Oasis (A KaiSoo Fanfic)

Chapter 16 | The Cancer Couple

The weekend came again. The patients' families came again. My parents came again and told me to consider having the surgery again. I told them I would and then went back to painting my lungs and my chains. 

I had actually become significantly better at tolerating them at this point, mostly due to the influence of Kyungsoo. He told me time after time that they're just my parents and their job was to bug me to the point of insanity; if they were doing otherwise they would be failing. He also said that one day I'd miss hearing them nag at me all the time and I couldn't help but agree with him. On that particular weekend, however, they had to leave a bit earlier than they typically would because of some sort of "prior engagement," whatever that meant. But I didn't try to protest it, and plus, it meant that I got to spend more time in my sanctuary: the art room.

I sighed and leaned back to get a better view. There was something that wasn't right. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, though, and it was honestly pissing me off. "And this is Van Gogh himself," a voice from beside me said, taking my attention away from my painting and placing toward it. I turned my head to see that it was Kyungsoo, but he wasn't alone this time, as he was with two older adults, who I guessed were his parents.

"Ah," the man, his father, said with a kind sparkle in his eyes. That's who Kyungsoo got his eyes from definitely, I thought. "So you're the boy Kyungsoo keeps telling us about. Jongin, correct?"

"Yes," I said politely, smiling and nodding faintly. "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"The pleasure is all mine,"  he replied after I bowed out of respect.

His mother was next and anyone could see that she was the person who gave him that lethally beautiful smile of his. "Hello," I said, bowing to her and shaking her hand simultaneously.

"Hi," she said sweetly, gently holding my hands in hers for a moment. "It is so nice to finally be able to meet you, Jongin. Kyungsoo speaks so highly of you. I'm so glad you two became friends." I smiled and nodded a little. "The truth is," she said, lowering her voice and leaning toward me, "he hasn't been very social since his diagnosis. I was starting to get worried, really worried about him."

"Mom," he whined, rolling his eyes but grinning a little. "I'm right here, yeah?" She just chuckled and batted her hand at him, walking back over to him to kiss his temple. I'm sure he felt embarrassed, judging by the faint blush that appeared on his cheeks, but I actually thought the scene was really beautiful. My parents used to be like that with me, but then the Cancer came and swept all that away like a wave.

"So, Jongin," his father said, "how long have you been here?"

"Um, about three years," I said, still feeling somewhat shy. "I have stage 4 brain cancer."

"Oh, that's awful," his mother said sympathetically. "Are your treatments working?"

"I don't really know." I shrugged. "I still feel sick. There is this surgery I can get, but I don't know if I want to. The success rate isn't high."

"Well, that's the trouble with cancer," his father chimed in, "once you think you've found a way to combat it, it strikes back twice as hard." Wasn't that the truth.

"Kyungsoo just found out the date of his eye operation today," his mother said, earning a slightly anxious look from her son. "January the 16th, four days after his birthday. They could have planned that one a bit better."

"Honey, it was the nearest date they had," her husband said calmly. "Besides, who knows what could happen if we wait any longer." I saw Kyungsoo's face fall a little and his shoulders sank down, telling me he must have exhaled heavily. I knew he was scared, but I also knew he would never admit it.