"Welcome to Seoul, sir."

Park Jisung nodded to the staff and carefully retrieved his passport, heading to the luggage area. As he was walking towards his destination, he his phone that immediately started buzzing non stop for a good two minutes with new messages and notifications. 

"Yah, Jisung-ah! If I have to see your suitcase passing one more time on the carousel I swear to God I'm leaving without you."

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What was that about?"

"You punk, you didn't hear a word of what I just sa-"

"Sorry, sorry, my phone just keeps buzzing, it's very distracting. Did you get my suitcase?"

"... unbelievable. You're lucky I'm your friend."

"Thanks Chenle-yah, you're the best."

 

"Their flight has landed ages ago, what the hell are they doing?"

"Patience, Haechan. They're getting their luggage right now."

"You're the one who whined because we were, and I quote, 'late in our earliness', and now you're telling me to be patient? The nerves you have, Na Jaemin, seriously."

"Oh, looks like people are coming out."

"Look, look! He's here! IT'S MY BABY JISUNGIE! OVER HERE!"

"Now that's embarrassing."

"No one forced you to come along, Haechan."

"Shut up, Renjun."

"JISUNGIE OH MY YOU'VE GROWN SO MUCH"

"Hyung, it's a public space..."

"Right. How was your flight, baby? Did you have lunch already?"

"We did, but Jisung could totally eat again"

"CHENLE-YAH, AWW LOOK AT YOU"

"Jeno, please tell me this will be over soon"

"A week or two, leave it or take it."

***

Leeseul jolted her eyes open, her lungs desperately trying to catch her breath as her forehead was buzzing in pain.

"Easy Liz, focus on me."

"Taeil... what... happened..."

"You fainted on the floor. Hani is calling 911 right now"

"What... no... don't..."

"Shh. Breathe."

She tried to calm down, taking in her surroundings. She was lying on the floor of Full Moon Café as Taeil was kneeling next to her, his hand holding hers tightly.

"She's awake now... Yes... No, she seems to be having a panic attack... Yes, probably... Yes, okay... Taeil, can you sit her up?"

Leeseul felt her best friend's arms carefully lifting her upper body to a sitting position, her breathing getting back to normal. She reached to her forehead, feeling a bump forming on the left side.

"Stay still, I'm gonna get you some water." She nodded at the café owner before he took his leave, Hani taking his place immediately, still on the phone.

"Liz, do you need an ambulance?" The latter shook her head, gratefully taking the glass of water Taeil was handing her. "No... She seems okay now... Yes... Yes, we will... Thank you very much."

"How did I collapse? I don't remember..."

"You were coming back from the office with a bag of coffee beans and you legs just gave in under you. You bumped your head quite hard on the floor, so we should get you to the hospital just in case you have a concussion or you lost you two brain cells." Leeseul chuckled.

"I see. Sorry for that."

"Don't be stupid. Let's go."

*** 

Jisung was happily munching on the honey tteokkbbeokkis Jaemin-hyung had bought for him and Chenle, the other boys slurping on warm bowls of ramyun.

"Our Jisungie eats so cutely" Jaemin cooed over him, pinching his cheeks.

"Hyung, I'm trying to eat"

"Right, right, eat a lot. Should we get you ice cream after that?" At the mention of the sweet treat, Jisung's eyes lit up like fireflies and he nodded his head excitedly, earning another cooing from his hyung and Haechan while Jeno and Chenle were rolling their eyes.

Jaemin smiled contentedly. He had met the two youngest during his stay in Hong Kong, and his motherly side had immediately taken up on the mission to care for them. Chenle was still struggling to speak Korean at the time, but thanks to Jaemin and Jisung's help, he was now okay at holding basic conversations. The boys had felt sad when Jaemin left to go back to Seoul but thankfully they had managed to transfer to the School of Performing Arts too, and Jaemin couldn't be happier. Jeno, Haechan and Renjun were also happy the youngest were finally here, as Jaemin would never shut up about his two protégés, calling them every two days and texting them 24/7 to make sure they were eating a lot. Naturally, the three ended up getting close to Jisung and Chenle too - mostly thanks to Jaemin who would always force them to take part to their video calls. As he watched his friends bicker about the last piece of tteokkbbeokki, his smile stretched further and he ended up snitching the piece to give it to Jisung, earning an earful of yelling from Chenle's dolphin scream and Haechan's loud complaining.

"You're spoiling him, Jaemin-ah."

"Thank you, hyung!"

"Anything for my Jisungie. Now: who wants to get ice cream?"

***

Cancer.

What a disgusting word. Her diagnosis had yet to be confirmed, but Leeseul had a bad feeling. Even though the doctor had been very reassuring, explaining that thyroid cancer was quite common nowadays and easy to cure, she couldn't help but feel numb at the idea of her own body refusing to properly function and rejecting an organ that was just trying do to its job - here, her thyroid. 

All the insomnia, the unexplained weightloss, the anger, the shaking hands, the fainting, the overwhelming fatigue, the sudden hairloss... it was all making sense. 

"Miss Wong, you are not a lost cause. The goitre you have at the base of your neck is a good sign of the disease, and though it's indeed not very pretty, it also means that we will be able to make you go through surgery and have it removed."

"I see. When will I be able to have it done?"

"Once your hormones are back to normal balance. We will give you a prescription for the treatment, and once your bloodtests are good, we will give you a call to plan the appointment at the hospital."

"Right. What if it's indeed... I mean, what if it's..."

"Cancerous? Well the surgery is about removing the totality of your thyroid. If the cancer is confirmed, the cancerous cells will be removed with it, so there will be nothing for you to worry about. However..."

"However?"

"After the surgery, you will need to take medical hormones to make sure your body remains healthy and balanced. I would suggest you prepare yourself: you won't be able to live your normal life anymore. Patients with thyroid issues are supposed to stay home and rest: no more working, studying or anything that could endanger your life."

"What? Wait, I need to go to Uni and work, how am I supposed to-"

"Miss, you don't understand. Your body is too weak to handle it. You don't have any immune system anymore, which means that any virus, any bacteria could be dangerous. You really need to rest."

Leeseul wasn't breathing anymore, taking in what the doctor had told her. She swallowed heavily and looked back at him.

"Why is it happening to me?". The doctor's eyes soften.

"Well, we don't know for certain. You're quite young to develop this kind of disease, and though studies are still working on it, researchers have noticed that it usually happens to people who went through psychological trauma. Has anything happened to you recently?"

Luhan.

***

Jaemin grunted at the soaring pain that was consuming his back as he stretched.

"You alright there, Jaemin-ah? You look stiff."

Of course Lee Jeno had noticed.

"Yeah, just a bit sore, it's nothing."

"It's been a few days though... Maybe you should see a doc or something?"

"Nah, it's fine, I'll just stretch more and drink water and it will pass."

Jeno was not convinced one bit. He watched his best friend pulling his arms backwords, his brows knitted in worry. 

"At least tell the dance teacher about it, maybe he'll know what to do?" 

"Finals are coming, Jeno-yah. I can't slack off because I've pulled a muscle or something. I'll be fine, don't worry about it."

***

"Liz. Liz, wake up. Class is over."

Leeseul opened heavy eyes as all the students were leaving the classroom. 

"What did I miss?"

"Teaching Young Learners, chapter 7. I'll give you my notes so that you can catch up."

"Thanks Hani. You're a gem."

"I know" her best friend told her with a wink. "I still don't understand why you're coming to class if you're sleeping on the table. Don't you think you'd be more comfortable in your own bed?"

"I can't sleep at home" Leeseul replied with a yawn. "I'm so tired though..."

"Hence my point: stay home, and sleep. The faculty is already aware of your... condition, might as well make the most of it." The Wong eldest huffed. 

"I can't afford to fall behind. As soon as we graduate, I'm getting out of here."

"You're just being stubborn. Come on, let's get you home so that you can properly rest." Leeseul mumbled begrudgingly between her teeth as she picked up her bag, her best friend dragging her out. 

My condition. Right.

***

Jaemin had finally given up on standing up against Jeno's nagging, patiently waiting for the doctor to call his name at the hospital. As he looked up to look at the clock on the wall, his eyes caught sight of a familiar figure at the reception.

Leeseul-noona?

"Na Jaemin? Come on in."

The male stood up to follow the doctor, wondering what she was doing there.

Probably just caught a cold.