Nichkhun is about to exit the MBC building when a pretty young woman sends him a smile and a wave.

"Noona," he calls her over, not really caring if this might stir up scandals. She is very adorable after all; petite body, nice smile, charming manners. Definitely deserves the Best Rookie Newscaster award this year.

"I thought that was you. How are you? And how's my baby brother doing?"

"I am fine," but his face says otherwise. "I don't know how Wooyoung is. He says he's fine but..."

Wooyoung's sister nods understandingly. They continue talking about their work for a few minutes before Nichkhun gets a call from his manager. They say their goodbyes a couple of times but still reluctant to actually leave the other.

"Okay, okay," Wooyoung's sister sighs, as if Nichkhun had caught her doing something wrong. She reaches into her bag, searching for something. Her tongue peeks out of the corner of for a second and Nichkhun can't help but be reminded of Wooyoung and how much he misses him even though he's around.

She slips a card into Nichkhun's shirt pocket. "He stayed over at my place weeks ago. He was always out with God knows who for hours and I kept asking but he wouldn't tell me. He was always so sad. I could hear him crying in his sleep sometimes. Then, one day, he gave me this card and told me to keep it safe. Said I can't show it to anyone including himself. He didn't come home for two days but sent a text telling me not to worry. Then, when he came back, he was happy. I mean, it's good that he is but when I teasingly confronted him about it, he was confused, like he doesn't remember being unhappy. I thought he was on drugs or something but that card...I couldn't find out much on the internet because it's apparently a travel agency. But why is this card important then, right?"

Nichkhun's face pales. This isn't just about Wooyoung suddenly leaving him anymore.

Nichkhun is only aware of their proximity when his manager taps him on the shoulder and greets Wooyoung's sister. They had been whispering to each other as if they were in their own world. No wonder the manager only grins at the two and gives him a thumbs up when they're alone in the car.



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After persistently applying for a short vacation to see his family, the company finally approves his one week leave to Thailand. His family welcomes him with open arms, and for a second Nichkhun forgets he no longer belongs to his family when he sold his soul to JYPE. His body is tired but his mind is exhausted. Things have only gone downhill with Wooyoung and inevitably affecting their group dynamics.

Nichkhun had had enough the day he met Wooyoung's sister and confronted him about the card. When Wooyoung only stared at it puzzled before denying ever seeing it, Nichkhun lost it. His legs gave in and he knelt before his love, begging him for answers, for forgiveness; anything to get him back by his side. His sudden confession proved too much for Wooyoung when the latter ran away to Kwon's house. The members began taking sides: everyone except for Chansung was on Nichkhun's side. They've yet to discuss it, but it was clear as crystal that love is involved in this, and no one is allowed to play around with matters of the heart - and that includes Wooyoung.
 

He takes his youngest sister out shopping one fine day. Like any other female, she runs off into the first clothing store she sees and leaves her brother to wander the streets alone. A lot has changed since he last went here. The stores are different and two new buildings have erected. He wonders if the old book store down the road is still there and decides to check it out.

On his way to the shop he passes by a small space with a vaguely familiar name. Curious, Nichkhun turns back and stares at the sign. Sure enough, it had the same name and logo as the card Wooyoung's sister had given him. He sneaks closer and peers inside, jumping back in embarrassment and shock when he finds someone on the inside was staring back at him. The door opens and the lady inside shyly asks for a picture and an autograph. She rushes to get her camera and invites him inside. He nervously steps into the premise and finds himself disappointed when it really was just a travel agency.

The women in the office shamelessly flirt with him, offering him their services and so much more. Nichkhun decides to use this opportunity - though feeling slightly guilty for using them - and slyly asks them about the card. They stare at him for a few seconds before flippantly dismissing the card, saying their Korean branch has nothing to do with them and slipping him their personal cards instead while making sure he's aware of their phone number on it.

He"s just about to leave when another customer walks in and asks to see the manager. The man seems quite depressed and doesn't respond when Nichkhun smiles at him. One of the ladies guided him through the back door. It seemed like an ordinary door at first glance, but he has always been an observant person. He curiously eyes the two as they stood by the door for 10 seconds before actually entering. That's when the idol realized the back door needed some sort of card key to open.

Nichkhun turns his head to catch a glimpse of what's inside. To his surprise, all he could see is a long, dark corridor.

He turns back to the glass entrance. It seems to be made of more than just ordinary tempered glass. And why would a travel agency need this many security cameras?

"I need to speak to the manager too," Nichkhun spoke confidently. He's about to find out what in Buddha's name is going on.

The ladies stood calmly, telling him to make an appointment as they are busy with another client. Nichkhun contemplates coming back tomorrow, but he's too tired of playing guessing games and just wants it to end now.

He stood his ground and read out his rights as a customer to see a manager. The workers seem stressed out and threaten to call the police when a person in a lab coat emerges from the back and tells them to let him in.

"No need to get the press involved, ladies. You know who he is and what he's capable of."

He takes the card from between Nichkhun's fingers and leads him through the back door, down the narrow corridor and into a room. The questions were building up in Nichkhun's head. Who are you? What do you do? What did you do to my Wooyoung? But all went unanswered as the man just calmly smiles and offers him a seat.

The room is styled very differently from the dingy travel agency. Decorated with state-of-the-art computing devices, vacuum insulated walls and dentist like chairs, it resembles more of something that came from a James Bond movie where they make weapons and such; and definitely not vacation packages.

The man that had led him into this hidden space counted his steps away from Nichkhun under his breath and then starts over from zero as he changes direction and heads towards the east wall. Something not different from a flat scanner had been strategically placed on the wall. He inspects Wooyoung's card carefully, reading out the code before pressing it lightly against the pad. A bleeping sound confirms the completion of the scan, confirming Nichkhun suspicion that the card is indeed from this company. A computerized voice read out the system's conclusion.

"Patient 2765, Jang Wooyoung. Korean Branch."

The man in the coat chuckles lightly before speaking. "I'm not familiar with the Korean music scene but I am pretty sure you are Nichkhun, am I right? Should I pronounce your name properly or is the Korean version okay?"

"Anything's fine," Nichkhun answers monotonously. He wanted answers and this man is stalling. "Are you going to tell me what the hell this place really is?"

The man before him gestures to his name tag. Doctor Maurer, it read. His eyes widen in surprise when he recognizes the name. He's heard it before from Chansung when they were discussing a book on dreams and memories. But what is a renowned psychologist doing in the back room of a travel agency?

"Do you have any specifically bad memories that always haunt you, preventing you from moving on with life that you wish would just disappear?"

Nichkhun thought hard about this question. Of course there were a lot of mistakes he had done in his life he wished he could take back. The time he accidentally punched his girlfriend in the face and had a reputation as a woman beater. The time he lied to his mom about being mugged when he had spent all his allowance on a flat screen TV and a pool table. The time he drunkenly hit a person with his car. All the times he caused Wooyoung to cry, hurting him with his words and negligence. He would erase them all if he could.

"Unfortunately I cannot turn back time. But what I can do is manipulate your mind and control what you remember. So even if it happened, you will never be able to spontaneously recall it. Something like repressed memory, only we can replace your memories with fabricated ones."

This is one weird job description, Nichkhun thought. How can one do that? Why would you want to play around with the brain? Why would Wooyoung want to?

The doctor hands him a handful of patches with wires connected to them and orders Nichkhun to place them on his forehead. Nichkhun has a bad feeling about this but despite his gut telling him no, Nichkhun sticks them on and observes as the doctor maniacally types in commands into a computer. Suddenly a screen is lowered from the ceiling and he can see the outline of his brain. It doesn't look like much, but it's the most vital organ in his being, responsible for his thoughts and actions.

"Tell me about this Jang Wooyoung. What is he to you?" the doctor asks without lifting his head from the computer.

Wooyoung, Wooyoung, Wooyoung, he calls out in his mind. Wooyoung is my love, my heart, my destiny. Wooyoung is the reason I get up in the morning. He's the reason I am who I am today. He's my everything.

Before he could even speak, the answer shows up on the screen in the form of dots and squiggly lines. The doctor smiles creepily at him.

"He means quite a lot to you. You see the dots? Those are the parts of your brain that 'light up' when you think of him. This area here, see how the front part of it is filled with these dots? This suggests how much he means to you. Your sense of purpose lit up at the thought of him. Also, these flickering lines? These ones in yellow are dopamine. A rush of it was seen when you thought of him."

The image suddenly changes angles. "This little thing here controls negative feelings. Fear, anger, sadness. This area was lit up for the first few seconds but have now dimmed."

Nichkhun felt a little cheated. He demanded an explanation but is instead provided with a biology lesson.

"This is cool and all, but I don't get how you can erase my memories with this. I can still remember everything."

The doctor laughed at him until tears formed in his eyes. As much as Nichkhun would like to join him, he didn't find any of this humorous at all. The doctor's laughter subsides as wipes away the tears with his coat sleeves. He then presses a few keys on the keyboard and the brain zooms out again. He points his mouse at a small area in the middle of his brain.

"The highlighted area is responsible for holding your long term memories. It's responsible for storing events and experiences, and these are played over and over the cortex. Eventually these memories will be etched there as long term memory. When you recall these memories, the frontal part retrieves them."

"We do not erase memories, Nichkhun. We simply lock them away somewhere in your brain where you cannot recover it. To fill the confusion of sudden memory loss, we replace these memories with a pretty picture painted by yourself."

The doctor taps his chin in wonder. "What is it really that Jang Wooyoung has forgotten?"

Nichkhun feels a wave of sadness and peels of the patches before the doctor can see what he's feeling. "Our...special friendship."

"Ahh...I see. Well, I hate to point out the obvious, but I guess he doesn't want to be in a relationship with you anymore. If he doesn't want to be associated with you, our hands are tied. What are you hoping to achieve by barging in here?"


To get Wooyoung back so I can ask for a second chance.


"Then what about this card? Why did he insist his sister keeps it safe if he has no plans at all to come back?"

Tired of answering complicated questions, the doctor plays him a clip showing him the before, during and after the procedure. The card contains a unique combination of 12 characters - a combination of letters and numbers - and this combination will unlock their memory of the procedure if they recite it. If they wish to unlock their previous memories, they may do so by undergoing an unlocking operation.

The video gave Nichkhun plenty of ideas to ambush Wooyoung and get him 'fixed', but the doctor beat him to it and killed them all.

"You cannot force him to unlock his memories. It's highly unethical and downright wrong to take away someone's rights. If he wants the memories gone, why do you think he would want them back if he's happy? I suggest you let it go, Nichkhun. Start over."

He didn't realize he's crying until the tears start dripping down his chin. How did it come to this? They've been a wonderful sort-of couple; despite the flaws in their imperfect relationship there's no denying they were meant for each other. Wooyoung had ripped his heart out of his chest and forgot all about it when he locked away those precious memories along with the feelings that came with them. Now that the younger has a new (artificial) heart, what's the use of the one he gave to Nichkhun years ago - the one that stopped beating recently?
 

That's it? There really isn't anything he can do?

Wait. There is. If Wooyoung's happy, he should be happy too, right? He deserves to be, too.

"I'd like to erase our memories together, too. If he can't remember then there's no point."

The doctor bites on his thumbnail and thinks deeply for a minute before shaking his head. "You should ask the Korean branch. If you really want to forget, might as well match all your fake memories together with his version, right?"

They spent the next 15 minutes registering Nichkhun into the system. Partly because if he was to talk to the public about this and draw attention to them, at least they carry some of his information as well.

"Just one thing before you go," the doctor stops him at the back door where he entered earlier. "We lock up memories, not erase love. Keep that in mind."

Nichkhun meets up with his sister in time for dinner.