Author's Note: It took me a couple of days to figure this out. Plus today was the last day of work for two weeks! I was too excited plus I was getting caught up on Oh My Venus with So Ji Sub and Sung Hoon. I'm so excited about this drama because Henry Lau cracks me up!
Anyway, give me your ideas on who Soohyun should be with.
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Soohyun didn't know what was going on. Physically she was fine, but mentally and emotionally she was drained. She could barely hold her head up even as she sat at her desk. She was so supposed to be planning the food for the weeding but she couldn't do any of it.
She had all of the requirements. All she had to do was put it all together and decorate everything. Everything was ready to go. But she didn't want to do it. She didn't have the heart to do any of it. Every time she saw it in her kitchen and plan book she just didn't have the urge to start. This was the first time for any of it, and she was so concerned.
"Noona?" She looked up at her boss's boss. Choi Young Do stood in her door looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you okay?"
Sighing she sat up and nodded. "I'm fine. Is there something you need?"
"I got a request from a customer to see you. I declined because I thought you were too busy. I hope that's okay."
She nodded again. "It's fine. I have too much work to do anyway."
She could tell Young Do didn't believe her but he wasn't about to argue with her. He nodded then left her to what she needed to do.
Soohyun stared at the clean surface of her desk for the longest and wondered how much longer she could do this. It was too tiring to be this active anymore. She should have done something different professionally. She could have done anything, and yet her stubbornness to prove that she would be able to handle it was finally kicking her in the ass. It was suffocating.
Just as she was getting up to go back to work, her phone rang. She recognized the number and immediately picked up. There was a loud breath on the other side, like he had been hoping she wouldn't answer.
"Hello, Dr. Kang," she said as she stood and headed towards the door.
"Hello, Soohyun. Are you available to come see me today?" he asked. His voice was solid but there was an underlying tone that told her it was serious.
"I can be. I'll just say it's an emergency. I'll see you in a few minutes."
Soohyun hung up her chef's coat and gathered her things on her way out. She stopped by to talk to her boss as she passed his office to the front of the hotel. He nodded and sent her on her way, telling her to take care of herself for as long as she needed. He had been very understanding during all of this.
The hospital she usually went to was a few blocks away from her job. She was able to walk for many of her checkups in the last year. So far everything had been fine. She hadn't had to have second and third visits after the monthly checkup and she had considered herself lucky.
If she were to be perfectly honest with herself, she had been expecting this. Since she had collapsed while catering the birthday party, she had been steeling herself for this call. The usual wait time for blood work was a few days. It had been nearly four weeks, meaning something was wrong and they were doing more tests. This was right on schedule.
She walked in the main entrance and a nurse immediately led her to Dr. Kang's office. They all knew her well enough to know who she was seeing. Luckily, Dr. Kang was waiting on her. He had to have been bouncing his knee as he waited for her to walk the three blocks to the hospital.
She sat down and waited for him to turn to her. When he did, she knew the results. He had a very expressive face that couldn't lie even when he wanted to.
"It's back," she said.
He looked at her with his lips pressed into a straight line. "Your white blood count dropped drastically in the last two months. Last time I saw you it was upwards on the scale. Now you're at the bottom. And your biopsy shows it in your marrow as well."
Soohyun nodded. "When do you want to start chemo again?"
Dr. Kang took on a sad look. "Soohyun, most people would yell and scream."
"I'm not most people. I've been dealing and fighting with this for a while. I don't have time to be mad or sad. I have to be able to get well as soon as possible."
He nodded. "I want you to start today. I've already scheduled an appointment for you. You'll need someone to take you home."
"I'll call Hoon Jin."
Dr. Kang led her to the oncology department as she called Hoon. She looked at the chair she had frequented months ago and sighed in resignation before taking it again.
Won stared at his phone and wondered if something had happened. It had been nearly a month since he had heard from Soohyun. They had kept in touch after Da Kyung had given him an ultimatum. Most of the conversations had been centered around food for the wedding and the wedding itself.
Their last conversation had been about the wedding cake. He didn't trust anyone else with it. But he hadn't heard anything about how the design was coming. He had called her three times and had sent countless texts to find out what was going on. They had all come back unanswered which was unusual. She was usually so quick to answer.
Hyun Joon hadn't said anything about there being anything wrong. He had been his normal bubbly self. He had seemed like everything was fine. Won hadn't asked him because he hadn't wanted to ruin the man's mood and make him suspicious and fly off the handle.
He picked up the thing made of metal and plastic and hit the one number he had used most recently. He heard Soohyun's voice as he caught the voicemail, but there wasn't an answer. He hadn't expected one.
Without a second thought, Won stood and left his office. He was glad Hyun Joon hadn't paid any attention. The man was nosy and if he saw him leaving, he would ask a hundred questions. So he skirted his workers and grabbed the next empty elevator.
Once down in the parking garage, he got in his car and zipped out. He knew the way by heart so he didn't bother plugging it into his GPS. For two days he had driven this route on his way back from getting food. It would be engrained in his memory for a long while even if he didn't want.
Soohyun's building was located between his office and Zeus Hotel. It was very convenient for her since she had frequented both places often in the last few months. He pulled into the specified spot in the underground lot and got out. He went up to her floor without a second thought. It was second nature now.
Arriving on her floor, Won immediately went to her door and rang the doorbell. When no one answered in what he thought was a sufficient amount of time, he knocked on the door.
No sooner had he raised his hand to knock again, the door opened. Soohyun stared up at him. Won looked her over, taking note how weak she was. She held on to the door frame as she stood with the door propped open by her foot.
"Come in," she said. "It hurts too much to stand."
Won grabbed her arm as she stepped back. He swung her up into his arms as he stepped into the house and carried her to the couch. She had made a little nest of blankets and pillows. He knew what had taken so long to get to the door.
He set her down gently on the couch and grabbed the tea cup sitting on the table, pressing the warm ceramic into her hands. He got up and returned to the door to take his shoes off. He went to the kitchen and warmed up some soup that had been left on the stove. He put the bowl on a plate and scattered crackers around it.
Carefully, he carried the soup to the couch and set the tray on her lap. He took the tea cup from her and set it on the coffee table. He watched as she ate a few bites then set it aside. He looked from the food to the woman as she curled up into the corner of the couch.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Soohyun looked up at him briefly then closed her eyes. "My leukemia is back. I started chemotherapy three days ago. This is the after effect."
"Why did you tell me?"
"Your fiancé made it perfectly clear how she felt about me when I was sitting in your office a month ago. I didn't call because I didn't want to get you in trouble."
Won's mouth fell open as he tried his best to wrap his head about all of this. She had started a severe time again and hadn't called him because she didn't want him to have an issue with his fiancé. Even sick she was watching after him.
He took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. She could barely hold her eyes open but she tried her best to meet his gaze. His heart twisted painfully as he looked into a blank stare that he hadn't seen before.
"Is there anything you need me to do?" he asked as he rubbed her cheeks.
She shook her head slowly. It looked like it caused her too much pain. "No. Hoon will be back tonight after he closes the café. I can make it until then. I was asleep when you showed up."
That wasn't what he wanted to hear but he would respect her wishes. She was too tired to argue with no matter how much he wanted to. So he let her go and picked up her bowl and plate. He cleaned up and put the leftover soup in the fridge. He wanted to stay but if she didn't want him there, there was no point in it.
"Won?" he heard her say. She had dropped the formalities they had spoken in since they had met.
"What is it, sweetie?" he asked. He jumped as she stood up and rounded the coffee table shakily. "What are you doing?"
"There is something you can help me with." He followed her to the bathroom where she flipped on the light and sat on the shower chair. She pointed to the vanity. "I want you to take that electric razor and shave my head."
He sat on the toilet in front of her and looked her in the eye. "Are you sure?"
She met his gaze steadily. "I'm going to lose my hair anyway. I might as well be in charge of that when I can't control what this chemical does to the rest of my body."
Won sat there for a few moments chewing on his bottom lip. She closed her eyes and waited, knowing he was going to do what she asked even though he hated it.
Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the razor and flipped it on, the buzzing filling the hollow silence of the bathroom. Soohyun pulled her beanie off and he could see the longish short hair that had grown back over the last few months. Carefully, he pressed the blade to her head and pulled it back, revealing the shiny skin of her scalp. He watched the clump as it fell to the bathroom floor.
Soohyun had never felt so relieved to have someone other than Hoon Jin or Hyun Joon cut her hair. They would have wanted to have a deep conversation with her. Won just did the task without a word. She couldn't talk. There was a lump in the back of her throat that would turn to tears if she uttered a word. Won seemed to understand that.
After a few minutes, the buzz cut off and she felt the softness of a towel rub across her head. Won used his fingers to massage her scalp to ease the tingling the metal clippers had left.
"Do you want to look?" he asked. She shook her head because she had already seen it once before. "I'm going to pick you up. Bury your head in my neck if you want to."
Her vision was filled with Won as he stepped in front of her and picked her up off the shower stool. She wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as she carried her from the bathroom. He returned her to the couch before he went to clean up the kitchen. She wondered why his fiancé was a bitch when this man was so caring. How could someone stamp out something so bright?
"Have you told Hyun Joon?" Won asked as he sat down beside her. He gathered her to him, pressing her forehead into his neck.
"No. I asked Hoon not to tell Oppa just yet. I wasn't feeling up to arguing with him just yet. He will want me to move in with him until I start to feel better. The only thing is I don't know when that will be. I will take up too much room and Dad is already there. I don't want to be a burden," she answered.
"What about Hoon?"
"He's just as fussy. I don't want him to stay here either but he's not going to listen to me. If he stays away from the café, it could tank."
Won rubbed his fingertips into her temple. "Do you want to move in with me?"
"I can't. Kang Da Kyung will be livid."
"I'll handle her. You just tell me what you want me to pack tomorrow, and we'll get you some place where you will have an entire staff to take care of you until you're ready to move home."
Soohyun didn't know what to say so she just let herself be comforted. She was too sick to argue anyway, not that Won would ever listen to her.