Until The End of Time | Wonho [√]

NOCTURNE: MUSIC INSPIRED BY THE MELANCHOLY OF THE NIGHT

October 31. The evening had let her blue gown fall. Hyungwon and I sat with our meals almost untouched. It was a takeaway rice cake. Clearly, neither of us had any appetite. The clock was ticking away, and by Hyungwon's ashen pallor I could sense him timing the inevitable doom coming in. For him it would be the 7th time watching Wonho die.

For me, the first and last time— chance.

"Do you know when I first used the watch, the person I went to was dad," Hyungwon said, breaking the silence.

"Alex?" I asked, bewildered.

He gave a small nod. "I was sure that together we could do something; at least come up with something. But he was more interested in his future research than anything. I guess people are not always the same."

"None of this had happened to him then, it's natural his younger self's priority was elsewhere." I wondered how much he had liked me in his other version to shift his whole goal to a completely different direction.

Hyungwon was gazing at nowhere in particular, like he often did. End of the conversation for him.

"You can't go back to where you came from, can you Hyungwon?" I stated. His eyes flickered back to mine.

When no answer came, I continued, "It was a bit surprising that one day you suddenly figured it all out. There's not even an original universe, is there? Because all of these, all the others out there are just as original. I am surprised that you're still sane after all the repeats. Tell me, are you going to do it again if Wonho dies here?"

The words came out with a bit more force than I had wanted to. Before I knew it, they were struggling to get past my throat, which felt constricted, tightening on its own.

I took a deep breath in, collecting my tousled-up pieces. "It's his life, Hyungwon." Despite the effort, my voice broke, the rice cakes before us now swimming in my bleary vision.

"And it's his choice too. No matter how unfair it is for us, we can't simply save him because this will hurt us."

"Then why?" I thought he had asked, but I was not sure if he really did.

"Because his life is meaningful and there is a lot here in this shitty world to live for, despite all its ugliness, I guess. He made me realize a lot of that. And I mean it to you too, Hyungwon." I looked up at him. "You should live your own life."

His eyes were as wide as a pair of soccer balls. I could feel him trying to come up with something, his thoughts racing a hundred meters by the second but I didn't let him.

"We should go and look for him," I said. "His number is off like always. If we look back at his attempts in the other worlds, it should be either in his house—"