant. Now that he reached his destination though, he began to wonder why. Why did he endure the pain just to come here? And why was he even here in the first place?
Sure he was curious about the little waiter's name but he could have just asked Leeteuk about it. Surely he would know the guy. He never really needed to come here and get the name from the person himself, right?
The more he thought about it, the stupider the idea of coming into the restaurant became.
More out of habit than anything else, Kyuhyun's eyes began to scan the restaurant. It was busy as always. Nearly every table was occupied. Shouts of orders came here and there along with the occasional rude remarks from arrogant customers.
From his seat, Kyuhyun could see only two waiters circling about. One of them was the extremely good-looking waiter whom he had frightened some time ago. And the other was a slightly thin male with a huge gummy smile. Neither of which he could name. He never had bothered to know them anyway.
Without being consciously aware of it, Kyuhyun had begun scanning the faces of the crowd inside the reataurant, looking for a familiar face with an angelic smile and high delicate cheekbones.
He's not here, Kyuhyun thought. In an instant, Kyuhyun felt something more disturbing than the pain in his wound. There was a sinking feeling creeping into his chest. It was disappointment.
Why though? Why should he be disappointed? It wasn't like he was actually hoping to see the little waiter tonight...was he?
While Kyuhyun was busy pondering on his thoughts, someone else was also busy glaring at him.
"Man, can't he just find some other places to waste his time in? Why does he keep coming here anyway?" Sungmin muttered. He had been glaring at Kyuhyun from the little window of the the kitchen door ever since the other man stepped into the restaurant. "It's not like this is theonly restaurant where he can sit for free."
Ryeowook, who had been busy helping Sungmin prepare a dish, did not see Kyuhyun. But he did hear his hyung muttering furiously. "Something wrong, hyung?"
"Nothing much. Just some guy who keeps coming here without ordering nor paying for anything and yet has the nerve to actually insult the voice of my most favorite person in the world." Sungmin muttered, stepping away from the door to continue cooking.
Ryeowook tilted his head cutely to the side in confusion. What was his hyung talking about?
Curious, Ryeowook took Sungmin's place beside the door before tip-toeing to peer through the small window, scanning the restaurant for someone who could possibly fit Sungmin's description. It took him a while to spot that someone. And when he did, he felt his heart flutter a bit. Cho Kyuhyun.
Needless to say, Ryewook was glad to see Kyuhyun again. True, he was pretty upset when the other man left him the other day without saying anything. But he had been worrying about him at the same time, too. He guessed that worrying was normal since Kyuhyun had been like a patient to him for one night. It almost seemed obligatory for him to know the other man's condition. And now, just seeing Kyuhyun look healthy enough to walk made him happy.
After a few moments of staring though, Ryeowook's smile disappeared. Kyuhyun seemed to be troubled.
What's wrong with him? Is he unwell? Ryeowook thought worriedly. He then noticed that one of Kyuhyun's hands was placed over the side where he had been wounded. His wound must still be aching. Maybe I stitched it wrong.
Ryeowook suddenly felt the urge to get to Kyuhyun, find out what was troubling him and to find some way to relieve whatever it is.
"You probably shouldn't go out just yet, Wook-" Sungmin began to say, but when he looked up to where Ryeowook had been standing, he noticed that the space was empty. Ryeowook had already left without saying anything.
Sungmin immediately ran to the door to look through the window. There, he saw Ryeowook walking away from the kitchen.
After a while after he first felt the pang of disappointment, Kyuhyun decided to leave. There wasn't really a reason for him to stay. Besides, the longer he stayed, the stronger the feeling of disappointment became.
As he stood up, the familiar pain jolted him again. Along with the pain was the sudden dizziness. He still hadn't recovered much from the blood loss and the sudden movement made him hypotensive.
He felt himself falling backwards but somehow he didn't fall all the way7 down. Someone had grabbed him before he completely fell.
"Hey, Be careful, will you? You almost got your neck broken." a very familiar voice said, softly.
just hearing the melodious voice again made Kyuhyun's heart speed up again, which brought more blood to his brain relieving his dizziness and the sudden hypotension he was feeling. Once the dizziness had faded, he saw Ryeowook's worried face clearly.
"You probably should sit down for a while. Geez, you almost gave me a heart attack." Ryeowooksaid, helping Kyuhyun back down to his chair when he saw how pale the other had looked. "You know, if you're not feeling too well, you should have just stayed in bed."
"You speak like a mother." Kyuhyun responded after he had sat down. He was a bit unnerved by the fact that Ryeowook practically scolded him.
While it wasn't really meant to be an insult, Ryeowook looked affronted by it. "Well sorry for speaking like a mother to you, Kyuhyun-sshi. That's just my way of showing my concern." Ryeowook said, arms crossed across his chest.
Warmth flooded in Kyuhyun's chest at the words. Although he had been somewhat happy to know that the other was concerned, he also suddenly felt embarassed about their conversation. He looked away from Ryeowook so that his eyes wouldn't betray his feelings at the moment. "There's no reason to be concerned. I'm not a child." he said.
"Me being concerned about you has nothing to do about you being a child. Although, you're stubborness was definitely quite childish in my opinion." Ryeowook said.
"Says the person who wouldn't just leave me alone no matter how much I push him away. Now tell me, who do you think is more childishly stubborn between us in your opinion?" Kyuhyun retaliated, a small smirk slowly forming on his lips. Despite himself, he was actually enjoying this little argument they were doing.
Ryeowook opened his mouth to retaliate, but ended up closing them again for lack of anything to say. He never really knew why he had been so stubborn as to actually carry Kyuhyun all the way to Sungmin's apartment just to help him. Not even after Kyuhyun pointed his gun at him did he stop helping.
"What's the matter? Cat's got your tongue?" Kyuhyun mocked.
The question made Ryeowook tilt his head to the side in confusion. "What are you talking about? There ain't no cat anywhere near my tongue...is there?" he asked in puzzlement before sticking his tongue out to look at it.
Kyuhyun nearly face-palmed at Ryeowook's reaction but he managed to stop himself and just shake his head. While he found the action cute, the fact that the little waiter didn't understand what he just said struck him hard. "My, how stupid can you get?"
Hearing what Kyuhyun said, Ryeowook immediately withdrew his tongue back into his mouth. "You really have quite the talent to becoming extremely mean, you know that? Sigh* This is what I get for being too king enough to just help some random person from bleeding out in the alleys." Ryeowook muttered, walking away from Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun just watched Ryeowook walk away, slightly feeling sad that their conversation ended a bit badly. Then suddenly, he remembered something.
"Oi! Little waiter, why did you help some random person bleeding out in the alleys anyway." Kyuhyun asked.
"I'm just being helpful. It's part of being human. You should try it sometimes. Who knows, you might look more human than what you look now." Ryeowook said. Kyuhyun just stared at him.
"Besides, it's not like I could just leave you to bleed to death, can I?" Ryeowook added, with a kind smile. Again, Kyuhyun felt his heart thumping faster than normal at the sight of an angel's smile.
But the smile was short-lived though because after a moment, Ryeowook frowned at him and said, "And don't call me 'little waiter'. I'm not that short. I'm pretty much on a medium height as far as I'm concerned. Besides, I have a name. And it's Ryeowook. Kim Ryeowook." Huffing, Ryeowook walked away.
The quick change in facial expression stunned Kyuhyun for a while. But after Ryeowook disappeared into the kitchen, the corners of Kyuhyun's mouth twitched a bit, almost forming a small smile.
"Kim Ryeowook, huh? Little Waiter Ryeowook." Kyuhyun whispered to himself, as if trying the name with his own tongue. "Lookis like I got what I came here for afterall."
What Kyuhyun failed to acknowledge though was that he actually got more than what he came for.
He sat there for a few minutes before he decided that it was time for him to leave.
On his way out, Eunhyuk, who was carrying two trays full of dirty dishes and glasses, bumped into him. The force of the impact nearly made Eunhyuk loose his grip of the trays but he managed to keep them from falling down. One of the wine glasses, however, fell off the tray and landed on the carpeted floor.
Kyuhyun looked at the fallen wine glass for a while before he picked it up and stood up again to look at the stunned face of the waiter that bumped into him.
The first thing that Eunhyuk felt after he collided with Kyuhyun was shock. It was then closely followed by horror. He knew very well how terrifying Kyuhyun can be when he's angry.
"Oh, god. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were passing by. I didn't mean to bump into you. Honest. I'll be careful next time. Please don't hurt me." Eunhyuk stuttered.
Kyuhyun just stared at Eunhyuk flatly before he raised the hand that was holding the wine glass he just picked up. Eunhyuk closed his eyes, anticipating that Kyuhyun will break the glass on his face. Her waited for it, but it never came. Catiously, he opened one eye to look at what's going on.
With one eye, he saw Kyuhyun walk out of the restaurant. Opening both eyes, he noticed the wine glass that had fallen back on his tray.
"Hyukkie!" Donghae called, hurrying over to his boyfriend. "What happened? Did he hurt you?"
The stunned Eunhyuk tooka while before he managed to answer," If I said that the Cho Kyuhyun didn't hurt me and that he actually helped me, would that sound weird?"
"Very." Donghae answered.
"Well then, get ready to hear something very weird." Eunhyuk replied. He had the look that implied that he still couldn't believe what happened.
As soon as Ryeowook enetered the kitchen, he was engulfed by Sungmin in a huge rib-crushing bear hug that completely prevented air from entering his lungs.
"H-Hyung...you're crushing me." Ryeowook gasped.
Sungmin didn't seem to hear him as he ranted, "Shit, Wookie, you almost scared me to death. When I saw you walking to that murderous looking Cho Kyuhyun, I thought you're really gonna get in trouble. What did he do to you, huh? Did he hurt you this time? More insults? Threats?"
"Hyung...!" Ryeowook groaned. He was starting to go blue before Sungmin finally noticed and let go.
"Oh, dear. I'm sooo sorry. I was just so worried. Are you akay? No broken ribs or anything similar to that?" Sungmin ranted again, rubbing circles on Ryeowook's back as the other panted for air.
"It's...o-okay, hyung. I'm fine. N-Nothing to worry about." Ryeowook said in between painfull gasps of air.
Few people may know it but Sungmin's hugs can be rather deadly at times. Not that anyone had the heart to tell him about it.
It took a while before Ryeowook's breathing finally evened up. Sungmin took this as his cue to start asking questions.
"So tell me, what happened out there? What did that Cho Kyuhyun do with my little Wookie?" Sungmin asked.
Ryeowook graned upon hearing the word 'little'. Just remembering what Kyuhyun called him made him pout unhappily. Really, Kyuhyun had quite an impact on him. Did the other man really thing he was too short?
"I'm not that short." Ryeowook muttered to himself which caught Sungmin's attention.
"Huh?" Sungmin asked in confusion. "What are you talking about, Wookie-ah?"
"He called me 'little waiter'. But I'm not that short." Ryeowook answered, still pouting. "I'm not that short, am I, hyung?" Ryeowook asked Sungmin with puppy eyes.
Sungmin looked surprised at the question. And for a while, he couldn't figure out what to answer. To tell the truth, Ryeowook's height really is near the edge of what can be considered to be the normal height for males. So yes, he is quite short. But Sungmin knew better than to actually say that so instead he said, "Of course you're not that short. Just a little bit on the cute side, that's all."
At that response, Ryeowook smiled. "Thanks, hyung." he said before he muttered as if speaking to someone else, "See, Kyuhyun-sshi, I'm not really too short."
Sungmin smiled when Ryeowook smiled but deep inside he was disturbed. Why was Ryeowook so affected by what Kyuhyun had called him? He never was the type to actually get anxious about his physical appearance. And he was never upset about his height. Or at least, never until Kyuhyun pointed it out to him.
Sungmin's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He was about to ask further when suddenly the kitchen door opened revealing two severely excited looking waiters.
"Sungmin-hyung, Ryeowook-ah, we have something to tell you." Donghae said excitedly.
"What?" Sungmin snapped, annoyed at being interrupted when he was about to ask an important question.
Eunhyuk, oblivious of the chef's annoyance, answered, "I had just collided with that infamous Cho Kyuhyun a couple of minutes ago."
"What?!" Sungmin asked. This time he was really curious. "What are you talking about? I didn't hear him swear loudly at anyone. And you don't look like you've been beaten up."
"That's the thing we wanted to tell you. He never did any of those. He just left without making a ruckus. He even picked up a wine glass for Eunhyuk before he left." Donghae said.
"Are you serious?!" Sungmin asked disbelievingly. "Kyuhyun picking up something for you is jist like saying Hitler used toys rather than deadly weapons in the World War."
"I think you're exaggerating too much, hyung." Ryeowook said, not really understanding what was unusual about what Kyuhyun did.
"No, I'm not." Sungmin said.
"Anyway, he really was different tonight." Eunhyuk said.
"Well, Kyuhyun wasn't here for many nights, right?" Donghae said.
"Yeah?" Eunhyuk asked.
"And he came here acting weird." Donghae continued.
"Yeah, so?" Sungmin asked. Donghae seemed to be up to something.
"Well, maybe, just maybe, aliens took the real Kyuhyun and left a bad copy of him here." Donghae suggested. This was greeted by about the most awkward silence in the history of Korea. "Okay, I take that back." he said meekly after a while.
"Something really weird is going on." Sungmin said, as if the conversation with Donghae a while ago never happened.
"Oh, before I forget. You were talking to him a few minutes ago, right, Wookie?" Eunhyuk said. "Did something weird happen between you two?"
Upon hearing the words 'something weird', Ryewook had a sudden flashback on that time when he had his hands on Kyuhyun's bare upper half. The memory caused blood to rush to his face. "N-No. There's n-nothing weird that h-happened b-between us. Nope. I d-don't think so." Ryeowook began blabbing, his voice going higher. He was not making a slightest sense to the others. But Sungmin did look more suspicious.
"What's wrong with little Wookie?" Eunhyuk asked Sungmin.
Again the word 'little' made Ryeowook remember what Kyuhyun called him. And this time, his voice echoed inside his head.
"What is it with everyone calling me 'little'.I'm not that short." he said, annoyed.
Donghae and Eunhyuk fell silent for a while. Then Donghae said, "Well, you are short."
"Eh?" Ryeowook responded. "But I'm not that short, right?"
Eunhyuk stood right in front of Ryeowook and placed a palm against the other's head to measure Ryeowook's height against his. "Nope. You are that short."
It only took five words to revert Ryeowook's mood. "Really?"
Sensing the change in atmosphere, Sungmin immediately stepped in the conversation. "B-But it's quite cute, right, guys?" Sungmin said, elbowing both waiters in the ribs.
"Ouch~Oh, yeah. O-Of course it's cute." Donghae said, forcing a smile despite the pain on his ribs.
"Y-Yeah, don't worry about it too much, Wookie. There's nothing a couple of heel lifts can't fix." Eunhyuk said, massaging the sore spot Sungmin had hit.
"Am I really that short to actually need heel lifts?" Ryeowook asked, feeling more dejected than ever.
Sungmin shot Eunhyuk a look which the latter could easily translate as "You're really gonna get it this time."
Eunhyuk gulped. He knew he was in trouble. Lucky as he was that Kyuhyun didn't do anything to him, he knew Sungmin can be just as dangerous as Kyuhyun when he is pissed off.
Pairings: Kyuwook, Minwook, Eunhae, Kangteuk, Sihanchul, Heeteuk!friendship ( a lot more later, i promise)
Rating: PG13 maybe ( i'm quite violent, hehe)
Summary: Kyuhyun was born and raised as a member of the Dark Society, an organization where death and killing were inevitable and violence was part of life. Not even as he left the organization has he left that part of his life. Then comes Ryeowook, a young man who has absolutely little-to-no idea about the dark and violent reality of society. Can he shed light to Kyuhyun's darkness? Or will he fall prey to the Dark Society?
Chapter 9
Kyuhyun stood half-naked in front of the full-body mirror inside his room, with only a towel covering his lower half. His hair was still dripping but he didn't bother to dry it with a towel as he stared at the wound at the side of his torso.
He had peeled off the bandages earlier so that he could clean the wound and change the bandages with new ones, but somehow, he still hasn't done that. When he saw the stitches, he can't help but just stare at it.
To say that the stitches were unprofessional would be an understatement. Sure the wound was closed but the stitches were nowhere near surgical. They look more like the stitches used on torn clothe rather than torn skin.
Changmin nearly laughed his head off the other day when he checked the wound and saw the stitches. It took a while before he could suppress the laughter just enough so he could offer to redo the stitches for Kyuhyun.
~Flashback~
"You know, I could just stitch the wound myself and make it look better." Changmin said, chuckling. "All I really have to do is to remove these clumsy-looking stitches and restitch the wound myself."
"No." Kyuhyun responded flatly, wiping the smirk off the 'aspiring' doctor's face. Without further ado, he pulled on his clothes.
"Hey, don't tell me you doubt my skills. Come on, Kyuhyun, I've been in medical school for nearly a year before I got kicked out for experimentation on drugs. I know how to properly stitch a wound." Changmin said, slightly hurt.
"I said, no." Kyuhyun responded, making his way up to his room with Changmin following him from behind.
"Just so you know, with a stitch like that, you'll get yourself a very horrible scar. Let me fix it." Changmin insisted, almost pleading.
"For the last time, NO." Kyuhyun said coldly before closing the door in Changmin's face.
For a moment, just before he had closed his door, Kyuhyun caught a glimpse of Leeteuk who had been looking at them with a knowing smile.
~End Flashback~
Still standing in front of the mirror, Kyuhyun wondered why he had refused Changmin's offer. He knew a bad stitch can cause horrible scarring even before the aspiring doctor pointed it out to him but he somehow didn't care about that. What he cared about though was how tired that little waiter had looked in the morning after he had stitched the wound for him.
It was weird. He was never the type to care about anything and everything. The only concern he ever had was on himself and his safety. Never on another person. But now, just the thought of removing the stitches the little waiter had worked so hard for made him feel bad. Like he did something very wrong. It was very much confusing given that he never had felt this way even when he had killed more than just a few people in the past.
But then again, lately he had been feeling a lot of other things he had never felt before. And while those feelings were typically harmless, they were disturbing. In the corner of his mind, the thought that perhaps it was all because of that little waiter in Leeteuk's restaurant still lingered. But Kyuhyun had just about done everything to block those thoughts away. Why the heck would he have anything to do with all this? We just met. I don't even know his name yet. Kyuhyun thought, furiously.
The thought struck Kyuhyun. He never knew the little waiter's name. They've met twice already and he had thought about him many times in the last few days. But whenever he thought about him, he always referred to the other man as "Little Waiter". It was only now that he actually wondered about the other man's name.
Well, in truth, Kyuhyun never really bothered knowing other people's names. In fact, he barely even knew the names of half the members of the White Angel Organization. Names weren't important to him, unless they were targets for him to dispose of. And sometimes, even at that time, he wouldn't bother knowing the target's name. Right now though, he just found himself curious about someone's name.
What the hell is wrong with me? There's no reason for me to be curious about the little waiter's name! He's insignificant for me!, Kyuhyun thought to himself, finally turning away from the mirror.
Nearly ten minutes after that though, Kyuhyun was already heading downstairs, fully clothed. He had his weapons hidden from view already by the time he reached the ground floor of the main house,
As he headed for the door, he passed by Leeteuk who was lazily surfing for good channels on the television. It was his way of passing time when he's waiting for Kangin to come back from manning their group's territories.
When Leeteuk heard Kyuhyun approaching, he lookedup from the television screen. "Going out so soon?"
Kyuhyun ignored him as he went straight to the door. "You know, Heechul may be quite a miracle worker if he wants to but I don't think he can dispell the rumors he made in a short time. A lot of other gangs might still be after your hide." Leeteuk continued.
"Whatever." Kyuhyun said, flinging the door open.
Kyuhyun didn't even spare Leeteuk a glance before he stepped out of the house. Barely a minute after he left, Kangin went inside through the door which Kyuhyun didn't bother to close.
"I'm surprised tht you let the zombie out after what happened the other night. You must have a really good reason for that." Kangin said, still standing in the doorway, watching Kyuhyun walk away.
"If a near-death experience couldn't scare the mighty Kyuhyun from going out at night just to see someone, then who am I to stop him from doing what he's determined to do?" Leeteuk simply said.
"Someone, huh? I wonder who could that be." Kangin wondered, smirking.
"I've got a pretty good idea." Leeteuk responded, smiling as he continued to surf the television.
Meanwhile, Kyuhyun walked in a steady pace. Not too fast nor too slow. But his direction was definite unlike his other nighttime wanderings.
It took him less time to reach the restaurant compared to the other nights he went there. He barely even took notice of the restaurant's name which he hated so much. And unlike the previous nights, he actually managed to get inside the restaurant again and sit at his usual table in the corner. Upon sitting down, a jolt of pain seized up from his wound.
If truth be told, his wound had been aching when he left his room. And he had ignored it all the way to the restaurant. Now that he reached his destination though, he began to wonder why. Why did he endure the pain just to come here? And why was he even here in the first place?
Sure he was curious about the little waiter's name but he could have just asked Leeteuk about it. Surely he would know the guy. He never really needed to come here and get the name from the person himself, right?
The more he thought about it, the stupider the idea of coming into the restaurant became.
More out of habit than anything else, Kyuhyun's eyes began to scan the restaurant. It was busy as always. Nearly every table was occupied. Shouts of orders came here and there along with the occasional rude remarks from arrogant customers.
From his seat, Kyuhyun could see only two waiters circling about. One of them was the extremely good-looking waiter whom he had frightened some time ago. And the other was a slightly thin male with a huge gummy smile. Neither of which he could name. He never had bothered to know them anyway.
Without being consciously aware of it, Kyuhyun had begun scanning the faces of the crowd inside the reataurant, looking for a familiar face with an angelic smile and high delicate cheekbones.
He's not here, Kyuhyun thought. In an instant, Kyuhyun felt something more disturbing than the pain in his wound. There was a sinking feeling creeping into his chest. It was disappointment.
Why though? Why should he be disappointed? It wasn't like he was actually hoping to see the little waiter tonight...was he?
While Kyuhyun was busy pondering on his thoughts, someone else was also busy glaring at him.
"Man, can't he just find some other places to waste his time in? Why does he keep coming here anyway?" Sungmin muttered. He had been glaring at Kyuhyun from the little window of the the kitchen door ever since the other man stepped into the restaurant. "It's not like this is theonly restaurant where he can sit for free."
Ryeowook, who had been busy helping Sungmin prepare a dish, did not see Kyuhyun. But he did hear his hyung muttering furiously. "Something wrong, hyung?"
"Nothing much. Just some guy who keeps coming here without ordering nor paying for anything and yet has the nerve to actually insult the voice of my most favorite person in the world." Sungmin muttered, stepping away from the door to continue cooking.
Ryeowook tilted his head cutely to the side in confusion. What was his hyung talking about?
Curious, Ryeowook took Sungmin's place beside the door before tip-toeing to peer through the small window, scanning the restaurant for someone who could possibly fit Sungmin's description. It took him a while to spot that someone. And when he did, he felt his heart flutter a bit. Cho Kyuhyun.
Needless to say, Ryewook was glad to see Kyuhyun again. True, he was pretty upset when the other man left him the other day without saying anything. But he had been worrying about him at the same time, too. He guessed that worrying was normal since Kyuhyun had been like a patient to him for one night. It almost seemed obligatory for him to know the other man's condition. And now, just seeing Kyuhyun look healthy enough to walk made him happy.
After a few moments of staring though, Ryeowook's smile disappeared. Kyuhyun seemed to be troubled.
What's wrong with him? Is he unwell? Ryeowook thought worriedly. He then noticed that one of Kyuhyun's hands was placed over the side where he had been wounded. His wound must still be aching. Maybe I stitched it wrong.
Ryeowook suddenly felt the urge to get to Kyuhyun, find out what was troubling him and to find some way to relieve whatever it is.
"You probably shouldn't go out just yet, Wook-" Sungmin began to say, but when he looked up to where Ryeowook had been standing, he noticed that the space was empty. Ryeowook had already left without saying anything.
Sungmin immediately ran to the door to look through the window. There, he saw Ryeowook walking away from the kitchen.
After a while after he first felt the pang of disappointment, Kyuhyun decided to leave. There wasn't really a reason for him to stay. Besides, the longer he stayed, the stronger the feeling of disappointment became.
As he stood up, the familiar pain jolted him again. Along with the pain was the sudden dizziness. He still hadn't recovered much from the blood loss and the sudden movement made him hypotensive.
He felt himself falling backwards but somehow he didn't fall all the way7 down. Someone had grabbed him before he completely fell.
"Hey, Be careful, will you? You almost got your neck broken." a very familiar voice said, softly.
just hearing the melodious voice again made Kyuhyun's heart speed up again, which brought more blood to his brain relieving his dizziness and the sudden hypotension he was feeling. Once the dizziness had faded, he saw Ryeowook's worried face clearly.
"You probably should sit down for a while. Geez, you almost gave me a heart attack." Ryeowooksaid, helping Kyuhyun back down to his chair when he saw how pale the other had looked. "You know, if you're not feeling too well, you should have just stayed in bed."
"You speak like a mother." Kyuhyun responded after he had sat down. He was a bit unnerved by the fact that Ryeowook practically scolded him.
While it wasn't really meant to be an insult, Ryeowook looked affronted by it. "Well sorry for speaking like a mother to you, Kyuhyun-sshi. That's just my way of showing my concern." Ryeowook said, arms crossed across his chest.
Warmth flooded in Kyuhyun's chest at the words. Although he had been somewhat happy to know that the other was concerned, he also suddenly felt embarassed about their conversation. He looked away from Ryeowook so that his eyes wouldn't betray his feelings at the moment. "There's no reason to be concerned. I'm not a child." he said.
"Me being concerned about you has nothing to do about you being a child. Although, you're stubborness was definitely quite childish in my opinion." Ryeowook said.
"Says the person who wouldn't just leave me alone no matter how much I push him away. Now tell me, who do you think is more childishly stubborn between us in your opinion?" Kyuhyun retaliated, a small smirk slowly forming on his lips. Despite himself, he was actually enjoying this little argument they were doing.
Ryeowook opened his mouth to retaliate, but ended up closing them again for lack of anything to say. He never really knew why he had been so stubborn as to actually carry Kyuhyun all the way to Sungmin's apartment just to help him. Not even after Kyuhyun pointed his gun at him did he stop helping.
"What's the matter? Cat's got your tongue?" Kyuhyun mocked.
The question made Ryeowook tilt his head to the side in confusion. "What are you talking about? There ain't no cat anywhere near my tongue...is there?" he asked in puzzlement before sticking his tongue out to look at it.
Kyuhyun nearly face-palmed at Ryeowook's reaction but he managed to stop himself and just shake his head. While he found the action cute, the fact that the little waiter didn't understand what he just said struck him hard. "My, how stupid can you get?"
Hearing what Kyuhyun said, Ryeowook immediately withdrew his tongue back into his mouth. "You really have quite the talent to becoming extremely mean, you know that? Sigh* This is what I get for being too king enough to just help some random person from bleeding out in the alleys." Ryeowook muttered, walking away from Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun just watched Ryeowook walk away, slightly feeling sad that their conversation ended a bit badly. Then suddenly, he remembered something.
"Oi! Little waiter, why did you help some random person bleeding out in the alleys anyway." Kyuhyun asked.
"I'm just being helpful. It's part of being human. You should try it sometimes. Who knows, you might look more human than what you look now." Ryeowook said. Kyuhyun just stared at him.
"Besides, it's not like I could just leave you to bleed to death, can I?" Ryeowook added, with a kind smile. Again, Kyuhyun felt his heart thumping faster than normal at the sight of an angel's smile.
But the smile was short-lived though because after a moment, Ryeowook frowned at him and said, "And don't call me 'little waiter'. I'm not that short. I'm pretty much on a medium height as far as I'm concerned. Besides, I have a name. And it's Ryeowook. Kim Ryeowook." Huffing, Ryeowook walked away.
The quick change in facial expression stunned Kyuhyun for a while. But after Ryeowook disappeared into the kitchen, the corners of Kyuhyun's mouth twitched a bit, almost forming a small smile.
"Kim Ryeowook, huh? Little Waiter Ryeowook." Kyuhyun whispered to himself, as if trying the name with his own tongue. "Lookis like I got what I came here for afterall."
What Kyuhyun failed to acknowledge though was that he actually got more than what he came for.
He sat there for a few minutes before he decided that it was time for him to leave.
On his way out, Eunhyuk, who was carrying two trays full of dirty dishes and glasses, bumped into him. The force of the impact nearly made Eunhyuk loose his grip of the trays but he managed to keep them from falling down. One of the wine glasses, however, fell off the tray and landed on the carpeted floor.
Kyuhyun looked at the fallen wine glass for a while before he picked it up and stood up again to look at the stunned face of the waiter that bumped into him.
The first thing that Eunhyuk felt after he collided with Kyuhyun was shock. It was then closely followed by horror. He knew very well how terrifying Kyuhyun can be when he's angry.
"Oh, god. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were passing by. I didn't mean to bump into you. Honest. I'll be careful next time. Please don't hurt me." Eunhyuk stuttered.
Kyuhyun just stared at Eunhyuk flatly before he raised the hand that was holding the wine glass he just picked up. Eunhyuk closed his eyes, anticipating that Kyuhyun will break the glass on his face. Her waited for it, but it never came. Catiously, he opened one eye to look at what's going on.
With one eye, he saw Kyuhyun walk out of the restaurant. Opening both eyes, he noticed the wine glass that had fallen back on his tray.
"Hyukkie!" Donghae called, hurrying over to his boyfriend. "What happened? Did he hurt you?"
The stunned Eunhyuk tooka while before he managed to answer," If I said that the Cho Kyuhyun didn't hurt me and that he actually helped me, would that sound weird?"
"Very." Donghae answered.
"Well then, get ready to hear something very weird." Eunhyuk replied. He had the look that implied that he still couldn't believe what happened.
As soon as Ryeowook enetered the kitchen, he was engulfed by Sungmin in a huge rib-crushing bear hug that completely prevented air from entering his lungs.
"H-Hyung...you're crushing me." Ryeowook gasped.
Sungmin didn't seem to hear him as he ranted, "Shit, Wookie, you almost scared me to death. When I saw you walking to that murderous looking Cho Kyuhyun, I thought you're really gonna get in trouble. What did he do to you, huh? Did he hurt you this time? More insults? Threats?"
"Hyung...!" Ryeowook groaned. He was starting to go blue before Sungmin finally noticed and let go.
"Oh, dear. I'm sooo sorry. I was just so worried. Are you akay? No broken ribs or anything similar to that?" Sungmin ranted again, rubbing circles on Ryeowook's back as the other panted for air.
"It's...o-okay, hyung. I'm fine. N-Nothing to worry about." Ryeowook said in between painfull gasps of air.
Few people may know it but Sungmin's hugs can be rather deadly at times. Not that anyone had the heart to tell him about it.
It took a while before Ryeowook's breathing finally evened up. Sungmin took this as his cue to start asking questions.
"So tell me, what happened out there? What did that Cho Kyuhyun do with my little Wookie?" Sungmin asked.
Ryeowook graned upon hearing the word 'little'. Just remembering what Kyuhyun called him made him pout unhappily. Really, Kyuhyun had quite an impact on him. Did the other man really thing he was too short?
"I'm not that short." Ryeowook muttered to himself which caught Sungmin's attention.
"Huh?" Sungmin asked in confusion. "What are you talking about, Wookie-ah?"
"He called me 'little waiter'. But I'm not that short." Ryeowook answered, still pouting. "I'm not that short, am I, hyung?" Ryeowook asked Sungmin with puppy eyes.
Sungmin looked surprised at the question. And for a while, he couldn't figure out what to answer. To tell the truth, Ryeowook's height really is near the edge of what can be considered to be the normal height for males. So yes, he is quite short. But Sungmin knew better than to actually say that so instead he said, "Of course you're not that short. Just a little bit on the cute side, that's all."
At that response, Ryeowook smiled. "Thanks, hyung." he said before he muttered as if speaking to someone else, "See, Kyuhyun-sshi, I'm not really too short."
Sungmin smiled when Ryeowook smiled but deep inside he was disturbed. Why was Ryeowook so affected by what Kyuhyun had called him? He never was the type to actually get anxious about his physical appearance. And he was never upset about his height. Or at least, never until Kyuhyun pointed it out to him.
Sungmin's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He was about to ask further when suddenly the kitchen door opened revealing two severely excited looking waiters.
"Sungmin-hyung, Ryeowook-ah, we have something to tell you." Donghae said excitedly.
"What?" Sungmin snapped, annoyed at being interrupted when he was about to ask an important question.
Eunhyuk, oblivious of the chef's annoyance, answered, "I had just collided with that infamous Cho Kyuhyun a couple of minutes ago."
"What?!" Sungmin asked. This time he was really curious. "What are you talking about? I didn't hear him swear loudly at anyone. And you don't look like you've been beaten up."
"That's the thing we wanted to tell you. He never did any of those. He just left without making a ruckus. He even picked up a wine glass for Eunhyuk before he left." Donghae said.
"Are you serious?!" Sungmin asked disbelievingly. "Kyuhyun picking up something for you is jist like saying Hitler used toys rather than deadly weapons in the World War."
"I think you're exaggerating too much, hyung." Ryeowook said, not really understanding what was unusual about what Kyuhyun did.
"No, I'm not." Sungmin said.
"Anyway, he really was different tonight." Eunhyuk said.
"Well, Kyuhyun wasn't here for many nights, right?" Donghae said.
"Yeah?" Eunhyuk asked.
"And he came here acting weird." Donghae continued.
"Yeah, so?" Sungmin asked. Donghae seemed to be up to something.
"Well, maybe, just maybe, aliens took the real Kyuhyun and left a bad copy of him here." Donghae suggested. This was greeted by about the most awkward silence in the history of Korea. "Okay, I take that back." he said meekly after a while.
"Something really weird is going on." Sungmin said, as if the conversation with Donghae a while ago never happened.
"Oh, before I forget. You were talking to him a few minutes ago, right, Wookie?" Eunhyuk said. "Did something weird happen between you two?"
Upon hearing the words 'something weird', Ryewook had a sudden flashback on that time when he had his hands on Kyuhyun's bare upper half. The memory caused blood to rush to his face. "N-No. There's n-nothing weird that h-happened b-between us. Nope. I d-don't think so." Ryeowook began blabbing, his voice going higher. He was not making a slightest sense to the others. But Sungmin did look more suspicious.
"What's wrong with little Wookie?" Eunhyuk asked Sungmin.
Again the word 'little' made Ryeowook remember what Kyuhyun called him. And this time, his voice echoed inside his head.
"What is it with everyone calling me 'little'.I'm not that short." he said, annoyed.
Donghae and Eunhyuk fell silent for a while. Then Donghae said, "Well, you are short."
"Eh?" Ryeowook responded. "But I'm not that short, right?"
Eunhyuk stood right in front of Ryeowook and placed a palm against the other's head to measure Ryeowook's height against his. "Nope. You are that short."
It only took five words to revert Ryeowook's mood. "Really?"
Sensing the change in atmosphere, Sungmin immediately stepped in the conversation. "B-But it's quite cute, right, guys?" Sungmin said, elbowing both waiters in the ribs.
"Ouch~Oh, yeah. O-Of course it's cute." Donghae said, forcing a smile despite the pain on his ribs.
"Y-Yeah, don't worry about it too much, Wookie. There's nothing a couple of heel lifts can't fix." Eunhyuk said, massaging the sore spot Sungmin had hit.
"Am I really that short to actually need heel lifts?" Ryeowook asked, feeling more dejected than ever.
Sungmin shot Eunhyuk a look which the latter could easily translate as "You're really gonna get it this time."
Eunhyuk gulped. He knew he was in trouble. Lucky as he was that Kyuhyun didn't do anything to him, he knew Sungmin can be just as dangerous as Kyuhyun when he is pissed off.