REWIND, ➵ Seventeen - hong joshua

Chapter Four

A week or so has passed without any sight of the mysterious old fortune teller. And Sera had more or less adjusted to this new lifestyle of having another person besides herself in her apartment.

Having Joshua here was like... an upgrade, perhaps. He worked diligently, never slacking off at work, and he never spent any money on things other than necessities. He also kept their living space clean, doing chores without being asked to do. He was such a nice guy. Like a gift from heaven. 

Or maybe not that great. He never talked about himself that much, and Sera knew little to nothing about him. It was getting kind of boring.

Today was a chilly Sunday, and they were lounging in the living room, eating pizza. There was a constant tap of the keyboard as Joshua stared intently at the screen, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Sera glanced over his shoulder, chewing on a bite of pizza. "Found anything yet?"

Joshua sighed. His whole posture was sagging. "Nope. Not anything."

Sera reached over and grabbed another pizza. "I still find it really fucking weird for you to be a time traveler. How random is that?"

"I can't believe it myself, either." He muttered. "Oh, hell, would time still move on in the present when I'm here?"

"Future." She corrected. "Now is the present."

"Not for me." Joshua groaned, rubbing his eyes with his hands. "This is bad. I have to go back. How would our group-" He paused, hesitating. 

Sera stared at him, urging him to continue. "Group?" Finally, his ass slipped and he almost said something about himself. "What group?"

"Our group project." He continued, without missing a beat. He picked up his cup and took a sip. "It's at least 30% of our final grade. And I'm the one doing everything most of the time."

"Ooh, so you're a college student?" She asked, interested. He was opening up! "What major?"

"Theater."

"Oh, so that's what you meant when you told Jae you were an artist?"

"Yeah."

Sera stared at him, then smiled wryly. She leaned back on the sofa, crossing her arms. "Oh yeah? Then why did you also tell him you were a music artist?"

Joshua stiffened. "There's also music in theater."

"Joshua," She was getting annoyed now, "Why are you lying to me?"

Joshua didn't say anything. Slowly, he heaved another sigh, and turned away from the computer to face her. "Listen, Sera, I don't like people knowing who I am. I like to keep my private life from my work life apart, and no offense, I don't want to share everything with a stranger."

Sera scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Keep your workplace and your private life apart? Who do you think you are, a celebrity?"

He didn't answer, just shrugged.

"Joshua, I'm letting a complete stranger stay in my house. Don't you think I have a right to know at least something about you?" She said, feeling her voice rising. She hated it when someone lies to her. 

"You know my name."

"Joshua's not even your real name!" She snapped.

He turned to look at her, expressionless. "So I'm assuming Sera is your real name?"

Sera was stunned to silence. She hated it when someone lies to her, but ironically, she was doing the same. She took a deep breath. "Okay. Fine. We're even. But seriously," She slid off the sofa and sat besides him on the floor. "Let's both learn something about each other, okay?"