Youngbae patted his friend’s back. “Here, take this,” he said, handing Jiyong his iTouch. “There’s a folder with all of Big Bang’s MV’s and interviews, as well as your own songs and variety show appearances.” He paused before adding, “I can tell you want some time by yourself, so here’s the address of where we live. Take your time, but try to be back before dark, okay?” Jiyong stayed quiet so Taeyang got up and brushed himself off. “…I’m going now… take care of yourself, Ji.”

--

Seunghyun.

I was surprised to see Taeyang return without Jiyong.

“Bae, where’s Ji?” I asked, catching his arm.

He looked up, the sadness in his eyes surprising me. “Jiyong is… catching up,” he croaked. He then turned and left, leaving me even more confused than before.

“Catching up?” I muttered to myself. Did he mean physically catching up or catching up with his memory …?

I scratched my head. I never was very bright or observant, but Jiyong had been acting strange since he had recovered. Although he said he was fine, it was pretty obvious that he had some kind of lapse in his memory. But if he did lose his memory, then why did he act as if he was fine?

--

“Top hyuuuuunnnnngggg~~” Seungri called, disturbing the peace in the hospital.

Seunghyun looked up, irritated. “What is it?”

Seungri pouted, looking up at Seunghyun. “Why the long face? Jiyong’s alive and well! There’s so much reason to celebrate!” Raising his arms, Seungri gave a big whoop. Looking back at his hyung, he shoved a bottle in his face, saying, “Here, have a drink!”

Top snatched the bottle out of his hands. “Seungri, this is a hospital. There are sick people here that need the peace and quiet!” He looked at the bottle in his hands, recognizing the label. “What are you doing with this expensive foreign wine? Where did you even get this?” Pulling Seungri by the ear, Top stomped out of the hospital, Seungri complaining all the way.

“Aiiiiiish hyuunnnnngggg…. I was just having some fun,” Seungri said, sticking out his bottom lip. His expression changed as he saw Top’s still sullen expression. Slinging his arm over Top’s shoulders, Seungri gave a chuckle. “Cheer up Seungie, being sad shortens your life span, you know,” he sang.

Top brushed Seungri off. Aish, this maknae, he doesn’t even know what’s going on right now. I understand why they say ignorance is bliss now… Pinching the bridge of his nose, Seunghyun looked up at Seungri. “Please, just leave me alone for a while.”

Seungri’s grin was wiped off his face, replaced with a concerned frown. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Hyuunnnnnggg--” Seungri began, but was cut off.

“You don’t understand how I feel!” Seunghyun yelled, “Just leave me alone!”

Surprised at the sudden outburst, Seungri stepped back, fear and hurt apparent on his face. “I just wanted to help,” he whispered under his breath. “See you around then, hyung,” he said, turning to leave.

“Wait Seungri,” Top called after the maknae. “I didn’t mean that, I swear. I’m just kind of stressed…” his voice died in his throat as he saw his band member walk farther away. Why am I hurting all these people? Why is this happening?

--

I gripped the device as if it were my life.

The lights flashed in my eyes as I watched someone dance, sing and talk.

Who is this person? I asked myself.

It’s you, my senses screamed. It looks like you, it sounds like you, it dances lik—

But it’s not! I scream at myself, frustrated. That’s not me, I never did that! I never wrote these songs or sang them, and there’s no way I would ever act this way!

A tear found its way down my cheek, dropping onto the appliance. And another. And still another.

Through my watery eyes I could barely make out my own face on the screen. I saw myself laugh, share my opinions, play with my band members… but it didn’t feel right.

Reaching into my bag, I felt a paper brush my hand. I lifted the pale sheet, trying to make out the shapes formed by ink.

It was written in my handwriting, but not by me.

Dear Jiyong,

You’re done with the operation. If you’re reading this, then you’re alive.

If you’re not, then you died from a heart disease.

…

That was kind of stupid, wasn’t it…?

Anyway, I just need to tell you this: you probably lost your memory, so here are some things to fill you in.

Daesung is always smiling, but he’s still hurt by his accident. Take care of him, okay?

Seungri seems like a confident maknae, but he has his insecurities, so make sure you talk to and comfort him.

Taeyang is a reliable friend, comrade and team mate. Don’t hesitate to rely on him.

Seunghyun... He’s amazing, a wonderful person. Best guy around. Stay away from him though, because you don’t want to

The rest of the words were blurred by tear stains.

I stared at the paper for a long time. Finally, I crumpled it in my hands. At least someone agreed with my plan, and even though it was myself, I was convinced I was doing the right thing. From this letter, I could tell that it was a better idea to just keep my problems to myself and trick my members.

Of course, Taeyang already knew I lost my memory, didn’t he? That could prove troublesome later on, but for now it could be some kind of relief in my life of chaos.

But the more pressing question was about Seunghyun. Why did this letter describe him as “a wonderful person,” but tell me to stay away from him? And why did he seem so different from when I knew him in high school?

Frustrated, I stood up, running my hands through my hair. I began walking aimlessly, trying to escape something I knew I could never get away from. At some point in time when my legs felt as numb as my brain, I stopped to take a break and catch my breath. Suddenly, a hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed me, pulling me into an alley.

--

Seunghyun.

Taeyang told me Jiyong had the address of our dorm, but I couldn’t sit tight. I had to find him because for some reason I had a bad feeling. If there was one thing I had, it was my gut feeling, so I went with it. After Taeyang gave me the rough estimate of where he left Jiyong, I set out on foot to find my leader.

Even though it was almost noon, the sun shone weakly and I shivered despite my heavy coats. I recalled what Jiyong was wearing when he left the hospital and worry tightened its grip on me. If he hadn’t found somewhere warm to stay, he most likely would have been frozen by now.

As I walked through the streets, I scanned the sidewalk for any signs or anyone that looked remotely like Jiyong.

That’s when I almost missed it.

A small bag was left, abandoned at the side of the street – very ordinary and unnoticeable. However, one thing caught my attention; a silver keychain, depicting a microphone. I had bought it just for him on his birthday, and now it lay, forgotten, on the side of the road.

--

Jiyong.

Hands cupped my face, tilting it toward the light. A man sharply exhaled as he glared at me. His clothes seemed decent enough, though he didn’t seem… normal.

His hair was combed back neatly, hidden mostly by a black hat that also covered most of his face. The man’s hands weren’t dirty, but his sharp fingernails dug into my face, causing unneeded discomfort. It wasn’t like I was running anywhere anytime soon. His fingers were adorned with rings, coupled by golden bracelets, giving off a very “mafia” feel. He wore sunglasses, but even so I could see the glint of his eyes as he looked me over.

“Are you… THE G-dragon?” The man asked, gripping my cheeks a little tighter, coaxing a few drops of blood out of them.

I looked at him, narrowing my eyes. I gritted my teeth as I said, “Yeah, what’s it to you?”

He laughed, his voice like a dagger across steel. His mouth curled into a cruel smile as he finally released his grasp on my face, only to grab my arm. “All the better for me. Where’s your bag, boy?”

--

Seunghyun.

I quickly closed in, and just as I was about to grab the bag, a hand snatched it from within the alley. I straightened and readied myself to yell at the thief – I knew it wasn’t Jiyong because the hand that grabbed the bag was not at all like his – but was stopped short by what I saw.

Jiyong’s face was dirty, but more serious was the fact that there were red nail marks on his face that were slightly bleeding, coupled with a gag tied securely around his head. He made eye contact with me for a moment before being shoved forward, toward the other end of the alley. I was about to give chase when I noticed a glint. Focusing my attention to the man’s hands, I noticed a handgun, small albeit lethal.

Jiyong glanced back quickly, eyes flashing a warning before being led away. I could barely restrain myself, but I knew better than to aggravate a man with a gun. Besides getting shot myself, there was a high chance that Jiyong himself would also be put into danger.

Again, I found myself powerless, watching as my love was taken from me.

--

Daesung was in the middle of explaining why Seungri had wine inside a hospital when his phone rang.

Happy for the distraction, he motioned to the irate doctor that he had a call, and quickly stepped outside into the frigid afternoon air.

Blowing some warmth into his fingers, he answered his phone.

“Yoboseyo?”

A shaken voice replied. “D-daesung? Is this Daesung?”

Daesung stopped rubbing his hands, straightening in attention. “Yes, speaking. Who is this?”

“Don’t you have caller ID? It’s me, Top-hyung… Top-top-top,” he said, half-jokingly.

“Ah, did you find Jiyong yet?”

A pause followed, leaving Daesung extremely worried.

“…Seunghyun? Did you find Jiyong?”

A choked Seunghyun answered. “Y-yes… but it’s not good news. He…”

--

The next moment, the entire Big Bang group, minus Jiyong, poured onto the streets in desperate search of their leader.

“We don’t have any other choice; we’ll have to search in this way. We’ve got officers on this too, but I know we can’t just stand by when Jiyong is in danger.” Taeyang looked at all of them, making eye contact with each one.

“Everyone, return safely. Don’t forget the radios – if anything happens, just communicate through that, okay? Fighting!”

With that, the group split in search of their comrade.

--

Taeyang.

I could barely keep my teeth from knocking together as I searched the streets for Jiyong.

I followed Top’s directions of where he had seen Jiyong last, but I couldn’t find anything that seemed out of place. I searched in every place I could have thought of, but there were no clues that even hinted at where he could have been. Judging by the silence over the radio, no one else had found any traces either.

I was worried before, but now panic was mounting. Top took care not to mention it – he didn’t want any more stress for all of us – but I also realized Jiyong would have already caught a cold by now, which spelled bad news especially because of his condition. Before we left the hospital, the doctor warned that there were other side effects to the treatment, but I didn’t bother to stick around. Now I regretted not listening.

After ten minutes of wandering around, I realized that I was doing nothing except slowly turning my legs into popsicles. I decided to call the other members to see how they were doing, since I definitely did not have any leads.

Chhh… “Hey, guys?”

Only static answered me.

I scratched my head. What were they doing? Why wouldn’t they –

“Taeyang?” a voice yelled.

I fumbled with the radio, trying to press the button with my frozen fingers. “Y-yes? Who is this?”

“It’s me, Seunghyun. I got to this place that’s a ware-” Static.

“What?”

“-it’s really loud. You should com-” He was breaking up.

“Seunghyun I can’t understand you. Where are you? Why is your radio transmission so horrible?”

“-street. Did you get that? XX Street! Get over-” Seunghyun strained his voice, trying to be heard over the background noise. “-as soon as possible!”

I didn’t hesitate.

--

The first part (in italics) was a refresher - the last paragraph of Chapter 10. I saw this technique in dreamertechie's "In Focus," and I thought it was a great idea. Sometimes I forget what story I'm reading too xD 

Let me know if it helped you. 

Also - Night after Night, anyone? :D 

If you didn't get the reference, it's okay. Not everyone has time to fangirl about people all day like I do. (hur)

Sorry for the long author's note, but --

MNET POLLS! G-Dragon is losing, and so is Big Bang D:

Pls guys vote for GD... I know, you have to make an account to vote ohno~ but pls. You can vote once a day.

mama.interest.me

I implore you. Please vote.

Anyway...

I realized that I always close with "Hope you guys liked the chapter," so this time...

I wish upon you a cheerful mood in the aftermath of your study of this segment of my humble story.