“Gommawo for coming with me, oppa.” Eun Mi said.

“No problem.” I replied. After looking around for several hours, we had finally found a small apartment that Eun Mi could afford. It was smaller than the last one, but still good enough for her. “If you need any help with the rent-cost, just let me know, okay?”

“No, not okay!” She shook her head. “I already owe you a lot and I don’t want to be in any more debt. Like the time you got that new camera for me.”

“New camera?” I repeated, puzzled. “When did I get you a new camera?”

“On our trip to Jinan, remember?” She took my hand and dragged me behind her. “Anyways, come on! Let’s go eat something before we go home. I’m hungry.”

“Arasseo…” I followed her and kept up with her pace, but there was something else on my mind; I don’t remember getting a camera for her.

Eun Mi took me to a place called Bong Goo’s restaurant, a place I haven’t been before. We sat down at a table for two and she ordered some food.

“I’m going to get paella. What about you?” She asked me.

“Sure, I’ll get the same thing.” I told her. Our order came and she ate happily.

“This tastes as good as the last time we came here!” She exclaimed.

“The last time…?”

“Yeah! When I was sitting on the swings in the park and then you came by and treated me to lunch here.”

“Um… yeah.” I didn’t remember that either. “Do you still remember the trip to Jinan? Do you remember who we went with?”

She nibbled on the tip of the spoon and looked thoughtful. “Well… there was you and me, Sooyoung, Chan Doo, Changbum, Eunjung… and Hyoyeon. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, nothing.” She returned back to eating. So she really didn’t remember L.Joe at all. This puzzled me. I thought L.Joe was really important to her.

We finished eating, paid, and then headed towards L.Joe’s house. When we got to the door, I stopped her and fished something out of my pocket. “Here, I got this for you when I was in Japan.”

“Really? For me?” I nodded and Eun Mi took the small gift from me, immediately putting it in her hair. It was a red cherry hair barrette with a blue bow and looked really cute on her.

“You look cute.” I said, pinching her cheeks. Even though she wore glasses, she was the cutest thing ever. How could people think she was an ugly nerd? She was beautiful.

Eun Mi blushed. "T-thanks."

I knocked on the door and waited for it to open. L.Joe stood there, opening it. "You guys are back already?"

"Yeah. We found a place for me to move in!" Eun Mi said. "The owner said I can move in tomorrow."

"That soon?" L.Joe said. "That's great."

"Yeah." She gave him a smile and turned to me. "Well, I'll be going in now. Bye, oppa."

"Good night." I said. She went in and I saw her run up the stairs to the bathroom, probably to take a shower. 

L.Joe turned to me. "So, how was it? Is the new place okay? Can she pay for it?"

"Yes, she can." I replied. "You're worried about her, aren't you?"

He nodded his head. I suddenly felt a bit of pity for him, considering the current circumstances. "Don't worry, she'll remember soon."

He looked up at me. "I just... if she doesn't remember, at least she's with you..."

“’Trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember a stranger.’” I said. He looked at strangely. “It’s a quote. And it’s true; Eun Mi won’t forget just like that.”

“I hope so…” L.Joe trailed off.

“I know so.” I reassured. I said my goodbye to him and left for my house. I stopped walking at looked back at the closed door to his house. Why was life making this so hard for L.Joe and Eun Mi? Haven’t they gone through enough?

-- ♥  l.joe's pov ♥ --

0.000109516 centuries.

0.00109516 decades.

0.0109516 years.

0.13142 months.

0.571429 weeks.

4 days. 96 hours.

5,760 minutes.

345,600 seconds.

345,600,000 milliseconds.

3.456e+11 microseconds.

3.456e+14 nanoseconds.

That’s how long it’s been since Changjo came back and ever since Eun Mi forgot me. Four entire days, and I swear I cannot live any longer.

Every smile she directed at him was supposed to be for me. Her angelic laugh was supposed to be because of me. The hand she held was supposed to be mine. The person she was calling 'oppa' was supposed to be me.

But all I could do was look from afar. 

“L.Joe, can I come over to your house today?” Eun Mi asked me when school was over.

“Huh?” I said, picking up my bag. “What for?”

“Because it’s C.A.P.’s birthday tomorrow and I want to make some cupcakes for him.” She answered. “Can I use your kitchen? There isn’t really one in my apartment…”

“Um, sure.” It was true it was C.A.P. hyung’s birthday tomorrow, but he wasn’t the type who liked sweets. But if it’s from Eun Mi, I’m pretty sure he’ll accept them. “But what about over at Changjo’s place?”

"I have dance practice today, so that takes me out of the quesiton." Changjo said, magically appearing before us after we said his name.

"Well then... alright." I agreed. "I have to get a present for C.A.P. hyung anyways, so it's a win-win situation for both of us."

"Yay! Gommawo, L.Joe!" Eun Mi gave me a hug and went to go get her stuff. I watched her closely as she put her books into her bag; that was the first time she hugged me without any hesitation.

"L.Joe, I have something to confess." Changjo said from next to me.

I turned around to face him. "What is it?"

"I'm really glad I'm able to see Eun Mi happy like this." He told me. "But it doesn't feel right. As much as I like her calling me oppa and hugging me, it just doesn't feel like I'm doing the right thing. She belongs with you."

I didn't know what to say to this. So he continued on. "I don't think Eun Mi's forgotten about you entirely. She keeps on bringing up stuff from the past and saying I did them, but I never did."

"What do you mean?"

"She took some pictures on our walk in the park the other day, and kept thanking me for buying her the new camera." Changjo said. "And for bringing her to Lotte World because she'd like to go again with me."

"Wait..." The new information was slowly sinking into my brain. "I did those things! During our trip to Jinan I got that new camera for her. And we went to Lotte World with Teen Top!"

"Exactly." Changjo said, running his fingers through his hair. "Her mind is playing tricks on her. Her mind replaced you with me."

"So what do I do to have her realize it's me?"

"I don't know. Something should trigger that to happen, but I don't know what."

Eun Mi came back with her glasses balanced unevenly on her nose. "I'm ready! Kaja!"

Changjo reached forward and fixed her glasses. "Have fun, alright? And don't burn his house down. Who knows what can happen with you in the kitchen?"

"Merong~" She stuck her tongue out at him and then turned to me. "I won't do anything harmful, I promise!"

"I believe you." I said. She smiled and we waved to Changjo as we walked towards my house.

"L.Joe, do you have any cupcake ingredients at your house?" She said, following me.

"Uh..."

Her eyes widened. "Mwuh? You don't?"

"I don't really cook and my parents are never home to do that..."

"Well then, let's go buy them!"

So we changed directions and went to the nearby convenience store to buy cupcake mix, cupcake liners, frosting, and whatever cupcakes needed to be delicious and tasty. Hauling our purchased items to my house, I opened the door with one hand, the other balancing the stuff, and we went into the kitchen. I haven't the lights, so when Eun Mi struggled to get to the counter she lost her balance and fell over. She crashed into me and the ingredients fell out of my hands.

THUD. (A/N: the sound of falling to the floor... lol deal with it)

We both landed on the floor, Eun Mi next to me with her hand on my chest and her face inches away from mine. Even though it was dark, I could make out her wide-open eyes through her glasses and her flawless skin. I could feel my heart beating faster and wondered if she could too. I could hear her breathing quietly next to me, but she didn't move.

We were really close to each other... and without thinking, I leaned over to kiss her.