“Junhong, could you please call Kim Himchan in here?” Youngjae buzzes his secretary through the phone’s intercom, watching through the glass of his office window as Junhong, all lanky limbs and forced professionalism, tries to hide the way he jumps when Youngjae’s voice floats through the speaker by answering him as hastily as possible.

“Of course, Youngjae-ssi,” Junhong says quickly, hanging up and dashing out of his seat. “Himchan-ssi, Manager Yoo wants to see you in his office right away,” Youngjae can hear him telling the older man.

The formality in Junhong’s tone is a little ridiculous. Youngjae has always thought the level of propriety in this company is slightly overboard, but he didn’t become the youngest branch manager in the company’s history by breaking the rules. As silly as he finds it, he, more than anyone else, makes sure to enforce that the policies dictated by his superiors are adhered to.

Himchan steps into the office with Junhong trailing behind him, breaking Youngjae out of his thoughts. “You wanted to see me, Manager Yoo?”

Youngjae rolls his eyes at the false formality dripping from Himchan’s voice. “Shut up, hyung. Junhongie, close the door.” Junhong complies, locking the door before settling on the couch across from Youngjae’s desk.

“I’ve been teasing you since you were born,” Himchan says airily, dropping his polite act and sitting down next to Junhong unceremoniously. “If you think I’m about to stop now, all these years together have clearly taught you nothing about who I am as a person.”

“Believe me, I know too much about who you are as a person,” Youngjae grumbles, recalling Himchan’s far-too-descriptive accounts of his decision-making process in choosing certain outfits and his incessant demands for Junhong and Youngjae to come over and help him cook. Youngjae wouldn’t be bothered by any of it, really, except for how it happens much too frequently.

“You and me both, hyung,” Junhong agrees, shuddering slightly.

“What the hell?” Himchan says indignantly. “I raised you two on my back and this is what I get?”

“All right, okay,” Youngjae interrupts before Himchan can launch into his usual rant about single-handedly being responsible for the upbringing of Youngjae and Junhong, a story he loves to tell despite the glaring inaccuracies - the most prominent being that Himchan is only a few years older than them. “I called you people in here for a reason. What are your thoughts on farms?”

Junhong looks somewhat bewildered. “Our thoughts on what?”

“My cousin lives on a farm out in the country. You remember, right? I used to go stay with him every summer when we were younger,” Hichan says helpfully. A wistful look crosses his face. “Those were the days. There was this really gorgeous boy who worked for my uncle. He was so sweet and had the nicest smile and his arms were just -”

“Please stop,” Youngjae groans. “I don’t want to hear about your weird teenager crushes, and I doubt Junhongie does either.” Junhong nods in confirmation, a cheeky smile on his face.

“You say that like neither of you have ever had any crushes,” Himchan retorts. “Which, in case you’ve forgotten, I happen to know for a fact is untrue. Anyway, I don’t even know if he still works there. It’s been years since I last visited.”

“Well, I guess you’ll find out soon,” Youngjae says. At the brief look of confusion that flashes across Himchan’s face, Youngjae clarifies, “The three of us are going.”

“What?” Junhong looks between Youngjae and Himchan, confused. “What do you mean, the three of us?”

Youngjae sighs. “My parents apparently talked to Himchan-hyung’s parents and set up some kind of vacation for us at the farm because I’ve been ‘too focused on work’ or something.”

“Their idea of a vacation is sending us to a farm?” Junhong asks. “Why?” He glances at Himchan and adds, “No offense to your cousin, hyung. I’m sure it’s a great farm.”

“I don’t know,” Youngjae shrugs. “Something about building character, I think. I’m not sure why they’re convinced that you two are my only friends, either. Like, yeah, I’ve known you my whole life or whatever, but come on.”

“It’s probably because we are your only friends,” Himchan says sagely.

“You’re really not though,” Youngjae protests, feeling a little indignant. “I’m friends with Jaehwan-hyung and Jin-hyung and Sandeul-hyung and -”

“Aren’t those your online friends?” Junhong asks innocently. “The ones you game with and haven’t ever actually met?”

“They’re still my friends,” Youngjae grumbles. “But fine. What about Mark and Jaebum and Jinyoung, then? What do you call them?”

“Mark and Jaebum, maybe,” Himchan concedes after a moment of consideration. “But I don’t know if Jaebum’s boyfriend really counts as your friend...” He trails off, sending Youngjae a sly look. “Especially when someone had a crush and was all upset when Jinyoung swooped in -”

“Shut up!” Youngjae cuts him off, annoyed. “Jinyoung and I get along fine, because that was years ago. I don’t know why you still feel the need to bring it up all the time.”

“Mostly for your reaction,” Himchan says, unbothered, and Youngjae is left to continue fuming a little. “Anyway, so we’re going to Jonguppie’s farm? When?”

“We leave Saturday morning,” Youngjae says, glancing at the text his mother sent him last night to confirm the details. “And we’ll be there for two and a half weeks.”

“Two and a half weeks?” Junhong raises an eyebrow, amused. “Isn’t that a little long for Manager Yoo to be away from the office? Won’t it all collapse into chaos without you?” He and Himchan share a laugh at the reference to one of Youngjae’s drunken monologues from the early days of his promotion, back when he was still basking in the glow of his improved position (although even now, after the glory has faded, he still takes his work very seriously.)

Youngjae bites back the retort on the tip of his tongue and sighs, looking at Junhong pointedly. “I have the vacation days, I have to use them somehow. And the office can survive without me, I’ll be gone for less than three weeks.” He purposely doesn’t mention that if his parents hadn’t intervened, he absolutely would have gone the whole year without taking any leave. Himchan and Junhong enough make fun of him for being a workaholic as it is; they certainly don’t need more material.

“Baby’s all grown up,” Himchan sniffles dramatically. “What a proud day this is for me.”

Youngjae rolls his eyes at his friend’s antics. “Out of my office, Himchan-ssi.”

“Yes, sir!” Himchan salutes him mockingly as he rises from his seat, though he winks at Youngjae playfully before he strolls out with a self-satisfied grin on his face.

“That went well,” Junhong says cheerfully.

“Yup,” Youngjae agrees with a resigned sigh. “About as well as I could have hoped for.”

Junhong stands up too, stretching his back with a groan. “Back to work, then, hyung?”

“You know it,” Youngjae says, turning on his monitor.

“I’ll take my leave then, Manager Yoo,” Junhong says, slipping easily back into his role. “I’ll be outside as usual if you need anything.”

“Thank you, I’ll give you a ring if I do,” Youngjae replies, but he’s already mostly focused on the screen in front of him. It’s back to business as usual, for now.

~~~

Saturday comes much too soon, and Himchan shows up at Youngjae’s door bright and early with a half-asleep Junhong in tow, ranting about how Youngjae should have been ready half an hour ago because now they’re late for their train. (“I was out late last night and I still woke up, what’s your excuse, brat?”)

Three hours later, Youngjae has made up a decent amount of sleep on the train and is feeling somewhat more optimistic about the trip. The three of them climb into a taxi at the station and get dropped off twenty minutes later at the end of a path surrounded by a few trees. A quaint-looking house is visible in the distance, with the faint outline of a barn just behind it.

They’re halfway to the house when Youngjae stumbles on the gravel trying to shift the weight of the bag hanging off his shoulder and braces himself for a fall that never comes. He’s caught around the waist by an unfamiliar tanned arm before he can lose his balance completely, and when he looks up, Youngjae finds himself staring into the smiling eyes of a man who looks to be around his age.

“Well hello, cutie,” the man says, his appreciative gaze fixed on Youngjae’s face. “Let me take that off your hands for you. We wouldn’t want you tripping again and hurting your pretty face, now would we?” Without waiting for a response, he plucks the bag off Youngjae’s shoulder, holding it easily with one arm. He’s about the same height as Youngjae, his brown hair falling across his forehead and the sleeves of his plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows leaving his forearms on display.

Youngjae prides himself on being generally quick-witted, but the man’s sudden appearance and completely unabashed flirting (and strikingly good looks) have him feeling quite startled. Immediately, he’s irritated. There’s no feeling he dislikes more than being left flustered, especially by some guy - he likes to think he’s a little more sophisticated than that.

He’s still looking at the man (who hasn’t looked away either), trying to formulate some kind of snappy reply when his scrambled thoughts are interrupted. “Daehyun?” Himchan’s voice, full of surprise, cuts through Youngjae’s impromptu staring contest. “Is that really you?”

Daehyun, apparently, finally shifts his gaze away, but not before Youngjae catches a cocky smirk tugging at Daehyun’s lips as he rakes his eyes over Youngjae’s face a final time. He tries his hardest to glare back, resolutely pretending that his insides don’t suddenly feel like they’re aflame.

“Himchan-hyung?” Daehyun asks, the smile on his face completely different as his eyes light up in recognition. Youngjae, irrationally annoyed, remembers Himchan talking about the crush he had on one of the boys here who had a nice smile and - he hates himself for flushing, thinking of how he’d recently had one wrapped around his waist - nice arms. Daehyun, Youngjae notes as he watches Himchan embrace him, admittedly fits both descriptions perfectly.

He recalls the brazen way in which Daehyun had looked at him and immediately forces himself to forget it; it seems like Himchan is quite pleased to be reunited with his childhood crush, and from the way Daehyun beams at Himchan, the feeling appears to be mutual. So Youngjae tells himself he doesn’t care when, after finishing his hug with Himchan (which surely had been unnecessarily long - not that Youngjae had been paying attention, of course), Daehyun meets Youngjae’s eyes again for a fleeting moment, his gaze heavy, before moving on to greet Junhong.

The four of them make their way towards the house together, Daehyun leading the way with Youngjae’s bag in one arm and Junhong by his side while Himchan and Youngjae trail behind them. Junhong is immersed in conversation with Daehyun - in typical Junhong fashion, he had somehow managed to immediately bring the topic of conversation around to his pride and joy, Mochi the dog, and as it turns out, Daehyun has a dog of his own that he loves talking about just as much.

Youngjae watches them converse animatedly, reminding himself pointedly that he doesn’t care. Yeah, maybe Daehyun had briefly flirted with Youngjae, and maybe it had sent Youngjae’s mind into more disarray than any boy has managed to in a while, but that doesn’t mean anything; he definitely doesn’t want or need Daehyun’s attention, particularly not when Himchan has apparently had his eye on him for years.

He glances to his right to find Himchan watching them too, looking fond. It’s weird for Youngjae to think about Himchan having genuine romantic affection for anyone - he’s always been more of a “no strings attached” kind of person (and Youngjae knows that it’s because he’s too afraid to actually commit) - but, Youngjae reasons, maybe now that he’s back here, he’s having a change of heart. It’s certainly understandable, now that Youngjae has seen Daehyun in person.

“You know, hyung, I admit it,” Youngjae says resignedly, breaking their comfortable silence. It’s always annoying to tell Himchan that he’s right about anything, but what kind of friend would Youngjae be if he didn’t give his approval? “Not that I care, but I get why you had a crush on this Daehyun guy.”

Himchan stares at him in silence for a few moments before exploding into laughter. “Oh my god,” he gasps, trying to catch his breath.

Youngjae glares at him, confused. “What?” he demands.

“You think I had a crush on Daehyun?” Himchan wipes away a tear of mirth. “It’s like you don’t know me at all. Since when have I been into younger men?”

He’s right, Youngjae realizes belatedly, but it’s too late to take it back now, and Himchan’s eyes glint dangerously as he looks at Youngjae. “How was I supposed to know how old he is?” Youngjae asks in an attempt to defend himself. “He fits your mediocre description, okay?”

“As I recall, you were the one who cut me off in the middle of that description,” Himchan reminds him, “and I know you heard him call me ‘hyung,’ but forget that. I think the real issue here is that baby Jae has already developed a little crush and got jealous.”

“What?” Youngjae says too quickly. “No. He’s clearly a flirt, and you know I can’t stand that.”

“He certainly was eyeing you up earlier,” Himchan says, nodding. “But he actually seems interested, you know. You definitely have a chance.”

“He’s not my type,” Youngjae says, which is a lie, but he’s not interested in becoming some country boy’s boytoy, no matter how attractive he might be. Flirty boys are cute until they break hearts; Youngjae knows that all too well.

“He’s exactly your type,” Himchan says, unfooled. “And I happen to know that he’s actually a huge softie, so unless he went through an extremely dramatic personality change in the last few years, he was probably just showing off for you.” He winks at Youngjae obnoxiously. “Looks like baby’s not the only one with a crush.”

Youngjae firmly quashes the rush of adrenaline he feels at Himchan’s words, reminding himself that he is a manager and doesn’t have time for a two-week fling that he’ll inevitably end up becoming way too invested in. “Whatever,” he says, trying to sound disinterested. “Who’s your farm boy then? Is he here?”

“Daehyun said he’s in the house with Jongup, setting up the rooms,” Himchan says. “And don’t call him ‘my boy’ in front of him, brat. He could be married by now, for all I know.”

“I’m sure Jongup would have told you if your boy got married,” Youngjae points out, dutifully trying to quell Himchan’s sudden, out-of-character insecurity. “This is a farm, not the wilderness. There are ways they could have contacted you if anything important happened.”

“You’re probably right,” Himchan agrees, looking somewhat relieved, and Youngjae internally congratulates himself on successfully preventing a potential episode of panic.

When the party of four finally enters the house, they find two men in the kitchen, one prodding tentatively at a pot on the stove and the other diligently setting the table. “Hello, boys!” Himchan calls as they walk in. “I’m home!”

The man at the table barely spares Himchan a glance, but the man at the stove spins around at the sound of Himchan’s voice, a smile spreading across his face almost instantaneously. “Himchan!”

Youngjae has never seen anyone so delighted to see Himchan, but even more shocking is that a quick glance tells him that Himchan is equally (if not more) thrilled to see this man. “Yongguk!” he says happily.

“It’s so good to see you,” Yongguk says, turning off the stove before drawing closer and pulling Himchan into a hug.

Youngjae and Junhong exchange a look of amusement, realizing that this must be Himchan’s infamous crush. As they watch the two older men greet each other, Daehyun, who’s positioned himself between the two of them, leans towards Youngjae and whispers, “Himchan-hyung likes him too, right?”

Youngjae turns his head abruptly, trying very hard to look like neither the feeling of Daehyun’s lips ghosting against his ear nor Daehyun’s general proximity is affecting him. “What do you mean, he likes him too?” Youngjae manages to ask, keeping his voice low.

He feels rather than sees the smile spread across Daehyun’s face as Daehyun continues to speak softly into his ear. “Yongguk-hyung has been in love with him since they were teens. And I know Himchan-hyung can be kind of...difficult about things like this, but I’ve always thought it isn’t as one-sided as Yongguk-hyung thinks.”

Youngjae keeps quiet for a few moments, reluctant to give Daehyun the satisfaction of being right. “Hm,” he finally says. “Maybe.” Daehyun just lets out a breathy laugh, like he can see right through Youngjae, and Youngjae huffs quietly in annoyance.

Meanwhile, Himchan and Yongguk have separated at last, and Himchan’s attention is now on the only person in the room who hasn’t spoken to him yet. “Hello,” Himchan says pointedly, though he looks more amused than upset.

“Hi, Himchan-hyung,” the remaining man replies, finally looking up from his work.

“No need to sound so happy to see me, Uppie,” Himchan says, shaking his head.

The man - Jongup, Youngjae assumes - puts his hands on his hips. “You haven’t visited in five years and you think everything is fine just because you brought along a cute boy?” he demands. (Much to his amusement, Youngjae feels Daehyun stiffen next to him before relaxing again moments later when Jongup’s eyes flicker shyly, not to Youngjae, but to Junhong, who has a light dusting of pink on his cheeks as he meets Jongup’s gaze fleetingly.)

Himchan looks quite conflicted at Jongup’s words. On the one hand, Youngjae thinks, Himchan seems proud, like a parent whose child has just been complimented, and on the other, he’s also tense like a parent who isn’t ready for their child to start dating yet. It’s a typical Himchan reaction, and Youngjae has to smother a laugh.

“Just give me a hug, brat,” Himchan finally says, and Jongup’s lips curl in amusement before he obliges.

“So, about the rooming arrangements,” Daehyun announces casually after several moments, breaking apart the cousins’ embrace with his voice. “There’s good news and bad news. The good news is, we have three rooms for everyone to sleep in.”

“That’s fitting,” Youngjae says pointedly, “because it looks like there are three of us.”

“Nice try, cutie, but that’s not quite right,” Daehyun says with a cheeky grin. “As I was about to say, the bad news is that there’s actually six of us.”

“Oh, you’ve all finally moved in?” Himchan asks, expressing more of a jubilated kind of excitement than the concern Youngjae personally feels. “Took you long enough.”

“Wait, so are we like, sharing rooms?” Junhong asks.

Yongguk nods. “It was the easiest solution we could think of. Jongup’s parents are away for the month, but they requested that we keep out of their bedroom, so we couldn’t use that.”

No one, Youngjae notes, looks particularly apprehensive about the situation. Apparently, he’s the only person with any reservations about the proposed sleeping arrangements.

“Himchan-hyung said Junhong is around my age and Youngjae-hyung is around Daehyun-hyung’s age, so we divided the rooms like that,” Jongup explains. His hopeful eyes find Junhong again, and Youngjae remembers that neither he nor Junhong has been formally introduced, so Jongup has no way of knowing for sure which of them he’s sharing a room with.

“So you’re with me,” Junhong reveals shyly, and the little smile they share is, to be quite honest, very cute.

Youngjae inadvertently meets Daehyun’s gaze as Junhong speaks, which is how he witnesses the exact moment Daehyun’s eyes light up as he realizes that Youngjae is Youngjae who he’s sharing a room with. He really is unfairly attractive, Youngjae grumbles to himself, but more troublesome is the fact that he also seems friendly and outgoing and charming. And to be honest, Youngjae isn’t sure how he’s going to get through the next couple of weeks with his sanity intact if Daehyun is going to be around, smiling at him like this the whole time.

~~~

When Youngjae emerges from the bathroom after a long shower, feeling refreshed, he finds Daehyun spreading a blanket on the floor of their room carefully. “What are you doing?” Youngjae asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Making my bed, sweet cheeks,” Daehyun says, and Youngjae has already resigned himself to the fact that Daehyun is almost certainly never going to use his real name, though truthfully, he can’t find it in himself to care much. (He might even like the attention. Just a bit.) “I have to sleep somewhere, right?”

“Isn’t that what your bed is for?” Youngjae points out.

Daehyun laughs gently. “The bed is for you, silly. I didn’t want you to have to share and be all uncomfortable.”

“Am I supposed to be impressed by your chivalry?” Youngjae asks, and he can’t for the life of him understand why he’s being so aggressive when Daehyun, for all his flirting - and harmless flirting, at that - has been quite accommodating.

“Only if it’s working,” Daehyun returns easily, and although his tone is still light, he really does sound like he means it.

Youngjae sighs. “I appreciate the thought, Daehyun, really, but just - just sleep up here like a normal person, okay?”

Daehyun raises an eyebrow. “And make you sleep on the floor? Not likely, sweetheart. I was raised better than that.”

He knows what Youngjae is going to say next. Youngjae knows Daehyun is aware that the bed is large enough for both of them. While Youngjae isn’t thrilled at the thought of sharing it, if Daehyun is going to be his bedmate, it isn’t necessarily the worst prospect in the world, and he can tell by the gleam in Daehyun’s eye that Daehyun is just waiting to hear Youngjae say it. Fortunately, Youngjae has never been one to back down from a challenge, so he meets Daehyun’s eyes boldly and says, “We can just share, genius.”

“Slow down there, darling, at least ask me out for dinner first,” Daehyun says with a wink, the line clearly planned, before laughing at Youngjae’s unimpressed expression. “Aw, come on, I’m just teasing.”

“Don’t get any funny ideas, mister,” Youngjae says sharply. “It’s only because this is your room and I’m not going to kick you out of your own damn bed.”

With that, he turns on his heel and walks out of the room before he can do something stupid like make eye contact with Daehyun again and become a little more infatuated. He resolutely doesn’t turn around - even with the feeling of Daehyun’s gaze following him out the door, even with the “Thanks, cutie!” that trails after him - because he’s certain that if he does, nothing will stop him from melting at the bright smile he knows Daehyun is sending his way.