Chanyeol knew he would not last for a week. Not even for five days. As he sits in his office, gazing at the abandoned paper works, he figures that he needs a break. Baekhyun didn’t reply to his texts after he went home. He only received an email from Baekhyun’s assistant, Jongin – saying that his appointment has been postponed because Mr Byun’s son’s condition had gotten worse.

Clenching onto his phone, he dashes out the door, ignoring his own assistant’s objections. Chanyeol stops by the gift store, faintly smiling when he sees the whole basket of red apples. The drive to the hospital has never felt so short.

He gnaws on his bottom lip as he holds onto the basket of fruits, wiping his sweaty palm on his suit before he knocks on the door. He thinks that he hears Baekhyun’s laugh from the other side, accompanied by another’s voice. He just hopes that it’s anyone but Kris. Chanyeol rolls his eyes.

Welcoming himself into the ward, Chanyeol’s gaze land on Baekhyun’s startled figure and a woman’s surprised, widened eyes.

Chanyeol stands by the door, stunned. “Mom?” 

The older woman looks astonished, yet pleased to see her son. “Chanyeol?”

“What—” He glances between his mother and his ex in confusion. “What are you doing here, mom?”

His mother frowns at his question that seemed rather rude, but Chanyeol could not help his curiosity. “I-I mean, it’s nice to see you…but I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Well,” His mother takes a bite of the raspberry scone in her hand. She must’ve brought them here. How typical of her. “I missed seeing little Junhyun and Jaehyun, so I invited Baekhyun out for lunch but he said that he’s at the hospital, so I came over to visit.”

The explanation somehow confuses him even more. “W-wait, you guys know each other?”

“Yes… We met at the park a few months ago,” Baekhyun replies, awkwardly staring at both the mother and her son. “What brings you here, Mr Park?”

“I-I… Apples—” Chanyeol mumbles incoherently. “I wanted to visit…and I bought some apples…”

“Be sure to peel the skin off. Lord knows how dangerous the waxes on the apples are,” His mother makes a sudden remark. Chanyeol only stands by the door, perplexed. “You could’ve brought something easier for the children to eat, like scones.”

“Gosh, mom, screw your scones,” Chanyeol grunts before his mother hisses at him. “I mean—hey, Jun! Nice to see you again!”

Junhyun waves at him, mouth full of scones with his lips smudged with raspberry sauce. “Uncle!”

Baekhyun approaches him with a small smile, thanking him as he takes the basket of red apples out of Chanyeol’s grasp and places it on the table. “Thank you, Mr Park, that’s very nice of you.”

Chanyeol chuckles sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “It’s no big deal. I’m surprised that Junhyun remembers me, though.”

“He’s too friendly,” Baekhyun rolls his eyes playfully. “Kept on asking where his uncle went.”

Chanyeol awkwardly smiles—now that Baekhyun is starting to address him as Junhyun’s “uncle” too, it starts to make him feel uncomfortable. “Uh, how is Jaehyun doing?”

“Not too well for now…” Baekhyun says, a tinge of sadness laced in his voice.

Too caught up in their small conversation, Chanyeol does not notice the wary look that his mother sends their way before she decides to speak up. “How do you two know each other?”

Chanyeol splutters, feeling scandalized when Baekhyun pretends not to hear her, opting on letting Chanyeol answer. “W-We—Uh, I… A few years ago—”

“I’m his wedding planner,” Baekhyun interrupts him with a grin as he turns to Chanyeol’s mother. “Mr Park’s fiancée, Chaeyoung, had been ecstatic to have me as their wedding planner. I suppose that we got closer as time goes by.”

“Yup,” Chanyeol instantly agrees, sweating. “That was exactly what I wanted to say.”

He has to pretend he doesn’t hear Baekhyun scoffing slightly. His mother, however, no longer seemed pleased.

“Oh,” She deadpans. “At least the girl had done one thing right, to hire you as a wedding planner. It wouldn’t be such a mess.”

“Stop, mom,” Chanyeol warns, knowing where the conversation is heading to. And frankly speaking, he’d want to do nothing but walk out of it before it gets out of hand. “Don’t do this here.”

Baekhyun blinks. “Mr Park and Ms Kim is a very tolerable couple, actually. Most couples are usually bossy and hard to please, but I have no problems with these lovebirds so far.”

“Junhyun, do you want grandmamma to read to you?” She suddenly switches the topic, smiling as she walks over to the boy who welcomes her with a squeal. “Come, sit on my lap.”

Chanyeol swallows the lump in his throat, not thinking twice when he grabs Baekhyun’s wrist and drags him out of the ward.

“What was that?” Chanyeol asks.

Baekhyun frowns. “What was what?”

“My mother addressing herself to our son like that,” He says. “Does she know?”

“No, she doesn’t. It’s just…she told me how much she wanted to become a grandmother, so I told her to treat our s—my sons as her grandchildren.” His ex-boyfriend explains. “I didn’t know that she was your mother at that time…but you don’t have to worry. I won’t tell her.”

Hearing Baekhyun say that makes Chanyeol feel like it was college over again—talking to Baekhyun in secret, not wanting to tell anyone about their relationship. He doesn’t want Baekhyun to misunderstand. He wasn’t ashamed of him—not anymore. “I didn’t mean it like that—I… don’t want my mother to know the truth yet, not when I’m still engaged to Chaeyoung.”

“So…you want to tell her the truth after you marry Chaeyoung?” Baekhyun asks. Chanyeol doesn’t know if he’s feigning innocence or not.

“No—I—you know what, never mind,” Chanyeol sighs. “Can’t I just play with our sons in peace and eat some scones?”

The smaller man seems like he wanted to smile before he glances at his watch and furrows his brows. “Don’t you have to go to work today?”

“I ditched,” Chanyeol shrugs. “It’s no big deal. I’m my own boss.”

Baekhyun shakes his head, rubbing his temples with his fingers as if Chanyeol was the cause of his headache. “You’re the most unprofessional client I’ve ever had.”

His mother was already prepared to leave by the time Baekhyun and Chanyeol entered the room. She pinches Junhyun gently on his cheeks and gives Baekhyun a hug before she exits, not forgetting to swat her leather handbag to her son’s arm. Baekhyun stifles a laugh as Chanyeol groans in pain. Too caught up in quarrelling over raspberry scones, they missed the way Chanyeol’s mother looks at them with a small smile.

“My parents are in town,” Baekhyun says, peeling the skin of the red apple with a small knife. “Jongin said that he wants to visit. My parents are coming in the evening. You should probably go before any of them arrive—I’ve had enough headaches for today. Wouldn’t want to see my dad punching you in the face for leaving me.”

Chanyeol chokes on his apple slice. “Your dad knows?!”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun replies simply. “I don’t keep any secrets from my parents. Newsflash, they hate your guts.”

Exasperated, Chanyeol opts on chewing on his scone as he stares at the two boys sleeping on the hospital bed.

—

“It’s not just a mere fever, is it?”

Jongin questions the older man, who gulps slightly and looks away, trying to avoid confrontation. The secretary’s brows knit in confusion. Mr Byun has his arms around himself as he stares out the windows, somehow distracting himself with the sound of raindrops tapping against glasses. Jongin sighs at the older man’s action, eyeing him in disapproval. “Mr Byun… There’s something you aren’t telling me. I care about your children, Mr Byun. I’m worried, too.”

The man in the snowy white sweater turns around, and Jongin takes a sharp breath at the sight of the exhausted-looking man. Mr Byun, who was once bright and bubbly, now seems like he did not get any sleep for days. “Mr Byun—”

“The doctors said that it’s severe pneumonia,” The wedding planner says.