𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑾𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 (𝑺𝑳𝑶𝑾 𝑼𝑷𝑫𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑺)

11

The Tears We Share

The air in the sterile hospital room crackled with tension, thick with the scent of antiseptic and unspoken accusations. Krystal, her face contorted with a mix of grief and anger, rained blows upon Lisa's chest. Each impact echoed through the room, a brutal counterpoint to Lisa's silent sobs.

"Two years, Lisa! Two years you kept this from us!" Krystal's voice, raw with pain, sliced through the silence. "I thought we were your best friends, your soulmates, your confidantes. Why, Lisa? Why hide this from us?"

Lisa, her body wracked with sobs, offered no defense. Her gaze, filled with a mixture of shame and sorrow, met Krystal's accusing stare.

"And now you tell us, now that you're dying, now that you only have months left?" Krystal's voice, though laced with fury, softened as she gently cupped Lisa's face. "Is that why you always looked so pale? So thin? Why the sudden vomiting, the nosebleeds? You said you were just tired, but it was cancer. You were fighting it all this time, alone."

Tears streamed down Krystal's face, mirroring the cascade of grief that now flowed freely from Jongin. He watched, his heart shattering with each word, each accusation, each tear.

"Why, Lisa? Why just now?" he whispered, his voice choked with emotion. "Why?"

"I'm sorry..." Lisa whispered, her voice choked with tears. Her eyelids fluttered shut, the world blurring through a veil of grief. Krystal, still cradling her face, felt the warmth of Lisa's tears against her palm.

"I... I didn't want to burden you," Lisa continued, her voice barely a whisper. "You need to focus on your career, especially your wedding. You guys are getting married in six months." Six months, the same amount of time her doctor had given her to live. A cruel twist of fate, a cruel joke life was playing on her.

Krystal, overwhelmed by a fresh wave of sorrow, buried her face in Lisa's chest. Jongin, unable to contain his own grief, joined them, tears streaming down his face.

"Damn it, Lis!" Jongin's voice, raw with emotion, tore through the suffocating silence of the hospital room. "You should have told us! So what if we're getting married? We're best friends, damn it! Six months? We want you to be there, come on, dude."  His voice, thick with unshed tears, cracked under the weight of his grief. The words, though laced with anger, were a testament to the depth of their friendship, a raw expression of the pain they shared.

"I'm sorry," Lisa choked out, her voice barely whispering against the storm of emotions raging within her.

Jongin, his face contorted with a mixture of anger and hurt, slammed his fist against the wall. "Your sorry won't do anything, Lisa! You told us late, when you should have told us from the start. We could have been there for you, supported you through every session, every struggle. Instead, you went through it alone, you're such a jerk, a damn stubborn woman."

Lisa flinched, her heart twisting at his words. She knew he was right, but the fear, the crippling fear of burdening them, had silenced her.

"You're so unfair," Jongin continued, his voice cracking with emotion. "We promised, the three of us, to be there for each other, no secrets, no lies.We let it slide, how you hid from us about your wife and Tae's betrayal but this? This is a different story, Lisa. This is your life!"