“He’s having business meetings here now?” Jaehyun questioned baffled at the scene unfolding before him as he and Taeyong spied on Johnny from their positions behind the counter. The young man that came in to meet Johnny looked familiar, but Taeyong couldn’t figure out where he had seen him before.

The two men exchanged greetings, the other man slightly brooding as he studied Johnny.

“Seo sajangnim, before we continue any further I need to discuss another matter with you. The company is co-owned, by myself and two partners. One of which is Korean, but you are aware that I am Japanese, right? If the name didn't already give it away,” the tone he used was almost challenging, piquing the café owners’ interests. Johnny shrugged.

“Why would that be a problem, Yuta shi? My father and I own many international businesses and work with many foreign companies, nationality does not hinder our work,” he answered calmly impressing his two friends, professional Johnny was always a remarkable sight. Yuta shrugged dismissively but Johnny saw the flicker of anger in his eyes.

“Just making sure that you’re not a racist ,”

Johnny reeled back at the unexpected profanity, thankfully more amused than scandalized. His assistant had warned him that Yuta would be the harder one to impress amongst Doyoung’s partners, something that was making itself clear currently.

“Do you speak to all potential investors like this? He asked, Yuta smiled wryly,

“I've had an unpleasant meeting with a previous investor this week, I apologise it’s wrong to assume everyone else would be the same,” he explained, composure once again calm, Johnny nodded in return. He knew, he had heard the conversation between Yuta and Doyoung after all. He smiled and now he was using it to his advantage.

He pulled out the contract he made one of his manager draw up, offering it to Yuta. The man was quiet as he studied the contract brows furrowing as time passed, he finally looked up at Johnny as he reached the final page.

“This is too favourable to us,” he commented tone understandably suspicious, it made Johnny grin.

“I'm a good friend of one of your partners,” he admitted, Yuta’s frown deepened at the information. Johnny could tell he was trying to work out who he was.

“Johnny Seo… Seo-” a look of recognition flashed through his face, “Youngho? You’re Doyoung’s Youngho?!”

Johnny’s expression soured slightly, trust Doyoung to use his old fashioned name when talking to others. The bitterness subsided though as he realized Yuta knew him which meant Doyoung must have spoken about him despite being apart. Yuta placed the contract down,

“Does Doyoung know about this?” he asked, the corners of Johnny’s lips twitched as he fought the urge to grin.

“I have told him of my intentions,” he replied airily, it was Yuta’s turn to smirk now.

“Did he agree?” he asked already knowing the answer, Johnny snorted,

“I can tell you’ve known Doyoung for quite a bit now,” he said, “we both know he would have never agreed. That’s why you’re here.”

Yuta nodded flipping the contract open again,

“This really is too much though-“

Johnny shrugged.

“I believe in Doyoung, he won’t disappoint me. Plus I'm an avid fan of games, if the contract really makes you uncomfortable just throw in a couple of freebies and use me for your trials,” he said, “I was looking into expanding my area of investments anyway.”

Yuta thought it over, slowly assessing Johnny as he did. Johnny would have been lying if he said he didn't feel intimidated by the unwavering gaze that was currently pinned on him. Was this really the man that called Doyoung in a panic a few days ago? The man before him seemed very composed and level headed, it puzzled him. Yuta finally spoke,

“Listen, I would gladly accept this investment and I have no doubt that I can persuade Doyoung to get on board as well,” his confidence bothered Johnny slightly, and he wasn't the only one, “but are you actually interested or is this merely an investment made because of friendship? We don't need half assed, pity investors.”

Johnny reached into his bag calmly pulling out a thicker file, he had prepared for this.

“I've done my research, I'm interested.”

Yuta flipped through the file, skimming though its contents quickly. His brows rose in interest and he paused seemingly impressed, but Johnny couldn't be too sure with Yuta. He picked up the contract tucking it into his bag alongside the file he had just received,

“Doyoung will get in touch with you,” he said simply, cutting their meeting short, they was no need for drawn out formalities now that he was aware that Johnny knew Doyoung, “he'll probably be angry but I guarantee it'll be a confirmation.”

He held out a hand,

“That confident?” Johnny asked as he took it, Yuta smirked as they shook hands,

“Doyoung doesn’t say no to me,” his smirk only grew at Johnny’s frown, just who was this guy? He studied the man, Doyoung had made an interesting friend while he was away. The two said their goodbyes, Johnny waited for Yuta to leave before picking up his phone,

“Seunghun ah, gather some information for me,” he said pausing for a moment, “Nakamoto Yuta and Dong Sicheng, yes as soon as possible.”

He ended the call, looking up to see twin frowns of disapproval on Jaehyun and Taeyong’s faces. Johnny didn't even look guilty,

“Aren't you curious?”

-

Taeyong wasn’t sure on how he got roped into throwing a reunion in the café, especially as Johnny asked for it to happen after working hours. He glared at Jaehyun who had agreed easily to the idea, who in their right mind had a reunion at 12 AM? His friends were just as crazy to agree to attend. Taeil nudged him,

“Lighten up,” he said, “it’s hard for all of us to meet during the day.”

As usual he knew what Taeyong was grumbling about, he couldn't even argue back because Taeil was right. All of them had jobs and the youngest in their group of friends were in their final year of college, they could never find a time where all of them could come to meet.

“As long as Johnny pays, I don’t care,” he said loudly earning a drawn out boo from said person,

“You’re so stingy,” Johnny commented, dramatically clinging onto a grinning Mark. Taeil grabbed Taeyong’s hand before he could even attempt to flip Johnny off, he sighed. Taeil grinned poking his cheek,

“You’ll want to smile-“

“Why-“ Taeyong was cut off as three people entered the café, cheers greeting them. Doyoung and his company looked overwhelmed at the sudden attention, the two men he brought with him squeezed closer to him. One, Taeyong knew now was Yuta, the other, Taeyong guessed from Johnny’s investigation was probably Sicheng.

Doyoung laughed as Ten jumped him almost toppling him over as he clung on like a monkey. Doyoung's company actually took a step back looking conflicted on whether to stay away from Ten or to try to pry him off and save Doyoung. Doyoung skilfully shook him off, trying to fix his hair that the other had messed up in his welcome.

“You saw me yesterday, you idiot!” Doyoung said grinning widely as he looked around the room, eyes pausing on Mark who discarded Johnny in a blink of an eye as soon as Doyoung came in. Other than Ten and Johnny, Taeyong had often seen Doyoung with Mark during their high school days. So, it was no surprise when Doyoung and he rushed together in a hug that actually toppled them over earning laughs from their onlookers. They were helped off the ground and Doyoung went around to greet the boys he hadn’t met up with yet, he was disheveled by the time he returned to Yuta and Sicheng’s side with Mark. He slowly introduced them to everyone, Jaehyun joined Taeil and Taeyong, looking pointedly at Taeyong.

“Don’t try to intimidate them with your glare,”

Was he glaring? Taeyong tried to school his expression into a more neutral one. Doyoung finally reached them.

“-and this is Jaehyun, Taeil and Taeyong-“

“Taeyong?” Sicheng cut in looking interested while Yuta smirked. Taeyong frowned at the reactions from the two strangers. What had Doyoung told them about him? Doyoung grabbed them by their collars tugging them backwards before they could say anything else.

“Can we eat?” he asked desperately trying to avoid looking at Taeyong, “we haven’t had dinner yet!”

Jaehyun chuckled as he pushed himself off the counter.

“Sure, we were waiting for you anyways,” he said gesturing to the table they had put together for their reunion.

-

The conversations around the table flowed freely as everyone caught up with each other, Ten who was seated across Doyoung leaned forward, eyes darting interestedly to the new additions of their group sitting on either sides of Doyoung.

"So how did you three meet?" He asked catching everyones attention, the three in question fell silent.

“Well our first meeting was…” Doyoung trailed off uncharacteristically,

“Soso! Nothing dramatic-” Sicheng cut in with a wide smile, wrapping his arms around Doyoung, “he literally fell into our lives one day-“

Ten snorted,

“Klutz,”

Doyoung’s smile was strained,

“You’ve all known Doyoung since high school,” Sicheng continued, “He just has this aura which attracts you to him, making it easy for anyone to fall in love with him. It didn't take more than a day for Yuta and I to fall into that trap and we naturally latched onto him, now here we are!” he exaggerated earning a small smile from Doyoung.

“He tried to escape us a few times, but we’re nothing if not persistent,” Yuta added with a grin, “he’s ours now.”

Sicheng nodded in agreement, Ten tutted,

“No wonder you didn't come back during the holidays,” he teased, “we were replaced,”

“Speak for yourself!” Jaehyun said haughtily, “I am irreplaceable-“ the group broke off into a disagreement arguing about each other’s worth to Doyoung. Doyoung extracted himself from Sicheng’s hold, patting him on his head when he frowned,

“I’m going to the toilet,” he said quietly, Yuta excused himself as well. A few eyes followed.

Doyoung looked up as Yuta entered the bathroom after him, his eyes were shining. Yuta wordlessly held his arms out.

“Sorry,” Doyoung murmured as he leaned on Yuta. Yuta’s arms tightened around him, a flash of sadness striking him. He breathed in deeply reeling it in, he needed to be strong for Doyoung.

A few minutes passed, Yuta waited patiently for him to calm down. It was taking longer than usually, Yuta frowned combing a hand through Doyoung's hair as the younger man murmured to himself.

"You know I don't mind, this is the only way you'd hold me willingly-" his joke had the intended effect, he felt Doyoung's cheeks lift against his neck. He pulled away after a few seconds,

"Thank you," he said softly, expression devoid of any of his former anxiety. But Yuta needed to be sure, he couldn't let Doyoung go out otherwise.

"Anytime- just don't tell Sicheng," he winked sleazily making Doyoung laugh and smack his face as he bypassed him to exit the bathroom. Yup, he was definitely feeling better. Yuta reached for his waist, holding on in a dead weight making him and Doyoung stumble out.

"Running away so soon after using me," Yuta cooed into Doyoung's ear, "where's my 'thank you, Yuta hyung!'"

Doyoung laughed trying to shake him off,

"No way, you're barely older than I am-"

"Come on, Doyoungie!" Yuta wheedled, persistent. Doyoung laughed harder there was no way in hell that he'd give in, especially if it was a weird kink Yuta had. He would have to ask Sicheng later. The table went oddly quiet at their appearance, Yuta finally released Doyoung as they sat, the latter still chuckling at Yuta's absurd request.

"You guys took long," Jaehyun commented thoughts no doubt filthy with the way his eyes were gleaming, this earned a pleased smirk from Yuta which did nothing to dissuade everyones assumptions.

"Don't entertain him, Yuta" Doyoung said with a nudge but it didn't help that his hair was in disarray and Yuta's shirt was open at the collar and rumpled. Sicheng tried to pat Doyoung's hair down but his efforts were futile and made the situation worse to their eager onlookers.

Doyoung quickly thought of how to divert their attention eyes settling on a perfect target, he smirked. It was time for payback, no one went behind his back and got away with it.

"So Youngho-" Johnny glared at him, Doyoung ignored it noting with glee that he had caught everyones attention, "when will you ask Ten out?" He continued innocently as he lifted up his drink, he took a sip trying to hide his grin at the mortified look that settled on Johnny's face. The poor soul could only gape at him stupidly while the others waited with bated breath at what would follow. They didn't have to wait for long, Doyoung lowered his drink pretending to think.

"Ten's free on Friday nights," he commented looking briefly at Ten for confirmation, the other nodded. He was probably one of the busiest amongst them as he co-owned a studio in Gangnam that trained idols from established entertainment companies.

"You can pick me up at seven," Ten added perfectly composed, as if what was transpiring was a normal occurrence to him, Johnny could only nod in return looking stupefied. Doyoung finally laughed breaking the spell over the table.

"That wasn't so hard now was it?"

The rest finally joined in, snickering at the glaring Johnny. Doyoung stood up pointedly looking at the others to get up so they could leave the two alone to talk. They did much to Johnny's dismay, Jaehyun squeezed his shoulder as he passed.

"Don't mess up," he teased, laughing as Johnny swung out at him.

-

Taeyong was confused, he had been trying to decipher Doyoung all night, in particular his relationship with Yuta and Sicheng. He had introduced the two as his friends but it seemed like there was more to their relationship that what was said, especially after the questionable toilet break earlier. He felt his brows furrow as he remembered the scene, a weird stabbing sensation started to spread across his chest. They couldn't be friends, it was- his thoughts were interrupted by a soft touch to his face. He blinked before reeling back in shock, hitting his head against an overhead cupboard with his frantic reaction. Doyoung looked torn between wanting to laugh and worry.

The area he hit throbbed lightly, Doyoung settled for a small smile as he reached out cautiously to rub Taeyong's head. The throbbing subsided and Taeyong tried in vain to calm his racing heart, why was Doyoung so close to him?

"Sorry," Doyoung apologised for touching him, pulling his hand away slowly, "you seemed tired."

Taeyong shook his head,

"It's okay, I was just daydreaming," he lied, Doyoung's smile was soft.

"You still daydream a lot?" he shifted so he could stand beside Taeyong, "you used to zone out a lot at school as well," he remembered making Taeyong smile. He had been called out by exasperated teachers too many times to remember.

"I was thinking of my future, dreaming of the thousand possibilities that could come true."

"And have any of those dreams become a reality?" Doyoung asked eyes full of curiosity. The two were curved into each other away from the others and their robust conversations,

"Not all, but I'm working on it," he answered unconsciously moving closer to Doyoung, missing the way the taller man’s cheeks flushed slightly.

"Good luck I guess," he wished smile bashful. Taeyong's heart felt full, worries forgotten.

-

Something had shifted between the two that night, Taeyong was convinced. They had spoken well into the morning, breaking apart only to realise most of their friends had left or had fallen asleep. And whilst he wasn't sure what it was that changed, he welcomed it with open arms.

Doyoung had started to come to cafe more often, asking Taeyong to surprise him each time with his order. The café workers had learned to hide their surprise when Taeyong would end up serving Doyoung dishes that were not even on their menu, before he disappeared into his room or the kitchen with a pleased look.

Today however, Taeyong chose to remain behind the counter as Doyoung ate with his workmates. Doyoung looked around, grin splitting his face when he spotted Taeyong. He waved before giving him a thumbs up, pleased with the pasta Taeyong had made for him today. Someone scoffed forcing Taeyong's gaze away from Doyoung, Jaehyun shook his head looking slightly disgusted.

"Can you please stop your disgusting pining after him and just -"

Taeyong slapped a hand over Jaehyun's mouth but the damage was done, his cheeks burned as his employees snuck interested glances at Doyoung. Prior to this, all they had were assumptions, but now Jaehyun had confirmed their suspicions. Their boss was infatuated with their regular customer.

"Get back to work," he hissed before jabbing Jaehyun, "it's not like that!" He defended himself flustered. It was clear no one believed him.

-

Johnny dropped by later that day, he had been coming less now after Doyoung accepted him as an investor. One of the conditions that he set was that Johnny actually had to attend weekly meetings and work directly with them instead of sending an underling, something Johnny complained about to whoever was willing to listen.

"-He's using me for free labour!" He wailed making Taeyong snort,

“You called this upon yourself,” he said unsympathetic to Johnny’s plight, “you of all people should know how driven Doyoung is-“

“-and vengeful,” Johnny added. He was complaining, but there was a twinkle in his eye that his friends barely saw when he discussed his work.

“You enjoy it,” Taeyong called him out on his bluff, “I've never seen you so eager to talk about work!”

Johnny’s smile was soft,

“Yeah,” he admitted, “it's cool, they're so dedicated,” he paused nose wrinkling in faux disgust, “it's inspiring and it really pushes me to perform the best that I can on my end, as cliché as it sounds.”

“Well that is what happens when you end up in the field you want to,”

Johnny rolled his eyes at the obvious dig towards his career,

“Whatever, Doyoung told me he was here earlier,” Taeyong nodded, "Jaehyun told me-“ Johnny continued tone teasing,

“Shut up!” Taeyong cut him off quickly, he smiled giving in for once. They fell into an amicable silence, only for it to be broken minutes later by an impatient Taeyong. He couldn't delay it and be in denial any more.

“Hey,” he started catching Johnny’s attention, “since you’re dating Ten now, it means you’re really over Doyoung, right?”

Johnny let out a huff, putting down his phone.

“I was over him a long time ago, I told you that!”

Taeyong averted his gaze,

“So you really wouldn't mind…” he continued, Johnny frowned at his vagueness.

“Wouldn’t mind what?”

“If I asked him out?” it came out smaller than Taeyong wanted it to, but Johnny heard judging by the raise of his brow.

“Finally,” he grinned at Taeyong, genuinely happy, “I knew it. I saw you two during the reunion. Go for it, Taeyong ah!”

Taeyong’s cheek flushed at Johnny’s enthusiasm,

“I will, hopefully he doesn't reject me again this time round,”

Johnny laughed before sobering up,

“Bear in mind though, Taeyong,” he said seriously, “there's something he's not telling us,”

Taeyong nodded, after their reunion he believed Johnny’s previous claims of Doyoung hiding something from them. Johnny stood up reaching over to pat his shoulder reassuringly as he passed him.

“Whatever it is though, Doyoung is worth it,”

“I know.”

A/N: Hey guys, dropping off another chapter which I'll probably edit and proofread once my brain isn't mush! Hope you enjoyed this mess of a chapter <3