I'm SO sorry for this long delay folks and the fact that this chapter might come off very anticlimactic. This is such a weird chapter to me. It feels so random and all over the place but I was trying to show how real life is unpredictable and random. Does that make sense?

 

I also had this weird faze where I really didn't like this story so... I just couldn't get back into it. But now I'm back and things are flowing. Thanks for sticking with me. I swear I was drunk when I started this and I haven't gotten drunk enough again yet to like, write the same way? It's so weird. Enjoy!

 

---- ---- ---- 

 

Sooooo... it was still Wednesday.

 

Right? How? The ? Baekhyun asked all of this when he'd woken up from this nap.

 

Summer had this mind numbing and lazy way of dragging on forever. Something to do with more daylight hours. This was fine when a person actually had something to do but Baekhyun didn’t. Having a life required having money in his opinion. So he and Sehun killed time by watching movies and gaming before reverting back watching shows. The Walking Dead still had and way of making Baekhyun tear up. (He'd never get over Carl's mom and the baby...)

 

As the seconds crept by and shadows sluggishly spilled across the walls of Baekhyun’s room, Sehun grew uncharacteristically quiet. He was the type to make commentary during movies but he kept his opinion to himself today. Ironically enough this kind of silence was exactly what Baekhyun wanted but now he was a little suspicious. The only time Sehun was this speechless was when he was asleep.

 

Also, Sehun hadn't touched his phone or tablet in hours.

 

The only reason Baekhyun had noticed this was because Sehun had laid the tablet face down and pushed it away like it had personally offended him. Which was weird. It just wasn't like him to ignore his connections to the outside world. Especially now that he was trapped in a house that didn’t even have dial-up.

 

Around dinner time Baekhyun's stomach unleashed a mighty roar. It was so loud that he and Sehun heard it over an action packed scene full of screaming and gunfire. Sehun looked around in confusion before his gaze locked onto Baekhyun. The pregnant teen curled up a bit in embarrassment. 

 

"I guess... we should go search for something to eat..." Baekhyun stood up and groaned when a hunger pain hit him hard in the middle of his ribs. "God... Why do I feel like I haven't eaten in 84 years? We've been snacking all day." 

 

"A few pieces of fruit, nuts, and some veggie chips is hardly a meal." Sehun said as he stood and stretched. Every one of this joints popped. "I think you're supposed to eat every two hours to get you and baby proper nutrients." As he spoke his dark eyes widened. "I read that you might need to eat like, 3500, maybe 4000 calories a day now."

 

Baekhyun gaped. "What? Seriously? I'd have to eat like, four double quarter pounder meals to do that!" 

 

"Baek... I said 4000 calories, not four million." Sehun looked like he'd be sick just at the thought of anything from McDonald's, then he shrugged helplessly. Baekhyun didn't have a problem eating often but there was no way he could down that much food.

 

"What the fu--what am I supposed to do, eat sticks of butter?" He glanced at his light blue walls and paused, completing losing his train of thought. Sehun poked Baekhyun and the smaller boy blinked three times.

 

Yeeeeah.... Baekhyun could totally eat sticks of butter. With caramel syrup melted into them.

 

"W-what were we talking about again?" He asked. "Oh, yeah, food."

 

"You could drink protein smoothies." Sehun suggested, heading for Baekhyun's bedroom door. The smaller teen followed with his shoulders slumped. Sehun gently grabbed him and made him stand up straight then he ruffled his hair affectionately.

 

"Ungh! Noooo!" Baekhyun wailed and wiggled fitfully. "That requires measuring and chopping up fruit and vegetables and ! Who even has time to keep track of that? Counting calories I mean."

 

Speaking of time, precisely five minutes later, Mrs. Byun called the boys down for dinner. She'd picked up two large pizzas from Baekhyun's favorite pizza place. The teen could literally smell deliciousness before she'd gotten into the house. 

 

"Lord, there is a God." Baekhyun swallowed a mouthful of saliva while he looked over their dinner. "And her name is Mom."

 

Mrs. Byun looked way more relaxed with her hair in a loose ponytail, her power suit swapped for comfy leggings and a t-shirt, and her heels replaced with flip-flops.

 

"I know I said we'd talk more once I got home but it's been a pretty long day and I just really need to mellow out." Mrs. Byun took a long sip of her wine and sighed. Baekhyun could just see her mellowness level rising. "How about we take a breather? We can go over some things later this week? After we know the baby status." 

 

Baekhyun quickly agreed to this plan and instructed Sehun to grab the pizza boxes while he got drinks and his trusty bottle of sriracha, then they made their way back upstairs to settle in and eat.

 

And eat Baekhyun did. 

 

Sehun watched in mild awe. "Damn... You really are eating for two..." He coughed like he was a bit uncomfortable. "So... Besides the cucumbers and... that--" Sehun waved a hand towards Baekhyun's sriracha sauce bottle. "--have you had any other weird cravings? " 

 

The smaller teen thought about the question while he chewed. "What's considered a weird craving? Because I want to eat everything. I'm--I mean--the baby and I aren't picky." 

 

Sehun cackled and nibbled a slice of pizza.

 

"I don't know..." Baekhyun wiggled his nose like a bunny as he thought more on the subject. "Last week I was freaking obsessed with strawberries. I felt like I'd die if I didn't have some. I mean, I love them normally but I was having like... fruit wet dreams or something. I even had this one where my mom had bought these huge barrels full of fat, juicy, huge strawberries and they were in the kitchen. I bit into one and all of the juices gushed all over my face and down my chin..." Baekhyun had to pause to swallow very thickly. His mouth was full of saliva suddenly. "But... when I woke up and went downstairs that morning for breakfast, they weren't there. I was super upset... I cried and everything."

 

Sehun smacked the carpet a few times. "Ohmygod, I've had dreams like that too! They feel so real."

 

"Yeah." Baekhyun giggled and blew his longish bangs out of his eyes. "And then I ate nearly five cartons of strawberries at work later that day. I couldn't stop myself even when I started feeling really sick... God, now that I think about it my blood sugar levels were probably high as ." A small shiver ran through his body. "Anyway, now I like, can't handle how sweet they smell. This was before I knew I was pregnant so it kind freaked me out..." 

 

"I heard that can happen. Your cravings will come and go... One day you'll really like a food and then hours later just the smell can make you ill." Sehun puckered up his lips. "Doesn't seem to be the case with you and your taste for "Satan's Blood" and other spicy foods though."

 

Baekhyun didn’t have to ask what that colorful nickname meant and he shook his head.

 

"It's not just anything spicy." He a dollop of red sauce off of his thumb. "I can't stand hotsauce, Tabasco, or jalapeño at all... They taste like sour dirt. And red pepper flakes taste like chalk. It's just the sriracha." Baekhyun sighed wistfully. "Seriously everything tastes freaking amazing to me as long as I put this on it. I actually almost poured some over watermelon slices the other day..." 

 

"Okay, that would classify as a... really weird  craving." Sehun grimaced, eyeing Baekhyun very warily. The smaller teen was squirting a generous amount of sriracha on top of another pizza slice but he paused and leaned back raising his eyebrow in query.

 

"What? Why're you looking at me like that?"

 

"I'm... just amazed you're keeping all of that down... Spicy food is like, pregnant people kryptonite." Sehun hesitated like he was afraid. "You really... don't have any morning sickness?"

 

Baekhyun blinked a few times then shook his head. "I do feel nauseated sometimes. Just not enough to not eat." He took a huge bite and chewed languidly.

 

"You're so lucky," Sehun sighed wistfully.

 

Baekhyun blinked, expression incredulous. "I'm sorry, what??"

 

"Well, the first pregnancy can be difficult and morning sickness can get really, really bad. You can be hyper sensitive to certain smells and some foods... Like tuna." Sehun started picking at his pajama covered thigh. At some point he'd changed into loose fitting soft plaid bottoms and a plain grey t-shirt. He actually looked 17 (and very huggable) to Baekhyun for once.

 

"I mean, ZiTao was. Remember how I did that documentary on his pregnancy? He said it was horrible... What I saw was horrible... He couldn’t keep anything down and I think he lived off of ice chips and Cheez-Its the whole time." Sehun's eyes narrowed as he elaborated.

 

"I mean, it's just insane that you eat sriracha sauce on everything. Seriously, my ing nose hairs are burning away just smelling that stuff. Doesn't it mess up your stomach?"

 

"N-no...?" Baekhyun swallowed thickly and eyed his food nervously. He hadn't considered digestive issues because of his food choices. "I probably... just have a higher tolerance for it? I m-mean, I've been f-fine."

 

"I guess... But maybe take it easy with that stuff so you don't get bad indigestion." Sehun suggested even though he was watching Baekhyun even more cautiously. A moment later he asked.

 

"Have you... thought about what you're going to ask your doctor?"

 

"Not really..." Baekhyun shrugged. "I mean, I have an idea of what to expect after talking to mom this morning but..." He sighed and poked at his belly button then drew circles around it. "But... What if something's wrong and it's my fault?" He thought about his anxiety attack and the worrisome cramping in his side from the other night.

 

"I'm sure everything's fine. Fetuses are tough." Sehun reached over to tenderly brush his hand down the back of Baekhyun's head. The smaller boy leaned into the touch with a whimper. "And... even if something is wrong Baek... You didn't know."

 

And this was true but Baekhyun thrived on self-deprecation so he didn't say anything to defend himself. 

 

The boys finished eating and after a contemplative five minutes of silence, Baekhyun dragged himself up from the floor like his limbs weighed a billion pounds then he trudged to the bathroom. Once finished emptying his bladder, he came back to his room and stretched out onto the floor and closed his eyes. It was probably the heavy dose of carbs but sleep pulled at him like anchors on a canoe. If not for his phone vibrating hard and suddenly against the top of his desk, Baekhyun would have dozed off.

 

"Damn man! What now?" Baekhyun grumbled and crawled across his floor to grab the offending device. He flicked it open roughly to see a text notification. He'd barely read a word before Sehun was hovering over his shoulder and crowding his space.

 

"Who's that?" Sehun practically demanded. "Who would be texting you besides me?"

 

Baekhyun stared at the other boy, frowning and slightly alarmed. This close he could smell the semi-sweet and clean aroma of the other boy's cologne and skin. The scent made Baekhyun's mouth water and his lower belly tighten in something that felt unnervingly like arousal.

 

"D-d-damn, nosey." Baekhyun huffed as he hid the screen of his phone. "It's one of my other friends."

 

"You don't have any other friends." Sehun deadpanned.

 

"Um, yes I do." Baekhyun snapped a bit defensively and pushed Sehun out of his personal bubble. "My track teammates text me all the time, thank you very much."

 

That was only half true. Baekhyun only ever heard from them when they wanted to go run laps to burn off all of the junk food calories they'd eaten or to ask if they could use his employee discount when they went grocery shopping where he worked. The mooching s.

 

Sehun looked visibly disturbed for some reason and Baekhyun felt his 'suspicious but didn't know why' meter rise.

 

"Wait they do?" Sehun eyed Baekhyun's phone warily. "Then... how come you..." He shook his head. "Not to bring him up again, but how come you didn't know about the with Park before I told you? I know your team knows about it because I saw them commenting on the Twitter post."

 

All Baekhyun could do was sigh in exasperation even though secretly he was a little hurt. Why hadn't his teammates called or texted him? They knew he was internet-less and basically isolated from society.

 

"Sehun, look, this might surprise you but not everyone cares about that stuff." He drawled in mild irritation. He felt the need to defend his teammates despite their betrayal. "Most of my teammates are serious athletes. Some of them are even training for the Olympics. Not to mention they have jobs and their own lives... So... So yeah."

 

Sehun legitimately looked amazed by this and Baekhyun couldn't help but laugh. 

 

"So who texted you then?" Sehun blinked a bit dumbly.

 

"Ohmygod, my mom, loser." Baekhyun rolled his eyes. 

 

"Uh, she's right down the hall, skeez." Sehun bit back.

 

Baekhyun ignored Sehun's snappy comeback and typed a reply and hit send. A moment later he received a another text but it wasn't from his mom. It was from his bank account. The pregnant teen's eyelids lowered slightly when he read that he'd just gotten a deposit but he didn't bother to look at the text to see the amount.

 

He knew who it was from.

 

Baekhyun turned to regard Sehun. "Since I know you want to know, mom was just reminding me to take my prenatal supplements..."

 

He cringed and glanced at his bed where the bag of pills lay cowering under it in the dark. Sehun followed his line of sight in bewilderment but Baekhyun didn't make a move to collect his meds. He just sat there with slumped shoulders and a far off look in his eyes.

 

"Uh... Aren't you going to take them? " Sehun asked after a long pause.

 

Baekhyun pursed his lips. "Yeah... in a bit..." He mumbled. Suddenly he felt very exhausted so he crawled into bed and rolled all the way to the other side of his queen sized mattress, silently welcoming Sehun to lay down.

 

Sehun didn't hesitate.

 

Eventually, with screams of bloody murder coming from Baekhyun's TV, the boys dozed off curled up with each other.

 

----

 

Thursday came and it was downright boring and uneventful for most of the day. At least Baekhyun assumed.

 

After breakfast he laid back down and then Sehun's mom had come to get him to take him to work around 9 AM. Baekhyun used those blissful, silent, and calm hours before he started work to just sleep. The world could have ended and he wouldn't have heard a damn thing. It was like he'd reached his sleep debt limit and finally had to pay it all off.

 

Best payment plan ever.

 

When his alarm (the opening theme to "The Walking Dead") went off that afternoon Baekhyun let it cycle through three times before he stopped it. He felt well rested enough but just unwilling to actually get up. In an effort to start moving he rolled onto his side and curled into a ball and hugged his torso. His bed and blanket was so comfortable and it was so cool inside... Baekhyun’s let his palm slide down to cradle his belly.

 

"Nngh... baby I don't wanna get up..." Baekhyun groaned. Ungh! Damn responsibilities. (Not the baby though. Never the baby.)

 

Eventually Baekhyun rolled out of bed (the urge to pee on top of hunger pangs were too strong), showered, and dressed. After a bowl of Golden Graham's and a pep talk to amp himself up, he grabbed his bag, cell, and keys and made his way to the bus stop three blocks from his house. It was a beautiful day and not unbearably hot thankfully.

 

Baekhyun sniffed the air as a slight breeze ruffled his damp hair. Hmm... Someone was grilling. His stomach gurgled, prompting him to look down at it with a curious frown. Of course he didn't see anything but his cotton shirt. He poked a spot on his lower belly that he felt the baby might be chilling in.

 

"...You're greedy..." He mumbled with a small smile.

 

Thirty odd minutes on the bus and a 5 1/2 block walk later, Baekhyun pushed through the doors of his lame job. Not that he didn't appreciate having a moderately decent source of income, his job was still lame. The familiar and sometimes overbearing scent of fresh produce, unique spices, and plastic hit him in the nose hairs. It wasn't unpleasant, just unusual and one of those aromas you never quite got used to.

 

The store was moderately busy as most people were getting off work and trickling in to shop for various items but the small deli and dining area was full to the brim. There was even a long line weaving nearly to the front registers. Business women and men, whole parties of five, or the occasional stray teenager were always coming in to get a taste of the best made from scratch ramen bowls in the city. The ambient everyday sounds of early evening chit-chat, cell ringtones, and the click-clack of chopsticks was sort of soothing to Baekhyun.

 

One of Baekhyun’s co-workers greeted him with a warm smile as he headed for the employee back room to put away his stuff. He had to pass by the deli and dine in area on the way and the delicious scent of savory pork broth almost brought him to his knees. Like it always did. 

 

"Seriously? We just ate..." Baekhyun grumbled. His stomach was begging for food.

 

Baekhyun didn't like spending money at the place that paid him (for obvious reasons) even though he got a 30% discount on hot food. Today he had to stop to get two rice balls before he passed out though. That bowl of cereal from almost an hour ago had long been digested.

 

"Yo! Dude, ohmygod, do you see this mess? Did everyone just like, decide not to cook at home today? The ?" Co-worker Taehyung hissed. He was filling orders almost frantically as Baekhyun scooted behind the hot dish counter to get his food. He made a small note so the head deli supervisor knew to charge him later.

 

"No idea... Has it been like this all day?" Baekhyun cupped and blew at his steaming snack while he eyed the store. More people were streaming into the door heading their way. He could see them over the counter and his heart did a little flip. When it got busy like this, he got sort of anxious.

 

" yeah!" Taehyung groused. His eyes went golf ball wide when he spotted the new crowd. "Kill me... Just throw me into the oven right now! We're down two people. Again. Just !" 

 

He had two huge bowls full of ramen in his grip so he dashed to the front counter and bellowed out a number. He was back three seconds later to grab another order so Baekhyun scrambled out of the way and headed to the employee lounge to get his apron and stash away his bag. He only had about 10 minutes to settle in so he blew harder on his hot rice and pork stuffed treat and ate quickly. After he logged in Baekhyun went out to help in the deli by quickly clearing off dirty dishes, wiping down tables, and delivering appetizers. His agility and flexibility as a runner had really come in handy for once.

 

He'd hoped and prayed for a quiet day but so much for that. It was going to be a long 5 1/2 hours.

 

"Maaaaaan," Taehyung sighed in obvious exhaustion. He was nearly laying on top of the back kitchen counter. "You are a life saver. I know I said kill me but I didn't really want to die. That was intense."

 

Before Baekhyun knew it an hour had passed. When there was finally some down time he went off to show his supervisor his doctor's note. 

 

"Oh hell..." Miss Ahn groaned. "Please don't tell me that's a two weeks notice. Not you too sweetness."

 

Baekhyun shook his head, a little weirded out by his supes reaction. She took the note and read it from behind her silver rimmed spectacles. 

 

"You sick?" Miss Ahn looked around. "You got a that stuff?"

 

"Um... What... stuff?" Baekhyun asked in confusion. Oh lord had someone found out? He'd read his note 10 times and it had been discreet.

 

Dr. Matthews' eloquent handwriting had left out his pregnancy but detailed his anemia and potential for being faint or feeling weakness if he over worked. When she was done reading Miss Ahn looked him over critically and a bit anxiously. She was an older woman who reminded him a lot of his grandmother. She'd seen him busing tables. 

 

"Nevermind. So... How are you feeling right now?" She asked in a sort of clipped and wary tone. Baekhyun realized too late he probably should have shown his note before he'd dived into work and before he thought better of it he placed his hands over his stomach and paused to see if he'd felt any suspicious cramping or aches. He felt fine. A bit frazzled, but fine.

 

"I feel... okay, I guess." Baekhyun replied honestly. 

 

He was immediately told he was on stock duty. 

 

This was easy but tedious and time consuming work because the grocery store was roughly the size of a huge warehouse. Goods and products from Japan, Korea, China, India, and a few other places in the east lined the shelves. If anyone asked, Baekhyun loved the place actually. As a consumer.

 

Before he'd gotten a job here he used to stop in for fresh made ramen and spicy Korean chicken wings a few times a week.

 

Aaah~, those were the good old days when he was oblivious to financial woes.

 

It should come as no surprise but a typical day at the store could be pretty hectic and exhausting (like earlier), especially if Baekhyun was working the register. Most days he had to practically drag himself around to get anything done but today he felt energized and focused.

 

He even felt a little giddy.

 

Here he was re-arranging the instant ramen isle all while he had a little human growing inside of him. It was kind of cool the more he thought about it.

 

And... about that.

 

Now that he was moving slower, Baekhyun realized quickly that he was hyper aware that he was pregnant. Suddenly everything was a potential hazard. Every movement he made was thought out and calculated before being executed with the utmost care. When he had to pick up a heavy box or bend over to grab items, he made sure to bend his knees, check the linoleum floors for signs of wetness, and move cautiously The last thing he needed to do was to slip and fall.

 

During his break Baekhyun wandered off to a semi-private spot in the stock room to snack on raw sugar snap peas, beef jerky, and boiled tea eggs. He was starving and it took intense effort for him to eat like he had manners. He really would need to eat more to stave off hunger.

 

And heeding Sehun's advice, he only lightly drizzled his snap peas in sriracha this time though. Each bite was more delicious than the last. 

 

"See, you like this too. That's why you don't make me feel like crap." Baekhyun said softly to his belly.

 

It was sort of comforting knowing he wasn't alone and literally had someone inside of him to share his innermost secrets with. He could talk to his developing fetus in ways he couldn't with Sehun and his mom.

 

Just as he was about to make another comment, two co-workers walked past him. Both nodded in greeting. Baekhyun dropped his hand from his stomach quickly, hoping they hadn't overheard him. He knew for a fact one of them--both girls--had a hard crush on him. He still had trouble remembering her name but everyone just called her 'Z'. She brought him snacks and talked him up everyday. Even invited him to hang out. Baekhyun actually thought she was really cool--she took martial arts and practiced fencing--but there was one problem...

 

Z couldn't stand Chanyeol. Like, at all.

 

Baekhyun honestly didn't know why and it wasn't his place to question her. After what Sehun had told him it wasn't hard for Baekhyun to consider that maybe Chanyeol had done Z dirty and that her dislike for him was founded.

 

She'd been very overtly pleased when Chanyeol had quit. Like, vindicated.

 

Chances were she'd change her opinion of Baekhyun once she found out he was carrying Chanyeol’s child. That upset Baekhyun a lot.

 

"Great..." Baekhyun breathed. He hadn't thought about his wayward baby daddy all day even after a customer had asked where that tall handsome young man with the big cute ears and goofy smile was. (Seriously only one person matched that description). She hadn't been happy with how another worker had bagged her groceries. That same worker (some new guy) had sent Baekhyun a scathing glare like it was his fault.

 

Not that Baekhyun didn't get along with his co-workers. They just knew he'd been "close" to Chanyeol. His sudden departure from the company had left a bit of tension behind.

 

Baekhyun discreetly watched Z and the other girl chat and move around crates of items for the store. In another lifetime he would have even considered dating Z. She was lovely and kind and always smelled like sugared grapefruit. He really liked that scent.

 

Now she was just someone else he had to compete with for overtime hours and he couldn't talk to her about his life problems. 

 

It was probably obvious but many of the employees at Baekhyun's job were his age, broke, aimless, and they didn't know about life. 

 

They also didn't know how to keep their mouths shut.

 

The mere idea of a new infant would send some of them into an absolute twittering and excited mess. It was scary to say it but they were worse than Sehun. Since Baekhyun still had to work out how to tell his boss that he was expecting, he didn’t need a co-worker flapping their gums about his pregnancy before he was ready. 

 

"Should I wait until I start showing...?" Baekhyun mumbled very quietly to himself. Technically he was far enough along to safely consider revealing his pregnancy to people but the urge to stay quiet overpowered any need he felt to share.

 

Baekhyun stood up and pulled his work apron tight at his waist, pretending to re-tie it. There was a very slight curve in his lower abdomen. As long as he kept his apron loose his changing body wasn't obvious.

 

But his face--specifically his cheeks and skin--was another issue though. A huge issue. That morning Baekhyun had caught sight of the "glow" Sehun had vaguely alluded to in the mirror when he'd been brushing his teeth after breakfast.

 

Baekhyun had paused and leaned into the glass on the wall until his nose nearly touched it.

 

"What... sorcery is this..?" He'd breathed in disbelief. Crest toothpaste had dribbled out of his mouth and down his chin.

 

"See what I mean?" Sehun had said from behind him.

 

He was shirtless and damp from a shower. Baekhyun had had to will himself to snatch his gaze away from Sehun's reflection then he'd stared at himself again in mute awe.

 

His skin really did look gorgeous blushed over dusty peach in some places and supple all over. He'd never seen his pores so clear, his face so dewy fresh, or his complexion so flawless. 

 

Okay, that was actually a lie. He'd looked like this the morning after his first time with Chanyeol. It had been so obvious Baekhyun just had and was high on hormones. He could feel the words "THAT'S RIGHT ES! I HAD !" branded across like a... Like a hot brand. (That sting had just been some love nips Chanyeol had left on him.)

 

Now he may as well have had "YES, I'M PREGNANT! WHAT?" stamped across his forehead in rainbow color block letters.

 

"H-How am I supposed to hide this?!" Baekhyun had cried. "I-I look--my face--I c-can't look like this! I can't look--"

 

"Amazing? Perfect? ...Beautiful?" Sehun had said sort of wistfully.

 

Baekhyun had almost swallowed his toothbrush. Were those compliments supposed to help?

 

"Look, if anyone asks why you look like you've been heavily edited, just say it's this new BB cream you're trying from... Urban Decay or MAC or something." Sehun had said flippantly.

 

Baekhyun had pulled a face. It was one thing to tell a fib but to bold face lie about he couldn't afford and would never buy? Just no.

 

"Okay fine, from uh... Maybelline then?" Sehun had suggested. Baekhyun nodded eagerly. He recognized that brand.

 

"Right! I'll call it, "Alive, Blessed and Fabulous. AB&F". Sehun had snapped his fingers and looked off into the distance. "Damn, that's good. I totally just made that up. Should I patent that? I'm a genius."

 

Baekhyun had agreed to the makeup idea. It would be so much easier to pass his suddenly airbrushed skin off as something that came from a tube of tinted foundation and not nature and hormones doing . 

 

And lord, speaking of the hormones. 

 

There were two types in a pregnancy Baekhyun had quickly learned. Emotional and biological. Both were fighting for dominance over his body and sanity. The mood swings were mostly okay--crying was normal--but he'd actually been wrong about not experiencing morning sickness because he'd confused it with bad nerves or car sickness. 

 

Now that Baekhyun was really paying attention, he realized he gagged violently after catching a wiff of something his delicate senses didn’t agree with as he made his rounds through the store. It was so sudden, the bile in his throat, that Baekhyun hadn’t been able to stop himself from making an almost obscenely gross choking sound. 

 

"Ohmygod..." Baekhyun clamped his hand over his mouth and panted hard, his saliva thick and sour. Slowly he took a step back, lowered his hand and glanced around. Thankfully no one was nearby.

 

The ill episode happened at the threshold bewteen fresh produce and the meat counter. Baekhyun found that he couldn’t function near the raw meat without a face mask heavily misted with spearmint breath spray because everything smelled like old blood, latex, and industrial grade bleach. His stomach turned itself inside out almost painfully at the mix of pungent scents.

 

Amazingly this did not stop him from craving meat. Not at all. He was hungry as much as he was grossed out. What was funny and sort of ironic is this actually wasn't new. Like he'd told Sehun, Baekhyun had been feeling sort of off for weeks. He'd thought he had food poisoning or a stomach bug.

 

He sort of did. It was a little mooching parasite called a fetus. 

 

"God, I'm oblivious as ..." Baekhyun groused as he counted bags of frozen dumplings. He couldn’t believe he hadn't noticed all of these symptoms before today. They didn't flare up while he was at home either.

 

Still, what mattered most was that Baekhyun knew his pregnancy was normal. That included the lower backache, sore feet, and near constant need to pee. He'd made notes to ask his doctor about later and read over his pregnancy pamphlets. It would do nothing but hurt him to stay in the dark. 

 

Fear of the unknown was so much worse than knowing. 

 

By the time Baekhyun clocked out at work he was feeling pretty awesome and eagerly looking forward to Friday and his first sonogram. Today had been pretty good. An added bonus was that none of his classmates came in craving quick salty snacks, breathing over the fresh produce, being loud, looking for Chanyeol, and taking up space. 

 

"I can't wait to see you." Baekhyun cooed to his tummy.

 

He missed Z standing off to the side waiting for her ride by the front door.

 

Sehun had decided to stay the night again because it would save Baekhyun a trip across town to pick him up and they'd made plans to meet up at a frozen yogurt shop by Baekhyun's house.

 

The taller boy had worked his regular shift at the coffee shop earlier that day and periodically texted Baekhyun angry or sleepy emojis with no explanation. Baekhyun knew Sehun must have had a bad day to say so little in his texts but he still perked up and smiled when he spotted Sehun across the shop.

 

"Hey Seh--"

 

"--This whole day can go EFF itself. Hard!" Sehun hissed, censoring himself because they were in public and around children and the elderly. He practically flopped into his chair and he looked irritated and beaten down in a plain dark blue tee and distressed jeans and sneakers. There was no product in his hair so his bangs flopped into his eyes after he pulled off his sunglasses.

 

Baekhyun suddenly realized how dressed down Sehun had gotten that morning. This wasn't a good sign.

 

"I am so tired. I'm done. I might quit." Sehun rubbed his hand down his face in obvious exhaustion. He had a very faint five o'clock shadow above his pink top lip and a dusting on his chin.

 

"W-what happened?" Baekhyun asked, blinking rapidly.

 

"Ungh, it's so stupid but we ran out of toasted coconut cream cold brew." Sehun explained in clear exasperation and disbelief before he took a small bite of his peach fro-yo. 

 

It took Baekhyun a few minutes to formulate a reply. The mere mention of anything food related made his mind go blank. He'd been like this all day. At work earlier someone had mentioned cooking steak and Baekhyun had nearly run into a shelf full of seasonings craning his neck to stare at them while they compared different cuts of beef. He couldn’t be near raw meat, that didn't mean he couldn't look at it.

 

"Toasted coconut cream...?" Baekhyun mumbled around his lime green icecream spoon. "That sounds yummy." 

 

"It is yummy, but Baek--" Sehun looked down at Baekhyun's belly. "--that's not the point. Nevermind that I slept horribly, you should have seen those A-holes react like I told them they had 30 days to live. See, this is why I don't drink coffee, that shi--I mean--that crap--is habit forming. And I don't need another ad--tion." He in a breath and exhaled slowly through his nose.

 

"Wow..." Baekhyun breathed, totally not missing Sehun's not so subtle innuendo.

 

"Yeah, wow." Sehun echoed. "Anyway, I had to drive across town to get more of the syrup from two different shops in one of my coworkers ty cars with no AC... Jee. Sus. Was that effing horrible, I hate driving in rush hour traffic--and would you believe they were out too?"

 

Baekhyun's eyes widened a little bit. He wanted to ask Sehun how he was allowed to drive alone when all he had was a learner's permit but he couldn't speak. His mouth was full of strawberries and birthday cake batter flavored fro-yo goodness.

 

"I feel like I need another day off but we're understaffed so I can't be that guy. You know?" Sehun whined.

 

Baekhyun just nodded as Sehun took a big bite of fro-yo. While they snacked Sehun's phone vibrated endlessly. Baekhyun could feel it through the table.

 

Sehun ignored it.

 

"Why didn’t you sleep well?" Baekhyun asked after a pause. He didn't remember feeling Sehun tossing and turning or anything.

 

"I just... had a lot on my mind..." Sehun said, glancing away from Baekhyun's concerned gaze.

 

"But anyway, my crappy day aside, hello and how are you and BB doing?" Sehun's bad mood seemed to just slip away suddenly. His voice had gone very soft and his face actually brightened. Then his gaze raked over Baekhyun curiously, almost like he was examining something very fragile and priceless while looking for signs of wear and tear. 

 

Baekhyun wiggled in his seat and tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear. He couldn’t look Sehun in the eye suddenly.

 

"God, I've been thinking about you two all day." Sehun breathed and dragged his teeth across his bottom lip. "Did you eat lunch? Was it busy? I hope you didn't work too hard or lift anything too heavy."

 

Baekhyun's cheeks heated up as this warm, gooey, and coiling sensation wrapped around his senses and lower belly at Sehun’s tender tone and open concern. He didn't understand the feeling but it felt nice.

 

Really nice. 

 

"Um... We're okay." Baekhyun said and went on to brief his day in boring detail. He left out the part where he'd played waiter and bus boy though. Sehun nodded like he was very pleased that the hardest thing Baekhyun had done that day was lift a few three pound heads of red cabbage.