"Yaa, Dragon, where are you going?" Bom's voice quivered. Her eyes followed the white cat who pranced towards the long, seemingly endless corridor. Bom followed from behind hesitantly. They passed through doors, 501, 502, 503, and the cat walked with its tail up and a sense of familiarity in the place.

"We're not supposed to be here," Bom's voice echoed in a silent whisper in the empty hallway. The cat finally stopped its movement in front of a white door which contrasted the red room number sign: 505. And beside it was another sign: No Visitors Allowed. Bom knew she had no reason to be here, but she couldn't ignore the curiosity that developed at the back of her head.

The cat poked its fleshy nose towards the door as if wanting to open it itself. Bom, sensing something, placed her hand on the cold metal knob and slowly turned to open the door. 

Am I even supposed to be here? the thought ran through her mind as she stepped inside the still room. The door behind her shut with a resounding click. A blast of cold air from the airconditioner hit her face, as if to greet her and to answer her question with a yes.  Bom's eyes listfully looked at the four walls of the room. The curtains were drawn out and the filtered stream of afternoon sunlight peeked from the curtains. It lent an orangy ethereal glow to the room. 

The room felt like it hasn't been lived on for days. The room was still and in its own world, away and locked out to the outside world.

Bom's eyes turned towards the bed and to the figure of someone lying down and sleeping as if there's no tomorrow. She took a step closer to the bed and finally got a peek of the figure's profile. It was a guy, probably the same age as her, with jet black hair that framed his serene sleeping face. 

Bom let out a small inaudible gasp. She stared at the sleeping profile with wide eyes as she tried to find her composure. D-Dragon...? his name ran through her mind in an endless repeat while she felt the cat rubbing its body against her legs. Bom quickly set down the bag of cookies on the bedside table before coming closer to the bed.

Up close, she saw his pale and delicate face, drained out of its color. Bom would have think that she's looking at a lifeless body if it wasn't for the constant rise and fall of his chest that echoed the rhythmic beating of the cardiac monitor on the other side of the bed. His two hands, on top of one another, rested on his chest and moved along to the slow rise and fall.

Bom's own heart wasn't slow and steady. It began to race and flutter as she still tried to comprehend what was happening before her eyes. Is this really him? she asked herself. Her quivering hand reached out to his own, to the plastic hospital id band that hugged his right wrist. Bom silently read what was written: "patient name unknown, admitted:  09/23/20xx"

September 23. Bom repeated in her mind. It seemed like an important date. Something happened that day, she was sure of it. But what it was, she tried hard to recall. September was a rainy month this year. What else happened... Her eyes widened once again as she let go of the plastic id band and concentrated on recalling what happened in the past months. That's right, that's the day I got my acceptance letter to Yonsei...and...

Bom's hands flew to cover her trembling mouth in surprise. Her vision gradually turned blurry from the crystal of tears that formed at the small corner of her eyes. The day I met Dragon, she finally recalled as a single tear rolled to her cheek. She slowly closed her eyes and rubbed her temples as if trying to push back the tears and this overwhelming feeling that took over her body. And as if on cue, as her eyes closed, another pair of eyes slowly opened for the first time for weeks.

"I smell oatmeal cookies. Are those for me?" a voice spoke up. It was a bit hoarse and croaky, yet it broke the silence that enveloped the still room.

Bom's eyes shot wide open. And the first thing she saw was the pair of deep brown eyes that stared at her. His hair wasn't platinum white, his eyes weren't deep blue like the violent ocean, but Bom was still sure of one thing.

"I finally found you," she said with her shaky voice. She didn't know anything else to say -- "welcome back," "you're here," "i missed you," "you didn't leave me," but what's the best thing to say to someone who got lost but the reassurance that they've been found.

"Eh?" he replied while looking at her still with the empty eyes. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Those six words -- short as they were, pierced through Bom's everything like a sharp dagger. Her legs trembled. Bom held on to the metal bed railing to support herself while she tried to find the right words to say next. She wanted to give him something to make him remember her, a reminder like her own name. But what's the use of her name, when Bom herself doesn't know Dragon's real name.

"I'm Park Bom," she said with a forced smile, try as she might to hide the pained expression from her face. You don't remember me at all, Dragon? Don't you hate it whenever I force myself to smile? Will you notice it today?

"My name is Kwon Jiyong," he said with a smile, but without recognition of any sorts to the girl that stood beside him.

"Kwon Jiyong," Bom repeated in a hushed whisper while she nodded her head. Another tear escaped from her eye but she caught it with her hand before it rolled down her cheeks and down to her quivering lips. So you don't remember me. At least, I finally learned your name. That's enough for me as a remembrance for everything.

"Park Bom, thank you."

"Eh?"

"The oatmeal cookies. These are my favorite."

I know that, silly, Bom wanted to say, but she knew better and just let out a small sigh. "It's nothing, really. There's no need to thank me," she said instead, now aware of the creeping awkardness that surrounded the room. She glanced to the door and back to Jiyong before she cleared . "Uh, should I go get the nurse?"

"Eung," Jiyong nodded with his smiling eyes. "But before you go, can you help me sit up?"

Right, before I go, Bom repeated in her head before dispelling any more negative thoughts. She tried once again to force a smile and walked closer to the bed. She held one of his hand, and took note of the claminess of it, and his shoulder in one hand. She helped him sit up right. And at last she could feel and touch him, something she longed for ever since. But still something doesn't feel right, like mismatched pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that doesn't fit together. 

She straightened herself up and gave a pained smile again at Jiyong's direction. That was when she noticed the thin silver chain that hung from his neck and the familiar pendant at the end-- "옹," yong, Dragon. 

Yes, you are my Dragon, Bom thought to herself as she tried hard to choke back on her tears. I finally found you, but it just doesn't feel right. Don't you remember me at all? Everything came rushing back to her -- that rainy night, the cat who followed her home, the library book, the cookies, Sehun, the rollercoaster ride, the train ride, their trip to Seoul, and of course their promise. Was I supposed to find you? But it's better like this anyway, right? At least I know you're alive and...

Bom turned her back away before Jiyong could see her crying face. She mumbled and tried to find her words of goodbye but nothing came out. She just gave a little wave, without turning back, and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Jiyong's voice broke out the silence once again.

Bom stopped from her tracks, her hand just a few inches away from the door knob. "Ne?" she asked while she glanced at the smiling face of Jiyong. Her heart started to race again, it was a torturous ordeal and the tears she held back so hard finally streamed down her cheeks. 

Outside, the orange sunlight continued to give an afterglow. But the room, still with its curtains drawn out, stood on a world of its own. Jiyong, who sat on the bed with a smiling face and Bom, whose hands were on the door and tried to hide her crying eyes. Each of them waited for one another to say something-- anything just to break the enveloping silence in the orange room.

"Park Bom," finally it was Jiyong who spoke up who said her name with a degree of familiarity. "Park Bom-ah, thank you for finding my lost soul."

end.

/whispers; i will do an epilogue c:

i found your cat : 060612-040814

thank you so much for sticking with me until the end.