Up until now, only subproblems have been addressed. There has been no solution presented to the problem of us that Mingyu and Joshua face. Their drunken escapades are merely facets of a bigger picture: a bigger problem. A problem that has to occur, because humans are fickle creatures: creatures that covet words and meanings. Joshua is one of these creatures; he doesn’t realize that there’s still a problem until he wakes up on Jeonghan’s floor with Mingyu wrapped around his waist. Vernon’s sleeping form is the closet and is the first thing that he sees when he awakens. The next is Minghao standing before them with his arms crossed. Joshua gets up, startled and looks around the room to gain his bearings. Most of his other coworkers are asleep upon the couches or the floor. Mingyu’s arms are at Joshua’s waist, holding onto him tightly as though he were a balloon that would float away and never return if he were released.

“December 2015,” is all Minghao says. His voice is hushed as he crouches down to move a stray strand of Joshua’s hair from his forehead. It isn’t that unexpected action that causes him to freeze, instead it is his words. His whole body goes strangely cold as he tries to think about what could have happened then. He knows, but he’d also give anything to be able to forget it.

Joshua gulps, trying not to move too much so he doesn’t wake Mingyu up. “He forgave me,” his voice almost sounds hoarse. Someone shifts on the couch, blanket pulled up over their head. “That was years ago.”

--

Mingyu knew one thing about Joshua when he first met him and it was that he was clever. The man knew how to charm anyone, but usually opted for annoying the out of everyone. For the first couple of months that he started working, he was the center of attention, which he held well. He never knew much else about him, but he often ran into him while retrieving cups of coffee for himself. Joshua seemed to play as much as he worked. Mingyu always thought that he would never get anything done that way, but Joshua proves that one can have a balance of truly anything, so long as they keep it balanced.

It isn’t news when rumors start to spread about Joshua and Jeonghan hooking up. Mingyu isn’t surprised in the slightest, especially when Jeonghan often opted for lazier jobs. With as much as he saw Joshua out of his work station, he figured that Joshua must’ve been able to get close to the others who behaved similarly. He wasn’t wrong.

The actual surprise comes much later when he enters the break room with Minghao only to run into a sobbing Jeonghan. Joshua stands nearby trembling with a paper coffee cup weighing heavy in his grasp. Minghao rushes towards Jeonghan, placing his hands on his shoulders and rubbing them gently. Mingyu stands there, unsure what to do. When Joshua pushes past him, he spills hot coffee on the both of them. “,” Joshua curses underneath his breath, throwing his cup into the nearby trash bin and taking hold of Mingyu’s arm. “I’m sorry,” he says, but he doesn’t sound sincere, which is unusual for him. Joshua leads Mingyu to the bathroom and Mingyu conveniently forgets there are usually two sides to each story.

(Even if he never heard too much of Joshua’s side in the first place.)

--

“It just got a little… emotional,” Joshua says, trying to blot at the coffee stain on his shirt. He turns the tap back on, then makes sure to take care of Mingyu’s own clothing. He adds a bit of the hand soap in a desperate attempt to at least make the stain less noticeable. “Back there.” He clarifies. “I… guess we were being a little silly.” He bites his lip, chewing on it out of anxiety. While Mingyu is watching his flickering expression, he untucks Mingyu’s shirt from his pants and lifts it up.

Surprised, Mingyu pulls back.

“I’m making sure you aren’t burnt,” Joshua explains, still grasping his fabric. He won’t look up at Mingyu, but he doesn’t seem to be focused on anything in particular. There’s a plead in his tone that Mingyu falls for. There’s something important to Joshua about making sure that Mingyu is unscathed and since he can remedy that, he relaxes in his grip, allowing for the older male to appraise him.

--

Jeonghan’s shoulders shake in a delicate way that isn’t befitting of him. Minghao is surprised to find him so openly emotional. When Jeonghan needs to vent, he usually does so in private, not within the break room where anyone could walk in at any given time to watch him some unfurled. Minghao’s thankful that it was Mingyu and him that walked in, fearing that if it had been Seungcheol then Joshua would have been leaving with a black eye or a broken nose. “Hey, it’s alright. Do you want me to get you a tissue?” Minghao says gently, but Jeonghan lifts a tissue up in his clenched fist.

“Joshua…” Jeonghan shakes his head. “Joshua said that he was in love with me the other day.”

Oh, Minghao thinks, then, oh .

Workplace drama is Minghao’s least favorite can of worms.

“So, what’s the problem today?” Minghao rubs his back soothingly, reveling in the way that Jeonghan seems to be calming down. At the very least, Minghao can understand what he’s saying through his tears now. “Do you want me to get you some water?”

Jeonghan nods, so Minghao breaks away from him to pull a bottle of water out of the fridge. Instead of throwing it to him, Minghao makes sure to walk back over and guides Jeonghan’s hands to cover it. It is so bizarre to see him like this and Minghao is stunned. Joshua managed to completely undo Jeonghan in a way that no one else has ever. He doesn’t believe that the petite, bony adult has it in him, but apparently he was underestimating exactly what Joshua was made up of. He clenches his teeth as he takes care to push Jeonghan’s hair away from his face. It’ll be a lot easier to clean him up if he doesn’t get any snot or tears in his hair.

“He doesn’t know about his feelings anymore. He says that it was all a mistake,” Jeonghan shakes his head. “I know I’m overreacting here, but being together with him was so nice while it lasted.” They were only together for a couple weeks, but they had clicked so completely that everyone thought that they were going to be a forever couple. “He said he only wants to be friends… he said that’s all he ever really wanted out of our relationship, but it just spiralled.”

--

Joshua admires Mingyu’s soft skin, when he presses against where Mingyu was burnt, the taller male does not even flinch. “I’m fine. It was just an accident and the coffee is never that hot.” Mingyu tries to comfort him, but Joshua looks as if comfort is the last thing that will help him currently. He runs his fingers through his hair, then sighs.

He pulls away from Mingyu.

Mingyu gives him a smile before he fixes his shirt.

“Sorry about the stain then. I can pay to get it laundered if you’d like,” Joshua offers, clearly calming down from whatever drama he was involved in. “It’s the least I can do, really.” He continues. Mingyu shakes his head in response, holding up a hand.

“That’s unnecessary,” is all he says at first. Joshua looks dejectedly at the ground. “I’m pretty good at handling laundry, trust me. I actually have some detergent that I can put on our stains right now. Let me go get it.”

--

“It just hurts,” Jeonghan states simply. “It just hurts because I felt the connection.”

Minghao sighs, chewing on his lip while he wallows in a rare form of self-pity he seems to be experiencing. Mingyu hardly ever showed this much emotion towards any given conversation or event, so he wasn’t used to this quiet thunderstorm. The only other person he’s used to helping is Soonyoung and he’s the loudest storm there is, but most of his time, he’s so blinded by happiness that Minghao can’t even imagine finding him in a situation like this.

Jeonghan rolls his eyes. “It figures though.” He stands up finally, using his tissue to dry his eyes and clean up his face. “I’ll be alright. Thanks, Minghao. I’m going to go back to work now.”

“Let me at least help fix your makeup first.”

--

“I just can’t commit, I guess.” Joshua confides in Minghao who hovers close to him. Mingyu is still retrieving the detergent, so it is just them for the time being. “I didn’t mean to hurt Jeonghan, but suddenly… I just wasn’t in love anymore.”

Minghao purses his lips. He’ll remember this moment just in case the next poor sap that decides to fall for Joshua is a friend of his.

--

Minghao lifts an eyebrow. “I’m not saying you haven’t changed.” His voice is hushed, but as morning draws on, more people are bustling around. He leans closer to Joshua. “I’m not threatening you, but I’m not playing any games here. Mingyu… isn’t playing any either. I don’t want to have to pick up his pieces because I’ve never seen him broken up. I don’t want to see him broken up like Jeonghan was. I don’t know what exactly you said to him, but he had real hopes involving staying with you. I don’t even think you are doing this on purpose, but don’t do it if you can help it.” He sighs. Junhui lifts an arm, hand grappling to tug on the back of Minghao’s shirt. Joshua can hear Junhui in clear Mandarin, voice sleepy. Come back to bed. He watches Minghao’s face soften before he turns around to rejoin Junhui on the floor.

It’s bizarre, but it makes Joshua feel warm.

Then there’s someone singing. A quiet human alarm. Joshua thinks that it’s Wonwoo, but he doesn’t crane his neck to look. Seokmin joins in the singing. There is some movement around Joshua as people turn over, cover their heads, and move around.

Mingyu doesn’t move at all. He’s wrapped around Joshua completely. The petite man is lost within his tight grasp. Where Mingyu is too large, Joshua is too small, but they still fit together. With Joshua’s head atop Mingyu’s chest, everything feels complete. The brief upset in reality by Minghao gets swept away by the sweetness of the morning. A door opens, then closes. When Joshua opens his eyes, he sees Jeonghan standing at the edge of the pile of bodies. They exchange a smile.

There’s never been “a problem of us.” It’s always been him. “It’s the problem of me.” Joshua whispers. Jeonghan tilts his head, tucking his hair behind his ear. “I’m the problem.” It’s a simple realization. Minghao kicks his legs, jostling Mingyu as well.

Sleepily, albeit dopily, Mingyu smiles down at Joshua. His heart hurts. It feels as though his chest is made of tectonic plates and they are shifting. The lava in his heart cavity runs sluggishly, making him feel warm and sick. His chest aches just as badly as his heart. His whole body is an earthquake. Mingyu’s voice is so quiet at his ear. “The problem is us,” he affirms Joshua’s earlier statement. “It’s that we weren’t.”

Somehow, Joshua understands the emotion behind Mingyu’s sleepy ramblings; he understands that Mingyu is saying that problem has always been of them because they weren’t together. They were too far away, but now the distance has been closed.

Jeonghan bites his lip, then steps over a mess of limbs as he tries to get to the kitchen.

“Cheesy,” Minghao chuckles, curling into Junhui’s side.

“No, I think it was cute!” It’s Seokmin who joins in now. “Definitely cute.”

Joshua rolls his eyes, letting his head loll back onto Mingyu’s chest. Mingyu chuckles, wrapping his arms around him tightly. “Let’s not flirt around our coworkers.” Joshua whispers, bringing his hand up to toy with Mingyu’s hair. Next to them, Hansol shifts, breathy noises coming from him. It takes Joshua a minute to realize that he’s laughing.

“Anyone could have told you that one,” he smiles at them.

The feeling is warm, even if most of them are suffering from hangovers. This is what friendship feels like; it’s warm, like a soft blanket or a space heater. Everyone seems to be touching somehow. All of them are closer than they would choose to be while sober. It takes them to pass out -faced for them to be able to settle into sickening domesticity. The smell of coffee wafts in from the kitchen. Joshua has to hold himself back from trying to disentangle from Mingyu to get a mug of it.

Seokmin and Hansol fall back into a light slumber. Mingyu continues to smile into Joshua’s hair, feeling especially affectionate and mushy as he light circles into Joshua’s back. It’s soothing and nice. He could probably fall back asleep like this if he weren’t sleeping on Jeonghan’s hardwood floor. It’s amazing how so many of the others can just simply fall back asleep.

When Jeonghan exits the kitchen, he’s holding two mugs. After managing to cross the sea of limbs once again, he sits down beside Mingyu and Joshua finally sits up as he takes the mug from Jeonghan. “Thank you,” he nods.

“Where’s mine?” Mingyu jokingly grumbles, flopping his arm across his face to block out the sunlight. “Nevermind,” he murmurs, but it’s hard to understand him like this.

It takes awhile, but finally people start to wake and rise. Jeonghan watches all of them as they either head to the front door, thanking Jeonghan, or towards the bathroom. A rare few head towards the kitchen. Minghao asks if Jeonghan has any to-go cups and earns a balled-up sock thrown in his direction. “Where do you think you are?” He says, and Minghao laughs, shrugging.

People leave. Jeonghan sips his coffee.

--

Mingyu drives Joshua home even though Joshua drove to Jeonghan’s house for the party. It feels wrong for them to separate. For Joshua, it brings anxiety. It makes him wonder what will happen in the increasing space between them. He’s never wanted to not screw something up as much as he does right now. He’s clinging to the framework of this makeshift relationship: this relationship that they have no spoken about. He wants to speak about it, but Minghao has reminded him where he’s gotten himself to before. Joshua doesn’t exactly have a good track mark when relationships are involved. He wants to tell Mingyu, again, that he loves him: that he’s in love with him and he doesn’t want to be away from him today.

Regardless of any other feeling weighing heavy in the depths of his heart, Joshua wants to kiss Mingyu again. He wants to kiss him until he sees stars, until he can no longer think. He wants to undo Mingyu until he’s the same type of mess as Joshua.

When Mingyu pulls into his driveway, Joshua makes a strained noise. Mingyu looks over at him, raising his eyebrows in response.

“I’ll do anything to stay with you for today,” Joshua says, quietly, looking at his lap rather than at Mingyu. He only looks up when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Okay,” he says.

Then he’s reversing the car. It’s all behind them now. Everything is. “Take me somewhere,” Joshua says, unshowered and in need of a brush. Mingyu chuckles, hand reaching over to find Joshua’s hand. They hold hands for the ride. It’s peaceful like this.

--

Mingyu takes Joshua to the ocean.

The air is still too chilly for swimming. There is hardly anyone hanging out at the beach. It feels as though the two of them are in their own personal world. Joshua runs his fingers through his hair, trying to tame it. Mingyu tells him he’s beautiful, then he kisses him hard on the lips, leaning down to his height. Joshua has to stand on his toes to comfortably meet him.

“Let’s talk about it,” Mingyu says when they break away. He doesn’t look at Joshua, just tightens his coat around him. “Us.” He clarifies.

Joshua inhales shakily, nods. “Okay.”

“I love you,” Mingyu says, but sounds choked up. He swallows hard and Joshua pretends to ignore that this is hard for both of them.

“I know,” Joshua smiles without happiness. “Since when?”

“Probably since you kissed me in Jeonghan’s car. I had that dream that night and I wanted to be with you, but I thought that was so random… I thought I’d be turned away on the spot, especially for being creepy.” The corner of Mingyu’s lips turn up in the smallest smile. It’s cute, Joshua thinks when he chances a peek at him. It causes a smile to light up Joshua’s face as well. “How long for you?”

“Definitely since I kissed you,” he says, swallows hard. “Forever?” He laughs dryly. “It feels like it’s been forever since that night.”

Mingyu’s hands are sweaty. The air feels thin between them, as though they are using up too much of it at once. He couldn’t imagine that this conversation would be as hard as it is. “What do we do?” Mingyu says after a moment of silence.

It seems as though they both think about it, but both come up with no solution. Joshua eventually answers him, “Be together?” It seems so simple, so unoriginal, but also as though it is too complicated. Neither of them seem to be prepared for the adult definition of relationship; they don’t need to be. They want to be. There are too many feelings. Joshua wants to reach out and take Mingyu’s hand.

“You want to be together?” A quirked eyebrow.

“Do you?” Joshua stutters when he asks.

Mingyu makes a strangled noise, then turns to Joshua as though he cannot look away from him for another second. He takes him into his arms. One hand buries itself into the hair at the nape of his neck, and the other hand wraps around his waist. He pulls him in until their foreheads are pressed together. He doesn’t look away from Joshua. He’s unkempt and they both have morning breath, but none of that matters. This is the only thing that matters. “Do I?” Mingyu echoes. He looks incredulous.

He his lips, then dives in. Joshua gives him a chaste kiss then pulls back so that Mingyu has to chase after you. “No, no…!” Joshua squeaks, trying to pull away. “Your breath smells so bad!” He’s chuckling, almost doubling over as Mingyu tries to go after him. Joshua slaps his hands over his own mouth, voice now muffled.

“I’m trying to show you how much I want you!” Mingyu says, stepping back from him and spreading his arms out to his sides. It’s an action of surrender. “I love you, Joshua, and I want to be with you. Just you. No one else. I haven’t had this silly crush on you for almost two years for you to stand me up on the beach.” He’s yelling, but not in a scary, domineering way. His voice just happens to increase in volume as he speaks.

Joshua yells back, carelessly, “Then let’s be together then! Just us!”

That’s all they want. It’s the solution that they need.

They’re together.