Chapter Text
“Okay, make a constitution saving throw,” Aron says through his laughter.
Minki makes an offended face. “What? All I said was that Jonghyunnie and his boyfriend should -”
Jonghyun throws the dice at him. Baekho snorts.
“For the benefit of the radio,” he says, “Jonghyun just threw the dice at Minki.” Minhyun, from where his head is resting on Jonghyun’s lap, laughs. “Go back to sleep.” Minhyun gives him the middle finger.
“Just make your goddamn saving throw,” Jonghyun snaps to Minki. “If you’re going to be making commentary, Choi Minki, I might have to release a certain video of you at sixteen to the internet -”
“What video?” Minhyun mouths to Dongho.
“I’ll show you later,” Dongho whispers back.
It’s weird having Minhyun around again. It’s even weirder with him and Jonghyun dating.
Dongho’s not crazy protective the same way Minki is, but he is really protective of Jonghyun, and he isn’t sure this relationship is what they need. Jonghyun had torn himself up so many times over Minhyun over the years, and Minhyun is so busy it seems like all they do together is nap, and they’re constantly worrying about each other to the point where Dongho, Aron, and Minki have to step in to tell them to calm down, but… they’re happy. They make each other happier.
It’s been sort of clumsy - Jonghyun’s anxiety presents a lot differently now than it did when they were kids, and Minhyun doesn’t always know how to help; Minhyun does a lot of fanservice with his members and it makes Jonghyun jealous. And Dongho, Minki, and Aron watched on pins and needles the first few weeks, starting from when Jonghyun came home from coffee red-eyed but smiling, elated and overwhelmed at once, and immediately shut himself in his room because he’d had to process everything.
Dongho thinks the four of them sort of thought that Minhyun being back would be like a missing piece, but… all five of them have changed a lot. It’s weird for Minhyun when the four of them reference memories he wasn’t there for. It’s weird for Dongho to have Minhyun actually in his life, instead of having a bitter what if he’d stayed presence in his mind.
And, of course, they have to teach Minhyun how to play D&D.
For a lot of reasons, they of course can’t say that Minhyun and Jonghyun are together. But their fans do know that Jonghyun is gay, now - a few weeks after The Great Coffee Shop Epiphany (as Minki likes to call it), he’d come out on Twitter - and that there’s a guy in his life that makes him happy, and that sometimes he’s there at the recordings. And if in the future Hwang Minhyun appears as a special guest in their next plot arc, well… the fans can say what they like.
Minhyun comes over to their apartment in his free time, and usually he just sleeps, or reads, or something like that. But one day Minki decides they need to be stuffing food into him, and so he’s going to come over for lunch, and he’d asked them with these big pleading eyes, “could I bring the kids, too?”, and that’s how Dongho has three high school students looking at him like they’re scared of him and pretending to pay attention to their samgyeopsal.
Minhyun calls Bae Jinyoung his baby, and Dongho is honest - it fits. Jinyoung looks young (maybe it’s just his small face), and Minhyun babies him every chance he gets, always having an arm around him or checking in on him. Lai Guanlin takes a liking to Jonghyun, and Jonghyun starts caring for him right back - Dongho thinks he’s endeared by the younger’s clumsy Korean and sweet smile. And Lee Daehwi has long conversations about Western music with Minki, to Minki’s glee, because none of his roommates will entertain his monologues about Lady Gaga at this point in their friendship.
Dongho is content to be a little bit jealous of the others and to hang out on the couch and take tentative sips of soju with Aron, but then Lee Daehwi walks up to him and says, awkwardly, “Minhyunnie-hyung says you write music?”
And Dongho will never turn down a chance to talk about his compositions, so needless to say by the time Minki forces all four Wanna One members to take a nap Dongho has a new best friend and an email address he’s sure he’ll be receiving MIDI files from soon.
(A year later, a producer calls him and asks to work with him on a Wanna One track. Dongho about faints right there in the living room, and he makes sure to tell Lee Daehwi how much he loves him the next time they see each other.)
Their first episode with Minhyun is the start of a whole new story. Jonghyun’s agreed to DM - and Dongho highly anticipates making him suffer the way they’ve made Aron suffer for the past two years.
They name Minhyun’s character Foxy, and Jonghyun has to hold back laughter that brings him near to tears. “Foxy? You’ve got to be kidding me. Like how is that even a name?”
“Hey, I named my character white tiger last time and you didn’t say anything,” Dongho defends him.
“I think last time Aron was more willing to anything-goes it for the sake of the podcast,” Minki reasons. Aron nods.
“But Jonghyunnie could stand to loosen up a little, too…”
“Oh, believe me,” Jonghyun says - and Dongho sees him take Minhyun’s hand under the table. “I’m well on my way there.”