Luhan fell to the ground, feeling dread rise in stomach. Had it started? Whatever caused her death? Would it start now? What could have happened? If only he could see her right now. If only he knew. But no, she is now stuck six days in the past. In six days, she would her death and he would face it with her as he would try to pull her away from it. In six days; that is when the end will come near. Luhan steadied his breathing and used the table to help him up. No, he wouldn’t give up now. Maybe she forgot, or maybe something happened that is keeping her busy. Luhan ran out the coffee shop door and looked around. Right, everything was frozen. It didn’t matter what he did. It was like this, so that he could do anything he wanted in order to save her. What if he had to kill someone? What if he had to do something that would go against all his morals? Luhan tried not to think about it despite the thought lingering in the back of his restless mind. He thought of possibilities of her death. There could only be four possible answers in the period of the short term. One. She could’ve caught some back infection or cold; and acute one. But the possibility of that one was unlikely. Two, she could’ve been killed. Murdered by someone or something. That one was not unlikely. Three. She could’ve been in an accident involving a car, or something of that sort. Four. The one Luhan did not want to think about. She could’ve committed suicide. Just the mere thought caused pain in his heart. He did not want to believe that Haerin suffered through weeks of unhappiness which lead to a painful death. He wanted to believe that she was happy. He thought of the one that seemed most likely to him. Murder.  And he knew exactly where to go to find out whether or not Haerin’s death had a purpose.

                Luhan still felt the need to sneak into the room where the police kept their files and records of crime. He felt it quite unsettling to have frozen police officers watching his every move. It wasn’t like they could see him. When time resumed, they wouldn’t remember a trace of what happened. Luhan searched through the files, feeling slightly confused by the names and amount of crimes that have happened over the past year. He looked for the date, December 14^th. The day that they met and the day that time stopped. The day that Haerin would die, as Luhan’s time moved on. But now that his time was waiting for her’s to catch up, it was still stuck at December 14^th. The timekeeper made sure that Luhan wouldn’t miss her. And for some reason, Luhan trusted him, despite wondering whether or not it’s a good idea. He quickly found the most recent files of crime. December 14^th. He flipped through the files, of the convicted and of the dead. Well, there weren’t any deaths today. It was a relatively safe town. This confused him further. So if Haerin’s files weren’t in the crime section, that must mean murder was out of the equation. Either that or her death was just way too recent to be put in here. Little did he know what time her death happened.

                Time was stuck at exactly December 14^th 1:37:42. What he didn’t understand was what the time keeper said by “he couldn’t touch her and she couldn’t see him, even if he saw her on the streets,”. What would that mean? She was in the past, how would he end up in his streets when time wasn’t up yet? He doubt he wanted that to happen. It would drive him mad. He decided that he had to find a different approach to finding out about her death. He went back to Haerin’s house, and looked around. There had to be some kind of lead as to how things happened. Deaths don’t happen spontaneously. A death can cause grief. Death can cause pain and destruction. He ran around the house, trying to comprehend what could’ve been made out of emptiness. It wasn’t until he got to the kitchen that his heart nearly stopped.

                The pieces of broken beer bottle. As he stared at them, he heard a cry. So full of anguish. Such tear-filled sobs. He jumped up and turned around. Where were they coming from? Was there another presence in the house? His heart hammered his chest. He was afraid. That was for sure.

                “Who is there!?” he called. The sobs continued. His vision was getting blurry, until he saw the kitchen as a blurry image. The smell of alcohol suddenly drifted into his nose, mixed with the familiar warm smell of cookies from Haerin’s home back when she was still alive. The sobs were clear now. He felt his heart clench tightly when he finally recognizes them. It was her. It was Haerin’s voice, so full of pain. He felt like he was right there. Whatever happened, he felt as if he were right there beside her. His vision was clearing up and he prayed to be brought back to reality, for he was so afraid. Everything was so dark. He was so scared. His vision did clear up eventually, but not into the reality he wanted to see. Instead he saw many pieces of the broken beer bottles everywhere. He turned and saw a small puddle of blood. It made his own blood run cold. The sobs were piercing his ears now. He could hear them so well it was hurting him. Mentally and physically. The chills that ran up and down his spine created goosebumps on his skin.

                “YOU !” the sound of a rough man’s voice made Luhan jump, as he spun around to see a big man, with a subtle beard. He was holding a bottle of beer, he looked drunk as hell. On the ground of a women, covered in scars, and blood. She was alive for sure, but not conscious, while the man continued his incoherent ramblings. Luhan neared in closer, his legs trembling. He only recognized the women after a few moments, and he could’ve sworn he nearly fainted. It was her. It was Haerin’s beloved mother she loved all so much. On the floor, with wounds that must’ve hurt Haerin more than it hurt her mother. Luhan snapped his head up, and spotted a small figure, huddled up in a corner, small scars on her own arms and legs. Luhan’s eyes widened.

                “Haerin-ah!”

Short chapter, I'm sorry! I haven't updated in so long but I finally got over my writer's block. I didn't really edit this. I was in a hurry to get it on cause I suddenly got so many ideas! Thanks for being patient guys!

~Naeun <3