Chapter Text
He opens his heavy eyelid slowly but finds his head spins as the light comes to his eyes. As he regains his consciousness, he can smell the usual hospital smell and see people now standing close to his bed. Songhwa, one of his friends immediately checks him and sighs in relief when she is sure he is alright. She immediately tells his mom about his condition.
He can hear all of them sigh in relief after knowing his condition. He silently looked one by one at everyone who surrounds his bed. Making sure he still recognizes everyone, because he thinks judging from his condition now, who checks him after he wakes up and everyone’s reaction, he assumes, he may get badly injured on his head.
He recognized his mom, who is now crying on Mr. Ju's shoulder. Probably in relief since he woke up again for an unknown reason he doesn’t know why he is laying in the hospital bed right now.
He recognizes Ik Jun, Jun Wan, Seok Hyung, and Song Hwa who are now looking at his mom, knowing how much it must be hard for her when he is unconscious for how much time he doesn’t know.
But there is only one person who is now only looking at him, standing in between Song Hwa and Ik Jun, frozen in her place. He can see a lot of feelings come across from her eyes. From sad, angry, worried, and…. longing?
He tries to remember her name, he frowns when his brain doesn’t want to cooperate with him to remember her when his heart is eager to remember at least her name, or maybe to know who she actually is. He closes his eyes, feels his head hurt as he forces his brain more, and Song Hwa immediately knows it, and asks if he is okay which he just nods at her as an answer.
‘I’m okay. Don’t worry about me’ he reassured Song Hwa with a smile, while his side eyes seeing the girl clenched both of her hands, still frozen in her place and not trying to get closer to him.
He let out a sigh and looked at her and Song Hwa, finally let himself ask her because he doesn’t want to force himself more. Also, there is part of him who is curious about her, which is rare for him because he knows he never asked about anyone else’s resident
‘Song Hwa-ya, Your resident?’
Ask him slowly, as he doesn’t regain his energy yet. He is aware of the switch of tension, and no one tries to answer his question. He sees her shocked face at first which she tries to immediately cover it. She opens her mouth slightly to answer him but closes it again. All the silence and stuff started to frustrate him. He sees Ik Jun almost jump up and answer the question, but then that girl beside him stops him by holding his scrubs. She immediately bows at him and forces herself to smile. Introducing herself.
‘Hello Profesor, I’m a fourth-year general surgery resident, Jang Gyeo Ul- Imnida. I’m here following Lee Ik Jun’s morning round’ she said clearly, but he can see her hand trembles.
‘Lee Ik Jun, you work here? But isn’t it Yulje? Since when? Oh, and where is dad, mom?’ He now realizes something is off when he wakes up and He tries to ask everything now since he feels he should ask it.
‘Ahn Jeong Woon, don’t tell me you are forgetting that you are now working at your dad’s hospital?’ Ask Jun Wan in disbelief.
‘Wait, what? How can you know this is my dad’s hospital?’ Ask Jeong Woon confusedly. Do they also know about daddy long legs, his secret donation program?
Song Hwa let herself sigh loudly and tell his mom that he needs to get more tests to know the problem in his head also to know more about his condition. He looks at everyone in confusion as no one wants to answer him. He now feels uneasy about his condition. Not because he forgets that he works at his father's hospital, but more because he doesn't recognize the girl beside Ik Jun who now has her eyes fill with tears, also her hand trembling more than before.
He turns away from her as his heart feels hurt. He tries not to read too much and brush it off. He looks at the ceiling, trying to not care about Ik Jun’s resident who now asks permission to leave to Ik Jun, but in the end, both of them leave together.
He bit his inner lower lips, a habit he does every time he feels uneasy. Yes, his throbbing head now doesn’t even mean anything to him since the uneasy feeling taking much more space in his head.
2 weeks after his wake up, he is finally discharged from the hospital. Alongside his mother in her car, he looks out the road, trying to remember this road because he is sure this isn't the road to go to Yang Pyong, his mother’s house.
He turned away from the road and looked at his mother. Trying to know where they are going right now.
‘Mom, where are we going now?’ Ask him, curious.
‘Your apartment.’
‘My apartment? Wow mom, do you think Kim Jun Wan is willing to babysit me now with my condition? Why don’t we go to yours? I still have a week before I work again in the hospital.’ her mother looked at him for a while and came back to look at the road again.
‘Don’t worry, I will be the one who babysits you. Also, you don’t live in Jun Wan’s apartment now. You already live in your own’
‘What? How?’
‘You buy an apartment with your own money, our sweet baby maknae’ he frowned at his mother’s remark. He is still trying to understand his new side of him since he woke up.
All lacking 5 take turns to tell him all about his life that he forgot for over a year. Starting from his dad who has passed away which shocked him a little, he moved from Kangwon to Yulje, VIP Ward where now all five of them in charge there, his preparation to be a priest and his plan to resign at the end of the year, Song Hwa moved to Sokcho due to her health and now managed daddy long legs which he transfers to her before he goes to Italy, he canceled his dream to be a priest because he finally knows it’s not his true calling, and last, the reason he is on the critical condition and unconscious for one day, but lead to him lost his memory from one year ago up until he wakes up. Everything.
They said they tell everything they know, but they do not realize he sensed it that they on purpose miss some detail.
He may forget about some events, but he doesn't lose his ability to catch things so fast. He can sense it that they skip some detail, like why does he let himself getting beaten by a thug while he never let himself near the violence. Heis eager to know the missing detail, but his friend never lets him know it. it's not because he really wants to remember, but he can shake off the picture of someone who stands on his side bed while trembling and holding back his tears, and it's bothering him so much.
He and his mother now walk side to side to the place that his mother said as his place. He now worried they can’t come in since he doesn’t remember the password to his apartment.
‘Mom, do you think we can get to the apartment? I forgot the password. No, basically I don’t remember everything about this apartment.’ he said it when they stood in front of the main door. He looked at his mom who put the password right away and opened the main door of his apartment that led them to the lobby. They walk together and enter the lift, presses the button to the 15th floor.
‘Don’t worry. Jang Gyeo- ani, Kim Jun Wan knows your password and already told me this morning’ he frowns at the first name that his mother almost said. He catches the first name before his mother changes it into Jun Wan. He let it off since he doesn’t want to let this mood down.
He can see her mother type the password again at his door on the 15th floor and she opens the door when the sound of approval comes up from the machine.
They come into his apartment. He can see the place is clean and neat like what it should be. At the very least he doesn’t change into some dirty burglar since he moved alone.
He changed from his shoes to a sandal and looking around. He can see there are 3 rooms in his apartment, the first room is for his book and the computer, and the last two rooms are where the bed is placed right now. One he assumes as his master room and one for the guest room. After he looks around, he chose to rest his body on the sofa in the living room while he let his mom arrange his clothes from the baggage. He turned on the TV and let the sound accompany the silent voice in his apartment since now he let his eyes wander. He is completely aware that he forgot about this apartment, but he can sense that something is missing from this place. He stood up from the sofa and let himself walk around the living room to find the evidence. Since he doesn't find it, he walks to the bathroom. He wants to check more if his suspicion is right.
As he opens the bathroom, he can see there is one toothbrush in there. Hangs in the hook at the bathroom’s mirror. He walks to the mirror and looks closely at it. He finds the glue mark from another hook that must be attached beside his tooth brush's hook. He let himself sigh. Do not understand who is he or her that goes to the mile to hide everything from him.
He knows it, someone is living or frequently visits him at this apartment. There should be another reason for him to cancel his priesthood, also the reason for him to finally buy a place for himself when he thinks it isn't necessary and a waste of money. But who?
Jang Gyeo Ul?
He shook his head. Brush it off the name that suddenly comes into his mind. Since he knows that it may be impossible. It can be Kim Jun Wan or Lee Ik Jun isn't it.
But the thought came up to him. who knows? Everything can be possible since he forgets everything. The urged to dig more his forgotten memories now come up.
He makes sure to himself the reason behind this urge is because he wants to make his heart feel at ease again, and later when he finally found it, he will be the one to choose either to keep it or to let it go.