He grimaced as he stared at his reflection in the newly wiped clean mirror. The steam from the shower was still billowing around him, hair dripping water droplets as he pushed it from his forehead, and a towel resting over his shoulders. Staring back was dark circles from too much stress and too little sleep. With a deep sigh, Jinki tugged open the cabinet and effectively cut off the picture of himself as he reached in for his moisturizer. Kibum would never forgive him if he forgot his skincare. ‘You may look dead on your feet, but at least you won’t have wrinkles.’ . Jinki found himself quietly laughing as he patted in the cool liquid into his cheeks at the memory of Kibum’s long fingers pressing some unknown facial cleanser onto his face, having his bottom lip tugged between in concentration as if it was the hardest thing he had focused on. The other man should be home soon with dinner. Taemin had been in charge of ordering it and Jinki was both excited and hesitant to see what the youngest man had chosen. 

           There was a reason more often than not on Taemin’s turn at dinner they always ate out, mainly because it gave him certain parameters to pick from. Given free reign, milk was always found where it shouldn’t, like ramen. Jinki shivered a little at the reminder of THAT incident. Jonghyun reacted so badly to the spice and milk combination that he spent the next day making friends with the bathroom. There was always a limit on the things he’d do for the men he loves. Lying through his teeth about how great Taemin’s cooking was, well that was one of them. The youngest’s history with weird food combinations and risky take out orders was the main reason Kibum always was responsible for the night after his. The chef of their little group always made sure to make it all up to them with something tasty. 

           Stepping into the room that he and Jonghyun shared, he was surprised to find Minho spread eagle on the bed. Last he knew the man was still at the university working with his group on the social differences between genders in competitive sports. His phone was held close to his face as he scrolled through something, the light of the screen reflecting off of his glasses. The bathroom door hinge squeaked as it was pushed open and Minho’s head snapped up, a huge smile blooming on his face. He scrambled up from his stomach, sitting back on his knees and accepting the soft kiss Jinki presses to his lips with a sigh. “Not that I’m not glad to see you, Love, but why are you here?” 

           “Two of the three people didn’t show up. So the two of us that did show up figured we could do our parts at home.” Minho flopped back onto the bed, spreading his legs out in front of him, “Jonghyun and Kibum left for the food, and Taemin is currently trying to teach his hamster how to jump through a hoop, so I came in here to wait for you .”

           Jinki tugged on his sweatpants, tripping a little on his slippers he forgot were there, and tried to imagine how well that was going. “How is Cheese doing on that?”

           “Oh terribly. When I dropped my bag in the room all Cheese was doing was stealing the snack Taemin was holding and running away.” He could have sworn he had a shirt laid out before he headed into the bathroom, now where was the stupid thing? He looked up when Minho cleared his throat, “Are you looking for this?” 

           Sure enough, held out was the shirt he was looking for. It was one of Jonghyun’s from highschool, it was softened with time and too many washes, the lettering half faded on the chest.  He grabbed it with a sheepish grin before pulling it over his head. “Thanks, Love.” 

           As soon as Jinki was on the bed next to him, Minho had his head against his shoulder, finding his hand to play with his fingers, “How was your day?”

           “I taught undergrads today. It was to be as expected.” With their busy schedules, it wasn’t often than Jinki got to see Minho for more than an hour a day it seemed, and most of that was getting ready to be somewhere else or the younger man making sure he remembered to eat something. He was always horrid at remembering to eat, which is why most of the time either Minho or Kibum made sure he had snacks in the front pocket of his backpack. The distant sound of chaos entering their home caused both men to glance toward the closed door. “I think the food’s here.” 

           “From the sound of things, I don’t think Kibum approves of what Taemin ordered.” Minho hummed happily when Jinki pressed a kiss to his hair before both men headed toward the door. The sound of voices increased as the door was pulled open, and Jinki shook his head fondly as he followed Minho toward the rest of their little family.

----

           The dining room table was a second-hand piece of furniture Jinki and Kibum had gotten from a yard sale when they decided to move into a bigger place. It once had been a dark cherry wood, but the color had faded and bits were chipped and scratched from all the mayhem that descended upon it over the last two years. Not that anyone could see the table’s surface with the collection of binders, folders, papers, and calculators spread across the surface from where Jonghyun and Minho always set up shop to do their projects. The last time they had used it to eat off was two months ago when Taemin’s family came to visit and Kibum had made them all dinner. That being said, when Jinki and Minho entered the living room from the hall the food was already being spread out on the coffee table in the living room. From the looks of things, he ordered chicken wings. Which didn’t explain Kibum’s loud reaction to the food at all.

           When he spotted the sauce options chosen, that did, however. Blueberry barbeque sauce and garlic pepper, both mixed in together like some sort of strange concoction. Kibum looked one touch away from losing his chef mind, concern so vivid on his pretty features. Jonghyun looked like he was a mixture of amused, worried, and distraught in his own way. As Jinki slipped past the duo, he squeezed Jonghyun’s hip and kissed Kibum’s cheek. “It can’t be that bad, Bommie.” 

           Jonghyun, grim as can be, shook his head, “Oh it can be, Baby, oh it can be.”

           Kibum pressed his lips together before turning completely on his heel, disappearing behind them for a moment. There was clanking, and something popping open. When he emerged again there was a bottle of wine in his hand. By his tongue lapping at his lips, he had already taken a swig. “Really?”

           “Let me forget his sins, Old Man.” 

           Jinki eyed the bottle even as Jonghyun and Minho got busy pulling out the food from the bags and Taemin could be heard coming down the hall. Before Kibum could react, he gripped the bottle and pulled it, taking a long swig. Oh, gross, it’s red. He handed the bottle back with a grimace. “My day was bad, but not bad enough to willingly drink red wine.” 

           Kibum stepped closer, wrapping his free hand around to rest on Jinki’s hip and kiss his temple. “There’s whiskey in the kitchen if you want a drink, but let’s eat and you can tell us about it.” 

------

           The food had been eaten, and while strange, the sauce combination hadn’t been as bad as Kibum and Jonghyun made it out to be. Then again, Jinki loved chicken so much it was very hard to make him upset while consuming it.  Minho had taken their plates into the kitchen to clean because of it being his night for dishes.  Kibum was sprawled out on the couch, sipping the same bottle of wine he had shared with Jonghyun throughout dinner. The younger man had his fingers moving through Jinki’s hair as he leaned back against the front of the couch, legs under the table. Taemin had taken the opportunity to fall against his left side, hugging his arm loosely as they glanced at the drama that happened to be on the television when they turned it on for background noise. 

           Jinki laid his head back against the cushion, eyes closing feeling Kibum’s long fingers scratch against his scalp. He was sure there was something important he needed to finish for school, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly with how good Kibum’s fingers felt. The man’s deep voice was quiet as he spoke, wine and drowsiness making him talk slower. “I’m sorry today was so bad, Baby.” 

           “Not your fault undergrads are really stressful.”

           Taemin huffed, his breath fanning out over his shoulder as he shifted his head to look up at him. “Hey!” 

           Kibum shifted closer until his head was against the edge of the cushion and the bottle of wine was gently placed on the floor beside Jinki. Before he could be disappointed that the fingers in his hair stopped, Kibum moved them again after adjusting his hand. “You’ll get to rag on undergrads soon, Taemin.”

           “Not soon enough.” The youngest grumbled, grabbing his cup to sip from the straw.

           “I should probably do my paper that’s due.” Kibum deeply sighed, his breath fluttering a bit of Jinki’s fringe hanging over his forehead.

           He turned his head until his right cheek was against the couch, smiling softly when Kibum’s fond grin came into view. “When is it due?”

           “Next Wednesday.” 

           The topic of the conversation was momentarily forgotten as he gazed at his lover. While he knew Kibum was always pretty, it was moments like this that reminded Jinki just how beautiful he was. His eyelashes fluttering with his drowsiness, his hair falling in soft dark waves away from his face, and flush in his cheeks from his wine. The black hair was different than the blond Kibum had when they first started dating, but Jinki rather liked how his natural hair looked. Oh right, they were talking about something. “You have time to do it later.”

           Something sparked in Kibum’s dark eyes and his lips quirked up as he spoke, “You just don’t want me to stop playing with your hair.” 

           “Guilty as charged.” 

           A loud growl from their left had all of them looking in that direction. They found Jonghyun standing by the dining room table, leaning heavily on his hands and his hair falling from the tiny ponytail on top of his head into his eyes. Minho popped his head out from the kitchen, brows furrowed, “You alright?” 

           “My research assistant forgot to get consent from the last group! I can’t use any of this data.” He lifted his hand, a stack of papers crumped in his harsh grip. “I have to do this all over and I don’t know if I have time and-” 

           Minho swooped in close, tugging Jonghyun away from the tabletop and hugged him close. “Put the papers down. Worry about this tomorrow.”

           “But-”

           It was Taemin who chirped from his comfy spot, “We should play a board game instead.” 

           Jinki could see Jonghyun was pushing up on his toes to see over Minho’s shoulder, but his voice carried over the distance. “What kind of board game?” 

           Taemin sat up fully and grinned, “Monopoly of course.” 

-----

           Jonghyun was sitting on Jinki and Minho more than the couch as Taemin came back into the room with the game. Kibum had moved onto the floor, his bottle of wine sitting on the table before him as he leaned his head on his palm and gazed at his three lovers on the couch. Jinki was whispering something against Jonghyun’s hair, causing the man to slowly smile and rouge to paint across his cheeks. Kibum was too tipsy to focus enough to make out what he was saying, but it still made him smile to see Jonghyun begin to giggle because of the oldest man. Minho was gently patting Jonghyun’s shins, leaning heavily on Jinki’s shoulder, but he grinned when Kibum caught his gaze.

           And then Taemin decided to shatter the soft, serene air by dead dropping the monopoly box onto the table. All eyes fell on the youngest, who grinned widely. “I can’t wait to kick y’all’s asses.” 

           “Kibum and Jinki are tied with the most number of wins, Bub.” Minho quipped as he lifted Jonghyun’s legs to slip onto the ground, pulling the game box closer to him. Using the top, he pointed at Taemin as he continued. “You’re in last place.”

           “We’ll see.” Taemin’s tongue was poked out of the side of his mouth as he picked up the dark orange 500 dollar bills and began counting out the correct number of bills. All was good until he hit the 20’s, in which his hands lowered into his lap and he stared up at Jinki on the couch. “How many again?” 

           “Six, Tae.” Came Jinki’s soft reply. His eyes were closed, a dazed smile on his face as Jonghyun played with his hair. Jonghyun chuckled, knowing that it was always the twenties Taemin forgot the quantity of. “Do I get a night off from being the banker?” 

           As Taemin happily called out, yes, the other three men unanimously agreed. “No.”

           “I can do it.” Somehow Taemin always managed to make his voice carry the fact he was pouting deeply.

           “You say that and then after you have to do the math you push it towards Jinki. It’s alright.” Minho hummed, setting out the correct pieces. The Scottish dog for Jonghyun. The thimble for Jinki.The top hat for Kibum. The running shoe for himself, and finally, the car for Taemin. The other three were put back into the top of the box placed on the floor to his right. 

           The money stacks were placed around the table and Kibum smacked his mouth after swallowing another sip of wine. “Alright old men, you have to come down now.”

           As soon as Jonghyun had managed to remove himself from the other’s lap, Jinki leaned forward and cracked his knuckles with a sleepy grin. “Who’s ready to lose?” 

------ 

           It was Jinki, Minho and Taemin left. Kibum and Jonghyun had moved back onto the couch, the two men a tangle of limbs as Kibum snoozed with his cheek squished on Jonghyun’s shoulder. As soon as his little snores and nose whistles had been heard Jinki had looked behind him with a smile. Jonghyun looked like he was very close to following their lover’s footsteps, his eyes fluttering as he fought the pull of sleep. After finishing his turn, Minho pushed off the ground to pull the blanket from the recliner and toss it over the two of them.

           Jonghyun mumbled, “Thanks.”

           Taemin was still blowing on the dice, eyeing Jinki’s hotels on park place and boardwalk, when Minho returned to his spot. They all knew if he landed on either of those he was done for. Five or seven would be his doom. He had an 80 percent chance of getting around it safely, but as he finally let go of his dice, one quickly landed on a four while the other kept rolling until it fell off the board onto the table in front of Minho. Face up was a three. “!” 

           “That’ll be two grand, please.” 

           “Don’t sound so smug,” Jonghyun rumbled, hand falling from his tummy to pat Jinki in the back of the head.

           Taemin slowly went through flipping over his leftover properties and adding up their worths. Next were his few remaining houses and his one hotel. He had his little bit of cash gripped between both of his hands when he whipped his head up and asked, almost desperately. “If I blow you can I get a ‘get off boardwalk’ free card?”

           Minho choked on the bit of leftover wine in Kibum’s discarded bottle he was attempting to swallow as Jinki snorted. “While I’d love for you to my , I’m going to have to decline.” 

           “Awh! Come on Babe, cut me some slack.”

           “We’ve been playing for two hours, Taemin.” Jinki ran his fingers through his hair to get it from his eyes, tired smile on his face. “I want to end this quickly so we can sleep.” 

           Taemin sighed before pushing everything of his over to Jinki with a frown. “I guess I’ll admit defeat for that.” 

           Jinki gathered his payment in a neat little pile before gathering the dice and rolling. Minho wasn’t as bad off as Taemin had been, and causing him to go bankrupt would require more than just a single boardwalk landing. Moving three had him visiting in jail. Finishing his turn, he pushed the dice over towards Minho before focusing on organizing his newly acquired items. Out of the corner of his eye, he was aware of the man moving his piece the correct amount of spaces on the dice, managing to bypass Jinki’s dark green properties and landing right before Park Place. Taemin hissed out, “Lucky bastard.”

           “I’m not safe yet, Bub.” Minho handed over the dice into Jinki’s palm with a grimace. “Remind me to never let Jinki get Boardwalk ever again.”

           “You make it seem like you had a choice.” Jinki grinned as he began to shake the dice in his fist. “I’ll make you a bet, Baby.” 

           Minho’s eyebrow rose, intrigue shifting on his face. “Oh praytell.”

           “Name a number, any number 2 through 12. If I roll it, you win without exceptions.” 

           “Just like that?”

           “Just like that.” 

           “And if you don’t roll it?”

           “We keep playing.”

           With narrowed eyes, Minho agreed, holding out his hand to take Jinki’s to shake. “Agreed. The number is 12.” 

           After a few more shakes, Jinki let his fist open and the dice clattered across the board before slowly rolling to a stop. Two sixes were clear as day facing up, and Minho whooped startling both men on the couch. Kibum whined, glaring harshly as his nostrils flared with his quick breathing. Jinki sighed with a fond smile as he leaned over to kiss Minho on the cheek after rising to his knees. “Congratulations, Baby.”

-----

           The water could be heard running through the open door of the bathroom. As well as the telltale sounds of Jonghyun brushing his teeth when the door hinge of the bedroom door squeaked. Coming through was Taemin, boxers low on his hips and hair a shaggy mess on his head. Jinki closed his book and pushed it on the bedside table with a smile. “Can I sleep with you two tonight?” 

           “Of course. Climb on in, Love.” Taemin beamed and half face planted into the middle of the mattress. Jinki shook his head even as he reached over to fix the younger man’s hair. “That is not what I meant.” 

           “It’s so fun to do it now.” He commented as he flopped onto his back and wiggled under the covers. “Thanks for not being in each other’s throats like the other two.”

           With a snort, Jinki asked, “Oh, is that why you graced us with your presence?”

           “Only half.” His cheeks were slightly pink with the admitted answers. “I also missed you two.”

           "Kibum was half asleep when Minho helped him to bed, how'd that turn into ?" 

           "Well they were bickering about Minho startling him awake at the end there and you know..." Taemin trailed off, but Jinki did know very well. Minho and Kibum arguing usually led to them having on the nearest surface, even the kitchen more times than Jinki wanted to admit he walked in on.

           In the dim light of the bedside lamp and the open bathroom door, Taemin’s chest scars were visible. They were light pink as he was on the far end of his healing journey, but it still brought a smile to Jinki’s face to see the man so comfortable without his shirt on. Settling down beside him, Jinki rested his fingertips barely on the scars.“They’re healing very nicely.” 

           “Oh, yeah.” The warmth of his smile almost knocks the wind out of Jinki’s chest it’s so beautiful and free. It reminds him of just how far Taemin has come since they met almost four years before. Taemin snuggles closer, cheek squished with how close he moved into Jinki and trapping the older man’s hand between them. After removing it, Jinki wraps his arm around Taemin to keep him close. His voice is quiet and fluttery, as he relaxes in Jinki’s embrace. “You smell good.” 

           “Thank you.” Taemin’s breathing was slowing and by a quick glance down, it was obvious he was beginning to fall asleep. Jinki kissed his forehead softly, lingering for a few moments before barely moving away to whisper, “Goodnight, Baby.”

           A few minutes later, Jonghyun shuffled out of the bathroom. He hooked up his phone to his charger and carefully sat on his side of the bed. He wiggled closer to Taemin, throwing an arm around his narrow waist and resting his chin on the younger man’s shoulder to gaze at Jinki. Pushing up slightly, he managed to catch Jinki’s lips softly. “Goodnight, Love.”

           “Sweet dreams, beautiful.”

           As they curled up, Jonghyun’s nose in the back of Taemin’s hair, Jinki’s chin resting on the top of Taemin’s head, and their legs a mess of limbs as they tried to find a comfortable spot, Jinki reached above him to turn the bedside lamp off by the switch on the headboard. He fell asleep with his arm over two of his lovers, smiling slightly as Jonghyun’s fingers tried to curl a little against his side. Sure, tomorrow they all had important things to finish, but right then none of that mattered. Jinki felt like he was finally home, wrapped up in the embrace of one of his lovers. A part of him wishes the other two were there too, but he would enjoy what he had, for it was more than enough.