Like most things, it starts with curiosity.

They’re home from a dinner date one night in September; Kibum is lazing on the bed in their room while Minho gets ready to head to the attached bathroom for a quick shower. As he empties his pockets just before taking off his pants, Minho pulls out a flyer he remembers receiving during lunch hour and stuffing into his back pocket. He flattens out the now crumpled paper and finally takes a good look at it.

“What’s this?” Minho mutters to himself.

“What’s what?” Kibum looks towards Minho, wondering what his boyfriend is mumbling about.

After a few seconds of reading the flyer, Minho laughs and scrunches it into a ball before throwing it Kibum’s way.

“Nothing, it’s just some online dating site.” Minho simply explains and then says just before he steps into the shower, “Throw it away for me, Bum.”

But Kibum doesn’t.

When Minho returns from his shower and joins his boyfriend in bed, he finds Kibum with his laptop and the flyer right next to him. Funnily enough, the flyer is straightened out again and doesn’t look like it’s going into the rubbish bin any time soon.

“What are you doing?”

“Hey baby,” Kibum turns his laptop towards Minho and points at the screen, “If you could pick someone to date here, who would it be?”

Minho glances at the search results found on the site and raises an eyebrow at his boyfriend, “Is this a trick question?”

Kibum laughs and punches Minho lightly on his arm, “I’m being serious.”

“Really?” Minho asks, becoming serious himself, “Because serious to me means I will go ahead with asking the person I pick out on a date.”

Kibum pauses for a moment, seemingly thinking through Minho’s statement, before he gives a decisive nod.

“Yeah, why not?” Kibum smiles, “Let’s do it. We each pick someone off this site and go on a date with them.

“Kibum…” Minho has his reservations.

“We’ve been together for what, five years?” Kibum asks and continues when Minho nods, “I mean, I love you, so much, and you know you won’t ever lose me… but let’s give each other a chance to get to know more people?”

An amused smile grows on Minho’s face.

“Should I be flattered that you trust me this much to allow me to date someone else or should I be afraid because you want to date someone else?”

“Both?” Kibum answers with a laugh, “I don’t know, I just think we can spice things up a bit?”

Minho falls silent as he thinks through Kibum’s suggestion.

Kibum places his hand on Minho’s thigh and him softly, “I won’t do it if you don’t want to, Minho. We can forget that I brought this up and just laugh it off…”

Minho catches Kibum’s hand and holds it tightly in his before he takes in a deep breath and says, “As long as I don’t lose you…”

“You won’t.” Kibum assures as he squeezes Minho’s hand, “Ever… at least for this lifetime, you’re stuck with me. So if you ever feel like you are, just tell me, and we’ll call everything off.”

With a smile, Minho nods and brings Kibum’s hand to his lips for a hand-kiss.

“Alright, let’s get back into the dating scene then.”

It’s February when Minho decides to truly spice up their relationship. Six months of dating someone else besides each other and it boils down to this; like always, it begins with a question.

“Kibum, are you free for dinner tomorrow?” Minho speaks close to Kibum’s ear as he hugs him from behind while his partner makes a cup of coffee for himself.

“Yeah, why?” Kibum answers distractedly as he pours hot water into his mug.
Minho kisses the side of Kibum’s head and smiles against his skin, “We should go out together.”

“We as in…?” Kibum questions while stirring his coffee.

“Me, you… and him.”

In an instant, Kibum stops stirring his favourite drink, lets go of the teaspoon and turns around in Minho’s arms, coming face to face with his boyfriend.

Staring at Minho incredulously, Kibum wants to ask if he has lost his mind. It’s crazy enough that they’re seeing someone outside of their relationship; it’s even crazier if Minho wants him to meet the other man in his life.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Minho smiles helplessly.

“Why?” Kibum calmly asks, the question vague, but Minho knows exactly what he’s asking.

“It’s almost half a year since I started dating him, Kibum.” Minho shares his thoughts, “I honestly don’t know where this relationship is going but I’d like if you could meet him.”

“You’re not answering my question.” Kibum frowns.

“Come on, Kibummie…” Minho attempts to plead as he tightens his hug around Kibum, “It’ll be fun, trust me.”

Kibum falls silent, biting his bottom lip while considering Minho’s wish.

“I know we agreed not to talk about relationships outside of ours but don’t tell me you aren’t even a tiny bit curious about the other guy…”

Knowing Minho is coming close to convincing him to go on the date, Kibum sighs, “Does this mean I have to arrange for you to meet my other boyfriend too?”

“That’s up to you.” Minho says with a shrug, “I won’t force you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with…”

“So if I say no to meeting your boyfriend?”

“Then I guess it won’t happen.” Minho leans closer to kiss Kibum on his lips before he continues, “But I’ll let you think about it. When you’ve decided, let me know.”

With that, Minho releases Kibum from the hug and pats his lightly.

“Drink your coffee before it gets cold, love.” Minho smiles, “I’ll be in the room if you need me.”

Talk about being in a pickle.

At this moment in time, Kibum is torn between letting curiosity get the better of him and retaining his sanity.

Eventually, curiosity killed the cat. Kibum has half a mind to stand up and leave the restaurant but Minho’s hand on his thigh is keeping him securely in place. 15 minutes early for their dinner date, they’re sitting side by side at a table for three, with Minho purposely leaving the seat directly opposite Kibum empty.

“Relax, Bum.” Minho chuckles as he squeezes Kibum’s thigh under the table,

“You’re too tense.”

Kibum narrows his eyes at his boyfriend, “This is all your fault.”

“I’m not the one who said yes.”

Kibum groans, “I don’t really like you right now.”

“It’s okay, I still love you like I always have.”

Before Kibum can smack the smile off Minho’s face, they’re interrupted with the sound of someone clearing their throat. Both Kibum and Minho look up, expecting to find a waiter asking them if they are ready to order, but finds someone else standing there with a bright smile on his face.

“Jinki hyung!”

It’s Kibum who greets the person joining them at their table while Minho just smiles and purposely keeps silent, allowing the two to interact.

“Hi baby,” Jinki says as he settles down in the seat opposite Kibum, “Long time no see.”

“What are you saying, old man?” Kibum creases his eyebrows in confusion, “I just saw you two nights- Wait a minute. Why are you sitting down?”

“Because this seat is for me?” Jinki kindly offers as an explanation as he shares a smile with Minho.

Kibum’s eyes travel from Minho to Jinki, the former his boyfriend of 5 years while the latter his boyfriend of 5 months, and then back again before everything suddenly clicks.

“Have you been two-timing me with my boyfriend all this while?!” Kibum glares at Jinki.

Minho bursts out laughing while Jinki’s expression clearly shows how he has never felt more wronged in his life.

“Hey! I’m not the only one two-timing here… Minho yah,” Jinki lets out a breath as he turns to the man sitting beside Kibum, “Do something about your boyfriend.”

“He’s yours too.” Minho manages to say in between laughs.

“You’ve known him longer than I have.” Jinki argues.

“So?” Minho retorts with a smile, “That doesn’t mean you love him any less…”

“Stop!”

Minho and Jinki obediently quieten down as they turn their attention to Kibum.

“Both of you owe me an explanation.”

Minho and Jinki share a look with each other.

Impatient as always, Kibum decides to get the ball rolling, “Whose idea is this?”

Almost simultaneously, Minho and Jinki point at each other.

“Who am I dating?” Kibum sighs out loud, looking up to the ceiling and reflecting on his life choices, “Kids? No scratch that, kids are more mature than the both of you.”

“To be fair, Kibum, we really did come up with the idea at around the same time.” Jinki decides to act his age as he reaches across the table to hold Kibum’s hand, “We never wanted to keep you in the dark for long.”

“Yeah, we thought this would be a nice surprise for you.” Minho proudly reveals with a smile, “Better than the surprise we went through ourselves.”

“Surprise, yes.” Kibum replies, looking at both Minho and Jinki, “Nice? I’m still undecided on that.”

“Isn’t this the perfect scenario though?” Minho can’t help but ask, “When I found out we’ve been dating the same person all this while, and that it’s Jinki hyung of all people, I thought life couldn’t get better. Even when we fall in love with someone else, we fall for the same person. It’s amazing, isn’t it, Kibum?”

“Don’t you hate the way he talks sometimes?” Ignoring Minho, Kibum directs the question to Jinki.

Jinki laughs, looking down as he nods.

“Hey!” Minho is offended, “I’m right here.”

“I know you are, baby.” Kibum uses his free hand to touch Minho’s face as he finally smiles and looks at the two men he’s very much in love with.

“I guess this could work…”

“What could?”

Even though he knows what Kibum is talking about, Minho still wants to hear it out loud.

“Us three.” Kibum says, “This love triangle of ours… that’s why you both wanted us to have dinner together right? So we can all be together without having to date one another separately…”

“You have to admit this is nice right?” Jinki squeezes Kibum’s hand, “How relieved and happy are you now that you know it’s me who Minho wants you to meet?”

Jinki’s question is a no brainer for Kibum, so much so that he doesn’t even need to answer it out loud for both Jinki and Minho to know his answer. The smile that appears on Kibum’s face is certainly the only answer his boyfriends need from him.

“Exactly.” Jinki grins, satisfied.

“I have one last question though.”

Just when Minho and Jinki think everything is more or less settled, Kibum has them both on edge all over again.

“What is it?” Minho asks on behalf of both of them.

“I’m sure you’d agree when I ask Jinki hyung…” Kibum says to Minho first before he turns to Jinki and pops the most important question, “When can you move in?”