Minseok pinched the bridge of his nose lightly as he wondered how he suddenly became the go-to guy for all things related.

“S-So…condoms and lube…got it,” mumbled Jongin as he typed it in his phone as a reminder. “Also, is there a particular scent or flavor you prefer, hyung?”

Minseok blushed furiously at the question. Oh my God, kill me….we never even used them in the first place.

“Jongin, I’m not answering that question,” laughed Minseok shakily, trying to convince himself that he was doing the boy a favor by helping him figure everything out. The last thing we need is another pregnancy…

“Okay, fair enough. So, are there any positions that you recommend?”

“What! Jongin….wouldn’t it be easier if you just…I don’t know, googled all of this? You do know that 40% of the internet is , right?”

“Yeah, but I’d rather hear it from you who’s had first-hand experience. Plus, I don’t like watching that stuff, it feels like I’m cheating on Kyungsoo.”

“I still can’t believe you two are s. Are you sure you’re ready for this? Did Kyungsoo say he was ready?”

“Yup, more than ready. We’ve already blown—”

“Jesus Christ, Jongin! I don’t want to know what you guys have done.”

“Sorry hyung, I can’t control my mouth sometimes.”

“Uhh…it’s okay. Just be safe. I will skin you alive and sell your organs if you get Kyungsoo pregnant. Mark my words.”

“Will do. Thanks for the help, hyung! I’ll leave you alone now and go ask Jongdae hyung some questions now.”

Minseok let out a small chuckle as he watched Jongdae’s mouth fall slightly open as Jongin asked him something.

“Ready to go?” asked Luhan as he approached the elder.

Minseok held his arms upward as Luhan grabbed them and hoisted him to his feet.

“Wow, this is how I can tell you’ve really gained a lot of weight, hyung! I almost threw my back out pulling you up,” laughed Luhan as the pair headed towards the studio exit door.

Minseok feigned laughter as the two made their way to the car. Little did Luhan know that tonight was the night he was going to die.

Laugh all you want at my weight, deer. I’ll be the last one laughing when I push your body off a cliff.

“Hyung, something wrong?” asked Luhan as he observed the elder’s face, which was a mix between a pained smile and a death glare.

“Oh nothing Luhan, nothing at all,” scoffed Minseok as they drove off from the parking lot.

***

It had been a while since Minseok had personally heard from Manager Hyung. He was dying to know what solution he had come up with to handle the scandal.

What if he told the company? What if he’s calling me to officially fire me? Oh my God, my job…I can’t lose my job…

“It’ll be fine, hyung,” winced Luhan, who was desperately trying to relieve his hand from the death grip Minseok had on it.

“Go to practice, Luhan. I’ll go in by myself,” replied Minseok although he made no move to release the poor idol’s hand.

“I have ten minutes to spare. I’m coming in with you.”

Before Minseok could even protest, Luhan pushed open the door to the manager’s office and strolled in, dragging the elder behind.

“Ah, have a seat, boys,” greeted the manager as he fixed the pile of papers on his desk.

“Hi, hyung,” squeaked Minseok as he reluctantly sat down, glaring daggers at Luhan who was returning the look with a lopsided grin.

“So, you probably already know why I called you in here,” started the manager.

Minseok sifted through a plethora of possible outcomes that flooded his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut as he realized this was his last chance to save his job. Do or die.

“Please hyung, don’t fire me. I don’t know what the company has told you, but please I need this job. Hell, I’m only 29 weeks pregnant. Only three and a half more months and I’ll be back to choreographing. You need to give me a chance!”

“Minseok, calm down. Relax, I’m not firing you,” smiled Manager Hyung.

“You’re not?” mumbled Minseok feebly, embarrassment crawling up his neck from his little outburst.

“Nope, instead I’ve figured out how we’re going to do damage control before the damage is even done.”

“What did you come up with, hyung?” asked Luhan hesitantly.

“Well, since there is no link between you two in the media, I figured we take advantage of that. There will be no admitting to your relationship. We will not be announcing your pregnancy. If, for any reason it leaks out, we will not expose Luhan as being the father. We simply can’t take the risk of disclosing that knowledge. The scandal would be detrimental to EXO and the company.”

With each word spoken, Minseok felt his heart sink lower and lower. Although he was glad there was a way to keep Luhan and EXO out of such a massive scandal, he felt guilty towards Lana.

 He felt bad that her own dad couldn’t acknowledge her existence in public in fear of backlash. On top of that, the company was unwilling to recognize their relationship. He felt like a failure towards his daughter because it was none of her fault that she should be kept hidden.

But I guess I just have to accept this. This is the best solution for everyone. Luhan can have his career and I can go back to choreographing without anyone knowing anything.

With everything said and done, the boys headed out with a strong perspective of their futures, yet why did things still seem so unclear and confusing?

***

“Only ten more weeks until your baby arrives,” smiled the nurse as the monitor flicked on and spazzed for a few seconds before projecting the clear image.

Minseok felt like death. He could see the light at the end of the tunnel of the pregnancy, but ten weeks sounded so much longer. His feet now stayed permanently swollen, his mood swings came back full force, and he hated getting out of bed because sleeping sounded so much better than walking around in constant aches and pain.

“Are you going to schedule a date for the birth?” asked Minseok, looking at his baby in the monitor.

“Yes, let me go get the chart and I’ll be right back,” replied the nurse, glancing at the sad disguise Luhan had on before leaving the room.

“You just won’t listen to me, will you?” questioned Minseok, narrowing his eyes at the boy sitting beside him. “I’ve told you this appointment was just to see if everything is coming along fine.”

“I know, but I don’t want to miss out on anything,” grinned Luhan, clearly not giving a if he was caught or not.

“You’re probably going to miss out on the birth…” grumbled Minseok under his breath, glaring at the younger boy who was now ogling the monitor with wide eyes.

“Lana is her thumb! Look!” exclaimed Luhan as he pointed on the screen where the little girl was indeed on her little digit. “She’s so cool. See, this is why I have to come to these unimportant appointments. What if I had missed out on seeing this? I would’ve been sad.”

“Luhan, your definition of sadness is still happier than my version of sadness,” scoffed Minseok, annoyance creeping in his tone as he observed the younger boy.

“That’s because you’re a big depressed whale that got hit by the S.S. Depression,” chuckled Luhan.

Minseok suddenly sat up straight, leaned over, and clobbered the idol on his head with a strong smack.

“I will gut you alive, pull out your intestines, and strangle you with them until you choke. I will then use your skin as a nice play mat for my daughter because YOU, FACE! I’M PREGNANT WITH YOUR CHILD AND HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A ING WHALE. I WILL CHOP YOUR BALLS INTO LITTLE PIECES AND FEED THEM TO MY GRANDMA’S CAT BECAUSE YOU!

“Hyung—”

“Go a , Luhan!”

“But hyun—”

“I said a ing !!”

The loud cough at the door snapped Minseok out of his monologue.

“W-We…uh, have your C-Section date ready, Minseok,” mumbled the nurse before scampering in the room quickly. “It is set for February 1^st. Um, please get the rest of the information from the front desk.”

Minseok watched quietly as the nurse hurried out of the room before glaring daggers at Luhan.

“Hyung, I’m sorr-”

“Shut up, Luhan.”

Minseok pulled himself off the bed and managed to stand up by himself, shaking off Luhan’s arm as the younger boy went to help the elder.

“Let me help.”

“I said shut up.”

“Are you mad at me, hyung? Let me apologize!”

Minseok almost felt a nerve in his forehead burst open. Am I mad? He’s so ing dense!

“Leave me alone,” said Minseok in a dangerous tone as they headed towards the car. C’mon , fight me. I will take your downtown…

“I was just joking earlier! Of course you’re not a whale. I’m so happy that you’re carrying our baby. I would never say anything intentionally mean…”

“Doesn’t matter how you said it, Luhan. You still hurt my feelings,” replied Minseok grimly, trying his best to keep a pout from forming on his face. Why the am I being so sensitive? God. Damn. Hormones.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry! I promise to never hurt your feelings….uhh…I’ll try! It’s just that I don’t know what to exactly say around you. You’ve been so ing moody lately. You hit me for taking too long in the shower. You punched me for eating the last piece of chicken last night. And today you’ve been so on edge that I just wanted to lighten the mood a little…”

“Look, can we just drop this?” stated Minseok, rubbing his forehead in a circular motion to prevent the oncoming headache.

“There’s something else bothering you, am I right?” questioned Luhan with a confused look.

Ding ding ding, we have a ing winner…

“You’re a keeper, Luhan. You’re a special one,” commented Minseok sarcastically.

“Now you’re hurting my feelings,” pouted the younger boy.

“Fine, I’m sorry. Let’s just get home in peace. I need a nap.”

“Okay, I’ll zip my mouth,” grinned Luhan, mimicking the motion of zipping his mouth shut. “Only because I love you!”

“Luhan, shut it!!”

***

Another night where Minseok had a hard time falling asleep. All the stress from the past few weeks was beginning to pile up and take a toll on his mental health.

Minseok knew he dodged a bullet with Luhan’s question. Is there something else bothering you?

There was something bothering him alright. He was beyond stressed. The last thing he wanted was for Luhan to find out the ty condition of his mind. He couldn’t sleep properly at nights anymore and it wasn’t just because of his huge belly.

Minseok had sent in another check to Mr. Lu last week. He felt so guilt-ridden and angry, yet he was glad the old man was keeping his word on not telling anyone about the little secret. Even though he felt like complete and utter for keeping such a big thing from Luhan, Minseok knew he had to justify his actions, and decided to take comfort in knowing that he wouldn’t have to worry about that scandal anytime soon.

However, what plagued Minseok the most was the date of the C-Section. As expected, it fell right in the middle of the EXO comeback stage concerts. The concerts started at the end of January and stretched all the way until March.

Minseok had frantically looked up the schedule after getting the C-Section date and just as he thought, EXO would be performing in Japan on February 1^st.

To say he was disappointed was an understatement. Minseok knew how important the concerts were for EXO and the company. If Luhan missed even one then that would only trigger a load of speculations from the fans.

However, Minseok nonetheless felt upset at how things were turning out. He thought he would deliver a healthy kid with Luhan and his family at his side, and they would all live happily ever after on top of Cloud-ing-9.

But now Luhan would be missing during the birth of the baby. The younger boy’s father was Minseok’s bank account dry. The fans still remained clueless about the whole situation, and now Minseok was strictly forbidden by the company from spilling the beans.

On top of all of that , it had been a while since Minseok had because Luhan wasn’t lying when he said Minseok was a whale because he sure as hell felt like one.

God damn it. Life was hard. Really hard.

**********

a/n-: Life really is hard isn’t it? Hard as Minseok’s >.>