Part 24

DESTINY

"Dr. Lee Minhyuk" Jooheon call for his friend when he sees the OB walking in the hallway while carrying a sleeping Sang Wook. 

"Dr. Lee Jooheon" Minhyuk replied. He stopped walking, waiting for Jooheon to come to him. 

"Why is Sang Wook here?" Jooheon asked.

"Hyunwoo left early today because he got something to do. He told me to pick up Sang Wook and he will drop by to fetch him at the house later" Minhyuk explains. "He falls asleep early because he didn't sleep at his daycare today" 

"No wonder he didn't answer my call" Jooheon rubs the sleeping toddler's head gently.

"Hyunwoo?"

"I mean Kihyun. If Hyunwoo ask you to pick him up, it means Kihyun is busy too"

"Why are you looking for him?"

 "I think my new patient is the sibling that Changkyun's saved. Do you know how they look like?"

"No, but Hoseok did the case with him. Why don't you call him?" 

Jooheon forgot about that. So, he takes out his phone from his pocket and dials Hoseok. No answered. 

"I guess Hoseok is busy too" Jooheon puts his phone back in his pocket.

"Why don't you just bring Changkyun to see them?" Minhyuk mindlessly suggested and receives a glare from Jooheon. "By the way, have you seen Hyungwon?. My shift ended like four hours ago. He left this noon to the prosecution office, I've been waiting for him to pick me up" 

"I only sent a text to him, asking him to check on Changkyun earlier. Then, he replied saying that he need to take Changkyun out for some fresh air. That's it"

"I tried calling him but he didn't pick up. Why does everyone seem to be out of reach today?" Minhyuk starts to get suspicious. 

They continued walking towards the pantry, where the doctors and nurses usually have their refreshments during night duty since the cafeteria is already closed at this hour. 

"Speaking of which, I was actually looking for Changkyun. The nurse said he returned to his ward with puffy eyes and then left again for a walk" Jooheon commented. "I told him the truth. Do you think..." he sees Changkyun walking alone from the opposite direction. 

"Why is my nephew here?" Changkyun asked. 

"Ours" both Jooheon and Minhyuk corrected the young man.

"His parents are busy. I'm babysitting him" Minhyuk explains. 

"You have patients to attend to" Changkyun frowned.

"I'm not on duty. Just waiting for Hyungwon to pick me up"

"Why are you wandering around? You should stay in your ward" Jooheon is ready to nag at his boyfriend. 

Changkyun stares at Jooheon for a moment before he looks at Minhyuk. 

"I know that look. It's a look that usually means 'I just did something I shouldn't. What exactly have you done?" Minhyuk said as he fixes Sang Wook posture.

"Don't tell me you secretly treat a patient" Jooheon sound panic.

Minhyuk eyes went wide because from where Changkyun was coming, it's connected to the neurology department. 

"No" Changkyun denied instantly. "I did something more than that. But, let's go to my ward first" 

Jooheon and Minhyuk just follow the young man silently. When they reach the ward, Changkyun let Minhyuk put down Sang Wook on his bed. The toddler is sleeping so peacefully to even aware of the tense atmosphere around him.

"Spill it out," Minhyuk said after making sure Sang Wook is comfortable.

Jooheon leans to the wall because he has a feeling whatever Changkyun is about to say will make him too uncomfortable to stay seated. Changkyun didn't sit too. The man chooses to stand near the window while crossing his hand in front of him. 

"I had my Pandora Box open today" Changkyun blurts out. "I've seen it. The things that happened to me" 

"Hyungwon's Pandora Box technique requires the patient to be as close as they can to where the memory was created. How it can be?" Minhyuk doubted.

"Have you ever wonder why I was so into the sky after I wake up?" Changkyun asked. Both men didn't say anything. "Because sky, is the last thing I see before I was dead" 

"What?" Jooheon can't believe his ears. 

"I was dead when they found me. But, the people who found me thought I just fainted. They recklessly perform CPR and succeeded in making my heartbeat again. It's truly a miracle" Changkyun throw his look outside the window. "Hyungwon actually have a doubt, but it works"  

Minhyuk and Jooheon exchange a quick look with each other. Both are not sure how to react.  

"I, now, understand why being in the crowd makes me so uncomfortable, why I'm so scared to stand in an open space" Changkyun smiles a little. 

Even though Changkyun isn't standing face facing Jooheon and Minhyuk but the other two can see the smiles from Changkyun reflection on the window glass. It's not a happy smile, it's a sad one. 

"I left home to buy food for the children that night, I wasn't aware that I was followed. When I walk out of the market and head to my car, that's when I was shot. I look around, but there is no one in the parking lot. I don't know where the bullet coming from. When someone comes to me, I thought he would help me. No, he wasn't. He put me in the van, bring me somewhere else. From the amount of blood I've lost, I can tell it was a long drive. Before they throw me out like I'm some sort of piece of trash, they beat me up. Just my face, though. I'm amazed they manage to broke my face without injuring my brain. It was painful, but that's not the worst part" Changkyun take a deep breath. 

Jooheon walks to Changkyun. He squeezes the latter shoulder gently as a gesture of support.

"I heard a few cars passing me by. But, they didn't stop to help. Probably, mistaken me for some drunken man who falls asleep on the road. So, I just lay there on the ground, staring at the night sky. It was a beautiful night. I never see the stars shining so bright like that in Seoul. Then, I got so tired so I close my eyes and...I tasted death. The beaten up, the shot is nothing compared to dying alone" tears escape from his eyes. "The fact that I died in a foreign land alone...it just very horrible" he burst into tears for the second time today. He already cried like there is no tomorrow when Hyungwon wakes him up after his 'visit' to his past.

Minhyuk rushes to give Changkyun a tight hug, Jooheon too. The three of them spend some time as the group hug each other. 

"Are you calm now?" Jooheon asked when he felt Changkyun is calm again. 

"Yeah, you guys can let me go now" Changkyun release himself away from the other two as he dries the tears on his face. "I wake up delirious. On the edge of having another seizure. But, living up to his name...Dr. Chae Hyungwon calmed me down"

"He's only great at fixing someone else problem. If it's his problem, he usually just sleeps it off wishing it will go away by itself" Minhyuk commented. Mentally counting how many times he needs to drag his housemate out of the bed for that reason. When he heard an incoming text alert, he returns to bed to check his phone. 

"That only works because he is Chae Hyungwon. We won't be able to fall asleep from overthinking" Jooheon said. 

Changkyun laughed as he pulls Jooheon for another hug. 

"So, do you actually remember now?" Jooheon asks while he gently rubs Changkyun's back. 

"I guess, yeah. It's different though. I mean the feeling when you remember what you going through and when you are reminded of how you going through it, it's completely different" Changkyun replied. 

"Promise me something?" Jooheon suddenly whisper.

 "What is it?" Changkyun whispers back.

"Don't go anywhere where I can't follow you when I'm not around?" 

"I can't promise you that, but I will try my best" 

They pull away from each other and sealed their promise with a kiss, intimate. 

"My post-traumatic amnesia might have gone, but my post-traumatic stress disorder will get worse from now on," Changkyun said when he pulls away to take a breath. 

"Remember what Hyungwon told you?" Jooheon asked,

"Which one?" Changkyun tries to think. Hyungwon has told him a lot of things, he can't figure out which one that Jooheon is talking about right now. 

"Something about burning all the demons with your fire?" Jooheon gives the hint. 

'The bits of you that are broken, The part of you that is damaged. They are your superpower. You survived the impossible. Now, is your time to heal. Take all the time you need. When you're ready, you can rise again and burn all the demons with your fire'. Changkyun remembers it right away and he finally understands what Hyungwon was trying to tell him. 

"Well, I believe you survived because the fire inside you burned brighter than the fire around you. Your healing will take time, but you will never be alone" Jooheon continued.

Changkyun just smiled.

They kissed again. 

"Guys, I'm still here" Minhyuk sound annoyed. "Stop making me missing my boyfriends, please"

"Who's texting you?" Jooheon asked. Acting as nothing happened. 

"Hyungwon" Minhyuk look at his screen phone. "He said something about he needs to help Kihyun facing his past, and he told me to go home with a cab" now he sounds confused. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Changkyun asked. 

"I don't know" Minhyuk decided to call his friend. 

"Minhyuk-ah, don't you receive my text?" Hyungwon voice can be heard through the speakerphone. 

"I do. But, what do you mean in your text?" 

"Choi Yeojoo was released on parole and Kihyun is missing this morning. We believed she had something to do with it" Hyungwon briefly explains. 

"Who is Choi Yeojoo?" this is the first time Minhyuk has ever heard that name.  

"Kihyun's ex..."

The call suddenly ended. 

"Did I the only one heard someone said 'I found Lawyer Yoo location' in the background?" Minhyuk is worried.

Changkyun raises his hand, which mean he heard it too. 

Jooheon suddenly remembers his phone call with Kihyun this morning. 

"What's wrong?" both Minhyuk and Changkyun asked.

"He didn't hang up on me this morning. The static sound. It's from a taser gun. I know it is because I always carry one when I was working in Seattle. Only used it once though, when my house breaks into, that's exactly how it sound" Jooheon look frustrated and anxious.

"Calm down. I'm sure the police found him already. You heard someone say they found his location, right?" Minhyuk tries to calm Jooheon down. 

Jooheon just nodded, deeply praying nothing bad happened to Kihyun. 

Changkyun just keeps quiet because he is pretty sure he heard Hyunwoo and Hoseok voices in the background. If what he heard is right, there is a high possibility that Hyungwon is not with law enforcement. Furthermore, he had experienced this once. When someone close to you went missing, notifying the police is the last thing that comes to your mind. 

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hazhatt #1
Chapter 98: male population is increasing thanks to hyunwoo and kihyun
yellowtulip123 #2
Chapter 98: aaaaa kinda sad when the baby was not a girl, but the last sentence really make it up haha. finally dasom is back. thank youuu for the update
Sunflower_Heart
#3
Chapter 98: Yeay!!? The baby is here!!!
hazhatt #4
Chapter 97: Thank you for the updates XD
Sunflower_Heart
#5
Chapter 97: I'm so happy while reading this chapter. Thank you so much for your update
Neny_haneul
#6
Chapter 96: thank you for the update!! another baby is coming yeayy 😁
yellowtulip123 #7
Chapter 96: omg omgg there's an update and is the baby girl's coming??? thank youuu so much for the update. really need to re-read again so i remember the feel haha anyway thank youu so much for coming backk
Grabila #8
Chapter 96: Can't believe it that there is an update in 2023! Welp yaye I missed it and very happy you're back
Sunflower_Heart
#9
Chapter 96: Yeay you're back with new update.

Yeay too for the new baby
Yha-mhine #10
So touching.. ❤