A night after Gary visited Jihyo, she regained consciousness.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Gary-ssi. This is Mrs Song.”

“Ne, annyeonghaseyo.”

There was a pause, as if she was deciding how to put across what she wanted to say. “Mm, Jihyo has woken up already. Thank you… for yesterday.”

Tears of relief and gratitude flowed down his cheeks. “That’s a relief,” he finally managed to say in his shaking voice.

There was another pause. “Would you be coming over?” It was a hint to tell him not to come over. She wasn’t being ungrateful or anything, but she just doesn’t want him to see her when eventually he has to leave again. “She’s still weak,” she emphasized. “But the doctor says she passed the critical stage already… he said that she should refrain from getting too agitated or emotional…”

Gary got the drift. But he really wanted to see her. “May I come over for a while? I won’t go into the ward; I’ll just see her from afar.”

Jihyo’s mother thought for a moment. That won’t do much harm, would it? It was the least she can do to repay him. “Ok then, visiting hours is over for now. The next shift is 5 to 8pm.”

“Ne, kamsahamida.”

Gary went to the hospital at 5pm. Coincidentally, the rest of the casts when at that timing too. They met at the lift lobby.

It was an awkward encounter after 8 months of no communication.

As usual, Jae Suk was the one to speak up first.

“Ah, it was been long, Gary. How have you been?”

“Ne, hyung. I’m well,” he nodded, slightly awkwardly. He felt apologetic for leaving without a proper goodbye, and for causing so much trouble.

The awkward silence resumed until they reached the level Jihyo was warded at. Gary lagged behind the group. When the rest entered, he stayed outside. Jong Kook excused himself from the group and went out to meet him.

“So, you’ve been well, huh?” he spoke, his voice laced with hostility, and fist clenched in anger.

Gary nodded, averting his gaze.

“Do you know how much Jihyo suffered because of you?”

He nodded again, full of shame and guilt.

Jong Kook grabbed his collar and pinned him against the wall. His muscles were bulging, threatening to burst out of his sleeves. Gary trembled in fear.

“If so, why did you leave?!” He punched his fist on the wall, causing Gary to flinch.

“I’m sorry…”

“You shouldn’t be saying sorry to me.” He let go of Gary’s collar. “She loved you so much, and yet all she got in return was hurt and pain,” he hissed. “Sometimes I wonder how different things would be if I decided to woo her, right from the start.”

Then it struck Gary. Jong Kook loved Jihyo too. Not just as a sister, but… but as a girlfriend. And he stepped out of the game willingly for his buddy.

Jong Kook left Gary standing there in shock, before returning into the ward.

Meanwhile, in the ward….

HaHa, Jae Suk, Suk Jin and Gwang Soo entered.

Jihyo was propped up against her pillows.

“How are you feeling, Jihyo ah?” Jae Suk asked.

Jihyo looked surprised. “Ne, I’m feeling better. It’s very kind of you to visit me, sunbaenim.”

Now it was their turn to be surprised. “Why are you using formal speech with us?!” Gwang Soo exclaimed, puzzled.

Jihyo frowned in bewilderment. “Because we aren’t very close?”

“Nuna, you are joking, right?”

“Jihyo-ah, do you… remember us?” Jae suk asked.

“Ne,” she nodded slowly. Why were this people so strange?

“You are Yoo Jae Suk sunbaenim… I guested on your programme family outing before. Gwang Soo ssi… we worked as models together before.”

She turned to face Suk Jin. “Ji Suk Jin sunbaenim… I’ve watched the shows you hosted before…”

Then she studied HaHa carefull. “Joesonghabnida, I don’t remember you…” she apologized, shaking her head.

The other members stared at each other in shock.

At that moment, Jong Kook came in. He saw the look of confusion and shock in the others’ faces.

“What happened?”

Gwang Soo gestured towards him. “Do you remember him?” he asked Jihyo.

“Ne, Kim Jong Kook ssi from Family Outing… right… I didn’t know you all knew each other?”

“Ji Hyo ah, we’re all the cast for running man you know. We’ve filmed for 4 years already…” Suk Jin said with anxiety in his voice.

“Ah, jeosonghabnida, I don’t think I watched that program…” she said, still puzzled.

“You are part of the cast, like us!” Gwang Soo said, exasperated.

Jihyo shook her head in fear and confusion. Why are this people like this?! Her head started to ache and she pressed against her temples in pain.

“We’ll let you rest then,” Jae Suk said. There was nothing else they could do.

Jihyo nodded, still in pain. “Thank you for visiting…”

They asked Jihyo’s mom if Jihyo remembered family members and she said yes. Jong Kook proposed that Jihyo lost part of her memory. They went to consult the doctor in charge.

The doctor agreed to Jong Kook’s hypothesis.

“Yes, it is possible for concussion patients to forget part of their memory. That’s why she could only remember some of you. I would believe that she only remembered her memories up to a certain point in time, so she can only remember those of you whom she met before the point in time…”

“But why only this specific period? Will she ever regain her memories?” HaHa probed.

The doctor pushed up his spectacles. “Ah, that’s hard to say… Firstly, I would like to emphasize that she’s recovering well.” Flipping his clipboard, he continued “and our tests have also concluded that apart from a short memory lost, her other parts of the brain is working well. So, it isn’t of critical importance that she remembers right away…”

“Four years of memory is not short!” Suk Jin countered, with the others nodding in agreement.

He pushed up his spectacles again. “Ah, that is in fact, dependent on perspective. But as I was saying, these memories are not essential in the functioning of her body, for example, she still remembers to walk and talk and all the basic things. The time she needs to regain her memories, I would say, is dependent on whether she wants to or not. Letting her see pictures and videos of the past 4 years might trigger some memories, but I don’t recommend for you guys to push her too much if it causes her discomfort…”

“Is there a reason why she forgot specifically this part of her memories?”

“Well, there is still much unknown as to how our brain functions,” he gestured wildly. “Amazing, but mysterious organ, our brain is,” he said fascinatedly. “Concussion can block out parts of our memories, but which part is knocked out, is usually random. I always like to believe, though, we do have a conscious control as to what we want to remember. Concussion acts like a delete function, but we ourselves delete memories we don’t want to remember…”

“So you are saying she doesn’t want to remember us?”

“Oh, no, I can’t say that for her,” he laughed those kind of fake doctor laughs, like he was looking down on their knowledge. “I can’t say for sure why she can’t remember. It may be coincidence, or maybe she’s using this chance to forget a traumatic experience, or a painful memory…”

The rest of the members nodded. Now it all fits. It’s highly likely that sub-consciously, she is taking this opportunity to forget Gary…

*Visiting hours are fixed for normal wards, but for patients in icu they can visit anytime (which explains why Gary can visit Jihyo right after he got off plane) But then again, this is applicable to my country, I’m not sure abt korea~  

i'm updating so frequently bc im starting work in another day hsfajmhdsjk i hope i can finish his story by this week!! meanwhile... do keep the comments coming!!!(: