Keiba’s eyes widened. “The letter!”

Min nodded grimly.

“I guess that means he probably did it.”

“Wait, who are we talking about?” Ben asked. “Who’s Ricky?”

“Ricky is—” Min paused. “He used to be a close friend. Steven’s my roommate.”

“What’s so important about him getting arrested?”

“He might have been working with Yun.” Keiba explained. “She mentioned him in the letter.”

“And the police just took him in. Probably for questioning.”  Min added

“How would he have been involved?” Ruth asked.

He shrugged. “The officers on the case will probably update us soon.”

“Maybe he’ll snitch on Aina.” Ben mused, mostly to himself.

Min smiled at the thought. “That would be really convenient.”

“So do you guys think maybe we should part ways now?” Ruth suggested abruptly. “We should get together again before the orchestra competition, but we have a plan now, so it’s not like we have much more to talk about…”

Keiba looked at Min, who shrugged. They really didn’t have much more to say now that they weren’t in the dark anymore. It probably was time to go.

“Did you have any plans today, Ruth?” Ben asked.

She nodded. “Kind of.” She leaned in close to whisper, “I have to tell you something.”

“About what?”

“You’ll know in a minute.”

He eyed her curiously. “Okay.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see you later, then.” Keiba said.

“G’bye you two.” Min said, and took Keiba’s hand.

Ben watched them walk back to Min’s truck before he turned to Ruth.

“So what’d you want to tell me?”

She took a deep breath. “Ben… I’m pregnant.”

“You’re… Wait, what?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“Like, with a baby?”

She glared at him. “No, with an elephant. Of course with a baby, Benjamin.”

“Sorry. It’s just… I wasn’t expecting you to say that.” He took on a puzzled expression as he rubbed the back of his head. It was a gesture Ruth knew meant that he didn’t know what to say.

“How far along are you?” He asked.

“About four weeks.”

“How long have you known?”

“Since I was discharged from the hospital. I told them I’d been feeling sick lately, so they ran some tests.”

“You’ve been feeling sick?” She nodded. How had he not noticed? “Well what took you so long to tell me?”

“Well, I… I guess I was in shock. It was so unreal when they told me I was pregnant. I got scared…” Her voice broke as her eyes started tearing up.

Ben pulled her close. “Shh, shh, shh.” He soothed. “Don’t do that, babe. Don’t cry.”

She wrapped h-er arms around his neck and sniffled. “I want to keep it.”

“Of course.” He said, surprising her. “That was never a question.”

She looked up at him. “Really? You want me to have it too?”

“Yes.” He smoothed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. “I can’t think of anyone other than you that I’d want to have my baby. Except maybe Beyoncé or Alicia Keys.”

She smacked his chest. “Ben!”

“What? Just saying.”

She rolled her eyes, but her heart swelled in her chest. This was why she loved him. He could always make her feel better. “This means we’ll have to tell our families.” She said.

Ben nodded, hugging her even more tightly. “It’ll all work out, Ruth. I promise you.”

~*~*~

The next day Min woke with a stretch and a yawn. He took up the whole bed when he was laid out like this, and there was no one to tell him to scoot over because Keiba had already left for classes. Damn. She was able to wake up without disturbing him, but he’d really wanted to cuddle with her some more. He to his side and ran his hand over the empty space next to him. He’d gotten so used to waking up and seeing her, it was really uncomfortable and weird for him not to see her now.

He rolled restlessly over to his other side and saw that there was a note with his name on it on the night table. It was folded and propped up against the lamp. Worry stabbed through him for about half a second (it reminded him of the note Yun had left him on his door), but then he realized that it was Keiba’s handwriting.

He reached over to take it. Her handwriting was cute and small and in cursive, ad her letter was short and sweet:

Good morning, Mini!

I don’t know if you know this or not, but you’re really, really adorable when you’re sleeping ^-^… Oh. Wait. I hope you take that in the most non-creeper way as possible. But then again, you ought to be glad someone cares about your sleeping face. >.>

Well anyway, I just wanted to say that I hope you had a good night’s sleep and that I can’t wait to see you later! N’ oublies pas que je t’aime ma lune prince!

Keiba

P.S. Translation: Don’t forget that I love you, my moon prince!

He grinned. She had a way with making him feel warm even when she wasn’t there. And he appreciated the fact that her letter wasn’t overly lovey-dovey. He didn’t have patience for the whole “aegyo” scene. He folded the note so that it would fit in his back pocket. He reached over the side of the bed and got his phone and its charger out of the wall. He sent Keiba a quick good morning text and added that he was looking forward to seeing her later too. She replied a minute later with a winking emoticon.

He found his shirt on the floor at the foot of the bed and put it on before he went across the hall to his own room so he could get ready. His classes started a little later in the day at 10, which would be in a little over an hour. He showered and dressed and then he lounged in his room listening to music at a respectful volume through his speakers while he waited for the time to pass. That was when he heard his phone ringing. He paused the music.

“Min-Kyung,” Officer York spoke before Min could say hello.

“Uhh, yeah?”

“Where are you? Are you in your dorm?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Get out.”

Min sat up, alarmed. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Did anyone tell you that we arrested Steven yesterday afternoon?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he’s just admitted to installing cameras and microphones in your room. Officer Bank and I are on the way to check it out.”

~*~*~

Keiba and Sun-Hee were in the same class even though Sun-Hee was a year older because Keiba had taken AP French in high school. She was grateful for that now because she had access to her. But how could she focus on syntax and grammar of the French language when all she could think about was how she should approach Sun-Hee about Aina? She stared at the back of Sun-Hee’s head for the majority of the class with this quandary, but she kept coming up empty.

And before she knew it, everyone was packing up their things and the teacher was reminding them of the pages of the book they needed to read for next class. Keiba glanced down at her notebook and saw that her pages were empty of notes.

She sighed and packed her things up. She needed to hurry to catch up to Sun Hee before she went on to her next class. She could worry about the notes later. She dashed out of the French building and looked around campus. She saw Sun-Hee waving goodbye to her friend in front of the natural sciences building. Keiba rushed toward her.

Sun-Hee turned when Keiba tapped her on the shoulder.

“Bonjour!” Keiba greeted with a nervous smile. She was always jittery when it came to talking to strangers—especially, for whatever reason, strangers of her own age. “I don’t know if we’ve met before, but my name’s Keiba.”

“Oh.” Sun-Hee said, looking awkward. “Yeah. I’ve seen you with… with Min-Kyung.”

Keiba nodded.

“So, I’ve heard that you’re his new girlfriend.”

“Where’d you hear that?”

“A friend.” She said vaguely. “Why? Is it not true?”

“No. C’est le vrai.” Keiba didn’t know why she was speaking random sentences in French, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

There was an awkward pause.

“So, um, did you need something?”

Keiba nodded. “Mmhm. I just have a quick question. Uh, do you know anyone named Aina?”

Sun-Hee’s eyes widened. “Aina? Do you know her?”

She shook her head. “No, not personally. Min and I were going through some old things from his boarding school and came across her name. Min was thinking he might want to get in touch with her, and he remembered you mentioning her name once or twice.” Keiba was a little surprised by how easily the lie had come out.

“Oh. Well yeah, I know a girl with that name. I didn’t know she went to Min’s boarding school though.” She said suspiciously.

“Min didn’t either. That’s why he wants to get in touch with her.”

“I see. Well, why didn’t Min come to me himself?”

“Well,” Keiba glanced away. “After what happened in Subway, I think we both know the answer to that.” If Sun-Hee knew anything about Min, she’d know about how stubborn and prideful he could be.

Sun-Hee looked down. “Oh. Right… Wait, you were there?”

She nodded.

“Oh. Well, I don’t really feel comfortable randomly giving out her number, so why don’t you two just meet up? Would that work?”

Keiba felt relieved. “Yeah. That’d be better, actually.”

“Good.” She pulled out her phone so that she could make a note. “Did you have a time and date in mind?”

“Uh… Why not tomorrow at Campus Center at about five o’clock?” Campus Center was the most popular area of the school, consequently, a lot of outdoor plays and step shows and other performances were being held there. Including the orchestra competition.

“Okay. Can I text you if plans ever change?”

“Sure.” Keiba and Sun-Hee exchanged phone numbers. “Oh, before I go, were we going over anything important in French today?”

Sun-Hee smiled. “Couldn’t focus?”

Keiba shook her head. “My mind was on other things.”

“I can relate. Luckily for you it was mostly review today. Plus, he gives the notes straight out of the textbook, so you’ll still be able to get them if you missed anything.”

“Thanks.” Keiba grinned. “That’s a relief.”

Sun-Hee blinked at her. “You know, Keiba, you have a great smile.”

She blushed. “Think so? Thanks, Sun-Hee. By the way, that’s a really cute outfit.” She was wearing a white, sleeveless shirt, a black hitch and gather skirt, a black knit scarf, and black and white ballerina flats.

Sun-Hee glanced down at herself. “You don’t think it’s too dressy for school?”

Keiba waved the comment away. “Psh. Who cares if it’s dressy so long as it looks good?”

Sun-Hee smiled. “You know what? You’re right. Thanks, Keiba.”

“Anytime, Sun-Hee.”

The girls said their goodbyes and parted ways. Keiba’s phone rang as she was making her way to the performing arts building. She knew it was Min-Kyung before she looked at the screen because she had a special ring tone for him: “Joah” by Jay Park. But the news Min was about to give her was anything but joah.

“Keiba?”

 “Hey, Mini.” She answered. “Did you get my letter?”

“Oh. Yeah, I got it.” He said.

Keiba frowned. “Mini, are you okay? You sound upset.”

He sighed. “Honestly, I’m not.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Officer York and Officer Bank are in my dorm right now searching for cameras.”

Keiba stopped walking. “Cameras?”

“Yeah. Apparently, Steven installed some in our dorm around the beginning of the year.”

Keiba clenched her hands into fists. She wasn’t angry, she was scared. “Min-Kyung, do you mean to tell me he’s been watching you all this time?”

“Yeah. Him and Yun.”

---

Aegyo- cute

Bonjour-hello

C'est le vrai- it's true

Joah-good

I think that's all of them =] Yay Keiba and Sun-Hee were able to bond over clothes! ^-^ I was wondering how the encounter would go, so I'm glad it turned out well. Na eun is so cute for Sun-Hee =D even though I don't really listen to A Pink. Also, I'm a little disappointed there wasn't a cursive font for Keiba's handwriting, but whatever. Gotta work with what you got, I guess. 

I got a lot of comments last time that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and while reading them (and doing my embarassing "happy dance") I thought: Yeah... that's why I write. I appreciate each and every one of you, even you silent readers ;3