“I’m not going to do the mission,” I said.
Yejun stared at me blankly. “Okay,” he said. “So what are you going to do instead?”
“I’m going to go rogue,” I said. “Like Hana. She has the gene, so I must have it too.”
Yejun frowned. “Are you sure?”
“I don’t have a choice,” I said. “I’ve decided, so I need to do it now before the hour resets. This is the last time you’ll see me, at least for a while. I’m sure Hong Gildong will be looking for me, so I should keep my distance to make sure you don’t get caught. In fact, it’s probably safer if I don’t even tell you where I’m going.”
Yejun had gone very still in the booth, as if afraid to move a muscle. “Mina,” he said, “I think—”
“I’ve already decided,” I said, because apparently I needed tomake this clear. “Fuck Hong Gildong and his plans. I’m never going to do what he says. Unless they find me in the next”—I glanced at my watch—“fifty-one minutes, they’ll never find me again.”
Yejun dropped his gaze to the table, clenching his jaw.
Now he would have no choice but to apprehend me. Except, when he reached for his yeouiju, he would realize it was gone. I’d stranded him in the past with no powers. Neither of us would show up to my mission, Min Sungho would live, and there would be no war.
I waited for the moment he tried to take me, braced to jump and run. I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he realized I’d tricked him.
But Yejun only sighed. “First of all,” he said, “there are tests for the rogue gene. You should get tested before just throwing yourself into a timeline refresh.”
I frowned. “Are you… trying to talk me out of it?”
He shook his head. “No, you should definitely go rogue,” he said, “but in a way that doesn’t leave you dead. Your plan has too many holes. For one thing, going rogue doesn’t suddenly make you invisible. Hong Gildong will probably be keeping close tabs on you until the mission is over. You need to find a way to shake him before just running off, or else—assuming you actually survive the timeline refresh—a thousand alarms would go off in headquarters once they register that you’re not on your origin timeline anymore.”
I shook my head. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. I had deviated from my instructions, and this was his last chance to apprehend me. He should have been dragging me back to headquarters, but for some reason, he was helping me.
When I didn’t answer, he started digging through his backpack. “I didn’t grab a tray before I left,” he said. “Maybe I should buy some bingsu, then we can eat it and use the bowl for scrying? We’ll think of a better plan.”
“We?” I echoed, clenching my fists. Tears burned my eyes, but this time I couldn’t stop them. “Why are you still pretending?” I whispered.
Yejun raised an eyebrow. “Pretending?”
“I told you I’m not going to kill Min Sungho,” I said. “Why aren’t you dragging me to HQ like you’re supposed to?”
He froze. “Why would I…” But he trailed off as he read my expression. Maybe it was the hate in my eyes, or maybe my words had finally sunk in, or maybe it was just because I’d been foolish enough to let him into my soul and he could see exactly what I was thinking. Understanding dawned on his face, and he dropped his gaze to the table as if ashamed. “Mina,” he said unsteadily, “I—”
“Don’t,” I said, taking a shuddering breath to stop myself from crying more. “Please stop lying to me.”
Yejun’s shoulders drooped. He looked so pathetic and sad, but that only made the rage burn brighter inside me. “I know you were just doing your job,” I said, talking louder to fight back the tears. “I know that’s what all the descendants are doing. But that doesn’t make it right, and that’s not a good enough excuse for me anymore. I trusted you because I thought you knew that.”
“Mina,” Yejun said sadly, reaching out as if to take my hand.
I yanked it away before he could touch me. “And the worst part of all? You used my sister to sell me on your lie. I never would have used your mom against you, Yejun. And maybe that’s why you’re a good descendant and I’m not. I know I never would have been like you or Hyebin. But I don’t think I deserved all this just for being so”—I unclenched my fists, looking at my pale palms scarred from nail marks—“human,” I finished quietly.
“Mina, I’m so sorry,” Yejun said. He sounded sincere enough, but his words meant nothing to me now. They wouldn’t change what he’d done. “I didn’t want to lie to you. But I wouldn’t have hurt you or turned you in. Please believe me.”
I scoffed. “Why would I believe you?” I said. “You lied to me about everything! Were we even going to save theSewolferry? You just used all those deaths to add some drama to your story? To make you seem like a good person?”
He shook his head quickly. “I petitioned Hong Gildong to really let me save the ferry,” Yejun said. “I scripted a thousand scenarios telling him how we could pull it off without actually breaking the timeline, but he wouldn’t even read my proposal. He kept talking about the ‘integrity of the timeline.’ I’ve been trying to find a way out of this, Mina, just like you. I swear.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said.
Yejun sighed and raked his fingers through his wet hair, rustling his blue raincoat… which looked strangely familiar. It was the same bright blue as the raincoat that Yejun’s Echo had worn when he stole Yejun’s laptop and poured water on his head. Sure enough, there was Yejun’s black school bag on the seat beside him.
“You got your bag back?” I said, frowning.
Yejun followed my gaze to his school bag. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “Losing my laptop gave me an excuse to turn my mid-quarter report in late, so I had to make sure it happened. I was afraid Hong Gildong would make me test you even sooner.”
