TSG 129

“Congratulations. You’re pregnant.”

“It’s Honey Rice Cake.”

…What kind of conversation is this?

Where did he throw away his shame? Seeing Shin Tae-oh’s shameless face, Se-hyun hung his head low.

‘We agreed not to do this…’

They had agreed to pretend to be surprised when the doctor announced the pregnancy. How could he blurt out the baby’s nickname right away!

‘He forgot we decided to make it seem like it came up naturally.’

Some might say they should have come to the hospital before even thinking of a nickname. Or that it’s not right to name the baby when they weren’t even sure about the pregnancy.

The reason Shin Tae-oh and Se-hyun could agree on a nickname beforehand was because they were somewhat certain about the pregnancy.

Typically, people react with “When did I get pregnant?”, “There’s a baby in my belly?”, “I can’t believe it.” But Se-hyun had confirmed with thirty-two test kits over the weekend. His thoughts had evolved from “Am I pregnant?” to “I am pregnant,” and finally, “There’s a baby in my belly.”

‘Shin Tae-oh’s fuss and endless test kits made me numb.’

Thanks to that, he was able to calmly accept the doctor’s congratulations.

“You came expecting to be pregnant to some extent, I see.”

Rather than “to some extent,” they were almost certain, but Se-hyun didn’t bother to correct it.

“We didn’t expect it at all.”

‘Tae-oh, if you’re going to lie, at least change your expression!’

“We didn’t expect the pregnancy, but we debated between Sticky Rice Cake and Honey Rice Cake. Sticky Rice Cake because it came at such a perfect time, and Honey Rice Cake because it sounds sweet and perfect for our baby.”

Don’t say things like that either.

Se-hyun tried to stop him by tightly gripping Shin Tae-oh’s hand, but Shin Tae-oh turned Se-hyun’s hand over and held it back. He probably thought Se-hyun was holding his hand out of emotion.

“But Se-hyun wanted Honey Rice Cake, so we had to let go of Sticky Rice Cake.”

Se-hyun glared at Shin Tae-oh. Why did Se-hyun choose Honey Rice Cake! It was because that man had stuck to him like glue all weekend, and he felt sorry to call the baby Sticky Rice Cake.

“Yes, Honey Rice Cake is nice.”

The doctor asked the nurse to prepare a maternity notebook and leaned back comfortably in his chair.

“It seems you’ve already decided to have the baby, so I’ll just tell you what to do from now on. First, it’s best to keep a calm mind.”

Se-hyun, whose hand was now stuck like glue to Shin Tae-oh’s after trying to stop him, forcefully listened to the doctor’s words.

“Stress is the worst thing. If you eat well, sleep well, and enjoy yourself—then the baby will grow just fine. No need to worry.”

Se-hyun rolled the word “stress” around in his mouth. While he was thinking about what could cause him stress, the doctor turned his gaze to Shin Tae-oh.

“If you pass the early stages of pregnancy well, you’ll enter a stable period. Especially for Omegas, if they can receive the Alpha’s pheromones well, there shouldn’t be any big problems… I guess there’s no need to worry.”

Seeing Shin Tae-oh’s determined expression, the doctor changed his words.

“We’ll schedule regular visits so we can check on Honey Rice Cake. Take care, Honey Rice Cake.”

The doctor, accepting that Shin Tae-oh was an overly dramatic person, even wrote the name Honey Rice Cake on the ultrasound picture.

Leaving the examination room, Se-hyun stood blankly with a face that seemed to have just hit reality.

Was he hit with reality because the doctor said he was pregnant?

“So we just need to live without stress, eat well, sleep well, play well, like Pororo. He’s a kid who likes playing the most too. Se-hyun, what do you want to do? Are you sleepy? Ah, when did we eat breakfast?”

No, it was because of Shin Tae-oh, who was already making a huge fuss about Se-hyun’s pregnancy.

‘Honey Rice Cake, let’s hang in there.’

Well, even Pororo has that kid who keeps talking to him, not knowing if he’s a crocodile or a dinosaur.

“Let’s go to a cafe and talk first.”

“Huh? We’re already talking, but you want to do it more seriously?”

Se-hyun stared intently into Shin Tae-oh’s excited eyes.

“Aren’t we going to talk about the future?”

We’re pregnant before marriage!

***

Entering a nearby cafe, Se-hyun briefly looked around before approaching the window seat. Shin Tae-oh, following behind, exclaimed in admiration:

“Did you pick that spot because of the sunlight?”

“…Yes. The sunlight is coming in nicely here.”

Actually, he chose this spot because the other tables were too small. While Se-hyun wasn’t especially big, Shin Tae-oh was even less suited to tight spaces. So he had purely sought out a practical seat, though the good sunlight was a bonus.

“What do you want to drink? I’ll go buy it.”

In the past, Se-hyun would have taken care of everything, but now Shin Tae-oh was being proactive. Se-hyun had no intention of stopping him. Looking at those eyes that wanted to do everything, he thought it would be better to just go along with whatever Shin Tae-oh did.

“Anything is fine. Just please get me a glass of water too.”

“Got it. I’ll get something that suits your taste. Stay seated.”

Seeing Shin Tae-oh’s determined resolve as if he was about to order something amazing, even Se-hyun couldn’t help but smile.

Se-hyun obediently sat down and admired Shin Tae-oh’s profile as he looked at the menu.

“He’s really a unique person.”

Moreover, since Shin Tae-oh couldn’t hear him, he freely muttered to himself:

“How does he stay unchanged from beginning to end?”

Looking at his face, one might expect someone serious and composed. But as soon as he opens his mouth, that image shatters completely.

“There’s never a dull moment.”

Perhaps because of this, Se-hyun was curious about what Shin Tae-oh was thinking, and found himself unconsciously listening to every word he said.

“He’s not ordinary at all.”

Being with the extraordinary Shin Tae-oh, Se-hyun had naturally surpassed ordinary too. Who would have thought he’d accept getting pregnant before marriage so nonchalantly?

“Well, I wasn’t ordinary from the moment I started liking Shin Tae-oh.”

Se-hyun finished his self-reflection.

“Now you’ll know too.”

Se-hyun thought of the new being that would have to get along with Shin Tae-oh alongside him.

“It might be bewildering, but it’ll be fun.”

Maybe time will fly by when he was with Shin Tae-oh.

Ah. Would that be a bad thing?

As Se-hyun imagined time flowing smoothly with Honey Rice Cake growing up, Shin Tae-oh suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Your expression doesn’t look good…”

“Ah…”

Putting aside the imagination he had just been indulging in, Se-hyun looked down at the drinks Shin Tae-oh had ordered and brought.

One Americano, one lemonade, and water, plus cake, macarons, cookies…

“If you were going to order this much, we should have just gone for a meal.”

“Okay. Let’s go eat after this.”

“That’s not what I meant… Never mind.”

Since he’d already ordered, it was better to eat well rather than complain about it.

“Then I’ll drink this.”

Se-hyun picked up the Americano.

“I knew you would, so I ordered decaf.”

“Well done.”

When Se-hyun praised him, Shin Tae-oh picked up the lemonade with a satisfied face. After taking a sip, his right eye twitched slightly as it was more sour than expected.

“Have some of this too.”

Se-hyun picked up a fork and fed Shin Tae-oh some cake directly.

“Eating sweet things gives you energy, so you should eat well.”

Shin Tae-oh ate the cake like a baby bird. Next, he ate a macaron. When it got too sweet, he washed it down with lemonade.

“Aren’t you eating, Se-hyun?”

“I’m fine.”

His tone suggested he didn’t want to eat at all, so Shin Tae-oh didn’t offer twice. Meanwhile, Se-hyun cut a cookie in half and fed that to Shin Tae-oh as well.

“You’re eating well. Our Taenyang.”

“…”

Shin Tae-oh froze mid-bite at Se-hyun’s playful words.

“What’s wrong?”

Did he feed him too many sweets? Worried, Se-hyun checked Shin Tae-oh’s complexion, but he frowned as if he’d eaten something bitter.

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Think of what?”

“I’m Taenyang and you’re Bulnyang^[1], but Honey Rice Cake isn’t a ‘nyang’.”

Se-hyun, who thought it was a very serious matter, quickly relaxed and shook his head.

“We can give it a nickname later.”

What’s so difficult about that?

“Shall we?”

While Shin Shin Tae-oh was contemplating what to use as a nickname, Se-hyun drank his Americano. He had chosen the seat because he could sit on a high chair, but as Shin Tae-oh said, the sunlight touching his face didn’t seem bad either.

“How about ‘Gwi-nyang’ (Cute Kitty)?”

“That’s weird.”

“Then ‘Dal-nyang’(Sweet Kitty)? Sweet like honey.”

“Let’s stop with the ‘sweet’ stuff.”

“Then how about ‘Kkul-nyang’ (Honey Kitty)?”

“Let’s just settle on ‘Honey Rice Cake’. SWe don’t want to confuse the baby.”

As Se-hyun kept countering each suggestion, Shin Tae-oh’s expression became increasingly perplexed.

They came to talk about future plans, but here they were thinking about nicknames first.

“What’s all this nonsense?”

Se-hyun turned his head at the sudden familiar voice that chimed in from behind.

“Ha Jin-seong?”

“Kkul-nyang? No, Honey Rice Cake? What’s that?”

Ha Jin-seong demanded an answer from Se-hyun with a face that seemed to understand yet not understand.

Somehow, Ha Jin-seong ended up being the second person after Shin Tae-oh to learn about Se-hyun’s pregnancy.