To say that my mother was upset of the loss of her dog would've been an understatement. Macho had never so much as run away, so the feeling of not hearing his excited yapping in the morning was a foreign one that none of us enjoyed. As much as I wanted to stay with her, my father was now officially pissed off. He had bought Macho as a present for his wife's birthday and to have such a precious thing stolen by 'some basic kid with no home training' was not sitting well with him. He had been on the phone when I had left and I knew that he was rallying the troops now to get this issue in hand before anything else happened. I tried my best to stay focused in class but my mind kept straying.

   Yongguk touched my arm, drawing my eyes up to his. "Is everything alright? You...don't seem to be focused."

   I nodded my head with the fakest smile I could muster. "I'm fine," I replied, with a hand on his stomach.

  He frowned still, but didn't call me on my lie. I was not looking forward telling my parents what had happened, but I definitely didn't have not one word to say to him on the topic at hand. I stepped closer to him, lifting his hand to cup my cheek. I needed us to be OK before he had to go off to finish the Warrior Begins tour; I didn't want him to leave burdened. His fingers flexed and held my face and I sighed, closing my eyes.

   "Oppa...." I whispered.

  And of course he knew exactly what I was asking for. So standing in the entrance hall of my mom's house, Bang leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, a gentle press of our mouths but when I caught his bottom lip in my mouth and , he cracked a bit, tilting my face up to him as he tugged my lips apart and teased me with his tongue. I whimpered, my arms curling around his neck and his hands holding my sides carefully, not quite moving where I wanted but at least he was doing something in the vicinity.

  I wanted more--much more--but when would he have the time for that? The thought made me so sad that I could almost feel the prickling of tears behind my eyes when he pecked my lips one last time before he went out the door.

  Finding out this nut's identity was top priority, but it seemed that every time Yongguk so much as came into view, everything inside me clenched and I felt the urge to jump his bones. I'd watch old MVs and watch fancams from their performances in Japan and China, missing him so much that I felt like he had fallen off the face of the Earth when it had been a mere few days since I'd last held him in my arms. I did my best to fix my eating habits and was rewarded with the disappearance of my puke filled visits to the bathroom; I sure wasn't going to miss them.

  Yongguk and I exchanged voice messages when I decided that text messages were no longer enough and the depth that came to his voice when he was sleepy or just woke up had to be the iness thing I'd ever heard in my life. I may or may not have saved more than one of those on my laptop......you never know when they could be useful, right?

  Meanwhile, my father was getting closer to finding out who was stalking me, reassuring me at every chance he got that he'd deal with it before anything else happened. I did my best to keep my knees up during the dance practises I had called to keep everyone--but mainly myself--sharp. Nana didn't comment on the little muffin top of mine but I do think that I saw her smile when she saw me pull out fruits and yogurt to eat during our break instead of the food the other girls ordered. We didn't say much outside of 'Hi', 'Bye' and 'Its good to see you' but even that was an unnecessary nicety given that we had a few classes together, though she made it a point not to be in our usual hang out spots as if to avoid me as she had the past while. Still, I felt us coming closer to reconciliation. She met my eyes more often and smiled a couple times in my direction, no doubt noticing my improvement. I sent BAP a video message the night before their show on the 27th, cheering each of them on, the high of the chocolate I had binged on earlier fuelling me to even throw in some aegyo at the end. I got a polite text after those two days of shows informing me that the boys watched it more than just once in the comfort of the older hyungs' hotel room. 

  Soon that time rolled around again and I made my way to my pharmacist to refill my birth control stash since Nan no longer used running this errand for me as an excuse to oggle my old pediatrician. I decided to take a walk to the store to relieve the crick in my back, the pain having come sometime during the long hours I had spent getting my homework done. It didn't help much, but I needed to start exercising to get a handle on the little pouch of fat I still had around my waist. So instead of my casual gait, I kind of power walked to the pharmacy and felt better about myself for it since I wasn't as winded as I'd have been a few weeks ago. Proudly, I strode into the store, through the aisles checking out the new merchandise. There were a couple face treatments that I had wanted for a while in stock, so I took a few on my way to the back of the store where the pharmacy counter was.

   "Choi Minhee. It sure has been a while," said the handsome older man behind the white barrier, coming around to hug me.

   "I missed you too, Dr. Jeon. How's your wife? And the boys?"

   He smiled, patting my arm. "The boys are always asking for you and Byul really wants to see you for lunch one of these days when you're free."

   "Life is super hectic," I replied as he went back to retrieve my pills on habit. "But I didn't forget about Yul's birthday. I still need to get him a present, but I didn't forget."

   Warmly, he grinned again, handing me my things in a white paper bag. "They will be delighted to hear it. And, oh...." His brows furrowed suddenly. "Are you feeling alright? I meant to ask you earlier, but I haven't had the chance."

  A sort of panic bubbled in my chest. "What do you mean?"

   "Well, your friend who you send for your birth control sometimes refilled your migraine suppressant medicine some months back." Dr. Jeon frowned a bit, his paternal instinct showing. "Have they come back? Are you studying too hard again?"

   Now I was the one with questions. "I never sent her for them. What is 'some months back'?"

   After a hum of thought, he replied, "Back in July, I think. She got two months worth of it, too. I was concerned about you. The last time you took that much you were under severe stress and had to drop some of your classes."

  And I remembered--that was during my freshman year when I thought taking one of almost all of my required classes that semester was a good idea. It was shaping up to be just as bad of an idea as letting Nana pick up my birth control. With a smack to my forehead, I tried not to scream right then and there.

   "Dr. Jeon," I groaned. "I sent her to refill my birth control prescription, not my migraine prescription."

   The doctor had the heart to laugh. "Oh wow. What a mistake to make! She must have brought the wrong bottle with her. She didn't even take any birth control with her. I thought you had decided not to use it anymore." He wiped the moisture at the corner of his eye. "Luckily, there have been no noticeable side effects or you'd have seen a doctor by now. And its not as if you are active, so missing the time you did of the pill is nothing. You've been back on track since, October," he went on with a slight question in his voice until I nodded in confirmation. "You should be fine."

  I don't know when it was that I stop listening to him or when the monotone beep of an out of service channel began to sound off in my ears, but my hands were shaking when I finally left the store. My mind was going a mile a minute on the way back home as the pieces fell into place in my head.

  No, was all I could think. No, I didn't sleep with Yongguk while I was off birth control. No, I didn't have morning sickness last month. No, my eating like a cow didn't mean anything.

  I chanted no all the way to the corner store down the street from my mom's house. I shook my head in disbelief as I purchased the item I couldn't bear to see Dr. Jeon witness me pick up. I prayed silently as I peed on the end of the dreaded plastic device that held my fate in its mysterious digital make up.

  Uncontrollable tremors racked when the little plus sign appeared to have no intentions of going away. No, I was not pregnant. It wasn't possible.

  It just wasn't.

  Things are gonna start getting crazy, guys I dont know where its coming from, but I have to write what comes to me I just thought to warn you, the warm fuzzies of "Scandal" are fading away as the reality of people's choices and the consequences of their actions begin to come into play. I hope you stick around to see how it all unfolds because at this point, even I'm not sure.  

                                --D.Rex