009

 

The day that Celebrity Tasty Adventures is set to visit Haneul is finally here and Woohyun swears that he’s going to vomit not because of morning sickness but because of his nerves and excitement. He wakes up at exactly four in the morning and after finding out that he could no longer fall back asleep, he just opts to stare at Sunggyu’s sleeping face. Woohyun lightly touches his temple and slowly traces Sunggyu’s pillowy cheeks. He pokes his nose and when Sunggyu groans in his sleep, Woohyun withdraws his hand and stifles a chuckle.

 

“I love you so much,” Woohyun whispers.

 

Soft snores come out of Sunggyu’s mouth, indicating that the random declaration of his undying love has fallen on deaf ears. Woohyun wiggles closer, careful not to make the bed shake too much. His baby bump is now pressing against Sunggyu’s bent knee and he wants to move closer to that their bodies are touching but holds himself back in order to let his tired boyfriend sleep more.

 

You are my top priority now, Woohyun-ah.

 

Those words echo once again in Woohyun’s mind. It’s been days since Sunggyu said them and Woohyun feels so touched that the older has kept his word so far. He would drive Woohyun to Haneul every morning and they no longer leave at ungodly hours. He’s not sure if Sunggyu made arrangements with the hospital and he wouldn’t tell either. Despite the underlying hint of worry he’s feeling, Woohyun is just happy to know that Sunggyu really does want to drive him to and fro Haneul to personally make sure he’s alright. If there would be days that Sunggyu wouldn’t be able to pick him up from Haneul, Taemin, who lives nearby, has been personally assigned by Sunggyu himself to accompany Woohyun in the public transportation.

 

“My Gyu-gyu is the best person in the world. I love my Gyu-gyu so much,” Woohyun whispers, leaning in to nuzzle his face against the crook of Sunggyu’s neck.

 

“My babies,” Woohyun says, caressing his stomach while pressing closer against Sunggyu.

 

“For heaven’s sake, Woohyun. Go back to sleep,” Sunggyu suddenly complains. “It’s too early for your grease.”

 

“You’re awake!” Woohyun chirps, looking up at Sunggyu while smiling widely. “Good morning!”

 

Sunggyu opens his eyes and looks down at Woohyun. He’s greeted by the adorable sight of the other’s eye smile causing him to let out a smile himself.

 

“G’morning,” Sunggyu yawns, drawing Woohyun close by wrapping his arms around him. “You have a long day ahead, so get  some more sleep.”

 

“I can’t. I’m feeling way too excited and nervous…” Woohyun pouts.

 

“Is that so?” Sunggyu chuckles.

 

“Yeah, I’m just feeling so anxious. What if things go wrong? What if the supplier fails to deliver today? What if the food becomes messed up? What if-”

 

Sunggyu silences him with a kiss and when he pulls away, he looks at Woohyun intently.

 

“Everything will be fine. The food will be amazing and the episode will be successful. Stop worrying too much, okay?” Sunggyu says. “Now, give your Gyu-gyu a kiss.”

 

Woohyun giggles before obeying his boyfriend. Sunggyu softly nibbles on Woohyun’s plump lips and eventually deepens it, tongue entering the warm and sweet mouth. Woohyun moans, responding with enthusiasm. Sunggyu shifts so that he’s carefully hovering on top of Woohyun while his hands start to roam on the soft body beneath him. However, when he tugs on the hem of Woohyun’s shirt, the other breaks the kiss.

 

“Sunggyu,” Woohyun exhales.

 

“Hmm?”

 

Woohyun is biting his bottom lip and avoiding eye contact. Sunggyu, on the other hand, is praying that Woohyun will not push him away because he can already feel his desire straining against his boxers.

 

“I don’t think...I don’t want to have right now…I’m hideously huge. It’ll turn you off.”

 

“You’re beautiful, Woohyun-ah. I think you’re really hot right now,” Sunggyu says, emphasizing his point with a kiss on Woohyun’s jaw.

 

“No, I can’t even get in the mood just thinking about how I must look right now,” Woohyun pouts.

 

“Baby, you’re perfect but if you don’t want to, it’s okay.”

 

Woohyun is biting his lip and looking away again, “I’m sorry.”

 

Sunggyu moves away and returns on his side of the bed.

 

“It’s okay, I understand,” Sunggyu replies, smiling as he pulls Woohyun in his arms.

 

The blue-balls season has officially begun.

 

♡

 

“Woohyun hyung!”

 

Myungsoo is smiling broadly as he enters Haneul with his entourage (manager, stylist and makeup noona). He briskly walks to Woohyun and when he reaches him, he exclaims.

 

“Whoa! The triplets sure are growing really well!”

 

“Ya, what do you mean by that?!” Woohyun says, raising his brows.

 

“I’m just amused, hyung, but you have to forgive me since you weren’t even pregnant yet the last time we saw each other,” Myungsoo says.

 

“And whose fault is that? Sungyeol visits all the time with your kids while you haven’t shown even your shadow in our new house!” Woohyun scolds.

 

Myungsoo scratches his head and grins sheepishly, “Sorry, hyung. I had dramas and movies to film. It’s been really crazy!”

 

“I can tell,” Woohyun smiles, patting Myungsoo’s shoulder before looking over his shoulder and seeing the large group of Myungsoo’s fans pressing their faces against the glass walls of Haneul.

 

“Why do you have to bring your whole fanclub, Myung-poo? It’s nerve-wracking enough to have a whole media crew filming my restaurant and now I have to deal with their watching eyes too?,” Woohyun says.

 

“They’re your future customers, hyung. I’m sure everything’s gonna be fine!”

 

Myungsoo’s manager soon whisks him away into the staff room so that he could be dolled up for the cameras. He cheerfully tells Woohyun that he’s so excited to be fed before disappearing with his entourage, leaving Woohyun feeling even more nervous than before and he might actually vomit for real now. He thinks of calling Sunggyu so that he could calm his nerves down a little but the older is probably busy with the research team and Woohyun doesn’t want to worry him.

 

The crew of the show is already setting up their equipment, the MC has already arrived and is now getting prepped up after saying a quick greeting to Woohyun. He looks around and sees his restaurant staff busy making sure that everything is going well. Even though the shoot for the show would probably only last for a few hours, Woohyun decided to close Haneul to other people for the day so that everyone could focus on the success of the shoot.

 

“Nam Woohyun-shi, right?”

 

Woohyun turns and sees a very-neat and sharp looking woman grinning at him.

 

“Yes, I’m Nam Woohyun,” Woohyun replies.

 

“Ah, we finally meet in the flesh! I’m Lee Minjung the writer of the show. We talked on the phone a few weeks back?” she says, holding out her hand for Woohyun to shake.

 

“Oh yeah, Minjung-shi! Nice to meet you! Thank you so much for featuring Haneul on your show! My staff and I are really honored!” Woohyun replies, shaking the hand and politely trying to bow despite the triplets getting in the way.

 

“It’s our pleasure to feature Haneul! It’s creating a serious buzz on the Internet, so we decided to make it even bigger,” Minjung says. “About the shoot, Woohyun-shi, our director thinks that it would be great if you would appear for a few minutes. Would that be okay?”

 

Woohyun already anticipated that he might have to appear on the show but doesn’t mean that he’s going to agree. His stomach is really big and his face would probably look like an overstuffed dumpling in the camera. The video would forever be kept and this image of him being huge and fat would forever be embedded in history.

 

“Ah, Minjung-shi, as you can see, I’m very pregnant right now...I don’t think I’ll let myself appear in this state on national TV for everyone to see,” Woohyun says, nervously laughing while gesturing to his baby bump.

 

“But I think you look fine! You have that glow and I’m sure you’ll appear very handsome on the screen! It would just be quick. You just need to talk about why and how Haneul started and introduce some of the dishes,” Minjung says.

 

Woohyun hesitantly looks at the writer and when she gives him a wide pleading smile, he gives in. She childishly cheers and thanks Woohyun who, afterwards, immediately get whisked in the back room too where Myungsoo and the MC are. Woohyun too is prepped up (his hair brushed and styled a little--not too much) and before he knows it, he is already in front of the camera.

 

Myungsoo and the MC are sitting side by side in the booth, the first course of the special menu that Woohyun and the other chefs developed is already placed on the table. It looks absolutely mouth-watering and the MC can’t stop going on and on about how the aroma is making his stomach grumble even though he’s not hungry at all. Woohyun is in a trance as he explains the dish, his mind is muddled up with nerves and he can’t really make out the words that are coming out of his mouth but based on Myungsoo’s wide and proud grin, he’s most likely doing well.

 

Woohyun is made to exit the frame as Myungsoo and the MC taste the food but from where he is, he could still hear their voices. Even though he couldn’t hear the exact words that they’re saying, he could still distinguish their delighted exclaims (albeit exaggerated because it’s a variety show) and this loosens him up a little bit. Apart from the dishes in the special menu, they also serve some of the crowd favorites and every time these dishes come out, Woohyun would also appear to serve the dish and by the time the dessert has been served, the MC asks him to sit with them after finding out that he’s actually Myungsoo’s close friend. They chat about the history of the restaurant and for the sake of the show’s humor, Woohyun is asked to reveal some of Myungsoo’s embarrassing moments from high school.

 

“Well, believe it or not, Myungsoo’s already quite perfect when we were in high school except for the fact that his hair was extremely frizzy and big but that’s not something his fans are still unaware of. The pictures are everywhere in the Internet,” Woohyun says.

 

Myungsoo nudges him in embarrassment and the MC laughs, making comments to make what Woohyun says even funnier.

 

“But Myungsoo is a very good friend already even then. He’s one of the most responsible and hardworking person that I know, so he really deserves all the success he has right now,” Woohyun adds, smiling at Myungsoo.

 

“Thanks, hyung,” Myungsoo chuckles.

 

♡

 

The filming has been a great success and the episode that featured Haneul aired two weeks after the filming. Having been visited by the popular show, the effect immediately manifested itself through the large groups of people that would eat at the restaurant on a daily basis. Haneul is always busy and full regardless of the time of the day, forcing the staff to require customers to make reservations first prior to visiting to avoid overcrowding.

 

Woohyun is overwhelmed by the attention that Haneul is getting but nonetheless, he couldn’t be happier. His ambition of owning a famous restaurant is finally being realized. He wants to remain hands-on in managing the restaurant to maintain the quality of the food and the service, so despite already being in the seventh month of his pregnancy with the triplets, he still forces himself to go to Haneul on weekdays. Sunggyu would persuade him every single day to stop being such a busybody and just stay at home because, for heaven’s sake, Woohyun’s belly looks like it’s going to burst open any moment. He’s carrying triplets, after all. Sunggyu used to find it very comical and endearing to see Woohyun walking around with such a big bump on his petite frame but nowadays, his baby bump is even larger. Looking at Woohyun walking around like that would make Sunggyu hold his breath in worry and sometimes, it’s borderline painful for him. Just imagine the weight Woohyun’s little feet have to carry.

 

“Dr. Byun said that the triplets are holding up really well, didn’t she? She told us that I’m very healthy, didn’t she?” Woohyun would say whenever Sunggyu tries to make him stay at home. “So stop being so worried all the time, Gyu-gyu! I can manage!”

 

Woohyun knows very well that if Dr. Byun finds out what he’s doing, he’s going to get an earful of scolding from the tiny woman and Sunggyu would always attempt to use this to reason with his boyfriend. However, Woohyun would always find a way to win the argument and this has Sunggyu concluding that it’s impossible to win against pregnant people.

 

Sunggyu himself is preoccupied with his internship program and the research team but nowadays, he’s finding it extremely difficult to concentrate on his tasks. Aside from the lack of proper sleep, he would spend the whole day worrying about Woohyun and wondering if that stubborn man is properly taking care of himself. The senior doctors both in the hospital and in the university are starting to notice but despite this, he’s still doing his tasks exceptionally well. They really don’t know how Sunggyu’s managing to still do well--it could just be pure luck or maybe he’s naturally brilliant--but as long as he’s not messing up big time, his absentmindedness would be overlooked.

 

“Kim Sunggyu!”

 

The said man jumps so bad that he almost drops the specimen he’s preparing. He takes a deep breath before slowly turning around to look at the person who called him. Dr. Lee Chaerin herself is standing in the doorway, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she regards Sunggyu with her sharp eyes. Sunggyu gulps and carefully puts down his tools, shakily wiping his hands on his labcoat. Is he going to get in trouble for being distracted all the time?

 

“Y-Yes, Dr. Lee?” Sunggyu stutters.

 

Dr. Lee strides towards him like a cheshire cat, her heels clicking against the marble tiles like a ticking bomb. Sunggyu’s heart starts to beat erratically and his palms are starting to sweat as he lists down all the times he messed up that week alone. But even before he could finish his racing thoughts, Dr. Lee reaches him and flashes him a kind smile.

 

“I must say that I’m very much impressed with you,” she says.

 

“H-huh?” Sunggyu says, small eyes widening in surprise.

 

Is she being sarcastic?

 

“I asked you to collate the data of the experiment last week and you’ve been very neat and accurate with your work,” Dr. Lee says.

 

Sunggyu blinks, scratching his head in confusion while seriously wondering if she’s indeed being sarcastic. “I’m just doing what you asked me to do, Dr. Lee…”

 

“Yeah, but you didn’t stop at that! If you could recall, some of the setup failed to produce useful data. Even my fellow neurosurgeons are having a hard time identifying the errors committed for the results to turn out that way but you, young as you are, so casually stuck a red post-it note to point out the set ups’ mistakes!” Dr. Lee explains, shaking her head while laughing.

 

“Can you imagine our surprise when we realized you single-handedly showed how ignorant we all were to overlook such error?” Dr. Lee says.

 

“Ah, I’m sorry for giving my unsolicited observations, Dr. Lee! I must seem like such a stuck up to you!” Sunggyu says, bowing apologetically to her.

 

Dr. Lee, however, shakes her head and pats Sunggyu on the back with a bright grin on her face. “I truly commend and admire your sharpness, Sunggyu-shi. You saved us a significant amount of time! There should be more youngsters like you in this team.”

 

“Th-Thank you, doctor. Your words are really flattering, I don’t know what to say...thank you, Dr. Lee!”

 

“You know that we’re going to have another exclusive run of an experiment this Monday, do you, Sunggyu-shi?”

 

Sunggyu eagerly nods, getting a feeling that he would be offered something really, really, really good.

 

“It’s a highly confidential run, so technically, juniors are not supposed to witness it to keep the results from being leaked to other companies. But I think I can make an exception for you,” Dr. Lee says.

 

“Wh-What? Exception?” Sunggyu says, eyes widening in both disbelief and surprise.

 

“Yes, we would allow you to join us in the exclusive experiment provided that you would not discuss it with your fellow interns,” Dr. Lee nods.

 

“Dr. Lee, it’s not that I don’t want this huge opportunity. It’s not like that at all! In fact, I totally love it and I can’t really believe that you’re giving such offer to someone lowly like me! I’m really grateful and you have no idea how much I’m restraining myself from breaking into a crazy dance party right now because of how happy I am. I’m truly happy!” Sunggyu rambles. “But I’m just wondering…”

 

Sunggyu pauses for effect, scratching his head with furrowed brows.

 

“...why me?” he continues.

 

Dr. Lee throws her head back and laughs at the cuteness of Sunggyu.

 

    “Kim Sunggyu-shi, I just spent ten minutes telling you how impressed we were with you. Are you asking this just so you can hear me praise you once again?” Dr. Lee jokes.

 

    “Ah, it’s not like that!” Sunggyu says, waving his hands in denial even though it is kinda like that. “The other interns are far smarter than me, so I was just wondering…”

 

    “They may be smarter and their GPAs may be higher than yours but we see potential in you, Sunggyu-shi. This isn’t just the only time you proved your worth. You are performing really well and whenever you work with the junior team, we could see how strong your leadership is.”

 

    Sunggyu just keeps nodding his head to everything Dr. Lee is telling him. He really can’t believe that the greatest neurosurgeon in the country is actually saying these wonderful things about him. All the worries in him seem to melt away and his body feels like it’s brand new because of all the motivation Dr. Lee’s words just gave him.

 

    “So, Sunggyu-shi, what’s it going to be? Are you going to join us on Monday?” Dr. Lee presses on.

 

    “Of course, Dr. Lee! Only a fool would refuse such invitation!” Sunggyu quickly answers.

 

    “Alright, we’ll be seeing you on Monday, then. Carry on with those setups.”

 

    Sunggyu waits for Dr. Lee to exit the lab that he’s in before he silently jumps and fistpumps the air. It seems like the triplets are good luck charms to him and Woohyun. Their careers are taking off really fast.

 

♡

 

    That night, when Sunggyu comes home, he finds the house strangely silent and still. Usually, the house would be filled with Woohyun’s melodious humming and the delicious smell of his cooking would be the first thing that would greet Sunggyu upon entering. But today, there’s none of those things. The lights are off and there’s no sound of humming. Sunggyu toes off his shoes and tosses his jacket on the couch while calling out for his pregnant boyfriend.

 

    “Woohyun-ah, I have great news!” Sunggyu says.

 

He opens their bedroom door, expecting to find his petite boyfriend resting on the bed after a long day at Haneul. Sunggyu is baffled and becomes slightly worried when he finds the room dark and empty as well. He hastily makes his way to the bathroom and finds it Woohyun-free as well, so with an apprehensive heart, he whips out his phone and calls his boyfriend. He knows that he came home a little earlier than he usually does but it’s also already way too late for Woohyun to still be at Haneul.

 

This is Nam Woohyun’s phone! I’m unavailable right now but you can leave a message and I will suuu~uurely get back to you later! Bye! *beep*

 

“Woohyun-ah, where are you? It’s already late. You better not be staying overtime at Haneul. Call me back.”

 

Minutes pass after he left the message and Woohyun still hasn’t called him back yet. The more the clock ticks without hearing from Woohyun, the more anxious Sunggyu gets. After half an hour and after an unpleasant feeling settles at the pit of his stomach, Sunggyu starts pacing back and forth in the living room while his hands are tightly grasping his phone. He takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself down, repeating over and over again that nothing bad happened and Woohyun soon be home, safe and sound. But as half an hour of waiting quickly becomes an hour, Sunggyu can no longer contain his worry. He calls Woohyun once again only to be directed straight to voicemail once again.

 

“Where are you? I’m getting really worried now, baby. Come home already.”

 

Sunggyu tries to call their friends but no one knows where Woohyun is, even Sungyeol. He scrolls through his contacts, trying to see if he managed to save the number of any of the servers in Haneul but to his frustration, he didn’t. He also doesn’t have the phone number of Haneul and this makes Sunggyu feel really ignorant. Just as he’s exiting their house with an intent to drive to the restaurant, his phone suddenly rings. Sunggyu’s heart jumps at the sound of Woohyun’s personalized ringtone and he immediately answers the call.

 

“Nam Woohyun, why weren’t you answering my calls? You better come home now! It’s really late! Hold on, I’m just going to get you myself. Where are you?” Sunggyu scolds.

 

Sunggyu hears Woohyun let out a breathy laugh before the younger finally speaks, “If you’re already this angry because I wasn’t picking up, I don’t want to tell you where I am anymore. You might set my phone on fire.”

 

“Woohyun,” Sunggyu warns, already getting in his car.

 

“Gyu-gyu, don’t be angry…” Woohyun softly says.

 

“I’m not angry. I’m worried. Now just tell me where you are so I can pick you up.”

 

There’s a long pause from Woohyun’s side of the line and the silence is driving Sunggyu crazy.

 

“I’m in Seoul Hospital right now. It’s--”

 

“WHAT?” Sunggyu bellows. “WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT--”

 

“Sunggyu, can you please let me finish first before you react like a psycho?” Woohyun interrupts.

 

“How do you expect me to react when you just said that to me?! Did you expect me to be calm and collected?! I--”

 

“Look, it’s nothing serious really!”

 

Sunggyu inhales and exhales, trying to calm himself down. Woohyun is probably right, if it’s something serious, he wouldn’t be conscious to talk to Sunggyu on the phone like this, right?

 

“Is someone else injured? Did you just accompany that person?” Sunggyu asks, trying to be calm and reasonable.

 

“No, I’m here because I kinda, sorta, maybe passed out a while ago,” Woohyun explains and quickly adds, “But I’m okay now! It’s nothing serious! I would be discharged tomorrow at noon, so there’s really no need to come here tonight. Just pick me up tomorrow, Gyu--”

 

“Woohyun,” Sunggyu sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “If they’re making you stay overnight, then it’s not ‘nothing serious’! Stay put, I’ll be there in twenty.”

 

Author’s Notes: So sorry for the super late update again! College is becoming really busy now so I’m apologizing in advance in case another update would be delayed. Anyway, thank you so much for subscribing, commenting and upvoting!