.
I shouldn’t be rambling those thoughts in my mind right now.
While everyone’s attention was on me, I shook my head from side to side then quickly turned the pages.
“Oh…” I moaned again. The pictures showed a pass of time in which we’d become sophomore in middle school, but Ban Yeo Ryung and Eun Jiho were exchanging fierce eye contact in the corner of a picture that also had Jooin and I having our arms around each other.
Well, that part seemed fine until we found the next picture having those two grabbing each other by their collars.
After seeing the picture, Jooin looked at Yeo Ryung and Eun Jiho with an enigmatic expression on his face.
“… Why on earth were you two doing that behind us?”
While the two remained silent, I flipped the pages of the album again.
Now, even Yoo Chun Young and Eun Hyung looked stiff and were turning pages of other albums. Quickly scanning about a hundred photos, I couldn’t help but reveal my mixed feelings on my face.
Almost every photo had Ban Yeo Ryung and Eun Jiho seizing each other by the throat or showing their teeth in the corner.
“Why the heck are they fighting in every blind spot…?”
In the end, I closed all the photo albums. If all the pictures were like this, my attempt to recover Yeo Ryung’s memories by photos would, instead, worsen their relationship.
Then I recalled the video that I found around this time last year. Rubbing my chin, I wondered, ‘Will that work? Should I play the video?’
As if Jooin also had the same thought, he whispered to me, “Mama, the video that we shot with the digital camera…”
“Isn’t there any disturbing scenes?” I asked.
Jooin’s voice turned immediately blue. He whispered again, “We must turn it off right before the video ends.”
“…”
That was when I realized how the video ended. Also showing an enigmatic look, I uttered, ‘Well, what else we can do? Let’s just give it a try,’ then I headed to the utility room to find the old camera.
In the video, there was a short moment of Eun Jiho and Ban Yeo Ryung sitting close to each other. All they did was just sitting on the couch side by side and having some short conversation, but that was the only friendly moment we could get from today.
‘I mean, I didn’t know that they had this much of a dog-cat relationship,’ I justified myself in my thoughts.
Once the video ended, I carefully asked Yeo Ryung if anything came to her mind, but she just shook her head.
“Nothing,” she replied. However, she didn’t show any signs of anxiety or sorrow coming from the failure of recovering her memories.
‘Well, if she’s fine with that, that’s good though…’ I thought to myself, scratching my forehead.
Right, memories weren’t like popcorn; those wouldn’t suddenly pop up in her mind within a few hours. Again, it’s my bad.
In the end, our meeting just ended without any outcomes. Then it became dinner time. Yeo Ryung’s parents came home after work. I told them what had happened as honestly as possible.
While I kept explaining things, Yeo Ryung’s parents looked back and forth between me and Yeo Ryung, showing their unbelievable feelings about the situation.
After I finished speaking, Yeo Ryung’s mother asked me urgently, “… Memory loss…? Doesn’t it only exist in TV dramas?”
In the mind of the web novel characters, amnesia wasn’t a common disease too. This whole situation also didn’t make sense to them.
I nodded to agree with her. Yeo Ryung’s parents quickly stretched out their hands to grab Yeo Ryung’s hand, but when she stepped back in hesitation, they looked shocked.
I was also astonished at the sight. What should I do…? Since Yeo Ryung treated me the same, as usual, I forgot one thing–she wasn’t able to remember her parents.
How on earth could I comfort their absent-mindedness? While I was wondering what to do, Yeo Ryung’s parents, surprisingly, overcame sorrow quite quickly.
Rubbing her chin with her finger, Yeo Ryung’s mother wandered around the living room with quick and short steps, then she headed to the phone, saying, ‘I should tell Yeo Dan to return home ASAP.’
That was when my mind took Yeo Dan oppa into consideration. Since Yeo Ryung wasn’t able to remember her parents, she would, of course, not remember her brother. Then I turned my head, feeling someone’s stare. It was Yeo Ryung glancing at me nervously.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked.
Aye aye aye… I should’ve expected that Yeo Ryung would become perplexed in this situation where everyone’s face turned dark whenever she said something. I shook my head and combed her hair with my fingers.
The tense air began to subside. When there was, eventually, a moment of serene silence, Yeo Ryung’s mother came back to the living room.
She uttered, “Yeo Dan says he’s returning home, so would you please wait for him in the living room for a moment? Right now, we’re strangers to Yeo Ryung, so as long as you’re here, she’ll feel relieved.”
“Yes, of course,” I replied then perched on their couch in the living room.
Yeo Ryung’s parents left the spot and went to their room to let her daughter rest more comfortably.
Once the space turned quiet again, all kinds of thoughts began to dominate my mind. I just sat in silence, holding Yeo Ryung’s hand and tapping the armrest with the other.
Usually, I would be able to see Yeo Dan oppa’s face after midnight, but today it was different. Glad to see him earlier than usual, but the situation wasn’t at all.
Concerns began to arise in my mind all of a sudden. Wouldn’t he lose his temper this time, blaming me that I didn’t try preventing Yeo Ryung from losing her memories?
Though I knew that he wasn’t a person like that, whenever situations turned bad this way, I couldn’t help myself thinking pessimistically.
The moment I kept sighing with my arms around my knees, there was a sound of someone pressing the numbers on the door lock. Even it sounded familiar, I felt my shoulders turning stiff.
Yeo Ryung’s parents came out from their room and said, “Yeo Dan, hold on! I’ll open the door!”
The sound from pressing the door lock stopped. As soon as the door opened, Yeo Dan oppa dashed into the house.
“Is that real?” He quickly opened his mouth. It was obvious what he was asking.
While I kept standing stiff in hesitation, Yeo Dan oppa turned his head abruptly in our direction and stared at us.
His black hair was wet, hanging on his forehead. He would have definitely headed straight to his house after hearing the news or become wet with sweats in the cab in tension.
Then he had eye contact with Yeo Ryung, who was looking at him like watching a stranger. His face slightly grimaced. That was all, but I clenched my fist, feeling as if I were getting punished.
“Yeo Ryung,” he said, striding toward her, but he stopped from a few steps away from his sister. The wariness in her eyes would have definitely come into his view.
Yeo Dan oppa slowly bent his knees to see her at eye level. Every move was cautious as if he was training wildlife that would run away soon.
He spoke slowly, “I am your brother. My name is Ban Yeo Dan.”
“Uh-huh…”
“Can I get close to you?”
Yeo Ryung carefully nodded at his non-threatening words. Even I, watching the sight, heaved a sigh of relief. If she even refused her brother, I would feel more guilty.
Yeo Dan oppa came close, at last, and had eye contact with me. His face turned dark. I wasn’t able to read the meaning of his look, but I sat quietly with my mouth shut.
“Donnie,” he gently called my name.
“Uh-huh?” I replied in full tension, but I soon lifted my head when his hand touched my head out of the blue. My eyes widened.
“You would have felt so surprised,” he said with his usual, warmhearted expression.
“…”
“Since it happened when I wasn’t even with you guys.”
After he spoke that way, other words also came from behind him. Yeo Ryung’s parents walked toward me.
“Oh, my god, for real! Just as you said, Yeo Dan, we weren’t able to think of that.” They added concernedly, “Donnie, are you okay? Sorry, that we forgot to ask how surprised and shocked you were.”
Listening to their worries, I felt myself blushing. I didn’t deserve to hear such words. Even when Yeo Ryung was involved in a car accident, I didn’t reach out to them for hours, being afraid of getting scolded.
