Two days later;
Bumin Medical Center, Seoul;
In one of the private wards, Elena was leaning on a Gatch bed, listening to her mom with a smile; however, in actuality, lost in thought, trying to figure out these new feelings towards her mother and brother when they were supposed to be nobody to her.
'Is this how one feels when they have a family?'
Unconsciously, as she touched her chest, a worried look appeared on her mother. "Jun-ah, are you alright?"
As her senses returned to the earth, Elena shook her head with a smile and replied in a hoarse voice, "It's nothing mom. I'm just happy to be alive… Huh?"
Suddenly, her facial expression changed to that of a frown, and she went into thought again, 'What's this? I want to say I'm fine, but the wrong words escaped my mouth. Really strange…'
Seeing the worried look on her mother's face, Elena quickly masked her expression before asking, "By the way, Mom. Where's our little tofu? I haven't seen that brat since yesterday morning. Is he busy with school?"
Once again, as soon as she spoke the words, Elena fell into thought, 'again? I want to say Dajun, but his nickname escaped my mouth. Moreover, why does it feel so natural?'
Meanwhile, hesitation filled her mother's face as soon as she heard the question.
"What happened, Mom?" asked Elena curiously, looking at her expression.
Taking a deep breath, she replied, "Well, he followed your footsteps and became an idol."
'Not surprising. It's obvious that Dajun became an Idol. He was already an idol trainee four years ago. I wonder, what is the group's name?' Elena nodded without a change in her expression and then asked her mother about his group name, to which she dodged the question with, "It's better if you ask it yourself."
Upon hearing her response, Elena didn't ask further and started to ask about the outside world in the past four years to understand how much it is different from her past world.
As they were in the middle of a discussion, all of a sudden, the door was opened without any warning, and Elena saw a familiar yet unfamiliar handsome young man entering the room.
For a moment, Elena couldn't help but stare at the young man. Her heartbeat rose a bit.
The handsome man bowed and greeted her mother first before turning his head towards him. A trace of affection is seen in his eyes. It made Elena wonder what his identity was.
Just then, something suddenly struck her.
'Jeon So-woo? That's his name? Did this Elena know him or something? Perhaps a crush or a male friend? It's not boyfriend, right?' Elena's expression froze for a couple of seconds at that thought.
But then, as her attention fell on his face, Elena thought, 'The problem is that I don't have memories of him. But the expression on his face seemed quite a bit, wait, is he crying…'
"Who are you?" asked Sa-Eun.
"Ah! My name is Jeon So-woo, and I'm Elena's…" Holding back his tears, he stared at Elena for a couple of seconds before finishing the sentence, "friend. We are friends from middle school… I heard from Soyul-sunbae, the head nurse working here, that she woke up. So, I thought to drop by."
"Oh! You are So-woo?" Sa-Eun didn't ask anything else and quickly turned her head towards Elena with a smile, "Look, Jun-ah. Your favorite Sunbae is here to visit…"
"Eh?" A look of confusion appeared on Elena's face, 'Sunbae? Favorite one? So we are friends?'
Before she reacted, just then, the door was once again opened, and a nurse entered with a Resident to check her vitals one last time before informing her that she would be transferred to a rehab center.
A couple of weeks later;
A cab stopped before an apartment, and the family of three stepped outside.
Looking at this unfamiliar three-bedroom apartment, which is in the middle of the city, Elena went through her memories.
'Hmm, where are we?' Realizing that she was unfamiliar with the building as well as the surroundings, Elena then asked, "Mom, what happened to our old house?"
"Since Dajun is a popular Kpop idol now, we can't live there anymore. So, I sold it and bought this one. Your grandfather helped us with it," answered her mom.
Taking a look at her handsome younger brother, who unmasked himself as soon as they entered the building, Elena asked, "Dajun-ah, I forgot to ask before. Which agency did you join, by the way?"
Just like how her mother behaved a month ago, Elena also saw hesitation on her face.
"What happened? Is it a small company or something?"
Dajun shook her head, "No, it isn't. On the contrary, it's a famous one."
"Then, what's the problem?" asked Elena.
A sigh escaped from her before she looked away and answered in a low tone, "ZC. I'm in an idol group called Spark. We just debuted a year ago. Sorry, Noona. I..."
"What are you sorry for?" Elena quickly interrupted her with a smile after realizing the reason behind their hesitation. "It's ZC, one of the top entertainment agencies in the entire country. You should say with pride, instead."
"But, aren't you angry? I joined the same agency that fired you," asked Dajun, looking into her eyes.
Elena answered while shrugging her shoulders, "Well, not really. It's obvious that my contract will be terminated since I got into an accident."
"But..." Just as Dajun was about to say something, Elena raised her hands and pinched his cheeks with a smile as if it was natural, while feeling shocked inside by her very own actions, "No need to think much of it. Don't worry. This little setback won't be able to stop me."
While her brother's ears turned red and he tried to swat away her arm in embarrassment, her mother, on the other hand, sighed inside as she knew the world of Kpop is cruel. Once you fall back, it's very hard to rise.
A few weeks later;
At dawn, Elena, who was drenched in sweat, stopped running and sat down at a public bench while taking deep breaths. Then she spoke in her mind, "Aria, show me the Mission progress."
A holographic screen appeared before her.
Mission: Run for at least a total of 10 km
Reward: 0.1 point increase in strength
Failure: 0.1 point decrease in strength
Mission Progress: 79.3%"