“JIEUN~!” Suzy called out while madly waving her arm, garnering some unwanted attention to herself and to her companions; a giggling Jinri and a face palming Jiyeon. Laughing, Jieun   made her way towards this oddly grouped  girls she claims to be her friends. This had always been a common sight to greet her at the front of the campus gates. The ever cheerful Suzy, Easy-going Jinri and serene Jiyeon.

                These three had both the ability to tick each other off and let each other know how much each of them is loved. They had also been one of the very first to be stored in Jiuen’s rebooted memory from that fateful day. It had been a month since she had woken up to find herself in a hospital room, attached to various hospital equipment, and suddenly surrounded by unfamiliar faces that claimed to have known her.

                And it had been only a week since she had started to attend regular classes, though there wasn’t much for her to catch up on since she had attended available online lectures and did whatever work the trio took home for her.

                “Hey guys.” Jieun piped up in the middle of the group’s chattering “You guys go ahead first, I just need to drop something in the professor’s office.” She reported while giving a brief gesture towards her backpack.

                “You sure you know the way?” Jiyeon was the first to talk, inquiring whether Jieun was capable of managing herself and making it to class in time.

                “I’m pretty sure I’ve got the whole place noted in mind when Suzy offered to show me around once or twice earlier this week.” Jieun cheekily answered while Suzy merely stuck her tongue at her.

                Jinri, who was the second most level-headed in the group spoke up “We’ll save you a seat okay?” she said while herding the other two and making their way towards the classroom. “Don’t take too long though, we have two fussers over here.’ She added , Jieun laughed while the other two scowled and denied.

                Walking lightly and taking her time to observe everything and anything around her despite Jinri’s tender reminded and the fact that there were students crowding around her, making it a bit too warm for her to be in her sweater. But despite all that, she still took her time, waiting for something to hit her.

                A long lost acquaintance, that refreshing feeling of recollection, piece of her lost memory – her memories of her childhood. Or maybe even him.

                Because no matter how hard she tried to remember, no matter how many psychologists she underwent therapy with, no matter how many albums she’d open, everything she had and was that had been revoked in on that fateful incident could only be given back to her as a storybook. A story that she knows of but could never claim to have lived through it herself.

                 No matter how many times people told her of her many great achievements and funny incidents, she could only give them a polite smile and laugh while reminiscing on a memory that was once hers. Sometimes on days when she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, would she gladly want to claw her eyes out and stuff them into her ears once a memory from fairytale long ago would be brought up, begging and thrashing in her mind to stop the trip down to memory lane and let her live her new life.

                Because the Jieun from their stories had died once upon a due to a tragic accident with her prince no one ever thought would befall on the beloved princess. This peasant, Jieun who maybe had been created to look exactly like the princess had been cursed to forever listen to the princess’s tale and think of it as her own, unable to be anything else but the memories that haunt her forever. To have the deceased prince haunt her for all eternity in her dreams. The prince of whom she recognizes and but will never in this new life time will ever have the chance of meeting.

                Jieun lets out a raspy breath she had no memory of holding in, but who knows what more she had forgotten. The little bits and pieces of memory gaps and unimportant people?

                Soon enough, Jieun had dropped of the term papers and was already seated in seat specially reserved for her. Following the quiet and repetitive remedy of jotting down notes and looking up at the professor or any other classmate that had caught her attention.

                Sometimes making eye contact with random strangers, hoping that there was at least that look of recognition or even a faint smile. Sometimes they smile back and maybe they take the innocent longing for recognition as flirting and send a greasy wink. Though there are still an infinite number of ways people have responded to the pitiful amnesiac girl.

                Pity was one that Jieun loathed the most.