Memory

20.

Though I'd barely drunk enough for the alcohol to register, why was I getting so hot, and why was my heart pounding like this?

At last, I managed to turn my head away.

I'd been sitting still, but I was panting as if I'd just sprinted at full speed.

‘What on earth is this….’

As I slowly began to calm down, Seo Geon-woo's voice reached me.

“Ha-won, are you feeling sick? Did something you ate earlier upset your stomach….”

“I-it's not that, you idiot!”

I snapped irritably without daring to look back at him.

“Hmm~ So that's what it is?”

This time, it wasn't Seo Geon-woo's voice.

Startled, I turned toward the sound.

Behind the wooden platform where Seo Geon-woo and I sat side by side, I saw Hong Ye-na sitting demurely.

“Ack! You scared me!”

She'd been out cold enough that she wouldn't have noticed if someone carried her off, and now she'd suddenly appeared behind us with her long hair hanging loose. Of course I jumped.

“Ye-na, when did you wake up?”

Unlike me, Seo Geon-woo didn't seem particularly surprised.

Maybe he had ‘Dullness’ as a passive skill.

“A little while ago? Hee~”

Hong Ye-na said with a bright smile.

Judging by the way she spoke and looked, she seemed to have sobered up a little.

“But why are we here?”

She blinked as if she really didn't know.

Good grief. Had she really lost her memory after drinking that little?

“You got completely wasted after just a bottle and a half, so we brought you here and let you sleep.”

I said it in a slightly brusque tone.

Hong Ye-na went ‘Aha~’ and half-reclined on the platform.

“The weather's nice, the air's nice, and I feel great. I haven't felt this good in a long time.”

Must be nice.

Well, free food and drinks would make anyone feel good.

Hong Ye-na suddenly sat bolt upright, swept one side of her hair behind her ear, and said,

“I've decided.”

“W-what?”

Since she was so hard to read, hearing her say that made me nervous for no reason.

“I'm going to make you a proper woman, Ha-won!”

In fact, I'd met her to get that kind of help, but the way she announced it as if she'd made some grand decision made me feel uneasy rather than happy.

“I-I see… Thanks.”

“Huh? Why are you reacting like that? Wasn't that why you came to ask me for help in the first place?”

“Ahaha! Right. Great! Thanks so much!”

Was this the kind of over-the-top reaction she wanted?

Fine, I'd give her what she wanted.

“Then shall we call it a day?”

Seo Geon-woo was the one who said it.

I thought she'd be disappointed, but, unexpectedly, Hong Ye-na nodded with a smile.

“Sure. It's best to part while we still feel a little wistful. That way, next time will be even more fun.”

Then we all got into my car, driven by Seong Ji-hoon, and dropped Hong Ye-na off first.

She lived in an apartment complex in Seongbuk-gu. We even escorted her all the way inside the complex.

After getting out of the car, Hong Ye-na tapped on the rear window.

I wondered if she had something to say.

I lowered the window.

She leaned close.

Then she leaned in and spoke softly into my ear.

“Don't push your natural feelings away so much. Maybe you should try accepting them, little by little.”

Then she winked at me, turned around, and went into the apartment building.

“What did Ye-na say?”

The foolish bear asked subtly, apparently curious.

“It's none of your business. Mr. Ji-hoon, let's go.”

“Yes.”

Silence settled over the car as we headed toward Seo Geon-woo's house.

Just as the navigation announced that we were about five minutes from our destination, Seo Geon-woo spoke up.

“What do you think of Ye-na?”

I turned to look at him with an indifferent expression.

“What about her?”

“She's changed a bit from before, right?”

“I don't know… Honestly, I can't properly remember anyone I used to hang out with in high school. Going just by how I felt today, I'd say she's a woman who piques my curiosity in all sorts of ways. She doesn't seem like a bad person.”

Unlike Woo Da-yeon, she didn't openly display her materialistic side, and though I couldn't read her thoughts, she didn't seem like the type to talk behind my back, either.

She kept quiet about anything that might put her at a disadvantage, but she was honest when she chose to be.

At least she didn't seem like she'd toy with me or stab me in the back.

“I guess you really don't remember, Ha-won.”

Putting it like that just makes me curious, you bear.

“Why? Did something happen between Hong Ye-na and me?”

“Something happen… Well, something did.”

“What? Did she confess to you or something?”

Seo Geon-woo shook his head.

“Ye-na was harassed by a stalker for a while, and you took care of it for her. Don't you remember?”

At his words, my memory began to return vaguely.

* * *

Hong Ye-na's hazy face from high school gradually came into focus.

It must have been around the second semester of my sophomore year.

At some point, I started noticing a girl who came to school looking perpetually anxious.

As usual, I'd go out to smoke with the other boys or mess around with them, but she kept catching my eye.

Hong Ye-na had a short bob and wore glasses.

Because of her pretty face, I'd occasionally hear the boys mention Hong Ye-na's name as I passed by.

Back then, I didn't have any particular romantic feelings for her.

I just found it irritating that she kept getting on my mind for some reason.

When I got to the point where I felt I couldn't live with the stress unless I did something about it, I went over and spoke to her.

“Hey.”

She'd just come in through the back door of the classroom, probably after going to the bathroom, and I stopped her.

She looked up at me, slightly tense.

She didn't answer.

“What's your name?”

Startled, she hesitated before answering in a tiny voice.

“H-Hong… Ye-na.”

It was already well into the second semester. Maybe I was annoyed that I still didn't even know the name of someone in my own class.

That sort of thing probably hadn't even crossed my mind back then.

“Want to go to the snack bar?”

I said it out of nowhere.

That was the first time I struck up a conversation with her.

I couldn't ask her outright, so I thought I'd force her into my group and keep an eye on her from there.

Then one day.

I was on my way home late after hanging out with some of the others.

For some reason, I didn't call the driver that night and caught a taxi instead.

A few minutes later, I happened to glance out the window and spotted Hong Ye-na.

She looked more anxious than ever—in fact, terrified—and was hurrying along as fast as she could.

“Driver, pull over here.”

“But your destination is still a long way off, student….”

But the taxi driver trailed off when he saw the two 50,000-won bills I held out.

As soon as I got out, I ran toward the place where I'd seen Hong Ye-na.

At the edge of my vision, I caught sight of her disappearing into an alley. Someone seemed to be following close behind her.

I had a bad feeling.

I put more strength into my legs and ran.

I entered the alley, but neither Hong Ye-na nor the man who seemed to be following her was anywhere to be seen.

I was lost in the dark, maze-like alley, unsure which way to go, when I heard a scream from somewhere.

“There you are.”

I sprinted toward the sound with all my strength.

I don't know how long I ran, but at last I spotted Hong Ye-na pinned against a wall, her wrist grabbed and her mouth covered by someone's hand.

I didn't stop to think.

Back then, there was nothing in the world I was afraid of.

My body lifted into the air.

I spun around midair and drove a spinning hook kick into the man's head.

Wham!

The man took the hit squarely, flew back, and crumpled to the ground.

“Ha, Ha-won….”

Hong Ye-na looked up at me, her hands trembling and her face streaked with tears and snot.

I looked at her, then turned my gaze toward the thug, who was groaning as he got up.

“Urgh, who the hell are you, you bastard?”

“Who are you, more like? You've got some nerve, thinking you can pull shit like this in a place like this.”

“Fuck, who the hell are you!”

The man shouted at the top of his lungs.

At a glance, he looked to be in his mid-twenties, his eyes gleaming with madness.

“Me? Well, for now… a friend of this girl?”

“A friend? Fuck, then mind your own business and get on your way, kid. You might end up in deep shit.”

“Well… looks like you're the one who's gonna get fucked, old man.”

“What, you little shit!?”

He charged at me boldly, but, as expected, he couldn't lay a finger on me.

I had the physical advantage. And though I was younger than him, real fights weren't decided by age.

When he hit the ground for the fourth time, the man pulled a jackknife from inside his clothes.

I was wondering when the cliché was going to show up.

This time, before he could charge at me, I charged first.

I kicked his knee, leaped up, and slammed a roundhouse kick into his temple.

Only then did the man lose consciousness and become one with the ground.

I sighed and looked back at Hong Ye-na.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded.

A quick glance showed no visible injuries.

But perhaps because she'd been so terrified, her arms and legs were still trembling.

Unsure what to do, I scratched the back of my head and approached her.

Hong Ye-na suddenly ran up and threw her arms around me.

I couldn't react.

My hands, not knowing where to go, waved helplessly in the air.

“Uh, um… Why are you doing that all of a sudden?”

“Th-thank you….”

She buried her face against my chest and sobbed.

I had to let her cry like that for a while.

Afterward, she told me the thug was a stalker who'd been following her for several months.

I gave the man two choices.

He could either go to the police station and turn himself in, or keep doing what he'd been doing.

Of course, I threatened that if he chose the latter, I could mobilize our people and make him disappear from this world without a trace.

At first, he scoffed, but after coming face-to-face with the people Secretary Shin had sent, he went to the police station of his own accord.

And so, Hong Ye-na's stalker incident was brought to an end.

After that day, Hong Ye-na naturally became part of my group and came to enjoy hanging out with me almost as much as Seo Geon-woo did.

Until I graduated and cut off contact with all my classmates, Hong Ye-na was always by my side.

* * *

“Ah….”

“Do you remember now?”

I slowly nodded.

This was practically like regaining a lost memory.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

“This is ridiculous….”

Seo Geon-woo tilted his head at my words.

“Huh? What's funny?”

“Me, I mean. It's not like I had amnesia, and yet I couldn't remember something that major. It's absurd.”

Seo Geon-woo suddenly patted me on the shoulder.

Startled, I turned to look at him.

He was wearing a faint smile.

It was a smile I couldn't understand. He looked as if to say he understood everything and that it was okay.

Was there something else I didn't know?

As I hesitated over whether to ask, the navigation announced that we'd arrived at our destination.

“We're here.”

“Uh, yeah….”

Seo Geon-woo grabbed the door handle as if to open it, then paused and looked back at me.

“Like I said before, don't be in such a hurry.”

“Huh? About what?”

“Just… everything.”

Then he got out of the car, gave me a casual wave, and disappeared into the alley.

‘What the hell, you dumb bear. Now you've made me curious.’

Seong Ji-hoon met my eyes in the rearview mirror and asked,

“Shall I get going?”

I glanced once toward the alley where Seo Geon-woo had disappeared, then answered.

“Yes, let's go.”

I spent the whole drive back thinking.

No matter how self-centered I was or how much I kept others at an emotional distance, I couldn't help thinking this was a bit much.

Maybe something major had happened around the time I graduated—a turning point or some kind of incident.

What could it have been?

No matter how hard I racked my brain, unlike Hong Ye-na's past, nothing came to mind.

There was nothing but pitch-black darkness.

Somehow, I felt I might find the reason I'd become who I was now among the memories that had been erased.

It was only a vague feeling, but I couldn't shake it.