‘Ji Yeon-ssi!’ he kept repeating my name until I snapped out. ‘Huh?’ I mindlessly said. He looked at me such worried face and said, ‘Is there anything wrong? You look pale’. I disregarded what I’m currently thinking and eased his worries. ‘Ah! It’s just work problems, don’t worry’ I said. The two of us started walking without uttering a single word. As we passed by a near restaurant, he suddenly stopped and asked, ‘Ji Yeon-ssi, should we eat?’. As I hesitated to refuse, I anxiously accepted his offer. He smiled at me as he said, ‘Really? Then . . . should we head inside?’. He entered the restaurant first while I took my time entering. I know that there’s something strange happening and I don’t know where I should start suspecting. He looks suspicious but I know that he doesn’t fake those smiles as he looked at me. Is it really just my hunch? Should I stop suspecting and just make myself comfortable? I sighed heavily as I sit down. ‘Does the restaurant doesn’t suit your taste, Ji Yeon-ssi?’ he said after noticing that I sighed. I looked at him straight in the eye and bluntly said, ‘Ah, no. It’s just that you’re too nice and sometimes coming on too strong so it sometimes made me wonder. I’m telling you this because I hope that I won’t get the wrong impression of you’. He sighed heavily and looked down. ‘Ah, sorry. I’m also like this when I’m together with my friends. I didn’t know that my actions made you uncomfortable. I’m really sorry for creeping you out’ he said. I was kind of flustered on what he said. It’s not my intention to ruin the mood but it’s too confusing. I’m sure about my feelings that I like him but if he keeps acting like this, it’ll just end up worse for the both of us. ‘It’s not that like that. It’s just that you’re coming on too strong so I just hope that you tone down your actions because it really made me have a wrong impression of you. I hope that you didn’t take what I say the wrong way’ I bluntly said. One of the reasons why I don’t have that much friends is because of this. If I find fault within a person, I bluntly say it personally. Only Seo Jin and my coworkers can stand my filthy mouth so I hope Tae Hyeon-ssi won’t take this matter the wrong way. The atmosphere went silent for a couple of minutes. Everything turned awkward. The dish we ordered are being served in front of the table yet still no one is uttering a single word. We ate in silence and left the restaurant soon after. We bid our farewell to each other awkwardly and as I turned around, he grabbed my hand. ‘Ji Yeon-ssi! I . . . I’m really sorry about my attitude so far. Promise, I’ll keep things in minimum so that you won’t feel uncomfortable when I’m around. So . . . so, are we still friends?’ he said. As I looked back, his flushed face surprised me. It can’t be concealed in such cold weather. His face turned red as he looked down after saying those lines to me. I don’t know what came into my mind but my hands moved on its own and stroked his head as I said, ‘It’s okay. I understand. We’re still friends, okay?’. All of my suspicions were totally wiped out after that night. Sometimes he’s coming too strong but there’s being timid and shy in his actions. He’s like a teenager undergoing into puberty. He is 28 and I am 30, I don’t know if what I’m feeling is a sense of sister love or an intimate love but it was really comfortable being with him. After that night, we exchanged messages and calls every single night and the closure between us deepened. After office work, he sometimes waited for me outside of my company building and together, we ate dinner after going home. I don’t know the state of relationship we have anymore. Sometimes a sister – brother relationship, sometimes dinner buddies and often we can call ourselves being drink buddies. I really don’t care about how mess up this is but the only thing that I can assure is that being with him really is comfortable. Our director gave us a one week holiday starting from Christmas Eve till the next day after New Year celebration. I woke up from bed late at around 9 AM and started cooking my breakfast. 2 sunnyside up eggs, 4 slices of toast bread and a bit of bacon. Every Koreans needed meat in breakfast. As I started eating my breakfast, my phone vibrates and rang. I looked at my phone and my beloved mom was calling. Being filial, I answered the phone immediately. ‘Mom~ Merry Christmas! What’s the condition there?’ I said. My mom’s loud voice echoed in my ears as she said, ‘You brat! You said you’re going home this Christmas. What happened? I heard about your accident, are you okay?’. My mom never changed. His loud yet concerned voice is still the same as before. It made me teared up a bit while eating my breakfast. How depressing to start the day. ‘I’m okay Mom. The doctor said there’s nothing wrong with my head. Stop concerning yourselves and just celebrate the occasion happily, okay?’ I said. After the dramatic greetings, the conversation flowed back to its natural flow. ‘Thank goodness that you’re alright. We were worried sick, you know? I’ll bring some side dishes in your house at Friday so leave your key under the pot’ she said. As I continued eating, I said, ‘The director gave us one week off so I’m here at Friday. I’ll be seeing you then, Mom’. ‘Then this old lady won’t bother you anymore. Just take a rest for today and party all night tomorrow. Don’t forget to bring a man in your house tomorrow and do your business. I want to see my grandchild before leaving the world. Don’t make me wait anymore. If you can’t find any, just drug the man and drag him in your apartment’ she jokingly said. As expected, her desire for grandchild is still the same as before. I wonder if she is Seo Jin in her younger days. The similarities were coincidentally the same. I choked on what I’m eating and said, ‘Mom! I’ll take care about that matter, okay? Geez~ why are you and Seo Jin being like this these days?’ I said. My mom giggled at the other line and said, ‘Hahaha~ as expected of that brat. She knew how to get a man without any hassle. Why won’t you follow her footsteps?’. I can’t hear any more of this nonsense so I bid my farewell and cut off the call immediately. ‘I’ll just see you on Friday, mom. Geez~ I’m hanging up, goodbye’ I said. I finished eating my breakfast soon after and lied down to my bed. I hugged my man-sized people and tried closing my eyes. As I started to drowse off, my phone rang once again. I got startled and sighed at disappointment. ‘My sleep~ Ah, no~’ I threw a bit of tantrums while getting off of the bed and grabbed my phone with force. I changed my attitude as soon as I saw the one whom was calling. ‘Hello? Tae Hyeon-ssi? What made you call so early in the morning?’ I energetically greeted. ‘Ji Yeon-ssi! Should we try celebrating the Christmas Eve together? It’s boring spending it alone’ he bluntly complained. The closeness between us two deepens just what I told before. I am 2 years old than him but I let him speak with me informally. I still can’t get used to him speaking to me casually. That guy. Our first impression might seem romantic but for the past few weeks, everything that happened was normally what friends often do. I don’t know if I’m still affectionate with him and see him as a guy but if what I’m feeling really is love for him as a guy, then I’ll handle that seriously when that time comes. I didn’t know what would happen later that night. I didn’t think that something grand would happen. I happily agreed and the two of us planned to meet at K Shopping Mall at exactly 7 PM. After the phone call, I decided to visit a hair salon to fix my hair. I fully dressed up and went to the salon. As I was getting my hair washed, my phone rang. With a hot towel placed on my head as I lay down, I asked the lady who’s fixing my head to grab my phone for me. ‘Girl, where are you? Let’s hang out!’ the highly energetic Seo Jin said. I know what fun is there girl trying to do. Probably another bar hopping with his party friends. I really hate clubbing. I hate noisy and disoriented environment. I just brushed it off with a half lie and said, ‘You just want to go clubbing right? Sorry, I have a date with Tae Hyeon-ssi later’. That girl started complaining like a brat that making my ears irritated. I cut off her in the middle and said, ‘Ah~ Need to go now. I’m getting my hair done. Good luck at the club. See you at New Year’. And just like that I hanged up. This girl started getting annoying these days. She has a boyfriend yet going clubbing everyday. I kind of started pitying his boyfriend now. Hang in there man, need more effort to tame the wild lion. After spending an hour and a half in the salon, I went back straight to my apartment around 3 PM. 4 hours prior, I decided to take a short nap before preparing to head out again. I sat at the sofa and slowly started drowsing off. I only plan to take a nap for a few minutes but it took longer than expected. I even started having this weird dream for the past few days. As I take a nap, the dream appeared once again. I was in an apartment and a guy slowly approaching me from afar. As he took each step, I backed off bit by bit. As I hit the corner wall, I crouched down in fear as I kept on saying ‘Stop. Don’t come!’. The man stopped in front of me and looked down. I slowly took a glance of him and a creepy smirk hidden behind those face was all I saw. I don’t know what happened next as I kept on waking up after that scene. It’s more of like a nightmare now rather than a strange dream. It kept on bugging me and making me worried. Is it a distress signal that something bad might happen? Or is it related to the month worth of memories that I lost? Is it really the reason why I lost my memories? Is it or it’s just my own interpretation of that weird nightmare? Despite all the questions, I woke up after that last scene in that weird nightmare. I slowly catch my breath as I wiped my sweat. I also sweated the last time I woke up from that nightmare. As I was trying to relax myself, I slightly glanced at the clocked and heck it’s already 5 PM. I jumped out of the sofa and immediately took a shower and dolled up myself. After an hour of preparation, I immediately took off my apartment. While rushing, I even forgot to bring a coat with me. Its winter and the cold breeze making my legs weaken. People kept on staring at me while waiting on the bus stop. Who would not notice a strange woman wearing a one piece dress in the middle of the winter season without even wearing a coat or a jacket? It’s strange however you look at it at any angle. I rubbed my palm and brought it closer to my mouth to breathe out. Winter survival tip number 1, rub your palm, bring it closer to your mouth and breathe out. I waited for the bus to arrive for almost 10 minutes. During that time, I greatly struggled fighting for my life. Guys who saw me battling with the harsh environment didn’t even bat an eye. There’s really no gentleman these days. Truth hurts and it’s sad