VXN (BTS x Girlgroup)

Chapter 1 - Lung Cancer

"Eomma, where is Appa...?" the 10-year-old girl asked her crying mother fluently in English. Her mother bit her lip to contain her sob, "He's somewhere safe," her mother's voice shakenly replied.

"Ahri-ah... Please go finish packing. We're leaving to Korea first thing tomorrow morning... I just need a moment," Her mother continued in Korean, as she looked down at her late husband's last photo with his children. Their 3-year-old son sat cuddled into his chest and his 10-year-old daughter hugged him tightly, giving the camera a withering smile.

The picture was taken after Haneul, her late husband's, first Chemo treatment. The first step to recovery... At least... That's what they told Eun-Min. She sobbed once again, wailing into her left hand as her right hand placed the photograph into her carrier.

They were relocating back to Korea after living in Australia for 5 years. Eun-Min needed her family, she needed her cousin Seok-Min. She just didn't know how well he could handle seeing her late husband's twin brother Hwan-Suk, who happened to be married to her cousin Seok-Min.

They came to live in Australia for two years, before relocating back to Korea because of their youngest son not being able to pick up on the English language very well. He was being bullied for it, so they decided to go back for his sake.

Eun-Min hadn't told her 10-year-old daughter of her father's death yet, she just wasn't ready to accept it herself. The moment she got back to Korea she was having her children tested for Cancer. She didn't know if her heart could handle this again.

The next morning it was morbidly quiet. Ahri didn't have many friends here in Australia except for that one boy, Mitchell, that use to be friends with her older cousin's only friend. He was only a year older than Ahri and her cousin was 100% sure that he had a crush on Ahri, which she would always deny.

Ahri didn't care much for relationships of friendships while living in Australia, she was too busy taking singing and dancing lessons. She wanted to become an Idol once she moved back to Korea. Her father always loved to listen to her sing. Her mother took her to many dancing lessons and would always joke, saying Ahri looked like a dancing hippopotamus when trying to do ballet.

Ahri didn't like dancing as much as singing, or in general. Ahri has a powerful voice that is generally uncommon in Korean female singers, who in turn had more delicate voices. Her voice was similar to some of her favourite English artists, like P!nk, Adele, Amy Lee and some others. Her goal though was to be able to sing like Brendon Urie.

Ahri was secretly hoping to be in a group but wouldn't admit it out loud. She thought that it looked really fun to be with other girls that shared similar interests and dreams. She became discouraged when noticing that most of the female idols were a lot more feminine and petite than her own growing stature and boyish characteristics.

Ahri was developing wide shoulders and she was very tall for a 10-year-old Asian girl. her mother's father was a tall Australian man from what Ahri found out during a school project. She assumed her height came from him, but that didn't explain where her large shoulders that she and her cousins inherited, came from.

The plane ride was just as quiet and morbid as their last morning in their old house. It clearly bothered her 3-year-old brother, Kai, as he was babbling on and on to his older sister, making her smile and kiss his chubby little cheeks. The action made him squeal in delight, causing some flight attendants to giggle at how cute he was.

Ahri loved that she and her brother had such a large age gap, she loved teaching him basic needs, and how to speak properly. She was 7 when he was born. She got to hold him at the hospital and she was able to help her mother with him when she was at home. She could easily babysit him because he was a quiet baby and her mother was very thankful for it, as she was able to rest at times and get work done more easily.

Kai had slept the majority of the flight, which Eun-Min was thankful for. When they landed was the first time Kai let out a cry during the entire flight. Ahri immediately scooped him into her arms and calmed him down.

Eun-Min grabbed all of their luggage from the cabinet and lead her children off of the plain. It was a long 10-hour and 15-minute flight. Eun-Min checked her watch, noting that it was 16:15 in Australia now, which means it's 14:15 in Korea, as they were 2 hours behind.

When they received their luggage, they headed to the waiting area where they immediately spotted a beautiful woman with a cardboard sign saying "The Kim Family," Her eyes were red and puffy and she continuedly rubbed her nose. It was obvious that she had been crying, but noting that she was excitedly moving around, Ahri didn't know if it was sad or happy tears that rolled down her delicate cheeks.

When her mother's eyes started welling up with tears as well, Ahri realized it was sad tears, from the way that her mom's frown deepened. She was worried about her father. 'Did he know that we came back to Korea? Shouldn't we be with him? He looked really sad two days ago, even though he was smiling.' Ahri couldn't help but hope that he was cured and that the hospital sent him to Korea early.

Ahri's eyes then drifted towards her two older cousins behind her crying aunt. Both had grown so much. Her oldest cousin Seok-Jung was towering over his mother, rubbing her back comfortingly. Her other cousin was swiftly making his way over to Ahri and quickly embraced her in a heart-warming embrace.

Ahri missed his hugs, it was so similar to her father's hugs. It caused her to miss him even more. She couldn't wait to see him again. She was always Appa's little girl.

"Are you alright?" her cousin rasped out, breaking Ahri out of her thoughts. She let go of the hug and looked up at her tall cousin in confusion, "Yea, it was just a 10-hour flight. My butt hurts though, and I think Kai's sleeping schedule is a bit messed up now, but we'll just give him some cough syrup tonight, and he'll be out like a light," I tell him, smiling tightly.

Ahri's cousin stared down at her perplexedly, "That's good, but I meant about your father..." he says frowning, "He's not here?" Ahri looks shocked and alarmed. "I thought the hospital sent him to Korea early, is he not here?" Ahri asks panicked.

Her cousin looks down then to the left at Eun-Min who was crying in her cousin's arms. His gaze then lands on his brother, his eyes wide and unsure, filled with guilt. He then gets turned back to a wide-eyed Ahri, "What are you not telling me, Seok-Jin?" she asks sternly, holding onto her little brother tightly as he watches the lanky boy fiddle with his odd fingers in front of them.

"I think you should talk to your mother, Ahri..." Seok-Jin tries to persuade her, his voice cracking with nervousness, and his soft feminine face twisting in what seemed to be an everlasting frown. She glances at her crying mother and noticed that Seok-Jin's older brother, Seok-Jung, was steadily making his way towards them with a stern look on his more masculine face.

"Ahri, I'm sorry to be the one that has to tell you this, but your mother's clearly too upset to inform you of this. Your father died. The cancer was too much for him to handle. His body was transferred here yesterday. The funeral is next week Sunday," Seok-Jung tells Ahri gravely, gulping with hidden uneasiness.

Ahri couldn't think straight. She couldn't comprehend his words at first... When it finally sunk in, she noticed that both her cousins were carefully watching for her reaction. A tear slid down her pale cheek, followed by a stream of endless rivers. The pain was unbearable. Her chest felt heavy and her throat burned. She didn't even comprehend that Seok-Jung had carefully removed Kai from her arms and left her alone with his brother to pick up her broken heart and salvage what was left of it.

There wasn't much Seok-Jin could do but hold his little cousin, that he considered to be, his only little sister, and try and keep her tears at bay. He could hear her mother scolding his brother from behind him, as he rocked Ahri. Eventually, the young girl fell unconscious in his arms and he had to carry her home. That was the day they became inseparable.