If Sora thought that her waistline was expanding at a rapid pace, it was nothing compared to what her s were doing. By the following week, she was popping out of her usual bras and it became clear that she was going to need some new ones.

She had a little bit of pocket money, but not much. She was going to have to break down and ask her mom for some, which terrified her. What if her mom got suspicious? What if she started asking questions? But it had to be done. Her current bras were pretty much a joke.

“Mom,” she said one evening. Dami was out with friends and her dad was in the office, working on a new design for a park – he worked as a civil engineer. Her mother was sitting in her favorite place in the living room, papers spread out across the coffee table, going over different cases of hers.

Dr. Cha looked up with a smile. “What is it, sweetheart?”

Sora sat down on the edge of the sofa. She had taken to wearing a huge sweatshirt around the house, even though it was only September and the weather was still hot, to hide the bulge her growing stomach made. “I was wondering if I could have some money?”

“What for?” Dr. Cha asked, still perusing her paperwork.

Sora took a deep breath. “I need to buy some new bras,” she said. “All of mine are getting so old and worn out. There’s wire poking out of my favorite one.”

“The pretty pink one with the stripes?” Dr. Cha said in some surprise. “What a shame. That was such a cute one.”

“Yeah,” Sora agreed nervously. “So…can I have some money?”

“What? Oh, sure, sweetheart,” Dr. Cha agreed distractedly. “I’ve some bills in my purse. You can take them.”

“Thanks!” Sora said in relief, pecking her mother quickly on the cheek before going to retrieve the bills and escaping to her room once more. She was starting to feel nervous any time she was anywhere other than hiding in her bed.

The next day, Krystal wanted to go shopping – she always did. Sora was more reluctant.

“Come on,” Krystal whined. “You just said this morning that you needed to go shopping.”

“She’s right,” Amber pointed out, munching an apple. “You did.”

Sora sighed. “But I need to go shopping for bras. That’s not something you shop for in a group.”

“You can always shop in a group,” Krystal insisted. “And believe me, I can help you pick out the cutest ones.”

Sora didn’t doubt Krystal’s ability to pick out something cute. The problem was that she didn’t need anything cute; she needed something practical, something that would hold up and support these ever-growing monstrosities on her chest. But she couldn’t think of a valid excuse for Amber and Krystal not to tag along with her, so, after school, the three of them headed to one of the nearby department stores in search of some good bras.

As expected, Krystal picked out the laciest, skimpiest bras on display in the store. She kept squealing and holding them up for Sora to look at, much to the saleslady’s amusement.

“Those aren’t me, Krystal,” Sora kept saying, over and over again.

“But these are so cute!” Krystal insisted, shaking first a pink one with strawberries on it and then a green and red one made to look like watermelons.

Sora gave Amber a pleading look and the short-haired girl took pity on her. “Come on,” she said, slipping her arm through Krystal’s. “I need some new headphones. Come with me next door.”

“We’ll be right back!” Krystal promised, allowing Amber to lead her out of the store.

Sora watched them go with relief. The saleslady seemed even more amused by this.

Grabbing a handful of rather matronly bras that she had been eyeing for a while now but had been too scared to try with Krystal breathing down her neck, she tried just one on and then bought four from the amused lady. She bought one cute one, too, just to show Krystal in case she asked. Indeed, the second they met back up again, Krystal demanded to see what she’d bought. Sora dutifully showed her a blue one she’d bought, which Krystal oohed over.

Sora sighed in relief. She felt guilty deceiving her friends, but she didn’t know if she could tell them. Telling them, telling anyone, made it all the more real.

The new bras were like heaven compared to her old ones, which had pinched and bit in all the wrong places. These new ones were nothing to look at, all beige and plain, but they helped ease some of the soreness that had been bothering her for weeks now.

“Did you get your new bras?” Dr. Cha asked over dinner.

“Mom!” Sora wailed, looking at her father. He only smiled. He had two daughters and a wife, so he knew what bras were, but it didn’t keep Sora from getting embarrassed.

Dami saved her. “Isn’t that your video chat ringtone?” she said suddenly, and all four of them fell silent to listen.

It was, indeed, the ringtone for Sora’s video chat. “May I be excused?” she asked. Without waiting for an answer, she dashed back to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her and answering the call.

It was Jongdae, as she had known it would be. He was smiling, but it seemed rather forced. “Hey, Sora,” he greeted her.

“Hi,” she answered, settling down in her desk chair and making sure her trusty sweatshirt was hiding her stomach. “What’s up?”

“Not much,” he answered in an offhand sort of way, but she could tell he was lying. “I just wanted to chat.”

So that’s what they did. They chatted about everything. Sora told him about shopping for new bras and how awkward Krystal made it – without telling him why she was buying new bras – and he told her about how his classes had resumed and which ones he was enjoying and which ones he hated.

He was interrupted in the middle of an anecdote about one of his horribly mean professors when his phone rang. He smiled apologetically to Sora in the screen before answering it.

She couldn’t hear the conversation, but it sounded tense. Sora could hear a tinny, female voice shouting on the other end. Jongdae ended the conversation quickly before turning back to Sora.

“Sorry about that,” he mumbled, a little embarrassed. He gestured to his phone. “Mikyung.”

“Oh?” Sora said politely. “She certainly didn’t sound happy.”

“Yeah, she’s not,” Jongdae sighed. “We broke up today.”

“Oh,” Sora repeated, and she couldn’t hide her surprise this time. Then she blurted out, “Did she find out about…?” She left it hanging. They had gone weeks now without mentioning what had happened between them, months even, but she had to know if Jongdae’s girlfriend had found out.

He shook his head, though. “No. I probably should have told her, but we were over already and I didn’t want to her hurt her even more.” He shook his head again. “I realized that I never would have cheated on her if I had really cared about her. I guess it was a relationship out of convenience more than anything.”

Sora didn’t say anything. She didn’t know what to say.

On the one hand, she felt relieved. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She would no longer sit around and imagine what Mikyung and Jongdae would be doing together, wondering if they had done the same things that she and Jongdae had done. On the other hand, she was terrified. What did Jongdae’s sudden singleness mean for her? For her child? For their child?

“Sora?”

She realized that she had spaced out, and she gave herself a shake. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “Are you…okay?”

“Yeah, I’m the one that ended it,” he assured her with a sad little smile. “I realized, after what happened between us, that what I had with Mikyung wasn’t real. It was all thanks to you, really.” He hesitated. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

But Sora was lost. “No, I’m sorry. I haven’t got the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

Jongdae blushed – actually blushed – and shook his head again. “Nevermind. I’ve got to go. Talk to you later.” And he quickly ended the call.