.

“You just kept a straight face, then asked, ‘Would you?’ It just slipped from your mouth…”

“…”

Speaking to that extent, Ban Yeo Ryung suddenly averted her gaze as if she couldn’t look me in the eyes anymore. All I could do at that moment was just staring at her pale face from the side.

She added in a small voice, “To be honest, you at the time were scarier than you on the day before our graduation.”

“…”

“I wished if you could just scream at me even though I was very aware that you’d get into trouble… That moment, you stood up all of a sudden, then stamped out of the room. I ran after you to the hallway, and that was when you grabbed me and started to yell.”

‘Why do you take things so easy in your life? Don’t they matter to you? How could you give up such things without a second thought?’

‘Donnie…’

‘… I… I don’t want to go to the same school as you anymore.’

“…”

“When our parents followed us to the hallway, you were already crying, and I was just standing there disconcertedly, not knowing what to do… But as if she heard you screaming outside the door, your mother scolded you first…” said Ban Yeo Ryung, biting her lips.

She continued, “I… I thought it’d get better soon as we did on the day before our graduation, but…”

Ban Yeo Ryung’s last words echoed in the living room heavily.

“… Until March 2nd, our first day at middle school, you didn’t say a word to me at all.”

Soon as she finished telling the story, a cold silence surrounded us.

Lowering my head, I fell into thought for a moment.

Would I, who originally belonged to this world, have ever known that the words I’d blurted out to Ban Yeo Ryung–I don’t want to go to the same school as you anymore–were the last remark I had left to her?

If so, I would have spoken to her something else that sounded more decent, suitable, and tender to forbid a farewell. However, leaving those last words, I disappeared without a trace, and at the same time, it was also me to whom Yeo Ryung said, ‘Hi,’ in a trembling voice on our first day at middle school.

She chose the wrong person to make up with. Having that thought in my mind, I felt it hard to breathe like almost suffocating. Closing my eyes tightly for a second, I diverted my gaze back onto Yeo Ryung.

I uttered, “Thanks for telling me. I know that…”

Taking a breath, I tried to pick the right words to better articulate what I had in my mind.

“… I know that it isn’t a good memory for you too.”

Biting her lips, Yeo Ryung looked as if she was taken aback. Soon, her eyes were filled with desperate emotions.

“Donnie, don’t talk like that.”

“Huh?”

“As if it only belongs to me.”

“…”

“Even though you can’t remember, both of us are involved in it. It’s our story, not only mine. If you are fine, I’m always…”

Holding my hands tightly in hers, Yeo Ryung suddenly dropped her gaze at the floor with tears in her eyes.

Both the brothers and sisters of the Bans had some weird talents–when they talked, even trivial things sounded very sincere and appealing as if they were coming from the bottom of their hearts.

Heaving a sigh, I shook my head.

“I didn’t mean it,” I replied. Taking another deep breath, I opened my mouth again. “But I… I’m a little confused right now…”

“Totally… since I also went through the same thing. I know how confusing it is when others talk about the things that don’t exist in my memories,” replied Ban Yeo Ryung. Then she stood up from the seat.

Maybe because her memories were now back despite what had happened today? She looked very refreshed as if the rain stopped pouring and the sun came out, at last. The dark clouds around her would soon go away too.

At least, that was thankful to me anyway. Right now, I was so busy, going back and forth between the new memories of the past, that I wouldn’t be able to take care of her.

Walking her to the front door, I emphasized repeatedly, “I just need a little more time to sort things out. It won’t take long…” then I added, “Ah, do you mind, um…?”

“Huh?”

“Do you mind if you can bring me the yearbook messages if it’s at home?”

Yeo Ryung’s eyes widened in surprise, but she soon tilted her head and said, she would go take a look. Since her house was better organized than ours, I thought she would soon find it unless she had thrown it away.

However, I wasn’t actually sure if it still existed as her belongings.

When Yeo Ryung left our house, eventually, and closed the door, the entire house turned quiet like a lie. I stood still absentmindedly, then walked totteringly back inside.

“Ha…” I sighed. Inside my head was total chaos with new memories and things flooding in.

My childhood in this world. Ban Yeo Ryung and I, having opposite characteristics back then. Friends. Parents… The fight we had right before on our first day at middle school–as these came to my mind one after another, I disheveled my hair and heaved another deep sigh.

There was one thing that Ban Yeo Ryung had no idea about. The reason why I didn’t talk to her at all wasn’t because I was angry at her.

Closing my eyes tightly, I traced back the last memories I’ve got. There was a story behind the fight, which Ban Yeo Ryung didn’t know.

That night, when we had a fight, my mom pulled my hand and went into our house. As soon as she slammed the door, she asked me in a severe voice.

‘What’s wrong with you? What did you say to Yeo Ryung?’

‘You heard what she said to me! She said she won’t go to the accepted school if I get rejected!’

‘What’s the problem? It’s her decision and choice.’

‘That’s her problem! That’s what matters! She always tries to give up so easily since she simply gets everything in her hand. She always offers her things to others, steps back…’

Then I sank my head on my chest and uttered, ‘Mom, a kid said to me…’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘She says I’m a parasite–I’m taking advantage of her, and because of me… Yeo Ryung is losing out on things.’

I scowled at the floor with tears in my eyes. I continued, ‘I believed that I was there for Yeo Ryung, but perhaps it wasn’t. Look, now she’s even trying to give up that good school just because I can get rejected…’

‘Donnie…’

‘Mom, should I just cancel my application?’

My mom then showed a look of perplexity on her face. She replied, ‘What the heck are you talking about? The admission letter didn’t even come out yet. Although you feel like you’re gonna get rejected, you can’t just call them to cancel the application out of the blue.’

Shaking my head from side to side, I responded, ‘No, the score doesn’t matter… it’s that… I shouldn’t be going to the same school as her anymore.’

‘What?’

‘If I keep hanging out with Yeo Ryung, it’ll be bad for both of us. Seriously, I’m not doing this just because of the admission or scores, mom.’

Then I grabbed her hands and began to beg desperately.

‘Mother, please, I’ll do my best in a public school too. You know they also have a good curriculum like that in the private ones. Many of my friends also go to those schools. Please, I’ll never let you down. Do me a favor, huh?’

Watching that little Donnie in a third person’s point of view, I felt pathetic and sad. If I had no idea about the girl’s future, it wouldn’t matter, but I was exactly aware of what would happen when she goes to the same middle school as Ban Yeo Ryung. That’s why the girl’s desperate behavior seemed like she was trying to escape from her fate, and at the same time, it resembled the things I’d done so far after shifting to this world.

Don’t get close to them. They’ll leave you in the end.

Don’t love them. You’ll get hurt.

It was like holding the handle tightly, forecasting the devastating end coming sooner or later.

Likewise, I, in the past, begged my mother for her mercy. However, her response was cold.

‘Are you also jealous of Yeo Ryung?’

‘… Mom! No, it isn’t something like that…’

Even though I refused in shock, my mom continued speaking nonchalantly.

‘Uh-uh, mama says, you’re jealous of her. You aren’t getting it now. Since Yeo Ryung is obviously getting admission, but you’re not, isn’t that why you’ve been behaving like this tonight? Am I wrong?’

‘I said NO!’

‘Believe me, if you get into the same school as her, you two will last as best friends, as always. You’re just having a tricky time right now.’