[t w e n t y - t w o]

♤Chapter 21♤

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♧Leeseong's P.O.V.

I was now outside, trying to take in all the doctor said earlier. Everyone was at a loss for words that time.

▪︎Flashback, outside Ji-Rae's room▪︎

"I hate to break it to the five of you… but your sister has retrograde amnesia. She's lost most of her previously made memories, but not all of it. I'm honestly quite shocked she doesn't remember her family" the doctor told us.

Hearing that, I felt as if I couldn't comprehend anything. I just stared at the floor, while my grip on my wheelchair tightened.

"Will she need treatment?" I heard Joonsung ask the doctor.

"In some cases, yes. A patient with amnesia might require treatment, especially if they have trouble with simple tasks that requires memory, etcetera. But as of now, no. Your sister may not need treatment. Perhaps she just needs time to regain her memories and she'll be back to normal"

"..I see" I heard Joonsung answer.

"But, one thing is for sure. Her behavior and attitude might have changed due to her memory loss. Therefore, she isn't like the old sister you five grew up with your whole life"

▪︎Flashback end▪︎

She lost her memory. She lost her memory about us. She doesn't know who we are. She looked at us like we were complete strangers to her.

It broke me, hearing our little sister yell at us and not knowing who we were.

She might regain her memory again, as the doctor said. But it'll take some time… I wonder how we'll be able to put up with this.

"Hey, Lee. You coming in yet?"

I turned around. It's Seongjun.

"Oh, Seongjun. Why?"

"Thought you might wanna explain why you rushed out Ji-Rae's room and slammed the door. Ji-Rae was pretty frightened by how loud you slammed the door. Not to mention you looked pretty scary too" Seongjun scratched his head while I looked away.

That's right, after the doctor told us the news we went back inside the room and tried to talk to Ji-Rae. But she kept resisting us and would answer rudely.

I guess that set me off. Considering I was really upset when we found out she had amnesia, I can guess that experiencing Ji-Rae act so hostile towards us upset me even further. Now that I think about it… she's not entirely a fan of sounds like loud slamming, especially when she was a kid.

Somehow, she's still the same.

Now I feel bad..

"Leeseong? I can tell Joonsung you aren't coming in if you don't want to—"

"No, it's fine. I'll come in. I just needed to recollect for a bit, I guess"

"…Alright then. Do you.. want me to wheel you in?" Seongjun approached me and I turned to him, giving him the side-eye.

"Of course, dummy" I rolled my eyes, poking his side. He flinched and clicked his tongue.

"You didn't have to poke me brother" He said irritated and I perked up.

"Wait, what was that I heard?"

"n-nothing" I saw his eyes widen, realizing what he said.

"No no, you said something earlier" I smiled.

"I said nothing! Ugh, let's just go in already, you're hearing things again" He fumed and I snickered.

He wheeled me in and I saw Ji-Rae's gaze immediately switch to me. I noticed she looked a bit nervous, all the while trying to look like she couldn't care less.

I told Seongjun he can stop and I turned to Ji-Rae.

"Sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have slammed the door. I guess I was just in a bad mood earlier"

"It's uhm.. fine. But don't do it again though, I won't forgive you next time" she grinned smugly.

'I swear, her attitude really is different. I'm sure she got this smugness from Man Weol. Deep breaths, Leeseong'

"Okay?" I forced out a smile, "But really, kultaseni, we really are your brothers. So, I'd— We, would really appreciate it if you were at least a little respectful to your brothers.." I asked her.

She didn't reply and just stared at me.

"Are you just gonna stare at me or—"

"You do know that I won't believe you right away, right?" she gave me a weird look. I sighed and moved closer to her.

"I know that, but can you at least maybe give us a little respect?

"…Sure, I guess" She nodded at me and looked away.

"Thank you" I smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

After that, it was awkwardly silent.

"Uhm.. why don't we.. introduce ourselves?" Joonsung stammered and scratched the back of his neck. I turned to him and gave him a 'really?' look.

He shrugged and smiled awkwardly, "It's all I can think of!"

"Scratch that" Baekjun spoke up, "Is there anything you remember about us? Or at least anything?" He said and went closer to Ji-Rae's bed, maintaining his distance.

"I can't really remember anything yet. I.. have a faint memory of an accident. And that I think someone wrapped their arms around me before a loud crash happened. I couldn't remember who that was but.. yeah. That's all" Ji-Rae held her head, trying to remember anything else from her previous memories.

A smile found its way to my lips. So she remembers something after all. That I protected her. My smile suddenly faltered.

'Wait… No, Leeseong, don't smile at the fact that she remembers something about the accident. Idiot'

"I can't remember who had their arms wrapped around me though—"

"It was me. It was the first thing I thought to do before the crash" I ran my hand through my hair, faintly smiling at her surprised expression, "You're welcome"

"So that explains—"

"Yes. It hurt badly but as long as you're alright, I'm fine"

"Th-thank you" she reddened. She's shy now?

'Hmph, well at least we got something nice from her'

"Right, so.. does your head hurt?"

"It does"

"Then go ahead and rest. We'll come back tomorrow, kultaseni" Baekjun nodded at her and we all proceeded to leave her room.

"..Okay then" she answered.

We were outside Ji-Rae's room when Joonsung spoke, "How about let's relive some of her memories? Maybe that can help?"

"How exactly are we going to do that inside a hospital?" Seongjun asked Joonsung.

"I know what to do. You'll see" Joonsung grinned.

"So am I not included?" I joked.

"Of course you are, let's hurry to your room now. You might wanna rest"

"I do. I'm glad she at least remembers about someone protecting her before the crash. Though I didn't do a good job" I muttered out the last sentence silently. Yet, Joonsung still heard.

"Oh, be quiet Leeseong. You got both your left leg and arm nearly broken and she could have been worse if it weren't for you cushioning her with your body" Joonsung lectured.

"Okay, I get it. You have a point" I laughed.