A/N: Sorry this update took so long, I wanted to start revealing the background but I had no clue how too and so I rewrote this with like five times to get it the way I want it. So like yeah this is the big chapter after which everything will make sense. Still having formatting isuues though.

In the room, a tension thick and palpable hung in the air as if taunting any of the people in the room to try and dissolve it into comfort. Myungsoo was at its center, his breathing slightly erratic as blood dripped from his knuckles and broken fingernails. The evidence of the anger that had once consumed him as shattered as the splintered remnants of what were once picture frames and the feather spilled out of the pillows that were torn open with a nail or two embedded in their threads. Dongwoo looked lost, as he perched on his lover’s lap, Howon providing him comfort as he tried to will away his fear. Woohyun was right beside Howon and Dongwoo, his face on Sunggyu’a lap as he fell victim to his guilt, if only you had been here things would be better, the words repeating in his mind not cruel or conniving but in no way a euphemism. 
    “I am going to start reading,” Dongwoo felt the grip on his waist tighten and slowly his voice stopped wavering as he relayed the story. 
~
    Sungjong smiled fondly at Sungyeol as the older woke up, eyes bleary. “You woke up early.” He ran his hand through Sungyeol’s hair, watching the boy struggle to keep his sleepy eyes open despite the comfort surrounding him. Sungyeol, upon noticing that Sungjong wasn’t lying down, proceeded to sit up. 
    “Morning, Jong,” Sungyeol slurred, he allowed Sungjong to take off his shirt shivering slightly as the younger rubbed salve on all of his scars. “Soo?”
    “No we won’t be seeing Myungsoo today, I want to stay with you a little longer. The recording went really well yesterday, though, thank you for that,” Sungjong didn’t really receive too much of a reply, only puppy eyes with slight tears. 
    “Why?” Sungyeol’s voice quivered slightly and Sungjong could remember when he was the one who the older boy came to for comfort, for some reason that thought hurt more than it should.
    “Your mom hurt you bad didn’t she, I still can never understand why you would let her,” Sungjong changed the subject, and even though it may seem obvious to a normal human, to Sungyeol it wasn’t odd at all. 
    “Daeyeol got in trouble because of Sungyeol with mean kids, kids beat him, so Sungyeol mommy hit him, Sungyeol deserved it,” the other answered, meaning everything he said. Sungjong’s fist clenched yet again, and much to his surprise Sungjong was pulled into a warm embrace, his face buried in Sungyeol’s bare chest, his forehead slightly wet due to being pressed against the salve. It was enough to break him and bring fresh tears to his eyes, and soon Sungyeol felt wetness on his chest. 
    “Why don’t you remember? It’s me Sungjong, Jong, Jongie, your friend, your caretaker, the person who was there for you when you were the one hurt, why don’t you remember? Is hypnosis really that powerful that you forgot everything about me? I loved you, I loved you like my brother and Myungsoo, well Myungsoo was my everything how could you forget? HOW?” Sungjong began violently shaking Sungyeol, tears b in his eyes at just how much it hurt. He wanted them to stop, he wanted them to end like they always did but maybe it was because of Sungyeol but soon he found his sleeves wet with a mix of mucus and tears as his throat let out the ugly sounds that sounded completely foreign to him. Yet the comforting press of fingers against the wrist that wasn’t drenched in salty water and mucus never loosened. “We were happy, I was happy,” he whimpered his voice an odd mix between high and squeaky. This was what he had been looking for, this is what he wanted. He wanted someone there who knew, someone there that could take away his pain and that person was never Myungsoo. He had always wanted Sungyeol, he wanted to fawn over the older boy, try to teach the older boy his name no matter how strangled it came out, wanted to hear the older boy call him anything and everything again, he wanted the only person who truly loved him to remember as he struggled to pretend that he was more than a one-sided crush of Kim Myungsoo. No one understood, though, and he went from everything to nothing over the course of a single weekend. Hypnosis really has lasting effects, he thought to himself wryly. 
    “Sungyeol hungry,” the older boy complained as soon as Sungjong’s tears died down to occasional hiccups and as if on command a loud growl echoed in the room originating from Sungyeol’s stomach. 
    “Do you want me to cook for you? What do you want to eat?” Sungjong asked getting up and pretending he wasn’t disgusted by the sleeve that had now stiffened from the amount of dried mucus on it.
    “Shower and change with Jongie first, then Sungyeol wanna make food with Jong,” Sungjong knew that hoping the older remembered was fruitless but knowing that the older felt comfortable around him was enough to make him feel like he had done something right. 
    “Can you shower by yourself? Or do you want me to come with you?” Sungjong watched as the older’s eyes brightened with childish glee at the second question and Sungjong knew his answer even before the older answered. He got up off of the bed and dragged a shirtless Sungyeol into the bathroom behind him. Woohyun and Dongwoo were adorable with hand holds, sweet dates, and stolen glances but their happy end was only meant to be preserved in a certain time. Howon and Sunggyu were confident with steamy kisses behind closed doors, wandering hands, and loving gazes but their forever was lost to memory. Myungsoo and I were hopeless with longing glances, unspoken words, and hidden love not meant to be more nor to be less no matter the circumstances. Sungyeol was the glue of our group the one thing that gave me the sanity that I slowly lost without him, but now, now that Sungyeol is here, let me and him live the past that no one else could. If there is a god, let us live in the world of fantasy, dreams, and innocent love just a little longer, Sungjong silently hoped as he undressed Sungyeol and then himself.