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“happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear jeonggukie, happy birthday to you!”
jeongguk giggles, opening his eyes to see his boyfriends standing in the doorway. taehyung is holding the cake, lit with 21 candles— jeongguk is a little worried, because that seems like a fire hazard, especially if he comes any closer and accidentally trips and sets the curtains on fire (jeongguk thinks it’s a valid fear)— and yoongi is standing next to him, phone in hand. jeongguk covers his face as soon as he sees.
“ah, gukkie, don’t hide! we wanna see your beautiful face!” jeongguk definitely doesn’t whine, but he does thrash around under the covers, like— a worm, maybe. an embarrassed worm whose boyfriends’ are annoying. and unnecessary. and—
“jeongguk-ah,” he peers through his fingers as yoongi clambers onto the bed. “you need to blow out your candles, baby.” yoongi situates himself with a leg either side of jeongguk’s hips. when jeongguk sits up, he finds their faces are very close together.
“hi.” he says shyly, fingers twisting in the bottom of yoongi’s shirt. it’s the one he went to sleep in last night, after all three of them had almost fallen asleep on the sofa watching a movie after everyone else had left (jeongguk can’t even remember what movie it was, he was too caught up in the kisses and touches they shared) and yoongi had to persuade them into bed with promises of kisses and pancakes in the morning.
“hi.” yoongi smiles back, all warm and gentle. jeongguk knows that if he were to kiss him, he’d taste of warm honey. “happy birthday, bun.”
jeongguk turns to the side, tilts his head up— taehyung is watching them with a smile, the one he reserves for them, a slow, syrupy, sugary smile, one which only shows some of his teeth, unlike his wide, boxy smile. jeongguk loves all of his smiles, but this particular one holds a special place in his heart, right next to yoongi’s own smile and the feeling in his chest when he wakes up and both of them are cuddled up next to him.
“happy birthday, angel.” taehyung murmurs, crouching down to bring the cake level with jeongguk. he’s surprised the candles haven’t burnt out yet, but he’s distracted from that by the way taehyung’s face looks in the candlelight.
ethereal, he thinks, is the only word which exists to describe taehyung’s beauty. the candlelight emphasises his jaw, highlights the roundness of his cheeks, brings out the look in his eyes as he gazes at jeongguk over the cake. jeongguk is sure the same look is reflected in his own eyes, and in yoongi’s, too.
he takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes. what does he want to wish for? everything he has is here with him, in this room.
as he goes to blow the candles out, he thinks about yoongi, with his arms now wrapped securely around jeongguk’s back. he thinks about taehyung, who is watching him with the utmost care. he thinks,
let’s stay together for a long time .
as soon as jeongguk blows out the candles, he’s attacked. or at least, that’s what it feels like. the cake is set down, but suddenly there’s icing everywhere— on the carpet, on the bedsheets, on his nose. he thinks the last one may have been intentional. there’s yelling, screaming— yoongi shouts as jeongguk manages to push him off the bed, but he lands on taehyung, so jeongguk doesn’t feel guilty. well, less guilty.
he watches as yoongi props himself up, looking down at taehyung. there’s a moment— silence, but not quite; silence filled with anticipation, a gentle type of silence. taehyung looks past yoongi up at jeongguk. they both smile at each other, before yoongi leans down and steals taehyung’s lips for a moment. jeongguk watches them kiss, and feels a familiar warmth settle in his bones.
his hyungs don’t stay on the floor for long— it’s uncomfortable down there. jeongguk would know, having been pushed off the bed too many times to count. their bed is big enough for all three of them, but sometimes he wrestles taehyung too hard. so it’s his own fault, really. they should just put a mattress down there— especially since when their friends come round, they often stay the night and there’s never enough room.
anyway— yoongi and taehyung clamber back onto the bed and jeongguk lies back down with a sigh. this time, taehyung is the one who straddles him, who runs his hands up his sides and smiles so gently down at him. jeongguk hears a click to his right, and tips his head to the side to see the lens of a camera facing him. yoongi lowers the camera and fixes him with a look.
“taehyung-ah, i think our jeonggukie needs a kiss.” jeongguk feels taehyung lean down, but keeps his eyes on yoongi for as long as he can. he hears the camera, click click click , and puts on a show— arches up into taehyung’s touch with a whimper, digs his hands into taehyung’s hair to keep him close. taehyung sucks his bottom lip between his own before moving to press hot, open-mouthed kisses to his neck. jeongguk tilts his head up up up to give taehyung more space, but then—
then yoongi is kissing him, too. jeongguk lets himself revel in it, the feeling of being touched and kissed by his two favourite people. he lets himself be loved.
eventually, jeongguk is allowed to eat some of his cake, which somehow escaped the scuffle unharmed. it’s vanilla— boring, maybe, but his favourite. he lets yoongi feed him small bites, makes sure his hyungs get some too. taehyung holds him close, pressing gentle kisses to his cheek every so often. yoongi finds his way onto the bed, and jeongguk finds himself encased in legs, surrounded by his hyungs. surrounded by love.
“hyungie…” taehyung murmurs at one point, leaning past jeongguk to press a kiss to yoongi’s lips. jeongguk listens to the slick sounds of their lips meeting, and thinks, yes, this is right.
“yes, taehyung-ah?” yoongi sounds amused— jeongguk can’t see him from this angle, but he leans back against his hyung’s broad chest. yoongi’s hand comes up to massage lightly at his shoulder. jeongguk makes a contented noise— he didn’t stretch as well as he should’ve after his dance practise yesterday, because all his friends were round for a party. his party, in fact, because today is just for him and taehyung and yoongi.
“i seem to remember we were promised pancakes,” taehyung says. jeongguk doesn’t need to see him to know he’s pouting. from the way yoongi huffs, he knows he’s rolling his eyes. but jeongguk also knows that yoongi will soon be making pancakes, because he’s whipped for them.
“well, i seem to remember promising the birthday boy pancakes, and not anyone else.” there’s a brief silence. jeongguk smiles to himself, because taehyung is definitely pouting as hard as he can right now, and yoongi is doing his best to resist his charms.
he’s so lucky, to have two people who love him and each other so deeply.
he listens to the others bickering quietly, and closes his eyes. he still feels soft and sleepy— it’s not that early, but he always takes a while to wake up properly. and with his boyfriends next to him, holding him, he could easily go back to sleep. “jeonggukie wants pancakes too, right, gukkie?” jeongguk looks up with a start. taehyung is pouting, although it melts away to a fond smile as soon as they make eye contact. he taps jeongguk’s nose with a finger. “sleepy, baby?” jeongguk nods, wrinkling his nose in reaction to taehyung’s touch. taehyung giggles gently at him, leaning in for another kiss. jeongguk reaches up to grasp at his shoulders, and lets his eyes shut. he’s so happy.
“c’mon, you two, if you get dressed i’ll make pancakes.” yoongi sighs, sounding put-upon. jeongguk twists to give him a kiss, too.
“want— blueberry pancakes, hyung.” he murmurs against yoongi’s lips. he feels him smile.
“sure, guk-ah. whatever you want.”
taehyung and jeongguk spend more time giggling than getting dressed once yoongi leaves the room. jeongguk does his best, but taehyung seems intent on attacking him with kisses every two seconds. (he’s not complaining, though.) he whispers soft praises into jeongguk’s skin— “look so pretty, gukkie” and “love your smile” and “love you, love you”— and only stops touching him once jeongguk shoves him towards the bathroom with a cheeky smile.
he grabs the first thing to wear that he finds— a black t-shirt and some tracksuit trousers. he thinks the trousers are taehyung’s, but all three of them tend to share clothes when they’re having a lazy day at home. it’s only when they need ‘proper’ clothes like work clothes or suits that they have to bother to find their own. it’s the start of september, so it’s still warm out and plenty warm enough in the apartment for short sleeves, especially with two warm bodies to snuggle up to.
jeongguk hears a loud yip coming from the direction of the kitchen. make that three bodies.
he uses the bathroom after taehyung as quickly as he can before making his way into the living room. taehyung is already curled up on the sofa, phone in hand. jeongguk can see yoongi in the kitchen, tapping a beat on the countertops as he waits for the pancakes to cook.
he sits on the opposite end of the sofa to taehyung, and stretches out his legs to wiggle his toes underneath taehyung’s thighs. taehyung glances at him with a smile, and rests a familiar hand on his ankle. holly bounds into the room, jumping up onto the sofa and curling up next to jeongguk. he smiles.
the smell of blueberries fills the air and soon enough yoongi is making his way into the living room, three plates precariously balanced in his hands. they usually eat in the kitchen, of course, where there’s an actual table, but they make exceptions for birthdays. yoongi hands out the plates before sitting on the middle cushion, jeongguk having moved his legs just a moment ago.
“thank you, hyungie!” taehyung says, tone sickly-sweet. yoongi rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
“thanks, yoongi-hyung.” jeongguk says, softer, quieter. yoongi’s smile escapes.
“anything for you two.” he murmurs as they all tuck into their breakfast. jeongguk sighs happily as the blueberries burst on his tongue— and the pancakes are light and fluffy, as always. yoongi makes the best pancakes. at his side, holly peers at his plate hopefully, and jeongguk grins at him.
“not for you, little one.” he says, shoving another bite in his mouth. yoongi leans into him in order to look at holly.
“i’ve already fed him, he’s just being cheeky.”
“he takes after you, then.” yoongi mock-scowls at him, and jeongguk presses a kiss to his cheek, laughing quietly.
jeongguk finishes eating first, and rests his head on yoongi’s shoulder while he waits for him and taehyung to finish. the quiet is comforting, and he strokes holly absent-mindedly.
after he’s finished, taehyung leaves the room for a moment, and yoongi gets up to put the plates in the dishwasher. jeongguk scrolls through his phone briefly, responding to happy birthday messages and well wishes. his brother says he’ll be in seoul next week, and that they should meet up for coffee. jeongguk responds enthusiastically.
“oh, jeonggukie!” a voice calls. jeongguk looks up to see taehyung carrying presents in his arms. jeongguk can’t help the grin spreading across his lips.
“you didn’t have to get me anything.” he says, means thank you, thank you, i love you. taehyung places the presents on the ground by jeongguk’s feet before pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
“we wanted to.” he whispers. jeongguk lets himself fall back, lets taehyung kiss him, lets him cover him in love. taehyung pulls back to kiss his forehead, his nose, the apples of his cheeks. jeongguk grabs onto him, tries to hold on to his anchor, his eye in the middle of the storm. taehyung runs a hand through jeongguk’s hair. “love you.”
“love you.”
holly yelps. jeongguk sits up with a start, accidently crashing his forehead into taehyung’s. they both groan, holding their heads.
“i can't leave you two alone for two minutes…” yoongi says. jeongguk can hear the smile in his voice, and he peers over taehyung’s shoulders to look at him.
“present time, hyung?” he asks, smiling at him innocently. yoongi’s smile doesn’t diminish.
“present time.” yoongi agrees, and taehyung sits back to give jeongguk enough space to unwrap his gifts.
there aren’t that many, but it’s the thought that counts. jeongguk wouldn’t mind if he didn’t get any presents— as long as he can spend time with his two favourite people, he’d be happy. but unwrapping jumpers and vinyls, knowing that yoongi and taehyung had seen these things and thought yes, jeongguk will like these makes his heart beat painfully hard. he really loves them a lot.
one present makes him pause. it’s a kind of hat, with two dangling bits either side. he glances up at the others for an explanation, but they’re watching him with identical shit-eating grins. ah, this is his joke present, then.
he puts it on. if he’s honest, he has no idea what to do with it. very slowly, yoongi reaches out. he grabs the end of one of the dangling pieces of fabric and squeezes it. taehyung immediately giggles.
with a suspicious look, jeongguk goes to find a mirror. holly whines as he leaves, but taehyung immediately scoops him up into his arms.
in the bathroom, jeongguk imitates yoongi’s actions, and sighs when he realises. there are two parts of that hat to squeeze, and each one controls a white rabbit ear on top of the hat. jeongguk rolls his eyes at his reflection, but doesn’t try and hide his smile as he rejoins his boyfriends.
“really? a rabbit?” both yoongi and taehyung dissolve into laughter. jeongguk can’t help but join in, retaking his place on the sofa.
yoongi recovers first, leaning in to kiss him gently. “happy birthday, bun.” jeongguk pouts at him, but yoongi just laughs. taehyung calms down, too, and reaches into his pocket. he pulls out a final, small gift. it looks too small to be anything but jewellery.
jeongguk takes it carefully, and unwraps it with shaking fingers. the mood has changed all of a sudden— the anticipation in the air is making him nervous. sensing this, maybe, yoongi puts a hand on the back of jeongguk’s neck, playing with the baby hairs there.
it’s a box. slowly, jeongguk opens it. nestled inside, surrounded by purple velvet, is a ring.
he looks up. both yoongi and taehyung are holding a ring of their own. he glances back and forth— all three rings match.
he bites his lip. there are tears gathering in his eyes, as yoongi slips his own ring on and reaches out to take jeongguk’s. he turns it so that jeongguk can see there are hangul characters engraved on the inside. they read,
jeongguk
taehyung
yoongi
“we thought it would be nice to have— promise rings, i guess.” yoongi says, voice hushed. jeongguk is impossibly in love with these two thoughtful, beautiful, incredible people.
“i—” he takes a deep breath, but his voice cracks anyway. taehyung reaches forward and thumbs away a lone tear from jeongguk’s cheek.
“happy birthday.” he says. jeongguk slides the ring onto his right index finger— a promise for the future.
yoongi and taehyung engulf him in a hug. jeongguk wipes away yoongi’s tears— he always cries when jeongguk cries. taehyung is dry-eyed, but watches them both with a look so fond jeongguk swears he can feel it, trickling into his bloodstream, surrounding him with love. holly worms his way into the hug, licking jeongguk’s nose when he gets close enough. jeongguk giggles, a little watery, but happy despite that.
he thinks back on his wish, made earlier. he thinks about how yoongi and taehyung have always treated him with care, how they fight, sometimes, but how they never go to bed angry with each other. he thinks about how they’ve helped him through the bad days, and the okay days, and how they laugh with him on the good days. he hopes he can always be there for their bad days and their good days, too.
that’s what this ring is a symbol of, to him. that no matter how hard things get, they’ll always have each other to lean on.
jeongguk looks up. he kisses taehyung, then yoongi, then the top of holly’s head. he’s home, he’s safe, and he’s in love. he thinks,
let’s stay together for a long time.