Seoul’s cityscape is at its best this time of year. The spring breeze is soft and the sun shines warm, not yet humid. People on the streets are dressed in clothes fit for the spring in flashes of sky blue, canary yellow, and cherry blossom pink. One person stands out from the crowd on this day, dressed in a black suit and walking with a heavy gait and a low-hanging head. The only thing that seems ‘spring-like’ about him is the flower that peeks out from the bag he carries.

The sun’s rays are prickly on Minseok’s back. His only suit fit for wearing out is the black one that he reserves for fancy dinners and funerals. Today is neither, but somehow, he thinks it’s fitting. After all, it’s Junmyeon’s birthday.

###

The familiar hallway is quiet. Long aisles of off-white tile and fluorescent lights welcome Minseok’s newly shined dress shoes. He doesn’t even have to look at the room numbers but he does so by habit.

Room 522.

The door slides soundlessly open. The hospital room is a one bed room and spacious. Before he walks to the bed side, Minseok leans against the door behind him and takes a breath. This may have been his routine path for almost three years, but Minseok still gets nervous walking through the government building.

It was better now, but even now, he is still followed by whispers. All around him, there are rumors of how bad Junmyeon’s condition is, how poor his prognosis is, and what a horrible Partner Minseok is... and Minseok supposes it’s all true. After all, even though they’re Bound, Minseok can’t even wake Junmyeon up.

Minseok walks further into the still room. Only faint blips of the monitors break the unsettling silence - a silence that doesn’t match the Junmyeon Minseok remembers. The sunlight streams in from the fifth story window and for a second, it’s almost as if Junmyeon is lying in a cloud of dust and sun rays.

“Right where I left you” Minseok mutters half-jokingly, walking up to the bedside.

He smooths Junmyeon’s unwrinkled blanket unnecessarily and stares at his best friend’s face. Junmyeon looks peaceful albeit unnaturally pale. His breathing is rhythmic and Minseok finds himself analyzing with bated breath.

After a few beats of checking on Junmyeon, Minseok sighs, moving to the seat reserved for guests. The stiff plastic chair isn’t made for long hours of sitting, but Minseok has spent more than enough nights on that very chair. It feels safe and familiar. So, when Minseok gently grabs Junmyeon’s hand, he doesn’t feel like he has to stop the moisture building up in his eyes.

“Happy Birthday, you jerk” Minseok whispers, squeezing Junmyeon’s fingers.

In the bag he’s brought with him, there is a plant pot. Freesias. One of Junmyeon’s favorite scents. Setting the plant next to the window sill, Minseok takes up a small hand towel. Bringing a bowl of warm water from the attached bathroom, Minseok starts sponge bathing Junmyeon.

“I hope you’re appreciating this” Minseok mutters as he scrunches up his sleeves. “I bet you’re laughing at me secretly, right?”

Easily, Minseok imagines Junmyeon giggling at Minseok’s plight. He can just see Junmyeon making some stupid joke about Minseok being his slave.

“I’m actually older than you, you know” Minseok grumbles. “And yet here I am...”

After almost three years, Minseok falls into a one sided conversation easily with the unresponsive Junmyeon. It’s been three years since Junmyeon’s coma, but they’ve been partners for more than ten years. Even an exchange of eye contact would let Minseok know how Junmyeon was feeling.

“We’re almost 30 now, can you believe it?”

Minseok chuckles lightly. He knows what Junmyeon would say to that. He would say that they’re still young, but Minseok would insist that his glory days are over. Knowing Junmyeon, he’d spend hours pouring over memories of their past but also in great excitement about their future. All Minseok wishes for his future is that his best friend would wake up.

###

Minseok spends the next few hours quietly washing his friend. He’s putting away the linen and basin when someone walks through the door, breaking the silence. It’s Junmyeon’s wife, Yoonju. Minseok stands up and in his haste, the chair clatters on the tiled floor.

“Yoonju-ssi...”

“Oh Minseok-ssi, you’re here earlier than usual” she says smiling.

Yoonju is as beautiful as ever but since Junmyeon’s accident, Minseok can’t help but feel that she’s been fading at the edges. Constantly tired and no longer smiling as brightly, Yoonju practically lives at the hospital, taking care of Junmyeon.

“Of course, it’s his birthday so I thought...” Minseok laughs instead of finishing his sentence.

He supposes that he should leave now. There’s not much left to do or say. And he doesn’t want to make Yoonju uncomfortable. After all, they usually coordinate with each other so that one is there while the other isn’t. He stands to collect his jacket, but Yoonju moves closer.

“Thank you so much for caring for him, Minseok-ssi. You’re always looking out for him...”

Yoonju tears up and Minseok, never knowing what to do in these situations, awkwardly pats her on the shoulder.

“Don’t cry Yooju-ssi...you know Junmyeon, he’ll... he’ll...”

Minseok doesn’t finish his sentence.

###

Stepping out of the hospital wing, Minseok feels the heaviness in his chest. It’s the same feeling he’s been embracing for the three years since Junmyeon fell into a coma. As he walks out of the hospital and through the Branch’s building, another ribbon of anxiety wraps around him. Most of the people don’t recognize him as he doesn’t come to the building to train anymore. But some who recognize Minseok duck their heads in a whisper.

“Isn’t that the Bound who can’t heal his partner?”
“Isn’t that the Bound involved with the explosion back in Kang Won?”
“You know what happened right? The Director’s son... he’s his Partner.”

Minseok bows his head lower and looks at his feet as he quickens his pace. He just has to make it past the Branch lobby and through security. Then it’s back on the subway, back to his quiet apartment, and back to silence.

He’s especially anxious today because he’s been ignoring emails, texts, and calls from his superior for the past several weeks. Something about grasping the time to start with a new partner. Something about enrolling in the Match Program for a second time. But Minseok’s not young anymore. He doesn’t have the physical or emotional capacity to be a Partner for anyone other than Junmyeon. It’s crazy, Minseok thinks.

However, it’s on this day that Minseok is cornered. Five uniformed men ambush him in the outside lobby, rushing forward as Minseok tries to walk past security.

“Kim Minseok? Please come with us.”

And if Minseok’s being honest, he might be able to overpower these five men. Even though he hasn’t been training, Minseok has experience. But the brutal reality is that he doesn’t have the will power. And with a sigh, Minseok gets dragged to one of the waiting elevators.

###

Director Kim’s office is expansive. On one of the top floors, the office is filled with bright sunlight and a hard to place aroma. The expensive leather of the sofa makes Minseok feel uncomfortable as it squeaks under his thighs.

“It’s time Minseok. You know it’s time.”

Director Kim’s voice is scolding even though he has his back turned toward Minseok. His hands are folded behind his back and Minseok can tell the Director is disappointed. Minseok sighs.

“I’m retiring Sir. I’ve submitted my paperwork and I...”

“You know that paperwork was never processed. You know you can’t retire until your Partner does.”

“Sir! Junmyeon is...!”

Director Kim raises a hand and tilts his chin down. He takes a long hard blink and when he opens his eyes again, Minseok is indignant. Today of all days... on Junmyeon’s birthday...!

“I know Minseok. I know. You know I know better than anyone else.”

Director Kim’s voice is softer now, but Minseok’s still breathing hard.

“But Minseok-ah” Director Kim continues, “if there’s one thing I know about my son... it’s that he wouldn’t have wanted you to quit for him. He would have wanted you to keep doing what you love.”

Minseok laughs a bitter laugh. ‘Doing what he loved’? It was laughable because what he had loved was working together with his best friend... with Junmyeon.

Minseok opens his mouth to say as much but Director Kim beats him to the punch.

“Besides, I don’t think this is Junmyeon’s way of quitting, do you?”

###

Minseok is instructed to “think it over” and with that, he’s finally released from the Director’s office. While he’s walking out of the building, Minseok thinks about Director Kim’s words. Was he giving up on Junmyeon too easily? Deep in thought, Minseok wanders into the training facility without knowing where his feet take him. The first thing that snaps Minseok back out of his thoughts is the sight of two young men training.

Their training uniforms reveal their names to be Park Chanyeol and Byun Baekhyun. Minseok remembers these two; they’re not much younger than Junmyeon and him. They’re bickering over who has “control” as they train.

“See?” Baekhyun teases Chanyeol, “You’re playing right into my hand. I am the puppet master!”

They are sparring with sticks and it doesn’t help that Baekhyun is excelling. Minseok watches absent-mindedly as Chanyeol gets more and more agitated.

Soon, Minseok’s attention wanders to another set of young men crowded around a glass wall. There’s a young man inside the glass exam room, hooked up to various sensors and lines and cords. The young man looks exhausted and somehow, the edges of his body are blurred. It almost looks as if he isn’t real... a mere hologram.

And right when Minseok turns his head, the young man disappears. Red lights flicker inside the exam room and Minseok snaps his head back in a double take. Seconds later, alarms are blaring and the young men who had been crowded outside the glass wall, spring into action. Chanyeol and Baekhyun too drop their wooden sticks and run to one side of the training hall.

The trainers are shouting and each young trainee sounds off, accounting for their attendance. The head trainer grits his teeth and swears under his breath.

“Numbers 4, 21, 61, and 94! Go find Number 99 and bring him back to the hall!”

“Yes sir!”

The four young men run past Minseok. As they brush past, Minseok hears one of them muttering under his breath.

“Where did you go this time, Kim Jongin?”