BACK FROM THE DEAD

CHAPTER 13: TIME IS UP

*Age 19. 2 Years After Rebirth.*

Phoenix Corp was no longer a startup. It was a name.

200 employees. Ministry contracts. Mom as CEO. Me as the “young face” on Forbes.

I told Mom everything. How I loved Taewook. How he was kind. How he made me feel safe.

I never told her it was a contract. Some lies are mercy.

Taewook still dropped me off at Korea University every morning. Still picked me up at 4PM. Still called me “partner” when no one was listening.

Life was good. Too good.

That’s when the dreams started.

*Night 1:*

An old man. Homeless. Long beard. Sitting under a streetlight.

He looked at me and said: “Your time is up.”

I woke up sweating.

*Night 4:*

Same man. Same street. “Your time is up. You need to go.”

“Taewook,” I said at breakfast, pushing eggs around. “I keep dreaming of an old man telling me my time is up.”

He frowned. “It’s stress. You’re running a company + school + me. Sleep more.”

*Night 9:*

He was in my room. “Your time is up. Everything has been corrected. You’ve been good. Now you need to go.”

I woke up screaming.

That afternoon, I went to school alone. Taewook had a board meeting.

And I saw him.

The old man. Real. Sitting outside the campus gate. Same clothes from the dream.

I walked to him. Pulled out 50,000 won. “Here. For food.”

He didn’t take it. He looked up. Eyes old. Tired. Kind.

“I don’t need your money, child,” he said. “I need you to understand.”

My blood went cold. “Understand what?”

“You came back to fix what was broken,” he said. “You saved your mother. You saved yourself. You stopped him from taking what wasn’t his. You loved the man you married, even if it started as a contract.”

I stepped back. “How do you—”

“Because your time is up,” he said. “Everything has been corrected. You’ve been good. Now you need to go.”

“Go where?” My voice shook.

He smiled. Sad. “Home.”

That evening, I told Taewook. All of it. The dreams. The man. The words.

He held my face. “Soyeon. Listen to me. You’re not going anywhere. We’ll see a doctor. A priest. Whatever you want. But you’re staying.”

I wanted to believe him.

But at 11:47PM, my phone buzzed. Unknown number.

Text: `Cross the road. Now.`

I looked out the window of our apartment. 19th floor.

The old man was standing on the sidewalk below. Staring up at me.

He raised his hand. Pointed at the road.

A truck came around the corner. No brakes. No lights.

My body moved before my brain did. I was at the door.

Taewook: “Soyeon, where—”

“I have to go,” I said.

I ran. Down 19 flights. Out the lobby.

The old man was still there. Waiting.

“You’re good,” he said. “You did well.”

The truck screamed.

I closed my eyes.

And jumped.