I Need You

This short story was the second place winner at the EHS Stem Expo. It was written by freshman Natalia Hernandez as part of Mr. Tilton’s class.

March 9th, 2020

It’s finally here, my birthday and I have been waiting for this exact day and year my whole life. I Should start by introducing myself, my name is Yoongi Min, a pianist under Bighit Entertainment and I am now 24 years old. My husband, Hoseok gave me this journal before I went on my journey in time. My journey is the main reason why I am so excited today, I finally reached the golden age where I am allowed to time travel. I have already packed up everything I want to show her, then I start to think to myself, if there’s a chance of me actually seeing his mom, I would yell at her. Hoseok didn’t give me his permission to do this, I’m afraid of what will happen if he finds out. As I pack up my bags to my long journey into the past, Hoseok decided to have a talk with me. I wasn’t scared whatsoever, but something felt wrong.

He sat me down and told me, “Yoongi, I was having a talk with Namjoon yesterday…. Is it true that you are going back in time to see my mom?”

I was really shocked, but I knew Namjoon was going to tell him. Namjoon would never hide something from Hoseok because he felt that he should know, but I told him not to anyways. I sat there frozen, I didn’t want to tell him, yes, but I knew if I told him otherwise he would know I was lying.

I built up courage and quickly said, “Yes, but you weren’t supposed to know about it, I’m so sorry Hobi.”

He quickly replied, “Then let me go with you at least.”

What was he thinking? Of course, I’m not going to let him come with me. It’ll only hurt him more if she refuses.

March 16th, 2020

I convinced Hoseok that it would do him no good if I were to let him go with me. It took a lot since he’s a really stubborn guy, but with lots of arguing, I managed to do it. I am very nervous, things can go wrong if I don’t do it correctly. I could travel into the future or I can go too far back into the past. If I mess one thing up, it would be a huge mess and I could die. Surely that will hurt Hoseok more than anything and I can’t afford to have him hurt more than he already is. He’s been through so much, I can’t afford to almost lose him again. As I get ready to leave, Hoseok gives me a light kiss on the cheek. I can tell he’s still hurting so much, especially since he was reminded of his past.

I give him a tight hug, saying, “I’ll be fine and when I come back, I’ll give you a thousand kisses.”

He stood there with tears in his eyes while nodding. I’m not going to lie about not crying because believe me when I say that I was crying the whole Han River.

As I step into the time machine, I wave at Hoseok one more time and then I knew I was ready. All it took was one push of a button and I will be on my way. I have been waiting for this moment since they had discovered time travel was possible. Now you may be wondering how I got this since it’s not ever going to be open to the public. Well, I have a close friend named Seokjin who is a worldwide known scientist. Normally he would never let anyone use this, but since I had a very plausible reason, he let me. Of course, I owe him some dinner after I come back, but I’ll worry about that later. I gently push the button to send me off into the wonders of time and I felt so many things. I had a rush of emotion and I felt sick to my stomach, all my thoughts were on that woman in Hobi’s pendant.

February 18th, 2001

I wasn’t sure at first if I was in the right place, but when I looked around I remember the scenery of how Hoseok explained it to me. I remember he told me that it was about 2 pm when she left him and it’s 1:30 pm right now. This gives me time to look for the carousel she left him at, which shouldn’t take long since this isn’t a huge place.

Through 10 minutes of searching, I found the right place and I can see a small boy with a face I am too familiar with. I look up to see a small thin woman with long brown hair and a skinny face. Suddenly she sits her son down at the carousel and gives him a Snickers bar.

I watched her as she said, “Do something for me, honey, close your eyes and count to 10.”

Being the naive child he was, he did exactly as she said, but before she could run off, I yelled something I never thought I’d yell.

“Miss, I need to speak to you!”, I shouted at her.

She turned to me with confusion as I started walking towards her. I was shaking and I had forgotten what I was going to say to her. I planned it out yet nothing was coming out of my mouth.

Hoseok’s mom then asks, “Did you need something? I’m sort of in a hurry, so can you please make it quick?”

I was filled with disgust of how innocent she presented herself.

I told her,” I know what your plan is and I hope you know that the decision you are making is horrible.”

She didn’t say anything back and just looked at the ground with tears in her eyes.

I could begin to hear her mumbling, “You wouldn’t understand my reasons for leaving him.”

Before I could respond to her, she quickly ran off and I turn to her child as he opened his eyes. He looked so confused and when I kneeled down next to him, I could see the fear in his eyes as he asked me repeatedly where his mother went. I didn’t know how to respond, I didn’t want to leave him there, but I couldn’t take him with me. When I got up I felt so guilty for leaving him there, Hoseok was crying so much and I felt so useless. Even though I told Jin that I would only use it to go back once, I have to at least try again.

February 17th, 2001

I decided to go into the past by a day, if I can’t convince her in 5 minutes, I have to let her sit on it throughout the night. I take out my phone to find a picture with Hoseok’s home address in it. It was surprisingly only a 2-minute walk from the area I was in. As I walked up to the door I see letters on the door written in bold that say, “THE JUNG FAMILY”. Taking the deepest breath I could, I knocked on the door until I saw that small and skinny lady once again.

“Excuse me? Do you need something?” She said as she opened the door.

I extended my hand out to her for a handshake and giving a welcoming smile.

“My name is Yoongi Min, I heard that you are about to make a decision you will regret.”

I couldn’t believe it, she just closed the door on me like it was nothing. I’m not the best at approaching people and it didn’t help in this situation at all. This was my last chance to persuade her and I ruined it.

While getting inside the time machine, I see a button I didn’t notice before. Jin didn’t mention anything to me about it, so I assume it does nothing. Let’s just say I was extremely wrong, I get the same adrenaline rush that I normally get while traveling through the past.

April 11th, 2013

It’s official, I messed up badly. I didn’t go all the way into the future, but for some reason on this specific date? I make my way back to the same house, but it looks a little more abandoned. While walking up the steps, I notice the door is cracked open, I walk in and see Hoseok sitting on the floor in tears. Right next to him is a bottle of sleeping pills and blades. I have a spark in my mind and I quickly check the date on my phone only to see April 11th. It all comes to me, this is the day Hoseok tried to kill himself and I was barely able to save him. My question is, why did it send me to this specific date? I drop my phone and run towards him before he could do anything stupid. He stands up and pushes me away and as I fall on the floor, he yells at me.

He starts yelling, “Leave me alone! You’re probably just going to leave me as she did!”

I get up and notice that there is a picture of him and his mom, but he’s older. She actually stayed with him, until he was about 15. It seems like at this point, time is trying to tell me that even if I do prevent her from leaving him, one way or another, she will die or just abandon him on her own. I turn to Hoseok and give him the tightest hug I could, he felt lifeless in my embrace. Even with how tight my hug was, he still managed to shove me away and ran into the bathroom with the door locked. I tried to get the door unlocked and I crashed my body into the door continuously until I was sore. I couldn’t bear the sight of seeing him like this, but with so much trying I managed to bust the door down.

I knew it was too late once I saw his bloody body laying there on the floor. I had no words, even if I try to speak, it won’t do much since he’s already gone. I sit next to his body sobbing and caressing his hand. I never wanted this to happen, I just wanted to help him. That’s when I remember that I’m not in the present. I kiss his lifeless hand and run out to the time machine and I look to see what the button was. It said in small letters “Parallel Dimension. Do Not Press.” Why would they have this option if they want no one to press it? Kind of stupid if you ask me. Besides the point, I buckle up and pray that I will be able to go back to the present where everything is normal.

March 13th, 2020

I think I’m back and everything is normal. My house is here at least, I just really hope that I didn’t actually lose Hobi. When I entered the front door, I was met with a lot of kisses and a big hug. I felt a wave of relief hit my body when I saw Hoseok’s face in front of mine. I look to the side to see Namjoon and Jin standing next to each other.

Jin walked up to me saying, “I hope you know that I want a huge dinner for letting you use the time machine.”

Before I could respond to him Namjoon patted me on the back.

He asked, “So, how’d it go? Did you manage to convince Miss stubborn?”

“No.” I replied, “actually I didn’t and that’s what makes this mission successful.”

They all looked at me with confused faces, but they don’t realize the things I witnessed back there. Even if I were to convince Hoseok’s mom, she will still leave him, it’s fate. There is no stopping it and if something or someone tries to stop it, something tragic can happen. I’m just glad I am able to stand next to my favorite person in the world without worrying about losing him. I finally accept the fact that nothing I do can stop her from abandoning him on that date and at that carousel.