Chapter Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4GXlmIRNju67Vz8oQbKz9E?si=Lhla6rV3RqaiD6jQstQ8kg&dl_branch=1

James TW - Hopeless Romantics

Finding Hope - Daydream 

The Beach Boys - Wouldn’t It Be Nice 

(Remastered)

 

 

—————

 

 

[James TW - Hopeless Romantics]

 

Irene just cried the entire day.

That’s how she fell asleep.

 

 

—————

 

 

Irene woke up around midday.

Too tired and exhausted from all the crying she did until the early morning.

 

She just wanted to fall asleep again when she heard noises from outside her room.

 

She immediately thought of Seulgi and went out as fast as she can, having the ache of missing her.

 

 

 

“You look like .”

 

Yeri and Joy were both sitting in her living room while watching TV.

 

Irene let out a sigh.

 

 

She thought that she might as well stay with them since she could really use the company.

 

But she just stayed staring out into nothing the moment she plopped herself down the on the sofa right next to them.

 

Joy and Yeri stayed quiet, willing to wait for Irene to speak.

 

 

Half an hour passed by before Yeri couldn’t handle the silence anymore.

 

“Unnie, what happened?”, Yeri softly asked. 

 

Irene heard the noise, but she wasn’t able to comprehend what Yeri said.

 

 

Irene had been feeling lifeless since Seulgi broke off things with her.

 

She figured that the two younger girls must’ve called her last night and she wasn’t able to pick up because her phone died.

 

Both Joy and Yeri got startled when Irene gradually bawled her eyes out.

 

Irene couldn’t believe she still had tears left.

 

Joy and Yeri quickly sandwiched her and started comforting her.

 

 

“Unnie, I’m so sorry.”

 

“How did things end up this way?”, Irene muttered more to herself.

 

“Well, that’s what love does.”, Yeri said as she continued to rub Irene’s back.

 

“I kinda feel guilty about all of this.”, Joy declared.

 

Irene nodded sideways.

 

“It’s not your fault.. it’s not anyone’s fault.. Even Seulgi’s… I mean, I knew from that start that this isn’t just gonna be your typical date. If anyone’s at fault, it should be me. I should’ve stopped myself when I felt that I was getting too attached already..”

 

Irene then let out a shaky exhale, “But could you blame me? It’s impossible not to fall for her. The timing’s.. it’s unfortunate.”

 

Joy and Yeri just gave her sympathetic smiles.

 

“Hey, maybe you can try again?”, Joy encouraged.

 

“Yeah. Like once we get back from the trip.”, Yeri added.

 

Irene continued to tear up when she remembered what happened yesterday.

 

“We can’t.”

 

“ ‘Cause when I come back.. She won’t know me anymore.”

 

“Well, did she ever?”, Joy joked.

 

Yeri turned to her with an irritated expression.

 

“Just kidding. Sorry. It was a really bad joke.”

 

 

Irene told them what happened yesterday and all the things Seulgi said.

 

Joy and Yeri were speechless.

 

They didn’t know what to say to Irene to make her feel better.

 

“Unnie, we might not relate to what’s going on with you. But we love you and you’ve always been our inspiration. Not just career-wise and aside everything you’ve accomplished, you’re one of the awesomest people we know.”

 

Yeri continued.

 

“I’m not saying this trip would be helpful in what your feeling right now, but maybe time is what you need right now. Like, time apart and some space to really think about what you want because what happened with you guys is so sudden.”

 

“Maybe you can use this time to really think about what you want to happen. To clear your mind.”

 

“And.. if you guys are meant to be. It’ll happen.”, Yeri finished.

 

 

—————-

 

 

It’s the day of their departure.

 

They’ve just finished loading everything inside the sail boat— from their clothes, gadgets and the equipments they’ll be needing.

 

Suho, Sehun and Yeri were already on the sailboat while Irene and Joy were just on the dock making a quick round of checking the boat and running through their checklist.

 

 

 

“Hey Irene.”

 

Irene looked up from the clipboard she was holding and saw that it was Wendy and Seulgi’s Dad.

 

“We heard you were leaving today.”, Seulgi’s Dad spoke, giving her a small smile.

 

He handed Irene a big box full of canned goods, cereals, milk, and all kinds of snacks. 

 

There was another box placed on the floor full of beverages, with all kinds of energy drinks and fruit juice.

 

“Oh my. This is too much Mr. Kang.”

Irene said after seeing the contents inside the boxes.

 

The old man smiled sadly after hearing Irene reverting back to calling her ‘Mister’ instead of ‘Uncle’.

 

“It’s the least we could do.”, Wendy assured her.

 

“Here, let me take that.”, Joy suddenly appeared beside them while taking the box from Irene’s hold.

 

“Hi, I’m Joy. One of Irene’s research assistants. Nice to meet you guys.”, Joy introduced herself, making sure to widen her smile as she turned towards the small woman beside the old man.

 

She got a smile from Wendy back which made her a bit giddy.

 

“She’s cute.”, Joy whispered but it was still heard by the others with them.

 

Irene introduced Joy to them before the taller woman made her way inside the sailboat.

 

Mr. Kang took the other box filled with drinks and helped Joy to bring them onto the sailboat.

 

 

Once Joy and Mr. Kang left, Wendy suddenly handed Irene a paperbag which she failed to notice before.

 

“So how long is your trip?”

 

“Maybe a year or up to a year and a half. It depends. But I’ll try to comeback soon as possible.”

 

She felt a pat behind her from Mr. Kang as he made his way back to stand beside Wendy.

 

Irene gave a small smile in response.

 

“Uhm.. Thanks again for the food.. uhm.. how.. how’s she doing?”, they could hear the hesitation in her voice.

 

“She’s doing well. Don’t worry.”, Mr. Kang answered.

 

“That’s good… uhm, that’s.. really good to hear.”

 

A few seconds of silence passed by. Wendy was just looking at her with an expression torn between sympathy and sadness.

 

Mr. Kang was just looking at the sailboat. The old man was trying hard to supress his emotions. He really thought Seulgi and Irene would try to make it work.

 

 

“I’m sorry about what happened.”, Irene said, surprising the two people in front of her.

 

Wendy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

 

“It’s okay. We’re sorry too. It’s.. really unfortunate..”, Wendy said out of comfort.

 

Irene tried to give them a reassuring smile but she started to tear up.

 

“Oh god. I’m sorry.”, Irene let out after trying to wipe away the first set of tears that came out.

 

She was surprised to get pulled in for a hug by Wendy.

 

It was just something brief, but she saw Wendy wiping her eyes after.

 

Mr. Kang gave her a soft pat on top of her head.

 

“Come and visit us once you get back. I’ll make you guys my infamous sujebi. I’m sure you’ll be craving it when you get back from your trip.”

 

Irene and Wendy laughed lightly at the old man’s attempt to cheer her up.

 

“Okay. I will.”

 

“Stay safe. You can always reach out to us if you need anything.”

 

 

—————

 

 

Irene saw her team having a few drinks after she stepped on the deck.

 

“You want one unnie?”

 

Irene nodded her head softly. 

“Maybe later.”

 

She walked towards the deck carefully as the boat started to depart from the dock.

She sat in one of the seats along the deck before opening the paper bag that Wendy handed to her.

 

It had two wrapped presents inside, one shaped like a thick book and the other one from her guess was CD or an album.

 

She opened the smaller present first and smiled sadly after seeing it was The Beach Boys album.

 

“Woah. Where did those presents come from?”

 

Irene almost jumped in her seat after Yeri spoke. The younger was already seated beside her.

 

“Oh my god. Don’t scare me like that.”

 

Yeri laughed before handing Irene a can of light beer.

 

Irene thanked her before looking at her seriously.

 

Yeri held her hands up before defensively saying, “It was Joy’s idea! But the boys didn’t have any I swear.”

 

Irene sighed before she looked at the album she had in her hands.

 

“You want me to put that in the CD player so we have some music in the background?”

 

Irene nodded before handing it to Yeri who still remained seating beside her.

 

“It was a gift from Seulgi’s Dad.”

 

“That’s.. cute.”, Yeri tried to laugh lightly but the atmosphere just became awkward. She faked a cough thinking that it was better to leave Irene by herself to give her some space.

 

Irene decided to open the other present inside.

 

 

Once she got inside the cabin, she walked straight to the room that would serve as their bedroom. 

 

The sail boat had two bedrooms, one would be shared by the two boys, while the other one would be shared by the girls.

 

Irene sighed. She’ll have to get used to sharing a space with 4 other people from now on.

 

She hoped that everything would turn out smoothly and they’ll be safe throughout the duration of the trip.

 

She sat on the bed and let out another sigh before slowly unwrapping the gift.

 

 

[Finding Hope - Daydream]

 

It was a personalized purple leather notebook with a walrus silhouette embedded on the cover, when you open it; the first page has a colored sketch of the walrus and the carpenter. It was in reference to her favorite book Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll.

 

She flipped through the pages and despite the body of every page being blank, every page had a small hand-written quote on each of the upper corners.

 

Page 1: 

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”

 

Page 2:

“Why it's simply impassible!

Alice: Why, don't you mean impossible?

Door: No, I do mean impassible. Nothing's impossible!”

 

 

 

Irene instantly smiled, figuring out that all of the quotes were from her favorite book.

 

She had browsed through all 100 pages of the notebook but the last three pages had the most impact.

 

Page 98:

“Alice: Where should I go?

Cheshire Cat: That depends on where you want to end up.”

 

Page 99:

“I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”

 

 

Irene racked her brain because the quote from the last page wasn’t familiar or rather it wasn’t correct. She knew the story by heart as she even thought that maybe this might be taken from the other books that were stand-alone adaptations. 

 

Page 100:

“The walrus had a poor sort of memory that played repeatedly. Nonetheless, the walrus was able to preserve their memories through Alice who remembered everything for them.”

 

 

This quote sounded similar to what the White Queen said to Alice, but the walrus was from a completely different excerpt of the story.

 

She couldn’t google it because didn’t have any internet connection as of the moment. They were already sailing towards their way to Bristol Bay in Southwest Alaska.

 

Irene quickly got up because the last quote just didn’t make any sense.

 

She took her copy of the book in one of the shelves to browse through it quickly. 

Eventhough they were on a research trip, she couldn’t leave the copy of her book behind. It always gave her comfort that she could read this whenever she feels like it, every time she feels down, or when she needs inspiration.

 

But her efforts were for naught. She couldn’t decipher where the quote came from.

 

However, when she turned to look at the back part of the page she found a small folded paper tucked inside the slit of the inner part of the back cover.

 

She held her breath as she saw that it was a letter.

 

 

Dear Alice,

 

Thank you for everything.

Especially for loving a forgetful walrus like me.

 

Thank you for all the memories. 

I’m sorry if I couldn’t keep mine from the beginning. It’s all yours for as long as you want to keep them.

 

I hope one day you can forgive me for hurting you. 

 

This walrus loves you and wants to be with you, but you’re not mine to keep.

 

The world is YOUR oyster. 

 

Sincerely yours,

Walrus

 

 

Irene must’ve looked crazy if her team would be able to see her right now because she was half-crying and half-laughing.

 

She just let herself cry once again. It took her a while to compose herself as to not worry her team.

 

She went to the bathroom to cool her face with some water before she finally stepped outside.

 

 

 

—————

 

 

[The Beach Boys - Wouldn’t It Be Nice 

(Remastered)]

 

She came out with the beer that Yeri handed her and finally started to consume it seeing all her teammates looking at her with a smile.

 

She noticed that they were playing The Beach Boys album as she heard the familiar song playing loudly in the boat’s speakers.

 

She sat beside Yeri and Joy who were sitting across Sehun while Suho was in front of the wheel, in-charge of steering the boat for today.

 

“This is my Mom and Dad’s song.”, Suho proudly shared.

 

“By Mom, you mean your Dad’s first wife or your stepmom #1 or 2?”, Sehun teased. 

 

Suho gave Sehun the middle finger.

 

Joy and Yeri both laughed at their interaction while Irene tried to at least force a smile.

 

“You’re a .”, Suho added.

 

“A huge .”, Sehun said in rebuttal before winking after.

 

“.”, Suho spoke again.

 

“Uhm excuse me. If I’m a then you’re the or do you want me to remind you?”, Sehun stood up to whisper in Suho’s ear. But it was heard by the rest of the team.

 

Yeri turned to Joy and Irene, “I told you there was something going on between those two.”

 

“Good for them. They make one hell of a good-looking couple. But I’m sorry to say, I prefer to play for the other team.”, Joy replied.

 

 

Out of nowhere, Irene suddenly got a flashback of the time she first talked to Seulgi’s Dad.

 

 

Flashback

 

“Come with me. There’s something I want to show you.”

 

He led her to the back of their house near a closed shed. He slightly opened the door to let Irene peek inside.

Irene’s smile came in an instant when she saw and heard Seulgi singing while painting one of the walls.

 

“I figured out that Seulgi only started to sing on the day she met you.”

 

“That song?”, Irene smiled again as she heard this. It was the song ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ by The Beach Boys.

 

“It’s Mom and Dad’s song.”, Garam chimed in.

 

End of flashback

 

 

Her eyes widened at her realization.

If Seulgi can’t retain new memory anymore, then why did she started to sing only after meeting her?

 

She then remebered the moments where Seulgi opened up to her.

Those times she remembered things from the day before. 

 

It was all coming back to Irene now.

Seulgi could still retain pieces of information.

 

Maybe there’s a chance she would be able to get better— to remember.

 

Irene screamed while standing up.

Instantly startling the rest of her teammates.

 

“Turn around!! I need to get back! Suho, turn the boat around!”

 

“Why??!”, Sehun, Yeri and Joy all said at the same time.

 

 

—————

 

 

Irene sprinted out of the loading bay and and quickly got into a cab to go back home. 

 

The whole time they were sailing back, she  came up with a plan to get Seulgi’s journal before going straight to their house to see her.

 

Irene was breathing out of adrenaline while opening the front door of her house.

 

She went straight inside her home office towards the shelf of books but she couldn’t find Seulgi’s journal.

 

She looked everywhere around her house, but didn’t see it.

 

 

Irene didn’t have time to think, she figured that the next best thing was to go to Seulgi’s house. So Irene quickly grabbed her car keys to drive there.

 

She was thinking about the contents of the journal, trying to recall anything she’s read to be of use to prove her point that Seulgi can remember.

 

She didn’t try to read the contents but just looked at all of the sketches that Seulgi drew.

 

All the sketches were in Seulgi’s point-of-view and most of them had Irene in it.

 

For each day, there were at least 3-5 different sketches. Some of them were sketches of the place they went to, but most of them were of Irene’s.

 

 

—————

 

 

Irene quickly knocked on the door in a hurry, but she was greeted by Seulgi’s Dad and brother.

 

They let her inside, only to find out that Seulgi was not staying there anymore. 

 

They told Irene everything.

 

It turns out, on the day that Seulgi broke up with her, Seulgi had talked to them after. She finally convinced them that it would be better for everyone if she would just stay at the Brain Injury Center.

 

Irene thanked them and also explained why she was suddenly back.

 

Seulgi’s Dad and brother offered to come with her but she convinced them that they didn’t have to and she’d prefer to be the one to talk and see Seulgi. But she assured them that she’ll update them if anything new comes up.

 

 

—————

 

 

Irene barged inside the facility and immediately asked for Seulgi Kang. 

 

“I’m sorry Mam, but we don’t just let anyone inside unless you have a scheduled visit, a family member or if you have a visitor’s pass.”, the receptionist informed her with regards their protocol for visitors.

 

She was about to tell her to contact Dr. Lee (Seulgi’s doctor) to confirm that she was a friend, when they both heard a shout from someone by the entrance.

 

 

“Oh my God! Irene-unnie!”

It was Yeri’s voice.

 

Irene looked back to see Joy and Yeri panting by the entrance.

 

“What the hell Irene Bae??!”, Joy expressed.

 

“Unnie, we’ve been following you around all day! What the heck are you doing??!”, Yeri said out of worry.

 

“Yeah! Did you expect us to just wait for you by the dock?! You didn’t even give us any explanation after you went all berzerk on us and asked Suho to turn the boat around! Good thing we were able to catch you driving out of your house!”, Joy ranted this time.

 

“So you guys were following me all this time?!”, Irene fought back because she was already stressed as it is.

 

“Excuse me, mams—“, the receptionist tried to chime in but was stopped when Yeri spoke.

 

“Because we didn’t have a choice! You just left us there without saying anything!”, Yeri said.

 

The receptionist was left with no choice to call the guards because the girls were already garnering attention from the other people in the lobby.

 

“I have to do this!”, Irene said.

 

A big guy made their way towards them, just before the two younger girls were able to retort back again.

 

“Excuse me Mams.”

 

They all looked at the guy who already made his way beside them.

 

“Wait, I know you!”, Irene exclaimed.

 

The guy took a good look at her.

 

“I visited here last week with some people. Do you remember me mister?”, Irene asked the guard.

 

He thought for a while.

 

“Oh yeah. You were with a patient back then. It was Seulgi right?”

 

Irene’s face finally lit up after hearing this.

 

“Yes. I’m.. a friend of hers.. Can you please let me in? I.. I need to see her.”

 

The guy could feel her desperation. They all looked pretty harmless. He sighed and took out a walkie talkie.

 

“Hello. This is Mino. Can you check and see if Dr. Bae’s in her office?”

 

Irene’s eyebrows immediately furrowed after hearing that name.

 

“Affirmative. She’s in her office. Why?”

 

“She has some visitors. Can you check if it’s okay to let them come to her office?”

 

They waited for a minute.

 

It was the most grueling minute in Irene’s life if you ask her.

 

“Okay. You can let them in. I was told she didn’t have any appointments as of the moment.”

 

 

Irene, along with Joy and Yeri were escorted to Dr. Lee’s former office.

 

Irene got the shock of her life to see the name plate beside the door.

 

Dr. Stephanie Bae

Neurologist

 

 

Just as the guard was about to knock inside the door, Irene opened the door in haste.

 

“Tiffany!”

 

 

“Oh. Hey sis.”

 

“What the hell?!”

 

“Thanks Mino. You can leave us be.”, Tiffany thanked the guard once the girls were inside.

 

“I’m a doctor here now.”

 

“What? How and when did this happen??”, Irene interrogated.

 

Tiffany raised a brow at her.

 

“How is this your office now?? This was supposed to be Dr. Lee’s office.”

 

Tiffany shrugged. She crossed her legs before leaning her arms on top of the table.

 

“Dr. Lee had been meaning to retire, but couldn’t find a decent replacement. When I found out about this from Mom, I took the opportunity to work here. And now here I am.”

 

Irene stomped a foot before crossing her arms.

 

“I knew something was up when you insisted on not letting me drive you guys to the airport.”

 

Her older sister shrugged again.

 

“You guys can sit down you know. Please make yourselves comfortable.”, Tiffany turned to Joy and Yeri.

 

The two young ones looked at each other before walking towards the couch to sit there as instructed.

 

 

“I was bored in Cali (California) already, so I asked Mom to pull some strings to get me transferred here.”

 

“You’re so shameless.”, Irene nodded her head sideways.

 

Tiffany flipped her hair over her shoulder.

 

“I’m fabulous. Just wait and see.”, she replied sassily towards her younger sister.

 

 

Irene sat down on the chair right in front of her sister’s table.

 

“Why?”

 

“I like it here. Change in scenery.”, Tiffany smiled.

 

“Really?”, Irene was skeptical.

 

“Besides, who’s gonna look after your house while you’re away?”

 

Irene’s eyes widened.

“Wait.. “

 

She then remembered seeing some things that didn’t belong to her as she ransacked her house earlier today. She was now realizing that there was an awful lot of pink stuff lying around her house.

 

She didn’t care for it first, because she was too busy looking for Seulgi’s journal.

 

“You’re living there??”

 

“No, just renting it tentatively while I look for a place of