The Truth

Jungkook tried his best to make sure that Ji Hyun wouldn't wake up as he left. Luckily he was swift enough to slither his body out of the bed. "Thank God you're a light sleeper," he smiled as he lightly pressed his lips on her forehead before heading out.

As Jungkook started his car, he rummaged through his pocket to get his phone. He quickly called his hyung, and to his relief, Jimin answered after one ring. "Where are you?" he asked worriedly.

"We're at the hospital. I called the rest of the hyungs to come too," he said with almost no expression to his voice. It was odd coming from Jimin, which made Jungkook worry even more.

"Hyung? What happened? Is Taehyung hyung alright? He's not hurt isn't he?"

Jimin sighed from the other line, "Jungkook-ah, just hang up and come here," he demanded then immediately hung up the phone.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

It took ten minutes for Jungkook to reach the hospital because of the unexpected traffic. He went straight to the room where Jimin said they were in and as he entered, he was surprised to see that everyone was already there. They were just waiting for him. Everyone else's faces had a confused and tired expression except for Jimin who stood beside Taehyung who was sitting on the hospital bed. Jungkook stood beside Yoongi who looked like he just literally got out from bed judging from his ruffled hair. 

No one spoke for a while and everyone just stared at Taehyung and Jimin, waiting for one of them to speak. It was Jimin who broke the silence after clearing which sounded painfully dry. "I'm sorry for waking you guys up at a time like this but this was a little too important."

"This better be because if this is just a prank I'm going to be so mad I'm going to kick both of your guys' asses," Yoongi said angrily. 

Jimin took a deep breath before speaking. "Taehyung has leukemia..."

Everything became silent. Only the sounds of traffic could be heard from outside of the hospital. Once again, no one said a word. Everyone was either shocked or even more confused than ever. 

"Leukemia?" Hoseok repeated. "You guys are just kidding right? That's impossible." 

Namjoon nodded, "Yeah, you've never shown signs of having leukemia or anything as a matter of fact. You always seem like the happiest guy in the world."

Taehyung couldn't help but smile at everyone around him at that moment. "I know you guys always see me being happy and active and all that but to be honest, for the past months I've been faking everything. It's hard to act tough when you're always tired but I still tried to for you guys, so you wouldn't worry about me." 

Jin moved towards Taehyung, sitting down on the edge of the bed to his right. "Taehyung-ah, with something so important like this, why haven't you said a single word to us before? Don't you trust us?"

"I do but I didn't want to make a big fuss about it because of Chanmi. I don't want anyone to tell her about this because I have a plan and I need your guys' help for it," he said, desperation filled his tone. "I know me being in this situation is a really big deal but I still want to make Chanmi happy before anything happens to me. I know it's a little mean to say this but I'm glad she woulnd't be able to see anything when I'm going to lose all of my hair," he laughed. 

Jungkook scratched the back of his head, "Even at a time like this you can still laugh," he said seriously.

"The doctor said that Taehyung will start to have a hard time sooner or later, we just have to be there for him when that happens," Jimin said with a weary smile.

"Wait a minute," Jin interrupted, "Are you guys serious? Taehyung, are you actually willing to hide something so important from your wife and your kids?"

Taehyung couldn't help but sigh, he knew it was too risky, but he couldn't bear to just make everything harder for her. "I know how to handle the kids, I'll talk to them and help them understand a little about my situation. They're good at keeping secrets so I trust them a lot," he smiled.

"But your wife."

"Show them the papers..." he demanded.

Everyone gathered around Jimin in a circle, all reading the statement that Taehyung had signed. It was all too fast for everyone. So much information in one less than an hour.

Yoongi couldn't help but to just nod his head. "It looks like we can't do anything about that anymore. Whatever Taehyung wants, we should at least give it to him while he's still... you know..." he said, biting his bottom lip, not wanting to go into any more detail.

Taehyung couldn't help but smile brightly at his friends that were around him. "Thank you guys, this means a lot to me, and I do mean a lot."

"Well what are friends for," Jungkook smiled as he fist bumped his hyung.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Jimin gave Taehyung a worried look as he watched his best friend get out of his car, "Are you sure you'll be fine? If you want, I can stick around in case if you need anything."

He looked at Jimin, raising an eyebrow. He was a little offended how his friend thinks that he can't do anything now. "Yah, I'll be fine," he said with an annoyed tone. "I can handle this."

As Taehyung slammed the door of Jimin's car, he took a deep breath before opening the door. A wide smile came across his face the moment he entered, "I'm home!" he yelled out and in seconds later, he could hear two pairs of feet and the yelling of his two children running towards him from the kitchen. With all of his might, the father scooped both of his children into his arms as they hugged him tightly around his neck. Taehyung couldn't help but notice how heavy they've gotten these past weeks.

"Appa! Guess what me and Taeguk made!" Taekwon practically yelled in his father's ear. 

Taehyung set them both down gently to the floor as Taeguk quickly caught his hand and began to pull him into the kitchen. "You're going to love this appa!" she smiled with joy. 

"Did you guys make another mess in the kitchen again?" he joked as he followed them curiously.

The kids shook their heads, "Don't worry appa, we didn't do anything like that," Taeguk smiled. 

As they entered the kitchen, Taehyung noticed that the dining table was covered in a blanket. A huge unknown mass was occupying the whole table under the large cloth. Taehyung was almost convinced that his kids put a dead body under there, but he knew it was a little far fetched. The two kids released their grasps from their father then quickly waddled towards the blanket, both extremely excited to show their father the surprise. As they both pulled down the blanket, the cloth revealed a large stack of pictures with the box that Taehyung had kept to keep all of their memories. Taehyung was surprised and as he moved in closer, he noticed that all of the pictures were of his family and his wife.

Taehyung was speechless, "H-how did you kids do this?" he asked as he stared at the pictures in front of him.

"This morning, when you were at work, we asked auntie Ji Hyun if she had pictures of you and umma, so she took us to print all of the pictures for your collection." Taekwon smiled.

Taehyung couldn't help but smile as he knelt down in front of his kids, fanning them both to come into his arms as he hugged them both, tears welling his eyes. He couldn't help but imagine how horrible it would be of him to just leave them like that after knowing about his illness. He knew he needed to live for them. He had to be strong for his family. 

"I love you guys," he whispered as he gave both of them a peck on the cheek.