Chanyeol watched as the girl walked out from his office and then leaned back into his chair, “what time is it?” he quietly muttered to himself. He glanced at the clock on the wall and heaved out another sigh, “still have to go to the hospital,” he pulled out his cellphone from his pants pocket and scrolled over to Taeyeon’s phone number. Instead of immediately tapping on her number, Chanyeol stared at the number for a split seconds, biting the bottom of his lip, and wondered if he should give his girlfriend a call. His thumb moved ever so slowly to tap on his phone screen when the door to his office burst open and an angry elder man came stomping into the office. This commotion caught Chanyeol’s attention, “dad…,” he called, standing up immediately from his chair. His father marched right over to his son and slapped him hard across the face, sending his only son into a shock.

“How many times have I told you?” Mr. Park growled, “to never let that into your office,” he added, his voice almost shouting. Chanyeol rubbed the side of his cheek that just had been slapped by his father, “Chanyeol…”

“I have nothing with her,” Chanyeol said, “she’s only…a fling.”

“I don’t care if she’s only a fling Park Chanyeol,” Mr. Park shouted, his voice full of anger, “I don’t give a living who she is, you cannot be screwing this up for me or for the company,” he added, stabbing his son in the chest, “if Taeyeon or her father finds out that you’re doing all of this behind Taeyeon’s back, they will pull out from our deal as quick as lightening.”

“Dad, don’t worry I know what I’m doing,” Chanyeol tried reassuring his angry father. His father glared at him before walking back to the door.

“You better not mess this one up Park Chanyeol,” he said.

“I know dad,” Chanyeol replied and grabbed for his coat which was hanging on the back of his chair, “I’m going to go see Taeyeon and Mrs. Kim at the hospital.”

“Make sure you go buy Mrs. Kim some flowers before heading to the hospital,” Mr. Park added, “that should impress Taeyeon,” and with that Mr. Park exited his son’s office.

--

“You guys are back,” a short brown haired guy greeted the trio who walked through the door.

“Suho oppa,” Soomi called happily and ran over to give Suho a hug, “are you preparing dinner for us?” she asked, eyeing all of the delicious food on the table. Suho gave out a light chuckle and patted Soomi’s head.

“I am,” he replied, “here why don’t you go freshen up before eating dinner,” he suggested, lightly pushing Soomi towards the hallway. Soomi obeyed and took off towards the restroom, leaving the three grown men in the kitchen. Suho rolled his up sleeves and gave Sehun a glance, “got into another fight at work again I’m assuming?” he asked, already knowing the answer just by judging Sehun’s bruised face. Sehun didn’t reply but took a seat at the dinner table, “you can’t be keeping this up if you’re wanting to help support Soomi in her education you know.”

Sehun clasped his hands together and stared at it as if it was the only thing in the room, “I know hyung,” he said softly, “but those guys…they were…” Suho came up to Sehun and patted him on the back and gave his shoulders a light squeeze.

“Sometimes Sehun, you just need to learn how to ignore those who…purposely provokes you,” Suho said, “they’re nothing but a bunch of bullies who can’t stand others for their great work.” Sehun gave out a sigh and nodded, “did they fire you?” Suho asked and Sehun shook his head. The older of the trio smiled and patted the youngest one’s back, “that’s good,” he walked away from Sehun and back into the kitchen with four plates and utensils, “come, let’s eat,” he said, placing the plates and utensils around the table.

--

“Taeyeon,” Mr. Kim called for his daughter as he walked into his wife’s room. Taeyeon looked up from where she was sitting and stood up.

“Dad,” she called, running around the bed and giving her dad a hug, “what took you so long?” she asked.

“The meeting ran over time,” he explained, “is your mother still sleeping?” he asked, looking over Taeyeon’s head to see his wife still sleeping peacefully. Taeyeon turned her head to the side to watch her sleeping mother as well, “what did the doctor say about her condition?” he asked. Taeyeon slowly turned back to face her father and grabbed his hands.

“Let’s go talk out in the hallway,” Taeyeon suggested, “hey Tiff, can you keep an eye on my mom? Call us if the nurse or doctor comes by,” she said. Tiffany gave her friend a nod before she led her dad out of the room and down the quiet hallway. She strode off first with her dad following behind.

“Taeyeon,” Mr. Kim called, “is everything alright?” he asked. Taeyeon stopped in her tracks and that’s when he saw his daughter’s head down, shoulders shaking, “Taeyeon?” he called, walking quickly up to his daughter and turning her around to face him. His eyes widen when he saw that his daughter was crying. Taeyeon looked up from her feet and gave her dad a squeezing hug.

“The doctor…he said…” she began in between sobs, “he said that mom has kidney cancer and half of it is already in stage four,” she finally managed to say. Hearing this Mr. Kim’s heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach. His arms felt numb and his brain went dead. Mr. Kim couldn’t believe what his daughter just told him. Making sure she wasn’t pulling jokes on him, Mr. Kim peeled Taeyeon from his body, “Are you sure Taeyeon?” he asked, “are you sure that’s what the doctor told you?”

Taeyeon cried even harder and nodded her head, not saying anything. Mr. Kim let out a breath, not able yet to soak everything in. His back fell against the wall and he let his own body slide down the wall.

“Dad,” Taeyeon called, crouching down and placed a hand on her dad’s shoulder, “please…” Just before Taeyeon got the chance to say anything, Tiffany came running down the hallway to the two.

“Unnie,” the younger girl panted, “your mother is awake.”

--

Chanyeol parked his car into the parking lot, grabbed the bouquet of roses and exited his car. He sniffed the flowers first before glancing up at the hospital and then closed his door to the car. He walked over to the steps of the hospital and climbed them, walking past two people who were sitting on the bench outside. Just when Chanyeol was about to take another step, he stopped in his tracks and turned his head to the side, noticing that familiar frame, “Taeyeon?” he called. Taeyeon looked up from where she was sitting with Tiffany.

“Chanyeol,” she called, getting up and running over to her lover. Chanyeol fully turned his body towards Taeyeon and welcomed the smaller girl in his body, his arms wrapping them around her small frame. Once Taeyeon’s face and body hit the body of her lover and felt the familiar warmth, she cried again for the millionth time that day.

“Hey beautiful what’s wrong?” Chanyeol asked, trying his best to sooth the crying girl in his hand. Tiffany walked up to the pair and stood there, “what happened Tiff?” he asked since Taeyeon wasn’t giving him any answers.

“We found out today that her mother has stage four kidney cancer,” Tiffany replied, “unnie has been crying this whole day.” Chanyeol’s eyes widen and then his hug became tighter.

“Don’t cry beautiful,” he cooed.

“Unnie,” Tiffany called, “I’m going to go home since Chanyeol is here now, give me a call tomorrow morning okay,” she said, patting her friend on the head. Taeyeon gave Tiffany a nod of her head before Tiffany pulled away, “give me a call if anything comes up,” she told Chanyeol before bidding the two a goodbye. After letting Taeyeon cry her heart out again for so many times, the two walked over to the bench and sat down. Chanyeol sat there, hands intertwined with Taeyeon’s, not saying anything as he allowed his lover to absorbed everything in.

“Why cancer?” Taeyeon said softly after minutes of staying quiet. Chanyeol let go of Taeyeon’s small hand and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her into his embrace, his head resting right on top of hers’ “why is this world so unfair?” she asked again.

Chanyeol closed his eyes and swayed their bodies back and forth slowly, “there are times we don’t have answers for all the questions in the world,” he replied, “but don’t worry Taeyeon, you still have your dad and me.” Taeyeon let out a sigh and snuggled deeper into Chanyeol’s body, “I won’t ever leave you, I will be right next to you forever and always,” he said.

“The doctor said she only have 3 months to live,” Taeyeon told Chanyeol, completely ignoring what he had said earlier, “3 months Chanyeol…that’s so soon.” Chanyeol tightened his grip around his lover, “those 3 month are going to fly by like nothing and before I know it…my only mother will be gone from me forever,” she added, a hint of shakiness returning into her voice, indicating that she was about to cry again.

“Taeyeon…I…” before Chanyeol got the chance to finish what he was going to say, the door to the hospital building opened and a nurse came out.