ALL NOVEL Chapter 5: If I don't exist, I can't be killed
"Wait!" She calls out for him. "Mr. Psychopath, you didn't take the freebies."
"I don't want it." He takes a glance at her. "You can keep it."
"It's a chocolate box." She gives him a knowing smile. "I bet that you are running low on sugar. Take it."
"It's for my younger brother." He lies through his teeth. His younger brother hates eating sweets. However, Kang Si An isn't someone who can say no to chocolates. "My brother becomes cranky when he can't have them.."
"Sure, I believe you," She tells him cheerfully. She doesn't believe him at all. "I have it here."
She bends down behind the counter to pick something up.
"Hello?" Kang Si An grimaces when she doesn't get up. He looks at the clock. It's been two minutes. He looks over and finds out that there is no one behind the counter.
"Strange." He looks around. "Is she allowed to leave the store like this?"
***
The scent of lemons hit my nose. I am no longer in the store. I slap my forehead. "Not again."
"Little Kyu Ri."
It's my grandmother smiling at me. When you are a time-traveler, you have a few benefits like visiting your grandparents in the past.
"Idiot child, you are back again."
"It's been a while, Grandmother." I sit down at the porch. "What year is it?"
"Hyun Sik got married last week." She spreads the clothes on the rope.
"How lucky I am!" I give her a look. "My parents are currently on honeymoon and making my older brother. Congratulate them on my behalf."
"I can't do that," She tells me solemnly. "If I tell them that their daughter has been visiting from the future, you might cease to exist."
"It wouldn't be a bad idea." I can't help but feel pessimistic. "If I don't exist, I can't be killed."
She comes to my side and lightly slaps my cheek. "What did I tell you?"
"Never ever reveal the future," I tell her quietly.
"Then, don't do it." She runs her hand on my head. "Little Kyu Ri, learn to control your abilities."
"I try." I have been trying since I was fourteen. In my current time, my grandmother is dead for more than twenty years. My grandmother had three children. My father and my second aunt are born normal. But, my eldest aunt, who has disappeared around decades ago, was someone like me. Nobody knows where she is. My grandmother suspects that she had been caught by the keepers because she used her abilities unlawfully. These keepers or peacemakers are from a mysterious organization who likes to keep things in order. They are also born with special abilities. Guess what they hate the most? People like me who mess with time.
When I told my father about the strange things that were happening to me, he was not surprised. My mother freaked out. The secret of my family was revealed to me.
Nobody knows the exact reason. Some people from my family bloodline are born with special abilities. Yes, abilities. Some can travel through walls. Some can become invisible. Some of them can shapeshift into animals or birds. Some of them can do all of it. I am someone who is born with more than one ability. I can walk through dreams and spacetime. It's no fun because I don't have control over it. Because of my time-traveling ability, my parents are afraid that I would disappear like my aunt or other relatives who had the same ability.
"Where is Grandfather?" I sit down on the porch. In my current time, my grandfather has Alzheimer. He can't even remember his name. I can't reveal about his disease in the past. It's strictly prohibited to tell them about their future.
"He went to the market." She gives me the lemon pickles to eat. "If he had known that you would come today, he would have stayed at home."
"I would have loved that." Pickles are delicious. My father has always talked about my grandmother's cooking. He misses it badly. I can't help but laugh when I see her packing pickles for me.
"Are these lunch boxes for me to take to the future?"
"No, I am just going to put them here." She places them close to me. "If someone wants to grab them before they disappear, they can. I will do it casually. Do you understand, Little Kyu Ri?"
"I understand how you love to bend the rules." I grab on to lunch box. "Grandmother, could Aunt Yoo Ri control it?"
My grandmother gives me a heavy glance. "Yes, she could. She loved to travel to different times. That's why I am worried about you."
***
"You!" Kang Si An screams when he sees her suddenly manifesting on the floor with a lunch box in her lap. She seems startled to see him as well. "Are you a ghost? You just appeared there?"
"What?" She stands up and laughs. "It's because you are wearing dark sunglasses at night. You can't see people."
"No, I really saw you suddenly manifest there like an apparition." He takes off his sunglasses. He notices that she is bare feet. "I saw..."
"Can people suddenly disappear and reappear? It would break the laws of physics if people can do that. Life is not a fantasy." She steps closer to him. "You look familiar."
"What are you doing here? You were going to give me the free chocolates." He blinks his eyes when he realizes his situation. He tries to change the topic.
"We have run out of those." She looks at him apologetically. "Your eyes are green? Are you a foreigner?"
"No, I am wearing lenses. That's the current trend." He curses the girl mentally. His cover is nearly blown. It's time to leave this place. "I am leaving."
He turns around and walks fast. He can't come back to this store. He shouldn't have left his house like this. If it comes out that he is walking around at night like a psychopath to buy candies, he will become a laughing stock.
"I know you." She yells after him. "You are Kang Si An."