~Chapter eighteen~

"Chae?"

Chaerin weakly lifted her eyes to meet Jiyong's staring at hers lovingly as he made his way to the bed and sat at the edge. A smile wove itself over her lips and she stretched her arm to take his hands in hers and intertwine it. "Hi,"

"You okay?" Jiyong asked in concern as he pressed a kiss over her little fist before shifting closer to her and cradling her cheeks, drawing circles over her neck with his thumb. "You look pale."

"I'm fine," she pressed, eyes darting towards the door as it flung open, revealing a fresh and smart looking Baekhyun, all in his whites, holding his clipboard. 

"Oh! H-hello Jiyongnim," he stuttered a little before adjusting the collar of his white coat and proceeding to Chaerin's side and checking the canula attached to her inner elbow. "How're you feeling now Chae? Is the dizziness gone now?" 

"Yeah, I think so." Chaerin passed him a smile which Baekhyun easily returned before turning around and writing down on his clipboard. "I think it's  done." she said, refering to the IV drip that they plugged her with early in the morning.

"I'll send a nurse to get this removed." He said, pointing to the IV drip. "Do you want me me to get you something to eat? Or are you still nauseated?" He asked with furrowed brows which disappeared as Chaerin shook her head, saying she was feeling a lot better.

"It's okay," Jiyong interrupted. "I'll get her something." He nod at Baekhyun who pressed his lips to a thin line. "Thanks doctor."
"Anytime," Baekhyun gently pat his friend on her head before bending down to whisper something causing a wave of curiosity and a sprinkle of jealousy to spark within Jiyong.

Putting away the bowl of soup, Jiyong glanced at a distracted looking Chaerin, staring out the window. "Chaerin-ah,"

"hm,"

"What did Baekhyun say to you before leaving?" He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Not wanting to sound like an overprotective, possessive boyfriend/fiancé he added. "Was it about the surgery or... ?"

"Nothing really," she smiled, patting the side of her bed. "Come here,"

Grinning, Jiyong crawled over, kicking off his shoes and getting under the duvet and snaking his hands around her waist. "God, I missed you."

"I'm Chaerin. Not God," she joked despite the constant hammering sensation inside her head. Nuzzling her head under the crook of his neck, she placed a soft kiss on his exposed collar bones before caressing his jawline and looking at him with tired eyes. "Jaehyun told me you told your parents. What happened?" 

Jiyong glanced down to meet her eyes, noticing the knitted brows, he placed a kiss over them and smiled as he watched her crack a grin. "We can now set a date." He whispered into her ears and she gasped.

"R-really? Your mother, s-she-"

"Our mother, Chaerin-ah. What's mine is yours now." He said with a smile still lingering over his face. He couldn't help it. She just made him happy without having to do anything, maybe, just breathe, if possible; for a very long time."I asked Noona to organize everything since I don't want you to exhaust yourself. You won't have to worry though since she'll consult you with everything. We'll make it your dream wedding." 

"Dami Unnie and I picked out a dress yesterday." Chaerin said in an excited voice, explaining the design by drawing the pattern with her hands in the air animatedly. "It's so beautiful. But,"

"But?" Jiyong prompted, caught off-guard with her sudden change in spirit. 

"If I go to surgery, they'll shave my head and..." she stopped, slapping her hands to her face. "I'll be a bald bride. Oh my God!"

Jiyong chuckled, twirling her hair with his fingers. He loved her hair despite it being very thin and dry due to the exposure to radiation and chemo for many years now. He remembered asking her about her hair when he first learnt about her cancer. All cancer patients he'd met previously had been bald, unlike her. She replied casually saying she was one of the lucky few to not have all of her hair fall at once. "You'd look bad ."he grinned. Noticing her glum look, he let out a sigh before turning her around with his finger on her chin. "That does not bother me one bit. In fact, I believe that it is you who'll make the dress beautiful by wearing it. Not the other way around."

Chaerin twisted her lips. "I could wear a wig though."

"Wig or no wig. It doesn't matter to me." Jiyong said. "You're going to look beautiful either way."

Reaching up and pushing away the strands of hair above his eyes, Chaerin let her fingers linger above his face before she pulled him down for a short yet passionate kiss. "I love you," she said, eyes slowly drooping with exhaustion.

"I love you more." Jiyong replied, fixing her head above his arm as she settled to sleep. "Goodnight baby."

"Dr. Byun Baekhyun?" 

Baekhyun woke from his small nap between his break to find a rather well dressed woman, probably in her fifties at the door, holding what he assumed would be an expensive bag. "Ah, yes." He stood up, groggily rubbing at his eyes before his vision got clearer and he recognized the woman. "M-Mrs. Kwon." He bowed immediately, almost hitting his head on his table. "P-please take a seat."

Giving him a smile, Jiyong's mother sat down, removing her gloves with elegance and poise; the kind that Baekhyun only saw on Dramas. "You know why I'm here." She said as a matter of factly and Baekhyun swallowed.

"Miss Lee, perhaps?" He voiced out in a timid voice and the lady nod. "What about her Mrs. Kwon? I'm just her attending. The doctor in charge-"

"I had a talk with Dr. Yang Jungshin already and believe it or not, he sent me to you." She said, placing her hands on  her knees, before continuing on. "I suppose you can tell me about her condition and how bad it is."

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to discuss this information with you ma'am." Baekhyun said. "All patients' files are confidential and can only be let out if given permission like so." He explained.

"You're very professional." She observed and Baekhyun felt his forehead sweating profusely. "I'm happy that there are good doctors like you in my institution." She paused. "However, I'd like to repeat my words again. My institution." She emphasized. Baekhyun now realized where Jiyong got his intimidating personality from.
"You know I have all the power to do anything to you and your career right? One word against you and your career is as good as gone."

"Mrs. Kwon,"

"But I'm not going to do that." She leaned back leisurely, crossing her legs and biting back a smile. "Because I know you're going to tell me what I need to know."
Letting out a sigh of both nervousness and relief, Baekhyun blinked. His heart thumped against hid rib cage so hard that despite it being medically and scientifically impossible, he knew it would if she kept looking at him the way she was at the moment.


"Please, follow me."

"I'm happy with your decision to-" Mrs. Kwon's words halted midway as Baekhyun creaked a door open just enough for them to see the people inside the room. Reading the name plate on the door, she turned to look at the young doctor.

"This is Chaerin's room. The girl your son is crazily in love with and about to marry whether you may want it or not." Baekhyun said through his gritted teeth. It didn't matter that his career was in jeopardy and that he might never be able to work in any hospital in Korea again if Mrs. Kwon indeed did something to him. All that swam across his mind as he glanced at the two people sleeping with no worries in their mind but just dreams; dreams of spending the rest of their lives together however short lived it may be was that he'd never let anything hurt them. Even if I meant the person going to be hurt, was him. "You can do what you may want to do with my life and my career ma'am. But I just want you to know that that girl in there," he pointed a shaky finger at Chaerin, comfortably sleeping in Jiyong's arms. "She's been through worse than hell and she's finally found her happiness with your son. The only person in this world who may get to be loved by her since she doesn't have much time left. Yes," he breathed out a shaky breath, retreating his hands and limply letting them fall beside his body.
"She is dying." He croaked. Willing himself to not breakdown, he continued.  "I can't tell you how much time she has because in all ahonesty, even I don't want to know. However, I will not let you take away her only source of happiness with the time she has." Taking a few steps backwards, he chuckled dryly. "And I hope you're not that inhuman to be the cause of what I'm trying to prevent."

Watching Baekhyun retreat back to the direction they came from, Mrs. Kwon shut her eyes before looking down at her feet and replaying everything that just went down a few seconds earlier.

Was she that horrible of a person to take away the happiness of a dying child?

No,

She shook her head, holding her head held high. I'm doing this for my son. My child. She said to herself as she took a deep breath. Telling herself that as much as she didn't want to be a heartless person for trying to break off the marriage, she was doing all this because, in the end, it would be her son suffering, not the girl.

My son, 

Her tears fell down as she turned to the door and peeked through the gap. 
There he was, her one and only, her entire world, her everything. She thought about how she felt when she held him in her arms for the first time in this very hospital and how she felt like she needed to protect him from everything, every little injury, nightmare and even heartbreaks. He was her little bundle of joy, watching him get hurt was the thing she never wanted.
Slowly closing the door and leaning her forehead her wooden surface, she cried for the first time in a long time.
Knowing how losing a loved one felt like, she didn't wish for her son to go through the same thing she went through all those years ago. 
However, at the back of her mind something told her that she was trying to do the exact thing that her parents did to her back then.

A little shuffling sound from the room awoke her from her reverie and Mrs. Kwon stepped back cautiously only to find a puffy eyed Jiyong with disheveled hair staggering out of the room, holding a tray with an empty bowl and glass.

"Adeul," Mrs. Kwon croaked as she looked at her son and approached him slowly, frightened by the thought that he might not appreciate her presence here. She'd never felt afraid of being rejected by her son, but after the things she did to separate them and her being against the marriage

"Mother?" Jiyong raised a brow and stopped, carefully closing the door behind him as he walked towards the row of sinks, beckoning his mother to follow him. "What're you doing here?" He paused. "It's almost 10pm."

"I came here to meet Dr. Byun." She said truthfully, expecting her son to say something about it, but since he did nothing, she continued. "To ask him about... Your fiancé's condition."

"You know her name mother, just say it." Jiyong said,bemused at her mother's childishness. "She's going to be your daughter-in-law very soon."
Mrs. Kwon swallowed. "Chaerin-sshi,"

"Just Chaerin. Or Chaerinnie if you'd like." Jiyong teased, noticing his mother tense, he chuckled "I'm just kidding mother," he said, chuckling lightly as he placed the tray, carefully rinsing the utensils while his mother stared at him in awe. Having spent 26 years watching her son grow, she'd never seen him do dishes, let alone wash someone  else's dishes for that matter. 

"I know you met her before." Jiyong broke the silence as he blow dried his hands and shoved them into his pockets. "But, I want you to meet her again because it matters to me mother. She matters to me."

"I know,"

"So do you. Your opinion about her matters to me." Jiyong continued, turning around to look at his mother with pleading eyes. "I'm not trying to force my relationship on you in anyway mother. I know she is the one for me and I wish you accept that fact too. I'm not letting her go."

The little 9 year old boy who once said that his mother was his first love, flashed before her eyes and she let her guard down, letting the tears pour over her cheeks as Jiyong swoop her in and gave her a comforting hug.

"I don't want you to get hurt Jiyonggie," she confessed through her sobs.
Having witnessed his mother let her walls down and cry as more than enough for Jiyong to finally get that she was never really against Chaerin in the first place.
All she wanted was to guard her son's life at any cost, forgetting that someday he'd grow up to find someone to love on his own and move on. He wasn't a little boy anymore who cried for his mother when he slept alone in his boarding school dorm. He was now a grown man, capable of loving, caring and protecting someone other than himself; in this case, Chaerin. Whom he loved unconditionally.

"Nothing will hurt me as long as you stand by me Eomma." He said as he placed a kiss on her crown like she used to do when he was younger. "I love you mother. I always will." Jiyong said knowing exactly why her mother reacted the way she did. She was afraid of being replaced. A smile engraved itself on his lips as he heard her whisper.

"I love you more."

Author's note:

A short update since ya'll have been so patient and good despite my delays and broken promises.
I initially wanted to skip this but decided not to since I wanted to establish where Mr.s Kwon is coming from and why she shouldn't be hated. 
I really don't like creating an antagonist since I'm not comfortable with the idea of people being very mean and disrespectful.
I believe, there is a reason for everything. If a person acts in a bad manner, there HAS to be a reason behind it. If not, then.. Idk. 

Have fun reading.

I'll update next week maybe. (My 3rd Semester exams are just 2 weeks way!)

with love~
E