Luhan knocks on the door of the doctor and his friend, Changmin. He’s an old friend back from when he was still part of the police force, they kept in touch throughout the years of him being a private investigator. He sometimes asks him for medical opinions but this time, it’s different. He’s lucky that the other was the attending physician for Baekhyun.

“Come in.” He hears from inside. Luhan smiles at his old friend and, after a few pleasantries, he tells him what he came for. He needs some confidential details on Baekhyun. Luhan had luck on his side when he learned that Changmin was the doctor assigned to his latest client. It almost seemed as if fate is working in his favor, helping Luhan in his investigation.

“I’m going straight down to business, I need the medical record history of a certain Byun Baekhyun. Do you remember him?” Luhan notices how Changmin’s eyes widen at the mention of the name, and the doctor begins to avoid his gaze. “What’s the problem, Changmin? If it’s permission you want, I was sent by Byun Baekhyun himself.”

“Tell me, Luhan, how important are the hospital records to this case?”

“Very. It would explain a lot of what has happened to him. Also, it’s the first memory he had after waking up, his four years-worth of memories deleted from his mind.” Luhan answers the doctor. He can see the hesitation in his friend’s movements, but he knows the other always does what is right, even if it is against the principles of his job.

Changmin closes his eyes and breathes in, hard and deep. “What do you want to know about him? Most importantly, what do you already know, Luhan?”

“I’ve checked all his available records already, and some of them have been wiped clean. I want to know what happened before he was brought to this hospital.”

The doctor stands up and goes towards the door and Luhan quietly observes as he peeks outside first to check before closing the door and locking it. “I’ve been suspicious of the case of this patient.” Changmin starts once he’s back in his chair. “When he was brought here, unconscious but still fighting for his life, everything seemed rather… Unusual.”

“What do you mean?”

“The parents were very adamant to not include his past hospital records in his records here,” He pauses and with a warning in his eyes stares straight at Luhan. “His parents are powerful, Luhan. Does Byun Baekhyun know what he’s getting himself into?”

“I think he does. And I believe he deserves to know the truth that his parents have been keeping away from him.”

Changmin releases another nervous breath. But the right thing in his conscience, even if against all the rules, is always what the doctor follows. “When his parents were asked if he had had any previous operations prior to this accident, they were very insistent that he hadn’t had any. However, a scar on his stomach proved otherwise.”

“I wanted to know my patient’s medical history to be able to fully assess how to treat him and his wounds. But they were insistent and a few days after the operation, my boss came to me and told me to never mention anything about the scar. To never include it in my report and to never speak of it. Even if it is there. We are to have Baekhyun believe that it resulted from the accident.”

“What scar are you talking about?”

“It’s an incision on his stomach, similar to that of childbirth but, as there are no medical records to confirm this suspicion of mine, I can’t tell you exactly what it is.”

“What kind of an accident was it? Is it possible to get that scar from it?”

“No. It was a vehicular accident, he was ran over by a truck while crossing the road. It could be possible but his stomach wasn’t cut open in the accident.”

Luhan nods in understanding. He had already looked into the records of the police to check about accidents that happened around that time only to come up empty. One thing is sure then, it didn’t happen in Seoul.

“The accident didn’t happen in Seoul, Changmin. Do you know where it happened?”

“If I can remember correctly, it was an alert coming from the Bucheon hospital and it was in the middle of the night. He was just transferred here, he had already gotten the first surgeries he needed before I handled his case. The parents just wanted him to be closer to home, that’s what my boss told me. But it still puzzles me why he was brought here in the middle of the night, by a chopper.”

“Like a secretive transfer of hospitals?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

Having gathered enough information, Luhan was about to say his farewells, when his friend told him of another crucial part of Baekhyun’s past. “His sleep was induced by medicine, it was only after the third year of his sleep that his parents decided to stop it and waited for him to wake up on his own.”

“Although his amnesia was really caused by the accident as he had hit his head on the pavement very hard.”

“I really appreciate your help, Changmin. Do you know someone who could help me with the search in Bucheon?”

Changmin warily takes out a piece of paper and writes a name on it before slipping it across the table towards the private investigator. “His name is Yunho. He works at one of the biggest hospitals in Bucheon, I think he could give you some help  with your search, Luhan. Sadly, I can’t be of any help but keep in mind that the information we have was also very limited and was controlled by my boss who was friends with the Byuns. That’s why I’m warning you to be careful, Luhan. These are dangerous people you are dealing with.”

“Thanks, Changmin. I’ll keep that in mind.” Luhan grins and his friend just rolls his eyes at him in return. “Thank you for not changing and always wanting the truth to win.”

“I remember him, Luhan. I remember the sad look in his eyes, and if you tell me that he’s the one looking for answers now, then I believe that he deserves it. He deserves to be free from the pain and the longing he’s been caged in.”

x

Chanyeol opens the door to their hotel room, dazed and out of it. He can’t believe what he just witnessed earlier. It couldn’t be Baekhyun. His parents told him he died while being operated on. He waited for three straight days in the lobby of the hospital, waiting for any glimpse of Baekhyun’s parents, hoping against all odds that they’ll let him see the love of his life.

On the third day of his waiting, Baekhyun’s mother came down and met him. That’s when she told him Baekhyun was gone. That the person he loves the most in the world just left him and his son. He was overcome with grief and disbelief, and he wanted to see Baekhyun for himself. To confirm it. To hold him one last time even if it was his cold body he’ll be holding. But Mrs. Byun had her bodyguards on him the next second and they dragged him outside the hospital, turning deaf ears to his cries and being blind to his sorrow.

But still, Chanyeol waited outside for them. Waited to be allowed to enter the hospital. The same hospital where he shared some of the happiest moments of his life. The day they went to the doctor to confirm that Baekhyun was carrying a child, all the hospital visits they did to hear Chanhyun’s heartbeat for the first time, to confirm his gender and, most importantly, to have him delivered to the world. All of these happy memories crushed by the heart wrenching reality he had to face now.

He saw the car of the Byuns roll up and he tried to run after them, calling out their name so that they would allow him the chance to see Baekhyun, to arrange his funeral as his husband. But the distance between him and the car increased without even stopping to have mercy on him.

Chanyeol and Chanhyun moved to Jeju three months later. They packed up to leave all the bad memories behind, so that they could start a new life. Together with Minseok who wanted to go with them to make sure they’ll be alright. They started a tiny cafe in their new home and started a simple life.

“Daddy?” Chanyeol blinks and looks down to see Chanhyun tugging on his shirt with worry in his eyes. That’s an emotion Chanyeol never wants Chanhyun to feel and so he smiles and hides the confusion and hurt, if only to remove it from his son’s eyes. He didn’t miss the worried look Minseok had been giving him either. Later, when Sehun and Chanhyun are asleep, they will talk and Chanyeol will cry once again.

“Hey, baby. Do you want to eat snacks?” Chanyeol offers his son and his two other companions. Luckily, Sehun still seems oblivious of what’s happening except for the tiny crease on his forehead that indicates that he will need answers from him too. And Chanyeol doesn’t know if he’s ready for that.

“Sure, hyung. I’m starving, taking care of Chanhyun is such a task.” Sehun playfully complains, causing the two other adults to laugh and Chanhyun to whine. “That’s not true! Chanhyun was a good boy!”

All of them pile up and get ready to leave their hotel room to go downstairs and have a meal at the hotel’s restaurant. Chanhyun got transferred back to Sehun’s arms, leaving Chanyeol behind alone to lock the door. Minseok doesn’t miss the opportunity and taps him on the back, “Are you okay? What happened?”

Chanyeol shrugs nonchalantly, but he knows he’s not fooling anyone, especially not his Minseok hyung. “I’ll tell you later, hyung.” He shakes his head twice as if to temporarily erase the thoughts from his mind.

“If you say so.” His hyung agrees. The two of them quickly caught up to Sehun and Chanhyun, continuing their way downstairs.

x

Luhan enters the hole in the wall coffee shop that was given to him by Changmin’s contact. Instead of meeting him, Yunho had given him just an address that lead Luhan to where he is now. He enters the empty coffee shop, which wasn’t that surprising given the time of the day, and looks around. It’s cozy, that’s for sure. The lights are a little bit dimmed, there are different sets of chairs in the area, and a mini stage where Luhan assumes performances are conducted.

He goes to the counter where he’s welcomed by a friendly barista. Luhan gives his order and chooses a seat in the corner, one where he has a complete view of the entrance door so he can see Yunho when he arrives. It only took half an hour for him to finally enter through the said door.

Yunho is a nurse at the Bucheon hospital that was mentioned in Baekhyun’s record. Luhan’s hoping that he can help shed some light on Baekhyun’s records in the hospitals that were wiped clean. But maybe he knows the patient.

“Hello, Yunho, I’m Luhan.” The investigator offers his hand in introduction which is easily accepted by the other. He takes the seat in front of Luhan and takes out a folder from his bag. “This was all I could find in his records, at least the ones not encoded in the database or wiped clean or locked for whatever purpose the higher ups had.”

He says while pushing the folder towards Luhan. “This was supposed to be discarded a long time ago, too. But Changmin was curious about him so he had me make a few copies before it all got deleted.”

Luhan nods and flips through the papers inserted in the folder. “He was getting proper treatment in your hospital. Why did he have to be transferred?” Yunho shrugs. “I wasn’t on duty during that night but I heard it was really secretive and they transferred him on the second night. His poor husband was waiting in the lobby.”

“Wait, what? What husband are you talking about?”

“Oh, I just assumed that the guy who was waiting for him day and night at the lobby was his husband. But I’m not sure because Byun Baekhyun’s parents never let him go upstairs or anywhere near the patient.”

“Are there any records here that will indicate the name of this man you speak of?”

“I didn’t really go through all those fil