Sulli’s POV

“Visiting hours will end soon so please try to be quick.”

The nurse told Sulli and then left to attend to a patient.

Sulli gently opened the door and peeked in.

She was glad to see that the room let in a lot of sunlight. She walked over to the bed and set a potted plant on the bedside table.

He was sleeping peacefully so Sulli sat down by the bed and whispered.

“Taeminnie oppa. Thank goodness your treatment was successful”

He looked slightly pale but Sulli could tell that he was no longer weak and sick.

She put her warm hand over his cold fingers.

It had been months since she saw Taemin. He had been travelling all over the country to different treatment centers for months. Sulli had taken the train to visit him once in a while, but she hadn't seen him in months because she couldn’t see him when he was in the U.S.

She had missed him so much… the oppa she had grown up with.

“Even if we’re not connected by blood, we’ll always be family so let’s never forget each other, okay?”

Suddenly, Taemin shifted and opened his eyes slowly. He gasped and sat up in surprise.

“Dongsaeng?”

“Taeminnie oppa! I hope I didn’t wake you. I took a cab over as soon as I got the message that you were back in Seoul”

Sulli smiled brightly and squeezed her oppa’s hand.

“What happened to you? I thought you were a boy at first”

“Don’t I look like you? We could be twins!”

Sulli’s smile was so big that Taemin could no longer see her eyes.

Her heart was bursting with happiness that her flower boy oppa was healthy again and back in her life.

“I’m still prettier”

Taemin said as he ruffled Sulli’s hair.

Every day that he was going through treatment, he thought of Sulli’s smile to help him feel brave enough to face intensive treatment. They did not often see each other, but she always sent him letters and self-taken pictures.

Minho was the one who always supported and protected Taemin, but it was Sulli who gave Taemin the most strength.

She understood him more. People saw that they were young and sweet, and they were always smiling no matter what. In reality, they were shy about expressing their true emotions. That’s why only Taemin and Sulli could understand each other’s pain and vulnerability.  

“Sulli, Minho was here earlier. He told me about the two of you… but he still doesn’t know, does he?”

Taemin looked Sulli in the eye.

“No… I haven’t told him. He will surely leave me when he hears the truth, right?”

“I don’t know. He will hate us both, since I have been hiding the truth from him too”

“I feel so selfish and deceitful that I hate myself. All this time, I know that he is not meant for me but I can’t help but want to be by his side!”

Sulli put her face in her hands. Taemin reached over to rub her shoulder as she cried silently.

--

Meanwhile in another part of the hospital …

Minho’s POV

Minho was rubbing his fingers against his temples in frustration. Recently, he had been getting painful headaches because of flashes from the past.

These vague memories used to surface after he first had the operation. However, they eventually faded as Taemin helped him to stop thinking about the past.

Now, he was seeing his psychiatrist again.

“What do you see in these flashbacks? Is it a flashback to the accident?” the doctor said. 

“I have no memory of the accident. I wouldn’t even have known that the accident happened if Taemin hadn't told me it was the reason why I had to be rushed into surgery early. It’s always that little girl in the white dress, but I don’t know why it causes so much pain to think of it. Taemin said she’s only a dongsaeng we played with in the apartment building”

“Is there anything else you know about her?”

“We kissed.”

“And Taemin told you this?”

“That’s what I thought at first. I thought I remembered the kiss only because Taemin told me about it. But recently, I realized…”

“What did you realize?”

“The kiss was the first thing that came to my mind when I woke up from surgery”

The psychiatrist nodded thoughtfully as he scribbled into a notepad.

“This is very rare… Usually, patients who have undergone this surgery remember nothing of the past. However, it seems that your subconscious mind is suffering from trauma”

“Because of the accident?”

“That’s what I expected, but now I believe that it is because of something that happened before the accident. The surgery only affects the region of your brain that deals with memory, but flashes of that girl keep resurfacing. Some event with the girl must have been such a powerful part of you that other parts of the brain have held onto thoughts of her. At the same time, you cannot remember her because your mind is subconsciously blocking it off as a form of mental defense"

“So what are you saying?”

“That girl must have caused you a lot of pain”

--

the past is slowly being pieced together. are you guys impatient to see what happens??!!

sorry there were no sweet moments this chapter. I wanted to advance the plot. 

oh, and fun fact: sulli once siad that she tends not to express herself. 

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love you guys! I swear you all are the best readers any author could ask for.