chapter XI 역사 [history]

we met for a reason

        He could hear faint whispering from behind that door that his eyes kept boring holes into for the past 15 minutes. Where was he? Why was everything so...white? Is this a hospital? Was he in a hospital? How'd he end up there? What happened? He didn't understand. He didn't understand a single second of what was going on. So many, so so many, unanswered questions; questions Daehyun wasn't sure to ask.

Suddenly, the door opened and it caused him to snap himself out of his thoughts. He looked up and swallowed thickly as he watched a male doctor walk in, followed by a couple other nurses. The doctor had a clipboard in his hand, and he took a second to observe Daehyun before writing something down then turning to face him; his expression cautious.

"Do you know where you are?" The doctor asked. Daehyun took a brief moment to look around before he slowly shook his head. "Do you know what happened?" He shook his head again and there was a pause. "...Do you know who you are?" This time, Daehyun simply stared at the doctor as his eyebrows slowly grew to a point. His lower lip slightly trembled as his eyes watered.

"I..." His voice was so shaky. "I...I-I don't remember a-an-anything. I.." He looked around as he felt a wave of anxiety hit him, and a nurse immediately went over to him to help calm him down. The doctor sighed softly before writing 'severe amnesia' under the 'PATIENT'S SYMPTOMS' column on the papers he had on the clipboard.

"Easy, easy. You're okay." The nurse reassured, rubbing Daehyun's arm. She turned her head to look at the doctor, who then nodded at her. "Your name is Jung Daehyun, okay? Jung Daehyun."

"Jung Daehyun." Daehyun echoed, repeating the name a couple of the times. Though he felt like it was his first time saying it, it also felt like he had said the name a thousand times.

The doctor took a small step forward. "Something...rather horrific happened to you, Daehyun. I'm pretty sure you're not ready to hear all of it; you look very shaken up right now..." He observed. Daehyun looked up at the doctor and lightly sniffled.

"I..m-my family..d-do I--d-did I at least have some family members?" He asked. The doctor shook his head, making Daehyun let out a small disappointed breathe as he looked down. "Friends? Anyone...?"

"...Daehyun, don't worry. All of your questions will be answered in due time. Right now, we need to focus on your injuries and hopefully regaining some of your memories back." The doctor hummed low as he paused for a second to think. "Hang on. I think I have an idea." He took his phone out and began typing on it before approaching Daehyun, showing him the picture he had pulled up on the screen. "How about them? Do you recognize any of these 3 men?" It was a picture of Yongguk, Jongup, and Himchan being escorted into the police station.

Daehyun looked down at the phone and with shaking hands, he took the item as his eyes scanned the photo. "These two...T-They...They seem...familiar." He pointed a finger to Jongup and Himchan. "But this one...him, I...I-I don't know him...But he...H-He feels important..." The doctor shared glances with the nurses before writing some notes down, taking the phone from Daehyun. 

"That's good, Daehyun. These men right here were familiars to you, friends as you may say." He revealed.

"Then why were they being arrested?" Daehyun pushed forward, looking up at the doctor with a confused expression. "Did they do something wrong?"

The doctor paused for a moment, as if trying to scramble the right words to say in response. "Yes and no." He replied. But that only made Daehyun more confused. "In due time, Daehyun. In due time. You need to rest, okay? Try not to think too much; if you try to push your memories, it could end up badly. If you ever have a memory flash, tell us - even if you have it when you're sleeping and it's a dream. Anything and everything is improvement. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes."

"Good." The doctor reached out and put his hand on Daehyun's shoulder, smiling warmly. "You're safe here, Daehyun. There's no need to fret." He comforted. Daehyun blinked a little before nodding slowly, watching the doctor and the nurses leave before sighing. He turned his head and looked out of the window.

"...Then why do I feel so empty?" He asked himself, his fingers unconsciously caressing a scar on the side of his wrist.

---

Yongguk's blank, empty eyes stared holes into the just as blank ceiling above him. It was night time - everyone was back in their cells sleeping, like they should be. Like he should be. But after several restless nights and dreams of Daehyun, he found himself unable to fall asleep. He'd sometimes dream of Daehyun's cries or the look he had on his face when they took him away, and it woud be on repeat for a while like some type of old record player set to haunt him. But other times, he'd dream of Daehyun's smile, his laughter. The way his eyes crinkled up into crescents whenever he would smile, how he would throw his head back and laugh when he would find something truly hilarious, and how much he treasured good food. But on rare occasions, he'd dream of something different; something...bolder. He'd dream of Daehyun's warmth and the addicting feeling of his soft fingertips running up his chest; slowly and carefully but enough to drive him crazy. He'd dream of how his lips would feel like against his and his breathe against his ear as Daehyun would whispers, "wake up" or "I'm here".

Last night's dream was peculiar; Yongguk dream of Daehyun again, but it was a different dream. Instead, Yongguk was walking down a narrow path--which oddly reminded Yongguk of how troubled his life was with so many low branches to cause cuts along his skin; just like those branches causing those cuts on his arms, it'd be just like how much his poor life choices weighed on his shoulders from between betrayal and deaths of loved ones. It was like those branches were purposely trying to harm Yongguk, trying to gain his attention. But, like he did in real life, he'd just simply ignored the branches and keep walking. And in the dream, he finally reached a large meadow. There were a few deer here and there, grazing peacefully. But there was a figure in the middle of the meadow with its back at Yongguk, and Yongguk headed towards the figure without hesitation. The figure had turned around and it was Daehyun - are pure as can be, right in front of him. Daehyun merely smiled at Yongguk and what he said still lingered in Yongguk's head.

"Just give me a little time. I'll be there. I'll be right there. Wait for me, okay? Wait for me, Yongguk."

"Wait for you?" Yongguk thought to himself as he caressed a scar on the side of his wrist, much like Daehyun's. "I've been waiting for you...And I don't think I'll ever stop." He sighed softly and sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed as he watched his fingers caress the scar on his wrist. A small, fond yet sad smile formed on his lips.

"I remember how I got this scar." He murmured softly as he ran his thumb along it. "It's when we first met..."

flash back ( a/n: flashback's will be in bold and not in italics )

"Are you sure this is the hideout?" Yongguk asked, skeptically, as he perked an eyebrow. "This looks....way too easy; it's like they're begging to be found."

"Of course this is their hideout!" Jongup persisted, a frown evident on his expression. "You know them! They don't care about anything, they don't even care about the cops. That's why they're so open about all of this; they say they have no fear.

Himchan scoffed. "Well let's put the fear in them. It's time for a little revenge."

Yongguk side glanced Himchan, who was still a little bandaged up from the previous surprise attack done on him earlier that morning. "Himchan, are you sure you're even physically up for this? You took a good beating." He observed.

"I won't be at peace until I get to kick at least some , okay?" Himchan whined, making them laugh a little.

"Alright, alright. Let's do this." Youngjae chuckled, waving his hand as he approached the door. They all followed as they entered the warehouse, taking a moment to look around for observing purposes before venturing forth.

"Hey. Hey, hey. Shh. Listen." Zelo whispered, holding his hand up. Everyone froze and listened carefully. There were faint voices and yelling at a distance. "...Looks like they've got some company?"

"Bad company. I guess we're in a little bit of a show." Jongup scoffed, loading his pistol. "This will be interesting. Wonder what we'll walk in on."

Yongguk exhaled. "Only one way to find out. Let's go." He commanded and they began to follow the sounds, ducking down once they got to a certain door. They could hear the voices loud and clear.

"Now I warned you, Mister Jung, what would happen if you disobeyed us or strayed from our rules. I did, didn't I?" A voice taunted, and another voice followed - sounding as if it was on the other side of the phone, but on speaker.

"Y-Yes, you did. But please!" The voice begged. Yongguk assumed he was the one known as Mister Jung. "Please! My family--they--t-they didn't do anything wrong! They've got nothing to do with our deal! Please, I beg of you, leave them out of this!"

The same taunting voice tsked in mock disappointment. "What a shame, really. I really liked you. But then you got disobedient and began ignore us." Yongguk glanced at the rest of them before silently opening the door, letting the rest of them pile in before he crept in as well. It was a very large room, thank