The smile on his face froze, and the idea that this wasn’t some kind of joke finally slapped him in the face.
"You… told me it…" he replied weakly, struggling to maintain some semblance of happiness. Whether it was for her sake or his though,he couldn’t quite tell. Either way, he wasn’t exactly holding out as well as he would have liked.
His hopes rose with her next statement (did she maybe…?), only to plummet even farther than before. Memory loss, actual memory loss? All their time together, everything they’d been through, his entire existence, was lost to her? Of course he wanted to do everything in his power to help her, his answer was already “yes”, except…
His stomach tightened. Was he ready to spend who knows how long being forgotten, even if for the sake of relieving that? It would be a constant reminder, every time maybe he brought up a joke she didn’t remember, or mentioned something she didn’t know (but should).
He had misgivings. He had plenty of insecurities. But what kind of boyfriend takes off once the going gets a bit rougher?
"Of course I will. It really sucks being forgotten, so I’ll do whatever I can. I arrived a few days ago, so you’re in luck; whatever happened probably never affected me." In retrospect, he should be thankful. He was as good as a stranger, he couldn’t entirely blame her if she wanted nothing to do with him. Yet here she was, reaching out to remember again, trusting him. He wouldn’t have expected anything less from his Nuna.
Reaching a hand out, he pat her head (er, hat, technically), and felt his spirits lift just a bit. "I’ll help you get back everything that was taken, so don’t you worry." Memories of him or not, pushing aside his own doubts, the fact that Lee Yun-lee was his girlfriend didn’t change.
"Oh! I should introduce myself again!" He laughed, and scratched the back of his head. "I’m Ju Dong-hwi, your- ah, uhm…." Your boyfriend. But it sounded so much weirder, having to say it so matter-of-factly. It was awkward and surely, surely, she’d feel uncomfortable. It made his chest hurt, but if it was for Nuna…
"Well, for now, you can think of me as a friend."