Unforgettable Melody
“Will you say it?”
Won Ji-an’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
It wasn’t easy. Saying something like this in itself was difficult.
But I had to say it. It was something Won Ji-an needed to know.
“I talked to the System.”
“About what?”
“Just some things.”
I decided not to get into specifics. If I got the rank of final 1st place, I could fulfill a wish in a bet.
Of course, if I made a bet with the System, there would be risks if I didn’t win 1st place. That risk was that it would bring great misfortune to me.
It was something Won Ji-an didn’t need to know.
“I got something called a Memory Eraser.”
After struggling to say it, Won Ji-an’s expression went blank for a moment.
“Memory Eraser…?”
“Yeah.”
“But why are you telling me this?”
His expression showed he didn’t understand why I was telling him this.
So I had to explain.
“It’s because the memories from my past life still seem to be tormenting you.”
The words came out awkwardly.
“If that’s making you suffer, how about erasing only the memories of your past misfortunes?”
Won Ji-an’s expression darkened.
“Only erase the memories of past misfortunes?”
“Yeah.”
“…Is that even possible?”
It was possible. Just reading the explanation, it was like deleting specific parts from a video editing program.
Even if the memory is cut off, it would automatically be replaced with other ordinary memories, so there would be no problem in daily life. It would simply erase only that specific memory.
The reason I suggested erasing memories for Won Ji-an was because I didn’t want him to spend the remaining short time holding onto the painful memories, in case he couldn’t debut.
So…
“No.”
But Won Ji-an rejected it outright.
“Why?”
“…I just don’t want to.”
Won Ji-an muttered.
“It feels like I’ll become someone else.”
Won Ji-an sat by the window with a dark expression, staring at me.
“If I erase all the memories of past misfortunes, the current me who remembers them will disappear. Then where will the real me go?”
It was true. But I didn’t fully agree.
“But if remembering it is what makes you suffer, wouldn’t it be better to erase the memories for a better you?”
Won Ji-an bit his lip tightly and lowered his head after hearing that.
“A better me?”
Looking at Won Ji-an, an old image overlapped in my mind.
The gloomy, tired, and quiet kid.
“So, you’re saying I can disappear?”
Won Ji-an seemed to have no intention of changing his mind.
Feeling that the mood was turning bad, I took a step forward.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“……”
There was a brief silence.
“Hey, I…”
Won Ji-an hesitated before speaking.
“It doesn’t matter. No matter how much I suffered in the past, the present is what matters now. Of course, I can’t erase all the past, but I’m not as unhappy as before.”
Won Ji-an looked at me and said.
“I said I want to live. Unlike before, I want to live now.”
As he said that, Won Ji-an lowered his head with a bitter smile.
“Honestly, there are memories I want to forget more than the past misfortunes.”
“What?”
“When I first met the System, when I heard that if I couldn’t debut, I’d disappear from the world. There were times I wanted to forget the reality that I might die soon.”
I nodded quietly.
Honestly, I wanted to forget that reality too.
“But I won’t erase anything.”
Won Ji-an said in a firm voice.
“I need to remember the fact that I might die, so that I can fully capture every moment without regret at the end.”
“…That’s right.”
Only by knowing could I send off the final moment without regret.
That’s how I realized I couldn’t take any memories from Won Ji-an.
“Die.”
Honestly, I still didn’t quite understand.
Was it okay for the word “death” to be used so casually?
Just because I couldn’t achieve the one goal the System set, I’d die. Was it okay for a person to simply disappear like that?
“Yeah. Sorry.”
The words about possibly dying soon.
Watching Won Ji-an speak the cruel words as casually as talking about the weather, I swallowed a bitter smile.
“I won’t use it.”
“…Okay.”
It was an item unnecessary for Won Ji-an. The Memory Eraser.
I stared blankly for a moment, then turned my head, and the classroom scenery came into view.
“Do you remember anything?”
“What?”
“When we were in the same class back then.”
Won Ji-an blinked.
“…You remember?”
“Actually, I don’t remember well.”
I didn’t remember those times well.
Back then, I was obsessed with studying, so I didn’t pay much attention to Won Ji-an.
But what I was sure of was that if we had continued living our past lives, we wouldn’t be talking like this now.
We wouldn’t have become close like this.
“Why didn’t we become close back then?”
“You avoided me.”
Won Ji-an playfully narrowed his eyes. I felt awkward and cleared my throat.
“…That’s right. Sorry about that.”
It felt strange.
I thought we could become close again, but because of this damn world’s System, something weird had happened between us.
A similar but different fate.
“Do you regret it?”
“……”
“Taking on the misfortune for me instead.”
Won Ji-an, who had been silently looking out the window, answered in a quiet voice.
“Yeah, I regret it.”
It was honest.
It was an unavoidable emotion.
Anyone in a situation facing death soon would feel the same.
Even if someone is great enough to decide to sacrifice for others, when the end approaches, they can’t help but feel that way.
Especially in a situation where I took on the misfortune to save someone like me.
“Honestly, there’s not much I can do.”
So, what I could do was make Won Ji-an laugh as much as possible. There might not be much time left.
“During the last vacation, where should we go for fun?”
Things I couldn’t do because I was always at school.
“Good.”
The wind blew outside the window, and the classroom curtains fluttered.
It felt strangely like going back to the past.
“Ah, I have something to show you.”
Following the instruction to follow me, I chased after Won Ji-an up the school stairs.
“I don’t know if it’s open…”
Muttering that, Won Ji-an headed to the upper floor. We soon reached the end of the corridor. The place where his steps stopped was the music room.
“Ah, it’s open.”
Fortunately, it was open.
Opening the door, the familiar scenery came into view.
Won Ji-an, who had been looking around the classroom, discovered something and gestured for me to come over. When I approached, there was a group photo hanging on the wall.
“Even though he seemed like a quiet kid at school, he was also actively participating in club activities.”
Won Ji-an pointed to his own image in the group photo and said.
“Guitar club?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you play guitar?”
Won Ji-an nodded.
“Of course. I’ve been living diligently too. I even made several original songs.”
“Oh.”
“I wanted to show you that I wasn’t someone who just lived unhappily and died without doing anything.”
Saying that, Won Ji-an picked up the guitar placed in the corner of the music room.
“Want to listen to the new original song I made?”
“Huh?”
“There’s a song I made in my spare time when I had nothing to do at the training camp.”
Won Ji-an took out a notebook from his pocket and unfolded the sheet music inside.
Then, he sat down and started preparing to play the guitar.
“…You have to concentrate, understand?”
Just before playing, Won Ji-an threw a slightly awkward joke, as if he was nervous.
“Yes, yes, I’ll concentrate.”
Responding to the joke, I sat on the opposite chair as if nothing was wrong.
Honestly, I was curious what kind of original song Won Ji-an had made.
“Haa…”
Won Ji-an exhaled briefly, placed his hand on the guitar strings, and began to play.
In the quiet music room, Won Ji-an’s guitar playing echoed softly.
The deep blue darkness approaches
Even if it swallows everything
The things I couldn't send away
My name and voice
Things that will fade in time
In the end, tomorrow will come again
But I don't want to leave
I want to stay in this place
With eyes closed, I sing this song
Even the waves that destroy me and memories
Even with the empty voice that signals the end
Still, I hold on to myself
Living through the shining final moment
The me who wished for your happiness and my happiness
Leave me forever in the photo
Even if I disappear forever
Won Ji-an slowly lifted his head after finishing the song.
When our eyes met, I couldn’t say anything. Because I could feel the heart he had put into this song.
“…End.”
Won Ji-an, who had played the song, smiled as if relieved.
Perhaps Won Ji-an had written the words I wanted to say in this song. Thinking that, I suddenly felt sad. My head lowered awkwardly.
“Why? Were you too moved?”
Won Ji-an, who had put down the guitar, took a step forward as if teasing me.
“No.”
“No? What do you mean no?”
It was scary.
The end was approaching.
On the way home on the bus, I looked out the window.
Pedestrians walking busily on the streets came into view one by one.
Many thoughts flashed through my mind. When I first started, the only thing I had to protect was myself.
But as time passed, the things I wanted to protect increased.
It was good and bad. I didn't know what it was like now.
“Can I handle it?”
Even if it wasn't the happy ending I wanted. Even if it wasn't the ending everyone expected like in movies or dramas…
Could I endure all of that and move to the next step?
“Please.”
At the moment I was leaning against the window, closing my eyes, and praying meaninglessly.
Like a disaster alert, a red system window appeared in my field of vision.