Brian sends a quick text to Minri, telling her his estimated time of arrival, then proceeds to turn his phone off, and shove it in his pocket.

They've already taken off and it's only been about 25 minutes into the fight. It's after he ruffles through his small bag and pockets that Brian realizes he left his headphones at Terry's.

He groans, but stops when he sees an earbud being extended to him,

"Wanna listen?" Jae asks and Brian's hesitant at first, because the second earbud is in Jae's ear,

"You don't have to, but just thought I'd offer." he adds.

Brian accepts the earbud and places it in it's respective place, but then is surprised when Jae is handing him his phone.

"You can listen to whatever, I have a little bit of everything on my phone," 

Brian looks at him questionably,

"I can use my phone if you want,"

"Sure, either is fine," Jae says as he takes out a notepad and pen. 

Brian shrugs and figures since it's already out, it's better to use Jae's phone. He's about to ask what Jae's password is, when the phone simply unlocks with a swipe.

Brian plays a light-hearted song that he knows, and Jae immediately smiles. 

"I love this song," he comments and Brian nods with a smile,

"The guitar melody is really nice in this song. I learned it a while back, and I honestly find it relaxing to play," Brian answers what no one asked.

Brian half sings, half hums the lyrics, his voice fading away in Jae's mind as he recalls Younghyun struggling so hard.

Jae hears a snap, and looks at Younghyun,

"You broke it again?!"

"It's the E string! It's thin and prone to breaking, leave me alone"

"It's only prone to breaking when you're playing the guitar," 

"That's not true!" Younghyun retaliates with an offended smile, mainly because he knows it's true.

"What're you learning this time?" Jae asks, as he makes his way beside Younghyun,

"You couldn't tell?" 

"I heard you play about 5 notes and then the string snapped." he replies as he laughs. Younghyun sighs and runs a hand through his hair, 

"I was learning 'Thinking Out Loud',"

"Oh, it was actually supposed to be a song?" Jae jokes and Younghyun hits his arm,

"I'm kidding~"

"Whatever." 

"Younghyun~" Jae sings as he hugs him,

"I was kidding." and Younghyun just smiles as he looks down at his guitar, still looking brand new, excluding the broken string, but other than that it looks unused despite all the failed attempts to play.

"I love that song," 

"That's why I wanted to learn it. So that it could be our song," Younghyun replies and he gets up to replace the string, but Jae pulls him into a quick kiss first,

"I love you," Jae says against Younghyun's lips,

"And what's now 'our' song" he says with a proud smile as he gets up, connects his phone to Younghyun's speaker and plays the song.

Younghyun smiles as he asks Jae's hand in a dance, and Jae laughs. They're not really the type to dance, but Jae figures what the Hell.

"Shouldn't you be replacing your string so you can continue learning?" Jae asks, and Younghyun's arm pulls Jae closer,

"That can wait. I like being right here, with you in my arms. Listening to 'our' song,"

Jae's drawn back to reality as the sadly, yet timely ironic lyrics sound in his ear,

Baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory

He looks at Brian who's still captivated in the song, and reflects on the lost memory of him being captivated in his smile.

"You good at it?" Jae asks,

"I mean, I'm not too shabby," Brian replies, and Jae nods.

"What're you doing?" the barista asks as he slightly leans over to look at Jae's notepad,

"Oh, just brainstorming.."

"It looks like a bunch of scribbles to me,"

"Because you, sir, aren't using your imagination."

"Did I used to?" 

Brian brings up Younghyun again. 

Jae doesn't feel uncomfortable talking about, but at the same time he wonders if it's best to not enlighten Brian on the subject.

"Uh," he starts and then looks down at his paper,

"Yeah, yeah you did." Jae says while nodding,

"Or, should I say Younghyun did. There was this thing we used to do when we were bored, he would ask me to do random scribbles and then he would turn those lines into a picture... It was fascinating, because he was amazing at drawing and those random, beautiful drawings that emerged from just a simple chaos of lines..."

Jae smiles as he sighs, and Brian can see the affection in his eyes and can hear the fondness in his voice,

"They usually inspired me to write little short stories."

"Do you mind if I ask you about how I was?" Brian asks,

"Haven't I already told you?" Jae replies,

"Twice?" he adds, smiling and Brian replies with,

"Then, let me change the question."

"Uh oh." Jae says, mostly as a joke and Brian laughs a bit before asking,

"Do you mind if I ask you about how we were?"

Jae thinks for a bit, wanting to respond with 'Well, in all honesty there was no official we,' but his silence lasts for a few more moments before he replies,

"If you want."

"When did we meet?"

"We met in elementary school, you were in my class. You, Wonpil and I were really close, because the teacher had assigned us to sit in a group together." he answers,

"You've known me since then?"

"Met Brian a little over a month ago, knew Younghyun since we were about 12."

Brian laughs, 

"What were our favourite things to do?" 

"Together?" and Brian nods in response, and Jae thinks,

"It depended on the day. The weather, how we were feeling." he says, and then continues,

"On rainy days, our favourite thing to do was to stay inside. Younghyun liked the sound of rain hitting the windows, and would usually nap. But, I always needed to be beside him. He didn't nap unless he had my hoodie on," Jae laughs, remembering how Younghyun would always invite himself to Jae's closet and throw something on,

"The rain was calming to him, but he loved staying in on days like that. Accompanied by me, and some classic movies, that was our favourite thing to do on rainy days." 

Brian wonders if he made a mistake by asking when he looks at Jae's sad eyes that are looking down at his paper,

"On cold days, he loved going out because apparently it gave us an excuse to hold hands because of the low temperatures." Jae laughs to himself and says,

"He really liked winter because of the snow, and the Christmas carols. But our favourite thing to do in the winter, this is going to sound really immature," he informs and Brian laughs,

"But we really liked building snow forts and having snowball fights."

"How about during the summer?"

"Swimming. Our favourite thing to do was go to the beach, but to be honest I didn't like it that much,

"So then why'd you keep going?"

"Because he liked it." Jae responds without hesitation and then goes on to explain,

"Actually, the reason I didn't like it is pretty petty, but" he laughs and it has Brian curious,

"What was it?" he asks with an amused smile, and Jae says,

"It's really pathetic and lame, but it just got annoying hearing all the girls make passes at him. Like, I know it's completely not his fault, but it just made me feel a bit insecure whenever they would try and talk to him, touch him and," Jae sighs,

"It was just a weird feeling because he technically wasn't 'mine', you know?"

"It's not that petty of a reason, I mean, it's understandable." Brian says and Jae laughs,

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Hey, I tried." he replies, and it's quiet for a bit.

They're still listening to music on Jae's phone, and Jae's reverted back to scribbling, waiting for more questions.

"How did you feel when I left?" 

"When you initially told me, I figured it made sense considering your parents' views on whatever we were. But, I also trusted you, and believed in your promise that you'd be back,"

Brian mentally swears as he pictures Jae waiting for him, only for him not to come back.

"And, I mean, for the first few weeks you were in Canada, we messaged each other a lot, so it wasn't too bad. Seeing you through a screen wasn't ideal, but it was better than not seeing you at all. But then. you suddenly stopped replying," he says,

"I thought maybe your phone got wrecked, and I scolded myself whenever I thought something horrible had happened to you. So I waited for a few days for a reply," Jae says, 

"I wasn't angry, just concerned and simply wanted to know you were okay. But then days turned into weeks, turned into months...Eventually turned into years,"

It's quiet before Brian says, 

"Sorry," and the guilt in his voice is evident,

"Don't be. It's not your fault," Jae says and he means it.

"When I was here..." Brian starts,

"How, uh..." he contorts his face as he thinks if it's okay to ask this, and Jae finds the various expressions amusing so he laughs a bit,

"How come we didn't date?"

"Hmm.."

"How do I explain this..." Jae thinks, and taps his pen until he manages to think of a slightly coherent explanation,

"Like I told you before, there was no official 'will you go out with me' type of thing that happened." he starts,

"But it was like a mutual understanding. The feelings were mutual and obviously present, so we kind of just continued on with doing whatever we were doing. Doing things couples would do, yet not being an official couple. Neither of us saying or asking, because it was an unsaid understanding that we both felt had no need for words to clarify." the blonde answers, looking at Brian whose expression can only be described as amazed tinged with sadness.

"Did we hold hands a lot?"

"Not a lot, but we did. That's when the suspicion started from your parents,"

"Did we, uh... kiss?" Jae laughs, as he notices Brian's cheeks flush a very subtle pink,

"Mhm," he affirms,

"This probably sounds really weird, and you probably can't picture yourself, you know, doing things you do with Minri, with me, so if you wanna stop asking, it's cool" Jae tells Brian in some sort of attempt to comfort him, as he reveals the truth hidden from him for years.

"No, no, it's not that.. It's just, I feel so bad that I don't remember any of this.."

"You don't have to,"

"But it makes you feel sad too, doesn't it? Knowing that I don't remember what it was like to hold your hand... to go through certain days with you, to go to the beach and get hit on by girls who didn't know their place," Brian replies, and Jae can't really deny it.

"I mean, it does. But, I think I've come to accept it, after almost 3 years" he replies,

"But honestly, knowing that you have a chance to get your memories back is better than finding out Younghyun was dead." Jae continues and then adds,

"Well, I mean.. he's not really living right now, but" he gives Brian a sad smile,

"You are."

It's quiet again, but then Brian asks another question,

"Do you know about the tattoo I have?" 

"Of course. I was there when you got it. Titled a book after that tattoo, in hopes that maybe you would reach out again.."

"Were you the one who got a matching one?"

"Yeah. We both decided it'd be brilliant to go on your 20th birthday, and I guess coming back inked triggered your parents to leave,"

"Why a dandelion?"

"You designed it when we were sitting outside one day. It was summer, and we just wanted to get away for a while, which resulted in us just sitting on top of a hill, and you had some pen and paper, you always did." Jae says, and Brian can't help but notice that sometimes when Jae answers his questions, he tells it like a story, like an old fairytale that never had a happily ever after.

"And there were a bunch of dandelions around us, and while I was trying to walk to you, me being me, I tripped and a lot of the seeds went flying. And you thought it was beautiful, which I was slightly offended by because instead of helping me up, you started drawing," Jae says while laughing and Brian only feels worse at the fact that Jae looks back at these memories and smiles.

"So, where's yours?" Brian asks,

"Same place, but I wear hoodies a lot so it's rarely visible," Jae answers,

"Yeah, why do you wear so many hoodies?" Brian asks a question not really involving whatever him and Jae were before,

"I like them, they're comfortable. But honestly, the reason I have so many is 'cause you kept taking mine," the blonde replies with a smile.

Jae's smile is truly beautiful, and Brian catches himself staring too long. 

The questions die down again, and neither of them decide to break the silence. Brian's not particularly focused on anything, mainly just trying to take all of the answers in. 

They've been talking so long, but Brian doesn't know how long. 

He also doesn't realize they've stopped talking for so long until he goes to ask another question, and sees Jae sleeping soundly.

Brian finds himself smiling as he looks at Jae, relaxed and at peace for once. He realizes that they're still listening to Jae's music, and Brian decides to change the currently playing upbeat pop song, to a slow song that has Brian thinking if it had any special meaning to him and Jae.

He's trying to fall asleep too, the relaxing song causing his eyelids to grow heavy, but then he feels something on his shoulder. He looks to see Jae's head resting on his shoulder, and ignores the way it feels so familiar.

He doesn't bother waking Jae up, or pushing his head off, and simply decides to just go to sleep too. And so he sleeps, wasting a few hours on dreams and much needed rest.

When he wakes up, there's no weight on his shoulder, but instead his view is tilted slightly. He's still holding Jae's phone, yawning yet not moving from his current position. 

But then he realizes the roles have switched, and he's leaning on Jae's shoulder,

"Oh, sorry," he says quickly and gets up and Jae responds with,

"It's cool. When I woke up, I realized I had done the same thing so, sorry" Jae replies.

"How many hours left?"

"I don't know, you have my phone, check the time," the blonde says and Brian rolls his eyes jokingly as he checks the time, and groans.

"We still have like 6 hours left,"

"At least we've made it through 8,"

"Man, I'm hungry." Brian says and Jae laughs but nods in agreement. 

"Did they serve the food, yet?" 

"Not sure, I was passed out," 

Brian kisses his teeth and shakes his head in disapproval,

"Excuse me, you slept longer" Jae argues,

"You fell asleep first,"

"You still slept longer! I woke up an hour ago,"

"Wow! Do you want a cookie?" Brian says sarcastically, and then they both laugh it off, realizing they sound like little kids bickering.

They both do their own separate thing, until the food finally comes. They ask for different dishes, and Jae also asks for a cup of instant noodles and Brian teases at how Jae couldn't just settle with one order.

The food comes and Jae finds himself habitually placing the vegetables he doesn't like on Brian's plate,

"Oh shoot, sorry" he says and goes to take it back, when Brian quickly picks it up with his chopsticks and puts it in his mouth.

Jae looks at him, confused,

"You put it on my plate, no take backs," Brian says with an amused tone.

Jae marvels at the idea of them being able to share such a serious conversation, then convert to exchanging such childish words.

They end up basically sharing food, which neither of them asked for but it just happens. 

"I'm full~" Jae whines, halfway done his noodles,

"See, you shouldn't have ordered it"

"What do you mean 'see', you didn't tell me not to, you just made fun of me afterwards," Jae retaliates and Brian laughs.

"Want the rest?" Jae offers, and Brian figures he's not too full, and accepts the noodles.

It's quiet again, and it's already dark outside. They're supposed to arrive at about 10pm, and it's already 8.

Honestly, neither of them know how so much time passed so quickly. Maybe it was all the talking, or the fact that they both napped for so long, tired from God knows what.

Jae has his phone back, and his earphones are in his pocket. The notepad is still out, but he's resorted to just doodling at this point, and Brian thinks about how much more boring it is without music.

"You know," he says and Jae stops doodling for a bit, getting ready for a question,

"I wonder what will happen when or if I get my memories back... Like, what am I supposed to do with all that regained information?"

"You can just pretend like it never happened if that's what you truly want." Jae replies,

"I mean, you don't seem to hate the life you currently have as Brian, so if anything you can act like nothing happened."

"Who knows," Jae says,

"You may already have them back and you're just asking me to see if I remember accurately," he jokes and Brian really wishes that was the case. Brian just scoffs in disbelief and laughs it off.

"Hey, when did you find out I was Younghyun?" he asks and the latter replies with,

"The day I met your parents at the cafe. That's when I knew for sure." 

Brian nods and starts thinking,

"So, like... All the talking we did before that... Uh," Brian never realized he was so bad with words. Jae decides to say,

"If you're going to ask if I became friends with you with the knowledge you were Younghyun, the answer is no. I just liked talking to you. You were chill and funny, so I genuinely wanted become friends,"

Brian wonders how Jae knew that was what he was going to ask, but asks another question,

"How about now?" and Jae laughs a bit,

"I told you last night, didn't I? I still want to be friends with you, and I find our friendship pretty interesting, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well, it definitely isn't your typical buddy-buddy friendship" Brian replies and his tone of voice makes Jae laugh even more.

They talk for the rest of the flight, wasting the remaining on hours on lame jokes, shared memories and embarrassing school stories.

When they arrive at the airport, they both find themselves walking slowly.

"I always hate this part," Jae says,

"Coming back from such a relaxing vacation" he sighs, and he's half joking, half serious when he continues,

"For the most part it was relaxing until I met you," and Brian almost trips him. 

They continue talking, and walking and then Brian sees someone familiar,

"Oh, Minri's here.." he says and then Jae says,

"What's Wonpil doing here? How'd he know this was my flight.."

"Sungjin too?" Brian adds but then they both see the one person that doesn't look as happy to be there.

She's standing beside Minri, and Jae notices the way Wonpil's biting his bottom lip, awkwardly. Sungjin is between Minri and Wonpil, and Jae finds himself wanting to get away from Brian's side.

"Oh no..." Brian says under his breath and Minri's looking at him, almost apologetically. 

"Brian!" his mom yells and Jae just walks to Wonpil, simply wanting to get out of there and Wonpil understand.

"Mom, what're you doing here?"

"How could you just leave without telling us?"

"I'm 24," he replies but then her attention turns to Jae, who's just trying to go back home.

Then she does something completely unreasonable. It's stupid and irrational, and completely undeserved.

But that doesn't stop the hand that goes across Jae's face,

"Jae!" Wonpil and Brian yell in unison,

"How dare you go on a trip with him," she hisses and Minri has her hands over in shock.

"Mom!" Brian yells, 

"Who do you think you are, walking out side by side with my son" she continues on and Jae doesn't say anything.

In a matter of seconds, there are people surrounding them, their cameras out and Brian can only imagine the headlines in the news tomorrow.

"God, I hate you," Wonpil says to Mrs. Kang and grabs Jae's wrist and pulls him out of there.

Sungjin is confused, not knowing if he should follow Wonpil or stay with Brian, but Brian motions towards them and then Sungjin's off.

"How could you slap him?!" Brian yells,

"How could you go on a trip with him!"

"I wasn't on a trip with him! We just happened to be on the same flight!" 

"I don't want you associating with him anymore." she ignores Brian's statement and he rolls his eyes.

Minri's stuck in silence as she watches Brian and his mother fight. She's never seen Brian so angry and it's kind of scaring her.

"God, Mom, you can't tell me who my friends are! I'm 24 for Christ's sake! Don't you think you've controlled enough of my life?"

"Younghyun!" she lets it slip from her tongue.

It's a habit, that clearly still hasn't worn off. Maybe it's because Brian had never disobeyed, but that name always came out when she was scolding him. 

Brian scoffs, almost amused at how easily that rolled off her tongue.

"Who?" Minri asks, fear and confusion tangled in her voice.

Brian laughs, but it's almost sarcastic, before he looks at his mom and says,

"Yeah, mom." he makes his way to Minri's side, still looking at his mother,

"Who?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE;

hi guys. so, i got my 4 wisdom teeth removed so i'm actually in a lot of pain. it wasn't bad during the procedure but i'm really uncomfortable now. the stitches are hurting me, too so.. xD Sorry for the wait. did you guys watch any fancams / interviews from when Day6 was in bangkok? :) also! i would like to know: who is your Day6 bias? mine is Sungjin !  (: lol leader bob who i ALWAYS get second hand embarrassment from goSH LOL

okay, more about this chapter;  i hope it didn't too bad. please please please comment any thoughts & opinions! Like I always say, i love reading them and replying! maybe we can fangirl about day6 together. lol but yeah! please upvote if you're enjoying the story, and subscribe to keep updated! :D thank you so much for the comments, i love them! for the upvotes, much appreciated! and the subscribers, it's nice to know you wanna read more! y'all are my motivation to write this story, so !! :D love you. ok i'll try and update soon, but until then, Peace! - Zen