After Jieun’s episode, the doctors and her father decided to transfer her to the ICU to monitor the woman closely. Jihyuk and Cheondung took turns staying at her bedside in case she woke up or if any of her doctor visits for updates. Yixing and the others also took time to come over if their schedule permits, but Yixing was relentless and always found time to drop by, even if it was only half an hour.  During one of his visits, one of the doctors came in and found Jihyuk and Yixing. It was the first time the doctor saw Yixing and when he started to recognize the young male, Jihyuk just gave him a small smile. A signal to keep it a secret between them. Returning the smile, he greeted them both and said, “Jieun’s status is stable. Her vitals signs are normal and nothing was found in her imaging scans.” His words were nothing special, but Yixing found comfort in his words because those words also meant that Jieun was there, breathing.

“The pain…,” Yixing started to whisper. Until now, he still couldn’t forget the way Jieun looked that day. That excruciating pain that’s swallowing her life, broke Yixing.

              The doctor didn’t need to wait for Yixing to finish his sentence for him to understand what he was talking about. The doctor’s face looked sullen and softly said, “Unfortunately, those episodes are quite normal for someone who has progressing brain cancer and sadly, it will happen more often. There are medicines for the pain but-“ He cut his words as he watched Jihyuk who was bravely holding back his tears and Yixing who remained silent but tightened his hold on Jieun’s hand. Yixing turned his gaze towards Jieun which made the doctor assume that even the idol was trying to persist through the reality of the situation right now. “I’m sorry,” the doctor said, feeling like it was the only thing he could say to both of them.

              Jihyun shook his head in disagreement. “You’re doing the best you can. We are thankful for your effort.” Yixing nodded in accord. The doctor said thank you in return before leaving them with a sad smile on his face. As soon as the doctor left, both men felt the heavy atmos