3rd Person POV~

Two days later, at the hospital, Mr. Kim went into Mr. Byun's room to check up on him. Mr. Byun was sitting up in his bed reading a book with Mrs. Byun by his side.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Mr. Kim asked as he pulled out his clipboard with papers on it.

"I'm feeling better thanks to you," Mr. Byun smiled, thankful.

"That's good to hear," Mr. Kim smiled back as he wrote some stuff down on the papers. "I'll have a nurse stop by to give you medication and we'll discuss when you can discharge from the hospital."

Mr. Byun nodded and Mr. Kim bowed before he left the room. He shut the door behind him and deeply exhaled, shutting his eyes to rethink his next move from the conversation he had the previous night with his wife.

*****

"Whatever you do, he isn't allowed to leave that hospital nor is he allowed to recover," Mrs. Kim told him as they were in their bedroom getting ready for bed. Mr. Kim swallowed hard and looked to his wife.

"What do you suggest I do?" he asked with a low voice. She smiled up at him and pointed to him.

"You're the doctor here, not me. You figure it out," she said and slipped into the bed. "As long as you don't kill him then anything will do."

*****

Mr. Kim opened his eyes and let out another sigh before heading to the nurses desk. He set the clipboard on the desk and said, "Mr. Byun isn't feeling any better. I've written down the recommended prescription, so please give it to him later today. I'll come back to check up on him."

"Yes sir," the nurse said and he left with a heavy heart. He looked back to Mr. Byun's closed door and let out a deep sigh before turning away to see another patient.

The nurse who was assigned to Mr. Byun headed into the medicine room and grabbed the medication Mr. Kim had told her to grab. She looked at it and saw how high the dosage was, thinking Mr. Byun really wasn't feeling any better. She returned to the desk with the medication in her hand and started typing down information for Mr. Byun's records.

Meanwhile, in his hospital room, he and his wife were enjoying breakfast Seolhyun had cooked for them; she came earlier before she headed off to work. It was peaceful in the room when there was a knock at the door. 

"Mr. Byun, your medication is here," the nurse said and she walked in the room after his permission. She set the silver tray on a desk by the bed and handed him his medication along with a glass of water. With no questions and complete faith in the nurse, he took the pills and swallowed it down with water. He let out a sigh and smiled, thanking her.

"Dr. Kim will be in shortly to check on you. For the time being, please rest well," she said and bowed to him before she left the room. Mrs. Byun turned to her husband and smiled.

"I can't wait until you get back home. It's only been two days and I've already started missing you at the house," she sweetly said and he chuckled.

"I'm sure I'll be able to discharge later this evening, I am feeling better afterall," he said and grabbed his wife's hand, giving it a kiss full of love. "Besides, I've missed being home."

She blushed and squeezed onto his hand. The day went on with the thought that Mr. Byun would be able to return home and finish recovering in his bed, there was no suspicion of any harmful threats to his body.

Mr. Byun waited patiently to hear about his discharge when a thought came to his mind. He reached under his pillow to pull out a newspaper; it was the paper from two days ago. He looked at the article that was written about Baekhyun and he sighed with a heavy heart, thinking who would write such a thing about his wonderful son. Mrs. Byun saw the newspaper in his hand and she also let out a sigh.

"I hope Baekhyun is doing well," she said, also worried about their son. "I hope that article didn't make him lose hope."

"Don't underestimate Baekhyun's ability," Mr. Byun said, folding the newspaper back. "Secretary Moon has been informing me on his work and he's doing a great job. Honestly, I'm no longer needed at this point, he can handle the Byun Group himself. Besides, he has all the support he needs from us and Mina. If we don't support him then that's when he'll lose hope."

Mrs. Byun pressed her lips tight together and nodded. At that time, there was a knock at the door and their heads both turned in that direction.

"Mr. Byun, it's me, Mina," she said and Mrs. Byun was quick to open the door for her.

"Mina!" Mrs. Byun greeted her happily and hugged her. Mina returned the hug and looked at Mr. Byun once they released each other.

"Hello, sir," she bowed and he gave a deep laugh.

"It's weird to have you call me sir and even Mr. Byun. I'm practically your father," he laughed. "Please, just call me abeoji."

Mina gave a faint smile and nodded as she approached him with a bag in her hand. She set the bag on the empty desk beside him and said, "I'm sorry Baekhyun and I haven't come to see you."

He smiled and shook his head, "It's okay. You're both busy people, I understand."

"I brought some different kinds of bread to snack on, I hope you don't mind," she said and they snickered.

"Of course not," they both said and Mrs. Byun took a seat out for her to sit on. Mina sat down and it went quiet for awhile.

"How have you been feeling?" she asked and Mr. Byun smiled.

"I'm all better thanks to Mr. Kim," he answered and she smiled.

"That's good to hear," she softly said. "Baekhyun's been really worried about you."

He nodded knowing how worried both his children were about him. Mina shifted in her seat and looked to Mrs. Byun.

"Thank you for the recipe for the soup, Baekhyun enjoyed it," she giggled. "He said it reminded him of when you used to cook for him when he was younger; when he had a hard time."

"You're welcome, Mina. I'm more than happy to share more with you," she smiled and softly asked, "How has Baekhyun been? Has he seen that article?"

Mina's heart sunk a bit and forced a smile. She looked down to her hands that rested in her lap and fiddled with her fingers.

"Baekhyun has seen the article and made no big deal about it," Mina told his parents. "He's been working hard day and night, but he acts like everything is fine, like he's not exhausted and that he's not worried about how he's doing."

His parents exchanged looks and could see the worry in her face. Mrs. Byun placed a hand on Mina's shoulder as she could relate to her and Mina looked up at her.

"Mina," she said her name in a soft, gentle voice; a motherly tone. "You and I both know Baekhyun hides himself because he doesn't want to burden you with his worries. My husband, himself, was just like that when he first started as the CEO and I wasn't sure what to do other than silently worry about him like you. Even when I would bring it up, he would shelter me with words that he was okay and that his work wasn't difficult at all, but you have to be persistent. Let him open up about his worries and you have to continue to give him that never-ending support. It's what you do to the person you love."

Mina slightly widened her eyes at the word love and looked away. She couldn't tell him that she didn't love their son...that she didn't believe in it.

"Mina, your existence at this point is very crucial in Baekhyun's life," Mr. Byun said and he looked to his wife. "Because of your love and support, Baekhyun will have no worries."

Mina swallowed hard, hearing the word "love" a second time.

"Love...does it look like I love Baekhyun?" she whispered  under breath that only she could hear it. She looked at his parents and forced a smile, "Thank you for the advice. I'll do my best."

They smiled at her words and the day went on with more "lectures" about life. Mina didn't mind the life lessons anymore and patiently listened to them.

Baekhyun's POV~

I sat alone in my office while typing up some papers. That's all I've been doing today that my hands were cramping up here and there. I sighed and looked up at the wall clock, ready to get out of here and visit my father at the hospital; I just hope Mina's still there...I really miss her. I wasn't able to see her this morning as I had to leave early for a meeting, but seeing Bacon was good enough.

I had one last meeting to attend for the evening, so I finished my paper and took a deep breath to get rid of my exhaustion. I stood up and stretched before walking to the door when the door opened, almost hitting me.

"Baekhy-OH! You scared me!" Secretary Moon jumped, startled to see me. I snickered and smiled.

"If you're here to remind me about the meeting, then you don't have to worry about that. I'm on my way there," I said and he sighed.

"Not only that, but I came to give you some vitamin to energize you," he said, holding up a huge bottle of vitamins. "Not once have you left the office and so I got worried. Please, if you don't mind, have some before the meeting. I heard it's going to be a long one."

I smiled wider and took the bottle from him.

"Thank you so much, Secretay Moon. I appreciate it," I said with a small head bow. I twisted the lid open and took two vitamins. I handed him back the bottle and walked passed him with one last smile.

I took the elevator down to the conference room on the third floor and made my way to greet the businessmen when I saw someone unexpected sitting in one of the seats around the long table. She was the only female in this room while wearing a skin tight black dress and she loaded herself with diamonds...let's not forget to mention that she was not invited. And there's only one woman who best fits this description and that would be Mrs. Kim.

"Good evening, Mr. Byun," Mr. Jang greeted; he would be the oldest one here in this room. I warmly smiled and bowed to him and the rest before making eye contact with Mrs. Kim. She gave me a smirk before turning away with her arms crossed; the way she did it though annoyed me.

I took my seat in the center and started the meeting. Things were going smoothly with the building construction in Japan and the businessmen shared their thoughts on new ideas. I listened attentively, but at the same time I glanced over to Mrs. Kim here and there wondering why she was here in the first place.

Everytime she talked, annoyed me. She disagreed with many of the businesssmen and had unprofessional body language. I sighed and looked at the wall clock hoping this meeting would end soon when the door flung open. All eyes were on Secretary Moon as he firmly held onto the door handle with wide eyes.

"It's rude to barge in like that," I said to him as he bowed, apologizing. "Whatever it is, it can wait until this meeting is ov-"

"Something happened to your father!" he said in a rush and I felt my heart drop. I tried to stay calm and looked straight into his eyes. "I just got a call from Secretary Han and he said your father-"

"I understand, you may leave," I interrupted and raised my hand up for him to go. There were many people in this room that did not need to know of my father's condition, so I had to stop him from what he was going to say because whatever is said in this room will not stay in this room. 

I stood up from my seat and bowed to the men and woman, "I'm sorry for the sudden interruption."

"What happened to your father?" Mrs. Kim asked with that fake worried face of hers. I deeply inhaled and clenched my jaw; she was only trying to get on my nerves.

"I'm not sure myself," I said and turned to the men surrounding the table. "If you'd excuse me, I have an emergency to get to. I'll be sure to give you all a call for our next meeting. Again, I'm sorry."

They were all very understanding and I gave one last bow before leaving the room. As I made my way down to the parking lot, I pulled out my phone (which was on silence) to see that I had many missed calls from my mother, Seolhyun and Mina. It must have been serious for all of them to call me like that.

I reached my car and got in, starting the engine. I called my mother back and drove off to the hospital.

"Baekhyun," my mother quietly answered after the 4th ring; it seemed as if she just got done crying and exhausted herself.

"What happened to abeoji?" I asked, worried.

"I don't know what happened, we were all just talking when suddenly he got pale and vomitted...," she said with a pause; I could hear her sniffling. "...there was blood, Baekhyun. There was blood in his vomit."

Just hearing that worried me even more. I clenched onto my cellphone and told her, "I'm on my way to the hospital right now. I won't take long. Just stay with Seolhyun and Mina."

"Mina isn't here anymore...she left as soon as the nurses took your father away," she said and furrowed my brows. "She didn't say a word and just left."

I was at a lost for words and said, "How could she-"

"She was scared, Baekhyun-ah," my mother said, cutting me off, and she sighed. "She didn't leave to be rude, she left because she was scared. She didn't have to tell me anything for me to know what was going through her head."

I had many things going through my own head and sighed, "I understand. I'll be at the hospital in 15 minutes and I'll give her call."

"It's okay," my mother softly said and I stopped at a traffic light. "Go find Mina, there would be no point for you to come here when your father will still be in the E.R. I'll be fine since I have Seolhyun here with me, so look for her."

"But-"

"Your father would have wanted you to look for her too," she cut me off once again. "You can come to the hospital later tonight; maybe then your father will return to the room."

The traffic lights turned green and I stepped on the gas, making a U-turn...pretty sure it was an illegal U-turn, but I had to go back.

"Alright, I'll find her and come by later," I said and I knew my mother was smiling. "Update me on aboji's condition though, okay?"

"Definitely," she said and I hung up, now calling Mina. She wasn't picking up though, so I gave up and decided to just keep driving home.

It wasn't long when I got to the apartment complex and made my way into ours. I used the elevator to go up and once the doors opened at my level, I fast-walked to the apartment door and pressed in our password. I buzzed open and I walked in to have Bacon welcome me at the door. I gave him a quick smile and patted his head as I took off my shoes.

"Is Mina here by any chance?" I asked him and he trotted away, stopping midway to look back at me. I snickered, thinking he was going to lead me to her, and so I followed behind. To my disappointment, he led me to the kitchen, in an area where his food and water bowl was empty. I looked down at him in disbelief and turned my head to look at the clock. It was a little bit past his dinner and I figured Mina didn't feed him, so I filled his bowls to satisfy him. He happily and peacefully ate his food while I made my way to the bedroom.

I knocked first and called out her name, "Mina."

No response.

I wasn't sure if she was home or not, but I opened the door and surely enough, she was there. She sat up against the headboard with her knees tucked up against her chest and her arms warpped around her knees. Her face was hidden in the cracks of her arms. I walked up to her as I took off my blazar and threw it on the chair Mina uses at her vanity table.

"Mina," I softly said her name and took a seat at the edge of the bed, turning my body to look at her. "What's wrong?"

She remained motionless. I sighed and moved closer to her, gently placing my hand ontop of her head.

"Did it scare you?" I asked while her head and she nodded. "Why?"

"There was blood...his face was pale...he was gasping for air...and his eyes were rolled back," she muffled without looking up at me. "I thought he was dying, Baekhyun."

I felt my heart clench and I moved closer to her, now placing my forehead against the top of her head.

"Mina...appa isn't going to die," I said, her arms. "And as much as I don't want to say this, it would have been my lost if he left, not yours."

She shifted and was now looking up at me in the eyes with her eyes filled with tears.

"That's exactly what I'm scared about," she said and something hit me in the chest. "I...I saw my father die right in front of my own eyes. His eyes rolled back, his face went pale and before I knew it he was gone. Do you know how it felt to see him lifeless in front of me?"

I swallowed hard and couldn't speak at all.

"The pain I felt...I can't even put to words, but I don't want you to go through that same pain. I don't want you to lose your father like I did," she softly said, holding back her tears. "I know very well that death will come to us one day and that you can't prevent all deaths, but I don't want you to lose your father. And the thought of you losing him scared me...."

She finally let a tear slip and she covered her face, wiping away her tears.

"If you lost him then what would happen to you?" she cried and I didn't hesitate to pull her into a tight embrace. "Would you end up like me?"

I rubbed her back and said, "Mina...you have nothing to be scared about. Either way, I'll be fine; I won't let my fears or yours break me down."

I pulled away from her and looked her straight in the eyes with an assuring smile. "Aboeji is going to be fine...I'm going to be fine...and you will be too. We all will, so don't be scared of these things, got it?"

She sniffled and nodded. I kissed her forehead and hugged her again. Later that night, I got the news that my father is fine and will remain hospitalized for the next few days...but those days turned to weeks.