"You're sure you packed it?" asked Kyungsoo. 

"No," Jongin said, "duh. I'm not sure." 

That was just great. Jongin lost his memories and his journal was nowhere to be found. Kyungsoo puffed up his cheeks and slowly blew all of that air out, running a hand through his hair. "Then that's it. It's not here." 

"What am I going to do?!" stage-whispered the younger boy. 

The older one sat beside him on the edge of the bed and rubbed his arms soothingly. "It's okay. It's okay," he repeated, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. What were they going to do? "No matter what, we're together and that's something to be thankful for, right?" 

"Kyungsoo..." The amnesiac felt extremely guilty. "I'm sorry." 

Kyungsoo was taken aback by the sudden apology. "Jongin. Jongin, look at me." He waited for the earth-brown orbs to meet his chocolatey ones before continuing. "No. Alright? No. You have nothing to apologize for. If you start apologizing for forgetting, I'm going to start apologizing for remembering. Just don't." 

There was a subtle knock on the door, so quiet that had the room not been peep-free, the boys would not have heard it. When they looked up, Jongdae was standing there awkwardly, his hand hovering over the already open door. 

"Dr. Kim? You're here, too?" asked Jongin for the second time that day. 

"Yes, I am." The doctor glanced at Kyungsoo. "Is there a problem?" 

Jongin got quiet, and Kyungsoo sighed, getting up. "He forgot to bring his journal with him, and now he's forgotten his memory." 

Jongdae nodded. He spared a peek at his patient, who was concentrating so hard, he had bulbs of sweat forming on his forehead and not a single ounce of attention left to spare to wipe them away. "Jongin-ssi, please don't strain yourself," he suggested. Kyungsoo wiped his boyfriend's perspiration with the back of his hand. 

"Jongin, it's okay. You know what? I'll tell you what I remember of it." It was an idea that hadn't crossed his mind before, but a good one nonetheless. 

"You've read my journal?" asked Jongin. He was kind of shocked and felt like his boyfriend had breached a certain level of privacy. 

"Yes. You let me, and I know you can't remember, but you're going to have to trust me." He took a seat again and searched his brain for the things he remembered reading. "Taemin told you he had a crush on a girl in her second year..." he began. 

Jongin relaxed and rested his head on Kyungsoo's, closing his eyes as he listened carefully to the words coming out of the shorter boy's lips. Jongdae quietly slipped out of the room and rejoined Minseok and the Dos. 

"How is he?" asked Mrs. Do, getting up to her feet. It reminded the doctor of a hospital waiting room and he inappropriately chuckled. 

"He's fine. Kyungsoo is handling it," he answered. 

Mr. Do asked from his seat on the couch, "What exactly is Kyungsoo handling? You never told us." 

Jongdae was conflicted. Jongin's case was supposed to be between doctor and patient, but these were almost his own parents, as he put it during many of his visits. 

Thankfully, Minseok saved him. "I think it's best if we ask Jongin himself," he said. 

There was a long bit of silence, where they could hear faint whispers coming from the boys' room. Finally, Minseok broke it. "So, uh, how are you doing?" 

Mrs. Do nodded, saying, "Good, we're doing well. And you? How is your business going in China?" 

"It's... going. Places. I don't know which places, but it's going places," the young man answered. His beloved aunt smiled, and that was the beginning of more unpleasant absence of speech. 

Just then the whispers stopped. The four in the living room waited silently as Jongin came out from the hallway, Kyungsoo close by in suit. 

"I have something to tell you all," said the dance student, albeit weakly. He cleared his throat. 

*** 

"We can stop by Dad's on the way home, and from there, my mom's. After that we can go back. Does that sound good?" asked Chanyeol. 

"Yeah, sure," Baekhyun said, hardly averting his gaze from the stray piece of yarn stuck on the carpet. He sighed. 

Chanyeol flipped his planner closed and scooted over to his side. "What's wrong?" 

"You seem eager to leave..." 

They sat in silence for half a minute. Chanyeol then asked, "Is this about meeting my parents?" 

Baekhyun shook his head, but a smile danced across his lips and Chanyeol took that as a good sign. "What is it, then?" 

The shorter boy took Chanyeol's hand in his and intertwined their fingers. "Nanna's dying," he said solemnly. 

"What?" asked the other in understandable surprise. 

"Every year, every day she's one step closer to death. She's old, I've got to admit that much. I just— I feel like I don't spend enough time with her. I feel like I'm disappointing her by being away for most of the year." 

Under normal circumstances, Chanyeol would have been quick to dismiss his boyfriend's worries, but Baekhyun knew his Nanna better than anyone else. "She wouldn't be disappointed in you for pursuing your studies, would she?" he asked. <