Chapter 37
- The Most Precious and Best Memory 2021.09.04.
Jeong-o flinched, belatedly reacting. She was captivated by his smile, which was exactly the same as it had been seven years ago. Ji-heon immediately withdrew his hand when he noticed her discomfort. The restaurant felt warmer. She shouldn't have brought up her ex-boyfriend. Afraid of making another mistake if she continued, Jeong-o quickly changed the subject, getting straight to the point of their meeting.
“I told you my story, so please tell me yours, Director.”
“……”
“I heard you were in a car accident. A few years ago.”
She carefully broached the subject. Ji-heon, slightly surprised that she knew about his accident, replied.
“Seven years ago.”
“Were you badly hurt?”
“I was badly hurt, but I’m all better now.”
“I heard you… lost your memory.”
A bold question, not easily asked even among close friends. Jeong-o nervously watched Ji-heon, worried he might be offended. Ji-heon's eyes narrowed, and Jeong-o swallowed hard. But surprisingly, there seemed to be a hint of amusement in his gaze. He seemed intrigued by her questioning.
“You know a lot about me, don’t you?”
“……News, there was a news article…”
Jeong-o stammered at his question.
“My name wouldn’t be in any news articles.”
“……”
“Did you look it up, one by one, because you were curious?”
“No! The team leader told me!”
Oops… that was supposed to be a secret. Jeong-o’s face immediately crumpled, and she hung her head. He had cornered her, and in her excitement, she had blurted out something she shouldn't have. She clasped her hands together and pleaded in a pitiful voice, still unable to lift her head.
“……Please pretend you didn’t hear about it from the team leader…”
Ji-heon found everything about her amusing. After all, the car accident was his own affair, and he was intrigued that she was so earnestly interested in it. He also found it funny how easily she became flustered when he questioned her. He thought, 'I might tease her again.' He felt that if he didn't pull himself together, he would make the same mistake as before. Ji-heon clenched his fist under the table and gave her the answer she was curious about.
“I lost some memories, and they say my personality changed a bit too.”
“……How much memory did you lose?”
“The memories from when I was twenty-four to twenty-six, so about three years, I guess.”
“……”
“You don’t need to look at me like that. They were probably useless memories anyway.”
He turned his head slightly, feeling uncomfortable with her gaze. He welcomed her interest in him, but he didn't want her to look at him with pity. He didn't want her sympathy.
“It was probably mostly memories of the military, and even if it wasn't, my life was more boring than Lee Jung-oh's imagination, so there was no need to leave anything behind.”
“You don’t know that.”
He had tried to lightly dismiss her pity, but she quickly retorted. Her expression was quite stern and serious, and Ji-heon closed his mouth tightly.
“You don’t even know what you’ve forgotten, so how can you know if those memories were unnecessary?”
It almost sounded like she was arguing with him. Her argument seemed plausible, and Ji-heon became pensive. After a long silence, she asked another question.
“Have you tried to remember? You might owe someone money.”
“If I owed money, they would have come looking for me.”
“Maybe you lent someone money.”
“That can’t be helped. I can’t argue about it now.”
Whether he had borrowed money or lent it, it was all his business, but Ji-heon couldn't understand why she looked like she was the one who hadn't been repaid. Before they knew it, time had flown by, and it was well past 7 PM.
“Let’s get going. If we leave now, the timing should be about right.”
Ji-heon said as he stood up first. As Ji-heon's back receded, Jeong-o thumped her chest.
‘That man has no desire to regain his memories!’
In any case, she had gained some information about him. He was calmly accepting the fact that he had lost his memories. He firmly believed that there was nothing special about them. And she could also surmise that there was no one around him trying to help him recover his memories. Or perhaps, someone was preventing him from remembering. Jeong-o recalled the day she had met his mother. It had been a brief encounter, but Jeong-o had clearly felt that his mother loathed her.
‘Does she think the accident was my fault?’
Was that why she was trying to erase his memories even more? To prevent him from meeting me again? Her mind was in turmoil, but today's conversation had given her momentum. She needed to find out about his mother. She would try her best. Jeong-o left the building, her determination burning. It was the season approaching summer. As the sun set, the hot daytime breeze became slightly cooler. Roses decorating the exterior wall in front of the building couldn't withstand the wind and dropped their petals at Jeong-o's feet. Jeong-o unconsciously bent down and picked up a petal. The vibrant red petal, full of life, resembled Yena's plump lips. She remembered a late autumn day she had spent with her child. Jeong Ji-heon. That was the day her child had learned about the seasons at daycare.
“Mommy. This is autumn. Autumn fell down.”
Yena pointed to a fallen leaf on the ground and said that autumn had fallen. A single fallen leaf was the season of autumn. She hadn't been able to share that beautiful moment with him. There was a time when she had cried while looking at flowers that bloomed out of season. At that time, the seasons, which had seemed to never pass, were easily turned over by a single leaf that her child had discovered. Would she ever be able to tell him all of this? She heard the sound of Ji-heon coming down the stairs. Jeong-o deliberately smiled. Jeong Ji-heon, you have to remember on your own. I can't push you. I don't want you to think I'm being clingy. But if you come closer, I'll go that far too. So please try. Please don't give up. Hang in there. Jeong Ji-heon. While Ji-heon was paying, Jeong-o, who had been standing facing the building wall, turned around when she heard his footsteps. It felt like she, who had been expressionless, smiled brightly as she turned around. Ji-heon knew it was a refined smile, but that didn't make it any less beautiful.
“Director, thank you for the meal.”
“Yes. Me too.”
Ji-heon nodded slightly. It had been a quite satisfactory meal for Ji-heon. He had thought she would be hurt by what had happened yesterday, but he was relieved that she seemed unexpectedly cheerful. He didn't dislike that she was interested in his affairs. Jeong-o took out her phone and said.
“I’ll look up the way to the tasting venue.”
And she subtly added one more thought for the day.
“And Director, I hope you regain your memories.”
“……”
“They weren’t useless memories. I believe they weren’t.”
Ji-heon's eyes widened. Comfort and support had come in an unexpected form.
“You might have put the most precious and best memories in a deep place where no one can find them. Like a time capsule.”
“……”
“Because they were so precious. To keep them safe.”
Her voice flowed on the night breeze and caressed his head. He felt a burning sensation in his eyes. He sometimes thought. He, who was treated as a cold-blooded person by everyone, probably didn't have anything like that, but still, maybe. Maybe he had something precious. His mother had said that they were unimportant memories that he had forgotten, and that he shouldn't be bound by the past, but still, still maybe. Maybe just one thing. It was just something he had imagined and never told anyone. He never expected to hear that secret story from someone else's mouth. Especially from Lee Jung-oh. His feet moved quickly. It was the moment when she was peering into her phone, trying to figure out the direction of the tasting venue. Her feet, having found their bearings, moved to the side.
“Director, this way……”
Thump. The place where she took a step and landed was in his arms. He caught her as her head thumped against his chest. His hand, moving without him realizing it, cupped her face. Even though he was holding her, he felt like she was pulling him closer. He lowered his head in a determined direction. He might have known it for a long time. That this would happen someday.
Jeong-o was engrossed in finding directions on her phone when her head bumped into his chest. She had given him presumptuous encouragement, and she was so embarrassed that she had lowered her head deeply. He had caught her, so her swaying body quickly righted itself, but… He suddenly cupped her face. His hands, which seemed to want her to look at him, felt strong and determined as they fixed her head in place. No, no, you old man. It's not like I came here to be hugged by you… She also realized that something was wrong, but for some reason, she couldn't move rashly. Thump, thump, thump, thump… Only her heart was doing its job properly. No way… It had been seven years. She was surprised that she still remembered his touch. She was even more surprised that he was caressing her in the same way. Her body also remembered that if she twisted away here, he would get even more excited. Could it be that this man hadn't changed at all, not even a little? He was exactly the same as he had been seven years ago. The same unchanging agility. The way he gently seduced her, yet his touch was too strong to resist. Even the habit of tickling her chin with his fingertips. He was looking at her with the same lustful gaze from seven years ago, interpreting every word and action as suggestive, or rather, deliberately creating every situation to be suggestive because he wanted to do those kinds of things. A jolt of electricity ran through her head. As he lowered his head, a dizzying heat rushed in. In an instant, she firmly thrust her palm forward. Smack! Jeong-o's palm, securely landing on his face, pushed him away firmly. Jeong Ji-heon, you rascal! She suddenly came to her senses and became angry. Jeong-o didn't stop there and pushed him again. He staggered backward and sat down on the stairs with a groan. Jeong-o huffed.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
Since their lips hadn't touched, he could simply deny it. If it were someone experiencing this for the first time, they might think he lost his balance while trying to support her as she stumbled. But I know. I know. I know... She knew. This man's true colors, his habits, his quickness. Jeong-o glared and demanded.
“Did you do wrong, or didn't you?”
She spoke to him as she would to Yena, as if he were too dense to understand.
“Answer me. Did you do wrong, or didn't you?”
She thought he might try to play innocent and deny it, but he didn't. He simply held his jaw and lips where she had struck him, saying nothing.
“I'll say one thing for the sake of your life, Director.”
“……”
“You can't go around doing that to anyone, anywhere. A man who's about to get married! Huh? Huh? Keh!”
Keh, kehk, kehk, cough, cough. In her excitement, she scolded him, waving her finger, and inhaled a lungful of stale air. The air scratched her throat, and Jeong-o couldn't continue her tirade, bending over and coughing. At the same time, Ji-heon's eyebrows furrowed.
“...Who's getting married?”
