Minho may enjoy exercising on a daily basis but that doesn’t mean he likes taking walks at 2 in the morning. He would rather be sleeping soundly or at least be lazing in bed. However, the twenty three year old is left with no choice when the walls are thin and his roommate has his boyfriend over for the night. True, Minho loves his hyung-deul, and thinks Jinki and Jonghyun make the cutest couple, but trust him, he has no wish to learn about their life. After all, there is only so much one can take of hearing your close friends being so vocal during .

It’s been half an hour since Minho left the apartment, scandalized, with nothing but his phone. This, he realises, when his phone rings. About to cross a road, Minho waits at the traffic light as he pulls his phone out of his pocket and sees the caller display before he glances at the time on the screen. It’s 2.35am and Jinki, his roommate, is calling.

“Yes, Hyung?”

Minho answers the call just as the green man comes on. He decides to wait for the next one instead since the phone call will more or less decide the next step he’ll take.

“Minho, why aren’t you at home?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Is there a reason you can’t?”

Amused by Jinki’s cluelessness, Minho laughs and is about to return a witty reply when a loud screeching noise momentarily deafens him. Instantly, he looks towards the direction of the sound and sees a car speeding off.

But that’s not all.

Minho also spots a figure lying in the middle of the road, just a few meters away from him. The streets are dimly lit but a few seconds of staring is enough to alert Minho that the figure is unconscious.

“Minho?” Jinki’s voice sounds in his ear, “Minho yah, you there?”

“ hyung.” Minho snaps out of his shock, “What’s the number to call for an ambulance?”

“What? Why? Are you alright?”

“I’m alright but I think I just witnessed a hit and run.”

It shouldn’t be any of his business after he gives his statement to the police but Minho finds himself visiting the hospital every day since the car accident. The victim, as he finds out, has suffered a blow to his head but thankfully, other than that, his injuries aren’t life-threatening.

Apart from the scrapes and bruises that cover his face and body, Minho learns from the attending doctor that the victim is lucky to have escaped with a mild traumatic brain injury. With that, he returns home shell-shocked and more exhausted than he thinks he should be, mind reeling from the fact that he is the sole eyewitness of a hit and run.

The day after the accident, Minho meets the victim’s parents when he enters the ward and finds out two things.

1. The victim’s name is Kim Kibum.
2. He hasn’t regained consciousness.

Also, Minho ends up introducing himself to the parents and is met with puzzled but grateful expressions when he explains he doesn’t know their son personally and is just a passer-by who called for the ambulance. It’s an awkward situation for Minho. Although he understands that there’s no need for him show this much concern towards a stranger, Minho still comes back the next day; his decision made more certain when he hears that the parents work in Daegu and can only visit their son at night.

Sacrificing his third lunch hour in a row, Minho appears in the ward without fail for the nth time that week (Minho has lost count of how many days it has been since the accident), sitting on the chair next to Kibum’s bed as usual, and wonders about three things as he looks at the sleeping young man with a bandage around his head.

1. What is taking so long for this Kibum fellow to wake up?
2. Why is he even at the hospital?
3. When will he stop visiting?

45 minutes past and Minho returns to the office with only one question answered. The day he’ll stop visiting is the day he finds out Kibum has regained consciousness.

“Going to the hospital even on a Saturday, Minho?” Jinki asks as he passes a mug of coffee to his roommate and begins making another cup for his boyfriend who is currently in the shower.

“Thanks, Jinki hyung.” Coming into the open kitchen, Minho mutters as he takes the mug and drinks a mouthful before he continues talking, “Is it weird that I am?”

“A little?” Jinki replies honestly, “I mean I get that you’ll feel more assured knowing the guy has recovered but Minho, you can’t exactly walk him through his entire road to recovery.”

“I’m not-”

Jinki raises an eyebrow and interrupts Minho, “Knowing you, you’ll feel inclined to. You’re just too nice.”

“His family isn’t in Seoul, hyung.” Minho explains.

“That doesn’t mean his family doesn’t have plans to take care of him once he’s discharged.” Jinki points out.

Minho shrugs, “I’ll visit today and see how things go.”

“Are you going to the hospital again?”

Both Minho and Jinki turn to the direction of the third voice and sees Jonghyun walking towards them while drying his hair with a towel.

“Maybe we should come too…” Jonghyun says as he comes to stand behind Jinki, placing the towel around his neck before resting his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “I feel bad. If it wasn’t for us, you wouldn’t have witnessed the accident in the first place.”

Finishing up his coffee, Minho puts his mug into the sink and lets out a breath.

“I’ll let you deal with him.” Minho says to Jinki before he waves goodbye to the couple, “Please try not to wreck the apartment while I’m away, hyung.”

He doesn’t know who he’s directing his plea to but it doesn’t really matter as long as they both hear him loud and clear.

It feels different when Minho steps into the ward on a Saturday and sits in the chair beside Kibum’s bed. It may be because he’s visiting on a weekend morning instead of the usual weekday afternoon but Minho knows it’s mostly because of the conversation he had with Jinki earlier. It’s making Minho feel that he really shouldn’t visit anymore.

Jinki’s right. There’s no saying when it’s a good time to put a stop to this. Things aren’t clear cut at all. What’s more, it’ll be even harder to walk away once Kibum wakes up and sees him. There’ll just be so much explaining to do. Whether he stops visiting now or later, Minho will always be left thinking about the guy he called an ambulance for at the back of his mind. And so, he makes the decision to stand up and leave.

That’s what his mind tells him but his body isn’t listening.

All of a sudden, Minho finds himself stuck in his seat when his eyes meet a pair of eyes that he is seeing for the very first time.

When a smile reaches those pair of eyes, Minho’s lips part in surprise.

“Hi.”

Lips move and Minho finally hears how Kibum’s voice sounds like.

“I’m guessing you’re the boyfriend I’ve heard so much about from the nurses?” Kibum can’t stop himself from babbling once he sees Minho, “They say you visit me every day… even more than my parents.”

“You’re awake.” Minho finally says, recovering from his shock, obviously a beat too slow.

Kibum gives a small nod, “Since yesterday. I woke up in the late afternoon.”

Minho nods slowly, still trying to take in all that he has heard so far. And when it eventually hits him that Kibum has referred to him as his boyfriend, Minho chokes on air.

“Wait- what?” Minho stutters as he points at himself, “B- boyfriend?! Me?!”

“Yes.” Kibum smiles giddily, somewhat in his own world, perhaps a little star struck that his supposed boyfriend is this good-looking, “Is our relationship supposed to be a secret? The nurses have been really kind so don’t worry about what people would say.”

“Kibum, I-”

“Is that how you call me?” Kibum smiles, “Or do we have pet names for each other?”

Before Minho can react, Kibum’s smile disappears and a pout form on his lips.

“I’m sorry, I can’t believe I forgot your name too.”

There’s sadness in Kibum’s eyes that makes Minho speak before he can even think about the consequences.

“It’s okay, don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault.” Minho consoles, reaching out to squeeze Kibum’s hand, before he introduces himself, “I’m Minho. Choi Minho.”

“Minho…” Kibum repeats, liking the way Minho’s name rolls off his tongue, before he asks excitedly, “So? How did we meet?”

The anticipation on Kibum’s face leaves Minho in a dilemma. He’s at a complete loss as to what he should do in a situation like this. Clearly, Kibum has gotten the wrong idea but when Minho is almost certain Kibum is suffering from some type of amnesia, he doesn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. However, he doesn’t want to lie either.

Minho’s silence puts both Kibum and himself on edge. It’s obvious in the way Kibum suddenly looks both nervous and scared as he swallows hard and asks another question.

“Did… Did something happen to us?” Kibum bites his bottom lip, looking heartbroken, “Are we no longer together?”

“No, it’s not that…” Minho shakes his head, worried about the wave of emotions he’s obviously causing Kibum to feel, “Look, Kibum… I don’t know how to put this…”

“Don’t tell me.” Kibum closes his eyes.

“Wh- what?” Minho gulps.

“If it isn’t good news, I don’t want to know.” Kibum says, looking away from Minho and at the wall in front of him, “Since I’ve already forgotten about you… about us… then I think it’s best if you leave.”

This is Minho’s chance to escape and so, he takes it, but not before leaving an apology behind.

“I’m sorry. I’m just not who you think I am.” Minho stands up and bows, “Get well soon, Kibum. I’m glad you’re alright.”

The moment he steps out of the ward, Minho regrets ending things the way he has. If only he knew how to handle the situation better. For now, Minho can only feel sorry as he walks away. At this point in time, it’s useless going back into the ward until he figures out what’s the right thing to do.

“Stop blaming yourself, Minho.” Jonghyun plops himself next to Minho on the sofa and squeezes his shoulder in hopes of making Minho feel better, “You just panicked. It’s normal.”

“Jjong’s right.” Jinki says, sitting on the other side of Minho, “No one knows how to deal with a situation like that. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“Yeah…” Jonghyun shrugs as he thinks out loud, “It must have been scary enough for the guy when he woke up not remembering part of his life.”

“After I left like that, he must be even more confused right now.” Minho lets out a breath and shakes his head, “I should have just told him the truth.”

Jinki doesn’t say anything but he nods and that gives Minho enough reason to get off the sofa.

“Hey, where are you going?” Jonghyun asks on Jinki’s behalf too as they watch Minho put his jacket back on, “Minho, you only just got back from the-”

“Hospital.”

Minho simply answers and he’s out of the apartment for the second time that day.

It hasn’t even been two hours since he left and Minho is back in the ward sitting beside Kibum who is staring at him like he has grown two heads. But before he can say anything, Kibum breaks the silence.

“You’re not my boyfriend.”

Minho is caught off guard by Kibum’s straightforwardness so it takes him a few seconds before he replies with a nod.

“I’m not.”

“Well…” Kibum pauses for a moment before he shrugs, “You could be.”

“Sorry?”

“You seem decent.”

“I’m just the person who called the ambulance for you.” Minho deadpans.

“So you saved my life?” Understanding dawns on Kibum as he goes on to say rather cheekily, “Does that make you my knight in shining armour?”

Unlike Kibum, Minho is dead serious.

“I’m the sole witness to your accident.”

“Are you?” Kibum takes in the information and ponders out loud, “Well, that would make me even more indebted to you… especially if the driver gets caught.”

Minho begins taking a good look at Kibum.

Upon noticing that Kibum is on a drip, Minho can’t help but ask, “Are you high on something?”

Kibum rolls his eyes, “I may have a concussion, and well, can’t remember some stuff but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

“I’m not saying you’re stupid,” Minho frowns, “I’m just worried-”

“You see, that’s the problem.” Kibum interrupts, frustrated, “I’m nobody to you but you worry too much about me.”

Urgent to explain himself, Minho finds himself being influenced by Kibum’s words earlier and ends up voicing the first thought that comes into his mind.

“We could be something…?”

It’s a statement that surprises both Kibum and himself, so much so that Minho quickly changes his tone at the end to make it sound more like a question. Still, it does little to affect what these words combined together could potentially imply.

When Kibum smiles at him suggestively (very much on purpose), something tells Minho that their lives just got a little more intertwined.

Minho’s intuition is spot on. He tries to stay away from the hospital, even goes as far as rudely tagging along with Jinki and Jonghyun on their dates, but somehow, he always finds himself visiting Kibum day after day and helping him through his recovery.

They talk, they argue (a lot), they tease, they laugh, they cry (when Kibum gets frustrated about his memory loss), they get to know each other well enough to be friends… and, as cliché as it sounds, maybe something more.

It’s about a week after the car accident when the police finally tracks down the driver and charges him for his criminal offence. And as the Chinese saying goes, good things come in pairs; so around the same time that week, Kibum hears more good news, which, of course, he shares with Minho.

“So the doctor says I can go home tomorrow…” Kibum casually reveals to his daily visitor as he picks out an orange from a fruits basket and begins peeling it.

Minho is just about to take a bite of an apple when he stops all movement.

“Oh.”

“Really?” Kibum’s eyes are fixed on Minho, “That’s it?”

Staring at the apple in his hands, Minho fidgets awkwardly in his seat as he tries to figure out how to tell Kibum that he doesn’t want this to be the last time they’re seeing each other without sounding like an idiot.

Kibum decides to be nice and give Minho the chance to say something but he really doesn’t have the patience to wait. Eventually, Kibum lets out an audible sigh and extends his hand, palm up, to Minho.

Minho shoots him a puzzled look.

“Your phone.”

Obediently, Minho takes his phone out of his pocket and places it on Kibum’s hand.

“Are you giving me your number?” Minho asks dumbly.

“Nope… I don’t know if my number is still in use since my phone got destroyed during the accident.” Kibum mutters as he focuses on typing on Minho’s phone, “I’ll give you something better though.”

“What is it?”

“My home address.”

“What?”

“We should meet… outside the hospital.” Kibum says as he returns the phone to Minho with a smile, “What do you think?”

“I think…” Minho pauses for dramatic effect and gives Kibum a smile, “I’m going to lose my mind planning our first date.”