Chapter 431: Goodbye and Promise (6)

If Elated’s Goh Yoo-Joon stayed here...? He wanted to stay here? In this world? In this timeline?

"..."

What did I just hear?

An inevitable silence enveloped us. Despite the noise outside, the space between our opposite seats felt chillingly quiet. It was Goh Yoo-Joon, who usually shrugged off serious questions with a sheepish smile and dismissed them as jokes, but now he was waiting for my answer with an unchanged, serious expression.

Eventually, I had to be the one to break the silence.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I mean it."

"Are you staying here?"

Not returning to his world, but living this life instead of Chronos' Goh Yoo-Joon?

Goh Yoo-Joon nodded more firmly. "I can do it. There’s a way I can stay here."

"..."

"If you’re okay with it, I will choose to stay here."

It was as if he was thinking ‘I didn’t have any family to depend on except for you.’ Goh Yoo-Joon’s words were desperate and intense, as if he had just found a long-lost family member. I knew his family background. I knew how much he had depended on me before we drifted apart.

That was why I couldn’t easily answer him.

...If I decided to be honest, Goh Yoo-Joon would be disappointed and hurt. I pondered for a while before I found the words to speak. "Is that one of the choices the other members also received?"

Goh Yoo-Joon was visibly shaken by the question. He bit his lip and nodded.

Ah, now I understood what choice they were forced to make by the creator god. They had to choose whether to live happily in this place with me or to leave me here and return to their original world. The creator god was cruel to those who had chosen to sacrifice for others.

Only then did I remember the words and actions of the Elated members toward me. Jin-Sung and Joo-Han, who had said they would make choices for me, had probably chosen to return to their original world.

However, Goh Yoo-Joon wanted to stay here.

"Goh Yoo-Joon, do you want to stay in this world?"

"Yes."

"What about your career, all the connections you’ve made... You’d be okay with starting over from scratch here?"

This time, Goh Yoo-Joon didn’t answer, but just looked at me. It was as if he was saying, ‘But

you’re

here.’

...How cruelly had I treated someone in my past life who thought of me as his real family? If we had talked enough like now back then, would Goh Yoo-Joon had been so desperate now?

"You seem too emotional right now."

"What’s wrong with that? Emotional or not, we have to make a choice now. We really don’t have much time left."

"...I wish I had known sooner." I sighed deeply. I now knew all too well how deeply Goh Yoo-Joon cared about me and how desperate he was. This was not acceptable. I lowered my head. "I’m sorry. I think it’s better for you to go back."

It was not just because I wanted Chronos’ Goh Yoo-Joon to return. It was because it didn’t make sense for Elated’s Goh Yoo-Joon to give up everything he had worked for and the relationships he had made through his kindness just for my sake.

In that world, I may already be dead, but I wanted the members of Elated to go back to living their normal lives.

"It doesn’t seem right for you to stay in this world just for my sake."

"...Don’t you want to see me and the members? Don’t you want to be with us? Are you not going to miss us?"

"Of course, I will miss you so darn much. But this isn’t right."

Why would I not miss the Elated members? I had painfully realized how they truly felt about me, and we had resolved the piled-up emotions and misunderstandings. If possible, I would have liked to spend more time with them. But, as always, life wasn’t easy.

The creator god always put limits on happiness, so we had to make a slightly better choice no matter how painful it could be. Of course, it was not a fitting reward for someone who had gone to the lengths of saving me.

I said to a very disappointed Goh Yoo-Joon, "Aren’t there people in your world who care about you? It’s not just me, dummy."

Since I was hurt in that world and eventually died there, I now only had this world to live in. However, that was not the case for Goh Yoo-Joon.

"The Elated members would feel hurt if they heard you saying this."

For Elated’s Goh Yoo-Joon, there had also been an incident with a fake expose by his father. It wasn’t me who had stood by him and protected him during that time. It was the Elated members.

It appeared that Goh Yoo-Joon had become so emotional now that he only recalled the times we had spent together and how grateful he was for my friendship, but that was all he had.

I told him this truthfully, "At least now, you should consider not just me, but also yourself and the Elated members when you make your decision."

If Goh Yoo-Joon still said he would stay after all this, I couldn’t do much. But at least the feelings of the other Elated members should be one of the options he considered.

"In your original world, there were people who cared about you more than me. That won’t go away even if you stay in this world."

After hearing my persuasion, Goh Yoo-Joon remained silent with his head lowered for a while.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"So don’t let your thoughts be influenced by emotions so much. Don’t think that there’s nothing left for you even though I’m gone. Try to think calmly about it."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

I had no intention of being a good person.

"I’d prefer if you go back. It’s not that I don’t like you, but everyone should be where they belong." If I were to be brutally honest about my own thoughts... "I just want to be happy without worrying about others anymore. I've really had a hard time."

It was better to be just a normal person without undergoing emotional swings or being affected by every little thing with members who didn't feel guilty about my past or pain.

"I’m sorry to say this to you. You came all this way because of me, but I have to be honest."

Goh Yoo-Joon shut his mouth again. We didn’t touch our food anymore, and outside, people who had been chatting for a long time began to leave one by one.

For how long were we there?

Goh Yoo-Joon said in a choked voice, "It's very sad that we've become so distant." He sighed deeply as if unburdening his heart. "Sorry for the trouble. You’re right. I was too emotional."

"It’s okay."

"I don’t want to take away something precious from you, even though I think I really want to see you again..." Goh Yoo-Joon seemed pained as he spoke. "Like you said, I have the Elated members. Now that I’ve seen that you’re happy here..."

He didn’t cry. However, I could see his eyes and ears slowly reddening. He was definitely trying hard to hold back his sadness. It was quite painful to see such a young face making such a painfully cold expression.

"I’ll really miss you, man."

At that moment, I realized that Goh Yoo-Joon had chosen to sacrifice for me.

"If you knew how much the members thought about you, you wouldn’t be so harsh, huh?" Goh Yoo-Joon rubbed his eyes painfully, then suddenly stood up. "Let’s go, man. The food’s gone cold."

A blue text box appeared before my eyes.

[Players have made their choices. The scenario will conclude in two hours, and an ending event based on the players' choices will proceed.]

***

It seemed the text box appeared not just before my eyes. As Goh Yoo-Joon pulled out Su-Hwan’s company card at the counter, he hurriedly walked to the parking lot as soon as he finished paying. Joo-Han was calling him.

- Guys, where are you?

"We’re just about to leave."

- Goh Yoo-Joon! If you were going to make a choice, you should have said so beforehand! There are only two hours left!

"But you also made your choice without telling me, hyung..." Goh Yoo-Joon said timidly, but Joo-Han angrily urged him to return quickly, so he hung up.

"...That guy really hasn’t changed."

"Guess not."

Goh Yoo-Joon sighed and nodded. Apparently, only Joo-Han had a similar personality in both Elated and Chronos. Having endured Joo-Han’s nagging for over fifteen years, Goh Yoo-Joon now seemed used to it as he calmly followed the traffic signals on his way slowly back to the dorm.

Upon arriving at the dorm, we faced Joo-Han standing sternly at the entrance, looking down at us as we sealed our lips.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"What’s this about only two hours left?"

"It’s because of the choice I made." Goh Yoo-Joon blurted out, and the gaze that had been divided between me and him turned entirely to him.

"And what would that be?"

"I’m going back."

As soon as Goh Yoo-Joon said that, Joo-Han relaxed his stern expression and gestured for us to come inside.

The place we headed to was, as expected, Joo-Han’s studio. After letting me and Goh Yoo-Joon in and locking the door, Joo-Han said, "You said you were going to stay here..."

"Yeah, but after talking to Suh Hyun-Woo..." Goh Yoo-Joon’s expression darkened. "It seemed like our relationship wouldn’t change even if I stayed here."

"You’re just realizing that now? And I was getting a bit sad that you were making this choice to stay here without considering us, your fellow members. Ah, let’s talk about this later."

"...What?"

Joo-Han ignored Goh Yoo-Joon's confusion and looked fiercely at me. I couldn't tell whether the Joo-Han in front of me was from Elated or Chronos.

"Suh Hyun-Woo."

"Yes, yes."

"Don't forget that we made our choice entirely for your sake." Joo-Han's voice was strange. I looked up at him. His face was as sad as Goh Yoo-Joon's had been. "Be thankful to us, and always remember how much we cared for you.[1]"

1. Man, this is so sad... They probably cherish each other more than they do for their family. ☜