20 [Bonus chapter] A warning message

Chunhee's heart was breaking. It seemed as though the previous dreams he had been having the past nights weren't enough. Even after falling from that stairs and losing his consciousness, he still had to be revisited by those dreams again and this time, he was going through them with a physical pain in his body, particularly his head and his butt.

In this dream, he was facing Yujin from a different lifetime. He wasn't sure what version of Yujin this was but he could tell it wasn't the present sixth life they had.

In this world, Chunhee faced Yujin while holding him in his arms while they were on some ground. Yujin was mumbling some words Chunhee couldn't understand. The only visible thing was that he was crying. Both of them were.

Head hanging low, Yujin looked at Chunhee and kissed his lips. Tears streamed down Chunhee's cheeks as he slowly whispered in Yujin's ear, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry for lo..ving… you…" He kept uttering these words until he could no longer produce a sound and only the shaking of his shoulders indicated he was still trying.

Sadness reflected on Yujin's eyes as he slowly, heartbreakingly smiled at Chunhee. Then, in a heartbeat, his hand fell down and his body stopped moving.

In an instant, everything halted and there was no sound to be heard except for the last heartbeat Chunhee heard. As soon as he saw Yujin - his unresponsive, lifeless Yujin -- Chunhee's world stopped.

It was then Chunhee realized what timeline this was – it was that fifth life. Where Yujin, his childhood friend and lover Yujin, took his own life.

It felt as if thousands of bricks fell on top of the conscious Chunhee's heart at the memory being played before his eyes. Even if this was just a dream, it felt too real and too painful. His chest hurt and it felt like suffocating him bit by bit as more flashbacks from that life poured into his head like a wildfire. From the moment they met to the time they had to separate once more, Chunhee watched it.

There wasn't an option to close his eyes.

Chunhee bit his lip and clenched his hands, trying to fight the emotions cutting deep down in his heart. He shouldn't feel this way. This was just a dream. Those memories belonged from his past lives. They shouldn't be able to inflict pain on the present Chunhee anymore. The present Chunhee was conscious. More than anything, he had decided to live according to his own desires and dreams. No timeline or plot god could stop him from succeeding this time. He would surely live as he promised himself. He wouldn't fall for Yujin...

Just then, he heard a muffled sound from what seemed to be an audio transmitter connecting to a device that had been disconnected.

A voice that sounded like a man and an advanced technology came in between static noise: "Don't [...] change [...] circumstances [.....] plot [....] watch [.....] stay [....] role [...]"

Chunhee frowned. His jumbled emotions came to a halt and all he could put focus on was that strange sound.

What was this audio saying and where did it come from? Was he actually trying to speak to Chunhee? Or was it for someone else?

"[---] Chunhee [------]"

At the mention of his name, Chunhee's frown vanished, replaced by a perplexed expression. He tried to open his lips and speak but no sound was emitted from his mouth. He realized he was still in that dream. But then again, where did that sound come from and what was it trying to tell Chunhee?

Another sound came and like a whirlpool, Chunhee was pulled away from the scene and was dragged into another place. There was the sound of a machine beeping followed by the sound of a door being shut close.

Chunhee forced himself to open his eyes. To his surprise, they did and he was immediately welcomed by a place where everything was white.

Where was he?

Those dreams surely made him feel the worst and as he had expected, he could feel his head being split as well as tons of messed up and confusing emotions flooding in his chest. He couldn't even tell where he was now.

With a pale face and cold sweat at his back, Chunhee faced the ceiling with half-opened eyes, barely thinking and feeling as he instead tried to focus on his breathing.

Slowly, he regained his composure and reasoning.

This place and atmosphere… This was the hospital, wasn't it? Did this mean he was back in reality? Was this the sixth life he was supposed to change the ending of? The more he tried to think about it, the more the throbbing in his head worsened.

Just then, the door opened and revealed a little girl, answering Chunhee's questions.

The moment she saw Chunhee's face, the little girl – Hanna – immediately smiled, "Big brother!!" She almost ran towards Chunhee as she asked in a hurry, "Are you okay, big brother? Does it hurt? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Chunhee gulped down and slowly relaxed his body and mind. This indeed was his sixth life. He looked at Hanna tenderly and shook his head.

Hanna's eyes brightened immediately the moment she saw Chunhee's response.

Chunhee forced himself to speak despite the extremely dry and parched feeling in his throat. "I'm okay, Hanna…"

The enthusiastic smile became even wider then her eyes went wide as if remembering something. "Oh, right! Mommy said I should tell her quickly once big brother wakes up. Umm, um, I'll go to her now, okay? Big brother, be good and don't die, okay?" Hanna exclaimed and mumbled in a hurry while looking at Chunhee with excitement and abruptly turned around to leave.

Chunhee watched his little sister leave the room. Their zoo date was canceled because of him and his own stupidity. Why did he have to fall down from the stairs anyway? Chunhee bit back the need to sigh as he slowly collected himself and calmed down.

Right, he almost forgot he was the least favorite son of the Plot God. Thankfully, Hanna seemed unbothered by their canceled date and was genuinely concerned about her brother's condition instead.

Chunhee got up from his lying position with a silent wish to head straight to the bathroom. Fortunately, it was a private room and there was a restroom inside. He already imagined his parents and their anxious faces the moment they saw Chunhee lying on that floor. There was even that person, Park Yujin himself, who picked him up like a princess...

Chunhee who was on the hospital bed with a hundred black lines in his head: "....."

Damn it! Who wanted to be carried like a bride like that? Who? He gasped at the sudden bitter realization: "D-Don't tell me... That jerk thinks I liked it...?"

Just thinking of that possibility made Chunhee die out of cringe or just bury himself under the ground. Shaking his head, Chunhee glanced at the side and found the door to the restroom.

He felt like if he didn't wash his face now, he wouldn't be able to tell whether he was in a dream or reality or in some sort of defense portal that temporarily hid him from embarrassing situations.

In between his breathing sessions, Chunhee looked around the room and stopped as his eyes caught something. There was a table next to this hospital bed and on top of it, there was a white object that seemed to be a little out of place. Chunhee took a closer look and realized that it was just a small piece of white paper that was folded twice.

Unsure why he felt something was off about it, Chunhee opened the folded paper to peek and found a few words written inside. He blinked and glanced at the door. Was someone else here? Did they accidentally drop this thing here or was it actually for Chunhee?

Chunhee couldn't remember anyone entering but he felt someone did leave earlier… Did that person leave this paper here on purpose?

Curious, Chunhee opened the paper in full view and read its content, his eyes widening and his heart dropping the instant he did. The message was short compared to his nightmares but it was enough to shake Chunhee's barely controlled emotions once more.

[Don't change anything or you will bear the consequences. The Plot God is watching. Be careful and stay in your role.]