Bailonz Street 13

It passed by quickly, but for some reason, I just felt like doing it.

“…Liam.”

He blinked. Eighteen-year-old Liam was less guarded and more amicable than I expected. I wondered if I could use this opportunity to uncover some secrets.

“What do you mean by ‘hearing voices’?”

He stayed silent for a while, scrunching up his face before slowly opening his mouth.

“Just what it sounds like. I hear voices. They always wish for my death.”

“When did you start hearing them?”

“Since I was a child. From the moment I started remembering. As soon as I began to see and feel them, they started talking to me. I remember the first thing they said: ‘You will never be free from us forever.’”

The voices enjoyed mimicking people, mocking Liam as he fell for their tricks. They deceived him so convincingly that he spent his childhood in terror, thinking they were real people.

“It was awful. Living most of my childhood being treated like a mad person really messed up my personality.”

“Wow, what jerks! Who do they think they are, tormenting people like that?”

Was it my use of harsh words? Young Liam widened his eyes and then burst into laughter. His pleasant, melodious laughter rang softly.

“Tell me about the person you’re looking for.”

I hadn’t expected the question to come back to me, so I looked a bit flustered. I was also worried that young Liam might catch on.

Here lies the problem: Does Liam Moore’s sharpness develop even at eighteen?

“Uh, well, why are you suddenly curious about that?”

He looked at me as if asking why I was questioning the obvious.

“I need to know to help you. You do want to find them, right?”

“Too much honesty can hurt adults, Liam Moore.”

“What’s with that tone? You’re not a teacher.”

Oops. I guess I was too accustomed to the role-playing with the older Moore. As I tried to shift the conversation, he gave me a look as if saying, ‘I’ll let it slide this time.’ Reluctantly, I recited the details of thirty-year-old Liam Moore.

“Well, he’s thirty. Over six feet tall. An adult man.”

“Hmm.”

“Black hair and grey eyes.”

“Hmm.”

“And… uh….”

Liam sighed deeply and turned to look at me. After rubbing his hair into place, he appeared a bit embarrassed, with his ears and neck reddening.

“…Are you looking for the thirty-year-old me?”

Eek!

I was naturally startled by Liam Moore’s sudden politeness. Why had he turned into such a polite child? Where did the rebellious teenager go?

My head spun in confusion as he sighed again. He returned to his usual cheeky tone and explained.

“You knew my name, and it wasn’t just a voice. Black hair and grey eyes aren’t a common combination. So, you’re really looking for the thirty-year-old me, the ‘adorable crybaby’? What was the relationship between you and me?”

Damn it.

Young Liam Moore’s sharpness was already fully developed. I had underestimated him and let slip the information one by one, making it inevitable for him to catch on. Having walked into it myself, there was no way out but to come clean.

“Yeah, you’re a crybaby.”

“Damn.”

“I don’t know how many times you’ve cried in front of me.”

The sight of young Liam cursing at his thirty-year-old self was a spectacle. I kindly waited for his embarrassment to subside.

After a while, Liam, who had been ruffling his hair, raised his head. Calming down quickly, he explained to me.

“There must be a problem with him. I don’t know how you ended up here, but it wouldn’t be possible without someone’s interference.”

Even though he was still unsteady and easily shaken, thinking that such a person would grow up to meet me felt… strange. Knowing he would turn out well but throwing a bomb like me at the clueless young Liam made me feel conflicted.

Anyway, time travel is impossible with just individual power. I sighed deeply.

“Ah, this is driving me crazy. Why is life so tough?”

“You can think of it this way: a lively eighteen-year-old is cuter than a thirty-year-old.”

“Do you really say that about yourself?”

The lively eighteen-year-old grinned.

“I’m quite shameless. Didn’t the thirty-year-old me teach you that?”

No. He’s shameless too. I didn’t want two Liam Moores competing in ego, so I just nodded. In ego battles, I’m always the one who gets caught in the crossfire.

Liam cleared his throat and straightened up.

“Listen. I’m currently resting in my room at Nifoisse Hall. I have the flu. Where are you?”

I looked around briefly. Then I started to describe what I saw.

“It’s black, dark. There’s no light.”

“And?”

“It’s quiet. There’s no sound at all.”

“And?”

Sharing the same time but different spaces felt distinctly odd. I was a bit confused. My mouth moved on its own.

“There’s only you here….”

Yeah, only you. Despite the darkness obscuring everything, it’s like there’s a spotlight on you, making everything around you clear. Then where am I?

I couldn’t understand. Struggling to speak, I gave up and looked down.

At that moment.

“It seems like it’s time for you to go.”

Breaking the silence, young Liam spoke. He fixed his gaze on something I couldn’t perceive. Was something changing? He slowly climbed out of the bed, parting the canopy with his thin arm.

There was a change happening to him. The faint glow was dimming, and a boldness, a fearless expression, began to show on his face.

Then a pale hand grabbed mine. So pale that you could see the veins clearly, it clasped tightly around mine.

“How?”

I couldn’t help but ask.

How? Just a moment ago, you couldn’t even see me. How are you now seeing and touching me?

Young Liam helped me up and led me out of the bed, saying,

“I didn’t do it. He’s stitching up the rift from the other side.”

“Liam?”

“Thanks to him, I’ve become somewhat similar to you. But only for a short while. After all, I’m your ‘past’.”

So, thirty-year-old Liam is fixing some… tear in the soul from afar, and in the process, young Liam and I somehow synced up temporarily.

I don’t know. I can’t explain it. Liam or Owen would know more about such theories than I do.

Anyway, it seems like that’s the principle. If thirty-year-old Liam can interfere, so can eighteen-year-old Liam. With both of them holding the threads from opposite ends, I, floating in the middle, was found.

“It’s around here.”

Young Liam groped the empty air as if feeling for a wall and caught hold of something. He turned to me, explaining softly.

“Take a deep breath. It won’t feel pleasant.”

“What?”

It wasn’t a kind explanation. I knew that much. Liam Moore was not a teacher. But shouldn’t he at least tell me what’s about to happen?

Without time to prepare, the dark shadow began creeping up my arm, ready to pull me away.

Terrified, I clung to young Liam’s hand.

“Liam, wait.”

“This isn’t the place.”

Young Liam smiled softly. He tightened my coat around me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“This isn’t it. Staying here won’t do any good. You need to find your ‘me.’”

“That’s—uh, aaaaaah!”

Without a chance to respond, I was shoved, and I began to fall immediately. As if someone had pulled the floor out from under me, the ground started sinking rapidly, increasing speed.

‘I won’t die from falling in a hallucination, right?’

But the unrelenting speed scared me.

In the midst of it, the cheeky adolescent who pushed me bid farewell.

‘Damn kid Liam!’

I never imagined there’d be gravity in this space. I thought the darkness would continue indefinitely, but there was an end. I fell endlessly somewhere, unable to even scream.