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A strange dream about a world full of peaches woke Kim Dokja up from his nap.
He had been ready to bite into the fruit, to taste its juices on his tongue. But now, here he was, in the darkness of his room, the sun setting in the horizon. Kim Dokja wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep. What he did know was that he was starving.
Or at least the baby was and she wanted peaches. As she had for the past week.
Once the pregnancy was over, Kim Dokja didn’t want to see another damn peach in his life. But for now, he had a fetus to satisfy.
So, he carefully got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. Thankfully, Yoo Joonghyuk had a stream scheduled for today so he was locked away in his office.
Kim Dokja loved his mate more than anything in the world, but ever since he had gotten pregnant, Yoo Joonghyuk never let him lift a finger.
It was sweet during the first few days but not anymore.
Just because Kim Dokja was pregnant, it didn’t mean he was helpless. And he wished that Yoo Joonghyuk wouldn’t be so careful around him, constantly afraid of hurting his mate and the baby. Which was impossible.
Yoo Joonghyuk was the last person who could ever hurt Kim Dokja. Everyone knew that. But for some reason, the alpha had lost confidence in his ability to take care of his mate.
Han Sooyoung had hypothesised that this was because Yoo Joonghyuk was experiencing something he never had before. Having no memory of his own father, he never had many parental figures to look up to. To take notes or advice from. The uncertainty of their situation is what made Yoo Joonghyuk so careful.
Stopping by his mate’s office, Kim Dokja gently leaned his head against the door and smiled, hearing the muffled sound of Yoo Joonghyuk’s voice. He seemed to be calmly threatening Kim Namwoon for going off strategy.
Then, before he was caught spying, Kim Dokja waddled away to the kitchen, his mouth-watering at the thought of a fresh peach. Unfortunately, when he opened the fridge door, there was no fruit inside. At least not the one he was looking for.
It seemed that he had eaten the last peach yesterday.
But that was okay. There was a mart just across the street from their apartment and since it was still the early hours of the night, Kim Dokja was sure he could find what he was looking for there. And perhaps, he’d pick up some other snacks. Like a pint of double chocolate ice cream or the strawberry candies that Han Sooyoung had introduced him to. The mart also stocked the super spicy chips that he liked so much.
Just the thought of all that food made Kim Dokja so giddy.
He quickly sent Yoo Joonghyuk a text to let him know where he was going and then headed out the door.
His mind was too preoccupied to realize exactly what he’d done wrong.
Kim Dokja stared at the snacks he had piled into green basket he had picked up at the front of the store. He had every possible flavour in there. Yet, it didn’t seem enough. A small voice in the back of his head urged him to pick up some fruity drinks, perhaps some very sweet pre-packaged iced tea. That sounded like a very good idea.
And honestly, Kim Dokja was pregnant. He deserved to treat himself.
Anyway, it was the baby that wanted all this food. Not him.
So, without thinking too much, he headed over to the fridge with all the drinks lined up. Licking his lips, he carefully went through each drink and its flavour profile.
Kim Dokja was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the commotion at the store door. Not until someone called out his name.
“Kim Dokja!” a panicked Yoo Joonghyuk called.
Startled, Kim Dokja put away the drink he was looking at and peeked from behind one of the shelves. There his mate was, standing by the cashier, his hair dishevelled and completely out of breath as he had run all the way here.
“Yoo Joonghyuk? What’s wrong?” Kim Dokja asked, walking up to his mate.
Finally noticing the omega, Yoo Joonghyuk let out a sigh of relief and then hugged Kim Dokja tightly.
“I was so worried,” he whispered, his voice still trembling.
“Why though? I told you I was only going down to the store,” Kim Dokja said, confused by this turn of events.
“I know but what if something happened to you while you were going down the stairs or crossing the road?” Yoo Joonghyuk replied, panicked.
“Okay first of all, I took the elevator down, like any other person living on the seventh floor of a building. And secondly, I’m a grown ass man. I know how to look in both directions before crossing the road,” Kim Dokja said as he pulled back and flicked Yoo Joonghyuk in the forehead. “You can’t keep me locked up in the house.”
“I didn’t mean to—” Yoo Joonghyuk started. But then he cut himself off when Kim Dokja raised his brows.
Leaning his head against the omega’s shoulder, Yoo Joonghyuk sighed, “I’m sorry. I don’t want to lock you up but I’m just—”
“Worried that the worst will happen to me? Yeah, I figured.” Kim Dokja rolled his eyes. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, whenever I want snacks, we can go together. How about that? This way I can stretch my legs and you can save me from the rest of the world.”
Yoo Joonghyuk chuckled at those words and then nodded, “Yes, that sounds good.”
Slowly, the worry seemed to disappear from his body. That is until he noticed the snacks that Kim Dokja intended to buy.
“No. Absolutely not. You cannot eat this much junk food,” Yoo Joonghyuk scolded as he reached for a bag of chips.
“I don’t want to eat the junk food.” Kim Dokja swatted his mate’s hand away. “The baby does.”
“You can’t blame the baby for everything.”
“Watch me.”
“Kim Dokja, you need to be more responsible.”
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be streaming right now.”
“Yes but… I had to come get you first!”
“Mmhmm. Very responsible, Yoo Joonghyuk. Have you ever considered doing what you preach?”
And just like that, bickering, the two of them headed to the cashier. Yoo Joonghyuk failed to return a single snack.