"Why do they want to meet us at this hour?" Minghao scrunched his brows, "It's literally 12:17 at midnight?" Everyone had gathered into the common room after Mingyu had called Seungcheol to inform them that he and Joshua had to talk to them.

"That's what makes me even more worried." Vernon mumbled, "What happened that they couldn't hold it for tomorrow morning?"

Before they could assume anything else, the doorbell rang as Seokmin went to open the door. He greeted the expected duo awkwardly after which, all of them seated comfortably in the room.

"So what happened?" Seungcheol led the conversation, "That you couldn't wait till morning?"

Joshua and Mingyu looked at each other. They had somehow reached the hotel to talk but they didn't actually know how to begin the conversation.

"Hyung, I think it's better to get to the point." Mingyu assured.

Joshua nodded as he looked at the oblivious people, "Guys, I want you to be honest. Is this really the first time you met Jeonghan?"

The room fell silent. The question and its answer was pretty simple. But the courage to word it out wasn't. The trauma behind that one name wasn't. The emotions within the context weren't.

"Your silence speaks a lot." Mingyu paused, "If you all are his well-wishers then please, speak!! I'm begging you."

"We do." Jun stated, "Seungcheol hyung and Woozi have known him since childhood while the rest of us got together in University."

Joshua and Mingyu stared at each other after which they scoffed heavily. Six years had passed and finally they had a clue of Jeonghan's past. They couldn't ask for anything better.

"We want to know about you guys and him." Joshua looked at Seungcheol who was weirdly silent, "Please? Do you guys still remember him? He craves for his past everyday. Please, will you guys say anything?!!"

The duo thought that they were just some casual friends who didn't want to talk about Jeonghan. Probably because it had been years and they must have moved on with their lives.

"You said you all are his friends." Mingyu added, "I hope you still want to see him. But it's okay if you don't want to reconcile with him, just give us some information through which we can reach his family and close-"

He halted when he noticed tears falling through Seungcheol's eyes. He tried to look away but there was no one to console him. Why? Because everyone else had their own tears to handle.

Joshua and Mingyu were stunned. They didn't know what to do. They couldn't comprehend the situation which was just worsening. They poured water for each of them and handed it to them with some words of consolation. They waited for them to recollect themselves before proceeding the conversation.

"How can we forget him?" Woozi chuckled bitterly, "He was the most precious person to us."

"The heart and soul of our group." Wonwoo recalled.

"Our Jeonghan hyung." Seokmin smiled.

"We were never genuinely happy after we lost him." Minghao added.

"His absence was always a void in our lives which we could never fulfill." Jun inhaled a deep breath.

"There was a time when we were inseparable but we had no stand against fate and destiny." Vernon muttered.

Seungcheol didn't speak a single word. He just looked down as tears kept falling through his eyes.

"Is he alright?" Mingyu tried to look at the older's face.

"No." Wonwoo patted Seungcheol's shoulders, "He was going to confess his love to Jeonghan hyung but he never got the chance. He loved him."

"No, he still loves him." Woozi rectified, "More than anyone. More than you can imagine."

"Wha-" Joshua's eyes widened, "For all these years? You still-"

"Yeah." Seungcheol finally spoke, "He literally makes up my whole life, how am I supposed to stop loving him? Even if-" He choked on his words, "Even if he wasn't with me physically, even if he didn't react after meeting me and all of us, I've no regrets, except for one."

"What?" Mingyu asked.

"That I couldn't tell him how much I loved him before he left." Seungcheol grinned with pain visible in his eyes.

He walked a bit away from everyone as he turned towards the window but continued to speak, "You said we might have forgotten him but you know what? We treasure him more than ourselves. He's in our hearts and will forever be."

"It's not easy to get over him. His eyes, small giggles, the way he used to play tricks on us but also was the most caring one. Yes, he used to tease us 24/7 but he was our comfort place. His subtle gestures to keep us happy. Our mornings used to start with his cheerful messages and nights ended with his warm acknowledgements that we did well."

"But one day, we lost it all. One day, we lost our happiness. One day, our group lost its soul. There was no one to cheer us up, to encourage us, to take care of us. Even the brightest person in our group, Seokmin, lost his smile. Jun and Wonwoo, who enjoyed going out to beautiful places every weekend, started staying at home."

"Woozi and Minghao began to speak as little as they could. It was never the same again, no matter how much we tried. We couldn't spend a single day, imagining how soulful it would have been if he was here. Even in the present, the agony and misery of our hearts remains hidden in our hearts all day."

"But when the nights arrive, when the loneliness strikes us, we all can't help but cry until we sleep. And the next morning, we wake up and start pretending to be fine, for each other. We all assure each other that nothing is wrong when in reality we all know how much we're suffering from the inside."

A muffled cry left Seokmin's mouth as he looked away from everyone to calm himself down. He inhaled a deep breath and then turned around, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay Seokmin, we understand it must be hard for you all." Joshua assured.

"Hard." Wonwoo laughed dryly, "It's not hard, it HURTS. One moment we're laughing and the next moment we're crying because we would start imagining how hyung would have reacted if he was with us."

"It was an inevitable truth, nothing can replace the missing part of a puzzle." Woozi scoffed, "We continued with our lives but never found our happiness."

"What's Jeonghan doing here?" Seungcheol straight up asked, "As far as we know, after the car accident, the police couldn't find his body. They told us that the forest had some wild animals so- whatever. Why didn't he recognise us? He's our Jeonghan right?"

Mingyu nodded, "He is. I think before knowing your side of the story, you deserve to know our side first."

"The forest beside which Jeonghan's car met with an accident is know for having wild animals." Joshua informed, "We were all a part of an orphanage which was behind that forest." He recalled that day.

"Mingyu shut up and follow." Hoshi rebuked the younger as they made their way through the forest while it was raining at night.

"Are you dumb? Or do you want to die?" Mingyu scrunched his brows, "Hyung, no matter how expensive the ring was, it's not worth our lives. If a single animal drags us, we're dead for real."

"That's why I'm asking you to stay calm." Hoshi muttered, "Let's just get it and run away."

But in search of a gold ring, Mingyu's leg struck something which felt like a human body, "FUCK."

"Who's this guy?" Hoshi bent down, "OH SHIT HIS HEAD IS BLEEDING."

"Lower your voice, will you?" Mingyu massaged his temples, "No one is around."

"He's still alive." Hoshi informed, "Let's take him to the orphanage. Call Shua hyung and ask him to arrange a room with the doctors."

And they proceeded in a hurry. The said male was laid on a bed while the doctors at the orphanage came to the rescue. Yeah, they had their personal but skilled doctors. The orphanage was one of a kind, it was immense and had all the facilities within its own premises.

The only problem was that, it was built illegally. But since, the forest was infamous for being home to deadly animals, no one ever dared to cross it. Eventually, that forest became a protection for the orphanage and the 1000s of innocent children it was home to.

"He's out of danger but I can't tell when he'll wake up." The doctor informed, "Let him stay under observation until he wakes up. It's good that you brought him here, his life was at risk."

"Thank you doctor." Joshua bowed as the doctors left.

"Who's he?" Seungkwan asked.

"How are we supposed to know?" Mingyu reasoned, "We brought him here because his condition was critical."

"No one saw you guys right?" Dino questioned.

"I don't think so." Hoshi replied, "There wasn't even anyone looking for this poor guy. I'm glad he's safe."

"I wish we could report to the police." Seungkwan scoffed.

"But we can't." Joshua scoffed, "Aunt Moon has worked hard for this place. We can't let her down."
-

"WHAT?" Everyone was shocked to hear that Jeonghan's case wasn't reported to the police.

"I know we're at fault for it but as I told you, the orphanage was built illegally." Joshua looked down, "If we would have reported it, the truth of that place would have been revealed eventually. We had no other choice."

"If it was for us, we could have tried but thousands of innocent children were behind us." Mingyu added, "We weren't in a good financial condition to buy such a huge land anywhere. We tried to contact many NGOs and orphanages before taking that illegal step but we faced disappointment everywhere."

"What about now? Is it still illegal?" Minghao asked.

"No." Joshua replied, "As soon as our business thrived, buying that land was the first thing we did. Aunt Moon was arrested for building that illegal building but we managed to get her out within 2 days. It was all Jeonghan's idea to be honest, he has a good heart."

"See I know we wronged you and his family by taking that decision but trust me, it was hard for us too." Mingyu explained, "I'm sorry but those little children were our priority."

"What happened after that?" Jun asked them to continue.
-

"Seven months have passed, doctor, if he's out of danger then why isn't he waking up." Joshua argued, "We need to know about his family and contact them. And for that, he needs to wake up."

"We couldn't find anything along with him that could reveal his identity." Mingyu added, "He's the only hope we have."

"I know-"

"DOCTOR!!" A nurse came running, "Patient 17 woke up. He's conscious now."

"What?!" Seungkwan smiled, "Let's go!" Dino complied.

"Wait! Don't crowd him." The doctor halted them, "Mingyu, Hoshi, you found him that night right? You two, come with me and the rest of you can meet him after I allow."

"Okay Doctor." Joshua nodded as the two said males walked behind the doctor.

They inhaled deep breaths as they stepped into the room with warm smiles. The patient was seated on the bed as he stared into nothing.

"Hello, sir." The doctor began, "How are you feeling?"

"Water." The man mumbled as a nurse immediately handed him a glass of water which he gulped in one go.

"These two saw you unconscious that night and brought you here." One of the nurses informed.

"I'm Kwon Soonyoung, also known as Hoshi. I'm 21."

"I'm Kim Mingyu and I'm 20. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Yoon Jeonghan. Thank you for saving my life, I'm 22 by the way."

"Can we call you hyung?" Hoshi chuckled.

"Yeah sure!"

"If you're comfortable, can we know about your family?" Mingyu hesitated.

"Of course, please call them." Jeonghan nodded, "My- uh- my father? Mother? Where did I live? Uh- wait just a second. Am I blanking out? Wait- DOCTOR?! What is this? Why can't I- uh- what's happening?"

The two young men were taken aback while the Doctor held Jeonghan's arms to calm him, "Take a deep breath Mr. Yoon, yeah, right, now try to recall?"

"I can't." Jeonghan cried, "I CAN'T!!" With every passing second his actions were getting violent so the nurse injected him with some medicines on the doctor's demands and he fell asleep.
-

"He couldn't recall anything?"

"Yeah." Joshua nodded, "The doctor later told us that it was selective amnesia. He forgot his entire social life."

"What does that even mean?" Wonwoo fixed his glasses.

"It's like he remembered all the things he had learnt. The skills, the subjects, how to interact with people, everything but he didn't remember a single person he had met previously." Mingyu explained, "For example, he wears a locket on a regular basis. It is the only thing he retained from the accident. He knows it was a gift but he doesn't remember who gifted him this."

"People say that if someone is suffering from amnesia, you can perform some incidents in front of him from his past and they'll recall everything but in his case it was the reverse." Joshua sighed, "He used to recall a lot of incidents himself but the faces and names were always slipping. He would always end up being frustrated which would turn into severe panic attacks."

"We couldn't get a single clue of his family and he was just violent with that topic so we restrained ourselves to talk about it." Mingyu proceeded, "We slowly warmed up to him and we became a family. He remembered his extraordinary skills and hence we together built this empire. We also arranged for a therapist."

"The initial days were harsh." Joshua drank some water, "He would cry almost everyday because he used to miss some people but he didn't know who. He used to tell us the dreams he saw which were his memories but those stories were always missing identities."

"It still happens but rarely." Mingyu added, "He has gained a lot of self confidence through these years. He's gradually getting over his anxiety problems. But he's still not over his past. His brain might not remember anything but his heart clearly has a hold over his past."

"So Jeonghan hyung would never recognise us?" Seokmin's eyes widened, "No, please no!"

"We don't have a say in that." Joshua looked at them with a guilty face, "He's trying but it always ends up the same. He probably got a panic attack because he must have recalled something after meeting you guys. But as we said, he can't really recall the people which frustrate him to the core."

"Thank you for saving and taking care of him." Woozi mumbled.

It was when Mingyu got a call, "Yeah Hoshi? Okay. Fine, yeah I don't know when we'll come back, don't worry. Yeah, fine and take care!"

"What happened?"

"Jeonghan hyung is released from the hospital so all of them went home." Mingyu informed, "He's completely fine now."

Everybody sighed in relief after they got the news.

"Now, can we know your side of the story too?" Joshua asked, "How were your bonds like? And how did you find out about all this?"

A/n : Yeah, I've nothing to say.

Anyways, take good care everyone!
-Jeonghanneyonghaseyo