Eri has been waiting in front of the guest room’s door since 8am and there was still no sound signaling that Jaehwan is coming out anywhere soon. She gave up on waiting and cooked breakfast instead. She thought she heard something behind the door but thought that it was just her imagination.

Jaehwan has been wide awake since 6am. He had a sudden nervous feeling about Eri and her hospitality and has been planning on how to get out from the house. Last night when he opened the door slowly, he thought he saw Eri keeping guard outside at the living room. The only way out is to move through the living room and he couldn’t go unnoticed. So Jaehwan reluctantly went back inside and spent half an hour worrying and went straight to sleep after that.

He observed the room around him. It has nothing much but a single bed with a small cabinet at the side and a study desk near him. There was a picture frame sitting on the study desk. It was the same guy in the huge frame before. Didn’t she say it was her brother? The guy looked very familiar to him but Jaehwan couldn’t remember anything about anyone at the moment. The desk looked untouched since there was dust all over it. Why didn’t Eri clean this room? Jaehwan felt slightly annoyed that she put him in this dirty dusty room to sleep. He decided that it was best to just face her than pacing nonstop in the room.

“Uhm..” He started. Eri turned her back at him. She was cooking omelets for him.

“Good morning” Eri replied as she turned back to the stove flipping the egg. Jaehwan took a seat at the kitchen watching her back.

“Morning” said Jaehwan gloomily.

He didn’t know what to say. He should have just asked her about everything last night. Now it has become too awkward for him. She’s even cooking breakfast for him. Jaehwan had a momentary anxiety as he looked everywhere for clues on what to say or ask.

“What day is it today?”

“It’s Saturday”

“Aren’t you working?”

“Saturday is my off-day”

“Why Saturday? Why that particular day?”

Eri ignored him.

“So, uhm – you live alone?” Jaehwan spurted out when Eri caught his eyes.

“Obviously”

“Yeah I mean – I – where is your family?”

Eri put down all the plates on the table and only until she sat down that she looked at him properly. “They’re not here”

“Got it”

“Will you please just eat?” Eri picked up her spoon and ate her food.

“What happened to them?” Jaehwan didn’t know why he was asking these personal questions out of the blue. All he knows was that he didn’t mean it to come out. It just did.

“Okay look, there’s something that you have to understand here. You – and I – we have no connection at all. I don’t know you and you don’t know me. Who gives you the idea that you can ask me this kind of question?” said Eri through gritted teeth as she’s trying her best to hold back her anger.

Jaehwan picked up his bowl and started eating quickly without a word. He would occasionally steal glances through his peripheral vision. Eri was ignoring him completely. The effect of the last question was quite big, thought Jaehwan. He didn’t dare start another question until Eri finally finishes eating.

“I promised you answers and I’m going to give it to you” said Eri suddenly.

Jaehwan looked at her with high hope. “Really?! Okay so, what really happened to me last night?”

Eri took time to answer the first question. She was dwelling whether to tell him or not about the real thing. Jaehwan didn’t seem like he’s lying about not remembering.

“I’m going to save that bit for later. Next question”

Jaehwan was speechless. “But that’s the one thing I’m most curious about! I don’t know how and why I got here and how I know you! Are you just going to leave me hanging here?”

“No but let me repeat, I’m going to tell you that later – at least when you’re ready. You’re definitely not in a state to know” Eri responded calmly.

Jaehwan was starting to feel angry again. “And WHO gives you the right to decide that?!”

“Just calm down okay. I need to ask you something”

“MORE QUESTIONS! RIGHT! I’M THE ONE NEEDING ANSWER NOW LADY!!” shouted Jaehwan as he stomp his fist on the table.

“If you want to leave here without knowing anything then you can continue that behavior in my house” Eri glared at him.

Jaehwan breathed in frustration but nevertheless he was slightly calming down. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

“What can you remember about yourself?”

“Well, I know my name. I’m 25 and – I work in a – a - I’m not sure” said Jaehwan.

“What do you mean you’re not sure?”

Jaehwan made a small grunting noise as though mad at his inability to remember. “Ugh – I don’t know. It’s blurry. One second I see myself teaching and then one second I’m a cashier and then it just keeps on changing. I – I don’t know anymore”

“And I don’t know why but I have this feeling that I can’t remember something really important – something huge in my life and it’s the reason why I lost my memory. Why can’t I remember anything at all?”

Eri couldn’t believe it. Can someone actually lost their memory like this? His head wasn’t even injured that night. If it was shock to the brain, it shouldn’t be this serious. There must be something else. You don’t just lose your memory like this. This makes her feel more reluctant on telling him about the suicide attempt. What if he feels like doing it again?

“What about your parents?”

“Last time I remember, they were – ” Jaehwan stopped halfway looking stricken.

“They what?”

“They were crying about something. Mom was at my side and Dad was talking with someone in a suit. They looked serious. It was a really big room – the walls were white. Mom has been hugging me and crying on my shoulder all the time. I remember looking at a tree. It was raining. I don’t know what was going on at that time but it does look like a – a funeral”

Eri was starting to feel uncomfortable. “Who died?”

Jaehwan shook his head. “I don’t know. No wait – the funeral was somewhere else. The first one was something else. It’s connected but I don’t know how”

“What are you talking about?”

Jaehwan ignored her. He was busy trying to recollect his memories. All of them were jumbled together like an unfinished puzzle. He couldn’t be sure which happened at what time. The more he tries, the angrier he is. He couldn’t understand why he can’t remember anything from the past.

“Okay relax. Just calm down Jaehwan. Don’t force yourself” said Eri as she placed a hand on top of his hand.

“Just tell me where your house is. I’m sure your parent can tell you everything that you need to know”

“I can’t remember where I live” said Jaehwan miserably.

“Seriously? But how is this possible? You weren’t exactly injured that night. How can you not remember where you live?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s got to do with last night. What really happened to me? Why won’t you tell me?!”

“Fine. I saved you last night” Eri said firmly.

“Saved me? From what?” asked Jaehwan; trying to remember any detail about the event.

“From drowning” It was a tough decision but she decided to lie. She thought it was for the best. “I was walking back home and I saw you shouting for help so I jumped and saved you”

Jaehwan didn’t seem to buy it. “But you said I wasn’t injured”

“Well you weren’t! I pulled you out of the water as fast as I could. No harms done don’t worry” said Eri

Jaehwan tilted his head in confusion. “Then why can’t I remember anything about it?”

“I’m not the expert here. I work in a café”

There was a moment of silence between the two as Jaehwan was busy trying yet again to remember something and Eri with her busy mind trying to trick him into believing. After a while, Eri took the dishes into the sink and washed them without a word. Jaehwan made his way quietly to the living room. His body collapsed weakly on the couch as he stared at the window wondering what he has ever done to deserve this.

There was a sound coming from Eri’s room. She dried her hands with a towel and answered the call. It was him again.

“Good morning Eri”  

“What do you want now?”

“You can just call me Sanghyuk you know. I’m just calling to check on you. I hope you got home okay”

There was something missing. He sounded like he’s concerned about something.

“Did you follow me last night?”

“As a matter of fact – yes I did”

“I will call the police if you keep on doing this”

“No need to call the police. I’m not a bad guy. I just want you safe that’s all. It seems like I’m upsetting you right now. I’ll call you later”

“What?! No – don’t call again!” shouted Eri to the phone but he was already gone. “”

Whoever this Sanghyuk was, Eri had this weird feeling that she’s not afraid of him – that he’s completely harmless and was not trying to cause any harm on her. She wasn’t really sure about this but the fact that he sounded familiar made her calm.

When she emerged from the bedroom, Jaehwan was still in his zombie mode so Eri sat beside him quietly. She took one look at him and felt a surge of pity for him.

“If you want me to help you on anything just ask me” said Eri.

“I just want to go home and be with my parents” muttered Jaehwan.

“I can help you find them. Since I found you near the café, I’m sure it’s somewhere in the area”

Jaehwan gave her an appreciative smile. “Thank you Eri. You’re a really nice person”

“You can stay here for a while if you want. I put your luggage in the next room. I just don’t want you running away so I locked the room”

“I have a luggage with me?”

“” thought Eri.

“Maybe you were planning to go somewhere yesterday?” said Eri comforting Jaehwan.

“That’s weird. Why would I end up in the water if I were going somewhere? Wait – what if someone wants to hurt me? What if someone pushed me into the water and I got lucky that you were there last night?”

Eri was starting to feel very nervous. She was saved by a sudden phone call. “Give me a sec” she said as she made her way to the kitchen.

“Hello?”

“Eri-yah, where are you?”

She was about to answer ‘my house’ when she remembered that Jaehwan was there.

“Uhm – I have stuff to do with Hakyeon at the – uhh – market”

“I’m just calling to let you know that I won’t be back for the next two months. I still have work to do”

“Right. Taekwoon-ah, take care of yourself please”

“You too”

Eri heaved a sigh of relief. She went back to Jaehwan who was busy staring at the huge frame again. He looked like he’s recalling something.

“Who was that?”

“Do you MUST know everything? Don’t meddle in someone’s business if you can help it” Eri lamented.

Jaehwan chortled. “Sorry. It must have been a habit. Nosing around people – haha – maybe that’s why my nose is so big” Jaehwan laughed as he touches his nose.

That was the first time she had ever seen him laughing and little that she knows she would have seen much more of him in the future. Without warning, a smile was etched slowly on her face as she noticed her brother’s resemblance in Jaehwan.

To be continued…