One Year Left

Day 30 – March 6, 20XX

It had been barely more than a week since Shu had received his diagnosis, but it felt like a lifetime. Every morning, he felt the weight of it—his breathing was more labored than it used to be, even if he tried to push it aside. The constant cough, the tightness in his chest, the fatigue that seemed to cling to him like a second skin... It was all starting to feel like his new normal. But the fact that it wasn't normal—that it was life-threatening—was what really broke him down in silence.

Shu stood in his small New York apartment, his fingers absently tracing the rim of the medicine bottle that had been prescribed to him. It wasn't much—a medication to manage his symptoms, ease the tightness in his chest, and make him feel less like he was drowning in air—but it was a reminder that things were changing. The future he'd been fighting for felt suddenly so fragile. He was struggling to breathe, struggling to even think of how to explain all of this to Valt, who, despite everything, had been a constant in his life.

The thought of telling him was unbearable.

What would he say? How could he explain that he was slowly dying, that there was no cure for what he had? Even now, standing in the quiet of his apartment, with the weight of his diagnosis hanging like a shadow, he could feel his chest tighten again—not from his illness, but from fear. Fear of what Valt would say, how he would react, how things would change between them.

He had been pretending, had been pushing everything down. At first, it was just easier that way. He told himself that maybe it was a phase, that maybe the doctors were wrong, that maybe, just maybe, he could continue on like everything was fine. But the longer he kept his distance from everyone, the more it became impossible to ignore. The test results, the CT scans, the reports—it was all there, written clearly on paper. He was living on borrowed time, and no matter how much he fought, it wouldn't change.

Valt was supposed to come visit soon. He had been waiting for this visit for weeks, and it was clear Valt was looking forward to it too. The thought of seeing him made Shu's heart flutter, and yet the thought of telling him, of laying his truth bare before him... It paralyzed him.

What if Valt saw him differently? What if the way they'd been—laughing, training, sharing all the small, silly moments together—would all be over the second he knew?

Shu couldn't stomach the idea of Valt seeing him as fragile, weak, something to be pitied. It was his greatest fear—that the one person who had stayed by his side, no matter what, would start to see him as nothing more than a ticking clock, a countdown to the inevitable.

The sound of his phone vibrating against the table broke him from his thoughts. He glanced down at it, seeing the familiar name flashing across the screen.

Valt.

His heart skipped a beat. He quickly glanced at the time. Valt was supposed to call. They had been doing their usual catch-up video calls, trying to maintain their bond despite the distance between them. But this time, it felt different. It felt like an obligation, a routine he was desperately clinging to because he was afraid of what would happen if it stopped.

Shu took a deep breath and swiped the screen, trying to ignore the tightness in his chest that wasn't from his illness this time. He put on his usual smile, the one he always wore for Valt—bright, confident, carefree. It was all an act, but it was the only thing that made him feel somewhat human. He didn't want to be broken. Not in front of Valt.

"Hey, Shu! How's everything going?" Valt's voice was full of warmth, full of that energy that always seemed to lift Shu's spirits, even in the darkest moments. It was easy to smile when Valt was this easy to talk to, this kind, this—