I didn't reply immediately.
Even after typing yes, my thumb hovered over the screen like I still had time to take it back. Like the moment hadn't fully happened yet. It was stupid, honestly. It was just a message. Unknown number, no context, no reason to take it seriously.
And yet… it didn't feel like nothing. The three dots appeared.
Typing…
Then disappeared. Then appeared again. I felt it before anything even happened. That subtle shift. Like when a room suddenly feels quieter, even though nothing has actually changed.
My phone buzzed.
"Then start with one."
I frowned and thought, Start with one? Before I could type anything else, another message came through.
"Pick a moment."
A moment, out of everything?
That didn't make sense. I almost laughed. This had to be some kind of joke. A weird one, but still just a joke. No one asks something like that seriously.
But my mind didn't treat it like a joke. It had already started searching. Moments weren't hard to find. That was the problem, there were too many.
My grip on the phone tightened slightly as one surfaced clearer than the rest. Not the biggest one, not the most dramatic, just… the one that never really left.
It was an afternoon at Ardenfall. Nothing special on the surface, just another day that should have blended into all the others. But it didn't.
I was standing near the corridor outside one of the classrooms, half-listening to a conversation that didn't really need me in it. People talking, laughing, moving on with their day like everything was simple. And then there was that moment.
She was there.
Not far. Close enough that I could have said something without it being strange.
I remember noticing the smallest details for no reason at all—the way she paused like she was waiting for something, the way the noise around us didn't quite reach her.
It felt like an opening. A simple one. Say something. Anything. But I didn't.
I told myself it wasn't the right time. That it would be awkward. That I'd find a better moment later. I stepped back instead let the moment pass. Let her walk away and nothing happened after that. That was the point.
"Pick a moment."
The message echoed in my head. I swallowed slowly, staring at the screen and my fingers moved before I could overthink it.
"That day. The corridor."
The reply came instantly.
"Good."
For a second, nothing happened. No dramatic change, no sound, no light, no sudden realization. I almost exhaled, ready to dismiss the whole thing as something pointless.
Then— Something felt… off. It wasn't visible. Not at first, but it was there.
That same feeling from earlier, except stronger now. Like reality itself had paused for just a fraction too long. The fan stopped. I noticed it because of the silence.
That constant, annoying clicking sound I had gotten used to over the years—it was gone.
Completely. I looked up. The blades weren't moving. That didn't make sense.
There hadn't been a power cut. My phone was still on, the screen still glowing in my hand.
A strange weight settled in my chest.
Not fear. Not yet.
Just… awareness. My phone buzzed again.
"This time, don't step back."
I didn't get the chance to react.
The room— shifted.
Not like in movies. No spinning, no darkness swallowing everything whole. It was quieter than that. More precise like something had been edited from my reality. The walls didn't disappear.
They… changed. Faded into something else.
The dim light of my room stretched, sharpened, turned brighter— Voices replaced silence.
Footsteps, Movement And suddenly— I wasn't in my room anymore.
I was standing in the corridor. The same one.
My breath caught in my throat unable to make a sound.
The walls, the lockers, the light filtering in through the windows—it was exactly how I remembered it. No, not remembered but real just like back then I remembered. People moved around me like nothing was wrong. Like this was normal.
Like I had always been here, my heart started pounding now. This wasn't possible, this couldn't be possible.
And then— I saw her.
Same place. Same moment. Same everything.
It hit me all at once.
This wasn't a memory. This wasn't me remembering what happened.
This was me… back in that same moment. Every instinct told me to step back again.
To do exactly what I had done before. To let the moment pass just like I had done before, not to do anything excessive. But the message echoed in my mind.
"This time, don't step back."
Then I looked and saw that she shifted slightly, like she was about to walk away. The moment was already ending, history was repeating itself just like last time. This was it.
The same choice. The same second. My chest tightened like it was going to come out any moment. My mind raced through every possible outcome, every reason not to say anything, every excuse I had used before.
Nothing had changed. Except one thing.
This time…
I knew what will happen if I did nothing. What will happen if I just let the moment pass again. My hands clenched slightly. My voice felt stuck.
For a second, I thought I would freeze again.
But then— I took a step forward.
"Hey—" The word left my mouth before I could stop it.
She turned and looked.
And in that single moment—
Everything changed.