Chapter Text
***
Rona stared out the open window. The morning sky looked so bright, the sun was shining brightly without any clouds covering it.
“Is it summer now? Ah, why don't I remember what the season is?” She leaned her body back to bed. Since she woke up yesterday and found out that she had lost her memory, she still couldn't get used to this situation.
“I don't even remember what grade I am now.”
“You graduated from high school last year. In fact, you would be going to Juilliard at the end of this month.” Accompanied by her doctor, the woman who had previously introduced herself as her mother's friend entered her room while answering her curiosity.
“Juilliard? That famous music school in New York? But how is that possible?” She couldn't believe what she had just heard.
“Yup, that campus. How is that possible? It's because you're very talented. You can get in there easily.” The woman then stood beside her bed before stroking her hair, “You look better today.”
Because she still felt unfamiliar with the woman whose name she still couldn't remember, she gave a smile as an answer. Apart from that, she was also not used to hearing praise given to her by other people.
“You must have forgotten her name.” The doctor guessed the awkward gestures she was showing.
“Ah that… I'm sorry.”
“No worries. Besides, you're used to calling me ahjumma.”
“Shim Suryeon is her name. Don't forget it because now she is your guardian.”
“Guardian?”.
“Doctor, is it okay if Rona-”
“I know that the last attack that occurred on Miss Bae had a very bad impact and raises caution so that it won't happen again. But I have observed that it is possible that Miss Bae already knows about that.”
Rona observed the conversation between the two adults, wondering what they were talking about. What did her doctor mean that she knew about that? Before she tried to find the answer, she saw the doctor look at her. “Rona-ya. I noticed you didn't ask your mother at all. Why?”
The question asked by the doctor surprised her, she didn't expect the doctor to realize this. It was true that since she woke up, not even once she asked about her mother. She then looked at her mother's best friend before turning to her doctor and she could see they were waiting for her answer. With a little nod and closed her eyes for a moment she then looked at her doctor, “My mother... my mother is not in this world anymore, right?”
“Rona-ya..”
“So you remember that your mother is dead?” The doctor asked further.
And that was the weirdest thing, she didn't even remember why and how her mother died. She shook her head before answering, “No. It's like I don't remember that she died. I can only feel that she is no longer here.”
Yes, she didn't remember how her mother died. But she knew that her mother had died.
“I don't understand. Then how do you know?”
A dream
For some reason, the dream, which seemed like reality before she opened her eyes yesterday, gave an indication that her mother wasn't with her anymore.
She wanted to answer it by telling him about her dream before she opened her eyes. But the moment she looked into her doctor's eyes indicating curiosity with her answer, she couldn't say it. How could a doctor believe such a nonsensical answer?
“Didn't I have an accident with my mother?”
“No, you had an accident… alone.” The doctor said the word ‘alone’ after a moment of silence and looked at her mother's best friend.
Then how could she know that she had an accident with her mother? A memory flashed through her head. She and her mother had a car accident. “Oh!”
“What's wrong, Rona-ya?”
“There's… I-” She stared at her mother's best friend's eyes, wanting to tell her about the memory that just flashed into her head. But she didn't know how to tell her because the memory itself was blurry, only showing her that they had an accident but how and when the accident happened, she had no idea.
“You must have a reason for giving an answer like that.” The doctor looked at her, questioning her with caution.
“I've just remembered that my mother and I had a car accident.” She felt confused about what had happened to her. Why did she know that her mother was dead? Is it really just a dream or is there something else? Then why did the memory of the accident suddenly flash through her head? Question after question came to her mind.
“It's okay, don't try too hard.” A touch on her shoulder by her doctor interrupted her thoughts.
“Huh?” She gave her doctor a questioning look.
“You don't need to rush to remember everything. Let everything flow as it is. The memories will come by themselves. No need to worry, your memory will return at the right time.”
Rona could only stare at the doctor in silence. Would it be okay if she forgot everything, forgot everyone?
“What we want is your recovery, Rona. It's okay if you don't remember anything, we still stay by your side.”
She looked at her mother's best friend and nodded in understanding. “Thank you, ahjumma.”
“Anything for you, dear.”
“Well, it looks like your condition is getting better. Later I will arrange a schedule for your physical therapy. You've been in bed too long. See you later Bae Rona. Remember! Don't try too hard. You must give your head a rest.” Her doctor said to her before walking out of the room.
She gave a nod in response. With her doctor's leaving, she was alone with the woman who called herself her mother's best friend. For her, it was still a mystery why she was suddenly surrounded by a lot of people in her life. And her mother had a best friend? How much time did she lose to have all of this?
“Then, I'll also leave for a while. Later your friends will come to accompany you.” Ms. Shim kissed her head before walking away.
“Ahjumma!” Rona had a request in her mind after thinking about their life now. Especially about her mother's life.
“Yes?”
“When you come back later. Can you tell me how you became my mother's best friend?” She then stopped for a moment realizing that her words seemed impolite, “It's not that I suspect you... But as far as I remember, my mother didn't have any friends, let alone best friends.”
Ms. Shim smiled at her innocent question. “Sure, when I come back. I'll tell you everything.”
The door to her room was closed causing the atmosphere to become quiet again and she was now alone in the room. Ms. Shim's words that her friends would come later actually made her uneasy. She still felt awkward with them, even with the person she remembered as her fiancé.
Rona let out a big sigh and put her head back on her pillow. She must get rid of her anxiety. Because after all, her friends would feel offended if they knew she felt awkward being with them.
She closed her eyes and pushed her brain to remember, at least to remember those people. But no matter how hard she tried, not a single memory came to mind.
It seemed like she should have to get used to this situation.
***
“I didn't understand why you won't accompany Rona. Isn't this your chance to be alone with her? Minhyuk goes to his campus, Jeni has a class, and I also will have a class for my GED exam (A/N: it's a high school equivalency exam since Seokkyung dropped out, don't know what it is called in Korea).” Seokkyung said to his brother who was walking beside her. They had just come out of Rona's room. After Minhyuk and Jeni said goodbye. She also said goodbye because she wanted to give Rona and her brother some time alone, but for some reason, her brother also said goodbye with the reason that he had something to do. And Seokkyung knew it was a lie.
“I'm still trying to adapt to this situation, still don't know what to do around her. It feels awkward, you know.” But although he gave his reason, she still didn't understand why he skipped his chance to be with Rona.
“Pfft.. Awkward? Since when do you feel awkward around Rona?”
She could hear her brother sighing, “Since earlier. Didn't you see that Rona also looked awkward? I have to admit that I don't have any confidence to be around her, let alone speaking to her or having conversations without you all. I don't know what to do.”
“Wow, who would've thought that Joo Seokhoon doesn't have confidence and needs someone else to accompany him.” She laughed a little at his confession.
“Hey!” Her brother pushed her with his shoulder. She laughed even more before walking ahead of him and turning to look at his face.
“But I could see your awkwardness when Rona asked about your scratch there.” She pointed to the small scar that was visible at the corner of her brother's lip. “Of all the topics that could be used for small talk, Rona chose to ask what happened with your face. I've never thought that Minhyuk could throw a punch that could give you a scar like that.” She shook her head before walking back beside her brother.
“Tch,” Her brother hissed while turning his head maybe trying to hide his scar or maybe trying to hide his red embarrassing face.
“Then what would you do after this?”
Seokhoon's head turned back at her before smiling, “I'm thinking of taking a driving class.”
"EH?" Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“M-hm!”
“Then your motorbike?”
“What with my motorbike?”
“You don't want to use it anymore?”
“What does taking a driving class have to do with my motorbike?”
“By taking a driving class, it means that in the future you will use a car as transportation, not your motorbike.” She answered by emphasizing the meaning of her question.
Her brother shrugged his shoulders. “I'll still use it. Learning to drive doesn't mean I will always use a car.”
“Then why did you decide to learn to drive?”
“Rona... because of Rona. If I have to take Rona here and there I want to take her by car. I don't want Rona to remember the memories of us riding on my motorbike. I don't know why I feel like it is safer to use a car than a bike.”
Her brother's answer wasn't what she expected. Actually, she had this thought after she observed how her brother reacted to Rona's condition. And she needed to let out what was bothering her to him to find the answer from his mouth, “You don't want Rona to get her memory back?”
Her question seemed right on target with how Seokhoon's face shifted a little. He looked at her before sighing, “It's not that I… It's just how she was before she lost her memory, how our relationship was, and her feelings towards me. I don't want her to be hurt again by remembering everything... Remembering me.” The last word was said very softly, almost whispered by him and she understood what it meant. The gloominess started to spread on his face. Something that she hated to see.
“You'd better take Rona by taxi, I'm worried that Rona will get in an accident because of you.”
“Hey! What an unsupportive sister you are.” Without his knowing the gloominess that appeared on his face before, lifted off because of her tease.
She laughed a little with a little happiness engraved in her laughter to see her brother somewhat bright again. Gone was all the sadness, regret, and anger he had shown these past days. And she wished all her brother's miseries would be lifted off forever, start to hope and be positive again.
“Oh! Omma! You're here.” Her brother suddenly stopped in surprise, and so did she. Their mother was seen walking towards them.
“Oh Seokhoon-ah, Seokkyung-ah. Are you from Rona's room? Is she sleeping or what?”
“No, she's alone. Looks like she also wants to be alone.” Seokhoon answered their mother's question.
“I see.”
“Omma, didn't you say you would carry out your plan today?”
Their mother told them beforehand that today, their mother and Logan would carry out a plan to trap Cheon Seojin and hopefully, this time would put her in the place where she should be for all the things she had done.
“Yes, tonight after Dr Ha's funeral is over.”
Although her mother told their plan with confidence that this time would be successful, Seokkyung still had this unsettling feeling about this.
“Are you sure it will be successful this time?” Even her brother had the same doubts as her.
“Yes, this time I'm sure it works because now we have Eunbyeol on our side.”
She rolled her eyes hearing the name of her former classmate, “Is Eunbyeol truly trustworthy and won't betray us again? I mean, she even pretended to be an amnesiac after Rona's mother saved her and helped her own mother. Who knows, maybe she'll do something like that again?”
“Seokkyung-ah…” She heard her brother kind of warning her.
“You must also have thoughts like that, right?”
“Before, yes, even after donating blood to Rona I still didn't trust her... But…”
“But what?”
“After I saw her at Dr Ha's funeral, I saw Eunbyeol who was devastated by her father's death. I'm sure she really wanted to know the truth, even if it was about whether or not her mother killed him. This time she will try to do anything to know the truth. If it turns out to be true, I doubt she wants to help her mother again.” Seokhoon gave his reason to convince her.
“Seokhoon is right. Eunbyeol even said that if it was true that her mother caused her father's death, she herself would report Cheon Seojin to the police.” Their mother added.
“Tch, I still don't trust her.” She looked away. Even after her brother and mother tried to convince her, she still had this distrust towards her former classmate. After all, they used to be bullies together in the past. She knew Eunbyeol was like her. An egoistic spoiled brat.
Her mother smiled before taking her into her arms, “If this plan succeeds, then everything will be over. There will be no more people who will make us, and Rona of course, suffer. We will start a new chapter together as a family. We still have homework for Rona. But I'm not worried because everything will definitely be fine.”
“Omma…”
Their mother then let go of her hug before her hands took Seokhoon into their arms.
“You two have to promise to help me look after Rona.”
“Of course!”
She chuckled at her brother's immediate answer. Of course the lover boy would help their mother, undoubtedly and voluntarily. Rona is his world so looking after Rona is no longer a task given to him by their mother but rather his own purpose.
“No need to worry. Seokhoon will absolutely help you look after Rona. Without being told, he will be happy to do it. For me, if you told me to, I would definitely do it, but if he told me to, I would ask him to pay me because his requests surely include doing some labor.”
“Shut up!” Seokhoon lightly hit her back.
Their mother laughed a little before letting go of her hug but her hands were still holding her and her brother's hands.
“I'm counting on you. No matter what and whatever happens, you have to be together. You have to get through it together, especially when Rona's memory comes back. Will you promise to do it?”
“Didn't I tell you of course I will! I promise you. As for Seokkyung, maybe you have to prepare expensive items and money as payment.”
“Oppa!! That only applies to you.”
Their mother laughed again before her brother followed her to laugh. Seeing the two people she loved most laughing together and happiness radiating from their faces, she smiled too. Their mother was right, a new chapter was starting for them.
***
Rona looked again at the tablet on her lap, the screen showing a scene from the drama. Her friend who told her name as Jeni, gave her the tablet after asking what she wanted to do and her reply to her friend was she wanted to watch the continuation of the drama she was following. The scene she was watching was very interesting but somehow Rona was not very enthusiastic even though she clearly remembered the latest episode she watched before she experienced this memory loss, and she was eagerly awaiting the continuation. Was it because in her subconscious she had already watched it and it reduced her enthusiasm to watch?
Her eyes wandered around her before she sighed and leaned back, the tablet was forgotten, lying on her lap. Now she was alone in her room after it was filled with people claiming to be his friends. Minhyuk said that he had to go to campus. So did Jeni who had a class. And finally, the two children of her mother's best friend also had other things to do, but they didn't explain what they were going to do. The attention given to her by them felt foreign to her. Except for Minhyuk whom she could casually interact with, she still felt awkward with the others. Throughout her life, Rona had never had close friends. Most of them were just school friends, sometimes their parents ordered them not to get close to her because of her family background. The situation of her mother who was a single parent and worked irregular jobs, plus the accidental death of her father before being caught cheating and leaving a lot of debt resulted in her having no friends.
Speaking of her father, she recalled her dream. The man with the blurry face at first she thought was her father but that was impossible because she had never seen her mother looking that happy being with her father. Who was the strange man who could make her mother smile and be happy like that? Who was also the man who extended his hand to her? Too many things were missing, and at the same time, she had the sudden presence of something and someone foreign to her. Even she still didn't understand why she was in this hospital. She didn't even remember how her mother died. And the fact that she felt fine after finding out that her mother was no longer in this world, confused her. Did the dream she had before she opened her eyes affect her feelings so much that she didn't feel that sad? Her mother's smile in the dream seemed to give her a sense of peace and tranquility knowing that her mother was happy there.
She knew she would miss her mother later and she had to be prepared for that.
The door sounded open and Rona's eyes instantly looked towards it to see who was coming. And a beautiful and elegant woman then came over to her with a smile.
“Did I make you wait too long?”
“Not really, ahjumma.” She replied while taking another look at the woman wearing what she guessed to be very expensive clothes. She still did not understand how her ordinary… no, her poor mother could have such an elegant friend.
“What are you doing?” Ms. Shim asked shortly after she sat on the chair next to her bed.
“Jeni gave me this to watch dramas. I seem to have missed a lot.” She showed Ms. Shim her forgotten tablet.
“Ah, what's more, the drama must have ended so you have to binge-watch it.” Even the woman's voice was melodious. From her appearance, demeanor, and aura, this woman was elegant. It was a stark contrast to her mother who had a careless and tacky demeanor.
“Ahjumma…”
“Hmm?”
She stared at the woman again. Her face when seen up close turned out to be very beautiful, making Rona unable to believe that this elegant lady was her mother's best friend.
“Are you truly my mother's best friend?”
Ms. Shim smiled before leaning back and tucking her long hair behind her, “Of course, you still don't believe me?”
“That's because it's hard to believe that someone like you would want to befriend my mother, moreover making her your best friend.”
“Someone like me?” She saw Ms. Shim squint her eyes.
“I mean from your appearance you seem to be of a very different class to my mother.”
Ms. Shim chuckled, “Why did you have that conclusion?”
“Considering how the people around us and even the parents of my schoolmates look down on my mother and don't want to interact with her because she's considered a different class from them, I don't understand how an elegant and wealthy woman like you would want to be friends with my mother.” She gave her reasons.
The woman then laughed out loud before turning to her and giving her a loving look, “Well it's their loss because they don't feel how lucky it is to have a friend like your mom.”
“I don't understand.”
Ms. Shim then took her hand to hold, “Rona-ya, you have to know that your mom is a very great and kindest person that I've ever met. I'm very lucky to have someone like her who was always by my side and helping me. No amount of money can buy what your mom gave me.”
“Really? What kind of help did my mom give you?”
“Umm…” Ms. Shim mumbled as if thinking about something before she approached her bed and smoothed the pillow behind her. “It's a long story so you should get comfortable first.” She then guided Rona to lean on the pillow that had been prepared earlier.
“Ah, okay.” Realizing that it would be a story that she needed to know, or maybe she needed to remember again, she adjusted her position to make it more comfortable while listening to Ms. Shim's story.
“But you have to promise me. You don't have to force yourself to remember it. If you don't remember, there's no need to push yourself to bring back your memory, okay?”
“Okay, I promise.” She nodded her head.
“Let's see… Where do we start?” She saw Ms. Shim stare ahead for a long time before looking back at her, “Your mother is the one who always helped me with all my problems. She helped me get revenge on my ex-husband and his mistress, she helped me get back what my ex-husband took away from me. And stayed by my side through it all.”
“Ex-husband?” She asked her.
“Yes, my ex-husband. Why? Do you remember him?” Ms. Shim looked tense after she asked about him.
She shook her head, “No.”
“Thank God, I was worried.”
“Do I know him?”
Ms. Shim glanced at her before looking away, a sense of sadness but also a slight anger spread across her face, “He's a bad person to everyone including you.”
“Ah, it's that so?” She lowered her head contemplating should she needed to know more about him or not
She felt her hand, which was previously clasped, being lightly patted. “It's okay. You don't have to remember or know about him. It would be better if you forget him and never remember him again. That bad guy should be gone from your memory.”
Rona smiled at Ms. Shim's over-enthusiasm in telling her to forget her ex-husband, “I can understand now why my mom befriended you. She must have remembered how my dad treated her so she selflessly helped you from your evil ex-husband. He was just as evil.”
“Your dad?” Ms. Shim looked at her in confusion.
“Yes, my father. He died when I was in elementary school. He hurt my mom every day and even cheated on her and spent all the money on his mistress. And even more shamelessly, he left a debt before he died. During his life and even his death, he could only bring trouble and miseries to my mom.” She frowned as she thought about her father. Until now she couldn't understand why her mother would marry him.
“Oh, you mean that father.” Ms. Shim said softly but she could hear her.
“Do I have another father?” Ms. Shim's statement confused her so she let out that question. She could see a slight panic on Ms. Shim's face after the question. But before she waited to hear Ms. Shim's answer, a thought crossed her mind.
“Ahjumma! Do you mean I have a stepfather? Don't tell me… Did my mother remarry?”
“Rona-ya… there's something you need-”
“Whoa! I didn't know someone wanted my mom as his wife. Was he drunk when he married her? ”
“Eh?” Ms. Shim's tone sounded confused.
Rona laughed, unable to believe that her mother could get married again. She had never seen her mother being in love, let alone a man chasing after her and wanting to marry her. However, her laughter stopped when something dawned on her, “Ah! Is the man I saw in my dream, my stepfather?”
“Dream?”
She turned to Ms. Shim after getting up from her position to a sitting position, “The dream I had before I woke up or maybe the dream that caused me to wake up. In that dream my mother looked happy with a man whose face was blurry, I couldn't see him clearly… But it makes sense now. He was probably my stepfather. Does that mean that person died too? Did they die together? Maybe that's why I saw my mom with him.” She asked Ms. Shim question after question as she became curious.
“One by one Rona, one by one... remember you just woke up. Your head will get hurt if you insist on remembering and knowing everything.”
“I'm sorry. I was just feeling excited.” She smiled in embarrassment.
“So your mom looks happy in your dream with that person?”
“M-hmm!” She nodded enthusiastically.
“Thank God, she deserves to be happy and reunited with him after everything that happened to them.” Ms. Shim's tone sounded sad. Rona even saw a single tear roll down her mother's best friend's cheek.
“Ahjumma…”
“One of my greatest burdens was lifted knowing they were both happy together.” Ms. Shim wiped her tears. Rona stared at her for a moment and somehow soon tears fell from her eyes as well.
“Eh?” She was surprised to feel tears coming out of her own eyes.
“Rona-ya?” Seeing her tearing eyes, Ms. Shim got up from her seat with concern before sitting on the edge of her bed. “Are you alright?”
She hurriedly wiped away her tears, “I don't know why my tears are flowing. It just happened all of a sudden. Seeing you shed tears for my mom, I can't… to not...”
Ms. Shim then took her into her arms, “Oh, Rona…”
Instead of her tears subsiding, they flowed freely while she was in her arms. “I don't understand why I'm crying. Am I crying because I'm sad realizing my mother is dead and won't be coming back? Or am I crying out of happiness knowing that my mom finally has someone who cries for her and wants her happiness?” She hugged Ms. Shim back and let herself cry in her arms.
“Rona-ya…”
“My mom… I'm glad my mom finally has someone who cares about her. But.. but now she's gone and I… I'm…”
She felt her hair being stroked before tightening her embrace. “You should know Rona, many people love your mom. You should know that. And so do you. There are so many people who love you. So don't worry about feeling alone. We are here for you.”
“Ah-ahjumma...” Rona then released her hug before looking at her mother's best friend, “Thank you, thank you for being my mom's friend.”
Ms. Shim shook her head before bringing both hands to Rona's cheeks to wipe away the tears that were still running down. “I am the one who is grateful to your mother Rona, because in her short time, she always helped me.”
She nodded her head and smiled. “I don't remember everything, but somehow your embrace felt so warm and familiar. I wish I didn't have this memory loss.”
Ms Shin smiled back at her, “You will get your memory back, no need to worry.”
Although she was being told that she shouldn't force herself to know and remember everything, her curiosity about the reason why she was in this state in the first place filled her mind. At least she had to know the cause of all of this, right? “By the way, ahjumma… why am I here? How did I lose my memory?”
Ms. Shim chuckled, “You really are very impatient. How can we take your doctor's words, asking us that we shouldn't force you to remember if you keep asking us?”
“I'm sorry. It's just that I still don't understand how all this happened, and why I'm in the hospital having memory loss.” She lowered her head feeling ashamed for inconveniencing others. They were already troubled by her state of memory loss and were very cautious because she was still being treated to recover.
“You fell down the stairs.”
Hearing Ms. Shim's short answer, Rona raised her head and looked at her, “I fell?” She felt something instantly. A suffocating feeling of unease.
“Yes.”
“Is it because someone pushed me?” And her uneasy feeling brought her to guess the rest of the story.
And it looks like her guess was right because Ms. Shim looked surprised, “How did you know?”
“So I'm right?”
“Do you remember it?”
She shook her head slowly, “No! And I don't think I want to remember it either.” An expression of resentment was audible in her tone.
Ms. Shim took her hand again and patted the back of her hand, “You don't need to worry. Just wait a little longer, it will all be over soon. I will catch the person who put you in this situation.”
“You're going to catch them? Do I know them?”
Ms. Shim gave her a reassuring smile before shaking her head, “No, you don't know them. That person hates me so you are the victim of their hatred. But you don't need to think about it. That person is not important.”
“If you said so then I understand.”
As soon as she answered Ms. Shim, the door opened again to reveal a nurse entering with her equipment.
“I'm sorry but Miss Bae needs to take her medicine and rest.” The female nurse whose face she had seen many times from yesterday walked towards them.
“I get it, no problems. Rona, I'll go first.” She saw Ms. Shim get up from her seat before stopping what she was doing as if she realized something. Looking back at Rona, Ms. Shim then took her hand again.
“Rona-ya, you should know. Whatever happened in the past does not erase the fact that in the present you are very loved and someone dear to many people. No one is at fault for what has happened, not even you. Especially you… Don't ever feel guilty either now or later. And you are not alone anymore. You may have lost your mom, but you still have all of us who love you very much. You can forget everything that happened, but don't forget that one thing.”
“Ahjumma…”
“Promise me, Rona. Whatever happens, you still deserve to be happy. You have to chase your happiness upon anything else.”
Rona stared at Ms. Shim. Her request was something she didn't understand but when someone wanted her to be happy, she felt touched.
“Hmm! I promise.” And of course she would oblige the request.
***