Even after returning home, Yunseo couldn't do anything for a while.
I closed the front door and stood there without even taking off my shoes. The same words kept echoing in my head.
Every time you die.
I turned back time.
He already knew that wasn't a joke. What happened at the cafe today was enough. Jungkook knew exactly when, where, and how the accident would happen.
Yunseo slowly sat down on the sofa.
My wrist started tingling again.
When I rolled up my sleeves, the black lines were faintly glowing. They pulsed, as if alive.
"what's this."
Just then the phone rang.
A short message appeared on the screen.
[jungkook]
Can I talk to you for a moment?
Yunseo just stared at the screen for a long time.
I finally sent a reply.
[Yoonseo]
Where is it?
After a while.
[jungkook]
It's a park near the company.
The night air was cold.
The park was almost empty. Jeongguk was already sitting on a bench under a streetlight.
Yunseo walked slowly towards it.
Jeongguk raised his head.
“You came.”
Yunseo didn't sit on the bench.
“Please explain.”
Jeongguk's expression hardened a little.
“It means turning back time.”
Yunseo raised her wrist.
“This pattern.”
And he spoke lowly.
“…and why am I dying.”
The wind blew for a moment.
Jungkook closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again.
“I don’t know where to start.”
“From the beginning.”
Yunseo's voice was firm.
Jeongguk looked at Yoonseo for a moment and then opened his mouth.
"A month later, Mr. Yoonseo gets into an accident on his way home from work. At a crosswalk. Just like today."
Yunseo didn't say anything.
It was a story I already knew.
Jeongguk continued speaking.
“And then he dies in that accident.”
“…”
“At first… I just thought it was an accident.”
He paused for a moment.
“But time has turned back.”
Yunseo's eyes shook.
“When I opened my eyes, I was in the same place on the same day. Same company, same people, same day.”
Jeongguk's gaze turned to Yunseo.
“And Yoonseo was alive again.”
Yunseo exhaled slowly.
“That’s… regression?”
Jeongguk nodded.
"yes."
“Then why are you dying again?”
Yoonseo's question was simple, but Jeongguk was momentarily unable to answer.
“Because fate doesn’t change.”
“What does that mean?”
Jungkook showed his wrist.
The black lines were almost dyed dark.
“This pattern is a trace of time turning back.”
Yunseo looked down at her wrist.
“Mr. Yoonseo always dies on the same day.”
Jeongguk said.
“And every time I do that, I turn back time.”
Yunseo looked at him with a blank expression.
"why."
The question was simple, but Jeongguk had a hard time answering it.
After a moment of silence.
He said quietly.
“At first… it was a coincidence.”
Yunseo didn't say anything.
Jeongguk continued speaking.
“But I realized it the second and third time.”
His gaze turned to Yunseo.
“I was always watching the moment Yoonseo died.”
Yunseo's heart slowly sank.
“So I turned back time.”
Jeongguk's voice was still calm, but it was trembling very subtly.
“At first, I thought it would change in one go.”
He gave a short laugh.
“But fate doesn’t change that easily.”
Yunseo took a step closer.
“So continue…?”
Jeongguk nodded.
"yes."
There was silence for a moment.
Yunseo asked cautiously.
“…How many times?”
Jeongguk didn't answer right away.
His gaze turned towards the dark park in the distance.
And he said very quietly.
“I remembered at first.”
Yunseo held her breath.
“Second, third, fourth…”
Jeongguk's hand slowly clenched into a fist.
“But at some point.”
He looked at Yunseo.
“…I don’t remember which number it was.”
Yunseo couldn't say anything.
That moment.
Yunseo's wrist glowed again.
The pattern of the government also reacted at the same time.
A subtle light flickered between their wrists.
Jeongguk's expression hardened.
“…That’s strange.”
“What is it?”
Jeongguk spoke quietly.
“There was no such reaction in previous iterations.”
Yunseo looked at him with anxious eyes.
That was when.
A strong wind suddenly blew from afar.
The streetlights in the park flickered momentarily.
Jeongguk looked up at the sky.
Yunseo also looked up.
wee.
One side of the sky appeared to be split open and dark.
Jeongguk's voice lowered.
“…Time is running out.”
Yunseo didn't understand.
“What is that—”
Jeongguk said.
“This repeat.”
After a brief pause.
“…something has changed.”
Yunseo's wrist tattoo shone brightly once again.
Jeongguk looked at Yoonseo.
And he said very quietly.
"maybe."
After taking a moment to catch my breath.
“…This might be the last time.”