Meteor

Fifteen

Yu Jin immediately called a taxi to bring both of them to hospital. Ever since he came to Seoul, this was probably one of the moments that he wanted to forget the most. He was sitting in the backseat, hugging Eun Chae as tight as he could in the hope that it would comfort her, but it probably did not. Her face was etched with pain, but she tried to conceal it, not to burden Yu Jin further. However, she still sometimes instinctively released some soft, painful moans and Yu Jin could feel some of her tears dropping onto his arms.

"Hang in there, I'm here with you," he gently said and rubbed her back. He was trying to be calm in front of her. But deep inside him, there was a burning fear, growing bigger and bigger as the seconds ticked. This was the first time he had ever been so anxious because of a girl. He knew that pancreatic cancer was a severe illness, and there was a possibility he might lose her at any time.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Eun Chae was given some pain reliever to alleviate her discomfort. She was also assigned a room to stay overnight as the doctors needed to monitor her. According to what they said, she would have to undergo some tests tomorrow morning.

"You feel better now?" Yu Jin brought her a glass of water and nervously queried.

"I'm better now, don't worry," she forced out a small smile which was apparently not as radiant as her on the other days.

"I'll stay the night here to monitor you."

"No, just don't," she scowled at him and naughtily said, "You still have to go for your internship tomorrow, so don't bother staying with me."

"It's not the important thing now. I'm staying, I already texted my supervisor and she allows me to go to work late tomorrow."

"There will be doctors looking after me, so just go home!" She grumbled and wiggled her body, "And even if you want to stay, where are you gonna sleep, on the floor or what?"

"I'll sleep upright on this chair. Now just lie down and rest. I gotta go get the toothbrushes now," he pinched her cheeks and then left the room.

Eun Chae was then hospitalised. According to what the doctors said, she would have to stay there at least one week. The next evening, Yu Jin came back and brought her some food for dinner.

"Hey, I'm not a baby, can't you buy me anything else except for porridge, please?" She puffed her cheeks out and scowled at Yu Jin.

"For sick people like you, there's nothing better to eat than porridge, so stop chiding and dig in," he knocked on her forehead.

Despite not really enjoying eating porridge so much, Eun Chae still managed to finish all of what Yu Jin gave her.

"By the way, the doctors said that..."

"That..."

"Some of my numbers are a bit off, so I need to stay here for at least one week so they can look after me. Then can you..." Her lips puckered, "Help me bring some of my stuff here? I know that you're busy b..."

"Sure, why not?" He gave her a breezy smile.

"Oh...Thanks!"

"What do you need?"

"My laptop, chargers, clothes and my...ermmm...it's hard to say...and my...underwear too," her face blushed and her eyes could not look straight at Yu Jin, "I...I'm sorry for bothering you."