Look my way part 2

Summary: Jeonghan and Seungcheol feel the burn of jealousy some more, while the other guys come onto Joshua.

Seoksoo, JunShua, 2Ji, SoonSoo, Jisol everybody but baby Chan XD (Well baby Chan admires Joshua and some of the other ships don’t get as much screentime sorry)

A/N: This turned out to be a monster of a continuation and I’m just seriously done so if some parts are lacking it’s because I got tired of writing it. Sorry. But it’s double the length of the first part.Enjoy

“So where are we going next?” Jeonghan asked. He hoped Joshua said home so then the two of them could jab at each other at home and try to steal Joshua’s attention safely. Out here in the streets and the stores Joshua frequented he knew too many people. People who all seemed to have a thing for him as well. It grated on his nerves. Which meant it grated on Seungcheol’s nerves as well. It was a bit like a double edged sword, annoying Seungcheol made him happy but at the same time he also felt that annoyance.

Seungcheol would say he wasn’t annoyed. Neither was Jeonghan. They were jealous. Green with envy and full of lies as they told Joshua nothing but sweet things and made demands of him that they knew he would grant. They never told him why and they still haven’t. If one of them fessed up about loving him and they were declined well the other would be nothing but too happy to jump in and try his hand. But as it was the two of them were cowards, but not scared enough not to try and get as close as possible. Living together made it a lot easier.

“That one clothing store I took you to last time. Hit Wave. One of the workers called to tell me there’s a sale going on and that jacket I’ve been eyeing went on sale,” Joshua said eyes sparkling. He wasn’t much of a clothes horse but occasionally a piece would catch his eye and he had to have it. If it was on sale even better. He got carried away at sales depending on how nice the quality of the clothes was. Joshua owned more button ups than Jeonghan and Seungcheol combined yet he sometimes came home with a bag of five to six more of them, all because they were on sale.

The two of them shook their heads. “Sometimes I think you’re more into clothes than Jeonghan here,” Seungcheol said, giving Jeonghan a light shove.

Jeonghan glared and pushed back. “At least I have taste. Unlike you. All boring track suits and clothing that’s too hip hop for someone your age and in your job position.”

He glared back. Seungcheol was a physical education teacher and a part time coach. So excuse him if his normal work wear left something to be desired. He didn’t work at a fashion magazine like Joshua, who took his fashion cues from his fellow coworkers and what was trending. His hair being prime evidence for that. Their eyes bugged out when he came home with that pastel peach color on his head. It looked great but it was such a large change since he hadn’t bothered to dye it for the longest time.

Joshua smiled shyly and said some of his subordinates said that maybe it was time for him to change his hairstyle again. Asking the two of them if they liked it. Which they did. A lot. If anything it brought out his pretty looks even more, making them wary of others who would be captivated by him gaining them more competition. But thank god for his apparent obliviousness to others blatantly hitting on him.

Jeonghan was the true clothes horse among the three of them. He didn’t even have a job that made much use out of an extensive wardrobe, yet he had lots of clothes and accessories. Jeonghan, the two faced bastard, always used the excuse of going shopping to drag Joshua along with him, saying that he needed a second opinion that he could trust completely ignoring Joshua when he pointed out that there was Seungcheol as well. He would smirk and say that people who wore track suits pretty much 24/7 had no sense of style and you work at a fashion magazine Joshua, you know all the upcoming trends. Jeonghan used that time as a date, even if Joshua didn’t know it was one. The only thing that didn’t happen was a kiss good night and a nice tumble in bed. The demon held hands with Joshua a plenty when they were out. Seungcheol would always initiate contact too when they went out, but it paled in comparison to Jeonghan’s sneaky means in finding ways to touch Joshua and have him not bat an eyelash at it.

“Hey, I don’t have much choice. I teach physical education at a high school.”

Jeonghan snorted at him. Joshua shook his head. “It’s ok Cheol I understand. Be nicer Hannie.” He shoved Jeonghan’s shoulder lightly.

Jeonghan would’ve pouted if he thought Joshua would be as easily swayed as he was when they first met. But not anymore. He seemed to have developed an immunity not only to Jeonghan’s faces but the Seungcheol’s as well. No meant no in Joshua’s book and pushing him too far meant having doors slammed in their faces and the silent treatment for days. And the good old treating them like they were empty air. Another thing the two of them could agree on was that they hated not being paid attention too, even worse when it was Joshua who ignored them.

When they reached the store, Joshua’s eyes lit up. He walked through the doors, a smile on his face as he called out someone’s name, completely not paying attention to see if Seungcheol and Jeonghan followed him in. Joshua only ever got like this if he was super enamored with whatever he wanted or saw.

“Jun! That jacket?!” Joshua asked as he burst in seeing that head of blond hair on that handsome face.

Jun popped up from behind the counter as he dropped down to fix somethings. “Joshua,” he said with a greasy smile on his face, Jeonghan and Seungcheol thought. “I do have the jacket for you. I would’ve picked out some other items but I know how you like to do that yourself. Take a look around while I go in the back to get it for you.”

Joshua walked off to the racks browsing even if he didn’t really need anything. Occasionally he’d find something worth the price or something that would help inspire a new article in the magazine. This time though he found the cutest hat for Jeonghan. Well not so much cute so much as it seemed to fit his aesthetic. And a jacket that had a military look to it that would bring out Seungcheol’s shoulders. He grabbed them walking over to Jeonghan plopping the hat on his hand and then over to Cheol putting the jacket against his chest to take a better look.

“Here Cheol. I think you’d look nice in this. Joshua looked at him smiling as he saw the shy boy next door smile that Seungcheol was so good at giving.

“You think?” He asked, cheeks pinking a bit. Having Joshua pick out clothes for him was domestic. It felt great. But it also led him down the thorny path of imagination. Where his fantasies of Joshua cooking for him in an apron and only an apron popped up. Followed by sweet kisses and hot . Yea not a good idea to pop a in a store.

“Yea. It’d work nice with your shoulders and your legion of t-shirts. Something to dress them up a bit,” Joshua said tilting his head gauging if it would fit. He nodded. “Try it on.”

Jeonghan popped up from behind, hat situated on his head. “Do I look good Shua?” They always had to compete with each other. Always. Jeonghan wouldn’t let Seungcheol get the upper hand. Not when he knew Joshua the longest. He latched onto the Korean American and he hadn’t let go ever since. He probably wouldn’t even if he got taken; Jeonghan just had to make sure he stole Joshua back.

He turned around. “Oh.” Joshua gave Jeonghan a wide grin. “It suits you,” playing with the angle of the hat, “I like it.” Jeonghan melted at the sight of such open affection in Joshua’s eyes. If only that affection extended further than friendship.

Joshua let out a little laugh as he bent the hat to cover Jeonghan’s eyes. “You should get it.”

Jeonghan pushed up the brim to look at Joshua. “Only if you get something that I pick out.”

He pursed his lips, “Why? I have lots of things. Why should I pay for something I might not like? And I can pick out my own clothes.”

“Nah. I’m paying for it and because. Humor me Shua.” Well it was more like it would give Jeonghan a deep sort of cavemen pleasure in knowing that when Joshua wore the item he bought, Jeonghan paid for it and it was like a piece of him on the other man.

Joshua gave him an ugly look before sighing and nodded. Jeonghan did a tiny fist pump and grabbed Joshua to pull him to a rack of tight fitting shirts that he saw to the side. But they were stopped by Seungcheol who came to show Joshua the how the jacket fit. It fit rather nicely, clinging in the right places, showing off his muscles from all the physical activity he did at school.

Joshua came up to him lightly hitting him on the shoulders. “Seungcheol,” he said a mischievous smile on his face, “If you wore this to school you’d have a lot of women staring at you. Maybe even some of your male students as well.”

Jeonghan glared at him for taking Joshua’s attention; Seungcheol smirked flexing his biceps for Joshua and to piss Jeonghan off.

“Joshua, let’s pick something out.” Jeonghan called, trying to get Joshua’s attention back to him.

He turned around from admiring Seungcheol. “Oh ok.” He turned back to Cheol, “Get the jacket. You look amazing.” Joshua let Jeonghan drag him over to the close fitting shirts.

He vetoed a good number of them before settling on trying a form fitting sweater and one short sleeved shirt. As he looked through a rack of slacks, Seokmin walked up to him from the side.

“Hyung! You’re back. Here for anything in particular?” Seokmin, another worker in the store that Joshua was acquainted, came from behind a stack of shoe boxes. He placed them near the empty shelf before walking up to Joshua. Cheerful and loud DK was grating at times, but made for good customer service since most people couldn’t be mean to such a sunny person.

“Here to buy that jacket I saw a while back. Jun’s getting it for me in the back. Otherwise I’m just browsing to see if anything catches my eye,” he said smiling back at Seokmin.

“I saw these nice pair of pants that would work with that jacket hyung.” Seokmin said smile so wide it was a bit blinding to those who weren’t used to it.

As Joshua was going to speak, Jun came back with his jacket. Well it was going to be his, after he paid for it. “Here it is,” Jun said with a flirty smile that Joshua didn’t pay attention too but his friends did. They glared at Jun; Joshua’s eyes were set on that lovely fall coat he’d been wanting since he first saw it.

He grabbed the hanger from Jun as he walked to the fitting rooms Seungcheol pressed a few pairs of pants into his hands.

“Here I found something for you.”

Joshua raised his eyebrows. “Are they tight?” He looked from Cheol to Jeonghan, “You two like tight fitting clothes. Remember that I don’t.”

“No, no. They’ll fit I promise.”

Joshua gave him a look that screamed I don’t trust you. But he took them anyhow and went into the room.

Jeonghan and Seungcheol parked their asses on the couch in front of the giant mirror just outside the fitting room. DK asked if they were going to purchase the hat and coat which they were so he took them to the counter for later, like a good employee unlike Jun who stood nearby to help should Joshua need anything.

Jun knocked on the door, “Do you need any different sizes? Or help putting things on?”

The two roommates glared at Jun and his forwardness. He needed to tone it down.

“No, I’m fine.”

All they could hear was rustling of clothes and zippers. Joshua walked out ignoring their stares and he stood on the pedestal checking himself out from all angles. He made sure to see how the jacket fit and draped itself on his body.

Seungcheol and Jeonghan were practically drooling. They took in the sight of Joshua in tight jeans that hugged his in the best way and the shirt that clung to his trim body. Every twist and turn was like watching a o before things got sweaty and hot.

Jun also took this opportunity to drink in the sight of Joshua. Granted he came every few months to check out the new clothes so it wasn’t a new sight for him but it was a good nonetheless each and every time. He got close, “So the jacket fits the shoulders?” He thanked his lucky stars that he almost always helped Joshua out with clothes. It gave him more chances for touching, light as they were. It was better than nothing.

Shrugging them and moving them slightly Joshua answered. “Yeah they do. It fits great actually. And surprisingly enough works well with the clothes you two picked out,” he said looking at Seungcheol and Jeonghan from the mirror.

They smirked. While Joshua didn’t gravitate towards skin tight fitting clothes like they tended too, he appreciated good fitting clothes. The sweater was a lovely shade of blue that completed the jacket and his new hair color; he had to admit the jeans made his look great.

“Ah there’s some lint. Here let me brush it off,” Jun offered. He got on the pedestal before Joshua could protest and did a few brushing motions on his shoulders and his chest. “There all good now,” he said with a smile on his face. His flirtatious smile, because Joshua was one of his best customers and he’d be lying if he wasn’t a little in love the other guy. Joshua always smiled at him and asked how was his day even asking on how his studies were going. He made it too easy to fall for him and for that Jun hated him a bit but Joshua was just too cute to hate for long.

“Thanks Jun,” Joshua replied. He got off and walked back to the fitting room.

“Are you getting the outfit?” Jeonghan asked, ignoring Seungcheol’s elbow in his stomach.

“Yes!” Joshua shouted.

Seokmin piped up. “Perhaps you need some new shoes to go with the outfit Joshua hyung.”

“Hmm,” Joshua let out. “Maybe. I do need to replace my pair of favorite loafers. Is there anything good in the store Seokmin?”

 “Let me look!” Seokmin briskly walked over to the shoes aisle and grabbed five boxes that he thought Joshua would like. Joshua shopped here frequently enough that he noticed his purchases. Not to mention Seokmin was creeping about a few times to make sure he knew what Joshua liked and didn’t like so when the man came into the store he’d bring more of his dislikes to spend a bit of time with him. Sneaky but he had little choice, since he often competed with Jun for Joshua’s time. And Jun the lucky bastard got to help him in the fitting room more often, which gave him ample opportunity to touch Joshua.

As he exited the fitting room he saw how Seungcheol and Jeonghan patted on the spot in the middle of them for him. He smiled faintly at them and walked over to join them.

Jeonghan took his soon to be new outfit from him as Seokmin wandered back with the shoes. He laid them on the floor and crouched on one knew taking them out for Joshua. He never sat idly and let others do everything for him grabbed one box and opened it to take a look. Making a noncommittal noise Joshua unlaced his oxfords and put the loafers one, tilting his head to the side. He felt Seungcheol shake his head. The two of them crowded into Joshua’s personal space as a way to ward off the affections of Jun and the odd crush that Seokmin seemed to have on him.

Joshua toed them off and Seokmin grabbed them to put them back, allowing his hands to graze Joshua’s. He picked up the next pair ignoring the death glares his friends gave the poor guy. He did the same thing, put them on, tilt head, toe them off, for the next three pairs until his eyes landed on the last pair. “Oh.” They were sleek and black, Italian leather and a y teacher vibe to them with a minor criss cross pattern on the sides.

He put them on admiring how they looked. Standing up he walked around to feel the cushion and if it was going to be one of those heel hitting shoes, which thankfully they weren’t. He nodded. “I’ll take these. Thanks Seokmin. Doing a good job as normal.” Giving the younger man a smile that made him feel butterflies in his stomach.

Seungcheol took the box and gestured for Joshua to give him the shoes. He took them off and handed them over as he laced up his oxfords, Seungcheol put the new ones back in the box. Standing up, Jeonghan and Seungcheol once again led him to the cash register with their hands on his back. They were getting really tired of seeing all the competition in every single one of the places Joshua seemed to like to frequent. How did he attract so many people?

They laid down Joshua’s picks, smirking at the fact that he actually chose the things they picked out for him. Joshua whipped out his credit card handing it to Jun. Polite as ever, Jun was really just trying to flirt with Joshua, took it in the palm of his hand and swiped it, handing it back to Joshua in the same manner. He used this tactic to feel Joshua’s skin just a bit more as his fingers glided on his palm picking up his card and placing it back into his wallet.

 Seokmin bagged his purchases, making sure to wrap them extra nice. Since it was for Joshua. As Jun rang up Seungcheol and Jeonghan, Joshua wandered over to the accessories area and looked around at the jewelry. He his empty ear holes, eyeing the longer earrings. Reaching out to grab a pair, Jeonghan’s hand wrapped itself around his.

“Don’t.”

Joshua pulled a face. “Why not?”

“They don’t look right on you.” Joshua pouted and his eyes took on that kicked kitten look. Jeonghan scrambled to clarify, “It’s not you, it’s the earrings. The style is all wrong. We could find something more suitable if you wanted long ones somewhere else. Ok?” He brought up his free hand to massage Joshua’s ear lobe, “Not to mention if you got heavy ones then your holes would widen too much. They’re cute as they are.” Jeonghan gave an affectionate smile as Joshua turned his head into his hand. He didn’t like cuddling often so when Joshua wanted physical affection they gave it, smushing him into their bodies, taking advantage of his needy state, rare as it was.

“What’s up?” Seungcheol said with his bag in hand. He wanted to snatch Jeonghan’s hand off Joshua but that would start an ugly fight out in public. As if having Jun and Seokmin look at them like they wanted to fight wasn’t bad enough. But he could tell that they were envious.

“He wanted to look at some longer earrings. I said we’d find some other styles that would suit him better. These won’t go well.” He said with a tilt of his head, rubbing his thumb into Joshua’s cheek at this point as Joshua moved his face into Jeonghan’s hand and away from his ear.

Seungcheol took a look at the array of earrings. Nodding in agreement, in his head he couldn’t believe that he was agreeing with Jeonghan, he said, “Yeah, these ones definitely don’t fit your style. We’ll find something better.”

Joshua moved away from Jeonghan, who pouted at the loss of contact. “All right.” He waved to Jun and Seokmin, “Bye guys. I’ll be back eventually for a look.”

The two of them waved goodbye. Joshua would be back, without the terrible duo hopefully.

They followed Joshua as he walked out and up the street. They look at each other worried that he was sad over their rejection of the earrings, so they kept mum. If they tried to pry things out of Joshua while he was feeling sad or angry it ended disastrously. So they followed quietly, as if they were walking on eggshells.

 They stayed silent the entire short walk to a hipster feeling restaurant, where they were greeted and shown to a table. The waiter that came with menus broke the tense air around them.

“Hey Josh. Haven’t seen you in a while.” The boy said in English. He looked younger than them, and not completely Korean but they never kept track of Joshua’s friends as he never allowed them to meet them.

 Joshua and the waiter seemed to know each other well. As Joshua responded back with enthusiasm. “Hey Vernon! I’ve been busy with the magazine. And my new hair,” he said laughingly, picking up a few strands to show off the pink color.

“It’s cool,” Vernon replied back, blushing because the color was really flattering and before Joshua looked amazing, but now he was even more mesmerizing. If his crush was bad before now it got even worse. Joshua was cool, someone he could practice his English on, and just super attentive. The older man would ask about his university and how was his life and even his sister and family when he came into the restaurant. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t a little bit in love with him.

Both Jeonghan and Seungcheol frowned, yet another boy who thought he could get Joshua, or more like he had a crush on Joshua. When would it end?

“I’ll grab some?”

“Rum and coke,” Joshua said. They dropped their jaws as Vernon wrote it down.

“And for you two what do you want to drink?” He asked out of courtesy and because it was his job. Otherwise Vernon would’ve focused all of his attention on Joshua. Since Joshua had been busy with work, he took his dinner in the office lately forgoing coming to the restaurant, which cut down on Vernon’s time to see him severely.

“They’ll have water.” He smiled placidly. “I can’t have them drinking too.”

Jeonghan and Seungcheol looked at Joshua in horror. He rarely drank.

“Are you sure ab— “they said together, getting cut off by him.

“I’m sure.” He looked at them with a sweet smile on his face, a sweet smile that spelled their doom if they pushed him. Joshua looked like an angel with evil soft glittery eyes.

Vernon nodded silently. What Joshua wanted he’d get. He walked away with their orders, glancing back at Joshua’s profile before he rounded the corner.

The two nodded slowly wanting to inch closer yet further away at the same time. Instead they sat still in their seats behind their menus whispering to each other while Joshua perused his menu.

“Why is he drinking?” Jeonghan hissed. “Is he pissed at us for earlier?”

“I don’t know. You’re the one who said no.” Seungcheol whispered back.

Jabbing him in the gut Jeonghan said quietly, “You agreed with me you .”

Seungcheol let out a small grunt and jabbed Jeonghan back on the leg. “Yea well they don’t really go well so of course I agreed. Which I can’t believe I did. Maybe I should’ve said yes so he wouldn’t be angry at me.”

“Well too late Cheol. You and I are in this together.” Sneaking a look at Joshua who took out his phone to play with, “And he didn’t seem angry over it. He even cuddled my hand in public. Didn’t you see him rubbing into it?”

“Yea,” he gritted out. He was still pissed over that. But it was every man for himself and Jeonghan happened to get lucky.

Vernon came back with his little notepad in his apron and the tray of drinks. “Are you guys ready?” He watched the bartender make Joshua’s drink, remembering how Joshua said that he liked his ice cubes on the larger side. Vernon made sure to tell the Minhyun hyung that, prompting the man to laugh at him and his little crush. Joshua told him that he wasn’t a big fan of alcohol but occasionally it was ok for stress, just in moderation. Joshua liked to lecture Vernon on that too, like an older brother looking out for a younger one. But Vernon hoped it was something different than that.

“Yup,” Joshua said as Vernon placed his Rum and Coke in front of him. Ignoring his friends, he took a sizable gulp.

They let out noises of protest, which Joshua turned his head to smile again, slowly bringing the glass down. The two of them would’ve moaned at the sight, he looked like a dangerous, elegant man: legs crossed, one hand on the glass, smile on his pretty face, eyes sparkling. But they were too afraid that anything would set Joshua off further so they swallowed their words and noises.

Vernon too let his eyes linger on Joshua. It would give him new fodder for his ahem night time activities.

Jeonghan and Seungcheol just watched dumbly as the ice moved in the glass as he put it down on the table and talked to Vernon on his order. He looked at the two of them gesturing at the menu, to which they mumbled their orders as well.

Joshua sat back in his chair, taking minor sips of his drink every few minutes, ignoring them after Vernon left for his phone and answering emails. He made sure to keep a straight face on.

In all honesty he wasn’t angry or sad. But they always liked to make decisions for him as if they were him. Joshua got really tired of it. Half of the time it was all right since he was going to do the same thing, but other times. Other times they acted like his mother, or like they were his boyfriends and that he should listen to them. The drink was minor payback. For some reason Seungcheol and Jeonghan got antsy whenever he ordered alcohol. Granted Joshua rarely drank, but he could hold his alcohol. They weren’t there all those times he went to drinking parties with his subordinates and the parties he had to attend as the editor. Looking at them whisper to each other from underneath his lashes, he put on a minor show drinking the rest of the contents, swallowing head tilted back a tad.

He let a smile grace his mouth once again, laughing internally at their horrified faces. He wasn’t a child that needed to be babied. Nor was he theirs to command or take care of. If he ever was going to be theirs, well they’d have another thing coming to them if they thought they could control his every move. Joshua liked his independence and now he was going to show them just how much he did.

Vernon came back with the food and noticed that Joshua’s glass was empty. Laying down each plate he asked, “Did you want to order another one hyung?”

Joshua hummed. Sneaking a glance at the two overprotective friends of his, he noticed how the corners of their eyes tightened and how their lips thinned. Smirking a tad, he said, “Yea, one more only. I have one more store to swing by and I want the alcohol to metabolize by then. Let me think what should I get.” He looked over to them, “What do you guys think?”

Joshua liked watching them squirm on occasion when they pushed him too far. Seungcheol said nothing, but Jeonghan, Jeonghan thought if he suggested something low in alcohol it would keep Joshua in check. So he blurted out, “ on the beach.”

Joshua smiled, turned to Vernon and said, “Whiskey on the rocks.” From behind him he could tell that Jeonghan and Seungcheol’s jaw dropped. He smiled as Vernon nodded and went straight away to get his order filled. Digging his fork into his meal, he picked up some potatoes about to bring it into his mouth. He stopped looking back at his friends, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you guys hungry? Better eat before the food gets cold.”

Jeonghan picked up his jaw first, “You…you asked for suggestions and you didn’t even take it. Shua why?”

“Oh. Well I only asked for suggestions. I never said I would use it.” Tilting his head, he grinned, “Now did I?”

“No. No you didn’t.” Seungcheol replied quietly. The two of them picked up their forks as Joshua smiled and ate his dinner.

Vernon had come by with his last drink and Joshua took pleasure watching Jeonghan and Seungcheol flinch as he drank the thing. They acted as if Joshua couldn’t hold his drink and he’d start being wild. He’d scoff at them but he wanted to keep playing them some more.

Getting up out of his chair he said, “I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be back and then we can go after we paid the bill.” He waved them off before they could suggest that one of them go to the bathroom with him. They treated him like he was glass half the time it was so weird.

Joshua did his business, walking out of the bathroom he saw Chan on his break sitting on one of the unoccupied tables near the kitchen.

“Hey Chan. How’s your first year going?” He asked with a smile.

“Joshua hyung! I didn’t know you were here,” Chan replied mouth in a grin. He knew Vernon hid something for him when Chan asked why he waited at the bar for a customer’s drink. Normally Vernon would hand it the order and then come back for it after making rounds. He normally ever stayed for very few people. Oh, the hair color. It looked nice on hyung.            

He smiled down at Chan. “Vernon didn’t tell you?”

“Nah, he was probably too busy making his rounds.” Chan said, even though he knew Vernon kept it a secret because he didn’t want Chan to make his way over to say hi. Now while Chan didn’t have full blown crush on Joshua hyung, he did have this admiration for him. It was hard not to.

“Oh. Well now you know.” Joshua ruffled his hair a bit. “Everything going well?”

“Yea. It’s going pretty good. Classes are sort of easy. I’m managing to juggle both school and this job. I’m doing good.”

“That’s good. I—“

“Hyung. You’re over here now?” Vernon interrupted. He didn’t need competition from one of his closest friends. Chan’s admiration better not turn into a crush.

“I went to bathroom.” He eyed the bill in Vernon’s hand. “Is that the check?”

“Yea. I was going to bring it over since your friends asked for it.”

Joshua eyed it and gave a tiny evil smile. “They’ll fight to see who’ll pay for the check. Stand there for a bit and then suggest that they lay down four cards. Two from the each of them and you’ll pick at random. Leave and then go back to them after a few minutes. It’ll take them a bit to sort it out.”

“Sure Josh.” Vernon said, walking off to do just that.

“Hyung why did you—“

“Ask Vernon to do that?” Joshua said. “They always fight over the check and most of the time I pay so they don’t fight. I’m tired of it so I wanted to have some fun. That’s all.”

Chan saw the prettiest smile on Joshua’s face, but it also had a hint of edge to it that scared him a tad. Joshua hyung looked even more beautiful with that new hair color and he radiated charm, but sometimes…sometimes he flashed a smile that spoke of death, harm, and bad things if a person didn’t listen to him. Now was one of those times. There was more than just kindness and a soft personality behind that pretty face.

Vernon dropped off the check and as soon as that thing was put on the table, the two of them grabbed it with such ferocity that Vernon stepped back. He could see what Joshua was talking about. “I’ll leave you two with the bill. I’ll be back.” As soon as he said that though the two of them shouted.

“I’ll take care of it!” They glared at each other, trying to wrestle the bill book out of the other’s hand.

Clearing his throat, he suggested as Joshua told him to, “Why don’t you two lay down 2 credit cards each and arrange them randomly and I’ll just pick one. That way you won’t have to fight over who pays.”

Jeonghan and Seungcheol glared. “All right.”

“I’ll be just around the corner. I won’t peek so just like lay them down and I’ll grab one.” Vernon walked away, shaking his head. He had no idea how Joshua lived with them. He waited three minutes before he walked back. There on the table lay four cards faced down. Vernon went up and grabbed the one nearest edge.

Seungcheol smirked at Jeonghan who gritted his teeth. Vernon took the card and walked away back to one of the registers. He purposely walked back to the one nearest Chan and Joshua who were still talking.

Joshua looked up and smiled at the card sticking up in the bill. “Who’s card did you grab?”

“Seungcheol’s,” he replied looking at the card name. “He smirked at the long haired dude.”

“Ah that’s Jeonghan,” Joshua let out a sigh. “They’re either fighting half the time or smirking the other half. With dashes of dirty smiles and aegyo.” He shuddered. “I hate aegyo.” Joshua stood up. “Well since you have the check I guess it’s time for me to get back them. Bye guys. I’ll be back eventually.”

The closer Joshua got to the table the more he could see the quiet tension between his closest friends. He ignored it the first few years of their friendship, the small fights and verbal jabs at each other. But as time went on he couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room any longer. Joshua knew why they were like this, but he couldn’t pick one of them. He didn’t want to be the reason to tear their friendship apart; he knew that if he chose one over the other they’d leave the house and the hole their presence left would never be filled. Because even if Jeonghan and Seungcheol fought at the end of the day they were closer than they’d like to admit. And Joshua didn’t want to be the one to change the game.

“Did the check already come?” He asked, putting on his oblivious act.

“Yup.” Seungcheol said with that puppy dog smile on his face. Joshua grinned back.

And right on cue Vernon came back with the bill book laying it on the table. “Thank you for coming. I hope you enjoyed the food and the service, please do come again.” As he walked away he winked at Joshua who sent him a grin.

“Well looks like we can leave now. One more store until I’m calling my day done.”

Jeonghan grabbed Joshua’s coat and stood up to put in on him, before turning back to grab the bags. Joshua shrugged into his jacket, watching as the two of them divided his bags amongst them. What would he do without one of them? He didn’t want to complicate things.

Walking into the music store Joshua felt at peace. It was quiet and full of records, cds, musical instruments and the like. He loved it here. Not to mention some of his favorite people worked here, besides everyone else he befriended at the stores and restaurants he frequented. And not excluding his best friends who liked him more than just a friend.

He greeted a guy with silver hair with a hand smack and chest bump. “Soonyoung, where’s Jihoonie? I heard there were new records in and he said he’d show me.”

Soonyoung laughed. “Man better not let Jihoon hear you call him that. He nearly beheaded me with a guitar the other day for that.”

Joshua pouted. “He lets me call him that a lot though.” Jihoon let Joshua do a lot even if he mumbled about it on occasion. Joshua wondered if it was because Jihoon had a crush on him or he thought Joshua was too much like a sheep to hurt. Either way he used it to his advantage. Sometimes it was nice to just come here and play with Soonyoung and cuddle with Jihoon.

“Who beheaded someone yesterday?” A serious voice rang out through the store. Jihoon in his 164 cm glory walked out with a few records in his hands glaring.

“Nothing. Nothing at all Jihoon,” Soonyoung said nervously. Waving his hands towards Joshua, “Look who came in, one of your favorite hyungs.” Favorite because him and Jihoon fought sometimes about who would help Joshua when he came in. As Jihoon’s hyung Soonyoung knew he should step aside for Jihoon but there was something about Joshua that he didn’t want to let go off.

“Hey Jihoonie,” smiling he continued, “You mentioned records that might interest me.”

Jihoon’s ears took on a slight pink color. Being called something cute by the guy you sort of had a minor crush on did things to one’s insides. Jihoon wanted to crush the butterflies but that never worked so he just went along with Joshua’s actions and basked in the attention even if sometimes it was because he was cute. He gave Joshua props though, most of the time Joshua never called him cute or made jokes about his height and general youthful look. Joshua knew Jihoon’s hang ups about it and he respected Jihoon’s issues enough to not push.

“Yea. Some newer ones came in. They’re your style hyung.” Jihoon smirked. Joshua if he had to pinpoint his music taste was hipster. He liked anything and everything as long as it appealed to him. Even if some of them were on the obscure odd sounding end of the spectrum.

Joshua followed Jihoon to the crates of records. Sifting through them he spied an old Beatles one. “You got one? How?” He looked at Jihoon eyes wide. He had a few back in LA but here in Korea he had trouble getting his hands on records that came from other English speaking countries besides his own.

“A foreigner came in wanting to sell them. We tested them out and gave him a price and we got some new blood in our records stash.” Jihoon smirked. It was a good sale for both parties.

Joshua looked at in reverence. “Can we play it?” He asked, eyes filled with hope, like Puss from the Shrek movie, eyes wide and pleading.

“Yea. Soonyoung put it on.” Jihoon walked over and handed it to him, watching Soonyoung carefully stick it in the modern record player the owner bought for the store.

As it spun, the sounds of guitar playing and British English spread through the store. Soonyoung grabbed Joshua by the hand and spun him around once. Time to show Joshua what he was best at, dancing. He let out a laugh and started dancing with Soonyoung, moving to add Jihoon to their circle of fun as well.

Off to the side Jeonghan and Seungcheol watched as Joshua shimmied with the two store workers laughing and throwing back his head. It was nice to see him having fun after the debacle of silence and cold eyes from him after the clothing store. Joshua walked over and grabbed them, dancing with them as well in his dorky way. Jeonghan and Seungcheol smiled at the sparkles in his eyes and the contagious laughter that he let out. God he was perfect.

The song ended with Soonyoung and Joshua doing some sort of crazy dance move laughing like hyenas. Soonyoung sometimes wished Joshua took him seriously as a candidate for his heart and less like a younger brother who wanted to have fun. But this was the best he could do for now.

Jihoon too had similar issues with Joshua. He wondered if Joshua only saw him as a cute animal who needed protection. But other times he knew that Joshua saw him a man as well not just as a cute dongsaeng. The issue both of them had was how to get Joshua to see them as potential lovers not as friends and younger brothers. But given the way Joshua’s friends looked at them, side eyeing them as Soonyoung babbled on about his dance group and the newest additions, and every time Jihoon got close to Joshua to use his cuteness to cuddle, they’d have to fight for it.

“Oh?! You know Minghao too! I just saw him at the bookstore and he mentioned being in a dance group. It’s yours? I’ve got to see you guys perform then. You have to text me when the next one is happening. I know you guys have moves you never show me.”

Soonyoung blushed a bit. “Of course Joshua. You’re always invited if you have the time. We’d love to see you at our performances.”

Joshua clapped him on the back. “You bet I’ll be there. With signs and everything.”

“Ah hyung, there are few more records I’d like to show you,” Jihoon said butting in. He’d apologize to Soonyoung later when Joshua left, but right now it was every man for himself.

“Of course. What else have you got for me?” Joshua said as Jihoon led him further into the store leaving behind Jeonghan and Seungcheol to browse the CDs and reminisce about the groups and singers.

Jihoon showed him some more records from the foreigner’s collection: Queen, The Beach Boys, some newer modern bands and singers who put out works on records. Joshua laughed and hmmed at Jihoon’s suggestions, occasionally ribbing him for his own taste. Picking out a few more Joshua nodded and motioned to the front register. “It’s getting late and I think you guys want to close up soon. So let’s get me checked out yea?”

As they rang Joshua up, Soonyoung and Jihoon put in their last efforts of flirting because who knew when Joshua would be back in their store looking for something when they were working. They watched as Joshua left with his two friends and sighed as the door closed.

The three of them took off their shoes sighing in either exhaustion, for Jeonghan and Seungcheol, or happiness like Joshua. He collected his bags saying, “Thanks guys. You didn’t have to follow me around all day. I hope you had fun.” He felt a tad guilty for making them go out all day and most of the night with him.

“No, no.” They protested. In reality while they were tired, the amount of time they spent with Joshua made up for it. Even if they had to deal with jealously and way too much competition the entire time.

“It was fun Shua. I even got a new hat out of it.” Jeonghan said.

“I invited myself along too. So it’s not your fault,” Seungcheol threw in.

Joshua gave them a small smile. “If you two say so. I’m going to call it a night. I’ll be reading my new book if you need anything from me. Night you two.”

They watched as Joshua practically sashayed down the hallway, the swivel of his hips catching their eyes. As they watched him go up the stairs and heard the door of his room snick close they turned to each other.

“What the hell are we going to do? Did you see all those guys who were going after him?” Seungcheol said in a panic.

“No Sherlock. I was out with you all day too. Either we nip them all in the bud or we…” Jeonghan said trailing off, biting his lip. God what was he even thinking.

“We what?” Seungcheol said looking at Jeonghan. “We what Jeonghan?!” He hissed.

“We confess you idioit!” Jeonghan hissed back.

“No,” Seungcheol whispered. What would happen to their friendship if Joshua chose one over the other. Well it didn’t matter to them, but they knew it would matter to Joshua. He’d hate to lose either of them. But there was also the possibility that he chose neither of them. Where would that leave them then? Would he be disgusted? Would he want to move out? So many possibilities.

“Well what else are we going to do. We can’t keep driving people away from forever. Either we man up and confess or we possibly lose him.” Jeonghan gritted his teeth. “As much as I hate saying this but I’d rather him be with you than any of the other guys we saw today.”

“Agreed.” The two of them knew each other well. They had full confidence that either one of them would be a good boyfriend, maybe future husband. Of course each of them thought they’d be the best. But if Joshua had to settle than the other was fine.

“Together or separately?” Seungcheol asked.

Jeonghan shook his head. “Both. We confess separately and give him the option of both of us.”

Seungcheol sighed and nodded in agreement. They had no choice. Not unless they wanted to lose him forever. All the competition from the day showed them that he had more admirers than they thought. But they were always too wrapped up in him to look at their supposed competition. Now they saw it all too clear.

The two of them took deep breaths and walked up the stairs. Looking at each other they nodded and knocked on Joshua’s door together.

“Yea? Did you guys need something?”

“Could we talk?”

Joshua hummed. “Of course. Come on in.”

i ended it this way for a reason. don't kill me over it. i'll get to it eventually i hope. No seriously this is the end. There's no more to this. Unless I decide to go with my idea from the first part.