“Hyung! Promise to come back!” Kibum had his arms wrapped around Jinki’s waist, and the older boy chuckled a little as he ruffled the younger’s hair.

“I have to; your parents are my doctors, remember?” Kibum pulled back a little bit to see him, and Jinki gave a smile. “I’ll come back to see you even after I’m better though, okay?” Kibum nodded eccentrically before hugging Jinki tight again. “And Kibum, I never said thanks to you. If you hadn’t found me, I’d probably be dead by now.”

“Don’t say that.” Kibum’s voice was muffled from his face being pressed into Jinki’s shirt, but the tears in his voice could still be heard. “Never say that.”

“Okay Kibum, okay. But I’ll be back soon, and your mother has my phone number if you ever want to call me, okay?” The boy nodded before finally letting go of Jinki. As he stepped back, the tears in his eyes were visible, but he tried to be strong and not let it show. Even as one fell down his face, Kibum didn’t move to wipe it away.

With the help of Minho and Jonghyun, Jinki was able to get into his mother's car and seated with enough space for the large cast on his leg. Taemin closed the door behind the leader, but as soon as the car was on, the window was opened all the way and Jinki was smiling and waving at the family that took care of him. The band van took off first, followed by Jinki’s, but he still waved until the family was too far away to see.

Satisfied, he finally closed the window and leaned back in the seat. It’s good to be going home. But what’s going to be different from what I remember?

“Where are we going? Do we have a new house or something?” The fact that Jinki just accepted that he wouldn't remember the last eight years broke his mother’s heart and his simple questions that he should know the answers to only helped that process.

“We’re going to your apartment. You share it with your friends and the managers. It’s better fit for you having room and people around than our house, since your father and I work so much.” They pulled into the parking lot under the apartment building and Jinki could only watch as the idols he was supposed to be friends with piled out of their car. Jonghyun told Key something as soon as they were out and the younger huffed a little before grabbing Taemin’s arm and running towards the elevator. The singer shouted something back at him and got a yell back before Key huffed again but stalked towards the stairs.

Jinki couldn’t help but smile at the scene, but the mood was broken as soon as his mother shut off the car and Minho opened the door. Jinki tried to climb out of the car with little help, but that didn’t quite work. Much to his embarrassment, he was unable to even move from the seat without hurting something. Minho gave a little smile before wordlessly lifting his hyung. Jonghyun was already there with crutches so that Jinki could stand on his own when Minho set him back down. “Thanks…”

“No problem, hyung. We’re just glad you are back.” Minho gave an awkward smile before looking at Jonghyun, who nodded at him to do something else. “Ready to go to our dorm?”

Jinki nodded and the trio made their way to the elevator, where Jinki’s mother was already standing.

It was silent, none of them really knowing what to say. To Jinki, pretty much everyone was a stranger; to the others, this new Jinki was an unknown person as well. It was eventually the ding of the elevator arriving on the floor that broke the silence, and then the sound of the lift as they went up. But they still weren’t talking.

When they reached the floor, Jonghyun led the way through the hall to their apartment. The door was open, and Key yelling at Taemin to clean faster could be heard even in the hall. Jinki smiled a little once again while Jonghyun and Minho bit back groans, fearing what the inside of the dorm would look like. Is this really what they are like? We’d be a misfit group of friends, but it would definitely work somehow.

They walked inside the dorm and Key froze as soon as they entered, still holding a bag of trash and in the middle of throwing dishes into the dishwasher. After a few seconds, it dawned on him that they were actually there, and he dropped all that he was holding. “We didn’t get to clean up much…”

Jinki glanced around the apartment, taking it all in. It wasn’t that dirty, but he could tell that people lived there. His eyes caught on the trophies taking up much of the space on a table in the living room, taking each of them in, before looking around more. “Nice apartment.” He looked down the hall at a few doors before turning back to the members. “I used to live here with you guys?”

Key practically broke down at that question, and it took both Jonghyun and Taemin to calm him down enough to be quiet. Jinki only stood there confused, before looking to Minho to ask what he did wrong. “You’re our leader. The fact that you would have to ask something like that…” He couldn’t finish the thought. “Everyone’s been waiting for you to come back from the military for over a month now, but when you come back early, you can’t remember us, your closest friends and brothers. Think of how hard that is.”

And Jinki tried, but it was hard to put yourself in a place like that until it actually happens, and he just couldn’t. He looked from Key, who was still sniveling away while being comforted by Jonghyun and Taemin, to Minho, who was just watching everyone silently, to the two boys helping Key. I should know you, but I don’t. Please, help me remember.

Jinki looked around the bedroom at the others sleeping in their beds, but he couldn’t fall asleep. Sharing the room with four others was too new for him, even though he knew it shouldn’t be. He was looking around the room without leaving the bed when his eyes caught on a pair of glasses that vaguely seemed familiar in his mind, but Jinki didn’t know where from. After trying to ignore the feeling for a while, he eventually gave in and stood on his good leg before using the other beds to hop to the dresser where they were. Picking up the glasses, he carefully unfolded them before putting them on, amazed when the world came into perfect clarity.

“Those were yours. You left them, saying you would have to come back to get them then.” Jinki jumped at the voice in the silent room, barely catching himself on the dresser to not fall.

“I thought you were asleep…” Key was leaning on the edge of the bunk bed staring at Jinki, telling him straight out that he was wrong.

“I thought you were too until you got up.” He climbed over the edge of the bed and dropped down silently, grabbing Jinki’s crutches by the bed on his way. “Let’s talk in the kitchen to not wake any of them.”

“It’s too late for that…” Jonghyun’s half-asleep groan in the pillow startled both of them, and the both quickly gave a quiet apology before hurrying out of the room. Neither wanted to face the wrath of anyone they woke.

“Sit.” Key nodded to one of the chairs around the table but didn’t sit himself, instead grabbing a box of something from the fridge and stuffing it into the microwave. Jinki tried to balance the crutches on the wall and then sit in the chair, but the crutches kept sliding and then it was just awkward trying to sit with the cast.

With a little smile at the Onew Sangtae, Key grabbed the crutches and leaned them on the wall himself before helping Jinki sit comfortably in the chair. “Thanks…”

“You’ve helped all of us so many times, it’s the least I can do.” The microwave beeped and Key grabbed the box of something out from it before setting it down on the table and finally opening it. It was filled with chicken, and Jinki’s mouth was watering at it. “Eat. We both know you want to.”

He didn’t have to be told again, grabbing a large piece from the top and biting right into it. Key took one piece to eat slowly, watching as Jinki turned back to the Onew he knew. “Why are you still up?”

Jinki’s question startled him a little, but Key knew it was coming at some point. “I couldn’t sleep.” He knew what was coming next and answered it before it was asked. “I act like I’m sleeping because I will eventually fall asleep. It’s a habit I’ve had for a while.” He was silent as Jinki ate more of the chicken, while Key barely nibbled on his own. “Why were you up?”

“I’m not used to sharing a room with other people…” Jinki said it quietly, a little afraid of how Key was going to react to it.

The diva was quiet for a few seconds before he nodded, surprising Jinki. “I’m not surprised. I wouldn’t be able to sleep like that either.” But you should be past this point already.

The managers came the next morning, while Jinki was sitting on the couch as the others ran around to get ready for some sort of schedule. As the two walked inside the apartment, he hurried to stand, bowing as best he could without his casted leg touching the ground. “H-hello.”

They froze and stared at Jinki, neither having any idea he was there or why. “Onew… What are you doing here?”

The manager’s voice resounded throughout the dorm and the others all froze before racing to the living room at once, but Jinki answered before anyone could stop him. “Do I know you?”

The four all paused as they reached the room; the damage was already done. Jonghyun stepped forward to place a hand on both managers’ shoulders. “Why don’t we explain in the kitchen?”

“You are explaining this right here, right now.” Neither let themselves be pulled away, still staring at Jinki, who shrunk a little under their gazes. “What is going on?”

“You might want to sit down for this. And even if you don’t, Jinki, you better sit your back down on that couch before I make you.” Key stared down the leader until he finally did, and the managers eventually took chairs in the room as the band members crammed onto the couch and one armchair.

Jonghyun sighed as he tried to think how to phrase this, but it shocked everyone when Jinki spoke up first. “According to the family who helped me and these guys, I got into some accident and lost my memory. Along with some other injuries.”

He was overly blunt with it, but all Jonghyun could do was shrug and nod along, not coming up with any other way to word it. But when the stares of the managers shifted to him, he was trying again. “Onew-hyung got in an accident with his Jeep in the army and was found by the son of two doctors, who took care of him, obviously.” He cleared his throat and even had to look away from the managers to say the next part. “But, um… he hit his head at some point and has no memory of the last eight years…”

“And he’s here because he’s discharged from his duty and when his mother went to get him, we went along. It was decided it would be best for him to live with us so that something might make him remember more.” What Minho added on the end was new information to Jinki, but he barely showed the shock, just nodding along a little. It was strange being talked about like he wasn’t there.

There was a sigh from both managers, but the band was still watching them closely for a reaction. “Do you remember anything?” Jinki shook his head, and another sigh was let out, deeper this time. “Are you still going to be part of SHINee?”

“Of course he is!” Key, Jonghyun, and Taemin all jumped forward at the same time, and even Minho pitched in his say in that. “We don’t leave a family member behind. Ever.”

But they were ignored as attention was Jinki, who looked down at the floor, drawing a random design with his good foot. “I-I don’t know.” Do I want to be?