“Dad……?”
“Shh.”
Jurim stopped Geuru, who was calling him dad.
Geuru reflexively nodded.
Because Jurim becoming Geuru’s father was something in the distant future. It would be strange to call him dad.
“You got yourself a woman, and you got yourself a kid.”
Jurim, who had spoken sharply, pulled Geuru into an embrace and stroked her back, as if to confirm that she was really there.
Just as he felt immensely relieved by Geuru’s existence, Geuru’s heart also softened at Jurim’s presence.
Then, Chloe snatched Geuru away and picked her up.
“What kind of commotion is this in someone else’s house!”
In the moment Jurim faltered at her fierce gaze, On Ijo stepped in to block him.
Holding Geuru as though to protect her, Chloe pushed Jurim and On Ijo outside with a rough shove.
“I didn’t know you’d bring your younger brother along now too.”
“No. That wasn’t my intention……”
“All of you, get out.”
Slam!
Jurim and Ijo, pushed outside in an instant, stood blankly side by side in front of the closed door.
Ijo muttered, thumping his head against the front door.
“Jurim.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you crazy?”
“……”
“Did you know where this was and still come here?”
“I followed you, hyung. I didn’t know it was your girlfriend’s house.”
On Ijo continued, as if dumbfounded.
“I heard you got out of training camp, but what’s going on all of a sudden? Did you go see the team doctor? Should we go to a nearby emergency room?”
“What about you?”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t even answer my calls and were just chasing after some woman’s tail, weren’t you?”
“Chasing after her tail? Jurim, you sure have a way with words.”
“Well, seeing as we both got kicked out, it looks like you got dumped.”
“……”
“Is that why you didn’t tell me? Because you got dumped?”
Jurim said to the suddenly silent Ijo, as if scoffing.
“Pathetic.”
With that, Jurim leaned his back against the wall and slumped down.
On Ijo was silent, as if struck in a vital spot, then slid down to sit beside Jurim.
“……I really have nothing to say this time.”
The brothers sat side by side in front of the apartment entrance, falling silent for a moment.
When silence filled the hallway, Jurim rested his head on the shoulder of Ijo sitting beside him.
“It’s fine. We’ll talk later. I’m tired, I need to sleep.”
“Here?”
“Yeah…… Just stay like this for a bit.”
Ijo laughed as if it were absurd, but obediently offered his shoulder.
Jurim hadn’t been able to sleep a wink for two days.
His last memory was chasing after Geuru on the aircraft carrier. And wrapping himself around Geuru, being swept up together in a torrent of light.
Afterward, he realized he had traveled back in time two days ago.
The moment the familiar ceiling of the training camp was before his eyes, it was a revelation like a bolt of lightning.
The Sheier that had been on his left hand seemed to have been left behind in the future.
Only himself.
Just me?
No. That can’t be.
He had definitely reached out his arm to grab Geuru, who was submerged in the light.
Geuru exists somewhere in this past. No, she must exist.
Otherwise, it would mean nothing other than that Geuru’s very existence had been erased in this past moment.
That was why he had sought out his brother.
Wouldn’t On Ijo from the past be able to find Geuru?
Hyung, please answer quickly. There’s something I need to urgently ask you.
With this expectation, he had found On Ijo, but he hadn’t answered his calls.
So, desperate as he was to find Geuru, Jurim chased after On Ijo’s traces and ended up discovering him.
Chloe, Geuru, and his brother.
‘How did those three……?’
But his curiosity soon evaporated.
The three shopping at the mart looked like a harmonious family.
Three people like a solid family.
For some reason, he had a sharp intuition stabbing at a corner of his chest.
‘Han Geuru. Five-year-old Han Geuru…….’
Chloe Han.
Mixed blood.
The same light platinum blonde.
Similar appearance.
S-grade crafting.
‘She looks too much like them.’
Geuru resembled the two of them so much that she wouldn’t seem out of place as On Ijo and Chloe’s daughter.
A plausible inference swirled in his head.
‘Why didn’t I notice until now?’
His heart throbbed at the premonition that this might not be just a ridiculous imagination.
Jurim gritted his teeth.
‘Let’s take it slow.’
Just accepting that he had returned to the past was overwhelming enough for now.
‘If I run a test, I can confirm whether it’s really true.’
There was no need to jump to conclusions yet.
Moreover, having been unable to sleep for several nights, it was difficult to continue thinking normally.
Jurim crossed his arms, stopped thinking, and closed his eyes.
‘Geuru is safe.’
Geuru is safely beyond the door. Inside her domain.
That alone was enough. For now…….
“……”
Suddenly, the hard sensation touching his temple felt unfamiliar.
It was his brother’s shoulder. His brother’s shoulder that he could no longer see now.
His chest churned.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re On Ijo, right?”
“Then what do I look like?”
“……Isn’t this a dream?”
Jurim’s vague voice trailed off.
“What if everything is a dream when I wake up?”
Perhaps because of accumulated fatigue, his inner thoughts spilled out uncontrollably.
What if this entire world, where Geuru exists and On Ijo is alive, turns out to be a bubble?
“You must have been very tired.”
His brother’s voice, laced with laughter, said as if that couldn’t be true.
He felt relief.
*
Crash!
Chloe opened her eyes to the sound of something breaking again.
As she pieced together what had happened in her hazy mind, her face contorted at once.
The uninvited guests had increased.
From one to two, from two to three.
“What kind of steak first thing in the morning? This is why you get dumped.”
“On Jurim, are you going to keep saying hurtful things?”
“Yeah! Don’t say bad words.”
“See here. No bad words in front of the baby. Friend, let me help you with the mixer.”
“Uncle? What do you mean, uncle. I’m your uncle. And it’s not friend, it’s Geuru.”
“Mhm. Uncle, hold this for me.”
“Yes, little princess.”
Whirrr-
Ijo, who had been running the mixer, crossed his arms and tilted his head.
“But why did my younger brother suddenly lose his mind?”
“Are you suddenly picking a fight?”
“He usually didn’t even think about leaving the training camp. Why did he suddenly come looking for me? Don’t tell me you’re monitoring me?”
“There’s a reason for that.”
“What was it you wanted to ask me?”
“That’s settled now.”
While Ijo tilted his head as if puzzled, Chloe sighed at the sight of them and lifted her head upward.
Had there ever been such a noisy morning since she turned twenty?
And why did the child keep opening the door?
Did those guys stay up outside again?
She felt dizzy.
‘Ugh……’
When Chloe lowered her head, Geuru and Ijo were each holding out a cup and a plate.
“Banana shake!”
“Steak!”
Both had solemn faces, as if trying to be chosen by Chloe.
Chloe took the banana shake and began gulping it down.
“Yay!”
“I thought I’d get dumped again.”
Geuru shook her fist in triumph, and Jurim scoffed.
“You should eat a solid breakfast. Try some of this.”
The unchosen Ijo whimpered.
“What kind of steak first thing in the morning? Just looking at it makes me feel like I’ll throw up.”
At her cold words, On Ijo’s shoulders slumped and his eyebrows sank gloomily.
Chloe brushed her hair back as if annoyed and added,
“I don’t usually eat breakfast. I have trouble digesting.”
At this, Ijo’s eyes sparkled.
“Then I’ll prepare something easy to digest for tomorrow.”
Tomorrow? Chloe was about to subtly tell him to stop his antics, but Geuru cut in.
“Banana juice!”
“Great. Then let’s make banana juice together with Uncle tomorrow.”
“Yay!”
“Don’t get so attached…….”
Why do they get along so well?