The room collapsed around them.
Not physically—but temporally.
The air around the safe node twisted, flickering like a glitching video frame, as if someone was skipping through seconds too fast for reality to follow.
Ha-rin felt the floor vibrate under her palms.
Her vision stuttered—multiple frames overlapping,the lights flickering like heartbeat pulses.
Broken Ha-rin's scream stretched and warped around the room.
"…STOP CHOOSING EACH OTHER…!"
The walls flickered into pieces—half warehouse,half static,half the rooftop from her dreams.
Jae-hyun didn't hesitate.
He grabbed Ha-rin tighter and lifted her fully into his arms like she weighed nothing.
"Hold onto me," he murmured, voice trembling but firm.
Her fingers curled instantly into the fabric of his shirt.
"Jae-hyun—what's happening?!"
"Time fracture," he said through clenched teeth. "She's pulling us into her memory layer. Trying to sync her reality with ours."
Her breath stuttered.
"That will… kill us."
"Yes," he said."But only if she wins."
Broken Ha-rin's voice echoed around them:
"…if I can replace her… the loops will stabilize… I can fix us…"
Ha-rin felt nausea claw at her stomach.
"I don't want to be replaced," she whispered desperately.
Jae-hyun pressed her tighter to his chest.
"You won't be."His breath shook."Not while I'm alive."
Echo pulsed hard—painful, frantic.
"…danger… forced merge… constant destabilizing…"
Ha-rin gasped as a stabbing pressure filled her head—like someone was prying open her memories with cold metal fingers.
She whimpered.
Jae-hyun's grip tightened instantly.
"Ha-rin—stay with me," he breathed. "Stay with me. Look at me."
She tried—but her vision split again, and suddenly—
she was on a rooftop.
Rain pouring.Cold air slicing through her lungs.Her hands covered in blood.Someone collapsing.
"JAE-HYUN—!" she screamed.
Her own voice echoed back at her—
—but younger, rawer, broken.
The fracture shuddered violently, dragging her deeper.
But then—
A hand gripped her wrist.
Warm.Strong.Alive.
This Jae-hyun.
Not the dying one.Not the memory.
He yanked her back into the present.
Light slammed against her eyelids.
She fell against his chest, panting, shaking.
His voice hit her ear—low, rough, terrified.
"I've got you. Don't go anywhere without me."
Her fingers clutched his shoulders helplessly.
He pulled her face up with both hands.
"Hey," he whispered, eyes burning."Look at me. You're here. You're mine. You're real."
Her breath broke.
"I saw you die."
"I'm alive," he whispered fiercely."I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
Broken Ha-rin's voice pierced the air again, fractured and furious:
"…SHE DOESN'T DESERVE YOU—!"
Ha-rin flinched.
Jae-hyun stood up straighter, shielding her fully behind him.
"Broken Ha-rin," he snarled."You want me to acknowledge you? Fine."His voice cracked with fury."You were a simulation. A pain she didn't choose. A fragment that shouldn't exist."
Broken Ha-rin's form flickered violently, static tearing through her outline.
"HOW DARE YOU—"
"You're not her," he said coldly."You're her suffering."
Ha-rin felt her stomach twist.
Broken Ha-rin's eyes filled with glitching tears.
"Then let me return to her!" she cried. "Let me make her whole—"
"She IS whole," Jae-hyun snapped.
He reached back, grabbed Ha-rin's hand, and pulled her forward so they stood side-by-side.
Their fingers intertwined.
Ha-rin felt his pulse in her palm—wild, terrified, desperatefor her.
"She's whole," he repeated. "Because she's alive. Because she chooses. Because she loved me through every version I was."
Ha-rin's throat tightened.
Broken Ha-rin glitched—face splitting into two frames,one crying,one screaming.
"You love her," she whispered."Not me."
"Yes," Jae-hyun said without hesitation."I love Ha-rin. My Ha-rin."
Broken Ha-rin made a sound like heartbreak and thunder.
Ha-rin stepped forward before she even realized what she was doing.
"Stop," she whispered gently.
Broken Ha-rin froze, chest heaving.
"Please," Ha-rin said, voice trembling, "stop hurting us. Stop hurting yourself."
Broken Ha-rin's expression crumpled.
"You left me," she whispered."You left me alone in a dying loop."
Ha-rin swallowed.
"No," she whispered."You were left behind because the timeline broke. That wasn't my choice."
Broken Ha-rin shook, glitching harder.
"But I'm still you," she cried. "I'm the part of you that suffered. The part that watched him die. The part that never healed!"
Ha-rin stepped closer.
Jae-hyun tightened his grip, terrified—
but didn't stop her.
Ha-rin reached out her free hand.Not touching—just offering.
"You're not me," she whispered."You're my pain. But I'm not letting that pain take my life anymore."
Broken Ha-rin stared at the offered hand.
Her glitching slowed.
Her voice cracked.
"I just… didn't want to disappear."
Ha-rin felt tears sting her eyes.
"You won't," she whispered."I'll remember you. I won't erase what you went through. But I can't let you replace me. Or hurt him."
Broken Ha-rin looked at Jae-hyun.
At Ha-rin's hand.
Then at their joined fingers.
Her expression twisted—wanting, longing, breaking.
"Please," she whispered, "don't choose each other in front of me."
Jae-hyun's voice softened.
"Then let us help you."
Broken Ha-rin's eyes widened—
—but before she could respond—
THE ENTIRE ROOM SHATTERED.
Not physically.
Temporally.
The floors, the walls, the lights—everything ruptured into fragments of moments:
RainA labA corridorJae-hyun's childhood homeThe rooftopHa-rin's old university hallwayThe dark alley from the loop
Time folded.
Echo screamed inside her:
"…CENTRAL SYNC BREAK—BRACE FOR COLLAPSE—"
Jae-hyun grabbed Ha-rin and pulled her against him—
just as the ground disappeared.
They fell.
Not down—but through time.
Ha-rin clung to Jae-hyun's neck, burying her face against him.
He held her tighter, one hand cradling her head protectively.
"I won't lose you!" he screamed over the roar of collapsing timelines."Ha-rin, I swear, I won't lose you!"
Her tears mixed with the wind tearing past.
"Don't let go—" she cried.
"Never," he whispered fiercely."Even if time breaks."
Echo's voice thundered through her:
"…ANCHOR LINK ENGAGED…PROTECTOR SYNC INITIATED…HOLD—ON—"
Time exploded into white—
And everything went silent.