After I put together the house, I started to rip open the bags with the miniature furniture and prompted him, “There was a large window with a planter filled with red and yellow flowers. I think there was also a big white wardrobe and table. What else was there?”

“…Floral lace curtains, a blue bathtub, and a pink box with heels,” he replied quietly.

As I placed the furniture in the house, I held back my delight. “Yes, you’re right. I remember now.”

I felt thrilled every time he recalled my forgotten childhood memories. I was the only person in the world to know his name, and he was the only one to know my childhood. We were like two hands from the same body, fitting each other perfectly. Our relationship made me feel so indescribably and deeply moved. There was no relationship like ours in this world.

It was too bad that he couldn’t share this feeling with me because of his fear and guilt.

I didn’t need to put anything together, so I just arranged the furniture and dolls, and the mansion was complete. The box said that two of the rooms would light up if I put batteries at the base of the gray chimney, but the batteries didn’t come with the house, so unfortunately, I couldn’t light up the mansion.

I turned the completely decorated mansion in his direction and smiled. “How does it look?”

“…” Perhaps this was a given, but there was no answer from him. He glanced at the mansion with a vaguely tired face, then he hung his head. I imagined what kind of things happened to him today. Just like any other day… It was probably a day that was no different from the previous one. That was probably why he was depressed.

…A few months ago, I managed to reserve a hotel room that he would like, but ultimately, we couldn’t make it. Just waiting for his door to open took two hours and 34 minutes. Even then, opening the door was all he did. As I had predicted, he wasn’t enthusiastic about my visit.

Well, it couldn’t be helped.

The “Haeseo Nam” that I knew seemed cold and callous on the outside, but inside, he was affectionate and full of fear. If he recovered quickly after experiencing the things that he did in the mansion, that was the same as saying that his mind was broken somewhere. He was probably exhausted from accepting the situation that happened to him. I could wait for him for as long as he needed.

I had dearly wished to go to meet him after Yeonseon Ham died.

It was when our love had just bloomed, so my heart raced wildly at every passing second. When I couldn’t see him, I felt a feverish yearning, and he appeared in my dreams every night. However, I knew that he loved Yeonseon deeply, so I couldn’t approach him so readily since my next body wouldn’t be Yeonseon Ham.

How long would it take for him to forget Yeonseon? On one hand, I kind of wished that he wouldn’t forget Yeonseon. Even though time had passed since he died, did he still love Yeonseon? If I saw him missing Yeonseon, my heart would melt into mush and puddle on the floor. He liked Yeonseon a lot, so he was probably quite miserable now. Maybe he cried in his room alone while calling my name.

Oh, how I wanted to run to see him.

Perhaps it was because I vividly remembered how passionately we loved each other. I honestly felt pained to think that we had to start from square one again. Even if he met me, he would look at me like a stranger because I wasn’t Yeonseon—even though my soul remembered very keenly every moment that I embraced and loved him.