Chapter Text
Beep... beep... beep...
The first thing Cho Kyuhyun registered in his head was the non-stop, rhythmic beeping. The second was a throbbing pain pulsing through the base of his skull, spreading all over his head.
He forced his eyelids open, only to find himself immediately squinting in the bright white lights overhead. The pungent smell of antiseptic and the completely white surroundings made it clear exactly where he was—a hospital.
His mind was foggy and unfocused. He couldn't remember how he got here, what day it was, or even the events leading up to this moment.
However, amidst the haze of his mind, Kyuhyun felt something fuzzy and warm spreading all over him. He turned his head slightly and found a smaller hand engulfing his left hand tightly.
"Kyuhyunie?"
A deep, raspy voice broke the silence, sounding so melodious in Kyuhyun's ears. As his vision had gradually cleared, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful the man holding his hand was.
The man had striking yet gentle facial features. His soft black hair fell messily over his forehead, almost obscuring his intense gaze. His skin was smooth, a warm, honey-colored tone that contrasted sharply with the gloomy atmosphere of the hospital room.
How can a man be so pretty? Kyuhyun's mind wandered. Could he be an angel? Did I die? Did I actually ascend to heaven?
Yet, as Kyuhyun stared at him longer, the angelic illusion slowly faded. Beneath his beautiful face, a look of devastation was clearly visible. His lips were dry and cracked. The clothes he wore were rumpled and carelessly worn. Deep dark shadows hung heavy under his eyes, and the red, swollen rims of his eyes spoke of how he hadn't slept in days—or perhaps too much time spent crying.
But angels can't possibly be sleep deprived, nor do they cry as if their world has ended. Kyuhyun's mind tried to piece the puzzle together despite the headache.
Kyuhyun shifted slightly, opening his mouth to speak, but only a dry groan escaped from his throat.
“Ssh, stop. Don't try to talk,” the man said softly, relief and wary clearly visible in his eyes. He leaned closer, his left hand hovering over Kyuhyun as if he wanted to touch him but was afraid of hurting him. “Your throat must be dry, right?”
Even though Kyuhyun couldn't remember a single detail of the reason that had landed him here, he was sure that the man was the one assigned to care for him, perhaps a doctor or a nurse.
The pretty man rose from his bedside chair, filled a glass with water from a pitcher, and hurried back to sit beside the bed.
As the man leaned toward him, Kyuhyun caught a faint scent that was very comforting—fresh linen mixed with a hint of deep, warm cedarwood. The scent felt rather familiar, and somehow, it helped ease the anxiety that had been gripping Kyuhyun's chest since the moment he opened his eyes.
“Here,” the man said gently, guiding the straw to Kyuhyun’s lips. He drank the water greedily.
“Slow down,” the pretty man said, his voice low with concern. He set the cup aside and immediately leaned back in. "Are you alright, Kyuhyun-ah? Does anything hurt? Tell me where it hurts. Hm?"
Kyuhyun nodded weakly. He felt entirely dazed. The throbbing pain in his head was still unbearable. He tried to force his brain to recall what had happened—a car crash? A fall?—but it only made the pain worse.
The man immediately gripped Kyuhyun's hand again. His jaw was tense and his shoulders stiff. He looked really exhausted.
“Is it your head?” the man asked softly, his brows furrowing as he studied Kyuhyun's face with worrying attention. It felt as if those eyes were trying to read Kyuhyun’s very soul.
Kyuhyun nodded again.
"I already pressed the call button. They're coming. It’s alright, Kyuhyun-ah. I'm right here," the man whispered, his voice cracking slightly. The warm fingers wrapped around Kyuhyun's hand tightened. "I'm right here."
Kyuhyun frowned in confusion as his foggy brain tried to process everything. Wait. Why was his doctor holding his hand like this? Why was he looking at him with such affection? Wasn’t that… a bit unprofessional for a medical practitioner?
But strangely, he didn't want the doctor to let go of his hand. Because somehow, the warmth radiating from those smaller fingers helped soothe his pain immensely.
The door pushed open. A second doctor walked in briskly. Close behind him was Lee Hyukjae, his best friend and head manager, looking tired and deeply worried.
“Hyukjae,” Kyuhyun whispered, his voice hoarse.
Hyukjae rushed to his other side, squeezing his shoulder gently. “Kyuhyun-ah?" His voice cracked. “Oh God, you don't know how much you scared us!!”
“What… What happened?” Kyuhyun asked, but no one answered right away.
The second doctor stepped forward, and Hyukjae reluctantly stepped back to give him space to examine Kyuhyun. The pretty stranger on the left, however, still refused to move an inch. His fingers remained intertwined with Kyuhyun's.
“Hello,” the doctor said calmly. “Can you confirm your name for me?”
“I’m… Kyuhyun. Cho Kyuhyun.”
“Good. I’m Doctor Shin Donghee,” he offered a small, reassuring smile while clicking a penlight to check Kyuhyun’s pupil dilation. “Any nausea, Kyuhyun-ssi? Any pain?”
“My head. It hurts like hell.”
“That’s to be expected given the impact.” Doctor Shin moved down the bed, methodically testing the reflexes and sensation in his arms and legs. “Now, take your time and tell me. What is the last thing you remember?”
Three sets of eyes turned toward him expectantly. Kyuhyun squeezed his eyes shut. Trying to think felt painful, but he forced himself to focus anyway.
“I just left the recording studio,” he said slowly, piecing the fragmented images together. “It was late. I was driving home.”
“Good, that lines up with what your family told us,” Doctor Shin said gently. “You were involved in a traffic accident on your way home. The airbags deployed in time, so your bodily injuries are relatively minor. The biggest concern was the trauma to your head.”
“What?” Kyuhyun frowned. Something about those words felt really, really wrong and made him uneasy.
“You were unconscious for almost three full days,” the doctor continued carefully. “But the scans didn’t show any internal bleeding or swelling, which is a very good sign. We’d still like to keep you under observation for a few more days to run additional tests now that you’re awake. If everything comes back normal, you should be able to go home soon, with some strict precautions.”
“Is there anything we should watch out for?” the pretty stranger asked quietly. His voice trembled slightly. Even while addressing Doctor Shin, his eyes never left Kyuhyun’s face, and he never once loosened his grip on Kyuhyun’s hand.
“Watch for seizures, sudden vomiting, or slurred speech, especially while he’s asleep,” Doctor Shin replied. “Other than that, he needs plenty of rest. No strenuous activity, limited screen time, and as much sleep as his body demands.”
The pretty stranger nodded solemnly. “How about the medications? His diets? His stomach can be quite sensitive when he takes heavy painkillers.”
Wait! Kyuhyun’s frown deepened. As his doctor, why would he ask such questions? Kyuhyun looked at the man again, this time more closely. He just realized that the man wasn’t wearing scrubs or a white coat, just casual clothes.
“Hyukjae,” Kyuhyun turned to his manager, then pulled his hand away from the stranger's tight grasp. “Did the company assign me a new personal assistant or something? Hyung, I really don’t need a stranger watching over me. I just want to go back home on my own.”
“What are you talking about, Kyu?” Hyukjae said gently. “Of course, you are going back home with Jongwoon hyung.”
Kyuhyun blinked slowly. “Who’s Jongwoon?”
“Kyuhyun,” the man said softly, bringing his face closer. His eyes searched Kyuhyun’s face with desperation.“It’s me.”
Kyuhyun blinked at him in confusion. The way he said it made it sound like Kyuhyun was supposed to know exactly who he was. As if those two words alone were enough to make this strange situation suddenly make sense.
“I'm so sorry, but… Who are you?” Kyuhyun asked slowly.
The man’s shoulders slumped. The remaining light in his eyes vanished entirely. His expression turned into one so heartbreaking that Kyuhyun actually felt pain in his own chest just looking at it.
“Kyuhyun, that’s Jongwoon hyung,” Lee Hyukjae said carefully. “Tell me you're joking, right? You really don’t recognize him?”
Kyuhyun shook his head weakly. He knew Hyukjae loved silly pranks, but there was no way his best friend would joke about something this heavy right after Kyuhyun nearly died. He then turned to face the stranger again, desperately searching for a glimmer of familiarity—a name, a shared memory, a feeling. But he found absolutely nothing.
“I wasn't joking. I really don't…” Kyuhyun admitted quietly.
“Kyuhyun-ssi,” Doctor Shin interrupted smoothly, stepping closer to examine him again. “Tell me one more time the last things you remember. Please be as specific as you possibly can.”
A wave of fear began curling tightly inside Kyuhyun’s chest. Something was definitely wrong with his brain.
Jongwon? Wouldn't it be impossible for him to forget a man with such a beautiful face if they had actually met before?
“I went to the recording studio after working out at my usual gym…” Kyuhyun said slowly, reaching for memories that suddenly felt so distant.
"Can you be more specific? What song did you record?" Doctor Shin asked again.
“We were recording a song for my first comeback after my military discharge.”
“No way! Military?” Jongwoon repeated. His eyes widened in disbelief. The silence that followed was so incredibly heavy.
Kyuhyun looked anxiously between them, looking for answers. “What’s wrong?”
“Seven years,” Jongwoon whispered, his voice hollow. Unshed tears began to well up in his eyes. "You are missing seven years, Cho Kyuhyun."
“Kyuhyun-ssi,” Doctor Shin said carefully. “The severe head trauma seems to have caused you retrograde amnesia. I need you to remain calm. It is currently the year 2026.”
Kyuhyun’s heart sank. Seven years? Gone? Just like that?
Amidst his own shock, Kyuhyun watched from the corner of his eye as Jongwoon suddenly stood up. His chest heaved, his entire body trembling so violently that he looked like he was about to faint. He turned and walked out of the room, taking away the lingering scent of cedarwood and warmth with him.
Doctor Shin then excused himself to prepare for Kyuhyun's additional examinations, leaving him alone with Lee Hyukjae.
Kyuhyun stared at the closed door for a second before turning to his best friend. "Okay. Hyukjae Hyung, please talk to me right now. What did I miss?"
Hyukjae rubbed his face aggressively. "There's so much, Kyu. You're not just 'doing well' in the industry anymore. You're... you're arguably the top ballad singer in the country. You're literally everywhere. Multi-platinum records, sold-out tours across Asia. The agency is in a frenzy right now trying to keep this accident out of the media."
"Right. Okay." Kyuhyun pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to process the magnitude of it. "And the guy? The pretty one who just ran out of here?"
Hyujkae sat gently on the edge of his bed, reaching out to give Kyuhyun's knee a comforting squeeze. "Kyu... That was Kim Jongwoon. He's... he's your partner."
Kyuhyun stared at her blankly. "My what? Like, business partner?"
"Your life partner, boyfriend, lover," Hyukjae explained, sounding unusually gentle. "You've been together for five years, Kyu. You even bought a place and have been living together for the last four. He owns a popular indie cafe downtown."
Kyuhyun stared at Lee Hyukjae in pure disbelief.
“Hyukjae, look at me. You're joking, right? I am at the peak of my career. I don’t do settled down, and I definitely don’t do domestic. It's impossible.”
"You do with him," Hyukjae said softly. "You love him, Kyuhyun. More than you love music. More than anything."
Kyuhyun's gaze drifted back to the closed door. A painful sense of disbelief gripped his chest as the image of Kim Jongwoon's devastated expression lingered in his mind.
-
The next day, the doctor allowed Kyuhyun to go home after completing several more tests.
Jongwoon handled the discharge paperwork with quiet efficiency. He gathered Kyuhyun's belongings and moved around the hospital room without a word. What was even more obvious was the way Jongwoon's eyes constantly averted, completely avoiding direct eye contact with Kyuhyun.
Doctor Shin stepped into the room one last time. He then explained the complexities of brain trauma and retrograde amnesia, firmly advising them not to force any memories too aggressively.
"Return to your normal routine," the doctor instructed calmly. "Go home and try to live as you normally would. Let your everyday surroundings naturally trigger the pathways in your brain. Looking at old photos, casually talking about the past, or visiting familiar places may help spark a recollection. The lost memories will likely return gradually over the next few weeks. Although, in rare cases, they may not return completely."
Kyuhyun saw Jongwoon freeze for a moment upon hearing those last words.
Thirty minutes later, the piercing cold of the night air hit Kyuhyun's face as the automatic hospital doors opened. He pulled his jacket tighter around his chest, his head still throbbing occasionally with a dull ache.
Jongwoon had stepped away a few minutes earlier, offering an excuse about bringing the car around to the front lobby so Kyuhyun wouldn’t have to walk too far in the cold.
Left alone on the sidewalk with Hyukjae, Kyuhyun turned to him.
"Hyukjae hyung, be honest with me," Kyuhyun said, his voice dropping to a whisper, afraid that fans or reporters might overhear. "Am I actually living with him? I’m serious. I look at that man, and there is absolutely nothing on my mind about him."
Hyukjae let out a heavy sigh, stuffing his hands into his coat pockets.
“You really were,” Hyukjae said quietly. “For four years.” A disbelieving laugh escaped him as he shook his head.
“Honestly, the rest of us watched it happen, and we couldn't believe it either. You, the career-obsessed Cho Kyuhyun, practically leased a house on impulse just because it was closer to his café. Then you spent months wearing him down until he finally agreed to move in with you.”
Kyuhyun pressed his fingers against his temples, closing his eyes. He found it very hard to believe that he—a man known to be very calculating with his finances and protective of his independence—would buy a whole house because of another man.
“But how?” Kyuhyun asked, his voice laced with bewilderment. He struggled to put the feeling into words. “He's so... different. Nothing about him matches what I always imagined my ideal partner would be like. Also, changing my life for someone else? Rearranging my schedules, my space, my boundaries around another person? That doesn’t sound like me at all."
“It doesn’t,” Hyukjae admitted with a hint of a smile. “At least, not the version of you I knew before him.”
Hyukjae leaned back against the pillar, his expression softening as he thought of Kim Jongwoon.
"Yes, Jongwoon hyung is unique. He's gentle, introverted, and very sensitive. Honestly, you two are complete opposites." Hyukjae turned his head fully to Kyuhyun, his gaze turning very serious. "But I think that's precisely why you fell so deeply in love with him."
Kyuhyun blinked.
“He grounded you, Kyu. For the first time in your life, someone made you stop and slow down.” Hyukjae let out a small laugh. “When you first met him, you chased him like a man possessed. He rejected you more than once because he thought you were moving too fast. But you just kept coming back, until he finally agreed to go on one single date with you."
Kyuhyun stared into the distance, trying to picture himself falling so recklessly in love that he would do anything to win someone's heart. It was like hearing a fairy tale about a stranger.
“Actually, Jongwoon hyung asked me to tell you something,” Hyukjae continued, his voice gentler now, "He said... If going back to that shared house feels like too much for you right now, you can stay at my place. He packed a separate bag of your essentials, just in case."
"Is he uncomfortable having me there?" Kyuhyun asked quietly. “I mean... I wouldn't blame him. To him, I must feel like a stranger, as he is to me.”
“No, Kyu. That's not it,” Hyukjae responded immediately, his voice firm enough to leave no room for doubt.
Hyukjae looked Kyuhyun dead in the eye. "Jongwoon-hyung... he gets lonely very easily, and he suffers from terrible insomnia. He absolutely hates it when you're away. And for the last three days, he's been sleeping uncomfortably next to your bed, simply because he couldn't bear to leave your side."
“If you decide to stay with me tonight, he'll respect it. He won't complain.” Hyukjae paused for a moment. “But I'm sure… it'll break his heart even more.”
The words landed harder than Kyuhyun expected.
“Because that's who he is,” Hyukjae continued softly. “He'll suffer in silence if he believes that giving you space is what you need to heal."
Kyuhyun’s chest tightened painfully. For some reason, the thought of Jongwoon going home alone bothered him more than it should have. An immense guilt settled heavily in his stomach.
In the distance, a black sedan pulled up to the curb.
“No, I'll go home with him,” Kyuhyun said after a long moment, his jaw tightened with sudden determination.
Hyukjae looked at him carefully, analyzing his expression.
“The doctor said I should get back to my normal routine anyway,” Kyuhyun continued. "If being in that house helps my brain recover, then that's exactly what I'll do."
Hyukjae offered a small, reassuring nod, squeezing a hand on Kyuhyun's shoulder. "Okay. But call me if you need anything. I mean it, Kyuhyun-ah."
"I will," Kyuhyun promised.
With that, Kyuhyun took a deep breath and headed toward the car, toward a home he couldn't remember, a relationship he couldn't understand, and a future that suddenly felt uncertain.
The car ride to their shared home settled into a tense, uncomfortable silence.
Kyuhyun sat stiffly in the passenger seat with his temple pressed against the window, watching the unfamiliar city lights smear across the glass. Everything outside felt strangely foreign, but Kyuhyun’s eyes kept drifting left, stealing glances at the older man named Kim Jongwoon.
Kyuhyun told himself to stop looking, but he failed miserably. For the first time since waking up, Kyuhyun allowed himself to really look at Jongwoon without any distraction.
Jongwoon was wearing a loose, thick gray cardigan over a simple black turtleneck, a combination that only further emphasized his slender, elegant figure. His small hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, and Kyuhyun suddenly noticed the delicate tattoos winding across his fingers and arms.
How had I missed those tattoos before? Kyuhyun wondered, his eyes tracing the dark ink against the pale skin.
Every few seconds, the passing streetlights illuminated the sharp line of Jongwoon's jaw, the perfect bridge of his nose, and the quiet melancholy lingering in his eyes. There was something effortlessly graceful about him. A fragile beauty that was really impossible to ignore.
Kyuhyun swallowed as a strange, uninvited warmth bloomed deep in his chest.
How in the world, Kyuhyun thought, his gaze lingering a fraction too long on the soft curve of Jongwoon's lips, did I manage to land a guy this gorgeous?