𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲

chapter 35

A/N: We're back again :)))) - thank you all so much for your patience, my exams are finally done now so I can get back to updating LOTS more now <3

WARNING: hospital visits, heart attack, panic attack, angst but there's some fluff toooooo (let me know if I've missed anything)

After the events that unfolded that morning at school, you still can't shake the bad feeling you have in your gut. When you get back to class everyone is incredibly apologetic towards you, and you're quick to reassure them that you most certainly are NOT dating Seojun (as much as it hurts you to do so).

When the rest of the day seems to go okay you relax a little, beginning to think that you were just being paranoid. Your lessons go by smoothly and your day seems to go fine, and at lunch you sit with your friends in the cafeteria. You all laugh at something Taehoon says, and you let yourself calm down a little. Maybe I was worried over nothing, you think to yourself with a smile.

However, at that moment, you feel your phone vibrate to signal that you have received a text message. In the time that you put your cutlery down to reach for your phone, it buzzes three more times, before it eventually starts ringing.

You're still laughing with your friends when you pull your phone out of your pocket, and you look at the screen in confusion when you see that it's Seojun's mother calling. She almost never calls you, especially when you're at school.
"Hi auntie, everything okay?" you ask, a smile still on your face.

"Y/N," you hear Seojun's mother say firmly, and you frown at her tone. Your heart drops in worry, the horrible feeling in your gut much stronger than before.
"It's your mother." You stop breathing for a moment. "She had a heart attack and she's in the hospital, I'm in the waiting room waiting for her."

Your grip loosens and you drop your phone, the bang on the table resonating through the room and causing the couple beside you to quieten as they turn to you. Taehoon picks up your phone with a chuckle, scolding you lightly for being so clumsy, but his words fall on deaf ears. He places the phone back in your hand and that's when everyone looks over to see your face filled with pure terror, your body practically shaking. His expression instantly changes to a frown and he places a hand on your shoulder in worry.

"Y/N?" His worried tone catches the attention of the rest of your friends at the table who look over at you in panic, watching as you remain frozen in place. Taehoon has to physically grab your shoulders while turning you to face him and shaking them in order to break you out of your daze. "What's wrong?"
"No," you mumble to yourself, "this isn't happening."

"What's the matter Y/N, you're scaring us," you barely hear, too engrossed in your own thoughts.
"This isn't real, this can't be happening, no." You finally break out of your daze. You shoot up out of your seat suddenly and take off running out the cafeteria, your chopsticks falling onto the ground. The noise echoes throughout the cafeteria and shocks your peers, the room falling into complete silence as everyone stares at the door you just sprinted out of.

You run through the corridors as you head outside, still mumbling to yourself with tears escaping your eyes, gripping your phone tightly in your hand. When you get near the entrance you fail to notice Seojun walking past you. He's with his friends when he notices you looking distraught and panicked as you run past, and he grabs your hands to stop you.

"Hey hey, what's going on?" he asks, and you tightly grip his forearms in a useless attempt at keeping yourself grounded. His friends watch worriedly at the state you're in. You look like you're about to collapse any second, your face pale from the shock and tears running down your face.

"Y/N", Seojun urges, bringing you back to him.
"Seojun, hospital," you say between gasps, "I need to get to the hospital. My mum-"
"Let's go," he cuts you off, his eyes wide as he understands what's going on. He tells his friends to grab both his and your belongings and that he will call them later. They nod frantically while shoving him with you towards the entrance of the school, worried as you sob while running.

The two of you leave the school as you run through the streets, hailing a taxi immediately and jumping in. Seojun tells the driver where to go and tells him to hurry, and at that moment his phone rings. It's his mother. He answers immediately.
"Seojun-ah, you need to find Y/N-"

"I've got her, we're on our way to the hospital right now," he cuts her off, telling her you both will be there soon before ending the call and turning to pull you into his arms. You're sobbing completely now, your body shaking as you grip Seojun's blazer tightly. You can't have a panic attack at a moment like this, and Seojun can tell from the way that you're breathing and the way your legs are shaking that you will at any moment. All he can do is hold you in his arms and whisper comforting words into your ears and hope that everything will be okay.

When the car stops outside the hospital you immediately open the door and sprint inside. Seojun quickly pays the driver for the taxi journey before following after you. The two of you make your way inside, and when you get to the waiting area and see Seojun's mother you run over to her. She stands up as you approach.
"What's going on?" you ask, still crying.
"I don't know, they haven't said anything yet. She's still inside," she responds.

At that moment the doctor walks out, and you run up to him.
"My mum, how is she?" you ask frantically.
"She did have to undergo an emergency surgery, but it was a success. She's still unconscious and recovering in the ICU at the moment, but she should be okay," he tells you, and you all let out a sigh of relief at his words. You have tears in your eyes, your hand tightly gripping onto Seojun's as you take a break before you ask the question you were afraid to hear the answer to.

"Did it have anything to do with her cancer? Is it back?" you ask, dreading the answer but knowing it could be a possibility. Seojun and his mother look over at you in shock. They didn't even know about your mother having cancer, only Jugyeong knew.

"No, I understand she's been in remission for almost a year now," he says, and you nod, "It doesn't seem like her cancer has resurfaced, we did some tests and it all looks okay. This heart attack was random, and completely unrelated to her cancer." The doctor places his hand on your shoulder. "She will be fine," he says, and you cry in relief before turning to bury your face into Seojun's chest.

Seojun looks at his mother sadly as he rubs your back, moving to wrap his arms around you tightly as he whispers words of comfort to you. Seojun nods gratefully at the doctor when he explains that he will be admitting her in hospital for a while to keep her under observation, before turning back to you to rest his chin on your head while he hugs you.