It was during the dead of night when he awoke.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The heart rate monitor was going haywire. 

Nurses rushed in almost immediately, some with expressions of pure terror while others with utter disbelief.

The man was conscious, and his eyes were open. He was… crying.

It had been five years.

--

Lee So was the only son of the Lee family— or what had once been the Lee family. Now it was only him and his mother. His mother had become a widow after two years of marriage, an event in her life that caused her to take on multiple jobs. The death of her husband had cut dozens of ties. Although she was a troubled, downcast woman, she tried her best to be the best mother she could be to So. So was the best thing that had ever happened to her. And then one day both their lives were flipped upside down.

So had been involved in a terrible car accident—one that took every single life but his. When help finally came, it had been too late for both of his colleagues. It had been unclear as to whether So himself would make it—he had been losing too much blood. After numerous operations, the doctors announced that they managed to stop the bleeding and that he would survive.

And then the next morning he had not woken.   

His mother simply refused it. And that was how she began to live—in utter denial. She continued to pour endless amounts of money—money she did not even have—into what most would call a lost cause. And now, after five years, he had opened his eyes.

It was indeed her son who had returned to her after five years, but something was different about him. It was as if he had not been asleep… but as if he had returned another person. Someone from far, far away.  And he kept on repeating the same name. Over and over again.

“Hae Soo.”  

--

So stood outside on the small balcony of his apartment room and let his thoughts run free. He had been asleep for so long, but it was as if he hadn’t been asleep at all. He felt strange—incomplete, even. Almost as if he didn’t belong. He was a mix of anxiety, sorrow, and… longing. And then he remembered. When he had awoken, the first thing he had said was “Hae Soo.”  

Who was Hae Soo?

Every time he thought of the name, an excruciating headache ensued. It was as if the