“W-What do you mean you know? Y-You know about her condition?” Areum asked between sobs.

Her voice was shaky and she felt her knees wobble. Jongin held her arms and led her to the chair. He brushed her tears away with the back of his hand. Areum was trying to breathe normally and was trying to control the shaking of her hands.

Jongin’s gaze was so warm and so were his hands which were holding her hand.

“I knew about her condition from the time she was diagnosed,” Jongin answered as he worriedly stared back at Areum.

Flashback

“Do you want some coffee?” Mrs. Lee asked Jongin as the latter entered the living room.

“Yes, please,” he replied, nodding and smiling at the same time. As Mrs. Lee left him, he looked around and he noticed the pictures displayed just near the television. He crouched and picked a frame which showed the young Lee Areum. From the looks of it, it must’ve been taken during her graduation from high school.

It reminded Jongin of the time that she came to his rescue. A small smile crept on his face before he put it down. He lifted another frame with a picture of Taeyong and Areum in front of an amusement park. Areum was holding young Taeyong’s hand while he was holding a red balloon. Both of them were smiling brightly. Jongin realized that in all of the displayed pictures, Areum was always smiling.

Jongin turned around when he heard Mrs. Lee’s footsteps. She put the cup of coffee on the small table before meeting Jongin’s eyes with a smile.

“She looked happy in all of the pictures,” Jongin commented and Mrs. Lee’s gaze went to the displayed pictures.

“She was actually sick during that day. She was lying on her bed the day before because of the pain that she was feeling but because Taeyong insisted on going to the amusement park, she held herself together and acted like she’s not hurting,” Mrs. Lee stated, looking at the picture that Jongin lifted a while back.

“And that picture,” she continued, pertaining to Areum’s graduation picture. “That picture was taken a month after her father died.”

Jongin could feel the pain from her tone. And when he looked at her, he was sure that he just saw her eyes glistened.

Mrs. Lee let a small smile lit her face. “Areum’s like that. She hides her pain so that no one can see it. She pretends that it does not hurt so that no one will get worried,” she commented before sighing. “I’m afraid that she’ll keep doing that.”

Jongin was suddenly reminded of the times that he saw Areum on the verge of crying. He saw her cry after what happened at the hospital with Mr. Jang. He saw how vulnerable she is.

“I believe that she’s just naturally strong-minded. You don’t need to worry about her Mrs. Lee. I think that whatever happens, she’ll be able to overcome it,” Jongin said, trying to bring the optimism back in that house.

Mrs. Lee smiled, nodding. “Why do you like my daughter?”

That caught Jongin off and his reddening ears were the evidence. Mrs. Lee sat on the couch and Jongin sat on the adjacent seat before clearing his throat. It’s not actually a secret from Mrs. Lee that he’s trying his best to win Areum’s heart. Despite being told by Areum that he’s not her type, he’s still pushing his luck.

“Doctor Lee is one of the reasons why I’m alive right now. When we were younger, we crossed paths and her actions made a big change in my life. I thought it was just a feeling of admiration because she looked so cool at that time but-” he paused. The corner of his lips curved upwards. “-I realized that I fell for her.”

“I-I really c-can’t put into words the reason why I l-like Doctor Lee. I guess I like her for just being her,” he continued, rubbing his hands together before a shy chuckle left his lips. “Why am I stuttering too much today?” he asked himself, scratching the back of his head.

A smile also broke into Mrs. Lee’s face while looking at Jongin.

“My daughter has been hurt before so she’s cautious of entering into a new relationship. Even though she’s going to some blind dates, she still couldn’t open her heart for someone that easily” Mrs. Lee started. “It is hard for her but looking at her right now, I think that she’s slowly changing. I think that you’re a good man so I’m telling you this.”

“I’m a good man, Mrs. Lee. That’s for sure,” Jongin suddenly commented with confidence and he regretted it right away. He internally hit his head for saying such thing in front of his possible ‘mother-in-law’.

Mrs. Lee just chuckled, entertained by how silly the young doctor can be. Areum’s been complaining of how immature Jongin could be but these days, she’s been hinting of how reliable he is. And Mrs. Lee’s sure that Areum’s opening her heart a little bit.

“My daughter can be hard to understand sometimes but I-” Mrs. Lee paused as she shot her eyes. She rubbed her chest and softly cleared before taking a deep breath. Jongin noticed that she winced and he knew from that moment that she’s feeling unwell.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

Mrs. Lee nodded and gave him a small smile. “I’m okay.”

Jongin waited for a while for her to speak but she suddenly stood and rushed to the kitchen. He stood and followed her without wasting any time. Mrs. Lee started coughing as she leaned on the sink.

He hurriedly filled a cup with water and went to her side. “I’ll accompany you to the hospital if you’re feeling unwell. I’ll just call Doctor Lee to-”

He did not finish what he was about to say. He felt his heart being squeezed into a pulp and he put the cup down.

The sight of the blood on Mrs. Lee’s hand made him shudder. “We need to go to the hospital,” he muttered.

Mrs. Lee shook her head before wiping the blood from the corner of her lips. She hurriedly washed her hands and her face before taking a deep breath. Jongin stood there not knowing what to do next.

“Does Doctor Lee know about your condition?”

She shook her head.

Jongin can actually think of a hundred reasons for a person to cough up blood but his head’s not functioning at the moment. All he could think of is bringing Mrs. Lee to the hospital and calling Areum to tell her what happened to her mother.

“Don’t tell Areum about this.”

“She needs to know because-”

“Please.”

She sounded desperate. And when she turned to face him, she was already in the verge of crying.

“Even though I’m not a doctor, I know that my condition’s serious. Areum will not be able to go on if she knows about this,” she stated with a shaky voice. “She will not be able to concentrate on her job if she’s going to worry about me everyday.”

“But Doctor Lee will not be able to forgive herself if something happens to you when she could’ve done something to prevent that,” Jongin reasoned out.

Mrs. Lee was about to say something when they heard the sound of a car being parked outside the house and they were both sure that Areum’s already home. The older woman held Jongin’s hands.

“Please don’t tell her. I will be selfish this time so please don’t tell her,” she pleaded. “I’ll go to the hospital with you and get examined just please…don’t tell her.”

Jongin’s heart was being torn into a hundred pieces. He could see that Mrs. Lee was desperate but a part of him also wanted to tell Areum.

“Mom?” Areum called out as she opened the door.

He shut his eyes and nodded. “Okay.”

“Mom, I got call from Taeyong and he said that-” Areum halted when she saw Jongin in the kitchen. “W-What are you doing here?” she asked in surprise.

“Oh, hi Doctor Lee,” Jongin greeted, trying to act as normal as possible. Mrs. Lee was already getting herself busy with washing the dishes.

“He just came to visit,” Mrs. Lee commented before facing her daughter.

“Why are your eyes like that? Did your cry?” Areum asked, walking towards her mother and eyeing Jongin at the process. The latter just smiled before stepping aside. He’s not sure of what he’s supposed to do but because he promised to not say anything to Areum, he just shut his lips.

“Ah, something entered my eyes a while ago. I think I rubbed them so hard that they turned red,” Mrs. Lee replied. Areum checked her mother’s eyes right away.

Seeing Areum worried by just looking her mother right now made Jongin’s heart drop in guilt. What will happen if Areum will know about her mother’s condition?

Weeks after that day, Jongin and Mrs. Lee were sitting in front of Dr. Cheon of Daewon Hospital. Jongin was the one who suggested going to that hospital since Mrs. Lee wanted to keep her condition from her daughter. Dr. Cheon has been a good friend of his father so he was able to pull some strings to keep the examination a secret from Areum who also knows Dr. Cheon.

A