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“Pick up your phone, damn it!” Sungyeol yelled into his phone. He had been trying to call Myungsoo for the last few hours but he was left with this automated voice message every time, and it was starting to get on his nerves.

 

He had, initially, thought that the couple might have been too tired to call him after the trip. It was on the second day after Myungsoo and Sungjong’s supposed return date, when Sungyeol heard nothing from either one of them, that he started to panic.

 

Sungyeol had called the owner of the cabin, early this morning, to ask her about the whereabouts of the couple and whether one of them could take the call, however, he was shocked to find out that the two had left the cabin the day before. She informed him of the collapse of the younger boy, which Sungyeol assumed she was referring to Sungjong, and that they drove off right after, leaving their belongings in the cabin.

 

He jumped at the sound of his phone buzzing in his hand. “Myungsoo-“. The owner of the voice was, regrettably, not the one Sungyeol was expecting.

 

“Oh, it’s you, Howon.” he sighed, exasperatedly.

 

They agreed to meet up in front of the café that the five them often frequented. Dongwoo, who Sungyeol also requested for help, showed up two minutes after them, avoiding eye contact with Howon. Sungyeol knew the two of them would feel awkward around each other but, at the same time, he did not have enough time to find Myungsoo by himself. He needed all the help he could get.

 

The three friends separated to opposite directions. Sungyeol stuffed his phone in his pocket, knowing Myungsoo wouldn’t answer his calls no matter how many times he tried, and broke into a run.

 

He just hoped that Myungsoo wouldn’t do anything stupid.

 

 

Myungsoo shook the shot glass over his lips, succeeding to catch only one tiny drop of soju on his tongue. He growled and slammed the glass on the table.

 

“Ahjumma! One more bottle of soju!”

 

Myungsoo could hear whispers coming from the table behind him. He whipped his head around and glared hard at the couple, who were giving him disapproving looks for drinking so heavily in the middle of the day.

 

“Mind your own goddamn business!” he lashed out in anger. He rubbed his temple, beginning to feel a headache coming on, and laid the side of his face on the cool surface of the table in hopes of relieving the pain.

 

The middle-aged lady placed a new bottle of soju in front of Myungsoo, eyeing the pitiful man. She knelt beside him and began wiping the empty table next to his.

 

“Rough day, kid?”

 

Myungsoo turned his head to rest his chin on the table. He sighed a long sigh before pouring himself another shot.

 

“It’s over. Everything is over.” 

 

She was not able to hear clearly what he meant exactly by things being “over” as Myungsoo had his head down and started mumbling incoherent words. The only thing she understood was a name that he kept muttering under his breath.

 

She walked over to where he sat. “Things will work out somehow.” And gave him an encouraging pat on the back.

 

Myungsoo, however, was not convinced by her words. He picked up the shot glass and downed it in one go.

 

 

“Myungsoo! Are you in there? Open the door! Myungsoo!” Sungyeol pounded his fists repeatedly on the door.

 

He twisted the doorknob a few times before banging the side of his body against the door to break it down. He stopped when he remembered Myungsoo telling him about a spare key hidden in the area near the door, in case anything happened to him. Sungyeol swiped his fingers along the top edge of the door but there was nothing there. He proceeded to search the potted plants lined against the wall and fortunately for him, the key was buried under a shallow patch of mud in one of the pots.

 

Sungyeol rushed inside the home, appalled to find the house in complete disarray. The tables and chairs were overturned, the bookshelf was knocked over and the books were scattered on the ground, and pieces of broken plates and broken glass were everywhere. Sungyeol, thinking that a burglar might have broken into the house, checked all the rooms, calling Myungsoo’s name, but his friend was nowhere to be found.

 

As Sungyeol looked over the wrecked state of the bedroom, he discovered the bottle of pills in the corner of the room, its contents spilled in the trash bin nearby. It suddenly occurred to Sungyeol that it was not a burglar that did this, but it may be Myungsoo, himself. If that was true, Myungsoo was in no condition to be roaming the streets.

 

. Where can he be?

 

 

Myungsoo swayed left and right as he tried to steady himself on his feet. He could feel the stares from the people around him but he couldn’t make out any of their faces through his blurred vision.

 

His head was still throbbing, whether it was due to the alcohol or his cancer, he wasn’t sure. He crouched in front of a store to catch his breath. The store owner asked him if he needed any help, placing his hand on his shoulder, but Myungsoo just smacked it away and waved him off. He might be ill but he considered himself still capable of going home without a chaperon.

 

With one hand on the glass, Myungsoo slid his body up against the wall and dragged his feet forward, before he was knocked back onto the ground. He looked up to see a group of young boys sneering down at him. He could tell they were delinquents from the way they dressed.

 

“Watch where you’re going, .” One of them taunted while  another spat his gum towards Myungsoo’s face.

 

In normal circumstances, Myungsoo would have walked away, choosing not to associate with this type of youngsters nor put himself in unnecessary danger. But in his drunken state, he lost all rationality when he watched the boys walk off with their arms around each other’s shoulders, laughing, victoriously, at their deed.

 

Breathing hard, Myungsoo tugged on one of the boy’s shoulders, turning him around, and threw a hard punch at him.

 

 

“Have you seen this person?”

 

Dongwoo stopped a young girl, who was on her way to work, to show her a picture of Myungsoo, bowing his head when she shook hers apologetically.

 

He searched for every possible location that Myungsoo could have gone to, including the restaurant where they first met and where Myungsoo and Sungjong announced their relationship, and even the park near the ice-cream store. He was running out of time but he didn’t know where to look anymore.

 

After circling a few more times around the area, Dongwoo ended back in front of the café. He was about to call Sungyeol to inform him of his unsuccessful results when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

 

“Were you able to find him?” Howon, both hands on his knees as he panted, said between breaths.

 

Dongwoo shook his head and suggested looking again. Since they didn’t receive any calls from Sungyeol, it must mean that Myungsoo was still missing. Howon, noticing that Dongwoo was starting towards another direction, caught up to him, grasping onto the cyborg’s arm.

 

“Dongwoo, we need to talk.”

 

The cyborg, although he didn’t want to face it, expected this. After all, their relationship ended without resolving the initial conflict. He still didn’t know anything about Howon’s past. But, did he really want to know?

 

“Let go, Howon.” Dongwoo tried to shake his arm out of the man’s grip but Howon only held on tighter. “Now is not the time for this!”

 

“Then, when is the “right” time? Because all you’ve been doing is avoiding me! What am I supposed to do!”

 

Dongwoo’s eyes softened at his outburst. He knew that no matter how much he wanted to ignore the problem, he had to do something about it somehow.

 

“I’m sorry. I-I just… I should’ve talked to you. You must agree, though, that now is really not the time. Myungsoo’s life could be in danger.”

 

Howon, starting to feel guilty for neglecting their current situation, let go of Dongwoo’s arm and stepped back, his head down. “You’re right. Sorry.” He whispered, and turned to leave.

 

Dongwoo caught hold of Howon’s wrist before he walked too far off. “Wait. Although we can’t talk right now, I’m willing to listen after this.” His silver eyes held honesty. “I promise.”

 

 

Sungyeol paced back and forth in the living room, chewing on his nail, while he thought of what to do. He stared at his phone, contemplating whether he should call the police or not to report a missing person case, but quickly pushed that thought away, deciding to wait a while longer.

 

He knew, however, that the longer he waited, the higher the possibility that he would find Myungsoo in an undesirable condition. He fell back onto the sofa, the phone still in his hand, and finally made up his mind to call for help. Just before Sungyeol pressed the ‘call’ button, he heard the lock of the front door turning.

 

Myungsoo stumbled into his home and was surprised to see Sungyeol standing in the middle of the clutter. He was envelopped into a tight hug, listening to Sungyeol’s muffled voice on his shoulder, asking him what happened and where he wandered off to.

 

“I was so worried! Where did you go?! I thought you would be at home but it’s like a-a-a tornado or something went through it! And-“ Sungyeol stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Myungsoo’s bruised eye and the cut on his lips. “What happened to your face?”

 

Myungsoo tried to avoid the hands that were touching his face but Sungyeol, who understood that Myungsoo was the type of person that would avoid talking about things that made him appear weak in front of others, refused to let him off. He dragged Myungsoo to the couch and made him wait there while he looked for the first-aid kit. After several attempts to beat it out of his bestfriend, Sungyeol, finally, was able to get Myungsoo to talk about the incident that took place earlier, in the afternoon.

 

“So, you got into a fight just like that?” Sungyeol questioned, unable to hide his surprise at Myungsoo’s behaviour which seemed out of his character.

 

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t-...I mean, I-... Forget it.” Myungsoo stood up to leave. With the recent events, he just wanted to sleep and not think about anything. However, Sungyeol caught his wrist before he could escape.

 

“There’s one more thing.” Sungyeol took out the empty bottle of pills, giving it a little shake as he held it in front of Myungsoo. “What’s the meaning of this?”

 

Myungsoo snatched the bottle out of his hands. “It’s none of your business.” he muttered, hoping the tall friend would leave him alone but his words only made Sungyeol flare up in anger.

 

Sungyeol grabbed Myungsoo’s collar and pushed him against the wall. “Are you kidding me? Do you seriously want to die?!”

 

Myungsoo pulled the hands off him and shoved Sungyeol a few steps back. “That’s right! Sungjong isn’t here anymore so what else do I have to live for!” he yelled, furious at his bestfriend for not understanding his pain but more angry at himself for being the chosen one to suffer.

 

 

 

 

Silver eyes  fluttered open, blinking rapidly to adjust to the light above his head. Sungjong looked around and began to recognize his surroundings. He tried to move his arms but he found wires attached to them and other parts of his body.

 

“You’re finally awake, Sungjong.”

 

Sunggyu asked a series of questions to make sure that the cyborg was aware of his identity, then a couple more personal ones, specifically about Myungsoo. Sungjong, surprisingly, retained all the information. Not a single detail was lost.

 

“The reason you’re able to reboot is because I resetted your system to an earlier state, however, this method does not last since the cause of your system breakdown is, as you would’ve guessed, the irregular pattern of your heart.”

 

 

 

 

Myungsoo slammed against the wall from the impact of the punch. Sungyeol gripped onto Myungsoo’s shoulders, forcing him to stay still.

 

“You think you’re the only one that’s hurt? What about me? You think I’m happy seeing you look more and more ill each day?!” Sungyeol shook Myungsoo hard, trying to shake some sense back into him. “Stop being so selfish!”

 

“S-Sungyeol, I-“

 

“Seeing you like this yet not being able to do anything to help you except pretend that everything’s alright. Do you know how much I hate myself for being so useless?!”

 

His body wracked with sobs as he hugged Myungsoo with all his might. Sungyeol had always been afraid, afraid that one day he would find Myungsoo dead just like that, without him having the ability to save him. But he knew that he had to be strong for Myungsoo in order to support him so he kept up his cheerful act. Though after their confrontation, Sungyeol finally reached his breaking point.

 

Myungsoo rubbed Sungyeol’s back comfortingly in an attempt to calm his friend down. He finally realized how self-centered he was, pitying himself, and how blind he was to his bestfriend’s kindness and consideration for him.

 

 

 

 

Sungjong tried to absorb the information that Sunggyu just told him, repeating it over and over in his head.

 

“So, you’re saying that I won’t remember anything about Myungsoo?”

 

Sunggyu nodded his head, facing the window. He couldn’t bring himself to face Sungjong. Not with the bad news he was giving the cyborg.

 

“And my heart? What will happen to it?”

 

“Since I’ll be erasing all your data, this heart will also cease to beat.”

 

Sungjong found it difficult to accept it. He knew that if he took this route, he could be with Myungsoo again even though he won’t remember anything. But then, he remembered that Myungsoo didn’t have much time. It was impossible for them to start over again now.

 

“What will your choice be?”

 

Sunggyu observed the cyborg. Sungjong appeared to be lost in thought for a moment before he suddenly turned towards the old man, certitude in his eyes.

 

“Please let me…

 

 

 

 

“Sungjong’s waiting for you. Go to him.”

 

Sungyeol pushed Myungsoo lightly towards the door, giving him a final hug and watched Myungsoo dash into the night.

 

Myungsoo squeezed himself through the crowd, running as fast as he could. It was wrong of him to give up when Sungjong had been there for him despite the limited time they had together. Despite it being late in the evening, Myungsoo had a strong urge to see Sungjong and sped through the streets of Seoul.

 

At that moment, Myungsoo felt a searing pain flash through his head. His pace slowed down as he clutched onto his head. His vision was starting to get blurry. His breathing quickened. Through his blurred eyesight, he could see droplets of blood drip onto the ground and he dropped to his knees.

 

His chest hit the ground next, no longer able to hold himself up. With his final strength, Myungsoo lifted his head up. His hand shakily reached out in front of him, his fingers grasping the air.

 

“Sungjong…”





--author's note--
Hope you enjoy reading the latest chapter! I love reading your comments and reactions so please leave a comment down below! <3

This chapter is a little longer than the previous ones and a lot of things are happening at once so I hope you won't be too confused...