“You want to eat out? With that thing? In public?”

“Yes, yes, and yes,” Ryeowook turned to Kyuhyun. “We shouldn’t be staying here until the smoke clears out. Smoke is harmful for a baby.”

“No, no. All the smoke is gone, see?” He gestured to the living room which admittedly still looked a bit hazy. An hour of open windows will only do so much.

“C’mon Kyu, this whole place reeks of it,” Ryeowook complained. “Even if the baby’s fake I’d love to not smell like burned pizza tomorrow.”

“I happen to love slightly overcooked pizza,” he said disregarding the fact that he’d cooked to pizza to ash.

Ryeowook ignored him, “We can go somewhere simple. Get some food, buy an ice cream…”

Kyuhyun abruptly turned his head up, inquisitive. “Oh, you know what?” he said, sniffing the air. “I think the smell is fading. Yeah, yeah, you can hardly even tell we burned anything.”

“Kyuhyun…”

“In fact, when the food delivery person gets here, we should have him take a sniff. Bet you he won’t even smell a thing.” To prove his point, Kyuhyun inhaled a lungful of air. The smoke had him hacking almost immediately

Bent over the couch coughing, Kyuhyun felt Ryeowook gently patting his back. Coughing for him always felt borderline deadly. By the time his coughs slowed down to nothing, his face was burning. He turned back around, just a little humiliated.

Ryeowook continued to rub his arm with his face filled with concern. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, eyes round. 

The second their eyes connected, Kyuhyun knew it was coming.

That strange stirring started in his chest sending an overwhelming sense of warmth throughout his body. His throat closed up even when his every thought demanded to be spoken. The world became fuzzy but Ryeowook remained clear. He felt dizzy. Ryeowook stared on, concerned. His warm, brown eyes were only making things worse and Kyuhyun was actually quite surprised with himself when he got out a sentence.  

“I think we should go out to eat,” he croaked.

Ryeowook beamed, “I agree.” Then he ruffled Kyuhyun’s hair and went to pack the doll for travel.

And luckily he did so as it gave Kyuhyun a chance to recompose himself and thank the heavens the coughing already turned him bright red.

***

It happened often. Sometimes he’d just glance to his side and see him or maybe Ryeowook would bounce up from behind and play “Guess who?” but at the strangest of times, Kyuhyun would find his breathe stolen by the most beautiful man before him. His heart, his mind, his every defense. All parts of him Ryeowook didn’t know he was taking.

“Kyuhyun!”

He jumped, still a little shaky from. Letting out a breath, he called back, “I’m coming!”

Turning back to the desk before him, he hastily fished out an old key from a bowl. Slipping it into the top second drawer, Kyuhyun unlocked the box of spare change and coupons. He rifled through the old papers until he’d managed to find seven dollars and a quarter.

“Dammit,” he muttered under his breath.

“Kyuhyun!” came Ryeowook’s voice.

“Just a second!” he yelled. Then he turned back the messy drawer. Desperately, he flipped through one more time only to come up empty handed.

Cursing his financial situation, Kyuhyun grabbed what he had and sprinted out of his room.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said sheepishly, buttoning up his jacket.

“No problem,” Ryeowook smiled. “You carry the baby and I’ll carry the bags?”

“Deal.”

Kyuhyun slipped on his shoes and grabbed the carrier before heading out.

The evening scent was a breath of fresh air; literally. The night was clear and calm so Kyuhyun found himself relaxing with ease. When they reached the car, he could hardly remember the rancid odor from the apartment.

Ryeowook’s car was a small little hybrid. It could hardly fit three people and a cat but it matched his boyfriend well. Even Kyuhyun would admit it beat sharing a car with Heechul.

Swinging open the back door, Kyuhyun set the car seat into the very center because that was the safest. He didn’t give it a second thought until he was buckling his own seat in the front.

“Um, Kyuhyun?”

“Yeah?” He looked up. “What?”

Ryeowook was peering over his shoulder. “Well, the car seat is backwards.”

Kyuhyun turned around to look. “No it’s not,” he said, frowning.

“Yes it is. The baby’s supposed to be facing the other way.”

Kyuhyun scoffed at the absurdity of that, “No. I’m pretty sure the baby faces front.”

“Kyuhyun, who knows more about babies; me or you?” Ryeowook stared at him expectantly.

He opened his mouth to protest, but then realized that was futile. “You,” he admitted dejectedly. Ryeowook smiled in triumph. “But that car seat is not facing the wrong way,” he added.

Ryeowook stared at him, exasperated. Kyuhyun however, would not believe that he was wrong about a simple car seat and it took pulling out the seat, showing him the instructions on the back, and Googling the proper examples before he finally flipped the seat around. He still wouldn’t admit he’d been wrong.

They ended up going to a restaurant Ryeowook knew because Kyuhyun never ate out. Technically it served fast food except Ryeowook didn’t eat fast food. Therefore it was a restaurant. That served fast food.

Inside the restaurant lingered the scent of oil and linoleum. Young adults crowded the rooms in the weekend rush. Kyuhyun had to carry in the doll complete with car seat which was more than a little troublesome. He’d bumped into more people than he could count, really.

Many people did a double take when they saw the carrier. Some even craned their heads to get a better look at the doll.

“Guess I’m not the only one who’s never seen a baby,” he joked to his boyfriend. Ryeowook only gave a half-nod of agreement.

They were waiting in line to place their orders when Kyuhyun noticed the young woman glaring at him.

Now to be honest, ever since he’d started dating Ryeowook, Kyuhyun had pretty much gotten used to the weird stares and whispers that would surround them in public places. He’d kind of had to. But this time, them being a couple was not obvious. 

With arms full of the doll’s stuff, Kyuhyun certainly wasn’t holding Ryeowook’s hand. Heck, he couldn’t even touch him. Yet the woman continued to give him a look akin to ones from shameless homophobes.

Noncommittally, Kyuhyun glanced behind him, but nope. The only people behind him were two old men and a waitress. They didn’t appear to be in a relationship either so it couldn’t have been them. When he turned back around, the woman was still glaring.

Ryeowook who had been standing on his tiptoes to see the menu finally gave in for the sack of his pride.

“Kyuhyun, can you see what’s at the bottom of the pasta menu? That man’s head is blocking my view.”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, um,” Kyuhyun craned his neck. “There’s a bunch of different sauces and extra topping like meatballs and parmesan.”

“Oh, okay. Get me a small Penne Rosa with grated parmesan. I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Sure thing,” Kyuhyun nodded distractedly.

“Thanks!” Ryeowook chirped. But right before left, he gently touched Kyuhyun’s arm, “Oh, and don’t mind the stares, okay? They’re just too ignorant to understand.” 

Kyuhyun blinked at his boyfriend who flashed an encouraging smile before vanishing into the crowd. He was marveling at the smaller’s ability to notice the smallest things when apparently the glaring woman decided this was the perfect time to ambush him.

She swiftly strode up to him, brown hair swooshing as she walked.

“So,” she said when she was almost next to him, “how old is your baby?”

Kyuhyun blinked, clearly caught off guard, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Your baby,” she motioned to the carrier he was holding, “how old is it?”

Raising an eyebrow, he glanced down at the motionless doll. All tucked up in the blanket, it was still staring with colored on hair and no eyelids. It seemed pretty fake to him. But the woman, who was standing a good three feet away from him and looking anywhere but there, obviously thought it was real. That explained a lot.

“Um, ma’am,” he rubbed his neck, trying to think of how to explain it without looking weird. “This isn’t really, uh-”

“How. Old. Is. It,” the woman repeated, much stiffer than before

Kyuhyun cocked his head at her voice. It was b with attitude.

“Three months,” he finally answered.

“Oh,” the lady scanned him disapprovingly, “and how old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“And the mother?”

“Same.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

The lady continued to stare at him and Kyuhyun stared right back. The line moved forward without him but he didn’t care. Though the woman’s face was stoic, her eyes burned with judgment. Kyuhyun could feel himself getting irritated at her mere presence.

“So,” he said, smiling, “is that all you wanted to ask?”

The lady folded her arms. In the noisy restaurant it seemed she did not hear him.

“You must be pretty proud of yourself. Looking after the child.”

Kyuhyun shrugged, “It is my child.”

“Yeah,” the woman nodded. “It’s funny what a lot of men think that means.”

“What are you talking about-?”

“Let me ask you, did she want to keep the baby?”

“Excuse me?” Kyuhyun frowned, clearly taken aback.

“Did she want the baby? Or did she want her life?”

It took him a second to understand. When he did, he could hardly believe a stranger was asking him this. “Is that any of your business?”

“I’m just wondering since you do feel so obliged to stay-”

“I stay because this is my daughter,” he snapped.

“Yes, until you leave. Then what the hell is she?”

“Oh, so you can predict the future now? Who said I was going to leave?”

“Thousands of single mothers across the country.”

“So I’m just another statistic to you? Don’t you have better things to do than judge people based on stereotypes?”

“Didn’t you have better things to besides getting girls pregnant?”

By now, their conversation had attracted the attention of more than half the restaurant. The line had fallen silent at the woman's last comment and it was just a matter of time before they were thrown out by management. But before Kyuhyun could snap out a retort a voice broke his concentration.

“Kyuhyun!” An arm pulled him backwards and Kyuhyun nearly stumbled into a very flustered Ryeowook. “I go to the bathroom and you start a fight?” 

“Did you hear what that woman said? That is so out of line-”

"I do not care what she said," he hissed. Snatching the carrier out of Kyu’s hands, Ryeowook stormed back up to the lady.

“Look ma’am, this baby is fake. It is a health class assignment." The mood immediately shifted from intense to just tense. "I’m sorry if my friend offended you; he just gets a little carried away sometimes.”

The woman noticeably stiffened at the shorter’s words. Heck, she looked like she was holding back her vomit. Kyuhyun would have laughed had he not been so pissed.

“Don’t apologize!” he snapped, snatching the carrier back. "This woman does not deserve an apology.

You know what lady?” he turned towards her, “I have been running on five hours of sleep for over thirty hours now and the last thing I care about is if I’ve offended you."

"Kyuhyun..." Ryeowook begged.

He completely ignored him. "Real teen parents don’t need crap like yours, okay? They need support and some understanding and if all you can give is judgment then screw you.”

Grabbing Ryeowook’s hand, Kyuhyun stormed out the restaurant leaving behind a flustered woman and amused audience.

What were people’s reactions to the baby? Were they what you expected? How did they make you feel?

A lot of people kept staring at me. They apparently all needed new glasses because they couldn’t tell it was a fake doll.

I did not expect a woman to come up and start accusing me of getting girls pregnant. I in fact do have better things to do than that. And it was based on her belief that all men leave? My own father left but that generalization is still not something I approve.

The stares were awkward not because I’m not used to stares but more because if the baby started crying I would have had to chime in and then everyone would realize the baby was fake, they were dumb, and I’d feel bad for them. Actually no, I wouldn’t. They weren’t even trying to be subtle so they don’t deserve my sympathy. You know what this assignment made me realize? People . 

6:47 pm

“Say something,” Kyuhyun prodded.

Nothing.

“Anything.”

His ice cream sat, untouched.

“Please?”

Ryeowook sighed and looked up at him, “What do you want me to say? ‘Good job standing up for someone you were pretending to be?’”

Kyuhyun's shoulders sagged a bit, “That is something.”

“Yeah. It is.”

They continued to pick at their food as they sat on the apartment stairwell. The baby sat by near the railing.          

After some more silence, Kyuhyun spoke again, “What did that woman think she was doing, accusing me like that?"

Ryeowoko sighed, "Just let it go, Kyu."

"No way! If I were a real teen parent-”

“But you’re not.”

“But I am.”

Ryeowook stared at him. Kyuhyun was level. “I am for this weekend.”

Ryeowook looked at him then sighed, “This stuff happens, Kyu. With teen parents? Maybe they’re not causing a scene in the middle of a restaurant but the judgment, the glares; it happens.”

“Is that our society now; bash the people in need?”

“No. It’s always been like this.”

Kyuhyun didn’t reply.

Ryeowook slowly stirred his melting ice cream. Frozen fat as he liked to call it. It had become fatty sludge now, but he ate it up anyways. He deserved some after tonight.

A loud slurping sound suddenly echoed through the halls. Ryeowook looked over to his side. His boyfriend was perched on the steps, sipping juice through his bendy straw. Ryeowook couldn't help it when the corners of his mouth twitched up. Not just because of how Kyuhyun looked but because even if his boyfriend knew he wouldn't care.… Ryeowook wished he could be like that.

“You know, it’s usually just the girls,” he said, interrupting Kyuhyun’s slurping.

His boyfriend looked over. “What is?”

“The insults. They're usually only directed towards girls with babies."

"There are more girls in the class," Kyuhyun pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's different for them," Ryeowook frowned. … … … Stories challenging his faith in society poured back into his mind. "The guys with the babies are usually praised while the girls… the girls are told to keep their legs shut.

"You know what happened to this one girl in my class?” Kyuhyun shook his head. “Another girl, teenager just like us, passed by her in a coffee shop and right in front of my classmate, she says to her friends, ‘Well I guess we know what she got.’ You know what I got? Free coffee.”

Kyuhyun scoffed, "And of course I get the one crazy that's screaming at me for something I haven't done."

“But she thought you would,” Ryeowook reminded him. and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling, “Guys can always leave. People even expect them to. But with girls; you keep the baby, give up the baby, don’t even have the baby. There’s scolding for all of them. You lose no matter what.”

Kyuhyun contemplated this for a moment.

“I suppose that makes the world unfair in our favor.”

Ryeowook bit his bottom lip but nodded.

Kyuhyun chuckled. Then sighed. “So… what do we do?”

Ryeowook shrugged, “What can we do? Stay loyal and… respect the women.”

...

They lay there quiet for a minute. Then he heard Kyuhyun scramble up beside him.

“Where you going?” he yelled as his boyfriend sprinted up the staircase.

“To tell my mom I love her.”

I wonder if anyone got the Calvin and Hobbes reference…

This chapter got a lot longer and more serious than I thought it would get. I realize these topics aren’t the darkest stuff there is but they are very relevant to society, both Eastern and Western. This is my first time writing about such topics in a story and I apologize if it offended anybody.

When I did the baby project, I got many strange looks in public but was lucky enough to avoid actual confrontation. Other girls in my class were not so fortunate. Kyuhyun’s argument was based off an actual occurrence my friend experienced while another girl was indeed told to “keep her legs shut.” These things aren't uncommon and can make the one recieving them feel guilty about themselves. I think the saddest thing is when these comments come from other girls.

There were no guys in my class so I didn’t get any record on their experiences but from my teacher’s past experience boys do have it easier.

Thank you for reading.

(Happy Mother’s Day!)