LUDUS

fourteen

it was a busy day for the store, fridays were a special day to prepare for the parties on saturday. so families, couples, and friends came to the store to buy everything from whole chickens to beer packs upon beer packs. hwitaek didn't mind as it meant more money and more people to talk to. none of the employees admitted it but staring at the same two people everyday became boring and an equation for insanity. hwitaek would bet on his life that he knew every centimeter of jinho's face. and also every noise that wooseok could possibly make from many uncomfortable situations.

"with this amount of costumers we should hire someone else." jinho joked after cashing out a family of four. their purchase was up to $400 worth of food— the eldest was getting dizzy.

hwitaek snorted, the topic of hiring somebody else came up a lot during busy days, but he took it with a grain of salt. hiring someone new meant training them, liking them, tolerating them. a process hwitaek still didn't know how wooseok passed but the youngest eventually did and then hwitaek admitted defeat. yes, maybe when then there's a cracked floor tile or a ceiling leakage he wished they had the manpower to handle it immediately. as a store owner he wanted to upkeep the mini-supermarket, but more importantly as just hwitaek, he wanted to be proud of it.

but no one fit the triplets; jinho, hwitaek, and wooseok were best friends even if it didn't seem that way.

"doesn't hyojong count?" wooseok huffed out, face sweaty from helping a group of college kids purchase beer. they almost completely wiped out their stock. hwitaek would have to send the youngest to restock it again with the quantity they have in the back. poor wooseok.

the owner's heart fluttered at the name and he instantly searched the aisles from what he could see to find the man. hyojong was easily spottable— he was talking to two girls with their arms wrapped around each other's sides. hwitaek blanked as he saw his boyfriend direct the couple to another aisle, helping them out with finding cheap wine stacked along with the seaweed packets. hwitaek felt his cheeks burn.

"...hello?" wooseok poked the elder's forehead. "i asked a serious question."

hwitaek snapped out of his gaze and sucked his teeth at the younger. "you and your questions! do you want my heart to stop beating?"

wooseok frowned, "you should offer hyojong a job."

"he's my boyfriend."

"so what? if you end up fucking in the store, whatever, everyone here has done the same." wooseok shrugged, turning to walk away before hwitaek caught his shoulder.

"i could greatly assure you that having sex in the store is not tolerable." and if hwitaek squeezed the man too hard then it truly wasn't his fault.

the younger only winked before shrugging once again, then leaving to do his job.

hwitaek quietly whined to himself.

***

it was near evening and the store was still packed. hwitaek's fingers were dry from the constant money he held and put away and his eyes were starting to hurt.

jinho's voice drew him out of the daze that tied his limbs into a robotic routine.

"hui, i think someone's calling you." the elder gestured to the lit up phone in hwitaek's pocket.

the owner sighed, "they can wait."

***

as wooseok closed up the store, hwitaek and the rest of the three went to the back room. hyojong stayed all day and was visibly tired just like the rest, but he didn't complain as he pulled his boyfriend into his lap. hwitaek sunk into the blond's heat and smelled the store on him; soap, wet vegetables, and cardboard. the owner felt his heart swell.

jinho collapsed into the recliner tucked in the corner and put his feet up. "i don't want to go home just yet."

"if we sleep here we have to wake up early." hwitaek sighed.

jinho only nodded, contemplating on what he should do.

hyojong started to softly trace circles into hwitaek's thighs— his fingers touched his phone after a couple of spirals and took it out. hwitaek didn't care as the blond opened his phone out of curiosity— it was passcode protected anyway.

"who is hongseok?" he asked, just as wooseok walked in with popsicles to share.

however, the youngest then dropped the popsicles at hyojong's question; mimicking the shock of everyone else in the room. hyojong frowned at the reactions.

"what?" hwitaek turned around and snatched his phone, getting up just to sit on the other side of the couch. his heart beat sped up and his throat went dry. on his phone showed 37 missed calls from hongseok, and it drove a punch into his stomach "oh fuck—"

"is something wrong?" hyojong didn't move to get any closer, he looked at his boyfriend with eyes full of concern instead.

"he was the one calling?" jinho exclaimed.

hwitaek shrugged at his boyfriend, small and quick before replying to the eldest. "if i would have known i would have answered."

"you never take out your phone during work so how would you know?" wooseok had picked up the popsicles sometime before and gave them out; throwing it across the room weakly. hwitaek didn't bother catching it.

the youngest was right.

"okay, okay, uhhhh—" hwitaek struggled to the think. he looked to his boyfriend, his clueless clueless boyfriend and tried not to panic; opting on explaining rather than thinking. "hongseok's my brother."

"oh..."

"we both were adopted around the same time but hes younger and crazy— like super super crazy— and when he usually contacts me it ends up changing a lot of shit."

wooseok jumped onto the other couch and relaxed with a huff.

"last time he made everything in the store pink and made hwitaek get a tattoo."

"the butterfly?" hyojong asked his boyfriend, who flushed in embarrassment. as that particular tattoo was on his hip; the place where one night hyojong licked his skin then looked at him with the devil in his eyes.

"nah, the MGMT one on his back." jinho answered.

"hongseok was really into psychedelic pop for a bit." hwitaek shrugged again, voice soft and sleepy. "it's a sibling tattoo though, so he got beyonce in the same place."

wooseok snickered.

hwitaek didn't react as he burned a hole into the floor. his throat closed up, forcing him to swallow down the words he hated. he fought against it. "...he shares ownership of the store."

"what?" hyojong's eyebrow raised.

"we're co-owners but he decided to become a lawyer instead." hwitaek explained. "that's how he made everything pink and made us all wear uniforms that one time long ago."

"hui is too scared too ask for full ownership." jinho added.

the man frowned, "it'll be disrespectful to our parents!"

"but they handed it to you and him, so it doesn't matter anymore. they're fine in jeju island without a care."

"wooseok," the eldest warned, as the man was edging the borderline.

"i'm just saying!"

hwitaek sighed, turning off his phone
and putting it in his pocket. "i'll just call him tomorrow."

"do you need your pills?" hyojong softly spoke, the warm air from his mouth a phantom hit of wind on hwitaek's neck. he felt everything the blond did as if they were tied down together by their souls.

"i think so..."

"then it's best we go home." his boyfriend stood and stretched.

home, home, home.

but hyojong still lived with yuto.

hwitaek vaguely wondered about changing that. his brother still occupied his mind.