White.

It was all white, before he could focus his vision. It was blur at first, but it gradually became clearer for him to see his surrounding. Still, the scene was weakly pulsating. As he regained back his consciousness, he realized that he was feeling really weak. A soft, pounding headache was present on the back of his head, alluring him to slip away again.

"Jongin? You are awake, my dear?"

The face of his mother appeared before him. There was a glimpse of happiness on her tear stained face. She sighed in relief as she kissed his forehead, long. His father appeared by the other side of his bed and his hair gently, smiling weakly to him.

"Where... am... I...?"

"You are in the hospital, Son." His father answered. He clicked a button over Jongin's head.

"How... could... I be... here?"

"You fainted, Jongin. Your teacher called me, telling you had a very high temperature and were unconscious. You have been knocked down since yesterday. I was really worried that something might happen to you."

And a single tear rolled down his mother's cheek, followed by the other ones. His father rubbed her arm, trying to console her.

"Why did you not call your mother and I, Jongin? If we had known it, we could have gone back to Seoul and taken care of you. You don't have to be like this."

"I just... don't want... to make you... worried..., Appa, Eomma ...."

His mother had been opening to retort but a doctor entered the room with a nurse. He was smiling calmly and bowed to both Jongin's parents.

"Finally, you woke up, Jongin-ssi. You had quite a menacing fever, didn't you? Let me have a check upon you first."

The doctor made a thorough examination of Jongin. He checked Jongin's vital condition and lastly scanned the termometer he placed on Jongin's mouth before speaking to Jongin's parents.

"Kim-ssi, I could say already that your child is getting better. He is still terribly weak, but he will recover soon. It is mostly a mixture of fatigue and stress that made him like this. Let him rest, a plenty of rest. While having him rest, I hope you both could try to talk positively with him. He needs some talk, heart to heart, emotionally, to let out the burden he is carrying on now. Don't worry, teenager always needs special treatment, but show him that you respect him as an adult. He will definitely be open to you.

"You, young Kim-ssi, I hope you take care of your body more carefully later, alright? Balance everything, school, club, love life, whatever it is you are having. A young, fine man like you should be healthy, not limp. Drink your medicine and you'll recover soon. Remember, take a rest and no stress! I stress you!"

The doctor smiled. Jongin's father smiled back and bowed to him.

"Thank you, Minho-ssi. I will make sure that Jongin and we will have such nice conversation later."

Jongin might feel half dizzy, but he understood what they were talking. He weakly groaned, making dr. Minho laugh heartily. He excused himself with the nurse and left the room.

"Stressed out? What are you thinking of, Jongin, that you could get so stressed like that?" his father asked.

"It must be about his hyung" her mother guessed.

They were half true. He was thinking of him, missing him much, but he was also thinking of someone else with the same focus, if not tremendously more. His mind snapped. It made him remembered what happened before he lost his consciousness.

"Eomma..., Appa..., who... brought me here...?"

"Well, it was Sehun bringing you here. He was with a man, red haired. The man told us that he was a subtitute teacher at your school."

Jongin couldn't contain his relieved sigh. He was not delusional, after all. It was really Do Kyungsoo, the boy he had been fonding of for ten years. He sighed again, feeling extremely relieved with the information.

"What's up with you, Jongin? Why are you sighing like that? Do you feel something? Are you okay?"

Jongin smiled weakly to his parents. He had finally met the one he had been wanting to meet for the rest of his life. He was afraid that it was his imagination fooling him again, but if his parents could see Kyungsoo that meant if he was not delusional.

"I am fine, Appa, Eomma. I just am relieved that I wasn't just imagining things."

(#\/#)   (#\/#)   (#\/#)

Jongin was getting better fast. What Dr. Minho said was true, it was fatigue and quite a stress that knocked him down. He had to stay in the hospital for several days so the doctor could control his condition. Staying in the hospital might not be as comfortable as staying at home, but he got peace and serenity there. His father and mother bought him all delicious food, his favorite ones. He got the time to rest and heal. It was really nice and he started thinking that his collapse might be a blessing in disguise.

However, that serenity didn't last long. A day after he woke up, Sehun came, along with all his buddies from dance club. Yoona was surprisingly also there, together with her sister Soojung. Jongin didn't sigh though. He was happy that they came. It was relieving to know that there were many people who cared about him.

"I thought you died already, Kkamjong!" Sehun smirked.

"You wish, White Snake!" Jongin smirked back.

"How do you feel, Jongin? Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I am. Kamsa hamnida, Sunbae."

Yoona brought Jongin a chicken rice porridge and she insistedon feeding him. Jongin tried so hard to refuse it politely, but Yoona's enthusiasm was incontainable. Along with the envious look of his friends, especially Sehun, he swallowed the admittedly very delicious porridge. He was really embarrassed by that, but he couldn't do anything but eating the food anyway. He was just really thankful that his parents were not there.

Sehun stayed with him after Yoona, Soojung, and the dance club members went home. Jongin could not contain himself any longer. He spurted the question he had been holding on tightly since Yoona and the gang were here.

"How did you bring me here, Sehun?"

"Well, you collapsed, pretty much not shocking since you were like weak bacon at that other day."

"I was sick, curse you!"

"I know! I had to drag your limpy body down the class to the ground! Gosh .... My wasted energy."

If only he had had something, Jongin would have thrown it to Sehun.

"I picked you up to the ground, but you forgot your bag. I took it from the class, putting you down the cherryblossom tree. You collapsed, predictably. Fortunately there was a man standing nearby you that day. He caught you and held you until I came to you. We brought you here and stayed with you until your parents arrived."

Jongin was smiling now. It was really, really Do Kyungsoo after all.

"Why are you smiling like that? If you are trying to look cute, sorry, I don't feel the slightest attraction to you. You're creepy."

"I think I have found him, Sehun."

"Huh?"

"I have found him, the boy I met ten years ago."

"What? Seriously?"

"Yep. He was the man that saved me the day I collapsed."

Sehun's playful nature vanished. He was eyeing Jongin curiously, cautiously.

"So what are you gonna do then?"

"I'll confront him and tell him the truth."

(#\/#)   (#\/#)   (#\/#)

"You finally come to school, Jongin. Nice to see that you get better. You seem thinner than before though."

Jongin smiled. He was in Teacher's Office. It was the first day he returned to school, after three days staying in the hospital and seven days resting at home. Changmin-songsaengnim had called before to talk about something. Now he was examining Jongin like how Dr. Minho was doing.

"Alright, so we just go to the point, okay. You didn't come to school more than a week, Jongin, which basically makes you violate the absenteeism rate allowed by school. However, since you were absent due to sickness, it is still tolerable. Nevertheless, you need to catch up the subjects you missed. I would talk to the other teachers to give you assignment that you have to finish in order to catch up your loss."

Jongin really wanted to groan, but in front of his homeroom teacher, he couldn't help but sighing in retain instead.

"I have also talked to your parents. They , uh ..., told me about your current state. You are required to have more rest to recover yourself. Your condition is critically calm right now, meaning you may appear fine but you are not inside."

That was true. His parents were adamant that he spent his days resting, retaining him from any activities outside the house. He was also brought to a creepy councelling session with his parents. He knew that they were just trying to relieve his tension, but he couldn't help but ending up thinking that the session was like investigation. He had to dodge the bullet though. Kyungsoo's problem was for him to keep, not for parents' consumption.

"Thus, Jongin, I should ask you to quit the dance club."

Jongin's eyes bulged. "What?"

"Sorry. Mistaken. I mean, you need to suspend the club activity for a period of time. It is until your body is deemed okay by the doctor to join the club again. Otherwise, as requested by your parents, you are not allowed to come into whatever you are doing in the club."

"But, Songsaengnim, I am really fine. I could handle everything. I have been resting for days and now I am ready to start running my gear again. We are gonna have a performance in the school festival and I have to practice for that. You can't prohibit me to join the club."

"Apparently I can, Jongin. I am your teacher, I am responsible for you during your stay at school. Plus, the fact that your parents requested me to restrain you from your activities doubles my concern toward your well-being. I don't want something bad to happen to you, Jongin."

"But it is unfair ...."

"It may seem so, but believe me, I am doing this of my concern. There is so much more worthy than the dance, Jongin. Your body, your study, those are what you have to prioritize first."

Jongin was flinching, fist balled, unable to move. He could see his teacher was gazing him with such sympathetic look.

"You have the right to be angry, Jongin, but trust me, what your parents and I are doing now is because we love you and we don't want anything terrible happen to you. It may sound mean, but again, it is because we want  to see you safe.

"I don't really have anything to talk about any longer. You can go, calm yourself. I hope everything will get better soon."

Jongin rose up, rather too quickly, and nodded silently to his teacher. He quickly quit the Teacher's Office, avoiding the gaze of people who saw him in the hallways and heading off straight to the rooftop.

Wild wind welcomed him as he opened the door to the rooftop and stepped his foot to the blinding sun. Here, on the top of the school, he was alone yet. It was really easing, though, for he needed not any companion. However, Jongin was still in rage, he really wanted to kick something.

He knew that what his teacher said was final. His own parents were interfering in this matter. What should he do now?

"!"

He shouted and kicked the wall. The wired wall was bouncy by the effect of the momentum from Jongin's feet. He was burning with tension, he was burning with anger.

"Shouting is a good way to release the tension. Good shout, and kick, anyway."

Jongin quickly turned his body and he almost fainted. Do Kyungsoo was standing before him, smiling like an innocent angel. His red hair was swayed wildly by the wind, looking like a fire blown by wild breeze.

Jongin was unable to breathe. His heart was halted by a blinding image before him. He forgot his rage, he forgot his anger. In fact, he forgot everything.

"Are you okay?"

It was his touch on his shoulder that made Jongin gasp and his body functions to run again. Panting like he had just run a mile, Jongin smiled.

"I..., I am okay."

"Thank God. I thought you were having a panic attack. You were a bit pale and I thought you would collapse again."

Jongin could feel his cheeks burned. His hearbeat started to fasten as well.

This is it! This is the time, Jongin! Tell him now! Tell him now!

Lowering his head down, he spoke with slow voice.

"Thank you, Hyung, for your help. You always help me when I need help."

"It's okay. Humans should help each other, right? I am happy to help you."

He smiled to Jongin, handsomely, swaying Jongin to the sky. Jongin should hold himself together, not to look mental in front of his angel. He was happy, like he was flying to the seventh heaven.

Until his angel's hand protruded to the front.

"My name is Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo. What is your name?"

"I, I am, Jongin."

"Jongin? A very nice name for you. Nice to meet you, Jongin."

Time was like stopped on its own, as something shattered inside Jongin's heart. Then it was followed by a pang of pain.

He doesn't remember me ....

"You ..., don't remember, me ...?"

Kyungsoo smiled confusedly at him. "Sorry?"

Jongin opened his mouth --

DING DONG DING DONG. DING DONG DING DONG

"Ahh, the bell has rung. It is the time for us to go back to class. See you later, Jongin. Nice to see you."

Jongin's eyes trailed the smiling Kyungsoo who turned around and started jogging to the class. Jongin wanted to chase him, but he was unable to move, rooted to the floor beneath his feet. He wanted to call him, scream his name to make him come back, to give him a chance to tell him who he was.

But he had gone.

Sky was lit up by thunder again, lighting the darkened sky.

"It all happens again, doesn't it?"

Jongin took something from his pocket. The badge was gleaming weakly under the dark sky. He was looking at it intently, sad smile formed on his lips.

So, after all these years, all I was waiting for is nothing?

There was a hitch when he squeezed the badge inside his palm. He closed his eyes, as misery pounded his chest mercilessly. He could feel that the rain started to drop on him, wetting him in a quick pace, but he had no willing to save himself from it.

Either he was losing his consciousness again or something had sheltered him that Jongin felt no more cold raindrops hitting his body. It was the second. Sehun was standing before him, holding a red umbrella that shaded both their bodies from the rain.

"You are helpless, you know ...."

"I know ...."

Sehun shook his head before he embraced Jongin in a hug, burrying Jongin's head in his chest. Jongin could smell Sehun's scent. The over-fragrant perfume hurt his eyes, but something hurt himself far more painfully in his heart.

(#\/#)   (#\/#)   (#\/#)   (#\/#)   (#\/#)

July 3, 2014

Alright. Semi hiatus doesn't work. I keep getting the image flashing inside my mind to be written into story. Thank God my creative juice is still flowing. I might not update too often this month. I am fasting and running my business, so I don't really have the time to sit down and write. I am sorry for that. However, I will keep continuing this story. Once the scene is finished, I'll quickly post it.

As usual, waiting for your comment. I might not reply it one by one, but trust me, your comment is always mood-booster for me.

Lastly, have a nice Ramadhan month for all the Moslem. :D

Schandelierre