Baby Be Mine

vii

Tae's house wasn't like what Tee imagined. It was the opposite of the messy, stuffy and smelly rooms with obscene posters hanging on the walls that he assumed. In their place were light and airy rooms, wooden floors and modern industrial furniture.

"I've just had it renovated recently and then had a few adjustments made since we all agreed to live here," Tae told Tee on the day they all moved in-well, Kimmon lived there occasionally since they graduated, but Godt and Tee each have their own flats until now that is.

"Thank you Tae," he said, sneaking glances at him through his lashes. Tae looked awkward, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans while fidgeting on his feet. "I love the comfy vibe it gives." Tee added.

Tae shrugged. "I hate stuffy houses. The feeling of being suffocated in traditional houses where our grandparents grew up and all. Felt wrong, you know? Gods don't get me started on the oil paintings of our ancestors, gives me the creeps; those just prompted me to do it this way." He looked up from the floor and met Tee's eyes. "Have you settled in? Is your room okay? You can choose one of the others if you don't like it."

"It's alright." A room was a room and it was comfortable. He was more concerned of why he had to live here in the first place.

Before agreeing on the idea that they all live together, Tae had said, "If there's a chance that baby is mine, I want to be part of this, means I want to be a part of your pregnancy too" and Tee couldn't disagree, because that was what he had wanted in the first place when he'd told them-wasn't it? Kimmon and Godt had said the same thing; all was well, considering the circumstances.

So it was decided the four of them would live together. They didn't discuss the dynamics. They weren't suddenly a poly-foursome. They were just four guys who had an incredible night, who let go of their inhibitions and are now stuck together for the next seven months or so until they could get the test done and clear up this mess.

"Yes, well, let me know if there's anything you need and I'll make sure you'll get it, um, for the baby and all that."

Of course, for the baby. Tee sometimes couldn't help but feel that he had been reduced down from a person to an incubator. He'd been in this house for a week now and it has been more than tense. If it wasn't for his work Tee thought he might go mad, and his clinic was the one place he could really be alone and he spent a lot of time there. Looking after children and curing them made him happy.

"I just want to say," Tae said now, bringing Tee back to the present. They were sitting at the kitchen table where Tae placed a pitcher of iced juice next to the plate of a sliced cake. Tae had asked him if he'd got time for a quick chat and Tee postponed his paperwork to listen to what Tae had to say. "That I apologise for the way I behaved when you told us you were pregnant. I was out of line."

Tee stared at Tae in amazement. He didn't expect that. "I suppose it must've been a shock."

Tae nodded. He picked up the pitcher and raised an eyebrow. Tee nodded and Tae poured him a glass, sliding it over the table towards him. "I know this isn't easy. I mean, even if all of us went to the same schools and almost grew up together in the same shit, we basically don't really know each other. I've gotten to know Godt through business, and Kimmon, obviously, but you and I-" He paused and seemed to be grasping for his words. "I'd like us to get to know each other"

Though they have been schoolmates since they could remember, Tae and Tee have different circle of friends. They have been on each other's throats and one that would be considered as rivals.

"I think it's fair to say that we've both had our own fair share in making the other's lives hell since we were in nappies," Tee said, smiling, wondering if this meant what he hoped - that he and Tae might become friends. He just didn't want to say the words; it was over two decades ago when they started bullying each other, but Tae's initial comment about him being fat followed him all that time, haunting him when he felt low. He'd often wondered how things might have ended up if he hadn't retaliated and if Tae had immediately apologised.

"I should also tell you," Tae said, as the heat starts to creep up his neck and face as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "That I had a crush on you in senior high. I, um, just think it's essential that you know that even if we weren't friends, it doesn't mean I don't wish things had been different."

That was the point where Tee should have told Tae that he'd been crushing on him since the first time he'd met him but he didn't, he just said, "That's good to know," and smiled. Tae smiled back and for the first time since he found out he was pregnant, Tee didn't feel like the world was ending.