23 May, Sunday

"Did you find her?" Mina rushes to her, her face pale with panic 

"No she deactivated her devices and shut down Julia" Dahyun says "I've sent all the reports already. We will find her" Dahyun holds Mina's face in her hands, she wipes the tears on her cheeks and hugs her close. Mina sobs hard into Dahyun's chest and Dahyun runs a soothing hand over her back. Dahyun felt just as panicked as Mina, but she had to stay strong. Dahyun places a small kiss on Mina's forehead "I will find her, I promise"

Dahyun gets a call from Jihyo. 

"Dahyun, Chaeryeong says she might know something about Ryujin"

"Let's go to Jihyo's, she says Chaeryeong might know something" she swipes to another contact "Officer Hirai"

The adults gather around the living room of the Park household. Chaeryeong sits in the centre of the five seater sofa, her mothers sit beside her, trying to calm her down. Mina takes a seat to Chaeryeong's left and puts her arm around the young girl as she tries to soothe her but Chaeryeong sobs instead. Chaeryeong looks at Mina and Dahyun with big teary eyes and Dahyun feels her heart hurt. Dahyun had never seen Chaeryeong look so devastatingly sad in all the sixteen years she had known her, at this moment she looks like the baby she remembered. But like a lot sadder. 

"Baby it's okay tell us whatever you know" Nayeon encourages her

Chaeryeong's nose is red from crying "I don't know, she only came to me and told me she would fix it. She never mentioned anything and she said she would be back soon. She didn't say anything about running away or deactivating her devices" she sniffles "Mom I'm sorry I didn't know" Nayeon hugs her daughter close and consoles her

"It's okay baby" Mina reassures the child. She puts on a brave face and holds Chaeryeong close but Dahyun sees it, she sees the tears spilling down Mina's eyes and it breaks her heart.

"Dahyun" Momo signals her to gp to the opposite side of the room, Dahyun nods and walks towards her. Jihyo watches them, she plants a kiss on the top her daughters head and joins the two detectives 

"Dahyun I ran all the scans, the bots aren't able to locate her" Momo sighs. "I'm scared" 

"Don't be" Dahyun intejects  "She's a smart kid, she must've figured out a way to escape the radar"

"What was that about fixing something?" Momo asks "What happened the day before she went missing?"

"We were here, it was-" Dahyun lowers her head Momo pats her back "Ryujin fought with me and she left. I didn't see her back home" 

Jihyo recounts the incidents of that day as well, then, she remembers 

"I think I know where she could've gone" 

"That's strange" Mina's dad says "I don't know a whole lot of Myoui's around here"

"Kim-Myoui" Mina reads once again, what an odd combination

The pair look at the unconscious girl. She looked cozy, wrapped up in big fluffy blankets, Mina didn't realize a smile had made its way onto her face.

"Guess we'll just have to wait for her to wake up"

Mina's mother looks to them "Let's move her to the guest bedroom"

There lights, there's noises, smiles and faces she does not recognize, tears that won't stop. It's the same dream, it's the same nightmare. It's the same voice.
Ryujin jolts awake. She closes her eyes as soon as she opens them, her surroundings are unsually bright, she buries her face into her hands and rubs her face trying to soothe the mild ache in her head. She opens her eyes again, this time the light doesn't feel too bright and she is able to see where she is. She spots the big brown closet and she recognizes most of the furniture in the room. This was her guest bedroom. Except for a few objects, like the weird piece of... paper? Ryujin picks up the foriegn object, it is a triangular cardboard like structure holding paper leaves on either sides of it. Ryujin flips through it in fascination. Each page had some corny inspirational quote written in a big font, a few flips later Ryujin realizes there's months and dates written on the top of the pages.

23 MAY
THURSDAY

TODAY IS YOUR DAY!

She isn't completely clueless, she remembers what had happened. What she had done. She puts the calendar back on the side table and gets up from the bed, she takes a moment to appreciate the soft and fluffy white pajamas. She makes her way to the kitchen expecting to see her mom, or at least a version of her but Ryujin is surprised at who she finds

"Honey I think we should continue the internship programme this year as well" The man says to his wife as he munches on a piece of toast. Of course Ryujin recognizes him but he is a lot younger than she had ever seen him look in her entire life. The same applies to her grandma. They looked so young, they might as well be Ryujin's parents' age

"Oh you're up" Her grandma notices Ryujin stand in the corner "Come, sit, have breakfast with us" Ryujin doesn't know how to respond, when her grandma smiles at her warmly Ryujin walks over to the table without thinking

"You gave quite a scare kiddo" Her grandpa remarks "What were you doing out in such heavy rain"

"Let her eat and get some strength first, darling" Her grandma hands her a plate. Eggs and omellete, smells exactly like Ryujin's childhood weekends "After you're done we can contact your family"

In her head she screams, you are my family! she decides not to say it out loud though. Ryujin takes a bite of the delicious breakfast she hasn't had in six years as she mulls over her current situation. Maybe her grandparents dyed their hair and took those anti aging injections, but then again even their house bot was missing and Julia's been with them since Ryujin's birth. Just how far back did I go 

Ryujin continues her mindless munching even as light footsteps make their way down the main stairwell of the mansion they call home. In all honesty, she should've deduced that she had gone too far back yet Ryujin chokes on her food when she comes face to face with a teenage version of her mother. Her grandparents are quick to pat her back and give her water but that does nothing to calm the shock her brain was going through. She had seen her mom look like this only in those very old pictures stored in the bottom stack of all files in their gallery-scape. 

"You okay?" Her mom, well young Mina, asks her. She doesn't wait for a response though, she puts a rectangular slab to her ear and speaks to someone, then turns to the table and says "Mom, Dad I have to go meet Momo and Sana. Bye!" 

Only then it dawns on her that she might not have thought this through.

"It's so boring" Sana slumps on her bed "Didn't think I'd miss school. Being stuck in home on a weekday feels so weird"

"I say enjoy it, we have school tomorrow anyway" Momo lies dows next to her. Sana grabs the next to her and hugs it close

"Let's go out" Mina whines "Let's go to that ice cream place" Momo sits up immediately, Sana only raises her head to look at her

"Who are you and what have you done to my Mina?" Momo holds Mina by her shoulders 

"What? Can't a girl want ice cream once in while?" 

"In this cold?"

"Momo shut up! Let's go before Mina changes her mind" Sana leaps out of her bed and grabs a jacket, Mina laughs at that. 

The three girls walk side by side, braving the cold breeze and the wet streets all while talking to each other. Mina walked beside her girlfriend, she stuffed her hands in her hoodie's pockets to keep them from getting too cold. Momo walked in the middle, she was lost in the heated debate she was having with Sana over which ice cream flavor was the worst, at some point in the friendly banter Mina sees her hold Sana's hand and put their joined hands in the pocket of her jacket. It's a cute habit of hers, Mina noticed it before she started dating Momo. Whenever Momo felt cold she'd automatically grab Sana's hand and put it in her pocket because she knew Sana was feeling cold too. Mina shivers slightly against a gush of wind. They were close to the ice cream parlour, they turn around the block and a tall figure bumps against Mina's shoulder 

"Hey!" Mina grabs her shoulder in pain, the taller person throws her a glance over their shoulder before marching away. It didn't take much thought for Mina to figure out who the person was, black boots, standard black leather jacket with a grey hoodie underneath, blonde locks and a familiar pair of brown eyes. But the pair of eyes were glassy, like she was trying her best not to cry. The sight tugs at Mina's heartstrings for some reason. 

Mina snaps out her daze when Momo and Sana surround her, asking her if she's okay. It was only a few seconds but why did she feel so lost.

"Jeong!" The three hear a familiar voice. The girl approaches the three friends "Hey guys, have you seen Jeong?"

"Yeah, she stormed off that way and hit my girlfriend while doing so" Momo holds Mina close. 

"I'm sure she didn't mean it" Nayeon gives Mina an apologetic smile "I should go after her" 

But Sana stops her from leaving "No, she looked quite upset"

"You could tell that from her back?" Momo scoffs and Sana glares at her in response

"What happened?" Sana asks Nayeon

"Nothing big, just the usual fights between Jeongyeon and Jihyo"

"Then you should give Jeongyeon her space" 

"Since when are you an expert on Jeongyeon?" Momo asks

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"No, Sana is right. I should give her space" Nayeon interjects, staving off the argument that might break out between the two friends

Mina observes the entire interaction, there's a heavy tension between her two friends. She can feel the atmosphere between the four girls getting awkward. 

"You said Jihyo's back?" Mina asks and Nayeon breathes a sigh of relief

"Yeah she came back a couple of hours ago"

"We're getting ice cream, you guys can join us if you want to" Mina suggests and Nayeon nods. The four of them were standing right outside the Park mansion's gates, it didn't take too long for Jihyo to join them. It took two more minutes to get to the parlour. Nayeon and Momo go to get the ice creams while Sana, Jihyo and Mina look for a good seat in the corner of the pastel colored parlour

"Your mom had to drive through the storm?" Sana asks Jihyo

"It wasn't raining too hard on our way here- " Mina zones out of the conversations. She lets her mind wander even after her girlfriend places her cup in front of her.

She walks back home after their little outing. She enters the living room and her dad looks at with the widest goofiest grin she had ever seen.

"Hey did you know this is your kid! And my grandkid!"

"What" Mina is taken aback at the strange statement

"Yeah, she told us all about it! Ryujin Myoui!"

"Kim-Myoui" the younger girl corrects

Mina stares at them for a moment and laughs

"Nice one, I'm going to my room now"

"Mom" Ryujin calls out as a reflex

Mina cringes at that and turns to her dad

"Why are you encouraging this?"

"We had a long talk about this! I'm open to the possibility of this whole situation. Maybe it's real. Or maybe it's not and maybe she's scamming us all into writing all our wealth to her name. Right?" Her father turns to Ryujin

Ryujin shrugs

"Besides I had an intern discuss these very concepts with me some time ago, she had some sort of device in her garage or something. What I mean to say is that this is possible Mina, highly unlikeyly but possible" Mina's mom says

"Garage?" Ryujin asks her grandma but Mina interrupts 

"And what do we do about it?" Mina ignores Ryujins pout at being cut off

"We let her stay till she can figure out how to go back" Her mom says

"You" Mina turns to Ryujin "If you're really from the future, then tell me who the Kim in Kim-Myoui is"

"I'm afraid I can't, I don't want to influence your decisions" Ryujin says "But I can answer other things, like your dog's name is Ray! And you crashed grandpa's car when you first moved here. And you used to dance to EXO songs but you never told anyone that!" Ryujin rambles, trying to prove to her very young mom that she was telling the truth

Mina turns red in anger and embarrassment, most people know Ray, few know about the car incident but only Momo knew about her dance playlist.

"I'm going to go sleep over at Momo's" Mina storms out of the house without listening to the three voices calling for her. Too much bizzare information to wrap her mind around. 

"Hey Momo?"

Jeongyeon goes straight to her room, she slams the door shut. She'll get an earful for doing that. She goes to her study table, the black book lays atop and she feels her frustration build again. She flips the book open and goes through the pages filled with numbers and words she knows no longer work. She takes her pen and scratches out everything written in that page, she keeps running her pen over the page till it tears completely. Drops of water fall onto the page, Jeongyeon wipes her eyes with the back of her sleeve, she shuts the book and throws it away. She rests her head on the table and lets out small sobs. 

"Jeongyeon"

"Get out Dahyun"

Dahyun enters the room anyway 

"Why are you crying" Dahyun asks despite knowing she won't get an answer "Crybaby" Dahyun teases

"Don't make me hit you" Jeongyeon sounds pathetic, trying her best to threaten the younger girl in between sobs

"As if your noodle arms could do any damage" 

"You're asking for it" Jeongyeon gets up to face Dahyun but she's met with a pillow to her face

They chase each other around the small room till Dahyun calls for a truce. Jeongyeon is out of breath from all the running and laughing, Dahyun smiles at the sight

Dahyun hugs Jeongyeon, and Jeongyeon lets her.

"Girls, time for dinner" calls from the kitchen downstairs

"Yeah mom!" Dahyun shouts back

"Come on, let's go" Dahyun gives her hand to Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon stares for a moment before she gives Dahyun her hand and lets herself be pulled up from the bed.

"Mina! It's been so long" Momo's dad hugs her 

"What about my hug?" Momo pouts

"Oh you're always here"

"It's okay baby I'll hug you" Momo's other dad walks into the room covered in an apron 

"Ew no get away, you smell like garlic"

Mina enjoys the dinner with Momo's family. For those few moments she forgets about everything that bothers her namely one Kim-Myoui Ryujin and one Yoo Jeongyeon. She wills herself to not create a mental list of every person she knows with the last name Kim. But Mina zones back in for the crucial parts, like how Momo's dad had to deal with a business partner and how her other dad is excited about Momo applying for the police academy.  The four finish their dinner, Mina and Momo help with the dishes. They bid their goodnights and Momo takes Mina to her room.

"Babe you still haven't told them about the dance scholarship?"

"I- I tried. It's just that my dad is so bent on the police officer thing I don't know how to bring it up" Momo rants "I don't want to let them down"

"Momo" Mina sighs. She hugs her close. "They love you, they'll understand and support you"

"I know" Momo buries her head into Mina's neck "I just feel like things would change drastically. And I don't want them to. I want everything to stay the way it is"

Mina thinks about the kid back at her house, the potential of her actually being her daughter from the future "I get you"

"You always did" Momo smiles and pecks her lips "Kakegurui time?"

Mina was cuddling with her girlfriend on her bed. They make out a little and giggle about, completely ignoring the show playing on the TV in front of them before turning it off altogether. Mina rests her head on Momo's chest and Momo plays with Mina hand, interlocking their fingers and swaying them about. 

"Hey Momo"

"Hm"

"Do you plan on changing your surname to Kim anytime in the future?" Momo chuckles 

"Now why would I do that silly"

"Just asking"

"Well unless you change your surname to Kim I dont see that happening" 

"Kim Jeongnam" the two girls giggle at Mina's suggestions. Mina takes in a deep breath, and mumbles out

"Momo do you think of our future? Together?"

"I fantasize sometimes, you and me married with an adorable kid your nose my eyes my sense of humour and my everything basically" the two girls laugh  "but the truth is i am so unsure about everything right now"

"I am confused too" Mina snuggles deeper into Momo's arms. She falls asleep to the steady rhythm of Momo's heart