Minato went to the hospital to see a doctor because his health had been deteriorating recently. Earlier that day at home, he had suffered a severe coughing fit and, to his horror, saw blood in his hand afterward. That was enough to push him to the hospital—he needed to know what was wrong.
"Is everything okay, doctor? Why aren't you telling me anything?" Minato asked anxiously.
The doctor sighed before speaking.
"Listen carefully, Minato… you have Stage V pancreatic cancer. You are going to die in about three months."
For a moment, Minato's world stopped.
His heart pounded—BADUM. BADUM. BADUM. He clutched the medical report with trembling hands before collapsing to his knees. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he stared at the paper.
Why? Why am I going to die? I just married him two weeks ago… How can I tell him?
No… I can't. If I tell him, his heart will shatter.
I mustn't tell anyone. Not him. Not anyone I know. Even if I die tomorrow, I will keep this secret.
Numb and vision blurred by tears, Minato walked out of the hospital. But just as he reached the entrance, he froze.
A few feet away, he saw his husband—with another man.
Minato's breath hitched. His body trembled uncontrollably.
"Lion… who is he? Why is he sitting beside you?" Minato asked, struggling to steady his voice.
Lion looked momentarily surprised, then his expression hardened—cold and unreadable.
"He is my mistress. I told him to come to my house."
"What?! What!!! He is your mistress?!" Minato shouted in disbelief.
He stopped suddenly and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
What can I even do? He thought. I'm going to die in just three months anyway… Wow. He really betrayed me—he had an affair behind my back this whole time.
Minato looked at Lion with a blank expression.
"Fine. Do whatever you want. You can keep him… but why bring him into our house?"
Lion smiled faintly. "Oh!! Please, he is living here so I can keep an eye on him."
Lover slowly—slowly—grabbed Minato's hand. "Hmm… S. Sor… Sorry, I never meant to do it."
He started to sob in front of me and Lion.
"Don't cry, baby," Lion said gently. He carried Lover like a child and walked to his room.
[In the back of my husband, his lover suspiciously smirked, looking at me.]
I started heading toward my room. Before I reached the hallway upstairs, I froze.
I could hear the loud laughter of my husband and his mistress. It was like they were happy together—without me.
I didn't know why he was staring at me. That look was terrifying, like he wanted to warn me.
But when he entered in his room, all of Minato's bravery collapsed. His body trembled, and in that moment, his knees gave way.
He fell onto the floor with a cold face and teary eyes.
But he just held back his tears and mumbled softly,
"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 for me. Because of my illness… and my husband's betrayal too. Wow… just forget it, clear my thoughts. I need to eat my medicine. That's more necessary right now."
He sat on the bed, pulled his medicine from his pocket, and swallowed it.
Minato lay on the bed with a deep breath of relief.
"I think I'm going to die in a few months, huh… I don't need to care about that stuff, but I always end up thinking of—"
That moment where he scolded me… the rude behavior, those harsh words I never imagined he would say. I'm jealous to see them together, but whatever… Minato whispered to himself.
He grabbed his head and shouted,
"This is so frustrating! Really… I can't handle it!"
He took a deep breath and tried to calm down, letting out a faint sigh of exhaustion.
After so much thinking, tired from today's incident, he finally fell into a deep sleep. The tragedy he faced in one single day—it felt like all the scary events had collided into this one, leaving him drained.
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 fell.
He startled, quickly sat up, rubbed his eyes, and went toward the washroom, fear tugging at his heart.
But—
When he started to head back toward his room, he heard faint whispers in the silence of midnight.
"Hey, I want to eat you," Lion's voice said softly. "Babe, please… I'm not in the mood. I want to sleep," another voice replied.
Hearing that, I started moving toward the sound. The door was slightly open—like it was on purpose.
But… when I saw the view with my own eyes—
Chills.
My body froze. I couldn't even move my fingers. My heart started pounding like crazy.
Suddenly, my stomach began to ache—throb… throb…
What I saw was—
Lion tightly hugging his mistress, kissing his cheek. I wasn't shocked by the act… I was shocked by the realization. On our honeymoon, he never hugged me like that. We never even… because he said he was busy, and he never came into my room.
Was I really that foolish, waiting for him all that time?
Lion tried to convince his mistress, but the man refused, turning to look at me—straight at me—where I stood hidden.
His mistress hugged him with a cheerful smile and said,
"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 where I was and smirked—like he did earlier at the stairs.
Like he wanted to say, "You'll never snatch my position in Lion's heart."
I turned my face away and squeezed my shirt where my heart was beating painfully.
In the hallway, I walked toward my room with a cold expression and blurry vision from the tears I held back. I carried my shattered heart silently—the pain too deep to speak aloud.
When I finally entered my room, I jumped onto the bed, grabbed my pillow, and shut my eyes tight so my tears wouldn't escape.
And slowly… I fell asleep.
Like he wanted to express that he just wanted to be free—to find someone who truly loved me. Someone who could love with a whole heart. Only me… and no one else.
TO BE CONTINUED.