Chapter 2

The woman's voice on the other end was hoarse, the way it always was.

"You ran into Fabian and Stella playing a game today, didn't you? Don't read into it. You know how it is at team-building events, everybody plays those drinking games. The two of them just didn't want to kill the mood."

"Stella is your best friend. You walked straight out of that room today, and she was upset for a long time afterward."

"You know it as well as I do. Whether it's Fabian or Stella, they're the two people in this world who least want to hurt you. They both love you."

Every other time, I sank into the feeling and never noticed anything off.

This time, though, I caught it fast.

"Didn't you say that back then you never forgave Stella, and Stella jumped off a building out of guilt?"

"So how do you know everything that's happening now? By rights, if I've made a different choice, you shouldn't know how things turn out afterward."

The person on the line seemed stumped by that. It took a moment before she spoke.

"I... it's because I'm you from the future. You made a different choice, so of course I can find out what happens later."

"You and I are one and the same. Don't you believe me?"

It wasn't time to expose her yet.

I didn't say anything more. I just hung up.

Back in the bedroom, I glanced at Fabian, his eyes squeezed shut.

His breathing was steady, and he looked asleep, but the faint tremble of his lashes gave away that he was faking it.

When I woke the next morning, Fabian had already left for work.

I washed up, pulled myself together, and went out to his company.

But it wasn't Fabian I'd come to see. It was the company's other shareholder, Laurence Norris.

Once I'd done what I came to do and was ready to leave, I ran into Fabian and Stella again at the elevator.

The instant he saw me, his face soured.

"Didn't I tell you not to come to the company? Why are you here again?"

I looked at Stella, standing beside him.

"Fabian, don't forget how this company grew into what it is. I'm a shareholder here too."

"I may have stepped back from running it, but coming in as a shareholder shouldn't be a problem, should it?"

After college, Fabian wanted to start his own company. He didn't want a salaried life he could see the end of from the very beginning.

For as long as I could remember, I'd always stood by his side, and this was no exception.

In the early days, Fabian was hopeless with people. He only knew how to bury himself in R&D, and wanted nothing to do with the give-and-take of the drinking table.

So I learned it. I learned to trade toasts at those tables, to deal with the clients from every company.

Three years later, once the company was on solid ground, Fabian couldn't stand the thought of me out there in the spotlight, and that was when I came home.

We built this company together, the two of us.

But now, the one standing beside him was Stella.

And I couldn't even set foot in the company without being interrogated.

I'd already decided to let go, but I couldn't stop the sting rising in my eyes, and I just stood there, holding his gaze.

Stella hurried forward to smooth it over.

"Oh, come on, Fabian, honestly, is that any way to talk to Nat?"

"Nat, don't be angry. Fabian's probably just worn out from work. I'll straighten him out for you later."

"Don't worry, we're sisters. I'm absolutely on your side. I'll keep this jerk in line for you."

I forced down the lump in my throat and pushed out a thin smile at Stella.

"Is that so? Keep him in line how, exactly? And straighten him out how?"

"In bed?"

With that, I didn't spare either of them another glance and walked straight out of the company.

I hated them to the bone, but the old bond wasn't fake, and the ache in my chest reminded me of it every waking moment.

The good years were all real.

Fabian, Stella, and I grew up together in the same orphanage.

Fabian and I were closer in age, so the two of us were tighter.

Little by little, I started to notice Stella, always tucked away in a corner.

She'd been shy and timid since she was small, couldn't fit in with the group, and got bullied by the other kids all the time.

I was the one who took her hand and walked with her all the way here.

In college we worked part-time jobs together, and she'd quietly save up to buy me the little cakes and coffees I wouldn't spend on myself.

She'd also step in when people got jealous and sneered at me for winning a scholarship.

The most timid of the three of us, and yet, time after time, she was the one who stood in front of me.

I used to think it would always be like that between us.

But friendship or love, in the end it all drifts apart in the long river of time.

I hate them. And I grieve for it too.

After I got home, right on schedule, the call came again.

This time I spoke before the other end could.

"I still can't forgive."

"After all, two months ago, I lost a child."