“Are you pregnant?” 

Maya choked.

“Am I-- what?”

Bang Chan quickly ushered her to sit down. He glanced around before pulling another chair to sit before her. Taking a deep breath to steady his thoughts and racing heart, his gaze fell onto her stomach.

“We… Vegas was two months ago. We--”

Chan was struggling with what to say, he didn’t know how to put his thoughts into words.

“Yeah?” Maya prompted.

“I mean… I-- You were looking pale and Minho said you were holding your stomach as you went to the toilet… So I--”

“You think I’m pregnant?”

Maya chuckled. She reached for his face with her hands and cradled it gently. 

“I’m not, don’t worry.”

Bang Chan felt this sudden drop in his gut, but a sense of relief washed over him at the same time. It was a confusing feeling. Maya searched his eyes for his emotion.

“I’m just having my period if you really want to know,” she dropped her tone. “I always have pretty bad cramps.”

He looked up from their hands and found himself getting lost in Maya’s eyes. She blinked at him, wondering what he was staring at but he just couldn’t pull himself away. Footsteps sounded behind them, Maya let go of their hands immediately and grabbed her bag.

“I’ll try to get them done, sir.” She bowed at Chan, who was staring at her in confusion. “Now if you would excuse me…”

She side-stepped the man and bowed at her colleague before scurrying out of the office doors. Chan got up and received a greeting from his employee.

“Hurry on home,” he urged and went back to his office.

***

Maya reached Chan’s place and let herself in using his passcode. Kicking her heels off, she dragged her tired body towards the couch and just plopped herself down.

“Ugh…”

She let out a long groan as her body gave in to the monthly cramps.

“Having a period .”

She reached for her phone and googled for the grocery delivery services in Chan’s area. She was halfway through her scrolling when Chan’s number popped up on her screen. Her thumb swiped the green button and she pressed the device to her ear.

“Yeah?”

“I’ll be home late. There is last-minute stuff for me to handle in the office.”

She grunted in acknowledgement, turning to her side and facing the back support of the couch, “Hmm.”

“You alright?”

“Never better,” she threw in sarcasm. When she realised what she just did, she quickly blabbered an apology. “Oh no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like that.”

Chan’s chuckle resonated from the call.

“I like this side of you. It’s alright.”

She huffed, “Well, I’m gonna head to bed early today.”

“Cramps?”

She could hear him frowning from her side.

“Mm-hmm.”

“You know what, I’m bringing my work home. Wait for me.”

“Oh no!” She shot up, wincing at the sudden movement. “You don’t have to come back for me. I’m fine!”

“Too late, I’m already leaving my office. See you in 20.”

Chan hung up, leaving Maya staring at her phone in confusion.

“Did he just hang up on me?”

Chan drove to the nearby supermarket and began scouting for items that he thought would make Maya feel better. Armed with his phone and Google, he was finding pain reliever and some hot chocolate.

His attention was on his phone and he was so focused on looking around that he didn’t see where he was going. He knocked straight into another shopping cart.

“Oh , my bad,” he accidentally cursed. “I’m so sorry.”

The other person quickly said that it was alright, but paused mid-sentence, “Bang Chan?”

Chan looked up.

“Sehun?”

The taller male extended his hand and Chan grabbed it in a handshake before they bumped shoulders. His eyes darted around until he spotted Sehun’s girlfriend behind them.

“Rui! Nice to see you!”

Both Sehun and Rui were models who met at an event and got together months after that. They were part of the chaebol group of friends that hung out once in a while.

“What are you doing here?” Sehun prompted. “A workaholic like you would still be in the office at this time.”

Chan laughed.

“We live on the same street and we barely meet. You’re a workaholic too.”

Rui slid her arms around Sehun’s waist.

“Well,” he glanced at her. “She’s been whining about the number of projects I’m taking, that I’m not spending enough time with her. So, here I am.”

Chan shook his head in amusement, Sehun peered into his shopping cart.

“What are you getting?”

Rui followed her boyfriend’s gaze.

“Hot chocolate? Painkillers? Is your girlfriend having her period?”

Chan choked, “How did you know?”

Sehun and Rui gave each other a knowing look and she grabbed something off the nearby shelf, handing it to him.

“Give her green tea. It’ll make her feel way better.”

Chan thought of Bona, who had never complained of period cramps before as she took contraceptive pills to skip her periods. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well, I am a little clueless about cramps,” he confessed.

“Judging by the stuff you have in your cart, you’re good to go.”

Sehun nodded at Chan and excused themselves away, leaving the man to finish up his little shopping trip. Bang Chan stole a quick look at his watch and saw the time. He ran to the counter and quickly got his things checked out before racing back home.

“I’m home~” Chan sang.

He put his keys in the bowl, his shoes in the shoe cabinet and his bag on the kitchen counter but still no sound from Maya.