[Baek Do-yoon — One Night Before the Wedding]
His thumb hovered over the call button.
His hands were shaking.
It was 2:14 a.m.
He sat in his car, parked just outside Shin Hae-won's apartment building, engine off, rain trickling softly against the windshield like time trying to stall him.
The white velvet ring box sat in the cup holder. It wasn't the first time he'd opened it tonight, but it might be the last.
He took a breath.
Call Hae-won.
His phone lit up.
Voicemail.
Of course.
He clenched his jaw. "Hae-won, it's me," he said, voice low, raw with panic. "I know I should be asleep. You probably are. But I—I need you to know something."
A pause.
He glanced at the letter in his hand. A file, sealed, stamped with red ink: "CONFIDENTIAL — PROJECT GW."
His world had tilted ever since that man—Lee Gwan-woo—visited him at his office three nights ago.
Claiming he had access to the future. Claiming Hae-won would suffer if the wedding went through.
Car crash. Delayed cancer diagnosis. Financial ruin. Her life spiraling because he stayed in it.
He didn't believe him.
Until Gwan-woo showed him the hospital footage. The newspaper clippings. Even a crumpled wedding photo… burned at the edges.
"Letting her go will be the hardest thing you ever do," Gwan-woo had said, "but it will save her."
So here he was.
Trying to do the right thing.
But every word felt like betrayal.
"I never wanted to hurt you," he whispered into the phone. "If I don't show up tomorrow, just know—it wasn't because I stopped loving you. It's because I loved you too much to ruin you."
He ended the call and slumped forward, forehead resting on the steering wheel.
And he didn't see Gwan-woo standing in the shadows near the door, watching.
Waiting.
---
[Present: Hae-won — Timeline Fracture Zone]
"Everything's white," Hae-won muttered, shielding her eyes.
They were in a space that didn't exist.
A hollow void.
Like time had emptied itself out.
She turned and saw Min-jae staggering to his feet beside her. "This is…?"
"A break zone," he said, brushing off his coat. "Between threads. When reality can't decide which moment you belong to."
"How do we get out?"
"Find the anchor," he said. "Whatever memory Do-yoon left behind that ties him to you strongest. Touch it. Relive it. And pull the thread."
She closed her eyes, digging into the memory that cut deepest.
The one she never spoke of.
The night after her father passed.
She had sat on the roof of her apartment building, tears dried on her cheeks, staring into the dark sky when Do-yoon appeared—no words, just a quiet presence. He pulled her into his arms and whispered, "I'll carry this pain with you."
The moment clicked.
The break zone rippled.
And suddenly—she was back on that rooftop.
[Memory Thread — Rooftop, 3 Years Ago]
She turned and saw herself, curled in a blanket, eyes swollen from crying.
And Do-yoon beside her, arms wrapped tightly around her.
But there was something else.
A second Do-yoon.
Watching the memory silently. Eyes full of grief.
He wasn't a memory.
He was the real one.
Present Do-yoon.
And he could see her.
"Hae-won?" he whispered.
Her breath caught. "Do-yoon…"
He walked toward her slowly, almost afraid she'd vanish. "I—I thought I'd lost every chance to explain."
"You did," she said bitterly, tears rising. "Until time dragged me through the pieces."
He clenched his fists. "I tried to warn you. I left that message…"
She nodded. "He deleted it."
Do-yoon looked down. "I'm so sorry."
"Why didn't you come back?" she asked, voice trembling. "Even years later?"
His jaw tightened. "Because Gwan-woo wasn't bluffing. The accident… your dad… it did happen. In one timeline. You lost everything. Because of me."
She swallowed hard. "And what about this one?"
"I don't know anymore," he said. "I've been hiding in the seams. Watching from the sidelines, hoping you'd be okay."
Silence.
Their eyes locked.
And then—
She stepped forward, hand brushing his chest, voice low. "If you still love me… don't run again."
His hands rose slowly, resting over hers.
"I never stopped."
But just as his lips parted—reality snapped.
A pull yanked him backward.
"No—No!" Hae-won screamed, reaching for him.
Do-yoon mouthed something—
"Min-jae will find you."
Then he vanished into light.
---
[Back to Present — Timeline Restored: Rain-soaked Seoul, 2025]
Hae-won collapsed onto her knees in an alley behind her apartment complex. Thunder cracked above. The world was back—but different.
She looked up and saw a figure holding an umbrella.
Min-jae.
His voice was quiet. "Did you find him?"
She nodded slowly. "He never stopped loving me."
Min-jae's jaw clenched, but he nodded. "Then we have to get him back."
She stood, breathing hard. "Why are you helping me, Min-jae?"
He looked into her eyes, rain sliding down his cheek like tears he'd never admit to.
"Because somewhere along the way… I started falling for the girl who refuses to let time decide her story."
Her breath caught.
But before she could respond, something shattered behind them.
A ripple. Bright and sharp—like a thread being cut.
Min-jae turned sharply. "No… That wasn't a ripple. That was a collapse."
They ran toward the light.
And found a photo—Do-yoon's college ID—burning in mid-air, dissolving.
"He's being erased," Min-jae said, horrified.
Hae-won's scream tore into the rain.