20 Again

Part 12

"Y/n.. Y/n ah.. Wake up.."
The voice of someone calling my name echoes in my ears. My eyes heavily flutter open & the blinding bright light makes me snap them shut again.
"Y/n ah.. Wake up.. Yeobo.."
What? Yeobo?
Surprised, I force myself to open my eyes.
And the face I see right in front of me shocks me even more.
"Na-Namjoon oppa?" My voice comes out as a hoarse croak.
I try to sit up but the throbbing pain in my head prevents me from doing so.
"What's wrong? You sound so lost." Namjoon frowns & asks in concern.
"My- My head hurts." I stutter.
"Oh no. Do you want to go to the doctor?" He offers.
"No, I'm fine. But what happened?"
The last things I remember are the glaring headlights & Jimin's alarmed expression. So I don't understand how I got here.
"What do you mean? Nothing happen-"
The sound of baby crying stops him from talking further.
Wait.. Baby?
"Who's that?" I ask in confusion.
"Y/n ah, are you sure you're alright? That's Seongwoo. Our baby." He looks at me like I'm crazy
"What?!"
Panic rises in my throat.
Our baby? How is it possible?
I glance down at my left hand. A fancy platinum wedding band circles around my ring finger, making me break out in cold sweat.
"W-What year is this?" I try to sound as calm as possible, despite the building fear in my heart.
"2020, of course. You look really pale & confused. I think we need to go to the doctor. I'll go call my sister to ask her to take care of Seongwoo." Namjoon rises from his seat.
"W-Wait! What happened to Jimin?" I grab his wrist & stop him.
"Jimin? Why are you suddenly asking about Jimin?" He looks even more worried now.
"Just answer me. Where is Jimin now?" I ask urgently.
"Y/n ah, Jimin died 5 years ago in a car accident. Have you forgotten?"
I gasp in shock as my heart plummets to the floor. A sharp pain pierces through my head, causing me to close my eyes in reflex.
"Y/n ah, what's wrong? Are you ok? Y/n ah. Y/n ah!" Namjoon shakes my shoulders but his voice & touch gradually dissipate into nothing as the pain getting more & more intense.
"Y/n ah!"
Jimin's face right before the car hit us flashes in my brain.
"Jimin!" I call his name as I abruptly sit up & my eyes snap open.
My whole body is drenched in cold sweat, the thin T-shirt I'm wearing sticking onto my back. I look around & realize that I'm back in my room.
Fuck. Thank God it was only a dream.
I breathe a huge sigh of relief.
But did I really get hit by a car? Or was it only a dream too?
"Y/n ah, wake up. Breakfast is ready." Eomma barges through the door, breaking my train of thoughts.
"Eomma, did you get a perm yesterday? It looks good on you." I smile at her & compliment her new hairstyle.
"뭐 (mwo=what)? Are you drunk? I've had this hairstyle for 2 years now. Stop talking nonsense & come out or you'll be late for work." She shakes her head & closes the door.
"What?" My jaw drops listening to her words.
I frantically look for my phone & am shocked to find an iPhone lying on my bedside table. I quickly unlock it & gasp in shock when I see the date on the screen.
May 5th, 2020.
Oh God. I'm back to the future?
I scroll through my phone & search for Jimin's number but I can't find it. So I go on Google & type in his name.
A myriad of results about him load on my phone screen. He's still a part of BTS, he's single, they're currently the most successful boyband on earth.
What happened? What exactly is happening?
Right then, a call comes into my phone.
Nami.
"Nami ya.." I answer the call, still in a daze.
"Ya, I'm calling to remind you again about the dinner tonight. Come on time, ok?" She says.
"Dinner? What dinner?" I ask, completely clueless about what she's talking about.
"See? I knew you'd forget. Y/n ah, I know you're a busy woman, especially after you were promoted as the marketing director of your company, but how can you forget about your best friend's baby shower dinner?" She sighs.
"Wait. What? Baby shower? Whose baby shower?" None of her words make any sense.
"Duhhhh, mine of course!" I can tell she's rolling her eyes right now as we speak.
But that's impossible. She can't conceive after that abortion years ago.
"I- I don't understand.. Who's the father of the baby?"
"Huh.. I guess your brain is fried because of working too much. I only have one husband & he is Kim Taehyung. Remember him? That guy who used to be a member of BTS. You were my bridesmaid when we got married. Does it ring any bell? Jeez, you really know how to annoy a pregnant lady. Anw, just don't forget to come to the restaurant tonight, 7:30 PM. I won't forgive you if you don't." With that, she hangs up the call.
I stare at my phone in utter confusion.
Did we- Did we change the past & hence the future?
"Y/n ah! If you don't come out now, you'll really be late for work!" Eomma's muffled call echoes through the door.
"네 (ne=yes)!"
I guess I'll just go with the flow for now.
I get ready as fast as I can & step out of my room.
"Eomma, I don't think I have time for breakfast today. I'm going now!" I shout to my mom as a sense of urgency makes me pick up my pace, although I'm not sure what I'm running for.
I walk out of the gate & find a luxurious sports car parking in front. It feels like my body moves on its own as I grab the car key from my bag & unlock the door.
This car is mine? But I can't drive.
Surprisingly, I actually can. I can't help but feeling amazed at my new self as I drive on autopilot to my supposedly office, which is located in a big tall building in Gangnam.
"Woah, Y/n ah, you've really made it this time." I mutter to myself.
The rest of the day continues like that, like I'm having an out of body experience. I thought I would be completely clueless on what to do, but I managed to finish every task at hand successfully.
"Director nim, I've finished the report you asked for." One of my team members knock on my door & walks in with a thick pile of paperwork in her hands.
"Thank you. You may go home now." I say.
"Really? You have nothing else for me to do?" She asks in surprise.
"No. Why?" Confused by her reaction, I lift my gaze from the report I'm reading & ask.
"Well.. Usually you don't allow us to leave until you do." She looks down at her hand nervously.
Wow, what have I become? A cold & heartless boss?
"I won't do it again from now on. You may leave now. Have a good night." I smile at her, which stuns her even more.
"T-Thank you Director nim. You have a good night too." She stutters & hurries out the door.
Huh.. How exactly did I get here? What actually happened?
My mind is still in a chaos as I drive to the restaurant where Nami is holding her baby shower.
7:27 PM. I'm right on time.
"Ommo! You're actually here! And early! What a miracle!" A heavily-pregnant Nami approaches me & exclaims as soon as she sees me walking through the door.
"Wow, you really are pregnant." I gape in awe seeing her bulging belly. She looks much happier & radiant than she used to be in another life.
"Of course I am. Why do you sound like you've just found out about it? Tae, look who's here!" She calls out. I know that Taehyung is here, but still I'm surprised to see him really walking towards me with a huge smile on his face.
"Thank you for coming. I thought you wouldn't be able to make it, considering how busy you are." He says as he casually puts an arm around Nami's shoulders.
At least, they've gone the right direction this time.
"Anw, go have a seat. We'll begin shortly." Nami pulls me excitedly towards the table & sits me down on one of the empty seats among her & Taehyung's other friends.
I have to admit that I kind of expected that Jimin would be here since he was so close with Taehyung, but he's nowhere to be seen, which makes me feel slightly disappointed.
Why are you disappointed? The last time you saw him, he was going to hand you to Namjoon.
But still, I can't shake my curiosity. I need to know how his life has changed & what happened to us.
After the dinner ends, I wait until Nami leaves somewhere & approach Taehyung.
"Tae, can I speak to you for a minute?"
"Yeah sure. What's up?" He smiles at me & asks.
"Uhm.. Do you still keep in contact with Jimin?" I hesitantly ask.
"Jimin? You mean Park Jimin? Why are you suddenly asking me about him?" His eyes widen in surprise at my question.
"Well.. I'm just curious about how he's doing right now." I chuckle awkwardly.
"Wow, I thought you didn't want anything to do with him anymore after the accident."
"Accident?"
"Yeah, the car accident. That night when you both got hit by a car. He tried to talk to you numerous times after both of you woke up, but you kept refusing to meet him. I couldn't even invite him to my & Nami's wedding because Nami was afraid that his appearance would trigger your depression again."
So the accident did happen. But.. depression?
"I went into depression after the accident?"
"You did & I believe Nami told me that you're still seeing a psychiatrist regularly. Why are you asking me these questions? Have you forgotten about all that?" He looks at me in utter confusion.
"Oh. No no, I still remember. Uhm.. do you have Jimin's number? If you do, may I have it? I just want to clear things up with him. I mean so many years have passed."
"Well, I do. But I haven't contacted him for so long, he might have already changed his number. They change it very often now because of the sasaengs, since they're very famous now, you know." He hesitantly pulls out his phone from his pocket.
"It's ok. I'll just give it a try." I smile at him, although my heart is beating rapidly from nerves.
"Ok then. But don't tell Nami that I give you Jimin's number. She'll kill me." He hesitates again.
"I promise I won't say a word. So can you please give it to me now before she comes back?" I urgently ask.
"Alright. His number is 010-567-XXXX."
"Thanks Tae. I owe you one." I gratefully thank him.
"Btw, I like that you've finally dropped the honorifics with me. You used to call me Taehyung ssi & talk very formally even after we've known each other for so long." He grins sheepishly.
I'm stunned by his revelation. I must have become someone who's really stiff & uptight.
"Oh. Haha. Well yeah, I think it's time to drop the honorifics."
"What are you guys talking about?" Nami appears beside Taehyung all of a sudden & asks.
"Nothing." "Nothing." Both Taehyung & I say in unison.
"That doesn't sound like 'nothing' to me." She frowns.
"Nothing, really. We were just talking about how pregnancy makes you glow even more than before." Taehyung says teasingly & kisses Nami's forehead.
"Ya, stop it. You're embarrassing me." Nami pokes his chest with his forefinger, despite the radiant smile on her lips.
I'm glad that they're very happy now.
"Anw, I need to go now. Thanks for inviting me tonight. Please do let me know when the baby is born." I hug Nami & say goodbye.
Then, I look at Taehyung & decide to hug him too.
"Thank you for taking care of my best friend." I whisper before releasing him.
That action definitely took both Taehyung & Nami by surprise, as they continue to gape at me even after I walk away.
Now, it's time for me to find Jimin.
I walk out of the restaurant towards my car. The crossing light is flashing red, so I stop at the crossroad & wait for it to turn green.
Just then, a bus stops right in front of me with a BTS advertisement stuck on its side. My eyes can't help but focus on Jimin.
He looks the same, yet so different. Much more matured &.. expensive, I would say.
"Ommo, it's Bangtan's new ad. Gosh, look at Jimin. He's sooo gorgeous." A girl standing behind me gushes.
"He is, but I think RM is sexier. Just look at him. Oh God, I think I'm going to melt." Her friend says.
The crossing light turns green, but I freeze in my spot. Hesitation fills my mind.
Should I call him? He's a very successful idol now & I have the career that I've always dreamt of. Nami & Taehyung are doing fine, Eomma is healthy & alive, so is it better to just let things stay this way?
I take out my phone & find Jimin's number. My mind is in a turmoil, contemplating whether I should follow my head or my heart.
I've followed my heart twice & nothing good came out of it. So maybe this time I should follow my head.
I bite my lower lip & force myself to press delete. Then I put my phone back in my bag & continue walking ahead.