3. Sea Finley

Ayleen, who still couldn’t come to terms with everything, found an old-model cell phone, the “N15.”

She put off looking through the phone’s contents and quickly put all her belongings back in the locker.

“I need to check something else,” she muttered.

She quickly went to the restroom, which was not far from the library lockers. She could only stand frozen when she saw her reflection in the mirror.

With trembling hands, she touched her cheek, nose, and hair. “This is really me. Me in the year … 2015. But … how is that possible?”

She let out a silly laugh. “Time travel? Oh my God, doesn’t that only happen in novels?”

She shook her head again and said, “But … this feels so real.”

Oh, her head felt like it was about to explode. She was completely baffled.

“Wait a minute, if I really did go back in time, that means ….”

She didn’t have time to think and rushed out of the restroom. Because of her haste, she bumped into someone who had just entered the restroom.

“S-sorry,” Ayleen stammered.

The person she bumped into sighed softly and replied briefly, “Yeah.”

Ayleen was so relieved that the person didn’t make a big deal out of it. But when she saw the person’s face, she gaped in shock.

“Sea?” Ayleen called out to the man without realizing it.

The man turned and asked, furrowing his brow, “Yes? What’s up?”

Ayleen swallowed hard. “Oh, nothing. It’s nothing.”

She shook her head and smiled awkwardly, then hurried away from the restroom area.

Once she was back inside the library, she furrowed her brow.

“Sea Finley is a student here too? I had no idea,” Ayleen said, still looking surprised.

But she pushed aside thoughts of the man who, in 2025, would play one of the main characters in her novel.

The 30-year-old woman who was trapped in the body of a young girl, muttered, “Oh, if this really is 2015 and I’m traveling through time … that means all of that … hasn’t happened yet.”

She leaned against the wall. 

“I haven’t met Liam yet, I haven’t gotten married, I haven’t … given birth to Lunara. The accident hasn’t happened yet.”

She sighed wearily and thought again, “Could this be … if that’s true, can all of that really be changed?”

“But if it’s changed, what about Lunara?” she said softly.

Her heart suddenly ached.

Ah, she missed her cute little daughter so much. Suddenly, her tears began to flow freely again.

So much so that she collapsed onto the ground, overcome by grief. She didn’t care about the stares of the few people watching her cry.

“You … like getting attention, don’t you?” someone remarked from behind her.

Without wiping away her tears, Ayleen turned around and immediately stared in surprise.

Sea Finley again?

She saw Sea crouching down and handing her a white handkerchief. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but … crying in the library can disturb other people.”

Ayleen was dumbfounded, but as soon as she realized what Sea had said, she quickly wiped her tears with Sea’s handkerchief.

Meanwhile, Sea had already stood up, and before leaving, she said, “Don’t sit there! People will have trouble walking to section 10.”

Hearing that, Ayleen immediately stood up and looked around. She felt incredibly embarrassed.

However, when she turned toward the person who had given her the handkerchief, that person was no longer there.

Ayleen muttered in wonder, “Wait a minute. Why don’t I remember ever interacting with Sea on this campus?”

“Could this be … a new event?” Ayleen wondered.

But she didn’t have time to think about it further at that moment because suddenly, someone tapped her on the back.

When Ayleen turned around, she was surprised again to see two of her other old friends.

“Jasper. Feli.”

Jasper replied irritably, “Why did it take you and Eliza so long?”

Felicity pouted, “I’m starving, Leen. Eliza said she’d be right back after looking for you.”

“But … we’ve been waiting out here like idiots for almost thirty minutes,” Jasper retorted.

Ayleen, still reeling from her surprise, simply gazed at her two best friends with longing.

Jasper. He had been her best friend since high school. She and Jasper both loved literature and eventually decided to attend the same college.

Before she married Liam, Jasper suddenly blocked her phone number. She didn’t understand why he’d done that.

Meanwhile, Felicity was a close friend she’d gotten to know while participating in one of her major’s extracurricular activities. That girl had also started avoiding her before she married Liam.

The more Ayleen thought about it, the more puzzled she became.

'Come to think of it, I lost them all before I married Liam. Why is that? Could all of this be connected? But … how could that be?' Ayleen thought to herself.

Ayleen tried to make sense of everything, considering every possible scenario. 

However, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that all her close friends had disappeared right before her wedding to Liam.

So, on that happy day, not a single one of her four best friends was there to be by her side.

A flash of memory suddenly popped into her head.

2019, Ayleen’s Wedding Day

“Ayleen, you look so beautiful!” Natasha gushed, her eyes sparkling.

Ayleen turned and smiled, but it lasted only a moment. Her smile faded instantly when she saw Natasha fixing her hair, which was styled beautifully with a headband adorned with tiny, pretty pearls.

Ayleen glanced at Natasha’s white dress, which was clearly more luxurious and elegant than her own.

“You … are so beautiful!” the compliment slipped from Ayleen’s lips as soon as she saw Natasha’s makeup, which looked natural yet captivating.

Natasha chuckled softly, “Ah, of course not. You’re prettier—just look in the mirror.”

However, as soon as she looked back at the mirror, where two reflections stood—one of herself and the other of Natasha—Ayleen forced a smile.

“No, you’re prettier,” Ayleen said, unwilling to lie.

Natasha waved her hand and smiled, then said in a soft voice, “You’re beautiful. Otherwise, why would Liam have married you?”

Hearing that, Ayleen immediately smiled.

Natasha smiled too, “Look! When you smile, you look so beautiful. Ah, Liam must be even more head over heels for you!”

Ayleen’s face flushed at the mention of it.

But suddenly her expression turned somber again, and that didn’t escape Natasha’s notice.

The young woman asked, “What’s wrong with your face?”

Ayleen shook her head. “I was just thinking about my college friends.”

“I … couldn’t reach them to tell them about my wedding. It makes me sad that they’re not here,” Ayleen added.

Natasha sighed softly, “Oh my gosh, Ayleen! Why are you thinking about those friends who don’t care about you? They’ve disappeared, haven’t they? Yeah … that means they don’t want to be friends with you anymore.”

“But, Nat. They—”

“Enough, Ayleen. Besides, I’m here. Am I not enough to be your friend? Why do you need other friends?” Natasha cut Ayleen off and stared at her with a cold gaze.