"What did you say?" Jaehyun asked.
Jaehyun's voice was quiet, cautious-like he was afraid the moment might disappear if he spoke too loudly. His shoulders were tense, his eyes searching her face as if he was scared he had misheard, or worse, imagined her words entirely.
"I... remember it!" she said with a small smile, looking up at her brother.
Jaehyun blinked-once, then twice-because the words didn't make sense at first.
Remember?
She never said that. Not in this tone. Not with this clarity. His breath hitched ever so slightly as he leaned forward, studying her face as if afraid the moment would dissolve if he blinked too long.
"You... remember?" His voice came out softer than he intended.
She smiled, nervous but hopeful, almost shy-as if she herself feared she might be wrong.
Her breath trembled with the admission, as though speaking the memory aloud solidified its fragile existence.
Her fingers clutched the photo tighter, knuckles pale, and a spark of relieved excitement flickered in her eyes-something Jaehyun hadn't seen in years.
"I-It... it was Chan's and my first day at a leisure park!"
The words spilled out unevenly, shaky but certain. She blinked rapidly, as though she feared the image would slip away if she didn't hold on to it long enough.
Jaehyun's lips curved into a soft smile, eyes warming with recognition. It wasn't his usual smirk or teasing grin. This was something deeper-relief mixed with guilt and a tenderness that made his chest ache.
"It was the day before our first day... a-at school." she added quietly.
"Yeah, you're right," he replied, and she glanced back at the photo.
Jaehyun leaned forward slightly, as though the picture itself could pull him closer to her-closer to the version of himself he used to be.
Jaehyun felt something tighten in his chest. She didn't just recognize the picture-she remembered the context. Dates. Events. Feelings.
That never happened.
Not since the accident.
Her fingers traced the edge of the photograph as if touching it made the memory clearer. Jaehyun watched the small tremble in her hands, wondering if she was overwhelmed-or if he was.
"And you came with us. You ditched your friend just to be there!" she said with a small chuckle.
Her laugh was soft-light in a way he hadn't heard in years-and it struck Jaehyun like a quiet shock.
Hearing her speak about it so confidently made him feel strangely humbled, as if she were reminding him of a version of himself he no longer felt connected to.
"Well, I wanted to be with my siblings-seeing your eyes sparkle on your first day at a leisure park," he said softly.
As he spoke, the memory resurfaced clearer than it had in years: the twins tugging at his hands, dragging him from ride to ride, their giggles ringing in the air.
He hadn't thought about that day in forever, and hearing Soul recall it so vividly made his throat tighten.
He realized it had always been true. He had always chosen them-long before life twisted everything out of shape.
"You... you also took the photo... We couldn't take one because appa kept fooling around the whole time, making us laugh so hard." Her voice softened at the memory, the bittersweet warmth of childhood filling her features for a brief moment.
"You scolded him with a smile and sent him away so we could finally take a picture!" she said.
She spoke with a confidence that stunned him.
These weren't broken fragments.
These were whole scenes.
Little details he himself had forgotten-like how their father kept making faces, or how Soul clung to Jaehyun's sleeve because she couldn't stop laughing.
Jaehyun swallowed.
How is she remembering more than I do?
