Seven Lives, One Love

"Dude, I'm pretty sure this is the part where you either beg me to bring your girlfriend back from the dead or demand I tell you who shot her," @$%*^×/+ said, her voice dripping with nonchalance.

His sobbing paused, the unexpected bluntness of her words cutting through his grief. He blinked at her in disbelief. "Bring her back...?" he whispered, the idea so absurd it almost didn't register. "You can actually do that?"

@$%*^×/+ sighed dramatically, crossing her arms. "Nope. Not how it works. But..." she hesitated, drawing out the moment for effect, "I can turn back time."

For a moment, the world seemed to stop. His heart skipped a beat as her words sank in. "Turn back time?" he repeated, the faintest flicker of hope igniting in his eyes. "You can actually... do that?"

She nodded, her tone serious now. "Yes, but it's not as simple as waving a magic wand and fixing everything. There are consequences, big ones. You can't just change one event without affecting everything else in your life. It's messy, unpredictable, and... well, risky."

"I don't care about the consequences," he said immediately, his voice steady despite the tears threatening to fall again. "If it means I can see her again... if it means I can save her... I'll take the risk."

@$%*^×/+ studied him for a moment. "Okay, but let me spell it out for you. This isn't a fairy tale. Turning back time means resetting everything. You'll lose all your memories of her, and so will she. You'll have no idea who she is, what she meant to you, or why you're doing this. The only thing you'll know is that there was someone... someone you loved deeply. But you won't know her name, her face, her voice—nothing."

[ That's totally what happened i was very nice to him ]

Her words hit him like a punch to the gut. He sat back, his breath shaky as he tried to process what she was saying. "Lose my memories...?" he murmured.

@$%*^×/+ softened her tone slightly. "Yeah. But you'll feel it, somewhere deep inside. Like an instinct, or a pull toward something you don't quite understand. And who knows? Maybe fate will help you find her again. Maybe, even if you're strangers, you'll find your way back to each other."

He stared at her, his mind racing. The thought of losing her, even in memory, was unbearable. But if it meant she could live... if it meant she could have a chance at happiness, even without him...

"I accept the consequences," he said finally, his voice trembling but resolute.

"Alright then," @$%*^×/+ said, her tone oddly cheerful now. 

"But, before we do this, there's one thing I want to ask…" Said Wonwoo in a low whisper-like voice.

"What?"

"Who killed her."

The room seemed to grow colde. His fists clenched as he met her gaze. "Who was it?" he demanded, his voice shaking.

"Your uncle."

[ Okay I'll admit I didn't tell him he found out on his own… Also I'm an Aetherling!!! 

Just so the plot goes smoothly we'll go with my version of the events ;) ]

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"Huh???? What is going on!!!!" Yoonah exclaimed, her voice rising as her eyes darted back to the text on the page. She slammed the book shut for a moment, as if doing so might somehow make the absurdity of what she just read disappear.

"Why does it look like this novel is talking to me?!" she shouted, her hands gripping the edges of the book tightly. "This isn't normal! Books don't talk back! I didn't sign up for some interactive, fourth-wall-breaking nonsense!"

She opened the book and flipped back a few pages, as if trying to catch the moment where reality started to unravel. "An Aetherling? Talking about alternate timelines like it's casual?! And now the author's openly admitting to messing with the story?! Who even writes like this?!"

Yoonah let out a frustrated groan, burying her face in her hands. "Why do I feel like I'm in some kind of conspiracy theory? Is this book alive? Am I alive?!"

The sudden absurdity of her own thoughts made her pause, and she glanced warily at the book, half-expecting it to wink at her.

"You know what?" she said finally, closing the book with a decisive snap. "I'm done. I'm so done. This is too much for me. I just wanted a good story, not an existential crisis!"

And yet, even as she set the book down, her curiosity gnawed at her. She hesitated, glancing at it again.

"No," she muttered to herself. "Nope. Not doing it. Definitely not flipping the page. Not today."

...She flipped the page anyway.

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"Why would he do that?! You're lying, right?!"

The anguish in his voice was unmistakable, a raw cry of disbelief. Tears streamed down his face as he looked at @$%*^×/+ for any sign that this was some twisted joke.

"■■■■■■■■, your uncle is not a good man," @$%*^×/+ said firmly. "He even killed your parents."

"No, you're lying!" he shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. "He loved my parents! He loved me!"

@$%*^×/+ sighed, her expression a mix of pity and resolve. "No, he didn't, ■■■■■■■. The only reason he got close to you was so he could take over the company. Can you believe your father was drunk driving that night? He wanted you broken, just so you'd trust him. Later, he planned to have you sign everything over to him."

"That's not true!" His fists clenched at his sides, his voice trembling with both rage and denial. "You're lying! Stop lying!"

"■■■■■■■■, think about it!" she snapped, her voice sharper now, forcing him to confront the reality he'd been avoiding.

He froze, the words sinking in like knives.

"He was the one who hired an assassin to kill your girlfriend," she continued, her voice softening slightly but no less resolute. "He did it so you'd run back to him. And guess what? He's going to come to you today, playing the role of the grieving uncle."

His breath caught, and he stumbled back a step, the pieces falling into place. He hated how much sense it all made.

"If what you're saying is true..." His voice was low, almost a growl now, his grief and fury bubbling to the surface. "Then I'll do the time travel thing. But you have to promise me something."

"Yeah?" @$%*^×/+ tilted her head curiously.

"Promise me you'll never, ever let ■■■■■■■ meet me again. Not in this timeline, not in any timeline."

"What? Why would you say that?!" she exclaimed, startled by the intensity in his voice.

"One thing I know about my uncle is that he plays with people's minds," he said bitterly. "I've seen it before, but I was too blind to think much of it. Why am I telling you this? You should know already if you've been with me for so long."

"Oh yeah~ silly me," she said, awkwardly scratching the back of her neck.

He ignored her and continued, his resolve hardening. "I'm going to go back and find the evidence that he murdered my parents. And while I'm doing that, you keep her safe. Promise me."

Her expression softened, and she gave him a small nod. "I will. By the way, you know you're the first person to agree to this? Most people cling to their memories of their partners. They don't want to forget; they'd rather move on while holding onto those memories."

His eyes glistened with unshed tears, but his voice was steady. "I'm not most people. I'll do whatever it takes to make things right."

He took a deep, shuddering breath, his resolve unshakable now. "Do it. Now. Turn back time. Keep our promise."

"Okayy," @$%*^×/+ said with a small, knowing smile.

She placed her hand gently on his forehead, and the world around him began to blur. Time folded in on itself, memories fading and rearranging as he felt himself being pulled backward through the currents of time.

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"He did not!" Yoonah shouted, slamming the book shut, her frustration boiling over. Her hands shook as she glared at the closed cover. "Why are the next pages empty?! I'm really angry at this author—he's making me angry!!"

She huffed, flipping through the empty pages furiously, hoping to find something, anything, to explain this strange turn of events. Just as she was about to throw the book across the room in frustration, something caught her eye.

"Hold on... what's this?" she murmured, leaning closer.

Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed faint writing scrawled on the very last page, hidden after countless blank ones. The handwriting was jagged and uneven, almost as if written in a hurry:

[That's all you need to know, Yoonah. If you want to know more, find him. Find Wonwoo.]

Her breath hitched. "What the fuck..." she whispered, her voice barely audible.

She stared at the ominous message, the weight of it sinking in like lead. She slammed the book shut again, clutching it to her chest as her mind raced.

"This makes this book even more creepy!!!! What kind of author does this?! What does it even mean—find him? Find Wonwoo?!"