Oppa, can you bring some of my clothes to Seoul National University Hospital? Any kind will do

Jong Kook receives a message from Ji Hyo exactly at 7.45 in the morning, just before he heads out to his office with a messy mind. He doesn’t want to go to work today, but his mind is running 120 km per hour, he needs something to distract his brain. He’s anxious, worried, confused, restless, dejected, and the list goes on, but there’s nothing he can do.

But this message is not something he’s expected.

Seoul National University Hospital?

Are you sick?

After he sends the reply, he runs towards Ji Hyo’s room and grabs the clothes that are nearest and easiest to retrieve, with once in a while he checks his phone, in case she already replies. He s a couple of her clothes into her white and black gym bag and drapes it on his shoulder.

No.

No. That’s a relief. He takes a deep breath to calm himself. No, his wife is not sick. There’s nothing he should be worried about, he reminds himself, even though there’s a small part of him that still feels restless. Why would she be in the hospital if she’s not sick?

Is there anything else that you need?

A couple of Jin Joo’s books please, if it’s not troublesome.

Now, he remembers that Jin Joo is with her.

Is Jin Joo sick?

1 minute, 3 minutes, 8 minutes. No reply, even though there’s a ‘seen’ sign. Again, he can only sigh.

I’ll get going now. Where should I meet you?

He closes the front door and walks to the elevator. Still no reply, and this time there’s no a ‘seen’ sign. He gets into his car and quickly drives out of the apartment complex. He puts his phone at the seat beside him and glances over it every couple of seconds. Just in case.

I’ll meet you at the lobby.

He can feel it. He can feel something is very very wrong and yet he doesn’t know what that is.

It needs 37 minutes to arrive at the hospital with busy work hours traffic in the morning. And of course, in the middle of those minutes, he receives more than two calls from Eun Hye, which he doesn’t answer. He knows, when he meets her sometime later, she will be so upset and he won’t have the answer to calm her down.

In those 37 minutes, his heart’s beating so fast and yet he doesn’t know why. He sends an ‘I’m here’ text to Ji Hyo when he has parked the car.

As soon as he steps his foot at the lobby, he can feel his body’s being crashed by another body. He notices it’s his wife from her scent. A scent that he thought he would never smell again. A body that he thought he would never hold again. Somebody that he can never let go and forget.

He can feel her sob onto his shirt and her body’s trembling. He holds her as tight as he can. He knows that something is wrong, but what is it?

Carefully, he helps her sit down at the nearest hospital bench. He looks around but doesn’t find the presence of his little girl. Is something wrong with Jin Joo?

“I’m sorry.”

He can hear her whisper quietly, but doesn’t catch what exactly she’s saying and what for. He just hugs her tighter and just lets her let out all of her pent-up emotions.

This morning is very strange and scary to him, but he doesn’t have a courage to ask why.

After a couple of minutes, Ji Hyo calms down. She wipes her tears, even though some are still falling down, no matter how hard she tries to hold them in. She sits up and looks straight at the wall in front of her, with her hand still holding her husband’s.

“Oppa, I don’t think we can complete that deal.” Again, she just whispers quietly. She hopes that those words won’t ever come out from and yet, here they are.

That deal? The twelve kisses deal? Jong Kook chokes, staring at his wife’s side profile. This is not something he wants to stop. “Wae?” He replies, with the same quiet small voice. He wants to be able to keep kissing his wife. If he can, he wants to do it forever.

“There’s no reason to.” It’s quieter than before if it’s still possible.

“What do you mean?” He feels totally lost. Even though, she is the one who created the deal, he’s now drawn into that deal and he doesn’t want to feel the loss of not being able to have her by his side.

Ji Hyo turns her head to look into her husband’s eyes. “Do you remember why I made the deal?”

Jong Kook nods. “For Jin Joo.”

“Exactly.”

Jong Kook’s dumbfounded. Now he realizes. Why would she make a deal for only twelve days? What difference would twelve days make? Jin Joo. Twelve kisses in twelve days for Jin Joo. Twelve days for Jin Joo. And now they’re in a hospital.

“Is Jin Joo…” He can’t even finish his sentence.

Ji Hyo only answers with a nod, not being able to stare back into her shocked husband.

“Why- when- what-” His words get stuck in his throat. There are so many things he wants to ask but he doesn’t have the courage. He wants to know but he’s scared of the truth.

“Leukemia.” Ji Hyo understands his piled-up question. She can no longer hold her own sob. Although this is not something she wants to talk about to everyone, this is her husband, for goodness sake. Her daughter’s father. He deserves to know.

“Since when did you know?” He can feel tears start gathering in his eyes.

“Sunday last week. The doctor gives me 2 weeks.”

“Jaebal, Jin Joo-yah. Eat for Eomma.” Ji Hyo Jin Joo’s small spoon that’s filled with rice and bulgogi towards . Jin Joo only swallowed a small amount of her dinner before she refused to eat more.

Jin Joo shook her head and just closed with her tiny hands. “Shiro*, the bulgogi is not good.”

Ji Hyo felt sad hearing that. She knew she’s not the best cook but she tried her very best to prepare a home meal for them. The taste was decent when she tried before, or her bud taste was getting worse? “At least eat the kimchi. It’s your favorite.”

“Shiro. The kimchi is not good too.” Jin Joo