Myungsoo was speechless while Krystal had tightened her grip to her husband’s arm.

            “Am I dying?” she whispered as if saying it aloud would only make it come true.

            “Maybe, maybe not. There are cures for this kind of tumors and aside from that, yours wasn’t malignant.”

            “What are our options then?” Myungsoo asked, his throat tightening.

            “Well, there’s the radiotherapy in which we use radiation to target the tumor until it disappears. Then there’s surgery where we operate the patient and then manually take out the tumor.”

            “Which procedure would you highly recommend?”

            “On normal cases, I would suggest radiotherapy though it’s a bit pricey-”

            “We don’t mind the price. I’ll pay whatever amount as long as it can cure my wife,” Myungsoo cut in, asserting that money would never be a problem.

            “Of course, of course.” Dr. Yoo nodded. “However, on Krystal’s case, I’m afraid radiotherapy would be difficult.”

            “Why?”

            “The tumor has grown twice the dissolvable size and if we use radiation to kill the tumor, it would take long and as a consequence, the radioactive substances might affect the other parts of her brain.”

            “So you mean there’s no other way but to operate on her?”

            “I’m afraid I have to say yes to that,” Dr. Yoo said in a sympathetic tone.

            The couple did not respond to him and the silence continued until Krystal broke it.

            “What is the survival rate for undergoing a surgery?”

            “For the past year, it had increased though not in a large scale but still there are more survivors compared to the past years.”

            “What’s the worst scenario?” Myungsoo somehow looked like he had aged over the few hours that they are in the doctor’s office.

            “In rare cases, people go through a table death. Some slips into a coma while most people survive. All we can do is hope for the best, don’t we?” Dr. Yoo told them with a hopeful smile as if encouraging the couple that it wouldn’t be the end and somehow, the smile helped.

            After Myungsoo and Krystal left the hospital, they were both silent, even on the ride home, though Myungsoo never let go of Krystal’s hands. When they arrived home, Myungsoo went directly to the shower and there he poured out all the emotions that he had been holding back since the doctor declared that he might lose the love of his life.

            Krystal, taking advantage of her husband’s absence, let out her sadness and