3 years later...

Ari’s POV

I hated planes so ing much. I hated them with a passion. And I knew, I knew they hated me too. Maybe my hatred had something with the fact that I had been in a plane for the past 10+ hours…maybe.

 The guy next to me snored lightly, a bit of saliva running down his chin. 5 hours ago I might have said iew, but after 10 hours in a plane I was beyond caring. I just wanted out.

Finally, the flight attendant announced that we should buckle up, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Securing the seat belt, I looked around, noticing that the guy next to me buckled up too, and even wiped away the drool. Good for him.

I pulled my long hair to one shoulder, braiding it into a loose braid. I was so used to having it short that I still sometimes got surprised when I saw how long it was. It was the same with my body…I was used to it looking sickly and frail, but now I had a body of 21 year old woman. Thank God for that.

The first thing I saw was the sign. Incheon airport. And for some strange reason I got nervous. There were a thousand what if-s in my mind, and before I knew it the last 3 years replayed in my head. Thank God there was a lot of luggage and not surprisingly, a lot of people waiting for said luggage, so nobody noticed me spacing out.

When I got to the research institute I felt numb, completely and utterly numb. My doctor, who was waiting for me there, noticed.

“Ari, everything alright?” I saw concern in his eyes, but couldn’t bring myself to feel anything. Somewhere in the past week and now I went from confusion to numbness…I couldn’t decide which one I liked better.

“Sure.” No. Ji left me. Of all times, he left me now.

They didn’t waste any time, and after I dropped my stuff in my new bedroom, I was whisked away to the room where I would get the treatment.

A middle aged woman greeted me. Her face looked cold and determined but I could see some warmth in her eyes that told me she was a good person underneath the stone like face. She explained how at first I would get the treatment for a week, and they would carefully look for any changes, good or bad. If good occurred then we would proceed with the full treatment of a month. If that worked I would come back for another treatment…and then I should be fine. I wanted to ask where the magic bunny would come into the picture but refrained from doing so, a slight inkling telling me she would sooo not appreciate that.

Apparently they would inject particles of iron into my cancer cells, and then with a laser beam make those iron particles spin…and in the process of all of that the cell would get destroyed. I absently nodded to what she was saying, knowing I wouldn’t understand a thing even if I tried.

And surprisingly enough, the treatment worked. 4 months after that, I was declared cured. Apparently I was a rare case where the treatment worked 100%. And the best news was that the cancer couldn’t  be coming back.

My family was happy as if we won a million dollars, and although I still felt the numbness because of Ji, I felt happy too. God took away the one thing that I thought made my life worth living for, and instead gave me life. Very funny, God, very funny…

I worked my off to finish high school, and managed to get into med school the following year. I couldn’t believe how my life turned out to be. It was starting to look perfect, except for me missing Ji all the time. I couldn’t make myself date. My friends (which I met first day of med school) tried to set me up…but none of the guys even came close to Ji.

One night, while I wondered (again…and yes I know I’m pathetic) what happened with Ji, I realized that I never questioned why my treatment was for free. Something didn’t make sense, and before I knew it I was calling the institute.

After giving them my information, I was informed my treatment was paid in full, the day Ji called me to break up with me. I knew, I just knew he paid for it, and felt hot tears slid down my face.

He did that for me…but why did he then break up with me? I still loved him, I think everybody knew that, and with the time of him getting out of the army nearing, I wanted some answers. I knew just the person.

I wasn’t sure if he changed his number, and I knew I would be incredibly lucky if he didn’t, but I knew he would tell me what I needed to know.

2 rings and a sleepy voice answered with a grumpy:

“De?” , it was like 3 am in Korea, I forgot.

“Ri? It’s Ari. Sorry for waking you up, I’ll call later.” I heard some sheets moving and went to hung up when I heard Seungri’s voice again.

“Ari? How are you? My God, it is good to hear from you again.” He sounded more awake, and although he still had the accent, his English had improved too.

I knew he and Seungyun were the only of the 5 who were out of the army, but I didn’t have Seunghyun’s phone number so he was out, leaving me Ri. And he was my first choice anyways, since I knew that he would probably tell me what I need to know, regardless if he was supposed to tell me or not.

After filling in Ri about my life, and just enjoying hearing his voice again I mustered up the courage to ask the question I had been avoiding.

“Ri… I know you are probably not supposed to tell me, but I need to know, why did Ji break up with me? I found out yesterday that he paid for my treatment which confuses me even more…please, tell me.”

“Ari…do you still love him?” Ri asked, his voice suddenly very serious.

“Y-yes.”

“Then, I’ll answer you, you know I don’t follow orders well anyways.” I giggled and waited for him to continue.

“YG told him how it was selfish of him to be with you when he would not actually be with you during your treatment…or your life, what with his career and the army. But…Ji wouldn’t have done anything if he didn’t feel the same way…he felt like he wasn’t good enough, like he couldn’t take care of you like a normal boyfriend should. At the time I kept quiet, thinking how with your cancer and everything you didn’t need a kpop star boyfriend too…the fans can be harsh, the netizens even harsher. But now…I think you two should try again. And Ari?” He suddenly asked, but I barely heard him over how fast and loud my heart was beating.

“Y-yes?”

“Don’t take no for an answer, Ji can be stubborn and stupid sometimes…you two are perfect for each other, and I know you can handle him and his life style, he just doesn’t realize it yet.”

“What should I do Ri?” I asked suddenly feeling lost.

“He is getting out of the army in 3 months. After that he’ll be working on a solo album. I think you should come to Korea in…9 months. I think that would be the right timing. I’ll be by then in the army, but don’t worry, I’ll tell Youngbae hyung to help you get to Ji.”

“T-thank you, Ri.” I whispered, feeling a mixture of happiness and nervousness.

“Don’t you thank me, just make him happy. I missed you Ari, and I can say that on the behalf of all the guys.” I ended the conversation smiling.

And here I was, 9 months later, and if I could beat cancer, I sure as hell could make Ji see that our love was once in a lifetime thing and after getting my life back, I would be damned if I would let that love slip away.

A/N That treatment I talked about actually exists, but I think it has been only tested on animals, if anybody wants to know where I got the info from just lemme know. ;)

Please comment and love you guys :*