Chapter Text
Seunghyo was absolutely exhausted by the time he got home from work, wanting nothing more than to take off his shoes and spend time with Seokryu after a long day. However, upon entering their living room, he was surprised to find the couch empty of its usual inhabitant.
Seunghyo decided to go up and search. “Yeobo?” he called as he entered their bedroom. “Where are you?”
“In here!” Seokryu called back from the bathroom. “Give me a minute.”
Having decided that he was not spending a moment longer being away from his wife, Seunghyo barged in. “Hey there.”
Seokryu turned around towards his voice and managed to roll her eyes. “Couldn’t wait a minute could you, you clingy boy?”
He chuckled, unfazed. “Why yes, yes, I could not. I missed you all day.”
“Well, I missed you too,” she quipped back as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, giving him a quick peck on the lips.
Seunghyo smiled. He would have been lying if he said domestic moments like these still didn’t give him butterflies.
However, the butterflies quickly ceased when he took a closer look of Seokryu’s face. She was looking quite pale. “Hey, are you okay?”, he inquired, gently cupping her face. “You don’t look so good.”
Seokryu sighed, squeezing Seughyo’s hands on her face lightly before bringing them down. “I’m fine, yeobo. It was just an extra long day today. There were a lot more customers than usual.”
Seunghyo exhaled loudly. “Seokryu, what I did tell you about - “
“Yes, yes - getting actual staff instead of bearing it all on my own, I know, Choisseung.” His wife rambled as she walked out of the bathroom and headed towards their bed. “I know.”
Seunghyo could not help but sigh again. “Seokryu-ah, you’ve been saying that every month,” he called out from the bathroom. He took another deep breath. Should I say it?, he thought to himself.
“Seokryu, I think you’ve been putting it off.”
“Putting it off?” his wife huffed. He didn’t have to be in the same room as her to know that she was frowning. “Yah, you think I’ve been enjoying juggling all the work on my own? You think I haven’t been stressing over this?”
She’s been stressing over this? Seunghyo thought, suddenly worried. He loosened his necktie haphazardly. How could I have not known? Still, Seunghyo’s frustration got the best of him. “I know you don’t enjoy the stress, Seokryu. But I know you’re still hesitant to get extra help.”
He waited a few moments for a reply as he finished dressing up in the bathroom.
Dead silence.
Seunghyo exhaled through his nose, trying to calm himself down. This was not how he wanted his already exhausting day to end - by arguing with his wife. Calmly, he stepped out of the bathroom, hoping to speak to Seokryu properly this time. “Yeobo, I’m sorry. I’m just concerned about -”
The words instantly died from his lips when he returned to their bedroom, coming face to face with Seokryu by their bed who was…. doubling over in pain.
He went across the room and was holding Seokryu in mere seconds. “Seokryu-ah, are you okay? What’s wrong?” he asked quietly, hoping he didn’t sound too frantic.
Seokryu was groaning in pain, her hands clutching her husband’s shoulders for dear life. “Stomach…” she whimpered. “H-hurts.”
His body turned rigid. Those words again, he rambled to himself. Not those damned words. “Okay, Seokryu-ah. When did this start?”
“N-now. Just now,” she managed to say. Seokryu let out another whimper, louder this time. Her knees started buckling, but Seunghyo quickly caught her before she hit the ground. “Alright, I’m taking you to the hospital. Hold on to me, okay?” Seunghyo whispered. In seconds, he scooped her up and held her close to his chest. “Hold on to me, Seokryu.”
Seokryu’s face was still scrunched up in pain and she was panting hard, so all she could do was a small nod. Seunghyo tightened his hold on her as they headed downstairs.
You’ll be okay. We’ll be okay, Seunghyo chanted in his head repeatedly. We have to be okay.
A million things were going through Seunghyo’s mind as he sat beside Seokryu, who was currently laying on a bed in the emergency room. She came back from an emergency CT scan and was now resting comfortably, her stomach pain having subsided thanks to the medication. However, God knows the mental pain they were both going through now was something that could not be easily relieved.
Seunghyo’s hand tightly clutched that of Seokryu’s. He glanced over at her, and he was met with a stoic expression. While husband-of-over-a-year Seunghyo would not have read that expression in an instant, best-friend-of over-30-years Seunghyo easily informed him that Seokryu was currently in overdrive, thinking about too many things.
Seunghyo lightened his hold on her hand and lifted it up to his lips to kiss it gently. “Seokryu-ah, what’s in your mind? Talk to me.”
Seokryu sighed in response, turning her head to his side. “I’m… I’ve been thinking about… if it came back… stress - I mean, me not hiring extra help - ”
He was shaking his head before she could even finish her sentence. “Don’t say that, Seokryu.”
“But what if it’s true?” she retorted weakly. “I could never forgive myse-”
“Yeobo, nobody is blaming you,” Seunghyo interrupted. He took a deep breath as he squeezed her hand again. “ I am not blaming you. You’ve been taking care of yourself the best you can. Whatever happens,” - he involuntarily gulped - “if it happens, it is… something you couldn’t have controlled.”
Seokryu could only squeeze his hand back in response, tears starting to roll down her cheek.
He gave a solemn smile. “Whatever happens, I’ll be by your side. 100 years, 10 years, or even a day, remember? I’m spending all my days with you. Arasseo?”
Seokryu would have rolled her eyes at how cheesy her husband was, but for now, when she most needed it, she let that feeling coat her entire being. “Okay.”
"Sarangha-"
“Seokryu?"
A familiar voice pierced through the moment, startling the couple. 'Seunghyo?"
His dad's voice, usually comforting and cheery, was now devoid of its usual character. "I have her results."
As Seunghyo looked up to his dad, he was met with a neutral, almost cold expression. Okay, so he's in his doctor mode, he tried rationalizing. He's being professional. That expression doesn't mean anythi-
"I - I'm sorry. Seokryu’s results show that there is tumor growth again.”
His dad's lips were moving, but all Seunghyo could hear was ringing in his ears. It was just ringing.
Have seconds passed? Minutes? Hours? Seunghyo wasn't sure. His vision seemed to blur. He still could not figure out what was happening. All he could hear was the damn ringing in his ears, and it…. wait. And wailing. Someone was wailing and crying.
He turned to the source of the sound, and found that it was his wife, still sitting on the hospital bed. Seokryu was crying, holding on to him. A little more focus, and he realizes that the wailing sound was coming from him, too.