(A few days later)

—Onew’s POV—

“Hyung, what time is it?”

I cracked an eyelid open and picked my phone up from the bedside table, staring at the screen blankly. My mind isn’t quite processing anything right now. A few moments later, I finally focused on the screen and the numbers written on it.

“7.14am. Tae, what’re you doing awake so early?” I asked him and turned to peck Taeminnie on the forehead. When my lips made contact with his skin, I felt some kind of moisture on his forehead. Is he… sweating? But the air-con’s on.

I was still hugging Tae, as usual, and I suddenly felt him wince. My eyes shot open and I looked at Taeminnie properly. His face was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and he was panting slightly, wincing every few seconds.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, starting to panic.

“My stomach hurts, hyung,” Tae told me and bit his lip. He can’t be going into labour now, right? No way. It’s too early, even if he is having multiples… right?

“Try moving around,” I suggested. He nodded and stood up, walking around the room. I realised that he seemed a lot more comfortable and he wasn’t wincing much anymore.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore! Hyung, you rock!” he told me and came to sit beside me while smiling. Suddenly, he winced again and looked over at me. “Ok, maybe not.”

“I’ll call Dr. Kim and ask her what’s going on. You know what? Let’s just head to the hospital. Come on,” I said and helped him up. Taeminnie seemed to have no difficulties while walking. He only felt the pain when he wasn’t moving. I doubt he’s going into labour as of yet.

As we went downstairs, umma and appa were eating breakfast. Umma turned to look at me worriedly, giving me a questioning look while pointing to Tae.

“He’s feeling contractions, but they go away when he’s moving. He isn’t going into labour, is he, umma?” I asked. Umma heaved a sigh of relief and shook her head.

“They’re just Braxton Hicks contractions. They’ll go away after some time, but you can go to the hospital to get some medicine to stop the contractions. Is that where you’re headed?” she asked. I nodded and she waved us off. “Take care.”

“Ne. See you later, appa and umma,” I said and waved to them. Taeminnie waved to them as well, but he was starting to feel the pain again as we’d stopped moving. I picked up Jonghyun’s keys from the coffee table and went out, asking umma to tell Jonghyun that I’d borrowed his car.

We got into the car and I started the engine, driving out of our driveway and heading towards the hospital. Only one of my hands was on the steering wheel, the other one being occupied as I had to hold Tae’s hand and calm him down.

Throughout the journey, Taeminnie was literally crushing my hand cause he was trying to distract himself from the pain. As for me, I was busy trying to concentrate on something else, such as driving. His grip is killer, that’s all I can say.

Every now and then, Tae would wince or let out a pained groan, which was both distracting and heart wrenching. You don’t even know how relieved I was when I knew that we were nearing the hospital. I was cheering in my head as if I’d won the lottery.

After about an hour, we made it to the hospital. Sometimes I really curse South Korea for being such a big country. It isn’t exceptionally big, but it’d help if the country were a little smaller. Travelling takes up so much time.

We headed right into Dr. Kim’s office, not bothering to knock on the door or anything. Luckily, she wasn’t entertaining any patients. As panicked as I am, I still don’t wish to jeopardise her job.

“What’s wrong? Your appointment with me isn’t usually today, is it?” Dr. Kim asked.

“Taeminnie’s in false labour so we wanted to get some meds to stop the contractions. Also, how do we tell whether he’s in true or false labour?” I asked. Dr. Kim nodded and walked around the room, picking up a bottle of medicine that was on a shelf.

She passed the bottle to Tae and asked him to eat two pills, pouring a cup of water and giving it to Taeminnie so that it’d be easier for him to swallow the pills. She then sat back down in her chair and gestured for us to sit as well.

“One key thing about false labour is that the contractions are short and irregular. Also, they go away when the mother moves about. Obviously, you can tell whether or not Taemin’s amniotic sac has broken. So that’s how you tell. False labour may occur more often as you near your due date, so I’ll give you that bottle of pills just in case. I’ll be ready any time you need me. And Taemin, your expected due date is around the 25^th of October, so try to refrain from doing overly-strenuous activities for now, ok? That’s all,” she told us.

“Thank you, Dr. Kim. We’ll be back if we need help,” I thanked her and bowed, heading back to the car so that we could go home. On the way out, I spotted Sunggyu hyung and I paused for a moment, pulling Tae over to him.

“Gyu hyung, what’re you doing here?” I asked him curiously. His head shot up, and he sighed in relief when he realised that it was just us.

“I need to get IV treatment cause I have a performance later on. Namu’s here too,” Sunggyu hyung said, pointing at the figure trailing behind him, not too far away. Taeminnie and I nodded in understanding.

“Get some rest if you can, hyung. We’ll be going now,” Tae said and waved. Sunggyu hyung waved back to us and turned around to get Woohyun. As for the two of us, we got into Jonghyun’s car and began driving back home.

When we reached home, Key inspected Taeminnie for any injuries whatsoever. Key… I don’t think you’re able to see inside of Tae, right? What makes you think that contractions will show on the outside? This kid has to think more.

“Are you alright? Ahjumma told us everything,” Key said. Taeminnie smiled and nodded.

“Key umma, do you want to go out later on? I want to buy some clothes for myself to wear after I give birth. Wearing maternity dresses or stretchy shorts all the time kind of ,” Tae sighed. Key’s eyes lit up and he nodded.

“No problem! I’ll see you downstairs in a while, maybe an hour. Go up and take a bath, change, whatever! Come on Jjong,” Key was on high and started pulling Jonghyun back upstairs. I shot him an apologetic look and Taeminnie did too. I would never be able to stand Key for more than a year if I were his boyfriend. Jonghyun has good tolerance, I swear.

Tae and I went back to our room after grabbing some sandwiches and a glass of milk each. We are starved cause the trip to and fro the hospital took almost three hours! Our breakfast was supposed to be about two hours ago, but we couldn’t have any food since I was driving on a highway. Sigh.

After we ate our breakfast, Taeminnie and I started to search for clothes to wear. We wanted to wear the couple tee with the chicken on it, but it was too small for a pregnant Tae. In the end, he went with the white maternity dress while I decided to wear a white polo tee and jeans.

Since we had loads of time left, and Key did tell us to bathe, we did. Of course we didn’t take a bath, just a shower. And Taeminnie needed my help to wash his back and legs. His stomach was really way too big for him to bend over right now.

Sometime in between our shower, I kissed Tae and he started kissing me back hungrily. I found it pretty weird cause he’s never been the aggressive type, but I don’t quite mind. So, in the end, I began nibbling on his lower lip to gain entrance.

Taeminnie moaned and I felt my member jerk in response. This isn’t good. I don’t want to be forcing Tae into anything that he doesn’t want, but he is being such a turn on! Can you imagine it? I’m showering with a seven-month-pregnant Taeminnie who is making out with me. Damn.

When I felt that I couldn’t take it anymore, I stopped and pushed myself away from Tae. He looked at me, seeming hurt, and pouted.

“Taeminnie, do you really want to go any further? Honestly?” I asked. He bit his lip and shook his head hesitantly. “Then don’t look like you want to, please.”

“But hyung, you kind of have a problem right now, don’t you?” he asked, pointing at my obviously . I blushed and nodded, sighing. I looked at Tae and saw him smirk at me.

“What do you want?” I asked, raising a brow. This side of Taeminnie seems new.

“Since I’m still uncomfortable with having … I can give you a ,” he suggested. I had to look away from him and that seductive wink he was giving in order to restrain myself. There is no way I’m doing this now. I’d just end up ing him senseless and he’d feel like he did seven months ago, when he’d been .

“No way. Come on, let’s go out. Or rather, I’ll clean you up and fix this mess before I look for you,” I told him, grabbing his towel and drying his hair and body. I heard him sigh and mumble incoherently, but I managed to catch a few words in between.

‘I thought… pleasure you… but you didn’t want…’

That’s all I caught, and that’s all I need to hear.

“Tae, maybe we’ll continue when you’re really ready. You don’t have to force yourself. I saw how you were shaking,” I pointed out. Taeminnie sighed and nodded, pulling his dress on and heading out of the toilet.

I think I might have hurt his feelings. There wasn’t any other way to tell him no, was there? He would never have stopped if I didn’t phrase things like that. I know that Tae is trying to hide his fear, but I can still sense it emanating from him. I will never force him into anything that he isn’t willing to do.

Now that Taeminnie’s gone, it’s time to fix my own problem.

We met Key in Jonghyun’s car and Jonghyun started driving to Dongdaemun. It is the best place to shop for clothes in South Korea. The only downside is that it’s pretty far from my place, so this ride will take quite some time.

Tae fell asleep on my shoulder, tired from having been in false labour earlier on. Apparently, he had the contractions for quite some time before he decided to wake me up. He mentioned that the pain seemed to lessen when he shifted slightly, but he hadn’t wanted to accidently jolt the bed and wake me. He is really too considerate sometimes.

We finally arrived at Dongdaemun nearly two hours later, and Jonghyun was half-dead from driving for the entire way. We stopped by Starbucks first, all feeling drained although we didn’t do much. While the three of us took coffee, Taeminnie had green tea.

We finished our drinks a half hour later, feeling a lot more energised and heading towards the nearest clothing store. It wasn’t too crowded since the school term hadn’t ended and it was in the middle of the day. In fact, the store was almost empty.

Key and Tae both picked out a few sets of clothes each, and we headed into the changing rooms. Jonghyun and I just took a couple of tops and a pair of jeans or two, entering our respective boyfriends’ changing rooms with them.

“Hyung!” Taeminnie hissed. The changing room isn’t that big and Tae is pregnant, after all. I barely had space for my hands to move around, much less remove my shirt and try on the others that I had brought in.

“Help me try these on first, then I’ll help you,” I told him. Taeminnie sighed and gave in, trying to squeeze into the corner of the changing room and helping me to change.

After I finished trying the clothes that I’d brought in, I helped Tae to try on whatever clothes he could fit in. I gave some constructive criticism, such as mentioning that one of the tops was really too colourful and floral for its own good.

By the time Taeminnie and I were done trying everything, almost a half hour had passed. The sales assistant winked at me when we came out of the changing room and Tae just blushed. This dude has some creative imagination.

Key still wasn’t done, but Taeminnie decided to buy some of the clothes that were ok and go to another store once Key’s done. That might take some time, and we have tons of that.

For the next few hours, we just shopped for clothes at over ten stores. Of course, we didn’t buy too many clothes. We may be idols, but we aren’t really that rich. The company takes a huge amount of our profit, only giving us that small percentage.

Now, we’re at Chicken’s Place for dinner. Yes, we stayed for that long.

We sat down at the VIP area and I looked out of the window. The night lights of South Korea are quite nice, but I’ve never noticed. I was scanning the crowd when my gaze landed on a familiar person. I haven’t seen him in almost a month and I thought we were finally rid of him.

I turned my focus back to ordering food and bought a total of five dishes of chicken. However, I just couldn’t stop thinking about him. What if he saw us? Why would he even be here? He doesn’t like shopping alone, does he?

Our food arrived ten minutes later and I dug in, chatting with the others in a futile attempt to distract myself. Also, there was no way that I’m able to distract myself right now, when he’s in the room. How he even got in is a mystery.

Key and Tae gasped while Jonghyun just stared at him blankly. I acknowledged him reluctantly.

Minho.

“How have you guys been? It’s been long, hasn’t it?” he asked. We were still in the VIP room, just that the doors were locked so that we could ensure our privacy.

“Haven’t you done enough?” Key spat at him. Minho scoffed at the diva.

“I have yet to take custody of the mother of my children. What are you still doing with him? I thought I’d arranged for Park Jihyun to fix this problem,” Minho sighed and shook his head. “I guess things just have to be done on my own.”

“How did you know that we’re here?” Jonghyun asked.

“I hired a PI. Duh. As for you two,” Minho pointed at Taeminnie and me, “I’ll have to find another day to settle the score. I’m just here today to pass a warning. Do you mind me eating with you?”

Tae rolled his eyes.

“Are you ing mad? Get lost,” he demanded. Minho smirked and waved, walking off.

I doubt that Minho was lying. He’ll be back for us soon.

We ate our dinner quickly and left to go back to the safety of home.

“Jonghyun, I’ll drive this time,” I told him. He nodded and smiled at me gratefully. He passed the car keys to me and went to the back with Key, and Taeminnie rode shotgun.

I began driving home and decided not to go on the highway this time. It’s so boring there and we can’t stop even if we want to get some food or go to the toilet.

I was already nearing the exit to Gyeonggi when Jonghyun’s car was hit by a red convertible that was oh-so-familiar. I looked in the side mirrors to check if my suspicions were right, and they were. It was Minho in the driver’s seat and he was grinning.

Beside me, Tae started to tremble and he held onto my arm tightly.

“Hyung, I don’t feel too good. It isn’t contractions this time; my stomach just hurts,” he told me and bit his lip to prevent the tears from flowing down. He must be too stressed. This isn’t good for him or the triplets at all.

I felt the urge to just get off the car and beat Minho up, but Taeminnie’s constant groans and his death grip on my arm prevented me from doing so. In order to try to lose Minho, I tried weaving in between cars. The roads were crowded and I managed to lose Minho for a while.

“Hyung, are you alright? Should I take over?” Jonghyun asked.

“That would help, yes. Tae can’t move to the back though, so I think I’ll just try to hold up. Tell me if Minho’s gaining on us. I need to get Taeminnie to the hospital,” I said and started driving as soon as the traffic light turned green.

From then, I made various turns that were completely unnecessary. Minho followed us for some time, somehow managing to keep up, but I lost him after twenty or so minutes. Now my only focus is getting Tae to the hospital and getting something to relieve his stress and pain.

The hospital was in the centre of Seoul, and amidst my various turns, I’d made it quite close to the hospital. It took us a mere five minutes to reach and I carried Taeminnie into the hospital, slamming the door behind me.

I rushed into Dr. Kim’s room where I knew she’d be. When she saw us for the second time of the day, this time seeming more serious than before, she locked the office door and gestured for me to put Tae down on the bed.

“What happened? You shouldn’t be coming back for more medicine, right?” she asked while pressing on some parts of Taeminnie’s stomach. When she pressed a few spots, Tae shrieked in pain and it was all I could do to squeeze his hand gently and assure him that it’d be fine.

“Minho came to warn us that he’ll be trying to take Taeminnie away. When I was driving, Minho began attacking our car. I think that he may be too stressed,” I explained. Dr. Kim nodded and walked to the shelf again, grabbing another bottle of medicine.

“This should stop the pain. It’s harmless to pregnant people, male or female. As for your problem, I suggest that you settle it after Taemin gives birth. All this stress is negatively affecting the triplets,” Dr. Kim chided.

“I’d love for Minho to back off, but he refuses to. I don’t know what to do anymore,” I admitted.

“If he insists on bugging you, just report him. I wish you good luck in dealing with him and here,” she said, giving the bottle of tablets and getting water for Taeminnie.

Tae downed the tablets and drank the water, thanking Dr. Kim for her help.

“My pleasure. If you need any help again, I’m always available. I have a patient coming in so if you don’t mind, you’re free to leave,” Dr. Kim smiled and waved to us. We thanked her again and went out of her office to find JongKey.

----------------------------------------------

“Hyung, I’m dead tired,” Taeminnie told me and plopped down on the bed.

We reached home a few minutes ago and immediately retired to our room, not even bothering to bathe after greeting appa and umma. I nodded and changed out of my current clothes, finding Tae’s pyjamas and changing him as well.

As I was pulling Taeminnie’s pants up, I heard light snoring coming from him and I smiled to myself. I went downstairs and threw the dirty clothes into the laundry basket and returning to the room so that I could sleep as well. All of us are beat and just want to rest.

I climbed into bed and pulled the blankets up for both of us, turning to kiss Tae on the forehead before I let myself drift off into dreamland.

Minho, you’d better not try anything funny or I’ll have Key cut your balls off as lunch.

Well I hope this was enjoyable-ish :/ I hv no idea what's with me and making ppl get into car accidents and whatnot.

I'm sorry for the late update cause I was super busy on Sat and my mum refused to let me hv internet access yst since she was PMSing ><

I think next wk's chappie will be the last chappie. If it isn't, I'll post it after my four-week long hiatus starting from the following wk. I really, really hv to study for my End Of Year exams or I'll flunk it ._.

Comments are loved and I'll see you guys next wk~! Annyeong! ^^