0.2

     “Hey, Mister. Will you be okay?” The driver asked, concerned as Jin stepped out of the taxi, arriving at the address on the flyer. “No matter how I look at it, this place is weird,” he added, peeping out from the window as he surveyed the desolate environment. 

     “I’ll be fine,” Jin said, handing the payment for the ride to the driver. 

     “Alright, if you say so.” The driver zoomed off. 

     Jin turned around and walked towards the derelict mansion standing before him. The iron gate made of bars held within it, a mansion on the brink of destruction. The moonlight raining on it solidified the ominous feel it bore—but that didn’t stop Jin. His motive to ‘correct his mistake’ was greater than any fear he had within him. 

     Jin pushed open one half of the gate and made his way into the compound. The area was muddy and littered with wastes of different kinds, enough to halt anyone’s further advance into that kind of vicinity, but Jin kept walking.

     He arrived at the mansion door which was made of rotting wood filled with termites and other wood eating insects. He turned the door knob and pushed the door open. 

     Jin stood frozen as he stared at the dark supposedly unending hallway on the opposite side of the door, unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched from within the darkness of the hallway, despite the lack of any visible eyes.

     “Come in. I’ve been waiting for you, Jin.”

     A voice so eerie it had a haunting quality, as if it was not of this world, called out suddenly to Jin, jolting him and sending shivers down his spine as he stumbled a few step backwards. He searched the darkness for any movement or physical presence, but none could be made out. 

     “Who’s there?! How do you know my name?!” Jin asked as he took a step forward. 

     “...” 

     The voice remained silent for a while before it finally replied, “you’ll have to come in to find out. There’s no use standing outside.” 

     After a moment of hesitation and contemplation, Jin recalled why he had drifted over here, and as such, he steeled the gaze of his lifeless eyes, strengthened his resolve, and tightened his fists as he made his way into the dark hallway beseeching him.  

     Bam!

     Jin glanced quickly behind him, looking at the door, which as if out of free will, had shut him in. Exhaling, he turned forward and began scanning the dark hallway, his eyes darting around, looking to make out any form of presence. 

     “It’s so dark,” Jin muttered. “ Ah, my phone.” He quickly dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone, fiddling with it as he searched for the flashlight application. 

     “Battery low. Switching off,” the phone alerted. 

     “What the fuck! Shit, not now!” Jin exclaimed, tapping the back of the phone as if his futile attempts would prevent it from shutting down. 

     Fwoom!  

     The dark hallway suddenly brightened up a bit as light mysteriously shone from a room on the left side, few steps ahead from where Jin stood. 

     Jin stopped fiddling with his phone as he stared at the distant light peeking out from the room. 

     Stunned by the mysterious events unfolding before his eyes, Jin thought about turning around and leaving this strange apartment he had wandered into—but once again, he hesitated. 

     Jin dipped his phone back into his pocket, straightened his back, and let out a resolute sigh, declaring he was ready to face whatever lies ahead. 

     He made his way through the hallway, using the light as a guide towards the room, the floorboards creaking with every step he took. 

     “Come in and sit,” the voice beckoned Jin as he arrived at his destination. 

     He went into the dimly lit room, courtesy of the single bulb hanging from the wooden ceiling, which looked like it was about to break. The room was empty and devoid of any physical presence. 

     There were two rocking chairs made out of wood opposite each other sitting in the middle of the room, directly under the bulb. 

     “Sit,” the voice said.

     Jin hurried his steps as he walked quickly towards the middle of the room and sat on one of the chairs, trying to balance himself as he did. 

     Suddenly, the light flickered intensely, startling Jin, who gazed at it, in hope that it would’t go off, and after a few seconds, it stopped.

     Jin relaxed, resting back on the chair as he gave out a sigh of relief, and then, the light abruptly went off, inciting a fearful shock upon Jin. 

     “Hey! Aren’t you gonna come out already. What the fuck’s going on!” Jin screamed, fear tightly gripping his voice as it quivered. 

     Poof!

     The light came back on, and as Jin caught a sight of whatever was sitting on the other chair opposite him, he staggered, almost falling out of the chair he sat on. 

     The strange figure sitting opposite him, took the shape of a human, but was covered in a black cloak, and a face couldn’t be made out from beneath the hood of the cloak, all that existed was darkness. And this made Jin feel like he was staring into an abyss, one which if he falls into, he would never be able to escape. 

     “Don’t move.” The eerie voice once again sent shivers down Jin’s spine as it stopped his advance to run away. Jin had hit his limit and believed he couldn’t take anymore, but he was fearful of the unknown, and so he stood frozen, unable to move his legs. 

     “Sit.” 

    Jin—fear stricken—sat back down on the chair, his eyes unable to look straight at the figure, roamed about the room instead.

     “H-how do you know my name?” Jin asked. 

     “I know everything about you Jin. EVERYTHING.” The voice replied. “Now, tell me. What do you want?” 

     Jin remained silent, unable to utter a word of reply to the question he was asked by the mysterious being. 

     “Tell me what you want, be honest about your feelings, that’s the only way you’ll be able to correct your past mistakes.” 

     Past mistakes.

     Jin’s eyes widened as he sank in thought, and once again, a picture of his sister flashed through his mind. 

     Jin’s eyes which had avoided the mysterious figure sitting opposite him, immediately darted back sharply to it and gazed at the darkness within the hood of the cloak intently. 

     “I failed her. I want to save her, I want to save Nana.” 

     “Close…your eyes,” the voice commanded. 

     After a slight hesitation, Jin shut his eyes and dwelled in the darkness within the confinement of his eyelids. 

     Poof!

     Whoosh!

     The light, which had brightened up the room, went off and strong wind gushed forth, blowing through Jin as it rocked his chair, filling him with curiosity as he wondered what was happening.

     After a while, the strong gust of wind calmed, and at this moment Jin could feel the warmth of the sun shining down upon him from above, and a stretch of thin layers of grass poking at him from beneath. The scenery he felt was different from where he sat a couple of seconds ago, and his body felt calm, like he was just awakening from a long sleep. 

     “...ig …ther,” a faint voice called out as he felt a hand on his shoulder, giving him a brisk shake. 

     “Big brother Jin, wake up.” 

     Jin’s eyes flicked open as the voice beckoning became clearer. The blurry configuration of his eyes transformed into a clearer one, making out the figure which knelt before him. 

     Nana? “Nana!” Jin thought before he exclaimed, shooting up to his feet out of shock. 

     “What’s wrong with you brother?” Nana asked, her tender and gentle brown eyes widened curiously as to why her brother was suddenly agitated.

     “I-it’s really you, Nana,” Jin cried as he bent down and hugged his sister, taking a long sniff of the fragrance of the perfume encompassing her long blonde hair.   

     “W-what’s wrong brother? Why are you crying?” 

     “Nothing,” Jin replied as he pushed her free from his grasp gently. 

     As he began wiping off the tears that rolled down quickly from his eyes, he noticed a difference in his body. His hands were shorter and mild, his voice thin and soft, and his height had also become very different. 

     “Wh-what’s this?” Jin stuttered. 

     “Come on brother, let’s go. We’re late!” Nana exclaimed joyfully, dusting the white gown she wore as she stood up. 

     “Huh?”

     “What? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. You promised to take me to the amusement park today.”

     Amusement park?... Amusement park! 

     Jin’s eyes widened. He looked up quickly at the scenery before him, and his eyes widened furthermore as he caught a glimpse of the building a few miles away from where he and Nana were. 

     “The… the orphanage! I’m back in the past.” Jin shot up once again to his feet as the pace of his breathing increased. 

     “Alright big brother, let’s go!” Nana scurried off as she exclaimed. 

     “W-wait, Nana.”

     If I’m really back in the past…

     “We can’t go there today!”

     Then we mustn't go to the amusement park today. 

     “Eh! Why not?” Nana questioned as she stopped and turned around, pouting.

     “Just because…” Jin trailed off, unable to come up with a lie. 

     “I wanna go! I wanna go!” Nana pressured.

     “But…”

     “I’m going!” Nana shouted, picking up her pace as she ran. 

     “Wait, Nana!” Jin followed, chasing after her as he called out. 

     They both ran through the grass plain surrounding the orphanage, making their way all to the far end, where the fence was located. Nana quickly bent over and crawled into a hole broken in the fence, leading outside. 

     “Stop!” Jin shouted as he bent over and crawled into the hole as well, emerging into a busy street. 

     “Nana? Nana, where are you? Nana!!” Jin shouted, his eyes nervously scanning the street he had wandered into, out of fear that what he had come here to stop had already happened. 

     “I’m right here,” Nana said as she grabbed Jin’s hand. 

     Jin exhaled as he felt the warmth of his sister’s hand. 

     He placed his hand on her head as he said, “We have to return back Nana, the headmistress might look for us.” 

     “But the park is just across.” Nana’s eyes pleasantly glowed brightly as if to nudge Jin into giving in and accepting her desires. 

     Bump!

     A passerby bumped into Jin, pushing him a few steps backward. 

     “Look at where you’re going kid.” 

     “But, you’re—”

     “Huh?!” The passerby turned and glared at Jin. 

     “I’m sorry, I’ll be careful next time,” Jin apologized, intending not to cause any trouble. 

     As the passerby walked away, Jin immediately snapped back and noticed that the warmth of his little sister’s hand was no longer in contact with his. He turned around hastily as he searched for her, his breathing increasing rapidly as he screamed her name, “NANA!!” 

     With her nowhere in sight, he forcefully pushed himself through the crowd as he searched for her, but it was all to no avail. She was nowhere to be found. 

     Screeee! Crash!

     “What happened?”

     “What’s going on?” 

     “It’s an accident.” 

     “Someone call an ambulance!”

     “Poor girl.” 

     The crowd whispers directed Jin’s attention to what had occurred on the streets. Jin’s eyes widened slowly and his breathing intensified as he panicked, pushing himself through the compact crowd gathered in front of the scene. 

     “NANA!!” He screamed as he emerged from in between the crowd and onto the mess of a scene. The road now filled with blood and grease and glass pieces from the two cars which had collided. 

     Jin slowly fell to his knees as he caught sight of the hand peeking out from in between the collided vehicles. “Na…na.” 

     Bwahhhh! 

     Jin clutched his stomach as he spewed out a stream of bitter bile from his mouth and onto the road pavement. 

     Tears rolled down his cheeks as he grasped his head with both his hands. “I-I failed again. I was given another chance and I failed. I—” 

     “Big brother.”

     …

     “Nana?” Jin inquired as he turned his head to the side, meeting the gaze of his little sister. “You’re—alive?” 

     “What are you doing big brother. Let’s go to the amusement park.” 

     Nana is alive.

     “The ambulance is here, move out of the way.” 

     The paramedics rushed out of the ambulance, pushing the stretcher towards the scene of the accident. 

     “Get the girl out first, other ambulances will come for the other victims. Get her out quickly!” 

     They dragged a body out from in between the collided cars and placed it on the stretcher, pushing it quickly back to the ambulance. 

     Jin’s shoulders slumped as he called out softly while glancing at the body on the stretcher, “Na…na.” 

     “Big brother, the amusement park,” the other figure of Nana standing beside him said as she pointed in the direction of the amusement park.

     Nana is…  

     “The amusement park.”

     Nana is…

      “The amusement park.”