Chapter 425: Reunion - Goodbye

Why did people always end up doing things they regretted?

"I wanted to be honest with you and have a real conversation, hyung."

After Hyun-Woo passed away, I regretted not trying to talk to him more, not properly apologizing, not asking what he was thinking, and so many other things. I had promised myself that if this strange scenario ever resolved and I met him again, I would share all those unspoken thoughts... But now, I found myself unable to speak as I stood before him. My lips were sealed shut.

Regret, guilt, difficulty, and unexpected circumstances all piled up. I kept postponing my plan until the very end. It was only now, at the last moment, that I had the courage to speak. I would probably regret not having a proper conversation today for the rest of my life. But at least before I left, I wanted to say what I had to.

Time was short, and even though my tears blurred my speech, I needed to say my final words to him. He was the one who would be left alone in this timeline.

"Jin-Sung."

My sobs had gotten out of hand, and soon Hyun-Woo approached me with a worried expression while patting my back. I had missed this unchanging kindness, and I knew I would miss it dearly in the future.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

A blue window appeared next to me, indicating I had about thirty minutes left. Damn it, if I had known, I would have said all I wanted to say yesterday or even this morning. Why notify me when I only had an hour left?

I tried to speak as clearly as possible despite the tears streaming down my face. "Thank you for staying alive. You’ve been through so much in your past life. So, please... Stay happy."

"..."

Hyun-Woo’s expression changed. He seemed to realize that this was truly the end. "What did you choose?"

"If I could, I would have liked to sit down with a drink and talk more, but I was too scared. I felt too guilty," I said, feeling another wave of tears coming. Seeing Hyun-Woo’s face, I felt like I was falling apart.

Why did we have to endure such a tragic parting?

"Jin-Sung."

"I might not see you again, but if we do meet..."

I had originally planned to say this if Hyun-Woo came back to our world. I never imagined I would say this in such a situation, but this could be the last opportunity.

"Can you treat me like Chronos' Lee Jin-Sung? Let’s not be awkward with each other anymore."

Hyun-Woo was surprised and his eyes widened, but he nodded, saying, "Take care, Jin-Sung."

It was the same warm voice I had longed to hear.

"There’s something I wanted to tell you too." His hand was still comforting my back. His eyes looked determined. "I didn’t get hurt because of you. It was just an unavoidable situation."

"Hyun-Woo hyung..."

"I didn’t say anything back then because of my inferiority complex. I didn’t want to talk because I was struggling too much."

He could only say this now because he was happy.

Hyun-Woo bowed his head and apologized. "I’m sorry for making you feel guilty for so long."

Seeing his smile reassured me that I had made the right choice. Although I wanted to stay here longer, now that we had finally expressed our true feelings, I didn’t regret my decision.

"Ah, really." I wiped my tears with my hand and joked, "If I had more time, I’d tell you how lonely Elated was without you."

Hyun-Woo matched my tone and joked back. "Really? I quite enjoyed my time as a trainer. My students liked me. You didn’t know this, did you?"

"I did. On-Sae respected you so much that his face turned red every time he mentioned you. Seems like it’s the same here too."

I glanced at the blue window. Only five minutes left. It was so little time that I almost laughed.

"Anyway, you can hear about Elated from Yoo-Joon hyung and Joo-Han hyung. And... tell Yoo-Joon hyung to call me when he returns to the original timeline."

Hyun-Woo chuckled. "Do I look like a messenger? You tell him yourself. Make up with him." He knew the situation between Yoo-Joon and me. His hand, which had been comforting my back, dropped.

Two minutes left. It was time to wrap up the conversation.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Hyung."

"What, kid?"

"Please think about Elated too sometimes. I know you love Chronos, but I worry that you will forget us."

"No matter how hard I try, I can’t forget you guys."

"If only we had one more day... I have to go now."

Hyun-Woo’s smile quickly stiffened. He hadn’t realized that I would leave right now. It was unfortunate, but only thirty seconds remained.

After thirty seconds, I wouldn’t be able to see Hyun-Woo anymore. There would be no calls, no texts, no way to see him even if I wanted to. I wouldn’t even get occasional updates once the scenario ended.

The tears that had stopped began to flow again.

‘I’m really going to miss you.’

Hyung, my guilt and trauma, and despite them all, the family I was reluctant to let go... As our souls were drifting apart from each other, I heard Hyun-Woo’s voice.

"You should stay happy, too."

His words shed all our negative emotions that had trapped us into a jail. This was the final goodbye.

***

It was a sight I had never seen before. Lee Jin-Sung, who had just been conversing with us moments ago, suddenly collapsed. At that moment, I knew that Lee Jin-Sung had returned to his original world.

Holding the now heavily sleeping Lee Jin-Sung, I was enveloped by a strange emotion. I had long wished that he would return to his original world as soon as possible, along with all the members of Elated. However, I felt incredibly lonely as soon as I realized Lee Jin-Sung was actually gone.

Right. I would never see Elated again. If Joo-Han and Goh Yoo-Joon also returned, I would never be able to see them again.

A sudden overwhelming loneliness, which I had never felt while performing with the members of Chronos, surged through me. It was a truly bizarre feeling. So many emotions intertwined, yet I hadn't managed to resolve them all before never seeing them again.

However, there was a slight relief in my heart. I had managed to let go of long-festering feelings, apologize, and wish for his happiness. These were all things I hadn’t had the chance to say in our final goodbye.

I truly hoped he would be happy and free from guilt.

"Haah." With a heavy sigh, I shook off the gloom and helped Lee Jin-Sung to his feet.

'I wonder how much he will remember when he wakes up.'

He was unbearably heavy. I planned to lay him on my bed and started walking when suddenly someone knocked and entered the room.

"What's wrong with Jin-Sung?"

I couldn't see who it was because of Lee Jin-Sung's body and face, but I recognized the voice. Joo-Han closed the door and came to help me with Lee Jin-Sung.

"It seems like he has returned to the original world."

"Is this Jin-Sung from Chronos then?"

"Yeah. He's passed out, so I can't be sure."

Joo-Han and I laid Jin-Sung on the bed and then sat down on the floor next to each other. A moment of silence passed. It had been quite a while since I had an easy conversation with Elated's Joo-Han.

"What did Jin-Sung say?"

"Just that he didn't have much time to talk. Oh, and he said to tell Goh Yoo-Joon to contact him as soon as he returns."

"Typical, he should've told him that himself."

"Exactly."

Joo-Han and I chuckled together. Whether he was from Elated or Chronos, Jin-Sung was still Jin-Sung. He always had a mountain of nagging to unload, no matter how grown-up he became.

"I didn't expect him to return so soon," I said.

"He seemed to have made his choice quickly. Yoo-Joon and I should also start preparing ourselves to go back."

I glanced at Joo-Han inadvertently. He wore a profoundly bitter expression, evidently having made some decision himself.

"...When are you leaving?"

Joo-Han fiddled with his phone. "I don't know. Didn't Jin-Sung just spring it on us that he had to go? It will probably be the same for us. Coming here was up to the creator god, and so is leaving. But since we arrived later than Jin-Sung, we probably have a bit more time." Joo-Han then looked at me with sorrow filled in his eyes. "It's really sad. We just got to meet."

"Are you upset that I'm now with the Chronos members?"

"Of course, you brat." Without any hesitation, Joo-Han hit my back hard enough that it actually hurt. "I was preparing a song for you, you know. The more I think about it, the more it annoys me!"

"For me?"

"It seems like you've already received it here, huh? But trust me, I made it much better. I earn more than what you probably think," Joo-Han grumbled, trying to outdo Chronos' Joo-Han. He looked quite upset, but his frustration eased after a short while.

"Still, I was happy to see you living your best life here. From what I've seen from my new memories, you've been laughing and eating well here. That's enough for me."

Joo-Han paused for a moment before averting his gaze and biting his lip. He looked calm, but soon, his eyes reddened. After hesitating for a long time, he finally said, "I really hate the thought of leaving you, Hyun-Woo."

Hearing Joo-Han say that made my own emotions surge. He had looked after me like an older brother since our trainee days. Saying goodbye was just as hard for me.

"We won't talk about the choices, but let's spend a lot of time talking while we can, Hyun-Woo. I won't be able to see you otherwise."

"Okay."

Joo-Han handed me his phone with the earbuds and signaled me to put it in. "If I knew I was coming here, I would have brought it with me. It’s a pity, but there was still a draft in Chronos Joo-Han’s file."

What was he talking about? I plugged in the earphones and looked at the phone screen, where one song was paused.

[Elated-once_again]

The moment I read the name of the song with my own eyes, chills ran through my entire body.

Joo-Han seemed to have expected my reaction. "I tried recreating the song I made as I remembered it. It's a song I have spent nights on, but I managed to redo it over a couple of days by putting in some hard work, just for you."