My Fate || JeongChan FF

Chapter 43

(A/n: not the original draft...)

*09:25 p.m.*

Jeongin sat next to the hospital bed in silence.

It's been approximately 6 hours since Sungmi had gotten out of surgery.

Mrs Cho sat on the other side with worry inkling at every sing fibre of her being while Mr Cho sat next to her.

Seungmin sat outside the ICU with a fazed facial expression. His thoughts were in shambles. It was as if a dark cloud had come to rain on their parade.

Chan just came back after attending to a phone call. "Seungmin, you really need to go clean up, man. Not gonna lie, you look like shit."

"I'll be fine," he replied bluntly.

"Come on, seriously, you need rest. You still have her blood on your hands..."

Seungmin still refused. For the first time in a long time he felt disturbed by the sight of blood on his hands. It caused a sense of strangeness to cloud his mind.

"Did the team find anything at the sight?" he asked.

"Nothing. Even the nearby security cameras were tempered with, so we couldn't get anything really useful," Chan replied.

Seungmin sighed silently, feeling distraught about the situation.

"Seungmin, please go home and change at least, then you can think about coming back. The doctor told us that she would probably take a really long time to wake up after surgery. That bullet missed her heart nearly entirely, which was a really close one."

"I said I'll be fine, Hyeong." He was adamant.

"I'm not asking you anymore, I'm telling you as your boss. Sungmi's parents can't see you like this again. Go home."

Seungmin was stubborn, but obedient to instructions. With one final sigh, he stood up and headed for the exit.

The doctor came into the hospital room. "Excuse me, but I'll need all of you to step out. I have to perform the necessary follow-up tests."

They didn't seem ready to leave, but rules were rules.

Jeongin looked at his best friend, lying unconscious with hectic injuries.

When he fully stepped out, he found himself being pulled into an embrace by his boyfriend.

It was hard seeing Sungmi in such a state.

Mrs Cho sat down and buried her face in her hands, feeling sorrowful.

"What even happened?" Mr Cho asked, looking at Chan while trying to console his wife.

"Nobody really knows," Chan replied, "All there is to it is that there was a sudden attack at the location Sungmi and Seungmin were at, and in an unfortunate turn of events, she became a victim to the chaos."

"So where's Seungmin now?"

"I told him to go and clean up. But knowing him, he'll be back soon after."

___

*05:55 a.m.*

Seungmin sat on the chairs outside the ICU.

He'd been waiting since last night with restlessness. He felt guilty for not being able to be alert at the time of the incident. He failed to protect the person he loves.

Mr Cho had to force Se-hee to go back home so she could rest.

A nurse exited the room and told Seungmin about the beginning of the visiting hours.

Feeling a little anxious, he stood up and went ahead to open the door.

At first sight, he saw Sungmi sleeping peacefully with the oxygen mask attached to her face.

Seungmin quietly sat next to her. In that second, Sungmi's eyes opened.

"Oh, did I wake you? I'm sorry," Seungmin apologized with a soft voice.

"It's okay," her voice came out very weakly. She sounded breathless. "You... look like you haven't slept all night..."

"I couldn't," he replied, "I was too worried about you. I feel like this is my fault that you're in this state."

Sungmi was confused. He was the one that saved her from the jaws of death. How could he have been the cause?

"Do you remember how you'd sometimes ask me what I really do at work and why I keep going off the way I do all the time?"

Sungmi slowly nodded.

"Well... I think it's about time I tell you the truth."

And so he did. He broke everything down from beginning to end. He had introduced Sungmi to a new world of untold secrets, the things that happened behind the seen things.

But she wasn't mad at him. She wasn't as surprised as she had wanted to be. In fact, she was happy that Seungmin was being honest about it all. She was glad that he trusted her well enough to share such important things with her.

___

*10:09 a.m.*

Mr and Mrs Cho had come back to the hospital three hours ago. So had Jeongin.

To his surprise, Minho was the doctor for the case today.

"Alright, so we've done all the necessary tests and checked all the results. It all seems well with what we have. Her blood pressure currently seems to be normal and her bullet wounds are to heal in a few weeks."

Mrs Cho was ready to thank every living God in existence.

Minho continued, "BUT, I've found something really disturbing in the results."

"W-What is it?" Jeongin asked, anxiety filling his senses.

"I'm sorry to say," Minho sighed, "... Sungmi was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer."

It was a moment of shock for them all.

And a coughing fit began. Sungmi's breath sounded cut short when she coughed. It was painful to cough in such a state.

"I'm going to need you all step out while I assess her vitals."

They were all hesitating, especially when she started coughing out blood.

Just as Seungmin was about to step away from her, he felt a cold hand grasp onto his. Sungmi's grip wasn't strong, but it was determined.

"Please... Can he stay... with me... I need him... Please," she pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but he has to let us do our job."

"Please..." she said.

But the doctor refused.

Unwillingly, Seungmin let go of her hand and stepped back. Tears filled Sungmi's eyes as she watched him leave.

She needed strength, but she felt like she didn't have it when he wasn't around.

___*