Not Just A Memory | Ko Kyung-jun

Eleven.

For seven years, I had desperately searched for her.

Maybe I was the only one doing something so foolish. Thinking that, I suddenly felt pathetic.

“…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to force my way into your home or ask you to come back to me. It’s just that after so long, I got too excited. I’ll leave.”

Thinking of her, I realized that stepping back was also important. I turned around, feeling an abrupt emptiness, and headed toward the station. Just then.

“Ah, wait, Kyung-jun…”

She called my name.

I was surprised and quickly turned back, only to see her wide-eyed in surprise. She hesitated, pointing to the left, and said, “The station… is that way… I was just saying…”

She had called my name.

『Kyung-jun』

Every time I thought of her, I always longed to see her smile again, to hear her voice calling my name.

Because of our current situation—being the family of the perpetrator and the victim—I knew we probably couldn’t go back to how things were before.

When I met her again, she called me “Kyung-jun–ssi,” and I felt as if an invisible wall had formed between us, a sense of despair as if I had been pushed into hell.

So, for me,

being called by my name…

was an incomparable happiness.

“Huh… Huh!? Hey, Kyung-jun!?…”

“…………”

Tears streamed down my face like a child’s. I felt joy, relief, and many other emotions mixed together, leaving me speechless, only able to cry.

『Kyung-jun』, just one word

but it held a magical power over me.

“Ah… are you okay? Hey, what’s wrong?”

“……”

“Hey Kyung-jun, come inside. I used my handkerchief today, but I have tissues if you need them.”

I should have been the one taking care of her when she wasn’t feeling well, but now she was pulling my limp body, quickly leading me up to the second floor.

“What’s really going on? I’ve never seen Kyung-jun cry before… Are you okay? Are you tired?”

“………”

She bent down to look at me. That expression made a wave of affection spread through my chest, and I wanted to hold her tightly, to keep everything. The warmth from her hands transferred to me, making me feel strangely happy.

“…It’s been seven years. I thought that if you were living happily, it would be okay even if I wasn’t by your side.”

“Huh…”

“So, when I met you again, and you called me ‘Kyung-jun–ssi’ so distantly, I thought it was inevitable.”

I tightened my grip on her hand, not wanting to let go.

“…But when I remembered being called by my name, I couldn’t hold back anymore.”

“………”

Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the stairs. She flinched, quickly unlocked the door, and pulled me inside.

I was dragged in, stepping into the house. Even she, who had just pulled me in, seemed surprised.