Chapter 1
On a cold winter night in December, Joo-hee was abandoned at an orphanage.
Her single mother, who had been raising her alone, couldn’t handle it anymore and left her there.
The last letter from her guardian was a crumpled piece of paper with the name “Kim Joo-hee” written on it.
Maybe because she never received real love from her parents, Joo-hee didn’t show her feelings.
She rarely smiled or cried.
Jisook, the director of the orphanage, worried about Joo-hee, but she had many other children to care for and couldn’t focus on her alone.
Jisook started to feel that something was really wrong when Joo-hee entered middle school.
“Hello, I’m calling because I’m worried about something with Joo-hee.”
“You’re worried?”
Jisook rushed over when she got the call from Joo-hee’s homeroom teacher.
The teacher sighed and began to speak.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Joo-hee doesn’t show any emotions.”
“Oh…”
“She doesn’t smile or cry. Maybe because she’s not expressive, the other kids don’t approach her easily.”
The teacher suggested that Joo-hee see a counselor, and Jisook agreed and left the office.
After hearing that, Jisook thought back and realized Joo-hee had never smiled or cried since coming to the orphanage.
But maybe it was already too late. The counseling didn’t help much.
Even though Jisook tried not to show it, Joo-hee noticed how tired she looked from spending time on the sessions.
So Joo-hee firmly said she wouldn’t go to counseling anymore.
Even in high school, Joo-hee didn’t change.
The other kids still found it hard to get close to her, but one friend always came and talked to her.
“Joo-hee, want to come over to my house today? My mom bought macarons yesterday!”
Joo-hee hesitated a little, then quietly nodded.
Other kids were scared of Joo-hee and didn’t get near her, but only Ji-hye stayed close to her.
Joo-hee sometimes found Ji-hye annoying, but at the same time, her heart felt warm.
Because Ji-hye was a bit clumsy, Joo-hee ended up taking care of her.
But she didn’t mind it at all.
She liked Ji-hye’s smile when she said thank you.
This kindness was new to her, but Joo-hee was slowly getting used to it.
“Yay! You promised, right?”
When Joo-hee gave a positive answer, Ji-hye jumped around happily.
Then she proudly told the other kids.
“I’m going to hang out with Joo-hee! Aren’t you jealous?”
“Hmm… okay, sure…”
The other kids didn’t seem excited.
To them, Joo-hee was someone hard to approach.
Objectively, Joo-hee was very pretty.
She had cat-like features and was slim.
Actually, she was slim because she didn’t eat properly, but the other kids didn’t know that.
They just thought her blank face was creepy.
But Ji-hye was different. She came to Joo-hee without fear.
After class, Ji-hye ran up to Joo-hee and locked arms with her.
“Let’s go! I bought milk too.”
Joo-hee nodded slightly and put on her backpack, which only had one book inside.
That one book was a romance fantasy novel.
Ji-hye had recommended it to her when they first became close.
At first, Joo-hee felt awkward because she had never been given a gift before, but it made her happy.
Worried the book might get damaged, she even put a clear cover on it and kept it on her shelf.
Since then, romance fantasy books had been filling the empty space in Joo-hee’s heart.
It sounds funny, but sometimes she imagined what it would feel like to enter the world of the book.
She felt like it would be much better than her real life.
On the way to Ji-hye’s house, Ji-hye asked cheerfully,
“Joo-hee, did you finish the book I lent you last time?”
“No, not yet.”
“It’s okay! You can take your time. Hey, do you want to borrow another one while you’re at my place?”
“…Okay.”
So Joo-hee ate macarons, drank milk, and borrowed a book at Ji-hye’s house.
She was about to go back to the orphanage, but Ji-hye didn’t want her to leave yet.
“Joo-hee, it’s getting late. Eat dinner before you go.”
Ji-hye smiled brightly, and Joo-hee couldn’t say no.
Then Ji-hye’s mom added,
“Yeah, I’ll make something tasty. So eat with us before going.”
While Joo-hee was hesitating, Ji-hye laughed and pulled her along playfully.
“Just today, okay?”
The food was delicious.
The orphanage fed them enough, but this kind of meal was rare.
“How is it, Joo-hee? Do you like it?”
“…It’s delicious.”
Ji-hye smiled proudly as she looked at Joo-hee.
After even having fruit for dessert, Joo-hee finally got up to leave.
“I’ll walk you to the intersection.”
“It’s fine.”
“It’s lonely walking alone.”
In the end, the two girls walked side by side.
“The book I lent you this time is really good. Be sure to read it when you get home. I think you’ll like it.”
“Okay, I will.”
“Too bad tomorrow isn’t the weekend. I don’t want to go to school.”
Ji-hye grumbled, saying school was hard.
“We’ll be seniors next year… I wonder if I’ll be okay.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t have any dreams, and studying isn’t fun… It was fine to play around when we were kids, but now we can’t do that anymore.”
Hearing that, Joo-hee stopped walking, and Ji-hye also stopped.
“Joo-hee?”
“It’s okay to decide later.”
“Huh?”
“It’s fine if you don’t know what you want yet. We’re only eighteen. It’s not like we’re out of time.”
“….”
“You can take it slow.”
Ji-hye blinked slowly, then burst into a smile.
“Thanks. That really helped me clear my mind. You’re right—there’s no need to rush when we’re still young!”
“Yeah.”
“You know what? That was the longest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
Joo-hee didn’t say anything else and just walked a little faster.
It was too dark to see well, but her ears were slightly red.
Ji-hye tried hard not to laugh and followed her.
At the crosswalk, when the light turned green, Ji-hye walked ahead.
But then it happened.
From far away, a huge truck was speeding toward them.
Joo-hee, who had been walking slowly, started to move faster.
“Ji-hye!”
Ji-hye stopped walking and turned around.
From that moment, everything started moving in slow motion for Joo-hee.
She saw the truck rushing toward Ji-hye and Ji-hye slowly turning her head.
Joo-hee’s body moved on its own.
“Kyaa!!!”
She pushed Ji-hye hard, who was frozen and couldn’t move.
Ji-hye screamed as she fell down, and now the truck was right in front of Joo-hee.
The sleepy truck driver saw Joo-hee too late and stepped on the brake, but it was already too late.
Joo-hee’s vision flipped upside down.
Her body hit the truck, flew in the air, and then crashed onto the ground.
“J-J-Joo-hee!!!”
Ji-hye, shaking with fear, crawled over to her.
The truck stopped with a loud noise, and people started gathering.
Red blood began to flow and soak into the asphalt.
‘Ah…’
Joo-hee blinked slowly.
When she tried to move her body, intense pain rushed in.
“W-What do I do… Joo-hee, don’t close your eyes, okay?”
Through her blurry vision, she saw Ji-hye’s tear-covered face.
The first thought that came to Joo-hee’s mind was relief that Ji-hye wasn’t hurt.
Someone was calling emergency services, and Ji-hye kept crying non-stop.
Joo-hee barely moved her arm and gently grabbed Ji-hye’s finger.
Ji-hye widened her eyes and looked at Joo-hee, who was covered in blood.
Joo-hee instinctively knew… this was the end.
“Joo-hee…”
Ji-hye’s soft voice came, and Joo-hee forced a smile.
“Why are you smiling…? Why did you do that, why!”
It was the first time Ji-hye had seen Joo-hee smile in two years.
She had always wanted to see Joo-hee smile… but not like this.
Not a smile like this.
Ji-hye cried loudly.
Still, she held onto Joo-hee’s hand tightly, not letting go.
A siren sound came faintly from the distance, and Joo-hee slowly closed her eyes.
Right before she lost consciousness, a soft light briefly glowed from the romance fantasy book inside her bag, then disappeared.
* * *
Somewhere, a cool breeze blew.
Joo-hee’s nose twitched.
She thought she heard someone laughing nearby.
—Eiril, wake up. How long are you going to lie there?
Joo-hee wanted to sleep more, but someone kept chattering next to her ear.
—Come on, Eiril! You said we have to collect the rest of the herbs today! That’s how we earn money—you said it so many times!
What does that have to do with me?
Joo-hee thought this in her head without opening her eyes.
She felt she didn’t need to answer because she wasn’t Eiril.
But that voice wouldn’t stop bothering her.
—Eiril! Ei-ril~!
In the end, Joo-hee couldn’t take the noise anymore and slowly opened her eyes.
In front of her, balls of sparkling dust were floating in the air.
—Oh! You’re awake! Thank goodness!
Joo-hee stared blankly, lost in thought.
She wondered what that thing was.
So she reached out her hand to grab it.
—Ouch! Eiril, what are you doing?
The dust ball fluttered for a moment, as if in pain, then quickly escaped her hand.
—Eiril, does your heart still hurt?
Even though the dust ball had no face, it somehow looked like it was worried.
Joo-hee just moved her eyes around.
Her fuzzy mind started to feel a little clearer.
Then a thought came to her.
“…Car accident.”
Her last memory was getting hit by the truck and seeing Ji-hye crying.
She checked her body.
It used to hurt so much she couldn’t move, but now she felt fine.
She couldn’t understand what had happened.
—Eiril, what’s wrong?
She slowly gathered her thoughts and sat up to look around.
It wasn’t asphalt. She was in a small room.
“But I was in an accident…”
—Accident? Did you have a dream while you were passed out?
“A dream? That was a dream?”
She could still remember the pain clearly. It couldn’t have been a dream.
She thought she should figure out where she was before doing anything else.
“Where am I?”
—Eiril, are you joking with me? This is the Florél Empire!
“Florél Empire…?”
She had never heard of that name before.
“This isn’t… Korea?”
—Korea? Where’s that? Eiril, tell me too!
The dust ball flew around her excitedly.
Then Joo-hee grabbed the dust ball and asked in a low voice.
“Who am I?”
—Eiril!
“My name isn’t Eiril. I’m Kim Joo-hee.”
—You’re Eiril!
The dust ball kept insisting that her name was Eiril.
For the first time in her life, Joo-hee felt her heart sink.
