On That Day We | sakook

chapter 12.

Present
March 2024

Sana's POV

"Sana?"

Engrossed in conversation with Nayeon, thrilled about the sudden job offer, a deep voice cut in. I whipped my head to look at the source, locking eyes with a man with dark brown orbs. His gaze was not leaving me, it was starting to make me feel uneasy. I tried to avert my eyes but was instead drawn to the silver ring attached to his lower lip.

Why is he looking at me?

At that moment, I wanted to run, I wanted to hide. Meeting strangers wasn't something I was used to. So, social encounters like this overwhelm me.

Wonsik never let me meet new faces. Back then, before we moved to Seoul, we lived far away from people, in the countryside. It was our home that stood isolated in the middle of endless fields.

The other houses were so distant. I could only gaze through the horizon. For years, Wonsik kept me from exploring that world. I never argued, because it did seem scary. He painted frightening things about the other side that left me feeling so scared the first few months of our stay here in Seoul.

I asked him why we moved here. He said we had no choice because he needed a job and that living in the farm was actually just temporary.

"Sana?" Nayeon interrupted my whirling thoughts by repeating what the lip ring guy had said. Her eyebrows knitted as she flicked her gaze from him to me.

In that moment, my mind was in a haze. A complete fog. Then, the ground seemed to tilt beneath my feet. My vision was starting to get blurry.

A muffled call reached my ears, but I couldn't comprehend a word, nor recognize whose voice it was. I just felt myself grasping the nearest arm for support as I slowly felt my body become heavy, my own weight pulling me down.

And all of a sudden, everything went black.

　
　
　
　
　

I woke up in sterile white walls, with crisp sheets covering my legs, and a plastic tube snaked from my arm, connected to a bag of clear fluid hanging on a metal pole.

Someone stood by the window, his back to me as he held his phone to his ear. "Hyung, I'm with her now..."

Was he talking about me? I stayed quiet as I listened in.

"She passed out," he continued.

"No, I haven't talked to her yet," he said. "She's fine, but she's still sleeping―"

He stopped mid sentence as he turned around and caught me staring at him.

"Hyung, I'll call you later," he said, ending the call and walking towards me.

He was the lip ring guy earlier, wasn't he? What is he doing here?

My anxiety went up as he approached. "Who are you?" I blurted out before I could gather my thoughts.

"What?" he gave me a confused look, his brow furrowed in a deep crease.

"Who are you? Why am I here?" I asked as I sat up, swinging my legs off the bed.

"What do you mean who I am? Wait, don't move too much..." He reached out a hand, but I flinched back.

"Who are you?!" I screamed and he froze as he scanned my face intently.

Just then, the door creaked open, revealing a lady in pale blue clothes. "Ms. Sana?" she asked as she approached me, her voice calm but authoritative.

"My name is Janna," I corrected, confused as I tried to detach the tape that was securing a plastic tube to my skin. "Who are you? What is this?"

She checked the band on my wrist as her firm but gentle touch restrained my hand. "I apologize for the confusion, Ms. Janna... but I'm afraid you can't remove that. It's an IV to keep you hydrated," she explained.

Introducing herself as Park Jihyo, a nurse, she informed me that I was currently in the hospital.

"Hospital? What happened to me?"

"You fainted due to dehydration and low blood pressure," she explained with a gentle smile. "Your friend brought you here," she added, nodding towards the man with the lip ring standing beside her.

"Who is he?" My gaze darted back to him.

The nurse followed my look. "Mr. Jeon Jungkook here signed in as your guardian," she answered, scanning her clipboard. She then glanced at me with a questioning look in her eyes, before switching her gaze back to him.

Jeon Jungkook?

"But I don't know him," I murmured, eyeing him cautiously. They exchanged a glance.

Lip ring, who turned out to have a name that is Jungkook, pulled the nurse aside, their conversation out of my earshot. Afterward, he cast one final glance at me before leaving the room.

Jihyo returned to my side, her presence was strangely comforting. I asked her, "What was that about?"

"He was just concerned about your condition," she explained. "I asked him to give you some space so he wouldn't overwhelm you."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Jihyo began asking questions.

I felt my head throb with a dull ache as I tried to piece together my memories from earlier leading up to my blackout.

"The start of this day just felt so overwhelming. I was exhausted when I woke up. I was so lightheaded..."

I remembered leaving my apartment feeling so dizzy, and then I had a small conversation with Nayeon about job openings at her workplace, then there was the stranger with the silver lip ring.

"Everything after that was a blur," I finished, glancing back to her eyes.

"What about the guy with the lip ring? His name is Jeon Jungkook, ever heard of his name before?"

"No," I croaked, my throat dry. "Never heard it before."

"And you'd never seen him anywhere else?"

"No, I don't think so."

She nodded, jotting something down on her clipboard as she went on. "Your family? Do you know where they are?"

The question made me think deep and long. My past felt so strange to me. 

"They're... gone." My answer came almost a whisper. "They died of a car accident when I was 16."

I knew some events but only because I was taught about what happened. It was as if my history wasn't mine to remember.

"Do you remember the names of your parents?"

Silence stretched between us. I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately searching for answers in the corners of my mind, but no memory of their faces nor their names registered.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"You don't remember?"

"I actually don't remember having a family at all. I just don't know..." My voice trailed off as I felt the weight of the situation.

Why can't I remember a thing about my past?

Jihyo reached out, placing a reassuring hand on mine. "It's okay," she said in a soothing voice. "We'll take it one step at a time. For now, just rest. Don't try to force anything. Press this call button if you need anything. I'll be back with a doctor soon."

With a final squeeze of my hand, she left the room, leaving me alone with the deafening silence.