“Did you sleep well, hal-abeoji?” Seung Ho asks respectfully as the car rolls to a stop at the entrance to their offices.

The elderly man grunted as car doors on either side popped open. Both grandfather and grandson stepped out onto the concrete driveway. A series of running footfalls can be heard nearing and everyone present turned to look at the approaching figure.

Seung Ho realized with a start that it is the man in black he was curious with at the traffic junction. The man came to a stop before him and struggles to straighten his badly heaving body and regain his breath.

“Un ah!” The stranger roared and reached out to grab Seung Ho’s arm.

At the harried touch, a sequence of unfamiliar scenes poured into Seung Ho’s brain as if a switch was flipped. Pictures and colors whizzed and whirred before his eyes completely blinding him. Raising both hands to his eyes, he fought to block out the offensive onslaught. Buzzing began in his ears blocking out his grandfather’s concern calls.

“Ah ~” Seung Ho moaned as even more scenes try to squeeze into his brain, threatening to shatter his brain cavity. His knees buckled and he fell against the car weakly.

Dong Soo tightened his grip to prevent the youth from falling. The agony on the other’s face confuses him.

“AHH ~” Seung Ho moans even louder, his fingers frantically crawling at his eyes.

“Un ah!” Dong Soo pleaded whilst trying to pull away the desperate fingers from the youth’s face.

“Ahhh ~” Another soft moan later, Seung Ho’s hands drop away from his face and he slumps lifelessly towards the ground. Dong Soo caught the inert body before it hits the concrete surface.

“Seung Ho ah!” The elderly grandfather exclaims with shock while the doormen and chauffeur rushed forward to help the young heir but Dong Soo will not let go.

“Call an ambulance!” Dong Soo shouted at the crowd closing in on them. Looking down he sees the familiar face lying in his arms.

Un ah, I finally found you!

Dong Soo paced nervously outside the A&E treatment room, ignoring the solemn elderly man sitting on the bench behind him. He is feeling uneasy. He doesn’t want to lose Un again. He mustn’t lose Un again.

Some time during the wait, more bodyguard type men had arrived. A few manager type men have also arrive and hung around nervously. Still, nothing penetrated Dong Soo’s consciousness. His heart, his soul, his whole being is inside by Un’s side.

The door of the treatment room open noiselessly and a man in doctor’s garb removes the surgical mask from his face while anticipating a crowd to surge at him. Dong Soo could not find the will to move his feet but he is within hearing distance.

Seung Ho’s grandfather and entourage are jostling upfront listening to the doctor attentively.

“The patient experienced an unusual load of brain activity. Like an overheated lightbulb will explode –“

“Are you saying –“ Seung Ho’s grandfather interrupted in horror. Dong Soo’s heart almost stopped as he reached the same assumption too.

“No, “ the doctor hurriedly replied. “The human brain simply shuts down. That’s why the patient temporarily lost consciousness. He will need some quiet recovery time before we can look at finding out the cause.”

A tight breath of stale air escapes Dong Soo’s lips. Un is fine for now.

“No more stimulants for him.” The doctor concludes firmly before moving away.

Dong Soo’s breathing quickens when he realized that the chance for him to see Un is now. Before he could move his feet, the crowd before him parted and the somber old man paced towards him.

“I don’t know who are you but you are not welcomed here.” Seung Ho’s grandfather said with an air of finality.

Dong Soo glared unflinchingly in response but the old man has walked away without another word.

If anything, Dong Soo is not a person to obey any form of rebuff. He shifts out of sight as the nurse walked passed then hurried to the sliding door and let himself into the room with expert precision.

The slight figure lying unconscious on the high bed sent Dong Soo’s brain and heart into overdrive. Both palpitating out of control. A small part of his brain is still in disbelief that he finally found his Un. Softly he crept up the side of the bed and stared at the pale face silently.

“Un ah.” He articulated clumsily in a soft whisper. His eyes travelled from the face down the slender neck and further down the arm to the long and slim fingers. Dong Soo shudders involuntarily as he remembered those fingers gripping his shoulder shakily as pain coursed through Un from the sword impaled through his heart then losing strength and falling away when Un breathed his last. Unconsciously he reached for the fingers and held the tips gently in his palm.

At the corner of his eye he saw movement. In a flash he looked up and sees Un’s head move and eyes open. He recalls those eyes too, glittering like diamonds and filled with so much unspeakable sadness. But now, where there was the purest of white, it is bloodshot, and the pupils are askew.

Dong Soo did not dare breathe as he felt the other scrutinize him blearily. Then the soft lips parted, “Dong Soo ah ~”

Dong Soo’s heart burst with massive joy when he hears his name being called by the voice he had been missing for so long.

“Un ah!” He cried out happily. He was about to pounce on the frail patient but Seung Ho’s eyes close again and his head loll away as he lost consciousness again.

Dong Soo felt his heart drop to the soles of his feet. Tears of disappointment gather in his eyes threatening to fall. “Un ah…you must remember me. You must.” He mutters absently.