We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it – Lyndon B. Johnson.

Unfortunately, Yeri didn’t follow that quote.

It was Monday, time for her school, yet she’s absent. This isn’t that peculiar though as the festival happened just on Saturday, and a new heir was announced. Parties are going on all over the isles. As a result, a lot of students are absent because of hangovers. 

“God where are those two?” Donghyuck complained as both Yeri and Mark were still weren’t there.

Donghyuck had known Mark ever since he came here. He knows that he isn’t that fond of parties, especially drinking. 

“There’s no way he would be absent because he drank too much. Yeri doesn't seem to be the kind of person who likes to get drunk. Where the hell are they?”

BI  called Yeri, but there was no answer. When he went to her bedroom, he found a note near her desk.

“.” He realized that her disappearance was likely because of her memories returning. 

This day finally came. She knows the truth.

He quickly dialled Hayi’s number.

“Yeri is missing. She probably remembered something bad about her memories.”

I haven’t told her about this yet.

“. Do you have an idea where she might be?”

“She left a note saying that she might be gone for a week, but didn’t specify where she went. I think she might be in the mainland. She might’ve wanted to confront someone about this.”

“Do you know something about her memories?”

There is no point in lying. Truth will be revealed eventually. It is better that I would be the one to tell her. That way it would hurt less, right?

“She’s your real cousin.”

We got a lot to talk about. 

BI is not the only one who’s looking for her. Aeri has been trying to call her since last night. Well, she did answer only once, but she never did it again.

This is a very important information. Where is she? Looks like I don’t have a choice, but to call someone who’s with us. I have met several of her cousins. As far as I could remember, she trusted her cousin Yeeun and Hayi on this matter. Should I try calling them?

She called Hayi first.

“Who’s this?”

“I’m Aeri.  Mark and Yeri’s friend.”

“If you’re looking for Mark, he asked permission to go to the mainland because he needs to buy something, but if you’re looking for Yeri, we are still busy finding her.”

“What?”

“We don’t know where she is at the moment, but you could help us provide her location if you know.”

“She’s missing? Since when?”

“Just this morning. I wouldn’t say that she is missing, but she left without letting us or her brother know. Do you have any idea where she was?”

“I wanted to talk to her about something. I have tried calling her since last night, but she only responded once.”

“What did she say?”

“I think she’s busy on something, but she didn’t elaborate. Did something happen the past few days?”

“I’m sorry I can’t say this to you.”

Did she forget about me?

“Oh I see. It's something about the organization right?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“I think you might’ve forgotten that I personally picked up the badge dropped by the org.”

“You’re that person?”

“Yeah.”

“How could you prove it to me?”

“Can you recognize my face?”

“Maybe.”

I can’t believe that a person that smart is forgetful. I thought smart people are supposed to be good at memorizing things?

“Okay, ask me to do something like pose with a stuffed toy.”

“Okay. Pose showing the current time or something. ”

She then sent a selfie of herself to Hayi.

“Okay I guess I could remember you.”

“Good, so could you tell me, what happened?”

“She remembered something she wasn’t supposed to.”

“Like what?”

“I can’t tell you yet, since we need to confirm it.”

“Was it about her past?”

“Like I said, we can’t tell you yet, since we can’t confirm it.”

“Maybe I can confirm it.”

“What?”

“I’m her mother's side cousin?”

“Mother from where? The mainland or isles?”

What’s with this family? Why is it so confusing?

“Isles.”

“Then you can’t confirm it. You know that she’s adopted right?”

“I know the one who adopted her was actually my mother.”

“What?”

“It seems confusing, but her mainland mother, who adopted her, is actually my mother. Her real mother is from the isles. Both of our mothers are siblings which makes us cousins. Yeah I know she is your real cousin.”

“You knew?”

“I could confirm your suspicions up to this extent only. All I know is that something happened in the isles that traumatized her, so she was sent to the mainland. I don’t know about that event. Now tell me, what are her other memories?”

“We still don’t know the scope of her memories yet. We could ask her if we find her.”

“Oh, okay. Wait, do you want me to tell you what I have to tell Yeri?”

“Was it about the org?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess just tell me later when we find her.”

“Okay.”

I’ll just call Yeeun instead.

“Hello?”

“Is this Yeeun?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Who are you?”

“Aeri, a friend of Yeri. You know, the one who analyzed that badge.”

“Oh I remember you. Why are you calling?”

“I can’t reach Yeri as of the moment. Do you know where she is?”

“No.” She said quickly.

“I tried to tell your other cousin, Hayi, about this, but she is currently busy, so you’re the only one I can tell you about this.”

“What is it about?”

“New information I gathered about the organization.”

“Cool. What is it?”

Wait, I think she knew some of this already. I’m not sure about the others though. Even if she did know, I think this might be traumatic for her to bring up.

“You were one of those teens in that kidnapping situation six years ago right?”

“I can’t talk about that.”

“I promise, this will be just short. “

“I still won’t.”

“I just need you to answer yes and no, questions.”

“I thought you were going to tell Yeri new information, why are you interrogating me?”

“To double check if indeed the information I have was true. I will be telling you new information later on.”

“Just tell me about it right now, I’ll try to answer your questions later.”

“I think it will be easier if you’ll answer right now. It will be just two questions which are answerable by yes or no.”

“Okay fine. I’ll do it.”

“First question, do you know that the people who kidnapped you were Lee Taemin, a former elite who went to prison because of this, Park Kyung, who was a member of the Park family who own a lending corporation who was killed in this event, and your very own brother, Ilhoon?”

Silence.

“Are you still with me?”

“I guess.”

So she’s still traumatized by it.

“Are you ok?”

“Do I sound okay?”

“I don’t know. I’m not you.”

“Right. I’m me.”

“So can you answer my question?”

“Yes. The answer is yes.”

“So you were aware the whole time about your brother being a member of the org?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I thought I will be answering yes-no questions only?”

“Yes-no questions for the main questions. This one is a follow-up.”

“God.”

“Will you answer it?”

“Just promise me that the new information you’ll be giving is worth my time.”

“It is. Indeed it is.”

“You’ll die the moment I see you if it wasn’t worth it.”

“I can’t die. So why did you keep it from your cousins?”

“There’s no use in telling them.”

“Why?”

“This is your fourth question already.”

“It is a follow-up question.”

“Okay. I didn’t think that you were that kind of person?”

“What kind of person?”

“Nevermind. So I think it was a waste of time telling them. When it happened, he left the organization. He redeemed himself by not fully participating in the kidnapping, and called the police. He regrets it until this day. He regretted that he wasn’t able to save Hyunggu and Yeoreum. There’s no point in  making him suffer more.”

“Fair point. Yeoreum was Yeri right?”

“They are two different persons.”

“Are you sure of that?”

“Yeah.”

“So where did Yeoreum go?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in ages.”

“You don’t know? Or was it part of the memory you forced yourself to forget?”

“No, I was told by her brother that she was sent somewhere far from here to avoid getting involved.”

“Only she was sent away. How about you and Jaehyun?”

“Let‘s just say I have a ty mother.”

“I could kinda relate.”

“As for Jaehyun, I don’t know if Yeri told you this, but his family is also a member of the org. Just a simple therapy for him, then he would be safe from this. He forgot about that day, but he didn’t forget Yeoreum. He still can remember her, but has no idea where she went. Just like me.”

“Oh, yeah she told me about this. So you still think that Yeoreum and Yeri were two different persons?”

“I think it is possible for the two of them to become one, but I don’t think so. They seemed to be two different people. Really different. “

“What makes Yeoreum different from Yeri?”

“Yeri seems innocent, but at the same time she seems wise. She knows a lot about different things.”

“How about Yeoreum?”

“I can’t remember much about her anymore, but I think she is rather mature. She’s also brave and confident. They’re both smart, but I can feel that they are really different. No they can’t be the same person. I’m sure they aren’t.”

“What if I told you they were one?”

“How sure are you about that?”

“One hundred percent sure.”

“How?”

“I’ll just send you several proofs later.”

“Can’t you tell it right now?”

“These are documents, how could I possibly tell it to you.”

“Fine, just send it to me after this call. Bye.”

“Wait, I haven’t asked you about the next question.”

“Fine. What is it?”

“Was it the police who killed Park Kyung?”

Silence again, just like the first question.

“I’ll take that as a no. So who was it?”

“I haven’t answered your question yet.”

“So, what’s your answer?”

“Just promise me first, you won’t tell anyone about this.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s because Yeoreum was the one who stole his gun.”

I’m right. I hate it. I hate the fact that I’m right. A rare time that I hate that I’m right. I should be celebrating. Why do I feel rather empty?

“Is that why you kept denying the possibility of Yeri and Yeoreum being one?”

“Yeah. I can’t imagine she did it.”

“Me too, but it happened, unfortunately.” 

“I can’t blame her. It was a do or die situation.”

“How do you feel about it at that time?”

“Of course I was shocked. There was a loud bang, and then blood was suddenly everywhere.”

“At least you have the courage to talk about it.”

“I guess. Yeah, you too. Yeri told me that several of my friends' family were members of the org.”

Minjeong. I wonder how she is.

“At least we’re still living.”

“I guess so. I wonder when life will get better.”

When will life get better? There is a guarantee that life will get better as it cannot stay in one state only. It can’t stay forever in the bad part. It will soon become good. This is nature's order. Things aren’t forever and are bound to change. It won’t be the same forever.

All will be alright in time.

Not everything will be like this. It can get better or worse. Time flows, so things could change. Leaves could grow even from bare trees. To experience spring, we must experience winter. This too shall pass.

When exactly will life get better? No one knows. No one knows the exact time. It cannot be determined. As a result, people got sick of waiting. 

Waiting is such a long, diffi