The Best of Tomorrow [ 내일의 으뜸]

Chapter 32

I lay sprawled on the bed and thought about the events of the past. Before I had time to replay Sonjae's song, a strange emotion flooded over me and filled my stomach.

It was as if the ocean had formed in my mind. If I turned my body on my side and lay down, it swayed in that direction, and if I lay down on the other side, it swayed in that direction again. Then, when I lie down facing the ceiling, my beating chest ripples and sway. I couldn't tell if it was a rumbling or a pounding in my stomach, and it kept jumping, rising, and expanding.

I just think of you.

Sure, that's what I said.

His face instantly became hot. He covered his cheeks with his hands and breathed in and out of breath. At first, I couldn't believe what he said, and then I felt like I was going to die, but now I felt like I was in pain.

I picked up the pocket watch I had set aside and pushed the lid open. According to the watch's owner, when the hour hand reaches three, it returns to its original time. 'I'll be here soon,' I felt terribly sad when I heard a voice say. If he doesn't really forget me, as he said back then, then I'll be a bad memory for him.

My heart kept beating loudly. I'm the one who has to go back anyway, so there's no point in thinking about it here. No matter what he said to me here, I couldn't stay here. Perhaps I was lying about living in this time. When asked if there was any truth to anything he said to him, I should have given a different answer. Except for the fact that I'm a fan, it's not real. The person you see now is not real.

He turned to his side and brought his knees together and pressed them to his stomach. A blank wall was facing me. It's like a wall with nothing in it, the world I fell into. I didn't care what he thought of me, so I didn't have to remember him, so I hoped he would be alive when I returned.

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None of the lessons came to my ears. Before I spoke to the owner of the watch, I thought that I couldn't let go of my studies because I didn't know how long I would be in the past, so I took a compulsory class, but I didn't have any motivation anymore.

I poked my notebook with the lead of a pencil and looked at the calendar. The day after tomorrow was Sonjae's birthday. I pulled my pocket watch out of my pocket and checked the time. 2:52 p.m. I think I can give you a gift. Boom, the lead of the pencil broke. Can you give it to me? Hmmm....... He whined and slammed his forehead against the desk.

□ ■ □

I robbed all my emergency funds at home. I found all the money in the piggy bank and between the books. I didn't spend it on all the money I received, and I saved up quite a bit of money. I'm sorry for my past self who will have to live this time again, but you're me after all. I'll use this money for a good cause, I put it in my wallet.

I was thinking about what gift to buy for Sonjae, and I bought an oatmeal-colored knit. It was a design with a thick pretzel weave. It was a gift that I chose because I thought it would suit the Sonje of the present, not the Sonje of the future. I wrote a birthday card inside the box where I wrapped the gift.

[Happy birthday, Sonjae, I bought it because I thought it would suit you, but I hope you like it, so I hope you will always be healthy so that I can celebrate your birthday every year in a distant place.]

I was debating whether or not to draw a heart on the back, but in the end I decided not to draw it.