28. The First Time
The First/Original Timeline
October 8, 2022
T he week before Yunho’s first death, Wooju had been at his manager’s private cabin. He remembered standing in the middle of the living room, frozen in shock, his appalled gaze locked on the lifeless body of a woman sprawled on the ground. Upon taking a closer look, Wooju recognized her.
Rookie actress Andrea Kim.
“W-what happened?” Wooju stuttered. He knew about Jaehee’s unpredictable temper and his subsequent tendency to lash out, but it had never escalated this far.
“It was an accident,” Jaehee quipped, calmly wiping his bloody hands with a white handkerchief he’d pulled from his pocket.
“Accident?” Wooju managed to force the words out despite the panic gnawing his insides.
“She gave me no choice.” Jaehee turned to Wooju, who stared back at him in disgust and disbelief. “Don’t worry. You won’t have to do anything. I’ll have someone clean up this mess, and then we’ll frame it as a suicide.”
“Why did you kill her?” Wooju’s eyes darted back and forth between his manager and the corpse.
“Relax, Wooju.” A twisted grin donned Jaehee’s lips as he casually raked his fingers through his dark, messy hair, brushing his fringe aside to reveal his cold gaze. “This isn’t my first time. All you have to do is pretend you don’t know anything, and everything will be okay.”
“But—”
Jaehee suddenly squeezed his shoulders with one hand, forcing Wooju to flinch in pain. “Do you know what will happen if you say one word about this to anyone, Wooju?”
Wooju shook his head abruptly, his breath catching in his throat. Seemingly satisfied, Jaehee released him and walked away without another word, leaving Wooju reeling with dread, unable to sleep for days.
Alas, the same thing happened in other timelines.
Wooju couldn’t sleep well at all.
October 14, 2022
A week after the murder of Andrea Kim, and on the night of Yunho’s fated death, Wooju had mustered the courage to confront Manager Noh Jaehee at home.
“I would like to terminate our contract,” Wooju had declared, his tone a mixture of apprehension and determination. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stop thinking about what happened last week. What you did to Andrea was wrong. I can’t work with you anymore.”
The tension between Wooju and Jaehee crackled in the air as their shadows danced ominously against the walls.
Jaehee remained unfazed even as he opened his mouth to speak. “You want to leave me over that?” he scoffed, his laughter echoing through the haunting stillness of the condominium. “And you really think I’d let you go?”
Wooju trembled in fear as he recalled the murderous look in Jaehee’s eyes, the way Jaehee hit him with a metal bat not long ago, the way Jaehee slapped his face, struck his abdomen with a series of kicks, and choked him just because he made a small mistake at work. Jaehee always apologized the next day, promising it wouldn’t happen again. But then Wooju walked in to find Andrea’s cold, still form on the floor of Jaehee’s cabin.
The memories spiraling through Wooju’s head came crashing down on him, suffocating him and robbing him of all his remaining courage. His body froze in place; Jaehee’s words had caged him just as effectively as any bars could.
“Why do you think I killed Andrea?” Jaehee’s hysterical laugh quickly faded, his expression hardening once again as he moved in just inches from Wooju. “Because, just like you, she tried to leave me after I made her famous. You owe me, Wooju, so you’re not allowed to leave either. Besides, you and your worthless ass can’t fucking live without me. Do you understand?” Wooju refused to answer him, so Jaehee’s frustration boiled over. He grabbed the boy by the neck, tightening his fingers around Wooju’s throat and growled as loud as he could, “Do you fucking understand?”
Wooju’s eyes widened, his hands desperately grasping at Jaehee’s iron grip.
In the first timeline, as well as the ones that followed, Wooju had two options: continue being Jaehee’s target for abuse or fight back. However, every time he attempted to fight, Yunho died over and over and again.
Wooju didn’t want that to happen.
That was why, after being granted the chance to venture into the eighty-seventh timeline, Wooju turned on his own friend. He framed Yunho for Jaehee’s sins, forever altering their lives and breaking their bond.