I gave him a long, hard stare. “What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know who you are, but when you were speaking to me, I felt something familiar.”

One of my eyebrows rose. “Familiar?”

He nodded. “That’s not something I’ve felt in a while.”

“How…what?” I shook my head a little.

“I’ve been told I have some memory issues and was given advice on how to fix them. One of the ways is to talk to people you feel familiar with, so I want to talk to you some more.”

I let out a short sarcastic laugh as my eyes rolled to the side. “Okay, even if I were to believe you even having memory issues, how would talking to me fix them? You said that you don’t know who I am.”

“But you do.” He answered.

“…no, I don’t.” I said quietly.

“Yes you do! It’s so obvious!” His eyes rose. “Why wouldn’t you want to help me? Do you know how it feels to walk around without any idea of what you’re doing or who anyone is, including yourself?”

I didn’t respond.

“I’ve been this way for a very long time and I don’t want to be confused anymore.” He lowered his head. “You know things about me that I don’t, so can you please just stay a while longer and talk to me?”

I stared at him in silence for a long time. I felt many disagreeing emotions running through me. Part of me wanted to help him and the other part nagged at me to just walk away and continue on with my life. This was the guy who disappeared in front of my eyes without reason and was probably just a figment of my damaged imagination created out of the hope and despair that he would come back somehow. Talking to him more might push me down farther into insanity…

“…I don’t know.” I sighed a little, truly in an emotional dilemma.

He sighed a little too. “Why? Did I do something bad to you?”

My eyes slowly met his. “That’s an understatement.”

His eyes widened a little. “W-what did I do?”

I looked deep into his eyes and I couldn’t find any traces of deceit. He really didn’t have any idea about us or what happened. This somehow made me give in a little and decide to keep talking to him.

After slowly placing my bag back down on the café table, I sat down slowly. “You’re probably not going to believe it. I still can’t.”

He sat down across from me. “At this point, I’ll believe anything you say.”

I took in a deep breath. “The last time I saw you…you…” I rubbed the side of my head. This was harder to explain than I thought it would be.

His gaze remained on me, waiting patiently for me to finish.

“You…were in a lot of pain.” My gaze moved to my full cup of coffee on the table. “You ran out from my apartment holding your sides. When I caught up with you…you um…sprouted wings.” I clamped my eyes shut. That sounded so crazy that it hurt a little to say. He didn’t respond, so I kept talking quietly. “And then you disappeared…and I haven’t seen you again up until now.” I slowly looked at him, fully expecting him to get up and leave.

His gaze was fixed on mine and there was an unreadable expression in his eyes. “I…did what?”

I sighed huffily. “You sprouted wings.”

“Like…an angel?”

I shrugged. “I guess. But it wasn’t a heavenly sight. You didn’t look happy.”

His gaze slowly lowered. “I’ve had a lot of back pain recently…”

I didn’t respond.

“Actually…it’s all over my body. I’ve just been feeling very sore lately.” He sighed quietly.

I didn’t know how to respond to that. To my surprise, a part of me wanted to reach over and touch him somehow. Grab his hand or pat his shoulder. Show some kind of support. But the situation didn’t seem right so I just stayed still.

“…so you said I just disappeared after that?” He slowly met my eyes again.

I nodded. “Yeah. Without reason.”

“There must have been some reason…nobody just disappears without reason.”

“Well I don’t know what the reason was, okay?” I suddenly felt overcome with grief. “But it still happened!”

He leaned back a bit in surprise. “I-I’m sorry.”

A sarcastic scoff escaped my lips. “That’s all you have to say?!”

“What else can I say? I don’t even remember what happened!” He raised his voice a little, clearly upset.

“Do you know how long I waited for you to come back?! Or talk to me in some way!? Now I’m convinced I’m talking to a ghost right now because of my messed up mind! You ruined my life!” I stood up a little, staring down at him with major hurt in my eyes.

He sunk a bit in his seat. “P-please lower your voice. We’re in a café.”

I let out a groan and walked away from the table. Some of the dogs around us stood up and growled a little, surprised by my sudden movement. I ignored them and slipped into the bathroom.

Every part of me wanted to break down and cry like a baby, but I held myself together and just stood with my back facing the door, staring in front of me with hard, wet eyes. I didn’t want to think about anything. I just wanted to run away and forget I ever me Park Jungsoo. He’s done nothing but cause me pain, even now.

After about three minutes, my mind had calmed down a little and my fists had relaxed. I was able to think a little clearer but my first thought was how immature I had just acted. I was a full-grown man and I just ran away from another man like a toddler. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed.

He probably left by now. I sighed and turned around. I cracked open the door a little to look out into the café. To my complete surprise, he was in the same seat, looking down at his lap. I saw a white, furry body sitting in his lap and his hand slowly the fur.

“How is he still here…?” I stared at him in major disbelief. I slowly closed the door and stood rigidly. In my heart I knew what I had to do in this kind of situation, but now I was feeling extremely scared.

Maybe he really is a ghost…that’s why he can’t leave. I sighed a little and slowly opened the door again. I made my way slowly back to the table and awkwardly sat back down in my chair.

He looked up at me slowly.

I didn’t look at him. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.” I mumbled.

He didn’t respond.

“…this situation is just uncomfortable for me.” I continued. “We were really close…and then you left so suddenly…so seeing you now makes me feel very confused and angry.”

“I understand. I’m sorry too.” He responded quietly.

I slowly met his eyes.

“I saw how angry you were because of my sudden departure and you have every right to be angry.” He continued to the small white dog’s fur gently. “I want to remember what happened…and I want to remember being with you too.”

I felt my face flash with warmth and I cleared my throat. “Um…about that.”

He looked at me. “What?”

“There’s…something else that happened before you disappeared…” I squirmed slightly and moved my gaze back to the table.

“What?” He leaned in a little, clearly interested.

The words I was trying to say now were a lot harder than the telling him he sprouted wings. “Um…this isn’t the appropriate place to tell you.” I lowered my voice.

“Oh.” He sighed a little. “Well where can you tell me?”

“Someplace were there aren’t other people around.”

“Is it embarrassing to say in public?”

“Yeah…”

He nodded. “Okay. Where can we go?”

I blinked. “Um…”

“I mean, there are parks around here, right?”

“Y-yeah, right. That would be appropriate.” I cleared my throat again.

“Good.” He smiled.

We were both silent for a moment.

“…um do you want to go now?” I asked a bit awkwardly.

“No, we can go in a few minutes.” His gaze returned back to the small dog in his lap.

“You like dogs, huh?”

He nodded and smiled at me. “They’re so cute.”

I watched him the small dog in his lap. There was nothing but serenity and happiness on his face. It was a very different look than the last time I saw him. It almost made me feel happy too.

“…um did you eat lunch?” I asked suddenly.

He looked at me. “Lunch? No I didn’t.”

“Me neither. We can get some later too. If you want.” I suddenly felt very nervous.

He stared at me for a few seconds then slowly nodded. “Alright.”

I nodded too. “Good.”

He watched me for a few more seconds, then moved his gaze back to the dog in his lap.

My face was burning and I tried to cover it up while leaning back in my chair. I shouldn’t feel so nervous… And as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was feeling something else running through me. Something I started feeling the last few times we met and hung out. It was creeping up on me again and I couldn’t deny it as much as I wanted to.

But he’s having memory issues and doesn’t know who I am… I slowly looked back at him. Maybe I shouldn’t tell him…

“…what’s your name?” He looked at me.

That question felt like an arrow to my heart but I hid my disappointment well. “Kim Youngwoon.”

He nodded politely. “Nice to meet you.”

I nodded too, cringing at the awkwardness of the situation.