.

Within a few minutes after Yeo Ryung went into the doctor’s room for a check-up, the Four Heavenly Kings also arrived at the hospital. The first one who got here was, of course, Eun Jiho, who lived the closest to this place.

Jooin, who would usually sleep until two in the afternoon, entered the entrance door hurriedly when it’s over one o’clock. As if he just put his jacket on as soon as he woke up and dashed to this place, Jooin’s hair looked frizzy like having a nest on top of his head. I would usually just laugh at how cute it looked, but since the situation right now was very serious, I couldn’t even force a smile on my face.

Sitting quietly with our mouths shut, Eun Jiho and I just raised our hands and welcomed Jooin. As we came into his view, Jooin threw a question with a frown.

“Did you two have a fight? Anyway, I heard Yeo Ryung’s in big trouble? What’s wrong?”

Then Jooin began to scold Eun Jiho right away.

“Why aren’t you even explaining briefly on the phone? I had to run all the way here, thinking about all kinds of worst-case scenarios, dude!”

I also agreed that Eun Jiho not being straightforward about what was going on would definitely annoy Jooin. It would be something like calling a friend after receiving a message from him or her that says, ‘Hey, something happened!’ but the person not answering the phone.

‘Hmm, that’s awful,’ I shook my head; however, it was also true that this situation wasn’t something to talk about on the phone. But before that, I was doubtful if Jooin would believe that Yeo Ryung lost her memories.

“What on earth is going on??” urged Jooin as if he felt so heavy with worries since we didn’t respond.

Shortly after, Yoo Chun Young and Eun Hyung also stepped into the hospital. Before he came in, Yoo Chun Young banged his head on the entrance door and covered his forehead with a moan. Watching that sight, I felt pity and thought, ‘He also got up not so long ago.’

It was quite new to see Yoo Chun Young still being half asleep half awake after a long time. With a dumbfounded look, Eun Hyung stared at Yoo Chun Young rubbing his forehead. He then turned his head to look in this direction.

“What’s going on? Is it something bad?” asked Eun Hyung. However, as he was looking around the place anxiously, Eun Hyung seemed to have noticed the answer already since the place we called him to come over was the hospital.

Glancing around for a moment, Eun Hyung asked us again, “Where’s Yeo Ryung?”

“She’s having a check-up with the doctor,” I replied, pointing at the door.

“A check-up…?”

Taking a deep breath in and out, I looked around and slowly opened my mouth.

“Guys, don’t be so shocked. Yeo Ryung is…”

At that moment, a nurse opened the door and came out, just in time, to let us know that Ban Yeo Ryung’s check-up was all finished.

We got up from the seat in a fluster and moved to go see her. Meanwhile, I tried to tell the boys briefly about Yeo Ryung’s situation, but Yeo Ryung was faster than me.

Suddenly coming out from the open door, Yeo Ryung grabbed my hand and hid behind my arm. She was scanning the Four Heavenly Kings, keeping a wary eye.

Jooin called her in bewilderment, “Yeo Ryung…?”

Since he had keen eyes, Jooin would have definitely grasped Yeo Ryung’s change in her attitude.

He kept asking her, ‘Hey, what’s wrong? Did something happen?’ but Yeo Ryung just looked at him, showing vigilance, which seemed like she was confronting an alien speaking in an indecipherable language.

No matter what Jooin asked, Yeo Ryung just kept her mouth shut as if she heard nothing. All she did was just hugging my arm tight, hiding behind me.

Hesitating for a second, I asked her, “Yeo Ryung, how’s the check-up?”

“Most of the tests are done, but we’re still waiting for the brain MRI result. That’s it.”

Just until now, Yeo Ryung behaved like wildlife that didn’t know the human language, but she was surprisingly speaking clearly to my question.

I quietly heaved a sigh of relief. These people wouldn’t know how thankful I was feeling right now about Yeo Ryung keeping her knowledge.

That was when I finally turned my head toward the Four Heavenly Kings. Jooin, Eun Hyung, and Yoo Chun Young, who had no idea what was going on, were all murmuring the word, ‘Brain MRI?’ confusedly.

Amid the situation, Eun Hyung opened his mouth with a stiff look on his face.

“Donnie, does it mean…?”

He was asking me, but Yeo Ryung was stepping back, instead.

“It isn’t what I’m thinking, right?”

“You’re probably correct…” I replied in frustration.

There was a moment of silence in the hallway where we were standing. According to Jooin and Yoo Chun Young’s facial expression, they also seemed to have noticed what had happened to Yeo Ryung.

People walking around the hallway threw a glance at us since we had our mouths shut for quite a while. After the long silence, Yoo Chun Young broke the ice in a low voice.

“I just finished shooting an episode at the studio, and here’s another drama…”

‘Hey, Yoo Chun Young, those words don’t belong to you who’s one of the Four Heavenly Kings, a.k.a the Drama Kings,’ I thought. However, I couldn’t help nodding at his remark.

What he just said was sincerely agreeable.

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We all sat in the lobby, waiting for the test result.

Meanwhile, Yeo Ryung grabbed my hand so tightly that I even felt a little pain. No one was stealing me from her, but she was clinging to my arm that way, keeping a wary eye on the boys. Thus, the Four Heavenly Kings couldn’t even think about approaching her.

However, they also didn’t just stay still doing nothing. The first one to attempt having a conversation with her was Jooin.

“Yeo Ryung, you don’t remember me, do you?” he asked carefully.

“…”

“You know we’ve been very close friends. It’s been over four years since we met.”

Jooin chose standard tactics. I looked at him in surprise. Meanwhile, Jooin began to talk about the things that happened among us one after another.

His voice sounded warm and slow as if an old lady was sitting her granddaughter on her knees and reading a book. Listening to his stories, even I felt drowsy. So did Yeo Ryung. Her feelings of wariness were fading away from her eyes.

Starting from the fact that we all were in the same class during middle school, Jooin talked about us taking seats close to each other in school and even the trips we went during the break as we became best friends.

Listening to those stories, I was astonished at how vivid his memories were. Jooin brought all the details and illustrated them clearly which seemed too trivial to memorize. Even I couldn’t believe that I had spent those times together doing such things.

“… So, around that time, we went to the summer house of Yoo Chun Young’s eldest brother. Oh, you don’t know him. You two only met once. Anyway, as we stepped into that vacation home, a huge fauvism painting welcomed us. Over the window, we could view the ocean, but since we arrived late, only the white waves were all we could see. So, you were like, ‘Is that really a wave? Isn’t it a ghost?’ fussing around so much…”

Most of the details that Jooin was illustrating were about Yeo Ryung too–what she liked, hated, did, and what her relationship with other people seemed to be.

Listening to those stories, Yeo Ryung threw a glance at me once in a while as if she was asking me the truth. Whenever she did, I nodded that Jooin was telling the truth.

Well, no one among us could explain that specifically, except Jooin.

On the other hand, the Four Heavenly Kings also looked like they were reminiscing those times. That was when Yeo Ryung lifted her head out of the blue and looked around.

She asked, “So, you guys and I were that much close, huh? You are Yoo Chun Young, and you are Kwon Eun Hyung.”

Yeo Ryung heard the names only once, but she exactly pointed out the right people.

When the two boys quickly nodded, Yeo Ryung turned her head toward none other than Eun Jiho.