Three days had passed. And after the talk with my psychiatrist, things had been going well—aside from the nightmares I still get.

Though, my nightmares never interfered with my line of work. But instead, I believed that they were the result of staying in the dark all the time. I was running my deceased father’s clock store on his behalf, resulting in having to maintain the dark-modern themed store that had been standing since the ‘90’s intact.

Inside, there were a lot of clocks on display: analog, grandfather clocks, and those sorts. The entrance door was windowed, as well as the whole wall so that the natural light could illuminate half of the store, and the light bulb lighting up the inner part.

Several of my ancestors were clocksmiths, and I thought I could continue the tradition—not because I was rejected at every job.

In this year, 2023, where clocks don’t really matter anymore because of technology. But, I was broke—business was not booming at all.

Thus I, Lucian Hiroshi, dedicated myself into wasting 5 years of my life just maintaining the store for family traditions. It has gotten to the point that everytime I hear the door chime ring, I say a greeting line almost immediately.

“Welcome to Dear O’clock, how may I help you?” I took a deep breath as I shifted on my seat.

Then, I heard a voice: “Lucian! Great to see you again!”

I looked up to see a familiar face: He had a long brunette tied to a man bun, and his beaming smile stretched all the way to his green orbs. “Haru, what brings you here?”

Haru smiled, hinting he had something to say as he walked his way towards the counter where I sat behind. “You got some explaining to do,” he said. 

Taking a deep breath, he sat down on a nearby stool.

Then, he snapped, “How come you never told me your bloodline got some inhumane powers bending time!?”

I stared at him in disbelief. “You… You came all the way here just to tell me that?” My mouth opened agape. “Either way, it’s just a rumor, Haru—” 

“I’ve seen videos in the news! And it all pointed to the Hiroshi family—your family!” The brunet interrupted, baffled. “The topic is trending on several social media sites, Luci, this is crazy!”

“...And here I thought you’ll finally work with me.” I sighed, fixing my glasses.

There was once a rumor that said one of the members in the Hiroshi family had the power to time travel. They called it ‘regression,’ a supernatural where you time travel either in the future or past—randomly. It was passed down to all the generations, but no one was able to pinpoint whether this phenomenon was actually real.

It is said that in the whole process of regression, the present time that the person originated from stops completely. Thus, if that person comes back after their regression, no ordinary person would notice a change, no matter how long that person stayed in that time of regression.

“You have to tell me what you know, Lucian!” Haru grabbed a stool and sat down. “This is literally supernatural we’re talking about! Don’t you know that?”

I scoff. “I know that.” Crossing my arms, I leaned on the counter. “Well, how about this, I’ll tune you into some… secrets. How’s that?”

“Secret?” Haru shot his head up, his face visibly lighting up.

“Well, my great grandfather once told me a rule within the Hiroshi family.” I glanced at Haru. “If regression ever comes down to us, never change the past nor the future, for it comes with dire consequences.”

Haru raised a brow. “That’s a bit extreme...” He bit his lip for a moment in silence. “But what exactly is this consequence?”

“No idea.” I shrugged. “But considering fate is very unpredictable, I would hate to go against a literal god without knowing what it's capable of.”

“...Yeah, you’re right.” Haru rested his arms on the counter. 

“By the way,” Haru started, “Have you been well?”

“Still having nightmares, but I’m fine.” I smiled.

Haru shifted in his seat. “Alright… But about your… Repressed memories…–”

“I’ll…figure it out somehow,” I retorted. “I’m too curious to let it go.”

He stayed silent, fidgeting with his fingers in hesitation. Nonetheless, he didn’t follow up on it after.

Ever since I told him about my situation three days ago, he has been awfully stiff and awkward whenever we talk about it.

I couldn’t help but think that it was almost as if…he was hiding something.

“Haru, are you hiding something from me?” I furrowed my eyebrows and scanned his face.

I noticed his face stiffen, like he was caught in the act. Nevertheless, he was adamant of keeping it to his grave. “No, of course I don’t.”

I had my suspicions, yet I didn’t want to be pushy. Thus, I decided to let it go for now. “Alright,” was all I said.

We both observed a few moments of silence. Before I opened my mouth to change the subject, Haru started before me, “I’m curious… Does that earring have to do with the fact that most of your ancestors were clocksmiths?”

“Ah, this?” I pointed to the earring dangling from my left ear. “I get that a lot. Is it because it looks like a clock’s hand?”

“Um, I don’t know… How do I say this…” He trailed off, shifting on his seat. “It makes me uneasy.”

I raised a brow at his remark. “Does it? My great grandfather gave me this before his passing.”

“Ah–” Haru widened his eyes– “I’m sorry.” His tone softened.

“It’s fine.” I chuckled. Then I mumbled, “But I did recall him telling me something else… I just can’t remember…” I trailed off.

“What?” Haru turned to me with raised eyebrows.

I wave a hand at him. “It’s nothing.” I smiled. “I just remembered him telling me that he picked up this earring somewhere.” 

“He picked it up? Randomly?” The brunet tilted his head. “Isn’t that…too weird? It looks shiny, it doesn’t look old and rusty despite picking it up randomly.”

“...Weird, you say?”

“Yeah. A one-piece earring that looks like a clock’s hand isn’t something you see often. Is it perhaps the missing pair for the other?”

“Um… I guess?” I paused. “My grandfather picked it up because it looked pretty valuable and gave it to me. If there was another pair, he would’ve looked for it. But he didn’t.”

Haru nodded, humming as a reply.

“Moving on, I want to give this to you for a while.” I removed the dangling silver earring, then offered it to Haru.

He blinked. “Eh? Seriously? Your great grandfather gave this to you–” the brunet looked around frantically– “There’s no way I’ll take it! It’s disrespectful!”

I scoffed. “It’s fine. Take this as a late birthday gift from me, and also a thank you gift for being my friend.” I smiled. “I didn’t give you anything for your birthday, remember?”

“But that’s not the point…” Haru looked at me in disbelief. “So, you’ll just throw away the only remains of him?”

“I’m not throwing it away. I’m giving it to someone who deserves it,” I replied, placing the earring on the counter. “My great grandfather said I could do whatever I want with it. He told me once he dies, he’ll just be inside here.” I pointed to my chest, where my heart was.

Haru opened his mouth, only to close it again. He then gulped. “But…Why me?”

“I told you, it’s a late gift for someone who has been there for me since middle school. But it’s fine if you don’t want it. I’ll just keep it somewhere instead.” I glanced at Haru, then to the earring. 

“But I could’ve sworn my grandfather told me another thing… Agh, my memory sucks,” I mumbled to myself, scratching my head. 

“Look, I know you feel uneasy because of it, but I got nothing else for you, dude. I’m broke, I can’t…afford anything valuable for you. So… This is all I have,” I rambled as I observed the earring on my hands. 

Haru was oddly silent the whole time I rambled. He would’ve shut me up already, but he didn’t.

Noticing the piercing silence, I looked up. 

But I found no one before me.