Slowly I turned my head towards the voice’s direction. I could feel my heart hammering loudly inside my ribcage. I prayed that he wasn’t someone I knew. But life always gave you surprises.

Standing tall in front of me was someone I briefly knew these past weeks, yet he was one of my closest friends. Joo Hyuk tilted his head towards the room which I’d just gone out from. I followed his eyes’ direction. I chewed my lips realizing the question he would ask soon.

“What are you doing here?” He stopped for a moment and squinted his eyes to read the words hung in front of the door. “At the brain cancer department?!” His voice rose a bit in shock. I bowed down my head and looked at the floor. Many things kept spinning around inside my head right now. Whether I should tell him the truth or just said that I was just passing by.

My body suddenly betrayed me and helped me to decide. I swayed a bit because of the sudden headache and hurriedly sat down on the chairs placed in the hallway. I held my head between my arms and closed my eyes tightly in hope of reducing the pain. Joo Hyuk quickly sat down beside me and worriedly asked me how I felt.

I couldn’t answer him right away because of the immense pain. After a few minutes, I calmed down and the pain subsided bit by bit. I glanced at the worried Joo Hyuk. He placed one of his arms around me to comfort me and I thanked him for it. My forehead was damped from the sweats. I smiled tiredly at him and stood up wobbly. He immediately stood up and steadied me. I gestured him to follow me to the café in front of the hospital. I guessed I should tell him the truth now.

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We were both sitting quietly in front of each other. Two cups of lattes were placed in front of us, yet no one seemed to take the first move to drink them. We were engulfed in pregnant silence. Occasionally Joo Hyuk glanced at me but soon averted his gaze when I returned it back. I sighed and decided to sip the latte to calm my nerves. I cleared my throat lightly to get his attention.

 “Joo Hyuk, before I told you about something, can you promise that you will help me to keep it from anyone else even from EXO and So Hyun?” I pleaded at him.

He looked flustered for a second but soon he nodded his head in agreement. I closed my eyes, let out a sigh, and then I decided to tell him the truth about my condition. After I finished telling him those dreadful things, I dared myself to look at his reaction.

He looked at me in sympathy but not in pity. His face remained neutral but I could see behind that mask, he had his own story. He slowly unattached his fingers and reached out one of them to hold my hand.

“I wanted to tell you a story,” He ghostly smiled. His eyes remained gentle as he looked at me straight at my eyes. “Long time ago, there was a happy family. One day they were having a picnic in the garden of them. A boy played soccer together with his brother and their parents watched them from a far with smiles on their face. But those blissful images soon shattered as the mother suddenly coughed out some blood. The little boy screamed and automatically ran towards his mom.”

“But his mom reached out his hands to stop them getting closer to her. She asked her husband to help her to go to their bedroom. Before she left the garden, she smiled at the boys and told them she would be okay soon.” He smiled sadly as his other free hand fiddled with the cup in front of him. He took a deep breath before he continued.

“The boy innocently believed those words and he continued playing with his brother without any second thoughts. He was just a mere little boy, as clueless as a child could be. But few weeks later he realized something was definitely wrong with his mother. She was getting thinner day by day and she rarely smiled. But every time he asked her whether something was wrong, she just smiled and patted his head lightly to assure him.” His eyes clouded with tears. I squeezed his hand lightly and he smiled faintly. I realized the situation by now.

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