Chapter 289: It'll Be Okay (4)
His fingertips had gone pale.
Kim Woochan swallowed dryly as he glared at the message window floating before his eyes.
As shameless as ever, it displayed an utterly absurd message in midair.
[Would you like to delete some of the data?]
Delete some of the data.
If there was any data in this universe that would cause synchronization errors....
There was one possibility that immediately came to mind.
His own existence.
And Do Seohan's existence.
It irritated him that two perfectly healthy human beings were being treated as nothing more than pieces of data, but this was by far the most likely explanation.
“I can't touch this....”
He had no desire to suddenly be deleted one day.
“There's no answer.”
Letting out a deep sigh, Kim Woochan scrolled down.
Data deletion.
Synchronization conflicts.
He brushed aside the endless warnings and desperately searched through the message window.
Several minutes passed like that.
[[Warning] The synchronization rate is increasing abnormally.]
[[Warning] The synchronization rate is increasing abnormally.]
The incessant warning messages finally quieted down....
And Kim Woochan found what looked like the only hopeful option.
[Would you like to restore some of the data?]
“Restore the data?”
Restoring the data may require a certain amount of time. The conflicting data will bear the associated risks.
Beneath that was an explanation that wasn't easy to understand at first glance.
Kim Woochan stroked his chin with a grave expression.
To summarize,
the corrupted data could be temporarily restored and inserted back into the current universe.
The process would take a considerable amount of time, and the restored data itself would bear all the risks.
“......”
Kim Woochan's eyes darkened.
There was no other choice.
It was four in the morning.
Sure, there was a fourteen-hour time difference, but calling someone at this hour was seriously lacking in basic courtesy.
At least consider what time it is on the other side of the world.
“Ugh....”
The sudden ringtone in the dead of night jolted me upright.
A groan escaped my sleepy voice.
Frowning, I muttered,
“Who's calling at this hour?”
Shuffle, shuffle.
I painfully crawled out of bed and fumbled around in the darkness.
Half-asleep, I grabbed—
Bzzz—
my vibrating phone.
“Haa....”
Rubbing my eyes, I checked the caller.
[Kim Woochan]
Huh?
The instant I saw his name, all traces of sleep vanished.
Frowning, I picked up the phone.
“Mmm?”
He definitely had an impulsive personality,
but he wasn't the type to suddenly call someone overseas in the middle of the night.
Unless it was something truly urgent, he would never bother someone abroad.
Something had definitely happened.
Ring....
I immediately called him back.
Before the ringing tone lasted even a few seconds, Kim Woochan answered.
“Yes, sunbae. What made you call?”
—There's a problem with the synchronization.
“What?”
That was quite the thing to hear at four in the morning.
A problem with the synchronization?
Maybe because I hadn't fully woken up yet, my brain wasn't working properly.
It took me a moment to process what Kim Woochan meant....
Unfortunately, though, he didn't seem to have the luxury of waiting for me to catch up.
His words poured out rapidly through the receiver.
—The synchronization rate suddenly shot up like crazy, and I think the data collided. But I honestly have no idea why this happened. There wasn't any warning beforehand.
I couldn't think of any reason either.
But according to Kim Woochan, figuring out the cause wasn't the important part right now.
His voice grew increasingly urgent.
—If this keeps up, the memories are going to become completely mixed together. You know that too, Mr. Seohan. You've already experienced it once.
“You mean... like my brother remembering my previous life?”
—Exactly. If people remembered while they were asleep, that would actually be the best-case scenario. But from this point on, that might not happen anymore. The data from both universes is literally becoming intertwined.
The real problem was the side effects caused by the rising synchronization rate.
The people around me wouldn't simply feel unsettled after recalling memories from my previous life anymore.
They might gradually begin accepting those memories they once dismissed as dreams as reality.
Just imagining it was enough to give me a headache.
I pressed my throbbing temple firmly with my index finger.
One worried question slipped out.
“So what should I do?”
It was the desperate question of someone trying to grab onto even a single straw while walking a knife's edge between life and death.
There had always been a solution before.
No matter how absurd the achievement was, there had always been a goal worth pursuing.
So surely...
there had to be a way out this time too.
And then—
—There's only one way.
Kim Woochan's voice dropped low.
I swallowed hard and slowly nodded.
—We need to begin restoring the data immediately, but I figured I should ask for your consent first.
“I'll do it.”
—You might not want to say that so casually.
Restore the data that had been damaged by the conflict.
In the process,
I would have to accept a certain amount of risk.
The additional explanation wasn't exactly reassuring,
but if there was only one option...
then I had no choice.
Ah.
Well,
there was one thing I wanted to confirm.
“What exactly is this risk...?”
—It's going to hurt a little.
“What?”
Kim Woochan said something incomprehensible.
—Ah, actually... it might hurt quite a lot. I've never died before either, so I don't really know. But there's nothing I can do for you....
The next thing he said was even more irresponsible.
—Endure it.
What kind of bullshit is that?
The call abruptly ended amidst Kim Woochan's flustered explanation.
“H-Hello? Sunbae!”
Seriously.
Who hangs up like that?
“I've barely even woken up yet....”
Just as I was lamenting what kind of disaster this was—
my body suddenly felt weightless.
“......?”
And then—
“Ghk...!”
An overwhelming pain struck me without warning.
“Urgh!”
The agony made my body lurch violently, sending me crashing sideways.
The pain was so unbearable that I dropped my phone.
My fingertips trembled violently.
At the same time, my head burned as though it were on fire.
“Uh... ngh....”
What...
was this?
The pain was so intense I couldn't even speak properly.
Clenching my fists tightly, I crawled across the floor.
Leaning against the wall, I gasped for breath.
It really felt like I was dying.
Ah.
This is insane.
“Huff... haa....”
The sensation was terrifyingly familiar.
Only then did I fully understand what Kim Woochan had meant by risk.
Back then.
When I died after being hit by the truck outside the café.
It was recreating that exact same agony.
“So this... is what restoring data....”
You should've told me that beforehand.
“Ugh....”
I bit down so hard on my lower lip that it bled.
You said it'd hurt a little.
This hurts way too much.
Damn it.
Twisting in unbearable agony,
I collapsed onto the floor.
Thud.
The sound of me hitting the wall made Jin Sehyun, who was lying in the bed across from me, stir.
The moment he heard the ominous noises that followed, he turned his head—
and finally saw me collapsed on the floor.
“......Ngh.”
“Do Seohan! Hey, what's wrong with you?!”
Jin Sehyun's face instantly turned pale.
He rushed over and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me.
“Seohan! Seohan! Do Seohan!”
He was desperately shouting at me to stay conscious.
But his figure was already fading from my vision like an afterimage.
“Hey! Stay with me!”
There was no strength left in my hand.
My arm dropped limply to my side.
“...Seo... han......!”
With Jin Sehyun's tearful cries as the last thing I heard,
I finally lost consciousness.
A pure white ceiling.
The sharp smell lingering at the tip of my nose felt unfamiliar.
Slowly opening my eyes,
I found familiar faces looking down at me.
“Seohan!”
Seo Haim rushed over with wide, startled eyes.
The other members crowded around just as quickly.
An overwhelming barrage of concern poured over me.
“Are you awake?”
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Do you know how worried we were?! You collapsed in the middle of the night, and we had to call Manager-hyung. Everything turned into complete chaos...!”
The last thing I remembered was writhing in unbearable pain.
After that...
I must've passed out.
Naturally,
there was no way this was Korea.
“Emergency rooms in America are expensive....”
—that was somehow the first realistic thought that escaped my mouth.
“Is that really what's important right now?”
Kang Siwoo sighed as he pressed a hand against his forehead.
Jin Sehyun let out a disbelieving laugh.
“The fact that you're joking tells me you're alive, at least.”
“I'm perfectly fine.”
“...That's not what I meant.”
Jin Sehyun scolded me for talking nonsense.
The image of him crying before I lost consciousness flashed through my mind.
I felt guilty for making everyone worry.
Leaning back against the hospital bed,
I spoke again.
“I really am okay.”
“Hey.”
It wasn't nonsense.
What was I supposed to do if my body really was fine?
I felt completely refreshed,
as though I'd just woken up from a long, restful sleep.
Since I hadn't actually been hit by a truck,
there wasn't anything physically wrong with me either.
At my words,
Ha Junseo's expression darkened.
“The test results didn't show anything abnormal....”
See?
That's exactly what I said.
“Does that even make sense? Who collapses when nothing's wrong?”
“Could you have been injured when you got stabbed by the awl? Even if there wasn't an external wound, maybe your organs were damaged.”
“They already checked all of that.”
“I don't believe it. When we get back to Korea, we're doing everything again. CT scan, MRI—the whole package.”
Before I could even protest,
my hyungs had already launched into a heated discussion.
At this rate,
even if there was proof I was completely healthy, they looked ready to force me into becoming a patient.
I laughed awkwardly and cleared my throat.
“I probably just collapsed from overwork.
Or maybe I couldn't adjust to the jet lag.”
“Sorry, but you didn't even collapse back during the Starf days.”
“Collapsing is Ha Junseo's specialty.
You... you're still so young already...!”
Cha Seongbin frowned at me.
“Let's ask them to run every test again.”
“That's probably for the best.”
“Should we call the doctor?”
I appreciated their concern,
but it really wasn't necessary.
Waving my hands, I changed the subject.
Now that the immediate crisis had passed,
there was something else that mattered more.
“Forget that.
How long was I unconscious?”
At my question,
Kang Siwoo's expression darkened.
For some reason,
Seo Haim nervously darted his eyes around.
Huh?
What was with that reaction?
Tilting my head at the sudden silence, I asked,
“Why?”
Then,
Jin Sehyun finally answered.
“Three days.”
Wait.
Not...
three hours?
“Three... days?”