Taekwoon sat on his bed, staring out his window at the frost covered forest beyond his home. He lived closest to the enchanted forest, yet hadn’t explored much of it without his friends. His family had lived near it for generations but none of them had seen hide nor hair of any mysterious creatures, until now.

            It’d been several hours since the boys exited the forest, with Taekwoon leading the way. He honestly wasn’t sure how the boys had made it out the first time, but he decided to let that mystery slide for the time being.

            Taekwoon leaned back onto his pillow, holding a postcard in his hand. He was starting to settle into his rewinded life but couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going to happen. Taekwoon pushed his feelings aside and moved to his desk. He reached for a small red book and flipped through the pages. There was very little written, with the majority of the pages being blank.

            Taekwoon gazed at the book, a gift from his sister for his tenth birthday back in November. It was a journal meant to record his personal thoughts and the events that happened in his life. Taekwoon remembers writing every event that happened in the chaos that eventually lead to his madness fifteen years later, but as of now, all the book had was the events of his and Jaehwan’s birthdays.

            Taekwoon slipped the postcard from his hand into his light blue knapsack before grabbing his pen and scribbling down what he had seen the previous night. He knew his words would not be an exact duplicate of the first time he wrote of the Aurora of Winter tide, considering he has become much more articulate since childhood, but he was still compelled to record his findings in hopes of changing the story’s outcome.

February 16, 2000

The Aurora of Winter tide

No matter how many times I see it, the mysterious lights never lose their majesty. It’s as though I’m seeing them for the first time, but perhaps that’s just the case. Everything was just a vibrant as it was the first time I lived through February 16th. I enjoyed every second of it, from the show of the lights to the dance of the fairies. But what I enjoyed the most had to be the way the hues of green and violet danced on Wonshik’s smiling face.

            “Taekwoon! Wanna go on a date?!”

            Taekwoon shrieked and fell out of his chair at the yell from outside his window. His face was bright red as he slowly made his way over to the open window to see a cute boy in a backwards snapback waving at him.

            “W-Wonshik! What the heck!” Taekwoon screamed back.

            “Sorry, hyung! I just wanted to get your attention!” Wonshik called out. “I’m going to the mall and I was hoping you could come with me! Just the two of us!”

            ‘Just the two of us?’ Taekwoon thought. ‘But he’s only nine! This can’t be a real date? Was Wonshik always this cheeky?’

            “W-What about the others,” Taekwoon yelled, desperately trying to mask his joy about being asked out by the younger. ‘Pull it together, Taekwoon! You’re ten now! You shouldn’t be thinking of dates with this boy for at least six more years!’

            “Well, I was going to make it a group day out but Hakyeon-hyung has dance practice, Hongbin has tutoring, Hyuk caught a cold last night and, well, you don’t really wanna spend the day with just me and Jaehwan-hyung do you?”

            Taekwoon rubbed his head awkwardly. ‘Hell no. When Jaehwan and Wonshik are together, they always beg me to buy things for them, using aegyo and awkward expressions that almost make me wish I was alone with Hakyeon. They’re so cute, it’s almost like they’re dating.’ Taekwoon growled at the thought slightly before shaking it off. This was starting to become all too familiar to Taekwoon, but he didn’t want to make the same mistakes as his past life.

            “Sure, I’ll be right down.”

            Wonshik was truly taken aback by this response. He never expected to see Taekwoon answer so quickly and positively. Taekwoon always put his homework above all else so to see him brush it aside to play with him was nothing less than a miracle.

            Now that he thought about it, Taekwoon was acting strange last night as well. He was a bit more open with everyone and even led their expedition through the forest, a place the older boy had shown no interest in, despite living on the perimeter. Could Taekwoon have been replaced by an alien? Is he possessed?

            “Ok, let’s go.” Taekwoon said as he exited his home minutes later, dressed in his winter gear. Wonshik nodded sharply before grabbing ahold of the older boy’s wrist and dashing off toward a car where the boy’s mother was waiting.

            Minutes later the boys were at the local outdoor mall. Mrs. Kim dropped them off near the fountain in the center of the area where she sat watching the two boys. Taekwoon and Wonshik spent their time browsing the windows for toys, gadgets, and sports gear, taking the time to enter the stores and play when they could.

            With much protest from the younger, Taekwoon managed to coax Wonshik into entering some clothing stores. Wonshik had never figured Taekwoon to be a fashionista but he reluctantly modeled several outfits for the older boy, knowing it made him happy. After several minutes, he grew to enjoy trying on clothes as long as he was with Taekwoon and none of the others found out.

            After several hours, Wonshik and Taekwoon sat by the fountain, munching on some hotteok Wonshik’s mom had bou