“Knock knock,” Minseok said, poking his head in Joonmyeon’s office. Joonmyeon looked up from the business papers and raised a questioning eyebrow at Minseok. Minseok chuckled. “I’m leaving for the day. Have good night.”

Joonmyeon nods. “And Kyungsoo?”

“Still in the kitchen.” 

“Oh okay. Thank you for your hard work today, Minseok. Goodnight.” 

Joonmyeon watches as Minseok disappears from his doorway, his faraway voices of Kyungsoo and Minseok and then the café door slamming shut. Joonmyeon sighs, stretches and then rubs at his eyes. 

“You should go home too. We’re closing up.”

Joonmyeon flinches at the voice, but it’s just Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo muses a smile at his flinching. 

“I’ll finish up and close today. You can go, I know you have to catch a bus.” Joonmyeon looks at him with a smile. “Thanks for today. Your pastries did so well.” He holds up the papers, a proud smile on his face. “Our sales have skyrocketed, thanks to you Kyungsoo.”

Kyungsoo shies away but mutters a thanks. “I’ll be heading out then.”

(Stay) Joonmyeon tucks that away and bids Kyungsoo goodnight instead. He wants to give him a ride, lean on him during the chill of the night and maybe (definitely not maybe) have Kyungsoo kiss him over and over again. He closes his computer, slumps in his chair and thinks about how stupid he is. Why couldn’t he already ask him out? Was two years of pinning not enough?

Maybe next time, he thinks as he places his work in the passenger seat of his blue Nissan and drives home. 

 

 

“Hi, mimi. How was your day, girl?” He ruffles the white dog wagging its tail, circling Joonmyeon as soon as he enters the house. He sits on the sofa and the dog jumps into his lap, scratching his ears. “I guess you missed me huh, girl? Ummwa.” He kisses the dog and it up his face, Joonmyeon laughs, throwing his head back. 

He lies down with the dog atop of him. Exhausted from the long day at work. It had been a busy day since the time they opened at 7 am. Minseok was the barista and the coffee order had been too many, Joonmyeon had to step in and help out. And then Kyungsoo had needed help in the kitchen. It wasn’t enough it being just Kyungsoo and a part-timer college student. 

“Should I hire someone else, Mimi? The café is getting busy by the day and there’s only 4 of us. It’s exhausting.” The dog snuggles up on him, makes small noises and reaches up to his cheeks. “Thank you, girl. That cheered me up. You’re the best dog.” Mimi barked happily and Joonmyeon laughed. 

 

 

——-

Kim Minseok is great at being a barista. Joonmyeon watches in awe as he draws different designs on the coffee, precision, concentrating with his tongue out (and Joonmyeon should watch his thoughts), he stares at Minseok. Admiring the flex on his arms under the long white shirt, his permed black hair with colorful highlights falling gracefully over his face. He’s beautiful and Joonmyeon turns away and internally chides himself for thinking too far. 

“Are you alright, Joonmyeon?” Kyungsoo’s concerned voice brings him back. He’s holding a tray of pastries and is looking at Joonmyeon with so much concern. And he catches Minseok breaking his concentration on the design to look at Joonmyeon as well. How can he handle their gazes? It was too much. He puts a finger on the collar of his shirt, pulls it apart and then looks past Kyungsoo. 

“I’m alright, Kyungsoo. Thanks. I’ll be in the office if any of you need me.” He rushes out, Kyungsoo and Minseok’s stares still on him. He lets out a sigh of relief that Kyungsoo didn’t catch him checking out Minseok. He wouldn’t be able to face him if he found out. He fall in the one seat sofa tucked in the far corner of his office, pulls it out and lays back with a hand on his face. 

‘What is wrong with me? Why can’t I get over them? No boy has ever looked at me, what makes me think I can get two? How stupid. So stupid.” He does his best not cry, it was still early and he couldn’t serve with puffy eyes. 

There’s a knock on his door and he scrambles to get himself straight and open the door. Minseok stands on the other side, a cup of steaming coffee in one hand. 

 

“Oh Minseok beat me to it huh?” Kyungsoo slides up next to Minseok with a plate of pastry, nudging Minseok. 

Minseok rolls his eyes with a chuckle, “Anyways, here.” He presents the cup to Joonmyeon. Joonmyeon flinches back after his fingers touch the hot ceramic. “Be careful. It’s hot.” 

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“And here, your favorite pastry. I guess it’s good timing, you can eat it with some coffee.” Kyungsoo smiles, heartily at Joonmyeon. 

Joonmyeon decides he’ll soon make an appointment with a doctor.

It’s beautiful seeing them stand side my side, Minseok’s hand in his pockets and Kyungsoo leaning on him, looking at Joonmyeon…. Somehow…. And Joonmyeon, for a brief moment, fools himself into believing they’re already his boyfriends and are taking care of him. Or maybe they’re asking him out with coffee and pastry. That’s very romantic. That was foolish and delusional. So foolish really. But it breaks a smile on his face and he tells them he’ll enjoy it. 

 

Later on Joonmyeon thinks he’s imagining the way Kyungsoo keeps glancing at him, asking him a few times if he’s alright and need anything. Minseok slides him water later on in  the day, tells him to rest his feet after a swarm of customers held them up for a few hours. And days later he sees Kyungsoo and Minseok, somewhere in the kitchen at one point, laughing and teasing each other with tickles. They’re closer than he’s ever seen them before. He loves it. He wishes they can pull him in as well and . 

 

Joonmyeon has always paid attention to his two crushes and so he finds it unusual that Minseok is standing by the entrance door, his bag in hand and another hand fiddling with his phone, earphones tucked in. Joonmyeon comes to him and Minseok takes out an earphone. 

“Do you need anything Minseok?” He asks. 

Minseok shakes his head. “Just waiting for Kyungsoo.” He looks past Joonmyeon and his gummy smile comes into view. Joonmyeon turns to see Kyungsoo almost jogging the short distance to Minseok, hurriedly placing his white bag on his shoulder. He stands by Minseok and doesn’t glance at Joonmyeon. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Minseok waves at Joonmyeon and then holds the door open for Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo doesn’t look back. 

“Of course.” He chuckled with deprivation. His heart painful and his stomach twisting disdainfully. “What was I thinking? They definitely fit better. And people say three is a crowd anyways.”

 

 

——-

Joonmyeon tries not to think too much of it. Crushes come and go. In college he had a crush on a pretty boy from china. He moved back and Joonmyeon let it go. And then during his internship, he formed a crush on another worker, but it turned out he had a wife, he drank himself stupid drunk and left it behind. 

And now Minseok and Kyungsoo. What Was so special about them that he had to waste himself in cheap liquor, loud noreabangs, and crying himself to sleep? Why did it hurt so much just to not be looked at by them? He shouldn’t have thought too much about the coffee and pastry. Kyungsoo and Minseok were caring people after all. That’s why loved them, wasn’t it?

 

He’ll get over it. 

 

 

Except he doesn’t. He tries. 

 

He tries and he does so by hiring someone to help with the counter and coffee and another to assist Kyungsoo. The budget becomes tight, but that’s not a concern. Whatever helps to get Minseok’s gummy smile and Kyungsoo’s heartily smile out of his mind. With the new hires, he spends less time at work. He works on finances and plans their schedules, mostly from home. 

 

He plays soccer with a few friends to get his heart and mind off of Minseok and Kyungsoo. He finds it helps until one day one of the players brings Minseok to play and Kyungsoo to sit and watch. 

 

“Joonmyeon.” Minseok greets, eyes twinkling and Joonmyeon definitely didn’t imagine that. Minseok looks him up and down, and then rests his gaze on his face. “I didn’t know you played soccer.”

“Just for fun.” Joonmyeon answers short. Minseok hums. Joonmyeon looks past Minseok to find Kyungsoo looking at them. He looks different in his black shirt and black shorts. His hair is buzz cut as well. He looks as handsome as ever. Joonmyeon darts his eyes away from Kyungsoo when he feels a hand on his shoulder. Minho, his soccer buddy is talking about Minseok and how they know each other from previous games they played together. Joonmyeon nods, still chiding himself for thinking about another man’s lover. 

 

 

Minseok is a beast on the field, crossing players with ease, long calculated shots, assist  goals and a few of his own. Joonmyeon is on Minseok’s team, and when he scores on, Minseok comes running to him, happily cheering, knocks them on the floor and places a chest kiss on his cheek. His other teams hug him as well but all he can think about is Minseok. Minseok being so close to him, so warm and the kiss. So fleeting and yet beyond everything he’s ever imagined. Kyungsoo cheers and hoots from the benches. And when Joonmyeon’s eyes falls on his, he gives him a wide heart-smile and two thumbs up. 

 

This was a dream come true for Joonmyeon. 

 

They win, all players falling on the field in exhaustion. Somehow Minseok is laying next to him and they turn their heads to one another. Minseok cards his fingers through Joonmyeon’s and Joonmyeon closes his eyes. Heart pounding and mind running.

And then the hand was gone.

 

“Whao Joonmyeon.” Kyungsoo’s voice above them. “Who knew you were Messi on the field. It was a great game.” 

Joonmyeon laughs and sits up, stretching his arms. Minseok gets up with the help of Kyungsoo. They end up flush against one another, laughing and placing kisses on each other’s cheeks. 

“People are watching, Minnie.” Kyungsoo swats at Minseok’s wandering hands with an amused chuckle. Such a sweet sound. Minseok shrugs but lets go. 

 

Joonmyeon shuffles next to them, busying himself with the grass stuck to his shorts. He didn’t know that despite trying his best to forget them, it wasn’t working. He makes to start walking off the field when a hand firmly holds unto his. Confused, he turns around to find it’s Kyungsoo’s hand. Even Minseok looks a bit out of the loop if the slight frown is anything to go by. 

“Kyungsoo?” Joonmyeon asks.

“Join us for ice cream and a walk in the park? We haven’t seen you in a while.” He answers, face never leaving Joonmyeon’s face and a small smile on his face. 

 

“I..” he looks to Minseok. Minseok nods at him. “Sure. Let’s go.”

 

A few minutes from the soccer field, there’s an ice cream stall. They walk there, Joonmyeon has somehow ended up in the middle. They make conversation of how the game went, the shenanigans that happened at work while Joonmyeon wasn’t present. It’s light, not awkward, and Joonmyeon finds that no matter what he does, he can’t get over these two. They were so funny, so playful, and so warm to be around. 

They ordered a banana fudge boat to share, they sit one of the few tables under a a canopy and eat. Joonmyeon sits on one side while the lovers sit on another. This way he has a great view of them. 

Minseok  makes to feeds Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo opens his mouth excitedly, Minseok inches the spoon closer but at the last minute, he takes it out and places in Joonmyeon’s unexpectedly opened mouth. Minseok laughs at their stunned faces, head falling back. Kyungsoo exchanges a look with Joonmyeon and shakes his head. 

Kyungsoo leans forward to Joonmyeon and whispers, “He thinks that’s the greatest prank ever. Lame.” 

“Hey!” Minseok pouts crossing his hands. “I’m right here, you know.”

Kyungsoo winks  at Joonmyeon who is stifling his laughter. 

 

They take a walk in the park, making commentary on what they see, conversations, dumb jokes (courtesy of Joonmyeon and Minseok) to which Kyungsoo groans at. And then at one point Kyungsoo pretends to run away from their dumb jokes. Minseok exchanges a smirk with Joonmyeon, a mischievous grin on his face. Ughhh why was Minseok so gorgeous. 

Joonmyeon looks a head and sees that  Kyungsoo has gotten far from them. Minseok grabs his hand and starts running after Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo shrieks and starts running as well. Shouting for Minseok to stop. 

Joonmyeon and Minseok chases him around the park, and when they finally catches up to him, they tickle him into the grass. His choked pleading laughter flowing around. And finally they all stop, exhausted from laughter, they fall flat on the grass, Kyungsoo laying between them. Joonmyeon’s fingers somehow still in Kyungsoo’s. 

He startled. Why was he holding another’s lover?

He scrambled to his feet. Minseok and Kyungsoo sitting up, looking at him strangely. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Joonmyeon?” Minseok comes closer. “Joonmyeon what’s wrong?”

He feels himself choking up, his eyes stinging. What was wrong with him? 

“Joonmyeon,” Kyungsoo placed a hand on his arm, rubbing it up and down. “Talk to us.”

Joonmyeon shakes his head. “It’s dumb. And it’ll amount to nothing. I…I gotta go.”

He makes to turn around but Kyungsoo’s firm grip keeps him in place. 

“You’re running away again, Joonmyeon. You keep running from us and I hate it. Don’t you like us.” Kyungsoo’s voice, why did it sound so sad?

What did Kyungsoo mean? How could Joonmyeon hate them, his heart has been tormented by his one sided crush and Kyungsoo dares to even think he could hate them? 

“I…, that’s not it… Kyungsoo..”

“Then stay with us. Stop running away, Joonmyeon. How can we tell you we need you if you keep running away.” Kyungsoo said.

“Kyungsoo?” Minseok warned, placing a hand on his back. Kyungsoo looked at Minseok with teared eyes and then burried his face in Minseok’s chest. His grip on Joonmyeon slipping off. Joonmyeon looked at his wrist, suddenly missing the warm hold. 

“What’s going on, Minseok?” Joonmyeon asked, confused by everything and hating himself for making Kyungsoo cry. 

“Come here, Joon.” Minseok held out his arm, beckoning Joonmyeon into the hold. Joonmyeon inched closer uncertainly and Minseok cased him into his embrace, flushed against Kyungsoo. Minseok carded his fingers through Joonmyeon’s hair, the action so relaxing. But Joonmyeon was still confused. What was this about?

 “We like you a lot Joonmyeon.” Minseok confessed. Joonmyeon scrambled back to look at him with wide eyes, trembling in place. “We do. And we think you like us too. Hopefully we didn’t conclude wrong. We’ve never been in a poly relationship but I think we can make it work. Can we be your boyfriends, Joonie? Do you feel the same?”

Joonmyeon looked between Minseok and Kyungsoo, trying to see where the joke was. The punchline was coming, wasn’t it? Kyungsoo took his hand again, smiling at him. 

“We’re not fooling you, Joonmyeon. We genuinely like you and want to be in a relationship with you. If you’ll have us. What do you say?” Kyungsoo whispered. 

Joonmyeon felt tears streaming down his face. “I like you. For so long and this, I’m not dreaming right?”

Minseok chuckled, pulling him back into his embrace, Kyungsoo’s hand around him this time. “It’s all real. We’re boyfriends, and boyfriends and boyfriends.” Minseok laughed.

“We are.” Joonmyeon hugged them tightly, not wanting the warm moment to end.

 

—-

Being boyfriends and boyfriends and boyfriends was sweet, even sweeter since they worked together. Joonmyeon started coming back in to work at the cafe, granted he still did his work at home most days. The part-timers didn’t know they were in a relationship, in parts  of not seeming like he was showing favoritism. 

He slide up to Minseok once the part-timer left for a bathroom break, snuggling to him ever so slightly, both exchanging wide smiles. 

“How’s everything going?” Joonmyeon asked, fingers finding Minseok’s on the cash register. 

“Going alright. Your work?”

“Ugh, I don’t know how there’s always so much paper work. My fingers are tired.” He stretched them, massaging each lightly. 

Minseok pulled him by the waist and placed a chest kiss to his cheek, “Come over and Soo and I will take care of those fingers.”

“What fingers are we taking care of?” Kyungsoo came up behind them, placed his hands on both of their waists, looking back at forth at his boyfriends. Minseok and Joonmyeon chuckled at his silliness. 

“Our Joonie is exhausted. I invited him over so we can take care of him. Sounds good?” Minseok kisses Kyungsoo’s forehead.

“Sounds amazing.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Another one after so long. It feels great to post!

Thank you all for reading!! I hope you enjoyed it!