(Several weeks later)

Hyunseung groaned when he heard his doorbell ring, wondering who the hell could be looking for him at midnight. Alright, granted it was his birthday, maybe his friends wanted to celebrate it with him. But they should know better than to disturb him at midnight because come on, he was almost six months pregnant now and he was exhausted.

He’d finally moved back into his own apartment about a week ago, having stayed with Doojoon and Yoseob before that. It took him some time to get used to the emptiness of the house. He left everything the way it had been before Junhyung left, because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to forget Junhyung anyway. How would he be able to, with Ilhoon being a living reminder of the man?

After he’d been discharged nearly two months ago, Hyunseung went back to working at the store. Well, it took Heechul two weeks to let him come back to work, since the elder was insistent that he get more rest and take good care of himself. He did, of course, and now Ilhoon was more active than ever, which was why Hyunseung had been a little grumpier than usual recently. He could only imagine how little sleep Yoseob got, with his two little girls constantly moving around.

His parents, or more importantly his mother, had yet to find out about Junhyung leaving. He honestly didn’t know how he was going to explain things to her if she ever found out. She probably wouldn’t even want to hear his explanation. All hell would break loose and he didn’t need that.

When the incessant ringing of the doorbell refused to cease, Hyunseung rolled his eyes and shouted, “I’m coming!” Feeling extremely annoyed, Hyunseung slowly walked to the door and looked through the peephole. Frowning when he didn’t see anything but a parcel, Hyunseung opened the door and picked the small box up. He saw that the parcel was in fact addressed to him, and his eyes widened when he recognised Junhyung’s handwriting.

Dropping the parcel immediately, Hyunseung hastily put on a random pair of shoes and ran out of the house, not caring that the door was wide open and that he was practically inviting a robber. That was honestly the least of his concerns right now.

“Junhyung! Yong Junhyung, where are you?” Hyunseung shouted. He knew it was rude of him to disturb his neighbours like this is the middle of the night, but where Junhyung was concerned, did he really care? If there was the slightest possibility that his boyfriend was back, Hyunseung would hunt him down. He really would.

Seeing that the lift was still at his floor, Hyunseung quickly headed for the stairs, shouting for his boyfriend the entire way down. He didn’t exactly live on the lowest floor, so by the time he was at the ground level he was panting and struggling to catch his breath. He scanned the area, feeling his heart drop when there were no signs of anyone having come to or left his apartment block. The only sounds he could hear his own pants, and nothing else.

Just as suddenly as his hopes fell, they raised again when he heard footsteps from behind him. Hyunseung turned around so quickly that he was dizzy, hoping that he would see the man he’d been missing for the past two months. His hopes fell once more when he saw that it was just an extremely worried Doojoon, and tears pricked at his eyes upon realising that Junhyung probably never came; he had to have sent someone, and this someone was extremely good at running.

“Hyunseung, what happened? Did Junhyung come back?” Doojoon asked, jumping slightly in shock when Hyunseung barrelled into his best friend’s arms and started sobbing. Shaking his head, Hyunseung blubbered out something that Doojoon totally couldn’t make out. The elder simply held his best friend tight, leading him back up to his floor. If Doojoon could, he would chastise Hyunseung for leaving his door wide open like that, but he knew better than to say something like that to his extremely upset best friend.

“So what exactly happened?” Doojoon tried again after locking the door, placing the parcel on the table and getting Hyunseung a glass of water. He sat down beside the pregnant male, scrutinising the parcel because there was only the address and name of the recipient written there, but nothing related to the sender.

“That’s from Junhyung, I’m sure of it,” Hyunseung said quietly, eyeing the parcel while taking small sips of his water and trying to keep his tears at bay. Doojoon raised his brow, wondering if he’d heard correctly. Looking at the handwriting, he had to agree that it looked extremely familiar.

“Then are you going to open it?”

Hyunseung nodded. “But not now. I don’t think I can open it now.”

Doojoon understood perfectly – Hyunseung wasn’t mentally prepared for this. He was mentally prepared to endure the next couple years, or more, without Junhyung. He was prepared to take care of Ilhoon alone, to work hard and raise his son well. He was prepared not to hear anything from his boyfriend, because who knew how good Jaewon was at keeping his promises? He was not prepared to receive something from Junhyung on his birthday, and right at midnight too. He was not prepared to spend his birthday crying all day.

“Open it when you’re ready then. Knowing Junhyung, it’s going to be something you’ll love,” Doojoon said, giving Hyunseung a tight hug. He still wasn’t happy that Junhyung had left, but after hearing Hyunseung’s explanation he figured that the younger didn’t know what else he could do. Junhyung had to sacrifice a lot, too, in order to leave.

“Will you be alright alone or do you need me to stay?”

Hyunseung looked at the clock. “Go back downstairs. Seobie must be worried.”

Doojoon nodded, getting up and walking out of the house. Before he shut the door, however, he turned back and grinned at his best friend in spite of the serious atmosphere. “Happy birthday, Seung-ah.” And with that, he went back down to his own home.

Hyunseung couldn’t help but feel a smile tug at his lips. Looking down at the parcel, he picked it up and placed it on his bedside table.

“Even when you’re not here, you manage to surprise me. What aren’t you capable of, Junnie?”

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

The next time Hyunseung woke up was when Sungjong let himself into his house at around nine in the morning. Sometimes Hyunseung wondered why he let the younger male have a set of the keys, but then he remembered that it was just in case of emergencies. He and Sungjong had gotten a lot closer over the past two months, which meant that, indirectly, Hyunseung got closer to Myungsoo and Sungyeol too.

The three of them checked on him most, with Sunggyu, Woohyun, Dongwoo and Howon checking on him whenever they weren’t free. Hyunseung had asked Sungjong why the seven of them were looking out for him so much, and he had jokingly asked if Junhyung had asked them to. He didn’t expect Sungjong to say that yes, Junhyung gathered all of them and almost pleaded with them to take care of Hyunseung. He spent the rest of that day crying.

A few days after Sungjong revealed that they were taking care of him on Junhyung’s behalf, Hyunseung asked if they had any idea where Junhyung was. Sungjong had to lie about that of course, and he didn’t feel good about lying to his hyung. Still, it wasn’t like he could tell him. Junhyung would have his head, for one, and Hyunseung would probably rush off to find him. Junhyung didn’t go through so much trouble to hide his location just for Sungjong to slip up.

“Happy birthday to us!” Sungjong exclaimed, grinning and plopping down on the bed. “Hyung wake up, it’s our birthday!” he continued, shaking Hyunseung awake. He caught a glimpse of the parcel on the bedside table, and looked back at Hyunseung who was slowly waking up. When he saw that Hyunseung’s eyes were slightly red, he knew that Hyunseung could tell who the parcel was from.

“What’s that?” Sungjong asked deliberately. It wouldn’t be good if Hyunseung found out who dropped it off. No, it wasn’t Sungjong. It was Sungyeol. After ringing the doorbell and hearing Hyunseung shout, he’d ran off to the stairs, going up two floors and hiding there. It was a good thing that Hyunseung never thought to look upstairs, because if he knew that Sungyeol had been the ‘deliveryman’, he would know that Sungyeol was in contact with Junhyung.

“It’s from Junnie. Someone dropped it off last night, and I couldn’t find out who,” Hyunseung said, sounded extremely frustrated. Sungjong resisted the urge to heave a sigh of relief and instead, went over to pick it up and examine it. As if he didn’t already know what was inside.

“Do you want to open it?”

“Maybe later at night,” Hyunseung decided. When I’m alone at home, right before my birthday ends.

Sungjong nodded. He knew what the present was, and he definitely knew that Hyunseung would cry nonstop if he opened it now. It was one of the few presents in Junhyung’s list that was prepared personally by him. Many of the other presents would have to be bought by Sungjong or the others, but the few that were already prepared were just perfect for Hyunseung, and probably Ilhoon too.

“I brought food! Myungie’s here too. After eating, we were planning to go to the store and celebrate your birthday with the others. Then we’ll leave you in their care while we go on a date,” Sungjong told the elder. As much as he didn’t want to leave Hyunseung alone, it was his birthday too. Myungsoo wouldn’t have allowed him to neglect his own birthday, anyways.

Hyunseung chuckled, nodding at how excited Sungjong sounded. He couldn’t say he felt exactly the same, because just a couple of months ago he was thinking that he’d celebrate his birthday with his boyfriend. Nonetheless, knowing that Junhyung had given him a present was enough to lift his mood, even if just slightly. Then again, Junhyung wasn’t the type to forget important dates.

“Let me shower first?” Hyunseung asked unsurely, because he was sticky and gross from running all the way downstairs. Sungjong nodded, letting the pregnant male get up and grab some clean clothes. He went to join his boyfriend on the couch, waiting for Hyunseung to finish showering because he was starting to get rather hungry.

“Did he know?” Myungsoo asked. Sungjong shook his head, and the two sighed in relief.

“If he did, you know hyung’s not getting away with lying.”

Myungsoo nodded, looking towards the bathroom where Hyunseung was. The couple sat in silence as they waited for Hyunseung to shower, not wanting to risk letting Hyunseung hear anything that he wasn’t supposed to. The pregnant male was done in ten minutes, and quickly went to look at what food Sungjong had brought.

“Guys I’m done let’s eat!” Hyunseung whined, his stomach growling as if to show how hungry he was. Myungsoo laughed and hurried over to the dining table, not wanting to be the one that Hyunseung lashes out on, if he got too impatient. Sungjong was right behind him, and the three of them began eating quickly because they were on a tight schedule.

Hyunseung was supposed to have dinner with his family, and his father had invited Junhyung along. It’d taken all of Hyunseung’s willpower not to break down over the phone, and he had shakily said that he’d ask. How was he supposed to turn up without his boyfriend? His father would be disappointed and his mother would have more reason to dislike Junhyung.

I guess I’ll just have to lie this time.

Because Hyunseung wasn’t planning on telling his mother and having her go crazy on him. He didn’t need any more stress than he’d already received; he wanted to at least wait till Ilhoon was born before telling his parents. At least then his baby boy wouldn’t be at risk again.

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

It was a little past ten when the three arrived at the store. There were few customers since everyone was at work or school, so Yoseob was presumably resting in the staff lounge. If Hyunseung was tired, then Yoseob had to be twice as tired. Ilhoon was active, but Yoseob’s twins were on a different level.

“Happy birthday Sungjong-ah,” Doojoon wished the younger, earning a bright grin in response. Then, looking at Hyunseung, he asked, “Did you open it?”

Hyunseung shook his head. “Later tonight. When I’m alone.”

Doojoon sighed and nodded, getting back to work while Hyunseung went to dump his stuff in the lounge. He quietly put his bag down in the corner, careful not to disturb Yoseob. Recently, Yoseob had been the moodiest person ever. He could be extremely pissed off and throwing stuff at you one moment, and the next he’s crying and apologising for being a . It was safe to say that he wasn’t the safest person to be around at the moment.

Sadly for him, Heechul happened to be in the office with Heekyung and she started wailing just as Hyunseung was about to walk out of the lounge. Yoseob woke up, his eyes darting around the room tiredly. “Hi hyung. Happy birthday!” Yoseob exclaimed. Hyunseung smiled, thanking the younger and trying to escape before Yoseob started another one of his mood swings.

He wasn’t fast enough.

“My birthday’s still another four months away...” Yoseob mumbled, sadly, because four months seemed like such a long time. “By then I’d have given birth, and I won’t be in the mood to enjoy my birthday because Sohyun and Jihyun are going to be fussy and I won’t get enough sleep and I’ll be cranky all the time,” Yoseob continued, his voice cracking as he spoke. Hyunseung froze, not knowing how he was going to react to that. Why me? Why?

“You know they’re going to be angels,” Hyunseung tried.

“They’re the devil reincarnated! I don’t even get to see my feet anymore because of them!” Yoseob wailed, standing up and looking down in the hopes that his stomach had magically shrunk and that he could suddenly see his feet again. Nope, he couldn’t.

“Oh my god,” Hyunseung muttered, not knowing how to deal with this. Taking a deep breath, Hyunseung tried to think of something else to say that might stop the younger from crying. “Seobie, they’re growing. Isn’t it only normal that you can’t see your feet? You’re having twins, two mini versions of you and Doojoon mixed together. I know it’s hard right now, but… at least you have Doojoon with you,” Hyunseung reasoned, unintentionally biting out the last part.

Yoseob sniffled, looking at Hyunseung and nodding slightly. He caught the hidden meaning behind the last part, and he knew that he was actually still very upset about Junhyung leaving. Hyunseung may not show it much, but everyone knew that he was still extremely affected by Junhyung’s sudden departure. To some extent, Yoseob knew he was a lot luckier. He just couldn’t help but complain about everything and anything.

“I know, hyung. I know.”

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not that fragile,” Hyunseung mumbled. He didn’t like how everyone was giving him looks of pity. He was still hurt, yes. But he was getting back up on his feet, and he didn’t need them to be so careful about every little thing they said. It wasn’t as if he was going to break down just because they touched on a sensitive topic.

“I know that, too. Did you eat yet?” Yoseob asked.

“Yeah. Sungjong and Myungsoo came over with food,” Hyunseung replied with a small smile. Yoseob had taken it upon himself to make sure Hyunseung ate his meals, ever since he’d been hospitalised till now. The younger didn’t want him going through the pain of really losing Ilhoon. He imagined what it would be like if he lost either of his girls, and it wasn’t pretty.

“Gikwang and Dongwoon will be over later with cake. They end school at noon,” he informed, waddling out of the staff lounge and sitting down at his place behind the counter. Hyunseung perked up at that; cake was delicious and he’d been craving for some strawberry cheesecake recently. He just hoped that they would get it for him, and not some other type of cake.

Sungjong looked at his boyfriend, and the elder asked if Hyunseung would be fine without them. He waved them off, telling them to enjoy their date and wishing Sungjong happy birthday again. The couple left after reminding Hyunseung to be careful, as everyone always did. He could only snort at that because Kyujong and Jungmin were hanging around the vicinity of the store, and their sole job was to ensure his safety.

It wasn’t even twenty minutes after they left that Heechul burst out of the staff lounge, uncaring of the strange stares that customers were giving him. Heekyung was sleeping rather soundly despite the racket her mother was making, nestled safely in Heechul’s arms.

“Oh my god guys, we’re going to the hospital!” Heechul announced. Then he looked around the store, noting that there were still customers, and looked at Doojoon. “Will you be fine alone?”

“Why’re we going to the hospital?” Yoseob asked in confusion. “Is Heekyung sick?”

Heechul shook his head quickly.

“Youngwoon just called me. Jungsu’s in labour.”

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

Hyunseung, Yoseob and Heechul headed right for the delivery wing after getting off Hangeng’s car, leaving Heekyung with him because she was still quite soundly asleep. They spotted Ryeowook and Sungmin sitting down not too far away, immediately walking over to them and asking about the current situation.

Ryeowook explained that Jungsu’s water had yet to break although he was already 9cm dilated. He was in pain of course, but he refused to have any drugs to help with the pain. Heechul laughed at this, recalling when he had given birth to Heekyung. The moment they offered the drugs to him, he’d screamed at them and told them that he didn’t want it. “I screamed at them, asking them why I would want to be drugged. It was painful, but I wanted to proudly say that I gave birth naturally, no medications needed. Jungsu probably just thinks that it’s unhealthy though.”

“Masochist,” Sungmin murmured, just loud enough for Yoseob to hear. The pregnant male snickered, earning a glare from Heechul which shut him up quickly.

Hyunseung was about to sit down next to Ryeowook when he was pulled towards the delivery room which Jungsu was in. His eyes widened, and he looked at Heechul in horror when the elder told him to go in and get dressed in scrubs. “What? Why? No!”

“Because Jungsu said so, now go in. They’ll give you scrubs to wear over.”

Without letting Hyunseung protest any further, Heechul pushed him into the room and grinned his signature grin at the nurses and doctors. Jungsu was in too much pain to notice Hyunseung’s arrival, but Youngwoon did and he gave the pregnant male a warm smile before beckoning him over.

Hyunseung was handed a set of scrubs just like Heechul said he would be, which he hastily went to the back and changed into, before going to stand beside Youngwoon unsurely. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked, wincing when Jungsu groaned in obvious discomfort. Youngwoon flinched slightly, and Hyunseung could only guess that it was because of the death grip Jungsu had on his hand.

“Just stand here, hold his hand if you want to. Jungsu just wanted you to see that Ilhoon is worth fighting for,” Youngwoon explained quickly before crouching down, grabbing a towel and wiping Jungsu’s sweat away. He kissed his fiancé on his forehead, and began whispering about how the pain would be over soon enough.

Hyunseung didn’t know what to do or say, so he went to the other side of the bed and held onto Jungsu’s other hand. Jungsu looked up, slightly startled, and gave Hyunseung a weak smile. “Hey.”

“Is it really painful?” Hyunseung couldn’t help but ask. He was afraid, that was for sure. At least Jungsu had Youngwoon to comfort him, and Yoseob would have Doojoon. Who would he have? Geurim? Sungjong? They were both really important to him, sure, but it was obvious who he wanted with him in the delivery room when it was time.

“You could say that,” Jungsu said, his voice sounding completely hoarse. Youngwoon wordlessly grabbed the cup of water placed on the table beside him, putting the straw between Jungsu’s lips and telling him to drink up. The elder smiled gratefully and complied.

“How long have you been in labour?”

“The contractions started around four in the morning, and I was in this room since an hour ago,” Jungsu replied, suddenly scrunching his face up in pain and tightening his grip on Hyunseung’s hand. The younger almost yelped, but managed to hold it in since Jungsu was going through a lot more pain than he was.

“Oh god I need to push. Now.” It wasn’t a question, but Jungsu still looked at the doctor because he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to. His water still hadn’t broken, but to hell with that. His baby wanted out, and he wanted out now. The moment the doctor nodded encouragingly, Jungsu started to push, his grip on Youngwoon and Hyunseung’s hands tightening even more than before.

Either Jungsu was extremely strong, or he was extremely desperate to get his baby boy out because he pushed for a solid two minutes before relaxing, panting and trying to catch his breath. Hyunseung looked at Youngwoon, then at his hand which felt like it was going to break. He knew that Jungsu was in a lot of pain, but how strong could a person get?

It wasn’t even a minute later that Jungsu started pushing again, following his body’s instincts and simply going with the flow. It wasn’t long before Jungsu’s water broke due to him pushing, and the amniotic fluid pretty much splashed all over the doctor. Hyunseung held back the urge to laugh; it didn’t seem very appropriate.

After the doctor cleaned himself up slightly, he announced that he could see the baby’s crown already. Youngwoon smiled, brushing Jungsu’s fringe out of his face and asking, “Did you hear that, baby? You’re doing great.”

“Hyung, you can do this,” Hyunseung encouraged. Jungsu smiled back weakly at the two of them, nodding and resting before the next contraction came. Hyunseung could tell how tired Jungsu was. He had been in labour for a good eight or so hours now. The pain would tire anyone out. But the moment Jungsu heard that he was making progress, he seemed to perk up immediately. Hyunseung honestly wondered if he’d be strong enough to give birth, or would he give up halfway?

No, Ilhoon’s more important than that. Even if I’m not strong enough, I have to endure.

Hyunseung was broken out of his thoughts by another extremely painful squeeze to his hand, and Jungsu grit his teeth and pushed hard. The doctor and nurses counted to 10, and told him that he was doing perfectly fine. It didn’t even take ten minutes for Jungsu to push his baby’s head out completely, and another two pushes as the doctor helped to ease the baby’s shoulders out.

The nurses quickly handed Jungsu his new born son, and it was simply impossible for the elder contain his tears as he gently patted his son’s back. Youngwoon had a hard time keeping his tears at bay, and eventually started crying as well when he heard his son’s first cries.

“Hey Changseob, do you know who I am?” Jungsu asked while crying. Changseob continued wailing, and Jungsu cried even harder with him. Just watching Jungsu and Youngwoon made Hyunseung teary, and he hastily wiped at his eyes before a tear could escape.

“He’s so beautiful. I love you so much, Jungsu,” Youngwoon whispered, kissing his fiancé gently on the lips. Jungsu nodded, unable to find the words to describe his happiness at the moment. He’d gone through nine months of pregnancy, afraid from the start that he would miscarry. He went through months of sleepless nights, back pains and weight gain, just for this moment.

Hyunseung made eye contact with Jungsu and finally understood why the elder wanted him in here.

Ilhoon is worth all of this. I just have to endure a few more months, and my baby boy will be with me.

Inspiration struck and bam! 4.1k words in one chapter hell yeah~

I was going to make this longer, but I have to leave the house and I didn't wanna make you guys wait so I decided to split it into two chapter. So yeah, the next chapter will be shorter than this, but still long (hopefully)

The timeskip was because there wasn't much for me to write as fillers, and I know everyone hates useless fillers. Yep

I hope you guys enjoyed this, and I can't promise a fast update but I'll try my best, as usual :) That's all from me for now then!

Annyeong~! ^-^