The darkness of my hospital room engulfed me as silence reigned in the halls outside. Visiting hours were over. My parents and my friends had come In with anxious faces and left, reassured. Jaehyung had been dragged away from my room, despite his loud protests, back into his.

He didn't want to leave me, since he knew I was still surprised and confused by the truth behind his past. But perhaps... Jae knew my Oppa? I pushed the thought away immediately; I didn't want to get my hopes up just to have them crash and burn.

Life was crazy.

Morning found me still wide awake. Jae burst into my room the minute his nurses were through with checking his wounds. My doctor announced that we were free to go, but then police came and took us to their station for our testimonies.

So much for being free.

They pulled out the men they caught, one by one, for us to identify.

"This is their leader," the head of the police department announced as he shoved a man forward.

My eyebrows furrowed. "That's not him."

From beside me, Jae confirmed my words.

The man in front of us was definitely not Wage, or Jiyong as Jae had called him.

"So he escaped, huh," I sighed as the police began rushing around. "No use in trying to catch him now," I scoffed. "He's a cruel hearted gangster who's definitely smart enough to hide from police who don't even know his face." Jaehyung winced when I said "cruel hearted gangster", but what was I supposed to do about it?

Wage had been cruel, and he had been a freaking gangster.

After being detained for a few more hours, they finally released us and the car ride home was silent. My parents were overjoyed to have us back in once piece and insisted on cooking a meal for us. Jae and I waited in the living room, but I ignored meeting his pleading eyes.

"Did Cold War ll happen?" My father tried to make the atmosphere lighter, but failed. "Well, I'm glad that both of my children returned to me safely. why did those gangsters target you guys? Ah, no matter. Let's just hope that there won't be a third time, right?"

"Third time?" Jaehyung glanced at me sharply, knowing that I had withheld information from him, but once again I refused to meet his gaze. I was lost in my own thoughts, not even listening to my father speak. 

My father also looked at me and clamped his lips shut. This gangster topic was a touchy subject in my entire family since it dealt with my Oppa's death. My parents had gotten used to his absence, but I wasn't over it. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive gangsters for taking my Oppa away from me like that, even if Jaehyung was one of them.

My mother cleared in the doorway and the subject was dropped. "Dinner's ready," she said lightly.

During the meal, I kept turning my father's words over in my mind. Like Jaehyung, I was puzzled over the "third time". Had I been attacked before? If I had, it must've been related to my Oppa. My psychiatrist said that I had repressed most of my memories related to my Oppa. What was going on?

"Appa," I said quietly to my plate. "What do you mean, 'third time'?"

The easy conversation flowing between my parents halted. My father shot an uneasy glance at my mother before turning nervously to face me. "Did I say third? Ahaha, silly me. I meant to say second."

His words didn't fool anyone at the table.

I shoved my chair back and excused myself before disappearing into the comfort of my room.

I've been attacked before. And my parents' silence answered my next question- that first attack was definitely linked to my brother.

Closing my eyes, I tried to recall the attack, but nothing appeared.

My psychiatrist had warned me to not force memories because apparently if I tried to hard to make my brain remember gruesome events, it could harm my body. But I had to try.

And somehow, the next thing I knew, I was back in the hospital.