"Well, it seems like we're making some progress, my dear. Didn't you say that you were having dreams about people you somehow recognize?"

Lee looked at Soo-Hyuk beside her before replying, "Yes. Sometimes."

The doctor nodded, "Chotsumnida. It means that your memory is slowly being restored. But I'm not rushing things... and you shouldn't too."

Nodding, Lee's hand felt for Soo-Hyuk's. Soo-Hyuk saw this, and immediately held her hand firmly. "Dr. Kim, can we speak privately for a moment?" he asked.

"Sure."

Soo-Hyuk looked at Lee, "Wait for me outside, alright?" he said. Lee nodded, stood up and turned to leave. Before she went out of the door, she walked back to the doctor's table and shook hands with him. Then, she took Soo-Hyuk's mp3 player in his pocket and left.

"How long has she been staying with you again?" Dr. Kim asked.

"About a year and a half now."

The doctor nodded and looked at Soo-Hyuk. "What is it that you wanted to speak to me about?"

Soo-Hyuk fidgeted with his hands for a moment, composing his thoughts. Looking at the doctor, he asked, "When she remembers everything from her past, will she... well..."

"Will she forget you?" Dr. Kim completed the question for him. Soo-Hyuk just nodded. The doctor sighed, his right hand pinching his chin, "In most cases, patients like Lee forget everything about the alternate lives they lived, as if they died for a period of time and got born again into the world. Their sense of time gets blurry. What they remember clearly is the day they met the circumstance that caused them their loss of memory."

"But there are some cases wherein patients remember remnants of their alternate lives. Remnants meaning some. They remember certain things when they hear certain sounds, smell certain smells, taste certain flavors..."

"How about her? Do you think she will forget me? Everything we had?" Soo-Hyuk interrupted.

A moment of silence filled the room. Dr. Kim shook his head, "I'm sorry, Soo-Hyuk ssi. You will have to discover that by yourself."



Soo-Hyuk saw Lee standing outside the hospital, wearing earphones and gently swaying her head to the beat of the music she was listening to. He smiled slightly, seeing her moving her arms like she was playing imaginary drums. Biting his lower lip, he remembered what Dr. Kim told him a while ago, and felt a strange emptiness in his chest.

Just in time, Lee looked behind her and saw him. She waved at him with a smile and made her way inside the hospital. On her way in, though, she bumped into a little girl who dropped a bear bean baby.

"Oh... choe song hamnida..." Lee said, crouching down to pick up the bear bean baby.

Soo-Hyuk stopped walking just to watch Lee giving the toy to the little girl. She apologized to the little girl and her mom, and then patted the little girl's head gently before she saw them leave.

"You know them?" Soo-Hyuk asked, walking over to Lee.

Lee shook her head, "Anni-o." She looked up at him with bright, smiling eyes, "Ka ja?"



Ashley rubbed the bridge of her nose to keep herself from crying. She had received a call this morning that she thought would be fate's belated birthday present to her, but as the photos flashed before her eyes, she felt emptiness again.

"Mwaeyo?" Young-Bin, her boyfriend asked, just coming in.

She politely smiled at the officer, "Komawosoyo," she said softly and put the photos back inside the folder. "It's not her."

Young-Bin squeezed her shoulder and heard her say, "They have the wrong person." He nodded. He'd heard the line several times before, and he was also crushed to hear it once again with an extremely exasperated voice.

"Are you alright? You look ill," he asked when he took a good look at her when they got out of the police station.

She shook her head, "I'm fine. Don't you have work to do?"

"I can take you home or your workplace, or wherever---"

"I said, I'm fine. I can take a cab to the restaurant from here," she said with a faint smile.

He hated it when she did that. It made his heart crumble like a soft cookie. "This girl is so stubborn," he thought and smiled back at her. She said a faint goodbye and hailed a cab. He followed her to the pavement until a cab stopped in front of them and opened the door for her.

"Komawosoyo," she said, "I'll see you later." The cab drove off.

"You're breaking, Ashley," Young-Bin thought as he watched the cab moving farther and farther away. "Why are you so scared to show it?"



"Are you even looking for her?" Ashley said, raising her voice.

Lee Min Shik had a temper, but he knew how to keep his composure. The restaurant they were having coffee in was posh, elegant and established. He was a regular and respected customer there, and he dare not tarnish his reputation. He put down his coffee cup and looked straight into Ashley's eyes, "Believe me... I had spent sleepless nights."

"Doing what? Flirting in your bars?" she accused. "She had been telling me about you, you know. I'm surprised you even had the courage to propose marriage."

"And she said yes, didn't she?" Min Shik said casually.

Ashley composed herself, "It's been more than a year."

"I know."

"You were by her side!"

"She ran away..."

"Wae?" Ashley asked. "If she loved you like you claim she does, why would she run away like that? Without anything? Wae?"

Min Shik shook his head, "This is getting old, Ashley. Honestly, why don't we..."

"Why should I listen to you, Min Shik ssi --- when you can't even answer my question?" Ashley stood up to leave, but Min Shik grabbed her wrist.

"I AM looking for her too, Ashley," he said. "And you're not the only one hurting." There were tears brimming in Min Shik's eyes.

Ashley pulled her hand back. "Choesong hamnida," she said softly. "I have to go now. Call me if you have news."