13. hero (sunggyu/woohyun)
kim sunggyu wakes up from a coma. the only thing he remembers is a name: nam woohyun.
originally posted at infinitememe
two
He opens his eyes.
The first thing he sees is a face peering at him, big eyes drawn even wider. The face pulls away and his surroundings swims into focus: peach walls, a window with white curtains, a tiny clock hanging off the belt of the person’s belt loop. It’s a male nurse, and he’s in an empty room.
The face comes back into focus. “You’re awake,” he says incredulously.
He clears his throat, and the first word he pushes through is unintelligible.
“Hold on,” the boy says. He looks young. He rushes out the room and returns with a plastic cup of water, a sunny yellow straw inside. “You haven’t spoken in years; drink up.”
The cup is cool in his hands, and when sips at the water, it’s bitter. He makes a face, and when he looks up, the nurse is smiling at him, eyes gleaming.
He tries speaking again, and this time it works even if it's more air than anything else. “Nam Woohyun.”
The nurse’s smile falters. “Who’s that?”
“…That’s not my name?”
The nurse shakes his head and he moves over to help Sunggyu upright.
“It’s not your name?”
He shakes his head again. “My name is Lee Sungjong. You’re Kim Sunggyu. I’ve been your nurse for the four months.”
“Nam Wooh-”
“You’ve been in a coma for the past six years,” the nurse, Lee Sungjong says, hands fluttering on top of one another. It’s in contrast to his voice, soft yet firm. “No one with that name has visited you here.”
His clenched fists have started to hurt. Sungjong notices this and in a second, he’s by Sunggyu’s side, one hand on his wrist, the other prying Sunggyu’s hand open. His touch is warm, and Sunggyu squeezes his eyes shut. Nothing is making sense.
“I know this is overwhelming,” Sungjong says, moving over to his other hand, easing his clenched fist open, “but what can you remember?”
Sunggyu shakes his head. When he speaks, his voice sounds foreign, probably because of the trembling. “A name. Nam Woohyun…I’m twenty-two, right?”
“You’re thirty years old, Kim Sunggyu,” Sungjong says quietly.
Sunggyu can only stare at him, and strangely enough, it’s Sungjong’s eyes that start to turn glassy because all Sunggyu can think about is a name, the name flicking through his mind, the first one on the tip of his tongue. He’s lost six years according to his nurse; what is losing another six seconds, another six more minutes to this faceless Nam Woohyun?
three
Sunggyu finds out no one knows what and how happened to him, except he was found unconscious inside a warehouse, with a severe brain hemorrhage caused by a bullet wound. It was removed, but he was in a coma for the first month, lying in Seoul National Hospital until they deemed him stable and moved him to a nursing home close to the edge of Seoul. The fresh air would help, the doctors had said.
And it did, Sunggyu thinks, but it took six long years.
Today his doctor-cum-counselor, Kim Myungsoo, leads him to his office. Sunggyu shifts in his brand new clothes as he settles down in the seat opposite Myungsoo, the label of his tee rubbing mercilessly against his neck.
“You can leave anytime you like. You’ve passed all the physical and mental tests. My number is programmed into your cellphone in case you need any help at all.”
“Where do I go?”
Myungsoo opens his mouth to speak, but closes it after several moments. “You had one visitor in the first few months here. I can check the name for you, but it’s been years. The person could have moved away or disappeared.”
Sunggyu shakes his head. “Please,” he says and Myungsoo nods.
He stands and walks to a shelf, and he spends the next two minutes leafing through files after files, files of residents that Sunggyu thinks are either still in a comatose state, or dead, or have left.
“Lee Howon,” Myungsoo says and Sunggyu feels himself deflate in the chair. Another name. Myungsoo hands him a piece of paper with an address, one that Sunggyu pockets.
“I have one question: who has been paying for my stay here?”
“There’s a trust fund in your name that’s been paying for all your medical bills. It’s a significant amount of money, considering it’s been so many years. Perhaps this Lee Howon would be able to tell you more.”
four
He finds Lee Howon, but before that, he meets his wife: a petite woman with short, dark hair and beautiful eyes.
“Come in,” she says, and offers him tea. Sunggyu drinks half of it, and uses the rest to warm his hands as he waits for this Lee Howon to come back home. The home is modest, and decorated with medals and trophies embossed with Lee Howon’s name.
Half an hour later, he returns home and Sunggyu stands to greet him. “Hi,” he says, somewhat shakily.
Howon stares at him. “Do I know you?” His tone is guarded; eyes hard.
“I’m Kim Sunggyu. They said you visited me in the hospital the first few months? I woke up without any recollection of anything that happened before, and I want to know who you are to me.”
“You’ve changed.”
“I was in a coma for six years,” Sunggyu replies, voice hard.
“I was the detective in charge of your case, but I came to visit you off the clock with my civilian ID. I wanted to ask you a few questions, but you obviously weren’t awake. And after several weeks, the doctors told me I was wasting my time.”
“I have so many questions. Why me? What happened?”
Lee Howon smiles humourlessly. “Those were my questions too, but I stopped asking years ago.”
“Does the name Nam Woohyun sound familiar to you?”
He shakes his head. “I can tell you how we found you though: in an abandoned warehouse, with a bullet in your brain. The doctors removed it, but there was never a match.”
Sunggyu is silent. Someone could have tried to kill him, or it could have an assisted suicide. Maybe Nam Woohyun is connected, or maybe he’s no one at all. Either way, Sunggyu is never going to find out without the memories of what happened all those years ago.
It’s clear on his face it seems, because Howon’s voice breaks through his thoughts. “Sunggyu-sshi? It’s been so many years. Perhaps it’s time to move on.”
five
He manages to track down his first nurse, a Jang Dongwoo.
They meet at a café, an Dongwoo orders a black coffee. Dongwoo has an easy laugh, and lines around his eyes. Sunggyu drinks water and even though been almost two months, it still tastes different every time.
He tells Sunggyu exactly the same thing Lee Howon tells him.
six
Sunggyu dreams of Nam Woohyun. Nam Woohyun the doctor that extracts the bullet and saves his life; Nam Woohyun is the nurse that stays by his bedside and monitors his heart rate in a chart that hangs at the end of his bed. Nam Woohyun is the person who tried to kill him; Nam Woohyun is the person who saves him.
In his nightmares, he stares into the mirror and sees himself but his name is Nam Woohyun and maybe he doesn’t exist. Maybe he’s not really awake.
When Sunggyu wakes up, it’s in his rented room, not the peach walls of the facility, and he’s always alone.
seven
Lee Sungyeol is the author of a book Sunggyu finds at the library. It’s a book on immortality.
Sunggyu buys a copy and he finishes it in a night. When he falls asleep that night, he dreams about Nam Woohyun, but he doesn’t see a face. Sunggyu can feel someone breathing against his ear, and he can hear someone playing the piano but there is never an image he can carry in his mind’s eyes to the next morning.
When he wakes up, Sunggyu writes a letter to his counselor:
Kim Myungsoo-sshi,
I read this book, entitled ‘The Truth about Immortality’, written by Dr. Lee Sungyeol and the entire book is on exactly as it says. They say the only measure of immortality is found in stories, passed on from person to person, generation to generation. There is a way to live forever, but it’s only through a memory.
one, or what kim sunggyu will not remember
“Do you trust me?” Woohyun’s voice is rough with emotion. It’s too dark to see, but Sunggyu thinks he could be crying.
“Woohyun, don’t be stupid and stop this. If we think it through, there will be a way out.”
“There’s no way out. Hyung, do you trust me?”
“Woohyun-”
“Sunggyu.”
Sunggyu is shocked into silence, and Woohyun kisses him. His cheeks are wet. Outside, the sirens are blaring. The police would find the hideout within minutes.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do, you idiot. But maybe we should have robbed the bank in another city instead. Or chose a better hideout than this dump.”
Woohyun chuckles before kissing him harder, and pulls away swiftly. There’s a fumbling, and suddenly there’s something pressed against his temple. He speaks so fast Sunggyu thinks he misses half of it, but he clings onto Woohyun and tries to absorb it all. “Close your eyes. This is your way out, hyung. I promise you’ll wake up someday. We have enough money out there to take care of you. When you wake up, you will find me, okay? My name is Nam Woohyun, and I love you.”
There’s a single, loud click. The right side of his temple is cold, but Sunggyu’s senses are in overdrive and eyes are still closed. “My name is Nam Woohyun.”
Sunggyu realises what is happening the moment it happens, and there’s not enough to push Woohyun away, no time to scream but right as the gun goes off, there is just enough time for Sunggyu's eyes to flash open.
originally posted at infinitememe
two
He opens his eyes.
The first thing he sees is a face peering at him, big eyes drawn even wider. The face pulls away and his surroundings swims into focus: peach walls, a window with white curtains, a tiny clock hanging off the belt of the person’s belt loop. It’s a male nurse, and he’s in an empty room.
The face comes back into focus. “You’re awake,” he says incredulously.
He clears his throat, and the first word he pushes through is unintelligible.
“Hold on,” the boy says. He looks young. He rushes out the room and returns with a plastic cup of water, a sunny yellow straw inside. “You haven’t spoken in years; drink up.”
The cup is cool in his hands, and when sips at the water, it’s bitter. He makes a face, and when he looks up, the nurse is smiling at him, eyes gleaming.
He tries speaking again, and this time it works even if it's more air than anything else. “Nam Woohyun.”
The nurse’s smile falters. “Who’s that?”
“…That’s not my name?”
The nurse shakes his head and he moves over to help Sunggyu upright.
“It’s not your name?”
He shakes his head again. “My name is Lee Sungjong. You’re Kim Sunggyu. I’ve been your nurse for the four months.”
“Nam Wooh-”
“You’ve been in a coma for the past six years,” the nurse, Lee Sungjong says, hands fluttering on top of one another. It’s in contrast to his voice, soft yet firm. “No one with that name has visited you here.”
His clenched fists have started to hurt. Sungjong notices this and in a second, he’s by Sunggyu’s side, one hand on his wrist, the other prying Sunggyu’s hand open. His touch is warm, and Sunggyu squeezes his eyes shut. Nothing is making sense.
“I know this is overwhelming,” Sungjong says, moving over to his other hand, easing his clenched fist open, “but what can you remember?”
Sunggyu shakes his head. When he speaks, his voice sounds foreign, probably because of the trembling. “A name. Nam Woohyun…I’m twenty-two, right?”
“You’re thirty years old, Kim Sunggyu,” Sungjong says quietly.
Sunggyu can only stare at him, and strangely enough, it’s Sungjong’s eyes that start to turn glassy because all Sunggyu can think about is a name, the name flicking through his mind, the first one on the tip of his tongue. He’s lost six years according to his nurse; what is losing another six seconds, another six more minutes to this faceless Nam Woohyun?
three
Sunggyu finds out no one knows what and how happened to him, except he was found unconscious inside a warehouse, with a severe brain hemorrhage caused by a bullet wound. It was removed, but he was in a coma for the first month, lying in Seoul National Hospital until they deemed him stable and moved him to a nursing home close to the edge of Seoul. The fresh air would help, the doctors had said.
And it did, Sunggyu thinks, but it took six long years.
Today his doctor-cum-counselor, Kim Myungsoo, leads him to his office. Sunggyu shifts in his brand new clothes as he settles down in the seat opposite Myungsoo, the label of his tee rubbing mercilessly against his neck.
“You can leave anytime you like. You’ve passed all the physical and mental tests. My number is programmed into your cellphone in case you need any help at all.”
“Where do I go?”
Myungsoo opens his mouth to speak, but closes it after several moments. “You had one visitor in the first few months here. I can check the name for you, but it’s been years. The person could have moved away or disappeared.”
Sunggyu shakes his head. “Please,” he says and Myungsoo nods.
He stands and walks to a shelf, and he spends the next two minutes leafing through files after files, files of residents that Sunggyu thinks are either still in a comatose state, or dead, or have left.
“Lee Howon,” Myungsoo says and Sunggyu feels himself deflate in the chair. Another name. Myungsoo hands him a piece of paper with an address, one that Sunggyu pockets.
“I have one question: who has been paying for my stay here?”
“There’s a trust fund in your name that’s been paying for all your medical bills. It’s a significant amount of money, considering it’s been so many years. Perhaps this Lee Howon would be able to tell you more.”
four
He finds Lee Howon, but before that, he meets his wife: a petite woman with short, dark hair and beautiful eyes.
“Come in,” she says, and offers him tea. Sunggyu drinks half of it, and uses the rest to warm his hands as he waits for this Lee Howon to come back home. The home is modest, and decorated with medals and trophies embossed with Lee Howon’s name.
Half an hour later, he returns home and Sunggyu stands to greet him. “Hi,” he says, somewhat shakily.
Howon stares at him. “Do I know you?” His tone is guarded; eyes hard.
“I’m Kim Sunggyu. They said you visited me in the hospital the first few months? I woke up without any recollection of anything that happened before, and I want to know who you are to me.”
“You’ve changed.”
“I was in a coma for six years,” Sunggyu replies, voice hard.
“I was the detective in charge of your case, but I came to visit you off the clock with my civilian ID. I wanted to ask you a few questions, but you obviously weren’t awake. And after several weeks, the doctors told me I was wasting my time.”
“I have so many questions. Why me? What happened?”
Lee Howon smiles humourlessly. “Those were my questions too, but I stopped asking years ago.”
“Does the name Nam Woohyun sound familiar to you?”
He shakes his head. “I can tell you how we found you though: in an abandoned warehouse, with a bullet in your brain. The doctors removed it, but there was never a match.”
Sunggyu is silent. Someone could have tried to kill him, or it could have an assisted suicide. Maybe Nam Woohyun is connected, or maybe he’s no one at all. Either way, Sunggyu is never going to find out without the memories of what happened all those years ago.
It’s clear on his face it seems, because Howon’s voice breaks through his thoughts. “Sunggyu-sshi? It’s been so many years. Perhaps it’s time to move on.”
five
He manages to track down his first nurse, a Jang Dongwoo.
They meet at a café, an Dongwoo orders a black coffee. Dongwoo has an easy laugh, and lines around his eyes. Sunggyu drinks water and even though been almost two months, it still tastes different every time.
He tells Sunggyu exactly the same thing Lee Howon tells him.
six
Sunggyu dreams of Nam Woohyun. Nam Woohyun the doctor that extracts the bullet and saves his life; Nam Woohyun is the nurse that stays by his bedside and monitors his heart rate in a chart that hangs at the end of his bed. Nam Woohyun is the person who tried to kill him; Nam Woohyun is the person who saves him.
In his nightmares, he stares into the mirror and sees himself but his name is Nam Woohyun and maybe he doesn’t exist. Maybe he’s not really awake.
When Sunggyu wakes up, it’s in his rented room, not the peach walls of the facility, and he’s always alone.
seven
Lee Sungyeol is the author of a book Sunggyu finds at the library. It’s a book on immortality.
Sunggyu buys a copy and he finishes it in a night. When he falls asleep that night, he dreams about Nam Woohyun, but he doesn’t see a face. Sunggyu can feel someone breathing against his ear, and he can hear someone playing the piano but there is never an image he can carry in his mind’s eyes to the next morning.
When he wakes up, Sunggyu writes a letter to his counselor:
Kim Myungsoo-sshi,
I read this book, entitled ‘The Truth about Immortality’, written by Dr. Lee Sungyeol and the entire book is on exactly as it says. They say the only measure of immortality is found in stories, passed on from person to person, generation to generation. There is a way to live forever, but it’s only through a memory.
one, or what kim sunggyu will not remember
“Do you trust me?” Woohyun’s voice is rough with emotion. It’s too dark to see, but Sunggyu thinks he could be crying.
“Woohyun, don’t be stupid and stop this. If we think it through, there will be a way out.”
“There’s no way out. Hyung, do you trust me?”
“Woohyun-”
“Sunggyu.”
Sunggyu is shocked into silence, and Woohyun kisses him. His cheeks are wet. Outside, the sirens are blaring. The police would find the hideout within minutes.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I do, you idiot. But maybe we should have robbed the bank in another city instead. Or chose a better hideout than this dump.”
Woohyun chuckles before kissing him harder, and pulls away swiftly. There’s a fumbling, and suddenly there’s something pressed against his temple. He speaks so fast Sunggyu thinks he misses half of it, but he clings onto Woohyun and tries to absorb it all. “Close your eyes. This is your way out, hyung. I promise you’ll wake up someday. We have enough money out there to take care of you. When you wake up, you will find me, okay? My name is Nam Woohyun, and I love you.”
There’s a single, loud click. The right side of his temple is cold, but Sunggyu’s senses are in overdrive and eyes are still closed. “My name is Nam Woohyun.”
Sunggyu realises what is happening the moment it happens, and there’s not enough to push Woohyun away, no time to scream but right as the gun goes off, there is just enough time for Sunggyu's eyes to flash open.