Work Text:
As with all long days, In-Ho is working in the office, and paperwork is littering his desk. He lets out a heavy sigh, wishing he could go home already. As much as he loves being a detective, it was mostly paperwork. Nobody likes paperwork, but it has to get done. There’s still an hour til he can clock out anyway.
A bad gut feeling has been punching at his stomach all day. He’s not quite sure why. However, his boyfriend, Gi-Hun, is always getting into some sort of trouble. At least his hardly employed lover is having fun with his life while In-Ho works his butt off. He’s not complaining, though, Gi-Hun is always surprising him with homemade meals and desserts and little gifts he bought with money from his freelance jobs. In-Ho isn’t sure what angel he pleased to get such a blessing of a boyfriend. This worsens the sinking feeling in his chest as he buries himself in paperwork to distract himself.
“In-Ho, don’t overwork yourself,” Jun-Ho calls out, annoyance just barely present in his voice. “Just because you don’t like being alone at home doesn’t mean you can work your ass off at work.”
In-Ho rolls his eyes at his younger brother who’s still under the impression that he’s single. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll clock out on time, don’t worry. I just need to finish all of this up first.”
Jun-Ho raises a brow before backing off, “If you say so.” He lets himself slip out of the office, leaving In-Ho alone with his thoughts again.
The older man bites his lip, a habit he can’t seem to break. The idea of his brother finding out about his relationship is worrying. He loves Jun-Ho more than anything, so the thought of him being disappointed or even disgusted by his brother and his close friend’s relationship makes In-Ho sick to his stomach. He buries his head back into his work, trying to get over this. At least temporarily.
—
Gi-Hun’s heart drops at the results on the papers his doctor handed to him. As if his day couldn’t get any worse. His client canceled his babysitting gig last minute and that was his only job for the week, it started raining out of nowhere so now he’s soaked, and now this! He’s not sure what he’s going to do. He glances back down at the, now wet, papers in his hands as if his glare will make the results change.
Positive for pregnancy. Something he really should be too old for. Yet here he is. Perfectly healthy, and pregnant. As much as it hurts to know his body could even do something like this in the first place, the feeling was much worse when he realized he wants to keep it. He feels like this is the missing piece in his life, something that’s been missing since Ga-Yeong cut contact with him. The only issue is how In-Ho is going to react.
This was what worried Gi-Hun the most. In-Ho’s wife died while pregnant and he’s certain the other would want him to get rid of it out of fear. But that’s not what Gi-Hun wants. Though it might not be worth breaking up with his lover for an unborn child he knows he won’t be able to take care of on his own. He scrunches his face together in frustration, tears threatening to slip from his eyes as he pushes through the front door of their apartment.
Without thinking, Gi-Hun calls In-Ho, getting angry when it immediately sends him to voicemail. “Of course, of all times to have your phone turned off, this is not the time.” He grits his teeth, dialing the number for the office instead. Nobody other than Jun-Ho there knows who he is, so he’s hoping anyone but him picks up the phone. To his relief, an unfamiliar voice sounds at the other end. “Tell Officer Hwang In-Ho to answer his phone, it’s an emergency.” The man on the other end starts asking for his name, but Gi-Hun doesn’t care and hangs up.
He brushes a hand through his rain-soaked hair, it doesn’t take long before his phone rings again. With no hesitation, he picks it up, “In-Ho?”
“I’m so sorry, I was just finishing up some paperwork. Is everything okay? I heard it was important,” guilt slips off the other man’s tongue. The worry in his voice obvious as he questions the other about his troubles. If he knew Gi-Hun was calling, he wouldn’t have ignored his phone.
Gi-Hun breathes in deeply, “I hate to do this over the phone, but I know you’ll overthink it if I ask you to come home first. I’m pregnant, In-Ho.”
Silence fills the room. It’s almost deafening. “Are you sure? Aren’t you a bit old for that?” It comes off as mocking, that, of course, was not his intention. “Sorry, that... Came out wrong. Just... Are you sure it’s pregnancy and not some other issue?” He silently pleads for it to be something else, anything else.
“I just got home from the doctor. I’m pregnant. Come home, In-Ho, we have stuff to discuss.” He mumbles through the phone just before hanging up. “Stupid In-Ho, doubting me like this.” Gi-Hun pouts, flopping down on the couch. In-Ho is almost done with work anyway, a slightly earlier leave won’t hurt.
—-
In-Ho stares at the phone in his hand. “Call ended” mocking his distress. Of all the things that could’ve happened, this is one of the worst outcomes. Pregnancy. After his wife’s passing, he never even wanted to hear the word again. Yet, here it was, slapping him across the face. He curses to himself. How could he let this happen? Gi-Hun isn’t young, he’s not sure his body can even handle a pregnancy.
“Fuck it,” he whispers. Without another thought, he grabs his bag and runs out of his office, frantically searching for Jun-Ho. He has no time to play these games, especially if Gi-Hun is right about the pregnancy. He just needs Jun-Ho to finish his work and clock him out. The thought of Gi-hun home alone with something this big is stressful. Panic fills every action he performs, leaving him to fall straight on his ass.
He lets out a loud yelp before his brother, noticing his distress, comes up to him. He lifts the older man off the floor. Without giving him a second to speak, In-Ho grabs Jun-Ho’s hands and yells, “I have to leave, please finish my work for me, it’s an emergency.” With that, he lets go of the other and dashes out to his car. He leaves a very confused and worried Jun-Ho standing there. Though, he doesn’t seem to notice. The only thing on his mind is his, now pregnant, boyfriend at home.
“What the fuck?” Jun-Ho says a little too loud, taking notice that In-Ho didn’t even bother to clock out. The officer sighs, it’s not like he was busy anyway. Still, it was odd for In-Ho to panic about anything. In-Ho hardly even has friends, but maybe something happened to one of them. Jun-Ho rules that out. Sure, he’d be worried, but he doesn’t think In-Ho would run out like he saw a ghost over it.
—
In-Ho is sure he broke several traffic laws on his way to his apartment. Not that he really cared. He slams the door to his apartment shut. Too panicked to take his shoes off, he runs straight to the living room. “Gi-Hun.” he breathes out, heavy.
His lover looks up from his spot on the couch, patting the spot next to him. “Sit.” It’s a simple demand, In-Ho does as he’s told.
The air felt so fragile like any wrong move would send everything they’ve built up crashing down around them. Gi-Hun taps his fingers against his thigh, papers from the doctor’s office in the other hand. Both of them open and close their mouths, as if they have something to say. Neither can truly get the words across.
In-Ho places a covering hand on top of Gi-Hun’s. “In-Ho, you’re going to hate me.” It was all Gi-Hun could get out. The only words that managed to slip out of his mouth. They felt bitter on his tongue, they were wrong. Both of them knew it. “If my health is in order, I want to keep it.”
There it was. In-Ho’s worst fear.
“I know what you’re thinking!” Gi-Hun stutters out. “If there are any complications at all, we can get rid of it and prioritize my life. I just..” tears threaten to spill. He avoids In-Ho’s piercing gaze.
In-Ho grabs his face, forcing the other to look at him. His eyes soften, “My darling, why would I hate you for something like this? We both want a kid together and… I suppose this was fate's way of giving it to us.” His words feel like a punch to his gut.
His boyfriend gives him a sad smile, “You can lie through your teeth to everyone else, but you can’t lie to me. You don’t want me to have this baby.”
He bites his lip, a bad, nervous habit. “You’re only half right. I do want this, how could I not? Having a baby with the love of my life sounds so wonderful, but..” His voice trails off. The silence saying more than he ever could. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you too.”
“You won’t, I swear on everything, you won’t lose me over this.” Gi-Hun cups In-Ho’s face in his hands, earning himself a sad laugh.
“I better not. If you die, I’ll bring you back just to kill you again!” In-Ho playfully shoves him away.
Gi-Hun presses a kiss to his forehead, “I promise this will all work out. And we’ll get a family out of it.”
His lover hums in response before pausing in realization, “Gi-Hun, this means we’ll have to come out. You can’t hide that baby bump forever, especially not from our friends. They'll definitely notice.”
The other furrows his brows, “Well, we should start with coming out to Jun-Ho. He's your brother and he deserves to know. As for the pregnancy part, let's keep it a secret until we’re confident we can keep it.”
In-Ho nods, a small smile flashing on his face, “I’m really happy we get to do this together, I'll be here every step of the way.”
Gi-Hun pushes himself off the couch, wobbling a bit. “A month from now, we can come out to him. I'll be three months by then anyway, that’s a good time to announce it. “
“Mhm, I’ll make sure everything is good and situated. Don’t worry.”
—
Jun-Ho has never been incredibly involved in In-Ho’s personal life. They had a fifteen-year age gap, and as much as they loved each other, that made it hard for them to relate. In-Ho is already a private person as it is. They still find time to hang out often and catch up on life though, they’re close for two very different people.
This is why it didn’t come as a surprise when In-Ho invited him over to Gi-Hun’s house. A little strange, sure. Jun-Ho didn’t know they were friends until now, but it wasn’t the strangest thing ever. He was the one who introduced them to each other in the first place. He never heard anything about each other from either of them, so he just assumed they didn’t click.
For all of In-Ho’s confidentiality, Gi-Hun was an open book. If you asked, there’s not a single thing he wouldn’t say. Their entire friend group knew just about everything about that man against their will. Honestly, he needs to learn what “too much information” means.
Either way, their friendship wasn’t the most surprising thing in the world. Gi-Hun was one of his closest friends after all, it made perfect sense for him and his brother to get along. So, without a second thought about it, Jun-Ho walks into their apartment.
Gi-Hun and In-Ho were sitting side by side at the table, grim expressions plastered onto their faces. Everything he thought he knew about the situation went crumbling down. Now, he was worried.
This wasn’t the first time within the past month his concern had been directed towards Gi-Hun. It originally started when he and their friends started to notice Gi-Hun’s weight gain. Not that it was a bad thing for him to gain weight, but it was so out of nowhere. He started eating a lot more during their hangouts too. The strangest part, however, was Gi-Hun stopped drinking entirely.
“Is everything okay,” Jun-Ho asks, taking a seat in the chair across from them. The silence in the room was thick. Nobody wanted to initiate, to say anything.
“In-Ho and I are dating!” Gi-Hun blurts out, hiding his face in his hands. Blush creeping up his neck.
Jun-Ho blinks at them, “I.. What..?”
“Gi-Hun and I are dating. We’ve been together for four years. We’re sorry we've kept it a secret from you.” In-Ho’s voice trails off. Neither man can look Jun-Ho in the eye. Embarrassment and regret suffocate them.
The silent reaction worries both of them. At least until Jun-Ho starts laughing. Their heads shoot up, staring him down with wide eyes. What about this could possibly be funny?
“You two being together, it’s so bad it's almost perfect,” he smiles at the couple. “I wish you would’ve told me sooner that my best friend was my future brother-in-law.
Gi-Hun’s face brightens immediately, “He was scared I’d take his place as the cool brother.”
He only earns himself a playful glare from the other two. “Psh, as if. Nobody can replace me.” In-Ho finally smiles back.
“You know there’s just one more thing I have to ask,” Jun-Ho starts up again, catching the other two’s attention. “Why did you come out now? Was it just that you were tired of hiding it or something more important?”
The eldest scratches the back of his head, “Ah, I knew you were going to ask that. You detectives are so curious.” He chuckles at his own joke. “Truth be told, there actually is a reason we decided to come out now. Stay right here!”
Gi-Hun gets up and runs into the living room, picking a gift off the floor. The couple's smiles grow even more as he dashes back to the table. “A gift, for you!”
Jun-Ho is so distracted by the strange gift, he doesn’t even notice In-Ho prop his phone up to record. He gives the couple a sideways glance, taking the top off the box. Inside was a picture, a note, and a T-shirt.
He picks up the note on top, reading it aloud, “You know what’s better than having you as a baby brother? Having you as our baby’s uncle.” He looks up then back at the note, “Guys, is this..” He drops the note in his hands, grabbing the photo in the box. An ultrasound. Tears weld up in his and Gi-Hun’s eyes. All he can do is laugh, “You guys are such assholes.”
“Is that any way to congratulate your pregnant best friend?” Gi-Hun smiles, “Well? How does it feel to not be the baby in the family anymore?”
Jun-Ho starts sobbing, unable to hold back anymore. He grips the photo in his hand like his life depended on it. “You guys can’t just drop all of this on me like this. I didn’t even know I wanted to be an uncle until now!”
He pushes out his chair, running up to hug the couple. “I love you, Jun-Ho. You’ll make a wonderful uncle.” In-Ho whispers, rubbing circles into his brother's back.
Jun-Ho pulls away, taking the shirt out of the box at last, ‘World’s Best Uncle’ He sniffles, “Fuck, I am the world’s greatest uncle and my little niece or nephew hasn’t even been born. I’ll be the coolest uncle ever.”
—
“In-Ho, In-Ho wake up,” Gi-Hun pokes at his boyfriend sleeping next to him in bed. It was roughly two in the morning and Gi-Hun was lying comfortably on the pregnancy pillow he forced his boyfriend to buy for him. Unfortunately for In-Ho, midnight pregnancy cravings were a bitch and Gi-Hun will not shut up until he gets it.
The other groggily opens his eyes, annoyed at the interruption to his sleep. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?” In-Ho reaches over, lazily rubbing a hand on Gi-Hun’s shoulder.
“Hungry.”
In-Ho sighs, “My darling, please stop waking me up in the middle of the night because you’re hungry. We have a kitchen, go find something yourself.” He nuzzles back into his pillow, knowing his boyfriend isn’t going to give up.
“But,” Gi-Hun starts, “Baby really wants tteokbokki from the convenience store down the block.” He gives In-Ho the biggest puppy eyes he can muster. He grabs In-Ho’s hand, placing it on his bump for dramatic effect. “OUCH!”
In-Ho shoots up, pulling his hand back. “Holy shit, the baby kicked..” The two stared at each other before giving the widest smiles they could. “I guess they really do want tteokbokki.”
“Then go get me some, dork,” he flicks In-Ho’s forehead, letting out a little giggle. “I’d come with, but god my legs are cramping so badly. Do you see how swollen my ankles are?! I haven’t even done anything yet!”
His lover plants a kiss on his lips, shutting him up immediately. “Don’t worry about it, get some more rest darling, I’ll be back as soon as possible. I’ll massage your ankles if they’re still swollen by then too. Alright?”
Breathless, Gi-Hun replies, “Alright..” His face is flushed entirely red, thank god for the lights being out.
—
Jun-Ho is in charge of planning and running the gender reveal. He insisted on it even. He didn’t realize then just how much work it would be, but staring at the final results, he couldn’t be happier.
He rented out the park area for the day, he already set up all the decorations, games, and food. He is the best uncle already and he is wearing it as a badge of honor. Quite literally. He’s wearing the shirt he got from his brother.
Most people have already got here, unsurprisingly, Gi-Hun and In-Ho are late. Unfortunately, Gi-Hun’s age is making the pregnancy harder for him overall. He’s lucky to not have any real complications, just usual symptoms.
“Wah, Jun-Ho! You really didn’t have to do all this for us!” Gi-Hun announces as he arrives. The baby bump more obvious than ever. “I’m really happy you did though, I’m really excited! In-Ho is too. Thank you so much for planning this for me.”
Jun-Ho smiles, “Anything for you, Gi-Hun. If you need anything at all, just let me know. I invited all our shared friends and a few of your own friends, also my and In-Ho’s mom.”
“Thank you, Jun-Ho, I really appreciate it. I’d love to chat with you longer but honestly, I think I’ll die if I don’t sit down soon so I better go greet everyone else.” Gi-Hun walks away, running to greet his other friends.
In-Ho takes this as his excuse to slip away from the crowd, lingering by Jun-Ho. He pulls his younger brother in for a hug, catching him off guard. “Thank you.” he whispers, “Gi-Hun will never tell anyone, but the pregnancy has taken a huge toll on his body. He’s really stressed out and stopped taking on his freelance gigs. Luckily, I make more than enough for us to live comfortably even with our new baby. Just, thank you for doing this for him. It means so much to me that you’re taking everything so well. You’re already such a good brother, you really will be the greatest uncle.”
He lets his brother go, leaving Jun-Ho shocked. In-Ho almost never shares anything about his personal life, especially something like this. He’s really changed since becoming an expecting father. “You’re welcome, I just want you two to be happy. And for Gi-Hun to make it through this unharmed.” In-Ho looks down at the last part.
“He’ll be okay. We know he will.” He mutters, turning his gaze to his lover who’s sitting down and laughing with his friends.
—
“Gi-Hun, I can’t believe you’re already halfway to the end!” Jung-Bae laughs, throwing an arm over Gi-Hun’s shoulder.
Sae-Byeok hums in agreement, “This entire situation came off as such a shock to us. Are you excited to find out the gender? Do you have a preference?”
He thinks for a second, “I think if I had to choose, I’d rather have a baby girl. Maybe because I miss Ga-Yeong, but I have a habit of accidentally being a father figure to girls. I think I’m just destined to forever be a girl dad! In-Ho really doesn’t care, but I think he wants a boy a little more.” Gi-Hun giggles to himself.
“I think you’re right about the girl dad thing,” Sang-Woo jokes, “I mean, look at Sae-Byeok and Jun-Hee. You basically adopted them the day you met them.”
Jun-Ho jumps into the conversation, “Since you’re talking about it anyway, I have pins for which gender you’re hoping for!” He shoves two baskets onto the table, filled with two different colored pins. “Of course, I’m hoping for a boy!” he grabs a blue pin, attaching it to his uncle shirt.
“Ooo! You’re so smart Jun-Ho! Did you get In-Ho to pick one too?” Gi-Hun asks, attaching a pink pin to his own shirt. Jun-Ho nods and points to his brother who is sporting a blue pin. “AHA! I knew he wanted a boy!”
“Eh, but Jun-Ho, don’t you already know the gender?” Dae-Ho asks, grabbing his own blue pin.
“Yeah, but I wanted a boy before I learned the gender, so I’m going with that!” He tries to leave his response neutral to not give any hints as to what it might be. Though, even if he gave a hint, he’s certain Gi-Hun would not pick up on it.
—
The couple stands behind a table, a beautiful white cake displayed in front of them. Each person sporting their own prediction pin. The only person who knew was Jun-Ho, who is recording everything.
“Ah, I’m so nervous!” Gi-Hun says flustered. In-Ho’s hand resting on top of his on top of the knife they’re using to cut the cake. “Alright, alright, my girl dad intuition tells me it’s going to be a girl, if it’s not a girl, ignore everything I just said!” He jokes, trying to calm his nerves.
In-Ho presses a kiss against his neck, pushing his hand down. The knife pierces the cake, but when they pull it out, they don’t see any color sticking to the knife. They stick it again, offically cutting a slice. Taking the slice out, the color is revealed.
“IT’S A GIRL!” Gi-Hun yells jumping back. “GIRL DAD INTUITION NEVER FAILS!” His excitement is felt throughout the crowd. Girl pin people looking smugly at their win.
In-Ho smiles brightly, the biggest smile most people there have seen from him. “Please welcome our baby girl, Yu-Jun, when she’s ready to come into this world.”
“Oh yes! We decided on Yu-Jun if she was a girl!” Gi-Hun giggles, “Ahh, I’m so excited to be a dad again!”