"Hi, uhm, is this Mr. Kim?"

    "Yes, who is this?"

Jeongguk sits up from where he was laying on the floor with Hanjae and Jaehyung.

    "This is Jeongguk, I'm the twins' dad." The ravenette says nervously, he's never spoken with either of Taehyung's parents.

    "Ah, Jeongguk, yes. How are you, son?" Mr. Kim asks. "I don't think we've ever spoken."

    "We haven't, and I'm fine. How are you?" Jeongguk asks politely, despite the urgency behind the phone call.

    "I'm well, thank you for asking." Mr. Kim says. "Is there a reason you're calling?"

    "Yeah, I was calling to ask if you've been in contact with Taehyung at all lately." Jeongguk says. "I haven't been able to contact him in over a week."

    "Over a week?" Mr. Kim asks in alarm. "Does he have the kids?"

    "No, that's why I'm worried. I don't think he'd run off without them." Jeongguk says. "You haven't spoken to him at all?"

    "I tried his cell a few times last week but I didn't have any luck so I called the school's phone." Mr. Kim says. "We talked for about five minutes before he had to go."

    "What'd he say? Did he sound like something was wrong?" Jeongguk asks, he was relieved that someone had heard from Taehyung in the past week and a half.

    "He was rushing the conversation, he said he was in class. But he didn't sound too strange otherwise. He just told me that he had to move out of his apartment because of personal reasons."

Jeongguk sighs. "He didn't say anything about the twins?"

    "No." Mr. Kim says. "I could give you his extension so you could try giving him a call."

    "That'd be great." Jeongguk says rushing to go write the number down. He steps over the baby gate out of the nursery to grab a pen and something to write on.

    "Appa!" Hanjae calls after him. 

    "I'm ready." Jeongguk says preparing to write the extension down. Scribbling the numbers quickly as Mr. Kim tells him. "Okay, thank you. If you would call me if you hear anything else from him, that'd be great."

    "Of course, you take care, son. You can let me know if you need anything." Mr. Kim says kindly.

    "Thank you, Mr. Kim." Jeongguk says before they hang up. He sighs as he looks down at the extension, it was past five so it was unlikely that anyone would answer right now.

    "Pa-pa!" Hanjae cries at the baby gate, Jaehyung following his lead and crying as well.

    "Hang on, guys." Jeongguk says rushing down stairs to get their sippy cups from the refrigerator. He dials the extension even though he doesn't expect an answer.

The line rings a few times before someone picks up. "Seoul Primary."

    "Yes, uhm, this is Jeon Jeongguk. I'm trying to get in contact with one of your teachers. Kim Taehyung?" Jeongguk says grabbing the cups.

    "Oh, Mr. Kim has already left for the evening. Is there a message I could leave for him?" The woman asks politely.

    "Could you just ask him to call me back as soon as he can?" Jeongguk asks. "My name's Jeongguk."

    "Okay, Jeongguk. I'll let him know you called."

    "Thank you." Jeongguk sighs as he walks back upstairs to get the kids. Ending the call as he steps over the baby gate. "I thought we agreed to limit the break downs to twice a day. Now you don't get to break down at bedtime."

Jaehyung's crocodile tears stop as soon as Jeongguk hands him his sippy cup. Hanjae continues to cry as he clings to the ravenette's legs.

    "Your brother rubbed off on you in the worst way, Hanie." Jeongguk jokes halfheartedly as he scoops him up. He sits down in the rocking chair in the corner, rocking Hanjae as he drinks his juice.

    "Ma-ma," Jaehyung says holding onto his leg, his sippy cup abandoned on the ground.

"Say Appa, Jaehyung." Jeongguk says rocking Hanjae as Jaehyung tries to climb into his lap. "Bring me your sippy, Jae."

The one year old is distracted by the instruction as Jeongguk stands from the rocking chair.

"Ma-ma,"Jaehyung whines, kicking up a fuss while holding the cup up to Jeongguk.

Jeongguk initially ignores him as he bounces Hanjae, but he eventually gives in and picks him up too.

"Say Appa, Jaehyung." He tries again as he sits down in the rocking chair. "Can you say Appa?"

"Ma-ma." Jaehyung says drinking out of his sippy cup.

Jeongguk sighs as he continues to rock them, looking down at both of them deep in thought.

He didn't understand how Taehyung could leave such sweet babies, he didn't understand how any parent could abandon their kids.

~Next week...~

"From what I can see I'd say you're about seven or eight weeks. The doctor would have to run some official tests to be sure."

"Eight weeks?"

"Yes."

Taehyung isn't sure if he should be relieved or even more frustrated. He didn't get pregnant the night they argued, but he still got pregnant despite all his efforts.

"The doctor will be right with you." The nurse says politely before leaving the room.

Taehyung wipes the lubricant jelly off of his stomach before sitting up. Looking down to try and hide the tears in his eyes. He didn't want this, he didn't want to have another baby so soon. And not with someone like Joohyuk.

"What are you crying about now, Tae?" Joohyuk asks looking up from his phone for the first time since the ultrasound started.

"You aren't even paying attention." The brunette sniffles as he wipes his eyes.

"I am too, I was just checking on some things." Joohyuk sighs standing from his seat, walking over and standing next to Taehyung. "You seemed shocked that you were eight weeks pregnant. Why?"

"Because I thought I was careful." Taehyung says looking forward, tears clinging to his lashes and shimmering in his eyes.

"I wish you'd cheer up, Taehyung. What's our child going to think when it's older and it hears about how much you wanted to kill it?" Joohyuk says, he was always trying to guilt trip him. "You're being selfish."

"You know that I'm more likely to die giving birth than the baby is being born, right?" Taehyung asks looking up at him. "I've been through this already, Joohyuk, and it didn't feel good."

"But you loved those other brats."

"Because I actually wanted them."

Joohyuk sighs with an aggravated expression. "I can't believe you, Taehyung."

"I can't believe you want to bring an innocent human being into this shit show." Taehyung says back. "You're literally forcing me to have this baby. And you're forcing me to abandon my family~"

"I'm your family now, Taehyung. This is your family." Joohyuk snaps. "You make it
seem like I treat you horribly when I do everything you ask me to. I even let you continue teaching at the primary school."

"I shouldn't need your permission to live my life, Joohyuk~"

"If you didn't give me so many reasons not to trust you then maybe things could be different."

Taehyung shakes his head, looking off for a moment in thought. "I won't ever be happy like this, Joohyuk. I feel like I'm suffocating when I'm with you."

"I love you, why don't you see that?" Joohyuk asks. "I just want you to be happy."

"Then let me go." Taehyung says looking up at him. "I'll have the baby and it'll be yours. Just give me my keys and my wallet and let me go home."

"I am your home, Tae. This isn't just about the baby it's about us." Joohyuk says. "We're a family, just like you were with Jeongguk. Expect I'm going to take care of you. I have a plan for us."

Taehyung sighs, looking down at his hands. He wasn't going to waste his breath explaining his feelings over again.

    "Knock, knock." The doctor says walking in. "Hey, Joohyuk. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

    "Yeah, I haven't really told anyone at the job." Joohyuk nods, rubbing Taehyung's shoulder as he speaks to his colleague.

"How'd you end up with this asshole, huh?" Dr. Ahn says jokingly to Taehyung as he takes a seat at the computer.

"I ask your wife the same question every time I see her." Joohyuk shoots back with a smile.

"Well, you're one lucky bastard. I'll tell you that, Nam." Dr. Ahn chuckles as he reads Taehyung's charts.

"What's mine is yours, you know that, Dr. Ahn." Joohyuk says making Taehyung look up at him with a confused expression.

    "Don't tempt me." The doctor says turning around in his chair. "Let's take a look, hm?"

Taehyung feels uneasy around Dr. Ahn, Joohyuk's words making him want to pull away every time he touched him. What does he mean 'what's mine is yours?' What the hell was he trying to say?

The rest of the appointment feels awkward, and Taehyung doesn't seem to be interested in anything the doctor has to say. Joohyuk and Ahn mostly just talk about him like he's not even there.

    "Any questions, Taehyung?" He asks as the appointment comes to a close.

    "Can I have a picture of the ultrasound?" Taehyung asks, he wasn't going to ask for the photo originally. But Joohyuk's words get to him more than they should. He couldn't just pretend there wasn't a life growing inside of him. He couldn't just ignore it because it wasn't going to go away.

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt this baby because of his own selfishness.

    "Of course. I'll make sure they give it to you as the front desk when you check out." Dr. Ahn says standing. "You guys have a nice day, okay?"

    "Thank you." Joohyuk says before the doctor leaves the room.

Taehyung stands from the examination table with a distant expression. Shrugging his jacket on as he follows Joohyuk out of the room.

    "I have to pull a double tonight but I'll take my break early enough to pick you up after school." Joohyuk says opening the door for him. "Okay?"

    "Okay." The brunette says climbing into the car before pulling the door shut.

He stares down at the ultrasound photo for almost the entire car ride. Trying to picture this baby in his life like he pictured the twins when he first got pregnant with them. But it wasn't the same, nothing was resolving like before.

That anxious feeling in his gut wasn't going away. Joohyuk wasn't making him feel like everything was going to be okay, he was just making him fear the future more with every passing day.

    "Hang on," Joohyuk says stopping Taehyung from getting out of the car after he parks in the school parking lot. "can we talk for a second?"

    "Don't you mean can you talk at me for a second?" The brunette asks sitting back in his seat.

    "No, I want to talk with you. Like, can we have a conversation?" Joohyuk asks unbuckling his seatbelt and facing him.

    "I don't want to get upset before I see the kids." Taehyung says rolling his eyes. "Can we just do this later?"

    "I won't upset you~"

    "Joohyuk~"

    "I swear. If you get upset I'll stop." The older says. "I just want to ask you for something."

Taehyung sighs, crossing his arms as he waits for him to continue.

    "I want you to be happy, Taehyung. I know you think I'm full of shit but I'm not. I love you, and I love our baby." Joohyuk starts. "I know you said you'd never be happy like this but you won't even give me a chance to make you happy. You're just pissed at me all the time."

    "Do you blame me?"

    "No, baby. I don't blame you."

Taehyung looks straight ahead, trying not to let Joohyuk get to him.

    "Can we make a deal?" Joohyuk asks before waiting for a response.

    "What?" Taehyung asks without looking at him.

    "Give me three months." Joohyuk says, effectively get Taehyung's attention. "Three months, that's all I'm asking."

    "Three months for what?" Taehyung asks looking at him.

    "To make you happy." The older says. "If you genuinely give me the opportunity to make you happy, we can end this after three months if you aren't."

    "What's the point of that?" Taehyung asks.

    "I know you love me, Taehyung. You just don't realize it yet, and I could help you realize." Joohyuk says. "If not then you can leave and we can figure out custody when the baby gets here."

"You're seriously asking me to endure three months of your physical and verbal abuse in the hopes that, what, you'll win me over?" Taehyung asks insensitively before shifting towards Joohyuk in his seat. "I don't know how many times I'm going to have to explain this to you, Joohyuk. I will not, ever, put you before my family."

"But I love you." Joohyuk says with a devastated look in his eyes, he was obviously expecting Taehyung to go along with his idea.

"I'm going to be late." Taehyung says grabbing his bag.

"Will you think about it?" Joohyuk asks before he gets out of the car.

"You want me to think about it? After you offered me out to your friend like I'm just something to fucking pass around?" The brunette asks putting his bag down with an aggravated expression.

"Are you serious~

"Yes, I'm serious. And I want a new doctor overseeing my pregnancy." Taehyung says opening the door and getting out of the car. Walking into the school building without looking back.

Teaching was the only thing that gave him a break from his constant sadness and frustration. Even though he still missed the twins and felt completely isolated from the world, teaching gave him hope for the future.