Please Forget Me - Chapter 26
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
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Even as we talked about the moment we fell in love, I couldn’t help but notice a sadness in his eyes, so I didn’t probe further.
Anyway, Johann’s first love was me. He said I was the only woman he had ever liked.
‘So, I must have misunderstood the name ‘Dana’.’
Honestly, that name had still been bothering me. But after hearing Johann’s words, there was no reason to keep it in mind.
“Here, it’s done.”
Johann neatly tore out a page from his notebook and handed it to me. I couldn’t help but marvel at the finished portrait.
“Wow… there’s nothing you can’t do.”
His drawing was so exceptional that I thought he could have been believed as a painter rather than a teacher.
Despite the short time he spent on it, Johann had captured every detail, from the gentle curve of my eyes to the subtle wrinkles on my lips.
Therefore, the woman in the drawing was unmistakably me, yet also not like me. She exuded the elegance and beauty of a noble lady.
“You’ve made me look too beautiful.”
“Because you are beautiful, the painting had to be beautiful too.”
“Johann…”
“Truthfully, you are more beautiful than my painting. I’m glad you like it, but it’s not quite right to me. I’ll practice more and next time, I’ll make it as beautiful as you.”
“Johann… you’re a liar.”
Johann was visibly startled by my words.
“What lie did I…?”
“That I didn’t follow you around, smitten with you?”
“Ah… that’s the truth.”
“How could I not fall for a man like you?”
It’s careless how he makes heart-fluttering remarks. Johann has a bad habit of unintentionally striking right at a woman’s heart.
“So, even if the old me was a proper lady, my feelings for you would have been the same as they are now.”
For some reason, Johann smiled sadly. I grabbed his cheek and pressed my lips to his. He was still at first, but then began to respond.
Eventually, we made love in a forget-me-not flower field, commemorating the season we fell in love.
Afterwards, I used Johann’s lap as a pillow and the cool spring breeze as a blanket, drifting into a drowsy sleep. Then I had a vivid dream.
In the dream, I was at an age too mature to be a child yet too immature to be an adult. I stood on a slope in a deep forest, holding a branch of forget-me-nots in my hand.
Rustle. Crunch.
Then I heard footsteps approaching from above. Unintentionally, I raised my head and our eyes met.
A young boy with black hair and green eyes like foliage, around my age.
“Ah!”
Startled, I jerked, and my foot slipped.
Splash!
In an instant, I fell into the shallow stream below the slope. A boy rushed down the slope to help me. Ashamed and frightened by my drenched state and the unfamiliar boy, I quickly got up and ran away.
The dream, which was frightening and awkward, turned into a joyful one upon waking.
It might have been a memory, not a dream. Perhaps I remembered the moment Johann and I first met, just as he had described it. But maybe it was just a dream, a figment of my imagination inspired by Johann’s story, since there was a character in my dream that Johann hadn’t mentioned.
Another boy.
Behind the boy trying to catch me, another boy of the same age, with black hair, was standing a step behind, looking down at me with the same eyes.
The two boys looked quite similar, except for their expressions.
Which one was Johann?
I even wondered if they might be identical twins, but it was a ridiculous thought. Johann had only mentioned having an older brother with a significant age gap.
So, was it just my subconscious playing tricks on me?
Either way, it was a blissful dream, whether an imagination or not.
It would be even more blissful if I could truly remember the moment we first met.
* * *
Seasons changed, and it was now summer.
The war showed no signs of ending, even in the sweltering heat. Hyland, having initially regained its original borders, lost the northwest to the enemy again. Even the mountain villages, far from the frontlines and relatively safe, groaned under the horrors of war.
The frequency of dog tags arriving in place of letters sealed with kisses grew.
There were some who were fortunate enough to return. Wounded soldiers, unable to hold a gun again, were sent home. At some point, the number of deserters who returned on their own surpassed that of the wounded.
With funerals without bodies becoming commonplace, the church turned into a place of tears and cries. Yet today, for the first time in a long while, the church was filled with both tears and laughter.
“Dear brothers and sisters, we have gathered here today to celebrate the holy matrimony of Paul and Anna.”
Today was the wedding of a village man, who returned injured, and his childhood sweetheart. The entire village gathered in the church, sincerely congratulating the bride and groom, listening intently to the priest’s words.
“Love is the light that shines upon us who wandered in the darkness.”
I whispered an amen, deeply resonating with the words. Johann’s love was the only guide for me, who had lost myself and wandered.
