“Babe, listen. I’m sorry but I will be late tonight. Don’t wait up for me.” Mark says through the phone and Jaebum sighs. It’s the third time this week that Mark called him to say that he would be home late.
He acted like this last week to and Jaebum starts to feel lonely. He’s eight and a half month pregnant and he feels like Mark doesn’t like him anymore.
Maybe he’s too fat for Mark…
Jaebum sighs again and stirs the food in the pan. Once again he would eat alone. He can feel a tiny kick and he rubs a hand over his swollen stomach.
“Hi baby, do you miss daddy to?” he asks and there is another kick.
“I guess so…” he mumbles as he goes back to the food.

“Baby, do you think daddy has forgotten mommy’s birthday?” Jaebum asks when he later that night is lying alone in his and Mark’s bed.
Usually, Mark would talk to Jaebum about his birthday. Like how he wants the cake and what he wants to do. But now, Mark is so caught up in work he hasn’t talked about Jaebum’s birthday at all. And his birthday is just tomorrow.
Jaebum rests a hand on his stomach, trying to feel his baby move. There is no movement at the moment.
“Do you think that maybe daddy is cheating on mommy?” he voices out and stares up into the ceiling. He then sighs and decides to go to sleep.

***

The day after is boring, as Jaebum has stopped working since a month back when moving became a bit difficult. He just stays home, cleans a little, watches the TV, play some iphone games and cooks food.
Mark was long gone when he woke up, but the bed were messy so Mark must have been home.
Jaebum sighs for the hundredth time of the day, and he’s only half through the day. Mark didn’t leave a note nor send him a text.
Ding.
The bell suddenly rings and Jaebum lifts his head. With a bit difficulties he stands up and gets the door. Outside is Jinyoung, smiling brightly at him.
“Hi Jaebum!” he says and Jaebum eyes him suspiciously. This boy is up to something.
“Hi Jinyoung.” he says slowly and returns an awkward smile.
“I was thinking like this, when was the last time you left the apartment?” he asks and Jaebum has to think.
“Two days ago… I was buying groceries.” he says and Jinyoung shakes his head.
“I mean, when was the last time you left the apartment to just walk or something.” he says and Jaebum shakes his head. He can’t remember last time.
“So, I was going to take you out for a walk. Maybe we can sit down in the park and talk.” he says and Jaebum slowly agrees. He doesn’t want to walk that much since he can’t really walk, he mostly waddles. But he loves spending time with Jinyoug and maybe some fresh air is good for him.

“How is life?” Jinyoung asks as they slowly walks through the park. Jaebum has his arms linked with Jinyoung’s so he can walk fairly normal.
“It’s fine I guess.” Jaebum says. He doesn’t really want to talk about everything with Mark right now.
“You don’t sound too sure. What’s going on?” Jinyoung asks and Jaebum sighs.
“I just feel like Mark is avoiding me…” he admits.
“He doesn’t come home early anymore. He’s always late, so late that I’ve fallen asleep. I don’t know… I feel a bit forgotten.” he says and Jinyoung stops him to then set him down on a bench.
“I’m sure Mark doesn’t mean to do that. He’s probably busy!” Jinyoung says and Jaebum hangs his head.
“Or he’s cheating on me…” he whispers, barely audible. Jinyoung chokes and starts coughing.
“You think he’s cheating on you?!” he wheezes out and Jaebum nods carefully.
“He’s never home and… yeah. I can’t go to conclusion like this, but I feel like he’s forgetting me.” he says and Jinyoung nods before taking up his phone.
“What are you doing?” Jaebum asks and tries to look over Jinyoung’s shoulder. Jinyoung quickly puts back his phone into his pocket.
“I was just texting Jackson, I think I might have left the stove on.” he says and smiles sheepishly at Jaebum.
“Alright…” Jaebum says slowly, eyeing Jinyoung closely.

They sat on the bench for almost an hour and just talked before Jinyoung’s phone went off. He quickly picked up and gave Jaebum a smile.
“Now? … alright, I’ll fix it!” he says and Jaebum tilts his head.
“I need to go home and help Jackson, so I’m going to take you home!” Jinyoung says and stands up. He then helps Jaebum to stand up, the younger male has slight difficulties to stand up due to his big, round stomach.
“Jin, I can walk home by my own.” he tries but Jinyoung shakes his head.
“Mark would have my head if I do that. I can’t leave you alone Jaebum.” he says and Jaebum just huffs.

“So, I’m home now Jinyoung. I can get to the door by my own.” he says but Jinyoung still, stubbornly, follows him.
“I need to look after you.”
“Go home to jackson.” Jaebum sticks out his tongue before turning to the door and unlocking it. The apartment is dark and Jaebum is about to turn around to tell Jinyoung to go home whe-
“SURPRISE!” someone suddenly shouts and Jaebum jumps. The light flicks on and he stares wide eyed at the group of people in the apartment. There is Yugyeom, Youngjae, Bambam and Hakyeon from his work. There is Jaehwan, Taekwoon, Sanghyuk and Jackson from Mark’s work. In the middle is Mark, holding a cake and smiling brightly at him.
“Happy birthday!” he says and Jaebum can feel tears running down his cheeks.
“Don’t cry Jaebum!” Sanhyuk panics and hands him a tissue. Jaebum just continues to cry while trying to dry his tears. Jinyoung gently rubs his back and coos at him.
“Is this why you’ve been ignoring me?” Jaebum sobs, meaning Mark and the male gently bites his lip.
“Yeah… I’m sorry.” he says and Jaebum sobs again.
“So you didn’t cheat on me?”
“No I- what? You thought I cheated on you?” Mark sets down the cake and goes up to Jaebum. The younger throws himself over the other and hugs him tightly, his bulging stomach pressing against Markh.
“You came home late and you barely talked to me…” Jaebum whispers in Mark’s shoulder and the elder rubs his back.
“I would never cheat on you Jaebum.” he says and presses a kiss on Jaebum’s cheek.
“Now lets dry those tears and eat some cake!” he continues and the baby inside Jaebum’s stomach kicks.
“Oh, someone likes the idea of cake.” he coos and rubs Jaebum’s stomach. Jaebum quickly dries his tears and backs away from Mark before he could embarrass him further.

“I’m sorry Jaebum.” Mark says when they lie in bed. Jaebum lies on his back with his head turned to Mark and Mark is slowly his stomach.
“It’s okay, Mark.” Jaebum says and smiles a little. He feels a flutter in his stomach and there is another kick.
“It’s not really. I made you think that I was cheating on you. That makes me feel very guilty.” he says and Jaebum moves to lie on the side.
“It turned out well, didn’t it?” he whispers and Mark smiles. He inches closer to Jaebum to press a kiss on Jaebum’s lips.