Fair enough, right?

He was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Never having a specific goal he wanted to accomplish, he was just…waiting.

'Maybe I'll read one of the love letters I got from over the years.'

Since the start of middle school, Alex had been receiving confession letters almost every week. They had been everywhere, from his shoe locker, on his desk, in his bag, etc.

He never returned the poor maidens' feelings but couldn't bring himself to throw away those letters. This was him respecting their feelings in his own way. He would always show up where the recipient desired and would properly reject them.

Except for the times when he would get multiple letters, and the two or three senders would find themselves glaring daggers at each other waiting for him to arrive. He would only watch from a distance in those circumstances and never dared to get closer because he didn't know what to do.

He would grab a pair of binoculars and note the girls' faces to talk to them individually.

��At least some people would miss me if I'm gone.'

Alex lazily got up and opened his closet. Beneath the clothes was a cardboard box where he kept all the girls' written feelings that gave him their hearts.

'It's heavy. Was it always this heavy?'

Alex was surprised by the weight of the box. It seemed that those some people were many. He held the box firmly from its side and lifted it up. The feelings locked in there were too heavy to be contained, and its bottom gave out. Countless letters spilled out from underneath.

'That's a lot.'

Alex gawked at the pile of letters that emptied from the box along with the heavy stench of perfume they gave. The scent of many perfume brands was by no means pleasant and gave a sharp kick when entering the nostrils.

'I need a sturdier box.'

The smell was getting stouter. Alex had to open a window to breathe. He grabbed one of the letters and sat on its base. He read the letter but felt odd.

--The writing seems a bit familiar.

He read the letter, but there was no sign of the recipient. What was stranger was that there wasn't even a location or time written there. It seemed really old, probably one of the first he got. A sudden gust of wind blew the softly held letter away from his hand and into the open.

'Hey!'

Alex quickly leaned forward, urgently catching it and finally caught it with both hands.

A short feeling of achievement came over him that was overcome by fear when he felt he wouldn't stop leaning and realized he was too far out, and the cold hard ground awaited him.

'Shit.'

Such manly final words.

When he woke up, he saw a VSMU, vital sign monitoring unit, a device used to monitor a patient's health; heartbeat, blood pressure, respiration, etc., attached to him.

--What happened?

There was a small stretcher on which Alex was lying. He could see a few instruments, equipment, and a chair next to the stretcher along with an IV stand.

After browsing the area, he concluded it was a hospital room, rather a surgery room. He figured someone must have found and brought him here.

After frequently going to the hospital, Alex finally came over his fear of them, but now he had three reasons to be afraid.

1. The room was dimly lit.

2. There was nobody in the room, and he couldn't hear any sound.

And the third most important reason:

3. His hands and feet were tied with belts.

It perfectly resembled the hospital rooms you see in horror movies where there is a killer in a hospital, and you are trapped.

Alex heard the sound of footsteps. The door opened, and he saw a man in a suit come in.

He was formerly dressed in oxford shoes, a necktie, and a 2-piece suit. His face could barely be seen, which the dim light didn't help expose.

At this point, Alex was scared out of his mind. It's not every day you wake up on a stretcher, in a dimly lit room, tied with belts, and it looks like the whole place is completely abandoned.

The man pulled the chair and sat close to Alex. Alex's body had started to shake on instinct.

'Mr. Alexander Dean, please do not be afraid.'

He spoke in a gentle but heavy voice.

'I am a representative of a company whom your father made a deal with. We know about your disease, and we think we can help you.'

The man whom Alex suspected to be a killer was a representative of Jira.

'However, according to our policy, we must ask the patient for permission to let the treatment be performed on him.'

'Why is that?'

'Because of the risk. There's a 60%/40% chance. Failure in it will result in your death. Do you wish to take the risk? If so, I am handing you a contract to sign.'

He took out a paper and a pen and placed it on Alex's chest.

You don't just ask somebody if they want a surgery to be performed, in which there is a chance of failing, right off the bat while he is on a stretcher tied with belts. You need to give the person time to think, but the man simply didn't give a shit about the patient's mental health.

--My father agreed to this? What should I do?

Alex was silent for a long time, but it wasn't a tough decision for him.

His father was desperate to save his son and was willing to take such a risk if it meant he will live. Alex decided to trust his father. He had nothing to lose and was going to die anyway. Nothing was keeping him attached to the world except the fear of death itself.

Having nothing precious apart from your own life is sad in its own way, and as previously said, as long as there's hope, humans will cling to it.

'Alright, I accept your risk, but I have one condition, please come near me so I can tell it to you.'

The man put his ear near Alex's mouth.

'Untie My Hands First So I Can Sign The Damn Contract!'

The man was startled by Alex.

Apparently, having brain cancer does something to a person.

When the man entered the room, his face said it all, hitman. Alex was strangely happy that now he can die in a cool way, again having brain cancer does something to a person. He was pissed because the guy was not a killer.

Since the day the deal was made between Dean and Jira, Jira had been observing Alex all the time, mainly because it took a month to secretly transport all the machinery and equipment to Japan.

When everything was ready, they were deciding how to take Alex to the secret facility without anyone knowing, including him, where it was.

Luckily, when Alex fell out of his window, it saved the company the trouble of kidnapping him and taking him there.

They even made an excuse for his school that he was going to Germany to visit his great aunt Bessie for an entire month, the same time it would take for the treatment to be completed.

How did they manage to pull it off is still mysterious, but hey, it worked!