Forget-me-not

Seungmin

Seungmin was still in somewhat of a daze when he looked over and met Flora's bright blue eyes. He couldn't believe that she had actually agreed to meet him at a cafe. Nothing about her had changed which included her usual scowl and furrowed eyebrows.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"First of all, thank you for meeting me."

"Don't get all sappy with me," she scoffed. "I told you that this would be quick and I meant it. I'm meeting you here and then I'm going back home to check on Cynthia."

"I understand," Seungmin's fingers clutched his ice americano a little tighter. "So how is she? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," Flora shrugged, "she's Cynthia."

"Right, so um...I guess I'll get straight to the point. I don't think it's fair that you're keeping Cynthia away from everyone. It's not healthy for her."

Flora dipped her head back and groaned. The pair was in a coffee shop and surrounded by strangers. On a Wednesday evening, the place was fairly busy near dinner time. The fresh scent of baked pastries and ground coffee beans lingered in the air.

"I thought you said you wanted to have an important conversation about Cynthia."

"This is an important conversation about Cynthia! You have to think about her mental health. Is she truly happy being trapped in your apartment all the time?"

"Seungmin, you are in no position to give me any advice when it comes to Cynthia. You dated her and put her in danger by doing that. You knew what the risks were when you started to date her. You knew you had psychopathic fans and those sasaengs ar-"

"The sasaengs involved in the car accident have been placed in prison and fined. They'll be in jail for a few years. My company posted a notice that the next sasaeng who takes extreme actions will be legally prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Flora frowned and shook her head. "Don't you get it? It's too late for that. Your company should have already had these restrictions in place. It shouldn't have taken your girlfriend's memory loss for them to get their shit together."

Seungmin's heart ached at the words. Flora made a fair point, but then again, nobody had ever taken extreme actions like this. Sure the guys had been chased and harassed a fair amount, but never like this.

"It's not fair," Seungmin tried again, "to Cynthia or to me."

"Cynthia can't remember shit."

"It's not fair to me! I have all these memories of Cynthia and myself. What am I supposed to do with them? Are you saying I should forget the relationship I had with her?"

"Yeah, that's literally what I'm saying. You have hundreds, even thousands, of people who bow down to you. You could have anyone you wish and yet you still pick Cynthia. You could even have another k-pop idol."

"I don't want another k-pop idol!"

Flora rolled her eyes, "how typical."

"Please," Seungmin frowned, "can't you tell her? Can't you, at least, tell her that she had a boyfriend? You don't have to give her my occupation or anything."

"I'm not supposed to tell her anything and that's her doctor's orders. She has to figure everything out on her own time. I have nothing to do with that."

"And what if she doesn't remember?"

"I guess you'll have to suck it up and move on like I said. Are we finished here? I promised Cynthia I'd get us pizza tonight."

"If you won't let me see her, can my band members see her? She was their friend too. You don't have to tell her they're in a band."

Flora snorted and shook her head amused. "Do you realize that all of you pose the same threat? You could also lead a sasaeng directly to my apartment complex. What if the next one has a weapon?"

"Are you crazy?"

"No, but your fans are. You're lucky I'm still around here. I could just take her and move to another town or something. I have all the money I need, so it's always a possibility."

Seungmin's heart dropped to his stomach. The casual conversations around him suddenly sounded muffled. It was as if he had been dropped into a freezing cold swimming pool and people were talking above the water.

Flora's eyes narrowed and he swore something evil lurked beneath the surface. Deep down in that ocean blue, there was something hidden along the depth and he didn't want to discover it. His mouth went dry and he leaned away from the table.

"Please don't do that," he finally found his voice. "I'll keep me and my band members away from her."

"Good."

"But what if she remembers on her own?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, but if I were you," she chuckled, "I wouldn't give yourself false hope. I have a feeling you're going to be extremely disappointed. We wouldn't want that to happen now would we, Kim Seungmin?"

Seungmin stayed quiet. His teeth sunk into the velvety skin of the side of his cheek. As much as he wanted to be a smart ass, it wasn't worth it. If Flora moved and took Cynthia with her, he wasn't sure he'd ever find her again.

"It's been a good talk." Flora shoved herself up from the table. Her chair scraped along the linoleum flooring. "Have a nice night." She turned and left the coffee shop.

A shiver began to inch down Seungmin's spine and caress every vertebrae; maybe Flora was far more unstable than anyone had suspected.