Ye Jin had already changed clothes and was cleaning up when Gong Yoo came back with 3 kinds of pregnancy test kits.
The two of them sat on Ye Jin's bedroom floor and studied the three test kits before use. "All of them says that the best time to test is in the morning when you just woke up, should we wait?" Gong Yoo looked at Ye Jin who was observing the small plastic bowl that should be used to contain her pee in her palm.
"I'm not sure I can wait that long," Ye Jin replied. "I want to know the result as soon as possible so we can quickly focus on the next step."
Gong Yoo nodded in agreement, "I think so too..."
"Okay then," Ye Jin pursed her lips and got up towards the bathroom across from her room.
Gong Yoo followed behind, waiting with his arms crossed in front of Ye Jin's bathroom door.
Never before had waiting 1-2 minutes felt so stressful for him. Gong Yoo mustered all his concentration to pray to God that the test result was negative.
But what if the result is positive? What would you do? Could he accept Hyun Bin's child in her womb? His mind asked in horror.
No! He didn't want to think about the possibilities now. He would just wait and let the universe determine their destiny after this.
The bathroom door suddenly opened slowly. Ye Jin came out with a paler face than before, her trembling hands holding out the test results towards Gong Yoo. Gong Yoo's heart seemed to be ready to jump out of his chest. With horror, he stared at the two lines and plus signs on all the test kits in his hands.
Ye Jin cried silently, and all Gong Yoo could do was hug the girl to comfort her and show her that she won't be alone. What had happened wasn't Ye Jin's fault, so he shouldn't left her alone no matter how disappointed and hurt he was at this situation.
Gong Yoo carefully led Ye Jin to sit on her bed. The girl lowered her head as Gong Yoo sat on his knees in front of her while brushing away her long hair that covered her face. "Do you have any plans now...?" Gong Yoo asked carefully.
Ye Jin nodded hesitantly, "I'll give birth to the baby, oppa."
Gong Yoo knows Ye Jin will not consider having an abortion. The girl may have already imagined the fetus in her womb as an innocent baby who should not be killed because of their parents' fault. Gong Yoo held his breath trying to accept this situation, "Okay, oppa will support you. But if you really intend to give birth to this child, you have to improve your condition first."
He squeezed Ye Jin's small shoulders before saying, "Look, you're too skinny to carry a baby in your tummy."
The girl smiled a little, "thank you for understanding, oppa..."
"Haiiiisshhh ..! No need to thank me." he answered as he stood up, "You have vitamins? No? Oppa will get them at home, okay?"
Without waiting for an answer, Gong Yoo ran out of the room towards his house. It seemed that he also needed some time alone so he could think through his next steps with a clear mind.
***
Ye Jin woke up suddenly hearing the sound of glass breaking nearby. Her eyes dimly glanced at the clock on the table which shows eight o'clock at night. Her gaze then shifted to the figure who was standing beside the table, glaring at something in her hand with a muffled scream.
"WHAT IS THIS YE JIN???" Ye Jin's mother looked at her daughter in disbelief.
The blood seemed to evaporate from Ye Jin's body instantly, realizing that her mother had found one of her pregnancy test kits. Before she could react, her mother had pulled her out of the room into the living room where his stepfather was sitting watching TV.
"Jeez, what's this???" his father stood in shock.
"TELL ME, WHO MADE YOU LIKE THIS!!!" Ye Jin's mother threw the pregnancy test kit at her daughter who fell on the floor.
Ye Jin's stepfather grabbed the thing and watched it in horror, "You're pregnant???" he asked in disbelief.
Ye Jin couldn't help but look down in tears, not expecting to have to face her parents' anger so quickly. She doesn't even know how to tell Hyun Bin about this situation yet, let alone ask if he wants to take responsibility for admitting that it's his child in her womb.
Now his parents were urging her to answer, and the longer Ye Jin was silent, the angrier they became.
"Eomma can't understand it, have we raised you wrong that you are like this now?" Ye Jin had never seen her mother this angry.
"Last month Gong Yoo got into a fight with Hyun Bin that badly, you all kept silent and wouldn't tell the reason... And now, this???" her mother pointed the test kit at Ye Jin's face with anger.
"Do you want eomma to beat you up too so you'll open your mouth huh???" Ye Jin screamed as her mother started to grab her hair hard.
*Bamm!! The side door opened wide suddenly.
Gong Yoo rushed in, followed by his mother, who panicked and confused at all this commotion.
"It's me, auntie! I'm the one who is responsible!!!" Gong Yoo pulled Ye Jin up, shielding her from her mother's wrath.
The three adults in front of him gasped loudly. Gong Yoo's shocked mother's face immediately turned angry, "YOU WANT TO DIE HUH???" Now it's her turn to grab her son's hair.
Ye Jin's mother fell to the ground, while Ye Jin's stepfather looked furiously at Gong Yoo. Last month it was his son, and now his stepdaughter??? His fists clenched ready to beat Gong Yoo up right then and there.
"No! Don't blame Gong Yoo oppa! He's not the father!!" Ye Jin is now hugging Gong Yoo protecting him from the anger of his parents and aunt.
"You guys... What really happened, just tell the truth... Don't play around with your parents like this..!" Ye Jin's stepfather is now on his knees holding his sobbing wife.
"Hyun Bin oppa is the father of this baby, dad ..." Ye Jin answered softly.
"What...? How...?" Ye Jin's stepfather was at a loss for words.
"Hyun Bin forced her, uncle. He did it because he hates your family." Gong Yoo opened his mouth to the horror of the three adults in front of them.
"No, that's not true!" Ye Jin tried to explain, "we liked each other!"
"You don't know what you're saying, he's been manipulating you, Ye Jin.." Gong Yoo held the girl's hand, "I knew Hyun Bin had hated you for a long time. He even used your photo as a target for darts practice!" Gong Yoo pours oil on the fire, much to their parents' horror.
"So that's why you beat Hyun Bin up...?" Gong Yoo's mother was dumbfounded digesting the information she had just received.
"Is... Is this all my fault...?" Ye Jin's stepfather asked himself, trying to find an answer by relating the facts that suddenly appeared in front of him.
"No... You're all wrong! Hyun Bin oppa isn't as cruel as you think, he just made a mistake at the time!" Ye Jin tried to change the minds of the adults in front of her, but it seemed that it was too late. They had thought of Hyun Bin as the antagonist here.
"Omo... And the boy is in rehab now..." Gong Yoo's mother looked at Ye Jin's parents, "What should we do...?" she asked confused.
"He won't be released until the next 3 months, I will talk to his mother so that Hyun Bin can take responsibility for marrying Ye Jin. After all, their child needs his name on the birth certificate."
"No!" Gong Yoo interrupted suddenly. "How could you guys have the heart to marry Ye Jin off to someone who ruined her future? I don't agree!!!"
"Son, we have to be realistic now, Ye Jin's future could be even more ruined if she gives birth without a husband..." Gong Yoo's mother explained patiently.
"I will marry her!" Gong Yoo stood up, "Let my name be written on the birth certificate!" he continued confidently.
"Haisshh this kid doesn't think through before he talks..." his mother chimed in, "you think marriage is a joke, huh?"
"Actually because I take this seriously, eomma. I can't imagine Ye Jin marrying my own cousin.. I.. I loved her from the start...!" the three adults in front of them could only gawk with their mouths open hearing another truth came out.
"Oppa...?" Ye Jin's voice broke the silence that was caused by Gong Yoo's confession. "So all this time..?"
"All this time you were too stupid not to realize my feelings for you, Ye Jin." Gong Yoo looked down at the girl with a sad smile.
"Aigooooo.. What is this... You're still too young to talk about love!" Gong Yoo's mother hit her son's head lightly. "Want to ask Ye Jin to marry, how about your school, stupid boy? Shouldn't you be focusing on your studies at SNU next year?" she grumbled frustratedly.
"Ye Jin, do you know far along your pregnancy is..?" Ye Jin's mother seemed to wake up from her shock.
Ye Jin shook her head slowly.
"It happened more than a month ago, auntie..." Gong Yoo chimed in.
"Okay, tomorrow we go to the doctor to check your baby." Ye Jin's mother rose to her feet in a slight daze. "Eomma and Appa need to digest this situation first."
Ye Jin nodded, letting Gong Yoo to help her up. Gong Yoo's mother pulled her son out when Gong Yoo intended to help Ye Jin's mother escort the girl to her room.
Ye Jin lowered her head to avoid her step cousin's gaze. She still doesn't know how to react to Gong Yoo's confession of his feelings just now.
"Eomma is sorry all this has to happen to you, dear." Her mother stroked her hair with tears in her eyes.
Ye Jin looked at her mother's eyes sadly. "Don't blame Appa for what his son did, Eomma.. Ye Jin doesn't want Appa to be sick again because of guilt..."
"No dear, after this Eomma will talk to Appa. You rest first, tomorrow we will think again what to do, okay ..?" Ye Jin's mother whispered softly.
Ye Jin smiled nodding. Feeling grateful and a little relieved, because finally her parents know the burden she was carrying. Ye Jin then let sleep took her to the dreamland. Drowning her in a sea of colors, where a dimpled smile greeted her warmly.