Once Again

6

Taehyung entered the hospital courtyard and looked around him. It was a beautiful area with tall trees, lovely flowers, picnic tables, and wooden benches set up with careful planning and consideration to maximise space and provide soothing comfort to the patients. He was glad he had made the decision to move Yoojin to this place to recover.

Yoojin. The man he saved that night on the bridge. It wasn't his real name but a name that Taehyung had given him several days after he woke up from his coma.

It has been four months since that fateful night when Taehyung had reached out to grab Yoojin's hand to save him, and to Taehyung's dismay, the man had woken up with no memory of his past except for looking up at Taehyung moments before they plunged into the cold river. He doesn't remember his name, nor where he came from.

Though Yoojin vaguely remembered that he was on the bridge because he was distraught that his boyfriend was marrying someone else, he couldn't remember the man's name or face. It was almost like the river had washed away the person Yoojin was previously, cleansed him of his pain, and left him with no past so he can start anew.

The clothes that Yoojin wore that night didn't offer much clues either. The clothes were expensive and high-end so Taehyung knew Yoojin had money.

There was a key fob for an Audi, and a key fob for an apartment building in a pocket on the inside of his jacket but no wallet. Authorities believed the wallet must have gotten loose after Yoojin entered the waters and was probably lying at the bottom of the river now.

"Tae!"

Taehyung looked in the direction of the voice calling his name. He smiled when he saw Yoojin sitting on a bench by the tulips, his favourite spot, waving enthusiastically to him. He made his way over to the other man, swinging the paper bag in his hand by his side.

"Yoojin, how are you feeling today?"

The other man pouted at Taehyung as he pulled him down beside him.

"Tae, how many times have I told you to call me Jin? It's better than saying Yoojin."

Taehyung laughed but at the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder if Jin was part of this man's name in the past and maybe that was why he was comforted by it.

Taehyung remembered the day when he and Yoojin were deciding on names, and the other had rejected all the names that Taehyung had suggested until he threw out Yoojin which was the name of his favourite cousin who had died the previous year in a freak accident.

It had pained Taehyung to say the name but the look of joy on the other man's face had eased the pain and he had agreed that the latter should be called Yoojin starting right away.

Taehyung had then decided to seal the deal by giving his dead cousin's last name as well which was Lee, so now this stranger who was becoming quite dear to him, became Lee Yoojin. He knew his cousin would have approved.

"Fine. I'll call you Jin," Taehyung agreed.

Jin beamed at him, and Taehyung felt like the sun had bestowed its rays upon him. Jin's smile was that radiant, that powerful.

"So what did you bring today?" Jin asked as he tried to look in the paper bag.

"Clothes."

"Clothes?" Jin repeated, confused.

"Yes. Clothes for you to wear. Today we are going out."

"Really?!"

The happiness on Jin's face was blinding, and it caused Taehyung's heart to accelerate.

This man is beautiful, Taehyung thought. How could his boyfriend willingly give him up to marry another?

"Are we really, Tae?"

"Yes, really. I've already gotten your doctor's permission. Now let's go get you changed before he changes his mind."

Jin jumped to his feet with a laugh, wobbling a little on his healing ankle, before grabbing Taehyung's wrist to tag him swiftly back to his room. And Taehyung happily let himself be pulled along.