Jisun opened her eyes as sunlight streamed in through the window. Then she gasped and hurriedly sat up. She glanced around, realizing that she was back in her room.
She jumped out of bed and raced out of the room. She came to a stop in the doorway to Yongguk's room. There was a brief moment of relief when she saw him sitting on his bed. He had his back against the wall with his legs bent and his arms rested on his knees. Then her heart sunk when she saw the pained look on his face.
"Yongguk." she softly said and took a few steps in to the room.
His gaze flickered up to her for a second before looking away.
She blinked at him as the pieces fit together in her mind. "You remember everything from last night."
He turned his head away and his fists tightened. That's when she noticed that he was holding his dog tags.
Swallowing, she made her way to the bed and sat down. "You said they had to go back cause we weren't ready. Who were you talking about?" she questioned.
He was silent for a while and she wondered if he was going to answer. Finally though, he his lips and gave a slight shake of his head. "I don't know." he whispered.
She held back a sigh. "Yong.."
"I don't know anything." he continued, interrupting her. He turned his head to face her. "I want to remember something. Anything. I don't care what. But I can't. I just..." He stopped as a stray tear rolled down his cheek. He quickly brought his hand up to wipe it away as he turned his head, not meeting her gaze anymore.
Jisun winced a little as pain filled her chest. She looked down at the bed, not wanting to see his tears as much as he didn't want her to see them. Then she scooted further on to the bed.
She pressed her back against the wall and leaned her head, resting it on his shoulder. She looked at the fists his hands were making and knew that he was squeezing the tags hard enough to hurt his hand. Yet he wouldn't let go. So she slowly reached a hand forward and ran it over his hand. After a while, he released the dog tags and they fell to the bed. Then he held her hand and she squeezed his hand, reassuring him and comforting him.
They sat like that for some time, never breaking the quiet that filled the room. The tension slowly gave way to peace as she felt his body relaxing under her touch. It was only then that she dared move because of an idea that came to her.
She moved away from the wall and turned to look at him. "Get dressed." she instructed as she eyed the sweats and tank top he was still wearing. "I want to show you something."
He gave her a puzzled look but she didn't elaborate. Instead, she slipped off the bed and out of the room. She went to her room and closed the door to change in to her own clothes. When she was ready, she opened the door and stepped out in the hallway. Before she made it to back to Yongguk's room, his door opened as well and entered the hall.
"Socks and shoes too." she told him with small smile.
He disappeared back in to his room and she moved closer to the doorway. She watched as he opened his dresser and pulled out a pair of socks. Then she walked away and entered the kitchen. She kept moving, going to the mud room, and grabbed her hiking boots. She slipped them on and went out the back door.
Outside, she went to the surveyed the yard for any damage the storm may of caused. She needed to check the garden as well but that would wait until they returned. Right now, this was more important.
"I'm ready."
She turned and saw Yongguk standing in the doorway. Smiling, she pulled him on to the porch and closed the door behind him. "This way." she indicated and set off.
They crossed the yard and entered the forest. It was a different trail then the one that lead to the strawberries and she glanced at the man with her out of the corner of her eye. He still seemed confused and curious but he walked with her without protesting.
"Remember how I said grandpa always brought me out here?" she inquired.
He nodded his head. "Yeah."
"Well, he wanted to make sure I wouldn't get lost." she explained, recalling how she would tag along with her grandpa on this very trail. "But he also wanted to make sure that I felt at home in the woods too. That the forest wouldn't intimidate me I guess. Grandma didn't like it though. Me always being out here."
"Probably worried that you would get lost or hurt." Yongguk piped in.
"Yeah." she agreed and then grinned. "Grandpa didn't care though. We would hike every day. Sometimes only for an hour, sometimes all day."
"And you would stain your clothes eating berries."
Jisun giggled. "Yep." Suddenly she bounded ahead before stopping and turning to face Yongguk. He stopped and blinked at her in surprise. "And there was something else." she added.
She watched as he raised an eyebrow at her curiously. Then she smirked and turned, running away from him.
"Hey!"
She glanced back to see him chasing after her. So she sped up, laughing as he shouted her name.

Jisun came up to a small clearing and bounded off the trail. Then she stopped long enough to make sure Yongguk was still following her before making her way through the thicket. After another minute, she finally stopped long enough for him to catch her.
"What are we doing?" he asked and took a few deep breaths.
She took a couple deep breaths as well to catch her breath. Then she smiled brightly at him. "Grandpa wanted me to feel at home in the woods, so he gave me a home too." she told him.
He glanced around before staring at her, obviously confused.
Chuckling, she pointed up at a cluster of trees. Somehow, nature decided to be funny and several trees had grown together. Usually one would survive and the rest would die in its shadow. Or they would grow outwards, trying to get away but never growing to their full potential. But this spot was different.
Jisun walked closer until she was under a large branch. She found the long, familiar stick on the ground and picked it up. Then she lifted it in to the air. She poked through the leaves, concentrating, before a rope suddenly fell down.
Grabbing the rope, she turned to smile at Yongguk who was now staring at the clump of trees in amazement. "Come on." she said. Then she began to climb.
Up the rope she went, ignoring the small twigs and leaves that poked at her when she was almost to the top. Then she scrambled on to one of the large branches. Only then could she see the wood boards that laid through the clump of trees and the support beams that helped prop them up. She found the trap door and pulled out a key from her pocket. She undid the lock and pushed the door open. Yongguk appeared at that moment and she stuck her tongue out at him before climbing up through the opening.
As soon as she was through, she wiped her hands on her jeans and looked around. It was just as she remembered it, if not a bit more dusty. She went over to one of the walls and untied a small cord. Then she pushed the shutters open, letting fresh air and sunlight to fill the tree house.
"This is amazing."
She turned to see Yongguk examining the room and smiled. "Grandpa was very handy."
"Yeah." he agreed and smiled at her. "And you can't even see it from the ground."
"Not really. Unless you were really looking." she told him. Which was true. It was set pretty high up  and with the way the trees grew around each other, the branches and leaves provided lots of camouflage. "This was my home away from home." she continued.
"And pretty far from home." he commented.
She laughed and nodded her head. "Grandma said that too. Didn't like how far out it was and tried to convince grandpa to build me something closer. And on the ground."
Yongguk chewed on his bottom lip. "I'm beginning to think that... your grandfather's hobby was to piss your grandmother off."
Jisun blinked at him for a second before bursting in to laughter. She laughed so hard, she had to put one hand on the wall to steady herself and used her other hand to wipe away a few tears.
"I think you're right." she agreed once the laughing fit subsided. She glanced up at Yongguk to see him laughing as well with a smile on his face. Her heart swelled, knowing his mood was better now than earlier.
"There's something else I wanted to show you." she said and motioned him over before sitting down on the floor.
He walked over to join her and she found the loose board. "This was my secret, pirate treasure, hiding place." she elaborated and lifted the board. Inside was a small cubby that contained a long, wooden box. She reached inside and brought it out. Setting the box on the floor, she opened it to reveal her small treasures.
"These are my parents' wedding rings." she said, grabbed a pair of rings that were tied together. "I don't really remember them though. They died when I was three."
Yongguk was no longer smiling but watching her solemnly. She forced a smile on her face though, not wanting to ruin the mood.
"This was grandpa's watch." she continued and held up an old pocket watch. "It stopped working so grandma just bought him a new one." Next she dug out a brooch. "This was grandma's. She gave it to mom at first but then she saved it for when I got older." Setting it aside, she showed him an old, metal bottle cap. "I found this when I was about eight years old in the woods. It was weird cause I never saw anyone out here except grandpa. It was like someone invaded our special place." Then she smiled a little. "Or as grandpa said; it means that we're never really alone no matter where we are."
After that, she continued on with the rest of the contents of the box. Things that she had found or were given to her. A bracelet from a friend and a dried flower she plucked from a bush. A few coins, each dated with a year that her or her family had been born in. Some stickers and a small bear toy. Each one told a little story that she shared with Yongguk, who sat and listened intently. Once she was finished, she sat back with a smiled at him.
"I'm not sure what to say." he said with a chuckle. He reached for the pocket watch and flipped it open. "But his is all pretty cool."
She giggled amusingly and nodded. "This was what I wanted to show you." she confessed. "These treasures of my past. And the memories that went with them."
He glanced up from the watch to give her a curious look.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, she shyly looked down as she felt her face heat up. "I just figured..." She shrugged her shoulders. "Since you don't have any memories, we can share mine."
She waited for him to say something but it remained silent. After a while, she slowly lifted her head to peek at him. She couldn't tell what he was thinking though with an odd expression on his face. "What?"
He blinked rapidly, seemingly to come out of a daze. Then he shyly smiled. "Nothing. I just..." He swallowed and sincerely said, "Thank you."
Smiling, she told him, "That's your one for the day."
"Yes ma'am." he said with a little chuckle. He reached over and gently put the pocket watch back in to the box. Then he frowned a little in contemplation before reaching up to his neck. Grabbing the chain, he pulled his dog tags off. One last look at them and then he went to put them in the box as well.
"What are you doing?" she questioned and quickly grabbed his hand.
"This is where you hide precious treasures to keep them safe, isn't it?" he replied.
"But..." she pouted, "This is the only thing you have."
He set the tags in the box before grabbing her hand. "Not anymore." he softly declared.
She felt her heart skip a beat as he held her hand. She stared in to his warm brown eyes while he stared back at her, the expression in them making her feel dizzy. It didn't even feel like she was breathing. Then the quiet was suddenly interrupted by the growling of a stomach. Both of their eyes widened in surprise before they burst out laughing.
"Let's get home and get some breakfast." she suggested and started putting the items back in to the treasure box. "I'll even make waffles."
A bright smile instantly formed on his face. "Good idea." he said and helped her clean up.

Jisun hid the box back in its cubby and they left the tree house. Yongguk climbed down first so she could secure the lock back in place. Then she carefully made her way down the rope. When she got low enough, Yongguk grabbed her and helped lower her to the ground. She threw the rope up until it got caught enough on a branch. Then she used the long stick to tuck the rest of it amongst the leaves to hide it.
They set off through the forest until they came to the trail and began to follow it home. On the way, Jisun kept pointing off in different directions like the last time they were in the woods. Directing him to various locations.
"And the stream runs close to the trail back there." she told him and pointed the way they had come. "If we kept going past the tree house, we would have ran in to it. There's another path further up we can take though that leads to it too and where a big group of blackberry bushes are."
"When are the blackberries ripe?" he inquired.
She eyed him suspiciously with a playful smirk. "Already thinking of blackberry jam?"
"Maybe" he replied with a chuckle.
She shook her head and chuckled as well. "Not till later in the summer. Around July and August." She bounded forward and did a little jump to smack a tiny branch that was spreading over the trail. She turned around to smile at Yongguk but froze. "Yongguk?"
He was standing on the trail and looking off in to the distance. She took a few steps closer and then felt her heart sink in to her stomach. He wasn't really looking at anything. He had that same look on his face from when he was sleep walking. Like he wasn't really there.
"Yongguk?" she repeated in a shaky voice. She moved closer to him but he remained completely still. Then she reached out and touched his arm.
He blinked and turned to look at her. "Huh?"
She stared at him in disbelief. "You... Why..."
Worry etched across his face. "What's wrong?"
She swallowed, trying to clear her head. "You were just... I said your name. You just kept standing there."
He raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Sorry. Must not have heard you." he said. Then he took her hand in his and tugged as he started walking once more. "Come on, I'm hungry."
She wordlessly followed as she tried to figure out what just happened.
"When are the blackberries ripe?"
She jerked back, planting her feet to the ground and making them stop. "What?"
He turned to face her and gave her a curious look. "When are the blackberries ripe?" he repeated.
dropped silently opened as her heartbeat sped up.
"You just said there are blackberries by the stream." he elaborated. "When can we pick them?"
She pulled her hand away from him and took a step back.
"Jisun?" he questioned, confused.
"I already told you." she whispered.
"Huh?" he asked and furrowed his eyebrows. "Told me what?"
Her jaw shook as she spoke. "About the blackberries. And I teased you about making jam. You even laughed.
His eyes widened in surprise. "What? But I.."
"I told you." she continued, her voice rising and filled with panic. "And then you... You were gone like before." She indicated the trail behind them. "Like when you're sleep walking but you're not. You were talking to me."
Yongguk opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off. "I said your name. I stood right next to you. How did you not hear me??"
"Jis.."
She stumbled back a few steps, panic and fear seizing her. "What is wrong with you?!" She turned away and ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "!"
Then an idea came to her that was like a slap to the face. Her whole body went numb. She spun around to face him again. "Oh god this has to do with your memories."
"Jisun." Yongguk murmured and went to grab her.
She pushed his hands away and stepped back. "!" she yelled again and frantically waved her hands in the air. "You probably have some ing head injury! And I didn't get you help. I'm so ing stupid!"
Suddenly she was grabbed again but she pushed him away.
"Jisun." he loudly said, attempting to hold on to her.
"No!" she cried out while swatting his hands away. "No!"
She struggled to get away but it was a losing battle. She was suddenly pressed against his chest and his arms quickly wrapped around her, holding her tightly. As she tried to get away though, the strength to fight slowly died inside her. Then everything else burst forth and she was sobbing uncontrollably, wetting the front of his shirt with her tears. She wrapped her arms around him and her hands clutched at his shirt. It didn't stop her body from trembling though.
"I'm sorry Jisun." he said, his voice cracking. "I'm so sorry."