Now, 10 years later 

Present time 

mina 

"...we thought she was going to wake up around this week..."

"...today or tomorrow..." 

"...don't worry, she'll gain consciousness soon..." 

The first thing Mina heard were deep, raspy voices. They were loud. They hurt her ears. Were voices this loud? Was anything this loud?  

She could remember a soft, bright voice, speaking into her ear.  

She could remember an angry voice, chiding her.

That voice wasn't loud. So why were these? 

Mina knew there was something behind the black curtain draped over her eyes. She knew that if she slowly opened her eyes, something, someone, would be there. If she moved that black curtain to the side, brightness would greet her. 

She wasn't ready. Not yet. 

She could tell that the people behind the curtain were eager for her to open her eyes. They wanted her to see them. They wanted her to talk to them. They wanted her to remember. 

Mina wasn't able to remember that easily. She couldn't just sit up straight and start chatting casually about what happened before... 

Before...? 

Ah, yes, that's right – she had been in a coma. 

Unwanted memories rushed back to Mina, causing her to slightly flinch. She heard an intake of breath, a gasp, and then silence – the ones behind the curtain had seen her. They knew she was back. But she wasn't going to wake up. Not yet.  

Now, back to remembering. 

She had been in a car accident. She could remember flames, an ambulance, screaming and crying. She could remember blood. And then she could remember nothing. That must've been where she entered the coma, she figured. Once everything went black.  

How long had she slept? Five years? Ten years? It was impossible to guess. Mina would only know if she woke up and asked how long it had been. But she didn't want to. She had to remember more. 

She knew her name. Myoui Mina. She knew how old she was – seventeen. Well, she had been seventeen, on the day of the car accident. Who knew how old she was now? She certainly didn't know. And she didn't want to know. Yet. 

She remembered her parents. Her school. Her friends. Most of her life. She couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief as her memories came back to her. She remembered everything now. It had been only twenty-five minutes since she had woke up, so the doctors would most likely be very surprised – on average, it would take about five days for one to remember everything that had happened prior to their blacking out. But Mina didn't care. What mattered was that she remembered every single thing. 

Including Son Chaeyoung. 

Where was Chaeyoung now? Did she still reside in the same home? Or did she move? Had she grown any taller? Was she still the same small girl Mina had known for so long?  

Mina couldn't take it anymore. She was in no particular hurry to pull that black curtain to the side and reveal herself to all who were waiting there, but she needed to know what had happened to Chaeyoung. She had to know.  

Slowly, Mina opened her eyes, squinting at the brightness. A flurry of excitement erupted within the crowd of people standing at the foot of her bed. As Mina's eyes adjusted to the unusual brightness, she recognized individuals – her mother, her father, her friends Momo and Sana, their parents, and other acquaintances from school who probably considered themselves one of Mina's closest friends, even though they were almost nothing more than strangers to her. Several adults lingered at the door; judging by their long, white coats, they were most likely the doctors who had tended to Mina when she was asleep. Mina groaned softly, sitting up. And the first words that left her lips were, 

"Where's Chaeyoungie?"