9 Nam Byunghun

"Yeah, don't worry mom… I'm fine now~" said Jaeho. It's been two days he got discharged from the hospital and while he was in his room getting ready to go out, he got a phone call from his parents. "Just one thing I gotta tell you…" said Jaeho and from his looks, his mom know that it was a serious matter.

"What is it, sweetheart?" asked Mrs. Lee, feeling anxious about what her son is about to say.

"I remember her…" answered Jaeho and Mrs. Lee seems confused. "Who?" asked Mrs. Lee.

"Il Hwa. Choi Il Hwa. My girlfriend who died in the accident two years ago." Answered Jaeho.

That made both of his parents in shock, hearing Jaeho said her name.

"Son-" said Mr. Lee but Jaeho cut off his lines. "I know lost my memories, but why did both of you won't tell me anything about her?" asked Jaeho. "You both know how much I love her." Said Jaeho trying to hold back his tears. Whenever he mentioned her name, he doesn't know why, but he wants to cry.

"Son, we both know you love her so much. The truth is, right after she's gone, your aunt told us you were depressed. You won't talk, you always spend your time alone by going to places that you both used to go. You went home late at night with swollen eyes. You couldn't accept the fact that she's gone…" explained Mrs. Lee.

"You got us really worried… we both thought of bringing you here and live with us to start a new life… but right after we booked out flight ticket, your aunt called me saying that you got into an accident. And what surprised us the most is that, it was the road where Il Hwa got accident too. So all of us thought you must went because you missed her." Said Mrs. Lee.

"Yeah, the doctor told us you might have a hallucination about her and crossed the road without looking at the cars passing by…" continued Mr. Lee. "That's why all of us has never mentioned about her…" said Mrs. Lee.

"And the house you currently stayed in… I bet you must know about it too from the name of the house owner…" said Mr. Lee.

And that made Jaeho thinking for a second. *house owner?* thought Jaeho and he remembered that Uncle Lee had told him the house owner name was Mr. and Mrs. Choi. *Il Hwa's name is Choi Il Hwa… does that-* thought Jaeho.

"Mr. and Mrs. Choi is actually…." Said Jaeho not finishing his line.

"Yes son, they are her parents…. They let you stayed in the house because they trusted you and know how much you love their daughter… both of them are trying to move on and move into a new house instead…" explained Mr. Lee.

*Now everything make sense….* thought Jaeho. While he was talking, he got a text from Hyukjin saying that he and Saeron has arrived at the café that they promised to meet.

"Mom, dad. Thank you for telling me…I gotta go now and meet my friends…" said Jaeho. Once they bid their goodbyes, Jaeho turned off his laptop and went out of his room. Then, he looked towards the white door.

*That was really her room…* thought Jaeho. Then, he walked towards the room and twisted the doorknob and noticed that Il Hwa was sleeping soundly on a couch near the window. Jaeho went near her and kissed her head softly. Before he left, he wrote a note on a sticky note and stick it on the fridge.

"I'm going out for a while. Urgent matters. I'll buy your favourite tteokbokki for dinner later :)"

***

The three of them are finally in the café together. Both Hyukjin and Saeron just keep the head low down feeling guilty.

"Tell me, everything." Said Jaeho firmly while crossing his arms.

Then, both of them told him everything that happened that night, how they actually waited for him outside of the room, till they saw he fainted and had to call for an ambulance.

"So all this while you both know about Il Hwa but, none of you remind me who she is?" asked Jaeho and both of them nodded.

"I tried to prevent you from entering the room, but Hyukjin told me that we should help you…. Then, we both got worried because you were alone and decided to stay outside of the practice room…." Said Saeron.

"Then we heard you begin to play the piano… the melody used to be the melody that Il Hwa used to play during the competition that she won before… so we both thought you must remembered her that time… when suddenly, we heard you were screaming in pain and fainted…" added Hyukjin and Saeron nodded. "Luckily we decided to stay there if not, no one will help you." Said Saeron.

Jaeho was listening to their story and tried to remember the accident in his dream. "I have something to share with you two…. I remembered something before Il Hwa got hit…" said Jaeho.

"Really?! Tell us!" urged Hyukjin.

"I remember I got a call from someone… he was threatening me… he said he would kill me if Il Hwa choose me over him. But, I can't remember the voice and who was the one that called me." Said Jaeho.

"All I know is that, the truck accident was supposed to be me, but instead, Il Hwa walked first and it 'accidentally' hit on her." Added Jaeho while staring, remembering those scenes that he saw in his dream.

"Wait wait. I'm confused." Said Hyukjin. "You mean that accident was supposed to happen? And it was supposed to hit you?" asked Hyukjin and Jaeho nodded. "I remember the guy on the phone told me he wants to kill me." Said Jaeho. The three of them were quiet for a while thinking about what had happened two years ago.

"I think it's true. The accident was not just an accident. But it was intentional so that this person, can kill you." Said Saeron and Jaeho nodded. "It's pretty obvious… I guess I was in shocked right after she's gone so I don't have any willing to think about it…" said Jaeho. "We have to find that guy." Said Saeron as she gritted her teeth.

"By the way, does Il Hwa used to be in a relationship before she dated you?" asked Hyukjin.

"I'm not sure... She never tells me…" answered Jaeho. Both Hyukjin and Saeron let out a long sigh. "But," said Jaeho as he paused for a while, remembering what Il Hwa had told him before. "She told me before she was close with one of her classmates." Said Jaeho.

"Do you remember his name?" asked Hyukjin.

Jaeho shook his head. "But at least we know where to find him~" smirked Jaeho.

"Yeah, but still, it's not that easy to find someone without knowing their name." said Hyukjin as he rolled his eyes imagining how tiring it will be to find someone.

------------------

A few days later, right after their class ended, the three of them, including Il Hwa were walking towards Faculty of Arts.

"Jaeho, what are we doing here again?" asked Il Hwa as she remembered the day that Jaeho got fainted.

"We're trying to find someone." Whispered Jaeho scared if Hyukjin and Saeron heard him.

"But I don't wanna be here again… I'm scared something trigger with your memories and you can fainted again…" pouted Il Hwa as she tugged on his shirts. Jaeho find her cute and let out his small chuckle.

"Don't worry, this time, I won't." said Jaeho as he ruffled her hair playfully. As they were walking inside the building, four of them has entered Department of Music. It's where Il Hwa used to be at. "So now what?" asked Hyukjin and crossed his arms.

Suddenly, someone called Jaeho from behind, and four of them looked at the back and see a guy with the same height with black long coat was standing behind him.

"Lee Jaeho?"

As for Il Hwa, the guy seems so familiar towards her. She was trying so hard to remember his face.

*Nam Byunghun?* thought Jaeho.

"Are you looking for Il Hwa's belongings?" asked ByungHun and the three of them was surprised at the mention of Il Hwa's name.

"Wait. He knows me?" asked Il Hwa.

"How do you know her?" asked Jaeho in curious.

"We're kinda close as a classmate." Answered Byunhun. *Found him* thought Jaeho. "And I believe she still has some of her belongings in her locker. I can show you guys where her locker…is" said Byunghun.

But before Jaeho could accept the offer, he heard Il Hwa's voice.

"Ah-" said Il Hwa in pain and she squatted down. Jaeho was surprised by her sudden action. He wanted to help her, but remember his friends are there too. "You guys go and follow him to take her belongings. I got something to do for a while." Said Jaeho and his friend nodded, following Byunghun to Il Hwa's locker. Right after they left, Jaeho straight away went towards Il Hwa.

"Il Hwa-ah, are you alright?" asked Jaeho in worried. "What's wrong?" asked Jaeho as he noticed tears were streaming down her face. "Take me away from here. Please. Jaeho please. Let's get out of here…" cried Il Hwa.

Jaeho was too surprised seeing her cry and without asking her any question, he took her arms and bring her out of the building.

"Let's go home." Said Jaeho.