Joshua poured two glasses of water and handed one to Ezra. She didn’t take it at first.
Her hands were still resting on her knees, her face unreadable.
> “I need you to tell me everything you do remember,” he said calmly.
Ezra finally reached for the glass. Her fingers barely curled around it.
> “What part?”
> “Start with the beginning. Not what you forgot. Tell me what you remember… clearly. No gaps.”
Ezra exhaled shakily. Then nodded once.
She leaned back into the couch and stared at the ceiling as her thoughts unraveled out loud.
---
> “I was 21 when I met him.
His name was Noah Hyuk Jeon.”
The memory came back easily. Too easily.
---
[Flashback – City S5, Country K7 – 6 Years Ago]
Ezra had been fresh out of dance conservatory. Quiet. Focused. Not the type to hang around after practice.
She was fixing the studio’s playlist when she first heard his voice behind her.
> “You always this serious, or is it just when you’re pretending not to notice me?”
She turned.
Noah stood in the doorway — hoodie half off his shoulder, smirk perfectly in place, a water bottle spinning in his hand like a trick.
She didn’t even reply.
He liked that.
> “Silent girls are the most dangerous,” he said.
“They make you curious.”
She rolled her eyes and walked away.
He followed her anyway.
---
It didn’t take long after that.
They were opposites — Ezra quiet and driven, Noah loud and chaotic — but somehow it worked.
He made her laugh when she forgot how.
He pulled her out of her shell during rehearsals.
They created choreography that melted audiences — pure emotion in motion.
He brought color into her grey world.
At first.
---
They spent late nights dancing until the studio lights blinked off.
He’d walk her home, holding her pinky instead of her hand.
They never said “love” — but it sat between them like an unspoken song.
Ezra started to think maybe he was it.
The one.
Even when he disappeared for a week at a time — she made excuses for him.
> “He needs freedom.”
“He’s a performer. He’s just impulsive.”
When he came back, he always kissed her like he missed her.
Always danced like he was making up for lost time.
---
> “He was light,” she told Joshua quietly.
“And I was the moth.”
---
But slowly, the cracks formed.
He’d leave without notice.
He’d turn off his phone.
He had too many female “friends,” and too many vague smiles when she asked about them.
Then came Monica Hyeon Choi.
His ex.
His childhood sweetheart.
She was supposed to be in another country. “Not important anymore,” he said.
Until the day Ezra caught her name tagged on a trip photo — same place, same time, same hotel where Noah had gone.
> “They went on a two-week trip. Everyone knew but me.”
Ezra’s voice tightened.
> “I found out through a student in our junior class.
He didn’t even tell me.”
She didn’t scream.
She didn’t throw things.
She simply packed her things.
Walked out of the studio she helped build.
---
> “That’s the last real memory I trust,” Ezra said, her eyes empty.
“After that… it’s all blurry. Like static.”
Joshua stayed still.
> “You didn’t confront him?”
> “What’s the point?” Ezra shrugged. “He would charm his way out. Like always. I’d end up crying while he danced it off.”
Joshua didn’t respond, but his grip around the glass tightened slightly.
---
> “What happened next?” he asked.
Ezra shook her head.
> “I only remember small things. A hotel room. Someone telling me I needed rest. Pain in my stomach. A strange tightness in my chest like I was recovering from something... medical. Then black.”
> “And when did you wake up again, fully aware?”
> “Three months ago. With a job offer from a studio in City D6. And an apartment lease already signed in my name.”
She laughed bitterly.
> “I thought I was lucky.”
---
Joshua leaned forward now, elbows on his knees.
> “What if the man you remember… was only part of the story?”
Ezra looked at him.
> “What do you mean?”
> “What if someone made sure you only remembered what wouldn’t hurt you enough to dig deeper?”
Ezra blinked slowly.
Joshua stood and walked toward the drawer.
> “The DNA doesn’t lie,” he said.
“And neither do your sons.”
He turned back to face her.
> “But someone, somewhere, made sure you couldn’t tell the truth — even to yourself.”
Ezra’s lips trembled.
> “I don’t want this to be true.”
Joshua nodded once.
> “Me neither.”
But neither of them looked away.
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