The throbbing pain on his head wakes him up as he gently opens his eyes. Kai searches the room and wonders how he got here. He lifts himself out of the bed but struggles to stand up. Still feeling a bit lightheaded, he rubs his eyes and stares at the clock.

8:00pm

“That’s weird, I was just taking a bath at around 7p…” Kai interrupts himself, realising something.

Aware of his surroundings now, he looks around his old room, completely shocked at what he is seeing. There, right in from him were posters from 5 years ago, old school books lying around and a framed photo of Sulli and him. Kai catches his breath and staggers to look at the photo, the same one he threw away 5 years ago.

He then touches the sore bump on his head and remembers what happened earlier. With his breathing becoming heavy, he clutches his chest to calm down. Did he just see Sulli?
.
.
.
Or was it his mind playing tricks on him?

As Kai sinks back to his bed, he looks at the photo that is still on his hand. He fixes his eyes on her image – the seventeen year old her.

“T-this… What the hell is going on?” He questions himself as he tries to progress everything.

Then out of the blue, the wooden floor outside his room begins to creak as the sound of someone’s footsteps becomes closer and closer. In a sense of panic, Kai immediately leans on the door and uses his back to block anyone from entering. He looks at the light streaming out of the door’s crevice and sees a shadow looming. He swallows his spit and braces himself tightly on the door.

Knock, knock.

The sound of the door handle turning makes him agitated. He pushes his back harder, feeling the whole force of the door being opened. The person behind the door sighs impatiently and begins to knock persistently.

“E-eomma?” Kai asks fretfully, finally letting a word out.

The knocking on the door stops and is replaced by laughter - a familiar one. Kai’s eyes widen from disbelief as he vaguely loses his grip on the door. How can he forget that laughter? The exact same one Sulli does too.

“Are you doing something funny in there Kai?” The voice mimicking Sulli reacts with a chuckle.

It is definitely her, Kai thinks to himself without any hesitation. He gathers himself to stand up to face the door but as soon as he touches the handle, his hand begins to tremble.  He leans his head on the door, silently scorning at himself.

“Kai? I have to go home soon. I can’t stay here forever you know? ”

Why not? Why do you have to leave me again? Kai answers in his head, feeling a lump in his throat. The silence continues for a few seconds between them until Kai finally opens the door, only leaving a tiny gap.

“Sulli…Is that really you?”
“No, I’m Thehun! Geez Kai, of course it’s me!” She shouts, pissed.

Kai peeks through the gap and sees the one he is hoping to see standing right in front of him. Unaware of his gaze, Sulli waits outside with her eyebrows all scrunched up.

“Kai, I’m leaving!” She said grudgingly whist kicking the door with might and accidentally hitting Kai’s face.

Overwhelmed with pain, Kai groans loudly on his knees and holds his face firmly. Sulli gasps as soon as she hears him and bolts through the door. With his cover blown, he looks away from her, his face still burning from the door’s force.

“Really? You hit your head on the tub and now this?” She hisses but kneels down in front of him to assess the damage she caused.

Sulli helps Kai up on the bed and examines the now swollen bump. She panics and runs around the room to look for something to soothe it. Kai watches her in amusement, the reality of the situation sinking in.

What is she doing here? Wait... does it matter? She’s really here!

He stops her by catching her hand as he chuckles to himself. Sulli pouts at him and flicks his forehead in anger.

“Now, your mother will think that I’m the violent one in this relationship!”

Kai pulls her in closer, their faces just inches apart. Embarrass, Sulli’s face turns pink and gulps at their proximity. Kai leans in closer, taking advantage of the situation and is stopped by Sulli’s palm. She backs away swiftly with her faced blushing and runs out of his room.

Kai smirks at himself, enjoying every moment of it. Without wasting any second, he chases Sulli down the stairs, causing much ruckus to the whole house. As he passes the living room where his father is, he stops in his tracks when he hears a strange announcement coming from the television. He listens in closely as the news caster reports the weather.

“It is sunny in Jeju-do tomorrow on June 30 2009”
“…2009?” He repeats the date to himself, baffled and stares at his dad.

“Abeoji… didn’t I come here on July 5 2013 from Seoul?” Kai comprehends his own question slowly.
 “What are you talking about? That is 6 days from now!” His father laughs, amused at the stupidity of his son's question.

Kai’s head begins to fill with continuous questions as he realises what he got himself into. Sulli pops in front of him with a smile and gloats with her tongue out.  Kai looks at her eyes, worried.

This is the past, my past and hers… I have to save her this time. 

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*everything that is bold+italics are Kai's thoughts. 
Sorry for the delay! I had a writer's block. (obvious right?) 
errors fixed... 
Enjoy!

Chapters 4 and 5 will be out shortly (Japan Standard Time)