For the entirety of the first day Kyungsoo woke up in another iteration of himself, which he henceforth categorized as Kyungsoo C, he was more confused by the fact as to how he ended up marrying Baekhyun instead of how he had been pushed into this different timeline and lost his entire life as Kyungsoo B.

From digging up past photos on Kyungsoo C’s phone, files on the computer, social media posts and documents in the drawer in the apartment, Kyungsoo somehow managed to patch up what he didn’t know yet of this version of himself.

Kyungsoo found birth certificates in the documents folder for the twins. They were born on March 21st, 2019 which put them at four years old in the present day and were only three minutes apart. In contrast, Kyungsoo A’s twins were born in 2018 and Kyungsoo B’s twins were born in 2022.

The older twin was named Byun Taejong and the younger twin, Byun Sejong. Seeing that they were named after a historical father and son pair, Kyungsoo could somehow figure out that the names were his idea too in this timeline.

Baekhyun’s name was also on the birth certificate as well as Kyungsoo’s, so there was no doubt that the twins were his children with Baekhyun. Kyungsoo still had a hard time believing that though.

Initially, Kyungsoo thought that the twins were Chanyeol’s and he had somehow married Baekhyun instead, who then took on the role of their stepfather. That was not the case, however.

A wedding registration certificate Kyungsoo found also put his wedding date with Baekhyun in October 2018, which highly suggested that he and Baekhyun had indeed gotten a shotgun wedding.

Kyungsoo’s own certificates proved that he had graduated with his master’s degree in the fall of 2018, around the time he got married and while he would still be in probably the early 2nd trimester of his pregnancy.

Kyungsoo C had graduated at the same time as Kyungsoo B but still different from Kyungsoo A.

It was definitely a foreign feeling for Kyungsoo. The twins were fraternal but at this age, where their prominent and distinct features had not yet set in, Kyungsoo couldn’t even tell his children apart. He barely even knew them and it was safe to say that Kyungsoo could not find it himself to feel anything for these two children he supposedly had given birth to.

Kyungsoo didn’t even understand how he could be married to Baekhyun. They hadn’t seen each other in almost a year in the last timeline Kyungsoo had been in and here he was married to Baekhyun.

Furthermore, Kyungsoo always assumed that Baekhyun was straight. Even though Baekhyun never really openly defined his orientation, he had always expressed how he was attracted to women and how he had only exclusively dated the opposite gender too.

This was even more confusing than anything Kyungsoo ever dealt with. At least when Kyungsoo woke up in the year 2016 as Kyungsoo B, he didn’t miss out on anything because the life of Kyungsoo B prior to his arrival had been exactly the same as to what he experienced in Kyungsoo B.

Kyungsoo felt that he had lost almost seven years of his life due to the lapse of memories he had from where he assumed Kyungsoo C’s life started to diverge from that of Kyungsoo A and B.

From past experience, Kyungsoo knew that there was no way for him to return to the time of Kyungsoo A or even Kyungsoo B now.

He was forced to accept the reality that he had to live this life now, even if he barely knew himself as a person here. If this life felt strange, Kyungsoo felt even stranger about his own existence.

Above it all, why was this happening to him? For what reason?

But despite it all, Kyungsoo knew how important it was for him to have a semblance of a normal and functioning life even if he had been unwillingly transported to another time to live out as another version of himself.

He had learned from his experiences of living two different- and now three- lives that he needed to live as normally as possible even if everything he had painfully worked for would all be gone come another January 18th, 2030.

Kyungsoo couldn’t tell yet if the life Kyungsoo C had would be worse or perhaps even better. The uncertainty gave him hope but at the same time also plagued his worries.

On that Friday when Kyungsoo woke up as Kyungsoo C, he managed to find out most of the important details of his life after Baekhyun had gone off to work and Kyungsoo was left with the twins.

Here, Baekhyun worked as a marketing consultant in a large multimedia company. It was a different company than the one Baekhyun worked at in the timeline of Kyungsoo A and B. If anything, Kyungsoo thought that Baekhyun’s marriage to him and the twins were certainly a factor as to why he had a different job.

As for Kyungsoo, he found out that Kyungsoo C was in the final stages of his doctoral research. His thesis was basically almost complete, awaiting peer reviews and ready for the thesis defense in the coming months.

Starting that year, Kyungsoo C no longer taught classes as a tutor in the university so he could focus fully on his research and take care of his children at home while Baekhyun worked.

If everything went along with the plan, Kyungsoo was supposed to earn his P.h.D in the fall of the same year.

And as a rather pleasant surprise, Kyungsoo found out his father was indeed still alive in this timeline. Kyungsoo only found out when he received a text in the afternoon from his father asking why he was late at sending the twins to him that day.

Apparently, Choongsun was supposed to be babysitting them that afternoon. Kyungsoo had just naturally assumed his father would not be alive past the year 2022.

After receiving the text, Kyungsoo stumbled around the unfamiliar apartment to look for his children’s bag of items they would need at their grandfather’s place. It was a hassle indeed because Kyungsoo knew next to nothing about this life he led now, at least everything from 2016 onwards.

Kyungsoo C had already earned his driver’s license again about two years ago.  He also had a car which Choongsun helped to buy for him too.

With this car, Kyungsoo drove to his father’s house which was right where it was in all the timelines.

And before the kids could even squeal in happiness to realize they were at their grandfather’s house, Kyungsoo had rushed out of the car and hugged his father tight, leaving his children in their child car seats.

His father was very much real and alive here, looking rather healthy and fit too. Choongsun laughed a bit at first to see how clingy Kyungsoo appeared to be that day, obviously unaware that Kyungsoo had lived to see his father die twice.

For a moment, Kyungsoo thought that he would be fine living this life if it meant his father was alive and healthy. But he knew that even bargaining was a privilege he did not possess.

Then he started to wonder what happened to the Chanyeol of this timeline. If Kyungsoo never married Chanyeol and never had children, what was the life he led now?

Surely, the Kyungsoo C of yesterday would have known but not now when he was basically the amalgamation of Kyungsoo A and B in the body of Kyungsoo C.

In order to find the answers, after dropping his children with his father, Kyungsoo went to the one place he had in common with Chanyeol- their university. He had no clue of how Kyungsoo C’s relationship with Chanyeol was and thought it was better to play it safe by seeing each other in person, mainly to see how Chanyeol would react.

Kyungsoo considered himself lucky that Kyungsoo C had a scheduler app on his phone, which Kyungsoo was able to use to track the important dates he had no knowledge of.

That Friday, the schedule only mentioned that Kyungsoo was to come into the graduate student office to finish up on some papers. At least Kyungsoo had the weekend to do some catching up with what Kyungsoo C left behind for him.

When Kyungsoo arrived after lunch hour, the campus was rather quiet and empty, which was usual on a Friday afternoon as most classes were held early in the week and leaving Fridays rather relaxed for the students’ schedule.

Kyungsoo waited for a bit in his car in the university parking lot to think things through. For him, he was just married to Chanyeol yesterday but here he had no idea what was going on.

If according to the timelines of Kyungsoo A and B, Chanyeol should have graduated with his P.h.D by now and had begun teaching undergraduate classes as well as acting in supervisory roles for master's degree students.

Therefore, it made no sense for Kyungsoo to go and find Chanyeol at the graduate student office because Chanyeol would have his own office together with his fellow faculty staff.

So instead, Kyungsoo made the turn towards the Law faculty floor to search for Chanyeol’s office. Even if was in a different place here, the name plaques on each door could easily guide Kyungsoo there.

Kyungsoo did eventually find Chanyeol’s office, which he shared with two other people, only to find it empty but not locked up.

From peaking through the window, Kyungsoo could tell which desk was Chanyeol’s. It wasn’t that hard for him to tell considering that he had married two versions of Chanyeol now.

Judging by the mug on Chanyeol’s desk and his coat still hanging on the back of his chair, Kyungsoo deduced that Chanyeol was probably still on campus somewhere.

Quickly, Kyungsoo began combing the entire law faculty by peaking into the classrooms and lecture halls for Chanyeol’s whereabouts. This place was almost like his second faculty due to how often he came around here to look for Chanyeol.

At this time of the day on a Friday, only a few classes were still going on but Kyungsoo did end up finding Chanyeol in the moot court hall. Where Chanyeol was sitting close upfront with a pen in one hand and a clipboard in the other, observing while his students were practicing arguments and presenting their points.

The moot court hall was almost half full of other students who had come as the audience. Therefore, Kyungsoo was able to quietly slip in and take a seat towards the back of the hall, blending in with the other students.

Kyungsoo stayed for almost two hours, observing Chanyeol and not really understanding most of the laws or codes the students seems to talk about. This was clearly not Kyungsoo’s forte and probably wouldn’t ever be, no matter how many universes he ended up waking up in.

In the almost two hours, Kyungsoo also wondered about a few things. He wondered how Chanyeol lived now and particularly if Chanyeol did end up marrying someone else like him? Kyungsoo couldn’t really tell yet because a quick search on social media showed that Chanyeol hadn’t been active for years, providing no updates.

Once the moot court class was over, the audience students packed up and left almost immediately while those who had been participating in the moot court stayed a bit behind to talk among themselves and review their performance with Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo took this as a cue to leave the class too and wait outside, leaning against a wall as he waited for Chanyeol to leave.

Chanyeol was the last to leave the class, needing to lock up the hall on his way out. By then, even the last few students had left, leaving mainly just Chanyeol and Kyungsoo in the corridor outside.

“Umm…hey, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said to grab Chanyeol’s attention.

“Oh, hi?” Chanyeol turned around to see who had been calling for him while he was locking up the doors outside with his ID card. A stack of papers and his clipboard was also in hand.

Kyungsoo smiled a bit, trying to ease any potential awkwardness as he was unsure how Chanyeol viewed him in this universe.

Chanyeol’s expression remained neutral, neither angry nor happy to see Kyungsoo there.

While, on the other hand, Kyungsoo was just glad to see his husband again- still not finding it in himself to acknowledge Baekhyun as his husband just yet. Seeing a younger version of Chanyeol again was mesmerizing for Kyungsoo because he found all the more reasons to yet fall in love again with another Chanyeol all over again.

“What do you want, Kyungsoo?” Chanyeol replied, sighing before looking at Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo froze. He only realized now that he didn’t actually have anything in particular to tell Chanyeol. There was no way he could talk about them being married in two different universes. If it didn’t play out well then, it probably wasn’t going to be good here too.

Unaware of the dynamics of their relationship here, Kyungsoo really had no idea what to say to Chanyeol. But yet, Kyungsoo knew that he only wanted one thing and that was Chanyeol- even when he didn’t know the rights words or actions to keep the said Chanyeol with him.

“I-I just wanted to say hi. I wanted to know if you’re doing well and everything…yeah,” Kyungsoo stuttered a little, making up an excuse on the spot as he tried to play it off cool, not wishing to repeat any past mistakes.

“Ah,” Chanyeol nodded a bit, seemingly understanding the situation albeit slightly, “I am fine, thank you for asking. Why the sudden need to come out here and see me though? It made me think that you needed something from me.”

“Oh, I just…umm…it’s nothing. I kind of missed you, I can say,” Kyungsoo was bold enough to admit, “So I thought that I wanted to see how you were doing and everything.”

“Right,” Chanyeol’s tone suggested that he was a bit more skeptical now. He had turned his gaze away from Kyungsoo, already ready to leave but not knowing how to exit the said situation.

Kyungsoo laughed awkwardly, trying to keep Chanyeol there but failing at it because Chanyeol excused himself off shortly later.

Kyungsoo stayed on campus for a while after that in an attempt to collect his papers and any information he could use to retrace the steps of Kyungsoo C to fill in the lapse of memories from the year 2016 and onwards.

In the evening, Kyungsoo left the university and went to pick up his children from his father. Only when Choongsun mentioned it did Kyungsoo learn that the twins were actually already enrolled in a pre-school. But that Baekhyun had allowed them to take that day off for some reason.

Kyungsoo then realized that Baekhyun would certainly have different parenting styles than Chanyeol and he groaned at the thought of having to experience that for the first time now. Kyungsoo had no idea how his best friend was as a parent.

Kyungsoo spent most of the weekend figuring out how to approach Baekhyun with the subject of how they even ended up together in the first place. Kyungsoo had no clue how to approach a man he had supposedly been married to for over five years with that subject. From Baekhyun's perspective, it would be strange and questionable. 

If anything, trying to get to know two four-year-olds was way easier as they were already very familiar with Kyungsoo even if not vice versa.

Somehow, Kyungsoo was slightly grateful that he