[Shin Hae-won — Present]
The photo vanished into sparks.
Do-yoon's image… gone.
Hae-won felt like her chest had been carved open and left to rot in the rain. One moment ago, she was inches from him—now the timeline was consuming him like he'd never existed.
"Min-jae…" Her voice cracked as she clutched her chest. "It's happening. He's disappearing."
Min-jae knelt beside her, his brows drawn together in deep worry. "They're targeting his existence. Not just memory—but every trace of him in this reality."
Hae-won grabbed his collar, voice shaking. "Why now? Why after all this time?"
"Because you remembered," Min-jae said. "And when a memory becomes stronger than the rewrite, the system tries to delete the contradiction."
"Then I'll fight it. I don't care what they take—if he's being erased, they'll have to erase me too."
Min-jae's eyes darkened. "Don't say that. You're not dying for a man who's already given up everything for you."
She turned sharply. "He didn't give up. He was forced to."
Min-jae flinched but stood.
"The erasure started the moment you touched his memory thread. That means there's still time to reverse it—but we'll have to move fast."
Her voice steadied. "Tell me what to do."
"First, we break into the Bureau's Temporal Vault."
"The what now?"
Min-jae gave a half-smile. "Time travel's dirty little attic. Every memory, file, timestamp—locked away. If they're erasing Do-yoon, that's where the deletion key is."
"And where's this vault?"
His eyes gleamed.
"Inside the old university lab where Gwan-woo and I first broke time."
---
[Baek Do-yoon — The Fade Zone]
He could feel himself drifting.
Memories slipping through his fingers like smoke.
The café where they first met… gone.
Her laughter echoing down a bookstore aisle… flickering.
The way she whispered "idiot, I love you" in the dark after his first failed business pitch… fading.
He slammed his fist into the void. "No. Not like this."
Someone was doing this on purpose.
And the only one with that kind of power…
"Lee Gwan-woo."
From the shadows of the fade zone, the man appeared. Calm, as always. Clean suit, no emotion in his eyes.
"I warned you," Gwan-woo said. "You broke the contract. You reentered the thread."
"She called me back," Do-yoon snapped. "You can't stop that."
"I can. I am."
"You're erasing me."
"I'm restoring balance," Gwan-woo said coldly. "Every second you exist, the timeline distorts. You should be gone."
Do-yoon stepped forward. "You think this is control. It's cowardice. She deserves the truth."
"Her love for you will cost her everything."
Do-yoon's eyes hardened. "Then let her decide."
For the first time, Gwan-woo faltered.
"You're afraid she'll choose me again."
The fade zone trembled.
And in that second, Do-yoon saw it: a flicker of the memory Hae-won had fought for—her rooftop tears, his promise, the love they refused to forget.
It burned brighter than the fade.
And he held onto it like a torch.
---
[Shin Hae-won — University Basement Lab]
The air was cold and damp. The university had long since sealed the basement off after a mysterious "power incident" a few years ago.
Hae-won stood beside Min-jae at the rusted door, adrenaline rushing through her.
He held a small metallic ring that glowed blue when placed against the lock. "Stay behind me," he murmured. "If there's any interference, I'll handle it."
The door clicked.
Beyond it: a lab preserved in dust, bookshelves lined with equations, machines humming beneath plastic sheeting, and a massive server pulsing red at the center.
Min-jae's voice dropped. "That's the Vault."
Hae-won took a step forward. "Then let's crack it open."
---
Inside the Vault, glass panels glowed with timelines—millions of them. They floated like digital constellations.
Min-jae navigated through the coded threads, fingers flying over a holographic interface. "He's not completely erased yet… but someone's trying to override the root memory. If they succeed—he'll be lost to all versions of you."
"I won't let that happen." Hae-won stepped in front of the main terminal. "Show me the core."
Min-jae hesitated. "You won't just see him. You'll feel everything. His regret. His fear. His pain."
She looked at him, eyes burning.
"Then I'll feel it all."
---
[Core Memory Access: Initiated]
Everything went white again.
But this time, she saw him as a boy.
Do-yoon at age 17, clutching his mother's hand as she slipped away in a hospital bed.
Do-yoon at 20, eyes hollow as his father remarried a stranger who never looked him in the eye.
Do-yoon at 22, walking into the bookstore where Hae-won stood humming under her breath, his entire world changing with a glance.
And Do-yoon, crying in his car, deleting a message, whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please let this be enough."
Tears streamed down Hae-won's face.
Min-jae pulled her out just as her hands began to glow with the data's overload.
He caught her as she stumbled. "Did you see what you needed?"
She looked up, breath shaky. "He didn't abandon me. He saved me from himself."
"But what about now?" Min-jae asked softly. "What if saving him costs you everything?"
Hae-won looked at him… and didn't answer.
Because her heart was torn.
---
That night, as they left the lab and walked through the misty streets of Seoul, silence hung between them.
Until Min-jae broke it.
"Would you… choose differently if you could?"
She stopped walking.
He stepped closer, brushing wet strands of hair from her face.
"I mean if the past never happened. If there was no Do-yoon, no wedding, just… you and me. Would you choose me?"
Her eyes filled with unshed tears.
"I don't know yet," she whispered. "But you're the only thing that's felt real in this chaos."
Their faces were inches apart.
And for a second—
It felt like the world might let them kiss.
Might let her choose something new.
But then—
Her phone buzzed.
An unknown number. One message.
"He's alive. Not for long. -G"