It’s ridiculous.
“······ro.”
There’s no way. Logically, no, even if it isn’t logical, it’s still ridiculous. But, still.
“······Jjaro.”
Even if her face was absolutely serious, even if her expression was filled with joy and yearning because I had finally pieced together who she was, still, even still······.
“Jjaro!”
Saeyeon’s face was right in front of me. I finally came back to my senses.
“Ah, Saeyeon. What’s up?”
Saeyeon must have noticed that my eyes were finally focused, as she relaxed her face which had been frowning worriedly because I had been ignoring her.
“Jeez, what are you thinking so hard about?”
Saeyeon sat in the empty seat in front of me while smiling brightly and lowered her body a bit as she spoke.
“You were lost in your thoughts throughout the exam. Jjaro, are you sure that you won’t get a lower grade than me this time?”
“Ah······.”
Right. It’s the midterms right now.
The teacher had already left and the other students must have gone home as the classroom was almost empty. Some kids were leaving the classroom while chatting with each other. Some kids were busily checking their answers at their desks.
“······Jjaro?”
“Ah, sorry! You were saying that we should study for tomorrow’s exams together, right?”
I answered urgently because of Saeyeon’s worried voice, but Saeyeon let out a small sigh and smiled bitterly.
“Today was the last day of the exams.”
“Ah······. Right.”
That’s right. The midterms are all over. Then at least one week had passed. One week had already passed, huh.
Saeyeon let out another sigh.
“Jjaro, did something happen? I promised, so I wasn’t going to worry, but you’ve been acting like a completely different person since last week. You would give a vague, half-hearted response whenever I asked to study together, and whenever I offered to help you prepare for the festival, you never showed up to the club room. You barely eat your food and you keep staring at nothing all day.”
She was smiling, but I could see her worry in that smile, so I managed to shake my head as I responded.
“No, it’s nothing. It’s just······.”
“Did something happen between you and Upperclassman Nabom?”
“······.”
I feel like Saeyeon’s instincts were getting sharper and sharper with each passing day. No, if I think about it, then this was a natural conclusion. I started acting like this right after she told me to go have a talk with Upperclassman Nabom. My emotions really do show up all over my face.
Saeyeon was staring right at me.
I don’t know if I should tell her. I may have to tell her about this.
I don’t know what sort of reaction Saeyeon will show, but it’s Saeyeon. Saeyeon cherishes her family and dotes on Jaim. She might get shocked, but rather than be displeased by the news, she would probably be delighted. She’s wanted to get close to Upperclassman Nabom since a long time ago, after all. I’m not sure if it was because of me, though, but that’s why.
“Ah······.”
I stroked Saeyeon’s hair and stood up.
“Let’s go home.”
That’s why, as I thought, I can’t tell her. I don’t know what will happen if I do.
Once I left the classroom first, Saeyeon soon followed after me. It seems she wasn’t going to link arms with me today. She might be showing consideration since she thinks I’m not in a good mood.
Since when did I start speculating about Saeyeon’s behaviors?
“Jjaro, aren’t you going to prepare for the festival since the midterms are over?”
Saeyeon came to my side and matched my pace before glancing up at me and asking that. Are you going to ask that even though you just asked if something happened between me and Upperclassman Nabom a second ago? Without turning my head, I confirmed Saeyeon’s innocent face with my eyes before answering her.
“The exams are over, so there’s no reason for me to go out of my way to start doing that today, right? There’s still some time left.”
The exams are over and the festival is going to be held 2 weeks later on the weekend. There are still 2 weeks left, so we aren’t pressed for time. Well, this didn’t mean we had time to relax, though. No one may be looking forward to this festival, but the life and death of my club is on the line and we have yet to decide what we’re going to exhibit. But······. I don’t know.
“And, well······. Is there really a reason why I should prepare for the festival?”
“Huh?”
A look of doubt spread across Saeyeon’s face once I said that.
“I mean, Upperclassman Nabom will have graduated next year, and I’m going to be in my third year, so I should probably focus on studying for the SAT rather than doing club activities. So I felt like it might be a good time to graduate from that club room.”
I realized something while I was saying this. If I suddenly change my attitude like this, then it would be obvious that something had happened. Sure enough, Saeyeon stopped walking once she heard me say that. I also stopped.
“······Jjaro, something really did happen, didn’t it?”
I seriously don’t learn from my mistakes, do I?
I lightly bit my tongue as a way to punish myself before forcing a smile on my face.
“Don’t be upset. I was just tossing that out there. Regardless, I do want to go home today. I don’t feel great right now, so I want to get some sleep. The exams are over as well.”
Saeyeon appeared more doubtful. I feel like it’s quite sad that I don’t have a knack for changing the topic.
But I didn’t want to go to the club room right now.
I honestly don’t know how to face her.
“Let’s go.”
Without waiting for Saeyeon’s response, I started walking again.
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“You can continue to treat me as you usually do.”
Upperclassman Nabom told me casually as if nothing had happened.
“But······.”
“I didn’t reveal my identity to you, ‘Underclassman Jin Jaro’, because I expected you to do something. I simply told you because you’re so dense and it didn’t seem like you would ever figure it out yourself.”
She said that while putting an emphasis on ‘Underclassman Jin Jaro’. Upperclassman Nabom turned her body while wiping away her tears.
Those tears that fell because she laughed so much, they weighed on my mind.
“Still······.”
“Regardless of my identity, I stick by everything I’ve said until now.”
Upperclassman Nabom cut me off sternly.
“I’m not your ally. If it’s for the sake of my goal, then I’ll lie and hide the truth without any hesitation. I will only cooperate with you within the bounds that it will also help me reach my goal. Everything I’ve told you until now still stands.
“But······.”
But, even if you tell me that······.
“Haa······. This is why it would have been easier if you figured this out on your own.”
Upperclassman Nabom roughly disheveled her hair with her hand in response to my words which I had said so weakly that they were closer to being mumbles before letting out a deep sigh. She looked up for a moment as if she were contemplating something before letting out another deep sigh.
“······All right. Then let’s do an informal talk for 10 minutes.”
Upperclassman Nabom reached out and set a timer on one of my inventions, the alarm clock that only turned off if you threw it at a wall. Clack, once she placed it down on the table, I noticed that she really did set a 10-minute timer on it.
“Now then, what do you want to do? If you have any questions, then I’ll try to answer whatever I can.”
······I recognized this way of talking.
She opened her usually half-closed, tired-looking eyes widely. Her large eyes which were normally hidden looked at me. She didn’t look expressionless, she looked as if she thought I was pitiful. It was a familiar expression which I’ve often seen.
There was a lot I wanted to say. There was also a lot that I wanted to ask. But out of all the things I wanted to say and ask, I decided to pick out the most important ones and ask them one at a time. Calmly, after relaxing.
“Uhm······. For starters, is it true, that you’re my daughter······?”
“What, I suggested an informal talk so you could talk to me casually.”
So she’s going to complain about that first.
Upperclassman Nabom complained, but she still nodded her head. With a look on her face that appeared as if she were treating me like an idiot.
“More importantly, I’ve been saying that I’m your daughter since a while ago. What have you been listening with? Or is your ability to understand that bad? It isn’t that bad, is it?”
“No······. It’s just······. Ah, maybe you’re perhaps my second······.”
“You’re going to cheat on Mom and have another daughter? You think you would do that?”
“······.”
“You aren’t that sort of person, Dad.”
That comment made me feel strangely embarrassed. But, if that’s the case, then······.
I hesitated, but I managed to talk to her in a casual tone like she wanted me to.
“······Are you really Jaim?”
“······Finally you’re being casual.”
Once I asked that, Upperclassman Nabom, no, Jaim smiled.
“A long time ago, I told you to talk to me casually since you’re older than me from my perspective, but in the end you never did.”
“······.”
So that’s what she meant when she said that back then. I remembered. A while back, when I asked her why she spoke formally with me even though she’s the upperclassman, she said that I was older than her from her perspective, so I should speak informally with her.
“I gave you so many hints, too, but you didn’t find out until the bitter end.”
I could sort of feel that she was having fun by the way she looked at me with a pitying gaze and shook her head.
“If I remember correctly, you figured it out yourself around this time when I was little and I think you made quite the impressive scene, but I ended up telling you this time because it felt like you seriously wouldn’t be able to figure it out until after I leave.”
I couldn’t give a rebuttal to those teasing words, so I rubbed the back of my neck.
“······Why did you change your name? Why did you change your appearance like that as well?”
“I can’t tell you because of circumstances.”
Jaim thought for a moment and said that with a wink.
“Still, I became pretty, right? I told you that I would grow taller and have a good figure when I grow up. I’m not developing anymore, I’m developed now.”
Jaim grinned widely and stuck her chest out proudly. There was a lot weighing on my mind, but her pose made me chuckle.
“What’s up with that beauty spot below your eye?”
“If you’re going to hide your identity, then adding a beauty mark is a given, isn’t it? It’s also sexy.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
“They also say that beauty marks are lucky.”
Jaim smiled bitterly as she said that.
“Honestly, this was also a hint, but it was harder to manage than I expected. I had to put it on the exact same spot every time I put on my makeup.”
Jaim grinned while tapping at the spot on her face where her beauty mark was before she rubbed it off with her finger. She wasn’t behaving relaxed and mature like how she would normally behave when she was pretending to be ‘Upperclassman Nabom’, but instead, she genuinely acted cute and innocent like Jaim, so I wound up chuckling.
“What? I’m being serious here, you know?”
Jaim pouted once she noticed me laugh inaudibly. Her appearance is definitely that of Upperclassman Nabom, but only the way she acted and spoke was like Jaim, so I laughed even more.
“······Kuhuhu, ahahaha······.”
“Seriously, why do you only know how to laugh like that······. Ahahaha······.”
Jaim, who had been grinning with her hands on her hip, ended up laughing as well as she watched me laughed. We laughed like this for a brief moment.
We temporarily forgot about everything that had happened until now and laughed as if we were caught red-handed while attempting to pull off a prank.
“······So.”
Shortly after, once we finished laughing, I spoke with a slightly more serious tone.
“Why’d you keep this a secret until now?”
Once I asked that, Jaim smiled bitterly and shook her head.
“······Sorry, I can’t tell you that right now.”
Jaim shrugged and continued with a troubled tone.
“Honestly, telling you everything like this is sort of cheating. Although it’s all because you’re dense and dumb, Dad. The plan was for you to have figured it out by yourself around this point.”
“······The plan?”
“Yeah, the plan.”
Jaim nodded.
“I can’t tell you what the plan is, though.”
“······Is it related to Saeyeon dying?”
“I can’t tell you that either.”
Jaim shook her head slightly. As if she truly couldn’t tell me.
The earlier mood disappeared and the heavy silence fell over us once again. Both Jaim and I didn’t say anything.
“I’m going to say this beforehand, but.”
Jaim was the one to break the silence.
Jaim swept her silver hair back over her shoulder and spoke with an expression that looked as if she had gone back to being Upperclassman Nabom.
“I told you earlier, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t misunderstand something because you found out that I’m Jaim. This is my advice as your daughter and as Ha Nabom.”
“······Misunderstand?”
“I’m not your ally, I have my own plan and goal, and I’ll lie and hide the truth in order to achieve my goal.”
Jaim continued while looking at me with a sad, and yet, serious gaze.
“Of course, I’ll cooperate with you and give you information if it’s for the sake of my goal. Like now. Nevertheless, if you start thinking that I’ll help you and be on your side just because I’m Jaim, then that would be troubling. For both me and you.”
“······.”
Once Jaim saw that I was being silent, she turned her head away furtively.
“I’m different from······ when I was young. I changed my name, my face, and my identity all for the sake of my goal.”
Jaim paused for a moment to take a deep breath before concluding.
“I may be Jaim right now······, but please don’t forget that I’m Ha Nabom.”
“······I have to remember a lot of things now.”
Jaim smiled a bit when she heard the remark I managed to utter.
“Yeah.”
Jaim took a deep breath before looking at the clock. We still had some time left before the time limit Jaim, no, Upperclassman Nabom had set.
“Now then, do you have any last questions?”
The slight look of regret in her smile made it seem like she would at least answer my next question honestly. It also seemed like she wanted to as well. Jaim might actually want to also get things off her chest.
There are so many questions I want to ask.
About the future she came from, why something like this happens, about the details of her plan, about Saeyeon’s fate, whether the future truly can’t be changed or not, I wanted to ask all of these things.
She probably knows the answer for all of these questions. If it’s now, then she would most likely answer me.
That’s why.
“······Is it true, that I go bald?”
I couldn’t, ask.
I didn’t ask.
Because I hate liars.
Jaim’s expression froze the instant I said that. It seems she understood that I had brushed her hand away, that I had taken her advice to not treat her like an ally to heart.
That I wasn’t going to follow along with her intention to be a part of my family, my daughter, and be honest with me only now after all this time, after having continuously deceived me until now.
A long time ago, when she told me for the first time that she wasn’t my ally, Jaim, Upperclassman Nabom said this to me.
‘Shouldn’t you be placing your trust in your family and not me, Underclassman Jin Jaro?’
Even though she had said this.
I’m used to being betrayed by my family, so the fact that she did all this despite knowing how much it had harmed me before, how much it had messed me up, made it hard for me to forgive her.
It’s unfortunate, but I’m a twisted human being, so if you’re not my ally, then you’re automatically my enemy. I don’t need something that’s neither this or that.
Several emotions brushed past Jaim’s face. One by one, disappointment, annoyance, sadness, and rage went by. In the end, Jaim laughed.
“······I really want to tear your hair out and make you bald right now.”
The alarm rang the instant she said that.
“It seems time is up.”
Upperclassman Nabom commented in her usual tone. Her wide-opened eyes became half shut once more, and her face, which had been abundant with emotions a second ago, went back to looking slightly cold. Her usual state.
“Then I’ll be going home first. You should head home as well, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
Upperclassman Nabom gathered her belongings and got up. I didn’t say a single word as I continued to stay seated. The alarm clock kept ringing loudly.
“Can I ask you a single favor?”
“······What is it?”
“At the very least, until the festival ends and I have to return, can you continue to treat me as you always have? As I told you before, this club room is the one and only piece of evidence that shows I was here. I want to at least enjoy the festival.”
Despite having said that, despite having heard my answer, is she going to ask me this? Isn’t she being a bit too brazen? I unconsciously clenched my teeth.
“······I’ll, try my best.”
Anyone would be able to tell that I was clearly refusing with those words.
“Is that so. That’s a relief.”
Upperclassman Nabom displayed a tired smile once she heard my answer. The alarm clock continued to ring uproariously as someone had yet to turn it off. Upperclassman Nabom picked up the alarm clock. She went towards the door without turning back. Upperclassman Nabom disappeared from my line of sight. The sound of her footsteps stopped in front of the door, so I only heard her voice.
“Then, good day.”
Along with those words, the alarm clock flew from behind me and entered my field of vision. The clock collided against the wall and shattered. The sound stopped. I heard the door close.
She didn’t do that because she was mad but because that was a device which you had to throw like that in order to turn off. I wanted to believe that.
Well, I wanted to trust her.
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“You’re the one who messed up there, Dad.”
Jayeon said that without mincing her words. It seems simply saying that wasn’t enough for her as Jayeon proceeded to place her hands on her hips and let out a deep sigh.
“Big Sis Nabom revealed her true identity to you after mulling over it a lot, so of course she would get mad if you respond like that to her when she only asked if you two could keep acting as you used to around each other. Do you not feel sorry for Big Sis Nabom, Dad?”
“What should I be sorry about?”
“Seriously, you’re so twisted.”
Jayeon let out another sigh and shook her head at my remark, but she didn’t say anything more than that.
It was currently Saturday afternoon, a day after the exams were over. Saeyeon, Jaim, and Jihye weren’t home right now. This was something that rarely happens, so I decided to have a talk with Jayeon. I started by talking about Upperclassman Nabom’s true identity.
Jayeon folded her arms and spoke while tilting her head.
“That’s weird······. If I remember correctly, you got along with Big Sis Nabom after you found out who she was. You even worked together.”
Come to think of it, Upperclassman Nabom mentioned that as well. That up until now, I would always figure her identity out by myself. That I would even create a rather impressive scene while doing so. Regardless, there was something that bothered me more than that.
“I worked together with her? For what? The festival preparations?”
“There’s that and, what was it······? I don’t remember it that well.”
Jayeon frowned as if she were trying to remember and spoke while flicking her sidebang with her finger.
“Ever since I came here, some parts of my memories aren’t clear anymore. Is it because of the time machine? Or maybe it’s information contamination?”
Hmm······. Jayeon let out the same sound Saeyeon would make as she thought about it. Those words bothered me, so I asked her about it.
“Your memories aren’t clear?”
“Yeah. Well, it might simply be because this was 5 years ago, but in any case, I recall you and Big Sis Nabom getting along really well around this point. To the point that I sometimes worried that it might be dangerous.”
I see, so Jayeon’s ‘me’ was able to ‘forgive that’.
“The only thing that’s dangerous is the way you latch on to me.”
Jaim pouted once I said that with a small sigh.
“I told you. I’m not behaving dangerously. It’s natural that a daughter would like her father, right? It’s amazing that we can change the future, isn’t it?”
“About that······.”
I involuntarily opened my mouth.
“Can the future really be changed?”
Jayeon blinked at me in confusion.
“······Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“It’s just, you know? If we can actually change the future by combining our strength, then how do you explain Upperclassman Nabom?”
Her existence itself meant that the future can’t be changed.
If only Jaim and Jayeon were in the picture, then it might be possible to change the future. Within Jaim’s memories, I was cold to her when she was little, so she came to the past in order to change that, and according to Jayeon, as a result of that, although I do end up losing Saeyeon, I still get along with Jayeon. There’s no way that I would only be cold towards Jaim, then.
But if Jayeon grows up to be Upperclassman Nabom, then there should be no reason for her to come to the past and be so secretive while also plotting things like this. If Jayeon and the future me had changed the past and reached a future where Saeyeon doesn’t die, then for what reason would she be here?
It might just be a ‘maybe’, but Upperclassman Nabom’s words and actions up until now that were telling me that the future can’t be changed, might be her trying to prevent me from changing the future. I had this sort of hunch.
A strange smile appeared on Jayeon’s face as she answered my question.
“That’s because Big Sis Nabom failed.”
“······She failed?”
Her words and her smile felt somewhat eery, so I asked back.
With a peculiar, belittling smile still on her face, Jayeon spoke.
“I told you. You can change the past a little bit at a time, and it will change.”
“Yeah.”
“From what I remember, that was Big Sis Nabom’s goal as well. To change the past little by little and ultimately change the future. However, I know that she failed when I was little, so she went back to the future.”
If someone were to ask if I predicted this······ then I sort of did.
It’s not like I don’t understand.
Jayeon shrugged and puffed her chest out as she spoke.
“When I was little, a middle school version of myself never appeared. So the fact that I was able to come here and change the past is not only incredibly lucky (Trick of Destiny), but it’s also an opportunity. In other words, I was chosen by destiny (The Wild Card).”
“······Uh.”
“From Big Sis Nabom’s perspective, it’s natural that she’d be jealous and envious. Even though she failed, I was able to obtain an opportunity to succeed (Trick of Destiny) like this. That’s why she’s trying to interfere by saying ‘you can’t change the future (Destiny End)’.”
Jayeon must have noticed my vacant gaze as she chuckled.
“What’s wrong? I’m saying that you’re also lucky, Dad. My dad from when I was a child was less dense, but even he didn’t receive this sort of luck (The Wild Card). Be happy.”
“No, not that. Are you also a chuunibyou?”
What’s up with her choice of words? It’s more cringy than what I used to say.
“Isn’t it obvious for a 2nd-year middle student to have chuunibyou?”
(TL note: If you didn’t know, ‘chuunibyou’ literally translates to ‘8th-grade syndrome’)
Jayeon winked at me and answered like that. Well, if that’s her reason, then I can’t really say anything about it······.
“So you’re saying that my previous iteration and Upperclassman Nabom cooperated with that?”
“I don’t feel like that’s what she cooperated with you for, but in any case, doesn’t the very fact that Big Sis Nabom came to the past mean that the future can be changed? If Big Sis Nabom was telling the truth and the future really can’t be changed, then there’s no reason for her to come to the past. If the future won’t change no matter what Jaim does, no, not me, but the younger version, then why did she come here to keep watch?”
Yeah. She’s right. I’ve been wondering about that.
She came here with a goal, but if you look at it from another perspective, then it means that there’s something she has to do in the past in order to achieve that goal of hers. If the future truly can’t be changed, then there’s no reason for her to inconvenience herself by traveling to the past. She can’t achieve her goal no matter what she does, after all.
“So it’s a lie that the future can’t be changed. She’s simply saying that because she failed.”
Jayeon spoke confidently.
“The future can definitely be changed.”
As if she were trying to convince herself.
“······Yeah.”
So I decided to believe those words as well.
Jayeon smiled warmly once she saw me nod.
“Also, try to get along with Big Sis Nabom. Regardless of everything that’s happened until now, she’ll be leaving after the festival is over. At least try to get along with her until then. If you think about it, Big Sis Nabom might be the most pitiful person among us.”
“No, I······.”
I had refused, but before I could tell her that, I suddenly recalled Upperclassman Nabom’s words. That’s right. Once she returns to the past, she’ll be ‘confined’, and according to Jayeon, she failed.
“······More importantly, you haven’t told me to unite with Saeyeon, have you?”
I decided to change the topic. Jayeon raised a brow in response to my abrupt question, but she thankfully understood my intent as she let out a small sigh and grinned.
“Obviously. My younger self hasn’t said that lately either, has she? Why? Do you want to hear me tell you that? Want me to?”
······It seems she still has that same teasing grin when she grows up.
“I know that you and Mom have been getting along better as of late, so there’s no reason for me to tell you. It’s the same with Jaim as well. And······.”
“······?”
However, Jayeon’s expression became dark for an instant. It was only for a moment, so she had already gone back to smiling before I could finish tilting my head. Jayeon spoke while beaming.
“And I also saw you and Mom make me. Ah, I naturally pretended as if I were quietly sleeping, so you don’t have to worry.”
” ······.”
This brat says some amazing things with a smile on her face. But more importantly, then······. No, never mind. Let’s not think about it.
“Ah, your face became red. What are you imagining? Hm?”
“S-Shut up.”
It seems I’ve dug my own grave. I turned my head away, but since I couldn’t block my ears, I heard Jayeon’s teasing voice.
“How is it? It’s a bit embarrassing now that you hear things like that, right? Can you picture it? You and Mom······. Mm, in your birthday suits, mm······. Yeah, when you get into bed together, Mom shyly asks ‘C-Can you turn off that light?’, and you turn off the light because you were also embarrassed, but you can still clearly see everything under the moonlight, so the two of you softly press your lips together, and······.”
And······ Saeyeon’s skin glows brightly under the blue moonlight······ her charming chest, and, her blushing cheeks······ I move my hands slowly, and······.
“How far have you two progressed?”
“Hgyuak!”
I managed to somehow collect myself once I saw Jayeon’s face as she poked my side.
“S-Shut it, you lewd brat! W-Whawhawhawhawhat kind of weird thoughts are you making me have?! W-With your Mom and Dad at that!”
“Ei, what’s wrong? You’re going to do all that later on anyway. Mhm mhm. Everyone is bound to go up the steps of adulthood like thaaaubububu!”
I pulled on Jayeon’s cheeks as she had yet to read the mood. This is my first time pulling on her cheeks. It still feels nice even though she’s become a middle school student. It’s perfect for erasing the video playing in my head.
“Auuuh······. Ha, hahahaha······.”
Once I let go of her after catching my breath and returning peace to my brain, Jayeon rubbed her reddened cheeks and laughed.
“Ah······. It’s been a long time since you’ve called me a brat and pulled my cheeks. I missed this······.”
“I don’t care if you missed it or not! Seriously, even if you grow up, you’re still······.”
“But you’re the one who brought this up first, Dad. You self-destructed on your own.”
Her broad grin was annoying. I thought she was sort of cute, but her true nature was the same. No, she’s even worse. Even Jaim didn’t attack me this directly. Jayeon poked my side as she grinned teasingly.
“What were you imagining? Hm? Come on, tell me.”
“I didn’t imagine anything! In any case······.”
Right when I was about to say something, I heard the hallway getting noisy. My room was directly next to the hallway of the apartment, so I could hear everything. Jayeon seemed disappointed that she couldn’t tease me more as she shrugged before speaking.
“It seems everyone is back. What’s wrong, Dad?”
“N-Nothing!”
Why did they have to come back now of all times? No. My face is red. I’m not in a good condition to see Saeyeon. Jaim chuckled as she watched me rub my reddened face.
“Seriously, you’re so bad with girls, Dad······. Take a deep breath and calm down a little. Don’t behave weirdly.”
“I know! More importantly, where did they all even go anyway?”
I composed myself while complaining. This would have never happened if everyone didn’t go somewhere in the first place.
Saeyeon, Jaim, and Jihye didn’t tell me where they were going today at all. If I think about all of the times they would clearly tell me where they were going, this was a rare occasion.
“We’re home~.”
When Jayeon and I came out of the room together once we heard the footsteps, the front door opened and Saeyeon entered while smiling brightly. Jihye, Jaim, and an additional person followed behind her.
“H-Hello······.”
Once the little girl courteously, and yet, cautiously bowed her head, Saeyeon turned to face me with a smile.
“Jjaro, Heyeong is here to play.”
“All right. Welcome.”
Ahn Heyeong. Jaim’s closest friend. She’s also the reason why Jaim got in a fight with a bunch of elementary and middle school kids. If you could tell by Jaim’s appearance that she was spunky and rude, then you could easily tell by this girl’s appearance that she had a docileness and girlishness which was hard to find these days. Should I say she’s cute? It felt like I was looking at Saeyeon when she was little.
“Did you take Jaim to go play at Heyeong’s place?”
After Jaim fought for her sake a long time ago, the two of them had become quite close, so since the two of them would go out to play or Heyeong would come over to our place a lot during the summer break, I thought that was what they did. But Saeyeon smiled and shook her head in response to my question. Jaim answered instead.
“We met her at the park on our way home. It’s fine if she stays over for a bit, right?”
“Sure, why not?”
She doesn’t really need to get my permission every single time. Well, I guess it can’t be helped since it seems Heyeong finds it difficult to be around me. This girl must find my curt attitude to be intimidating. Even though it’s not like that. There’s no way that I would dislike her getting along with Jaim. It’s great to have friends, after all.
Once I gave her my consent, Jaim turned towards Heyeong.
“Then do you want to play some games?”
“Sure, but······.”
Heyeong threw glances at Jayeon while responding. Ah, come to think of it, this must be her first time meeting Jayeon. It seems I’m not the one she’s nervous about today, it’s this girl.
“There’s nothing to worry about. She’s just a weird woman.”
“A-A weird woman?”
“Hey, don’t tell her weird things. You’re shocking Heyeong.”
Heyeong became flustered by Jaim’s blunt answer. Jayeon smiled and lowered her upper body to bring herself down to Heyeong’s eye level before speaking.
“Hi. I’m Jin Jayeon. Jaim’s cousin.”
······I’ve been wondering, but where exactly did that name come from? Heyeong was still cautious as she gazed at Jayeon. Jayeon smiled gently and reached her hand out to pat Heyeong’s head.
“You’re Heyeong, huh? I heard a lot about you from Jaim. She praised you a lot saying that you’re a close friend and that you’re really kind.”
Once Heyeong turned to look back at Jaim, Jaim was gazing at Jayeon in surprise, but she didn’t say anything else. If anything, she averted her gaze as if she were embarrassed.
Ah, that’s right. Since she’s Jaim’s close friend, she’s also a close friend to Jayeon. And since Jayeon is the one who said it, Jaim must be thinking the same thing as well.
“Continue to get along with Jaim, okay?”
“Ah, I will······.”
Heyeong nodded. Satisfied, Jayeon ruffled Heyeong’s hair and raised her upper body back up.
“Now then, can this big sis play with you girls for a change? I want to hang out with you too, Heyeong. As long as Jaim is fine with it, that is. What do you think?”
Jaim had a blank expression on her face for a moment in response to Jayeon’s question which she had asked while grinning at her. It was as if she never expected Jayeon to ask her for permission.
“······Well, if Heyeong is okay with it.”
Once Jaim said that as she shyly pouted a bit, Jayeon turned towards Heyeong. Heyeong didn’t seem to really understand the current situation, but after staring at Jayeon for a bit, she eventually smiled and nodded.
“Okay······. Then let’s play together, Big Sis Jayeon.”
“Thanks.”
Jayeon smiled brightly.
As I watched the two Jaims and Heyeong head towards the living room, I asked a question towards Saeyeon who had been smiling happily since earlier.
“······Did you invite her over to do this?”
“Hm? What do you mean, Jjaro?”
Saeyeon blinked and answered as if she didn’t understand what I was saying, but I could see the satisfaction in her warm gaze. Yeah, there’s no reason for me to pry.
“More importantly, did you have a good talk with the older Miss? The Missus was very worried. Ah, I was as well.”
“You weren’t supposed to tell him that, Miss Jihye!”
Saeyeon desperately waved her arms once Jihye told me that with a mischievous smile on her face. So that was also the reason? I sort of figured that was the case, though. Saeyeon spoke towards me with a cautious look on her face.
“Ah, uhm, I thought it would be better if you had a talk with the older Jaim instead of me······. Did I meddle too much?”
Saeyeon gave me a worried look because she was afraid I might get upset at her, so I let out a small sigh and shook my head with a smile.
“No. Thanks. We were able to have a good talk thanks to you.”
It seems I’ve definitely been making the people around me worry. Jihye glanced at Saeyeon who was smiling in relief and spoke.
“Then I’ll go prepare some snacks for the three girls. Should I prepare some for you both as well?”
“I’m going to play with them as well, so I’ll leave my portion to you. What are you going to do, Jjaro? Are you going to stay home? Or are you going to head out?”
I was about to ask Jihye to prepare my share as well along with theirs, but I wound up turning towards Saeyeon as she continued. I thought she would naturally think that I would join them. Saeyeon giggled at my surprised gaze and spoke.
“Actually, we went to visit Big Sis Nabom today.”
“······.”
That’s impressive. She dealt with three things all at once. I thought the three of them just went out to play. By going out, Saeyeon let Jayeon and I talk while they went to talk with Upperclassman Nabom, and on their way back, she brought Heyeong with them to make Jaim and Jayeon get along. It was so proficient that it was hard to think that Saeyeon was the one who did it. I might actually know nothing about Saeyeon.
However, there was still one thing that bothered me.
“······What did Upperclassman Nabom tell you?”
Saeyeon and Jihye turned to look at each other for a moment before turning to smile at me. These two really do resemble one another whenever they behave and smile similarly like this.
“”It’s a secret.””
“······All right.”
Their teasing smiles concerned me, but I understood very well that they weren’t going to tell me.
“Then I’ll make sure to make your share as well, Master. Or should I prepare enough for both you and Miss Nabom to enjoy?”
And as expected, Jihye pushed my back so naturally that it made me wonder whether these two had planned this all beforehand or not.
“Jjaro?”
Saeyeon looked at me in surprise when she noticed me chuckle, but I assured her it was nothing as I shook my head.
“All right, then prepare it like that. I’ll make sure to not come back late.”
Okay. If everyone is going to set up this much of a foothold, then I have no other choice.
Ο
✿ΟΟ✿ΟΟ✿
Ο
However, once I actually stood in front of Upperclassman Nabom’s front door, I hesitated.
It’s been a long time since I last came here. I let out a small sigh and stood still for a long time with my hand hovering over the doorbell.
Honestly, it took me a very long time to even come all the way here.
I was able to get out of the house, but I hesitated several times while coming here, couldn’t muster the courage to press the call button at the entrance of the studio flat which led to me receiving weird glances from the old ladies that went by while I paced around the entrance, and I was finally able to go in after following another resident as they were going inside. However, I ended up hesitating even more once I realized that there was only one step left.
What should I say? How should I talk to her? Would I be able to stay composed if I face her in person? Is it okay for me to enter? All sorts of thoughts went through my head. The closed door felt as if it were telling me to not come in.
······As I thought, should I just go back?
The instant I thought that and was about to turn around, the door opened. Upperclassman Nabom’s face appeared in the half-opened doorway.
“How long are you going to stand there?”
She had her usual sleepy eyes and emotionless look on her face. Upperclassman Nabom went back in just like that. Of course, I had no other choice but to follow her after being caught.
“······How did you know I was coming?”
“Because Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, Miss Jaim, and Miss Jihye were here earlier. I figured that you would be arriving soon and I coincidentally saw you enter the building when I checked, but do you know how much time has passed since then? Do you not know how to open a door, Underclassman Jin Jaro? If you grab the handle, turn it, and push, then it’ll open.”
“I have to press the doorbell before that.”
Upperclassman Nabom gave me a sidelong glance in response to my grumbling.
“I had left the door open.”
I couldn’t say anything back, so I turned my gaze to the room.
Just as I remembered, the room was still bleak.
If there was a difference compared to last time, then it was the fact that there was a small table between me and Upperclassman Nabom, and there was a poster of Nanda on the wall.
“So you’re putting the poster up now?”
“Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, Miss Jaim, and Miss Jihye all know that I’m from the future, after all. I was honestly surprised when they came over all of a sudden that I had to draw this beauty mark hastily.”
Upperclassman Nabom closed one eye and rubbed her beauty mark off.
“······Was that a water-based marker?”
“I was in a hurry. I normally do it with makeup.”
Was this why she would always have only light makeup on? Upperclassman Nabom turned to look at me as I tried to carefully select my words. All she did was erase a single beauty mark, but it felt out of place.
If I think about it, this was also my first time seeing Upperclassman Nabom in this attire.
She wasn’t wearing her usual school uniform or the mature and elegant outfit she would sometimes wear, but she was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of shorts instead. If anything, her casual outfit emphasized her charming figure even more.
Places like her long legs, her collarbone, the dot on her collarbone, her slender waist, and her bountiful chest and bottom. I wanted to tell her to wear proper clothes at home as well. Even if the opposition is the underclassman she would always tease, or her actual father, isn’t she a bit too defenseless? She’s alone with a guy.
“What’s wrong? Are you still a man before you’re a dad even though you know that I’m your daughter?”
I must have been staring at her too much as Upperclassman Nabom smiled gently and teased me.
“······Don’t say weird things. In a situation like this as well.”
I averted my gaze and said that out of embarrassment, but I realized that I had said that a bit harshly once I noticed Upperclassman Nabom’s apologetic gaze.
“So, why are you here?”
Upperclassman Nabom let out a sigh and spoke. I regained my senses thanks to those words.
“It’s the weekend and the exams have just ended, so why aren’t you going somewhere with Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, the younger and older Miss Jaims, and Miss Jihye? The weather is nice today as well.”
“······I could ask the same thing to you, Upperclassman Nabom.”
“As you may know, I have nowhere else to go. I also have nothing else to do except roll around in my home. I’m not particularly blaming you, so please don’t make that sort of face. I know that you actually don’t feel that bad.”
Upperclassman Nabom let out another sigh and shook her head.
“I expected this to happen since Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, the younger Jaim, and Miss Jihye had come here together, but you really do listen to your family well.”
“······.”
“Like I said, I’m not particularly blaming you, so please stop making that face. I know very well that you’re thinking ‘But you said that you aren’t my family······.’.”
······She’s sulking.
“I’m not really sulking.”
“······Is there an electric sign on my face or something?”
Even if she knew me well because she’s met me when she was young and now, she’s like a fortune teller right now. It felt creepy because it feels like she’s constantly known whatever has been on my mind until now.
“It was hard to act clueless at times.”
“······It’s fine.”
I just let out a sigh and sat down. Upperclassman Nabom chuckled weakly.
“Still, I’m grateful that you came today.”
“I didn’t really······.”
“I know very well that you didn’t come here because you weren’t upset anymore, so you don’t have to say it.”
“······Can you stop doing that?”
Upperclassman Nabom managed to smile normally once I complained to her.
“They say that when a girl has a deep resentment towards someone, then it’ll snow during the middle of the summer, so you should be grateful that I’m like this. It’s hard to find big-hearted people like me.”
“I’m honored.”
Yeah. It’s this sort of atmosphere. We were able to measure our distances a little again. Human relationships also adapt to the environment.
“In any case, welcome to my humble abode, father.”
“······.”
My bitterly smiling mouth twitched once I heard those words.
Upperclassman Nabom’s shoulders slouched as she chuckled shyly.
“Actually, I’ve always wanted to say this line.”
For some reason, there was regret and delight in those words. I carefully averted my gaze from Upperclassman Nabom who seemed to be embarrassed about having said that herself and spoke.
“About what happened before······.”
“Ah, I haven’t prepared any drinks. I’ll be just a moment.”
Upperclassman Nabom stood up the moment I finally managed to utter those words. I’m not sure whether she intended to cut me off or if she truly thought that it wasn’t polite to not prepare anything. I couldn’t say anything towards Upperclassman Nabom’s back as she used the kitchen in the corner of her single-room home and boiled water, so I decided to wait.
“You preferred coffee, right, Underclassman Jin Jaro?”
Shortly after, she set down a cup of coffee for me. The strong scent of black coffee emanated. Upperclassman Nabom spoke with a smile.
“How’s the fragrance? Is it nice? I prepared some just in case, but I’m glad I did.”
“······I actually have these.”
I extended the shopping bag I had been holding since earlier.
“Jihye prepared these. She told me to share them with you.”
Upperclassman Nabom received the shopping bag and took out its contents without a word. There were two prettily packaged bags of cookies.
“I see. Please give Miss Jihye my thanks.”
Upperclassman Nabom gazed at the bags of cookies while smiling warmly. I carefully brought my cup of coffee to my lips while watching her.
“······Uhk.”
“What’s the matter? Is it not to your liking?”
Upperclassman Nabom quickly inquired the instant she saw me frown. I shook my head lightly and put down the cup.
“No, it’s just sweet. I prefer my coffee black.”
“Ah······. That’s right. I’m sorry. It’s just you prefer it sweet in the future.”
Upperclassman Nabom spoke as if she didn’t know what to do. It was refreshing to see this person give this sort of reaction, but it wasn’t as pleasant as I expected it to be. Upperclassman Nabom handed me her own cup.
“Th-then, drink this. I actually like it black as well.”
“No, it’s fine. I came all the way here, so I’ll drink what you give me.”
“I haven’t put my lips on it yet, so you don’t have to worry about an indirect kiss. Drink it. I’ll drink that.”
Upperclassman Nabom ignored my refusal and switched our cups.
“······But I put my lips on that cup already.”
“Ah······. Well, shouldn’t it be fine? We’re father and daughter.”
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but Upperclassman Nabom took a sip as if it were fine. I didn’t think that I would drink sweet coffee in the future. I wonder if it’s because of my age. Upperclassman Nabom opened her bag of cookies and examined one after taking it out.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had these as well. Cookies made by Miss Jihye are definitely good. I never said it out loud, but I always liked them. From a certain standpoint, they were like cookies made by my mom.”
After turning the cookie around back and forth, Upperclassman Nabom tossed it into her mouth. She closed her eyes in order to savor the taste before nodding her head.
“It tastes just as I remembered it. It seems this doesn’t change no matter how much time passes.”
“······Is that so?’
I didn’t really have anything else to say, so I also munched on some cookies. This was a common taste for me, but it must have been a nostalgic taste to Upperclassman Nabom. Upperclassman Nabom chuckled at my response before speaking.
“In truth, I secretly watched Miss Jihye bake these when I was little and learned the recipe, but I could never replicate this taste. I wonder if it’s because she’s a robot and she’s capable of making precise measurements or if it’s actually because it has a motherly taste.”
“So you’ve acknowledged her as your mom, huh? Even though you complained a bunch when you were little.”
“It’s because of what Underclassman Ja Saeyeon said to me back then.”
Miss Jihye. Underclassman Ja Saeyeon.
She revealed to me that she was Jaim and that’s why she’s been nonchalantly talking to me about things that happened in the past as if she were reminiscing, but her tone and the suffixes she used were still that of Upperclassman Nabom. Moreover, my tone towards Upperclassman Nabom was the same as well.
This fact made me feel strangely mirthless.
There’s a chance that Upperclassman Nabom might have continued to wait for me here.
For the day I discover the truth and come looking for her.
Until the day I come to this small room.
“······I’m sorry there isn’t much to do here.”
Upperclassman Nabom smiled bitterly as she saw me avert my gaze because I found it difficult to keep looking at her.
“If I knew this would happen, then I should have accepted that TV you offered me a while back.”
“No, it’s not particularly because of that······.”
“That’s right. Do you want me to clean your ears? You liked that, didn’t you, Underclassman Jin Jaro?”
Upperclassman Nabom smiled as she patted her legs. It seems she also didn’t like this atmosphere, but that offer was a bit. Moreover.
“Uhm······. Saeyeon, did that yesterday······.”
“······I see. You two get along quite well, huh?”
She smiled bitterly for some reason. While smiling bitterly as if she were disappointed, Upperclassman Nabom looked around the room to see if there was something to do.
As if she wanted to do whatever she could to prevent me from getting bored.
As if she wanted to do whatever she could to keep me here a little longer.
“Then how about a shoulder massage? I never gave you one when I was little, after all. Despite my looks, I’m actually quite good at giving massages, you know?”
Because her behavior was pitiable and unsightly, I······.
“There’s something I want to ask.”
I hid my emotions and spoke.
“······When I told you I would answer your questions before, you asked something completely nonsensical, and you’re trying to actually ask me something now, huh? Well, fine. I’ll answer what I can.”
She said that while sighing in my face, but I had already decided to accept this much reproach. Upperclassman Nabom didn’t seem to want to talk about this, but her expression lightened up once she realized that I would be staying for a bit longer. It was hard to talk when she looked like that, but I still did.
“You definitely said that you traveled back in time using a time machine, right? But why is it that if you travel back in time, you’re able to change the past little by little? You’re traveling back to a point in time that had already occurred.”
The future is changeable. The past is unchangeable. This was similar to common sense. When Upperclassman Nabom said that ‘the future can’t be changed’, that was probably an extension to this statement. Because the future I’m trying to change is a past which had already happened to Jaim and Upperclassman Nabom.
The past had already occurred, so the incidents have concluded. In other words, it’s already fixed. If that’s the case, then no matter how many times you travel back in time, there shouldn’t be any changes to the things that had happened before then. However, Upperclassman Nabom and Jayeon told me otherwise. I was told that I was dense, that I was supposed to have already figured out Upperclassman Nabom’s true identity, but I didn’t.
Upperclassman Nabom sighed.
“Your memory must be terrible, Underclassman Jin Jaro. Did I not tell you before? The past will change, even if it’s only a little bit at a time.”
That’s right. Before Jayeon interrupted our conversation, Upperclassman Nabom had said that. She said that trivial changes that can’t be observed can also occur. For example, like how Jayeon and Upperclassman Nabom had told me before, things like whether I figure out Upperclassman Nabom’s true identity on my own or be told about it like this.
“Then does that mean the time machines everyone has been using don’t travel to the past, but to a different parallel universe instead?”
If that’s the case, then those sort of actions will create turning points, and those so-called time machines are actually devices that travel to different turning points and not the past, right? If it’s like this, then if we go to a universe with a different result, then a world where Saeyeon doesn’t die······.
“Let’s define the word ‘parallel’, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
Instead of answering my question, Upperclassman Nabom asked me her own question. Why is she asking me this all of a sudden? I was surprised by her sudden question which she had asked with a thin smile, but I still answered her.
“Parallel means······.”
“It means two lines or faces on a surface which will never meet no matter how far they extend. Like a railroad track.”
Upperclassman Nabom spoke before I could even answer.
“If this is the case, then a ‘separated universe that takes shape due to a special event’, which everyone talks about, shouldn’t be called a ‘parallel universe’. If there is a point in the past where the two worlds divide, then that means there’s a meeting point and that it isn’t parallel.”
I didn’t understand what she was saying so I tilted my head.
“So you’re saying that it shouldn’t be called a parallel universe?”
“No. I’m saying that such a thing doesn’t exist. To be exact, it’s impossible to know whether they exist or not. The instant we’re able to intervene or observe another world, that becomes a meeting point. So the concept that you’re thinking about, Underclassman Jin Jaro, is closer to a ‘diverged universe’ or a ‘branch universe’ more than it is a ‘parallel universe’.”
“······I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. In the first place, why are you saying this right now?”
When I asked that while lowering my body slightly, Upperclassman Nabom answered with a smile. She spoke in a tone that sounded like a teacher or an upperclassman who was teaching a clueless child.
“Then I’ll put it in simpler terms. Do you know how many people live on this planet?”
Therefore, I decided to faithfully play my part as the student or underclassman who’s being taught.
“I don’t know the exact number but let’s say about 7 billion.”
“Do you think it’s possible to know exactly what all 7 billion people are doing right at this moment?”
“There’s no way to tell.”
“If so, then the present contains the results of the unknown actions of all 7 billion people. Furthermore, humans aren’t the only things on this planet and the Earth isn’t the only planet that exists.”
After saying that, Upperclassman Nabom raised her hands on top of her lap and smiled pleasantly as if she were waiting for me to answer. It seems she wanted me to think for myself.
“······So are you saying that it’s impossible to manage and observe every variable? The principle of uncertainty?”
There’s probably no need for me to thoroughly explain Heisenberg’s principle of uncertainty. It’s a complicated physics theory, after all. To put it simply, it’s the principle that you can’t completely and accurately observe the movement and position of a particle at the same time. There’s the figure of speech where if you look at a tree, you can’t see the forest, and if you look at a forest, you can’t see the tree. This explanation should be good enough.
Upperclassman Nabom gave a satisfied nod in response to my answer.
“That’s all you need to know. It’s all probability.”
“I feel like this is becoming a bit complicated.”
“Of course it’d be complicated. But there’s no need for you to dwell over it that much. It hasn’t been completely figured out in the future either. Underclassman Jin Jaro, you should know as well that theories and laws aren’t absolute and unchangeable facts.”
Naturally. Normal people mistake this often, but scientific theories and laws are continuously modified and changed to create new theories all the time. Similar to how Newton’s law of physics changed into the theory of relativity. Darn it, now I’m starting to talk about complicated topics.
“Let’s go back to the first question. Going back to the past doesn’t mean that you’re going back to a fixed location. That’s impossible. There’s no other choice but for trivial changes and differences to exist. Managing and observing an infinite number of variables is impossible. So a new universe being created after every single variable would be delusional. If they did, then even a single grain of sand being moved by a wave would create a new universe.”
Upperclassman Nabom chuckled as she watched me frown due to my gradual headache before continuing.
“Therefore, you shouldn’t think that changes caused by variables are able to create diverged or branch universes. Excluding the person who travels through time, the world is fixed.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s literally as I said. Only the people who have observed from the outside can notice these probabilities and variables. There is no way for the people living in the present to know. Although Underclassman Jin Jaro appears dense to both me and the older Miss Jaim, there’s no way for you yourself to have known that. You’ve lived like that until now and you’ll continue to do so.”
Upperclassman Nabom pulled one knee up into her arms as she spoke. Her smooth thighs that weren’t hidden by her shorts entered my field of vision.
“Even if you travel back in time and become aware of the differences, that information will be sent to the past. The probabilities are infinite, but in the end, it’ll come together as observations. That’s what information contamination is.”
I see. Now I sort of feel like I understand.
The present is created from a great number of cases that had overlapped coincidentally. So if you travel back in time, every single variable won’t be the same and some changes will occur.
However, those changes are trivial and can only be noticed by the people who had traveled through time. So, in the end, it’ll combine with the variables that hadn’t changed. The people who notice the differences between the two variables will be afflicted by information contamination and have their memories overwritten with the past information.
“Therefore, there may be trivial changes, but you simply travel back in time and not to a universe that is ultimately different.”
“······But isn’t that weird?”
“Which part?”
Upperclassman Nabom asked while munching on a cookie.
“If memories converge in the past, then why do the results of incidents not converge in the future? Is it because of observation information?”
If your memory fuses with the information from the past, then shouldn’t it also fuse with the result you witnessed in the future? Upperclassman Nabom took a sip from her coffee before answering my question.
“The future is the outcome of all those factors combining, after all. Did I not tell you already? It’s impossible to notice a change while inside that time frame. The future is a continuation of the present. It isn’t a separate entity.”
“Are you saying that the same future will arrive even if you don’t do anything?”
“No. I’m saying that as the result of your actions, the same future will arrive. I see. If anything, you might be able to arrive at a different future if you didn’t do anything. But there’s no way that you would.”
There was a delicate smile on Upperclassman Nabom’s face as she took in the scent emanating from her brew.
“······But what about what Jayeon said?”
“What did the older Miss Jaim say?”
Upperclassman Nabom was simply smiling lightly. I knew now that she wasn’t teasing me. I may be dense and Upperclassman Nabom may have a knack for having a poker face, but I at least knew this.
“Do you really not know?”
I asked this just in case, but Upperclassman Nabom responded with an unreadable smile still on her face.
“Back when I was Miss Jaim, my middle school self never appeared during this time frame.”
“Huh?”
Now that I think about it, Upperclassman Nabom had a genuinely surprised look on her face when Jayeon appeared. She looked as if she had witnessed something completely unexpected. It seems that expression was real.
“But you said I invented time machines. Did you not help me when you were little, Upperclassman Nabom?”
“No. I did help. I personally gave it a trial run, but I didn’t come to this time frame.”
Upperclassman Nabom shook her head in response to my question and placed her finger against her lip as she took a moment to think of a good way to explain.
“I see······. Since you used the principle of uncertainty as an example, I’ll use something similar as well. In other words, the older Miss Jaim’s existence is like ‘Schrödinger‘s cat’.”
“This is quite the easy to understand comparison for chuunibyous······.”
I didn’t expect for even this to be brought up. Once I smiled bitterly and gazed at her, Upperclassman Nabom pouted a bit and spoke.
“Oh dear, what do you mean by chuunibyou? I was simply giving you an example that was at the same level as your comparison earlier. In any case, the time machine at that time was truly incomplete. We had no way of knowing what period of time the device would send us. Thinking about it now, just arriving somewhere safely was a miracle.”
······And I made my daughter use it? Upperclassman Nabom must have noticed my expression as she smiled bitterly and spoke.
“The older Miss Jaim said it before, but there was a reason we had to. At any rate, that’s why I went to another time frame and came back. So I’ve never met an older Miss Jaim when I was little. That’s why I have no idea what she could have said.”
While Upperclassman Nabom was talking, her expression gradually changed to look as if she were giving an annoyed laugh. This is why I get sort of bewildered when she occasionally makes the same expressions Jaim does.
“On a side note, it seems that seeing my younger self isn’t that great. She shamelessly latches on to her dad, she’s rude, and she goes around acting cute······.”
“······Is it like seeing your dark history?”
Without a word, Upperclassman Nabom, who had been grinning, turned to face me silently in response to my remark. Shortly after, she shook her head and her previous thin smile appeared once more.
“Well, let’s forget about that for now. So what did the older Miss Jaim say? Did she say something behind my back?”
Could that be considered as talking behind her back······? I thought about it for a moment since it wasn’t what Upperclassman Nabom was thinking, but I decided to just tell her. I wanted to hear her answer as well.
“Jayeon told me that the reason she’s so close to me is due to the fact that I’m nice to her in the future. I’m not cold and indifferent to her like I was when she was little. She said I became a dad that’s nice and warm to her because of everything that had happened after she traveled back in time. That’s why the future can be changed.”
“······So she said that, huh?”
Once I told her everything, Upperclassman Nabom’s expression changed slightly.
It was strangely similar to the oddly scared smile Jayeon had for a moment when talking about how Upperclassman Nabom had failed.
And because that smile sent a chill down my spine, I wound up missing my opportunity to ask her about it.
Upperclassman Nabom put down her empty cup of coffee and spoke.
“Now then, since you’ve come all the way here, shall we talk about the preparation for the festival? I know that you have a lot of questions, but as I said previously, this festival means a lot to me.”
I honestly hesitated a bit. I wanted to hear her answer, after all. I wanted to know the meaning behind that terrified smile, why Jayeon and Upperclassman Nabom’s stories were so different, and what was being hidden from me.
“You don’t have to be so nervous. I feel like the previous incident should be more than enough to serve as a lesson.”
And Upperclassman Nabom must have seen through me this time as well as she beamed brightly and spoke.
“I’ll tell you one day if it becomes necessary.”
I wonder how much I can trust those words. However, instead of being afraid of those words, I was afraid of my own actions foremost, so I could only nod my head.
As Upperclassman Nabom wanted, instead of talking about something else, we focused on preparing for the festival.
Well, we didn’t get that far. We had to pick out a theme first, after all.
“Honestly speaking, aren’t all of Underclassman Jin Jaro’s inventions on the same level as junk? I have no idea why you’re trying to lay them out like some praiseworthy exhibition as if they’re something to talk about.”
“What do you mean junk?! Apologize! What’s so bad about my inventions?!”
“Say that again after looking at this list. Half of them don’t even activate and were shoved into the storage, and the rest are random things with no practical use. This is a school festival. People who want to see your awful display of failed products most likely don’t exist.”
“Fine! Then we’ll display Jihye! She’s one of my inventions, isn’t she?!”
“······You truly are a piece of trash, considering the fact that you’re suggesting we should enter one of your family members as an exhibition. Do you have no intention to rehabilitate yourself?”
Talking like this made things a bit more comfortable.
It was just how I remembered Upperclassman Nabom.
We weren’t talking about complicated matters or arguing whether the future can be changed or not. We were simply joking around as we used to.
“Still, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon said that she would help, but I’ve never seen her properly show her face at the club room. Are you sure you haven’t actually been abandoned, Underclassman Jin Jaro?”
“······Please don’t say that about your mom and dad. It was because of the exams.”
“Let’s go with that, then. Nevertheless, it’s a bit regrettable that Underclassman Shin Nanda didn’t come to help. I thought he would come to give his friend a helping hand and spend a heated time together.”
“This has been on my mind since a long time ago and It’s been bothering me even more ever since I found out who you really are, but do you really want to have those sort of delusions with your dad and the popular singer you like?”
“Being able to have a fun time with a spoon and fork is a refinement which a girl has. Did the two of you not have a pleasant lunch together in the club room before? I was quite pleased with just that.”
“I don’t think Jaim and Jayeon are like this······.”
“Let’s just say that this is a hobby that forms over time.”
And when we talk like this, it becomes a bit uncomfortable.
I can tell that she had become Ha Nabom and not Jin Jaim.
It might be mean to say that she had become her, but that change of hers was sad and painful to me. What happened to make her go as far as to hide her identity like this and come to the past.
“······Thank you.”
It’s because I was thinking this that I was a little late responding to Upperclassman Nabom’s words.
“What are you thanking me for?”
“You refused me back then, but you still heeded my request.”
Upperclassman Nabom raised her head with a faint smile on her face.
“Honestly, I thought that I would be left here by myself until the day I go back. I thought that the Underclassman Jin Jaro of this time frame would no longer come looking for me.”
It was hard to give her a response.
That delighted smile. That smile that looks like she was welcoming someone whom she thought would never come, who had abandoned her. That expression hurt.
Upperclassman Nabom looked around her room as she spoke.
“I thought that only the day of my return would be waiting for me as I spent my time here in this empty home and the club room like this, by myself.”
In this completely desolate, colorless room.
In the club room which I was the only other person who would appear.
There are only two places that Upperclassman Nabom could be.
“······Even if our relationship isn’t good, there’s still Saeyeon, Jaim, Nanda, and Jihye.”
Upperclassman Nabom shook her head lightly at my remark.
“No. You’re the only one I have, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
She placed both of her hands on her cheek and giggled. Like Jaim. As if she were embarrassed to say that. But as if she enjoyed doing so.
“My everything revolves around you, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
“······Ugh.”
“How was it? Did I make your heart skip a beat? Have you gained the resolve to reach the Ha Nabom ending?”
Upperclassman Nabom chuckled at the sound that I had unintentionally let out. Thanks to that mood-disregarding laughter, I barely managed to grumble back like usual.
“D-Don’t say things like that even as a joke. We’re father and daughter, aren’t we?”
“We’re a father and daughter who speak formally to each other, though. Aren’t taboos there to be broken?”
Upperclassman Nabom smiled teasingly as she sent me a wink. She placed one hand against her chin and used her other hand to grab the collar of her shirt and pull it down with her finger a bit. With a teasing expression. As if she were asking me what I was going to do next.
“No one’s looking right now.”
“······How did that Jaim become like this?”
Seriously, what is she thinking? Does she like teasing me this much? Once I let out a sigh, Upperclassman Nabom raised her body off of the table as if she were satisfied.
“As I thought, exchanging silly jokes like this is the best. I was jealous of Big Sis Nabom because of this.”
Upperclassman Nabom scratched her cheek out of embarrassment as she spoke. It was my first time seeing her do this, but it was one of Saeyeon and Jaim’s habits.
More importantly, by ‘Big Sis Nabom’, she means······. I see. Jaim grows up to be Upperclassman Nabom, so there must have been a previous Upperclassman Nabom. If that’s the case, then is Upperclassman Nabom acting like that Upperclassman Nabom? My head hurts the more I think about this. This is something I can’t really talk about either.
–That’s because Big Sis Nabom failed.
Then is Upperclassman Nabom repeating that failure? Why? When she knows that she will fail.
“I was going to say this earlier, but I’m sorry.”
I managed to utter an apology while rubbing the back of my neck. Upperclassman Nabom blinked at me as if she didn’t know what I was talking about, but she eventually smiled weakly.
“If that’s the case, then can you do one thing for me?”
“What is it?”
I gave her that hesitant response and Upperclassman Nabom spoke with a disappointed look on her face.
“If it’s all right, then I want to go somewhere with everyone again. Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, the older and younger Jaims, Miss Jihye, and Underclassman Shin Nanda. Everyone. If possible, of course.”
That pitiable smile bothered me.
Upperclassman Nabom knows what’s going to happen after this. Her adding ‘if possible’ at the end meant that everyone going somewhere to play never happened before or it’s something trivial that can be changed. It may be a big wish for Upperclassman Nabom, but it’s most likely a trivial activity.
So I nodded my head.
“······If it’s just that much, then it should be fine since the exams are over.”
I didn’t want to see Upperclassman Nabom’s face become even sadder after I gave her that response, so I turned away and continued.
“In any case, let’s finish talking about the theme for our exhibition. If we want to leave behind proof that you were here, Upperclassman Nabom, then we have to do our best.”
This was the most that I could do, after all.
It’s ridiculous.
“······ro.”
There’s no way. Logically, no, even if it isn’t logical, it’s still ridiculous. But, still.
“······Jjaro.”
Even if her face was absolutely serious, even if her expression was filled with joy and yearning because I had finally pieced together who she was, still, even still······.
“Jjaro!”
Saeyeon’s face was right in front of me. I finally came back to my senses.
“Ah, Saeyeon. What’s up?”
Saeyeon must have noticed that my eyes were finally focused, as she relaxed her face which had been frowning worriedly because I had been ignoring her.
“Jeez, what are you thinking so hard about?”
Saeyeon sat in the empty seat in front of me while smiling brightly and lowered her body a bit as she spoke.
“You were lost in your thoughts throughout the exam. Jjaro, are you sure that you won’t get a lower grade than me this time?”
“Ah······.”
Right. It’s the midterms right now.
The teacher had already left and the other students must have gone home as the classroom was almost empty. Some kids were leaving the classroom while chatting with each other. Some kids were busily checking their answers at their desks.
“······Jjaro?”
“Ah, sorry! You were saying that we should study for tomorrow’s exams together, right?”
I answered urgently because of Saeyeon’s worried voice, but Saeyeon let out a small sigh and smiled bitterly.
“Today was the last day of the exams.”
“Ah······. Right.”
That’s right. The midterms are all over. Then at least one week had passed. One week had already passed, huh.
Saeyeon let out another sigh.
“Jjaro, did something happen? I promised, so I wasn’t going to worry, but you’ve been acting like a completely different person since last week. You would give a vague, half-hearted response whenever I asked to study together, and whenever I offered to help you prepare for the festival, you never showed up to the club room. You barely eat your food and you keep staring at nothing all day.”
She was smiling, but I could see her worry in that smile, so I managed to shake my head as I responded.
“No, it’s nothing. It’s just······.”
“Did something happen between you and Upperclassman Nabom?”
“······.”
I feel like Saeyeon’s instincts were getting sharper and sharper with each passing day. No, if I think about it, then this was a natural conclusion. I started acting like this right after she told me to go have a talk with Upperclassman Nabom. My emotions really do show up all over my face.
Saeyeon was staring right at me.
I don’t know if I should tell her. I may have to tell her about this.
I don’t know what sort of reaction Saeyeon will show, but it’s Saeyeon. Saeyeon cherishes her family and dotes on Jaim. She might get shocked, but rather than be displeased by the news, she would probably be delighted. She’s wanted to get close to Upperclassman Nabom since a long time ago, after all. I’m not sure if it was because of me, though, but that’s why.
“Ah······.”
I stroked Saeyeon’s hair and stood up.
“Let’s go home.”
That’s why, as I thought, I can’t tell her. I don’t know what will happen if I do.
Once I left the classroom first, Saeyeon soon followed after me. It seems she wasn’t going to link arms with me today. She might be showing consideration since she thinks I’m not in a good mood.
Since when did I start speculating about Saeyeon’s behaviors?
“Jjaro, aren’t you going to prepare for the festival since the midterms are over?”
Saeyeon came to my side and matched my pace before glancing up at me and asking that. Are you going to ask that even though you just asked if something happened between me and Upperclassman Nabom a second ago? Without turning my head, I confirmed Saeyeon’s innocent face with my eyes before answering her.
“The exams are over, so there’s no reason for me to go out of my way to start doing that today, right? There’s still some time left.”
The exams are over and the festival is going to be held 2 weeks later on the weekend. There are still 2 weeks left, so we aren’t pressed for time. Well, this didn’t mean we had time to relax, though. No one may be looking forward to this festival, but the life and death of my club is on the line and we have yet to decide what we’re going to exhibit. But······. I don’t know.
“And, well······. Is there really a reason why I should prepare for the festival?”
“Huh?”
A look of doubt spread across Saeyeon’s face once I said that.
“I mean, Upperclassman Nabom will have graduated next year, and I’m going to be in my third year, so I should probably focus on studying for the SAT rather than doing club activities. So I felt like it might be a good time to graduate from that club room.”
I realized something while I was saying this. If I suddenly change my attitude like this, then it would be obvious that something had happened. Sure enough, Saeyeon stopped walking once she heard me say that. I also stopped.
“······Jjaro, something really did happen, didn’t it?”
I seriously don’t learn from my mistakes, do I?
I lightly bit my tongue as a way to punish myself before forcing a smile on my face.
“Don’t be upset. I was just tossing that out there. Regardless, I do want to go home today. I don’t feel great right now, so I want to get some sleep. The exams are over as well.”
Saeyeon appeared more doubtful. I feel like it’s quite sad that I don’t have a knack for changing the topic.
But I didn’t want to go to the club room right now.
I honestly don’t know how to face her.
“Let’s go.”
Without waiting for Saeyeon’s response, I started walking again.
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“You can continue to treat me as you usually do.”
Upperclassman Nabom told me casually as if nothing had happened.
“But······.”
“I didn’t reveal my identity to you, ‘Underclassman Jin Jaro’, because I expected you to do something. I simply told you because you’re so dense and it didn’t seem like you would ever figure it out yourself.”
She said that while putting an emphasis on ‘Underclassman Jin Jaro’. Upperclassman Nabom turned her body while wiping away her tears.
Those tears that fell because she laughed so much, they weighed on my mind.
“Still······.”
“Regardless of my identity, I stick by everything I’ve said until now.”
Upperclassman Nabom cut me off sternly.
“I’m not your ally. If it’s for the sake of my goal, then I’ll lie and hide the truth without any hesitation. I will only cooperate with you within the bounds that it will also help me reach my goal. Everything I’ve told you until now still stands.
“But······.”
But, even if you tell me that······.
“Haa······. This is why it would have been easier if you figured this out on your own.”
Upperclassman Nabom roughly disheveled her hair with her hand in response to my words which I had said so weakly that they were closer to being mumbles before letting out a deep sigh. She looked up for a moment as if she were contemplating something before letting out another deep sigh.
“······All right. Then let’s do an informal talk for 10 minutes.”
Upperclassman Nabom reached out and set a timer on one of my inventions, the alarm clock that only turned off if you threw it at a wall. Clack, once she placed it down on the table, I noticed that she really did set a 10-minute timer on it.
“Now then, what do you want to do? If you have any questions, then I’ll try to answer whatever I can.”
······I recognized this way of talking.
She opened her usually half-closed, tired-looking eyes widely. Her large eyes which were normally hidden looked at me. She didn’t look expressionless, she looked as if she thought I was pitiful. It was a familiar expression which I’ve often seen.
There was a lot I wanted to say. There was also a lot that I wanted to ask. But out of all the things I wanted to say and ask, I decided to pick out the most important ones and ask them one at a time. Calmly, after relaxing.
“Uhm······. For starters, is it true, that you’re my daughter······?”
“What, I suggested an informal talk so you could talk to me casually.”
So she’s going to complain about that first.
Upperclassman Nabom complained, but she still nodded her head. With a look on her face that appeared as if she were treating me like an idiot.
“More importantly, I’ve been saying that I’m your daughter since a while ago. What have you been listening with? Or is your ability to understand that bad? It isn’t that bad, is it?”
“No······. It’s just······. Ah, maybe you’re perhaps my second······.”
“You’re going to cheat on Mom and have another daughter? You think you would do that?”
“······.”
“You aren’t that sort of person, Dad.”
That comment made me feel strangely embarrassed. But, if that’s the case, then······.
I hesitated, but I managed to talk to her in a casual tone like she wanted me to.
“······Are you really Jaim?”
“······Finally you’re being casual.”
Once I asked that, Upperclassman Nabom, no, Jaim smiled.
“A long time ago, I told you to talk to me casually since you’re older than me from my perspective, but in the end you never did.”
“······.”
So that’s what she meant when she said that back then. I remembered. A while back, when I asked her why she spoke formally with me even though she’s the upperclassman, she said that I was older than her from her perspective, so I should speak informally with her.
“I gave you so many hints, too, but you didn’t find out until the bitter end.”
I could sort of feel that she was having fun by the way she looked at me with a pitying gaze and shook her head.
“If I remember correctly, you figured it out yourself around this time when I was little and I think you made quite the impressive scene, but I ended up telling you this time because it felt like you seriously wouldn’t be able to figure it out until after I leave.”
I couldn’t give a rebuttal to those teasing words, so I rubbed the back of my neck.
“······Why did you change your name? Why did you change your appearance like that as well?”
“I can’t tell you because of circumstances.”
Jaim thought for a moment and said that with a wink.
“Still, I became pretty, right? I told you that I would grow taller and have a good figure when I grow up. I’m not developing anymore, I’m developed now.”
Jaim grinned widely and stuck her chest out proudly. There was a lot weighing on my mind, but her pose made me chuckle.
“What’s up with that beauty spot below your eye?”
“If you’re going to hide your identity, then adding a beauty mark is a given, isn’t it? It’s also sexy.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
“They also say that beauty marks are lucky.”
Jaim smiled bitterly as she said that.
“Honestly, this was also a hint, but it was harder to manage than I expected. I had to put it on the exact same spot every time I put on my makeup.”
Jaim grinned while tapping at the spot on her face where her beauty mark was before she rubbed it off with her finger. She wasn’t behaving relaxed and mature like how she would normally behave when she was pretending to be ‘Upperclassman Nabom’, but instead, she genuinely acted cute and innocent like Jaim, so I wound up chuckling.
“What? I’m being serious here, you know?”
Jaim pouted once she noticed me laugh inaudibly. Her appearance is definitely that of Upperclassman Nabom, but only the way she acted and spoke was like Jaim, so I laughed even more.
“······Kuhuhu, ahahaha······.”
“Seriously, why do you only know how to laugh like that······. Ahahaha······.”
Jaim, who had been grinning with her hands on her hip, ended up laughing as well as she watched me laughed. We laughed like this for a brief moment.
We temporarily forgot about everything that had happened until now and laughed as if we were caught red-handed while attempting to pull off a prank.
“······So.”
Shortly after, once we finished laughing, I spoke with a slightly more serious tone.
“Why’d you keep this a secret until now?”
Once I asked that, Jaim smiled bitterly and shook her head.
“······Sorry, I can’t tell you that right now.”
Jaim shrugged and continued with a troubled tone.
“Honestly, telling you everything like this is sort of cheating. Although it’s all because you’re dense and dumb, Dad. The plan was for you to have figured it out by yourself around this point.”
“······The plan?”
“Yeah, the plan.”
Jaim nodded.
“I can’t tell you what the plan is, though.”
“······Is it related to Saeyeon dying?”
“I can’t tell you that either.”
Jaim shook her head slightly. As if she truly couldn’t tell me.
The earlier mood disappeared and the heavy silence fell over us once again. Both Jaim and I didn’t say anything.
“I’m going to say this beforehand, but.”
Jaim was the one to break the silence.
Jaim swept her silver hair back over her shoulder and spoke with an expression that looked as if she had gone back to being Upperclassman Nabom.
“I told you earlier, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t misunderstand something because you found out that I’m Jaim. This is my advice as your daughter and as Ha Nabom.”
“······Misunderstand?”
“I’m not your ally, I have my own plan and goal, and I’ll lie and hide the truth in order to achieve my goal.”
Jaim continued while looking at me with a sad, and yet, serious gaze.
“Of course, I’ll cooperate with you and give you information if it’s for the sake of my goal. Like now. Nevertheless, if you start thinking that I’ll help you and be on your side just because I’m Jaim, then that would be troubling. For both me and you.”
“······.”
Once Jaim saw that I was being silent, she turned her head away furtively.
“I’m different from······ when I was young. I changed my name, my face, and my identity all for the sake of my goal.”
Jaim paused for a moment to take a deep breath before concluding.
“I may be Jaim right now······, but please don’t forget that I’m Ha Nabom.”
“······I have to remember a lot of things now.”
Jaim smiled a bit when she heard the remark I managed to utter.
“Yeah.”
Jaim took a deep breath before looking at the clock. We still had some time left before the time limit Jaim, no, Upperclassman Nabom had set.
“Now then, do you have any last questions?”
The slight look of regret in her smile made it seem like she would at least answer my next question honestly. It also seemed like she wanted to as well. Jaim might actually want to also get things off her chest.
There are so many questions I want to ask.
About the future she came from, why something like this happens, about the details of her plan, about Saeyeon’s fate, whether the future truly can’t be changed or not, I wanted to ask all of these things.
She probably knows the answer for all of these questions. If it’s now, then she would most likely answer me.
That’s why.
“······Is it true, that I go bald?”
I couldn’t, ask.
I didn’t ask.
Because I hate liars.
Jaim’s expression froze the instant I said that. It seems she understood that I had brushed her hand away, that I had taken her advice to not treat her like an ally to heart.
That I wasn’t going to follow along with her intention to be a part of my family, my daughter, and be honest with me only now after all this time, after having continuously deceived me until now.
A long time ago, when she told me for the first time that she wasn’t my ally, Jaim, Upperclassman Nabom said this to me.
‘Shouldn’t you be placing your trust in your family and not me, Underclassman Jin Jaro?’
Even though she had said this.
I’m used to being betrayed by my family, so the fact that she did all this despite knowing how much it had harmed me before, how much it had messed me up, made it hard for me to forgive her.
It’s unfortunate, but I’m a twisted human being, so if you’re not my ally, then you’re automatically my enemy. I don’t need something that’s neither this or that.
Several emotions brushed past Jaim’s face. One by one, disappointment, annoyance, sadness, and rage went by. In the end, Jaim laughed.
“······I really want to tear your hair out and make you bald right now.”
The alarm rang the instant she said that.
“It seems time is up.”
Upperclassman Nabom commented in her usual tone. Her wide-opened eyes became half shut once more, and her face, which had been abundant with emotions a second ago, went back to looking slightly cold. Her usual state.
“Then I’ll be going home first. You should head home as well, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
Upperclassman Nabom gathered her belongings and got up. I didn’t say a single word as I continued to stay seated. The alarm clock kept ringing loudly.
“Can I ask you a single favor?”
“······What is it?”
“At the very least, until the festival ends and I have to return, can you continue to treat me as you always have? As I told you before, this club room is the one and only piece of evidence that shows I was here. I want to at least enjoy the festival.”
Despite having said that, despite having heard my answer, is she going to ask me this? Isn’t she being a bit too brazen? I unconsciously clenched my teeth.
“······I’ll, try my best.”
Anyone would be able to tell that I was clearly refusing with those words.
“Is that so. That’s a relief.”
Upperclassman Nabom displayed a tired smile once she heard my answer. The alarm clock continued to ring uproariously as someone had yet to turn it off. Upperclassman Nabom picked up the alarm clock. She went towards the door without turning back. Upperclassman Nabom disappeared from my line of sight. The sound of her footsteps stopped in front of the door, so I only heard her voice.
“Then, good day.”
Along with those words, the alarm clock flew from behind me and entered my field of vision. The clock collided against the wall and shattered. The sound stopped. I heard the door close.
She didn’t do that because she was mad but because that was a device which you had to throw like that in order to turn off. I wanted to believe that.
Well, I wanted to trust her.
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“You’re the one who messed up there, Dad.”
Jayeon said that without mincing her words. It seems simply saying that wasn’t enough for her as Jayeon proceeded to place her hands on her hips and let out a deep sigh.
“Big Sis Nabom revealed her true identity to you after mulling over it a lot, so of course she would get mad if you respond like that to her when she only asked if you two could keep acting as you used to around each other. Do you not feel sorry for Big Sis Nabom, Dad?”
“What should I be sorry about?”
“Seriously, you’re so twisted.”
Jayeon let out another sigh and shook her head at my remark, but she didn’t say anything more than that.
It was currently Saturday afternoon, a day after the exams were over. Saeyeon, Jaim, and Jihye weren’t home right now. This was something that rarely happens, so I decided to have a talk with Jayeon. I started by talking about Upperclassman Nabom’s true identity.
Jayeon folded her arms and spoke while tilting her head.
“That’s weird······. If I remember correctly, you got along with Big Sis Nabom after you found out who she was. You even worked together.”
Come to think of it, Upperclassman Nabom mentioned that as well. That up until now, I would always figure her identity out by myself. That I would even create a rather impressive scene while doing so. Regardless, there was something that bothered me more than that.
“I worked together with her? For what? The festival preparations?”
“There’s that and, what was it······? I don’t remember it that well.”
Jayeon frowned as if she were trying to remember and spoke while flicking her sidebang with her finger.
“Ever since I came here, some parts of my memories aren’t clear anymore. Is it because of the time machine? Or maybe it’s information contamination?”
Hmm······. Jayeon let out the same sound Saeyeon would make as she thought about it. Those words bothered me, so I asked her about it.
“Your memories aren’t clear?”
“Yeah. Well, it might simply be because this was 5 years ago, but in any case, I recall you and Big Sis Nabom getting along really well around this point. To the point that I sometimes worried that it might be dangerous.”
I see, so Jayeon’s ‘me’ was able to ‘forgive that’.
“The only thing that’s dangerous is the way you latch on to me.”
Jaim pouted once I said that with a small sigh.
“I told you. I’m not behaving dangerously. It’s natural that a daughter would like her father, right? It’s amazing that we can change the future, isn’t it?”
“About that······.”
I involuntarily opened my mouth.
“Can the future really be changed?”
Jayeon blinked at me in confusion.
“······Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“It’s just, you know? If we can actually change the future by combining our strength, then how do you explain Upperclassman Nabom?”
Her existence itself meant that the future can’t be changed.
If only Jaim and Jayeon were in the picture, then it might be possible to change the future. Within Jaim’s memories, I was cold to her when she was little, so she came to the past in order to change that, and according to Jayeon, as a result of that, although I do end up losing Saeyeon, I still get along with Jayeon. There’s no way that I would only be cold towards Jaim, then.
But if Jayeon grows up to be Upperclassman Nabom, then there should be no reason for her to come to the past and be so secretive while also plotting things like this. If Jayeon and the future me had changed the past and reached a future where Saeyeon doesn’t die, then for what reason would she be here?
It might just be a ‘maybe’, but Upperclassman Nabom’s words and actions up until now that were telling me that the future can’t be changed, might be her trying to prevent me from changing the future. I had this sort of hunch.
A strange smile appeared on Jayeon’s face as she answered my question.
“That’s because Big Sis Nabom failed.”
“······She failed?”
Her words and her smile felt somewhat eery, so I asked back.
With a peculiar, belittling smile still on her face, Jayeon spoke.
“I told you. You can change the past a little bit at a time, and it will change.”
“Yeah.”
“From what I remember, that was Big Sis Nabom’s goal as well. To change the past little by little and ultimately change the future. However, I know that she failed when I was little, so she went back to the future.”
If someone were to ask if I predicted this······ then I sort of did.
It’s not like I don’t understand.
Jayeon shrugged and puffed her chest out as she spoke.
“When I was little, a middle school version of myself never appeared. So the fact that I was able to come here and change the past is not only incredibly lucky (Trick of Destiny), but it’s also an opportunity. In other words, I was chosen by destiny (The Wild Card).”
“······Uh.”
“From Big Sis Nabom’s perspective, it’s natural that she’d be jealous and envious. Even though she failed, I was able to obtain an opportunity to succeed (Trick of Destiny) like this. That’s why she’s trying to interfere by saying ‘you can’t change the future (Destiny End)’.”
Jayeon must have noticed my vacant gaze as she chuckled.
“What’s wrong? I’m saying that you’re also lucky, Dad. My dad from when I was a child was less dense, but even he didn’t receive this sort of luck (The Wild Card). Be happy.”
“No, not that. Are you also a chuunibyou?”
What’s up with her choice of words? It’s more cringy than what I used to say.
“Isn’t it obvious for a 2nd-year middle student to have chuunibyou?”
(TL note: If you didn’t know, ‘chuunibyou’ literally translates to ‘8th-grade syndrome’)
Jayeon winked at me and answered like that. Well, if that’s her reason, then I can’t really say anything about it······.
“So you’re saying that my previous iteration and Upperclassman Nabom cooperated with that?”
“I don’t feel like that’s what she cooperated with you for, but in any case, doesn’t the very fact that Big Sis Nabom came to the past mean that the future can be changed? If Big Sis Nabom was telling the truth and the future really can’t be changed, then there’s no reason for her to come to the past. If the future won’t change no matter what Jaim does, no, not me, but the younger version, then why did she come here to keep watch?”
Yeah. She’s right. I’ve been wondering about that.
She came here with a goal, but if you look at it from another perspective, then it means that there’s something she has to do in the past in order to achieve that goal of hers. If the future truly can’t be changed, then there’s no reason for her to inconvenience herself by traveling to the past. She can’t achieve her goal no matter what she does, after all.
“So it’s a lie that the future can’t be changed. She’s simply saying that because she failed.”
Jayeon spoke confidently.
“The future can definitely be changed.”
As if she were trying to convince herself.
“······Yeah.”
So I decided to believe those words as well.
Jayeon smiled warmly once she saw me nod.
“Also, try to get along with Big Sis Nabom. Regardless of everything that’s happened until now, she’ll be leaving after the festival is over. At least try to get along with her until then. If you think about it, Big Sis Nabom might be the most pitiful person among us.”
“No, I······.”
I had refused, but before I could tell her that, I suddenly recalled Upperclassman Nabom’s words. That’s right. Once she returns to the past, she’ll be ‘confined’, and according to Jayeon, she failed.
“······More importantly, you haven’t told me to unite with Saeyeon, have you?”
I decided to change the topic. Jayeon raised a brow in response to my abrupt question, but she thankfully understood my intent as she let out a small sigh and grinned.
“Obviously. My younger self hasn’t said that lately either, has she? Why? Do you want to hear me tell you that? Want me to?”
······It seems she still has that same teasing grin when she grows up.
“I know that you and Mom have been getting along better as of late, so there’s no reason for me to tell you. It’s the same with Jaim as well. And······.”
“······?”
However, Jayeon’s expression became dark for an instant. It was only for a moment, so she had already gone back to smiling before I could finish tilting my head. Jayeon spoke while beaming.
“And I also saw you and Mom make me. Ah, I naturally pretended as if I were quietly sleeping, so you don’t have to worry.”
” ······.”
This brat says some amazing things with a smile on her face. But more importantly, then······. No, never mind. Let’s not think about it.
“Ah, your face became red. What are you imagining? Hm?”
“S-Shut up.”
It seems I’ve dug my own grave. I turned my head away, but since I couldn’t block my ears, I heard Jayeon’s teasing voice.
“How is it? It’s a bit embarrassing now that you hear things like that, right? Can you picture it? You and Mom······. Mm, in your birthday suits, mm······. Yeah, when you get into bed together, Mom shyly asks ‘C-Can you turn off that light?’, and you turn off the light because you were also embarrassed, but you can still clearly see everything under the moonlight, so the two of you softly press your lips together, and······.”
And······ Saeyeon’s skin glows brightly under the blue moonlight······ her charming chest, and, her blushing cheeks······ I move my hands slowly, and······.
“How far have you two progressed?”
“Hgyuak!”
I managed to somehow collect myself once I saw Jayeon’s face as she poked my side.
“S-Shut it, you lewd brat! W-Whawhawhawhawhat kind of weird thoughts are you making me have?! W-With your Mom and Dad at that!”
“Ei, what’s wrong? You’re going to do all that later on anyway. Mhm mhm. Everyone is bound to go up the steps of adulthood like thaaaubububu!”
I pulled on Jayeon’s cheeks as she had yet to read the mood. This is my first time pulling on her cheeks. It still feels nice even though she’s become a middle school student. It’s perfect for erasing the video playing in my head.
“Auuuh······. Ha, hahahaha······.”
Once I let go of her after catching my breath and returning peace to my brain, Jayeon rubbed her reddened cheeks and laughed.
“Ah······. It’s been a long time since you’ve called me a brat and pulled my cheeks. I missed this······.”
“I don’t care if you missed it or not! Seriously, even if you grow up, you’re still······.”
“But you’re the one who brought this up first, Dad. You self-destructed on your own.”
Her broad grin was annoying. I thought she was sort of cute, but her true nature was the same. No, she’s even worse. Even Jaim didn’t attack me this directly. Jayeon poked my side as she grinned teasingly.
“What were you imagining? Hm? Come on, tell me.”
“I didn’t imagine anything! In any case······.”
Right when I was about to say something, I heard the hallway getting noisy. My room was directly next to the hallway of the apartment, so I could hear everything. Jayeon seemed disappointed that she couldn’t tease me more as she shrugged before speaking.
“It seems everyone is back. What’s wrong, Dad?”
“N-Nothing!”
Why did they have to come back now of all times? No. My face is red. I’m not in a good condition to see Saeyeon. Jaim chuckled as she watched me rub my reddened face.
“Seriously, you’re so bad with girls, Dad······. Take a deep breath and calm down a little. Don’t behave weirdly.”
“I know! More importantly, where did they all even go anyway?”
I composed myself while complaining. This would have never happened if everyone didn’t go somewhere in the first place.
Saeyeon, Jaim, and Jihye didn’t tell me where they were going today at all. If I think about all of the times they would clearly tell me where they were going, this was a rare occasion.
“We’re home~.”
When Jayeon and I came out of the room together once we heard the footsteps, the front door opened and Saeyeon entered while smiling brightly. Jihye, Jaim, and an additional person followed behind her.
“H-Hello······.”
Once the little girl courteously, and yet, cautiously bowed her head, Saeyeon turned to face me with a smile.
“Jjaro, Heyeong is here to play.”
“All right. Welcome.”
Ahn Heyeong. Jaim’s closest friend. She’s also the reason why Jaim got in a fight with a bunch of elementary and middle school kids. If you could tell by Jaim’s appearance that she was spunky and rude, then you could easily tell by this girl’s appearance that she had a docileness and girlishness which was hard to find these days. Should I say she’s cute? It felt like I was looking at Saeyeon when she was little.
“Did you take Jaim to go play at Heyeong’s place?”
After Jaim fought for her sake a long time ago, the two of them had become quite close, so since the two of them would go out to play or Heyeong would come over to our place a lot during the summer break, I thought that was what they did. But Saeyeon smiled and shook her head in response to my question. Jaim answered instead.
“We met her at the park on our way home. It’s fine if she stays over for a bit, right?”
“Sure, why not?”
She doesn’t really need to get my permission every single time. Well, I guess it can’t be helped since it seems Heyeong finds it difficult to be around me. This girl must find my curt attitude to be intimidating. Even though it’s not like that. There’s no way that I would dislike her getting along with Jaim. It’s great to have friends, after all.
Once I gave her my consent, Jaim turned towards Heyeong.
“Then do you want to play some games?”
“Sure, but······.”
Heyeong threw glances at Jayeon while responding. Ah, come to think of it, this must be her first time meeting Jayeon. It seems I’m not the one she’s nervous about today, it’s this girl.
“There’s nothing to worry about. She’s just a weird woman.”
“A-A weird woman?”
“Hey, don’t tell her weird things. You’re shocking Heyeong.”
Heyeong became flustered by Jaim’s blunt answer. Jayeon smiled and lowered her upper body to bring herself down to Heyeong’s eye level before speaking.
“Hi. I’m Jin Jayeon. Jaim’s cousin.”
······I’ve been wondering, but where exactly did that name come from? Heyeong was still cautious as she gazed at Jayeon. Jayeon smiled gently and reached her hand out to pat Heyeong’s head.
“You’re Heyeong, huh? I heard a lot about you from Jaim. She praised you a lot saying that you’re a close friend and that you’re really kind.”
Once Heyeong turned to look back at Jaim, Jaim was gazing at Jayeon in surprise, but she didn’t say anything else. If anything, she averted her gaze as if she were embarrassed.
Ah, that’s right. Since she’s Jaim’s close friend, she’s also a close friend to Jayeon. And since Jayeon is the one who said it, Jaim must be thinking the same thing as well.
“Continue to get along with Jaim, okay?”
“Ah, I will······.”
Heyeong nodded. Satisfied, Jayeon ruffled Heyeong’s hair and raised her upper body back up.
“Now then, can this big sis play with you girls for a change? I want to hang out with you too, Heyeong. As long as Jaim is fine with it, that is. What do you think?”
Jaim had a blank expression on her face for a moment in response to Jayeon’s question which she had asked while grinning at her. It was as if she never expected Jayeon to ask her for permission.
“······Well, if Heyeong is okay with it.”
Once Jaim said that as she shyly pouted a bit, Jayeon turned towards Heyeong. Heyeong didn’t seem to really understand the current situation, but after staring at Jayeon for a bit, she eventually smiled and nodded.
“Okay······. Then let’s play together, Big Sis Jayeon.”
“Thanks.”
Jayeon smiled brightly.
As I watched the two Jaims and Heyeong head towards the living room, I asked a question towards Saeyeon who had been smiling happily since earlier.
“······Did you invite her over to do this?”
“Hm? What do you mean, Jjaro?”
Saeyeon blinked and answered as if she didn’t understand what I was saying, but I could see the satisfaction in her warm gaze. Yeah, there’s no reason for me to pry.
“More importantly, did you have a good talk with the older Miss? The Missus was very worried. Ah, I was as well.”
“You weren’t supposed to tell him that, Miss Jihye!”
Saeyeon desperately waved her arms once Jihye told me that with a mischievous smile on her face. So that was also the reason? I sort of figured that was the case, though. Saeyeon spoke towards me with a cautious look on her face.
“Ah, uhm, I thought it would be better if you had a talk with the older Jaim instead of me······. Did I meddle too much?”
Saeyeon gave me a worried look because she was afraid I might get upset at her, so I let out a small sigh and shook my head with a smile.
“No. Thanks. We were able to have a good talk thanks to you.”
It seems I’ve definitely been making the people around me worry. Jihye glanced at Saeyeon who was smiling in relief and spoke.
“Then I’ll go prepare some snacks for the three girls. Should I prepare some for you both as well?”
“I’m going to play with them as well, so I’ll leave my portion to you. What are you going to do, Jjaro? Are you going to stay home? Or are you going to head out?”
I was about to ask Jihye to prepare my share as well along with theirs, but I wound up turning towards Saeyeon as she continued. I thought she would naturally think that I would join them. Saeyeon giggled at my surprised gaze and spoke.
“Actually, we went to visit Big Sis Nabom today.”
“······.”
That’s impressive. She dealt with three things all at once. I thought the three of them just went out to play. By going out, Saeyeon let Jayeon and I talk while they went to talk with Upperclassman Nabom, and on their way back, she brought Heyeong with them to make Jaim and Jayeon get along. It was so proficient that it was hard to think that Saeyeon was the one who did it. I might actually know nothing about Saeyeon.
However, there was still one thing that bothered me.
“······What did Upperclassman Nabom tell you?”
Saeyeon and Jihye turned to look at each other for a moment before turning to smile at me. These two really do resemble one another whenever they behave and smile similarly like this.
“”It’s a secret.””
“······All right.”
Their teasing smiles concerned me, but I understood very well that they weren’t going to tell me.
“Then I’ll make sure to make your share as well, Master. Or should I prepare enough for both you and Miss Nabom to enjoy?”
And as expected, Jihye pushed my back so naturally that it made me wonder whether these two had planned this all beforehand or not.
“Jjaro?”
Saeyeon looked at me in surprise when she noticed me chuckle, but I assured her it was nothing as I shook my head.
“All right, then prepare it like that. I’ll make sure to not come back late.”
Okay. If everyone is going to set up this much of a foothold, then I have no other choice.
Ο
✿ΟΟ✿ΟΟ✿
Ο
However, once I actually stood in front of Upperclassman Nabom’s front door, I hesitated.
It’s been a long time since I last came here. I let out a small sigh and stood still for a long time with my hand hovering over the doorbell.
Honestly, it took me a very long time to even come all the way here.
I was able to get out of the house, but I hesitated several times while coming here, couldn’t muster the courage to press the call button at the entrance of the studio flat which led to me receiving weird glances from the old ladies that went by while I paced around the entrance, and I was finally able to go in after following another resident as they were going inside. However, I ended up hesitating even more once I realized that there was only one step left.
What should I say? How should I talk to her? Would I be able to stay composed if I face her in person? Is it okay for me to enter? All sorts of thoughts went through my head. The closed door felt as if it were telling me to not come in.
······As I thought, should I just go back?
The instant I thought that and was about to turn around, the door opened. Upperclassman Nabom’s face appeared in the half-opened doorway.
“How long are you going to stand there?”
She had her usual sleepy eyes and emotionless look on her face. Upperclassman Nabom went back in just like that. Of course, I had no other choice but to follow her after being caught.
“······How did you know I was coming?”
“Because Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, Miss Jaim, and Miss Jihye were here earlier. I figured that you would be arriving soon and I coincidentally saw you enter the building when I checked, but do you know how much time has passed since then? Do you not know how to open a door, Underclassman Jin Jaro? If you grab the handle, turn it, and push, then it’ll open.”
“I have to press the doorbell before that.”
Upperclassman Nabom gave me a sidelong glance in response to my grumbling.
“I had left the door open.”
I couldn’t say anything back, so I turned my gaze to the room.
Just as I remembered, the room was still bleak.
If there was a difference compared to last time, then it was the fact that there was a small table between me and Upperclassman Nabom, and there was a poster of Nanda on the wall.
“So you’re putting the poster up now?”
“Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, Miss Jaim, and Miss Jihye all know that I’m from the future, after all. I was honestly surprised when they came over all of a sudden that I had to draw this beauty mark hastily.”
Upperclassman Nabom closed one eye and rubbed her beauty mark off.
“······Was that a water-based marker?”
“I was in a hurry. I normally do it with makeup.”
Was this why she would always have only light makeup on? Upperclassman Nabom turned to look at me as I tried to carefully select my words. All she did was erase a single beauty mark, but it felt out of place.
If I think about it, this was also my first time seeing Upperclassman Nabom in this attire.
She wasn’t wearing her usual school uniform or the mature and elegant outfit she would sometimes wear, but she was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of shorts instead. If anything, her casual outfit emphasized her charming figure even more.
Places like her long legs, her collarbone, the dot on her collarbone, her slender waist, and her bountiful chest and bottom. I wanted to tell her to wear proper clothes at home as well. Even if the opposition is the underclassman she would always tease, or her actual father, isn’t she a bit too defenseless? She’s alone with a guy.
“What’s wrong? Are you still a man before you’re a dad even though you know that I’m your daughter?”
I must have been staring at her too much as Upperclassman Nabom smiled gently and teased me.
“······Don’t say weird things. In a situation like this as well.”
I averted my gaze and said that out of embarrassment, but I realized that I had said that a bit harshly once I noticed Upperclassman Nabom’s apologetic gaze.
“So, why are you here?”
Upperclassman Nabom let out a sigh and spoke. I regained my senses thanks to those words.
“It’s the weekend and the exams have just ended, so why aren’t you going somewhere with Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, the younger and older Miss Jaims, and Miss Jihye? The weather is nice today as well.”
“······I could ask the same thing to you, Upperclassman Nabom.”
“As you may know, I have nowhere else to go. I also have nothing else to do except roll around in my home. I’m not particularly blaming you, so please don’t make that sort of face. I know that you actually don’t feel that bad.”
Upperclassman Nabom let out another sigh and shook her head.
“I expected this to happen since Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, the younger Jaim, and Miss Jihye had come here together, but you really do listen to your family well.”
“······.”
“Like I said, I’m not particularly blaming you, so please stop making that face. I know very well that you’re thinking ‘But you said that you aren’t my family······.’.”
······She’s sulking.
“I’m not really sulking.”
“······Is there an electric sign on my face or something?”
Even if she knew me well because she’s met me when she was young and now, she’s like a fortune teller right now. It felt creepy because it feels like she’s constantly known whatever has been on my mind until now.
“It was hard to act clueless at times.”
“······It’s fine.”
I just let out a sigh and sat down. Upperclassman Nabom chuckled weakly.
“Still, I’m grateful that you came today.”
“I didn’t really······.”
“I know very well that you didn’t come here because you weren’t upset anymore, so you don’t have to say it.”
“······Can you stop doing that?”
Upperclassman Nabom managed to smile normally once I complained to her.
“They say that when a girl has a deep resentment towards someone, then it’ll snow during the middle of the summer, so you should be grateful that I’m like this. It’s hard to find big-hearted people like me.”
“I’m honored.”
Yeah. It’s this sort of atmosphere. We were able to measure our distances a little again. Human relationships also adapt to the environment.
“In any case, welcome to my humble abode, father.”
“······.”
My bitterly smiling mouth twitched once I heard those words.
Upperclassman Nabom’s shoulders slouched as she chuckled shyly.
“Actually, I’ve always wanted to say this line.”
For some reason, there was regret and delight in those words. I carefully averted my gaze from Upperclassman Nabom who seemed to be embarrassed about having said that herself and spoke.
“About what happened before······.”
“Ah, I haven’t prepared any drinks. I’ll be just a moment.”
Upperclassman Nabom stood up the moment I finally managed to utter those words. I’m not sure whether she intended to cut me off or if she truly thought that it wasn’t polite to not prepare anything. I couldn’t say anything towards Upperclassman Nabom’s back as she used the kitchen in the corner of her single-room home and boiled water, so I decided to wait.
“You preferred coffee, right, Underclassman Jin Jaro?”
Shortly after, she set down a cup of coffee for me. The strong scent of black coffee emanated. Upperclassman Nabom spoke with a smile.
“How’s the fragrance? Is it nice? I prepared some just in case, but I’m glad I did.”
“······I actually have these.”
I extended the shopping bag I had been holding since earlier.
“Jihye prepared these. She told me to share them with you.”
Upperclassman Nabom received the shopping bag and took out its contents without a word. There were two prettily packaged bags of cookies.
“I see. Please give Miss Jihye my thanks.”
Upperclassman Nabom gazed at the bags of cookies while smiling warmly. I carefully brought my cup of coffee to my lips while watching her.
“······Uhk.”
“What’s the matter? Is it not to your liking?”
Upperclassman Nabom quickly inquired the instant she saw me frown. I shook my head lightly and put down the cup.
“No, it’s just sweet. I prefer my coffee black.”
“Ah······. That’s right. I’m sorry. It’s just you prefer it sweet in the future.”
Upperclassman Nabom spoke as if she didn’t know what to do. It was refreshing to see this person give this sort of reaction, but it wasn’t as pleasant as I expected it to be. Upperclassman Nabom handed me her own cup.
“Th-then, drink this. I actually like it black as well.”
“No, it’s fine. I came all the way here, so I’ll drink what you give me.”
“I haven’t put my lips on it yet, so you don’t have to worry about an indirect kiss. Drink it. I’ll drink that.”
Upperclassman Nabom ignored my refusal and switched our cups.
“······But I put my lips on that cup already.”
“Ah······. Well, shouldn’t it be fine? We’re father and daughter.”
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but Upperclassman Nabom took a sip as if it were fine. I didn’t think that I would drink sweet coffee in the future. I wonder if it’s because of my age. Upperclassman Nabom opened her bag of cookies and examined one after taking it out.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had these as well. Cookies made by Miss Jihye are definitely good. I never said it out loud, but I always liked them. From a certain standpoint, they were like cookies made by my mom.”
After turning the cookie around back and forth, Upperclassman Nabom tossed it into her mouth. She closed her eyes in order to savor the taste before nodding her head.
“It tastes just as I remembered it. It seems this doesn’t change no matter how much time passes.”
“······Is that so?’
I didn’t really have anything else to say, so I also munched on some cookies. This was a common taste for me, but it must have been a nostalgic taste to Upperclassman Nabom. Upperclassman Nabom chuckled at my response before speaking.
“In truth, I secretly watched Miss Jihye bake these when I was little and learned the recipe, but I could never replicate this taste. I wonder if it’s because she’s a robot and she’s capable of making precise measurements or if it’s actually because it has a motherly taste.”
“So you’ve acknowledged her as your mom, huh? Even though you complained a bunch when you were little.”
“It’s because of what Underclassman Ja Saeyeon said to me back then.”
Miss Jihye. Underclassman Ja Saeyeon.
She revealed to me that she was Jaim and that’s why she’s been nonchalantly talking to me about things that happened in the past as if she were reminiscing, but her tone and the suffixes she used were still that of Upperclassman Nabom. Moreover, my tone towards Upperclassman Nabom was the same as well.
This fact made me feel strangely mirthless.
There’s a chance that Upperclassman Nabom might have continued to wait for me here.
For the day I discover the truth and come looking for her.
Until the day I come to this small room.
“······I’m sorry there isn’t much to do here.”
Upperclassman Nabom smiled bitterly as she saw me avert my gaze because I found it difficult to keep looking at her.
“If I knew this would happen, then I should have accepted that TV you offered me a while back.”
“No, it’s not particularly because of that······.”
“That’s right. Do you want me to clean your ears? You liked that, didn’t you, Underclassman Jin Jaro?”
Upperclassman Nabom smiled as she patted her legs. It seems she also didn’t like this atmosphere, but that offer was a bit. Moreover.
“Uhm······. Saeyeon, did that yesterday······.”
“······I see. You two get along quite well, huh?”
She smiled bitterly for some reason. While smiling bitterly as if she were disappointed, Upperclassman Nabom looked around the room to see if there was something to do.
As if she wanted to do whatever she could to prevent me from getting bored.
As if she wanted to do whatever she could to keep me here a little longer.
“Then how about a shoulder massage? I never gave you one when I was little, after all. Despite my looks, I’m actually quite good at giving massages, you know?”
Because her behavior was pitiable and unsightly, I······.
“There’s something I want to ask.”
I hid my emotions and spoke.
“······When I told you I would answer your questions before, you asked something completely nonsensical, and you’re trying to actually ask me something now, huh? Well, fine. I’ll answer what I can.”
She said that while sighing in my face, but I had already decided to accept this much reproach. Upperclassman Nabom didn’t seem to want to talk about this, but her expression lightened up once she realized that I would be staying for a bit longer. It was hard to talk when she looked like that, but I still did.
“You definitely said that you traveled back in time using a time machine, right? But why is it that if you travel back in time, you’re able to change the past little by little? You’re traveling back to a point in time that had already occurred.”
The future is changeable. The past is unchangeable. This was similar to common sense. When Upperclassman Nabom said that ‘the future can’t be changed’, that was probably an extension to this statement. Because the future I’m trying to change is a past which had already happened to Jaim and Upperclassman Nabom.
The past had already occurred, so the incidents have concluded. In other words, it’s already fixed. If that’s the case, then no matter how many times you travel back in time, there shouldn’t be any changes to the things that had happened before then. However, Upperclassman Nabom and Jayeon told me otherwise. I was told that I was dense, that I was supposed to have already figured out Upperclassman Nabom’s true identity, but I didn’t.
Upperclassman Nabom sighed.
“Your memory must be terrible, Underclassman Jin Jaro. Did I not tell you before? The past will change, even if it’s only a little bit at a time.”
That’s right. Before Jayeon interrupted our conversation, Upperclassman Nabom had said that. She said that trivial changes that can’t be observed can also occur. For example, like how Jayeon and Upperclassman Nabom had told me before, things like whether I figure out Upperclassman Nabom’s true identity on my own or be told about it like this.
“Then does that mean the time machines everyone has been using don’t travel to the past, but to a different parallel universe instead?”
If that’s the case, then those sort of actions will create turning points, and those so-called time machines are actually devices that travel to different turning points and not the past, right? If it’s like this, then if we go to a universe with a different result, then a world where Saeyeon doesn’t die······.
“Let’s define the word ‘parallel’, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
Instead of answering my question, Upperclassman Nabom asked me her own question. Why is she asking me this all of a sudden? I was surprised by her sudden question which she had asked with a thin smile, but I still answered her.
“Parallel means······.”
“It means two lines or faces on a surface which will never meet no matter how far they extend. Like a railroad track.”
Upperclassman Nabom spoke before I could even answer.
“If this is the case, then a ‘separated universe that takes shape due to a special event’, which everyone talks about, shouldn’t be called a ‘parallel universe’. If there is a point in the past where the two worlds divide, then that means there’s a meeting point and that it isn’t parallel.”
I didn’t understand what she was saying so I tilted my head.
“So you’re saying that it shouldn’t be called a parallel universe?”
“No. I’m saying that such a thing doesn’t exist. To be exact, it’s impossible to know whether they exist or not. The instant we’re able to intervene or observe another world, that becomes a meeting point. So the concept that you’re thinking about, Underclassman Jin Jaro, is closer to a ‘diverged universe’ or a ‘branch universe’ more than it is a ‘parallel universe’.”
“······I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. In the first place, why are you saying this right now?”
When I asked that while lowering my body slightly, Upperclassman Nabom answered with a smile. She spoke in a tone that sounded like a teacher or an upperclassman who was teaching a clueless child.
“Then I’ll put it in simpler terms. Do you know how many people live on this planet?”
Therefore, I decided to faithfully play my part as the student or underclassman who’s being taught.
“I don’t know the exact number but let’s say about 7 billion.”
“Do you think it’s possible to know exactly what all 7 billion people are doing right at this moment?”
“There’s no way to tell.”
“If so, then the present contains the results of the unknown actions of all 7 billion people. Furthermore, humans aren’t the only things on this planet and the Earth isn’t the only planet that exists.”
After saying that, Upperclassman Nabom raised her hands on top of her lap and smiled pleasantly as if she were waiting for me to answer. It seems she wanted me to think for myself.
“······So are you saying that it’s impossible to manage and observe every variable? The principle of uncertainty?”
There’s probably no need for me to thoroughly explain Heisenberg’s principle of uncertainty. It’s a complicated physics theory, after all. To put it simply, it’s the principle that you can’t completely and accurately observe the movement and position of a particle at the same time. There’s the figure of speech where if you look at a tree, you can’t see the forest, and if you look at a forest, you can’t see the tree. This explanation should be good enough.
Upperclassman Nabom gave a satisfied nod in response to my answer.
“That’s all you need to know. It’s all probability.”
“I feel like this is becoming a bit complicated.”
“Of course it’d be complicated. But there’s no need for you to dwell over it that much. It hasn’t been completely figured out in the future either. Underclassman Jin Jaro, you should know as well that theories and laws aren’t absolute and unchangeable facts.”
Naturally. Normal people mistake this often, but scientific theories and laws are continuously modified and changed to create new theories all the time. Similar to how Newton’s law of physics changed into the theory of relativity. Darn it, now I’m starting to talk about complicated topics.
“Let’s go back to the first question. Going back to the past doesn’t mean that you’re going back to a fixed location. That’s impossible. There’s no other choice but for trivial changes and differences to exist. Managing and observing an infinite number of variables is impossible. So a new universe being created after every single variable would be delusional. If they did, then even a single grain of sand being moved by a wave would create a new universe.”
Upperclassman Nabom chuckled as she watched me frown due to my gradual headache before continuing.
“Therefore, you shouldn’t think that changes caused by variables are able to create diverged or branch universes. Excluding the person who travels through time, the world is fixed.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s literally as I said. Only the people who have observed from the outside can notice these probabilities and variables. There is no way for the people living in the present to know. Although Underclassman Jin Jaro appears dense to both me and the older Miss Jaim, there’s no way for you yourself to have known that. You’ve lived like that until now and you’ll continue to do so.”
Upperclassman Nabom pulled one knee up into her arms as she spoke. Her smooth thighs that weren’t hidden by her shorts entered my field of vision.
“Even if you travel back in time and become aware of the differences, that information will be sent to the past. The probabilities are infinite, but in the end, it’ll come together as observations. That’s what information contamination is.”
I see. Now I sort of feel like I understand.
The present is created from a great number of cases that had overlapped coincidentally. So if you travel back in time, every single variable won’t be the same and some changes will occur.
However, those changes are trivial and can only be noticed by the people who had traveled through time. So, in the end, it’ll combine with the variables that hadn’t changed. The people who notice the differences between the two variables will be afflicted by information contamination and have their memories overwritten with the past information.
“Therefore, there may be trivial changes, but you simply travel back in time and not to a universe that is ultimately different.”
“······But isn’t that weird?”
“Which part?”
Upperclassman Nabom asked while munching on a cookie.
“If memories converge in the past, then why do the results of incidents not converge in the future? Is it because of observation information?”
If your memory fuses with the information from the past, then shouldn’t it also fuse with the result you witnessed in the future? Upperclassman Nabom took a sip from her coffee before answering my question.
“The future is the outcome of all those factors combining, after all. Did I not tell you already? It’s impossible to notice a change while inside that time frame. The future is a continuation of the present. It isn’t a separate entity.”
“Are you saying that the same future will arrive even if you don’t do anything?”
“No. I’m saying that as the result of your actions, the same future will arrive. I see. If anything, you might be able to arrive at a different future if you didn’t do anything. But there’s no way that you would.”
There was a delicate smile on Upperclassman Nabom’s face as she took in the scent emanating from her brew.
“······But what about what Jayeon said?”
“What did the older Miss Jaim say?”
Upperclassman Nabom was simply smiling lightly. I knew now that she wasn’t teasing me. I may be dense and Upperclassman Nabom may have a knack for having a poker face, but I at least knew this.
“Do you really not know?”
I asked this just in case, but Upperclassman Nabom responded with an unreadable smile still on her face.
“Back when I was Miss Jaim, my middle school self never appeared during this time frame.”
“Huh?”
Now that I think about it, Upperclassman Nabom had a genuinely surprised look on her face when Jayeon appeared. She looked as if she had witnessed something completely unexpected. It seems that expression was real.
“But you said I invented time machines. Did you not help me when you were little, Upperclassman Nabom?”
“No. I did help. I personally gave it a trial run, but I didn’t come to this time frame.”
Upperclassman Nabom shook her head in response to my question and placed her finger against her lip as she took a moment to think of a good way to explain.
“I see······. Since you used the principle of uncertainty as an example, I’ll use something similar as well. In other words, the older Miss Jaim’s existence is like ‘Schrödinger‘s cat’.”
“This is quite the easy to understand comparison for chuunibyous······.”
I didn’t expect for even this to be brought up. Once I smiled bitterly and gazed at her, Upperclassman Nabom pouted a bit and spoke.
“Oh dear, what do you mean by chuunibyou? I was simply giving you an example that was at the same level as your comparison earlier. In any case, the time machine at that time was truly incomplete. We had no way of knowing what period of time the device would send us. Thinking about it now, just arriving somewhere safely was a miracle.”
······And I made my daughter use it? Upperclassman Nabom must have noticed my expression as she smiled bitterly and spoke.
“The older Miss Jaim said it before, but there was a reason we had to. At any rate, that’s why I went to another time frame and came back. So I’ve never met an older Miss Jaim when I was little. That’s why I have no idea what she could have said.”
While Upperclassman Nabom was talking, her expression gradually changed to look as if she were giving an annoyed laugh. This is why I get sort of bewildered when she occasionally makes the same expressions Jaim does.
“On a side note, it seems that seeing my younger self isn’t that great. She shamelessly latches on to her dad, she’s rude, and she goes around acting cute······.”
“······Is it like seeing your dark history?”
Without a word, Upperclassman Nabom, who had been grinning, turned to face me silently in response to my remark. Shortly after, she shook her head and her previous thin smile appeared once more.
“Well, let’s forget about that for now. So what did the older Miss Jaim say? Did she say something behind my back?”
Could that be considered as talking behind her back······? I thought about it for a moment since it wasn’t what Upperclassman Nabom was thinking, but I decided to just tell her. I wanted to hear her answer as well.
“Jayeon told me that the reason she’s so close to me is due to the fact that I’m nice to her in the future. I’m not cold and indifferent to her like I was when she was little. She said I became a dad that’s nice and warm to her because of everything that had happened after she traveled back in time. That’s why the future can be changed.”
“······So she said that, huh?”
Once I told her everything, Upperclassman Nabom’s expression changed slightly.
It was strangely similar to the oddly scared smile Jayeon had for a moment when talking about how Upperclassman Nabom had failed.
And because that smile sent a chill down my spine, I wound up missing my opportunity to ask her about it.
Upperclassman Nabom put down her empty cup of coffee and spoke.
“Now then, since you’ve come all the way here, shall we talk about the preparation for the festival? I know that you have a lot of questions, but as I said previously, this festival means a lot to me.”
I honestly hesitated a bit. I wanted to hear her answer, after all. I wanted to know the meaning behind that terrified smile, why Jayeon and Upperclassman Nabom’s stories were so different, and what was being hidden from me.
“You don’t have to be so nervous. I feel like the previous incident should be more than enough to serve as a lesson.”
And Upperclassman Nabom must have seen through me this time as well as she beamed brightly and spoke.
“I’ll tell you one day if it becomes necessary.”
I wonder how much I can trust those words. However, instead of being afraid of those words, I was afraid of my own actions foremost, so I could only nod my head.
As Upperclassman Nabom wanted, instead of talking about something else, we focused on preparing for the festival.
Well, we didn’t get that far. We had to pick out a theme first, after all.
“Honestly speaking, aren’t all of Underclassman Jin Jaro’s inventions on the same level as junk? I have no idea why you’re trying to lay them out like some praiseworthy exhibition as if they’re something to talk about.”
“What do you mean junk?! Apologize! What’s so bad about my inventions?!”
“Say that again after looking at this list. Half of them don’t even activate and were shoved into the storage, and the rest are random things with no practical use. This is a school festival. People who want to see your awful display of failed products most likely don’t exist.”
“Fine! Then we’ll display Jihye! She’s one of my inventions, isn’t she?!”
“······You truly are a piece of trash, considering the fact that you’re suggesting we should enter one of your family members as an exhibition. Do you have no intention to rehabilitate yourself?”
Talking like this made things a bit more comfortable.
It was just how I remembered Upperclassman Nabom.
We weren’t talking about complicated matters or arguing whether the future can be changed or not. We were simply joking around as we used to.
“Still, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon said that she would help, but I’ve never seen her properly show her face at the club room. Are you sure you haven’t actually been abandoned, Underclassman Jin Jaro?”
“······Please don’t say that about your mom and dad. It was because of the exams.”
“Let’s go with that, then. Nevertheless, it’s a bit regrettable that Underclassman Shin Nanda didn’t come to help. I thought he would come to give his friend a helping hand and spend a heated time together.”
“This has been on my mind since a long time ago and It’s been bothering me even more ever since I found out who you really are, but do you really want to have those sort of delusions with your dad and the popular singer you like?”
“Being able to have a fun time with a spoon and fork is a refinement which a girl has. Did the two of you not have a pleasant lunch together in the club room before? I was quite pleased with just that.”
“I don’t think Jaim and Jayeon are like this······.”
“Let’s just say that this is a hobby that forms over time.”
And when we talk like this, it becomes a bit uncomfortable.
I can tell that she had become Ha Nabom and not Jin Jaim.
It might be mean to say that she had become her, but that change of hers was sad and painful to me. What happened to make her go as far as to hide her identity like this and come to the past.
“······Thank you.”
It’s because I was thinking this that I was a little late responding to Upperclassman Nabom’s words.
“What are you thanking me for?”
“You refused me back then, but you still heeded my request.”
Upperclassman Nabom raised her head with a faint smile on her face.
“Honestly, I thought that I would be left here by myself until the day I go back. I thought that the Underclassman Jin Jaro of this time frame would no longer come looking for me.”
It was hard to give her a response.
That delighted smile. That smile that looks like she was welcoming someone whom she thought would never come, who had abandoned her. That expression hurt.
Upperclassman Nabom looked around her room as she spoke.
“I thought that only the day of my return would be waiting for me as I spent my time here in this empty home and the club room like this, by myself.”
In this completely desolate, colorless room.
In the club room which I was the only other person who would appear.
There are only two places that Upperclassman Nabom could be.
“······Even if our relationship isn’t good, there’s still Saeyeon, Jaim, Nanda, and Jihye.”
Upperclassman Nabom shook her head lightly at my remark.
“No. You’re the only one I have, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
She placed both of her hands on her cheek and giggled. Like Jaim. As if she were embarrassed to say that. But as if she enjoyed doing so.
“My everything revolves around you, Underclassman Jin Jaro.”
“······Ugh.”
“How was it? Did I make your heart skip a beat? Have you gained the resolve to reach the Ha Nabom ending?”
Upperclassman Nabom chuckled at the sound that I had unintentionally let out. Thanks to that mood-disregarding laughter, I barely managed to grumble back like usual.
“D-Don’t say things like that even as a joke. We’re father and daughter, aren’t we?”
“We’re a father and daughter who speak formally to each other, though. Aren’t taboos there to be broken?”
Upperclassman Nabom smiled teasingly as she sent me a wink. She placed one hand against her chin and used her other hand to grab the collar of her shirt and pull it down with her finger a bit. With a teasing expression. As if she were asking me what I was going to do next.
“No one’s looking right now.”
“······How did that Jaim become like this?”
Seriously, what is she thinking? Does she like teasing me this much? Once I let out a sigh, Upperclassman Nabom raised her body off of the table as if she were satisfied.
“As I thought, exchanging silly jokes like this is the best. I was jealous of Big Sis Nabom because of this.”
Upperclassman Nabom scratched her cheek out of embarrassment as she spoke. It was my first time seeing her do this, but it was one of Saeyeon and Jaim’s habits.
More importantly, by ‘Big Sis Nabom’, she means······. I see. Jaim grows up to be Upperclassman Nabom, so there must have been a previous Upperclassman Nabom. If that’s the case, then is Upperclassman Nabom acting like that Upperclassman Nabom? My head hurts the more I think about this. This is something I can’t really talk about either.
–That’s because Big Sis Nabom failed.
Then is Upperclassman Nabom repeating that failure? Why? When she knows that she will fail.
“I was going to say this earlier, but I’m sorry.”
I managed to utter an apology while rubbing the back of my neck. Upperclassman Nabom blinked at me as if she didn’t know what I was talking about, but she eventually smiled weakly.
“If that’s the case, then can you do one thing for me?”
“What is it?”
I gave her that hesitant response and Upperclassman Nabom spoke with a disappointed look on her face.
“If it’s all right, then I want to go somewhere with everyone again. Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, the older and younger Jaims, Miss Jihye, and Underclassman Shin Nanda. Everyone. If possible, of course.”
That pitiable smile bothered me.
Upperclassman Nabom knows what’s going to happen after this. Her adding ‘if possible’ at the end meant that everyone going somewhere to play never happened before or it’s something trivial that can be changed. It may be a big wish for Upperclassman Nabom, but it’s most likely a trivial activity.
So I nodded my head.
“······If it’s just that much, then it should be fine since the exams are over.”
I didn’t want to see Upperclassman Nabom’s face become even sadder after I gave her that response, so I turned away and continued.
“In any case, let’s finish talking about the theme for our exhibition. If we want to leave behind proof that you were here, Upperclassman Nabom, then we have to do our best.”
This was the most that I could do, after all.
