Chapter 4

As soon as school ended, I went straight to Jagam High School. Since evening self-study had already started, the campus was quiet. I looked around, then took a notebook and a permanent marker out of my bag. I crouched down on the spot, placed the notebook on my knees, and started writing. [Do not take cold medicine and sleeping pills together] [66 Entertainment = doomed] [Cold meds X Sleeping pills X Potato Pancakes X] I tore the notes out and pasted them on the utility pole, streetlamp, and wall just outside the school gate. If I couldn’t tell the future directly, I could at least share objective facts. These were things anyone could say—searchable online, verifiable by anyone. From what I’d experimented with at home, it was impossible to convey events that happened in the future. Written messages would vanish, and if I tried to speak them aloud, some other sound would always erupt and cover my words. It was seriously bizarre. Every time I went into the bathroom and tried to yell, “Ryu Seon-jae dies from taking the wrong medicine!”, I would choke mid-sentence. And right at that moment, the shower would turn on by itself. It freaked me out more than the time travel itself. It felt like there were rules to time travel, and something was watching me to enforce them. I had posted three notes already, but I hesitated and wrote one more: [Hope Ryu Seon-jae and Baek In-hyeok cut ties] As I tore the tape and stuck each corner of the paper up, a familiar voice rang out behind me. “What does ‘hope’ mean?” “Eek!” I nearly jumped out of my skin! Startled, I flinched and slowly turned my head. Baek In-hyeok’s sharp, narrow eyes were focused on the paper, one corner of which was curling because the tape hadn't fully stuck. I quickly crumpled the paper and ripped it down with my hand. Baek In-hyeok reached out and stepped forward. “Let me see. I saw my name on it.” I stepped back, and he moved forward with me. It wasn’t exactly a flattering message. What should I do? My eyes darted around, and I saw Seon-jae standing behind him, expressionless. This note had to disappear. I stuffed the crumpled paper into my mouth and chewed. Baek In-hyeok’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “What the—. Okay! I won’t look! I won’t! Spit it out! Are you seriously eating that?” And I’m supposed to believe that? Watching my chewing lips, Baek In-hyeok covered his mouth with his hand. He looked shocked, like he was thinking, ‘What in the world...’ I could feel the soggy paper sticking to the roof of my mouth. I really wanted to spit it out. My face scrunched up instinctively. Just a moment ago, I’d confirmed no one was around—but somehow, Ryu Seon-jae and Baek In-hyeok had ended up behind me. Yesterday I’d been too overwhelmed to notice, but now that they were standing this close, I was completely tongue-tied. According to his agency profile, Ryu Seon-jae was 184 cm tall, and Baek In-hyeok was 186 cm. Maybe they’d already finished growing in high school, because their height made me tilt my head back just to look at them. Seon-jae had dark brown hair, while Baek In-hyeok’s was a light ash brown. If Seon-jae looked like a puppy, Baek In-hyeok looked like a cat—but either way, both were so good-looking it was almost suffocating. Being this close to those faces made me feel emotionally and physically overwhelmed. With his hands shoved in his pockets, Seon-jae looked at me with a blank expression. The face that had always smiled on broadcasts looked shockingly cold now. That blank face then turned to Baek In-hyeok. “Baek In-hyeok, let’s go.” “But it had both our names. What does ‘hope’ mean? Do you know?” Ignoring him, Seon-jae started walking away first. I followed him with my eyes. I couldn’t just let him walk off like that. I didn’t even know when I’d return to the present. “Seon-jae’s actually a nice guy, but he’s acting cold today.” Baek In-hyeok leaned in with a grin, clearly amused, and whispered: “Your first appearance was a bit shocking. You suddenly ran up and hugged him, crying.” With the paper still in my mouth, I just stared at him silently. Then Baek In-hyeok suddenly gave me a thumbs-up right in front of my face. I glanced down at the long, rounded thumb. “Paper-eating performance? Top tier. But looks like Seon-jae didn’t care much about that, so try harder next time.” Baek In-hyeok gave a small smile and walked off. I spat everything out into a trash can under the streetlamp. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I watched them disappear into the distance. Seon-jae’s fine strands of hair fluttered in the breeze. It felt strange. Seeing Seon-jae this young... seeing him alive... Goddamn... whatever this is, it’s kind of nice... Then I shook my head quickly. No, no, this isn’t it. Focus, I'm Sol. You only have one mission: save Seon-jae! I clenched my fist and raised it. I sat at my computer in the team T-shirt we all wore during the sports festival and some saggy sweatpants. Logged onto the secondhand marketplace and searched for “Jagam High School gym uniform.” I’d posted paper notes multiple times near the school gate saying not to mix cold medicine and sleeping pills. But it seemed like Seon-jae hadn’t seen them, and whenever I went to check, they’d all been torn down. I needed a different approach. First, I had to infiltrate the school. But I couldn’t do that wearing another school’s uniform. [Jagam High School PE uniform for sale. Winter version. Direct meetup. 10,000 won.] Found a post. No comments—so it probably hadn’t sold yet. I messaged the seller right away. [Hi, I want to buy the Jagam High PE uniform.] [Sure. Winter or summer version?] [Winter, please. Can I buy it tomorrow?] [Yes, I’m a student, so how about 6 p.m. at the McDonald’s near Jagam intersection?] [Sounds good.] [Great. Message me tomorrow.] Clack. I put my phone down on the desk. Everything was going so smoothly. A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. I opened the McDonald’s door, then quickly bolted back out. Inside was Seon-jae. What the hell?! Why was Ryu Seon-jae sitting there?! I pulled my hoodie up over my head and crouched behind the glass, then called the seller’s number. Riiing. Riiing. The moment the call connected, Seon-jae—who’d been leaning his chin on his hand and eating fries—answered, and then hung up. No way. But then his voice came through the receiver. “Whoa.” Seon-jae looked this way. I immediately crouched as low as I could. — Hello? He asked again when I didn’t respond. I cleared my throat and deepened my voice. “I’ve arrived. What are you wearing?” — I’m in my uniform. Wearing a beige knit sweater. I craned my neck to peek at Seon-jae. Gray uniform pants, white shirt, tie, and a beige round-neck knit sweater. Goddamn. It really was him. You’re still in your second year, aren’t you? You don’t even go to the gym. Why are you selling your PE uniform? “Alright. Get the item ready. I’m coming in.” I hung up. Pulled the hoodie drawstring tight and covered my mouth with my sleeve. Whew. I exhaled, then stepped into the McDonald’s. Without making eye contact, I sat across from Seon-jae and placed 10,000 won on the table before he could say anything. He stared at me blankly, probably taken aback by how fast everything was happening. Avoiding his gaze, I waved my palm like I was saying, “Hurry up and hand it over.” “Ah, here. You saw the pictures, right?” He handed over a shopping bag he had beside him. I snatched it and gave a small bow. “Cool deal. Thanks.” Then I darted out of McDonald’s like I was escaping. I kept running for a while, worried he might follow me out. Only when I got under the pedestrian overpass did I stop and take off the hoodie, panting. “God, that was exhausting.” Catching my breath with one hand on my side, I pulled the uniform out of the shopping bag. I held the shoulders with both hands and stretched them out. The front was in good shape. I checked the back. My eyes stopped in the center—‘Ryu Seon-jae’ was written in marker. Very clearly secondhand. The writing was huge, too. Seon-jae, stuff like this should go for like 1,000 won. You’re kind of shameless, huh. I put the uniform back in the shopping bag, then pulled it out again and brought it to my nose. It smelled like lilac. It felt strange. I shrugged my shoulders once and let them fall. I’d seen fan sign accounts that said, “Seon-jae smells really good.” But those posts always got nasty replies like, “You got Ryu Seon-jae’s autograph? Don’t even call yourself a Potato Pancakes fan.” So there weren’t many reviews about him. A small smile tugged at my lips. He really did smell good. My mouth kept curling up. Sniffing a gym uniform in secret and getting giddy—ugh. I wiped the smile off my face quickly, but it kept creeping back. Once I go back to the present, I’m definitely leaving a comment under one of those “Seon-jae smells nice” posts. I borrowed some powder from a friend and dabbed it on my lips. I made my face look as pale as possible and flipped my contact lenses inside out before putting them in. Then I went straight to my homeroom teacher. “Teacher, sniff, I feel really sick...” Tears streamed endlessly from my reddened eyes. Maybe it was my award-worthy performance, but the teacher believed me. Instead of an off-campus pass, she gave me an early leave slip. Blinking my cold, sore eyes, I took the pass and left the teacher’s office. I ran back to class, popped out the contacts, grabbed my bag, and rushed out of school. Then I headed to a cram school bathroom near campus and changed into the Jagam High PE uniform I’d bought from Seon-jae. I stuffed my school uniform into my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and got on the bus. My eyes were still red and stung. Tears welled up again, and I wiped them away with the back of my hand as I stared out the window. It had already been a week since I’d come to the past. Since Seon-jae was here, I was doing whatever I could to change the future—but the thought of how long I’d be stuck here made my chest tighten. Thud. I bumped my forehead against the bus window. It was nice seeing pre-debut Seon-jae, but the sheer absurdity of the situation was disorienting. Am I even doing this right? I stayed still, head against the glass. I wanted to sort out my thoughts, but nothing came together. — Next stop: Jagam High School. Following stop: Jagam Intersection. I blinked my eyes wide at the announcement. Pulled my head away from the window and hit the stop bell. I didn’t know when I’d go back, so while I was here, I had to keep warning Seon-jae about the danger of mixing medications. I was worried that carrying a bag would draw attention, so I hid it inside a handcart in the vacant lot behind the gym. Not like every student at school knew every other student's face, but just in case, I covered my face with my sleeve and quietly crept down the hallway. It was lunchtime, so there weren’t many students in the classrooms. Wandering around the new building, I couldn’t find the second-year classrooms, so I went into the old building instead. I checked the first floor, then climbed to the second—there it was: Seon-jae’s class. 2nd Year, Class 7. All that time studying Seon-jae paid off. It was information anyone could find on Wikipedia. After glancing around, I opened the back door of the classroom. I slipped inside and stood still, scanning the desks one by one. Wikipedia said “2nd Year, Class 7,” but not which seat or which row. As I inspected each desk, I spotted a beige knit sweater draped over the back of one chair. Oh! That sweater! Just then, a few students passed by in the hallway after lunch. Instinctively, I crouched and duck-walked toward the seat with the sweater. On the textbook left face-down on the desk, the name was scribbled in earthworm-like handwriting. It was so illegible I almost read it as “Ryu Seong-gae.” Seon-jae, your handwriting is awful. Is that why you always draw flowers or stars when signing autographs? The hallway was getting noisier—probably the students returning from lunch. I pulled out a folded note from my pocket and placed it in Seon-jae’s desk drawer. It was a letter explaining the dangers of taking cold medicine and sleeping pills together. I even managed to scribble a few lines about the cruelty of the CEO of 66 Entertainment. Just then, students entered the classroom. Crap. I instinctively dropped flat onto the floor. Then, belly crawled toward the front door like I was in a war zone. If I just had a helmet and a rifle, I’d look like an actual soldier. I slipped out the front door and quickly exited the old building. I brushed off the dusty gym uniform as I headed toward the vacant lot behind the gym. This wasn’t a utility pole, or a streetlamp, or a wall. It was a desk drawer. That meant Seon-jae had to see it. The thought made me oddly proud. The biggest goal was to stop Seon-jae from joining Potato Pancakes as the fifth member. But in case I suddenly returned to the present tonight, I had to first stop him from dying from something so ridiculous. I’d warned him enough times by now—no matter how sick he gets, there’s no way he’ll take cold medicine and sleeping pills together. Grinning, I stepped into the lot—and my pupils shook like an earthquake hit them. A group of students, all rough-looking delinquents, was gathered and smoking. And among them, a blond guy... was carrying my bag. “...Huh?” One of them noticed me and spoke up, and every face turned toward me at once. I looked off toward a distant mountain range, avoiding all eye contact. Should I just run? I started slowly backing away. But then I remembered—my school uniform was in that bag. “You here to smoke?” Excuse me...? I don’t even light mosquito coils in the summer... Still gazing into the distance, I lowered my eyes toward the kids in the lot. One of them, leaning against the wall smoking, locked eyes with me. My hands automatically clasped in front of me like a polite little student. The kid with my bag was standing in the center of the lot, and next to him, a large one was squatting, flicking ash from his cigarette. My heart pounded. I was the absolute weakest in situations like this. I was terrified. I kept inching backward without realizing it. This must be the secret hangout spot for Jagam High delinquents—a known smoking zone. “Oops, wrong turn.” I took one step, then another, backing away—then suddenly turned and bolted. I stopped running once I reached the cafeteria entrance. Students who had finished eating were walking out. Maybe they’d leave once they finished smoking. Maybe in 5 to 10 minutes, they’d head back to class. I could only hope they put my bag back. I stood outside the cafeteria, staring toward the gym. Someone stopped beside me. They were so tall they cast a shadow. I looked up and froze. It was Seon-jae. He was biting the bottom of a yogurt drink bottle. “Hey, Ryu Seon-jae, wait up!” I turned toward the voice calling Seon-jae. Baek In-hyeok had just exited the cafeteria, apparently a bit slower finishing his tray. Oh no. Baek In-hyeok met my gaze. He raised the hand holding the yogurt bottle and pointed his finger—right at me. “You.” Seon-jae turned around at his voice. He saw Baek In-hyeok’s face pointed elsewhere, and his eyes followed the direction. Then they landed on me. No. No, no,o no. I’m wearing Ryu Seon-jae’s gym uniform right now. Panicked, I froze with my mouth hanging open—then suddenly crouched down. His name was written across the back. I had to protect my back. I slowly backed up and pressed myself to the wall. Then quickly untied my perfectly laced sneakers and started tying them again, this time extra slowly. I formed butterfly-shaped loops with the two laces. But it felt like there was a shadow looming over me. I fiddled with the knot, then glanced up. Seon-jae and Baek In-hyeok were looking down at me. Seon-jae still had the yogurt bottle in his mouth, and In-hyeok was holding a peeled one in his hand. Oh god, no. I grabbed the neck of the gym uniform and pulled it up to my forehead, then began sliding sideways, trying to exit naturally. I crab-walked slowly, but Seon-jae’s eyes kept following me. Through the cloth of the gym shirt, I could still see him. The fabric must’ve been thin. Oh no. Should I just run for it? I was still thinking when Seon-jae removed the yogurt from his mouth and opened his lips. “She looks like that girl from before.” “Yeah. The one who got tears and snot all over your vest.” “Huh. She was wearing a different school uniform, though.” Baek In-hyeok nodded next to him. “That’s what I’m saying.” Should I run now? But I stayed frozen, not turning my head, pretending I couldn’t hear, pretending it wasn’t about me. “What was it again? ‘Kidnap Seon-jae and fry him’?” “What the hell. Fry him? That’s messed up.” “What was it? Didn’t she have a nickname?” “No idea.” “Don’t pretend you don’t know.” “I seriously don’t.” “Oh! ‘Run away with Seon-jae on my back.’ That was it.” Is the shame mine alone to bear? “Maybe she’s here to carry you off.” At Baek In-hyeok’s words, I pursed my lips and scrunched my nose. “Let’s go.” Still covered in the gym uniform, I rolled my eyes sideways. I could see Seon-jae’s silhouette walking away. “Hey, let’s ask if she transferred.” “Hurry up.” At Seon-jae’s call, Baek In-hyeok followed. I dropped my hands from the uniform. “Ha... seriously.” The tension drained from my body, and I let out a sigh. Of all places, to run into Seon-jae in front of the cafeteria while escaping from the smoking students. People say fans never win the lottery, but apparently, we do at the most useless times. I straightened my knees and stood up. Time to go get my bag. “...Huh.” But before I could even step toward the vacant lot behind the, ym—my whole body froze. Just a few meters ahead, Seon-jae and Baek In-hyeok were standing. Looking right at me. As if they’d been waiting for me to stand up. Seon-jae still had the yogurt bottle in his mouth. Baek In-hyeok had his arms crossed. It felt like a sting operation. No—this was straight-up interrogation. After confirming my face, the two of them turned without hesitation and walked off. Something’s off. This... this is starting to go really off the rails. I just stood there, staring blankly at their retreating backs.