It was just a regular Thursday afternoon in Seoul for most people but there was a small exception in the lives of Kim Mingyu and Jeon Wonwoo this day.

The pair had decided to surprise their boyfriend Minghao by going to his work to visit him for lunch.  The bakery the younger man worked at did a lunch thing a few times a week and since Wonwoo only worked a half day today and Seokmin told Mingyu he could take a long lunch they decided that it was the perfect opportunity to surprise their cute boyfriend.

They met up a couple blocks away from the bakery, just down the street from Mingyu and Seokmin’s bookstore. Both of their works were within walking distance of the bakery but because they were usually quite busy neither had the time to drop in for a visit during the day. On slow days Minghao would come visit one or the other at their work, but those days weren’t that often.

They gave each other a quick kiss in greeting and Mingyu began bouncing cheerfully down the sidewalk as they made their way to the shop, “I can’t wait to see Minghao’s face when he sees us! I bet it’ll be cute.”

Wonwoo chuckled, imagining Minghao’s surprised but incredibly pleased expression when he saw them. The way that his eyes would light up and the smile that would stretch across his soft pink lips before he called out their names... In his daydreaming he wasn’t really watching where he was going and ended up bumping into someone.

He winced in embarrassment and reached out to steady the other person, “Oh man, I’m so- Daewon?”

The man blinked and suddenly his eyes widened as he recognized Wonwoo and Mingyu, “Wonwoo! Mingyu! I can’t believe this; how are you guys? Man, how long has it been?”

Mingyu beamed at the sight of their friend, “I haven’t seen you since you and Wonwoo graduated. How about you, Wonwoo?”

“It’s the same for me; we went to different schools after graduation and I don’t remember seeing you at the grad party that night. How’ve you been?”

Daewon shrugged, still smiling, “You know how it is, work and stuff. I got a girlfriend. And I see that you guys are still together, obviously.”

They both shared a small smile and Mingyu crowed, “Yup! Our relationship’s been better than ever these last couple of years, it’s great.”

The couple got lost in their thoughts for a moment as the reason for their increased happiness filled their minds: Minghao. Their precious, adorable treasure that they hadn’t even known they were missing until they’d found him.

Daewon smiled happily, “That’s great to hear, I figured if I ever saw you guys again you’d still be together. Just as inseparable now as you were then. Are you guys headed somewhere right now?”

“Actually we’re just going to get some lunch, would you like to join us?”

“Sounds great, where are we heading?”

The bakery was only a little ways down the street and the bell made a soft tinkling noise when they entered the shop. At the sound a long-haired, handsome man emerged from the back adjusting his ponytail.

“Welcome to Shining Diamond Bakery how can I- Oh, hey guys!”

The brunette smiled warmly at Wonwoo and Mingyu as they approached the counter; Wonwoo leaned forward as Mingyu and Daewon started looking over the menu on the board.

“Hey Junghan-hyung, how’s business been today?”

“Busy as usual with the lunch rush, you know, but the last hour’s been pretty easygoing. Minghao’s in the back helping Vernon and Jihoon finish up some baking for the afternoon but he should be done any minute. I’ll go tell him you’re here while you guys decide what you want.”

“Thanks, hyung.”

As the older male went into the back Wonwoo went over to join Daewon and Mingyu’s conversation, eager to catch up with their old friend.

Five minutes later Wonwoo and Mingyu were taking turns telling Daewon about their jobs when Minghao came out of the back.

He beamed brightly at the sight of his lovers, drawing attention to the smear of flour on his cheek when he did so.

“Wonwoo-hyungie! Mingyu! What are you doing here?”

Mingyu leaned over the counter and gently wiped the flour off of the blonde’s cheek with his thumb. He smiled softly when the younger man blushed at the tender gesture, “Wonwoo only had a half day today and Seokmin-hyung told me to take a long lunch since we’re not too busy this afternoon. So we decided to come visit you for lunch.”

Minghao had a small, happy smile at the tall brunette’s words. He peered around his lovers and caught sight of the man standing behind them still glancing over the menu, “Oh! I’m sorry sir, welcome to Shining Diamond Bakery. How can I help you?”

Wonwoo chuckled, “Relax, Minghao-ah. He’s a friend of ours from high school; we bumped into him on our way here and invited him to join us for lunch. I hope you don’t mind?”

Minghao shook his head and bowed politely in greeting, “It’s very nice to meet you, my name is Xu Minghao.”

The man bowed back, “Han Daewon, nice to meet you.”

With the introductions finished Minghao chirped brightly, “So, what would you guys like to eat?”

They placed their orders and Minghao skipped off to the back with a promise that the food would be done in a few minutes.

They went and got a table by the window and Daewon wondered, “So is that blonde guy your friend?”

Wonwoo and Mingyu shared an amused look before the elder clarified, “Actually, he’s our boyfriend.”

Daewon’s eyes bulged, “What?!”

Mingyu smiled widely, his gaze going soft and loving, “We met Minghao a couple years ago through Junghan-hyung, the guy with the long hair; he owns this place. Minghao had just moved here from China and was living with his friend Junhui, who’s also Chinese. Junhui knew Junghan and was able to get Minghao a job here because the bakery was starting to get more popular and needed more staff since at the time it was just him and Jihoon-hyung running things.”

Just then a guy with wavy hair came out with a tray of drinks and began setting them on the table. He had very strong features that told that he was part American and his nametag read “Vernon” in English with “Hansol” written in hangul beneath it.

He gave Wonwoo and Mingyu a big smile as he slid their drinks over to them, “Here you go guys. Minghao-hyung will be out in a couple minutes with the food.”

Wonwoo nodded gratefully, “Thanks, Hansol-ah.”

The younger man nodded with a grin and disappeared back into the kitchen.

Mingyu took a sip of his drink and continued, “Now, where was I? Oh yeah! So Minghao had just started working here and not long after that Junghan and Seungcheol-hyung, his boyfriend, had a party at the place to celebrate the bakery’s success. Obviously all of the staff went and Junghan invited us and all of our other friends too. Somewhere in the course of the night we ended up getting introduced to Minghao.”

Wonwoo smiled at the memory, “Since he’d only been living here about a month his Korean wasn’t that great so he was constantly stumbling over his words and slipping back into Mandarin, it was cute. We talked with him for a long time and although Junhui had to act as a translator sometimes, we really enjoyed it. After that we exchanged numbers and starting hanging out, Minghao’s Korean slowly improved and we became good friends with him. It wasn’t until a few months later that we realized that we both had feelings for him.”

Mingyu nodded, “It took us a while before we figured out what we were gonna do. We even avoided seeing Minghao for a few weeks; we were hoping that the feelings would go away. They didn’t go away and it was just making us miserable to not spend time with him. A month after we first realized our feelings we decided to finally confront him and tell him everything, regardless of the consequences. You have no idea how relieved we were when Minghao told us that he liked both of us too. We’ve been together ever since and the three of us just moved into a house together about a year ago.”

With the story finished Daewon hummed noncommittally as Minghao came out of the kitchen carrying a tray full of food. He handed the plates out with a sweet smile and once everyone had what they’d ordered they all dug in.

As they ate they chatted lightly and Daewon observed the three of them quietly.

He watched his friends interact with the blonde, laughing at things he said, ruffling his hair causing a cloud of flour to fly up in the air and how they all shared off each other’s plates.

Daewon was used to that behavior from Wonwoo and Mingyu; he’d seen them do things like that on a daily basis in high school. But it felt wrong as he watched this Minghao guy get involved in it.

Despite what his friends had told him he was entirely convinced that the blonde wasn’t good enough for them. To him the Chinese young man was just an airhead who seemed to be taking advantage of his friends’ good nature.

And so Daewon sat mostly in silence throughout the rest of the meal, only responding when Wonwoo or Mingyu spoke to him directly.

Wonwoo and Mingyu didn’t seem to notice the shift in their friend’s behavior and happily kept up the conversation. Minghao, on the other hand, did notice the man’s sudden attitude toward him but chose not to mention it. His lovers were obviously enjoying spending time with their old friend and he didn’t want to ruin it for them by saying anything.

Soon lunch wrapped up and Wonwoo and Mingyu helped their boyfriend bring the dishes back despite the blonde’s protests. Junghan gestured for them to put the dishes on the counter and Wonwoo and Mingyu went back out.

Junghan glanced over at Minghao, who was peering out after his lovers with a forlorn gaze, “You know, there’s no customers right now and I’m sure Vernon, Jihoon and I can handle things for a little while. You can go with them for a little bit, if you’d like; I know it’s not every day that they can come and visit you after all.”

Minghao’s eyes widened and he gave the older man a tight hug, “Thank you, Junghan-hyung!”

Junghan laughed softly and ruffled his hair, hugging him back gently, “It’s no problem, Minghao-ah. You worked hard this morning; just be sure to be back by 1:00 okay?”

He looked at the clock on the oven and found that it was 12:45, which gave him almost 15 minutes to spend with his boyfriends.

“I’ll be back by then, I promise!”

He quickly gave his two friends/coworkers hugs before hanging up his apron and bouncing out of the kitchen to join his lovers.

The foursome walked a couple blocks away from the bakery and stopped at a corner a few minutes away from Mingyu and Seokmin’s bookstore.

Wonwoo turned to Mingyu, “Hey I think I’ll tag along back to the store with you, I haven’t seen Seokmin in a while.”

Minghao’s eyes brightened at the mention of their happy virus friend, “Say hi to Seokmin-hyung for me, Wonwoo-hyungie!”

The elder nodded as Mingyu began bouncing down the sidewalk cheerfully, only pausing a moment to wave goodbye to Daewon, happily chattering to himself.

Wonwoo heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes tolerantly at the big puppy’s antics, sharing a fond look with Minghao. He smiled at Daewon and held out his hand to shake his friend’s, “It’s been great to see you, Daewon. I’m really glad we ran into each other.”

He gave Minghao a gentle kiss, “We’ll see you later, baby. Have a good rest of your day at work.”

“Bye Wonwoo-hyungie, I love you. Tell Mingyu I said bye to him too.”

“Love you too. I’d better go catch up with the big goof; knowing him he’s probably talking out loud thinking that I’m right behind him.”

The blonde giggled, Mingyu had a habit of wandering when they were out somewhere and usually carried on conversations by himself for sometimes minutes before he noticed that he was talking to himself.

Wonwoo took off down the empty street, sending one last wave over his shoulder before he turned the corner.

Minghao watched him go with a wistful smile when a sudden voice reached his ears, “You know you don’t deserve them, right?”

Minghao turned around sharply, eyes huge in shock from the words that had just come out of Daewon’s mouth, “W-What?”

The older man let out an irritated sigh as he rolled his eyes, “Look, don’t play dumb with me. I don’t know how you managed to worm your way into their lives but you have to know that they’re way out of your league.”

Daewon gave him a cursory look up and down and snorted derisively, making the smaller man flinch, “You’re not even all that good looking; I don’t know why they’re wasting their time with you,they could definitely find someone better . Actually, knowing them they probably just felt bad for the poor little foreign guy who couldn’t speak Korean and went out with you out of pity. I bet they’re trying to figure out a way to dump you anytime now.”

“M-Mingyu and Wonwoo wouldn’t d-do that to me! They love me...”

The guy scoffed, “Sure they do!”

Minghao didn’t respond, his thoughts busy swirling in chaos as all of his past insecurities came rushing back.

When they’d started dating Minghao used to worry that one day Wonwoo and Mingyu would dump him; they’d been together long before Minghao had ever met them and he worried that he didn’t fit with them. Both of the older men were tall and handsome with bodies to die for; Minghao on the other hand was shorter than both of them (though only by an inch or so with Wonwoo), he was much more slender and didn’t have defined muscles like his boyfriends. Not to mention that both of them were so sociable and made friends very easily whereas Minghao, because he was shy around new people and still had trouble speaking Korean occasionally, had trouble in social settings and generally remained quiet in the background while his lovers did all the talking.

He’d never mentioned any of these insecurities to his boyfriends and eventually they’d faded away as their relationship had progressed but now that he was hearing those sorts of thoughts come out of someone else’s mouth- someone who had known Wonwoo and Mingyu as a couple, no less- he couldn’t help but wonder: did he really belong with them? Was he really worthy of being called their lover? Was he holding them back from being truly happy? And a small, terrified part of him wondered... did they really love him?

The mere thought brought tears to his eyes and Daewon smirked cruelly when he saw the blonde’s devastated expression.

“How could they possibly love someone as pathetic and worthless as you?”

The final barb tore the last remaining shred of Minghao’s composure and he let out a loud sob, tears beginning to pour down his cheeks.

Daewon smirked proudly at his handiwork but only had a moment to enjoy it before he was slammed up against the wall of a building by a very strong, very angry Mingyu.

Minghao looked up at the tall brunette through his tear blurred vision and was utterly confused at his sudden appearance as the older man snarled, “Say that again, you bastard. I dare you!”

*A few minutes earlier*

Wonwoo had finally caught up with Mingyu, who was- like he and Minghao had predicted- talking loudly to himself.

“Pabo... who are you talking to?”

Mingyu turned around and his eyebrows furrowed when he saw Wonwoo’s deadpan expression but his eyes were shining with amusement. He also noticed that the elder was panting slightly.

“Eh? But I thought you were right behind me...”

Wonwoo laughed at the younger’s confused expression, “I was saying goodbye to Minghao. He told me to say goodbye to you when I caught up.”

Mingyu’s groaned and ran a hand through his hair, “Ah, I forgot to say goodbye to him! ...I forgot to give him a kiss!”

Wonwoo sighed at the other’s distress and grabbed his hand to tug him back in the direction of the bakery, “C’mon it’s only been a few minutes, I’m sure we can still catch him before he goes back to work.”

It didn’t take them long to jog back to the corner they’d left Minghao and Daewon at and Wonwoo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were still there.

“Good, they’re still here. I guess they really must be hitting it off.”

He made a move to approach the pair but was stopped by Mingyu’s hand pressing against the center of his chest, “Shh! Something’s not right; look at Minghao.”

Wonwoo sighed but obeyed the request and quickly noticed that the brunette was right, Minghao’s shoulders were hunched and trembling and he had his arms wrapped around his stomach with his head bowed. Minghao only ever looked like that when he was incredibly upset.

The couple shared a concerned look and began to advance towards the pair on the barren sidewalk, their pace quickening when they saw Minghao crumple in on himself even more.

They couldn’t see the look on Daewon’s face but from the tone of his voice they didn’t need to, “How could they possibly love someone as pathetic and worthless as you?”

At those words Mingyu bristled and, before he even realized he’d moved, he was holding Daewon up against the nearest wall and snarled in his face, “Say that again, you bastard. I dare you!”

Luckily the street was still empty of other pedestrians but the three other men currently present were all varying degrees of surprised to see Mingyu, happy and kind Mingyu, so protective and angry.

Daewon went pale under the taller brunette’s fierce glare, “M-Mingyu! I-I didn’t-”

Mingyu growled, “Didn’t what? Insult our boyfriend? Terrorize him? Make him cry? What?!”

The older man could only stutter, completely stunned by Mingyu’s sudden personality change. Never in all the time he’d known Mingyu had he ever seen the younger man so mad.

Wonwoo let the younger do as he pleased and put all of his focus on Minghao who was standing in the middle of the sidewalk looking like a lost puppy with tears still streaming down his cheeks.

He gently wrapped his arms around the slender blonde, “It’s okay Minghao, we’re here now. I’ve got you.”

What Wonwoo wasn’t expecting was that, the second his arms closed around Minghao, his boyfriend immediately began to fight his embrace. He was shocked but he didn’t relinquish his hold on the younger man.

“M-Minghao, it’s alright-”

Wide, panicked brown eyes looked up at him and his heart thudded painfully at the lost, hurt look he found in those shimmering depths. Minghao peered up at him through his wet lashes, his voice shaking, “D-Do you- Do you l-love me?”

“What?!”

“He... He s-said that you’re t-too nice and that,” his breath hitched, “-that you feel sorry for me and-”

Wonwoo grabbed Minghao by the shoulders and pulled him against his chest, cradling the back of his head. After a long moment he leaned back and shook the blonde gently, a fierce look in his eyes.

“Minghao, I never ever want to hear those words out of your mouth again.”

Mingyu nodded in agreement and shot their now former friend a glare, letting go of his shirt, “I don’t ever want to see you again. And if you ever come near Wonwoo and Minghao again-”

He didn’t need to finish the threat; Daewon was already running around the corner as fast as he could.

With Daewon now out of the way Mingyu’s attention reverted back to Minghao, his fierce glare softening when he looked at the younger’s flushed, tearstained face.

He approached the shorter man and gently brushed some tears from his cheeks, “Ming-ah... did you really believe the things he said?”

Minghao shrugged and sniffled, “I-I dunno... It’s just- You two were a couple for so long before you met me; sometimes I can’t help but wonder if I’m just a third wheel.”

The two older men exchanged a concerned look; they’d never known that Minghao felt like that. They both hoped that they’d never done anything to make him feel like he was loved less than they loved each other.

“Minghao from the moment we laid eyes on you, we knew you were special. And I know that it took us a lot longer to figure out or feelings for you than it did for to you figure out your own feelings for us. But you have to know...”

The eldest cleared his throat, his eyes suddenly feeling hot, “You- You mean everything to us. Every day you do these things that just make us love you more and more and you don’t even do them on purpose, it’s just what you naturally do. Like when you kiss us good morning, cuddle up as close to us as you can, the way you pout all cutely when we tease you... The list goes on and on. Baby, we could stand here all day and tell you all the things that make you so special and wonderful to us and we would if you wanted us to.”

Mingyu nodded softly and reached out to cup Minghao’s face gently, “We chose you, Ming-ah. We love you just as much as we love each other. It doesn’t matter that Wonwoo and I have known each other longer; you still take up a huge place in both of our hearts, just as big of a place as we hold in each other’s. We love you more than anything.  Please tell me that you know that I’m telling the truth?”

Minghao looked tearfully at his lovers, who stared back at him with heartfelt, pleading gazes and he thought back to all of his memories with Wonwoo and Mingyu...

The way they’d both been so kind to him when he’d still been learning Korean and often helped him pronounce new words that he’d learnt.

Their nervous expressions when they’d asked him out for the first time.

His first birthday with them; Mingyu had tried to make a cake and it had ended up setting off the smoke alarms in his and Wonwoo’s apartment. He had loved it anyway.

Their first anniversary.

The day they’d moved into their house.

All the times that Mingyu would press him up against a counter and lean over him to grab something that he couldn’t reach himself.

Making Wonwoo a cup of coffee every morning and allowing the older man to lean against him as he drifted in and out of sleep between sips. He loved to run his fingers through Wonwoo’s dark hair in those moments, trying to tame the wild mess that it always was first thing.

The way that Mingyu clung to him as much as he could, even while they slept, and how Wonwoo always made sure to put at least an arm around him when they were sitting together.

How they took care of him when he was sick, making sure that he was always comfortable and had everything he needed.

The way that they kissed him goodnight, never forgetting to whisper, “I love you” before they all drifted off to sleep.

He sobbed softly, feeling utterly foolish for believing Daewon’s words for even a second. He was so obviously loved by Wonwoo and Mingyu.

Tears began to pour even harder down his cheeks and put his face in his hands, “I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry... You love me. Of course you love me. And I love you! I love both of you, so much.”

Wonwoo and Mingyu breathed identical sighs of relief and wrapped their arms around their trembling boyfriend, a few tears escaping down their own cheeks.

They stood there in the middle of the empty sidewalk holding each other without a care about the time or who might see them.

All that mattered was that they had each other and that they all knew that they were loved.

Wow, I was not expecting this one to be this long. I started off with such a simple idea and it just kept snowballing as I was writing but I absolutely love how it came out. I hope that I conveyed the depth of the emotion in this well, I really wanted to bring some more dimension to this as a ship and felt that a little angst couldn't hurt but I kept some fluff in as well.

I hope you guys liked it. Thanks to all you lovely readers and if you subcribe and/or comment I thank you for that too!

I'm trying to think of what to do for the next oneshot in my Minghao ship series. Should I continue with this ship (btw, still haven't figured out a good ship name for them; anybody got any ideas?)? Should I do another one of my Minghao ships? What sort of prompts should I do? If you guys have any suggestions of what you like to read, let me know in the comments and I'll take them under consideration.