Chapter 7

The next day, Yoongi drove to Jimin's house to pick him up.

Yoongi parked by the sidewalk in front of the big and well-built house and got out of the car. He walked the few steps it took to reach the door on the gray concrete wall that hid the house from the eyes of the street.

All that tension from the day before was still present. When Jimin appeared at the front door, the two of them just awkwardly looked at each other and exchanged mumbled greetings of 'hi', 'good morning'.

Jimin was ready to go. Yoongi opened the door for him to enter the car.

And, Jimin thought, as if he wasn't having enough problems with his fluttering heart already, Yoongi had to start acting like a complete gentleman now.

They spent the majority of the ride in silence. Jimin looked outside the window and Yoongi busied himself with driving. They could have turned on the radio, but were both too hesitant to speak out.

When they reached one of the main avenues, Jimin said, hesitant,

"It's in that building," he pointed to one of the highest ones, and Yoongi nodded, turning the wheel smoothly to change lanes.

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When they got out of the elevator and entered the clinic, Yoongi opened the door for him again. Jimin tried to control his shyness and went straight to the reception desk, Yoongi following him.

They were on time, so they didn't even have to wait, and were told to go to the doctor's room immediately.

They got to the assigned room and the prenatal doctor was already there waiting for Jimin.

"Park Jimin-ssi. It's good to see you again." the doctor said, a polite smile on his face. The older man had been the one treating Jimin since he found out he was pregnant.

"It's good to see you too." Jimin smiled back and bowed, and Yoongi did the same.

The man didn't look much at Yoongi, but recognized his presence with a nod and a small smile. After years in the profession, he had learned it was better to not ask too directly about the companions of his patients during visits, and their relationships. They could be friends, or more, or it could just be 'complicated'.

But, by the way they seated awkwardly beside each other, not ever touching or relaxing in each other's presences, the man concluded it was probably the latter.

"So," the doctor said, putting his elbows on the table in between them, "how are you feeling, Jimin-ssi? Are you feeling any pain? On your back, or ankles, or neck?" the doctor asked patiently.

"Yes, I am." Jimin admitted.

"...From a scale of 1 to 10, how bad would the pain be?" the doctor asked, looking thoughtful. Jimin thought deeply about it before answering,

"...Four." he said, and he knew he was being honest. "On my knees, my feet, and my back, mostly. ...My shoulders too." The doctor nodded.

"Well, I'll prescribe you some medicine. I also recommend you see a physiotherapist, if possible. But, there are other methods, too, as in needle therapy. Some herbal teas too." he said, looking at Jimin, "I think it's better we stick to organic ways as much as possible. But if it gets worse, we must use some pain relief pills."

"I understand." Jimin said, nodding.

"Any other symptom?" he asked and patiently waited as Jimin thought about it.

"...Oh!" he suddenly remembered, "I haven't been able to eat meat in a while…" the doctor nodded at hearing that, as if he was kind of expecting those words, "I don't know what happened but I can't bring myself to like it anymore, so I don't eat it. Nothing, read meat, pork, chicken, fish… Nothing. It's like it's disgusting, suddenly."

Jimin was looking at the doctor and completely missed the way Yoongi watched him, hearing his words intently.

"And, I wanted to know if there's a problem with that? Is it unhealthy?" Jimin asked, worried with his hands resting on his belly.

"No, not at all!" the doctor assured, "So many pregnant people go through this, too. Don't worry. I don't think you're suddenly turning into a vegetarian just because of this."

"Oh, okay." Jimin breathed out.

"All of the proteins you'll need can be found in a vegetarian diet. I'll write it down for you." he said while he got a piece of paper to start writing.

"Anything else?" he asked, and Jimin shook his head.

"Okay." the doctor said still writing down at the paper, "So, now, another part of the procedure would be asking for the fetus movements. Have you felt anything yet?"

By Jimin's side, Yoongi watched the exchange attentively. At the mention of 'the fetus', Yoongi's eyebrows went up. He sat straighter in his chair and turned to Jimin to hear his response.

"A little, but I'm not sure if that's considered 'kicking' yet…" Jimin said, resting his hands over his belly as he talked.

"It's completely okay to not feel it yet." the doctor assured with a smile. He paused to write more things on his computer for a moment.

Then he got up to fetch something resting above a small cabinet. Jimin and Yoongi watched him get it and come back to stand beside Jimin instead of sitting back on the other side of the desk. Jimin looked up at him and saw that he was carrying a blood pressure measurement device and a stethoscope.

"I'm going to hear your heartbeat now, okay?" he asked and then started moving the stethoscope around Jimin's chest. He then put it on his back and asked Jimin to breathe deeply.

"Now can you raise your shirt? I need to hear the baby's heartbeat." and Jimin did just that. He then made the mistake of looking to his left, and saw Yoongi looking in a daze to Jimin's exposed bump. Jimin realized that was probably the first time he saw it without any cover. Jimin felt slightly self conscious. He adjusted his hair to try to cover the moment he blushed.

The doctor's appointment proceeded as the doctor, still standing beside Jimin, measured his arterial pressure and took notes on his condition.

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When the doctor was back on his seat and he was finishing his prescriptions for Jimin, Yoongi said,

"Excuse me, doctor? I wanted to ask you something."

The doctor calmly nodded, waiting for Yoongi to continue.

"I- Me and Jimin-ssi, we are going to travel to Busan this weekend, and we wanted to know if it's okay for him to be on an airplane, or on a private jet."

The doctor understood, and looked down at his notes in deep thought. He then looked at Jimin's form, and the other two waited for his verdict.

"I wish I could say yes, Mr. …?" the doctor looked at Yoongi, unsure of how to call him since he didn't know his name.

"Min Yoongi." Yoongi said.

"Mr. Min Yoongi, I wish I could say that he can, but to be honest it would be better if he didn't. Because of his well-being, mostly." the doctor said, "I would advise that he doesn't go on that kind of trip until the end of his pregnancy. He's already 21 weeks, almost 22. An airplane trip could cause nausea, and on a worst case scenario he could faint from dizziness. I don't advise it, unless it's an emergency."

"I understand." Yoongi answered seriously, giving the doctor a curt nod.

The doctor looked from Yoongi to Jimin once, twice, before saying,

"I'm sorry if I'm intruding," he was curious. That was the first time his patient Park Jimin came in with a companion. Ever. "But, are you two partners?"

Yoongi's eyebrows raised again, but he didn't answer anything, at first. The apple of his throat bobbed with a nervous gulp, and he turned his head to look at Jimin by his side.

Jimin, for a second, just looked back at the doctor in silence, his mouth opening and closing like a little fish. But, he recovered from his loss of words.

"Uh, he's the father." Jimin said as a way of explaining Yoongi's presence in the room. It was too complicated to think of his and Yoongi's relationship apart from expecting the same baby, together, in that moment.

"Oh. I see." the doctor nodded, and Jimin smiled awkwardly.

"He is a very busy man." Jimin answered the doctor's unsaid question. The older man just nodded, looking for a second to Yoongi's black suit attire and silently went back to writing on Jimin's file in his computer.

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A few days later, Jimin was waking up at 6 am on a Saturday, very grumpily, to get ready for his trip to his parents home.

After that doctor's visit, Yoongi had said that they should go by car. It would be a seven hour ride, maybe eight, from their city to Busan, and they had settled for starting the ride very early in the morning. Jimin was lazily rolling in his bed, and he knew he would probably get late and have Yoongi wait for him to get ready.

He was sleeping in the upstairs room again. His bag was already ready, and he just needed to wash up and wait for Yoongi to arrive.

Jimin was nervous. While he brushed his teeth, he thought about how his mom was so painfully overprotective of him, and how harsh she could be when she wanted to be. And his little sister was slowly growing to be just like her. It was just his dad that was extremely passive and loving, but his mom's attitude could easily "outshine" his father's kindness. Jimin couldn't help but feel like he was about to throw Yoongi to the wolves.

Just as he had successfully brought his one bag downstairs, he heard Yoongi ring the doorbell. He went to open the door and braced himself for more awkwardness between them.

In front of him, Yoongi was dressed in a pair of black sneakers, dark blue jeans and a large black t-shirt. Those clothes were a great contrast to how Jimin had gotten used to seeing him, always in a black suit.

Yoongi's black hair was messy over his eyes, still partly wet, like he had taken a shower before coming and hadn't fully dried his hair. Yoongi had his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and looked back at Jimin confidently, his eyes that were usually sharp had a friendliness to them, his lips curved in a small smile.

Jimin eyes went from Yoongi's eyes to his smiling lips, then to his sharp jaw, then his exposed neck. The large black t-shirt Yoongi had put on covered his clavicles and broad shoulders and the sleeves went almost down to his elbows.

Yoongi looked so normal and younger because of his change of style that Jimin, for a moment, just stared at him, taking in his image. Jimin's lips were parted, his mouth hanging open as he looked at Yoongi in wonder.

"Jimin?" Yoongi asked hesitantly.

"U-uh, I…" Jimin gulped, and tried again, "Uh, hi. Yoongi-ssi."

"Good morning, Jimin." Yoongi said politely and seemed to be oblivious to Jimin's inner turmoil. "You're ready to go?"

Jimin, still looking at Yoongi intently, just gulped, and nodded his head quietly.

He stepped aside to let Yoongi enter and watched him take his bag on one hand.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Yoongi asked him calmly as he carried the bag.

"Not really..." Jimin answered. His stomach was still empty.

"Then we should go eat before we take off." Yoongi said and when they were exiting the house, Yoongi kept a hand resting lightly on Jimin's shoulder as if to guide him.

In the way to the car, Yoongi hovered around him as if he was afraid Jimin would trip and fall any moment. To be fair, he indeed had fallen before, and even bled in front of Yoongi. Jimin realised Yoongi was probably trying to avoid that it would happen again. He didn't know what to think of that.

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When they entered the cafe, they went for a table near the door and called for an attendant. Yoongi pushed the chair to Jimin and he sat down heavily, resting his hands on his bump, not caring about looking at the menu. He was usually hungry in the morning, and didn't care much about what it was as long as it was tasty.

"What do you want to order?" Yoongi asked him, and he shrugged, looking up at the attendant.

"Bread. And… a cup of milk. Cold, please." Jimin said.

When their food came, it was two croissants for him, neither of them with meat inside, and a tall cup of cold milk just like he wished. He smiled and started chewing his food, looking all cute with puffy cheeks. He then realised Yoongi was staring at him.

"What?" he asked, and Yoongi snapped out of it, looking away. Jimin wasn't sure, but he thought there was a faint blush on the tips of his ears. He couldn't see his face too much because Yoongi was wearing a black cap now.

"Nothing."

"Aren't you going to eat, too?" he asked, eyeing his plate with a croissant for himself and a big cup of coffee. Yoongi nodded quickly and started eating too, but would often steal glances at Jimin.

In the end, Jimin also asked for a water bottle and a piece of cheesecake. Yoongi watched him eat while he nursed his own coffee. Jimin rested his back on the chair when he was finished and stayed there, silently looking out the window. Yoongi realized just how big he was, even if he was just halfway through, he already looked very pregnant, and had somewhat of a glow around him. Yoongi was mesmerized, his coffee long forgotten, as he took in Jimin's cute chubby cheeks, his full lips pouting adorably and his fluffy pastel orange hair-

"Uhm, excuse me, Agust D?" Yoongi jumped at hearing that name, and the two turned to see a young man, probably in his early-twenties, holding his cellphone to his chest. "I'm sorry f-for intruding, but I'm a huge fan, I've listened to your music since I was in high school, and… I was hoping I could take a selfie with you?" he asked unsure, and when he was met with silence, he quickly added,

"B-but it's okay if you don't want, again, I'm sorry for intruding-"

"No, it's fine." Yoongi got out of his stupor and immediately got up from his seat to shake hands with his fan. He was smiling and started chatting with the young man about music. Jimin watched the exchange with a content smile on his face.

When they were taking the selfie, Jimin offered,

"Hey, I can take it for you! Here, pass me the phone." he said, and the fan blushed at being addressed by 'Park Jimin, The Model', bowing slightly to him in thankfulness as Jimin, not getting up from his seat, turned to them and took a picture of the two with a smile on his face.

"Here," he smiled sweetly, and held the phone back to its owner.

When he was gone, Yoongi didn't sit back in. He looked at Jimin nervously, pulling his cap down on his face and said,

"I'm sorry for that, I had no idea people would recognize me."

"No, it's okay!" Jimin dismissed it. He knew it came with Yoongi being an artist and all. Besides, Jimin though it was very interesting, if not heartwarming, that Yoongi's fans and admirers still remembered him, even after years of hiatus, and not performing to the public.

Yoongi helped Jimin get up from the chair, as he was still feeling heavy from all that food, and they headed out of the cafe.