You leaned against the bathroom wall in shock, sliding against the floral wallpaper and wrapping your arms tightly around your shaking legs. If you closed your eyes, if you fell asleep, maybe you would wake up to a different world.

Pregnant? You couldn’t be. The test had to have been wrong. Broken, maybe? You looked at the white plastic again, hoping desperately that it had been misread. When you confirmed that it hadn’t, you leaned your head against the wall once again. It thumped loudly on the drywall, and your leader turned around on the couch to face the door.

“Are you alright?” Your leader Jiyeon called out your name with the wavering of worry in her voice. You tried to respond, but couldn’t fight your tears to speak. She knocked gently on the bathroom door. “Hey? Are you okay? Open the door.” She turned the knob, discovering it wasn’t locked. “I’m coming in.” You didn’t protest against her actions, with no strength left to even move away from the door.

She opened it carefully, kneeling down in front of you and placing a hand on your wrist. Her eyes hovered over the rejected plastic on the ground, her face obviously trying to control the shock bubbling beneath the surface. You turned and tried to avoid her gaze. She grabbed your cheeks in her hands, turning you back towards her.

“What do I do?” Tears from your eyes fell over her hands, but she smiled comfortingly at your desperation.

“It’s going to be okay, I promise. I can’t predict what’s going to happen, but I promise it’ll be okay.” As much as you wanted to, you couldn’t believe her reassurances.

“I really don’t know what to do.” You had hidden your face in her sweater, your arms tight around her neck. “I can’t do this!” She sighed, sitting with you on the cold linoleum tile.

“Yes you can. You worked for years as a trainee. You debuted as a member of Elemint. You’ve written songs, won awards, and fought for every achievement in your life. You can do this.” Her motherly encouragement did little to stifle your distress. She sighed, pressing a reassuring hand to your hair. “I can’t tell you it’s going to be perfect and fun and nothing is going to go wrong. But I can tell you it isn’t the end of the world. You’re going to be okay.” Exhaling, she cleared . “You need to tell him.” Your eyes widened.

“I can’t!” She glared at you.

“It is his right?” You looked aghast.

“Of course it is! How could you even say that?” Jiyeon rolled her eyes, patting your head again.

“In any case, you need to tell him. Now.” You nodded reluctantly, finally deciding to give him a call.

“Hey, I need to talk to you about something.” He sounded concerned, but promised to take a break from his practice to talk to you at the studio.

You wiped your eyes, trying to conceal any evidence of your tears with makeup and a fake smile plastered on your reddened cheeks.

When you arrived at the practice studio, he and his group members smiled and waved enthusiastically. They offered you hugs and warm greetings, but nobody seemed to pick up on the stiff discomfort with which you held your body. He led you outside of the practice room, following suit when you sat down on the bench.

“What’s wrong?” You sighed, your attempts at masking the panic a hopeless effort.

“I…I really don’t know how to tell you this.” He sighs, clearly frustrated with the way you danced around your confession.

“Please, just save me the suffering and spit it out.” Tears fell on your cheeks for what felt like the hundredth time.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that…I’m pregnant.” He looked shocked. He fell backwards from his kneeling position, landing with an uncomfortable thump on the tiled floor. His hands began to shake, his eyes enlarged and terrified.

“This is a joke right? A prank? Secret camera? You’re not serious.” Your mouth was agape, and you stuttered uncomfortably.

“You don’t believe me? Oh god.” You placed your hands over your face, the tears coming out in aggressive sobs.

“You’re serious? Oh wow.” His reaction made you cry harder. Was he angry with you? Already this would compromise your group’s reputation, was it going to destroy your relationship too?

“Please don’t be mad at me,” you said, voice warbling like that of a small child. Quickly he gathered his composure, sitting next to you with a comforting hand on the small of your back.

“I’m not mad. This involves the both of us.” You sighed.

“What are we going to do?” A moment of contemplative silence fell between the two of you.

“I don’t know. We’ll figure it out though.” Another pause. “You know, I’m going to be the best father I can be. We can do this. And I won’t pretend that I never wanted to be a father. This could be a good thing, in the long run. After all, we’re both adults. I think we can raise this baby wonderfully.” You finally smiled, grateful for his positive attitude.

“But what will the fans say?” He shrugged.

“I don’t care what they think, personally. But if we present this to the public as a happy occurrence, they’re more likely to feel the same way.” Already your opinion of the situation was brighter, and you found yourself becoming comfortable with the notion of becoming a mother.

“I guess, that this could be a good thing. Even if we aren’t quite ready yet. Who says we can’t make music and raise a baby at the same time?” He nodded, placing a hand tentatively on your stomach.

“Together,” he said, his other hand on your hair. “Together, we can do this.”