Second.

On the twenty-sixth of November, Jiyeon hurriedly gathered her belongings and locked the door of her classroom as soon as the last student left the room. She had an appointment with Doctor Taehyung at three forty-five and the drive there would take half an hour from the college building. She had enough time to get there, but she didn't want to push it too close.

Slamming the trunk of the old Ford shut, she stepped into her car and checked her phone one last time before she started the engine.

Her stomach churned uneasily when the simple, orange background greeted her. No messages. She had hoped Suga would message her.

When she had called to make an appointment, she and Suga had had a fight. The black haired man thought it was useless to visit a doctor and refused to accompany Jiyeon. She knew her boyfriend didn't like anyone getting into their business, but a year later the test still announced a negative result.

Jiyeon was embarrassed to tell a complete stranger about their problem, but her desire for a child was bigger than her shame.

She had reminded Suga about her appointment this morning, but he had simply scowled and left without a word.

It seemed she would have to go alone after all.

Pursing her lips, she stuffed her phone back into her pocket and started the car, backing out of her parking space carefully while a cheery woman on the radio informed her of the news and the weather.

By the time she turned into the street where the practice was located, rain was steadily pouring down, ticking on the hood and roof of her car.

Luckily for her, she managed to find a parking spot close to the doctor's building.

She practically ran towards the large building as soon as she had locked up her car. Water in the puddles splashed up when she tore through them and she grimaced when her trousers were soaked with the ice cold water.

Shivering violently, she shook her head when she stood dripping in the hallway. A receptionist with a low cut shirt and dark red hair looked up bored; ceasing her typing on the keyboard. "Name?" She asked uninterested.

"Park Jiyeon," She answered, hoping she wasn't dirtying the carpet too much.

The woman pointed towards a dark brown door on which a golden plaque read 'Waiting room'. "You can wait there. The doctor will be ready to see you soon."

"Thank you," Jiyeon murmured, bowing her head shortly before she entered the waiting room. Warmth hit her as soon as the door clicked close and she sighed relieved. There was no one else here and she looked around curiously. Ten comfortable chairs were lined up against the cream coloured walls and the low, round, glass table contained the obligatory pile of old magazines, which were found in practically every doctor's office. The walls were adorned with shiny posters containing information about contraception and pictures of expecting wife with their proud husband hugging them.

Jiyeon swallowed and tore her eyes away from a poster displaying a couple beaming with a positive test clutched between them. She wandered further into the room, her footsteps muffled thanks to the thick, rich blue carpet. Aside from the door she had just went through, there was one other door at the right side. The golden letters on this door announced that it was Kim Taehyung's practice.

Not interested in the pile of old magazines, she bypassed the table and approached the large window. Pushing down the white blinds, she stared out of the window. The sky had darkened even further during the time she had been inside and the rain was coming down with buckets, obstructing the view of the street.

The door opening startled her out of her thoughts.

"Park Jiyeon-ssi? I'm ready to see you now," A deep, baritone voice spoke up calmly.

Jiyeon lift her head and meet Taehyung's eyes. Their heart beat quickened almost unnoticeably because extremely and mysterious strange feeling hit them, a longing mix with pain. It was like an insatiable fire that burnt all the oxygen in their body leaving them listless and empty. Why? They are sure never see each other before, but why they feel a pang inside their chest.

"Eh?" Jiyeon jolted out of her daze as a tear running down her cheek.

Taehyung snapped too, shaking his head roughly to dispel the daze, he finally took notice of how the woman stood in front of him, wiping off something.

"Jiyeon-ssi, are you feeling alright?" Taehyung asked concerned and narrowed his eyes slightly, wondering whether he needed to call his secretary over and let her bring a bottle of cola.

Jiyeon nodded slowly. "I'm fine," She smiled feebly and shook her head, looking a bit embarrassed.

What was wrong with them? they wonder.

Deciding that it was in their best interest to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened – and it hadn't, right? He had just been caught off guard by the mysterious aura around both of them –Taehyung turned out, clearing his throat, and said, "Follow me then."

Jiyeon followed the doctor meekly into his spacious practice. The room contained all supplies that a doctor's office needed, but it all looked very expensive, making her almost too afraid to touch something.

"Have a seat." Taehyung waved at the two chairs in front of her imposing, mahogany desk while he sat down in his large, leather chair.

Feeling a tad uncomfortable, Jiyeon sank down on the left chair, which creaked softly.

"So, Jiyeon-ssi, is this your first time seeing a doctor for this particular issue?" Taehyung started, reminding himself sternly to remain professional – She was a patient, for 's sake – and opened the file he had placed on his desk. He skipped the basic information for the moment and turned the page to discover who Jiyeon's previous doctor had been. He couldn't help but arch his eyebrow in surprise when he saw that the information regarding the former doctor had been left blank.

Huh, well, that was quite unexpected.

No doctor at all? Or had the woman forgotten to fill in that particular part of the papers? It wouldn't be the first time that a new patient forgot to fill in something, because they had either been distracted or feeling nervous at the prospect of going on a consultation with a gynaecologist.

"Yes," Jiyeon confirmed and involuntarily Taehyung took notice of how her hands clenched into her wet jeans, which were moulded perfectly to her firm thighs.

Stay professional, Taehyung chanted to himself silently and resisted the urge to scowl. "I notice that the information regarding your previous doctor was left blank. Who was your previous doctor?" He inquired, his pen was already hovering above the paper, reading to write down the information.

"Eh, I don't have one," Jiyeon admitted sheepishly.

Confusion spiked up in Taehyung and he canted his head a bit, wondering how it was possible that Jiyeon didn't have one. Or did she just mean that she didn't have a regular one? Taehyung had had patients before who didn't have any preference in doctors and just visited the one who was available at the time they were ill.

Taehyung decided to reformulate his question to be clearer. "Who do you visit when you are ill?"

To his surprise, Jiyeon replied, "No one in particular. I don't get sick easily."

Taehyung couldn't help but stare at the woman, rendered speechless, before he snorted. "You're one of the lucky few then," He remarked dryly.

Jiyeon offered him a crooked smile in response.

Taehyung decided to get to the point of this visit. "Tell me exactly why you need my help."

Jiyeon's smile disappeared like snow underneath the sun and Taehyung want to punch himself for causing that smile to disappear. , he needed a stiff drink tonight. Maybe letting his head be examined would be a good idea as well.

"I'm trying to conceive, but so far it hasn't succeeded," Jiyeon explained, a red flush of shame coloured her cheeks. It was obvious that she didn't like admitting this particular fact. Hell, not many woman would like to admit that they had trouble conceiving.

"Hm. How long have you been trying?"

Standard question.

"A year."

That … was not the standard answer. Taehyung stilled and studied Jiyeon intently, causing the woman to squirm a bit under her scrutiny. "How long have you been taking the contraception?" He continued his questions, not allowing Jiyeon to see how startled he had been at the rather abnormal answer.

"Almost three years," Jiyeon answered softly, doing her best to ignore the voice in the back of her mind which was informing her that the doctor surely thought she was a defect freak.

It was a long time to take them, the doctor had to admit silently.

"How long have you and your husband been married?" Taehyung asked. The question slipped out automatically, his brain barely registering the question after asking so many of his patients that particular inquiry.

"Oh, I'm not married," Jiyeon replied to Taehyung's great surprise and he looked quite flustered.

Dark eyes quickly flitted towards Jiyeon's ring finger and only now did the dark haired man notice that his finger was bare. Damn, usually he was better in picking up on details.

That should teach him for having the assumption that all woman who tried to conceive were married. Although, in his defence, so far all the woman in his practice had been married or at the very least had been engaged. Taehyung caught himself wondering in the back of his mind whether Jiyeon was the one stopping the couple from getting married.

"My apologies for the assumption," Taehyung murmured, quickly composing himself. "How long have you been together with him?"

"Nearly five years."

Taehyung hummed thoughtfully; all right, so that couldn't be a possible reason as to why it was taking the couple such a long time to conceive. That idea could be thrown out of the window. "Have you ever taken any form of drugs?"

Aside from the nature of the partner, drugs tended to have quite a big influence on the conceiving process as well – albeit a very negative one.

"If coffee counts, yes. Otherwise no."

His lips quirked up quickly in an amused smirk at the quip of the woman. "Do you smoke?"

"No. Never tried it either."

"How is your alcohol intake?" A person who was regularly smashed would have more trouble conceiving a baby.

"Only a couple of beers throughout the month, but no more than that."

"Ever been in an accident?" If her stomach area had been damaged, that would certainly provide a challenge to get pregnant. In that case, Taehyung would have to refer her to Ken, who was specialized in restoring damage to the stomach area.

"When I was seven, some windows broke when I was near them and left me with the scars on my face, but other than that, no."

Taehyung closed the file after writing down the last reply and clasped his hands together on top of it. A frown marred his forehead. "Based on the information you have given, there should be no reason why you cannot conceive. I am honestly a bit baffled that it is taking you so long," He admitted honestly and that admittance left a sour note behind. Until now he had always immediately known what was wrong with his patient.

It was starting to bug him to no end that he couldn't immediately figure out what was keeping Jiyeon from having a baby.

Jiyeon's face dropped. "I – I was thinking that it had something to do with how long I've been taking the pills," She said, visibly uncomfortable.

"I have never heard of such a side effect, but to be certain I'm going to take some of your blood to have it examined. If there are still traces left behind from the pills, I'll prescribe you something that will flush them from your system," Taehyung stated calmly and stood up to retrieve his equipment. He honestly doubted that the contraception would have such a detrimental effect, but it was better to be safe than sorry. After all, Jiyeon was one of the very few who had been taking those pills for such a long time.

Who knew the contraception did have a negative effect on the fertility if they were taking for a too long time. In that case he would have to mention that to Hongbin, who was the head of the department specialising in the creation of the contraception. His former mentor would be interested in hearing that.

"Roll up your sleeve," The doctor instructed, preparing a needle.

Jiyeon nodded mutely and bared her right arm, holding it up.

Taehyung searched for a good vein – Jiyeon had to suppress the idiotic urge to shiver when those slender fingers touched her skin gently – and carefully inserted the needle. Taehyung's lips twitched into a faint smile when Jiyeon hissed at the sharp sting, making the woman huff in annoyance and turn away. Who cared if she wasn't fond of needles? That was a natural reaction!

After filling three small tubes with his blood, Taehyung measured Jiyeon's height and weight as well.

Jiyeon had just finished pulling on her shoes, when the doctor spoke up again.

"Jiyeon-ssi, as soon as your blood results are ready, you'll be notified and you'll need to make a new appointment," He informed the woman while filling in some papers. "Depending on the results, we'll decide how to proceed then."

"Okay." Jiyeon nodded and her fingers twitched in her wide sleeves. She wondered whether Taehyung really as capable of helping her.

The dark haired doctor must have picked up his heavy mood, because he clucked his tongue and a smirk unfurled on his handsome face. "I've never been beaten by a challenge, Jiyeon-ssi, and I'm not planning on letting that happen any time soon. I'll figure out what's keeping you from conceiving. In the meantime, just continue trying." His eyes flashed oddly.

This time Jiyeon's cheeks heated up for a completely other reason than shame or embarrassment and she stammered out a goodbye before she left after quickly handing over her payment.

She didn't acknowledge the fact that her heart only started slowing down once she was almost home. She was just not used to the sudden influx of power after so much time spend around the same people; that was all.

The rain had stopped, allowing a very thin ray of weak sunlight to break through the heavy clouds.

.

*****

.

The results of Jiyeon's blood were sent to him two days after he had ordered her secretary to send the vials to the lab. He let his secretary know that she should notify Jiyeon and make a new appointment with him – all the while ignoring how she tried to flirt with him. Despite the cold weather, the V-neck of her shirts seemed to grow deeper with every week that passed.

If she wasn't such a good secretary, he would have kicked her out a long time ago.

On Saturday Krystal had somehow managed to cajole him into visiting their house. He was becoming quite concerned at how easily the blond seemed to sway him.

"Where's the bastard?" He asked in greeting when he walked into the kitchen and had taken notice of the fact that his dear brother wasn't present.

Such a shame.

Krystal looked up amused from the dough she was kneading. Patches of flour decorated her black apron. "If you're talking about Myungsoo, he was called away to the office. It seems that one of his employees was caught trying to transfer secret documents to a rival company."

Taehyung blinked and sat down, hanging his jacket on the chair. "That employee will be lucky if he only gets fired," He murmured. If there was one thing Kim's didn't take lightly, it was betrayal. Of any kind.

That employee had signed his own death certificate so to speak.

"Did your mom call you for the party?" Krystal asked and stepped back from the counter, blowing a stray hair out of her face.

"What are you making?" Taehyung wrinkled his nose and shook his head in irritation. "Yes, mother called me. That's a stupid question. She's been nagging at me to attend the party this year."

"I'm making croissants," His sister-in-law informed him and clucked her tongue, looking at Taehyung disapprovingly. "You really should attend. It's been a couple of years since we last saw you."

"Yeah, yeah," Taehyung muttered. He wasn't interested in spending an entire day with his family, tolerating his mother's worried nagging and his father's disapproving looks whenever his job was mentioned in any form. His father would never let go of his dream to have both of his sons working in the family's company.

Krystal rubbed her flour covered hands over her apron, which clearly displayed the roundness of her belly, and sighed. "You know your mother is only worried about you."

"Yes, and my father is a ," Taehyung deadpanned. "Now that we have got those facts in the open, can we talk about something else?"

"Fine." Krystal scowled at him and walked – almost waddled – over to him, sitting down across from him at the table. "God, my ankles are killing me," She groaned and stretched her legs out.

"What? Myungsoo isn't doing his husband duties? He should be ashamed," The dark haired man quipped and ducked when the blond threw a pen at his head.

"Myungsoo is wonderful, but there is only so much he can help me with," Krystal sighed, folding her arms over her belly.

"Do you have a name in mind already?" Taehyung asked interested and grabbed a biscuit from the tray near him.

Krystal's cookies were one of the very few sweets he was willing to tolerate.

"Myungsoo chose the name the first time, so now I get to choose the name," Krystal replied with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "I've decided to call him Min."

Taehyung stared at him as if he had grown a second head. "That's a girl's name," He remarked blankly.

"Who cares about that?" Krystal waved her hand dismissively. "I like the meaning of the flower he'll be named after."

"Yeah, whatever makes you happy." Taehyung rolled his eyes.

The blond hesitated visibly, before she asked softly, "Has Baekhyun give any information about your case?"

Well, it had taken him quite some time to ask about it, Taehyung grudgingly admitted to himself. "He called me a couple of weeks ago," He replied and tapped with his fingers on the table. "He managed to convince her not to contact me ever again."

"Do you think she'll obey that request?" Krystal pursed her lips, obviously not having much trust in Baekhyun's abilities to convince someone.

Well, Taehyung couldn't really blame him for that.

"I don't think he formulated it like a request to be honest," Taehyung retorted dryly and raked a hand through his inky black hair. "And though she could be quite stupid at times, I doubt even she missed the implied threat in his conversation with her."

"Well, at least she finally stopped bothering you," Krystal sighed and drew a circle on the table. "Though maybe if you had let Myungsoo handle it, it wouldn't have taken years for that wench to get it through her skull that you aren't interested anymore."

Taehyung raised an eyebrow at hearing that particular foul word escape the kind hearted blond, but didn't remark on it. Instead he said, "What? And owe that bastard a favour? Like hell I would. Owing Myungsoo a favour is a dangerous thing."

"Now you're over exaggerating," Krystal scolded him.

"The last time I owed him a favour, he ruined my favourite clothes," Taehyung deadpanned and grimaced when that particular memory was brought back to the front of his mind. It had been one of the times when he had genuinely thought he would have feared Myungsoo if he hadn't known him for his whole life.

"How did he ruin your favourite clothes?" Krystal questioned nonplussed, cocking her head to the right.

"You don't want to know, trust me," The dark haired man replied darkly.

Krystal clapped her hands. "In that case, put on an apron and help me make croissants," She declared cheerfully.

"Seriously? Because I don't want to answer one question, you're going to make me help you?" Taehyung complained. "I thought I was your guest? Guests don't need to help."

The sharp smile that suddenly appeared on Krystal's face made him stiffen in wariness. "Taehyung-ah, my dear brother-in-law," She murmured and patted Taehyung's hand softly. "Surely you're not going to let me, being seven months pregnant and all, work alone on the croissants? Myungsoo asked me not to do too much, but I really want to surprise him with chocolate croissants. You're going to help me, right?" The otherwise gentle, her eyes flashed up dangerously, reminding Taehyung of the fact that, though Myungsoo could be quite scary if he wanted to, ultimately it was Krystal they had to be cautious of.

Holding back the shudder that wanted to escape him, he forced himself to smile and quickly retracted his hand. "Why not? Everything for my sister-in-law and my brother, after all."

The dangerous glint in Krystal's eyes evaporated like smoke and the bright grin on her face at Taehyung's acquiescent reply was nearly blinding. "Thank you, Taehyung-ah! Here, you can borrow one of these aprons," She practically chirped and handed a plain, black one to Taehyung.

Well, at least it isn't that ridiculous bright orange one, Taehyung thought with a soft sigh and tied the apron around him