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Chan paces his living room with Berry watching. His arms are crossed over his chest to keep him from biting his nails. He blinks a couple of times, like he’s not trying to talk himself out of what’s going to be happening in a couple of hours. Just the thought of his boyfriends (yes boyfriends . Chan has eight of them) not liking each other just a little bit has him putting a small track into the carpet.
Of course his boyfriends don’t have to date each other nor do they have to be friends (he would actually like it more if they could become friends but he’s not one to push his wants onto them), he just wants them to tolerate each other for a couple of hours.
To be honest, though, he doesn’t know why he’s worrying. Changbin and Minho met each other through Chan and almost three weeks later, he found them on his couch, Changbin’s lips attached to Minho’s neck. Changbin just lazily smiled Chan before leaving Minho’s neck with an audible pop. It was the strangest and the hottest thing Chan had seen and well that night was very interesting.
Chan freezes at the thought before shaking his head. He doesn’t need those images in his mind at this moment in time, thank you very much.
In the end, he just sighs and collapses onto his floor, Berry scrambling to him with her short legs. She curls into Chan’s side, Chan stroking her fur. There was nothing that he could do anyway. If they liked each other, then they liked each other. If they hated each other… well then they hated each other. He wasn’t about to force all of them to like each other because he was the link between them all.
Somewhere inside of his apartment, his phone rings which means his Google Home is about to go off in… “Incoming call from Jinnie, red heart, red heart,” the robotic voice says. “Answer or decline?”
A little beep.
“Answer,” Chan says. The machine beeps. “Hi sweetheart.”
“Hyung?” comes Hyunjin’s voice. It sounds small, like he’s scared of something. Immediately, Chan rises from the floor like a zombie and stares at his Google Home. “Where are you?”
“On my way,” Chan lies scrambling off the floor and rushing around to grab his things. “Is everything alright?”
Hyunjin chuckles which causes Chan to freeze before taking a deep breath. “Everything is fine,” he says. “I just wanted to know if you were there yet. I don’t know these people.” The more that Hyunjin talked, the smaller his voice became.
“I’ll be there shortly, sweetheart. I promise.”
“Hurry.”
Hyunjin hangs up and Chan curses himself. In his self panic, he had forgotten all about Hyunjin’s wariness to strangers. Of course, his youngest lover isn’t going to go inside of a place he didn’t know and sit with a bunch of people that he didn’t know. That was just not who Hyunjin was.
With a shout to Berry, he finishes gathering his things, his phone on the farthest window ledge, he’s finally gone. He sprints out of his apartment and down the street, trying his hardest not to bump into people. He gets a couple of looks but he doesn’t mind them, calling out apologizes over his shoulder.
Reaching the cafe in record time, Chan sees Hyunjin outside, rocking on his heels, his hands in his pockets. His head of dark hair is covered by a bright yellow beret and his hidden body is swallowed by one of Chan’s black hoodies.
“Jinnie,” he calls out, waving to his boyfriend. Hyunjin whips his head around and smiles brightly at Chan waving back.
Chan takes pride in knowing his boyfriends, and the fact that Hyunjin is gripping the end of his sleeve and the corner of his lip is in his mouth, tells Chan that he’s scared. But that’s something that Chan might be able to help with.
Instead of slowing down like a normal person would do, Chan continues to rush over to Hyunjin who now is blinking owlishly at him. Chan only smiles, opening his arms and engulfing Hyunjin in a hug. There’s a loud yelp in his ear but Chan doesn’t mind, laughing when they hit the ground. (And of course Chan somehow switched them around and of course Hyunjin didn’t get hurt. Not on Chan’s watch will Hyunjin get hurt.)
“Hyuuung,” Hyunjin whines. “Was this necessary?”
“Always.”
Hyunjin huffs before a whine passes through his lips. Pouting, he looks to Chan under his lashes, ignoring the people who have started to come around them. Chan smiles at Hyunjin, running his fingers under Hyunjin’s beret. For a moment, Hyunjin closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. Chan can see his anxiety melting away at the touch.
“Of course you would be in the middle of the sidewalk, Bang Chan,” comes a voice familiar to Chan.
He doesn’t dare take his eyes off Hyunjin whose eyes have snapped open.
“It’s not a bad thing, Lee Felix,” Chan says with a laugh. “Is it?”
Felix snorts and Chan finally takes a look at Felix who has his hands on his hips. A perfectly sculpted eyebrow is raised, eyes hard and intimidating as he looked to Hyunjin on Chan’s chest. A squeak comes out of Hyunjin’s mouth, throwing his head onto Chan’s chest as if to hide.
“Well you’re lying in the middle of a dirty sidewalk with someone on your chest. I’m surprised someone hasn’t called the ambulance yet.” Felix shakes his head, another sigh falling from his lips. “Please get up off the ground.”
Chan only laughs, that worry in the back of his mind coming back. With Felix and Hyunjin here, his most intimidating boyfriend and his softest boyfriend, he hopes that he doesn’t have to drag one of them out of the cafe.
Slowly, Chan raises from the ground, hugging Hyunjin to his chest. It’s awkward and a little hard but he manages to lift them both, smiling at Felix when he does so. Felix only rolls his eyes but Chan sees the fondness in the far corners of boyfriend’s dark eyes.
“Let me introduce,” he says, poking Hyunjin’s head a little bit. “Hyunjinnie, this is Felix. Felix this is Hyunjin.”
Hyunjin peers from Chan’s chest to smile sheepishly. Felix manages a small smile.
“Hello Hyunjin,” Felix says, his voice a couple of octaves softer than what it was a couple of minutes prior. “I’m sorry about Channie hyung. I’m trying to see if there is a way to change his heathen habits.”
“I do not have heathen habits,” Chan huffs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Felix gives him a dull stare. “The reason why the both of you ended on the floor is because you saw Hyunjin and you continued to run. Am I wrong?”
Chan pouts. “No.”
“And I bet that you ran all the way over here.”
“So what?”
Felix laughs. “See. Heathen.”
Chan talks in pout. “I’m not a heathen.”
Hyunjin laughs from where his head is situated on Chan’s chest, his eyes crinkling into crescent moons. Chan’s stomach does The Thing (it’s a swoop of butterflies because wow, all of his lovers have this smile that’s just their smile and it’s the most amazing thing that Chan has seen).
“Shall we head inside, Hyunjin?” Felix asks. “We can leave Chan to contemplate his heatheness out here.”
With a short nod, Hyunjin pulls away from the safety of Chan’s embrace. He smiles to Felix again who smiles back and motions for him to enter the cafe. There’s a faint blush on Hyunjin’s cheeks when he looks into the other’s eyes which causes Chan to smile. He knows that smile.
Maybe he was really worrying for nothing.
A thought crosses Chan’s mind. “If I was a heathen,” he says. “Why would you date me?”
Felix looks over his shoulder and sends Chan that smile that has his stomach doing The Thing. Belatedly, he wonders how he’s going to survive this meeting if all eight of his boyfriends are here. If they all give him their smiles that cause his stomach to do The Thing, then maybe he’s really going to need an ambulance.
“I never said it wasn’t attractive Channie hyung.”
Felix saunters into the cafe leaving Chan speechless with an open mouth. Heat rises to his cheeks as he takes in Felix’s words and well fuck .
“I’m going to die,” he says, taking a deep breath to calm his rapid beating heart. He really might need that ambulance.
When he’s ready, he walks inside the cafe noting the ambient music. It has an almost fantasy-like design with strange creatures littering the walls, posters for make believe places (that poster for a place called Aerin looks beautiful surrounded by the red and gold flowers in the back). There are a couple of different people sitting around, most of them clicking away on their laptops.
He spots Hyunjin and Felix in the back, forcing two tables together. Mentally, Chan counts eight seats which is perfect. They will be eight after all.
Hyunjin is the first to sit, dark eyes locking onto Chan’s. It takes no longer than a second for Chan to choose the spot next to Hyunjin while Felix sits directly across from the two of them.
Silence passes by for a few minutes, Hyunjin’s fingers drumming on the table as his eyes glancing over to Chan’s for the millionth time. That frightened look that he had when Chan first saw him was slowly coming back which Chan wasn’t too sure about. He didn’t want Hyunjin to worry about meeting the others but with Seungmin making his way to the table sending a wary glance wasn't the best thing.
He presses a kiss to Chan's head before sliding into the chair next to Chan and giving his best smile. Felix sucks in a breath, rolling his eyes, while Hyunjin looks to the ground.
“Hello Channie hyung,” he says. “I see some of the boys are here.”
Chan smiles gently. “Yes. I’ll introduce when everyone gets here?”
“That sounds like a plan,” Seungmin says with a smile before looking over to Felix and raising a brow. “I didn’t think you knew him.” He puts his head on the table after that, like this conversation wasn't going to be of any interest to him.
Felix smiles, his body ridged like he wasn’t trying to bolt across the table and punch Seungmin in the face. His eyebrow twitches as he nods his head. “Yes,” he says. “I’ve known Channie hyung since I was very little.”
“Oh?”
“Is that a problem, Kim Seungmin-ssi?”
Seungmin chuckles, burying his face into his arms as if hiding a smile. It takes a moment before he turns his head back into a normal position where a shit eating grin is on his face. “It’s not. I just didn’t know Chan had you as a type. Rude and a stick in the mud.”
Chan blinks a couple of times, his biggest fear suddenly planted more in his mind.
But as much as he wants to listen to the cowering feeling in his gut, he slaps it away and taps on the table, gaining not only Seungmin's and Felix’s attention but Hyunjin's as well. Hyunjin looks fearfully between the Felix and Seungmin, grabbing Chan’s hidden hand and intertwining their fingers. Chan sends Hyunjin a small smile.
“I didn’t know you two know each other,” he says, looking in between his two warring boyfriends with a raised brow. He just hopes that this meeting will end somewhat safely. “And it’s obvious that you don’t like each other but please for the sake of my sanity and this meeting, please just tolerate each other. After this, you don’t have to see each other again.”
The hostile look in Felix’s eyes softens and Seungmin looks a little sheepish. They both smile at Chan, Seungmin closing his eyes for a couple of seconds as if trying not to glare at Felix to give Chan his small piece of mind. Felix on the other hand, looks and begins talking softly to Hyunjin who looks scared about everything that’s happening around him. He squeezes Chan’s hand causing the elder to rub circles on the back of his palm.
“Was the train long, Minnie?” Chan asks Seungmin who yawns, opening and eye and giving Chan a sleepy smile.
“No.”
“Have you slept in the last twenty four hours?”
“That I have… not.”
“Minnie.”
Seungmin snorts. “It’s not like you can tell me anything. You’re the one who doesn’t sleep.”
Felix snorts. “Have you slept Channie hyung?”
Chan throws a deadly glare at Seungmin. “Yes?” he questions, hoping no one will catch up on it.
“How much sleep?” Seungmin asks.
“Enough.”
Hyunjin opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by a loud YOU’RE CHAN HYUNG’S BOYFRIENDS TOO? There’s only one person who could shout louder than necessary. Chan only dares to glance at Jisung throwing himself into Minho’s embrace cackling like the five year old Chan thinks he is. Changbin stands to the side awkwardly, Minho’s fingers still intertwined with his.
Chan shakes his head. He’s already mentally regretting this a little more.
Jisung finds his eyes and grins from ear to ear. He lets go of Minho and comes barreling towards Chan, the elder letting go of Hyunjin’s hand as quick as he can. He must have sent a look to Felix because the younger is pulling at Hyunjin to get him to stand by him while Jisung quite literally throws himself at Chan with a loud HYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNG.
They both fall with a loud thunk, most of the patrons in the cafe already looking their way when Jisung ran across the cafe. Chan can’t look sheepish when Jisung hovers above him with a blinding smile and blue strands caressing his crinkling eyes.
“Hiya hyung,” Jisung says, pressing a gentle kiss to Chan’s lips. “I didn’t know that you knew Minho hyung! He was my boyfriend in high school! We broke up because of the distance, ya know? Me moving to Malaysia and Minnie hyung staying here. I thought about trying to reach out to him but I couldn’t find him anywhere. Do you know how many Lee Minho’s there are in Seoul? Because there’s a shit ton.”
“Han Jisung,” Chan says with a smile, “please breathe.”
Jisung only blinks for a couple of seconds before taking in a gulp of air and releasing it. In his eyes, Chan could still see the hyperactive man that he called his boyfriend but at least he’s a little tamed.
“Sorry,” he says sheepishly. “I got excited.”
“I know.”
Jisung leaps off Chan but not before helping him off the ground. He smiles and waves at the group before sitting down and pulling out a chair, patting it, and motioning to Minho.
“MInnie hyung, sit here,” Jisung says with a wide smile.
Minho fondly shakes his head saying hello to Chan with a soft peck to his cheek while puts a long wet kiss against Chan’s lips.
“Hi hyung,” Changbin says with a small smile. “We missed you at the game yesterday. Minho hyung wouldn’t stop yelling ‘THIS IS FOR DUMBLEDORE! EAT A COCKROACH, BITCH!’. To say that everyone was confused was the understatement of the century.”
Someone snorts at the table as Chan shakes his head, heavy fondness radiating off him. Of course, Minho would shout something like that. Was it really a muggle Quidditch without someone yelling about something in the Wizarding World?
“Hey,” Minho says. “Muggle Quidditch is a very interesting sport! What’s not to like about running around with broom sticks in between your legs and chasing the snitch? I think it’s great.”
Chan sits back down with Changbin sitting to his left and Hyunjin moving back to his original spot. He intertwines their fingers again, Hyunjin smiling shyly. “Well remember, Minnie. Don’t make out with the Snitch.”
Minho crosses his arms and huffs. “What was I supposed to do? Binnie looked good in yellow and the way those shorts hugged his thighs was fucking perfect.”
Changbin makes a noise. “Hyung shut up.”
The only thing Chan can do is to watch as Minho tells some of his Muggle Quidditch stories to the table. Most of them are watching as Minho flails his arms, a wide grin on his face as he rehashes the events of the previous days match. His eyes are wide and sparkling, which is enough for Chan to lean back in his chair and just watch as his boyfriends interact with each other.
Yes, he’s still missing one, but Jeongin has an excuse. Jeongin’s baseball coach likes to run his team a little later than usual on the weekends. Something about how they’re going to finally but their university on the map of great schools to play ball at.
“Don’t think we’re done with you, Mr. Bang Chan,” Seungmin yawns sitting up after a moment of silence. Chan blinks a couple of times. “We’re going to get you a proper sleeping schedule.”
Jisung whips his head around and looks to Chan. “You didn’t sleep again?” he says. “I thought you were going to sleep last night. Did your boss make you stay late again? I swear to everything that I holy that I’m going to shove a boot up his ass.”
Chan holds out his free hand and shakes his head. “Please don’t do that.” But he knows that Jisung isn’t listening to him. Not when he’s drumming his fingers against the table, still mumbling away.
“Why does he make you and only you stay so late? It’s not like you have a million other things to do. You have your classes and your internship and then you work? Channie hyung, you are going to pass out again and end up in the hospital this time and I don’t want that to happen.” Jisung fixes his stare on Chan. “I will cry if you end up in the hospital and I know how much you hate it when I cry.”
It’s not Chan who silences Jisung, it’s Minho, clamping a hand over Jisung’s mouth. He looks to Chan with a brow raised. “He hasn’t changed,” he says before looking to Jisung, whispering something in ear.
With Jisung silent (Chan could see a Felix and Seungmin sighing in relief while Hyunjin’s squeezing the life out of his hand) the others look to Chan.
“Your boss hates you,” Changbin says. “It's the only reason why.”
“Binnie…”
“He’s not wrong,” Felix says, crossing his arms over his chest. “It really does seem like your boss hates you.”
“I thought you were going to look for another job?” Seungmin says quietly, picking the hem of his sweatshirt. He looks to Chan under his lashes before placing his head on the table.
“I haven’t been able to find one,” Chan sighs.
“I can ask my boss,” Hyunjin whispers. “He might be able to help with something”
“I can ask too!” Jisung shouts, slapping his hand on the table. “He might have something!”
The table is filled with different offers of asking their bosses if they would have a job for Chan. It takes him a moment to just feel the love passing through his mind. He doesn’t have the heart to tell them that everything will be okay, and that he actually did put his two weeks in. He just wants to dwell in the overwhelming feeling of love that he’s getting from his lovers.
“You look fond, hyung,” a new voice says as a head is placed on top of his and arms around his neck. “But when do you not look fond?”
Chan snorts. “Hello Jeongin.”
“You’re not going to answer me?”
“I always look fond,” Chan says. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Yes.”
Jeongin presses a kiss to Chan’s head before taking the last spot at the table. He smiles brightly at the other boys and he can see the moment six men had fallen in love with one Yang Jeongin.
Chan tries to hide a smile.
Things right now might be rocky between Felix and Seungmin but of course Chan didn’t miss the subtle glances they were taking at each other. He also didn’t miss the small smiles Minho sends to Hyunjin as if he’s trying to break the other’s shell while talking to Jeongin and trying to peel Jisung off him. Changbin is talking rather animatedly to the current human koala who still looks like he swallowed the sun with his smile.
Things look like they’re going great, wonderful even and it’s enough for his heart to feel warm.
Chan clears his throat and everyone quiets. “So question,” he says. “How much does a polar bear weigh?” He waits a couple of moments, trying to ignore the look of disbelief running across Felix’s and Jeongin’s face. “Enough to break the ice. Hello and welcome to this meeting.”
Jisung and Minho groan loudly, gaining the attention from other patrons again. Seungmin looks just about done while Hyunjin looks like he's five seconds away to bolting out of the cafe. Changbin looks disgusted but the only thing Chan can do is snicker at all of them.
It feels nice to see them all in one place.
(And if three months later Chan comes home to someone his apartment, he’s okay with it. He’s just not okay with Felix and Seungmin shoving their tongues down each other’s throats while Changbin, Minho, and Jisung cheer them on. It's not the kissing that bothers him, it's the fact that he came home to them and sat on his couch with wandering hands.
Minho stares at Chan before rolling his eyes. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?” he says. “Too long.”
Chan only sighs. He has another interesting night ahead of him if the look Minho is giving Changbin means what he think it does.
Oh dear.
...
It does.)