Youngjae stared down at the woman whose arms were wrapped firmly around his waist.  The vibrations of her frame shaking with sobs against him seemed the only thing he could focus on.  It made him nervous.  Extremely weary as he searched through his memory to remember who exactly this woman was.  He wished that Daehyun guy was with him right now.  The moment they arrived at the hospital to evaluate him, Daehyun had been made to wait downstairs with the other men he could not remember either.  At least with Daehyun, Youngjae felt a sense of comfortable security, as if nothing would happen to him as long as Daehyun was around.

The entire way to the hospital Daehyun had kept the tallest member of the group from asking him questions or bothering him.  Daehyun even allowed Youngjae to rest on his shoulder seeming to realize that this whole ordeal was already taking a toll on him as events unfolded.

“Youngjae.” His attention was called back on the woman in his arms now staring up at him with a wide teary smile.  “I can’t believe we have you home again.  If I knew something like this was going to happen to you, I would never have allowed you to join that group.”

He still had no idea what everyone meant by group, but he was positive it had to do with Daehyun and the others.  Youngjae wished he could recollect his time with the other five men, but his mind fogged over whenever he tried to remember a time before living with Soonim.  The doctors were evaluating his condition and the medications he was currently taking now.  He wished they had allowed him to keep the medication for his anxiety it was all he could do now to control the rising panic clawing his nerves to shreds.

Better yet, they could send Daehyun up so he could find his center.  The very thought of Daehyun calmed Youngjae down as he focused on the woman apologizing to him for everything that happened.

Youngjae shifted his eyes from the woman to the two men that were in company with the woman.  Making eye contact with the older man, Youngjae watched his eyes mist, holding in his tears.  Biting his lip nervously, Youngjae focused on the young man who appeared a few years older than his self.  There was nervous excitement in the young man’s eyes towards him.  It was apparent these were close individuals to who he used to be.

“Are you my family?” Youngjae inquired hesitantly.

“Don’t you remember us?” the woman pulled back, studying his face to see if he was teasing her.  Realizing there was no recognition in regards to her in his eyes, the woman cried even harder.  “What has she done to you?  Why don’t you remember me?  Please tell me that it’s not true.  Please tell me that you remember who we are.”

“I’m sorry,” Youngjae shook his head.  “It’s hard for me to remember a lot of things right now.”

“You have to remember us,” the woman wailed, clinging to him desperately.

“Honey, give him some breathing room.” The man finally pulled the woman off Youngjae, awkwardly holding onto her as she sobbed.

“He has to remember us,” she sobbed.  “That woman did something to him now he can’t remember who we are.”

“The doctors are evaluating him as we speak eomma,” the young man murmured softly.  “We should wait to hear what they have to say before we stress ourselves out.”

“I’m sorry,” Youngjae apologized.

“It’s not your fault,” his father stated.  “You had no idea what was going on.”

“Where are the doctors?  I want to know what can be done to fix him,” Youngjae’s mother demanded looking around for the physicians who evaluated Youngjae.  Pulling away from her husband, the woman wandered out into the hallway to ask anyone who walked by about the doctors.  Going outside to get his wife, Youngjae fidgeted listening to the hysterical sobs of the woman who wanted an answer.  Sitting on the hard, starched bed, Youngjae bowed his head down to gaze at his hands.

“I’m truly sorry,” Youngjae whispered.  “I wish I could make things better.  I wish I could remember you.”

“It’s not your fault baby,” his mother sniffled wandering over to him to cup his face into her hands.  “I should have never allowed you to go be a part of that group.  It was the worse decision this family has made in life.  I promise you that we will not allow anything else to happen to you again.”

“What are you going to do?” Youngjae blinked.

“When we find out your diagnosis I promise we will go to the CEO of your company and null your contract.  If they cannot keep you safe from things such as this happening, they need to allow you out of your contract.  I am going to make certain of that,” his mother promised.

“Excuse me.”  A man wearing a lab coat stuck his head into the room glancing around at the family.  “Is this a good time?  I have your lab results back.”

“What does it say?  What did she do to him?” Youngjae’s mother wandered over to where the lab technician was with teary eyes.  The man gave her a sympathetic look, staring over at Youngjae’s father, unsure if he should read what the report stated.  “Please, I need to know why he doesn’t remember us.”

“Several of the drugs that he was taking altered his memory.  It may take him a few weeks before his memory comes back and he can function without them.  Right now, the doctors are looking into the case of what needs to be done,” the lab technician replied.

“Take him off the medications,” the woman demanded.

“It’s not that easy.  His body has grown a dependency for those medications.  If we stop him cold turkey there is no way of telling what will happen to him,” the lab technician said.  “He will need to go through not just rehab but therapy.  He’s lost a substantial amount of weight over the last few months.”

“And his mind, what about his memories?” Youngjae’s father asked holding onto the woman who leaned against him for support.

“As I said it’s going to take him a while to remember things,” the lab tech repeated.  “He’s going to need all of your support in the coming months.”

“We should talk to the company about releasing him from his contract,” Youngjae’s mother said.  “Isn’t his manager downstairs?  We can bring up our problem with him.”

“Shouldn’t I have a say in things?” Youngjae voiced, his parents pausing to turn their attention on him.  “I’m the one that should make the decision about what happens to me correct?”

“You’re confused right now.  We know what’s best, you’ll thank us for this later,” Youngjae’s mom stated.

“If you don’t allow me to make my own decisions, you’re the same as Soonim,” Youngjae protested, the room falling silent at his words.  Not deterred from the taboo issue of Soonim, Youngjae continued on to make his point.  “I have a right to do what I need in order to move on from this experience.  I want to know who I was before everything happened, but I don’t want to regret giving up something prematurely.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” his father questioned.

“I am positive,” Youngjae nodded.  In truth he did not want to be separated from Daehyun who was the only person he felt truly safe with.  Being thrown into a sea of strangers who would argue over what was best for him sent his anxiety levels off the scales.  At least with Daehyun and the others, they seemed to respect his distance.

“What happens if she escapes?  You were kidnapped while out with that group before.  What will stop her from doing it again?” his mother worried.

“Doesn’t the same apply for if I am with you?” Youngjae wondered.  “I think the company you’re talking about will be more on their guard now.  They were unprepared before, but I’m sure they have taken measures against this incident ever happening again.”

“Youngjae.”  His mother’s bottom lip trembled, not knowing what to say that would make him listen to reason.  Giving her a leveled gaze, he watched her resolve beginning to crumple.  It was selfish of him, but he could not be without Daehyun at the moment.

---

“Do you think they know what’s wrong with him yet hyung?” Zelo looked over at Daehyun once again pacing the length of floor.  The federal agents had allowed Youngjae to ride in the van with them, but the moment they arrived at the hospital, they weren’t allowed to have contact with him while the doctors conducted their evaluation.  Since that time, every nerve inside Daehyun coiled with panic thinking of what could possibly be wrong with his friend.  The need to sweep in and save Youngjae needlessly arose and he sincerely wished that idiot friend of his had someone in the room he felt comfortable with.  Learning his family was with Youngjae gave him little solace.  Youngjae had no clue who they were, and would need subtle introductions for the entire reunion to be less awkward.

“I hope so,” Daehyun sighed, giving up his nervous pace to seat himself next to Himchan.

“I’m sure they are working hard to give his parents a proper diagnosis,” Himchan voiced.

“I hope he’s not scared,” Daehyun shook his head.

“He has his parents,” Zelo said.

“If he doesn’t remember us, do you think he’s going to recollect his parents?  We saw him more than they were able to.  He felt some resemblance of safety with us when we were riding in the van.  He didn’t want to split up from us,” Daehyun said.  “Didn’t you notice the way he kept looking back when the federal agents were leading him away?”

“He will be fine.  They will make sure of it,” Yongguk assured.

“Do you think he’s going to leave B.A.P.?” Jongup spoke up the question that known of the members wanted to ask.  After everything that had happened to Youngjae, would he still want to move forward with their dream?

“I want to try to stay.”  Youngjae walked up to the group hesitantly.  Biting his bottom lip in nervous habit, Youngjae made eye contact with Daehyun who offered him a warm smile.  Returning the small gesture, he focused on the other men.  “I know that if something were to happen, I would be safe with you.  I want to try to remember everything I forgot.”

“What about your parents?” Zelo inquired.

“He felt he was safer with you.”  Youngjae’s mother walked up to the group somberly; tears trickling down her cheeks looking up at the young man who gave her a pat on the shoulder.  “Please take care of him.”

“Don’t worry we will,” Daehyun said.  “We’ll walk whatever path with him that he chooses.”  It was Daehyun’s job to do so.  After being unable to do anything for Youngjae for months, this was the least he could do to make up for what happened.

A/N: I am back at writing finally.  I'm not going to bore everyone with all the details of what has been happening, but I am definitely steamboating through a multitude of chapters this weekend so look out for them.  Thank you for all the reader support I have here once again.  You all keep me going with this story.  So I have some surprises coming up that you can look forward to.