Walking out of Taemin's Bedroom the next morning, I literally felt like death.

 

My morning sickness had officially kicked in last night and had me throwing up in Taemin's Bathroom toilet since early hours.

 

When I learned about morning sickness during Education in School, I never thought my teacher meant that early on the morning.

 

My sickly appearance didn't go un-noticed  either as I walked into the Living Room which was occupied by Jonghyun, Taemin and Krystal.

 

I already knew that Onew, Key and Minho had left for their schedules after bumping into Key earlier this morning as I made a trip to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

 

Anything to wash the taste of stomach acid out of my mouth.

 

Krystal being present this early in the morning was a surprise though.

 

She was the first to notice me as I went unnoticed by the two males in the room who were having an argument over the television remote.

 

"Hyorin, You look awful." She exclaimed which caught Taemin's and Jonghyun's attention immediately.

 

"I guess you're morning sickness has well and truly come," Jonghyun sighed as my eyes rounded.

 

Surely I didn't look that bad that everybody could tell I was going through the motions of pregnancy just by looking at me.

 

I mean, I didn't even have a bump yet.

 

Jonghyun must have noticed my expression of dread as he quickly spoke up again.

 

"I heard you throwing up this morning, that's how I know." He assured me as I heaved out a quite sigh of relief and nodded my head in understanding.

 

At that moment, I heard Krystal heave out a small sigh before standing up from her seat on the couch which was beside Taemin.

 

She looked to me with an expectant gaze, although I was completely clueless as to what she was waiting for me to do.

 

"Sit." She eventually said, motioning to the place on the couch that she herself had just been sitting.

 

I quickly shook my head in response and  waved a hand in front of me to dismiss her offer.

 

"No need, I'm just going to make some toast before I get ready. I'll be heading out for the day after." I explained as Krystal slowly tilted her head to the side, curiosity etched over her flawless face.

 

"You're going somewhere?" Taemin spoke up, also seeming to be curious about my plans for the day.

 

"I'm going out to look for a job today."

 

"Already?!" Jonghyun shouting out, surprise laced his words as I nodded my head with a small smile on my face.

 

I didn't know why he seemed so surprised by this though.

 

I had mentioned my intentions to find a job for myself a few times before now.

 

"The sooner the better. I have a lot of saving to do. Babies don't come cheap and there's also the matter of saving for a place of my own." I explained as Taemin looked unsatisfied with my explanation.

 

"Hyorin, I'm not going to leave you to carry the burden of money alone. I have money to pay for anything the baby will need. I might not have a lot but it's enough to meet the baby's needs for the first few months after the birth."

 

"And what's wrong with living here with us?" Jonghyun added on, looking slightly offended, making me rolls my eyes before speaking up once again.

 

"There's nothing wrong with it but be realistic about this. You guys are busy most of the time with work and when you're not, you're here catching up on the sleep that you've missed out on. A screaming baby through the night isn't going to make things any easier. Besides, I don't think Minho or Krystal will want me living here for a longer period of time-" I said, only to be cut off by that said female idol.

 

"Hey, I don't want to be a factor for why you want to move out. We talked about this yesterday. I said that I'm going to accept this baby as part of Taemin's life now. He and I are working on our relationship and he's already promised that it will never happen again, I believe him when he says that so it isn't a problem for me about where you're living in the meantime and Minho should feel the same way as I do if he ever really cared about you."

 

I felt a small sting in my chest at the mention of Minho but decided to ignore it and concentrate on the conversation at hand.

 

"Thank you but still, I think having my own place will be good for me. In an ideal world, I would like to have my own place before the baby arrives. Besides, I've never been completely independent before so I want to give it a try. I'm going to have to be independent sooner or later anyway. If I can't even look after my self and provide myself then what chance will this baby have?" I questioned just to receive blank stares back at me from the 3 people in the room.

 

"I know that Taemin is going to help me raise and provide for the baby but I can't rely on him to pay for everything. Taemin, it would really mean a lot to me if you could be okay with this..." I said, directly looking at Taemin for his acceptance of my decision.Taemin seemed to be taken aback by my request and he turned to Jonghyun and Krystal, as if they had the answer to the question I was asking of him.

 

"Don't look at us." Jonghyun commented, forcing Taemin to turn back to me.

 

After a few more seconds of silence, Taemin heaved a heavy sigh of defeat.

 

"Fine, just as long as it's not to much strain on your body. You also have to agree to tell your potential boss about your pregnancy before he or she hires you. That's the conditions I have. If you can't agree to them then I can't agree with you getting a job." Taemin said as I beamed a smile his way while Jonghyun folded his arms and nodded his head, almost with pride for the magnae.

 

"Okay!" I quickly agreed to his conditions until I noticed Jonghyun softly nudge taking in his side and sent him a meaningful look.

 

"Oh right, there's also another condition. When the time comes that you actually decide to move out into your own place, although I myself am not really supportive of that part of your plan. The condition is, you're the one who has to break the news to Kibum Hyung."

 

The smile on my lips instantly fell from hearing Taemin's other condition.

 

"Wae?!" I cried out, which make Krystal and Jonghyun stifle their laughter from the look of fear on my face.

 

-

 

-

 

-

 

Heaving out a sigh, I sat down at the table in the cafe I had entered after a long and stressful day of job hunting.

 

Everywhere that had been advertising their vacancies shot me down after hearing that I had dropped out of school before graduating or that I was going through a teenage pregnancy.

 

My optimistic attitude towards finding a job has slowly faded throughout the day.

 

Not ever had I seen rejected so many times during just one day.

 

I was beginning to feel like a failure from all the rejection.

 

Looking around the peaceful cafe, it was only then that I noticed that it was the same cafe that I had broken the news to Taemin about my pregnancy and the same place I had met with Minho the day he found out it as well.

 

Heaving out another sigh, I found my head resting against the table in front of me as I felt myself beginning to drown in he abyss of guilt and despair that I had brought on myself through my stupid actions.

 

If things continued like they were, I was beginning to doubt that I'd ever find a job.

 

I wasn't going to let myself break down though.

 

I refused to break the promise I had made to myself.

 

At that moment, I heard a light knock beside my ear and felt a small vibration through the table from the knock.

 

I lifted my head up from the table and looked up to find a rather familiar guy stood beside me with a small coffee in his hand.

 

"Can I help you?" I found myself asking as the guy placed the cup he had been holding in front of me.

 

I looked down at it, tilting my head to the side; wondering why the guy had given the coffee to me.

 

"Do you mind if I sit down?" He asked me, indicating to the seat opposite me.

 

I quickly shook my head in reply and he took that said seat and sent me a smile.

 

"I was watching you from behind the counter. You didn't look so good and since the cafe is quiet today, I thought I'd try and cheer you up." He said as I suddenly remembered where I had seen him from before.

 

He was the guy who worked here.

 

He had been here both times I had been.

 

"You work here." I stated as the guy laughed and nodded his head before tilting it to the side.

 

"I do but I also own this place."

 

My mouth fell slightly at that point.

 

This guy in front of me was not much older than myself and to put it simply, he didn't look the type to run a business like this.

 

He was extremely attractive which made me wonder why there was barely any more customers like myself in this cafe right now.

 

Young school girls would obviously flock to this guy like bees to honey.

 

What, with his jet black neatly styled hair, his mesmerizing dark eyes and his sharp nose and jaw line.

 

There was no way this guy lacked attention in whatever room he entered.

 

And this is coming from a girl who lives with 5 ulzzang worthy males right now.

 

"I can see by you're reaction that you're shocked. So was my Appa when he found out I wanted to drop out of school and start my own business." He randomly spoke as I nodded my head slowly, wondering why this guy was talking to me as if I was an old time friend.

 

"Not to sound disrespectful but, why are you talking to me?" I found myself asking as the guy simply laughed at my dumbfounded expression.

 

"Like I said, I wanted to cheer you up. I take it you've had a rough day?" He asked as I tried to stop myself from scoffing.

 

"Is it that obvious?"

 

"Just a bit. That coffee is for you by the way. It's on the house." He smiled as I looked down at the cup infront of me before scrunching my nose up at it.

 

"Thank but no thanks."

 

"I get it, you don't want to take coffee from a stranger. Even if the stranger owns this place." He smiled as I quickly shook my head and pushed the coffee cup towards him.

 

"It's not that. It's just... I'm pregnant right now. Medical Experts say that around 2 cups of coffee won't harm your baby but I really don't want to take any chances. Especially since I'm pregnant at a young age." I shrugged my shoulders as the guy seemed to accept my reasoning and pulled the cup closer to him before picking it up and taking a sip.

 

"How old are you if you don't mind me asking?" 

 

"Too young to be pregnant." I heaved a sigh, slightly more relaxed around this guy who I had yet to learn the name of.

 

"High School student?"

 

"I had two more years of school left but I had to drop out last week. I was looking for a job today but nobody seems to be interested in hiring a pregnant teenager without her High School diploma." 

 

"Can't imagine why." The guy cracked a cocky smile which made me slightly laugh at his comment.

 

"You're the sarcastic type?"

 

"On occasion." He simply answered when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

 

Fishing it out and looking at the screen, I saw I had a text message from Taemin.

 

"Boyfriend?" The guy asked as I shook my head.

 

"Best friend and also the Appa of my baby" I said simply as I slid my finger across the screen to unlock it.

 

"Both interesting and complicated."

 

"That's not even the half of it." I rolled my eyes and opened the text to see the message Taemin had sent me.

 

'You've been gone the whole day. When are you coming home? Key is freaking out that Jonghyun and I let you go job hunting alone. Come home soon, okay?'

 

Putting my phone back inside my pocket, I looked up at the guy and smiled slightly.

 

"Listen, thanks for the coffee despite the fact that I couldn't drink it. I've got to be getting home before World War 3 breaks out there. It was nice talking to you though, you actually did manage to cheer me up a bit for thanks for that as well." I said as I slipped out from the seat I had been sat in.

 

The guy simply smiled and saluted me.

 

"No problemo. Anytime my friend." He said as I waved to him slightly before turning and swiftly leaving the coffee shop and my new "friend" behind.

 

---

The New "Friend"