Eleven years into their marriage, Jiyeon and Seongho were not an unhappy couple. They rarely had big fights, and they knew each other's preferences well enough. Seongho knew Jiyeon hated cucumbers. Jiyeon knew Seongho had a habit of taking off his socks and shoving them under the sofa. The problem was that they knew each other too well.

Friday evening, they sat side by side at the dining table eating kimchi stew.

(Seongho) : “Want to go hiking tomorrow?”

(Jiyeon) : “Go by yourself.”

(Seongho) : “It'd be nice if we went together.”

(Jiyeon) : “Why would I spend my weekend suffering on a mountain?”

Seongho nodded.

(Seongho) : “Fine. I'll go alone.”

(Jiyeon) : “Okay.”

And that was the end of the conversation. Silence like this used to feel awkward. These days, it was comfortable. Even more so after they stopped talking about having a child.

For years after they got married, they had waited for a baby. At first, they thought it would happen naturally. Then they started going to the hospital. They timed the days, took medicine, had tests, and waited for results. Every month they hoped. Every month they were disappointed.

At some point, even telling each other that it was okay became exhausting. The subject of children quietly disappeared. Strangely, once that subject disappeared, other conversations started disappearing too.

It wasn't that they didn't love each other. They had simply been together for too long.

Saturday morning, Seongho went hiking alone. Jiyeon slept in, ran the washing machine, drank coffee, and caught up on a drama she'd been meaning to watch.

That afternoon, a photo arrived from Seongho. It showed an old spring halfway up the mountain.

[Seongho : They still have things like this lol]

Jiyeon zoomed in. Beside a small stone spring stood a wooden sign.

Fountain of Youth

One sip is enough.

Jiyeon snorted.

[Jiyeon : If you drink too much, do you turn into a fetus?]

A reply came almost immediately.

[Seongho : I'll only take one sip]

[Jiyeon : Please don't]

Much later, Seongho came home looking exactly the same as always. He smelled of sweat, his face was flushed from the hike, and the first thing he did was open the refrigerator.

(Jiyeon) : “Did you drink it?”

(Seongho) : “Drink what?”

(Jiyeon) : “The Fountain of Youth.”

Seongho pulled out a bottle of water and grinned.

(Seongho) : “Yeah. Exactly one sip.”

(Jiyeon) : “Childish.”

(Seongho) : “What if I wake up twenty tomorrow?”

Jiyeon answered from where she was sprawled on the sofa.

(Jiyeon) : “Then instead of work, I'll send you to school.”

Seongho laughed. That was the last thing they said to each other that night.

The next morning, Jiyeon woke with a strange feeling. The bed seemed narrower than usual. Someone was lying beside her. At first, she assumed it was Seongho.

Then her eyes opened fully.

Jiyeon froze.

It was a stranger.

No. Not quite a man, even. A young man with a face that still had something boyish about it. Black hair fell messily across his forehead, and his skin was absurdly smooth. His nose was straight, his jaw slim and sharply defined. With his eyes closed, he looked even younger.

About twenty.

For several seconds, Jiyeon's mind went completely blank.

Then she screamed.

(Jiyeon) : “Aaaah!”

The young man jolted awake.

(Young Man) : “What the hell!”

Jiyeon clutched the blanket and scrambled to the edge of the bed.

(Jiyeon) : “Who are you?!”

The young man rubbed his eyes with an annoyed expression.

(Young Man) : “What's wrong, honey?”

Jiyeon stopped moving.

That tone.

The way one eyebrow lifted first whenever he was irritated. The habit of rolling his neck once whenever he woke up.

She knew all of it too well.

Jiyeon stared at him, mouth open.

The young man noticed her expression, then looked down at his own hands. The backs of them were smooth. His fingers were slimmer. His face slowly went rigid.

His eyes shifted to the mirror beside the bed.

For a long moment, he couldn't say anything.

The forty-year-old Seongho Jiyeon had known for eleven years was gone from the mirror.

In his place stood a twenty-year-old stranger.

(Seongho) : “...Holy shit.”

Jiyeon was thinking the exact same thing.

Her husband had turned twenty.