"Well done, Hyuckie," his dad says to him when he tells him that he got into the internship. "I knew you could do it."

"Thanks, dad," Donghyuck leans forwards and gets engulfed into an embrace by his dad. He closes his eyes and enjoys the comforting warmth he felt in his chest. His dad was always there for him, despite being a little restricting, he tried his best to pamper Donghyuck as much as he could.

When Donghyuck was younger and had found out about a console that everyone in his school had besides him, his dad was quick to get it, even though they were a little short on money at that time. His dad loved him and Donghyuck loved him back. They were happy, without a mother/wife, but they were happy together.

"I have a question," Donghyuck says once they part and start watching TV. His dad blinks away from the TV and nods for him to continue. "Have you ever thought about remarrying?"

"Hm?" He looks startled by the question. "I did, once."

"You did?" Donghyuck perks up. His dad had never shown interest in anyone after his mum died, so he assumed he wasn't looking for another life partner. "When?"

"When you were just 15," his dad starts, looking a little lost in thoughts. "I met this girl once, she was cute and just a few years younger than me. We spoke for a couple of months and I thought about starting a new relationship, but I wasn't sure how you would feel about it. So then I told her that I couldn't be with her, and we ended whatever we had."

"Dad," Donghyuck sits up with a frown on his face. "I would never stop you from being happy. You can be with someone else. I loved Mother, but I don't exactly have any memories of her either. I would be fine with you finding someone new."

"I know," his dad sighs and turns the volume to the TV up. He wants to end the conversation. "It doesn't matter anyway, she moved on and I only realised you would be fine with it too late."

Donghyuck feels guilt creep into him. His dad had stopped a potential relationship because of him. He wanted his dad to be happy, and he wants to talk more about the issue, but his dad looks uncomfortable and unhappy. He doesn't want to disturb him any further.

Donghyuck stays silent the whole evening.

-

"It was the same dream again?" Seulgi asks, not looking surprised. They're sitting in Donghyuck's room, a week's passed and it's their session time again.

Donghyuck hums. "Mhm."

"Do you think this dream is something you imagined or," Seulgi pauses and blinks at him. "Or was it a memory you've lost."

"A memory I've lost?" Donghyuck sniffles. Seulgi looks at his reddened nose and then at his watery eyes.

"Are you sick?" She asks, worried.

"I'm fine," Donghyuck smiles, his cheeks warming up because of her concern. "What do you mean by a memory that I've lost?"

"In our previous session, you said that you couldn't remember certain things from your past, perhaps it could be something from then?" Seulgi inquires. "Or it could be a certain thing you've read before that you're now portraying as something that happened to you?"

"It could be. Whenever I think about my childhood, when I was much younger," Donghyuck sighs, tired. "I can't recall any clear memories. It's all a little...blurry."

"Blurry?" Seulgi echoes.

"I remember some things, but whenever I think about my mother," Donghyuck grimaces as nothing comes to his mind, other than the picture of his parents and him that was hanging up in their living room. "It's just empty."

"Maybe your dream is linked to that?" She suggests, an encouraging look on her face. "Maybe the adult that's running away with you was your mother?"

"But what would we be running away from?" Donghyuck frowns.

Seulgi opens his mouth to say something when someone enters the room. "Donghyuck," his dad says, looking stressed. "I heard that you were feeling sick."

Donghyuck glances up at him and then at Seulgi, who only smiles at him sweetly. She was always smiling.

"I'm fine, Father," Donghyuck says, rubbing his nose with his wrist. "Don't worry."

"I'm sorry, Miss Kang," his dad apologises and then kneels next to Donghyuck. "You need to rest."

"I'm fine!" Donghyuck chuckles, but his voice sounds stuffed.

"Don't worry, Donghyuck," Seulgi gets up from her seat and ruffles his hair. "We can continue another time, over the phone perhaps if the fever or sickness gets any worse, okay?"

Donghyuck pouts but nods along. His dad stands up to guide Seulgi out and sends Donghyuck one last worried look before leaving.

With a sigh, Donghyuck collapses into his bed, his head spinning from the movement. He wasn't sick, well maybe a little, but he was sure he would get over it soon. He didn't get sick much, always had a good immune system ever since he was a child. Jaemin gets sick quite easily. He could spend a few hours outside on a cold chilly day and he wouldn't be able to stop sneezing for a while. Then later once he'd get sick and Donghyuck would scold him because of his lack of layers.

"Donghyuck," his dad returns through the doors and sits on the edge of the bed. "I think you have a fever."

His dad presses the back of his hand against Donghyuck's forehead and he must be burning, because he pulls away just as quickly. "Baby, you need rest."

"Okay, okay," Donghyuck mumbles, looking up at his dad with a fond look. "I'll get rest, don't worry."

His dad brushes his hair away before leaving the room to get medicines. Donghyuck takes that time to pull his phone out and send Jaemin a message.

hyuckie ♡

imsick

jaeminnie ♡

how sad

hyuckie ♡

D:

jaeminnie ♡

I'm joking bby what's wrong

hyuckie ♡

fever :(

had to cut my session with Miss Kang short

jaeminnie ♡

was seulgi fine with it

hyuckie ♡

mhm

but I couldn't help feeling bad about it

jaeminnie ♡

why ???

hyuckie ♡

she comes all the way to my house every week because I get scared going over to hers

and then only half an hour in she had to leave

I had only started opening up as well !!

jaeminnie ♡

awh bbie don't worry :D

I'm sure she didn't mind

Your well being is more important okay

hyuckie ♡

okay :(

can u come over?

jaeminnie ♡

give me 10 mins

-

"It might be contagious," Donghyuck warns Jaemin when he pulls the blanket up. The blue-haired boy shoots Donghyuck a glare and climbs onto the bed.

"As if that would stop me," he comments once they're snuggled in together. Donghyuck's fevers gone down a little, but only now has everything crashed into him. His head has been aching and his stomach keeps churning. Maybe it was something he ate. "You have your first day as an intern tomorrow." Donghyuck completely forgot about that.

"I'll go," he sighs. He has to, he can't miss his first day.

"You won't go," Jaemin shakes his head and grabs his cheeks, crushing them together with his hands. "You're sick and need to get as much rest as you can."

"I'll be fine in the morning," Donghyuck dismisses. "Like I've said multiple times before-"

"I have a good immune system," Jaemin mocks him before he can say it and the older huffs. "I know, Hyuckie, but what if your fever suddenly gets worse whilst you're there?"

"Then I'll have to manage with it," Donghyuck takes a deep breath before kicking the blanket off the two. "I feel hot."

"Should I turn the AC on?" Jaemin starts to get up but Donghyuck quickly stops him.

"No, no," he smiles. "It's fine, Jaemin."

They fall into hushed chatter as Donghyuck takes deep breaths to cool himself down. The headaches stinging at the back of his eyes and he knows he should get rest, but Jaemin came all the way to his house to take care of him. He couldn't possibly just fall asleep within his presence.

"Go to sleep," Jaemin says in the middle of a sentence when he catches Donghyuck's eyes dropping.

"No, I'm fine," Donghyuck slurs, immediately cursing in his mind.

"If you don't go to sleep, I promise I will leave you alone," Jaemin threatens, already pulling the blanket off himself.

"No!" Donghyuck whines, throwing himself forward to cling onto Jaemin's arm. "Stay with me."

"Then you have to sleep."

Donghyuck pouts at his request, but his own will gives upon him. The exhaustion of feeling sick and being tired washing upon him and he lets out a deep breath. He misses the way Jaemin runs a hand through his hair before placing a kiss on his head.

-

There it is again, Donghyuck thinks as he watches two figures run in the darkness of the night. They pass through an empty street, through the puddles whilst hushing at each other whenever a sound escapes the two. He doesn't know what's going on. He eyes the way his childhood self looks oblivious to what's going on as well. Perhaps this was just his imagination.

All of a sudden, yells were heard and the scene shifts. Donghyuck finds himself standing on the edge of a bridge, looking down at the figures run into a train that had been parked. The doors barely manage to close when a man appears by the entrance. He can see the fear written on all of their faces. They look so scared, so terrified as if seeing each other makes them even more worried.

"Please, for the love of God, let us go!" One of the figures speaks out, dropping to their knees. They sound familiar as if Donghyuck heard their voice before. He can't seem to pinpoint it just yet so just opts to lean down and try to get a better look. "Tell him you couldn't find us! Tell him we're dead, just please let us go!"

The figure on their knees holds their hands up to the one by the entrance. The train seems to be motionless - it's the middle of the night, no trains would be operating at the moment.

The man stares down at the figure with a guilty face, a look of despair and sadness. Why was everyone so sad?

"I'm sorry, Mrs Kim," the man reaches for his pocket and the figure - Mrs Kim - bursts into tears, already knowing what's to come.

Wait- Mrs Kim? Donghyuck's eyes widen as a thought flashes through his mind. That couldn't possibly be his mum, could it? What other adult would be with him when he was a child, and that would explain why their voice sounded so familiar.

"I'm begging, Minjae," she crawls over to the man's feet and lowers her head. Donghyuck grimaces in disgust. What was she doing? "Please, let us go."

"Mrs Kim, please don't make it harder than it is already," the man - Minjae - takes a step back, leaving his mum to collapse against the floor. His childhood self looks between the two in confusion as his mum continues to sob into the floor. "It's his orders, I can't deny them."

"Minjae, please!" She yells, getting up from the ground to look at him with a devastating look. "I beg of you, I beg. Please spare us. We won't tell anyone. We'll remain silent, I won't tell anyone anything. I promise, I really promise. I won't, I won't, I won't-"

Donghyuck's breath hitches as he sees Minjae point a gun straight at his mum's head. Her rambling comes to a stop as she holds her hands in defence.

"Not here," she whispers, eyes locked on the gun. "Not in front of Donghyuck."

Minjae doesn't seem to register the words as he shuts his eyes and lets out a shaky breath.

"Wait," Donghyuck calls out from his position up at the bridge. "Leave her alone."

Minjae doesn't seem bothered by his interruption and keeps the gun pointed at his mum. Donghyuck's heartbeat fastens and he attempts to jump off the bridge. "Leave her alone!"

Donghyuck runs over to where Minjae and his mum are, confused as to why his younger self was doing anything but staring. Who was this Minjae person and why was he harming his mum?

"Stop! Don't shoot! Don't-" Donghyuck freezes when he sees Minjae pull the trigger and then-

"Donghyuck!" Jaemin shakes him awake. "Hyuckie, wake up. It's a dream, it's just a dream."

"Jaemin?" Donghyuck looks up dishevelled, completely out of it. "Nana? Jaemin! Jaemin, wait no! He's going to shoot her, Jaemin! H-he's going to hurt her."

"Hurt who?" Jaemin helps him sit up and Donghyuck takes shallow breaths, his eyes burning from tears and stomach twisting with pain.

"He-he's gonna hurt her!"

"Hurt who, baby? Hurt who?" Jaemin runs a comforting hand down his arm and Donghyuck takes a moment to remember where he was. He wasn't near a train station standing on a bridge. His mum wasn't there and that Minjae person wasn't there either. It was his dream, the annoying reoccurring one.

"Jaemin," Donghyuck whispers once he controls himself.

"Donghyuck," Jaemin replies, nodding as he waits for the older.

"Can you hug me?" He's immediately pulled into an embrace, and although they're both sweating from how hot his room is and Donghyuck burning up, Jaemin tightens his grip.

They stay like that for a couple of minutes, relishing in each other's soft breaths as Donghyuck calms his nerves down. It was just a dream, none of it was real, but why did it feel like it was? Why was his mum in the dream?

"Donghyuck," Jaemin says once Donghyuck's gone limp against him. "Who were you talking about?"

"My mother," Donghyuck answers, still unsure of what that meant.

"Your mother?" Jaemin sounds surprised, and so is Donghyuck to be honest. He never had any dream related to his mum, with no memories with her his mind seemed to erase anything that reminded him of her. Because of that, Donghyuck never spoke about his mum either, forgetting to mention that she was no longer with him and that his dad had taken full responsibility for it.

"She was in my dream," Donghyuck sighs, confusion causing his headache to worsen. "Look, can we not talk about this right now? I'm really tired and just feel sick and horrible."

"Of course," Jaemin kisses the top of his head and the two let out the breaths they didn't know that they were holding. It wasn't Jaemin's first time seeing Donghyuck panic due to a dream. After the day Donghyuck told Jaemin about his dream, he had come over once and they fell asleep on the sofa. In the middle of the night, Jaemin was awakened by whimpers and cries. He saw Donghyuck crying to himself in his sleep and from then on he was one of the only people Donghyuck could trust with everything.

"Hey, Donghyuck?"

Donghyuck was almost asleep but woke up by Jaemin's voice. He nods and hums sleepily.

"It's 7am," Jaemin says softly. "I'm going to call in sick for you."

"I have to go," Donghyuck shakes his head in disagreement, yet makes no move to support his statement. Jaemin gives him another kiss on the head before getting up to call Mark's place.

"I'll be back, okay?"

Donghyuck blinks slowly to see Jaemin exit the room with his phone. He tries staying awake and waiting for the younger, but his body fails in him and he falls asleep thinking about his mum once again.

-

The next time Donghyuck wakes up it's 6 in the evening. His back hurts from the awkward position he slept in and he still feels a little sick. A hands stroking through his hair and it cups his cheek when he lets out a whine.

"Hey, Duckie," he hears Jaemin say to him in a hushed voice. "How are you doing? Need any water? Food?"

"Sleep," Donghyuck answers, but still forces himself to sit up. Jaemin holds his arm and assists him before they both sigh. "Why are you here?"

"I couldn't leave you when you're sick," Jaemin sounds offended that Donghyuck even thought he wouldn't stay.

"Of course, of course. But didn't you have training today?" Donghyuck leans into Jaemin's hand that was on his cheek.

Jaemin glares at him before replying. "You're more important."

"You won't be saying that when you get a call from Sicheng and he bursts your ear drums because you took a day off."

Jaemin immediately grimaces at the thought. Sicheng, the senior doctor in the clinic, was an absolute angel and treated everyone like they were his own kids. But if they ever took a day off and it wasn't for a valid reason, he would take their souls away. Once, Jaemin had called Donghyuck in to meet Sicheng and one of his colleagues had just so happened to have taken a day off yesterday. When Sicheng laid eyes upon him, Donghyuck swears he's never heard his voice go that loud before.

"If he hears it was for you, he'll let me off," Jaemin winks at Donghyuck, who pushes him away with a groan. For some weird reason, Sicheng was extra kind towards Donghyuck, perhaps it was because of who his dad was, but Donghyuck never liked thinking too much into it.

"Where's father?" Donghyuck stretched his arms as Jaemin stood up from his seat.

"He's downstairs, worked from home in case anything happened to you."

"He didn't have to work from home just for me," Donghyuck mutters as he holds a hand out to Jaemin, who gladly accepts it and pulls the older into his arms. "I didn't want to be a burden."

"And you weren't," Jaemin replies, helping Donghyuck lean against him. His fever was already decreasing, but he had no strength. "You're his only son, I'm pretty sure it's alright for him to take a day off for his child."

"Still," Donghyuck whines, tucking himself into Jaemin's neck as they began their journey downstairs.

"No, no still." Jaemin shakes his head. "He's allowed to want to take care of you, Donghyuck."

The boy pouts and looks up at Jaemin, who turns his face away from him and lets out a huff. "Fine, whatever."

"Now that's like a good boy." Jaemin leans away laughing as Donghyuck tries to hit on the head. The sound of their laughter echoes in the hallway and within seconds Donghyuck sees his dad appear with a worried look.

"Donghyuck," he says, hurrying over to him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Father," Donghyuck chuckles and then clings onto his dad. "Why did you take a day off from work?"

"You were sick, I couldn't possibly concentrate at work knowing you were at home suffering," his dad's eyebrows furrow and he looks so cute, Donghyuck reaches up to pinch his cheek.

"Cute," he giggles as his dad pulls away in annoyance. Donghyuck opens his mouth to say something until he catches sight of someone in the living room. "Who's that?"

His dad follows his line of sight to the black haired male sitting on the sofa with his back facing them and then looks back at Donghyuck. "Someone I met at a meeting the other day, you may like him."

They enter the room and the man stands up, only resulting in Donghyuck's jaw dropping because that was Mark Lee.

"Oh, Donghyuck," Mark says, a smile breaking out of his face. "Are you feeling better? I got a call saying you were sick and unable to come today."

"Uhm-yeah, I'm fine," Donghyuck clears his throat and suddenly feels very conscious of what he was wearing. He was only in his sweatpants and shirt, he felt embarrassed.

"You two know each other?" Donghyuck's dad looked between the two in surprise.

"Ah, yes. I'm the one who's going to be supervising Donghyuck's group of interns at the company."

The conversation flows smoothly and Donghyuck finds himself relaxing as they continue speaking. His dad seems to be close with Mark as they make jokes and talk about future plans. It seems strange that two CEOs of companies that are part of the same industry and were meant to be rivals were in fact friends, but Donghyuck didn't pay much mind to it. (Even if their age difference shocked him).

"It's getting late, Heechul, I should get going," Mark says after an hour or so. Donghyuck's dad looks up at the clock and then shakes his head.

"It's nearly time for dinner, Mark. Why don't you stay over and eat with us?" Mark looks reluctant at first, constantly shooting glances at the clock, but then gives in when Heechul asks one more time. "Great! I'll tell them to set the table right away. Donghyuck? Keep Mark company, will you?"

His dad leaves before he can answer and Jaemin follows him through the doors, for whatever reason. The sound of their breathing is the only thing they can hear until Mark opens his mouth.

"If you're still feeling sick, you don't have to come in tomorrow," he says, giving Donghyuck a concerned look.

"I'm fine," Donghyuck replies, shooting him a grateful smile. "My fever has gone down and I'm sure by tomorrow I'll have all my energy back."

"Are you sure, I don't want to force you to come even though you're not healthy enough." Mark looks so genuinely worried, it warms Donghyuck's heart.

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine." To emphasise his point, Donghyuck sits up straight and sends Mark a thumbs up. "Thank you for your concern."

Mark sends him one last smile before they get called for dinner.

-

"It's your first day, how are you feeling?" Mark asks as they walk through the building. Donghyuck was scared as hell but there was no way he was going to tell Mark that.

"I'm excited," he lies, forcing a smile onto his face. Mark was quick to return it before leading him into a large room. There were a few people scattered across the room, most of them were talking and Donghyuck was left to assume that they didn't have much work to do or were waiting for a meeting.

"This is the place that you will be working for the next 3 months," Mark gestured to the people around them, who then turned around to give Donghyuck a nod. "They're all front-end developers and have been working on something together for a client recently."

Mark continues to explain stuff to Donghyuck as they walk around. A few of the people Mark was gesturing to come up and introduce themselves. As Donghyuck was still feeling nervous, he ends up stuttering out a response and immediately forgets what the person's name was as they move along.

"You seem overwhelmed," Mark points out once they stop by an empty desk.

Donghyuck looks down, flustered. "Just a little."

"Let's get you seated, you might not have recovered completely from yesterday," Mark says as they enter the small kitchen area. He pulls a chair out and Donghyuck takes a seat, a little shy with the way Mark looks down at him. "In your group, there's a lot of people that are older than you, but there's one your age."

"There is?" Donghyuck asks, excited by the news.

Mark nods, looking equally as happy. "His name's Renjun, I think he was sent downstairs for some ID badge checks." Mark looks around the corner and then turns back to Donghyuck. "We should get yours done by today as well."

Within seconds Donghyuck finds himself following Mark into another room and he realises that it was going to be one long day.

-

Exhausted and finally done with the day, Donghyuck climbed the car his dad had sent for him. He reaches over to greet the driver, who smiles back at him before leaning into his seat. Donghyuck almost falls asleep when his phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" He says into his phone, his eyes screwed shut as he fights a headache.

"Donghyuck?" Seulgi's voice plays in his head a second time until he comes to his senses. "Donghyuck, are you okay?"

"Ah! I'm fine," he hurriedly says, eyes darting up to meet the drivers worried ones. "I'm just really tired right now."

"Oh, I understand. I'll call you later." Seulgi almost ends the call when Donghyuck speaks up again.

"No, no," he sighs before sitting up. "We can speak right now."

"Are you sure, I wouldn't want to stop you from getting rest."

"I'm sure," Donghyuck smiles to himself as Seulgi agrees with him. "Did you call so that we could finish our session over the phone?"

"Mhm," she hums. "I figured there may be things you wanted to speak to me about, especially after our previous conversation. And if I do say so myself, I was a little intrigued by what you were saying.

"If I remember correctly," she clears her throat, sounding more friendly than before. "We were talking about how there's a possibility that your mum was who you were running away with."

Donghyuck remembers his latest dream and gasps at the knowledge. "Actually," he starts, straightening his back as his mind starts working again. "I had the dream again last night." Seulgi hums in acknowledgement and Donghyuck continues. "It was just like what you said, my mother was the one I was running away with. This time my dream was so- it was so clear. It's never been this clear."

"Maybe you're starting to understand it better, or perhaps your brain is beginning to remember things from the period of time you forgot," Seulgi suggests.

"Maybe," he repeats and the two sit in silence for a moment. Donghyuck looks out of the window and watches as the trees go by.

"Oh wait," Donghyuck cuts their silence. "There was someone else in the dream."

"Are you talking about the person who chases you two?" Seulgi asks.

Donghyuck hums in agreement. "There's this part where the man chasing us finally corners us. We end up at this train station that I've never seen before and he holds a gun to my mother's head."

"A gun?" Seulgi sounds surprised and a little confused. Donghyuck felt the same.

"Yeah, I didn't really know what had happened." Donghyuck fiddles with his fingers as he speaks. "One second we're running and the next my mother's falling to her knees begging for the person to leave her alone."

Seulgi must've been pretty shocked as she remains quiet, encouraging Donghyuck to continue. "She said his name."

"What was it?" Seulgi questions, her voice small.

"Minjae."

The car swerves to the side before continuing on its normal path. Donghyuck glances up at the driver, who seems to be more focused on the road than before.

"Minjae?" Seulgi echoes. "Have you ever met this Minjae person before."

"Never in my life," Donghyuck answers just as they pull up at their house. "I've reached home now, Miss Kang."

"Alright! Don't worry, we spoke for over half an hour," Seulgi chuckles and Donghyuck follows in pursuit. "But, if you ever feel like talking to me again, don't hesitate to call me! We'll continue our conversation next week then."

"Of course." Donghyuck opens the door to the car and waves the driver goodbye. As he enters the house, he catches his dad in the living room. "Father!"

"Hyuck!" His dad replies with the same level of enthusiasm. "How was your day?"

"It was great!" Donghyuck beams, hopping onto the sofa beside his dad. "Tiring, but great! I met a lot of people today and they led me through the basics."

"Look at my boy," his dad jokingly wiped a fake tear away before pinching Donghyuck's cheek. "All grown up."

Donghyuck laughs and almost jumps into a rant of what had happened when their driver walks in with a serious face.

"Mr Lee, can we speak in private for a moment?" He asks. His dad looks annoyed and scoffs.

"Can't you see I'm talking with my son?" His dad says in a strict manner and Donghyuck feels bad about being in the way of important matters.

"It's about Jeju Island, Sir," their driver says through gritted teeth and his dad's attitude immediately changes.

"Donghyuck," he says, turning around to face him. "Can you excuse us for a while? I promise I'll listen to how your day went later."

"It's fine, Father," Donghyuck grins brightly and jumps off the sofa. "We'll talk at dinner."

His dad nods at him as he leaves the room. Donghyuck walks up to his room but can't seem to shake off the strange feeling that was upon him. And why did Jeju Island sound so familiar?