There was a light knock on the door and Yoseob tilted his head to look past the doctor's shoulders. His wide curious eyes turned into sparkling crescents as he grinned toothily at the new entry to the room. Just as he was about to hop off the bed to greet the highly welcomed arrival, his mother, who sat beside him on the bed with her husband, held him down and eyed him reproachingly. "Not yet, Seobie. Let Doctor Leo finish his examination of you."


Pouting and giving a soft whine, Yoseob leaned back against his pillow and stretched both his arms out towards the doctor, wordlessly prompting him to hasten the checking process. Junhyung chuckled and nodded to Yoseob's parents as a polite greeting while closing the door. Slowly, he walked towards them and stood behind them, "Mr Yang, Mrs Yang." Yoseob, whose hands were getting prodded lightly by Doctor Leo, kept trying to get Junhyung's attention by swinging his head from side to side while beaming widely. The tall male merely pursed his lips to hold back a shout of laughter from Yoseob's comical actions.


He reached out and passed them a bag of food, "I brought breakfast for the both of you just in case you two were so worried and came to the hospital even earlier than me to check on him." Mrs Yang swore that the young man in front of her was making her swoon as she smiled proudly at Mr Yang, "I told you our Seobie is safe with him." Mr Yang looked absolutely aghast at the dreamy eyes that his wife was displaying and grunted, "Just over breakfast?"


Yoseob, who has a stick in his mouth as Doctor Leo checked for whatever he was checking for, had his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets already as he tried to say something to his father but couldn't do so. Junhyung was just an inch away from laughing at the whole family and their funny mannerisms. However, he controlled himself as he took a cup out of the bag that he had offered to Yoseob's parents. "I heard that you love earl grey latte so I got it for you, Mr Yang. I told the brewer to add a hint of caramel because I think it tastes amazing that way."


The struggle between his favourite drink and his pride was clear on Mr Yang's face before he snatched the cup and took a sip of the drink. He gave a loud, satisfying smile after the first sip, exclaiming, "You, young man, sure knows your coffee! This is from the famous store down the road right? How did you even manage to get this? They are usually sold out by the first hour and the queue is always putting me off from getting there!"


The small male on the hospital bed was looking into his mother's eyes, both laughing silently at the abrupt change in Mr Yang's attitude towards Junhyung. The taller male was however more composed as he replied smoothly, "Well, now you have me to ensure that you get a good coffee fix every morning then." "He's perfect for our Seobie!" Mr Yang proclaimed loudly to Mrs Yang who couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter. Even Doctor Leo who had been trying to focus on his job started guffawing into the back of his hand. Very shortly after, he ruffled his favourite patient's hair and started packing his stuff with an amused face while speaking Yoseob's parents. 


"His condition is still the same as yesterday which is comforting in the sense that nothing worse happened but I'm not guaranteeing that it would remain this way for long." Turning his gaze to Yoseob who bravely returned it to him, "I'm still going to advise you to go for the operation, Yoseob. It's your best chance of having a regular life." The smaller male nodded but it was evident that the nod wasn't to agree but a half-hearted committment to consider the option. Junhyung watched as Mr and Mrs Yang looked at one another wearily, both their hands enveloping their son's ones. 


When the doctor left, Yoseob's expressionless face suddenly changed into a mirthful one as he tickled his parents, "Oh come on, it's good news! I'm the same as yesterday, my condition is stable!" "Yes, but son, won't you consider surgery?" Mrs Yang looked nervously at her husband at his question and immediately turned to Yoseob, hugging him assuringly, "Mum and dad would respect whatever decision you make alright? We know that the surgery is very risky and it's only natural to be fearful of it. But Seobie, what if it really succeeded? Then you can be with us for a much, much longer time." 


The smaller male stiffened at their hugs and set his lips in a thin line. It wasn't the first time they had this conversation and it wasn't that he did not know where his parents, or even Doojoon or Hyunseung, was coming from. However, he just didn't want to discuss this at this moment when he was very certain what his answer was. Junhyung noticed the rigid figure and sighed internally to himself as he placed a hand on each parent, gently announcing, "It's time for Yoseob to prepare to go to school, he has an early class today." Mrs Yang sniffed as she pulled away from Yoseob and tugged on Mr Yang's hands, indicating that they had to leave Yoseob with Junhyung now. The set of parents gave one last hug and peck on either side of Yoseob's cheeks as they said their goodbyes and see you laters. 


Yoseob, stared at the closed door, sitting stilly on the bed when he felt a finger poking on his temple, making him lose his balance a little on the bed. He turned to see his favourite face in the world grinning cheekily at him. "Won't you excited when I came? What happened to that cute little imp?"


The smaller male gave a smile despite himself and sighed, "I'm sorry. I just didn't like it when anyone--"


"Talks about the surgery. I get it. Well now, I'm going to talk about you getting your little off the bed and head straight to the toilet to wash up and change for school." Junhyung cooed as he sat on the bed, wrapping his arms around Yoseob, mentally noting what a perfect fit it was. Yoseob in his arms that is. He felt Yoseob's hands on his that had settled comfortably on the smaller male's stomach. "I can't really leave my bed if you are holding me like that." Junhyung smiled into the soft bed of hair, "I'll give you five more minutes then. Five more minutes and you would have to go get ready." 


They stayed in silence for a few moments when Yoseob broke it softly, "Junhyung ah... what do you think I should do? Should I go for the surgery or should I just live my last nine months fully?" He felt the tall male taking a deep breath before his voice filled his ears, "I think you should do what is the best for you." "I'm afraid though." "You will know what's best, what's your final decision, when you are sure. There will be a time when the answer is so clear." "What if it would be too late by then, what if I--" "There are too many what ifs in this world for us to worry about. If we spent all our time thinking about them, we would miss all the other good things that the world has to offer us." "I'm sorry..."


Junhyung sighed and pressed Yoseob closer to him, placing his cheek on the smaller male's one and rubbed them against one another tenderly, "You really have to stop apologising for everything." The smaller male closed his eyes at the feel of the warm skin against his cheek and smiled, "I'll try, sor--, I'll try." 


The taller male unwillingly peeled away from Yoseob, gathering a fresh set of clothes and handing it to the smaller male to go and wash up for school. As he waited for the smaller male on his bed, he felt his phone vibrate in his pockets and so, he fished it out, accepting the call readily. 


"Jun, I'm at your place and your mother said you left really early. Where are you now?" 


"I'm with Yoseob, I'll be going to school with him. I'll see you straight in class."


"What? It's really early, the sun is barely even up. What are you doing with him?! You are changing too much! Don't tell me all that nonsense about love and stuff, I don't believe in those. Where are you guys? I'm coming to find you. I'm not letting a stupid small boy take away my best friend."


Junhyung sighed as he rubbed his forehead frustratedly, "Dongwoon, I'm really not in the mood for this. I'll meet you straight in class. And whether you believe or not, Yoseob and I really are together. I'm not letting him go and I made it clear to him already yesterday. We will talk more later, bye." With that, he hung up the phone and leaned against the pillow, closing his eyes while grumbling under his breath. He knew that Dongwoon would not take the news easily and that it was going to take a whole load of effort to convince his friend that Yoseob was not as bad as he seemed. It was strange why Dongwoon even disliked Yoseob so much when he barely even knew him. In fact, he was sure that all of them could be close friends only if Dongwoon stopped behaving like a bully and stuff.


His thoughts were interrupted as his nose caught whiff of a zesty, lemony fragrance and he felt someone the eyelashes of his close lids. Smiling, he opened his eyes and met Yoseob's twinkling ones. "What's wrong? I could hear you sighing even from inside the toilet." "It's Dongwoon. I have no idea why he dislikes you so much. Have you ever had a bad encounter with him?"


The smaller male scrunched up his nose and blinked his ey