[Your POV]
As I looked down at the second picture on the right side of the diary, it shows a class group photo taken in a school, which has around 25~30 students and they looked around 17~18 years old.
The students are wearing school uniforms which is a short sleeve white blouse/shirt with blue striped ribbon/tie, and navy-blue pleated skirt/trousers.
As I observed carefully at the picture, I noticed that among the group of 25~30 students in the class photo, there was one familiar face that I was able to recognize...
It was..
myself...
I lifted up the laminated class photo and flipped it around and saw dark brown lettering on the bottom right corner of the photo.
It says 'Class of 2020'. I tipped my head to the side, as I was confused.
Huh? This doesn't make sense at all.
It is the year of 2020, and I'm not studying at the school that is in the photo but a different school.
I flipped to the front of the photo again and realized that there was student's names at the bottom of the photo.
Oh, that's great! I can find out what's the name of the person who looks like me in the picture.
The name of the students' are arranged from left to right and there was the bottom, middle, and top row.
That student is in the middle row and I counted the number of students from left to right.
Okay, that student is the fifth place. As I read through the names of the students according to the numbers, I finally reached the fifth name.
The name of the student is..
Lee Min-a...
[Flashback]
(The flashback shows a scene in which Lee Min-a (reader) is 7 year old, and she is walking at the corridor outside the house, and if you can recall, this is written at chapter 1.)
I was walking at the corridor on the way back home from school, and as I was getting closer to the door to open it,
I heard smashing sounds, things breaking, and shouting in the house.
"I am not scared to kill you one day! Do you want me to kill you!? Call the police if you want! I am not scared of them!" I heard my father's voice shouting at my mother.
As I peeked into the house, I was so shocked..
*gasps*
I had to cover my mouth quickly before I made any sound. I couldn't believe that my adoptive father was pointing a kitchen knife at the direction of my mother.
I didn't do anything to help my mom, as I just stood rooted to the ground hiding beside the door without doing anything.
Afterwards, I flopped down onto the floor as my legs went weak, horrified by the sight of what had happened.
I waited for the right time, around 5 to 10 minutes later, to open the door and pretend that everything was perfectly fine...
As I walked in the house, my mom welcomed me home and was smiling, but I was able to tell that she was not actually smiling at all...
She had a smile on her lips, but her eyes were filled with sadness...
--Flashback 2nd Scene--
(The flashback shows a scene in a hospital, and that is when Lee Min-a was 14 years old.)
As I walked through the hallways of the hospital, my gaze swiveled around searching for the room that my adoptive mother, Song Hye-Rim, was located in.
The floor was painted in slate grey and the walls dove. On the ceiling has those tiny squares laid on a grid-like frame.
Every door I pass has a large plastic sign with black letterings of patient names, no fancy fonts, but just bold and all-caps.
As I stepped towards the door of a room, I reached for the door handle and it swing open soundlessly, making a draft of cold air hit my face.
As I closed the door of the room, I turned my head around and looked for a place to sit.
--Time Skip--
"I'm sorry to say this but your mother is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
It is a difficult stage to treat or cure it because her body is too weak for either surgeries or other therapies.
She has an average of 3 months left as the tumor has spread to most of the parts in the body."
Once we both heard the news, my heart felt heavy and it was painful to see her like this.
I didn't know what to do and all I could do at that point was to embrace her, not knowing whether I should be mad or sad.
--Flashback 3rd Scene--
(In this flashback, it shows a scene in which Lee Min-a and Song Hye-Rim (mother) are leaning against the wall on the bed in a room.)
"How are you feeling, mom? Are you in pain?" I asked.
"I'm okay, the pain is endurable. How about you?" She said as she tilted her head slightly towards my direction.
"Huh? What do you mean? Why are you asking me that?"
"You do know that I won't stay long in this world right..? I want to know how you feel, are you okay..?"
I opened my mouth to speak but words wouldn't come out of it, and there was a moment of silence.
I tried clearing my heavy throat and tilted my head upwards slightly before speaking up in a soft and shaky voice.
"Yea.. I know... I thought I'd be okay.. if I thought that I was... I guess I wasn't okay afterall..."
I tried holding onto my tears but once that first tear broke free, the rest followed down like an unbroken stream.
"Min-a. I've been by your side for around 8 years already, I've known you well enough..
You always had a smile on your face, but deep inside your heart, I know you wanna cry... You usually pretend like you're happy, but you aren't..
Whenever you tried to hide your feelings, your eyes always tell me the truth..
I don't want you to keep everything to yourself, I want you to let it all out..
I want you to let go of your anger and learn to forgive people who have hurt you..
Your forgiveness won't change the past but it can change the future. Forgive them, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve to be happy and to be at peace."
--End of Flashback--
After the flashback, my brain stutters for a moment and I dropped the diary on the floor.
My eyes and mouth were frozen wide open, and every part of me goes on pause while my thoughts catch up.
I was unable to comprehend what had just occurred, and it felt like the time had suddenly stopped.
I slowly took a few steps backwards, and I felt a tear tickled down my cheek.
"Soo Min."
I looked up and turned my head at the voice to see my 'mom' entering the room.
"What is with that face? Did something happen?" She asked in a worried tone.
I looked down at the floor not knowing what to respond, and the room was quiet.
"Nevermind then, I won't ask. Next time I'll knock before coming in."
As she turned around wanting to leave the room, I hurriedly hugged 'my mom' from behind stopping her from leaving the room.
"What's wrong with you? Soo Min, Are you okay?"
I couldn't hold back my tears anymore as I let my tears rolled down my cheeks and onto her shoulders.
--Time Skip--
"Soo Min, are you ready yet?" 'My mom' shouted from the living room to my room.
"Yes, mom. I'm coming."
As I packed my bag for school, I carried my bag and left behind the phone and a paper beside it which says 'From Lee Min-a'.
--Time Skip--
School has ended, and Rocky and I are walking side by side on the bridge as half of our journey has the same direction.
"Hey Soo Min. Why didn't you pick up your phone? I called you this morning." Rocky asked while having his hands in his pocket.
"Oh, I left it at home."
"Geez, you're so forgetful. I still can't get used to the new you yet."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The old you wouldn't have forget your phone. Your phone is always with you. You are like so obsessed with it."
I gave a small chuckle and as we continued to walk at the bridge slowly, I came to a halt and turned my body behind facing Rocky.
"I need to go somewhere, so we'll part ways here."
"Okay." He let out a smile as he responded.
"You know, I was frustrated, so I worked really hard to get my memory back. But, maybe I shouldn't have."
"Why not?" Rocky tilted his head and has a curious look on his face.
I looked up at him and said, "Because, I think I'll really miss the days when I couldn't remember anything.."
Before Rocky could say anything, I extended my hand for a handshake. "Rocky, goodbye."
"What is this?" He laughed and grasped my hand. "Goodbye to you too."
As we release our hand, I turned around and started walking away.
"Bye Soo Min!" I couldn't see Rocky waving at me as I didn't turn around. "Call me okay."
As I continued making my way towards the end of the bridge, I could feel tears welling up my eyes.
To be continued...
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