Jeongyeon wakes up, welcomed by the sounds of the vital sign monitor. She prepares for another session of therapy, as she's been doing for a couple of weeks now. She's still confused as how she got here, and all of the information she currently knows was said to her by someone during the day.

 

As the doctor approached, she seemed to recognize her, it was Doctor Park, Jeongyeon's childhood friend.

“J-Jihyo? You're my doctor?”

“Yeah, Jeong, and I've been well, hope you are too.”

“You seem disheartened, have we done this exact conversation before?”

“Not exactly, you have different reactions everyday since you regained consciousness.”

“And when was that?”

“2 weeks ago, in a car accident. And don't worry about me, I'm just tired of another patient.”

 

Jeongyeon's curiosity was piqued by the statement since she doesn’t remember any sort of car that she was driving. On the other hand, Jihyo doesn't usually get worn out when dealing with people.

Jeongyeon tried to think of what happened to lead her to this point. Drinking, or something worse? While thinking about this, Jeongyeon noticed Jihyo was still talking.

“... you have to tell me when you remember something, and that's about it.”

Jeongyeon doesn't respond for a few seconds, and Jihyo tries again.

“Jeongyeon? Did you hear of the things I said?”

“Uhh, sorry Jihyo I daydreamed for a while but can you repeat that again? Please?”

“Ugh, alright but listen okay? This is your standard therapy procedure.”

 

As Jihyo explained the therapy process, Jeongyeon understood but she still wonders about the patient who bothers her doctor.

 

“Do you have any questions? I'll leave you now to prepare for the therapy.”

“None.”

 

Jihyo nodded and walked towards the door of the room but as she was about to leave, Jeongyeon called her.

“Actually, Jihyo?”

“What is it?”

“How long is the therapy?”

“A couple of hours, depending on the reaction to your brain.”

“Oh, okay, thanks.”

 

Jeongyeon wanted to ask about the patient who worn out Jihyo, but she's too afraid of forgetting about her the next day. As Jihyo entered the room, Jeongyeon stood up, followed her to the therapy room where she saw another person, a woman. Long hair, buck teeth, kind of short, long hands. Jeongyeon didn’t bother the person, but she was dazed when she saw her face, since amidst those buck teeth, a gummy smile awaited her and lightened her day.

 

Jeongyeon proceeded with the therapy, removing in her mind the image of the mystery patient she just saw.

After the therapy, Jeongyeon was exhausted and was instructed by Jihyo to rest immediately, so after the therapy, she immediately went to bed and rested.

 

The next day, the same conversation happened, but this time, Jeongyeon didn't fluster as much and had the courage to ask about that patient.

 

“Hey Jihyo?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know the patient in therapy with me?”

“Yes Jeong, she’s really energetic and noisy, it's like your complete opposite.”

“Complete opposite...”

Jeongyeon was shocked by those words Jihyo said, as she's having a massive headache. Jihyo noticed this and immediately called for help.

“Jeongyeon? Are you okay?”

 

Therapy was cancelled for the meantime since Jeongyeon remembered a part of her past that she was unsure of. Jihyo slowly interviewed Jeongyeon but didn't force her much since she didn't want to strain Jeongyeon too much.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just feeling drained, that's all.”

“You think that could be a part of your past? You haven't told us much at all about yourself, since you got here, that is.”

“Probably? I haven't remembered much besides my basic information so this might be a part of what happened to me.”

“Alright Jeong, just rest, and we'll see what'll happen tomorrow.”

Jeongyeon nodded, and tried to sleep.

Complete opposites, huh.

The words still ring into Jeongyeon's head but as she realized that she'll probably forget this in the next day, she calmed down and went to sleep.

 

Another day passed and Jihyo's back to where she was, besides Jeongyeon's bed, explaining why she was in the hospital. Jihyo was late though, dealing with other patients. Jeongyeon asked Jihyo again about the patient, since this time, Jihyo looked far more tired than ever. Not that she knows any of this even happened prior.

“Jihyo, can I know this patient always draining your energy? I feel like we'll get along well.”

“Oh stop it Jeong, you want to waste more of my energy?”

“Come on Jihyo, I just feel like I have to meet her.”

“Alright, this time tomorrow, I'll bring her here, besides, I think I need to let her walk too.”

“Why? Does she have leg problems?”

“Not necessarily, she just has the same complication as you, anterograde amnesia. I'm just checking if she can walk properly.”

Jeongyeon just nodded and Jihyo cued this as the gesture to leave since she still has other things to do.

As Jihyo was about to leave, she said something else “Jeong, don't stress too much okay?” and left. Jeongyeon wonders about the care in Jihyo's voice since she hasn't done anything bad at all. She brushed it off for the meantime and proceeded with the therapy. She saw again the buck tooth girl, being energetic and jolly, but Jeongyeon can’t seem to talk to her since they don’t have the opportunity to. After the therapy, nothing changed much, other than Jeongyeon knowing her basic information, but other than that, no progress.

 

Another day, another process, another repetition. But this day, it's different. Jeongyeon was about to meet her co-therapy patient, the one Jihyo's been stressing on. As the doors to her room opened, Jeongyeon immediately noticed one thing. Those buck teeth again, and she was slapping Jihyo, really hard.

 

The look on Jihyo says it all, she's tired of this woman, she might just be doing this based on the oath she recited. As Jihyo slowly approached with the patient, Jeongyeon gets more uneasy. She doesn't know why, but something about that girl seems to strike her.

 

“Jeongyeon, this is Im-”

“Im Nayeon! Nice to meet you!” Nayeon interrupts.

“Yoo Jeongyeon.” Jeongyeon replies.

“Have we met? I feel like I know you.”
“I don’t think so, you’re probably remembering another person.”

“I guess so.”

Jihyo coughs and says “Since you know each other already, I'll leave you be and I'll also cancel the therapy session since I was called back for an emergency. I'll see you both tomorrow.”

“Alright!” “Alright.” Nayeon and Jeongyeon said respectively, in different tones.

Jihyo left with a big smile on her face, like a huge burden was lifted off her. Jeongyeon thinks she just made up the emergency so that she could leave Nayeon as soon as possible. But it wasn't that bad, hanging out with Nayeon.

 

Jeongyeon noticed that Nayeon wasn't that noisy while looking at her, since she was frantically looking and moving around the room. At one point, Jeongyeon was tired of seeing her move around too much, and tried to rest. But Nayeon had other plans.

“Your name is Jeong… nam? Right‽”

“Yeon.”

“Yeonnam? That's a weird name.” Nayeon laughs.

“It's Jeongyeon. Yoo Jeongyeon.”

“Ohhh! Jeongyeon! We're both Yeons! Can I call you Jeongie?”

“No. I'd rather be called Jeong, or just Jeongyeon.”

“Okay Just Jeongyeon!”

“No- I mea-”

“You could be called JJ. And you’d be the greatest rapper of all time!”

Nayeon is now talking to herself. Jeongyeon now realizes how Jihyo went crazy because of this girl. She's unbearable.

“Just. Call. Me. Jeongyeon.”

Nayeon looks terrified of Jeongyeon, who’s completely serious. Jeongyeon sees the fear in Nayeon's eyes, realizing this, she immediately apologized.

“I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't mean to be that scary.”

Nayeon laughs at this remark, pranking Jeongyeon.

“You're too funny, I hope we could get well together!”

Jeongyeon scoffs at Nayeon's statement, and shrugged her off.

“Heyyyy! Jeong-yeo-nie.”

Jeongyeon turns, and was locked into Nayeon's eyes, far too close to hers, their lips, so close to meeting, feeling each other's breaths to the point of heaving.

As blood rushed to their heads, they both scream, bump into each other's heads and sit down due to the impact. They're both sweating, as their pale cheeks turn into bright red.

“I'm s-sorry.”

“No worries, I shouldn't have turned around that quickly.”

Both of them just laugh at the minor accident as it became an icebreaker for them to converse with each other.

“Are you that nosy? Or are you really just clumsy?”

“I think I'm not that clumsy, you're just too stubborn to notice me.”

Nayeon pouts, and Jeongyeon's heart fluttered a little.

“Well, Ms. Im, I'll have you know that you were really, really, really noisy a little while ago, and I was trying to rest.”

“Nayeon. Call me Nayeon.”

“Well, okay Nayeon.”

“Well Miss Yoo, couldn't you have noticed my charm and beauty a little sooner?”

Jeongyeon's heartbeat increased little by little and she tries to control it.

“Are you joking Nayeon? Cause that's a really funny one, with those buck teeth? You think you're pretty?”

“Yes Jeongyeon, I'll bite you and remove your skin in an instant.”

“Ouch, no thanks, you still aren't pretty though.”

Nayeon hits Jeongyeon, she hit her hard that Jeongyeon was moved out of her place.

“Oh! Did I hit you too hard?”

“Ah no worries, wasn't even shook by it.”

“Really? That's good then.”

“You absolute dunce, you almost pushed me off the edge of my bed!”

“You said you were fine, so I assumed you were fine, and now you're-”

“Shhhhhhhh.” Jeongyeon put her finger on Nayeon's lips. They were soft and tender, probably much like Nayeon too.

“You know, it's getting late, why don't you go back to your room, and we'll see each other tomorrow.”

Nayeon frowns, and Jeongyeon wondered why, was it because she doesn't want to see her anymore? Or was it because-

 

Tomorrow.

 

Jeongyeon forgot. They both had the same condition so along with Nayeon, they'll probably forget everything that happened today as the next day arrives.

“Ah, , I'll just text Jihyo, I'll tell her to come and pick you up, so that we'll meet again.”

Nayeon jumps in excitement, almost bumping her head again, now on the ceiling this time around. Jeongyeon motioned for Nayeon to leave, and she did, but before she left, Nayeon told her “It was great meeting Yoo.” She smiled, and hopped around to the next room.

 

Jeongyeon somehow feels comfortable with Nayeon. At first, she may seem like a really annoying person, but inside, she's just a child wanting to get close with other people. After all, they're almost always alone in their room.

 

Jeongyeon texts Jihyo, “Hit me up with Nayeon again tomorrow. Thanks Jihyo.” and closes her phone. She wants to sleep, but she doesn't want to forget what happened today. She was just about to fall asleep when she heard her phone buzz. It was Nayeon.

“Can't sleep?”

“Yeah, wait how did you get my number?”

“Jihyo.”

“Why I'm still awake?”

“Your lights are still on.”

“Why your name is already on my phone?”

“I put it a while ago when you were 'angry’ with me.”

“Wow you pulled a sneaky move on me huh.”

“What can I say, I'm Im Nayeon.”

“I'll try to sleep now.”

“Yep, me too.”

“Good night.”

“Jaljayo!”

Jeongyeon smiled brightly, and all her worries of forgetting her turned into happiness of seeing her again. As she slept, she thought about Nayeon. But not for long.

 

The next day arrives, and Jeongyeon is greeted again by two faces she doesn't recognize, but this time Jihyo was the one to introduce them both.

“Jeongyeon, this is Im Nayeon.”

“Nayeon, this is Yoo-”

“Jeongyeon, yeah.” Nayeon intrudes.

“Yep Jeongye-, wait how did you know that?”

“I don't know Park, I think I'm slowly remembering little details. I don't remember what I did yesterday though, but I remember some things.”

“Why didn't you tell me sooner?!” Jihyo noticed that she raised her voice.

“I mean no harm, but I could've said that to the therapist since what they're doing might've helped you, and it would've also helped us in knowing what happened to you.”

“Sorry Jihyo, I was just so excited to meet Miss Yoo again. I'll tell you immediately next time. I promise.”

Jihyo agreed and went ahead after explaining everything that was needed to. Nayeon was hiding something else though, the moment when they almost kissed each other. She didn't bother to tell it though since it wasn’t that big of a deal, in Jihyo's point of view. But to her, it was wonderful.

 

“I'm sorry for not remembering but you're Im... Na… bong right?”

“Im Nayeon. The one and only.”

“Oh, sorry. And you're the one always making Jihyo frustrated?”

“I do?”

“Yeah, based on her expressions.”

“You remember those?”

“I don't, I just feel like she's been like that since she dealt with you, then to me.”

“I'm not annoying. She probably can't handle my appeal and glamour.” Nayeon poses and Jeongyeon laughs.

“Why are you laughing? This isn't funny!”

“Yeah this is, you look like my grandmother whenever you pose.”

“Grandma? I'm 23!”

“Grandma, are your bones about to break?” Jeongyeon keeps laughing at Nayeon, while Nayeon hits her multiple times, until Jeongyeon stops laughing.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch, okay I'll stop.”

“Grandma.” Jeongyeon said, whispering.

“What was that? Did you just call me Grandma again?!” Nayeon said, puffing her cheeks.

“Oh no, I didn't, I just said that I'm so grand and you should stand under my feet!” Jeongyeon said, trying to brush off the remark while posing. This time, Nayeon laughs at her.

“That. That's funny.”

“I'm trying to imitate you grandma.”

Nayeon just laughs and hits Jeongyeon. Their fun stopped when Jihyo entered the room and motioned for them to prepare for the therapy. Nayeon waved goodbye to Jeongyeon before leaving, and the latter waved back, with a smile on her face. Jihyo returned to fetch Jeongyeon, talking to her on the way.

“Hey Jeong, you like Nayeon?” Jeongyeon stops, then continued walking after a while.

“I… don't know.”

“You seem genuinely happy with her. It's the first time I've seen you smile so bright.”

“She just makes me feel like I'll remember her the next day, that probably, in some way, my amnesia will get better when I'm with her.”

“So you do like her.”

“I guess so. It's like I've known her for a long time.”

“I see.” Jihyo notes this and proceeded with the therapy.

 

After the session, Jeongyeon returns to her room, feeling drained, the stress in her mind was probably too much than what she asked for. Before sleeping, she washes up and notices that she has a ring on. She disregards this and before actually falling asleep, she remembers someone giving this to her, not knowing who it might be. Soon after, she falls asleep and another day comes.

 

Jihyo comes again, but this time without Nayeon. Jeongyeon proceeds to therapy after hearing Jihyo, and there she meets Nayeon once again. Jeongyeon smiles when she sees Nayeon, but can’t remember why. She says this to Jihyo and she bears this in mind.

 

Before their therapy, they were always put into a waiting room, since the therapists were still fixing the room.

 

This made conversations between the patients easier, and their loneliness inside the hospital may be lifted, even temporarily.

 

The problem was all the patients with amnesia were only the two of them.

 

There was a huge tension between them. They sat next to each other since their rooms were more or less beside each other. One move could crumble every single possibility of them ever talking to each other again.

 

Until Jeongyeon felt something fall on her shoulder. She looked and saw Nayeon, sleeping on her shoulder like a little baby. She nudged for Nayeon to wake up, but to no avail.

 

This made Jeongyeon put Nayeon on her lap, to make her sleep more comfortably. As Nayeon adjusted her sleeping position, Jeongyeon noticed Nayeon's features.

 

How her little buck teeth show when she's sleeping, how her hair is soft and complements her face, how big her eyes are, how her little nose is different from her whole face, and how beautiful Nayeon actually is.

 

Nayeon's face is soft, and Jeongyeon touches her tenderly, like a mother caressing a baby's bare face.

 

Not long after, the therapists go out of the room and tell them to go inside. Jeongyeon points at the sleeping bunny and they take her carefully inside.

Jeongyeon enters her room, with a full heart.

 

The next day, the two meet on the same seats, but this time Nayeon speaks up.

“They’re really terrible in handling the patients huh.”

Jeongyeon looks over to Nayeon who looks really bored to death.

“Yeah, can't believe they let a bunny walk around a hospital for people.” Nayeon laughs and just embraced the remark given to her.

“Hey there Miss Grumpy, we're both patients in this hospital. Don't animalize me.”

“Miss Bunny, I'm just trying to wait patiently for my turn in this therapy since I hardly remember anything. So could you just shhh and sit there quietly?” Nayeon felt challenged by this statement and further pushed Jeongyeon to talk to her.

“What's your name?”

“Yoo Jeongyeon.”

“More like Yoo are grumpy.” Nayeon said, whispering.

“What was that?”

“Huh? I said I'm Im Nayeon, even though you didn't ask.”

“Okay, Nayeon, just don't bother me okay?”

“No can do Yoo, I can't bear to be in this hospital. It's too quiet, and it feels like I'm separated from the entire world.” Jeongyeon relates to what Nayeon said, since it's been weeks that she's been stuck in this hospital, and nobody's even visited her, as per doctor’s information.

“Did someone visit you yet?”

“No, I'm starting to think that my relatives are either dead, didn't know I got admitted here, are too busy, or just don't care about me.”

“They probably don't want to take care of you.” Jeongyeon said jokingly.

“Hey! Well, Miss Yoo, did someone visit you yet?” Jeongyeon stops at the question, since she knows that nobody did and she has the same feelings as Nayeon.

“Uhh, no.”

“SEE!”

“Besides that, I just think it might be better too, since too much information might damage our brains, or something like that.”

“Wow, you sound like Jihyo.”

“Shut up. She's gonna explain it in even more complex terms that we could handle, our brains would be fried by then.”

“Fair point, but anyway, did you remember anything yet? Since we're both here since we have the same condition right?”

“Yeah, but disappointingly, no, I haven't remembered anything that significant to my life. I feel like I've known you before though.”

“Oh really? Must be because I'm so charming.”

“Hell no, you annoy me when you just frantically move around.”

“You're just too boring!” Nayeon sticks her tongue out.

“I don't really want to move around much, it's like too much of my life's been drained away from me.”

“Well, you can always create new memories.” Nayeon smiles, and Jeongyeon felt something inside her, it's like her heart suddenly started beating again, and this time, it's for Nayeon.

“Yeah, but not with you.”

“I didn't say anything about me.”

“Uhh, yeah next topic.”

“Miss Yoo? Were you thinking about meeeee?” Jeongyeon's blushing, and she turns away from Nayeon to hide this expression.

“No, I mean I just— implied since you were talking about memories, and you know, you were just... there.” Now Nayeon's blushing, and Jeongyeon turns back, seeing a flushed Nayeon.

“Hey there tomato face, what's with you?”

“Shut up. I hate you.”

“I hate you too, with my whole heart.” And they both laugh.

Their fun stopped when the therapists opened the doors and signaled for them to go to their respective rooms. They waved goodbye to each other, and started therapy. Several instances of this event happened, different days, different moments.

 

Jeongyeon tells the therapists that she feels like she remembers Nayeon, and about everything she felt during their conversation. As therapy finished, Jihyo walked with Jeongyeon back to her room.

“You doing good Jeong?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“I should probably introduce you to the therapists huh?”

“You think?”

“Yeah, they're really good people, and a new nurse will come tomorrow as well.”

“Yeah and I will remember these tomorrow?” Jihyo laughs at how she forgot Jeongyeon has amnesia.

“Don't worry I'll remind you tomorrow.”

“How will you make me believe?” Jihyo pulls her phone from her pocket, and shows Jeongyeon the voice recording.

“Wow, that's invasion of privacy. What if I tell you a secret I'm not willing to tell anyone else?”

“I told you I'll record every conversation we'll have! I tell it to you everyday when I brief you on your therapy procedure. You aren't paying attention Jeong.”

“Uhh, sorry? Well, that's neat to have, at least it's easier to convince me. Can I hear what I previously said?”

“No Jeong, it's against protocol.”

“Oh did you say it before as well?”

“I'm just kidding, it's not that easy to access, but I think I can make it easier. Just tell me when.” Jihyo hands over a Post-It, which says “Tell Jihyo when to access recordings.”

“You think I'll remember using this?”

“Definitely.”

As they arrived in Jeongyeon's room, Jihyo bid farewell to her patient, and went on. Jeongyeon put the Post-It on top of a desk, expecting it to stay there.

 

When Jeongyeon was just about to sleep, she realized she forgot to ask Jihyo about the ring. Jeongyeon realized it's too late to bother her and she'll probably remember it the next day. But she didn't. The Post-It flies away, under her bed, never to be seen again. The next day arrives and she's back in the therapy room, with Nayeon hopping around.

 

“Hey Jeong!”

“Wait... what? How do you know my name?”

“Oh yeah, forgot you had the same condition as me. Im Nayeon, cheerful bunny!” Nayeon holds out her hand and shows a gummy smile, and Jeongyeon shook her hand and smiled back. There's something in Nayeon's smile, it's like she's providing light to the world, and beneath that smile, some type of pain is hidden underneath.

“So, uhh, how've you be...en? Sorry, this is all so weird to me.”

“I’ve been fine Jeongie, how are you holding up yourself?”

Jeongie.

“I’m doing good, besides the fact that I’m always forgetting the day beforehand. Other than that, I think I’m fine…?”

“That’s good. I think, I’m starting to remember some things, and I always see you, vividly.”

“How so? We haven’t met before right? That’s why we don’t know each other.”

“Yeah, but… nevermind. I think I just wanted to let you know that.”

“Thanks for telling me anyway.”

After a long bout of silence, the therapists take the patients to their own rooms.

 

Jihyo introduces Jeongyeon to the therapists, and to the new nurse.

“Jeongyeon, these are Tzuyu and Chaeyoung, your therapists. Your nurse is late, but she’ll be coming right about…”
The doors opened, and an elegant nurse enters the room.
“...now.”

“Sorry I’m late Dr. Park, I forgot which room I was supposed to go to.”

“No worries Nurse Myoui, just don’t be late in the future okay? And you already know your job right?”

“Yes Dr. Park.”

“I’ll be off then. Jeong. Good luck.”

Jeongyeon nods, and reintroduces herself to the staff. She looks at Nurse Myoui again, mesmerized by her beauty.

“I’m sorry but I forgot your name already Nurse…?”

“Myoui. Myoui Mina.”

“Ah, Myoui. Could I call you Nurse Mina?”

“Mina’s actually fine. After all, you’ll always see me now.”

“Okay, Mina.”

Mina chuckles at the embarrassed Jeongyeon, and not long after, they proceeded with the therapy.

 

After the therapy, Jeongyeon walked together with Jihyo, as usual. This day they took a different route since Jihyo needed to get something from another floor, as Jeongyeon held the railings to the stairs, she heard a metal clank. She looked down the staircase and didn’t see anything, and she saw her hand, which had a ring. Jeongyeon stopped, and she asked Jihyo, but Jihyo asked first.

“Jeong? Any problems?”

“Do you know about this ring on my hand?”

“Ah, that ring? As of now, we don’t have any information regarding that, but that might be from someone close to you from the past.”

“Can’t you gather any information regarding this?”

“Since you don’t have close relatives, or we can’t contact them, we have no information regarding that, and we also can’t force the government to spill any private information about you, since we aren’t blood related.”

“So… none?”

“Basically, yeah, unless you have a relative that we can easily contact, then he/she can access your information. And besides, you didn’t have any information that we could access.”

“Okay. So let’s just leave it like that.”

“Shall we go on?”

“Sure.”

 

Jeongyeon is still confused about the whole situation, why can’t she just access her own personal files? But then again, it might be for safety reasons of the hospital. And then again, she’ll just forget this the day afterwards, so, what’s the point?

 

Just before Jeongyeon was about to sleep, she remembers what Nayeon told her this morning, about how they might’ve already known one another before, which would explain the comfort Jeongyeon feels whenever she’s with Nayeon, or how Jeongyeon doesn’t try to push Nayeon away. But this time she did, and she hates it. Jeongyeon lays in bed, trying to convince herself that she’ll forget this the next day, and she does, but not after 3 hours of not being able to sleep properly.

 

Jeongyeon sits down on the waiting room, feeling extremely groggy, and Nayeon quietly sits down beside her. Jeongyeon doesn’t notice and tries to sleep. Nayeon then shakes her, and Jeongyeon woke up, on edge.

“What are you doing?!”

“Oh, Im Nayeon, you’re Yoo Jeongyeon right? We’ve met before and I can prove it because of this!” Nayeon shows her phone to Jeongyeon, with pictures of Jeongyeon either sitting down or standing up but the commonality was that her back was almost all of the pictures.

“Are you... stalking me?”

“Come on Jeong, look around you! You’ve been in therapy for how many weeks now, and what makes you believe that I’m stalking you, when we have the same condition.”

“Well, sorry, I didn’t get enough sleep last night and I feel tired as hell.”

“No worries!”

“Hey, Nayeon, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do you sometimes think that maybe our lives won’t be hard if we didn’t have amnesia?”

“Well, these things happen in life, and these challenges just come to test us on how we should live our life. Even if things seem farfetched, isn’t life like that? It’s up to us to make the decisions to change our life.”

“Wow, you seem really optimistic.”

“I have to, it’s the only thing keeping me sane within these walls. Anything else?”

“Nothing, I guess I just feel alone since it feels like we’re being experimented on.”

“I guess so, but let’s just try to make the most out