Archive of Our Own ^beta

TAEYONG.

“He seemed really interested when I told him about you!” Ten grinned, nudging Johnny’s shoulder as the taller looked out the bus window. 

“I don't think mum will let me, I promised that I’d stay home with Mark.” Johnny replied. 

Ten's smile disappeared temporarily before lighting right back up. “Take him with you! Taeyong’s amazing with kids, and he's so understanding.”

Johnny turned to his friend with a raised eyebrow. “It's not like Mark is five, he’s too old for it to be cute with him tagging along.”

Ten slumped back in his seat, pouting. “He's a really cool guy.”

“I'm sure he is.” Johnny agreed. “But I don't think taking my younger brother on dates is such a good idea.”

“He's cute,” Ten pressed the stop button before pulling himself out of his seat with Johnny following behind as he stepped off the bus, continuing, “anyone who doesn't like him being on your dates isn't worth dating.” 

Johnny was quiet on the walk to his house, considering Ten's words as he chatted on. 

“Okay.”

“-and Tae- huh? Okay? Really?” Ten's voice was raising in volume as his excitement grew.

Johnny stopped with his hand on the gate. “I'll go on a date with Taeyong on Saturday. But,” he pointed a finger at Ten, “you have to warn him about Mark tagging along.”

Ten clapped his hands excitedly. “Yes! Leave it to me!”

Johnny chuckled as he waved his friend off. Slipping off his shoes by the front door, he could hear Mark talking with their mother in the kitchen. 

“Haechan is allowed to play it though.”

“And Haechan will have nightmares about zombies.” Their mum said in a tone that told Johnny she had already given this reason a handful of times. “The game is rated eighteen for a reason.”

“I've tried Marky, she won't change her mind.” Johnny said in lieu of a hello.

“I won’t.” His mum leaned up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to Johnny’s cheek. “How was school?”

Johnny shrugged indifferently. “Usual.” 

Mark huffed. “You're supposed to be on my side!”

Johnny ruffled Mark’s hair as he passed him on his way to the fridge. “I'm not picking sides.” He opened a can of soda as he watched Mark go back to his phone. What harm could it really do, taking his younger brother on a date? Ten even said that he liked kids!

“Hey,” Johnny kicked Mark’s chair from behind to get his attention, “we’re going out on Saturday.” 

Mark looked up, excitement on his face. “Where?”

“To the movies. A… friend invited me.”

“Are we going to see the new Spider-Man?” 

Johnny shrugged. “I don't know yet.” 

Mark pouted as he turned back to his phone, muttering, “I want to see the new Spider-Man.”

“It’s up to Taeyong.”

“You don’t have a friend Taeyong.”

“He’s a friend of Ten's.”

“Oh,” Mark twisted his neck around to look at his brother, “so this is a date?”

Johnny groaned. “Free popcorn and you won’t ask questions.”

“Deal.” Mark agreed easily.

“Johnny?”

Johnny looked up from his phone. He was texting his date in order to find him in the bustle of the cinema. Taeyong waved when he found him, eyes big and bright. Johnny was, for lack of a better word, floored. Why hadn’t Ten just shown him a photo when he was trying to convince him to go?

“Hi! Taeyong, right?” 

Johnny's first thought, when they were closer, was not the fact that Taeyong was the perfect height for giving forehead kisses to, he swears. It was his second thought at most.

“That's me! And this is Mark?” Taeyong gestured to the younger boy following behind Johnny.

“Bro, just pretend I'm not here.” Mark replied casually. “I just want the popcorn I was promised.” 

Taeyong laughed brightly while Johnny nudged his younger brother gently. “Be polite.”

“Is this a date?” Mark asked instead.

Taeyong blushed lightly while Johnny groaned. “Yes, it's a date.” Taeyong replied softly.

“Okay.” Mark seemed done with the conversation, turning to look at the screens showing what movies were playing. 

“He's cute.” Taeyong said shyly as he stepped closer to Johnny. “Do you know what movie you'd like to see? I’m up for anything.”

“Can we see Spider-Man?”

“Mark.” Johnny groaned.

Taeyong placed a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “I wouldn't mind seeing that.”

Johnny’s face softened as he looked over to Taeyong. “Okay.”

“I like you, Taeyong.” Mark was beaming.

Taeyong chuckled and ruffled Mark’s hair. “I’m glad.”

“I couldn’t get out of it, I’m sorry.” 

Taeyong, out of character, rolled his eyes. The usually calm one out of Johnny’s friend’s was angry and the elder didn’t know how to act around him to calm him down. “You always say that.” 

“I can’t control what my mum tells me to do.” Johnny replied, the calmess he was trying to keep wavering. “We can reschedule our dates, I can’t reschedule when I babysit.”

“Isn’t he old enough to be home alone for a few hours?” 

“Not really? He can’t even cook frozen pizza.” 

Taeyong sighed heavily. “I’m not spending another Friday night watching a superhero movie with your little brother. I love Mark but I don’t want to spend my spare time with him, I want to spend it with you. Preferably alone.” 

Johnny took Taeyong’s hand in his, running his thumb over the protruding knuckles. “I’m really sorry, Yong.” 

Taeyong stayed silent for a few moments before he sighed once again and slowly slid his hand out of Johnny’s grasp. “I am too.” 

Later that day, Johnny, rather than greeting his family upon arriving home from school, headed straight to his room.

Mark got up from his seat at the kitchen table, abandoning his homework in favour of finding out what had put his older brother in a foul mood. He knocked lightly on and pushed the door that was already ajar further open when there was no response. He discovered Johnny laying face down on his bed, feet hanging off the end, his shark plushy - a gift from Taeyong - concealing his face.

“Did something happen at school?” He asked timidly as he stepped further into the room.

Johnny groaned and pushed himself up to face Mark, pulling the plushy into his lap. “We broke up.” 

“Who?” Mark asked in surprise. “You and Taeyong?”

Johnny hummed, eyes cast downwards.

Mark sat down next to his brother, raising and then dropping his hand awkwardly, not really knowing how to comfort him. He settled on keeping his hands to himself. “I’m sorry.” 

Johnny nodded. “Thanks.”

“I liked him. He was nice to me.” Mark commented after a moment of silence. “Why did you break up?”

Johnny sighed, loudly and for an extended period of time. Exaggerating. “If I tell you it will make you sad.” Johnny reached an arm up to pat Mark’s head. “Don’t worry about it.”

Mark frowned. “Please tell me. I’ll just annoy you until you do anyway.”

“I’m not telling you.” He insisted, swatting Mark away without much effect, and laying back down.

“Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell meeeee! Why am I not allowed to know, it’s unfair just because I’m-”

“We broke up because of you, now would you shut up and leave me alone?” 

Johnny sat up after his outburst, already reaching for Mark before the younger’s face had time to fall. 

“Mark-”

Mark shook his head. “W-why is it my fault?” He stuttered.

“It’s not, I didn’t mean it like that.” Johnny replied hurriedly. “It’s not your fault.” 

Mark wiped his eyes with his sleeve as he mumbled, “But you said- you said it was.”

“I was being stupid. Please don’t be upset.” 

“So,” Mark sniffed, “so it’s not my fault?”

“No,” Johnny didn’t like lying to his sibling, however this wasn’t entirely a lie, right? It wasn’t technically Mark’s fault, even if he was involved. “It’s not your fault.”

Mark nodded. “Okay.” After a quiet moment he added, “I liked him.”

Johnny smiled sadly. “Yeah? Me too.”

YUTA.

Mark came in after playing football in the park with his friends and headed straight into the kitchen for water, ball tucked under his arm and muddy studs still on his feet. He’d apologise to his mother later. 

“Have fun?” Johnny greeted as Mark passed him. 

“Yeah.” Mark looked towards his brother to see what he was doing. Johnny’s laptop was open and there were a few books open too. Mark didn’t recognise the boy sitting beside his brother but he was quick to let him know that he liked his bright red hair. 

Johnny grinned over his shoulder at Mark’s comment as his friend thanked him shyly. “This is Yuta, Mark, I don’t think you’ve met.” 

“Hi,” Yuta smiled brightly. His smile was nice, Mark noticed. “I like football too.” 

“You can join us next time, if you want.” Mark invited, always the one to include others.

Johnny chuckled. “He’d destroy all of you.” 

Yuta rolled his eyes and shoved Johnny gently. “I’d go easy on kids, you’re just jealous that I didn’t go easy on you.” 

Johnny seemed to fluster, uncharacteristically unable to make eye contact. Looking between the two teenagers, Mark noticed that their knees were pressed together rather deliberately, and when they leaned back over their work he questioned whether or not they really needed to be quite that close to each other. He got kicked out of the kitchen when he brought this up.

After that day, the more Yuta was over at their house, the more Mark started to question the relationship between his brother and his friend. His suspicions were confirmed when one day he went downstairs and was greeted with the sight of Johnny giving Yuta a goodbye kiss, one hand holding the back of the shorter boy’s neck, and the other hand holding his waist.

He made exaggerated gagging noises as he passed them but didn’t make any further comments after Yuta had left.

“As expected, Johnny.” Yuta remarked, making no effort to hide the frustration he was feeling.

“Our mum’s busy, I can’t just drop my responsibility for him.” Johnny replied calmly. 

“Can’t he just walk home? He walks himself to and from school everyday.”

Johnny dropped his pen into the spine of his notebook and used his now free hand to hold Yuta’s. He was regretful that he had to interrupt another date with his boyfriend because he had to look after his younger brother, but he didn’t have much of a choice, something he had been trying to explain to Yuta of for the past ten minutes. “It’s dark when he leaves after practice now and mum doesn’t want him walking home alone.” 

Yuta played with Johnny’s fingers, face screwed up in thought. “She won’t know if he doesn’t tell her.” He shrugged as he looked back up at his boyfriend, as if the idea was obvious.

“I can’t just let him walk alone in the dark.”

“There are street lights.”

“Yuta.” Johnny pulled his hand back to run it through his hair. “I… I can’t. I’m responsible for him. It’s not like we’re going alone, anyway. Ten and Jungwoo will be there too.”

“Do you think they like it when he tags along?” 

Comments such as that were unlike Yuta. Yuta was usually all smiles and gentleness and understanding. He adapted to situations well, never complaining. His annoyance over Mark tagging along had taken Johnny by surprise.

He had mentioned Mark joining casually as they did their homework on his bedroom floor, assuming he’d get the usual ‘you don’t even have to ask, I love Mark’ Yuta always responded with. He wasn’t prepared for silence and frustration to take over his boyfriend’s features. 

“I’ll ask.” He quickly sent Ten a text asking if he would mind Mark coming with them, explaining that he had to pick him up from his after school activity on the way there. Ten replied with an ‘I love Mark!’ and three wide smiley face emojis. Johnny showed Yuta the text, who rolled his eyes and went back to his work. 

“Ten doesn’t count, he’s too nice to say anything else.” 

Johnny had to admit that he had a point.

Yuta had been distant with Johnny for the rest of the evening, pushing Johnny’s hand from his thigh as they waited for their food at dinner, keeping a chair between them as they watched their friend’s bowl. Yuta’s eye roll as Johnny taught him how to hold the bowling ball correctly didn’t go unnoticed by Ten. 

The eldest of the group nudged his friend as he sat down beside him. “What’s up with you?”

Yuta shook his head. “Nothing.” 

“I see through your bullshit.” He replied bluntly. “Why are you being so cold with Johnny?”

Yuta looked away from his boyfriend to look at Ten as he spoke. “He brought his baby brother on our date. Again.” 

Ten nodded. “And you’re upset about Mark being here?” Yuta looked away and nodded. “Did you tell Johnny you were upset about it?”

“Yes.”

Ten sighed quietly. “Johnny…” he placed a comforting hand on his friend’s slumped shoulders, “he really cares about Mark. I think it can make him a little blind to how others feel about him, because in his eyes Mark is so special. You have every right to feel upset about this.”

Yuta smiled although Ten couldn’t see it because his head was down. “Thank you.” 

“You deserve to feel important, too.”

Yuta looked over towards Johnny as he was walking back over to the group’s spot. His smile was wide and Yuta couldn’t help but smile because of it. His boyfriend really was handsome. 

“He feels really bad.” Ten added. “He actually tried to find someone to look after Mark, but babysitting rates are apparently very high.”

“He did?”

Ten nodded. “He cares about you a lot.”

Yuta stood up as Johnny reached him, surprising his boyfriend who he had been pushing away all evening. “I like you.” 

Johnny’s confusion changed back into the grin he was sporting before, hands immediately going around Yuta’s waist and pulling him into a hug. “I like you too.” 

Yuta leant up to press a quick kiss to Johnny’s lips. “I’m sorry for being grumpy.” 

Johnny sat down beside him, taking both of his hands in his own. “You have every right to be grumpy. I’ll try and get out of babysitting next time.”

Yuta pecked his cheek, “Thank you.”

In the background Mark could be heard insisting that it wasn’t babysitting because he was not a baby. 

Arguing. That was the first thing Mark heard as he stepped into his home. It was coming from upstairs and upon following the yelling he found himself outside of Johnny’s bedroom door. Mark pressed himself to the door in order to try and hear what was going on.

“You said you would try and get out of it from now on.”

“I have! Our last two dates were alone.”

“And today you’re saying we won’t be! I thought he had a sleepover?"

Sleepover? Was this about him?

“His friend’s sick, he can’t stay over anymore.”

So this was about him? Haechan hadn’t been in school that day and his mum had called him to let him know he could no longer stay over and that they’d reschedule. 

“There’s always an excuse.”

“Yuta..."

The doorknob turned and Mark jumped back, but it was too late to hide. He looked up, embarrassed, to see Yuta standing in the doorway, his face red and blotchy.

“Mark?” He said it quietly. “Shit- hey, did you hear us?”

Johnny was behind Yuta in a second at the mention of his brother. “Mark?”

The youngest couldn’t stop himself from crying, with the two staring at him, suddenly overwhelmed.

“Hey, hey, please don’t cry.” Yuta bent down to be at Mark’s height and wiped at his face gently. “Why are you crying?”

Mark looked over Yuta’s shoulder to Johnny who was standing back, worry covering his features. “You’re arguing because of me…”

Yuta sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You don’t need to worry about that.” He looked over to Johnny. “I should probably get going.” Johnny nodded curtly, but when Yuta had turned his face back around to look at Mark, Mark saw the sadness in his brother’s eyes. “I’m sorry for making you cry. Both of you.”

Mark watched Yuta leave down the stairs and at the sound of the front door closing he turned around to face his brother. “Did you guys break up because of me?”

Johnny pulled his brother into a hug, running a soothing hand over the younger’s back even though Mark was pretty sure he should be the one comforting Johnny. “We did break up, I think… but it wasn’t because of you.”

Mark let it be, he could pretend that he hadn’t heard the conversation, for Johnny’s sake. This was because of him, afterall. He just didn’t know why.

JAEHYUN.

Mark was excited. He was visiting Johnny in his shared apartment for the first time and Haechan was coming along with him. His mum sent him off to the bus stop with an over-packed bag on his back and a strict ‘listen to your brother’ speech. 

Johnny met the pair at the bus station and was quick to pull his younger sibling into a tight hug. “How’s school been?” He asked as he pulled away. 

Mark shrugged. “Normal.” 

Johnny chuckled. “We’re having Thai food tonight, is that alright with you both?” 

The younger boys nodded. 

“So this is the famous little brother!” A boy a little shorter than Johnny called from his place on the hood of Johnny’s car. “We have heard so much about you.”

“Mark, Haechan, this is my… Jaehyun.” He ended the sentence awkwardly, hand going up to rub the back of his neck. The boy in question also seemed to be suddenly shy.

“We can get you sorted after we get food, yeah?” Jaehyun asked to break the tension.

Food sounded like a great idea to the teenagers.

Mark and Haechan weren’t much help when it came to food shopping, leaving most of the work to the two older boys. “Just put it in, they won’t notice.” Mark encouraged after Haechan was told to put back a cake he had found. 

“They’ll get mad.” Haechan worried, though when both elder boys back’s were turned away he slipped it into the bottom of their cart anyway.

“You look like our parents.” Mark commented as he watched his brother and Jaehyun try and decide over what to buy. His comment went unnoticed, the pair too wrapped up in each other. 

At the checkout they, of course, noticed the added item. Johnny chuckled and ruffled Haechan’s hair. Mark grinned at getting away with it.

“You two can take my room.” Johnny said as the ending credits of the movie rolled over the television screen. “I put your bags in there already.”

Mark couldn’t even remember what they had been watching. Throughout the two hours he had instead been focused on his brother and his flatmate as they edged closer and closer to each other. By the end of the movie Johnny’s arm was hung over Jaehyun’s shoulders and Mark caught Jaehyun removing his hand from his brother’s knee as he turned around. 

“Where will you sleep?” Mark questioned.

Johnny shrugged as he stood up. “I can take the couch.”

“Thanks for dinner.” Haechan waved goodnight, dragging Mark along with him. 

At 2am Mark felt thirsty, so he tiptoed through to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He went quietly, glancing over to check he hadn’t woken Johnny, only to find that his brother was nowhere to be seen. 

Where was he sleeping?

He got his answer in the morning when Haechan caught him slinking out of Jaehyun’s cracked door and onto the couch, unaware of the teenager watching him from down the short hallway. 

“Are you boyfriends?” He asked without preamble as they all gathered around the small kitchen table for breakfast. 

Jaehyun choked on his coffee and quickly excused himself to his bedroom, avoiding eye contact with the younger boys as he shuffled around them. 

“Haechan!” Mark groaned, elbowing his friend. 

“I saw Johnny sneaking out of his bedroom this morning!” Haechan raised his hands in defence. 

“You need to learn how to be subtle.” Mark rolled his eyes. 

Johnny sighed as he placed his mug down. “Jaehyun isn’t ready to come out.” He said softly. “Don’t tell anyone, especially not mum.” Johnny gave Mark a pointed look. 

“I won’t.” Mark agreed easily. 

Mark had been spending a lot of time at Johnny and Jaehyun’s apartment since starting university. It just sort of became a habit for him to go there at the end of a long day, or when he was panicking over an assignment deadline. Jaehyun was welcoming, always offering him food and a place at the table to work. 

He had been spending more and more time at the apartment since Haechan had met his not quite boyfriend, Jeno. Mark had turned up at Johnny’s door looking defeated five times over the last few weeks because of Haechan cancelling their plans at the last minute to spend time with Jeno instead. It had broken Johnny’s heart to see Mark like that and he hadn't thought twice about inviting his little brother in for some quality time.

Jaehyun chuckled as Johnny pulled out a chair to sit down at the kitchen table, hair mussed from sleep and eyes barely open. 

“Morning.” Johnny greeted with a yawn. 

Jaehyun affectionately ran a hand over his boyfriend’s bed head as he placed a fresh cup of coffee in front of him. “Good morning.” He greeted, kissing Johnny’s cheek. “I was thinking we could do something on the 20th?” 

Johnny blinked up at him. “Yeah?” 

“We talked about how we haven’t been on a proper date for a long time… and well, Mark was talking about his plans with Haechan then so the apartment will be little brother free…”

The implication of an empty apartment seemed to wake Johnny up. “Oh?” He reached out a hand to play with Jaehyun’s fingers. “It sounds like you’ve really thought about this, huh?”

Jaehyun nodded. “I have. I’ll book the restaurant and we can go for a walk after we’ve eaten and-” 

Johnny smiled as Jaehyun rambled, standing up to crowd his boyfriend against the cabinets and lean into his space. “I can’t wait.” He saif softly, pulling Jaehyun into a kiss, taking his face between his hands to deepen it, enjoying their alone time.

The couple hadn’t long got back to their apartment, shoes kicked off haphazardly and jackets not even making it to their hooks in their rush. They were acting like they had just met for the first time all over again, like the opportunity to make out on the couch was new and exciting. 

Johnny had just placed his watch on the coffee table and was grinning as Jaehyun began unbuttoning his dress shirt, when his phone buzzed in his pocket.  

Johnny groaned unhappily at the interruption and had every intention of ignoring the call and putting his phone on airplane mode. That was the plan, until he saw that it was Mark’s name on his phone screen. 

Johnny pushed Jaehyun back enough to sit up, keeping a hand on his thigh as he answered the call.

“Who is it?” Jaehyun asked with a frown. 

“Marky? Everything alright?” 

On the other end of the line Mark sniffled. “Not really.”

Johnny came to a halt at the sound of his brother crying. “Hey, hey, what happened?” 

“Haechan bailed on me again. For Jeno.” 

“I’m sorry he did that.” Johnny sighed softly. “Look, Mark, I’m actually with Jaehyun right now…”

“I don’t want to be alone right now. I’m not far from your apartment. Could I maybe come over, just for one movie? Then I’ll leave you guys alone.” 

Johnny glanced over to Jaehyun who was waiting for him to wrap up the call. His eyes landed on the exposed shoulder and he gazed at it longingly for a moment before accepting his fate. Undressing his boyfriend would have to wait, just for a few more hours.

“Okay. We’ll wait for you.” 

Johnny placed his phone down by his discarded watch and placed his hand on Jaehyun’s unoccupied thigh, rubbing his hands up and down them soothingly. The sour expression Jaehyun was sporting didn’t change. 

“I’m sorry.” Johnny leant forward to kiss Jaehyun’s shoulder. “He’s really upset, you should have heard him. He’ll only be here for a couple of hours and then we can get back to our date-”

“No.” Jaehyun interrupted quietly. He pushed Johnny’s hands from his thighs and shuffled backwards until he was no longer sitting in his boyfriend’s lap. “This happens all the time. There’s always an excuse as to why Mark should be here, why he joins us on dates or sleeps over. I feel like we’re never alone.” Jaehyun’s usually calm voice was growing louder as he went on. “Tonight was meant to be special.” His voice cracked as he said the last word. “I was so excited to finally have a whole day with you to myself. But then… the little brother calls and you go running without a single thought towards me.” 

“Jae-”

“No.” Jaehyun repeats, pushing Johnny away when he tries to get closer. “I’m done, Johnny. I gave it one more chance, I thought we could get past this if we just - just had one day where your focus was on me.” 

“I love you.” Johnny said wetly, tears building in his eyes. “I’m sorry, but I love Mark too. It’s terrible timing but I can’t just let him be alone when he’s upset.”

“I love you too. And I love Mark like he’s my own brother, but I can’t be in a relationship if we never get to be alone because we’re always babysitting. I need to feel like a priority, and I’m not getting that from you.” 

Johnny sucked in a breath. “You are important to me. You’re the most important person in my life, Jae.” 

“Other than Mark, you mean.” Jaehyun huffed sadly. “I’ll take the guest room tonight.”

“Jaehyun, don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Break up with me.” Johnny winced while saying the words out loud. 

“I’m sorry. I have to look out for myself.” Jaehyun sighed. “I’m sorry.” 

They sat in silence for what felt like an eternity until there was a buzz, telling them that someone wanted into the building. Johnny knew, as he pressed the button to unlock the building's main enterance, that he was ending his relationship at the same time.

DOYOUNG.

Johnny slipped into the library cautiously, giving the unfamiliar space a once-over before setting both feet inside. The numerous genre signs hanging from the ceiling, coupled with the volume of books lining the shelves was overwhelming and he had no idea where to even begin searching. Johnny ended up picking the first unoccupied row of fiction books, glancing over his shoulder before picking anything up to read the back.

He had managed to escape any questions from his friends by telling them he was meeting with a professor, feeling ridiculous for both being embarrassed about needing to do research for the random elective course that he had chosen, and for keeping said elective a secret from his friends. The class had just been given their final exam on comparative textuality that required analysing three different texts that treated the same subject matter and Johnny had decided that he’d rather die (or maybe if he was being less dramatic, run sixty laps of the gym) than have to say the words “comparative textuality” in front of another person. The last thing he needed was for his friends from his nutrition and lifestyle class to find out that he had interests that were not kettlebells and chicken smoothies.

So, he had lied, sneaking into the campus library as if he was sixteen and trying to get into a bar without being seen by someone he knew.

Johnny was stumped on what to do about the exam. He scanned the isles of books, titles ranging from three part thrillers to cheesy romance manga, but nothing was catching his attention. He was reading the back of a copy of Twilight when someone else’s presence made him look up.

“Hi!” A boy said cheerfully, the lanyard around his neck indicating to Johnny that he was someone that worked in the library. “You were looking a little lost over here, can I help you find what you’re looking for?” 

“Hi, yeah, um…” Johnny stumbled over his words. The librarian was so pretty. His hair was unstyled and falling in front of his eyes, thin round rimmed glasses sitting on a nose Johnny could only describe as cute. The dark blue sweatshirt he was wearing had daisies on it, sleeves rolled up to reveal the most delicate looking wrists Johnny had ever seen. And Johnny was friends with Ten. “Yes.” He said finally, dumbly. 

The pretty boy chuckled and took Johnny over to the counter. “Do you know the author's name? I can look them up on our database.” 

“Oh, well, you see," Johnny glanced down at his feet awkwardly as he spoke, "I don't know what I'm looking for? I have this exam where I'm supposed to look at some different media that are about the same thing, so like, adaptations or something would work I think. I'm not really... involved in all that so I don't know where to start. I’m a sports science major and this was a random elective."

“I see!” The librarian became more animated at the opportunity to solve Johnny's dilemma. "Well, my current fixation is on The Untamed, have you heard of it?" 

The name did sound familiar to Johnny, Ten had been going on and on about these gay wizards he was obsessed with, taking it as far as to make a powerpoint presentation to try and introduce Johnny to the characters. "I think so, yeah." He replied, attempting to sound casual.  

"It's got plenty to compare because there are many adaptations. The web drama is fifty episodes long-"

"Fifty?" Johnny gasped.

"Don't let it intimidate you!" The librarian seemed just as passionate about the series as Ten was. "Trust me, it's worth it. I can see if we have the novels available, if you like?"

Johnny nodded, "Please."

The boy pushed his glasses back up his nose with one hand as he typed on the keyboard with the other, eyes focused on the screen in front of him. He frowned. “I’m afraid we don’t have them right now, they’ve all been loaned...” 

“Oh… okay, thank you anyway.” Johnny turned, ready to make a quick getaway and avoid embarrassing himself further.

He was mentally preparing to go back to square one with his assignment and hoping to never run into this beautiful boy again, when he continued, “If you give me your email I can send you a notification when they have been returned? I can even keep a copy behind the counter for you. Unless you’d rather just read that?” He nodded his head towards the copy of Twilight still in Johnny’s hand, who was mortified at the heat he felt rise on his cheekbones. He hated it. Johnny was used to being the suave, easy going person. He hadn’t been this flustered by a boy since Yuta, and that had been in high school.

He dropped the book to the counter top, completely forgetting it had even been in his hand. “No that’s okay, I don’t know why I even picked this up…” Johnny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I can’t really afford to wait. Thank you though, you’ve been very helpful.” 

The boy hummed, and just as Johnny was turning away again said, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll let you borrow my personal copies.”

“Seriously?” Johnny exclaimed in hopeful surprise. 

He shrugged, as if he wasn’t aware that he was saving Johnny’s life. “Bring me an iced coffee and we’ll call it even.”

Johnny grinned. “I’ll be back tomorrow!” It was only after he had returned back to his apartment that he realised he hadn’t asked for the boy’s name.

Johnny came back the next day as promised, an iced coffee in each hand and only slightly overdressed for the occasion, and found the pretty boy stacking a shelf.

“I need to talk to my friend over there, I’ll come find you when I’m done.”

“Sure.” Mark nodded. “I’ll try find an empty table.” 

As he approached the librarian, Johnny wished his hand’s were free so that he could wipe the sweat from them on his clothes. “Hey!” He greeted as the boy was sliding a battered copy of One Piece onto the shelf between the other volumes. 

“You came back.” The boy smiled wide, teeth on full display.

“Of course I did.” Johnny chuckled. He raised his left hand to the boy’s eyeline. “I have your coffee.”

The boy gasped happily, pushing the book cart out of his way to retrieve his coffee. He took a long sip. “Thank you. I think I was close to taking a nap against the Heartstopper display.” 

“I’ll pretend to know what that is.” Johnny chuckled. 

The boy gave him a look as if he had been personally offended. “You are uncultured, I see. It doesn’t matter.” He brushed the matter off with a wave of his hand. “Do you know the person currently staring at us?”

Johnny followed where the boy was looking over his shoulder and found Mark at a nearby table, books open but instead of studying he was blatantly staring at the pair. “Oh, that’s my little brother, Mark.” 

“Ah, I see.” He sent Mark a small small wave, who dipped his head at being caught. “Just your brother…”

“Yeah…” Johnny chuckled awkwardly. “Oh! I watched the first few episodes of The Untamed last night.”

The librarian grinned as he replied excitedly, "What did you think of it?”

"I liked it. You were right about it being confusing though, I don't really understand what's going on.”

He smiled in understanding. “What’s confusing you? Maybe I can shed some light on it for you.” 

“I mean,” Johnny began, leaning his elbow against the nearby shelf, “they were fighting seaweed? And I don’t understand how Lan Zhan - that’s the quiet one's name, right?”

“It is.” He took a sip of his coffee. 

“Right, well how did he keep Wei Wuxian up by only holding his collar? Because surely he would have slipped out of his clothes? I do understand that they’re all gay and all, I don’t know, wizards? They can do magic and fly on their swords? How does that even work!”

The librarian raised an eyebrow in amusement, fighting the urge to laugh. He didn’t want to embarrass the student who was showing such an interest in his favourite series. “I’ll be honest, you kind of have to just accept that these things can happen.” He admitted. “I know it’s a lot at first but I promise the heartbreak later on will make it worth it.” 

Johnny narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. “Heartbreak? You said nothing about it having a sad ending!” 

“Oh,” He chuckled, “it’s heart wrenchingly devastating. That’s part of what makes it so beautiful though.” 

“Does one of them die?” Johnny asked apprehensively.  

“I don’t want to spoil anything.” The librarian waved the question off as if it wasn’t vital to Johnny’s sanity. “I have your books by the way. I just grabbed them all but you don’t have to read them all if you don’t want to, obviously.” He led Johnny back over to the counter and Johnny waited as he walked around to the staff side and picked up a tote bag from underneath. He pulled out five paperbacks and Johnny briefly wondered how he hadn’t hurt himself lugging that weight around on one shoulder. “Just drop them off here whenever you’re finished.” 

Johnny put his coffee down on the counter in order to take the books, his fingers brushing over the librarians as he did so. He was fairly certain his brain short circuited briefly. Johnny managed to choke out a thank you as he carefully put the books away in his bag and picked his coffee back up. “I’ll return them unharmed, I promise.” 

“I trust that you will.” The boy was still smiling widely, beautifully. “They’re called cultivators, by the way.”

“Huh?”

“The characters.” He tipped his head in the direction of Johnny’s bag. “They’re cultivators, not wizards.” 

“Oh. Okay. Thanks.” 

“That doesn’t look like studying to me.” Johnny commented as he sat down opposite his brother after managing to tear himself away from the pretty boy.

“And that looked like flirting.” Mark replied, an eyebrow raised in question. 

Johnny flustered, flicking his eyes anywhere but in Mark’s direction and fumbling with his books as he took them out of his bag. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh come on.” Mark rolled his eyes. “Do you have a crush or something? I’ve never seen you this shy around a boy before.” 

“He’s nice, that’s all.” Johnny shrugged. “He was doing me a favour by letting me borrow some books for my exam.”

Mark picked up his pen to start studying, but before putting his head down asked, “Is that why you got so dressed up today?”

“I didn’t-!” Johnny cut himself off when a nearby student shushed them. He continued more quietly, “I didn’t ‘get dressed up’, I just didn’t wear basketball shorts.”

Mark scoffed. “Exactly.”

Johnny restrained himself from throwing his textbook at him. It was only later that evening that he realised he had failed to gain the boys number, again. He dropped his head to his desk with a frustrated groan. 

“Taeyong?” Johnny called when he picked out the familiar face among the crowd. 

Johnny was taking a much needed break from his coursework and exams by attending a party intended for media students. He had been invited along by one of the other students in his elective, promising it was fine for him to be there despite it not being his major. He hadn’t been expecting to run into anyone he knew, and certainly not one of his ex-boyfriends. Who, he was surprised to see, had only gotten more handsome since high school. 

Taeyong looked away from the person he was talking to at the sound of his name, a smile taking over his face when his eyes found Johnny making his way over to him. “Johnny?”

Taeyong’s friend turned around to see who had caught his friend's attention, and Johnny couldn’t believe his eyes when he was greeted with the sight of the pretty librarian. The pretty librarian who knew all about Johnny’s new interest, an interest he was sure Taeyong would tease him about if he found out about it.

Panicking, Johnny spun around to make a quick getaway, before immediately realising that, that was a dumb thing to do considering he was the one to call Taeyong’s name to get his attention, and turned back just as quickly to face the pair. The pretty boy’s eyebrows were raised in what Johnny prayed was something his professor would call fond amusement. 

Johnny gave him a flustered greeting, doing everything he could to avoid eye contact. As if meeting his eyes was Johnny’s problem here. After what had to be the most embarrassing thirty seconds of his life he managed to wrangle out, “It’s nice to see you.” 

“You too. How have you been?”

”Yeah, I’ve been good, how about you?” 

“I’ve been fine, thanks.” Taeyong smiled. “No judgement but this isn’t really your thing, is it? I thought you were planning on studying sports science.”

“I am. I just, um, know some people here.” He gestured vaguely to the nearest group of people. “Who’s your friend?” Johnny asked, aiming for nonchalant but he was sure he more than likely seemed far too eager.

“I’m Doyoung.” Doyoung introduced himself politely. 

Johnny beamed at finally having a pretty name to put to the pretty face. “I’m Johnny.”

“How do you and Taeyong know each other?”

Johnny chuckled awkwardly, looking to Taeyong for help. Taeyong didn’t seem at all inclined to give him any, smiling in a way that told Johnny he was finding great amusement in watching him struggle. “We went to high school together.” He ended up giving as explanation.

Taeyong looked between the two with suspicious eyes. “I’m going to go get another drink.” He waved his empty cup between them for emphasis. “Don’t go anywhere, we should catch up.”

“I’ll stay right here.”

“Hello Mr. Twilight.” Doyung smiled up at Johnny cheekily once Taeyong was out of earshot. 

“I had no idea you went here.” Johnny said in a hushed tone.

Doyoung leant closer to whisper back, “It didn’t come up.” He straightened back up and continued louder, “I share some classes with Taeyong. Can I ask why you didn't tell him why you’re really here? Are you embarrassed about being interested in literature?”

He was teasing. He was teasing him and Johnny couldn’t have been happier about it. Except, “I don’t like Twilight!” He groaned. “I can’t believe that’s what you remember from our first meeting.” Doyoung was looking very amused as Johnny ran a hand through his hair. “Look, can you please not mention that I like the wizard stuff around Taeyong? He knows my other friends and they don’t know that I’m into this-”

“Wait,” Doyoung stopped him with a raised hand, “are you really embarrassed about it?” Johnny nodded. “I feel like I should be offended, considering I like it.”

“Oh! No, sorry,” Johnny backpedalled quickly, “I wasn’t trying to insult it, I promise. I like it a lot. It’s just a little embarrassing, because of my… image.” He cringed saying it out loud. 

Doyoung appeared unimpressed with the explanation, crossing his arms defensively. “Your logic is a little dumb.” Johnny was geering up to beg some more but Doyoung carried on before he could say anything. “But I won’t tell him then, if it’s that important to you.”

Johnny sighed in relief. “Thank you-”

“If,” Doyoung held up a hand to stop him again, “you buy me drinks for the rest of the evening, and also my share of the drinks for Taeyong’s birthday next month.” 

Johnny gaped at Doyoung, incredulous. He had never expected this pretty, dainty, nerdy boy to be so devious. He sighed. “Okay. But I don’t even know if I'll be invited to Taeyong’s birthday party.” 

Doyoung shrugged. “I’m inviting you.” He stretched his hand out, palm up. “I’ll need your number so that I can tell you what wine to buy for me. I don’t trust you,” he gave Johnny’s casual knee length shorts and hoodie outfit a once-over, “to have the same taste as me.” 

Johnny looked at him incredulously. “What is that supposed to mean?” 

Doyoung shrugged, and eyeing Taeyong making his way back, leant over to speak quietly into Johnny’s ear, “It means you won’t argue with me unless you want Yong to know your horribly embarrassing secret.” 

Taeyong was raising his eyebrow at the pair when he handed Doyoung his drink. “What did you do to him?” He asked, suspiciously. 

“Nothing.” 

From the look on Taeyong’s face, he definitely didn’t believe him.

Johnny arrived at Taeyong’s apartment with the requested wine for Doyoung and his own six pack of beer, Mark following behind him. 

His ex didn’t appear surprised to see him at his door, nor did he seem phased by his younger brother’s presence. 

“Doyoung said you were his date?” Taeyong in lieu of a greeting as he showed the brothers where to hang their jackets. “Hi Marky.” 

“Sort of, yeah.” Johnny replied at the same time Mark whined, “No one calls me Marky anymore.”

“You’ll always be Johnny’s baby brother to me I’m afraid.” Taeyong teased lightheartedly, ruffling Mark’s styled hair. He took the carrier bag of alcohol from Johnny and placed it in Mark’s hands. “Can you put these in the kitchen please?” When Mark was out of sight Taeyong turned to Johnny with a pointed look. “Did you seriously bring him on another date? Does Doyoung know?”

Johnny sighed. “This isn’t a proper date, don’t worry. Mark’s friend’s were all on dates with each other so I let him tag along.” 

Taeyong rolled his eyes and under his breath muttered, “There was always an excuse.” 

“I really don’t want to argue about this. Here,” Johnny pulled out a gift card for their local pet store, “Doyoung mentioned you needed a new filter for your fish. Happy birthday.” 

“Oh, thank you.” Taeyoung took the gift card, taken off guard. “You didn’t have to get me anything.” 

Johnny waved him off. “It’s not much.” He pointed over Taeyong’s shoulder. “I should go find Mark.” 

“Yeah, sure.” Taeyong nodded. “Johnny?”

Johnny turned back around, “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t nice of me to say. Doyoung’s my friend, I just don’t want him to get hurt. And… I’d like for us to be friends again.” 

Johnny hummed. “Me too.” 

Johnny found Mark in the kitchen with a can of beer in his hand. He was talking to Doyoung as he poured himself a glass of, in Johnny’s opinion, far too expensive wine. Of all the people here that Mark could have struck up a conversation with.

“Twilight!” Doyoung grinned as he clocked Johnny entering the small kitchen. “I’ve just met your little brother.”

Almost on automatic Johnny started explaining, “His friends were all busy so-”

“He’s already told me but it’s no bother. He was also telling me you were going to have a picnic next weekend, could I maybe invite myself along?” 

“Oh? Yeah we are, you’re welcome to come.” 

“I’ll make dessert.” 

Mark looked between the two older boys as they talked. Johnny had claimed that he and Doyoung were “merely acquaintances”, and that he simply owed the other one a favour - the reason he was bringing the wine. But Mark knew his older brother well enough to know that he was attracted to Doyoung, not to mention the nickname, Twilight. Mark would have to ask about that later. He slowly backed up from between the pair and quietly left the kitchen to give them space. He finished his beer quickly and sent a text. 

To: johnny

20:37

getting a taxi home. doyoung is pretty. go back to his place so that i don’t hear anything. Seen 20:40

From: johnny

20:41

let me know when you get home 

20:42

and thanks ❤️

Seven months later.

“You’re late.” Johnny pouted as he opened the door for Doyoung, relieving him of one of the bags of groceries he had tucked under his arm as he kicked his shoes off.

Doyoung rolled his eyes. “I had to go to another store to find the right sort of - oh, hi Mark!” 

“Hi, Doyoung.” Mark replied timidly. “I was just coming down for water.” He waved the nearly empty glass in front of him, the dregs of water sloshing at the motion. 

Johnny gave Doyoung a guilty look. “He’s using the guest bedroom tonight, I hope you don’t mind. He’s had a rough week-”

“Johnny,” Doyoung cut him off, smiling, “you know you don’t need to explain, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” Johnny asked as he put a carton of eggs away in the fridge. “He came along to the cinema last week and this was meant to make up for that.”

“I’ll stay in my room, I won’t be bothering you guys or anything.” Mark added from the sink.

“You can join us if you want?” Doyoung shrugged. “Unless Johnny doesn’t want you to.” 

Johnny made a point of looking very interested in the label on the carton of orange juice he was holding. “I don’t mind, but this was meant to be a date…”

Doyoung seemed unphased by this. “It’s still a date. It’s not like you’re babysitting.” 

“Can I really watch with you guys?” Mark asked hopefully. He hadn’t been particularly excited about spending his evening alone and bound to Johnny’s guest room, but the idea of ruining yet another of his brother’s relationships had pushed him to offer the idea up, insisting he was happy to stay upstairs and out of sight. 

Johnny ruffled his hair, the same way he always had since they were young. “Doyoung doesn’t mind so I don’t either.” 

Mark was practically beaming. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

“Sure,” Doyoung began scooping rice out of the rice cooker as he spoke, “we’re having dinner first, do you want to join us?”

“I’ve got fried chicken being delivered, but thanks for the offer.”

“We’ll let you know when we’re done eating.” Johnny gave Mark a push towards the stairs. “Now go, I haven’t been given my hello kiss yet.”

“We’ll start without you if you don’t hurry up!” Johnny called from his place on the couch, wrapping an arm around Doyoung’s shoulder as he settled down beside him. 

Mark huffed as he came through the doorway, arms loaded with two bags of popcorn and three bowls. “Doyoung wouldn’t let you.” He huffed, kicking Johnny’s legs out of his way of the coffee table.

“Nuh-uh,” Johnny replied childishly, “he’s on my side, obviously, I’m his boyfriend.” 

“No, Mark’s right.” Doyoung chimed in as he accepted the bowl of popcorn being handed to him by Mark. “I let you kiss me and pay for my meals, but I prefer the younger Suh.” 

Mark grinned smugly at his older brother. “I told you so.” 

Johnny rolled his eyes but didn’t try to argue, instead watching his boyfriend make room for his little brother on the couch. He volunteered to refill glasses after the first movie of the night ended and smiled to himself as he heard Mark laugh loudly, slapping his own thigh as Doyoung told him the story of how he and Johnny met.

“It’s almost too easy for me to get what I want from him.” Doyoung stage whispered to Mark as Johnny returned with a tray of their drinks. 

“It’s not my fault you’re so pretty.” Johnny shot back, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend’s temple as he settled back onto the couch. 

Mark groaned at the display of affection, “Bro, not in front of me. Please remember that my singleness is why I’m crashing your date.” 

“Technically we are to the side of you-”

“Oh my god, you’re both insufferable, can we please start the movie now?” Doyoung sighed from between them.

Johnny pressed play and set the remote on the coffee table, twisting his body so that he could pull Doyoung comfortably against his chest, both arms wrapped around his dainty waist. With Mark’s attention on the television, Johnny leant down to nose at Doyoung’s neck, pressing barley there kisses under his ear. “Thank you.” He murmured into the skin.

Doyoung twisted his head around to look at Johnny, despite the awkward angle. “What for?”

Johnny shrugged, jostling Doyoung slightly in the process. “For being here. For being nice to Mark. For what you’ll later-”

“Please, for the sake of my sanity, don’t finish that sentence.” Mark pleaded. 

Johnny laughed and pressed a quick kiss to Doyoung’s lips once his bothers attention was back on the movie. It earned him an eye roll and smack on the chest from his boyfriend.