(Two days later)

For the most part, the past two days had been the same for Yoseob and Hyunseung. Both would wake up and rush to the toilet to puke, and Yoseob would take his antiemetic while Hyunseung would eat a sour plum or two. They would then have their breakfasts and head off to work, or stay home till their shift started.

Hyunseung was still majorly turned off by egg in any form, and both of them had discovered an aversion to chicken. Yoseob and Hyunseung had cried about it because chicken was one of the foods they simply couldn’t live without, yet they suddenly had a major aversion to the mere sight of chicken, no matter how it was cooked. It was Hyunseung’s favourite food, for goodness sake.

While Doojoon was still waiting for the results of the blood and urine tests, Junhyung was seriously considering whether or not he should force Hyunseung to visit the doctor. It wasn’t as if Hyunseung was in as bad a condition as Yoseob, since he only puked once every morning, unlike Yoseob who would throw up for the entire morning if not for his medicine. Still, it was worrying to the younger male because he didn’t enjoy seeing his boyfriend in pain.

Nonetheless, Junhyung respected Hyunseung’s decision and didn’t mention anything about visiting the doctor. Well, not until that morning.

“You’re going out for dinner with your friends?” Junhyung asked incredulously. “Why didn’t you mention anything about it?”

Hyunseung shrugged and threw a shirt on. “I forgot. Junnie, come on. It’s just one dinner,” Hyunseung whined, grabbing onto Junhyung’s shirt and swinging it around. He tried his best to use his aegyo and get himself out of the hole he dug for himself, because he knew that Junhyung didn’t want him going out when he was sick.

“Seungie, no. You’ve been feeling like for the past three days and you expect me to let you party with your friends?” Junhyung questioned, putting his arms across his chest. He wasn’t pissed off, Hyunseung could tell. Junhyung was just really worried for him, and this was his way of showing it. At least he cares, Hyunseung thought with a small hidden smile.

“I won’t drink, I promise! Junnie, I’m begging you to let me go,” Hyunseung pleaded, getting on his knees and literally begging his boyfriend. Junhyung sighed in exasperation and pulled Hyunseung up so that he was standing, and looked him in the eye.

“Seungie, I can’t tell if you’re desperate to celebrate a birthday since we aren’t celebrating for Gikwang, or you just really want to go out, but fine. I’ll let you go, on one condition,” Junhyung said, already planning to make a deal. He wasn’t an ex-criminal for nothing. Junhyung knew how to take advantage of situations.

“What?”

“Tomorrow, we’re paying a visit to the doctor,” Junhyung said firmly. Hyunseung’s jaw dropped and he gaped at his boyfriend, betrayal written all over his features. Junhyung raised a brow and waited for Hyunseung to form a reply.

“Junnie, you ! Fine! I’ll go to get that lousy check-up you want me to get, alright?” Hyunseung replied, throwing in the towel and giving up on fighting Junhyung. It wouldn’t turn out well, anyway. Junhyung knew how to get what he wanted, as did Hyunseung.

Junhyung grinned victoriously. “I’ll make an appointment then.”

Hyunseung pouted and went to find some shorts to wear to work while Junhyung went to prepare breakfast as usual. He settled on making toast and put some bread into the toaster before getting the jam. It didn’t take long for the bread to toast and Hyunseung to join him at the table.

For the most part, the couple ate silently. It wasn’t until they were preparing to leave for work did Junhyung ask Hyunseung when he was going to be back. Hyunseung puffed his cheeks up in thought before finally shrugging. “I don’t know.”

“Where, then? I can pick you up whenever,” Junhyung offered. Hyunseung felt a tug at the corner of his lips and he smiled. Even when Junhyung didn’t want him to go out, he cared enough to pick Hyunseung up.

“That downtown pub, Evolution. We’re just going to have some food before heading there to play and sing,” Hyunseung assured Junhyung upon seeing the younger male frown. Junhyung nodded and started the car, beginning the drive to work.

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

“Sunggyu hyung? Woohyun hyung?” Hyunseung called out, entering the store to be met by the sight of Sunggyu and Woohyun. The couple who once used to work at the store was talking to Jungsu and only turned to look at Hyunseung as the wind chimes sounded. “What brings you two here?”

“Hyunseung! I’ve missed you!” Sunggyu cooed, heading over to hug Hyunseung. He broke the hug and gave Junhyung a once over. “Who’s this?”

Junhyung held out his hand. “Yong Junhyung.”

Sunggyu took the offered hand with a smile. “So that’s who Jungsu’s been talking about.”

Junhyung blushed lightly. “I suppose.”

“I’m Sunggyu and this is Woohyun, my fiancé. We’re just here to hand out our wedding invitations to you guys,” Sunggyu said, gesturing for Woohyun to hand him the handwritten cards and passing one to Jungsu, the other to Hyunseung. Then he took another three cards out and passed those to Jungsu. “For Doojoon, Gikwang and Dongwoon. If you’d like, Junhyung, you can come too. And Yoseob is welcome as well.”

Jungsu stuck his tongue out at the two. “I can’t believe I got engaged before you but you’re getting married before me!” the eldest amongst them exclaimed. Woohyun and Sunggyu, even Hyunseung and Junhyung, laughed at Jungsu, causing the elder to pout.

“Nobody told you to get pregnant before getting married, Jungsu hyung,” Woohyun teased.

“You’re just jealous that I’m going to have a kid and you’re not. Not yet, anyway,” Jungsu retorted childishly. Woohyun was actually two years younger than Hyunseung, and in the months after quitting work at the store, he’d become a successful chef. Sunggyu, on the other hand, was a singer at the restaurant which Woohyun worked at.

“Whatever, hyung. We have to get to work now, so we’ll see you whenever. The wedding’s on 9^th June, so find someone to take over the store for that day because I won’t have any one of you missing from the wedding,” Woohyun said sternly. “Bye!”

The soon-to-be couple left after that, waving to the other three while grinning. Jungsu scowled at them but said nothing otherwise, because they were still his amazing friends and nothing would change that.

As soon as the couple was out of sight, Jungsu turned to shoot Hyunseung and Junhyung a look. “Ok, get to work! I’m going to call Gikwang and ask him where the heck he is, because he’s supposed to be here by now,” Jungsu said and went to his office, digging his phone out of his pocket on the way. “Lee Gikwang, get your over to work right now!”

Hyunseung and Junhyung looked at each other, laughed, and began to get ready to open the store. Gikwang joined them around ten minutes later, apologising for being late. Hyunseung and Junhyung could only sigh and tell Gikwang to hurry up.

The three employees arranged the shelves neatly and were ready for opening right on time. They stood behind their counters and waited for the first customers of the day.

Five hours of work passed quickly enough and Hyunseung and Junhyung headed out for lunch with Gikwang, Dongwoon and Jungsu. They sat down at an eatery and all of them ordered bibimbab, since they all heard of Hyunseung’s apparent aversion to chicken by then.

As they were eating, Jungsu noticed how Hyunseung was poking his food rather listlessly.

“Hyunseung-ah, why don’t you see a doctor?”

“Tomorrow,” Hyunseung groaned upon being reminded about his impending doom appointment.

“Finally!” Dongwoon exclaimed.

“I have to agree, hyung. You should’ve just seen the doctor with Yoseob hyung,” Gikwang added.

“I told you so,” Junhyung said.

“Shut up.”

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

By the time the afternoon shift ended, Hyunseung was rather exhausted. Nonetheless, he had to go and celebrate Hoya’s birthday because Hoya was one of his close friends, and they’d been planning to go out for dinner since forever. Junhyung was working half the night shift, on Yoseob’s behalf, so he wasn’t able to drive his boyfriend downtown.

Hyunseung changed out of his uniform and turned around to see Junhyung standing by the door of the staff lounge. He jutted his lower lip out a little and held his arms open for his younger boyfriend, who immediately hugged Hyunseung and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

“Junnie, stop worrying about me. I’ll call you if I need you for anything,” Hyunseung promised, pecking Junhyung on the cheek and tightening his hold on Junhyung’s waist. Junhyung hummed his reply and nodded.

“I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yeah. I love you,” Hyunseung said, pulling away from the hug to grab his wallet and phone. Junhyung walked Hyunseung out and flagged a cab for him, watching the cab move away until he couldn’t see it anymore.

Hyunseung sighed and texted Hoya, asking if he was at the restaurant yet.

‘Is it alright if I invited some other friends?

-Hoya’

Hyunseung rolled his eyes and replied, stuffing his phone into his pocket before getting some well-deserved shut eye. It wasn’t a long ride downtown, perhaps twenty or so minutes. Hyunseung was exhausted – three mornings of puking weren’t exactly nice. Junnie’s right. I do need to see the doctor.

Before he knew it, Hyunseung was being woken up by the cab driver. He paid and thanked the man before getting off and walking into the restaurant that Hoya was presumably in. Upon entering the restaurant, Hyunseung could already spot Hoya waving excitedly to him, Dongwoo sitting right beside him. There were three other guys with them and Hyunseung couldn’t help but think that one of them looked incredibly familiar.

As he sat down, the familiar boy turned his attention to Hyunseung. “You’re Junhyung’s boyfriend!”

Hyunseung nodded slowly. “Sungjong, the florist, right?”

Sungjong nodded and introduced the other two. “This is Myungsoo, my boyfriend, and Sungyeol, my brother. Howon hyung’s my cousin,” Sungjong said. Hyunseung greeted Myungsoo and Sungyeol with a small smile.

“I see why Junhyung hyung likes you. You’re nice,” Myungsoo commented.

“And you look cute, too,” Sungyeol added, causing Hyunseung to blush at the praise.

Before Hyunseung could say anything else, he heard a very, very familiar voice shouting at Hoya. He jumped around and pointed at Woohyun accusingly. “You know Hoya?”

Woohyun seemed to be taken aback by Hyunseung’s exclamation, stopping in his tracks and making Sunggyu hit his back as a result. The elder looked past Woohyun and raised a brow upon seeing Hyunseung. “Hyunseung?”

“Yes, we know Hoya,” Woohyun replied.

Hyunseung nodded. “Right.”

Hoya watched the conversation between his supposed friends, who never even told him that they all knew Hyunseung. He let out a small sigh and gestured for Woohyun and Sunggyu to sit down, calling the waiter over so that they could order.

As they placed their orders, Hyunseung couldn’t help but stop Sunggyu and Myungsoo from ordering chicken. He didn’t exactly need to throw up all over the place, especially since he was in a rather nice restaurant and he hadn’t brought his sour plums along. Myungsoo and Sunggyu gave him a look but complied anyway, seeing as how Hyunseung was almost pleading them.

After placing their orders, the eight started talking about anything and everything.

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

It wasn’t until an hour later that the eight of them finally left the restaurant, and Hyunseung thanked every god he knew because he didn’t feel the urge to puke at any time during dinner. It would be so embarrassing if I suddenly threw up like that.

They made their way over to the pub and got a room. Sunggyu, being the singer, immediately ran up to the karaoke machine and chose a song. The next thing Hyunseung knew, Sunggyu was belting out song after song with Woohyun. He, on the other hand, sat down by the side with a glass of orange juice in hand.

Sungjong laughed as Hoya and Dongwoo began dancing to some APink song that Woohyun was singing before turning to look at Hyunseung. “So hyung, how’d you meet Junhyung hyung?” Sungjong asked curiously. After they had talked at the restaurant earlier on, Sungjong found out that he and Hyunseung shared the same birthday. He suddenly felt closer to the elder because of that.

“Well, you know what Junhyung does?”

“Yeah, he’s a robber,” Sungyeol replied nonchalantly, having known Junhyung for forever. Junhyung had been buying flowers from their store for the past fifteen years, and the Lee brothers had always gone to help their umma out at the store, so they knew Junhyung’s background. It wasn’t as if Junhyung was very open about his life, but Sungjong and Sungyeol were pretty persistent.

“Wait, what?” Myungsoo asked in disbelief. Hoya, Dongwoo, Woohyun and Sunggyu turned around upon hearing the exclamation. “Junhyung hyung’s a robber?”

Hyunseung sighed and nodded. “Yes, he is. He robbed the store once, and I saw him and I just fell hard, I guess. It’s better than him though,” Hyunseung answered Sungjong, a bashful smile appearing on his face when he thought about Junhyung stalking him.

“Wow. I never expected that from you, Hyunseung hyung. Not after how Jiyong treated you,” Dongwoo said, the first to snap back to reality, and away from the shock. Hyunseung scowled at the mention of his ex.

“Junnie’s different! He helped me get back at that playboy and… he admitted to stalking me. He’s the sweetest guy ever,” Hyunseung said, unconsciously toying with the ring on his left ring finger. Sungyeol noticed the small action and bounded over to Hyunseung, taking a closer look at the ring.

“Whoa! He proposed? And he even told you his birth name!” Sungyeol exclaimed.

“It’s a promise ring! He gave it to me on our first date. We aren’t getting married… yet,” Hyunseung added with a grin.

Hoya rolled his eyes and let out a laugh. “At least you’re happy. How about that girlfriend of his?”

“He broke up with her for me. I told you – he didn’t love her,” Hyunseung said.

“That’s a guy worth keeping,” Woohyun said approvingly.

“Stop talking about me and go sing, sheesh!” Hyunseung instructed, having enough talk about his love life for the next month or so. The seven guys laughed at him but acceded to his request. At the same time, the waitress came into the room with five or so bottles of beer. So, instead of going back to sing, they began to play Truth or Dare.

Hyunseung politely declined their offer to join in, knowing that the loser would end up having to drink a shot even if he completed the dare or told the truth. He sat out and laughed at the seven friends embarrass themselves.

It wasn’t until the fourth bottle that more than half of them began getting tipsy. Sungjong and Woohyun were the only ones completely sober. Hyunseung watched in surprise as Hoya suddenly stood up and walked over unstably to Hyunseung, pointing at the elder male the whole time.

“Hyung, did you know that I used to like you? Just for a teeny bit though!” Hoya confessed before laughing and collapsing on the floor. Hyunseung only took in one breath and the smell of alcohol just washed over him, causing him to gag. He quickly grabbed his wallet, apologised for leaving, and ran out of the pub. He made it just in time to squat down and throw up into the drain, watching in disgust as his dinner resurfaced.

Hyunseung groaned and went back into the pub to rinse his mouth, changing his mind immediately when he saw how many people there were, and his head hurt from all the chatter that was going on. He went back out and took his phone out, grateful that Junhyung’s shift should have been over by then, and dialled his boyfriend’s number.

Junhyung picked up after half a ring. “Thank god. I was waiting for your call.”

“Junnie, I feel like crap. Pick me up, please?”

“No problem. I’ll be there in ten.”

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

Just as Junhyung promised, he did arrive in ten minutes. By then Hyunseung was better, but still feeling like crap. He got into the car and leaned against Junhyung instantly, nestling into the younger male’s warmth.

“What happened?” Junhyung asked as he drove back to his apartment.

“Long story short, they played Truth or Dare and drank. I smelt the alcohol and threw up and called you right after,” Hyunseung said with a tired groan. Junhyung took his eyes off the road for a brief second to peck Hyunseung on the forehead.

“Just sleep, since you’re so tired. I’ll wake you later.”

Hyunseung nodded and yawned. “Oh yeah, Junnie? Sunggyu hyung and Woohyun know you’re a robber now,” Hyunseung informed the younger before falling asleep. What just happened? Junhyung didn’t quite know what to make of the random statement, so he shrugged it off and continued to drive back home.

Five minutes after Junhyung parked the car, Hyunseung was still sleeping. The younger male simply didn’t have the heart to wake his boyfriend up. After much consideration, Junhyung finally decided to just carry Hyunseung into the house and help him shower, as well as brush his teeth.

Surprisingly, Hyunseung didn’t wake up or even stir. “You’re this tired?” Junhyung asked, knowing that he wouldn’t get a reply. He closed the car door and locked it while keeping a firm grip on Hyunseung, walking into the house with a little difficulty.

When Junhyung showered for Hyunseung, he heard Hyunseung snoring lightly despite the fact that water was being sprayed at him. Junhyung was in utter disbelief at how his boyfriend was completely knocked out without even drinking, and he was seriously getting worried by then. Nonetheless, he dried Hyunseung off and put some clothes on him before brushing the elder’s teeth and laying him on the bed.

It took Junhyung less than ten minutes to shower and brush his teeth, and then he crept into bed beside Hyunseung. He briefly wondered if Hyunseung was dead, but then Hyunseung instinctively wrapped his arms around his human bolster and snuggled into the object radiating warmth. Junhyung heaved a silent sigh of relief and flicked the light switch off.

“I definitely have to find out what’s wrong with you tomorrow.”

Lol what is this even XD This was totally a filler, and the only important thing that happened was Hyunseung agreeing to see the doctor ._.

Well, this chapter was a little longer than usual because I'm going on a three week hiatus. I'm sorry, but my prelims are coming up and I can't screw it up TT Please be patient with me! D:

I hope you guys enjoyed this. Random cameos from Infinite because I love them XD

That's all from me for now. Wish me good luck? :) Annyeong~! ^^