Chanhee's POV;

After the whole incident with L.Joe suddenly losing his sanity, he proceeded to ignore me everytime I would ask him for his real name. It's not like him to keep anything from me... Which was why it bothered me so much. But on the other hand, he managed to get his wings back, somehow. According to him, it seems like the wings only disappeared because he was lacking energy. He said that once I find my lover, he'll lose his wings again, only permanently. Sounded pretty tragic to me, even if the phrase was intertwined with laughter.

Since then, I never brought the cupid back to school with me. Not that I didn't want him to go, but more like because he always refused to. He's been really broken up about that place. And I still have yet to discover why.

I paid a lot more attention to what he looked like now, knowing that I'd be the last one to ever witness his existence, the only one to have ever known him. And I couldn't help but find him so familiar, yet so strange at the same time. Even now, I still wonder how that could be.

L.Joe didn't stay with me as much as he used to anymore. He'd go on little trips out of my home and return before night fell to watch me sleep. Every question I uttered about it, he'd ignore. Ever since the incident, he's changed. 

Like he wasn't L.Joe anymore... but rather, someone else. 

By the time I woke, I noticed the cupid already wandering around, preparing to take off again, probably.

"You're leaving today too?" I huffed, sitting up in my bed as I dusted my eyes from sleep.

He didn't answer, at least, not right away. He seemed distracted, distant. 

"I have to do something. I'll be right back when I'm finished." His voice carried little to no emotions in it. The L.Joe I knew before... is not the same L.Joe before me.

"Where are you going? Why do you keep leaving, huh? I thought you were my cupid. You're supposed to stay beside me." 

He looked surprised at my outburst, and frankly, I was just as shocked as he was. I wasn't the kind of person to sound so needy, but in this context, it was necessary. I didn't want him to go anymore. I was tired of just waiting around for him to return. Ever since he arrived, I nearly forgotten how loneliness felt like in my own home. Because he was always here. But now he's been drifting away, and slowly, the loneliness has begun to creep back in.

It took a moment, but he replied to me, with the same heartless tone, "You're getting too attached to me." He huffed, "I can't stay here forever. Eventually, I'll have to go. You know that."

I didn't expect an answer such as that. But it didn't feel like they were his words to begin with. He was hiding something. Clearly. I kept my strong front, knowing that if I let my guard fall, everything would become much more complicated.

"What if I never find anyone then? You can't leave without fulfilling your duty."

"You're right." He answered, leaning his back against the wall beside the window, glancing out of the glass distractedly. "But I have a due date, you know. If I can't finish the task, someone else will for me."

My eyes expanded, not fully grasping the idea of him becoming dust in an instant, as if he never existed at all. And I was to pretend I never met him? How could I do that when he's become so close to me now? I can't even imagine waking up with him nowhere to be found.

"Don't... Don't leave. When is your due date?" I let out, with much more panic in my voice than I wanted to show, "I have to know."

Yet, he was unmoved by my tone.

"When the time comes, I'll tell you." He replied, glancing over at me before allowing a faint sigh to slip past his lips, "Until then, you have to learn to be more independent. I apologize for letting it get this far. I should've kept more distance from you."

I shook my head, excessively, to make sure my point would get across to him, "No, don't apologize. I'm glad you've stayed with me for this long." I paused, resisting the urge to cry, "No one ever really has."

He seemed to stiffen in his position, almost as if he had actually felt something. The look in his eyes seemed so familiar, and so distant in the same instant. So out of my reach.

"Chanhee-yah." 

I glanced over at him, who surprisingly, was beside my bed now. 

"What?"

He leaned down to face me at eye level, only centimeters apart from my face, "Do you really not remember me?"

I found the question odd, but thought little of it. I mean, I tried, the best I could, to recall his features. Yet,... nothing. Was I supposed to?

"I don't.."

He watched me for a long moment, and I returned his gaze. Except, his eyes appeared to be remorseful, almost disappointed. 

"I'm sorry." I apologized again, feeling like I had to for not being able to match his facial features with any of the ones in my head. "Maybe if you gave me your real name, I could recall you."

He pulled back, shaking his head, "I doubt it. If you don't remember me as I am now, you've probably long forgotten." As much as I wanted to ignore it, I couldn't just pretend the pain in his voice wasn't evident. He was forcing himself to be okay at this point. It wasn't that difficult to tell.

Perhaps it had been, but I learned to read what he didn't show.

"I don't know what else to say." I urged as my eyes averted to look away from him for a moment, "Other than apologize."

His frame folded, crouching over to dip his head into his knees. "No." He mumbled, "It's fine."

"You regained your memories though. Haven't you?" I questioned as I stepped off the bed and knelt down beside him. He didn't respond right away, no. At first, he seemed to be hesitant on replying. As if his memories would affect me somehow. Would they?

"Not everything." He finally spoke again, lifting his head as his eyes fixed elsewhere, "Just the moments that lead up to my death. Those were really all I needed to know though."

I was about to pry, to question him on the tragic event, but he began to smile. The kind of smile where it took all of the muscles in his body to force. The kind of smile that wasn't really a smile at all.

"L.Joe. You know, you can tell me anything. You said that cupids become one because the one they loved didn't return their feelings when they died, right?"

He nodded.

"Then.. Who did you like?"

He didn't respond.

"L.Joe. It's someone from the school, isn't it? Is that why you won't return there again?"

"No." His eyes appeared dark and hazy, "The reason I won't return there again," He said, "Is because I do not wish to remember anymore."