I screamed as if I knew I wouldn’t be heard. I cried from pain and fear simultaneously as I held Baeck’s helpless body, knowing I couldn’t do anything. I was powerless, I was exhausted. Why? I watched this scene over and over.

I opened my eyes, and the voices of the children around me echoed once more.

“Are you okay?” A stranger's voice asked, bringing me back to "reality" again.

“Keith, are you okay?” He repeated like clockwork, and I grabbed my head.

I had spared you too much. How many times had it been? Maybe 5 or 7; I wasn’t sure anymore. I didn’t have the mental strength to count them. What I could confirm for sure was that I started my day with a meeting with Baeck and ended it with his death. I watched him die, who killed him, and I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t know if it was punishment, but it was the worst.

“You’re not making any progress,” I heard a voice close to my ear, and I turned my head sharply, looking at the boy who, to be honest, was the first person I saw before everything else. He was the one who brought me back with his voice when I fell into a panic.

“What? I didn’t hear you.” I blinked a few times, and he laughed, shaking his head.

“You know you won’t get out of this time loop just like that without doing anything, right?” He spoke quietly as he tossed a piece of paper between his hands.

“Time loop…?” I repeated, and he nodded.

“You start at point A and get to point B, but if you don’t change anything, you’ll eventually end up back at point A. But if that doesn’t ring a bell, let’s say it another way. From Daegu, you leave for Seoul, but in the end, you find yourself back in Daegu, even though it should have been left behind. You’re here for a reason, Keith.” He said, and I grabbed him by the shoulders, turning him sharply toward me.

“That’s the problem! I-I-I don’t understand what I need to do… I can’t watch it over and over… help me…” I whispered, and the boy shook his head.

“I can’t help you, Keith. I’m just something like your subconscious. I don’t exist without you. I don’t know more than what you’ve learned so far; I’m just telling you in a way you haven’t contemplated yet. Speaking of which… what time is it?” he asked, and I paused for a moment.

“Are you… mocking me?”

“No, Keith. I’m not mocking you. What time is it?” He asked again, and I looked at my phone.

To be honest, I hadn’t thought to pay attention to it until now.

“9:37…” I whispered, and he nodded, standing up from his place.

“Keep a close eye on it. You can control it. Let me try to give you another example. You have a past, present, and future. If your parents hadn’t met in the past, then in the present, they wouldn’t exist, and if you don’t exist in the present, you won’t exist in the future. But if you do something that allows you to penetrate between the time zones – you can do wonders. You can introduce them in the future, creating a semi-universe where you will start to exist, or you will destroy the universe, and you won’t exist at all. If you leave things as they are, they will unfold as they were meant to. Baeck won’t stop dying because that’s how it’s written. However, this isn’t in your favor."

The boy spoke, and the more he talked, the more some things became clear to me, but at the same time, he confused me with others.

“In short… I need to prevent his death without disrupting time?” I asked, and the boy beside me looked at me.

“It has to be within what you have. If you do it a second earlier or later, everything will end differently because you’re entering different time zones. Past, present, and future. To stay in the present, everything must conclude in its time zones.” He corrected me, handing me the note in his hand, stopping midway to the classroom door.

“Oh… and one more thing, Keith, these things haven’t happened as you’re experiencing them now. I know that nothing makes sense at the moment, but trust me, you’ll understand.” He turned to me, and with one last smile, time rewound a few minutes back. The note in my hand was crumpled into a ball, but that didn’t stop me from unfolding it and reading its contents. 19:37. The time when Baeck would lose his life, but there was still one hour left. 15:23.