Standing in Joshua’s apartment, Jeonghan feels out of place. He doesn’t know when or why things started to feel different but they have. Joshua is, like last time, running around trying to clean things up. Jeonghan’s eyes linger on a sweater hanging on the back of Joshua’s couch. He recognizes it as Jihoon’s immediately, and he clears his throat as he shuffles awkwardly on his feet. He knows that Jihoon probably left it here on a date and that makes an uncomfortable feeling form in his chest.

            Joshua catches his eyes and follows Jeonghan’s line of vision, his face becoming red as he notices the sweater. He quickly goes to stand by his couch and he pushes the sweater off, mumbling, “So you said you wanted to see me?” He gestures to the now empty couch. “You can have a seat.”

            Jeonghan shrugs his coat off, placing it over his knee as he takes a seat on the edge of the cushion. “Yes, I wanted to talk to you.” He plays with a loose thread on his coat but his eyes don’t leave Joshua’s. Joshua avoids his eyes as he sticks a finger into the couch cushions. “Do you mind if I have some water?”

            Joshua is quick to respond and leave the room. “Of course!”

            When Joshua comes back with a tall glass of water, he seems more relaxed and he takes a seat opposite Jeonghan. Jeonghan grabs the glass and, noticing Joshua’s gaze on his wrist, he slides the sleeves of his sweater over his palms. He’s hoping that Joshua says nothing, but he should know better than to believe that things will go the way he wants.

            Joshua’s eyes don’t stray form Jeonghan’s wrist. “What happened?”

            Jeonghan sips water casually, trying to find a lie to say. Before he can think of something to say, Joshua is reaching out and enclosing his wrist. He pushes the sleeve of Jeonghan’s sweater up, his fingers brushing Jeonghan’s newly bandaged wrist. His touch is incredibly soft, the heat of the tip of his finger warming Jeonghan up, and electricity crackles over his palms as Joshua run’s a finger across the bandage.

            “Are you okay?”

            His voice is soft in a way that makes Jeonghan’s breath hitch, but Jeonghan forces himself to think about Jihoon and Seungcheol. He slowly slides his hand away from Joshua, shaking his sleeve over his wrist as he says in a surprisingly clear voice. “I’m fine, just sprained my wrist.”

            Joshua frowns at this, but Jeonghan meets his eyes once more and smiles, interrupting the younger boy before he even has a chance to speak.

            “So, I believe congratulations are in order. Second place and a boyfriend all in the same day. Must be exciting.” Jeonghan forces his smile to grow wide. “Congratulations, Joshua. I’m happy for you two.”

            Joshua blushes. “T-thank you.”

            Jeonghan clears his throat, reminding himself that he’s here for one thing only. “So, I’m here because we’re having a get together on Saturday.”

            “You and Seungcheol, you mean?” Joshua leans back on his seat. “What’s it for?”

            Jeonghan clears his throat, finds it strange that he doesn’t want to say it. “It’s our anniversary.”

            It’s quiet and then… “Oh.” Jeonghan avoids his eyes, but he hears Joshua say, “So do we need to get you guys a gift or something?”

            Jeonghan colors. “No, it’s just a dinner. Only a few of us are getting together. Jun, Minghao, Chan, you know – the usual.”

            Joshua hums and Jeonghan finds it weird that he stands up abruptly. “Great, me and Jihoon will be there.” He thrums his fingers against his thighs, his eyes blank as he looks down at Jeonghan. “Is that all? I have a date with Jihoon I need to get to.”

            Jeonghan finds himself getting angry and he stands up with tense shoulders. “Yeah, I should get going too. Seungcheol is waiting for me at home.” Joshua’s lips thin and the skin around his eyes get tight.

            “Great,” Joshua says past tense lips and then he’s reaching out to open the door for Jeonghan. He holds it tightly between his hands. “Well then I’ll see you Saturday.”

            Jeonghan coolly slips his coat back on, keeping his eyes carefully blank as he walks past Joshua. His voice sounds hard, even to himself. “Yeah, see you then.”

⚘❁⚘

            Jihoon leans against Joshua, spooning ice cream into his mouth. Joshua absently has one hand tangled into Jihoon’s long hair – he still hasn’t cut it – as he bites at a cookie. His eyes don’t leave the television, but his mind is somewhere else. He’s trying to figure out how to bring up Saturday to Jihoon but then –

            “So Seungcheol and Jeonghan are having –”

            “– a dinner on Saturday?”

            Jihoon glances at Joshua with the spoon in his mouth, his eyes blank. “Yeah,” he pops the spoon from his mouth. “If you feel uncomfortable with going, we don’t have to.”

            Joshua runs his fingers through Jihoon’s hair, frowning. He bends down and presses a kiss to Jihoon’s temple. Jihoon curls his fingers into Joshua’s sweater, glancing up at Joshua through his lashes. Joshua says nothing, just settles back into the couch as his eyes go back towards the television.

            Jihoon cuddles into Joshua’s side, grabbing Joshua’s fingers and interlocking them. “So, we’re going?”

            Joshua just hums.

            Jihoon sighs, leaning his head against Joshua’s shoulder. “We have to be strong for them – and for each other. We can’t be selfish.”

            Joshua frowns. “I know.”

⚘❁⚘

            Joshua has missed two days of work, but when he walks into the tense atmosphere surrounding the café, it feels as if he’s been gone for a month.

            It’s just him, Mingyu, and Wonwoo, but Wonwoo is doing a perfectly good job of staying back in the kitchen and keeping himself occupied. Mingyu, however, is trying hard to stay back in the kitchen. Wonwoo stands tensely at the counter, his lips thinning every time Mingyu comes towards him. Joshua gets the idea and tries hard to shoo Mingyu away, finally getting the younger boy to leave Wonwoo and him alone in the kitchen.

            Joshua is sitting on the table in the back room while Wonwoo is taking some scones out of the oven. They’re strawberry, which is Joshua’s favorite, and so he’s already reaching out to grab one of the hot pastries until Wonwoo slaps his hand.

            “I just took those out of the oven, will you please calm down?”

             Joshua blinks at Wonwoo’s harsh tone, pulling his hand back. “Wow, you’re worse than Jihoon when he just wakes up.”

            Wonwoo gives him a hard look, his back tense as he starts frosting some discarded cupcakes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m fine,” he says tensely.

            Joshua sighs, swinging his legs and enjoying the quiet hum of the coffee machines working. He reaches out to grab a scone and bites into it, burning his tongue, but not caring. “Is this about Mingyu? Because you still haven’t told me what’s going on between you two.”

            Wonwoo is tense, looking from the corner of his eyes towards Joshua before he focuses back on the task at hand. His voice is hard and high as he speaks. “Mingyu asked me on a date.”

            Joshua chokes on a bite, coughing loudly as he slaps a hand to his chest. “What?!”

            Wonwoo sighs, setting his frosting bag down. His eyes are blank, but his lips are tugged into a frown. “Mingyu is…” he hesitates, trying to find the right words. “Mingyu dates a lot.”

            Joshua stays quiet, remembering the endless amount of boyfriends and girlfriends Mingyu has had since he started working here. But then his mind flashes back to Mingyu, and how he yelled at Seungkwan. Sensing what’s going on, Joshua lowers his tone to a soft one. “Are you worried about his dating history?”

            “I… I wanna say that I’m not, but I am. Hyung, I’m scared. I don’t want to date Mingyu just to have us break up. Imagine how awful that would be.”

            Joshua sets his half-eaten scone down, wiping the powdery residue on his apron. “Look Wonwoo, it’s okay to be scared. But if you want to give Mingyu a chance, that’s up to you.”

            Wonwoo looks at Joshua through his lashes. “What should I do?”

            Joshua sighs. “Just one quick question, is your mate involved with you in anyway?”

            Wonwoo becomes tense, his eyes going wide. His voice is a small whisper when he responds. “It’s complicated. Honestly, I messed things up with my mate.”

            “And do you want to get back together with them?”

            Wonwoo smiles sadly, shuffling his feet. “I’m a complicated person, hyung. I can’t explain what’s happening with me and my mate. I can’t really tell you.”

            “Okay,” Joshua shrugs, “you don’t have to tell me.” Joshua of all people knows what it’s like to have a complicated situation with your mate. “If you want to date Mingyu, you should. You deserve to be happy, but this has to be something that you want.” Joshua looks Wonwoo straight in the eyes. “Do you want to date Mingyu?”

            Wonwoo looks scared beyond belief as he twists his apron in his hand. He his lips and looks at Joshua with petrified eyes. His voice is unlike anything Joshua has ever heard. “I think I do.”

            Joshua grins, slapping Wonwoo on the back. “Then you know what to do, Wonwoo. Just be careful, please.” Just then, Mingyu pushes past the kitchen doors, his eyes immediately finding Wonwoo. He smiles hopefully at the older boy but then he’s shuffling towards the coffee machine and is starting to make drinks.

            Joshua gives a very fake, unbelievable cough. “Oh,” his hand goes to his throat, “I think I’m getting the flu.” He slides from his seat on the table and unties his apron from his waist. “Guess I better head home, I have a party to go to tomorrow anyways.” He picks up his discarded scone and stuffs it in his mouth. “Can’t be sick for that, bye guys see you later.”

            And he ignores the pleading look Wonwoo gives him, grinning to himself as he leaves the two boys alone.

⚘❁⚘

            “Mingyu?”

            Mingyu pretends not to be too interested, but he clutches the cup a little tighter in his hands. “Yes, hyung?”

            Wonwoo clears his throat, his cheeks red. “You remember, um, what you asked me the other day?”

            Mingyu bites his lip to keep form grinning at the embarrassed tone in his voice. “Yeah? You finally have an answer for me that isn’t no?”

            Wonwoo clears his throat, and a quick glance lets Mingyu know that the older boy is playing with his apron. He looks just as frazzled as the cat on his apron and it makes Mingyu smile, his insides warming up.

            “Well, about that… we have to discuss things first.”

            Mingyu finally turns around, setting the cup down on the counter. He crosses his arms over his chest. He knew this was coming since the moment he decided he was going to ask Wonwoo out. So really, he’s prepared for this conversation.

            “Alright,” he leans against the counter, “what do you wanna talk about?”

            Wonwoo sighs. “I… I have a mate, remember?”

            Mingyu purses his lips, his brows furrowing as he recalls everything that happened the day Wonwoo came back after his eighteenth birthday with a mark. He still doesn’t know who exactly is Wonwoo’s mate, all he knows is one very important thing: it’s not him.

            “I remember.” He tries not to be angry. “What about them?”

            “Well, I mean, does it bother you? Are you sure you’re okay with… with…me?”

            Mingyu lets out a soft laugh and before he knows it, he’s walking towards the older boy. He finds his hand coming up to cup Wonwoo’s face delicately. Wonwoo looks up at him with wide, scared eyes and Mingyu can’t help but smile as he lets his thumbs brush Wonwoo’s cheeks. Damn, Mingyu thinks as he continues to brush his thumbs over Wonwoo’s face, I like him so much.

            “Wonwoo,” Mingyu speaks softly, “I am perfectly okay with you, if you’re perfectly okay with me.”

            Wonwoo fights down a smile, but Mingyu catches just a glimpse of it as he ducks his head. “Oh my god,” Wonwoo brings his hand up to hide his grin in his sleeve, “that’s so corny.”

            Mingyu grins and there’s absolutely no shame as he bends down to plant a kiss to the tip of Wonwoo’s nose, causing the older boy to scrunch his nose up as his cheeks turn positively pink.

            “So does that mean you’ll go on a date with me?”

            Wonwoo grumbles something under his breath but then he’s glancing up at Mingyu with wide eyes. He looks a bit worried, but he still mumbles under his breath.

            “Yes.”

            And Mingyu grins widely, laughing loudly as he drops his arms to wrap around Wonwoo and begins to twirl him around. Wonwoo grumbles as he’s lifted in the air, but his laughter is loud and lingers in the air.

            Neither of them know what the future has in store for them, but ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?

a/n: so this chapter is kind of a filler, sorry! but i wanted to add a little detail about jeonghan and a little of 2ji as well as meanie because i love them all so much!