Chapter 4: Triggered Memories
1577 Words
Aram’s POV
A sharp, agonizing pain spiked through my chest, and tears began to flow against my will. I knew who he was—Theo of Nova7—but my heart was screaming something else. It felt like I was looking at my closest friend. But how could I be friends with someone of such unreal beauty? His face was perfectly sculpted, like a deity, or perhaps an angel fallen from the sky.
I hit my head, desperate to stop the thoughts, which only made him look more panicked.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked. His voice was that soulful, deep baritone the whole world obsessed over, yet in my ear, it resonated with the soft, high-pitched concern of a child. “Are you sick?”
His tone was my favorite. It was the only thing I wanted to listen to. But before I could speak, the room dissolved. The tile under my feet turned to gravel, and the bright restroom lights were swallowed by a different time.
[FLASHBACK]
“I must take you home. You need to rest,” a boy begged. I couldn't see his face clearly, but the shape of his smile—a bright, boxy curve—was etched into my soul.
I tried to stand, but my legs betrayed me, turning to lead. I felt myself falling, but I never hit the ground. He caught me. I realized then how small I was—how heavy the fever in my body had become.
“Ddukbol?” he whispered, his voice trembling before he suddenly screamed, “Help!”
The world shifted. If it had been blurry before, now it was pitch black. He vanished. The playground, the scent of summer, the sound of his panic—it all faded into nothingness.
[PRESENT]
I tried to pull my eyes open, but the darkness was a suffocating weight. It pulled me under, deeper into a void that smelled of nothingness. Panic clawed at my throat.
“Tata!”
The name escaped my lips, a frantic plea. I clamped a hand over my mouth, trembling. *Tata.* The name felt like a secret key, but I didn't know which door it opened. Tears spilled over, hot and fast.
“Oppa!” I cried out. “Brother!”
The words were artifacts of a life I’d lost, pulling at my chest. I curled into a ball on the cold floor of my mind, weeping until the darkness pulsed with a new sound.
“Ddukbol?”
It was a tiny, fragile voice—a boy’s voice lost in time. I reached out into the void, searching. My fingers brushed against something cold and metallic. I grabbed it—an Iron Man figure. I pressed it to my chest, a desperate lifeline.
The moment the toy touched my skin, the void shattered.
Light blinded me. A harsh, sterile white. The voices in my ears, rhythmic and loud, now felt real. I was back. I was in Room 2401.
Jinwoo’s POV
I pushed open the door to Aram’s room, but the bed was empty. A cold spike of dread hit my chest. I scanned the corridor, frantic, until my eyes caught a flash of movement.
A blonde in a bucket hat and a frilly dress was sprinting toward the restrooms, desperately trying to shield his face. Theo? Behind him, Junseo was charging, brandishing a slipper like a weapon. My jaw went slack. As Theo sprinted past, his lollipop flew out of his mouth and landed—by some bizarre miracle—straight in mine.
I stood there in the hallway, mid-sprint, with a half-sucked strawberry lollipop hanging from my lips. I couldn't decide whether to laugh or scream. I pulled it out, flashed a suggestive wink at his back, and leaned into the madness. “Hey, is that you, Blake Lively? My wife?”
Before Junseo could answer, the rest of the pack descended on me.
“Jinwoohyung!” Minji called out, only to be promptly silenced by a sharp *thwack* from Junseo’s slipper against his backside.
“Dad!” Jaehyung latched onto my arm, clinging to me with the devotion of a toddler. I patted his head, acting the part while my brain tried to process why my bandmates looked like a group of fugitives from a fashion disaster.
“How’s Auntie, Dad?” Yojin asked, eyes wide with curiosity.
I blinked. Auntie? Junseo leaned in, his grip on my arm tightening. “He means your sister,” he hissed.
My heart stalled. I forgot the costumes, the lollipop, and the play-acting. I bolted toward the restroom, the others scrambling to keep up, scurrying through the halls like criminals trying to avoid the security cameras.
“Yah! What are you doing here?” I snapped.
“We’re just concerned about you,” Yojin answered, his face earnest.
Junseo snorted. “Concerned? Really? Or do you just want to see Jinwoo’s sister?”
The tension in the air changed, but before they could argue, the world stopped. A scream tore through the air—raw, desperate, and terrifyingly familiar.
“Help her, please?!”
We froze. Around the corner, Theo emerged from the restroom, his blonde wig askew, his dress torn, his face pale with pure terror. He was cradling a limp, unconscious body in his arms.
Aram.
“Doc!” Theo shrieked, his voice cracking with panic. “She was crying... her eyes were closed, and then she just fainted in the restroom. She won't wake up!”
“Wait! That’s your sister, right?” Yojin’s voice echoed in the hallway, but it sounded a million miles away.
I didn't hear anything else. I lunged forward, falling to my knees beside them. The hospital hallway blurred, the sounds of the machines and the nurses fading into white noise. I stared at her face—my little sister, so still, so fragile.
“Sis?” I whispered, my voice breaking as the first hot tear hit her hand.
“Clear a path!” Dr. Leo’s voice was sharp and authoritative.
The nurses were looking at us, thrilled and almost out of focus, while Dr. Leo didn't even look at us. He moved with practiced, surgical precision, sliding a gurney into place and lifting Aram from Theo’s arms.
“Get her to Room 2401, now!” he shouted to the nurses.
We tried to follow them, but a nurse blocked our path with her red face. I was helpless as I watched them whisk my younger sister away. The group of us stood there like broken standees.
Theo was still shaking. He looked at his hands, then at me. “She just... she was crying, Jinwoo. And when she fell down, she called me ‘Tata’—my name as a kid. She also called you, and JJ... She was looking for us. She was waiting for us, Jinwoo!” His tears were falling nonstop.
“Is that Kim Jinwoo and Theo of Nova7?” we heard someone say, so we had no choice but to walk faster until we reached Aram’s room.
“Out,” he said, his voice cold and clipped. “All of you. Now.”
“Dr. Leo, please,” I pleaded, taking a step forward. “She’s my sister. We need to be there when she wakes up.”
“She’s having a neurological crisis, Jinwoo,” he said. “She’s dealing with severe memory trauma. Her brain is bridging gaps that aren't ready to be crossed. If she wakes up and sees this, she won't recover. She’ll shatter.” He explained as Theo gazed at the absurdity of their costumes.
“We’ll change!” Jae spoke, his voice cracking. Everyone agreed while Dr. Leo sighed, revealing a tired and protective father. “I have to prepare her for an emergency procedure. We need to stabilize the pressure in her cranium.” Dr. Leo fixed his eyes on me.
“A surgery?” Yojin’s expression was obviously scared.
“It's not a full surgery yet, but it requires absolute calm. If you're wondering about the chances she’ll survive this, it depends.” Dr. Leo’s expression was unreadable as he spoke.
“Jinwoo, I told you before to bring her with you, but I just realized you are a distraction. You and your friends are a trigger, so please, I need you to leave now! All of you! It is scary that every time she sees you, she’s triggered like this. She’s closer to losing the pieces that make her *her*. Go!” He turned back to the room.
“Ddukbol!” We were all shocked, hearing Jaehyung calling my younger sister.
Dr. Leo slammed the door shut and I stared at the door, crying. I felt like an 18-year-old boy back in Pusan in the year 2013, praying for a miracle.
- Writer
