Jessica looked at the pregnancy kit in terror, her eyes welling up with tears. She was only eighteen this year and her education journey wasn’t close to the end just yet. Her dream of being a designer was still going to stay as long as she lived, but how was she to do that when the result of the pregnancy test came out as positive? How would she answer to her parents for being so careless like this?

For now, there was only one person who could help her, the one person who was always there for her no matter what the issue could be. She could depend on him for the rest of her life and that wouldn’t matter because he was nice like that.

“H-Hello?”

“Sica? Are you okay? Your voice sounds horrible…”

The receiver’s soft, gentle voice was only making it harder for Jessica to break the unfortunate news to him. He was merely her best friend and not anything more but why did it suddenly seem as if she might lose him to someone else?

Jessica cleared nervously, “Yuri…. I think I’m pregnant…”

There was silence on the other line and Jessica suddenly felt that her worry wasn’t uncalled for, the worry of losing Yuri.

“Who’s the father?”

Yuri’s voice was so cold and he never spoke to her in that manner unless he was angry or disappointed. How could she blame him for being disappointed in her anyway? Yuri had reminded her time and again to be more careful when she attended parties that had alcohol or when she went clubbing with her bunch of friends. Yet, being the stubborn ice princess she was, she didn’t heed Yuri’s advice at all.

“I t-think its Taecyeon’s…”

“So why are you telling me this? I gave you my advice and you still decided to ignore it. What else are you expecting me to do for you?”

Yuri’s words pierced her heart deeply, his cold and domineering tone overpowering her instantly. It was a completely different side of him that never appeared unless someone hurt the people he loved; and right now, she was probably hurting him too. “I do-don’t know! Yuri... please, just please! Help me!”

A sigh was released, Yuri was already starting to falter and Jessica felt bad for making him go through this although he was the most innocent among them.

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow when I see you. Good night.”

Just like that, Yuri hung up on her. Jessica’s tears rolled down her cheek non-stop, she wouldn’t know what to do if Yuri abandoned her. She could live with anyone abandoning her but not Yuri, not him. Yuri was her rock, her pillar and her shoulder; he was practically her soul mate. She didn’t have a much though, she would just have to settle for tomorrow if she wanted him by her side.

-

Yuri stood in the basketball court alone, his eyes staring at the ball in his hands mindlessly. His shots were all off, missing the ring by either a small gap or it was completely out of point. Being the ace of the basketball team, his shots were usually 30/30 and even on bad days, the worst was probably 20/30 but he didn’t even need to count today’s shots.

“Something bothering you, Kwon?”

Turning around at the call, his smile faltered a little, “Taecyeon.” Suddenly, Taecyeon’s face was more irritating than usual, the mere sight of him made Yuri’s blood boil. He now knew Taecyeon as the bastard who got his best friend pregnant, not that he was a big fan of the big ape in the past. Taecyeon was a known troublemaker in the school after all, taking advantage of his good looks to get into girls’ pants.

Taecyeon chortled, “Looks like someone’s not in shape, huh?”

“Shut up, Taecyeon. Why are you even here? You’re a soccer player, not a basketball player.” The irritation in Yuri’s face was so clear, even an idiot would know that he was annoyed at Taecyeon’s presence. “Hey, the gym’s a free place. I can be anywhere I want to.” Taecyeon sat on the bleachers, leaning back with a satisfied expression.

‘ this.’

As long as that neighbourhood idiot was around, his shots would have an even lower chance of entering the hoop. “What the do you want?” Yuri threw the ball hard against the ground, letting it bounce aside. He had enough on his plate already; Taecyeon didn’t need to add to the burden right now. “What’s with the attitude? I’m older than you.”

Both athletes stood chest-to-chest, eyes firing in determination to beat the other senseless. Taecyeon was taken aback by Yuri’s aggression towards him; he knew they weren’t the best of buds but they always maintained a cordial relationship to minimize tension between the soccer and basketball teams. “I’m not in the mood for your , leave when I tell you nicely.” Yuri pointed to the door, his teeth gritting.

Just before Taecyeon was about to reply, another voice cut in, “What’s a big ape like you doing with my brother?” The two turned around and saw a midget vertically challenged girl walking towards them with a smirk. “Kim Taeyeon. Yuri’s your brother?” Taecyeon almost burst out laughing at the statement. “Do you have a problem with that?” Taeyeon’s tone had taken a turn for the worse, scaring the daylights out of Taecyeon.

“Whatever. Have fun.”

“Taeng, you didn’t need to do that…” Yuri opened his arms and welcomed the older girl, “You’re technically my brother, Yuri. What do you expect me to do? Sit and watch?”

Truth is, Taeyeon’s family adopted Yuri when he was young. Taeyeon saw him begging on the streets when they were still kids. She had burst into tears after kneeling in front of him; probably got scared by how dusty and dirty his face was then. That was the best thing that ever happened to him though, Taeyeon crying her eyes out in front of him.

“What’s wrong? All your shots are horrible, I can’t deny that…” Taeyeon poked Yuri’s cheek, her worry heightening when Yuri let out a big sigh, going back to the ball he threw earlier. Yuri never let any problems affect him to the extent of his basketball skills depleting as well. “Yah, don’t just pla