Chapter 5: So, She Really Did Lose Her Memories

Their cohabitation officially began the next day.

Of course, not much had changed.

If anything stood out—

“Yoo Chaea, wake up.”

“Ugh… Just five more minutes.”

“At least let go of this.”

They had only held hands while sleeping.

Squeeze.

Yet, when he woke up, she was clinging to his arm.

On top of that, she was pressing down on him with her entire body, making it hard to move his hand.

At first, being enveloped in her soft warmth stirred strange feelings in him.

But after a while, his arm started to go numb, as if he were getting a cramp.

“If you don’t get up, I’m sending you back home.”

“You’re so mean, Do hyunwoo….”

And so, with a not-quite-threat, he managed to wake the drowsy Chaea.

“What’s for breakfast?”

“Sandwiches.”

He simply threw together whatever ingredients were available and stuffed them between slices of bread for a quick meal.

“Mm….”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Chaea squinted at him as she chewed on her sandwich.

She wanted to be fed.

But since this was something she could eat with one hand, she felt a bit disappointed.

“I prefer rice or noodles over bread.”

“…Isn’t that a lie?”

Hyunwoo tilted his head.

He had chosen sandwiches for a reason.

— Hyunwoo, let’s go to the snack shop!
— How many times a day are you going there?
— Three times?
— You eat as if it’s your three daily meals.

Chaea was a hardcore bread lover who would drag him to the school snack shop every break.

He had purposely prepared something she liked.

“Besides, your right hand isn’t fully functional. Isn’t bread easier to eat?”

“…I suddenly feel like brushing my teeth.”

Avoiding his gaze, Chaea slipped into the bathroom.

‘She wouldn’t be acting like this just to get me to feed her, right?’

Hyunwoo, having guessed the answer, denied the possibility and followed her in.

Standing side by side in front of the mirror—

Scrub scrub.

As she brushed her teeth, Chaea asked,

“What should we do today? You said there’s less than a week left of summer break.”

“Yeah.”

“Thinking about it, it’s really unfair. I don’t even remember much.”

“You said you remember everything that happened with me, though.”

“Not that clearly. It’s all hazy, like a fog.”

“If we do it again, maybe the memories will come back?”

“Maybe.”

Chaea nodded.

After finishing her teeth, she started to leave the bathroom—then suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just…”

Her serious gaze fell on their toothbrushes, standing side by side.

“Doesn’t this feel like we’re newlyweds?”

“…Where did that come from all of a sudden?”

Hyunwoo barely managed to hide his flustered expression.

Lying awake in bed last night, he had told himself over and over—

Before Chaea regains her memories, just ignore all the nonsense she says.

“We woke up in the same bed, had breakfast together, brushed our teeth together… Doesn’t that make us kinda like a married couple?”

His resolve immediately wavered.

It had only been one day since their cohabitation started.

And yet, this really did feel way too much like a newlywed routine.

‘Is this okay?’

Their parents hadn’t expected things to be like this.

They probably just thought he’d take care of her until she regained her memories.

Not that they would end up living like a couple.

Hyunwoo stared at Chaea with conflicted eyes.

‘It’s basically because of her.’

He hadn’t intended for things to turn out this way.

She asked to be hugged.

She asked to hold hands.

And somehow, things had progressed to this point.

Trying to figure out what was going on in her head, he pulled out his ultimate card.

“That’s normal for childhood friends.”

Childhood friends.

A phrase that was almost invincible between them.

No matter how close they got, whenever one of them threw out those words, they’d naturally move on to another topic.

If their feelings had reached the point where a confession was inevitable, they would have pushed past it.

“Yeah. We’re childhood friends.”

But Chaea backed off.

Just like a year ago—

Back when they were still testing each other’s feelings.

Thanks to that, Hyunwoo’s mind became even more tangled.

‘Did she go back to before she liked me? Then… when did she start liking me in the first place?’

Was she really only thinking of him as a childhood friend to rely on?

Did all the skinship between them mean nothing?

What if Chaea no longer had feelings for him—

“Why do you suddenly look so spaced out?”

Her face was right in front of his.

That snapped Hyunwoo out of his spiral.

“…It’s nothing.”

Thinking about it alone wouldn’t solve anything.

“How about a movie today?”

“Oh? Sounds good.”

For now, he decided to focus on their daily routine.

And find a way to bring her memories back.

He let Chaea pick the movie.

He figured she might remember her usual preferences.

“Should we watch this one?”

“…You want to watch that?”

Her hand paused on the screen.

Hyunwoo let out a bitter chuckle.

“So, you really did lose your memories.”

“Huh? Oh…”

Only then did Chaea notice the red progress bar at the bottom of the screen.

She had already watched this movie.

“Oh… we already saw this?”

“Yeah. At the start of summer break. You picked it, and we had a great time watching it. You don’t remember at all?”

“Mm…”

Chaea closed her eyes, tilting her head.

“It feels like I might remember… but I’m not sure. But I do know I watched it with you.”

“Of course you do.”

Every movie Hyunwoo had ever watched was with Chaea.

And it was the same for her.

That was something she didn’t even need to recover her memories to know.

“Then should we watch something else? It won’t be fun if you’ve already seen it.”

“No, let’s watch this. I want to see if my reaction is the same as before.”

“You want to check your reaction? What genre is this?”

“Horror.”

“…Did I originally like horror?”

“Of course.”

Hyunwoo shamelessly lied.

In reality, horror was one of Chea’s least favorite genres.

The expression she usually maintained like an iron fortress would crumble miserably whenever she played horror games or watched horror movies.

— Hyunwoo, let’s watch this.

— What is it?

— I don’t know. It just looks fun, so I turned it on. Hurry up and sit down.

The movie they picked now had a bright and cheerful cover, just like the one she was tricked into watching back then.

“That doesn’t sound right….”

“Trust me. You enjoyed it.”

Hyunwoo coaxed Chaea gently.

It felt a little cruel to mess with someone who had lost their memories.

But after all the trouble she put him through since yesterday, this was payback.

Would her reaction be the same as before?

For the most part, it was.

Chaea wasn’t the type to scream when watching something scary.

“…!”

Instead, she would freeze completely, ears perked like a frightened animal.

At first, it was satisfying.

Maybe it was the childish instinct of wanting to tease the girl he liked.

The way she flinched at every little sound was undeniably cute.

But there was a reason he said ‘for the most part.’

“Nothing has even happened yet.”

“…It feels like something’s about to.”

“But this is a bit much. I can barely see the screen.”

Chaea had climbed right onto Hyunwoo’s lap.

And she was clinging to him from behind, asking to be held.

Which meant they were now stuck in a close back hug.

“Aren’t you supposed to hide behind someone when you’re scared?”

Feeling awkward about their position, he tried to reason with her.

“OO….”

But Chaea clearly didn’t care.

She pressed down on his arms wrapped around her waist.

Naturally, their bodies became even more closely entangled.

And with her addictive warmth under his touch, there was no way a healthy high school boy wouldn’t react.

“Hey. If you’re scared, let’s stop watching.”

“No, you said I liked this. I need to watch a little more to understand why.”

“Ugh, come on….”

Hyunwoo was getting a taste of his own medicine.

They used the same shampoo, the same body wash—so why did her scent feel so intoxicating?

‘How can she not notice?’

Was she so scared that she had lost awareness of everything else?

Even though they had been pressed together this whole time, all she did was tremble.

“You… You’re scared too. Your heart’s racing.”

Chaea leaned back even more, clearly sensing his rapid heartbeat.

And in doing so, she inadvertently caused more stimulation in another area.

“…Yeah. I’m really terrified.”

But not because of the horror movie.

He was afraid he’d lose his mind from this utter lack of personal space.

Luckily, the movie ended before Chaea noticed anything.

“I need to use the bathroom.”

Hyunwoo immediately pushed her away and escaped.

After taking a moment alone to calm himself down, he returned.

But his suffering wasn’t over yet.

Tonight, he had planned to sleep in a different room for sure.

“I’m too scared to sleep alone… Can you stay with me?”

Chaea clung to his sleeve, looking desperate.

“What’s there to be scared of? You know it’s all fake.”

“Still… What if it shows up in my dreams?”

“I guess there’s no helping it.”

“Ah, please! Just stay next to me!”

She whined and clung to his arm.

“It’s not like I’m leaving. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“That’s even scarier! The ghost in the movie came from under the bed!”

“So you’re saying I’m a ghost now?”

Unfortunately, the movie was about nightmares, which only made her fear worse.

He couldn’t just leave his terrified childhood friend alone.

“Just for tonight.”

In the end, Hyunwoo gave in and lay beside her again.

The moment he did, she latched onto his arm.

“Hey, you—”

He was about to protest that this wasn’t part of the deal.

But then he felt her trembling.

‘She’s even worse than before.’

The last time they watched a horror movie, she wasn’t this bad.

That meant one of two things.

Either her resistance to horror had weakened drastically.

Or last time, she had just pretended to be fine while secretly trembling alone.

…Either way, it made him feel guilty.

“Yoo Chaea.”

“…?”

“I’m right here, so stop shaking.”

“…Okay….”

She responded, but the trembling didn’t stop.

She clearly wasn’t going to fall asleep like this.

Swoosh.

Hyunwoo pulled her closer and patted her back.

“Still scared?”

“Mm…”

Instead of answering, Chaea buried her face into his chest.

They were practically cuddling now.

But since he had just relieved himself, he could barely manage to keep his cool.

“So, did you remember anything?”

“…Just one thing.”

“Oh? What is it?”

He only meant to chat until she fell asleep.

He didn’t expect her memories to actually return.

“The last time we watched a movie, I got scared… and you laughed at me.”

“…”

It wasn’t the most useful memory, but still.

“I didn’t laugh.”

“You did. You enjoyed watching me get scared.”

“Well… That’s true. But I didn’t laugh.”

“You totally did.”

Maybe she didn’t remember exactly how he laughed.

But he could only hope it wasn’t as mean as she was implying.

“Ahem. Anyway, don’t you think reliving past events helps restore your memory?”

“Maybe?”

“We’re not sure yet. We should test it a bit more.”

If this was just a coincidence, they’d need to try again to confirm.

“There are plenty of things we can do at home.”

For now, they’d focus on regaining her memories of him first.

Then gradually expand to include her family and friends.

“What about school? Will you be okay?”

The only concern was that the semester was starting soon.

She was trembling just from a horror movie.

If their classes got split up, would she even manage to function at school?

“…I don’t know. But I have to try. I can’t live like this forever.”

Still, it seemed like she had made up her mind.

She gave a small nod.

“So… stay with me.”

“Of course.”

“…Thanks.”

Swish, swish.

As he gently stroked her back, Chea quickly drifted off to sleep.

Even then, she held onto his shirt tightly.

And Hyunwoo thought to himself.

‘If this keeps up, something’s going to happen.’

Being this close was seriously bad for his heart.

If her excessive skinship continued, his self-control would eventually snap.

Which meant he had to help her regain her memories as fast as possible.

‘This time, I’m going to confess for real.’

He would make sure to tell her properly.

That way, they could finally move forward.

At that moment, Hyunwoo set his goal for the year.