♫ MP3: EXO-M - Angel

L.Joe was wandering around the busy streets of Seoul when he walked past a newspaper stand with a familiar looking headline. He backed up in his tracks and walked back towards the stand again.

He picked up the gray wrapped up paper and began reading it when he held his breath and placed it back.

Car accident near the coffee shop, Coffee and Cream – January 24, 2012

The newspaper man that was working there looked at L.Joe with a knowing look on his face.

“What’s wrong kid? A close loved one of yours got involved in that,” he nodded his head towards the newspaper and looked back at him. “car accident?”

L.Joe took a few seconds to debate with himself whether he should reply to the strange old man and he nodded his head.

“Ah, I understand how you feel. It must be really heartbreaking.” The man continued.

“I just want to turn back the time, you know? I shouldn’t have had invited her out to eat.” L.Joe mumbled and he covered his face again.

“Turn back the time?”

L.Joe nodded his head and the old man reached into his pockets. He pulled out an old looking antique watch and he ripped off the story of the recent newspaper. The newspaper man placed the items onto L.Joe’s hands and wrapped his fingers around it.

“Make sure that the girl you love doesn’t see the watch and especially, don’t let her see the newspaper. Karma will bite you from there.” The old man warned and L.Joe nodded his head.

“But wait, how do you turn back the ti---“ but L.Joe was cut off when the old man turned the watch clockwise.

L.Joe was still at the newsstand and he took a look at the newspapers. It all read January 17, 2012. L.Joe in his breath and sorted out all the thoughts that were running crazily through his mind. Either way, he had to find Seo Rin and save her no matter what happens.

“The dance studio!” L.Joe snapped his fingers, placed the items inside his jacket pockets, and ran towards the dance studio. It was the place that Seo Rin was always at, after all she loves dancing. L.Joe picked up his legs and ran as quickly as lightning. Everything was so new to him – time traveling. He has never done it before and he assumed that the ahjussi did so he just went on with what the ahjussi had told him.

Suddenly, L.Joe pulled at a sudden stop and stared through the windows. He’s arrived and he knocked on the window. Seo Rin saw and a huge smile crept up onto her face. She waved like a maniac and she paused her music player. L.Joe sighed on the other side as Seo Rin threw on her big button-down sweater and ran out of the studio.

He missed that smile of hers and he knew that her smile wouldn’t exist in the future anymore if he didn’t save her.

“Byunghun oppa!” She ran quickly to him and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around him, thank goodness she remembered him.

“Seo Rin…”

“Why are you here? I thought you had to play a game with your friends.” She tilted her head but he just shook his head no.

“No, they aren’t important right now.” He said and those words pretty much shocked him and Seo Rin herself. His friends were like brothers to him and they were always important in his life up until now.

“Oh, I see. What happened between you six?” Seo Rin asked slowly with a frown but she smiled quickly after.  “Byunghu---“

“Seo Rin-ah, I told you that you can call me L.Joe.” He pouted which was something that he doesn’t do very much often and she just chuckled.

“My boyfriend is such a diva.” She joked.

L.Joe smiled sheepishly and he quickly grabbed her wrist.

“Hey, want to go somewhere? Anywhere not near a road?” L.Joe asked and started dragging Seo Rin away. She shook her wrist out of his grip.

“I still have a class to attend to, Byunghun. I’m sorry.” She spoke softly and with that, she ran back into the dance building.

L.Joe groaned and ran his hand through his hair. “Lee Byunghun, you pabo. Who asks a girl to go somewhere not near a road?”

He started to head back to his apartment which he shared with his best friend, Chunji. L.Joe unlocked the door and just threw everything onto the floor, startling Chunji and caused him to throw his bag of chips into the air.

“Dude, my chips!” Chunji complained.

“Don’t worry about your chips, when I’m gone next week, you’ll be able to buy as many chips you desire without me eating it all.” L.Joe sighed as he plopped down on the couch next to Chunji. The frustrated boy who had just lost his precious bag of chips turned his head and looked at L.Joe with a puzzled look.

“What?”

“I said, don’t wor---“

“No, no. I heard you! Just… what do you mean by you being gone next week?”

“I thought I made my point… I’m going to get hit by a car next week before Seo Rin does when we were supposed to meet up at Coffee and Cream.” L.Joe explained slowly.

Chunji blinked a few times but bursted into a fit of laughter afterwards. “Ha! Bro, you sound so stupid. I am sorry and I cannot believe I’m saying this but, you sound mentally retarded.”

L.Joe sighed and hung his head low. “You’re right. Of course you wouldn’t believe me. Even the evidence that I have, you still wouldn’t believe me.” He looked back up and Chunji started to crawl backwards, afraid of his best friend. “I’m from the future Chan Hee! I’m from the future! I know that you’re going to go sleep early tonight because your head hurts right now.”

Chunji stood up. “Go get some sleep. I think you’re the one who’s going to sleep early tonight because your head hurts right now. Seo Rin isn’t going to pass away anytime soon and I should know because she’s my best friend in law.”

L.Joe shrugged. “You know what? You’re going to regret this when you do see my body laying on the ground. Don’t you know that Seo Rin could be hit by a ca---“

“Dude, stop! Stop saying that! You could jinx it!” Chunji covered his ears.

“That’s because it is true! Do you need proof to believe it or will you believe your own best friend?”

“Ok, that didn’t make sense.” Chunji chuckled.

“Nothing makes sense to you.” L.Joe said and walked back to his bedroom. He locked the door behind him and shook his jacket off of him. L.Joe reached into his pockets for the newspaper article and the clock. Thoughtlessly, L.Joe unconsciously played with the little watch.

He tried twisting it on the left but it wouldn’t budge at all. Suddenly, L.Joe turned the watch clockwise two times and right before his eyes, he saw a flash. Chunji ran into his room.

“Hey crazy chicken! Wake up!” Chunji yelled but stopped when he saw L.Joe with the antique watch in his hands. “Bro, you spent your money on that old thing? You are really… crazy these days.”

“The time… It just flashed quickly! Now I can’t turn back time…” L.Joe looked up at Chunji and quietly snuck the watch into his jean pockets. “What’s the date?”

“January 19, 2012? Oh goodness, do not tell me that you believe in that whole 2012 thing.” Chunji shook his head.

“No! That rumor is stupid and crazy.”

“Hey, since you’re so crazy, why don’t you write a song titled ‘Crazy’ and then the six of us will sing it to some top company in Seoul and become Korean idols!” Chunji joked and L.Joe shook his head.

“I wouldn’t even be in the group anyways so ---“

“Stop it! Throughout these 2 whole days, you’ve never went out of your room and when you do, you still continue that gibberish rumor of yours saying Seo Rin will get hit by a car and you have to save her. You know, if you keep this up, I will tell the guys and wait until they stop hanging out with you because of your craziness.”

L.Joe ignored his best friend and got up to pick up his jacket. He pushed Chunji aside and ran out of his bedroom, determined to save Seo Rin no matter what everyone else thinks.

4 days passed and it was now January 23, 2012 – the day before Jung Seo Rin’s big dance recital... and the day before the car accident happened near Coffee and Cream. L.Joe was smiling at Seo Rin as she prepared and re-run her dances. Throughout the 4 days, L.Joe and Seo Rin have only gotten closer and closer than usual. L.Joe was waiting for her to seem comfortable enough with him and he wanted to make sure that she trusted him before he told her about her accident that would happen so his plan B would be able to happen.

“Hey, Rin Rin.” L.Joe called out her name.

“Yeah?” Seo Rin stopped dancing.

“Er… where’s the restroom?” he asked and smiled sheepishly. Seo Rin only giggled and pointed to her left.

“Turn that way and keep on walking straight then take a right turn and there’s the men restroom.” She explained and L.Joe said his thanks before running off.

Seo Rin continued dancing until a phone’s ringtone was heard, that was when she had stopped dancing. The ring came from her boyfriend’s hoodie which he had left. Since she believed that he trusted her, she went to get his phone. She reached into the pockets of his hoodie and when she felt his cellphone, she grabbed it, only to let other items in his hoodie’s pockets fall out.

“What…” she reached down when she had read the words January 24, 2012. It wasn’t even that date yet so of course it sparked Seo Rin’s curiosity. She dropped the paper the minute she had finished reading “Jung Seo Rin, an amazing and talented dancer, had sadly passed away due to a car accident right before her dance recital.”

L.Joe walked out of the restroom and smiled at Seo Rin when he saw her but she only looked at him with an expression saying that she couldn’t believe him.

“Yah! What is this?” she waved the newspaper article in front of him and L.Joe gulped. This is bad, really bad. She wasn’t supposed to know about this.

“I cannot believe you, Byunghun! I can’t believe that you would make a fake newspaper print about me in an accident!” Seo Rin exclaimed.

‘Well then… I guess she had a different reason than I thought.’ L.Joe thought, relieved that she didn’t know that he came from the future.

Seo Rin picked up the items off from the floor and stuffed it into L.Joe’s hoodie. She then took his hoodie and shoved it into his arms. “Go away.”

“Seo Rin! You don’t kno---“

“Yah! I told you to go away!” Seo Rin said. “I just can’t believe you would make a fake newspaper print… Do you really dislike me this much?” She mumbled the last sentence. L.Joe looked down at the ground and mumbled a question that Seo Rin couldn’t hear.

“What?” she asked.

“I said, do you want to meet up at the pastry and coffee shop, Coffee and Cream? I’ll explain everything to you there.” L.Joe repeated and Seo Rin nodded her head, showing that she agrees with his invite. He nodded his head and headed out of the dance studio when he realized one thing that had went wrong with his plan. The one flaw that would ruin everything.

He had invited her to Coffee and Cream. She would leave at the exact time as she did the last time. There would be a drunk man who would get into his car and accidentally hit Seo Rin as she headed to the coffee shop. L.Joe gulped at the thought of the only option that could happen. He couldn’t cancel their meet, it’s worse enough that she thinks that he had made a fake newspaper print of her, he didn’t want it to get worse. Now, he wouldn’t be able to see her gracefully leap across the stage and then later see her dancing her heart out to hip hop music, just because of that only option left.

“It’s also ruined now. Lee Byunghun, you really are a pabo.” He said to himself. The plan was planned differently. He would’ve just lived life just like how he normally would but he would only pamper Seo Rin more instead because he didn’t want to lose her again. January 24, 2012 would come and then he could attend her performance without any accidents but instead, the future tragedy would have to happen instead.

It wasn’t soon when it was time for them to meet up at the coffee shop the next day – January 24, 2012. L.Joe wasn’t sitting in the coffee shop however. Instead he was quietly waiting in the bushes to watch when Seo Rin would appear. Call him creepy, call him a stalker but it was only for the best.

Finally, he saw Seo Rin. She was putting on her earphones to listen to her music when he heard a car’s engines turn on loudly. He glanced at the car and tried his best to look into the car and sure enough, it was the drunk man. Suddenly, the driver had lost control of his driving and the crosswalk sign had just turned to ‘Walk’. Seo Rin wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings so she had obeyed the crosswalk sign and started walking on the crosswalk.

“So this is how it all went down…” L.Joe thought as he watched the scene from the bushes. The car started zooming towards Seo Rin and L.Joe jumped from the bushes and ran across the street, screaming Seo Rin’s name. He had pushed her out of the way just in time, but in time for the car to hit his right side of his body causing him to roll on top of the car window and rolling off towards the cement ground.               

His body became weak and his eyes were closed. L.Joe couldn’t feel his arms, his legs, his head, he couldn’t feel anything anymore but pain. Seo Rin had stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around, she was hoping that it wouldn’t be L.Joe.

Her eyes grew wide and she threw her earphones and her bag off her, running towards her now weak boyfriend. Seo Rin tried to shake him awake, over and over again. She started crying, her cries getting louder and louder every minute when she couldn’t get him to wake up. She looked all around her and on the ground, she saw the newspaper print she had accused him of earlier and an antique watch.

That only made her cry more. She looked towards the cause of his death but the driver had ran away. She was hopeless. She felt nothing but sadness and pain.

He was gone.