Part Two

Prologue - MACHINERY -

It was a bright summer morning. Do-Hyun could see it from the open window across the corridor as the white curtains waved with each blow of summer wind, the one that made you feel peaceful and calm at heart. The country in the summer was never humid like in the big cities like Seoul and the cool breeze was dry and genuine, never contaminated by pollutions. Summer in Korea was never really pleasant but living in the country-side always eased the asphyxiating hotness.

He reached the door of the room he had kept visiting every day without fail for the last three months. It was weird how he almost never used to leave his office when he was working on the family business, but now, things have changed and his visits to this room were becoming more and more frequent, as if it was becoming a need for him.

When he entered, silence welcomed him. Well, silence except the annoying machinery that kept Minho's heartbeat under control. The doctor had reassured him that his heart was not damaged in the least, but Do Hyun had insisted they kept the machinery on. He'd hired a doctor to live in the house to monitor every change in Minho's condition.

So far, there hadn’t been any change in him. Minho had been in this never-ending sleep for months and all Do-Hyun could do was watch him and pray that he would wake up one day. Suddenly, the air in the room felt too heavy, too stagnant, so he walked across the room and opened the window, welcoming a rush of cool breeze. That's better.

He walked over to Minho and sat on a chair near the bed—the one that he had been occupying for the past few months—his eyes moving from Minho's chest, slowly rising and falling, was he even aware that he was still alive and breathing?, to his expressionless face. The constant annoying beep coming from the machinery pulled Do Hyun out of his thoughts: it was making him crazy that he had started hearing the noise in his dreams too.

Do Hyun sighed. He blamed himself for this. He should have never let Minho go there all by himself; he should have known it was a trap. He had been told that there was no trace of Park at the location, that there was only Lee Changsun and his atrocious insanity. Russian Roulette, he had kept thinking for weeks. No one sane would do something sick like that. He buried his head in his hands. It was times like this when he couldn't even look at Minho, he felt too guilty and ashamed to face him.

Beep. That noise was irritating him again. He decided to turn the television on: a gorgeous news announcer appeared on the screen but her voice was just as annoying as the beeping. Do Hyun forgot about her in half a second as his mind was occupied with guilt once again. He remembered once that Kyuhyun had said that people in a coma can feel and hear anything we say to them, but he never believed it one bit. Instead, he imagined Minho wandering in a never-ending emptiness, trying to find the light that would take him back. He sighed and turned his attention to the television once more.

"We have news concerning a 20-year-old college student who, on the night of 23rd February, was reported missing. The family still hasn’t given up on their son, pleading anyone who had seen their son alive the night of his disappearance to report to the local police. Let's take a look at the story."

A picture of Kim Kibum, smiling at the camera, appeared on the screen as the reporter explained his story to the public. "His name is Kim Kibum, 20 years old, a brilliant college student at Kyunghee University. No one has seen him ever since the afternoon of 23rd February. He was reported to be missing the night of the same day. ‘He was always late. He told me he usually spent time at his friend's house studying so I was never worried about him coming home at 3 in the morning.'" A woman was talking on the screen, a microphone near her. "'But when I called his friend the next day, he said Kibum never came to his house, he didn't know where he usually went to at night either. I got worried.'"

Other pictures of Kibum appeared on the screen, as if it could make things easier, showing him on the news. Do Hyun knew where he was. He had always known, but for some reason he never told anyone. He took Minho's hand in his own, caressing the smooth skin with his thumb. He looked back at the television just as Kibum's father was speaking, tears in his eyes. Do Hyun knew what it felt like to lose a son, without reason, without any explanation.

He would make the Thorn Crown pay for all of this. For taking a son away from his parents, for taking parents away from their sons, for messing up innocent people's lives just for cold business. He just needed more time, he needed Jinki back—though it was not the time yet— and he needed money. But he swore on MinHyuk's tomb that he would bring the Thorn Crown family down no matter the price.

"'Please, Kibum. Come back to us, we’re waiting for you. Comme Des and Garçons are waiting for—'" Kibum's mom couldn't finish the sentence as she burst into tears, hugging her husband and the report was cut, showing another gorgeous news announcer announcing the weather forecast.

Suddenly, Do Hyun felt his hand being gripped. At first, he thought it was only a feeling—a desire—of his, but the grip became stronger and Do Hyun moved his eyes from Minho's responding hand to his face. Do Hyun's widened eyes met Minho's half-closed ones, his lips slightly parted, a low groan escaping from them.

When Do Hyun finally realized that Minho had woken up, he felt blood rush to his head. He gripped Minho's hand tightly and smiled at him. "Minho…you…woke up…" It came out more like a whisper as if he was afraid that this was a dream and he would wake up if he spoke too loudly. But it wasn’t a dream. Minho's eyes opened fully and his lips parted more. He was trying to say something. Do Hyun was too worried, busy calling the doctor to try to hear him. Only a few minutes later, when the doctor rushed through the door, did Do Hyun clearly hear Minho's words, "Where… i-is…Ki…bum…" Do Hyun glanced at the television (now broadcasting morning advertisements) and back at Minho, his expression shocked. So Kyuhyun wasn't wrong after all.

❞

I'm honestly at loss of words right now xD Jonghyun is back performing with SHINee and that's all I can think about (beside the fact that tomorrow I have a test and I'm still spazzing like a crazy fangirl instead of studying ;;)

Just wanted to say that I'm trying to speed up my writing process^^ I think it's useless to make you wait for months, so I will write whenver exams allow me to (and considering I'm a very bad student my next update might arrive pretty soon xD). 

I think this part is going to be very difficult for me. In part one I had no plot problems, I pretty much knew what it was going to happen, but now ;; sigh I need you guys to give me feedback and motivation (even if it's just one word comments^^). 

About this prologue, did you like it? Btw, for those who have forgot (since I have mentioned his name only once so far) Do Hyun is Jinki's dad^^

As always, thanks for reading!