Jeonghan pushes past his front door with a dazed smile on his face. There’s a dot of whipped cream on his top lip, and he can still taste the warm hot chocolate that Joshua had made for him as they sat and conversed in the younger boy’s living room. Jeonghan had felt at home in the small apartment as Joshua had clambered about trying to make room. Jeonghan had smiled, hiding his grin behind his mug as he watched Joshua scamper around, looking for a treat that Jeonghan could eat.

            He almost doesn’t notice Seungcheol sitting tiredly in a chair, a half full glass of water gripped between his hands.

            Jeonghan only freezes when he hears the chair scrap back and he jerks his head straight, looking at Seungcheol. Seungcheol is using his palms to push himself up, his brow quirked. His lips are drawn into a tight line, his eyes narrowed as he looks at his boyfriend.

            Both of them are quiet, but then Seungcheol speaks. “Where have you been?”

            Jeonghan sighs, leaning his hip against a chair. “I was just out with a friend.”

            Seungcheol purses his lips, his eyebrows drawing together. “I called you. A lot. For an hour straight.”

            And Jeonghan wants to laugh, because he remembers this scene very well, except last time he was the angry boyfriend. Right now though, he just feels relaxed, content, and completey at ease. He finds his irritation growing the longer he stands here, and a small nagging part of his brain tells him to just go out of the door – and go back to Joshua, but that's irrational. He clears his throat, trying to disperse his anger. Jeonghan scratches at his mark as he responds. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear my phone.”

            Seungcheol just stares at Jeonghan, his head tilted. Jeonghan doesn’t speak, but he feels his throat closing up as Seungcheol stares at him. Seungcheol clears his throat. “You’ve been going out a lot. You’re never home when I get here.”

            “Well,” Jeonghan says dismissively, his anger flaring up again, “you can’t expect me to be waiting all day for you to come home, can you?”

            Seungcheol’s eyes widen as soon as the words leave Jeonghan’s lips. “That’s not what I’m saying at all.” He frowns. “Are you okay, babe? You’ve been acting differently.”

            Jeonghan feels himself deflate at that statement, because some part of him knows that it's true. He's been more irritated with Seungcheol lately, getting unreasonably angry if Seungcheol isn't at a certain place when he says he's going to be, or finding himself feeling hollow when he looks at Seungcheol, like something is missing. And that's ridiculous, because Seungcheol is his mate, and he's the best mate anyone could ask for. Seungcheol loves him and he loves him too, honestly. Jeonghan finds himself scratching at his mark again, a heavy feeling sitting on his chest. “I’m fine,” he forces out. “I just get bored by myself sometimes.” His fingers pause and he looks up at Seungcheol to smile tightly. “It’s not your fault though. I know you have to work.”

            Seungcheol sighs and then before Jeonghan even knows what’s happening, Seungcheol is crossing over to him, lifting him up. Jeonghan finds himself being pulled into Seungcheol’s lap, the older boy wrapping his arms around him. Seungcheol pecks Jeonghan’s jaw, mumbling. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that.”

            “No,” Jeonghan whispers, letting his fingers play with Seungcheol’s. He feels incredibly sad for some reason. Something feels off, shifted. “Of course you didn’t know, why would you?”

            “Hmm?” Seungcheol hums against the hollow of Jeonghan’s neck. “What was that?”

            “Nothing,” Jeonghan quickly quips. He leans back against Seungcheol, letting his body relax. His wrist is tingling something furious, but his hands are tangled with Seungcheol’s. He wants to scratch at the mark badly, but he can’t, so he finds himself biting his lip instead. “Were you waiting long for me?”

            Seungcheol nuzzles his head into Jeonghan. “Yah, it wasn’t too long.” His tongue flicks out to swipe quickly at the soft skin, making Jeonghan laugh softly. “Chan was with me earlier though, but he had to leave. He has school.”

            Jeonghan frowns. “Chan was here?”

            “Yep, he said Vernon was busy, so he wanted to see you,” Seungcheol says. He sighs loudly, pulling back to look at Jeonghan. “He seemed upset honestly, said he really wanted to talk to you about something.”

            Jeonghan starts standing up. “Really? Well maybe I can call him –”

            “Yah,” Seungcheol pulls Jeonghan back down. “He’s probably asleep already. Let him rest.”

            “But –”

            “Jeonghan, you can talk to your baby tomorrow.” He throws Jeonghan a wolfish grin. “Right now, we have some alone time.” He frowns suddenly, reaching out to wipe at the top of Jeonghan’s lip. There’s whipped cream on his finger and he sticks it on his mouth. “You had whipped cream on your lip.”

            Jeonghan feels his breath catch, remembers Joshua swiping at his own lips.

            “Joshua,” Jeonghan had said after Joshua had taken a sip.

            “Hmm?”

            “You have whipped cream on your lip.” Jeonghan is hiding his smile behind his own mug.

            Joshua’s eyes had widened, his cheeks slightly flushing as his tongue flicked out to swipe at his lip. “Ah, sorry about that.”

            Jeonghan had grinned, making sure to sip his own mug carefully as he flicked his brows up towards his hairline, a light fluttering in his chest. “No problem.”

            Seungcheol is smiling widely at Jeonghan now, causing Jeonghan to blink away the memory from earlier this afternoon. Seungcheol releases his finger from his mouth with a loud pop! “Wow,” Seungcheol says, “that would have been messy, huh?”

            “Yeah,” Jeonghan agrees distractedly. He can’t hold back anymore, so he releases Seungcheol’s hand to scratch at his mark. “Really messy.”

⚘❁⚘

            Joshua wakes up to someone roughly pulling the blankets off of him. He whines in his sleep, letting his arms and legs stretch wide as he blindly tries to reach for the blankets, gripping at air.

            A soft laugh sounds from above him, a teasing voice saying, “Hyung, wake up.”

            Joshua slowly opens one eye, his voice low and tired. “Jihoon?”

            The younger boy is standing beside Joshua’s bed, his hair dripping wet. His cheeks are slightly flushed, and he his lips. Joshua notices that Jihoon is holding his blanket in one hand, the other hand gripping music sheets.

            Joshua groans, sitting up in his bed. He runs a hand over his face tiredly, letting his fingers tangle in his hair. “Jihoon, please tell me you’re not here to practice for the talent show.”

            Jihoon just blinks innocently. “Of course that’s what I’m here for.” Jihoon glances down at Joshua’s chest, raising a brow. “You sleep with a shirt on?”

            Joshua is clambering off the bed, but he still throws Jihoon an odd look. “Yes? Does it matter?”

            The younger boy lets the blanket fall to the floor, shrugging. “Jeonghan sleeps without a shirt on. I figured, mates should be synched and stuff.”

            Joshua freezes, his cheeks becoming red as his mind conjures up an image of a shirtless Jeonghan. He shakes the image away, frowning at the smaller boy. “Thanks for that, really.” Joshua mumbles underneath his breath, "Plus, he's just my mate. He already has a mate remember?"

            Jihoon is following close behind Joshua as he shuffles out of the room, but Joshua hears Jihoon snort softly. The small boy gently shoves at Joshua, "Trust me," he says dryly, "I know." Jihoon leans against Joshua's small dining table, and there's something disconcerting about him being in Joshua's home. It makes Joshua itch, because a part of him feels like Jihoon is exactly where he belongs, while another part feels like he doesn't fit in. He ignores the feeling, instead opening the fridge. He is pulling out ingredients to make soup when he hears the clanking of dishes, causing him to turn and see Jihoon holding up the mugs that Joshua and Jeonghan had used the previous night. 

            Jihoon raises a brow at the dirty dishes. “You have someone over recently?”

            Joshua wants to lie, but he knows that he can’t hide anything from Jihoon. Jihoon has a way of finding things out, hence the reason that Jihoon was able to get inside Joshua's apartment despite the fact that he does not have a key. 

            “Yeah, Jeonghan was here until late last night.” Jihoon is opening his mouth to scold him, but Joshua speaks. “And before you yell at me, don’t. I can’t avoid Jeonghan for the rest of my life.”

            Jihoon frowns. “Joshua.”

            “What?” Joshua asks, slamming a cutting board on the counter. “What is so bad about me and Jeonghan being friends? Huh? I don’t see why you’re telling me to not hang out with Jeonghan but you hang out with Seungcheol all the time.”

            Jihoon narrows his eyes. “I work with Seungcheol, it’s different.”

            “Yeah?” Joshua starts chopping up some vegetables. “Well, I'll tell you what Seungkwan told me: If you really wanted to avoid someone, you could. Now, the day you stop hanging out with Seungcheol is the day I stop talking to Jeonghan.” Joshua gestures to the cupboards behind him. “Now come over here and help me cook some breakfast.”

            Jihoon grumbles, setting the music sheets down on the table as he comes to help Joshua finish cooking. The tense atmosphere fades away after a while, and Joshua has fun stuffing various foods into Jihoon’s mouth. Jihoon will just stare at him wide-eyed every time Joshua does this, his cheeks puffed up as he slowly chews. Jihoon will almost always retaliate by stuffing things into Joshua’s mouth when the older boy opens his lips to coo at how cute Jihoon is. Joshua asks Jihoon to pick out some bowls, quickly realizing what a mistake that is when he sees Jihoon stand on his toes to try to reach them.

            Joshua rolls his eyes, coming behind Jihoon to grab the bowls. “Sorry,” Joshua says as he hands the bowls to Jihoon. He lets his hand fall into the younger boy’s hair, petting him softly. “I forgot you were short.” His fingers run through Jihoon’s hair, “Also, you need a haircut.”

            “Yah,” Jihoon shakes his head. “Stop calling me short.”

            Joshua grins. “Go set the table, I’ll bring the food out.”

            Joshua has just finished spooning some soup into bowls when someone knocks at his door. Jihoon yells out that he’ll get it, he hears the door opening and then he hears a gentle voice from his living room, “Hey, I was just wondering – Jihoon?"

            Joshua almost drops the bowls in his hands, because he recognizes that voice and he knows that it’s Jeonghan. Joshua peeks from out of the kitchen, watching as Jihoon shuts the door behind the older boy. Jihoon looks awkward standing in the living room, as does Jeonghan. Joshua quickly comes out, smiling brightly at Jeonghan.

            “Hey Jeonghan!” He glances at Jihoon, who is staring at Joshua with narrowed eyes. “Um, we were just going to have breakfast and then practice for the talent show. Do you, uh, want to join us?”

            Jeonghan smiles tightly, already backing towards the door. “Ah, I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out today.” His eyes fall towards Jihoon. “But I can see that you’re busy already.”

            Jihoon, for some reason, reaches out towards Joshua, letting their arms loop together. “Yep!” Jihoon says brightly, grinning a bit too wide. “We have a busy, busy day ahead of us! Maybe we can hang out later.”

            Jeonghan smiles at Jihoon tensely. Joshua notices that Jeonghan’s hair is wet, hanging loose as it drapes over his shoulder. Jeonghan is wearing a soft sweater, a large coat covering his body, and Joshua pushes away the thought that it seems like Jeonghan dressed up to hang out with Joshua.

            “I’m sorry,” Joshua says. “I didn’t think you would be coming over today as well.”

            Jeonghan shakes his head, already reaching to open the door. “Ah, no, it’s my fault.” He looks between Jihoon and Joshua, his eyes lingering on their interlocked arms. “I hope you two have fun today.”

            As soon as Jeonghan steps out, Joshua is pulling away from Jihoon, frowning deeply. “What was that all about?”

            Jihoon just sighs, shaking his head. “You don’t get it, do you? You can’t hang out with him, Joshua.”

            “Why not? You keep saying that but –”

            “Because,” Jihoon stresses, “the more you hang out with him, the stronger your bond will be.”

            Joshua feels something tight in his throat, the mark on his chest burning through his clothes. His mouth feels dry, and some stupid part of him gets excited at the thought of having a stronger bond with Jeonghan but then he thinks to himself – Seungcheol, Seungcheol, Seungcheol. “What?”

            “The more time you two spend together, the more you’re going to love him. He can’t love you, Joshua. He already has a mate, hyung. Jeonghan will never love you.”

a/n: i hope you like this. thank you for everything. this story is still just beginning.