Jongdae created the chat

Jongdae added Junmyeon and Baekhyun to the chat

Junmyeon: Why didn’t you just send a mass text to everyone?

Jongdae: because i don’t have everyone’s numbers.

baek, add whoever you have

Baekhyun: I have a lot of mobile numbers, you’re going to have to narrow it down

Jongdae: OMG

from the gang

just our group, you know who i mean

you too junnie

Junmyeon added Yixing and Yifan to the chat

Baekhyun added Chanyeol and Kyungsoo to the chat

Jongdae: see, that wasn’t so hard now was it?

Chanyeol: What’s up?

Baekhyun: Jongdae’s trying to make a group chat without having everyone’s contact info

Jongdae: hey yeol, you’ve got zitao’s number right?

Chanyeol: Yeah, one sec

Chanyeol added ZiTao to the chat

Kyungsoo added Jongin and Sehun to the chat

ZiTao added Minseok and LuHan to the chat

Jongdae: yay, the others caught on

this should be everyone, right?

LuHan: Everyone for what?

Jongdae changed the chat name to PARTY
 

Jongdae: everyone knows that jongin and kyungsoo have been in america for a while

when they come back junnie and i wanna throw a party

Kyungsoo: Why?

Jongdae: why not?

Chanyeol: The idea of a party near the end of the year kind of gives me flashbacks, tbh

Jongdae: no one’s gonna let you wander off into a room alone with someone. not even with baek

Junmyeon: And we’re not planning on playing spin the bottle this time, or any drinking games.

Jongin: Wait, isn’t this a planning chat? You make it sound like you’ve already got it planned out

Jongdae: junnie and i have just been talking about this for a month or so. i just kept forgetting to make a chat to involve everyone in the planning

Junmyeon: He does that a lot

Jongdae: r00d junnie

Baekhyun: Did you really just

Jongdae: anyway!

two weeks after this wednesday

is everyone free then?

Junmyeon: He means to ask if anyone isn’t free

LuHan: As long as it’s after 16:00 I’ll be free

Jongdae: anyone else need it to be later?

>

Jongdae: considering it’s been an hour and no one else has said something i’ll assume that everyone is good

so

meet at our place around 18:00

bring snacks

“This place is huge!” ZiTao exclaimed as they stepped inside, almost knocking Minseok off as the copper haired male was slipping off his shoes, earning a shake of the older’s head.

“I take it you didn’t believe me when I said it would comfortably house all twelve of us,” Jongdae said, Junmyeon checking out the door for the last couple to show up, closing the door as he saw no one tailing behind Minseok and ZiTao. Meanwhile Jongdae lead the pair into the main room, and they settled on one of the couches.

“Well we all fit in that one dorm on the campus,” Kyungsoo stated, Jongdae shrugging a little.

“Yeah, but everyone was pretty cramped, weren’t they? Like we all had to sit with our knees touching in a circle, and even then some of us were more out of the circle than in it,” Jongin added with a laugh. “And not everyone was there.”

“Plus it got a lot roomier after you and Kyungsoo disappeared into your room,” Jongdae grinned, and Jongin’s cheeks turned a dark shade of red as he retreated into his husband. A moment or two later the doorbell rang again, Junmyeon having been standing half in the doorway between the entryway and the main room for easy access to welcoming their guests as they arrived. He excused himself, padding over to the door, gesturing to Sehun and LuHan to come in and join the others.

“It’s been awhile since all of us were gathered together, hasn’t it?” Sehun asked as he saw the large group settled on the couches and floor, leading LuHan by hand over to the couch that Jongin and Kyungsoo were on.

“We were all at Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s wedding last week,” LuHan said, Sehun shaking his head a little.

“No, I mean like all gathered just for the fun of it,” he clarified, ZiTao nodding. 

“The only time we threw a party at the college, not everyone was able to make it,” he agreed, Sehun frowning a little at the odd feeling that fell over a few of those in the room- though the feeling didn’t last for long as Jongdae popped out of the kitchen with a bottle in each hand.

“Now that everyone’s here, let the fun begin!” he exclaimed.

“No drinking for Yixing or ZiTao,” Yifan stated, both blonds turning a pout to him.

“Yifan-Ge you’re not the boss of me,” ZiTao stated with his cheeks puffed out a little and Minseok wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close. “I’m not even the youngest, if you’re gonna say that anyone doesn’t get to drink it should be Sehun!” he whined, Yifan shaking his head.

“So I get why you’re ordering ZiTao not to drink, but do tell why little Yixing-Hyung doesn’t get to either~” Jongdae said with a grin and Yifan squinted at him.

“You know very well why, it was your bright idea for him to drink that got me shoved out in the hallway in nothing but my boxers at eight in the morning.”

“Jongdae, what’s he talking about?” Junmyeon asked, turning a suspicious look to the brunet who simply smiled at him.

“Oh, nothing Junnie~” he chimed, setting the bottles down to retrieve some mixers and glasses from the kitchen. When he returned Yifan was looking everywhere but at Junmyeon’s sharp expression, and he bit back a laugh.

“Wait… Since when do the two of you wear rings?” Yifan asked, Jongdae looking up from the drink he was pouring while Junmyeon bit at his lower lip. “Did you get engaged?” he pressed, and the accused pair exchanged a glance before Jongdae gave a small grin as everyone’s attention was directed towards them.

“Well… Not exactly. We skipped that step, and now we’re married.”

“What?!” several voices mixed with the word and Jongdae burst out laughing as Chanyeol looked to Baekhyun with a raised eyebrow and Yifan looked between Yixing and Junmyeon.

“Why aren’t you freaking out-” he paused as Yixing turned an innocent smile up at him, jaw dropping a little. “You knew, didn’t you? How did you manage to keep a secret from me?” he demanded in a mock irritated tone as his hands found their way to Yixing’s waist, starting to tickle the blond.

“Remember that one time I was playing on my phone and you looked over at it and then I stuck my hand down your pants?” Yixing asked shamelessly, Yifan’s entire body freezing as his face turned bright red, and laughter broke out through the room. “Junmyeon was asking me when I was free to go to the court to be a witness.”

“Didn’t you two want to have a wedding though?” Jongin asked, Junmyeon looking to him before shrugging as Jongdae turned his attention to him as well, a grin tugging at his lips.

“At the same time, this just sorta… seems so them, doesn’t it?” Chanyeol pointed out. “As long as we’ve all known Jongdae he’s been the kind of person to decide things in a flash. He’ll be on step seven while you’re still trying to realize that he left you back in step two,” he added with a laugh. “I mean, the had been dating for a couple of months before any of us caught on that they were finally a thing and that they weren’t just still in their flirting stage.”

“Or like how he just decided that we were platonic soulmates,” Baekhyun added, Jongdae sticking his tongue out at the brunet.

“We both agreed on that one, or did you forget that fact?” he replied, stepping over to mess up Baekhyun’s hair.

“Is it really that much of a surprise though?” Junmyeon asked. “At this rate, we’re all engaged or married, aren’t we?” he continued, biting his tongue at the look that crossed LuHan’s face at the same time that it crossed ZiTao’s. “Maybe not,” he added softly, Jongdae’s hand swinging to harshly pat LuHan’s back.

“He’s right, it’s about time that you popped the question, don’t you think?” Jongdae chimed, trying to brighten the start of a dark mood, the pink haired male looking up and offering a hesitant smile.

“Some of us like to take things a little slow and romantic,” Minseok mused, resting his chin in the palm of his hand as he propped his elbow on the arm of the couch he was sitting on. Yifan watched ZiTao look over at the eldest, his lower lip finding a way between his teeth just as ZiTao’s did the same, and Yifan jumped a little when he felt Yixing’s hand on his knee.

“It’ll be okay,” he soothed, the other nodding, relaxing against Yixing.

“Alright, enough of that,” Jongdae chimed in. “Time for cake!”

~

Minseok sighed softly, leaning back in his chair as he stared up at the ceiling of the office, waiting for his desktop to shut down. He had been avoiding Hakyeon for the last several weeks- which was a little silly considering the older hadn’t mentioned the promotion since their sit down in his office, something that Minseok was thankful for. At the same time he had a hard time looking the silver haired male in the eye knowing that he wanted him to take on something so… huge. He remembered Hakyeon’s stories about how he had gotten to his place of power, and the fact that he was able to do what he did with both a husband and a child…

That’s the dream though, isn’t it? Minseok thought, pulling out his mobile, pressing the power button, causing his screen to light up, showing a picture of ZiTao smiling down at Candi as he held her. To marry the person you love and raise a child together… There’s a good chance that ZiTao would agree to adopting someone that’s in our care, there are plenty of boys listed in the system. I’m sure that if I left a stack of children who were cleared for adoption right now somewhere in the apartment, I would come home to him sitting on the floor with them all separated into piles as he tried to decide who to suggest to me. The thought pulled a smile across the copper haired male’s lips and he shook his head a little, closing his brief case once he had loaded it with all of his paperwork, setting out from the office for the evening.

He pulled out the key to the apartment, slipping it into the lock as his mobile buzzed and he turned the key a soft click following before he pulled his key out and pushed open the door. He hung his keys on the hook by the door, taking out his mobile to find a notification for a text from ZiTao, saying that he was going to be a little late coming home from work. Setting his mobile on the coffee table along with his briefcase he wandered into the kitchen to start prep for dinner with cutting vegetables, Hakyeon’s words starting to swim in his head once more. Should he take the offer? The increased pay, the almost guarantee of decreased hours… 

Minseok felt a spark of pain from his hand, pulling him out of his thoughts and causing him to let out a sigh as he saw the sliver of blood leaking out of the side of his thumb, tossing the knife into the sink as he made his way back out of the kitchen and to the bathroom to wash and wrap a bandage around the cut, dropping himself on the couch after. He leaned his head back against the back of the couch, letting his eyes close to rest for what felt like only a moment- he didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until the front door closing caused him to jolt awake and he blinked a couple of times until ZiTao came into focus.

“With how much you sleep on the couch, the bed might get jealous, Hyung,” ZiTao teased, slipping out of his shoes before joining Minseok, sprawling out over his lap so he could look up at the drowsy male. “Did work wear you out?” he asked, reaching up to play with Minseok’s bangs, frowning a little as he saw the bandage on the older’s finger, taking his hand hostage to inspect it. “Did you get in a fight with the paper shredder again or something?”

“I’m not awake enough for all your questions, but no, I didn’t get into a fight with the shredder,” he replied, yawning. “I was trying to start on dinner, and accidentally cut myself, that’s all,” he added and the blond in his lap nodded, lowering the other’s hand to rest on his own chest as a silence settled between them, almost as if the younger knew that something was weighing on Minseok’s mind. “Hey ZiTao?”

“Hmm?”

“I got a… promotion offered to me.” The blond sat up, eyes wide.

“Really? That’s…” Minseok bit at his tongue a little as he saw the hesitance in the younger’s eyes. “That’s amazing, Hyung.” Minseok sighed a little, looking down at his lap.

“According to Hakyeon-Hyung, it’s a salary based job,” he continued, a confused look mixing with the hesitance. “Meaning I don’t have set hours. As long as the job gets done it doesn’t matter how long it takes. Alternately it doesn’t matter how quickly it gets done either. And it comes with a higher pay that I get now working as much as I do.”

“You wouldn’t be working as much?” ZiTao asked. “I thought you said before that you think your boss lives at the office.”

“He explained that he’s there so often because he’s managing all of us on his own. But his work load would be cut in half if I joined him, and he mentioned something about wanting to be home more for Hyungwon, but… I don’t know if I’m ready for something like this. I never thought that I would be more than a case worker, and this is- this is huge.” Minseok sighed, closing his eyes, opening them again when he felt ZiTao’s fingers intertwine with his own.

“It is, and you know what? I don’t know anyone else who would be better suited for the job. And if Hakyeon-Hyung asked you to do this then it’s obvious that he thinks the same thing,” the blond said, giving the older’s hand a squeeze. “We both know that you’re more than qualified, and with how hard you worked to become what you are, you would be amazing.”

“What if I mess up? At least now there’s someone going over my files before they’re finalized, someone checking my work, and-”

“And you will have someone going over your work. You’ll have Hakyeon-Hyung,” ZiTao pointed out, Minseok biting at his lip. “With how driven he is and how diligent you are… Just imagine what the two of you could do together.” The older stared at ZiTao for a long moment before his lip slipped out from between his teeth as he smiled at the other.

“You’re right,” he replied, placing a soft kiss on ZiTao’s lips before he pulled his mobile out from his pocket, scrolling through his contacts, selecting Hakyeon’s, raising the device to his ear