Chapter 4 -Part 1

“So, what is this? It’s called Daedong Law enforcement. This can be solved if you understand the tax system of Joseon. Can you point out the keywords here?”

..I’m going crazy. This is no different than coming back to high school as a sophomore.

Class, break time, class, break time.

The classes continue one after another. I was stuck in the timetable.

And I have been spending my whole time in this cycle.

Every minute and every second.

As I frustratedly grabbed and pulled on my bangs, I felt a gaze directed towards me. I turned to look at Eun-hee looking at me with a strange expression on her face.

“What’s wrong with you? You have been acting strange since yesterday.” Eun-hee came closer to me and whispered.

It’s weird for you too, right? It feels strange to me too.

I quickly let go of my bangs and sat close to Eun-hee.

“Hey, I want to tell you something. What happened is that.. I woke up in the middle of the night and I found out that I’m six years back in time. This has to be a dream.. but I can’t wake up from it. What am I supposed to do?”

Eun-hee blinked, her eyes wide open, soft pink lips spread apart.

“Time leap?” she spoke in a low voice.

“Time leap? What’s that?”

Eun-hee wrote in a few fluent strokes on the empty space of my textbook.

“It’s just what it sounds like. Jumping through time. Same as time travel.”

As soon as Eun-hee finished talking, a chalk came flying and fell on her desk.

When I raised my head, the history teacher was looking at us with glaring eyes. Eun-hee coughed in vain and immediately looked into the textbook.

“Let’s not talk now.”

“Yes..”

I bowed my head and glanced over the scribbled letters in the textbook.historical

Time.. Leap

....

In the 8th period, the supplementary class was replaced with self-study time. During that time, I searched the time leap on the portal site. Related search terms such as time travel, time slip, and time machine showed up. I read the articles one by one patiently.

Time travel is an act of moving away from the normal flow of time to the past or the future.

1) Time slip is when a person or a group goes against or out of time for unknown reasons and falls in the past or in the future.

2)A time machine is a fantasy machine that enables time travel to the past or the future.

“What does this mean?”

I turned my phone over and put it on my desk, with my arms together and lying down. And I tried to recall the memories of the night of December 31st. I drank the hot soju, although it was not strong, I felt a bit tipsy, and I cried at the thought of Seon-jae. I kept listening to his songs.

That’s it.

As soon as New Year started, I returned to six years ago. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t think of it as a dream. It was just a very normal routine. Except for the fact, I know what’s going to happen in the next six years.

Boom, Boom

I hit my forehead on the desk in frustration.

Eun-hee grabbed me by my shoulders and stopped me.

“Why are you hitting your head? What happened?”

“Time Leap, I think that really happened.”

“Huh?”

Eun-hee looked at me for a few good seconds before bursting into laughter.

She kept laughing while I was being serious.

I said with a serene gaze, “No, really. I’m not kidding. I thought I was drunk and asleep, but I don’t think this is a dream.”

“Sol, what do you mean by drunk..?” the smile disappeared from Eun-hee’s face.

“I’m not a child. I’m 23.. no, because it just turned New Year, I’m 24. I’m a college student. I’m a terrible college student who hasn’t got a job yet and is a fan of an idol group, but a college student is still a college student.”

“So, Im-Sol, you’re from the future?”

I nodded vigorously.

“Did you travel back in time?”

I shook my head vigorously this time.

“I was crying for my favourite idol who died, covered in a blanket. Suddenly the blanket glowed brightly, full of light, and when I opened my eyes, I was here.”

Eun-hee looked at me with a worried face and patted my shoulder. I thought she was being sympathetic, thinking I had lost my screws, so I lifted my head off the desk.

This was not enough for her to believe me.

I put my hands up to cover my face and even avoid her gaze.

Why is it like this?

With a slight sigh, I rubbed my forehead and looked down at the desk. There was a scribble that said, “Im Sol?” written in large size with a marker.

It was Hyun-Joo’s graffiti.

Hyun-joo was my best friend whom I met in middle school. We both went to the same high school. Hyun-joo was the only friend I could hang out with, but as his dad moved to the province after getting promoted, he had to move to another school after appearing for the mock exam in September of our second year. If Hyun-joo were here, would he have believed me?

Six years ago, at this time of year, I was very depressed. There was a time when I was kicked out after being hit on the head several times with a ladle by mom for refusing to give up school and take the qualification exam. When I had to explain why I couldn’t study, I used to make excuses because my mom used to hit my head with a ladle.

My fingers traced Hyun-joo’s graffiti. It was written with a permanent marker, so no matter how much I rubbed it, it didn’t get blurred or erased. I got goosebumps when I thought, “This is really the same as my past.” Soon after, my heart beat fast.

I don’t know why, but did I really end up traveling time or something?

Only

Then..

The bell rang. I pushed the chair back and stood up with a bag hanging on the desk rack. Eun-hee, who was sitting on the street, looked up at me who suddenly stood up.

“Are you gonna study at night?”

I nodded, slinging the bag on my shoulders.

“Why would you do that? There is nothing to worry about the College Scholastic Ability Test. You can just study a day before the exam.”

I placed my chair in its place and patted Eun-hee on her shoulder.

“Eun-hee, study hard.”