#culinary archives

[u-mspcoll]

Food Literacy for All Showcase

"Do you know why the US Food Administration was created? Nope, it's not for public health reasons! Rather, it was created on August 17, 1917 by executive order primarily to provide food for the Allies in Europe during World War I. The US launched a rigorous campaign, greatly humanitarian in nature, onboarding roughly half the families in the nation to take on food pledges with weekly meatless, sweetless, porkless, and wheatless days to ship those foods to soldiers and starving civilians in Europe. This campaign demonstrates how the lack of overindulgence in food sympolizes patrioatism in the US during WWI."

Spotlight on food history posters prepared by students enrolled in the Food Literacy for All (Winter 2024), a community-academic partnership course hosted by the University of Michigan Sustainable Food Systems Initiative. Read more!

#special collections and archives #special collections libraries #special collections #libraries and archives #archival collections #archives #archival research #food history #food literacy #food systems #sustainable #sustainability #sustainable food #sustainable food systems #libraries #students #course work #instruction #jblca #janice bluestein longone #american culinary history #janice blustein longone culinary archive #culinary archives #culinary history #culinary

[sweetbumblebea]

Random au where blueberry pie is finally free from her curse and can leave the archives to live life. She gets a job at the Parfaedia institute as a librarian and she's so out of touch. She is so out of touch.

#cookie run kingdom #blueberry pie cookie #espresso cookie #eclair cookie #latte cookie #cookie run #gingerbrave cookie #also I don't even think they had food at the archives #i genuinely believe she feeds off magic and once she steps out of the archives needs real food #i think she would cry at the marvel of our culinary world (burger) #i also think that one (1) single carbonated drink would kill her

[ebookporn]

400 Years of French Gastronomy Books to Auction

Christie’s is inviting foodies and collectors to explore four centuries of gastronomy and its history through a selection of books from the library of Baron Pierre de Crombrugghe.

Cooking and the culinary arts have always been the subject of poems, treatises and educational works. But it was not until the 19th century that the concept of gastronomy emerged in earnest. The Baron's library displays a number of themes that are inextricably linked to the culinary experience and the way it has evolved throughout history. Its shelves provide a rich menu of treatises on how to cut meat, poultry and fish, as well as texts on truffles, oysters and baking.

There are also books explaining how to make iced desserts, tea, coffee and chocolate, and how to set the table and fold napkins. This collection of nearly 200 works is estimated at around €1,500,000. The highlight of the library of Baron Pierre de Crombrugghe is the Cuisinier Taillevant, ou le Viandier, the first known illustrated cookery book. This rare incunabulum, written in French, was published in Lyon in around 1495. Decorated with a large woodcut depicting a cook at the stove and bearing the name of the head chef under Kings Charles V and VI of France, the Cuisinier Taillevant is the ultimate reference work on French medieval gastronomy. The volume for sale is the only surviving complete copy.

READ MORE

#booksellers #bibliophile #book collecting #antiquarian books #escoffier #gastronomy #culinary #chefs #christies #auctions #librarians #archives #rare books #book tumblr

[xaviergalatis]

Chinese restaurant

Circa 1920's ~

However the photograph is undated and I've lost the archives credentials such as exact date and description of this Chinese restaurant. However the furniture / decor is what attracts me to the photograph......

X

I've manipulated the photograph to measure 8.5x11 inches

#archive #restaurant #📓 #culinary notes #transparent #history #restaurant history #8.5x11in #paper #photography collection #art collection #photography

[vintagelasvegas]

Fremont St, Las Vegas, 1962.

Scan from the menu of the Domeliner, aboard Union Pacific's City of Portland train. The Culinary Institute of America, Conrad N. Hilton Library, Archives and Special Collections.

#1962 #Silver Palace #Fremont & 1st

[mariacallous]

When you think of Eastern European Jewish cuisine, which words come to mind? Light? Healthy? Plant based? Probably not. Heavy, homey and meat-centric are more like it. 

Fania Lewando died during the Holocaust, but had she been given the full length of her years, Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine may have taken a turn to the vegetarian side and we might all be eating vegetarian kishke and spinach cutlets in place of brisket.

Lewando is not a household name. In fact, she would have been lost to history had it not been for an unlikely turn of events. Thanks to a serendipitous find, her 1937 work, “The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook” (“Vegetarish-Dietisher Kokhbukh”in Yiddish), was saved from oblivion and introduced to the 21st century.

Vilna in the 1930s, where Lewando and her husband Lazar made their home, was a cosmopolitan city with a large Jewish population. Today, it is the capital of Lithuania but it was then part of Poland. Lewando opened a vegetarian eatery called The Vegetarian Dietetic Restaurant on the edge of the city’s Jewish quarter. It was a popular spot among both Jews and non-Jews, as well as luminaries of the Yiddish-speaking world. (Even renowned artist Marc Chagall signed the restaurant’s guest book.)

Lewando was a staunch believer in the health benefits of vegetarianism and devoted her professional life to promoting these beliefs. She wrote: “It has long been established by the highest medical authorities that food made from fruit and vegetables is far healthier and more suitable for the human organism than food made from meat.” Plus, she wrote, vegetarianism satisfies the Jewish precept of not killing living creatures. 

We know little about her life other than she was born Fania Fiszlewicz in the late 1880s to a Jewish family in northern Poland. She married Lazar Lewando, an egg merchant from what is today Belarus and they eventually made their way to Vilna. They did not have children. 

Lewando, to quote Jeffrey Yoskowitz, author of “The Gefilte Manifesto” was “a woman who challenged convention;” a successful entrepreneur, which was a rarity among women of the time. She supervised a kosher vegetarian kitchen on an ocean liner that traveled between Poland and the United States, and gave classes on nutrition to Jewish women in her culinary school. 

“The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook” was sold in Europe and the U.S. in Lewando’s day, but most of the copies were lost or destroyed during the Second World War. In 1995, a couple found a copy of the cookbook at a second-hand book fair in England. They understood the importance of a pre-war, Yiddish-language, vegetarian cookbook written by a woman, so purchased it and sent it to the YIVO Institute’s offices in New York. There, it joined the millions of books, periodicals and photos in YIVO’s archives. 

It was discovered again by two women who visited YIVO and were captivated by the book’s contents and colorful artwork. They had it translated from Yiddish to English so it could be enjoyed by a wider audience.

Like many Ashkenazi cooks, salt was Lewando’s spice, butter her flavor and dill her herb. The book is filled with dishes you’d expect: kugels and blintzes and latkes; borscht and many ways to use cabbage. There’s imitation gefilte fish and kishke made from vegetables, breadcrumbs, eggs and butter. Her cholent (a slow-cooked Sabbath stew) recipes are meat-free, including one made with prune, apple, potatoes and butter that is a cross between a stew and a tzimmes.

There are also some surprises.

Did you know it was possible to access tomatoes, eggplants, asparagus, lemons, cranberries, olive oil, Jerusalem artichokes, blueberries and candied orange peel in pre-war Vilna? There’s a French influence, too, such as recipes for mayonnaise Provencal and iles flottante, a meringue-based dessert, and a salad of marinated cornichons with marinated mushrooms. 

“It’s hard to know who the target audience was for this cookbook,” said Eve Jochnowitz, its English-language translator. “We know from contemporary memoirs that people in Vilna did not have access to these amazing amounts of butter, cream and eggs,” she said. “Lewando was writing from a somewhat privileged and bourgeois position.” While many of these recipes may have been aspirational given the poverty of the Jews at the time, the cookbook demonstrates that it was possible to obtain these ingredients in Vilna, should one have the resources to do so. 

While the cookbook is filled with expensive ingredients, there is also, said Jochnowitz, “a great attention to husbanding one’s resources. She was ahead of her time in the zero-waste movement.” Lewando admonishes her readers to waste nothing. Use the cooking water in which you cooked your vegetables for soup stock. Use the vegetables from the soup stock in other dishes. “Throw nothing out,” she writes in the cookbook’s opening essay. “Everything can be made into food.” Including the liquid from fresh vegetables; Lewando instructed her readers on the art of vitamin drinks and juices, with recipes for Vitamin-Rich Beet Juice and Vitamin-Rich Carrot Juice. “This was very heroic of her,” said Jochnowitz. “There were no juice machines! You make the juice by grating the vegetables and then squeezing the juice out by hand.”

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, a Jewish scholar and Jewish cookbook collector, describes Lewando as “witty.” “She is showing us,” she said, “that once you eliminate meat and fish, you still have an enormous range of foods you can prepare.” Lewando is about “being creative, imaginative and innovative both with traditional dishes and with what she is introducing that is remote from the traditional repertoire.” She does that in unexpected ways. Her milchig (dairy) matzah balls, for example, have an elegance and lightness to them. She instructs the reader to make a meringue with egg whites, fold in the yolks, then combine with matzah meal, melted butter and hot water. Her sauerkraut salad includes porcini mushrooms. One of her kugels combines cauliflower, apples, sliced almonds and candied orange peel.

There is much that, through contemporary eyes, is missing in “The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook.” The recipes do not give step-by-step instructions; rather you will find general directions. Heating instructions are vague, ranging from a “not-too-hot-oven” to a “warm oven” to a “hot oven.” Lewando assumes the reader’s familiarity with the kitchen that today’s cookbook writer would not. 

Lewando and her husband were listed in the 1941 census of the Vilna Ghetto but not in the census of 1942. It is believed that they both died or were killed while attempting to escape. “She really was a visionary,” said Jochnowitz. “It is an unbearable tragedy that she did not live to see the future that she predicted and helped to bring about.”But in cooking her recipes, said Yoskowitz, as dated and incomplete as some of them may be, the conversation between then and now continues.

[lazybutsmexy]

Masterlist

Writing blog for One Piece and Haikyuu: x

Archive of Our Own: x

Rules: x

All x reader writings are gender neutral unless specified.

If you ever make art inspired on my works, @ me so I can see it and reblog it!! 🫶♥️

Edit 04/26: if you have trouble accessing any links, you should be able to find each individual work by searching for the name in the search bar in my blog. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Call of duty

König (my beloved)

Smoke break - x reader | light angst, fluff, comfort, protective König | you are a bartender and your stalker creeps you out. König catches on and fixes the problem.

A glimpse - x reader | light angst, fluff, comfort, injured reader, a bit of pining on both sides | you get injured in a mission, and König feels he could've done better.

The sound of your voice - x reader | light angst, fluff, comfort | Konig feels self-conscious when telling you about his current obsession, but his voice is like a balm to your tired mind.

Jealous König drabble - x reader

König comforts you - x reader

Cheater - x reader (platonic)

Alejandro Vargas

Choices have consequences - x reader | light angst, culinary crimes, mention of food insecurity | Alejandro made a passing comment about your food that you didn't like one bit, so you humble him.

"V" - x reader | pure tooth rotting fluff, pillow talk, marriage talk, you're both so smitten ugh | Alejandro and you discuss the idea of getting a matching tattoo instead of rings.

Are you looking for a wife? - fem!reader | fluff, injured reader, medical drug use, stoner talk | Whenever you get ketamine as pain relief, you lose all thought-to-speech filter.

Heart-Stopping - fem!reader | tiny angst, fluff, medical innacuracies. mention of violence/injuries, pregnancy announcement, crack-ish | Only Alejandro can kill Alejandro. You may easily give him a heart attack, though.

Infused Masterlist - fem!reader | graphic depictions of violence, drug use, minor character death(s), angst, fluff, hurt/comfort | A love story told through mate.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

No better than a Victorian man - x reader | suggestive, Simon being a tease | You like to look at your lieutenant, especially when there's barely anything to look at

A bedtime story - GN!reader | platonic | you have no choice but to keep LT's secret for a relaxed, soothing sleep to you grave.

Ghost x chubby!reader headcanons - x m!reader

Tea - GN!reader | angst, hurt no comfort, character deaths | Last minute confessions.

Ghost x reader x Soap

Bird Hunting - x fem!reader | angst, hurt, kidnapping, drugging, sexual harassment, violence (warnings will update as series progresses)

Rotten Apple - x fem!reader | hurt/comfort, referenced past child neglect, abusive/narcissistic parents | Set after the events in BH | Sweetened apples turn sour when rotten apples are around.

Emotional Support Bird - x fem!reader | fluff, domestic, Soap and Ghost share a braincell | Canary rambles about a ln emotional support dog she saw at the market. Ghost and Soap have an idea.

Emotional Support Bird Pt.2 - x fem!reader | fluff, hurt/comfort, Ghost x Canary centric - Soap is only mentioned here | Ghost has a nightmare, and Canary an idea.

Emotionally Supported Bird (Pt. 3)- x fem!reader | fluff, hurt/comfort | Canary knows exactly where to seek solace in the middle of the night.

Ghost x Soap x K9handler!reader

The Mission - x K9 handler!reader | fluff, K9 Dolly's POV mostly | K9 Dolly is sent on her first solo mission.

John Price

Salt and pepper - x gn!reader | fluff | The realization of age hung heavily on his shoulders. Luckily for him, you're more than ready to share it with him.

141 x reader

Lucy - x fem!reader (platonic) | crack | an interesting story behind the origin of Y/n's callsign.

Affectionate reader - x GN!reader (platonic) | fluff | headcanons and a little drabble on the Task Force receiving and enjoying your affection.

Affectionate reader Pt. 2 - x GN!reader (platonic) | angst | The team loses it's spark (you)

Affectionate reader Pt. 3 - x GN!reader (platonic) | hurt/comfort | it's the team's turn to show you affection

Incorrect Quotes

Father Figure

Gummy worms

Dilf

Farmers' market

(Un)forgettable

Relatable

Brothers

Mystery

Couples' advice

Valentine's Day blurbs

WIPS ← check here for your request!

#masterlist #cod masterlist #cod mw2 masterlist #cod mwii masterlist #simon ghost riley #simon ghost riley x reader #ghost x reader #john soap mactavish #john soap mactavish x reader #soap x reader #könig x reader #könig #captain johnathan price #captain john price #captain john price x reader #kyle gaz garrick #kyle gaz garrrick x reader #gaz x reader #alejandro vargas x reader #alejandro vargas #task force 141 x reader #task force 141 #cod mw2 #cod mwii

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

For those of you who are curious, or didn't know, Vincent Price and his second wife, Mary wrote two beautiful cookbooks filled with recipes and stories of their culinary travels. It's wonderful. Such talent.

Here's a link to their second cookbook "National Treasury of Cookery": just sign in, and check out the book. :)

PS. It's wonderful how he puts her name first. I think it's the sweetest thing.

#vincent price #mary grant price #cookbook #food #foodies #travel #blog #random #pdf #iconic #icon #legend #culinary #eating #bicon #bisexual #god #horror #old horror movies #vintage #movie #actor #handsome

[evanesdust]

i have been waiting all my life

written for- @sterekfests prompt: s’mores and smut

Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: POV Derek Hale, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Established Relationship, Alpha Derek Hale, Shameless Smut, Knotting

Summary:

…the one where Derek and Stiles have s’mores (then smut).

"Alright, come on. Admit it. They're good, right?" Stiles asked with his mouth full. It was more endearing than it should be. Then again, this was Stiles, and Derek absolutely loved and adored everything about him.

Derek rubbed his thumb in circles on Stiles's shoulder as they cuddled up on the couch, eating their faux s'mores, which were Nutella and marshmallow fluff spread over graham crackers. And Derek had to agree, they were pretty damn good.

He took another bite of one, savoring the rich chocolatey flavor that exploded on his tongue. The sweetness of the marshmallow fluff perfectly contrasted with the creamy Nutella. He looked over at Stiles who appeared to be eagerly waiting for his reaction.

"Well," Derek chuckled, wiping off some marshmallow fluff from the corner of his mouth, "I have to concede. They're not just good—they're delicious."

Stiles beamed at the compliment, looking immensely satisfied with himself.

"And you thought I was crazy when I suggested it," he teased, stealing another graham cracker and assembling another faux s'more for himself, clearly delighted with Derek's approval. "At least this way, we don't have to sit out in the cold by a fire."

The temperature was starting to drop at night, and while it didn't bother Derek, thanks to being a werewolf and running warmer, Stiles was human. The last thing Derek wanted was for him to get sick. Besides, he preferred being happily tucked away inside, under a warm blanket with Stiles by his side.

The crackling fire from the television screen filled the room with a cozy ambiance, making it the perfect setting to enjoy their indoor s'mores. Stiles handed Derek another one, his eyes shining with mischief.

"I've got more culinary surprises up my sleeve," Stiles retorted, biting into his s'more with a satisfied hum.

"Well, you've definitely earned some points tonight," Derek admitted, laughter in his eyes. He bit into the s'more, sitting up when the Nutella began to drip down his chin.

Stiles chuckled and instead of wiping the chocolate away or handing Derek a napkin, he leaned over, licking the droplet of Nutella from Derek's chin to the corner of his lips.

Derek's breath hitched in surprise, his cock twitching as heat pooled in his groin. Fuck. And just like that, he had to have Stiles. Now. He raised a brow in silent challenge, fingers flexing as he lowered his hand to Stiles's hip.

"Oh, is that how it is?" Stiles laughed, turning and straddling Derek's lap before running his hands up Derek's chest. His eyes grew dark with desire, a playful smirk on his lips, his scent spicy-sweet with his arousal.

All Derek could do was grin, his eyes not leaving Stiles's as he thrust up, showing Stiles exactly what he was getting himself into. He whispered into Stiles's ear with a gravelly voice full of hunger and desire. "Are you going to finish what you started?"

Stiles's smirk turned into a cheeky grin at Derek's challenge.

"I always finish what I started," he retorted confidently, his fingers leaving a trail of goosebumps as he drew them down Derek's chest, stopping just above the waistband of his jeans. He locked eyes with Derek, the heat in his gaze only intensifying.

"Well then," Derek retorted, a growl slipping out, causing Stiles to shiver. "By all means."

It became a mess of limbs as they undressed until they were skin on skin and Derek sighed with relief as Stiles settled back on his lap, the tip of his cock dampening Derek's belly. Anticipation coiled in Derek's stomach. The evening had taken an unexpected yet excitingly pleasant turn. It was light, playful, sexy—and tantalizing—the perfect mix of comfort and heated desire.

"How's this?" Stiles asked as if he knew he was killing Derek and was enjoying the torture.

Derek swallowed thickly, running his hands up Stiles's thighs. "Perfect. You're perfect."

And God, he was. Especially when he threw his head back, exposing the long line of his neck.

"Give me your mouth," Derek demanded. If he didn't kiss Stiles right now, he felt like he'd combust.

Stiles nodded, and their playful banter quickly morphed into a slow, passionate dance of lips as Stiles kissed him. It was sweet, flavored with marshmallow fluff and Nutella, and above all else, Stiles.

God, Derek could never get enough of him. He swatted a hand out, feeling for the drawer of the side table, where they kept the lube. Well, one of the bottles. They had them stashed everywhere and anywhere because they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room…it didn't matter.

"Get yourself ready for me," Derek said, coming up victorious as he found the bottle.

Stiles plucked it from his hand, opening and squirting some into his palm before slicking up Derek's cock as he shook his head. "Uh uh, wanna feel you stretch me open."

Derek laughed, the sensation causing him to jerk in Stiles's hand. "Impatient tonight, aren't you?"

"Only for you," Stiles replied with a wink, his hand squeezing Derek's cock, making him gasp. "Now how do you want me?"

Derek growled in response, his hands immediately settling on Stiles's hips. "Ride me."

His heart battered against his chest wall as Stiles's hot, tight body slowly—so damn slowly Derek thought he would die—lowered around him. Stiles was incredible, so fucking perfect.

As soon as Derek was buried to the hilt, he pulled Stiles in by the back of the neck, pressing their foreheads together, his eyes locked on Stiles, heavy with passion and need. He sat there for a moment, breathing heavily before whispering, "I love you."

"I love you too," Stiles replied softly, his hands cradling Derek's face. With a slow grind of his hips, he started moving, riding Derek in a slow, deliberate rhythm. Their bodies moved in a practiced dance, their sighs echoing throughout the living room.

With their eyes still locked, Derek's hands roamed freely over Stiles's back, occasionally dipping lower to feel the curve of his ass as Stiles rode him, setting a pleasurable pace. Stiles clenched tighter with every downward move, making Derek groan, growl, and plea for more.

They went fast and hard, then slow and tender.

Derek wrapped his arms around Stiles, face buried in the crook of Stiles's neck, muttering praises and nonsensical words that only seemed to spur Stiles on more. The way Stiles moved drove Derek wild, especially combined with the sound of their pants, the wet slide of them together.

"Harder, Derek," Stiles begged, his voice was huskier than Derek had ever heard it.

Derek wanted to oblige—every part of him yearned to give Stiles exactly what he wanted. So with his grip tightening around Stiles's hips, Derek lost himself to the pleasure.

Stiles worked himself on Derek's cock, his fingers digging into Derek's shoulder. The sensation was overwhelming, and when Stiles leaned over, pressing a searing kiss to Derek's lips, Derek's knot began to swell.

"Oh fuck. Yes," Stiles moaned, his body shaking. "I need to come. Please. Fuck. Touch me. Make me come."

Derek pumped his hips, reaching between them to stroke Stiles's leaking cock, groaning as Stiles clenched tightly around him. And that was it. That was all it took before Derek's knot locked them together, his orgasm crashing over him.

Stiles threw his head back on a shout. The long column of his throat was beautiful as he cried out with pleasure, the warmth of his release spilling between them as his body convulsed in apparent pleasure. Derek's gums tingled, and as soon as his fangs dropped, he bit into the mark on Stiles's neck—claiming him once more.

Sweating and gasping for air, they rode out the waves of their orgasms together.

"We should...have s'mores...more often," Derek panted, the words slurred around his fangs.

Stiles laughed rather breathlessly, lowering his head onto Derek's chest as Derek raised an arm to hold him tightly.

"Very funny," Stiles mocked, though he sounded more pleased than annoyed. "Don't think we need s'mores in order to do this again."

Derek chuckled, idly stroking Stiles's hair with his other hand. No, they definitely didn't. Not with the affection they felt for each other and the unspoken desire that always seemed to hang heavy in the air. "Agreed."

"Also, now we're all sticky." Stiles chuckled, nuzzling into the crook of Derek's neck, a soft sigh slipping past his lips as his body relaxed atop Derek's. His heartbeat was a soothing metronome against Derek's chest. "Mmm…we should shower. When your knot goes down."

"Yeah," agreed Derek, gently running his hand up and down Stiles's back, the calm exhaustion an intimate comfort.

Stiles's breath evened out, and the steady rise and fall of his chest lulled Derek into a peaceful state, his fangs retracting. He wrapped his arm tighter around Stiles, losing himself in the feel of Stiles right there against him.

This was complete happiness, Derek thought briefly, his eyes fluttering shut, a contented sigh escaping his lips. As long as he had Stiles with him, he couldn't ask for anything else.

#sterek #sterekfestssmut #sterekfests #sterekfestsfall2023 #holy shit i wrote something

[dustyarchivekittendeaths]

"Undiscovered..."

Definitely no one working in the library selected these menus, had them transported, organized them, described them, preserved them, maintained the system for sharing information about them, kept an open reading room for investigating them. They couldn't have! They're "undiscovered."

Definitely no one in the library made a popular crowdsourcing project, "What's on the Menu?" for getting them transcribed and searchable, and while it's not currently updated still has thousands displayed digitally for easy access at home. Online use is use too.

Nope. They're "undiscovered."

You thought you might leave an article about archives and special collections without dust? Nope! The "dusty archives" trope sneaks right in right at the end.

smh.

“Whenever you use ‘musty’ [or ‘dusty’] in an article about archives, the ghost of Schellenberg kills a kitten” - a quote from Brad Houston. This blog highlights the use of tropes like “musty,” “dusty,” and “discovery” in articles about archives and libraries which are relied upon to demonstrate irrelevance, or erase the people doing archival labor.

Poor kitty. We lost another one.

(Cat via @lovemrwar)

#discovery #archives #no dusty archives

[u-mspcoll]

A celebration of #PiDay and #PieDay from the Great Library Bake-off! #GLPBO24!

#libraries #Pie Day #Pi Day #GLPBO24 #special collections #libraries and archives #special collections and archives #special collections libraries #american culinary history #culinary history #pies #pie #bake off #pie bake #pie crust #great library pie bake off #gbbo #glpbo 2024

[aziraphales-library]

Hi, dear mods! I come with a rec and an associated ask. The rec is a sweet little crackish-premised "Aziraphale is a literal star and Crowley is a black hole" AU with references to canon and a cool play around astronomical phenomena. It's called "Like a spiral sea unending" by hapax (hapaxnym). It's a gem, but the problem is, basically all the tags for it are quite useless, because it's such an uncommon idea. Do you happen to know more of these (possibly crackish) impossible-to-find-cause-you-d-never-thought-you-needed-one fics? Preferably funny, not explicit, and with clever references to canon if AU? (I have no idea if canon-compliant fics can be like this).

Have a nice day!

Hello! Tags we have that you might be interested in for more fun and unusual fics are #crack and #outsider pov. Here are some more for you...

Context by Fyre (G)

Sometimes, when you overhear someone in the street, you lack context. An angel, a demon, and three accidental eavesdroppers.

A Culinary Misadventure by PurpleRose (T)

Based on the the prompt: Aziraphale tries to sneak into hell because he wants to see if he can eat S'mores with marshmallows roasted in hellfire. Naturally he gets caught, Crowley finds out, and if you thought he was pissed about the Bastille...

Dear Raphael by asideofourown (T)

The thing was, even after Crowley Fell, Heaven forgot to delete his login to their system. The only half interesting thing he had ever found in Heaven’s archives was their newspaper, even though it was a dreadfully dull rag. But even then, Crowley was never inspired to truly interfere with the Celestial Observer’s contents until the late 1600s, when advice columns were invented on Earth. As always, brilliant inspiration struck him like… like whatever inspiration strikes like. So Crowley resolved to meddle, just as a side project. Maybe if he got enough angels heated at each other, he could report it as a victory to Hell. Anyway, Dagon had always liked gossip, and the Celestial Observer’s new advice column was a ready source of that. It was pure genius. [Crowley, demon of Hell, becomes Heaven's foremost advice columnist]

The Wheel of Fortune by Quefish (T)

Crowley decides to enjoy a bit of mischief by being a game show contestant. Aziraphale is dragged along, much to his dismay.

You've Got Kudos by curtaincall (M)

Aziraphale and Crowley both write fanfiction. As it happens, they both write Good Omens fanfiction. Of course, neither of them would ever admit this to the other. (A love story told primarily in AO3 comments)

The Fortune Teller by AppleSeeds (T)

Through the course of his academic research, Aziraphale discovers that a curse was placed on Edwardian seer Anthony Crowley, trapping him inside a fairground fortune telling automaton for over a century. Aziraphale is determined to find a way to set Crowley free, and becomes increasingly enamoured with him, both from reading his words and through the unconventional conversation they manage to share.

And the one you mentioned...

Like a spiral sea unending by hapax (G)

They used to shine, once. But that was a long time ago. As a black hole, Crowley is condemned to a lonely existence. But then they encounter one bright particular star...

- Mod D

#good omens #ineffable husbands #crack #humour #fluff #mod d

[alexjcrowley]

Hi, it's me, the author of the fucked everything au post, this one

I wanted to add some things, feel free to make your additions

-Sherlock is a firm believer in the Doctor, but he think Crowley is the Doctor, just disguised. He tried to nonchilantly pull his "red wig" from his head. (He has never run into the Doctor for some reason)

-Morpheus and Crowley talk shit about Lucifer when they're drunk.

-Watson and Wilson have a bet on whose partner will break the most law in a week. They're always very close wins.

-Dirk Gently and Aziraphale have become great friends, they take tea together every Thursday and they talk about all sort of stuff. Aziraphale finds Dirk captivating in his weirdness, he thinks he is a very interesting human.

-Scooby Doo is afraid of Dog (Adam's dog)

-Gregory House thinks paralibulites is made up, he steals a couple of Todd's pills to analyse them and see if they're like allucinogens but they're not. He forms an alliance with Sherlock to find out what the fuck is there in those pills.

-James Bond can imitate Benoit perfectly but Benoit can't imitate James, he can't get rid of the accent. Q finds James's impressions very amusing.

-Aziraphale and Philip talks about sweet recipes, they also exchange culinary creations, but, while Philip actually makes them, Aziraphale miracles them because he is shit at cooking. Philip always tells him that he is such a great baker and he feels like a beginner compared to him, Aziraphale smiles patting his arm and saying practice makes perfect. When Philip starts asking for details on how to make the perfect sponge cake or a mousse that won't melt, Aziraphale just miracles someone calling him because oh boy he doesn't know the first thing Philip is talking about.

-Both Sherlock and House tried to get Shaggy to sell them marijuana, unsuccessfully.

-Crowley loves to hear House going on and on about how God doesn't exist. It's hilarious for him. He has to physically stop himself from laughing. He pretends to agree with him.

-Dirk is the only one not fazed about Scooby Doo being a talking dog. When Crowley and Aziraphale are weirded out. They're trying to remember if it's one of their old miracles.

-Ascots were invented by Crowley, because they're simply an insult to style, and also he knew Aziraphale would have loved them. He is proud to see Benoit and Fred wearing them, they release a small but effective amount of evil into the world.

-I saw a post on Tumblr, I don't remember by who, that said if Benoit Blanc is with Hugh Grant it means at some point he had to choose between him and Colin Firth, you know, like in Bridget Jones Diary. This is now canon for me. Philip won Benoit Blanc's heart over Colin Firth and Philip hates talking about Colin, the idea that he could lose Benoit over him is just terrible to remember. Also Colin isn't really called Colin his name is Harry Bright. You were fools if you thought I'd leave Mamma Mia out of this.

-Dirk has heard Matthew the raven talk and Scooby Doo talk and now he is convinced he can talk to animals, that's a skill the universe granted him.

-Benoit Blanc and Aziraphale talk about fashion, obviously.

-If Q and Newton Pulsifer ever met all the computers in the world would explode.

-Also here's a small fic I read some time ago that I really love (and it's a House/Good Omens crossover) on how House and Wilson are alive and well in this au

-Dirk actually somewhat counts amongst the supernatural individuals so Crowley and Aziraphale and Dream and Hob started inviting him and Todd to their dinners. The point is Dirk and Todd haven't understood Ineffable Husbands and Dremling are supernatural individuals yet and they just think they're very eccentric folks.

-Dirk stole Crowley's Bentley once because The UniverseTM and Crowley has been trying to kill him ever since, but the Universe won't let Dirk die. This does not interfer with the Supernatural Dinners Aziraphale insists on hosting and the angel made him promise he won't try to kill Dirk at their house.

-He tries not show, but Sherlock is feeling the competitions with all of these other private detectives showing up. Especially Dirk, because he has no idea how they guy does since he looks like an idiot but he is always on top of the cases.

-Aziraphale unsuccessfully tries to buy the old medicine book Wilson gifted house for Christmas.

-Lestrade tried to stop the Scooby Doo Gang from interfering with a police case but ended up talking about cars with Fred and just...forgot he was supposed to stop these guys. He opted for closing an eye. It wasn't even his division, anyway.

-Q and Mycroft have been trying for years to obtain information on Hob Gadling, Aziraphale, Crowley and Morpheus at MI6 because, like, they're weird. They all come from families in which people always had roughly the same name for some reasons, their documents seem legit but there's something wrong about them. Also why is Crowley financing a witch hunting agency. Like yes he looks weird but not let's hunt witches in 2022 weird.

Dirk: "Your name is Sherlock? I have a friend named Sherlock!"

Sherlock: "It's not a very common name."

Dirk: "His name is Sherlock Hobbs."

Sherlock: "...Interesting."

Todd: "So you're like...you're Sherlock...and Watson."

Watson: "There are our names, yes."

Todd: "But, like, just like... Sherlock and Watson?"

Watson: "Yes. Again, these are our names."

-Benoit and Philip are very proud of Fred, they're only worried about his well being always travelling and having to deal with bad guys (especially Philip, he's scared for his son🥺), but luckily Q installed a tracking device in the Mystery Machine

-Sherlock is secretly fond of Steve McQueen the rat and will go to House's house (my God what did I write) just to pet it. House allows it.

-Sometimes Sherlock and House play together, violion and piano. They found out they have more in common than they'd like to admit and that they enjoy eachothers company, even if they'll never say it out loud.

-(btw I think it was @thesaltofcarthage to headcanon that House is Sherlock's biological father and yes it's far fetched but also I am not opposed to this at all, I like it a lot, I vibe with it so I leave this here and give her the due credits).

-The Them ask Morpheus if he is a new Horseman of the Apocalypse. Morpheus simply smiles at them and then tells Adam "My sister likes you" before going his way.

-Aziraphale dislikes Mycroft a lot because may I remind you Mark Gatiss played one of the two Nazis in the church who played Aziraphale for a fool with the book deal. The rest you know yada yada yada Crowley comes to the rescue.

-House often dreams of Fiddler's Green since he is played by Stephen Fry and he and Hugh Laurie are very close friends.

-I like to think Shaggy actually is an failed attempt at an Antichrist that didn't work out and yes he is...someway Lucifer's son. And kind of Adam's brother. But he doesn't know. Also Scooby Doo is an infernal hound like of course. And Shaggy wished for Scooby Doo to be his best friend and like food and be as scared as him of horror stuff so there you have it.

-Aziraphale knows Wilson. He knew John Keating, great professor, and he went to visit him at Welton Academy once. He remember Wilson when he was young, talentex actor, shame he went for medicine in the end, he could really have a future in the arts. Wilson tells himself his mind is playing tricks on him, the weird man he saw with Mr Keating once must be dead at this time.

Last thing I wanna add I didn't expect this whole everything-I've-ever-watched-au to resonate with people and I am happy you like it, I have fun writing but it's even better to share it with someone, please keep adding ideas and crossovers to this. All the comments and reblogs I had under my last posts were brilliant and all together we make a big brain of mind-blowing ideas.

#bbc sherlock #good omens #house md #sandman #dirk gently’s holistic detective agency #glass onion #scooby doo #james bond #00q #benoit blanc #philip #ineffable husbands #dreamling #johnlock #hilson #benoit blanc x philip #fred jones #dirk gently #brotzly #todd brotzman #mycroft holmes #hob gadling #doctor who #morpheus #sherlock holmes #john watson #mamma mia #dead poet society

[jrooc]

Gallavich Gift Exchange 2024 🎁

My giftee is the wonderful @grumble-fish, with our shared love of AU's, cocky!mickey and a good Meet-Ugly. Hope you like it, friend.

Summary: Old culinary school rivals, Chef Gallagher and Chef Milkovich are going head to head on Bobby Flay's new TV cooking competition show. Who will win?

Read it here!

Thanks to @gallavichthings for organizing, this was so fun to participate in.

#gallavich gift exchange 2024 #gge2024 #meet ugly #cocky!mickey #rivals to lovers #thats a spoiler but not really cause Gallavich endgame #if you like a little competition #this is for you

[rotzaprachim]

#Yiddish

[atiny-piratequeen]

𝓕𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓦𝓪𝔂 𝓗𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓒𝓱. 𝟑 (𝓟𝓽.𝟏)

𓆩⟡𓆪Summary: Wooyoung is a culinary student and he and two of his best friends have been brought along to Namhae to learn and study the farmers out in the countryside and disconnect a bit. Reluctant at first, he just wishes he could've been back in the city and close to his long-time crush Yeosang. Things change when he lays his eyes on the dimpled country boy staying with them that show them around and teach them more about Namhae's way of life, all with a spine-tingling Satoori.

Maybe things aren't so bad out here in the sticks, after all.

𓆩⟡𓆪Pairing: WooSan + Endgame WooSanSang

𓆩⟡𓆪Genres/Aus: Non-Idolverse, Fluff, Romance, Humor, Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Fish Out Of Water Tropes, Au, Mutual Pining, Country Boy San, Culinary Student Wooyoung, Poly Endgame

𓆩⟡𓆪Tws: Swearing, Miscommunications, Jealousy, Mentions of Homophobia, Light Instances of Unwanted Advances (from non mcs)

𓆩⟡𓆪Sws: Wet Dreams, Threesomes, Blowjobs, Handjobs, Risky Sex, Biting, Scenting, Hair Pulling, Praise Kink, Creampie, Cock Sharing, Dirty Talk, Bareback Sex, Riding, Doggystyle, Cum Swallowing

𓆩⟡𓆪Rating: Explicit/Mature (18+)

𓆩⟡𓆪WC: 21k

𓆩⟡𓆪A/n: This is the first of two parts of the final chapter of @schone-lie's commission! Thank you so much my dear and Thank you everyone who has enjoyed this little series. Tumblr did not like that the original document for this was 37k words long. I had to split it up into two parts, but the archive link has the entire chapter all in one. I worked very hard on this, especially given the wait between posting so...If you like it, please make sure to reblog it as well, so that other folks may see my works come across their respective dashes, too. Have a good time zone~

𓆩⟡𓆪AO3| Taglist Form (Please make sure your urls are updated and able to actually be tagged) | Commission Sheet𓆩⟡𓆪

𓆩⟡𓆪Network Ping- @kwritersworld | @kdiarynet | @k-vanity | @cultofdionysusnet𓆩⟡𓆪

𓆩⟡𓆪©atiny-piratequeen. do not repost, translate, or use my works𓆩⟡𓆪

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 (Pt. 2)

“Are you sure you’re okay?” 

Yeosang snapped out of his daze when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back, smiling at Yeji as she quietly observed him. She and the others had returned a few days ago, clearly enjoying their time reunited with their significant others, if the fresh marks on her neck were anything to go by. 

He forced a smile and opened his mouth and she narrowed her gaze suspiciously. He caught the look and lowered his shoulders, rubbing his neck. 

“It hurts like a bitch. But it's alright. That’s just how things are. As long as Woo is still in my life, that’s all I care about.” 

Her eyes softened and she gently rubbed his back, frowning. 

“Do you think…?” He began a sentence and then paused, brows furrowing. Did he want to know the answer? She waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts and his words before he ran a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs back before they fell back into place. 

“Do you think he’s happy?” He questioned quietly, thumbing the book in his hands. She looked at him, her heartbreaking gently as she took in the expression on his face. 

He…really loved Wooyoung. Just, not enough to put their friendship at risk and potentially lose him forever. 

She considered not answering him, but instead, she gently nodded, rubbing his back when she saw him take a shaky breath before exhaling. 

“Good. He deserves it.” He squared his shoulders and picked up the other books on the table before them, turning away from him. Yeji’s eyes followed him as he began to walk down the aisle of the bookstore he part-timed in on days he didn’t have school or his training classes. 

“He comes home in a month. What will you do then?” She inquired. Yeosang gently slid the books back into their places and turned to her, a soft smile stretching across his lips. His eyes didn’t mirror them, but she didn’t call him on it this time. 

“I’ll do what I always do. No matter what, I’m always going to love him and he will always be my best friend as long as he still wants to be. I don’t need to do anything unnecessary to jeopardize that.” His words hung in the air between them before he rolled his neck and found other ways to busy himself. 

Yeji sighed and began helping him out, cracking jokes here and there until she could see him smile. 

 《☆》★《☆》★《☆》★《☆》★《☆》

When San stepped foot into his home that day, he noticed a distinct lack of his favorite (and only) three siblings running up to greet him. He frowned, his shirt splotched in dirt and sweat from the day. It had rained before and he’d taken a fall or two while out in the field. 

That's beside the point, though. 

“Gahyeon? Eric? Jongho?” He called into the home and heard the sound of screaming and the pitter-patter of feet rushing toward him. 

Gahyeon appeared first, her face flushed as she stormed into his space with her hands on her hips. 

“Oppa! Wooyoung can’t leave! He has to stay and marry you!” She huffed. San blinked and looked over her shoulder, finding Wooyoung kneeling, cooing to Eric and Jongho as both toddlers threw tantrums. 

“If you go away, Hyung is gonna get sad!” Eric protested. Jongho sniffled and held out the chunky dragon plushie in his hands. 

“I-I’ll give you Mingi, please don’t go? Hyung doesn’t go to the city, he’s gonna get sad and cry.” His hands shook as Wooyoung gently pet his head, brows pulled up. 

“I’m sorry, Jongho. I have to go home but that’s not for another month. I can’t take Mingi from you.” He gently declined. Jongho’s lip wobbled and he held up his plushie higher.

“Take Mingi. And stay, please.” He tried again. Wooyoung looked distraught until a calloused, yet gentle hand landed on his shoulder, drawing the eyes of the two boys. 

“That’s not nice, boys. You can’t force someone to do something like that.” He gently scolded before meeting Wooyoung’s eyes. 

He looked torn. 

San chuckled, kneeling beside him and kissing his nose until he scrunched it up. 

“Just trust your big brother, it’s going to be okay.” San reassured. Wooyoung blinked at him before something seemed to click in his brain, his lips parting as an excited look sparked in his eyes. 

Gahyeon looked between them before turning to her brothers and smiling. 

“Okay, Oppa said it’s going to be okay and Oppa doesn’t lie. We have to find Mama and Papa and see if they wanna watch Pororo with us!” She pointed proudly down the hall and her brothers perked. Eric bounded down the hall and Jongho trailed slightly behind him before looking back at the men, hugging his stuffed animal close to his chest. 

“I think…I think Hyungs look happy and should stay together…yeah.” He nodded and toddled down the hall, his bare feet slapping against the tile as his bangs bounced with every step. 

Wooyoung watched them go, his shoulders relaxing before he glanced at San. The slightly older man hummed before putting his hands on his knees and pushing himself up to stand. 

“Wanna go on a walk?” He inquired. Wooyoung looked at his hand as he extended and nodded, rising to his feet and following San. 

They walked in silence for a while, though neither of them seemed like they were in a rush to break it. Wooyoung glanced to his left and reached to hold San’s hand, smiling when he felt his fingers lace between his without hesitation. 

By the time they finished walking, San had led him to a railing that overlooked the lower level of the village. Night had begun to fall. San leaned on the railing, the wind sweeping his bangs as Wooyoung stood beside him, staring out at the town. 

“I wanted to clear my head.” 

Wooyoung looked at him out of the corner of his eye. 

“Did the little ones upset you?” 

“Not at all. I knew the night you asked me, I’d happily leave this place behind for you.” 

Wooyoung’s lips parted in shock. San smiled softly, a fond half-lidded look in his eyes. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve been up here.” 

It seemed like a change of the subject, but Wooyoung liked to think he’d gotten very good at reading San’s body language during their time together, so instead of addressing the first part of their interaction, he put his hand at the small of San’s back, gently rubbing. 

Waiting. 

San exhaled after a long beat of silence. 

“When I was rejected at the festival by the boy I had a crush on, he told me to meet him here a few days later. I never skipped school or anything because of it, but he made a point to slip a note in my desk and ask me to meet him here.” San, rolled his shoulders before standing straighter, his eyes staring out but not focused on anything in particular. 

“He told me I was a freak. Asked me why wasn’t I ashamed. A man with another man? What was wrong with me? He told me I didn’t belong here in Namhae.” 

Wooyoung’s fingers tensed along his back and San let out a humorless chuckle. 

"Ever since that day, this hasn’t felt like home. Once I step foot out of Chae-noona and GD-hyung’s home, I’m an alien alone in a foreign planet.” He drummed his fingers against the pole of the railing and then turned to Wooyoung. He slowly pivoted on his heel, turning his back on Namhae and instead facing Wooyoung completely, holding his hands in his own. 

“Then you all came. And I wasn’t looked at weirdly, even after you found out about me.” he continued. Wooyoung didn’t interrupt him, gently rubbing his knuckles as he talked. 

Of course, he wouldn’t treat him differently. None of them would. They understood the hardships well. 

“When you asked me if I’d come to the city with you with that bet, I already knew my answer. Wooyoung,"

San pressed their heads together, staring into his eyes. Wooyoung let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. 

"I think anywhere you are will feel like home to me. If the offer is still on the table, can I live with you back in the city?"

Wooyoung smiled, kissing San as if he was the only person in the world. San smiled and held him close, unbothered by being out and in the open. 

Wooyoung laughed in disbelief when they pulled away from one another, wiping his eyes of tears he wasn’t aware he’d shed. 

“Of course, the offer is on. Are you sure ? I won’t take any offense if you decide to wait for a bit longer or-”

“Wooyoung. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” 

San put their heads together, gently rubbing Wooyoung’s cheeks and tilting his head. Wooyoung held his gaze and then pulled him in for a hug, pressing a prolonged kiss to his cheek, right on his dimple. 

“You have no idea how giddy I feel right now. I feel like I’m in one of those romance novels or something.” He sniffled. San kissed his head and held him close, tucking him in his arms. 

“I think I have an idea. I feel the same.” He whispered into his hair. He looked down at the village as the streetlights turned on and the sun began to set. His apprehension was gone and the fear he had of the great unknown of the city was replaced with an excitement that shook him to his very core. 

“I think we should celebrate,” San suggested, holding Wooyoung’s hand without a care in the world as they slowly made their way back to the house. Wooyoung nodded with his head on his shoulder, squeezing his hand. 

“How about we make that dish your grandparents used to make? I memorized the recipe and taste when you made it for me.” He offered back. San smiled at him and nodded, unlocking and opening the door. 

Three, small heads peeked around the doorframe of the kitchen and three sets of boba-shaped eyes locked onto the two and the honeymoon-worthy smiles on their faces. 

“Operation: ‘ Get Wooyoungie Oppa to marry Sannie Oppa’ is a success,” Gahyeon whispered. Eric squinted, tilting his head. 

“But they don’t gots the ring like Eomma and Appa do.” He muttered back. Jongho squeezed his dragon plushie and gathered his courage, waddling out of his not-so-subtle hiding place and heading over to the two men as they toed off their shoes. 

“-I’ll mince the garlic and you can start prepping the breadcrumbs-Oh hi Jjongie.” San smiled down at his brother and Jongho looked at the two of them with wide eyes full of wonder. 

“....Hi hyung.” He wanted to say more, but found his voice failing. 

San knew his siblings well, and bent down, picking Jongho up before kissing his cheek. 

“Wooyoung-ah is going to be here in Namhae for a few more weeks, Jjongie. Will you help us pack when its time for us to go back to the city?” He inquired. Jongho looked at him, almost seemed upset for a moment before he blinked. 

“Us? Both of you?” 

San simply smiled, bouncing the toddler on his hip. 

“I don’t wanna make Mingi sad, right?” He grinned. 

Realization crossed Jongho, Eric, and Gahyeon’s faces, and instantly all three children burst into tears. 

Chaerin came running at the sound of her babies crying, stopping short when she found the trio tightly holding onto both San and Wooyoung, bouncing excitedly. 

“Will you let us visit? Can we come over?” Jongho questioned excitedly, talking even though San tried to wipe the tears from his cherub cheeks. 

“Are you gonna get a race car bed? Do they make race car beds for big kids like you hyungs? WAIT! Hyung!!!! Do you have a race car in the city?!” Eric gasped, pointing at Wooyoung and catching the Oreo-haired man off guard. 

Gahyeon twirled and bounced around them, her ponytail swinging as she hummed the infamous fanfare for marriage ceremonies. 

“Oppa’s gonna get married~ Oppa’s marrying Oppa~ Oppa’s marrying Oppa, and I’m gonna bring flow-ers!” She sung to the beat. Cherin’s shoulders relaxed as she looked over at the men, finding San and Wooyoung smiling from ear to ear as they humored the energetic children. 

“I guess their night walk went well.” her husband’s voice came from behind her as Jiyong placed a hand at the small of her back. She crossed her arms and watched them a bit longer. 

“I guess it did. It’s about time he got the hell out of Namhae.” She nodded in approval, looking over to Wooyoung. 

“I just hope wherever he goes, he’s happy. He won’t be too far from us, anyway. C’mon, my little rascals. You need to tell us what you three want to be for Halloween so we can start buying the fabric.” She turned and pulled him away, letting the new couple entertain the excited children.

After dinner and washing up, San and Wooyoung found themselves curled up on the couch in the living room. Jongho, Eric, and Gahyeon slept soundly sprawled out in their laps while Changbin watched the screen with rapt attention. Yeonjun played a game on his phone, the screen illuminating his face as his half lidded gaze looked it from top to bottom. 

San looked at Wooyoung out of the corner of his vision, his gaze softening as he took in the city man’s kind gaze. He ran his hand through Gahyeon’s hair, adjusted Eric’s arm so he wouldn’t hurt it with his position, and pressed Jongho’s dragon plushie into his arms before he settled himself. 

In the calmness of the living room, San felt a smile come to his face. 

He’d known he’d made the right decision.

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

August 30th

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

“Okay, do you have all of your things? We can go back and check the house and-”

“Noona-”

“What about your new bank card? Do you have your new bank card? Ji, did you give him his card? He can’t buy anything without-”

“Noona-”

“Oh wait, hold on, I have a basket with some goodies coming, let me just double-check the address-” 

“Mom!”

Chaerin paused in her fretting, looking at her eldest ‘son’ as he stood before her, his bookbag tossed over his shoulder and a teary smile on his face. She bit her lip and stood straight, collecting herself as she met San’s gaze. 

“I’m going to be okay, Noo-mom. Mom . We don’t live too far from here. If I need anything or missed anything, I’ll call. Besides, it’s not like I'm going anywhere drastically different. I’m going to help out in the restaurant with Kibum hyung.” 

Chaerin cupped his face and smiled softly. 

“You know, that’s the first time you haven't corrected yourself when you’ve called me Mom. Not Noona, not Miss Chae. Mom.”

San blushed and kissed her cheek, patting her hands. 

“You’ve been nothing less than that since you took me in. It’s long overdue.” He whispered as she fixed his magenta bangs. 

“Go on. You still have a lot of unpacking to do.” She shooed him off, hugging herself as he waved and jogged back to the car waiting for him on the curb. 

Wooyoung bent down until she could see him, sending her a million-dollar smile as he waved at her. 

“I’ll take care of him, Noona!”

“You better, if you don’t want my foot up your ass, Jung Wooyoung!” 

Wooyoung laughed nervously as San got in the car, taking his hand in his as the Namhae native waved one last time. Wooyoung pulled off, rubbing San’s knuckles as he drove, unable to wipe the smile off of his face. 

“I called everyone over to help us unpack. Did you want to stop off and get breakfast first?” Wooyoung inquired after twenty minutes of navigating through the city traffic. San looked around the city with eyes filled with wonder. 

“....Maybe some other time. I think it would be nice for me to meet up with everyone and thank them properly for welcoming me….Oh, unless I should get gifts. Hell, I didn’t even think of that-” San began to fret as Wooyoung laughed, turning down a street and watching him out of the corner of his vision. 

“I don’t think that’s usually the order of operations, my love. You can give them thank you gifts after you’re settled in.” He told him. San pursed his lips, leg bouncing. 

“Are you sure? I want to make a good first impression with the lot of them.” He sighed, sitting back and watching the houses as Wooyoung drove past them. 

“What’s not to love about you? Plus, everyone’s heard nice things about you from me and the others already, there’s no need to be worried. You have met most of them already.” Wooyoung cheerily told him. San smiled and rubbed his sweaty palms against his pants. 

Right, he hadn’t done anything to make anyone dislike him. 

He had a nagging, persistent feeling like he had forgotten something, though. 

It was replaced with an overarching sense of anxiety when he noticed Wooyoung pulling into a home where several cars had already been lined up outside of. 

The front door opened before he could even put the car in park and a familiar face appeared in the doorway.

Yeji smiled from ear to ear as she locked eyes with the men.

“You were late, so we helped ourselves inside!” she answered the unasked question and put her hands on her hips, looking over at the two of them with a smile on her face. 

San stepped out first, his hair lightened over the past month to a soft bubble gum pink. 

“Sorry, my mom was fretting and-”

“Oh, don’t apologize. We all know what it’s like to leave the nest the first time. I hope Chaerin-noona is doing well.” Changbin said from the door, stepping out into the warm August sun with the others. 

Wooyoung popped his head out of the car, scanning the group before some sort of realization hit him and his smile slightly faltered. 

“Where’s Yeosang?” He inquired. Soobin and Yeonjun exchanged a look before Yeonjun piped up, crossing his arms. 

“He said things were a bit backed up with the training, so he wouldn’t be able to make it today. Something about there being an influx of new training classes for him to lead and another trainer being on maternity leave.” He told them, shrugging. Yeji sighed quietly, but didn’t say a word. 

San couldn’t see Wooyoung’s face, exactly, but he was certain the news wasn’t very favorable to him given the subtle change in his tone when he replied with a simple; ‘Oh, really? That’s too bad, then.’

Chan came around the side of the car and greeted San with a fist bump as he popped open the trunk to Wooyoung’s car. 

“We’ve already unloaded the desk and the dressers from the moving van that came by earlier. You don’t have very many items, do you?” He questioned, changing the subject and picking up two suitcases in an instant. San barely had the time to offer help before Chan was marching up the driveway. 

“I didn’t wanna take up too much space in Woo’s home. Namhae doesn’t really have a shopping district like this place where you can get all kinds of things and I don’t have like, a huge wardrobe of clothes and such.” San admitted, waiting for Wooyoung to exit the car before the two of them grabbed the last few armfuls of boxes and headed inside. 

“It’s your home too, now. I say the first big paycheck you get from working in the restaurant, we go on a big shopping spree for you.” Wooyoung grinned, the bounce back in his voice and step as he lead the way back inside. San laughed, happy the hiccup in his mood didn’t persist longer than a few moments. 

“I’m not sure about that, but for now let’s just get settled in. I wanna make everyone a big, hearty Namhae dinner as a thank you for helpin us out.” San muttered. The moment he stepped into the home, the scent of cooking food hit him full force. 

“Oh please, did you think we were gonna let you come home on an empty stomach? You can cook some other time. Get settled in, take some time to yourselves and go put your clothes away.” Yeonjun pointed to the stairs and San smiled, taking one of suitcases out of Chan’s arms, while Wooyoung grabbed the other. 

When San first stepped foot into what was to be his and Wooyoung’s new shared room, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 

It was so overwhelmingly Wooyoung that he needed a moment to let it sink in. 

He was here. This was his home. 

Wooyoung rustled about behind him for a few seconds before he felt his arms wrap around his frame, his breath fanning over the back of San’s neck.

He shuddered and leaned against Wooyoung, playing with his hands where they stayed around his waist. 

“You did it.” Wooyoung whispered, his lips making the hair at the nape of San’s neck stand on end. San simply purred in response, squeezing Wooyoung’s hands. 

“We did it. I wouldn’t have made that step without you.” He admitted, turning in Wooyoung’s arms and draping his arms over his neck. Wooyoung smiled, looking up at nothing in particular. 

“I know, I am pretty damn convincing, aren’t I?” He teased. San rolled his eyes and kissed him, bringing the room into a comfortable stillness. 

When they broke from each other, Wooyoung ran his hands lower, lightly squeezing his ass. 

“We could make the room more ours, if you were feeling daring.” He smiled lazily and San felt heat rise to the tips of his ears. 

“Your friends are all downstairs.”

“ Our friends can busy themselves, they do it all the time. Is that a no? Because we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” 

San looked at the door behind him for a moment before looking back at Wooyoung. 

“Nothing that’s too much, I don’t want them knowing.” He cleared his throat and Wooyoung sent him a devilish smile. 

“It’s fine. I can find a way to keep you quiet.” 

Wooyoung was nothing if not a man of his word. 

That’s how San found his head hanging upside down from the edge of the bed, his mouth occupied with Wooyoung’s cock as he slowly rolled his hips. Despite the occasional gag when Wooyoung hit the back of his throat, San was proud of the fact he could take him completely, his arms woven around Wooyoung’s thighs. 

Wooyoung’s hands had been splayed across his own thighs, kneading and massaging as he placed contrasting kitten licks and kisses to San’s cock, smiling at the near-desperate way his boyfriend lifted his hips in anticipation. 

“You gotta be still~” Wooyoung whispered along his heated skin, licking up a pearl of precum that beaded at the head of San’s cock. 

San whined in frustration below him, but swallowed sharply when he felt himself being enveloped with the heat of Wooyoung’s mouth. 

Predictably, his hips kicked up at the sudden change, but Wooyoung pushed down on his thighs, surprisingly stronger than before thanks to his time helping out on the farm. 

San’s eyes fluttered, trying to keep his noises down as Wooyoung bobbed his head, his hands trailing up San’s thighs as he worked his hips, gradually thrusting faster into San’s mouth. 

‘Oh so he can thrust but I can’t?’ San pouted mentally, though his cock throbbed at the treatment, squeezing Wooyoung’s thighs in encouragement. 

Wooyoung smirked around his cock, tilting his head and deepthroating him without a single gag, moaning and purring around San. 

The muffled moan that had brought forward made Wooyoung lift his head, laughing softly as he stroked San’s cock. 

“You gotta keep it down, my love. Who knows who could hear us if you can’t.” He purred. San had half a mind to half-heartedly pinch his thigh at the teasing, but he heard a cap open somewhere between his legs and perked. 

“Remember, Sannie. Keep it down for me.” Wooyoung urged, squiring lube into his hand and licking up the length of San’s cock once more. San’s thighs flexed when he felt Wooyoung swallow him down once more, cool fingers rolling against his rim teasingly. 

San would be lying if he said the action didn’t make his heart rate increase. 

He was the quieter of the two of them, that much was for sure, but the looming possibility of them being found out, even if it was just through the door, made him excited in a way he couldn’t describe. 

San was convinced this city boy currently using his mouth and playing with his ass and cock had corrupted him in more ways than one, but there was honestly no place in the world he’d rather be than right here in this moment. 

The pink haired man gently moved his roughened hands up to Wooyoung’s ass, encouraging him to thrust faster as his legs subtly inched further apart, welcoming his fingers deeper. 

He was met with a purr of approval and Wooyoung curling his fingers ever so slightly inside of him. San swallowed sharply, eyes rolling back as Wooyoung began massaging his prostate with two persistent fingers. 

“M-mmfnn- mmnnn-”

Wooyoung held himself down on San’s cock, letting him buck his hips freely as he alternated his fingers between stretching him and toying with his prostate. He was careful not to put his full weight on San as he felt himself getting closer to his climax. 

The two came only a minute or so apart from one another, and Wooyoung was careful when he pulled away, immediately kneeling to check on San as the man panted, a dazed expression on his face. 

“You alright, baby?” Wooyoung inquired, helping him right himself from the upside-down position. San nodded, drool making a mess of his lips. Wooyoung grinned and placed a messy kiss to his lips before pressing their foreheads together. 

“ Welcome home. ” He purred. San smiled at him, opening his mouth to respond before a voice startled both of them. 

“HEY! YOU TWO BETTER NOT BE FUCKIN WHILE WE’RE HERE! THE FOOD’S DONE, GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE!” Yeonjun called up to them from the bottom of the staircase. 

San blushed and haphazardly wiped his messy face with his own shirt while Wooyoung stomped to the door, opening it and calling down to him. 

“NO ONE IS FUCKING, WE SAID WE’RE GONNA PUT SOME STUFF AWAY.”

“IT’S BEEN AN HOUR, ASSHOLE.”

“DON’T RUSH US, JACKASS.”

The two bickered and San laughed behind his hand. 

Yeah, he was certainly in his new home. 

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

    September 1st

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

“San moved into the house yesterday, by the way.” Chan brought up casually. The sound of feet running on a belt beside him continued, pounding away. 

“Is that so? That’s good. Glad it went well.”

“Wooyoung was looking for you.” He continued, eyes watching carefully. 

He was met with nothing more than the sound of those feet on the treadmill, running. He sighed softly, watching Yeosang run beside him. 

“Yeji said something about you having more classes?””

“Something like that.” Was the brisk response, followed by the beeping of the treadmill being turned up a few more speeds. 

“We’re all trying to set up a big dinner or something soon.” He carefully brought up. Yeosang kept his gaze fixed on the wall across from them in the gym, bangs bouncing as he ran. It took him much longer than usual to give him a response. 

“I’m really busy. It may be better to go ahead without me for a bit.” 

Ah, so that was what was going on. 

“Yeosang, are you avoiding going anywhere near Wooyoung?”

Yeosang cut him a glance before looking forward again. 

“I just need some time to collect myself. It’s not fair to him or his boyfriend to have me be…like this around them” 

Chan sent him a sympathetic look. It had been over a month but the news of Wooyoung not only finding a boyfriend in Namhae for his studies and then bringing said man home to live with had clearly hurt Yeosang more than he originally let on. 

“Do you want some company? I can set up something, just us, Yeji, and Binnie?”

Yeosang shook his head, sweat rolling down his brow as he carefully turned the treadmill down, slowing to a stop, putting his hand on his hips as he panted harshly. 

“There’s no need to do that. You guys go, have fun. I’m going to be busy with work, anyway.” He sent Chan a smile that was as fake as they came, walking past him after he’d hopped off of the machine. 

Chan watched him go and sighed, lips pursed. 

He hated seeing his friend like this, but he had no idea where to start. Heartbreak was one of the trickiest things to heal from. 

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

   September 13th

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

San had expected working in the kitchen in Kibum’s restaurant to be one of the most daunting things he’d ever have to do. 

After all, a fancy restaurant full of students who spent their college years to get here, now having some country bumpkin come along and encroach on their territory? He thought he’d get eaten alive-

Instead, he was adored as soon as he’d walked through the door. 

“San, can you accompany Jiwoo outside? This is for table number three and there’s a full party.” 

“One of the waiters called out, San, do you mind helping on the floor?”

“San, do you have any suggestions for a new menu option? We’re workshopping a rotation of some dishes to change things up.”

San wasn’t a religious man, but in these moments, he couldn’t help but to feel blessed. He’d found somewhere he’d fitten in and was not only useful, but able to still be who he wanted to be. 

“Hey,” Wooyoung snuck a kiss as he passed him, an armful of freshly washed vegetables in his possession before he rushed to the other side of the kitchen to prep them. 

All of this, while working alongside the man he loved. What else could he ask for? What else could he need? 

The cool September air helped him clear his head as he walked, pushing a cart of supplies toward the restaurant. 

“I should visit mom and tell her about things once we’re done today.” He mused before he heard the sound of wheels on concrete. 

They're going…rather fast, huh?

He turned his head to the right, blinking as he watched a man come skateboarding down the block with a giant dog on a leash in front of him. 

San was startled. The dog looked huge , like a bear. Without thinking, he pushed the cart faster and swiveled it off to the side, eyes wide as he watched the dog barrel towards him. 

“Yunho, heel.” 

The dog stopped in an instant, sitting politely with his tongue out, staring at San from beneath a mass of hair as the man on the skateboarding man skid to a halt just shy of colliding with the cart. 

San held his chest, looking at the man in surprise. 

Oh, he was…well, he was rather attractive , wasn't he?

San felt a panic rise in his chest at the passing thought, unable to speak first. Thankfully, the man did it first

“Are you okay?” he inquired, glancing back and forth between him and the giant bear of a dog looking at him curiously. 

At least, he thought he was. He couldn’t exactly see his eyes.

“I’m fine. Sorry about that. Normally there aren’t many people out on this street so late at night. Did anything fall? Are you alright?” the man inquired, looking at the cart San had yanked aside. San looked down, swearing when he saw he’d flung off some of the delicate items sitting at the very top of the cart off with his hurried movements. 

“Shit, Kibum-hyung is gonna be pissed.” He ran a hand through his freshly dyed black hair. There was a small look of surprise on the other man’s face before he cleared his throat and knelt down to pick up some of the ingredients. San looked at his side profile, watching as he sighed quietly. 

“I’ll go and apologize properly. We were being reckless.” he ignored the confused and concerned noises coming from San’s lips, looking at the dog and offering his skateboard. 

“Yunho, hold.” 

Yunho took the board carefully in his mouth, standing and following the man as he walked towards the restaurant. San frowned and gathered his bearings, following him from a decent distance so he didn’t accidentally hit the man or the dog. 

Something about him was oddly familiar. 

“Excuse me, you don’t have to do that, I was the one who dropped it.” 

“I was the one that startled you. I’m responsible for this, too. I’ll just apologize so you don’t get in trouble.” 

San began chattering in a panic, but the man with the fluffy black hair didn’t respond to him, knocking on the back door of the restaurant. San pursed his lips. He hadn’t gotten much of a look at the man’s face, maybe he was a worker he had yet to meet? He was awfully familiar, though. 

“Hm? San, are you back-Yeosang?” Wooyoung looked up in surprise and San felt that last puzzle piece click into place. 

So that’s what was so familiar.

“I knocked over some of these. Ask Hyung to send me the bill, it’s not San’s fault it fell.” He told Wooyoung. The slightly shorter man narrowed his eyes at him, pointing a finger in his direction. 

“Where the hell have you been?” He completely ignored the sentence, huffing at him. Yeosang looked at Yunho, seemingly giving him a command with a gesture of his hand before he stepped inside and placed the destroyed ingredients on the floor. Yunho patiently waited outside, sitting politely with his tail wagging to and fro.

Wooyoung followed Yeosang’s every step with his eyes until finally, the older man spoke.

“Working.” Was the simple response. Wooyoung narrowed his gaze. 

“Every day for nearly two weeks since I’ve come home?” 

“Yes.” 

“Yah! Kang Yeosang, are you out of your damn mind?!”

The two bickered, with Yeosang’s voice calm while Wooyoung wore his displeasure on his sleeve. San glanced back and forth between them, unsure if he could (or should) interrupt their squabbling. 

“You could’ve stopped by and said hi or something once you got off!” 

At that, Yeosang finally broke eye contact, pressing his lips together before he sighed. 

“.....You’re right, I’m sorry. I figured I would be bothering you so late.” 

Wooyoung’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he took a look at the man, gasping and cupping his cheeks, yanking him down. Yeosang hardly blinked, though a small, tired smile came to his face. 

He was used to Wooyoung’s over the top fretting.

“Your eyes have bags under them, are you not sleeping?!” 

“I’m fine, Wooyoung.” 

“You are not, I’m gonna kick your ass, you’re gonna make yourself sick again. Do I have to come over and take care of you again like last time?” Wooyoung half-heartedly glared into his eyes. There was something…sad in Yeosang’s eyes for a moment before he gently took Wooyoung’s hands off his face. He gently set them at his side and sent Wooyoung a tired smile. 

“I appreciate you. But it’s alright. It’s a busy patch at work and then once it passes, I can take a vacation or something.” 

Wooyoung furrowed his brow in worry. Yeosang never did so unless someone forced him to. The man was practically allergic to taking time off. Finally, San found his voice from beside them. 

“How about you come over for dinner?”

Both of them turned their heads over to look at him, Yeosang met his eyes and then glanced away, all while Wooyoung’s eyes lit up as he perked. 

“That’s a great idea!” Wooyoung cheered, hooking an arm into a startled Yeosang’s. 

That’s how they ended up here, hours later, with Yunho pressed against Yeosang’s side, licking his jowels as he waited for Wooyoung to fish out the extra bowl he kept in his house for the hound’s visits. 

San came up to them, softly smiling at the man he’d only heard about through the others. Yeosang turned his gaze from Wooyoung and looked at him as San bowed slightly in greeting. 

“Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name’s Choi San.” 

Yeosang bowed back, running his hand through the fur at the top of Yunho’s head to busy at least one of his subtly shaking hands. 

“Kang Yeosang. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

There was a silence that hung in the air, something unsaid hanging in the air after the end of the sentence and San wondered if he’d left a bad impression on the man. 

If so, he didn’t mean to! From what San could gather, Yeosang is Wooyoung’s closest friend, and the two had been attached at the hip since elementary school. The whole reason Wooyoung had moved into this particular city was to keep close to Yeosang, after all. 

San reckoned this was around the moment some people would try to size up the ‘competition’ or something of the sort. Yeosang was Wooyoung’s first love, San knew this well. 

And here he is, standing in front of his current love and boyfriend. 

San still felt this odd, mystified feeling looking at the quiet dog trainer. It was familiar, yet foreign, and San combed through himself to see if he could pin down exactly what that emotion was. 

“I got it!” Wooyoung cheered, startling him out of his thoughts as he victoriously knelt on the counter. At some point, while they were talking, he must have jumped up onto it to reach a dog bowl with Yunho’s name engraved on it. He wobbled ever so slightly as he attempted to move into a more neutral position. 

San startled, jerking to attention. 

“Wooyoung, get down!” He moved towards him as Wooyoung tried to dismount himself but Yeosang let out an exasperated sigh and picked him clean up, holding him bridal style with an unimpressed look on his face. 

"Now, if you crack your ass on the floor and I laugh at you, I'm in the wrong, hm?"

Wooyoung seemed perfectly comfortable, deadweighting in Yeosang’s arms. 

"You wouldn't do that~"

"I absolutely would. After making sure your stupid ass isn't concussed or sitting on the floor in a dead roach position."

Yeosang put him down and then moved around him to set up the bowls for a patiently waiting Yunho. Wooyoung made his way over to San, leaning into his space and startling him into focusing his gaze back on Wooyoung instead. 

"Are you okay?" He whispered, sending him a curious look. San glanced at Yeosang as the trainer stepped into the next room to set up and then nodded once. 

"Yeah."

Wooyoung caught the glance, though, and the smile on his face flickered. 

"Oh…I'm sorry. Am I being too much? I'm always this clingy with Yeosang but I…I guess it's not really appropriate-"

San shook his head and put his hand on Wooyoung’s forearm. 

"I'm not bothered. I'm actually really happy you were able to see him. He's your best friend, he's important to you." 

Wooyoung slow blinked in surprise, his lips parted. Eventually, he let out a small laugh and wrapped his arms around San, kissing him once as the country-born man wrapped his arms around him instinctively. 

"You'd be 100% valid if it did bother you. Not everyone is comfortable with that kind of stuff with their partners and other people…be it friendly or flirty. Are you sure? I wouldn't be upset if you told me you weren't comfortable with it." Wooyoung whispered. San sent him a kind smile. He truly did not mind. 

"I don't lie to the folks I love," San told him, tenderly massaging his hips. Wooyoung smiled and stole another kiss from him before both of them shifted away from each other in a flustered hurry as Yeosang came back in the kitchen to wash his hands. 

"Sorry-" San began to apologize, but Yeosang shrugged, sending him a small smile. 

"It's your house. I'm gonna sit in the living room with Yunho and stay out of the way of you two so you can cook in peace.” Yeosang excused himself without conflict, moving to sit on the couch while Wooyoung rolled his sleeves up. 

“C’mon, San. I know exactly what we should make.” 

In the living room, Yeosang let his head thump onto the back of the couch, a deep exhale pushing past his lips as he tried to calm the chaotic storm of emotions in his mind. 

Seeing Wooyoung was good. He couldn’t keep avoiding him. Yeosang missed him dearly and he felt like a bold-faced liar for telling Yeji he wouldn’t change how he was acting towards his best friend. 

But at the same time…Yeosang wasn’t sure he liked the tightness in his chest every time he saw the tender look in Wooyoung’s eyes when they landed on San. He’d felt punched in the gut when he walked in on them kissing. Maybe he wasn’t ready to be around Wooyoung and San yet. 

And that was the other piece to the equation. San. 

The country boy who had stolen everyone’s hearts with a dimpled smile and a purred satoori. 

Yeosang had ignored all the times the pink haired man had been staring at him when he thought neither he or Wooyoung were paying attention. Yeosang had good senses for things like that, especially when being in charge of mischievous dogs when training and preteens trying to sneak into the section of the book store that held the adult reading material. 

Even when he wasn’t looking back, Yeosang knew the feeling of being stared at well. 

Which begged the question, why? 

San had no doubt heard about him while Wooyoung was away. Yeosang’s first thought was that he was being sized up or something of the sort and San took offense to Wooyoung’s particular brand of…clingy affection. 

But that didn’t seem to be the case. He’d caught San’s gaze softening several times during Wooyoung and Yeosang’s (many) playful bickering bouts throughout the evening, and if Yeosang didn’t know better, he could have sworn he’d seen San let out more than a few sighs of relief when he seemingly realized the two of them were not, in fact, at each other’s throats for real. 

So, why? 

Yeosang hadn’t realized his leg was bouncing until a warm mass of fur set itself directly in his lap. He laughed and looked down, running his hand through Yunho’s fur as the mastiff cuddled close to him, clearly resisting the urge to jump on the couch for the full cuddle, if the way his back legs kept shifting were anything to go by. 

Yeosang smiled. Yunho always knew when he wasn’t doing to well mentally or emotionally. 

The trainer moved himself to the floor, accepting a few kisses from Yunho as the giant canine shifted to make room, seemingly happy with the development. Yeosang nuzzled Yunho’s abdomen, eyes closing as he enjoyed the comfort from his canine best friend. 

Resting his eyes, that’s all he was doing. 

Idly, he wondered if he would have an easier time with all of this if San was someone he could hate. If he was ugly, if his personality was rude, if he was overly vain, something.

Instead, Yeosang was left with this heavy feeling in his chest and the reluctant realization that Wooyoung’s boyfriend, at least from what he could tell right now, was a good match for him. 

Resting…just resting. That’s all. His eyes, resting.

Wooyoung poked his head into the living room an hour later, a hand on his hip and an amused smile on his face as he watched Yeosang. The slightly older man was fast asleep on the floor, with Yunho sitting as still as a statue with his head resting beside Yeosang’s, occasionally lifting up to give his owner a small, grooming lick to his face or his hair. 

Wooyoung made his way over, kneeling down after grabbing a blanket that was on the couch. 

“You’re not getting enough rest, stupid-” He muttered under his breath as he covered Yeosang up. Yunho lifted his head to sniff Wooyoung’s hand before relaxing, giving him a small lick to his knuckles before closing his eyes. Wooyoung laughed and kissed the top of the dog’s head. 

“You be a good pillow for my stubborn ass friend, okay?” He whispered into his fur. 

Yeosang stirred slightly, but Wooyoung only pet his head, fingers running through deep conditioned silken locks. 

“And you settle down. It’s not time for you to wake up yet.” He scolded the unconscious man and Yeosang ended up relaxing his muscles, the momentary furrow of his brow evening out. Wooyoung lingered for a moment or two longer than he had intended before he finally moved away from Yeosang to finish cooking with San. 

They woke him up once they were done, with all three men seating themselves on the couch, watching a comedy to go along with their meal. 

“It’s delicious.” Yeosang quietly complimented, eating his chicken with an impressed hum. Wooyoung smiled from ear to ear, settled between the two of them. 

“Thank you~ We took back some of the garlic we harvested back in Namhae and San helped me tweak the sauce. I think it tastes a lot better.” He smiled while San shyly rubbed his neck with his clean hand. 

“It’s not really much of a change, yours was great already.” 

Yeosang glanced at him over the top of Wooyoung’s head. 

“....but it does have more of a lingering aftertaste now. I’ve eaten plenty of Wooyoung’s food in our years together. The garlic chicken is always my favorite. I do like your addition to it. Good job.” He complimented with a small approving nod. 

San felt a flicker of heat settle in his cheeks as he bashfully nodded and looked away. 

“No problem.” 

“Yeosang~ Praise me more too” Wooyoung teased, earning him an elbow to the ribs and a half-hearted ‘ nevermind, I take it back ’ from his best friend. 

The two bickered for a bit more before settling into a comfortable near silence, only interrupted by chewing and the occasional sip of someone’s drink. 

San felt his eyelids getting heavy, and apparently, he wasn’t the only one. Wooyoung’s head had made its way to his shoulder, and he’d cuddled in almost instantly, falling asleep minutes after San put an arm around him. 

Yeosang stood, collecting the plates and cups before San could sleepily protest. Yunho followed him into the kitchen, and San could pick up the sound of the dog trainer washing dishes inside. 

He finished minutes later, strolling into the living room again and taking the same blanket Wooyoung had draped over him and setting it over San’s shoulders and part of Wooyoung’s body. 

San perked ever so slightly, feeling soft fingers brush over his bicep with the motion. He lifted his head, watching as Yeosang hooked his leash back into the loop of Yunho’s harness. 

“You’re leaving…?” He drowsily inquired. Yeosang glanced over his shoulder at San, his eyes drifting down to Wooyoung for a moment, and then looking back into the country man’s eyes. 

“Yeah. I appreciate you making dinner for me. I’ll lock the door after myself, so don’t worry. You two should move somewhere more comfortable to sleep so you don’t hurt your necks, by the way….whenever you want.” Yeosang nodded and began making his way to the front of the house. 

San called out to him as he was sliding his shoes on. 

“Come back soon! You’re always welcome.” 

He missed the way Yeosang’s jaw tightened, his fingers lacing his shoes a bit tighter than he’d needed them to be. 

“Thanks. Have a good night, San.” 

Yeosang left quietly, and San looked to his side. Wooyoung had been undisturbed by the movements and talking above his head, completely content with his cheek squished against San’s chest. 

San kissed his head softly and shifted, picking him up and carrying him to their bed. Wooyoung shifted deeper into his arms the moment he laid him down and San smiled softly, finally letting sleep pull him under, as well. 

Yeosang rode his skateboard down the block with Yunho easily pacing him with long gallops. The wind blew his hair across his forehead and the chill of the night shocked him awake, seeping into his bones through the light jacket he was wearing. 

“Come back soon! You’re always welcome.”

Yeosang sighed as he rolled down the block. 

Why couldn’t that Namhae guy have been an asshole? Everything would have been so much easier.

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

   September 15th

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

“Okay~ So we’re both off today and I think I’m gonna take you out for a shopping spree.” 

San squinted at Wooyoung from across the room, fresh, dark red circles littering his neck and chest as Wooyoung began preening in the mirror. 

They’d had…a very long and energetic night that carried into the early morning. San was normally the very first to rise out of the two of them, a circadian rhythm carried over from years of early rising to farm. 

However , today was different. Today San was tired. 

“I’m goin’ back ta sleep.” San grumbled, closing his eyes and letting his head thump back onto the pillow that smelled like a mixture of him and Wooyoung’s preferred colognes. 

Wooyoung glanced at him before smiling devilishly. 

“Aw~ Is my handsome baby tired?”

“Wooyoung, you made me cum three times and edged me between the second and third time. Yes, yes I am tired.” San grumbled. As muffled as his voice was from the pillow, Wooyoung heard him loud and clear, laughing as he walked up, kissing his shoulder. 

“I’ll treat you to coffee~”

San didn’t move for a moment before finally lifting his head, eyes half-heartedly narrowed at him. 

“Bribery.”

“It absolutely is. I’ll even throw in some kisses if you hurry.”

“You’ll kiss me anyway.”

“Of course I will.”

San rolled his eyes and got up, kissing Wooyoung’s nose before he set off to get dressed. He appeared half an hour later with a pair of comfortable jeans and an overgrown hoodie, a pair of glasses settled on his nose as he watched Wooyoung rush back and forth. 

“Too cold for this…this is faded…. is that a tear? ” Wooyoung muttered under his breath, rummaging through his clothes. San arched a brow and stood, making his way over and extending an arm, catching Wooyoung around the waist one of the times he moved to rush by. 

“Just wear something comfortable. You look good no matter what.” He lightly scolded. Wooyoung paused for a moment before seemingly recalibrating, dipping back into the closet and emerging moments later with his pair of comfy jeans, accompanied with a low cut v-neck sweater that showed off his own marks he’d gotten from San in return last night. 

“Thank you, darling. C’mon, we gotta get there early. There’s this place I want to take you to specifically.” 

San tilted his head, his curiosity peaked, but didn’t ask. He liked surprises, and if the look on Wooyoung’s face was anything to go by, he probably wouldn’t get any answers even if he did ask. 

They headed out together, and San realized this had been his first time getting to walk through and window shop in the heart of the city since they came here. 

They’d moved and he practically spent all of his time settling into his new job and new home. 

Everything here was so… big . It was kind of overwhelming at first. Crowds of people so dense he’d had to constantly shift to and fro beside Wooyoung so he didn’t bump into anyone hustling by to get to their jobs. 

Wooyoung laced his fingers into San’s, sticking his hand in his boyfriend’s hoodie pocket and pressing himself close to him. 

The tension San hadn’t noticed gathered in his shoulders melted away in an instant. He smiled, running his fingers over Wooyoung’s knuckles. 

“So, we’re heading to the mall?”

Wooyoung smiled. 

“After somewhere else.”

There it is. San knew Wooyoung had something else under his sleeve. He squeezed his hand and chuckled quietly. 

“I’m already up and about. Take me wherever ya want.” 

Wooyoung smiled triumphantly and continued pulling him along, making idle conversation about the ins and outs of their kitchen and the upcoming plans for some changes as the holidays began to roll in. 

San listened with rapt attention, curious to try some of the food Wooyoung had mentioned. The telltale rumble in his stomach as they stepped into a building reminded him that he hadn’t eaten yet, either. 

Before he could voice this, he realized they’d stepped into a building with giant, sprawling murals of aquatic animals, hand painted just behind a smiling and waving team behind the counter in front of them. 

San’s lips parted. 

An aquarium?

Wooyoung let his hand go long enough to practically skip over to the woman at the middle register, leaning on the counter. 

“Two tickets, please. I’d like to include the Orca Diner package, too.” 

The woman smiled kindly and nodded, her hands flying over the keyboard in front of her. San appeared beside Wooyoung, looking at the giant sea turtle panting behind her on the wall. Wooyoung pressed his hips back, settling down when he felt San’s solid form behind him. 

“You’ve never been to an aquarium, right? I wanted to surprise you. It's early on a weekday, so we don’t have to worry about a big crowd just yet.” Wooyoung explained, smiling as he handed his card over to the worker. 

San felt his gaze soften, his hand subtly rubbing his hip. 

“No, never. Thank you, Woo. I’m excited.” 

Wooyoung looked pleased, taking the card and the two wristbands they were given. He fastened the clasp on San’s wrist before letting his boyfriend put his on. Once done, he led the way down the left hall, a bounce in his step San found absolutely adorable. 

“The Orca Diner has such good food and the package I paid for has a special view. I’ve always wanted to go on a date here.” He mused, flashing his wristband at the worker stationed outside. He checked the design on the bands and then guided them to a room. 

When he opened the door, San felt his jaw drop. 

The room’s ceiling and wall was all glass, and as they settled at their table, they watched as schools of fish and even a lemon shark swam past them. San looked up, the blue of the aquarium water making his face light up as he watched the animals in wonder. 

Wooyoung propped his head on his palm, watching San with a smile. He felt warmth bloom in his chest as his boyfriend placed his palm on the cool glass, his eyes darting left and right, up and down, unable to focus on just one creature, smiling so wide it made his dimples pop. 

Wooyoung felt his heart flutter, pride welled in his chest. 

San had worked hard, he had only wanted to treat his beloved. He was glad it had worked out this way and San was enchanted by the beauty around them. 

They both ordered themselves a hearty breakfast meal, and finally San tore his gaze away from the glass to look at Wooyoung. 

“Did you plan this date?” 

Wooyoung’s lips curled upwards proudly. 

“Of course I did.”

San smiled softly and leaned over, kissing him softly. 

“Thank you. I’ve never seen anything like this.” San sounded as if he was in a dream, casting glances back at the fish as they swam by, paying them no mind as they went about their aquatic day. 

Wooyoung smiled. He’d always wanted to go on an aquarium date. As weird as it may sound, he often found himself getting design and decorative ideas when looking at the more outlandish and flamboyant animals their world had to offer. He found peace going to places like this in his free time-and he’d been here several times, knew this place to be a rehabilitation center for wildlife release, as well-and he’d breathed a sigh of relief knowing San also was enjoying himself. 

They’d gotten their food and ate while making light conversation. Wooyoung told him between bites where he’d like to take them in the aquarium. San leaned over, eyes twinkling excitedly as he listened to Wooyoung with rapt attention. 

“-and then we finish off with the seals. Seals are my favorite, next to the otters.” He told him triumphantly. San smiled and kissed his nose, setting his chopsticks aside. 

“Sounds like a good plan. I’ll follow ya. We should take pictures, I think Mom, Dad, and the little ones would love to see.” 

Wooyoung smiled and nodded, standing and heading out after he’d finished paying. The two walked hand and hand through the aquarium, walking nearly in sync as they took in the sheer size of the facility. 

Wooyoung always found places like this to feel so much bigger inside than out. 

San couldn’t hold back his quiet, amazed ‘woahs’ and ‘wahs’ as he looked around, taking time to read nearly every informational plaque on the animals they happened to pass by. 

“Oh, they’re so smooth, seriously, come feel this, Woo!” San gasped as he ran his fingers over the back of a baby ray in the handpool. Wooyoung couldn’t hide the sheer joyous smile on his face as he obliged his boyfriend, running his fingers gently and politely over the ray as it swam past him. 

The two took pictures of nearly everything, taking turns on taking pictures of the animals, then each other near the animals, and then them together with the glass walls of the aquarium behind them for a stunning backdrop. 

By the time they’d reached the seals, both of them had sore cheeks from the smiles and laughter. They watched as a trainer explained the story of the one-eyed seal they’d had in a particular tank, her rescue and recovery story, all while the excited mammal hobbled about beside her, eagerly patting her own belly and waiting for a fish she was so generously rewarded between the trainer joyously explaining everything. 

San looked down at his arms, full of souvenirs and plushies from the aquarium by the time the duo popped out of the facility. Wooyoung grinned and opened the bookbag he’d purchased inside, taking his time to arrange every purchase they made nearly inside before he zipped it up and slung it over his shoulder, sending San a fox-like smile. 

“You look so cute, I never would have thought you’d like whale sharks so much.”

“They’re pretty!” San pouted, following him down the block. Wooyoung snickered to himself before he nudged him. 

“Don’t get too comfortable, my love. We still have all the other shopping to do.” he reminded him before hooking his arm under San’s and taking off running, both of them speeding off towards the subway.

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

     October 12th

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

-“Your brother’s birthday is coming up.” 

San looked up from the basket of laundry he was folding. He had one of Eric’s race car hoodies in his hands as he peered over it at Chaerin. 

“Do you have any big plans? Are we going to do another pumpkin patch thing or go to a petting zoo?” He inquired with a smile, folding Gahyeon’s dress next. Chaerin stirred her food on the stove thoughtfully before she turned to look at him over her shoulder. 

“He wants to spend it with you…and Wooyoung. The others, too. He says you all are his ‘bestest friends’.” She hummed. San’s gaze softened as he glanced into the next room, finding his three siblings sleeping together under a blanket Jiyong had sewn for them. 

She added a sprinkle of spice to her mix, the chopsticks occasionally tapping along the sides of the pan. 

“Eric started kindergarten and we found a daycare that will accept Gahyeon and Jongho, but Jongho is worried about making friends, so he wanted you all to come over. Feel free to tell them to bring their partners, just all of you bare in mind he’s a bit of a sensitive boy.”

San smiled and nodded, finishing up his cleaning before he dried his hands and got to work sending a mass text to all of his friends.

At the very least, he and Wooyoung would be there, he just hoped the others would come along with them.- 

“Thanks again for letting us come over, Noona!” 

Well, this went…better than expected. 

Chaerin put her hands on her hips, watching as Wooyoung and San’s friends filtered into the home, each in pajamas and holding some kind of snack.

Jongho held her hand, his eyes lightening up as he saw everyone setting down snacks and at least one present each. 

There were people there he didn’t know, but the comfy pajamas Chaerin had instructed them all to wear for the party helped. 

Wooyoung smiled and knelt down, opening his arms. 

“Is that my birthday boy? Happy birthday, Jongho!”

Jongho smiled and rushed out, throwing his arms around Wooyoung’s neck and smiling as he peeked over his shoulder. 

“Hi..I’m J-Jongho.” He quietly introduced himself, hiding moments later as the other adults smiled at him.

“Hi Jongho! I’m Yeji!”

“Happy birthday, sweetheart. My name is Chris, but you can call me Chan, if you want.” 

They went down the line, introducing themselves and handing off high 5s and gentle ruffle’s of Jongho’s hair while passing off their gifts. 

San stood off to the side, taking the gifts and smiling from ear to ear while Gahyeon and Eric balanced on his hips. 

The very last person to arrive was Yeosang, who stayed close to the door, talking with Jiyong while the others were giving their greetings. 

Once Jiyong smiled and nodded, pointing behind him, San saw what they were talking about. 

Yunho was with him, a sleeping hat on his head and a set of fluffy dog booties on each of his paws. All three of the children locked eyes on the massive canine and Yeosang stopped, making a motion with his hand and having Yunho do the same. 

“Sorry we’re late. This is Yunho and my name is Yeosang. Happy birthday, friend.” Yeosang smiled softly. Yunho’s tail wagged, a bag held in his teeth. 

Wooyoung looked at Jongho, checking for any signs of fear. Yunho was bigger than him by a significant amount, after all. 

Instead of apprehension or even tears, he found Jongho wiggling trying to climb down, and as soon as he did, he toddled over to Yunho and Yeosang. 

Chaerin watched like a hawk, her body tense, while both Eric and Gahyeon wiggled free of San’s grip, coming over to the dog, as well. 

Yeosang kept an eye on the situation, kneeling once they got close. Before he got the chance to inform them of how to greet dogs, Jongho looked up at him, shifting from one foot to the other. 

“Can…can I pet the doggie, Yeosangie-hyung?” 

Gahyeon nodded eagerly, looking from him to Yunho and then back again.

“Is it okay? He’s so pretty!”

Eric was practically vibrating. 

“And big!”

Yeosang felt his heart melt. What a good set of kids.

“Yes. How you greet a dog is like this-”His voice was tender as he instructed the children, his hair pulled back into a low, fluffy ponytail while some of his bangs framed his face just right. 

Wooyoung couldn’t take his eyes off of him. 

San wasn’t much different, watching as Jongho reached his hand out. Yunho sniffed his cherub fingers and set the bag in his mouth down, lowering his head and licking at the birthday boy’s arm while he and his siblings began to gently pet his head and ears. 

“Well, that’s settled. Everyone is here so we can actually get this party started!” Chaerin beamed, moving to pour cups of soda for the lot of them while her starry-eyed children asked Yeosang a million and one questions while sending loving glances at Yunho. The canine was patient, calmly giving dog kisses and cuddled whenever the children called to him or offered their hands again for sniffing.

“Here, let me help, Unnie!” Yeji offered. Wooyoung was in the kitchen in an instant, grabbing some plates so he could help pass snacks. 

Chaerin smiled and began directing the younger adults while San walked over to Yeosang. 

“You can set up a water bowl and food bowl over here. We have sliding doors that lead outside, so if he needs to go on a walk, it can be close…thank you for coming.” He smiled and bowed to him and Yeosang rubbed his neck, noticing San had approached him without Wooyoung at his side. 

Part of him was still expecting the man to pull him aside and show him a different side of himself regarding Yeosang and Wooyoung’s closeness. 

There was nothing of the sort, and instead, San extended his hand to Yunho, voice kind and eyes soft. 

“Hey there, Yuyu. Thank you for coming, too. My siblings seem to love you already.” He beamed. Yunho happily licked his hand and walked closer, nuzzling him to entice him to scratch his neck. 

It worked, and Yeosang felt some of the tension he was holding onto relax as he moved to set up Yunho’s little corner by the back door while San scratched his throat and eventually his stomach when the large dog flopped over to the side. 

From across the room, Chan watched the two interact subtly, his arm around Changbin’s waist. There didn’t seem to be any conflict, and the man was pleasantly surprised at that. 

“Oppa?”

Chan blinked into focus and looked down, finding Gahyeon staring up at him with wide eyes of wonder. He tilted his head and bent down to her eye level, smiling at her. 

“Yes?”

“Is Binnie Oppa your boyfriend?” she inquired. Chan laughed, the sound rich and soft as he nodded. 

San’s head perked as he looked back to the kitchen, brows furrowing. Usually, his siblings minded their manners when it came to prying into an adult’s life, but they were still kids, at the end of the day, and sometimes they lacked a filter all the same. 

“Gahyeonnie, let’s not get all in othe folks’ business-”

“Isn’t Yejie Unnie also your girlfriend? I saw you two smooch.” 

Chan blinked owlishly while Changbin choked on his drink above them. Somewhere behind them, a howl of a laugh came from Yeonjun and Yeji snickered behind her hand, more amused than anything, while Chaerin was less than pleased. 

“ Lee Gahyeon! You do not ask people that!” 

Gahyeon pouted and Yeji smiled. 

“It's okay, Unnie. That’s why we let you know before we came. Chan and Changbin are both my boyfriends, Gahyeon.” 

Gahyeon looked up at them, lips parted before they began to shimmer. 

“You can do that?! Woah!”

Chaerin scolded her daughter, apologizing profusely to the trio while Wooyoung handed Eric his juice and some of his snacks. Eric thanked him and whispered. 

“Would you date someone else with our big brother?” He inquired. Wooyoung’s lips parted in surprise and despite himself, his eyes instantly landed on Yeosang, who was looking towards the kitchen due to the chaos. 

Eric stared at him for a moment, tilting his head as he noticed Wooyoung’s lack of a response. He went to ask again, when he suddenly felt a ruffle to his head. 

By the grace of some higher power, Jiyong appeared, steering his son away with a gentle scolding tone. Wooyoung’s shoulders relaxed a bit, and he immediately moved to busy himself with setting up the game console in the living room, unaware of the curious eyes following him.

San’s, Yeosang’s. 

Once the two older children got a stern talking to regarding ‘boundaries’, the group migrated to the living room, eager to play the party games Wooyoung and San helped prepare on Jongho’s behalf. 

Said birthday boy sat beside Yunho and Wooyoung, big eyes focused on the screen while some of the others took their turn customizing their karts. 

“Do you wanna race, or do you wanna watch, baby bear?” Wooyoung inquired. Jongho looked up at him, one of his hands petting Yunho in repetitive, short motions. 

“I’m not so good at it…” He murmured. Wooyoung smiled and picked him up, setting him in his lap and scooting closer to Yunho so Jongho could still reach him for pets. 

“Your Hyung is gonna win every single match for you, so go ahead and customize our kart!”

Jongho looked at the controller and smiled, gently taking it and fumbling around to get the kart the way he wanted, uncaring of stats. 

Wooyoung smiled softly and looked on the other side of Yunho, at Yeosang watching the screen while everyone got settled. He’d already gotten his kart ready in the meantime. 

“Thank you for coming, Sangie. I know you’ve been busy with work, so I really appreciate you and YuYu stopping by.” He smiled. Yeosang looked at him and sent him a quiet smile that made his heart flip. 

“I see why you insisted so much. They’re sweet kids.” He looked over at Yunho, seeing his companion so comfortable in the environment that he’d closed his eyes, his head on Jongho and Wooyoung’s thigh as he enjoyed the attention. 

“And I think Yunho has made some new friends today, too.” he chuckled. Yunho’s tail wagged subtly, an indication he wasn’t actually asleep, and that drew a laugh from Soobin’s lips as he walked by with some trash to discard of. 

“This is the best birthday ever.” Jongho muttered, looking at Yunho and kissing his head, between the eyebrow-like markings there. Yunho’s tongue swiped out for the briefest of moments, licking his own nose before he settled back in. 

Yeosang’s eyes softened even more, feeling warm and fuzzy at the gentle interaction.

“I’m glad.”

The rest of the night went off without a hitch. Jongho, surprisingly warmed up to all of the new faces fairly quickly, thanking and hugging everyone when he got to open his gifts. 

By the time 9pm rolled around, San had two out of three of his siblings unconscious and dangling from his arms, sleeping without a care in the world. He moved to grab Jongho, bur a different hand eclipsed his vision, and he watched as Yeosang came to pick up the birthday boy himself. 

“Oh- you can put him on my back, I’m used to carrying these three around all the time.” 

Yeosang shook his head. 

“I can help out. Besides, all that weight on your back isn't good for you. Just tell me where to go.” 

San sent him a grateful look as he told him to follow him down the left hall. It wasn’t a far walk to get them where they needed to be, and the gentle, off-beat sound behind him told San that Yunho was close in tow. 

Yeosang helped him open the door to Eric and Gahyeon’s rooms, respectively, standing aside as San tucked them in, giving gentle kisses to their heads and placing their favorite plushie in each of their arms. 

“Jongho’s room is across the hall.” San informed him, moving to close Gahyeon’s door and then opening Jongho’s moments later. Yeosang followed his lead, setting Jongho in bed and tucking him in. San handed over Jongho’s favorite dragon plushie and kissed his head, slightly leaning over Yeosang to do so. 

The older man didn’t move a muscle, simply glancing up, his breath fanning over San’s neck momentarily as the man tucked his sibling in and then moved away, sending him an honest smile.

“Again, thank you so much for coming. I hope you got to unwind and enjoy yourself.” He sent Yeosang a dimpled smile and beckoned for him to follow him back out. 

The two walked in a comfortable silence, joining the others as they helped pack up the leftovers, distributing it in plates to take home and some getting stored away in Chaerin and Jiyong’s fridge. 

“You all have my thanks. My babies are going to have to learn how to make friends their own ages, but for now, It's nice to see my family grow.” Jiyong put a hand on his hip as he looked over all of the people in his home. 

“As a thanks, you all are invited to a Halloween party I’m throwing later in the month.”

Wooyoung nearly tripped over himself, he spun so fast, eyes lighting up. 

“Wait, really?! Is it like, some really fancy, high-end costume party?!”

Chaerin snorted quietly and Jiyong hummed, shrugging a shoulder. 

“I suppose it can be considered as such. But its more of a gathering between friends, so think nothing of who else might be there and have fun as you would at any other party.” He instructed, smiling softly as he saw San and the others chatter amongst each other. 

“You have some time to think about it. If you’d like to come, just let San or Wooyoung know to tell me and I’ll update the headcount I have.”

They were met with a collection of eager nods from most of the group. Yeosang didn’t respond verbally, using the guise of packing up Yunho’s bowls as an excuse. 

It's not that he didn’t want to go and be with his friends, he swore he wasn’t some sort of antisocial person. 

He just-

Healing was taking it’s sweet time. He was truly grappling with being able to wrap his head around his own emotions. 

That’s what happens when you spend entirely too much time hiding from them, suppressing them, even. 

But it was fine, Halloween was on a weekday this year, so he could just make up some excuse, say he had work or picked up a shift from someone and-

“Yeo, are you going?” 

If you were wondering, no , Yeosang did not squeak when Wooyoung appeared at his side. He simply…exhaled in a particular manner, that’s it.

Seriously.

Regardless of his status as a squeak toy, Yeosang glanced at his friend, finding Wooyoung crouching, petting Yunho as he held his gaze. The trainer flushed slightly, biting the side of his tongue to remind himself to keep his calm. 

Wooyoung was Wooyoung. He was always this close to him. He always looked him in the eyes when they spoke. 

Why is keeping his cool such a struggle nowadays?

“I don’t know if I can, I probably have a class and-”

“Can’t Jungkook or Hyunjae take over the class? Just this once? I wanna wear matching costumes!”

Yeosang blinked at him. Once, twice, Yunho’s bowl dangling uselessly in his fingers as he stared at the energetic man, listening as he listed off different outfits they could do. 

“Angels…? Hm. Sirens! No, we don’t have enough time for a good quality one and those scales are a bitch to do makeup wise…pirates?...Oh, might workshop that a bit-”

Yeosang watched Wooyoung’s brain take off running down the block, firing off suggestions left and right. Yunho had made himself comfortable, his chin settled on Wooyoung’s thigh. 

At some point, a well-worked hand settled on Wooyoung’s shoulder and San appeared, smiling softly down at the two. 

“How about some kind of modern animal thing? We can use somethin’ in our closets and just need to worry about the, uh, ears and tail, I guess.” He offered, seemingly trying to save Yeosang from Wooyoung’s active imagination. 

Wooyoung perked and stood to his full height, grinning like mad, pointing at each of them. 

“Rabbit, Fox, Cat!”

Yeosang blinked. 

“Why do I have to be a rabbit? It's the smallest out of the three of those and I’m not even the shortest here.” Wooyoung sent him a devious look. 

“Because you’d look cute in bunny ears?” 

Yeosang stared at him, jaw slack, and his brows only twitched in interest when he saw San look in his direction, nodding quietly, lips twisted as if envisioning the sight. 

Whatever that weird flutter in his stomach was just now needed to stop immediately.

“Well too bad. I want to be the cat if this is what we’re doing.” He cut in, trying to get some of the control back in the situation he was quickly careening towards. Wooyoung pouted, clearly, he’d wanted that one. 

“How about you be the fox, Woo? I know you were probably going to make me the cat, but I can be the rabbit. Cats and foxes are super close, anyway, I’m sure ya won’t have to tweak your vision too much, right?” 

Two sets of eyes turned to San, then to the top of his pastel pink head, and whether they noticed or not, both of them nodded in unison, clearly agreeing with the idea of a set of rabbit ears situated atop the country man’s head. 

Yeosang cleared his throat, cheeks flushed, and stood to his height. 

“Right, should I go looking for what this ‘outfit’ should be or should I leave it to you?” He inquired. Wooyoung’s eyes lit up and a devious smile came to his face. 

“Leave it to me, just tell me your clothing sizes.”

Oh goodness, this wasn’t going to be a simple closet fit, was it?

San, as if reading his mind, sent Yeosang a sympathetic smile, letting out a small amused huff as Wooyoung began rattling off about matching and not being ‘basic bitches’.

Yeosang cleared his throat and made his way to the door, taking his skateboard out of Yunho’s mouth and zipping up his coat. 

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then. I’m headed out. Thank you again for inviting me, it was nice to be able to hang out with everyone and Jongho looked like he had a lot of fun today too.” He bowed and was met with a collection of goodbyes and waves. 

“Hey, call me when you get home, alright? So I know you’re back safe.” Wooyoung called to him one last time, standing a few feet from the door as Yeosang laced his shoes up.

“I’ll text you as soon as I’m home.” 

Wooyoung narrowed his eyes at him half-heartedly. 

“ Call me when you’re home so I know you’re safe.”

Yeosang had half a mind to be a little shit and repeat himself, too, but instead, he settled for putting a hand on his hip and nodding. 

“Yes, yes. Anything else, darling?” 

It slipped, honest. The two of them used terms of endearment with one another all the time before…Wooyoung came back from the summer and it truly was a slip of the tongue-

“I love you, darling. Bye.” Wooyoung met him halfway, grinning once again, his body language a bit looser. San smiled from his side, waving without a care at him. 

“Goodnight, get home safe.”

Yeosang cleared his throat and nodded, muttering a quick ‘you too’ before he disappeared into the night with Yunho. 

Chaerin and Jiyong watched on from the kitchen island, eventually exchanging a look with one another. 

“....do you think they know yet?” She mused to her husband. He snorted, leaning against her. 

“Those three goofballs? No, not at all. Why do you think I pulled a Halloween party out of my ass?” He muttered into her ear. She snickered and watched Wooyoung and San move back to the rest of their friends, exchanging hugs and plans to set up upcoming hangouts. 

“Think it’ll work?” She inquired, brow arched. Jiyong shrugged. 

“Dunno. That’s up to them.”

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

     October 18th

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

“My love, do you want to plan a picnic sometime?” Wooyoung inquired as he rolled up rice balls. San looked up from the small mason jars he had lined up on the counter, blinking owlishly. 

“Where did that come from?” 

“Well, you haven’t really gotten to sit down and relax at all since you’ve moved in and I feel bad. We immediately threw you into the hustle and bustle of work instead of letting you relax and explore…” Wooyoung trailed off, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. San smiled at him. 

“Is it that much different from when you all came to Namhae? The very next day, you were out in the fields with Hyung and I. Besides, I’m used to keeping busy like this. My only off time was when I was home with my family. We have been relaxing when we’re here. And there was the aquarium date! That was fun!” He reminded him, humored by the pout that settled on Wooyoung’s face, clearly not thinking it was enough. 

“Well, it’s not exciting if it’s just the same as Namhae!” He huffed. San arched a brow at him, pouring drinks into the mason jars. 

“Then we can set up a date night. How about next weekend? We have a long weekend because of our schedule.” 

Wooyoung perked and nodded, smiling from ear to ear, a bounce in his step as he began packing away the rice balls he’d made.

In front of the two, lay a spread of lunch boxes for their friends. San had come up with the idea after seeing how tired Yeosang was the other day and worrying about their other friends in their circle.

After adding a side of veggies and protein and letting Wooyoung customize each little box with a small ‘mascot’ made from the ingredients he used, the two were off for the day, making light conversation as they decided to walk through the city. 

“First is Soobin and Chan, they’re the closest. If we’re lucky, we can catch Changbin working out at the gym. He’s not working until later tonight.” Wooyoung brought a finger to his chin as he worked out their game plan. San simply adjusted his grip on the box that held the mason jars, worried he’d drop them. 

The two made light idle chat as they walked, eventually making their way to a spacious fitness gym just a few blocks out of the heart of the city. 

The receptionist looked up, her eyes brightening as they landed on the duo. 

“Oh, Wooyoung~ Good Morning! I don’t think I’ve met you, love. What’s your name?” she smiled at San, leaning on the counter and seemingly sizing him up. The dimpled man blinked in surprise. 

“Oh, good morning, Miss. My name is San-”

“He’s my boyfriend, Noona.” 

Her smile fell immediately and she sent Wooyoung a flat look. 

“What did I tell you about coming in here with ‘off-limits’ cuties? First Yeosang, now him. What’s a girl to do?” 

Wooyoung smiled casually, shrugging a shoulder. He seemed to take no offense, though San perked at the ‘off limits’ comment. 

Of course, Wooyoung was in love with Yeosang, after all. 

“So, does this mean I can bag Yeosang now that you have this cutie for a boyfriend?” She whispered, though San heard her clear as day. She hadn’t been trying hard to keep her volume down. 

Wooyoung rolled his eyes half-heartedly. 

“Not a chance in hell. Anyway, we’re going to find Chan and Soobin, byeeee.” Wooyoung beckoned San with the tilt of his jaw and San fell in step with him, catching the receptionist huffing playfully under her breath. 

“Oh, so you get TWO boyfriends? Life is unfair-”

San blushed and looked over at Wooyoung. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen ya get snippy with anyone like that in regards to me before.” 

Wooyoung hummed, leading him down a hall. 

“You’re hot, I can’t let just anyone think they have a chance with you.” He puffed his chest out proudly, grinning when he saw San blush down to his ears before glancing away.

“Wooyoung? San? What are you two doing here?” 

The pair looked up as Soobin jogged down the hall to greet them, covered in a light sheen of sweat, though San felt like the man’s kind smile made him glow even more. 

“Just one of the handsome men we wanted to see~ Sannie and I made lunches for everyone since we were off anyway, so we figured we’d make sure our lovely best friends are eating properly.” Wooyoung explained, fishing into the large tote he had brought along and handing Soobin a pastel blue bento box. Soobin looked touched, peeking inside and smiling at the bunny Wooyoung had made out of the food inside the box. 

“That’s so sweet…thank you both so much. I’ll go grab Chan and Changbin. They only just started their arm and chest workouts, but it’s in Chan’s private room, so I won’t be interrupting too much, I think.” He mused. Wooyoung scoffed half-heartedly and nudged San. 

“What did I say? I told you Changbin would probably be here. Yeji not being here means she’s working at the bookstore, so we’ll go there after we make sure her other two-thirds are eating.” 

San watched Wooyoung march forward with a soft smile on his face. He really had a way of taking charge in a myriad of situations, and this was no different. San could tell he felt back at home in his own skin since they were back in the city, though. 

Wooyoung was, by no means, a quiet man, but being back in the hustle and bustle of the city only made the man bloom fully into what he assumed was his full nature. San needed a bit longer to adjust to his surroundings, and found himself being a quiet observer more often than naught. 

Soobin glanced over at the man and gently pat his back, turning up the watts on his smile when San turned his attention back to him. 

“How are things doing? Are you adjusting well? We didn’t get to talk much at Jongho’s party about life.” He sent him a genuine smile to ease San, as if reading the man’s wandering thoughts. San flushed and nodded, smiling at him. 

“I am. Everyone is so kind. I just hope I’ve left a good impression on everyone.” He adjusted his grip on the box nervously and Soobin looked down the hall to where Wooyoung had poked his head in. 

The man had clearly caught Chan and Changbin giving each other ‘reward kisses’, if the teasing was anything to go by as they approached. 

“I don’t think you have to try too hard at all. You’re a very likeable and down-to-earth guy, San. I’m excited to spend more time with you and everyone else. Has everyone been welcoming you in well?” He inquired. San nodded. 

“Yeah, everyone’s been so kind. I’m looking forward to the party. Wooyoung’s been working hard on his, my, and Yeosang’s costumes.”

Soobin’s smile faltered ever so slightly, seemingly waiting to see if he had a bad experience with the somewhat elusive dog trainer. When San only met his worried gaze with a curious one of his own, Soobin blinked. 

Once, twice, then he relaxed his shoulders. 

“Oh, is that so? Things are going well?” 

San had gotten good at reading people. Soobin was trying to feel out if there was any tension between the two men. Understandable, given the circumstances, but San’s expression didn’t sour in the slightest. 

“Yeah, he’s been over a couple of times for Wooyoung to take measurements before he and I get kicked out of Wooyoung’s, and I quote; ‘creative room.’” He laughed softly, though there was a fondness in his voice that caught Soobin off guard. 

Yeosang was not, by any means, a disrespectful or confrontational man, so the lot of them didn’t expect him to throw a fit when he was with San, but it was still a surprise to know he had made such an impression on the man who was with Wooyoung. 

They all knew how Yeosang felt about their energetic friend. 

“Well then, I’m really glad everything is going well for you! If you need anything, please let me know. Of course, friends get free passes to the gym, just let Chan or I know when you’re coming.” Soobin told him before looking into the room. 

“I appreciate the bento box, but do you have to be so obnoxious? We were in the middle of working out.” Changbin huffed, standing with his arms crossed. Wooyoung looked back at him like the cat that ate the canary. 

“Of course. If no one else is going to give you shit, who will? I wanna know what workout you two are doing that involves so many kisses in the gym~” He teased, yelping and dodging the slap Changbin aimed at his arm. 

Chan stood beside the two with a small, patient smile on his face, seemingly more than used to the shenanigans of the two. He looked up when he saw San and Soobin and made his way over to the two while Changbin and Wooyoung bickered. 

“Thank you so much for the lunch. It came at the perfect time. I didn’t bring one today because we were running late this morning and I almost called Yeji to ask her if she could stop by with some on her break. I appreciate it.” He bowed to San and took the mason jars San had offered with a subtle lift of the box and a smile. 

“Of course. It’s nothin’ too crazy, but I hope it’s at least filling until lunchtime.” 

Chan smiled at him and finally cast a look over his shoulder when Wooyoung let out an unruly shriek. 

“Alright, that’s enough, you two. Changbin, my love, let him out of the headlock and give me your box so I can put it in the fridge in my office.” Chan scolded. Immediately, the two of them froze, looking at Chan like a pair of deer in headlights before they pouted and pulled away from each other. 

“ Anyway, thank you. Both of you. I’ll pay you back next time I have time.” Changbin smiled as Wooyoung fixed his hair and stood to his full height. 

“Asshole, do you know how long it takes me to do my hair?” He muttered playfully before picking up the tote. 

“Don’t mention it. We’re gonna go head to Yeji now. Have a good day, tell us if you like it. I tried some new things with San’s advice, so I need the feedback.” Wooyoung fixed the men with a stare until they all agreed with either nods or half-hearted ‘yeah yeahs’ (courtesy of Changbin).

Satisfied, Wooyoung stepped out of the room, kissing San’s dimple before he headed down the hall. 

“C’mon baby. We need to make sure all of our lovely friends eat. Where would they be without us?” He lamented dramatically. Soobin laughed, Changbin rolled his eyes, and Chan watched the trio leave with a hand on his hip. 

The two engaged in light conversation until they came across a cozy-looking bookshop with an hourglass depicted on the blade sign outside of it. Wooyoung smiled and stepped up faster, opening the door and smiling flirtatiously at San. 

“After you, my love~” He winked, his chest puffing up proudly at the flustered way San cleared his throat and hustled in. 

Immediately, he’s met with the scent of cinnamon sugar and vanilla.

The bookshop appears bigger on the inside, and as much as everyone has told him it was ‘small’, San was still blown away at how many different sections there were to walk through and he almost didn’t hear Yeji come over to them. 

“Good morning, Binnie and Chan told me you were coming. You two got here fast, though!”

San and Wooyoung looked over, finding Yeji jogging over to them, peeling some gloves off of her hands. 

“It wasn’t too far but uh-what are you doing?” San blinked owlishly as he watched her take off her apron, which had been speckled with all kinda of color smears. 

“I was doing some demos for our upcoming arts and crafts day. We’re going to make some spoopy soap for Halloween and give out candy to anyone who stops by in costume.” She grinned, hands on her hips as she watched Wooyoung rummage around before handing her a bento. 

“Here’s lunch!” 

“Thank you~ You two are like, a pair of house-husband saviors~” She smiled and moved to a counter, glancing over at San when she saw him looking around in interest. 

“Go ahead, baby boy. Look around my little shop. Let me know if you wanna check anything out.” She grinned and waved the curious man off. San smiled and nodded in thanks, moving to walk through rows upon rows of colorful books. 

There were a few people littered around here and there, but given the time of day, there wasn’t a high concentration of people in the area that would make things claustrophobic. 

He ran his fingers over book covers, spotting several books with beautifully crafted covers that drew his attention. 

Some of them were a bit larger in size- ’That one Against the Tide thing on the table has like 3 volumes and the small paper sign says its not done?’- while some were significantly smaller. San glanced over to see Wooyoung and Yeji leaning on a counter, talking and laughing as she ate her bento. 

San didn’t want to disturb them and interrupt them speaking, so instead, he plucked the closest book he could find, missing the fact he’d wandered into the section of the shop with the more explicit works. 

He’d found a spot on a nearby cat-shaped bean bag on the floor and settled in, opening his book. 

He was unsure how many minutes had passed, his eyes combing through the pages. He found himself engrossed in the story, though he found a bit early on that he’d grabbed not only a book from the queer adult section, but that it had also contained very vivid material on the inside. 

-”Tilt your head up, I want you to look me in the eyes, Hyunjin.”

Minho is met with a slow smile stretching across his love’s ruby-red lips, the lipstick smeared at the corner. Hyunjin obliges, purring as Minho crossed the room, running his fingers through Hyunjin’s silken hair. 

Then, his eyes drift down to Jisung, spent and panting, still buried deep inside of Hyunjin, the evidence of their lovemaking making a mess between their legs. 

A smile stretches across Minho’s face as he leaned close, stealing a kiss from Hyunjin before he caressed Jisung, kissing him too and reveling in the man’s soft moan as he pressed Hyunjin flush against him in an attempt to feel them both. 

“There’s no need to rush,” Minho chuckled, moving to settle himself in a chair just beyond their bed’s reach. 

“I'd like to…savor it a bit more. Every beat of your heart, every thrum of excitement in your blood. I can taste it from here. I'm enjoying the show.  Continue. I'll join when I'm ready for a bite.”-

San stared at the page slack-jawed and beet red. 

Two vampires and their human lover. All of them, sharing kisses and whispers of love, standing by each other in a love story that had been…oddly domestic despite the vampiric nature of two-thirds of the main characters. 

Maybe throuples like this are more common than San could have guessed…

"Whacha reading?"

San jolted and nearly hurled the book, clutching his chest with wide eyes as he looked at a mischievous Wooyoung. His boyfriend nearly cackled behind him, covering his mouth to keep himself from laughing as San gave him a half-hearted shove, standing up.

"Don't do that!" He huffed, glaring at Wooyoung. His boyfriend put his hands on his hips, proud of himself.

"Yeji and I are all done babe. We just need to drop Yeosang’s off since Yeonjun is out of town."

San glanced down at the book in his hands and cleared his throat. 

"Gimmie a second. I'm gonna, uh I'm gonna buy this real quick." He shuffled along while Wooyoung hummed and moved to peruse the books himself. 

"No problem, call me when you're ready, my love."

San nodded and headed off to Yeji, sheepishly putting the book in front of her. She smiled at him, glancing down at the book before humming, her brows going up just a margin.

San felt his cheeks darken even more.

"This is a pretty good series. This is the second one, though. I recommend you read the first one before you continue this. It makes their relationship feel more impactful.” She advised, smiling sweetly at San as she scanned the book regardless of his decision. He shifted from one foot to the other, worrying his lip between his teeth for a moment before he moved back to the section of the bookstore he had been in, coming back once he found the aforementioned first book. 

Yeji smiled and added that one, applying an employee discount before she put them in a paper bag with a cat on the front of it. 

“If you have any questions on the book or…anything similar, let me know.” She added the last part in a whisper, glancing at Wooyoung before looking at San once again. 

“I- N-no it’s nothing like that. I-”

“San, I’m not assuming anything. I’m just saying…if you ever want coffee and to talk about some books, I’m your girl.” She beamed and tilted her head, smiling at him. 

San looked at the bag and cleared his throat, nodding. 

“Right..thank you, Yeji.” He bowed and headed back to Wooyoung, finding him pursuing the manga. He perked and smiled at San, adjusting his grip on the tote with the last bento and mason jar. 

“Got everything you wanted?” He inquired. San nodded, kissing his head as they stepped out of the shop, a melodic chime following them as they went. 

They had to walk significantly farther to get to the dog training facility, and San could tell it was after lunch despite their efforts to deliver the food and drink to their friends by the noon hour.  The streets, while still bustling in their own right, had less suited men and women rushing to and from food shops, and San had enough room to walk side by side Wooyoung comfortably without worrying about accidentally brushing into anyone. 

They still kept their hands unlinked, just in case they needed to maneuver apart as a wayward office worker or a teenager in a hurry came darting down the middle of the sidewalk, but overall, this time of day proved to be more flexible than their earlier runs. 

When they finally got to the dog training facility, San could hear a cacophony of barking and yipping coming from beyond a set of heavy, tinted doors. 

Wooyoung took the lead, checking first before pushing the door in, making sure no dogs were trying to make any great escapes the moment he did so. Once the coast was clear, he guided San all the way in, and the two walked up to a man and woman standing by the front. The man smiled jovially at them, his piercings shimmering in the light while the petite woman at his side rubbed her belly. 

Ah, she must be the one that was heading off to her maternity leave soon. 

“Kookie-hyung~ Jennie-noona~” Wooyoung practically sang, smiling ear to ear at the two. Jennie smiled back before glancing at San curiously. 

“I can’t ever get you to visit with a dog, but instead, you bring a new friend?” She teased. San blushed and bowed, 

“My name is San. I’m his boyfriend.”

Both her and ‘Kookie’s’ eyebrows shot up. They exchanged a look with one another before some kind of silent realization dawned on them, if the small ‘ah’s they let out was anything to go by. 

San fidgeted. If Yeosang worked here and they had that kind of reaction, clearly they’d heard of him in some capacity. 

“Are you looking for Yeosang? He’s started a class but Jungkook-ah can bring you to the sidelines. Just try not to distract the dogs, okay? He gets really upset when his classes are interrupted.” She advised them. Jungkook nodded and kissed her head before beckoning both men to follow him down the hall. 

“Thank you, sorry for intruding.” San humbly apologized while Wooyoung waved, puffing his chest out. 

“Bah, don’t worry! Yeo Yeo has a nasty habit of not eating properly when I’m not cooking for him, so we’re doing him a big favor.” 

Jungkook only smiled, listening to the two before stopping outside a room with a fox painted on the door. 

“Alrighty. Follow my lead, keep your voices a bit down if you can, and try not to distract him, I can see he’s already started in there.” He instructed, guiding them into a room that had a big, circular area in the center with turf. The area outside of it had raised walls so (most) dogs couldn’t get out with ease, and as asked, the two of them silently filed into the area where there were seats, opting not to stand too close to the walls, for fear they’d become a distraction for what was assumed to be a beginner class. 

They were far enough that they believed they could eat their own lunches, despite the lateness, so they began rustling about as quietly as they could to eat as they watched Yeosang’s class. Once they were settled, Jungkook left them to their own devices and they watched on as Yeosang scanned the group in front of him. 

His long, fluffy hair was secured under a cap and his tanktop was tucked into his pants as Yunho stood dutifully at his side. He looked more like a military drill sergeant than what San had expected a dog trainer to look like. 

It was quite…quite an impressive look, if he was being honest.

“When you are here, it is not just the dogs that will be trained. You yourselves, as their owners and companions, will be training alongside them. That is the most important thing here. During my classes, you and your dogs are equals , and I will train you both as such. A dog can be as well-behaved and wonderful as can be, but the moment they are put around reckless people, gradually, over time, that behavior switches. It changes. And it does not take much of a dogs bad behavior before society deems them a risk and I'm sure you all know what happens then." The black-haired man made a gun motion with his hand and Yunho immediately flopped onto his back, tongue out as he stayed still, playing dead, 

Yeosang strolled past the dog before he patted his own thigh, giving him a treat as Yunho immediately rolled back onto his paws and appeared at his side.

“The best thing that can prevent a dog biting or fighting incident is proper training of both the owners and their canines. And that’s why you all are with me.”

San watched, chewing quietly as Yeosang walked back and forth past his class. He could see some people listening with rapt attention-he was one of them-while others rolled their eyes, surely thinking the trainer was "over dramatic". 

Wooyoung took a sip from his mason jar, leaning on San as he spoke quietly. 

"Yeosang really loves dogs. Training is his passion. It pisses me off that some of them think this is a game." He muttered. San chewed thoughtfully and watched as Yunho sat dutifully in the same spot, despite all of the dogs and people in the training ring. 

At one point, the giant dog’s eyes move towards them, there is a subtle wag to his tail, but he remains unmoving. 

The two watch while whispering, not wanting to disturb the dogs or their owners. Yeosang’s face remains calm, yet authoritative as he trains, never raising his voice over a certain volume, every movement and instruction precise and to the point. 

San found himself unable to tear his eyes off of him. Wooyoung is the same. 

“Today’s lesson is over. Report cards will be sent out by the end of the day for the lesson’s progress, along with ‘homework’. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions between now and our next lesson.” 

Wooyoung finally stood as the group began to filter out, leashing up their dogs and dispersing while talking amongst themselves. San is right behind him, though both of them hang back as one of the trainees walked up to Yeosang, smiling handsomely at him. 

“I really appreciate your lesson, Yeosang-nim~ With your help, Coco and I will be just as impressive as you and Yunho in no time.” He grinned, holding a pomeranian under his arm. Yeosang glanced and then crossed his arm. 

“Remember my lesson about the detriments of carrying your dogs unless necessary, Lee-nim. You do not want to give Coco a complex by always carrying her just because she is small.” 

Lee nodded, though he didn’t seem too interested in what Yeosang was saying, rather, his eyes subtly combing over his face, and chest, and even darting down to admire his abs once he stood back up after setting Coco down. 

San pursed his lips, a small nagging in the back of his mind as he watched the two. 

Agitation. 

“You’re the best teacher I’ve seen in this place, Sang-nim. Could I ask you out for dinner as a thanks?” He inquired, his eyebrows going up flirtatiously. 

Yeosang blinked, the calm expression on his face shifting ever so slightly to one of surprise before suddenly Wooyoung tossed an arm over Yeosang’s shoulder, dangling off of the man’s side and smiling with a tilt to his head. 

“Sorry! We have some food for Yeosangie already. Dinner too, we’ve already made plans for him.” 

Yeosang looked at him, his face didn’t betray the confusion he felt, and Wooyoung was grateful, his eyes never leaving Lee’s face. 

He could see the way the shorter man’s eyes narrowed subtly before he sniffed, wiping his nose. 

“Oh, next time, then, Sangie-nim .” His voice dripped in the untold challenge, and then he turned and headed out of the training ring, his Pomeranian following at his side with hurried footsteps. 

Wooyoung didn’t take his eyes off of him until he was out of view, muttering in displeasure. 

“I don’t like him.” 

“Since when did we have dinner plans?” Yeosang inquired, the neutral expression of his face changing into a more casual, expressive one now that he wasn’t teaching. 

“Since just now because that guy is a creep. I mean, who asks out their tutor?” Wooyoung began rambling, never moving from his spot leaning on Yeosang. The slightly older man let him speak, calmly watching him with a smile on his face until San moved closer, drawing his attention. 

He held up the box Wooyoung had left behind when he moved to his side, looking Yeosang in the eyes and smiling softly. 

“You must be hungry. We made bento boxes for everyone. Even Yunho.” He offered, keeping his hand extended. 

Yeosang looked at it for a beat longer than the others had, but then he took it, smiling softly. 

“I see. That’s sweet of you. I appreciate it. Yunho-” Yeosang made a motion with his hand, and in a flash, Yunho’s massive form appeared, licking at both Wooyoung and San’s hand before sitting in front of his owner. 

Yeosang gently moved away from Wooyoung, making sure he did not lose his balance before he crouched down to set up the food they had made for the canine first. 

Wooyoung bent down, petting Yunho and cooing to him, eyes half-lidded. 

“Yeah, Yuyu. That guy is stinky, anyway, you don’t want him taking your papa out to dinner either, do you?” He talked to the animal as if he were human. Yunho blinked at him, head tilting before he licked Wooyoung’s hand, as if that were the response to a command he hadn’t quite learned yet. 

Yeosang-and San-glanced at him at the comment, yet neither said a word.

"I appreciate you for making a bento for me and including Yunho. Thank you, both of you." Yeosang bowed slightly, sitting with his legs crossed on the ground beside Yunho as he inspected the bento, a genuine, big smile coming to his face when he saw the small character they'd made out of the bento's contents, the floral-themed 'Hethetmon' staring back at him.

Wooyoung smiled triumphantly and watched as Yeosang ate. 

"I knew you'd be more focused on training your classes than eating properly-again-so we put extra in yours."

Yeosang chewed thoughtfully, humming. 

"I guess I did forget."

San frowned and put a hand on his hip, looking at the man in disapproval. 

"You can't forget things like that, Yeosang-ah. Your health is important. Please take care of yourself." 

Yeosang’s gaze shifted to him, calm, yet doe-like and for a second, San could swear he felt a sound akin to a fax machine struggling to work in his brain.

He and Wooyoung have such pretty eyes.

San panicked, tripping over his own words as he quickly added; "Besides, who's going to take care of Yunho when you get sick?"

Yeosang hummed quietly before nodding, petting the canine as he finished his dog-safe bento. 

"Probably Soobin."

Wooyoung let out a scandalized gasp.

"You didn't even hesitate! What about me!?"

"Wooyoung, I don't trust you with my plants , I damn sure aren't trusting you with my dog."

Wooyoung clung to his chest, falling to his knees dramatically. 

"See that, San? We make him a beautiful lunch, and he wounds me! Blasphemy! Gimme back my damn food, then!"

Yeosang smiled, and it reached his eyes, a spark of mischief in it as he started eating noticeably faster. Wooyoung narrowed his gaze and lunged at him half-heartedly, though he tumbled a bit too far forward, falling on top of Yeosang and nearly knocking the food out of his hand as he moved to catch him.

The two lay on each other in an awkward heap. Wooyoung went beet red to his ears, his face entirely too close to Yeosang’s as he tried to gather his bearings. 

What San had believed to be Yeosang’s "normal" deadpan calm around Wooyoung’s shenanigans was broken in an instant, his face dark red as he stared at him, mouth agape. 

The two stared at each other like deer in headlights, and San was certain neither of them were actually breathing .

Hell, he didn't know if he was.

But he recovered first-naturally, he wasn't directly involved, after all-and he spoke first. 

"Are you two okay?"

Wooyoung swallowed thickly, sitting up and clearing his throat. 

“Y-yeah- sorry I didn’t mean to knock you over-”

Yeosang cleared his throat, sitting up and speaking quietly. 

“I’m okay…don’t worry.” He muttered, eating with his head down. Wooyoung bit his lip and looked at San with an almost sheepish expression. 

“We’ll go on ahead. I’ll make a big dinner. You can stop by if you have time. Okay?” he offered, pausing to wait for an answer. He got a small nod in response, as Yeosang found his gaze transfixed on the meal in his slightly shaking hand. 

Wooyoung laced his fingers in with San’s, and the countryman couldn’t help but to notice the small amount of clamminess to them. 

San waved goodbye, pulling him outside. 

The two walked in silence until they got home. 

Wooyoung came to a stop before they got to the door, his eyebrows pulled up. San looked back at him. 

“Wooyoung?”

“I’m…sorry.”

San felt the heaviness in his tone and turned his full attention towards him. 

“Why?”

“I…God, I’m such a horrible boyfriend, aren’t I? It looks like I’m throwing myself at him and I…I swear I’m not trying to be disrespectful to you, I love you, I just-I have these habits that die hard and around Yeosang I-”

“-you still love him.” 

Wooyoung’s fingers twitched in San’s grip. He didn’t meet his gaze, but San could see the storm settling on his face. He didn’t deny the statement, and while his gaze was fixed on the ground, tears welled up in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I’m such a shitty boyfriend.”

San pursed his lips and gently twisted his hand out of Wooyoung’s grip. Wooyoung took the action as a rejection and slumped his shoulders. 

San didn’t want the miscommunication to escalate, so he wrapped his arms around Wooyoung, pulling him into a strong hug. 

“Please answer me honestly. Do you love me?” 

“Of course I do! I-”

San pushed forward. 

“Do you love Yeosang, still?” 

“.....”

“Wooyoung, I need you to be honest with me. I have never told you a lie since we met, just answer me.” 

“...yes.”

San caressed his cheeks as he sobbed, holding his wrists. Wooyoung looked torn up as he stood in front of him, hiccuping as tears ran down his cheek. The empathetic part of San felt his own eyes water at seeing him like this. 

The other part, felt relief. 

San kissed the top of his head. 

“So, what’s wrong with that?” 

Wooyoung nearly didn’t hear him. Between his hiccups and sobs, San’s calm voice was nearly drowned out. 

“W-what?” 

“So what, you love him. You also love me. And I have never doubted that from the day you told me for the first time.” 

Wooyoung looked at him, still crying, though he’d been shocked out of saying anything further. San ran his thumb over his eyes, humming quietly. 

“A…aren’t you mad?”

“Wooyoung, I have had a lot of time to think about this since we got here, hell, since you told me back in Namhae. And you know what? No. I’m not. It’s not such a scary concept, you loving him as well. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

Wooyoung’s eyes flooded with tears as he squeezed San tight, sobbing into his shoulder as they stood in the doorway of their home. 

He felt selfish, he felt anxious, he felt like he was stabbing his love in the back.

And yet, those few words, they calmed the chaotic waters of his mind, a lifted weight from his chest. 

Wooyoung loved San. He loved Yeosang. He’d convinced himself long ago that he’d never get to truly share his love with Yeosang as deeply as it ran, but this alone, brought him solace. 

San ran his hands through Wooyoung’s hair, kissing him softly. 

His boyfriend was plenty overwhelmed right now. 

San didn’t feel it appropriate to mention the other thing tumbling around in his mind. 

That he also felt a subtle pull he’d felt before. 

With the boy he’d invited to the festival, with Wooyoung. 

Now, with Yeosang. 

The undeniable tug at his heart; yearning. 

Instead, he guided Wooyoung into their home, the chill of the October air reminding them that they were, in fact, still outside. He brought him over to the couch, sitting him down and pulling him into his arms once more, just rocking with the man and letting him cry. 

Wooyoung ended up laying in his arms, the energy expelled from his episode leaving him asleep in San's embrace, cheeks still red. San carried him upstairs, tucking him into bed with a kiss to his head before he sighed and moved downstairs to cook on his own. 

He made a quick stir fry, thankful for all the cooks he had in his immediate circle that he got to study from. San was sure he wouldn't be able to do half the technical things he'd learned to do from them on his own. 

San headed back upstairs once he was finished, casting a small glance over his shoulder at the front door. 

Yeosang hadn't stopped by. 

San pushed back the sadness he felt and instead focused on not tripping with him and Wooyoung’s food on the platter the two of them bought for their home. 

Wooyoung perked when he entered the room, the scent waking him in an instant.

"San…? Oh- shit, I fell asleep? I was supposed to help, I'm sorry!”

“Shh, it's not much but it should be enough to get a full, happy belly,” San told him, handing him his plate first. Wooyoung tiredly ate, for once not filling the silence with any animated talking or anything of the sort.

San didn't press him on it, eating just as quietly and cleaning up shortly afterwards. 

When he came back to the room for the second time, he found Wooyoung dozing, looking at him with half-lidded eyes. He reached for him, making a small noise as San laced their fingers together and climbed into bed with him. 

He stared at San for a while, his blinks getting noticeably longer as his breathing began to even out. 

"I love you." He tiredly muttered, finally closing his eyes to rest for the night. San kissed his head and held him close. 

"I love you too." San chuckled softly and nosed his hair, just listening to his heartbeat and breathing. 

They stayed like that until San felt his own eyes getting heavy, and soon he, too, fell asleep.

Despite the high-strung emotions of the evening, he found that his mind wasn’t quite done running amok.

╔══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╗

   . . . .   .

╚══ஓ๑♡๑ஓ══╝

“Show me your face, beautiful.”

San moved closer to the bed, cupping Wooyoung’s face lovingly. Wooyoung looked up, lips stained ruby red. 

They’re smudged, right in the corner. 

Bite marks trail down his neck, and he leans into San’s hand, keening as he kisses his palm. There’s melted love shining in his eyes as he sat up higher on his knees to kiss him. San caressed him, pulling him flush against his bigger body, making sure he felt how excited he’d become in the time they’d spent in there. 

Then, another voice. 

“Starting without me? You’re really spoiling him.”

San cracked his eyes open, exhaling sharply when his eyes locked onto another’s, a chin suddenly resting on Wooyoung’s shoulder. 

“Yeosang,” he breathed, eyeing the man with an undeniable want rumbling in his voice. Yeosang smiled, a calm devilish vibe to counter Wooyoung’s needy squirming and panting between them. 

His lips were swollen from kisses, a telltale smear of red on them. 

It went without question where they came from, as he got his answer to the unasked statement moments later when Wooyoung turned his head, his neck bared as he kissed him. 

It was needy, near desperate, and San felt himself throbbing with need, grinding on Wooyoung’s thigh. Wooyoung moaned into his kiss, flexing his thigh one moment and pressing his ass back the next. 

Yeosang broke the kiss and pushed him forward just enough to press him flush against San, catching the slightly younger man’s attention before he pulled him in for a kiss, capturing his lips with the same hunger he did Wooyoung’s. 

San felt a spark run up and down his body. His hips jerk and he buck as Wooyoung teased his nipples with his thumbs, mouthing at his neck and creating more ruby-red smears. 

He was melting. San felt like he was going to slip through the sheets in a puddle, especially when they switched positions, and suddenly he was in the middle, with both Wooyoung and Yeosang grinding and humping his thighs. 

“Sorry for the mess~” Wooyoung half-heartedly apologized, leaving a glistening trail of precum on San’s thigh as he hugged his waist. San opened his mouth to respond, but was met with the sound of his own jerky moan as Yeosang wrapped his hand around his cock, stroking him. 

“Oh, I’m not. I’m going to make sure you make an even bigger one.” he promised, looking him in the eyes. San gasped and bucked into his hand before whimpering when his chin was grabbed by the man. 

His hair was down, fluffy and wild as he looked him in the eyes. 

“Hang on a bit longer, darling. After all, we have to keep you nice and hard for our Woo-ya, don’t we?” He purred into his ear, nipping his lobe as San nearly came in his hand. Wooyoung keened in excitement beside them, trading kisses between both of their chests before he moved to their lips, hovering over them both. 

San wondered what it would feel like to share a kiss. It probably would be messy between the three of them. 

He wanted it. Found himself leaning in for it. 

He’s so close-

“Sannie?”

San jolted, eyes opening in an instant before he hissed and shut them, feeling the sunlight stream directly into them. He groaned and opened them back once he’d raised his arm, squinting to find Wooyoung peering up at him.

His eyes were still puffy from crying, and his face a bit swollen, but San was happy to see he’d gotten some color back to his cheeks. 

“Good morning.” San groggily muttered. Wooyoung glanced down between them without saying a word before he looked up at him once more, slow blinking. 

“I bet it is. Did you sleep well?” 

It took San a moment to realize what he meant. He got his answer mere moments later when he felt the telltale throbbing between his legs as Wooyoung raised his thigh between them. 

He went beet red and Wooyoung smiled softly, kissing his nose. 

“Do you need a hand? Is it okay if I help?” He inquired. There was a hesitation in his tone that made San sober up from his flushed state for a moment. Wooyoung had certainly been worried still, and it was to be expected. 

San didn’t like all the apprehension his boyfriend was beginning to feel around him, however. 

Instead, he cupped his face, looking into his eyes. The same ones that always looked at him so full of bold love and mischievous energies now held a worried edge to them as Wooyoung put his hand over San’s, waiting. 

“I don’t want to do anything like that while you’re worried about me being mad at you. If we do anything intimate, it should be because we both want to feel good, not because you feel you have to or need to.”

Wooyoung’s lips parted as if he was going to protest the notion before he stopped, thought about it, and nodded. He seemed to think about it in earnest before he scooted closer to San, kissing him gently. 

“I want to.” 

San fixed him in place with a heated, half-lidded stare, before he pulled him into his lap, stealing a kiss and squeezing Wooyoung’s ass until there was no space left between the two of them. 

Wooyoung’s arms wrapped lazily around his shoulders, kissing him with a slow, almost methodical pace. San didn’t mind, nor did he rush, sighing into the kiss and leaning against the headboard. The two of them messily pushed their pajama pants down, haphazardly discarding it elsewhere in the bed. 

With freedom of movement now, Wooyoung placed his palm on San’s chest, lightly raking his nails down his pectoral as he kissed down his neck, rolling his slender hips down. He could feel San’s cock smearing precum over his own and a thrum of excitement ran up and down his spine when he chanced a glance up, finding San leveling him with his signature feline narrowed gaze. His jaw locked ever so slightly as big, calloused hands cupped his ass to pull him flush against him once more and control their pace and movement. 

Wooyoung held his gaze, though he felt the heat creep up his neck as San tilted his chin up ever so slightly, eyes combing over his frame before landing back on his face, lips quirking ever so slightly at the shiver the simple motion caused in his boyfriend. 

“When you look at me like that, I lose my train of thought.” 

“I’m more than happy to take over, then. You can sit back and let me do it.”

Simple, it was so simple, yet those words made Wooyoung shudder even more as he licked suddenly dry lips. He rolled them until San was on top, his hair splayed around on the pillow like a silken halo. 

San kissed down his neck and torso, pushing his thighs apart and making him hold them open as he fished around for the lube in their nightstand. He made a mental note they needed to buy more later before he coated his fingers, teasing his rim as he nipped his pelvis. 

“You're trembling in anticipation.”

Wooyoung looked away, cheeks strawberry-tinted as he fumbled in his attempt to catch his breath. San smiled and got in his face, turning his face so he met his eyes. 

“Don’t look away.” 

Wooyoung shuddered and rolled his tongue over the inside of his cheek. Neither man said anything and eventually, Wooyoung tilted his head up, lips brushing over San’s jaw. 

“I won’t, then.” 

He didn’t keep his voice down the second time around, moaning as San meticulously stretched him open, leaving love bites and kisses all over his shoulders and neck. 

San stopped when Wooyoung’s hand flew down to his wrist, gripping tight as he shuddered, meeting his eyes as he panted. 

“I can’t- I’ll cum-”

San smiled, rewarding him with a kiss, slicking himself up. 

Wooyoung wiggled in impatient anticipation beneath him, eventually wrapping his arms around his neck as he felt San finally press against him, both of his palms pressed at either side of his head. Wooyoung nearly bit back the moan of delight that tumbled out of his mouth as San pressed into him. His mouth fell open instead, a moan of wanton abandon rumbling out of his throat as he rolled his hips down, urging San deeper. 

The slightly older man fisted the sheets near his head, hips rolling down with slow, practiced motions. He’d knew Wooyoung’s body better than his own in this regard in the very short time they’d had together. 

The wicked little devil on his shoulder reminded him of flashes of his dream, a certain dog trainer’s hands running up and down his body as he thrusted into Wooyoung. 

Maybe it was heat of the moment, maybe it was the fog of his somewhat sleep-riddled brain, but San found himself slipping up as Wooyoung moaned for him. 

“San~ San, faster, please -”

“So fucking pretty for us- ”

Wooyoung looked up at him, blinking in confusion before he choked on a moan as San’s cock curved just right. 

“W-what-”

San felt his cheeks growing hot, but he bit his lip, leaning down so Wooyoung’s couldn’t see his face-hypocritical, he knew, but he worried if he held his gaze, he’d falter in his words.

He already slipped, might as well continue letting his thoughts freefall.

“Do you want to know what my dream was about?” He growled, sucking at a yet-to-be-marked part of Wooyoung’s neck. He whimpered and gasped, trying to look at him. San sped up instead, distracting him with every pleasurable brush to his prostate. 

“S-San-? Fuck! Wait fuck, I c-can’t think straight if you’re-fucking hitting it so much, shit -”

San slowed to a stop, growling and swearing underneath his breath as he looked at Wooyoung. The young chef panted, eyes glazed over and slightly frustrated at the loss. He looked up at San, searching his eyes. 

“What did you d-dream about that was so good you’re bringing it up now?” He huffed, partially teasing him and partially urging him to take the hint and keep thrusting. His hand moved up to cup San’s cheek and instead, he felt him wrap his fingers around his wrist, kissing his palm as he looked into his eyes. 

“Yeosang was there. The way he touched both of us was addicting.” 

Wooyoung’s eyes widened, his lips parting as he clenched slightly. San’s eyes narrowed as he ran his teeth over his palm. 

“You clenched. Does it turn you on that I had that kind of dream? With both of you in it?” 

Wooyoung shuddered, searching San’s face for any signs of dishonesty. Naturally, there were none, and San took the time to resume thrusting, keeping his pace deep and slow so Wooyoung could hear everything he had to say. 

“I never…mm, minded you liking him so much but I can see why you do. You two have good chemistry, darling.” 

Wooyoung’s fingers flexed along his cheek, his other weaving into his hair as the words made his cheeks darken San’s satoori bounced around his head like a hymn, and Wooyoung felt his mind swirl, a spark of hope and desire in the muddied thoughts. 

“Do you think you’d try to hide your moans more or less if he was here too, touching you with me? Do you think you’d try and talk back to him while you kiss, only to crumble mid-way because my cock feels too good and you can’t focus?” 

“San, oh my god- ” Wooyoung clenched again, tugging San’s hair to ground himself as San suddenly sped up, growling in need. The bed rocked below them, the headboard hitting the wall at an off-tempo pace as San’s hands ran all up and down Wooyoung’s body. 

“Keep moanin’. You sound so pretty like that, baby. You’ll drive us crazy.” 

Wooyoung clenched tighter, closing his eyes. The room had begun the spin from how hot he was, his thighs shaking as he listened to San purr his fantasy out to him. 

It made him throb, his cock red and hard as a rock against his abdomen as he imagined Yeosang’s soft fingers all over his body, contrasting with San’s rough work-worn ones.

Wooyoung looked up at him, eyes begging, though all that fell from his lips were disjointed and desperate pleas for more. 

“S-San-! San I c-can’t, I-I need to cum, please, please- ”Wooyoung’s voice was airy and desperate as his eyes rolled back, the lube making a slick mess between his cheeks. San laced their fingers together and kissed him, claiming every inch of his mouth as he rocked forward, hell-bent on making him fall apart first. 

“D-Do you think Yeosang would go wild listening to you moan like this? Mm?”

That seemed to do it for Wooyoung, and he threw his head back with a shaky gasp and moan, thick spurts of cum making a mess of both his and San’s abdomens. San kissed him, languidly mapping out every part of Wooyoung’s mouth as he came inside, purring sweet nothings against his lips. 

It took the two longer than usual to come down from the adrenaline of their lovemaking, but when they did, Wooyoung pulled back first, looking up at San with flushed cheeks and a curious slow blink. 

“So that was…something.”

San cleared his throat and blushed, looking back down at him. While a moment ago he spoke with a deep satoori purr and a seductive smile, now he was speaking airily and softly as the reality of their encounter sunk in. 

“I think I like Yeosang too.” 

Wooyoung blinked at him, lips parting. 

“...wait that wasn’t just you teasing me?”

San flushed darker and hid his face in Wooyoung’s shoulder, muttering incoherently. Wooyoung combed his fingers through pastel pink locks and kissed San’s jaw, his heart fluttering. 

“How about we get cleaned up? We can talk about it when you’re ready…?”  He left the sentence open-ended and waited for a moment, smiling and laughing quietly at the small nod that followed a few moments later. 

“Breakfast first?” San muttered. Wooyoung laughed, his eyes crinkling with joy. 

“Breakfast first.”

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T a g l i s t

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