Wait for me

Chapter 9 - Don't cry, hyung

We arrived at the airport and met Chanwoo and Yunhyeong near the gate where Donghyuk would be exiting after getting off the plane. There were already many people with cameras and a few others with signs, probably fans of our friend.

-What should we tell him?

"We came for him," Yunhyeong replies as if it were that simple.

"Yes, but what if he doesn't recover his memories?" I asked, worried. "What will we tell him then?"

"We'll try to convince him. He's very famous, and I don't think we'll have many opportunities like this," Chanwoo replies. "He might not even believe us, and we might not even be able to get close, but at least we'll see how he is, right?" the younger of us tries to encourage us.

"You're right, Chanwoo," Junhoe agrees. The boy turns in his direction with a smile and then looks down.

-They're holding hands, wow, their relationship is progressing very quickly, congratulations- she smiles and hugs us both.

"What are you talking about?" Yunhyeong asked, very confused.

"We were just mad at each other, but we made up," I replied before Chanwoo could speak and further misunderstand things. Then I let go of Junhoe's hand, and he pouted slightly.

"It's him!" Yunhyeong exclaims. We try to approach, which is difficult as everyone starts crowding around to make contact with him.

"Please, we need to get through," I plead, making my way through the crowd. I feel hands on my waist lifting me slightly off the ground.

"I can move faster than you," June tells me.

-No, what are you doing? Put me down

"There it is, it's so close," Yunhyeong says, overflowing with happiness. I see him make his way through everyone and cross without any problem the chain of guards watching over Donghyuk and a girl who is with him.

"Isn't that Lee Sung Kyung?" Chanwoo inquired. "What's she doing with Donghyuk?" He stood on his tiptoes and then turned to face us in one swift motion. "She's holding his hand. Do you think...?" he questioned, impressed. "She's very beautiful. Wait, wasn't she Donghyuk's crush?"

"I think so," June replies. "Maybe they're dating. If only the real Donghyuk knew, he'd be so happy."

Some shouts catch our attention; Yunhyeong is fighting with the guards who are holding his arms while he tries unsuccessfully to approach Donghyuk, who is only a few steps away.

"You know who I am, right? Don't you recognize me? I'm Yunhyeong, the one who cooks for you, the one you make fun of most of the time, remember?" he says desperately. The three of us exchange glances and move closer together.

Donghyuk takes off his sunglasses and puts them on his head, looks at him for a few seconds and then shakes his head. Dude...no.

"Excuse me, I don't know you. You shouldn't confront my guards like that; you could get hurt," he says calmly and kindly. "Would you like an autograph?"

"No!" Yunhyeong shouts. "I need you to remember."

"It wasn't a good idea to leave him alone. He's just getting used to this and he's very sentimental. He doesn't fully understand what's going on yet," Chanwoo murmurs, looking at the scene with concern, just like us.

"We need to get to the studio and record your song, honey, please take him," Lee Sung asks calmly. We continue approaching, the bad thing about this is that everyone is paying attention to the scene and has crowded up even more.

"Okay," one of the guards replies.

"No, let me go, you can't treat me like this, I need to get my friend back," he snaps, grabbing one of their arms and throwing a punch at his face. It doesn't have much effect, but the airport guard still gets angry.

Chanwoo crosses the sea of ​​missing people and tries to help Yunhyeong. Junhoe and I do the same, but we can't do much, and minutes later they're already taking him to the exit, while we run after him. Then they put him in a patrol car that's parked for possible incidents like this.

"Wait, no!" I exclaim fearfully, banging on the car window as Yunhyeong does the same from inside. "You can't take him," I say to the guard who was assaulted earlier.

"Of course they can take him away, he hit me, that's considered a crime, I'll testify against him and he'll be in jail soon," he replies furiously. This man doesn't seem to be one of those who give second chances, much less one of those who forgive.

-Listen-try again.

"I'm not interested," he snaps before I can finish my sentence. He gets into the front seat of the car with a police officer. "These damn crazy fans."

"We won't lose sight of you," I shout to Yunhyeong as the car starts to move; he nods with a sad look.

"We have to go, get in my car," Chanwoo says. We run towards him and get in, then he follows the patrol car.

"This is getting worse, everything is going wrong," Junhoe mutters from the back. I see him start impatiently moving his feet.

"We mustn't be pessimistic, please," I plead.

"It's the truth, Hyung, everything is going wrong," Chanwoo repeats. "We need Hanbin, I feel lost without him," he confesses. It's very rare for him to say things like this, but of course he's right, yes, everything is really bad, very bad, and to be honest, I need Hanbin too, we all need him.

(...)

We arrived at the police station where the patrol car stopped, and we followed them inside immediately after they took Yunhyeong out of the car.

We tried to stop them from putting him in the cell, but they didn't listen and they did it anyway.

"Listen, I'll pay you. I have the money. How much is the bail? I'll write you a check," Chanwoo said hurriedly, pulling out his checkbook and a pen from the officer's desk. "Tell me the amount."

"He's going to stay here," the guard shouts, even more annoyed than before.

"Relax, listen guys, why don't you come tomorrow?" the policeman offers.

-No, I'm going to pay the bail right now

"That's not fair, he has to spend a night behind bars, you weakling," he says, turning to look at him, while our friend lowers his gaze and moves away from the bars.

"If you have the money, then you can get it right now," the officer tells us. "Consider the bail to be the boy's punishment for hitting you, okay?" he says to the guard. "So calm down."

Chanwoo writes down the amount the officer tells him and then hands over the check plus some papers he asked him to fill out. Afterwards, Yunhyeong is released, following complaints and grunts from the airport guard.

-Thank you, Chan- she smiles and hugs him, I can't help it and I join her hug, finally June does too.

"We have to leave this place," he says, taking my hand, and we follow him. Chanwoo is still hugging Yunhyeong.

Later, after arriving at the apartment, we all sat down to dinner in silence; perhaps it was because we were too sad to even say anything or cheer each other up.

After finishing the meal, Yunhyeong broke down in a quiet but painful cry. I wanted to do it too; I felt like the tears were burning inside me, but I held back. Hanbin and Bobby aren't here, so someone has to take care of them and be strong.

"Come on, don't cry, hyung," Chanwoo murmurs, placing a hand on his shoulder.

-Tomorrow someone will probably recover their memories, I'm sure of it

"Really?" Yunhyeong asks me, wiping away his tears.

"I must be, we mustn't lose hope, now we have to rest, and we have to wait for good news," I smiled as naturally as I could.

"Did you hear that, Hyung? Come on, I'll walk you to the bedroom. I'm sleeping with him tonight," he tells me. I nod immediately. "Good night, sleep well," he says, bidding me farewell.

"So, do I have to clean this up?" June asks. I don't answer; I feel like if I speak I'll cry. "I will," she says again. I watch as she gathers the disposable plates, throws them in the trash, and then wipes the table. "Are you coming?"

I gesture with my fingers that I'll be there in a moment, and he just gives me a smile. Seconds later, I find myself alone in the kitchen, I cover my eyes, and then I allow myself to cry.

I wish this were a nightmare, why is this happening to us? What did we do wrong? We just wanted to fulfill our dream, to sing, to be happy. I wish it would end soon.

I rest my head on the table and close my eyes.

"Please," she whispered pleadingly.

I woke up the next morning in Chanwoo's bedroom, I don't remember how I got there. Excited and surprised, I moved June next to me to wake her up.

"What?" he murmurs into his pillow.

"Was it a dream, right? A nightmare?" I ask with a huge smile. He lies down on his back and turns to look at me, his eyes sleepy and his hair disheveled. I reach out and try to fix it, though he still looks incredible.

-I wish I could say yes so that smile would still be there on your lips but... I'm sorry to tell you no, it wasn't, or at least not that we had the same nightmare- she replies tenderly.

And my smile vanished just like that; he sits on the bed and then helps me do the same.

Listen, you can come to me and cry whenever you need to. I promise not to say anything and will only hug you if you want, but please, don't cry alone.

Did you see me? You brought me here...

-I saw you, but I knew you were pretending to be strong and wanted to cry without anyone seeing you, so I didn't approach you until you fell asleep

"You know me very well," I laugh, looking down. He takes my chin, raises it to his face, and simply smiles at me.

I timidly approach him and kiss him.

Yunhyeong bursts through the door and rushes inside.

"Oh, you guys were...? Well, I was on the news because of yesterday's incident, and well, it seems like everyone hates me now, because the news said that I tried to hurt Donghyuk. Can you believe it? These people shouldn't judge like that, for God's sake," she mutters and closes the door again.

June and I looked at each other, worried by what she had just said.