Archive of Our Own

Back when Chan was in business school, one of his teachers once had an entire 30-minute lecture against the concept of family businesses. It became exceedingly clear very early on that the entire tirade was caused by the professor’s failed shipping business that fell apart after he and his wife got divorced, but the whole thing still stuck with Chan.

He could basically hear his tired voice saying don’t mix business and your private life whenever he woke up in bed next to Changbin, his primary and nesting partner, and also the guy he opened up a business with. Maybe a few times in his life, when they were trying to get the restaurant up and running, he almost believed it; money was tight for a long time, and the tension between the two of them and their chef de cuisine used to be unbearable before all the parties involved finally figured out that they were just attracted to each other , and too stressed to really figure out what to do about it.

The day Minho snapped and kissed Changbin right in front of Chan during an argument was honestly in the end one of the best days of Chan’s life - especially when Minho then turned his blazing eyes to him and kissed the argument out of his mouth, too. It was the first time since he and Changbin decided to ditch their corporate jobs and do their own thing that Chan finally felt like his decisions led him to something good ; something that wasn’t just stress and piled up bills and holding back tears in the shower after a 20-hour work day where another sous chef quit in the middle of their shift because they couldn’t take the constant fighting between Minho and the owners.

Minho joining in on their relationship ended up being the sign of things finally looking up for them and the restaurant, and the night of that day, while Chan was falling asleep curled up into Changbin’s left side, his hand on his stomach under Minho’s, who had his head pillowed on Changbin’s right shoulder, was the moment when he stopped believing his old business school professor altogether.

Now he woke up next to Changbin guiltlessly, shook him awake gently and dodged his attempts at kissing him good morning before brushing his teeth. He made his way to the kitchen, knowing fully well that Changbin was going to take ages to get himself out of bed, so he could take his time making them their morning usuals - coffee for Changbin, green tea for Chan.

Changbin emerged out of the bedroom eventually and attached himself immediately to Chan’s back, whining about something , although what exactly had him disgruntled and unhappy this time was a mystery to Chan, given that Changbin’s mouth was crushed against Chan’s shirt and whatever he was saying came out muffled.

He shut up quickly enough once his coffee was done, and then he was demanding Chan go brush his teeth too so Changbin could finally get that kiss he wanted. Chan ignored him in favor of drinking his tea, but gave up eventually once Changbin wormed his way closer to him again, only to proceed to poke him with his nose and chin until Chan did what he wanted.

Changbin was lucky Chan had been in love with him for almost nine years now, honestly.

The fact that he was a pro at lazy and indulgent morning kisses that made even Chan’s insomniac ass want to curl up with him in bed for a few hours more didn’t hurt, either.

Minho was already at the restaurant when they got there, overseeing the preparations in the kitchen before opening, but he dropped whatever he was cutting in favor of rushing to greet them the second they walked in through the back door. Chan got his customary wet and messy kiss, because Minho thought making him blush in front of their staff was funny, and Changbin got his customary nothing, followed by a slap on the ass when he complained about it, because dating Minho was a mess of getting nothing that you wanted but loving what you did get, anyways.

“The new guys are here already - the waiters Seungmin recommended? Hyunjinnie is out front showing them the ropes,” he informed them, some kind of look in his eyes Chan couldn’t quite decipher.

Chan glanced towards the doors to the front of the restaurant, but they were closed at the moment. “What did you think?”

“I think that if Kim Seungmin wasn’t lying to us and he’s never slept with either of them, he was missing out,” was Minho’s simple answer, and Chan felt a fragment of his soul escaping him with how heavy his responding sigh was.

Changbin’s reaction was louder, since it was Changbin, and he reached out to slap at Minho’s arm. “Hey! You can’t kiss your boyfriend hello but you can check out the waitstaff?”

Minho just raised an eyebrow at Changbin, who recoiled a little bit in fear of Minho retaliating. “Says the guy who spent Yongbokkie’s first three days working here staring at the poor boy’s ass.”

“He liked it!” Changbin squawked, and Chan could feel a headache building behind his eyes.

“Yes he did,” a laughing, smooth voice agreed before a pair of thin arms wound their way around Minho’s waist, a sharp chin hooking over his shoulder, Felix grinning at them happily.

“No one asked you,” Minho protested, but Felix just rubbed their cheeks together until he forced a smile out of their head chef.

Chan couldn’t really hold back a smile of his own at the sight of them. Felix was the fourth one to enter the mess that was his love life, first by stealing Changbin’s heart the very first day he showed up at the restaurant, then by winning Minho over as well. Funnily enough, despite how easy it was for Felix to make Chan smile, the relationship between them had taken the longest time to become romantic; so long, in fact, that all of them had already accepted it as a no-go by the time their feelings for each other shifted - well, by the time Chan’s feelings for Felix shifted. Felix was attracted to Chan enough, both sexually and romantically, but Chan simply couldn’t get himself to feel anything but brotherly feelings towards Felix.

He was cute; he was an amazing cook, and the first sous chef they managed to convince to stick around, therefore a godsend for the restaurant. He was funny, and handsome, and a good boyfriend, as Chan got to know over the following months, as he wrapped both of Chan’s boyfriends around his finger, managing to navigate the depths of Changbin’s fragile yet ginormous ego and strike the perfect balance of working with Minho while keeping some of his more chaotic tendencies in check. Felix was a good guy, and he was good for them .

Unfortunately it had taken a big fight with Changbin and Minho for Chan to realize. It had been a hard time for Chan - the restaurant had just taken off properly and business was booming, but the downside was extra stress on everyone’s shoulders as they adjusted to an entirely new workflow. Chan’s insomnia, which he had somewhat managed to get under a semblance of control after he got out of college, had gotten worse again, and he had gotten medication for it after a lot of nagging from his boyfriends - but then he had stopped taking it, because he had found that he could get so much more accounting and planning done if he succumbed to the sleeplessness.

When Changbin found out, all hell broke loose - and it left Chan alone in the office of the restaurant, way after closing. Changbin and Minho had left together, Changbin refusing to go back home to their place with Chan and sleeping at Minho’s instead. Chan had been exhausted, guilty, angry and lonely.

And then Felix had shown up with a Spongebob mug of tea and a plastic box of cookies. Chan had expected him to leave them there and go home, but he had stayed. Talked to Chan until 10 am about everything that had happened. Told him about all the worries his boyfriends shared with him that they hadn’t trusted Chan with, lectured him, just a little , about the importance of taking care of himself for the sake of the ones he loved.

It was that that had made him fall for Felix after all. While they had been locking the restaurant up behind themselves that day, Chan asked Felix out for a date with just the two of them. Funnily enough, it was the shift in the way that he and Felix interacted that actually helped him get Changbin to go back to their apartment with him; he immediately knew something changed the next time he saw them talk to each other in the kitchen, and eventually agreed to come home with Chan if it meant getting the scoop on what had happened.

Chan didn’t really regret anything; even if things between him and Felix were always way more relaxed and casual than they were between him and the other two, he was glad he had him, to love and to fall back on if he needed someone to get his head out of his ass without the aggressive approach Changbin and Minho tended to take.

“Morning, Felix,” and on days like these, Felix was also a great balm for the headache Changbin and Minho could sometimes be. 

“Morning, Channie.” His smile could definitely be marketed as a painkiller.

“Yongbok!” Changbin’s whine, on the other hand… “Minho refused to kiss me good morning.”

Felix snickered, poking his nose into Minho’s cheek. “Yeah?

Minho was clearly trying not to smirk. “Maybe.”

“I need you to come over here and fix that,” Changbin insisted, making grabby hands at their sous chef until he disentangled himself from Minho and walked over, grabbing at Changbin’s face dramatically and giving him a long, deep kiss. At some point during it, Changbin even picked him up off of the ground, making it look like they hadn’t seen each other in months and not like they had made out for 30 minutes while they were supposed to help clean before closing yesterday.

Minho stared at them with a mix of disgust, fondness and amusement on his face, then looked at Chan. “Why didn’t you pick me up when I was kissing you hello? I feel neglected here.”

“Well, love,” Chan grinned at him, coming up to him to pull him down for a small, gentle peck. “Maybe you should have given Binnie his morning kiss if you wanted that.”

It earned him a slap on the arm from Minho, but Chan just laughed and moved on past him, intent on checking up with Seungmin before he went out front to talk to their potential new employees.

Seungmin got dragged into their whole mess by Minho, during that aforementioned crisis when Chan got two hours of shut-eye on a good day. One day, when Chan and Changbin arrived at the restaurant, there was a stranger leaning against Chan’s desk at the office, and when they stormed back into the kitchen to ask Minho who the hell it was, Minho’s answer was something along the lines of, that’s Seungmin. He’s a professional accountant. Hire him for a month at least and get some fucking sleep .

But Chan was just paraphrasing.

He had ended up hiring Seungmin in the end - first as a temporary measure, then permanently when they realized how much of a relief it was to have someone taking care of the money so they could keep track of everything else. Much later, they found out how Minho knew a convenient unemployed accountant.

Seungmin and Minho had dated , was the thing - or, more accurately, they had been engaged throughout most of Minho’s time in culinary school, just for Minho to pack his bags and run once he had his degree, because it had been at that time that he had figured out he was polyamorous.

The kicker, of course, being that Seungmin turned out to be poly as well, but by the time they had learned not to resent each other for what had happened, it had seemed like the ship had sailed when it came to a relationship between the two of them - and then Minho got Seungmin hired at the restaurant. Suddenly, they were spending a lot of their time in each other’s orbit, Minho always just a door away from Seungmin’s desk in the office, and often even closer when he came to discuss something with Chan or Changbin or when he was in the mood to sit in one of their laps or on their desks and be obnoxious.

Then one day Chan walked into the office after a bathroom break to find Minho on Seungmin’s table, Changbin eyeing them warily from across the room. It wasn’t clear what exactly the conversation was like before Chan had walked it, but it was clear from Minho’s tone that he was trying to turn it sexual, the line between serious and teasing and blurry as it always was when Minho was around.

Seungmin had taken one look at Chan and averted his eyes with a blush, just for Minho to snort exasperatedly. “We’re open, Seungmin,” he said like it was something he had had to repeat a thousand times already.

“And Minho talked at me about you for two hours straight on our date yesterday,” Changbin added and immediately dodged the pack of post-it notes Minho threw at him.

It made them both blush, and when Minho announced to them as they were locking up that he and Seungmin were going on a date, nobody in their little yet steadily growing polycule was surprised - or opposed, really. Changbin adored Seungmin, who seemed extremely done with all of his attention yet it almost seemed to border on the same fond exasperation he had on his face almost constantly when he was around Minho, and Felix and him actually seemed to have a lot to talk about on their lunch breaks and when Seungmin stopped by the kitchen when he was leaving the office, a few hours sooner than everyone else.

Chan… well. Chan really liked him himself - but he was not expecting Seungmin to ask him out right after his date with Minho. He accepted, of course, then proceeded to freak out about it to his three boyfriends, who all laughed at him, only Felix took enough mercy on him to stop laughing for five seconds to assure him that Seungmin had been watching him be large and in charge with stars in his eyes ever since he had first stepped foot in the restaurant and Chan was just the last person to notice.

At least Chan could rest easy knowing that he had thrown Seungmin just as much for a loop with the much lighter tone he adopted when he was off the clock as Seungmin had thrown him by asking for the date. It worked out, however, in the end, Seungmin eventually accepted that all he did was invite another person to lovingly bother him at work - and off work . Even Changbin got the time of the day from him in the end, even if their dynamic needed a lot of adjusting from both sides to actually work out.

“Seungmin~” Chan sing-songed as he opened the door to the office just to see Seungmin roll his eyes at him, but when Chan leaned down to kiss him hello, he easily lifted his chin to accept it. “You’re here early.”

“Well, the new guys are here on my referral, I thought the least I could do was show them where the restaurant is .”

With a huff, Chan sat down on the edge of Seungmin’s table, next to the open accounting books. “Apparently Minho’s a fan of them - but he still thinks that you’ve slept with them.”

Seungmin shifted a little. “He’s still upset with me because I won’t tell him my entire relationship history between when he broke up with me and when he got me this job.”

“And I still don’t understand why you won’t just tell him,” Chan admitted, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“Because it drives him crazy that he doesn’t know,” the accountant replied lightly, and bent over his work again.

He found himself snorting in disbelief. “You two are terrible to each other.”

This time Seungmin didn’t even look up from what he was writing down. “Imagine what it was like when Minho didn’t have four other guys to tire himself out with.”

Chan did, briefly, and he patted Seungmin’s shoulder in sympathy before he pulled away from the table to finally go see Hyunjin and the newbies. Before he left the office altogether, he paused in the doorway, looking back at Seungmin.

“Is there anything I need to know about them before I go out there?”

“Uh,” Seungmin actually paused in his writing, straightening up a little as his brow furrowed. “Well - they’re dating each other? So maybe don’t let Minho actually hit on them too much.” Chan nodded in acknowledgement, and the door was almost closed behind him when Seungmin added, “And I have slept with one of them.”

Chan’s snort was almost loud enough to drown out the chuckle Seungmin let out before the door fell shut. Of course; Minho did know Seungmin way better than any one of them - it figured that he guessed their history correctly, too.

Out in the kitchen, Minho was shoving slices of banana into a pouting Changbin’s mouth, Felix nowhere to be seen - Chan decided that he didn’t actually need to know what was going on there and simply continued on towards the heavy doors to the front of the establishment.

In the front, everything seemed ready to go already - the lights were on, tables wiped and set, but the music wasn’t on yet, and there wasn’t a single soul at the tables yet. All the way by the entrance, the restaurant’s head waiter, Hyunjin, stood next to the book of reservations with two other men. They were all wearing the restaurant’s uniform already - black slacks and button-ups with golden trimmings - and Chan took the opportunity to give his potential new employees a good first look.

One of them was significantly shorter than Hyunjin, and looked about as terrified as a guy on his first day at a job he only got because of a friend’s referral could get. He was fidgeting with his hands, but Chan could see that he was genuinely trying to listen to their maitre d’ despite his nerves. Chan couldn’t help but find it a little endearing.

The other one was taller, but looked just as wide-eyed as his counterpart, obviously struggling to keep his face straight and professional but also looking mildly, grimly determined.

Chan wondered if Hyunjin managed to tell them something that scared them into thinking they could fuck this up terribly.

Hyunjin was a nice guy, sure, but he was also incredibly good at his job and strikingly handsome. Chan could see himself being intimidated by him, at first glance, knowing that Hyunjin’s level of poise and skill as the head waiter was something he was expected to live up to. Even if Hyunjin did his best to let his own inherent kindness shine through, he was still a lot to take in.

That was Chan’s cue to step in, he supposed, as the unremarkable, average, unintimidating owner of the place.

Hyunjin smiled brightly when he saw Chan approaching, startling the two newbies who turned immediately to see who he was looking at. Chan almost blushed, both at the smile and at the hasty bows from the two. He offered both handshakes while Hyunjin did the introductions for him.

“This is Mr. Bang, he and Mr. Seo own the restaurant. Chan, this is Jisung,” he gestured towards the shorter one, “And this is Jeongin. They’re the waiters Seungmin recommended.”

“We’re really grateful for the opportunity,” Jeongin rushed to say, Jisung nodding at his side emphatically. “We will not disappoint you, sir.”

Chan bristled a little, and saw Hyunjin stifle a laugh behind Jisung and Jeongin’s backs. “ Chan . Call me Chan. We try to maintain a casual atmosphere here, okay? We’re like a family.”

Hyunjin’s shoulders twitched again, and Chan swallowed down the sigh that was threatening to escape him.

Jisung just nodded in response to Chan’s correction, but Jeongin seemed a bit embarrassed by it. “Are you… sure? You’re our boss…”

“And if this works well, then I’ll be your friend, too,” Chan said with a smile and a shrug. He had no interest in holding his status as an owner over anyone’s head, really. In his eyes, the restaurant running smoothly was the most important thing, and he had always sincerely doubted that him acting like he was better, or above his employees when he could just work with them towards a common goal was going to do him any favors. “If you join the team, we’re in this together.”

Once again, Chan was distracted by Hyunjin sending him a fond smile behind them, and he quickly cleared his throat to distract from the head flooding his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “Anyways, have you two met our chef de cuisine yet?”

They both shook their heads, and Chan was just starting to gear up to lead them to the kitchen when Changbin came in with impeccable timing.

“Changbin!” Usually he would call him Bin or Binnie , but given the way Jeongin shifted nervously at the thought of calling Chan by his first name, he figured he would take it easy on the guy. “Come here.”

The man in question shuffled over, his eyes lingering on the new employees’ forms in a way that made Chan want to roll his eyes with how obvious it was. A week - maybe they needed a company policy to give it at least a week before doing stuff that could get them HR complaints if they had HR. Like checking their employees out.

Maybe it was too late, with four members of their staff already in a polycule with them, but a man could dream about his love life not getting any more complicated.

“This is Changbin, he’s the co-owner of this place and the other guy you’ll need to listen to.”

Of course, Changbin couldn’t help but throw winks at both of them while shaking their hands. “The first guy you need to listen to.”

“ Changbin ,” this time, Chan couldn’t hold back the sigh, and Hyunjin couldn’t hold back his snicker.

“Alright, alright,” Changbin raised his hands in mock defense. “ Technically , I’m the assistant manager. Channie here is the big boss. But I paid in just as much into this place as this jackass.”

“And I filed all the paperwork,” Chan reminded him with a squint.

“And I came up with the name.”

In the tense silence that followed, Hyunjin cleared his throat, startling everyone present. “You wanted to introduce them to Minho.”

“Right,” Chan blinked, reaching out to lay a hand on Changbin’s arm. Both of their new waiters seemed a little comforted by the fact that Changbin didn’t react at all badly to the contact. “Could you do me a favor, Bin, and take them to the kitchen?”

“Sure.” Changbin nodded and gestured for the two to follow him. “He can’t wait to meet you two.”

“Yeah, that reminds me-” Chan wasn’t sure if it was a good idea per se to say this right in front of them, but it was better than ignoring Seungmin’s advice altogether. “Please tell Minho to… just take it easy today, okay?”

Judging by the little smirk Changbin gave before nodding, he understood exactly what Chan was asking. Unfortunately, their new employees seemed even more spooked by the clear code their employers talked to each other in right in front of their faces.

Chan really couldn’t win today.

Well, except for when Hyunjin dove in to kiss him right as the door fell closed behind the others, hanging his entire upper body off of Chan as he did it.

Hyunjin was the latest addition to their messy little polycule, and a great kisser. Unfortunately, he was a pretty heavy guy too, despite his lanky frame, so Chan was eventually forced to gently push him away again before his back broke under the stress.

“Hi,” was not the thing he intended to say once he got Hyunjin alone, but those were the words that ended up leaving his mouth once Hyunjin was upright again and the arms he had around Chan’s shoulders were not holding his entire weight.

It made Hyunjin roll his eyes at him, but it did seem fond. “Hello.”

Hyunjin’s introduction into their complicated relationship dynamic had actually been entirely Chan’s fault - which wasn’t really something any one of them was expecting. All of the staff was obsessed with the man since his first day on the job - Changbin wouldn’t shut up about his mouth for two weeks straight, Minho couldn’t seem to go a day without getting his hands on him in some kind of play fight or other. Felix took a little longer to warm up to him, admittedly, but it only took Hyunjin sitting down with him and listening to Felix explain the intricacies of cookie making to him for two hours at their company Christmas party for them to bond properly. Well that, and an admittedly endearing dance-off to old girl group songs. Seungmin, as usual, ended up more of the dubiously willing target of affection, of back hugs and chatting during breaks and Hyunjin sitting in his lap in the office while complaining about sore feet.

And Chan, well… Chan had a lot of highly alcoholic eggnog at the aforementioned Christmas party. He was also the one who brought the mistletoe for decorations. And he was an exceedingly handsy drunk.

Seriously, if they had an HR department, they would be fucked .

Thankfully for him, Hyunjin had had a crush the size of a minor planet on him since he got the job, and didn’t run for the hills the second a joking little peck under a fake mistletoe twig turned into his boss kissing the breath out of him, or when his supposed life partner started clapping excitedly when he saw them - or when the rest of his partners joined in.

Everyone at the party had perhaps been a little wasted.

But all was well that ended well, and now Hyunjin was brushing the tip of his nose against Chan’s, eyes scrunched up by a smile, looking absolutely beautiful. “What did you want to talk about? Or did you just want to kiss me?”

Chan lowered his head in embarrassment, knowing that Hyunjin’s question was honestly a valid one. “I wanted to ask you about the new guys - what are you thinking?”

“That they’re really cute,” Hyunjin replied, dropping a few more close-mouthed kisses on Chan’s mouth. 

With a snort, Chan pulled at Hyunjin’s waist. “Business-wise - it’s not a dating show.”

“Could have fooled me,” was the head waiter’s retort, but he did glance towards the door thoughtfully. “They seem like decent guys - Seungminnie wouldn’t refer someone difficult. They seemed like quick learners, didn’t ask too many questions on the tour around the place but enough to let me know they were paying attention.” He tilted his head. “I wonder if Seungmin coached them on that.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me.”

Hyunjin snorted, and stepped out of the hold of Chan’s arms. “We’ll see how they do once we open - but they seem alright so far.” He tugged at his own lip, giving Chan a look that made his eyes sparkle. “And they both fluster pretty easily - Minho’s going to love them .”

Chan could already tell it would be a rough day.

And it was, although maybe not as much for Chan as it was for Jisung and Jeongin. Minho indeed did love the new additions to the staff, although surprisingly not necessarily in the way Hyunjin or Chan were expecting - he was shockingly patient with the two, always ready to calmly explain something if they weren’t sure what to do and Hyunjin was too busy in the front to help them out, he comforted Jeongin when he made a mistake and got him to chin up and go back out front, and ended up spending his break, which he usually spent trying to annoy either Chan or Changbin into kissing him, engaged in a conversation about horror movies with Jisung.

Felix was surprisingly the one who took up the position of head flirt in the kitchen, calling the two over whenever the bustle went down a little to taste test ingredients or feed them the cookies he had brought to work that day. By lunch, Felix had both of them blushing even when they just looked his way , and Chan had to admit that he was impressed - and dying to know what kinds of things he told them to make it that way.

As far as their relationship with Seungmin went, Chan thought, the first time he saw Seungmin leave the office to go check on how his friends were doing, that he knew immediately which one of them Seungmin had slept with - Jisung got about 100% more animated when he showed up, and a great deal louder, too, and seemed to be trying to find any chance he could to either shove his face into Seungmin’s or to serenade him.

Seungmin just brought that out in people, it seemed - and Chan thought he knew what was going on.

Then Jeongin came back into the kitchen from the front, and Chan was forced to reevaluate everything he thought he knew - because Seungmin was all over Jeongin in an instant, teasing him, complimenting him, touching him ; all without Jisung trying to stop him in the slightest , and Chan wondered if Seungmin forgot to mention something important about the two of them being in a relationship when he informed Chan of it.

By the time Seungmin went back to finish his work, Chan honestly couldn’t tell which one of them Seungmin had fooled around with before - if he turned around and admitted to them having had a threesome, he honestly wouldn’t have been surprised.

Sadly for Jeongin, Chan wasn’t the only one who saw him interact with Seungmin, and both Changbin and Hyunjin became obsessed with trying to get him to blush and squirm the same way he did. Hyunjin was a little bit smoother about it than Changbin, because subtle was a word which simply didn’t exist in Changbin’s dictionary, but Chan still felt bad for the kid, who got bombarded with attention from all sides on top of this being his first day at a new job.

Jisung, on the other hand, seemed to be having a much easier time, him and Changbin and Hyunjin actually managing to bond over shockingly quickly, their senses of humor overlapping to an honestly worrying degree in a way that had them bent over in tears in the kitchen multiple times, which almost had Chan in tears multiple times because Changbin’s jobs wasn’t actually laughing with their waitstaff in the back while Jeongin took care of the front on his own.

He was a good waiter, though, his quiet and shy demeanor from earlier falling away as he charmed their customers with smiles and friendly conversation. Jisung had a pretty smile and an incredible way with words which seemed to be able to convince the customer to order just about anything . Chan was almost amused at the way he gently steered a wealthy looking couple into ordering the most expensive wine on the menu, and he had to admit that Seungmin did not fail them with his recommendation.

If the two of them liked it at the restaurant as much as Chan’s inner circle liked them , then they could keep them - should keep them; even if they had to shuffle the wages around a little to give them more of an incentive to stay. They could afford it - and Chan wanted nothing more than to see his family grow and the restaurant succeed.

Changbin came up to him while he was watching the new waiters work from an empty table at the back, pulled a chair over so sit right next to him and settled his head on Chan’s shoulder.

“How do you like them?” He asked while he snuck his hand into Chan’s under the table, giving it a squeeze.

“They’re good at the job,” Chan replied cautiously, running his thumb under his lip. “And everyone likes them.”

In response, Changbin squeezed his hand a little tighter. “Do you like them?”

“They seem nice.”

Groaning, Changbin took his head off Chan’s shoulder to lay it down on the tabletop. “You do this every time.”

Chan couldn’t help the little smile that grew on his face. “And I’ve made a lot of good hiring decisions.”

“You still think hiring Minho was a good decision?”

Laughing, Chan nudged Changbin’s side with their joined hands. “I’m gonna tell him you said that.”

Changbin raised his head from the table, a red spot formed on his forehead, just to give him a look. “If you feel like never seeing me again.”

He only managed to open his mouth to answer, when a new voice interrupted.

“Excuse me, are you ready to order?”

Startled, Chan blinked up at Jisung, who did his best to keep a neutral face, but whose mouth ended up twitching up in a smile nonetheless. “We, uh…”

Next to him, Changbin grinned at Jisung widely. “Actually, we were wondering if you could recommend something to us, right, babe?”

“Yeah, sure,” Chan breathed out on an incredulous laugh. He couldn’t believe this was happening.

Jisung seemed startled by the pet name usage, his eyes further widening slightly when Changbin brought their hands up to his face to kiss the back of Chan’s hand. It was deliberate, a completely blatant way to let Jisung know they were involved without having to say it , and Chan would hit Changbin for it, if there was any trace of anything but interest in Jisung’s eyes at the display.

“Um,” Jisung let out an awkward laugh and shifted, and Chan tried not to immediately find it endearing when he had to look away to compose himself. “The chef recommends the short rib soup today, which would go well with our Cabernet Sauvignon…” Finally, he cleared his throat and looked right at them again, looking a little confident and a little determined. “If I could make a personal recommendation, though, I think you just have to try our pastry chef’s lava cake.” He bit his lip, and Chan couldn’t tell if it was nerves or if he was trying not to laugh. ”It would suit you.”

Chan was completely lost on what that could possibly mean, but Changbin next to him burst out into delighted giggles, making Jisung grin as well. That honestly made him even more confused, and when Changbin collapsed into his side, telling Jisung that they ‘still needed some time to decide’ while still laughing, he was completely in the dark.

“What was that?”

“Flirting,” Changbin said like it was completely obvious, and Chan was the one being a weirdo.

“How was that flirting?” Chan could feel his own voice rising and had to remind himself to keep the volume low before he started a commotion in his own restaurant.

The look Changbin gave him made him feel like an idiot . “He called you a lava cake.”

“He called both of us lava cakes.” Changbin just stared at him like Chan was supposed to make the connection any second now. “What is that supposed to mean?”

To his frustration, Changbin just snorted and stood up, putting the chair back where it belonged. “I can’t believe you don’t get it, Chan.” Ignoring his noises of protest, Changbin came over to kiss him and patted his shoulder. “You’re so lucky I love you.”

And usually Chan would agree with him, but when he walked away toward the kitchen without explaining what the hell just happened, he honestly had his doubts there for a second.

Thankfully, Chan didn’t really have any reason to stay on Jisung’s radar after that, and he managed to get through the rest of the day with his dignity intact, even though Seungmin laughed at him just like Changbin did when Chan used Changbin’s bathroom break as an opportunity to try and ask Seungmin what the hell it could mean when Jisung called them lava cakes .

When closing time came around, and the clean up in the front was almost done, Chan sent Changbin to take Jisung aside to see how he felt about his first day, he himself guiding Jeongin to the empty office - partially because he couldn’t face Jisung quite yet, and partially because he wanted to give the young man a break from everyone who was oh-so eager to tease him.

He offered Jeongin a seat on Seungmin’s office chair and pulled Changbin’s closer to it, not wanting the length of a desk between them as a barrier - he really meant it with the familial atmosphere; no stare-downs from the boss from across a heavy desk.

“So, how was your first day?”

“It was good,” Jeongin said to his own folded hands in his lap, and Chan wanted to sigh but held back. “I like it here.”

Shifting a little, Chan weighed his next words carefully. “I saw you got along well with the other staff?”

The waiter pressed his lips together, and Chan wanted to know what he was trying not to say more than anything. “Yes - they’ve all been… really friendly.”

“Too friendly?” Chan couldn’t keep the laugh out of his voice, and was rewarded with Jeongin actually meeting his eyes, a smile of his own twitching at his mouth. “Sorry about them - they don’t know how to hold themselves back when they like someone.”

Jeongin nodded, but he was looking at him curiously, almost like he had a question to ask. He threw a glance at the door to the kitchen, then shifted a little. “I saw Mr. Seo and Hyunjin earlier.”

Oh. Chan did sigh this time. “Were they making out in the storage closet again?”

He got another nod and a pair of raised eyebrows in return. “Jisung said you and Mr. Seo were a couple?”

It probably should have been a company policy by then to disclose the relationship spanning most of the staff on every new hire’s first day. Doing it like this, with the new staff possibly genuinely thinking they got hired into a massive cheating scandal, was far from ideal.

“He’s my primary partner,” Chan explained, and took a deep breath to try and explain what that was, but Jeongin nodded before he could say anything else.

“We thought so - me and Jisung - but we weren’t sure.”

Even though he didn’t mean for it to - they didn’t really hire people with the intention of dating them, despite all of the jokes they made about it - Chan’s heart picked up speed. “You have experience with that?”

Jeongin seemed to choose his next words carefully. “It’s something we’ve looked into; but we’ve haven’t been interested in anyone beside each other romantically since we started dating.” He laced his own fingers together and squeezed. “So we usually just call it an open relationship.”

Chan nodded slowly, biting his lip. “Should I tell the others to slow down with you two, then?”

It made blush bloom all over Jeongin’s cheeks, and Chan had to fight to stifle his smile. “... I guess not.”

“You can let anyone know if something they do makes you uncomfortable, okay? Or let me know and I’ll take care of it; even if it seems like it isn’t a big deal - your comfort as an employee here comes first.”

He watched Jeongin’s shoulders relax, and felt a wave of fondness for the young man wash over him. It really would be a shame if he and Jisung didn’t stick around.

They talked for a few more minutes, then Hyunjin poked his head into the office to inform them that the front was taken care of, so Chan dismissed him, an awkward pause following afterwards where Hyunjin clearly wasn’t sure if he was allowed to come kiss Chan goodbye. He gave Jeongin an unsure look, and Chan made the decision for all of them, waving him over.

“I told Jeongin about the arrangement we have,” he explained as Hyunjin approached, the head waiter giving the younger man a curious look. Jeongin just blushed and looked away.

With a small smile, Hyunjin turned to Chan to kiss him, just a soft and chaste kiss, but he let their lips linger together for a little bit. “Are we still on for brunch before work tomorrow?”

Chan nodded; dating was a bit strange when he both worked with all of his boyfriends and had four of them who he didn’t nest with, but they managed, sometimes by going out as couples and sometimes, like the brunch they were planning for the next day, by just going out in a big group together.

Hyunjin wrapped an arm around Chan’s shoulders and turned towards Jeongin, most of his teasing demeanor gone in favor of something more gentle. “Maybe you and Jisung could join us sometime, Jeongin? We could bond a little outside of work, too.”

Jeongin looked startled by the offer, but after studying both Hyunjin’s and Chan’s faces, he actually nodded, not even shyly like Chan would have expected him to. “I think Jisung would like that.”

Chan saw Hyunjin bite at his lip, like he wanted to ask if Jeongin would like it, too, but he cut the young man a break and just leaned down for one more kiss. “I’ll see you both tomorrow, then.”

Nodding, he squeezed Hyunjin’s hand briefly as he walked away. “Drive safe.”

He could basically hear the eye roll in Hyunjin’s voice. “Yes, Dad.”

Chan couldn’t help but laugh while the door fell shut behind Hyunjin. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Jeongin smiling as well.

“So - we will be seeing you and Jisung again?” He said once they couldn’t hear Hyunjin’s footsteps anymore.

“I don’t think we have a reason to quit on the spot.”

Chan gave him a smile. “Hopefully we managed to give you a reason to come back.”

Jeongin looked at him silently for a long time, then got up from his chair, surprising Chan by walking over to him. He leaned down and pressed a quick, light, almost shy kiss to Chan’s cheek. “I think so.”

He didn’t give him any chance to react before he walked away, but Chan could see the ruby redness of the tips of his ears as he disappeared through the door to the kitchen.

Well… that… went… well .

Not even a minute later, Changbin strolled into the office, depositing himself right into Chan’s lap when he found him still occupying his office chair. He didn’t say a word , neither hello nor an explanation of how his talk with Jisung had gone, so Chan sighed and wrapped his arms around him instead.

He waited Changbin out patiently, and eventually, the other man opened his mouth. “Jisung likes it here, but we need to have a serious talk with Minho about not touching people’s asses if he’s not dating them.”

Chan suddenly felt incredibly tired. “Seriously?”

“He threatened to sue him,” Changbin mumbled into the fabric of his shirt.

“At least he didn’t threaten to sue the restaurant.”

“Yeah, but is there a restaurant without Minho’s cooking?”

He tamped down on the feelings that made well up, all the thoughts of how they could have never gotten here, could never have made this entrepreneur thing work if it hadn’t been for the other guys. “A couple of hours ago you said hiring him was a bad decision.”

“I don’t see the contradiction,” Changbin retorted dryly, and Chan smothered him against his chest in retaliation.

Once Changbin freed himself and settled against Chan more comfortably again, they stayed sitting in silence again, Chan’s fingers carding through Changbin’s hair and Changbin’s fingers tracing the lines of Chan’s chest and stomach. They were both exhausted , Chan could tell even if Changbin hadn’t said anything.

“Jeongin kissed my cheek right before he left,” he said quietly, and felt Changbin’s fingers freeze before his palm pressed against his skin instead.

“Yeah?”

Chan hummed in confirmation, then reached down to put his hand over Changbin’s. “He said he and Jisung were open, and when I offered to tell you guys to cut it off, he didn’t take it.”

“So you think…”

“Maybe.”

Changbin pulled away to look Chan in the eye. He looked serious, and Chan wondered what he was thinking.

When Chan smiled at him, though, Changbin smiled back, wide and genuine.

“We’ll see.”