Thank you everyone enjoy reading

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Sehun pulled away slightly, holding her at arm's length, though his hands still rested gently on her shoulders. Her eyes were red, her cheeks streaked with tears, and he couldn't bear to see her like this. But the questions weighed heavily on him, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

"Hairi," Sehun said softly, his voice barely above a whisper, as if afraid to shatter the fragile moment. "Why... why do you miss me? You didn't even remember me when you back then after you disappeared the first time. So, how could you...how could you still feel this way?"

Hairi blinked in confusion, her tear-filled eyes searching his face. She didn't understand what he meant. She had come here to tell him the truth, to explain everything that had happened between them. She had missed him, even if the past version of herself couldn't remember their time together. But Sehun was staring at her with a mixture of concern and disbelief as if something was deeply troubling him.

"Sehun," she began, her voice shaky but determined. "It's complicated. I-I don't know how to explain it, but when I came back to you now, I remembered everything, I... I could still feel it. All the moments we shared, all the things we went through... it didn't just vanish. It's still here, in my heart."

Sehun stared at her, his brows furrowed in confusion. "But back then you did not remember me. You didn't even remember any of it. So, how can you be so sure? How do you know it's not just... some strange feeling you're projecting onto me? Is it really me that you miss, or the memory of what we had? I confronted you the next day after you disappeared from me ...you act like you don't know me at all ...acting like when I first met "

Hairi's breath caught in her throat. She hadn't expected this. She had hoped that Sehun would understand, that he would believe in the connection they once shared. But he was questioning it, and part of her wondered if she had made a mistake by trying to rekindle something that felt so uncertain.

"I... I don't know," she whispered, tears threatening to spill over again. "I just know that when I think about it, when I think about *us*, it feels real. I can't forget what we meant to each other. I just can't."

Sehun's hand tightened on her shoulder, a mix of frustration and confusion clouding his features. He wanted to believe her, wanted to understand, but everything was tangled in a way that he couldn't untangle. Her words didn't add up.

"Then explain to me what happens?. We share everything and then you just ignored me until now and you dated JIwon after you said you wanted to avoid him. I keep messaging you," Sehun said suddenly, his voice firm.

It was not her that was her past self who just remembered the original timeline not the alternate timeline where she changed. The 18-year-old her who choice JIwon. That wasn't me . The 28-year-old me Sehun.

Hairi hesitated, her heart heavy with the weight of what she couldn't fully explain. The truth felt too fragile, too impossible to articulate in a way that would make sense. The past and the future-two versions of herself, two choices, two lives-were colliding in a way that left her feeling unmoored.

Sehun glanced aside at her, walking side by side in the dim glow of streetlights with hands stuffed deep inside his coat pockets. The silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken words. His mind raced, revisiting every moment of their conversation to find something that might eventually knit together the confusion into one thread that would unravel it.

"I just..." Hairi began, her voice wavering. She stopped, forcing him to turn and face her in the process. "I need you to understand that this version of me, standing here with you, is who I've always been. Jiwon, the choices I made back then, they don't define me anymore. I've changed, Sehun. Please believe that.

Sehun studied her for a long moment, his jaw tight. "You're saying that's not really you," he said slowly, as though testing the words out loud. "That the person who chose Jiwon was... someone else?"

Hairi nodded, tears glistening in her eyes. "She was me, but she wasn't me. She was the version of me who didn't know better, who thought she had to follow a path that wasn't truly hers. I didn't know then what I know now." Her voice broke. "I didn't know what it would feel like to lose you."

Sehun was hit by the raw emotion of her words, as if he had taken a blow and found his breath caught in his throat. Confusion still clung to the edges of his mind, identity notwithstanding, but there was no comparison to the ache in his chest while looking upon her. This woman was no stranger. She is Hairi-who laughed with him, who wept with him, who shared all those moments of vulnerability and intimacy, but here she was and real, and she had come to him, tangled timeline notwithstanding.

"Hairi," he said quietly, his voice softer now, though it carried a weight of conviction. "I don't fully understand all of this, but I do know one thing. I've never stopped caring about you. And no version of you-past, present, or future-could ever change that."

Her lips trembled, a tear slipping down her cheek as his words settled over her like a balm. She took a step closer, her gaze never leaving his. "Sehun... I'm so sorry for everything I put you through. I just-"

A finger was gently placed under her chin by Sehun and her face was tilted up to meet his eyes. "You don't have to explain it all right now," said the voice, steady yet filled with emotion. "We'll figure it out together. Just... don't disappear again, okay?" That much she did know. Nodded her to it, because for once she couldn't reply in words, but the look in her eyes said everything he needed to know. The two of them went on walking until it became less heavy and much more like that of an understanding rather quiet understanding between them. Sehun halted just outside the door to her house as if he really could not leave. And while Hairi turned to him, a hand on the doorframe, she gave him a small, tentative smile.

"Thank you," she said softly, as though that were enough to convey much. In her voice, it was easy to see an unmistakable note of gratitude for the gesture. "For what?" Sehun asked, tilting his head slightly. "For not giving up on me," she replied, voice scarcely above a whisper. Sehun inched closer until their hands brushed where hers rested on the frame. "I couldn't," he said simply and locked eyes with hers. "Even if I tried."

For a moment, the world seemed to stand still. The city sounds faded into the background, leaving just the two of them standing there in the soft glow of her porch light. And in that moment, Hairi felt something she hadn't allowed herself to feel in a long time-hope.

As Sehun turned to leave, he glanced back one last time, his expression a mix of lingering confusion and determination. "We'll talk more," he said, his voice firm but kind. "I want to understand everything, Hairi. I'll wait until you're ready to tell me."

Hairi watched him as he walked away.

-

The subsequent days could be characterized by hope and confusion as two persons engage in the dance. Hairi spent enough time with Sehun trying to make things all right between the two, despite what has happened before, where every eye contact turned into an endless smile in the middle of the storm.

However, it was a little tricky since Sehun would sometimes bury himself away with the question of why Hairi had decided to come and invade his life like this. He just knew something about this whole feeling that everything was not exactly right, but guarded as he was, he really tried not to display it. But then, because of everything, they were actually closer than before, spending days together sharing all their most treasured moments of vulnerability, which they never dared to share before.

However, everything in her life is not constant.

This late afternoon, very boring and dragged, found both Hairi and Sehun at one of their usual jaunts: their favourite café, its familiar sounds of muffled conversation mixed with the faint clink of coffee cups and the smell of sweet pastries still warm from the oven. Here was one of those rare instances wherein, somehow, outside would feel less urgent, where Hairi almost believed it would remain this way forever. Sehun sat almost in silence, engrossed in a book, but every so often his eyes sought out hers, and something in them made her heart take flight.

"You're awfully quiet today," Hairi remarked, her fingers idly tracing the rim of her coffee cup. She was watching him, studying the way his brows furrowed slightly as he read. His focus was captivating in a way she hadn't expected.

He glanced up, meeting her gaze for a split second before looking down again. There was a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I've just been thinking, that's all."

"About what?" she asked, her curiosity piqued. It was rare for Sehun to share what was on his mind, and she wasn't about to miss the chance to learn more about the thoughts that occupied his quiet moments.

He hesitated, the lines on his forehead deepening as he considered his response. "About how everything seems to be changing."

Hairi's heart skipped a beat. She had been expecting something like this. They had never really had a chance to talk about her sudden appearance in his life, the way she had come back with the memories of their past and the confusion that came with it. She wasn't sure how to explain it without sounding insane, but she knew she couldn't keep avoiding the truth forever.

"Sehun..." she began softly, her voice laced with both vulnerability and resolve, "There's something I haven't told you. Something that's been... really hard for me to understand, let alone explain."

I think I really need to explain to him she whispered to herself.

His gaze softened, sensing the weight in her words. He put his book down and leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on hers. "What is it, Hairi?"

She swallowed, her heart pounding in her chest. "I'm not sure how to say this, but... I'm not from here. Not in the way you think, anyway. I-" she faltered, unsure how to proceed. Her past self couldn't remember any of this, and the thought of Sehun hearing about her time traveling felt like another leap of faith she wasn't sure she was ready to make.

Before she could continue, a sudden vibration from her pocket interrupted the fragile moment between them. The familiar, eerie hum that she had felt before-the same one that had led her back to the past in the first place. She froze, her heart racing as she pulled the phone from her bag, already dreading what was to come.

Sehun noticed her reaction immediately, his expression shifting from curiosity to concern. "Hairi, what's wrong?"

Hairi looked down at the screen. The words notification flashed across her phone, but the number was unfamiliar. A chill ran down her spine as she instinctively knew what it meant. The phone was calling again. It was pulling her back to the past.

Her hand trembled as she held the phone, her mind racing. She had been trying to find a way to stay in the present-to make sense of the strange time jumps that were wreaking havoc on her life. And now, it seemed, she had no choice but to face whatever the phone was calling her to do.

"What's happening?" Sehun asked, his voice tinged with worry. He reached out to touch her arm, as if grounding her in the moment. But Hairi barely registered his presence. The only thing she could focus on was the pull of the phone, the pull of the future-and the inescapable reality that she had to answer it.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice barely audible. Her fingers hovered over the screen, but she couldn't bring herself to answer just yet. If she accepted the call, everything would change. Again. And she wasn't sure she could handle it.

"Hairi?" Sehun's voice broke through her thoughts, more insistent this time. "What's going on? "

But before she could respond, the phone rang, louder this time, as if demanding her attention. It was too much. The weight of everything-the confusion, the fear, the uncertainty-was starting to crush her.

"I have to go," Hairi said, her voice cracking. She looked at Sehun with a look of desperation. "I... I need to answer it."

Sehun looked at her, his confusion deepening, but he didn't say anything more. He just nodded, his eyes never leaving her as she slowly brought the phone to her ear. She pressed the button, closing her eyes as if bracing for the inevitable.

And then, it was as if the world tilted.

The phone's connection buzzed for a moment, a strange, distorted noise that sounded like static mixed with whispers. Hairi's head spun, her body feeling weightless as the familiar tug of time enveloped her once more. She heard a voice on the other end, muffled and distant.

"Hairi," it said, its tone both familiar and foreign. "It's time to return."

Before she could protest, the world around her blurred into nothingness. Her senses seemed to scatter as she was pulled away from the present-pulled back into the past, where everything felt so much more fragile, so much more uncertain.

Sehun's voice calling her name faded into the distance, his words slipping away like sand through her fingers.

---

When Hairi opened her eyes again, she was no longer sitting in the cozy café with Sehun. The warmth of the café, the familiar clink of cups, and the soft murmur of voices were gone. Instead, she found herself standing in the middle of her old room, surrounded by the faint scent of perfume and old books. It was her past-her original timeline.

She gasped, her heart racing. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks.

I'm back to the past again

Her hand instinctively reached for her phone, her fingers trembling as she checked the screen. No new messages. No updates. She wasn't in the present anymore; she was back in the past, where nothing had changed-where it was a few days after she disappeared from the cafe with Sehun.

But it's different now, she thought, her breath shallow. I know what happens. I know what I can do.

A wave of panic surged within her chest, but she forced herself to breathe, to calm down. She had been here before, but not like this. She had to find Sehun again, had to make him understand, before it's too late.

But how?

Hairi clenched her phone tightly in her hand, her eyes searching the room, as if the walls themselves might hold the answer.

The future seemed so far away now, and the past, once so familiar, felt like a distant memory.

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