Chapter 542 (1/2)

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I stared blankly at Yeo Ryung for a moment. Although she was right in front of my eyes, she looked like a faded image in an old film.

And that was when I finally grasped why Yeo Ryung reacted so loudly upon my confession of the partially lost memories. Losing information about her was the same as losing most of the memories of my past. In other words, I actually knew nothing about ‘the other me’ back then in which I thought I’d been aware of.

Yeo Ryung wasn’t just a piece in a puzzle; she was the puzzle itself. The whole thing wouldn’t work out without her.

She continued, “It still reminds me of the day in our elementary school. We had this class performance, a play, and of all people, your parents and mine couldn’t make it that day.”

“Uh-huh,” I just nodded my head in a daze.

“At the performance, I played a role of a princess. It wasn’t my intention to take that part. The princess had the most lines, and the schedule was too tight to remember the script, so the kids in our class might have let me play that role since they saw me doing it well last year.”

I nodded again. When I was young, my victim mentality sort of motivated me to participate in several events, but in the case of Yeo Ryung, her attitude was derived from her mindset of giving up.

People treated her to take various parts in different activities since she was excellent in everything. And that’s what made her get used to giving up being defensive and just step forward to do things. In fact, even now, whenever she had a chance, Yeo Ryung pulled my arm and whined that she wanted to leave the situation.

“But after the performance, parents of the girls in our class came to me and said that since I played the leading role for two years, why don’t I give their daughters a chance next year. They argued that I should be considerate of other friends, willing to play the princess role in the play.”

Yeo Ryung showed a faint smile on her face. Lifting her head to look at me, she continued talking about that day.

“At that very moment, you appeared and grabbed my hand as if you’re my older sister…”

That was when something happened all of a sudden. I was listening to her story, being completely unaware of it, but my vision suddenly blurred, and the scene changed in a flash.

A high-ceiling decorated with colorful flags from all over the world. Pieces of colored papers scattered everywhere on the floor. Half-ripped gold cheerleading poms…

Most of the kids were holding a flower in their hands and grabbing their parents’ on the other. Only Yeo Ryung and I were standing there, holding each other’s hands, like missing children.

The scenery of that moment was ridiculously vivid.

I flickered my eyes for a second, wondering, ‘But why…?’ Those memories couldn’t exist in my mind. If then, was it just a similar memory popping into my head after listening to someone else’s? You know, every Korean kid who graduated from middle school had memories of school performances.

As soon I had those thoughts, a voice echoed around my ears. It was ringing as being said in a cave.

‘Hmm, so… According to what Hansol told me, she asked you that she wants to play the princess role this year. She almost begged you to let her take the part.”

‘That’s…’

‘Hmm, I heard you took that role last year as well. I’m not trying to be mean, but since you’ve played the role of princess for two years, it’ll be nice of you to give other people the chance. You know, other people deserve to play that role too. No matter how much you’re willing to take the position, you must be mindful of your friends too. Don’t you think so? You have no idea how heartbroken Hansol was at home.’

A lady’s voice resonated in my mind. She was a complete stranger, but the response was definitely from Yeo Ryung. Her younger and thinner voice was trembling from time to time in that conversation. And that moment, another voice intervened–

‘Hi, may I ask what Hansol told you guys?’

‘Excuse me?’

‘I wonder what she told her parents to make you guys talk to Yeo Ryung like that. Don’t you think you have to hear both sides before you speak to her that way? That’s commonsense.’

It was such a straightforward remark for a kid to drop to adults. I was exactly the same character of what Yeo Ryung described to me earlier.

I was bewildered for a moment. ‘Then, is this my memory of the past in this world?’

The conversation in my head continued–

‘Excuse me, kiddo, I’m your friend Hansol’s mother. I do have a right to talk to you guys, don’t I?’

‘Just now, you almost scolded Yeo Ryung as if she had done something wrong. It sounded like Hansol kept asking her for a chance, but Yeo Ryung refused to do so.’

‘Isn’t that correct?’

‘No, you’re wrong. Yeo Ryung told the teacher she didn’t want to play the princess role, but it was the teacher who asked her to take it since she’s the fastest and the best in our class who could memorize all the lines in time. And that’s how our practice time can be reduced, which would be better for all our classmates.’

Then Yeo Ryung’s tearful voice came out.