“uh.. jong..jjonghyunnie? ya!!!! “

A voice echoed across the apartment, changjo was relieved. “ricky, you’re alright.thank goodness” a small grin spreads across the boy’s as he turned around to welcome the person he had admired so much. But disappointment tainted the young boy’s smile as it turns out the voice came from someone he knew nothing of.

“im sorry… do I know you?”

“ya you rascal! You don’t remember me? Yah im your hyung you bastard!”

“my god you are alive!”

A young handsome boy stood across changjo smiling brightly as he kept calling jonghyun names. Irritated with the ‘friendly’ treatment, changjo dropped the frame and walked away when the young lad spoke of something so terrifying, changjo’s stomach shrunk. It was if his lungs had failed, there was no air.

“you finally came huh. Changhyun waited so long, what a shame”

“He died broken hearted thinking that you were dead or something, tears tainted the boy’s pale cheeks”

“but at least you’re home. He would be happy with just that”

“im sure”

DIED…. Changhyun died.

That word kept replaying on the boy’s mind like a grim poison. Shredding jonghyun’s heart piece by piece, shattering each time he took a breath. He couldn’t even cry. It was just too ridiculous.

“died….? Ricky..”

“NOTHING MADE SENSE! WHO ARE YOU??!! WHY AM I IN THAT PICTURE AND WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS. I SWEAR I TALKED TO CHANGHYUN JUST LAST NIGHT. HOW COULD HE DIE SO FAST?!!!!”

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON.”

“pp..please…I beg u… what is this”

The young boy was startled but gradually his face became calm again. Then the blonde haired boy went to changjo and patted the boy’s back. Asking changjo one last time, whether his face was recognizable, reassuring something when he nodded and brought jonghyun to an apartment situated just above ricky’s.

When they arrived, another pretty boy who was busy cooking had a surprise look on his face as well the moment their eyes met.

“byung.. is this..”

“nae, he is”

They sat down and silence filled the air for a solid 15 minutes. Everything felt like a mess. But the blonde lad was ljoe or byunghun and the pretty boy was chanhee. That was all that changjo knew so far. Then with a deep breath, ljoe finally opened his petite cherry lips,

“I’m guessing you lost your memories, so I’ll keep this simple”

“you were changhyun’s lover 3 years back. Both of you were so happy, nothing could ruin your shining smiles together”

“except your mother’s resentment. But each time both of you handled it well.”

“it was great and all but then you got into an accident”

“it was on your anniversary if im not mistaken, you were on your way home when suddenly a truck ran you over”

Exhaling painfully, it seem like ljoe had a hard time trying to move on with the story. Changjo noticed the trembling grip byung had on chanhee’s hand. But with a slight pat on the back from chanhee, ljoe continued…

“ An accident huh.. a ‘fatal’ one, mentioned by your mother. That you died during the crash and nothing could be done”

“that it was all changhyun’s mistake that you died, she kept putting the blame on ricky”

“you were never found. But that kid was so crazy over you he told me that he would wait. That you didn’t die. That you were alive. That crazy bastard kept saying that he would wait”

Changjo couldn’t believe what the boy was saying. It felt like it was more like a scripted drama rather than reality. This must be some kind of a sick joke or maybe a prank show. Anything just anything that was making sense, his mind begged. But then he remembered a specific phrase, that warm voice he heard inside his dreams.

“I’ll be waiting, jonghyun ya”

“always………..”

Jonghyun was numbed. Not a single thing made sense, until those words echoed through his mind. He understood now, what was it that he had left behind. It was changhyun all along. Everything became quiet, silence had taken over the boy’s soul. Then the darkness came, as he listened to his pulsing heart slowly losing pace….. choi jonghyun’s world had collapsed. So did he.