Im Nayeon wasn’t one to be entranced by someone easily; however, Yoo Jeongyeon was a delicate case. 

 

After the incident in the Nurse’s Office that day, Yoo Jeongyeon had been avoiding her. Nayeon couldn’t tell if it was just her demeanor, or if Jeongyeon was uncomfortable with her, but there was a difference in their interactions. 

 

The eerie accuracy of Nayeon’s “prediction” might have pushed her away. Or maybe Jeongyeon just wasn’t good with people. Maybe Jeongyeon wasn’t good with Nayeon.

 

The new year started off strong for Nayeon. She, coming back from a vacation to Japan, was delighted to find that she was elected Class Vice President. (Jihyo was President.) Throughout that period, she made incredible grades and found herself in the Top 5 of her grade. She was ranked 5th. (Jihyo was ranked 4th.)

 

Everything was going perfectly… Except for something that kept eating at the back of her mind. 

 

“Why are you staring at Jeongyeon like she murdered your dog?” Park Jihyo interrupted.

 

“First of all, you’re bold to assume Kookeu can die. Second of all, I am hardly staring at her.”

 

“You have been burning—”

 

“I simply glanced—”

 

“—holes into this poor girl’s skull.”

 

“—at her for one second!”

 

“‘One second’ my .” Jihyo stood up as the bell rang for lunch, and they made their way to the cafeteria.

 

“Something is up with you, Im Nayeon.” Jihyo said once they sat down with their food. They were surrounded by their other friends: Myoui Mina, a quiet yet competitive senior; Kim Dahyun, an eccentric junior; and Chou Tzuyu, the sweet yet… bitter sophomore. 

 

“What isn’t up with Nayeon…” Tzuyu muttered off-handedly. Nayeon threw her tomato at the taller girl with a vicious snarl. Tzuyu paid no mind and simply ate the tomato.

 

“You’ll regret being mean to me when I graduate.”

 

“I think I’ll celebrate when you graduate.” Nayeon groaned and banged her forehead on the table. She could hear Mina quietly giggling next to her.

 

“Quit laughing, Myoui. I’m getting Secretary Joohyun to beat you up.” Treasurer Myoui was always a little afraid of Joohyun. Nayeon didn’t get it, they were both similar.

 

“Joohyun likes me.” Bluffing.

 

“Yeah, nerdy attracts nerdy…”

 

“What was that, Nayeon?” Nayeon whipped her head around and locked eyes with the subject of their conversation.

 

“Oh, Joohyun. I-I was just playing.”

 

“Don’t get scared now, I can take a joke. I need to talk to you and Jihyo about our project.” 

 

Nayeon’s eyes darted over to the eavesdropping Dahyun, who was an officer for the Junior class. Tzuyu was an officer for her class as well; however, Nayeon wasn’t afraid. Tzuyu has integrity, and she just didn’t care for little projects like that.

 

“The one for the fair?” Jihyo asked, slowly stirring her milkshake. Nayeon wondered when the girl got it.

 

“Mhm, I had a couple of suggestions actually.”

 

Nayeon sighed, glancing at the Junior, who was doing a poor job of pretending she didn’t care.

 

“Alright, well—can’t this wait until our next meeting?”

 

“Nayeon, please. I’m listening, Joohyun.” Jihyo cut in. Apparently Jihyo liked it when the conniving little Dahyun listened to their conversations.

 

“Well, our plan for the performances/talent show isn’t going too hot. No one is auditioning.”

 

“I warned you guys!” Mina exclaimed, “They’re all doing the Just Dance tournament at that time.”

 

“Yeah, so that’s when I had an idea.”

 

“Go on. It’s alright, Unnie.” Jihyo said, reassuring the older girl. 

 

“We could do a couple of secret performances. We put people in wigs and masks and have them perform, then we put up wanted posters for them afterward. Give out a couple prizes for who finds them.” 

 

There was a moment of silence. In that time, Jihyo motioned for Joohyun to sit down.

 

“That sounds like a really good idea, but do you have anyone in mind?”

 

Joohyun bit her lip, “Well-Well, I was gonna perform. With a couple of friends that I have.”

 

“Okay, that’s fine. We have an hour window toward the end so we might need more than one group. Do you want us to try and form our own?”

 

“It sounds cool.”

 

Mina furrowed her brow and interjected, “So we can perform with anyone who wants?”

 

“I don’t see a problem.” Jihyo said, looking around at the other Senior Class Members.

 

“Yeah, that’s great!” Joohyun said.

 

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Nayeon said, poking at the food on her plate. Jihyo sighed and gave her a pointed look.

 

“Im Nayeon, please don’t tell me you’re getting bent out of shape over me shushing you.”

 

“I’m not.”

 

“Nayeon.”

 

“Maybe—” Nayeon sighed— “Maybe I am a little bent.”

 

“We can talk about this later. Alright, well it sounds like a plan, Joohyun.” 

 

Bae Joohyun nodded with a smile and rose, walking away from the lunch table.

 

“Nayeon...” Jihyo started, taking a sip of her milk.

 

“I know, I know. No need to scold me.”

 

“You can't just ignore Joohyun like that.”

 

“I just find it funny how when Joohyun comes to you with an idea, you address her right away. But when I have an idea you put me on the backburner and forget about me.”

 

“Nayeon, that’s not true.”

 

“Is it not? They all just saw it. You always tell me, ‘Hey, this can wait until the next meeting.’ Notice how when I said that to Joohyun, you got mad at me.”

 

“I wasn’t mad, I just—”

 

“Nevermind, Park Jihyo. I’m gonna turn this back and rewind like I always do.”

 

“Rewind? What are you going on about?”

 

“?tuoba no gniog uoy era tahW ?dniweR”

 

Everything was going fine… Except for the sinking feeling in Nayeon’s chest.

 

Joohyun’s eyes darted around the table, landing on a certain pesky Junior before locking onto Nayeon, “I need to talk to you and Jihyo about our project.” 

 

Nayeon’s eyes drifted back to Dahyun, who bared a red tinge on her cheeks. 

 

“Oh?” Nayeon thought, “This is new…” Maybe Dahyun wasn’t spying at all, not for the reason Nayeon originally thought.

 

“The one for the fair?” Jihyo asked, stirring a strawberry milkshake. There was a tag on the beverage that looked to be from the new convenience store down the street. That explains where Jihyo got it.

 

Nayeon should make her exit before she explodes again.

 

“Hey, well I’d love to hear about it but I’ve gotta go. Im Nayeon things, am I right? Fill me in on it later, alright Bae?”

 

“Sure! I’ll see you, Nayeon.” She gave Joohyun a pat on the back before wandering off.

 

As soon as Nayeon got out of the cafeteria, the smile from her face dropped. The hallways were sparse, so she didn’t feel the pressure to look as happy as she normally did. 

 

Nayeon felt herself rewinding more often then she used to, although not for fun. Not anymore. The incident with Yoo Jeongyeon had changed how she viewed her powers. It used to just be harmless fun. That’s all it was: harmless. A sense of duty to everyone else appeared over time. The summer came and she couldn’t just go to the pools and have harmless fun. There were more people like Jeongyeon out there.

 

Not to mention that Nayeon had a rewind block after the big one that day. Her mind just wasn’t the same afterwards. 

 

Speaking of Jeongyeon, the younger girl was sitting in the hallway outside of the library. She was content, reading a thick book and listening to music through her earbuds.

 

Nayeon wanted to call out to her or maybe even become friends for a moment—only a mere moment.

 

A group of sweaty boys ran in from outside, playing a little tag game with each other. Nayeon recognized one of them from her literature class. He was nice enough, but he was reckless. 

 

An argument popped up out of nowhere and one of the boys got flung onto the floor, landing on Yoo Jeongyeon. There was a moment of silence before the boys started laughing, regathering themselves and walking off.

 

Nayeon heard a brief gasp from the girl, then a stifled sob. This was the moment that Nayeon pledged herself to protecting Yoo Jeongyeon, even if she didn’t know about it.

 

“Don’t worry, Jeongyeon. I’ll help you.”

 

Jeongyeon looked up with watering eyes, “Huh? What’re you—”

 

“—uoy er’tahW ?huH”

 

Nayeon looked up, seeing the boys walk up to the door. Yoo Jeongyeon was peacefully reading her book; the title read ‘11/22/63’ in big white letters contrasting against a red backdrop. 

 

Nayeon mustered a deep breath, “Hey!” 

 

The boys looked in her direction.

 

“This one kid was looking for you, Kang.” The poorly-dyed blond frowned before looking at his friends.

 

“Oh, who?”

 

“I don’t know, but he was tall and had a… weak mustache.”

 

The boys looked at each other before walking off, somehow recognizing Nayeon’s vague (and fake) description. Jeongyeon had one earbud out, subtly listening to the conversation. Nayeon looked at her and the two made eye contact. After some awkward staring, Nayeon turned around and walked off again. 

 

The bell was gonna ring soon and although Nayeon had plenty of time, she wasn’t going to waste her energy on a tardy slip. Who was she kidding? She’d find some excuse to rewind later that day.

***

Nayeon found her excuse. Yoo Jeongyeon had a lot of shared classes with her this year, which Nayeon treated as nothing short of a blessing. They were both in the same Calculus class, and the teacher, an eccentric woman who simply calls herself Jung, was having them do a class activity.

 

“Hey, blondie!” Jeongyeon looked up, watching as the teacher tried to get her attention.

 

“Yes, Mrs. Jung?” she said with a softness to her voice, so much that the hairs on the back of Nayeon’s neck stood up.

 

“What would you be doing on an ideal day?”

 

“Uh...” the girl thought for a moment... “I think... I would... just chill.”

 

“Just chill? Like TV and snacks chill or lazy day in bed chill?” Nayeon chuckled out loud.

 

“Well... both.” Nayeon could see the uncomfortable expression on the girl’s face. It made her coo internally. Jeongyeon really was a cute person.

 

“Alright, that’s good enough for me! Im Nayeon, you’re up next. What’s your ideal day like?”

 

“Hmm. I would start off the day by a little reading, just to wake my brain up. Then I would work out. After that I think I would just go outside and take a walk. Maybe go to a Cafe, like the one by the Middle School. At the end of the day, there would be fireflies everywhere and everyone would be really peaceful and the city would be calm. Then I would take my leave and go to sleep.”

 

The class room paused and stared at Nayeon, mouths agape. She felt her cheeks turn red as she bathed in the silence.

 

Jung nodded slowly, with wide eyes, “Very well articulated, Mrs. Im. Blondie over here doesn’t hold a candle to your mind.”

 

The class erupted in laughter, but Nayeon wasn’t really amused. Her eyes drifted to Jeongyeon, whose head was held down with her hair covering her face. Nayeon could see the slight tremble in her shoulders, and decided that she had enough.

 

Nayeon held up her hand politely, “Mrs. Jung, I have one thing to say.”

 

“Shoot for it, Nayeon.”

 

“You’re a real sometimes.” The class gasped as Jung’s mouth dropped.

 

“I’m a what?”

 

“?tahw a m’I”

 

“Alright, that’s good enough for me! Im Nayeon, you’re up next. What’s your ideal day like?”

 

“I have no ideal day. Every single waking moment is another day, a few more hours of unrelentless pain.”

 

The class was silent. Not in amazement, but in horror. What’s eating at Im Nayeon?

 

“Nayeon, I’m sending you to the counsellor.”

 

“!” Nayeon shouted, head lolling back in her seat.

 

“Excuse me?!”

 

“!?em esucxE”

 

“Alright, that’s good enough for me! Im Nayeon, you’re up next. What’s your ideal day like?”

 

Silence.

 

“Nayeon?”

 

“I hate the word ‘Ideal.’ In today’s society, ideals aren't a true concept. Only another marketing scheme so that Amazon can take more of your money.”

 

Mrs. Jung’s face furrowed, “What are you talking about?”

 

Nayeon sighed in pure exasperation, “There’s a lot to hate about you, Jessica Jung.”

 

Mrs. Jung was about to say something, but Nayeon rewound before she had the chance.

 

“.gnuJ acisseJ uoy tuoba etah ot tol a s’erehT”

 

“Alright, that’s good enough for me! Im Nayeon, you’re up next. What’s your ideal day like?”

 

“I would like to spend all day in your mom’s bed.”

 

Rewind.

 

“Alright, that’s good enough for me! Im Nayeon, you’re up next. What’s your ideal day like?”

 

“This is the tenth time I’ve rewound this and I’m starting to get tired of your face.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Rewind.

 

“Alright, that’s good enough for me! Im Nayeon, you’re up next. What’s your ideal day like?”

 

“Jeongyeon, why the hell do you have to be so sad all the time? Take a xan and put some pep in your step!”

 

The blonde furrowed her brow at Nayeon’s words. She chuckled nervously before covering her face.

 

Rewind.

 

Okay, this is the one.

 

“Alright, that’s good enough for me! Im Nayeon, you’re up next. What’s your ideal day like?”

 

“I think it would just be... me and my favorite drama.”

 

“Wow! I think you and the Blonde—so sorry I forgot your name—will get along well.”

 

“Jeongyeon,” Nayeon turned a little, facing the blonde with a small smile on her face, “Her name is Jeongyeon.”