Changsub's POV.
I helplessly wiped the tears off my face with the sleeves of my shirt as I tried to compose myself.
This news was too much for my take in.
 

JiNa's POV.
I skipped out of the kitchen to see Sungjae rubbing his face in front of the mirror.
"Wah, Yook Sungjae, you're so vain!!" I joked as I walked towards him.
He turned and I gasped. He had a red handprint marked on his face. His cheeks swelled up.
"Wh-What happened?!!" I demanded to know what was going on.
He explained everything to me briefly and added, "-But it's ok, let it go. She's your mother after all and I believe she's just concerned about you that's why she must've acted like this on impulse! Don't get mad ok?"
Sungjae tried to calm me down by doing aegyo but i pushed his hands away with anger and barged into my mother's room. Oblivious to the fact that Changsub oppa's eyes were red and that his face was wet, I screamed at my mother, "HOW COULD YOU JUST HIT SOMEONE LIKE THAT? WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"
Sungjae came running in after me and grabbed my arms, trying so hard to calm me down. My mother sat up from her bed and tried to explain but I didn't give her a chance to.
"I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE COME BACK. UNREASONABLE. Ughh, SUNGJAE LET'S GO HOME." I shouted as I released myself from his arms just to grab him and leave.
As I stormed out of the room, I heard my mother cough and telling me to wait. But I was in too much anger to turn back. I snagged my bag from the couch and opened the front door and charged out to Sungjae's car.
Changsub oppa ran after me and pulled me away from Sungjae and slapped me across the face. I was dumbfounded. I stood rooted to the ground as my hand slowly climbed up to my face.
He had never hit me before. No matter how naughty or bad I was, he never laid a finger on me before. Nor has he ever scolded me. But... He slapped me, on that very day that I returned home.
Tears started streaming down my face.
 

Changsub's POV.
I slapped her.
I couldn't contain my anger anymore. She was too wilful. I can't expect her to leave my mother just like that. I didn't want her to hate my mother till her deathbed.
"What was that for....?" she mumbled as her eyes looked at me in anger.
"Stop being so wilful, will you? Umma's gonna go anytime soon and here you are being absolutely unreasonable!" I yelled to her.
Her eyes of anger changed into eyes filled with much concern, "what do you mean go anytime soon?"
"Umma told me to keep this from you but I can't anymore. Umma has cancer.... Sh-She only has approximately of three months left with us.. I don't want her to carry such horrible memories with her before she-"
"DON'T SAY THAT WORD. I REFUSE TO HEAR IT." JiNa interrupted.
 

JiNa's POV.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I literally felt as if someone had shot me in the heart and it was starting to sink fast.
I turned to Sungjae and kissed him on the cheek as I whispered with tear-filled eyes, "You should go home first.. I'll see you soon.."
Sungjae wiped the tears off my face and hugged me tightly. When he did that, I felt like pouring my heart out from all the sadness. He pulled away from the hug and said, "I'll wait for you..."
With that, he got into his car and drove off. I knew he didn't want to leave me alone like that but he also understood that I didn't want him around to see me like this. So he respected my decision. After seeing him leave, I dragged my feet back into the house and slowly walked into my mother's room.
"Umma....I'm sorry.. I didn't know. I'm so clueless. I've been a bad child. I'm so sorry." I cried uncontrollably as I hugged her.
"There there, my sweet. Don't cry. All I want to see from now on is my children smiling.. Even on the day I die, I don't want to see anyone cry.." she whispered.
"Don't say that umma, nothing is gonna happen to you.." my voice faltered.
I had decided to stay on in the house and fulfil my duties of a daughter that I should have done long ago. I wanted my mother to have her mind at ease to know that I was mature and well enough to take care of myself. I didn't want to be a baggage in her heart that she had to constantly worry about even at her last breath.
If she had to go, I wanted her to leave in peace. Even if it meant that I had to stop meeting Sungjae......