Welcome home - Kyuhyun / Ryeowook - PG-13

Title: Welcome home
Pairing: Kyuhyun / Ryeowook
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fluff, romance
Summary: Super Junior argue over just who will be the one to greet Kyuhyun when he finally arrives home…
Notes: Written for ohpunch.

Welcome home
by Rinoa

The announcement was made sometime during dance practice: Kyuhyun was finally being let out of hospital, and he’d be back home sometime just after four. However, due to a fanmeeting management had scheduled at three-thirty, they probably wouldn’t be home until seven-thirty or even eight, and so the decision had been made to allow one of them to go home, just one, so at least Kyuhyun wasn’t left entirely on his own.

It immediately turned into an argument of sorts. Eeteuk thought that as leader he should be the one to welcome the magnae home. Heechul said that he’d been on crutches so he knew exactly what the younger boy would be going through, thus meaning he was needed there. Hankyung argued that he was probably hungry and wanted good food. Kangin, Shindong and Sungmin asserted at almost the same time that they, individually, were the members who knew him best, and then all three fell into a separate argument over the same topic. Eunhyuk and Donghae both felt that he needed someone who could make him laugh, and each felt that they were the best person to do so. Shiwon thought that someone mature – himself more than anyone – was needed for the job. Kibum announced that Kyuhyun would probably want someone there who was close to him in age, so that he could feel more comfortable.

Yehsung just watched it all, an amused smile on his face – in all the arguing, none of them had noticed just what was happening. And in the end, by the time Kangin had managed to override everyone else just because he was the loudest and bossiest, Ryeowook had already grabbed his things, spoken to their manager, and left, and so when the other went to leave too, he was stopped and told that actually, he had to stay.

Kangin pretended to be annoyed, but it wasn’t hard to see the tell-tale smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Four o’clock, they’d said, but Ryeowook was outside the dorm by two-thirty, sitting on the steps outside with music blaring tinnily from the earbuds he wore around his neck, jiggling on the spot in impatience, excitement, and just a little bit of anxiety. He played games and browsed the Internet on his cell phone to pass the time, but somehow it was like a slow crawl anyway and it felt like an eternity had passed before his watch finally read something similar to four o’clock. Something similar to because it was actually two minutes past when he first noticed. In surprise, he checked his phone too, but it read exactly the same – of course it did, because when Eeteuk had insisted they all synch their watches, he included cell phones in case members forgot one or the other – and with a sigh, he settled back against the stairs, fidgeting, waiting anxiously for the car to show up.

Four thirty came and went, and then five, and five thirty. It rained, and then stopped, and then rained again, and by the time six came Ryeowook was soaked through. He hadn’t brought an umbrella with him, and he didn’t want to go back into the dorm to get one, just in case Kyuhyun arrived while he was doing so and found himself with no proper welcome. So he stood there in the rain, shivering and shuddering and occasionally sneezing, huddled up in his jacket and checking his watch every thirty seconds, even though it did him no good.

At something he approximated at six thirty two and forty nine seconds, a car pulled up in front of the house and Kyuhyun climbed out, supporting himself carefully on one crutch, and then two. When he saw Ryeowook standing there, he smiled brilliantly and hobbled over, nodding silent thankyous at the staff who’d accompanied him as they hurried into the dorm, carrying his luggage for him. The car peeled off into what was now the early night, and Kyuhyun shook his head in disbelief as he suddenly realised how cold and wet Ryeowook actually was.

“You moron,” he laughed. “You know we have umbrellas inside, right? Thirteen of them, even, you could’ve had any one you wanted!”

The older boy rolled his eyes, too shy to actually come right out and say why he hadn’t gone back inside to keep himself dry. “Shut up,” he retorted instead, and he just scowled when it only made Kyuhyun laugh more. “Hey,” he said grumpily, “I’ve looked after you since you’ve been in hospital. Be nice to me.”

“I’m always nice to you,” Kyuhyun laughed in response, and Ryeowook had to take a moment to wonder when he’d gotten so good at using those crutches because somehow the younger boy had backed him up the three or four steps it took to have him pressed against the wall, and from there it was all too easy to support himself, crutches or no. His hair was already flat against his forehead from the soaking rain, his thin shirt clinging to him like plastic wrap, but he still looked as cool and as calm as ever, and moving closer and supporting himself on the wall with his hands was as easy as tossing the crutches to one side. “You can get them for me after,” he murmured amusedly, and maybe Ryeowook would have retorted angrily or at least hit him or something but actually he’d lost the battle from the moment Kyuhyun’s mouth had pressed against his, the kiss hot and desperate because damn, both of them had wanted this, both of them had missed it so much over the last too-many months.

They only broke apart when one of the staff members slapped Kyuhyun on the back of the head and muttered at them to keep it out of the public eye at the very least, and a blushing Ryeowook handed the other boy back his crutches, and at that point Kyuhyun realised just how much the older boy was shaking.

“C’mon, idiot,” he said fondly. “We’ll get you inside and dried off.”

A few days later, Super Junior had not only one bed-ridden member but two, reports said. Cho Kyuhyun was back at the dorm and recovering quickly, and hopefully he’d be able to start performing again soon. Kim Ryeowook meanwhile had contracted a rather vicious cold and was out of action for a week at least due to a high fever etcetera etcetera etcetera.

Wrapping his arms around his shivering hyung, Kyuhyun turned off the TV with a smile.

In his own little way, he was happy.