Chapter Text
One drop... Two drops... Three drops...
The rain was falling outside but I couldn't breathe anymore, the anxious feeling inside my chest was too much for me to stay in our small tent. Truth be told, I didn't want to come, camping was the last thing on my mind after graduating, you don't get the privilege to go this far into the wild when you need to start sending work applications and figure out your life.
However, my friends made time and kept insisting that this trip was needed, that I needed to leave the city and breathe some fresh air to get my mind off everything.
It did work... For like most of the day, but once the night hit and everyone fell asleep I couldn't deal with it, usually, I can't sleep unless I tire my mind to the fullest, so being in a place at night where I have nothing on me to keep my mind busy, no phone service, no wifi, nothing, the thoughts started to seep into some dangerous routes.
I close my eyes and focus on the sound of rain falling, but it did nothing but remind me of them... It's been a few months since the incident happened but it's still a fresh memory in my mind, however much I try to ignore it, It comes back. It's hard to move on from the thing that was your comfort at times like these, especially when it becomes a nightmare in your thoughts.
My phone reads 11,50 pm. The screen flashes black just as fast as I clicked and with it, I make up my mind.
I open my sleeping bag, put on my coat, and slowly open our tent being careful not to wake the others, it's not that I don't want company, but I need these few moments on my own to calm down my thoughts.
It's pouring heavily outside but I ignore the rain as it falls over my head and starts walking my way between the trees. I didn't know where I was walking but anything anywhere felt better than the suffocating tent I was staying inside.
The fresh air mixed with the scent of wet mud felt amazing, I always loved the rain, something about it has always been so calming to me, maybe its smell, maybe the way it cleans everything, maybe just the feeling of something refreshing on my skin, I'm not sure of the exact reason.
My foot suddenly slips onto a rock and I almost tumble down if I haven't grasped into the tree next to me, a sprained ankle would be the last thing I want in the middle of the woods. I stay still for a minute moving my left leg around a little to make sure it's okay but instead, my ears pick up a sound.
Rain falling on the floor versus in a watery place always sounded different to me, maybe because it sounds louder when waterfall on a liquid surface, but I always knew. Was there a lake or something close by?
My curiosity ends up winning over my cautiousness, now I have the worst sense of direction ever but somehow I made my way toward the sound without getting more lost.
I smile slightly at the sight of the small lake and I Crouch down pulling my wet hair away from my eyes and tucking it behind my ears, my right hand automatically after that reaches out toward the lake, it wasn't like I was going to swim in it or anything but I always loved the feeling of the water on my fingers.
The minute my hand touches the lake, a faint light starts to appear and I start to feel sick, the longer I look at it, the dizzier I feel. Was it something from the food? I've always had a weak stomach.
The light started to get stronger blue and my eyes flutter shut. The last thing I remember was the sight of the strong blue light right before I fall unconscious right toward the lake.
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The feeling comes back to me with a strong headache piercing through my head. I groin at the feeling, my hand flying to press on the sides of my forehead.
Now, why did I think again taking a stroll in the woods alone at night and falling into a lake would be a good idea? The others must have found me or something.
It take me over 10 minutes to get used to the pounding in my head before I could've even tried to open my eyes, and then it took me another 10 to look away from the ceiling.
The room around me was your typical guest room, but what got me a little confused was that something felt wrong, VERY wrong. For one there was no doorknob on the door? And the panel next to the door made me feel uneasy. It's high-tech security stuff, I doubt any of my friends can afford this, after all, we're just some normal fresh college graduates.
I pull my legs from the bed toward the floor and I grimace at the bunny-like slippers... But I still wear them and stride toward the door, I start studying the panel next to it, but it was more of a camera scan, the minute I saw the reflection of my face I jumped back so fast that my left foot hit a side table and I tumble down with a hiss. What's wrong with me today?
The door opens and I raise my head to look at the person, getting ready to start complaining at whichever lucky one of my friends brought us to this expensive place that we can not in a million years afford but instead a scream leaves me.
WHAT.
THE.
FUCK
?
He crouches down next to me, worry on his face but I still blink looking at his face in confusion "hey are you okay? What happened?"
I pull my hand away from him and start to slowly crawl backward
This is impossible... It's impossible...
That seems to catch him off guard before an understanding look resurfaces on his face and he nods in understanding. He sighs deeply, and his head drops. In between his crouching knees for a second.
I stare at his hands as they intertwine with each other for a second before a soft okay leaves him and he raises his hand again "why don't you come with me? I just made breakfast we can eat and then I will explain everything For you".
My eyes look in between his hand that was extended toward me and up to his face, he didn't try to approach me again but instead looked at me calmly waiting for my reaction.
My brain had totally shut down and I didn't know how was I even supposed to react, will he hurt me if I don't listen to him? Am I dreaming? Can I make it if I try for a run? But I knew I needed to stay calm and level-headed, being reckless will put me in a dangerous situation seeing that I'm not aware of what's going on.
I look away for him hoisting myself upwards without making eye contact, he grimaces in his crouching state and gets up mumbling some foreign words for me, for a minute I felt bad seeing his awkwardness but I still brushed it away no matter what this feels like a kidnapping and I won't give him what he wants.
He starts leaving the room and I look in confusion at his back, do I follow him or? Once he disappears outside, I stare dumbfounded at the door, he really did leave me here alone, I can even escape if I want, is he dumb?
I take the chance and walk as quickly as I can outside, the room opens on a hallway and I walk toward the end of it to find a small living room that opens on a kitchen, he was moving busily around it whistling a tune.
I grimace when I recognize the tune that I can sing the lyrics to in a heartbeat if I tried, however, he stops the moment he sees me gesturing toward a chair "come on, come sit" the place was photo free and it kinda made me a little restless to see that, no one heard of him after the incident, no news at all, people said he took the news so bad he locked himself in his room for days until his mother coaxed him to at least eat, but that's all we knew about him till then, and now he's humming? And cooking? And I can't get passed how he looks older, so much older........
I sit down on the table still staring at him while he put down the plates "it's not much, I usually order takeout or a friend of mine will cook for me but today is special" he gives me a smile that sends a pang in my heart... What has happened to you?
He eventually sits down next to me and gestures to the food as he starts eating but I don't look at it at all, my eyes keep following his movement, I think it got too much because after a while he sighs and lets his fork fall down to his scrambled eggs "so I guess you won't eat won't you?"
"You said you will explain if I come here" I keep my phrase to the point and he looks away for a moment.
"Okay, but promise not to freak out" my eye twitched for a second... Is he serious? I have been freaking out since the moment I woke up but for the sake of this, I still nod my head.
"It's the year 2047" my mouth opens and closes for a second... What kind of none sense is he saying? "I know it sounds crazy but it's true, will you come with me for a second?"
He gets up from the table and I follow him wordlessly toward a door at the end of the hallway opposite the room I was in, he stands in front of the panel and a green beam leaves it scanning his face "Lee chan. access granted"
Well, I haven't been dreaming... It is dino... But... How? The door opens but the moment I walk inside I stop right by the door, my hand automatically cupping my mouth to stop a sob from leaving it.
Dino watches me carefully for a minute before he comes closer to me and rubs at my shoulder "it's okay, come"
The room walls were filled with pictures, all of their pictures... Awards and albums on a cabinet by the window, a lot of scattered items thrown here and there, a guitar, some clothes, some journals, paintings, a random sogo by the floor but my eye lingered upon the tiger on the bed.
As I start stepping inside, I walk toward the pictures, and my gaze quickly stops at the biggest one, it had the 13 of them, a picture I've never seen before, everyone was smiling and laughing "we took that one on our US world tour, a few months before...you know" he trails off and I nod, sometimes I can't get myself to say it as well.
I finally tore my gaze away to realize that the other wall was full of computers and the middle of the room has this huge table full of papers and weird mechanic shapes and devices "have a seat please"
I sit on the bed and I cradle the tiger plushie in my hands still feeling emotional "after the incident, things weren't really good, it took me so long to recover, months upon months of fighting with my survivor guilt and my depression, things never felt bright, things never seemed fair, like why wasn't I on that plane as well? I should have been too you know? I should've died too in that crash, I couldn't take away that thought from my head. I fully believed it" I shake my head at him so quickly that the headache that I was fighting returned full force.
"No everyone was thankful that you were alive" he gives me a bitter smile and looks away.
"Not everyone, everyone knows that I was meant to be there if not for my leg injury, I always joked about how I hated mama but traveling to Japan for it was actually a fuckup this time" he shakes his head slowly with a sigh.
"One of those days after a bad episode I was online, and I found this interesting article about this person from Seoul university who just had his thesis about the possibility of time travel, it seemed far fetched, actually it sounded insane, pretty stupid, but I was at the Brink of insanity myself it didn't matter, did it?" He walks toward a guitar and picks it up, his pinky slowly touching the initials on its side.
"it was dumb but I still contacted the guy and we had a long talk, for the first time in months I had a sliver of hope to fix everything, he told me that it was not possible then, that it will take years upon years to work more on his theory to creates something that will take you that far"
Dino stopped talking to me as if all his confidence left him, this boy used to be so confident that my heart hurts to just see him in this state but I keep my mouth closed hearing whatever this insane story is.
"I said I will wait and I will help. So I got into university myself and into quantum physics, and I worked my ass off toward my goal. I was determined to fix it, to stop the flight from ever happening" his hands trail away from the guitar and he lets it fall down to the floor.
"Things are never that easy... I learned the hard way that changing the past has its consequences, which are far worst, more people ended up dying, and there's a guy who even bombed a hospital... And I couldn't keep up to fix everything" he swallows hard blinking his tears away "so I had to go back and let them get on that plane" the tears start falling and I don't realize that I was crying as well with him.
"That's when however I met Sara, another brilliant friend, she suggested the idea of the existence of multiple universes and how a change in one, wouldn't affect the other, we were hesitant at first and my heart was shattered beyond repair I wasn't ready for another failure BUT it still was a chance and even if there was a glimmer of hope I was up for it" my eyebrow now raise at that suggestion, this does be getting weirder with every sentence he keeps on saying.
It took more time, more years, but the three of us figured out a way, it started with only traveling to the same moment in a different universe to slowly extending it to days to months to years to centuries. And that's when we discovered that people in other universes are actually people in our too, just another version, but they are the same person with a different set of memories, if just pushed toward the right way they can recall their memories from any other universe in whatever timeline it is" dino smiles softly then clicks on something on the laptop to the corner writing stuff
"We experimented with our friend by locating him, he surprisedly was in Indonesia in 1832, if we have something of his in our present we can find his location in the other universe. It took a lot of trial and error but I gathered all the members' coordination, we realized if we can get them to remember their lives in this universe in return they will remember as well in this universe and that will make them make the decision of not going on that plane themselves, it won't be my choice and nothing would go wrong then".
My mouth opens in shock looking at him... I think the trauma has hit him so much to reach this level of insanity, I'm at a loss for words. He probably does notice my look of doubt because he gets to his knees and leans in front of me.
"Don't you get it? This is real, we have a chance of saving them, and we actually do! We can bring them back" the look of excitement and desperation in his eyes made me want to believe him but it was far fetched to be real "I can prove it you know" he walks back to his computer and pressed again a key before a projector starts and my mouth opens in shock... Is that?... That's me... That's myself????
'Hello, I suppose I am talking to Serenity right now? Or do you still like going by Rena?' She comes a little closer to the camera laughing before getting back to her position, her dark black hair in a high ponytail and her glasses low on her nose 'I am sorry I couldn't be there today, sorry channie by the way but we both know I can't, having the same person from two different timelines in the same space can and will most probably create a huge paradox which is why you probably now have this annoying headache. But knowing myself I am stubborn, so I'm leaving you this video message, to prove that everything channie told you is real and no he is not going crazy, trust me on that. You can trust yourself, right? We have worked so much on this project and you're the only person that can help us right now so please do listen to him, he will explain further what needs to be done. Please trust me and trust him' she looks for a minute to the side gathering her thoughts then looks back at the camera with a serious look on her face 'Rena I know this puts you in a rough position, things get better, I promise, you won't be alone'
The video ends and I stare at the wall behind where it was projected... That was me... Sara... Of freaking course... My grandma used to call me Sara to joke around even though I never liked that name much since I preferred Rena "Do you believe me now?" Dino gives me a nervous look and I sigh, it is an older version of myself I can somehow tell I don't need proof, I just know it's me.
"Tell me the truth, why am I here?" It is the last of my patience after all I'm done hearing stories.
"I need you to travel through time yourself and find the members and make them remember"
I HAVE TO DO WHAT NOW?