They arrived at the hospital and Jisu was quickly attended. She was wheeled into the emergency room while Soohyun waited anxiously outside. He promised her they wouldn't go back to the hospital but he broke it. He wasn't able to protect her like he promised. Whatever was going to happen to her, it was going to be his fault. An hour ago, they were just making plans to watch a movie and now this. Out of frustration, he kicked the wall right before Shi Yoon arrived with scratches on his face. “Jisu?”

He nodded to the room she was in. "What happened to the other guy?"

Shi Yoon sat down on the bench with a sigh. "He jumped off the building. He was sent to this hospital, too but I don't know if he'll make it. He was sent with one objective and since that didn’t work he tried to kill himself to keep the information hidden."

Soohyun scoffed. "This is just getting messed up. This is something that happened a decade ago. Why is everything going against her favour?"

A doctor came out and called for Jisu's guardian. The two men stood up. "What happened to her?" Shi Yoon asked. "Fortunately, nothing serious happened. It seems like she got in a fight before the other knocked her unconscious. She has some bruises, but nothing to worry about." The two thanked him before going in to see Jisu. They walked down the row of beds before they got to her. Unlike last time, she did not have an oxygen mask or a heart monitor which was a sign that her injuries weren't major. She only had a bandage wrapped around her forehead. Soohyun took the stool and sat down beside her bed. "This is all my fault," he said. "I got her into this mess."

"It's not. It's my fault for not being careful. I thought we were a safe distance away," said Shi Yoon. 

Soohyun shook his head. "You don't get it. It's my fault from the very beginning. I shouldn't have pleaded her to work for me. If I didn't, she wouldn't be like this. She'd still be working as a police officer, completely unaware of my existence." He grabbed her hand and held it between his. He was trying to hold back his tears. "If only I wasn't selfish. If only I wasn't who I am, then nothing would have happened to her."

Shi Yoon was silent as he watched Soohyun. He already had a feeling that he liked her and seeing him react just confirmed his suspicions. While the two were in their own thoughts, her two family members came rushing into the emergency room. Her cousin rushed down the row, looking at all the occupied beds before halting in front of one specific unit.

"Noona..." The other two turned around to see Kai and her aunt. His eyes tore away from her and landed on Shi Yoon. Kai turned him around and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "What the heck did you do to my cousin? Why is she like this?" he yelled.

"Kai, let go," his mom pleaded. "This isn't the place to act this way."

Shi Yoon pulled his hands off his shirt. "I didn't do anything to her. I didn't do anything wrong, so don't release your anger on me."

"Release your anger on me." Soohyun stood up from the stool and faced the three. "Hyung...? Why?"

"I'm the one who got her into this mess. The man wanted me and took her hostage instead," he lied.

"What do you mean?" Kai's mom asked. "You're the one who made her like this? That isn't possible. She has nothing to do with you. She's a cop. Why would she have anything to do with you?"

Kai stepped towards him. "Someone took her hostage and you let him? You let him!? How could you? I entrusted her to you. I gave you permission and you do this to me?"

"Kai, calm down," Shi Yoon said. "You're disrupting everyone else."

"Jisu!" Kai's mom suddenly exclaimed. The three boys turned around to see her opening her eyes. Kai rushed over and knelt down beside her. "Noona. Are you okay? Do you know who I am; do you know where we are?"

She scrunched her face, due to the bright white lights in the hospital. She looked at her question and closed her eyes in annoyance. "Why are you asking so many questions? I just woke up."

"Just answer me!" he frantically demanded. 

She opened her eyes and suddenly frowned. He frowned, too. "Kai...you didn’t put on any cream before you left?" The breath he was holding was let out as a heavy sigh of relief. That was exactly the response he was looking for.

Then, Jisu looked around, not clearly remembering why she was there in the first place. She scanned her eyes over her aunt, Shi Yoon and Soohyun. She stopped at Soohyun. "Detective Kim? What happened here? Why am I in the hospital?" 

 Kai's mother immediately went to get the doctor. The doctor did some physical tests first and asked her some basic questions. Everything seemed fine but looking back at her medical history it noted that she had memory repression so she was prescribed a MRI. 

They all waited for the results together by her bed. Kai never left her side nor let go of her hand the entire time. While it seemed like everything was normal, everyone except Jisu was anxious to get an answer as to why she recognized Soohyun as Detective Kim. No one really bothered to correct her because they were afraid a simple correction would affect her emotionally. 

"Kwon Jisu's guardians?" the nurse called. "The doctor would like to see you in his office."

Kai patted his cousin's hand. "I'll be back." He stood up and headed there with his mother. Shi Yoon patted Soohyun's back. "Stay here. I'm going to go, too." Quickly, he followed the two, leaving them together. Soohyun looked at Jisu who was already smiling at him. He felt very uneasy. Was he supposed to play the role of his father? He didn't even remember what kind of person he was like. "What's with the face?" she asked. "I'm alright, you know. If it was something urgent, the doctor would have personally come here." 

Approaching her, he sat down on the seat Kai occupied. "What do you remember? What did that person do to you? What did he say?"

She frowned and shook her head. "I don't remember what he said. I don't even remember exactly how I got there. All I remember is a man took me away and tied me up to the chair before I was knocked out. Sorry detective. My memory's hazy." 

It was odd hearing her call him detective. It was odder hearing her apologize to him. Why did her brain decide to recognize him as his father? What exactly happened in that warehouse for her memories to become jumbled up?

"But detective," she called. "Why are you a chairman anyway? I mean your career as a detective, is that no more? You're officially retired? I don’t remember clearly. Some things are hazy."

"Uh...maybe. It's half-half?" he answered unsurely. How was he supposed to answer that when he didn't even know how much of her memory has been altered? He didn't want to trigger something unnecessary.

"Noona!" Soohyun stood up, saved from the awkwardness. "We can leave if you want. There's nothing wrong and there are no other major injuries."

"Thank God," she said and rolled her head back. "I hate hospitals. Where are my clothes?" Kai reached for the bag under the bed and helped her to the washroom, leaving the three adults.

"What did he say?" Soohyun asked.

Kai's mom sighed. "The doctor said the MRI showed no signs of damage to the brain. Instead, he said something triggered her trauma. As I'm sure you know, Jisu witnessed something very traumatic years ago and therefore it was repressed. That repression is also the reason why she doesn't easily recognize strange faces. But during the accident, she was able to recall those repressed memories, causing her brain to create false ones."

"Since you look like your father, her brain seems to remember you as Detective Kim," Shi Yoon continued. "This false memory is a second defense mechanism to prevent that repressed memory from resurfacing."

"Then what am I supposed to do? Play as my father?" he asked.

"Please," her aunt pleaded. "I can't watch her go through something so painful again. Let's deceive her to keep her happy." 

---

Shi Yoon drove all of them back with Soohyun sitting beside him in the front. During the rest of the ride, there was awkward silence because no one wanted to say anything in case she caught on to something. They did find out what she knew so far or rather, what her brain made up. She remembered Detective Kim retiring because he had the opportunity to become a chairman. In her memories, she was very mad at him. She thought he was a man of justice who wanted to keep the country crime free but in the end, money is what got him. Although she was disappointed, that didn't mean she hated him. Sure, her respect towards him did falter but still, he was her father figure and whatever he decided to do with his career, she wouldn't cut off connections because of that. She also remembered him convincing her to become his bodyguard which wasn't far from the truth. 

They were all dropped off at the apartment building while Shi Yoon went ahead to report to the chief. "Will you be alright by yourself?" Kai's mom asked Jisu and she nodded. "Okay...if anything you can call us. Or Detective Kim." She nodded again and watched the two disappear go up the stairwell.

She and Soohyun entered the elevator and rode up to the last floor. Then, they got off and headed to their respective apartment. Before she was able to unlock her door, he realized there were most likely files in her house about his father's death. "Wait!" he said. She looked in his direction just as she found the correct key to her door. "Uh...come over. I'll make you food. You must be hungry."

Jisu broke into a smile and pocketed her keys before nodding. They entered his apartment and it was neat and tidy as always. Since he had no photos on his walls, there was nothing that could trigger her memory except for that small picture frame to which he rushed in to stuff that into a bottom drawer. But then he realized he didn't have any ingredients in his fridge to make anything. He headed into the living room where she was waiting for him, still in her jacket. "Uh..."

"You don't have anything to cook with, am I right?" Soohyun sheepishly smiled and she rolled her eyes playfully. "Fine. Let's make a trip to the supermarket."

"Will you be alright?" he asked in concern. "You should stay here. I'll go."

"If I know you, you won't even know what to buy and probably get lost in there." She sighed and stood up, walking towards the door. "This is why you shouldn't have left your wife." Soohyun frowned. What does she even remember and which parts did her brain even make up?

When they arrived at the supermarket, she grabbed a cart while he made a quick call to both Kai and Shi Yoon about the dilemma back at her apartment. After assuring things would get sorted out, he rushed in to find her who was in the fresh produce area. He looked into the cart to see she had already thrown in a bunch of things in there. "What are you making?" 

"Your favorite," she answered.

"...yum!" he answered although he was unsure what exactly what it was. She grabbed the cart to push it to the next section but Soohyun gently pushed her to grab it instead. She smiled and then linked her arm with his, which made him stiffen. He looked at their arms and then at her before looking forward with a slightly warmed face. He wasn't used to her being like this. If he wasn't posing as his father, she would have rolled her eyes and continued leading the way but this time, she stuck right next to him, guiding him instead. Jisu must have been really close to his father and it was something he had to get used to. 

"Hey Jisu, what do you exactly know about me? Your memories might be jumbled up because of the accident."

She looked up him. "What do you want to know?"

He shrugged. "I guess start with my personality. Then my dislikes and likes. I want to know everything about me."

She rolled her eyes and gave him a playful nudge. "You just want to hear how 'great' you are."

"Were you planning to say something great?" That was a serious question but she laughed, which caught him by surprise. He was so used to her cold demeanor that it was odd seeing her laugh. It was also the first time he ever saw her smile in the month he's known her and to be honest, he thought her smile suited her the best. She was always scowling at him that he eventually thought she never smiled but there she was, laughing at something that wasn't meant to be funny. All because she thought he was Detective Kim.

---

It was her second time cooking in his apartment and it was his first time watching her do so. He found out that she is quite a good cook. The way she quickly chopped the ingredients and how she just measures the amounts with her eyes just amazed him. It might have been because he was horrible at cooking. It turned out her father’s favourite dish was curry.

"You're really stingy," she continued listing his personality. She was continuing to list his bad traits since she refused to compliment him. Most of it were lies because if he was really the person she described him to be, he might as well be Satan and his klutzy relative combined. 

"You're a horrible cook."

"You said that already," Soohyun said with an amused smile.

"You can't even boil water."

"That, too."

"You can't even reach to top shelf."

"Hey, you touch on the physical aspects. I said personality! You're even going as far as degrading my skills."

"I'm not degrading your skills when they're all true," she shrugged. "Plus, you really can't reach the top shelf."

"I can!" Soohyun took the challenge and stood up front his seat. He reached up and opened the cupboard drawer. Jisu looked up at what he had in there and deadpanned, "You keep your salt up there. Seriously? I've been looking for your salt since forever! Now you can't even blame me if it tastes bad."

"I didn't know either!" Soohyun stood up on his toes and reached for the box of salt. He successfully grabbed the box and showed it in front of her face to prove a point. "See? I'm tall!" She didn't answer. "Jisu?" He moved his head to try to view her face but then he realized how close he was. His chest was pressed up against her back and his arm was around her shoulder to show her the box of salt in his hand. Without him even knowing, his other hand was on her waist. He quickly stepped back and apologized.

Jisu cleared and turned around. "Yeah, you better be sorry for keeping the salt up there." She grabbed the box, turned around and mumbled, "Who the hell does that?" She was trying to ignore how fast her heart was beating. Never once had her heart react like that when he touched her. Maybe it was the close proximity, she concluded, finally able to calm herself down.

Soohyun on the other hand, wasn't able to calm himself down as quickly. "What kind of shampoo does she use?" he asked himself. Then he shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts. "Why am I even asking that?"

"Sit down!" she ordered. "You're bothering me. Shall I continue to list your personality?"

He sat down as she ordered. "Talk to me about Detective Woo."

She stopped stirring for a second before continuing. "Why do you ask?"

"I want to know what you remember. Now that I know what you think remember me, I want to know what you remember about him. He's important to you...to us." He didn't think it was right to hide his death from her if she forgot. It would be unfair to her if the two most important people in her life were falsely remembered.

"He's dead," she said bluntly. "It's been ten years. What's there to say? He was the funniest person I knew and..." she trailed off afraid her voice would break if she continued. "You're going to help him, right?" 

"Huh?" She looked at him. "You're going to find out what happened, right? It wasn't just a car accident. It's something more. We both know it. I know you're a CEO and all but he's your best friend." 

He nodded without much though. "Of course."

Later that night, her aunt called her to her apartment to stay the night, stating that she and Kai were worried about her when in truth, the things in her apartment weren’t organized yet. Shi Yoon was given the keys to the apartment and was organizing her things, along with Soohyun. “So, she thinks the one who died ten years ago was Detective Woo?” Shi Yoon clarified.

“Yeah. She’s mixing up his death with my father’s death. She has no idea how they died either. She only knows they died in an unusual car crash.”

“I guess that helps us understand where her memories are at,” the other said, piling a bunch of folders in a cardboard box. “How is playing as her father?” he asked with a teasing smirk, knowing how awkward it was for him.

Soohyun scoffed and helped clean up the desk with a wet rag. “Do you really need to ask? She has never smiled at me before today and I swear she even teased me more than five times today. Usually she would yell at me. It’s weird.”

“Weird?” Shi Yoon asked. “Don’t you like it? You know, she can be cute when she smiles. I’ve never really had her joke around with me before. You must be lucky.”

He paused and thought back to the image of her smiling. Shi Yoon was right. She is cute when she smiles. It suits her way better than scowling and he guessed he could be considered lucky that she is joking around with him. It was just the uncomfortable feeling he felt when he is pretending to be someone he doesn’t even know.