hey there, chopsticks (i'm so used to calling you guys that lol)! here is the second chapter. i'm trying to not let too much time pass between the updates, but it's really not easy! my bachelor thesis keeps me busy and there is sunggyu's solo album distracting me as well lol.
is everyone excited for May 11th? i certainly am! <3 the pictures and audio teasers are perfect so far! let's support him lots okay? competition is hard but that's no reason to give up!

to the chapter: wow, a legitimate child birth scene (with the usual cursing). probably not accurate at all, but you know me...always trying to stay realistic and torturing my readers with slow development <3 hehe. have to build up the mood. (i wonder if i can experience my sister giving birth next year or so...)

something else: thank you for all the support so far! almost 300 subs and a loooot of comments. i was/am really happy, so keep it up <3

- ramen

Normally, Sunggyu hated driving long distances with his car, but today he couldn’t find it in him to care. He had the window rolled down and the music loud as he raced down the road. Left and right were only trees and fields to be seen. There weren’t even a lot of cars on the road, probably because Sunggyu had woken up extra early to avoid any kind of traffic jam. He only shared the streets with a few people that probably had the same idea as him or just needed to get to work this early. But Sunggyu doubted a lot of people commuted from Seoul to a smaller city. It was more likely the other way around. He certainly didn’t mind the empty streets. He could drive whatever speed he wanted and even sing along his favorite songs without feeling embarrassed about it. Sunggyu was in a good mood and he would let nothing ruin it today.

When was the last time he’d had a holiday? His boss always made him work a lot, but when it came to having a day off, he would be terribly stingy. Sunggyu was lucky that his boss was weak when it came to things like babies. Something that he could not entirely comprehend, but then again, wasn’t he also in such a good mood because of his sister and her soon-to-be-born child? Sunggyu genuinely looked forward to seeing his nephew. It was weird how an unborn life could already mean so much to him. He wasn’t even carrying the baby or was close to his sister constantly, but somehow he fell for his nephew nevertheless. Maybe it was true that simply knowing someone close to you was pregnant could activate some unconscious part in your brain and put you into the mood too. He wanted the kid to have a nice childhood. One, in which it would never miss his father’s presence. His family would make sure that little Haneul became an upright person, unlike his cowardly father.

Time flew by as he kept thinking about little Hanuel, who was soon going to enter their world. Sunggyu was in the middle of doing his second break from the long drive when his phone rang. He didn’t hear it at first because he was busy refueling the tank, but then he noticed the blinking screen inside the car and opened the car door. He reached out and grabbed the phone.

“Mom?”

“Where are you, boy? You should’ve been here long ago!”

Sunggyu huffed. “I’m not a robot. I don’t drive 3 hours without a break or two. Don’t worry. I’m not dead.”

“Idiot! It’s not always about you! Your sister is going into labor and you’re not here, you stupid child!”

She never stops insulting me. Such a nice mother. “Already? But didn’t the doctor say it was scheduled for Friday? That’s still 5 days to go.”

“And you think the baby cares about that?” His mother asked dryly.

Sunggyu rolled his eyes. He remembered checking his tank and pulled out when enough fuel was inside of it. “Mom, I’ll be as fast as I can. I’m sure you want me to arrive in the hospital with my own car and not with an ambulance. Just message me the address and I’ll hurry over. Tell noona to keep it in a little longer, okay?”

“She can’t control that-“ He quickly hung up. Sunggyu didn’t have the time to listen to her.

He locked his car properly and went to pay for the fuel. It was still half an hour drive until he reached their hometown. Twenty minutes if he hurried and broke a few traffic laws. Maybe he seemed relatively calm and composed on the outside, but Sunggyu was panicking inside. He had groaned and cursed for having to drive to his hometown just for the birth of his nephew just weeks ago, but now he had caught the fever from everyone else and was just as excited. He wanted to be there when it happened! Besides, babies were always cuter when they weren’t your own. Sunggyu didn’t want a crying, screaming baby to raise. He preferred them sleeping and quiet, the cute form.

Sunggyu drove as fast as he could without getting into an accident. He didn’t have to use his car a lot in Seoul, so he wasn’t exactly the safest and most experienced driver. There was no use in risking an accident now. Seungah would have his head if he died on his way to the hospital. (Well, she could probably have his head in that case, because he wouldn’t need it anymore after passing on.) He noticed the little LED light of his phone blinking throughout the drive but Sunggyu didn’t check the messages. He was not confident in doing texting and driving. They were probably just status updates from his mother plus messages telling him to hurry up.



In the end, it took him 46 minutes to reach the hospital because of some traffic jam right when he left the highway. Sunggyu parked the car with a long sigh and grabbed everything he needed, before getting out of the car. He jogged over to the entrance of the hospital and walked over to the reception with wide steps.

“Hello. I’m looking for my sister, Kim Seungah.”

The nurse looked at him for a moment and then back to her screen, typing something on her keyboard. “She’s in the maternity ward. Room 27. Don’t worry, the baby hasn’t arrived yet.”

He was relieved to hear that. She had probably noticed his disheveled and slightly panicky state. “Thank you. Have a nice day!”

Sunggyu rushed towards the maternity ward. Signs showed him the way he had to follow. Some of the staff gave him disapproving looks for running in the corridors and he settled for quick walking instead. He reached the ward in a few minutes and soon enough, Sunggyu stopped in front of room 27. He knocked shortly.

“It’s me.”

“Come in.” His father called from the other side.

He opened the door slowly and entered the room. His parents were sitting at a table, apparently in the middle of having a late breakfast (or early lunch). His mother gave him a quick glance. “You’re late.”

“But not too late.” He countered playfully and walked over to his sister.

She stretched out her arms and he hugged her shortly. “Hey, noona. Thank you for waiting for me.”

Sunggyu pulled back again and they exchanged a smile. “It wasn’t exactly my decision, but maybe little Haneul wanted his uncle to be here.”

He glanced down at his sister’s swollen abdomen. “Doesn’t look very little to me, sis. Why isn’t he not here yet, though? Serious question.”

Seungah shrugged. “My water broke, so we thought I was about to go into labor and headed to the hospital, but the contractions haven’t started yet.”

There was no free chair, so he just sat down on the edge of the bed. “So…is that normal?”

His mother snorted. “Of course not! If the contractions don’t start soon, the doctor might need to induce labor!”

He narrowed his eyes at her. How was he supposed to know that? He was a man! Which man knew anything at all about pregnancies? Seungah patted his hand. “The doctor also said it happens to some women. It’s not entirely uncommon and a few days earlier won’t make much of a difference. Besides, we have to give the baby its 24 hours. I’m sure Haneul will come by himself.”

Sunggyu crouched down and looked at the baby bump. “Look at you scaring everyone, Haneul. Already a little troublemaker. Just like your uncle.”

“Or his father.” His mother commented and the mood in the room went ice-cold. She cleared and stood up. “I’ll take a short walk.”

Their mother left the room, quickly followed by their father who gave Seungah an apologetic look. Sunggyu glanced back to his sister. He was surprised that their mother even brought him up again. Their parents had been very supporting of Seungah’s baby wish these past months and had never mentioned that bastard again. “What was that?”

She smiled sadly. “You know how she is. Mom still thinks that I should give Haneul free for adoption after birth. Sometimes that side of her slips through. She’s scared no one will ever marry me if I have a child.”

Sunggyu rolled his eyes. “You’ll find someone. Mom is sometimes forgetting that we are living in the 21rst century now. Raising a child alone is not that uncommon anymore, which is actually kind of sad, now that I think about it.”

“That’s true I guess.” She turned away shortly to grab something from the little table next to her bed. “Here. Your key to my apartment. I thought you might prefer that over sleeping at our parents’ house.”

He took the key from her. Sunggyu really wasn’t eager to sleep in the same house as their parents. Not that he didn’t like them, but his mom had the tendency to nag about every little thing. She was still bitter that he moved out of their hometown. “Thanks, noona. I can already set up little Haneul’s next present then.”

Her eyes widened. “You bought something again? Oh, Sunggyu. I really can’t take so much from you. You’ve already paid for the whole renovation of the guest room into a nursery and you also bought the crib. Not to mention the savings account-“

He grabbed her hand and pressed it softly. Tears shimmered in her eyes and Sunggyu tried to stop her from crying. He gave her a smile. “I do this because I want to, okay? Times are hard for you right now and I want to help you. It’s not like I have anything else to spend money on.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I admit I’m the best brother in the entire world. No one matches my awesomeness.” He replied with fake vanity.

She smiled. “You’re probably right about that.”

“Ah, noona, stop feeding my ego. It’s almost shooting through the roof.”

The siblings laughed together, at least until Seungah suddenly grimaced. “Oh god-“

Sunggyu’s eyes widened. “W-What…what is wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong…ugh…everything is just perfect now. I’m actually making this face because I enjoy pain! AH! ! GOD!”

He stared at his cursing sister in shock, then he had the great idea to actually press the little red button to call for a nurse. Was this normal? Or was something wrong? How was he supposed to know that? “D-Don’t wor