They didn't find Taekwoon.

They did, unfortunately, find Hongbin.

The other man was crumpled motionless at the side of the trail, cold as ice. His face was torn and beaten almost beyond recognition. A trail of blood trickled from his mouth. It was the most gruesome thing Wonsik had seen for a long time, and it made him feel cold. His mind went numb; people were talking; what were they saying? He only understood one thing.

Lee Hongbin was dead.

After that, Wonsik couldn't even try anymore. His vision was blurred by tears; Hongbin's broken, bleeding face was stuck in his mind. He felt horrible. Hongbin was dead.

But it was even worse, to him, to know that this might have been Taekwoon's fate as well.

They didn't dare search again. The woods were once again off-limits. They had a funeral for Hongbin, and it was like hell- Hongbin had fought starvation and horrible pain, and survived it, only to be killed even more horribly. Wonsik could not believe this had happened. Hongbin was a fighter. He couldn't just be gone.

But there was the gravestone with his name to prove it.

'I feel horrible,' Wonsik choked out to Himchan.

'It's awful....he was so young. He wasn't ready. It's not fair....whoever killed him is going to pay.'

'What do you mean?'

Himchan's face was full of pain. 'Kim Wonsik.... Lee Hongbin did not just die, and he was not killed by an animal.'

Wonsik's blood went cold. 'Then-'

Himchan stared at the ground. 'Someone murdered him.'

'Who could have done that?' Wonsik was in shock.

Himchan winced. 'As far as we know, there's only one living person in those woods. Only one possibility.'

'You can't mean that.' Wonsik growled.

'I'm afraid I do.' Himchan's voice dropped to a whisper. 

'It was Taekwoon.'

Wonsik couldn't sleep well for the next 10 months.

No sign of Taekwoon after nearly a year.  The last two months passed, it had been a year, still no Taekwoon.

Wonsik had to adjust to being alone. He had to learn to live with the fact that Taekwoon was not coming back. He tried so hard to forget everything...

But even now, Lee Hongbin's broken facehaunted him. He woke up sweating in the middle of the night sometimes; the memory was too vivid. Wonsik wanted it erased completely from his memory, along with Jongup, Taekwoon, the night they searched in the woods, and especially the asylum. He wanted to forget it all.

He hated it.

But he remembered it.

Zelo's accidents, Yongguk's stupid jokes, Himchan's weird dreams, nothing was even funny anymore. Hongbin was dead and Taekwoon had killed him. Wonsik would probably never laugh again.

(5 years later)

Chanyeol approached Wonsik, who was typing. 'What are you doing hyung?'

'I'm writing,' Wonsik said, scowling.

'Do you remember Taekwoon? Or Hongbin?'

'No, I forgot the people who ran away and disappeared in our woods, one of them died and the other vanished. OF COURSE I REMEMBER THEM!'

Chanyeol winced. 'Just.....what would you say if I told you that I saw Taekwoon?'

'I would say you were crazy, why?'

'Because I just saw Taekwoon.'