Have you ever regretted something in your life?

Regret that continued to linger, refusing to go away

And all it did was eat away at you— suffocating you— tearing you down little by little

If you had the chance to rid yourself of that regret, would you?

Would you?

  ♪♪♪

A lonely car made its way down an equally lonely road. Hours ago, it left a big city full of lights and bustling crowds. The scenery it now resided in was the complete opposite— dark and quiet except for the sounds of the sea nearby. Far away from pollution, the sky was filled with stars as far as the eye could see.

Thoughts ran in Hwang Minhyun’s mind as he drove the car carefully, his hands tight on the wheel. It was around 7 o’clock at night, and he wondered exactly how far away from civilization anyone could get. This was the first time he received a job from such an isolated location.

“Minhyun-hyung.”

At the sound of his name from a familiar voice, Minhyun glanced to his side. Settled comfortably on the passenger’s seat was his friend and work partner, Kim Jaehwan.

Just like Minhyun, Jaehwan wore a white lab coat over a simple black-colored shirt and pants— the uniforms of the company they worked at. The difference from them was that Minhyun kept himself nice and tidy, while Jaehwan’s dark brown hair was a complete and utter mess.

For a split second they locked eyes. Jaehwan, sitting cross-legged on the seat, clutched a folder full of documents to his chest as if it was a pillow. Realizing that Jaehwan didn’t even take off his shoes, Minhyun’s eye twitched.

What am I going to do with you? the older of the two groaned inwardly. He sighed before turning to focus on the road in front of them. They should be arriving at their destination in about an hour.

“Minhyun-hyung,” Jaehwan said again. “You were spacing out.”

“Was I?”

“Yeah, you looked kind of blank. Remember that we’re literally driving on the edge of a cliff. I’d prefer not to plunge into the sea.”

“Well, I’m all focused now. Don’t worry.”

Jaehwan looked out the window, observing the roaring sea below them. He whistled. There was only a small steel railing separating them from the drop. It would really be a long, long fall.

They stayed silent for a while until Jaehwan spoke again.

“Even though this is our eleventh job, it still feels weird.”

“What’s weird?” Minhyun asked. From the corner of his eye, he could still see Jaehwan staring out the window.

“That we’re fulfilling wishes,” the younger said. “We’re fulfilling the wishes of people who don’t have much time to live.”

Minhyun knew where the conversation was going.

There was a sort of emptiness in Jaehwan’s voice as he continued. “But in the end, the wishes don’t really come true, do they?”

“If the company hears you saying this, you could get fired,” Minhyun said quietly.

Jaehwan was now leaning his head against the glass. “I know.”

Minhyun didn’t know what to say. Before, they had a similar conversation— plenty of times, actually. At the end of each conversation, they would trail off and never continue, only to start from the beginning again at some other time.

It wasn’t as if Minhyun didn’t have his own doubts. Working at Sigmund Corp was a complete mind of its own.

Artificial memories.

Who knew that something as abstract as artificial memories could be created by technology? When Minhyun heard that it was indeed possible, and made by a company in the heart of the city, he wanted to know more about it. Being a psychology major graduate, it was his natural instinct to be curious about the workings of a person’s mind. Months later, he applied to work at Sigmund Corp. And it was there that he met Kim Jaehwan, a fellow psychology graduate from a different university. Despite utterly loathing the company’s name, Jaehwan was also interested in how the technology worked.

That was almost two years ago. After enduring a year and half of grueling training and selections, they were finally employed. Job after job they went through together— granting the dying wishes of men and women.

And grant wishes, they did. But it wasn’t as happy as one would think.

The technology developed by Sigmund Corp wasn’t like a wish-granting machine that could spew out items that a person desired. It also wasn’t a time machine that could change and solve previous life regrets.

It was a machine that created artificial memories. It enabled Sigmund Corp doctors to enter the memories of their clients, where the doctors would interact with both people and things residing in said memories. Through this, Minhyun and Jaehwan helped guide events into the direction in which the client would fulfill the desired wish.

But of course, that was the problem itself. Because artificial memories were simply that—  artificial. They weren’t real, never actually happened in the client’s life. And in simple terms, it ed with the client’s head. Ultimately, the artificial memories would conflict with the real, authentic memories.

Which was why the machine could only be used for people who were on their death beds.

“But the clients die believing that they truly fulfilled their wish,” Minhyun said. "They die believing that they lived a life in which their wish really came true." The road seemed so long in front of him. He was grounded yet again to reality, his fingers gripping tightly onto the steering wheel.

Jaehwan finally turned to look at his friend. The stare lasted for a couple seconds before he finally nodded. “Yes.” He then returned his gaze back to the window.

“Hey,” Minhyun said, rather desperate to change the topic. “Instead of thinking about that, why don’t we go over the information of our client again?”

“Ah, yes.” Jaehwan tore his eyes away from the sea and opened the folder in his hands. For the next couple seconds, the rustling sound of papers filled the car.

“And for heaven’s sake,” Minhyun muttered. “Take your shoes off if you’re going to sit like that. You’re going to get the seat dirty.”

“Yup, hyung.” Jaehwan didn’t make any move of slipping off his footwear though.

Kim Jaehwan was a fully grown 24-year-old man but still acted like a little brat. 

“This is like the hundredth time I told you,” Minhyun said, though he knew it was pointless.

“Yup. Make that a hundred and one.”

“Ugh.” 

“Aaaand, here’s the file.”

Minhyun shot Jaehwan a quick but deadly glare before turning back to the road.

“Kang Daniel,” Jaehwan said, his voice loud and clear. “Currently 65 years old. Parents died when he was still a kid. No close living relatives to adopt him. He was eventually adopted at the age of ten by the CEO of an entertainment agency when the CEO realized Daniel’s star potential.”

Minhyun nodded, the information still fresh in his mind. “Occupations?” he asked, though he still remembered since Jaehwan had read the file to him last night.

Jaehwan cleared his throat before continuing. “Daniel was an idol in his 20’s. Took a two-year long hiatus once due to personal reasons. Later worked as an actor and dance choreographer until he finally retired in his 50’s.” Jaehwan paused for a bit. “Hyung...”

“Yes?”

“Kang Daniel was really popular back in the days. Even now, his name is still really well known.” Jaehwan seemed lost in thought. “I wonder why someone like him is out here, living somewhere so isolated from the world that adored him so much.”

“Maybe he needed some time alone,” Minhyun said, though he himself was curious.

“He’s been living at a small house by the sea...” Jaehwan said. “Ever since he was 60.”

“So he’s been living there for five years.”

“Not by himself, though. He has a friend looking after him.” Jaehwan looked at the documents again. “A man named Yoon Jisung is always there to take care of him.”

Minhyun nodded again. “This Yoon Jisung sounds like a nice person.”

“He does,” Jaehwan agreed. “We’ll be meeting him and Daniel when we get there. At that small house by the sea.”

“Yeah... Keep going.”

The younger of the two turned to the next page. “Kang Daniel was married,” he said, “to Ong Seongwoo.”

“Ong,” Minhyun echoed. “That’s such a rare name.”

“It is, indeed.”

“Seongwoo was an actor, right? And a model too.”

“Yup,” Jaehwan confirmed. “He was a handsome, popular fellow. I watched one of his old films a couple days ago. You know, for research.”

A light laugh escaped Minhyun’s lips. “Are you sure you didn’t watch it because you thought he was hot?”

“Oh, hyung. Are you jealous?”

“Shut up, Kim Jaehwan.”

“Moving on.”

“And no, I am not jealous.”

“Moving on.”

Minhyun rolled his eyes, though he felt his cheeks burning.

Jaehwan continued as if nothing happened. “They were married when Daniel was in his early 30’s. Oh, Seongwoo was also in his early 30’s.” He let out a hum. “Seongwoo’s a year older than Daniel. They’re only a year apart. They were happily married.”

"Just like us," Minhyun said. There was an awkward pause when he realized how his words must have sounded. "Er, I mean about me being older than you by a year. Not the part about being married."

"Um, okay."

"Continue reading."

Seconds passed as Jaehwan's eyes skimmed over the paper in his hand. "And now to the really sad bit,” he said, voice heavy.

Minhyun sighed. He remembered the silence that filled the room when they read the documents last night. He remembered the fragile look on his friend’s face, how he had leaned over to give Jaehwan a comforting pat on the shoulder.

“Ten years ago,” Minhyun said gently, “Ong Seongwoo passed away.”

“Yes.” The younger's voice was so faint that his friend could barely hear him. “They didn’t have any kids.”

Just like how the silence filled his and Jaehwan’s shared room last night, it filled the car again. The silence was heavy, suffocating the both of them. In the distance, they heard the faint sound of the crashing waves below.

“I guess,” Jaehwan finally said, “we’ll be seeing a lot of Seongwoo in Daniel’s memories. We might even interact with him.”

“We’ll only interact with him if it’s necessary.”

“Yes, of course. It’s just... so weird to talk to people who are actually already dead."

Minhyun shook his head. “Just entering a person’s memory is weird.”

“You’re right, hyung. Entering a person’s memory and altering things happening in it is just as weird.”

“But it’s our job.”

“Yes. We'll be seeing a younger Kang Daniel. We'll see him in his 60's, 50's, 40's, 30's... Heck, we'll see him when he's around our age too." Jaehwan could imagine what would happen next. "And we'll even see Daniel as a kid. We'll probably interact with him quite a lot.”

“And Kang Daniel’s wish...” Minhyun said, his voice hanging in the empty air. “The wish that we’ll help him fulfill.”

Jaehwan blinked as if being pulled out of a daze. He glanced at the paper in his hands again, though of course that was unnecessary. There was no way he’d forget Kang Daniel’s wish. It was impossible to forget something so out of the ordinary— something so bizarre and dreamlike.

“To the moon,” Jaehwan said. He looked out the window, eyes fixed on the glowing bright orb that hung high in the sky. “Kang Daniel’s final wish is to go to the moon."

  Author's end note: This is gonna be one painful journey and I don't know why I do this :(