Chapter Seven

"Yi Jung, do you hear me?" The voices were distorted but I heard it slowly become clearer. It was a woman's voice.

"Where am I?" I asked groggily, it took a while for my vision to stabilize and I saw myself staring up at a white ceiling.

"You're in the hospital, you were in a coma for almost a month after the car accident." Eun Jae burst into tears as she hugged me. "The doctors thought you were going to be brain dead."

"Car accident?" I got up.

"Where are you going? The doctor's still have to check you out to make sure you're okay."

I nearly fell as I tried to walk out of the hospital room. Eun Jae helped me up and I muttered a thank you before I walked out of the hospital. It felt weird not walking for a month so I was slightly limping and such as I tried to get my legs to obey my brain. I managed to walk out of the hospital without running into anybody. I hailed a taxi cab and sat down to breathe.

"Where to sir?"

I gave him the directions to head back into the small town. The taxi left me in front of an old house that needed many repairs. My heart ached as I realized there was no on there to help her with the house and how much pain she must have been in.

I knocked on the door and the ahjumma answered it.

"Oh, what brings you here, doryeonim?" She said as she bowed.

"Omonim." I felt my voice cracked. The woman looked up and the realization was seen in her eyes.

"You remember?"

"Omonim!" I pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

I wasn't sure how much time had passed but I woke up and the smell of food was in the air. I sat up and registered where I was. The place did need a lot of improvements; it was surprising she was able to live here for so long. I wondered how her life must have been after the accident, there was no one to comfort her and support her; the only person who was able to sympathize with her pain chose the cowardly way out and forgot. It must have hurt to walk down the road everyday and see everything that was filled with Ga Eul's memories.

"You're awake, you must have been so stressed that you collapsed." The woman gave me some porridge. "Here, eat some."

"Thank you omonim."

I ate in silence until she finally broke it.

"I spread their ashes in the river. Your parents would have been proud to see how successful you are." She smiled.

"Omonim, even though we're not related, I would like it if we lived together."

"It would be uncomfortable for your in-laws."

"It doesn't matter, I'll explain it to them, if they don't accept it, I can't accept them as well. Omonim, I want to make up for the loss times." I grabbed her hand. "Please, let me take away some of your burden."

At that, omonim broke down into sobs, perhaps it was the first time she was able to fully cry out and not have to hide her pain. She seemed so fragile and breakable when I hugged her.

"When have you been? Appa and I were worried sick!" Eun Jae ran to hug me. I hugged her back and sat down next to her.

"I remember what happened to me in the past."

"Really? What happened?"

I proceeded to tell her all that had happened from how I met Ga Eul to how the accident occurred. She listened in silence, her eyes alert and her mouth frowned at the sad moments in the story. When I was done, she didn't utter a word, but sat there as if still taking everything in.

"Then...do you still love me?" She said finally.

"What?" I was surprised by her question.

"Your love for Ga Eul seems really strong..."

I grabbed her hand. "Eun Jae, although I didn't remember my love from the past, our memories have nothing to do with it. No one can replace Ga Eul, but I'm not trying to replace you with her. We're a different story althogether."

Eun Jae wiped her eyes. "Thank you."

I laughed. "What's there to be thankful for?"

"Are you going to go visit your parents' graves now?"

"Yeah, I'll take you next time, today...I want to go alone."

She nodded in understanding. "About Ga Eul's umma...I'll ask appa if she can live in his house, that way you two can see each other more often. She must have gone through a lot."

"Thanks." I smiled.

"What's there to be thankful for?" She used the same lines back at me and smiled.

I hadn't been here in a long time. The grass was still green and I wondered who actually watered it, was it a person or was it nature? I rolled out a blanket and made a simple alter. Omonim had helped me prepared and I called Eun Jae already to let her know where I was in case she got worried. I sat down on the blanket and felt the breeze run through my hair.

I bowed twice formally and spread some soju on the grass.

"Abeoji, you always loved drinking soju, didn't you? But to save money for my education, you didn't. Today you should drink as much as you want." I poured some more. "Umma, I brought you your favorite dessert, I never got a chance to buy one for you myself...I'm such a terrible son." My eyes were starting to water. "I hope heaven is treating you well. Please look after me in the future, I'll need it."

I then placed some Forget Me Nots on the alter. "You thought I would forget didn't you? These flowers really do suit you, they're small but they still shine amongst all the other bright flowers. It's so suitable. Ga Eul-ah, we couldn't have our wedding but in my heart, you were already my wife. People always called us that anyways." I laughed. "I'll keep my promise to you and remember you. I'll visit you on your birthday and on our anniversary so don't worry in heaven and have fun. Don't be prepared all the time and just do things because you want to. You've heard this a million times already, but I love you."

"Next time, I'll bring Eun Jae here, I think she and you would have gotten along." Although I have a wife now, Ga Eul will still have a place in my heart. Humans are peculiar that way, despite how much we cry, how much we love, we still continue moving forward. But even though we move forward, we never forget the past that brought us here in the first place.

I looked up at the sky and it seemed to have gotten brighter.

"Yi Jung-ah."

"Hmm?"

"If I die, will you remember me?"

"I will."

"If you don't, I'm going to haunt you."

"You are?"

"Yeah, I'll haunt you until you remember me again."

"Do you think I will actually be able to live without you?"

"You better live, if you die because I died, I'm going to kill you."

"Okay, but you have to do the same too."

"I know. I'll live to remember if that happens so you have to too."

"I promise."

"Don't ever forget me."

A/N: Thank you for supporting my story. Feel free to leave a comment~