Chapter 448. Separation Always Follows a Meeting (3)

Chi-Woo didn’t know how much time had passed since he came to this space. It could be several months or several years. Perhaps even longer than that. He had lost his sense of time a while ago. After even Perfect Yoo-Joo left, Chi-Woo became the same machine as her; he tried, failed, and tried again and again like a machine going through the same motions. However, he still wasn’t able to produce a clear result. It felt as if he could get the hang of it if he just took a step forward, but that one step always felt just out of his grasp.

As a result, Chi-Woo got a bit anxious. He couldn’t be too late. He thought he should go back now… Truthfully, he wanted to go back. He had already been conflicted and felt torn countless times because of how hard it was. If there was still a Chi-Woo or a Yoo-Joo in this space and trying alongside him—he might have really returned. He would have left everything to them and return to his world with a light heart. However, there was no one in this space except for him. He was the only ‘me’ left. At first, he wanted to achieve results for the other versions of himself that had already returned. However, his heart slowly swayed over time. Did he…really have to? Even if he couldn’t achieve results in this space and returned empty-handed, wouldn’t the future depend on how he made it in the end?

He obtained some valuable information and… Like this, his desire to return disguised as reasonable justifications continued to tempt him; it was proof that his mind was getting weaker. Only then did Chi-Woo fully understand how those who had returned felt. They must have all been conflicted like this, but this wasn’t the only problem.

Again, Chi-Woo failed and escaped from the light.

“…upppp!” He raised his head at the voice of someone calling out to him and saw Future Yoo-Joo. Judging by how she was urgently shouting while shaking his shoulders, he seemed to have briefly lost his mind.

“Wake up! Can you recognize me?”

“…Ah, yes.”

“I was worried! How stupid of you!” Future Yoo-Joo shouted and reached out to wipe Chi-Woo’s chin with the back of her hand; he hadn’t realized it, but there was saliva all around his mouth.

“…” At some point, his sense of reasoning had been paralyzed without him realizing. That…that had been really dangerous. Although he wasn’t directly influenced by the experience of going berserk, he couldn’t prevent the indirect effects. With one misstep, he might have lost his sense of reasoning. This was the side effect of repeatedly attempting to control his berserk state without taking a break. Originally, he had gotten enough rest in between and managed the state of his mind and heart by talking to everyone, but he couldn’t do that anymore.

“Are you okay? Want to rest for a bit?”

Chi-Woo shook his head.

“…No. One more time…”

“No. Sit down and rest.” Future Yoo-Joo pressed Chi-Woo’s shoulder and forced him to sit down. Then she also sat next to him. Silence stretched for a good while. Chi-Woo stared blankly in the air for a moment, and his mouth gaped.

‘Ah.’ He had blanked out again. No, he couldn’t. He couldn’t let that happen. While thinking this, he was about to say, ‘I rested so I’ll try again’, but Future Yoo-Joo suddenly said, “I couldn’t save my older sister.” The confession came out of nowhere. “I’m talking about Yoo-Ra. Of course, in your world, she must be your older brother. The name is Choi Chi-Hyun, right?” Future Yoo-Joo laughed and asked him, but her eyes were not laughing at all.

“What do you mean…?” Chi-Woo asked, taken aback.

“It’s as I said.” She slightly stretched her arms and put one hand on her chin. “It’s funny. I saved Liber and everyone who followed me, but I couldn’t save the most important person…” Future Yoo-Joo continued as if she was in a trance, and there was deep regret and sorrow in her words. “…It’s my fault.” She murmured like she was giving a monologue. “If I had been successful, no, if I hadn’t done that in the first place…but there was no other way. If I hadn’t done that, everything would have been all over.”

Chi-Woo couldn’t grasp what exactly she was talking about, but it seemed as if the cause of Choi Yoo-Ra’s death in Yoo-Joo’s world was inevitable. “After returning to Earth like that…how do you think I felt like?”

Chi-Woo couldn’t reply exactly. How would he feel if he lost his brother and returned to Earth? It was such a terrible outcome that he didn’t even want to imagine it. Even if he returned safely to Earth, he would be in great despair.

“That’s right. Every day felt pointless. I wondered what I have been doing all this time and for what reason, I…” As she spoke, Future Yoo-Joo’s voice gradually quieted. “…It’s not fair.”

“…”

“I saved everyone, but why wasn’t I saved?”

Chi-Woo nodded instinctively. The reason he had entered Liber in the first place, the reason he had braved through numerous life-and-death crises and survived was all because of his older brother—to return to Earth with Chi-Hyun. The moment he couldn’t achieve that goal, Chi-Woo and Yoo-Joo would have lost everything. Since he could sympathize with her, Chi-Woo could understand why her grief-stricken voice was slowly rising and getting louder.

“Then.” At that moment, Future Yoo-Joo’s voice suddenly calmed down. “One day, a man appeared before me.” She continued, “That man was…just like me. He lost his brother…he saved everything but couldn’t save himself…”

Chi-Woo flinched.

“That man said let’s find a way together. Wouldn’t two be better than being alone?” He was the only person who shared the same pain as her and understood her.

Chi-Woo looked at her. Future Yoo-Joo had already turned around to face him. Their eyes met. A gentle smile was on her lips like a spring breeze.

Taken aback, Chi-Woo asked, “Then that man…”

“That’s right, he was me from another world. I told you, didn’t I? Among us, there was only one other person who reached the same future as me.”

“Yes, you did.”

“…You know.” Then suddenly, Future Yoo-Joo blushed like she was feeling a bit shy. “I liked that man.”

Chi-Woo flinched and wondered if he had heard her wrong. What did she just say? “You liked that man, no—the other version of yourself in another world?”

“Yep.”

“What, why?”

“What do you mean? Is there a reason you shouldn’t like someone?”

“No, but that’s a bit…weird.”

“What’s weird? I think you’re the one who says that.”

In the end, Chi-Woo had no choice but to say, “Ah, is that so.” Still, no matter how hard he thought about it, he found it iffy, but Future Yoo-Joo sounded a bit angry so he decided to change the subject. “Why did you like him?”

“…Just.” Future Yoo-Joo tilted her head and rested it on her knee. After carefully choosing her words, she continued, “Because he was amazing?”

“What was amazing about him?”

“Well…he looked strong. I’m not talking about physical strength, but his inner qualities. Even though we went through the same experience, he didn’t give up. I thought that was really cool of him. Should I say that I admired him even though he was another version of me?”

“Oh…”

“If it’s him, he might find a way…I had such a conviction. So we decided to solve the problem together…” Future Yoo-Joo’s voice gradually died down. “…I might have trusted him too much.”

“What happened?” With this question, the conversation that had been flowing like water suddenly stopped.

Yoo-Joo closed her mouth, and it was only after a while that she finally said, “He disappeared.”

“…”

“I was unable to meet him anymore…never again…”

Chi-Woo became speechless. Future Yoo-Joo’s words didn’t indicate that they had simply separated; it seemed that he had died or suffered a worse fate. For example, he could have tried to find a way to save his brother and thus himself, but wasn’t able to find a way in the end, and in despair, he eventually destroyed his own world. Then it would be safe to say that the particular future had ended at that point. Chi-Woo wanted to ask if this was the case, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the words because the sadness in Yoo-Joo’s tone when she mentioned the man’s final moments was almost similar to when she talked about losing her sister.

“That damn bastard…he should have at least told me in advance…how can he give me hope and then…” It seemed as if Future Chi-Woo had destroyed his world without saying anything to Future Yoo-Joo.

“Yeah, what a bad guy. He has no sense of responsibility,” Chi-Woo said this to comfort her. In times like this, it was best to insult the person to make the other person feel better.

However, Future Yoo-Joo immediately raised her head and glared at Chi-Woo. “Don’t insult him. What do you know about him that you can insult him? You have no idea how hard it must have been for him!”

…Then what was he supposed to do? Chi-Woo laughed emptily and lifted his shoulder, “Why did he do that? And so suddenly?”

“…I don’t know,” Future Yoo-Joo murmured in a sullen voice. “But…he was having a really hard time when I last met him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen him like that before. He seemed really remorseful and was down on himself.”

“What did he say…”

“He said he’d been thinking wrong in the first place. It was a power that couldn’t be controlled, so it was inevitable that it would become unstable if he forcibly tried to control it. He needed to think of it in a different way, but if he had realized this truth earlier…” Future Yoo-Joo softly said with a dazed expression; even now, she couldn’t understand what he was saying then. However, she understood one thing: it was too late for them to turn things back, and there was really no solution now. And her conjecture hadn’t been wrong as soon after this, she never met that Chi-Woo again. His future had completely disappeared after that meeting.

…Why did it matter now? Future Yoo-Joo sighed and exhaled the breath she had been holding. Frankly, she had been so shocked at that time that she also considered following his path to death. However, she created this space and tried to interfere in the past as if she was possessed by something. And she had hoped that if anyone could realize even a little earlier what he was saying and resolve his regret, they might be able to change the future. However, in the end, her plan ended up in failure. No Chi-Woo or Yoo-Joo remained in the end. There was only one person left, and he showed some potential, but in the end, it was the same for him. Time was not infinite. Rather than forcing him to continue trying and lose his mind, it was better to send him back when he was at least relatively sane. There was also one more important reason. Future Yoo-Joo, who created this space, would soon…

“Ugh…” Future Yoo-Joo showed signs of intense suffering for a moment, but soon took a deep breath, and her complexion improved. She cleared her throat and said, “If you want to go back, you can do so.”

Chi-Woo would have normally responded, ‘No, I will do it one more time.’ But no matter how long she waited, he didn’t reply. Future Yoo-Joo bit down a bitter smile. She thought, ‘As expected, you’ve already half-given up too.’ It was understandable, and he deserved applause just for enduring this long. He probably had been forcing himself to endure for the sake of other versions of himself who’d already returned, and if that was the case, it was pointless for him to try further.

Future Yoo-Joo decided to prepare herself and said, “No, you should go back now. You’ve worked hard so far.”

“So…rev…”

“It’s a bit of a shame, but it’s not like you’re going back completely empty-handed, right? So return before it’s too late and…what?” Future Yoo-Joo, who had been talking with an empty expression, suddenly blinked and turned around.

Chi-Woo hadn’t answered her. From a certain time point, he wasn’t listening to her at all.

“What?” she asked again but as expected, he didn’t reply. Future Yoo-Joo stared intently at Chi-Woo with a flustered expression. With his head down, Chi-Woo covered his mouth with one hand and kept muttering to himself, as if he was calculating an incredibly complex math expression in his head.

After not moving for a while, Chi-Woo suddenly widened his eyes as if he realized something. Then he quickly turned around. “Ah!”

“?”

“That’s it. The other way…and emptying the plate…yeah, that’s it. That was what it meant.” Then Chi-Woo jumped up and said, “One more time.”

“Huh?”

“Quickly! Hurry!” Chi-Woo no longer looked like he was about to die, and he hadn’t gone insane either. His eyes were glistening brightly, and he looked more intelligent than ever. Future Yoo-Joo saw his face, and an emotion she had forgotten a long time ago began to rear its head.

“…What is it?” Even as she thought, ‘I shouldn’t do this’, she couldn’t help but recall her first meeting with him. It was all because this Chi-Woo’s eyes looked the same as that man’s at this moment. “Why are you giving me hope again?”

She said ‘again’. Chi-Woo had received Future Yoo-Joo’s attention, but he hadn’t given her hope or expectations. This was also something she was clearly aware of. Thus, the reason she said this was simple: the future Chi-Woo who had found Yoo-Joo and given her hope, the Chi-Woo Yoo-Joo had been talking about was none other than him.

His worldline was connected to numerous Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos. Frankly, he had also known the truth because Smart Chi-Woo had tipped him off before returning to his worldline. Though it was only a guess, it was a pretty convincing one. Future Yoo-Joo seemed aware that Smart Chi-Woo had told him the truth, but she pretended like she didn’t know and revealed it for the first time only now.

He could see why she had hidden it. His future self had saved everyone, including Liber, but he couldn’t save his brother, and he wasn’t able to find a way to fix this situation and ended up destroying his future. This was the ending currently awaiting Chi-Woo, and he needed to change it in this space right now.

“…It’s just this once.” After a while, Future Yoo-Joo stood up. “This is the last time. It’s really the last time. You got that?”

“Yes, I got it, so please hurry up and prepare the space for me.”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Weren’t you implying that you’d trust me one more time?”

Future Yoo-Joo looked around with a chuckle. “The way you talk big sometimes is exactly the same.”

“I’m not such a bad guy with no sense of responsibility.”

“Do you like spitting at your own face? Is that your fetish?”

They joked like this for a while. Then Chi-Woo took a deep breath, and Yoo-Joo also raised her hand. Her mouth slightly twitched as she looked at him, but soon shut tightly. She was afraid and hesitant, but she trusted him because he had made her believe in him. What more did she need to say? Future Yoo-Joo flicked her fingers without further delay.

Flick.