“I had the flu,” Kai admitted into the vulnerable silence following Sehun’s reciprocating confession. They had all shifted to sit cuddled up against one another on the couch and when Kai spoke his words were hot puffs of air that lightly stirred the hair on the top of Minseok’s hair into movement. “The last couple of weeks,” he clarified, “I wasn’t in class because I had the flu.”

“That first week, though…?” Sehun prompted, his voice trailing off into an unfinished question that had Kai blushing and looking away.

“I was avoiding you,” he nodded, filling the gap in Sehun’s words with the answer that both Minseok and Sehun had expected. “You were my friend,” he told Sehun slowly, “and here I was half-contemplating sleeping with your boyfriend while you were away and I didn’t want to be that person. And I didn’t want you to see me as that person, so I just thought it’d be easier if you didn’t see me at all.”

“I was the one attempting to seduce you!” Minseok reminded Kai, clearly agitated that the whole situation had gotten so out of control. Surprisingly, Kai chuckled at that and the smile Sehun gave them both was incredibly fond.

“With my agreement, of course,” he added, wanting to reinforce the idea that both of them were interested in Kai.

“Of course,” Minseok echoed, turning in his spot on Kai’s lap to face the younger boy with a smile. “We called it Operation Classmate Seduction.” He winked at Kai when he tried to hiding his face in embarrassment behind Sehun’s shoulder, “And here you are!”

“I wish you’d have let us take care of you when you were sick though,” Sehun murmured thoughtfully, his words soft and suddenly somber. “I don’t like thinking about you being ill with no one to make you soup and keep you hydrated.”

“Or to tuck you in and keep you warm when you sleep,” Minseok continued where his boyfriend left off and reached out a hand to brush against Sehun’s cheek. “We were worried,” he chided gently, even as Sehun caught his hand to peck the top and Kai’s hold around his waist tightened.

Kai wanted to apologize—wanted to say “I’m sorry I put you through that” and promise that it wouldn’t happen again—but he had to know something first. “Why?” he asked, voice trembling with emotion. “Why were you worried? Wanting to sleep with me doesn’t equate to wanting to make sure I’m okay. You have each other,” he pointed out gruffly. “What do you want me for?”

“You’re right,” Sehun answered evenly. He reached with the hand that wasn’t holding Minseok’s to capture Kai’s and bring all three of their hands together between them. It was supposed to be a gesture of comfort, and Minseok noticed with a small smile as Sehun absentmindedly rubbed his thumb in steady movements over the pad of Kai’s palm. “At first we did just want to sleep with you. You’re hot and you admitted the very first time any of us met that you not only found Minseok attractive, but me too.”

Kai didn’t bother denying the truth of that, but he did blush brightly enough to pull an appreciative coo from Minseok over how cute Kai looked when being bashful.

“And you’re cute in class, too,” Sehun supplied. “Being all studious and stuff.”

“And we tried so hard to make you want us like we wanted you,” Minseok told Kai. “But you weren’t responding even though it was obvious that you were interested—”

“The Seok-Sposé,” Kai interrupted with a mutter under his breath that had Sehun chuckling and Minseok raising an eyebrow while looking adorably confused.

“Anyway,” Minseok kept going, “We admired your self-restraint and your respect for the monogamy of our relationship.”

“Even though that self-restraint was damning and you apparently didn’t care that I was inserting myself with bumbling idiocy to try and make that monogamy nonexistent?” Kai sounded skeptical and the lip he pulled between his teeth was invitingly pink. In other words, it was too tempting for Sehun to ignore and he closed the distance between their mouths with a happy sigh.

“Yes,” he agreed as he pulled away from Kai to press a smiling kiss against Minseok’s forehead and return to his original position. “Even then.”

Minseok turned to face Kai again and unceremoniously planted his own peck against the other boy’s plump lips. “You’re a good guy,” he complimented sweetly. “Us falling for you was kind of inevitable, really.”

Kai seemed to like that because he pulled Minseok closer to his chest while simultaneously snuggling both of their bodies right up against the warmth of Sehun’s side. “I’m glad,” he whispered in quiet contentment.

“Mhmm,” Minseok hummed in agreement with his face buried in the tiny crevice between the two taller boys’ shoulders.

Sehun concurred and leaned his head back against the couch with a peaceful sigh. “Us too.”

That's all folks! (Unless I get hit with the sudden inspiration for an epilogue or something...) Thanks for enjoying the coming together of this OT3 with me. I had fun writing their story and I hope you had fun reading it! As always, comments are appreciated and the more upvotes this fic gets the easier it is for people to find and read about the awesomeness of the SeKaiMin/KaiHunMin OT3--so please drop a line and click that button!

THANK YOU!