─────── • ❥ • ───────

Jeno stepped out of his room at some time near midmorning — perhaps eleven. The sun was out, the birds were in chorus, and his mood was pretty good. As much as he loved his boyfriends and never denied them sex if they asked...a night to sleep in his own bed alone was something he hadn't realised he'd been craving for a long time. The male felt rejuvenated, really.

"Oh, morning Jen," a sleepy looking Jisung yawned as he too emerged from his room and coincidently at the same time as Chenle across the hall. The youngest pair waved cutely at each other but didn't exchange words, quite tired and lethargic it seemed.

"Morning, lovelies," the oldest winked and ruffled the brunette's hair as he and the Chinese boy wandered off towards the stairs to make it to the kitchen. Once they'd disappeared, Hyuck and Jaemin stumbled out of Mark's bedroom together with bedhead and lidded eyes.

"Fuck, it's not an emergency," Nana whined, "I heard everyone moving and assumed..."

"It's already eleven," Jeno chuckled. "You should be moving anyway."

Donghyuck couldn't have agreed with that statement in any way, shape or form. How utterly disgusting the concept of surfacing before one was. "Fuck that. There better be bacon downstairs, or I'm going to stab a bitch."

The tallest watched as they too trailed off and out of sight. He counted on his fingers who was left, and almost forgot that Renjun was here as well. I should get him. Don't want him missing out on breakfast. And with that, he shuffled in his socks towards his neighbour's door and knocked gently upon it. "Renjunnie?"

There was no response. None whatsoever. He tugged at his bottom lip with his free hand and sighed nervously. He hated waking this particular man up since he wasn't his boyfriend and didn't like getting on his bad side. He hated when Renjun was mad at him.

Trying once more, he knocked softly and repeated his name in case now the boy was awake and ready to answer. Unfortunately, that was optimistic thinking, so he defeatedly turned to a more brave idea and opened the whole thing up. It's not trespassing when you practically have each other's keys, he told himself.

Inside, it smelt of that gorgeous lavender essence. The decor hadn't changed since he'd moved in — as white and impersonal as possible. The one change made was probably the fact that there was no suitcase laying around.

Jeno didn't loiter at all, contrarily choosing to push on through the flat and waltz into the bedroom. The door had been open before he even got there, and the intense heat of the living space was enough to send someone into a coma. "Renjun," he hummed, peeping his head around the corner and smiling once he spotted the boy in his bed. "Time to wake up. Breakfast is...." He cut himself off, however, when he saw another figure wrapped around him.

Initial thoughts? Danger.

"Oh God," he hissed, dashing forwards and climbing onto the mattress to identify the 'stranger' before acting brashly. When he pulled the other by the shoulder and managed to get him onto his back...his chest tightened. His whole world heated up even more and his mouth went utterly dry. "...Mark?"

The said actor groaned at the interruption to his sleep and curled up again, pouting his lips a little. "Too early..."

"Oh my God, what are you doing home?" The ravenette cheered excitedly, sliding up onto the older's waist and straddling him. His hands cupped Mark's cheeks and he leaned in to wake him up with quick butterfly kisses all over his nose and forehead. "Fuck, why didn't you say anything? Ugh, I've missed you so much."

The victim of such affection was forced to open his eyes and grab ahold of the male's hands on his face, looking up to find one of his more mature lovers. "Baby? Jesus, what's the emergency?"

"Uh, you're home early, Genius? We weren't expecting you for another month or so."

"Mhm...it surprised me as well," Renjun croaked from beside them and rolled over to view the scene. "Snuck in during the night to hide out."

"Thanks for that," Mark smiled, and the younger waved it off softly with rosy cheeks and sweaty skin. His hair was sticking to his forehead, but in a hot way.

"Well...why so soon?" The youngest insisted. "What happened?"

"I worked harder and achieved better results. I needed to see my boys, didn't I?" Mark cooed and pulled Jeno in again for a kiss. This time though, he was more prepared and was able to deliver the intensity and passion he knew his counter-dominant desired. They licked along each other's tongues and sucked needily, fingers running through hair and breaths disappearing.

All the while, Renjun made gagging noises and tried to nudge and gently kick them to stop. "In front of my salad? Guys, come on. It's too early for this crap."

"When you're in love and...haven't seen that person for...ages..." Jeno tried to explain through the mouth attacks he was receiving, "You'll understand why...we're like this..."

I hope I'm never that daft, the older grimaced, but a part of him did long for something so sweet; so rich. For someone to jump him after a business trip and treat him like the only boy in the world. It looked incredibly romantic...but he wasn't the type. He didn't have the confidence to try anything so bolshy.

"Jen," Mark sighed airily against the other's beautiful lips, "I've been thinking about you lots. It's been too long."

"Well you'll have to wait longer, Love. Once Jaemin and Hyuck find you, there'll be no escape."

"Ughhh."

Renjun giggled cutely at the conversation. What really amazed him was that he understood what they meant. He could relate to the jokes about the crazy duo downstairs, or now simply appreciate romance and affection for what it was without calling the police for assault on his eyes.

Mark was right.

He had changed.

As he watched them occasionally kiss a bit and share some stories, a deep emptiness invaded his soul, and there was nobody to fill it. No amount of sleeping with people or pretending everything was okay with him was going to solve it. But as he was once again reminded of sex with Jeno and Jaemin...he was left to wonder something.

"Wait a minute..." Renjun frowned, "I have a question."

"Mhm?" The oldest tilted his head to view him. "What's up?"

"Well....you're both dominants, aren't you?"

"Selectively," Jeno responded. "We're dominants in this relationship because the others, aside from little Jisung, are complete pillow princesses."

"Jisung?"

"He's straight. Getting him to sleep with the rest of us is hard as hell, since Chenle wearing skirts makes it easier on his conscience. He loves us," Mark explained, "But his body isn't wired our way."

"Oh..." the Chinese boy nodded slowly, fixing his position on the pillow before continuing. He'd heard that before, now that he remembered it. "So when you two do it, who's the top?"

The pair turned their sights to each other, smiling mischievously as Jeno leaned in and whispered something in his ear. The older hushed him and smacked his shoulder. "Dumbass," he sighed, then looked back to Renjun apologetically. "He's such a tease. Anyway, we're switches. More often than not he lets me top him, but it's not uncommon for me let him dominate me. There's a different kind of relief from subbing sometimes."

Woah...crazy, the blonde-ravenette thought with wide eyes. To look at them, the taller and more built was clearly Jeno. But Mark's personality was far tougher and more stubborn than the younger's. It really was hard to tell, so switching made way more sense than what he had attempted to answer the question in his head with. "Sounds fun though."

"It is," they hummed in unison, the youngest getting up to stand and helping them to do likewise. "Anyway, breakfast is probably nearly ready down there. How do we break the news?"

"For now," the actor gushed while pulling them to walk in front of him towards the door, "Let's do this. When we get down there, we'll figure it out."

"Weirdos," Renjun scoffed, but his lips were curved into a smile as he moved onwards.

─────── • ❥ • ───────