Jacob stood in his place and mulled over the advice Chanhee had given him, wondering if he should test the younger's solution or disregard it entirely. When it came to morning sickness, Chanhee had told him that eating would help his nausea go away, and being hungry would only make it worse. And while it didn't make sense to Jacob to eat when he was feeling so ill, he figured he might as well give it a try. Chanhee had two children of his own, meaning two pregnancies with all their ups and downs, twists and turns. He probably knew what he was talking about, and he definitely knew much more than Jacob did. It would be wise to take his advice. 

But he could not for the life of him get himself to eat anything, despite how simple Chanhee made it seem. 'Find something you can eat that won't upset your stomach' is what he had told Jacob but so far there was absolutely nothing that didn't upset his stomach. Just the thought of putting food past his lips made him want to vomit even if there was nothing in his stomach to come up. He could feel his insides churn at the idea now and he wanted to give up eating forever if he wasn't practically starving and needed to eat to live. Jacob had tried many a time to eat with the hopes of losing that nagging hunger but his nausea was too overbearing and too debilitating. He didn't think it was ever going to happen. He really didn't feel well ever. 

But he was trying his hardest and he was trying to eat something now in an attempt at following Chanhee's advice. Standing in the kitchen, arm propping him against the counter with his free hand rubbing at his aching stomach, Jacob was searching through all the cabinets they had in hopes that he could find something that didn't absolutely repulse him. All of his favorite foods lined the cabinet shelves, courtesy of Kevin's attentiveness, and despite being his favorites, each one looked unappealing, making his stomach twist at the thought of putting them in his mouth. He wasn't sure if he could keep them down if he tried eating them and the thought was devastating. He wanted nothing more than to eat a big bowl of Krave cereal without feeling ill. Jacob groaned to himself, pushing himself off the counter to use both hands to rub at his distended abdomen. He was extremely bloated but he hadn't even eaten anything worth eating that could make him bloat like this. He had eaten crackers given to him by Kevin after throwing up this morning but they had been terrible. They were too dry and didn't have much taste and now he was bloated and still hungry, but not, all at the same time. He was only nine weeks pregnant and was so afraid the duration of his pregnancy was going to be just like this. He needed something substantial to eat, not just dry crackers and bland bread, sometimes a few bites of rice if he was having a good day, but he wasn't sure what he could stomach. Jacob whined to himself, letting his head fall forward until his chin was touching his chest. He wanted to die right then and there to end his misery. Jacob was sure that was much easier than having to deal with morning sickness and constant nausea any longer. 

He seemed to lose time while wallowing in self pity, because soon Kevin was waltzing into the kitchen in search of his boyfriend. They had previously been sitting together in the living room catching up on their favorite drama when Jacob excused himself to find something to eat. He had been building up the courage to for a while before finally doing it and had informed Kevin he would be right back. That must not have been the case because Kevin was frowning in search of his boyfriend, "You just missed the wildest plot twist I have ever seen and I'm so mad you weren't there to watch it with me," Kevin pouted, dramatic and ridiculous. But then he was taking in the scene before him and stared in puzzlement. With how long Jacob had been gone Kevin thought he had started cooking something, but no, that was not what was in front of him. 

Jacob was looking a little miserable standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, all the cabinet doors open with him glaring at them as if they had done something to insult him. He looked very focused and glum, back hunched forward to match how he looked. Kevin's eyes traveled down to his lower abdomen, exposed by the short reach of his shirt, and noted how low his sweatpants sat on his hips, showcasing his very bloated belly. It was perfectly round and maybe a tiny bit of it was his slowly developing baby bump, but most of it was definitely bloat. It just gave him a look into their future and it made him smile slightly, "Are you okay, Cobi?" Kevin asked, easily sliding an arm around his waist and bringing the older into his side, "Both you and Bubba?" it was a nickname Kevin had been calling the baby since they found out they were pregnant. It had come so naturally and for now Baby was Bubba, until they found a real name. But knowing Kevin, he would continue using the nickname for the rest of their child's life. 

Although processed late, his shift in stature was immediate in an effort to hide how he was really feeling, not wanting to worry Kevin in the slightest. Jacob forced a smile and leaned onto Kevin's shoulder as he snuggled into his side in hopes it was a good distraction. In all honestly, it made his stomach squirm in a way that made him feel ill, "Bubba and I are okay. We're just trying to figure out what to eat. We have lots of options," looking over them again in the moment had his stomach turning more. His mouth started to salivate, a familiar indicator and warning that he was close to throwing up. He had to play it off though, not wanting to worry Kevin in the slightest, "I was thinking a nice bowl of cinnamon toast crunch would hit the spot," he settled, hoping and praying to God he could get it down and keep it down. Cereal was his favorite food, could never get enough of it and he always had at least three boxes of different types in the cabinets at his disposal. Surely he couldn't go wrong with cereal, even if he was feeling sick. 

"I'll get the milk," Kevin smiled, placing a soft kiss to Jacob's temple as he turned towards the fridge, so ready and willing to help his boyfriend with anything. Back turned, Jacob let himself slump forward again and sigh under his breath before taking a step forward and grabbing the cereal box from the cabinet, hand shaking and unsteady. He did not feel well but Jacob was hoping he could eat this in front of Kevin and not show him how he was really feeling.  

Kevin hadn't always been oblivious, he just didn't know the extent of Jacob's morning sickness because Jacob didn't want him to. Jacob wasn't one to complain, always tried to keep his problems trapped inside his chest with a smile, especially this one since Kevin couldn't do anything about it when he would want to. Kevin's anxiety was terrible and if he knew just how horribly Jacob was doing then he would end up worrying himself sick trying to 'fix it' and Jacob didn't want to do that to his boyfriend. He wanted to tell Kevin how nauseated he was, how food didn't taste right anymore, and just how hungry he was, how all he wanted to do was eat, eat, eat but he can't and he was just plain miserable and he could never let Kevin know it. Jacob always hid his struggles and he was skilled at hiding them, had been doing so his entire life. He put on a smile even when he was feeling awful and was always his usual, sweet self. But the acting was getting old for him and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this charade up. 

Jacob wasn't a currently active idol so he wasn't around Kevin as much as he would like to be. He'd found out he was pregnant at the perfect time when they were just starting to prepare for their next album. They had gotten as far as recording their songs when Jacob had a sneaking suspicion he was pregnant. His doctor confirmed this suspicion and all of his idol duties were put on hold so he could focus on himself and his upcoming baby. This meant a lot of time alone at his apartment while Kevin fell into the busy stages of preparing for a new album release. Eating together was hard to come by, but Jacob was thankful for this so Kevin didn't have to see how much he was struggling. When they did get the chance to eat together Jacob had all the excuses lined up so he didn't have to eat or didn't have to eat as much if he really wasn't feeling well. 'I had a big lunch and I'm not feeling dinner', 'I think I'm starting to have food aversions. I can't eat that', 'I ate before you came home. I was too hungry to wait'. Kevin never questioned any excuse Jacob gave him because why would he have reason to think his boyfriend was lying? Jacob felt guilty for deceiving him, but he didn't want to worry him. When Kevin had the rare day off, Jacob gave in to only a fraction of his nausea and it was usually the worst in the mornings. Kevin did his best to help, offering crackers, plain oatmeal, and bread to try and help calm his stomach. Kevin was an angel and Jacob felt like a terrible person for not telling the truth, but he just wanted to limit his stressors since this wasn't something they could control. And Kevin had a comeback coming up, he couldn't be worrying about Jacob when he had his own health and sanity to maintain. 

Keeping that in mind, Jacob sighed as he tipped the box and filled his bowl with cereal, watching as each square landed on top of the others in a mountain of cinnamon and sugar. This would typically look so appetizing to him, but the idea of biting the crunchy cereal had his teeth aching and his throat closing up tightly. Then he watched as Kevin happily topped the same bowl with milk, clueless to how Jacob was feeling as he focused on not overflowing the dish, "Is that enough?" he asked after a while, waiting patiently for Jacob to answer. 

"Perfect," Jacob chirped the best he could, smiling so sweetly at Kevin. He seemed to be selling his act very well because Kevin nodded cheerily as he returned to the fridge. Jacob again took a second to pout to himself and prepare to eat despite how awful he was feeling, smile returning fully once Kevin was facing him again. He couldn't let the younger see him being miserable. 

"Eat up!" Kevin beamed as he held out a spoon, Jacob unsure when he had the time to grab it between the fridge and where he currently stood. Jacob accepted it gratefully and watched as Kevin easily hopped onto the kitchen counter and took a seat there, kicking his legs excitedly, "I don't think I've seen you eat cereal in forever. It feels like it's been years." 

And Jacob supposed he hadn't eaten cereal in a long time, and he couldn't even recall the last time he had it without feeling ill. He always started his prepregnancy mornings with a bowl of cereal and since Kevin usually left very early in the morning, he had no idea anything had changed. Jacob had to keep that facade alive, "Not years. I don't know, I just haven't felt like eating it as much as I used to," Jacob shrugged, dipping his spoon into his bowl and swirling the contents, stomach aching as he studied what he lifted from the glass. It was so strange how pregnancy changed his view of his favorite things, "Pregnancy I guess," he offered as an explanation with a shrug, delaying the bite he was supposed to take under Kevin's watchful eye. 

Jacob prepared himself, pushing his nausea down to the base of his spine as he took the most confident bite of cereal he had ever taken in his life. His brain had a preset reaction in play, reminiscent of his love of cereal and how happy it made him when eating it, and Jacob felt the familiar joy try to flood his brain now and drown out the ill feeling, but it was short-lived as he started to chew. The nausea pushed through the joy and forced Jacob to promptly gag back into his cereal bowl when that first crunch rang in his skull. Jacob felt his stomach lurch and his core clench tight as his body rejected his attempted snack and it w