“Who’s the handsomest boy in the world?” Minho cooed into Taemin’s soft hair.

                It was the morning after their return from the road trip and they spent a good few hours in a deep sleep.

                Jongin was knocked out in his own room while Ruki and Heechul occupied their living room downstairs, one on the floor and one on the couch.

                “I should make everyone breakfast, shouldn’t I?” Taemin whined as he stretched, snuggling against Minho’s side.

                “It’s the day after your birthday, you don’t have to do anything, Kitten. How about I give you a massage instead? You deserve it.”

                With his fingers finding Taemin’s shoulders, he began rubbing into them, earing several moans which were muffled by Minho’s chest. He continued until he couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore, chuckling. “Geez, you’re more vocal than when we’re making love.”

                “You’re really good with your hands.” Taemin laughed. “Let’s get married right away so I can make sure they’re mine forever.”

                “Just my hands?”

                “Just your hands.”

                After a few more moments, Taemin forced himself to sit up, pout shaping his lips. “What should I make for breakfast?”

                “Anything.”

                Leaning down to give Minho a kiss, he got out of bed. “You’re no help.”

                “Ah, but I love you, so it’s excusable.”

                “I love you too.”

                Making his way downstairs, Taemin tried not to wake the others up.

                He quietly shuffled around the kitchen, bringing out pots and bowls, filling each one with delicious food.

                It wasn’t until an hour later that he began setting the table, a meal for five.

                Several large stacks of pancakes took up the middle of the table while different toppings surrounded them. There were strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, and several other sweets which brought the others back into consciousness, nose teasing scents wafting around the house.

                Jongin was the first to stumble in, rubbing his eyes. “Do I smell pancakes?”

                “Yes you do.” Taemin smiled.

                The younger boy smiled, hand sliding along Taemin’s lower back as he walked by, kissing his cheek. “Can I sit down wherever?”

                “Yeah, go right on ahead.”

                “Then I’ll sit beside wherever you are.”

                Soon enough, the rest of the boys filed in, happily taking their seats.

                “Please help yourselves. Put whatever toppings you want on your pancakes and, um, if you need anything else, please feel free to tell me!”

                “You’re the best.” Minho praised him, holding him close.

                “Tae-chan!” Ruki called.

                “Yes?”

                “Decorate my pancake!”

                Smiling, Taemin walked over to the opposite end of the table. “Well you have to tell me what you want first.”

                “Strawberries and chocolate chips! Make it pretty, okay Tae-chan?”

                Nodding, he reached for the two bowls containing the things the elder requested.

                Ruki watched as the brunette leaned over his plate, focused, placing each chocolate chip in a specific place, giving each strawberry slice a purpose. His long, thin fingers began to steal Ruki’s attention as well. Then his skinny arms, his small shoulders, his obvious collarbone, and finally, the view his draped, thin night shirt provided. The view of his bare chest.

                Following a whim he didn’t want to supress, his hand landed on Taemin’s back, burying his face in the younger boy’s chest and biting his skin through his shirt.

                He smiled when Taemin twitched, trying to pull back. “Ruki! Stop, stop, stop! I’m going to drop everything!”

                Leaving a kiss, Ruki pulled away, face cocky but heart racing. “I couldn’t resist, Tae-chan. You’re too cute.”

                “I almost ruined the smiley face, Ruki…”

                “I’m sorry, thank you.”

                Leaning back, Taemin walked over and took his seat between Minho and Jongin, head resting on his lover’s shoulder. Without being asked to, he started decorating Minho’s pancake, taking the bottle of whipped cream and finishing his design off with a white heart in the center.

                “Thank you, Kitten.” He heard, receiving a kiss on the cheek.

                “You’re welcome, Honey.”

                Minho chuckled, tilting Taemin’s head and stealing a kiss on the lips. “I love it when you call me that. I’ll marry you the first chance I get.”

                “Aish!” Heechul raised his voice, jokingly slamming his fist into the table. “I don’t want to see your couple displays, okay? Stop rubbing in how single I am!”

                “Last time I checked, you didn’t want a partner. You just like to sleep around with any girl or guy you bump into at a club.” Taemin teased, eyebrow raised.

                “Well since you’re suddenly such a smartass, maybe you could teach me how to settle down. In fact, spend a few evening a week at my house and maybe I’ll lose my reasons to go out clubbing.”

                The other three watched in anticipation, wondering how Taemin would reply.

“Are you telling me to sleep with you in order to help you ‘settle down’ and prove my own argument wrong? Even if I didn’t care about proving myself wrong, I need a man who can satisfy, and frankly, I don’t think you can even come close to half of Minho’s performance.”

Ruki snorted, trying not to completely burst out laughing while Jongin was amused. Minho simply blushed at the compliment, having his arm around Taemin’s shoulders possessively.

“Performance? Performance? Are you actually comparing us in performance? I’ve slept with dozens of people and I’m older!”

“Well Minho is younger so he has an increased libido and he has more stamina. Besides, he’s only slept with me so he’s a professional on my body. You’re not.”

“Oh, now you’ve done it. You better watch your back.” Heechul warned him, digging into his breakfast.

“I don’t have to. Minho will watch it for me.”

Keeping his sassy remarks to himself, Heechul bit back his smile, shaking his head.

“When it comes to Taemin, with age comes attitude.” Ruki sang. “I love it.”

They continued to eat until everyone finished and Taemin took it upon himself to clean up.

While he was in the kitchen with Jongin, Minho and Ruki walked Heechul out, separating at the nearest subway stop.

“Bye Hee-chan!” Ruki shouted, waving as the train left.

They were left to deal with the fading hum of the station until they walked onto the streets to be surrounded by honks and motors instead.

“That was a crazy morning. It’s so troublesome having so many people picking fights with Taemin like this. I know he’s gorgeous and I know it’s human nature to be attracted to someone so beautiful with such an amazing personality but… ah, sometimes I just want to lock him in a closet and keep him to myself.”

Ruki nodded, walking close enough to Minho for their shoulders to occasionally brush up against each other.

“Would you feel better if… you got that same attention?”

“No, no, no! Of course not!” Minho quickly rejected, slightly disappointing the older boy. Ruki knew that if Minho would have said yes, he might have just as well offered himself. “No, I don’t feel that way at all. It’s just… I wish he didn’t get it at all. I wish Jongin didn’t like him, I wish Heechul wouldn’t bring up around him, or anyone for that matter, I wish he wouldn’t get checked out by so many people, both guys and girls, when we go out for dinner or to the movies, I wish I didn’t…” He paused to laugh at himself and his face obviously turned a few shades redder. “I don’t think I admitted his before, or maybe it was only a few times under my breath but… okay, don’t tell Taemin but I feel… really insecure about our relationship. Or- well, just certain aspects of it. I mean, I believe him when he says he loves me and Jongin’s given him so many opportunities to cheat on me that he would have a long time ago if he really wanted to but… He’s just so perfect and amazing and I always wonder why he’s with me, you know? I wonder why… I worry that one day, someone is going to come along and outshine me… he’ll be older, or smarter, or richer and Taemin… he’ll have no reason to stay with me because he’s just so perfect that he should be with someone better. It’s… his right.”

Ruki was astonished by this sudden confession, eyes wide. The feelings Minho had described were the exact feelings he wanted someone to have for him. Now here he is, finally having had found those feelings, only for them to be for someone else. Closing his eyes, he bounced on his toes, leaning in and quickly kissing Minho on his cheek. The younger boy almost instantly jumped back a few feet, shocked. “Ruki what are you doing?” He asked.

                Falling back on his bubbly personality, Ruki happily shrugged. “Oh nothing! I just thought you were cute! Don’t mind me!” Next, he tried taking Minho’s hand but the moment they came close, the younger boy shoved his in his pocket for protection.

                “Um, sorry. I don’t do that kind of stuff, it’s um… sorry.”

                “Oh, it’s no problem!” Ruki falsely assured him, “Don’t worry, I’ll just go kiss Tae-chan instead!”

                “No, you can’t do that to him either. He’s mine.”

                The blonde faked a laughed, staring at his feet. “Well, I might change his view on that.”

                “Over my dead body.”

                “Why not?” Jongin huffed, crossing his arms.

                “Why should I? I already told you to stop with this kind of stuff!” Taemin explained flipping through channels.

                “What’s one kiss really going to do?”

                “It’s going to upset me.”

                “You look cute when you’re upset. Hey Taemin, can I ask you something?”

                Nodding, Taemin didn’t complain when Jongin lied down and took up his lap.

                “Why is it that whenever I try imagining kissing someone else, it makes me feel nauseous?”

                “Because the people you imagine are bad kissers?”

                They both laughed.

                “Am I a good kisser?” Jongin asked, over his lips.

                “Yeah, you are, but don’t get an ego.”

                “It’s because you taught me how to use my tongue well. Remember that one night where we were on the bed and I was on top of you and you took your shirt off and we were supposed to take a bath but you told me you didn’t want to stop kissing yet and we never ended up taking a bath? Why can’t we do that again?”

                “Because we were dating then and we’re not dating now, that’s why.”

                Jongin liked that word. He liked it when Taemin said it and when he used it in relation to him.

                “I dated my best friend…” He sang, climbing on top of Taemin and leaving the elder to deal with all his body weight.

                “You’re so fat!” Taemin screamed, exaggerating all his actions as he tried pushing him off.

                Moments later, the door opened and Minho came trudging in. “Jongin, get off of my fiancé!” He yelled, scaring Jongin off and chasing him upstairs.

                Taemin fixed his hair, sitting up once more, eyes going to Ruki instead of the television.

                “Was the station busy?” He asked.

                He asked it cheerfully but he didn’t realize that Ruki was frustrated, or more so embarrassed. He wouldn’t know that Ruki was embarrassed because he tried to, for some unknown reason, kiss his fiancé as if he’d get a positive reaction and ended up embarrassed and upset with himself when it went wrong.

                Looking into Taemin’s eyes, he wondered if kissing him would yield a better result. Even if it didn’t, Taemin was weaker and didn’t argue adamantly. Straddling the brunette, Ruki forced his lips onto Taemin’s. The younger boy must have frozen after being surprised but Ruki didn’t mind. He even used Taemin’s gasp as a chance to slip his tongue in for a few seconds. Locking eyes, his heart raced faster than any sports car.

                Pulling back, Taemin cupped his mouth. “What are you doing?”

                “I don’t know.” Ruki faked giggles, pinching the younger boy’s cheek.

                “W-well um… please don’t… I was, um, very surprised.”

                “You don’t like my kisses, Tae-chan?”

                “N-no, that’s not it! It’s just… I have enough to worry about with Jongin misbehaving.”

                “So you do like my kisses…”

                “Ruki, stop it!” Taemin pouted.

                Laughing, Ruki got back onto his feet. “Okay Tae-chan, since I love you. But really, I should get going soon. You’ve been taking care of me your whole birthday so I’ll go home! Maybe even now. I’ll quickly say goodbye to the others!”

                Taemin sighed, watching Ruki run upstairs as well.

                It was quiet again.

                The house was finally at peace.

                Taemin was sitting on the edge of the bed, skin still slightly moist, while Minho sat cross legged behind him, combing through and drying his hair.

                “It’s getting long again. Have you ever thought of growing it out back to how it was when we first met?”

                Taemin shook his head.

                “Why not?”

                “I looked like a girl, Hyung. I’m eighteen now so I should be manly.”

                “Well keep it at your shoulders for a while.”

                “Do you like it like that?”

                “Yes.”

                “Then I will.”

                Kissing the back of Taemin’s neck, Minho gathered his brown hair and tied it into a small ponytail.

                “Kitten?”

                “Yes?”

                There was a slight pause on Minho’s behalf as he put the brush away, cleaning up the small messes around them.

                “I called a wedding venue the other day and they said they have a single day open next year during the summer because a couple cancelled and so I asked them to give me until lunch tomorrow to give them my answer so… can I show you it?” He asked, grabbing his laptop.

                “S-sure.”

                Climbing up the bed and propping the pillows up, they sat against the bedframe, Taemin curled up against Minho as the elder typed a website into the search bar.

                They waited for a few seconds as the page loaded and then Minho clicked on the gallery. Dozens of pictures came up, featuring beautiful flowers, beautiful gardens, beautiful seating, beautiful brides. Taemin could tell that this was as close as it could get to what Minho imagined and Taemin just wanted him to be happy.

                “Do you like it?”

                “I do. It’s actually my favourite venue but, um, I have a list of about ten other venues but they’re all booked all of next year so we’d have to get married around your twentieth birthday.”

                That seemed so far away. Taemin just wanted to marry Minho right now if he could, he didn’t want to waste a minute.

                “Do you want to see them?” The older boy asked.

                Taemin nodded, but he already knew which one he wanted.

                Minho spent the next few minutes searching up venues and pointing out the pros and cons of each, asking Taemin’s opinion and asking him if he preferred any of them.

                “I like the third and fifth ones but my favourite is probably the very first one.”

                “The one I have to call back to?”

                “Yeah. I like that one. It’s my favourite. I think it would definitely be the best.”

                A smile appeared on Minho’s lips as he nuzzled into Taemin’s neck.

                “Really? Or are you just saying that because you don’t want to wait two years to get married?”

                Taemin laughed because no matter what Taemin said, Minho always seemed to be able to read his mind.

                “Well, maybe a bit of both. But really, I think it’s the nicest one and it- well, it accommodates our plans doesn’t it?”

                “I’m glad you agree, Kitten.”

                With his tongue poking out between his lips, Taemin was happy when Minho decided to lean in and pull it into his mouth instead, giving each other a taste of their mouths.

                Ignoring the moans coming from down the hall, Jongin was on his phone, playing a game.

                It wasn’t until he was about to beat his high score that a text message interrupted his session, causing him to lose all his built up streaks.

                “Aw man…” He sighed, opening the text that destroyed all his momentary hopes and dreams. He was slightly surprised to see that it was from Ruki.

                ‘Hey Jongin.’

                ‘Hey?’

                ‘So… sorry for messaging you this late. I hope you’re not busy. Are you alone?’

                ‘No worries. Yeah, I’m alone. What’s up?’

                ‘I just… okay that whole date idea, I know Taemin is basically my best friend here in Korea and I shouldn’t be doing this but… can you… can we do it? I don’t want to strictly go on a date with Minho but… I just want to sit across from him at a fancy table even just for a few minutes, you know?’

                ‘Okay.’

                ‘Okay?’

                ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’

                ‘Is that it?’

                ‘Yeah.’

                ‘Okay then. See you.’

                ‘Good night. I’ll text you more information tomorrow or someday soon.’

                ‘Okay, thanks. Good night.’

                Listening in on the others, the sounds of told him that now was not the time to ask. In fact, he’d rather ignore those two completely when they did stuff like this because he felt like he was the only one who should be allowed to touch the brunette’s body.

                Two hours later though, they grew quiet and he recognized Taemin’s footsteps going down the stairs followed by shuffling in the kitchen. Jongin knew this ritual because Taemin always went to drink a glass of water after . Jongin never knew why.

                Stepping out of his room, he went looking for the boy.

                The kitchen light was on and Taemin was definitely in there, downing a glass.

                Coming up to him, Jongin smiled.

                “Hey, I have some good news.” He began.

                “Oh yeah?” Taemin asked, brushing Jongin’s hair out of his face. Jongin loved when he did that.

                “Yeah, I’m going on a date with Ruki.”

                This time, the elder’s reaction did a one-eighty. He didn’t reply for several seconds, eyes widening a bit as he looked over Jongin’s face for any sign of it being a joke. When he didn’t find one, he just asked, “Why?”

                “Why? Are you disappointed? You clearly aren’t going to every love me back so I should start looking in other directions and I mean, it’s good to start with someone you already know and have some chemistry with.”

                He noticed the frown on Taemin’s face and the fingers tapping on the glass.

                “Well good for you.” The elder said, turning around. He began walking away when Jongin grabbed his arm, pulling him back close enough for his breath to hit the elder’s lips.

                “Where are you going?”

                “Sleep.”

                “Are you jealous?”

                The few millimeters of space between them did little to cause Taemin to hesitate. “Yes.”

                “Why? I’m not yours and you’ve clearly been refusing to be mine since day one so this shouldn’t be a problem.”

                “Why Ruki?”

                “Who cares? You know he’s a good guy and it’s inside our circle of friends so that’s even better.”

                “And if I say no?”

                Jongin laughed, indulging in the reaction he was getting.

                “It’s not your choice to make.” He stated coldly, hand groping Taemin’s thigh as his lips planted themselves on his revealed shoulder. He left small kisses but Taemin roughly pushed him away within seconds.

                “Go kiss Ruki, then!” The older boy grumbled as he jogged back to his bedroom.

                Jongin felt slightly down at their evening ending like that but he knew the frustration he’d be able to build up between Taemin and him before the date would only benefit him that night. After all, once Taemin explodes, nothing holds him back.