𝚆𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝙵𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸𝚗 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 | 𝐇𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐧

16

"My mom made you this." Jugyeong says as she steps into my room.

I frown and she notices as she walks over to my bed and sits in front of me.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't eat that; I'm on a diet." I say sadly.

It's been years since I've had something her mom made and I still remember how nice and warm it was. My dad had been working late and I stayed for dinner. It was nice, especially since I consider Jugyeong to have a big family. I felt like I was apart of it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know." She said, causing me to snap out of my thoughts.

"You should eat it before you go, that way she thinks I did." I suggest.

"Well, if you're sure." She says as she opens the container to start eating.

I softly chuckle as I watch her begin to eat.

"How come you aren't outside?" She asks, her mouth full of food.

"I just didn't feel like going anywhere." I say.

She looks at me, concerned. I just smile and she goes back to eating.

"Suho's dad came over before I left." She says, "I'm glad they've become somewhat closer."

"Oh right, that fight was pretty intense." I say.

She hums in agreement, about to finish the dish.

"So, does Suho go back to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, he should be back. I'm excited to have him back in class." She says with a smile and closes the container.

She puts the container back into her bag and turns back to me.

"I wish you could come to my school, though."

"Where did you transfer?"

"Saebom." She says.

"Oh that's right, you moved back to your old house."

"Yeah..." She trails off.

"Don't you," She makes eye contact with me, "Wish you could come to school with me, too?"

I sit there, unsure of what to do.

"What do you mean?" I ask, clearly confused.

"I mean... don't you... wish that you could attend school. In general. But more specifically with me."

I raise my eyebrow.

"I mean, that would be ideal. But, why are you asking?"

She sighs and looks away.

"Well, maybe you'll get better. Maybe you won't be stuck here anymore and things can go back to the way they were." She admits.

"Jugyeong-"

"I almost lost Suho, but he got better. Maybe you will too." She says, looking back at me.

"Suho got hit by a car." I say flatly. "My heart is failing."

She sniffles and wipes her nose on her sleeve.

"It doesn't have to be that way." She says quietly.

Where is this coming from? A part of me felt angry. I was angry that she couldn't just accept how I'm going to end up that way we can both move past it. But, another part of me felt upset. I was upset that she still had hope.

"Jugyeong." I say as I reach for her hand.

"I don't want to hear what I know you're going to say." She says as she continues to look down.

I sigh and give her hand a gentle squeeze. It was silent for a few more seconds; I honestly don't know what to say. I plaster on a pretend smile.

"Yes."

She looks up at me.

"I do wish I could go to school with you."

-

"And how have you been feeling, overall, lately?"

"Just peachy." I say to my doctor.

She smiles sarcastically and shines a bright light in my eyes, making me follow it. She clicks her pen and writes down on her clipboard.

"I got your blood work back." She says, clicking her pen again and putting it into her coats pocket, looking back at me.

"Let me guess, all good news?"

She chuckles.

"Not quite." She says, her face falling to a frown.

I try to brush it off, but even after all of these years, the bad news never stops hurting. Even if you're at rock bottom.

"What did it say?"

I don't really care or want to know, but she's going to tell me anyways.

"It's not being pumped efficiently." She says.

"Well, I could have guessed that. My heart isn't exactly working."

"It's worse than what we expected." She says quickly.

I sit there in a shocked silence.

"What?" I ask, my voice becoming shaky.

"We estimated that you would have a month."

I nod my head.

"Yeah, and?"

"With your recent blood work, that changes."

"Changes how?" I ask, feeling my heart beating faster than it ever has before.

She bites the inside of her cheek with a sad look on her face.

"The new estimate is that you only have a week."

-

Seojun's POV

"I need to borrow a sweater." Gowoon says as she barges into my room.

I look up from my phone over to her, seeing as she walks over to my wardrobe.

"Just borrow one of mom's." I say as she opens my wardrobe's doors.

"No, yours are- Ow!" She screams.

I sit up to see what happened. Gowoon was hopping on one foot. I get out of my bed and walk over to see my cast came out of my closet.

"Why do you still have this thing?" She asks in pain.

"Well... I..." I couldn't think of anything.

"Throw it out! I could have lost my foot!" She yells. "And throw out whatever is in that bag! Mom is going to be mad if you get ants in your room."

She puts her leg down, wincing in pain. She turns around and limps out of my room.

"It has meaning! It's practically my arm!" I yell out to her.

I sigh and look at the cast. I pick it up and look at it. Tiger Energy Boost! Roar! I smile sadly to myself. I look back into my closet at the bag Gowoon was talking about. I walk over to my trash can and read the message Jugyeong wrote one last time. I make my way back over to my closet, grabbing the paper bag and closing the doors. I sit on my bed, opening the bag; a smile appears onto my face. I take out the drink that was inside. I place it on my nightstand, opening the drawer attached. I put the sticky note on top of the lid.

My hand reaches back into the bag, grabbing out the only other thing: a cherry flavored lollipop. I open it, throwing the rapper back into the paper bag. I crumple the bag and toss it into my trash can, my eyes shifting to look at the cast. I turn back to the drink. Eventually, you will become happy.