Remembering Elizabeth (Featuring Suho and Sehun)

During the night I had the worst dreams. In one, a blue devil held me under water and as I looked up I could see pink rose petals floating on the surface. In another, I was crawling around in the dark and someone I couldn’t see was searching for me. I knew if he found me I would die. During one of these dreams, I woke myself up screaming and I thought I saw Sehun watching me from the doorway. During the night and in the dark, I couldn’t be sure what was a dream and what was reality though.
When the morning came and I opened my eyes to sunlight coming in the giant windows, I felt exhausted. I wanted to pull the blankets over my head and sleep some more but I knew it would only be more of the same horrible nightmares that I had suffered all night.
“Good morning.”
I turned and sat up in one motion. I was happy to see the one person that always seemed to make the bad things go away. My Suho. He came in carrying a tray of food and looking like a busy businessman.
“Good morning,” I said. I tried to sound cheery so he wouldn’t know that I had had a hard night.
He walked over and sat the tray on a dresser near the door and a streak of pain went through my head. I reached up with both hands and covered my eyes but the pain grew and then the flashes came. I saw another man sitting a tray of food on a desk. The image happened over and over but each time the man was wearing something different. Then the images began to fade with the pain and I could open my eyes again. Now Suho was sitting on the edge of the bed and my head was cradled against his shoulder as he rocked me back and forth.
“I’m okay now. I’m good,” I said. I hated making Suho feel bad.
Putting his hands on my shoulders, he held me away from him and looked at me with a distressed look. “Are you sure? Was it another memory?”
I nodded and he pulled me to him again. “I hate this! The doctor said you might have some memories but he didn’t say they would be painful and scary.”
“Thank you for taking such good care of me Suho. I’m sorry I cause you so much trouble.”
He pulled away again and gave me such a smile that I couldn’t help but smile too. “Nonsense! You are no trouble at all. Now, why did you sleep in your clothes? Didn’t Sehun get something for you to change into?” He stood up and walked around the bed.
“Oh, yes, he did but um… I couldn’t wear them.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure. They gave me a bad feeling. I’m sorry.”
“Hmm. Well, there is only one solution then isn’t there?” Suho smiled down at me.
“I don’t think I should sleep naked. I like to have the door open and it wouldn’t be right,” I said.
Suho laughed. “No silly! Sehun is going to have to take you shopping.”
“What? Oh. No. That wouldn’t be right. I can’t let you spend money on me. Not more than you already have I mean.” I was stuttering.
“Shhh… You just clean up and relax for a while and when Sehun is ready he’ll come to get you. I’m letting him sleep in today. I think he was up and down all night to come and check on you so he’s pretty tired.”
“He what?” I was surprised. So that was him in the doorway last night.
“It’s alright. He’s usually up and down most nights so it wasn’t much different. He has trouble sleeping anyway. Until the sun is up that is.”
“Why? What happened to him?” I asked.
“I think that’s a story for him to tell. And I hate to go but I have a meeting to attend. You can eat and shower and then you have my permission to explore the house if you’d like,” Suho said. He looked at me as if he was expecting a reaction. I gave him one.
“Really? I can look around? You don’t mind?” I was so excited.
“Of course. Just don’t go into the room across the hall. That’s Sehun’s room and for all I know, he might sleep naked. He’ll also be a big grump. Everything else is open to you. Have fun. I’ll be back later tonight and you can show me what you get.” He walked to the door and then closed his eyes and snapped his fingers like he had forgotten something. Walking back over to the bed, he bent over and kissed my forehead as if I was his little girl. “Bye.” Then he walked out.
I couldn’t help but giggle and roll around the bed. No matter what had happened to me before, this more than made up for it. For a whole week I was a princess in a castle with not one but two handsome princes. I rolled around in the soft pink silk and giggled some more.

I looked at the food on the tray but I couldn’t bring myself to eat any of it. It even had a little silver vase with pretty purple and yellow flowers but all I could think was, Thank God they aren’t pink roses!
I walked out into the hallway and looked at Sehun’s door. So that’s why he put me in the pink room.
The whole house was mine to explore. I ran from room to room and they were all stunning. I don’t know how many bedrooms there were but there seemed to be one in every color. I made sure not to touch any of the what-knots sitting around because they all looked priceless. There were sitting rooms, a library, a small theater, a music room that I think rich people call a conservatory, a billiard room, several sun rooms, a pool room, a sauna, a huge kitchen with it’s own greenhouse, and then I found it. The one room I was hoping to find. There was a ballroom! It was just as wonderful as I had imagined. There were chandeliers, huge filigree and stain glassed windows, balconies, little silver and glass tables and chairs, and at one end, a huge white Grand piano. I was in love. It echoed as I walked in. I stood in the middle and just twirled. I put out my arms and twirled until I felt dizzy. That’s when I heard it. The laugh. I didn’t want to look because I knew I was going to be completely red with embarrassment. I looked anyway. It was Sehun. I could feel the redness spreading across my face. He was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed just looking at me with an amused smile.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi,” he said.
“I was… well… umm… I was twirling.”
“I saw.”
“Yep. That’s what I was doing alright,” I said. He just kept leaning there smiling at me. I think he was enjoying my embarrassment.
“Junie said that I need to take you to get a few things. Are you ready to go?”
“You really don’t have to take me. I don’t want to be a bother,” I said.
“I really do have to. Junie will kill me if I let you go around like that for a week,” he said as he pointed at my horrible clothes. “He told me you didn’t wear the pj’s that I sent last night. Didn’t fit?”
“It’s sort of a long story. It wasn’t your fault. Sorry,” I said.
“Nah, it’s okay. I should have checked. Let’s go get you something you will wear shall we?” He held out his hand to me.
It echoed as I walked over to him and took his hand. He let me go in front of him and told me which way to go. Just like Suho, he helped me into the car and buckled my seat belt. Why do they insist on treating me like a child?
Sehun got in beside me and buckled his own belt and then he proceeded to lean over and stare out of the window. After about fifteen minutes of silence I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I’m sorry I kept you up last night,” I said. I noticed the driver glance at us in the rear-view mirror.
“I was up anyway,” said Sehun.
“I can move rooms if that will help,” I said.
“I think Junie put you there for a reason. It doesn’t bother me,” he said. He still hadn’t quit looking out of the window.
“Why do you call him Junie?” I asked.
“That’s his name. Suho is just his stage name.”
“Stage name? Is he a singer?” I asked.
Sehun finally looked over at me but with wide eyes. He seemed stunned.
“What? Did I say something wrong?” I asked.
“Don’t you know who Suho is? Who I am?” he asked.
“Um… no. I have amnesia. Remember?”
He looked down and laughed. He laughed at my amnesia! What a jerk!
“I’m sorry. I figured he was someone important but I didn’t know I should know him,” I said. I was a little perturbed.
“No, no. It’s not that. It’s just that it’s awesome that you don’t know us! I’m tempted not to tell you,” he said.
“Please Sehun! You have to. I don’t know anything and it isn’t fair.”
“Okay, okay, okay,” he said laughing. And Suho said he never laughs! “Have you ever heard of a group called Exo?”
I thought for a second but nothing came to me. “If I had I don’t remember. Are they famous?”
“Well, a little. We sing with that group. Junie is the leader actually.” Sehun still looked amused.
“Can we listen to them? Maybe I’ll remember,” I said.
“Sure. Joowon can you play something?” he asked the driver.
The music started to play and I had a problem. I didn’t like it. I knew Sehun was watching me so I pretended to like it but I doubted that I listened to this very much in my previous life. It was just the first song so I decided to listen to the next one too before making a decision. When the next one began, I really liked it. I do like Exo after all. That’s a relief.
“I really like this one!” I said. I looked at Sehun and he had a strange look on his face. “What?”
“This is Vixx,” he said.
“Oh,well, um, this is good but I really liked the first one too.” There was no way to salvage this!
“Mm-hmm,” was all he said.
I sat back and shut my mouth and he let the music continue. When the next song came on I was afraid to say anything. It was nice. Not as good as the Vixx song but it was pretty good.
“Do you like this one?” he asked.
“Is it Exo?” I asked.
“You first.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not Exo,” he said.
“It sucks,” I said.
Sehun laughed again. Suho was wrong. He laughs.
“Joowon, put on Exodus please,” he said to the driver.
“Is this Exo?” I asked.
“It’s just Exo. And you don’t have to pretend to like it,” he said.
He went back to staring out of the window as we listened. I liked these songs better.
The car finally stopped and Sehun hurried over to help me out. When he bent over to release my seatbelt, his hair brushed my face and I couldn’t help but notice how good he smelled. Instead of turning my head away, I leaned into him and inhaled. I’m not sure if he noticed but he paused for a second and then pulled back to let me get out of the car.
The shop we went into made me very uncomfortable. I still looked like a bag lady and it looked like you couldn’t even come in here without an engraved invitation. Sehun didn’t seem the least bit phased.
“Okay, Junie said to let you pick out whatever you want so go for it. I’m going to sit over here. Just let me know when you’re ready.” He walked away.
“Well, okay then,” I mumbled to myself. “Just leave an amnesiac alone why don’t ya.” I looked around and was immediately lost. I started to look at some of the tops and I noticed they had no price tags. A saying came to me, “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” Huh! I remembered something, I thought. That’s when a very well-dressed lady approached me. She looked me up and down with barely hidden disgust.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“I hope so. I’m supposed to buy some outfits and I’m lost,” I said.
“You certainly are honey. I don’t think we would have anything in here that you could afford,” she said as she started to lead me to the door.
“Really? You think so huh?” Let’s see how famous this Exo really is. “I’m not paying for this… honey. He is.” I jerked my thumb towards Sehun who was paying no attention to us whatsoever. He was leaning back against the wall with his eyes closed.
The shop girls eyes widened and she began to stutter. “Oh, well, I’m so sorry. Of course we can help you. Let’s see what we have for you.” Now she was leading me back into the shop. Wow! I guess Exo really is hot!
By the time she was done, I was set up with five different outfits. When Sehun came over to pay, she, along with three of her fellow shop girls started mooning over him and begging for his autograph. He didn’t smile once. He signed whatever they held out to him and then he grabbed the bags and let me go in front of him. They followed us to the door giggling and taking pictures with their phones. Sehun ignored them like he was used to it.
The next shop was a shoe store where I was treated considerably better by a little old man who couldn’t care less who Sehun was but the last shop was unexpected. When we went in, I turned around to go right back out but Sehun didn’t miss a beat. He grabbed my coat and said, “No you don’t,” and pulled me back in. “Unless you plan on going commando, which is fine by me, you need to buy underwear and you need something to sleep in.”
I couldn’t believe he wasn’t the least bit embarrassed to be in a lingerie shop with a strange woman! “Sehun, can you please wait outside?” I asked.
“How are you going to pay for it?” he asked.
“You could let me borrow the credit card.” I could tell that my face was three shades of red.
“Not a chance. I’m not missing the best shop of the whole day. I’ve been looking forward to this all day. You model and I’ll tell you which ones are good.”
I looked at him to see if he was joking. He was hard to read. “No way! Are you crazy?”
He started laughing a silent laugh that turned into a giant giggling fit. “I’m kidding. Go get what you need and I’ll be over there. Alright?”
“I can’t believe you! And don’t you look either!” I watched until he was across the store. I found a very nice lady who helped me figure out what sizes I needed. I also bought a couple night gowns and a set of silky pajamas. I asked her to ring everything up and bag it before he came over to pay and she did so with a little smile on her face. When Sehun came back, he added some perfumes and shower gels to the order. He tried to peek in the bag but I smacked his hand. They both laughed a little to each other and I grabbed the bag before he had a chance.
I was so embarrassed. I was also annoyed with Sehun so when we got in the car and we were on our way home, I said, “Joowon, could you play Vixx please?” He did. Now who’s annoyed?

That night, Sehun knocked on my door. “Are you ready to go down to eat?” he asked.
“I am,” I said. He showed me to the dining room which was a good thing since I had forgotten where it was.
We sat in the same seats we had occupied the night before and waited for the food to be served. The doors opened and I was happy to see it was Suho. I knew I was smiling like an idiot but I had really missed him. He smiled back at me as he sat down and flipped his napkin open, laying it in his lap. I had forgotten to do that but so had Sehun so I didn’t bother.
“Good evening. How are you two tonight? Did you have a nice trip?” Suho took a sip of his water and looked at us both.
“It was so nice of you Suho. I’ll repay you as soon as I can,” I said.
“Stop being silly. You’ll do no such thing. They are a gift so don’t insult me by saying that.”
“You are so sweet,” I said.
“And it’s nice to see you at the table and dressed tonight Sehun. You must have had a good day. Did you get to know Elizabeth a little better?” asked Suho.
“I know she really likes Vixx,” said Sehun. He looked at me over the rim of his water glass as he took a sip. I gave him a big bratty smile.
“Hmmm. Okay. That’s interesting,” said Suho. “Well, tell me how it went. Did you get some nice things?”
I told him about the rude shop girl and the sweet shoe shop man. I left out the trip to the lingerie shop.
“You didn’t tell me they were being rude to you,” said Sehun.
“Weren’t you with her?” asked Suho.
“It was okay. I took care of her,” I said.
“You shouldn’t have had to,” said Suho. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of Sehun.
“How did you do that?” Sehun asked me.
“I pointed at you,” I said.
“Where were you?” Suho asked Sehun.
Sehun looked at Suho and I could tell there was going to be an argument. I couldn’t let that happen.
“He was where I asked him to be. I didn’t want him tagging along behind me so I asked him to sit at the front. I’m a big girl. I can take care of one snotty lady on my own, Suho,” I said.
They both looked at me.
“I know that,” he said. Then he turned to Sehun and said, “Please stay with her next time. You know how those people can be.”
“Sorry,” was all Sehun said. I noticed he quit eating and just sat there.
I hated seeing Sehun sad. He was much better looking with a smile on his face. We finished our meal with some small talk but Sehun didn’t join in. When the meal was done and we stood up, Suho said, “Sehun, please take Elizabeth up to her room and then I need to talk to you. I’ll come in the morning to see what you bought, alright? Goodnight sweet girl.” He kissed my forehead again and left the room.
Sehun put his hand out and said, “After you.”
As we walked up the stairs I said, “I’m sorry I got you into trouble. I didn’t mean to.”
“I’m not in trouble,” he said.
“Suho shouldn’t talk to you like that. He wasn’t there.”
“That’s just the way Junie is. He has a lot of responsibilities and I just happen to be one of them. Don’t worry about it.”
He opened the door for me and as soon as I went in he said, “Goodnight” and closed the door. I waited long enough for him to be gone and I opened the door. I heard loud voices coming from Sehun’s room. Stepping out into the hall, I checked to make sure no one was there and I leaned up against the wall beside his door, which was open a crack, to listen. I knew I shouldn’t but I felt like I created this mess for him and I wanted to know what was going to happen.
“You have got to get past this Sehun! You can’t shirk your responsibilities because you are upset. When I tell you to watch over her, I mean at all times!”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“That girl has been through a hell that we will never know and now, if she gets her memories back, she’s going to go through it again! We have to protect her as much as we can. Even from those shop bitches!”
It was quiet for a moment when I heard Sehun ask, “What happened to her Junie? Really? I mean, the girl screamed all night long. Doesn’t that mean she remembers something?”
I heard Suho sigh and sit down. “She was kidnapped and used and abused Sehun. They starved her and beat her and raped her. She was gone for months so who knows how much abuse she suffered. I know you’ve seen the cuts all over her.”
“Yeah. What are they?”
“They think she was tied up and beaten until she almost died. Her sister has a picture of her from right before she was taken and she was actually a little overweight. Look at her now. I could probably pick her up over my head with one arm.”
“Why in the world would you think I could take care of her? I’m basically useless right now,” said Sehun.
“But you’re not! That’s what I want you to see. You are very important. You have a gentle touch to you so I know she is safe with you. I know I’m tough on you but I’m afraid if I’m not you will completely give up. I can’t let that happen Sehun.”
“I keep messing up Junie. Like today. What if she gets hurt and it’s my fault?”
I heard Suho stand up. “I know you will take care of her Sehun. I have faith in you. Now get some sleep. You look like you’re dead on your feet.” I think I heard him kiss Sehun on the forehead like he had done to me and I knew that was my cue to get back to my room. I grabbed the pink silk nightie I had bought and hurried into the bathroom. I heard my bedroom door shut and I knew that Suho had shut it. I really needed to tell everyone to leave it open. I got dressed and went straight to the door to open it and then I jumped into the bed. It was so soft and I felt like I was sleeping in a cloud. A maid came in to bring some new towels and shut the door when she left. I looked at that hateful door and wished it would magically open. All of a sudden, it did! The knob turned and the door swung open but then I realized it was Sehun. He looked in at me and said, “Goodnight. Sleep well.” Then he was gone.
How sweet. He remembered. Even though I had heard what Suho had said to Sehun, I went to sleep with a smile on my face and Sehun’s smile on my mind.

Notes