#omgcathy

Hao Mei doesn’t understand why Wei Wei gets so much shit from everyone but, it never fails. When she is in public without her husband, some asshole ends up harassing her, so if Xiao Nai can’t be around to deter the jerks, he normally sends Hao Mei out with her.

He is usually enough to deter problems and Wei Wei likes him more than his gaming brothers. Today, though, he isn’t, and he ended up getting a punch thrown at him.

“Give me that.”

They sit in Wei Wei’s car as she pulls out her first aid kit and Hao Mei winces as she cleans the small cut on his cheek. “They aren’t going to let us out in public ever again,” he whines as he squeezes his eyes shut.

“I’m glad KO wasn’t with us,” she says seriously. “I think your husband sees blood faster than my husband. We were able to deescalate a lot easier without them.”

“Xiao Nai isn’t a slouch.” He felt compelled to defend his friend, although he wasn’t sure why. She puts a band aid onto his cheek and smiles like they’re both fooling themselves. “I just don’t want him to make a big deal at work. I want work to stay safe for us.”

“It will.” She squeezes his hand before they head back to the office. Hao Mei wonders if he should just sneak off and go home before KO sees him. He just feels embarrassed some asshole’s ring got caught on his face. He does his best to hide behind Wei Wei and get to his desk when KO gives an angry shout and stalks over to him.

Hao Mei feels trapped and a little turned on when KO takes his face carefully in his hands. “Who did this to you?”

“just say it.”

Hao Mei tried not to sound miserable as he looked at the fried rice he tried to make for dinner. He glared at the burned offering and tried not to sigh when KO leaned over the counter and kissed him. He ruffled Hao Mei’s hair and actually smiled.

“I won’t ask you to make dinner, even in jest.”

Hao Mei groaned and intended to throw out the fried rice when KO caught his hand and pulled him into a very comforting hug. “Are you going to tell me who hurt your face? I know it wasn’t Wei Wei.”

He shook his head and decided clinging was the better option. “I’ll order something for dinner and clean up this mess.”

“That didn’t stop you before”

The last thing Jang-Mi wants to hear when waking up in a hospital is the sounds of her husband and their boyfriend arguing with the doctor. They’d practically argued with him during the entire labor and she was kind of sick of it.

“Yeobo,” she said to both of them. “I want So-Hee.”

“I’ll go get her,” Yeo-Rim volunteered and before the doctor could stop him, slipped expertly out of the room. Gi-Tae glared at his back before turning on the doctor and nurse again.

This time, the doctor involved Jang-Mi and she wondered why he thought appealing to her was going to work. “A child without a father will face too many hardships in this world. It isn’t right-”

“So-Hee has two fathers. I was told we could put them both on the birth certificate. Sometimes grandparents get put on the birth certificate. Why is this a problem, right now?”

“It has to do with patient rights permissions,” Gi-Tae bit through his teeth. “They wave these requirements all the time for doctors families. I thought they would let me stay, since I have registered as a physician here and Yeo-Rim could take the father slot. The nurse doesn’t approve of us.”

“Where is your mother?” Jang-Mi asks as Yeo-Rim returns with their daughter. Jang-Mi takes So-Hee and smiles at the tiny, tender baby they made. Yeo-Rim looks like he’s been crying.

“Talking to the hospital president.” That makes Jang-Mi smile.

KO tells himself he isn’t nervous about the box in his suit pocket. Hao Mei is late to their dinner because he’s helping Wei Wei with something for Xiao Nai. KO reserved them a private table at a restaurant one of his chef friends recommended because Hao Mei commented that they deserve to go out on dates the way other couples do.

He’s nervous but not at what people will think. Now that they’re together, KO finds he likes being an acknowledged boyfriend. Yes, it annoys him when girls confess to either of them, but he likes it more when Hao Mei puffs up and lays claim to his territory.

He hopes Hao Mei likes it when he does the same.

Hao Mei is out of breath when he shows up, his hair a little poofy, but his smile is so bright as he sits down. “Sorry. It took too long.” 

“Why?”

Hao Mei rolls his eyes. “It isn’t important. Have you ordered for us already?”

“Last time I did that you pouted because I forgot something.” He struggles not to smirk at Hao Mei’s crestfallen expression. “I’ve ordered.”

He immediately brightens and then puts a small box on the table. KO blinks because it is very similar to the box he has in his pocket. “We are a normal couple,” he says firmly. “Couples give each other things like this. I noticed your watch broke and...”

He’s pretty sure the only person in the office who can understand him is Wei Wei. Hao Mei feels more comfortable talking to her than anyone else, including his three gaming brothers.

His loyalty to Xiao Nai is unquestioned, but he just doesn’t think he can come out and tell him that he wants to get KO a romantic gift. He wants to do something special for his boyfriend but he’s unsure how or what.

Wei Wei is easy to pull aside and mumble his problems to and she smiles brightly.

“Secrets? I love secrets!”

“Suggestions,” he corrects and she touched his shoulder kindly.

“You know him much better than I do. He clearly adores you. He’s going to love anything you get him and he will see the romance in it.”

“It will be fun, trust me.”

Yeo-Rim often wonders how he fell in love with two people that were complete opposites from the other. Jang-Mi needs no convincing to go to a small concert park to listen to him play and she’s six months pregnant. Gi-Tae on the other hand...

Jang-Mi hums happily as she packs a little basket with leftovers and fun non-alcoholic drinks and winks at Yeo-Rim as he tries to convince Gi-Tae that he wants to go out to a large crowd of people to support his boyfriend.

“Why didn’t you give me more notice?” Gi-Tae’s brow furrows as the crankiness sets in. Yeo-Rim decides he should slip him more wine when Jang-Mi isn’t looking. What seemed like a good idea at the time to promote solidarity with her just isn’t working for Gi-Tae’s mood. He thrives with a glass of good wine in the evenings.

“Because, if I give you any notice, you always have something come up at work that requires your attention. I want your attention tonight.” Yeo-Rim cups the back of Gi-Tae’s neck. “Jang-Mi hogs you at night. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

Gi-Tae flushes and bows his head to Yeo-Rim’s shoulder with a heavy sigh. Yeo-Rim knows he’s just cleansing himself before he gives in. “She’s pregnant with our child,” he mutters. “She gets precedent.”

“I’m not arguing that. I’m just asking for you to be in the crowd while I sing about love so I can look at you both while I do it.” He is ready to start pouting to get his way but Gi-Tae kisses him and just nods before he goes to get his wallet and tell Jang-Mi he’s going with them and to pack extra food.

“Now? Now you listen to me?”

Dan-Bi pauses outside Do-Hyun’s office door. She’s a little surprised that he’s lost his temper with a subordinate. She’s never heard that level of frustration in his voice and she’s pretty sure it is someone else’s frustration. She waits patiently for the unlucky person to exit.

She’s a little surprised when she sees one of her King’s advisers exit. He glares at her with an anger that spawns centuries but she just smiles and bows at him politely before knocking on the door and going in.

Do-Hyun immediately smiles at her when he realizes its her. “What was that about?”

He frowns and glares at a piece of paper on his desk. “Nothing important.” When she raises her eyebrows at him, he sighs and then smiles. “Your job offer from our competitor. It compared it to treason and I lost my temper.”

Dan-Bi flushes. “Are you angry I didn’t tell you about it?”

He shakes his head. “If you want to work for them, then I won’t stop you. The point I made was that you were worth a bidding war and if they hadn’t stopped me from hiring you, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Also...” He trails off and she remembers why she loves him so much. “If it was a serious offer, you would’ve told me.”

“You trust me that much?” Her throat closes up and she has to swallow painfully.

“I might just kiss you.”

Ji-Won catches the way Sung-Min stiffens at their Team Leader’s effusive comment and it makes her internally smile. Sung-Min makes his way over with a scowl. “You need to be careful about comments like that. It could be taken the wrong way.”

Team Leader waves him off. “She might get job offers because of this timely article. Look! She’s being considered by some pretty big people for this award. And as the genius who let her do it–”

“You’re not a genius for recognizing a good idea.” Sung-Min grumps as he gathers his things. “Ji-Won’s articles are always impressive. This one isn’t special.”

“You’re just jealous,” Team Leader says. It is close enough to the truth that Sung-Min’s ears turn red. No one knows that they are the two anonymous people in her sex article. No one knows that Sung-Min is sleeping with her pretty regularly. 

“I’m not jealous. I have job offers. She needs all the ones she can get.” He walks off and Team Leader gives her a look.

“What’s with him?”