EXO One Shots/Imagines

#56 Lay-The Secret to Never Forgetting

Dedicated to Rasha unnie, who was the first person to talk to me here<3 Enjoy:)

★★★

"Next!"

A knock appears at the door, before it is pushed away and a man trips in. He has brown hair, a dimpled face, but his shirt is buttoned wrongly, and his shoes are mismatched.

Not to mention the lock of hair that hangs askew over one eye.

"Name?" I ask, keeping my tone professional.

"Name? My name? Uh, let me think...name? I don't know."

I gape at the man in front of me. If he even is a man. How can somebody not know their name? I knew my name when I was two. He was twenty two, for god's sake.

"Identification card?"

He fumbles around in his pocket and draws out a bunch of cards, before he bangs one down.

"There! I remembered what it looked like!"

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, and grab the plastic card that lies on the table.

"Zhang Yi Xing," I read aloud.

"So Yixing, why are you here?"

"Because, uh, uh...I forgot why I'm here. Do you, by any chance, know why?"

"Yes. I do."

I shut my eyes, and scribble a few words on my notepad.

Hopeless memory. Descendant of a goldfish. Zhang Yixing, patient 54.

-

I stare at Yixing, who sits innocently on the chair.

"We're going to help you improve your memory. With mnemonic devices. Write that down. We'll start with your name."

He bends over, and scribbles away in his notebook, his tongue sticking out with effort.

"Zhang Yi Xing. Your initials are Z, Y and X. This is sequential mnemonic, because Z, Y, X is essentially X, Y, Z, just flipped. Write that down, and remember your name the next time."

"Ok, Rasha noona!" He calls cheerfully, and writes again in his little notebook.

"How do you know my name is Rasha?" I didn't tell him my name, so how did he know?

"Oh, I saw your name on the nameplate outside when I came in. Rasha," he replies, and my clock chimes six, signalling the end of our session.

"It's six. Learn your name, and come back again next week."

He nods, and gives me a smile before he leaves.

What a miracle. He actually remembered my name.

-

Five ten. Zhang Yi Xing is late by ten whole minutes. I drum my fingers impatiently, and the door flies open.

"Sorry! I forgot the room number, but I saw your name! And noona, my name is Zhang Yi Xing!"

He waves excitedly, and I fight the urge to smile back.

"Sit down. We'll move on to remembering the location of your belongings." I reply crisply, and I see his face fall a little.

I wince. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings. It was just-I didn't know how to explain it.

"Never multitask. It takes eight seconds for things to register in your mind. For example, if you're carrying groceries, answering a call, and placing your car keys, chances are that you'll probably be unable to find your keys. Simply because you've taxed your brain, and it hasn't 'seen' where you've put them. Take that down."