Hoseok's Mafia Princess

74

A few months later

My fingers brushed through the assortment of clothes on the clothing rack searching for anything eye catching. My sight stopped as I spotted a gorgeous black top with small accents of lace on the top.

My manicured hands pulled out the selection as I went to a tall mirror and held the item in front of my torso examining how adorable it would look on me. I strolled over to where Kai was to ask for her opinion.

"Mmm," she thought, "Super cute!"

I beamed with glee, "I know right! Should I try it on?"

She vigorously nodded her head and I excitedly scurried over to the fitting rooms.

Right as I entered and closed the door, I quickly put the shirt on and admired myself in the mirror. It was a perfect fit, I would definitely be buying it.

I pulled my phone out about to send a pic to Kai as I knew she would be wanting to see it on me... Then there it was again.

That feeling.

In my throat.

And the pain in my lungs.

I subconsciously dropped my phone on the floor and my hands came up to clutch my chest. My knees unbuckled and I fell to the ground. Trying to control my breathing, I start inhaling and exhaling harshly.

Then the coughing starts up again. I try muffling the sound with one hand while the other remains on my chest. Then the pounding headache comes back. Plus, the sense of dizziness isn't anything new to me. It all overwhelms me to the point where I feel like passing out on the dressing room floor.

I continue to painfully cough that only worsens the pain in my throat. I feel like closing my eyes when loud knocking wakes me up.

"Y/n? Are you okay?" Kai asked from the other side of the door.

I finished coughing out what was left and I got up as if nothing happened. The pain somehow suddenly vanished and I was strong enough again to get back on my feet and unlock the door.

Kai stepped inside with a worried look on her face. "Y/n?"

"I'm okay" I reassure her with a small smile on my face.

However, she wasn't buying it.

Kai looked at me with squinted eyes, "Don't lie. I heard you from outside. It sounded. Dreadful."

I looked down in defeat. Something is wrong. I kept thinking that I've just been sick this whole time, but I fear that it's something worse for it to persist for this long.

"Y/n, do you want to buy that top and then head to the doctor's office? Maybe they could prescribe you some medicine?" Kai asked in the sweetest voice she could muster up.

I squeaked out a small yes before closing the door behind Kai and changing out of the shirt that I wasn't too excited to spend my money on anymore.

After leaving the clothing store with my shopping bag, we drove straight to the hospital.

Waiting.

Just waiting is all I could remember.

The doctor wanted to take some tests and said that it shouldn't take too long to get results.

So Kai and I did all that we could do and that was to wait in the Jung Suite.

"Are you nervous?" Kai broke the silence.

"Uhh" I stuttered, "Maybe a bit. Not quite sure, I just don't want to stress about it. I hope that it is not that big a deal, you know?"

She nodded in understanding.

After a few more moments of patiently waiting in the doctor's office, the doctor came in and sat down.

"Hello y/n, we have you test results, and they came back surprisingly".

I lifted my eyebrows, "Surprisingly? How come?"

The doctor looked at me in the eye, "I'm going to ask a somewhat weird question, have you recently been around fire? A big fire?"

My heart dropped in my stomach remembering the burning down of the BTS mansion. It was a horror that I wish to not repeat, "Y-yes a very long time ago. Why do you ask?"

"Fires have very toxic substances and if it is inhaled, it could put people at serious risk".

"... serious risk of... what?" I nervously asked.

The doctor sadly sighed, "Lung cancer".

Chills ran down my spine and goosebumps appeared on my arms. My breath was caught in my throat, not again. In a much more painful way than it has earlier.

Tears started forming in Kai's eyes as I could easily sense how scared she was.

I mustered up the courage to ask for confirmation, "A-are you saying that I have... lung cancer?"

The doctor apologized, "I'm sorry that I am the one who had to deliver this unfortunate news to you, but yes you have tested positive for lung cancer".

A warm tear that I didn't even know existed slid down my cheek as my mind processed the words the doctor just told me.

"Was it because of the fire? Because I was also in that fire, in fact I was in it the longest yet I don't have the same symptoms as y/n, but do I have lung cancer too?" Kai said.

"We can test you, for it, but since the fire was a long time ago and you have no symptoms, it is highly unlikely," the doctor answered her. "How long have these symptoms been happening y/n?" the doctor turned his attention to me while typing on his computer.

I sadly chuckled to myself, "I don't know. A much longer time than before the fire. It was before I got married... engaged. Honestly, I've had them for a long time, but they weren't that bad. They've merely gotten worse as time went on. I just chose to pretend that it was nothing..."

I started to cry some more, "It's my fault. If I had just chosen to say something sooner and catch the tumor before it advanced, things might've been easier," I put my head in my hands.

Kai started rubbing circles on my back. "This isn't your fault, don't put the blame on yourself".

The doctor typed a little more before speaking again, "Since you've been experiencing this for quite a while, this could possibly be caused by genetics. It is mostly caused from smoking, rarely from genetics, but it happens".

Now that I think about it, my appa was a smoker. Pretty heavily too. I didn't know that he had cancer, but I knew that my grandfather did. My appa's parents smoked and developed lung cancer and died in old age.

I'm not a smoker, so it must've be caused by genetics at first, then the fire just made it even worse.

flashback

Her heartbeat was increasing rapidly and her lungs were filling up with smoke. Suddenly, a huge piece of the second floor fell right in front of her creating a big smoke bomb. Smoke blew up in her face, it crept in her nose and mouth. She was coughing it out uncontrollably.