Narrator's POV

The next day, somehow, they found themselves bidding Mr Song goodbye as they departed back to South Korea. Chanyeol almost choked to death upon hearing about his father's critical condition back in Seoul.

Haera noticed how restless Chanyeol was on the plane and he refused to sleep no matter how hard Haera tried to put him to sleep. Well the poor boy's father was in the hospital what would you expect?

As soon as they landed, he flew up from his seat and was the first one at the door, almost losing Haera in the process had he not called out for her from the front of the queue. 

"Mr Lee! Please take care of this!"

Chanyeol dashed straight past the baggage area, leaving Mr. Lee the honour of bringing the bags home.

"Chanyeol you-" Haera panted as she hopelessly chased after her husband. 

"Haera, hurry up please!" he stopped and offerred his hand. She reached out and grasped his hands before he continued to pull them both along towards the carpark.

He immediately spotted one of the on-duty chauffeurs beckoning for them to come. They hurried across the road and into the car before heading off to Seoul National University Hospital.

"How- how i-is he?" Chanyeol breathed out heavily as he leaned back against the seat. 

"He's still in the ICU, sir."

"Damn it!" he sighed in frustration as he clenched his fist and hit the empty space next to him. Haera watched him as his cheerful facade began to rip open when his eyebrows knit together in anxiety.

She looked down helplessly to her hands as she played with her fingers mindlessly.

She wanted to reach out and give him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder and tell him that everything will be fine but she really couldn't because she herself wasn't all too sure if his father was going to be okay.

She couldn't.

She wouldn't. 

Cancer twists all fates and futures in ways you can never imagine.

She looked up at his face only to see his arm over his eyes as his his head rested on the window. He suddenly shifted and turned his head to Haera as if only remembering her existence. 

"I- Haera i-" she cut him off by shaking her head and letting out a small smile.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I completely understand." 

           **

They soon reached the hospital and were dropped off at the ICU department. Chanyeol led Haera through the hallway as they asked for the room number. Chanyeol burst through the door to find his mother crying while holding onto his father's hand and his older sister on the other side of the bed holding the other.

"Y-yeol......you're just in time.... your father.... was asking for you- and Haera." his mother managed between sobs. Chanyeol was at his father's side in an instant, his eyes already b with tears.

"Dad? Are  you-"

"Yeol..." his father weakly murmured. 

"Yeah dad, I'm here. I'm here, I'm sorry it took so long."

"Yeol.....li-sten..." Chanyeol shut up at his father's words.

"T-take.....care....of...your wife...." he breathed as the oxygen mask fogged up. "give...your...mother.....grandchildren..."

Chanyeol bitterly laughed at his father's wish. He nodded and his father beckoned for Haera to come.

She walked in between Chanyeol and her mother-in-law and bowed in greeting. 

"Haera.....It....was a pleasure....meeting you...and i'm.......terribly....sorry..." he heaved a big breath. He smiled at all the people in the room but struggled to speak.

Sorry? For what? She questioned in her mind but merely nodded at him.

"I....love...all of you..." he weakly smiled before he drew in another big breath before he started to gasp for air. 

"HONEY!! Chanyeol call the nurse!!" Chanyeol ran out and shouted for a doctor.

Haera backed away as doctors and nurses started to stream into the room.

She watched the heart-wrenching scene before her as her father-in-law struggled to stay alive while his family members spilled tears.

The fast-paced beating of the heart started to slow down before coming to a complete still, the beep sound long and empty as the family mourned for the loss of the head of their household.

The nurses held onto Chanyeol's mother as she bawled her eyes out, unbelieving that she had lost her beloved husband. His sister sobbed uncontrollably as she caressed her beloved father's bald head. And as for Chanyeol...

He gripped onto the railings of the bed as he was submerged by sounds of chaos and havoc. He clenched onto them so tight that his knuckles had turned white.

His father was dead.

Cancer had consumed him just like that.

A fresh tear trickled down his face as he looked at his father's peaceful face. He drew in a big breath and turned around towards the door, completely absorbed in his own thoughts. 

He walked out of the room and leaned against the wall to support his weak legs and only now did he realise; he couldn't take it. He couldn't take this. The fact that his father, leader, mentor had just left him and his family.

Chanyeol slid down the wall in disbelief as his legs gave way. He brought his hands up to his face and started to breakdown uncontrollably. He couldn't afford to let them see him cry; especially Haera; but he didn't have control over own his emotional stability.

Nobody ever does.

He suddenly felt a pair of arms engulf his body in a tight hug. He looked up in his sad, sorrowful state only to meet with a pair of moist eyes.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered as she pulled him closer to her body and let a tear trickle down her cheek.

As if on instinct, he put his arms around her waist and buried his face into her neck. His cries were muffled against her shoulder but anybody could tell that it was full of agony and sorrow as he wailed like a little child.

She his hair as he continued to pour his heart out.

This was the first time she didn't see Chanyeol wearing his mask of happiness. It was torn; exposed. The happy virus was gone and she was afraid that he wasn't going to come back.

That he wasn't going to smile again.

She ran her hands up and down his back to soothe him. She clasped her slender fingers around his jaw and pulled away to meet his face. His tear-stained cheeks and damp eyes made her heart clench unconsciously. 

"You'll be okay."

Chanyeol shook his head in her hands. 

"You'll be okay." she repeated as if to assert herself as well.

"You'll make it through, you'll make him proud." Haera said as her right hand ran through his messy hair while her other hand cupped his cheek.

Chanyeol shook his head. 

"I-I can't."

"You can." she sighed. "I'll make sure of it." she assured as she pulled him towards her body again and Chanyeol clutched onto the cloth of her dress as if it was his last hope for sanity.

**

"Mom," he sniffed as he walked back into the room to see his family bundled up on the floor crying and sniffling. "Mom, we have to go. You need to make arrangements for dad's passing. Come on, I'll take you home." his older sister stood up and pulled their mother up with her. 

"You take care of her, I'll make the arrangements." she said.

Chanyeol nodded and took his mother into his embrace. Haera waited outside the ward patiently as she waited for them.

She felt a pain stab through her heart when she remembered the way Chanyeol's tears rolled down his cheeks.

She didn't cry for Mr. Park.

She cried for Chanyeol.

Well honest to say, it was partly because of the fact that she wasn't as close to her father-in-law as she intended to be, but it was also because she had felt a strong sense of emotional force holding her and Chanyeol together.

Even though she wasn't mourning for Mr Park's death, she was mourning for Chanyeol's loss of a guardian.

The sudden burden of responisibility passed onto him would probably be too much for him to handle. And she promised herself that she would be there for him because she was his wife. 

 Wife rule number 33, Always support your husband.

Chanyeol soon came out of the room with his mother in his arms and gestured with his head for her to follow. Haera trailed behind, almost afraid to fall into step with the two. She took in a breath and walked towards them. She lightly took Mrs Park's right hand with both of her own and let out a small smile when the elder looked up. 

Mrs Park appreciated her effort in trying to comfort her and tightened her grip on the girl's hand as they walked silently towards the car and made their way back home.

**

Chanyeol thrashed wildly on the bed as his nightmares consumed him.

Chanyeol!

He heard a sharp voice in his head. In his unconscious mind, he was running. He was running but he didn't know what he was running from.

Chanyeol.

A voice, he recognised as his father's, called out to him.

"Dad? Dad? Where are you?"

A blurred vision of a road stood before him. As he staggered forward and panted. There he was. Standing in the middle of the road. His deceased father.  

"Dad." He breathed. 

"Chanyeol," his father's deep voice rumbled as he smiled at his son. "Chanyeol, please take care of your wife. There are secrets she doesn't know that might break her if she finds out."

"Dad I-"

"Son, please protect her." his voice trailed off as a bright light came from his left side. He turned around and saw a truck moving at high speed towards his father.

"DAD GET OFF THE ROAD!" He lunged forward to save his father. The sound of honking could be heard and a bright light overpowered them both. Chanyeol looked up again but his father was gone.

Chanyeol! 

A worried voice called before he jolted awake. 

His eyes scanned around the room before it landed on his alarmed wife and he suddenly burst into tears.

"Oh my gosh, Chanyeol are you okay?" Haera's eyes were full of concern as she wiped off Chanyeol's sweat with the sleeve of her shirt. A few minutes after he calmed down, he looked up at her. Chanyeol stared at her with moist eyes, thinking back to his nightmare.  

"Chanyeol? You okay, oppa?" she held onto his face, her cold fingers cooling his warm face.

"I- yeah..." he sniffed.

"Bad dream?" He stayed silent for a few seconds, his eyes boring into hers.

"....yeah.."

"About your dad?" she asked quietly but he heard her perfectly well.

"How did you-"

"You were calling for him." she tore her eyes away from his and looked down at his sweat-drenched shirt. "I'll go get you another shirt." 

Chanyeol nodded absentmindedly as he thought back to his nightmare again.

Was his father trying to tell him something through his dreams? This couldn't be. Chanyeol never believed in these kinds of stuff but somehow, this felt so real. This felt as if his father had so much to tell him but time limited him. He decided to let it go as he curled back into a ball on the bed.

Haera came back with a fresh white v-neck shirt and gave it to Chanyeol. She turned around to give him time to change before going back under the covers.

"Haera?" he called out softly.

"Hmm?" she asked as she turned her body around to face him.

"I'm sorry you had to see me like this."

"No, it's not your fault. You lost someone important to you. I understand."

Of course she would. She of all people would understand.

"Do you really?" Chanyeol couldn't help but ask. She visibly stiffened as she avoided his gaze. She turned to look up at the ceiling and sighed as she pulled the covers closer to her body. 

"Well since we'll be together for awhile, I'll tell you my story." she started as she closed her eyes.

"I lost both my parents to cancer at the age of 10. They were both so kind, so caring. I still remember that they were the most down-to-earth parents you will ever meet. But when they both passed, my father died three weeks after my mother, I was put in what they call a 'special place for kids' also known as the orphanage.

I was taken out of school and I left all my friends behind. I was bullied at the orphange. Always being called 'too girly', 'weakling' and 'skinny freak' by all the other kids there just because I was more well-behaved. Once, I even got slapped by a 12-year-old for asking him to pass the salt.

Being left out, pushed at the playground, shoved everywhere else, I got scars almost everyday and the adults there didn't even think anything was wrong. They thought I was just some clumsy girl who fell everytime she walked." she laughed bitterly at the memory.

"Because I never complained." she whispered before turning her head to Chanyeol to see if he was still awake. She met his rounded eyes and giggled slightly before continuing.

"That's how I started to become anti-social. Well not completely anti-social I mean, I still knew how to make friends, but I had a phobia of starting conversations because I would always end up getting beaten up.

But then, about a year later I was adopted by a family. A kind, rich and caring family who provided me with everything. They always talked to me, never made me feel uncomfortable and they aware of how difficult it was for me to communicate with other people. They were afraid I would never get married if I didn't talk to boys. So when I was 13, they enrolled me in the Housewife Academy and I learnt how to be a good housewife. I graduated last year with the highest honours and well, here I am." she shrugged.

She looked over at him again and asked him a question

"Do you know about the saying 'To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men'?" He nodded his head in response and she closed her eyes wearily.

"Do you...do you think I was a coward for keeping things to myself?" Chanyeol's gaze softened as he watched her calm expression.

"No..." he whispered. 

"Really?" she slurred as sleep began to take over her body.

"Yeah..." he smiled at her even though she couldn't see.

"I think you were really brave," he curled a piece of stray hair behind her ear as he leaned against his arm and watched her sleep.

"Really really brave."