Seulgi wakes up with a blank mind. She doesn't feel anything. Is she numb? No. She could feel her head aching, but she doesn't know why she was here and she doesn't feel a certain way towards the people she first meets. There was a girl sitting beside her with concerned eyes but her eyes lit up with hope at the moment Seulgi turns to her.

"Nurse! Nurse! Seulgi is awake!" she exclaims, running out the room. Seulgi stays silent as the nurse and girl come running in, checking up on her. There's also another girl visible at the doorway.

"Heol.... she is..!" the nurse exclaims, surprise evident in her voice.

The two girls call the doctor and Seulgi is tested.

She's completely fine.

The girl goes out of the room and dials somebody. And after all the tests are over, the doctor provides Seulgi hospital food. Seulgi has never remembered hospital food tasting this good (she did have amnesia after all). 

The doctor walks into the room again and asks her questions. The doctor is actually a woman, who is quite beautiful at that. On her jacket, was a nametag. Kim Jennie. She carried a clipboard and asked simple questions as the clock ticked by.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Seulgi."

"Last name?" Jennie raised an eyebrow at Seulgi.

"Kang," Seulgi answered simply. 

"Do you remember what happened to you?" 

"No."

"I see..." the doctor scribbled some things on the paper attached on the clipboard.

Then, the nurse came in and discussed some manners with the doctor quietly. On the nurse's uniform was a nametag labelled Kim Jisoo. The two went along with it for awhile until Jennie sighs and scribbles more things.

Then, Jennie whispers more things to Jisoo, and the nurse gasps.

"You're sure?!" she whispers loudly. The doctor gulps and nods, as if she didn't believe it either.

Seulgi munches on the hospital food slowly. Nothing comes to her mind. Nobody appears in her mind.

Jennie then exits the room and doesn't return for a considerate amount of time. Jisoo only waits anxiously as a beautiful woman finally bursts into the room. The beautiful woman doesn't hesitate to pull Seulgi in for a hug, as if the two had been lovers for a long time. Seulgi tried to push her away, uncomfortable by being hugged by a stranger (or not).

"You're alive.... you're alive...," the woman muttered over and over. Seulgi's cheeks were being squashed by the woman's shoulders. Somehow, Seulgi could feel water on her hair. Was it the beautiful woman's tears?

Seulgi successfully pushes Irene off of her and inspects the woman's features. They were spot on, visually appealing. Still doesn't help that Seulgi has no idea who this woman is.

The two girls stay silent. This reunion was quite awkward.

"... Seulgi..?" the woman manages to softly call out. Seulgi gulps. How her own name rolled off this woman's tongue so naturally while Seulgi still hasn't gotten used to her own name yet.

"Yeah?" she answers, scratching her itchy chin. The woman doesn't reply. She just stands there, staring at Seulgi in awe. As if the situation was unreal and uncalled for. Which it was.

Then, the woman who Seulgi first met then takes the beautiful woman's attention away from Seulgi and rubs her temples.

"It only felt like yesterday when we were all drinking and having fun," the woman tells the beautiful woman. Seulgi tilts her head. Were they all best friends? The beautiful woman glances at Seulgi but glances away quickly again, as if she couldn't help it. Her actions were questionable, to say the least.

The two women then exit the room, leaving Seulgi alone again. Her questions unanswered.

***

That was the first time that Seulgi had met Irene. The first time that this Seulgi had met Irene. Irene still felt unreal to her. All the times that they spent together was all but boring. Irene wasn't humorous, but her every action would cause Seulgi to giggle.

And while Seulgi does pick up on Irene's not-so-subtle hints about their past, she can't help but feel weird at the imagination of the two of them loving each other. Two women? That's not the norm. But Irene didn't seem to care. Nor did Seulgi's friends.

Seulgi did meet her other bestfriends. Their names were Joy, Yeri, and Wendy. Joy was the girl who Seulgi had first seen when she had woken up at the hospital.

They were all emotional, but they never let their vulnerable side show to Seulgi. As if they were saying that they were fine now.

It first started when Seulgi arrived at Joy and Yeri's house. Wendy was over to meet Seulgi. The four had a reunion. Well, not really for Seulgi. She was still a little uncomfortable and awkward around the girls, but the girls didn't mind. They were extemely understanding and even showed Seulgi around the house.

Joy mentions that this was the second time, as the first time they gave Seulgi a tour, Seulgi had remembered everything like the back of her hand.

Joy and Yeri were sisters, while Wendy was a friend. More specifically, a friend of Seulgi's. They were best friends, childhood friends.

"I'm just glad you're here. That's all that matters," was what Wendy had told Seulgi. Seulgi didn't understand at all. She wasn't understanding like them. But she smiled. Because they were so welcoming. The way they had accepted Seulgi the way she was now was somehow reassuring. Like the past Seulgi had made wonderful choices.

"Thank you," Seulgi thanked Wendy. 

The four girls sat down around Joy's room. Joy had a messy room. But it was usually organized by Yeri weekly. That was what Yeri claimed anyway. Yeri said she hadn't gotten to the cleaning yet because of some recent events, hinting at Seulgi's accident. Seulgi nodded, totally getting Yeri's point.

"We really thought that you wouldn't live," Yeri told Seulgi. Joy slapped Yeri's back.

"Don't say that! Gosh!" Joy mutters loudly, leaving a panicked Yeri. Wendy shook her head. 

"Let the baby be, Joy!" Wendy scolds Joy. Joy curses under her breath as she rests her head on her hand, which her arm was resting on the table. Yeri thanked Wendy as Wendy cupped Yeri's baby face with her hands.

Seulgi smiled at the sight. Somehow, it feels like she was the missing piece, connecting and completing the puzzle. But it felt like her puzzle piece couldn't fit. She was apart of the group, but she also wasn't. It was a weird contradiction, but Seulgi knew that it was true. At least to her anyways.

***

(And when they were preparing to leave, Seulgi turns to Yeri and asks, 

"Why do you all accept me so easily? Aren't I different from the Seulgi you all knew?

And all Yeri does is smile. Despite being the younger one out of the group, she somehow feels more mature than all her unnies. 

"The past Seulgi doesn't make up who the present Seulgi is. Even if you change, you're always Seulgi. Who am I to only cherish who you were before, knowing that that's not who you are now?

Seulgi replays Yeri's words in her mind.)

***

Seulgi arrives at home. Irene was sleeping on the couch with the TV on. She was watching a drama airing on TV. Seulgi forgets the name, and even the plot, but she does recognize the actors. Maybe because they were everywhere? Seulgi doesn't quite remember.

And she never remembered. Knowing that fact eases Seulgi, but it doesn't settle in. It just makes Seulgi think that she should know.

As Seulgi takes off her jacket to hang it, Irene wakes up. Even at the slightest noises, Irene would awake from her slumber. If you could even call it that. Irene was a light sleeper.

"Seulgi?" she calls out. 

"Yes?" Seulgi replies. Irene's messy hair is sort of attractive, but maybe that was just Seulgi.

Irene smiles when Seulgi replies, as if that was all the reassurance that she needed. As if just the mere presence of Seulgi was enough.

"Come here," Irene orders Seulgi sweetly. Seulgi couldn't help but saunter her way towards Irene and let herself fall into the older one's arms. Seulgi somehow feels nostalgic. As if all Irene and Seulgi did all day was hug each other like this. Tight, but somehow soft, and warm.

Seulgi knows that she had rejected Irene that one Valentine, because she had voiced out her honest opinion. But it just didn't sit right with Seulgi. Irene still seemed so in love with Seulgi. Like maybe she still had hope, even after everything.

Seulgi doesn't know who she was to deserve such love, but she was definitely somebody important. That's what Irene makes her feel like anyways.

***

"Is it weird that I still think that Seulgi unnie resembles a bear?" Joy inquires as she walks into the pop up store of the famous girl group, Red Velvet. Yeri hums in agreement.

Wendy snickers. "Is it weird that I still think you represent a devil?" Wendy questions Joy. Joy shoots laser eyes at Wendy.

"And your sister is somehow an angel too," Seulgi adds on. Joy then glares at Seulgi jokingly as the maknae bursts out laughing.

"Is it weird that you guys are somehow my unnies?" Yeri jokes. Then, the whole group laughs. Joy was inspecting merch and buys a lightstick for herself. Wendy, unfortunately, forgot her wallet at home so she was about to leave empty handed until Seulgi offered to buy her something.

"I'm not a big fan anyways," Seulgi tells Wendy as she takes out a wallet. Wendy's eyes widen at the statement.

"What?! But you were the biggest fan before!" Wendy exclaims, somehow reminding Seulgi of her past self. Yeri nudges Wendy and Wendy stumbles a bit, clearing .

"Well, that was before. Now is now."

Those words again. Seulgi can't help but feel deja vu after a long time. The girls are always saying these words to Seulgi. That the past Seulgi was then, and this Seulgi was now. Seulgi knows that the girls mean it. She knows that they're trying to stay in the present, but the more the words are repeated, the less meaningful it means for Seulgi.

But she doesn't want to say it, because it'll just hurt their feelings. After all, they're all so nice and understanding that Seulgi can't stand seeing them hurt.

***

Seulgi returns home again after grocery shopping, but this time, it was a panicking Irene. Apparently, she didn't grade her student's tests yet and conferences was a week from now.

That's still plenty of time, in Seulgi's opinion. The students had only taken the tests this week anyways, so what was the rush?

"You don't get it, Seulgi! There's nearly 100 tests that I have to grade!" Irene tells Seulgi as she frantically gets to work. Seulgi sets down her bags of groceries on the table and walks over to Irene. She has on her reading glasses and is carefully grading the first student's test. 

Seulgi leans over Irene's shoulder to simply see the test, but could feel Irene tense up at the action. Irene continues grading as Seulgi nods her head, observing Irene's actions.

"Is this right?" Irene asks Seulgi, fully aware that Seulgi didn't have the best of grades during school. Seulgi nods, despite not knowing at all. She only trusts Irene with this kind of stuff.

Then, as Irene scribbled an answer wrong on a student's test, Seulgi immediately stopped Irene.

"Ah! A mistake!" Seulgi exclaims. She then explains to Irene what she had did wrong, as if she was the teacher instead of Irene. Irene then sighs as she realizes that she let somebody with amnesia correct her. Not that that's wrong, but it's sort of ironic. Irene feels a little embarrassed.

Then, Seulgi suggests an excellent idea. "How about I help you grade the papers?" 

And before Irene could reply, Seulgi has already taken half of Irene's stack and a permanent marker to grade. And if Seulgi had just taken one more glance at Irene, she could see Irene's blushing face and her proud smile.

***

"Sometimes I wonder how Irene unnie is so good at times...," Joy mutters as she frantically taps on the keyboard and clicks on the mouse. She's so heavily focused on the shooting game that she doesn't hear Wendy's complaints about her screaming too loud and raging. 

The game makes Seulgi dizzy so Seulgi takes her eyes of Joy and onto Yeri and Wendy. The two are also gaming, but on the PS4. They're playing Kingdom Hearts, which is honestly just a wonderful game (Wendy's words, not Seulgi's).

Seulgi doesn't understand the complicated storyline, or maybe it was just her small brain not comprehending it. Yeri was actually quite skilled at the game, probably besting Wendy at times. Wendy was the senior in terms of time spent on Kingdom Hearts though. After all, she was born 2 years before Yeri. It wouldn't be a surprise that Wendy would fall in love with series before Yeri did.

Seulgi didn't participate in playing games because the games would be too fast for her. Also, she wasn't that good at playing games anyway (the time she went with Irene to the arcade wasn't very promising. Irene had told Seulgi that she was excellent though).

"God damn it!" Joy curses and Wendy scolds her again. Joy then pauses her game to watch Yeri and Wendy.

Joy doesn't have much patience though, as the two girls are defeated by the monsters.

"You guys ! Move over, let me play!" Joy complains as she drags Yeri away from the controller and snatches it. Wendy offers the controller to Seulgi and Seulgi reluctantly accepts it.

She feels like a highschooler all over again, even if she doesn't remember experiencing high school.

And somehow, the two girls beat the level. Though, it was mostly Joy carrying Seulgi.

Seulgi could feel that the girls are really enjoying the moment now, accepting Seulgi's past for what it is.

Seulgi eventually comes to terms with this as well.

***

("Today was fun, wasn't it?" Wendy asks Seulgi. Seulgi nods in response as the two older girls bid goodbye to the sisters.

"I hope everyday is like today," Wendy tells Seulgi.

Seulgi agrees. Right now, all Seulgi wanted to think about was the future.)

***

"Wow, I see that you've gotten really close with the girls again," Irene mentions as Seulgi tells Irene about what the trio had done at the sister's house.

The lovebirds were cuddled up together on the couch, enjoying the drama that Irene fell asleep watching before.

"You're probably closer to them than I am to them," Irene jokes. Seulgi chuckles slightly.

The two girls cuddle together for a long, long time. And Seulgi's eyes were drooping. She rests her head on Irene's shoulder. Her hair was blocking her view, and her eyes were threatening to close.

And she could hear Irene whisper underneath her breath,

"You're probably closer to the girls than you are to me."

***

"Yeri, you have to do a good job at keeping this party a secret, okay?" Wendy tells Yeri. Yeri nods excitedly. Despite the maknae's usual calm demeanor, she was quite excited today. Well, today was her older sister's birthday after all. Irene was also present. She was currently buying the decorations right now though.

Wendy and Seulgi were going to buy the cake and wanted Joy to remain unsuspicious, so they didn't bring Yeri along with them.

"Yeri is good at keep secrets, but she isn't good at keeping surprises," Wendy tells Seulgi truthfully. The two girls buy a simple fruit cake and a candle that says 22. Joy was still young and childish.

"Sometimes I'm still surprised that Joy is the older one...," Wendy states. Seulgi wholeheartedly agrees. 

Yeri attended the high school that Irene was teaching at. That was how the girls were connected. Wendy had went to the same singing class as Joy before, so the two had known each other already.

And somehow, all the girls were connected, as if fate had brought them together. And despite the , they were all inseparable. When united, the girls all feel youthful and comfortable with each other. Seulgi was also starting to feel this way as well. She wasn't sure that she was going to be compatible with the girls as she was before, but was proven completely wrong.

And now she has a huge smile on her face when the girls surprise Joy for her birthday. Joy breaks down, sobbing for her birthday.

"Yah! Why are you crying Park Joy?! Today is supposed to be a happy day!" Irene yells at Joy jokingly, causing Joy to laugh slightly. The girls sing happy birthday to Joy as Joy makes a wish. It was a long wish, as Joy doesn't blow the candles out until a few seconds later.

And the girls dig in the cake. Seulgi loves the moment now. The moment of all five of them united and happy. If only this moment was forever.

***

(Seulgi chuckled.

"Were you surprised?" Seulgi asked Joy. Joy sniffed and grinned.

"You betcha. How did you guys plan this anyways?" 

Seulgi confesses about the plan to Joy and Joy only bursts out laughing. How she was so oblivious that Yeri didn't even need to act was still so shocking to her.

"All that matters is now," Joy says.

"What would we be without the present? If I only let my stupid past define me, I wouldn't be here with you guys right now.")

***

Irene snaps a picture of Seulgi with her polaroid camera. Seulgi hurries over to Irene to check her picture. 

"Yah! You still have to wait for it," Irene tells Seulgi. Seulgi chuckles. This woman was really driving her crazy. Seulgi could never really come to terms with her feelings, but she doesn't let that sway her.

Right now, Irene was everything to her. And she was certain that Irene thinks the same way.

As the two walk around the park, Irene finally shows Seulgi the picture.

But something was missing. Was it the scenery? No, the scenery was perfect. The cherry blossoms painting the background pink. Seulgi seemed genuinely happy and was quite cute in the picture, if Seulgi was to comment about herself.

Then, Seulgi glances at Irene.

"Should we take a picture together?" Seulgi asks Irene with a smirk on her face, knowing that Irene wouldn't decline. Irene blushes as Seulgi drags her under a cherry blossom tree.

"Wait! Who's going to take the picture then?" Irene inquires, as there was no third party avaliable. Seulgi shrugs.

"Us. We can just take a selfie."

Irene facepalms as she defeatingly snaps a selfie of the two below the beautiful cherry blossom tree.

Somehow, even nature's beauty can't hold a candle to Irene's.

***

("Are you comfortable around me now?" Irene asks when the two girls arrive at their home. Seulgi turns to Irene quickly with a questioning and concerned look.

"Of course I am! Why do you ask?" Seulgi replies, shocked that Irene would even ask a question.

Irene gulps and looks down, avoiding Seulgi's gaze.

"W-well.... you know... we were awkward at first. Now that we're... you know... hanging out and all that, I just wanted to ask..."

Irene rubs her arm nervously.

"I was worried that you were still stuck on your past, you know?" Irene voices out her worries and thoughts, not realizing that she was repeating some phrases.

Then, Seulgi interrupts Irene as she cups Irene's cute face and stares at Irene with a confident look.

"Right now, all that matters is now, okay?"

Seulgi returns Irene's face to normal, but Irene still seems confused as to what Seulgi was trying to say.

"The past is behind us. Maybe we were much more beautiful back then, but just as the cherry blossoms, we can always regrow and be even more beautiful."

Seulgi then holds Irene's hands tightly and stares at Irene with such loving eyes that makes Irene fall in love with her even more.)

***

("I was surprised that you were still worried about that," Seulgi tells Irene.

Irene shrugs. "Wouldn't anybody be? You seemed uncomfortable at first, so I assumed you still were. Slightly."

Seulgi laughs at Irene's cuteness. "Well, somehow, being the oblivious bunny you are, you were the main person who has taught me that now matters more than anything else in the world.)

(Was this a satisfying sequel? the main theme was that the present mattered the most and it was obviously hinted throughout the story.

The present matters the most in this story, in particular, is because of the accident and seulgi's sudden amnesia. I portrayed this theme because of course Seulgi would think back on her past. She would think they probably preferred me in the past and stuff like that. Not saying all people who has had amnesia would think such a pessimistic way, but that was what Seulgi thought.

of course, her friends told her that the present was what mattered most. because the more you regret and the more you focus on your past, you could never truly cherish what you have now. like joy states, if all she did was dread on her past, she would never be this happy at her birthday party. 

Seulgi was constantly reminded of this and eventually takes it to heart and realizes that if all she ever thought about was the past Seulgi's relationships with these wonderful girls, then she would never truly notice the girl's traits and beauty and charms. 

she could never truly love them for who they are if she couldn't see their true beauty. and that especially applies to irene, who was also stuck on the past. But Seulgi fortunately teaches irene this and now, the two stay in the present, creating a new past for themselves.

I find it beautiful, honestly, their relationship. Hopefully this was a good sequel. I never wrote a sequel till now because I ran out of angst and inspiration for this particular story. but now that i've started reading fanfics again and writing again, i've finally come to this conclusion.

even if this ending doesn't completely answer your questions or satisy you, at least consider this beautiful lesson. 

use your imagination is all i have to say.

goodbye! xP)