Gah I feel like I’m not writing this up to the standard of the prequel D: For one thing, I never switched POV's in the previous story but it looks like I have to in this one. It's a really long chapter too XD hope you enjoy! I PROMISE it will start picking up pace next chapter. comments and subs loved, thanks for sticking with me readers even though I haven't updated quite as frequently! <3

The next morning after I woke up from yet another nightmare involving the same shadow in the doorway, I realized just how dry my legs felt. Crap I had forgotten to buy some lotion at the drugstore. Throwing on my running clothes, I grabbed my phone and headed downstairs to the 7-Eleven across the street.

I had just finished my purchase when my phone rang. Aigoo aigoo aigoo is it Jonghyun?! I found myself hoping as I reached into my jacket pocket. I hit the little green button in the bottom left corner. “Yeobuseyo?” I couldn’t help the note of excitement that jumped into my voice.

“Jiejie (big sister in Chinese)!” a young teenage girl’s voice came through the other end. Ugh what a disappointment, it wasn’t Jonghyun. “Where are you? Did you forget we’re meeting at that plaza in Itaewon district at eleven? It’s eleven thirty already!”

Confusion, confusion. “Sorry?” I wondered if I was hearing wrong.

Exasperated sigh from the other end. “Jiejie, remember back in fall when I told you Mom booked me a ticket to go stay with great-aunt in Beijing? And I purposely asked for a longer stopover in Seoul so we could meet up, and we agreed to go to Itaewon together.” Silence on my part. I had a sister? Mom? Great-aunt in Beijing? “How could you forget that, jiejie?”

“Are you sure you’re looking for me? I’m afraid you might have the wrong number.” But deep down I feared the answer.

“Are you telling me you forgot your own little sister you grew up with for 14 years?!” the girl shrieked. “What happened to you?!” I could tell she was virtually in tears, even without seeing her unknown face.

“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to maintain my composure. “I’ll be at Itaewon in ten minutes. I have to explain.”

“You better be,” the voice on the other end sniffled.

After much hurrying through the metro, I arrived at the big plaza. But I had no idea who I was looking for. Tall, short, pale, dark, long hair or short hair, I was completely lost. I scanned the crowd of tourists for someone who possibly resembled me, when--OOF. “Jiejie!” the girl exclaimed excitedly, giving me a huge bear hug. She didn’t let go for a few minutes; I didn’t complain. Finally she jumped off and I turned around to look at her.

She looked about 14 or 15. The family resemblance was definitely there: same eyes, same features, except her face was slightly rounder and her skin a bit paler than mine. A wave of sorrow swept over me; there was no doubt she was my little sister. But I had no recollection of ever having seen her before, let alone having grown up together for 14 years. “Where were you?” she pouted. “I searched the whole plaza five times over. Oh yeah, Mom and Dad say hi. They were a little concerned that you didn’t call for three months, but you know how they are. Mom always told us she wanted us to be independent and not always call home after we left for our own lives.”

I hesitated. If I told her the truth, she would be devastated. I didn’t want my parents to worry either. But if I kept on pretending, it would be equally, if not more, devastating when she found out I didn’t remember even the most basic things about our family.

“Meimei-ah (little sister),” I began. “There’s something I have to tell you.” We sat down on a bench, pigeons flying by and tourists taking photos.

“Are you finally gonna explain why you were so late?” she asked.

“Kind of.” I figured I would stop beating around the bush and just get straight to the point, no frills. “Meimei-ah, I got into an incident a little while ago, and lost my memory.” There. It was out.

My sister paled. “How?”

“I got shot in the head and was comatose for three months.” I saw the shock spread across her young and innocent face. “You mean—can you—do you remember my name?” she breathed.

I swallowed back the fast-forming lump in my throat as I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m Jiri. Han Jiri, your little sister. Age 14.” The tears sprang to her eyes as she pulled out her phone. “And do you know who these people are?” A photo of a smiling couple appeared on screen. The man was in his fifties, the woman probably in her forties, although her skin didn’t show it. I shook my head again.

“Those are our parents.” She began to cry silently. “Jiejie, who did this to you? Who was the evil heartless jerk that took all of your memories away? Do you even know your own name?”

“My documents say Lee Soorin,” I answered softly. Jiri was sobbing now. “Don’t cry.” I wrapped my arms around her nervously but gently. No girl should have to experience this at 14, I thought.

“No. You’re not Soorin.” She pulled out a scratch piece of paper from her purse and a pen, writing down some hanja characters. “Look. You read it Han Hyeri in Korean. That’s who you are. I don’t care if you’re Lee Soorin to the world, you’re big sister Hyeri to me.”

“I’m sorry, Jiri-ah,” I repeated, but I knew no number of apologies would heal the wound as I hugged her, the tears soaking my jacket.

Finally, after about ten minutes, she stood up and wiped away her tears. “I have to go back to the airport now, Hyeri.”

“Bye. Have a safe trip.” I embraced her again, choking on the lump in my throat. I hated crying in front of others. No matter what they say, I felt like it was a sign of weakness. “And one thing,” I added in her ear. “Please don’t tell Mom or Dad. I don’t want to worry them. They seem like truly nice people to have given me such opportunity and life.”

Jiri hesitated. “I hate lying to them.” I pleaded with her silently. “I’ll think about it,” she decided. “But you promise me one thing, okay?”

“Mmmhmm?”

“The person...no, the thing that did this to you. Because whoever did this doesn’t deserve to be called a person. Find him and make him pay. Not just for taking away your memories, but taking away your emotions and everything that mattered for the last 18 years of your life. He took the girl we knew away from us. You can’t let him walk free.”

“Okay,” I nodded dumbly, caressing her hair. “Meimei-ah, I love you.”

“Love you too.” She kissed my forehead. “Be safe, Hyeri.” And then she was gone into the large crowd of tourists.

---------------------------------------

Is he coming today? I found myself hoping as I went around serving appetizers and drinks. My eyes kept darting over to the door every thirty seconds, no matter how much I tried to focus. Aigoo this is so pathetic, I groaned internally as the worknight seemed to drag on and on. I resolved to go job-hunting as soon as I’d finished working here for a bit longer.

I glanced at the clock. Closing time already. I sighed. How had I been so dense as to think he would actually want to return after my tactless conversation last night? I put away my nametag and tossed my pen and notepad in a pile by the hostess’s table. “Goodnight, Manager Bae,” I bowed, leaving the restaurant. “Ow,” I exclaimed as I ran into something hard outside the door. It was Jonghyun. “Choeseonghabnida,” I lowered my head quickly. Thank goodness it was dark, so he couldn’t see my blush. “We’re closed already,” I informed him.

“I know,” he said. “But well, I wanted to apologize for yesterday.” We began walking without even thinking about it.

“Why should you apologize?” I asked. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t ask about your private life, especially when I barely know you.”

He sighed. “It’s okay.” We continued in silence for a bit. “The night lights of Seoul are so pretty,” I remarked, to break the awkwardness.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Have you always lived here?”

I thought about it. “No. I don’t know how long I’ve lived here, actually.”

Jonghyun seemed puzzled. “You don’t know how long you’ve lived here? Where did you live before?”

“The United States, I think. I don’t remember,” I admitted.

“How come?” he asked, an air of concern thickening around him.

For some reason, I didn’t feel so uncomfortable divulging my story to Jonghyun. Despite how much his very presence quickened my pulse, I felt at ease with him. “In a nutshell, I was in an accident. About three months ago. And I lost my memory after being comatose up until about three days ago. I can’t remember where I was from, why I moved here, or even my family. I couldn’t recognize my own sister or parents this morning.” I gulped the fast-forming lump in my throat.

His concern had increased to alarm. “What happened?” he asked.

“I don’t remember,” I answered. “There’s just this one scene that keeps haunting me, where there were two men in a basement with me. They were both holding guns. Then one of them in the doorway shot me.” I paused. “Is it selfish of me to want to take revenge on the guy who did that?”

[Jonghyun’s POV]

Oh. Oh. Oh. Ani. ANDWAE. It can’t be her. I saw her on her deathbed with my own eyes. And wouldn’t Dr. Park have notified someone if she woke up miraculously?

But it all made sense. Shot, three months ago, two men with guns in a basement, possibly born in the United States. All the words she had just mentioned jumbled in my head, but they spelled only one answer: Soorin had to be Hyeri. The way she blushed and bowed her head. The way she talked—innocent, shy, and playful all at once. Her eyes, like deep pools of chocolate, but bright and sparkling too. The way her eyes squinted just slightly every time she smiled. Her slim body, long legs, her flawless skin. It all made sense.

Ottohke? Tell her the truth and risk her pushing me away right now? Or be greedy and take her for myself? I didn’t like the result either way.

“Jonghyun-ah?” Her clear voice popped the bubble of my thoughts. “Are you okay?” She stopped and looked at me with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said quickly. Maybe I would tell her the truth later. “Just thinking...about how terrible it must be to lose everything so important.”

“Mmm,” she nodded, hesitating for a moment before continuing. “But you know, it’s not that bad compared to what could have happened. I'm not dead. I still remember all the stuff I learned in school, my languages, and my music. I’m not paralyzed or anything either. Maybe one day I’ll finally be able to remember something from my childhood.” It was just like Hyeri to be so optimistic. “Hopefully I’ll be able to find a non-waitressing job soon,” she added.

An idea began to take shape in my head. “You know, if you’re multilingual and musical, you might want to consider working for SM Entertainment. The company that produces Shinee and a lot of other artists. I think they’re looking for a Mandarin or maybe an English coach. Or maybe you could try songwriting and composing. They’ll pay you if they end up using your work.”

She stared at me for a minute. "How did you know I speak Mandarin and English?" she asked.

"It was a guess," I replied, a little too fast to be believable. "You...look Chinese." I added. Jonghyun stop being so greedy, and thinking about yourself, I scolded myself mentally.

She paused and then seemed to throw out that last part of our conversation. "Well I'm at my apartment now, so maybe you can text me the directions to the building?" she asked. I agreed. "Bye, see ya tomorrow," I waved, but not without a sinking pit in my stomach. Why was I lying to her?

[Soorin/Hyeri’s POV]

That was weird, I thought as I settled back inside the apartment again. He knew I was fluent in Mandarin and English besides Korean. I understood the Chinese thing because I looked slightly different from Koreans, but how did he know I could speak English? Very strange...