Chapter Text
[April 12, 2024, 3:42 PM]
Chanyeol could barely look at his face in the mirror.
His eyes had become a former shell of themselves, his bright skin now dull, and his hair…thank god the cap hides everything otherwise his eyes would keep looking at his bald head at every chance.
How did it turn out like this?
Just a few months back, he had everything. His flourishing career, his healthy body, his loving wife, and his friends & family - he had everything. So why is he sitting here on a hospital bed, desolate, waiting for his wife—or anyone—to come and visit him?
How did things turn out like this?
“Chanyeol-ah,”
He turned back excitedly, in hopes that Minsoo, his wife finally had the time to visit him. But as he saw the face of his sunbae from high school and his attending doctor Junmyeon hyung entered the room, all of his enthusiasm washed away. His heart shattered once more as if it wasn’t broken enough.
“Hyung…” He took a deep breath in and mustered up a smile, best to his capabilities.
“How are you feeling today?” Junmyeon hyung asked as he looked through his charts. “I heard last day’s session went well for you.”
“It did…” Chanyeol mumbled. “Though I don’t feel good today.”
“It’s okay to feel like that, Chanyeol-ah,” Junmyeon answered with an assuming smile. “Your body is fighting hard to recover so it's bound to feel like that.”
“But you didn’t come to talk about this now hyung, did you?”
Junmyeon spluttered before letting out a long drawn sigh. “You’ve always been so sharp.”
“So?” Chanyeol asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“We found a new drug that’s responding well to your cells but it’s still under clinical trial,” Junmyeon sat down and gave him a small booklet that consisted of various information about the new drug. It showed graphs and charts that Chanyeol couldn’t care less about.
“Would you like me to try it?” Chanyeol asked as he flipped through the booklet trying to understand what all of this was about.
“If you’d ask my personal opinion, I think you should go for it,” Junmyeon answered, looking at him earnestly. “Though there’s not much we can hope for now, I feel we should at least try everything.”
Seeing his earnest expression, Chanyeol tried to smile. Both of them knew that even with everything he’d probably only live for six months. That's how far this wretched disease had taken control of his body. But seeing at least one person trying their best to make sure that he stayed alive, ignited a small glimmer of hope within him.
“So, what should I do?” he asked.
Hearing his answer, Junmyeon smiled brightly. “Since it’s still under clinical trial, we’ll need some additional documents and an agreement from your guardian. When will Minsoo visit you? I can talk through the other details with her. You don’t need to worry about a single thing.”
Chanyeol averted his eyes as soon as he heard her name. How could he tell anyone that despite being in the hospital for more than a month, his wife hadn’t visited him once? He looked at Junmyeon hyung and saw how his expression changed as the realization sank in him.
“Well,” Junmyeon visibly stiffened as he looked everywhere but at him. “Why don’t you give her a call? Maybe she’s been too busy with the household,”
Seeing his somber expression, Junmyeon patted his shoulder and left the room. Chanyeol, on the other hand, could only look at his blank phone. There were no calls, no text messages, nothing.
All of it was too silent. As if none of them exist. As if he didn’t exist.
He leaned back in his bed and stared at the white empty ceiling.
How many before him had died in this exact bed? How many of them were surrounded by their loved ones in their last moment and how many of them were sitting here waiting for anyone to come, just like him?
Why did it have to be him? He was just starting his life out. He finally got the promotion he wanted for so long. His life with Minsoo had just started. He hadn’t even taken her to Jeju-do like he had promised. He had so many things that he wanted to do. So many sceneries that he wanted to see, so many foods that he had yet to try. He wanted a child of his own. He wanted to adopt a cute dog like he had always envisioned.
Why did it have to be him?
He had never touched alcohol in his life. He had never smoked or taken drugs. He always ate right and worked out. He always did everything right by the book so why was he sitting here in the cancer ward, waiting for his life to drain out like this? Why was he suffering like this?
He gasped for breath as tears once again escaped his eyes. It had become a routine at this point. Now and then he would wonder about his fate and as a result weep miserably like a child, waiting for it to be over just like a dream. But it never did. He never wakes up from this continuous nightmare that keeps consuming his everything.
Suddenly his phone beeped, signaling a notification. Hoping that maybe it was Minsoo saying that she was coming, he quickly opened it only to see that someone had withdrawn 10 million won from his bank account.
He stared at the screen in utter disbelief. How the hell did this happen? How did he suddenly lose all of his life savings? Wouldn't the bank at least make some call or anything to make sure that he had agreed to it? What the heck is happening? Wait…the only way possible for the bank to give out all of his savings was if either he or Minsoo agreed to it. But as far as he knew, he had never agreed to anything like that nor had he signed any document related to it in recent times.
Then… that means only one thing. Minsoo must have consented to it.
But why would she do it? Why would she take out all of his life savings when she knew how much he relied on it for this treatment to continue? Even if insurance will pay for it eventually, he’ll still need a lot of money to continue his proper treatment and care. What is happening?
He instantly dialed Minsoo’s number and tried to call her. But as expected all of his calls failed to even connect. What is happening? Chanyeol can barely wrap his head around everything. He started to leave her texts, begging her to call him but none of them got delivered. Did she block him?
It can’t be that right? Minsoo can’t be so cruel to leave him on his deathbed like this, right? She won’t run away with the money right? This is not the person that he married against everyone’s wishes right?
He quickly got up from his bed and removed the IV line. His whole body ached with just the effort to stand up straight but he needed answers now. No matter what, he had to confront Minsoo if he wanted a chance at living.
He barely managed to escape the hospital staff as he stumbled across the lobbies to find the entrance. When he had come to this place a month ago, he had all the strength in his body. But now he could barely walk to the exit as if every step felt like he’d been dragging twenty pounds of weight tied to his feet.
Despite his body struggling, he somehow managed to come out of the hospital and catch a taxi to take him back to his place. He could feel the driver giving him strange looks but he just mumbled his address and looked out of the window. He needed to get things organized in his head if he wanted to confront Minsoo.
By the time he reached his house, it was already evening. The sun had set, and the sky looked warm from its afterglow. He got out of the taxi and looked at the cherry blossom tree in front of his apartment. He still remembers how he fell in love with this tree when he and Minsoo had come to this place during their apartment-hunting time. It was in full bloom at that time too.
Everything was the same. Except him and his life.
With a sigh, he looked up in the direction of their apartment and saw that the lights were on. Minsoo must be home. He quickly walked toward the entrance and made his way toward the elevator. He didn’t know why but he felt his hands shake as he approached his floor. He trusted her. He trusted her more than anything. But why was he so nervous about finding out the truth?
Did he really choose the wrong person? Just like his mother had predicted?
He carefully made his way to the apartment and unlocked the door. There at the entrance were two pairs of shoes. One pair of classic red pumps which he knew he had gifted to Minsoo on their third anniversary and another were the latest Nikes that he knew he had seen only one person wearing. His one and only best friend Kim Minhwan.
He looked at the pairs and tried to wrap his head around it. Maybe Minhwan was here to help Minsoo out with something? Maybe he was thinking too deeply about things that weren’t actually true. But just as he thought that, he heard an unison of laughter coming from their bedroom.
His entire body shook as he made his way towards the bedroom.
The door was cracked slightly open, and in the dimly lit room, he could clearly see two figures still entangled. He stepped closer and saw Minsoo lying on top of Minhwan with the other stroking her hair gently. Their clothes lay scattered across the floor and only a white sheet covered their body.
“Let’s go to Jeju-do next weekend. I heard the weather there is good right now,” Minsoo purred as he snuggled close to Minhwan.
“Should we?” Minhwan asked with a smile.
“Yeah…I transferred the money so it won’t be a problem anymore. Plus once he dies, I’ll get all his insurance anyway.” She whispered as she drew circles on his chest.
“He put your name on it?”
“Of course!” She chuckled as if she had heard an amusing joke. “He’s a fool like that.”
“How could you do this to me?” he whispered. Every fiber of his being trembled with the sting of betrayal as he stepped inside the room causing the two to scramble in their effort to cover themselves.
“What are you doing here?” Minsoo asked as she stood behind Minhwan trying to protect herself. “You should be at the hospital!”
Chanyeol couldn’t help but laugh at her audacity to ask such questions. “Wouldn’t have that been wonderful!”
“It’s not what…” Minhwan tried to interject but Chanyeol couldn't care less about all the excuses that the two were going shove down his throat.
“SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” he screamed as he stumbled his way towards them. “HOW COULD YOU TWO DO THIS TO ME? HOW CAN YOU BETRAY ME LIKE THIS ON MY DEATHBED? HOW COULD YOU?”
“STOP SCREAMING!” Minhwan roared as he pushed him back. “We did what we had to. You are going to die anyway!”
“The living has to go on Chanyeol-ah, you should know that,” Minsoo said, her tone almost condescending. Chanyeol instantly looked at her and saw how her once loving expression was now filled with nothing but hate and disgust.
“I’m going to report you guys to the police.” He whispered as he stepped back from them. “They’ll arrest you for stealing my money.”
“For that, you need to make it out of here,” Minhwan said, his eyes darkening as he stepped closer to him.
If Chanyeol had been in his previous condition, nothing would have happened to him. But now, he was a patient of stage 4 stomach cancer. There was no way he could fight against someone like Minhwan who did boxing regularly.
He stepped back and turned around to run to the door but just as he faced his back towards him, Minhwan pushed him hard, causing him to lose his balance and land head-first into the glass table causing it to shatter with a loud noise.
Pain pierced through his body as if thousands of scorpions had decided to bite him at that exact same time. He twisted and groaned as he tried to face the two but he could barely feel his body. Is this how he was going to die? Is this what fate had written for him when they gave him his life? Heck, he didn’t even get to live his six months.
He lay there in his pool of blood as he heard the two going off around the room trying to do something. He could feel his life slowly draining out as more and more blood gushed out of his head.
“Do you think he’s dead?” he could hear Minhwan's voice echo throughout the room.
“He was going to die anyway. We saved him the pain of suffering.” Minsoo’s voice came through.
“What will we tell the police?”
“He fainted and I wasn’t home.”