Hana and Taemin both broke out into laughter as they watched the innocent look the man had on his face.

“I’ll go make you guys something to eat, rest up for a bit.” Hana smiled, looking from Taemin to the other man. The two of them were rather muscular, even if they were lean and took up a lot of the couch Hana used to like to curl up in with a good book.

“Hey, do you mind if it’s just microwavable dishes?” Hana asked, peeking out of the kitchen door.

The strange man didn’t seem keen on understanding what Hana was speaking of, so he brushed it off his mind, and refused to believe that they were really talking of ‘small waves’ being dishes.

He assumed it would be the professional name for some random dish… after all, the world probably had changed much in the years he had been gone…

“So, are you a student at Hana’s university too?” The man beside him asked, smiling kindly. Somehow, this man, Taemin he was called, calmed him down, and he tried to imagine what friendship and love had felt like so many years ago… but it was painful and his heart raced at the memories.

“N-no…” He stuttered, unable to think of something to say. How was he to explain anything to these people? These people that he… unknowingly thought was kind. This wasn’t what he was prepared for. He, he was prepared for a cruel, harsh world… the world he had left behind not long ago, but has come back for revenge.

Where had the people that had rooted for his death, rooted the damnation of his family, gone? Why were they replaced by a rash young man that obviously loves a girl that tried to return his button to him? Random as this was, it almost provoked a smiled from him. He felt the familiar feel of his lips smiling, but the effort took much muscle action, and he couldn’t allow himself to trust anybody just yet… well, not ever actually.

“So, what’s your name?” Taemin asked, cocking his head to the side and taking a look at the bruise on the strange man’s face. “And by the way, I’m sorry for earlier… you see; I’m very protective of Hana, because we’ve been together ever since we were little, and I wouldn’t be able to stand it if anything was to happen to her.”

“Well, that is certainly understandable.” The man said, avoiding the question regarding his name. How was he to tell someone of something he didn’t have? “If you two are wed, it is but the best that you protect her.”

“WED?” Taemin shouted, his eyes bulging out the sockets. Cutely, he ran his fingers through his hair, suddenly nervous. “We aren’t married! We’re only 19!!! Besides, we only treat each other as sister and brother.” But he seemed bitter even as he said the words; they were so truthful that he hated saying them.

“Then how can you two be together all the time? And then again, you don’t live together, do you?”

“Yeah… we do…” Taemin muttered, finally realizing that yes, they had been alone together for so long. He only had Hana and she only had him.

“Is that not immoral? Hard to believe that in modern day, youngsters are so… rebellious… so not ashamed of bodily contact and even… even living together before marriage!”

Luckily, nobody had heard this outrageous outbreak from the strange man, for Hana had beckoned for Taemin to carry out the dishes at the exact same time.

“I’ll be right back.” Taemin smiled, standing up and making his leave abrupt. Dang, he was hungry. Sushi had felt like so long ago, and he hadn’t wanted to eat so much, just in case Hana didn’t have enough. Sometimes, it seemed as if she was so light the wind would blow her away.

From the sofa, the man looked around the cramped room, but he felt right at home as this was largely like his old home, but his home had been filled with the laughter of little children, the light footsteps of his lover running up and down the stairs with backpacks and clothes for the children.

This room he was in was not a large room, but it rung with a silent loneliness that made him cringe. This room felt much like him, like a room abandoned by others. On the walls, there were no portraits, no pictures, and the barren feeling made it feel as if Hana and Taemin just moved in, as if they hadn’t exactly gotten to decorating yet. Hard to believe, they had lived here for quite a few years, until Taemin’s mother passed away, when they were old enough to live on their own.

On the opposite wall, a bookcase was crammed between the fridge and a wooden table. Obviously, the kitchen would not be large enough for a fridge. The bookcase was lined with second hand books that were by anonymous authors, for the covers were tattered to the point where even the title seemed to have rubbed off, some had no cover altogether.

“You like reading too, don’t you?” Hana asked, smiling cheerfully as she set the utensils on the round table, and spotted their guest looking at her bookshelf.

“I… was just looking,” He finished awkwardly, looking down at his hands.

“Oh.” Hana says, unable to save them from sinking into an awkward silence.

“So what’s your name? I’m Hana.”

“… I think I should be going. My promise stays, remember that.”

“What’s wrong? Did I say something offending?” Hana asked immediately, running up to where the strange man sat.

“No! No! I…”

“You should stay for dinner! It’s late, besides, do you live far away? Do you need Taemin to accompany you? It could be dangerous around our neighborhood… Oh wait, no, we should all go, so Taemin’s not alone when he comes back… Wait, do you want to spend the night? Well, we’ve got an extra mattress because Taemin bought a new one after he got his new job. Well, the landlady might not like it, but-”

“Do you always blabber when you’re nervous?” He asked, suddenly standing up and looking Hana straight in the face.

“Dinner is served!” Taemin called, looking confusedly at Hana’s reddened face. Had this man been making fun of her? Or… or was he just prone to speaking his mind?

“I can’t answer your question,” The man whispered, “I have no name.”

“No, every person has a name.”

“I do not. I neither am remembered, nor existent.”

“But I will remember you.”

“…”

“You have a name now; you are JaeJoong, and I…I am your friend Hana.”

“I don’t need a name.”

“Yes you do, how else will I contact you when I need to carry out your promise? Just sit down and eat while I ponder what I want.” Hana smiled, having recovered from the earlier incident. This was another thing Hana liked about herself; she forgot things quickly. Right now, however, she was thinking about ‘Jaejoong.’ Hadn’t that been her favourite character from a book she read long ago? Why did the name suddenly come out like that? And what blew her mind the most was… who was this man? Why did he claim he has no name? Did he lose his memory?

Most importantly, there was something that grabbed her attention when she looked into his eyes. Why… why did his eyes seem bottomless, as if she could keep looking and never find anything? He looked so lonely, as if he was cringing in pain as the world just walked and pretended not to see. 

~ 

Sorry for the rather boring chappie, I just really needed to get their meeting through lol :P And this is how I imagined it: somewhat awkward haha 

- ICEDCOFFEE