Joshua recoiled.

Seungcheol seemed to sober up almost instantly. He gave Joshua an apologetic look, his eyes soft.

Joshua's eyes flickered over to Junghan. "Is the only thing you think about?" he asked Junghan, trying to keep his tone casual and teasing. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, but it definitely wasn't a positive emotion.

"Not the only thing, but it's pretty high up there."

Seungcheol let out a small puff of air and stood up. "How about we all just have a drink and chat. We're soulmates, but I don't know the two of you very well yet." Seungcheol walked over to his mini fridge and pulled out a couple cans of beer.

"Relationships aren't just physical, are they? C'mon, come sit at the table." Seungcheol placed both cans down on the coffee table and grabbed a third one before nudging the fridge closed as he sat down.

Junghan nodded. "Sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? Have a couple drinks, loosen up, get to know each other." He stopped by Joshua and placed a hand on Joshua's shoulder.

"I didn't mean it in a gross way, Shua. I meant that when I , a lot of the time I think about you and what you'll be like when we screw."

Hesitantly, Joshua nodded. "I understand, Junghan. I guess I took it the wrong way." He wasn't sure why, but it still sat wrong with him. Maybe it had been the way Junghan had phrased it, or the careless tone he'd said it in.

Junghan smiled and moved his hand from Joshua's shoulder to his cheek, then leaned in and kissed him. "C'mon, Shua, let's go get to know Cheollie."

The three sat and talked, discussing their interests and happenings in their lives.

"So you're Jihoon's unemployed rapper friend!" Junghan exclaimed after Seungcheol said something about a track his best friend was working on. "Jihoon said you performed it before it was ready and it ."

Joshua would have told Junghan to be nice, but Junghan was already tipsy. He'd learned tipsy Junghan was a lost cause.

Seungcheol looked down at his can before taking a swig. "Uhh, yeah. It was... It was pretty bad. I still get from the rappers for it. I started out later than most, so I'm -- I still have a lot to improve on. Jihoon says I've gotten better since I started."

"You have to take us one time," Junghan insisted.

Seungcheol hesitated. "It's probably nothing like you're imagining, just a bar or small club with a couple guys on a tiny stage. They aren't exactly places people like you two would go."

"People like us two?" Junghan asked, sounding slightly outraged. "I've been in clubs since I became an adult!"

"I think Seungcheol's talking about shadier places than you've ever frequented," Joshua tried to placate Junghan.

Seungcheol nodded. "I live in a different world than you two."

Junghan pouted. "But you still have to take us sometime. I wanna watch you perform and support you."

Seungcheol chuckled. "Fine, if you promise to look after Joshua, make sure he doesn't get in over his head."

Junghan nodded. "Of course. Our little Shua would get eaten alive in a place like that, he's so innocent and sheltered." He stood up. "I've gotta pee, I'll be back."

Suddenly, the mood changed.

"Are you really a, uh..." Seungcheol asked.

"?" Joshua guessed. Seungcheol nodded. "Yeah, I'm really a ."

"It was kind of ty the way he said what he did earlier."

Joshua shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Is he like that a lot?"

"Not usually. I told him I wanted to wait until I'd met both my soulmates to have and we've met you now. So he's probably just getting impatient."

Seungcheol sighed and brought his can up to his mouth as Junghan flounced out of the bathroom.

"What am I impatient about?" he asked as he settled back down next to Joshua.

"All of us having ," Joshua explained.

Junghan nodded eagerly. "Yes. It's happening soon, right? We met Cheollie and you promised." He nuzzled his face into Joshua's shoulder.

Joshua forced a laugh and pet the top of Junghan's head, running a hand through his long hair. "Depends on Seungcheol."

Conversation dwindled after that. After what must've been half an hour of awkward chitchat and jumping from topic to topic, Seungcheol placed his beer down on his coffee table.

"Well, it's been nice getting to know you guys some more, but I have a friend coming over soonish."

Joshua gulped down the last of his beer. "Right, we'll be going before Junghan can get too much more alcohol in him, then." He stood up. "Hear that, Junghan? Time to leave."

Junghan reluctantly stood up. Joshua led him to the door.

"Thank you, Seungcheol. It was nice getting to know you, too." Joshua cringed at how stilted he sounded; he was talking to one of his soulmates, not a business partner!

"Did you want a lift?" Seungcheol offered. "School'll be out soon -- public transport's gonna be a ."

Junghan was already stomping his feet into his shoes.

"We'll be fine. You shouldn't drive after drinking, anyway," Joshua declined.

"Shua, let Cheollie drive us home -- I don't wanna walk!" Junghan whined.

"I've only had half a can since we started talking, and that was an hour ago. I'm good to drive," Seungcheol said.

Joshua sighed. "Give it half an hour and I'll accept a lift."

Junghan humphed, but toed off his shoes and went back to sit across from Seungcheol.

"We should bang," Junghan suggested, looking Seungcheol straight in the eye.

"Sorry, he gets like this after a few drinks," Joshua explained.

"There are worse types of drunk than ," Seungcheol shrugged.

"," Junghan muttered from the back of the car. "That thing -- Jun's thing. The soulmate thing," he rambled a little louder.

In the front passenger seat, Joshua nodded. "Yes, the thing Jun had to do to get more credits for his soulmate specialist thing?"

Junghan made a noise. "Yes! That one! He messaged me earlier; he's got the results and wants to announce them tonight. He wanted me to tell you to make sure Vernon's there."

Joshua hummed. "I'll do my best."

"Your friends have weird names," Seungcheol commented.

"Oh, they're nicknames. Jun's my best friend and Joshua's staying with Vernon's family," Junghan supplied.

"Am I ever going to get to meet these friends of yours?" Seungcheol asked.

"We've only known each other two days. Are Shua and I ever going to meet yours?"

 "You guys have met one of them; my friend Jihoon works at the cafe Junghan does."

"Huh," was all Junghan said.

"So, who am I dropping off first?" 

"I've got some studying I should really be doing," Joshua told him.

"You first then," Seungcheol nodded.

 ***

Joshua and Junghan were sitting on a bench outside a coffee shop near their university, waiting for Seungcheol to pick them up.

"That cloud looks like a car," Junghan pointed out.

Joshua followed Junghan's finger. "It looks nothing like a car! It looks like a flower." He shoved Junghan playfully with his elbow.

"Careful, you almost knocked over my bag. Books are expensive, Shua!"

Joshua shot Junghan a grin. "You never care when you almost break my MacBook."

Junghan sighed and rested his head on Joshua's shoulders. "What if Seungcheol doesn't like one of us, Shua?"

"He already likes us," Joshua chuckled.

"What if he doesn't like how he fits into our dynamic? "

Joshua wrapped an arm around Junghan's shoulders. "Then we'll talk it out and find a new dynamic we all like."

"What if --"

"Junghan, everything's going to be fine. We're all soulmates for a reason, right?"

"I suppose so, Shua. But, I --"

"But nothing." Joshua pressed a kiss to Junghan's temple. "The three of us are soulmates, which means everything's going to work out."

Junghan sat up. "You're right, I'm over thinking it."

Joshua saw Seungcheol's car coming up the street. "You remember that cloud?"

"The one that looked like a car?"

"It didn't look like a car, but that does." Joshua motioned to Seungcheol's car as it pulled up in front of them.

Junghan groaned and hit Joshua's shoulder playfully. "You're so lame. Your jokes are so lame."

The two stood up and grabbed their bags, pulled their jackets around them tighter, and took the few hurried steps to the kerb.

The smell of cigarettes hit Joshua as he opened the back door to get in. He wrinkled his nose and took a step back.

"What's wrong, Shua?" Junghan asked over the car as he walked around to climb in the front passenger seat.

Seungcheol wound his window down, a cigarette between his lips. "Sorry," he apologised. He opened his door and got out, keeping the door open. "Junghan, we'll have to wait for the car to air out." He stubbed his cigarette out on his car and dropped it.

Junghan whined and sat in the car. "It's cold, though."

"We were waiting perfectly fine before Seungcheol got here," Joshua reminded him, his eyes fixated on Seungcheol's cigarette . He wasn't just going to leave it on the ground, was he?

"It should only take a couple minutes, Hannie," Seungcheol assured him

Seungcheol seemed to notice Joshua eyeing something. He followed Joshua's line of vision. "I'll quit," he said, kneeling down to pick up the . "Where's the nearest bin I can put this in?"

Joshua pointed to it. Seungcheol gave him a smile before heading in that direction.

"You really can't handle the smell, can you?" Junghan asked.

"It's gross. I don't smoke, so why should I have to smell it?"

"Exactly," Seungcheol wrapped an arm around Joshua's shoulders. "I've actually been meaning to quit for a while now -- now I have an extra reason."

Junghan groaned. "It's so y, though! Why would you take that away from me?"

Seungcheol chuckled. "Not everything's about you, Hannie."

Joshua thought he heard Junghan mumble a "well it should be," and had to contain his laughter.

When Seungcheol judged the car properly aired out a few moments later, he and Joshua climbed inside. It still reeked of cigarette smoke. Seungcheol must have smoked in his car so much that the smell had seeped into the car seats.

"So, any ideas of what to do for our first date?" Seungcheol asked as he took off from the kerb.

"Can we just drive around for a bit?" Junghan suggested. "I'll give you money for fuel."

"Joshua?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me."

"Then I guess we'll do that then," Seungcheol agreed, sounding slightly put out.

"You OK?" Joshua asked, leaning in closer.

Seungcheol nodded. "Yeah, just been feeling a little pent up. I was kind of counting on Junghan's suggestion to be like it normally is."

Junghan sat bolt upright, hitting his head on the car ceiling. Joshua reached a hand out to pet his head reassuringly.

"?" Junghan asked, sounding more alert than he had been lately.

Joshua's eyes widened. "?" he parroted Junghan, sounding much less excited. He hasn't expected this to happen for at least a couple of weeks. He thought he had more time to prepare than a few days!

Seungcheol shrugged. "If you guys want to. It was a suggestion."

Junghan twisted around to face Joshua. "You wanna?"

He was practically bouncing in his seat, Joshua couldn't have said no without feeling guilty.

"Sure?"

He'd promised Junghan, and Junghan was already getting so excited about it.

Junghan's whole face lit up at Joshua's answer. "Oh, it's finally happening!"

Seungcheol glanced at Joshua through the rearview mirror. He must've noticed the look on Joshua's face, or maybe he could sense Joshua's uneasiness, because he said, "Don't worry Joshua, if you want to stop or decide you don't want to do something, we can stop. You're the , here, so what you're comfortable with matters more than what we want."

Junghan nodded. "Yeah, Shua. Like, unless you really want to, neither of us are expecting you to bottom."

Seungcheol hummed. "Bottoming can kind of , so I'm definitely not expecting that from you. We can guide you through everything as we go or something."

"Your place or mine?" Junghan asked Seungcheol.

Seungcheol shrugged. "Mine? Don't want the 'rents walking in on anything."

"But do you have cheesy first time music or some crap and candles?"

Seungcheol snorted. "Have you been to my apartment? Of course I have candles -- power outages are a thing. I have some early Drake."

"To yours, then. I'm pretty sure both my parents are home."