Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chanyeol’s phone alarm blares at 8 a.m. to get them up and ready. It’s already perfectly sunny outside, and Chanyeol takes a deep breath, covering his eyes with an arm. There are warm bodies clinging to him on each side, and he basks in the feeling of a bed well-occupied by his boyfriends.

Then, as the most punctual of the three, he sits up and stretches in order to get himself ready for the day. He has to untangle himself from a particularly tight grip around his chest from Baekhyun. He’s snuffling, and Kyungsoo is still as a rock.

He hums as he packs his bag for the day. Beach towels, sunscreen, and snacks all go into his backpack. He puts sunglasses, beachwear, and a manhwa novel into his tote. 

When he turns to look, his alphas are still moaning and groaning about the trauma of waking up early.

“C’mon, sleepyheads. I know you have no schedule thanks to your jobs, but it’s only 8 a.m.,” Chanyeol coaxes them. He rubs their shoulders, scratches gently at their scalps, but it only serves to make them rumble in their chests and snuggle further into his sheets. Baekhyun even gets closer to Kyungsoo and throws an arm around him. Very cute, but not what Chanyeol needs right now.

“Hmm, how about we make a bet out of it then? The first alpha to get ready will get a special treat from me,” Chanyeol promises, leaning closer to make sure they notice the pheromones he’s emitting.

He only has to wait a second before they’re rolling out of bed and dashing to the bathrooms. Kyungsoo gets into the en suite, so Baekhyun curses and heads toward the other. Satisfied, Chanyeol changes into his bathing suit, a top and shorts, and wears a blue graphic tee over it.

“Our swimsuits are still in the other apartment,” Kyungsoo announces as he heads next door. Moments later, Baekhyun bursts out too to get there. Chanyeol snickers and double-checks his belongings.

They’re back and panting in front of him within a matter of minutes.

“We can call it a tie, okay?”

Baekhyun pumps his fist and Kyungsoo gives him a forehead kiss.

—

“The weather is so nice!” Baekhyun says, head halfway out the window. Kyungsoo is snapping pictures of the palm trees with his phone as they pass by. Chanyeol saw a much nicer camera in his bag, and he’s looking forward to seeing what Kyungsoo will photograph.

“We haven’t been out like this in a while,” Kyungsoo admits. “I didn’t even realize how much I needed this— with you two especially.”

“You’re such a flatterer, Kyungja,” Baekhyun says with a laugh.

“I haven’t been to the beach in years! So I’m really happy to be here with you guys too. I wanna go paddle boarding so bad.” Chanyeol follows the GPS to the beach parking lot. Luckily he manages to find a single free spot among many other taken ones.

They chat about past experiences at the beach while they have brunch at a seaside western-style café.

“I mean, there were hermit crabs in my bed, on the floor, my older brother got pinched like thrice? It was simply horrid,” Baekhyun recalls, shivering. “Now when I eat crab I think of it as my form of revenge.”

“Where did your cousin even find that many?” Chanyeol asks, cutting off pieces of his omelet for them to try.

“That kid was fuckin’ crazy about digging holes, it was all he did when we went. Must have just found ‘em there.”

Kyungsoo nods. “I liked digging holes too. Sandcastles were much more fun though.”

Chanyeol’s eyes light up. “Let’s build one!”

“Aren’t we a little old for that…?”

“No such thing!” Chanyeol powers through Kyungsoo’s protest. “We could make a competition level one, or at least try.”

He feeds Baekhyun a piece of omelet, and then Kyungsoo. He receives a bite of French toast from Kyungsoo and some hash browns from Baekhyun, purring in delight. It has them melting over the table, eager to feed him more to satisfy their instincts. He’s already full off of bites of their meals before he’s eaten half his own. They finish the meal like that, secluded in their own booth from the world as they finish each other’s plates.

For once in their lives, they allow Chanyeol to take the bill, and he flourishes his credit card. Kyungsoo claps for him, deadpan, while he can tell Baekhyun would be making a siren noise if they weren’t in public.

“C’mon, let’s set up our stuff! The beach is bound to be crowded,” Chanyeol says.

And crowded it is, with tons of people sunbathing, laying underneath their umbrellas, playing with their kids in the water. They have to walk a little to get to a space to leave their stuff, but it’s gorgeous, bustling, and Chanyeol feels alive as he takes in a deep breath of the wind touched by seasalt.

Kyungsoo snaps a picture of the shoreline, and Chanyeol runs in front of him.

“Take a pic of me!”

Kyungsoo grins. “Baek, get in frame.”

“Aye-aye!”

He holds up his favorite peace sign and slings an arm over Baekhyun’s shoulder. Baekhyun throws out a finger heart and holds Chanyeol around the waist.

“1, 2, 3.” Click. “1, 2, 3.” Click.

“Now, let’s go!” Chanyeol cheers, stripping off his shirt and throwing it in his bag. Off goes his sunhat as well, and he starts rubbing sunscreen all over himself. Only to hear growling from behind him. He turns to look, and Baekhyun is whistling nonchalantly as Kyungsoo puts sunscreen on his own face.

“Hello?” Chanyeol asks, amused. “Something wrong?”

“Nope! What gave you that idea?”

“...The growling?”

“Nooo, no? No such thing…”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes and continues. When he’s nearly done, he hears both of them growling this time.

“You can’t deny it this time!” he says, spinning around.

“Chanyeollie, please, you’re sexy as fuck! People are looking!” Baekhyun pleads. “It’s not our fault.”

“Too many eyes on you,” Kyungsoo murmurs. Their pupils are visibly dilating. 

He looks around, not seeing anyone staring at him. His bathing suit is arguably more modest than theirs, as well. While they’ve only got trunks, he’s got a zip-up sleeveless top and short trunks. He assumes they’re just thinking about his chest— not that he blames them, he’ll be sure to ogle the two when they take their shirts off.

He plants kisses on both their heads. “Well, they can look, but not touch, right? I’ll put sunscreen on you, Baekhyun.” 

Baekhyun promptly strups off his shirt. He dots the cream along the alpha’s bare back, slowly smoothing his hands over his broad, firm shoulders. As he looks closely, he can see faded redness from marks he’s scratched into Baekhyun’s back. He blushes, finishing the job as quickly as he can. Baekhyun cracks his joints.

“Sweet. You wanna swim today, Kyungja?”

He shrugs. “Maybe. I brought enough stuff to last me if I don’t, though.” He whips out his iPad and stylus, plus headphones. His camera is settled next to him on the beach towel.

Chanyeol pouts. He understands Kyungsoo’s reluctance to show his body in front of strangers, but he’d love to play in the ocean alongside him. “You don’t have to take off your shirt or anything.”

“It’s fine,” he waves it off. “I get to admire you two from here.”

Chanyeol smiles. Kyungsoo’s adorable. Then he shouts in excitement and backflips into the ocean, slicking back his hair as he surfaces.

“Woo! The water is nice, c’mon! Baekhyun-ah! Kyungsoo-yah!”

Baekhyun just strolls over and wades carefully into the water. “Sheesh, this is cold, please don’t lie to me…”

Chanyeol splashes water at him. “Wimp.”

Baekhyun growls playfully and splashes back at him, pouncing after. Chanyeol yelps, falling into the water and giggling. He’s gentle even when play-wrestling, letting Chanyeol dunk him into the water and kissing his cheek when he bobs back up. They do a swim race that Chanyeol easily wins, and when holding their breaths underwater Baekhyun wins.

“Let’s go try paddleboarding!” Chanyeol suggests. He spies Kyungsoo alone at their umbrella, probably sketching on his iPad. “Actually, you stay with Kyungsoo. I can rent them, I looked it up beforehand online.”

“Okay, be safe Yeollie!”

Chanyeol wants to roll his eyes, the place is hardly a minute walk. But honestly, he’s gained a new appreciation for people looking out for him. He treks across the sand to the shack further up the shore, speaking with the woman there about renting out two paddleboards. He handles it easily, and they’re lenient enough to allow him to pay when he returns the items. The sight that greets him when he returns is not quite so pleasant.

Some woman and a man are talking to his alphas. She’s twirling her hair, and he’s definitely inching closer to Kyungsoo. The alpha in question is showing his camera to them. His poor, innocent alphas are unsuspecting as to the motives of these two.

“Yeah, it’s beautiful out!” He hears Baekhyun say. “Water’s fine too when you get used to it.”

“I know, right!” she says, clasping her hands together. “You two, are you guys friends?”

“It’s easiest to call us that,” Kyungsoo answers.

“That’s super cool! So are you feeling hungry after swimming? There’s this awesome restaurant like 5 minutes walking from here—“

“Hey!” Chanyeol interrupts, not letting the man finish his sentence. As he gets close, he realizes the two are omegas and narrows his eyes. “I finally finished getting the paddle boards! It was really hot and they’re heavy,” Chanyeol whines, drooping. “Why didn’t you help me, alphas?”

“What? What do you mean I didn’t help you?” Baekhyun replies, confused. “You said—“

“I know what I said, but you’re my alphas, aren’t you?” He pouts and pulls out the puppy eyes to drive the point home.

Baekhyun’s brain looks like it breaks. Chanyeol smirks inside, his wolf howling in victory. Kyungsoo drops his camera and scrambles to pick it up, brushing off sand.

“I’m sorry, we should’ve helped,” Kyungsoo apologizes instantly, hugging him. “Forgive your incompetent alphas, baby.”

“Aww, that’s okay, you didn’t know…”

“Oh, uh… guess we were interrupting something. Sorry,” the guy says, not that Chanyeol particularly cares as long as they leave. They duck out quickly after, and the smile he puts on is so smug it snaps them

out of their trances.

“What was that?” Baekhyun complains. “You turned off my brain and embarrassed us in front of those two.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t detach himself from Chanyeol’s side, but he nods. “That was a cheap shot, and for what?”

Chanyeol huffs. “And I’m supposed to be the naive one? They were hitting on you guys like crazy!”

“I think I’d notice if I was getting hit on,” Baekhyun says. Kyungsoo agrees, digging his chin into Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“This is you guys and the people looking at me 2.0,” Chanyeol sighs. “It’s hard being so beautiful, I suppose. Let’s try shining a little less.”

As they laugh, the subject is dropped and Kyungsoo comes out with them to paddle board. He takes a deep breath before taking off his tee, and Chanyeol feels so proud as he does. Chanyeol’s got vague knowledge of the activity a couple years old, but it’s sufficient enough to get them up and going. Once Kyungsoo falls off the board the third time, though, he gives it up and heads back to shore, hurrying to get a towel. Chanyeol waves to him as he pulls out his camera and snaps a pic of him and Baekhyun sitting on their boards.

“Were you really jealous of us back there?” Baekhyun asks, once they’ve both gotten into standing position. “I never thought you’d be the type.”

“When I have boyfriends as gorgeous as you two, I think it’s only natural.”

Baekhyun makes an impressed expression at him. “You’re an expert at flattery.”

“Learned from the best, right?”

When they’ve paddled their fill, all three of them pack their things and heft the paddle boards back to the rental center. They rinse off a bit and Chanyeol feels a slight sense of loss.

“Going here was so fun, I’m gonna miss it.”

“It’s less than an hour away,” Kyungsoo says, amused.

“But… you know, the day can never be remade again,” he says wistfully. “There’s only one first date.”

“And yet a million more to come,” Baekhyun says. “You’re not planning on throwing me away, are you?”

Chanyeol pecks both of them on the lips. “Not in a million years.”

—

Kyungsoo’s taking the time to shower after dinner, and Baekhyun and Chanyeol are relaxing on the floor, laid out next to each other.

“You don’t think Kyungsoo felt left out today, do you?” Chanyeol asks, pursing his lips. He’d practically promised to build a sandcastle with him. But he’d been too absorbed with playing in the water to remember.

“Honestly, I doubt it. Kyungsoo knows where his boundaries are and he’s not gonna get upset when he chooses to stay within them.”

“Okay, that’s nice… But I don’t know, it still makes me sad to think about.”

Baekhyun sits up. “We could have a nice surprise for him,” he says, wearing that mischievous grin that means he’s up to no good. When he gets up, Chanyeol follows, curious. He whips out a chopstick from the utensil drawer, and Chanyeol muffles a laugh.

“Operation: Make Kyungsoo Cum! I’ll workshop the name later.”

They sneak up to the bathroom door and break in. Kyungsoo yelps in his deep voice when he sees them.

“What the hell?”

“Surprise!” they say in unison. Chanyeol snickers when they start undressing. “Should we have done this in advance?”

“Maybe,” Baekhyun says flippantly. “Doesn’t matter.”

“What are you two doing,” Kyungsoo grumbles. Baekhyun pushes the shower door to the side so they can both come in. All three of them just barely fit.

“You guys… aren’t going to do what I think, right?”

“Well, what do you think?” Chanyeol asks, sliding a hand down Kyungsoo’s body. The alpha shivers under his touch, covering his torso with his arms.

“Is this the special treat?” he asks, breathy.

Baekhyun grins. “Nope, this is my idea. We’ve still got that to look forward to.

Chanyeol drops to his knees to fondle Kyungsoo’s balls, and Baekhyun follows him down to stroke Kyungsoo’s cock, trailing kisses along his hip. Kyungsoo muffles his moans under his hand, back hitting the wall. Chanyeol laves his tongue over his sack, sucking them into his mouth as well.

“Good, Yeollie, he likes that,” Baekhyun compliments. He closes his eyes and hears the sound of the two alphas kissing deeply, growing harder and starting to leak slick and he swirls his tongue over the head of Kyungsoo’s cock.

“What do you want?” Baekhyun breathes out. “It’s all up to you, baby.”

“Fuck, you’re s-serious… God, Chanyeol, stop and let me think for a second,” he begs as Chanyeol notices his knees threatening to buckle. He pops off and looks up expectantly, purposefully widening his eyes.

“Goddamn it, he’s so fucking cute like that,” Kyungsoo swears.

“Isn’t he? And the two of us will do anything for you,” Baekhyun says. “Heart’s desire.”

Kyungsoo decides, “...Fuck me. While Chanyeol sucks me off.”

Baekhyun’s chest rumbles as he slides his hand down Kyungsoo’s back, probably groping his fat ass. Chanyeol is entranced by the sight of alphas kissing so dirtily above him, and especially by the moan Kyungsoo lets out when Baekhyun must have slipped his finger in. He turns off the water, grabbing the lube he brought in.

“Mm… Kyungsoo should brace himself against the wall so you can fuck him from behind,” Chanyeol says.

“Perfect idea.”

They rearrange themselves, Chanyeol sitting face-to-face with Kyungsoo’s dick and the sight of their legs. He gets to work, licking a stripe along the side of Kyungsoo’s cock as he hears the cap of the lube pop open, and Kyungsoo’s deep groan moments after.

“Shit, you’re still kinda loose from the day before,” Baekhyun says, voice gravelly in a way Chanyeol has come to identify as uniquely during sex. “How greedy are you?”

“Fuck off,” Kyungsoo pants out. “Not as greedy as you are.”

Two days prior, Chanyeol had taken the chance to just fuck himself with a knotted dildo as his two alphas fucked each other. It was porn like he’d never seen before, and he’d just only managed not to squirt on the fake knot, much to his alphas’ relief. Both of them were the greedy ones, the way they wanted him to do so on their knots only.

“Mhm, sure, that’s why I’m the one railing you right now, hm?”

“Cocky bastard,” Kyungsoo snarls. “Shut your useless mouth and just fuck me.” 

Chanyeol’s gotten used to the harsh way they talk to each other, after reassurance that this is just how they work as alphas. It’s even come to be entirely arousing to him as well now, though they’d never treat him so meanly.

Kyungsoo lets out a drawn out moan in unison with Baekhyun as he must be sliding home. Chanyeol whimpers, the strength of their pheromones overwhelming him. Slick drips onto the shower floor.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, baby, you’re here too,” Kyungsoo pants, still as Baekhyun must have bottomed out. He pets Chanyeol’s wet hair, holding himself against the wall with one arm. “What do you want?”

“N-No, it’s about you. You can… fuck my mouth, if you want,” he suggests shyly.

Both of their chests rumble in unison.

“Fucking cutie, I wish I could see you right now,” Baekhyun sighs.

“You guys spoil me,” Kyungsoo murmurs, pushing himself into Chanyeol’s awaiting mouth. When Baekhyun starts moving, Chanyeol gets his mouth fucked as well. Like a well oiled machine, when Baekhyun thrusts in, the tip of Kyungsoo’s cock touches the back of Chanyeol’s throat. A hand grips tightly in Chanyeol’s hair, and he moans from it. For a long period of time, there’s nothing but the sound of Chanyeol choking on Kyungsoo’s length, heavy, labored breathing, and the occasional ‘fuck, feels so good’ from Baekhyun. 

“I’m c-close,” Kyungsoo warns. Chanyeol grips his hips tighter, unwilling to pull off. Kyungsoo grabs onto his hair with both hands and starts slamming into Chanyeol’s mouth, tears leaking from Chanyeol’s eyes as he gets well and truly used. Kyungsoo curses as Baekhyun shifts his angle and thrusts into him, more powerfully to get to their end.

Chanyeol can’t quite take a knot in his mouth, but he does take Kyungsoo’s load straight down his throat as the alpha chokes on a groan of pleasure. Chanyeol whimpers as he himself comes shortly after, hand fisting his cock. Baekhyun must bite into Kyungsoo’s skin as he comes because he bucks into Chanyeol’s mouth and says, “Fuck, warn me next time…”

“I thought you liked it when I did it spontaneously,” Baekhyun says, taking in quick breaths. Kyungsoo is silent, which makes Chanyeol smile, because that means he agrees but is too shy to admit it.

Chanyeol pulls off and licks his lips. He’s occasionally heard and read about complaints about the taste of sperm, but for some reason his alphas’ always taste good, almost like their scents.

“Now I have to shower again,” Kyungsoo sighs.

“That means more time together!” Baekhyun declares, switching the water back on as Chanyeol laughs.

Bone-tired, they retire for the night shortly after.

“The weird thing is, I didn’t feel as self-conscious about my body even though it was on full-display,” Kyungsoo says when they’re all staring at the ceiling, lights turned off. “I wonder if it was because I was too distracted.”

“So is the solution sucking your soul out your dick so hard you forget your insecurities?” Baekhyun asks, making Chanyeol cackle with laughter.

“Maybe it’s like exposure therapy,” Kyungsoo replies after he stops laughing. “You guys are… really incredible at helping me. Thank you.”

“A bonafide Kyungsoo ‘thank you’?!” Chanyeol gasps. “I’m so honored!”

They banter and giggle like children on a school trip, staying up past curfew under the blankets. Chanyeol drifts off with a smile still on his face after listening to the gentle sounds of Baekhyun’s snuffling.

—

“What are you doing here?” Chanyeol asks, shaking.

He moves closer to Chanyeol. Chanyeol refuses to look at him and finds himself cowering in a corner.

“Don’t! Don’t get closer!” he screams. “Please, someone!”

Chanyeol jolts awake, disoriented and feeling wetness on his face. Unexpectedly, he feels warmth against his sides.

“Shh, s’okay, it wasn't real,” Kyungsoo says softly, rubbing circles into Chanyeol’s back. “Just a bad dream.”

Baekhyun pets his hair, fingers tracing around his collarbones and the shell of his ear. He rests his forehead against Chanyeol’s shoulder.

Chanyeol gnaws on his lower lip, wiping away tears without saying anything.

“Do you want anything? Glass of water, warm milk?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Milk?” he says meekly. With a kiss to his temple, Kyungsoo gets out of bed. No complaints, no need for anything else. Chanyeol doesn’t expect warmth to flood him down to his very core.

“Want a lullaby?” Baekhyun offers. “I can sing the one you like about the river.”

Chanyeol starts to sob harder at that, worrying Baekhyun as he sits up.

“D’you wanna be touched? I’ll back off, push me or tell me,” Baekhyun says seriously.

“Don’t leave,” he says. “Please.” Baekhyun holds him closer.

Kyungsoo returns with the milk, plus a box of tissues. “Here, baby.”

His hands are shaking too hard to grip it, and they just wait. All for him.

“W-Why… what is this?” he asks quietly.

“What is what?” Kyungsoo says.

He gestures vaguely between them. “My nightmares… you knew?” He finally gets to take a sip of his milk with steadied hands.

“You told us you have insomnia. Sometimes, when you do get to sleep, you toss and turn a lot. We just kind of figured.”

Kyungsoo seems to take Chanyeol’s silence from processing that information wrong.

“I-I mean, it’s not your fault. It’s not hurting us, it’s hurting you. We just wanted to, um…”

“Help you,” Baekhyun finishes. “We love you, y’know? Why wouldn’t we take care of our baby?”

At that point, Chanyeol just starts bawling. He feels so loved it fills him up full, threatening to burst from his throat.

“Hey hey hey, don’t cry,” Baekhyun cooes. “Don’t waste your pretty tears on us two.”

“Is it because of us?” Kyungsoo asks, sounding slightly terrified. “I’m so sorry—“

“I love you!” Chanyeol blubbers through his tears. “I love both of you so much, I don’t know how I’m s’posed to deserve all this love…”

“No such thing as deserve. I’m giving it, and so’s Kyungsoo. Take our hearts and treasure ‘em, will you?”

Chanyeol smiles, soaking up tears with the tissues. “Should we split our hearts into halves? So everyone can have an equal piece.”

“I’ll keep mine, thanks. But I think I’ll always love you both,” Kyungsoo says thoughtfully, tucking himself back into bed. 

“We should get a heart locket,” Baekhyun suggests. “But chop it into three pieces. Then you go around and people are like, ‘what’s with that weird-ass shape?’ and you get to chuckle knowingly and say, ‘it’s a long story’. Take a drag of your cig too.”

Chanyeol cracks up at that, and Kyungsoo tugs his ear to get him to quiet down.

“C’mon, we still have to meet the Kims tomorrow.”

Chanyeol almost sits up again in surprise at the information he forgot, but just settles in deeper to try and get some rest for a good impression.

“Good night, my loves,” Chanyeol whispers, when his alphas are already off in dreamland.

—

“Do I look okay?” Chanyeol asks worriedly. “Hair, clothes, dark circles?”

“They won’t care if you have dark circles,” Kyungsoo says, patting his shoulder.

“Yeah, Junmyeon and Minseok perma-run on like, 5 hours of sleep. No way I’m doing that, maybe when I become a senior citizen like them,” Baekhyun says.

“What? I thought they were like 2 years older than you guys.”

“Yeah, they are.”

There’s a pause.

“One day, Baekhyun’s gonna get punched and I’m gonna have to defend him even though I know he’s in the wrong,” Chanyeol sighs.

“Right?!” Kyungsoo exclaims.

“Hmph. My boyfriends are a bunch of betrayers, I see.”

“I said I’d defend you!”

As he squabbles with Baekhyun, they arrive at the restaurant, Jongin only a few steps behind Junmyeon and Minseok.

“Chanyeol! So nice to meet you!” Minseok says. He places a gentlemanly kiss on Chanyeol’s knuckles.

“We’ve been hearing tall tales for months,” Junmyeon says. “It’s a bit like… Jack and the Beanstalk?”

The joke makes Chanyeol laugh, and Baekhyun gasps dramatically in response.

“He actually laughed at that joke! Don’t you dare try to charm him away from us, hyung!” Baekhyun says, pushing Chanyeol behind him. Chanyeol can’t get over his giggles and barely manages to greet them in return.

“Hello, everyone,” Kyungsoo says. “Are we ready to eat?”

“Slow down, hyung, I didn’t even get to say hi yet,” Jongin says, pouting. “Afternoon, Chanyeol-hyung! It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“You too! Your collar is adorable, and so’s the rest of your fit.”

It’s a plaid yellow collar with a charm shaped like a bear’s head. He’s got on a crop top with straight jeans— simple, but chic.

“Thank you,” Jongin says, smiling at him. He leans closer as he says. “I like the no-collar look, it must mean you’re happy with them.”

Chanyeol blushes slightly. “I really am.”

“I’m glad you came along for the hyungs, you can tell being in love is having good effects on them.”

The compliment is so sweet Chanyeol can almost taste it. He touches his cheek against Jongin’s, the traditional omega greeting.

“Now, let’s eat!”

—

Jongin warms up to him quickly, and they sit together around the circular table to gossip about the alphas and betas in their lives. While Junmyeon is an alpha, Minseok has a rare aspect that shifts between alpha, beta, and omega depending on factors in his body.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s pretty interesting living with it, to say the least,” Minseok says with a laugh. “The main changes are pheromone-based, but I get soft cycles. So for the most part, I feel comfy staying as an alpha or beta.”

Chanyeol’s read about the condition online but never met someone with it. He thinks it’s pretty cool.

Jongin adds, “Min-hyung is really great at sports and he’s super cute. I think those two would be nothing without their manager.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s true,” Baekhyun sighs out.

“Minseok-hyung is the backbone of our series, especially since some people love forgetting deadlines,” Kyungsoo says.

“It was like, two times!”

“Minseok has definitely needed to remind you of that more than twice,” Junmyeon says skeptically.

“Anyway, enough about me!” Minseok says, waving the conversation away. “Junmyeon is a great editor, the best this team could ask for.”

“H-Hey, what’s with that,” he says, a bit shy. “But… thanks, I do take pride in having everything these two make be sensible and quality.”

“Who recommended this restaurant, was it Jongin? What’s good here?” Kyungsoo asks, eyes scanning the menu.

Baekhyun nudges him. “Uh, hello? Pay attention to the convo?”

“Oh, no, it’s fine, just… let me talk into the void, thankless, gratitudeless…” Junmyeon sighs dramatically.

Kyungsoo apologizes profusely as they laugh, and Jongin is still giggling as he recommends the dishes he usually gets.

“I go here for lunch a lot,” he says. “The donkatsu is really crispy, and honestly the fried chicken is some of the best I’ve had.”

“Mm… donkatsu…” Baekhyun mumbles.

“Do you work near here?” Chanyeol asks Jongin.

“Yes! The dance studio I work at is a couple blocks away. We have classes for all levels of skill, any age welcome! You want my business card?” Jongin asks, eyes sparkling. He pulls out his wallet and Chanyeol is finding the puppy eyes and pout difficult to resist. He has a soft spot for omegas younger than him; his protective instinct wells up.

“Sure? I’ve never been good at dancing though, nobody wants to be my partner at them,” he jokes.

“Uh, hello? We’re right here to dance with you,” Baekhyun says, disdainful. “Are you dancing with any old vagrant off the streets?”

“Would you really be fine with me stepping all over your feet?”

“I would be fine with you stepping on a lot more than just–” Kyungsoo slaps a hand over Baekhyun’s mouth as the waiter comes to their table.

“Sorry about that,” Kyungsoo says politely, taking his hand away as the waiter stares. “I’d like to order… wait, how many chickens do we want?”

They sort out their orders and get two whole chickens, two orders of donkatsu, and one of ddeokbokki. The whole time, Chanyeol is muffling laughter next to Jongin. He feels like a schoolchild again, giggling alongside friends because of his boyfriends’ antics. 

“Rrright, you guys’ sex life aside… what have you been up to lately? You went to the beach yesterday, right?” Junmyeon asks.

Conversation flows between the six at the table. Among good friends and good food, the tension in Chanyeol’s shoulders releases and he breathes easily. He was really worried for nothing. He gets invested in the tale Minseok is spinning about a mountain lion encounter he had while hiking. They take over an hour to finish their meal, absorbed in the conversation and bright atmosphere. Sorting out the bill is yet another ordeal, no one willing to back down from paying more than their share.

“I ate so much, it’d be wrong of me not to pay more,” Chanyeol reasons. “I must have had a whole chicken by myself.”

“No way? I ate a whole chicken too, so that’d mean no one else got any,” Jongin says, pouting.

Minseok comes in and says, “No need to argue. I can pay as the eldest.”

“Any good alpha wouldn’t let others pay,” Junmyeon says, pulling out his wallet.

“Umm, were you coming for us or?” Baekhyun says, Kyungsoo raising an eyebrow as well.

“Ugh, this happens everytime. Everybody, hail the wheel,” Jongin says tiredly, pulling out his phone. Chanyeol watches as he taps in all their names.

“Whoever it picks will pay?” Chanyeol asks.

“Nah, whoever it picks isn’t paying. It’s funnier that way.” Chanyeol respects their desire for drama despite the drama-denying tool.

As the wheel spins, he realizes he hasn’t checked his phone in a while, too caught up. When he does, his face blanches.

“Ooh, you’re out Chan–”

“I have to go!” he announces, rocketing to his feet. “I, my sister’s about to give birth?!”

“What?!” is the table’s collective reaction.

“I missed like 10 calls from my parents, oh my god, I have to be there, I’m so sorry!” he explains rapidly, collecting his things and brushing himself off. “Hyun-ah, Kyungsoo, will you go with me? I mean—“

“Of course, if you want us!” Baekhyun says, standing as well. Before he even knows it Kyungsoo’s already left the restaurant, keys in hand. “Damn, he’s fast as fuck.”

“I’m so sorry to cut it short like this, it was great meeting you all,” he says to everyone.

“It’s fine! We’ve got all the time in the world,” Minseok says, waving it off.

“Goodbye, good luck with your sister’s birth!” Junmyeon says.

Jongin gets up to touch his cheek to his as he says, “Tell us how it goes, and if she’ll let you, we’d love pics.”

“See you all later!” Baekhyun says, running outside. Chanyeol follows right behind to where Kyungsoo’s pulled up with the car.

“Chanyeol, GPS,” Kyungsoo says as he slides into the passenger seat.

“R-right!” he pulls up the hospital address and sets his phone in the holder, anxiously tapping his fingers together as Kyungsoo pulls out of the parking lot. 

“Did they say there were birth complications or anything, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks from the back.

“I’m not sure… it’s mostly missed calls, and one text reading ‘come NOW, Yoora in labor’ with some weird emoji…” Chanyeol bites his lip. “I hope they’re overreacting. I really, really hope it’s not something urgent.”

“Don’t worry, baby, parents tend to do so with this stuff, in my experience. I’m sure Yoora’s fine, just stressed but probably wanting her family with her right now.”

Chanyeol murmurs, “I’ll try not to worry. I believe you.”

—

Kyungsoo gets them there in record time. Chanyeol takes a second from his anxious thoughts to admire how hot he looks driving for a second. They run to the hospital room after being instructed on its whereabouts by the staff.

“There! There’s my mom!” Chanyeol calls.

Chanyeol’s mom grabs his ear the second he walks up to her.

“Ow?!”

“This son of mine! Why doesn’t he answer his mother’s calls? 20 times!” she fumes. “Yoora is in there with Hanji and her pup now!”

“W-What? That’s great then! Yoora’s healthy and all after the delivery, right?”

His mother sighs sharply. “She’s tired. You know she would want her baby brother around.”

His father clicks his tongue. “You’re being rough on him, honey. Chanyeol is here now, no need to hound him.”

“I am not hounding him!”

“Look, look,” Chanyeol tries to soothe. “I’ll try to go in there with her if she and Hanji want me to, all right?”

They gesture him along, and seem to notice then the two alphas standing at a slight distance behind him.

“Who is that?” his mother whispers. “Have they been watching us this whole time?”

Chanyeol laughs, snorting. “That’s Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, Eomma.”

“What?!” she yelps. “They saw me… oh! I’m sorry boys,” she says sweetly to them. They look slightly uncomfortable, but Baekhyun manages a nod.

“No problem! We’re just here to support Chanyeol, and you all too.”

Chanyeol leans down to whisper to them. “I promise she’s not usually like this. The situation’s just driving her nuts.”

They nod graciously and Chanyeol opens the door to Yoora’s room.

“Hello?” he says quietly.

His sister rests there with her child in her arms, mate by her side.

“Hey, Chanyeol,” Hanji greets. He gives a small wave in response.

“Chanyeol, you made it,” Yoora says, smiling. “Say hi to Nabi.” She cradles the small bundle in her arms, lifting her up closer.

“Hello, Nabi,” he says lowly, like the volume and timbre of his voice might scare her. She’s napping so peacefully Chanyeol is afraid to break that veil.

“You can touch her,” Yoora says, clicking her tongue when Hanji starts growling a little. “Hey. This is my pup and that’s my little brother.”

“R-Right, sorry, Chanyeol. Sorry, love… Won’t do it again, scout’s promise,” he says, to Yoora’s small giggle.

Chanyeol’s never been too close to Hanji, but he seems to make his sister happy enough. In this moment, he reminds Chanyeol of his two alphas waiting outside, enduring an awkward and stressful situation all for his sake.

“I won’t do it if it stresses you out… and besides, I would rather have my alphas with me too,” Chanyeol says, both bold and shy.

“No, no, really you can, it’s my mistake,” Hanji admits. “I’m fine with your alphas coming in if Yoora is.”

Yoora smiles widely. “I’ve never met them, have I, Yeollie? Please, introduce us. I’ll… let Eomma and Appa in later, they’re messier than I am right now.”

“You’re not a mess at all,” Chanyeol says before he peeks his head out the room.

“Kyungsoo-yah. Baekhyun.”

It seems he’s interrupting a conversation between his boyfriends and his parents. Baekhyun looks a tiny bit scared, and Kyungsoo is completely flat-faced. Did his parents threaten them? Chanyeol feels his face get hot, but he can’t resist giggling at the scene.

“Y-yes? My beautiful, handsome boyfriend Chanyeol?” Baekhyun says, straightening his back.

“Is everything okay?” Kyungsoo asks quietly.

“You can come in to see her,” he invites, putting on his sweetest smile.

Baekhyun asks, “Really?” as Kyungsoo is already walking into the room.

Baekhyun closes the door behind them quickly. Chanyeol feels Kyungsoo’s hand on the small of his back as he says, “Your parents were trying to intimidate us. Honestly, they were doing a good job at it.”

“I thought so,” he says with a snicker. “Baekhyun looks like he just watched a horror movie.”

“They said they know how to make a man disappear under mysterious circumstances,” Baekhyun protests. “Am I supposed to think they’re not gonna murder me?”

“They exaggerate. Once they’re past this whole phase, you’re gonna get babied so much you’ll regret ever meeting them,” Chanyeol teases.

“Er, hi?” Yoora asks tentatively.

Chanyeol about-faces as he remembers it’s not just them in the room.

“Oh, sorry! Guys, this is my sister Yoora-noona, her husband Hanji, and their darling daughter Nabi. And these are my boyfriends, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo.” He gestures to everyone as he says their names.

Baekhyun puts on a very charming smile. “I’m super pleased to meet you two. And Yoora-ssi, you and your daughter are very beautiful.”

“She looks healthy and adorable. I’m very happy for your family,” Kyungsoo says.

She laughs, eyes curving as she looks at them. Chanyeol is equally as charmed. “I’ve heard a lot about you two from Yeollie. For now, you’re living up to expectations.”

Hanji adds, “I get secondhand info too, and it’s nice to put faces to names. Nice to meet you.”

They fawn over Nabi, and Yoora lets Hanji and Chanyeol hold her for a moment. Chanyeol holds her like she’s a porcelain doll. She has the smooth, flawless skin and button features to match. She’s tiny, so small, and Chanyeol can’t believe the beauty of this miniature little girl.

“What do you think her aspect will be?” Chanyeol asks.

“Probably… a beta, like me. Hanji says he’s the rare alpha in his family of betas too.”

Chanyeol hesitates as he goes to touch her skin, and instead gently hands her back.

“Are you gonna have your own with those two, Chanyeol?” Yoora whispers in his ear.

“I—!” he jumps back, ears flushing red as everyone looks at him weird. “She!”

“What happened?” Baekhyun asks.

Chanyeol shuts his mouth and looks down, too shy to respond. Instead, his imagination is going wild with Yoora’s words. He thinks about what it’d be like to welcome a little bundle of joy, or even more blessings into the world with Baekhyun and Kyungsoo by his side every step of the way. 

“Well, I was hoping to wait a while… but Nabi’s giving me a lot of bad ideas,” Chanyeol whispers back. Yoora cackles as softly as she can to not disturb her pup.

“What, not gonna share with the class?” Baekhyun asks, pouting.

“Just let them have this,” Kyungsoo says, nudging Baekhyun with his elbow.

Chanyeol’s parents enter the room, a little bit timidly.

“Chanyeollie, adeul? I’m sorry…” his mother apologizes. “I was a little too wound-up…”

“They apologized?!” Kyungsoo says. “Er— I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that aloud.”

Chanyeol snorts. “It’s okay, Eomma. But really, let’s focus on Noona right now.”

They manage to spend another hour together with Nabi at the center of their family, snapping pics with the volume off and cooing over every adorable feature she has, down to each little hair on her head. When they finally part ways to give Yoora a rest, Chanyeol’s baby fever has practically taken over every sane brain cell he used to have.

“She… she was so adorable I could jump off a cliff,” Chanyeol says dazedly.

“Please tell me we’ll get to see her again?” Kyungsoo says, grabbing the fabric of the back of his coat.

“Please? Please please please? That’s my angel, you can’t take her away,” Baekhyun wails, half-joking.

“We’re gonna see her as much as Yoora lets us,” he placates. “Their house is almost an hour away.”

“A small price to pay,” Kyungsoo says firmly.

“It is… but isn’t there… well, I don’t know,” he trails off.

“What? What do you gotta say?” Baekhyun asks.

“Isn’t there… a chance at our own Nabi…?”

As they’re all holding hands, Chanyeol gets stopped in his tracks when they freeze.

“Are you implying what I think you’re implying?” Kyungsoo asks faintly.

“It’s… well! It’s a possibility, right?!” Chanyeol says, a bit frantic, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

“Yeollie, sugar, candy, honey, baby? Are you being serious or?” Baekhyun asks.

“I’m not… not being serious.”

“Are you 100% sure about it?” Kyungsoo asks.

Chanyeol knows at the back of his mind he’s not 100%, but wow, every cell of his body is screaming at him to get bred with pups right this instant. He’s already celebrating every milestone of their life in his mind— first words, first day of school, primary school graduation… Chanyeol frantically brushes back his hair with both hands.

“Yeah? W-Why ask? So you don’t want to give me puppies? You don’t want m-me?” 

“No. Where did you come up with that?” Kyungsoo asks. “I’m just asking you if you’re sure. I’ll always be with you.”

“Is this… provoked by something, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks cautiously.

“Not… really,” Chanyeol says, avoiding the topic.

“Well, Nabi probably gave you baby fever, right?” Kyungsoo asks plainly. Is it that obvious or is Kyungsoo just observant?

“…M-Maybe.”

“Ahh, that makes sense,” Baekhyun says, tapping his head. “Don’t worry your pretty li’l head over us not wanting you, that’s not gonna stop. We’ll get our own Nabi one day.” He takes Chanyeol’s hand and Kyungsoo’s hand into his. “Just savor the moments we have as ourselves right now.”

Chanyeol agrees, he really does. He nods and smiles, clutching their hands tighter. He understands, even shares the same opinion— they should really get adapted to each other in every possible way before deciding to have children.

It still doesn’t stop him from looking up parenting guides all the way on the drive back home.

—

“Hey… Is that my shirt?” Chanyeol asks, pausing in taking a sip of his coffee.

Baekhyun blinks at him. He looks down at himself in the oversized shirt with a national flag design on it. “Will you be mad if I say yes?”

Chanyeol covers his cheeks instead. He wasn’t expecting to suddenly be attacked by fuzzy, warm feelings in his stomach. Something primal in the back of his mind is so satisfied right now. He’s seen the alphas wear each other’s things before, but it’s never hit him how nice it feels when it’s his own.

“No. It’s really, really, super cute.”

“So we can wear your things?” Kyungsoo asks, excitement in his husky morning voice.

He nods fervently. Just imagining them in his hoodies and how cute and how much like him they would smell… he sighs happily, stirring his coffee.

“It’s 8:30, are you gonna leave for work, baby?” Baekhyun asks.

Chanyeol jolts back into action, running to change his clothes. He smacks a smooch to each of their cheeks before leaving the apartment with a bright grin on his face.

—

“I’m gonna raid your closets,” is the first thing Chanyeol announces when he returns to the alphas’ apartment.

“Go ahead,” Baekhyun offers, from where he’s cuddled up with a book on the couch. Kyungsoo is presumably in his room.

He looks through Baekhyun’s wardrobe, picking out a few select items. There’s a Supreme hoodie and a blue sweater… plus this incredible shirt that says ‘Short King’ in bold font. It must be an old gag gift because how has he never seen Baekhyun wear this? When he knocks on Kyungsoo’s door, the alpha opens it and goes straight back to drawing.

“Sorry, in the flow right now, do whatever you want,” he mumbles, curving his pen around the screen of his iPad.

Chanyeol takes that as permission to take his clothing. He opens drawers and finds the same gag gift tee buried at the bottom one, laughing to himself. Kyungsoo’s wardrobe isn’t too varied, mostly black clothing, jeans, and some button-ups. He takes a few of those monochrome shirts and sweaters. That is, until he notices a plastic tub holding piles of colorful clothing and opens it excitedly.

It’s clothing that Chanyeol recognizes as the inspiration for some of the outfits in Hopeless White. The neon-pattern jacket from the cover art of volume 5, the dress Yuki wore during the coronation… Chanyeol smiles seeing this treasure trove of references.

He digs a little more and finds the lingerie that they purchased at Incubus Angel last month. It’d been so awkward yet so hot, and in retrospect Chanyeol’s amazed it took so long for the sexual tension to snap. An idea dings into his head and he takes the lingerie he’d worn in the store with him.

“When will we be having dinner?” Chanyeol asks.

“Uhh, whenever Kyungsoo’s done with his chapter, or chapters. He’s in the zone right now,” Baekhyun replies.

“Okay! I’m just gonna… chill here then.” He opens his messages.

Jongdae: She was so mad about it like I spat on her grandma or something

Jongdae: So then she said to me “And these aren’t morning glories???” and I was like

Jongdae: “Ma’am this is an iris.”

Sehun: lmfao.

Chanyeol: What’s the diff?

Jongdae: …

Jongdae: You told me you’d come to the shop soon

Chanyeol: WAIT you guys I literally didn’t even tell you yet Yoora-noona had her daughter

Jongdae: ?!?!?!?!

Jongdae: Oh my goodness you are not SERIOUS right now Park Chanyeol

Sehun: hyung

Sehun: be honest do u hate us?

Chanyeol: No!!!! I’m sorry it happened like yesterday 🥺

Chanyeol: I went to the hospital w/ my family and Baek and Kyungsoo

Sehun: ugh them

Jongdae: We’re actually getting replaced I thought it was a joke…

Chanyeol: Hey don’t say that about them…

Chanyeol: This is just my revenge from uni x

Jongdae: Ah…

Sehun: he kinda gagged us

Chanyeol: That’s RIGHT I did… anyway

Chanyeol: [4 images sent]

Chanyeol: Look how beautiful Nabi is. I need a pup in me rn

Jongdae: She’s gorgeous!! How adorable!! Me too!!!!

Sehun: u need a pup in u ?

Sehun: shes super adorable tho its crazy

Jongdae: Sehun-ah… <:3c

Sehun: what the hell is that

Chanyeol: It’s an emoticon!!

Chanyeol: Aren’t you supposed to be the most hip and young of us

Sehun: its hideous

Chanyeol: What???!!!

Jongdae: WHAT?!?!

Jongdae: That’s MY face… you’re going to make me cry, love

Sehun: that is not ur face.

Chanyeol: It looks just like him!!

Sehun: it does not

Sehun: this is u alpha: ^w^

Jongdae: It’s a variant of my face… 

Sehun: ok well ur wrong

Jongdae: Agree to disagree

Chanyeol: Argument over I see…

Jongdae: All this aside though I figured we’d let you know first to return the favor next time

Jongdae: Hun-ah and I are trying for a pup! Sincerely!

Chanyeol: &:!:$!:&:@::!?@$

Sehun: im really excited hehe

Chanyeol: OUR BABY IS GONNA HAVE A BABY… 🙈🥺

Jongdae: Seriously ahh I can’t wait!

Sehun: my heats in a few days and usually alpha’s cycle syncs up so…

Sehun: look forward to it or something

Jongdae: Cute!!!

Chanyeol: You guys are gonna be great parents I’m sure

Jongdae: We’ve talked to doctors, pediatricians, taken parenting classes, asked for advice from every parent we know

Jongdae: Hun-ah’s done so much research

Jongdae: I’m just really happy to see my dream of a family coming closer

Sehun: 🧡

Chanyeol: I’m so happy for you guys too omg…

Jongdae: But you Yeollie… when are you gonna have a pup so they can play together? ;3

Chanyeol: 😃

Sehun: r ur alphas interested in kids

Chanyeol: They really are but not right now… I caught crazy baby fever and I had to get talked down

Jongdae: We’re gonna be the first to know when you do, okay?!

Chanyeol: Promise!

Sehun: good.

The door slams open behind him and Chanyeol jolts from his position lying on the floor, rolling onto his back to sit up.

“Chapter finished,” Kyungsoo announces. “And the cover art for next volume and the additional flair pieces.”

“What the hell? You’re so ahead!” Baekhyun says in awe. “We’re never ahead. What’s got into you?”

“Inspired by my hot boyfriends.”

Chanyeol laughs along with Baekhyun. 

“Let’s have dinner and then go back to my apartment, okay?” Chanyeol suggests.

It’s agreed on. They make a simple dinner by microwaving leftovers and cooking steamed eggs and rice. Baekhyun chats about the cool new coffee maker his brother bought as well as the beta he’s now dating. He listens halfway, the other part of his brain concentrated on how he should present his special treat for them.

“Uh, Earth to Chanyeol? You alright?” Baekhyun asks. When Chanyeol’s eyes refocus, he turns and sees the alpha’s face right next to his.

“Y-Yes! Yes? What happened?” 

“Baekhyun asked you about coffee makers. Also, you’re blushing,” Kyungsoo says.

“Huh? It, It’s hot in here…”

“…Not really, it’s, uh, normal as always,” Baekhyun says.

“You’re not going into heat, are you?” Kyungsoo asks in a hushed voice.

“No! Oh god no, that’s not for another few months,” Chanyeol says, aghast.

“Then what’s up?”

Chanyeol squirms in his seat. He is not fantastic at lying to people he’s close to. “N-Nothing. Just… thinking. About you two.”

It’s a half-truth that is gratefully accepted, probably because it flatters them more than any other merit. They allow Chanyeol the grace to quietly eat his dinner while they chat about the weird alpha Jongin met with from a dating app. He catches bits and pieces about the dude’s complex about omegas taller than him, which Jongin clearly was. Before he knows it, dinner is cleaned up and all the dishes have been washed.

“Well… would you guys like to come over?” Chanyeol invites.

“Uh, yeah? S’what happens everyday, right?” Baekhyun asks.

“…Yeah?”

“Alright.” Kyungsoo walks out unceremoniously. 

Chanyeol follows, taking his bag in hand and heading straight into his bedroom, sitting cross-legged on the bed. Awkwardly. He looks suspicious. That much is obvious. What he needs to be able to do is get away with it long enough to really blow their minds… or something like that. Chanyeol sighs, taking out the lingerie and giving it another long look. He’d gotten compliments back then, but does it really suit him? Surely it’d look nicer on a more shapely omega, with plush curves and soft skin rather than his hard muscles.

Regardless, he’s not one to be easily put off, and he strips to change, smoothing the lacy frills of the babydoll down and straightening the garters. He looks at himself in the mirror, turning around, and feeling neutral about it. 

There’s a knock at his door.

“Wanna do a Ghibli marathon, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks from the other side.

“We’re starting with Nausicaa, I know you said you think the bugs are ugly but we should be faithful,” Kyungsoo adds.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes and unlocks the door, standing in front of them. Baekhyun was leaning himself against it, apparently, and he tumbles into Chanyeol’s chest again. Kyungsoo stares at his body while Baekhyun asks a muffled, “Why does it feel like you’re in lace clothing?” Chanyeol pushes him back on his feet to make the alpha look at him. He freezes in place as well.

Confidence bubbling and erupting in his chest, he walks back to sit against the headboard, patting the spaces next to him as he stretches out his long, bowed legs.

“Are you really going to make your omega wait?” he asks.

It’s impressive and a little scary seeing Baekhyun practically pounce from where he stands onto the bed. Kyungsoo doesn’t do that, but he is quite fast. It would almost get a laugh out of him if they weren’t staring at him with lust so frenzied it turns their eyes dark.

“You just— you don’t even, what am I- I can’t even put a fucking sentence together!” Baekhyun snarls, and Chanyeol has to contain his shock when he feels literal claws at the elastic of his panties.

“You shouldn’t rip them!” he protests, large hand overlaying Baekhyun’s.

Kyungsoo sneaks up as he does and curls a hand around the back of Chanyeol’s neck to kiss him. Their tongues tangle when Chanyeol opens his mouth, whimpering into Kyungsoo. 

Baekhyun’s other hand traces up the middle of his abdomen to the babydoll’s chest piece.

“Why shouldn’t I rip it apart so I can see my pretty Chanyeol? We bought it,” he reasons. “Kyungsoo, babe, shouldn’t I tear it all off?”

In lieu of words, Kyungsoo’s own clawed finger slices the shoulder straps off his chest piece and it flutters down to expose his breasts.

“Hey—“

“You’re so fuckin’ hot, Soo,” Baekhyun groans. “ Please fuck me.”

Kyungsoo looks at him with onyx black eyes. “I’m going to fuck you, and you’re going to knot Chanyeol.” Chanyeol gets shivers down his spine at the authoritative tone of his husky voice. It shuts down any complaints he had about the clothing.

Baekhyun, as is typical, latches his mouth onto Chanyeol’s nipple and suckles like milk will come out if he tries hard enough. Chanyeol’s learned not to cover his noises, so he grips one hand in Baekhyun’s fluffy hair and holds Kyungsoo’s with the other.

“Did you even prep yourself? Or were you waiting for your alphas to come and just knot you raw?” Kyungsoo asks, and this type of talk coming from him has Chanyeol’s head spinning in circles. He’s leaking so much slick that Baekhyun goes to grab his thigh and finds it wet.

“Tsk tsk tsk, our naughty omega,” Baekhyun sighs out. “Is this what was happening? While we were wondering if you were okay, you were just thinking about how to get our knots in you, huh?”

Chanyeol goes silent, biting his lip, too honest to refute it and too prideful to admit it.

“Say it. Say you just wanted our cocks and you were ashamed of it,” Baekhyun demands. 

Chanyeol gives the tiniest shake of his head.

Baekhyun’s visage softens. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Finding his voice again, he says, “But I do… I do want you to make me.”

After he says that, Kyungsoo’s lips trail dangerously close to his mating glands at his neck, biting only just to the side of them. He laps up the blood too, like a good alpha.

“Wah… what a rebellious little thing we have on our hands, Kyungsoo-yah. He was horny at our sacred dinner table and now he doesn’t wanna admit it!” Baekhyun draws back, body heat leaving Chanyeol cold. “What if we just stopped, hm?”

Kyungsoo follows suit and Chanyeol is about to cry at the lack of stimulation, the lack of closeness. Instead he has to watch as Kyungsoo turns and starts french-kissing Baekhyun too. Chanyeol squirms in place, hands gently pushed away when he reaches for them.

“I-I… I really wanted…” he starts in a small, shaky voice.

They spare him only a passing glance, and Chanyeol soldiers on through it.

“I really wanted to s-seduce you for my special treat… and get bred,” he stutters out, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Where’s the lube?” Kyungsoo chokes out, and he snatches it when he finally spots it on the nightstand. He pours it over his fingers, warming it up. Baekhyun is rubbing his face against Chanyeol’s stomach now, chest rumbling with fondness. Chanyeol laughs from the ticklish feeling when his cheeks touch certain parts.

“Oh, ew, Baekhyun…” Chanyeol mumbles when Baekhyun starts rubbing his face against his slick thighs, making a mess of himself.

“Flip over,” he rasps out, and Chanyeol obeys, going onto all fours. 

When Baekhyun moans loudly, he regrets it because that sound is surely from Kyungsoo starting to finger Baekhyun. He tries to crane his neck to see, but can’t really. He imagines Kyungsoo’s thick fingers penetrating Baekhyun’s tight ass, alpha nature rejecting it but love and lust overpowering. Sharp claws carefully grip onto Chanyeol’s hips. They push aside his panties.

Chanyeol makes a small noise of surprise when he feels Baekhyun put the head of his cock against his hole. He gently thrusts against it, making it wink in desperation.

“Would it fit?” Baekhyun wonders aloud.

“Yes!” Chanyeol says, desperation in his approval. “Breed me…?”

“You re-eally think so?” Baekhyun asks breathlessly, voice catching in the middle from what must be Kyungsoo’s actions. Maybe he’s massaging Baekhyun’s prostate, by the way he squirms and lays himself over Chanyeol’s back.

“Yes. I said yes…”

“Then beg for it like you mean it.

Kyungsoo snorts behind him. “Kinky bastard.”

“That’s right!”

Chanyeol is at a loss for words. He’s already said so much, pushed his shame away for Baekhyun only to be asked to beg more?

Baekhyun seems to notice his silent pleading, so he leans down to kiss between his shoulder blades and says, “Repeat after me. ‘Please give me your knot, alpha, I was made to be bred by your cock’.”

Chanyeol bites his lower lip, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. 

“I-I…”

“Baekhyun, ready?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Wait. I wanna hear him say it. Probably won’t focus too well when I’m getting railed,” Baekhyun says quietly.

Kyungsoo chuckles. With what emotion exactly he doesn’t know, but he definitely sounds amused by Chanyeol’s pitiful situation. Fingers trace along Chanyeol’s back, hands massaging his hips and ass.

“Please give me your knot… alpha. I was m-made to be bred…” Chanyeol can’t bring himself to finish it, face and ears on fire. 

“Hmm… 9 out of 10. You’re lucky you’re cute,” Baekhyun cooes, and he gets the small warning of Baekhyun’s cockhead settling against his hole before it sinks in. Chanyeol cries out when he does, wailing in surprise and pleasure. It’s so wet there’s no pain at all, only nerves set alight.

Baekhyun growls as Kyungsoo lets out a long-drawn moan, the relief of finally getting to fuck Baekhyun after everything must be so gratifying. Chanyeol’s dick hangs hard between his legs, and he quietly reaches a hand back to touch himself. He doesn’t know how Baekhyun notices in this position, but he manages to bat Chanyeol’s hand away.

“Only me,” he grumbles low in his throat. Chanyeol can feel the strength of Kyungsoo’s hips slamming Baekhyun into himself, teeth almost clacking against each other with how hard he’s being pounded.

Chanyeol reaches a hand back for some contact at least, and gets Baekhyun to lace his fingers with his. But then the alpha places it against his back, and he’s sobbing with pleasure at being pinned down and mounted.

“Fuck, fuck fuck fuck, it’s too much,” Baekhyun babbles. “Oh my god, you’re so thick Soo, m-my knot,” He keeps talking but Chanyeol can hardly hear anything over the sound of skin slapping against skin. Lustful, aroused pheromones clog his senses until it’s almost impossible to breathe. Chanyeol can feel Baekhyun’s knot forming at the base of his cock, and he whimpers.

“God fuck, you bite so damn much,” Baekhyun snaps. “I thought I was the one with the oral fixation.” Chanyeol wails into the pillow as he cums, the mental image of Baekhyun’s shoulders and neck littered with bites too much for him to take with everything else.

“Shit, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun hisses. “You’re clenching so tight.”

“I’ll knot soon too,” Kyungsoo warns through gritted teeth, and puts enough strength into his thrusts to start rocking the bed.

“Do it, I triple-dog dare you!” Baekhyun says, and Chanyeol really doesn’t understand alphas. He bites down on his own wrist to keep from screaming when Baekhyun’s knot pops into him, heavy and warm and full. 

“Ngh, fuck, Yeollie…” he moans as he grinds into Chanyeol. He bites down on the very back of Chanyeol’s neck— not hard enough to be a mating bite, just enough to tease the euphoric feeling. 

Chanyeol’s too dazed to even move an inch, hips only held up by Baekhyun’s efforts. 

“Inside… can I come inside?” Kyungsoo asks in his incredibly raspy voice, the beautiful gravelly tone that only comes out during sex.

Baekhyun must finally be out of breath because he doesn’t say anything, but Chanyeol knows the answer a few moments later when Baekhyun releases a growled, throaty moan that lasts for a minute. 

He’s finally rewarded with Baekhyun’s own orgasm at that time, but he doesn’t feel anything fill him. His eyes snap open at the realization that Baekhyun must have had the foresight to put on a condom and not actually breed him. Instead, he feels the weight of the filled condom heavy inside him, and wipes drool from his mouth thinking of it. Gross, Chanyeol thinks to himself. But he’s definitely imagined worse.

Nothing but heavy panting echoes in the room then. Chanyeol gulps to catch his breath, pushing himself back up onto all fours.

“I want to see you guys,” he says quietly. Like it comes naturally to them, Kyungsoo lowers himself at the same time Baekhyun does so they can lay Chanyeol on the bed and turn him over. When he finally gets to look at them, he blurts out, “I love you. Both. So much.”

Baekhyun smiles. “Love you too, Yeollie. And I love you, Kyungja.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t say it aloud. Baekhyun giggles as the other alpha buries his face into his back. “He said it! I felt him move his mouth in the right shape!”

Kyungsoo neither confirms or denies, just plants kisses along Baekhyun’s body wherever he can reach. Chanyeol could cry at their beauty and cuteness— so he does end up shedding a few tears, Baekhyun gently tickling his sides to make him laugh again.

“You really love me?” Chanyeol asks, unable to help it.

Kyungsoo nods, shy but firm. Chanyeol beams. Even without words, Kyungsoo can make him this happy.

“I want to be able to say it… one day,” Kyungsoo says. “Will you stay until then?” His typically sturdy, soft voice is fragile.

“I’d stay ‘til my bones are broken down into a delicious meal for the soil,” Baekhyun promises.

Chanyeol laughs. It’s almost painful how natural it feels to be with them, that he can hardly imagine a life without them.

“I’ll buy you a new lingerie set, Chanyeol-ah,” Baekhyun says, then buries his face into Chanyeol’s chest again.

“I can buy it myself, thanks.”

—

“K-Kyungsoo! Have you checked the business email lately?!” Baekhyun asks when he bursts out of his room. Chanyeol looks up from the volume of Hopeless White he’s rereading, curious.

Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow. “No? Is there a problem of some sort?”

Baekhyun shakes his head fervently. “No, not a problem! The opposite, th-they wanna make HoWhi into a full-blown drama!”

Chanyeol gasps, dropping his manhwa.

“What? R-Really? You’re not serious, please tell me you’re not lying for fun—“ Kyungsoo says.

“No! I told Min as soon as possible, and he verified that the email is from an employee at KBS!” Baekhyun says, almost vibrating with how excited he is.

“Oh. Oh, oh my god. What? No, that can’t be right,” Kyungsoo mumbles, even as a manic smile creeps onto his face. “We’re not even that popular.”

Chanyeol grins. “You’ve been working hard for so long, I’m so excited for you guys!”

“Pinch me,” Kyungsoo demands him, and Chanyeol bursts out into laughter instead. He turns his arm to Baekhyun. “Pinch me, Baek.”

“Heh, okay.”

“Ow!” He scowls. “Shouldn’t have said that. But at least it’s real.”

“So, what’s up? How are they gonna adapt it? Are you guys making the casting decisions? Oh my god, there’s totally this cute—“

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun cuts him off with a laugh. “We’re still working on permissions first. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“For a 12 episode season we’d probably do volume 1 and 2, right?” Kyungsoo wonders aloud, eyes twinkling.

“Hey,” Baekhyun protests, snapping his fingers at Kyungsoo. “Let’s be realistic.”

“Right! Right, but… imagine…” As Kyungsoo looks off beyond Baekhyun, Chanyeol can tell he’s still daydreaming of the casting decisions and episode pacing.

Baekhyun’s phone rings then and he flinches, fumbling to take it out of his pocket and place it on speakerphone.

“Yo, Minseokie.”

“What did you just call me…?” comes Minseok’s confused, annoyed voice from his phone. Chanyeol snickers.

“What’s up, Seokie?”

“Ugh… maybe I won’t tell you the news about the drama then?”

“No, wait!” Baekhyun says.

“Ignore him, hyung!” Kyungsoo pleads as he gets up to get closer to the receiver. He snatches the phone out of Baekhyun’s hand. “Hello, most respectful member of Byun Kaengsoo author-artist team here. I’m patiently awaiting news on our drama from our amazing manager, Minseok-hyung.”

Minseok cackles loudly. “Wait no more then! I’ve given permission for the first drafts of the script to be written. We’ll be meeting in a two weeks to check drafts and make sure everything aligns with your vision. They’ll be taking input on casting at that meeting too. Mark your calendars!”

Kyungsoo nearly drops the phone with shaking hands, trembling from excitement as a feral grin spreads across his face. “Minseok-hyung, I could kiss you.”

“Hey!” Chanyeol and Baekhyun say in unison. 

“Ah, that’s incredible news though,” Baekhyun adds on, beaming. “I never thought the day would ever come that I see something I made on national television… Oh, let’s celebrate! Go out and get wasted!”

Minseok makes a noise of agreement. “Sure! I’ll text Junmyeon too. He’ll probably pick the date and text you guys too. Good night then, and great work. I’m so proud!”

“I’m proud of you too, hyung!” Baekhyun says.

“Good night,” Kyungsoo adds on, now curled up into a ball on the floor. He’s vibrating out of his skin with how hyped up he is. “God, I feel like Baekhyun, what do I do with all this energy?”

“Run around and screech your head off,” Baekhyun advises as he ends the call. “Chanyeol, you wanna come drink with us?”

“Depends on the day,” Chanyeol says. “I have a couple things scheduled.”

“Boo,” Baekhyun says, sticking out his tongue. “Go on and miss out on the fun then.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, smiling. “My life doesn’t revolve around you two.”

“It should,” Baekhyun says in a jokingly sullen tone. His exaggerated pout gets another laugh out of Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol pecks him on the temple and goes to admire the new photos hung up on the wall again. Kyungsoo framed them only yesterday, and they look amazing on their walls. It’s a few shots: Chanyeol and Baekhyun lounging at the scenic beachside café, Chanyeol throwing up a peace sign at the camera in front of the ocean, and an iPhone picture Baekhyun snapped of Kyungsoo taking a short nap on the beach towel. Kyungsoo had fought and protested the last one, but had been outnumbered 2 to 1. The perks of being a throuple, Chanyeol reckons.

He hears Kyungsoo screaming his lungs out down the hallway from his bedroom, and breaks down laughing.

—

When Chanyeol and Kyungsoo go to pick up their mail, Chanyeol sees a moving truck outside the complex. Nosy as always, he approaches the front desk. The receptionist, a kind beta who he’s talked to a few times, smiles in greeting.

“Hey! I was just curious, who’s moving in or out?” Chanyeol asks.

“Oh, that’d be the resident in unit 432 moving away. Ji Hyunjoon-nim.”

Chanyeol’s body locks up when he hears that name, taking a step back out of reflex. Kyungsoo’s hand comes up around his waist, gently massaging.

“Is that so? Thank you for satisfying our curiosity. Have a great rest of your day,” Kyungsoo says smoothly, pulling Chanyeol away from the desk. He seats Chanyeol on the couch nearby.

“Chanyeol-ah?” he asks quietly. “You okay?”

Chanyeol takes a moment to process the short question, and even longer to formulate an answer.

“Well, I’m not… bad. It’s a good thing. A really good thing, right?”

Kyungsoo nods. “You don’t have to be so scared of him anymore… I figure.”

“Well, yeah…” Chanyeol isn’t sure why he isn’t jumping for joy right now. He scratches awkwardly at the back of his neck. “I just… I don’t know. Is it that simple? There’s probably a catch… should I just be okay now?”

Kyungsoo sits down next to him. “You don’t have to force yourself to feel a certain way about it,” he says with a shrug. “I’m just glad because it means you’ll be safer.”

“Right. It does mean that… right?”

Kyungsoo huffs and turns Chanyeol’s head to look at him by holding his chin. “Don’t think so hard about it. Call your therapist before you start anxiety spiraling.”

Chanyeol nods hesitantly, eyes going wide when making contact with Kyungsoo’s own.

“Okay,” he whispers back.

It’s just strange to think of it ending this way— not that it’ll really ever end. Hyunjoon still works at the same company, Chanyeol only avoids him by fortune of staying in his and Yixing’s studio, and never leaving it without the other omega. Chanyeol, meanwhile, will still struggle with sleeping. He will still flinch when anybody but his alphas’ hands get close to his face. He will still have trouble accepting gifts without paranoia about an ulterior motive.

It’s not fair, Chanyeol thinks, that he gets to move away and I still have all this to deal with.

Kyungsoo’s phone rings, and he sees Byun Baekhyun calling him. Kyungsoo picks up and puts it on speakerphone.

“Hello—“

“Fucking hell to the yes, guys! A new sushi restaurant that serves takoyaki just opened up!”

“We’re in public!” Kyungsoo hisses through gritted teeth as he places it back to private audio. “Why would you open a call like that!”

Just don’t next time… How are the reviews? Oh! Okay! Once we get back together we’ll go. Bye, baby.” Kyungsoo hangs up. He turns to Chanyeol. “Did you hear what he said about the restaurant?”

Chanyeol snorts. “Who didn’t?”

“Right… um, anyway, you said you were craving takoyaki a few days ago.”

Chanyeol blinks. Did he really? It must have been an off-hand comment, he doesn’t remember it at all. He could totally go for some takoyaki though.

“So Baekhyun’s been searching for a place that serves it so we can take you there. Let’s go today.”

Kyungsoo holds his hand. The alpha’s palm is warm, but not sweaty. Chanyeol tends to run cold, despite not seeming the type. Chanyeol squeezes his hand back, tightly. He’s reminded then that through everything, he has these two with him every step of that grueling journey.

“Let’s.”

—

Chanyeol sings the theme song of the little cartoon he left on to play for Nabi as he changes her diaper.

“Hmm hm hmm~,” he hums as he folds it snugly, tickling her stomach to make her giggle. “Samchon is all done now, cutie!”

She gurgles at him and he imitates her noises, enchanted by her darling actions and precious face.

“Your eomma and appa will be home soon, Nabi-yah. Soon, and then samchon will probably have to go pick up his alphas,” Chanyeol says, exaggerating a pout. “I’m so happy I got to spend time with you, Bibi! It’s samchon’s first time being by himself in a while,” he admits to her.

Before he’d agreed to babysitting Nabi, he’d felt anxious about whether he’d actually be capable of staying with her, or if fear would render him useless. He spoke with his therapist and he’s glad he took the leap, because getting to admire her little features is a gift to himself. His alphas are off celebrating, and he’s allowed this alone time. It gives him bits and pieces of parenting experience too.

He plays peek-a-boo until he’s accidentally riled her up too much, and softly cradles her in his arm, singing a lullaby. He perks up when he hears keys in the front door, and lays her back in her crib.

“Noona! Hanji! Welcome back.” He doesn’t even get a greeting back before Yoora is running past him into Nabi’s room.

“Uh, nice seeing you too,” he says to himself when he hears her cooing at her pup from inside.

Hanji smiles at him sheepishly. “We were planning on being able to relax, but I think it’s too early for her to relax at all without Nabi.”

Chanyeol nods. “I get it. Noona’s always been over-protective.”

Hanji sighs, fondness in his expression. “Thanks for taking care of her anyway, Chanyeol. Getting to just go on a date like this was really nice.”

“It was no trouble, really! Anytime— or, almost anytime,” Chanyeol gets out before he’s interrupted by his ringtone going off. The caller is Baekhyun ❤️, and he grins. “Sorry, I’ve gotta take this.”

“No prob, thanks again, Chanyeol.”

He goes to the couch and picks up the call. “Baekhyun-ah? Ready to go home?”

“CHANYEOLLIE!” Chanyeol flinches as he rips the phone away from near his ear.

“Baekhyun, Jesus, that must’ve been 100 decibels.“

He hears the ambient chatter of the bar behind the teary voice saying, “Sowwy, Yeollie… do you still wuv me?”

He holds back laughter. “Don’t cry, Baek? Of course I love you.”

“H-He wuvs me still! Kyungsoo, you wuv me too, right?”

“Yes. Now gimme the phone,” another voice insists. It must be Kyungsoo. There’s sounds of a yelp and clatter, and someone must have dropped it in the process of handing it over. Chanyeol places a hand over his mouth to muffle his giggles.

“Baekhyun said… I should serenade you,” Kyungsoo says slowly.

“Did he really? What song?”

“It’s a beautiful night… we’re lookin’ for somethin’ dumb t’do… hey baby… I think I wanna marry you,” he’s half-singing, half-speaking the lyrics. His speech is slurred and it’s all English, but Chanyeol catches the words ‘marry you’ and he blushes violently.

“Thank you… but w-why that song?”

“Don’t you think it’d be nice? A li’l wedding… friends ‘n’ family? Imo making the cake…” he trails off, and then Baekhyun’s voice comes through the phone again.

“I said it should be a big venue and alla Byun Kaengsoo’s fans should come! W-Wouldn’t that be funny?!”

“It’d be something, I’m sure…”

“Eheheh, mating ceremony… and then I’d get to start biting! You and Kyungchu!” He makes gremlin-esque noises like he’s gnawing on a stick. Chanyeol is no longer able to hold back his laughter.

“H-Hey! My phone!” Baekhyun wails before he hears Junmyeon say, “Sorry, Chanyeollie. We were recording all of that, but I figured it’s gone on long enough. Take ‘em home for us, please?”

“Yes, I’ll come and collect them. Just send me those videos, okay?”

“Sure thing! See you.”

Chanyeol gets up, seeking out Yoora and Hanji, who are both by Nabi’s side at the crib. She’s being burped by her father.

“I was gonna head out now. Thanks for letting me spend time with her.”

Yoora gives him an exhausted, but genuine smile. “We’re thankful to you too, Yeollie.”

“Goodbye then, Chanyeol,” Hanji says, waving as best he can with Nabi occupying him.

“Bye, baby brother.”

“Good night,” Chanyeol bids before leaving. He taps the address of the bar into the GPS and heads there. 20 minutes later, he steps into the crowded bar to find his alphas, spotting them, Minseok, and Junmyeon at a booth. Somehow he’s not that surprised when he sees his two stupid alphas are drunkenly making out. Minseok looks like he’s going to gag while Junmyeon sits there in robotic discomfort. He can hear the sound of their lips smacking together as he approaches.

“Oh thank the fucking deities above,” Minseok breathes out. “Please. I’m so embarrassed.”

“Sorry about them,” Chanyeol says sheepishly. He eyes them with his peripheral vision, their hands roaming each other’s bodies as if they were alone in a bedroom. “Wah, I’ve never seen them get so drunk before.”

“They kept egging each other on,” Junmyeon explains, rubbing his eyes. “It was funny until they got horny in the last 10 minutes.”

Baekhyun rips himself away from Kyungsoo and whips around like he’s been poked in the back of the neck. Kyungsoo looks rather disgruntled that they’ve been interrupted, but he lights up when he sees Chanyeol.

“Chan–”

“Yeollie?! It’s not what it looks like, I swear!” Baekhyun says frantically.

Chanyeol smiles playfully. “Oh yeah? Explain to me what I’m seeing here.”

“I was just… I’m not- Kyungsoo is my boyfriend!” he says resolutely. “So it’s not… it’s not like I’m…” he pauses in his speech and looks back at Kyungsoo. “Are we doing something wrong?”

Kyungsoo looks to the side and back, eyes unfocused. “I don’t think so.”

“Ha! Take that, Chanyeol! Ya big fuckin’–”

“Finish that sentence and you’re sleeping on the couch,” Chanyeol warns.

“...Beautiful omega.”

He snorts. “All right, now let’s get the fuck up and leave,” Chanyeol says, wrangling them out of the seat. “You’ve inconvenienced the hyungs enough, and came for my throat too for some reason...”

“Sowwy tee-tee,” Baekhyun apologizes.

“Can you handle them by yourself, Chanyeol?” Junmyeon asks.

“Ahh, I’ll be okay. I have practice with my own friends. Were you two just going to take taxis back home?”

Minseok and Junmyeon nod. “Seriously, thank you, we’ve done this once before and swore off it,” Minseok says. “We should really help though, they’re kind of heavy.”

The two assist him in hefting the alphas back to his car parked nearby. He bids them goodnight as he buckles the two into the backseat.

“Boy, I-ai-ai wanna marry you, right here, right now!” Baekhyun belts.

Kyungsoo joins in with him on singing the chorus and verses— sloppily, with missing words and slightly off-key notes.

“Pipe down. I am not listening to this for half an hour,” Chanyeol scolds.

“What?! He… Kyungchu,” Baekhyun’s voice gets watery. “He rejected our mawwiage request…”

“It’s okay. We’ll try again tomorrow,” Kyungsoo says. “Don’t give up hope.”

“Why does he baby-talk when he gets drunk?” Chanyeol mumbles to himself when they’re on the road. Now they seem to have settled down or passed out, heads slumped at awkward angles. He puts on gentle jazz music for their dreams.

Hefting only one back with him would be easy, but getting both of them into the elevator at the same time is giving Chanyeol a challenge.

“C’mon,” he coaxes. “Stand upright for just a moment. I gotta get you up, then you can pass out again.”

They’re like ragdolls, and he nearly drops Kyungsoo as he settles Baekhyun back up. He groans in frustration and thinks of ways to get them to comply— poking, gentle slapping, shaking. After all those fail, Chanyeol exhales forcefully and puts Baekhyun’s face into the crook of his neck, forcing his pheromones out.

“Whuh?” Baekhyun makes a noise, waking slightly.

“If you throw up on me I will not be happy.” He’s glad that it worked though, and leans Kyungsoo to inhale his pheromones too. Kyungsoo grumbles and looks at Chanyeol with bleary eyes.

“Good! Get up!” he says loudly.

“Augh, my ears,” Kyungsoo says, covering his eyes.

He finally gets them into the elevator, humming along with the music playing. A few more steps, a few more minutes, and he’s got them into his apartment. Baekhyun covers his mouth and runs to the bathroom, where he immediately hears retching noises. Chanyeol is just thankful it wasn’t on him.

“Tired,” is what Kyungsoo says. Chanyeol lays him to sit outside the bathroom just in case, and gets them glasses of water. He hands one to Kyungsoo, and pats Baekhyun’s back as he hangs his head over the toilet.

“Fffuck… this is not sexy at all,” Baekhyun says, voice grimy and watery.

“Yeah, I’m not really aroused right now.”

“Sorry,” he says, and Chanyeol’s happy he’s not baby-talking anymore. “I know you wanted to, y’know, fuck…”

“What?! S-since when?”

“The… pheromones? You were horny…”

Chanyeol blushes. “Okay, I didn’t mean for them to be mating pheromones, I was going for ‘exciting’. But anyway, I wouldn’t have sex with you guys in this state.”

“Why not?” Kyungsoo interjects. “We’re perfectly able!”

“Yeah? Sing the alphabet backwards.”

“Ga na da ra ma—“

“I said backwards.”

Kyungsoo thinks for a while, but doesn’t seem to get anywhere with it. “…Fine. I didn’t want to, anyways...”

Chanyeol scoffs at his drunken pettiness, smiling. “Drink your damn water.”

Baekhyun seems to have emptied his stomach, so he helps him up to wash out his mouth.

“Mm, minty,” he mumbles after spitting out the mouthwash. “Ya like mint, Chanyeol?”

“Only in mouthwash and toothpaste. Not ice cream.”

“That’s sad,” Kyungsoo says. “Mint ice cream is pretty good.”

“It’s awful!”

“No it’s not!”

“Go ahead and enjoy your dessert treat of toothpaste, then.”

“You’re just un-cultured.”

Chanyeol stops replying when he realizes he’s getting into an argument with a drunk man. He forces them to finish their glasses of water before they go to bed and stuffs them under the covers, wiggling himself into one side. Thankfully they knock out fast. As Chanyeol stares at the ceiling, he thinks that despite everything, is he wrong for thinking it’s a little domestic and romantic to be doing this for them?

—

Chanyeol hears groans coming from the bedroom as he walks back in with his coffee. He sits at the little chair on the side as his alphas start to show signs of life. Kyungsoo rubs fitfully at his eyes, taking the aspirin and water he left on the nightstand earlier. He stares at Chanyeol with squinted eyes.

“I don’t remember much of last night,” Kyungsoo croaks out.

“That’s fine, I don’t think it was all that important.”

In reaction to Chanyeol’s words, Baekhyun sits up rapidly— then falls back down, moaning and clutching his temples. “Owww… b-but, it was important…”

He leaves the coffee on the dresser to go and help Baekhyun take the medicine. “What’s so important about mint and being horny?”

“Not that, everything before it.”

“The singing?” Chanyeol asks. “You guys are much better at it when you’re not blackout drunk.”

“No!” Baekhyun flinches at his own volume. “The marriage stuff!” he says more quietly.

“Ahh, right. It was cute,” Chanyeol says, grinning. “I liked the spoken poetry Kyungsoo did of the Bruno Mars song.” 

Kyungsoo chokes on air, the tips of his ears turning red. “I did what?”

“I have a video of it.”

“I’m too old to be drinking like this…”

“Cute? That’s all?” Baekhyun says, and why does Chanyeol hear disappointment in his voice?

“Let’s try this convo again in an hour, when you’ve actually got your wits about you,” Chanyeol says. “I’m gonna watch anime.”

He doesn’t get much of a response, so he leaves them be.

—

True to his word, about an hour later they have rolled out of bed and changed into pajamas, as Chanyeol couldn’t have bothered with getting them out of their outside clothes last night. They’re uncharacteristically shy. Chanyeol can hear their whispers from the hallway from his position on the couch.

Baekhyun walks out first with confidence in his posture that is probably faked. Chanyeol raises an eyebrow in amusement.

“Sooo, about the whole ‘marriage proposal’…” he starts. “It’s okay! It’s okay to reject us, it’s like, y’know, people are mutable and so are their thoughts—“

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Chanyeol asks, mystified.

“Well, it’s like y’know, I don’t think you really gotta be anything you don’t–”

“You sound like a fucking disaster, Baekhyun…” Kyungsoo cuts him off. “Our entire point is we didn’t mean to pressure you into marriage yesterday. We were just drunk and speaking too much of our minds.”

“Oh?” Chanyeol folds his arms and tilts his head. “So you were being serious.”

“…To a degree.”

“What degree? 4 Celsius? 12 Fahrenheit?”

“Chanyeol, please, I can’t deal with both of you doing this at the same time,” Kyungsoo begs.

Chanyeol laughs. “I’m just joking. I don’t care.”

“Don’t care?” Baekhyun interjects. “Why not?”

Chanyeol shrugs as he says, “If you weren’t being serious then that’s fine, not my business.”

“Well…” Kyungsoo starts, but doesn’t continue his thought. 

Chanyeol turns his attention back to One Piece, more upset than he thought he’d be at the notion that they weren’t really serious about marrying him. He’d drilled the fact into his mind that it wasn’t him, it was just a matter of when it’d be appropriate. They loved him, completely and truly, there were just certain stages to these things and there was no reason to rush it. Hell, did he even have time to plan a wedding, anyway? The company was having a new debut soon and they needed songs—

“Chanyeol. I can smell your dissatisfaction from here,” Baekhyun calls.

“So what?” It comes off petulant. Chanyeol tries to rein in his disappointment.

“Well, it matters to me that you’re dissatisfied, because I’m your alpha and I try not to let that happen.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not like you can fix my emotions,” Chanyeol says. Retreating to his bedroom and locking the door is looking more tempting by the second.

“What are you upset about?” Kyungsoo asks gently. “I know we were unclear, but we don’t know how we upset you.”

Chanyeol frowns, unwilling to face them. “It’s stupid.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Kyungsoo brushes it off.

“We’ve already talked about it.”

“We’ll go over it however many times we need to.”

Chanyeol gnaws on the inside of his cheek, still upset but his alphas trying so hard is so adorable it makes him want to cry. “…Why aren’t you serious about marrying me?”

Baekhyun laughs at him and Chanyeol starts to hurl a couch pillow at the alpha’s face, until he exclaims, “Wait wait wait! No! Not laughing at you! Not that way!”

“Then what?!” Chanyeol snaps.

Kyungsoo chuckles softly, hand curving a hair behind Chanyeol’s ear as he leans down to kiss his forehead. “We just thought it wasn’t that romantic.”

“W-What?”

“Yesterday in the bar, the topic of marriage came up, obviously. But what we didn’t tell you is that we agreed to get married. So then, that was decided. Two knothead alphas marrying each other… we’ve been friends for over a decade, we don’t need much. But we wanted to make it something special for you.” Baekhyun grins lopsidedly. “We got a little too drunk and spoiled those plans, though.”

“We’re as serious as we’ve ever been in our lives,” Kyungsoo says. “It’s just… embarrassing, with no rings or anything to show for it. Sorry for not admitting it.”

Chanyeol starts weeping then, crying into his hands and then the tissues that Kyungsoo hands him.

“Are these positive tears?” Baekhyun asks cautiously.

Even though he’s still crying too hard, Chanyeol nods, practically jostling his brain with how hard he’s doing it.

“Is it agreed then? That we’ll marry each other?” Baekhyun asks excitedly. “I don’t know where to find someone to officiate this goofy throuple, though. You know anyone, Soo?”

“Junmyeon-hyung probably would,” he says. “He’d have some weird contact from art school, I’m sure.”

“Oh my god, totally.”

Chanyeol giggles through his tears and slowly recovers, caging both of them into his wide arms for a hug.

“Ack, breathing, can’t—“

“Shut up, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol says fondly. “Just let me for a sec.”

Baekhyun struggles in silence until Chanyeol lets go, his whole face puffy from crying. “Yes! Yes, I will marry you, rings or no rings,” he says shyly. “This… You can’t imagine how much I dreamed of this…“

“I can imagine it,” Baekhyun says, splaying out his hands. “Snow white dress and veil, black suits, three-tier wedding cake?”

“I wonder if Imo would actually be willing to make it,” Kyungsoo says. “She used to be a baker before she retired.”

“It’d be nice, right? I know who to hit up for catering too, actually.”

“Guys,” Chanyeol says, and their attention turns to him. “Maybe… let’s enjoy the fiancé part first, okay?”

They laugh at his assertion, and Chanyeol feels like he could never stop smiling.

—

“Hun-ah!” Chanyeol says joyfully when he sees the younger omega. He immediately goes to embrace him, careful of his rounded stomach. “Can I touch?”

“Sure.”

Chanyeol smiles as he gently rubs Sehun’s pregnant belly, 8 months along and doing perfectly fine. He presents the boxes and bags of gifts he and his alphas had gone out to buy with a flourish— an overflowing amount of baby clothing hand-picked to his alphas’ tastes. Chanyeol had reminded them that the clothes would be outgrown very quickly, but Baekhyun and Kyungsoo insisted.

“They’re bringing in boxes of diapers too,” Chanyeol tells him, and Sehun giggles as he peeks at the gifts.

“‘Samchon’s Little Angel’? Wow, I wonder which of you bought that.”

“Kyungsoo was adamant on that one! He’s so serious about it, it’s funny and sweet,” Chanyeol says shyly.

“Yeah? Are you finally deciding it’s time to get knocked up too?”

“No!” He slaps Sehun on the shoulder— gently. “I’m still a beautiful, engaged omega,” he says, flaunting the shimmering gold ring. “I’ve got a lot of youth left fighting in me.”

They chit-chat about Jongin’s suave new alpha and the beautiful house that Minseok’s bought with the money made from HoWhi’s drama airing. Chanyeol jumps when he hears multiple things hit the floor hard behind him.

“Shit, sorry,” Kyungsoo apologizes, trying to pick up the boxes of diapers.

“Kyungsoo! Don’t swear around the frickin’ baby!” Baekhyun scolds, hefting in his own pile of diaper boxes.

“Jesus. You guys probably brought as much as every single other guest combined will bring,” Sehun says.

“You’re very welcome. Now where’s Jay-Dee?!” Chanyeol calls. The alpha comes dashing out from the bedroom. 

“Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun! Please help set up the tables,” he pleads. “People are on their way already!”

Dutifully, all three assist the rather frazzled alpha in finishing all the set-up. There’s just a few more decorations, the tables, and clearing an area for the gifts. They’re left mildly exhausted after doing it all with the time crunch warning of the first guests arriving in 15 minutes. In bunches or bit by bit, people flood into the apartment: Jongdae’s family, Sehun’s family, friends from work or college, and of course, Junmyeon, Minseok, and Jongin. It’s almost too many people for the apartment to contain.

“Where’s your alpha?” is the first thing Sehun asks when the latter arrives, much to his embarrassment.

“H-He’s not my alpha yet! But his mom’s birthday is today,” Jongin says with a pout. Chanyeol melts at how adorable his dongsaengs are, even after all this time. Junmyeon and Minseok have gotten an extravagant amount of gifts, plushies and clothing and wipes galore.

“Oh my gosh, there’s… an unbelievable amount,” Jongdae says, looking at the pile of gifts in awe. “I’m so eternally grateful.”

Sehun hugs him from behind. “We worked hard to get here.”

“I… I know. It’s just, is it possible to be blessed this much?” 

It’s not even his baby shower, and Chanyeol is thinking the same thing. His friends are so sweet they could give him a toothache. He lets them enjoy each other’s presence alone as he returns to his alphas, who are excitedly discussing the newest episode of HoWhi with their friends in the living room. The whole house is outfitted in paper decorations and banners with multi-colored flower designs. He’s particularly fond of the sunflower drawing that Kyungsoo gifted the couple when he learned of the pregnancy, however. It hangs up behind them where they’re talking.

“The costume design on Yuki’s dress was great!” Kyungsoo says. “I know it’d have probably compromised our privacy, but I… really wish we had gotten to sing an OST.”

“In a parallel world, we would’ve gotten that wish granted and been happy ‘til we started getting random phone calls,” Baekhyun says with a sigh.

“You oversaw casting, right? Dohyeon’s actor is really spot-on,” Jongin brings up. “All of them fit well, but I was impressed by him.”

“Right?” Junmyeon says excitedly. “I practically knew just from the profile shot when his audition was submitted.”

“Yohan’s actor is my favorite though, personally,” Chanyeol adds as he sits on the couch’s armrest. He splays out the cute pink post-its set out for the raffle.

“Did you see?” He shows them a picture with his phone. “You have to answer a trivia question about the couple and then write your name to enter. I think they’re giving away dishware or something.”

“Oh, sweet,” Minseok says as he takes a post-it. “‘Trivia: What is Sehun and Jongdae’s favorite color?’ Do they have the same one?”

“I know Sehun’s favorite is orange,” Jongin says. “I don’t know if Jongdae has a favorite though.”

“I thought it was pink?” Junmyeon asks. “But then… are we meant to mix them?”

“I thought it was yellow,” Kyungsoo adds quietly.

“Orange-pink? Orange-yellow?” Chanyeol wonders aloud.

“Wait,” Baekhyun says, and Chanyeol can see light bulbs going off on his head. “Their daughter’s name is gonna be Daeun. Da-Eun!”

Kyungsoo’s face lights up and Chanyeol gets it in the next split second.

“Eun because it means silver!” Chanyeol says, hitting a fist against his palm in realization. “Baby, you’re so smart!” He pecks the alpha’s temple.

“Eheheh, that’s right~.”

They chorus their approval and write down the answers. Soon, the couple will be out to pull out names from a box. Chanyeol munches on a cookie shaped like a baby bottle. Jongdae and Sehun show up holding hands, the alpha rapidly discussing something with his sister.

“Hello everyone! Thank you for coming to Daeun’s baby shower!” Jongdae announces. “We’re so happy to have you today, and I’m sure Daeun is happy as well.” His lips curl into a cat’s joyful smirk as he places a hand on Sehun’s tummy.

“We have… a box of names for the trivia question giveaway,” Sehun says as Jongdae hands it to him. “Though it’s not quite a giveaway. You had to have answered correctly to get it.”

Sehun pulls out the first name. “First possible winner: Kim Yoonjin. Alpha’s mother. And her answer was pink. I apologize, Eomeonim, but that wasn’t the right answer.”

There’s a small chorus of laughs around the room, and she just shrugs, smiling shyly.

“Second possible winner: Oh Sunho. You got it wrong too, Abeoji. I… It’s not green. Where did you get green from?”

There’s more laughter, and Chanyeol’s swept up in the joyful atmosphere on such a bright and lovely day. That’s why it almost scares him enough to fall out of his chair when he hears his name being called. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun both rush to balance him, snickering.

“Third is Park Chanyeol. And… you got it right, hyung. Our favorite color is silver.” Everyone at their table claps for him, Baekhyun even whooping in excitement.

“Silver for Da-Eun!” Jongdae emphasizes, and there’s a collective realization from multiple people around the room.

“Chanyeol, come up here and take the gift,” Jongdae calls. He walks up to them and is handed a big white gift bag, decorated with a gingham blue pattern at the sides. Chanyeol raises an eyebrow as he shakes it. This isn’t dishware, which admittedly he’d only assumed was the gift when he’d spotted it in Sehun and Jongdae’s storage closet. It had a bow on it!

“Open it up,” Sehun urges.

When he does, Chanyeol furrows his brows. “What is this, exactly? Raw fish?” He pulls it out to show to the audience, becoming even more confused when they start chuckling. He can see Baekhyun and Kyungsoo crumpling into laughter back there.

“It’s eel,” Jongdae says, winking. Sehun giggles at him, eyes curving into crescents.

“I… for what?”

“Your alphas will tell you, for now, you can leave,” Jongdae says, nudging him back to the others.

Chanyeol is still puzzling over it when he sits back down, pouting as he’s unable to think of the meaning. Someone tugs on his ear and he scowls when he turns around, but lightens up unconsciously at the sight of Baekhyun.

“You really don’t know, babe? They totally personalized it for us.”

“What? What is it?”

Kyungsoo smirks. “Eel? For alpha fertility?” Chanyeol blushes and eyes the bag now like it contains a bomb.

“Don’t worry, we can freeze it until it’s necessary,” Kyungsoo reassures with a chuckle.

“They’re so embarrassing,” Chanyeol says, putting his face in his hands. “I thought there were pups at this baby shower!”

“They’re actually all in Daeun’s future room playing with each other. They’re not, y’know, our kids so I wouldn’t just come in, but wow they were adorable, my heart melted into goop,” Baekhyun says.

“I’m really jealous though,” Jongin comments, leaning his cheek against his hand. “You have good luck! I’ve never won a raffle in my life.”

“You’re jealous of this gift…?”

“No no, just the luck,” Jongin clarifies.

“Eel meat’s pretty luxurious though,” Junmyeon adds quietly.

“Chanyeol’s got pretty good luck, actually. He won Lotte World tickets at work before,” Baekhyun says.

“Aw, that sounds so nice,” the other omega pouts. “It’s like divine favoritism or something. Lady Luck and fate?”

Something about the notion makes Chanyeol pause.

Kyungsoo laughs, scratching at the back of his neck. “Something like that…?”

“Call it whatever you want, we’re balling,” Baekhyun says, eating a flower-shaped cookie in one mouthful. “Damn, this is good.”

Minseok side-eyes him for speaking while eating, but then he brings up a new conversation topic about a painting he’s thinking of buying for his house. Chanyeol knows he’s being uncharacteristically quiet, but he can’t help it. He’s too busy thinking about why exactly Jongin’s words knocked him off-kilter. Even when Chanyeol drives them home, it’s still a thought that lives in the back of his mind.

“Am I a really lucky person favored by destiny?” is the first thing he asks when they get home. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo raise a brow at him, probably unsure where he’s going with it. “Well, it’s just… I guess it is true. I am a really fortunate person with so many blessings. Do I deserve any of it?”

“Chanyeol.” Baekhyun forcefully puts his hands on Chanyeol’s shoulders. “You are so incredibly talented at getting inside of your own head for literally zero reason.”

“I know…”

“So what if you’re lucky? It’s your life. Deserve, don’t deserve, no such thing exists. Take it, enjoy it,” Kyungsoo says.

“Right? I worked hard too, y’know. Why should I question if I deserve to have two beautiful, incredible, out-of-this-world fiancés?!” Baekhyun exclaims.

“God, you’re right. You’re really right,” Chanyeol admits, not looking up at him. “I don’t know why I even have these thoughts. They just happen.” When he raises his head again to look at them, he’s struck by how fond and loving their looks toward him are. Affection shines so clearly in every move they make, every shine in their eyes.

“That doesn’t really matter either, cuz we’re gonna be here to stop ‘em everytime,” Baekhyun reassures warmly.

“And you won’t get tired of it?” Chanyeol asks. His need for reassurance is showing, but in the sight of the unconditional love he receives, he’s unashamed of it. All he asks is their answer.

“Being realistic, my answer is yes. We’re meant to spend the rest of our lives together, right?” Kyungsoo says.

Chanyeol seals their promise with a kiss to each of their lips.