Chapter Text
The next day he wakes up still curled around Jaemin, and Donghyuck and Jeno are in the bunk across from them because Donghyuck is a sympathy cuddler, and Renjun decides he will tell them exactly how he feels about all of them, soon.
He will find some flowers and properly confess, over dinner, which he’ll cook them, and come what may, he loves the three of them dearly enough to bear the pain of rejection.
Right now, though, he snuggles into Jaemin a moment longer and then carefully crawls out of his arms. He takes advantage of the weekend morning and looks up a flower shop in another part of town that he’ll have to take a bus to get to. He leaves a note that he’s out grocery shopping, and grabs the communal list of foodstuffs they’re running low on.
When he finally gets off the last bus, he walks another block and a half to find the place. The cashier is manned by a teenager shouting orders at another boy who appears to be watering flowers. Renjun stands in front of him for a little while, chuckling internally at the two, before the boy notices him.
His tone instantly flips to a that of a cheerful salesman. “Welcome to Zhong Floral! How can I help you?” His name tag reads Chenle.
“I need a bouquet of ro—“ Renjun begins, but the other boy, who’s stopped watering it seems, cuts him off. “You can’t just give roses to confess, that’s so lame!” Chenle chides him with a hissed, “Jisung!” but he agrees with the sentiment by the unimpressed look on his face aimed at Renjun right now.
Renjun smirks at the kid. “And what exactly should I confess with?” The kid comes over to them and nudges Chenle away from the register to pull out an encyclopedia about plants and their meanings. He flips it open to a section on romantic messages and turns it around to face Renjun. “You can start here,” he informs him, before scurrying away under the heat of Chenle’s glare to keep watering. It seems light-hearted enough between them, if the kiss Jisung blows Chenle’s way and Chenle’s bright blush are anything to go on.
Renjun flips through the admittedly helpful pages and wonders out loud if sunflowers and red carnations would look pretty together, and the two boys exchange glances with each other as if to debate the idea. Jisung, clearly the one more interested in flowers, nods thoughtfully. Chenle asks if those are definitely the ones he wants, and he tells them how many he wants.
While they put together his arrangement, he goes to the closest market to check a few things off the list of groceries to avoid suspicion. He picks up the flowers before heading home on the miscellaneous bus rides.
When he walks back into their dorm, he sticks the flowers in a vase and hides them behind the fridge. Spaghetti is simple, and he’d rather not put a whole lot of stress over following fancy recipes right now, so he sets some pasta and a jar of tomato sauce aside. Then he calls Jaemin, knowing that he and Jeno have studio time for practicing right now, and lets the both of them know he has a plan for dinner. They fuss about him cooking while he’s sick, and even more about him going out to run errands today, so he ends the call with a quick, “Love you, bye!” and hangs up.
Next he calls Donghyuck, not entirely sure where he is. Donghyuck enthusiastically tells him about how Doyoung took him out with other vocal haunts for impromptu karaoke. Renjun can hear someone singing EXO in the background, and he lets Donghyuck go after making sure he’ll be home for dinner.
He takes advantage of the peace and quiet to emotionally prepare himself. He’s struck by the fact that he’s doing this, today, and it’s utterly terrifying, because, sure, they might feel the same way, and this might be the best decision of his life, but they could also gently let him down, and maybe that would mean no more cuddles, or maybe they would kick him out to find other room mates, or maybe they wouldn’t want to ever talk to him again—
He needs to make dinner.
With the noodles boiling and the tomato sauce warming in a sauce pan with extra garlic and Italian seasoning added in, he pushes every doubtful thought away before it can fully form. Donghyuck gets back first and exclaims over the smell, squeezing Renjun from behind and thanking him for making dinner. Jeno and Jaemin get back next, hair still wet from the shower, and make a louder ruckus than Donghyuck at the prospect of the food, clearly starving. The three of them insist on setting a table cloth with plates and silverware and washing the dishes Renjun’s finished using.
Renjun’s anxious mood is obvious to the three if their reassuring pats on his shoulders and back are anything to go by. He turns off the stovetop, strains the noodles and recovers the flowers from behind the fridge. They ooh and ah over them while he sets the vase in the middle of the table cloth. It’s a bit like a picnic on the floor of their dorm.
They dig into their food giving him compliments through full mouths. Once the four of them are sprawled across the floor with comfortably full stomachs, Renjun pulls together his courage. He sits up and clears his throat. The other three look up at him with easy grins, and they soothe him enough to rush through, “IreallyloveyouguysandIwannadateallofyouandkissandholdhandsmorreoften.”
Their faces all shift, and Renjun’s sure it means no, except Donghyuck says, “What?”
His eyes squeezed shut, he comes out with a slow and stumbling, “I really like, love, you all, and I want to date the three of you, like kissing, and holding hands more of the time since we already do that sometimes. I really like holding hands with you guys.” The last part is said with his head down and his hands clasped in his lap.
They glance at each other, unsure of what exactly to say, before Jeno pipes up. “I love you, too Renjun,” he takes Renjun’s clasped hands in one of his and lifts the boy’s chin with his other, forcing Renjun to squint at him, “and I feel the same about you two,” he finishes, looking over at Jaemin and Donghyuck in turn.
Jaemin and Donghyuck look at each other and nod curiously, and then they voice their agreement. The two of them crawl over to Renjun and Jeno. Jaemin grabs Renjun’s face with both of his hands to the sound of Donghyuck quietly muttering a humorous, “Not fair,” that they all can’t help but to laugh at for a moment.
Jaemin, lips upturned with the remnants of laughter, asks Renjun if he can kiss him. Renjun bites his lip and nods. Jaemin pecks him, quick and barely a full couple-y kiss, but they’re not just a couple. As soon as their lip have parted, Donghyung pulls Renjun to him and pouts rather than saying anything. Renjun chuckles at him and takes the lead, nerves washing away with all of them so close like this. Jeno patiently waits his turn, and once that’s done, they exchange kisses between the three of them. It evolves into a cuddle pile wherein they also kiss each other.
It’s really, really nice, and kind of familiar other than that one new addition, which Renjun discovers he’s totally fine with.