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"So Jungwon's not going to leave." Seona, Jungwon's mother, says as she sat across Jihee, who couldn't help but avoid making eye contact with her because of her guilt.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't take him away from this reality. He can't lose the same things I lost. It wouldn't be fair." Jihee apologized for hurting him.

They were currently in Jungwon's house, drinking coffee while sitting at the dining table. Jungwon was out with Jay to play basketball and his father; she had no idea where he was, but she could only guess he was out to run an errand. Seona wanted to talk to Jihee after hearing the final decision, and she couldn't help but be dismayed that their conclusion would have to be like this. Jihee could tell Seona wanted to try at least changing their decision, but the younger was already keen with her response. Though she didn't want to make that choice, she still thinks it's for the better.

Seona sighs. "I admit I'm relieved that he won't leave. After all, no mother would want to lose their child, but at the same time, no mother would also want to see their child hurt. You are already my child, Jihee. Before you became a stranger, I've always treated you like my own. I don't want you to suffer another hundred years because you failed in love."

The younger bit her lip; tears were threatening from her eyes. "Don't make my leave any harder than it is. I've endured a lot for the past hundred years, sure, the next may be more painful, but I'll manage."

The fact that she was so used to being sad made Seona even more upset than she already was. "What are you planning to do then? You can't leave for two more months." She asked as to shift the topic into something lighter.

"I'll probably stop school after a month, and I'm getting tired of pretending to be a student, plus the students there aren't very nice." She replies, which causes a chuckle to escape the older's lips. "For the last month, I don't know."

"Don't think much about it. Just do what you want to do." She tells her, then coughing later on. "I want to ask about Jungwon's fate. I'm sure you've seen it."

Ah. A slight smile appeared on Jihee's face as she remembered the fate he once was destined to live. "He has a great future ahead of him, though major changes happened since I intervened." She scratched the back of her neck nervously.

Relief washed over Seona's face at the mere mention that her son had a bright future. She wasn't in anyways worried because of Jihee's intervention because she knew what Jungwon was capable of, and she was sure he was going to achieve something far greater now in the new future ahead of him.

"How about we talk about your first reality?"

Jihee nods. "I'd like that."

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"You're dropping out?" Sunoo gasped upon hearing Jihee's announcement, his eyes going back and forth between her and Jungwon. "Why?!"

"I have to leave in a month, so there's really no point staying here anymore," Jihee tells him, her hold on Jungwon's hand tightening.

As Sunoo and her discussed her dropping out, Jungwon remained standing by her side. He still can not believe that there is only a month left for them. For the past month, all they ever did was continue with their lives as if nothing wrong would happen, as if they were actually normal for once. And how he loved it.

When she finally left for class, and he was alone with Sunoo, the older glanced at him with a concerned expression plastered all over his face. "How are you feeling about her leaving? Surely you aren't taking this very lightly." Sunoo worriedly asks him.

Jungwon could only force a smile for his friend. "I've always known she was going to leave."

Still, that doesn't change the fact that it hurts admitting it.

Jihee, who was supposedly heading to class, was now in front of Byeol in a quiet hallway.

She was heading to her classroom, but the girl had asked her if she could talk to the latter. Grabbing the chance to not go to class, Jihee gladly agreed and followed the girl. Truthfully told, she knew what Byeol had to say to her. Jungwon already informed her that the latter wanted to speak with her.

"I wanted to thank you for the medicine you sent me. My parents told me it was the only one that worked on my fever." Byeol thanked her for something she did out of guilt. "I know we're not exactly friends, acquaintances even, but thank you."

Jihee gave her a slight smile. "It's nothing. Sunghoon informed me your fever wasn't going down, so I offered some medicine that works well for me." She says concerning the medicine she induced with her magic.

"I know you're leaving, but I kind of wish we got along, but for some reason, there's something about you that angers me. I don't know what it is, though." Byeol tells her, and she immediately knows it is the anger rooting from her stolen destiny.

She couldn't blame her, though.

"You know, Byeol, the thing I like about you is that you always know what you want and what you're doing. But you hate that part of yourself. You think what you want is horrible which then makes you a bad person. Maybe that's why we can't get along; we both think we're horrible people." Jihee says.

They both needed someone like Sunghoon and Jungwon, good people who could make them feel less evil about themselves. People who could tell them when to stop and when they're wrong. They didn't need each other, people who looked at themselves as if they were far from redemption, far from being called a good person.

"I don't think you're as horrible as I am." Byeol was quick to assume that she was worse than Jihee. "I'm angry at you for no reason at all, and well, I think you're aware of what I did to Jungwon's feelings. Then I keep thinking I also did something to Sunghoon."

She spoke about the gaps in her memories that don't fit her emotions. Jihee wished he could give her memories back and make her understand what was confusing her. Still, in doing so, she would be bringing back Byeol's pain, which neither Jihee nor Sunghoon wanted.

You're mistaken. I did a lot worse than that.

"You're not a horrible person for liking attention. In fact, you're not even that bad. You never purposely did anything bad so that all the attention would remain on you, except for leading Jungwon on." She smiled at Byeol, and the latter couldn't help but do the same. "Still, you knew you were wrong, and that's enough proof you're a better person than who you once were."

Byeol chuckles. "I can't believe this is coming from someone I was never even friends with. This makes me think you're also not as horrible as my subconscious makes you seem."

"Oh, believe your subconscious. It's always right." Jihee tells her before extending her hand to Byeol. "So truce?"

Byeol extended hers as well to grab Jihee's and lightly shake it.

Little did Byeol know Jihee cast a spell.

A spell that would ensure that in the right moment, once she finds herself back in the arms of her soulmates, the memories she once forgot about Sunghoon would come back to her.

You can't live forever with gaps in your memories.

She didn't let anyone know about the little spell she made, not even Jungwon or Sunghoon. She had no idea about the outcome of her decision, but she couldn't leave knowing that there was a considerable gap in Byeol's memories.

Upon arriving at her classroom, where she was half an hour late, Sunghoon stifled a laugh as he watched her sit next to him shamelessly. "Where have you been?" He asked.

"Doing you a favor." She smiled at him. "Or possibly ruining your future, but hey, I got to give you a parting gift, right?"

At first, he was confused but chose not to ask more of it, already figuring out that she would never give him a proper answer. "I can't believe you're leaving. What are you planning to do now?"

She places the weight of her head on her palm, turning her gaze towards him before giving him a reply. "Go with the flow, I supposed. I already made sure Kyungho wouldn't mess with you, and as for Inseong, I have a little gift incoming for her. So you have nothing to worry about."

"That doesn't sound very good." The side of his lip raised as his gaze remained fixated on hers instead of the teacher. "But I've known you way too long to figure out never to question your actions. So I'll trust you on this one. Have a great last month, Jihee. I'll miss you."

With that, both parted ways, and Sunghoon was glad that he had kept his feelings at bay. She never truly felt like the right person for him, but still, his heart managed to beat for her.

And just maybe, his feelings were the only thing Jihee didn't know about this reality.

"You said goodbye to everyone already?" Jungwon asked as they both made their way to the school's gates. Jihee looked back at the school before taking another step forward, memorizing every detail of where she spent most of her ten months. Then she returned her gaze to his face, forcing a smile on her face that he was sure to see through. "I'm sure you'll be fine now. At least you don't have to force yourself to attend classes."

"It's not the classes I'm going to miss." She pouts, shoving her hands into the pocket of the jacket she was wearing. "I'm going to miss everyone and spending the mornings and evenings with you. What am I even going to do in my last month?"

"Spend more time with me until you've had enough?" He jokingly suggests, causing the side of her lip to raise.

Then an idea appeared in her head.

"I just had an idea!" Her eyes shone brightly while a vast grin crawled to her face, and soon enough, she was running.

"H-Hey, wait!" He hollered as he watched her run towards somewhere without even looking back. "She really should be thankful I love her." Mumbling that to himself, he chased after her.

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Jungwon was busily scrolling on his phone when he heard a knock.

His eyebrow raised when the knock did not sound in any way similar to how a door sounds. Instead, it sounded like a window. He glanced to his window and stood up to pull the curtains to the side, only to see nothing but the full moon. About to turn his head and go back to his work, he jumped back when Jihee's head appeared to the side in an attempt to surprise him (which she gladly succeeded with).

"Got you!" She laughed softly. It didn't take him a while to realize that she was floating in mid-air. "Are you going to open it, or will we keep playing Peter Pan and Wendy here?"

Immediately opening the window, he extended his hand to her to guide her inside. "Yeah, this feels like a Peter Pan and Wendy moment." He comments once she is inside his room.

"We are kind of similar to them, don't you think? Fate can be Captain Hook." She winks, taking the chance to once again slander fate. "Anyways, let's get to the point why I'm here! Drink this." She threw him a vial filled with purple liquid.

He examined it first before looking at her with a disapproving expression. "I am not going to drink this! What even is this anyway?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's going to disable your protection spell for the time being. Fate gave it to me, don't worry. She doesn't want you dead, plus that didn't come for free. I had to pay quite the price." His gaze quickly traveled to her, and judging by his face; she could tell he wondered what price she had to pay. "It's nothing I can't pay, really, don't worry yourself too much, and just trust me on this one."

"Fine, but whatever you have in plan better be worth it." He said, removing the vial's cap.

There was no smell, but the color was rather distasteful, so he had to close his eyes before drinking the liquid in one go. Soon enough, his stomach began to churn, and there was a burning sensation all over his body. Jihee held his back as support for a few seconds before he suddenly felt this odd sense of relief.

"Was it bad?" Jihee worriedly asks Jungwon.

"Yeah, but it's gone." He said, standing up straight with her help.

Convinced that he was fine now, an excited expression washed her face. "Great! We can go now, then!" She tells him and grabs his hand.

"Can't I change first? I'm in my pajamas." He chuckles, pointing to his attire and comparing it to her travel clothes. She snapped her hand, and immediately he was wearing clothes much similar to her. "Problem solved, I guess. Carry on, madam."

She smiled. "Take a deep breath. This is going to make you nauseous."

"What do you--"

Before he could finish his question, he felt as if everything around him began to spin. His body felt compressed, and an overwhelming force was thrusting itself on his head. The only good thing he could feel during that excruciating second was her hand, which was interlocked with his. Shortly after, he was back to his feet, and he almost fell to the hard pavement because of the sudden shift.

He grabbed his head, drawing circles on his temple. "This hurts more than drinking that vial." He said, opening his eyes as she helped him stand up. "Where are we?" He asked, looking around only to see that they were no longer in his room but in a narrow alley. "Wait a minute, did we teleport?"

She nods. "I asked fate to give my teleportation back, again not for free. And we're in Rome! Our first destination for the day!" She pulls him out of the narrow alley to show him the fantastic architecture of the country.

He looked around, and unlike back home, it was no longer deep in the night, and the sky shone ever so brightly. People were walking around, enjoying the tourist spot the place had to offer. It was his first time being so far from home or traveling without bringing anything but his phone in his pocket. She glanced at him, tugging on his hand as though she told him to start walking.

"So is this what we're going to do all night? See the whole world?" He asked, walking next to her, and she proudly answered with a nod.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the Colosseum. It was a lot bigger than the picture his parents sent to him when they went there.

"Do you want to take a closer look?" She asked, and he didn't even need to think twice before he answered with a yes. Grabbing his hand, they floated up in the sky where they would be able to see the entirety of the Colosseum. "We're invisible, but I think you already know that."

Floating felt much more manageable than teleporting, but he was somewhat lightheaded given his first time being up in the sky. Still, he took the chance to take in the view. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he snapped a picture of the scenery, then Jihee, who was busy looking elsewhere and unaware that he had taken a photo of her.

A smile crept to his lips when he saw how beautiful she was even from up above.

"I have seen in another reality the creation of this Colosseum. You'd be surprised to see the accuracy and inaccuracy of the history we learn in school." She tells him.

"I guess that's a given, and no one really knows what happened in the past or to the records made." He responds. "At least we have this colosseum to remember it by."

She gazed at him, ever so endearing. "Off to the next destination then? We had our history lesson now." She dusts her hand, preparing for another spell. "You think you can handle teleporting again?"

"It's not like I have a choice, do I?" He said, slightly raising the side of his lips.

"Yeah, you don't have a choice." She grabs his hand once more. "Take a deep breath."

Learning his lesson, he took a deep breath before he felt that familiar overwhelming force that seemed a lot more bearable than the first time. He wasn't sure if it was because he took a deep breath or was starting to get used to it. Either way, he didn't fall to the ground once they reached their second destination.

"Where are we this time?" He looked around, but they weren't in a narrow alley this time. They were surrounded by trees this time, and it was deep in the night, which meant they were no longer on the other side of the world. Another thing worth mentioning is that it was snowing in that place, hence the sudden cold temperature.

"Japan." Her answer was brief. "But I think I brought us to a forest. That's my bad." She was about to grab his hand to teleport them again, but he backed away, still recovering from the last one. "You really won't survive as a stranger." She laughed before shoving her hand into her pocket and throwing him a pack of mint.

"You never said teleporting felt so uncomfortable." He glared at her and, shortly after, put a mint on his mouth, which immensely helped with the discomfort his whole body was currently facing.

"So you assumed shifting your body to another place is a breeze?" She slightly smirks, shoving both her hands in the pockets of her jacket. "Plus, I never would've thought the day where I could take you teleporting with me would actually come." She shrugged, which she did have a point.

Once he was feeling alright, he was going to tell her they could teleport now, but she began to walk. He had no choice but to follow her, given that he had no idea where he was, not to mention she seemed to know where they were heading. It took many steps and multiple questions about where they were going before reaching their destination. The road and trees were filled with snow, and with the help of the moon, it illuminated the whole place until the light from Jihee's hands was no longer helpful.

She looked up and closed her eyes, and Jihee placed her hands on her chest as a bright light appeared from the small gaps between her fingers.

The scene felt too familiar.

Everything started to move in reverse, similar to when she fixed Ren's reality. The snow began to melt as it returned to fall, summer, then spring, where the white beauty that covered the towering trees turned into a beautiful shade of pink. Once engulfed by darkness with only the moon to serve as a light, the sky was painted orange, signifying the sunset.

Cherry blossoms. Jihee turned back time to see it with Jungwon.

"Five minutes before everything goes back to how it is." She looked at him with a proud smile plastered on her face.

Her head was soon filled with pink petals, and he couldn't help but chuckle as he one by one removed it. As she looked up at him, he was caught by surprise upon realizing her eyes had become watery.

"I love you."

Those words were enough to cause a tear to fall from her right eye. Caressing her cheek, he wiped it with his thumb, then gave her lips a peck which brought a soft laugh to the stranger as it was random and entirely unexpected.

"Sorry, the moment got to me. I've never been under the cherry blossoms with the person I love." She tells him, wiping both her eyes while she puts a smile on her face. For the rest of the three minutes they had left, she was in his arms, their heads both thinking of something. But he did take a picture of her running around when the time was almost over.

Once the five minutes were over, time began to run to its original pace, returning to the timeline where it originally was. Following that moment, they both had decided to teleport once again until they arrived at their next destination.

He thought after three more trips, and they would be done. Still, he was astounded at her capability of bringing them to twelve destinations. Who would've thought he would see the wonders of the world in one night? His phone gallery was filled with pictures that he couldn't wait to show to his parents when he returned.

She made him pick the final destination, and really, there was one place that he wanted to go to when his parents had sent him a picture.

"Cape Town. This seems like a perfect ending to our trip." She smiled, sitting on the ground. "How did you know about this place?"

"This was the first place my parents went to before they began their trip, and I don't know. It just stuck to me." Jungwon explained, sitting next to her in the sand with only the sound of the waters going back and forth filling their ears.

He searched for it on his phone and showed the picture to her. "Let me fix the time then to see the place as it is in the picture." She said and turned back time as if it was a piece of cake for her.

Jihee had been using so much of her powers for the rest of their trip, and she showed not even an ounce of fatigue, which worried him, but he kept his silence since it was his first time watching her do it. He looked back to the sky, and Jihee made it with the exact colors in the picture. She indeed was a woman of her words.

"How long is this going to last?"

"Depends on how long I can keep it up, probably for a while. I'm not yet tired, after all." She replies, closing her eyes. "Did you have fun today?"

"I got to see so much of the world in the span of hours with you. Why wouldn't I have fun?" He chuckles, enjoying the view laid out to him. "How about you?"

"Well, if you had allowed me to travel back into time when the Parthenon was in its best shape, then this would've been the best day ever." She joked, remembering their trip to Greece when he had to hold her back before she traveled a hundred years ago.

He laughed. "I was worried that you'd like that timeline so much, you'd spend your remaining days there."

"Fair point. I would've changed your history." She shrugs, stretching both her arms and then placing her head on his shoulder.

There was a long silence between them, and he was almost closed to being convinced that she was asleep, given that her breathing became soft. Still, her next question was the one he least expected she would bring up.

"Do you want your memories of me to be erased when I leave?" She asked.

He glanced in her direction, but her gaze remained fixated on the waves. "That's an absurd question. Of course, I want to keep my memories of you. You once said it yourself, and you can only mess with the memories but never with the emotions. How do you think I'd manage missing someone I don't even remember?"

"The price I had to pay..." She trailed off, removing her head from his shoulder and turning her gaze in his direction to meet his eyes. "... will make you want not to remember me."

"Jihee, nothing will ever make me not want to remember you." He says, looking straight at her golden eyes.

"Even if I tell you I'm leaving in a few hours?"

The world stopped at that very moment. Jungwon couldn't move and breathe. His throat began to dry, and all he could think about was that maybe he had misheard her. He wanted to convince himself that it was a mistake on his end and that whatever had come out of her mouth wasn't the truth.

"W-What are you--"

She looked away from him, after. She could not stare at his eyes any longer as she further explained how she got to that conclusion. "I went to fate asking her if I could have my teleportation back and a spell that could disable your protection spell for the time being. Of course, nothing would come for free with her, so I offered to dust the library of realities or, I don't know, fix a reality for her, but she made a great point about something."

"This reality is my punishment. I didn't find this reality by chance. Everything was set up by fate as a means to punish me for ruining so many lives in realities without feeling an ounce of guilt. And what better punishment can a stranger receive other than making them feel at home in a place they could never have?" Her golden eyes began to glisten, meaning tears were once again threatening to fall from her eyes. "Fate offered short-lived happiness, and I cut my time here short in exchange. I wasn't going to take it at first, but I realized that I didn't deserve happiness yet, and she was right. Fate took my teleportation for a reason."

"You know that's wrong." He refutes, but she shakes her head.

"I will deserve happiness soon but not now." She bit her lip, looking down as the tears she fought hard to keep all slipped out from her eyes. And the relaxed attitude that she had been holding since earlier dissipated in a second. "This is my final punishment, to live with the fact that I could've had everything."

"You didn't have to cut your time short. I'd trade this day for a whole month, Jihee! I-I'm not ready yet, not yet." He was almost pleading to her, holding her hand as if that would change that she was to leave in a few more hours.

She continued to shake her head, stopping herself from taking her decision back. "Nine months was more than enough. Any longer, and I would've begged you to turn your back on your humanity and join me."

"I'm not ready to lose you."

"Will we ever be?"

She didn't like it when Sunghoon had asked her to erase Byeol's memories of him, but now she was doing the same thing, offering him the chance not to remember him. Perhaps it's easier for only one to live on with the memories and save the other from having to live on with the memory that would only hurt them.

"You can wake up Jungwon as if everything was just a dream, and I never existed. You can pretend that the emotions you were feeling were all a dream. I'm giving you that chance." She tells him, but his answer is more apparent than ever.

"No, I don't want to forget the best part of my life." He replied to her question.

Out of her hand was a glow that incredibly made him anxious, but the only thing that appeared was the familiar candle that was once in his house. The candle that used to be tall was now close to nothing, and it was ready to die anytime. Its death would mean her leaving, and all he wanted to do at that very moment was choose his stranger side, turn his back on everything, and join her. She was right at the part where he would never be ready to lose her.

He looked at her, memorizing every detail as if it was the last time she'd ever sit close to him. The last time he would be able to hold the love of his life before she returned to the library of realities where she belonged.

"I guess I was wrong at the part I have a few more hours. Maybe an hour or less is all I have left." She forced a smile upon realizing the little time she had left.

Making the candle disappear, he grabbed her wrist where the bracelet was, and he pulled his sleeve up to show his. As the crystals touched each other, a bright light appeared from it, which surprised Jihee as she never knew it would do that.

"H-How did you know it would do that?" She asked, staring at their bracelets.

"I don't know, but this bracelet of ours always reminds me of our connection. We have always been connected, Jihee, and your leaving doesn't change that. We will always have a connection, and we're both strangers, right?" He tried to smile at her in an attempt to make their goodbyes less bittersweet.

"We're one."

She says, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his neck. He could feel her tears in his neck, and his heart continued to break as he heard the sobs she kept making. In his head, he was pleading to fate that Jihee would end up in a reality where she could finally be happy, and even if it wasn't with him, he was going to be alright.

"I love you." He whispered to her ear as he stroked her hair, looking up to stop himself from crying too.

As dusk fell, another luminous glow appeared. This time Jungwon knew it was going to take her.

She was glowing. Everything about her was emitting a light blinding him, but Jungwon kept his eyes open. She let go of the hug and looked at him.

While she slowly disappeared into the light, he caught sight of her mouth moving, and although no sound came from it, he knew too well what she was saying.

"I love you."

The intensity of the bright light rose until he could no longer keep his eyes open.

When he opened his eyes, he was no longer on the beach but back in the comfort of his room. He was tucked into his bed as if everything was a bad dream.

And from there on, Jungwon cried upon remembering that she was no longer there.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

if only i could draw my imagination sometimes sigh

A lengthy chapter to make up for the late update hehe epilogue is coming up soon, don't lose hope just yet!