It was Friday and Jooheon was sitting on Minhyuk‘s couch. Earlier in the week, he’d done what he’d told Changkyun he would do, when Minhyuk had asked if he wanted to come over to his at the weekend and eat food and watch movies he’d said yes. He really did need to tell him he was pregnant, sooner rather than later. Not only did Hyungwon already know but Kihyun did too. He’d had to tell him because he’d needed to ask for a few hours off for his first doctors appointment. And that was another reason he needed to tell Minhyuk, if he didn’t he was still going to have to explain why he was leaving early on Monday, there was no way he wasn’t going to ask. Telling him this evening would just save a lot of hassle and unnecessary drama.

For some reason though, the thought of telling Minhyuk he was pregnant had been making his stomach churn all day. And he wasn’t entirely sure why. Maybe it was because he’d kept it from him for so long in the first place and it was guilt. The thought that Minhyuk might feel left out, like Jooheon himself had felt left out when he’d thought Hyungwon had told everyone he was pregnant except him, wasn’t a thought he liked. Or maybe it was because he was dreading the ‘I told you so’ that was undoubtedly coming his way. There was no way Minhyuk wasn’t going to remember that he’d told him he was acting like he was pregnant. Whatever the reason though, the thought of telling Minhyuk had had him feeling ill all day. Which was ridiculous really. Minhyuk was his best friend, whatever happened and however he reacted, he was going to, above all else, be happy for him. And with that thought in mind Jooheon had attempted to tell him as soon as they’d entered his apartment. But Minhyuk hadn’t given him the chance. The door had closed behind them, Jooheon had opened his mouth, intending to bring it up and Minhyuk had cut him off before he could get started. “Get changed, then food, then movie?” He’d asked and Jooheon had found himself nodding.

So Minhyuk had headed to his room to change out of his work clothes and Jooheon had headed to the bathroom to do the same. It had only taken Jooheon ten minutes but it was taking Minhyuk a lot longer. And Jooheon’s nerves were again getting the better of him. He felt jittery and anxious and was hugging a cushion to his chest, using it as a makeshift comforter. Jooheon really didn’t understand why his friend was taking so long but he wished he would hurry up.

“What were you doing in there?” he asked when Minhyuk finally walked back into the room. “Did you discover a magical world in the back of your wardrobe and have trouble finding your way back home again?”

“Actually, yes.” Minhyuk told him as he sat down on the couch beside him. “And I was thinking about staying there. But it’s been a really long day and I’m starving. I thought you probably would be too so I decided I should come back and order us some food. What do you feel like eating?”

And Jooheon realised that maybe it wasn’t just nerves that had him feeling queasy. Lunch had been a long time ago and now Minhyuk had mentioned it he was pretty hungry. “Pizza.” He answered, not having to give it much thought. It would make it the third time that week that he’d had pizza for dinner but Minhyuk didn’t know that and Changkyun wasn’t there to raise an eyebrow so it was suggestion made without hesitation.

“Pizza sounds good.” Minhyuk agreed, picking up his phone. “And it never takes long to arrive. What are you thinking? Pepperoni? Barbecue chicken? Meat feast?”

——— ———

They’d ended up ordering all three and pretty much every side on the menu. When Jooheon hadn’t chosen which option he wanted quickly enough Minhyuk had put a stop to his uhming and ahing by ordering the deal at the top of the page, which included three large pizzas, potato wedges, chicken wings, dough balls, garlic bread and two bottles of cola. Jooheon had tried to protest by telling him that deal was meant to feed at least four people but Minhyuk had told him he knew that but it was a bargain, he was starving and he didn’t want to sit there all night waiting for Jooheon to make up his mind.

So he’d put in the order and Jooheon had thought that the half an hour or so it would take for their food turn up would be a good time to tell Minhyuk about the baby. But he’d forgotten to take into account how chatty Minhyuk could be. As soon as he’d put his phone down he’d started talking. And by the time the food had arrived Jooheon knew which children had been a nightmare for him that day and which had been a delight, that Minhyuk had almost ended up eating Jeonghwa’s lunch because he’d mistaken her lunchbox for his, that Minhyuk’s mother was pestering him to visit next weekend and he was sure it was only because his aunt would be out of town and she’d be missing her usual lunch buddy and that Minhyuk had caught Kihyun staring at their maintenance guy, Hyunwoo, all starry eyed, as he put up some more shelves in the baby room. Minhyuk was convinced Kihyun had a major crush on him and thought it was the funniest thing. If pressed for an opinion, Jooheon would have to say he agreed with him, Kihyun was always staring wistfully at Hyunwoo when he thought no one was looking. But whatever he thought about Kihyun and Hyunwoo the upshot of all this was that Jooheon hadn’t been able to get a word in edgeways.

Then the food was there on the table and he didn’t want to interrupt Minhyuk when he was eating. He’d have questions and have so much to say and the food would go cold. And Minhyuk had chosen what movie he wanted to watch and hit play and it didn’t seem right to interrupt that either.

He could tell him afterwards Jooheon decided. It wasn’t as if the baby was going anywhere, he was still going to be pregnant once the movie was over. Telling Minhyuk could wait another couple of hours. And decision made Jooheon had done his best to put the nervousness he’d been feeling all day to the back of his mind and shifted his focus to the pizza that was in front of him instead. If he’d been hungry before then he was starving now. He’d eat and watch the movie and worry about what he was going to say when he was done.

———

It was an hour into the movie but if you’d asked Jooheon for even a brief synopsis of the plot he wouldn’t have been able to tell you. As much as he’d tried not to think about what he was going to say and how Minhyuk was going to react once he told him, he hadn’t been able to stop. His brain had kept throwing up all the worst case scenarios. What if Minhyuk asked who else knew? Surely he’d be hurt when he told him Hyungwon and Kihyun did already. What if Minhyuk didn’t think he and Changkyun were ready for a baby? Other people might think so too but out of everyone he knew Minhyuk would be the most likely to voice that opinion out loud. And if he did then Jooheon had the feeling he would probably cry, he’d cried over far less lately but if he did it was hardly going to disprove Minhyuk’s point.

He was thinking about what he would do if Minhyuk was less than supportive and he did end up in tears, would he stick it out and talk it through with him, or would he call a taxi and go home… when he heard Minhyuk mumble a soft ‘wow’ and he looked up to find his friend was looking at him, his gaze contemplative.

“What?” Jooheon asked, forehead wrinkling in confusion.

“Nothing. It’s just…” Minhyuk said slowly, eyes travelling to the slice of pizza Jooheon had just picked up from the table, “… how can you still be eating?”

Jooheon‘s eyes followed Minhyuk’s, to the slice of pepperoni pizza he was holding, then he took a glance at the table and his brain processed the amount of food that was left. Most of it was gone but he was pretty sure Minhyuk had had a part to play in that too. And even if he hadn’t, what gave him the right to be so judgemental? “I’m hungry.” Jooheon told him, defiantly. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“There’s no way you can still be hungry.” An incredulous Minhyuk argued. “I don’t think I could manage another bite, never mind another full slice of pizza. An