“I swear, Lana, you’re the only girl in the world who would still think about doing homework while time traveling across the world.”

Lana peeked up from the essay she was musing over, finding Kyungsoo standing in the bus aisle. He was dribbling a dusty old basketball and had a sports towel slung over his shoulder. The teen boy had insisted on stopping outside a court in the mid ’90s to play basketball, but Lana wasn’t so keen on getting all hot and sweaty.

“Is that a problem?” she muttered, raising an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted to shoot a few hoops with some ‘sick ballers’ or whatever it was you called them.”

“I’m just saying,” he tutted, turning to bounce down the doorsteps, “you’re traveling in time, so it’s like never due.”

Lana smirked and shook her head, turning back to the tablet computer she did all her homework on. True, she had been intellectually stimulated enough for the past week, between an extended visit to the Museum of Everything in One Million A.D. and laughing at all of the inaccuracies in a Victorian museum the teens had visited in 1875. Even the 1950 trip to the premiere of Marilyn Monroe’s debut major film role had proved insightful. But when all was said and done, she’d had barely a moment to breathe since leaving Las Vegas in 2015. And right now, all she wanted was to sit down and sort out the whirring thoughts that had been pushed to the back of her mind since that night. She stared down at the screen, pensively tapping the tabletop as she read the outline she had written weeks ago now:

Dad is important to me because he taught me the importance of education, he takes responsibility for even his gravest mistakes, and he always

The words cut off there, and Lana could no longer think of a third reason as to why her father was so important, nor did she really even know why she was still trying. He had made it very clear in Vegas that he was against the idea of fathering a child in the first place. All he ever cared about was Mom and being alone with Mom and spending his life only with Mom. He would have thrown his daughter away in a heartbeat if he could have. For him, she was just an unwanted byproduct, like secondhand smoke.

If it wasn’t for the mother she had always condemned, Lana wouldn’t even be alive. She was still so young and afraid, yet she stood up for her baby—even against the angry man she loved and would probably do anything for. That was much more admirable than anything Dad had ever done for his daughter in his life. Sure, Mom was airheaded, clumsy, and had a knack for embarrassing Lana in any and every social situation. But it wasn’t like she never cared; she just never really had a chance. All these years, Lana had just been throwing everything back in her face on principle. If she hadn’t been so busy giving her hell, she would have realized that sooner.

Quickly erasing what she had typed onto the paper, she began jotting down a new outline. She was quickly interrupted though by the sound of something heavy springing toward the bus. She glanced up to see Kyungsoo perched atop a pogo stick, bouncing up the steps.

“I traded the basketball for this awesome doohickey!” he exclaimed, nearly losing balance as the stick caught on the last step and almost tumbled to the floor. He slammed his feet down to steady himself. “Anyway, I just got a cool idea for a totally safe place we can go!”

“Where?” Lana asked, unconsciously turning her nose up as the stench of sweat and musk filled the bus.

“There’s this really cool state-of-the-art hospital they’re opening in Japan in 2034, not long after when I plucked you from. I say we check it out!”

He looked at Lana expectantly, to which she groaned. Nothing about visiting a hospital sounded cool or fun, but she supposed it was better than sitting on the bus all day, thinking about the crushing rejection of being unwanted by her own father. Closing the document she had been writing on, she nodded in agreement.

Lana waited as Kyungsoo hopped into the bathroom for a quick shower. He soon returned with clean, wet hair, smelling much fresher than he had before. With the towel still draped over his shoulder, he took his place behind the wheel and steered the bus into an empty alleyway. The next thing Lana knew, she was parked outside a monumental white building, its hundreds of clear windows glistening in the sunlight. Visitors bustled in and out of the front entrance, some carrying bouquets and teddy bears for loved ones. Kyungsoo whistled the chorus to The Archetypes’ big hit as he wheeled the vehicle into a neighboring garage, parking it in a space designed for buses.

The teens alighted the automobile, and thus began the walk down to the hospital. When they arrived at the entrance, the impressive double doors slid open automatically, ushering them into the lobby. The high-ceilinged room was adequately decorated with oak furniture, bright lighting, and lush carpet. Rather than wasting their ample time dillydallying at the front desk though, the teens immediately bypassed the lobby, heading straight down the hall for the first elevator in sight. Once inside, Kyungsoo poked a random button on the panel, and the lift soon spat the teens out into a ward marked with an overhead sign.

“The neonatal intensive care unit is this way,” he cooed, pulling a rainbow-swirl lollipop out of his pocket. “I love babies!”

Lana side-eyed him, snatching the candy out of his hand. “You can’t give a baby lollipops,” she mumbled as the two ventured into the hall, “especially not babies in the NICU. We really shouldn’t even be here.”

Right on cue, the two rounded a corner, and Kyungsoo bumped chest first into a tall, imposing security guard. The man glared down at the pair watchfully, his dark-black eyes sending chills down Lana’s spine.

“That’s right,” he growled in a Tony Todd-worthy voice. “The two of you shouldn’t be in this ward.” He pointed at a yellow sign plastered on the wall, reading it aloud, “Restricted area: authorized personnel only.”

“Sorry, sir,” Kyungsoo gulped. “I think we got lost.” He shot an edgy glance at Lana before snatching her by the wrist. “Well then, we’ll be going now!” he called out as he pulled his friend back down the hall, jumping out of the way as a pair of nurses hurriedly wheeled a screaming baby into the unit.

“That was a close one,” Lana sighed as the two returned to the elevator. She was just reaching for the call button when she realized Kyungsoo was still walking, wandering off toward the other side of the floor they had ended up on. As he glanced around the corner, she hissed, “What are you doing?”

“The maternity ward is right here,” he informed, pointing at a sign directly overhead. “Let’s check it out.”

Without giving Lana a chance to object, he disappeared around the corner. Groaning, she stole a cautious glimpse over her shoulder, double checking that the overbearing security guard was safely out of sight. Assured that the man was nowhere to be seen, she reluctantly hurried to join Kyungsoo in the next hall.

She didn’t have time to assess the maternity ward though. As she rounded the corner, she collided into the teenage boy. He quickly yanked her into the closest room, pulling the door shut until only a tiny sliver could be seen through. All Lana had time to catch was the blurry flash of a long corridor lined with doors—and the tall blond figure of a man she could have sworn was her father.

But what was he doing in a hospital in Japan, in the maternity ward no less? Had something happened to Mom and the baby?

Although Dad was the last person on Earth Lana wanted to see right now, she had to know what was going on. She pushed against the door, anxiously peering through the crack and watching as he pulled out his cell phone. He shakily dialed a number, pacing the room as he pressed the phone to his ear. While he waited for the other line to pick up, he leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. He buried his face in his free hand, finally breaking down into tears.

Lana’s heart sank as dread crashed over her. She could hear someone speaking to him through the other line, but he didn’t respond. He sobbed as the voice in the receiver grew louder and louder, worriedly demanding a reply. And finally, after a long silence, he choked out, “Yunee’s gone, Mom.”

Lana felt like the wind was knocked out of her. In less time than it took for him to say those three words, everything she had only now realized she cared about was torn away. She couldn’t do anything to fight back the tears that suddenly began pouring from her eyes. She hardly even noticed the pain searing through as she struggled not to make a sound.

“Th-they can’t do anything for her now,” he stammered between sobs, his voice cracking on every word. “They said they tried everything they could. She just wouldn’t come to. She’s...”

He broke off at the end, lacking the strength to finish. There was a long, ominous quiet before the woman on the other line spoke again. She could only guess what the muffled voice was eliciting: had Lana’s mother died?

“Yes,” was all he said in response.

That was all Lana could take. She didn’t want to hear anymore. Covering her ears, she pulled away from the door and pressed against Kyungsoo’s chest to sob into his shirt. “Get me out of here,” she whispered just loud enough for her friend to hear.

Lana didn’t wait for her father to finish the call. As she followed Kyungsoo out into the hall, shielding her face from sight against his shoulder, the realization that her mother would die in a few short months crushed her already fragile heart. She had completely lost the opportunity to ever show her mom how much she really cared.

Author's Note
I’m sorry this chapter was not so good. ;O; It was really hard to write for some reason. I actually wanted Yunee to die in the finale of TRHW, but my royal adviser wouldn’t let me do it at the time. She had to live until at least DTTWB for the storyline to work out.

I feel super guilty for asking this here, but I’m going to anyway. Sorry. lmao

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