"Life is so unpredictable. One moment,
everything is completely fine; but then the
next moment, your life is in utter shambles."
<I'm Not Okay - Chen>
"Taehyung-ah, I have your diagnosis in my hands right now."
Two weeks ago, Taehyung had gone for just a regular checkup with his doctor friend, Dr Kim Namjoon, after he had been having a throbbing headache that lasted more than a week. The thing was that, Taehyung had been having headaches all his life so he thought that really, it couldn't be anything serious. But in that very moment, sitting in front of Namjoon in the middle of his consultation room two weeks later and realising how serious he looked, Taehyung couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"What is it, hyung?" Taehyung flashed Namjoon a nervous smile, blinking rapidly. "Why do you look so serious?"
Namjoon swallowed hard. "Because... it is serious."
"Ya, hyung-" Taehyung let out a small chuckle, a ditch attempt at trying to calm his own nerves. "Don't scare me, please. It's not funny at all."
"Of course it's not funny." Namjoon swallowed hard, his eyes glazed over. "Since when have you ever seen me joke about such things?"
Taehyung felt his heart sink to his stomach. His hands were shaking and a cold sweat had broken out on his forehead, but amidst the thumping sound in his ears, Taehyung struggled to put on the biggest smile he could - it was as if he thought that as long as he persevered with his smile, everything would be okay, everything would be just fine.
"Tell me then-" Taehyung's voice trembled as he spoke, his palms all sweaty as he clung on tight to the chair he sat in. "Tell me what's wrong with me... hyung."
"Taehyung-ah, I-" Namjoon looked down at the diagnosis in his hands, his voice breaking from all the suppressed emotions. "Listen to me carefully - no matter what the diagnosis is, I want you to be strong and accept the treatment recommended for you... You are one of the strongest people I know, we'll get through this together... I'm sure you already know this, but hyung- hyung will always be here, hyung will always have your back-"
"I don't want to hear this, Namjoon-hyung-" Taehyung's smile slowly faded from his face, the urgency in his voice getting more and more apparent as he spoke. "You know this is not what I wanna hear..."
"Just promise me you'll be strong." Namjoon put down the paper and looked directly into Taehyung's eyes as he grabbed hold of his hands. Only then did Taehyung realise how much Namjoon was trembling as well. "Promise me that you'll be strong for me, for Jennie, for Hyeyoung... and most important of all, for yourself, Taehyung-ah."
Taehyung forced himself to keep his head raised and to meet Namjoon's eyes, tears already welled up in his own as he prepared himself for the worst.
"What is it, hyung-" Taehyung's voice cracked. "What is wrong with me...? Tell me, please - I need to know."
Namjoon was silent for some time - so silent that you could almost hear a pin drop in the room. But then finally, he took a deep breath and spoke.
"Taehyung-ah..." Namjoon's voice was more like a whisper as his grip around Taehyung's hands grew tighter and tighter with every word that left his lips. "About that headache of yours... it's actually more serious than you think it is."
"My h-headache...?" Taehyung was terrified, but he tried to be brave. "You know, hyung... actually, I get it often - I get it more often than you think I do, hyung. Actually.... it's not that big of a deal at all, hyung. There's nothing you can't cure, am I right, hyung? You always cure my colds. Even that time when I had a fever of 38.9 degrees Celsius, you still managed to cure me. You're a good doctor, hyung. This headache... it's nothing! Hyung, you can fix this right now- Stop pulling my leg now, I know- I know you can fix me-"
