I Mean You- Jay Park (w/Chan-mi)

CHAPTER#1- Secret Discovery

It was his final year at the Arts School and he couldn't wait to graduate.  He'd been living in South Korea for the last five years.  His family was split between Seattle, Washington, USA and Seoul, South Korea. Seattle is where he grew up, but he'd probably remain mostly in Seoul, even after graduation.  Jay Park was both his real and stage name.  In Seattle he'd been part of a b-boy crew called Art Of Movement.  Then his mom had wanted him to go to university in Korea.  She knew that South Korea focused on the artistic talents of their youth, more so than America.  It had been hard at first, mostly until he'd learned how to speak and read Korean.  His charisma made it easy to make friends at university.  He was part of a new crew called Korean Assassins.  His focus in university was hip hop dancing and then singing or rapping.  

In his hip hop class there were few girls who were really good.  One girl, Heo Chan-mi, Jay had a few classes with, but she mostly kept to herself.  Everyone said she was a bitch and was driven to be the best.  He just thought she was quiet.  Rumour also said that she was already getting jobs in the dance industry, because she would disappear for months at a time.  Yet when she returned, Chan-mi was never behind in her studies, which caused her classmates to harbour jealousy.  The other reason she was disliked was that she was there on a dance scholarship, so tuition was paid for by the school.  He understood the pressures of holding the top spot among their peers in class and she was ranked third over all for hip hop dancing.  The only other girl that caught his attention and this year had become his girlfriend, was ballet dancer Seo Eun Gyo.  She was ranked second for the ballet genre.  They had math and english classes together, but none of the arts classes.  They saw each other mostly before or after school, when he'd give her a ride on his motorcycle.

In his free time Jay liked to do local crew battles or one on one b-boy competitions.  His parents paid for his school stuff easily, but for extra cash he'd street busk either by dancing or singing/rapping.  He also loved going to the local arcade, that was close to his house.  That's where he was walking to today, when he recognized the girl ahead of him.  It was Chan-mi from hip hop class and she was engrossed with window shopping. She didn't notice him at all, but he was close enough to see that her smile fell, before she turned and walked away.  He wondered why she didn't go inside to try the outfit on.  Passing the same window she'd just been standing at, he saw the outfit.  It was probably for the end of year showcase the university did with the graduates. Jay was about to call out to her and say hello, when he noticed her stumble. Then Chan-mi suddenly collapsed to the ground.  Almost choking on his lollipop, Jay rushed to her side.

"Chan-mi, hey?!" Jay shook her unconscious body.  Although he was alarmed, he didn't panic and quickly dialled 119.

The ambulance arrived and he rode with her to the hospital.  The paramedic handed him her cell phone, when it fell out of a pocket.  While Jay waited for a doctor to tell him what was wrong, he searched her phone for a family number.  She didn't have a screen lock on the phone, so he did find a contact listed as 'mom'.  But since Jay hadn't been told what was going on yet, he didn't make the call.  No use scaring the mother.

It seemed like forever, when finally the doctor approached him.  That's when Jay found out her big secret.  Chan-mi had acute leukemia, also known as AML.  It's the type of cancer that developed quickly and in Chan-mi's case, it was at the terminal stage.  He was told that symptoms of the leukemia were fevers, fatigue/tiredness or fainting, easy bleeding, major bone and joint pain, weight loss and swollen spleen and liver, causing sever abdominal pain.  If, like in her case, the leukemia cells had infiltrated the brain, then other symptoms included migraine like headaches, seizures, confusion, loss of muscle control and vomiting.

Jay knew chemotherapy or radiation therapy was the common treatment and that patients often had to go on various medications to help manage the side effects.  He was amazed at what this girl was going through and how well she hid it from them all.  His heart hurt for her, as the doctor explained what stage of cancer Chan-mi was in.