Chapter Text
Nam-gyu and Se-mi sit down in their living room. Nam-gyu looks at Se-mi, who’s looking down at the floor. There are still tear stains from her earlier crying session on her face, and she’s quietly sniffling. Besides that, she has a blank look on her face. Nam-gyu continues to stare at her, silently willing her to speak up before he does.
Se-mi looks up a little and meets Nam-gyu’s eyes. She swallows, blinks, and looks away. She mentally punches herself for even getting into this situation (the situation being Nam-gyu finding out, and you know, getting pregnant).
After the ten-minute mark of just sitting, Nam-gyu finally loses patience.
“So, are you going to say anything?” He looks at Se-mi, who still refuses to look him in the eye. She thinks for a bit. Was she going to say anything? If she looked at the test before Nam-gyu had the chance to, would she tell him? Honestly, probably not.
“What do you want me to say?”
“Let's start with the fact that you're supposedly pregnant. Which is news to me,” Nam-gyu wishes Se-mi would look him in the eye and stop being such a coward. “How did that even happen?”
Se-mi chuckles, although there is no humor behind it. Nothing is funny at the moment. “Do you want me to give a breakdown?” She smirks.
Nam-gyu bristles before glaring at her, trying to will away the disgusting picture in his head. “No, I don’t. And don’t get smart with me.” Does she know what she’s done? She hasn’t even finished her education, and now she’s pregnant. What will their parents say?
“Mom didn’t even want you here living with me. She said I was a bad influence, and now you’re pregnant. You don’t even have a ring on your finger.”
“You act like our mother has to know Nam-gyu.”
“Of course, she has to know? Do you plan on going nine months without contacting your mother?”
“I have before!”
They both go silent at that. It’s true, if it weren’t for Nam-gyu and college, Se-mi would’ve truly gone no contact with her parents.
“I don’t even know if I’m going to keep it, Nam-gyu. I haven’t even told the fucking dad! Because, news flash, I just found out too!”
“But you knew there was a possibility when you fucked the damn guy!”
“Oh fuck you and your possibilities!”
“Why are you treating me as if I’m the unreasonable one here?!”
“I’m not! Would it take that much out of you to not pick a fight with me for once?”
Their small shared living space becomes loud with their voices bouncing off the walls. The tension between the two siblings is growing thicker and thicker. Despite their shared moment of grief in the bathroom, they are doomed to always go down the path of hating and yelling at each other.
Neither sibling knows which exactly backed down, but eventually the room got quiet again, yet it felt so loud. Se-mi slowly sinks into the couch, looking at her stomach before silently rubbing it. Not out of affection, but through some sick instinct. Muscle memory of an experience she’d never gone through.
“Would you help?” Se-mi looks up at Nam-gyu, who has his head in his hands. For some reason, he was fearing this question the most. He never expected this to happen, and now he’s panicking. If Se-mi kept it, which she really shouldn’t do, the cons outweigh the pros—would he help?
His sister has pissed him off multiple times. The count blurs into a number that is incomprehensible to most. But despite that, he vouched for her when their Mother went halfway insane and turned on her daughter for the stupidest things. He begged to let Se-mi stay with him, and they both did. Because at the end of the day, the thought of his sister out there in the world without him knowing about her well-being terrified him.
And this is the mess she got herself into? He gets it, he does. She’s a dumb college student, but certainly not THIS dumb? He can be as mad as he wants, but what's done is done. And if they want to be free of this temporary inconvenience (headache sounded too mean), they’d have to figure out a plan of action and quickly.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, Se-mi. It’s just..”
He sighs.
“Keeping it wouldn’t be smart. Not now, at least.”
“That’s sugarcoating and also not what I asked. It’s a yes or no, Nam-gyu, not a trick.”
Nam-gyu pinches the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. God, why did Se-mi have to get herself into this mess?
“Yes, I’d help.”
It’s silent for a while.
“Okay.”
He lifts his head from his hands.
“Okay?”
“It was really just a question, possibly for future reference. But yeah, it’s settled now. I don’t care if you want me to keep it or get rid of it, honestly. I just wanted to know if you’d help me through either possibility.”
That makes sense, he guesses. Looks like Se-mi is smart after all.
“Whatever route I take, I know I couldn’t do it alone.”
Nam-gyu scoots closer to Se-mi on the couch. He reaches his arm out to gently grab the girl and put her into a side hug. She smiles softly and gives him a full hug. For a while, they just sit there. When was the last time they truly bonded like this? And just allowed themselves to exist in each other's presence without wanting to scream and tear each other's faces off?
Neither of them knows, but they both hope that there will be more times like this. Nam-gyu pulls back and holds Se-mi by the shoulder to look her in the eye. And she stares back. They really don’t know where they're going from here, but it’s okay, because at least they’re walking that path together.
“You know I love you, right?”
“Nam-gyu, shut the fuck up, seriously.” Se-mi chuckles. It sounds a little hoarse. Tears are forming in her eyes. Yet, since all of today, he’s only been able to see the tiny version of her.
Would the baby look like that? God, he wouldn’t be able to handle that. He gives Se-mi another hug. Not commenting on how her small body starts to shake. Or how his shoulder starts to feel damp. He just silently rocks his baby sister in his arms.