Joshua hummed as he got dressed for his day. It was going to be just a day of wandering around the city, eating, and people watching. He slid the last button in and checked himself out in the mirror. Nodding in approval he grabbed his bag and walked out his door, passing his roommates’ doors on the way. Joshua sat down in the entrance way putting on his shoes, still humming until he felt a hand clasp his shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Seungcheol asked looking down at Joshua with a big grin on his face.

Joshua smiled back instinctively. “Oh I’m just going to wander the city for the day. You know quiet and relaxing, doing what I want.” He looked around, “Jeonghan isn’t around today?”

“He had to cover for a coworker,” he said. In all honesty Seungcheol was happy that Jeonghan wasn’t here. If the other man happened to be home it would be a fight between the two of them for Joshua’s attention. They would subtly jab at each other, make snide remarks trying to make the other look bad in front of their cat eyed friend. The two had this routine down as an art form practically considering how long they had been friends with Joshua. Joshua as book smart as he was, and as people smart as he was…. well he was love illiterate. Flirting and the like flew over his pretty little head. Otherwise Jeonghan or Seungcheol would’ve been dating Joshua by now. If they were lucky, Joshua would’ve been dating the both of them. But they weren’t. Joshua remained oblivious.

“Oh. That’s too bad. I know how he likes to spend his days off lazing about at home.” He tightened the laces on his oxfords and turned his head up to give Seungcheol one last smile. “I’m off then. I’ll be back when I get back.” As he rose he felt Seungcheol tighten his grip on his shoulder.

“Wait,” he said with a boyish grin on his face. “Can I come with? I don’t want to be stuck at home all day by myself.” He started poking lightly at Joshua in a cute manner, knowing that Joshua hated it but still tolerated it from him and Jeonghan.

Joshua shook his head at said cute behavior and nodded. “If you’re ok with following me around all day Cheol?”

Seungcheol nodded. Anything to get a leg up on Jeonghan and spend time with Joshua. Both Jeonghan and him knew who the true angel was in this house. It wasn’t Jeonghan no matter what his birthday implied. He scrambled grabbing his wallet and keys, putting on his shoes lightning speed, while Joshua waited for him smile on his face.

The two walked out the door Seungcheol locking it up, gently placing his hand on the small of Joshua’s back maneuvering them down the pathway and out the gates.

After a train stop or two away from their neighborhood, Joshua walked, leading the way to one of his favorite cafes. He pushed the door open waiting for Seungcheol to come through before closing it. He turned around to be greeted by one of the servers.

“Joshua hyung!” The brown haired younger man came to Joshua practically skipping. He smiled back at Seungkwan’s infectious attitude, as the young man kept babbling on. “Are you here alone today? Do you need a table? Or are you here for something to go?”

He laughed, holding his hand to his mouth lest he disturb the other customers with his laugh. “No, I’m here with Seungcheol, my roommate and one of my best friends.” He pointed to Seungcheol who was standing nearby looking winded by Seungkwan’s mile a minute mouth. “And we definitely need a table. I haven’t eaten breakfast yet and it’s pretty much brunch already,” Joshua replied, mouth quirking to the side.

“Right away!” Seungkwan said. He kept the grimace off his face as he side eyed Joshua’s best friend. He was handsome, muscle filled, long lashes, and touchy. Seungkwan made a face in his head as he watched Seungcheol wrap an arm around Joshua’s shoulders as he led the way to a table in a quiet corner. He seated them handing them menus. “I’ll be back with some water hyung. Take your time.” He made sure to address Joshua only leaving Seungcheol to silently glare at him as he flounced off to the kitchen.

Mingyu happened to at that moment see Seungkwan flounce into the kitchen as the brown haired boy passed his section of the café which was dead at this moment since he just cleaned up after his last customer. Taking in Seungkwan’s happy smile and extra pep in his step he knew who was here. Seungkwan only ever looked that happy when one person was in the café. Slyly he slid his dish cart into the hallway for the dish washing staff and grabbed the tray of glasses and a pitcher of ice water. He walked, taking long strides towards Seungkwan’s section, eyes lighting up at the sight of Joshua.

“Hyung! You’re here.” Mingyu smiled toothily. Gently placing the glasses on the table, he poured in water. “What brings you here? And your friend?” Well Mingyu hoped it was a friend. Him and Seungkwan had been pining after the big eyed, sweet smiling American for a while now. Joshua frequented their work place a lot. And the two always fought over who would serve him and if they were on break who would get to hang out with him. Mingyu’s flirting went over Joshua’s head and Seungkwan’s advances never worked. The two of them toughed it out because seeing the other man smile made their days. Not to mention the two were confident one of them would get Joshua in the end.

Joshua laughed. “I wanted a day of wandering. Seungcheol here decided to follow me.” Joshua poked him lightly on the cheek. “This boy masquerading as a man told me he’d feel lonely since our other roommate is gone so he’s following me around.” Turning his face upwards to Mingyu, “How’s school going Mingyu? Classes still rough?”

Mingyu nodded in earnest. It was always nice how Joshua remembered things about their lives even if he only ever came to eat here and spend some of his free time here. It made him and Seungkwan feel special. “This semester of classes is better than the last but some of them are still kicking my .” He flashed his pointy canines, “I’m following your time management advice. It’s working.”

Joshua leaned back in his chair, the light highlighting his soft features. “That’s good. I’m glad it’s working for you.”

Seungcheol butted in, “Advice? You’ve been giving kids advice on school?”

The newly hair dyed man looked at Seungcheol. The pink peach hair catching the sunlight. “Yea. What are you implying Cheol? I’m full of good advice.” He gave him a dirty look.

“Oh you are. But says the man who overworks himself at the magazine.”

Mingyu pouted, the attention was no longer on him and he rarely got to see Joshua much at all. “Ah hyung—“

He got cut off by Seungkwan who came back with glasses of water. “Mingyu this isn’t your section. Why are you here?” He made to temper if with sweetness otherwise Joshua would look at the two of them funny. Exactly like Joshua hyung’s friend right now. Seungkwan was sure that he figured out that the two of them had crushes on Joshua; Seungkwan knew that Seungcheol had one too. So all of them were in the same boat. It was a competition to see who would capture Joshua’s heart first.

“My section is empty and I thought I’d give you a hand,” Mingyu said with a smirk on his face. “Since your section is kind of busy.” He took a calculated risk knowing that once Joshua left Seungkwan would find a way to have his revenge on Mingyu. The two of them always fought after Joshua left the café on days he came in.

Seungkwan gritted his teeth silently. “Thanks Mingyu hyung. But I have it under control, why don’t you take a break. Outside.”

Seungcheol gave the two calculated looks, narrowing his eyes as he watched the two of them snipe at each other, a lot like him and Jeonghan would do. Joshua oblivious as ever, looked at his menu trying to decide what to get.

He felt a tap on his hand, Seungcheol looked up to see Joshua’s signature smile, eyes almost closed, mouth curved oh so prettily. “Have you decided what to get?” God Seungcheol would drown in that smile if he could. Wait who was he kidding, he had before. Back when they had first met, he would stare at Joshua from a far like a creeper. He kept that up until Joshua caught him one day and asked if he needed help as they were in the same class. Jeonghan, the evil bastard, whined and told Joshua that Seungcheol probably didn’t and that Joshua shouldn’t be such a bleeding heart. From there he slowly integrated himself into their lives which irked Jeonghan beyond belief. But Jeonghan would always remind him that he was Joshua’s friend first.

“Yea,” he smiled back at Joshua content.

Seungkwan gave Mingyu a small push and brought out his iPad mini ready to take their order. He tapped the orders in ignoring Mingyu who hovered over him while starting at Joshua. Seungcheol ignored the two younger men as he knew that Joshua didn’t even notice their little crushes on him. And he felt that the only two who had any chance at winning Joshua were him and Jeonghan. Joshua didn’t even look up from his phone after he gave one last smile to Seungkwan and Mingyu.

The two waiters left to take care of the other customers. Because no matter how much they wanted to stay they did have work to do. Seungcheol stared at Joshua’s hands as he started tapping at the screen of his phone.

“Jeonghan just texted me. Apparently he’s getting off right now. I told him to meet up with us here.”

Seungcheol internally made a face. There went his day with Joshua by himself. Well at least he’d be able to spend time with him alone for now before the two faced devil came bursting in and him and Seungcheol started sniping at each other.

“Cool. Did someone take the rest of his shift or was there nothing to do?”

Joshua shrugged elegantly. “He didn’t say. He’s on his way. I should call Seungkwan over to get another menu for him. He’ll be hungry.” Joshua smiled unconsciously ruffling his fringe a bit, “You two eat like wild animals.”

Another reason to love Joshua Hong. He remembered the little things about you and that made a person feel special.

Seungcheol replied softly, “Yea.” He swore one day soon he’d confess and beat Jeonghan to it. But the paralyzing fear that Joshua would no longer want to be friends always stopped him. And Jeonghan too. The two were big on better to have Joshua in some capacity then not at all. Even if they wanted to push further than light cuddling.  They wanted kisses and touches in intimate places. If there was one thing they had in common besides their love of Joshua is that they talked about their fantasies about him and it was downright scary how eerily similar they were. Joshua on his back and them opening him up until they made love or ed him into the bed, dressing him up, roleplay, almost all of their ideas were similar. It was about the only reason why they felt that if Joshua couldn’t choose between the two of them they’d be all right with him dating them both. ual compatibility helped wonders in a relationship no matter how much they fought each other, they knew they could love Joshua right.

Seungkwan and Mingyu came back with Joshua’s latte and Seungcheol’s iced tea. Joshua placed a hand on Seungkwan’s forearm asking for another menu as another friend was on his way. Seungcheol watched as Seungkwan’s cheeks took on a slight flush and Mingyu pouted. He placed his chin in his palm and couldn’t help but think these kids weren’t any competition to him or Jeonghan. Mingyu might have been tall and good looking but he was a giant puppy in a man’s body. Not Joshua’s type. And Seungkwan was funny and light hearted but too loud and divaesque. Again not Joshua’s type. But if he thought too hard on that neither Jeonghan nor him knew Joshua’s type. The other man hadn’t dated anyone as far as they knew, and they knew a lot. But Joshua was tight lipped and if he had dated he wouldn’t have told them.

Seungkwan gave Mingyu a light shove towards the menus and the tall man went over to grab one. At that moment the door to the café opened. Jeonghan in his long haired glory walked in putting a frown on Seungcheol’s face. Jeonghan’s eyes lit up at the sight of Joshua but Seungcheol could see a slight tightening at the ends of them as he took in Seungcheol and the other two young men who crowded their table. He walked purposefully to them and plopped right down next to Joshua, pushing his head onto his shoulder. And then he whined. “Shua I’m so hungry.”

Seungcheol tightened his hand on his jeans and replied before Joshua could, “Well food’s on the way Hannie. But here’s a menu so you can order your own plate.”

Jeonghan’s eyes slid towards him, taking on a killing gleam. “Thanks Seungcheol. How was your time out so far?” He watched as a muscle in Seungcheol’s jaw throbbed. He laughed in his head.

“It’s been great. But we barely started.” He nearly gritted his teeth as he watched Joshua pet Jeonghan’s head like he was an overgrown cat. A prima donna type.

Joshua let out an absent minded hum. “Take a look at the menu Jeonghan. Seungkwan can take your order so you can get your food. And Mingyu can get you glass of water.” He looked up at the two servers and smiled with a tilt to his head.

Mingyu nodded and walked off to do so, while Seungkwan chirped, “Of course hyung.” Both Jeonghan and Seungcheol shared looks about the obvious adoration the two servers were showing to Joshua. They were thankful that he was so damn oblivious to love otherwise they would’ve lost him a long time ago. But then again maybe not. For all his cuteness he was rather dorky, but someone would’ve loved that. Never mind they probably would’ve lost him.

Seungcheol moved closer on Joshua’s left as well. The table made it possible for the three of them to be sitting close as it was a half circle with padded seats. The two crowded into Joshua’s personal space but since he was used to it, he ignored them for the time being. Joshua drank his latte while Jeonghan ordered and Seungkwan walked away reluctantly trying to clear the other tables faster so he could spend more time at Joshua’s. Mingyu the lucky tall brat walked back with the glass of water with his toothy smile.

He laid it down in front of Jeonghan before turning to Joshua, “How’s the latte hyung? Is it good? The coffee staff finally let me learn how to make drinks. Did I do a good job?”

Jeonghan narrowed his eyes, thinking that Mingyu was a giant dog wanting to be praised. Joshua didn’t praise people often but he had a soft spot for fluffy things and this Mingyu acted like a giant fluffy one.

Joshua put down his drink and motioned for Mingyu to come closer. He leaned up and patted Mingyu on the head. “You did a good job. It’s tasty. Smooth and bitter, just how I like it.”

Jeonghan and Seungcheol wanted to pull him down but they tamped down on their jealous urges. At the end of the day Joshua went home with them as they lived in the same house. They couldn’t always act like children when others wanted his attention.

Mingyu smiled, lips so high it almost reached his ears. “I’m glad you like it hyung. Next time you come in I’ll be sure to do my best.”

“That’s good but I need you to move Mingyu,” Seungkwan said as he came in with a large tray containing their food.

Moving over Mingyu grabbed the utensils and laid one set in front of each of them as Seungkwan rattled off the orders and put it in front of each person.

“Thanks you two. You guys probably have break now so best get going. I’ll probably be calling you over later on anyhow,” he said with a tiny laugh.

Seungkwan and Mingyu simultaneously said, “It’s ok hyung.”

“I don’t mind being bothered— “Seungkwan said.

“I’m always at your service— “Mingyu replied with a smirk.

The two of them walked away though with heavy steps knowing the other two men on each side of Joshua were not going to welcome them to sit down as Joshua normally would have if he was alone to talk as he ate.

Joshua ignored his two friends for his food as he started to dig in. Jeonghan and Seungcheol looked at each other behind him and nodded, like a job well done for getting rid of those youngsters.

As they finished their meal and Jeonghan and Seungcheol argued over who would pay the bill, Joshua who went to the bathroom came back and told them to get up. “I have a book I need to pick up. I already paid the bill since you two were squabbling about it.” Moving towards the door he waved bye to Mingyu and Seungkwan, letting his friends trail after him.

Leading them down into the train station he quickly got on the train heading to his next few stops. As the two of them followed, he asked, “You know if you’re tired Jeonghan you could go home instead of following me around all day.” He turned to Seungcheol, “And if Jeonghannie goes home you won’t be alone so you could go too.”

“No!” They said.

“I’m not tired. I’m good. I wanted to hang out with you anyhow Joshua,” Jeonghan said nearly tripping over his words.

“It’ll be a hang out. With the three of us. I’m not lonely now,” Seungcheol said with that boyish smile of his.

Joshua looked at them and nodded. “If you’re sure. I don’t want to burden you guys by making you follow me all day, so if you get tired you can go on home later on.”

“We won’t,” Jeonghan said smile so wide his eyes disappeared, Seungcheol doing the same. But in reality it was because the two of them were pinching each other behind their backs.

The train announced their stop and Joshua got off with Jeonghan’s and Seungcheol’s arms around his shoulder. The two of them were still pinching each other subtly. Joshua made way to the bookstore. Once he stepped in he was greeted by a deep voice.

“Welcome.” As he looked up his eyes opened a tad, “Joshua welcome.” Wonwoo gave a small smile at the cat eyed boy, ignoring the two guys hanging off him. “Here for your book?”

Laughing Joshua nodded. “Of course. You called me to tell me it was here. I need to know what happens next Jeon Wonwoo.” He walked away from underneath Jeonghan’s and Seungcheol’s arms. “Get me my book,” he said eyes sparkling, words with a tone of threat even if he smiled about it, as he leaned into the counter that Wonwoo was behind. They admired the curve of Joshua’s back as he pushed into the counter with his hands and jutted out his unconsciously.

“All right all right. I’ll get your book.” He got up from his stool and Jeonghan and Seungcheol saw that he towered over them all by a good couple of centimeters. “Minghao is around the store. Ask him if you need help looking for anything special.”

Joshua smiled. Turning to his friends he said, “I’m going to look around. Go ahead and sit down or check out the store for yourself.” He walked off into the shelves of the books looking comfortable with the semi quiet atmosphere.

Jeonghan let out a sigh. “He looked really hot like that, leaning against the counter, his out.”

“I know.” The sad thing about their fighting is that if they ever did get along he was sure the two of them tag teaming Joshua would get him in their arms. But they just couldn’t.

“His is great. Always giving me dirty thoughts,” Jeonghan said sitting down on one of the sofa seats littered throughout the store.

“Makes you imagine how it’d be like to have yourself buried in there?” Seungcheol asked.

Jeonghan nodded. They sat in silence as Joshua wandered the store.

Joshua looked around taking in the books, occasionally pulling one out to check out if it was interesting enough. He did this until he picked three that he wanted to buy. He walked towards the front counter until he heard a voice call out to him.

“Joshua hyung,” Minghao called out in his cute accent. “Welcome back. Back for more books already.”

He laughed. “You know me. Always.” He moved and hugged him. “How’s school going?”

“Good. I met some new friends and joined a dance club. I got to show off my b boy skills.” Minghao smiled shyly.

“At the rate you’re going your Korean will be better than mine,” he said wrapping an arm around him going out to the front. “Are you having dance competitions? Can I come watch?”

They chattered until they reached the front where Wonwoo sat at the counter with Joshua’s book and Jeonghan and Seungcheol sat up as they saw him. If looks could kill though, theirs’ would. They looked at Joshua’s arm around the skinny twig man and how close they seemed. Minghao feeling the evil glares turned to them; he smirked as he picked up what they were staring at. He cuddled a little closer to Joshua.

Minghao knew that Joshua let him get close more often than not because Joshua felt like he was a little lost sheep when he first met him. Minghao’s Korean at that time had been slow and Joshua felt like he found a little stray animal. He babied Minghao a bit, as he knew what it was like to feel homesick and to struggle with the language. He milked it for all it was worth, feeling shivers run up his spine as Joshua petted his hair.

Joshua placed the books down on the counter, letting go of Minghao; his eyes sparkled immensely when they landed on the book he came in for. “Yes. It’s here. You’re a savoir Wonwoo.”

“I know, that’s why you keep coming back to my store. Let me ring it up and you can go home and read it,” he said smile wide on his face. Wonwoo let his crush on Joshua simmer quietly. He always watched him when he came in and talked just a little more when Joshua was around. Wonwoo knew it wouldn’t go anywhere but it warmed his heart nonetheless when Joshua would bring in little cakes and coffee to share amongst the three of them.

Joshua smiled at him, bringing out his wallet to pay. Minghao bagged up the books making sure to wrap it carefully for Joshua. As money exchanged hands and bags were given, Joshua said, “I’ll be back to talk about the book Wonwoo. You have to tell me about your future competitions HaoHao. I want to see you dance. Bye guys.”

Jeonghan and Seungcheol pushed him out of the bookstore gently, both of their hands on the small of his back. They really had enough of feeling jealous today but they knew Joshua wasn’t done with his day out and so they tamped it down as they watched the smile on Joshua’s face.