Chapter Text
it was starting to get dark outside. maybe too dark. what day was it? wheein didn’t think she could tell anymore. of course she was exaggerating. or so would yong tell her every single second she’d knock on the hospital’s door to ask if the baby was already here. in this world. not in the baby world.
it had turned into a repetitive routine of theirs. wheein would wake up from a short nap, she’d get a chocolate bar from the vending machine, knock on the door insistently - even if byulyi yelled at her to go away! in the middle of a contraction - and ask for the baby only to have yong repeat the same words over and over.
not. yet.
“you know it’s only been a few hours, right?” hyejin calmly asked her as she uninterestedly inspected an old magazine.
the pout only made the maknae laugh at her.
“it’s not funny. do you know how much i’m suffering here?”
a scream was heard coming from the private room. then some cursing. most definitely byul. as if to make a point.
one that wheein pretended not to understand. “even more than that.”
“oh, if only she could hear you right now.” hyejin teased but didn’t go further. the abandoned chocolate on her right was far more interesting than poking fun at her best friend.
with a huff, wheein finally sat back down. “don’t get mad when i end up being the favorite aunt.”
“i won’t get mad over that anymore. i don't care.” she said, mouth-full.
“well, i am impatiently waiting for them to be born.”
“i am, too. impatience makes me hungry.” the chocolate disappeared to prove her statement. wheein knew, though, that even if hyejin looked calm on the outside she could be terribly shaking in nervousness on the inside.
her theory was confirmed when a very flippy yongsun emerged from the room again and hyejin almost threw the magazine away in fright.
the triumph made her feel proud of herself.
“you guys do know we can hear you, right?”
“with so much yelling going on i honestly didn’t think it would be possible.” it wasn’t the best time for hyejin to try to piss byulyi off, but honestly, would she ever get another chance?
as if on queue, the miserable rapper screamed from the inside.
“you’re dead to me!”
a nurse appeared and wheein was thankful that she wasn’t going to have to witness the murder of her closest friend that day. the door was immediately shut, leaving the pair in a wrecking anxious silence again.
“if this takes more than a day i’m going to charge yongsun.” wheein grumbled, getting up to buy yet another candy bar.
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three hours and a nap later, wheein woke up to find herself surrounded by balloons, confetti, giant teddy bears and at least 10 hilfiger and gucci bags. the suspect was back to the chair next to hers with the addition of a stuffed animal - a lion - pressed to her front in a tight hug.
when reproachful eyes reached hers, hyejin shrugged with a smirk. “i am going to be the favorite aunt.”
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an hour and three managers to help later, wheein's side of the hallway was as full of gifts as hyejin’s was. the doctor almost tripped when he stepped on a balloon with his feet tangling in streamers.
with just a little bit more of bad luck, the two youngest would’ve had to either deliver the baby themselves or face yongsun’s rage. the former sounded like the best option.
only seconds had to pass after the doctor snitched on them for the leader to finally open the door again. the screams had somewhat gone down, but they could still hear byul whimpering and cursing for dear life.
yong’s right hand didn’t seem to be doing that well either, judging by how red it looked. wheein failed to hide a giggle.
the eldest’s expression at the view was something they would pay to have on camera at the moment.
when no words were able to come out of her mouth at the absurdity of it all, hyejin decided to chime in.
“is the baby here yet?”
the door was shut again.
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the staff had decided to call a specialist. it was an emergency, like one of the nurses had said. it was either life or death. it had to be done. it had to be now.
the poor janitor had come in almost at midnight to encounter the certain emergency on the fifth floor. confetti was now everywhere, just like glitter and a piñata, for some reason, dangling from the ceiling.
he did the best he could.
the floor near the kim-moon room was cleared. or at least a narrow path was so the doctors could go in and out without almost twisting their ankles.
wheein and hyejin lied in their chairs asleep. it was almost midnight after all. between rushing to the hospital in the morning and running from shop to shop in yet another attempt to become the chosen one by the newborn, the pair had worn themselves out.
they didn’t notice the cleaning process.
neither did they notice yongsun abruptly opening the bedroom door and anxiously asking a doctor for some assistance.
the three sprinting nurses went by as equally ignored by the sleeping duo.
the doctor’s orders.
byul’s deep breaths and loud sobs.
belting. harmonizing, she would surely argue later.
yong’s own whines at having her hand so visibly crushed for the hundredth time in the night.
hyejin moved a little bit to snuggle a little further into wheein. as uncomfortable as those chairs were, they’d made it work. especially with so many stuffed animals around.
a wail.
wheein grumbled.
louder.
hyejin moved her hand around to try and make whatever mosquito that was go away.
“it’s a boy!”
the doctor’s announcement from the inside made wheein slowly open her eyes to find bright lights coming from inside the room with its door left open.
without hesitation, she went to shake hyejin until she woke up, almost falling out of her chair.
“what? what?” the maknae asked in confusion, still half-asleep.
“the baby!” wheein answered now on her feet and halfway into the room. maybe the staff had been right all along in trying to convince them to remove the toys from the floor, mainly because she was the one almost falling flat on her face now.
having to crawl her way into the bedroom to avoid tripping - much like hyejin just had judging by the loud shit! that came from behind - her eyes finally looked up.
the baby was still crying, albeit less loud than before, as he got cleaned up in the other side of the room. yongsun looked happy yet troubled as she ran from checking on her newborn son to kissing a tired-looking byulyi all over her face.
the display of open affection made her want to puke, so she decided to focus her attention on the baby.
hyejin quickly appeared behind her, on her feet but slightly limping after her fall.
when her eyes landed on the baby, the pain immediately disappeared as if it were magic. she knew better than to look at yong and byul in the bed. too many gross experiences over the years had taught her never to look.
their attention temporarily drifted to the doctor standing next to them.
“would you like to get that ankle checked out?” he gestured at hyejin’s foot.
she surely hoped it hadn’t broken. no. she had a solo performance the following morning. maybe it’d be a good idea to get it treated, but not right now. no. right now all she wanted was to take a good look at her favorite nephew.
wheein seemed to have beaten her at it with two functioning feet, as she dashed from the ground to sit on the end of the bed when the baby boy was brought to the couple.
his crying stopped as soon as byuli’s arms cradled his tiny form. yong’s hand was fast to take a delicate hold on his little hand. the blanket he was wrapped in was purple. he had barely opened his eyes but wheein hoped they were the same color as byul’s.
his nose was definitely byul’s.
there was a tuft of black hair on his head. a tiny mole on his forehead, near his almost invisibly right eyebrow. when his small hand took a hold of yong’s index finger, wheein swore the leader shed a tear or two.
she wanted to say something about it, but byulyi beat her to it.
“softy.”
“shut up.”
hyejin sighed from the other side of the bed. even with their son in their arms, the banter didn’t stop. it never would, most likely.
she was glad for it.
out of nowhere, the dumb lion plush made its appearance from behind hyejin’s back.
“it’s your favorite!”
“no, it isn’t!” wheein complained, lunging forward to take it away from her.
byul snorted.
the baby woke up.
yongsun seemed to finally realize what she really had gotten into.
and yet, there was not a thing she would change about her family.