“Ouch,” Changkyun hissed through his teeth, one hand letting go of the side of the textbook he was holding to rest where his son had just pummeled his feet into his ribs. Daewon had some mercy and delivered a soft kick to Changkyun’s hand before he curled back up into his usual fetal position. Even though he momentarily ceased his actions, Changkyun continued to feel the phantom pains from how non-graceful Daewon’s movements were. It was almost like a muscle spasm but from the inside, “You need to calm down and stop trying to kill me,” for good measure with an act of deception, Daewon then head-butted Changkyun’s bladder, and he momentarily thought he was going to pee himself before the sensation numbed to nothing. Changkyun hadn’t even tried to get up, knowing that he wouldn’t have been able to get himself up in time to run to the bathroom. He may have been sitting propped up against a ton of pillows stacked against his headboard, but long gone was his agility that made stepping off the bed easy. Sometimes he needed to roll himself off, which was an unpleasant experience that hurt his back and knees and has been known to cause acid reflux a few times if he hadn't woken up already feeling nauseous. Changkyun was so pregnant, and he was so over being pregnant.

He was having a slow night studying for his psychology final, which happened to be the next day and his last exam of the semester, and the stress of memorizing all the terms and why the brain works the way it does was really getting to him. Somehow he wasn’t stress eating like he had been doing all semester, but then again he hadn’t been terribly hungry as of late. Daewon was taking up so much space that he left little room for his stomach to hold food. And while Daewon was a major source of stress at the moment, he was also a good way to relieve stress. Changkyun could always count on his son to make him feel better when he was stressed out of his mind.

But right now, he wasn’t so much of a stress reliever being that he wouldn’t stop moving while Changkyun was trying to concentrate. Frustrated as his baby started wiggling again, Changkyun set down his unnecessarily huge textbook to his side on his bed and slid both hands under his hoodie to hold his bump for a second. Doing this, he could feel where Daewon was inside of him and it was a phenomenal reminder that the human body is an amazing thing. He was growing a whole person inside of himself without having to do anything. There was nothing more impressive than that, and he could feel the bloom of pride in himself tickle his nerves. 

“Look,” he started with a frown, grimacing as Daewon's foot found his favorite spot on Changkyun’s ribs to kick. Daewon was a menace and never let Changkyun catch a break, “I’m so happy that you’re moving and kicking and living your life, but can you please do me a favor and at least keep still when I’m taking my last exam? It’s pretty distracting when you beat me up from the inside,” as if taunting him, Daewon kicked again, sending an uncomfortable tickle through Changkyun’s abdomen up to his chest. He had to take a few breaths before speaking his next sentence, “You brat. I love you, but come on,” and while Changkyun may have sounded upset, he could never really be upset with Daewon. The love he had for his unborn son was unreal and the closer he was to arriving, the more love Changkyun felt, “Go to sleep for the next hour or so until I finish. Then you can have a party in there,” but was Daewon ever one to listen? No, but Changkyun didn’t fault him for that, especially when he loved him so much. Daewon was a baby after all, and couldn't even understand what Changkyun was saying. 

However, he managed to behave until the end of Changkyun's study session, and the soon-to-be father rewarded him(and himself) with a small snack of cherry tomatoes and some chocolate sauce to dip them in. He only managed a few but that had been plenty before Daewon had been successfully sated.

Until he wasn't. After his small snack of chocolate-covered tomatoes, Changkyun had settled down for the night but sleep had been hard to come by due to Daewon refusing to stop moving. He went against the word of his father even after pleading with him and his snack and he still refused to keep still. Changkyun maybe caught two or three hours of rest but he had grown used to lack of sleep. With years of insomnia and his recent anxiety keeping him awake, it was really no big deal that he only grabbed a few hours of sleep. He would survive until after his final exam, and then head to the library where he could take a possible 15-minute cat nap. If Jooheon or Hyungwon would let him, which they probably would. But if Minhyuk happened to join them that day, which he also probably would, then he wasn’t going to get any sleep. If so, he would manage, especially with Daewon’s help and his quick feet involved. 

And maybe the practice contractions that were being a nuisance that day. They weren’t painful, something he was asked to look out for as a sign of labor, but they were terribly uncomfortable and made it hard to sit still. They had always been so mild and had never been a problem before, always so easy to breathe through and wait out after a couple of seconds. It was easy to deal with them, but these ones were stronger, uncomfortable, and very irregular. Changkyun had no qualms about them and was solely focused on getting through this exam and his last art critique. He timed it so he would have an hour between finishing his final and the beginning of his critique which was going to be an easy grade to complete. Changkyun was confident in his art and was sure he was going to do well. He had worked tirelessly on that painting and he would be damned if he received any negative critique (it was supposed to be 'helpful feedback' but Changkyun's classmates didn't spare any feelings). 

Changkyun sighed as he waddled towards the campus testing center, reciting a list of terms he had to know in his head and hoping all the information he spent hours studying would stick and wouldn't flee his brain once he had the test in front of him. Luckily, pregnancy brain hadn't been an issue with him and information and dates typically went unforgotten, but anxiety hindered his performance more often than not. He was doing his best to get as high a grade as possible and he had uttered many prayers over the course of the last 24 hours to help him get through this in one piece. He had studied for weeks, but even that left him feeling dangerously underprepared. 

"You ready for this?" Changkyun was thrown from his stupor by Jooheon's soft voice next to him, inquisitive and gentle so as not to stir more anxiety in his heart. He was always such a calm before the storm for the younger and he greatly appreciated him being there. Without being prompted, Jooheon had willingly volunteered to walk him to the testing center after driving the younger to campus, and it was doing wonders in keeping Changkyun sane. 

After his slow morning, Changkyun had been ready to leave the house for his exam, and with one foot stepped out the front door, he was met by Jooheon sitting in his car in the driveway. Confusion was temporary as Changkyun realized his mistake from the day before after thinking back on when he told Jooheon his exact plan for the last day of exams, with a timeline and everything. Of course Jooheon would have made it to him before he left and made any progress towards campus with the intention to make the journey much easier to complete. The older man had driven Changkyun to campus for every reason the younger needed to go there with the reasoning that his feet were going to be sore if he walked that far. And while Changkyun would agree with Jooheon that his feet were going to be sore and swollen if he walked the fifteen-minute walk it took to get from his house to campus, he still didn’t want to be a burden by making the older go out of his way every time. Jooheon was busy with his own schooling, and for him to make time for Changkyun made the younger feel guilt in his chest. Jooheon had assured several times that he wanted to help, but Changkyun didn't believe anyone really meant it when they offered that kind of sentiment. It was just something nice you told people and wouldn't ever go back on. Jooheon had proven to be a selfless angel, but Changkyun was sure it was still a chore taking care of him the way he was. Changkyun was endlessly grateful, but he didn't want Jooheon to go out of his way so much. 

"You've been asking me that same question for days," Changkyun huffed with a smile, glancing Jooheon's way to note how genuinely curious he was to hear the answer. Jooheon had asked every day since their exam had been available to take at the beginning of the week, but not because he was worried about Changkyun's success. He had total faith in his friend, it was just his own anxiety that made him the ever-chronic worrier. He couldn't help the 'what if' itching the back of his brain at any given situation and Changkyun completely understood. He never held it against him, "But I think I am. I've studied every piece of information I've ever been given in class, including your notes just in case I missed something," he had been very thorough in obtaining all the material he could about their entire semester's teachings, "I think I'll be okay."

"I think so, too," Jooheon smiled, dimples giving Changkyun an odd sense of comfort, "Especially with the writing portion. It's so subjective that you don't even have to mention anything specific to psychology. You could just flub it and you'll get good marks, and I swear by that," Jooheon had taken the exam the first day it was available to get it over with, and Changkyun would have done the same if he hadn't been so worried about what information he had retained and what he hadn't. He had taken those extra four days to study as much as possible before attempting such a difficult exam, and good thing too because Changkyun had taught himself so much the past few days. He had a productive week on top of the other exams that he had already taken. Every other exam had been relatively easy to complete and he was expecting high marks on all of them, "And you're sure you don't want to know any of the questions that are on it, or any of the answers? I remember quite a few of them." 

"No, I'm not a cheater!" Changkyun exclaimed as he laughed through his nose, tempted to hear what the older had to say but resisting the urge to press further, "I think I'll be okay though. Really. I already have so much information overload that I think hearing what you have to say will throw me into a panic attack," he had come close too many times this week when it came to his exams, overwhelmed and fearful of a less than favorable grade, even after working so hard, "Have some faith in me, would you?" 

"Oh, I have complete faith in you," Jooheon assured, smile so bright and blinding that it had Changkyun looking away, a strange warmth to his cheeks at the sight, "You're so smart that I know you'll be okay," he stopped in his tracks within a few feet of the testing center door, eying the 'Shh, testing inside' sign that didn't do much to deter students from making noise outside the facility. When Jooheon had been taking his test, it seemed like there had been a party out in the hall with all the noise the passing students made, "Just remember to take your time and read over everything carefully. There are a few trick questions in there that can be easy to miss if you read them too quickly."

"Got it. I'll remember that," Changkyun nodded as he fully turned to face Jooheon. His smile was then turning into a frown as Daewon started to move and kick. His eyes dropped down to his belly with a humph, cursing the timing of his baby being awake right before testing. This would usually entail plenty more movement for a few minutes and plenty more distraction that would draw him away from his exam, "If your son could stay still while I test though, that would be wonderful. I'm about sick of him distracting me," a hand splayed across the crest of his bump, hand fitting the round curve so smoothly. His thin, unintentionally fitted t-shirt did little to conceal the strength of Daewon's movements on his palm and he could lose his mind at how ignorant his son was to the situation. He was only a baby, he didn't know, but if only he could explain everything to him and have him understand. 

Jooheon's eyes dropped as well, but instead of a frown marring his features, a proud smile graced his heart-shaped lips. Changkyun would expect nothing less from Jooheon because when it came to their son, he was his biggest supporter and his greatest admirer. Changkyun would love to claim that title for himself, but he couldn't come close to comparing with the older, even if he tried, "Daewon ah," he started, stepping forward and squatting so he was eye level with the bump, "You have to stay still so your dad can test, okay? You can do that for him right?" he asked, sealing the deal with a kiss to the left side of Changkyun's bellybutton. After hearing how their son had started on that side, when he was small enough to only take u