사랑시 (Twinkling Watermelon ff)

7. Time travel

Yeon Yi-joo

I was dying to know about him throughout my life, but now that I finally got to know about him, I felt lost. So I took a deep breath and opened a random page.

____________
May 1995

Today, first love memory manipulators are
going to perform at the festiv-
____________

I can't.

I couldn't read the diary. Not only that, but I was not ready.

Not yet.

I took the diary and placed it inside my bag pack and made my way towards MJ Entertainments. Throughout the way, I was thinking about what I should say to him, but I was unable to think of anything, as if my brain were broken. I knew I needed to get myself together, but my mind didn't coordinate.

I made it into the Entertainment's building with the temporary entry card they gave me. The president's secretary was not at her place, which made it easier for me to enter his room.

I wiped off my eyes and glanced at my reflection on the shiny door, I look like shit.

But I ignored that and knocked on the door before entering.

“Yeon Yi-joo trainee?” He looked up from him files.

That's my dad, the dad I thought never existed.

I walked forward.

“Is something wro-”

“Yeon Sujin”, as soon as my mother's name left my mouth, he stood up, as if realisation hit him.

“You are-”

“Exactly what you're thinking”

He walked closer to me as his eyes started to water, just like mine. He held his hand forward to touch my face, but I backed off, blinking off the tears as they made my vision blur. I had so many things to ask him, but there was this one question stuck in my mind.

“Why did you abandon me?” I almost whispered because my throat was hurting because I was trying my best not to break down.

“I didn't know t-that you existed”

“YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN”

“I'm sorry, Yi-joo. I-I am truly sorry”

“Did mom not tell you about me?”

He nodded at my words.

It was not his fault.

“I always wanted a dad. I used to get so jealous when my friends bragged about their dads at school. But do you think everything will be okay if you apologize now?  Do you think it will all disappear?” I cried.

I felt his hand over my head as I gazed up, “From now on I'll never leave your side, I promise”

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Why did they broke up?

Why did mother not tell him about me?

Maybe all the answers were inside the diary. I found an empty bench near a garden, taking a seat, I removed the diary. As I was about to open the first page, something shone over my eyes, blinding me.

Adjusting my eyes, I glanced at the source of light. It was a music shop, La Vida music.

It was so attractive that I walked near the shop without giving it a single thought. As I opened the door, a sound of guitar welcomed me in. It was the doorbell.

I looked around the ownerless shop. It was giving off vintage vibes, so unique. It was weird because I had no idea about this shop, considering it was in my neighborhood. 

“Welcome, I'm the master of this store”, I almost had a mini heart attack when I heard the owner's voice from behind.

The shop was not ownerless after all.

“Hello”, I bowed.

“I'm sure it wasn't easy to find my store. What brings you here?”

“I just saw your shop, it looked beautiful, so I just came to have a look," I replied.

“Do you want to buy a guitar? A boy just sold it to me. It's a rare item, and you look like you do music”

“I don't have that much money, but can I take a look at it?” I asked him.

He went towards his counter and pulled out a beautiful electric guitar.

“Here”, he handed me the guitar.

“Thank you”, my eyes turned into heart's looking at it.

I held it properly and ran my hand slowly across the strings and that's when I realized, it was not only beautiful from outside, it also sounded like heaven.

I played a random chord and that's when I realized, I needed this.

“Just buy it, kiddo”, the owner said.

“This must be expensive”

“You do have something more valuable with you right now”, he spoke.

Something more valuable?

“That diary, give it to me”, he pointed out my mother's diary.

“This one?” I held up the diary, confused.

No way I'm going to give this to him.

“I can't, it's my mother's. Can you tell me the price of the guitar? I'll come again once I have enough money for it”

“10 million won”

It was expensive as fuck.

“But this will be sold until you come back. Give me the diary and take this guitar”

I was so blinded by the guitar that I ended up giving him the diary because I was not really ready to read it. I would rather listen to everything from my mother. I deserved an explanation anyway.

“Take this transaction card. But you'll be in a tight spot if you lose it, okay?” He gave me a card.

“Okay”

“Be careful on your way out, you might get lost," he said as I walked near the door.

The owner was weird. He took mother's diary instead of 10 million won. Won't he go broke at this rate?

I opened the door and stepped out of the shop.

What the actual fuc-

It was not night anymore, and I was no more in my neighborhood. I glanced back and the music shop vanished. So I looked around, panicking, trying to find out where the hell I was.

And that's when my eyes fell on a giant poster. It was some sort of advertisement.

Offer available until 10th April 1995?

1995?

“Excuse me, do you know what the date is today?” I stopped a random guy on the street.

“April 4”

“2023, right?”

“What? It's 1995 kid”

Did I time travel?