“I can’t believe it, we’re finally going back to Korea! It’s been so long.” You explained to your friend for the millionth time.

You could see the anger built up in her face from you mentioning this again, but for the past month, this was all you could think about. Your mother gave you a surprise birthday present of two tickets to  South Korea, one for you and a friend. And, you couldn’t be happier or more excited! It had been two whole years since your last trip there, and because of this apparent and silly boat accident you never even saw, you had been told you couldn’t return back to Korea for a while. Little did you know ‘a little while’ would be two whole ing years.

“Calm down ___! I know it’s been a while, but we need to hurry on the plane. If you act like this all the way through the plane ride, I swear, I’ll kill you.” Taken aback by the sudden outburst from your friend that smashed your train of excitement, she grasped one of your wrists with her spare hand and pulled you along the plane. Maybe you should stop now.

“Okay.” You mumbled, slightly disappointed that your friend didn’t feel the pure happiness you did about the trip. You were so sure she would love it. But, as you leaned back in your seat and stared out the plane window, you couldn’t contain that smile of excitement that bubbled up from your stomach.

Next stop, South Korea.

~

I’m here. I’m really here!

You stepped out onto Korean soil and flung your bag onto your shoulder in one swift movement. Your friend walked in front of you with a complementary roll of her eyes that said ‘Say one more thing, and I will bury you alive.’ You knew your friend well enough to know, that when she’s tired, you shouldn’t raise a single sound.

As much as you tried, you really did try, to keep quiet during the plane ride, you still found yourself giddy with excitement, turning into a little babbling child that couldn’t shut up. Combine you with the jet lag of the 11 hour flight, you get a really pissed off friend.

A grin spread across your face as you remembered what you had planned for the big day tomorrow. Both being massive EXO fans, you had managed to save up just enough money to buy two EXO concert tickets for after your arrival. Hoping this would cheer her up, you scampered after your friend to the hostel. You were way more tired than you both would admit.

~

Before you knew it the sun had risen and you were wide awake. Always the impatient child, every celebratory day, you would be the first one to jump up from your bed in the morning to loudly shout everyone else awake. Today was no different from that case. Rolling from your bed, you stood up and shook your friend awake.

“Wake up ___!”

“What is it now?!” Your friend groggily replied, twisting herself further into the blankets, away from your pestering hands.

“It’s our first day in Korea and you’re asking me why I’m waking you up? Get your stuff, we’re leaving in 20 minutes!”

~

You carefully observed as the clock hand struck at exactly 30 minutes.

“Hey! Come on, I said 20 minutes. I can’t believe you. How much time do you need to get dressed?!”

“I forgot my phone, okay? Jeez, calm down.” Your friend, rushed out with a look of annoyance.

You were glad your hostel had a storage space, otherwise you would have lost the tickets the second you got there. The hostel room was a chaotic mess of  baggage and clothing strewn everywhere in sight, along the floor, on top of dressers, even over the bed-side lamp. It had taken your friend an extra 10 minutes just to find her phone in the clutter. Luckily for you, as soon as you awoke your friend, you had ran down to the clear storage locker and fetched the pair of tickets to shove into the back pocket of your jeans, later.

“Where are we going, anyway?” Your friend asked, glancing up from her phone screen.

“Guess.”  Deciding to break it to her gently, you gave her one chance to guess. A puzzled look fell across her face as she just shrugged.

“I’ve got no idea.”

“I knew you’d never guess. Me, your favourite person in the world, is about to make our dreams come true.” You squeaked, stopping to turn to your friend with a wide smile, “You and me are going to see EXO. Tonight! FRONT ROW TICKETS!”

Silence.

Well, that’s not the reaction you expected.

Your friend’s face darted to your own, her eyebrows scrunched together with what you guessed was shock. Waving a hand in front of her stilled expression, you tried to snap her out of it.

“Isn’t that great?” You beamed. Gulping, she smiled, the clearly forced grin not meeting her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s great.”

Something wasn’t right. You and your friend had always fangirled over the idea of finally getting the chance to go and see EXO in real life, not just on both of your 2D laptop screens, and now this was the reaction she had? Trying to not let it bother you, you forced a smile, as well. Maybe she was just tired and shocked? She would cheer up soon.

Afterall, this was the first time you’d ever gotten the chance to go to an EXO concert - potentially the last. An amazing opportunity like this cannot be ruined by some mild excuse such as tiredness.

~

You and your friend had soon gone out and gotten new outfits after the big reveal. Your hair was on point, for a change, yet the nagging sight of your friend’s unsure smile still seemed to ruin the atmosphere. You simply couldn’t ignore it. Knowing her for years, this was the first time you couldn’t read the expression on her face.

“What the is wrong with you!? We’re here, finally at an EXO concert, and you’re sitting there like I just punched you in the face!” You didn’t want to start an argument - no, not tonight - but you had, had enough.

“I’m just tired.” She stretched out that unsure smile again, before turning to the stage to watch the starting intro performance. Were they even a point of the chairs? Everyone stood up, screaming at the top of their lungs, anyway.

Turning into Kai’s solo, this was the part you had been waiting for your entire life. The lights dimmed and a single spotlight shone down onto the polished stage. Kai walked out into the spotlight and you could feel the power of your insides clenching in admiration. It was finally happening!

He was so close, you felt as if you could touch him. Stopping the screaming and jumping, your entire body froze, Jongin’s eyes piercing your own. You always thought this would be a moment to remember, and damn were you right. The music started, Jongin’s cue passed, but Jongin was no longer dancing. The screams became quieter and you could tell by the rushed commands of the directors and managers from the side of the stage, that this staring was not part of the act. You couldn’t move and neither could Jongin. An unfamiliar emotion flashed across his eyes, before he crashed to the ground in what you hoped would just be him just playing a prank.

You were dragged from your seat and out of the arena, by your friend. The last thing you could hear was the pained cries of fans all around you and honestly you felt like doing the same, but your voice box disagreed - clogged up with fright. Shaking, your friend’s tight grip had ran you out into the middle of the empty street. ‘What is going on?’ You had thought.

“___. Are you okay?!” Your friend asked, worryingly. You didn’t say anything, you couldn’t. You stared into her anxious eyes as she began to shake you, panic filling her every word.

“Snap out of it! Are you okay?!”  It wasn’t long before hysterical tears began to pour down her face.

“What just happened? Why did he faint? He was looking at me, was that why?” I demanded answers, your friend’s face flooded with relief.

“Why don’t we go back to the hostel?” She suggested. Letting go of your shoulders, she guiltily flicked her gaze away from your searching eyes.

“What? The concert isn’t even over yet! I can tell you know something about why Jongin fainted. TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!” Your friend’s face filled with shock, her eyes widening as she glanced behind you. Turning around, you spin to see the thing that caused your friend’s face to turn bright white.

“____, is that really you?” Jongdae asked, approaching while he checked you up and down to see if you were okay.

“...How-how do you know my name?”

A tear slid down Jongdae’s face in a mix of despair and happiness. He ran up to you and wrapped his arms around your body, your face pressed against his chest. Pushing him away you gaped up at him, incredulous.

“WHAT IS GOING ON?!”

Jongdae managed to maintain his calmness, meanwhile your friend cried heart-wrenched tears with her head in her hands. You had no idea what was happening. Did they know? They clearly knew something you didn’t. Taking a deep breath, your friend wiped away some of the tears with one arm and turned to you.

“I love you, ____ and I never wanted you to find out this way. Trust me.” She took one more shaky breath before continuing, “I’d knew this would hurt you, but at the time it just seemed so much easier to hide it from you. You lost your memory. That boat accident was a huge accident, it made the news and I thought you were going to die, ____!”

“Wait! You’re telling me l off the boat?!” You couldn’t handle this. No, it wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t. You were sure you would remember something like this.

“It was you who fell off the boat, yes. I-I really were going to tell you, I really was! Time just passed and I didn’t want you to g-get hurt again.” Your friend, clearly struggled for words, as she opened and closed repeatedly trying to find the right way to say her next confession, she glanced at Jongdae for reassurance, but quickly look back at you when it wasn’t received. “Y-You see, last time with travelled to Korea we met EXO. It was amazing! Exactly how we would thought it would be, if even better. You fell in love with Jongin, ____. You both were so perfect. But, one night on that boat, he got drunk and made the awful mistake of cheating on you. You were so heartbroken that you later fell off the boat and hit your head, rendering all the memories of your trip in Korea erased. Distraught, me and your mother didn’t know what to do, so we just left it and let you return to the way you were before. It was our only choice, you have to understand!”

“So, you told us she died?! Do you even understand how much pain Jongin was in after that night?! It torn him apart. He didn’t do anything for 6 whole months, because he was just dwelling on her death! He hadn’t even thought about dating since, beating himself up about it, blaming himself every single ing day and you can do is stand there saying it was the ‘only choice’?!” Jongdae bursted with anger, furious his friend and fellow band member had been caused so much pain over an utter lie. Regretfully, Jongdae turned to you, your eyes blurred with the unexplainable drops forming in them.

“I lost my memory?” Your voice came out in a hushed whisper, yet the two people still heard you. Your friend nodded, eyes cast low in further guilt of her actions. Silence filled the street and the only sound you could hear was the rapid pounding of your heart. You were confused, hurt, perhaps even betrayed, but one thought tugged the corners of your lips up into a small smile.

“Jongin loves me?”

“I do.” A gentle, familiar voice murmured from behind you.