The Garden of Memory

In a narrow alley of the city, beyond a rusted iron gate, there was a strange garden. Trees that seemed long dead bloomed again, and in the center stood a young man I had never seen before. My name is Jiwoo. I'm just an ordinary office worker. That night, I was the one who discovered the hidden garden. And that's when I met him — the mysterious man who called himself Seyeon. “I’ve never seen this place before,” I said. He nodded. “It’s a place everyone has forgotten.” Seyeon wore a white shirt. His hair swayed gently in the wind, and his eyes… they looked as if they could read right through me. Each night, I returned to that garden. Being with him felt like stepping into an old dream. “This flower welcomes you,” he said one night, handing me a bloom. It was warm in his hand, and so was his presence. But every morning, he vanished. No trace of him, not even footprints. Even the watch I gave him disappeared by the next day. One evening, I found a faded sign near the gate. “This garden was closed after the death of its gardener in 1913.” The face in the black-and-white photo—was unmistakably Seyeon’s. Heart pounding, I confronted him. He smiled softly. “I’m not human, Jiwoo. I’m the memory left behind. A part of someone who once loved this garden more than life.” I whispered, “Then… if the garden disappears, you will too?” He shook his head.

“No. When the garden fully blooms again, I’ll return to where I belong.” That final night, the garden came alive. Every flower opened, and the wind carried a song through the leaves. Seyeon looked at me one last time. “Because of you, I could bloom again.” And then, like petals in the wind, he was gone. Even now, I walk past that gate at night. Seyeon is no longer there. But the flower he gave me… still blooms.