𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗜 𝗝𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗛𝗢 | 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩

𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗧

paring : childhood!choi jongho x fem!reader
genre : childhood friends to strangers to lovers (?), angst, fluff
warnings : none
word count : 1133

Oh, such a loss of memories.

You saw a strange picture that was hiding on your desk; you couldn't remember how you took it or had it.

You stared at it in confusion and tried to get the memories back, but you couldn't. Who was the boy in the picture standing next to you with a small smile in your childhood? You didn't even remember anything.

You only remember that you moved away from Seoul to somewhere in the upcountry of Korea instead, then moved back again when you got into your early adult life.

How could you lose your childhood memories anyway?

Then the bell of your house rang with your mom's voice, calling for you to go downstairs to the living room. And you did, but the thing was, there were two strangers sitting on the sofa. You stared at the young-looking man in awkwardness and considered that the woman next to him was probably his mom.

The man was staring as well, but he looked so happy to see you with his sparkling eyes.

But you don't know him. So why would he be so happy to see you?

"Y/n, say hi to Jongho and Ms. Choi." Your mom spoke up as she came out of the kitchen with a tray that had glasses of water on it. You glanced at her a bit before bowing politely at Jongho's mom and turning your head to him after, "Hi."

"Hi." Jongho said softly. You blinked a few times at his smile because that looked exactly like the boy's smile in your hidden picture.

You snapped back to reality as you smiled awkwardly before walking away to the backyard of the house to breathe some air and concentrate on yourself.

He seems to know you, but why couldn't you remember him?

Then there was a finger gently tapped on your shoulder as you turned your head to the owner of that finger, and of course, that was from Jongho.

"Hey, Y/n" He looked like he wanted to talk to you a lot, so why not talk with him? You smiled softly, raising your eyebrows. "Ah, Jong... Jongho, right?"

His jaw dropped playfully and dramatically. "Wow, did you actually almost forget my name?" He chuckled softly. "I mean, that's understandable; we haven't talked since you moved away. Now look at you; you've all grown up beautifully."

"Oh well, um, thank you. You look more handsome too." You said that because you considered that he was the boy in your picture because of his words. Jongho smiled wider as he turned away shyly. "Thanks."

Both of you stood there with different feelings. You were standing there with awkwardness, while he was standing there with satisfaction from seeing you again.

"It's been a while now, isn't it?" He spoke up as you glanced at him, trying to study his personality because you literally and completely forgot about him. "Yeah, it's been a while now" You answered. Then he turned his head back to you with a gummy smile.

You suddenly thought that his smile looked really pretty as you said it out loud by accident, "Your smile looks pretty." You trailed off when you realized what you were saying, then you quickly added other words so he wouldn't think that you had forgotten about him. "...just like back then when we were children."

"Oh? Thank you. That's weird because you said my smile was ugly back then." Jongho laughed softly. "Wha—well, I was joking, you know?" You grinned, either proud of yourself for being so good at acting or just wanting to be friendly.

"You're still a joker, huh?" He nudged your shoulder playfully. You chuckled genuinely as you started to feel more comfortable.

If only you hadn't lost your memory of Jongho, maybe you could've talked with him all day without getting awkward or bored.

Then those thoughts hit you, and it made you feel really guilty.

But you also wanted to try talking to him more, even though the memories that you had with him were already gone.

"I think my mom baked cookies for you and your mom. Wanna eat some?" You looked at him with a small smile. But he put a disgusted face on him immediately, which made your heart drop a little. "Yah, I hate sweets. Your mom and you, yourself, know that." He pouted.

Your jaw dropped a little as you got speechless because you had already fucked something up.

"Oops, sorry. I guess I didn't sleep enough; that's why I'm confused a little." You laughed awkwardly, and all you saw was a frown on his face.

"What's my favorite color?" Jongho then suddenly asked this question. You gulped and looked away to think.

But you didn't know the answer.

He sighed quietly. "Black and red are my favorite colors. Yours is/are (f/c). And I still remember every detail about you, Y/N."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"Are you upset?"

"I'm not."

"But your face is clearly showing that you are."

He stared at you when you said that and chuckled softly. "You still don't change, huh? You're just like back then, when we were children," he scanned your face with gentle gazes. "Always care about people's feelings, even though it's too over sometimes."

"I understand that you forgot about me. There's no doubt why." His eyes shifted down to your hands, wanting to hold them but refusing as he respected you so much. "If you weren't important to my life, I would've forgotten about you too."

You pressed your lips together and couldn't help but feel more guilty.

"My mom talked about you a lot. She always mentioned Choi Jongho whenever we had dinner together, and that made me question myself, 'Who's he? Who's Jongho?' all the time." You stare at the grass under your feet. Jongho let out a chuckle when you told him about this.

You sighed softly. "I feel bad."

He raised his eyebrows and stared at you as he softened his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but education made my brain forget some parts of my memories. I didn't mean to forget about you." You finally looked at him with guilt.

Jongho smiled a bit. Enjoy your cuteness as he reached his hand out to pat your shoulder. "It's fine. I understand."

"Seeing you again already makes me happy."

His words made your heart flutter as you blinked at him and smiled after. Then he asked, "Should we get back inside the house?" and you nodded in agreement.

Jongho smiled and held your hand gently.

"Then let's restart having our moment for the first time together again, shall we?"