Chapter 9: The Second Time Travel

“Hey.” Someone was shaking my shoulder hard. I opened my eyes with a start at the unfamiliar voice. A girl with gray-colored contacts was staring right at me. She flicked her eyes to the right. I turned to look. A girl stood there, arms crossed, glaring at me with a deeply annoyed expression. “Where the hell do you think you're going? I’m asking if you’re that Kim Chun-baek, you damn bitch.” My mouth fell open without me realizing it. I was surrounded by girls loudly chewing gum. Their hair was dyed in shades of yellow and red—no doubt their personalities were just as loud. I glanced down. I was wearing a school uniform. A navy jacket and vest, a bright red tie, and a yellow duffle coat. I was in uniform. I was back in the past. “Oh my god, I’m back! I really came back!” I clapped and bounced on the spot. The atmosphere... froze. “First, she says she’s leaving, now she says she’s back. You’ve got to be kidding me.” I turned to look again at the girl from earlier. A familiar face—clumpy mascara on thick lashes. I’d seen her once in front of Jagam High. No way. What the hell is this? Did I get dragged into something by these girls? Thump. My shoulder jerked forward. The girl with her arms crossed had punched me with her fist. It hurt. I stumbled back until my heels hit a wall. Damn it. This didn’t happen the first time around. Was this the result of me changing something in the past? Of all places to land, why did I end up in some random back alley surrounded by thugs? I looked like I was about to cry. “Wh-why are you doing this...?” I asked with the most pitiful, frightened expression I could muster. Some of the girls said I must not have been listening and threatened to clean out my ears if that was the case. So apparently,y this all started because of Kim Chun-baek, the name that had become the subject of a conversation between Ryu Seon-jae and Baek In-hyeok. Despite going to a co-ed school, Seon-jae didn’t have any close female friends. He was shy and didn’t initiate contact. He didn’t like talking about other people—especially not girls. But recently, he’d spent several days talking to In-hyeok about someone called Kim Chun-baek. The fans around them got curious, especially since Seon-jae called her Kim Chun-baek and In-hyeok called her RunAwayWithSeonjae. Everyone was dying to know who she was. “Then she said she saw you. You were with Seon-jae, and he followed you when you ran. As if our Seon-jae would chase after you—get real.” “R-really?” I held a hand to my chest and tried to look as confused as possible. One of the girls with yellow hair jabbed me in the forehead with her finger. “Ugh, why do you keep pretending you don’t know?” Terrifying. Seriously, why were they doing this? I put my hands together politely and bowed my head. If I had a whistle, I’d be blowing it right now. Then a soccer ball rolled into the alley. “Oh my god, go get it.” “Why should I? It’s your ball.” “You kicked it!” I could hear bickering voices from down the street. A moment later, someone walked into the alley. He paused at the unexpected crowd, startled, but eventually kept walking. He bent to pick up the ball. When he stood up, I saw his face. He wore a military-style jacket with the hood up. Our eyes met. “Oh. Oh.” My eyes widened. Seon-jae looked away like he didn’t recognize me. No, don’t look away! Please, please, look at me again. Save me! I begged him silently with my eyes. “Oh? Seon-jae?” The girls who’d just been glaring at me now smiled sweetly. Seon-jae tucked the ball under his arm and shoved his hands into his coat pockets. “Yeah. Hey,” he replied casually. He glanced briefly at me—then turned around. No. You can’t just leave! If you’re not going to save me, at least take these girls away! “Ryu Seon-jae!” I shouted. He stopped and turned back. I couldn’t just yell, Save me, or Take me with you, or Take your friends with you in front of everyone. So I blinked hard. Don’t go, I mouthed, making my face as desperate as possible. Then— “Hey, isn’t the ball gone?” Baek In-hyeok suddenly popped into the alley. He looked stunned at the sight of so many people. I shifted my plea toward him, blinking like mad. “Ah, right. We said we didn’t know her,” In-hyeok muttered, avoiding my gaze and turning back. My shoulders slumped. I lowered my head. Then someone grabbed my duffle coat’s hood and yanked me out of the corner. Eyes wide, I looked up. It was Seon-jae, looking down at me indifferently. “Been a while.” “...Huh?” He started walking, still holding onto my hood. “Wait, what? Why are you taking her?” One of the girls grabbed my arm, but Seon-jae tugged the hood harder and pulled me away. “I’ve got some business with her, er, too.” Without letting go, he led me out of the alley. “Thanks.” I smiled, grateful. But Seon-jae’s expression stayed cold. “You said you didn’t know me. Now you’re corned, red, and suddenly you do?” “Wh-what? No, I-I didn’t mean—” I stammered. He glanced at me, then turned away. As we emerged from the alley, I saw Baek In-hyeok eating a fish-shaped pastry. He blinked when he saw me being dragged by Seon-jae. I probably looked like a scammer being hauled in after swindling Seon-jae out of cash. “What the hell? Why’s she with us?” “It just turned out that way. Let’s go.” In-hyeok quickly pulled cash from his pocket and followed us. He walked beside me, scanning my face. I squinted and glared. Just like he had at the funeral. “What? What are you looking at? You don’t even remember me, so why are you staring!” “What?” In-hyeok looked genuinely startled. “Man, you’re really weird. One minute you’re begging us not to pretend we know you, and now this?” “My thoughts exactly,” Seon-jae muttered. In-hyeok ruffled Seon-jae’s hair. “They didn’t mess you up too bad, huh?” “Yeah.” Then they both turned to look at me like I was some strange creature. Somehow, I ended up on the soccer field at Jagam High, acting as goalie against Seon-jae’s kicks. I couldn’t block a single shot. I had volunteered as a goalie, not realizing how hard it would be. Baek In-hyeok, free of goalie duty thanks to me, sat on his bag and watched me flop around, laughing. Why was I doing this again? I finally collapsed to the ground and waved my hands. I was done. The ball rolled gently to my feet. Seon-jae walked over, trapped it under his foot, popped it into the air, and caught it in one hand. Even though I was exhausted, the move looked so cool that I found my mouth hanging open. In-hyeok drew lines in the dirt with a stick and asked, “So, how’d you end up in that mess earlier?” I wiped sweat off my upper lip. Apparently, because you two kept talking about Kim Chun-baek and RunAwayWithSeonjae. How much did you even say about me? How much crap did you talk? But I didn’t say any of it aloud. I stood up and brushed off my clothes. I looked at Seon-jae. “Hey, why didn’t you listen to me?” “What are you talking about?” I bit my lip. Don’t take sleeping pills. Never mix them with cold medicine. But if I brought up the letters I left in his desk, things would get weird. The day he lashed out over the letters—that’s when the time travel ended. And in the future, nothing had changed. That meant that day... ended only in frustration. Buried in time. Forgotten. Just like me. Now that I was back in the past, I was determined— This time, I wouldn’t let myself be forgotten. “I need the gym top. Let’s meet tomorrow at McDonald’s at six.” Seon-jae stared at me in silence. In-hyeok looked between us. “I’m not selling it,” Seon-jae said. In-hyeok looked back at me. He raised one finger. “Ten thousand won?” “Not selling.” He raised a second finger. “Twenty thousand?” Seon-jae scowled. I added a third finger. In-hyeok shot his hand up. “Okay, I’ll sell it!” Seon-jae glared at him. “If she wants it that badly, she has to buy it. Right? Winter uniform?” “Yeah.” “Then thirty thousand.” In-hyeok held up three fingers. Seon-jae threw the soccer ball at him. In-hyeok caught it with both hands. “What! I can’t resell stuff, too?” I watched the two bicker over something so dumb and slowly walked away. I glanced back. They were still tossing the ball and arguing. Images of the article announcing Seon-jae’s death, and In-hyeok’s devastated face at the funeral, flashed through my mind. Now that I’d returned to being eighteen a second time, my goal hadn’t changed. I was going to stop Ryu Seon-jae’s senseless death. I clenched my fists and stepped out of the school gate. I took the freshly spun laundry from the washing machine and headed to the balcony. I shook out Seon-jae’s gym pants and hung them up. They drooped heavily with water. I was back—but now what? I carried the basket back in and flopped on the couch. How could I just say it straight to Seon-jae? You die. At twenty-three. From a shock caused by cold medicine and sleeping pills. You took them because you couldn’t sleep. Because of the stress. Because fans hated you for joining the group. Because you thought no one liked you. How could I ever say that to someone who was still just a kid dreaming of the future? How could I tell him that achieving his dream would bring him nothing but pain? “God, this sucks.” I let out a long sigh. The only thing I could do was keep slipping letters into his desk—warnings. Once I got the gym top from In-hyeok tomorrow, I’d sneak back into Jagam High and put another letter in Seon-jae’s drawer. Even if he got mad and showed me the stack again—asking if it was supposed to be funny— Even if it went the same way again— This time, I’d succeed. No matter what. “Let’s go! I can do this!” I yelled, holding the laundry basket in one hand. On the bus, I took out my phone and checked the time. 5:40 p.m. The meeting was at 6. I had hoped to arrive early, but I’d be cutting it close. Just then, a message came from Seon-jae’s number. [I’ll take it off the gym uniform price. Buy me a burger. I want the Shanghai Spicy Chicken Burger.] It wasn’t saved under his name, but I recognized the number from our previous messages. Wait—was Seon-jae coming? Before I could react, another message arrived. [It’s me, In-hyeok. I didn’t have your number, so I used Seon-jae’s.] I started typing Okay, but then another message popped up. [Dudeㅋㅋㅋ,ㅋ the name Seon-jae saved you under is hilarious.] My eyes widened. I quickly deleted Okay and typed a new message. [What? What did he save it as?] I held back from slamming the exclamation key fifty times. [RefundMasterKimChunBaekㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ] I stared blankly at the screen, thumb hovering over the keyboard. “...That’s funny to you?” I shoved the phone back into my pocket without replying. I had my phone on the table and was scrolling through search results about time travel when someone pulled out the chair across from me and sat down. I lifted my head, which had been bowed low, and saw Baek In-hyeok in an orange hoodie under his jacket. His nose, cheeks, and ears were bright red. “Aren’t you cold?” “Freezing. Freaking cold. Insanely cold.” Baek In-hyeok took off his bag and set it beside him, cupping his ears with both hands. “You’re the one who dressed lightly.” I glanced at the door while looking at Baek In-hyeok. The door was shut like a wall. It seemed like he’d come alone. I hadn’t expected Seon-jae to come with him, but since they were always glued to each other, it felt weirdly disappointing for only one of them to show up. I pushed the tray on the table toward Baek In-hyeok. There were two burger sets on it. “Here. The thing you talked about.” “Wow! I didn’t even say it was a set. And you even got five ketchup packets! This is amazing. I always drench my burger in ketchup. How’d you know?” I just smiled without answering. Among fans, it was well-known that Baek In-hyeok was a ketchup freak. His favorite dish was rice with a fried egg on top, drowned in ketchup. When he ate hot dogs, he’d pour ketchup over half the bun. He once gave a thumbs up and said flour and ketchup were a match made in heaven, the ultimate combo. All of these moments had aired on the agency’s self-produced reality show and V Live. While eating fries, I glanced over Baek In-hyeok’s shoulder. A guy in a black padded jacket was sitting in a corner seat. The legs visible under the table wore Ja-Gam High’s gray uniform pants. I hadn’t seen him come in. One moment he wasn’t there, the next he was. His face was hidden behind the bag on the table, but the shape of his head sticking out was unmistakably Seon-jae. “Where’s Seon-jae?” “I dunno. He wasn’t in class, so I just came.” Baek In-hyeok took a big bite of his burger. “Did you bring the gym uniform?” “Oh, here.” Baek In-hyeok handed me a shopping bag. I took it and checked inside. It was the top of Ja-Gam High’s gym uniform. “Hey, but aren’t you and Seon-jae skipping gym? Is it okay to sell your uniforms like this? Now you don’t have a top, and Seon-jae doesn’t have bottoms.” “Oh, we’ve got others.” “You do?” “Yeah.” “You’ve got two sets of uniforms?” Baek In-hyeok shook his head. He slurped his cola loudly, then started to explain. “It’s a long story, but back in the first year, Seon-jae and I had our uniforms stolen. I had two sets stolen, and Seon-jae must’ve had over five stolen. We got so pissed that we wrote our names all over them—like fifty times front and back—so no one would dare steal them again. After that, no one touched them. But when we hit the second year, someone returned the stolen uniforms. What kind of thief does that?” “Oh...” I nodded faintly as I listened to Baek In-hyeok’s story. “I only got one setback, but Ryu Seon-jae got five returned.” “Damn.” The story was unexpectedly gripping. “At first, they only tried to sell the uniforms without names on secondhand sites. Then they even listed the ones with names. Those sat there for months without selling.” Wait, could the person who bought those... be me? “That was you.” So it was. “You even returned the top.” Baek In-hyeok burst out laughing mid-bite. I glared at him while he laughed with his eyes scrunched up, then pulled three ten-thousand-won bills from my wallet and handed them over. Baek In-hyeok sucked the grease off his fingers before taking only one bill. “Isn’t it thirty thousand?” He waved the burger in his hand. “I’m deducting it from the uniform price.” “You’re valuing that at twenty thousand?” “There are two sets, right?” “You bought one for me, too?” Baek In-hyeok nodded. “I got all this from Baek In-hyeok. They say you’re stingy, but I guess not.” He frowned. “Who said that? That I’m stingy?” Well, Woo Hyeon-seong said it on the radio... “...Someone.” “Was it Ryu Seon-jae?” “No. I just heard it while walking down the street.” “On the street? Someone was talking about me on the street? I’m hella famous. This cursed popularity.” Baek In-hyeok’s total confidence left me dumbfounded as I bit into a fry. “Hey, I’ve been wondering about something.” “Yeah?” “Why’d you pretend not to know me last time?” He blinked, burger still in hand. Last time... must’ve meant after I returned from time traveling. I didn’t know what had happened in between. In that time, and in this time, I’d existed—but if I couldn’t remember it, maybe I was jumping between staves of a musical score, traveling lines of time drawn in parallel, just as someone who knew about Seon-jae’s death. “...When?” “When Seon-jae went to apologize for making you cry.” Baek In-hyeok rubbed the corner of his mouth with his thumb as he looked at me. “The day the three of us ate at the pork bone soup place, you ran out, right?” “Yeah. I remember.” “You left crying. He felt bad about how he’d acted and was thinking about it for days. I told him if he felt that bad, he should go apologize.” This part, I didn’t know. I listened carefully. I swallowed hard. Sensing the story would be long, Baek In-hyeok set his burger down on the tray and wiped his hands with a napkin. “So he waited outside the school again, like last time, and grabbed your bag. But you said, ‘Who are you?’ He thought you were messing around. But then you pulled away and ran. Like, full-on ditched the bag and bolted.” I clenched my jaw shut. Running off after slipping my arms out of the bag straps? The image of myself sprinting away made my vision go dark. What on earth had they thought, standing there holding my abandoned bag? “Seon-jae’s a hella fast runner. When you ditched the bag, he chased after you with it. Of course, I didn’t run.” Baek In-hyeok grinned as he talked. I stared at him blankly, unimpressed, and he quickly continued. “You screamed and yelled ‘Stalker!’ Said you’d report him if he followed you again. Seon-jae was totally stunned. I was the one who told him to apologize and ended up caught in the middle.” “...Oh my god.” “You seriously don’t remember. Are you secretly a twin?” “Ah, no... I’m just really forgetful.” “There’s a limit to forgetting things.” Baek In-hyeok bit into his burger again. “I thought you were pretending ‘cause Seon-jae dumped you.” “Dumped? I never confessed.” “Wasn’t that confession on the field? You literally yell, ‘I fucking love Ryu Seon-jae.’” “...It wasn’t.” That had been when I thought it was a dream. I’d said whatever I wanted, no filter. My face burned. Baek In-hyeok popped a fry in his mouth with a goofy smile. While sipping my cola through a straw, I looked at the head peeking out from the corner. The static made his hair stick up like antennas. They looked like they were transmitting signals. Beep beep—this is Ryu Seon-jae. I’m eavesdropping on your conversation. “Did Seon-jae wear a padded jacket to school today?” “Yeah. Wait, what, did you see him at school again today?” I shook my head. That head sticking out—it was exactly the look of someone hiding. Since I hadn’t seen Seon-jae come in after Baek In-hyeok arrived, he must’ve come in beforehand. Maybe he was spying, worried I’d say something weird to In-hyeok. I leaned in, lowered my voice, and said: “Hey, Baek In-hyeok.” “Yeah?” “If someday..Youou and Seon-jae don’t end up debuting together, cry. A lot.” “What? What are you even talking about?” I glanced at the head hiding in the corner, then leaned in closer. “If Seon-jae doesn’t make the debut lineup but you do, cause a fuss. Demand that you debut together. Write in blood. Hold a solo protest.” “Blood? Are you nuts? You want me to cut my hand?” Baek In-hyeok was about to pop a ketchup-soaked fry into his mouth, but paused. “Anyway. Just promise you’ll start together.” I raised my fist like I was cheering him on. Baek In-hyeok scrunched up his face like he didn’t get it. When I glanced back toward the corner, Seon-jae quickly ducked behind his bag. Like a mole hiding before the hammer came down. I stopped eating my burger and went to the counter to order a bulgogi burger and a milkshake. When I returned, Baek In-hyeok’s eyes went wide. “You’re eating more?” I jerked my chin toward the back. He tilted his head in confusion and turned. The head had disappeared behind the bag. Baek In-hyeok’s brows furrowed. “That bag looks familiar.” “That head looks familiar to me.” Baek In-hyeok got up, walked to the corner table, and lifted the bag. Seon-jae was curled up beneath it. “Yo, Ryu Seon-jae. Skipped class to hang out here?” Seon-jae raised his head naturally and rested his chin on his hand. “Came to eat fries.” Both of us stared at him like he was nuts. “Where are the fries?” “Didn’t come out yet.” “Yo, you seriously came here to spy on me meeting your fan? Scared I’d run off with her?” Baek In-hyeok burst out laughing and playfully smacked Seon-jae on the shoulder. “Shut up. I said I came for fries.” Seon-jae waved him off with a blank face, like telling him to stop talking nonsense. We locked eyes for a split second. His expression was full of displeasure. I was probably the reason. “Hey, let’s switch tables.” Baek In-hyeok grabbed his tray and bag and moved over to Seon-jae’s table. “Oh, come on.” Seon-jae looked up, annoyed. Baek In-hyeok grinned. “It’s weird if we sit at separate tables.” Seated beside Seon-jae, Baek In-hyeok waved at me as I sat alone. I didn’t know whether I should go or stay. Either way, it was awkward. Just then, my burger and milkshake came out. I brought the tray over and sat across from Baek In-hyeok. “Here. Your fan is treating you.” He slid the tray to Seon-jae. “I didn’t say I’d eat it.” “Come on. I ordered it for you so no one would run off with you. You probably skipped dinner anyway.” Instead of Seon-jae, Baek In-hyeok stuck a straw into the milkshake and tilted his head. “Hey, but how’d you know?” He looked at me. I paused mid-fry. “Know what?” “That this is Ryu Seon-jae’s McDonald’s set. Bulgogi burger, milkshake, fries.” Wikipedia, V Live, your radio shows—I couldn’t say any of that. I went silent. Baek In-hyeok looked impressed. Seon-jae looked confused. “My dad eats like this, too. Our family only eats bulgogi burgers. My mom even asked us to put a bulgogi burger and milkshake on the ritual table for ancestral rites.” Baek In-hyeok shut up as soon as my parents and rites were mentioned. “So Seon-jae likes this, too, uh?” I laughed awkwardly. Seon-jae was resting his chin on his hand, watching me. “I’m full.” I wiped the grease from my hands and grabbed my bag and shopping bag. If I stayed longer, who knew what else I’d hear. “E-enjoy your meal. I’m heading out.” I rushed out of the McDonald’s. I had a feeling this second time travel wasn’t going to be easy. When I looked up, the sky had already gone dark.