I swung my legs as I sat on the recovery couch. The paper beneath me crinkled at every movement I made. The teal hospital gown rustled as I rocked back and forth. My heart beating fast, I anxiously gripped the cushion. "You'll be fine. Don't worry." Yoseob reassuringly patted my hand and smiled. I asked him to come with me to the doctors' office. Let's face it, I don't have many friends, just the guys. I can't ask Doojoon, he's too overprotective and would flip at the thought of me in a hospital. Gikwang, despite his charm, is too much of a worry-er. He might end up telling Junhyung. And, well, Dongwoon is just a bad liar overall. So I asked Yoseob. I managed what I hope was a smile.

The doctor walked in, holding a clipboard in his hand as he flipped through the pages. I read the silver name tag that was pinned into the left chest of his flawless white coat. Jung Daehyun. Although I'm head over heels for Junhyung, I couldn't help but notice how charmingly handsome Daehyun was. , don't you already have a boyfriend? And your "best friend" is sitting right there. How many guys do you need? I stared at my dangling feet as the voices echoed. "Yeon Young-ssi?" His voice made my heart jump. I looked up to find him smiling at me. Nodding, my gaze returned to my swinging feet. Junhyung would be so disappointed. Tsk tsk. "I'm Dr. Jung, but you can just call me Daehyun. I have some questions I need you to answer. Five to ten percent of all cancers are hereditary, do you know if your family has a history of cancer?"

"My mom does..." I said it quietly. He nodded and scribbled something with his blue pen.

"I see. Cancer may be genetic, but most aren't inherited. Don't worry too much. Have you experienced headaches?" Nod. "Nausea?" Nod. "Changes in behavior?" Nod. "Mood swings or different overall?"

"Mood swings." I heard his pen scratch against the paper as I answered. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a girl sitting on the chair next to Yoseob. Jae Eun. No. Not here, not now. I clenched the cushion tighter.

"Miss Jung, have you been experiencing hallucinations? Voices or sometimes even full on visions?" Don't answer that. He'll send you straight to the mental institution. He'll call you crazy. Even Yoseob will abandon you. I looked at the boy sitting next to me. The boy who's taken care of me. The boy who's never let me down, the one that's always there for me. I looked at my best friend, Yang Yoseob. How could I even doubt him? He's been here for me, even now he's sitting in the doctor's office with me. He drove me to the hospital, well aware of my condition. He takes care of me, no matter how much of a burden I am. He'd never abandon me.

"You should tell him. He can help." I shifted my eyes to Jae Eun. "You know I don't exist. Technically, I'm a hallucination. You have to tell Daehyun. Don't let the voices stop you. Yoseob would never leave, he's not the type. Neither is Junhyung. You have to get better. Daehyun can help. Tell him." A hand waved in front of my face.

"Hey, are you okay?" Yoseob looked at me, concern in his eyes. I kept quiet as my eyes studied him. His black hair was slightly gelled up into a fauxhawk. He wore a black jacket over a white tshirt and dark jeans with black and white Nikes. His chains clinked against his chest. I like him like this. He had a cold and rebellious look, as always. He acted uncaring, but his real personality is so warm and sweet. I lost my train of thought as I looked at him. Daehyun's voice brought my mind back to the topic at hand.

"Yeon Young, this is very important. I need you to stay with me. Do you see or hear anyone else? Someone that shouldn't be here?" I nodded. He looked at my arm. Embarrassed of the scars, I hid it behind my back. "How long have you been depressed?" I shrugged.

"Eight, almost nine, years? It's hard to remember." He raised an eyebrow.

"Do you often have a hard time remembering things?"

"I've always had a bad memory."

"Did your headaches start at around the same time?" I nodded. There's not much to do but nod. He finally stopped writing and put the clipboard down. "I would like to run some tests, if that's okay with you." I nodded. Yoseob stood from his seat and turned towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Afraid of abandonment, I released my grip on the couch and grabbed his wrist with both hands. He turned towards me, gently laying his other hand on mine.

"I'm going to wait outside. I'm not leaving."

"Please stay with me. I don't think I can do this alone." Realizing my panic, I released him. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I'll stay with you, as long as Dr. Jung is okay with it." I looked at Daehyun.

"As long as he doesn't get in the way."

After a series of blood work, they took me to a different room. I noticed a large cylindrical machine in the center of the room and smaller room that was separated by a glass wall. They laid me down on a bed that led into the machine. Yoseob and Daehyun went into the glass room. Daehyun's voice sounded through a mic. "We're going to perform an MRI scan. Try not to move. Just stay calm and lay still, ara?"

"Araso."

"Good girl." After a minute, the bed I was laying on started moving into the machine. Though nervous, I remained frozen. A green light was emitted from the cylindrical part on the machine. I watched as my head went into the tube, the green light shining on my eyes as I went through. After it scanned to my neck, the bed was pulled out again. I continued to go back and forth into the scanner for the next few minutes. Yoseob looked grim when he walked out of the glass room. Without saying a word, he left the MRI room. I looked over at Daehyun, worried. He weakly smiled and led me back to the patient room we were first in.

There was silence the first few minutes. I just watched Daehyun as he moved around the room, holding negatives of the scan. Finally gathering enough guts, I asked the question. "Dr. Jung?"

"Hmmm?" He stopped all his movements and turned to me.

"I have it, don't I?" Sighing, he put the negative onto the light board.

"Do you see this area right here? The area that looks like a light glare?" He circled a white area in the back of my head with his capped pen. I slowly nodded, very well aware of what that was. We were taught how to read scans in class. He cleared his throat.

"That's the tumor." He nodded, looking down at his feet. I almost laughed from the irony. This is what I wanted all my life, isn't it? An ending, a way out. Now that I found someone who makes me happy, I'm going to lose him. "Can you treat it?"

"We could try chemotherapy. People have developed antibiotics to slow the growth rate of a tumor. Medicine is very advanced, you have nothing to worry about."

"You don't have to lie to me." He froze. "I know what's going to happen to me. I study this stuff."

"You're a med student?" I nodded. Sighing, he sat down on his stool. "I'm sorry. Knowing this must be hard on you." I shrugged. "You know there's a surgery I can perform to remove it."

"With a 35-40% success rate."

"Doesn't hurt to try." I shrugged and stood up, grabbing my clothes. As I got ready to leave, hand on the door knob, Daehyun stopped me. "Yeon Young-ah."

"Nae?"

"Don't lose hope, okay? Promise me you'll think about having the surgery?" I smiled over my shoulder and twisted the door knob.

After I finished changing, I checked my phone. New message from Stupid:

Min Ra misses you. Dinner at my house, tonight. Eight o'clock. Don't be late.

Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I smiled. Yoseob appeared in front of me with two cans of soda. "You look worse than I do. If I didn't know better, I would've thought YOU'RE the one with a brain tumor." I chuckled.

"How could you be so calm?"

"I've had a month to prepare, you only-"

"YOU KNEW FOR A MONTH THAT YOU WERE SICK? AND YOU BARELY TOLD ME?" His sudden shout startled me.

"Relax. I didn't want you to worry."

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO RELAX? MY BEST FRIEND THINKS THAT THERE'S A POSSIBILITY SHE HAS CANCER, AND DOESN'T EVEN THINK THAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW?"

"...so are you mad that I didn't tell you or mad at the fact that I'm sick?" He calmed himself down after that. I grinned. "I'm feeling fine. We'll deal with it later. Don't be angry, Seobie." I playfully pinched his cheeks. Smiling, he scoffed and swatted my hand away. Thank goodness I have him.

DAEHYUN. MY FEELS. Sorry guys, I had to. I'm a BABY.