Forgotten Love

Chapter 11

"So, how's your day with him?" was the question that greeted me the moment I stepped on my room. I didn't respond and forced on a smile instead, lying that it was great. I ran towards her and right away put her in my arms, still trying not to shed tears in front of her again. I had been crying for my whole life in front of her. She had been always a shoulder to cry on and I somehow felt bad about it. Couldn't I just be happy in front of her?

"Uljima!" she caressed my shoulder and spoke, making me realize that my tears escape from my jail-like eyes again, without me noticing.

"I'm not," I still defended although we both heard my sobs already. I chuckled. "I guess I am."

She released herself from my hug and gazed directly at my eyes, asking me tons of questions with just those stares. As if I was under her spell, I told her everything, down to the smallest detail.

"I told you don't get yourself hurt," she scolded. So that was what she meant when she told me that.

"I must be crazy to let him hurt me," I responded, crying as everything became blurry, then just found myself hitting my chest so hard. "My heart's hurting so much," I mumbled in pain. "What should I do now, Soo Bin? What should I do with this pain now?"

She seemed like she didn't know what to do too, seeing tears in her eyes. I forced on a smile to tell her I was still okay, but shaking her head was her way of response. "I really won't allow it this time. Better not meet that Crown Prince for the mean time or else I really won't be your friend anymore."

I pouted. "I still need to help him though, in any way I can. In that way, when I can finally send him home, I really won't be able to meet him even if I want to."

"But, Yoo Jung-ah."

"Arasseo. I'll just find ways for him to come back on the past on my own. But, since we already had an agreement with him that we'll spend the Christmas Eve together, let us meet him, ne?"

"Ne ne. It was Christmas Eve anyway, so you can."

After changing clothes, I asked her to sleep with me. Good thing she agreed, it wasn't a new thing anyway. She always slept here. We then fixed my bed and threw ourselves on it right away.

"I'm sleeping now. Sleep now too. Better not think of him before you go to sleep."

"Ne," I answered, but those words betrayed my mind. Moments with him just flashed on the air as if it was a movie. "Soo Bin-ah, ja?" She didn't respond. "Kurae, sleep now. Soo Bin-ah, can I be Ra On? I exactly look like her anyway. It must be nice to be Ra On, right? Maybe it would be nice to be his Ra On, but I'm not. I will never be his Ra On, and it just hurt me so much," I chuckled at my own thoughts and pain. Fortunately, little by little, sleep slowly took over me.

---

I stared still at the Crown Prince lying on his bed. He might have felt that I was staring, making him opening his eyes sluggishly.

"How can I fall asleep when you are sitting there?"

I just smiled at him and spoke, "You already look very sleepy, Your Highness."

"I told you, you don't need to stay up all night," he insisted.

"It's because I want to see your face, all night long."

A smile plastered on his face as he told me, "You can see me all day long tomorrow," but those words just sadden the mood. Would tomorrow ever come? Would I be able to see him tomorrow? Forcing on a smile was what I did to agree on him.

"You see, there are moments when ordinary things and everyday life suddenly feel very precious," I mumbled, but I thought he heard it.

"You feel that way when you think it is the last time."

You feel that way when you think it is the last time. It kept replaying on my mind as if it was under a spell, and it just hurt my heart, a lot. It would really be the last time, Jeoha.

"Yes, Your Highness. That's right. You suddenly feel the ordinary things and boring daily lives to be very special once you think it is the last time," I repeated which made both of us in silence.

"All right." He tapped the space on his bed beside him as he spoke, "Come and see my face."

I stood up right away and walked towards him, sat up on his bed, but he suddenly pulled my hand in surprise, then just found myself lying beside him.

That woke me up, panting. What was that? That was really a weird dream! I could clearly see myself as a eunuch and someone as that Crown Prince, although I couldn’t clearly see his face as I didn’t know why. I just knew he was a Crown Prince by his clothes. Who was he, anyway? Anyway, me as a eunuch? That was a hilarious dream!

"Oh, you wake up already," Soo Bin suddenly spoke, cutting the weird thoughts in my mind. I told her about my dreams, which was a habit of me, but she just laughed it off. However, just after a couple of seconds, "Yoo Jung-ah," she stopped and spoke instead.

I looked at her and asked, "Why?"

"It's pretty," she replied instead which made me confused of what was she saying.

"Me?" I jokingly asked, chuckling. She just rolled her eyes and eventually chuckled too.

"Your bracelet." Bracelet? Just when did I buy a bracelet? No one ever gave me something like that too. Looking at my hand was what I did to confirm and me eyeing towards my wrist only to see a bracelet there. It wasn't just her illusion, neither mine.

As crazy as it seemed, I stared at it for a long time, was amazed by its beauty, and fascinated on how did I get it. Was it magic, or Santa's early Christmas gift? But magic wasn't real and I was already too old to believe that Santa was existing.

That was just fascinating, really! I was believing, though, that it's because of magic or Santa, just between the two of them. Wasn't it scary if I got if it from nowhere?

“Maybe that was what Bo Gum gave you last night.”

“Bo Gum?” I asked, starting to crease my eyebrows as his name seemed unfamiliar. “Who is he?” Her holding both of my arms was what she did, making me stop looking at the bracelet and instead look at her.

“Just what did you ask me?”

Confused, I repeated my question, “Who is he? Who is Bo Gum?”

“Yah! Stop joking around. You’re scaring me! You know me?” I nodded as I mouthed her her name, Chae Soo Bin. “How about the Crown Prince Lee Yeong?”

I moved my head to say yes again, making her sighing somehow in relief. “Ne. He is one of the crown princes during the Joseon era, right?”

“Aside from that information?” I shook my head to tell him I knew nothing about him anymore. What was I supposed to know about him, anyway? “You didn’t know him? I only told you not to see him for a while and not to forget him,” I heard her mumbling his last sentence, but I was still able to hear it though. Forget what? “That Crown Prince time travelled in an unknown reason, then he bumped into you, and later decided to name himself as Park Bo Gum in this world,” she added.

“Time travel? What’s that? Is he an actor or what? I only see that thing in movies, series, and books. How does time travel even come into life?” I blurted out. I looked at her once again as I saw her trembling in I didn’t know why.