“When did you run this scenario?” I said, releasing his arm as the cashier plated two croffles and set them on the counter. Yejun thanked her and picked them both up, then walked toward the tables before answering.
“This morning,” he said, shrugging and pushing one of the croffles toward me. It had berries and whipped cream on top and a little jar of syrup next to it. “I finished my ramen and figured I might as well, rather than waste the broth.”
“You used broth as a scrying pool?” I said, trying with all my might to focus on Yejun and not the steaming pastry in front of me.Come on, Mina, the fate of the timeline is more important than dessert.
“You could scry in a toilet bowl if you wanted to,” he said, slicing into his croffle. “At least, for the kind of basic scenarios that I run. If you have high-security clearance, your files are all locked to your personal scrying pool, but no one ever trusted me that much. Are you gonna try your croffle or what?”
I still wanted to know what had possessed Yejun to run this particular scenario before meeting me today, but I supposed that could wait until I had a bite of croffle. I cut off a piece, dipped it in the whipped cream, and ate it.
“Oh my god,” I said. “I’m gonna kill you.”
“Why?” Yejun said, dropping his fork.
“Because this is incredible, and I can’t just pop back in time whenever I want it.”
Yejun beamed. “I told you!” he said. “Congrats on passing your calculus test, Yang. Remember this moment the next time you want to give up on studying.”
I stuffed another piece of croffle in my mouth so I wouldn’t have to respond, pretending I didn’t notice the way Yejun was smiling at me instead of eating his own dessert.
If he’d run this scenario, that meant he’d planned to take me here even before he’d arrived at the café. He’d thought about me beyond the scope of our mission, had carefully planned a safe trip for me that wouldn’t destroy the timeline. We were at a caféby ourselves for a reason other than work or school and had literally just held hands on the way here—did that make this a date? The more I thought about it, the more my brain felt like scrambled eggs burning in a nonstick pan. I took another huge bite of croffle so Yejun couldn’t ask me a question and imagined thathewas the one givingme a bracelet as we crossed the stream instead of Jihoon. I imagined Yejun steadying my waist so I wouldn’t fall off the stepping stone, Yejun’s hands tucking azaleas behind my ear, Yejun whisperingI like you, Mina.
Yejun checked his watch again, then turned his attention to his napkin and began to fold it. After a few moments, he had a tiny napkin crane in his hand, which he set on the table next to us.
I stopped chewing, slowly setting my fork down.
That’s why we’re here, I realized, swallowing the rest of the croffle, which felt like cement going down.
“You’re making an adjustment, aren’t you?” I said, my voice flat. He hadn’t come here for me at all. This wasn’t a date—it was work. Suddenly no longer hungry, I dropped my gaze to the shredded remains of my croffle.
“What, you mean the crane?” Yejun said. “No.”
But I was good at reading between the lines, and I knew his words were too careful. He meant:No, the crane isn’t the adjustment. Something else is.
I debated abandoning my croffle in protest but decided that stuffing the rest of it in my mouth in one bite would have the same effect. I finished chewing, wiped my mouth, then sat back and crossed my arms. “I’m ready to go back,” I said.
“Did you… not like the croffle as much as you thought?” Yejun asked.
“I liked it, and I’m ready to go back,” I said. “Or did you have something else to do here?”
“I… well, yeah there was one more thing,” Yejun said, edging away from me as if he sensed this was the wrong answer.
“Then do it quickly and let’s go.”
Yejun seemed to wilt at my cold tone, and I almost felt bad for him but kept my irritation simmering by glaring at the paper crane. This was just a job to him, and to me. I didn’t need to be kind.
Yejun clapped his hands together, suddenly smiling again. “Okay, how about this?” he said. “I’ll do a bunch of things, and you try to guess which one is the adjustment.”
“Is this a game?” I said.
“Yes!”
“Then no.”
“Too late, it’s already happening,” Yejun said. He stood up, stuffed the rest of his croffle into his mouth, then cleared our plates. While still chewing, he took out his wallet and placed a 5,000 won note in the tip jar, then waved for me to follow him outside.
“Where are we going?” I said. He was walking faster now, and I had to jog to keep up with him. “Shouldn’t we go back?”
“I’m on a mission!” he said, mouth still full of croffle.
