Jiyoon was still taken aback by his answer. “Would you please explain that again in simpler words, please?” she somehow wished she was still a newborn who barely understand anything, hopelessly hoping that it was only a misheard or misunderstood although her mind had directly thought of that one thing.

“You’ve been pregnant for approximately two weeks, dear. Congratulations.” A fatherly smile stayed on his face, that kind of smile which should’ve been replied with a same kind of smile, the genuine one.

It seemed like the air around her had been into nothingness completely which made the young woman across him choked on her breath, not believing every single word he had just said.

Gulping the invisible rock down , she finally let out a full sentence. “Are you sure about that?” the somehow-supposed-to-be-happy news was doubted since it’s saddening for her. The man had only said a simple explanation, but even her own brain couldn’t comprehend the meaning, or more like refusing to process the whole thing. It’s quite a struggle to persuade her mind that it’s just a lie.

But reading her expression was a piece of cake to him. Her expression wasn't an unfamiliar sight, at all. “Is this an unexpected one?” he tried to deliver it as polite as possible.

Knowing that she had reached a dead end, Jiyoon gulped down nervously before she encouraged herself to answer. “Yes,” she shortly said with her head hung low, blankly staring at her own worn out shoes.

“What are you worrying about?” the middle aged man took off his glasses as to bend closer to the worried Jiyoon, trying to ease her. “Your dad? Or the future of your baby?” He had been asking the same set of questions when his other patients faced the same thing.

“Both, but I worried more on dad,” she finally raised her head to face the older man in the eyes. The low tone of voice escaped from her gritted teeth.

“Listen to me, Jiyoon-ah.” He looked at her although her face was barely seen, but the doctor could imagine the stoic expression painted on her face. “Don’t worry too much about him.”

“How can I not?” She couldn’t help to raise her tone a bit. That was not the first time she asked him for an advice, but that’s the first time she doubted his advice. It made her raised her head and stared back at him, requiring more explanation. “He might kill me for this.” The word kill was definitely not a word to play around with. But that time, she was being serious about it.    

“As a father, he wants everything run smoothly for you. Facing something uncommon like this, he might be mad. He might be disappointed on himself, not only on you. But it wouldn’t last long, believe me. Sooner or later he would be fine about this. He wouldn’t kick you out from home. Believe me, Jiyoon. I’m a dad and I have a daughter too, and I’m certain that I wouldn’t do that if it happened to my daughter.” The words might sound cliche and easy to say, but he tried his best to soothe the upset little girl in front of him.

She stayed silent for a moment, thinking about his explanation. She might be a little bit skeptical at his words, but she then thought that his words weren’t completely absurd either.  “I can only hope he has the same way of thinking as you. I still have no idea how I should tell him about this though,” she trailed off trying to be an optimist.

“Trust me. You don’t need to worry much about him. It’s for your own good, also for the baby’s sake. Please focus on taking care of yourself now. It’s more important. I believe your dad would think the same about this. He wants the best for you, remember that. However, the baby is his grandchild. He couldn’t ignore that fact,” he said as he patted her shoulder as an attempt to reassure her since she hadn’t fully convinced yet.

“Now I’ll give you the shot. You don’t look so good. Do you feel sick again?” he double checked on her again, worriedly asked.

Jiyoon could only nod once before following him back towards the patient bed. She was surprised that she was still able to walk with that kind of condition since she’s badly down from the shocking news that it’s really difficult for her to think clearly.

All of the medical process went really fast, all she could remembered was the doctor’s face and that’s all. she didn't even remember the pain from the shot, since she was in a numb state. “It’s all done. Please meet Doctor Cho directly after this. Don’t worry, she’s kind. She would listen to you and give the best for this matter. Will you promise me to do that, Jiyoon-ah?” demanded him as he prepared the required documents for Doctor Cho’s future references.

She only showed him another nod. “Yes, I promise, Doctor,” she half heartedly answered since he didn’t seem to believe the silent nod she had given. “Thank you so much.” She forced a polite yet sad smile and bowed before leaving the room with her medical documents in her hand.

“Jiyoon-ah.” His call made her stopped right when she’s about to open the door. “Don’t ever think about committing that stupid and sinful thing, okay? Please keep your baby alive, safe and sound.” the doctor was clearly preventing the bad thing that could have happened from happening.

“I think I already did, Doc,” she bitterly chuckled when she was caught red handed by the doctor. Nonetheless, his words brought a smile, real one, on her face. “Don’t worry. I will stand for my angel, no matter what happens.”

******

Jiyoon sat in the car after she had finished her consultation with Doctor Cho. All the things happened previously were like a dream to her. She was then wondering on how she should tell her dad about it. And her mind was as tangled as before until she realized that she hadn’t had her lunch. Usually she wouldn’t give a damn about it, but the situation she’s facing was forcing her to adapt well for good. It wasn’t about feeding herself anymore. It’s about feeding the baby inside her, the real physical form made of love.

She found herself sitting in nearby restaurant later after 10 minutes drive. She was relieved that the restaurant wasn’t that crowded since it was past the lunch time already. Finished ordering something light, she was back on thinking again. She still had no idea how she would survive spending those upcoming 9 months. Her dad would hit the roof, indeed. She couldn’t think of any better thing than that. All of a sudden she thought about Chunji. She had even worried on how he would be if he found out that Changjo and she were dating, and then she had to deal with a bigger matter, his dongsaeng made her pregnant. She just thanked the waitress for serving her order when the person she’d been thinking of called her; she hissed. The moment wasn’t right. Interacting with him under the fact that she’d been dating Changjo was already difficult enough. She couldn’t expect anything from herself to talk to him right after she found out about her pregnancy.

Feeling that her stomach was almost full, she decided to have a short rest after the meal, eating dessert that was recommended by the waiter who’s saying that the dessert is everyone’s favorite, as she went through the photo gallery on her phone. As she swiped the touchscreen on her phone slowly, her eyes slowly got glassy to her unknown recalling the few days spent happily with Changjo back then. The sudden reminiscence had made her realized that  she missed him bad. It’s a pity that they couldn’t go through her upcoming pregnancy months together. Instead, she had to face the almost reality on being a single mom. Being left by him might be fine, but not forever. People come and go. Maybe God took Changjo away from her and replaced him by their baby. Her heart asked God why, why they couldn’t be together as one whole family.

She landed her palm gently on her clothed stomach with her eyes closed, rubbing the palm around her stomach when she could only think of the baby’s dad. The deep breath she took was exhaled slowly in shakiness from her feelings. She tried to be strong by not letting a single teardrop escaped from her already glassy eyes, but she wasn't a wonder woman. A drop of tears finally fell on her cheek. We can go through this together, dear. I promise.

******

Jiyoon’s dad was already home when she arrived, doubling up her heartbeat rate in a sudden since she didn’t expect that her dad would went home way earlier than the usual. She stopped her already heavy steps once she saw the familiar person the soon as she went in. “Woah, what made you home this early?” she tried to distract herself through conversation, thankful enough that her voice didn't come out to be shaky. She took a seat beside him on the couch in the living room.

“I have a lot of documents to be finished. I prefer to do it at home, since nobody seemed to need me at work anymore so I went home,” answered him with his gaze stuck on his laptop monitor on his lap. “Where did you go?” he then peeked from above his glasses to meet her daughter’s eyes.

“Hospital, meeting Doctor Han,” she answered honestly. “I’m all fine, he said. He gave me a shot to ease the nausea. He gave me some vitamins also.” She casually added the details, except the most important details, of course.

The father showed a relieved look as a smile spread on his face. “Good to hear that. You really have to take care of your health more,” he advised the same exact thing. “How do you feel now?” he moved his attention back to the laptop as he already got back on typing.

“Much better, I haven’t thrown up since I was given the shot. I can eat better too, not just a toast anymore,” she joked to enlighten up the mood, trying her best to act normal while actually cold sweat was running down her nape.

“You drove?” asked him realizing the car key was laid on the coffee table across the room which wasn’t there when he came. “You survived driving in that state?” he was amazed at his daughter after getting a nod from her.

“Taking public transport would just make me sicker. I’d rather drive than taking taxi too,” she said before taking a sip from his dad’s glass of water that was placed on the table on the side of the couch.

“Why didn’t you ask your friend to drive you? What’s his name again? Chunhee?” he half- daughter but his attention was still on the laptop screen.

Jiyoon reflexively snorted as she laid her head back. “Chunji, Dad. Well, his name is Chanhee actually. You’re not that wrong,” she corrected. “I don’t know. I’m not in the mood to go with him.” she continued while playing with her hair, swirling it around in a repetitious motion.

“He really isn’t your boyfriend?” he looked at her. “The way you talk about him didn’t seem like it,” he teasingly joked. “Are you lying to me?” her father wiggled his eyebrows at her

“Oh, Dad, please.” She rolled her eyes. “We’re close. That’s it. I don’t have a boyfriend right now,” she half whined at her father, hoping that her words were convincing enough to him to stop teasing her.

But her dad was still staring at her, clearly doubting since his eyebrow was raised and a teasing smirk was visible from his face. “Dad, you’re really annoying. I’m not lying!” she pouted and crossed her arms.

He laughed at her childish attitude, “Chunji.”

Feeling even more sulkier than usual, Jiyoon threw a couch pillow at him right away. “Stop it!” she raised her voice, but soon her nag was cut as her phone rang on the table. She sighed at the caller ID. She really had no idea how Chunji could be that unstoppable.

“Chunji, right?” he chuckled lightly. “Don’t pick it.” His face turned into serious one.

Jiyoon frowned in confusion. “You just teased me about him and now telling me not to pick his call?”

“He won’t give up. If you’re annoyed by him then don’t pick his call,” he simply replied, not even budged by his daughter astonishment.

“I am, and I don’t answer any calls from him all day long. But I just don’t get how you could turn serious all of a sudden like this. I haven’t even answered it.” She showed him her phone screen where Chunji’s name was still flashing from the incoming call. Her burden had clearly made her more sensitive on simple matters. “However he’s still my close friend. Screw the fact that he won’t give up on me. I, of course, will be contacting him again later, just not now. Did you by any chance just get struck by an invisible lightning and suddenly not liking him?”

Hearing her hardened words along with a raised tone, he stopped doing his work and glanced at the nagging princess. “Ya, chill. I’m just saying. I didn’t mean it that way, and I don’t hate him, really.”

Jiyoon rolled her eyes before she got up and walked towards her room without saying a word in response, unofficially ending the talk and leaving her dad confused from her unusual behavior.

She admitted she was a mess that she couldn’t understand herself since after her visit to the hospital where the truth was unfolded. It hadn’t been even 24 hours, but she already felt completely devastated, and a voice in her mind was reminding her right away that she still had about 9 months left to pass. She didn’t think she could keep the promise she had vowed to the doctors about not to make herself stressed out from the situation, but who the hell could not? It’s only her who knew, along with the doctors she had met and their patient room’s furniture.

Everyone would definitely find out about her pregnancy anytime soon. Her pointed jaw would slowly be hidden by her chubbier cheeks. Her not-so-flat stomach would fill up gradually that she couldn’t wear her favorite tank tops. She would find it bothersome just to walk a few meters due to her swollen calves later on. It would all impossible to be invisible if she went on living the way she lived that moment. One certain thing that others would notice then led to major questions. And what did she expect herself to answer?

She wished she was selfish enough to go after Changjo and messed everything his family had planned, thinking that maybe it could save him from the arranged marriage. Just if. But guided by the story CAP had previously told, it’s not going to happen in any ways. She might be exiled or even killed? She didn’t want to imagine any of that.

But the other choice left was just being honest to her dad which would be the biggest gamble she had ever taken all her life on what would happen after. She got to admit that Doctor Han’s cheesy advice gave her a little spark of hope. However, gambling on her own dad seemed reasonable enough than messing up one high classed family which literally could do anything on her existence. But the guts for any of the choices just weren’t there yet.

The blank wall across her replayed all the scenes she went through as she stared blankly at it. One quick shook of her head fortunately was enough already to shrug them off of her mind, even only for a moment. The sound of wall clock ticking in her room easily caught her dull mind’s attention. That’s when she realized she had spent hours sitting on her bed doing nothing other than thinking, which she regretted since it led her nowhere.

Knowing she couldn’t keep her promise to the doctors well, she tried to pay it off by keeping her promise to the baby. She slowly scooted to the side of her bed and got up to take one piece of cheese bread out of her bag, along with a bottle of water she had bought before going home. Her heart felt like being torn along as she tore the plastic wrap. She didn’t bite the bread but to pull it after her teeth gripped it in between. Slowly munching, she was back on thinking, again. She just couldn’t stop. Somehow it felt like all the possibilities which came across her mind were being messily written on her room’s wall.

Having her bread done going for her half inside her, she took the vitamin pills and double checked the amount on her palm. She exhaled slowly before forcibly shoving them into which had no will to open wider, eventually swallowing them along with the bitterness she had been having until then.

A/N:

Boring chap I know! Bigger things are coming! I'm not good on writing currently so I got help from Blablablast here. But the boring chap wasn't her mistake though! I'm sorry it's mine D;