Chapter Text
That night, the air was cold. The rain just stopped after the sky turned dark. Between the chilly city buzz from outside the window, the sweet scent of warm popcorn willed Chimon’s small apartment.
“Hurry up, Chim!” Ohm yelled from the sofa in the living room. A remote control was already in his hand, finger hovering over the play button, ready to press it the second Chimon appeared from the kitchen.
“Wait for me! I’m making hot choco!” Chimon yelled back. He quickly went out of the kitchen, balancing three mugs on a small tray and bringing them carefully to the coffee table.
Nanon chuckled at the sight. “You don’t even remember the drink once the movie starts,” he teased, shaking his head in adoration. He was wrapped in a thin yet warm blanket that also covered Ohm’s legs beside him, too comfortable to move and help Chimon.
“Shut up,” Chimon muttered, throwing himself between the two—his favorite spaces, the one and only spaces that always belonged to him. “But, hey, you always like my drinks, right?”
Ohm’s arms automatically came to rest around Chimon’s shoulders the moment he was there, as if that was a muscle memory to him. “Yeah. Love your food too,” he nodded.
Chimon scoffed, making Nanon laugh beside him. “Love everything you do. You're our emotional support human,” Nanon said as he leaned his head onto Chimon’s shoulder.
Chimon was about to reply when Nanon’s arm slipped around his waist, pulling him closer. A smile tugged at Chimon’s lips before he knew it. He liked this feeling—the warmth, the closeness. Just the three of them, tucked away from the noisy world outside, watching a movie they’d probably seen a dozen times.
Their friendship has always been like this, a kind of closeness that people whispered, wondering where friendship ended and something else began but never quite understood.
They had been growing up together since high school. Ohm, the noisy one; Nanon, with his unpredictable jokes and sarcasm; and Chimon, the quiet glue that held both ends together. Seven years later, nothing had really changed.
Until Ohm and Nanon fell in love.
Chimon was not surprised. He somehow could see it, the quiet chemistry in the way they talked when he wasn’t in the room, the gentler touches when they thought he wasn’t looking. He was not surprised. But, what did surprise him was how nothing really changed.
Their little fun dates still included him; from the mandatory weekend movie nights, the late night ice cream trips in minimarket, to all the small touches that never disappeared. The way his shoulder brushed Nanon’s while his leg pressed against Ohm’s in the dining table or the way he still sat in the spaces between them when they were watching movies—between their linked hands, between Ohm’s gentle strokes over Nanon’s hair from the hand wrapped on top of his shoulder.
It was never romantic, but it was built on years of warmth and intimacy. Something too deep to be labelled, too natural to question. He was always part of them.
“Don’t you think it will be fun if we move in together?” Ohm blurted suddenly, making Chimon and Nanon looked at him weird.
“Yeah, and you would just be a burden,” Nanon replied flatly, earning a laugh from Chimon who then nodded in agreement.
“Exactly. You’ll be cooking,” Ohm pointed at Chimon before shifting to Nanon, “you do the cleaning and I’m doing nothing! Perfect combo.”
Nanon smacked the back of his head. “Only if you pay the rent.”
“Easy. Of course I’ll be taking care for both of you. Right, Chim?” Ohm looked at Chimon with a grin. His hands ruffled his fringe gently.
Before Chimon could respond, Nanon tightened the hug around his waist. “Well, it's not a doubt to take care of Chimon,” he murmured, rubbing his cheek against Chimon's shoulder.
Chimon just laughed softly.
He never expected more for their friendship. For him, the rain, film, and a blanket wrapped around the three of them is enough to fulfill his life. For him, it was a perfect life already.
He only hoped it would last forever.
But then again, not everything could last forever, right?