Chapter 235
Chapter 235
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 235
Chapter Title: Was It There from the Beginning?
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Was it there from the beginning?
Or did my actions suddenly create it?
I couldn't tell.
It had happened so long ago that my memories were fuzzy.
But there was one thing that didn't make sense.
If everything was true, then why wasn't Hyorin alive?
I'd clearly explained the situation to her back then.
I hadn't given her the exact date, but hearing the story should have been enough for her to prepare.
"What the hell is going on...?"
My head was spinning.
I had no idea how to process this.
Still, one suspicion nagged at me.
"Could it be related to the painting?"
Daeun had been painting when time rewound in the past.
So, maybe painting in a place filled with memories of Hyorin would rewind time again.
I wasn't sure.
But right now, I had to keep all possibilities open.
My actions might bring Hyorin back to life.
"Think, think..."
A place filled with their memories.
"Ah! The mural!"
The mural Hyorin and I had painted on the restaurant wall.
I felt like something would change if we painted there.
So, I politely asked Chairman Kim.
"Chairman, something urgent came up for me. Is it okay if I contact you later?"
"Urgent business? Well, if it's urgent, no choice. Sure, call me later."
There were things I wanted to discuss more, but this mattered far more.
It was a chance to bring Hyorin back.
With that, I said goodbye, took Daeun's hand, and said,
"Daeun, let's go!"
"Where we going, Daddy?"
Smiling at her question, I replied,
"To see Mommy!"
Her face lit up!
Click.
Late at night. I had no choice but to carry the sleeping Daeun home sitting up.
Dark room. I carefully laid her on the bed and headed to the living room.
What was the problem?
It had been the exact same situation as before.
I'd taken her to a place steeped in memories with Hyorin and let her paint just like last time.
But time didn't rewind.
Thud.
Exhausted, I slumped into a dining chair.
Then I kept thinking.
"Should I go back there?"
That was the only thought in my head.
But even if I went back, could I save Hyorin?
No, I probably could save her.
The issue was whether I could return to that exact time.
"Ha..."
It was frustrating—I wanted to go, but there was nothing I could do.
What was different between Hyorin's neighborhood and the restaurant where we'd painted the mural?
My heart raced, but I decided to calmly retrace my thoughts.
I'd heard Hyorin's voice from the sacred tree at the neighborhood entrance.
And time had rewound when Daeun painted in a place of memories with Hyorin.
"Could it be the sacred tree...?"
That was the only thing that came to mind now.
It had mystical powers, after all.
If so, going to a place connected to the sacred tree might rewind time again.
The problem was... our memories tied to the sacred tree...
"Ah!"
There was one more place.
The neighborhood where I'd gone on that retreat with Minji and Jungeun Park recently.
It was just an ordinary place now, but it held huge meaning for me.
All my schedules were done anyway, so heading there tomorrow wouldn't cause issues.
A place filled with memories of Hyorin.
"Yeah, first thing tomorrow morning."
I planned to go there right after waking up.
To meet Hyorin again.
The next day, I got up early and boarded a bus to the neighborhood from our retreat with Daeun.
Unlike last time when we'd ridden with Minji, we took the bus this time.
I didn't know how long it'd take, so bringing others felt awkward.
Traveling alone with Daeun actually eased my mind a bit.
"You sleepy, Daeun?"
"Nope! Daeun wide awake!"
"Good."
As I spoke, I held up the lunchbox I'd prepared early that morning.
"Let's eat lunch there. Daddy made kimbap bright and early."
"Wow! Daeun loves kimbap!"
I stroked her happy head and gazed out the window.
If my hunch was right, I'd meet Hyorin again.
This time, I wouldn't panic like before.
I'd been so desperate to see her that I'd babbled incoherently at first.
If we met again, I'd calmly explain everything and work to save her.
"Time wasn't long last time."
When time rewound, I hadn't had much of it.
Without a proper plan, I might fumble and waste the golden opportunity again.
So, on the way there, I agonized over what to say to Hyorin.
We finally arrived at the neighborhood after a long ride.
"It's just the same."
Months later, the village was unchanged.
Quiet and serene.
Step by step.
I held Daeun's hand and walked the same path as before.
The sacred tree visible in the distance.
My heart pounded wildly at the sight.
I'd told myself not to get excited.
But it wasn't that easy.
Still, I tried to calm down as much as possible.
This was the only way to save Hyorin.
With that in mind, as we approached the tree, Daeun asked,
"Daddy! This where Mommy waited, right?"
Remembering that day, she giggled and circled the tree.
Watching her, I asked,
"Daeun, wanna draw a picture with Daddy?"
"Yeah! Fun!"
It was a place we'd come to draw from the start.
I prepared her sketchbook and pencils to make it easy.
Meanwhile, she found a spot with a good view of the tree and sat down.
"Alright, let's draw."
"Okay!"
And so began our drawing session of the sacred tree.
I stared at Daeun's painting, swallowing hard.
How long had I been watching?
Whoosh.
"It's happening!"
My vision brightened, filled with that same sensation from yesterday.
"Huh?"
Hyorin appeared.
In the dark night.
Standing under the sacred tree...
"Hyorin..."
I called out to her under the sacred tree.
"Oh, y-you're here?"
She looked extremely flustered.
From her reaction, I instantly knew the situation.
The day she'd gotten my letter but not realized it was a letter, waiting all day.
It had to be that day.
I spoke right away.
"No matter how long you wait, I won't come."
"Huh? What do you mean? You're here right..."
"Jungeun Park gave you the letter, but I didn't even know it was from me."
"W-What?"
Her expression twisted oddly for a moment.
Then, startled, she looked at me and asked,
"Wait... D-Daeun..."
She must have figured out who I was.
"I was too frantic back then to explain, but listen carefully to what I say now."
She'd be confused, but it was time to talk.
"After graduation, you and I get married. We have a super cute daughter named Daeun. But sadly, I miss that moment. I get into a huge accident and end up in a vegetative state. Then, luckily, I wake up from it..."
"But I die, right?"
She said it and let out a wry chuckle.
I spoke to her seriously.
"This isn't a joke. So don't take my words lightly."
"I'm not. It's just... I feel like my life's been spoiled."
S-Spoiled?
Wearing a relieved expression, Hyorin asked,
"So, you do like me, right? Don't tell me—that'd really tick me off if you spoiled that too."
Did she even hear me?
I'd told her she dies.
Yet she laughed and asked about my feelings.
Then she asked again.
"So, right now, you've rewound time to a future where I'm dead?"
"Uh... I'm not totally sure. It seems like time rewinds in specific situations."
"A miracle... something like that?"
"Probably..."
Maybe it was a situation born from my wish for a miracle.
Then, Hyorin unfolded what she'd been holding dear.
It was the painting of hers I'd found in the future.
But there was one key difference.
"Wait, is this the picture you were gonna give me?"
"Yeah, but since you said you came from the future, you probably don't know much about it."
No, I knew it all too well.
"I got this one."
"You did? But you said you weren't coming today."
"Yeah, I did... but later I heard from Jungeun Park and came back."
"Here?"
"Yeah, and I found the picture you'd hidden here."
"Wow! That's straight out of a movie."
It really was.
But what I couldn't understand was the painting in Hyorin's hands now...
"I drew it dreaming of our future together."
"But there's no kid..."
"What do you mean?"
The painting I'd received in the future clearly had Daeun in it.
That's why she was so thrilled.
But the one Hyorin held now had no Daeun.
Just me and Hyorin.
"So, the picture you saw and this one I'm holding are different?"
"Yeah, there was definitely a child in that one."
At that, something dawned on her. She opened her bag and pulled out something.
Then she started painting over it.
The picture with me and Hyorin...
Now with Daeun added...
Identical to the one I'd found in the future...
"Is this what it looked like?"
"...Yeah."
Seeing that painting scrambled my brain.
Everything I'd experienced in the future... I'd caused it.
I'd thought it was coincidence.
In other words, no matter how hard I ran around like a madman, the future wouldn't change.
It always ended with Hyorin dying...
And it seemed Hyorin realized it too.
"As expected."
"...What?"
"Even knowing the future doesn't change it. That's what it means. I'm thinking the same now. Even knowing we'll end up together, I'll act the same."
"What are you talking about? You die! After you die, me and Daeun were so sad..."
"What if changing the future means Daeun never gets born?"
"What..."
"What if we don't end up together—no, what if it becomes a whole new future you never experienced?"
"That's..."
She was thinking exactly what I had.
"Even an unhappy future might have meaning in itself. If my death is fate..."
"I'll accept it."
"...No. No way! Absolutely not! There's a chance you can live! Why choose death?!"
"Because it's fate."
Frustrating.
She could live, yet throw it away.
I couldn't accept that.
Even if the future changed, as long as Hyorin lived.
We had to seize that chance.
"Please... Daeun and I need you. So... please don't choose to die..."
She quietly hugged me amid my pleas.
And whispered,
"This is all I can say. I love you, Kanghyeok. Being able to love you... made me so... happy."
Squelch.
No, no...
My vision blurred.
Then bright light filled it again.
I'd earned this chance— I couldn't waste it like this.
Even if the future changed.
Please choose to live, Hyorin...
But I couldn't speak anymore.
Drip.
I'd returned to the present.
"Is it... over?"
Tears welled up at the thought I couldn't save her.
My chest felt torn apart; I refused to accept this reality.
It hurt.
Screw fate...
I wept for a long time, denying reality.
When I finally opened my eyes again.
Daeun shouted.
"Mommy!"