I couldn’t tell them because... I didn’t know how to.

The moment I met Ririn, I knew that the rest of the boys would become extremely attached to her because she’s just like him. And the fact that she and I already grew a pretty good bonding on the first few minutes after meeting was enough evidence for that.

I already knew right from the start that Ririn had cancer and Huntington’s disease... But I didn’t know it wasterminal. The hole in her heart made everything a little worse. It could stop beating at any random time which I fear the most.

“All this time, you’ve been hiding about Ririn’s cancer...?” Tae Yang was in complete and utter disbelief.

The guys knew about Huntington’s disease from the letter I received a week ago. But the letter never said anything about her pancreatic cancer.

“So, what’s gonna happen to Ririn...?” Seungri croaked almost silently, showing the same expression as Tae Yang. “Is she... You know...”

“Don’t think that way Seungri, of course she’s not!!!” Ji Yong snapped angrily, though I could just tell by the look on his eyes that he’s wondering the same thing too. “Does that strong crazy girl look like she’s going to die?!”

“Don’t raise your voice, Ji Yong.” I began sternly, giving him a small glare. “You’ll just get yourself more attention.”

The ambulance took us to the hospital, despite the fact that the apartment building was crowded by the paparazzi. The doctors instructed us to wait in the waiting room whilst Ririn was being treated and it had been an hour and a half since then. The stomach pain was a matter of fact one of the symptoms to the cancer... Unfortunately.

“But if it wasn’t for you keeping this from us, we could’ve done something sooner!” Ji Yong exclaimed, returning an icy glare at me. “She would’ve been taken to ther—“

“Not even therapy will help her.” I muttered blankly, straining myself from showing any pained emotions. “Ms. Kang confirmed me that after running tests with the doctor. There’s no way to save Ririn and you wouldn’t know, she could die any minute.”

This time, Ji Yong stood up and headed to where I was seated. He abruptly grabbed my collar and pushed me violently against the nearest wall, not giving a damn whether I bumped into someone or if I knocked one of the floor vases. His grip was much tighter than earlier that it made me let out a small cough.

“Hey, hey!” Tae Yang quickly ran to Ji Yong with Daesung and attempted to pull him off of me by his shoulders. “Hurting Seung Hyun won’t do anything!”

Ji Yong shrugged the two of them off of his shoulders and yelled, “How could you be so heartless?! Doesn’t mean Ririn anything to you?! We know you never wanted to take care of her in the first place but—!”

“Ririn means absolutely everything to me.”

I felt Ji Yong’s grip loosen.

“What do you expect me to do Ji Yong, cry?! Crying won’t save her!”

Yet... I could feel my tears threatening to come out.

“No matter how many times I tell myself that Ririn’s not dying, I knew I had to face reality eventually! I need to stop living in a dream where everything’s okay... I can’t run away from what’s gonna happen next anymore...”

He removed his hands off of my shirt and I instantly—

THUD!

—collapsed down to my knees.

“I’ve only known Ririn for less than a month... But it feels like I’ve known her my entire life... It feels like she really is my family.”

I could sense everyone in the waiting room’s eyes on me.

“Yeah, I admit, I didn’t wanna take care of her at the start because I was too selfish to even do something to a friend, but that’s all changed now ever since I’ve gotten to know her!”

“Seung Hyun...”

“So don’t you dare call me heartless!”

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“Seung Hyun, it was only a stomach pain! You didn’t have to take me to the hospital!” Ririn beamed.

If only she knew...

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“Home sweet home!!! I thought they were gonna make me stay in the hospital all night!” The girl made a disgusted face as she continued, “I hate the smell of hospitals!”

“Ririn, go get some rest okay?” Ji Yong began, raising his hand up to hold her shoulder. “You have school tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah, I completely forgot tomorrow’s Monday...” Ririn mumbled. “But, it’s only seven thirty PM! I never sleep that early! And since when were you concerned about when I sleep?”

I noticed Ji Yong’s face slightly stiffen and turn pale. I guess her condition affected him as much as it did to me.

“I’ll take you to bed, Ririn.” Seungri said and held onto her wrist before dragging her upstairs. “You really do need to rest.”

“But, I don’t wanna—!”

“Ririn, please rest.” This time Tae Yang spoke, flashing the girl a warm smile. “Girls your age should be in bed at this hour.”

“Sure, if you take ten years away from my age.” Ririn chuckled, but stopped when he realised how dead serious Tae Yang was. “Fine, I’ll go to bed... Good night, guys.”

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I wish they never knew, otherwise they’re gonna make everything obvious to Ririn. They’re gonna feel sympathy towards her and become more obsessed with how she takes care of her health. Knowing Ririn, I know she’s going to find out what’s up straight away if they do so...

I don’t wanna tell Ririn yet... But then again, if I won’t tell her sooner, she won’t be prepared with what’s gonna happen next.

xxx

Okay, since I miss writing in Ririn’s point of view very much, next chapter will be in hers. I’m glad that I still have readers reading this, thank you.

(Because of you, I continue to update even though it’s pretty obvious this story’s dying.)