[CHAPTER 35]

"Running Out of Time"

Taekwoon sat in the living room and stared at the time on the wall clock to go by.

It's been two hours... he thought. Why hasn't he come back yet?

It was more than two hours since Sanghyuk left the house to go get some medicine and as far as he can tell, the pharmacy wasn't that far from the apartment. He almost felt a bit restless as he stared at the clock for the longest time and then, he stared at the photo burnt into crisp on the coffee table. This has never happened before, not even when he entered Hakyeon's story in the past.

Did his rashful actions take Sanghyuk's life after all? Is that why the younger hasn't returned yet? What if he never comes back...

Taekwoon swallowed hard. He knew that there would be consequences when he decided to enter and rewrite Sanghyuk's memories but he thought that he would get things done immediately so that things would go back to normal before it was too late. This was definitely not what Taekwoon had in mind. Even if Taekwoon didn't like the younger very much, he didn't dislike Sanghyuk either. 

If Sanghyuk really dies because of Taekwoon...  

Dammit. Where the hell are you? He couldn't sit still anymore. His conscience was slowly eating him up inside and finally, he decided to go out of the house to find Sanghyuk. 

~

His head was throbbing.

He could feel the heat rush up and throughout his brain as the pain scattered all through his head. He felt nauseous and drowsy all at the same time. 

It took him a few minutes but he was finally able to gather his consciousness and slowly, he opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling. 

The smell of sawdust and old books.

A wooden ceiling instead of the usual white one he would wake up to...

Where am I? Sanghyuk got up slowly and scanned the room. 

He was sleeping on vintage-looking sofa and surrounded by empty bookshelves. Everything felt unfamiliar to him and he couldn't help but feel rather uneasy. The last thing he could remember was passing out right before he could reach his apartment. 

"Ya! Han Sanghyuk! Wake up!" a voice so unfamiliar to Sanghyuk yet rung through his mind as he sat up straight on the sofa. 

"Who was that?" he asked himself. Was I dreaming?

Just then, Sanghyuk heard someone coming upstairs.

Creak.

The sound of the old wooden stairs. 

For some reason, Sanghyuk couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy about whoever was possibly coming towards him. But than, he saw a familiar face turn around the corner.

"Hakyeon-hyung?" Sanghyuk called out first.

"Hyuk-ah!" Hakyeon came rushing towards the younger with a face full of worries. "Are you alright? How do you feel? Should I call the doctor? Do we need to go to the hospital?"

"Calm down, hyung."

Sanghyuk suddenly felt like his illness was lifted as soon as he saw the older's worried face. Hakyeon's bombarding questions of worries made the younger feel much better. 

"I'm fine. Thanks for worrying about me."

"Of course I'm worried!" Hakyeon shouted loudly to make his point. "You passed out on the streets!"

"I did?" the younger questioned even though he knew he clearly did. "But how did I get here? Where am I?"

"We're at the old building of my neighbhorhood. It's a vacant store," the older told him.

"Vacant? Then how did we get in?"

"I'm actually the owner of this building."

"What?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it when you get better," Hakyeon patted the younger on the back as he changed the subject. "Are you hungry?"

"A little."

"Okay, wait right here. I'll go get you some food okay?" 

Sanghyuk nodded obediently and waited upstairs. As Hakyeon went out of the store to grab them some food, the younger decided to walk around the loft building to see what it was all about. Why would the older suddenly purchase an empty building? That was the question he couldn't help but think about. He's never heard Hakyeon talk about wanting to own a store or having the money to do so and despite Hakyeon's love for reading, he's never mentioned anything about wanting a bookstore. After all, Hakyeon seems to be more interested in teaching rather than doing a business. 

The store was old and untouched. The shelves were covered with a thin layer of dust and there was nothing except the empty shelves, the old vintage sofa and the large chandelier hanging high up in the ceiling of the store. 

It's definitely Hakyeon-hyung's taste though... he couldn't help but agree that the style was perfect for the older. Everyone who knew Hakyeon knew that he loved things that were timeless and had a scent of old vintage books. 

"I'm back!" Hakyeon yelled through the moment he returned.

The two of them quietly ate at one of the small coffee table where Sanghyuk was sitting by. The older brought the younger's favorite 'gopchang' and some porridge to help him warm up. It wasn't much but it was all that Sanghyuk wanted. He liked the sudden hospitality that Hakyeon was offering especially since he didn't get any of that when he was back home. After all, Taekwoon was there. 

That thought made Sanghyuk feel a bit annoyed again. Forget about that guy...

"Hyung. You said that I passed out on the streets, right? As far as I can remember, I was almost back home. Why'd you bring me here? How?" Sanghyuk asked just to make sure. Plus, the younger is a lot bigger and heavier than Hakyeon so how did the older bring him all the way back to this neighborhood and up those creaky wooden stairs of the store?

"U-um... I didn't want to see him. So I brought you here. Also, I'm a lot stronger than you think. Don't look down on me," Hakyeon hesitated a little with his answers but it was the best answer he could come up with. There was half truth but also half lies in it.

At least the part about not wanting to see Taekwoon is the truth.

"Do you really hate Taekwoon-hyung that much now? What happened between you two?" Sanghyuk was still confused at whatever happened between the two older ones especially when he recalls just how much Hakyeon once loved Taekwoon when they were younger.

"Too many things happened and I realized it too late. Sanghyuk-ah," Hakyeon grabbed the younger's hands and looked at him earnestly. "Stay away from Taekwoon. He's not who you remember him to be."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want you to get hurt. He's... he's dangerous. Don't ask me why but I'm saying this for your own sake, Jung Taekwoon is a liar."

Sanghyuk gulped with uneasiness. Those words came directly from Hakyeon's mouth and he couldn't help but believe in them. However, from as far as he can remember, Taekwoon really hasn't done anything harmful towards him at all except for hurting himself the other day. What exactly happened between them? He really wanted to ask but seeing Hakyeon's broken expression, he couldn't find the courage to do so. How can a simple misunderstanding, as Taekwoon told him, cause Hakyeon to resent Taekwoon so much? 

Hakyeon says that Taekwoon is a liar but at the same time, Sanghyuk couldn't help but have his doubts.

What about you, hyung? Sanghyuk looked at Hakyeon and thought. Aren't you a liar too?

Despite the older claiming to have brought Sanghyuk by himself back to this building, the younger couldn't believe it. Because that voice he heard before he passed out still rung through his mind. Who was it that brought him here and why isn't that person here? Does Hakyeon know who that was? Why can't Sanghyuk remember... 

~

Sanghyuk was nowhere to be found. 

Taekwoon had gone through the entire neighborhood as well as going back and forth between their apartment and the pharmacy. But there was no sign of Sanghyuk anywhere. 

Where the heck did you go? Taekwoon began to panic. 

He's never felt this worried for anyone before and it was slowly eating him up inside. He could see how much his hands were shaking and feel how much his head was spinning all around him. 

Did his actions really take away another's life? Again?

No. Don't think about that... it's not your fau- Taekwoon couldn't find it in himself to continue. 

Those thoughts lingered in his mind as he continued to go around and looking for Sanghyuk.

Again, his actions have affected another's life and another's story. Is this why the Goddesses forbidded anyone of Moirae's Edge from meeting a human here on Earth? Is this the consequence for interefering with the laws of the universe?

Taekwoon should have known better yet he couldn't stop himself from doing something so idiotic once more. It took him everything in the beginning to approach Hakyeon in the first place. Everything he did was because of his orders to end Hakyeon's life from the council yet there was a point of time where he really did fall for the latter. But what's the use of falling in love with someone without a future or without a story? That being said, he never thought that the same thing might happen with Han Sanghyuk. 

This isn't what I wanted... Taekwoon thought. 

He was at a lost of what to do now. The burnt picture of Sanghyuk's was proven to be a bad omen after all. Did the younger really disappear? Died? If so, where's his body? Where did he go?

Taekwoon gave up. He couldn't do anything after all. Everything was out of his control and he had no powers to reverse back time except to rewrite someone's memories with tools he was forbidden to use.

Click. 

He opened the door and finally returned home. He was drenched in sweat and he was still in the middle of catching his breath. In the end, he couldn't find Sanghyuk anywhere. 

Taekwoon let out a sigh of disappointment as he returned home. 

Cough. Cough.

Taekwoon dashed immediately to where the coughing came from without a second thought. He opened the door to Sanghyuk's bedroom immediately and saw the younger in the middle of changing into his pajamas.

"Woah!" Sanghyuk was startled. "Knock will you?" 

"Y-..." Taekwoon couldn't believe it.

Despite all of his searching and looking around for the younger, Sanghyuk was suddenly back home. He could barely catch his breath to even begin talking or where to start.

"Hyung?" the younger noticed the frantic look on Taekwoon's face.

"Where did you go?" Taekwoon asked.

"I went to get meds and just came back," he said while concealing the fact that he was actually seeing Hakyeon.

"What took you so long?!" Taekwoon shouted out loud. 

The usual quiet and silent man finally lashed out which took the younger by surprise. 

"I just ran into some trouble in the middle," Sanghyuk said as he was still confused as to why Taekwoon would suddenly look so worried or even sound worry.

"You could've called me. Do you know how worried I was? I thought-" 

Taekwoon paused.

After a second, he realized the words that was coming out of his mouth. He never thought he would say those things to anyone and he didn't know what was wrong with him to suddenly do so. Worried? The Jung Taekwoon who only learned to resent was actually worried about someone...

"Why do you care?" Sanghyuk asked finally. "Anyways, I need rest so can you get out?"

Taekwoon looked at Sanghyuk for a moment without a word and the younger was right. Why does Taekwoon care when he's the one to have caused the younger to become so ill in the first place? If Sanghyuk were to find out the reason and the fact that it was Taekwoon's fault that he's become so bedridden, what would the younger think? 

~

"How was Han Sanghyuk?" Hongbin asked Hakyeon as soon as the older returned back to his apartment. 

"He doesn't look so good. His complexion was awful even though he tried to hide it so that I wouldn't worry," Hakyeon informed the younger. "Thanks Kong-ah. If you didn't find Hyuk in time, who knows what would have happened to him?"

"It was just a coincidence since I was keeping watch on him while Jaehwan and Wonshik returns to Moirae's for the time being."

"Still, I'm worried. I can't help but think that this has something to do with Taekwoon after all. The Hyuk I know is always healthy and active. But suddenly, he's sick and it's been so long since he's gone absent. This all started ever since Taekwoon came back and for some reason, Hyuk remembers Taekwoon instead of Taekwoon being dead."

"Hakyeon-ah... about that..."

Hongbin hesitated for a moment, worried whether or not he should tell the older the truth.

"What is it?" Hakyeon asked. "Tell me."

"You're not wrong about the fact that Taekwoon is the cause of Hyuk's illness. Taekwoon used Hyuk's story in order to get here and he even rewrote that kid's memories so that Hyuk would take him in," Hongbin revealed.

"What?" 

"I had my doubts at first but I've seen Sanghyuk's book of fate. It's become just like yours when you first had an encounter with Taekwoon or me. Sanghyuk's fate has changed completely and now... he no longer has a future."

"How can that be... we have to do something!" 

It was a simple speculation at first but eventually, they have gathered all the evidence to realize that the cause of Sanghyuk's illness was indeed Taekwoon's fault. It was Taekwoon's unpredicted involvement to have caused Sanghyuk's health to worsen. His book was slowly rotting away, even more so than Hakyeon's. 

"We have to save Sanghyuk," Hakyeon broke down in tears feeling apologetic towards the younger. If it wasn't for him, Taekwoon wouldn't have come to Earth in the first place and it's because of him that Taekwoon used Sanghyuk against Hakyeon.

"We can't be rash. Both Jaehwan and Wonshik have gone back to consult with our supervisors to see what they can do to possibly reverse the effects on Sanghyuk's story. They'll definitely figure something out. Let's just give it some time," Hongbin tried to calm the older down.

"But we don't have time!" 

And Hakyeon was right. 

Even Hongbin knows that very well. Sanghyuk's time was running out.