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matthew smiles sadly at the girl in front of him, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly. the hopeful expression on her face falls when he rejects her and he watches as she apologizes meekly before dashing off to her friends who were watching from behind the corner. he sighs and turns back to his locker, feeling the guilt swirl in his stomach. it never gets easier. honestly, he's beyond shocked that girls and guys alike found him attractive enough for them to ask him out. in his opinion, he didn't think he stood a chance since the school was filled with students who look like models and was sculpted by the gods.
"ah, heartbreaker matthew at it again," a voice jokingly sighs.
matthew closes his locker and frowns at the japanese boy leaning next to him. keita, his best friend stood there with a fake pouty expression, finger wiping away a pretend tear.
"hyung! stop saying that!" he whines, his own face contorting into a real pout.
he's not a heartbreaker. he's not. it's not his fault that he rejects everyone who asks him out. what was he supposed to say them? yes? of course not. not when he has two loving doting boyfriends, but unfortunately everyone truly thinks he's lying about it. one, they go to a different neighboring university and two, they're the princes of said university. he obviously didn't tell them the second bit. that would be the cherry on top for them to not believe him. plain old seok matthew dating the sung hanbin and zhang hao? impossible. the two were known to be the heartbreakers of their own school, never batting an eye at anyone other than each other.
matthew couldn't even show them the photos on his phone as proof because they agreed to keep the relationship a secret. mostly because the older two were afraid that people wouldn't handle it well and was worried for matthew's safety. when he first heard about their concerns, he laughed and told them that they spent too much time reading webtoons. in the end, he agreed anyways, but only because he loves them and he knew that they only had eyes for him. they were loyal as was he. he trusts them just like they trust him.
they live together in an apartment off campus. a place that's in between both schools. it took a while for them to find somewhere with decent rent and once they did, they immediately signed to move in. if someone told him this three years ago, matthew would have never believe them that he'd be moving in with not one lover, but two. honest to god, he was pretty sure he'd be living in a dorm for the rest of his scholarship if he hadn't met the two.
the three had met at a cafe. super cliche, but hey, he'll take what he get. the cafe in question was called star tea and matthew had worked there part time. he remembers the day hanbin and zhang hao walked in. it was like seeing two greek gods descend from the skies above based on how attractive they were. they even had other customers turning heads to look at them. plenty of eyes widened and mouths dropping open.
"h-hello! welcome to star tea cafe! my name is matthew and i'll be your server for today!" matthew greets, a practiced smile on his face.
hanbin smiles back at him and he felt like he was going to melt into goo.
"what do you recommend? this is our first time coming here," the taller states, eyes scanning the menu right above them.
forgetting about how attractive the two men were, matthew excitedly points to a sign on the counter.
"if you're into tea, we currently have a special called stars creator! it's a refreshing honey butterfly peach tea blend with a dash of edible glitter to give the drink a galaxy look!" matthew explains cheerfully. "it's personally one of my favorites! if you're not that into sweets that is."
zhang hao hums and smiles. "sounds great. we'll take two of those please."
nodding, matthew rings them up. "your total is eight dollars and ninety two cents. will you be paying cash or card?" he asks and watches in amusement as the two fought to decide who pays.
in the end, zhang hao won and he hands his card to matthew. when he hands it back, he flinches a bit at the feeling of zhang hao's fingers sliding against his. his cheeks flushes a light pink at the contact, but he quickly conceals his emotions and slides back into his worker role. he chose to ignore the small smirk the other threw at him.
smiling awkwardly, he grabs two cups and looks at the both of them with a marker in his hand.
"name?"
"my name? it'll be the one you'll be—what hey!" zhang hao shouts as hanbin interrupts him by pushing him to the side, hissing a small barely audible "zhang hao" underneath his breath.
ah, so that one is zhang hao. interesting. must be chinese matthew thought.
"hanbin is fine. thank you, please excuse my friend," the taller apologizes with a sweet smile before pulling the other away towards an empty table by the window.
and that one is hanbin. what a cute pair.
once he finishes making the drinks, matthew brings them over to the duo, a bright smile on his face, desperately trying not to let it get to him by how hard they're staring into his soul.
"here you are! two specials, if you need anything else feel free to ask. napkins and other necessities are over there on that table and the bathrooms are to the far left. enjoy!" he chirps.
hanbin smiles up at him and he feels his heart beat a little from the whiskers appearing on the other's cheeks. how cute.
"thank you," hanbin says and he nods before turning on his heels and back to the register.
the two spent an hour or so drinking and talking. how does matthew know? it wasn't like he was watching or anything. okay, maybe he was. but can anyone blame him? he's never met two incredibly attractive men in the cafe before. he wants to enjoy it while it lasts. every now and then, he'd meet eyes with one of the two and he'd whipped his head back with a blush forming on his cheeks. god, he's acting like a school girl.
eventually the two left and matthew had to bite his lip in disappointment that they didn't say bye to him. ah, screw him for thinking he'd get a love life at a cafe. he sighs and goes to clean the tables and perks up when he sees something written on a napkin left behind.
text us cutie ;) xxxxxxxxxx / xxxxxxxxxxx
a large grin spreads across his face and he held the napkin to his chest. his heart was going to burst from excitement. they were interested in him!
after that, the rest was history. they started talking more, the older two coming to the cafe twice a week, them getting to know each other, and sooner or later, after a couple of dates, he was officially part of their relationship.
"sure sure, say that to the fifteenth girl you just rejected," keita drawls out, an arm thrown around matthew's shoulders.
huffing, matthew opens his mouth to retort back when an overly excited yujin bounced up to them, a paper clutched in his hand.
"hyungs!" the younger greets happily, clearly a but out of breath.
"hello to you too yunjin-ah. what's got you all so excited for?" matthew asks, his curiosity poking through as he tries to get a better look at the piece of paper.
yunjin brightens up. "the white day's festival! i came to ask if hyungs wanted to join. we need more people to help with the booths and decorations! please say you'll do it," he pleads, puppy eyes on full display.
keita huffs a laugh. "put those away, you know they don't work on us. we'll help you no worries," he promises and reaches out to squeeze the youngest cheeks.
"sweet! here, take this! we currently need helpers for the flower bouquet booth, a couple of the food booths, oh! and a kitten booth! i'm sure matthew hyung will be perfect for that actually." yujin smiles cheekily, "since hyung is very catlike."
matthew sputters. "what is that supposed to mean?" keita laughs, "he totally is! sign him up for that yujin-ah and i'll take one of the spots for the uh," he squints at the paper. "tech equipment."
nodding, yunjin gave them a hug and bounced off to look for other people to recruit.
"anyways, back to our talk. as your best friend, i can't bare to see you reject everyone who comes your way. at least give one of them a chance," keita states and tuts when matthew opens his mouth to speak.
"don't say you're already in a relationship. you always say that and if they're real why haven't i met them? exactly, they're not real. there are no boyfriends from another university that you've been dating for two years."
"but there is! hyung, i'm telling the truth! they just want to keep it a secret?" he tries to argue and frowns when he realizes how bad that sounded.
this was definitely a con of keeping the relationship a secret. matthew wants to tell keita who they were, but of course the older wouldn't believe him. he knows that he could trust keita, but if his lovers aren't ready, he'd happily keep it a secret for as long as they need.
"we've been friends for a year matthew, we're best friends. i've even gone over to your place a couple of times and i've never once seen them!" keita argues back.
that was also true. every time they had a study session at his place, his boyfriends wouldn't be home due to being stuck at school working on projects and it was always such an unfortunate timing. and when he finds a way to prove it, keita beats him to disprove it. like the more than one pair of shoes by the door? keita will claim it's his roommates. even though his roommates are literally his partners. somehow the older gaslit himself to believe that matthew is living with other strangers and was splitting rent. matthew hates how good of a truth that was considering he was a college student.
matthew sighs. it's better to just let keita and the rest believe what they will. he doesn't have the energy to defend himself.
hearing the apartment door open, matthew beams when he sees zhang hao entering before quickly turning back to the stove. "welcome back hyung! how was today's practice brief?" at the mention of the case, the older groans and sets his bag by the door.
"don't wanna talk about it," zhang hao mutters and slides behind matthew, arms slipping around the younger's waist as he leans against him.
matthew giggles. "ah, my hyung is such a hard worker. that's why i made your favorite tonight!"
zhang hao presses a small kiss to the back of matthew's neck. "thank you my love. hanbin back yet?" matthew shakes his head.
"not yet. he should be soon. how about you go wash up first?"
the older sighs already feeling himself recharging a bit. "'mmh, in a bit..." he whispers.
matthew continues to cook, the warmth from the stove and zhang hao giving him a sense of home. a belonging.
when the trio moved in together, the older two refused to let matthew pay for rent. it upset him at first. he wasn't just going to leach off of them. that's not the person he was. however, their logic was that with hanbin's job working as a part-time model and zhang hao's internships, they had more than enough to pay for the three of them. eventually they came to an agreement. if they paid for rent, matthew would cook and clean. he was surprised he didn't find it a bad idea. he'd be contributing by preparing meals and keeping the place clean as well as making sure the two took care of themselves.
when hanbin comes back and finishes with washing up, he gave a kiss to matthew's forehead. "the food looks delicious seokmae-ah. our talented little chef," he praises and matthew laughs before pulling the other into a proper kiss.
"well somebody has to make sure you guys are fed properly. when you told me you both lived off ramen before you met me i was shocked." he teases and zhang hao rolls his eyes.
he points his chopsticks at the younger, mouth full of rice. "don't judge our grind," he says.
matthew cringes. "ew hyung don't talk with your mouth full."
hanbin chuckles at the two and sat down at the table. "anything new at school today?" he asks matthew who tilts his head trying to remember.
"oh! i'm going to be participating in the white day festival. i'll be working the kitten booth! a local cat shelter recently had a new litter of kittens that's ready to be adopted so the adoption will be happening at our campus." matthew explains brightly.
the other two smiles at the youngest knowingly. matthew absolutely adores kittens. in fact, he adores all types of animals. it's one of the many things they love about him.
"there's also going to be a picnic! i was wondering if you guys wanted to come with?" he asks shyly, chopsticks poking around at his food.
zhang hao frowns apologetically. "ah, i'm sorry sweet one. i'll be busy that day with a new briefing case." the older looks at hanbin hoping the other was able to go, but seeing the same frown mirroring his own, guilt crawls up his chest.
"i'm sorry too baby, there's a shoot that day for a new magazine.."
matthew just shakes his head and smiles ignoring the small drop of hurt curling in his heart. he knew they were going to be busy, but it didn't stop him from hoping that maybe they'd have a free day off so they can spend time together.
"no worries! just wanted to ask if you'd be interested. i'll probably be stuck at the booth for a while anyways incase the kittens don't get adopted." he says, voice getting a little high showing how he feels.
hanbin reached over and grips matthew's hand into his. "we'll make it up to you. pretty sure all three of us are free next saturday so we can have a day to ourselves," he hums out and watches as matthew nods excitedly, the previous sadness forgotten.
"i can think of one thing we can do when that day comes," zhang hao purrs out and matthew feels heat storm up his neck. he stares at the older with a scandalized expression.
"hyung! we're at the table!" he shrieks and zhang hao just shrugs. "that's not a no."
"hyung!"
"they're so cute!" matthew coos. the kitten he has in his arms is just so tiny and so so cute! the little creature lets out a small meow and his heart just melts. how can these little beings be so adorable? it's totally unfair.
he holds the kitten up and nuzzles their noses together, "if only i could take you home with me." it seems like the kitten didn't mind the idea and licks at his nose.
hearing a snap and a flash, matthew turns his head to see ricky holding a polaroid camera. he pouts at having his photo taken without his consent.
"hyung, if you were an idol this would go for thousands," ricky states, eyes drawn to the photo in between his fingers.
"i wanna see! let me see!" keita yells and bounces over to ricky. seeing the image on the pola, he squealed. keita plucks the photo out of ricky's hand despite his protests and takes out his phone to snap a pic of it.
the canadian rolls his eyes at his friends antics. "like i'll ever be famous. being in that kind of spotlight? no thanks."
"matthew hyung!" a voice screams and they turn their heads to see yujin running over to them, a look of panic on his face.
setting the kitten down, matthew stands up quickly and catches the younger before he fell. he searches for any injuries and scans the area where yujin came from in case there was a genuine threat. seeing nothing, he quirks an eyebrow at the younger, confused by the sudden shout of his name.
"we miscounted and we need one more person to join the picnic bid! please join!" yujin begs, out of breath.
his hands were gripping tightly onto a clipboard that seems to contain all the booths for the day.
"the picnic bid? i'm not sure i'd be the good-"
"he'll do it!"
matthew whips his head towards keita, "hyung! don't just offer me up like that!" he squeaks out. he turns back to yujin to tell the younger he wasn't available to, but seeing the hopeful expression and pout he caved in.
"ugh okay, fine i'll do it. when does it happen again?" he asks and smiles when the younger hugs him tightly with a mantra of thank you's.
"it'll be around an hour or so. don't worry! ollie will take over the booth while you're gone!" and with that, yunjin rushes off.
putting his hands on his hips, matthew sighs. "seems like he was going to put me on the list regardless of my answer."
he bites his lip in worry. it's just a picnic right? does that count as cheating? oh god, maybe he should've just said no. he knew how possessive the older two got over him. maybe he should call and let them know? an arm was thrown around his shoulders and he glances over to see keita smiling at him.
"you'll be fine! there's nothing to worry about. maybe you'll get a lover out of this," the older says waggling his eyebrows.
matthew huffs. "for the last time, i'm already in a relationship!" he looks at ricky for help, but even the blonde is giving him a deadpan look.
"unbelievable," he mutters.
squatting down, he picks up a kitten from the crate and stares into the little blue eyes. "you believe me right?" and the kitten meows at him. "of course you do!" he coos and rubs their cheeks together.
matthew beams as he watches another kitten gets adopted. five down, two more to go. he kneels down and picks the remaining two up, their little bodies fitting in his arms all snuggly.
"don't worry, you guys will go to lovely homes. i promise."
"hyung! it's almost starting!" yunjin calls out to him and he sighs. right. the picnic bid.
he sets the kittens down and smiles at ollie who held the gate open for him. making his way to the back of the stage, he sees the other students who'll be joining the bid with him.
"nervous?" kamden asks in english.
matthew nods. "like you wouldn't believe."
the other laughs and hands him a flower crown. "here, put this on. taerae hyung is waiting to do your makeup. don't worry, with how popular you are, many will want to go on a picnic with you."
while it was an attempt to reassure him, it definitely did the opposite.
once his makeup was completed, he was in awe at how nice he looks. his hair was a bit curled giving him a soft look, cheeks dusted pink and a little bit of glitter was on his eye lids. he even had tinted lipgloss on! his lovers would've went crazy if they saw him. matthew felt cute. scratch that, he is cute.
"okay!" junhyeon yelled. "the way this will work is just like any other charity auction we have done! whoever bids the highest will earn the chance to go on a picnic with you. baskets are already prepared so no need to worry about those!"
matthew shifts the flower crown on his head a bit and fiddles with the sticker labeled number two on his jacket.
"are we ready?"
hell no he wasn't, but it was too late to back out. he was already standing on the stage with four others in front of an audience already waiting.
"welcome everyone to planet university's white day festival!"
the audience erupts into loud cheers and claps, some going as far as whistling. he can see haruto and ricky in the front row, both snickering at him and felt the urge to scowl.
"i know you've all been waiting for this special event," junhyeon says mischievously. "and we're pleased to finally start!"
as junhyeon explains the rules, matthew gazes off to the side and catches a smirking keita and he sent the other a threat through his eyes. his hyung was so going to get it when this was over.
he was snapped out of his thoughts as the auction officially began. first up was kamden and immediately someone starts off with fifty in the crowd. wow, okay. this is really happening.
"seventy!"
"i bid eighty!"
"wow! aren't you a popular one kamden. how about showing us a charm of yours to spice things up?"
a charm? matthew starts to panic. no one said they had to show off any charms! he doesn't have any! oh my god, he thought as his hands starts to sweat. what was he going to do?
"two hundred!" a voice shouts.
"two hundred going once, going twice, and sold! congratulations young man, your date will be waiting for you when the auction is over."
matthew gazes into the audience trying to locate the winner and smiles when he sees it was jay. of course it was. those two have been dancing around each other long enough.
"next up we have seok matthew! our campus's number one heartbreaker," junhyeon introduces and matthew feels a bit of him die inside.
he steps up and instantly someone's hand shoots up.
"a hundred!"
his jaw nearly drops. a hundred? already?
junhyeon huffs a laugh, "right off the bat young lady. seems like someone's very popular."
"one fifty!"
"two fifty!"
"three hundred," a deep voice says.
everyone turns their head to see the kim jiwoong standing there with his hand raised. holy shit, that's the president of student council. that's the prince of their own school. and he just placed a bid of three hundred on matthew. he felt like he was going to faint. those around jiwoong was staring at him full of shock and some manages to send looks full of jealously towards matthew.
"four hundred." a familiar voice calls out.
matthew felt his heart quickens as he searches for a raised hand. everyone appears to be doing the same because once they found the owner of the bid, multiple gasps rang through the courtyard.
"oh my god that's zhang hao! the prince zhang hao of SNU!" someone screams out.
the entire crowd begins to break into whispers. some starts to whisper about zhang hao's whereabouts and why he was here while others began to squeal over him and shooting him heart eyes.
"five hundred," jiwoong bids back.
everyone went silent as they watched zhang hao and jiwoong enter a staring battle. the tension thick in the air. a hand shoots up from behind zhang hao, "six hundred." the mysterious voice steps out and the gasps from before doubled in amount.
there standing next to zhang hao was the sung hanbin. what was the two princes of their neighboring school doing here? and boy were they even more handsome in person.
"well um," junhyeon stutters. he was clearly just as shocked as everyone else was by the turn of events.
"six hundred going once, going twice,"
"eight hundred dollars," comes from jiwoong.
matthew didn't know how to feel. he felt genuinely light headed as he watches the three fight for him like he was the last chicken wing on the plate. what on earth was going on today? why were his lovers here? weren't they busy today? and why was jiwoong bidding on him? did the senior like him?
"one thousand," hanbin bids as he directs a sweet smile towards jiwoong.
but matthew knew better. he knew that the older was trying his best not to tear the head off of jiwoong's body. that smile was anything but sweet.
"a thousand going once, going twice, and sold to zhang hao and sung hanbin!" junhyeon announces. "your date will be waiting for you once the auction ends."
matthew steps back and his gaze immediately meets zhang hao who was smirking at him. glancing up a bit, he sees hanbin who was smiling at him apologetically, hand attempting at a wave.
by the time the auction was over, a basket was shoved into his arms and he was pushed towards the area where the winners were waiting. he walks up to hanbin and zhang hao and the two were expecting a glare of some sort, but all matthew did was smile up at them.
"hyungs! why didn't you tell me you were going to be here today? a message would've been nice," he whines with a pout.
hanbin takes the basket and grabs onto matthew's hand while zhang hao grabs the other. "we're sorry seokmae, we wanted to surprise you. shoot was canceled today and so was his briefing." the older explains as they walked around looking for a nice patch of grass to sit on.
"what we didn't expect was someone to be bidding for you when we arrived," zhang hao mutters out. "the audacity he had to try to one-up us."
matthew giggles and then frowns. "i'm sorry i didn't tell you guys about me joining the auction. it was super last minute and i knew you guys would've dropped everything just to be here during it. especially knowing how possessive you two are." he then shot a glare at hanbin. "a thousand dollars hyung? seriously? we see each other everyday!"
hanbin's cheeks turned pink. "what was i supposed to do! let him go on a picnic date with you? you're our boyfriend," the taller stresses out.
"possessive weirdo," matthew mumbles before he stops in his track causing the two to stop with him.
"wait. you guys are okay with everyone knowing? we are a bit too far from pretending we aren't dating or we don't know each other. considering you guys just dropped a thousand dollars on me."
zhang hao nods. "we are. we know how hard it was for you to keep us a secret. with your friends not believing you and you having to reject everyone who confesses. we decided it'd be better to just let everyone know. but if anyone hurts you, tell us. we'll handle it. they know better than to mess with a law major.." the older huffs out with his grip tightening.
when they finally found a good spot, they laid a blanket down and settled. once seated, matthew couldn't contain his joy and threw himself at the two. he was beyond happy. he finally gets to show off his lovers! he giggles as hanbin starts to tickle him and shrieks when zhang hao joined in.
breathing heavily, matthew gazes up at them with eyes full of love while the two gazes down at him with adoration and fondness in return. zhang hao leans down and kisses the other softly before placing little pecks every on matthew's face.
"hyung! stop!" he laughs out and zhang hao just gazes down at the pretty sight below him.
"stop hogging him! he's mine too," hanbin pouts out and pulls matthew up, adjusting him so he's sitting in his lap.
zhang hao opens up the basket and whistles at the food inside. "wow, they really went all out. look there's even white chocolate covered strawberries."
he picks one out of the container and held it to matthew's mouth. the younger opens up and chews happily at the delicious fruit. "tis good," he says.
the picnic was spent with them feeding each other and talks filled with laughter and smiles. they were at peace and it was just them. no worries at all. pretty soon, an hour or so has passed and everything was nearly eaten.
"ahh, that was the best. why haven't we had a picnic before?" matthew wonders as he cleans up.
"we'll have all the picnics you want from now on my love," zhang hao says and presses a feather kiss to the corner of matthew's mouth.
hanbin nods as he folds up the blanket. "hao hyung and i promised to make more time for you. we know how busy we get so instead of getting a day to ourselves who's knows when, we're going to have three days a week off from now on."
tears springs to matthew's eyes. he was so touched. for them to go out of their way to dedicate more time to him is sending him into an emotional wreck. they really do love him. the older two immediately panics at the sudden sight of his tears and he laughs as they began to fuss over him.
"i'm fine! i'm just really touched. i love you guys," he says and leans up give them a kiss. "so very much. thank you for being my happiness."
"since when do you become a sap," hanbin teases.
crossing his arms, matthew turns around dramatically. "fine. no more kisses for you."
a pair of arms wraps around his waist and he giggles when hanbin whines into his hair.
"oh whatever will i do? what if i need a true loves kiss to wake me up from a dark eternal slumber?"
matthew shrugs. "ask hao hyung."
"don't look at me."
hanbin groans dramatically. "betrayed by my own lovers. how delightful."
turning around in hanbin's arms, matthew grins up at him. "don't worry hyung. i'll kiss you as many times just to have you here with me." the taller smiles down at him.
"yah, what am i? chopped liver?" zhang hao retorts. he held his own arms out. "where's my hug?"
chuckling, matthew dives into zhang hao's arms and sighs as they wrapped around him.
"you guys are too dramatic," he states.
"but you love us," and he smiles at that.
"yea, i do."
pulling hanbin and zhang hao towards where his friends were sitting, he watches as his friends' eyes widen at the sight of the taller two.
"hi guys. this is zhang hao and hanbin. my boyfriends," matthew says proudly.
"holy shit. he wasn't lying when he said he actually did have two boyfriends," haruto gasps out.
hanbin and zhang hao bows, "it's nice to meet you. thank you for taking care of our matthew when we aren’t able to." the latter flushes, "you're embarrassing me," matthew hisses out.
keita leaps up and dramatically cries into matthew's arms. "i'm so sorry i didn't believe you! tell me, how did you bag two baddies?" he asks seriously.
"hyung!" matthew cries out, cheeks turning into a bright red.
zhang hao smirks, "you, i like you. you must be keita? matthew talks a lot about you."
"you talk about me! i mean, of course you do. i am your best friend after all. hey, look at this. it's a pola we took today of matthew."
"we'll buy it off you."
"hyungs!”