[Hae-won | Min-jae's Hidden Room – 1:00 PM]
Min-jae's apartment wasn't just an apartment.
Hae-won followed him through a narrow passage behind a bookcase that had shifted with a click. It led into a room she didn't know existed—lit in soft blue hues, filled with strange tech that hummed gently. Monitors lined one wall, each screen replaying different versions of her life. Her face. Her moments. A collection of timelines.
She froze. "Is that… me? In all of them?"
He nodded solemnly. "Every variation. Every time the loop reset. You made different choices each time, but always ended at the same point—this day."
On one screen, she married Do-yoon.
On another, she ran away alone.
On another… she died.
She shivered. "Why are you showing me this now?"
"Because they're coming. The Enforcers know too much. You've remembered too much."
He stepped closer, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. "If you don't choose soon, they'll wipe you. Everything we've fought for will disappear."
Her lips trembled. "But how do I choose? Do-yoon is my past… but you're… something else."
Min-jae leaned in, his voice a whisper of warmth. "I'm your future. If you'll let me be."
The air between them thickened. He raised her hand and pressed it to his chest. "Close your eyes. Feel what your heart remembers, not your mind."
She did. And what she felt wasn't just warmth—it was fire.
He kissed her slowly, deeply. Not like a man claiming, but one confessing. Their breaths tangled, fingers clutching, bodies slowly pulling together as if the gravity of a hundred timelines had led to this collision.
Until—
BANG.
The power cut.
Monitors blinked off.
A red alarm lit up in the corner.
"They're here," Min-jae whispered.
---
[Do-yoon | Car – Racing Across the City – 1:05 PM]
Do-yoon's hands gripped the steering wheel tight.
The voice on the phone. The kiss that brought memories flooding in. The woman he loved—again—now caught in something monstrous.
He wasn't just chasing her.
He was chasing a truth buried in his soul.
His phone buzzed again. This time, a message.
> From: Unknown
"You have less than 2 hours before everything resets."
He almost swerved.
But then something else pinged in.
> A video.
Hae-won. In a hidden room. Kissing Min-jae. Wrapped in him like they belonged together.
His jaw clenched. Something inside him cracked.
But beneath the jealousy, something deeper surfaced.
Recognition.
He knew that room.
He had been in that room—once. In another life.
And Min-jae had wiped it from him.
---
[Hae-won | Escape – 1:10 PM]
The two of them bolted from the hidden room. Sirens wailed from the hallway. Min-jae pulled open a hidden exit behind the kitchen pantry, motioning her inside.
"Where does this lead?" she asked, breathless.
"An old subway access. It's not on the grid."
Hae-won hesitated. "But Do-yoon… I have to warn him. He's in danger too."
Min-jae paused.
His eyes darkened just a little.
"You can't contact him now. They'll trace it."
Hae-won searched his face.
"Why do I feel like you're not telling me everything?"
Min-jae looked pained, but didn't answer.
And that hesitation—
It was the first crack.
---
[Flashback | Hae-won | Age 24 – First Timeline]
The first time she met Min-jae was not in a lecture hall.
It was in a hospital.
After she'd jumped from her wedding.
Bleeding. Broken.
He sat beside her bed, holding her hand.
"I'm going to help you fix this," he said.
And she had trusted him.
Completely.
---
[Present | Do-yoon | Arrives at Min-jae's Building – 1:15 PM]
The door to the apartment hung open. Inside, empty.
But Do-yoon moved like muscle memory guided him. Straight to the bookcase. Straight to the hidden latch.
He stepped into the secret room.
Monitors rebooted.
Data streamed across one screen.
> SUBJECT: SHIN HAE-WON
STATUS: ANOMALY
VIABLE ENDINGS: 2
TIME REMAINING TO RESET: 01:41:15
Do-yoon whispered, "What the hell are you, Hae-won?"
---
[Hae-won | Abandoned Subway – 1:20 PM]
The tunnel was dark. Cold.
Min-jae held a flashlight, guiding her.
But she kept glancing at him.
The man she kissed.
The man she trusted.
The man now hiding something.
He stopped suddenly.
"We'll wait here. Just until the power clears. Then we move again."
She nodded, then said softly, "How many times… have you done this?"
Min-jae didn't turn.
"Too many."
"And how many times did I choose you?"
Silence.
That was the answer.
Her breath caught. "You manipulated the loop."
He turned to her. "No. I gave you a chance. Each time. But Do-yoon... his bond with you runs deeper than even I expected."
Her eyes narrowed. "Then why keep forcing it?"
Min-jae's jaw tightened. "Because if I let you go back to him, you'll never break the cycle. You'll just die. Again."
Her voice dropped. "Maybe I was meant to."
He stared at her, something unhinged flickering in his eyes. "No, Hae-won. You were meant to choose me."
Suddenly, she realized—
This wasn't just about love.
It was obsession.
Control.
And she had to run.
---
[Do-yoon | Underground Chase – 1:35 PM]
He followed the trail left in the subway maintenance records. Accessed an old map. Took the south tunnel.
Then, far ahead—he saw them.
Hae-won. Min-jae.
Her eyes locked with his.
He called out.
"Hae-won!"
She turned.
Min-jae grabbed her arm.
"No! Don't go to him—!"
But Hae-won jerked free and ran to Do-yoon.
Min-jae's scream echoed behind her. "You don't understand what you're doing!"
She slammed into Do-yoon's chest, breathless, terrified, and still trembling from the last kiss she shared with Min-jae.
But it was Do-yoon's arms that wrapped around her now.
"I remember," he whispered into her hair. "All of it. You're mine. You've always been mine."
Behind them, Min-jae stood frozen in the dark.
Alone.
Eyes blazing.
---
[Elsewhere | The Overseers – 1:45 PM]
"They've chosen," the woman in the control room said, watching the live feed.
The male voice replied, "Then initiate the final test. Let's see if love can survive the truth."