”Hoseok, I have no idea who you’re talking about.”

Hoseok ran these words through his mind, twice, three times, four. Then, he burst out laughing.

“Hyung, you’re so bad at pranks!” he coughed out, groaning immediately from the pain still in his head.

“Prank—what? Hoseok, I’m not—,”

“Yeah, okay, Hyung. So you want me to believe this isn’t a revenge prank because me and Yoongi put a crapload of salt in your new soup recipe last week? Alright, alright. I’ll play,” he smiled wide.

Jin was, if not anything else, a good actor. Hell, if he didn’t pursue his chef career, he could’ve been famous in Hoseok’s opinion.

“Hoseok. I’m not…who even is Yoongi?” Jin asked, sounding exasperated.

“Yoongi? Min Yoongi? Black hair, cat eyes, only an inch taller than Jimin? Your boyfriend’s production partner?” Hoseok described, holding back a laugh.

“My boyfriend?? What the fu…wait—Min Yoongi?”

“Yes, Hyung, Min Yoongi, what other Yoongi would I—,”

“No, just. Are you talking about Min Yoongi, that really quiet, weird kid in Namjoon’s music theory class? The one who made that song Jimin danced to at the showcase last semester?”

Hoseok’s smile slowly fell from his face, not sure anymore where this ‘prank’ was going.

“Uh. Class? Showcase? I don’t…,” Hoseok trailed off, trying to make sense of the situation.

“And I don’t have a boyfriend. Who the hell would I be dating?” Jin scoffed, now more irritated, “I’m starting to think YOU’RE the one who’s pranking ME—which, not funny, Jung Hoseok, you just got in an accident and something could really be wrong!”

Hoseok stared at Jin, looking for any sign that the elder was playing him. Jin stood there at the side of his hospital bed, arms crossed, body tensed, lips pursed.

He definitely didn’t look like he was joking; Jin wouldn't be able to joke about Namjoon not being his boyfriend like that without giving it all away. He just looked, angry. And an angry Jin was not a good Jin.

“But…I’m not! I’m not joking, Hyung. This is…please, all I want to do right now is talk to Yoongi, can you PLEASE call him?” Hoseok begged, sighing. He was starting to really get scared, now, and Jin was being no help.

“Hoseok for the last time, I barely know Min Yoongi, let alone have his phone number—and neither do you! You’ve never even said two words to the guy!” Jin huffed, anxiously running his hands through his chocolate brown hair.

“You’re lying.”

“What?”

Hoseok twitched violently.

“You’re lying! You’re lying to me—did he talk to you? Tell you to do this? Tell me the truth!” Hoseok screamed, sitting up roughly in the bed, frantically searching for his own phone.

“Hobi, calm down, he didn’t—I don’t even—no one is doing anything, please just calm down,” Jin pleaded, resting a hand on Hoseok’s shoulder before the younger pushed it away roughly.

“Stop—don’t, don’t touch me, I don’t…where the is he? Just tell me, please, I HAVE to talk to him!”

Jin flinched, finally reaching over and grabbing the call light button and ringing the nurses as Hoseok began grabbing at his IV lines, trying to disconnect himself from all of the tubes.

“This is—ridiculous, where, where even am I, this doesn’t make any sense, Jesus Christ is he even okay? I just need to see him, at least, I just need to know he’s okay, Hyung, please—,”

Jin watched his friend with wide eyes, about to answer when a nurse and an aide walked in.

“Hoseok? Hoseok, right? Is everything—oh, no—please don’t pull at the IV line—,”

“I’m getting the hell out of here, right now! I don’t care what any of you say, I can’t—this isn’t RIGHT!” Hoseok shouted, his wide eyes shining.

“Has the doctor been in?” The nurse asked Jin, quickly drawing up anxiety medicine while the aide attempted to keep the boy from pulling out his IV.

“N-no, he just woke up, and…and I think he…has a concussion, or something, he...he’s really confused, he’s not…usually like this,” Jin answered, not sure how to explain. Hoseok knew who he was, at least, but that seemed to be the only thing he had straight.

“I’ll page him.”

“Let GO OF ME!”

Both Jin and the nurse jumped at Hoseok’s scream, watching as he attempted to get out of the bed, yanking himself away from the nurse’s aide. Jin stepped back as the nurse quickly moved, somehow managing to convince Hoseok to sit back down on the bed, and allowing her to give him the medicine.

“Please, can I just…see him? Can you call him?”

“I’ll do what I can, dear, I promise. You need to relax, and rest, though, you were hurt pretty badly, okay? We’ll get your friend in here so you can see him.”

“Th-thank you,” Hoseok hiccupped, his eyes filling with tears, “I’m sorry, I’m just...scared.”

He heard Jin take in a shaky breath, but he kept his eyes focused on the window, staring outside at the parking lot below the hospital. It was so sunny outside, way too bright.

“Is everything okay in here?”

“Oh, Doctor Lee, thank—well, yes, we’ve…gotten everything settled,” the nurse said, side-eyeing Hoseok as he lied back down in the bed.

“Ah, good. So, how are you feeling this morning, Hoseok? Took a bit of a beating there, huh?” Dr. Lee asked, quickly looking at the chart he was holding before going over to Hoseok to do his assessment.

“I…feel, fine. Just sore. But um,” Hobi stuttered, looking around the room before settling his gaze on Jin, his expression pleading for help.

“He uh, doesn’t know where he is,” Jin explained, “I mean—he knows he’s at the hospital but…he um. He’s really, confused?”

“I see," the doctor muttered before turning his attention back onto Hoseok, "can you tell me your full name?”

“Jung Hoseok.”

“Where are you right now?”

“Mercy Hospital.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-five.”

Jin choked, and the doctor frowned a bit before continuing.

“And…what year is it?”

“2020.”

The doctor went silent, flipping through his charts again. Jin stared, unable to make anything of this entire situation.

“Well…Hoseok. It’s 2018, and…you’re 23. According to your records,” Dr. Lee began, “do you…know where you live?”

Hoseok blurts out his address quickly, relieving Jin with the fact that it was his real address, before adding—

“And I live with my boyfriend, Yoongi. He’s supposed to be my emergency contact, so where is he? Why isn’t he here? Please, just tell me if something happened to him, I need to know!”

“We, we don’t have a Yoongi listed anywhere…Mr. Kim Seokjin was listed as your emergency contact?” The doctor replied, looking back at Jin as if questioning him.

“I am! I…this is what I mean! I don’t know a Yoongi, and neither does he! It must be—some, some kind of amnesia!” Jin sputtered, gesturing wildly at Hoseok’s direction.

“Well. Amnesia is…a loss of memory, not…creating…new ones,” the doctor said slowly, “this is…I have to say, I’ve never seen anything like this. I’m not sure I’ve ever even heard of something like this happening.”

“Then, then it must have been a dream! He just…had a long dream while he was unconscious, right?” Jin asked, desperate for an answer.

“I didn’t…that wasn’t a dream. We had a life,” Hoseok mumbled, the anxiety medicine making him drowsy, but not completely drowning out his fear—or his memories. He knew in his heart that wasn’t just a dream.

The last thing he registered before falling asleep was the clear image of Yoongi smiling at him behind his closed eyelids.

“It must have been a very...realistic dream. Like I said, I’ve never…seen a case like this. But it’s the only reasonable explanation as of now…we’ll run more tests, of course. Make sure there are no new injuries or developments,” Dr. Lee assured, scribbling notes down as he talked.

“Until then, just…reassure him. Keep him calm. Gently correct him as needed,” the doctor added quietly, glancing back at Hoseok who had fallen asleep.

Jin nodded, wringing his hands as he thought of how he would be able to help his best friend through this.

“I’ll…do that, of course. Thank you.”

Dr. Lee thanked him, leaving the room with the nurse and leaving Jin alone with his thoughts. He bit his lip, not knowing what to do. Clearly, this wasn’t a joke. Hoseok was serious. But what could he do? Randomly go up to Min Yoongi and tell him to visit some stranger just because he’s being asked for?

Sighing, he sat back down in the chair next to Hoseok’s bed, gently patting his best friend’s arm.

He decided it was time to make a few phone calls.