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CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

❝ECHOOFMEMORIES❞

Thered head sighed, adjusting himself in his seat. He glanced down at his wristwatch. He had been here for the past four hours. The smell of anesthetics infiltrated his nose. The annoying, constant beeping noise rang throughout the large lab.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

God, he hated hospitals with a vengeance.

His eyes fell upon the young man who occupied the hospital bed in front of him. His breathing was labored. He clenched and unclenched his bed sheets. His stomach twisted in painful and nauseous ways from glancing at all of the tubes and needles injected into his skin. He didn’t know what was being administered into the young man and wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

The red head fidgeted in his chair. His legs were restless. He was bored. He had been sitting in this same chair, in this same room, in this same building for the past four hours. The young man wasn’t a happy camper. He sighed again, massaging the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes, slouching a bit in his uncomfortable seat. 

Himchan told him to meet him here, but where was he?

“Sunggyu…?” A weak voice called out.

The red head sat up properly, looking over to the young man in the hospital bed next time to him.

“Sunggyu, what are you doing here?” He asked; his voice hoarse.

“I’d like to know that too,” the red head mumbled, frowning. He sighed for a third time before leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “How’re you doing, Boohyun?”

“I’ve been better,” the other chuckled, giving a bright smile to the younger boy.

Even to this very day–Sunggyu still couldn’t understand how despite everything that had happened to him–how could Boohyun still smile like there was no trouble in the world?

“How come you’re here? Not that I’m complaining, though,” Boohyun continued, slowly sitting up in his bed. Sunggyu wanted to help the struggling boy, but he had learned his lesson the first time he had tried to help Boohyun.

“Just ‘cause I’m connected to all these damn wires and it looks like I’m going to drop dead at any given moment doesn’t mean I’m helpless.”

“Himchan told me to meet him here with you, four hours ago,” Sunggyu pouted.

Boohyun laughed, “Himchan has told me many times that he would come to visit me at certain times but never show up till much, much later. You’re his best friend, right? Shouldn’t you be used to this?”

“I should, shouldn’t I?” Sunggyu exhaled.

“What did Himchan want? Why meet here?”

“I’m not too sure. He didn’t specify. He just said, ‘come here at the usual time; I have some great news.’ If he doesn’t hurry up, I’m going to have to go back. I have rounds in the morning.” Boohyun hummed at that.

Both boys grew quiet, stewing in their own thoughts. Sunggyu was curious about what Himchan wanted to tell him and Boohyun.

Not only curious but worried.

Himchan hadn’t been looking too well as of late. He has been dropping more and more weight, his skin turning a ghastly pale white. He’s been looking like a walking corpse, and Sunggyu was scared for the younger.

After being introduced to Boohyun a couple of months back, Sunggyu and Himchan had been making regulars visits to the older boy for a few hours at the dead of night. Even though both Sunggyu and Himchan were high-ranking soldiers and they can get away with walking around the base and being in certain off-limit areas after curfew, the labs he was currently in were forbidden to even someone of his status.

Only certain personnel had access to this room. Himchan had access since these labs were solely dedicated to Project K.O.T but that didn’t mean he could go meandering about after midnight. It took a lot of planning and sneaking around for Himchan to get Sunggyu a copy of his keycard so that the latter had access to the labs as well.

“Have I ever told you of the time my brother and I went to the park and he fell in the pond?” Boohyun broke the silence. A small smile played on his lips.

Sunggyu shook his head, leaning back in his chair. He always loved hearing Boohyun’s stories. The way the other explained everything with such vivid detail, Sunggyu could almost imagine himself standing there in his time watching the event as they were untold.

“Well, there’s this beautiful park close to where we lived. Remember how I told you it was kind of a pain living and dealing with my mom? When it all became too much to handle, and when it was obvious that my little brother was bothered by my mom’s actions, I’d take him to this park to cool off some steam. At the park, there is this enormous pond in the middle that have these small pipes jutting out from the bottom of the lake that shot out a small stream of water every couple of minutes. So it was kind of like a pond and a fountain at the same time, I guess.

“Anyway, this one time, my brother–he was like ten at the time, and I was fourteen, I think– was feeding some ducklings at the pond–there was, like, four of them–and…” he trailed off for a moment, cackling suddenly. “I left him alone for, like, a couple of minutes to buy some snacks. I didn’t even get a chance to buy anything because the moment I turned around, he started screaming. I heard this huge splash, and I turned around only to see my brother flapping around in the lake with a swarm of swans and geese chasing after him. I had to record it! It was too damn funny–you should had saw his face!”

Sunggyu couldn’t stop the grin that formed on his face as he watched Boohyun laugh uproariously over his little story. He couldn’t decide what was funnier: hearing his brother being attacked by ducks or watching Boohyun try and retell it while laughing the entire time.

To say that Sunggyu enjoyed spending time with Boohyun was understatement. If he could, he would stayed by the elder’s side all the time, listening to his stories. When Himchan had first introduced him to Boohyun, he was a bit hesitant at first. He had heard some details about what Project K.O.T was about it, and he had listened to some of the rigorous training and procedures Himchan had to go through for the project to be successful, but he honestly thought that the process of time traveling was just some sort of cover up for whatever YG and his people were planning next for South Hallow and their enemies. But when he had met Boohyun and had learned of who he was and the time he had came from, he started to truly-as Himchan had put it- open his eyes.

After Boohyun’s laughter died down, he grew quiet, looking down. He clutched his bedsheets, frowning slightly. “I miss him, Sunggyu. I miss him so much.”

“I’m sure you do,” Sunggyu reached out and patted Boohyun’s back. He wished he could say more for the other, but Sunggyu was never really good at consoling others. It didn’t help that he didn’t really know what it felt like to be separated from a younger sibling that you had loved and doted on most of your life. Sure, there were the other children in the orphanage that his mother had raised and taken care of, but they were just other kids. And it had been seven years since then. He barely remembered any of their names and faces.

But he did know what it felt like to lose a family member in general.

“He must think I hate him…”

“Why would you say that?”

“First I left him all alone with our mother. It was hard enough for the both of us to equally deal with her and her antics, but I left him, and he had to handle her all on his own. And now…  I can’t even be there for him at all. He must think I hate him or something.

“During our last conversation, I asked him to come live with me. I didn’t want him living in that toxic environment any longer. But he refused, though. He said, ‘we’re all she has left in this world. If I leave too, who will take care of her? Who will love her? She’s sick; and she may not love us, but she’s still our mother. I can’t leave her alone.’ That was the last night I saw him, Sunggyu. And how long has it been since I’ve been snatched from my time? Six months? I’ve lost count. He probably thinks I’ve abandoned him.”

“Don’t say that.” Sunggyu consoled. “From what you’ve told me, it sounds like he loves you a lot. He cherishes you deeply. I’m sure he’s more worried about what happened than thinking you hate him...”

“You’d really like him, Sunggyu,” Boohyun mumbled. “I’m sure you two would be good friends. My brother, he’s clumsy and stupid and cries a lot and he always gets into serious trouble because of that mouth and sharp tongue of his, but he’s a sweetheart and always tries to please those around him.”

“Honestly, he sounds like someone I’d immediately punch in the face upon first meeting.”

Boohyun gave a hearty laugh at Sunggyu’s comment, but his face suddenly contorted into pain and began coughing and hacking. One hand clutched his bedsheets, while Boohyun’s other hand pressed against his mouth, smothering the sound.

Sunggyu quickly stood up, looking for anything to give the younger to help deal with the sudden coughing. Before he could leave, though, Boohyun reached out for Sunggyu, stopping him in his tracks.

“No, don’t,” he wheezed through his hacking. “I’m fine; I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine to me,” Sunggyu scowled. Boohyun shook his head again, covering his mouth as the coughing persisted. The redhead reluctantly sat back