We were almost at the gate when Hyuk started to get dizzy. I decided to make him ride with me. Good thing i’ve brought the pulley for his bike. I attached it to mine and let him rest behind me all the way home.

Home. He’s sick on the bed. I went down to get hot milk.

He slept for hours, keeping me worried. I tried to take a nap, but woke up two hours later.

The next day, he did not wake up. I tried shaking him up, does not make the slightest difference. Kyuhyun and Sungmin got home early to help me with him. Said we’ll take him to the hospital. He refuses. So we decided to call his doctor instead. Then we got out of the room, as the doctor suggested. After hours of waiting and worrying, the doctor called us in, said it’s okay. He’s still sleeping. Or...is he?

“Cancer. Stage Four.”

Gasps and lots of mouth covered. Jaw dropping, tears falling. Kyuhyun caresses my back, whispering comforting words. Sungmin is staring at Hyuk, tears slowly falling. We’d been best friends since childhood, so it hurts if any one of us would get hurt.

“Thank you, doctor.” I said weakly, wiping my tears with my left hand, shaking his hand with the other.

“Don’t mention it, it’s the least i could do,” He says, eyes thoughtful. “but there is something I need to talk to you about in private.”

I started to feel nervous. I followed him outside, legs trembling and limbs slightly shaking.

“He’s not gonna last long. I regret to say that. But I had to.” He whispers, words blurring away, almost sounding like a murmur. I gawp at him. It wasn’t his fault, he’s doing his job. I expected this, and i proved that if you expect it for the worse, you won’t feel much pain of being shocked and astounded.

“How many months..” I was too weak to ask eagerly. In fact I did not want to know at all. But it’s better to anticipate and make the most of the remaining days than to wake up one day and find myself crying buckets of tears.

“4-6 days, it depends.” He puts a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry.” He puts it away.

“It’s fine.” I lied. “You can go, sire. We really appreciate it.”

He picks up his coat from the hanger and bows to me before he goes away.