e i g h t


Hyo's shocked face made him look away. She lifted her hand to touch his and both of them looked down in shock once they saw Hyo's hand resting on Tae's. He wasn't fully defined but he had definitely a formed body.


He looked up at Hyo with a surprised expression. "How..." She asked but he swallowed hard.


"I have no idea." He said looking then back at Hyo's small hand on his. He lifted his other hand and wrapped Hyo's hand between both of his hands. Her heart began to beat faster as he smiled but soon her door flew open and Hyo's mother rushed in. Tae immediately disappeared and Hyo turned around acting like nothing happened.


"What were you doing?" Cha Sunjeon asked but Hyo shook her head. "Ani... Nothing. Just looking through the window... What happened?"


"We're having dinner out tonight." Sunjeon said and Hyo nodded in agreement. "Ne." The mother smiled and closed the door.


She turned around and Tae was now standing in front of her. He looked at her and smiled tenderly. "I am sorry about that." She said pointing to the door, referring to her mother, he shrugged.


"It's fine." He said.


The urgent thirst of Hyo of knowing what caused Tae to remember his real name burst out through her words. "Do you remember anything else?" She asked eagerly.


Tae looked down at her and sighed. "No... Just that my name is Taehyung."


Hyo looked away and walked around the room. " Not even a last name?" She asked but he shook his head.


"I've been trying really hard, believe me, but it's useless... I don't know how that memory flashed on my mind. I don't know where it came from." He said and she noticed his eyes were honest and he was in fact clueless.


Not wanting to make him feel worse than he already was, she shrugged and smiled. "It's fine... Taehyung." She said and he smiled widely.


"If you don't have a last name, I can always share mine." She said winking at her. He laughed but then his smile vanished.


"Park Taehyung?... It really doesn't sound nice." He said pushing her gently away and they both laughed.


"Hyo-yah!" They both heard Hyo's sister calling from her downstairs. Taehyung looked at her and smiled sadly.


"Go." He said. She knew he didn't want her to leave but she didn't have a good reason to stay so she smiled and nodded as she grabbed her coat. "I'll be back soon." She said smiling before closing the door.


***


Hyo tried to sleep that night but she couldn't. There were many thoughts wrapped around her mind. She checked the clock and it was midnight and tomorrow she had school. She knew she'll look like a zombie but she couldn't care less.


She moved in her bed several times, trying to find a comfortable position but she failed at it. It was useless. She thought about Taehyung. It was only normal to feel curious about him. He had remembered his name and he claimed it was Taehyung, it only made sense since he told her the first time his name was Tae. He probably didn't remember his full name but now he did, only his last name was missing.


Thinking of ways of helping him made Hyo tired mentally. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Taehyung was such a common name in South Korea and even if he had a last name like Park, Kim or even Choi or Lee, it was still a hard mission since there must be thousands of Taehyungs out there.


But he was a ghost, and that means his human body must be dead. A sad feeling took over her emotions as she thought about him and his human life. Was he a student? How old was he? Maybe around his 20's or maybe younger? Did he had a friends? Family? A girlfriend?


She shook her head as she tried to shake her thoughts away. It was hard to answer these questions having such a little info about him. Taehyung was a common name, but she wanted to know about his previous life, about his human life, the life he didn't remember at all.


"You can't sleep?" She heard the familiar soft voice next to her. She turned around and found Tae sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at her.


She smiled sadly. "It's nothing... I am just worried about a homework I forgot to do." He narrowed his eyes and shook his head.


"I'll let you pass this once... But you need to do your homework. How are you going to make your eomma proud if you fail in school?" He asked in a scolding but sweet way. Hyo smiled.


"Ne... I'll be careful next time." She said and they both smiled to each other.


"What were you thinking?" He asked with eager eyes. Almost as if her was desperate to know what was on her mind.


"About you." She honestly spoke. Tae's eyes widened in surprise and she noticed how he swallowed hard.


"Wae?" He asked.


She shrugged. "I just... I'd like to know more about you and it's a shame you can't remember anything from your previous life." She said casually but he looked away.


"Tae?" She called him but he refused to look at her, he was avoiding the eye contact. It was as if her words had hurt him again.


"Tae... Do you realize that... You're actually a ghost right?" She asked swallowing hard. Not knowing how he'd react made her feel terror inside. He had insisted several times that he wasn't a ghost but Hyo thought that if he admitted it, maybe that will help him to remember things.


"If you remembered your name was Taehyung that means you had a last name and if you had a last name, that means you belonged to a family." She said sitting straight on her bed and looking for his lost dark eyes.


"If you belonged to a family... That means you had mother and father and maybe even siblings... Friends... School... A life. A human life." She said and noticed how he swallowed hard and blinked several times.


"Don't you want to know about it? To know who you were before?" She asked placing her warm hand on his arm. He jumped when he felt her soft fingers brushing his sleeves. She noticed how he was wearing a black jacket with black jeans and a white shirt. He always wore these clothes, she never bothered to ask why but now it only made sense. If he was a human on his previous life that means this was the clothes with which he was buried.


A cold shiver ran down Hyo's spine as she swallowed hard and looked at Tae's dark orbs. He was hurt. He wanted to know as well. "What do you say?" She asked softly but he removed his arm from her grip and stood from the bed.


"Go to sleep. It's too late." He said scolding her. Hyo rolled her eyes and shook her head slowly.


"Wae?" She asked hurt. Hyo's hope was to help him. Help him to remember so he could rest in peace.


"Because that's how schools in Korea work so yah go to sleep now- He began but she groaned.


"Wae Taehyung? Why don't you want to know?" She insisted but he only blinked twice, she noticed how his eyes were teary now and before she could say something else, he disappeared.


***


Hyo found her mom waiting for her out in the school's entrance. She noticed how Hyo was accompanied by Namjoon and she smiled at the tall boy. They all greeted each other and Namjoon offered to walk them home.


"Ani... Hyo and I have stuff to do, plus I brought the car today. We'll see you around Namjoon-ah." Sunjeon said and he nodded.


"Ne... Take care." He said bowing and disappearing through the subway station. Hyo turned to look at her mother with a confused face.


"It's your monthly check up?" Sunjeon said as if she was asking in case Hyo forgot but she had forgotten about it.


"Ah..." Hyo said nodding. She hated the fact that she had to visit a doctor still. She felt perfectly fine.


Once they arrived the hospital they did their way towards the doctor's consultant and waited for their turn. "Park Hyo-Jin." The secretary called and Hyo stood and turned to her mom giving her a reassuring smile.


She walked inside the doctor's office and closed the door behind. He smiled and sat on a chair and after greeting her, he pointed the couch for her to seat.


"HyoJin-ssi... It's been a while." He said with a tender smile, she nodded.


"How have you been?" He asked tilting his head. She shrugged.


"I... I've been fine, thanks." She said as she sat uncomfortably in the middle of the couch.


"You mother said you almost forgot your appointment... Have you been perhaps distracted?" He asked and she nodded slowly.


"Ne... I have plenty stuff to do on college." She said and he nodded.


"Ah right. You returned to college... How was it?"


"It was fine. I made a friend." She said and he nodded.


"That's good news... What's the name?"


"Kim Namjoon." Once the doctor heard the name his face changed and his body stiffened. Hyo was good at reading people.


"Nice... Is he in your same class?" Hyo nodded in answer.


"Okay. How have you been sleeping?"


"Fine, I guess."


"You guess?"


"I... - She stopped as she thought about the dreams she have had but then she thought it was better not to share this with him – I've been sleeping less due to my school projects." She lied and he nodded.


"Ne... You need to sleep at least 8 hours so please keep that in mind."


She nodded eagerly. "Have you been...Taking your medication?" Hyo's body was now the one that stiffened.


She hasn't.


"Ne, sure." She nodded. She hated the medications, it made her feel dizzy and lazy all the time so she had hide them away from her mother and anyone who could find it.


"How about your head? Has it hurt lately? Have you had any... episodes?" Hyo clenched her jaw as she looked away. "Episodes?" is that how he calls that to her horrible nightmares?


She shook her head as she looked down. Only once. She had an "Episode" only once.


"Okay... - The doctor stopped talking and stared at her – let's do that checking." He said smiling.


Once they finished, he concluded that everything was in order and she was fine. The doctor talked to her mom and she was now more calmed knowing that Hyo's progress was better than expected. On their way home, Cha Sunjeon was dying to ask Hyo about her visit to the doctor but she bite her tongue to not do it. She knew her daughter was alright since the doctor confirmed it but a mother always worried the most about her child and she wanted to know exactly what they talked about.


"Hyo-yah... What the doctor said to you?" She began with a sweet voice but with her eyes on the road. Hyo glanced at her mother but then returned her eyes to the window.


"Not much... He just asked questions."


"What kind of questions?" Cha Sunjeon rushed to ask, she swallowed hard then, acknowledging that maybe she spoke in a high pitch which caused Hyo to jump on her seat. The afternoon was clouded and it seemed like it was about to rain.


"Just stuff... About school and how have I been sleeping and eating and that kind of things." Hyo said carelessly with her eyes stuck on the city, she was looking through the window.


"I see..." Sunjeon said glancing at her daughter. Hyo was always a shy girl and she didn't talk too much, she knew it.


When Hyo spotted the familiar street she smiled. They were soon arriving to her house and she had a genuine happiness about going into her room. It has been a month since they moved to this house and a month since she met Tae, now Taehyung. At the beginning she was scared about him but now, even though it was weird, she considered him a friend.


She rushed upstairs after excusing herself with her mother and sister. She claimed that she had to do a homework project, which wasn't entirely a lie. She opened her bedroom's door but the room was empty. A visible pout took over her face but then out of nowhere Tae popped out and scared her to death.


She widened her eyes and groaned. "YAH!" She screamed as she hit Tae with her small fists.


"Don't do that!" She exclaimed but he was laughing. He couldn't feel the pain of Hyo's punches and he found this whole situation more funny than tragic.


"Yah yah!" He exclaimed as he wiped the tears from laughing. "You should have seen your face, priceless." Tae kept laughing and Hyo rolled her eyes.


"I don't know why I bother!" She exclaimed going to her desk. Tae followed her.


"Aish... It was just a joke." He said winking at her. For a moment Hyo thought that if Tae was human she'd be disarmed by his charming smile and cheeky winking, but she thanked god he was only a ghost.


"Where were you?" He asked sitting at the edge of the desk where she was now working. "Out with my mom." She said without looking at him, her eyes stuck on the book.


"Where?" His voice was curious.


"Just out." She said. It made her feel nervous talking about the real place she visited. The doctor. It was something that made her feel unsure of herself. Taehyung narrowed his eyes and leaned his face close to her.


"Okay but what place you visited?" He insisted but Hyo turned slowly to look at him, shooting deathly glares. He swallowed hard and lifted his hands as a surrender gesture.


"Alright... Aish, are you perhaps in that time of the m- He couldn't finish the sentence because Hyo threw a book towards him, it went through his body but it made him shut up.


"Shut up!" She yelled and he widened his eyes in surprise. He has never seen Hyo angry before and she still looked cute and adorable, like a small angry hamster.


He laughed and she rolled her eyes. "I need to do homework, could you please just... Go ghosting around somewhere else?" She said crossing her arms on her chest, he rolled his eyes and disappeared.


Hyo breathed out and closed her eyes. She was finally alone. For a moment she thought it was better this way because Tae was always a distraction to her and she really needed to do some homework. She shook away Tae's face from her head and focused on the textbooks.


Once that the light in the room changed, Hyo turned around and noticed it was dark outside. She checked the clock and it markes 6:43 p.m. She's been doing homework for the past two hours and now her eyes were tired. She closed the textbooks and lied in bed as she looked at the ceiling. Soon a cold breeze made her bones tremble. Hyo sat straight and noticed Tae sitting at the edge of the bed, looking at her with a wide smile.


"Annyeong Park Hyo-Jin-ah." He said.


She smiled tenderly for she was happy to see him again. "Can I ask you something?"


Tae looked at her a bit surprised and nodded in slow motion. It excited him the fact that she wanted to start the conversation, he's been lonely for so long.


"Can you go outside the house with me, somewhere?"


He froze for a second and blinked twice. An image of him smiling with a girl next to him holding his hand while walking down the street flashed on his mind. It was as if he was watching a video being replayed on his head. The girl looked happy while being with him, he couldn't see her face, only her hands and body. She was holding his hand as she joked around.


Soon Hyo's voice woke him from his fantasy. "Yah I am talking to you Choi Taehyung." He found Hyo looking at him with a frown.


He laughed. "Choi?"


"Ne... We don't know what's your last name so I guess that calling you by all the Korean last names will help you to figure out which one is yours eventually." She said with a wide smile, he just laughed it out.


"I asked you a question." She insisted as she tilted her head.


"I... I don't know. I can't." He said stammering. He wished going outside but he was trapped in here.


She sighed and threw again in bed. "Wae?" He asked but she shrugged.


"I was just curious."


"About what?" He asked lying next to her. She froze for a second but then she turned to look at him. He was avoiding eye contact, being close to her lately made him feel nervous.


"About something but it's not important." She said clearing her throat. In fact she wanted to take him with her to some places. She wondered that maybe if he walked around the city he might bring back some memories of his old life.


"What do you do... When you "sleep"? She asked emphasizing the word "Sleep". He frowned and shrugged.


"Sleep I guess?"


She rolled her eyes. "I am being serious, how do you sleep? You're a ghost." He rolled his eyes and shook his head.


"I know okay? You don't need to highlight it every time you get the chance." He said a bit annoyed but Hyo laughed.


"It's... Like an empty room." He started. Hyo widened her eyes and turned to stare at him. She noticed his image was stiffened, as if he'd get nervous talking about it.


"It's small... A small room, the size of your walk-in closet." He kept saying as he looked at the white ceiling.


"It's dark, pitch black. There's only one light, a small one." Hyo felt her heart breaking once he stopped talking. She imagined the place and it made her feel so ashamed and unhappy. Thinking about him being lonely in that room was just eating her alive.


She felt her eyes going glassy but she looked away so he wouldn't notice her teary eyes. "Yah aren't you curious about what's outside Nam Taehyung?" He looked at her and chuckled. His eyes stared at hers for a couple of seconds, he thought her eyes were the prettiest he has ever seen.


Finally he nodded in response. "Are you?" He nodded again.


She widened her eyes and sat straight in the bed, he did the same. "I have an idea." She said smiling. He looked at her with eager eyes. He didn't know what was it but he imagined it must be something amazing since her face was priceless.


"I am going to take some pictures for you around the city so you could see what's outside." She said. He leaned back and blinked a couple of times. He felt his heart filling with an unknown feeling, but it somehow made him happy. He nodded slowly and flashed that rectangular unique smile of his.


Hyo had a plan now. She was going to take as many pictures as she could and she'll help him to get back his memories and give him the rest he deserves. She smiled tenderly as she looked at him. Her heart beating faster, as she thought all the places she'd visit tomorrow and the day after and the day after.


 

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