Chapter 238
Chapter 238
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 238
Chapter Title: Our True Happiness
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Time had passed more quickly than expected.
Five years flew by, and I woke up to the pouring sunlight.
A familiar ceiling.
Rustle.
Just then, a rustling sound came from beside the bed.
'Is today the day?'
I remembered it clearly.
How could I ever forget today?
The day I headed to that dang tree early in the morning for the MT trip to save Hyorin.
The day I had completely turned back time was today.
It had been a long journey.
An incredibly long time.
But it had been happy.
I had saved Hyorin.
And I had met the Daeun I had dreamed of.
No one had gotten hurt. No one had died.
Everything was perfect.
I had come back again.
"Daddy! How long are you gonna sleep! Come on!"
"Daddy just needs a little more, just a bit longer."
"No way! You gotta get up! Today we're going out with Mommy!"
At Daeun's words, I pretended to give in and got out of bed.
Just then, through the slightly open door, along with the sound of cooking, came the voice I had longed for even in my dreams.
"Honey! Get up! We said we'd head out early today!"
It was Hyorin's voice.
It was the voice I heard every day, but on this special day, it struck me even deeper.
"Yeah, I'm up. Daeun, wanna go out to the living room with Daddy?"
"Yeah!"
I took Daeun's hand and headed to the living room.
We had cleared out the house Hyorin and I originally lived in after getting married.
And we had moved into the house where Daeun and I had lived before.
There was no real need to move to a smaller place.
But I had no choice but to come here.
The house where Hyorin and Daeun had lived.
The house where Daeun and I had lived.
Now, it would be the home where Hyorin, Daeun, and I would make precious memories together.
Screech.
As I pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat down, Hyorin, who was preparing breakfast, asked,
"But why did you suddenly decide to go there?"
"Oh, there's a reason we have to go today."
"What's the reason we absolutely have to go?"
"Just... my whim."
"Tch, sometimes you say the weirdest things. Like that mural you painted last time."
I had worked tirelessly to stick to the events as they were meant to happen.
I couldn't let the future change because I had turned back time.
"Got to have some events like that once in a while."
As I smiled and spoke, Hyorin tilted her head curiously.
Then she placed the bubbling soybean paste stew on the table.
"Alright, let's eat breakfast and head out right away. Daeun, come eat."
"Yeah! Mommy!"
In this morning scene so different from before, I smiled happily and scooped up a spoonful of Hyorin's soybean paste stew.
"Oh! This is really delicious."
"Mommy! You're the best! So yummy!"
She beamed.
"Yeah, I even made kimbap to eat there today. We'll have it for lunch later. Got it?"
"Totally awesome!"
Hyorin, who had been beaming at Daeun's response, turned to me.
"But honey, don't you think it's time to start looking for a studio? Time's getting tight faster than we thought."
"Oh, you mean the exhibition at Carrie's gallery?"
"Yeah, if we start working on it now, we might just make it in time."
"I was planning to find one to share with Daeun anyway."
"You're looking nearby, right?"
"Of course. The last studio was too far away."
She beamed.
Hyorin smiled brightly when I said we'd pick a close one.
"I never imagined you and our Daeun would be painting together like this. Our whole family as artists... I never dreamed of something like this."
She was truly happy, unable to hide her leaking smile.
How long had I awaited moments like this?
This happiness just from being together.
"Oh, right. What did you talk about with Minji yesterday?"
"Oh, yesterday..."
I wanted to make every situation play out exactly as it had in the past, but I couldn't control the future changing bit by bit.
One of those things was something related to Hyorin.
Since she wasn't supposed to exist in the original timeline.
She was a variable born from Hyorin being alive.
"She made me a proposal."
"What kind of proposal?"
"She asked if I'd ever thought about working as a lecturer."
"Lecturer? You mean at our school?"
"Yeah, they're short one lecturer next semester and don't have anyone suitable to ask. She wondered if I'd be okay doing it for just a year."
Hyorin as a lecturer.
"So, what are you thinking?"
"I said I'd think about it and let her know."
"Why think about it? You should jump on something like that right away."
In the past, Hyorin had to give up her dreams because of me.
I couldn't push too hard to avoid changing the future, but starting today, things were different.
I no longer had to be bound by the past timeline.
The future would be whatever I made from now on.
"Psh, anyone but you. What would I lecture on? I'm not even that good at painting."
Just then, Daeun, who had been quietly eating while listening, spoke up.
"Mommy! You teach painting super well! Mommy paints so good!"
"Yeah?"
"If Mommy does it, it'd be the best!"
Her words were a bit jumbled, but it meant she'd teach just like she did with Daeun, and it'd go great.
Hyorin smiled brightly at Daeun's words.
"Daeun wants Mommy to do it?"
"Yeah! If Mommy does it, it'd be awesome!"
"Hmm."
Hyorin thought for a moment and replied.
"Since Daeun says so, maybe I should give it a try."
"Yay!"
She beamed.
I was happy.
Happier than I thought possible.
We headed to the dang tree from the MT trip, just as planned before.
It had been years since I'd last come, but I could never forget this moment.
Last time, I had come to meet Hyorin again.
Now, I was here with that very Hyorin.
"Do you remember that day? The day you didn't show up."
"I do. I never imagined it was because of that letter."
"Yeah, so I waited here forever. You never came, though."
Haha, bringing up that time like this.
"Oh, come to think of it, I had the weirdest dream back then."
"Yeah? A dream?"
"Yeah, it's been so long I don't remember well, but I dreamed I met you under this tree."
Yeah, you had that dream.
It could have just been a dream born from Hyorin's longing.
But since I had actually come to meet her, it wasn't something I could easily brush off.
"For some reason, the shocking thing you said in the dream is the only part I remember."
"W-What did I say?"
"You told me you were dying. So I had to live no matter what. Pfft, isn't that hilarious?"
"Haha... Hahaha... Y-Yeah, what a weird dream."
It wasn't a dream.
Because I had changed the future, she must have felt the events that didn't happen as a dream.
I felt a slight pang at Hyorin's words.
But maybe it was better if she thought of it that way.
Just a bad dream.
No, maybe it really was a bad dream.
One I never wanted to experience again.
"Well, we've had lunch too. Shall we head back?"
As I said that and took Daeun's hand to walk toward the parking spot,
Hyorin just stood there, gazing intently at the dang tree swaying in the mountain breeze.
"Honey, aren't you coming?"
"Yeah, coming."
Whatever she had been thinking, Hyorin's face lit up with a bright smile as she turned around.
'Definitely more comfortable with the car.'
It was a used car, but still way better than the bus.
Before, it took hours on the bus.
Now with the car, that time was cut down a lot.
We arrived at school so quickly.
I hadn't planned to come to school, but because of the talk with Minji yesterday,
Hyorin wanted to stop by briefly, so we did.
While Hyorin went to meet Minji,
"Daeun, wanna see the classroom where Mommy and Daddy took classes?"
Suddenly, I wanted to visit that time from back then.
The classroom where I had turned back time, out of desperation.
"Yeah! Let's go!"
I took Daeun's hand again and headed to that space.
The classroom was quiet after the graduation exhibition ended.
Slide!
As I opened the door and entered, the familiar sight greeted me.
It was the exact same space.
But maybe because my heart had changed, it felt incredibly welcoming.
The very space that let me live a new life.
"This is where Mommy and Daddy studied."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Honestly, Daddy was happiest when studying with Mommy."
"What about Daeun?"
"Psh, being with Daeun now is super super happy."
"Hee!"
Daeun sat in a chair and swung her legs in the air.
Then she looked up at me and said,
"Daddy! Daeun wants to draw!"
"Uh, yeah, you wanna draw?"
At Daeun's sudden request, I tried to change the subject.
"Mommy will be back soon. Let's draw at home later."
"Nooo! Daeun wants to draw now! Can't we?"
It's not impossible...
But I had a nagging worry.
What if this happy moment looped back again?
I'd already come back over ten years.
Maybe this current time was the past.
So it probably wouldn't loop like last time.
I knew that.
But still...
"Wanna draw! Wanna draw! Daeun wants to draw!"
Daeun threw a huge fit, and in the end, I laughed and opened my bag to pull out a small sketchbook.
"Alright, Daeun can draw then."
"Yeah... But what should I draw?"
"The classroom view!"
Scribble scribble.
Daeun started capturing the classroom scene on the sketchbook I gave her.
The whiteboard, the podium, the neatly aligned desks and chairs.
Her hand moved without hesitation, drawing the room at an incredible speed.
Meanwhile, I watched Daeun's drawing with considerable tension.
Worried that time might loop back.
If it were any other day, I wouldn't be this tense.
But it was the exact same place and time as that day, so I couldn't help it.
Gulp.
'No way time's actually looping back, right?'
As I watched Daeun's drawing come to completion in tense anticipation,
Screech!
The door suddenly opened, and Hyorin walked in.
"N-No way!"
Hyorin's sudden entrance startled me badly.
I really thought time had looped.
But the clothes she was wearing quickly showed it was just my mistake.
"Oh, there you are. I was looking everywhere."
"Oh, sorry. I wanted to show Daeun where we studied. So, how'd it go with Minji?"
"Oh, yeah. The professor was there too, so we talked, and I decided to try lecturing for a year. Not sure if I'll be any good."
At that, I smiled and said,
"Psh, the Hyorin I know can definitely do it."
"Thanks. I'll do my best. But what's Daeun doing?"
"Oh, she wanted to draw, so she's drawing."
"The classroom?"
"Yeah."
Then I turned slightly.
And...
"Yeah."
I spotted Daeun staring blankly ahead in a daze.
The kid who had been drawing non-stop until just now.
Lost in thought, she stared into space without moving for a long while.
"Daeun."
Flinch!
At Hyorin's call, Daeun flinched.
And...
"Uh?"
Tears suddenly welled up in Daeun's eyes.
Her lips trembled.
"Mooommmmyyy!"
She bolted from her seat and threw herself into Hyorin's arms.
"D-Daeun... W-What's wrong, suddenly?"
"Waaahhh!"
Hyorin panicked at Daeun's sudden outburst and tried to soothe her...
Ha...
In that moment, I got choked up.
It seemed the miracle that happened to me...
Had happened to Daeun too.
Daeun sobbing in Hyorin's arms.
I warmly embraced the two of them and said,
"Our family... Let's be truly happy from now on...."
—END—