The plane landed in record time and Jan Di and Ji Hoo quickly got into the limousine that was waiting for them. 

“Ji Hoo, thank you for arranging the transportation.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Jan Di said gratefully.

“Of course.” Ji Hoo said somberly.

The limousine took off and Jan Di dialed Ga Eul.

“Where are you?”

“Back in Seoul.  Did you find out which hospital Joon Pyo is at?”

“Yes.  Samsung Medical Center…” Ga Eul paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “He’s in the Cancer Centre…”

“What?!” Jan Di yelled into the phone.

“Calm down, Jan Di.  Everything will be explained to you when you come.”

“You can’t just tell me something like that and then-“

Ga Eul cut her off, “Yi Jung is here.  I’ll see you soon.”  Then Ga Eul ended the call.

 “Jan Di-ah?” Ji Hoo asked.  Jan Di just stared at her phone.

“Geum Jan Di!” he raised his voice.

“Oh…y-yes…”

“Jan Di, you have to tell the driver where to go.”

“Right.” She started to snap herself out of her daze. She leaned forward and spoke to the driver, “Ahjussi, please go to Samsung Medical Center.”

“Yes, Agashi.”  The driver turned the limousine around and headed towards the hospital.

“Sunbae…” Jan Di said with tears in her eyes. “Sunbae…”

Ji Hoo took her hands in his, “What did Ga Eul tell you, Jan Di?”

“I think Joon Pyo has cancer…” And with that she dissolved into tears.

Ji Hoo pulled her into an embrace. “It will be okay, Jan Di.  Don’t cry.”  He kissed her on the forehead and tried his best to console her.

Finally, after a half hour of dealing with Seoul traffic, the limousine pulled up to the hospital.  Chu Ga Eul and Yi Jung were waiting by the entrance.  Ga Eul ran up and hugged Jan Di.  Yi Jung put his arm around Ji Hoo.

“What’s going on?” Ji Hoo asked Yi Jung.

“Man, I don’t even know where to start…let’s just get you up to Joon Pyo’s room.” Yi Jung sighed.

The four of them took the elevator up and rushed out onto the floor.  Jan Di saw Madam Kang speaking with a doctor and sprinted towards them.

“Omonim!  Where is Joon Pyo?  Is he okay?!”

“You run off and now you’re worried?”

“Oma!” Gu Joon Hee stepped around the corner with Woo Bin. “Now is not the time for petty remarks!”

Madam Kang folder her arms and looked away, “You can hear directly from the doctor.”

Jan Di looked at the doctor expectantly.  “Agashi, please have a seat.”  The doctor directed her to a chair. “Gu Joon Pyo-ssi has a malignant glioma.  We will be removing as much of the tumor as we can in two days.  He was not responding to treatment, so we want to go through with this surgery as soon as possible before the tumor invades more brain tissue than it has already.”

Ji Hoo put his head in his hands.  Madam Kang struggled to keep tears back.  Joon Hee put comforting hands on her mother’s shoulders.

Jan Di sat back, shocked. “Pardon?  A brain tumor?  I don’t understand.  This can’t be real.  I need to see Joon Pyo right now!  Where is he?”

“He’s in room 703, Jan Di.” Joon Hee said.  “He’s been waiting for you.”

Jan Di ran down the hall towards the room leaving Ga Eul and the remainder of the F4 to make sense of everything.

Jan Di rushed into the hospital room and saw Joon Pyo lying on the bed, hooked up to a myriad of medical equipment.

“Joon-ah?  Joon-ah, are you okay?”  She quickly pulled a chair up to his bedside and sat down next to him.

Joon Pyo slowly opened his eyes and turned his head towards Jan Di.

“Jan Di...” He tried to raise his hand to her face, but did not have the strength.

“Joon…the doctor told me…” She began to sob, “He told me you have a malignant brain tumor.  Tell me this isn’t true.”

Joon Pyo closed his eyes tightly and sighed, “It’s true, jagiya.  I am sorry.”

“No, no!  I am the one who is sorry.”  Jan Di grabbed his hand. “How long have you known?”

“Awhile.” Joon Pyo looked away.

Jan Di stared at him for a moment speechless before asking the only question that came to mind out of the thousands of thoughts running through her head.  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“No good would have come from me telling you.  It’s spreading faster than they first thought.  I thought I could hide treatments from you.  I tried.  I cut my hair shorter.  I covered up my absence with meetings and trips overseas.  I didn’t want to hurt you, but I didn’t want you to see me like this.  I didn’t want to become a burden to you.”

“You pushed me away from you instead of letting me care for you.” She sniffled, “I-I don’t understand.”

At that moment Ji Hoo came into the hospital room.

“I know, but there was a reason for that.” Joon Pyo made eye contact with Ji Hoo.

“What reason?” Jan Di asked.

Joon Pyo raised his hand in the direction of Ji Hoo.

“What are you saying?” Jan Di shook her head slowly as she couldn’t understand what he was implying.

“Jan Di-ah.  I told Ji Hoo once that if it wasn’t me, it had to be him.  If I could no longer be with you, then I wanted him to take care of you.  When I found out about this illness, it killed me, but I began pushing you away.  I began to treat you coldly.  I wanted you to leave me.  There’s no way I would let you live like that.”

Jan Di sat back dumbfounded.  Ji Hoo blew air out of his mouth sharply. 

Jan Di slightly raised her voice, “You’re kidding, right?  Joon Pyo, this is some sick joke, right?!  Sunbae, did you know about this?”

Ji Hoo looked down at his hands, “What he said to me about taking care of you was true, but he said that a very long time ago.  I didn’t know about his illness.”

Jan Di looked from one man to the other before setting her eyes on Joon Pyo.  “Joon, this is ridiculous.”

Joon Pyo’s eyes began to tear up. “Jan Di-ah.  I wanted to marry you.  I wanted to have children with you.  I wanted to grow old with you.  But I don’t know if this world will allow me such selfish wants.  I never for a second stopped loving you.  I’ve always loved you.  And when my time on this Earth is done, I will still love you.  You will always be my moon.  I hoped that I could always embrace you as your star.”

Jan Di had tears streaming down her face.  She leaned forward and touched his cheek.  “Stop talking like that.  It’s not over.  You’re still alive.  Shouldn’t I have a say in whether I want to stay or go?”

“I’ll go get some water.” Ji Hoo offered to give the pair some time alone.  “I’ll see you in a bit, Joon Pyo.” And with that he backed out of the room.

Jan Di continued, “Joon-ah, the doctor says they will perform surgery on you in two days’ time.  You’ll get better.  We can-”

Joon Pyo cut her off, “It’s a risky surgery.  My tumor hasn’t reacted well to the treatment and the surgery…well there is not a good chance of complete removal of the tumor.  There’s a high mortality rate.”

Jan Di sighed and was silent for a moment.  She wiped her tears and looked Joon Pyo square in the eyes, “I will stay with you.”

“Jan Di-ah.” Joon said, half sighing.

“Joon, please don’t tell me to leave.  If you do, I may go so crazy that I don’t know what I’ll do.  Let me stay here with you.  Let me take care of you.  Whether its tomorrow, or fifty years from now, let me stay until the end.  Now that I know why you’ve done all this, I feel like a fool.  I should have known.  How could you just send me off to Ji Hoo like that?”

Joon Pyo began to softly cry.  “I was the fool.  I shouldn’t have pushed you away.  But, I know Ji Hoo was your first love.  I know how he feels about you.  And I know as much as you love me, you love him, too.”

“You know nothing, Joon Pyo.  Nothing…” She put her head down in her arms beside him on the bed and her body shook with sobs.  Joon Pyo placed his hand on her head and began to her hair. 

Ji Hoo was standing outside of the hospital room and heard everything.  A tear fell down his cheek.  You’ve made a fool out of all of us, Joon Pyo.  You allowed Jan Di and I to come this far for this?  Did you think we would rejoice in your death with a wedding of our own?  Did you think we were that unfaithful to you?  You’re a bastard, Gu Joon Pyo.  A damned fool and a bastard.

Ji Hoo came back in the room carrying a tray that had a water pitcher and glasses.  “I’ll set this over here by the couch.  Do you need a glass of water, Joon Pyo?”

“Yeah…thank you, Ji Hoo.”  Joon Pyo graciously accepted the glass of water and took a sip before he began to cough.  Jan Di grabbed a cloth and wiped up some water that escaped his lips.  “I’m a little tired, now.  I am going to rest.” Joon Pyo said.

“We’ll be here when you wake up.” Ji Hoo said reassuringly.  Jan Di looked up at Ji Hoo with tears in her eyes.  She had never felt worse than right now.  She didn’t know how to process the information that was dropped on her.  She didn’t know what to say to Ji Hoo.  Jeju island seemed like eons ago.  Ji Hoo simply placed a hand on her shoulder before sitting down on the couch.  He didn’t know what to say.

Eventually, Jan Di fell asleep at Joon Pyo’s bedside and Ji Hoo slept on the couch.  Jan Di awoke the next morning when Joon Hee entered the room.

“Unnie?” Jan Di asked.

Joon Pyo’s sister had brought a basket of fruit with her. “Shhh.  Don’t wake up the boys.”  She set the basket down and motioned for Jan Di to come outside with her.  Once outside the room, Joon Hee embraced Jan Di and both of them started to cry.

“Why didn’t he tell me, unnie?  Why?”

“I know, Jan Di-ah.  He told me everything and made me promise not to tell you.  I am so sorry.”

“Omonim and Abunim must think so little of me right now.”

“They don’t.  They were in on this, too.  From start to end.  This twisted game we all ended up playing, just to protect you from the truth. It was all for nothing. Joon Pyo, that pabo, shouldn’t have left it this way.”

“Unnie, what do I do now?”

“Jan Di-ah, stay by his side.  Even if he tries to push you away.  His best chance to recover is your love for him.”

Later that morning when Jan Di was heading down to grab a bite to eat from the cafeteria, she saw Ji Hoo leaning against the wall in the hallway.  She walked up to him with her head down.  They were standing toe to toe, neither wanting to look the other in the eye.  The worst part about this for Jan Di is that her feelings for Ji Hoo had not disappeared.  She was exhausted.  She was heartbroken.  She was torn between two men, but she knew the choice she had to make, no matter how hard it was.

“Sunbae, I don’t even know where to begin.” Jan Di stifled a sob.

“You don’t have to; I already know and feel the same.” He tried to reassure her.

“I am going to have to stop working at the clinic.” She finally looked up at him, “Joon Pyo needs me by his side.  He needs someone to care for him.  I am sorry.”

“I understand.” Ji Hoo said, trying to smile, “I will miss seeing you every day.”

Before she knew it, she embraced him tightly, burying her face in his chest.  She clung to her firefighter as long as she still could.  “I will always be grateful and sorry to you.  I love you, Yoon Ji Hoo.”

Her confession only made the situation more painful, but he managed to utter a response.  “I love you, too, Geum Jan Di.” He kissed her lightly on the forehead as a tear rolled down his face.  “I love you, too.”

A/N:  Man…this was a hard chapter to write.  I listened to “Say Something” by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera while I was writing and I even found myself tearing up at some parts.  I hope you enjoyed this VERY bittersweet chapter.  This story is not over yet, dear readers.  Hang in there.