After leaving the doctor's room, observing the hallway environment was not good at all. I slightly slid to the cold plastic chair in the corner, staring down at my trembling fingers. My breath was steady, soft at the same time, but my chest felt incredibly heavy.
"What is going to happen?"
I mumbled, sliding my finger over the rough paper of the medical report nervously. Why am I feeling this absolute dread? I don't get it. Everything feels so unfamiliar. My chest had burned so terribly at home—a sudden, violent coughing fit that left a warm, terrifying splash of deep crimson across my palm. That horror alone pushed me to run to the hospital. I needed to know.
"Is everything okay, doctor? Why aren't you telling me anything?" I asked, my voice rising anxiously in the quiet room.
The older man had sighed deeply, a heavy weight pulling his shoulders down before he looked me straight in the eyes.
"Listen carefully, Minato… you have Stage V pancreatic cancer. You are going to die in about three months."
For a moment, the world completely stopped.
My heart pounded violently inside my chest—BADUM. BADUM. BADUM. My vision blurred instantly. I clutched the crisp white report with trembling hands, my knees giving out as I collapsed onto the floor. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks, dripping onto the paper.
Why? Why me? Why am I going to die? Lion and I... we just got married two weeks ago. How can I possibly tell him?
No… I can't. If I tell him, his heart will completely shatter.
A decision was made. I mustn't tell anyone. Not him. Not a single soul I know. Even if my body stops tomorrow, I will swallow this secret.
Numb and exhausted, I dragged myself out of the hospital entrance, but my feet suddenly froze.
A few feet away, I noticed a familiar figure. Lion. But he wasn't alone. Another man was leaning close beside him.
My breath hitched. My body started trembling uncontrollably.
"Lion… who is he? Why is he sitting beside you?" I asked. I squeezed the fabric of my shirt right over my pounding heart, struggling to steady my cracking voice.
Lion looked momentarily surprised, but a flicker of shock quickly vanished. His expression hardened into something cold, distant, and completely unreadable.
"He is my mistress. I told him to come to my house."
"What?! What!!! He is your mistress?!" I shouted in disbelief, the words tearing out of my throat.
I stopped suddenly, closing my eyes tight and taking a deep breath to force the panic down.
What can I even do? I thought, a bitter feeling washing over me. I'm going to die in just three months anyway… Wow. He really betrayed me. He was having an affair behind my back this entire time.
I forced my face to go blank, looking back at Lion with hollow eyes.
"Fine. Do whatever you want. You can keep him… but why bring him into our house?"
Lion smiled faintly, a casual shrug of his shoulders, something is strange in it--hiding, "Oh!! Please, he is living here so I can keep an eye on him."
The other man slowly—slowly—reached out and grabbed my hand. "Hm… S-Sor… Sorry, I never meant to do it." He started to sob right there, tears spilling over his cheeks in front of me and Lion.
"Don't cry, baby," Lion said softly, his voice instantly turning gentle—a tone he rarely used with me. He lifted the man up into his arms like a fragile child, turning around to walk toward the stairs.
Over my husband's shoulder, the lover stopped crying. He suspiciously smirked, his eyes locking onto mine with a terrifying, warning look.
Ah~! Thinking about it gives me chills.
I rubbed my hands over my cold skin and took a deep breath, heading up the stairs toward my own room. Before I reached the hallway, I froze.
Through the slightly open door, I could hear the loud, cheerful laughter of my husband and his mistress. It was like they were a perfect family—completely happy together without me.
But the moment I finally shut my bedroom door, all of my fake bravery collapsed. My knees gave way entirely, and I sank to the floor, my face cold and my eyes burning with held-back tears.
"They are really good together... It's really good for me—and them too—to hide my secret. But it hurts so much. It's starting to become an unbreakable pain." I whispered into the empty room. Because of this illness... and my husband's betrayal too. Wow… just forget it, clear my thoughts. I need to take my medicine. That's more necessary right now.
I sat on the edge of the bed, pulled the small bottle from my pocket, and swallowed the pills.
Lying back against the pillows, I let out a deep breath of relief.
"I think I'm going to die in a few months, huh… I shouldn't care about that stuff, but I always end up thinking of—"
The cruel way he scolded me. The rude behavior. Those harsh, biting words I never imagined my husband would say to me. I'm so jealous to see them together, but whatever…
I grabbed my head, shouting out in the darkness, "This is so frustrating! Really… I can't handle it!"
I forced myself to sigh out the exhaustion, closing my eyes. After so much overthinking, completely drained from today's incidents, I finally fell into a deep sleep. It felt like all the worst tragedies had collided into a single day.
But… it was not the end of the day.
Like the last course of a painful meal, the dessert was still waiting—one more bitter moment to taste.
In the middle of the night—thud!Something heavy fell outside.I startled awake, quickly sitting up and rubbing my eyes. Fear tugged at my chest as I stepped out toward the washroom. But as I walked back, faint whispers broke the silence of the midnight hallway.
"Hey, I want to eat you," Lion's voice murmured softly.
"Babe, please… I'm not in the mood. I want to sleep," the lover's voice replied.
Hearing that intimacy, my feet started moving toward the sound on their own. The door was slightly open—almost like it was left that way on purpose.
When I peered through the gap and saw the view with my own eyes—
Chills.
My entire body froze. I couldn't even move my fingers as my heart started pounding like crazy. Suddenly, a sharp, nervous ache throbbed deep in my stomach.
What I saw was Lion tightly hugging his mistress, kissing his cheek with deep affection. I wasn't shocked by the act itself… I was shocked by the sudden realization. On our entire honeymoon, he had never hugged me like that. We had never even... because he always claimed he was too busy, never once stepping into my room.
Was I really that foolish, waiting for him all that time?
Inside, Lion tried to convince him again, but the man refused, shifting his gaze over Lion's shoulder to look straight at the door—straight at me where I stood hidden in the dark.
The mistress wrapped his arms around Lion with a cheerful smile. "Babe, you always do that every day… so please, not today. I swear, tomorrow. I'm really tired today."
Then, he turned his face back toward my hiding spot and smirked again. A cold, victorious look that clearly said: You'll never snatch my position in Lion's heart.
I quickly turned my face away, squeezing the front of my shirt where my heart was breaking into pieces. Walking back down the dark hallway, my expression went completely cold, my vision blurring from the tears I refused to let fall. I carried my shattered heart silently.
Entering my room, I jumped onto the bed, burying my face deep into the pillow and shutting my eyes tight. And slowly, the darkness swallowed my thoughts again.
I just wanted to be free. To find someone who could love me with a whole heart. Only me… and no one else.
TO BE CONTINUED...