Hyun Joong

“Don’t run away, please! STOP!” I pleaded.

The figure did not heed my plea and continued on his/her tracks at amazing speed while I tried to catch up. But our distance was getting further and further apart. I was getting out of breath and yet, I was determined to catch hold of this person to unveil his/her identity.

I was finally at arm’s length from him/ her and then, a loud sound jolted me rudely from my pursuit. I watched helplessly as the figure vanished into pitch darkness ahead.

RIIIIIINNNNNG!

My hand slammed on something and it fell with a thud onto the floor.  I jerked up from my sleeping position, angry at the object that had atrociously put an end to my conquest. My orbs quickly adjusted to the minimal light that was allowed to enter my bedroom through the blinds.

Damn the alarm clock! Waking me up at the wrong time again!

I was dreaming again. As usual, drenched in perspiration from the unsettling feeling that I had when I entered into that same dream every night. It had been three months and I seemed to be getting nearer and nearer to the figure, but still unable to see the face. Rather than feeling fearful of having the same nightmare, I was actually anticipating nightfall to come so that I could solve the mystery soon.

This morning, I was so near…

So near to spinning this person around to see its face but the annoying clock had to hinder my moment of truth. I sighed with frustration and touched the jade pendant on my chest instinctively. It seemed strange, but true that I had developed an intimate feeling with this non-living thing as time passed. As a man with no past, I got very infuriated with multiple basic questions of my identity and the reason of my existence. However, once my hands found this pendant, I would be calmed by the cool sensation that it exuded. This jade must had meant a lot to me in the past, and it could be the only thing that could unlock the truth to my past.

Geun Suk

“So Min, I have a meeting to run to. Could you help me with some errands, please?”

After a full five seconds without any reaction from her, I looked up from my documents to find her staring blankly out of the window.

My brows were knitted together at this familiar sight.

It had been three months.

Three months since we started dating.

I was everywhere and anywhere around her. I was with her everyday when we were in the office. Every morning, I would wait for her to have breakfast together.  We would go for lunches daily and I would send her home after we knocked off. Though I would very much like to take her all the way to her home, she would always insist that my journey with her ended at the small path leading to her home. There would be no goodbye kisses or a peck on the cheek before we parted, but I told myself not to be impatient as this was her first courtship.  And as much as I wanted to see her over the weekends, she would only grant me a Sunday afternoon with her, citing that she wished to keep her mother company on her free days.

Sometimes, I self sympathized that in this relationship, I was the one to ensure that it would stay afloat. In contrast to my other courtships, those girls would be the ones pleading to see me and taking the initiatives to make things happen. I knew the difference was that those in the past were merely flings. And with So Min, I wanted this relationship to progress till we walk down the aisle together. So, all the more I should invest my time and effort into it.

On the contrary, I was unable to tell how So Min really felt about us. She was physically here with me, but seemed to be distant somehow.  I didn’t know if she was emotionally into this relationship with me.

She was different.

She talked less, she ate less and even appeared to sleep less. I did not know what was wrong and why the sudden change in her.  I thought she was suffering from a disease and brought her to a doctor, which the doctor assured me that she was fine. There was nothing much I could do. I tried to be there for her as much as I could but nothing seemed to improve her condition.

Nothing helped.

She deteriorated right before my eyes as time went by. It pained me to see her wasting her life away for unknown reasons and I could only stood aside and watched helplessly as she waned.

She never revealed anything about what changed her, or could have. I remained true to my words that I would not pressure her into telling me. I was determined to heal her wounds when we started dating. So, I treated her the same as before I left and hoped that she would be better with the emotional support I could give her.

I noticed too that there were little or no interaction at all between Hyori and So Min. So Min used to lunch with Hyori, but now, I hardly see them together anymore. There were no more girly talks between them and if my instinct served me right, they seemed to be avoiding each other.

What had gone wrong between the two, I wondered.

I chose not to ask, for it was not my nature to dig for information when it was not voluntarily provided to me. It was because of this unspoken mystery that I did not invite her along on my weekly visit to Hyun Joong’s home, for I know the elder ‘sister’ would always be hanging around his home everyday. Even Hyori mentioned nothing about So Min in our conversation in front of Hyun Joong. Though Hyun Joong did not remember who I was on my first visit, we quickly warmed up to each other again an hour into chatting. It was also then that Hyun Joong told me that both him and Hyori was now an item. Definitely, I rejoiced as I jolly well know how infatuated he was with Hyori. To think that after so many years of one-sided love, he finally fulfilled his dream only after he had forgotten his affection for her. It seemed like the accident, which I had not been given too in-depth information on, had been a blessing in disguise for him.

Though a part of me celebrated the beautiful relationship of my best friend, another part of me sobbed for the woman I love. Yet, I would not waver in my determination to protect her, with whatever means. I swore I would be with her, in good or bad times and share her woes and weals, even though she might not appreciate my actions. 

I was very sure of was that I would be with her till my So Min returned.

So Min

“Hey….”

The soft voice jostled me out of my trance.

“A penny for your thoughts?” he asked.

“Oh, Geun Suk. Have you been here for a while?”

“Long enough for me to call you the fifth time before you responded.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not lunchtime yet. Is there anything that you need?” I sat down on my chair and started entering the password to activate my laptop from hibernation.

Placing a stack of letters on my desk, he repeated what he had said but was not picked up by me earlier, “I was just saying that I need to rush off for another appointment and I need your help to deliver something.”

I took a peek at the recipient of the letters.

My breath was immediately out from my lungs as though a vacuum had suddenly wrapped itself around me. The beating of my heart started to pound thunderously in my chest as I stared wide eyed at the name...

That name…