Arcus // ATEEZ ✔

19: the melodious tune of fate

3 months ago
'Real world'

"So, what did the pretty doctor say?"

That is the question she gets as soon as she steps inside their shared apartment, coming from her best friend. After experiencing the same symptoms she had back then again, she went straight to the hospital for a check-up. It was the doctor she had known due to the high frequency of her visits to the hospital, and she had hoped that she would not have to see her after she was finally done with her treatments. Unfortunately, she has been feeling dull headaches and nausea lately, and she fears for the worst as she came to the hospital.

"Want to make a guess?" she tries to say it lightly as she goes over to the fridge, searching for a can of soda and snapping it open. She gulps almost half while standing up, then wipes her mouth with her sleeve. "If you get it right I'll buy some meat and beer tonight."

"You'll pay it full?" Her best friend raises up her eyebrows.

"Of course, I'm not some cheapskate." She rolls her eyes.

"Alright, so guessing from your symptoms, you're currently pregnant, but you don't know who the father is," her best friend says seriously. "Damn, you must have been really wasted during that party."

"Oh, shut up," she chuckles. "Pregnant? Please, I haven't even gotten my first kiss yet." She finishes the soda, crushes the can and slides on the couch next to her best friend. She leans her head against the latter's shoulder, trying to cover her face from being seen as she's about to burst into tears. "Serim, the brain tumour came back. The treatment didn't completely eradicate it and now I'm left with another growing tumour in my head."

"Jinju..." Serim mutters as she hugs her best friend. "I'm so, so sorry... I prayed so hard for you when you went to the hospital, hoping that the results would show nothing serious. That it was just some simple headache or nausea, pregnant even. It would be better if you're pregnant instead."

Jinju laughs while wiping away her tears. That's her coping mechanism and her best friend, Serim, is well aware of it too. They crack jokes to go through tough times together, and it has been a norm since most of Jinju's early adult years have been occupied by visits to the hospital for her brain tumour. She was declared free of the disease several months ago, but she knew that she was celebrating too early. Even a small piece of the uncontrolled cell growth managed to drop her to the ground again.

"I'm going to die this time around," she sighs, speaking of it as if it's something that she has been preparing along the way.

Maybe she has been, considering that she promised to herself that she would never be too happy, afraid that she'll use up all her luck and jinx it. Looks like it did happen, now that she has returned from seeing her oncologist, the pretty Dr. Lee. It's her oncologist she has known since she was 20 years old, and now as she's turning 22, it really looks like she's about to spend her remaining years with her again.

"Hey, don't say that!" Serim scolds her, pinching her arm before hugging her tight. "I won't allow my best friend to go away before I let you, and you're going to beat that tumour just like you did last time. Remember, if you can do it once, you can do it again. Kick it in the ass and celebrate again."

"But it's too tiring, Serim," she says as another tear drops. "Going through those cycle of treatments again, throwing up, losing my hair, feeling like my whole body's being burned on an open fire, feeling generally shitty... I don't know how I'll deal with it the second time. Even my hair is only barely growing back."

"Oh Jinju!" Serim stands up while putting her hands on her hips, shaking her head. She faces Jinju while gripping her arms, then shaking her softly. "The Oh Jinju I know is a fighter, and you've proven it last time. This time, show that stupid tumour on who's the boss. That's right, Oh Jinju is!"