Pay With Your Heart

Eun-Sun was transfixed to a spot as she watched Mrs Lee lie helplessly in Dan-Han's arms, who looked shocked beyond words as he panickly called her mom.

She could hear her heartbeat over the roof as she watched in trepidation. She didn't know what to do, and she was so lost and frightened she didn't hear Dan-Han call out to her.

"Eun-Sun!" He yelled, snapping her back to reality. "Call Jae-Hyun." He said as he slid his phone towards her before carrying his mother to the bed where he laid her.

With trembling hands, Eun-sun picked up the phone and totteringly dialled Jae-Hyun's number. Her body trembled in fear as she watched Mrs Lee, who looked unresponsive.

"Hey, bro,"

"It's me," Eun-sun spoke in a teary voice.

"Are you crying? Is something wrong?" He asked with concern.

"Its mother, she's bleedi-" Before she could finish her words, she heard the beeping sound of the phone telling her the call had been disconnected. She put down the phone as she looked at Mrs Lee. She didn't know if she should approach the bed, so she stood there with all her fears swallowing her.

She looked at Dan-Han, who was desperately calling his mother. She could see the fear and worry in his eyes as he kept calling on his mother, same as his father, who sat by her side while he held her hand so tightly.

"Where the hell is Jae-Hyun?!" Dan-Han hollered. He had only finished his sentence when the man came running in like he was being chased. He nudged Eun-sun out of the way as he hurried to the bed when he saw the state Mrs Lee was in. Dan-Han quickly stepped away when he saw him approach them.

"Check on my mother. Something is wrong with her." He urged him forward.

"What is wrong with her?" Father Lee inquired as he gazed at Jae-Hyun, who opened a small duffel bag and brought out his equipment.

Jae-Hyun raised his gaze to him. His mouth gaped to say something, but he only stuttered. "I-"

"Let him do his job." Dale drawled, causing father Lee to nod concurrently.

"Please check on her." He said, looking at his wife with remorseful eyes. He was responsible for this. He should have let the matter go when she asked him to. What has he done?! His hold around her hand tightened but not enough to squeeze her limp-pale hands.

Dan-Han glanced at Eun-sun, who stood stiffly like a log as she watched his mother. He strolled towards her and wrapped a hand around her shoulders, pulling her into his embrace.

"She'll be fine." He whispered just above her ears, but he didn't know if he was trying to comfort Eun-sun or convince himself. He had not expected something like that to happen.

Pressing her head against his chest, she gripped his shirt and sobbed, "I'm sorry."

"Shhh". He hushed her, gently patting her head. "It's not your fault. Everything will be fine." He assured her, but he didn't know what she was actually being sorry for.

Letting go of his shirt, she raised her head to look at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but he interjected her.

"Don't say anything. Let's pray for mother's health, okay?" He told her as he hugged her back. Eun-Sun badly wanted to say to him what was going on, but she reluctantly nodded her head. She needed to tell him before it got too late. She looked over his shoulder to look at Mrs Lee, who was still lying unresponsive.

She hoped it wouldn't be too late.

Father Lee's anxious gaze followed Jae-Hyun when he took a step away from his wife side with a deep, worrisome frown crested between his brows.

"What is it?" He anxiously asked, prompting Dan-Han to look at Jae-Hyun as he let go of Eun_sun.

Jae-Hyun felt pressure on his head and every part of him, unsure how to respond to the question he had been asked. He could already feel his heart pounding with pain and guilt. He looked at Father Lee, then at Eun-sun before settling on Dan-Han.

"Your...mother is dying. We have to take her back to the capital." He sadly announced.

What? What did he say? Dan-Han did not understand. He was talking about his mother, was he?

Dan-Han felt like a thundering bolt had just hit him. How could his mother be dying? She was just fine a while ago! He was expecting him to say something related to exhaustion but 'dying?'

"What do you mean? Who's dying?" Father Lee asked with horror. His intense gaze intently fixed on Jae-Hyun.

Jae-Hyun lowered his head, not sure of what to say to the man. He gazed at Dan-Han, who was mindlessly looking at him.  The man was in shock.

Dan-Han's eyes darted to his mother, who now had a drip fixed to her hand. He still didn't understand what was going on, but before he could say something else, his father had already dashed towards Jae-Hyun, locking him down with anger burning eyes.

"I'm talking to you, young man. What is wrong with my wife? How can she be dying?" He demanded with ferocity, his hand firmly gripping his shirt.

Jae-Hyun was perplexed as he didn't know what to say or how to communicate the truth, as it was about time he did that. It was just yesterday when he last checked on her, and he noticed how poor her heartbeat was. Her pulse was almost undetectable, and her blood pressure was crashing. And now, here she was in a critical state, leaving him to face the problem of telling her family the truth. He looked from Dan-Han to his father, who was almost choking him with the collar of his shirt. He felt a tight lump on his chest as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Mother has cancer." A low voice said, obviously not belonging to Jae-Hyun but rather to the small-framed woman standing beside Dan-Han.

A wave of silence gushed through the room as all eyes slowly turned toward the source of the voice. Eun-Sun felt her heart skid several beats as she turned to look at Dan-Han, who was staring at her with incredulity.

"What did you say?" He asked. His brows tightly furrowed.

"I-I", She stuttered.

"What did you say now?" He asked again in a disbelieving voice. Dan-Han could swear he had not heard her clearly. She didn't say what he thinks she might have said.

"Mother has cancer." She fearfully uttered again with her heart pounding heavily behind her chest, her hand clenching the side of her dress.

"Dan-Han-" She carefully called, but he diverted his gaze towards Jae-Hyun, silently daring to attest to what Eun-sun had just said.

"Is she telling the truth?" Of course, she couldn't be telling the truth. there was no way that would be the truth! But Dan-Han received the biggest shock of his life when Jae-Hyun nodded.

"It's the truth."