28^th April 2018

“Kyungsoo, are you ready to go?” Jongdae asks as he knocks on said boys door.

“Yeah. Just give me a sec.” comes the muffled voice of Kyungsoo as he moves around his apartment.

Jongdae opens the door and sees Kyungsoo coming out of his bedroom. When his eyes land on Jongdae his lips pull up into that sweet heart shaped smile that everyone loves to see.

“Okay. I’m ready hyung.” Says Kyungsoo, toeing on his shoes by the door.

“Let’s go then. But how many times have I asked you to just call me Jongdae?” he chides with fake annoyance, clicking his tongue.

“Okay, Jongdae.” Kyungsoo says emphasising the others name. Jongdae smiles in satisfaction. He’d won that round.

“Lets go.” Jongdae says and the walk downstairs to where the café is.

“Have fun guys!” Ryeowook yells, hand waving. Jongdae and Kyungsoo return that wave and when Kyungsoo turns away Ryeowook winks at the elder of the two. Jongdae flashes the café` owner a knowing smile. There’s another reason why Jongdae had asked Kyungsoo out, the younger being the only one who was unaware of his motives.

“So what are we going to do?” Kyungsoo asks.

“I thought about getting some lunch and then going over to the park. How’s that sound?”

“That sounds perfect.” He smiles, lips forming that pretty heart shape again and it really does change his appearance. His stomach rumbles, an embarrassed laugh slipping from his mouth as he rubs his 6 and a half month baby bump. He still had two and a half months to go but he already looked huge. Jongdae had the same problem when he was pregnant. Damn them and their tiny petite bodies.

Jongdae laughs as well. “What have you been craving lately? I know I craved fried chicken for the entirety of my pregnancy with Junmyeon.”

“Bubble tea.” Kyungsoo says. “Bubble tea and spinach and feta pastry. The spinach and feta I can understand but not the bubble tea. I don’t even like bubble tea!” he says in exasperation.

“Hey, don’t worry. I know the feeling. I hate mustard and mayonnaise yet when I was pregnant with the twins I put them on absolutely everything, and I mean everything.” He shivers as he reminisces. That was a dark, dark time.

“That’s gross.” Kyungsoo says, his disgust obvious.

“That it is my friend. That it is.” He agrees.

They walk down the street, engaged in small talk as Jongdae leads them to a popular bubble tea shop that he knows about. When they walk in the door the bell jingles at their arrival, a girl – one of the workers – flashes them a pretty smile.

“Welcome to Bubble Pop! Can I take your orders?”

“Yes thankyou.” Jongdae answers. “I’ll grab one vanilla and one chocolate bubble tea. Um, a bagel and you wouldn’t happen to have spinach and feta pastries would you?” he asks.

“As a matter of fact we do! They come in packs of ten, fifteen or twenty with a choice of sour cream and/or chilli sauce.”

“Great. We’ll take fifteen on them with sour cream.” Jongdae says, knowing that Kyungsoo wasn’t particularly fond of chilli sauce.

“It shouldn’t be too long. I’ll bring it out to you when it’s finished.” The younger lady says after they had payed. They go and sit down and not even five minutes later they are handed their order.

“Thankyou!” they both say, bowing at the girl before the head off, taking a short walk to the part to each their lunch.

Jongdae takes them over to the chair that Baekhyun and Jongdae had sat at many times, the chair that over looked the lake.

“Wow. This is so beautiful.” Kyungsoo says, in awe that something like this had been here the entire time and he had only just seen it.

They chat for a while, sipping in their bubble tea and munching on their food, filling their bellies. Jongdae talks of his kids, Baekhyun and his desire to get back into the teaching game. Kyungsoo speaks Ryeowook and his antics and well as speaking fondly albeit a little shyly about Jongin and Jongdae can see in the way he speaks that there’s a good chance that he’s perhaps starting to develop feelings for the slightly older male.

There’s a brief silence that settles over them, both looking out at the lake as they watch mother duck herd her little ducklings out of the water and onto the shore. There’s something Jongdae wants to talk to Kyungsoo about but he’s not sure if he really should. After a moment he sighs, making up his mind, he just hopes nothing bad will come off it.

“Hey Kyungsoo. There’s something I want to talk to you about.” He says and the younger looks at him. “I didn’t know whether or not I should mention this but please keep in mind you don’t have to say anything. I won’t pressure you.”

“Okay…” Kyungsoo says, sounding unsure.

“When I met you at the café well, that wasn’t the first time I had actually seen you.” The younger frowns at him in confusion. “I had seen you month earlier. At the doctors office.”

At that Kyungsoo’s eyes go wide, staring at Jongdae in what he identifies as slight disbelief and horror.

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to say anything.” Jongdae says, placing a comforting hand on the youngers shoulder.

“No. It’s okay.” He breathes, looking down as his limp hands that are in his lap. “I had just found out I was pregnant.” He explains. “I was upset and angry at myself. You know, I had never wanted kids.” He confessed. “Never really expressed the desire and when I found out that I was going to be a mother I didn’t know want to do. I even thought about getting an abortion but the very thought of it just made me want to puke.” He says beginning to cry. Jongdae holds him tighter.

“I’ve know I was gay since the beginning of high school but I never told anyone. My parent are conservative, very old school and they detested same couples.” He continues. “They had always been tough with me, making me study hard and disciplining me when I didn’t perform or when I did something that was wrong in their eyes. One day my dad caught me kissing a boy in my room. He was livid. I had never seen his that mad before. H-he beat me while my mother just stood there and watched. He kept saying that no son of his would be tempted by sin.” He shudders, remember the feeling of his father’s hits and the sting of his words.

Jongdae’s can feel his heart breaking at the youngers recount.

“The next day, when I went to school I could feel everyone looking at me and at first I didn’t know why but then people started calling me names like ‘’ and I knew. The boy had told some of his friends who then told other people and soon everyone knew. I was bullied for the rest of my time in school.” He tells, pausing to wipe his face with the back of his sleeve.

“About a month before graduation I became friends with a boy. He approached my one day and just started talking to me. No one had done that since word got out and I welcomed it. I finally had someone to talk to again. I trusted him.” He says and Jongdae can sense what’s coming next.

“After graduation he convinced me to go to a party. I don’t know why I said yes. I don’t like them. I don’t like alcohol or loud music or dancing. I told him that I wasn’t going to have any alcohol and he said he understood he got me something else. It tasted good, really good.” He says. “I don’t remember much but I do remember feeling hot and drowsy.” He swallows and Jongdae can guess where that lead.

“The next thing I remember I’m waking up in an unfamiliar bed , with him lying next to me. It was then that I knew what had happened. I confronted him about it and he said that it was just a bit of fun. That I had been a dare he friends had given him. I was distraught. I had trusted him and he had taken my ity from me and he just laughed. Laughed right in my face and said it wasn’t even worth it.” He said, now completely sobbing.

Jongdae gathers him up, hugging him tight as he cried into his chest. Jongdae could feel himself begin to tear up alongside him.

“About two or three weeks later I started throwing up and I knew, I just knew what it meant. I booked an appointment and the next day I went to the doctors. The doctor confirmed what I already knew but somehow the news still shocked me. I didn’t know what to do so I just cried.” He says and Jongdae remembered watching him leave the office, head bowed and tears streaming down his face.

“I didn’t want to tell my parents but it seemed I didn’t have to. They found the doctors note. They told me to get rid of it and I remember shouting at them, saying that it’s my baby and there’s no way I’ll do that. I remember his face turning steely cold and telling me that this is no longer my home and I have 10 minutes to get out and never come back.”

“Oh sweety.” Jongdae says in sympathy, hand running through the youngers hair. The scene was familiar to Jongdae. It wasn’t the first time he was doing this for someone.

“I didn’t have anywhere to go.” He sniffed, wipping snot onto Jongdae shirt but he wasn’t bothered by it. He had had much worse before. “I came across a short stay shelter where I stayed for a couple of weeks before I saw the sign of the door of a café looking for a worker.” At that Kyungsoo smiled for the first time since he had started telling his story. “I think Ryeowook could sense something because he hired me straight away and when he found out that I was living at a shelter he literally forced me to move into his spare apartment.”

Jongdae laughs at that. No one says no to Ryeowook.

“Everything’s been good so far, well a part for that incident.” He says talking about his trip to the police station and his first meeting with Baekhyun. “You’ve all been to kind to me. I don’t want to wake up and find that this has all been a dream.”

“Hey, don’t you worry. I can assure you that this is no dream.” Jongdae says, ruffling Kyungsoo’s hair.

“Oh god I’m sorry. I cried so much.” He sniffles, hands over his face in embarrassment.

“Hey don’t be sorry. If you didn’t cry I would think there was something wrong with you.”

For a while they just sit there, Jongdae’s arm still wrapped securely around Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

“You know, even though my parents practically disowned me I still can’t bring myself to hate them. No matter how hard I want to or how hard I try.” He says and Jongdae understands.

“They’re still your parents. They’re not perfect but they raised you. It’s always hard to bring yourself to hate something or someone you once loved. You’re not alone.” He comforts. “You know, Baekhyun once said the same thing to me many years ago.” He reveals.

“Really?”

“Mm.” he hums. “So don’t feel bad about it. Don’t dwell on it and just move on and do what makes you happy.” He tells the younger, hoping that Kyungsoo will take his advice.

“Thankyou for listening.”Kyungsoo says and Jongdae simply smiles at him.

“No, thankyou for trusting me enough to tell me.” He says. “How about we head back. We’ve been out for a while.”

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’m feeling a little tired anyway.”

Collecting up their rubbish, they through it in the bin as they want out of the park. As they do, Jongdae sends a quick message which was missed by Kyungsoo, slipping his phone back into his pocket when he finishes. Soon they arrive back at the café. Jongdae accompanies Kyungsoo upstairs to where he lives next to Ryeowook and Jongin.

Opening the door Kyungsoo can tell that something is different about his apartment straight away. His old couch had been replaced by a new one, in fact, his entire lounge room had been changed. He now has a TV and a coffee table, as well as a bookcase filled with books. He looks into the little kitchen and dining room and sees has now has new appliances and table as well.

“Surprise!” someone shouts and Kyungsoo turns towards the front door and see Ryewook standing with Baekhyun, Jongin, Yifan and Chanyeol.

“What?”

“Have you seen the spare room yet?” Ryeowook says, not answering Kyungsoo’s question.

“No.” he says and Ryeowook immediately drags him down the hall to the spare bedroom.

“Open the door.” He says and Kyungsoo does as he’s told, eyes widening and beginning to tear up. The once empty room had been turned into a baby room. There was a crib, changing table, chair and loads on toys that a kid could play with. He had been wanting to get his babies room ready since he had moved in but he didn’t have the money for it.

“W-what? Why? How…” he stammers, not knowing what to say.

“Because you’re family, and family helps each other.” Ryeowook says and at the he begins to ball his eyes out. Jongin steps up and hugs Kyungsoo tight as he cries. Tears that he lets run freely for they are tears of happiness, tears that tell him he finally belongs somewhere.

Finally hit the big 2-0!! This chapter was a bit of a tear jerker. You get to hear Kyungsoo's backstory. The poor baby's been through so much hasn't he :'( But at least he has the others to make him happy. Truthfully I've had this chapter planned for a while so I'm happy that it's finally in the story :3

For those who are interested I've been working on a Xiuchen fic and the first chapter should be up within the next couple of days. I'm pretty happy with it to be honest. It was my first time writing and I think I did a pretty decent job. You can check it out here. Now it's time for me to actually do my Uni homework- the history readings are killing me D:

See you guys next week!