A cool pressure on my cheek woke me up.

Wincing in pain, as it was still tender to the touch, I shifted a bit in my tired daze. I became aware of someone sitting directly next to my body, making the mattress sink just a bit.

My eyes flew open (well, eye, seeing as one seemed to be swollen shut) and came in contact with two large almond ones staring back at me. A soft, sad smile broke onto his smooth face and my heart froze in my chest. An ice-cold feeling settled in my stomach.

“Taemin-oppa,” I whispered, half in disbelief. His eyes softened at the name.

“Jiyeon-ah,” he murmured back just as softly and repositioned the cool cloth on my eye. I let out a small whimper. “She did a job this time, huh?” I felt his thumb brush across my skin, so gently that it didn’t hurt the bruised area at all, and I found myself unconsciously leaning into the touch.

“How…?”

“Samsoon-ssi called. She heard yelling in here last night and came to check on you this morning. When she saw your face she called with your phone,” Taemin explained calmly. Ah, Cho Samsoon, our longtime maid. She’d always taken quite a liking to Taemin. “There was a time when you used to call me after these fights, you know.”

I watched Taemin’s eyes turn toward the floor and I felt a sinking in my gut. Why had he even come? After everything… Did he not remember?

“Tae-“ I moved to sit up but the second the pressure increased on my swollen eye I let out a loud whimper of pain and fell back to the sheets.

“Jiyeon-ah! Be careful,” Taemin chastised, removing the cloth and helping me sit up. I felt a soft throbbing in my eye and cheek as gravity and my blood flow changed. Then Taemin pressed the cloth to my eye again, which I now realized held ice, and my skin slowly began to numb. “You should have iced this last night. It wouldn’t be so swollen,” he admonished. I smiled softly, but soon felt my face falling into a sad frown again. If he didn’t remember, I had to tell him. I had to.

Softly, I placed my palm over his and squeezed. I missed the way his skin felt under mine, how warm it was. How comforting.

“Oppa,” I whispered and looked into his eyes with my one good one. Taemin made a weak sound in his throat, almost half way between a whimper and grunt, and let his eyes drop to the floor. As if he already knew what I was going to ask. “Do you remember what happened that night? The night of the party?”

Taemin visibly stiffened and, though his eyes remained on the floor, his eyebrows furrowed and I saw his bottom lip catch between his teeth.

“Don’t." It was a plea.

“Taemin-oppa, we have to-“

“Don’t.”

“But-“

“Song Jiyeon!” he cut me off forcefully and dropped the cloth in his hand.  He retreated from the bed, crossing his arms in front of his chest as if to protect himself. From what? From me? “Don’t do this,” he whispered. His eyes were on me now. Dark and wild and… scared?

After a few moments Taemin approached the bed again and gathered the ice back into the washcloth. He pressed it softly to my cheek and replaced his hand with my own.

“I have to get back to my schedule,” he said softly. “Feel better, okay? I’ll see you soon.” And with that he kissed me on the forehead and left the room. I just stared after him in silence. That reaction only meant one thing.

He remembered.

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Hello, all!

So there's not really too much left to this story. Maybe two parts, three at the most.

How is it going? Do you enjoy it? Let me know comments, questions, concerns. I like to hear back; even really short comments.

Thanks so much for reading. ^_^