Sulli stood outside the door as she watched Minho's shadow behind the silk white curtains. He was walking stiffly and was pulling at his hair as if he was frustrated about something or in deep pain. Sulli was deeply worried and was about to call for someone when Taemin appeared by her side. 

"So, how was it?" Taemin asked while pointing towards Minho's office. Sulli tilted her head towards the office to allow Taemin to notice Minho's shadow through his office curtains. "What, is there anything wrong?"

Sulli put her index finger up to to quiet Taemin and then quietly asked Taemin, "Is there a place that not a lot of people go to? I have to ask you something."

Taemin looked around the office and thought of his secret place where he used to relax and relieve stress from work. With a wave of his hand, Taemin brought Sulli to his quiet place. One sofa was seated facing a window with a coffee table located in front of the sofa. Potted plants were staggered on the table with a welcome mat located right under them. The sunshine was just able to permeat through the window and shine into the room, leaving a bubbly aura. "So, what do you want to know?" Asked Taemin after he allowed Sulli to look around the room. 

"I'm going to be direct about my questions and I want your answers to be the same."

"Okay." Taemin chuckled, for he was unsure as to why Sulli was so serious.

"Was Min– I mean Mr. Choi always like this?"

"Like what? Like a cold person?" Replied Taemin nonchalantly. After a brief pause, Taemin continued, "Well, I am actually friends with him, that is if you count a friendship that has little to no conversations. However, he treats me a bit differently and we've known each other since college as roommates. He helped me get this job. By the time I met him, he was the way he is now. He was closed up, rigid, and didn't know how to have fun. He was a workaholic. It took him quite some time to open up to me and at least acknowledge me."

"Do you know anything specific about his background?"

Taemin raised an eyebrow at this question. "Sulli, do you like Mr. Choi already to stalk him like this? I mean a lot of workers here love him and have had crushes on him but––"

Sulli raised up a hand and quickly said, "Ani, I don't mean it this way. I can't tell you why I'm asking this now, but maybe later once we're closer."

"You are very direct aren't you. I like that." Taemin added with a chuckle. "Anyways, the one thing I know about him that could by the reason for his social anxiety and coldness is something that's really personal. You have to keep this between us, okay?"

"Taemin, you can trust me." 

Taemin nodded and said, "Good." He took a deep breath in and turned around to look out the window. "He had a close friend besides him throughout college who's still here and sometimes visits. She was the one who told me to befriend Minho and let him open up and was also the one who told me his background once she knew I was trustable."

Sulli was reminded of a conversation that Minho and Onew had years ago when Minho was her exchange student. 

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FLASHBACK

"My parents initially didn't want me coming to Korea because they thought I'd get bullied more, but that was why I wanted to do this exchange program. I am Korean and I wanted to learn the other half of my culture that I never had the chance to learn. I wanted to be in a different place and experience new ways. My dad owns a business in Korea, but when he visits the business he never brings me along." Minho paused and then continued in a pained voice, "I was bullied a lot in America and I just wanted to leave my school."

Jinri heard Onew's voice fill with concern as he tried to comfort Minho and change the subject.

"It's okay. You don't have to change the subject. It actually feels better to open up to someone rather than keep it to myself. I know you guys can be trusted with my secrets."

Jinri assumed that Onew nodded in return because Minho continued after a short pause. "I had one close friend. She had been through a lot with me and we have been friends since childhood. I’ve liked her for some time but we kind of diverged into different paths. She was once a nerd like me but now she infiltrated herself into the popular group and got herself a boyfriend. Sometimes I feel like America just isn’t for me. Everything bad seems to happen. And, to answer the question, that’s why I feel like Seoul is home.”

FLASHBACK ENDS

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"Could it be that Suzy girl?" Sulli thought to herself. She then shook her head, as it wasn't important. 

Taemin waved his hands in front of Sulli's face to attract her attnetion. "Sulli, are you listening? I'm only telling you this once."

Sulli's eyes widened in shock as Taemin's hand almost hit her face. "Oh yes I am, sorry."

"Anyways, he went to do an exchange student program around the time that she apparently betrayed him...I'm not sure how they became friends again...but that's not important. When his parents were on the way to the airport, the chauffeur crashed the car, resulting in his parents' deaths. That's all I know." Sulli gasped and stepped back. Taemin pulled Sulli closer to him and whispered in her ear in a half threatening tone, "You better not tell anyone."

Sulli nodded while trying to increase the distance between her and Taemin as his face was only a few inches from hers. Taemin let her out of his grasp and then opened the door for her to leave. While walking back to Minho's office, Taemin began to talk about work as he assigned tasks for Sulli to begin and complete by the afternoon. Pointing over to the left of Sulli's cubicle, Taemin said, "I will usually be here. Any questions, just ask me, in fact let's exchange phone numbers," as if their previous conversation never happened. Sulli gave Taemin her phone allowing him to type in his contact info. When he was done, he smiled and gave Sulli her phone back.

From outside Minho's office door, a girl shouted to Taemin, "Taemin, we need your help. He's fallen again." Sulli looked to Taemin with a confused look.

Taemin looked at Sulli and just said, "I don't have time to explain, just help me."

"Help what?" Sulli realized who she needed to help as she walked into Minho's office only to see him lying on the ground motionless. Sulli's blood rushed cold and her palms began to sweat. "Minho, please be okay, please by okay." Sulli chanted inside her head. It hurt her so much to see her former close friend in such a state as now.

"Sulli pay attention!" Taemin practically shouted. "Call the ambulance right now." Sulli fumbled through her pockets and dialed for the ambulance to come. After five minutes of waiting, sirens began to near the building. Paramedics ran upstairs as they brought a stretcher and lifted Minho onto it. 

"We will need at least one person to come with us." Stated one of the paramedics. 

Taemin pointed to Sulli and said, "She will come with."

Sulli looked horrified and firmly shook her head no, but Taemin wouldn't change his decision. 

"Then follow us young lady." While walking, Sulli turned around to glare at Taemin who shrugged his shoulders in return.

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When Minho was assigned a hospital bed and all the payments were paid, Sulli was exhausted. She sat down beside the hospital bed and couldn't help but be captivated by Minho's sharp jaw line, defined nose, and full lips. She quickly snapped out of her thoughts as she realized she should not think such thoughts. Sulli quickly distracted herself by running to the nearby convenient store to buy fruits for Minho to eat. When she came back to Minho's hospital room, she peaked through the door to see if he was still asleep. Sulli was relieved as his breaths rose and fell steadily. She quickly tip-toed in and prepared apple slices and oranges for Minho.  When she finished slicing, she ran out of things to do and began to talk to the peacefully sleeping Minho.

"Minho oppa, it's been a long time. I barely recognize you. You've changed so much I can barely see the old you. I miss the old you." Sulli felt a drop of water slide down her cheeks. She brought up a hand to brush it away realizing that her vision was blurring with tears. She didn't bother to hold them in and let them out as she remembered all of her memories with Minho. "Remember that time when we went to the park and you got scared of that one roller coaster ride? I still remember your face, it was priceless." Sulli longingly looked out the hospital window to see the people walking the streets of Seoul and skyscrapers reflecting the afternoon sunlight. She got up from her seat and went to the window, opening it to let in the fresh air. While becoming mesmerized by the beautiful city skyline from a high elevation, she heard a creaking noise along with a cough come from the bed. Sulli froze and quickly turned around to see Minho slowly waking up.

Minho slowly opened his eyes to adjust to the harsh afternoon sunlight and realized he was in the hospital again. "I don't have time for this." Minho ripped out the IV and was about to get out of bed when someone out of his peripheral vision blocked him. It was Sulli, and Minho didn't want to see her. 

"No, you have to stay. You are done with work today." Sulli firmly stated as she subtly tried to wipe away any remnants of her tears.

Minho switched to his native tongue, English, without knowing and said, "I need to go to work and you have no right to tell me what to do. I don't want to see you."

Sulli was hurt, but she took a deep breath in and replied, "You speaking English doesn't make a difference. I understand what you say and yes, I have a right to tell you what to do. You're not leaving."

"This is helpless. I'm going to work." Minho tried to maneuver his way around Sulli but she held onto his wrists to prevent him from leaving. "Let. Go. Of. Me. I have work to do."

Sulli would not budge even after Minho's deadly threaten. "You have work? Well my job right now is to keep you safe! I'm caring for your well-being and you don't acknowledge." Sulli was beginning to lose her patience with this foreign person in front of her. Sulli raised her voice and said, "What happened to you? Why are you like this? When someone cares for you, it's common knowledge to respect. Do you not remember?" Sulli felt Minho's arm lose its tension and it dropped by his side.

"I don't want to ever see you. You're fired."

Sulli couldn't take it anymore with Minho. "Even if I am fired, I need you to know one thing. Drop this act. I know the real you is behind this fake facade that you built up. The real you is just locked up and hidden away, but it's still part of you. When I imagined meeting you again, I didn't imagine you to be like this."

"This is the real me."

"No." Sulli paused and then looked directly into Minho's eyes. "No oppa, it's not." Sulli watched as Minho's face softened for a split second, but was then masked behind a cold expression. 

"Don't call me oppa ever again. I would like to erase my past, and everything in it, and I advise you to forget about what you are trying to say."

"So, all those memories, are gone?" Sulli eyes began to fill with tears again. 

Minho looked away to avoid seeing Sulli's face. Barely audible, Minho said, "Gone. Yes, they're all gone."

Suddenly, Minho started pulling at his hair and groaning in pain. "Minho, what's happening. Stop it, stop acting." When Minho didn't stop, Sulli pressed the "Help" button located in the hospital room. Two nurses rushed in as they told Minho to calm down. 

"Sir, please calm down. We are the nurses. Take a deep breath in and then out. Follow along." The nurse exaggerated the intake and exhale of her breath and urged Minho to follow. Minho continued to groan and pull at his hair for some time. When he finally calmed down, one of the nurses pulled Sulli outside of the hospital dorm and said, "Do you know of any traumas that he has experienced in the past? Usually patients react that way if a trauma is brought up or thought of, or if something from their trauma appears."

Sulli thought back to what Taemin said and slowly realized that she was the cause for his pain. She was a reminder of his past and a reminder of his parents' deaths. Sulli looked up at the nurse and weakly said, "Yes, his parents died in an accident."

"I see. I advise that you not bring up his past because his stress levels are unhealthily high. He needs a lot of rest and hydration because he has overworked his body. We will monitor over him closely. If you need help just press the button."

"Thank you so much." Sulli bowed and then the nurses both left. By the time Sulli entered the room, Minho was asleep and injected with an IV. "Minho, so I'm the indirect cause of your pain?" She placed her hand unknowingly in his and tightened her grip on his hand, placing her and his hand under her chin. "Minho, I'll make sure to bring the old you back.

Suddenly the clicking of heals seemed to draw nearer and nearer until a girl walked in with plastic bags in her hands. Sulli was surprised and quickly released her ha