“There’s some bad news, and some good news.”

“What is it, doctor?”

“The good news is he’s alive and well. He is healthy but I think that we should keep him here for a couple more days before we decide to let him go home.”

“That’s all right… And the bad news?”

“He… has developed some kind of memory loss. But don’t worry. It has happened quite a few times to people who experienced comatose.”

“W-What type of memory loss?”

“For a start, he can’t even remember his name or who he is.”

“That’s terrible… Is there any way we can help him?”

“Try triggering his memories. It usually works. The process can be frustrating but there is a high possibility that he can remember everything… Only if patience is put in.”

“He will still undergo therapy right?”

“Definitely. Here at the hospital, we’re doing our best to speed up his recovery but we need the help of his dear ones too. It will quicken his mind to regain back his lost thoughts and memories.”

“Then we’ll do our best to help him too.”

--

“Jongin ah. Do you know who you are?” Luhan asked cautiously to the wary man before him.

“T-The doctor said that I am Kim Jongin. That’s all.” Kai stuttered.

“Do you know how old you are?”

“18, but 19 in Korea… I was born in ’94.”

“Anything else?”

“No.”

Baekhyun and Tiffany gave out a sigh. It had been a few hours since Kai had woken up. The doctor had advised them to keep in small numbers; afraid that the man would not be able to accept such a large group of people which might affect his memory process. The others, being careful to not damage Kai’s brain, had unanimously voted for Baekhyun and Luhan to stay with him. Tiffany was an extra package. They knew how worried she was for Kai.

“Who are you people?” Kai asked, his eyes scanning the others.

“I’m Baekhyun. That’s Luhan. And the girl is Tiffany!” Baekhyun replied cheerily. That’s the least he could do in bringing up the atmosphere, right?

“N-Nice to meet you. A-Are you my… family?”

Silence dawned upon the room. It was true that they hadn’t told Kai’s parents in order to not let them be worried for their son. They had all agreed to not put unnecessary burden on anyone.

“No, Jongin ah. Me and Baekhyun… We’re your members. But we’re like brothers!” Luhan explained gently.

“M-members?”

“Yeah. We’re in an idol group called EXO. There’s a total of 12 members, and you’re one of us.”

“I-Idol group?”

“A group that is trained to dance and sing to please the public.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Y-You love dancing since you were young. So you auditioned for this company called SM and you got in. And they made you into who you are.”

“So… So I’m a singer?”

“More of a dancer.”

“More like a screamer.” Baekhyun laughed.

“Rapper. You’re both a dancer and a rapper.” Tiffany clarified to the confused man.

They watched as Kai tried to take in all the information at once. His eyes flickered in deep thoughts before finally smiling at the trio.

“That would explain greatly why I have this urge to dance.” Kai grinned widely.

“Tell him his stage name.” Tiffany nudged to Baekhyun.

“O-Oh. In EXO, you’re not known as Kim Jongin or Jongin. You’re known as Kai.” Baekhyun explained again.

“K-Kai?”

“Yeah. You even have a cheesy intro. ‘Hello everyone. I’m EXO’s dancing machine, Kai!’”

“If it makes you feel any better, it’s not as bad as Baekhyun’s.” Luhan teased.

“R-Really?”

“Hello Kai. I’m Baekhyun, the one in charge of eye liner in the group.”

“Waaa. It sounded exactly the same.” Tiffany applauded in agreement.

“At least it’s interesting.” Baekhyun argued. “’Hello everyone. I’m EXO-M’s Luhan.’ How boring is that?!”

The man laughed at the jokes and the teasing. Yes, he was slowly warming up to the three of them. Now he could see why he hung out with them in the past. They were such entertaining people.

“W-What about Tiffany?” Kai asked, his gaze averted to the girl.

“Always wondering about the ladies eh.” Baekhyun teased the man who turned a quick pink.

“You should call me noona. After all, I am 5 years older than you.” Tiffany interrupted.

“N-Noona?”

“O-oh. Did you… Did you perhaps forget about Korean honorifics too?”

“N-No! It’s just that… It’s weird knowing that you’re older…”

“We’re older than you too, Jongin ah.” Luhan patted the man’s back.

“Yup, from now on, please call us Baekhyun hyung and Luhan hyung. Or we’ll kill you. Literally.” Baekhyun added jokingly.

“S-So noona. Are you a… an idol too?”

“Yup.” Tiffany nodded her head. “I’m in a group called Girls’ Generation. There are 9 of us.”

The girl stopped talking seeing how Kai started laughing all of a sudden. What is it that was so funny?

“G-Girls’ Generation? That’s cheesy.”

“W-What?! Why?!” Tiffany retorted.

“N-No offence noona. But you’re older aren’t you? So… So why are you still a girl? I mean, shouldn’t your group be called Ladies Generation or something?”

“Or Ahjumma Shidae.” Baekhyun laughed only to get hit on the head.

“I… We debuted when we were still young. Hence, the name.”

“Oh…” Kai trailed on. “S-Seeing how the three of you are singers… C-Can I… I mean it’s okay if you refuse… But it would be really nice… But it’s okay…”

“Kai.” Luhan interrupted quite strictly. “Tell us. What is it?”

“Can I hear you sing? All of you?” He pleaded.

“Guess it’s time for a mini concert!” Baekhyun exclaimed excitedly.

--

“Baby don’t cry, tonight. Eodumi geodhigo namyeon. Baby don’t cry, tonight. Eobseotdeon il-i-dwel goya.”

“Wow. Baekhyun hyung… your voice is… really nice to listen to. It’s different from what I expected.”

“Well, you are talking about me you know. Your most awesome friend.”

“Gai bian jiu neng jie da, gai bian jiu neng dao da, gao su wo, MAMA MAMA.”

“Wow. Luhan hyung… your voice… I can understand why you’re the lead singer. Your voice is really soothing… But wow. Is that Chinese? Your pronunciation is really good!”

“Jongin ah. That’s because I’m a Chinese. But let’s put that story till another time.”

“Soweoneul malhaebwa! Jiruhan naldeuri, neon jigyeopji anni?”

“Noona! As expected! Your voice is the best!”

“She won because she’s a girl?” Baekhyun asked incredulously.

“That’s not very fair then.” Luhan said glumly.

“Noona!” Kai smiled cheekily, ignoring the duo. “But really? Will you grant me my wish?”

“Jongin ah. You’re recovering faster than we thought.” The three sighed at his sarcasm; at the same time.

--

The strong smell of hot coffee surrounded the room, their eyes on a little cup on a table.

“You should… Really get coffee if you want it so badly.” Baekhyun eyed the three others staring at his coffee.

“Seeing how Baekhyun is reluctant to share,” Tiffany nagged at the guy, “I’ll go get some coffee now.”

Baekhyun laughed while Luhan proceeded to stand up from his spot.

“I’ll follow you noona.”

“I want to try coffee too!” Kai called out to the pair.

Almost on cue, the three pair of eyes turned towards his direction.

“But you hate coffee…” Tiffany muttered softly.

“R-Really? I-It can’t be that bad. M-Maybe I should try something new.”

“No, really, she’s right. You despise coffee. Here, try mine.” Baekhyun handed out his cup over to Kai.

The poor man took just a small sip and he wrinkled his face in disgust.

“You’re right. I absolutely hate coffee.”

“Hate is too strong a word.” Luhan laughed, “Try loathe.”

--

“How are you feeling?” Luhan asked almost immediately once they were left alone.

“Not that good actually. He lost his memory thanks to me.” Tiffany uttered sadly.

“He would recover… Now you… You need to recover, noona.”

“W-What?”

“You can’t just keep moping around like this, pretending it’s okay one minute and wanting to commit suicide the next minute. Yes… I’ve read your letters to Kai. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what Luhan? That I wanted to replace my life with his?”

“Tell me that you weren’t okay… You don’t need to face this alone. I’m with you. Baekhyun’s with you. We’re all with you, heck, including Kai. So please noona, be strong. You know you can.”

“I’m trying…”

“Promise me noona. Don’t ever think of something that stupid ever again. Okay?”

Tiffany gave a huge sigh before smiling to the man sadly. “I promise.”

“Good… Let’s go. We should get Kai his hot chocolate.”

“Are you sure you want to introduce that thing to him?!”

“The man loves it. He used to drink it every week without fail……Oh.” Luhan caught on. “We shouldn’t really get him hot chocolate, right?”

“Yes… if we did, well you’re buying. We know what type of a hot chocolate freak he is.”

“Let’s not even mention the existence of hot chocolate.” Luhan nodded his head. “Oh wait, there’s a call from Baekhyun.”

“Hello? … How did he… Why did you… You shouldn’t have done that… Aish. I’ll kill you later.” Luhan hung up and shook his head to Tiffany who was waiting anxiously.

“We’re getting hot chocolate.”