Haerin recognizes a certain pattern now.

Each and every time she travels thrice in a row, the fourth attempt will eventually lead her back to the lab. Oddly enough, for reasons unknown to her, she feels sort of relieved whenever she is back at this place.

Or maybe its because, at least here, she knows what to expect.

Number one, the Minji she meets here is always going to be Doctor Minji, the sassy and impassive variant of her beloved.

 And number two, Haerin won’t be going through the whole struggle of not knowing if this Minji is into her or not, because this Minji clearly isn’t.

Speaking of which, upon arriving, she finds Doctor Minji sitting on the chair, looking intently at the screen and she thinks of how eerily similar they look even if she is just a clone. She takes this time to examine the features she oh so loved.

Her eyes, round as ever. Sparkly even.

Her sharp nose, that always nudges into her cheeks when they kiss.

And of course, she finally rests her eyes lazily on her most favourite feature of all.

Those attractive plump lip-oh come on, Kang Haerin, you’ve kissed four different variants of Minji now. 

Haerin shakes her head and takes timid steps towards Doctor Minji. She finds it interesting how Doctor Minji doesn’t seem like the other variants of her beloved.

For one, this Minji doesn’t make her breathless.

At least with her, Haerin can breathe normally. It’s one thing to feel butterflies but it’s another thing to feel calm. Perhaps coming back to the lab every now and then will do her some good. 

“Kang Haerin, you’re back.”

Doctor Minji nonchalantly turns around to face her, looking as expressionless as ever. Haerin nods but she suddenly finds something amiss.

“Why do you call me by my name?”

“Isn’t that your name?”

“Yes but the first time we met, you called me something else.”

“No, I did not even call you by your name. My exact words were If you’re wondering if she is your Minji, she is.”

Doctor Minji says with a frown. Finally, an expression! But oh no, not a frown. Haerin hates just how she finds every frowning variant of Minji to be so endearing. This must be something coded in her. It must be.

“No, I’m pretty sure that wasn’t our first time meeting.”

“I beg to differ but I’ll give you the benefit of doubt. Tell me then, what did I call you?”

Standing with her arms crossed and  wearing that stupidly endearing frown, is Doctor Minji patiently waiting for her answer. Of course, the fact that she has to tell this particular variant of Minji that she called her baby the first time they met is making Haerin feel rather embarrassed.

To add insult to injury, she recalls falling into pitch black unconsciousness afterwards. For reference, please refer to Haerin’s fourth time traveling experience.

Sighs, well Doctor Minji is waiting.

Haerin looks elsewhere and says it very quickly, in hopes that Doctor Minji will somehow understands what she says. Yeah, right.

“Youaskedbabyareyoualright?”

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Can you repeat?”

“You asked, babyareyoualright?”

“I asked what?”

If anything, Doctor Minji’s stare is extremely hard to ignore. Haerin can feel those round eyes on hers staring so intensely that she almost wishes she can get this over with quickly. Alright, let’s say it slowly now. Just do it, Kang Haerin!

“You asked, baby are you alright?”

She looks briefly at Doctor Minji who seems to only frown deeper, shaking her head immediately afterwards with her arms now uncrossed.

“That wasn’t me. I would never call you baby.”

Ouch. That hurt, even if she knows why. Remember, this is not her Minji. 

Now, nothing makes sense anymore. If that wasn’t Doctor Minji, then which variant of Minji did she meet? Haerin frowns at this.

“But if it wasn’t you, then who did I meet?”

“Your Minji.”

Doctor Minji says, almost as if it was the most obvious thing ever. Haerin looks at her quizzically. 

“But according to Operation Sandcastle, she hasn’t come back in 5 years.”

“I’m guessing that you did not read the rest of the entries.”

Doctor Minji passes her the very same file, one that she had passed to her before and it all felt like dejavu for Haerin. 

If all the other variants of Minji gave her butterflies, well, this Minji gives her dejavu.

“Read the last page.”

She instructs as she stands there without any change in expression, rooted to her spot. Haerin obeys and opens the file quickly, turning to the last page.

“I saw Minji again. Even if its just for a little while, I’m glad she is looking better than when she first time travelled. The antibody she developed must have worked but with the limited source that she has, I’m pretty sure she only has a few trips left before she succumbs to the aftereffects. She seems confident this time though.”

Haerin notices a small symbol discreetly hidden at the top of the page. It seems to be in the shape of an infinity sign. She touches it lightly and sees the symbol lighting up and then dissolving to reveal the numbers 1505. Haerin noticed the computer screen next to her shows a popup waiting for a code to be keyed in.

She looks at the four empty spaces and puts two and two together and keys in the numbers. Almost immediately, a prompt pops up on the screen, stating the words, “Replay last recorded conversation with Minji?”

Her hand reaches towards the mouse and though she hesitates briefly, as soon as she turns around and sees the frown on Doctor Minji’s face, she feels curiosity taking over her as she clicks on the mouse without a doubt. Doctor Minji looks visibly stressed as the device begins to lit up.

Haerin raises her eyebrow at this but once the computer begins to play a video, both of their attention is now solely on the computer. Onscreen, is none other than a very tired yet happy looking Minji looking at her.

So it seems that what was recorded was their last conversation from her point of view. Which means she can’t see herself,and Haerin thinks how this is rather interesting. Maybe this time, she wouldn’t feel so awkward watching another Haerin interacting with Minji onscreen. 

She feels somewhat relieved.

Onscreen, her beloved was wearing a white cloak, very similar to what Doctor Minji is wearing right now.

As a matter of fact, if it wasn’t because of Doctor Minji’s high ponytail, the two literally looked like twins. Haerin feels a