(First published: June 24th, 2023)

is that he can't move his right hand. Even if a million magbots pop out of nowhere and pounce on him - which is very much unlikely since it's 2023 and not 2273 - Ha-neul (new- l) still can't move his hand. 

It's rock solid. And immensely painful. Feels like a thousand needles piercing his hand all at once.

What's worse is that the said hand is currently gripped around the sedan's rear door handle. Ha-neul can't use his other hand to move it this time. Not without wringing it off like a madman.

Not that Ha-neul cares about the nearby pedestrians or the lackluster police station behind him: it's because his daughter Min-joo will notice. That girl already thinks he's got some fancy neurological condition, which is not the case. Choi Ha-neul is at 'the prime of his life' according to various physicians around the globe.

But how is he supposed to explain to her that his hand solidifies on the whims of the sapphire band around his index finger? Even her mother doesn't believe him.

"Appa*," Min-joo calls, sweeping her wild orange hair from her glossy face as she storms toward the sleek sedan. Her towering height - one of the advantages of being a rising volleyball star - and the acne scars splashed across her face makes Min-joo much older than fourteen. 

But when she casts that small and delicate smile, like right now, she looks exactly like the six year old who would bury herself in her LEGO lands.

A minute has passed by when Ha-neul realizes his hand's still immobile. Too late to cover it now. Min-joo's already seen it.

But the way she's been looking around and playing with her fingers, he doesn't think she's noticed it fully yet.

Ha-neul slowly turns back toward the sedan.

 Min-joo steps closer to him, placing her hands at the back and whispering, "It's not what you think, Appa."

Ha-neul glances at her. The only thing he can do until his hand becomes responsive again is stall for time. "What?"

There's that irritating eye-roll. She's certainly learnt it from her mother. "What happened today Appa, obvi."

Ha-neul reacts with his custom furrowed brows. "So meeting TXT* at the music studio instead of learning at school...is not what happened?"

"No!" Min-joo shakes her head. "I mean, what you've said is right." Her gaze falls on the grey pavement. "I thought you'd assume I drank alcohol, since my friends were caught doing that."

Ha-neul exhales slowly, she hasn't done anything else.  

"I'm not like other parents, Min-joo. I look at the facts."

"Good," she replies, rubbing the back of her neck. "And I'm a rule follower you know." She sighs when her gaze meets her dad's stare. "Just this once okay? You should be glad I'm not like the others."

Ha-neul nods. He has considered transferring Min-joo to another school. But drugs and underage drinking has been an nationwide issue for ages. Seoul International has the least percentage of occurrences. Plus, he's an Alumnus, and HGS Corporation's future chairman. If that conglomerate survives through the end of this year.

Min-joo straightens the creases appearing on her school uniform, a full-length navy blue tracksuit. "Um, Appa?"

Ha-neul shifts in his place, he still can't move his hand. His gaze falls on the sapphire ring around his right index. The miniature alien scribbles inscribed on it glows under the bright sun. Only if he hadn't snuck into the decrepit lab that day and just stuck to the plan...

"Please don't tell Omma* about this," Min-joo blurts out.

Ha-neul blinks, bringing himself to the present. "Okay."

"Huh?" She responds with a raised brow. "You're not going to ask me why?"

"Would you answer?"

He already knows the reason why. Lee Tae-mi wants an ideal daughter - who's excellent at everything she does and who doesn't in any way, cause trouble.

While he wants their daughter to be...herself.

"No- I mean yes," Min-joo answers. "You know how Omma is about my academics. She's been worrying about it since she's been going out every now and then."

A long crease wrinkles Ha-neul's forehead. Min-joo's mother and going out? No chance. She's been thriving with online communities and in-house events since forever. The last time she stepped out was a day before Min-joo was born.

"I know right," Min-joo cuts into his cloud of thoughts. "It's been like that since last year."

"Last year?" Ha-neul clears his throat. So he's not the only one harboring secrets- hold on. Did he just yell at his daughter?  "Sorry. But what?"

"You would have known if you come back home like you used to, Appa," Min-joo says while crossing her arms. "But I know you guys aren't together anymore."

Ha-neul flits his gaze to her. "It's not like that-"

"Even a toddler can see the amount of hate building up between you two," she retorts. She immediately looks away, sighing. "Anyways, please don't tell Omma about what happened today. She'll kill me and herself if she finds out I ditched school for a boy band."

"Tae-mi sabonim has been notified of your wrongdoings," a gruffy voice intercedes.

An old man in a black suit stands before them, dabbing a plain handkerchief over his drenched forehead.

"What!" Min-joo shouts, startling Ha-neul. He checks his hand, this should've loosened the grip... nope, hasn't budged.

"She's outraged by what you did, especially breaking into a bar."

Min-joo exhales sharply. "That's not me, harabeoji*. It's Duck-na and her gang. And how can you blame me? You saw the CCTV of me waiting outside the record label studio."

"He's kidding," Ha-neul steps in, literally taking a step forward. "Your Omma doesn't know."

Min-joo glances at him for a moment, with those suspicious eyes. Ha-neul realizes when he last saw them. They weren't quaint like his daughter's, but filled with rage and anguish.

You stupid idiot! Why did you run away?

 "You almost gave me a heart attack, Harabeoji!"

Ha-neul flinches, snapping out of his daze. Why does he keep slipping off to the past, and thinking of her that too? That chapter's closed, for everyone's good.

The elderly man casts a small grin. "Then you must know how your Appa and I felt when we got called by the police station."

Min-joo looks down in shame. "Sorry, Appa."

"Your Abbeonim* is not on the ground," the man says.

Ha-neul is glad his father's assistant has been on his side till now; Cheongguk Hotels and Resorts wouldn't have existed if it weren't for him. But him teaching Min-joo something...it's starting to tick Ha-neul off.

He's her dad.

A tingling itch in his right hand causes Ha-neul to look at it...it's slipping off the handle. 

He casually steps back while slowly regaining control of his immobile hand.

"Sorry, Appa."

Ha-neul nods. He's too focused on getting his hand off the handle. Hurts like hell, but he can move it.

"For the classes and practice I've missed today, I'll make sure to make it up by the end of this week. And I'll do the cleaning chores at the hotel for a month."

"Two weeks will suffice," Ha-neul says, who can't help but flash a smile. His shaky, but responsive right hand is now buried deep into his blazer pocket. "I don't want to be the cause of your fatigue."

"Yes, Appa." Min-joo agrees with the same adorable smile. 

"Now get in." Ha-neul shifts his gaze to his uncle-cum-driver. "Please drop her at school."

"Yes, depyunim*."

Ha-neul slides as his daughter gets into the sedan through the same door his hand was stuck to earlier. He ducks down when she calls him.

"You don't have to come back home. But at least get you hand examined, Appa." 

Ha-neul sighs. She has noticed after all. 

And he has gotten his hand examined. Several times. All the physicians have one response. 'Your hand is perfectly fine. Are you too stressed out nowadays?'

Yes, very. Ha-neul muses, glancing at the sapphire ring. He shouldn't have- wait. He should've said no. Then he wouldn't have gone to the Forbidden place, Damned Doomsday would've never happened, and he wouldn't have to deal with this wretched pain for more than two decades.

"Appa?"

He looks up. "What is it?"

"Nothing," she mutters, turning away. "You'll forget it anyways."

Ha-neul opens his mouth, but nothing comes out of it. What is he supposed to say? So he glances at her for a while, at her hands. There are more blisters than last time-

The blaring honk makes Ha-neul straighten.

"Sorry, depyunim. But you have an important meeting to go to."

Min-joo leans back. "Then drop Appa first, Harabeoji. Work comes first."

"I'll take a cab," Ha-neul cuts in. He glances at his daughter. "Your future is more important."

"Why can't we take a break then?" Min-joo whines, rubbing her face. "So much has happened today."

"Because you didn't ask for it."

"So you would say yes if I did?" Min-joo asks, arching her head out of the window.

Ha-neul pushes her head back in and glances at his uncle. "Unlock the trunk please."

"This is so not fair, Appa!" Min-joo yells, the sedan beginning to shake from her air punches and kicks.

"Everything's not fair," Ha-neul mutters, gaze falling on the wretched alien ring. He's not able to remove it since Damned Doomsday. It's all because of -

The trunk hits him in the head.

"Ahh, sorry depyunim," his uncle-cum-driver says, stepping out of his seat.

"No, don't come out." Ha-neul replies, rubbing his head as he grabs his briefcase. He can feel his daughter's glare from the rear window and hear her mutter, "You deserved it."

He laughs softly, raising his gaze to her. She returns his gaze with a scoff and an immediate spin to the front.

Marching a few steps away from the sedan, Ha-neul corrects his loose tie. But it's no point...he has to change. His suit's drenched in his sweat.

"Don't sneak out again. I won't be able to get you out then."

Min-joo nods. "And remember, please don't tell Omma."

Ha-neul watches the receding sedan, smiling at his daughter who waves goodbye, when suddenly he feels something cold slipping from his hand.

He looks down, eyes wide when he sees the ring sliding off his finger. After twenty two years.

"What the?" Ha-neul raises his hand. A deep black mark appears in place of the ring. And he feels no pain. How is this possible?

The ring slides off his finger and levitates in front of Ha-neul's face. And poof - it disappears. No, it zaps ahead, across the sidewalk and gets caught in something.

Ha-neul stares hard at the taser-like device the ring is attached to. That device...he's seen it before. It's from the same lair he'd snuck into, at his last quest.  His gaze lands on the person holding the device. What the f-

"Ajummoni*, I asked for orange juice ten minutes ago!" the lady barks, stowing the black peculiar device in her hoodie pocket. She stands in front of a fruit juice stall not far from him.

It's her! How is she out?

That's when their gazes meet.

Oraenmaniya*, Choi Ha-neul.

"Na Eun-kyung," Ha-neul gasps. Wait, did she speak in his mind just now?

Eun-kyung chuckles, turning back to the stall when the vendor serves her order. "Thank you, Ajummoni."

Ha-neul stares at her. She's there. She's actually there. And the ring...she removed it.

But how?

"Ah, Ajummoni!" Eun-kyung coughs, placing the glass on the counter with a scrunched face. "Why is it so bitter?"

She shakes her head and leaves.

"Wait," Ha-neul says, but she's way ahead. Exhaling sharply, he follows her.

"Eun-kyung," he calls. She hasn't changed a bit. She still walks like an army general.

Ha-neul rubs he spot on his finger as he follows her. "Na Eun-kyung!" She can't hear me, he muses. Wait. He stops, gaze fixated on her.

Eun-kyung, he calls telepathically. No, it's not going to work. He's not a superhuman, neither is Eun-kyung. Telepathy only works when they're in the time machine or when they have the telepathy ear pods. They're all damaged or destroyed.

Nothing's been destroyed - is Eun-kyung's reply.

Ha-neul can feel his jaw drop. But he slams it shut right away. This is not how he's supposed to behave. He's the President of Cheongguk Hotels and Resorts for God's sake.

Eun-kyung's finally stopped. She's just twenty steps ahead of him. Ha-neul sighs in relief. She's fixed his biggest problem...but how? Isn't she supposed to be in prison? And second, where did she get that device? Even if the time machine is working, they've sealed the path to that era when they jumped off the cliff.

Ha-neul inches closer, gaze falling on the Taser-like device she pulls out of her pocket again. The ring's still intact on it.

But not for long.

See you later, traitor.

Ha-neul stops, glancing at Eun-kyung. What? What did you call me- His eyes bulge out when he sees the cursed sapphire ring levitating toward him. No.

Ha-neul skids as he walks backward. No, that ring's not coming back.... Why did you do this! He mentally shouts at her.

And that's when he collapses, hard. His face has met the rocky pavement, blood trickling from his forehead, but he doesn't care. The wretched ring is back on his right index.

"Gah-" Ha-neul suppresses his cry by clamming his mouth shut, his eyes flooded with tears of fury. He can't move his whole arm now.

"Na Eun-kyung!" he roars, managing to pull himself to sit on the pavement. But what he faces are the indifferent pedestrians. She's gone.

A dull pain shoots up his spine, causing Ha-neul's face to scrunch up in red.

"Aish! This blind idiot," a man's voice curses. "Sorry, Imo. I have to go. I hit my foot somewhere."

Ha-neul breaks his tensed face with a low chuckle. What the hell?

"Ya, you know how much damage you've caused?." The prick scoffs. "I'm an eminent actor..."

Resting his rock-hard arm with the other, Ha-neul squints to see this disrespectful prick. Wait, he's seen him somewhere.

The scowl on the man's face dissolves. He gasps, mouth agape in horror. "Ch-choi Ha-n-neul?"

"Kang Jae-seong?" Yes, it's him. Ha-neul did see him once on some poster ten years ago, but with much shorter hair and a bit wider. But after that, no.

"Oh my, what have I done?" Jae-seong blurts out. "You're bleeding." He jerks his hands forward and helps Ha-neul up.

Shrugging his shoulders to let go of the sudden grip, Ha-neul looks away. He brushes the dust off his clothes with his responsive hand while scanning the now bustling streets of Yongsan. Eun-kyung's disappeared.

"You alright there?" He hears Jae-seong's voice. He spins around to face him. He's a slim skyscraper and he's grown out of his ridiculous bob cut. He looks good, still two-faced, but looks good. Now what's that on the top of his head?

Ha-neul almost stumbles again, gaze on the newly identified object on his schoolmate's head.

"What happened to you?" Jae-seong asks, his eyes goggled in concern. "Wait, you need water. You're wearing a suit in this blistering heat.

"Don't move," Ha-neul barks, blocking him with his left arm. His right one can't do much anyway.

There's a carefree magbot perched on top of Jae-seong's head.