Chapter 6

"It could be Photoshop," Luhan suggested not so helpfully to the author in distress.

Lay could have agreed undoubtedly with his assistant if it was some random person that showed him the photo. But Kris was not just a random person. There was no need for him to lie as there could not be possibly any benefit gain out of him. There should be something more to it.

"Did I mention anything about this to you?" Luhan shook his head in reply.

It was unusual that Luhan does not know anything. The author thought he would have told his best friend everything. Why was he hiding things from his assistant? Lay stared at the photo for the umpteen time, hoping it could trigger his memories. However, nothing came up in his mind. 

He was confused. Why did Kris came with a photo and left without explaining? Why did he just ask him to call him if he remembered something? Was this some sort of test or did he lose his memories too? There were so many questions the author wanted to ask Kris.

Lay googled Kris' name and many related searches came up. It was about his company, his family, his girlfriend and his accident. Accident? He clicked on the article and started reading on it. It was a normal article reporting Kris' accident. What caught his attention was the date that the accident happened. 

It was the same day as his accident.

This was too much of a coincidence. The explanation could be that Lay was in the same car as Kris which would explain why they got into an accident on the same day. However, the reported injury of that car accident was only Kris. There was no mention of another passenger with him. The other explanation could be that the accident involves two cars and he was in the other car. But this would not explain why they know each other.

Damn this is really confusing.

Lay took another good look at the photo to search for other clues. It was when he realized that the location in the photo looks familiar. He remembered he used to visit that particular bookstore to search for his favourite books. It was the only place he could find books of a particular author. Maybe he could go back to search for more clues.

"I am going out," Lay announced to his assistant while grabbing all the necessity and slotting the photo into his backpack.

"What? You are leaving without me?" Lay nodded his head and left the house.

Lay did not want Luhan to come along. The author felt that it was something he should investigate alone. He believed he must have his reasons to hide this relationship from everyone.

Lay arrived at the bookstore which was located in a quiet alley. The author still remembered that he used to rent the space on the second level until he found a place of his own. It was a perfect place to work on his stories as it was quiet and many books were available for research purposes.

"Uncle Hwang!" Lay greeted the bookstore owner whom he had not visited for a long time. 

After catching up with his previous landlord, he went straight into the purpose of his visit, "do you remember this photo?"

Do you remember this photo?" Lay showed him the photos.

The owner took over the photo and took a good look at it. His face brightens as he recounts the story behind the photo. "Yes! It was the first photo my son took with his new camera. I could still remember it was the first time the both of you met and hit off so well. He used to come here every night when you were using the space here. How is he? Do the both of you still meet up?"

Lay was taken aback by the information. He could not believe what he had just heard. It was a confirmation that he knew Kris and they were close friends. But why did he choose to forget about their friendship? The author tries to recall the time he had here but it was all blurry. He took another look at the photo and noticed the timestamp on it. It was the day that they first met. It could mean something. It could be used as the password for the locked folder on his laptop if the files were related to Kris.

He need to try it, there might be more clues.

The author thanked Uncle Hwang and hurried off home.

Lay came home to find the house empty as Luhan had already left. It was a perfect moment to unlock the folder without drawing the attention of his assistant. He still wants to keep their friendship a secret until he recalls everything.  The author quickly switched on his laptop in an attempt to access the locked folder. He entered the date as the password to unlock the folder.

And it worked.

There were photos and several word document saved inside the folder. It was all photos of either Kris or the both of them. One of the photos which caught his eyes was a photo of him kissing Kris on the cheeks. Lay could feel his face turning beet red. We are definitely not just friends only. The author moved on to investigate the documents in the folder. It was a draft of the story he was writing. The title was a secret relationship.

Everything was getting difficult for Lay to comprehend. All the photos and documents were definitely signs that his relationship with Kris was more than just friends. But nothing is confirmed until his memories return.

I should talk to Kris about this.

Kris was working in his study room when his personal phone notifies him of a new message. Not many people knew this number and most have to go through Tao to reach him. He unlocked his phone to find a message sent by an unknown number. 

I found some things that you might be interested in. Meet me. - Yixing

A/N: As promised! Thank you to everyone who commented :D Hopefully the next update is not three years later > < Leave a comment and show your support !!  

08/11/2017