章 491: 905
[Chapter 224]
[Precious (2)]
All clan members participated in the company dinner.
Those who finished work early for once held a big party.
[Hey! Everyone pay attention! On a day like this, how can we miss Ariel's song!? Ariel and the kids are singing, so everyone stand up!!]
"Wasn't there a name Pandora Hearts instead of Ariel and the kids? Ah, but if everyone stands up, I won't be able to see because I'll be blocked..."
"Then you can just go to the front. Right?"
It was a company dinner renting out an entire restaurant.
Various facilities were prepared at the dinner venue considering the clan members' preferences.
Ariel suddenly gathered the Pandora Hearts members who had entered a break period and held a performance.
"Good! Our Mary is doing well! Hey, don't you think so too?"
"Who's dating... It's really unsightly. But the song is good."
"You're saying that while getting along well with Eun-woo. Hey, come to think of it, where did Eun-woo go? I can't see her?"
"She said Twelve Seat work just finished and she's on her way here now. Unlike someone, she's working hard and can't even play properly..."
"Aish, why are my ears so itchy? Are you perhaps talking about me?" "You know well."
"This really!"
"Sigh, these guys are always just bragging about their girlfriends when they get together. Do you know Mary and Eun-woo can't hold their heads up because of you?"
On one side, Ariel was on stage singing with Pandora Hearts, and on the other side, Jin Pa-rang and Mok Min-ho were having a battle of nerves.
Kim Min-ji who couldn't stand watching stepped in between, sighing while stopping the now familiar fight.
"Why do those kids still seem like children even as they get older?"
Eun-ha watched that from another table and was incredulous.
It was extremely childish.
And the people gathered around them also played in a childish manner.
The clan members approaching 30 hadn't changed at all.
"Isn't that good? Even though the clan's size has grown, it means everyone hasn't changed like that. Rather, I'm really happy because it reminds me of academy days?"
"They know this is a place where they don't have to be formal, so they can act like that. It might be a bit much in front of the world, but what's wrong if it's just among us?"
Jeong Ha-yang, Han Seo-hyeon.
The two people occupying Eun-ha's sides each added a word.
Their words were right too.
Eun-ha smiled slightly.
He received the alcohol they handed him and toasted with people sitting at nearby tables.
By the way, the people sitting at my table are completely decided.
Meanwhile, Eun-ha glanced at the people sharing his table.
On his left and right were Jeong Ha-yang and Han Seo-hyeon, and in front were Lee Yu-jeong and Ryu Yeon-hwa.
The gazes of all four people were directed at Eun-ha.
"Want more to drink?"
"Ah, thank you."
His eyes met Ryu Yeon-hwa's.
Ryu Yeon-hwa handed him a glass.
Eun-ha received the alcohol she poured and toasted again.
Afterwards, they took turns filling Eun-ha's glass with alcohol.
There was no proper time to rest.
This is bad.
A sense of competition arose between them.
Eun-ha sensed it.
"I'll pour you a glass too."
"Uh... Thank you."
Even Lee Yu-jeong joined in.
Eun-ha just wanted to escape from the seat that felt like sitting on pins and needles.
I want to go to other tables to drink with the kids and play with the new members too...
Eun-ha envied the clan members playing while chattering noisily.
At that time, as if noticing his feelings, Han Seo-hyeon placed her hand on his leg.
"You have to drink with us."
"..."
"If you go somewhere else, what are we supposed to do?"
Although it was a gentle tone.
Eun-ha noticed a kind of warning in Han Seo-hyeon's manner of speaking.
Eun-ha turned his head.
The four wives sitting at the table were each smiling.
Han Seo-hyeon was right.
It was horrifying just to imagine.
If he suddenly went somewhere else in this situation─
─They won't fight among themselves, right?
Han Seo-hyeon would mediate appropriately, but the table atmosphere would become awkward.
Eun-ha decided to sit still at the table for the sake of household peace.
The problem was what came next.
"By the way. Who should I sleep with tonight?"
""""...."""
Jeong Ha-yang brought up words that shouldn't have been said.
She brought up the topic with an innocent face as if she didn't know anything.
The table froze in an instant.
The wives' gazes stopped.
Eun-ha couldn't answer.
He knew he'd be nagged for a while if he answered wrongly.
Instead, he quietly turned his gaze to look for a savior.
Seo-hyeon will handle it well.
Eun-ha's expectations were off.
Han Seo-hyeon firmly gripped her hand placed on Eun-ha's leg.
She squeezed his leg once and stroked it up and down.
"Well, on a day like this, it's not bad to decide all together through discussion. How about the three of us sleeping cozily with Yu-seong for the first time in a while?"
Of all times, Han Seo-hyeon was drunk.
Eun-ha just patted her body awkwardly.
At times like this, Yu-jeong─
"─Wasn't it my turn today?"
"..."
Lee Yu-jeong also betrayed Eun-ha's expectations.
She who could now see had become more lively in personality recently.
Lee Yu-jeong burned with fighting spirit.
"Um, me too..."
Even Ryu Yeon-hwa quietly raised her hand to declare her participation in the battle.
It became even more awkward for Eun-ha.
Now there was only one person who could help him.
The person the wives couldn't move against.
Eun-ha turned his head to the next table, trying to find that person.
"...Huh?"
But the person he was looking for wasn't there.
No one was sitting in front of Han Chang-jin.
Who was I trying to find?
Thinking about it, it was strange.
Noh Eun-ae wasn't a player so she didn't come to clan dinners.
But why was I foolishly trying to ask someone for help?
Eun-ha just blinked.
"Ha-yang." "What?"
"Whose seat is in front of Chang-jin hyung?"
Still, something bothered him.
Eun-ha changed the topic.
Then Jeong Ha-yang and the three wives looked at the empty seat.
"Whose seat is it? Isn't it Eun-woo's seat? It seems to be left empty for that..."
"Eun-woo?"
"She hasn't come yet, right? She said she's coming now because she was busy with Twelve Seat work."
"Was Eun-woo a Twelve Seat?" "Huh? Uh? Huh? Hmm... She was a Twelve Seat, right? Probably? Seo-hyeon unnie, am I right?" "Why are you asking me? Of course the Supporter division Twelve Seat is..."
People's expressions became strange.
They couldn't say for certain that Cha Eun-woo was a Twelve Seat.
And a little while later─
"─Sorry, guys! Am I late? Actually, I didn't know I had Twelve Seat work. So I was late dealing with that."
Did I forget something?
To think I was a Twelve Seat?
Ahaha.
Cha Eun-woo appeared late at her seat and laughed awkwardly.
All the clan members laughed loudly too.
Meanwhile, she sat in the seat Mok Min-ho had left empty.
Then whose seat is that?
In the end, the seat in front of Han Chang-jin remained empty until the end of the dinner.
Eun-ha stared blankly at that seat, but soon shifted his attention as too many clan members came to see him.
Strange...
It feels like I've forgotten something.
All the clan members felt the same.
☆
From that day on, clan members felt an inexplicable empty space.
They suddenly found themselves looking for someone without knowing while going about their daily lives.
"So as I was saying, at that time Eun... Huh? Who was it? Was it Eun-woo unnie? Huh? No, why did I call Eun-woo unnie?"
"So for free..."
"Si-hyeong, want to get hit?"
""""...."""
It was an extremely uneasy feeling.
Clan members vaguely felt they were forgetting some precious existence.
But when they tried to recall that person, the afterimage remaining in their minds only became more and more faint.
As a result, they completely forgot they had even tried to recall someone.
Han Chang-jin was the same.
"Why is this in my room?"
One day, Han Chang-jin found a ring box in his room drawer.
When he opened the ring box, there was a pair of diamond rings inside.
The rings were clean and untarnished as if bought recently.
"Who bought this? Is there a reason I would buy such rings...?"
They seemed to be engagement rings.
The rings were quite to his liking.
Han Chang-jin stared at the rings while trying to recall his memory.
"I did buy them... But who was I going to give the rings to?"
He barely recalled the origin of the rings.
And he fell into a maze.
He couldn't understand at all why he had bought these rings.
"Damn..."
A curse came out involuntarily.
He couldn't ignore the feeling that he was forgetting something he shouldn't forget.
Han Chang-jin frowned.
He flopped down on the bed and tried to recall what he had forgotten.
And he gradually sank into the swamp of oblivion.
☆
People who had deep relationships with the disappeared existence felt an inexplicable sense of loss more strongly.
Noh Eun-ae had been spacing out a lot recently.
"Strange, strange..."
Noh Eun-ae muttered.
Since first opening her flower shop, Noh Eun-ae's shop had expanded over several years.
Now it even had space to grow small trees.
So she started growing a few trees recently.
Among them, there were three trees she was growing privately.
"Why did I try to plant three trees? There's only me and Eun-ha oppa. Then it should be two..."
One symbolized herself, another Noh Eun-ha.
But Noh Eun-ae couldn't understand who the other one symbolized and why she planted it.
"Did I plant it thinking of Pa-rang oppa... No. Pa-rang oppa is that flower over there."
Noh Eun-ae tilted her head.
Jin Pa-rang was symbolized by a blue flower parasitic on Eun-ha's tree.
So the remaining tree didn't symbolize Jin Pa-rang.
"Who am I forgetting? Ugh, my head hurts..."
Noh Eun-ae felt a sense of loss.
She tried to recall what she had forgotten while enduring her headache.
But the defense mechanism inherent in her consciousness acted to prevent her from approaching the taboo any further.
"Ah, what was I thinking about?"
Noh Eun-ae returned to square one.
She muttered while looking at the three trees.
"There's only oppa above me, so why did I place oppa's tree in the middle and place that tree above it?"
Was there someone else above me?
While Noh Eun-ae questioned, she ultimately gave up thinking like others had done.
☆
Recently, his chest had just been feeling stuffy.
Eun-ha occasionally felt a void while enjoying his daily life.
Again.
Why am I like this?
I'm forgetting something precious.
But no matter how many times he thought about it, he hadn't forgotten anything.
"I achieved all my goals... Why do I feel so uneasy?"
He couldn't understand.
There were no more elements that could threaten the Fairy's position.
Yet one corner of his chest felt stuffy as if blocked somewhere.
Why...
That made him feel bad.
Each day wasn't enjoyable.
Just as he was about to feel happy, his mood would suddenly drop when he unconsciously recalled someone.
He's happy seeing his wives.
He's happy playing with the children.
But his heart wasn't filled.
"..."
Eventually Eun-ha stopped walking.
He was on his way back to the clan headquarters after finishing work as the Twelve Seat leader.
He didn't want to return to the clan.
It felt like being there made him forget the fact that he had forgotten something precious.
Then he turned his steps.
"Let's go back a different way today."
"Bibi bibi papa papa pupu pupu!"
"Kang!"
Getting off at Jung-gu.
Eun-ha deliberately took a long way back.
It was to clear his head and resolve the stuffy corner.
It seemed better to soothe his mind while appreciating the cityscape.
"Come to think of it, I think I passed by here recently too..."
Then he suddenly recalled.
It happened recently.
At that time too, Eun-ha had suddenly walked a path he didn't usually take and sightsaw the city after finishing work.
Why did I sightsee then...
And who did I sightsee with?
Eun-ha fell into thought.
He couldn't remember.
He just walked aimlessly.
'So? Are you happy now?'
Then, the wind blew.
Eun-ha flinched.
He felt like he had recalled something important.
But the moment he became aware of it, it immediately disappeared.
"What am I..."
Forgetting?
Eun-ha clenched his fist tightly.
He's forgetting something important.
He's forgetting a precious person.
Someone he absolutely shouldn't forget.
He's forgetting the person he first resolved to change the gloomy future for after regressing.
I can't remember.
Who am I forgetting?
Eun-ha grabbed the railing.
He tried hard to recall.
Damn...
His head throbbed.
The moment he tries to grasp something, it disappears like mist.
It moves away the moment he reaches it.
If he tries to reach out further than that─
"─Kuk."
The pain becomes even stronger.
His unconscious acts to prevent him from recalling it any further.
Eun-ha felt like he wanted to split his head open right now.
He wanted to split his head open and cut away whatever was trying to stop him from thinking.
'I'll definitely cheer you on. So you can live happily.'
Again.
Something is heard.
An afterimage flashes before his eyes.
Someone appears in the afterimage.
But it soon disappears.
The voice leaves too.
Eun-ha forgot again.
He repeated forgetting again when he tried to recall.
"Papa!" "Kang!"
By then, Buldak and Kang were worried.
Eun-ha brushed off their restraint.
He didn't care even if his head broke.
If I forget this...
I can't be happy.
Eun-ha told himself.
Those words weren't wrong.
He couldn't be happy after forgetting something precious.
It was natural.
Happiness can only function when all elements harmonize.
If one element is missing, it can't function.
So what he was forgetting could be said to be one of the elements constituting happiness.
So─
─Please, recall.
It was right then.
The wind blew strongly.
Eun-ha unconsciously turned his head.
"Ah..."
Someone was approaching.
Eun-ha opened his eyes wide.
It was someone he knew.
A black pointed hat, long blonde hair.
A black dress and staff.
It was Precise Memory.
"<Witch of Time>..."
"I was on my way to visit the clan when I happened to see Pandora Clan Lord."
Precise Memory explained.
Then she examined Eun-ha's complexion and made a pitying expression.
"It's... very hard, isn't it?"
As if she knew everything.
Precise Memory opened her mouth.
Eun-ha, who had taken his hand off his head, could understand what she was saying.
At the same time, he realized.
"Witch... You know what I've forgotten now, don't you?"
Eun-ha asked in a desperate tone.
She answered with a bitter tone.
"Yes... I live in a world line slightly different from yours. So I haven't completely forgotten."
Though I'll probably forget completely as time passes.
She smiled weakly.
Eun-ha, hearing that answer, snapped to attention.
"Then please tell me. Please use magic to tell me what I've forgotten." "Even if you know... what will you do? This isn't something you can do anything about. That's why I've been staying quiet too. Even with the Dawn Sword's power, this..."
"I don't care." "..."
"I have a strong feeling that I shouldn't live forgetting like this. I want to know what I've forgotten." "You'll only be sad. And extremely despairing."
"I'm sadder now."
"Are you... really okay with this?"
"Yes."
Eun-ha pleaded.
There was no hesitation.
Precise Memory had no choice but to grant Eun-ha's request.
Then she smiled slightly.
"Perhaps... Pandora Clan Lord might be able to do something. I was foolish for worrying."
She struck the ground with her staff.
Whoosh!!
Centered on the staff.
The mana dissolved in the atmosphere becomes visible and spreads throughout the area.
Blue light sweeps the world.
Wind blows, particles shake.
Particles containing the world's memories.
Eun-ha received those particles into his body and opened his mouth.
"Ah..."
He had forgotten a precious person.
Someone he absolutely shouldn't have forgotten.
Although the memory was vague, now Eun-ha could realize he had forgotten someone.
Eun-ha spoke that person's name.
Noh Eun-ah
That word becomes the trigger.
The moment he recalled the existence erased from the world and spoke that existence's name.
The world shook.
The taboo placed on all people in the world was lifted.
Noh Eun-ah.
It's Noh Eun-ah.
His noona.
Eun-ha could recall the identity of the person he had been forgetting until now.
"Now, do you understand? Who you've been forgetting until now."
"...Yes, I understand now."
Noh Eun-ah had annihilated.
Realizing that fact.
Eun-ha shed tears.
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