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“We should've made food,” Minho said as Chan put out the joint in the ashtray. He offered it to Minho with a goofy smile. Minho scowled at him. “You're disgusting.”
Chan shrugged and threw it in the ashtray. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Minho rolled his eyes. “It was a dare. Jisung needed to be put in his place.”
Chan ignored his excuse and moved up into Minho's personal space and looked at him under batted eyelashes. “You know I love it when you're disgusting.”
“Ugh,” Minho grunted and pushed Chan's face away. Chan giggled.
The two of them were sprawled on the couch, Minho’s leg over Chan’s, the lights dimmed and music coming from the lit screen of Minho’s laptop in front of them. Their phones were left ignored on the coffee table, screens lighting up occasionally with unanswered messages. A decidedly good Friday night as far as Chan was concerned.
“Are you hungry?” Chan asked. Minho left his hand on the back of Chan's head when he pushed him away, now absentmindedly fiddling with Chan’s curls. The light touch made Chan feel like his limbs were stuffed with cotton.
“Not yet, but I can feel it coming,” Minho said with a sigh, letting his head hit the back of the couch. He tilted his head in Chan’s direction. “I’m not the one in danger of eating dry noodles, though.”
Chan pulled his lips into a straight line. It wasn’t his fault his stomach sometimes traded places with a bottomless pit that didn’t differentiate food as long as it was edible. He was about to say so, but the absence of Minho’s touch startled him when Minho reached for his phone. The hand was soon on its rightful place on Chan’s neck because Minho shuffled the phone to his other hand. Thank god for his ambidextrous boyfriend.
Minho unlocked the screen and made such a screwed up face when the brightness hit his eyes that he quickly locked it and put it back on the coffee table screen-side down. He turned to Chan, “We should order something.”
Chan snorted knowing that the laborious task of ordering dinner had been placed on him. It could wait a bit more.
Minho kept fixing his relentless gaze at Chan whose lazy grin had become a permanent feature on his face. Chan felt a surge of fondness bubbling in the pit of his stomach. Minho tilted his head while his fingers played with Chan's hair again. He combed through it, giving Chan a light massage before gently brushing Chan's neck. Chan felt a shiver wash over him. Minho traced his fingertips to Chan's earlobe next, the pad of his thumb rubbing it gently from side to side. Minho then cupped Chan’s face, thumb stroking his cheek as Chan leaned into the touch, basking in it, chasing the warmth. To any outsider Minho’s face would seem neutral, unreadable, but Chan knew the softness around his eyes that only came about when there were only the two of them in the world and Chan felt so very warm and loved at the moment that he felt like he could bathe in the feeling.
Chan put a delicate hand on Minho's knee and Minho leaned in, warm breath on Chan’s lips.
The doorbell rang with a strong buzz and Minho turned his head so fast he hit Chan’s nose. Chan yelped and grabbed his face as they both looked at the apartment door, eyes wide.
“Did you order food?” Minho asked.
“When?!”
Minho untangled his body from Chan’s and got up. Chan followed his form closely as Minho stalked to the front door. When he looked through the peephole, his entire body visibly relaxed. Instinctively, Chan let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, too.
Minho opened the door.
“Hi, hyung,” a deep voice was heard from the other side of the door before Felix marched right into the apartment. His freckled face lit up when he found Chan, still frozen on the couch. “Oh great, you’re already here too,” he chirped, waving at Chan. Minho closed the door and came into full view. He looked at Chan. Chan looked at him. Felix looked between the both of them. “Did you forget about tonight?”
“No!” Chan said in an unnaturally high-pitched voice. “Of course not. We were, uh, just waiting for you. Because you were, um, late?” He looked at Minho hoping for backup, but Minho seemed just as stumped.
Felix looked overhead at the clock on the wall and then dead straight into Chan’s eyes when he said, “I’m right on time.” When Chan and Minho kept looking between each other dumbly and not saying anything, Felix resigned. “It’s fine. The others are late so I was hoping to crash here anyway.”
Minho slung an arm over Felix’s shoulders and made him jump in place. He had a mischievously murderous expression on his face. Chan loved him. “Hey, Yongbok-ah, are you hungry?”
Felix looked at him, head leaning away from Minho’s grasp. Even if Felix was one of the rare people Minho allowed physical affection without biting his head off, Minho initiating it was weird no matter how you looked at it. “Why?” Felix asked, eyeing Minho.
Minho flashed his teeth in response. “Do you wanna make brownies?”
Felix looked at the clock again. “Is there time?”
“Sure there is,” Minho said, like a devil on Felix's shoulder luring him into a trap.
“Wait a second.” Felix turned to Chan and narrowed his eyes. “Are you even going out with us tonight?”
“Uhhh,” Chan very eloquently said as he looked at Felix. Minho behind him was of no use whatsoever, his expression basically saying 'hey he was your friend first'. “We're hungry?”
“What?” Felix said and Minho snorted. “Wait.” Felix somehow narrowed his eyes even more and took a big sniff. “Are you two high?”
“No!”
“Shut your face!”
Felix rubbed between his eyebrows. “Why can't you just order some food?”
“I–” Chan started, his eyes darting frantically between Minho and Felix. “Felix brownies?” he squeaked.
Minho nodded like it all made sense. “Felix brownies.”
Felix let out one big, long sigh. “Fine.” Both Chan and Minho made victory gestures. “But , I better get paid in the appropriate amount of hugs.” He turned to Minho. “We can start with you.”
Minho didn’t have time to react before he was pulled into a big warm hug. He looked at Chan with panic in his eyes. “You see how I provide for you?” Minho called out, reluctantly hugging Felix back. “All this so you wouldn’t go hungry.”
“Laboring my best friend truly is the sign of true love,” Chan said while clutching his heart. “Is there room for one more there, Felix?”
“Always,” Felix beamed.
Minho whined and cried as Chan embraced both him and Felix in a monster hug. Chan was so happy his boyfriend and best friend got along so well.
*
This wasn’t how he expected his evening to begin, Felix thought as he beat eggs with sugar.
Right before coming over he got a message informing him that Hyunjin only now washed his hair and Jisung had no other choice but to wait for him (Jisung also had a need to point out that it was in no way because it coincided with the airing time of his favorite show and he was definitely not watching it). Felix sighed. Why was he the only one that always arrived on time? At least Changbin, Seungmin and Jeongin told him from the start they would be coming later.
He added milk and whisked the whole thing together.
And now he was babysitting two overgrown kids. In Felix’s vicinity, Minho smacked Chan right on the ass with a flour-dusted hand and burst out laughing like a maniac. Chan threw bits of chocolate at him in retaliation.
“Don't waste food!” Minho said and smacked Chan again. “And don't dirty my house!”
Chan stuck out his tongue. “You're dirtying it yourself!”
“I can do what I want in my apartment!”
“Alright, children!” Felix clapped his hands and the two begrudgingly turned their attention towards him. “Are you done with your assignments?”
“Yes, Felix.”
“Yes, Yongbok-nim.”
They lined up like a pair of school children, shoulder to shoulder, Minho bringing his bowl of dry ingredients and Chan the bowl with the melted chocolate.
Felix took the offerings and continued working by mixing the melted chocolate with the wet ingredients and then folding in the dry ingredients half at a time. As he worked, Chan rested his head on Felix's shoulder and hugged him around the waist. Minho grumbled on the side and forcefully inserted himself between Chan and Felix, resting his head on Felix's other shoulder. Felix’s movements were a bit constricted, but he had nothing to complain about when he got the best out of Minho's possessiveness and Chan's clinginess. The two were already on their way to paying off the wage of Felix’s labor.
Felix poured the batter into a parchment lined baking dish. “Disengage, please,” he said and both Chan and Minho removed their heads while Felix took the pan to the preheated oven.
Chan remained in the same position, holding Minho tightly around the waist and nuzzling into his neck. Minho wasn’t too impressed now that the threat of Felix wasn’t there.
“Stop that,” Minho said, annoyed, but there was no bite in his words as he lifted his shoulder in an attempt to shake Chan off. But Chan only held Minho closer. Minho's hands went completely limp and he rolled his eyes to the back of his head.
Felix leaned with his back on the kitchen counter and chuckled seeing his friends like that. They really haven’t changed at all since they got together. Felix thought it was for the best. Minho’s possessiveness only came out when he was high, though Felix wasn’t sure if he could call it a threat to his being since that was when he got the most affection out of Minho.
Threats by affection. Affection by threats. It wasn’t Felix’s own love language, but it seemed to work for Chan. They complimented each other well even if the other guys still didn’t really understand their dynamic. It made perfect sense to Felix, though.
Felix’s phone vibrated. Jisung. He grinned deviously as he sent a message back.
“When's it gonna be done?” Minho asked, still nudging Chan away.
Felix shrugged, putting his phone back in his pocket. “All ovens are different so it depends. I’ll check around the thirty-minute mark.” He grabbed the chicken timer and set the time as it started clicking away.
Chan moaned. “But I'm soooo hungry. Being on chocolate duty was a mistake.”
Minho poked his cheek. “If we ordered food before Yongbokkie came, we could've eaten already.”
“You’re a bad host, making your guests do all the dirty work.”
“Yongbok is an honorary guest. He’s getting paid for it.”
“What about me?”
“You’re a pest.”
Yup, they made perfect sense.
*
Chan and Minho finally made it back to the couch area waddling like two penguins while Felix sat opposite of them on the rocking chair. This was too much work for a Friday night for Minho. If that wasn’t enough, Chan still acted like a leech, not letting him go even when they were in front of the couch.
“Off,” Minho ordered.
“You can just sit on me,” Chan said, too close to Minho’s ear for comfort.
Minho felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand. “Off. ”
Chan pouted and sat down. Minho sat next to him and played on his phone while Chan and Felix talked about whatever those two usually talked about. He got bored after a while and realized he had to drop the grouchy act if he wanted any sort of attention.
“Hey, hyungie?” He scooted over and snaked an arm around Chan's.
Chan stopped talking to Felix at the change in Minho's demeanor. “You need something.” It wasn’t a question.
Minho smiled sweetly and glanced at the roll of smoking paper.
Chan furrowed his brows. “Why can't you do it?”
“You know I like yours the best,” he said, leaning into Chan more. “And we can’t leave Yongbokkie hanging.”
“Ah, I’m good,” Felix interjected, but they didn’t seem to register him.
Chan searched Minho’s face for something before saying, “Fine.”
A little praise went a long way with Chan. So easy to read. Minho squeezed his arm once and then let it go as Chan reached for the table.
Minho was pleased with himself and it probably showed on his face when he accidentally locked eyes with Felix who was looking back at him like he could see right through him. Felix always seemed to perceive everything. Minho hated being perceived. He forced himself back to his neutral bored expression and grabbed a filter tip to do something with his hands.
Chan and Felix resumed their conversation. Minho tried following it for a whole three seconds before his one-track mind led him to Chan's hands. There was something mesmerizing about watching Chan in his element; picking up the right amount; a twist and a turn of the grinder, metal scraping metal; tearing off the rolling paper the appropriate length. Why would Minho have to do anything when Chan was perfectly good at it?
Chan then turned to Minho suddenly, catching him like a deer in the headlights, and took the filter out of Minho's hands. He gave Minho a kiss on the cheek and Minho made a show of grimacing and wiping it off but Chan just smiled fondly at him. Minho ignored the fuzzy feeling enveloping him from his gut up to the place Chan placed his lips.
Chan went back to business and it was Minho’s favorite part of the whole performance. Chan's nimble fingers holding the paper, his gestures elegant and without a single move wasted, his tongue going along the paper before rolling it into the perfect shape. The whole procedure was almost surgical and it took no time at all for Minho to be spellbound again.
Chan was hitting the finished joint on the edge of the table when he spoke. “Are you that impatient?”
Minho blinked and only then realized he had been blatantly staring. Both Chan and Felix were now staring back at him with those annoying know-all smirks.
“You're slow,” Minho only managed to say and cursed his mud-like mind for not producing anything wittier.
Chan looked entirely unconvinced when he put the joint between his lips and reached for a lighter. Before he could light it, the doorbell unexpectedly rang once more and they all looked confused before Minho glared at Felix.
“What?” Felix said, feigning innocence. “It took longer than expected so I told them to come.”
Minho groaned. “I'll never get rid of them.”
Felix waved his hand. “Don't worry, we won't overstay our welcome.”
“You weren't welcome in the first place,” Minho said after Felix while Felix got up.
Felix opened the door to a loud cheer.
“Lix!”
“Yongbok-ah!”
“Oh, it's just you two assholes,” Minho said, seeing Hyunjin and Jisung in the hallway taking off their shoes. “Where’s the rest of you?”
“They're at the bar already. We were late so Lixie told us to come here first,” Hyunjin said.
Felix went back to his chair and consciously ignored the way Minho stared daggers into his soul. He smiled. “There should be enough brownies for everyone.”
“There’s brownies?!” Jisung excitedly said.
Through the ruckus, Chan took the opportunity to light the joint. When the two in the hallway noticed what was happening, they rushed to the living area, elbowing and pulling at each other. Hyunjin pushed Jisung away and won their little battle. He took his seat right next to Chan.
"Hi, hyung," he said, short of breath, smiling and pushing hair from his face as if he had won a beauty pageant.
Jisung just stood there for a few seconds, looking at Hyunjin, before exhaling loudly and grabbing a chair from the kitchen to bring it up next to Felix. He grabbed the laptop from the table and took over the playlist. “If I can’t have it my way, you’re gonna suffer, too.” And proceeded to play the world’s most life-sucking trap music.
Hyunjin twisted his face in distaste before turning his attention back to Chan and offering an open palm and an eager face. Chan blew out smoke and Minho neatly took the joint from his fingers.
“Hey!” Hyunjin exclaimed. “We go clockwise!”
“Boyfriend tax,” Minho said and took one slow and long puff, not breaking eye contact with Hyunjin.
“Are you done?” Hyunjin asked impatiently. He greedily grabbed the joint from Minho’s hand as soon as it was offered back. He looked Chan and Minho up and down. “You two aren't coming with us?”
"Nope," Minho said, popping the p and slinging an arm around Chan's shoulders.
“God, you're even more insufferable since you got together with Chan-hyung,” Hyunjin said, then turned to Chan. “What do you see in him?”
“Yeah, Channie, what do you see in me?” Minho repeated, tilting his head.
Chan knew an open snare when he saw one. He coughed. “Hey Felix, are the brownies done?”
“Oh!” Felix looked at the timer. “The time is almost out, I’ll go check!”
“We’ll revisit that question later,” Minho told Chan quietly enough so only he could hear. Chan gulped.
After a few moments Felix came back holding a fresh batch of brownies in Minho’s pink polka-dot mittens that he got from Jeongin on his birthday last year and put it on a heat-proof mat. The whole apartment smelled chocolatey-sweet and Minho felt his mouth watering.
“That smells heavenly,” Chan said. He and Hyunjin instantly reached for the baking sheet.
Felix slapped their hands away. “It’s still too hot.”
Hyunjin whined and Chan held his stomach which rumbled loudly. Minho and Jisung laughed at their pain. They barely lasted a minute before Felix himself cut the whole thing up and they all ravenously went for it. Despite the burned roof of his mouth, Minho could only think that Felix was a genius; the texture was perfectly fudgy and gooey, the taste so rich and full it could only be described as out of this world. For a good few minutes, the only sound in the room was a rhapsody of life-changing moans. Felix deserved all the hugs in this world and more.
With loud protest, Chan cut the group off when they got to the last row of brownies. “You should take the rest to Changbinnie and the others since they weren’t here.” When Jisung and Hyunjin looked at him with doe eyes, he turned to Felix. “Actually you take it, I don’t trust those two.”
Throughout the gluttonous voraciousness somehow the lone joint persisted as it made its rounds and Minho was the one keeping track of it. He wanted his Friday night back where it started.
“Okay, everybody out now,” Minho announced when Felix finally put out the joint.
“What, you don’t want the roach for dessert?” Hyunjin provoked.
“I'm gonna fucking kill you, Hwang Hyunjin.”
Hwang Hyunjin was not murdered, but he was the first one out the door, quickly followed by Jisung who couldn’t miss a chance to make fun of him. Chan was hanging off of Minho again but Minho made no effort to shake him off this time.
At the front door Chan hugged Felix. “Thanks so much for the food, man, you're a lifesaver.”
Felix readily embraced the hug. When Chan moved aside, Felix left his arms open for Minho. Minho did his customary grumble before walking into the hug. “Thanks, Yongbokkie,” he mumbled.
“Any time!”
Minho gave Felix the packaged brownies and sent him off.
“Consider your debt paid, but I won’t complain about tips,” Felix said and winked as a goodbye.
When Minho closed the door he turned to Chan, anguish in his eyes. “I’m still hungry.”
Chan got his phone out of the pocket and waved it. “Already taken care of. Pho for me, kimchi fried rice for you. Should be here soon.” He nudged his head to the couch. “Let’s go watch something.”
Minho almost teared up. He didn’t deserve this man. He grabbed Chan’s face between his hands and gave him one big smooch. “You’re officially promoted from pest status.”