Baëkhyun wasn’t used to fear. He didn’t experience this sinking feeling in his gut often. It was a foreign sensation that normally didn’t have a place in his life. If he was threatened by someone or something, he simply relied on his demonic strength to get rid of it. Now, however, his fear wasn’t centered around something he could control. What was happening right now was far beyond his reach. His hands were tied. He had to trust the human doctors to help her, and he didn’t like that. The fear in his stomach irritated him. He glared at the white tiles of the hospital room, leaning his back against the wall.

The entire situation had been a mess. When he had left the abandoned building with Minji’s unconscious body in his arms, the group of humans outside had freaked out. They had made a huge fuss, asking what had happened. Thankfully, Jisoo had the good sense to call an ambulance and then convince the others to go home. She knew that something bad had happened while Baëkhyun and Minji had been inside the house, and Baëkhyun couldn’t keep her from riding along in the ambulance.

Minji’s state had raised many questions among the nurses and doctors at the hospital, but he and Jisoo had convinced them of a made-up story. It wasn’t like they could tell the truth. As far as the humans were concerned, Minji had fallen down a decrepit stair by accident while they had been exploring an abandoned building.

Her injuries had been treated earlier, but she had yet to wake up. In the meantime, Baëkhyun had used Jisoo’s phone to contact Läy who had only just arrived. When it came to dealing with humans, he was the person Baëkhyun relied on—even if he wouldn’t openly admit to it. Läy looked as worried as everyone else in the room, knitting his brows while he watched Minji’s unconscious form on the bed.  

“You were lucky to get out of this alive,” he said. “At least the blood mage is taken care of now and can’t cause any more harm.”

“That’s the only upside to this,” Baëkhyun muttered. He was upset, tapping his foot impatiently.

“I can’t believe you encountered a blood mage in that weird house,” Jisoo whispered, her eyes wide open. “They are scary as .”

“That guy was a creep,” Baëkhyun agreed. “He separated us and confronted her with an illusion of her ex. It must have been terrible for her. I wish I could have prevented that.”

Upon hearing that, Läy’s expression darkened considerably. “He did what?” he hissed. “Damn it, that’s ed up. As expected from one of these mages.”

“He was quite full of himself,” Baëkhyun continued, his eyes turning red. “And he’s connected to the guy who is responsible for Lůhan’s death. I need to talk to Minji about this later.”

“What? Are you serious?” Läy asked, disbelief written all over his face. “We’ve been searching for leads for so long, this is incredible. Who is it?”

Baëkhyun sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He only told Minji, so we have to wait until she wakes up. It’s inconvenient, but apparently, all he gave away was a name… which means we’ll have to ask around. Maybe Suhø and the others can help with that.”

“Right, we should all meet up soon to discuss this. They’ve been waiting for their revenge for a long time.”

Jisoo didn’t know what exactly they were talking about and didn’t really listen since she was busy sending a text to Chaeyoung. She had agreed to keep her friend updated on the situation. So far, not much had changed though. Jisoo was worried about Minji and she also felt guilty about the situation, wishing she had made more of an effort to stop them from entering the house. Even though she wasn’t a true witch yet, she knew many things about supernatural beings, most importantly that it was better to stay away from them.

“Please wake up soon,” she whispered, clutching her phone as she gazed at Minji’s ashen face.

When she regained consciousness, Minji felt a painful throbbing in her entire body. Her back and her head hurt the most. Groaning, she attempted to remember what had happened, but she couldn’t explain where the pain came from or where she currently was. She heard soft voices and noticed the typical smell of a hospital surrounding her; a mix between sanitizer and cleaning agent. It made her panic. Had she been in an accident? Had something bad happened to her? The lack of knowledge about the situation freaked her out and prompted her to open her heavy eyelids. At first, she didn’t see much since her eyes couldn’t handle the brightness of the hospital room yet, but eventually, they got used to it. She lay in a bed, wearing a hospital gown.

When she raised her head, she spotted three people who stared at her as if she had just risen from the dead. A few seconds ticked by and nobody said anything, too surprised to give a reaction. One of them managed to get over his shock quicker than the others and hurried to her bedside, taking her cold hand. She gazed into his blue eyes, and the first thought that struck her was how gorgeous they were.

“Minji, you’re awake!” he said, visibly relieved. He heaved a sigh and his shoulders sank. “I’ve been waiting an eternity for you to wake up. It’s noon already.”

She studied him for another moment without answering, looking at his white hair and the chain that stretched over his nose. Weird. Instinctively, she pulled her hand away from his grasp and rested it on her stomach. He froze, gazing at her in stunned silence. Maybe he looked a bit hurt, but it was hard to tell. Unsure what to do, Minji looked at her friends Jisoo and Yixing instead, but they were at a loss for words.

“I understand if you’re mad at me, and I want you to know that I’m very sorry about what happened,” the white-haired man said, regaining her attention. She frowned deeply.

“Who even are you?” she countered, more than a little upset. She didn’t understand why Yixing and Jisoo would let a stranger enter this room and stand so close to her. A heavy silence fell over the room. The man now looked uncomfortable and distraught at the same time. He furrowed his brows, curled his hands to fists.

“Why would you ask that?” he finally replied. His voice was different from before, glazed with sadness.

“What do you mean?” she said, irritated. “I’ve never seen you before. Why are you here? It’s creeping me out, to be honest.”

“Are you joking?” he asked helplessly. “This isn’t funny, it really isn’t.”

“Would you please leave?” she countered, losing her cool quickly. She didn’t trust this person one bit and that he was so close made her uncomfortable. She looked at Yixing for help, and thankfully he reacted immediately.

“Why don’t we tell the nurse you woke up, Minji? A doctor should speak to you soon,” Yixing said, taking the stranger’s wrist and pulling him out of the room. Jisoo followed them, sending Minji a smile over her shoulder. It didn’t reach her eyes.

“We’re back in a moment,” she said, and then they were gone.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, Baëkhyun lost his nerves. He ran his hand through his hair, cursing under his breath. “, this can’t happen,” he muttered. “This has to be a cruel joke! Why doesn’t she remember me?”

Yixing didn’t answer, quickly hurrying after the next nurse he saw and informing her that Minji was awake. Consequently, the nurse sent one of the doctors to the hospital room, but he asked them to wait outside.

Baëkhyun’s emotions were a wild vortex, a mix between anger and desperation. However, he tried his best to keep them under control. After all, she was able to feel them too, and if she really didn’t remember him, then she wouldn’t remember their bond and anything connected to it either. He didn’t want to make things harder for her than they already were.

“It’s a ing nightmare,” he said, frustratedly crossing his arms. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Calm down and wait. Maybe it’s not as bad as it seems,” Yixing said.

“Easy for you to say. She didn’t forget you,” Baëkhyun replied and threw him an accusing glare.

“Perhaps she injured her head when you fought the blood mage,” Yixing sighed. “Wait for what the doctor will tell us.”

Many minutes passed. To the three of them, it felt like the wait was endless. The longer it held on, the more restless they became. Baëkhyun leaned against the wall, scowling deeply, while Jisoo attempted to distract herself with her phone. Yixing was the most composed of them, but even he grew increasingly impatient.

After a grueling thirty minutes, the door finally opened and the doctor returned. His expression was serious. It was apparent that something was up.

“Are you Lee Minji’s friends?” he asked right away, and they answered yes, eager to hear an update on the situation.

“I spoke to her just now, and the issue is clear to me. She is suffering from dissociative amnesia. This type of memory loss is typically caused by overwhelming stress or trauma. While she remembers her name and who she is, all recent memories are gone,” the doctor said, taking a look at his notes. “Fortunately, this condition is only temporary. In other cases of dissociative amnesia, patients have recovered all of their memories either on their own or through specific triggers and therapy.”

“So she will be fine?” Baëkhyun asked.

“Yes. It’s hard to say for how long it will last, whether it will be a few hours, a week, or longer, but I’m confident that she will remember soon,” he said. “Does she live alone?”

“No, she lives with me,” Baëkhyun replied. “I’m her boyfriend.”

“I see, then we ought to talk about the treatment she should receive from now on. There are different ways to go about it. How about we talk in my office?”

Baëkhyun agreed, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. While he followed the doctor, Yixing and Jisoo opted to stay with Minji instead. They reentered the hospital room and found her sitting on her bed, staring down at her hands with a frown on her face.

“Minji,” Jisoo said to get her attention. She and Yixing came to stand next to the bed, smiling at her.

“Oh, you’re back,” Minji said, tentatively mirroring their smiles.

“How are you feeling? The doctor told us you don’t remember what happened in the past months,” Jisoo said cautiously, waiting for her reaction.

“That’s what he told me too. It’s weird though. I don’t feel like anything is missing… The last date I can recall is… sometime in May?” she mumbled unsurely.

“I see… it’s November now,” Jisoo said. Minji thought she looked worried, and so did Yixing. It bothered her that she didn’t see the full picture. She got the impression that she had forgotten crucial details about her life.

“I don’t remember where those injuries come from either. Can you tell me?” she asked.

“You… you had an accident,” Yixing said slowly. Minji knew in a second that this wasn’t the whole truth. She had known him for years, and it was rare to hear him speak with hesitation.

“What kind of accident?” she prodded.

Jisoo and Yixing sighed in unison. “You slipped and fell down a stair,” Jisoo explained, but she was omitting something. Minji saw through her easily.

“You’re acting strangely,” Minji muttered, feeling upset that they were keeping secrets from her now. Weren’t they close friends? Shouldn’t she be able to trust them? Everything that had happened since she had woken up had been peculiar, to say the least. What bothered her most was that white-haired guy who had been in her room earlier.

“Who is that man from before, by the way?” she asked. “Why would you let a stranger in here?”

Yixing and Jisoo exchanged a long glance before any of them answered her. “He’s far from a stranger,” Yixing said. “You forgot about him. All memories you share with him were made in the time span you can’t recall.”

“You should ask him about the details later, okay?” Jisoo smiled. “You can trust him. That’s what you should keep in mind for now.”

“Are you sure?” she asked unconvincedly. If she had learned anything in her life, then it was that she shouldn’t put blind trust in men she didn’t know.

“Yes,” Yixing added. “He is living with you… and you are very close.”

“Living…. With me?” Minji stuttered. Astonishment flickered over her face. What in the world had happened these past months? It sounded like she had become a completely different person.

Their conversation came to a halt w