.

I replied stammeringly, “Ah… so, thankfully, we were trying to hang out today… I told you that we went to the hospital so that she can run a checkup and some tests… Jiho sent us the car to get there.”

“Really? We should also call Jiho then. By the way, Donnie, are you really okay?”

I nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’m fine, but Yeo Ryung isn’t.’ When the words slipped from my mouth, I was able to breathe, at last, as if something stuck in my throat had suddenly disappeared.

That was when I realized that I was holding my breath until now, and at the same time, I was able to loosen up the strained atmosphere around my shoulders.

Blinking swiftly, I raised my head. When I met Yeo Dan oppa’s eyes, fastened at me and were shining warmly under the living room light, I was nearly stretching my arms to pull his waist in my arms.

In fact, before I was about to do that, a voice intervened between us that I barely pulled myself together and put my hands down.

“Yeo Dan! Let’s bring Yeo Ryung to the hospital again. Put your jacket on.”

“Alright.”

“Not sure if there’s anywhere open till now. Honey, would you call and check a few places before we go?”

While Yeo Ryung’s parents had those conversations, Yeo Dan oppa replied shortly and disappeared into his room to put his backpack. And that was when I realized what I tried to do in front of his family and sighed in relief.

Anyway, Yeo Ryung’s family returned, so it’s my turn to go home. Having that thought in my mind, I got up from the couch, then someone grabbed my sleeve. When I looked behind me, Yeo Ryung was gazing at me like Puss in Boots.

“Uh…” While I didn’t know what to do, Yeo Ryung’s parents asked me a question.

“Donnie, we’re sorry, but do you mind if you can go together again?”

I nodded right away. It wasn’t refusable, nor did I think about denying it.

We left the house and stopped by at a few clinics opened late at night. However, there weren’t any other outcomes. Well, if other results were about to come out, it should have shown up when Yeo Ryung checked up with the doctor earlier or during the moments when we made a fuss with the photo albums to bring back her memories. In the end, we gave up and returned home by car.

My parents heard the news after work. They were waiting in front of the apartment complex. When we hopped out of the car, they came to us with quick steps.

My mom and Yeo Ryung’s mother then had a short conversation.

“Oh, lord… then you aren’t sure when she recovers her memories?”

“No, not sure.”

“What about school?”

“Well…” Speaking that way, Yeo Ryung’s mother threw a glance at her daughter. Within seconds, she replied, “I think she should stay home for a while. If possible, I would just let her go to school, but Yeo Ryung has been involved in a couple of things…”

“Ahem–”

Listening to their chat beside them, I cleared my throat, feeling guilty somehow. Yeo Dan oppa stared at me in wonder.

Whenever things like this happened, I always regretted that I wasn’t actively preventing the situation. As the only person who could predict how the plot would unfold, I should have become more assertive.

‘But that’s too harsh for me…’ I shook my head hard from side to side.

Well, how would the servants of the sleeping beauty know that the princess would prick her finger on a spinning wheel’s spindle when they tried hard to get rid of the thorns in the palace after hearing the curse and take special care of her until she turned seventeen…

‘A frying pan… does that even make sense?’ I clicked my tongue. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea that Yeo Ryung was taking a leave of absence until she retrieved her memories.

Ban Yeo Ryung was often surrounded by incidents or troubles, and right now, she wasn’t able to protect herself from them since she even lost her knowledge that she gained from those experiences. Thus, staying at home was a good option for all of us too. I nodded.

However, something unexpected happened before we went back to our houses.

When I tried to step into my house after my parents, someone pulled my sleeve.

“Eh?” I looked back and found Ban Yeo Ryung staring at me, holding my sleeve.

Though we didn’t have that much difference in height, Ban Yeo Ryung was about four to five centimeters taller than me, but for some reason, she seemed to look up at me.

“Why? You have something to say?”

“…”

Despite my question, Yeo Ryung just kept her mouth shut while holding my sleeve. Her parents and brother paused going into their house and looked in our direction in wonder.

Meanwhile, Yeo Ryung finally blurted out, “Don’t go…”

“…”

“Don’t go, please…”

Turning my head away from her for a second, I touched my forehead and fell into thought.

‘Oh, God, why were you doing this to me?!’

Then I threw a glance at Yeo Dan oppa staring in this direction with curious eyes.

‘Yeah, oppa, I do too. I don’t want to shoot this crazy soap opera…’ I said in my thoughts.

Shortly after, Yeo Ryung’s mother spoke with a bright look on her face.

“Oh, right, Yeo Ryung also like to sleepover with you, Donnie. I guess she does have that memory in mind.”

No, Mrs. Ban, I don’t think so…

Perhaps, she might be afraid of getting separated from the most intimate person she thought and didn’t want to go into the house full of strangers. However, I couldn’t be honest and break her mother’s heart.

While I rolling my eyes, wondering what to do, Yeo Ryung’s mother continued speaking.

“If you’re okay, would you bring her and have a sleepover? Since you two have been in the same school for a long time ago, it’s true that you’ve actually spent more time with her than us.”

“Ah…”

“Yeah, there would be some things that only you two know and share, so why don’t you tell those things to Yeo Ryung?”

Parents these days were aware that their kids didn’t tell much about themselves to them. So did Yeo Ryung’s parents.

I quickly nodded and took Yeo Ryung into our house. Anyway, since I didn’t prevent such things from happening to her, I decided to the best I could.

When the door closed and we were left together in the front door, there was a moment of silence again.

Looking at Yeo Ryung’s absentminded eyes, I thought, ‘Hmm, so now I can clearly feel that she really lost her memories.’

Ever since she lost her memories, I had no chance to see her face to face while being surrounded by many people, but now that only the two were left here in a small space, I felt awkward as if I was standing with a complete stranger.

This had never happened when we were together… except when I was thirteen–the time when I just entered this universe.

Touching my ear with mixed feelings, I suddenly reached the thought that Yeo Ryung might not know about my room.

Pointing at my room, I tried to initiate a conversation naturally.

“Hmm, then, um… you know, that’s my room. Do you want to take a rest there? I’ll be right back from washing my face and brushing my teeth.”

Yeo Ryung nodded, staring at me. It seemed like I was staying with an android that looked like Yeo Ryung.

“Um, then… I’ll go this way…”

She didn’t even ask me anything, but I explained my action in detail then walked sideways like a crab. Yeo Ryung kept looking at me, standing on the spot.

When she disappeared in the darkness at the front door, I pressed the switch to turn on the bathroom light, then I heaved a deep sigh.

“Phew…”

Trying to find the bathroom slippers, I almost slipped on the floor.

Struggling to recover my balance, I murmured, “No, no, no. I must be careful not to lose my memories.”

Watching the process of Ban Yeo Ryung suddenly suffering amnesia, I realized that even I had a chance to suffer amnesia out of the blue.