Ye Jun

I woke up with my face smashed into Si Woo’s chest and his arm wrapped around me like he thought I might bolt in the middle of the night. My leg was thrown over his hip and his hand was still resting on my stomach, right over that stupid little bump. The room smelled like him, thick alpha scent mixed with last night’s sweat. My stomach rolled hard.

"Oh fuck," I muttered, shoving at his shoulder. "Move. Now."

Si Woo woke up fast, eyes wide. "What? What’s wrong?"

"Morning sickness plus your smell is trying to kill me. Get off." I scrambled up but the world spun and I barely made it to the edge of the bed before I was dry heaving into the bin he kicked over just in time.

He held my hair back with one hand and rubbed my back with the other, muttering, "Shit, sorry. Breathe through your mouth or something."

"Easy for you to say," I gasped between heaves. "You’re not the one carrying your half-baked mistake."

When it finally stopped I sat back on the floor, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. Si Woo passed me a bottle of water without saying anything. I took small sips while he grabbed some plain crackers from his drawer like he had planned for this.

"Here. Eat slowly ," he said, voice rough from sleep.

I took one and nibbled the corner. " Breakfast in bed with my step-brother after he knocked me up. This is peak romance."

He gave a short laugh that sounded more tired than amused. "Shut up and eat the damn cracker, Ye Jun."

We stayed like that for a minute, me on the floor, him sitting on the bed watching me like I might fall apart any second. It felt weird. Not bad weird. Just... new.

After I kept the cracker down he helped me back onto the bed. No grabbing, no pushing. Just careful hands. I hated how much I liked it.

Si Woo grabbed his phone and typed something quick. "I’m telling Dad I can’t come to the office today. Got a meeting out of town."

"You’re lying already?" I asked.

"Better than saying I’m taking my pregnant step-brother to a secret clinic." He shrugged and hit send. "Your turn with Mom. She’s gonna notice you look like death."

I groaned and dragged myself to the bathroom to splash water on my face. When I came out Mom was already in the hallway, eyes sharp.

"Ye Jun, you look terrible. Are you sick?"

"It’s nothing," I said, trying to sound normal. "Just a stomach thing. I’ll go to the hospital by myself later, don’t worry."

She frowned. "Alone? I can take you.. "

"No, really. I’m fine. Si Woo’s driving me anyway, he has stuff to do out of town."

She looked between us but finally nodded. "Call me if it gets worse."

"Yeah, sure."

We left the house fast before she could ask more questions. Si Woo’s car smelled even stronger than his room and I rolled the window down all the way.

The drive started quiet. Too quiet. I kept my head against the seat and stared out at the road while my stomach tried to decide if it wanted to rebel again.

After about ten minutes Si Woo cleared his throat. "So... how long do you think we can hide the scent change? Your smell is already a bit different. I noticed last night."

I turned to look at him. "Great. Now I smell weird too. Thanks for that."

"I’m being serious."

"I don’t know, okay? Maybe a few weeks if I stay away from everyone. scent blockers may help but they’re not perfect. Considering I’m not fully ABO I don’t know why my scent is misbehaving."

He nodded, fingers tapping the steering wheel. Then his hand moved without thinking and landed on my thigh, squeezing once before sliding up a little. Possessive. Like he couldn’t stop himself.

"Hands on the wheel, idiot," I said, but I didn’t push him away.

"What if it’s not normal because of us?" he asked suddenly, voice lower. "The half alpha half omega thing. What if the kid comes out wrong or something?"

"Then we deal with it," I snapped. "Stop asking questions that make me want to throw up again."

He went quiet but his hand stayed on my thigh the whole way, thumb rubbing small circles sometimes. Every time I shifted he glanced over like he was checking I was still there.

The clinic was a huge building on the edge of town with a plain sign that just said " Exactly the kind of place people went when they didn’t want questions.

Inside the waiting room I sat stiff, smelling every alpha and omega around us. One girl two seats away had that sweet pregnant scent and it made my nose twitch. I kept thinking any second someone would look at us and know we were step-brothers. Si Woo sat close, leg pressed against mine, like he was daring anyone to say something.

"Stop staring at everyone," he muttered.

"I’m not staring. I’m panicking quietly."

"Doesn’t look quiet."

"Shut up."

The nurse called us in faster than I expected. The doctor was an older woman with kind eyes who didn’t ask too many questions when Si Woo said we wanted privacy.

She did the tests quickly. Blood, urine, then the ultrasound. I lay on the table with my shirt pulled up and Si Woo standing right beside me, arms crossed tight.

The screen lit up and there it was. Tiny. Blinking.

Heartbeat.

Fast and strong, like a little drum.

I felt my eyes burn. "That’s... that’s really it?"

The doctor smiled a little. "Six weeks and four days. Everything looks good so far."

Si Woo didn’t say anything. He just stared at the screen, face blank but his hand found mine and held on so tight it almost hurt. His thumb kept moving over my knuckles like he needed something to do.

The doctor pointed at a few things. "Because both of you are mixed bloodlines, the baby has a weaker scent signature than usual. That might actually help you hide it longer. But there’s also a higher chance of early complications. Miscarriage risk is a bit elevated in the first trimester for cases like this. The pregnancy is progressing strongly though, which is surprising given the old stories about mixed pairs."

I let out a shaky breath. "So the myth is bullshit but also kind of true?"

"Something like that," she said. "Nature finds a way. But you’ll need to be careful. No heavy suppressants right now. They could hurt the baby. Use scent blockers only when necessary, wear loose clothes, and avoid any family heats or ruts if possible. Come back in two weeks for another check."

She printed out a small picture and handed it over. Si Woo took it without a word and slipped it into his pocket.

Back in the car the silence felt heavier than before. I kept looking at the spot where the heartbeat had been on the screen. My chest felt too tight.

Si Woo started the engine but didn’t drive yet. "That heartbeat," he said finally, voice cracking a bit. "It made it real. Like... really real. Not just your hand on your stomach. That was our kid."

"Yeah." My voice came out small. "I know."

He leaned over suddenly, one hand cupping the back of my neck, and kissed me. Not rough like before. Slow and careful, lips soft, tongue sliding in just enough to make me forget the clinic smell for a second. I kissed him back, fingers twisting in his shirt, feeling that same stupid pull in my gut.

His other hand slid under my shirt and rested warm on the bump. "I still don’t know what the fuck we’re doing," he whispered against my mouth, "but I don’t want to lose this. Or you."

I pulled back just enough to breathe. "We can’t keep doing this. Kissing. Touching. It always ends the same way and we have bigger problems now."

"I know." He rested his forehead against mine. "But it’s hard when you’re right here and you smell like mine."

"Shut up with that possessive crap." I shoved his chest lightly but there was no force in it. "We need a plan. Short term. Fake illness for the symptoms. Tell everyone I caught a bad stomach bug that lasts a couple weeks. That buys us time."

Si Woo nodded slowly. "Yeah. Okay. We can do that. I’ll cover for you too."

We sat there for another minute, his hand still on my stomach, my heart beating way too fast.

Then my phone buzzed. Mom.

I read the message and felt my stomach drop all over again.

"Shit."

"What?" Si Woo asked.

"Dad just texted. He’s coming home early tonight. Wants a family dinner. Says he has important news "

Si Woo’s face went tight. "Tonight?"

"Yeah. Tonight."

We looked at each other and for the first time the weight of everything really hit.

We had a heartbeat on a picture in his pocket and less than six hours before we had to sit across from our parents and pretend nothing was changing.

I swallowed hard.

This was going to be a fucking disaster.