Chapter VIII: Stressed Out

Dong Residence:

It was nearing 6:00am. IU was peacefully sleeping in her tank top and her husband's black boxer shorts. Her hair was let loose from the everyday buns that she normally had during the day.

IU was having an interesting dream.

She was driving in the middle of a road and loaded with all kinds of weapons. Apparently she was a gangster in this dream and she was busy chasing down a certain someone. She was driving fast catching up to the mystery person. She got out of her car and took a closer only to realize that this mystery person seemed familiar. Mohawk hair, short, and cheeky, she was chasing Youngbae. In a dream, one does not normally question why they do the things that they're doing; all she knew was that she needed to catch him.

After throwing various weapons at him with remarkable accuracy, IU had failed to nail him. She froze, when all of the sudden, Youngbae disappeared and reappeared right behind her. He wrapped his arm around her abdomen and whispered in her ear.

"Babe…. you don't want to hurt the baby now do you?" He asked as his hot breath tingled in her ear.

Her eyes widened and she looked down, and her once flat abdomen was now fully pregnant with Youngbae's arm her belly. She turned around and what she saw shocked her; his eyes were pulsing and her whole body felt as if it was being penetrated. It was like he could see right through her.

Dong Youngbae was barley waking up from his sleep. He turned from the window and faced his wife, who was still sleeping. He pulled her into his warm embrace. As soon as he was settled, IU woke up screaming "Holy Crap!" officially startling her husband.

"Babe, what's wrong?" He asked as he looked at her with concern and annoyance for jump-starting his heart rate so damn early in the morning.

She quickly turned around to face him. She looked surprised for a second, and then she relaxed. She let out a sigh.

"Youngbae …I just had the most bizarre dream." She said as she snuggled closer to him. She buried her face in his chest while he wrapped his arms around her and played with her hair.

"Really." He said while he inhaled her scent. He loved playing with her hair. The fact that she tied in up during the day and only let it down at night for him was one of his guilty pleasures.

"We were gangsters and I was hunting you down with a load of bad- weapons." She said as her breathing started to calm down somewhat.

"…Why would you hunt me down?" He asked exasperatedly. She mumbled something into his chest that he couldn't quite make out. He opted to just ignore it and continue to snuggle with her. He continuously played with her hair and moved it out of the way, slowly planting small kisses on her neck and working his way up. He was getting closer to her lips…. closer…closer…. one more kiss and he's there.

IU on the other hand, was anticipating the kiss when all of the sudden…. her world turned green. Her eyes widened and she quickly jumped out of bed, ran straight to their bathroom and shut the door.

She leaned over the toilet and threw up like there was no tomorrow. She held her hair back and let it all out. She had been at it for weeks now. She wasn't slow to think that she might have been pregnant. She and Youngbae had lightly tossed around the idea of having kids sometime soon, but now it seems like their plans have been one upped some. She confirmed she was pregnant four weeks ago via home pregnancy test and if she calculated it just right, she was around three months along by now. Lucky for her the morning sickness started only three weeks ago.

After she figured there was nothing more to empty out of her stomach, she flushed the toilet and went over to the sink to grab her toothbrush. She figured she might as well get in a shower now that she won't be able to go back to sleep. She and Youngbae had to be at work in an hour.

She flung her clothes to the side and stepped into the shower. She felt much better after throwing up. The shower only helped make her feel more relaxed. After lathering her hair and brushing her teeth at the same time she rinsed herself off and grabbed a towel. Wrapping it around her, she secured the towel and walked out of the bathroom to find Youngbae up and about in their room wearing only his scrub pants and a towel in his hand drying off his hair.

‘Must have showered in the other bathroom.’ She thought. She went over to their walk in closet and grabbed a pair of scrubs as well.

She proceeded to dress herself in the closet. Ever since she knew for sure that she was pregnant, IU had been just a little more self-conscious. At three months pregnant, she was already starting to feel huge. After she had slipped on her pants, she noticed that Youngbae was standing in the doorway of the closet leaning on the side and observing her. His eyes were super concentrated on her abdomen for a moment before their gaze trailed up to meet her eyes. At this point, IU was barely dressed in pants and a black bra with her wet hair down.

He walked up to her and just stared into her eyes. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright…I'm pregnant. Not that you didn't know already…" She mumbled. Youngbae leaned in and kissed her gently before kneeling down before her and pressing his ear to her very slightly rounded stomach. From up above, she could see that he was smirking. His arms came up to encircle her waist as they stayed there like that for a while.

"How long have you known?" she asked quietly. He kissed her stomach quickly before standing up again. He took her into his arms and mumbled into her hair.

"Since the minute you conceived."

"WHAT?" She shouted.

Youngbae just chuckled, "Babe…it was obvious. You've been throwing up almost every morning for the past few weeks and before that, you've been more temperamental than ever. You also left the positive home pregnancy test in the trashcan." He added.

"Smart ." She said as she snuggled closer into his embrace.

Seoul Daycare Center:

After his omma dropped him off and left, Hanbin met up with Taehyun at the front of the school and the two of them walked in together.

They entered the classroom and looked around for Seohyun and Hayi. Hanbin had only known them for a week now but it was enough time for the four of them to form a close friendship. Hanbin and Taehyun now considered themselves best friends. Hayi and Seohyun were already best friends, Taehyun and Seohyun were brother and sister and Hanbin and Hayi got along well enough.

Together the four of them spent as much time together as possible and sometimes even more so after school. Now that they all knew that their parents were all friends, it somehow made their bond a little more special. It was more like they were all family now.

After spotting the girls sitting in the middle of the rug, Hanbin and Taehyun sat next to them.

"Hi Hanbin," Hayi and Seohyun greeted together. The two were previously discussing none other than their upcoming recital tomorrow and couldn't talk about anything else.

"Hi guys," Hanbin returned. No one bothered saying hi to Taehyun because he wouldn't even mutter a response.

All the kids were excited this morning. Today was ‘show and tell’. Every two weeks or so would be show and tell week. Everyone was eager to present his or her own object. Hanbyul-saem came up to the front of the group and sat down in her chair.

"Alright class, it's time to begin show and tell," she announced. "Does anyone want to go first?"

Almost everyone's hands went into the air. She chuckled a little before finally choosing a boy from the front row. Show and tell was going by pretty fast. Soon it was Hayi's turn to go up and show her object to the class.

She went up to the front and pulled out a small tiara.

"My show and tell thing today is my tiara." She said while holding up the small crown for everyone to see. All the girls were "Ohhh-ing and Ahhh -ing" at the shiny tiara that seemed to twinkle when it caught the light.

"My harabeoji gave it to me after one of my ballet recitals. He said that it meant for princess to wear only." She said proudly.

"Very good Hayi," said Hanbyul-saem. "You can sit down now." Hayi took her crown and sat back down next to Seohyun who had already shown her necklace to the class.

"Okay…who hasn't gone yet… ah…Hanbin, your turn." Hanbyul-saem said as she pointed at him on the rug. Hanbin got up and shuffled through his backpack and pulled out a piece of paper. He walked up to the front of the class and held up the picture. The whole class was really amazed at his drawing.

"This is a picture that I drew yesterday," Hanbin explained. "It's a gangster shooting with his loaded guns.“ All the boys in the class we shouting how cool that picture was.

The drawing was in color. The gangster in the center had red hair but was wearing a black suit. The suit is paired with polka-dotted necktie that compliments his hair. The gun was pointed to front & you can see its hands that had white gloves on it. It wasn't drawn to perfection but for a five-year-old to draw something of that good was amazing.

The picture moved even Taehyun. "That one is cooler than the other one Hanbin," he commented. Everyone else was complementing him; even Hanbyul-saem told him he did a great job. He blushed at everyone's praise. His omma always told him he did a great job on all his drawings but he never really showed them to anyone else.

After he was done, Hanbin went and sat back down next to his friends. Hayi leaned over and whispered to him.

"It kind of looks like my appa, except the hair," she said. Hanbin looked at his picture again. Now that he really focused on it, it did look a little like her appa. Hanbin smiled at her but on the inside he was frowning.

He must have been thinking about Jiyong when he drew this picture. After dinner a few nights ago, Hanbin felt a little on edge about Hayi's appa. He hadn't seen him all week but the thought of him was still upsetting to him. When Hanbin first saw Jiyong, he felt like he had seen him somewhere before. He had a very familiar presence.

When Hanbin saw Jiyong talking to his mother, he felt undeniably protective all of the sudden. It confused him because there was nothing really wrong with the guy. Until he didn't feel that way anymore, Hanbin decided that he just didn't like Jiyong.

He looked over at Hayi and couldn't help but feel a little guilty about not liking her daddy. Hayi was always saying how great he was so he must be a good guy right? Hanbin really didn't want Hayi to know that he didn't like Jiyong because he knew that she would get hurt and he felt like it was his job to protect Hayi too. He remembered when she came up to him yesterday and told him something interesting.

The kids were having their recess indoors today. Hanbin was just sitting at his desk and drawing when Hayi came up and sat down next to him.

"Hey Hanbin, guess what my appa told me." She said.

Hanbin stopped drawing and looked up at her. "What?"

"My appa said that since my aunty Jieun and uncle Youngbae are your aunty and uncle too, we could be like cousins." She said flailing her arms in the air with excitement.

"…Chincha?" He asked skeptically. Hayi nodded her head vigorously in response.

"Isn't that great? You and me are family now!" She said, hugging him. Hanbin blushed in embarrassment. Hugging a girl was something other kids could tease you about and that was something Hanbin would like to avoid. Hayi pulled away from him and her face was a little less energetic this time.

"…But…I kind of wish you were my oppa," she admitted quietly. "You know, like Taehyun and Seohyun."

Hanbin smiled at her. "Whenever it's just you and me, we could say that we're brother and sister." He offered with a small smile. He felt better when her face light up.

"CHINCHA?" she screamed.

"Yeah."

Hayi screamed again and hugged him tighter. She spent the rest of the day calling him "Oppa".

Hayi and Seohyun were talking to each other about their recital tomorrow. Apparently, Hanbin will be attending that event along with his omma if she could go. He wanted to go and to see Hayi and Seohyun dance but at the same time, he knew he would see Jiyong again. He was Hayi's appa after all so he would definitely be there. He only hoped at this point that his mommy wouldn't be able to go.

Seoul Medical Center: Dara's Office

Dara was standing in the elevator with her coffee in one hand and a blueberry muffin in the other hand. She had just gotten to work and over the past week, she had made it a routine to grab a quick breakfast from the cart outside the hospital for the elevator ride up to her office.

The elevator stopped on her floor, which contained the maternity ward, the nursery, the labor and delivery room, as well as her office. After only one week at the hospital, Dara had already handled numerous high-risk pregnancy cases that had cemented her reputation as a top-notch pupil of Dr. Goo Hyesun.

She stepped out of the elevator and made her way down the hall. Her office was fairly large and had a great view of the city. Granted the view wasn't as nice as the one from Jiyong office but it was still showing the city in all its glory.

She stopped in front of her office door with a label that read "Dr. Sandara Park OB/GYN PEDS". She flipped through her key chain and unlocked her door. She went around to her desk and placed her purse underneath. She already had a stack of patient reports to see through on her desk. She picked up a couple while biting into her muffin.

There were a few patients that she would be consulting about possible modes of delivery for their babies and more pediatrics cases too. She didn't get too many of those. The hospital staff pretty much considered her the head of Obstetrics and didn't try to bother her with the pediatric cases. But she wanted to do it. She loved working with the kids more than anything.

A knock on her door interrupted her report analysis.

"Come in., she said. The door opened and in walked IU. Her hair was tied up in the usual two buns and she was wearing scrubs.

"Hey Jieunie!" she said. It was a nickname Dara used when she was excited.

"Hey there Dara…what are you doing?" IU asked as she took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Dara casually watched her for a bit before taking another bite out of her muffin.

"Ohhh…. nothing much. Just having breakfast and looking over some patient files. What's up?"

IU fidgeted a bit in her seat. She was never one to crack under pressure but the hormones were really getting to her. Being pregnant was throwing her off completely.

"Well…I…umm…. actually I wanted to tell you something and…. damn it's hot in here!" She shouted as she began to fan herself with her hand. Dara looked over at the thermostat. The air conditioner was on full blast and the room was a cool 65 degrees.

"What do you mean? It's practically a freezer. Are you okay IU?" She asked with concern.

"I'm fine." IU said as she continued to fan herself with her hand. Dara looked over her appearance once again. Even though she claimed she was warm, IU looked fine. As a matter of fact, there was a certain glow about her lately. Dara knew exactly what it was. It was a mother's glow. She noticed it the first day she came to the hospital. IU's notoriously flat abs were now rounded and barely noticeable to the untrained eye. The scrubs also hid it well.

"IU, you said that there was something you wanted to tell me?" Dara reminded. She was looking at IU, expecting to hear confirmation on what she already knew.

"Well…okay Dara. I'm…I'm…, She just couldn't get the words out.

"…Pregnant?" Dara supplied. IU sighed in defeat.

"Dammit all!" she cursed. "Why can't I surprise just one person? Everybody knows about it. Most of them knew before I did! I lack the element of surprise don't I? That's why I couldn't stab Youngbae in my dream!"

Dara gave her a startled look. "Why would you stab…never mind," she said shaking it off. "First of all, you really expected an obstetrician not to notice when someone's pregnant?" IU just pouted at her. "Second of all…CONGRATULATIONS!" She shouted as she got up to give IU a big hug.

"Thanks Dara," said IU as Dara released her. "And of course Youngbae and I wanted to ask you if you would be the baby's godmother."

Dara gasped and covered with her hands. "Of course I'd love to be the godmother. Oh this is so exciting Jieunie I can't wait until this baby is born!" IU just smiled at her. Dara hugged her again, all the while chanting, ’I'm going to be a god mamma!’ over and over.

"Alright calm down. I can't have my obstetrician in a tizzy." IU teased.

"Sorry. I'm just so thrilled for you guys. You and Youngbae are going to make such great parents I just know it."

"Thanks. I hope we are. I know Youngbae will be great. But I'm a little nervous. I have a strange feeling that this baby is a boy. Don't ask why I just have a feeling."

"Oh please. I had the same feeling when I was pregnant. I knew Hanbin was a boy even before I had the ultrasound. It's called a mother's intuition. It's an upgrade from women's intuition." She said matter-of-factly.

"Well I was hoping you could do an ultrasound just so that I can at least see the baby today. These hormones are driving me crazy and I just want to see what's going on in there. I've been holding out on getting a check-up until you got here." She confessed.

"Of course I would love to give you an ultrasound. But can it wait until after lunch? I have patients to see right now."

"Oh yeah sure," said IU. "You want to have lunch together today?"

"Sure. I'll page you when I'm out."

IU left after that. Dara grabbed her files and stepped out of her office. She had to go down to the second floor first to pick up some reports from the nursing station.

When she arrived she went straight to the desk to pick up the reports and spotted Chaerin.

"Hello Dara." Chaerin greeted.

"Hi Chaerin. Have you heard the news?"

"IU's pregnancy? I knew," she answered with a chuckle. "Almost everyone knew before she did. Poor Youngbae-oppa, she'll be taking out all her frustrations on him."

"He's the one that knocked her up so he can take it," she said, making them both laugh. After saying bye to Chaerin, Dara went back to the elevators and pushed the button to go up. The light went off and the elevator doors slid open.

Dara was about to step inside when she looked up and saw Jiyong in the elevator looking right at her. She jumped a bit in surprise.

"…Hi Jiyong." She breathed as she stepped into the elevator. The doors closed soon after that. She pushed the button for the 10th floor and noticed that the 15th floor was already highlighted.

"Dara." He said in greeting. He was wearing black slacks, black shoes and a blue office shirt with a darker blue tie around his neck. He also had the ever-professional black jacket. Over all, he looked ready for the office. The elevator started to go up.

"How have you been these last few days?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Not much has changed," he answered. "How has your first week been here?"

"Great. My office is organized now and I've familiarized myself with the area. The patients are wonderful and I pretty much love it here." She answered.

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