Chapter 228 - Tic Toc

Two weeks ago, the spell's two-year term was over. 

She wasn't sure how she had survived the fear and anxiety, imagining that the next day she would receive the tragic news of the death of her lover. 

Ye Rim had tried to talk to him in every way, but it was impossible. He had actually built a wall around himself so she couldn't get close.

But Shin had returned with the good news. He was alive!

"But ... how is it possible?"

"I don't know how it is possible," said the ex-fairy, with a mysterious smile, "but I was never good with spells like that. I'm glad the magic worked to keep you alive. Even though he can't respond to your love, one day he loved you so much that he wanted to give his life for you, Ye Rim."

She tried to internalize the wisdom of those words, but obviously she was the shallow, mundane type who was unable to accept that.

Finding out that she was expecting a baby to Jun Hyeon was both a lot of joy and a terrible martyrdom!

Ye Rim didn't know exactly what to do. If she went to see him and said he was going to be a father, how would he react?

Was he going to accuse her of a pregnancy scam?

She was tired of fighting, and worried about the baby's health. She wanted to save energy to give the best to the child she and Jun Hyeon expected, even if he wasn't on her side.

The four women entered a children's clothing store. 

Madame Jung was just as excited as when Eun Ha announced her pregnancy!

Nam Joo, although more restrained, also looked happy. Ye Rim knew her mother would like her to be in a relationship, at least, and to marry the child's father, rather than being a solo mother.

Eun Ha showed a pink baby outfit and Ye Rim's mother a blue outfit at the same time.

She laughed at that, but something caught her eye through the store window.

Jun Hyeon, looking at her in the crowd.

…

When Ye Rim blinked, and looked and again, however, he was no longer there.

"Am I seeing things now?" she murmured, lowering her head, and feeling the tears forming in her eyes. It hurt so badly in her chest she leaned forward, suddenly feeling dizzy.

Ye Rim heard Eun Ha's and the older women's screams, and also the crowd's shock, but everything went dark and she felt herself falling.

.

.

.

Jun Hyeon got out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist, with a strange pain in his chest, and a feeling of emptiness and boredom that seemed to be impossible to fill. 

He texted his friend Jang and Marion, saying he had a sore throat so he wouldn't be meeting them at the bar as agreed. 

It was a recurring excuse. He had been avoiding going out because of the 'YeJun Gate', but today that wasn't the reason. 

Jun Hyeon felt restless and sulky, as if something was stuck in his throat and in the back of his mind at the same time.

"No one can help you but yourself!" he repeated the piece of music he had heard earlier, going to the fridge.

After looking for a while, he saw that nothing he wanted was there. Walking barefoot through the apartment, he went to his office, and sighed when he saw the wall he had been working on months ago.

On that wall, all his efforts to remember the person who had been erased from his mind before the accident were interconnected. Photos, post-its, connected in a tangle of information that culminated the night of the Pearl fire. 

The night he forgot everything about Ye Rim.

"What happened there that made me forget only what was related to Ye Rim?"

Approaching the wall, he looked at one of the post-its.

-Miss Nam came to the office in the late afternoon to deliver a shirt. She introduced herself to the secretaries as Seamstress Nam. -

-Sr Ho Duk Mi and Miss Nam came for the first appointment-

-Miss Nam took the key to Dr. Kim's car with Mrs. Ma.-

-Miss Nam returned the car, washed and full tank. She asked to write down this information, because she wants proof - 

He laughed at that.

They were notes based on her secretary's records. And they were not the only ones.

-Miss Nam called to ask if surgery will delay, she is waiting at the Dance Studio-

-The Le Chez's Maitre called to ask if a reservation for dinner must be canceled -

Cases and Bags Receipt from a Zurich store - 

He still hadn't recovered from his shopping madness, so unlike him. 'How could I buy fifteen Louis Vuitton bags for a woman?!' 

He laughed at himself and walked away from the wall. 

Jun Hyeon had proof of depositing the scholarship amount as a donation to the Ji Hyeon Foundation and Ye Rim's name was mentioned on that year's donor list.

Jun Hyeon shook his head, stunned. 

That woman made little sense.

"You're not going to talk about fees for the gifts you gave, are you?" he practically heard her speaking, outraged.

"Of course I will. We are friends, I am not trying to seduce you!"

Why did he imagine this speech linked to her face, opening only one eye to pry on what she felt not prepared to see? And why did he have the impression that he had disappointed her a few times?

He went to a locked cabinet and opened it. Some objects that Ye Rim had left lying around the house were there. He still hadn't had an elegant way to send those things back to her. 

From there he took out a box. These were the personal items that the hospital had returned to his family when he was in a coma after the fire. He had opened that box only once, but he had not had the courage to touch those torn clothes smelling of burnt fabric and soot, or anything else it contained.

But today, along with her mother and friends, Ye Rim was so beautiful, pulling her hair out of her face and putting it behind her ear. He felt like crying, seeing her.

Jun Hyeon found his old wallet, along with the other burnt and corroded items. Sighing, he put the wallet back in the box. It was time to permanently erase Ye Rim from his life.

He collected the post-its and pictures of the wall, and throw it inside the box.

He had the intense feeling of deja vu, and stopped everything.

'What am I doing? Have I done this before?'

Jun Hyeon sat down and placed the box in front of him, with shaking hands.

'What is happening?'

Not knowing exactly what to look for, he started frantically looking at all the post-its in the box, and the photos, trying to capture what he was missing. He practically heard Shin Hyung's voice in his mind.

~'Calm down, man. Memories come when you least expect it. The things that tie everything together are usually tiny and very simple. Then you will understand everything. '~

He scrabbled at his wallet until he found what he was looking for. The small elusive object that brought everything together.

A golden sequin.

Looking at that small, grimy object in the palm of his hand with eyes filled with tears, the memories came back to him.

He begged to the fairies Shin and Eun Ha to bring Ye Rim back. Wait, were they really fairies?

She was on your side when searching for Ji Hyeon, even to the detriment of her blossoming career.

He asked to change the terms of the contract and extend the validity period out of jealousy.

He held her in his arms after much anticipation, and it was wonderful. And again and again, wonderful. He thought he would never get tired of Ye Rim, he felt like a teenager full of hormones and vigor!

She was his relief and ailment in the darkest days.

She was his guiding star, the lighthouse in the storm.

All the little things, her explosive temper, her generous heart, her courage for incredible things, and her fear of the simplest things ...

Jun Hyeon loved every bit of Nam Ye Rim.

He loved her so much that his heart ached and he thought he was having a heart attack.

Placing his hand on his chest, he bent over himself, careful not to drop the spangle on the floor.

He didn't want to lose i - and Ye Rim - again.

"Please… I cannot die now… Agh! Not now, No, no!"