Chapter 236
Chapter 236
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 236
Chapter Title: Mom...
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"M-Mom..."
Hearing Daeun's voice, I turned my head.
But what I saw was the exact same scene I'd been looking at.
Daeun drawing her picture under the sacred village tree.
What had I been hoping for...?
I'd half-expected something to change.
But nothing had.
Still, I wanted to ask why she'd called out for Mom.
"Hoo..."
Right now, I didn't feel like saying anything.
At first, I'd thought my words just hadn't gotten through to her.
But it turned out Hyorin had no intention of changing her mind.
How foolish...
To worry more about the future changing than her own life.
Any normal person would do whatever it took to survive, future be damned.
But Hyorin was different.
She'd refused to alter the future out of fear it might cause problems for me—for Daeun.
Maybe that's why.
I couldn't bring myself to turn back time again.
Even if I did, I doubted it'd change Hyorin's mind.
'No, if I try convincing her again...'
Maybe she'd think differently if I persuaded her once more.
It was worth a shot.
My memories tied to the sacred village tree ended here, but the same might happen elsewhere.
If I spent the whole day revisiting places, I'd have plenty of opportunities to rewind.
For now, I could eat with Daeun here and head straight to the next memory spot.
Pretending I knew nothing, I asked Daeun, who was diligently drawing away.
"Daeun, wanna eat?"
"Yeah, food!"
"Yeah? We ate breakfast early, so you're hungry, huh?"
"Yeah! Mommy! Daeun hungry!"
She grinned.
"Then let's eat some kimbap right now."
"Got it!"
With that, I pulled out the kimbap I'd packed ahead of time to eat with Daeun.
It had cooled a bit, but I'd stuffed it full of her favorite ingredients.
Surely she'd love it. I took one roll and brought it to her mouth.
*Chomp!*
"Mmm! Yummy!"
Luckily, she seemed pretty satisfied.
I popped one in my own mouth, thinking about our next stop.
'Hmm, fried tofu?'
There was a distinctly savory fu flavor from the kimbap.
Had I put fu in it?
I'd thrown in whatever side dishes we had at home.
But fu hadn't been one of them.
I could definitely taste it, though.
Just to check, I inspected the kimbap. Nothing different.
It looked exactly like it had this morning.
'Hmm, must've been my imagination.'
I'd packed it half-asleep since we were leaving early. Probably just a mix-up.
"So yummy!"
"Yeah, eat up, Daeun. Got it?"
"Yeah! Daddy eat lots too!"
And so Daeun and I ate our fill of kimbap before getting up.
That's when someone called out to us.
"Oh my, look who it is."
"Ah, hello."
It was the lady we'd met before.
Last time, she'd done us a huge favor, so I hadn't expected to run into her again like this.
"Daeun, right?"
"Yes! Hello!"
"Nice to see you again. Hope you've been well."
"Ah, yes. Doing great. And you, ma'am?"
"Of course. After you left last time, we did some extra repairs around here. Looks good, doesn't it?"
Come to think of it, it did look different from before.
The fence, the dirt mound—everything had been tidied up nicely.
Smiling at her words, I replied.
"Yeah, looks great. The tree's gotta be happy."
"Yeah? The tree's happy?"
"Sure. How could it not be, with everyone taking such good care of it?"
The lady looked amazed as she said.
"That's fascinating. A young lady said something just like that not long ago."
"A young lady?"
Was it Minji who'd come by again? I asked.
"You mean the friend who was with me last time?"
"Oh no, then you'd have recognized her right away. She was a real beauty, said the exact same things. Asked if she'd been here before, said it looked prettier now, that the tree would like it."
Who could it be?
If the lady was describing her that way, she probably wasn't from the village.
I was curious, but it wasn't that important.
"Didn't know someone else thought the same as me."
"Oh! And she said something else too."
Her next words made my eyes go wide.
"She thanked it for letting her feelings be conveyed. Something like that."
M-My feelings were conveyed?
We boarded a bus bound for Seoul to head to the next spot.
As we rode, I kept thinking back to what the lady had said.
'Who was that girl?'
Thanking the tree for letting her feelings reach someone.
It sounded just like something Hyorin would say.
But that couldn't be.
Hyorin was gone, and when I'd rewound time before...
I didn't think she'd change her mind, which was why I was out here again.
'Don't think about it. Focus on reliving the past right now.'
No room to worry about anything else.
I had to figure out how to save Hyorin, fast.
Lost in those thoughts, I just hoped the bus would reach our destination soon.
It sped along and dropped us off in Seoul.
I quickly set course for our next stop: school.
It might hold the most memories with Hyorin.
If I got another shot at the past—excluding the village with the sacred tree—school had the highest odds.
"Daddy, we go to school again?"
Grinning at Daeun's question, I nodded.
"Yeah, Daddy's got some business there."
"What business?"
Hmm, how to explain it to Daeun.
My actions could change the future, sure.
But I couldn't tell her what I was really thinking.
If I did and nothing came of it...
It'd just lead to huge disappointment.
Especially since it involved Mom.
So I had to make something up.
"Gonna meet the professor and Aunt Minji, stuff like that."
Daeun shot her hand up then.
"Then Daeun go there too!"
"Yeah? Where?"
"Art store!"
"Art supply store."
"Yeah! Daeun wanna buy colored pencils!"
Art supply store out of nowhere.
"And sketchbook too!"
"Oh, right. You used them all up."
"Yeah! So wanna stop by!"
Well, nothing urgent, so no harm.
"Alright, let's do it."
A quick breather wouldn't hurt anyway.
Having decided to swing by the art supply store with Daeun, I got off at the school stop and headed straight for the street with the shop.
*Jingle.*
Entering the familiar art supply store filled with paint smells, Daeun dashed inside like it was a playground.
I greeted the owner, whom I hadn't seen in a while.
"Hello."
"Oh my, if it isn't our painter! What's brought you to school? Heard you even gave a special lecture last time you passed through."
Word had spread here already?
Makes sense—she'd been running her shop right by the school for ages. No one knew the campus gossip better.
Students came by every day, after all.
"Haha, it wasn't that big a deal."
"Psh, what do you mean? You're the school's greatest success story!"
Haha, laying on the praise today.
"How've you been? Still painting?"
"Lately?"
Oh, was she asking about my art career?
"Not yet. Planning to get back to it soon."
"Hmm, didn't you say you were painting when you came before?"
"Me?"
Had I said that?
Not sure, but she must've mixed it up with Daeun talking about drawing.
"Oh, that wasn't me—it was Daeun."
"Oh, right? Weird, I could've sworn you said you were painting..."
No idea what she'd heard or how.
Definitely a mix-up.
"Came by school today, so picking up colored pencils and stuff for Daeun."
"Ah, got it. Since Daeun's here, gotta give her a gift."
With that, she pulled a chocolate milk from under the counter and handed it to me.
"Give this to Daeun. She likes chocolate milk, right?"
"Yeah, uh, how'd you know?"
We hadn't talked about chocolate milk last time.
"How'd I know? You told me last time. Said you loved it, so I gave you one..."
The owner's face turned strange.
Mine probably did too, watching her.
Was it that I couldn't remember from months ago?
Or had her memory gotten twisted somehow?
"Th-Thank you."
She smiled.
"Sure, take your time browsing. Let me know when you're ready."
"Yes."
With a slightly uneasy feeling, I shopped for supplies with Daeun.
Once we'd bought everything and stepped outside, I headed toward school with my beaming daughter, thrilled about her new tools.
*Crunch.*
On the way up to school.
The lady at the tree, the shop owner...
Something felt off in a weird way.
I didn't usually get vibes like this.
Today felt especially strange.
Maybe it was because I'd dipped into the past via the sacred tree.
Just my imagination.
Probably overthinking it. With that, I arrived at school and headed straight for the lecture hall.
Classes were on break after the graduation exhibit.
An empty, quiet room.
I sat in the spot where I'd first met Hyorin and reminisced about that day.
*Scrape!*
Then Daeun plopped into the seat Hyorin had once used and kicked her legs excitedly.
"We're studying, hee!"
"Studying?"
"Yeah! Daddy said so back then! Studying with Mommy is super super fun!"
"D-Did I say that?"
"Yeah! And Mommy said studying with Daddy makes her the happiest!"
When had Hyorin said that?
Well, thinking back, those four years at school with her really had been happy.
Carefree days of classes and painting.
If I could go back to that time...
I'd express my feelings freely.
No more bottling them up like before.
But time had marched on, and regrets couldn't bring it back.
All I could do was reminisce.
*Swish.*
"Daeun, wanna draw here?"
"Here?"
"Yeah. It's full of Mommy and Daddy's memories, so it'd be perfect for a picture. What do you say?"
After a moment's thought, Daeun answered.
"Yeah! Got it!"
She pulled out her new sketchbook and colored pencils.
Then she started drawing the empty lecture hall with a smile—blackboard, desks, and all.
Watching her, I grew a bit tense.
'No way it's happening again...?'
*Scratch scratch.*
I kept staring at her drawing.
Please, let time rewind.
Let my vision fill with light. That's when—
*Scrape!*
The lecture hall door opened, and someone walked in.
"Huh? What brings you here?"
Ah!
Hyorin, the one I'd longed for even in my dreams!
No way, no way... but time really had rewound.
Spotting her, I rushed over and blurted out.
"Hyorin! Listen to me. Don't think about anything else—just focus on living. Forget the future changing! Got it? Please, I beg you..."
Then Hyorin, staring at me in shock, said something I never expected.
"No way... is it now?"
...What