The Stranger I Love (SHINee Jonghyun)

Chapter 18

Y/N POV
A FEW DAYS LATER

Losing my memory also means that I forgot how to do my job properly and having to start all over again, the company is nice enough to give me a bunch of options to choose from, but the downside is, I have to start from the bottom. Which means, instead of being a manager's assistant, I will be a normal employee here. I do not really mind that now, though.

Maybe forgetting is a good thing.

Fresh start. A lot of people are wishing for that.

That is what my sister told me as soon as I got home from the hospital. Is it true though? I do not really know. At least not just yet since I have no clue about my past at all.

"Which did you choose?" The administration asks me as I sit in their office.

"Stylist."

I say. It does have a good ring to it. Y/N stylist of the year, or the month or the best stylist in the company. I like the sound of any of those, honestly.

"Alright. Now..."

He gives me a bunch of papers stating my job description. That I will be appointed to an upcoming group and test my styling skills using the available clothing items basing on a specific theme. My work of hours, my training schedule if i ever need one if the group's manager requires me to do so. And much more.

"For today, you will visit the group that is assigned to you for today as a training. This is the address. It is right across the street actually." He gives me some short cuts and some tips for me to start and give them a good impression.

The group name does ring a bell, but probably from the news around the internet.

I quickly gather my things and head down the street to go to this music company to meet my first and hopefully, my forever employers, of my newfound career. Noticing my hands starts to tremble, sweat and feeling like running, I stop myself. Take a deep breath and enter the building. The receptionists are nice enough to greet me good afternoon and after confirming that I am an employee of one of their partners, they let me in.

"There is no going back now." I whisper to myself.

"Y/N?  What are you doing here?" Hearing a familiar voice, I turn around and I see Jonghyun.

"I'm looking for this group. E'last? I have no idea how to pronounce it."

Laughing at myself, he tells me he is on his way to meet them as well, so I follow him behind. It does feel awkward that I keep meeting him. Guess this goes to show that we are indeed close and possibly very close friendship that we had before I had my accident. Following him behind gets a little quieter by the time we arrive at the practice room door B01. Jonghyun opens the door and I see six handsome guys with him. One, the tallest and blonde one greets Jonghyun with a big hug.

"Yo that took you long."

"Well, remember when our manager said we will get a new stylist?" He asks them. The seven then suddenly starts looking at me and I can not help, but hide behind him. It is just what my body tells me to do and it is, oh, so, embarrassing.

But something is off with Jonghyun today. When he looked at me in the hallway, it is as if he does not recognize me any more. Sure he called my name, but that's because I had my ID on my neck backwards and he probably read it from behind me.

"This is uh..." As he look at me, my heart sinks. Today is the day that he was scared of.

Jonghyun forgot everything. Forgot me.

"Y/N! You look lost awhile ago, hope I didn't scare you."

No, but you ARE now! I'm scared that this would happen and it is right now.

"No, don't worry about it." Managing my smile through my internal tears.

While waiting for their manager to show up, I sit on a sofa while E'last practice for I think around twenty minutes before their manager arrives. Once he does, he quickly tells me that the group will have a stage evaluation among other former pre-debut groups in their company. Handing me a piece of paper, he says,

"This is the theme of their song. Summer feel, but give them also their cool side. It is up to you as to how to go about this."

He then goes on, handing me also their group's practice and performance schedule for me to know when it is best to give them their test run of the outfit plan that I have for them. All this time, while I am having a small meeting with their manager, I can sense that Jonghyun is somehow looking at me, so every now and then, I look out the window to see if he does and I do catch him sometimes, but it does not help with my pain. Realizing that he already lost some of his memories and I am a part of that lost ones.

I really could not focus at all during my meeting, so I ask him some questions regarding what the leader wants regarding on what kind of image they want to present in that evaluation and much more that I already forgot. But I do have a habit f taking notes on my phone or in any piece of paper.

So now, realizing that he did forget me, I feel more lonely. Sure I still do have my older brother and sister, but somehow, him forgetting me feels more real. No clue why it is. I did ask him that time if we are actually close before all of this happened and now, I believe him more and more. Not knowing what to do now, I say good bye to the E'last group members and head down to my own office along with the other stylists in their company. Entering the office, not one looks at me because everyone is very busy looking at the Internet about what is in the popular style right now, some are even designing their own clothes. I almost bump into a group of two women running late for, what they say,

"Sorry, it's just we're late to get their proportions right."

"To double check. No need for them to get mad at us if it's too tight or loose."

"Okay, best of luck!" I wave at them, flustered about what just happened. I look around the office, looking for my own desk and once I do, I sit up straight. Staring at my own reflection on the computer as it starts up, it makes me realize how I do not even recognize how I look like. I look so plain. A normal girl.

Bland. Boring.

This worry floods my mind: would I do such a good job? Some say that first impressions are weighted most heavily on what a person is wearing. That is why stylists have on of the most stressful jobs here in the music industry and I am sure in the fashion industry as well. But that is not even what I worry about the most. It is about Jonghyun. I don't know what is such a big deal with it. I mean, since he forgot me already, maybe this is his chance to finally be what he wants to be. Remembering what I have found on his laptop, him working on songs and now figuring it out that he is now in a group awaiting debut and beside that, he also is a part time model, he is living a good life. After all, he did say that he is very well pleased with his life right now.

"Hey Y/N! Care to grab some snacks? You've been working too hard today I see." My older brother, Jaehyun steps inside the office and winks at me.

"Wait, is he your boyfriend?" Someone beside me asks.

"Oh no! He's my brother!" I exclaim, but he jumps into our conversation,

"My adopted sister. Doesn't mean I can't like her." Jaehyun winks and grabs my arm.

"What are you doing?" I ask him out of annoyance.

"What? You look like you could use some fun, Y/N."

"Ah, I know what this is about." His smile forms into a straight line. That is when I know that he is genuinely trying to make me feel less lonely or stressed out from work,

"What."

"You know that Jonghyun forgot. Am I right?"