As Jungkook cracked his eyes open, he saw Yooeun sitting next to him on the hospital bed. Why did he look so familiar?

“Hey, how are you feeling?” He said to Jungkook. His head was a little dizzy, and he looked down to see an IV injection in his arm. His last memory was of himself collapsing onto the bed, but now he felt much better. 

“I’m not dead.” He said. “What’s your name?” 

“Do you honestly not remember me?” Yooeun said to Jungkook, his tone flat and disappointed. 

“I— no. Had we met before?”

Yooeun scoffed. “Are you lying?” 

Jungkook paused for a moment. “I— no, sorry. I have a terrible memory with faces and names.” 

“You must be a huge boy,” Yooeun said, the corners of his mouth edging down into a scowl. “Anyways, the nurse said you’ll be fine. You didn’t lose enough blood to need a transfusion. She said you’ll be good to leave in a few hours.”

“What? Have we met before?” Jungkook said, propping himself up to clear the blood from his head and looking at Yooeun. 

“Yes. Itaewon, two years ago. Do you not remember? Right before you ghosted me?” 

Jungkook plopped his head back onto this pillow and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Sighing, he said, “That sounds like me.” 

Yooeun looked to the side. “I feel bad. You just got seriously hurt, and I guess you saved us. I’m glad you’re okay now.” 

Jungkook traced the stitches on his arm that sealed the wound. “I just deleted my Kakaotalk profile altogether, so I don’t remember anyone I talked to during that phase. Not that it’s any excuse, but I want to give you some context.” 

“Look, don’t worry about it. Just relax and feel better. The nurse sent me up to make sure you were alright.”

“Why you?” Jungkook said before he shut his mouth and realized how rude it sounded.

Yooeun laughed a little. “She didn’t want to risk either of the girls getting hurt if you ended up infected and woke up like the others.”

“What do you mean? How long have I been here for?”

“Just an hour or so.” Yooeun said. “Something’s happening out there. We’re not even allowed to leave the hospital and they’ve completely locked it down.” 

“What’s happening?”

“It’s some kind of medical emergency. Nobody’s pieced together a coherent story yet, and that’s what’s scary. The government’s told everyone to not leave their homes.” 

Jungkook took out his phone immediately to see a string of messages on his family group chat.  “I’m okay,” Jungkook typed. “Please stay safe.”

“Sorry,” Jungkook said as he stashed his phone away. “My family lives in Namwon. I just needed to check up on them.”

Why is he so polite, Yooeun thought. For someone who broke his heart so badly, he was very conscientious. 

***

Mina unpeeled the wrapper of a kimbap from the convenience store downstairs as she sat on a bench in the waiting room next to Ah-Hyun. She didn’t know why, but she felt an automatic distain for Ah-Hyun, and she didn’t know why yet. Maybe it was the way she used such an informal tone of voice to the nurse an hour ago. Nobody should talk to an elder like that.

“I’m Mina,” she said. “How do you know Jungkook oppa?”

She explained to her the story. “I guess he saved me,” she concluded. “It’s literally only been a day since we met. I barely know him.” Mina could hear the accent in her speech. She was from abroad. 

“Where are you from?” Mina asked her. 

“California.” She said. 

“Ah.” Mina said as she ate in silence. Perhaps Mina was waiting for her to ask her questions, for her to show an interest in Mina as a person. It did not come. “So,” Mina said slowly. “What school did you go to?”

“UCLA,” Ah-Hyun said flatly. “But you wouldn’t really know what that is?” She said, a little upward lilt in her voice.

A little pretentious aren’t you? Mina thought. “Actually, I was raised in San Antonio, Texas. So yes, I know what UCLA is,” She said, the tone in her voice becoming a little more curt. 

“Oh, so you, like speak English?” 

“Yes.” 

And then silence. The conversation not going where she wanted it to, Mina simply walked off and stared out the window. She couldn’t quite tell what made her so adverse to Ah-Hyun. Was it her aloofness? Did Ah-Hyun think she was too good to talk to her? She saw her own furrowed eyebrows in the reflection of the glass, and quickly relaxed her face. The lights of the hospital flickered, and in the moment of darkness, she saw someone outside, level with her on the sidewalk. His head was tilted slightly, his arms buoyed a little too far out to his sides. When the man turned his head, she could see the head was split apart down the middle, the two sides jutting out a little in opposite ways. The light again, and the reflection of the interior hid the man from view.

Her heart racing, she pressed her head up against the glass and put her hand to her face to look in the shadow. The figure was gone. “There— I saw something there.” Mina turned to Ah-Hyun. 

She was staring at her phone. “Mm, what was that?” She said inattentively. Annoyed, Mina ignored her and stood at the window, wondering what to do. 

***

“I’m going to leave you to rest a little, alright? You don’t need to be stressed out during your recovery.” Yooeun stood up to leave. 

“Wait,” Jungkook said, grabbing his wrist. “Were you the one I saw on the subway, and we met at that bar in Itaewon?” 

“Yes,” Yooeun said.

“I’m sorry.” Jungkook said, his eyes contrite. “I do remember now. Can I explain?” The lights shut off, alarming Jungkook. He gripped Yooeun’s hand. 

The lights came back on immediately, and Yooeun jerked his hand away. “No, I just needed to know you remembered me, for my pride. Just rest a little,” he said as he crossed his arms and walked out of the room.