Chapter Text
Koh and Jack sat across from each other, boring daggers sharper than razor blades. Seconds passed and the air stilled to a silence. Seconds ticked by. A small fly buzzed around the room. Sunlight filtered through the window, inching its slow travel across the floor.
"Ah!" exclaimed Jack, "You blinked! I won!" He pumped a fist in the air in celebration as Koh sighed.
The three of them had started playing this little game before they were even technically together. After witnessing countless arguments, Wayu had demanded to know if Koh and Jack could be civil to each other for even five minutes. The answer was no. But after seeing how disappointed Wayu became at the dismal result, the two sworn enemies decided to give getting along a shot. For Wayu's sake.
However, they didn't have any ideas on how to accomplish this monumental task. Be friendly? With him? Impossible. So, Wayu decided to give them suggestions on how to get along. He started slow and easy, like: sit next to each other, be quiet, and not fight for fifteen seconds. Surprisingly - because it was for Wayu - they did it. Right up until that sixteenth second.
Unsurprisingly - Koh and Jack managed to make many of Wayu's orders into a competition. "Take a selfie with each other" turned into who could take the best photo and get the most likes on social media. "Hold hands'' turned into arm wrestling. "Go on a coffee date" turned into who can drink the most coffee the fastest. Wayu watched in regret at this one, realizing that he would soon have two overexcited boys on his hands.
Since then, it became a sort of ritual for them. They tried to get in at least one round per day, as an excuse for a bonding activity. Today it was "look at each other in the eyes for at least thirty seconds," which had turned into an intense staring competition.
"It's not fair, there was a bug in my eye! We need a do over."
"No way," said Jack, pushing Koh's hands away from his face to inspect the eye, "I don't see anything! I think you're just being a sore loser."
"That's because it flew away by now, you jerk," Koh swatted Jack away, "Dang it, Jack, I don't know what bothers me more - you or the bug."
"You know you love me," said Jack, with a wink, even though Koh couldn't see him through rubbing his eyes.
"Are you okay, Koh? Let me see," said Wayu, scooting across his bed to get a closer look. He had been holding on to a teddy bear at the head of the bed, but tossed it aside in favor of caring for one of his boyfriends.
Wayu gently moved Koh's hand to inspect the supposed injury. Koh let Wayu shift him around freely, even adjusting the tilt of his head to accommodate the other's shorter height. He had to smirk once he saw Jack’s dismayed expression out of the corner of his good eye.
"Why is he getting your attention, Wayu? I'm the one who won!"
"Safety comes first," said Wayu, not even glancing over at Jack to acknowledge him. Wayu stood up and motioned for Koh to grab his arm, "Come on, we'll go wash it out."
"I'm coming too, then!" said Jack, hopping up to take Koh's other arm as he stood up.
The two led Koh to the bathroom, noting that Koh was a little hesitant and dragging his feet. "All right, I know I said it was bothering me," he said, "but this is too much, guys. It's not like I have a broken leg or something."
They reached the sink and the two let go of him. Wayu gestured to the sink, “Go on then, if you don't need help." Jack flashed him a thumbs up behind Koh's back, which was easily seen through the mirror above the sink.
"So cruel," said Koh, shaking his head before turning the water on. With just a few washes of his face, he tried reaching out for a towel.
He felt around and found nothing but an empty rod, where he knew a towel should be. "Come on, not funny. I'm dripping water from my face and I can hardly open my eyes."
"Are you saying you need help, dear?" Jack teased.
"Yes, dear," Koh deadpanned. Wayu giggled making Jack smile mischievously, but they decided against any more cruelty. Jack just put the towel in Koh's hand.
Koh finished drying his face and put the towel back in its proper spot. Inspecting himself in the mirror, he noted his eyes were more bloodshot than before. "I look even worse now, thanks to you," Koh grumbled.
Jack coughed, in a vain attempt to hide his laughter. He felt Koh's stare on him and he held his hands up, "Hey, I didn't say anything!"
"You look fine, Koh," said Wayu, adjusting his stance to see for himself, and nodded, "But do you feel better?"
Koh nodded back, and took Wayu's hands in his own. "I do now, thanks to you, Yu," he said, so sweetly that sugar looked sour in comparison.
"Hmm…" Wayu hummed contemplatively, "you know, Jack helped too."
Koh suddenly frowned. He turned to Jack. "Thank you, I guess."
"Yep," said Jack, scratching the back of his head, "Sorry you got uh, something in your eye. Sorry for kinda overdoing it, too."
Koh's eyes widened in surprise. Two apologies in one go? That was a new record. "It's okay, Jack," he said and he gripped Jack's shoulder, "At least now I know I'll be well taken care of if something really goes wrong."
Koh winced in pain when he felt someone slap him on the forearm. "Don't you dare foreshadow something like that," said Wayu, gravely serious.
"Wayu, I'm so sorry, I won't do it again," Koh rubbed the spot on his arm, which showed no signs of anything out of place. He spoke through a sheepish grin, "But... well, now my arm hurts."
"From Yu? Our Yu?" Jack laughed out loud, "Have you met him?"
"Of course I have! And he's surprisingly strong."
Wayu seemed pleased at this, with a little proud smile. But even he had to admit, "It wasn't that hard. I know - because I was only using 4.5% of my strength."
"Oh ho! Seems we've got our lightweight contender here! And in the blue corner, weighing in at 65 kg is - Superstar Wayu!" Jack announced. Wayu flexed for the non-existent crowd. Koh covered his eyes, not because they hurt this time, but because he didn't want to witness what was happening. Jack continued, "And in the red corner, weighing in at uhh... an astounding 90 kg - Big Buffalo Koh!"
Jack imitated the sound of an audience cheering and clapping their hands. "The odds are 100 to 1 for Superstar Wayu. Any bets?" He held out a hand to ask for money.
"One day I will murder you," said Koh, slapping his hand away.
But Jack caught it and interlaced their fingers. "You know you love me!" he beamed.
"You…" Koh took a deep breath in through his teeth, aiming to calm his reddening skin and rising emotions.
"Aww, sweetheart, you're so cute when you're," Jack cocked his head, "angry? Shy? Hot and bothered?"
"I'd say mostly angry but definitely shy," Wayu piped in from the sidelines.
"I think you're right, Yu," said Jack, going over to fiddle with Koh's ear, "I mean just look at how red he's getting here. We're getting to be regular Koh experts, huh?"
Wayu hummed in agreement. He poked at Koh, who seemed to be currently disassociating and rethinking his life choices.
"Koh? You okay?" Wayu asked, "You're not rethinking your life choices, are you?"
The quickness in which Koh jolted his head to look incredulously at Wayu gave away the answer. Wayu giggled and reached up to pat Koh's head. "There, there. You know you love us."
Before Koh could say anything, Jack suddenly remembered something. He grabbed onto Wayu's shoulders and said, "Hey, I never got my prize for winning the staring contest!"
Wayu rolled his eyes. "Of course, Jack, don't worry. Speaking of, do you want to get back to our game?"
"Anything to get out of this tiny bathroom," Koh said, finally calmed down, "It's cramped in here with three people."
"Can you make it on your own, babe?" Jack called out, as Koh took the lead out the door. He got a middle finger in response.
"He's all better now, that's for sure," Jack laughed, "Right, Yu-?" He was interrupted with a quick peck on his cheek.
Hopping down back from his tip toes, Wayu explained, "For winning the game." He nudged Jack in the side playfully and looked up at him with a big smile. "Also for being so sweet to Koh."
"Yeah, well…" Jack mumbled, his hands hovering over his cheek where Wayu had kissed him. It was his turn to blush and become incoherent. "Yeah," was all the rest he got out. Wayu usually didn't play into who won and who lost. But sometimes he gave in because after all, these are his boys. They were trying for him so he might as well reward them a bit, right?