Sparkler has groupies! He goes to superhero conventions and sits on panels and signs merch, Jaeha can find grainy video of him at those winking (exaggeratedly, so it shows despite him being in his mask) at people (mostly girls, a few boys). He doesn't do very many dungeons - they don't do ranks, in the west, but his would be low - but he keeps up a steady pace of them.

(Haru thinks it's cute that he's playing Civ.)

...groupies. Johnny has groupies.

Johnny has groupies??????

Johnny has groupies and he's after Haru?????? His Haru?????

(Yay Haru thinks he's cute~)

This is fucking stupid. Sparkler's just a fuckboy. Jaeha knows the type—

(Jaeha used to be the type.)

—and he's harmless. Most importantly, he doesn't care. Probably. Jaeha's rapidly coming to the conclusion that there is literally nothing this guy is getting in particular out of Haru. It's not important to him.

(Jaeha cannot inhabit that frame of mind. Maybe that's why it took him so long to understand.)

If Johnny's just some fuckboy who's having some fun and who's doing it because guided sex feels nice and Haru is cute then all that Jaeha has to do is come with Haru whenever he goes to Canada. That way Haru won't have to interact with the fuckboy. Jaeha's realising that this isn't a threat after all.

What a fucking waste of time. He's gonna go get a domination victory in Civ and absolutely destroy his enemies while polishing the enamel off his teeth by chewing on nicotine gum and not think about it, and then he's gonna go make dinner.

"Oh, congrats," Haru says, of the Civ victory. "I'm a science and cultural victory partisan but hey, any way you wanna go about conquering the world."

He actually jumps, he'd gotten so engrossed in his hateplaythrough he didn't hear Haru arrive (and Haru might feel a tiny blip of a ping on his shields during that jump from Jaeha being surprised), but once his brain catches up he hops to his feet so that he can properly welcome Haru with a hug and a kiss.

Mmmkiss. "Should I have tadaima'd louder?"

"My own fault, I got too distracted. How are you?"

"Tired and backlashed but it's all in a day's work and improving as we speak."

"I was about to get started with dinner after this game, was that your last dungeon of the day?"

"There's one they think they're going to want Cricket for but I think Yoo-Min can probably manage him."

"I'm still a little bit jealous of Yoo-min for that."

"Oh, he can probably still fuck it up. I'm not sure I couldn't, though I've managed not to so far."

"Cricket said that I'm fond of you by luck, not because I have discerning taste. I think he really likes you."

"Did he say that? That's - well, very rude, but such a fun way for him to be rude, he's not always that creative."

"'Fun'?"

Squirm. "Like you said, it indicates he really likes me, because it implies he has in mind some list of legitimate reasons to do so."

"And that he thinks I don't have such a list."

"Apparently he thinks that!"

He kisses Haru's temple. "Dinner, then?"

"Dinner! What are we having?"

"Unless you strenuously object I was thinking of making us japchae."

"I've never had it to object to but I bet it's yummy."