Hyunae:

I wake up by a warm hand on my shoulder. Kevin! Is he awake? I jolt up and look at Kevin. He’s still peacefully sleeping.

“Easy, Hyunae, it’s only me” the hand tells me. I look up and look at Chohee’s red eyes. Without hesitating another moment I stand up and we fall each other’s arms. I’m so happy to see her.

“I’m so happy you’re here” I say, almost sobbing.

“I came as fast as I heard” Chohee says. She was visiting family on the other part of Japan. We break away and wipe away our tears.

“Did you go see the rest?” I ask her. She shakes her head.

“They we’re gonna get a complete check up to see if they could be released” she says: “Eli would also return to this room soon. It seems he is alright now.”

I nod. I’m happy everyone is alright. I turn and look at Kevin. Chohee grabs my hand.

“It’s ok, Hyunae, he’ll pull through” she says. I fight my tears and nod.

“I’ll be strong” I say and I fake a smile. Chohee says she goes to get something to drink and offers me something too. I tell her I don’t need anything. Still, she returns with iced thee for me.

“Thanks” I say as she hands me the thee.

After a bit, two nurses come walking in with a wheel chair.

“Eli?” I ask. A head pops out from behind the nurse.

“Hyunae? Chohee? You’re both here? That’s a relief” Eli says before they help him into the bed. The nurses tell us Kevin’s doctor will be with us soon before they excuse themselves. We walk over to Eli.

“Hyunae, you’re a mess, are you alright?” he asks worried. I shake my head.

“Don’t worry about me, just get well soon” I say.

“Silly girl, how can we not worry about you” he says and pats my head. His hand on my head, it feels warm. It feels like when my dad patted my head. After all these years, I finally remember what it felt like, his reassuring hand on my head. Or Kevin. His hand on my head, messing up my hair, teasing me, smiling at me. A tear rolls over my face. Eli quickly pulls back his hand.

“Did I hut you” he asks worried. I shake my head again.

“No, I’m just worried” I say.

“I know, we all are” he says. There’s a small silence. There are noises coming from the hallway. They get louder. People talking. They reach the room.

“Chohee?” one of the voices says. We turn around and look at the doorway. AJ, Dongho, Hoon, Kiseop and Soohyun are standing at the door, coming in one after another.

“Jaeseop” Chohee exclaims and walks towards AJ.

“Jaeseop, are you alri-” she says but gets interrupted by AJ pulling her into a hug.

“I’m so happy to see you” he says. Chohee starts sobbing.

“Have you guys been released?” Eli asks behind me. They nod. Soohyun nears the bedside of Kevin. It takes him a bit because he’s obviously not used to walking on crutches. His leg was badly injured and is completely bandaged. The other members have a lot of cuts and bruises. The car went on its side, on its back and finally fell on its other side.

“How could this have happened” Soohyun says, a tear rolling down his face.

“It’s ok, hyung, it’ll be alright” Kiseop says. After a small silence, Chohee and me go to ask for more chairs. Normally, they wouldn’t allow this many people to stay in the room, but under the circumstances, they allow it.

A little passed  noon, a doctor enters the room, saying they’ll take Kevin away for further checks. I follow him to the room, even though I have to stay outside. Chohee joins me for support.

“I remembered something” I say after a long silence.

“This has happened before. I was still living in the house where my parents lived” I say. Chohee looks at me.

“Wow, you remembered something from your parents?” she asks surprised. I nod.

“I was sick. They had to go somewhere. When they came back, they should have brought some medication. The neighbors would look after me for as long as they were gone. But… they never came back” I say and stop for a bit.

“Their car was hit. It exploded. I guess I had escaped from our neighbors grasp somehow because I was near the car when it exploded” I say.

“I’m so sorry Hyunae” Chohee says.

“I remember I always thought it was my fault. If I hadn’t been sick, they would have left earlier, they would never have been hit” I say.

“That’s not true, Hyunae” she says.

“Now too, they weren’t supposed to be there. I should have insisted on taking the subway. I shouldn’t have let them take me. If I never had met Kevin, he and the other would never have to go through something like this” I say. Chohee puts her hand on my leg.

“You know as well as I do that you’re not the one to blame” she says softly.

“Thanks, Chohee. Thanks for being here” I say. She smiles softly.

“I remember that when I was hospitalized after the explosion, Dongsun would always be next to me”  I say smiling to myself.

“Dongsun? The guy you told me about on the phone last week?” she asks. I nod.

“Yep, he was the one who told me it was ok to cry. That I can be strong and cry at the same time” I say. After a silence that seems like an eternity, a doctor walks out. I jump up and walk towards him.

“You’re Hyunae?” he asks with a serious face. With a knot in my stomach, I nod. His expression softens.

“He won’t react much because of the medication, but you can go see him, he’s up” he tells me. My heart jumps. He takes a step to the side and lets me through. I walk towards Kevin’s side. He looks at me through his half closed eyes. The doctor walks up to the other side of Kevin.

“He’s alright. Al his organs seem to be working perfectly. The oxygen mask should be able to go off in an hour or so” the doctor says. I look relieved into Kevin’s tired eyes.

“But, we believe he has partial amnesia due to the blow on his head. We don’t know for sure, we have to wait and see what he will tell us” the doctor continues.

“Will he remember me? Will he remember the others?” I ask, trying to keep my cool.

“The blow on his head was pretty severe, we won’t know for sure until he tells us. All we can do is wait. I’m sorry, miss” he says. I feel tears well up but I bite my lip so it won’t show. I look at Kevin and fake a smile.

“It’ll be alright” I tell Kevin as I softly take his hand. My breath shakes.

“Don’t worry, everything will be alright”