Work Text:
Returning to the apartment after a long day of classes and work is always the best way to end the day. Except today. Hyunjin is most definitely sulking as he opens the door.
It isn’t that he’s not happy to be home, he is. University is draining, and the closer he gets to finishing, the more unmotivated he feels to try as hard as he did in freshman year. But being home is just another reminder that something is off and that he isn’t able to fix it.
Letting out a long sigh, Hyunjin curls further into his borrowed sweater to try and smell Chan’s scent more even though he knows it has faded throughout the day.
Thin arms wrap around his waist from behind and a soft cheek rubs against his shoulder, Hyunjin automatically relaxing into the hold.
“Don’t be sad,” Jisung says softly.
“I’m trying, but I miss him,” Hyunjin says, sighing sadly. “Why can’t he come back from his trip already?”
“He’ll be back soon,” Jisung replies, but it falls on deaf ears. It isn’t the first time Hyunjin has heard it in the last three days and he knows it won’t be the last time he’ll hear it before Chan comes back tomorrow.
But being sad isn’t going to make Chan come back any sooner, so Hyunjin turns in Jisung’s hold and kisses him in apology. Jisung startles, clearly not having expected the kiss, but he kisses back just as easily not even a second later.
“Sorry for being sulky,” Hyunjin whispers. He knows it isn’t Jisung’s fault, just like he knows it isn’t Chan’s fault, but Hyunjin doesn’t like the fact that he can’t smell Chan’s always-lingering scent as strongly as he normally can. Of course, Minho has been trying his best to fill the void that Chan’s temporary absence has caused, but Hyunjin knows that Minho misses him, too. It has never been easy to have Chan gone for a few days while he tries to close deals with suppliers, and even though Hyunjin knows and understands that it’s something Chan has to do for their bakery, it doesn’t mean he has to like it.
Jisung is the one who initiates the kiss this time, just a short peck that has Hyunjin pouting. Chuckling, Jisung says, “It’s okay, it’s not your fault.”
This is why Hyunjin loves Jisung so much. He’s bright and bubbly and adorable, but he understands Hyunjin on a level that’s surprising even to him at times. Jisung somehow always knows what to say to make Hyunjin feel better, something that Hyunjin appreciates immensely.
“Can we nap?” Hyunjin asks, small in the way that he knows he shouldn’t be because Jisung never denies him much of anything, much less a nap, but he still is anyways. Their sleep schedule is already so messed up that a nap really isn’t going to make much of a difference in the long run. Besides, Hyunjin always gets antsy waiting for Minho to come home from the bakery. And even though they were just there working for a few hours and they just snuck into the kitchen for kisses, Minho still won’t be home for a few more hours as he cleans up and counts the money for the day, having smiled softly and telling them to go home on the account that they couldn’t really help with either of those things. It’s two birds with one stone really, Hyunjin getting to cuddle with Jisung and getting to pass time faster.
Jisung doesn’t even respond, merely grabs Hyunjin’s hand and starts tugging him towards their bedroom. Before they can enter their room, though, Hyunjin pulls Jisung further down the hall towards Chan and Minho’s room instead.
It’s a testament to how much Hyunjin has missed Chan that something in him instinctively settles when he enters their room and climbs onto Chan’s bed. Chan’s half of the room is exactly as he had left it, and even though Minho’s scent is currently slightly stronger given the fact that he has actually slept in here for the last three days, Hyunjin can still smell Chan’s scent permeating the sheets.
Sighing, Hyunjin all but lets himself melt into the sheets, feeling only slightly better now that he can somewhat smell like Chan again.
“Cute,” Jisung says from where he’s halfway kneeling on to the bed.
“Says you,” Hyunjin retorts, all but pulling Jisung onto the bed and into his arms. Jisung yelps as he falls, but Hyunjin has always been there to catch him and press a kiss to his lips, and this time isn’t any different.
“Me?” Jisung wonders, seemingly confused as if he isn’t one of the cutest people on this entire planet as he stares up at Hyunjin bundled up in an oversized grey sweater that definitely belongs to Chan, his brown hair mused and fluffy.
“Don’t you dare pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“I don’t-” Jisung starts to protest, but Hyunjin doesn’t let him finish that sentence, shrieks of laughter filling the air as Hyunjin mercilessly attacks Jisung’s sides with deft fingers.
“Okay, okay!” Jisung cries through his laughter, Hyunjin stopping his tickling for a brief second to stare at Jisung and his flushed cheeks. “Fine, I’m cute, are you happy now?”
“Very,” Hyunjin replies. His heart threatens to beat right out of his chest when Jisung smiles softly, his cheeks the prettiest shade of red and eyes full of affection as he snuggles further into Hyunjin’s hold.
“I’ve missed you,” Hyunjin suddenly blurts out and it only takes a second before he can feel the flush rapidly rising to his cheeks. Even though he and Jisung go to the same university, they don’t get to see each other all that often with how they only share one elective class. Of course, they walk to and from school together and eat lunch together (and, well, live together), but Hyunjin misses Jisung more than he had realized. Add that to the fact that Chan has been on a trip for three days and Minho is almost always at the bakery before they leave and still there even after they come back home, Hyunjin is feeling a little emotional.
Gentle fingers cup his heated cheeks, and when Hyunjin looks at Jisung, his breath catches in his throat. His boyfriends are beyond gorgeous, Hyunjin has always known this, but there are still times where he’s absolutely thrown over how beautiful his boyfriends are. Now is but one of those times. Jisung’s eyes could hold entire galaxies in them with how much they seem to be glittering like the stars. Hyunjin is so in love with Jisung that it’s almost impossible to love him any more than he already does, yet he thinks he just fell a little deeper from the way Jisung is looking at him.
“I’ve missed you, too,” Jisung says, soft in the way he only is with the three of them. He smells like strawberries, the familiar scent mixed with the lingering scent of vanilla from Chan’s bed sheets so soothing that Hyunjin finds himself easily drifting off within minutes.
It’s definitely darker when Hyunjin blinks his eyes open and groggily peers around the room. Minho still isn’t home yet if the lack of noise and Hyunjin’s inability to smell him are any indication, but now that Hyunjin is awake, he knows he won’t be able to sleep, not until he sees Minho.
The tricky part, though, is going to be maneuvering out of Jisung’s embrace. Jisung’s senior project has been draining him for the past few days, enough so that he has been going to bed far too late for Hyunjin to feel comfortable about. He needs the rest, that’s for sure, but Hyunjin is on the inside of the bed and Jisung is clinging to his sweater like he never wants to let go.
Luckily for Hyunjin, he has had more than enough practice in getting out of this situation given his propensity to climb into his boyfriend’s arms at night, yet wake up earlier than whoever is cuddling him. Chan sleeps like the dead, so Hyunjin never has to worry about waking him up, and Minho sleeps the lightest out of all of them, so Hyunjin usually wakes him up with kisses instead of trying to slip out of his embrace. Jisung is somewhere in between depending on how long he has been sleeping, but Hyunjin can only hope that since Jisung hasn’t been sleeping as much lately, he’ll be sleeping too deeply to wake up right now.
It takes a while, but Hyunjin manages to uncurl Jisung’s fingers from his sweater and put enough space between them so that he can safely get up and out. There had been a terrifying moment where Jisung had scrunched up his nose from being jostled, Hyunjin holding his breath at the movement, but he had thankfully settled back down just as quickly once Hyunjin gave him one of Chan’s stuffed animals to cuddle.
Now, Hyunjin pads down the hallway in search of his backpack so he can start on his homework. It’s far too quiet for Hyunjin’s liking, their apartment always lively and full of laughter given that there are four of them living together, but he’s hoping that if he listens to music and really tries to focus on his homework, he can ignore it.
It works for a while, which is a miracle in itself given how Hyunjin’s thoughts mainly center around how much he loves and misses his boyfriends at any and all times.
Everything goes to hell once Hyunjin catches the faintest scent of cinnamon in the distance that gradually gets stronger and stronger as the seconds pass by. Hyunjin can barely control his excitement, missing the pause button on his phone multiple times before getting it right and all but yanking his earphones out before sprinting to the door.
Just as Hyunjin rounds the corner, the door opens and Minho steps through, looking worse for wear after what has no doubt been another twelve-hour work day. But the smile that lights up his face when he sees Hyunjin is so bright and beautiful that Hyunjin can’t help but throw himself into Minho’s embrace with a smile of his own.
Minho laughs as Hyunjin all but barrels into him. Sturdy arms come to wrap around Hyunjin’s waist and Hyunjin feels like he can finally breathe again. “Hi, baby.”
It feels as if a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders now that he has one of his alphas in his arms, the sweet scent of cinnamon clinging to Minho’s clothes and smelling like home. He bares his neck instinctively, an action that he used to be incredibly embarrassed about until Chan and Minho helped him realize that wanting affection and comfort from scenting is far from something to be embarrassed about.
Minho doesn’t waste any time in nosing against Hyunjin’s neck, Hyunjin practically melting into Minho’s arms at the familiar motions. Even though Minho isn’t always the most outwardly affectionate out of the four of them, he always knows when one of them needs a kiss or a hug, providing it without question or teasing like he normally would. Minho laughs again, short puffs of air against Hyunjin’s skin that cause him to shiver. Before Hyunjin knows what’s happening, the ground is no longer under him and he’s being lifted up, Hyunjin instinctively clinging to Minho’s shoulders and tinier frame for dear life at the sudden weightlessness.
“What-” Hyunjin begins to ask, heart threatening to beat right out of his chest. He always forgets that just because Minho is shorter than him, doesn’t mean he isn’t easily able to sweep any of them, even Chan, off of their feet.
“You always get so boneless when we scent you, I didn’t want you to fall,” Minho explains as he settles into the couch, Hyunjin still protectively cradled in his arms. With how Hyunjin is now sitting sideways on Minho’s lap, Minho now has perfect access to his neck. This time, the shiver that runs down Hyunjin’s spine is full-body, a whine involuntarily leaving his lips when Minho runs his teeth lightly over the spot right under Hyunjin’s ear. He can feel the way Minho smiles against his skin before he moves to nose against Hyunjin’s collarbones, alternating between sweet kisses and soft nuzzles.
The smell of cinnamon is everywhere almost to the point of being overwhelming, but Hyunjin loves it, loves being scented, loves knowing that his boyfriends are his just as much as he is theirs. He loves feeling connected to his alphas, but his favorite thing about being scented is that it makes him feel safe. Only fools would try to get close to Hyunjin when he reeks of one of his alphas like this, and even though Hyunjin can take care of himself just fine, not everyone is smart enough to stay away from a clearly taken omega.
When Minho moves on from his neck to skim his lips over his jawline, Hyunjin turns his head for a kiss, slow and unbothered and like they have all the time in the world. It’s relaxing, sitting in Minho’s lap and letting Minho have his way with him because for as much as Hyunjin loves to be scented, Minho absolutely adores scenting him and Jisung, sometimes Chan too if he’s feeling particularly possessive. He always likes to joke that it’s his one fatal flaw, but they all see right through him.
One kiss turns into two, three, four, their lips only breaking apart for the shortest of seconds before connecting again. Even though Hyunjin just woke up from a nap, Minho’s calming presence alone is enough for Hyunjin to feel as if he’s about to drift off again, safe and warm in his boyfriend’s arms.
“Minho?”
Hyunjin turns half-lidded eyes towards the source of the question, heart melting as he takes in Jisung standing there and sleepily rubbing at his eyes with a sweater paw.
“Hi, baby,” Minho whispers, the prettiest smile on his face as he looks at Jisung.
Hyunjin moves immediately, settling on the couch to Minho’s left so Jisung can snuggle into Minho’s right, a spot Jisung claims immediately. The kiss Jisung and Minho share is soft, just a simple press of lips that has all of them smiling.
Minho moves to scent Jisung as well once they pull away from each other, Jisung letting out a content sigh as Minho noses around his neck. Hyunjin leans his shoulder against the couch as he watches Minho nuzzle against Jisung’s neck, heart feeling so incredibly full. Jisung’s eyes are fluttering shut every few seconds and the way he’s clearly trying so hard to stay awake is so, so cute.
Minho finishes his scenting with one last kiss to Jisung’s lips, Jisung blinking up at him sleepily. Jisung isn’t even looking at Hyunjin, but Hyunjin’s heart doesn’t care, beating away from how absolutely adorable Jisung is like this. Hyunjin loves Jisung no matter what, loves him when he barges into their room yelling about whatever new thing has caught his attention, loves him when he’s cute and whiny after a long day, loves him when he pulls Hyunjin into his bed and doesn’t let him go, loves him when he curls up in Hyunjin’s lap and kisses him over and over again, loves him when he smells like their alphas, but he especially loves Jisung like this, soft and unguarded. Just Jisung.
“Jisung,” Hyunjin calls softly. Even he can hear the love he has for Jisung in his voice, but he doesn’t care, only smiles at the soft pink that dusts Jisung’s cheeks because he definitely heard it, too. They share a look, Hyunjin flickering his eyes towards Minho for a split second. Jisung lights up at the unspoken question and nods quickly.
“What are you two planning now?” Minho asks. Hyunjin can hear the smile in his voice and a quick look confirms it. Minho has the smallest, yet most beautiful, smile on his face as he looks between the both of them and Hyunjin’s heart stutters in his chest. Neither of them answer, though, Hyunjin simply smiling as he nods at Jisung once again.
Hyunjin stretches up the last few centimeters between him and Minho to nose against his neck, and Minho startles, a short gasp leaving his lips that Hyunjin can feel from where his own lips are pressed against his skin.
“Oh,” Minho breathes out. Hyunjin feels the exact moment Minho relaxes and he can’t help but smile again once Minho settles further into the couch and tilts his head back.
Jisung keeps letting out tiny, pleased noises and Hyunjin can’t see what he’s doing, but he can only imagine that he’s nuzzling into the place where Minho’s neck meets his collarbones. Jisung has always gravitated towards that spot when they’re cuddling or scenting, having once told Hyunjin that it’s because their scent is the strongest there and also because there’s so much space to nip and kiss. Hyunjin himself doesn’t really have a favorite spot, more preferring to leave his mark anywhere and everywhere he can.
Minho isn’t the only possessive one in their relationship, far from it.
Hyunjin spends more time scenting Minho than Minho had scenting him, never pleased until his boyfriends are practically covered in his scent. Luckily for him, his boyfriends never deny him, always pliant as he works. It might be the smallest thing to them, to sit there and let Hyunjin scent them as he pleases, but it means the world to Hyunjin that they indulge him.
Placing one last kiss against Minho’s jawline when he’s finished, Hyunjin settles against Minho’s side and lays his head on Minho’s shoulder.
“Are you happy now?” Minho wonders.
To anyone else, that question would sound teasing, but Hyunjin can tell Minho genuinely wants to know and is more than content to keep sitting there if Hyunjin isn’t satisfied. Even though Minho’s known to tease them all the time, he would never joke about something so important to Hyunjin.
“Very much,” Hyunjin answers. He reaches out for Jisung’s hand over Minho’s lap, heart still skipping a beat after all this time when Jisung’s fingers fold into the spaces between Hyunjin’s own.
But as content as Hyunjin is right now, all three of their scents mingling in the air and coating each other’s skin, it still isn’t right. Hyunjin doesn’t want to ruin the mood, but he misses Chan so badly that he aches with it. It was alright during the day when he had been by himself, but now that he’s curled up with two of his boyfriends, it’s glaringly obvious that one of them is missing and Hyunjin hates it.
“What’s wrong?” Minho asks softly.
Hyunjin squirms slightly, guilty at getting caught. But communication is something they’ve always prided themselves on in this relationship and even though Hyunjin feels bad, he knows he shouldn’t keep it to himself.
“I miss Chan,” he says, nothing more than a whisper, eyes downcast.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Minho has the softest look on his face when Hyunjin gathers the courage to look at him, and his lower lip starts to wobble the longer Minho holds his gaze. Minho lifts a hand to cup Hyunjin’s face and even Hyunjin himself is surprised when Minho thumbs under his eye and it comes back wet.
“Don’t cry,” Minho says, a furrow to his brow.
Hyunjin only sniffles in response. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” It’s Jisung who speaks this time, a fierce expression on his face. “Your feelings are valid.”
And Hyunjin knows that, but he still feels awful to have brought the mood down so drastically.
“Want to watch a movie? You can pick,” Minho offers. It’s clear what he’s trying to do, but Hyunjin takes the bait anyways, knows that Minho is only trying to help and loves him all the more for it. Besides, a movie doesn’t sound too bad right now, especially if he gets to pick. Jisung is always fighting him on what to watch, so he’s going to take any free pass he gets with greedy hands.
As Hyunjin searches for a movie to watch, Jisung gets up and heads off down the hallway, coming back seconds later with a blanket in his arms that Hyunjin knows belongs to Chan. Instead of settling back down on Minho’s side like Hyunjin had assumed he would, he’s pleasantly surprised when Jisung sits next to him and drapes the blanket over all three of them before cuddling up to Hyunjin’s side and lacing their fingers together.
The confusion must show on his face, for Jisung blinks at him and asks, “What?”
Hyunjin stares a little longer, but eventually shakes his head with a smile. He loves Jisung, he really does, there’s not a day that goes by where Jisung doesn’t do something that makes Hyunjin’s heart flutter. It’s simple, but the fact that they’ve been together for so long that Jisung instinctively knows when Hyunjin needs comfort and wordlessly provides it is enough for Hyunjin to fall in love with him all over again.
Minho shifts slightly once the opening credits appear on screen, Hyunjin leaning away a bit so that Minho can bring his arm up from between them and put it over Hyunjin’s shoulder. He settles more comfortably against Minho’s chest, sighing happily when Minho starts running gentle fingers through his hair.
Even though Hyunjin was the one who had picked this movie, he finds his thoughts drifting off not even ten minutes in. His mind is a mess, bouncing between thoughts of Chan, to thoughts of Minho, to thoughts of Jisung. The most prevalent thought, though, is that Hyunjin is lucky. He’s so lucky to have the life he does, completely in love with his three boyfriends and just a few months shy from graduating college and working in their little bakery full-time.
Their bakery has been really taking off in the past few months, and everyone except Chan seems to realize that they need more staff to be able to keep up. Jisung and Hyunjin working there part-time when they can helps, but not to the extent that Minho and Chan aren’t drowning when they’re the only ones there. Especially given that Chan has been away for a few days, Minho has been practically alone.
Seungmin, one of their close friends and another senior about to graduate, had been interested in working there after hearing Hyunjin constantly complain to Jisung about how late their other boyfriends kept coming home. But like Hyunjin and Jisung, Seungmin is focusing on graduation more than a job at the moment, which leaves two more months until the three of them can work full-time. Hyunjin is glad their bakery is taking off, of course he is. It’s Minho and Chan’s baby that they built from the ground up and he has believed in them from the beginning, so it’s nice to see that other people are finally seeing the same.
But at the same time, Hyunjin worries about Chan and Minho. They’re always so tired at the end of every day and Hyunjin wishes so badly to be able to do more for them.
A gentle touch to the back of his neck brings Hyunjin’s focus back to the present with a shiver, Hyunjin turning questioning eyes up at Minho. Despite the small dark circles present, Minho’s eyes look bright and alive, Hyunjin getting completely lost in how pretty they are. He could stare at Minho all day and never get tired of how effortlessly beautiful he is. Even in a plain white shirt and jeans like he’s wearing now, Minho is absolutely breathtaking and Hyunjin loves him more than he could ever put into words. He loves how Minho always has his arms open for Hyunjin to crawl into, loves how he never fails to make extra baked goods and bring them home, loves how gentle and soothing he is when Hyunjin is having a bad day, loves how his smile and laughter light up the entire room, loves how Minho lets him be himself without worrying because Minho loves him no matter what, but he especially loves Minho like this, happy and content. Just Minho.
“Guess what?” Minho whispers, his eyes twinkling like the fairy lights Hyunjin has strung up in his and Jisung’s room.
“What?” Hyunjin whispers back.
Minho smiles, his eyes curving up into the crescents Hyunjin loves so much. “I love you.”
And despite it all, Hyunjin feels a blush quickly rising to his cheeks. It’s one thing to know that he’s loved, but it’s another entirely to be so blatantly, lovingly reminded just how loved he is.
“I love you, too,” Hyunjin replies, soft, a little shy.
Minho leans forward slightly, Hyunjin closing his eyes instinctively. The pressure on his forehead is gentle, a mere brush of lips, but Hyunjin relaxes into the touch nonetheless. Hyunjin’s such a sucker for kisses, of the belief that kisses can make everything better, and he hasn’t been able to find any evidence on the contrary yet.
Hyunjin snuggles closer with a happy sigh as he turns back towards the movie.
Thank you.
Minho takes hold of Hyunjin’s free hand and squeezes.
You’re welcome.
A soft hiss escapes into the air when Minho adds more noodles into the pot he’s stirring. Almost if on cue, Hyunjin’s stomach grumbles.
Jisung flat-out laughs at him from where he’s leaning against the kitchen counter. He has been trying to beg his way into being a taste-tester for the past ten minutes, but Minho hasn’t budged despite the very adorable pout on Jisung’s lips. “So much for not being hungry, huh?”
“Be quiet,” Hyunjin grumbles. When the movie had ended and Minho suggested they eat some type of dinner, Hyunjin had originally declined, not wanting to eat so late. But now with the smell of home-cooked food wafting through the air, Hyunjin just might begrudgingly admit that he’s hungrier than he thought.
“Only if you make me,” Jisung sings, puckering his lips exaggeratedly.
Hyunjin rolls his eyes in response. “I’ll pass.”
Jisung gasps, his eyes wide. “You’re denying me kisses? After everything I’ve done for you?”
“Yes,” Hyunjin deadpans, but he can feel his self-control slipping, the need to laugh at how dumb their conversation is growing by the second.
“How dare you!”
That’s the moment Hyunjin absolutely loses it, bursting into peals of laughter. It doesn’t take long for Jisung to start laughing, too, the sound of their combined laughter ringing throughout the kitchen.
“You two are silly,” Minho says fondly once their laughter had died down.
Hyunjin gasps theatrically while Jisung exclaims, “Are you making fun of us?”
“I think we deserve apology kisses,” Hyunjin says, nodding to himself even though Minho is too busy focusing on their food to notice.
Minho merely shakes his head, but even from a distance, Hyunjin can see the smile on his face. “Like I said, silly.”
Laughter once again fills the empty space of their kitchen and maybe it fills a tiny bit of Hyunjin’s heart, too.
Hyunjin is just setting the last bowl down onto the table when he freezes, eyes widening when he catches the hint of a very familiar scent. His mind must be playing tricks on him. Or maybe Chan’s scent rubbed off on him more than he thought when they were snuggled under his blanket earlier.
Except the scent of vanilla becomes more clear and strong, and at the first sign of movement outside their door, Hyunjin bolts.
A very familiar figure is just opening the door once Hyunjin gets there, and like déjà vu, Hyunjin runs forward and into his arms.
“Woah there!” Chan exclaims, staggering slightly.
Hyunjin only snuggles closer, a soft whine leaving his lips because Chan is here, Chan is home.
Strong arms wrap around Hyunjin’s midsection in a warm embrace, Hyunjin smiling to himself because he has always found it adorable how short Chan is. He’s the perfect height for hugs, though, short enough that Hyunjin can comfortably wrap his arms around Chan’s shoulders, but tall enough that Hyunjin doesn’t have to bend much at all to hug him.
“I missed you, too, baby,” Chan murmurs, a shiver working its way down Hyunjin’s back from the sudden heat against his neck from Chan’s words.
“I missed you so much,” Hyunjin admits freely. This happens so often that there’s no need for Hyunjin to be embarrassed about how much he loves and has missed his boyfriend, not really. Chan and Jisung and Minho deserve to know how much he loves them and so he makes it a personal goal to let them know just how much he does every second of the day.
“I know, I’m sorry,” Chan murmurs.
“It’s okay,” Hyunjin replies. It isn’t Chan’s fault he has to go on these trips and the last thing Hyunjin wants to do is hold Chan back from being able to expand their bakery no matter how much he misses his boyfriend when he’s gone. It’s stupid and it’s cheesy, but distance really does make the heart grow fonder in some cases.
Hyunjin can’t help the second whine that leaves his lips when Chan pulls away from their embrace slightly, but Chan merely chuckles and gently tilts his chin up with a finger. The kiss Chan presses to his lips is perfect, Hyunjin feeling every second of longing and happiness in it.
“Can you stop monopolizing our boyfriend!” Jisung suddenly yells from the kitchen.
Chan pulls away to laugh, and Hyunjin can’t even find it in himself to be mad about the disruption. Chan’s laugh is adorable and loud and happy and Hyunjin loves everything about it.
“Should we head over now?” Chan questions, eyes still bright with laughter. He’s absolutely glowing and there’s no doubt Chan can hear just how quickly Hyunjin’s heart is beating from how closely they’re pressed together. Two years later and Hyunjin’s heart still hasn’t learned how to act around his boyfriends.
“I guess,” Hyunjin drawls, but he doesn’t let Chan move until they’re holding hands, Hyunjin’s heart fluttering yet again at the sweet smile Chan sends him.
The minute they walk into the kitchen, Jisung beams and quickly closes the short distance between him and Chan, wrapping Chan up in what is no doubt a big, warm hug. Jisung may be tiny, but for what lacks in body size, he more than makes up for it with his enthusiasm.
Chan laughs again as he pulls Jisung closer to him with his free arm, the sweetest music to Hyunjin’s ears after not being able to hear it in person for days.
“Hi, Sung,” Chan greets, voice warm and full of affection. “How have you been?”
“Sleepy,” Jisung answers. He leans his head against Chan’s shoulder as he says that, his arms still wrapped around Chan’s waist.
Chan wrinkles his nose. “Still working on that project?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to think about that today, not when I have you to focus on instead.” The smile Jisung sends Chan is nothing short of pleased, Chan’s cheeks turning the prettiest shade of pink.
Hyunjin fake gags. “Gross.”
Jisung raises an eyebrow in his direction. “Well that’s hypocritical.”
“Even so, there can only be room for one cheesy person in this relationship and that’s Chan,” Hyunjin responds, barely stifling his chuckles when Chan makes a very high-pitched sound that Hyunjin has come to know means he has been called out and is embarrassed by it.
“Minho, help me out here,” Chan pleads. The two of them have known each other the longest out of the four of them, and as such, Chan typically falls back on Minho when he needs help. It’s cute, seeing how Chan still has the biggest puppy crush on Minho even though they’ve been boyfriends and in love for years.
“Sorry babe, you’re on your own,” Minho responds without even looking up, too busy with putting the finishing touches up on the table so they can eat. His aloof behavior doesn’t fool Hyunjin, though, the tiny quirk of his lips not going unnoticed.
“Min,” Chan whines, lips pursing out in a pout. Jisung leans up to kiss him, Hyunjin chuckling at the gasp Chan lets out from the sudden kiss. Jisung doesn’t waste time deepening the kiss and as hot as it is to see his boyfriends make out, he doesn’t want to get caught in any potential crossfire like Jisung trying to climb Chan like a tree. It wouldn’t be the first time it has happened, that’s for sure.
Hyunjin slides up to where Minho is setting what seems to be the last bowl down, a smile on his face as he asks, “Do you need help with anything?”
Minho turns towards him with a smile of his own, his lips soft when Minho kisses him. “I think we’re good, but thank you. The table is all set, we just need to separate those two and then we can eat.”
Hyunjin spares a glance over to where Jisung and Chan are still kissing, Jisung’s hands buried in Chan’s hair and Chan’s hands gripping Jisung’s waist, before turning back to Minho. “I’m not sure how successful we will be,” he admits.
“Well,” Minho starts in a voice loud enough to be heard easily, “if they don’t want to eat dinner, then that’s their problem.”
Chan pulls away from the kiss quickly, Jisung letting out an unhappy whine at the loss, but even his boyfriends are no match for Chan’s love of food, something Hyunjin finds absolutely hilarious.
“The power you hold,” Hyunjin murmurs, awe in his voice.
Minho smiles at him. “Don’t underestimate your power, baby. Trust me when I say you have far more power than I do.”
Hyunjin finds that incredibly hard to believe considering how all three of them would do anything Minho asked in a heartbeat, but he keeps that thought to himself and sits down at the table. Jisung plops down in the chair across from him, Hyunjin’s eyes immediately flickering to his slightly swollen lips. Jisung’s lips quirk, Hyunjin flushing and making it a point to look away from Jisung’s pretty lips before he starts making out with Jisung, too. His gaze settles on Chan and Minho, the two of them standing off to the side of the table as Chan kisses Minho chastely in greeting, his eyes curving into crescents once he pulls away.
“Oh, now you remember I exist?” Minho questions with a raise of his eyebrow.
“Babe,” Chan whines, his smile turning into the biggest pout. He’s so cute when he’s pouting and his lips look so full, it’s no wonder Jisung couldn’t hold himself back from kissing Chan earlier. Hyunjin wants to kiss Chan all of the time, but when his lips look so plush and kissable, the feeling is only magnified. Thankfully, Minho kisses him and that’s good enough for Hyunjin – as long as one of them gets to kiss Chan when he looks as cute as he does right now, he’s content.
“I was kidding, silly. Now go sit, the food is going to get cold soon,” Minho says with a pat to Chan’s butt that has him squeaking slightly.
Hyunjin perks up when Chan sits next to him while Minho takes the seat next to Jisung, not so subtly moving his chair closer to Chan. Jisung snickers to himself, but Hyunjin only pouts and says, “Leave me alone.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Jisung points out and while it’s not a lie, he didn’t have to say anything for Hyunjin to know what he had been thinking.
Hyunjin sniffs instead of responding, but the sudden warmth of a hand on his thigh and Chan smiling at him causes him to melt, the fight, fake as it is, leaving his body.
“Alright,” Minho says, clapping his hands together. “I think we’ve waited long enough, and I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty hungry, so I’m going to start eating.”
There’s a chorus of agreements from the rest of them, and for the next few minutes, their dining room is quiet save for the clanking of chopsticks against bowls and the slurping of noodles. Hyunjin has always known Minho to be a fantastic cook, but he’s never unimpressed with just how good he is. Every bite is perfectly seasoned and cooked to perfection, but Hyunjin isn’t surprised – there’s isn’t anything Minho can’t do perfectly.
“Everything is so good,” Chan praises through a mouthful of noodles, echoing Hyunjin’s thoughts exactly.
The smile Minho sends Chan is so bright and beautiful, but just a hint on the teasing side, as he says, “Thank you, but had I known that all I had to do was cook dinner to get you to come home sooner, I would’ve left the bakery earlier. Although it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that you came home right when I was done cooking.”
Chan flushes, smiling sheepishly as he rubs the back of his neck. “I swear it just happened to work out that way.”
“Uh huh,” Jisung says, disbelief clear in his voice.
“If I had known I was going to be slandered like this, I would’ve just stayed at the hotel until tomorrow like originally planned,” Chan jokes.
But Hyunjin can’t help the way his heart drops and he blurts out a quick, “No!”
He flushes, embarrassed by his inability to keep himself in check, but he has missed Chan and there’s no point in hiding it if they all know it. It would be the same if any of them had left instead of Chan, really, Hyunjin far too used to wearing his heart on his sleeve around his boyfriends.
The hand on his thigh moves up to cup his face, and Chan’s expression is nothing but soft when they lock gazes. “I’m sorry, I hope you know I was kidding.”
Hyunjin nuzzles into Chan’s hand with a content sigh, the blush still very prominent on his cheeks. “I know, I’m sorry for overreacting.”
“Don’t apologize,” Chan whispers. He kisses Hyunjin, Hyunjin’s eyelashes fluttering shut at the sweet kiss.
When Hyunjin opens his eyes again, it’s to see both Minho and Jisung staring at him with equally soft expressions, which only causes him to blush even more and avert his gaze. “Sorry for being a downer.”
“We love you, sweetheart,” Minho says, and Hyunjin doesn’t have to look at him to know there’s a beautiful smile on his face. “You aren’t a downer and you don’t have to ever apologize for what you feel because we love you no matter what.”
“I’m going to cry,” Hyunjin manages to get out, only half-joking. A familiar pressure is starting to make itself known behind his eyes and Hyunjin just knows where this is going to go if they keep being this sweet.
“And we’ll still love you even if you cry,” Jisung sing-songs, voice slightly teasing but eyes full of nothing but sincerity when Hyunjin sneaks a glance his way.
Hyunjin knows Jisung only said it to get him to laugh, but it works nonetheless, Hyunjin letting out a small snort at how ridiculous Jisung is. “You’re a dork.”
“But I’m your dork,” Jisung points out before sending him the most over-exaggerated wink Hyunjin has ever seen.
“I guess you are,” Hyunjin muses, laughing to himself when he sees Jisung’s eyes widen before a pretty pink stains his cheeks. It’s cute, how Jisung never expects any of them to go along with him when he says things like that, but is obviously pleased when they do.
There’s a gentle tap to his cheek that causes Hyunjin to look back over at Chan. To be honest, he had completely forgotten Chan’s hand was still cupping his face, far too used to the touch after all of these years.
Chan scoots his chair out slightly and softly says, “Come here, puppy.”
And Hyunjin doesn’t need to be told twice, all but scrambling out of his chair to settle in Chan’s lap, instinctively nuzzling against his neck and inhaling the sweet scent of vanilla. Chan wraps an arm around his waist while he starts to eat again, and Hyunjin is more than content to just sit here and scent Chan, warm and solid in his arms. He’s so, so happy his boyfriend is back early and that he doesn’t have to video chat with him for the fourth night in a row.
“Eat, love,” Chan coaxes and even though Hyunjin grumbles at being interrupted, he opens his mouth so Chan can feed him some noodles anyways.
“I want alpha snuggles, too,” Jisung whines. Hyunjin blinks out of his Chan-induced haze to see Jisung pouting at the two of them cutely and even though Hyunjin isn’t an alpha and can’t give him alpha snuggles, he would still find a way to give Jisung what he wants somehow.
“Am I just invisible to everyone here?” Minho questions, beyond amused as he looks around the table. Chan, to his credit, attempts to defend himself, but it’s garbled due to the fact that he just ate a huge bite of food.
“Hey!” Hyunjin protests because he definitely greeted Minho when he came home.
“Everyone except Hyunjin,” Minho corrects, Hyunjin beaming at him happily.
“Minho,” Jisung says with a pout. He doesn’t waste any time scooting his chair over and nosing at Minho’s neck, pressing tiny kisses there. “I’m sorry, I love you.”
Hyunjin can see how hard Minho is fighting to keep up his aloof appearance, but no one is a match for a cute Jisung and so it isn’t long until Minho is pulling Jisung in his lap, Jisung yelping at the sudden movement but settling down quickly all the same.
“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Minho sighs, wrapping both arms around Jisung and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.
They continue to eat dinner like that, Minho and Chan feeding Jisung and Hyunjin respectively in between their own bites of food until everything is gone. As Jisung bickers with Minho over doing the dishes, Chan laughing and offering to do it himself, which elicits protests from both Jisung and Minho, Hyunjin thinks to himself that it can’t get any better than this.
Later that night, the four of them push Chan and Minho’s beds together in the middle of their room and get ready for bed.
“Remind me again why we don’t just share a bed,” Chan says as he slips on a new shirt. Hyunjin pouts to himself, already missing the view.
“Because you kick in your sleep,” Minho responds, slightly exasperated like they’ve had this conversation a million times. And they probably have - this is the third time Hyunjin has heard it this month alone.
“But we push them together so often, we might as well just get a larger bed. Jisung and Hyunjin have one,” Chan argues. Both Hyunjin and Jisung turn towards Minho like they’re watching a tennis match, awaiting Minho’s answer.
“Hyunjin and Jisung already give me enough bruises, I don’t really want to add to it. Yours aren’t the fun kind, either.”
“I could make them the fun kind if you want,” Chan offers, wiggling his eyebrows in a ridiculous manner that has Hyunjin laughing to himself. Out of the four of them, currently Chan is the one with a neck littered with bruises after he and Jisung may or may not have gotten carried away earlier.
“I’m more than willing to give you more bruises if you don’t want Chan’s,” Jisung pipes up with a cute smile on his face that completely counteracts what he just said.
Minho hums as he drops off his clothes into the laundry basket. “I might take you up on that offer.”
Before Hyunjin even blinks, Chan is turning towards him with a pout. Hyunjin’s eyes widen, heart beating triple time in his chest because Chan is so cute sometimes and it isn’t fair at all. How could anyone in their right mind be able to deny Chan when he looks so sad and pitiful like this? Not Hyunjin, that’s for sure.
“Hyunjinnie will love me, then,” Chan declares.
“Of course,” Hyunjin replies on pure instinct. He can’t even think straight right now, brain still stuck on the image of Chan pouting at him in his large white sleep shirt and grey sweatpants.
Chan beams, then, closing the short distance between the closet and the bed to playfully push Hyunjin down onto the sheets, kneel over him, and press kisses all over his face. Hyunjin can’t help but laugh with each press of Chan’s lips to his face, wrapping his arms around Chan’s neck as Chan curls strong hands around his waist. When they settle down after a few more seconds of kisses and laughter, Chan smiles down at him like he’s something precious and Hyunjin is so weak for him, so weak for all of them.
“I want Hyunjin kisses, too,” Jisung proclaims, but Chan kisses Hyunjin again before Jisung can even get close. Hyunjin hears Jisung huff, but he’s too busy trying to remember how to breathe to really notice anything else.
“You’ve had Hyunjin kisses all week, I’m deprived of them,” Chan responds, the most lovely shade of pink on his cheeks from all of the kissing and laughing. Hyunjin doesn’t have the breath to say it out loud, but Chan is nothing short of glowing, absolutely breathtaking in his beauty.
“You’ve been deprived of Jisung and Minho kisses, too,” Minho points out. Chan opens and closes his mouth a few times, which causes Hyunjin to laugh again, pushing Chan up and over to where Minho is standing by the side of the bed so they can have their kisses. It leaves the perfect opening for Jisung to swoop in for his own kisses, Hyunjin’s toes curling at the sweet press of their lips.
When Jisung pulls away, there are stars in his eyes and the prettiest smile on his face. His hair is soft to the touch given that he just showered, and he’s so beautiful that Hyunjin aches with how much love he has for this boy. Hyunjin, completely under Jisung’s spell, leans up and closes the distance between them to initiate the kiss this time, smiling into it when Jisung presses back eagerly.
With one last short peck, Jisung smiles and pulls away completely. Hyunjin barely has time to shiver from the lack of body heat before Minho is hovering over him, lips slightly swollen and eyes twinkling, beyond gorgeous as he clouds all of Hyunjin’s senses.
“Hi,” Minho whispers. His guard is as low as Hyunjin’s ever seen it, no doubt a combination of the long work day and all four of them finally being together for the first time in days.
“Hi,” Hyunjin replies, completely breathless, both from the kisses and from the sight of his boyfriends.
Minho stares at him for a while longer and Hyunjin wonders what he looks like right now, wonders if he looks as well-kissed and happy as he feels.
“You’re so pretty,” Minho murmurs like he truly can’t believe Hyunjin is real, bringing a hand up to run a gentle thumb over Hyunjin’s bottom lip.
Hyunjin leans into the touch with a sigh, heart fluttering when Minho finally leans down for his kiss.
Minho pulls back just enough so that their lips are still brushing, Hyunjin shivering when Minho whispers, “Guess what?”
Smiling, since he has a feeling of where this is going, Hyunjin asks, “What?”
From this close, Hyunjin can feel the way Minho smiles in response. “I love you. And guess what else?”
“What?”
Minho kisses him again, his lips soft and warm against Hyunjin’s own for a few blissful seconds. “I love Chan and Jisung, too.”
As if on cue, Jisung’s laughter rings out throughout their bedroom, both Hyunjin and Minho looking over to where Chan has Jisung pulled into his lap and is whispering something in his ear. Jisung’s smiling so wide that it makes his cheeks look rounder than usual, Chan has the stars glittering in his eyes, and Minho is radiating love and contentment. No matter how many years have passed, Hyunjin doesn’t think he will ever get used to such a strong feeling of home when he looks at his boyfriends.
“Guess what?” Hyunjin asks, but he doesn’t wait for Minho to answer, feeling soft and warm and loved under Minho’s gaze. “I love you all, too. So much.”
It takes a while, but after more kisses and confessions are exchanged, they all finally cuddle up under the covers. Minho has been yawning for the last few minutes and even though he keeps swearing up and down that he isn’t tired, they can all tell just how sleepy he is. Chan is teetering on the precipice of sleep as well, no doubt from all of the traveling he had to do today.
Hyunjin snuggles closer to Chan, contentment flowing through his veins when Chan absentmindedly starts running a hand through his hair. Their combined scents of vanilla, roses, cinnamon, and strawberries wrap all of them in a loving embrace and Hyunjin finally feels right again.
Suddenly, softly, Jisung shuffles around on Chan’s other side and says, “Missed you.”
The scent of vanilla spikes for a brief moment and Hyunjin knows he isn’t the only one who has noticed. Chan has always had trouble keeping his emotions in check when sleepy and curled up with his boyfriends like this, but Hyunjin loves how easily he can tell when Chan is feeling particularly sappy and protective.
“I missed you, too,” Chan replies. The arm curled around Hyunjin’s shoulder moves slightly, Minho moving behind him as well, and Hyunjin can’t see, but he just knows that Chan has found Minho’s hand and is holding on tightly like he never wants to let go. “And I missed you, Minho. The past few days were so bleak without the three of you, but now that I have my own little personal sunshines with me again, I feel so much better.”
“Told you he was the cheesy one,” Hyunjin murmurs, chuckling when Jisung sleepily swats at his hip.
“We’re glad you’re home, too,” Minho says. The warmth behind Hyunjin’s increases along with the scent of cinnamon and Hyunjin all but melts into the sheets, plastered between his two alphas, his omega just an arm’s length away.
Chan manages to pull all of them slightly closer, which Hyunjin didn’t think was possible, but is not complaining about in the slightest. He loves how Chan makes sure they’re always as close as possible, loves how Chan presses tiny kisses to his forehead, loves how Chan looks adorably bleary-eyed and confused after waking up, loves how Chan loves and protects them all with everything he has, loves how Chan is always there and ready to talk no matter what, but he especially loves him like this, considerate and sweet. Just Chan.
But most importantly, Hyunjin loves the four of them together, loves how Jisung clings to anyone and everyone in his sleep, loves how Minho hums softly as they drift off into dreamland, loves how Chan curls protective arms around all of them.
He loves them, plain and simple.
No matter what happens in the future, Hyunjin knows that everything is going to work out, that they can and will make it through anything that comes their way. He and Jisung may be about to start new chapters in their lives soon, but he isn’t scared, not in the slightest. How could he be when he has three lovely boyfriends to come back home to at the end of the day?
“I love you,” Hyunjin says, smiling when he receives three responses back that sound like one.