「 deja vu」° || baek kyung ||

chapter 60

Dohwa hummed in thought, "You're getting there, though. It's only a matter of time until you'll be back to normal."

"I'm sorry, 'normal'?" Yeonha raised her brows at him, crossing her arms.

"W—well, you see," He tried to explain, suddenly feeling flustered, "I had forgotten what you were like on Stage until this happened. I just..." He sighed, "don't like seeing you so quiet, you know. It's not...you."

"Oh."

He patted her hair and repeated, "It's only a matter of time. Although," He knitted his brows together in worry, "I don't think we have much of it remaining."

Yeonha swatted his hand away, "Don't touch my hair."

Dohwa looked into her eyes and smiled, "There you are."

◆◆◆

The brunet was in his seat in the front of the class today. It was hard to miss him as his shaggy hair stuck out, both literally and metaphorically. He had his chin resting on his knuckles as he zoned out while staring at his desk. He didn't move a muscle throughout the class.

Her heart twisted painfully for a second. She wanted to go up to him and give him a hug.

Yeonha noticed Bom shooting him looks now and then. She thought the girl would approach him at the end of the class but she didn't. The boy stood up, swung his bag over his shoulder, and began to walk out of the room.

I should go talk to him, Yeonha got up to her feet, I should definitely talk to him.

"Where are you going?" Bom asked. The usual pep in her voice was missing and it saddened Yeonha.

"Stepping out for a bit." She replied, "I'll be back in a while."

"Okay."

She raced to catch up with the boy, who had made his way till the end of the hallway. When he stopped walking at the sound of her hasty footsteps, Yeonha realized that he was only an inch or so taller than her.

"Hi." She managed to say.

The boy brushed his hair out of his face as his sad eyes gave her a onceover, as if he hadn't seen her in weeks, "Hi."

"My name's Yeonha."

"I know."

"And...and you—" His name was right there. She knew it. She just had to think harder. "You...you're Taek."

The corners of his mouth turned up very slowly as he said, "Yes."

"I think I missed you."

"Yeah?" She saw a flicker of hope and relief in his eyes now.

"That's what I feel inside." Yeonha explained, "Like I was lost. But now that I'm trying to piece things together, I know that you're one of the people I care about." She hesitantly reached for his hand, "I'm sorry it took so long for me to remember."

"It's not your fault." Taek said, with a forlorn look on his face, "We couldn't have known."

She gave a watery smile and then asked, "There was another person, right? Someone very important to us. They've...they've been with me for most of my...most of my lives."

Lives. The word had slipped out of her mouth and almost immediately, a flurry of images flitted across her mind, causing a sharp pain to jolt through her.

Taek didn't notice as he looked away once. "Can you...remember his name?" He asked.

Juda had said his name. Haru had too. And then...she had seen the pictures. The person had faded away from the photographs but Yeonha was so sure that he had been a big part of her life. Lives, she corrected herself.