# Chapter 4
Peter seemed to have not even the tiniest bit of interest in what his friend was saying. The village chief didn’t understand English. Only Hwiseo responded to Misha’s comments while eating a meal where he couldn’t tell if the food was going into his ears or his mouth. After watching the village chief finish his portion of food regardless of what Misha said, Peter called a staff member and asked them to clear away the empty plates. Then, looking at Hwiseo’s dishes, he requested they be left and that dessert be served together.
“Time travel is a radical concept even in my field. And as Hwiseo said, imaginative dreamers worry about what might happen if they took a non-existent time machine to the past. So, if I traveled back in time and killed my mother before she became pregnant with me.”
Seeing Hwiseo’s shocked expression, Misha put his hand on his chest and said, “I love and respect my mother, we have a good relationship, so don’t worry. This is just an example.”
“I would prevent myself from being born, and also prevent myself from killing my mother.”
“Uh, wouldn’t that mean the original me would cease to exist?”
“Exactly! That’s what we call the ‘Grandfather Paradox.’ When time travel becomes possible, scientists—who, according to Hwiseo, worry about unnecessary things—would start researching how to avoid this error. And it just so happens that a quantum physicist conducted an experiment.”
Hwiseo swallowed the mackerel, which had supposedly been aged in kelp on his plate, while listening to Misha’s story with one ear and letting it flow out the other. How many people in this world would be curious about subatomic reaction experiments in the microscopic world? He firmly believed he wasn’t the only one who felt this way.
“The results of this experiment supported the multiverse theory. If we apply this, it means we can create a time machine without causing time paradoxes, so I have considerable confidence in this.”
Hwiseo nodded unconsciously. Misha seemed genuinely serious about time travel. Was it really worth worrying about something like this when time machines don’t even exist? It was even a little pathetic. Still, feeling he should respond somehow, Hwiseo was about to open his mouth when:
“There’s no need to respond to every nonsense thing he says,” Je Wooseung said.
“Is it nonsense? Misha is a physicist after all. Quantum physics or something, anyway, he’s a scientist,” replied Hwiseo.
“That’s probably all he knows because he only studies.”
“Are you saying what Misha is talking about is wrong, Peter?”
“It’s not about being right or wrong, it’s just completely useless. And I’m not Peter. That idiot just calls me that as he pleases.”
Misha looked back and forth between Hwiseo and his friend, ready to jump into the conversation despite not understanding what they were saying. The man slightly furrowed his brow and said:
“It’s quite late, but my name is Je Wooseung.”
For a young man in his twenties, his voice was low and serious. Even though he just stated his name, there was something about it that commanded attention. The spaces between his words were neither fast nor slow, giving a sense of composure and strength. His calm gaze swept over Misha, who was sitting with his upper body pulled back, and said:
“And the multiverse theory only exists in time travel fiction. Misha, take it easy.”
“Even if the possibility is slim, it’s not completely impossible. Even though we can’t see it directly, it could exist somewhere. Among the infinite universe, what we experience is just one of them. Why would it be impossible for another version of yourself to exist in a place different from here and now?”
Misha continued talking about the multiverse for a while longer, then pointed his index finger at Hwiseo.
“There may not be the Hwiseo in front of my eyes, but there could be a Hwiseo somewhere else in another universe. What do you think? Isn’t that interesting? The universe is infinite.”
Hwiseo was shocked a second time by Misha’s continuous stream of words. Quilted multiverse, inflation multiverse, quantum multiverse, and so on. It amazed him that so many theories were created to explain something that was almost fictional. He felt like a person from a different world than them. There was no need to use examples of universes beyond what we can see. There was already a vast universe between Misha and himself.
“They’re all made up, but they’re plausible fiction nonetheless. There’s no reason not to believe.”
“If they exist somewhere as Misha says, I’d like to meet them once.”
Misha smiled at Hwiseo, who had responded to the possibility of ‘another me,’ as if signaling the end of the meal while wiping his lips with a tissue. Misha didn’t understand Hwiseo’s Korean comment “Only if they exist,” and excitedly chattered on, saying “Exactly, right!”
“Enough. You’ve talked plenty,” said Je Wooseung.
Je Wooseung pulled Misha out of the microscopic universe of the laboratory and cleared the table. Hwiseo guaranteed that he would never be curious about the numerous universes created during the inflation process after the Big Bang. Though he might occasionally remember that fancy mackerel sashimi topped with sesame sauce.
* * *
As a final item on the agenda, Misha wanted to visit the meteorite recovery operation site. The village chief had been drinking so he sat in the back seat, and Hwiseo didn’t have a driver’s license. Once again, Je Wooseung drove while Hwiseo served as navigator. Misha was shorter and smaller than Hwiseo, who was 178cm tall, but his eyes were bright and intelligent. Perhaps because of this, Misha was full of energy when talking. However, looking at his profile as he gazed at the sea beyond the messy worksite with various equipment, the liveliness from earlier was nowhere to be found.
“I’ve been researching flight propulsion systems for two years. During experiments, I discovered time distortion. You know how movies and dramas become super interesting during exam periods? Just like that, I got sidetracked and started experimenting with ‘time control,’ experimenting again and again… Then I saw the news about the meteorite falling and thought, ‘this is it.’ My intuition told me, ‘you need to go there.'”
Like Tesla, who tried to draw electricity from thunderstorms in the 1900s, today’s scientists—including Misha himself—conduct research that seems impossible. Misha truly believed in the power of science. But on the other hand, he wondered, “If all these things I’m doing are already happening in nature, what meaning do these physical laws have?” What if a wormhole was right in front of him? What if they operate sporadically within Earth’s atmosphere rather than in distant space? Wouldn’t it be faster to find that? But where would it be? Lost in such random questions, Misha ridiculously fell into a slump. And that’s when he discovered the asteroid that flew from space and sank into the sea in Asia.
“I think I made the right decision coming here.”
Could people in the 17th century, when Newton lived, have imagined being able to predict the tides of the sea? Now, through mathematical calculations based on Newton’s physical laws, we can deduce the tides of 2032. We shouldn’t dismiss theories describing the universe as having no practical power.
Just like when he suddenly fell into doubt, the answer dawned on him unexpectedly. What you’re doing isn’t useless. Because someday, the many theories that sound absurd might be able to explain wormholes.
Achoo! Misha sneezed in the cold night sea air. Seeing Misha sniffling, Hwiseo asked if he would like a warm drink. Misha nodded vigorously with a refreshed expression. The village chief, who couldn’t handle alcohol, had passed out after a few glasses of rice wine, so they laid him down comfortably in the back seat of the car and turned on the heater. They also left the window slightly open.
Hwiseo took the group to a coffee shop by the shore. In the autumn of October, nights by the sea were cold. The three of them sat in a row, looking at the sea with warm coffee in their hands. Misha’s expression was much lighter than when they first met. He looked like he was dying to explain why. Hwiseo kept his mouth shut, afraid he would be forced to listen to more scientific theories. Instead, Je Wooseung firmly drew the line, saying, “To ordinary people, there has never been any connection between your actions and your thoughts. Don’t try to get agreement for your eccentricities.”
Someone set off fireworks at the beach. Hwiseo said, “That’s illegal,” and Misha commented, “The people who discovered gunpowder must have made fireworks.” Je Wooseung snorted and replied, “No, it was probably a merchant who had a friend who discovered gunpowder.” The clock was pointing to 9 o’clock. Hwiseo thought he would miss them a little when they parted.
* * *
Arriving in front of the village chief’s house, Je Wooseung held out an envelope. The envelope, which clearly contained 50,000 won bills, was thick. The village chief refused, saying accepting it would make him no different from the taxi driver earlier. Hwiseo also felt that the delicious and expensive meal he had eaten that day was enough. Misha said, “Maybe they’re refusing because you put in too little. You’re stingier than you look,” to which Je Wooseung was about to add more money. As Hwiseo awkwardly watched their prolonged argument, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
“It’s terrible, terrible!”
The soup restaurant grandmother’s voice, close to a scream, echoed loudly through the narrow alley. The group stopped what they were doing and looked at Hwiseo. Her urgent voice conveyed that something was seriously wrong.
“Fire, fire! There’s a fire at the laundry shop!”
“Call 119, 119. No, grandmother, what about my dad? What about my dad? My dad should be there! He said he was going to sleep!”
“The village people already called 119. Oh my goodness, what a disaster.”
The grandmother’s crying spilled out through the phone. In an instant, Hwiseo’s heart dropped to the floor. Turning pale, he turned around and started running.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
