CHAPTER 15

WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN

Rain started to fall outside and it was now darken.

But she hadn’t come back and was nowhere to find in the house.

Min Ho tried to reach her by the phone but then they found that her cell phone was left on the rooftop room’s floor.

“I’ll go out to find her…” – Min Ho said, running out to the house’s main door. But his arm was kept strongly by his father – in – laws’ hand.

The grip was even tighter when Min Ho turned around and their eyes met.

“What happened, Min Ho? Can you tell me what happened with her recently? Is there anything wrong and you guys are hiding it from me?”

His heart stopped like forever when he saw the fear and desperate in her father’s eyes, these eyes… they were the same as his when he looked at the doctor waiting for his answer, waiting for the doctor to tell him the reason why he wanted the two of them to go to the hospital and have the re-checkup again 2 months ago.

At that time, Min Ho has the same fear and desperation as his father – in – laws, the invisible fear that could eat every of his cell up and prevent the blood in his veils from going, the fear and desperate of that worst thing, the thing that they never wanted to happen again.

The syndrome that once took Sulli’s memory away and made them nearly lost her because of it.

“I’m going out to find Ssul, father… I’ll talk to you later…” – Min Ho said, his deep yet warm voice tried to assure her father that his daughter was alright, and he was going to find her.

Rain kept on pouring.

And Min Ho’s wife was still nowhere to find.

…

He ran down the street with the umbrella in his hand, his heart was pounding so hard that he couldn’t even breathe normally.

“Ssul… Where are you? Please Ssul, where are you?

The fear covered his mind.

“What if, what if … it’s no way that she’s losing her memory again?... Is she losing her memory again?...”

He ran into the park, it was still raining heavily, pouring like all the cloud up there wanted to flood up the ground, and the painful heart of his.

“Baby ah, you told Mommy you would protect her, right? So please hold on to her, please stay with her and protect her, Daddy is looking for you and Mommy, can you please help me find you two? Can you please help me find the place where the two of you are waiting for me to come?” – Min Ho whispered desperately in the rain, his hands shook.

And here came the slow motion film showed up in front of his eyes whenever he passed by the single small corner of the park.

It was the park where they were grown up together.

The place where they came together every afternoon, where Min Ho would give Sulli his school bag and ran to the yard to play football with his friends freely.

The place where Sulli would sit there on a park bench with a strawberry ice cream on her hand, watching him played football.

The place where Min Ho found out his heart skipped a beat lifting up his head and saw her bright smiles whenever he scored the goal, the place where he realized how much he loved those sunshine – like smiles and the winking – like eyes when she smiled.

The place where he took her to everyday and teach her to remember his name, remember him again after her treatment.

The place where he promised her that no matter what happened, he would find the way to keep her memory, the place where she promised him that he would never forget him again.

The place where he kept it as his own heaven post, where he kept those letters written to her but never sent.

“What if she lost her memory again? What if she forgot him again… What if…?”

If it happened, would she be able to gain the memory back? Could she take it back like the last time?

Was he lucky like the last time?

If it happened again, would it be just in a moment like the last time?

If it happened again, would he be lucky enough as the last two times?

Yeah, actually if it happened again, it would be the third time she lost her memory, not the second time.

And Min Ho was afraid that whether he was that lucky as the last time or not, whether he could hide it from her and left her unknowingly about the fact that she was once taken by the syndrome again, 2 years ago.

He was too scared of it… too scared…

He tried to look for her through the raining screen, he ran here and there… calling out her name…

And he nearly gave up on looking in the park, until…

Until…

He saw her huddled herself up in the small corner of the porch proof near a tree, their wising tree, the tree where he buried his post box.

He stood there like a statue, seeing her tremble like a small lonely bird. His heart ached… He knew it, he just knew it… looking at her like this…

It happened, it was back… that syndrome…

Again.

*Flashback*

3 years ago.

“Hey, but the rumor is spreading all over the school, Romeo… This is sort of the hottest issue in our boring college life, Min Ho… The steamy relationship between you and that beautiful noona… Yo, man… And, by the way… Look, I think that noona is hot, isn’t she?” – Jong Hyun smirked at Min Ho, his eyes were following every single step of the pretty girl who was entering the cafeteria’s entrance.

“Yeah, being paired up with her in a dance performance last year as her rapper and this year in a latin dance like that, Min Ho… You’re now the enemy of all the guys in school…” – Onew rolled his eyes, jostling Min Ho’s elbow, his fingers were busily keeping the chicken legs.

“Don’t talk about her like that, dude!” – Min Ho said flatly

“See, Key, I told ya, now that he even officially protect her in front of us…” – Jong Hyun overjoyedly announced, he thought he had just put Min Ho in his trap to admit the smoky relationship between him and that pretty noona.

“Stop that, Dino… We’re just sunbae and hoobae… And, moreover…” – Min Ho offensed but soon being cut by Jong Hyun again.

“Psssss… But if you just keep on wearing that bracelet on your wrist, other people who don’t know about it as the lucky gift from our School Art Club may think it is your couple bracelet with her. Me myself sometimes assume that seeing you wearing it too frequently… Even though I have the same as yours… Are you guys using it as your couple stuff in disguise and for hiding something from us?”

“Yuri noona likes you, Min Ho…” – Key suddenly said after keeping his long silence during the teasing the other two gave him.

“What?” – Min Ho raised his eye brows

“I said, she liked you, Yuri noona liked you… I can tell it, just assuming by the way she looks at you, sooner or later, she will confess to you… These days, you have been hanging out with Tae Yeon noona, Yuri’s best friend so much, she even posted a picture of you two chit  - chatting and doing silly thing together on her blog, I think she had already told you about her bestie’s feeling towards you?” – Key said flatly, he didn’t even bother to looked up at him, his eyes were sticking on the fashion magazine.

“It’s not like that, Ki Bum… Nothing would happen between us…” – Min Ho bit his lips, nervously looking outside the cafeteria windows as if he was searching for someone.

“Are you looking for her?” – Key turned his head to looked at Min Ho’s eyes direction, and then he sighed – “Stop pretending to be her babysitter Min Ho, she’s now grown up, she can be alone by herself, and if you can’t not help yourself staying here without her, why don’t you just rag your outta here and rush out to say the thing you should have told her in the Party 6 months ago? Helpless, you’re helpless, Min Ho…”

“It’s not like that, Ki Bum…”

Key nearly blurted out something, but then his phone suddenly rang.

“Yes, Tae Yeon noona, yes… he’s here with us… You can’t reach him by his phone? Yes, he may leave it at home… Ok, I’ll hand him the phone now…” – Key passed his phone to Min Ho, mouthing “Tae Yeon noona…”

“Yes, noona, I left it at home… I’m going now… Ok, see you… I’m going now, please take care the thing… I’m going now…” – Min Ho threw back the call phone to Key and grabbed his bag without saying anything.

He ran down stairs leaving the 3 guys puzzled…

“Ya, Min Ho!!!!! What happened?????” -  Jjong shouted after him, but he didn’t answer back.

…

She was laying there on Tae Yeon noona’s bed, sleeping soundly… her face was pure like an angel sleeping on those bunch of cloud.

Min Ho came closer and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“After watching your performance last night at the school festival, as our promise, Tiffany and I took her to our dorm, it’s been a long time we haven’t hang out together with her since the day the two of us go the college and rarely get back home… Tiffany said she missed the days when we were together in the Art and designer Class… And she missed Sulli so much, so last night was our pajama night… She was no normal until leaving the school, but then I heard her cried when I woke up at the midnight, and I was so scared that when I woke her up and asked her what happened and you know what, her answer is “Where am I? Why am I being here?”… Goshh, I’m too scared of that, it was over midnight, so Fany and I just comforted her and thanks God, she could remember us… Min Ho, it’s been a long time, I don’t know… but is there any chance that her syndrome is back?”

*End of flashback*

Last time, when Sulli woke up in Tae Yeon’s room, it was a miracle that Sulli could get back her memory and didn’t aware anything about the short losing memory event. Last time, Tae Yeon noona and he decided not to tell her about what had happened.

But this time…

Min Ho came closer and bow down to hug his wife…

Sulli smiled at him weakly then sweep off her tears, she looked up to see his face then buried her head in his chest but then she cried again, asking him…

“Oppa, did you come? I think you won’t come… But oppa, I don’t know why I am here… I don’t know this place… Oppa, why can’t I remember anything…? I’m scared oppa…”

Min Ho tightly embraced her in his arms, he kissed her head ans softly said, though his voice was shaking from the pain…

“It’s ok Ssul, oppa is here, oppa is here… it’s ok if you can’t remember anything… I’m here, so, don’t worry… Oppa is here with you…”

It hurt him so bad… seeing her like this…

He was right, it was now back… That syndrome…

3 years ago, the apple and all the things he and Onew hyung prepared on the party night was all Tae Yeon noona ideas…

“Being our Ssul baby’s man…

You should buy her flowers and hold her hand…
Should give her all your hours  when you has the chance…
Take her to every party cause maybe she is a little bit clumsy but I tell you, she loves dancing…”

And when Min Ho got jealous with Hee Chul being paired up to sing a duet with Sulli, instead of him who was chosen to dance with Yuri noona in her performance, she told him…

“Now your baby is dancing and singing, but she's dancing with another man… Grab your chance, boy… Go get her back…”

She told him maybe Sulli lost his memory for a short time like this just so normal, and he didn’t have to worry…

But this time… What about this time?

Min Ho helped her to stand up… He smiled gently and kissed her lips…

“It’s gonna be alright Ssul… Let’s just go home, everything is fine… Oppa is here… Our baby is a good baby right? Baby, thank you, you took care of Mommy so well…”

Then he got stunned and frozen seeing the thing in between her legs…

Red…

Blood…

The blood… It was running down her legs…

Blood…

She was bleeding…

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Hi there, I miss you and your comments so much, here come Chapter 15...

Sorry for not updating for the whole week.... Hope you like this chapter <3

From Ceroro with love <3