While sitting back on the sofa, Jiyong stares at the laptop screen in front of him. He had gazed too often at the photos that appear alternately filling the entire screen of the laptop. Photographs taken with his own hand and camera. Photos with the same object. Photos of the woman.

He knows he should no longer immerse himself in the memories of the woman in the photos. He knows it’s inappropriate, but he feels like he can’t remove the woman’s shadow from his mind, or delete her photos from his laptop. Until now.

His thoughts break when his apartment doorbell rings. His hands automatically lower the laptop screen, then he gets up and walks to the door.

“Hey.”

Jiyong blinks when he sees Dara standing before him with a big smile on her face.

“Oh, hey.” Jiyong steps aside a little as the girl walks into her apartment while shivering. “You’ve come home?” Usually Dara hasn’t come home at this hour.

“Yes, I was allowed to go home quickly because of the cold. Let me enter first. It’s so chilly in this corridor.” Dara lets go of her shoes and changes into Hello Kitty slippers which are available on the shoe rack besides the door. Earlier this morning before leaving for work, Dara stops by to put on a pair of slippers that hadn’t been worn for a long time in Jiyong’s apartment. To be practical, she has her own slippers in her neighbor’s apartment.

Jiyong notices Dara’s nasal voice and just remembers the girl is having a cold. He quickly closes the door and follows Dara to the living room. He also realizes that the girl’s steps are rather limp.

“Today we can’t eat Sinigang,” Dara said as she turned towards Jiyong. Without waiting for an answer, she continues, “I met Grandma Shin. She cooks shabu-shabu and we are told to take a meal together. And by the way, do you have soju? Grandpa’s soju stock is up. I was told to ask you, so I go straight here.”

“I think I have it,” Jiyong said after trying to remember. Suddenly he changes the subject. “Have you followed my advice and gone to the doctor?”

Dara raises an eyebrow. “Before I spread the viruses everywhere?” She chuckles. “Of course. Let’s quickly find the soju and we go down. I’m already hungry.”

Jiyong is stunned. He looks at the girl in front of him in confusion. Suddenly he realizes something. Suddenly he knows why he is now able to let go of those past memories.

***

Dara stares at Jiyong who walks into the fridge and starts searching for his stored soju. Apparently her neighbor hasn’t notice her bandaged legs. Of course Jiyong doesn’t realize it because Dara’s ankles are covered in trousers. But did Jiyong not realize her steps were rather limp? Actually Dara wants the man to ask, so she can tell about the incident at the hospital this afternoon. Just thinking about it makes Dara smile. Well, who would have thought she could meet again with her first love after thirteen years?

A half-closed laptop on the desk catches her attention. Since she doesn’t know what to do while waiting for Jiyong, Dara casually straightens the laptop screen and sees what the man was doing before she rang the doorbell.

A photo of a woman is clearly displayed on the screen. The woman who smiled broadly at the camera is clearly Asian, but in the background of the photo is a statue of Liberty.

Who is she?

Before Dara can think further, her photo vanishes from the screen and is replaced by another photo. Still the same woman, but in a different location. Dara begins to be surprised when she sees the next photos also showing the same woman.

Is this woman a model?

Then the next photo appears and Dara is stunned. This time the woman is not alone in the photo. Jiyong is also there. Looks like the photo was taken in the restaurant. The two of them sat side by side and smiled. It’s just that the woman smiled at the camera like the previous photos, while Jiyong smiled at the woman. And that’s not an ordinary smile. In the photo Jiyong smiled as if...

“Found it!”

Dara gasps at Jiyong’s voice. Her face is hot and she feels as if she has been caught peeping into someone else’s secret. The feeling is not good.

“There’s only a bottle left,” Jiyong said as he walked toward him. “Is that okay?”

“No problem,” Dara stammered. She glances at the laptop at the table with a guilty look.

Jiyong follows Dara’s point of view and sees that the laptop screen had been lifted. He smiles. “You’ve seen it already, huh?”

Dara shrugs. She’d better not pretend to be stupid. “Who is the woman?”

Jiyong approaches the laptop and turns it off. “The woman I once liked,” he replied.

“Oh.”

“But she chose my best friend.”

“Oh ...?”

“They will get married,” Jiyong said again.

Dara opens to ask something, but it doesn’t come out. She doesn’t know whether the question she wanted to ask was too personal.

“You’re right,” Jiyong muttered suddenly, smiling faintly, as if he could read Dara’s mind. “That’s why I came to Seoul. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it?”

Dara shakes her head. “I don’t know.” She pauses, then asks doubtfully, “Then how about now?”

A moment’s pause while Jiyong thinks. “Since I came to Seoul, I rarely thought about her. And lately I’ve almost never thought about her.”

“Isn’t that good?”

“Yes, I think that’s good,” Jiyong murmured in a dreamy voice.

Seeing that the man is rather gloomy, Dara hurriedly changes the subject. “Okay. Come on, let’s go down now. They must have been waiting for us.”

When Dara is about to walk to the door, she hears Jiyong asking, “What’s wrong with your ankle?”

Finally! Dara smiles and turns back to face Jiyong, then looks down and pulls the end of her trousers up, showing her left ankle being bandaged.

“I sprained my ankle while in the hospital earlier,” she said in a happy tone. “It’s not severe.”

Jiyong watches Dara’s bandaged ankle. This time his forehead wrinkles. “Does it hurt?”

“Of course it hurts.”

“How can you sprain your ankle?” Jiyong asked. His eyes return to Dara’s face.

“I hit someone in the hospital,” answered Dara quickly and enthusiastically. “Hey, do you want to know who I hit?”

“Who?”

“My first love.”

 “Oh?” That is Jiyong’s only reaction, but Dara doesn’t care. She is excited and wants to tell her stories.

“He has changed a lot... Well, that’s certain. After all, I has forgotten his face thirteen years ago. I just remember he was wearing a blue hat.” Dara pauses, like she is daydreaming. “I won’t recognize him if the nurse didn’t call his name.”

Jiyong opens the door and Dara follows him out. “Are you sure he’s the one?” Jiyong asked, closing the door.

“Yes, I’ve asked him directly.”

“Does he still remember you?”

Dara laughs softly. “No, he doesn’t remember. We were not playmates to begin with and he really didn’t know me. I know him because he once helped me and I was fascinated. He is very friendly.”

Jiyong doesn’t comment.

“Look.” Dara swings her left leg forward. “He bandaged my ankle. He is a doctor! Cool, right?”

Jiyong looks at the raised leg, then turns to look at the stairs in front of him. After thinking for a while, he hands the bottle of soju to Dara, then walks to the stairs and sits on the top stair, backing Dara.

“What?” asked Dara confused.

Jiyong turns and pats his own back. “Come on, let me carry you. You must have a hard time going up and down the stairs with your ankle like that.”

Dara hesitates. Her eyebrows raise. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m pretty heavy.”

“It seems like that.”

Dara shuffles her waist. “Yah, what do you mean?”

“Oh, come on. I’m just kidding,” interrupted Jiyong with a small laugh. “I’m getting cold, so please hurry up.”

Dara sighs. “You better not regret it,” she murmured while praying in her heart that the man won’t collapse because of her weight. After stabilizing, Dara wraps her arms around Jiyong’s neck and let the man carry her.

“Wow, it turns out you...”

Dara hits his shoulder. “I told you!”

Jiyong laughs and stands up without difficulty. “I just want to say, it turns out you’re not as heavy as I thought.”

“Not as heavy as you thought?” asked Dara while frowning. “So you mean I look fat?” Her voice is rather shrill.

Jiyong mumbles something unclear and descends the steps carefully.