swift xcode iOS: can I re-use a loaded modal fullscreen view controller?

I have a storyboard with two view controllers. First one, VC_1, has one button that opens 2nd one – VC_2.
VC_2 also has a button that opens VC_1.
Both controllers have almost identical code:

class VC_1: UIViewController
{ 
   override func viewDidLoad()
    {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        print(“VC_1 loaded")
    }
    
    override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool){  print(“VC_1 appeared")  }
    override func viewDidDisappear(_ animated: Bool){  print(“VC_1 disappeared")  }
    
   
    @IBAction func btnShowVC_2(_ sender: UIButton)
    {
        let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil)
        secondVC = storyboard.instantiateViewController(identifier: “VC_2”)
        secondVC.modalPresentationStyle = .fullScreen
        show(secondVC, sender: self)
    }
}

The difference is only in "VC_2" instead of "VC_1" in the 2nd controller code.
I have seen this View Controller creation code in Apple documentation and many other examples around the Internet.
When I press the button on the VC_1, I see in the debug window, that VC_2 is loaded and appeared, and VC_1 is disappeared. And same, of course, happens when I press the button on VC_2 – it disappears, and VC_1 is loaded again.
My questions are:

• what happens with View Controller object after "viewDidDisappear" has been called? Does it really disappear from memory, or "disappear" only means "you cannot see it on the screen?". I do not see "viewDidUnload" in the documentation…
• I suppose that "viewDidLoad" means that new View Controller object was created in memory. Is there any way to load the View Controller object only once, and then hide and show it without causing "viewDidLoad" to be called? I tried to do it with global variable "secondVC" but got "Application tried to present modally an active controller" error.