Irene

Whatever that was going to happen was completely disturbed by the strange monitors in the room that administered my brothers condition. We both ran to his bedside in a frenzy and stood there hopelessly, no clue what to do.

The machines attached to him were beeping and buzzing frantically and that made me panic more. Jin quickly pressed the button that would call the nurses and came to stand by me, his hands on my shoulder, trying to calm me down.

"What's happening?!" I ask, distressed at not knowing what to do.

What is going on? Is something wrong? The doctors had just seen him ten minutes ago and had declared that he should be out of his unconscious state soon.

Jin did not have time to answer my question as the nurses burst into the room, quickly followed by a doctor. They politely pushed they're way past us and approached my brother.

Jin gently took a few steps back and pulled my reluctant self with me to him. I knew he was making space for the doctor to do his work but I couldn't care less. My sole focus was on my brothers well being.

The doctor spoke to the nurses in medical jargon while we stood at the side, silently anxious. From what I could understand, they were not really worried but instead were just reconfirming something.

"Mr. Bae, can you hear me?" The doctor asked softly, as he leaned towards the bed. "Mr. Bae?"

My eyes widened when I heard a low grunt coming from my brother. His eyes moved rapidly under his eye-lids, as if he was desperate to open it but was not able to.

"Okay good. Don't worry, Mr.Bae. You are at the hospital and are completely fine." The doctor assured, "Don't panic. Take a few deep breathes before trying to open your eyes once again."

He did just that. It was quite painful to see his chest painfully expand and deflate as he took trembling breathes. Clearly the wounds were restricting his actions. However, after a few attempts at deep breathing, he slowly opened his eyes.

My breath caught in my chest as I watch him open his eyes. They blinked close the moment they encounter the brightness of the room but then open them again, quickly adjusting to the light. 

The doctors ran a few more tests to make sure he was completely out of the coma before quickly assuring a distracted me that he was fine.

Fine.

He is fine.

As soon as the doctors left the room, I slowly inched towards the bed and looked at my brother. He was looking at me almost as if he was waiting for me to shout at me. Doubt and confusion danced in his eyes.

"Hey" He croaked, flashing me the best smile he could give meat the moment. I smiled in return, not noticing the tears that had made their way down.

"Why do I see tears in such beautiful eyes?", He asked again and a laugh spurted out of me as I rolled my eyes.

"Oh I don't know! I don't really have a reason to cry, apparently." I say, sarcastically but I couldn't keep my smile down for the life of me.

Three days.

It took three long days for this idiot to finally come out of his unconsciousness. Three long days I kept myself from thinking  of all the 'what if' he did not ever wake up. That question itself was so daunting that after the first time it came up, I did everything to bury it deep inside my mind, not allowing it come up again.

But what he said after that made me really want to puke everything in my stomach out.

"As much as I would love to wake up heroically next to a beautiful crying woman, may I know who you are?" He asked innocently.

That was enough for me to slump down by the bed and bring my knees to my chest as I started crying like a baby. Huge sobs wrecked my being as I grieved at the thought that my own brother forgot about me.

The doctors had not told me anything of a possible memory loss. Did they miss it? Did he get hurt in his head but it had no physical wounds? He was a bit crazy in the head since childhood but it was not serious enough to loose his memory. Was his fall that bad?

Warm hands quickly found its way to my back, rubbing circles as Jin muttered something. I couldn't hear him as the gravity of the situation was not allowing me to comprehend anything.

He slouched down next to me and gathered me in his arms as I pathetically cried on his shoulder. He said something again, I could feel the hum in his chest as he spoke, but I was too distracted by my boisterous sobbing. 

"Bae JooHyun!" He snapped, mild annoyance lacing his tone. My head snapped up to look at him, totally taken aback. He has never spoken to me like that. Through my watery eyes, I glared up at him.

He noticed it and his face turned sheepish. "I am sorry but you were not listening." He said softly, cupping my cheek. "He's just joking, sweetheart. Look at him. He's trying to call you."

I wiped away my tears and sniffed as I look up towards the bed. Sure enough, JoonHee Oppa was trying his best to lift himself from the bed, trying to have a better look at me. I scrambled up from the ground and stood next to the bed, finally realizing what was happening as I took in his guilty face.

"Hey...I'm sorry. I was just joking, Pumpkin. You know I would never forget you," Oppa said softly. Well as softly as he could with his croaking voice.

Tears filled my eyes once again after I listen to that stupid nickname. How many time I had held myself from wondering 'what if I never get to hear that nickname?'. How many days I cursed myself for thinking all the 'what if's' that always pointed towards the ill-heath of my brother.

and what is it that he does the first thing? Play a prank on me? 

My fists curl tightly just as they used to whenever my brother ever made me pathetically angry. Don't hit him JooHyun. He's still a patient.

Instead I just glare at him and storm out of the room.

------

Jin

"I really messed up, din't I?" Said the man lying on the bed. I nod, my eyes fixed on the door behind which I can hear her stomping away.

I knew who Bae JoonHee is. After my painfully embarrassing encounter with him in the past, it was not easy to remove him from my memory. While I was aware of his mischievous personality, I understood his reason to do the silly personality. He did not mean any harm. For him it was just that, a prank.

But for the woman who had spent the last three days here praying and anxiously waiting for him to wake up, taking his prank positively was not possible. I have never seen her cry so much. Seeing her so distressed ached my heart so much that tears threatened to fill my eyes but I held myself together. I could not be weak when she needed me the most.

"She was really worried for you. She hasn't left this hospital room ever since you got shifted here." I said softly, turning towards him to see him trying to sit up. He looked pained so I moved forward and angled the bed according to his need.

He looked sightly out of breath the moment he sat up in a semi-upright position. He closed his eyes for a minute to calm himself before opening them to look at me. His eyes were the exact similar of JooHyun but that's where the similarities ended. 

He looked incredibly guilty and kept glancing towards the door. "Do you think she will forgive me?" He asked.

I give him a small reassuring smile and nod. "She'll come back. She just needs to get herself together." But she won't let you get away easily.

He stares at me for a minute before nodding.

"Kim Seokjin, wasn't it? Idol." He asked, or rather stated. My back straitened almost immediately.

"Yes." I say, albeit a little cautiously. "How are you feeling now?"

"A bit sore and very much in pain but good enough." He said, wincing a little. "How is she doing?" He asked nodding towards the way his sister just went. "Please, have a seat."

"From what I know, very worried. I tried contacting her for the past three days but she kept her phone switched off. Her manager was the only contactable person but he was of very limited help. I just arrived here, probably an hour back." I said, taking the small chair by his bedside.

He sighed and rubbed his neck. Before he could say anything, the door burst open and a middle-aged lady rushed into the room and threw her arms around JoonHee-ssi. Alarmed, I pulled out my phone to summon the security when JooHyun walked into the room, in the arms of a man.

"Oh my boy!" The lady cried, hugging JoonHee-ssi tightly.

I stood up when I realized just who had arrived. Well...

______________

Hello!
Stigma just crossed 1k votes and nearing 20k reads!!
I never expected the story to blow up and when it did, I nearly cried every time a wonderful reader left a beautiful message.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers for the wonderful support and love I have received. I am so happy that a story that had taken shape during a bus transit now has become a 34+ chapter story and that people actually like it!

No matter how many times I thank you all, it will not be enough to completely express my gratitude.

Borahae, everyone!

Question for  you guys:

Which is your favorite track from MOTS 7?

Mine's 00:00 (Zero' o clock) !