(A few days later)

Gikwang stared blankly as Yoseob tried to eat Doojoon’s face off. He comforted himself with the fact that at least the two were in the staff lounge, but it didn’t help to prevent his eyes from burning anyway. All he’d wanted was to grab his wallet and buy lunch for Dongwoon and himself. Was that a crime?

“Jokwon, what do you want?” Gikwang asked the newest employee. Since Jokwon and Changmin were just roommates, unlike the other six store employees, they didn’t work together most of the time. “Oh, and Dongwoonie do you happen to have your wallet on you?”

Dongwoon frowned. “Didn’t you just go to take yours?”

“No I didn’t,” Gikwang denied almost immediately. Dongwoon rolled his eyes, already guessing what his boyfriend saw, and held his own wallet in front of the elder’s face. Gikwang beamed at this, eternally thankful that he didn’t have to enter the staff lounge again, and looked back at Jokwon. “So? If you aren’t going to tell us what you want, we’re not buying anything for you.”

“Just get me ramen,” Jokwon decided with a small smile.

Gikwang nodded in response and shouted “Heechul hyung we’re going to get dinner now!” at the top of his voice. He didn’t know if the stand-in manager could hear him above the sounds that Yoseob and Doojoon were probably making.

“Get these two out of each other’s faces!” Heechul screeched from the staff lounge, and there was the sound of the door slamming almost right after. “Dear lord, they could rival Hannie and me,” Heechul muttered, shaking his head. “We don’t have to buy anything for those two, do we?”

Dongwoon shook his head. “Junhyung hyung and Hyunseung hyung are buying something for them,” he said, already heading out of the store with Gikwang. Heechul took his phone out of his pocket, replying to a text he’d just received from his husband.

“Jokwon, I’m heading out for dinner with my family. Maybe you can just go out for a bit while waiting for Gikwang and Dongwoon,” Heechul suggested. Then, after a few moments, he added, “The staff lounge is… occupied.”

That being said, Heechul exited the store just as Hangeng pulled up. Close behind the car were Junhyung and Hyunseung, walking together to the store instead of taking the car because Hyunseung had wanted to get some exercise. Heechul waved at the couple, sliding into the front seat and placing a loving kiss onto Hangeng’s cheek.

Junhyung let out a small, almost inaudible sigh at the sight, his heart clenching tightly in his chest. It was exactly two weeks till their ultrasound to find out Miracle’s gender, and Junhyung would leave the morning three days after. He had only sixteen days left with Hyunseung and Miracle. Sixteen days was pretty darn short.

Hyunseung somehow managed to hear the sigh emitted by his boyfriend and turned to look at Junhyung worriedly. “Is something wrong?” he questioned. These days, it seemed like Junhyung was hiding something from him. Call it intuition or just insecurity, but Hyunseung felt that something was off with his boyfriend. He sometimes wondered if Junhyung was tired of him already, although the love and affection Junhyung showered him with proved otherwise.

Nonetheless, it was a fact that Junhyung was hiding something from him. Hyunseung didn’t say anything about it in the hopes that Junhyung would tell him eventually. He trusted his boyfriend enough. For all he knew, it could just be that he was overthinking things.

“I was thinking, what if I’m not a good father?” Junhyung replied. It was a half-truth. He thought about that a lot recently, but his definition of a good father was probably different from Hyunseung’s. While the elder was probably thinking about changing diapers and waking up in the middle of the night, Junhyung was thinking about just being there for Miracle. Maybe he wouldn’t be there when Miracle was growing up, but he at least wanted to be there for Miracle when he or she entered his or her teens. It might not be possible though, Junhyung reminded himself.

“That’s it?” Hyunseung asked dumbly. “All this while, you were hiding your insecurity from me?”

“Yeah…” Junhyung answered with a nonchalant shrug. “It seemed stupid to be insecure about something like this,” he continued. He knew that I was hiding something? Well damn, Junhyung thought. He knew that Hyunseung knew him well and could read him, but to be able to tell that he was hiding a secret?

Junhyung had to step up his game. Hyunseung could not, and would not, find out about his plan.

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

“Well then, I’m heading home!” Jokwon exclaimed. “Thanks for buying me dinner, guys!”

“You have to pay me back!” Dongwoon replied. Jokwon looked at the youngest with a slightly stunned expression, and Dongwoon only smiled cheekily. He had been the one who offered to treat Jokwon to dinner, after all. “Kidding. Bye hyung!”

Jokwon rolled his eyes and waved, exiting the store and heading home. Gikwang and Dongwoon had also finished work for the day, so they took their time talking to the other four before leaving as well. Then, once again, it was just the quartet remaining in the store. Heechul had left for the night already, so the four were to close up.

“So…” Doojoon mumbled, looking around at the empty store. He didn’t quite understand why they always needed at least three people to work the closing shift; to help clean up, maybe? It wasn’t exactly crowded at night, apart from nine to ten when everyone dropped by to get some snacks. Apart from that, there really weren’t many people.

“So…” Hyunseung parroted lamely.

Junhyung glanced back and forth between the two weirdly. “Your ultrasound is next week isn’t it?”

“Yup!” Yoseob chirped.

“Any gender preferences?” Hyunseung asked. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know that Doojoon would obviously want boys. His best friend always rambled on about how he was going to teach his kids to play soccer, and there weren’t all that many girls who enjoyed soccer. Not that he knew of, anyway.

“What do you think?” Yoseob snorted, shooting his boyfriend a look. “This guy over here has been going on about how we have to have at least one boy so that he can teach soccer to him. I did mention the possibility of having two girls, but I guess it really depends on fate.”

 “What about you?” Doojoon asked curiously. As far as he knew, Hyunseung didn’t specifically want a boy or girl. All he wanted was for Miracle to be born safely, which was probably what every parent wanted. Junhyung, too, hadn’t mentioned any gender preferences to anyone.

Hyunseung shrugged, his hand automatically moving to rest above his fifteen-week bump. “We’ve already narrowed down the names for each gender. There’s, what, fifteen names each now?” Hyunseung told them unsurely, looking to Junhyung for confirmation.

Junhyung nodded, pulling the list out of his pocket. The original copy was still at home, of course. Junhyung just made a copy so that he could think about the name that he wanted to cancel that night. Yoseob gaped slightly, unable to believe that the couple was almost done picking a name for their child already, and turned to Doojoon.

Before Yoseob could even say anything though, Doojoon sighed and nodded in resignation. “Fine, we’ll go home tonight and start thinking of names. Is that ok?” he asked. Sometimes Doojoon resented Junhyung because he planned everything, while Doojoon usually waited till he felt like it to plan stuff.

Yoseob beamed and nodded, blowing a kiss to Doojoon. Hyunseung shuddered at the cheesiness of the action, wondering how Doojoon and Yoseob could bear to be so mushy in front of others. The most affection Hyunseung and Junhyung displayed in public would probably be kissing each other, and that wasn’t considered cheesy at all.

“Stop it, please,” Hyunseung said, slightly pleadingly. “Too much mush.”

“Nobody’s stopping you from being mushy with Junhyung hyung,” Yoseob pointed out. “Feel free to be mushy with him anytime you want; I’m not stopping you, hyung.”

Yoseob’s words caused Junhyung to shake his head, and he thought, no, not really. You can’t be mushy with me anytime you want soon enough, Seung. Junhyung couldn’t blame Yoseob for saying something like that though; it wasn’t like the younger male knew about his plan. Nonetheless, it hurt.

“Maybe next time,” Hyunseung replied, misinterpreting Junhyung’s response. “We’re still a little awkward with public displays of affection.”

At this, Junhyung couldn’t help but sigh softly.

There might not be a next time, Seungie. I’m awkward with showing my affection publicly, yes, but I’d do anything for you now. After all, there might not be a next time.

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

Sometime near closing, Woohyun and Sunggyu dropped by the store. Although it was surprising to the others that the newlywed couple would even be back at the store, Junhyung knew otherwise. The couple was the one that had texted him earlier in the day, telling him that they were going to suggest a movie night at their place. It was random, sure, but Hyunseung would most likely agree if they said the right things.

Doojoon blinked sleepily, wondering if he was imagining things because he was just so tired. Yoseob was constantly pouncing on him whenever possible and even if he enjoyed making love with his boyfriend, it was just exhausting. He really questioned how Yoseob was still so energetic everyday.

“What’re you guys doing here?” Hyunseung asked curiously.

Woohyun gasped in mock hurt. “You don’t want to see us?”

Hyunseung shook his head frantically. “No! I just expected you to still be on your honeymoon.”

“We just came back a couple hours ago actually, and Sungjong suggested a sleepover at our place! Do any of you want to come with?” Sunggyu offered. “So far there’re five other people going.”

Hyunseung and Yoseob looked at the couple weirdly, while Junhyung shrugged in response. He had no doubt that Yoseob would refuse, because the younger male preferred having in his own house. That and he didn’t know Howon or Dongwoo. It wasn’t that Yoseob didn’t like making new friends, but he was still awkward with Sunggyu and Woohyun so the chances of him saying yes were pretty low. Then again, there wasn’t really a problem with him and Doojoon going.

“Why?” Doojoon questioned. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Sunggyu and Woohyun, but Yoseob was pregnant after all and Doojoon didn’t like to risk anything. Junhyung and Doojoon were similar in this aspect – both of them didn’t like taking risks. Why else would Junhyung give in to Jaewon?

“Movies, guy talk, stuff,” Woohyun replied nonchalantly.

Yoseob exchanged looks with Doojoon and the younger shook his head, declining the offer. Hyunseung, on the other hand, looked over at Junhyung. “Should we?”

Sensing that Hyunseung might refuse, Sunggyu added, “Sungjong said he really wanted you to go.” Woohyun nodded in agreement, causing Hyunseung to furrow his brows in thought. Junhyung simply told Hyunseung that it was up to him to decide, and so the elder nodded with a grin.

“I’m in! When is it?”

“Probably in a week,” Sunggyu told him. He glanced at Junhyung, smiled briefly, then grabbed Woohyun’s hand and announced that they were leaving. The four employees watched them leave before they got back to their work, which was mostly restocking the shelves and cleaning up.

Hyunseung and Yoseob were ordered to stay at the counters while Junhyung and Doojoon did the restocking and cleaning up. They didn’t want their pregnant boyfriends to have to do anymore standing than they already did, even though they still weren’t that far along. Call the two of them overprotective, but they just wanted to let their boyfriends be comfortable. Soon, Junhyung wouldn’t be able to take care of Hyunseung like he usually did. He wanted to do as much for his boyfriend as he could before leaving, and pampering the elder was one of those things.

It wasn’t that long before they were done closing up the store, and the four got into Junhyung’s car before beginning the ride home. When they were halfway there, Doojoon mentioned something about getting a car for his own family. Junhyung wanted to tell him that no, he didn’t need to do that. Doojoon was going to get Junhyung’s car soon enough. He couldn’t though, because they weren’t supposed to know about the plan. That and Hyunseung was also in the car and he would obviously hear.

“Well, all of us plus our kids can actually fit in this car,” Hyunseung said, before Junhyung even got a word out. It was Hyunseung’s idea to get a big car anyway, and his reason had been the same as what he told Doojoon and Yoseob. Junhyung was pretty glad that he didn’t have to say anything because he was just a little bit afraid that Hyunseung would get suspicious.

Upon reaching home and showering, Hyunseung and Junhyung lay in bed and each cancelled a name, one for each gender. After that, Hyunseung snuggled into Junhyung’s chest and the younger thought that Hyunseung was already asleep. A few minutes passed and Junhyung sighed, looking at the corner of the room where he’d put his sketchbook.

Over the weeks, he’d managed to fill up at least a third of the pages in the book with sketches of Hyunseung doing random stuff around the house. He was intending to give it to Hyunseung, to show that he would remember Hyunseung that way – happy, contented, and loving. It wasn’t like he could bring it with him when he left, because it would probably be confiscated anyway. He’d also written a caption under each sketch, describing what Hyunseung was doing and what Junhyung thought at the time, as well as the date. Junhyung didn’t expect Hyunseung to forgive him for leaving, but he at least wanted the elder to know that he still loved him.

“Junnie, you really aren’t hiding anything else from me right?” Hyunseung suddenly mumbled, causing Junhyung to jump slightly. The younger turned to look at Hyunseung who was now looking at him, pouting just a little bit. “You are, aren’t you?”

Junhyung bit his lip guiltily as Hyunseung sniffled, obviously trying not to cry. “Is there anything you can’t tell me?” he asked, his voice trembling as he spoke. What was Junhyung supposed to say? ‘Yes, I have a secret and I can’t tell you, but you’ll find out in due time’?

It took Junhyung a few minutes to formulate a reply, and he settled with a simple yes. Hyunseung nodded in understanding, sniffling a couple of times to regain his composure. “It’s ok. I know you’ll tell me eventually,” Hyunseung finally said, forcing a small smile at Junhyung. Seeing this, Junhyung’s heart just broke into pieces. He couldn’t believe that Hyunseung had that much faith in him, and he didn’t even want to imagine how much pain Hyunseung would be in when he left.

Well this is getting more and more angsty. Why am I doing this to my otp TT

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next! JunSeung might have a date (kinda like a last date before Jun leaves) but I'm not too sure about that yet. I'll see how things go. But seriously this is so depressing to write so I apologise if any of you are crying right now ><

That's all from me today. Can't really promise regular updates till I start school/stop working. Sorry about that :/

Ok, see you guys next week (hopefully) Annyeong~! ^^