The apartment was peaceful.
That alone should have worried me.
Ha-rin had just finished showering. I knew this because she had announced it angrily from the bathroom like it was a declaration of war.
"I'm coming out," she shouted. "Don't be weird!"
"I am never weird," I replied.
That was incorrect.
The bathroom door opened.
Ha-rin stepped out wrapped in a towel, hair damp, face irritated.
"I told you not to—!"
Her foot slipped.
Time slowed.
Internally:This is bad.This is very bad.Move. Catch. Do something useful.
Externally, my body reacted before my mind did.
I stepped forward.
She grabbed my sleeve.
We both lost balance.
She yelped.
I froze.
"My baby—!"
The words left my mouth before logic arrived.
The front door opened.
"Seo-jun, I—"
My father stood there.
Bag in hand.Smile on face.Then—
Everything stopped.
He saw:
Me
Ha-rin
A towel
My arms half-raised
Her clinging to my sleeve
His smile disappeared.
Then his soul left his body.
"…What," my father said slowly, "is happening."
Ha-rin looked up.
Our eyes met.
Her face turned red.
Then purple.
Then nuclear.
She shoved herself upright.
"THIS IS NOT—!"
My father's knees buckled.
"Y-Yoon Ha-rin…?" he whispered.
I straightened instantly.
"Father," I said calmly. "This is—"
"My baby!" Ha-rin shouted again, panicking as she adjusted the towel.
That sentence echoed.
Silence.
My father's glasses slid down his nose.
"…Baby?" he repeated.
Internally:Abort mission. Evacuate universe.
Externally, my face remained calm.
My father took one step forward.
Then another.
Then—
He collapsed onto the couch.
A thin trickle of blood came from his nose.
Then his ears.
"Dad," I said. "Please do not bleed."
"I'M A FAN," my father croaked. "I'VE BEEN A FAN SINCE DEBUT."
Ha-rin froze.
"…What?"
He pointed at her weakly.
"I WATCH EVERY STAGE," he wheezed. "I BOUGHT ALBUMS."
"WHY IS HE BLEEDING," Ha-rin screamed.
"I CANNOT PROCESS THIS," my father shouted. "YOU ARE PREGNANT?"
Ha-rin turned slowly toward me.
"You told him?"
"No," I said. "You did."
She gasped.
"I DID NOT—!"
"You shouted," I replied. "Very loudly."
My father let out a strangled noise.
"My son… got my idol… pregnant…"
He leaned back.
"I CAN DIE HAPPY."
"DO NOT DIE," I said.
Ha-rin snapped.
"WHY IS YOUR FATHER LIKE THIS?"
"He is emotional," I replied.
She glared at me.
"You're calm again!"
"I am internally screaming."
My father suddenly sat up straight.
"Wait," he said. "Seo-jun."
"Yes."
"…Are you treating her well?"
Ha-rin blinked.
"Yes," I replied.
"Are you protecting her?"
"Yes."
"Are you calm?"
"…Yes."
My father nodded, satisfied.
Then fainted again.
Ha-rin stared at his unconscious body.
"…I hate this family."
"I understand," I said.
She looked at me.
"…Your dad is insane."
"Yes."
"…But," she added quietly, "…he didn't look angry."
"No," I said. "He looked proud."
She scoffed. "That's worse."
I picked up my phone.
"Should I call an ambulance," I asked, "or let him recover naturally?"
"…LET HIM RECOVER NATURALLY," she shouted.
I nodded.
Internally, my heart was racing.
Externally, I stayed calm.
This was my life now.