It hadn't been hard for Seokju to notice that something was wrong with Ijin.

He worked with the guy, he trained with the guy, he was friends with the guy, and honestly, he probably saw Ijin more often than he saw his own parents.

Although it was very discrete, Ijin kept on looking around, as if he couldn't quite get a grasp on his surroundings. More than once, it took Ijin a few seconds to realize that they had started moving to a new location. Despite the fact that they were in a new city, it was still very out of character for Ijin to be acting that way.

He spoke to his friend the first chance he got when they were at the bathroom sinks together, "Ijin?" he gently shook Ijin's shoulder when he got no response. And he knew that Ijin was out of it when he slowly turned to look at him. His eyes took a few seconds to focus on his face," Are you okay?"

And imagine his surprise when Ijin slowly shook his head, one hand going up to palm his forehead," Grandfather told me I lived in this city when I was a child," the teenager leaned his hands against the sink and let out a heavy sigh," I can feel a memory resurfacing. It's very disorientating."

Oh.

Oh yeah, that was a problem. Even now, Seokju could see Ijin's eyes momentarily glazing over before he shook his head, bringing himself out of whatever he was going into.

"Do you need to take a break?" he asked even though they were in the middle of a break. This was the first time he had ever seen his friend act this way. Even when he was injured when they were all kidnapped, he had a very firm grip on reality and his surroundings.

Now?

It was like Ijin was looking at everything through a haze. If Ijin, who was sometimes a rock wall when it came to expressions, was showing the effects, he just knew that it had to be bad.

"Sorry," Ijin tightened his grip on the sink as he admitted his fault, which wasn't even a fault in the first place.

"Don't be," Seokju said quickly," I know you would stick it out if you could. You're stubborn like that." Ijin hummed in response, not giving any resistance as Seokju led him to the bathroom door, a grounding hand on his shoulder. They exited the bathroom, and upon seeing some of the men crowded further down the hallway, he led Ijin to the nearby bench.

Even on the way down to the bench, Ijin wavered to the point where Seokju had to steady him," I'll go tell the others." He didn't get a response again, and he just took that as another sign for him to hurry up and get his friend somewhere to rest.

He lightly jogged to the others, quickly catching the attention of his teammates," We got a problem," he said once he was close enough, garnering some raised eyebrows.

Hanuel looked past him, most likely looking at Ijin sitting on the bench behind him," What's wrong with the kid?"

He pursed his lips. He didn't want to be the one to tell them about Ijin's amnesia, especially since it was not his to tell. But at the same time, he knew he wouldn't be able to excuse Ijin going back to the hotel with a simple 'he's not feeling well'

Ijin never kept his amnesia a secret and up until now, it was not something that needed to be addressed.

But at the moment. It did.

"Ijin has amnesia," He quickly moved past their looks of shock and surprise," He can't remember anything from his childhood. But he used to live in this city as a kid and its starting to disorientate him."

They all looked behind him again, and much to their credit, they got over it relatively fast.

"Okay. I-Okay," Saem said firmly, his hand going up to pinch the skin between his brows as he let out a sigh," We're going to be talking about this later. But I'll go tell Kyong and the madam. Is it really that bad?"

"He said that he needed to take a break."

That did it.

"Right, you guys help Ijin get to the car. I'll go and tell them."

And just like it was some type of drama. There was a thud that made all of them turn to look at Ijin.

"Ijin!?"

He had fallen from the bench and was laying on his stomach with his head turned away from them.

"fuck!"

They were quick to move into action. "Sir Ijin just collapsed!"

"What?! Hang on I'm on my way-what happened?!" Seokju could hear the shock in their team leader's voice, even as he busied himself with checking on his friend.

"He seems to be having some type of episode sir," Saem grunted as he rolled his limp friend onto his side. Ijin was twitching, quietly muttering under his breath in a way that only confused them even more.

While Seokju started running his hands through Ijin's hair to find the bump, because he was sure Ijin had hit his head on the way down, Hanuel took Ijin's pulse. To his concern, it was elevated and was not the heartbeat anyone should have while unconscious.

" Episo de?" The sound of his superiors voice coming over the comm overlapped with his real voice, causing them to look up. Seokju felt some type of relief wash over him when he saw Kyong and the madam running towards them, but that relief was quickly wiped away when he looked back down. He scrunched up his nose when he felt a bump on the side of Ijin's head forming.

With Kyong's help, they maneuvered Ijin onto his back, observing the way the young man kept twitching and muttering words. Seokju placed his suit jacket under his friend's head as Kyong ran his fingers along Ijin's jawline to find his pulse point.

"Does he have any chronic conditions?"

Well. He didn't know if it was a chronic condition.

But it was a condition after all.

"Its his amnesia sir."

That made Kyong pause, his hand resting on Ijin's forehead as he looked up at Seokju, surprise coloring his face," Ijin has amnesia?" A particularly violent jerk made Seokju put his hands on Ijin's shoulders to keep him still.

"Yes sir," Ijin had a pained look on his face, his breathing faster than it should have been," He lost his memory when he was nine, and recently regained it in the past year. He mentioned that his grandfather told him that he and his family used to live here when he was a child." Ijin jerked again, his head turning sharply to the side that nearly made him hit his head again.

"Seokju was just telling us about it," silently, Kyong cradled Ijin's head in his hands, protecting it from the floor as he kept on twitching and jerking," I thought you said he was just disorientated?" Saem asked accusingly, the four of them taking note of the way the madam was calling for an ambulance but ignored her otherwise.

"That's all he told me," He said firmly, grunting when Ijin gave a violent flinch that almost made him lose his grip on Ijin's shoulders. Following their lead, Saem and Haneul held down his legs. Using just enough force where if Ijin unconsciously lashed out, he wouldn't be kicking one of them," I don't think he knew this was going to happen."

"I don't think he did," Kyong said seriously, scrunching up his nose when he felt the same bump Seokju found moments before," Why didn't you say anything?"

Ijin muttered something again, and even though they couldn't understand a single word, they knew that they didn't like the way a single tear was slipping past his eyelid.

Seokju already knew that he was going to get Ijin's phone and call the Major. Even if it was unnecessary, he just wanted to be sure that Ijin was going to be okay. They may have been good friends, but he knew that Ijin was most comfortable with the Major.

Slowly, Ijin stopped twitching, and his breathing slowed down to a normal rate. But he hadn't stopped muttering under his breath every couple of minutes. Showing that whatever was happening, was still going on. Since he was the only one that knew about Ijin's amnesia, Seokju had tagged along with Ijin to the hospital when the paramedics arrived. Informing the paramedics and doctors of his friend's condition and what had happened.

It was almost surreal as they loaded his friend into the ambulance. He knew that Ijin was okay, but it was nerve-wracking as he watched them unbutton Ijin's dress shirt to get sensors onto his chest, as they tried over and over again to get him to wake up. Going as far as to prick his fingers with needles and rub at his sternum to no avail.

Ijin was still unconscious when he walked into his room. They had changed him into a gown ( They said that he might have to stay overnight because of the bump ) his clothes and other belongings on a small table. His phone was right on top of the pile.

He grimaced.

Right.

Time to call the Major.

With nothing better to do, he quite literally twiddled his thumbs.

It had been almost 30 minutes since Ijin had woken up, and as the Major had requested, Seokju put him on the phone and left the room so Ijin could have some privacy.

Though it was an anxiety-inducing wait, Ijin had woken up within a few hours, and other than some confusion and grogginess, he was as good as he could be. But since it was a mental event, along with a bump on his head, the doctors said that they wanted to keep his friend overnight just in case. Which was fair.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone started vibrating. Seokju frowned when he saw that it was the Major calling, but answered in seconds.

"Ah, Seokju. Ijin fell asleep," A peek into the room confirmed that. With Ijin curled up on his side, his phone dangling precariously from his hand," I just wanted to touch bases with you." He plucked Ijin's phone out of his friend's hand and put it on the bedside table," This isn't the first time this happened, but it might happen again since he spent his childhood there." He took in the news as he pulled up the blanket, covering his friend in the cold hospital room.

"I understand."

"How much longer are you guys going to stay in the city?"

"Another week or so sir."

There was a sound of disapproval," Well I can't make you bring him back. Call me if this happens again?"

He blinked in surprise, and glancing over at Ijin, he wandered into the farthest corner of the room ," You think it's going to happen again?"

The Major hummed ," The first time this happened was when Ijin was with me and my men. Visual and auditory situations seem to trigger reactions like this the most, otherwise, he usually recovers his memories through dreams."

Seokju quickly caught on," And in the city where he spent his childhood…"

"Yeah. there's going to be plenty of things that will help him remember. Eventually, there has to be something strong enough to trigger a reaction like this again."

He sighed heavily into the phone, resisting the urge to curse out of exasperation as he did so. The Major chuckled again," I know. The things this kid puts us through."

That made him chuckle.

"Er- Sir, if you don't mind me asking. How is he doing?"

"Ijin? He's fine. His father used to work in that building when he was a kid, that's why he had such a strong reaction. He has a bit of a headache from hitting his head but he's fine otherwise."

"Is that what he told you to say or is he really fine?"

There was a bark of laughter ," No no, he's really fine. He-uh-he might be a little bit out of it when he wakes up. He was really tired the last time this happened, so you might want to go back and get some sleep."

The idea didn't sit well with him," I'll stay sir."

" …You're a good friend Seokju. Just make sure you have permission from the staff if you do stay."

" Yes sir."

He was permitted to stay overnight to keep an eye on Ijin.

Granted, he had to give them a rough explanation about the hostility of Ijin's childhood, and that it would help if a familiar face was there should something happen (Ok, so he might have overdone it. Just a little bit.) so he was allowed to stay in his hospital room.

After a few hours of dozing to the sound of the slow rhythmic beats of the heart monitor, he noticed almost immediately when the beat suddenly picked up speed.

Drowsily, he cracked open his eyes to look at the sleeping teenager, and upon seeing Ijin sleeping peacefully in the bed, he closed his eyes again. Readjusting the hand he was leaning his head on,

He was dozing off again when the beat changed again, and this time, it was accompanied by a groan.

That made him wake up.

Sitting up straighter in the chair, he rubbed sleep away with his fist and leaned closer to Ijin. Frowning at the way Ijin was laying on his side, facing the other way, he stood up. Momentarily groaning at the way his lower back ached from sleeping in the chair as he leaned across the bed to get a look at his expression.

He was curled up tightly in a ball, the covers pulled tightly around his body as if he was trying to unconsciously hide from something. Ijin was frowning, even in his sleep, Seokju could see his jaw clenching and unclenching as his dreams tormented him.

All in all, it didn't look like he was having a pleasant dream.

"Ijin?" he whispered out his first call, not wanting to startle the boy awake, only for his call to go unanswered," Hey," He put his hand onto Ijin's shoulder, flinching at the way Ijin jerked away before he set his hand onto his shoulder again," Ijin. Wake up." He was speaking at a normal level now, the silence of the room making it seem like he was yelling instead.

Seokju shook his shoulder gently," Ijin. Wake up." His voice was firm now, and he was starting to shake Ijin's shoulder a little bit harder. Ijin grunted at the motion, but he remained asleep.

Getting fed up, and concerned at the way Ijin was starting to get more and more restless. He punched Ijin's arm, not hard enough to hurt too badly, but hard enough to startle him awake.

Ijin woke up with a gasp, his hand latching onto Seokju's wrist as he sat up stock straight in the bed. His hand was already starting to twist Seokju's wrist, less than a second out of sleep.

"Woah-woah!" Seokju grabbed Ijin's hand before he could cause any damage to his wrist," Ijin," He tried his best to make his voice as calm and soothing as possible, Ijin breathing heavily as he slowly came back to reality," Sorry. You weren't waking up. Are you okay?"

Despite the fact that he was clearly not okay. Ijin nodded his head, letting go of Seokju's hand so he could provide some sort of self-comfort by running his hand through his hair.

Seokju rose his eyebrow," Ijin," His voice was stern again, and Ijin blinked in surprise at the way Seokju was suddenly talking to him," I know you're not okay. Do you want me to call Major Kang?"

"No…no" Ijin said quietly, gently shaking his head as he cleared his throat," I'm fine. It-uh- it was a nightmare of the plane crash. I'm used to it."

Seokju just stared at him, his mouth slightly hanging open.

"Ijin that has got to be the single most depressing shit I have ever heard from you," Ijin blinked in surprise, especially since Seokju nudged his legs to the side so there could be room for him to sit down at the bottom of the bed," I'm gonna ask one more time. Are you okay?"

His friend's insistence on making sure that he was okay made him smile just the tiniest bit.

"Yes. I'm fine. Thanks for waking me up."

"No problem. And your head?"

He could tell by Seokju's look that if he didn't give more than a two-word answer, his friend was going to give him that expectant look of his until he gave a better answer," It doesn't hurt that much. Nothing I've never dealt with."

Based on the way Seokju made that certain face of his, he could tell that Seokju reluctantly accepted his words. Ijin got an eye roll when he shrugged his shoulders passively.

Completely awake, Ijin looked around the room, taking note of the way it was still dark outside the window," What time is it?"

"Oh!" Seokju fished for his phone in his pocket," its four-thirty two in the morning. You should try to get more sleep so-…what?"

Ijin was staring at Seokju with a puzzled look, slowly saying," You didn't have to stay. I would have been fine."

Seokju smacked his leg as if he said something stupid," Of course, I stayed. Knowing you, you wouldn't tell the nurses if something was wrong until you passed out.

Rude.

Seokju wasn't wrong, he most definitely would have done that, but still.

Seokju took one look at his face a promptly started laughing," Major Kang is right, you are a handful."

Ijin rolled his eyes, a smile gracing his lips," Yeah yeah. Go away if you're going to be like this."

"Nah. I gotta make sure you don't do anything stupid. Like the time you were training with that cut in your arm. Or that time you were training with bruised ribs and your military friend got mad at you."

"I still don't know how he was able to tell."

"The point is that you do dumb stuff sometimes."

"What can I possibly do in a hospital?"

"Check yourself out earlier than recommended even though you have broken ribs and a gunshot wound to the shoulder."

"…shut up…"

"See! Even you admit that it was stupid."

"…its not that funny."

"Its not. I'm laughing at the face you're making."

"Keep it up, and I'll tell the others about the dirt rock."

"Major Kang already told them when we were on the base so ha."

" Dammit…"

"I can always tell them about the time you called your friends daughter your kid instead of your niece."

"okay okay I get it already."

"That you do dumb things sometimes?"

"Yeah. Remind me to ask Yeona for embarrassing stories about you."

"She wouldn't dare. I have embarrassing stories of her too."

"…"

"Let it be known, that I have finally bested you for once!"

"…In the words of Jaehyung: Begone vile thot."

"Huh…" Ms. Jiyeh said quietly, watching the two teenagers laugh from the doorway," That's the first time I've seen him smile like that."

Kyong hummed in agreement, a small smile on his face as he watched Seokju and Ijin laugh with each other. Seokju laughed up a storm as he tried his best to laugh quietly, Ijin doing the same as he poorly hid his smile behind his hand.

Ms. Jiyeh turned around suddenly, " Come. Let them be teenagers together."

Kyong smiled.

"Yes Ma'am."