Butterfly

19. The Breakfast

"Morning, Sandra."

She smiles at me. "You want coffee?"

"Hell yes." I watch her pour me a cup, my eyes still heavily lidded from sleep, noting how happy she is. "It's before nine A.M on a Sunday, stop smiling."

She laughs, handing me the mug. "I'm just happy."

"Why?" I take a small sip of the coffee, enjoying the warmth. "Oh, God that's good."

"What, you're going to drink it black?" Sandra wrinkles her nose and I nod, taking another drink, enjoying the warmth.

"I like coffee black too, San, it's not that weird."

I choke at the male voice behind me, sputtering for breath as I try to avoid the coffee coming out of my nose. I stare as the doctor guy walks into the kitchen casually and Sandra smiles at him, leaning up to kiss him gently.

His smile is soft, and he reaches out, gently touching her cheek. "Morning, beautiful."

Sandra flushes, smiling, her eyes soft. "You want coffee?"

I blink, staring at them, unsure what to say in this situation. Seokjin nods, smiling softly down at Sandra, and I clear my throat slightly.

Sandra pulls away from him, flushing. "Uhm, you two met last night. Seokjin, Y/n."

He smiles at me, friendly, and I blink, still caught off guard by this while situation, weirded out by the fact that usually, the little sister isn't at the morning after.

"You want something to eat, Y/n?"

I glance up at Sandra. "Uhm, sure."

Seokjin rests his hand on her waist, kissing her cheek. "Need me to do anything?"

She smiles, shaking her head. "Just sit down, I'll scramble some eggs or something."

I look away from the two of them, awkward, pulling out my phone. No good morning text from Jimin like usual.

"You sure? One of my many talents is cooking."

Sandra giggles, swatting him off. "Just sit down. Bond with my sister."

I look up from my phone as Seokjin sits down across from me, irritated that Jimin's being weird. First the text last night, and now I'm positive he's awake, he has that meet today, and yet he hasn't contacted me. Usually by now he's text me several times, made at least one crude joke, and sent several shirtless photos.

"Y/n, Seokjin is the head doctor over at Seoul General."

"Wow." I start to pull out my phone again, then remember how weird Jimin was last night seeing Seokjin and look up, my eyes widening, wondering how I can ask about it without it being weird.

"Sandra told me you swim?"

I stiffen, throwing Sandra a glare as she winces. She corrects him quickly, though, throwing me an apologetic look. "Not anymore, Jin, remember?"

"Crap. You know, that was the one thing Sandra asked me not to mention and of course it's the first thing I mention." He widens his eyes apologetically and I soften.

"It's fine." I pick at a hangnail, not sure what to say now, then just blurt it out. "How do you know Jimin?"

Seokjin leans back in his chair, giving Sandra a peck on the cheek as she leans over him to set a plate of eggs on the table. They're momentarily distracted as she kisses him, then Seokjin turns back to me, one hand taking Sandra's as she sits next to him. "Jimin? Oh, Jimin and I go pretty far back."

"How?" I try to seem nonchalant, reaching for my coffee, and Seokjin serves himself and Sandra eggs, then hesitates before placing a spoonful on my plate. I pause, caught off guard, and he gives me a small smile.

"When I was going through medical school, I worked as a nurse for the hospital where his mom was at the time."

My hand stills on my fork, and I glance up. "The hospital...his mom was at?"

"Yeah." Seokjin doesn't look up from his plate, scooping up a forkful of eggs. "It was hard on him, having to move here so she could be at Seoul General, and he stayed with me and my roommates for a couple weeks until he could get the apartment here."

I look down at my plate again, my brow furrowed, half wanting him to go on, half wanting him to stop, because I'm not sure I should be hearing this if Jimin's not telling me himself.

Sandra nods, drawing my attention to her. "I feel so badly for him. We've been trying to have him over as much as possible, kind of help however we can."

She knows? I glance at her, then Seokjin. "What exactly...is his mom being treated for? He's been kind of - vague with me about it."

"Well, Mrs. Park was diagnosed a couple years ago with lung cancer, and they had to move here when she began showing symptoms of obstructive pulmonary disease. It's really bad, now, and honestly..." Seokjin hesitates, then shrugs a little, his mouth pulling down at the corners. "From what I've heard, the only thing keeping her breathing is Jimin. Well...Jimin and life support."

I stare at him, my mind whirling, when it hits me with the force of a truck.

I throw a pointed look at the cigarette in his hand. "If it means you'll spare me developing lung cancer, I'll pay for the car myself."

His grin disappears and he lowers the cigarette, dropping it, grinding it into the pavement with his toe, no retort. I glance at him, his silence weird, slightly worrying. "Did I say something?"

Jimin shrugs, trying to look nonchalant, pulling out his phone and messing with his hair. "Nope."

Oh my God.

I let out a breath, realizing why he's working so hard to stop smoking, why he's always working in the afternoons, why he skips school so much. His mother is dying of lung cancer.

And...he didn't tell me?

I stand abruptly, pulling my phone out of my pocket to check the time, ignoring Sandra's questioning look.

It's only eight. He shouldn't have left for the meet yet.

I can still catch him.