Two days until the case officially enters court and Lay is once again sitting with Kris while Minah counsels him. The look on Minah’s face shows that Kris must be doing well today, it was important for her to be determined with the case swiftly approaching.

Minah had asked for a very risky thing today, she asked for Lay to recount his version of the story so that she and Kris could hear it.

“Well…” Lay started, feeling cautious. “I first met Kris long time ago now, we both entered SM at same time and he helped me fill out my form, seeing as how my Korean wasn’t good back then.  After that we both got job at SM and put in dorm together. Our shifts also together and we see each other 24 hours a day, sleeping in same room, eating together and working together.  After only little time we both confessed and became boyfriend.” Lay started to blush but hoped no one noticed and tried to carry on professionally. “But Soo Man kept telling us we couldn’t be paid for long time and we not given any time off. Every day they asked us to work more and more, and I got very ill. When I very ill Kris tricked me into think that I had been given time off of work and started to do my work too. He was already much overworked and the extra tasks made him just as sick as myself. I saw him get skinny and even secretly apply makeup to hide how ill he was.”

Minah was nodding and taking down notes until this point. “So what about the last day you were both at SM? What happened then?”

“Kris was called to meeting with Soo Man. I didn’t know but in the meeting he was told he would be having plastic surgery. Kris never told me because didn’t want me to worry, and in his distress he said we should run away. I disagreed because too scared to leave and me and Kris argued. In the end he left and I stay at SM. I thought he would come back and I wait and wait but he never did. No one at SM spoke of him, like taboo. It made me scared to ask and I thought maybe he had been hurt or killed by Soo Man. I pray each day that he was still alive out there somewhere but fear kept me from leaving. Since Kris left extra security was in place at SM to stop others from doing same.

“Finally Soo Man arrested and I was set free but I still not know about Kris. Luckily, Joonmyeon let me stay at his and him and Tao helped me a lot. Only after a little while later, I found out about Kris. He was still alive and safe and my heart burst with happiness but also fear because he isn’t himself anymore.” For the first time since speaking he looked at Kris and found Kris looking at him curiously, listening to the story and trying to work out how it fit in with his own.  When Lay looked at him he seemed to suddenly doubt something in his head and he looked shocked and almost horrified.

“I hope somewhere inside, Kris can forgive me. I heard that since he left SM he did things he regret very much, but I don’t care. I can forgive Kris and I still love him very much. I just wish Kris would return.” Lay had continued his story while looking into Kris’s eyes, hoping to see at least a flicker of the old Kris. The Kris he saw looking back at him looked confused, and like he was concentrating very hard on something inside his own head.

“Thank you Lay, it must be hard for you.” She said sympathetically. Lay and Kris were still looking at each other and Lay realised what Kris was trying to do. Kris was trying to work out if this Kris Lay spoke of was himself or someone else.

“Kris…” Lay said, kneeling down on the floor in front of Kris. “Kris, is there any of you left inside?” Lay was speaking in Chinese and Minah didn’t know what they were saying.

“You're mistaken, I’m sorry.” Kris replied genuinely. “But I don’t think I’m the Kris in your story. You’ve gotten mixed up somewhere. ” He answered back in Chinese.

“Don’t you remember me? Remember anything?”

Kris looked uncomfortable and shifty in his seat.

“I try. After coming to these sessions, I try. I don’t remember what I’m looking for. I’m sorry. And even if I was your Kris, how would you be able to sit here and look at me if I had done all of this?”

“Because I have hope. If you’re truly the Kris I thought you were then you’ll come back. Just keep trying for me please. Even if you don’t want to be with me or anything like that. Come back just so that I know you’re actually you. Please?”

Kris shook his head. “I’m not your… you’ve a mistake I…” Every time Kris tried to reply to Lay he felt like he was hurting him and even if he wasn’t the right Kris he decided just to agree to keep this Lay person happy.  “Alright, I’ll try and remember.”

Lay felt he couldn’t handle it anymore and bid Kris and Minah a brief goodbye before swiftly leaving. He didn’t want to break down in front of them, but he could feel it coming. The chains that had kept his emotions tightly locked away while he had been talking with Minah and Kris were giving way and hysteria was rising in his throat.

Not noticing the people around him anymore he went straight towards the men’s toilets.

Joonmyeon was about to greet Lay when Lay walked straight past, completely oblivious that he was even there and Joonmyeon watched puzzled as he bustled away and into the toilets. Frowning, he slowly followed after him.

Upon entering Joonmyeon found Lay bent over the sink, his heart melting and tears washing away down the plughole.

“Oh Lay…” Joonmyeon sighed, coming over and tugging the broken boy to his arms. “Don’t be so silly, everything is okay. There’s still time and things are progressing. Shh… Shh…” Waiting until Lay had stopped crying and had washed his face he took the boy back to his car. The journey was silent and Lay had gotten into the back of the car rather than sit in the front with Joonmyeon. Accepting that Lay probably wanted space he let him do as he pleased, though secret glances in the mirror every now and then allowed Joonmyeon to know how Lay was doing. He was staring, seemingly blankly, through the window, occasional tears flowing unnoticed down his cheeks.

After the meeting Lay had concluded one thing. Kris didn’t love him, and maybe he never had. Never had he heard the word love leave Kris’s mouth and now that Kris had forgotten him entirely maybe it was Lay’s chance to move on and try to forget Kris too. That’s probably what Kris wanted in the first place. He left SM and realised that Lay was a bad person for not listening to his boyfriend in his time of need and from that moment on their relationship was over.

Accepting this version of events, Lay made up his mind. If Kris didn’t want him then he won’t want Kris either, for both their sakes.  And with this decided, Lay went home to Joonmyeon’s.

However the next day Lay was left quite alone. With it being the last day before the case, Joonmyeon was so busy that Lay was left with nobody to talk to. Feeling like there wasn’t enough to distract him he decided to wander about the shops. Slowly ambling with the small stache of money in his pocket he looked half-heartedly in the shop windows for anything that could attract his interest.  While staring almost vacantly into a shop window Lay felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a familiar face.

“Sehun!” Lay said, smiling at the friend he hadn’t seen properly in a while.

“How’s it going chingu?” Sehun said, taking advantage of Lay’s lacking skills in Korean to speak informally to his Hyung.

“Things are… different. I live in the top floor apartment of a building in Seoul and I wear designer clothes now.” Lay chuckled.

Sehun nodded. “Talk about it. It’s weird isn’t it. Do you think it’s Karma or something? Life never went right for me from birth and now I’m living in a quadrillion won estate!”  The worth of the estate was clearly overvalued but Lay found it amusing and nodded along.

“Are you heading somewhere right now? Want to get drink with me?” Lay asked, hoping for some company.

“That sounds great! Tao is working his of right now and he won’t play with me. I’ve been so bored.”

“Tao has important work to do, you shouldn’t have distracting him!” Lay mockingly scolded Sehun who stuck his tongue out but then grabbed Lay by the arm and pulled him faster down the road.

“Yes well, it’s all sorted now that I’ve found somebody else to play with.”

Lay felt like he was going to have his hands full with this Maknae.

Sehun was pulling Lay down the road with one hand while texting with the other and with his attention no longer on where they were walking Sehun narrowly missed walking into people, who looked back and glared at Sehun as they passed. Though all of this went unnoticed by Sehun and Lay repeatedly bowed and apologised to them as he was dragged along. They soon reached a small bubble tea shop and they found a seat inside.

“This table seem a little big for just us two…” Lay pointed out to Sehun.

“Yes but people will be joining us soon.” Sehun said smugly.

“Who?” Lay asked, wondering who on earth Sehun would have invited. Sehun refused to answer and did his usual job of winding up his companion until Lay was spared by the waitress coming over. The two ordered and not long after two more boys walked into the shop and sat down with them.

“Kai! D.O!” Lay said, standing and hugging each boy in turn.

“Long time no see. Wow you seem to be doing well for yourself!” Kai said, pulling back from the hug and admiring Lay’s attire. Feeling guilty, Lay shrugged and tried to make excuses.

“The person I live with is very kind.”

“And very rich too I guess. They’re not creepy are they? Don’t accept any strange sweets from them, they might be grooming you! OW!” D.O silenced Kai with a slap to the arm and forced Kai to take a seat next to Sehun while he took the seat beside Lay.

Kai grinned at his close friend before wrinkling his nose and leaning back to get a better look at Sehun. “Look at your clothes too!” Kai and D.O were wearing clothes donated to them by charities, and as such, their clothes were dated, second hand and badly coordinated.

The drinks arrived and Kai and D.O placed their own orders.  

“Yah get off! Your own drink will be here soon!” Sehun complained as Kai had tried to grab Sehun’s bubble tea.

“I just want a sip!”

“I’ve heard that before…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“YOU DRANK IT ALL!”

“No I didn’t! You’d already drank loads I just had the last little bit!”

Kai and Sehun fought like children and Lay and D.O smiled at them, clearly marking the up the mature side of the table.

“I never spoke to you that much at the company, I’m D.O but you can call me Kyungsoo now that we’re free.” Kyungsoo chuckled.

“I’m Yixing.” The two smiled at each other before Kyungsoo reached out with his leg under the table and gave them both a kick.

“Shut up you two or we’ll be thrown out.”

Kai’s and Kyungsoo’s drinks arrived and harmony was once again restored.

The four of them spent the next hour chatting and catching up in the café before deciding to trawl around the shops. However Kai and Kyungsoo didn’t have money and although Joonmyeon had given Lay his card he felt awkward spending someone else’s money.

“I heard that Suho is working on our case you know.” Kyungsoo said.

Kai’s ears seemed to prick up at this. “No way! Then there’s no way we can lose.”

The name seemed to ring a bell within Lay’s mind but he couldn’t place where he had heard it before.

“Suho?” Lay questioned.

“It means guardian, and Suho has never lost a single case that he’s taken on.” Kyungsoo explained

“I think I’ve heard the name somewhere.” Lay said, trying to remember.

“Well it would be ridiculous if you hadn’t! He’s pretty famous.” Kai said before becoming distracted by a pair of trousers in a shop window. “Wow, if only I could afford these…” However Lay’s attention wasn’t on the tight leather trousers but instead on Suho.

“Suho isn’t his real name though is it?”

“No that’s just a nickname he was given.” Kyungsoo started to explain but Kai interrupted.

“I heard he has a really stupid name, like ramyeon.” Sehun laughed at his friend’s stupidity and Kai looked around.

“What? It’s something like that!” He saw Sehun was still laughing at him. “Well do you know what his name is?”

“Nope. But I would never have guessed it to be ramyeon. Pabo.”

“His name is something Joon.” Kyungsoo said,  trying hard to remember it.

The conversation passed and Kai dragged Kyungsoo over to stare at the leather trousers.

“Aren’t they amazing?” He said, standing behind Kyungsoo with his arms wrapped around him, speaking seductively into Kyungsoo’s ear. Kyungsoo tried wriggling his way free but Kai’s grip was iron.

“Kai~ let me go!” Kyungsoo whined, embarrassed at Kai’s open behaviour.

“On one condition.” Kai said, loosening his grip slightly. Kyungsoo turned to face Kai, still trapped in his arms when Kai leant down to Kyungsoo’s short height and pressed a kiss passionately onto Kyungsoo’s mouth.  When the kiss was over he let Kyungsoo go and walked smugly to Sehun leaving Kyungsoo behind, flustered and turning red.

Lay had watched the whole encounter from a distance and felt a small hollowness inside. It was amazing to spend time with a group of people like a normal 20 year old, but seeing Kai and Kyungsoo flirting filled him with a slight envy.

Meanwhile Kris spent the day in his room at Tao’s. Tao had little time for him of late, being so busy with his work, and he and Sehun never got on well for long periods of time before they fell out again. So Kris had been pondering over what he found out at the latest counselling session.

Lay certainly had seemed familiar to him from the start, and the story he told didn’t seem to be a lie. In fact, certain factors could have slot into the time frame of Kris’s life perfectly and would have actually made sense. He unconsciously rubbed his ring as he thought, a habit he didn’t notice he had. Though the feel of the ring under his fingertips made him think. Hadn’t Lay and himself been wearing identical rings. The more he thought about it the more it seemed like Lay must be telling the truth.

But if Lay told the truth Kris must be more cold hearted and undeserving than he thought. Truth be told he was fed up of living a seemingly pointless life. He was dependent on Tao and couldn’t even remember everything about his past. Now he was being told that he had abandoned a man who came across as innocent, loving and selfless. He just hoped that if Lay had been a part of his life, he wouldn’t end up like his mother had.

At that time, the door downstairs opened and out of boredom and curiosity Kris moved to the top of the stairs and looked as Joonmyeon walked in, escorted by one of the house’s staff.  Kris decided to go downstairs and see how Joonmyeon was.

“Hey Kris.” Joonmyeon says nodding towards Kris. “I’m just picking up a folder that Tao forgot. He probably won’t be home until quite late tongight, lots needs to be done before tomorrow.”

Kris nodded before an idea struck him.

“Actually Joonmyeon there’s something I want to ask.” Kris said.

Joonmyeon’s chest gave a jolt, assuming it would be about Lay.

“If the case goes well, would you help me to track down my mother?” Kris asked, hoping  for the best.

Joonmyeon was taken a back at the sudden request but relaxed and smiled at Kris. “Of course, there should be no problem with that.”

Kris said his thanks and let Joonmyeon find the folder he needed,returning to his room and sitting himself down.  Things should be getting better from now on, but why did he feel trapped? 

So I finally updated again. Thanks for those who have stuck to this story and to the new subs who I hope will remain just as loyal. Inspiration has hit me once again and I've had some spare time. I hope you enjoy and I love to leave your comments so please don't forget to leave your thoughts below. :)

-1990stalker-