The Future That Cannot Be Changed
"You haven't eaten lunch, have you?"
To explain why I had suddenly shown up at Baek Yerin's house, I needed to go back to the day before.
That was the day I first received some unwelcome news from my father.
"Mom fell down the stairs?"
"Yeah. She tumbled backward, tried to catch her balance, and ended up twisting her ankle. Looks like she'll need to stay in the hospital for about two weeks."
Hearing that, I searched through the memories of my previous life.
No matter how I thought about it, nothing like this had happened at this time before.
Maybe I shouldn't put too much blind faith in my pre-regression memories…
After all, it was only last year that I skipped cram school and confidently declared to my mother that I would become a composer.
That moment had come two full years earlier than in my original timeline, so it made sense that the future could unfold differently from what I remembered.
Even so, there was one thing I knew would never change—no matter how hard I struggled.
After school ended, I headed straight for the university hospital where my mother had been admitted.
Oddly enough, she wasn't in her room. She was in the outdoor lounge on the hospital rooftop.
"Is it okay for you to be out here?"
"If I stay cooped up in that room all the time, it actually slows down my recovery."
My mother answered with a faint smile.
She then turned to the person who had apparently been sitting beside her for some time, chatting.
"The weather feels completely like spring, doesn't it? The outside air is so warm and pleasant."
"…It really is."
The woman wore a languid smile that somehow carried a trace of bitterness.
I knew exactly who she was.
"So this is the boy you've been telling me about?"
"Yes. This is my son."
"You're Ryu Won…"
The woman called my name and offered a gentle smile.
The miracle of regression had given me another chance to chase my dreams, and for that I was deeply grateful.
But human greed truly knows no bounds.
If only I had gone back one more year…
"I'm Baek Yerin's mother. I didn't expect we'd meet like this."
I might have been able to save you.
Today, I came face to face with a future I could never change.
It was the death of Baek Yerin's mother—Lee Yeon-hui.
Yerin’s mother and I remained in the rooftop lounge, talking a while longer.
"You already knew about me?"
"Of course. How could I not, when Yerin talks about you every single day?"
"She does?"
"I'll just say she calls you a genius composer and says she respects you enormously. Anything more and I might earn that girl's resentment."
"There's more?"
I scratched the back of my head. Her words were hard to follow, so I let them slide.
Then I asked the question weighing on me.
"You're… quite ill, aren't you?"
"Yes. The doctor says I don't have much time left."
She spoke about her own death so matter-of-factly that it left me flustered instead.
"I'm sorry."
"Hm? What are you sorry for?"
"In a way, I've stolen the time you and Yerin could have spent together. That's why I'm sorry."
Baek Yerin had debuted as a singer and now lived an incredibly busy life.
It was a life no ordinary middle-school student could have imagined.
And every part of it had begun with my own greed.
Even without me, she probably would have debuted around this time, but the current situation was undeniably my doing.
Even if her mother had wanted her daughter to become a singer, the fact that I had taken their precious time together remained unchanged.
"That's not true. Thanks to you, I got to see my daughter looking so cool. And I hear you always speak up loudly to keep her schedule as light as possible?"
I thought for a moment. Well… she wasn't wrong.
But to me, it had simply been the obvious thing to do.
"It was only natural for me to do it."
"I’m the type who believes nothing in this world is truly ‘natural.’ The reason Yerin receives so much love from people is entirely because of you. So all I feel toward you is gratitude."
Her words brought a slightly bitter smile to my face.
"No. Even without me, that girl would have received plenty of love from the world."
"Aren't you a little too certain?"
"Because that's the kind of child she is. And you raised her so well that I can't help but be certain."
For some reason, Yerin's mother let out a soft chuckle at my words.
"Thank you for saying that… It puts my mind at ease a little."
At ease?
I was about to ask what she meant when a familiar voice came from nearby.
"You were here again?"
When I turned, sure enough, Baek Yerin was walking toward us.
Our eyes met naturally, but she didn't look surprised or puzzled at all.
It was as if my presence here was completely expected.
"Have you already become friends with Won?"
That was all she said.
Watching her completely natural reaction… it was actually a little scary.
"So you came to the hospital because your mother was admitted."
"Yeah. Then I naturally ran into your mother and we ended up greeting each other."
"I see."
"…It's the truth."
"I don't think you're lying. I believe everything you say, no matter what."
Baek Yerin gave a faint smile. Despite her words, it somehow felt like she didn't believe me at all…
"I'll be going now. I only meant to see my mother's face for a moment."
It was about time to leave anyway.
Even if that weren't the case, I wasn't insensitive enough to intrude on the two of them any longer.
"Then I'll walk you to the main gate."
"Go ahead, dear."
"?"
Somehow it had become perfectly natural for me to leave with Yerin.
Just before we parted, she said something unexpected.
"Won't you come over to my house tomorrow?"
She wore a distant, wistful smile.
"There's a story I really need you to hear."
Facing that smile, I found myself nodding before I knew it.
"Did you see him off safely?"
"Yes."
After walking Ryu Won out, Baek Yerin returned to her mother's hospital room. Lee Yeon-hui thought back on the boy she had just spoken with and said,
"He really is a good child, just like you described. That Ryu Won."
"Right? I told you so."
"Yes. Now I understand why our daughter fell for him."
Baek Yerin said nothing in response to her mother's words.
She simply smiled softly.
The silence here… didn't need any explanation.
That was enough.
If her daughter had found something precious in the present, that was all that mattered.
"Oh, it's the weekend. Should I come with him again tomorrow? I feel like I'd like to talk with that boy a little more."
"Are you sure I'm not intruding on your cozy time together?"
"Mom, stop teasing me already."
They continued their warm conversation as usual, but then—
"Ugh!"
Pain, it seemed, arrived without regard for the moment.
"M-Mom!"
"Yerin… I'm fine."
"How can you be fine?! I'll go get the doctor right away!"
Lee Yeon-hui could only watch with a grave expression as her daughter rushed out of the room.
It was… painful in an entirely different way.
The words I had heard from Baek Yerin just before we parted kept echoing in my head even after I lay down in bed.
Won't you come over to my house tomorrow?
Why had she gone out of her way to invite me over?
Her mother was currently hospitalized, which meant the two of us would be alone in her house.
It was the kind of situation that could spark all sorts of imagination, but…
"A story she really needs me to hear."
I had seen it—the expression on Baek Yerin's face right before we separated.
Whatever came out of her mouth probably wouldn't be ordinary.
And because the future was already beginning to change because of me, I couldn't even guess what it might be.
Still…
"It doesn't matter what it is."
I just had to do what I could.
And so, the very next day, I arrived in front of the villa where Baek Yerin currently lived.
In truth, she could move into a much nicer house right now if she wanted.
Between her settlement money and the full support of RT Entertainment, it would be easy.
Baek Yerin was currently the face and flagship star of RT Entertainment.
Even if they didn't want to, they had no choice but to take care of her, and Kang Beom-jun was always thorough about such things.
In fact, RT Entertainment was even covering Lee Yeon-hui's hospital bills.
The only reason they hadn't moved was that the person herself had no desire to leave this house.
Probably never would.
With those thoughts in mind, I called Yerin from in front of the entrance. The moment she answered, she opened the door for me.
I stepped inside with a slightly awkward expression.
"Um… excuse me."
"Make yourself at home. It's just me here right now anyway. Oh, right. You didn't eat lunch before coming, did you?"
"You made me promise. You told me absolutely not to eat beforehand."
As expected, the moment I entered Baek Yerin's house, a wonderful aroma greeted me.
I had secretly been looking forward to it ever since she told me not to eat.
After all, the Baek Yerin I knew was an incredibly skilled cook.
Skilled enough that, in my previous life, she had gone on a cooking competition program and beaten a famous Michelin-starred chef.
So I wanted to confirm it for myself.
Whether that had been an exaggeration or not.
And the result was…
"How is it?"
"Damn… it's tastier than my mom's cooking. And I resent myself for only being able to describe it like that."
"So it suits your taste? That's a relief."
I felt a little sorry for my mother.