First Voice

“Lu Han! He… he has regained consciousness!”

“What?!”

“Just call the doctor! Tell him that he’s now opened his eyes!”

“O-okay, okay! I’ll go now!”

Lu Han flickers his pair of eyes sluggishly and moves his fingers cautiously as he tries to get up. Unfortunately, his attempt is abruptly stopped by an unknown girl. He quirks an eyebrow at her direction, looking explicitly bemused.

“You can’t move as for now, Han,” the girl named Im Yoona mutters softly, glancing at him with a smile creeps upon her lips. No words could express her happiness when the person she’s been praying all the time has now recuperated from being in a state of a coma from three months. “You’re still weak. You shouldn’t have been so vigorous.”

Flustered, he bites his lip in mild exasperation and flashes his faint gaze at her. “Who… are you?”

Much to her horror, the latter could not help but be flabbergasted. Her eyes widen in shock upon hearing the astounding truth. For a moment, she ponders if the world has just turned upside down. What on earth he has just said? He doesn’t know who is she? Is this a joke?

“W-what?” she tries to speak composedly though she evidently fails to cover her immense shock. “You don’t know me? Are you serious?”

Before Lu Han can interject in reply, the doctor and his nurse have arrived at the ward room. Minseok shows up a moment later after their presences.

Despite the shock envelopes him, he lets the doctor do the check-up on himself. He has no idea what he is doing, though. His eyes are checked thoroughly as well as his chest and other stuffs. He doesn’t pay much attention on the elder since he’s clueless and most importantly, astonished with the sudden visit by the doctor.

After the check-up is done, Yoona hurriedly drops a keen question to the doctor. “What’s wrong with him, doctor? I thought when he’s regained consciousness, he’s fine already. Why on earth can’t he remember me?”

The doctor, Mr. Kim, coughs mildly before answering her question. “Honestly speaking, I was really shocked when he suddenly recuperated after being in a coma for three months. He doesn’t show any prior sign of consciousness before this, though. But don’t worry, he’s fine. He’s just having a slight complication due to the accident .”

“A slight complication?” she snaps, “then why can’t he remember me, doctor?!”

“Listen here, Ms. Im… this might be a shock to you but I have to tell you that Mr. Lu has some sort of complication where he has partially lost his memory for the past events he’s been through.”

“Amnesia, eh?” Minseok, who’s been silent throughout the intense conversation, butts in eventually.

“That’s right.” Mr. Kim nods.

“So you mean… Lu Han can’t remember anything from the past?” Yoona questions inquisitively. When the doctor informed her and Minseok that Lu Han has lost his memory, the shocking news has just made her life shatter into pieces. It’s as though her world has broken apart.

This time, Mr. Kim shakes his head. “Like I said, he only lost a part of his memory. So this means, he still has the memory of the past and this is what we called as ‘retrograde amnesia’ in which the lack of memory relates to events that occurred before a traumatic event. ‘Retrograde amnesia’ is in contrast to ‘antegrade amnesia’ where a person encounters the lack of memory relates to events that occurred after a traumatic event.”

The doctor then shifts to the bed and beckons Minseok to come forward. “Mr. Lu might remember another friend of his if he can’t remember you, Ms. Im.”

“Should I?” Minseok looks hesitant and he bites his lip after the doctor’s approval. Cautiously, he walks forward to the bed and faces the wonderstruck Lu Han.

“Try to talk to Mr. Lu,” instructs Mr. Kim.

He nods and looks at his best friend’s face waveringly before he comes to say, “Hmm, hey… Lu Han-ah… do you remember me?”

Lu Han, on the other hand, looks slightly confused in the first place but as soon as he squints his eyes at the latter, a tiny smile flits across his face. “Of course, Minseok-ah! You’re like my best friend since junior high!”

Minseok lets out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you remember me, buddy.”

“See, Ms. Im?” The doctor gazes at Yoona convincingly. “Mr. Lu still has a part of his memory and as a result, he recognizes his friend’s face and their friendship’s history.”

“But why he doesn’t remember me?” She lowers her head, sighing out of frustration. Lu Han should have recognized her but she knows she cannot blame him in this case. It’s not his fault that he fails to remember her. It’s such a total devastation when he remembers Minseok but not her. Why can’t he remember the person who’s been next to him for three year?

“I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can’t help with it. But don’t worry, Ms. Im. It’s not like he will be in this kind of state forever. He will recover but it would take some time. So here, you should try your utmost effort to make him remember you and the other memory he has lost.”

Yoona nods faintly. After much thought, she has somehow grasped why Lu Han fails to remember her. Before the hit and run accident happened, Lu Han was on his way to go meet her so here, this could be implied that Lu Han has lost the memory of the events that occurred before the grave accident. The last event was the meeting to confess his feelings for her but it turned out futile. So that’s why Lu Han cannot remember her nor would he remember the history of their friendship.

“If everything’s settled, I’ll go out now.” With that, Mr. Kim and his nurse dart out of the ward room and leave the two friends dumbstruck.

***

Minseok initiates to sit on the chair next to the bed whilst Yoona remains stiff. He steals a look at her saying she should come close but she feebly shakes her head in refusal. Her lips quiver to mutter, “It’s okay.”

He merely nods in comprehension and soon averts his gaze to Lu Han. From his opinion, his friend looks somewhat clueless and unaware. It would make sense if the doctor says that he’s lost his memory. He’s as if he were in his own world; he’d rather glimpse around the surrounding of the ward room than his friends.

“Lu Han-ah,” begins Minseok, holding his arm subtly. “Look here.”

At first, Lu Han seems to ignore him but eventually reacts after another call. The latter rolls his eyes ingenuously as he stares at his friend. “Ah, Minseok-ah... what’s wrong?” A bewildered frown flits across his forehead.

“Uhm, do you really... remember me...?”

Lu Han scoffs at his wacky remark. “Are you joking right now, Minseok-ah? Of course I do remember you! How many times should I reiterate to make you understand?” It’s extremely funny that his best friend would actually ask this stupid question. Of course he would recognize his friend. Not only him, but he thinks every person who has acquaintance with him.

“Then what about Yoona? Do you remember her?” Minseok drags her towards the bed, rendering her to be thrown off guard.

He squints his eyes as he takes a look at her figure. Nothing comes up in his mind when he scans her face. He doesn’t know who she is nor has he seen her face before. “Doesn’t ring a bell,” he answers in reply, shaking his head. “Is she your friend?”

Minseok’s indeed bowled over while Yoona, on the contrary, only lowers her head in mild frustration. Though she has understood Lu Han’s complication, she’s still devastated when Lu Han fails to remember her again as if both of them were indeed stranger. Her heart aches profusely.

“She’s Yoona, our friend,” clarifies Minseok. “In fact, she’s the only girl whom you’re close to.”

“Oh, really?” Lu Han seems unaffected. His eyes flicker nonchalantly at the girl whom claims to be his so-called close girl friend. “Do I really know you before?”

“You do,” she replies hesitantly, couldn’t deny the truth.

“I’m sorry but I really don’t know who you are,” he retorts, “I’ve never seen you before.”

“Of course you don’t remember her because you’ve got amnesia, buddy! A freaking retrograde amnesia!”

“Amnesia?”

“You’d gotten yourself into a hit and run accident right before you intended to meet Yoona for some sort of reason. After that, you were in a coma for almost three freaking months. And surprisingly today, you woke up and the doctor claimed you’ve lost a part of your memory. That’s why you failed to remember Yoona.”

“Really?” His jaw drops dramatically. “I.... got into an accident and lost a part of my memory?”

“Yes, you dummy.” Minseok grits his teeth. It’s somewhat a pain in the neck to converse a talk with a person who’s just woken up from a long sleep.

“Then who was the person that hit me the other day?”

“Since it was a hit and run accident, the police couldn’t detect the one who hit you… and since you were in a coma for months, the case has been automatically closed.”

Before the latter could reply in return, Yoona bombards him with a question. “Besides Minseok, what are the other things that you remember, Han?”

“My name’s Lu Han. I migrated to South Korea with my uncle after my parents’ death and am currently living alone. I’m a senior at my school and have a lot of male friends besides Minseok,” comes out