[September 9th: Seoul National University Hospital 03:15 AM]

 

With sterility and coldness lingering in the air, three brothers lingered quietly in the barren hallway just outside the opaque glass doors, leading to operating room one, covered in the blood of their precious Noona. Junsu, silent as the grave, slumped stoically on a leather-bound metal-framed two-seat sofa with his face buried in his hands so far lost in his own pain that the world could have burned down around him and he would have never noticed. While Yoochun sat on the hard linoleum floor a few feet away, with his back against the wall and his head laying on his knees, he watched as the eldest of their trio slowly walked back and forth across the hallway unable to stand still for even a single minute while President Baek chatted quietly on his phone.

 

With the sound of the crash still ringing in their ears, the sight of their beloved Noona unconscious and bleeding profusely from the head burned into their eyes, the screams and cries of horror from onlookers permeating every fiber of their being, each in their own little world, neither of them paid any attention to the goings-on around them as they waited for any news on Nikki’s condition. What had happened at that intersection was the stuff of nightmares. From the moment they pushed through the crowd and rounded the smoking sedan with its hazard lights on and shattered windshield, in a horrified panic, their world had just stopped. Coming to them in flashes of horror, the accident and what followed shortly thereafter seemed almost hazy yet too real to be true.

 

“I don’t care how you do it,” growled President Beak as he stepped up to Yoochun. “Just do it!”

 

“That bad?” questioned Yoochun with a deep sigh as he looked up at the man and watched him pocket his phone into his inner jacket pocket.

 

“It’s a PR nightmare,” sighed President Beak. “Pictures of you three at the accident scene, taken by the witnesses that were there, are all over the news. Every major terrestrial television station, newspaper, and online news portal are clamoring for information on what happened and jamming the phones lines at the company. Rumors are running rampant about what happened, who Nikki is, what her relationship to you three are, and the bastards are even going so far as to try and ascertain her personal details.”

 

“Jesus,” sighed Yoochun heavily. “What are we going to do?”

 

“I’m trying my best to handle it,” responded President Baek. “We’ve already released a press release about the accident, explaining that Nikki is one of the group’s staffers while trying to keep her personal details confidential, but the press isn’t buying our just a friend and coworker explanation, and neither are the fans. Apparently, the group’s actions at the scene, how upset you all were, the things you said and did, are giving off the impression that Nikki belongs to one of you...a girlfriend, a lover...and the fans are going off the deep end.”

 

“We already have around seventy fans holding a silent protest outside the company main doors, demanding a real explanation,” sighed the President, a frown marring his face.

 

“Noona could ing die and all they care about is which one of us is ing her?” growled Yoochun. Glancing up at Jaejoong as he continued to pace back and forth across the lone hallway and then up at Junsu still silently sitting alone and stewing in his own pain, he couldn’t help but bark. “ them! Who gives a what they think right now.”

 

“Yoochun,” scolded President Beak.

 

“Don’t Yoochun me!” he countered. “You know I’m right.”

 

“I know,” he sighed.  “But if we want to protect JYJ’s image...”

 

“ OUR IMAGE!” exploded Yoochun, swing his arm angrily as if motioning for the President to leave him alone.

 

With a deep resonating sigh, President Baek just ran his hand through his hair in frustration. There was no use talking to Yoochun, or any of his brothers, right now. Emotions were too high. Their fear is far too great to hold a serious conversation.

 

Slowly the sound of approaching footsteps echoed down the deserted hallway. Looking up from Yoochun, President Beak’s eyes widened in surprise as he took in the somber visage of someone he knew very well, someone who’s very appearance made absolutely no sense, quietly walking up to him and sighing deeply.

 

“You,” questioned the President quietly.

 

“How is she?” answered the man.

 

Before the President could answer the man’s question, the sound of Jaejoong’s strained voice broke through the momentary silence.

 

“What are you doing here?” questioned Jaejoong, suddenly narrowing his eyes as the man standing in the hallway with a nearly hateful look.

 

“You three aren’t the only brother’s Nikki has,” came the voice of Haze Media’s Director as he nodded at Jaejoong pointedly.

 

“Brother?” questioned Yoochun as he pulled himself from the floor and dusted off his pant leg.

 

“This is,” explained President Beak, looking first at the Director –noting the cautious look in his eyes before turning to Yoochun. “Well...”

 

“I’m not sure how to explain,” he sighed, looking back at the Director.

 

“Brother...” answered the Director, reaching his hand out to shake Yoochun’s. “Pretty much sums it up. Name’s Choi Jin Sang.”

 

“Nikki never mentioned a brother,” noted Yoochun with a suspicious look as he took in the tall Korean man standing before him.

 

“We’re family like you three are family, to her,” he replied.

 

“Ah, I see,” nodded Yoochun understandingly.

 

“Why are you here?” questioned Jaejoong bluntly –his frustration, suspicion, and near anger evident in every pointed word.

 

Suddenly the sound of the operating room doors opening and more footsteps sounded through the hallway, grabbing everyone’s attention, as an elderly doctor dressed is light blue operating scrubs pulled his white facemask from his face. Clamoring to the doctor’s side, Jaejoong, Yoochun, President Beak, and the Director looked to him for news.

 

“Are you Ms. Lee Nikki’s family?” questioned the Doctor.

 

“Yes,” answered Jaejoong instantly. “How is she?”

 

“At the moment, she’s alive but her diagnosis is undeterminable at this time,” replied the Doctor. “Along with contusions and lacerations received by shattered glass, Ms. Lee has suffered from several hairline fractures to her right collar bone, left tibia, and she has a broken right wrist.”

 

“That doesn’t sound that bad.” breathed out Yoochun softly.

 

“True. All of the bruising, cuts, fractures, and breaks will heal in time, but,” replied the doctor. “Our main concern is her severe head injury. When she was struck by the car, she rolled across the hood and slammed into the windshield face first, causing a stage three temporal lobe concussion. The impact jostled her brain, causing it to slam up against the inner skull. This impact has traumatized the delicate tissues of her brain causing not only Encephalitis –swelling on the brain, but also a mid-grade Hematoma.”

 

“Dear God,” gasped Jaejoong, suddenly barely steady on his feet as he felt the hand of President Beak grab him on his arm.

 

“Is it treatable?” questioned the Director.

 

“We’ve drained the hematoma,” answered the Doctor. “And are treating her secondary injuries.”

 

“However,” prompted President Beak, seemingly knowing that there was more to it than that.

 

“However,” repeated the Doctor. “The encephalitis was severe enough to create a self-induced comatose state.”

 

“She’s in a coma?” interjected Yoochun.

 

“I’m afraid so,” nodded the Doctor.

 

“Is there anything that can be done?” questioned the Director.

 

“We are hopeful,” replied the Doctor.  “With many car accidents such as this, it’s very common for the patient to develop such swelling and fall into a temporary coma. With the proper treatment, and once the swelling comes down, they usually wake up without any lasting effects.”

 

“How long?” wondered Jaejoong softly. “How long before she wakes up?”

 

“It differs from patient to patient,” he answered with a reassuring smile. “Both her pre-op and post-op MRI and CT Scan look very promising. So, barring any complications from her other injuries, she could wake up as soon as tomorrow.”

 

“However,” sighed the Doctor. “I don’t want to get your hopes up too soon. It could take days or weeks for her to regain consciousness and there is a slight chance that she might not wake at all. There is a small amount of uncertainty when it comes to the prognosis of patients diagnosed with severe head trauma. So, the next twenty-four hours will be crucial."

 

"She’ll have to be monitored closely during that time. So, as a precaution, we are moving her to a private room in our ICU wing where she will have constant treatment by our Chief Neurosurgeon, Dr. Noh, and our hospital’s most talented nursing staff.”

 

“When can we see her?” questioned Yoochun.

 

“Once we have Ms. Lee settled in her room a nurse will take you to her,” informed the Doctor.

 

“Now,” added the Doctor. “Which of you gentlemen is Mr. Kim Jaejoong and Mr. Choi Jin Sang?”

 

Jaejoong and the Director raised their hands, instantly concerned by the Doctor’s sudden change in his voice.

 

“I need to speak to you two privately for a moment,” informed the Doctor.

 

Without saying another word, the Doctor motioned for the two men to follow him as he took a step and headed down the hallway. As they rounded the corner near the end, the elderly man turned and stopped short just as they disappeared out of sight from Yoochun, President Baek, and the still silent Junsu.

 

“Is there a problem?” questioned the Director.

 

“No. There’s no problem, per se,” answered the Doctor as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to the Director. “There’s just something I need to you see, as I’m fairly certain you are both unaware of the situation.”

 

Turning the page over, Director Jin Sang read the heading out loud.

 

Official Disclosure Statement of Primary Co-Guardianship.

 

“It seems that, according to Ms. Lee’s immigration paperwork, both of you have been named legal co-guardians of Ms. Lee,” offered the Doctor.

 

“Both of us?” questioned the Director in a somewhat condescending tone. “That’s not right. I should be the only listed guardian.”

 

Jaejoong and the Doctor both shot the Director a questioning glance.

 

“Well, it seems; according to our records; Ms. Lee added Mr. Kim Jaejoong’s name a few months ago as a co-guardian in case of emergencies.” replied the Doctor. “The explanation given to our administrator was something along the lines of, about association.”

 

“Ah,” nodded the Director. “I understand. Since Nikki was working under Mr. Kim, and therefore by his side most of the time, she listed him as her co-guardian just in case.”

 

“Yes. It would seem so,” nodded the Doctor.

 

“Co-guardianship?” questioned Jaejoong. “Does this mean that I’m in charge of making medical decisions on her behalf?”

 

“You both are,” nodded the Doctor.

 

“Will this,” questioned Jaejoong as he motioned to himself, then to the Director, and back. “cause an issue with her care?”

 

“Not at all,” answered the Doctor. “It’s actually quite common for patients who have multiple family members. It only means that any major medical decisions about Ms. Lee’s care will need to be signed off by both of you before they can proceed.”

 

“Which also means,” he continued, turning to Jin Sang. “That you, Sir will need to visit the admittance office to sign the paperwork that Mr. Kim has already filled out before we began treating her –to cover our legal bases.”

 

“I understand,” nodded the Director.

 

Mentioning that he must return to his duties, the Doctor politely said his goodbyes and walked away, leaving Jaejoong and Director alone. The moment the elderly man disappeared out of sight, Jaejoong’s foul and suspicious mood was back in an instant.

 

“What the hell’s going on?” he demanded.

 

“Calm down Jaejoong,” sighed the Director as he folded the piece of paper the doctor had given him and pushed it into his pocket. “There’s no need to be upset.”

 

“Calm down? Are you kidding?” scoffed Jaejoong sarcastically.

 

“How about you explain to me what’s really going on here?” he added. “How the hell do you know Nikki...and why the are you listed as her guardian?”

 

“My company sponsored her immigration visa and because of that, I’m her medical proxy and legal guardian while she’s working in Korea,” he explained. “How I know her...well that’s a long story.”

 

“Just tell me,” grumbled Jaejoong angrily.

 

“Fine,” sighed the Director.

 

“When I was seventeen,” he began as he leaned up against the wall and sighed again. “My parents enrolled my brother and me in a foreign exchange program –what they now call a study abroad program. I was assigned and sent to a very small town in the southern US where the Asian population was less than half a percent while my brother was sent to a school in Los Angeles.”

 

“I was so nervous about being somewhere so foreign, knowing no one, my brother so far away. That I didn’t know what to do. My English was so rudimentary that I rarely spoke. I was unbelievably shy and I felt completely like a fish out of water.”

 

“Looking at all the white people, not seeing anyone that even looked like me, I never thought I was going to fit in. On my first day of school, the principal assigned the Senior Class President –a really friendly guy named Derrick- to show me around. He showed me around the office, the lower classman halls, the cafeteria, auditorium, and gym,"

 

“After that, he took me down the Senior Hall to show me where my classes were and take me to my homeroom class. When we rounded the corner that led to the senior hall, we suddenly heard a commotion coming from an alcove halfway down the hall.  When we rounded the corner of the alcove, we found these three white girls; apparently, three of the richest girls in school, yelling and screaming at this girl they had backed into a corner."

 

"They were calling her nasty names, making fun of her. I didn’t want to get involved. I didn’t want to make my presence known. Choosing to just stay invisible as long as possible but when I caught a glimpse of the girl, I froze.”

 

“She was Asian,” he said bluntly. “The girls were calling her every nasty, racist name they could think of, slinging hateful stereotypes at her, making fun of her hair, her clothes, her eyes, her skin, while the rest of the other students just laughed at her. It made me so mad. I didn’t even know this girl, or where she was from, but I wanted to protect her.”

 

“But,” smiled the Director. “Before I could intercede, this stunningly beautiful white girl with hip-length long chestnut brown hair, plowed through the three bullies and put herself between them and the little Asian girl.”

 

“It was Nikki, wasn’t it?” questioned Jaejoong.

 

“It was,” nodded the Director. “She stood there between the crying Asian girl and the bullies and immediately started berating and taunting the bullies to pick on someone their own size.”

 

“She had a lot of guts and never backed down,” he chuckled. “When one of the bullies threw the first punch...Nikki didn’t hesitate to defend herself. A fight broke out...and by the time a teacher came and broke it up, Nikki had gotten pretty busted up. It was three on one, after all.”

 

“I was worried about them both and unbelievably impressed that a white girl would so brazenly protect someone so completely different from her,” he smiled. “So Darrick and I went over to them to see if they were alright. When I got to the Asian girl’s side, and before I could ask her if she was ok with my broken English...Nikki said something to the girl that I never, in a million years, would have ever thought I would hear in that small rural town in the middle of nowhere USA.”

 

“What did she say?” questioned Jaejoong.

 

“She said: Jin Joo, are you alright?” smiled Director. “In, formal Korean.”

 

“Really?” smiled Jaejoong.

 

“Yeah. Apparently, those bullies had been picking on Jin Joo ever since she had arrived at school the week before...she was a foreign exchange student from Pusan...and Nikki had felt bad for her. Jin Joo had walked into their school already an outcast because she was different, the only Asian student in a school of over a thousand students, and Nikki wanted to make her feel welcome. So she took the time to read a little about Korea and learned a few words in Korean so she would be able to talk to Jin Joo.” answered the Director. “When she found the bullies picking on her that day, something in Nikki just snapped. Her sense of justice kicked in and she wasn’t going to just stand there and let those bullies do that to Jin Joo anymore. So she stepped in.”

 

“The three of us became friends instantly because of that day and for the rest of the school year we were inseparable,” smiled the Director. “She helped us acclimate to American culture, all the while earning the distaste and consternation of her classmates, while we, in turn, taught her more about Korea. She made us feel welcomed and loved, and most of all...she made us feel like we truly fit in and we loved it. When Jin Joo and I had to return to Korea at the end of the school year, we all promised each other that we would always keep in touch and we did. That was twenty years ago...and we’ve been friends ever since.”

 

“Is that friendship the reason why you’re her medical proxy and visa sponsor?” Jaejoong questioned.

 

“Yes. Nikki contacted me a few years ago. After she got her first job offer to work in Korea,” answered the Director. “The job was everything Nikki wanted, the starting position of her dreams, but the offer was from a small entertainment company that was fairly new in operation. They were unable to be an official sponsor for Nikki’s immigration visa so she asked me if I could help her. Haze Media has a satellite company based in Seoul, and a Korean Employer Identification Number, so I didn’t hesitate.”

 

The two men fell into silence as Jaejoong mulled over the story the Director had just told him. While the story seemed very fanciful, almost unbelievable, he could definitely see his Noona doing such a thing –protecting someone she barely knew without hesitation. The thought of his hero Noona made him smile but something about the whole situation made him somewhat suspicious of her too. Nikki had always sworn that she never lied, that she always told the truth, but she had never mentioned her affiliation with Haze Media or her other brother who just happened to be the company’s Director. He suddenly began to feel as if he and his brothers had been made a fool of...that Nikki wasn’t all she said she was.

 

“Is she a spy?” questioned Jaejoong bluntly.

 

“What? Oh, God, No,” replied the Director in surprise.

 

“You didn’t place her by her side, make her a mole in our company, to get information on us that no one else knows?” accused Jaejoong, squaring his shoulders and looking at the Director with suspicion in his eyes.

 

“God, Jaejoong,” scoffed the Director disbelievingly. “Is that what you really think?”

 

“What makes you think I would ever do such a thing?” he questioned incredulously. “Or, more importantly, that Nikki would ever do something so underhanded?”

 

“For Christ’s sake Jaejoong,” sighed the Director. “What the hell has the world done to you to make you think that someone as loving, loyal, and kind as Nikki is, would ever be so evil?”

 

“Are you saying that Nikki knows nothing about our professional relationship, our agreement?” questioned Jaejoong suspiciously.

 

“If Nikki knows anything about our agreement, it’s only that which you have told her,” answered the Director.

 

“Your name has come up between us,” said Jaejoong bluntly. “So why hasn’t she mentioned the fact that she knew who you were?”

 

“Did you ever mention my real name? Or did you simply refer to my title?” questioned the Director. “There are many at Haze Media, that has the title of Director, Jaejoong. The only way she would know that you were talking about me is if you had called me by my legal name –which I’m sure you never did.”

 

“She never said anything about being affiliated with Haze Media, either,” grumbled Jaejoong pointedly.

 

“Of course she didn’t,” nodded the Director. “My company, to keep her sponsorship for immigration into Korea, required her to sign an NDA that barred her from mentioning her affiliation with Haze Media or getting personally involved any anything related to our operations.”

 

“I’m sure you’re well aware of how adamant she is about keeping her word,” smiled the Director proudly. “So it makes sense that she’d never say anything about it.”

 

“You have an answer for everything,” scoffed Jaejoong dejectedly.

 

“Look, Jaejoong,” sighed the Director. “I know this all seems a little too coincidental but, truthfully, it is all just a coincidence. I knew Nikki was still working in Korea, but I was unaware of her affiliation with you or your brothers or the fact that she was working for President Beak. As far as I knew, she was still working with YG Entertainment. And, I’m absolutely positive that she had no idea that I was the Director in charge of our DB5K reunion project. So don’t be suspicious of her.”

 

“I know it’s really hard for you guys to trust anyone and that you take betrayal far harder than most,” added the Director. “But please be reassured that Nikki has never done anything that deserves your caution. I was in her life when her personal life fell apart and she found DBSK.  I know what you guys really mean to her, and I have no doubt that if she had to choose between you five and me, she would choose DBSK over me in a second. ”

 

“Can I really believe you?” questioned Jaejoong. “That Nikki would never betray us, no matter what?”

 

“I’d bet my life on it Jaejoong,” nodded the Director.

 

They fell in silence once more as Jaejoong silently accepted the Director’s reassurances that he need not suspect Nikki of being a betrayer or a liar. He had to admit that the Director’s words had comforted him somewhat, but he still felt that he would eventually have to talk to Nikki about all this soon. Thinking about her once more, he glanced towards the nearby elevators and sighed.

 

“She should be in her room by now. We should go see her,” nodded Jaejoong with a slight smile.

 

“Yeah,” sighed the Director, pulling himself from the wall, as he looked up at Jaejoong.

 

They walked to the elevator quietly. When the doors opened, they stepped in and Jaejoong hit the button for the sixth floor where the ICU wing was located. As they waited for the doors to close, the Director spoke up once more.

 

“Just tell me one more thing Jaejoong,” said the Director quietly. “She never cries...so...Why was Nikki crying?”

 

“Bad memories,” he answered with a deep sigh, closing his eyes just as the doors came to a close before them. “That never stay forgotten for long.”