Seungcheol groaned dramatically. "You're the worst time traveler ever."
"And you're the most thirsty teenage version of my dad ever," Cheol called back, laughing.
Seungcheol flushed again, but he didn't deny it.
After all, Joshua was his future.
And now he was determined to make sure that future happened-for real.
As Cheol walked ahead with a proud little bounce in his step, Seungcheol stayed a few paces behind, still dazed.
His brain was running on one single loop.
Not physics.
Not equations.
Not even panic over breaking time-space laws.
Just one thought: Joshua is my future.
His lips parted slightly, eyes glazed over with the stupidest, sappiest expression as he whispered under his breath-
"Joshua...."
His knees nearly buckled.
"Joshua...." he said again, this time with a hand dramatically clutching his chest.
Cheol turned around just in time to witness his teen father collapsing onto a nearby bench, completely love-struck.
"Oh my god," Cheol muttered, face-palming. "You're so embarrassing. Please never let Mom see you like this. Ever."
"Joshua..." Seungcheol murmured again, eyes dreamy.
Cheol stared at him.
"Yep. He's broken."
Seungcheol was still sitting on the bench, one hand over his chest and the other half-raised as if he could physically reach the stars his brain was orbiting around. He looked like he'd been hit by a truck-specifically, a truck named Joshua.
Cheol stood there, arms crossed, staring at the disaster in front of him with the expression of someone who had just realized he was genetically doomed.
"You really are my dad..." he muttered under his breath with a sigh so heavy it carried centuries of disappointment. "God, even back then you were this whipped."
Seungcheol blinked at him slowly, completely unfazed. "Was? I am."
"Tragic," Cheol whispered. "Absolutely tragic."
Seungcheol just grinned like an idiot, clearly proud of himself. "Do I-uh, I mean-do we have any siblings?" he asked, eyes sparkling.
Cheol looked him dead in the eyes. "Classified. Not allowed to leak future intel. Nice try though."
"C'mon! I'm your dad! You can trust me!"
"You're seventeen," Cheol replied flatly. "And you just short-circuited because Mom smiled at you."
Seungcheol slumped. "That's not fair. He doesn't just smile. He glows. Like-have you seen his aura? I bet it has a gravitational pull-"
Cheol held up a hand. "Stop. You're embarrassing both of us."
But Seungcheol just leaned back again and sighed dramatically, letting his heart melt freely.
"Joshua..." he whispered once more.
Cheol muttered to himself as he walked away, "I'm never letting Mom read my time travel logs."
Seungcheol was still lost in his daydream, clutching his chest like he was in some tragic romance drama. "Joshua... Joshua... god, even his name sounds like it's been kissed by moonlight..."
Cheol stood nearby, arms crossed and face twisted in the deepest cringe imaginable. "Okay, that's it. I'm reporting you to the Time Council for emotional misconduct."
T.A.P. - Temporal Access Prototype - 2
Start from the beginning
