(A day later)

Hyunseung woke up disoriented and confused. Where the hell was he? The last thing he remembered was lying in bed, crying himself to sleep. Then what had happened? Looking up at the ceiling, he guessed that he was in a hospital. He just couldn’t seem to remember why.

The first person he realised was in the room was Geurim. She was gripping onto his hand tightly, which really made him wonder how he hadn’t realised her presence in the first place. Then he noticed Doojoon as well as Sungjong, both sleeping on opposite ends of the couch.

The next thing Hyunseung noticed was that he was hooked up to a couple machines. There was one monitoring his heartbeat, an IV drip, and another heart monitor. He frowned when he saw that the heart rate on the second monitor was significantly slower than the first. Why would he even need two heart monitors in the first place?

Sitting up slowly in order to not wake Geurim up, Hyunseung tried to recall how he even landed in the hospital. What day was it, anyway? Had he been unconscious for long? He didn’t know, but he wasn’t going to disturb his sister and friends.

It was only minutes later, when he felt a soft kick that everything came rushing back to him. The crying, the heartbreak, the pain, and the blood. Eyes widening in realisation, Hyunseung’s hand immediately flew to his belly, where Ilhoon still was. He couldn’t help but heave a huge sigh of relief when he realised that he hadn’t lost his baby boy; Sunggyu had gotten him to the hospital in time. But exactly how long had he been out?

“Oh my god, hyung you’re awake!” Yoseob exclaimed as he walked in with food, effectively waking everyone in the room up. Doojoon’s eyes literally snapped open and he heaved a visible sigh of relief when he saw that Hyunseung really was awake. Geurim started tearing up, throwing her arms around her brother and hugging him tightly.

“We were so worried,” she sobbed. “Sunggyu oppa called and said that you were in the hospital and that you might lose Ilhoon. You’ve been unconscious for just a day, but it was enough to freak all of us out. Oppa, please, take care of yourself from now on.”

“What happened?” Hyunseung asked, his voice sounding hoarse because his throat was dry.

Sungjong passed Hyunseung a glass of water, which the elder gratefully accepted and gulped down in one go. The four of them looked back and forth at each other, wondering who was supposed to explain what happened to Hyunseung.

In the end, Doojoon decided to explain everything. “You were malnourished from not eating anything for the entire week. If you weren’t pregnant, it would’ve been fine, but Ilhoon could’ve died. Sunggyu did well in bringing you here quickly. The doctor said that we might have lost both you and Ilhoon, because your body was suffering from so much emotional stress and you were starving. If you don’t show any visible signs of improvement within the week, you’re staying here till you give birth. Doctor’s orders.”

Hyunseung remained silent, absorbing everything that they’d told him. He knew it was bad when he couldn’t stomach any food, but he didn’t realise that one week of not eating was enough to nearly cost him his baby boy. The problem was that he really did try to eat, and he still ended up in the hospital. How was he supposed to eat healthily if his body refused to accept the food?

“The doctor suggested bringing you to a psychiatrist,” Sungjong piped up. Sighing heavily, it was all Hyunseung could do to nod in understanding. His inability to stomach food was definitely because he had been so depressed over Junhyung leaving. He knew Howon meant well when he said that Hyunseung should visit a psychiatrist, but he’d been so damn stubborn and look where he ended up.

Hyunseung really didn’t want to go to a psychiatrist; he could handle the heartbreak of Junhyung leaving. He just needed time to get over it, really. Besides, it wasn’t as if Junhyung didn’t love him anymore. He just had to leave for Hyunseung and Ilhoon’s safety. But despite all that, Hyunseung didn’t have time to get over his heartbreak now. He gave himself a week, and he nearly lost his and Junhyung’s unborn baby boy. To say he got a scare was a huge understatement. He knew that, for Ilhoon’s sake, he had to listen to what the others told him to do.

“Ok,” Hyunseung whispered, more to himself than to the others. “I’ll go.”

Doojoon looked at the others in surprise, not having expected Hyunseung to give in after the fit he’d thrown a couple days ago. Yoseob didn’t seem as surprised as the others, because being pregnant himself, he could imagine how Hyunseung felt. He didn’t even want to think about the possibility of losing either of his girls. It wasn’t going to happen, not on his watch.

Hyunseung looked out the window, wondering where exactly Junhyung was and if he was fine. At least Hyunseung had his friends and family around him. Junhyung had no one, and Hyunseung didn’t even know if Junhyung was in a safe place.

He could only hope that Junhyung was doing a better job than him at taking care of himself.

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

It was in the late afternoon when Hyunseung finally tried eating something again, after much persuasion from Yoseob and Sungjong. He looked at the plate of rice disdainfully, never having liked hospital food in the first place. It just tasted terrible to him, and now that he’d eaten the perfection known as Junhyung’s cooking, he didn’t know if he could even bear to swallow it.

Nonetheless, it was for Ilhoon. Hyunseung kept telling himself that he had to keep his baby boy safe and healthy, for both his and Junhyung’s sakes. There was no way Hyunseung was risking Ilhoon’s life again, not after the scare he’d gotten less than forty-eight hours ago. He didn’t think he would be so lucky the second time.

The first mouthful of rice he took was, simply put, disgusting and a total turnoff. The vegetables smelt and tasted almost raw, and the rice was still somewhat hard. It took all of his effort not to spit everything back out. He did gag a little before forcing himself to chew and swallow, chanting this is for Ilhoon the entire time. The others were uncomfortable just watching him eat.

“Is it that bad? Because I can get some ramen for you, you know,” Doojoon suggested, not wanting to see Hyunseung suffer from eating the inedible food. Hyunseung was finally trying to eat a full meal again, and it wouldn’t be good if he threw up just because the food was terrible.

Hyunseung grimaced at the plate of rice, putting the spoon down and looking at Doojoon hopefully. “That’d be really nice,” he mumbled, already shoving the disgusting plate of food away. Doojoon chuckled, already heading out of the ward and going off to get some ramen for his best friend. Yoseob followed along, saying something about craving fried chicken.

Upon the couple’s departure, Hyunseung sighed and started picking at the food. He really wasn’t hungry, and he highly doubted that he’d be able to stomach more than three mouthfuls of ramen. It didn’t matter whether or not he liked it; he just didn’t feel hungry.

Still, he waited patiently for Doojoon and Yoseob to return, knowing fully well that he had to try to eat everything. He couldn’t risk losing Ilhoon again. That’d be letting down both Junhyung and himself. His boyfriend took such extreme measures to protect him and their son, so the least Hyunseung could do was to do his part as a mother and ensure that Ilhoon was safe.

“Hyung, are you really feeling better?” Sungjong asked slightly warily. He was in charge of making sure that Hyunseung was fine, because Sungyeol and Myungsoo had to run Paradise, Sunggyu was in charge of informing Junhyung about what happened, Howon and Dongwoo were standing in for Hyunseung and Junhyung, and Woohyun was busy working. Sungjong liked Hyunseung as a friend, and he was genuinely worried about the elder, but he didn’t want to risk saying anything that might come off wrongly.

“Huh? Oh, um, I’m trying to get over the fact that he left,” Hyunseung sighed. It wasn’t that he couldn’t get over the fact that he left, actually. Hyunseung’s depression was because he wasn’t used to not having Junhyung around. He and the younger had been together for all of four and a half months, but in that time, they saw each other almost every day. It just didn’t seem right not to have the younger around, but Hyunseung knew Junhyung had to leave. Junhyung had to leave for now, and he would be back. But had he not made that decision, Hyunseung and Ilhoon might not even be alive now.

“He’ll be back, oppa. Just believe in him. He won’t abandon you or Ilhoon,” Geurim assured. Nodding absentmindedly, Hyunseung picked his phone up and scrolled through his messaging history, rereading the texts he and Junhyung had sent to each other when they’d first started going out.

He really, really missed his boyfriend.

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

After Doojoon and Yoseob returned, Geurim announced that it was about time for her to get back. She promised Hyunseung not to tell their parents anything, because who knew how Mrs. Jang was going to react? The way she’d reacted when Junhyung confessed that he was a criminal was bad enough; just imagine how she’d react when she found out that he left her pregnant son behind.

She left after making Hyunseung promise to rest well and stop thinking so much. Yoseob fell asleep on the couch, tired from worrying so much about his friend, and Doojoon said that he was going to send his boyfriend home before returning. Sungjong would stay and make sure that Hyunseung ate the ramen, since he had nothing much to do for the day anyway.

As Hyunseung opened the lid of the container and he smelt the ramen, his mouth started watering slightly and he wondered how he’d managed to go without food for so long. Maybe it had to do with the fact that for the past week, all Hyunseung could think about was Junhyung and why he left; how he’d even brought himself to leave. Being hospitalised and nearly losing Ilhoon was a scary, but much needed, wakeup call.

Now, with a delicious bowl of ramen placed right in front of him, how could Hyunseung say no?

He ate, and ate, and before he knew it the entire container was empty. He didn’t realise how hungry he really was until he began eating, and once he started Hyunseung couldn’t stop. It wasn’t as if the ramen was terrible, like the hospital food. On the contrary, it was delicious. Sungjong couldn’t help but smile when he saw that Hyunseung had managed to finish all of the ramen, and without him even having to say anything, too.

“It wasn’t that bad, right hyung?” Sungjong asked, getting up from his spot on the couch to clear the empty container. Hyunseung smiled, although barely, and nodded. It seemed that his lack of appetite was all but gone, and he was craving for more food. You could hardly blame him though; he had gone a week without eating anything, and he was pregnant.

The pregnant male looked up at Sungjong hopefully, his eyes sparkling with hope for more food, and Sungjong chuckled before nodding in understanding. “I’ll call Doojoon hyung and ask him to buy more food, alright?” Sungjong asked, amused by how Hyunseung was acting like a small kid right now. The elder nodded and grinned.

“You’re the best, Sungjong-ah!”

Sungjong chuckled once more, picking his phone up and grinning back at Hyunseung.

“Of course I am.”

Well this took me way way wayyy too long to complete and I know I for taking so long. Projects and assignments and work aren't an excuse, and neither is writer's block. I'm sorry for taking almost two months to come up with this y 2000-word chapter >< I didn't mean to go on an unannounced hiatus, but I'll just tell you guys now that I won't be updating often. Yeah. Life .

I don't even know how Hyunseung's mood changed so much throughout the course of this chapter. Like is that even realistic??? Ugh. I don't know anymore D:

I hope you guys are still reading this, and I'm sorry for taking FOREVER to update this. The next update will probably take forever too, but I'll try to work on it as much as I can while I still have time this weekend. Projects have just been such a burden and when I had free time, I was reading/watching vids/slacking :/

Well, thanks for all you lovely readers who put up with me and waiting for me! And surprisingly, there're new subs too! I don't even know how you guys find this when the last update was like, May. Like how guys, HOW? But thanks for subbing! :)

That's all from me for now, I'll try my best to complete something but no promises for regular updates >< Annyeong~ ^^