“Aish! This won’t fit either.” I toss my shirt to the side. The first day of school after the winter break demands me to tidy up my work apparel. I was skin and bones before I got pregnant. Today, I found out most of my clothes are no longer in perfect fit for me.

“You should start buying pregnancy clothes, AeRi-ya.” TaecYeon hugs me from behind and rub his hand to my belly that starts showing. According to the time line, our baby is already in its 17 weeks. For some people the baby bumps aren’t really clear, but since I really ate a lot during the holiday, my weight is significantly increasing.

“I look fat.” I frown.

“You look hot.” He kisses my right cheek and grabs a long summer dress for me. “Wear this, you can cover up with a jacket, don’t press your belly with tight pants.”

“I will look pregnant wearing this.” I argue with him.

“You are.”

I give up and wear the dress he picked for me. The dress is a simple stripe maxi-dress that presses a little tight around my belly and my , but with a jacket I can at least cover my .

“What am I going to say to our colleagues about the baby bumps?”

“Tell them it’s my child.”

“We’re so getting fired.” I laugh to my own unfunny joke.

“Come on, let’s go to work.”

We haven’t told our boss about the fact that we’re having a baby together. No matter how the world has modernized, being pregnant outside a marriage is still considered a disgrace. Growing up, I had conquered all kind of humiliation from me not having parents, living with hand-me-down items, bringing triangle kimbab as a school lunch every day, I conquered them all. I can handle this, I can handle people looking at me disrespectfully. I’m going to be a mother and nothing can ruin that for me.

We take a bus to the school, the custom in our school demand us teac