When Yifan catches a glance of the handsome male with skin so fair that morning before Christmas day, he thinks that the male is the most beautiful angel he has ever seen. 

It happens right after Yifan has spent some time in a place called D’Obyun Bakery and Café, enjoying a tea snack and a green tea latte.  His friends and college classmates, Do Kyungsoo and Byun Baekhyun, run the place.  It used to be that during the semester, in the afternoons mostly when Yifan goes there after classes, they give him complimentary snacks and drinks. 

However, now that Yifan is on college break for the holidays, it is the first time for him to go to the café in the morning.  Unfortunately, he has not been able to see Kyungsoo or Baekhyun, assuming that they are out on Christmas errands.  Reluctant to part with the place’s warm and friendly atmosphere on a December morning, he walks out of the café with a latte in hand.

He is turning around at the door, when a certain male passing by him catches his eye.

He is a few feet away from the door when the male walks into the café. 

Who is he…?

Yifan hurries back inside, despite his intention to leave.

Yifan misses the observation that some of the tables’ occupants have adjusted their behaviors the moment the fair-skinned male has entered the bakery, and have switched their reading materials to match the ones a year ago.

“Wait!”  He says a little too loud for an indoor setting.  He winces a bit when he catches several people staring at him, but the male in front of him stops in his tracks before turning around to face him.

Yifan stands there with his mouth opening and closing, as though trying to form a sentence.  The male watches him suspiciously.

“I…Kris,” he blurts.

The shorter male raises his eyebrows in a gentle manner.  “Excuse me?”

“I mean, Yifan. I’m…Wu…Yifan.  Kris is my English name…though.  But…you can call me Yifan.”  Chuckling, the tall male grins stupidly, with gums showing, before the corners of his lips immediately droop and the smile is lost.  He is suddenly conscious of his behavior when he realizes that people are still staring at the two of them.  He clears his throat before bringing his latte to his lips, taking a sip of the warm liquid.

He then walks up to the male, nodding meekly to some of the customers and offering a small smile on the way.  The shorter male’s subtle backward steps do not escape Yifan’s eyes, as the taller male raises his hands in a peaceful offering.

“I’m friendly, don’t be scared,” Yifan murmurs, before he realizes how stupid that line just sounded.  The male squints at him, not sure whether to trust him or not.  Stopping at a respectable distance from the questioning male, Yifan then chuckles nervously and combs his hair with his free hand in mild embarrassment.  He keeps his eyes somewhere on the male’s face, or rather the small, pink lips.

Yifan fails to notice that most eyes are on him, as the occupants hold their breaths at the impending change of the routine.

Though his heart is thudding against his chest, Yifan finds himself dazed with the male’s soft features.  He realizes now that Joonmyun is about a head shorter than him and the effect of their size difference makes Yifan adore the male even more.

“…Yifan?” Joonmyun tests the name and Yifan shakes out of his thoughts, nodding like a puppy, earning a light smirk from the fair-skinned male.  “My name is Kim Joonmyun.”

To Joonmyun’s surprise, as he bows, Yifan has brought up a hand for a handshake.  Joonmyun recoils mid-bowing to avoid being hit by a large hand, and Yifan seems to be aware of the same thing, retracting his hand before he almost hits Joonmyun in the face.

“Oh crap, I’m so sorry I almost hit you.”  Yifan bows slightly in apology.  “Erm…it’s nice to meet you, Joonmyun.” He then bows again, deeply this time, to make up for their awkward introduction.

“Uhm…same.”

Silence falls upon them once again as both Joonmyun and Yifan stand in their spots, their eyes wandering around the café and often glancing at each other.

“Well—“

“I w—” Yifan starts, but two voices interrupt them, coming from behind Yifan, accompanied with the sound of a door closing.

“Oh crap.”

Recognizing the voices, Yifan whirls around to see Baekhyun and Kyungsoo.  Yifan’s eyes widen in surprise, and so do Baekhyun and Kyungsoo for a brief second when they spot their friend.  He catches how Baekhyun and Kyungsoo change back to their cheerful selves once they look at Joonmyun.  Fortunately, Joonmyun does not catch those fleeting looks of surprise.

“Uh, Joonmyun-hyung! Morning!”

“Baekhyun-ah, Kyungsoo-yah, how were your mornings?”  Joonmyun asks.

Baekhyun shrugs as he moves around them to the cashier counter, appearing to act like he doesn’t acknowledge the tall male.  “Same old, same old.  Yours?"

Kyungsoo sneaks a glance at Yifan, looking a little worried.  He slowly walks around Yifan as though Yifan is like an angry bulldog.

“Mr. Cho’s been patient and kind to bring me up to date with what I’ve been missing out on.  I’m starting to feel that it’s a bit frustrating to deal with, but I’m thankful for you guys helping me out on this.”

Yifan is puzzled as he whips around, staring at Joonmyun as if he had just spoken in riddles. What was he missing out that’s frustrating? What…is going on?

“We’ll always do anything for you, hyung.  Don’t doubt us for a second.”

Yifan frowns at the line, feeling out of place and insulted at the negligence.

“I’m still so glad we have some regulars here…that’s kind of what’s keeping me sane most times.”  He acknowledges some of the customers who are waving at him, smiling back to them.

“Sane??”

Yifan shoots Joonmyun a disbelieving look, not realizing that he has said the word out loud, capturing the attention of some other customers.  

“Guys, what’s going on?”

Baekhyun closes his eyes in resignation, before he slowly opens them and looks over to his tall friend.

“H-hi, Yifan-hyung…”

The taller male stares indignantly as he catches the tones of resignation and a hint of dread in the male’s voice. “Hi…”

Joonmyun seems to be just as shocked and puzzled as Yifan, when he looks at the taller male with an indignant look.

“Y-you…know him??”

“…Yeah, hyung…and Kyungsoo, too.  He’s…a classmate of ours…” Baekhyun murmurs softly, looking like a kicked puppy.  Kyungsoo gives a faint nod.

“Wha, you guys never told him about me??” Yifan scolds.  “Baekhyun, I feel really insulted right now.”

“N-no! it’s just…I…we…uh…” Baekhyun stammers.  “We…don’t see each other often.  Whenever you’re around, Joonmyeon-hyung’s not around the café or the apartment…”

“Apartment??”

“A-ah…he’s our roommate…?” Baekhyun giggles weakly.

“…” Yifan stares at his friend with an expression of disbelief.

“Anyway, uh…” Baekhyun hesitates to say further. “Glad we’re all familiar with each other…”

“Yeah, really glad,” Yifan mutters.

Baekhyun turns pink at Yifan’s slight bite in his tone.  “Uh…did you need to change your order or…do you want us to fix your order?”

“What? N-no, it’s fine… I was just… I…” Yifan stammers as he glances between his three acquaintances.  He sets his eyes on Joonmyun, and the words almost spill from his mouth.

“I’d like Jo-“ Yifan flinches, but he recovers quickly to organize his thoughts, “…Erm…”

“…What?” Joonmyun frowns.

“I…uhm, here.” 

Yifan fishes out his receipt and a pen from the inside of his jacket, as he places his latte on the nearby cashier counter.  He is about to write his number on it when a hand suddenly stops his writing hand before his pen lands on the receipt.

“Hyung, no.”

“Wha-?”  Yifan looks up to see Kyungsoo looking at him, surprised to hear a hint of sadness behind Kyungsoo’s voice.

“What do you mean no?  What did you think I was gonna wr-”

“You were gonna write your number and ask Joonmyun-hyung for a date,” Baekhyun says pointedly.

Yifan’s jaw drops.  “How the…how did you know?”

“You’re kinda obvious…”

“I…I did not s-stammer…please,” Yifan brushes it off.  Both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo raise their eyebrows.  “Alright, fine…I did.”

Baekhyun’s eyes glance over to where Joonmyun is standing, who is still looking confused, and they look straight back at Yifan’s.

“…Can we talk in the back?”

Yifan frowns suddenly, sensing a caution in the winds as he glances around the café and noticing something has changed, but he does not know what.  He looks at Joonmyun and Kyungsoo, the former still looking confused and the latter looking grim.  “Um…sure?”

Baekhyun nods softly, before he asks Kyungsoo and Joonmyun to come with him.  Yifan follows the guys as he makes his way around the counter, glancing back at the customers with an expression of cluelessness.  He notices that most of the customers look a little grim.

What…is going on?

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“You see, Joonmyun-hyung…suffers from anterograde amnesia.”

Yifan is sitting between Baekhyun and Kyungsoo on the couch when he receives the news.  He stares hard at Baekhyun.  He looks at Joonmyun sitting opposite him on a sofa chair, and back.  “F…for real?”  Back again at Joonmyun.

The only confirmation he gets is from Joonmyun who nods.

“U-uh…how…bad is your condition?”

“Really bad.  His mind wipes clean at the end of the day,” Kyungsoo says gently as Yifan whips his head around to look at him.

 “…And you know this how?”

Kyungsoo shoots Yifan a grim look.  “I…was ice-skating with him last year at a local frozen river where some people go to skate…and it was there that he took a bad fall.  Hit his head hard against a low hanging thick branch and then landed on his back on the ice… Two blunt forces to the front and back of his head…” Yifan’s eyebrows shoot up as Yifan stares at his friend with surprise, before he glances at Joonmyun.

“Hyung was out for two months.  When he came to, the last thing he could recall was just that date, December 18 and of course, the days and events before that.  After we told him how long he was out, we thought he would be fine…even though we were told initially that he might suffer from memory loss.  What kind, we didn’t know… but soon enough, we found out.  The next morning, hyung had no memories of what happened the day before; instead, he was thinking it was December 18.  It happened like that every single day from then on, to now.”

Yifan looks to Joonmyun with shock written all over his face.  “S-so…you’re basically living in a time loop…?”

Joonmyun nods, chewing on his lower lip.  “Yeah…and it’s frustrating sometimes.  Like I have these dreams of different realities at night…and I feel like I’ve actually experienced them…but I don’t even recall them in real life.  I even keep a journal to write down what I did,” he pulls out a small journal from his jacket as he talks, opening it and flipping through the pages, “but…every time, as I read through these pages, I don’t really remember them.

“But when I go to Dr. Cho’s care center in the mornings, Dr. Cho keeps me updated on what I have missed out, watching the selected news and assuring me of my supposedly routine.  It’s been like this for…how long has it been?”

“Seven months or so…” Kyungsoo replies.

“Ah…wow…seven…months…” Joonmyun says intermittently, spacing out a little as he closes his journal and places it on his lap.  “That’s a lot of…December 18s.”  He chuckles weakly.

Yifan continues to stare at Joonmyun, trying to let the information sink in.  He feels conflicted because on one hand, at least Joonmyun isn’t suffering from a terminal illness (because that was what Yifan thought was the news he was expecting to hear from Baekhyun), and on the other hand, he really likes Joonmyun so much since he first laid his eyes on him this morning. 

So how will he handle with falling in love for someone who can never remember him in the next day and the many days after that?  Once this day ends, Yifan thinks to himself, I will cease to be a memory in Joonmyun’s mind.  He wants Joonmyun to remember him at least in some way.

“Ahem,” Yifan clears his throat as he glances around at his friends, settling once again on Joonmyun.  He tries to find the words, and to be discreet with his wording.  “I…we-…have you…erm…you know?”

“Has hyung dated anyone ever since the incident?”  Yifan glances towards Kyungsoo.  The doe-eyed male shakes his head.  “He hasn’t.  You heard us; he keeps reliving each day as though it is December 18.  Nothing really changes with him, except what happens around him.  No offense, hyung,” Kyungsoo aims the comment at Joonmyun, “but who would really be able to maintain a relationship with someone like him?  Having to restart every single day…isn’t it painful to bear? Isn’t it even frustrating too?”

“…I suppose…” Yifan looks back at Joonmyun.  “But it’s worth a shot to try and have him remember me. Every day, as long as it takes.”

For the second time that morning, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun raise their eyebrows, this time in utter disbelief.  Joonmyun looks a little flustered under Yifan’s piercing gaze and he shivers a bit at how determined Yifan sounds.

“Wh-…I…you…wait, you want to get to know Joonmyun-hyung?” Baekhyun voices out his confusion.  “Is that what I’m hearing?  Kyungsoo-yah, did you hear what I just hear? Joonmyun-hyung?”

“I…I think so,” Joonmyun says a little nervously.  He dares not to break the eye contact with Yifan, feeling trapped in his gaze.  “Wh-…why?”

“Because I want to.  And I really want to know more about you.  It’s like you’re…” Yifan stops himself, eyes widening as he feels conscious about his rambling.  He clears his throat, feeling the warmth on his cheeks.  “Y-you’re v-…I mean, you’re really…you know…” He gestures to Joonmyun with a shrug.  “Erm…you look…you know, nice.”

Silence falls upon the four men in the room, as three stare at Yifan with gaping mouths.

“…Nice?” Baekhyun questions as if that sounds like the most stupid thing he has ever heard of.

“N-no, I mean…well you’re just…handsome.  Ah…” Yifan brings his hands to his face, groaning in embarrassment.  He lowers them and blurts out what he has been holding back at Joonmyun.  “You just look really handsome and…cute, but you just seem so down-to-earth or something, and I don’t know…I just don’t want to let this chance slip by from my fingers!”

Yifan breathes heavily, his gaze still on Joonmyun.

A hushed awe spreads around the group, though Joonmyun still has not broken the eye contact.

“A-and…it’s only morning.  Please give me the whole day to get to know you, Joonmyun…and I hope that you’ll give me more days to know you more.  I know”— Yifan almost shouts out the word, directing it briefly to Kyungsoo and Baekhyun who are about to remind him —“that Joonmyun may have to restart from scratch tomorrow…but…you know — I mean, no you probably wouldn’t know, but we have Christmas tomorrow — but anyway,” he lets out a sigh, “for now, I’d like to just know you, regardless of Christmas and of tomorrow.  Just give me the chance to know you, Joonmyun, please.”

Yifan cannot believe his ears, and neither do Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, because the Wu Yifan does not plead, he has his dignity to uphold.  But plead he does, and he’s kneeling in front of Joonmyun.

Joonmyun stares back at him with shock and worry.  “A-are you sure?”

“Yes.” Yifan emphasizes the word.

Joonmyun does not move from his seat, watching Yifan with an unreadable expression, as if he was thinking.  Baekhyun and Kyungsoo spare each other a glance before they return their focus on Joonmyun, anticipating for his answer.

“…Okay.”

Yifan lets out a breath he doesn’t know he is holding, and breaks into a smile.

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“So…this is what you did…” Yifan observes Joonmyun’s room, taking in the sight of his room being full of books.  He sees a desk with a piece of paper that looks like a checklist, and a message board hanging on the wall with some papers and lists pinned, “…every day as December 18…”

“Mhm, I’ve always loved to collect books.  Feel free to look around, but please, put them back in the same place if you decide to touch them.”  Yifan nods with a smile, his hands up in a gesture that says I won’t do anything you won’t want me to do.

“What did you do to pass the time…before you lost your memory?  Did you partake in the bakery downstairs?”

“Yeah, Part-time as a waiter in our café downstairs only in the mornings, and then I take care of cleaning and washing dishes in the kitchen in the afternoons and evenings.  But what I really like to do is collect books.  When I came back from the hospital, seeing all these books gave me comfort.”

Meanwhile, Yifan goes over to Joonmyun’s desk and picks up