dimensions • yang jeongin

e i g h t e e n

"Come on, it will be fun."

"Jisung, please no."

Jisung huffed in annoyance while flipping the ancient book he found from a stall selling old books. "This was the most expensive book from the stall. I'm lucky I can reach the deepest box to get this book."

"You do know it's forbidden for us to see this." Jeongin leaned his head on the wall, refusing to see the book's content.

"It's not our fault, it's the seller's fault. What if a child bought this book and learned without knowing anything? Is it still the child's fault?"

Truth be told, Jisung's luring almost made him fully convinced it was alright to read the book. He did not know where the book came from and if it was real or not.

"Ah! Here it is!" Jisung exclaimed. "The forbidden song."

"Is this alright?" Jeongin worriedly asked. He finally had his eyes glued to the paper and read the lyrics out loud.

Without them realising, after reading it, their lips moved into humming a song that none of them knew the melody of the forbidden song.

And the next thing Jeongin knows, he went to the Aria waterfall after a few days to test it. At first, nothing happened. Much to his disappointment. He returned home without suspecting anything, without realising how the water gurgled into huge whirls in the middle of the night.

The next morning, his memory was completely wiped off. The only thing he remembered was how his father brought an unknown girl into their house.

A loud gasp escaped from Jeongin's lips. He opened his eyes widely, his chest heaved up and down heavily. He could not accept the fact that Hyunjin just revived his memories and worse, Aeri could see it too. Hyunjin detached his hands from their foreheads and got up to get some water.

Jeongin slowly turned his head to the right, only to see Aeri looking down without a single voice coming out.

Guilt washed over him completely. He felt tears gathering in his eyes. He badly wanted to hug her, apologise hundred times and promise her she would return but he couldn't. Aeri's hair was covering her face that he couldn't make out her expression and feelings.

Hyunjin returned with two glasses of water. Jeongin took it but Aeri kept looking down.

"I cannot tell when exactly 50 years is." Hyunjin broke the silence. "And I cannot tell when the disruption is, as you asked before, Aeri. But you still can ask people who knew about Olismore. The period should be around the same time."

"Chan." Jeongin's voice was hoarse. "We can meet Chan when we return home."

Still, she didn't budge.

She couldn't believe this.

♡

Apparently, Jeongin had booked a room for the night.

Two rooms, to be exact. They were just small rooms on the top floor. As soon as they got in there was an inclined ceiling which reminds Aeri to beware of the height. She wouldn't want a bump on the forehead later. 

Her room and Jeongin's were connected by a opened room that led to the staircase. It had a kettle on a table, newspapers and a cabinet. She wasn't sure why they put the cabinet there but cared less.

It was late evening. Jeongin knocked on her door quietly that she would not realise his existence if she did not unintentionally turn around from the window. The view from the window perhaps was the same from the town she explored with Jeongin for the first time a few weeks ago. She could see children playing catch and run in the narrow lane, people taking their clothes from the hangers and stalls that sell fruits.