From Zero ⨝ [Chae Hyungwon x Reader]

Chapter 5 Strange Places

          I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything that happened today. I just kept tossing and turning on my bed, trying to go to sleep but my mind was completely occupied by thoughts about the man I met and the watch. 'If whatever he said was right, then can I bring my sister back?' I thought.

      I held my head and closed my eyes tightly as my head hurt so much, I felt like it could explode any moment. At this point, I could do nothing but forget about getting any sleep.

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      The next morning, I didn't bother getting up cause I didn't get any sleep at all and I could just try to sleep the whole Sunday. When it was around noon, I gave up on trying to sleep and got up. I got a call from Minhyuk and he asked if I wanted to hang out. I accepted since that would at least get my mind off the watch for some time.

    I got ready to go out after having lunch and walked to the park where Minhyuk was already waiting for me.

"What took you so long? I thought you wouldn't come," He said.

"Sorry I made you wait. I didn't get much sleep last night so I kinda slept in 'til noon," I said, a little embarrassed.

"You know, you will get enough sleep if you stop thinking about stuff at night. You just think too much," He said.

"How can I not think? People can never have an empty mind if they're alone, you know," I said.

"That's not what I meant. You just need to stop worrying and...stop regretting," He said, almost whispering out the last part.

I said nothing.

"I've said it a lot of times before and I don't want to repeat myself but Y/N, what happened to your sister was not your fault," He said.

I wasn't surprised when he said that. Minhyuk knew me so well, he'd always know what I was thinking about. He'd always know I was sad even when I didn't show it.

"...Let's not talk about that," I said.

It was a bit awkward between us now that we were both quiet.

"Let's go have some ice cream!" Minhyuk exclaimed, breaking the silence.

       He grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the street to the nearest ice cream shop. When we reached the shop, we both ordered our favourite flavoured ice cream. The person behind the counter gave us our ice cream and Minhyuk dug into his pocket to get his wallet.

      As he retrieved his wallet from his pocket something was about to fall off from it. I looked at it and was shocked when I saw a very familiar-looking watch about to fall out of his pocket. Minhyuk quickly caught it before it fell and stuffed it back in his pocket.

      He took some money out of his wallet and handed it to the cashier. He looked back at me and took his ice cream that was in my hand. He noticed that I was staring at him with eyes and mouth wide-open.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Minhyuk, where did you get that watch?" I asked.

"Oh, that? One of our customers left it at the cafe. I carry it with me so I can give it back to him if he visits again or if I run into him anywhere," He said.

"What's wrong with that? Why are you so shocked?" He asked.

"Oh, it's...nothing," I said.

'Minhyuk has one too. I thought there was only one time-travelling watch. Why is there another one? It looks like Minhyuk doesn't know what this watch can do. Wait, it could just be an ordinary watch. It could just be a similar-looking one. But what if there are more watches like this out there?' My mind started hurting again as my thoughts were booming in my head.

I didn't stay out for too long and went back home after a while since my head was hurting a lot.

Changkyun's POV-

         I typed the codes that were needed on my computer and I was trying to pinpoint the location of my target. Hacking into someone's phone wasn't that hard for me but this person was a bit tricky. I repeated every step I took in my mind as I carefully typed on my computer.

       Just then, the door to the small, dump of an office opened. I looked in the direction and the mafia in suits walked in. Honestly, even a noob hacker would know how to go unnoticed in public but this shady organisation's employs didn't care to think about a 'disguise' at all. It must be so strange seeing people walking around, wearing suits and goggles.

"Is the work done?" One of them asked.

"I thought I had 24 hours and last time I checked, it's only been 8," I said.

"If only you focused on the work instead of using your tongue so much, it would be done by now," He said.

"Yeah, if only I wasn't disturbed every hour like this by you, I would've done it by now," I spoke, turning back to the computer.

"Say something again and expect me to blast that brain of yours. Matthew would've done a better job than you," He said.

"...Guess that's right because I'm not Jooheon..." I whispered to myself.

Y/N's POV-

        I stood in my living room with the watch in my hand. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as I made up my mind. 'If I got a chance, I should take it,' I thought. I decided to go to a point in my past because what the man said had been bothering me a little too much. So I decided to test if I could make things right.

'June 1st, 2016' I thought as I turned the crown to the day when my sister died. I pressed it and the pattern appeared in the dial again. I was teleported to a place I didn't know. I looked around the place. It was dark since it was night and the place didn't seem familiar at all.

      There was a huge castle in front of me and the path to there was lit with several torches. The scene was like something out of a period drama. I looked around in confusion as I didn't know where I was.

      Just then, I saw two men wearing traditional clothes walking. Their hair was tied in a bun and they were holding spears in their hands. My eyes widened as I realised that I went too far in the past.

The men noticed me and started walking towards me.

"You there! Who are you? How dare you sneak in here?" One of them spoke.

     I stepped back and quickly turned the time back to the present. I pressed the crown and was teleported to another place and time. I expected to be back at my apartment but instead, I was standing in a vast field full of corpses, horses, elephants and soldiers fighting each other. I realised that I was in the middle of a battle-field and immediately warped time once again before I'd be killed there.

     This time too, I wasn't in my apartment but on a road at night. The place looked a little familiar. Just as I was looking around, I heard a loud crash. I jumped and looked in the direction to find and car crashed into another one. Before I could do anything, the door to the back seat of one of the cars opened and a guy crawled out of the car.

     He was wearing a white shirt that was stained with his blood. It was clear he was losing consciousness as he dragged himself away from the car. After he was out, he fell limp on the ground. I rushed towards him to see who he was and if I could help him. But before I could even see his face, I was teleported again.

     I gasped as I was back at my apartment. I looked down at the watch. I didn't warp time this time but I still travelled through time. It was as if the watch was doing everything by itself. 'What the hell just happened? Why didn't I go where I wanted to go?' I thought. 'Well, at least I got back and didn't get stuck in the jail of Joseon.'

To Be Continued...