The next week passed in a mindless blur for Lila. She spent the entire time at the hospital with her dad since Hongjoong never enforced the visiting hours with her.

Her father got progressively worse each day, however, and she knew the end was getting close.

The worst day for her was having to call in and tell her boss that she needed some more time off. He was furious with her and spent several minutes yelling at her at the top of his lungs. However, he did agree to give her the time off with the promise that it was going to take a lot for her to get any more time off this year.

She had expected this, but it still didn't make it any easier.

At least that's what she thought would be the worst day...

Lila leaned forward to kiss her father on the forehead as he drifted off to sleep again. He spent most of his time sleeping than awake these days. "I love you, Daddy." She whispered, rubbing his head for a moment and watching as he relaxed at her touch.

"Love you... Lila..." He whispered.

She was just about to settle in when Hongjoong came into the room. "Hey, Lila?"

"Hi Hongjoong, what's up?" She asked as she settled into the couch and pulled out her laptop.

"Um, there's someone here who's asking for you? But with your father, the front desk didn't feel comfortable letting him in just in case you didn't know him. He's waiting in the lobby."

"Did you get a name?"

"No, but I also didn't ask. Sorry." Hongjoong rubbed the back of his head. "I can keep an eye on Remi though. Did he just go to sleep?"

Lila stood and stretched. "Yeah, just a couple of minutes ago. I'll be back soon. I didn't tell anyone I was here besides my boyfriend and-" Lila's eyes widened before she grabbed her badge and ran from the room.

She knew it was ridiculous to get her hopes up, but the thought of San or even Wooyoung being here was almost too much to bare. She wanted to see them so bad...

The elevator was painstakingly slow as she watched each floor tick by.

When the doors finally opened, Lila ran to the lobby as fast as she could. Her heart hammered in her chest as she spun in a circle, her hair flying out behind her.

Then a pair of arms wrapped around her. "Oh my god you're ok!"

Lila froze. "N-Nate?!"

She brought her hands to his chest and pushed him away. "I've been worried sick about you! Why haven't you been answering my calls?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Lila practically yelled at him. "H-How did you even know I was here?"

"I'm not stupid. I heard Mr. Evans say something about you visiting your father so I just did a little research. Is... Is he ok?" Nate took a step forward and reached for her, but he didn't actually touch her.

As much as Lila wanted to stay mad at him, the genuine concern in his voice made her heart break a little as the thought of why she was here came back. "No. Go home Nate. You shouldn't have come all the way here."

She went to walk past him but Nate stepped in front of her. "Lila, I don't understand why you are suddenly cutting me off like this. If there's something wrong with your dad, you shouldn't have to go through this alone. I'm you're friend... Aren't I?"

Lila paused and stared at the floor. Her guilt started to rise when she remembered that he was there for her when Wooyoung was overseas, and all the support he gave her at work with taking pictures for her articles.

"Lila? Are you ok?"

"My dad is dying, Nate... That's why I'm here." She muttered, still looking at the ground.

Suddenly she was in his arms again. He held her head to his chest and ran his hands through her hair. "I'm so sorry..."

Lila was about to speak again when a nurse came running over to her. "Lila, Hongjoong..."

Her heart stopped and Lila pushed herself away from Nate to follow the nurse. She thought she heard him calling for her, but she didn't care.

She chose the stairs over the elevator, feeling the need to run.It exhausted her by the time she made it to her father's floor, but Lila still managed to find the strength to run to his room.

Hongjoong daughter before she went barreling in and held her in his arms. "N-No... Please!" She said, trying to push past him.

"Lila... Lila it's too late." He said with a pained voice.

"No! He's just sleeping, I just left him!" Her voice was hoarse already as she buried her face in Hongjoong's neck. "H-He's j-j-just sleeping..."

"He's not honey. I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry..." Hongjoong whispered as he held her, allowing her to collapse to the floor and going with her.

"Dad..." Lila let out a strangled cry as she clung to the doctor.

She had missed so much time with him. Why did she have to be so petty when it came to her mom? She let the woman control everything when she could have been spending time with her dad... Now he was gone. And she would never get that time back.

Why hadn't she been there when he left? She should have been by his side. What if he had been scared?

The tears came harder as her mind raced through every bad thought it could. As it always did.

"There was nothing you could have done." Hongjoong whispered gently into her ear. "He went in his sleep. It's the most peaceful way to go. He knew it was time."

They sat there for a long time as nurses respectfully kept their distance.

Then she felt a hand on her back and she turned to see Nate kneeling behind her. At first she was shocked, but there was a nurse from the front desk behind him. "I'm sorry... I saw you hugging him and..."

Lila just shook her head, feeling so incredibly empty as she leaned in to him.

Nate said nothing as he picked her up from the ground and moved over to a nearby chair. He sat down and held her close to him.

"Lila?" He said quietly.

She closed her eyes and just leaned into him. Just the contact with someone was enough to help her keep her demons away as the tears still rolled down her cheeks.

It was the wrong someone... But she would take what she could get.

Hongjoong knelt in front of them and took one of her hands. "Lila? Tell me, do you know him." She nodded. "Ok. I'm going to leave you with him while I... But if you need anything call me ok?"

Lila nodded again as Nate tightened his grip on her. She could hear the doctor walking away.

Her dad was gone...

"It looks like I got here just in time." Nate murmured, his lips pressed against her forehead.

To some extent, she was glad he had shown up. She had no idea what she would do if she didn't have anyone here. The chances of Wooyoung or San actually making it here before she lost herself completely was impossible.

Nate was smart enough to know how to help her. She had faith in that much at least...

They sat there for what felt like an eternity before Hongjoong came back an knelt down again. "Honey, I hate to disturb you, but... We had to call your mother and she's on her way here now. You can go stay in another room if you'd like? Or y-"

"Why does she need to avoid her mom?" Nate asked, a harsh tone to his voice.

Hongjoong glared up at him, but Lila just patted Nate's chest. "Take me away." She muttered, keeping her eyes closed. She could feel him tense a little, but nod as he stood.

"Let me grab her bag." Hongjoong said, hurrying back into her father's room.

Lila glanced over there for the first time and then started to move her legs.

Nate started to protest, but stopped to set her down, keeping his hands on her waist as she found her balance.

She walked forward on shaky legs. Hongjoong hesitated and stepped back into the room.

Her father was still in the bed, but there were no chords or machines attached to him anymore.

He looked like he was any normal, healthy person who had just fallen asleep.

Still feeling numb, Lila took his hand in hers. She tried to ignore the fact that it was cold as she bent forward and kissed his forehead again. "I love you, Daddy." She whispered the same words she had said earlier that day, feeling like it would give her some sense of closure.

And to some extent it did.

Nate stepped up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. His thumb drifted over the back of her neck as they stood there.

Then she turned and accepted her bag from Hongjoong. "How can I reach you?" The doctor asked, taking her hand in his.

"I'm staying at the hotel just down the street. Room 219. You can find her there." Nate said, pulling Lila closer to him.

"And my cell." She muttered, not really feeling either of their hands.

"Ok. I'll call you when she leaves, ok?"

Lila just nodded and let Nate keep her at his side and lead her from the room.

She didn't remember the drive to the hospital. She didn't remember him helping her into the car and buckling her, or the way he kept a hand on her leg the entire ride.

She barely remembered sending San a text with two words in it. Or Nate carrying her into the hotel and to his room. Or being set down in his bed and his arms wrapping around her as she silently cried herself to sleep.

—-

A few hours later, Lila had convinced Nate to go and get some food while she said she would rest some more. He didn't like the thought of leaving her alone, but the logic of needing something in her stomach when she hadn't eaten anything all day won out.

She purposefully picked a place that was far away, saying she was craving the food there.

As soon as the door closed, she turned on the tv and found the channel Wooyoung's interview would be airing on.

It felt so good to see his face as he sat there smiling and answering questions.

Just his voice alone helped to sooth her.

This was just what she needed.

.

.

.

.

Wooyoung closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. This was going to be his first time seeing Rachel since the premier and that had been an easy place to avoid her after the photos were done.

And he was not looking forward to it. She had blown up his phone with messages like '911' and 'I need to talk to you, it's urgent', but he had ignored all of them.

This was the last place he wanted to be right now.

Yeosang stood next to him and took his hand. "We've just got to get through this interview and then you're done."

Wooyoung nodded.

He felt sick.

And he wished he could have spoken to Lila before getting here. He had tried calling her, but she didn't answer.

They had spoken so rarely over the past week... But he felt that was probably his fault. To some extent, he had avoided calling her because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep in what happened to him. But he didn't want to take away from time with her dad, so he kept it inside.

He vowed to tell her as soon as she got home, though. She needed to know.

"Alright, places!" Someone shouted.

Wooyoung took another deep breath and followed Yeosang onto the set of the interview.

Rachel never took her eyes off him as she plastered a smile to her face.

He was forced to sit next to her since they were the stars. Yeosang stood off to the side. He would be joining the interview a little later.

San ran forward to touch up his makeup and gave him a reassuring smile before disappearing to join the rest of the team.

"You should have answered my calls." Rachel said, lacing her voice with sweetness.

"Why would I? I never want to see you again after this."

"Well that's just too bad. Because I have some pretty good news I've been dying to share with you. I can't promise I'll be able to keep it a secret though." She purred, leaning closer to him.

Wooyoung was about to speak, but the countdown to the start of the interview came on and he had to focus on that.

The questions were pretty standard, so he was able to keep a happy face on and answer everything with ease.

It was the last question that he regretted...

"So." The interviewer leaned forward. "What's your plan now that this film is done? I've heard rumors that you two are pretty close on set, especially during the first film." He winked at them.

Wooyoung didn't know what to say while still being polite.

And he wished he would have answered.

"Well." Rachel said, leaning over and looping her arm with Wooyoung's. He was forced to accept it because they were on camera, but it didn't stop his stomach from flipping. "Wooyoungie and I have been doing a lot of talking recently, and well..." She turned to him with a wide smile that terrified him. "We are going to be seeing a lot more of each other."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Because I'm pregnant."