It has been a few days after the incident at Myungsoo’s house. Hoya was beyond happy at how the both of them are much closer than they used to be, physically and emotionally but couldn’t help to be worried for Aekyung. As for Aekyung, she looks more and more haggard each day and she is constantly thinking about any consequences that may occur. She has been making excuses to not meet Hoya and Hoya let her, thinking that maybe it might still be too overwhelming for her.

Hoya laid on his bed and placed his hands at the back of his head. He sighed deeply. *I want to see Aekyung. I miss her. But I have to give her some personal space too…* He shut his eyes and bit his lip worriedly. *I hope nothing changes from here. We’re finally together so please don’t take her away from me.* Someone knocked on the door. “Come in.” Hoya shouted half-heartedly.

Jaejun entered and bowed respectfully. “Hojun-ssi has brought a guest home and asked everyone to be in the living room.” Hoya’s eyes opened and he sat up on the bed.

“Guest?” Hoya pursed his lips but shrugged. “I’ll be down shortly.” Jaejun nodded and bowed before leaving the room. *This is the first time Hojun has brought a guest home. Girlfriend, I presume?* He grabbed a black shirt from his closet and swiftly changed his clothes to look more presentable. Hoya fixed his hair with his hands while walking to the living room. Hojun and a girl were sitting down on the couch and the girl seemed to give off good vibes.

“Jun!” Hoya called out and instinctively both Hojun and his girlfriend looked up at him. Hojun almost scowled at his brother but he wanted to give a good impression in front of his girlfriend. His girlfriend smiled warmly at Hoya and he gave a nod. “She’s your girlfriend?” His question came out harsher than he had thought. Hojun glowered at him.

“Yes, she is. Her name is Mina.” Hoya held out his hand and Mina gladly returned it.

“Nice to meet you, Mina. I’m Hoya.”

“I could say the same, Hoya-ssi.” Mina pulled her hand back and let out a shaky sigh. She was beyond nervous to finally meet her boyfriend’s family and Hoya looked intimidating enough for her to not anticipate Hojun’s parents. She leaned closer to Hojun and whispered, “I’m scared.”

Hojun laced his fingers with her and smiled tenderly at his girlfriend. “Don’t be scared. I’m here.” At those words, Hoya felt himself smile at his brother’s loving side. Hojun reminded Hoya so much of himself, like how he would comfort Aekyung at nerve-wrecking times like this.

Clicking of heels echoed through the house and the three teenagers turned to the direction of the sound, to see Mr. and Mrs. Lee walking down the stairs, sending their sons confused gazes. “Well hello, nice to meet you.” Mrs. Lee spoke when she was in front of Mina. She trembled slightly at her firm voice and bowed respectfully.

“Hello, my name is Mina.” She managed a sweet smile.

“She’s my girlfriend.” Hojun stood up and s an arm around her waist, pulling her towards his lean body. Mrs. Lee’s firm look vanished instantly and she smiled widely, nudging Mr. Lee who nodded approvingly. Mina didn’t have looks of a model or a mind of a brainiac but she was respectful enough. Her palms were sweaty and she waited for Mr. and Mrs. Lee’s answer.

“You should’ve brought her home sooner, Jun!” Mrs. Lee hit Hojun’s shoulder playfully and the couple heaved a sigh of relief. Mr. Lee chuckled and agreed with his wife.

“Yes, I was waiting for the day my son will finally man up and get a girlfriend.” Mr. Lee joked and Mina felt more welcomed into the family. He turned to his oldest son. “How about you, Howon? When will you bring your girlfriend to meet us?” Hojun’s face twitched when Mr. Lee switched the focus to Hoya. *If hyung brings his girlfriend, Dad will compare again and Mina will be unhappy. Why must hyung exist in my life?* Hojun sent Hoya a furious glare but he didn’t notice.

“Ah, about that… I’ll bring her to see you soon.” Hoya assured. Hojun couldn’t control the feeling surging through his veins and he let his anger take over.

“I guess we’re not needed here anymore. I’ll send Mina home.” Hojun spat. Mina was baffled at the situation but she could only take in Hojun’s furious expression at the moment. Everyone was taken aback at Hojun’s sudden behavior change but before they could stop him, he had left the house, dragging Mina along with him.

Hoya clenched his fists and his anger rose. What exactly did he do to make Hojun hate him so much? He had tried to be nice to Hojun, he compromised so many things for him. What more does Hojun want from him? Mr. Lee placed a hand on Hoya’s shoulder. “Give him time. Time is all he need.” He could only sigh at his father’s words.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Aekyung wanted to burst into tears. Ever since that incident, her emotions had been on the rocks and she was sensitive to everything. She blew her nose into a tissue as she watched the male lead in the drama reject the female lead harshly. She sniffed a little before wailing loudly. “Why did he have to do that?! She loves him so much…” Aekyung grabbed another tissue from the tissue box and wiped away her tears.

The upset feeling within her disappeared as quickly as it came and was replaced with hunger. “I’m famished.” She grumbled while looking for snacks in her kitchen. A pack of chocolate chip cookies came into view and she instinctively reached out for it. The wide smile on her face was wiped off when she remembered that she just had her lunch an hour ago. “I’m eating like a beast. Oh well, I won’t gain weight easily.” Her cheeky smile returned and she ripped the package open, chomping down cookies after cookies.

When the pack of cookies was emptied, Aekyung skipped over to her fridge and opened the silver door. A wave of nausea hit her when she spotted her favourite ice cream and she doubled over with her hand covering . “Oof!” She rushed to the toilet, thinking that she must have eaten too much that day. Grabbing her hair and lifting it up, she gagged for a while but nothing came out.

Aekyung’s energy soon depleted and she slumped against the cold hard floor, catching her breath. *What was that…?* Fatigue was taking over her and her eyes subconsciously drooped. A thought barged into her mind and she realized something. *What is the date today?* She asked herself and ran to the calendar hung in the living room. 17 November.

17 November.

Her period was 12 days late.

*Does that mean….?* Aekyung grabbed her keys and ran to the nearest pharmacy around her neighbourhood. Ignoring dirty glances around her, she didn’t bother to spend time finding it. Instead, she headed over to the counter and asked, “Give me one of your best pregnancy kit. The most accurate one.” The cashier lady scrunched up her nose and scrutinised her.

“Aren’t you a little young for this…” She murmurs softly, but loud enough for Aekyung to catch that. She ignores the lady’s comment and drums her fingers impatiently against the counter while waiting for the lady to retrieve the kit. “Here you go, young lady.” The lady stated, emphasizing on ‘young’. Aekyung paid for it and left the pharmacy without a single ‘thank you’. She looked at the pregnancy kit in her hand and cursed. *Just don’t let it happen to me.*

She rushed to the bathroom the minute she reaches her house. Ripping the contents open, she skimmed through the instructions but managed to focus on the main point of the instruction manual – If it is a negative result, only one line will appear. If it is positive, two lines will appear. Taking in a deep breath, Aekyung began to test it out.

Worries filled her mind as she carried out every step cautiously. There was a 50% chance that there was something, someone alive inside of her. There was a 50% chance she could be a mother. How would she tell this to Hoya then? Will Hoya take responsibility? He said he would, right? How would people in her neighbourhood deem her as, now? A ? An ugly ?

After collecting her urine sample, she carefully placed a test strip vertically into the urine sample. Her hand was shivering and her eyes stared at the results intently. Slowly, a glimpse of a single line could be seen as the time ticked by. Aekyung held herself steady. There was only a single line but nothing is confirmed. A second line could appear any moment. She wasn’t going to let her guard down.

Tears brimmed her eyes as anxiety caught up to her. This feeling was all too surreal. How could she handle a child when she’s not ready to be a mother? Aekyung remembered that the instruction manual had stated, “To confirm a negative result, a complete reaction time of 5 minutes is required.” That definitely didn’t help for Aekyung.

A minute passed. Yet another minute. Her stomach was churning and she couldn’t help but to think that it could be because she was pregnant instead of being nervous. She looked at her phone then at the result. When the next minute came, Aekyung cried. Tears of joy or tears of disappointment, she couldn’t fathom. The test was negative. She shoved every single part of the pregnancy kit into the rubbish bin as she wailed loudly into the silence of her home.

She was actually excited to be a mother no matter how unprepared she was. It was her flesh and blood she was talking about. The product of both Hoya and her. It could be their baby. Nevertheless, Aekyung decided to keep it a secret from Hoya since it was all a false alarm. A small tiny smile lit up her face. *I can always try again.* Yet, she blushed at her own thought.

Slipping into the soft duvets of her bed, Aekyung curled up into a ball and took a well-deserved rest from the nerve wrecking incident that had happened. Well, she didn’t bother to check the test strip again.