That time… when my parents died, I was very young. Back then, no one stood beside me—no one except my grandfather. The rest of the family turned their backs and left.
A few months later, my grandfather also passed away from illness.
But after his death, those same people came back. That day, they treated me kindly. They took care of me like I mattered.
("Aryan… from today, you will stay with your aunt. Your aunt will take care of you for the rest of her life.")
("No! No! Aryan… you will stay with your uncle. Your uncle will take care of you for the rest of his life.")
They all acted like they wanted me—but it was all a lie. They had no interest in me… only in the property my grandfather left behind.
They pampered me, but only for a few days.
Soon after, they all came back again and said:
"Aryan… my boy, sign these papers, please. Then we can take care of you."
But I remembered what Grandpa had told me before he died.
---
[Flashback]
"Aryan… my boy… if I'm not there and someone comes and asks for something from you at that time, never give it to them. No matter how much they love you or how much they care about you—do not give anything to them. Do you understand, my boy?"
"Why, Grandpa? Where will you go?"
"No… Grandpa won't go anywhere. But one day, I have to go, right?"
"Why, Grandpa? Why will you go? You'll be with me too… so why will you go?"
"Yeah… my boy, I'll always be by your side. And I want to be. But even if everyone wants to stay by someone's side, they can't be there forever. Just like your parents. Your parents also wanted to be with you their whole lives. But they couldn't. I also want to be with you. And no matter what, I want to be with you until you grow up."
"Grandpa…"
"Hmm…"
"I'll also stay by your side forever…"
"Is that so!... You're really your grandpa's favorite boy. Well… did you understand what I told you earlier?"
"Yes, Grandpa! I understand. But Grandpa… I don't have anything. Why would anyone want anything from me?"
"No, my boy. You have a lot of things that they don't. So they will want to take them from you."
"What do I have, Grandpa?"
"Hey, it's your parents' house. So technically, it's also yours. There are many more things. So don't ever do it if someone asks you to sign something, okay?"
"Okay, Grandpa." (Aryan smiled.)
---
Because of that promise, I didn't sign.
And because I didn't sign… they all left me again.
After my parents died, I had Grandpa. After Grandpa died, I had no one. Just a little boy, alone in a big house.
I didn't know how to cook. I had to buy food from outside every day. Sometimes, boys would beat me up when I was alone. I didn't even know why they did it. But every time they saw me, they'd hit me.
That's how I spent those years.
"Why does this happen to me?" I used to cry every day thinking about it.
One day, I went to the beach. I sat far from the crowd, just watching the sea. Grandpa often took me there. Now that he was gone, I went alone.
As I sat there, staring at the waves, I heard a voice.
"It's so much fun to sit alone and watch the waves of the ocean, right?"
It was a girl's voice.
I turned. She was sitting beside me.
I didn't even notice when she came.
"Hi, I'm Sonia… Why are you sitting alone, looking at the sea?"
That was the first time I saw Sonia—on the same beach where I'm seeing her today…
She was running toward me. Even though I didn't want to cry, tears welled up in my eyes.
"Hey Aryan… You have tears in your eyes! Are you crying?"
"I'm sorry, Sonia…"
"Hey… Why sorry? You were fine until now, and now you're suddenly crying?"
"Hmph… Nothing much. Something caught my eye."
"Is that so? Ok then." Sonia smiled and gently patted my head.
"Aryan…"
"Hmm…"
She suddenly pointed at the watch on my wrist.
"What kind of watch is that on your hand? You haven't had it for a while."
I looked at it—completely forgetting I still wore the Past Watch. But it now showed a normal time: 5:17 PM.
"Oh, this. I had it, but I didn't wear it all the time. I wore it sometimes. It's a gift from my father."
"I see… never mind… Let's go that way."
"What about that side?"
"Hmm… I'll eat ice cream. Come on, quickly."
She grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. A strong wind was blowing.
"Sonia… You'll get hurt…"
"Huh… What a weak boy! Don't need to fear. We are just running. Nothing will happen."
We bought ice cream and sat together on the beach, eating as the sky began to shift into dusk.
"Hey Aryan…"
"Hmm…"
"Today is a little different from other days."
I tilted my head.
"Different? How?"
"Um… Nothing much… It seemed different to me, that's why I said it. Never mind."
We sat there and talked for over an hour.
"Sonia…"
"Hmm…"
"It's been so late. So we should leave now."
"Hmm… That's right…"
I walked her back to her house and dropped her off.
Then I started walking alone on the street.
It was night.
The streets were nearly empty.
My mind raced for a moment. "Yeah… today is really different."
I looked at the watch.
"I should leave now."
I selected the Future option on the Past Watch.
["The host selected the Future option. You will be transferred to the future in 5 seconds."]
"Huh… Again…"
[Countdown has started: 1… 2… 3… 4… 5…]
[You have been successfully transferred to the Future…]
It was my bedroom again.
I dropped onto the bed, exhausted. My hands were still bleeding from the night before.
The television was on. I didn't bother turning it off.
I fell asleep almost instantly.
---
The next morning, I woke up to the soft sound of the TV still running.
As I got out of bed and headed to the washroom, a news report stopped me in my tracks.
["Last night, a patient from room number 302 at Apollo Hospital, Sonia, died inside the room due to a fire. The cause of the fire is yet unknown…"]
I froze.
Then ran toward the TV.
"No… no… It can't be… Why?! WHY…! WHY…!"
---
To be continued...