Ye Jun

The silence went on for so long I thought the air might snap in half. My fingers stayed twisted in Si Woo’s sleeve, knuckles white, like letting go would make everything real in the worst way. He didn’t pull away. He didn’t snap at me either. He just stood there with his back stiff, breathing too fast, like he was fighting every instinct to run.

Then he turned.

Slowly this time. His eyes met mine and they looked different not wild and angry anymore, but tired. Really tired. Like the fight had drained everything out of him and left a scared kid standing in his place. He looked younger than usual, even with that sharp jaw and the alpha edge he tried so hard to fake.

"I’m not walking out," he said, voice low and rough, almost cracked. "But I don’t know what the fuck to do, Ye Jun. I really don’t."

The words hit harder than any yelling. I felt my throat tighten and the tears I’d been swallowing started burning again. I didn’t let them fall. Not yet. Instead I loosened my grip on his sleeve and stepped back just enough so we weren’t breathing in each other’s faces.

"Then sit down," I whispered. My voice sounded small. "Just... sit. We can’t keep screaming."

He hesitated, eyes flicking to the door like part of him still wanted to bolt. Then he dropped onto the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, hands hanging loose between them. I sat on the other end, leaving space between us, but not too much. The room felt too quiet now. His phone stayed dark on the mattress. No more ringing. Just us.

For a long minute neither of us spoke. I pressed my hand to my stomach without thinking that tiny, barely-there bump that had become the center of my whole world in the last few days. Si Woo noticed. His gaze dropped to my hand and stayed there.

"It’s really real?" he asked finally. His voice was quieter than I’d ever heard it. "Not some joke?"

I nodded. "Five tests. Three positive, like I said. I even did one this morning again because I kept hoping maybe they were wrong. They weren’t."

He rubbed his face with both palms, groaning softly. "We’re not even full. Half alpha, half omega... it shouldn’t work like this. Our bloodlines are supposed to be weak together. That’s what the old stories say anyway. Mixed pairs don’t usually..."

"Yeah, well, your sperm didn’t get the memo," I muttered, but there was no real bite left in it. I was too exhausted for more fighting.

Si Woo let out a short, bitter laugh that died fast. "Stop saying my sperm like that. Makes me sound like some horny dog." He paused, then added softer, "I didn’t mean what I said on the phone. Not like that. It was just... talk. My friend’s in the same mess with some girl from the other side of town. Dads expect us to pair with those pure-lineage girls, strengthen the family name, secure the inheritance. One slip-up and everything our fathers built could shift. I was panicking. Saying stupid shit to sound like I had control."

I stared at him. "It didn’t sound like stupid shit. It sounded like you wanted it gone. Simple. Like trash day."

His shoulders slumped. "I know how it sounded. When you said it was you... when you said it was ours... everything flipped. I’m scared too, okay? We’re young. We can barely take care of ourselves. And if our dad find out step-brothers messing around, producing a kid that shouldn’t even exist mom and dad will lose their minds. The inheritance plans, the alliances with those rich families... it all crashes."

I swallowed hard. My chest hurt, and it wasn’t just the pregnancy tenderness. "So what? You still want me to get rid of it? Be honest, Si Woo. No more dancing around."

He looked up at me then, eyes wide and raw. "I don’t know what I want yet. This is too fast. Part of me wants to pretend it’s not happening. Another part..." He trailed off, then reached out slowly, like he was afraid I’d slap his hand away. His fingers hovered over my stomach before gently settling there, palm flat against the small swell.

The touch was so careful it made my breath catch. Not rough like before. Not trying to prove anything. Just... feeling. His thumb moved in the tiniest circle and I felt a weird flutter inside maybe nothing, maybe my imagination, but it made tears prick my eyes anyway.

"It’s so small," he whispered. "Does it... hurt? Are you sick all the time?"

"Yeah," I admitted, voice cracking a little. "Nauseous every morning. Chest hurts like someone punched me. I can smell everything too strong your stupid cologne mixed with that soda you drank earlier is making my head spin. And I’m scared, Si Woo. Really scared. Titi told me to tell you right away because keeping it secret was eating me alive. But now that I have... I don’t know if it made anything better."

He didn’t pull his hand away. Instead he shifted closer on the bed, until our knees touched. "I’m sorry I grabbed you like that earlier. Kissed you like that. My brain just... short-circuited. You were yelling and I was angry and my body still wants you even when everything’s falling apart."

I let out a shaky breath. "Mine does too. That’s the problem. Even now, with all this mess, part of me wants you to hold me. But we can’t keep fixing things with sex or fighting. We need to actually figure this out."

Si Woo nodded slowly, eyes still on where his hand rested. "What do you want to do? Keep it? ...Abort?"

The word made my stomach twist. I covered his hand with mine, pressing it firmer against the bump. "I don’t know yet. I’m still wrapping my head around it being real. But I know I can’t just pretend it’s not there. My body’s already changing. And... I don’t think I want to throw it away like it’s nothing. Not when it’s ours. Even if we’re both half-baked idiots who weren’t supposed to make this happen."

He stayed quiet for a while, thumb still moving in that gentle circle. The anger from before had drained out, leaving something softer and more fragile. "If we keep it... we have to hide it. At least for now. Dad can’t know. Not until we have a plan. They’ll force things maybe even separate us, send one of us away. The inheritance is tied to those pure pairings they’ve been pushing. A kid from two half-blood step-brothers would mess all that up."

"I know," I said. My voice came out small. "But I can’t do this alone. I need you to stop acting like it’s only my problem. We both made this mess."

"Yeah." He swallowed visibly. "We did." Then, quieter: "I won’t walk out. Not tonight. Not on this. But I need time to think. We both do."

I nodded. The tears finally slipped free and I didn’t bother wiping them. Si Woo hesitated, then pulled me closer with his free arm. It wasn’t a desperate kiss or a rough grab. Just a hug awkward at first, his chin resting on top of my head, one hand still protectively over my stomach. I let myself lean into him, breathing in his scent even though it made the nausea swirl.

"We go to a real doctor tomorrow," he said after a minute, voice muffled against my hair. "No more pharmacy tests. We need to know for sure how far along, if everything’s okay with... the half-baked thing. I’ll drive. We’ll skip classes if we have to."

"Okay," I whispered. It wasn’t much, but it felt like the first solid thing we’d said all night. "And we don’t tell anyone yet. Not even Titi more than she already knows. Just us."

"Just us," I agreed .

We stayed like that for a long time, the room quiet except for our breathing. The anger had burned out, leaving exhaustion and fear and this tiny, scary thread of something that might one day look like care. His hand never left my stomach. I wondered if he could feel anything yet, or if he was just trying to make it feel real for himself.

Eventually my eyes grew heavy. The nausea had settled a little with his warmth against me. I didn’t move to my own room. Neither did he. We ended up lying back on his bed, fully clothed, my head on his chest and his arm curled around me like he was afraid I’d disappear if he let go.

But even as sleep pulled at me, I felt the weight of everything still waiting outside this room. The rich girls they wanted us paired with. The inheritance plans that didn’t include a surprise half-blood baby. The fact that we were step-brothers who weren’t supposed to be able to do this at all.

Si Woo’s breathing slowed, but I could tell he wasn’t fully asleep. His fingers kept tracing lazy circles on my skin, right over the small bump.

I closed my eyes and held onto that small touch.

Tomorrow we’d face the doctor. Tomorrow we’d have to start making real choices.

But tonight, in the quiet after the storm, we had this fragile truce.

And for now, that was enough.