Have you ever wished that you can somehow manipulate time so that you can change things the way you want them to be? It’s an extraordinary power that allows one to change the fate of the world at any time. It’s a wonderful power isn’t it? Well, of course it is. But there is just one setback to using this power. The Butterfly Effect. A slight change in history will cause a cataclysmic change in the future. When that happens, you will need to ask yourself. Is changing the history to your own selfish needs really worth it when you know it will soon destroy everybody else’s entire future?

 

In this world, there are only a few people who were born with this power. The rarity is roughly about 1 in every 1 billion people. That’s only less than 10 people in the entire world with this ability. A teenage girl named Taeyeon was one of the people granted with this ability to manipulate time. Taeyeon grew up in an orphanage with her younger sister whom is 2 years younger than her and other friends. Her sister died in a tragic car accident when she was 12. She had been into depression state for at least a few months, cursing herself for not being able to save her own younger sister. She kept on wishing and wishing that she could somehow turn back the time and save her younger sister from dying in the car accident.

 

And then the fateful day came. Taeyeon first discovered that she had this power to manipulate time when she was at the age of 13. She accidentally knocked over a vase and attempted to catch it. To her surprise, she fell down on the ground before the vase reached the ground. It was still falling down slowly. She then looked around her and noticed everything was moving slower than normal. That was when she knew how to slow time down. As years go by, her power became stronger. At the current age of 18, Taeyeon already have the ability to stop the time whenever she wanted.

 

Ever since she developed the power to stop time, she had been using it to steal food and some small amount of cash for the people back in the orphanage. Luckily her moral values were still intact just enough for her not to commit a large scale crime such as robbing millions from a bank. But that doesn’t mean Taeyeon is innocent. She did steal things using her powers. It’s just small things, so what bad things could happen, right?

 

One day, Taeyeon was at a convenience store when she heard loud car horns coming from outside. She immediately ran outside and saw a car chase between a police and a robber. She swung her hand to the side and stopped the time. Everything that was moving just a second ago came to a complete halt. Then she slowly walked towards the robber’s car, broke into it and pulled the handbrakes. After keeping a safe distance from the area, she did the same hand motion and time continued. The robber’s car lost control because of the random handbrake and crashed onto the wall but not before it crashed into several cars first. With that, the police managed to catch the robber successfully.

 

Taeyeon gave herself a satisfied smile. “Mission accomplished. Well, that’s one good thing I did after so long.”

 

“You shouldn’t have done that.” A voice called out to her from behind suddenly.

 

“???” Taeyeon frowned and looked behind. She saw a lady with brown hair, wearing a cardigan over her white shirt with Denim jeans and Converse shoes. “Are you talking to me?”

 

The lady turned around and looked back at Taeyeon. “Who else am I speaking to?”

 

“Alright. Yeah, what’s up.”

 

The lady had one side of her brow shot up. “What’s up, you ask? You know what you did.”

 

“H-Huh? What do you mean? Do what?” Taeyeon fidgeted.

 

The lady walked closer to Taeyeon and stared at her with an unimpressed look. “You know what I’m talking about, Kim Tae Yeon. You shouldn’t have pulled the handbrake.”

 

Taeyeon’s eyes widened in shock. “Who are you? How do you know my name?? And how did you know what I did?”

 

“Oh, I know everything about you. Your past… Your present… And even your future…”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about and I have no time for your bull. I gotta go.” Taeyeon turned back and started walking away.

 

“You have no time for my bull? Well isn’t that ironic for someone with an infinite amount of time.” Apparently the lady doesn’t have any intentions to let Taeyeon go. She grabbed her arm tightly. “So what’s the rush?”

 

Taeyeon felt something weird about this lady so she warned her one last time. “Let go of my arm now, lady.”

 

“Or what?”

 

Taeyeon swung the other hand and stopped the time. Every single human and thing in her surroundings stopped in their tracks. “I need to get out of this place fast. This lady is suspecting something about me.” She took this chance to wriggle her arm out of the lady’s grasp. 

 

To her horror, it failed. The lady’s grip tightened instead as she smirked back. “Going somewhere?”

 

Taeyeon’s time stop didn’t affect the lady at all. She definitely did not see that coming at all. “What the- How did you-”

 

The lady took out a badge from her pocket and showed it to Taeyeon. “I’m Jessica Jung, a time cop. I too possess the same power as you.”

 

“A time cop?”

 

“I came here from a different timeline in the future.”

 

“Wait, you can go back in time!?” Taeyeon was shocked.

 

“Apparently I can. And my job is to stop people like you from altering the future of this timeline.”

 

“Hey, I didn’t alter any timeline, alright?”

 

Jessica shook her head. “That’s what you think. Ever heard of the term butterfly effect? Look around you! Look at the amount of damage you caused!”

 

“Hey, I helped the police to catch the robber, alright? So don’t act like I did something wrong.” Taeyeon retorted.

 

“You just created a huge car accident that was never meant to happen! Do you realize how serious that is!?” Jessica was really angry. She pointed at one of the cars that the robbers crashed into. “That man was supposed to be on his way to the hospital to meet his grandfather for one last time and now he missed it!” She then pointed at another woman who was also caught in the accident. “That woman was on her way to pick her daughter from school to her birthday party and now she missed it too! All because you tried to change the outcome using your powers.”

 

“Hey, I didn’t know it will end up like that, alright? I just thought it would be a humane thing to do helping the police catch the robber.” Taeyeon shrugged.

 

Jessica got enraged and grabbed Taeyeon by the collar. “As someone with the power to control time, I expect you to have at least the basic knowledge of how time works. Some things aren’t meant to be changed. You should just close both your eyes and let everything happen as they were.”

 

Jessica’s statement brought back one of Taeyeon’s worst memories. The memory of her younger sister dying in a car accident in front of her. “It’s because I did that, my sister died in a car crash…”

 

“It doesn’t matter what you did. If it’s gonna happen, it will happen. You cannot change it. You saw with your own eyes. One simple action using your powers ruined a few people already.”

 

Taeyeon scoffed. “If that’s the case then you should go back in time and stop me before I pulled the handbrake. It’s simple as that, right?”

 

Jessica sighed and shook her head. “You still don’t understand do you? I cannot do that. If I were to go back in time to stop you before you pulled the handbrake, it will create yet another unknown timeline which I have never seen. Creating a new timeline is a crime.”

 

“…” An idea suddenly popped up inside Taeyeon’s head. “It’s not a crime if it can save someone’s life, right?” Taeyeon raised her voice.

 

Realizing what Taeyeon was about to do, Jessica was alerted. “Don’t you dare do it.”

 

“If you can jump through time, I can jump through time as well.”

 

“Hey, stop it! You have no idea how time jump works or where you’ll end up at.”

 

“I cannot allow my mistake to be the cause of someone’s death!” Taeyeon started to feel an energy surging within herself.

 

“Don’t do it!” Jessica raised her voice and reached her hand out to Taeyeon attempting to grab her.

 

“I will save my sister from dying!” Before Jessica could grab onto Taeyeon, her whole body was through a tiny wormhole.

 

“Damn it!” Jessica cursed.

 

Taeyeon felt her whole body being electrocuted while travelling through the wormhole. It hurts so much since this is basically the first time she leaped through time. She didn’t know where this will end up at. It seemed to be going on forever until she saw a bright light at the end of the path. The light shone brightly on her and the next second, Taeyeon found herself laying on the ground semi-conscious.

 

“Ugh… My head…” Taeyeon rubbed her forehead and slowly stood up. She saw that she was in a place very alien to her. There were a lot of trees and a wide field. It seemed like she was at a countryside.

 

Suddenly someone voiced out to her. “What have we got here? Hey Yoona, come take a look.”

 

Another lady walked nearer and stared at Taeyeon. “A thief!? Get the shovel, Yuri!”

 

“Hey calm down, tigress. She doesn’t seem like she’s here to steal our things.” Yuri calmed Yoona down.

 

“What year is this??” Taeyeon asked.

 

Yoona and Yuri looked at each other and blinked before they let out a laughter. “What year is this, she asked. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

 

“You watched too much Jumanji, woman! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Yuri was laughing so hard, she started smacking Yoona.

 

Taeyeon got so frustrated. “I’m serious! What year is this!? What is today’s date!?”

 

Seeing how frustrated Taeyeon was, Yuri answered. “Alright, alright! Calm down. It’s 19th February 2000.”

 

Taeyeon froze for a moment. “I’m sorry what did you just say?”

 

“It’s 19th February 2000 today. You don’t look so good. What’s wrong?” Yoona asked.

 

“19th February 2000!? I went that far back!?” Taeyeon screamed out of shock.

 

“Hey, Yuri. What’s she talking about?” Yoona frowned.

 

Yoona shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you?”

 

“No idea.”

 

“Nonono… This cannot be. I need to go back.” Taeyeon fidgeted.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Yoona asked again.

 

Taeyeon took a deep breath before continuing. “Alright. I know this may sound a little crazy to you but I came from the year of 2016. I’m trying to go to the year of 2010 but somehow I traveled a little too far back in time and landed here.”

 

Yoona and Yuri looked at each other silently before bursting into laughter once again. “Travel through time, she said!”

 

Yoona goofily imitated Taeyeon. “Ooh, look at me. I’m a time traveler. I can travel back in time to see dinosaurs. Roar!”

 

“…” Taeyeon rolled her eyes and started walking away. Why did she even bother to tell them about this when she already knew that they were not going to believe her? 

 

“Hey, wait up. What’s the rush?” Yuri blocked Taeyeon’s path.

 

“Come in come in!” Yoona dragged Taeyeon into their house. It was a small and cozy home with a fireplace.

 

Yuri gave Taeyeon a cup of milk and invited her to sit down. “Here. Make yourself at home.”

 

“Thanks…” Taeyeon looked around. “You both live here?”

 

“Yup.” Yuri placed an arm over Yoona’s shoulder. “It’s been…well…years since we started living together.”

 

“So you both are a couple?” Taeyeon asked while sipping her milk.

 

“PFFFTTTTHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!” Both Yoona and Yuri lost it.

 

“…”

 

Yoona repeated Taeyeon’s question in a sarcastic and goofy way. “So you both are a couple?”

 

“Oh my god that was hysterical.” Yuri wiped the tears of laughter off her eyes.

 

“That’s not funny…” Taeyeon was wearing an unamused expression.

 

Yuri let out a fake cough. “Alright, alright. I’m so sorry. So, what’s your name?”

 

“Yeah, what’s your name?” Yoona repeated.

 

“Taeyeon.”

 

Yoona and Yuri looked at each other silently for a moment and started laughing yet again. “Taeyeon, she said. HAHAHAHA!!!”

 

Yoona continued with her sarcastic act. “Ooh, look at me. I’m Taeyeon the time traveler.”

 

“Stop making fun of me…” Taeyeon could feel her anger coming up.

 

“Okay okay.” Yuri snickered one last time and continued. “Since you insisted that you’re from 2016, tell me. What’s there in 2016?”

 

“We have cool smart phones and laptops. It’s pretty cool.”

 

“Well since it’s so cool that time, why did you come back to the past where none of these existed yet?” Yuri asked.

 

“…” Taeyeon hesitated to answer but eventually did. “I came back so that I could save my younger sister from dying.”

 

Yoona and Yuri looked at each other with a blank expression, knowing they may have asked the wrong question. But the blank stare soon turned into laughter. “Save her younger sister from dying, she said! HAHAHA!!!”

 

Yoon made fun of Taeyeon again. “Ooh… I’m a time traveler. Let me go back in time to save my sister who died.”

 

“That does it!” With her mind completely filled with rage, Taeyeon swung her hand and stopped the time. “What a pair of idiots! Why did I end up here out of all the places and time I could end up in!?”

 

Taeyeon then walked towards the door and opened it. Just then, her hair stood up as someone replied to her question from behind. “Maybe because we’re fated to meet?”

 

Taeyeon slowly turned behind to see that Yuri was smiling back at her. “What the… You…”

 

“Why do you look surprised?” Yoona nudged Yuri. “Why does she look so surprised?”

 

“You too!?”

 

Yuri chuckled. “You didn’t think that you’re the only one with the power to manipulate time, did you?”

 

Knowing that both Yoona and Yuri too possess the same powers as her, she closed the door once again. “Just who are you?”

 

Yuri gestured. “Come over here into this room.”

 

Taeyeon followed them into a room full of books and glass panels. “What the hell is this...”

 

“It’s our personal museum. Take a look for yourself.” Yoona gestured.

 

Taeyeon walked around the room and noticed items that didn’t belonged to this era. It ranges from an ancient Roman spear to a futuristic watch from the future. “You guys traveled in time to collect things??”

 

“Hey, that’s our hobby so don’t judge. We already made sure that we didn’t change any history by grabbing these things.”

 

“We’re just a couple who likes to travel a lot. Well, time travel.” Yoona said. “I’m from the year of 2085.”

 

Yuri then continued. “And I’m from the year of 1988. I met Yoona while traveling to the 1500s. Definitely fate.”

 

“Exactly.” Yoona poked Taeyeon’s forehead. “Which is why you meeting us here in the year of 2000 is fate as well.”

 

“You guys seem to be really good at this time traveling thing. But how did you get items from different parts of the world?” Taeyeon asked.

 

“Pfft...” Yuri chuckled. “All places are affected by time, sweetheart. And if a place is affected by time, you can open up a wormhole there anytime from anywhere. In other words, you can travel to anywhere in the world at different times.”

 

Yoona pointed at the huge bookshelf containing histories of different countries. “And of course we studied the entire history of the place first before we travel in time to that place. We know exactly what we can and cannot do so that it will not change the history.”

 

“Ugh... Books...” Taeyeon felt dizzy at the sight of so many books.

 

Yuri grabbed onto Taeyeon’s arm. “Wanna see samurais?”

 

“What- I...” Before Taeyeon could finish her sentence, Yuri dragged her into the wormhole and landed at Japan during the feudal era. “What the-”

 

“See? You’re in 600 years ago Japan right now.” Yuri chuckled. “It’s cool isn’t it? Traveling for free.”

 

“This is amazing!” Taeyeon screamed in excitement before was covered desperately by Yoona who tagged along.

 

“Shush! You can come here but you cannot alert anybody or communicate with anybody from this era!”

 

“Sorry.” Taeyeon apologized.

 

“Now let’s go somewhere cooler, shall we?” Yoona gave Yuri, Taeyeon and herself an oxygen mask each. She then grabbed Taeyeon’s arm. “Do not remove the mask at any point.” 

 

They traveled to the top of Mount Everest in a blink of an eye at the year of 1953. 

 

“Oh , it’s cold!!!” Taeyeon could feel her whole body starting to freeze.

 

“HAHAHAHAHA!!! It’s cooling isn’t it!?” Yoona laughed.

 

“Both of you quiet and stay down!” Yuri pulled both of them down as they saw two beings walking towards the summit. Yuri remembered seeing their faces from the book. “Yoona, have you forgotten!? That’s Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. The first ever people who reached the top of Mount Everest. There isn’t supposed to be anybody up here but them! Now let’s leave before we change the history.”

 

Yuri immediately grabbed them both back to the year of 2000 in their own home. “Phew... That was close.”

 

Taeyeon was still shivering from the cold air. “...”

 

“Pffttt HAHAHAHA!!!! That was hilarious, wasn’t it?” Yoona laughed.

 

Taeyeon then tossed the oxygen mask aside and begged. “Teach me how to travel to a specific time and place.”

 

Yuri and Yoona looked at each other and started laughing. “And why would you want to learn that?”

 

“I told you before. I’m going to save my younger sister.” Taeyeon said.

 

Yuri shook her head. “Unless you’re using it for sightseeing purposes, I cannot teach you anything. You’re not allowed to change the history, Taeyeon. You cannot do it for your own personal gain.”

 

Yoona added. “Yuri and I travel through time just for the sake of traveling and sightseeing. You don’t see us messing up with anything else. You don’t see us speaking to anybody else from that time. We always try to seclude ourselves from other people whenever we travel through time to avoid changing history.”

 

“Exactly. It’s a crime to change history.” Yuri said.

 

Taeyeon took a step back. “Are you a time cop too?”

 

“Me? A time cop?” Yuri laughed hysterically and smacked Yoona. “She thinks I’m a time cop, babe!”

 

Yoona too laughed along. “Of course she isn’t a time cop! Neither am I! So we’re not going to arrest you for sure.” She then pointed behind Taeyeon. “But I’d say otherwise about her.”

 

“!!!” Taeyeon turned back and saw a face too familiar to her. “You again??”

 

“Found you at last.” Jessica stood there, with a pissed off expression. “Luckily you went back to the wrong time.”

 

“Don’t try and stop me! I won’t stop until I save my younger sister!” Taeyeon said.

 

“Taeyeon, please listen to us. You’re not allowed to use your power to change life and death of anybody. If you do that, you will be trapped inside the space-time continuum for all eternity. Do you even know what space-time continuum is? It’s a place that isn’t affected by time. In other words, your existence in the real world will be gone. Poof! We don’t want that, do we?” Yuri tried to explain.

 

Jessica warned. “Don’t you dare change someone’s death, Taeyeon. I’m warning you. This is all for your own good.”

 

“You don’t understand what I’ve been through, Jessica.”

 

Jessica scoffed. “I don’t care what you’ve been through! People die every day! Attempting to prevent a death using time manipulation is the highest level of crime! You will subconsciously create a new timeline with unknown outcomes! And god knows what calamity it will bring about in the future!?”

 

Yoona sighed. “Taeyeon, we’re telling you this so that you can understand.”

 

“I don’t care about what happens to me! All I wanted was for my younger sister to survive... Why are you all so against it!?” Taeyeon was enraged. “If you won’t teach me how to leap through time then I will do it until I get it right! I’ll just concentrate on the time and place!”

 

Once again, Taeyeon concentrated her power and managed to travel in time once again before Jessica could stop her. “, not again!”

 

Yuri was surprised at how fast Taeyeon could activate her time traveling powers. “Wow, damn. She’s fast this time round. She might actually be able to do it.”

 

“Welp. Not my business anymore” Yoona shrugged and walked away. She didn’t want anything to do with this.

 

Yuri then blinked at Jessica. “So... What’s up, Sica?”

 

“Don’t what’s up Sica me! I need to get to Taeyeon before she tries anything funny!”

 

Yuri shot a doubtful look. “You sure you’re not the one trying anything funny here?”

 

Jessica’s eyebrow rose. “Excuse me? I’m trying to stop her from getting into trouble. You better not mess with me when I’m not in the best of moods, Yuri.”

 

“Ooh... Scary...” Yoona made fun of her.

 

Jessica pointed. “Listen here, you clowns. If the both of you hadn’t helped me in solving crimes before this, I would have put you both in jail for traveling through time so much like that. So zip it!”

 

“Hey, you travel through time a lot as well.” Yuri shrugged.

 

“I do that to catch criminals, not to go on a vacation! Ugh!” Jessica was frustrated.

 

Yoona snorted. “Pfft... You’re just jealous that we can use our powers more efficient than you.”

 

Jessica sighed and rubbed her head. “You know what? Forget it. I’m off to chase after Taeyeon. Just leave me be and go meet the Pharoah or something. Alright?” With that said, Jessica traveled through time as well.

 

Taeyeon opened her eyes and noticed that she was standing in the middle of the crowd in a city. Yes, she remembered that this was definitely nearby where the accident took place. She desperately asked someone for today’s date in which she got the answer immediately. It was 15th July 2015. “You’ve got to be kidding me!! I thought I had it!”

 

She then traveled through time again and this time, ended up in 4th January 2016. “I’m getting closer... Just one more time and I’ll get it!”

 

One more time, Taeyeon traveled through the wormhole and landed on 24th April 2016. Exactly the day her sister died in a car accident. It was 11am, which happened to be half an hour before the accident occurred. She’s somewhere within the city as well. She remembered exactly where the accident occurred and which car was involved. “We were crossing the road to get an ice cream. I didn’t hold her hand properly while crossing. And then she got knocked down by a red car.”

 

The junction just so happened to be fifteen minutes walk from where she was. Without hesitation, she ran to the junction and saw her younger self with her younger sister waiting to cross the road. She was about to scream to them not to cross yet, but failed when she got tackled down by Jessica who managed to pursue her to this time. “Are you out of your mind!? You will be stuck in the space-time continuum if you do that!! How are you going to live on for your sister!?”

 

“Let me go!!!” Taeyeon struggled hard. As soon as she saw a familiar red car, she desperately swung her hand to stop the time.

 

“Think twice about your actions, Taeyeon! Don’t do this! You will end up hurting both yourself and your sister!” Jessica shouted and swung her hand to force the time to resume.

 

“I don’t care!!” Taeyeon kicked Jessica away and stopped the time again. 

 

Not wanting to let Taeyeon change the history, Jessica forced resume the time yet again. “No!”

 

Since stopping the time won’t work when Jessica is around, Taeyeon decide to just rush out into the road and stop them from crossing. Right when Taeyeon was crossing the road the red car noticed her and immediately swerved to the side to evade her. It knocked the side of the road. The first thing Taeyeon did was look at her younger sister. She was extremely relieved that she was still alive. She managed to prevent her sister’s death, but something seemed wrong. Her sister was wearing a horrific expression while looking at the front of the car.

 

“???”

 

It seems like the red car did not only knock the side of the road. Taeyeon moved over and looked at the front bumper. Her eyes widened in shock. “No…” Her whole body shook as she looked upon a person laying on the ground. Her eyes were closed and there were blood coming out of and nose. What she saw was enough to drive her insane. She was looking down at her own 12 year old dead body.

 

Taeyeon just created a timeline where she died in the car accident instead of her younger sister. She could see the horror in her younger sister’s eyes that time. She was crying her heart out while nudging the dead body.

 

“No...” Taeyeon slowly backed off from the scene in horror and shock.

 

Jessica who didn’t managed to stop Taeyeon in time stood there in horror as well. “You...”

 

“...” Taeyeon was still backing off from the scene.

 

“YOU IDIOT!!” Jessica ran over and straight up punched Taeyeon on her face. “LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE!”

 

“...” Taeyeon was still in a state of shock.

 

“You just killed your younger self!!” Jessica pulled Taeyeon by her collar. She seemed furious.

 

“I...” A smile escaped from Taeyeon’s lips. “I did it... I prevented my sister’s death...”

 

“!!!” Jessica definitely did not see that answer coming.

 

“I saved my sister...” Taeyeon started chuckling with tears rolling down her face.

 

“You killed yourself in her place!”

 

Taeyeon raised her voice. “I WOULD GLADLY GIVE MY LIFE AWAY FOR MY SISTER TO LIVE ON!! I died, so what!? My younger sister lived. That’s all that matters to me.”

 

“You’re about to be trapped inside the space-time continuum for all eternity for doing what you did... Saving someone’s life... Was it worth it? Don’t you feel scared?”

 

“I do... It sounds like a scary place... I can’t even stop shaking thinking about what would happen inside there... But I loved my sister more than anything that i will ever regret doing...”

 

“You...you’re willing to let yourself suffer for all eternity rather than to see your own sister die?”

 

“I would trade anything in the world to make sure she stays alive.” Taeyeon affirmed.

 

“...” Jessica was stunned for a moment.

 

The time suddenly stopped. Everything slowly turned to black and white. The colors of everything faded away. This only meant one thing. A crack was formed in the middle of the air with a burst of light shining through it. The wormhole into the space-time continuum just opened. It was only Taeyeon into it and the pressure is really powerful.

 

“I did what I could, and I’m satisfied already.” Taeyeon was being into the hole. She didn’t seem to have any intentions to struggle. She was accepting her fate. “...”

 

As Taeyeon’s body started floating, without even a moment of hesitation, Jessica ran in and grabbed both Taeyeon’s hands tightly. “Damn it! Hold tight!”

 

Taeyeon was really surprised that Jessica still helped her even when she tried to go against her so many times. “Why are you trying to save me? I deserved this. I went back in time and saved someone’s life. Now I’m getting punished like you said earlier. So let go.”

 

Grabbing onto Taeyeon’s hands tightly, Jessica shouted. “I may be a time cop but I’m not heartless. The space-time continuum isn’t a place you want to spend all eternity in. That’s why I’m trying to save you! You deserve better!”

 

“…” Taeyeon was touched. “I’m so sorry…”

 

Jessica feet started sliding along. “Argh!! It’s……too……much……”

 

“It’s alright. You can let go.” Taeyeon said. “Watch over my sister for me, will you?”

 

“NO!! You should watch over her yourself!” Jessica raised her voice.

 

“…” Jessica’s scream made Taeyeon silent.

 

And then the pressure became too powerful. It both Taeyeon and Jessica into it since Jessica wasn’t willing to let go. “WOAAAHHH!!!!”

 

“Ugh!!” Both of them traveled through the wormhole and landed in a completely white place. The crack then closed immediately, trapping them inside time itself. There were floating clocks all around them showing different times. There was nothing else inside.

 

Taeyeon stood up and started looking around. “This is the space-time continuum?”

 

“Yes. We’re trapped inside of time.” Jessica explained. “There’s no way out.”

 

“HELLO!!!! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME!?” Taeyeon shouted.

 

“Nobody will ever hear us, Taeyeon. This is a completely different dimension. Your screams will never reach anyone.”

 

“No…” Taeyeon’s knees became weak as she fell onto the floor and started sobbing.

 

“I thought you said you’d give everything up for your sister to be alive. So why are you crying now?” Jessica scoffed. “That’s what happens when you try to act like a hero without understanding the consequences first...”

 

“What I said was the complete truth...” Taeyeon said. “Sure thing I’m feeling extremely sad that I’ll be stuck here for all eternity... But losing my sister would be a million times worse than what I’m feeling now...”

 

“...” Jessica sighed and shook her head.

 

“I’m sorry that I dragged you into this mess.”

 

“It doesn’t matter anymore does it? No use crying over spilled milk. But at least I get to see just how much you love her. And I know just how much you wanted her to live. It’s definitely an eye opener for me.” Jessica sat down beside Taeyeon and hugged her own knees. “How I wish I had the courage like you to disobey the laws of time as well.”

 

Taeyeon frowned a little. “What do you mean?”

 

Jessica paused for a moment before continuing. “From the timeline I came from, I too lost someone I love… I was like you, so tempted to go back in time to save her life. The only difference between us was that I didn’t go back to save her. I did not have any courage at all to disobey the law for fear that I would be trapped here for all eternity.”

 

Hearing Jessica’s story made Taeyeon feel bad for her as well. “Is that why you tried to save me earlier? Because of the guilt you felt when you couldn’t save the one you love instead?”

 

“...” Jessica didn’t want to answer.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s alright. It’s over now. I try not to think about it.” Jessica shrugged it off.

 

Taeyeon then continued. “How much do you love her?”

 

Jessica smiled. “So much… She’s always there for me and hugged me whenever I feel uncomfortable. She would always hold my hand tightly, afraid that I would run off to someone else…”

 

Taeyeon chuckled a little. “That’s cute. You both sound like a really lovely couple to me.”

 

“Couple, you say?” Jessica too chuckled for a bit.

 

“Must be lucky for her to have someone who loves her this much…”

 

“It’s all in the past now. That’s why memories are precious.” Jessica stood back up. “If we keep changing the history, then memories will become nothing but a cheap image in your mind. It’s because we don’t change it that it becomes precious memories to us. Do you understand?”

 

Taeyeon nodded. “I understand now…”

 

“How I wish you would understand this sooner. Then the both of us won’t be stuck in this place.” Jessica sighed.

 

“I’m sorry.” Taeyeon felt apologetic for dragging Jessica.

 

“Stop apologizing.”

 

Then a long silence came. The both of them looked really helpless. A second in the space-time continuum felt like a year. Just how are they going to survive in there for all eternity without going insane? Taeyeon then broke the silence and asked Jessica. “Hey, are you sure there’s nothing we can do?”

 

Jessica rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing we can do. We’re stuck here forever.”

 

“Is there a way to open a wormhole and travel out of this place? Maybe if we combined our powers or something, we can open one?” Taeyeon suggested.

 

Jessica merely gave Taeyeon an unamused look. “Really? What do you think this is? Power Rangers? You need to accept the fact. There’s no way to open a wormhole from inside the space-time continuum. Our powers do not work in this place.”

 

“There’s no way to open a wormhole from inside the space-time continuum?” Taeyeon then realized something. “What about opening a wormhole from the outside?”

 

Jessica actually never thought of this. “Hey, that could work. There’s a possibility to open a wormhole into the space-time continuum from the outside, but it will definitely consume an enormous amount of energy. That means it will require at least 2 very, I mean VERY skilled time manipulators.”

 

“That means we still have a chance to get out of this place!” Taeyeon got excited.

 

“Which comes to the next question…” Jessica intercepted. “How are we supposed to contact anybody from inside here to open a wormhole?”

 

“…” Taeyeon was speechless again before she shrugged. “Fate, maybe?”

 

All of a sudden, a crack was formed within the space-time continuum which attracted both their attention. “What the…”

 

And then the crack burst open with a beam of light shining through it. The pressure was immensely powerful, almost blowing Taeyeon and Jessica away. Through the hole, they saw Yoona and Yuri. The both of them had just cracked open a hole in the space-time continuum, which is actually a terrible crime. 

 

 “Gaahhh!!!” Yoona and Yuri could be seen forcing the wormhole open with all their strength.

 

“HAH!! I TOLD YOU!!! FATE!!!” Taeyeon cheered in excitement.

 

“You’re an idiot, Taeyeon!” That was the first sentence screamed by Yoona.

 

“You just broke the laws of time!” Yuri scolded before shrugging. “But I gotta admit I kinda like that.”

 

“I know right.” Yoona continued. “But you’re still an idiot for doing that, Taeyeon!”

 

Yuri screamed at them through the wormhole she created. “Yoona and I forced this wormhole open from the outside! This can only be opened once in an entire lifetime! Let me repeat, ONCE IN AN ENTIRE LIFETIME!”

 

Yoona then continued. “The energy is only enough to hold 3 people in this wormhole. Any more than 3 people, everyone in it will be tossed into oblivion! I’m so sorry to tell you this… One of you has to stay here!”

 

“Someone…has to stay?” Taeyeon lost her smile and shot a look at Jessica. She actually thought that the both of them could escape this place together.

 

“When the wormhole through the space-time continuum is opened one time, it can never be opened again. So we can’t come back for the other person.”

 

Jessica placed her hand on Taeyeon’s shoulder. “It’s alright. You go.”

 

“No… This was all my fault. I dragged you into this mess. I should be the one staying. You should go.” Taeyeon said.

 

“I’ve lived my life to the fullest, Taeyeon. I’ve seen the entire world from different eras. And I’m happy I got to speak to you as well. There’s nothing left for me to do. You on the other hand have a long way ahead.”

 

“No, come on! I’m the guilty one!!”

 

Jessica let out a huge breath. “Remember I told you that those who attempt to go back in time to change the fate of someone’s death will end up stuck inside the space-time continuum for all eternity?”

 

“I know. That’s why I’m here. So I don’t deserve to leave this place!” Taeyeon retorted.

 

“Taeyeon, listen to me. I’m about to change the fate of someone’s life. I too deserve to be here.” Jessica confessed.

 

“What!? Who!?” Taeyeon was confused.

 

“Argh, damn it! We can’t hold this for long!” Yuri and Yoona were struggling a lot.

 

Jessica then grabbed Taeyeon by the collar. “Yours.”

 

With that, Jessica used all her strength to toss Taeyeon at Yoona’s direction. “WOAH!!!!”

 

Yoona grabbed Taeyeon successfully. “Gotcha!”

 

“No, Jessica!!” Taeyeon shouted.

 

“It’s alright! Live on! For the sake of your sister!” Jessica shouted.

 

“What about you!?”

 

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll do just fine.”

 

As the wormhole closed, Taeyeon could see a final glimpse of a single drop of tear rolling down Jessica’s face with a soft echo “You have one last chance… Make no mistakes this time round…”

 

In the midst of the guilt, Taeyeon was dragged back into the wormhole by Yoona and Yuri. Along the way, the both of them nodded at each other and released Taeyeon’s hand and let her float further and further away from them. “Hey, why are you releasing me!?”

 

“Just close your eyes and let yourself drift into the past, Taeyeon!” Yoona shouted from a distance.

 

“Yeah, just close your eyes and take a nap! We’ll see you soon anyway!” Yuri too shouted from a distance.

 

“Just close my eyes and let myself drift into the past…” Taeyeon then slowly closed her eyes.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“Ugh…” Taeyeon groaned and slowly opened her eyes to find out that she was laying on a bed. She was back in her own room in the orphanage. “What the…”

 

She rushed towards the mirror and looked at herself. She was a young girl again. For some reason, she regained her memory of her 18 years of life but is back into her 12 year old body. “I’m young again…”

 

Taeyeon then remembered the moment when Jessica chose to save Taeyeon instead of herself. She lost her smile for a short while. She haven’t thanked Jessica properly for saving her life. Only after Jessica saved her from the space-time continuum, Taeyeon realized one single fact that she was clueless about since the beginning. Dumbfounded by her own oblivious self, she could only chuckle emptily. She was completely speechless. “…”

 

The next thing she did was checking the calendar for the date. “Year 2010…” Coincidentally, it was back on the very day Taeyeon’s sister died in a car accident. Just then, someone knocked on her door. When Taeyeon opened the door, it was none other than her younger sister smiling back at her.

 

“Hey, sis… Can we go get some ice cream?”

 

Taeyeon couldn’t hold back her tears at all upon seeing her younger sister being alive and well. She immediately went over and hugged her. “I’m so sorry…”

 

Confused, her younger sister frowned. “Did you eat my cookies again? If you did, I really am going to cry.”

 

“Of course not.” Taeyeon smiled and held her sister’s hand tightly. “We’ll go get some ice cream, alright?”

 

“Yay!”

 

Taeyeon was extremely cautious this time round. As they reached the pedestrian crossing, Taeyeon held her sister’s hand tighter. It was at this moment where she was about to be knocked down by a car. As soon as the pedestrian light turned green, her sister rushed out into the road but this time to no avail as Taeyeon pulled her back quickly. Right then, a red car flew past the pedestrian crossing and shocked everyone who was about to cross it. Taeyeon remembered that it was that red car that knocked her sister down. She just prevented her sister from dying. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

 

“No.” Her sister shook her head.

 

“Good job, kiddo.” A lady standing beside Taeyeon at the pedestrian crossing stated.

 

“Oh, don’t mind us. We’re just here to see how things went.” Another lady standing beside shrugged.

 

One look and Taeyeon knew just who these two ladies were. With a smile on Taeyeon’s face, she thanked them both sincerely. “Thank you.”

 

The two ladies looked at each other before laughing. “PFFFTT!!! Thank you, she said!”

 

“Thank us? For what? We barely did anything.”

 

Taeyeon looked up at them. “We’ll meet again, right?”

 

“Just go ‘travel’ for a bit. Who knows? You might meet us again. We’ll see you around… You know we will.” Yuri winked at Taeyeon and went off with Yoona with their arms linked.

 

Taeyeon’s sister then tugged her shirt. “Who are they?”

 

“They? They’re very good people.”

 

“You’re a good person too. You took good care of me.” Her sister poked her before hugging her tightly. “I love you, sis.”

 

Taeyeon hugged her little sister tightly and smiled back. “I know… I love you too… Jessica.”