The Swing and the Altered Diary

The night air split as the swing arced through empty space.

Han Ijin’s slender legs stretched out, her long hair streaming in the wind, both catching the streetlight and glittering with an almost unreal sheen.

Every time the swing came rushing back, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my palms met the firm yet soft plane of her back.

Me—the guy who had never even held a girl’s hand in his entire life—getting to enjoy a luxury like this.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Hey! You pushed too hard! I’m scared!"

I had been spacing out, savoring the sweet scent of her shampoo, and before I knew it the swing was flying high enough to look ready to tip past ninety degrees.

Ijin burst into laughter and planted her feet as brakes, bringing herself to a stop. Breathing hard, she twisted around to look at me; her cheeks were flushed a soft pink.

Even without the number floating above her head—

—I could feel it on my skin: right now she was comfortable with me, close to me.

"It’s been so long. Ever since you got that job we never hung out at night like this."

Facts I hadn’t even known a few minutes ago spilled out of my mouth as if I had lived them myself. At this point I was starting to scare myself a little.

"Yeah… I guess I’ve been under a ton of stress lately. All of a sudden I just thought of you. Under that packed sky, the only person who’ll put up with my whining is still you."

The way conversation flowed so naturally felt almost miraculous. My long-dormant romantic cells seemed ready to burst right out of my body.

"Ugh… my back hurts. I’m done swinging."

Ijin hopped off the swing and walked over to the bench. I sat beside her, leaving a carefully measured distance—still playing the harmless male friend I had perfected over five years.

"What kind of stress? Something happen with Minjun?"

With reality already this different, I wondered whether the marriage had been called off. Were they even still dating properly?

"No, Minjun’s still good to me. He’s a sweet guy. We haven’t gotten seriously into marriage talk yet, but… if nothing major happens, we’ll probably just keep dating and end up married, right?"

Thud.

For a second my heart felt like it had dropped straight through the floor.

The timeline had shifted only about 1.2 percent—enough to earn me the “male friend” title—but the great current of original history still rolled on, as if laughing at a change this small.

She was still the fiancée of Kang Minjun: top of the department, elite company man, the perfect catch.

"But did you tell Minjun you were coming out to meet me this late?"

"Huh? Of course. What permission do we need between us?"

She gave my thigh a couple of light pats and laughed. The words “between us” felt good, yet a vague bitterness still crept in.

"When I told Minjun I was going to the playground to see you, Seonwoo, you know what he said?"

Ijin held up her phone screen, smiling shyly. The KakaoTalk message from Kang Minjun burned itself into my eyes.

Not even a flicker of jealousy.

To Kang Minjun I wasn’t a threat—I wasn’t even worth noticing. Just a harmless male friend. Hell, practically a eunuch.

Fair enough. For more than five years I had never managed a single flirt, just circling her like a loser. Why would he bother being wary?

My fists clenched.

The old me would have been crushed with disappointment and self-loathing. But not now.

I had faith that reality would keep changing. The Favorability window floating above Ijin was living proof.

"Hahaha… funny. Yeah, at our level we’re basically family more than friends."

The humiliation turned into anger, and the anger quickly hardened into something venomous and cold.

A crack—only 1.2 percent, but a crack nonetheless—had opened in that iron fortress of a defense wall. I was never going to let this chance slip away.

"Hehe, right? Stuff like what happened today is too embarrassing to tell Minjun. He always teases me about things like that. If I’d told him instead of you, he’d probably mock me for the rest of my life."

She chattered on about the day’s events.

Silly, adorable Ijin. Every time I listened to her stories she still felt like an unspoiled little lamb.

She could never open up like this to that perfectionist alpha male. He only seemed to love the polished surface she showed the world.

This side of her was something her boyfriend would never know. The quiet superiority made a smile tug at my lips all by itself.

"Hey, are you even listening? Are you gonna tease me too?"

"Huh? No… hehe. Our Ijin is just too cute."

"Wh… what!?"

Her cheeks flooded scarlet. Small as it was, that had to be the very first bit of flirting from me that had ever reached her ears.

About an hour later the cold had sunk deeper into our bones and sleep was starting to drag at my eyelids. Smiling gently, I walked Ijin all the way to her door.

I left her little wave and “get home safe” behind me and headed back to my studio apartment, my head filled with only one thought: how to steal her completely.

Inside, I shrugged off my coat and tossed it aside. On the desk sat the battered college ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠diary I had scribbled in right up until enlistment.

"I used to write in this every day until I left for the army. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠All just memories now."

I wanted to sort out the surreal feelings of the night. With a distant look I opened the diary—and the instant I did—

Beep—!

A mechanical chime rang through my skull. The surface of the diary began to vibrate violently with a fierce blue light.

"…!"

The hand holding the pencil trembled. Before I could do anything, the old paper began to write itself. Over the gray letters I had originally written, blood-red characters blazed into existence, overwriting everything.

"Holy shit…"

I brushed my fingers over the red letters. They wouldn’t smear; if anything they seemed to glow.

I flipped to the next date. The entry for today was already beginning to flush red as well.

March 20, 2021.

In the original history this was the night my classmates drank until dawn while I went to sleep alone. The next morning we cleaned up a little and went our separate ways—nothing special.

Beep—

The blue status window appeared in front of me once more. Today’s diary entry remained locked, as if sealed, refusing to rewrite itself.

Apparently past-me was living the exact same “today” as present-me. The results of whatever past-me did today would only fully solidify and settle into the present the moment the date changed.

"And what’s with the points? Can I use stuff like this to make Ijin mine more easily? How do I even earn points?"

"Man, that’s complicated. So right now I’m only a male friend and that’s why I only have five points?"

Curiosity fully ignited, I tapped the blinking System Shop button in the corner of the screen. Instantly a list of products that looked like they belonged in some erotic manga or shady internet community exploded across my vision.

"Whoa, what the fuck… what even is all this."

I could intervene in the past while I was busy approaching Ijin?

I swallowed hard.

But my balance was a pathetic five points. For now it was all pie in the sky.

All I could do was wait for past-me to diligently conquer Ijin and farm points for me.

That didn’t mean present-me could just sit on his hands. While past-me eroded the past, I had to play the supporting role as hard as I could.

I picked up my phone, sent Ijin a good-night text, then closed my eyes with a sticky little smile.