Jeonghan walks into his apartment dripping wet and shivering. A dull quiet fills the small space as soon as he comes in. His eyes are downcast, and so all he hears is something metal clatter onto a plate and then warm hands are pulling him into a strong chest.

            “Are you okay? What happened?” A kiss is pressed to his forehead. “Why are you wet? Did you walk in the storm?”

            Jeonghan glances up, his hair sticking to the corner of his mouth. He thinks about Joshua offering to take him home, and how Jeonghan had avoided his eyes as he said he wanted to be alone. “Yes, I walked in the storm. I’m okay.”

            But really, he doesn’t feel like he is.

            A chair is being scraped back and that’s when he sees that Jun and Minghao are sitting at the table, their plate of food forgotten in front of them. Jun is walking towards Seungcheol and Jeonghan, while Minghao is standing up by his seat, his face worried.

            Jeonghan blinks at Minghao. “You changed your hair.”

            Minghao’s face turns confused, his hand quickly going up to run through the dark strands, frowning. “Yes… hyung, are you okay?”

            Jeonghan takes in a shuddering breath, using his palms to push himself away from Seungcheol. “I’m fine,” he looks up at Seungcheol, catching his worried expression. Wanting to ease the wrinkles creasing on Seungcheol’s forehead, he leans up to press a kiss on Seungcheol’s jaw. The folds immediately erase, Seungcheol’s lips turning up to a smile.

            “I’m sorry guys, I’m tired.” Jeonghan walks distractedly away from Seungcheol. “Are Chan and Vernon in bed already?”

            “Yes,” Jun speaks, exchanging worried looks with the others in the room. “They ate with us and then got ready for bed.”

            “Hmm,” Jeonghan says in an airy tone. “I think I’ll go take a shower and then go to bed.” He waves his fingers in a wave. “Night guys.”

            There’s a mumble behind him as he leaves the living room. By the time he steps back out of the shower, he can still hear the hushed whispers of his friends. He peeks from around the corner, and watches his friends and boyfriend speak to each other in hushed whispers by the door. He says nothing to make his presence known, knowing that they’re talking about him by the way that Seungcheol is running a finger over his mark. Jeonghan simply sighs, turning back to the room and sneaking in beside Chan.

            Chan whimpers in his sleep, his body cuddling closer to Jeonghan before he sighs in content, the frown disappearing from his face. Vernon has one foot thrown out of the covers and his phone is still on his chest, almost as if he fell sleep looking at it. Jeonghan reaches around and grabs the phone, his eyes barely glancing at the screen. The picture that he sees there makes him pause in surprise.

            Seungkwan is staring down at a large cup of boba tea, his fingers curling around the straw while the other hand curls around the cup. In the picture, Seungkwan is looking down, smiling down at the table in a way that Jeonghan has never seen. His eyes sparkle, his cheeks round with a faint dusting of pink as if he is blushing. Jeonghan has never seen Seungkwan in anything but his work uniform, but in the photo he wears a blue sweater, which makes him look extra handsome. The light from the window that he’s sitting by hits him in a way that accentuates his features. Inspecting it closely, it seems as if Vernon took it without Seungkwan noticing.

            Jeonghan glances at the sleeping boy, who lets out a snort and turns over, grabbing onto Chan and throwing one leg over him. Oh, Jeonghan thinks as he glances at the phone screen one more time, Vernon’s got it bad.

            When Seungcheol comes and checks up on them, Jeonghan quickly turns over and pretends to be asleep. He feels Seungcheol’s cool lips press to his forehead and he holds his breath until he hears the door shut softly behind him. He opens his eyes and brushes his fingers against the spot where he was kissed, frowning as he realizes that the familiar spark is gone.

            He still doesn’t notice the fading name on his wrist, and by the time that he feels the familiar stab of pain in his chest, he’s already giving into sleep. He dreams about big, sparkling eyes and soft smiles lighting up his world. He flinches in his sleep, rubbing his chest as he feels a quick sharp sting over his heart. He doesn’t notice, then, the beginning of a name curving around his collarbone.

⚘❁⚘

            Joshua wakes up the day of the talent show at a quarter past nine. As soon as he sees the time on his phone, he sits up in alert, his eyes wide. He frantically starts getting up from the floor, cursing under his breath as he realizes that he’s almost thirty minutes late to work. He’s shrugging off his pajama pants when he hears a noise coming from his bed.

            “Joshua,” the voice says sleepily, “what are you doing?”

            Joshua pauses, one leg out of his pants already. He doesn’t know why he whispers, but he does. “I’m late for work.”

            “Oh,” Jihoon says. Joshua watches Jihoon roll around on the bed until he’s facing Joshua, his face mixed with sleepiness and irritation. “Didn’t you ask for the day off?”

            Joshua blinks, his cheeks turning red as he remembers that Soonyoung did give him the day off. He’s dropping his slacks back on the floor. “Yeah,” he mumbles in embarrassment.

            Jihoon turns over, his back facing Joshua and the blankets muffle his voice when he speaks next. “Then go back to bed.”

            Joshua glances at the blankets and pillows on the floor he set up as a makeshift bed for himself. Jihoon may have been one of his best friends, but sharing a bed with someone is intimate. He drops to his knees, already getting back underneath the blankets.

            Jihoon speaks in a quiet voice. “You can have the bed if you want, I’ll take the floor.”

            “No,” Joshua closes his eyes and settles more comfortably into the blankets. “I’ll stay here. We’re practicing later on, right?”

            Jihoon snorts. “We’re practicing up until the moment we get on stage. But for now, let me sleep.”

⚘❁⚘

            Jeonghan presses his palm against Chan’s head, pressing his hair flat. He’s already fixed Chan’s shirt for the fifth time, made sure his shoes were perfectly tied, and that his clothes was perfectly pressed.

            “Hyung,” Chan whines as he jerks his head away from the older boy’s hand. “Stop it, I look fine.”

            “I just…” Jeonghan breathes harshly, “I want to make sure you look perfect.” He presses Chan’s hair flat one more time, ignoring the loud groan that the young boy lets out. He’s smoothing down Chan’s eyebrows once more. “It’s not every day my baby dances in front of people in a competition.”

            “It’s just a talent show.”

            “Which is a competition,” Jeonghan steps back to inspect Chan one more time. Once he’s satisfied that everything is in place, he smiles at the younger boy, reaching out towards him. He lets his hands cup the younger boy’s face, brushing his thumbs over his cheeks.

            Chan, letting his guard down, finally displays a bit of his nervousness. He pulls his lip between his teeth, glancing out to the girl who is currently on the stage. She’s playing the cello beautifully, but the bow slips from her fingers as Mingyu flits around the table delivering orders. Chan winces when her cello makes a loud, screeching noise.

            “What if I mess up?”

            “You’ve practiced for weeks.”

            “But what if it’s not good enough?” Chan deflates while Jeonghan keeps brushing his thumbs over his face. “Let’s face it, I can’t beat Jihoon hyung.”

            “You’ll do great, Chan. Don’t worry about it.” He brings Chan’s face up to look him in the eyes, smiling softly. His smile makes Chan relax, reaching one hand up to interlock it with Jeonghan.

            “You really think so?” Chan whispers.

            “I know so.”

            Chan gives his hand one quick squeeze and then steps back. “Thank you.”

            Jeonghan is opening his mouth, but then he hears Soonyoung’s amused voice speak into the microphone, announcing that the girl is finished and that it’s time for their next participant. Chan looks at Jeonghan with wide eyes, his lips dropping open as he hears his name be called.

            “Good luck,” Jeonghan whispers, already sliding away. Chan walks towards the stage on wobbly legs. Jeonghan pointedly ignores Jihoon and Joshua, who are sitting by the stage. Joshua is strumming his guitar softly, looking unbothered as he watches the stage. Meanwhile, Jihoon is pacing relentlessly, muttering under his breath as he reads from music pages.

            As Jeonghan slides into his seat, Seungcheol immediately places an arm around him, pulling him closer. Jeonghan says nothing, but he subtly shifts in his seat. Minghao and Jun join them at the table, Jun’s arm slung around the younger boy. Vernon, for the first time in a while, is not looking at his phone at all, instead focusing solely on Chan. Chan is twisting his neck, preparing himself to get started. Suddenly things quiet down, and music starts to play softly from the speakers, and Chan starts to dance.

            Jeonghan has watched Chan dance in Jun’s studio before, has always known that Chan was a talented dancer by the way Jun speaks about him, but something about watching him move now takes his breath away. He realizes then, as Chan moves fluidly to a Michael Jackson song, that Chan is no longer a child. Maybe that’s why he gets so emotional, but all he knows is that there’s tears in his eyes by the time Chan finishes. Jeonghan claps loudly along with everyone else, watching Chan’s smile break out into a huge, goofy grin.

            Jeonghan doesn’t even have time to reign in his emotions before Joshua and Jihoon are taking the stage.

            Joshua leans forward towards the microphone, smiling softly towards the crowd. “Hi,” he speaks, “I hope you enjoy this song that we worked on together.”

            Jihoon clumsily takes a seat, tapping his fingers against his mic as he looks at Joshua. Jeonghan doesn’t miss the soft look that Joshua gives Jihoon, causing the younger boy to relax in his seat. Joshua smiles, his eyes twinkling, and then his fingers start to strum at the guitar.

            And, once again, Jeonghan finds himself taken.

            Jihoon and Joshua sound great together, which is no surprise to Jeonghan. He has heard Jihoon sings countless of times when he goes to visit Seungcheol at work, but to hear him sing so well is surprising. He sounds like a professional, Joshua’s sweet voice meshing with his in a beautiful melody.

            By the time they’re finished singing, Jihoon is grinning a dopey smile at Joshua, which he gives back. They stand in front of the crowd together, holding hands as they bow down to everyone in thanks.

            Chan is taking his seat next to them, grinning sheepishly as his table stands up and hoots loudly. Jun slaps him proudly on the back, Minghao reaches out to give his hand a squeeze, and Vernon pulls him forward in a hug.

            “That was amazing!” Chan exclaims. They have already ordered drinks, and Chan reaches out for one. After taking a large gulp, he leans forward excitedly in his seat. “It was such a rush! I don’t even care if I don’t win.”

            “Win? You’re sure to win! That was amazing.” And this is the first time in a while that Seungcheol has actually smiled.

            “Really? I think Jihoon hyung did well. Oh, look, here he comes.” And Chan is raising a hand. “Hyung! Come sit with us.”

            Jeonghan ducks his head as Joshua and Jihoon come join them. He hears Joshua’s voice, light and teasing. “Wow, sitting with the competition, huh?”

            “You did great, Chan.” Jihoon is the one speaking now, and their voices are close enough together for Jeonghan to realize that they’re sitting next to each other.

            “Yeah,” Joshua agrees, “you did great. I’m sure you’ll win.”

            He hears the smile in Chan’s voice. “Nah, I think you guys will win. Did you write that?”

            “Yeah, Jihoonie and I worked on it together.”

            At the mention of Jihoonie – honestly, it makes Jeonghan cringe – Jeonghan’s head snaps forward. Seungcheol is almost as tense as Jeonghan is, but Jeonghan doesn’t notice this. All he notices is that Jihoon’s and Joshua’s hands are dangerously close.

            “Yeah,” Jeonghan speaks in a terse voice. “It was great, really, I hope you win.” And he hunches over to drink his coffee in silence, not noticing that Seungcheol is clutching his drink tightly as he watches Jihoon and Joshua with narrowed eyes.

⚘❁⚘

            Joshua is on cloud nine.

            He’s been around this small group before, but never like this. Everyone is laughing and joking with each other, and just like last time, they’ve ordered enough food to feed a small army. Soonyoung himself had delivered it to them, winking at Joshua and Jihoon as he announced to everyone. “Don’t worry about the bill, it’s been taken care of.” Then he glanced at Joshua and said in a loud whisper, “It’s coming from your pay.”

            The whole table laughed while Joshua sat there sputtering.

            All in all, it’d been a good day. He had enjoyed watching Mingyu follow Wonwoo around, as Wonwoo had been forced to serve customers as well. It was evidenced that Wonwoo was not used to all the attention, since he kept blushing every time someone paid him a compliment. Mingyu, in turn, would scoot closer to Wonwoo and narrow his eyes at everyone who flirted with Wonwoo until they were forced to turn away.

            It doesn’t even bother him when Soonyoung steps on the stage and announces the winner, who turns out to be – to no one’s surprise – Chan.

            Their whole table stands up and applauds loudly, and it only gets louder when Soonyoung announces that Joshua and Jihoon have received second place.

            It all happens rather quickly after that.

            Jihoon freezes next to Joshua, the cheers from their table getting louder and fiercer. Even Jeonghan, Joshua notices, is clapping loudly. Joshua turns towards Jihoon with wide eyes and an open mouth, announcing in a chocked tone, “We got second place.” Jihoon just nods with wide eyes, causing Joshua to grin as he exclaims loudly, “We got second place!”

            He wraps an arm around Jihoon, easily lifting the younger boy as he breathes in surprise. He’s setting Jihoon back on his feet when it happens. And he doesn’t know who does it – him or Jihoon – but then there’s small hands being placed around his neck, hair tickling his nose and eyes and something warm pressing against his chest, a faint soft touch pressing against his lips.

            Joshua and Jihoon pull away, their eyes colored in surprise. Jihoon’s lips are wet from where Joshua was pressing against them, his face flushed. It’s only once he looks at everyone’s shocked eyes that he realizes it actually happened – him and Jihoon just kissed in front of everybody.

            He hears a loud clatter and a loud curse, but it’s quickly drowned out by Jun whooping loudly, exclaiming, “Damn, get it hyung!”

            Joshua is too busy looking at Jihoon that he doesn’t even notice Jeonghan stumble away from the table, clutching his heart. In the distance, Soonyoung is grumbling as he takes money out of his pocket, sticking it into Mingyu’s open palm, ignoring the triumphant look on his face. 

a/n: you guys, don't worry. jihan is a thing okay, it may not seem like it, but it is a thing that is happening. but alas, this is what is happening right now. i think it's time to go into jihoon's mind a bit, no? maybe find out what's going on in his thoughts?

also, i wanna write another story - a couple actually - but i don't wanna upload anything until this story starts wrapping up a little bit. i don't even know if people will like the other story, but i hope, when i do upload it, that you guys give it the support you have given this one! ^.^