💭Forget-Me-Not: Chapter Nineteen

The aftermath. 😔

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She clapped her hands like dusting them off after a work well done, her hips swaying more as she took long and confident strides away from the mess she had left behind.

Kang Yoon stood up quickly as he saw Ma In Ha, back to her reserved self, approaching him. Without a word, he followed her to where he knew Sae Ra would be.

When he entered the office, his first time there, he was a bit surprised to see Tae Ri, as well. She looked worn out, yet ferociously bent on holding back tears. On the other hand, Sae Ra was sleeping in one of the large leather chairs. She looked more peaceful than she had in a while, although her eyebrows were still slightly furrowed and her body looked tense, the way it curled up into itself.

“Kang Yoon,” Sung Joon said, looking at him with a mild expression. “We finally meet.”

Kang Yoon did not want to tear his eyes away from Sae Ra, but he briefly forced himself to in order to acknowledge Sung Joon. He wanted to study the man before him more, but Sae Ra was like a magnet for his attention. His gaze, by default, returned to her.

“I didn’t want to meet like this,” continued Sung Joon, “but things have been out of my control. Let us call it a day and regroup some other time. For now, you may take Sae Ra home and watch over her. Let her rest.”

The memory of Sae Ra’s fury flashed in Kang Yoon’s mind. As if reading his thoughts, Sung Joon continued, “She needs rest. She should be…” He hesitated. “Technically, she should be better once she wakes up—more in control, perhaps more like her normal self, but she’ll need time.”

Kang Yoon gave a curt nod, then slowly he made his way over to Sae Ra. He lifted her in his arms and glanced at Tae Ri with some uncertainty.

“I’m fine,” she said suddenly, standing up so fast she almost lost her balance. “I already called Bo Suk, and he’s on his way to pick me up.” She finally looked at Kang Yoon. “Take care of her.”

Kang Yoon nodded and headed towards the elevator doors. In Ha told him how he could make his way to a back route where a car waited to take them home.

In the black car, Sae Ra continued to sleep, leaning against him, her breaths light and soft.

–

Tae Ri was still slightly shaky on her feet but refused to be helped or to wait for Bo Suk at Sung Joon’s office. She didn’t want him anywhere near this place. She held up a hand to assure Sung Joon and In Ha she was fine, then left alone to take the elevator down to the ground floor.

The doors opened. She wasn’t even aware that she had stumbled out and walked into the main, cavernous lobby. Nothing clicked for her until suddenly the vision cleared before her eyes and in her line of sight was a familiar figure, the tall and broad-shouldered Bo Suk looking around with a tinge of franticness. Almost as soon as she caught sight of him, his own eyes latched onto hers.

His body slunk in relief and his long legs took only a few strides to reach her, his hands grasping her shoulders in support.

“You okay? I was worried when I heard you were unwell,” he said.

The concern in his eyes, the gentle words, and his general presence were enough to burst the dam. That feeling of safety made her want to slink to the ground with the release of all that effort to just be standing and appear as solid as possible. It brought the tears back into her eyes, but she held it back as much as she could.

Immediately understanding how she never liked to make a scene or to show her emotions, he hurriedly wrapped an arm around her shoulder to hold her up and guide her out the doors, back to her place as soon as possible so she could cry as much as she wanted in peace in his arms.

–

Hyun Woo continued sitting on the box, even as filming wrapped up and everyone cleared up the space and began to leave, shooting him uncertain glances and saying goodbye in awkward fashion. The main director, sensing something was very wrong, didn’t bother him throughout the day.

Alone.

He wished at least In Ha would come by, even if it were to give him more orders. Like how she had visited him just this morning to guide him to the writer’s room when Sae Ra was alone.

He wished Sae Ra was around so he could tease her again. Instead, he was left to himself, the worst situation that he always avoided at all costs. And yet it felt not only inevitable but also necessary at this moment.

I guess I should go home now. The thought crept into his mind after a while. But his body still didn’t move.

There’s no one there anyway.

And he continued to sit in silence.

Only later, hours later, did his mind start to switch gears.

–

Kang Yoon watched over Sae Ra, who had slept the whole way home and was now tucked into her bed. Luckily for Kang Yoon, he was fit enough and Sae Ra was light enough, or else he’d probably be lying on the floor next to her, half dead. Still, he did need some rest, and he took it by sitting on the edge of her bed as he gazed down at her. He had covered her up to her chin with the blanket, like a warm hug.

Her breathing had slowed and deepened somewhat, although there were moments when they’d hitch back up into shallow breathing. Whenever that happened, he gently stroked her hair or moved strands out of her face, and she calmed down again.

He didn’t know how long he stayed there, looking down at her, but eventually, he duly felt like a creep and moved away to give her some privacy and alone time, even though she seemed to be in a whole other world at the moment. He hoped her dream land was treating her way better than reality was. These days, it wasn’t hard for that to be the case, that was how dark the real world could be.

Rather than going back to his home, he camped out in the living room. The silence enveloped him as much as the darkness did as night settled in. He turned on one small lamp. Lots of thoughts crowded his own brain, and eventually, Kang Yoon escaped into his own dreams.

What woke him was the lightest shuffling of feet on the bare floor. Something about the gentleness and familiarity of it pulled him out of the deepest sleep. Groggily, he took his time opening his eyes and saw the frail figure of Sae Ra as the faintest light of daybreak seeped through her thin curtains, coating them in a soft, bluish glow.

Her face was again on the verge of crying, crumpling like a heartbroken child at seeing Kang Yoon sitting on her rug, his arms wrapped around his legs, looking so uncomfortable yet like he was on guard to keep all nightmares away from her room.

Her head hurt, and everything from the day before was like a blur, but her heart remembered. The scene slowly unfolded like a ballet. Kang Yoon opened up to her, his knees coming down and his arms going up while she fell into him, her knees giving in and gravity taking her into his arms. They stayed balled up into each other on the floor, her crying and repeating “Sorry” as he soothed her and embraced her.

She was back, and that was all that mattered to Kang Yoon.

–

Kang Yoon spent most of the next few days at Sae Ra’s to keep her company even in silence, through all the normal and trivial daily activities like eating before the TV, washing the dishes, and reading books, as if nothing had happened.

But they couldn’t stay in their safe little bubble for long. Kang Yoon, Sae Ra, and Tae Ri received the same text in a new group chat the third day after the incident.

It was from Hyun Woo.

We need to talk.

Next time on 🌸Forget-Me-Not🌸

Hyun Woo’s ears were red despite himself while Kang Yoon wasn’t sure if he should be face palming or relieved Sae Ra’s imagination, albeit nonsensical, was working again.

*Author’s Note*

Writing serialized novels has been such an interesting experience. I’m still in the experimental phase and learning a lot. I read somewhere that splitting a serialized novel into parts can be a good practice (and I see that lots of Webtoons do this, as well). I do have to admit that doing so was useful for organizing my outlines so the plots moved smoothly—at first. However, eventually, this felt more like a chain. I have a tendency to adhere too strictly to self-made rules, so I’ve been running into a wall and trying to figure out how I can format the stories to the best of my abilities.

Eventually, I’d like to get rid of parts (or seasons) altogether as another experiment—maybe for future stories if not the ones I’m writing at the moment. But for now, I’m working on not being too strict on myself about having ten chapters per part, exact pages for each chapter, cliffhangers for almost every chapter, etc. because the most important thing is that stories move fluidly and naturally.

Basically, you may start seeing subtle changes in the format of my current stories. I’m not sure if any of you even noticed, but the issues of length, arcs, and more have been on my mind quite a bit!

I wanted to thank you for your patience as I continue to grow as a writer, and I hope that you continue to enjoy my stories as I adjust and improve to bring you the best reading experiences. I’m excited for other experiments in the future, too, like writing shorter chapters for release twice a week! Let me know your thoughts and suggestions below.