"Can you promise me you'll be okay here without me, Ji Hyo-yah?"

She smiled at him, but deep down, tears could be seen piling up in her eyelids, waiting patiently to stream out. "I promise you, oppa. Now, go. You'll miss your plane if you're like this."

He nodded but contradicted his non-verbal approvement; his hand still held hers tight. He was too afraid to let her go. He was too scared that everything would flip, and he would simply lose her in a blink of an eye.

To ease his uneasy mind and at least feel her warm touch one more time, he took her into his embrace as if he would never hold her again.

"I love you, Ji Hyo-yah. Let's get married two years from now when I get back here, okay?"

Again, she smiled and nodded as if she was programmed to do it. "Arasseo. I love you too, oppa. Call me when you've arrived."

With one last kiss on the lips and every inch of her face, he finally left her.

But it was a year and a half ago when they met for the last time before he flew far to LA, telling her that the company insisted he should be the one to go for about two years. Of course, she supported him. No matter how hard it was actually for her to do a long-distance relationship, she still put up a smile every time he video-called her past bedtime, and even sometimes at dawn.

But again, it was a year ago when they had a routine to make time to do video calls at least once a day. For about the next six months after that, he was always busy. He did not send her any photos of himself again. He did not answer her call. He did not update his social media.

As if he changed into a different person. Sadly, she completely had no idea why and how.

Little did she know, he did not go far to LA because his work demanded him to do so, but the fact was he went there to have surgery. Heart surgery, to be exact.

He slightly remembered, as it was written in his daily journal, that the probability of him would lose his memory would be about 50% since it was open heart surgery. It should not last this long; again, it was what the doctor said that he read in his daily journal, but he did not know for sure why he would suffer a six-month-long memory loss.

Two things that Jong Kook was glad to have in his current unfortunate situation right now, although he enjoyed living in all-summer Los Angeles, were his hyeong, who also appeared to be a doctor himself, and his daily journal--or should have been called a diary, but the thought of him telling his friends that he was having a diary ridicule him.

His hiring was the one who prepared everything, from meeting the doctor to advising him on which medical step he should take next to cure himself. He could not thank him enough now for accompanying him here until he was almost completely healthy, although his hyeong had a family already back in Seoul.

Almost. Because the memory loss was actually killing him slowly.

The daily journal was supposed to help him during this time. He knew he would have the chance to get memory loss, though it was unclear which part of his memory would be lost, and to prevent him from losing it for a long time--or worse, even permanently, he decided to write every little thought he had on the journal. His feeling, his concern, his experience, he poured those all into it. Unfortunately, no single page in that journal helped him regain his memory about a certain special aspect of his life. In fact, he suffered more as he felt guilty for not being able to remember it.

Your name is Kim Jong Kook. You are 42 years old. You work as an architect. You love working out and drinking protein shakes.

He scoffed at the page that was filled with his own personal identity. Of course, he remembered himself being such a workout addict unless God was so generous to give him such a nice body like this. Not just words, but the journal was also filled with doodles and random drawings of things that he probably saw during the day when he wrote, so it was not very surprising for him to be an architect.

Remember this name: Song Ji Hyo.
She is pretty. She is cute. Most of all, she is your beloved girlfriend.
You are going to marry her when you come back to Seoul.

And this was the page that got him hating himself. He just learned that he had a girlfriend from this journal. Her name was Song Ji Hyo, and he was supposed to remember her name, but unfortunately, he could not remember her at all. Let alone remember the moments he spent with her; he could not even imagine her face the first time he saw the name in this journal.

It raised his guilt to the very top. She must be waiting for him now. She must be worried about him now. She must be wondering where and how he was now.

But what if he could not remember her? What if, when he finally met her, he did not feel love toward her? What if he ended up hurting her because of his damn poor memory?

He finally knew how she looked when he got his phone back a few days after the surgery. Just as what he wrote in the journal, she indeed was pretty. She had big eyes. Her face was small, contrasting with her wide forehead, but she still looked cute.

If you ever wonder how pretty she looks, just scroll through your photo album on your phone.
You love to capture beautiful things, and she appears to be the most beautiful figure you've ever seen in your whole life. That's why you love to take her photos.

That explained why he had so many photos of her candidly, probably really taken by himself, from when she was eating until when she was sleeping with half-opened. From all the photos then, he found her the most attractive when she went all natural, with no makeup on her face, just her being herself.

But even with her photos being shown, he still could not remember her or every bit memories he spent together with her back then. Even when his hyeong told him some stories that he knew about him and that woman Song Ji Hyo, he still was clueless. It was as if he listened to someone's love story, not his.

He went a lot more frustrated when he discovered their chatroom. He went unconscious for about two days after the surgery, and he could sense a hint of worry even just by looking at the text she had sent him. Upon losing his memory, he then reluctantly replied to her messages. Still, seeing her getting more desperate to know about what happened to him, he decided to reply to her.

[12:08 PM] Song Ji Hyo
Oppa, please reply to this message.
[12:08 PM] Song Ji Hyo
I'm sorry if I did something wrong.
[12:09 PM] Song Ji Hyo
Just please, don't hurt me like this.

[10:30 PM] Kim Jong Kook
You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry.

He meant that he was sorry. He was sorry to let her not know about his current condition. He was sorry for not remembering her. He was sorry for having his memory without her.

Song Ji Hyo
You must never forget this name, even if you are dying.

How could he marry her six months from now when he did not even remember who Song Ji Hyo was in his life?

"As usual, sir?" He smiled and nodded at the salad bar staff. It was not strange that all the staff there considered him a regular now since he always got his breakfast almost every single day for the whole week after finishing his morning jog.

Well, he was not supposed to jog around or even do his workout routine until 6 months after his surgery, hence it had been only 5 months after the surgery, so he should have waited for another month for it. Oh, but who could actually stop him? Not his brother, not his mother, not his father, not even his doctor. He had been back to do his workout routine 2 months after the surgery. What would his muscle be if he did not do his routine for 6 months long? He would definitely lose some and that could be the worst nightmare he would ever receive.

Right, that also means that it would be just one month left until he had to go back to Seoul. His brother had warned him. He had been speaking to his doctor about his memory loss which includes the woman named Song Ji Hyo, who seemed like happened to be his girlfriend before. Apparently, no medicine could trigger him to get his memory back, it had to come naturally, the doctor insisted. But what if it just lost anyway? What if he still had to marry her no matter what?

He shook his head, wiping the ridiculous thought away from his mind. He headed to the 'personally designated' seat for him, which was placed just in front of the large window of this small bar and it was the hottest seat--meaning if he was late for just a minute, someone would eventually steal the seat.

Just like what happened now as he saw a long brunette hair woman covered in a black baseball cap occupying the seat already with a laptop on the table. She looked like she just got there too, considering she was busy searching for something inside her tote bag.

That got him sighing. Instead of fighting over his favorite seat, he gave in and took the nearest seat near the barista counter since it was the second most comfortable seat with two fluffy cushions.

He pulled his phone out, intending just to check if there was a message from his family. Seeing that there was no new message incoming, he decided to continue reading an e-book but then was interrupted by a chime from his phone that then showed a notification pop-up from above the screen.

What he was getting was surprising—not in a good way, he was shocked and terrified as if he had just gotten a death threat out of the blue.

[09:09 AM] Song Ji Hyo
Oppa, do you know where I am right now?
[09:10 AM] Song Ji Hyo
(photo sent)
[09:10 AM] Song Ji Hyo
Isn't this where you always have your breakfast, oppa? Surprise, I'm here now! How about we meet at 10?

He clicked at the photo she sent. It showed the street view taken behind a big window.

Which was the exact view that he always saw whenever he sat on his favorite seat.

Which it was now being taken by a woman.

Wait, does that mean...

"One hot Americano for Miss Song Ji Hyo."

The time felt like stopping for some seconds—no, minutes, actually. He saw the woman who was sitting in his favorite seat earlier get up and headed to the counter. She was not wearing a baseball cap anymore, and that was when he could finally see her shining long hair that smelled a fresh fruity scent.

He saw her smiling at the barista and asked something that he was not being able to catch while taking a straw and some tissues. Another second later, he heard his own name being called.

"One hot Americano for Mr. Kim Jong Kook."

He felt like he just lost all of his power, the energy that he was sure he had in himself this morning when he was preparing for his morning jog. He watched how she reacted to that—to his name being called since he was sure she heard it clearly and loudly.

As he had predicted before, he witnessed her eyes widen as she turned her head to him, allowing both of them to see each other's faces clearly now. The barista kept talking to her, probably explaining the answer to her question earlier, but the words seemed inaudible to her that she did not even glance a bit to get a better listen. Instead, her eyes were exploring him—by this, it meant every inch of his visible physics, starting from his wavy chestnut brown hair, his face, and his still muscular body.

Not that she did not recognize him, she even had successfully recognized him right from the very first second she turned her head to him, she just needed the time to process the fact that he was right in front of her all this time, a few meters away from her right from the start.

He came up to the barista counter, took his drink, and to Ji Hyo's surprise, he rushed his way outside the salad bar without even greeting her.

"Yah, where are you going?! Oppa!" Without even bothering her belongings at the salad bar, she ran outside, chasing him with all her might.

Just what is going on now? She wondered to herself. Looking left and right while trying to catch her breath, she then found him waiting at the red sign to cross the road.

The thought of it was supposed to be easy to find him in a crowd because he had such a distinguishable figure was washed away easily as now she realized it was not rare for her to find some men with the same muscular body as him in LA. The zebra cross was crowded, well, it was not surprising because she just happened to chase him on the never-not-crowded place, Santa Monica Beach. Panting, she then pushed her legs to work harder when she spotted him heading to the less crowded alley, heading to the beach.

"Kim Jong Kook oppa!" It was impossible to not turn their heads, everyone—including Jong Kook himself, to the loud echo of her shout calling his name.

The echo did not only be heard when she actually shouted, but it rang in his ears repeatedly but in several different tones of her voice. He might just hear things now, but it was as clear as the day that he heard his name being called many times in a happy tone, sad tone, needy tone, mad tone, and even he could hear his name being called followed by a sob from her.

"WATCH OUT! MOVE! NOW!" It was only Ji Hyo who was aware of the shout while Jong Kook was still crouching in pain.

It was supposed to be such a beautiful reunification moment for both Ji Hyo and Jong Kook in front of the dazzling Santa Monica Beach, but she had not even gotten the moment yet as now she just heard a panic slash warning shout from local that was directed to him.

A big black SUV sped to where Jong Kook crouched successfully widening her eyes. Some people said she was an expert in making a strategy and counting the risk. There would not be enough time to drag Jong Kook by herself or even ask someone around them to help her drag him which would raise the risk of both of them getting crushed by the car.

What was her other option?

Perhaps she should now prove to herself if what they said about her was true.

Inhaling as much air as she could, she ran as fast as she could. Seize the chance, they said, so here she was, taking the best last option she had. Though this was not what she had in her mind when she spent almost 24 hours to meet him all the way from Seoul after waiting for almost 2 years.

In less than a minute, she felt her body crash into a hard surface—a very hard one, she could say, that she could even feel her ribs were either broken or crushed. She could feel the pain everywhere and there was this huge urge to just drift away so that perhaps she would not feel this hurt any longer. But one thing that kept her fighting for her consciousness was the result of whether she succeeded in saving him or she actually missed her chance which made him suffer too.

Unfortunately, her brain was a lot more stubborn than her will and it made her consciousness slowly fade away. She could not hear clearly anymore. She could not see anymore as now she shut her eyes tightly.

Though in the end, she could finally smile as she verified her succession from some words that she heard faintly from people around.

"Two people."

"The woman... terrible. The man... hit the paving."

"He is alive. ...is okay."

The last thing that she heard before finally drifting away was someone calling her name. The voice was familiar. Oh, she missed that voice so bad that she even thought that it was a dream or she simply was just transferred to heaven right away and God granted her one last wish to hear him calling her.

No one could ever keep count of how many times Jong Kook paced back and forth anxiously in front of the operating room. It had been more than 6 hours but the red light above the doors was not even turned off until now. His tears were now dried or he had already emptied them so that now there were no more tears to be spilled out.

Pulling his phone out from his pocket—the screen got damaged badly but it still worked perfectly fine, he scrolled their chat room for the past 6 months.

There were some videos of herself that she sent to him. It did not mean anything important, just her updating her life with her face always showing a very bright smile in every video. In case he missed her face, she said when he asked her why she was sending him a video of her.

Though a bright smile of hers was the one thing that made him feel guilty the most. For the past 2 years, she had waited for him patiently, with so much love and care that she even asked if he had eaten well every single day. There was never a complaint coming out from her, instead, she said sorry when he did not reply to her, wondering if she said something wrong that made him upset.

If getting the memory in a natural way means risking her life, he could just try to meet and get to know her and fall in love again with her so that he could fulfill his promise of marrying her instead of running away like a coward.

He hated himself. He hated how poor his brain function was that he could even lose his memory of her. He hated himself for breaking the promise of always remembering her name. He hated himself that he easily let her suffer alone for nearly 2 years and treated her badly for almost a year. He hated himself that he created such a beautiful memory here in LA that he could even think he could live without her.

Another hour passed, and Jong Kook was still cherishing the videos and photos of her, which resulted in him missing her even more. Completely unaware with now the doctor was just coming out from the operating room, his brother tapped his shoulder lightly.

"Miss Song's operation is a success, but she's still in critical condition now. If she's not awake in the next 3 days, there's a high possibility that she won't be awake at all. Let's just hope that she'll win the fight."

Far from his brother's expectation—well, he expected Jong Kook would have gone into a breakdown or instantly crying his eyes out—instead, he just scoffed.

"I'm sorry, Jong Kook-ah."

"No, hyeong, it's all my fault. I failed her. I failed to protect her. I failed to keep my promise to remember her. What's the use of remembering her if I might not be able to talk to her anymore? What's the use of having this memory now if she's going to leave me anyway?"

"Jong Kook-ah, you have to trust her. You out of those people should know that she's a fighter, she's a stubborn one. She won't give up easily on a battle, that's why you two got into an argument often because she's so strong with what she wants and she will always find a way to make it happen."

Tears started streaming down again to his cheeks. His hyeong then patted his back as a form of encouragement.

"She has been patiently waiting for you for almost 2 years. She never even got mad at me when I told her I can't tell her what happened to you when you're still recovering. This time, you should be the one who waits for her."

That wake-up speech from his hyeong actually succeeded in growing a realization of what he should do. Today was the third day, the last day that would determine whether she would be back to him or he should finally let her go. Never even once he sat beside her without an anxious heart, fear, and pain from seeing her helpless. Never even once his tears did not fall onto her hand whenever he talked to her, with the hope that she could hear her and it would be her motivation to fight harder.

It was almost 12 in the afternoon, meaning he only had another half a day before he would face the truth. He took her hand, kissed it softly, then clasped it between his two hands.

"Ji Hyo-yah, it's me." His voice trembled, but he kept his tears to not fall this time. "I know I'm such a coward. I should've just told you everything, about my illness, about what happened to me after the surgery, and about the fact that I lost my memory of you. If I wasn't a coward back then, perhaps now we would be enjoying our time strolling around Hollywood Boulevard, or visiting Disneyland as you've always wanted.

Ji Hyo-yah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for having some memories without you in it. I'm sorry for thinking that I can live perfectly fine without you, but in fact, now I'm suffering so much to see you like this. I'm sorry for hiding everything from you, lying about everything, and even ending up forgetting about you. I'm such a bad boyfriend, Ji Hyo-yah, I'm not worth your love.

But, Ji Hyo-yah, now that I remember everything about you and us, I remember the strange feeling that I feel every time I saw the photos you sent back then. It's love, it has always been love that I feel towards you. I love you still even when my brain can't remember you. I love you still when I tried to run away from you. I love you still now, always, and forever.

So please, Ji Hyo-yah, please wake up. I want to make more memories with you and together later with our children. Please wake up and marry me, Song Ji Hyo."

He buried his head on the side of the bed, not wanting her to hear his sob. As some minutes passed, he felt a tingling sensation on his palm, as if Ji Hyo's hand was moving faintly inside his clasp.

"Okay, I'll marry you, Kim Jong Kook oppa."

Did he just hear things? Did he just hear her voice? Did he just hear her say that she would marry him?

He took a good look at her face. Her eyes were still closed. Her breath was usual, but nothing significant changed. He blinked his eyes a few times.

"Ji Hyo-yah, I think I'm going crazy now that you haven't shown a sign that you're going to wake up. Please wake up soon."

Again, he felt a tickle on his palm. This time, it was so obvious that he even took one of his hands away, surprised. The next thing that he saw was a small smile on her face.

"Yah, Song Ji Hyo, don't play with me now! Are you really smiling or I'm now seeing things too?"

And that was finally when she opened her eyes, doubling the shock that he felt that she was really waking up after he delivered his speech.

"I love you too, oppa." She said with a very small voice, but it was enough to draw an extremely wide smile on his face.

He then immediately kissed every inch of her face before ending it with a kiss on her lips. "Thank you for coming back to me. I promise you, with every part of me, that I will love you for eternity, my last love."