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“Sungchan ah!” Minho yelled from across the bustling hotel gym, joy flooding his system as he finally found exactly who he had been looking for since arriving in the country. He had been on the top of the list of running recruitments since coming to the UK for the SM Town London concert, “Come here!”
Sungchan looked up from his task of lifting weights and felt panic surge through his veins. He had expertly dodged Minho all week, avoiding the older man in the same way many of the other idols at SM had been doing, but just when he thought he was safe, he had been caught and he wasn’t sure how he was going to get out of it. Minho barely let Kai slide, there was no way he was going to let Sungchan off the hook.
“M-Minho sunbaenim,” Sungchan greeted nervously, setting his weights to the side and standing up to properly greet his senior. He bowed at a 90 degree angle, nearly face planting into the bench he had previously been sitting on, “Good morning.”
“Indeed it is a good morning! I'm about to go on a run with Sion ah and Changmin hyung, and I want you to join," the way he imposed on Sungchan almost felt like a threat and it had Sungchan's heart rate picking up dramatically. He had heard from everyone Minho had caught to join him in running, Kai, Chanyeol, Suho, Johnny, Xiaojun, and Kun, that the entire excursion had been no joke, and when he heard that Kai had cried afterwards and that Chanyeol tasted blood in his mouth, Sungchan had pointedly decided he would not join if he could help it.
He was caught.
"I-I don't know Minho sunbaenim. It's not really a good time," he tried to nudge his way out of this, maybe insist that he focus on lifting weights today and not running, but the older and much more experienced man was not budging, foundation firm as he stood his ground.
"It's always a good time to run! A little cardio never hurt anybody," Minho insisted, clapping a strong hand on Sungchan's shoulder. It was friendly, but it still felt like a looming threat, "Come on. We'll start stretching and then head out," he gently tugged on Sungchan's arm, but there was nothing gentle or soft about his commanding stance. It felt impossible to say no, but Sungchan couldn't do it.
"Sunbaenim, I'm really sorry but I can't," Sungchan was losing steam as he was dragged closer to a waiting Changmin and Sion, ready to run miles upon miles around London.
"Sure you can! Everyone benefits from running," Minho was all smiles as he approached his small group for the day, ready to begin their group stretching routine.
"No, I can't because..." Sungchan insisted, digging his heels into the ground and effectively stopping them. Minho turned over his shoulder and waited patiently, an eyebrow cocked high. Sungchan swallowed, looked around and over his shoulders before he beckoned Minho closer as though he were about to tell him a secret. The older man obeyed, endlessly curious to hear whatever excuse was about to come up. There was nothing that could convince Minho to sway his decision.
Sungchan cupped his hands over Minho's ear and whispered with full confidence, "I'm pregnant."
And oh, that was a pretty good excuse.
Minho's eyes widened, shock entering his system as he processed the very big and exciting news he had just been told, "You are?”
"Yep! Eleven weeks," Sungchan confirmed with a very real and bright smile, Minho unable to detect a lie in his tone or posture, "But don't tell anyone. It's still a secret. Only the Riize members and management know," in fact, they had only just recently been told, both Sungchan and Shotaro waiting to tell people until they were closer in the safe zone to share the news.
"Wow, that's amazing! Congratulations," Minho sincerely wished, bringing Sungchan in for a tight hug. Sungchan happily entered it, hugging his senior back with full enthusiasm, "That's so exciting.”
"Yeah, we're both very excited. Shotaro hyung is over the moon about it," Sungchan confirmed, thinking about the light in his husband's eyes when the pregnancy test showed a very dark second line. Never before had he seen the older man so happy, not even on their wedding day, "We've both wanted this for a very long time.”
"I'm sure," Minho nodded, understanding, but still returning to his previous intention of approaching Sungchan to join, "I heard cardio is good for pregnancy though. You could still come and we can slow our pace down. As long as we get the distance in I do not care," Minho was still insisting, but there was a lack of authority in his voice now. It was more of a suggestion than an invitation now.
Sungchan shook his head, insistent, "No thank you. I'm feeling pretty nauseous right now. Morning sickness is no joke. I'm a lot better than I was before but it still knocks me down every now and then. I've thrown up just about every day since we found out and I need to take more breaks or it just gets worse," all those early mornings of running out of bed to rush to the toilet to throw up, all the rehearsals interrupted because moving too much cause bouts of nausea, it was relentless, "I'm really trying to focus on low intensity workouts and strength training. Anything more and I'll need to spend the afternoon with my head in the toilet."
Minho frowned, sympathetic and understanding, deciding he wouldn't push it any further, "Alright then, take care of yourself. And congratulations again! I'll make sure to get you a really good gift," he assured with a thumbs up and his bright, million dollar smile. Sungchan laughed in response.
"Thank you. And remember, it's still a secret. Don't tell anyone.”
"My lips are sealed," Minho promised with a wink as he headed back to his awaiting friends. Sion and Changmin looked more than ready to start running, determination mixed with curiosity as they begged with their eyes to hear the reasoning behind why Minho gave up so easily on recruiting Sungchan to their morning run. Minho hadn't given anyone else an option. This was bizarre.
"Let's go! We're burning daylight!" Minho chirped, clapping his hands together as he fired himself up for their group stretching. Sion and Changmin shrugged it off, joining Minho as he led their light stretching exercises among the crowd of SM entertainers and staff alike.
It was on their way out of the hotel gym that Minho spotted Shotaro walking in, water bottle in hand and towel thrown over his shoulder. After having been told the good news, he couldn't let Shotaro go without congratulating him as well. It was only common courtesy, and Minho loved Shotaro. Everyone did.
Sion and Changmin walked in front of Minho, not noticing that their 'club leader' stopped to address Shotaro with a wide smile. He stopped the younger man with a friendly hand, preventing him from walking any further, "Congrats on the pregnancy," Minho wished quietly, bringing Shotaro in for a brotherly dap, patting him on the back before he pulled away.
When Minho was facing Shotaro again, he drank in the look of surprise in the younger man's eyes, completely taken aback by the sudden congratulations. He stuttered as he tried to speak, "Uh.. th-thank you. Who told you?" Shotaro asked quietly, stepping a little closer to keep their voices hushed. There were a lot of people in this gym and there were many prying eyes and ears. With how close everyone was, there was no shortage of people who wanted to know even when he and Sungchan agreed to wait a little longer to tell people.
"Sungchan did," Minho chirped happily, "Don't worry, I know it's a secret. I'm really happy for you two and excited to see your adorable baby join the other nursery kids," many SM idols also had children and many of them spent time in the provided nursery the company established years before when there was no other care option available. All of the idols visited to gawk at the babies and small children, oohing and awing at how adorable they all were. Shotaro and Sungchan's baby would be the latest addition, that he knew of at least.
Shotaro frowned at hearing that Sungchan had broken their promise to keep the pregnancy a secret, but he appreciated that Minho was willing to keep their secret safe. It was nice to live in their little bubble of joy with just them, "Well, thank you, Minho sunbaenim. We're pretty excited.”
"I didn't know you were trying," Minho offered, wanting to keep the conversation going since he always loved to see Shotaro. It had been a while since they'd had a proper conversation, "Unless you weren't..."
Shotaro laughed, switching his water bottle from one hand to the other, "No, we were. It's something we both really wanted, but it's so hard to do when we're so busy," Minho nodded empathetically, because if anyone understood busy, it was Minho, "And I'm so glad we got pregnant when we did and not while we toured or were promoting anything. The first trimester is brutal," the way Shotaro huffed made Minho laugh. What he said correlated with Sungchan's recounting of his first trimester, and both showed the same sense of dread for the allotted time.
"Oh yeah. Sungchan ah told me how sick he was and man, I cannot imagine that. It sounds horrible.”
Shotaro's expression shifted, a look of confusion suddenly knit into his brows, "He told you how sick he was?”
"Yeah, morning sickness is a killer," Minho confirmed as though he had experienced it for himself. He indeed had not, "Said he threw up just about every day and that it only just stopped. He told me he still gets nauseous though.”
Shotaro blinked, looking baffled, "He said that?”
"Yep! I was going to ask him to run with me this morning but I didn’t want to push him if he’s feeling nauseous. Wouldn’t want to run around London and have to stop so he can throw up in the bushes," their idol image was precious and with how revered Sungchan's visuals were, Minho didn't want the younger man's pictures going viral for the wrong reason, "I wanted to spare him and the baby. But since I have you in front of me, I should ask you to join. I've heard you have excellent running form and want to see it for myself," he winked as he reached out and playfully pushed Shotaro's shoulder, smile dropping when he noticed just how tightly screwed his features were.
Shotaro shook his head, putting a hand up as if telling Minho to stop talking, to which the older man definitely did, "Minho sunbaenim, Sungchan told you he was pregnant?"
"Yeah," Minho nodded, suddenly feeling confused and a huge lack of confidence in his own words, "He's pregnant, isn't he?”
Shotaro's hard expression slowly softened, his head dropping shortly so he could laugh under his breath as he connected the dots. Sungchan was about to be in a world of hurt, "Minho sunbaenim, I'm the one who's pregnant," he emphasized this with a gentle and subtle hand on his lower belly that had just started to fill out. He was far from having a bump, but he could see it just beyond the horizon. Shotaro laughed, "I've been having morning sickness and I've been uncontrollably nauseous, not Sungchanie," he giggled at the disbelief in the older man's features, "He isn't pregnant.”
“He isn’t pregnant..." Minho frowned, realizing he had been duped and lied to. The reasons Sungchan had so confidently given him were all Shotaro's experiences, not his, and he had so easily fallen for it, "Again, congratulations, Shotaro yah, but excuse me while I go get your husband," he bowed politely before storming off past Shotaro, leaving the Japanese man stunned but amused at what was to come next. He didn't feel any sympathy and was rather enjoying the ridiculousness of his morning.
Minho rapidly approached Sungchan and startled the younger man out of his routine. He didn't give Sungchan a chance to speak before he was grabbing him by the arm, holding him in place, "I just saw Shotaro and he told me some very interesting information," Sungchan's eyes widened, caught red handed, "Grab your water and come with me," he demanded, making sure Sungchan did as he was told and followed Minho towards their running group for the day. Sungchan followed with his head hung low, knowing that his gym obsessed senior really had it in for him today, "We're going to get to the sidewalk, and then we'll start running.”
Shotaro watched as his husband was dragged away, shaking his head and laughing to himself, “He had it coming.”
All Sungchan could do was nod and follow, and by the end of their run, which happened to be a mile longer than the two previous mornings, Sungchan felt on the verge of death. He hadn't been able to catch his breath at any point of their run and at some point he stopped hearing anything besides the blood rushing in his ears. It had been pure torture, taking everything out of Sungchan's body and leaving behind the shell of an exhausted man.
"That'll teach you not to lie, Sungchanie," Minho smiled, looking barely affected by the run at all. He was still smiling as bright as ever and it looked like he barely even broke a sweat, basking in the afterglow of a good, multi-mile run, "Did you learn your lesson?”
"Yes," Sungchan wheezed, holding up a weak thumbs up as he tried to compose himself, "I won't ever lie to you ever again.”
"You better not," Minho tsked, smiling widely and obnoxiously, "Or else you'll be my permanent running partner.”
Now that was a true threat, one Sungchan did not take lightly.