Chapter Text
With a thoughtful expression and earnest tone, the words are said:
“I'll do it.”
Felix's cup of tea stops halfway in the process of lifting to his lips, his mouth opens and he gapes at Jeongin. "What?" He shakes his head, as if to clear out confusion. "What about Daehyun?"
Jeongin's eyes grow flinty, scent turning from its usual freshly baked bread to slightly mouldy. "You know I went with him to meet his family last weekend?" At Felix's nod, he continues, "I overheard him and his cousin talking when I went to get a glass of water. Apparently the plan is to mate me, and then get me to quit my job so he can have me home and breeding his pups."
The sympathetic heartbreak has tears in Felix's eyes. "Oh, Iyen-ah. I'm so sorry."
Jeongin’s shoulders rise and fall in defeat, yet he still manages a warm smile, "Yeah, so, no need to worry about that. I can help, hyung. I'll do it."
Daehyun is just another in a long list of disappointing relationships. Jeongin feels like a fool. Until that conversation, Daehyun had been supportive of him being a teacher, proudly introducing Jeongin as someone who would cultivate the next generation. He'd even stated that as a strong and independent omega, Jeongin would be able to help his students break away from preconceived notions about the dynamics of secondary genders. It had seemed real, and restored Jeongin's faith that he'd found an alpha who would be a respectful mate and who could love him for who he was.
But it was all shit. Daehyun wasn't different from any of the others after all.
Sitting in Felix's and Chan's living room over tea, Jeongin watches as Felix tries not to cry while sharing that he'd miscarried again. It makes Jeongin despair that anyone might be able to achieve the family life they wanted. If Chan and Felix, the most stable of relationships that he knows among his friends can’t achieve that dream, how is he supposed to?
Their conversation had turned to options. The doctor warned Felix and Chan that any further attempts to conceive would be risky. The suppressants and birth control Felix had been on for years since he'd first presented and during his modelling career had done a number on his system. It was unlikely that he’d be able to carry a pup to term. Those same drugs were reason enough for any adoption agency to put them at the bottom of the list; anyone who really wanted to be a parent would never have taken drugs like that, apparently. Never mind that it was written into Felix's contract, that he'd been a minor when the drugs had been prescribed, and the agency had kept him on the drugs for much longer than recommended. The medical profession hadn’t even completed long term studies of the effects of suppressants at that time!
Felix could sue the agency he’d been with back then, or the pharmaceutical company, as some models had in the past. It wouldn't help Felix's career, and it wouldn't help them with adoption. Jeongin knows all this. He knows it would be a tough battle to fight to even get a chance at adoption. Their world isn’t fair, nor does he expect it ever will be, but Jeongin wants to help. His own dreams are in shambles. It seems worse that Chan and Felix’s dreams are dashed as well.
Felix started to voice his concerns about surrogacy, and how it might be an option, but he and Chan are leery. They’re worried about potential candidates. After hearing that the couple had read some horror stories about mothers who had asked for more money, or court fights afterwards over custody, the words just fell out of Jeongin’s mouth. He isn't using his womb for anything, and is starting to feel like he never will. If he can help two of the people he cares for most achieve their dream? It is the easiest decision he's ever made.
"Let me help," Jeongin says. "I can do this. I can carry your pup." He knows his scent is still off, not as sweet or fresh as it usually is, and lacking the hint of apricot jam that happiness brings forth, but his smile is wide, his eyes an almost closed slant and his dimples deeply evident in his cheeks. "Your pup will be so loved. Hyung, you deserve to be parents. Let me help you."
Felix's hand slips into Jeongin's, his cute fingers dwarfed by Jeongin’s much larger hand, and though tears begin to fall down freckled cheeks, he smiles through it. "I'll talk to Channie hyung, and you should think about this a little more. It's not something you should rush into. I know you're hurting right now, so…we should all think about it some more, yeah?"
Jeongin tightens his fingers around Felix’s and he nods. He knows he isn’t going to change his mind. "Yeah. I'll think about it. Let me know when you and hyung are ready to talk."
The rest of the visit eases into quiet conversation, and when Felix hugs Jeongin as he is leaving, Jeongin leans into the embrace. He feels as if he's just stepped into a kitchen, brownies baking in the oven, encircled by Felix's arms. It's good to know his hyung is more at ease than when he’d first arrived, and though Jeongin’s own heart still feels tender, he finds himself content as he makes his way home.
Checking his phone after practice concluded means Minho only took a five minute shower, rather than the twenty he’d originally wanted. He can feel the ache in his muscles as he walks back to his apartment building, but when Felix asks for something, there’s few that would say no, and Minho isn’t one of them.
It also wasn’t as if Felix had asked anything of him that he wouldn’t have minded doing anyway; check in on Jeongin, cause he’d had a rough time lately? It isn’t a hardship to spend time with the group’s maknae. While he isn’t the best at discussing deep emotions, at least when it comes to his own, he understands Jeongin. The act of spending an evening with him alone, cooking for him, and showing him he is cared for, even if Minho rarely speaks the words aloud, will help Jeongin feel better.
He stops at his own apartment long enough to drop off his gym bag, grab some ingredients out of the fridge and send a quick text to cancel his date that night. That message is followed swiftly by an answering call from his girlfriend, Sanghee.
On this occasion, their conversation dissolves quickly. Minho doesn’t need to be in her vicinity to discern her anger. How dare he cancel their date last minute? They have reservations! Her words turn venomous when she spits out her suspicion that he’s cancelled to spend time with Jeongin instead of her.
“If you don’t have a friend who you would drop everything to help when they’re going through a rough time, then I feel sorry for you,” Minho gruffs down the line. He hangs up in typical fashion, not even bothering to say a parting word. This isn’t the first time she’s acted jealous over the time he spends with Jeongin. Given he isn’t going to stop doing so, their relationship would be doomed anyway. If she can’t trust him, then she isn’t someone he wants to be with. He considers whether he should block her number, but she likely wants nothing to do with him after this. Besides, it's not like he is obligated to pick up any future calls, or answer any texts.
One, two, a pause, and then two knocks in double time. Like a secret code between the pair of them. Minho grins at Jeongin when the door is quickly answered.
“Hi, hyung.” Jeongin opens the door wider and lets Minho step inside. “I got the chicken out of the freezer like you asked me to. It’s sitting in cold water in the sink. Has been since I got home, so it should be thawed now.”
Kicking off his shoes, Minho slides his feet into the pair of house slippers that are reserved especially for his use. Wandering towards the kitchen, he calls back over his shoulder, “If you managed that, maybe I’ll let you help a little more with dinner, Iyen-ah.”
Minho chuckles as he hears Jeongin groan, following him into the kitchen. At least he’s learned to keep an extra container of spaghetti sauce in the apartment since the last time they’d cooked dinner together. A jar of sauce had landed on the floor that night. Jeongin swore it jumped right off the counter, ‘like a lemming’ he’d claimed. However, Minho knew that had to be false; Jisung had informed him that lemmings leaping off cliffs wasn’t actually true. The poor creatures weren’t that stupid. They just had a bad reputation. Luckily, Minho’s well stocked pantry had saved their meal, another jar easily retrieved from four floors up.
The chicken is thawed, and Minho sets the oven to preheat. Roasted chicken and vegetables with some rice. He isn’t willing to let Jeongin near a knife given how clumsy he usually is, and how distracted he might be having broken things off with Daehyun. “I trust you still remember how to use your rice cooker?”
A snort is the quick answer, swiftly followed by Jeongin taking the rice out of the pantry cupboard, rinsing three cups in cold water, and then setting it into the rice cooker and turning on the power. “You going to let me help cut any of that, or should I just sit?”
Minho arches a brow and turns his face to glance at Jeongin before he continues to cut the vegetables. He smirks as he hears the skitter of chair legs against the floor, and a huff as Jeongin sits down. Jeongin’s scent of stale bread hasn’t worsened, so Minho knows he isn’t really displeased.
“So, when were you going to tell me about Daehyun?” There is a creak as Jeongin shifts in his chair, and Minho looks over again to find Jeongin chewing at the end of his index finger. Minho really is shit at these sorts of conversations. Jeongin has any number of hyungs who could do better. “You don’t have to talk about it if you really don’t want to, but I’m here if you do.”
“It’s…it’s not like I wasn’t going to tell you. I was. I just wanted to wallow a bit?” Jeongin sounds uncertain as his wet finger slips from the side of his mouth and into his lap. “I’m just so tired of ending up with the wrong people, Minho-hyung. He seemed great. Things were going so well, but turns out none of it was real, and it just hurts. I keep making bad choices. Being with the wrong people.”
Minho scowls as he hears Jeongin take on the blame for what happened. Daehyun had the appearance of everything that Jeongin claims to want in a partner: friendly, helpful, respectful and supportive. It is hardly Jeongin’s fault that what Daehyun had presented himself to be was just a thin veneer. “He did seem great, but people can hide who they really are, and that’s not any fault in you, but in him. I’m glad you figured him out before you were mated, cause I know you’d started talking about it.”
Jeongin’s smile looks wan and worn, as if it has been donned only out of habit. “Yeah, I guess if I was looking for the good part of what happened over the weekend, that’d be it.”
With the last of the vegetables cut up, Minho arranges everything on the baking sheet and slides it into the oven. He knows Jeongin doesn’t often consent to hugs and Minho rarely offers, but maybe he will make an exception tonight. Stepping closer to the chair Jeongin is sitting in, he opens his arms. “Give your favourite hyung a hug. I can’t make it better, but you’ll always have me.”
When Jeongin approaches, Minho wraps his arms around his waist and turns his head to press against Jeongin’s chest. He is inches away from his omega’s scent gland, and feels surrounded by the comfort of walking past a bakery in the early morning where the first loaves are just being pulled out of the oven. It seems that whatever it is Minho is doing appears to be working. No more stale mouldy bread.
As Jeongin’s chin rests upon Minho’s shoulder, Jeongin startles and almost pulls back. Minho’s arms stay tight, but ready to release him if Jeongin wants to be free and does move further away. But Jeongin just stills and sighs before asking, “Why are you even here? I know Felix texted you, but I just remembered you had that big date with Sanghee. You made reservations a month ago.”
It’s Minho’s turn to snort, “Yeah, well, we won’t have to worry about her anymore either. Seems she can’t accept that my friendships are important, and spending time with you tonight was where I needed to be.” He pulls Jeongin closer, letting his own scent of pine trees and mountain streams mingle with that of fresh cut bread. “I already knew it wasn’t going to work out. She gets jealous and there is nothing I can do to convince her that it’s her that I want to be with.” He shrugs, jostling Jeongin’s head upon his shoulder, prompting a disgruntled huff. Minho chuckles, “Besides, the cancellation fee is less expensive than the dinner I’d have paid for.”
“Hyung, that’s evil,” Jeongin chuckles as well, and Minho feels him relax, as he leans into the hug an inch more. “Seems we both need to do a better job of selecting the people we date.”
Minho hides his smile against Jeongin as his arms tighten and he feels the way they align, Jeongin being a bit taller, curving towards him. “Hmm.” With a deadpan tone, hoping it will amuse Jeongin, he quips, “Fighting!”
“You can change your mind, Jeongin-ah. No pressure. Like, if there’s any time, you know, where you think this might not be a good idea, or you’re not up for it, you can say no.” Chan’s hand is heavy on his shoulder. “We’re all here to get some answers about how this all is going to work. So, if anything sounds like it’s too much, then you can tell us. We won’t be mad, or upset, or anything. I promise. You too, right Felix?”
Felix nods and his smile is sunny, full of warmth. Jeongin wants to bask in it and the surrounding refrain of nutty, fudge brownies. “Right Channie. Don’t do anything you don’t want to, Jeongin. It’s a lot, what you’ve offered to do for us. It means so much to me, to us, that you’d even consider it.”
“Alright. I’ll listen and ask my questions, and if I don’t like the answers, I know I can change my mind.” Not that he will. It isn’t only about making Chan and Felix happy. This is something he wants for himself. He isn’t sure he can really explain it to anyone else; the need to carry a pup. He isn’t ready to have one of his own, at least not if he has to care for it alone. He wants to be a parent, but he wants a family more. One with a stable foundation, a mate he loves and knows loves him in return. He is starting to feel like that is never going to be a reality for him.
With his parents and Chan and Felix providing examples of what solid relationships look like, he knows he’ll never be able to settle for anything less than what they had found for themselves. He wants the whole seemingly impossible for him to realise dream. He is stubborn. He knows it, but he doesn’t think he is stupid or foolish about it. He isn’t going to settle when it comes to who he is willing to accept as a mate. He also isn’t going to change his mind about being a surrogate for Chan and Felix. He just knows that stubbornly insisting he won’t change his mind now will make them worry, so he agrees to consider it, even knowing he won’t.
As they wait for their appointment, though their scents don’t change, a seabreeze brimming with hints of warm chocolate, Jeongin can tell they were anxious. Chan keeps tapping fingers against his leg like he does when he is distracting himself with music and Felix is attempting to circumspectly take his pulse, his fingers pressed to his neck. As he watches, Chan reaches over and takes Felix’s arm, pulling his hand away from his neck, so Chan can weave their fingers together; no more checking pulses or tapping music. Jeongin feels his heart yearn. This is what he wants. Someone who knows him well enough to understand his mannerisms and lend support the moment he needs it.
He is reaching for a magazine, tired of trying to think of something to say, or dealing with his own exhausting swirling thoughts when they are called into a room where the doctor is waiting. Dr. Park introduces herself and welcomes them into the room. She seems unassuming, bespectacled with her hair tucked into a bun, wearing black slacks and a long white lab jacket. A stethoscope hangs around her neck, and the left deep pocket of her lab coat is stained with blue ink, a couple pen clipped to the edge of the pocket for easy access. “We have a presentation we go through with all clients who are considering in vitro fertilisation. How about we go through that, and then you can ask any questions? We can then proceed with setting up follow up appointments for the various procedures if you wish. Hmm?”
After receiving their agreement, the doctor walks them through a series of slides which takes them through the process. From the hormone treatments to ensure they have fertile eggs to extract, to the insemination and then the implantation, it is all covered. The entire process will take roughly four to six weeks, and best results are achieved when the eggs are implanted in the omega during their heat. Jeongin, trying with composure not to blush, responded to the doctor’s inquiry that his heat is usually early in spring or autumn, with the next one likely around mid September.
“Then, with that timeline, if you wish to proceed, we’ll need to start both Felix and Jeongin on their hormone treatments within the next two weeks. Felix will have ovum extracted roughly two weeks later, and the eggs will need to mature for almost another week. That spans the same time frame Jeongin needs to ensure his womb is prepared to accept the embryo. If we have the timeline correct with your heat, then we’ll be able to implant some of the fresh embryos and freeze the rest should you need or want them in the future. If not, then we can freeze all of them, and implant thawed embryos when Jeongin’s heat arrives. There’s minimal difference between fresh and frozen embryos resulting in a pregnancy; it’s just a matter of timing.” Dr. Park pokes her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. “Any questions?”
“How painful will the egg extraction process be?” Felix asks, his small fingers clutching the ends of Chan’s tightly.
“Ah, it will be uncomfortable, but we do use meditation and mild sedation to reduce discomfort, and the use of an ultrasound ensures we’ll be guided directly to where the ovaries are located and the best eggs are extracted. You’ll experience some soreness afterwards, and I recommend only light exercise for a few days.”
Jeongin raises his hand to catch the doctor’s attention. It seems you can take the teacher out of school, but you can’t take the schooling out of the teacher, he thinks wryly. “What effects can I expect with the hormones you mentioned?”
“It will seem much like pre-heat, as your body prepares for the possibility of carrying a pup. Your uterus will fill with amniotic fluid, and that will thicken to properly cushion a pup. You may feel bloated, and the hormones may cause you to feel a need to nest.” She looks at Chan and Felix. “It would likely be a good idea to ensure you have supplied some items with your scent that Jeongin can nest with.”
Chan nods and looks at Jeongin, while Felix reaches over to hold Jeongin’s hand too. “Yeah, yeah we can do that. We’d be happy to do that for you.”
“Good.” The doctor seems relieved at the quick response. “I’ve found, and studies do support this, that a pregnant person, but especially a pregnant omega, thrives when they have a mate, or a support structure. While the studies also indicate that an alpha partner is best, the results only significantly decrease when the omega lacks someone who they can rely upon.” Dr. Park’s expression is stern when she looks at Chan and Felix. “You may find it more difficult than you’d imagined to stand by Jeongin while he carries your pup. While we are civilised, there is still much in each of us that would run wild through the woods, and mating and carrying pups tend to bring even the most cultured of us to savagery. Jeongin, because of the pup, will begin to have hints of your own scents underlying his own. This will only grow stronger as the pregnancy progresses.” She offers each of them a pamphlet. “This contains a list of doctors, therapists and support groups that you may find helpful.”
Jeongin folds his pamphlet and tucks it into his pocket. “Thank you, Dr. Park. I don’t have any further questions.” He turns to face his hyungs, “If this is still what you want, then I want to help.”
He feels Felix’s fingers tighten and his own lips curve to mirror his growing smile. “I do. Jeongin-ah, thank you.”
Chan leans towards Felix. “You promised you wouldn’t cry, little one.”
Jeongin can only laugh, “Hyung, you should know better by now.” How beautiful Felix looks smiling, with those tears. It is worth it now, and Jeongin is confident it will be even more worth the effort when the two of them are both crying, holding their pup.
Though Chan and Felix drop him off at his apartment building, Jeongin doesn’t stop at the fourth floor, going all the way up to the eighth instead. He opens the apartment door carefully and sneaks inside, closing it behind him. Minho’s going to be late due to practice and he doesn’t need Soonie, Doongie or Dori escaping when he is over to feed them. Jeongin hears a plaintive m’row as he takes off his shoes and finds his house slippers. Minho had given them to him one day, for no particular reason, stating that Jeongin resembled the foxes on them, and because they live so close. It had taken Hyunjin putting a picture of one of the slippers alongside a closed-eyed smiling Jeongin for him to see the resemblance. He was a little irked, but also endeared by it. If he tends to pout a little every time he puts them on, no one takes him to task for it.
Leaving his jacket on a hook by the door, he makes his way to the kitchen while trying not to trip over cats entwining around his ankles and m’rowing for food. “Yes, yes. I’m getting you food, greedy guts. Your regular cat butler won’t be home until much later. So long as you don’t have me breaking a leg or twisting an ankle, you’ll have dinner soon.”
Soonie, Doongie and Dori align themselves by their bowls, looking up at him with tilted heads, eyes wide in judgement. How dare he take so long to feed them, they seem to glare!
Pouring food into their bowls, Jeongin continues to chatter at them, though he hardly expects any of the three to carry their part of the conversation. “I was thinking, I’d order dinner so our hyung doesn’t need to cook when he gets home. What do you think? Sushi? I think that’d be a good idea. I won’t be able to eat it soon. It’ll be bad for the pup.”
The only contribution from the cats is the crunch of dry kibble. Jeongin smiles at them and giggles while he snags a drink from the fridge and goes to sit on the couch. Tapping at his phone screen, he browses through the delivery app until he finds Minho’s favourite Japanese restaurant, beginning to select items. He adds a couple bottles of soju too. After all, he won’t be drinking for a while after this, so he may as well celebrate a little.
It is the start of a weekend, and he likely doesn’t have to worry about a hangover; Minho will push glass upon glass of water upon him throughout the evening, with his typical stubborn and understated care. It still surprises Jeongin to hear people describe his hyung as cold or uncaring. Or, perhaps surprise isn’t the right word, exactly, when he thinks about it. They just seem unobservant. If they only listened for words of caring, rather than looking at the acts, he supposes he can understand. That is their fault though, if they can’t see for themselves just how much Minho does for those around him. So quiet in his care, subtle and persistent. Maybe it’s like a flip book, and if one doesn't slow down to go through the pages, it’s possible to miss the story.
Putting through the order, Jeongin swipes the remote off the coffee table before leaning back and turning on some anime to watch while he waits. He sends Minho a quick text.
Your brothers are fed and I’m keeping them company. Food will be waiting for you when you get here. Don’t worry. I didn’t cook.
The ping of his phone indicating Minho’s response is some time in coming. Jeongin rolls his eyes when he reads it and returns to petting Dori, who has snuck into his lap. “I can cook you know,” he confides in the grey cat. “It’s just one of those things I do better when no one’s looking at me. Like how you can fumble while typing if someone’s watching you? It’s like that!”
Good to know I won’t come home to a firetruck cleaning up after you.
Minho catches Jeongin valiantly striving not to nap, a purring Dori on his lap, when he enters his apartment. “Yah, brat, who said you could hang out tonight?” He grins as Jeongin sits up straight, dislodging the poor cat who jumps down from the couch and slinks off to the cat tree.
Jeongin blinks up at him unevenly. “Well,” he drawls, “if you don’t want the sushi I ordered, I’ll just pick it up when it gets here and head back down to my apartment.”
Minho slings himself into the couch and nuzzles up into Jeongin’s side. “Alright, you can stay.”
Jeongin pushes him away. “Ewww. Hyung, go have a shower before the food gets here. You’re sweaty.”
“But I don’t stink,” Minho smirks, knowing that isn’t true.
“You’re as fresh as daisies,” Jeongin snarks back, pushing him further away. “Go. Food’ll be here in ten.”
Minho groans as he rises from the couch and his knees pop. He stretches, holding his hands over his head, careful not to let his t-shirt rise past his waistband. Even a decade later, he is still self-conscious of the surgery scar. “I’ll probably feel less stiff after a shower.”
“Hmm. You’re getting old, hyung.” What a cheeky maknae.
Turning around, Minho raises a brow, “Or maybe I’ll just fall and lay all over you, too old and tired to move.”
Jeongin has the audacity to giggle. “Sorry hyung. Go on, go shower.”
Minho dances out of the room, just to hear the snort Jeongin can’t contain, and usually tries to hide when he is amused. He feels fortunate that Jeongin lives close by. He doesn’t like to leave his cats for long hours alone in the apartment. He could put out enough food and water for them, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t lonely for some human companionship. Knowing they are comfortable around Jeongin, pleased to spend time near him, letting him pet them and purring as they headbutt his hands for attention eases Minho’s apprehension when he has to work late or longer hours. Even better, Jeongin is as much of a homebody as he is, and is easily found in his apartment rather than out and about. A quick text is enough to have Jeongin using the keycode to come care for the three cats.
He’d been watching Jeongin carefully since finding out he cut ties with Daehyun. In the past, Jeongin tended to react to a break up with malaise, not sulky like Jisung could be, and not a more dramatic depression like Hyunjin. From Jeongin, it seems more lethargic with a side of apathy. As if he couldn’t be bothered to do anything, and couldn’t find a reason to care. Perhaps it is more ambivalence than apathy. Now though, Jeongin doesn’t seem that way. It surprises Minho, and concerns him. He wonders if Jeongin is reconsidering, or is it just the relationship wasn’t as deep as Minho originally thought it had been.
Deep thoughts for a shower. Minho shakes himself free of his pensive mood as he runs his fingers through his hair, helping the water to clear away the shampoo, then turns around and lets the spray wash off all the soap before he shuts off the shower and reaches a hand out for a towel. He dries himself off, and tousles a towel over his head before looping it over his neck and dressing in a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. They are staying in and comfort is priority.
He returns to the living room to find Jeongin still on the couch. Dori has returned to his lap, Soonie rests against his side, and he is playing fetch with Doongie, using a catnip mouse. Not a single one of them makes an effort to show they’ve noticed Minho’s return. Typical cats. “It’s like they don’t even need me anymore, now that you’re here.”
“Ah, hyung, I’m sure that’s not true. I wouldn’t give them nearly as many treats as you do. They’d miss you.” Jeongin lifts his head to rest it against the back of the couch so he can look up. He then smirks. “Eventually.”
Minho leans over him, and with his damp hair shakes his head, splattering Jeongin with droplets of water and cackling when Jeongin sputters in displeasure.
“Yah, get over here,” Jeongin insists, patting the couch beside him, Soonie having left when the water works started. When Minho sits down, Jeongin steals the towel from around his neck and then begins drying his hair, rubbing the towel in gentle circles. Feels nice.
“Did you want something to drink with dinner?” Minho offers, remembering this is his apartment and he should probably be a good host.
“Ordered soju with the sushi.”
“Are we celebrating?” Minho tilts his head in consideration.
“No. Not exactly.” Jeongin seems hesitant to continue, but Minho can be patient. “I uh…I expect I’ll likely need some help in the next few months.”
“So, this is a bribe, Iyen-ah?”
“I didn’t think of it that way, but maybe?” As Jeongin starts to sound uncertain, Minho begins to worry.
Nudging the younger with his shoulder, he slides closer on the couch. “I was teasing. If you need help, I’ll be there.”
Jeongin flashes him a bright smile, though he’s started worrying at the edge of his left thumb with his fingernails again.
There is a knock at the door, so Minho supposes the doorman let the delivery person up to drop off their food. “Let me get our dinner, then we’ll talk more, hmm?” Minho pats Jeongin’s shoulder as he rises from the couch to collect their bounty.
He stops by the kitchen to snag some glasses to drink the soju from, a pair of chopsticks, a couple plates and some spoons to serve with. Returning to the table, he divides the cutlery and dishes, then sorts out the food and hands the soju bottle to Jeongin so he can pour. Rather than returning to the couch, Minho sits on the floor, as it is an easier distance to eat at from the coffee table.
Jeongin slumps off the couch, almost boneless, to join him on the rug. Minho puts out a hand, just in case of any soju bottle mishaps, but Jeongin seems surprisingly stable tonight, no signs of clumsy accidents to be found.
He waits until Jeongin finishes pouring and puts down the bottle before Minho attempts to resume their conversation. “What brought all this on?” he asks, circling his chopsticks above their meal.
“I didn’t want you to have to cook when you got home.” When Minho raises his brow, Jeongin huffs, “I didn’t, but I also wanted to tell you about something. You know how Chan-hyung and Felix-hyung have been trying to have a pup?”
“Hmm.” It would be a hard detail to miss at this point. So much heartache for the both of them, yet their relationship seems stronger in the wake of all the sorrow. Relationship goals, Minho inwardly sighs.
“The doctor who treated Felix-hyung last told them they didn’t have a hope of bringing a pup to term, and trying might end up in…I don’t even want to think it, never mind say it,” Jeongin sighs, and the downturn of his lips is something rarely seen. Minho would have leaned in to offer him some comfort, but his scent remains the same. These are just facts, as upsetting as they may be, they aren’t causing Jeongin to be upset now. “They’re looking into options, like adoption and surrogacy or fostering. Felix-hyung and I talked about it the other day, you know, after that weekend.”
Minho nods and puts a round of sushi on Jeongin’s plate, gesturing with his chopsticks to eat before taking some food for himself.
It had ceased to shock Minho a long time ago just how easy it seems for Jeongin to shove so much food into his mouth. Nor can he explain how he can manage to chew the large mouthfuls and swallow them without choking, but he’s stopped trying to determine how that works. “I offered to help them out,” he mumbles around the food.
Lifting his head from his food, his chopsticks hovering over his side of rice, Minho blinks slowly at Jeongin, while he tries to parse the meaning of those words. “You offered to help?” Help, how?
Jeongin nods, though he looks off to the side, as if he can’t meet Minho’s eyes. “Mhmm. I said I’d be their surrogate, if they wanted.”
Minho almost fumbles his chopsticks, but catches them tightly in his fist before they can clatter on the table. This is an unexpected turn to this conversation, and one he suspects Jeongin is worried he’d be judged for making. Or perhaps he is worried that Minho will try to talk him out of it?
Why won’t Jeongin meet his eyes?
“Iyen-ah, look at me.”
He watches as Jeongin curls into himself before reluctantly turning to face him. Minho puts his chopsticks down and reaches out to cover Jeongin’s knee with a hand. “I’m certain it means the world to them that you offered.”
Beneath his hand, the tension in Jeongin seems to ease. His head tilts up, and his lips curve into a small smile. “The three of us consulted with a doctor today. We’ve worked out all the details. I’m a little worried, but mostly happy. They’ll be wonderful parents. If anyone deserves to have a pup, they do.” Jeongin’s hand covers Minho’s own, so large and solid and warm. “I was a little worried you’d try to talk me out of this.”
“Why? I’m not your alpha.” Minho twitches away from whatever thoughts might follow those words, not letting them take root in his brain. He then shakes his head. “No, and even if I was, I wouldn’t. This is your body and your decision to make. I’d have wanted to know you were considering it, but the decision, it would have had nothing to do with me. All I’d need to do would be to decide if I would support you.” He takes a moment, feeling his palms grow damp and clears his throat. “I would. I will. If that’s what you’re asking. If you want to know if I’ll help when you need it, I will.”
The brilliance of Jeongin’s smile is blinding. The hint of apricot to his fresh bread scent reveals how pleased he is at Minho’s response. “See, this is why you’re my favourite hyung.” He circles his chopsticks over the food before piling on another huge mouthful, which is promptly devoured.
Favourite hyung, Minho thinks with a smile of his own, tucking into his dinner once more.