Her Name | pjm

January .C h a p t e r T h i r t y F i v e.

Ye-jun wheeled Dan into the dining room and I simply followed, not really feeling my legs move. Dan asked Ye-jun to make us a cup of tea, and he happily obliged. It was obvious that he was not shocked by this revelation, and most likely didn't want to listen to our conversation. I stood in between the entrance to the dining hall and stared at my brother. He looked really terrible. It was obvious he lost some weight, he face was sunken, movement was much slower. His bright brown eyes had turned completely black now, and I couldn't comprehend what was happening. I heard the main door open again, and in no time Jimin popped up next to me. His jaw instantly dropped at the view in front of him. He looked at me, then at Dan, then back at me trying to assess the situation. It didn't take him long to figure out that the best course of action was to leave and he excused himself. "No, Jimin. Stay." Dan exclaimed. Even if his whole exterior looked highly rough, his voice did sound lively. Jimin stayed, not sure if he should sit down or stand next to me. After a couple of seconds of indecisiveness, he understood why Dan asked him to stay. As always, Jimin took control of me. He took my hands and lead me to the table, helped me sit down and stayed behind my back, resting his hands of my shoulders for support.

"Dan.. What.." I tried to speak, but the words simply didn't come out. I started to feel my legs shaking, and little by little the shakes went throughout my whole body. Trembling like a leaf, I tried to comprehend the situation. Jimin's hands left me for a second and I felt like I was about to shatter, when he quickly returned with the cups and stood behind me again. The moment his hands rested on my shoulders again, I felt like an anchor got attached to me, not allowing me to disassociate from reality.

Dan cleared his throat and gave me an apologetic smile, slightly spreading his arms. "I know you have a lot of questions, and I'll answer them all. Just please, stop trembling. Everything is fine now, there's no need to worry." He talked in a calm manner, but it made me shake even more. How can it be fine if you're in a wheelchair, dimwit. I wanted to yell at him, but I kept myself in place, allowing him to follow the story in his own pace. "It's really funny, how life works.." Dan began, lifting the cup and taking a sip of the tea. "Remember when Hammers boy attacked me in my office?" He asked me, Jimin squeezed my shoulders. I nodded, in my mind thanking Jimin for his support. "The twins called our doctor home, and since the situation was not too severe we rode to his private clinic. When he was inspecting the wound he found something else." Dan rubbed the bridge of his nose and giggled. "He found several lumps around my stomach. As soon as he finished stitching up the wound he did a few scans, and his suspicions were confirmed." Jimin squeezed my shoulders again, as if fully understanding what Dan was saying, whereas I simply stared at him with a blank expression. "Kieran, he found tumours. Apparently I had gastric cancer." Dan laughed, and I felt felt another wave of vomit rising up. "As soon as I understood the severity of the situation we started to make plans of how to deal with it." Dan continued to explain calmly. "The doc said that we need to prepare for the surgery as soon as possible, and in turn I had to prepare things at home." Realisation finally started to hit me. "That is why I asked you to take over. I agreed with the doctor that I'd stay home and help you a little bit in the beginning, to ease you in. And once I'll see that you are ready to take over we'll proceed with the surgery. Thankfully, you were so damn good at your job, that I didn't need to wait long." Dan laughed and I felt like fainting. I instantly remembered, how scared and worried the twins looked when I came to visit Dan when he got hurt. I remember the feeling of surprise, as Dan clearly told us he's going to be fine, that the wound was not too bad. I finally cleared my throat. "The twins knew." I didn't ask. It was obvious. Dan nodded slowly, as if in fear that I'll turn my anger towards them. I remembered how Dan specifically remarked that he wanted me to be able to take over in case something would happen to him, and swallowed again. As if reading my mind he started to speak.