“We've run several tests, and have determined that he has stage 4 lung cancer. It's incredibly surprising, seeing as he has no family history of cancer, nor does he smoke. It would be in his best interests to begin chemotherapy treatments immediately.”

Your jaw dropped, and your eyes began to water. Yoseob squeezed your hand in an attempt to reassure you, but you could tell that he was terrified as well. His shoulders shook, and he could barely speak.

“Wha... what is the survival rate?” he asked, his voice a raspy whisper.

“At this point... I am sorry. The survival rate is less than 10%, and that is only if we begin treatment immediately.”

“I understand. Thank you,” Yoseob said, bowing to the doctor. “I think it would be best if we started this as soon as possible.”

“I'll refer you to a specialist.”

You sat there in silence, tears collecting at the corners of your eyes but refusing to fall. Just a few days ago, Yoseob had been on stage, singing his heart out, and he'd sounded perfectly fine. Hell, just yesterday, he'd been on a ing date with you, and you'd noticed no sign of anything wrong.

What had he ever done to deserve something like this? He was kind, polite, and never did anything that he shouldn't do (besides sneak out of practice and break his diet a few times.)

Anyone, anyone but him. Why, God, why? Why would you do this to him?

The return back to the dorms was solemn. Yoseob alternately had his head in his hands, staring at his lap, or staring out the window. You wanted so badly to help him, but was there really anything you could do?

Doojoon opened the door for you, concern written all over his face for his dongsaeng. “How'd it go?”

Yoseob just handed him the papers, looking down.

Doojoon took them, a quizzical look on his face, before he suddenly yelled. “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE ING KIDDING ME!”

“Hyung? What's wrong?” Kikwang asked, immediately rushing over once he heard the commotion. Doojoon just shoved the papers at him, sinking into a chair, his body shaking.

Kikwang's lips opened in shock. “No... this can't be right.”

By now, all the members had gathered in the entryway, wondering why half of their members looked like they were about to cry.

Dongwoon picked the papers up off the floor, where they had fallen after they had slipped from Kikwang's numb fingers. Hyunseung and Junhyung crowded around him, trying to get a look.

“This... this can't be true,” Junhyung mumbled, rubbing his eyes, as if he had read it wrong.

“Does Yoseob have a twin that we don't know about?” Hyunseung asked.

You shook your head. “No...”

“I'm going... to have to get treatment as soon as possible...” Yoseob said, the words coming out haltingly, as though saying each one choked him.

“Of course. I'll go tell the manager and sajangnim...” Dongwoon mumbled, running off to find a phone.

You stood there, frozen. The weight of everything suddenly came crashing down, bringing you to your knees. The wooden floor was hard against your skin, but you couldn't feel anything. It was like you were made of ice, but nothing could melt you.

“It... it'll be okay. Somehow,” Yoseob said, sitting beside you. You couldn't help but feel absolutely horrible. Here you were, being comforted by your possibly dying boyfriend, when things should have been the other way around.

It made you feel sick.

You rose quickly and bolted to the bathroom, kneeling in front of the toilet and emptying the contents of your stomach into it. Your head spun as you rinsed out your mouth and stared in the mirror.

You couldn't take it. You collapsed on the floor, broken sobs ripping themselves out of your body. Your fingers clutched the porcelain edge of the sink, as though it were your lifeline, the only stable thing left in your shaking world.

~*~*~*~*~

Seconds, minutes, hours later... you didn't know, but the door finally opened, a startled Hyunseung jumping back from the entrance.

“Hey...” he mumbled, touching your shoulder hesitantly. “Um... I'm not good with this sort of thing... but... Yoseob will be alright, he has to be. He can do anything, right?”

You turned to look at him, lips set in a sad, tight smile. “I hope so.”

“C'mon. The rest of the guys are in the living room... and I really need to pee.”

He helped you stand, and you shakily walked over to the living room, where the other members, the managers, and the CEO sat. You bowed to the CEO, then sat next to Yoseob, who wrapped an arm around your shoulders.

“This is an incredibly unfortunate circumstance,” the CEO began. “We will have to halt Beast's current promotions immediately—luckily, the new performances have not yet been aired so we can ask for them to be showed as Goodbye Stages. We will probably have to proceed with the subunits earlier than previously planned. I know it will be incredibly hard on all of you to continue performing under these circumstances... however if we simply halt all of Beast's activity, people will get suspicious, and I believe that Yoseob would like to protect his privacy, right?”

Yoseob nodded. “I don't want the fans to worry.”

“Don't worry about the fans, Yoseob,” the CEO said. “Focus on your health.”

“Ne, sajangnim.”

“I think we'll promote 4minute's subunits first, to allow you all some time to yourselves. I'll go tell the girls now.” He stood, and everyone bowed to him. “Take care, Yoseob. I hope you get well.”

~*~*~*~*~

The guys decided that you should stay the night, and you agreed—returning home to your empty apartment would probably cause you to break down.

You changed into one of Yoseob's shirts and a pair of basketball shorts, sighing. The clothes smelled like Yoseob, reminding you of warmth and comfort, of better times, happy times, smiles and hugs.

What would happen, if Yoseob didn't make it? It hurt you so badly to think about it, but you had to prepare yourself for the possibility. Even though you were young, you knew in your heart that you truly loved him. If he left...

“Jagiya.”

You turned around to find Yoseob behind him. You ran to him, throwing your arms around him and burying your face in his chest, letting it all out.

You felt dampness on top of your head, and you looked up to see Yoseob crying too.

“I'll miss this,” he whispered, rubbing your back in small circles. “I never want to let you go...”

“Me either, Yoseob... I hope you won't ever have to.”

You stood there in your own little world, pretending that nothing was wrong. In this world, it was forever peaceful, forever happy, and you were forever in love.

~*~*~*~*~

The two of you went to the hospital the next day so that Yoseob could begin treatments.

“You know you don't have to stay,” Yoseob said as you waited for the doctor to come.

“I want to. I don't want you to be alone.”

“I don't want you to be hurting, baby...” he murmured, fiddling with your couple ring on his left ring finger.

You shook your head. “I would hurt more if I left you alone.”

The doctor walked in and introduced himself as Dr. Jung.

“I was referred your case by your regular physician, and I've looked it over. This is a very strange case, however I will do my best to provide the best treatment.”

“Thank you.”

Dr. Jung began to explain the treatment process. You tried to pay attention, but you found that you couldn't, your mind instead running far away. All you wanted was to wake up and find out that it was all a horrible nightmare, but this was reality and no amount of cold water and pinching your arm could change this reality.

“Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to wait in the lobby while we perform some tests.”

You nodded and squeezed Yoseob's hand before letting go and making your way to the waiting area. There were several people sitting there, and you couldn't help but look at them all and wonder what their story was. The man crying by himself—did something happen to his wife? What about the woman holding her children? What about the teenager who looked as though her life was going to be over?

Even though there were people everywhere, suffering just like you were, you'd never felt more alone.