I woke up alone in my room and I panicked for a moment. I was used to have Junhoe and my mom around me all the time. Their presence brought so much comfort to me and not having them around filled me with so much fear.

There was a knock on the door and a man, who I had to admit, was oddly familiar entered my room. He was wearing a white coat and had a stethoscope over his neck. It took me a few seconds to remember that he was my attending doctor when I first woke up after the fire incident. 

“Chaeyoung, Junhoe made me accompany you while he’s out. The police had several questions for him and your mom and he wasn’t comfortable to leave you alone. So I’m here.” He said as he took a seat on Junhoe’s usual spot.

“Sorry, doctor. I forgot your name.” I admitted. It’s been months since I last saw him and I was too distraught of having no memories then.

“I’m sorry. I forgot that we only meet on such unfortunate circumstances. I’m Kim Jinhwan. I’m Junhoe’s bestfriend, though he wouldn’t admit it. He had a few secrets that he didn’t tell me, yet I still consider him that.” He said to introduce himself.

“I didn’t know he has a friend.” I said, clearly surprised at this new information. Never once, in the few months that we lived together, had Junhoe mentioned having a friend or even gave a clue of having a social life.

“Friends, actually. There are a few other guys in our circle but Junhoe kind of abandoned us since he fire incident a few months back. He had been pretty vague about the whole thing but I guess I understand now. Not letting us near the both of you was his way of protecting us from this whole mess.” Jinhwan explained.

“Did I ever get to meet you and your other friends? Junhoe never mentioned you even once.” I probed. I still had trust issues with what happened and I know asking questions would let me discern what I should believe and what I shouldn’t.

“We hanged out with you several times over the course of 5 years but always in Junhoe’s house. He was always keeping you for himself and to be honest, we were kind of annoyed how he was so strict about not letting us hang out with you more. We couldn’t even post our group pictures. But we know Junhoe. He always has a reason for every decision he makes. I didn’t even know that you were a witness until the news broke out. I guess that’s why he was protecting you so much.” He answered.

I asked him several questions—all of which he carefully answered. All these new information was causing me to have a headache. I brought my hand to massaged my temple to alleviate the pain.

“I shouldn’t have answered your questions. I was the one who always reminded Junhoe to break down information into tiny pieces because too much of it can cause headache and here I am doing it to you. Sorry! I’m a doctor. I should have known better.” He bowed and apologized over and over again.

“So, that’s why he didn’t share those pictures with me.” I said softly. It wasn’t meant for Jinhwan to hear it. “I mean, I saw several pictures of me inside Junhoe’s room. They were similar to the pictures I saw from my friend Lalisa’s phone.”

“You gave those pictures to him. I remember that he used complain that you don’t take pictures when you’re out but one day, I found him grinning looking at those pictures. I wanted to take a peek but he said that those were for his eyes only. You both didn’t have any sns account. You didn’t go out in public as much as possible. Even during your art exhibits, you didn’t introduce yourself as the artist and just blended with the crowd. Before, I never really understood why you two couldn’t just be a normal couple. But like I keep on repeating, it all makes sense now. You just didn’t want to draw so much attention to yourself.” Jinhwan answered.

“Yah, Kim Jinhwan. I hope you didn’t say anything bad to Rose. Or I’m never gonna forgive you.” Junhoe said as soon as he opened the door.

“I didn’t! I’ve been a complete gentleman,” Jinhwan said as he stood up from his seat. “Anyway, since you’re back, my job here is done. I still got a few patients to check up on. I hope we can all hang out now that all is well now. Adios!” He said as he walked out of the room by saluting to both of us, leaving Junhoe and I to pick up the conversation.

“Hi.” I said, to break the silence that was filling u