My friend's expression grew pained. "Y/N... talk—"

Nausea hit me before Somi could finish her sentence, and I was up, bending over the kitchen sink. My stomach churned as I retched, the bitter taste in my mouth making me feel worse. I felt Somi's gentle hands in my hair, holding it back, her presence a small comfort in the storm of emotions.

After spitting up the last of my morning sickness, I slumped back against Somi, breathing heavily, grateful she was there. My body felt weak, drained, but her comforting touch helped keep the tears at bay. I just wanted to crawl into bed and forget everything for a while.A flicker of movement caught my eye. 

My gaze snapped to the kitchen doorway, where Jungkook stood, his face tense, the muscle in his jaw ticking. He looked at me with an expression that was impossible to read—anger, disappointment, hurt? Maybe all of it.

He didn't say anything to me. Instead, he turned to Somi, his voice clipped. "Give Adam my apologies for missing Sunday dinner. I'll be in meetings all day. And, uh"—he shot me a sharp look, his eyes cold—"stay with her until she feels better."

Anger burned through me as Jungkook walked out of the flat, ignoring Somi's shocked and questioning calls of his name. The coldness in his eyes, the way he just left—it felt like a knife twisting in my heart.

Somi's pitiful and sympathetic looks suddenly became painful rather than comforting. I pulled out of her arms, the weight of everything pressing down on me. "I'm sorry, hon. I just . . . I'm going back to bed." My voice trembled, and I turned away, needing to be alone, to escape the whirlwind of emotions tearing me apart.

She nodded carefully and let me go.

___

I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, my mind kept replaying everything that had happened, trying to figure out the right words to say to Jungkook to make him stop and talk to me. I had it all planned out, but dinner came and went, and he still didn't show up.Then the evening passed, and still nothing.

I texted him—no reply. I called—no answer.

I even texted Adam, but Jungkook wasn't with him.

Finally, just after two in the morning, I heard the front door open. Fury and desperation propelled me out of bed, and I stormed into the hallway just as Jungkook closed the door behind him. His eyes flicked toward me, but it was like he was staring right through me as he started toward the guest room.

Oh, no! Not again!

"Where have you been?" I snapped, grabbing his arm to make him look at me.

He jerked his arm away, as if my touch burned him. "Out," he replied simply, his tone cold and cutting. Then he turned and disappeared into the guest room, leaving me standing there like he had just run me over with a car.

I had so many theories about why he was so angry. I knew he thought I didn't want his child. I wondered if he was questioning everything about us, if he was scared, if he was overwhelmed. But what hurt the most was that he couldn't just tell me any of that. I thought we had come further than this. No . . . maybe I had unfairly assumed he would see me through anything.A long time ago, he'd almost left me for good because I shut him out. And now he was shutting me out. He had retreated into his own mind, and he wouldn't let me in. He didn't even want me touching him, and that scared me so much that I felt like I was falling apart.

I wanted to sleep to escape all of it, but sleep wouldn't come. Instead, I shut myself in the bathroom and undressed. I switched on the shower and stepped into the freezing-cold water, letting the shock numb me. My mind drifted, and without realizing it, my hands moved to cover the small of my stomach protectively. I closed my eyes, feeling numb everywhere but there.

I thought I heard a muffled "Fuck," and my eyes flew open just as Jungkook slid the shower door open. His face was set in a hard, unreadable expression as he reached in and switched the nozzle to warm. His eyes cut to me, full of a mix of anger and concern. "Are you trying to catch fucking pneumonia?" he snapped.

Shivering, I realized I hadn't been thinking. Obviously.

"Stay in there until you warm up," he ordered, his tone harsh.

Where was my husband? The man standing in front of me felt like a stranger.

Everything I'd been trying to keep numb suddenly broke free—fear, guilt, anger, loneliness, and most of all, the deep hurt of the last few days.

Jungkook took a step back, confusion and something like fear crossing his features.But I was too far gone to care how he felt.

I reached out, staring at him blankly as I shut the shower door in his face. Then I turned my back on him, letting the warm water wash over me, hoping it would wash away the pain too.

"It's been a while, Y/N. What's been happening?" Dr. Pritchard asked in that careful voice of hers. She had mastered the art of not sounding concerned. Not too breezy, either. Just calm.

 Soothing.

It used to bug the crap out of me. There was a time I would have given anything to hear her yell at her kids for some wrongdoing, just so I could hear a little bit of raised blood pressure in her voice. I wanted proof she was human.

Now I knew she was human. She could be a little on the sarcastic side. That's probably why I liked her so much.

"Jungkook and I got married," I informed her quietly, my hands resting on my stomach.She smiled. "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

Dr. Pritchard raised an eyebrow. She gave good eyebrow-raising. "Anything else?"

Easing into the reason for my visit, I avoided the subject altogether. "I got an agent." It was true. Dana had called at the beginning of the week and I'd signed with her. It should have been one of the most exciting moments of my life. "She has a publisher interested in my manuscript." Already. Again, it should have been one of the most exciting moments of my life.

"That's great news."

Dr. Pritchard also seemed to fear hyperbole and expressions of excitement. Again, another reason I liked her so much.

"I'm pregnant."

The good doctor was quiet for a moment as she processed my blurtage. "Is that why you're here?"

I nodded, trying to ignore the lump of tears in my throat as I thought over the last few days. Our home had been a silent, cold place recently. My whole life had. Ellie and Adam had refused to get in the middle, so they were staying out of it completely. I think Ellie must have talked Elodie into the same because I hadn't heard from her. I'd gotten tentative texts from my friends, but no one wanted to bring the subject up. "It's slammed up this huge wall between me and Jungkook.""It has, or you have?"

"Actually, he has." I shrugged. "I was scared when I suspected I was pregnant. I was terrified when I found out that it was true. But I knew that wasn't all. I just . . . I had to get away, go to my place to process. Before I could, Jungkook got there, I told him, and he took one look at my face and assumed . . . the worst."

"The worst?"

"That I'm unhappy. That I don't want a child with him. He's so mad, so hurt, he wouldn't and still hasn't let me explain."

"And what would you tell him if he gave you the chance?"