Hoya waited on the line as his call was transferred to his doctor. It wasn’t a long wait before Doctor Yang picked up. “Doctor, I had a question about a friend of mine.”

“Is it a friend, or is it just a problem with you?”

“Really, it’s a friend,” Hoya chuckled, “He’s suffered some memory loss-“

“And you want to know how to fix it?” Doctor Yang asked. Hoya was silent; Doctor Yang took that as a yes. “Sometimes it’s easy to get memories back. But sometimes it takes a long time and may not even come back at all.”

“But-“

“There’s really not a lot of options, you just have to reintroduce the person to things that would spark their memory. Things they used to love, pictures- take them to their favorite places. Usually very familiar things would do it.”

“Is that all?” Hoya asked.

“It sounds easy, but don’t get your hopes up too much. Like I said, sometimes memories don’t come back at all. And if they start to come back, the person usually gets frustrated, angry, and confused. Do you want me to meet with them?”

“Maybe later. I’ll work on it a bit first.”

“Good luck,” Doctor Yang replied, “Oh, and happy birthday,” he said before hanging up.

Hoya stood in front of the drink shop. It was cold- enough that he could see his shaky breath in front of him. He nuzzled his nose in his large, red scarf and buried his hands deeper in his coat pocket. It was still early; the store hadn’t even opened yet. He wanted to catch Dongwoo before he made it inside.

The streets were quiet; the morning traffic came to a halt as everyone had taken their kids to school, done their errands, and made it to work. He’d never seen the city so bare. He heard someone coming up the sidewalk and turned to see an equally cold Dongwoo heading towards him, his face tucked into his coat’s high collar, and his hands stuffed in his pockets.

His eyes were on the ground, until Hoya called out, “Hyung!” He looked up at him; he was standing right at the door waiting for him.

Dongwoo’s mouth fell open. He grinned, but then his face fell slightly. Why would he be excited to see him? “Hey,” he said quietly, closing the distance between them. “Aren’t you cold?” He asked, noticing the way his cheeks and nose flushed red.

Hoya shook his head, “I haven’t been here long.”

They stood awkwardly for a moment, before Hoya bounced on his feet, remembering the piece of clothing tucked under his arm. He removed his hands from his pockets and grabbed it, folding the dark green fabric over in his hands. “I know this might seem weird to you but,” he paused, glancing at his expectant face, “this was yours a long time ago.” He held out the cardigan to him and Dongwoo took it carefully.

“You’ve kept it all this time?”

Hoya nodded slowly, “I borrowed it, and I’ve wanted to give it back.” He watched him unfold the cardigan and turn it around; his gaze travelled to his face, hoping to see even a bit of recollection in his eyes. There wasn’t any, but he seemed happy enough to have it.

“That’s really… nice,” he said, “it still looks new.”

“It was your favorite back then, you took care of it well.” Of course it was his favorite- Hoya had bought it for him after saving up for a long time. The way he looked at it now was almost the same as then, like a precious gift.

“We really must have been close, for you to hold onto something like this,” Dongwoo said, his expression bleak. “I wish I could remember that far back.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Hoya retorted quickly, waving his hands, “It could come back eventually, just don’t push it.” He shuffled his feet, “Anyway, I just… wanted to drop that off.” He stepped away from the door, “Go in, you look cold.”

“You aren’t coming in?”

“No, I was just dropping by.”

“Well thank you, for this,” he said, raising the cardigan held tightly in his hand.

Dongwoo frowned and unlocked the door, giving him one last glance before going inside. The door closed behind him. Hoya turned his back to the shop and closed his eyes. Of course that wouldn’t work- it was too obscure. He needed something stronger.

The large, expensive apartment Hoya had moved into was a disaster. He’d spent all morning and afternoon raiding every closet and every box in storage looking for things that had to do with the two of them. He didn’t realize there was so much. It seemed like everything he owned reminded him of Dongwoo, but he wasn’t sure they’d mean the same to him. Hoya had kept everything he’d given him, everything he’d ever borrowed, but he also bought things since then with Dongwoo in mind: this jacket was Dongwoo’s style, that tv was what Dongwoo wanted, those decorations were Dongwoo’s favorite color. He didn’t realize how obsessed he was until he really looked around and saw how much his life was still centered around him.

There were a few things piled on his dining room table. There were books he’d borrowed, games and movies they played and watched together, some of Dongwoo’s school things, and clothes. They’d shared clothes more than a large group of teenaged girls combined.

He looked them over, but nothing was quite it. Then he remembered something he’d tucked away a long time ago. Hoya went to his bedroom and kneeled next to his bed. He leaned down and looked underneath; there was a box pushed up against the wall that he reached for, barely getting his fingers on it and pulling it to himself. He opened it and looked at the old pair of black and purple sneakers Dongwoo had bought for him so many birthdays ago.

He never once wore them. He said he never would until they were together again. How strange it was, that he would actually get to wear them for the first time on his birthday. It was like he was receiving the present all over again. Slipping them on, he grinned. He stood and bounced in them; they fit just right. He stepped over to his mirror and looked himself up and down, then laughed. Changing out of his black suit would be a good idea, he thought.

Once he was changed, into a nice pair of jeans and a sweater, with his somewhat new shoes shining on his feet, he grabbed up his coat and scarf and headed out the front door.