"Sometimes, forgetting is a gift. But for those left behind... it's a curse."
The sky had turned dusky.The last rays of sunlight filtered through the sakura petals, painting everything pink and gold.
She was still there.
Sitting near the grave.Fingers brushing the petals on the ground.Silent. Calm.
As if she belonged there.
Dae-hyun stood behind her, arms crossed, jaw clenched so tight it hurt.He didn't know whether to scream, cry, or disappear.
But he couldn't leave.
Not with her here.
Not when everything about her was dragging the past back into his chest like barbed wire.
"Do you live here?" she asked suddenly, tilting her head toward him.
"No."
"Then… why are you always staring at that grave?"
He froze.
Always?
She'd been watching?
"I just—come here sometimes," he said stiffly.
"You seem sad," she murmured. "Like… the kind of sadness that doesn't go away, no matter how many years pass."
That hit him.
Like she had seen through him.Like Iris used to.
He looked away.
"You shouldn't be here," he muttered. "This place is cursed."
She blinked, but didn't flinch. "Maybe I'm cursed too. I woke up with no memories… not even my own name."
He stayed quiet, but his eyes softened—just a little.
She plucked a sakura petal and studied it, then looked at the blank gravestone beside Iris's.
"What's this one for?" she asked.
"…It doesn't matter."
"Was it someone you loved too?"
Dae-hyun tensed.
He turned to her slowly, shadows falling across his face.
"I don't love anyone."
Her smile faded a little, but she didn't argue.
Instead, she looked back at the petals swirling in the wind.
"…Can I borrow a name?" she asked gently. "Until I remember mine?"
He blinked. "A name?"
She nodded. "You said I'm not Iris. But I feel like I need something to hold onto. Something to be."
He didn't mean to say it.
But the name fell from his lips like it had always belonged to her.
"Aera."
She looked at him, surprised. "Aera…"
"It means love," he added softly.His voice trembled. "It was… someone important's favorite name."
Her eyes lit up. "Aera… I like it."
A moment passed.
The kind that stretches time.Heavy with emotions unsaid.
And then she smiled.
Not like Iris.
But like her.Like Aera.
"I guess I'll be Aera for now."
She stood, brushing off her dress. "Do you have somewhere I can stay?"
Dae-hyun blinked. "Why would I help you?"
She shrugged. "Because you gave me a name."
He narrowed his eyes.
This was dangerous.This was fate messing with him.But still…
He nodded once, sharply. "Just for tonight."
"Thank you," she whispered.
As they walked away from the hill, Dae-hyun looked back once more.
At Iris's grave.
At the petals swirling.
And he made a silent promise to himself:
She can never know.Who she was.Who he is.What he did.
Because if she ever remembered…
She'd never forgive him.
And he'd lose her all over again.
[To be continued]
"The Devil's Guest"