A late night drive …

 

Dead at night …

 

A car crash …

 

Blinding pain …

 

Blood … so much blood …

 

The man jerks awake, eyes wide and body heaving. He can vaguely register a beeping sound, incessant but relaxing at the same time. He blinks up at the white ceiling above him, before slowly turning his head and blinking at the blurry image of someone standing next to him, his vision sharpening slowly.

 

“Oh!” a female voice says. “You’re awake! That’s earlier than expected. I should call the doctor.”

 

The patient watches the nurse walk out of the room, her heels looking too thin to be able to support her. He looks back at the ceiling, trying to remember where he is or how he ended up at where he is now. But try as he may, all he gets is a blinding pain instead. Heels clacking against the floor grabs his attention again, and the nurse returns with a man in a white coat behind her.

 

The man – a doctor? – smiles at him, taking the clipboard hung at the foot of his bed and flipping through the records. “Good morning. How are you today, sir?”

 

The patient can only stare blankly. The idea of moving and talking hurts.

 

The doctor chuckles. “It’s completely understandable if you wish to remain quiet, sir. After all, you just came out from a car accident. You woke up earlier than expected and that’s good.”

 

He hums to himself, stopping abruptly when he turns over a new page.

 

“Doctor?” the nurse goes forward, worried. “Doctor Kim, what’s wrong?”

 

The doctor looks at the patient then at the clipboard and back to him again. “Um … what did you say your name was?”

 

The patient blinks. “My … my name?” he asks, throat croaky for speaking the first time. He swallows, head pounding. “I didn’t.”

 

“And what is your name, sir?”

 

“I …” he blinks again. “I don’t remember.”

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m a mess, ge,” Zitao grips tightly at his hair. “My body won’t take my meds, I can’t eat, I can’t sleep …” He flumps onto the table, groaning in defeat. “I don’t know what to do.”

 

Joonmyun hums and taps Zitao’s head with his chopsticks. Zitao yelps and brushes off the bits of food and noodles on his hair. “Well, maybe you should stop forcing your body to do what it doesn’t want to. There are limits, and I think your body’s just feeling stressed. Go and take a break or something. Go bug Yifan or Luhan to go buy you something. Maybe then your body will be relaxed.”

 

Zitao pouts, terribly in Joonmyun’s opinion. “You’re a terrible therapist.”

 

Joonmyun chuckles. “And that’s why I’m a doctor.”

 

The cafeteria door opens and Jongin strolls in, worry on his usually carefree features. “Joonmyun, can I talk to you?” Unlike Zitao, Jongin doesn’t find it necessary to refer to his seniors using honorifics. It was insulting at first, but it dawned on Joonmyun later that it’s Jongin (offending) way of considering everyone his friend upon first introduction.

 

“Of course,” Joonmyun stands up, shooing Zitao away. Zitao pulls a face and decides to buy himself some ice cream and dump it on Joonmyun’s head to make himself feel better. “What is it?”

 

“It’s about that patient who was in a car accident over a week ago,” Jongin passes him the clipboard. “He just woke up.”

 

“Really?” Joonmyun smiles. “That’s good.”

 

Jongin shakes his head. “Not really.” He flips through the clipboard in Joonmyun’s hands and points at one of the diagnosis. “Look, the hippocampus and temporal lobes in his brain are severely damaged from the accident. We were able to patch them up, but he forgot everything, right down to his name and age.” He shrugs helplessly. “We can’t call anyone to help him, and he lost his wallet during the crash.”

 

“Yes, I can see that’s a problem …” Joonmyun mutters to himself, chewing on his lower lip. “Bring me to him. I’ll see if there’s anything I can do.”

 

Jongin nods and leaves the cafeteria, Joonmyun hot on his heels.

 

 

 

 

 

The patient is alone in his room, eyes dizzy from staring at the ceiling too long. The look on the doctor’s face after telling him he doesn’t remember his name was priceless. It would’ve been funny if it wasn’t so worrying. He tries to rack his mind. Why can’t he remember his name, his age, his friends, his life? Why can’t he remember anything?

 

The door creaks open and a new doctor steps in, smiling at him. The patient feels himself hitching in a breath. This doctor is really really cute. And so is his smile, which is a huge plus in his books. Well, not that he remembers what’s in his books, but he now lists “cute doctor + cute smile” in them.

 

“Good morning,” he says in a soft voice. The patient finds himself blushing. “I am the head doctor of Doctor Kim Jongin’s team, Doctor Kim Joonmyun. How are you today?”

 

The patient looks away, focusing on his hands. “U-um, well, considering how I’ve lost my entire database of memories, I’ve been better.” He smiles down at his hands.

 

Joonmyun raises his brows. “You’re taking this extremely well for someone who’s suffering from retrograde amnesia.”

 

The patient shrugs again. “What can I say? I have a …” he mumbles the rest of his sentence. Joonmyun only catches the words “calm down” and “cute doctor”, allowing an amused smile to grace his face. “So what’s retrograde amnesia?” the patient asks when his blush went down (only by a little, though).

 

“Well, retrograde amnesia, or also known as RA, is what we call the inability to recall memories before the onset of amnesia,” Joonmyun says, a hint of pity in his smile. “So that means you can’t remember anything before the accident.”

 

The other man sighs. “I figured as much. I mean, I don’t even remember my name.” He suddenly looks hopeful, looking up to Joonmyun for the first time. “Is there anything with me, though? Like … like a card or a piece of paper that has my basic information or something?”

 

Joonmyun shakes his head regretfully, feeling even more horrible when the light in the other man’s eyes dies and his smile fades away. “I’m sorry. But you’ve lost your wallet during the accident. All your stuff is gone. I don’t even know where you live.”

 

The patient sighs again. “It’s fine. I mean, I sort of expected that.”

 

Joonmyun furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “You have?”

 

The other shrugs. “No. Just trying to make myself feel a little better.”

 

“Did it work?”

 

He blinks a couple times at Joonmyun. “Not really.”

 

Joonmyun grins. “You’re really something.”

 

 

 

 

 

For the meantime, Joonmyun had dubbed the patient as Kitty, the man’s cat-like features the most distinctive to remember. For the rest of the day, Joonmyun tries to get Kitty to remember anything personal, his age, his birthday, heck even his favorite colors will be just fine.

 

“I give up,” Kitty groans, flopping back against the bed. “I can remember only logical things, like one plus one is two and a square having four sides, but I can’t remember anything about my life. I don’t know my age, my name, where I live …” He covers his face in his hands. “I don’t even remember what my favorite foods are!”

 

Joonmyun smiles at that, standing up so suddenly that it makes Kitty peek at him through his fingers. “Well, luckily for you, I can help with the last one. The hospital cafeteria has a wide range of foods for you to choose from.” Kitty continues to stare at him, not getting it. Joonmyun resists the urge to roll his eyes. “I have decided that this will be your activity for the day – discovering … er … rediscovering your favorite foods.”

 

Kitty’s hands slip from his face, and he looks stunned. “Really? You’ll help me? A man you don’t even know?”

 

Joonmyun can only chuckle at the other’s expression. “You’re my patient.” The I sort of claimed you after Jongin showed you to me remains unsaid and he would like for it to stay that way. “I’m supposed to make you better in any possible way.”

 

Kitty coughs, a light pink spilling onto his cheeks. “Really? Y-you’ll do that?”

 

“Of course,” Joonmyun pats Kitty’s head. “You’re my patient,” he repeats.

 

“T-thank you, Joonmyun-sshi,” Kitty whispers.

 

Joonmyun’s fingers tread through Kitty’s hair. “It’s not a problem at all.”

 

Kitty smiles shyly up at him and oh there goes Joonmyun’s heart. He’s adorable, and Joonmyun’s glad that Jongin let him take over without any protest.

 

 

 

 

 

“Kitty?” Zitao repeats with wide eyes and an equally wide mouth. “ing Kitty?”

 

“Yes!” Joonmyun snaps, exasperated as he watches the cafeteria ladies pile food onto his tray. “What’s so bad about Kitty?”

 

“Um, other than the fact that you decide to name him Kitty?” Jongin joins in, pushing his way through and shoving Zitao to the side. “You’ve only known him less than a day and you renamed him as a domestic house pet!”

 

“Well, what other choice did I have?” Joonmyun sighs, snatching the tray away once he deemed it was filled with enough food. “He looked like a cat, and it was the first thing that popped to my head!”

 

“We don’t call Zitao Kitty!” Jongin continues to argue.

 

“I would’ve beaten you to death if you ever did decide to name me that,” Zitao growls at the side, now wondering what drink to buy along with his food. “Ge, should I buy orange juice or chocolate milk?”

 

“Why not regular milk?” Jongin suggests, side-eyeing Joonmyun. “That way we can already feed Joonmyun’s Kitty.”

 

“Leave it alone, damn it,” Joonmyun glares. It’s highly uncharacteristic for him to be angry, but he doesn’t like how the two youngest doctors on his team are picking on Kitty. Can he even call them picking on him? Either way, Joonmyun doesn’t like it.

 

“Tell us how it goes!” Zitao calls out as Joonmyun leaves, long fingers wrapped around a small carton of chocolate milk.

 

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Joonmyun mutters under his breath, his doctor coat trailing behind him as he strides out of the cafeteria and back to his – his? – Kitty.

 

 

 

 

 

“Hey, this is really good!” Kitty exclaims with a wide (soup-stained) grin, flicking his tongue out to the soup sticking to the tines of his fork. “What’s this called?”

 

“Ox bone soup,” Joonmyun says from his seat across the hospital room, observing how Kitty responds to the different samples of the food he had brought. So far, Kitty likes everything except for the pineapple and papaya slices. He seemed to have enjoyed the watermelon cubes a lot, refusing to eat anything else until he’s done savoring a cube in his mouth.

 

It’s cute, but now that Joonmyun thinks about it, this can’t really help with Kitty figuring out what his favorite foods are. After all, what if he actually really likes pineapples but the car crash had rewired his brain for him to respond differently to something he already had initial feelings for? That’s a rare case, but they still have to take that into consideration.

 

Joonmyun sighs heavily, causing Kitty to look up at him, cheeks bulging with soup. “I’m sorry,” Joonmyun stands up, running a hand through his hair, “but I don’t really think this is helping.” He takes small strides to Kitty’s bed, patting his head. “For all we know, the old you hated watermelons because of an incident when you were a child and resulted in you not touching a single watermelon your entire life after that, but your now you would like watermelons now because you’re actually giving it a chance because I forced you to.”

 

Kitty stares at Joonmyun for a while, swallowing the soup and smiling warmly at him. He takes Joonmyun’s hand in his and rubs the back of it with his thumb. “Well, I guess you can say that I like watermelons now. Thank you for making it one of my favorite foods.”

 

Joonmyun’s eyebrows crease in confusion. “But this isn’t helping you –”

 

Kitty shrugs. “Who’s to say I want my favorites to stay the same forever? Favorites are like seasons. They can change whenever the person gets a second chance to experience them.” His smile is nothing but radiant in Joonmyun’s eyes. “I think you just made me change my season from winter to spring.”

 

Kitty’s smile is so blinding that Joonmyun resists the urge to snatch his hand away and clutch his beating heart.

 

In the words of the, ever melodramatic, Zitao, be ing still, my heart.

 

Joonmyun learns that Kitty has a small stomach, unable to eat even half of what Joonmyun had brought to him. Maybe he shouldn’t have overdid it. Kitty looks like he’s seconds away from dying of overeating.

 

While Kitty rests his bloated stomach, he focuses out the window, a smile flittering to his lips everytime a bird flies past. It’s late afternoon now, and the sunrays cast a nice, soft orange glow onto Kitty’s face, and he looks absolutely breathtaking. His cheekbones are well-defined in the light and his eyes seem to sparkle even more. Joonmyun wouldn’t stop looking away from Kitty.

 

Kitty seems to be aware of his blatant staring, as he resolutely looks out the window. Whenever Kitty dares to glance behind him and see Joonmyun smiling at him, his face turns a fraction redder everytime and instantly whips his head back to stare out the window. It’s adorable.

 

Joonmyun learns that Kitty can sing well despite not remembering the lyrics. Well, actually he only hummed along when Joonmyun started to sing a children’s lullaby, but his voice is still nice. Joonmyun also learns that Kitty remembers song lyrics the fastest. Maybe he’s a natural fast learner or there’s a permanent storage compartment for songs filed away somewhere in Kitty’s brain that even the car crash can’t touch – either way, Joonmyun’s glad he’s remembering fast.

 

Kitty takes his hand and squeezes it as a silent thank you. He still wouldn’t look at Joonmyun, but Joonmyun can tell that he’s blushing again. He’s seriously too cute, it hurts Joonmyun’s heart.

 

Kitty mumbles in his sleep, Joonmyun also realizes. Watching Kitty eat and hearing him sing songs he had just remembered the lyrics to took a huge part of the day, leaving Kitty exhausted. It was amusing to watch Kitty collapse on the bed and doze off almost immediately.

 

Joonmyun smiles and lays a gentle hand on his head, lightly tapping it once with his finger. He wishes Kitty a mental goodnight and leaves the room silently, closing the door slowly behind him. He should get some sleep too. Taking care of Kitty’s exhausting work. With one final glance at Kitty through the rectangular window, Joonmyun smiles and leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

The next day fared no better in trying to help Kitty regain his memories.

 

While Kitty’s perfectly content in having his favorites changed, if they were even his favorites in the first place, Joonmyun had been adamant in helping him in any way. He had listed down basic colors and Kitty had responded to them with pursed lips and a few moments of silence before hesitantly saying either a yes or a no. When Joonmyun brushed the more specific colors, Kitty either wore a blank look or a confused one. It drove Joonmyun mad.

 

“Don’t you want to know anything that might hint you about your past?” Joonmyun asks exasperatedly.

 

Kitty smiles lightly, fingers fidgeting against each other. “J-Joonmyun-sshi, I’m extremely thankful that you are willing to help me in trying to remember a part of me before I lost my memories, but it’s pointless.” He doesn’t have to look up to know that Joonmyun’s gaping at him. He clears his throat. “I mean no disrespect, Joonmyun-sshi, but I don’t want to remember. I want to learn about myself. It feels like a big adventure, don’t you think?” he smiles up at Joonmyun.

 

“But –”

 

Joonmyun feels like he’s failed his patient.

 

“J-Joonmyun-sshi! I-it’s all right!” Kitty exclaims, flustered as he pats Joonmyun’s head, the latter sobbing face-down on his blankets. “I don’t mind! You know you don’t really have to do this.”

 

“But I have to,” Joonmyun sniffs, a pout on his lips when he pulls away. “You’re my patient. I have to make sure you’re always in the best condition.”

 

Kitty breaks out into a grin, laughing through his nose. “Best condition? I think my best condition was before the car crash.”

 

It’s obvious he’s trying to make his accident as light-hearted as possible. It’s a brave thing to do, and Joonmyun berates himself for pushing Kitty to try and remember his favorites. Kitty’s absolutely fine, and he actually seems excited to want to relearn about himself. Doctor or not, who’s Joonmyun to try and change that?

 

Joonmyun sighs, rubbing as his temple. “You’re right. I … It’s just that I never failed a patient before –”

 

“And you never have,” Kitty interrupts gently. “You didn’t fail me.”

 

Joonmyun’s heart gives an almighty lurch. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve been alarmed from the sudden pain. But he knows that he doesn’t need to be a doctor to know that it was caused by Kitty’s smile.

 

 

 

 

 

A week and a half had passed since Kitty was first admitted into the hospital. He and Joonmyun grow closer with every encounter, Joonmyun abandoning his original goal of helping Kitty remember his favorites long ago and Kitty laughing with a muttered “finally” under his breath when Joonmyun announced this.

 

Kitty has become much affectionate with Joonmyun too. He literally brightens up whenever Joonmyun enters his room, snuggling into his touch whenever Joonmyun greets him with a pat on his head. He’s shedding his shy demeanor every day, but it’s still there. The faint color on his face is proof enough.

 

“What are we going to be doing today, Joonmyun-sshi?” Kitty asks one day, bouncing excitedly in his bed.

 

Joonmyun closes the door behind him before smiling and producing a book from his back.

 

Kitty narrows his eyes at the title, trying to read it from the far distance. “‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’?”

 

“Yup!” Joonmyun says cheerfully, crossing the room in four long strides and settling on the chair next to Kitty’s bed. Kitty prefers to walk around, but Joonmyun had confined him to the bed. Kitty complied, though not without pouting and grumbling, and Joonmyun has no idea why he had done that. Kitty’s well enough to be able to stand and walk for short distances, thanks to the regular exercises he had been doing in the rehabilitation room. “I used to read this book all the time, but I got promoted and I was called into the hospital a lot, so I didn’t get to read this as often as I used to.”

 

Kitty curiously takes the book from Joonmyun, flipping through the pages and stopping at a random one. “‘Friendship – my definition – is built on two things’,” Kitty reads out loud. “‘Respect and trust. Both elements have to be there. And it has to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don’t have trust, the friendship will crumble.’”

 

Kitty doesn’t look up from the page, even after he’s done reading. “Anything wrong, Ki—” Joonmyun bites his tongue. The other man doesn’t know of his reference to him as a household pet. He clears his throat. “Anything wrong?”

 

Kitty looks up at him. “Joonmyun-sshi, are we friends?”

 

Joonmyun blinks in surprise, obviously not having expected such a question. “What?”

 

“Are we friends?” Kitty repeats. “I really like you, Joonmyun-sshi. You were there for me and kept by my side when others abandoned me …” He slightly bows his head, a light flush on his cheeks. “I – I really treasure your companionship, Joonmyun-sshi. I really hope we’re friends.”

 

Joonmyun softens at the confession and pats Kitty’s head. “Of course we’re friends. I never regarded you otherwise.”

 

Kitty grins so brilliantly that Joonmyun almost shields his eyes from the brightness.

 

It’s only then that Joonmyun had remembered Jongin saying that he had dubbed him as a house pet, realizing what a terrible idea it was to name him that. As though living up to his dubbed named, Kitty had become terribly affectionate within the week. Joonmyun isn’t sure whether it’s part of his nature, if he had developed it during his repercussion, or if he’s naturally touchy with those who he had just confirmed as his friend. Either way, he had spent the better part of his morning the next day to Zitao.

 

“It’s your fault for choosing to be his doctor,” Zitao says, stealing a fry from Joonmyun’s plate when the latter’s distracted with all his crying. “He’s originally supposed to be Jongin’s patient. Dunno why you suddenly stepped in.”

 

“I don’t know why either,” Joonmyun wails. “I was just supposed to see what’s wrong with him and see how I could help, not suddenly take over Jongin’s job!”

 

“Taking care of patients isn’t my job, though,” Jongin says, suddenly appearing on Joonmyun’s side. “You just did that all by yourself.” He spears a broccoli with his fork, regards it for a moment then pops it into his mouth. “But seriously though, Kitty’s the first patient you’ve ever initiated friendly conversation with. I wonder why.”

 

Zitao drops his jaw in scandal when Jongin leans over and swipes his muffin. “Do you think you like him?” He unwraps the muffin and tales a huge bite. “Nah, I think you’re in love with him,” he says, crumbs dropping everywhere.

 

Joonmyun stares at him with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

 

Zitao chews on the end of his straw and kicks Jongin’s shin as a petty revenge for stealing his muffin. “You’re screwed,” he says to Joonmyun, schooling his face into a perfectly neutral expression when Jongin kicks back.

 

“Shut up and eat your vegetables.”

 

That night, Joonmyun stays awake. He keeps tossing and turning in bed, grumbling to himself and punching the pillow to make it soft. After what seemed to be the fifteenth time of punching the already battered up pillow, Joonmyun sits up with a groan. It’s not the pillow that’s keeping him awake, but something else entirely.

 

He can’t stop thinking about Kitty.

 

Okay, yes, Joonmyun admits that he definitely felt something for him, but love? They’ve barely known each for a month. For all he knows, Joonmyun can be have motherly feelings for him. Jongin’s a kid. The only things in his mind are sleep and getting his paycheck. What does he know about love? Definitely not much if he thinks love springs that easily.

 

“Damn it, Kim Jongin,” Joonmyun sighs, running a hand through his hair. He glances at his clock, the luminous red numbers shining a number three and the numbers sixteen after it. It’s just a minute past 3:15am. Surely the hospital wouldn’t mind if Joonmyun suddenly popped in, right?

 

With another sigh, Joonmyun goes to the bathroom.

 

 

 

 

 

“Joonmyun!” Luhan blinks up at him. “What are you doing here?”

 

Joonmyun smiles tiredly at Luhan. They very rarely see each other as their shifts don’t match up. “I couldn’t sleep. Something’s been bugging me. Would you mind if I go take a little look-see at my patient?”

 

Luhan’s mouth suddenly splits into a smirk, his eyebrows waggling like caterpillars. “Why, of course, Joonmyun. Why are you letting me stop you?” he purrs.

 

Joonmyun rolls his eyes. “I just want to see what’s wrong with Kitty.”

 

Luhan’s eyebrows stop wiggling and rise very high, on the verge of disappearing into his hairline. “Kitty? You renamed him, I see.”

 

“Stay away from me, you hormonal e,” Joonmyun growls. Luhan is clearly neither of those things, but that is one of the mildest things Joonmyun has ever called him. Luhan doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, his playful character tends to skyrocket according to the nicknames he’s called. Joonmyun never liked it when that happens, since he’s not really the playful type. He pushes him to Jongin or Zitao, sometimes even to his head supervisor Minseok, instead. Thankfully, Luhan’s too tired to even pretend to play along. Consecutive sleepless nights are never a wonderful thing.

 

“He keeps calling for you, you know?” Luhan says, sitting down heavily with a sigh. “Whenever the door opens and he’s awake, he site up automatically, thinking it’s you. But since you don’t take the night shift, he literally flops back on the bed. It’s really sad.”

 

“I can’t really do anything about it, now can I?” Joonmyun chuckles.

 

Luhan doesn’t smile. He’s too drained to do anything. Joonmyun needs to call Minseok soon and talk him into giving Luhan a week off or something. “The kid likes you. It’s obvious in his eyes whenever I mention you. He looks as if you’re a cross between a fireman who saved him from a burning building and an idol he’s fanboying over.”

 

Joonmyun frowns slightly. “You throw out the word ‘like’ so casually. How are you so sure that he even likes me? You can’t base that from someone’s eyes.”

 

Luhan stands up with a huff, irritated. “Okay, you wanna know? I asked him.”

 

Joonmyun stares at him, eyes wide. “You … what?”

 

“He didn’t even hold it back. It was like watching a dam break. The kid just kept on babbling on and on about how amazing you were in trying so hard to help him remember what he liked before his accident. The kid’s infatuated with you.”

 

“No,” Joonmyun stands up as well. “No, you said he liked me. Infatuated with someone and liking someone are two totally different things.”

 

“Okay, he’s in love with you then,” Luhan rolls his eyes.

 

Joonmyun is quick to shake his head. “No way. It’s barely been two weeks since we known each other. No one can develop feelings for each other that fast.”

 

Luhan throws his hands into the air. “Oh my God! I give up!” He storms down a corridor, stopping halfway to whirl around and glare at Joonmyun. “You want to continue living in denial, fine! Just don’t hurt the poor boy anymore! Don’t brush off someone else’s feelings like they’re nothing, you heartless monster!” He spins back around and continues his trek down the corridor.

 

Joonmyun wants to groan, ignoring the stares people are giving him. He’s used to this. Luhan isn’t the only person who had exploded in his face after he denied someone had feelings for him.

 

 

 

 

 

Kitty cracks an eye open sleepily when the door creaks open. He sits up slowly when he realizes it’s Joonmyun, a sleepy smile on his face. “Joonmyun-sshi …” he greets, rubbing his eyes.

 

“I’m sorry,” Joonmyun frowns. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

 

Kitty shakes his head. “You didn’t wake me up. My eyes were just closed. I was already awake. You and Luhan-sshi have very loud voices.”

 

It just occurred to Joonmyun that Jongdae’s room is only a corridor away from where Luhan had yelled at Joonmyun. Joonmyun isn’t sure whether to turn pale from the fact that Kitty had heard what they were both saying or blush from embarrassment. Probably both.

 

“J-Joonmyun-sshi, what’s wrong with your face?”

 

Joonmyun always knew that he was terrible at multi-tasking.

 

“Are you okay, Joonmyun-sshi?”

 

Joonmyun clears his throat and sits down at the chair always waiting for him. “I’m fine. I just … what did you hear, Kitty?”

 

Kitty shrugs. “Probably everything? I heard Luhan-sshi saying ‘I asked him’ or something like that, and everything after that, so pretty much everyt—” he suddenly stops, looking up at Joonmyun with wide eyes and a blush on his face. “W-what did you just call me, Joonmyun-sshi?”

 

It dawns on Joonmyun just as Kitty asked him. Joonmyun’s face turns a healthy shade of red. “U-uh, nothing! I-it just slipped out!”

 

“Is that …” Kitty’s face turns slightly redder. “Is that what you decided to call me?”

 

“Please don’t get mad?” Joonmyun pleads, dropping to his knees and pressing his palms together.

 

Kitty laughs at the sight and Joonmyun is stunned. It isn’t the first time he’s heard him laugh, but it’s the first time he’s heard him laugh so unrestrainedly. His laugh is high-pitched but it still sounds so lovely in Joonmyun’s ears.

 

“You’re so funny, Joonmyun-sshi,” Kitty says, giggling into his hand. “I don’t mind. It’s …” he smiles shyly, “it’s cute.”

 

Joonmyun stares, standing up slowly. “You’re not mad.”

 

Kitty blinks up at him. “No? I just said I didn’t mind, but –”

 

“No,” Joonmyun interrupts. “You’re not mad … at me for brushing your feelings so carelessly?”

 

Kitty smiles again, though it looks a bit forced. Joonmyun feels horrible that he’s the cause of that. “Of course not. You were right. We don’t really know much about each other. What right do I have to say that I like you?” He laughs to himself.

 

“No, you have all the rights in the world,” Joonmyun takes Kitty’s hands in his. “I’m … I’m just not good with dealing with feelings. I’m sorry.”

 

“Joonmyun-sshi –”

 

“But we can learn about each other!” Joonmyun suddenly says. “You say one thing about yourself and I’ll say the next and –”

 

“I don’t remember anything, remember, Joonmyun-sshi?” Kitty looks positively amused. “Ever since I was in an accident that caused me my memories? And that’s why I’m here?”

 

Joonmyun’s face burns and he releases Kitty’s hands to cover his face. “Oh yeah. I am so sorry.”

 

“You never really accepted anyone’s feelings before, have you?” Kitty asks with a raised brow.

 

“I’m sorry,” Joonmyun apologizes again. “You have a crush on the epitome of fail.”

 

Kitty chuckles. “We can help each other out. And then, we can fall in love the proper name like how you want it.”

 

Joonmyun smiles brightly. “I’d like that.”

 

Kitty rolls his eyes. “I just remembered something. And that something is how terribly cliché that line is.”

 

Joonmyun sputters and pushes a laughing Kitty back on the bed.

 

 

 

 

 

(After much prodding from Kitty, Joonmyun had climbed onto the bed with Kitty on his side. He’s on the verge of sleeping when Kitty suddenly shoots up into a sitting position. “I remember something else!”

 

Joonmyun looks blearily at him, not appreciative of the fact that Kitty had just jolted him awake. “What was that?”

 

“I remember my name!” Kitty squeals. “I’m Jongdae. Kim Jongdae.” Kitty – no, Jongdae smiles proudly at finally having remembered something.

 

“I’m so proud of you,” Joonmyun says sleepily. He really is proud, but honest to God, he’s exhausted. He’ll just be more proud of Jongdae after they wake up. “But seriously, go back to sleep. I’ll have to see your progress with your rehab exercises.”

 

Jongdae obliges happily, snuggling into Joonmyun’s form.

 

“I’m still gonna call you Kitty, by the way.”

 

Jongdae smacks Joonmyun’s arm.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

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- Wow, I totally butchered this prompt and made it a waste of time. I am so sorry ;;
- OP originally wanted Jongdae to be either shy or witty, and I had a hard time choosing between the two. I hope I did him justice.
- But lmao @ calling Jongdae Kitty. Only Joonmyun.
- I apologize for the title ;;