Chapter 30: Can’t Let My Guard Down, Seriously

The next morning.

After getting permission through Chaerin,

Naturally, her parents welcomed Chaea and Hyunwoo.

A brief schedule: spending time in their room until lunch,

eating dinner, and then returning home.

It was a pretty uneventful day, but

“Ugh… what should I do?”

It felt like a huge problem to Chaea.

Frankly, Chaea found facing the past

more difficult than encountering new things.

To use an analogy for her current memory state, it was like a puzzle board with many pieces missing.

There were empty spaces here and there, but

it felt like only the ‘Do Hyunwoo’ piece was abundantly filled in.

Even that had a gaping hole in what seemed like the most important part…

Anyway.

The ‘family’ pieces were also scattered all over the place.

She had only managed to fit in a small part of the Chaerin piece yesterday,

so she was filled with all sorts of worries.

“What if they do all sorts of things for me, but I don’t remember anything at all?”

That was her biggest concern.

Yesterday was a first.

She had thought that repeating past memories would bring back her memories,

but nothing Chaerin showed her brought anything back.

What if her parents tried hard, but none of her memories returned?

It was the first time that hearing about a dark history made her memories flash back.

“…Why did Chaerin have to catch me doing that?”

Thanks to that, the day she buried her face in Hyunwoo’s shirt and the scent came back vividly.

“…But why was I doing that?”

Wasn’t that crossing the line between childhood friends?

She thought, but

the more she tried to remember, the more something blocked her thoughts.

Her head throbbed whenever she tried to step outside the boundaries of childhood friends,

so she shook her head and changed the direction of her thoughts.

“What if I remember everything too well?”

Not remembering anything was a problem, but

remembering everything was also unsettling.

Of course, Hyunwoo said she could stay at his house even if she remembered, but

Chaea was perceptive.

“It’s weird to keep living together when I remember…”

Even if Hyunwoo didn’t say a word, she would feel self-conscious,

and she would inevitably go back home.

She might come over to Hyunwoo’s house every day,

but there was a big difference between sleeping in the same bed and going home at night.

“Hoo…”

She sighed deeply, burdened with unresolved worries.

“Anyone would think you’re taking the college entrance exam.”

“Eek.”

Hyunwoo, who had appeared from behind, chided her.

“Why did you stop changing halfway?”

“…Ah.”

No wonder her stomach was cold.

Chaea had been so lost in thought that she hadn’t properly put on the top she had draped around her neck.

“When did you get here?”

“Ten minutes ago? I was going to see how long you’d stay like that. I figured you’d never come out if I left you alone.”

“So, you were admiring me for ten minutes?”

“What? No, I’m just saying. Do you think I was staring at you?”

Hyunwoo denied it reflexively,

but he wasn’t so sure himself.

Chaea’s chest had a strong power to attract attention, no matter how often or how long he looked at it.

As if affected by gravity,

he might have looked without realizing it.

He felt like it would be awkward if he dragged this topic on,

so he cleared his throat and changed the subject.

“Are you that nervous about going to your house?”

“Yeah… I don’t know why, but I’m really nervous.”

Chaea showed him her hands, as if to prove that she wasn’t lying.

They were shaking so badly that they would register an 8.0 on the Richter scale.

“What are you, a washing machine? You’re really bad today.”

He spoke gruffly,

but he couldn’t help but worry.

This was the first time she had been like this even before facing her memories.

“Should we say we’ll go next time if it’s too hard?”

“But we already made plans?”

“We can go anytime since we’re next door. And it’s okay not to force yourself if it’s too hard.”

Chaea seriously considered Hyunwoo’s words, but

“…No. It doesn’t seem like it’ll get better even if I put it off now.”

She shook her head and held out her trembling hand.

“Can you hold my hand instead?”

“All day today?”

“Yeah.”

That was a difficult request.

He didn’t care if he hugged or kissed her in front of people he would only see once.

But holding hands in front of Chaea’s parents, whom he had known since childhood

and would continue to see, wasn’t easy.

He wanted to refuse today if he could, but

“…Can’t you?”

He was afraid that she would never be able to go if he didn’t grant her request.

“…Why wouldn’t I? I’ll hold it.”

He sighed and took Chaea’s hand.

“Hoo, haa, hoo, haa…”

“Are you okay now?”

“Yeah, I’m really okay!”

It took less than 30 seconds to go next door, but

it felt like 30 minutes because Chaea was trying to relax.

Ding-dong-

“Ugh…”

Chaea froze as soon as the doorbell rang.

Whirr, whirr, whirr.

They could hear someone running from inside.

Even if they were happy to see their eldest daughter, her parents wouldn’t come running so frantically.

Bang!

“Sister, you’re here?”

As expected,

the person who opened the door was Yoo Chaerin.

“Uh, yeah. Long time no see.”

“Huh? We saw each other yesterday.”

“Ah, no. It just slipped out.”

“…Did you already forget about yesterday?”

Chaerin drooped her eyes at Chaea’s slip of the tongue.

“That’s not it. She’s broken today. Please understand.”

Hyunwoo, an expert at creating unnecessary misunderstandings, suppressed another misunderstanding before it could arise,

and stepped into the familiar entryway.

Just as Chaea had often come to Hyunwoo’s house,

Hyunwoo had also often gone to Chaea’s house.

Of course, all the game consoles, manga, and good TVs were at Hyunwoo’s house, but

“Hyunwoo, you’re here?”

Chaea’s father was sitting on the sofa watching TV.

“Oh my, this old lady was too slow. Lunch isn’t ready yet.”

Chaea’s mother was cutting potatoes in the kitchen.

Even though the house was a little small,

it was often visited because it was filled with human warmth.

Just eating one meal with Chaea’s family

left that warmth for a week.

“It’s okay. We can wait a little.”

“Then, would you like to wait in Chaea’s room?”

“I will.”

Chaea’s parents treated her the same as usual, even though they were very worried about her.

‘Has Yoo Chaea never lost her memory?’

It was so much so that he even had such a delusion.

The truth was revealed while following Chaerin.

“Mom and Dad are trying really hard right now.”

“Trying?”

“When I told them what I heard yesterday, they said that you would be more comfortable if they acted like they usually do…”

Last night.

Chaerin, who had returned home, took out the box from Hyunwoo’s drawer

and told them everything that had happened that day.

-Then, we should act like we usually do…

-Can we do that?

-We have to. For Chaea’s sake.

That was what her parents, who had heard the whole story, had decided.

To create a familiar environment for Chaea by pretending to be nonchalant,

so that her memories would naturally return.

“My mom cried so much. She’s pretending to be okay right now.”

Chaerin glanced at

Chaea and asked carefully.

“But sister… you don’t remember anything, do you?”

“……Yeah.”

Chaea nodded with a stone in her heart.

The biggest worry she had was coming true.

Tremble, tremble.

Whether it was out of guilt,

or for some other reason,

the trembling slowly spread through her body again.

“Get a grip, Yoo Chaea.”

Squeeze.

When Hyunwoo tightened his grip on her hand,

the trembling stopped as if by magic.

“It’s only happened once. You might remember something if you talk later.”

“…Do you think so?”

“You will.”

She could feel the determination to reassure her in his tightly gripped hand.

“Hoo… Thank you, Hyunwoo.”

Chaea took a deep breath and smiled.

Chaerin, who had been blankly watching the two of them, asked.

“But sister, oppa… are you going to keep doing that?”

“Yoo Chaea starts shaking like a washing machine if I let go.”

“What… what does that mean?”

“Want me to show you?”

“Ah.”

As soon as he let go of her hand, Chaea’s body started shaking convulsively.

Hyunwoo shrugged his shoulders and took Chaea’s hand again.

“See?”

“Why, why is she doing that…?”

“I don’t know. She’s too nervous.”

Chaerin, who was looking at them as if she couldn’t understand at all, shook her head.

“W-well, maybe.”

“Weren’t you looking at me like I was a mental patient just now…?”

“When did I ever, sister! I never did that. Come on, follow me. You might remember something if you see your room.”

Chaerin hurriedly made excuses and opened the door.

Click.

The first thing Hyunwoo felt when he came inside was

“It’s gotten cleaner.”

Familiarity and cleanliness.

Perhaps her parents had cleaned it up since Chaea was living at Hyunwoo’s house.

He smiled as he looked around the room, thinking that.

“You still have this.”

The glow-in-the-dark dinosaur on the ceiling.

‘This is why things turned out this way.’

If he hadn’t fallen for the glow-in-the-dark dinosaur’s temptation, his relationship with Chaea would have been completely different.

He was lamenting the really big butterfly effect, when

“…?”

He belatedly realized that Chaea had become completely silent.

“Yoo Chaea, don’t you remember anyth… Yoo Chaea?”

“Hic…”

Hyunwoo was startled when he turned around.

Chaea was already clutching her head with a pale face.

“What’s wrong?”

“My head…”

“Does your head hurt?”

Chaea nodded with difficulty.

He never thought she would be like this after seeing her room.

Hyunwoo hugged Chaea tightly without thinking.

“Haa… haa…”

“It’s okay. Take a deep breath slowly.”

Pat, pat.

Hyunwoo comforted Chaea familiarly.

“W-what’s going on all of a sudden…?”

Chaerin’s eyes widened.

She was excitedly introducing the room and trying to help her regain her memories, but

she didn’t expect her to complain of a headache and naturally burrow into Hyunwoo’s arms,

nor did she expect Hyunwoo to hug Chaea.

“S-should I go get Mom and Dad?”

Chaerin, who was about to run out in the face of an unexpected situation that she couldn’t understand at all,

Slap!

“Stay still. She’ll calm down in a bit.”

Hyunwoo grabbed Chaerin’s wrist and prevented things from escalating.

Hyunwoo, who had ended up holding both sisters, sighed deeply.

‘Why is she doing this again this time? Can’t let my guard down, seriously…’