PART 1

By the time "I" finally woke up, I was at XX-hospital. The strong, antiseptic smell entered my nose, and I felt a throbbing pain at my temples.

My head rested on the side of someone's hospital bed, while my right palm was clasping tightly on that person's hand. It took a few minutes for my memories to reorganize itself. It always hurt during the initial awakening stage. I thought I would be used to it by now, but I guess I wasn't.

After my head calmed down a bit, I glanced up at the turquoise haired man on the bed. Even with the oxygen mask covering half of his face, I can still see his pale, sunken cheeks. A series of faint, even high-pitched tone was heard from green screen next to his bed. Different tubes and IV were coming in and out of his fragile body.

A sudden pain pierced my heart. My fingers reached up to caress his face. His eyebrows furrowed slightly at my touch. I hesitantly called out to him.

"V…?"

No responses. Only the cold, electrical sound of his heartbeat.

"Don't worry, the doctors said his condition has stabilized." A robotic voice came from behind me. I turned around to see a familiar, stoic face of Jumin Han. His usual collected image was replaced by a bed of uncombed hair and dark circles under his eyes. Unconsciously, I released V's hand and stood up to greet him.

"Jumin." I murmured.

His grey eyes narrowed a bit as he looked at me. He was silent as if unsure how to response. I watched his eyebrows raised and fall as he mulled over something in his mind.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Are you okay?" I tilted my head peering over at him with genuine concern.

He opened his mouth, but then paused for a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing, it's just a bit weird to hear you call my name like that on our first meeting."

Then it dawned to me that the person in front of me wasn't the "Jumin Han" in my heart. He was this timeline's Jumin Han, and we had only interacted with one another over the phone and in the chatroom. He had never meet me before.

I swallowed down the bitter lump in my throat. My voice came out a bit distorted and hoarse. "Ah, my apologies. It's just that V talked fondly of you over the last couple of days, so I kind of picked up on it." My right fingers grasped tightly around my left thumb. I cast my eyes down at white floor, hoping that he wouldn't see through me.

"No, not a problem at all." He said gently. "Thank you for being by V's side all this time. I'm glad that he was able to meet someone like you, Miss Yoona." Jumin moved to stand on the opposite side of V's bed.

I lifted up my head to see him staring at V with an unspeakable sadness. He noticed me staring so he adjusted his gaze and said with tenderness, "You must be tired. Go rest, you must not neglect your health Miss Yoona."

For a brief moment my heart stopped. The last time I saw that smile seem so long ago. Memories from the "me" that was with him came bubbling up like water from an overflowing sink. The last image I remembered from that life was his agonized face as I died in his arms. I willed myself to push the memories down.

"I'm fine." I said as I sat back down in my seat, "You look worse than me. Did you not sleep?"

His smile gradually faded. "We found Mint Eye headquarter, but when Seven and my team got there it was already up in flames. We are in the process of salvaging what we can on the organization right now."

My heart dropped. "What?" I panicked and hurriedly asked him, "Then, what about the organization's members?"

"Worry not." Jumin continued, "We found them in a safe house a few miles away from the headquarter. Apparently, they were instructed to evacuate hours before. They were just as shocked when the explosion occurred."

"Ah, I see." I let out a sigh of relief. "Then, have you locate the hacker? His name is Ray. He was forced to take the drugs while at the organization. I'm worried about his conditions."

Jumin's brows furrowed. "That's the issue...We found the members, but we failed to locate the hacker's whereabouts when we first got there. However…"

I tensed up in my seat. An ominous premonition played at the edge of my mind. I impatiently called out to him. "However what Mr. Jumin?"

He only sighed and shook his head. "However, I just got news that they found what seems to be pieces of a body within the debris of Mint Eyes' control room. We suspected that it's the hacker's body."

My mind went numb as I felt myself sinking back into the chair. Jumin's words rained down on me like a ton of bricks, but I refused to believe it. I felt a pain in my chest as if someone had knocked the wind out of me. My hand instantly went over my heart, only then did I realized that I wasn't breathing.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe. "Huahh…"

A pair of mint eyes flashed in front of me. Such sorrowful eyes.

Was I too late again? I had to know. I had to confirm it with my own eyes.

"Miss Yoona, are you alright?" Jumin's voice floated over to my ears carrying a hint of concern and panic.

I slowly opened my eyes to peered into his dove feathers eyes. "I'm fine, just tired." Now was not the time to be shaken up. I needed to go to the scene to assess the situation before planning my next moves. Even if Ray was indeed lost, I still have seven lives left. In order to save everyone, I had to collect as much info as I can from the timeline.

"I think I'll go rest for a bit." I smiled over at Jumin. "Please watch over V in my place, and take the time to rest up too. Your health is just as important."

Jumin gave me a slight nod. "No need to worry. I take excellent care of myself. One cannot produce the best results without a healthy mind and body."

I smiled and then looked over at V. Since it was the first time I've woken up in the hospital with V here, it seems like I've successfully saved him. With his survival confirmed, the algorithm for the next iteration have already changed. All I had to do was gather new info for the next cycle, and tie up loose ends. However, unlike the other routes I did not have time to wait around for V to wake up. I had to find another way to deliver the message to him after he wakes.

I went over to grab my bag and head out of the room. After leaving the hospital, I hailed a cab directly to Mint Eyes HQ. Part of me was praying that Jumin was mistaken about Ray. I was so close this time. Everyone, even Rika, was saved in this iteration.

So close. If only I had awaken earlier. I stared down at my body. I had clenched my fist so tight that my knuckles turned white. I didn't have much time left.

"Damn it." I swear under my breath. "Ray, please be okay."