“So who won the bet,” Jee Hye asked taking a seat with her mate on the couch. Seo Gu shrugged looking to everyone who was silently thinking over what was said would happen.

Dae Hyun sighed with a small chuckle, “Well I know it wasn’t me.”

Nods went around the small group gathered in the living room. Dae Hyun continued, “And it wasn’t Him Chan, definitely not Yong Guk. I believe I know who though…”

“Who then?” Him Chan folded his arms, “and why wasn’t it me? Didn’t I say that they would get together before the New Year?”

“Yes but you said New Year’s Eve,” the silver haired boy smirked. “Young Jae was the one who said Christmas.”

“Ah, that’s right,” Jee Hye laughed, “And we were all skeptical of the idea.”

“And the kid holds a grudge,” Him Chan sighed.

Dae Hyun nodded, “he’s going to have a field day when we tell him.”

“Then let’s not tell him he won,” Him Chan mumbled.

Jee Hye chuckled, “We have to it’s not fair to him.”

“He already knows he won,” Seo Gu joined in. Dae Hyun smiled, “he wrote everything down from what we betted on, how much and how it happened.”

“So he’s just waiting for us to give up what we owe?” the black haired man sighed.

“Actually I think he wants to change what you owe,” Dae Hyun smiled.

“To what?” Jee Hye asked curiously. The silver haired boy shrugged, “I don’t know, you’d have to ask him.”

“Him Chan,” Jun Hong's voice called out interrupting their conversation. “Have you seen where Jong Up put my bag?”

“I think he put it in the closet under stairs,” Him Chan pointed to the door.

The pink haired maknae looked between them, “did I interrupt something?”

Jee Hye shook her head, “no we were just thinking of baby names.”

Everyone quickly nodded in agreement. Jun Hong nodded in return, “did you guys come up with anything?”

“No,” Him Chan glared. Dae Hyun shrugged, “It’s easier when your mate is here to help pick out names. Yong Guk’s still out looking for a job so Him Chan isn’t very agreeable.”

“Well he should be here to help think of names,” the black haired man pouted. “He helped make the baby so he should help name him or her.”

Seo Gu sighed heavily as his mate tried to comfort Him Chan. “How about we write some names down that you like and when he comes home you can ask him what names he would like and see if you both have a name or two in common.”

“I think Young Jae was waking up when I left the room,” the maknae spoke to Dae Hyun, “so you could probably try asking him right now.”

“I better get him something to eat too,” the silver haired boy got up from the couch.

The maknae went to the closet for his bag. Him Chan thought out loud, “I thought you already did your homework.”

“I did,” the maknae said, “I just have a book I’ve been meaning to read.”

“Oh,” he said, “is Jong Up with Young Jae?”

The pink haired boy nodded, “yea, he was looking for something for Young Jae to read then I remembered I had a few books”

Jee Hye stretched out her arms, “Well, I am bored. Is there anything we can do now?”

“Dae Hyun is making lunch we could help him and continue with our name search with Young Jae after lunch.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” she quickly got to her feet to join the silver haired boy in the kitchen.

“I’ll go see if I can find Yong Guk anywhere,” Seo Gu gave a small smile. “He can continue searching tomorrow.”

Yong Guk sighed as he drank his juice earning a disapproving glare from his mate. “What?”

Him Chan shook his head, “nothing, I guess I’m overreacting to you being gone almost all day.”

“Well, I’m going to be gone most of the day starting next week,” he ran his fingers through his mate’s dark locks. “I’m going to be working at the little shop near the edge of town.”

“That’s far,” he whined softly. “What will you be doing?”

“Fixing and making some furniture or helping set up the shop,” he answered gently squeezing his mate’s shoulder.

Him Chan nodded looking over to see Dae Hyun returning to the table, “How’s he doing?”

“Bored as usual,” he gave a weak smile, “and lonely.”

“”Maybe you should take a day off,” Yong Guk suggested. “You’re exhausting yourself; you won’t be much help when the babies are born if you keep this up.”

“I know,” he looked down at his hands. “I just want to be able to support my family.”

“And that’s why I’m starting to work to help out,” the purple haired man offered a smile. “You’re all my family too. You’re not alone in this. Young Jae needs you right now.”

“I know,” he said softly. Him Chan sighed, “Why aren’t you with him right now?”

“He wanted to take a bath,” the silver haired boy stood up. “I need to get him a towel.”

The black haired man looked to his mate as Dae Hyun left the room, worry creased his soft features. The elder sighed, “Just give him some time he’ll come around. He just needs to let it sink in that we’re all here to help and Young Jae needs to be the one to tell him that he needs him.”

“He’s just as stubborn as that one,” the younger glared.

Yong Guk laughed pulling his mate close, “I know we’ll have to talk to Young Jae about speaking up. He probably doesn’t know how to tell Dae Hyun to stay home. Jee Hye had mentioned that their boss is getting worried about him.”

“Should we talk to him after or before Dae Hyun goes to work?”

“Probably after he leaves so he understands what we mean a little better,” he suggested.

Him Chan nodded, “have you seen the maknaes?”

Jong Up sighed softly as they walked down the road, Jun Hong at his side. He smiled looking at the taller boy.

“What?” he asked innocently when he noticed the elder boy’s eyes on him. “Is there something on my face?”

The brunette chuckled shaking his head, “no, it’s not that. It’s just…”

“Just what?” the maknae stopped with the elder stopping with him.

Jong Up’s cheeks reddened, “I was kind of wondering if it was too soon to ask you to mate with me?”

The pink haired boy’s cheeks reddened. “Well, I’m alright with it, but the others might be against it.”

“I know,” he said with a sad smile, “and there’s still the threat of the Facility. If we mate then there’s the chance of you getting pregnant.”

Jun Hong nodded, “Yeah…”

Jong Up reached out his hand to the younger boy with a gentle smile. The maknae sighed returning the smile taking his hand. As the two continued walking down the street Jun Hong continued, “it’s not fair. We’re not that much younger that Young Jae and Dae Hyun but we can’t mate. Not because of our age but because of the Facility.”

“We probably could,” the brunette tried. “Him Chan didn’t get pregnant right away, it took several tries.”

“But Young Jae got pregnant really easy,” the younger pouted.

The brunette wasn’t giving up so quickly, “yeah, but he was inseminated. They kept a close eye on his body to make sure he would carry soon.”

Jun Hong nodded, “maybe we can talk to Him Chan about it then.”

“We’ll have better luck talking to a rock,” he joked. “We’re going to need support before going up against Him Chan.”

Jun Hong’s eyes lit up seeing the Bakery, “We could get Dae Hyun and Young Jae. Jee Hye would be with us too, then after we get them we could try convincing Yong Guk.”

“They weren’t kidding at school,” Jong Up laughed.

“Kidding about what?” the maknae looked to the elder boy at his side.

“About Carriers mating Dominates who are at a lower mentality or social status.” He smiled, “you have a lot of things running through your mind.”

“Don’t worry I’ll take care of you,” he smirked.

Jong Up smiled when the pink haired boy began swinging their arms. “And I’ll take care of you.”

“Shall we ask Dae Hyun and try asking Jee Hye before she goes home?” Jun Hong smiled.

Jong Up shook his head, “I think we need a little more time before we mate, so we can get used to each other.”

“Jong Uppie, what is there to get used to?” the maknae sighed stopping again his hands on his hips. “We’ve been together for what thirteen years, almost fourteen. We do everything together, we even share a bed. We take showers and baths together. You’ve seen me already. Hell you even held me when we were .”

Jong Up’s face was a deep red with embarrassment. It was true that they weren’t normal friends. Their friendship went farther than what others dared to be at the Facility. It was no wonder why they were matched. Even when they were constantly teased about it, they weren’t bothered by it. When the Facility decided that they should mate, that was when they had realized just how much they depended on each other. It scared them and they didn’t want to admit their feelings; afraid that it would destroy their friendship. He could assume that they had over reacted but who would they be if they didn’t overreact every now and then?

“Maybe you shouldn’t say something like that out loud,” a familiar voice caught their attention.

Jun Hong looked at the black haired boy with an annoyance written all over, “say what?”

“People would take it the wrong way if they hear you talking about holding each other without clothes,” Jung Min said awkwardly. “It’s not very modest.”

“Our parents didn’t mind,” the maknae shrugged.

Jung Min shrugged, “But it’s not appropriate for a Carrier to be showing their body to a Dominate.”

“Parents sometimes bathe their children together,” Jun Hong countered.

“But only up to a certain age,” he shot back. “They aren’t classified as Dominate or Carrier yet.”

“Well then maybe our parents were already considering having us mate together,” Jun Hong folded his arms.

Jong Up nodded, “that’s probably true. They never said anything when we did. They more of encouraged us to be together and we didn’t fight them.”

“Your parents were over a lot too,” the maknae pointed out.

“What happened to your parents?” Jung Min asked. “You’re not here with them. Did something happen to them?”

“No, we just moved out,” maknae said simply. “They know Yong Guk and Him Chan so when we said we wanted to move out they were fine with it.”

“I guess they thought we would do better on our own,” Jong Up smiled softly at the taller boy, “that we needed to find our own way.”

Jun Hong swung their arms gently, “well they were right. Without the pressure we were able to realize how much we depend on each other. Everyone could see it besides us, but they decided to let us figure it out on our own.”

“Except for Dae Hyun,” Jong Up pouted.

Jun Hong laughed, “And you bugged him about Young Jae so you’re both even.”

Jung Min sighed, “So you two are already talking about mating?”

The two shrugged. The maknae spoke, “Why not? We’ve known each other for so long and we know everything about each other.

“We do everything together.” Jong Up joined in. “We aren’t shy around each other and we can be ourselves around one another.”

“We know each other’s faults,” Jun Hong to over once again, confusing the elder boy slightly. “We have nothing to hide from each other, no secrets.”

“How are you so sure he hasn’t lied to you?” Jung Min tried to think of every mistake that the brunette would've made. “Wasn’t there someone else he wanted to mate before you?”

Jun Hong shrugged, “I’m with him almost twenty-four/seven. He can’t lie about anything, forget maybe but never lie. And for the mating thing it was just a phase, we’re over that.”

The black haired looked between them in shock, “What? With who?”

“Doesn’t matter now,” the maknae dismissed the question, “I have him now and that’s what matters to me.”

Jong Up smiled, “We could probably talk to them before the New Year.”

Jun Hong nodded proudly, “then let’s go bug Dae Hyunie.”