episode_0147

As soon as Siwoo returned home, he locked the door.

An electronic door lock. The lock on the door. A safety chain on the door lock.

He even stacked boxes of groceries in front of it, completely blocking any way out.

“What, what are you doing?”

“You can’t leave from here.”

“Suddenly?”

“You said you wanted to live here.”

“…But then you can’t leave either?”

Siwoo sat down in front of her and stood up like a drill sergeant, chin up.

“From now on, until you tell the truth, you can’t leave this room.”

Something clicked in Chaewon’s mind, and she blurted out.

“Hey!”

“So, tell the truth. Escaping is not an option after today.”

Chaewon hesitated and glanced at the window, trying to find an escape route.

But since Siwoo’s house was on the second floor, jumping out the window would result in injury immediately.

There might be a bodyguard waiting below, but it was uncertain.

Siwoo calmly walked over and embraced Chaewon.

“You can’t escape.”

“Uh…uh….”

Chaewon’s body went limp.

As if giving up on running away, she rested her chin on Siwoo’s shoulder.

“Okay…I won’t run away.”

They stayed embraced for a while.

By the time the sound of their hearts grew louder, Chaewon quietly spoke.

“You know, Siwoo.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you believe that I am the same person as you?”

That was a story that had already ended.

Why was she bringing it up again now?

Siwoo patted Chaewon’s back and said.

“I said I believed a few months ago.”

“But still, things could be different now than they were then.”

“I still believe now.”

“Okay…that’s what I mean.”

Chaewon took a long breath.

She was finally about to reveal the truth she had been hiding.

“So, do you believe that I came from the future, three years ahead?”

But the moment Siwoo heard the truth, he felt as if time had stopped.

Or rather, his mind momentarily stopped.

“Uh….”

“I guess you still don’t believe. Let’s stop the story here.”

“No! I believe! I believe!”

“Really? Then show me the evidence that I came from the future.”

Asking someone to present evidence was quite cunning.

Min Chaewon was like an evil woman.

But the answer could be surprisingly close.

Siwoo closed his eyes and recalled Chaewon’s actions.

Her sudden actions.

Actions that didn’t need to be taken….

“Yoon Jiyu, senior.”

“….”

“That house. You didn’t need to interfere…but you deliberately did.”

“You catch on quickly.”

“You want me to guess?!”

“Yes. That’s the answer.”

Chaewon chuckled and told Siwoo another story that he hadn’t noticed.

“It turns out, she wasn’t really a villain, but she was ruthless to you three years from now. More precisely…she was a villain in the world I lived in.”

“So she approached you first to separate us?”

“Correct. And about your final exam this time. The question I pointed out came out exactly as it was on the test, right?”

“You pointed it out?”

Chaewon stepped back and playfully punched him.

It was more cute than threatening.

“I did point it out. Do you want to die?”

“No. You did point it out. Yes, that’s right.”

“Yeah. I kept emphasizing how important that question was. It must have appeared on the test exactly as I said.”

“There were some differences, but…I got about 95% of it right.”

After a brief sigh, Chaewon leaned on Siwoo’s shoulder again.

“If you still can’t believe, I can also tell you the names of the three people who will advance to the finals of next month’s Dongyeong Piano Competition.”

“Is that possible…since you came from the future?”

“Yes. If you make it to the finals, one of them will drop out.”

“But you don’t know that yet, right?”

“No. You will definitely advance. You are completely different from the past me who played the black piano.”

Filled with confidence, Chaewon’s words made Siwoo worryingly ask.

That was the conclusion drawn from the inevitable extension of fatalistic thinking.

“Drowning in water… Could it be… not just in the past?”

When she went to the pension. She had an extreme fear of drowning.

“Yeah.”

Chaewon muttered as if resigned.

“In the world I lived in. I died in an accident on my birthday three years later.”

“Drowning…?”

“Yeah. The bus I was on, crossing the Han River Bridge, collided with an oncoming truck, and flipped vertically like in a movie. I drowned in the water.”

There was no hesitation in talking about my death.

She was already accustomed to death. Perhaps she didn’t even know she was trying to forget that memory.

“And. The world I lived in and this world are eerily similar.”

“… What does that mean.”

“Yeah. You too. You could have a similar accident in three years.”

Chaewon bit her lip, suppressing her emotions.

“Have you heard of self-fulfilling prophecies?”

“If you talk about it, it comes true… Is that it?”

“Yeah. I was afraid that if I talked about something related, you might end up like that too… I was scared that you might die because of me. That’s why I couldn’t talk about it.”

It was difficult for Siwoo to understand exactly how Chaewon felt because she wasn’t Chaewon.

But if it was Chaewon who had such an accident three years later. If she had witnessed it and then returned to three years ago…

It wasn’t difficult at all to empathize with Chaewon, who was contemplating her death.

“There’s no way that would happen.”

“… How can you be so sure, idiot.”

“There’s no way. How many futures have you already changed.”

Chaewon scolded Siwoo for being overly optimistic.

“What’s going to happen will happen.”

It was a statement made by twenty-five-year-old Chaewon who had been thrown into a tragic fate.

Since every Chaewon had a tragic ending, naturally Chaewon could only envision a pessimistic future rather than an optimistic one.

“Rather than thinking optimistically and facing a shocking future, it’s better to think in the worst possible way, in a negative way.”

The girl who fluttered pink flower petals with a warm breeze like a spring wind was nowhere to be found.

The girl who was now lamenting a desperate future in front of Siwoo was completely different from the Min Chaewon he knew.

‘This… the burden that Chaewon has been hiding all this time….’

She knew that Siwoo was going to die.

She also knew that the future was not bright.

So, objectively, she had to prepare for the shock by thinking negatively……

‘But in front of me, she looks so bright……’

With a reassuring smile, cute and lovely aegyo, and an adult-like appearance that seemed to listen to everything she said, she led Siwoo.

She was an angel who appeared to protect Siwoo.

No, she pretended to be an angel even though she knew she was human.

She was a sage.

“So that’s why.”

“The reason you nursed me so well when I hurt my rib…. That’s why.”

Chaewon trembled.

“In the future you were in. I went through a hard time because of that, right? So…. You made sure I never found stability?”

Chaewon didn’t answer.

Siwoo faintly smiled.

The fact that she didn’t answer meant that it was the truth.

“And. You helped me find my color. This is also the future you changed. You helped me regain memories of my first love. How many other things have you done for me.”

There was a moist feeling on his shoulders. Siwoo closed his eyes slightly and hugged Chaewon tightly.

“You really changed the future. You’ve done well so far. Thanks to you, everything about me has changed. You’re a really amazing person. I know…!”

“Die? Who said that? I will never die. Don’t worry. Why would I die when you’re here? You’ll come and save me, right?”

A stream of hot water flowed down Shiwoo’s shoulders.

“No… It’s not about you dying… I can prevent that but…”

The voice, tainted with despair, trembled.

“If I… die… I can’t prevent that…”

Was dying not just about oneself?

Was the shadow of death also looming over Min Chaewon?

Though shocked the most today, Shiwoo remained silent.

He had always received care from Chaewon. In return, Chaewon had given him everything she had.

Occasionally, he would tease her, but that was just a small part of Chaewon’s desire. It was clear from her expression that she wanted to protect Shiwoo.

“I can’t just keep receiving care forever.”

His beloved was suffering.

She was in pain, fearing an uncertain future of death.

“It’s nothing. You look like you’re going to die.”

What words could comfort her?

…The answer lay within Shiwoo’s inner self.

She was Min Chaewon, but at the same time, she was also Shiwoo himself.

What she needed now was faith.

The belief that they could overcome whatever future came their way together.

“It’s hard alone, but together, we’re strong.”

“No. I will prevent it.”

“What?”

“I won’t let you die. I’ll do whatever it takes to stop it.”

Chaewon stuttered in surprise.

“But… how? I don’t even know how I’m going to die…”

“Let’s live together.”

Shiwoo’s energetic voice filled the room.

“I’ll always watch over you. You’ll always be in my sight. If you’re ever anxious, just hold my hand. You don’t have to play the piano…!”

Chaewon tightly grasped Shiwoo’s clothes with both hands.

After enduring the pain for a while, she groaned and said, “What nonsense is this?! Why wouldn’t you play the piano?!”

Shiwoo’s lips twitched.

She was acting so absurdly.

She didn’t react much to the word ‘death,’ but she reacted to the piano?

Could she be anyone other than Min Chaewon?

“Don’t say such things again. Got it?!”

The light returned.

Min Chaewon was back.