A month had passed in the accident happened.

Jihyo had already fully recovered. She did remember some things about the past 4 years, but not a lot. She still had no recollection of running man, or Gary, or that she was telepathic. No one mentioned about Gary though. She only found out about him when she watched the running man episodes, in attempt to retrieve her memories. She thought that guy was pretty funny, and she asked the rest why he didn’t come to visit, and where did he go. They simply shrugged her questions off, saying that he wasn’t very close to them and had left Korea some time ago. She didn’t suspect anything.

Running Man eventually came to a halt, because Jihyo was still unable to recover her old self. Sure, she had gotten more comfortable with the casts, but it was still rather awkward and she herself wanted to take a break from work and enjoy herself. And with 5 members left, there was no point in continuing the programme.

One day, Jihyo finally announced that she would be going to Canada for a holiday. She hadn’t even been planning a holiday, not to mention all the way to Canada. It was on the spur of the moment.

She was just watching dome documentary where it was describing Canada and she felt that it was very… alluring. There were many nature escapades for her to explore and besides, she also needed some alone time to reorganize her thoughts and get away from the incessant questionings from reporters.

She booked a ticket on the day itself without even planning a proper itinerary. It was just like her to be so spontaneous. She randomly googled for some accommodation and a particular one- Travelodge St John- caught her attention. It was located in Central St John, which was near the coasts of the country, which she loved because it mean it was near the sea. Besides, the place was more like a resort, or as its name suggests-lodge- more than a hotel. She had always preferred a more homely place as compared to a hotel. Even though it was rather inconvenient, since it was far away from the capital, but it didn’t matter to her.

Meanwhile, in Canada, Gary was dealing with another oncoming separation. Daeyang had finally reached the 12 months mark. By convention, assistance dogs were only required to go back to the training centre when they were 13-14 months old, but Daeyang was very talented and the centre have pushed forward the start date.

So he only had a few weeks left with him.

He took the dog to even further places and longer road trips; trekking, jogging, swimming, fishing. He had to make full use of the time they have left together.

They also went back to their favourite place-Southern New Brunswick. They had only been there once, because it was relatively far from Ontario, where they lived. It was like a merger between the mountains and ocean, which suits their preferences perfectly. It was relatively less travelled, providing extra peace and tranquillity. The waves there were the most beautiful, in Gary’s opinion.

Originally, Gary planned to cycle, with Daeyang riding in the basket. But he refused to go into the basket and wanted to go and play by the beach, so to the beach they went.

Daeyang immediately dashed into the waters, letting the waves throw him onto the seabed, which made Gary laughed out loud. He then jumped out of the sea, yelping in excitement, shaking his body vigorously to dry himself.

Which, of course, made Gary laugh even more. What am I going to do when you’re gone?

After playing for a while, they got ready to take a walk around the area. Daeyang, feeling exceptionally mischievous that day, broke free from Gary’s grasp and ran off.

“Yah! Daeyang!” he exclaimed, chasing after the Lab as fast as he could.

“Ya! Come back here you bad dog!” he yelled.

Daeyang ran for quite a long distance, for about 10 minutes, before stopping in front of a lady, who was eating a piece of bacon bun. He barked at her, wagging his tail excitedly. She laughed, bending down a little. “You want some?” she asked, peeling off a bit for him. He lapped it up happily, barking in delight. The lady laughed again, ruffling his fur. She checked his collar tag. “Your name’s Daeyang? That’s a unique name!”

“Yah, Daeyang you bad dog!” Gary chided (in Korean). He arrived shortly after, panting madly and sweating profusely despite the strong wind.

“I’m so sorry!” he bowed repeatedly at the lady. “He usually isn’t like this, he’s just out of sorts these few days. Let me pay you for the bacon!” He told the lady, in English. After living in Canada for 9 months, his English became quite fluent.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really,” the lady laughed. “He’s adorable. His name is Korean?”

“Ah, yes,” he nodded. “I am a Korean.”

“Ah…. I do speak some Korean too,” she laughed. “Does his name mean ‘ocean’?” (she asked in Korean)

Gary nodded. “Wow, your Korean is pretty good!”

“Your English is good too,” she laughed. “You must love the oceans a lot.”

He nodded. “Actually… it’s more like the person whom I loved who liked the ocean a lot.”

“Then you must love her a lot.”

He smiled sadly. I do… “Anyway, I’ve to go; We still have places to visit, don’t we?” he hit Daeyang’s back gently, who barked in response.

“Sure, enjoy yourself.”

“You too!”

Soon after Gary left, Jihyo came to join the other lady. She bought two cups of Americano for herself and the lady. She met Jihyo at one of the nearby café, where she asked for directions. Coincidentally, she knew how to speak Korean so she generously offered to take her around.

“Eonnie, who was that?” Jihyo asked.

“Hey! You came a bit too late! That guy was a Korean too!” she said in a mixture of Korean and English.

“Ah, jjinja?”

“Eung, he even named is dog Daeyang because he said his lover loved the ocean.”

“Aww, so romantic,” Jihyo smiled, as she walked with the kind lady along the beach while the latter explained about the country and the culture.

Night fell and Gary and Daeyang were back by the beach. They took longer than expected because he got too distracted by too many things.

Eventually, he was too hungry to go back home for dinner, so they decided to eat at the restaurant by the beach. It was thankful that he brought some snacks for Daeyang.

Not long after they settled down, Daeyang started to bark. Not the obnoxious kind, but the kind where he was trying to say something.

“Wae?” he followed his gaze and saw the bacon lady from a far.

He walked up to her. “Hey!”

She turned around in surprise. “Hey! Wow, we seem to be really fated,” she laughed.

“Let me pay your meal in gratitude for the bacon,” he laughed back.

“It was just a bacon! It really isn’t necessary.”

“If it weren’t for your bacon, he might have ran off even further!” he insisted. Looking at the opposite chair, and saw that there was a bag on it. “Let me pay for your friend too,” he said, as he took out a 100 dollar bill.

At that moment, Jihyo came back from the toilet.

“Eonnie, have you decided what to eat?”

Gary froze. He’d know the voice anywhere.

“Not yet. Anyway, meet the guy whom I saw just now! He’s treating us dinner.”

Gary looked up, and their eyes interlocked.

“Ah, I know your dog’s name but I don’t know yours,” she laughed apologetically.

“Gary-ssi?” Jihyo exclaimed.

“You know him?!” the bacon lady asked, astonished.

“We filmed a variety show together before,” she explained.

Gary was too stunned to respond.

Jihyo extended her hand towards him. “Did you forget me?” she laughed. “I thought I was the only one with amnesia!”

It was only then Gary remembered she lost her memories. Then how come she remembered him?!

“Of… of course not,” he stuttered.

“You have amnesia?” the bacon lady cut in.

Jihyo turned to her. “Yea, a short term memory lost. I was involved in a car accident a month ago.” She then turned back to face Gary. “I only remembered you when I watched the episodes we filmed together,” she smiled shyly.

Ahh, that explains it, Gary thought. He instinctively searched for her golden lines, but there wasn’t any left. Jihyo? He thought telepathically.

She didn’t respond.

His jaw dropped. She lost her telepathic abilities with her memories.

“Yah, don’t have to be so shocked,” Jihyo laughed.

“Hey, since we all know each other, let’s eat together!” the bacon lady suggested.

Gary didn’t protest, and Jihyo didn’t mind, so they shifted to Gary’s table and started eating together. It was rather awkward, because Gary wasn’t talking. The bacon lady was puzzled. Gary seemed so friendly just now. The two ladies kept glancing at each other, unsure if they should talk.

“Gary-ssi, I’m sorry, but can you move your dog away,” Jihyo said, half giggling, half embarrassed. “It keeps me.’’

“Ah, mianhae,” Gary said awkwardly, and moved Daeyang away.

“Why do you call him Gary-ssi instead of oppa when you know each other?” The bacon lady asked. While she spoke Korean, she wasn’t very sure about the Korean culture.

“Ah,” Jihyo blushed. “Because of my accident, I forgot about him. So technically speaking, I don’t really know him very well. We only use ‘oppa’ when we are close to the person,” she explained.

“But speaking of which, were we close last time? Before my accident and before… you left?” Jihyo turned to Gary and asked. “When I watched the episodes, it appeared that we were quite close; we were even called the Monday couple… but when I asked the rest, they seemed to be rather hesitant to tell me…”

Gary nearly choked on his food.               

“Hm, I guess we were considered close. You used to call me ‘oppa’ back then.” He tried to give a vague answer.

“Oh.” She sensed that he also seemed hesitant to talk about it, so she didn’t probe further.

“Anyway, since you know her, how about you take her around tomorrow?” the overly enthusiastic bacon lady suggested.

Gary tensed up and didn’t reply immediately.

There was an awkward silence between them.

“Maybe Gary-ssi,  I mean, Gary oppa is busy. I wouldn’t want to bother him. I can make my own way around.”

Gary thought for a moment. He wouldn’t harm her now that she wasn’t telepathic anymore… besides, it would be safer if he went with her. Even though Canada is a relatively safe country, she had just recovered… besides… he missed her. He just have to be careful not to let the feelings develop any further.

“Ah. It’s ok, I’m free,” he smiled awkwardly. “I can bring you around if you like,” he smiled.

She smiled a mesmerising smile back- one that he hadn’t seen in months. Say what about not letting the feelings take charge? He was falling right back into the same abyss again.

Their fates were so inextricably intertwined together that the harder you pulled them apart, the more tangled up they get.

(I BET ALMOST ALL OF YOU THOUGHT THAT THE BACON LADY WAS JIHYO HAHAHHAHAH. AND, I’m sorry she doesn’t have a name so bacon lady it shall be HAHAH omg am I the only one who thinks its hilarious for me to keep calling her bacon lady?!?!?! HAHAAHHAHA )