An Obsession with Xylophones
Title: An Obsession with Xylophones
Summary: In which Hyukjae brings his xylophone to Taiwan and mopes until the members do something about it.
Pairing: OT8, hyukry, qmi
Rating: PG
Warning: Crack (sort of)
__
“There’s something wrong with Hyukkie,” Donghae declares one day when Hyukjae is out with their manager buying food. Kyuhyun who is playing Tekken with Zhou Mi on the PS3 snorts. “Isn’t there always?”
Zhou Mi shrieks as his character is bashed into the ground and pouts, giving Kyuhyun a baleful look. “Kui Xian!” he wails. “You said you’d go easy on me!”
Kyuhyun smirks and turns his attention back to the Chinese man as Siwon murmurs thoughtfully, “What do you think is wrong Donghae?”
“Maybe he’s finally realized his feet stink?” Sungmin suggests helpfully from where he lays on the floor, his head on Ryeowook’s lap. He earns a smack from Ryeowook and a reprimand, “Hyung! Don’t be mean. Besides, Hyukjae-hyung’s feet don’t stink as badly anymore,”
“I don’t think that’s it at all,” Siwon remarks dryly. “Donghae, you were the one who said that there’s something wrong with Hyukkie, why don’t you tell us?”
“Well, I don’t know what’s wrong but I do know Hyukkie’s been behaving weirdly. He keeps sighing!” Donghae frowns. Silence falls upon the room and the only sound there is, is the sound of fighting because of the game Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi are engrossed in.
“Well,” Henry says suddenly, breaking the silence, exiting the kitchen with a bowl of ramen. “I know what the problem is,” he sings before taking a slurp of his noodles.
Zhou Mi pauses the game and shoots Kyuhyun a warning look, which stops the younger man’s complain. “Don’t keep us in suspense maknae,” Sungmin says, grinning a little.
“Hyukkie-ge is obsessed,” Henry declares triumphantly. Everyone gives the youngest a blank look as Siwon enquires carefully, “Obsessed? With what?”
Henry shoots his hyung-deul an exasperated look, setting down his ramen. “You guys are really blind sometimes!” he huffs, crossing his arms, earning protests from the older members. “Hyukkie-hyung is obsessed with his xylophone,” he says loudly, stopping their complaints of “Siwon, the maknae is being rude!”
“Xylophone?” they chorus in confusion. Henry shrugs and settles himself in a chair, eating his ramen.
“That is a problem,” Zhou Mi says worriedly. “Does Hyukjae want to marry it? I read something on the Internet yesterday about an old lady wanting to marry her knitting needles! It could happen to Hyukjae if we don’t do something about it!”
“Hyung,” Kyuhyun deadpans. “Shut up. That doesn’t make sense at all and I don’t think that’s it,”
Zhou Mi pouts as Sungmin muses, “I think it has something to do with Strong Heart,”
“Explain,” Siwon says, now truly troubled.
“Well, Hyukjae used to always play the xylophone on Strong Heart. You know, the guests display their talents and then he plays a ‘ding’ if he doesn’t like it and a nice ‘you passed’ tune when he likes it,” explains Sungmin. “And Jungsu-hyung told me the PD of Strong Heart gifted Hyukjae a xylophone because he’d be leaving the show for a couple of months to promote with us,”
“And what seems to be the problem then?” Ryeowook pipes up, not quite grasping the problem.
“The problem is,” Henry declares. “Hyukkie-ge keeps me up every night playing those ‘ding’ and ‘deng, deng, deng’ sounds! He’s obsessed with it! It’s like he has to play it or he can’t function,”
Uneasy silence falls over the room as the members fully realize the horror of Hyukjae’s obsession. As Henry slurps his noodles, Zhou Mi asks quietly, “So what do we do? We have to find a way to solve this problem don’t we?”
The members exchange uneasy looks as they try to think of a solution, Henry happily drinking his soup. When he is done, he wipes his mouth and stands, earning the attention of the older members. “I think the solution is easy enough,” Henry says, grinning.
“We have a talent show with Hyukkie-ge to judge us. And, he’ll use the xylophone,” Henry says, throwing his hands out, feeling proud of himself.
__
Thus, Super Junior M’s next free day finds the members - minus Hyukjae who is currently being distracted by their manager - preparing for a talent show.
They clear out a space in their living room, pushing aside the coffee table and sweeping the floor. Siwon and Donghae carry the sofa to the back of the room for Sungmin to redecorate it “So it can be fit for even the Queen of England!” Sungmin declares, grinning manically.
Henry and Zhou Mi sets up a sound system, employing the help of Kyuhyun - read Kyuhyun forced them to let him help - when they nearly drop Kyuhyun’s PS3.
At precisely half past ten, everything is settled and Siwon makes a phone call.
“Yeobosaeyeo, manager-hyung, everything is ready,” he says, murmuring an ‘okay’ before hanging up.
“Let’s go get ready then. Manager-hyung and Hyukjae will be back in twenty minutes,” Siwon announces and everyone rushes off to prepare themselves. Despite this being a solution to ending Hyukjae’s obsession, they seem to have taken it as an actual talent show.
Well, the more realistic it seems, the more likely they’ll be able to stem Hyukjae’s obsession anyways.
__
When Hyukjae steps into their dorm, he raises his brows as he notices the huge difference in their living room. “Hyung, what happened to the living room?” he asks, shocked.
“Oh, the members decided they’d like to have a talent show today,” the manager recites, discreetly glancing down at his palm to see if he’s gotten his lines right. “And they also decided that they’d like you to be the judge of honor with your wonderful xylophone,”
Hyukjae grinned widely, his gums showing. “Well now,” he says, chest puffed out with importance. “Every good judge does need a xylophone! I’ll go get it right now. Hyung, get them in order okay?” And Hyukjae rushes off to his room to get his precious xylophone, leaving behind an amused manager.
“Siwon,” he calls out, looking into the living room.
“Yes hyung?” says Siwon, coming from behind the manager and scaring him.
“Oh god! Don’t do that!” the manager grumbles. “Anyways, have you guys drawn the lots for the order of performance?”
“We have,” Sungmin trills, dancing into the room dressed like a girl with Zhou Mi. The manager stares in shock and mutters, “I don’t want to know. I’m going out,” And leaves, hearing Sungmin and Zhou Mi giggle.
“Guys! The guest of honor is coming! Get into the living room now!” Donghae announces hurriedly, flapping his arms. Kyuhyun rolls his eyes and adjusts his shirt. “I still don’t get why Henry gets to be the emcee,” he grumbles moodily.
“Because he thought of the solution. Now, let’s get to our places so this whole fiasco can be over and done with,” Sungmin replies waspishly, elbowing Kyuhyun.
They arrange themselves in a line in accordance to the order of performance just as Henry strolls in, announcing importantly, “Our guest judge of honor arrives,” And steps aside for Hyukjae to stride in, head held up imperiously with his xylophone.
“Thank you. I’m glad to be here,” he says, settling down on the sofa Sungmin had decorated. “Let’s begin,” he says and Henry nods, moving to the centre of the room, clearing his throat.
“Welcome to Super Junior M’s first talent show!” Henry announces grandly, the lights going off and the members all aim their torchlight at him, creating a spotlight. The members cheer loudly before Henry continues, “I will be your emcee for this event and allow me to give you the order of today’s performance whilst introducing you to the competitor,”
He steps aside, the ‘spotlight’ following him. “Before this event, the competitors have drawn lots and the lucky competitor going first is Lee Donghae who will be performing a SM family medley of dances!”
Donghae steps out, dressed in ripped jeans and a simple collared shirt, smiling brightly as the members cheer.
“Performing second is Cho Kyuhyun who will be singing a ballad,”
Kyuhyun steps out next to Donghae, bowing, dressed a loose black shirt and white jeans.
“Performing third is a duo, Sungmin and Zhou Mi, also known as Prettier Than Girls, who will be performing a medley of popular girl group dances,”
They step out together dressed like girls complete with high heels and wigs as they smile brightly.
“Performing fourth is Kim Ryeowook who will be singing a self-composed song,”
Ryeowook steps forward shyly, bowing politely, dressed in a button down with a bowtie and jeans.
“Going fifth is yours truly, Henry Lau. My performance will be kept a secret until my turn arrives,” Henry smiles beatifically.
“And performing last is Choi Siwon! He will be performing a…” Henry trails off, frowning at his emcee card. “Hyung! You’re doing a sermon? I thought you change it,” Henry hisses, glancing at Hyukjae and smiling apologetically.
“I’m not,” Siwon, says confused. “I did change my performance. I’ll be singing a mandarin song,”
Henry nods before speaking, “Choi Siwon will be singing a Mandarin song!” He claps before nodding to the members who file off the ‘stage’.
“Now let’s begin with Lee Donghae and his SM dance medley!”
And the music starts.
__
Four performances later finds disgruntled people - Kyuhyun and Donghae - who have gotten a ‘ding’ barely even halfway into their performances because “Donghae, I know you’re a good dancer and all but dancing to SM artists’ song is boring! A talent show is to display something unique!”
And “Kyuhyun-ah, you sang wonderfully but it nearly put me to sleep. Sing something catchier next time!”
Sungmin and Zhou Mi’s performance gained Hyukjae’s approval mostly because “I like girl groups. And you guys dressed the part. You make very pretty girls,” Hyukjae had said before playing the xylophone.
“Next,” Hyukjae calls and Henry steps up onto the ‘stage’.
He bows before smirking saucily as a heavy beat music plays. Henry starts moving his hips, throwing his head back and making a throaty noise in his throat, moving slinking towards where Hyukjae is sitting, mouth agape.
Henry sits on his lap sideways and moves his upper body to the song, singing, “’Cos baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again,”
“Um,” Hyukjae says intelligently as Henry leans forward, their breaths mingling. All he sees his Henry’s half shy, half sexy smile before their lips are sealed together in a messy kiss.
“Oh,” Ryeowook says shocked.
“My,” Sungmin and Zhou Mi squeals.
“God,” Donghae shrieks. “Unfair! He’s seducing the judge!”
Henry breaks the kiss and hugs Hyukjae, smiling happily, lips red and swollen. “I’m not! It’s my performance! Seduction 101!” he says happily as Hyukjae wraps an arm around the younger man’s waist, clumsily playing the xylophone.
‘DING!’
Henry pouts. “Why?” he whines.
“Because you are not allowed to display this talent to anyone else,” Hyukjae says, putting the xylophone on the floor and holding on to Henry possessively.
“Hyukjae?” Siwon interrupts. “There’s still two performances left,”
“I, uh, oh. Talent show over,” Hyukjae says, distracted by whatever Henry is murmuring into his ear.
“No fair,” Ryeowook says, pouting. “Quick! Kyuhyun-ah, grab the xylophone!”
And in a flurry of movement that involves protesting, - from Hyukjae - shouting, - from Donghae and Kyuhyun- and cheering - from Sungmin and Zhou Mi - the xylophone is whisked away with a restrained Hyukjae watching in horror.
“My baby!” he exclaims, close to tears.
“Is right here,” Henry says, stepping into Hyukjae’s line of vision, pouting with his lower lip quivering and eyes filled with tears. Hyukjae stares, forgetting his xylophone as Henry bites his lower lip, a tear escaping his eyes.
“Henry! Don’t cry!” he says desperately as Ryeowook and Siwon glares at him, looking murderous.
“I want to cry!” Henry shouts childishly. “It’s not like you care anyways! You always ignore me for your xylophone! You don’t even hug me anymore!”
Henry’s words end in a wail as Ryeowook’s heart melts at the sight of Henry wailing adorably. Kyuhyun, Donghae, Sungmin and Zhou Mi enter the room feeling a little lost upon seeing a crying Henry and a flailing Hyukjae.
“What’s going on?” Sungmin demands. “Why is our maknae crying? Lee Hyukjae, I’m going to call Jungsu-hyung!”
“No! Don’t! Henry! Stop crying!” Hyukjae shouts, desperate and lost, maybe a little scared too at the thought of Jungsu coming after him for making Henry cry. He steps forward and pulls Henry into a hug, speaking softly, “I’m sorry Henry. I didn’t mean to ignore you. I just got so caught up with missing Strong Heart and being able to play the xylophone I forgot about you,”
“Please stop crying Henry-ah. I promise I won’t ever touch my xylophone ever again unless I have to pack it. I won’t even say the word xylophone anymore!”
Henry sniffles and pulls out of the embrace. “Really?” he says, cheeks splotched red. “Really,” Hyukjae replies, smiling and wiping away Henry’s tears.
There is a moment of silence as Ryeowook silently squeals.
“Okay,” Henry says eventually. “Can we go cuddle now?”
Hyukjae smiles brightly and tugs Henry along to their room, leaving behind the rest.
And all was right again in the dorm.
__
Epilogue:
“There really wasn’t a problem was there,” Siwon says once Hyukjae and Henry are out of earshot, pinning Donghae with a look.
Donghae grins cheekily. “There was!” he insists. “Just that it wasn’t half as serious as I put it,”
“Henry must’ve missed Hyukjae,” Sungmin says sympathetically.
Zhou Mi nods in agreement. “I know how he feels. Having a xylophone get chosen over you. I experience it everyday with Kui Xian except his obsession is his silly games,”
“Hey!” Kyuhyun says indignantly. “You play it with me!”
“Only to get your attention!” Zhou Mi retorts and a squabbling match breaks out between the two, Sungmin cheering Zhou Mi on.
“Siwon-hyung, Donghae-hyung,” Ryeowook says loudly over the squabbling. “Would you like some cookies? I made some yesterday,”
Yes, all was right indeed.
.end
Summary: In which Hyukjae brings his xylophone to Taiwan and mopes until the members do something about it.
Pairing: OT8, hyukry, qmi
Rating: PG
Warning: Crack (sort of)
__
“There’s something wrong with Hyukkie,” Donghae declares one day when Hyukjae is out with their manager buying food. Kyuhyun who is playing Tekken with Zhou Mi on the PS3 snorts. “Isn’t there always?”
Zhou Mi shrieks as his character is bashed into the ground and pouts, giving Kyuhyun a baleful look. “Kui Xian!” he wails. “You said you’d go easy on me!”
Kyuhyun smirks and turns his attention back to the Chinese man as Siwon murmurs thoughtfully, “What do you think is wrong Donghae?”
“Maybe he’s finally realized his feet stink?” Sungmin suggests helpfully from where he lays on the floor, his head on Ryeowook’s lap. He earns a smack from Ryeowook and a reprimand, “Hyung! Don’t be mean. Besides, Hyukjae-hyung’s feet don’t stink as badly anymore,”
“I don’t think that’s it at all,” Siwon remarks dryly. “Donghae, you were the one who said that there’s something wrong with Hyukkie, why don’t you tell us?”
“Well, I don’t know what’s wrong but I do know Hyukkie’s been behaving weirdly. He keeps sighing!” Donghae frowns. Silence falls upon the room and the only sound there is, is the sound of fighting because of the game Kyuhyun and Zhou Mi are engrossed in.
“Well,” Henry says suddenly, breaking the silence, exiting the kitchen with a bowl of ramen. “I know what the problem is,” he sings before taking a slurp of his noodles.
Zhou Mi pauses the game and shoots Kyuhyun a warning look, which stops the younger man’s complain. “Don’t keep us in suspense maknae,” Sungmin says, grinning a little.
“Hyukkie-ge is obsessed,” Henry declares triumphantly. Everyone gives the youngest a blank look as Siwon enquires carefully, “Obsessed? With what?”
Henry shoots his hyung-deul an exasperated look, setting down his ramen. “You guys are really blind sometimes!” he huffs, crossing his arms, earning protests from the older members. “Hyukkie-hyung is obsessed with his xylophone,” he says loudly, stopping their complaints of “Siwon, the maknae is being rude!”
“Xylophone?” they chorus in confusion. Henry shrugs and settles himself in a chair, eating his ramen.
“That is a problem,” Zhou Mi says worriedly. “Does Hyukjae want to marry it? I read something on the Internet yesterday about an old lady wanting to marry her knitting needles! It could happen to Hyukjae if we don’t do something about it!”
“Hyung,” Kyuhyun deadpans. “Shut up. That doesn’t make sense at all and I don’t think that’s it,”
Zhou Mi pouts as Sungmin muses, “I think it has something to do with Strong Heart,”
“Explain,” Siwon says, now truly troubled.
“Well, Hyukjae used to always play the xylophone on Strong Heart. You know, the guests display their talents and then he plays a ‘ding’ if he doesn’t like it and a nice ‘you passed’ tune when he likes it,” explains Sungmin. “And Jungsu-hyung told me the PD of Strong Heart gifted Hyukjae a xylophone because he’d be leaving the show for a couple of months to promote with us,”
“And what seems to be the problem then?” Ryeowook pipes up, not quite grasping the problem.
“The problem is,” Henry declares. “Hyukkie-ge keeps me up every night playing those ‘ding’ and ‘deng, deng, deng’ sounds! He’s obsessed with it! It’s like he has to play it or he can’t function,”
Uneasy silence falls over the room as the members fully realize the horror of Hyukjae’s obsession. As Henry slurps his noodles, Zhou Mi asks quietly, “So what do we do? We have to find a way to solve this problem don’t we?”
The members exchange uneasy looks as they try to think of a solution, Henry happily drinking his soup. When he is done, he wipes his mouth and stands, earning the attention of the older members. “I think the solution is easy enough,” Henry says, grinning.
“We have a talent show with Hyukkie-ge to judge us. And, he’ll use the xylophone,” Henry says, throwing his hands out, feeling proud of himself.
__
Thus, Super Junior M’s next free day finds the members - minus Hyukjae who is currently being distracted by their manager - preparing for a talent show.
They clear out a space in their living room, pushing aside the coffee table and sweeping the floor. Siwon and Donghae carry the sofa to the back of the room for Sungmin to redecorate it “So it can be fit for even the Queen of England!” Sungmin declares, grinning manically.
Henry and Zhou Mi sets up a sound system, employing the help of Kyuhyun - read Kyuhyun forced them to let him help - when they nearly drop Kyuhyun’s PS3.
At precisely half past ten, everything is settled and Siwon makes a phone call.
“Yeobosaeyeo, manager-hyung, everything is ready,” he says, murmuring an ‘okay’ before hanging up.
“Let’s go get ready then. Manager-hyung and Hyukjae will be back in twenty minutes,” Siwon announces and everyone rushes off to prepare themselves. Despite this being a solution to ending Hyukjae’s obsession, they seem to have taken it as an actual talent show.
Well, the more realistic it seems, the more likely they’ll be able to stem Hyukjae’s obsession anyways.
__
When Hyukjae steps into their dorm, he raises his brows as he notices the huge difference in their living room. “Hyung, what happened to the living room?” he asks, shocked.
“Oh, the members decided they’d like to have a talent show today,” the manager recites, discreetly glancing down at his palm to see if he’s gotten his lines right. “And they also decided that they’d like you to be the judge of honor with your wonderful xylophone,”
Hyukjae grinned widely, his gums showing. “Well now,” he says, chest puffed out with importance. “Every good judge does need a xylophone! I’ll go get it right now. Hyung, get them in order okay?” And Hyukjae rushes off to his room to get his precious xylophone, leaving behind an amused manager.
“Siwon,” he calls out, looking into the living room.
“Yes hyung?” says Siwon, coming from behind the manager and scaring him.
“Oh god! Don’t do that!” the manager grumbles. “Anyways, have you guys drawn the lots for the order of performance?”
“We have,” Sungmin trills, dancing into the room dressed like a girl with Zhou Mi. The manager stares in shock and mutters, “I don’t want to know. I’m going out,” And leaves, hearing Sungmin and Zhou Mi giggle.
“Guys! The guest of honor is coming! Get into the living room now!” Donghae announces hurriedly, flapping his arms. Kyuhyun rolls his eyes and adjusts his shirt. “I still don’t get why Henry gets to be the emcee,” he grumbles moodily.
“Because he thought of the solution. Now, let’s get to our places so this whole fiasco can be over and done with,” Sungmin replies waspishly, elbowing Kyuhyun.
They arrange themselves in a line in accordance to the order of performance just as Henry strolls in, announcing importantly, “Our guest judge of honor arrives,” And steps aside for Hyukjae to stride in, head held up imperiously with his xylophone.
“Thank you. I’m glad to be here,” he says, settling down on the sofa Sungmin had decorated. “Let’s begin,” he says and Henry nods, moving to the centre of the room, clearing his throat.
“Welcome to Super Junior M’s first talent show!” Henry announces grandly, the lights going off and the members all aim their torchlight at him, creating a spotlight. The members cheer loudly before Henry continues, “I will be your emcee for this event and allow me to give you the order of today’s performance whilst introducing you to the competitor,”
He steps aside, the ‘spotlight’ following him. “Before this event, the competitors have drawn lots and the lucky competitor going first is Lee Donghae who will be performing a SM family medley of dances!”
Donghae steps out, dressed in ripped jeans and a simple collared shirt, smiling brightly as the members cheer.
“Performing second is Cho Kyuhyun who will be singing a ballad,”
Kyuhyun steps out next to Donghae, bowing, dressed a loose black shirt and white jeans.
“Performing third is a duo, Sungmin and Zhou Mi, also known as Prettier Than Girls, who will be performing a medley of popular girl group dances,”
They step out together dressed like girls complete with high heels and wigs as they smile brightly.
“Performing fourth is Kim Ryeowook who will be singing a self-composed song,”
Ryeowook steps forward shyly, bowing politely, dressed in a button down with a bowtie and jeans.
“Going fifth is yours truly, Henry Lau. My performance will be kept a secret until my turn arrives,” Henry smiles beatifically.
“And performing last is Choi Siwon! He will be performing a…” Henry trails off, frowning at his emcee card. “Hyung! You’re doing a sermon? I thought you change it,” Henry hisses, glancing at Hyukjae and smiling apologetically.
“I’m not,” Siwon, says confused. “I did change my performance. I’ll be singing a mandarin song,”
Henry nods before speaking, “Choi Siwon will be singing a Mandarin song!” He claps before nodding to the members who file off the ‘stage’.
“Now let’s begin with Lee Donghae and his SM dance medley!”
And the music starts.
__
Four performances later finds disgruntled people - Kyuhyun and Donghae - who have gotten a ‘ding’ barely even halfway into their performances because “Donghae, I know you’re a good dancer and all but dancing to SM artists’ song is boring! A talent show is to display something unique!”
And “Kyuhyun-ah, you sang wonderfully but it nearly put me to sleep. Sing something catchier next time!”
Sungmin and Zhou Mi’s performance gained Hyukjae’s approval mostly because “I like girl groups. And you guys dressed the part. You make very pretty girls,” Hyukjae had said before playing the xylophone.
“Next,” Hyukjae calls and Henry steps up onto the ‘stage’.
He bows before smirking saucily as a heavy beat music plays. Henry starts moving his hips, throwing his head back and making a throaty noise in his throat, moving slinking towards where Hyukjae is sitting, mouth agape.
Henry sits on his lap sideways and moves his upper body to the song, singing, “’Cos baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again,”
“Um,” Hyukjae says intelligently as Henry leans forward, their breaths mingling. All he sees his Henry’s half shy, half sexy smile before their lips are sealed together in a messy kiss.
“Oh,” Ryeowook says shocked.
“My,” Sungmin and Zhou Mi squeals.
“God,” Donghae shrieks. “Unfair! He’s seducing the judge!”
Henry breaks the kiss and hugs Hyukjae, smiling happily, lips red and swollen. “I’m not! It’s my performance! Seduction 101!” he says happily as Hyukjae wraps an arm around the younger man’s waist, clumsily playing the xylophone.
‘DING!’
Henry pouts. “Why?” he whines.
“Because you are not allowed to display this talent to anyone else,” Hyukjae says, putting the xylophone on the floor and holding on to Henry possessively.
“Hyukjae?” Siwon interrupts. “There’s still two performances left,”
“I, uh, oh. Talent show over,” Hyukjae says, distracted by whatever Henry is murmuring into his ear.
“No fair,” Ryeowook says, pouting. “Quick! Kyuhyun-ah, grab the xylophone!”
And in a flurry of movement that involves protesting, - from Hyukjae - shouting, - from Donghae and Kyuhyun- and cheering - from Sungmin and Zhou Mi - the xylophone is whisked away with a restrained Hyukjae watching in horror.
“My baby!” he exclaims, close to tears.
“Is right here,” Henry says, stepping into Hyukjae’s line of vision, pouting with his lower lip quivering and eyes filled with tears. Hyukjae stares, forgetting his xylophone as Henry bites his lower lip, a tear escaping his eyes.
“Henry! Don’t cry!” he says desperately as Ryeowook and Siwon glares at him, looking murderous.
“I want to cry!” Henry shouts childishly. “It’s not like you care anyways! You always ignore me for your xylophone! You don’t even hug me anymore!”
Henry’s words end in a wail as Ryeowook’s heart melts at the sight of Henry wailing adorably. Kyuhyun, Donghae, Sungmin and Zhou Mi enter the room feeling a little lost upon seeing a crying Henry and a flailing Hyukjae.
“What’s going on?” Sungmin demands. “Why is our maknae crying? Lee Hyukjae, I’m going to call Jungsu-hyung!”
“No! Don’t! Henry! Stop crying!” Hyukjae shouts, desperate and lost, maybe a little scared too at the thought of Jungsu coming after him for making Henry cry. He steps forward and pulls Henry into a hug, speaking softly, “I’m sorry Henry. I didn’t mean to ignore you. I just got so caught up with missing Strong Heart and being able to play the xylophone I forgot about you,”
“Please stop crying Henry-ah. I promise I won’t ever touch my xylophone ever again unless I have to pack it. I won’t even say the word xylophone anymore!”
Henry sniffles and pulls out of the embrace. “Really?” he says, cheeks splotched red. “Really,” Hyukjae replies, smiling and wiping away Henry’s tears.
There is a moment of silence as Ryeowook silently squeals.
“Okay,” Henry says eventually. “Can we go cuddle now?”
Hyukjae smiles brightly and tugs Henry along to their room, leaving behind the rest.
And all was right again in the dorm.
__
Epilogue:
“There really wasn’t a problem was there,” Siwon says once Hyukjae and Henry are out of earshot, pinning Donghae with a look.
Donghae grins cheekily. “There was!” he insists. “Just that it wasn’t half as serious as I put it,”
“Henry must’ve missed Hyukjae,” Sungmin says sympathetically.
Zhou Mi nods in agreement. “I know how he feels. Having a xylophone get chosen over you. I experience it everyday with Kui Xian except his obsession is his silly games,”
“Hey!” Kyuhyun says indignantly. “You play it with me!”
“Only to get your attention!” Zhou Mi retorts and a squabbling match breaks out between the two, Sungmin cheering Zhou Mi on.
“Siwon-hyung, Donghae-hyung,” Ryeowook says loudly over the squabbling. “Would you like some cookies? I made some yesterday,”
Yes, all was right indeed.
.end