11 Years Later

On his third cup of coffee, Yunho read the same line of the chart for the 5th time.

“This isn’t working.” He groaned and leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. Time seemed more of a concept than an actual thing that was actually moving around him; it had been that way since he was a kid. He looked at his watch for the first time and cursed. It was already 3 in the morning.

“You can’t really still be here.” Changmin, head of the Neurology department, stood in the doorway of Yunho's office holding two cups of green smoothie.

“Yes I am and I could kick myself for it.” 5 back to back surgeries, 15 patient consultations, finished up with 3 more surgeries had given him zero time to review charts.

“Hyun is gonna kick your .” Yunho took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I know and I deserve it.” Since becoming engaged in last December, Yunho had dogged every responsibility pertaining to his wedding which left his fiancé in charge of everything. Their conflicting work schedules did nothing to deescalate the tension that often arose when they discussed any details regarding their impending nuptials.

“Well drink this to make sure your stomach doesn’t eat itself from all of the coffee you’ve probably drank, and go home.” Yunho sighed and left his charts where they were. He’d be back in 8 hours anyway. He grabbed his coat and bag and thanked Changmin for the smoothie.

“It’s pretty late for you too. Aren’t you going home?” The department head shrugged and shoved his freehand in to his lab coat.

“I don’t have a fiancé at home. I can spare a little more time.” He winked and patted Yunho on the back. “Goodnight.” He turned and headed back to his office and Yunho locked his before taking the stairs down to the the parking lot. He found his car close to the entrance glad he had the foresight to choose a easily accessible space when he came in early that morning.

He turned off the alarm and got in. The feel of the leather steering wheel in his hands grounded him for a moment. He was thankful for the ability to do what he did everyday, but sometimes he felt like he wasn’t doing enough outside of work. And he knew that he wasn’t the only one that felt that way. He thought of his fiancé Hyun Gi, and sighed. With any luck, the man would be asleep when Yunho got home.

“Whoa, didn’t think you still lived here.” There was no such luck to be had tonight. Hyun Gi looked up from his laptop as Yunho took off his shoes.

“I’m sorry, babe. It really was crazy and I didn’t even get to start on charts till an hour ago.” He smiled sheepishly. “Forgive me?” Hyun Gi sighed and closed the lid of his laptop.

“I always do.” He set the laptop aside and got up. Walking over to Yunho he put his arms around his neck. “I missed you.” Yunho kissed his nose and then his lips.

“And I always miss you.” He gestured to the couch. “What were you doing still up?” Hyun Gi released his hand and led them towards the bedroom.

“Well I was prepping for court tomorrow and when I finished I started looking at venues for the wedding.” Now in their bedroom, Yunho started to his shirt.

“But I thought we already decided we’re getting married in the park near the coffee shop we met in.” That much Yunho had been a part of and he had been happy with the decision.

“No, it’s not going to work. It might be too warm in May to have an out door wedding.” Hyun Gi handed Yunho his pajamas before getting into bed. “And you know how my mother does in heat.” Yunho laughed.

“yeah: she doesn’t.”Hyun Gi began to laugh as well, as they both remembered how much she complained when they vacationed in Italy last summer. The only thing that kept her quiet and happy was air conditioning and an endless supply of margaritas.

“So I was thinking we could find something in doors instead of pushing back the date to next fall.” Yunho listened as he went into the bathroom connected to their bedroom so he could brush his teeth.

“Wherever, whenever. As long as you’re there I have zero complaints.” He mumbled around his tooth brush. Hyun Gi sighed loudly from bed. Yunho decided to not look at him because he already knew there was going to be a very annoyed look waiting for him.

“Yeah Yunho and that’s kind of the problem. You don’t complain. It’s like you don’t care that we’re getting married.” Yunho gargled and spit before turning out the light and heading over to the bed. He climbed in next to his fiancé and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to have this conversation again and not at 4:30 in the morning.

“Hyun, you know that’s not true. I’m just not the event planner type. If it were left up to me, we’d get married at the court house and leave for our honeymoon directly after. But I know that’s not what you want which means I want what you do.” He tugged on Hyun Gi’s arm. “Now can we please go to bed?” His fiancé looked down at him, obviously still annoyed. But he complied and laid down next to Yunho reached out and gave him a hug.

“You’re lucky I love you.” Yunho smiled and hugged him tighter.

“Extremely.”

....

The next morning Yunho leaned up against the nurses station as he reviewed the chart of a patient he was set to meet in an hour. Usually the nurses were quiet and deeply focused on their work. But this morning they were gossiping non stop.

“I caught a glance of him on my way to the lady’s room. He’s positively gorgeous.” Yunho’s nurse gushed. The rest of the nurses all began talking at once, trying to interject their stories of when they saw this mystery person.

“Alright, spill it. Who are you guys falling out of your bras for?” The nurses, like they were in sync, rolled their eyes at Yunho.

“Well if you must know.”

“I must.” He countered.

“It’s the new pediatrician, Dr. Kim. He started this morning and Administrator Lee is introducing him to the staff and showing him around.” His nurse practically swooned. “He has to be the most gorgeous man I’ve seen in ages.” Everyone nodded their agreement.

“He looks like one of those Halleluya stars my granddaughter lives for.” One of the older nurses added. Yunho raised his eyebrows. Now he was curious.

“And this is our cardiology department. Oh and this is our finest cardio thoracic surgeon, Dr. Jung Yunho.” At the sound of his name, Yunho turned and was prepared to introduce himself when he felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Dr. Kim wasn’t a stranger to Yunho in the slightest.

“Jae.” JaeJoong tilted his head, clearly confused.

“I’m sorry but, have we already met?” Yunho searched JaeJoong’s face, hoping that JaeJoong was joking. He wasn't. He really meant it.

“Dr. Jung, are you alright?” Administrator Lee looked concerned. Yunho was actually speechless.

“I-I um.” He stuttered, his mouth dry. JaeJoong smiled.

“You probably had a really long night; been there, done that. I’m sure we’ll catch up with each other soon.” With that, he turned his smile to Administrator Lee. “What’s next!” The older man, having forgotten about his concern for Yunho’s response, patted JaeJoong on the back.

“The cafeteria. My favorite place in the whole hospital.” He laughed as he patted his rotund stomach. JaeJoong chuckled.

“Don’t worry, it’s mine too.” They left the station and headed for towards the elevators. Yunho watched them leave, completely blown away. One of the nurses clucked her tongue at him.

“Real smooth, Dr. Jung.” The rest of the nurses erupted in to giggles.

Yunho left without another word and went straight into the bathroom. He gripped the sink, shaking as he tried to catch his breath. His mind was racing as he struggled to process an endless stream of thoughts.

11 years ago JaeJoong disappeared from the hospital 3 days after the car accident they had when they were 17. Yunho had been told that JaeJoong had been moved by his family to a hospital in America.

As soon as he was able to travel again, Yunho went to America and searched for JaeJoong. 1 year went by. Then 3. And before he knew it, his search had gone on for 6 years. Every where he searched he couldn’t find anything about JaeJoong. It was like he had been erased. He completed his undergrad education in America before going to medical school back in Korea. His hopes had been crushed and the heartbreak, that truly never healed, became quiet enough for him to get through his day.

Then he met Hyun Gi and for the first time in 6 years, he felt it possible to try moving on. He hadn’t looked back since then. But seeing JaeJoong, alive and well and a pediatrician just like he said he would be, trudged up feelings he thought were long buried and forgotten.

And the kicker? JaeJoong didn’t even remember him. It seemed he hadn’t been the only one to bury things.

—

Yunho knocked on the door of Changmin’s office. The neurologist looked up from his computer and when he saw it was Yunho he took off his glasses and waved him in.

“Hey! This is a rare middle of his day visit. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Yunho came in and sat down in the chair in front of Changmin’s desk.

“I won’t keep you long; I know you’re busy. I just had a quick question.”

“Shoot.” Yunho, still shaken from earlier, took a deep breath to calm himself.

“How common is it for someone’s to get head trauma that causes long term memory loss?” Changmin shrugged.

“It really depends on the severity. If it was a truly traumatic event for the patient then it might be even harder to remember anything leading up to the trauma.” He sighed. “It really is a case by case situation.” Yunho nodded, not sure how to feel.

“I see. I was just curious.” Changmin raised one of his eyebrows.

“No you’re not. What’s this really about?” Yunho bit his lip. He should have known Changmin wasn’t going to let him get away