“At least we give them something to talk about,” Shidou muttered, tossing your phone back into your lap before giving your cheek a light pinch. He and Sae had already been through their fair share of judgment when their relationship came to light after the U20 match. Coaches, managers, tabloids, press. Basically anyone who even remotely cared about soccer had something to say. But once you came into the picture, the spotlight came roaring back, this time aimed at you. All because people couldn’t wrap their heads around a poly relationship.

Shidou always seemed to know how to handle negative attention. He brushed off comments with a snarky remark or reminded himself of his own greatness. Reading gossip articles or forum posts about your relationship didn’t faze him. Not when he had the two people he cared about most right there with him.

Sae was similar, just quieter about it. He didn’t bother checking tabloids, didn’t run his own socials, and barely acknowledged any of it. What people thought of your relationship was nothing but background noise to him. Meaningless chatter from people he couldn’t care less about, literally. He was the definition of unbothered.

But they both knew you weren’t built the same way.

You were more sensitive. Comments from strangers carried more weight, especially since you weren’t a soccer player, and you weren’t used to dealing with waves of criticism every day. The hate, people who couldn’t believe the three of you could be in a relationship peacefully, sat with you longer. It gnawed at you, kept you up at night. Like right now.

Sae’s head rested in your lap as you gently brushed his bangs aside, his teal eyes watching you with a flicker of concern. He had his own way of reading you, knew the twitch of your lips when you frowned, could tell when something was off. His love was quiet. Observant.

“Told you we could just delete everything. Out of sight, out of mind,” Sae said evenly, still watching you. He had a point. When the comments got bad, you practically lived in them. Doomscrolling. Getting lost in every awful opinion about the relationship.

Shidou was lounging beside you in the bed built for three, arms behind his head as he leaned against the headboard. “That, or we go beat their asses or something. Yeah?” He grinned, clearly amused with himself like he was the funniest person alive.

Sae shot him an unimpressed glare, but you couldn’t help the way your lips twitched into a small smile.

“Who’s ‘we’? You’re on your own with that one,” Sae muttered.

Without even trying, they had their own way of pulling you out of your head. Distracting you from the noise and the doubt that kept swirling around.

Sae groaned when Shidou reached over and pinched his ear, smacking his hand away with an irritated frown. “Cut it out. I’m not the one who needs comforting.”

“Why can’t I comfort both?” Shidou pouted dramatically, flopping over and shifting his weight onto both of you.

Even with the heaviness still sitting in your chest, these moments made it a little easier to bear. Just knowing you weren’t navigating it alone, that you had them, made all the difference.