Wonwoo and Mingyu are kissing.

            Again.

            Joshua walks back into the kitchen, an order on the tip of his tongue, but as soon as he catches sight of the two interlocked boys, he winces. Wonwoo has flour in his hair and cheeks, but Mingyu doesn’t seem to care as he leans into the other boy. He has Wonwoo placed on a counter, standing between his legs as he tilts his head back with one hand.

            For people who didn’t want to date each other, they sure do seem to enjoy it.

            Joshua reaches out and picks up a random object, throwing it at them. It turns out to be a paper cup and it hits Mingyu square in the back of the head. They finally detach their lips, Wonwoo looking dazed as Mingyu turns to glare at Joshua.

            Joshua smiles, calmly clasping his hands together in front of him and blinking in innocence. “Hi, can I get a waffle and an iced Americano, please?”

            Mingyu frowns, tugging Wonwoo closer. “You can make it yourself.”

            Wonwoo flushes and places a hand on Mingyu’s chest to push him away, scolding the younger boy. “Mingyu.”

            Mingyu sighs, plants a quick kiss at the top of Wonwoo’s head, and steps back. Wonwoo slides from the counter and immediately gets to work on getting things ready. Mingyu comes to stand next to Joshua. He stares at Wonwoo with a happy smile on his face.

            “You know,” Joshua says, “as cute as you guys are, do you have to be kissing all the time? This is like the tenth time I’ve caught you and you’ve only been dating for, like, two weeks.”

            Mingyu rolls his eyes, turning to face Joshua. “I can’t help it, I waited two years to get him to date me.” His lips quirk into a smile as he crosses his arms over his chest. “How are you and lover boy?”

            Joshua shrugs. “Me and Jihoon are great –”

            “Not that lover boy.” His grin grows wider. “I meant your roommate, hyung.”

            Joshua flushes. “Oh,” he says softly.

            Jeonghan has been living with Joshua for one week now. Honestly, nothing changed exactly. Joshua spent most of his time at work and when he wasn’t at work, he spent that time with Jihoon going on dates The only thing that changed was that they stopped having dates at Joshua’s place, instead they would go out or go to Jihoon’s place. Lately though, they have been spending less time together since Jihoon is so busy with work.

            He only spends a little amount of time with Jeonghan, but he’s already learned so much about him. For example, Jeonghan hates when Joshua speaks to him in English because he can’t understand it. He likes to sleep all the time. He loves his friends so so much. Jeonghan will watch Joshua’s shows with him even if he doesn’t understand what’s going on. And Jeonghan can eat like nobodies business. Joshua thought Jihoon liked to eat a lot, but it’s nothing compared to Jeonghan. All in all, it’s very comfortable.

            “He’s okay,” Joshua replies. “He’s still looking for a place to stay.”

            “Hmm,” Mingyu hums, “and what does Jihoon say about your living arrangements?”

            Joshua hesitates, which is something that Mingyu picks up on because his mouth drops open and his eyes go wide. Mingyu laughs, shaking his head, and says in a disbelieving tone, “You haven’t told him yet, have you?”

            Joshua winces. “No, but I mean, he’s just so busy all the time! And I don’t want to ruin our dates by telling him that Jeonghan is living with me.” He sighs. “He has a lot to deal with.”

            “I think you should tell him soon. The longer you put it off, the worse it’s going to be.” Mingyu drops his arms and throws a look at Wonwoo, who is humming as he makes the Americano. He drops his voice to a whisper. “I’m thinking of asking Wonwoo to come over today. He hasn’t been to my house yet and well we haven’t done, you know, that. Do you think it’s too soon?”

            Joshua blinks slowly, his cheeks becoming more red as Mingyu’s words catch up to him. “W-what? How am I supposed to know?!”

            Mingyu stands up to his full height, surprised. “Hong Jisoo, are you telling me that you’ve never –”

            “No!” Joshua hisses back. “In case you didn’t notice, I was too busy spending half my time pining over someone who was already marked! I didn’t exactly go on many dates!”

             Mingyu reaches out and tugs Joshua into his arms, hugging him from behind. “Aww, my poor hyung. So pure, so inexperienced.” He nuzzles his face into Joshua’s hair. “My pure, sweet hyung.”

            Joshua scowls, his face red and he reaches to tug at Mingyu’s arms. Mingyu doesn’t relent, continuing to nuzzle the older boys head and coo about how cute he is. “Wonwoo,” Joshua whines as Mingyu continues to bother him.

            Wonwoo’s eyes cut to the both of them and his eyes color with amusement. He places a lid on the drink and turns to them with a smile. “Yes hyung?”

            “Tell him to get off me.” Joshua lets out a huff as his hair falls into his eyes. “Mingyu-ah!”

            Wonwoo rolls his eyes, placing the order on a tray. He walks over to them and uses his empty hand to shove at Mingyu’s shoulder. “Yah, let him go so he can take the order.”

            Mingyu immediately lets Joshua go, causing Joshua to sigh in relief. In a second, Mingyu reaches out and tugs Wonwoo close to him instead. He starts peppering kisses on Wonwoo’s face and neck. Wonwoo scowls, but his eyes shine with happiness.

            Joshua sticks his tongue out at them. “I’m going home after this because you guys are too gross for me.”

            Mingyu flashes him a grin from where he’s nestled into Wonwoo’s neck. Wonwoo grins at him as well, reaching out and placing the tray in Joshua’s hands. Joshua steps out of the kitchen just as he hears Wonwoo let out a startled gasp as he says, “Mingyu-ah!” A quick glance lets him know that Mingyu has placed Wonwoo on the counter again. Mingyu has one hand on Wonwoo’s cheek, the other interlocking with the other boy’s. His face looks serious and Joshua hears him whisper, “Come over to my place tonight.”        

            Not wanting to eavesdrop, Joshua quickly scurries out of the kitchen.

⚘❁⚘

            Joshua walks into his apartment to find the smell of food cooking. He frowns, opening the door slowly ahead of him as he hears voices talking animatedly. Being cautious, he peeks from behind the door. He instantly relaxes as he sees Jeonghan moving around in the kitchen, rapidly chopping vegetables. Beside him, helping him cook, is Chan.

            Joshua shuts the door behind him with a smile, walking towards the kitchen. Jeonghan notices him first and he smiles, throwing the vegetables into a pot. Chan glances up at him quickly, giving him a small smile as well.

            “Hey,” Jeonghan wipes his hands on the apron he has tied around his front. “How was work?”

            Joshua leans against the counter, reaching out to adjust Chan’s grip so he can chop the vegetables more comfortably. Joshua sighs. “It was good. Mingyu and Wonwoo were at it again, so I left early.” He reaches out to grab some food and stuffs it in his mouth. He speaks from around a mouthful. “How was your day? And, no offense, but what are you doing here Chan? I thought you were going to be with Vern –” Jeonghan throws him a sharp look “– nooo – oh my god, this is delicious.”

            But it’s too late. Chan lets out a big sigh, placing the knife down on the counter. He turns to face Joshua and Jeonghan sighs as well, shaking his head as he continues to slowly chop the vegetables.

            “Vernon-hyung is with Seungkwan all the time. Ever since he got his mark, they’re always together.” Chan frowns and brings a hand to his neck. “I can’t wait ‘till I’m eighteen and I get my own mark.”

            “Chan,” Joshua sighs, “do you have a crush on Vernon?”

            Chan’s eyes go wide and his face turns bright red as he waves his hands frantically. “No! No, I don’t like him. I just….” He lets out a breath and drops his hands. “I just miss my best friend.”

            Jeonghan is wrapping his arm around Chan’s middle, pressing a kiss to the younger boys temple. “Why don’t you go get ready for dinner?” He shakes Chan gently. “It’s almost ready.”

            Chan nods and walks off. Jeonghan sighs, his lips pursed as he watches the younger boy’s back as he leaves. Joshua frowns and comes up to him, reaching up to plant a comforting hand on Jeonghan’s shoulder. Jeonghan throws Joshua a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

            “He’ll be okay,” Joshua whispers.

            Jeonghan brushes his hair out of his eyes. “I hope so, but I’m just scared. For the longest time I thought that Chan and Vernon were going to be soulmates but then Vernon started dating Seungkwan and well… you know what happened. Vernon and Seungkwan are inseparable and Chan is being left behind.”

            “Hey,” Joshua says softly, turning Jeonghan around so he can look him in the eyes. Jeonghan’s eyes are wide and worried as he chews his lip nervously. “Everything will work out, I promise.”

            Jeonghan smiles genuinely. “If you say so.” He seems to lean into Joshua’s touch, smiling widely at the other boy. Joshua blinks, his fingers burning from where he’s touching Jeonghan. Jeonghan blinks his lashes slowly and then he shakes his head, his brows furrowing as he steps away from Joshua. “Uh, you can go get ready for dinner too. Unless you’re going with Jihoon today?”

            Joshua clenches his hands into fists, blinking at Jeonghan slowly. This has been happening a lot lately. Jeonghan will get this frustrated look on his face and then he shies away from Joshua. He wishes he knew what was going on. He takes a deep breath to calm himself, releasing it slowly as he tries not to look too much into it. “Jihoon? Nah, he texted me earlier saying he had stuff to do, so our date was cancelled.”

            Jeonghan frowns. “Does he cancel a lot? He seems to be doing it a lot lately.”

            Joshua shrugs, trying not to frown as he realizes the words are true. “He has. I guess I just never noticed. Oh well, we can just have a date night later.” He points to the boiling pot. “Do you need any help?”

            Jeonghan waves him off. “You go get ready and I’ll serve the food.”

            Joshua does a mock salute. “Yes sir.”

            He leaves the kitchen just as Chan is taking a seat at the dinner table. Joshua reaches out with a smile to ruffle the younger boy’s hair, causing Chan to whine as he reaches up to fix it. Joshua has to admit that it was weird at first. He had lived alone from the moment he arrived to Korea, so trying to adjust to Jeonghan was strange, and then Chan soon followed. Joshua was not used to his apartment being this lively. He only knew Chan briefly, but this week has made Joshua see Chan like a little brother.

            He quickly changes out of his uniform, throwing on a plain sweater and some faded jeans. He steps back out after a minute, his hands dripping wet. Jeonghan is already seated at the table and he turns with a smile as he gestures for Joshua to take a seat next to him. Joshua smiles, doing as he was instructed.

            Chan immediately starts to delve into a conversation as he eats happily and Jeonghan nods seriously at everything he says, occasionally reaching out to wipe at Chan’s chin and it makes Joshua feel nice. Almost like they’re a family.

⚘❁⚘

            They walk Chan to school sometimes, even when it’s raining.

            Right now, Joshua is holding an umbrella over his head as Jeonghan follows after Chan, trying to cover him with an umbrella of his own. Jeonghan is practically dripping wet himself, since he’s covering mostly Chan with the umbrella. Chan doesn’t seem too bothered by the rain though, he spends his walk to school trying to splash in puddles.

            “Chan!” Jeonghan yells as Chan runs from him again. “Come back! You’re going to get wet!”

            Chan laughs, ignoring the older boy as he slides down the sidewalk. Jeonghan lets out a soft groan, running after Chan as he holds the umbrella over the younger boy. His hair sticks to his forehead with how wet it is.

            Joshua follows after them slowly, his phone pressed to his ear.

            “Do you have work tonight?” Jihoon is asking.

            Joshua sighs, skipping over a puddle. Unlike Chan, Joshua is not as excited about the rain. “No work tonight. Which, thank god, honestly. Vernon is there all the time that Seungkwan is there and Soonyoung is just annoying as usual and don’t even get me started on Mingyu and Wonwoo.”

            Jihoon laughs. “Great. We can have a date night. It’s been a while since we’ve had a date, don’t you think? I miss you.”

            Joshua lets a genuine smile grace his features. “I miss you too. Yeah, I guess it has been a while, huh?”

            “It’s mostly my fault,” Jihoon admits. “I’ve just been so busy with… work and stuff, you know? I’m sorry.”

            They reach the school and Joshua sees Jeonghan use one hand to pat Chan’s hair flat on his head. Joshua pauses a couple of feet away from them. “Not your fault,” Joshua echoes. Jihoon has said the same thing what seems like a million times. “Don’t be sorry. We’ll have the best date tonight to make up for time, okay?”

            A door opens in the background and then Jihoon is saying in a rushed voice, “That sounds great. Listen, can I call you back with the details later? I really do want to make it up to you.” Joshua has just uttered his acceptance when Jihoon whispers, “Okay, talk to you later, bye!”

            The line goes dead and Joshua is left blinking at his phone. He frowns as he stuffs it in his pocket and he walks up to Jeonghan and Chan, being careful not to knock his umbrella into theirs.

            “Have a good day, I’ll see you when you come have dinner,” Jeonghan is saying. He hands the umbrella to Chan and Joshua quickly shuffles closer to cover the older boy. Chan smiles at the both of them, tugging at his uniform coat.

            “Well, I actually have to work with Jun today,” he says. He turns to Joshua, his eyes pleading. “I was wondering if we could all have dinner? We don’t have to go to your house or anything but I mean –”

            Joshua waves a hand. “It’s fine, they can come over. You know my address right? Just text it to them.” His eyes cut to Jeonghan’s happy face. “And I actually can’t join you guys because I have a date with Jihoon tonight.”

            Jeonghan becomes tense next to him, but Chan doesn’t seem to notice as he winces, bringing his hands up in protest. “Oh, if you won’t be there, it’s okay! I don’t want to bother you. We can just go to their house or something.”

            “Nah, you can go ahead and have it at my place. Maybe I’ll join you guys when I’m done.” He points at the students walking into school. “You should go in, you don’t want to be late.”

            Chan gives him a smile. “Yah, Joshua-hyung is the best! Thank you so much!” He waves at the both of them. “See you later!”

            Joshua turns to face Jeonghan once Chan disappears into the building. Jeonghan is already looking at Joshua, his lips tugged into a frown. The look on his face makes Joshua confused. “Everything okay?”

            Jeonghan instantly drops the frown, his face breaking into a smile. “Of course, everything is okay.” He brushes his wet bangs out of his face. “I know we just had breakfast and all a little while ago,” he grins, walking forward, “but I wouldn’t be opposed to eating right now.”

            Joshua rolls his eyes, following after him and using his shoulder to bump into Jeonghan. Jeonghan laughs as he stumbles. “You know, I never knew someone so beautiful could eat like a pig.”

            Jeonghan smiles, his face flushing. “You think I’m beautiful?” he asks in a quiet voice.

            Joshua freezes. He had said that, didn’t he? And out loud, no less. Jeonghan is staring at him with a dopey smile that makes Joshua’s heart skip a beat. Joshua figures there’s no point in lying, but there’s no way he’s going to just let it slide. “Yeah,” he says, staring ahead, “but then again, I find beauty in even the simplest of things.”

            “Excuse me,” Jeonghan says in a mock offended tone, “are you calling me simple?”

            Joshua squints his eyes and pretends to think. “Hmm, I guess I am…” He throws Jeonghan a grin. The incredulous look on Jeonghan’s face makes him laugh and he doesn’t know why he reaches out with a finger to close Jeonghan’s open mouth. “You may want to close your mouth, hyung. It’s not attractive.”

            Jeonghan snaps his eyes shut, his eyes narrowing. “Brat, just for that you’re paying.”

            Joshua laughs wholeheartedly. “I guess that’s okay,” he says continuing to follow the older boy. “Where are we going anyway?”

            Jeonghan grins, pointing ahead. “It’s just up here. It’s one of my favorite places.”

            They walk for a bit more before they arrive to a small little place. It’s very homely and there are only two other people besides them there. Jeonghan is quick to pull them to a table by the window. They both greet the waiter and Jeonghan orders something for the both of them, looking at Joshua as he explains, “Sorry, it’s what I always get.” Joshua just smiles.

            As they wait for their food, Jeonghan tells Joshua stories about how he came to find this place. Apparently, Jeonghan used to walk Chan home to school all the time before he met Seungcheol. They both stumbled into this place together and the only reason they stopped going is because Jeonghan got so busy with Seungcheol that he didn’t have time to walk Chan anymore.

            He seems a bit sad as he talks about it, so Joshua is quick to try to take his mind off of it.

            “Wow, I wish I knew someone like you when I first came to Korea. It was kind of lonely for me.”

            Jeonghan frowns. “How did you manage?”

            Joshua is interrupted from his answer by the arrival of their food. Joshua’s mouth waters as Jeonghan thanks their waiter. Joshua mumbles a quick thank you as well and he doesn’t even ask what anything is before he picks up his utensils and starts to dig in.

            Jeonghan snorts, picking up his own utensils and delicately picking up a piece of food. “And you said I eat like a pig. Look at yourself.”

            Joshua pauses from stuffing noodles into his mouth and he grins from around a mouthful. Jeonghan rolls his eyes and stuffs food into his mouth. He eats slowly, but this seems to tire him after a while because before Joshua knows it, Jeonghan is quickly stuffing food into his mouth at the same speed that Joshua is.

            “Is it good?” Jeonghan asks as he pauses from devouring food to take a drink.

            Joshua gestures to his empty plate with a laugh. “It was delicious. Thanks for showing this place to me.”

            “No problem.” He frowns as he picks up another piece of meat. “Was it really lonely for you when you came here?”

            Joshua nods slowly, his eating calming down a bit. “Yeah, well, my entire family is in America. I’m an only child so I don’t have any siblings that I could have convinced to come with me. It was very scary and lonely for me. But I wanted to come here, I wanted to challenge myself I guess.” He smiles. “Don’t look so sad, Jeonghan.”

            Jeonghan winces. “Sorry, but I can’t get the image of a little scared Joshua out of my mind. Is it better now?”

            “Oh definitely. Working at the café helped me a lot. Although, when I started working there, the staff was different. Seungkwan wasn’t working there yet and neither was Wonwoo. Actually, when I started there, Soonyoung was a worker just like me and we had another boy named Doyoon working there.”

            “Hmm, were you close to him?”

            Joshua shrugs. “I guess? I don’t know, we were all pretty close but I spent most of my time with Soonyoung. Mingyu was the one who spent all of his time with Doyoon because they were dating. Pretty seriously, I think, but Doyoon was older.” He frowns suddenly. “Now that I think about it, I think Doyoon quit a little after he and Mingyu broke up. I wonder what’s happened to him.”

            Jeonghan is blinking slowly. “Wow,” he says, “so you’ve been working there for a long time then. Is it better now that Seungkwan and Wonwoo are there? Do you like them better?”

            Joshua shakes his hands. “Ah, it’s not that I like them better. It’s just that I’ve known them longer now and I feel more connected to them. They know everything about me.” Joshua thinks about the mark on his chest and adds, “Well, almost everything about me.”

            Jeonghan hums. They’ve both finished eating, but they’re still sitting back in their seats. “And does Jihoon know everything about you?”

            “Well,” he blinks, “yeah, I guess so. He knows all my secrets.”

            Jeonghan hides his mouth behind his hands but Joshua catches a glimpse of a frown. “Must be nice to be dating your best friend.”

            “Yeah, it’s nice.” He tilts his head. “What about you?”

            “What about me?”

            Joshua rolls his eyes, leaning forward in his seat. “Tell me more about yourself. How did you meet Jun and Seungcheol and all that?”

            Jeonghan blinks. “Ah, well, Jun and I went to school together and we were friends. Jihoon and Seungcheol went to the same school as us but I didn’t really start talking to them until I was a little older. It’s pretty boring actually.” He sits up straight. “I’ll be right back.”

            He’s gone and back in a flash. He picks up the umbrella that Joshua set beside them as they ate and he reaches a hand to help Joshua get out. Joshua curls his fingers around Jeonghan’s hand, ignoring the heat coming from the other boy’s palms, and stands up straight.

            “Wait,” he says as Jeonghan starts to head towards the door, “I have to pay.”

            Jeonghan smiles. “I already paid. Now come on, I think the rain let up a little bit.”

            He was wrong. He was so so wrong, because the rain hadn’t let up at all. Instead, it got worse. It got so bad that Joshua’s umbrella kept blowing away. Finally, after struggling to keep a hold of it, Joshua yells through the rain, “Maybe we should take cover until this blows over!”

            Jeonghan, soaking wet, nods and he tugs at Joshua’s sweater, pulling him forward. Joshua stumbles after him, blinking rain from his eyes.

            By the time they manage to find cover underneath the awning of some building, both Joshua and Jeonghan are drenched from head to toe. Jeonghan shivers, shifting his body closer to Joshua.

            “I think the rain let up a little bit,” Joshua mocks. He shakes his hair, water landing on Jeonghan’s cheek. Joshua gives the older boy a dry stare. “Smart call.”

            Jeonghan scowls, reaching out to shove at Joshua’s shoulder. “Well excuse me, but you seemed more than willing to follow me.”

            He’s still shivering and Joshua rolls his eyes, scooting closer to him as well. He finds that the cool air penetrates deep in his bones and he stuffs his hands in his pockets. “And no top of that, it’s freezing.” He throws Jeonghan a look. “Really hyung, smart move.”

            Jeonghan narrows his eyes. “You know, I’ve realized that you only call me hyung when you’re trying to be funny.” Joshua starts to grin but Jeonghan gives him a droll stare. “It’s not funny.”

            “Stop that,” Joshua whines as Jeonghan shivers again. “You look so cold, you’re making me cold too.”

            “Well,” Jeonghan says as he shivers again, “it’s cold, in case you hadn’t noticed. Therefore, I am cold as well. It’s basic science Joshua, keep up.”

            “Wah, hyung is so smart.”

            Jeonghan bumps his shoulder into Joshua, muttering, “Brat.”

            It’s quiet for a while and then, for seemingly no reason, they both start to laugh. Joshua doesn’t know what’s so particularly funny about this moment but Jeonghan is laughing so hard that his head is titled back and his lips are stretched wide. His laughter chimes in Joshua’s ears and he finds himself laughing as well. Jeonghan’s eyes light up with happiness and his smile is breathtaking as their laughter dies down and they just stare at each other.

            For a second, Joshua forgets – forgets about mates and everyone else and everything that’s wrong in that messed up world of his because the only thing that matters right now is Jeonghan and the way his eyes are shining with unspoken words.

            Joshua’s breath catches in his throat and if he were a worse person, he would reach for Jeonghan and kiss him right now.

            But he’s Joshua Hong and he’s dating Lee Jihoon and Joshua may be a terrible person for wanting to kiss Jeonghan but he’s not a cheater.

            Jeonghan is incredibly close, seemingly oblivious to the turmoil going on in Joshua’s head. He blinks slowly and he lets out a slow breath, placing a hand on Joshua’s chest. His eyes are soft and unreadable and his lips starts to move.

            For a terrifying second, Joshua thinks that Jeonghan is going to kiss him.

            (And the terrifying part is that he’s scared because he doesn’t know if he would have let him.)

            But then Jeonghan is using the hand on Joshua’s chest to push him back and Joshua snaps out of it. What was he doing? How much of a terrible person is he? God, he’s the absolute worst. He wants to hit himself as hard as he can for even thinking about kissing Jeonghan at all.

            “Your phone is ringing,” Jeonghan whispers, his eyes downcast but he keeps his hand on Joshua’s chest. “You should answer it.”

            Joshua stumbles back, his hands reaching into his pocket. Jihoon. He winces, thinks about how bad of a person he is and how he doesn’t deserve Jihoon – or Jeonghan or anyone for that matter – but he still presses the phone to his ear and says, “Hi Jihoonie.”

            “Hey, so we’re still on for tonight, right? Because I was thinking I could try to cook for us again because I think I found a dish I can actually make. So what do you say? Dinner at my place? Oh, and you kind of can’t say no because I already went grocery shopping.”

            Joshua blinks and turns away from Jeonghan’s blank eyes. “Yeah, we’re still on,” he says in a thick voice.

            He can feel the warmth emitting from Jeonghan despite the shiver that the older boy lets out and Joshua feels something press uncomfortably tight in his chest as Jihoon lets out a happy laugh.

            This is all so…

            ed, Joshua thinks.

a/n: i think i might make the next chapter meanie so we can finally - finally - find out about wonwoo's and mingyu's mark! what do you guys think? much love ~~