# Chapter 69
Humans grow based on experience. Having witnessed the process of Ryu Doha reincarnating to become Lee Doha and Lee Doha becoming Ryu Doha again, Jaei was keeping all possibilities open that could happen to him at this moment. And no matter what happened, he planned to respond to the current situation in the best way possible without being surprised or flustered. As the lover of an “extraordinary being,” his ability to respond had greatly improved compared to before.
He swallowed and approached Doha with very careful steps, like approaching a wild baby bear. First, he applauds Doha for returning exactly on schedule. As expected, Doha was upright, diligent, and responsible. He was an excellent man worthy of Lee Jaei falling head over heels, obsessing for 19 years, craving, wanting to possess, thirsting for even while being together, and desiring.
If he came to the filming location properly and was looking at the script, there was a high possibility that his memory was intact. Logically thinking, that seemed to be the case. However, Jaei’s intuition judged that Doha’s memory was not intact right now.
Even though their eyes met, he didn’t send Jaei any signals. If he remembered everything properly, shouldn’t he at least give a nod indicating that he had returned safely? Now, Doha was just blinking those large eyes and staring directly at Jaei.
Approaching Doha closely, he carefully observed his pupils with a mirror. Unfortunately, the light reflected in his black pupils wasn’t heart-shaped. It wasn’t even the star shape that appeared when he looked at things other than Jaei. If anything, it resembled a four-leaf clover shape, though it seemed like a slightly squashed heart.
He momentarily choked up at the disappearance of the clear heart. However, the adult Lee Jaei, who had fallen into puddles hundreds of times while loving Doha, didn’t despair. With his brain greatly developed through endless training, Jaei worked his mind to explore the best response.
The breathtaking standoff with Doha continued. As an actor of 8 years, Jaei had experienced similar situations in relationships with other actors many times. Doha’s current appearance was exactly “the awkwardness of a rookie actor who wants to stand up and greet someone approaching who seems like a senior, but can’t move because they’re having their makeup fixed and don’t know when to time their greeting.”
In such cases, Jaei was the type of senior who greeted first so that juniors could feel comfortable with him. He carefully spoke, like offering fish to a cute baby bear.
“Hello…?”
Then, as if he had been waiting, Doha blinked his eyes prettily and answered politely:
“Hello. I am Ryu Doha.”
The day he met Doha who had returned as an eight-year-old in front of Angel Tteokbokki, he heard the same self-introduction sentence from Doha. That day, Jaei cried a lot. But now at twenty-seven, he absolutely doesn’t shed tears like that. He stared at Doha with eyes that were slightly filled with tears and smiled brightly.
“Hi, I’m Jaei. Lee Jaei.”
This was their third first greeting. Jaei didn’t want to remember this moment sadly at all. He wanted every moment spent with Doha to remain as a precious memory for both of them.
Isn’t it an experience others could never have? Exchanging first greetings with your loved one over and over again. It seemed that this dramatic narrative fit well with their profession as actors. Jaei had grown so positive that he could even have such thoughts.
Putting down his script, Doha blinked his eyes and moved his red lips, reciting Jaei’s name several times. Jaei, Lee Jaei.
My name is Ryu Doha. I am twenty years old. My birthday is July 10th. My occupation is an actor.
Two hours ago, Doha, dressed in a school uniform which was the drama costume, reappeared in the world and was looking around in the company office lobby. Apart from his name, age, birthday, and occupation—these four things—he couldn’t remember anything, and he didn’t remember how he had come to this place.
As if erased with an eraser, experiences related to people around him didn’t remain in his head. However, he had properly acquired the lifestyle and knowledge that a twenty-year-old adult should have. Thus, Doha could immediately define himself as an “actor with amnesia.”
Tilting his head, he looked at the mirror installed in front. Narrowing his eyes, he glared at his reflection in the mirror and wondered: Why am I wearing a school uniform at twenty years old? What happened that I can’t remember anything? Why on earth am I so tall and handsome?
While standing there blinking his eyes quietly, he was abducted by his manager. Even though Doha felt like he was meeting the manager for the first time, he obediently got into the car and was taken away without any shyness or suspicion.
After confessing his situation to the manager, he calmly borrowed a phone and learned about the person “Ryu Doha” from his own Wikipedia page. He also received an explanation about what he had to do today. Going to the hospital to fix his broken head was something to be done after completing his schedule.
Soon, they arrived at the hair salon. Doha, who had been born into the world less than 20 minutes ago, received hair styling from a famous designer. While getting lots of affection from celebrities and beauty staff who used the same salon, he honestly shared his condition. He spoke clearly in a loud voice with a Bluetooth microphone so he wouldn’t have to explain repeatedly.
—I am truly sorry. My head is broken due to an unfortunate accident, and I can’t remember anything. Even if I dare not remember your name, please forgive me.
After arriving at the set, the manager and company staff reported the situation in detail to the drama staff. Meanwhile, Doha was focusing on memorizing his lines to ensure there would be no problems with filming.
Amazingly, as soon as he looked at the script, the lines were inputted into his head as if being scanned. The scenes he had to perform were also stamped firmly in his mind as if he had already drawn simulations. Understanding the plot of the drama wasn’t difficult either.
There was a slight headache during the process, but it wasn’t serious. Doha momentarily thought of himself as a genius of the century but soon realized that wasn’t it. Memories that had been temporarily lost for some reason were recovering at an incredibly fast rate.
While all this was happening to Doha, the great actor Lee Jaei was immersed in his acting. So despite being Ryu Doha’s closest confidant and manager, he hadn’t received any reports about Doha.
The bear doll he had mistaken for Doha was a prop to be placed in the room of a child actor in the drama. In fact, as soon as his eyes met the bear doll just a moment ago, the desert fox Lee Jaei’s sophisticated sense of smell activated and caught the sweet scent coming from Doha’s cheek. So he was convinced that Doha had become a round, large cotton ball. Although it was the wrong answer, the scent really was Doha’s.
After exchanging greetings with Doha, he backed away and awkwardly held the bear doll. While pressing the bear’s eyes and nose with his fingers, he dried the tears pooled in his eyes with a handheld fan to avoid ruining his eye makeup. For now, the most important thing was for Doha to complete the filming safely.
Anyway, as per his desperate prayer, Doha had returned as a twenty-year-old human, so that’s what mattered. Taking him to the memory warehouse to revive his memories was an issue to be considered after putting out the urgent fire that had fallen on his feet.
Having sent Doha away and received him back for the second time, Jaei’s heart actually became more at ease. Ryu Doha never runs away. As promised since childhood, he eventually returns to Lee Jaei’s side. This certainty made Jaei’s heart firm and solid.
Now, Jaei could proudly say it: Lee Jaei is Ryu Doha’s destination.
Having completely dried his tears and finished touch-up makeup, Jaei returned to the set with suppressed emotions. Doha moved his long legs and followed behind with heavy steps. He could have easily overtaken Jaei, but fearing it might seem presumptuous, he deliberately walked one step behind him. Doha was in the process of concretizing his relationship with Jaei by connecting the information he had checked on Wikipedia with Jaei’s name.
He is very close personally with actor Lee Jaei, who is the CEO of the agency. In the official statement on the “Hong Duyoung incident,” Jaei and Doha’s agency revealed that they grew up like close brothers from childhood.
The scene they were about to film was one where Jaei gets slapped in the face by a male actor who appears as a villain in the drama. It wasn’t originally in the script but was added after consulting with the director on site. While rehearsing and coordinating a scene where two men argue, the other actor spontaneously suggested it. Jaei doesn’t particularly like violent scenes, but since it wasn’t bad for the flow of the drama, he agreed to be slapped.
Doha, who would appear in the next scene, was waiting with the script and watching Jaei’s acting. Jaei thought it was fortunate that Doha’s memory had been reset now. Even for an actor who performs various roles, there are appearances they don’t want to show their lover.
They filmed about five more times. Somehow, it felt like the other party was deliberately causing NGs, but Jaei thought this idea wasn’t good for himself either. In fact, the actor currently performing with Jaei had starred in Jaei’s debut work, “Private School—The Fifth Story.” At that time, Jaei was a supporting actor, but now their positions had completely reversed.
Jaei wrapped his reddened cheek with a cold towel handed to him by the stylist. While forcing small talk to ease the awkwardness with his co-star and walking briskly out of the set, a tall figure in a school uniform suddenly blocked their path. Surprised by Doha’s unexpected appearance, Jaei’s pupils darted around.
Doha’s gaze was directed not at Jaei but at the other actor. Doha looked down at him with an arrogant eye, despite him being a much more senior actor. The originally fearless and shameless Ryu Doha was now in a state where, due to his memory loss, he had simultaneously lost his manners.
“Hello, I am Ryu Doha.”
Despite his arrogant gaze, Doha greeted with a polite voice and shamelessly grasped the other’s hand without warning. It was the hand that had slapped Jaei’s face hard several times just moments ago.
“Yes, hello. Doha, I heard you’re sick. Are you badly hurt?”
That actor, known among the staff for his good personality, very kindly received the rookie Doha’s greeting.
“Yes. I think I hit my head on the entrance door while entering the office. Our company door is too transparent.”
Extremely tense because he couldn’t predict Doha’s spontaneous actions, Jaei alternately looked at their hands and faces, blinking his eyes incessantly. Doha, who started gently rubbing the other’s hand with his thumb, stared directly into his eyes and continued speaking in a very polite and affectionate tone and voice.
“I learned so much from you today, sunbae-nim. I saw that I have scenes with you tomorrow as well. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“Yes, let’s see each other tomorrow. Get better soon.”
“I saw that I have a scene where I physically rebel. I’ll try to do it exactly as I learned from you just now. Exactly the same.”
The young rookie actor of twenty dared to say that. Jaei, who was standing between them to deal with the spontaneous situation, internally screamed “kyaak” and covered his mouth with both hands.
