✔️Say Cheese!||Chanlix FF

-The Past PT.2-

"Just tilt it a little."

"Like this?"

"Yes! Perfect!" Says Chan's Dad. Chan clicks the shoot button, and hears the familiar click of the camera.

"Let's see how it turned out." Says Chan's Dad. They look at the results.

"It looks bad." Says Chan with a scrunched up face. "It's not bad! It's pretty good for a beginner like you! You're better than the average 13 year old!" Says Chan's Dad.

Chan smiles. "Really?" He asks. "Really." Assured Chan's Dad. His father checks his watch. "Ah, we should probably head inside the house now before your Mom scolds us." He says.

Chan nods, and they head back to the house.

The Bang family lived happily. They were your classic next door family that were always happy.

But everything changed one day when 17 year old Chan was at school...

Chan was in the middle of taking a quiz when an  administrator came in. "Can I have Chan Bang please? You're not in trouble."

Chan grabs his bag, and heads towards the administrator. He follows her to the office. "Your mother is here to pick you up. It's urgent." She says just as she was about the open the office door.

"It's urgent? What could be wrong?" Chan thought to himself. He sees his Mother receiving tissues from one of the office ladies. "Mom? What's going on?" Asked Chan worriedly.

"Oh, Chan!" She says pulling him into hug while sobbing. "We need to get to the hospital right now."

The car ride to the hospital felt painfully long. Chan's mother explained everything on the way to the hospital.

"The office building your father works at caught on fire. They're still investigating how the fire started." Said Chan's Mother.

"What?! Is he Dad okay?"  Chan asks. His mother gulps. "When the hospital called me, they said he wasn't doing so good..."

Chan sighs and rests his head in his hands. "This can't be happening right now. This doesn't feel real..." Chan whispers to himself. His mother rubs his back comfortingly.

Chan and his mother arrive at the hospital, and rush towards the entrance.

His mother reaches reception first. "Hi, I was called a few minutes ago regarding my husband. Where can we find him?" Asked Chan's mother frantically.

"Oh, you're Mrs. Bang, correct. You came just in time. He's in room 244, and is about to enter a surgery. Your husband is still conscious, but you must hurry." Said the receptionist. "Thank you, ma'am." Said Chan's mother.

They both run down to the room the receptionist directed them to, and rush into the room. They see a doctor standing over Chan's father, writing on a clipboard. The doctor looks at Chan and his mother. "Are you his family?"

"Yes, i'm his wife, and this is my son." Said Chan's mother. The doctor nods. "I need you to come talk with me outside."

She nods, and pats Chan's shoulder. "Sweetie, just stay here with your Dad, okay? I'll be back soon." She says. Chan nods silently.

After his mother leaves the room, he slowly gets closer to the bed. He looks at his father, how had his eyes closed. He was burnt all over, and he could see the dried and burnt blood all over him. "Chan?" He croaks out.

Tears spring into Chan's eyes. "I'm here, Dad." He says. His eyes eyes slowly open, and brighten once he sees Chan standing in front of him.

Chan begins crying at the sight of his father's state. His father grabs Chan's hand gently. Chan could feel the roughness of his hands from all the burns.

"I love you Chan. You have a great future ahead of you, I know it. Please don't grieve over me for too long, and please live your life to the fullest."

Chan rubs his eyes. "Stop it, Dad. You're not going to die. You're going to live for a long time and after all this ends, we're going to take a bunch of pictures and eat Mom's delicious food."

No response. "Right?" Chan says. He feels his father's hand go limp. Chan stumbles backwards. "Dad? Dad!" He exclaims. Just then, the doctor and his mother walk in.

The doctor rushes to Chan's father's side. He pushes a button, and many nurses come rushing in, and usher Chan and his mother outside.

That's all Chan remembered.

His minded blocked out everything else. It was so quiet. He could see all the doctors rushing in and out of the room, but they all seemed to move in slow motion.

He vaguely remembered his Mother clutching her chest with one hand and falling down to her knees crying, and gripping onto her sons leg with the other hand. Chan only stared ahead. A blank stare.

This didn't feel real. It couldn't be real.

He remembered what his Dad said to him earlier before he left for work. "See you later, Chan." It was the same thing he said everyday.

But he never made it back home.

———