After spending some days thinking only at what the shaman told him, missing all the important stuffs happening because always in his head, he finally decided to go to the library. He chose the Royal Library thinking that there’ll be more chance to find about this unknown legend since it was the biggest library in Seoul.

Kibum entered in and went first to the legends category where he didn’t find anything. Then he went to the roman corner, maybe some author would have use that legend to write a story but still nothing. He decided then to ask a librarian but even she didn’t even know about that kind of story. She went to ask her senior. The old lady smiled to her and walked to the young idol.

“You should go look in the ancient book collection. It’s in the upper room. I’m sure you’ll find what you are looking for.” – She whispered to him with a mischievous smile on her face.

Kibum thought that she was kind of scary. He thanked her and walked out this floor, he then took the made of glass lift and entered the upper room. There he found an almost empty room with only one table in the middle. It was dry and smelled the old dust that years brought.

“I need to find that book fast. I feel my skin drying by just staying here.”                    

He chose a first rank and started to look for … something. He didn’t know what he was exactly looking for in fact. He met the old kings’ diaries, the old monk book but no legend to be found, same in the second and third ranks. He was losing hope when suddenly his eyes stopped on a book in the fourth rank. The book title was “Destiny stones”. It was a thin book, browned by the years but still strong as a young tree. He took it and got out of this empty and boring floor and went back to the previous floor.

There a chose a free table to read the book. He took his vest off and put on a white paper mask. Kibum didn’t want to be disturbed by fans or curious people. He opened the book and foliated it. Something was wrong though. The first page, the second page, the third, the whole book was blank. All the pages of this book were white, no text, no drawings, nothing. He turned the book in all the ways possible, blew on it, and some other strange actions but nothing worked. The book was still empty. How could this be possible? Why was this book in a library if it contained nothing? He was getting mad and becoming disappointed about his find when he felt some wind on his nape making the pages flies. It was also making people angry because of all noise that the opened window was bringing inside the quiet place. They were all cursing at the person who opened the window so Kibum turned over to go and scold that annoyance.

Clara landed in the worst place she could be in. In a place of what her nightmare were made of: a library, a giant library, a library that was like a maze with no exit. It was quiet, too quiet, way too quiet, every eye was on her, she was feeling worse and worse. She tried to find an exit by walking faster and faster but she couldn’t see any. She was trapped in this place and her memory was coming back.  

*~*

At the age of 8, Clara survived a gun crime in her school. Her class was doing a research activity in the library that was out of the main building. Her teacher grouped the schoolers and assigned them theme to work on. Clara was doing her work cleverly when suddenly one of her work team said “Ah, we forgot the brochure in the book cabinet!” The good hearted Clara proposed herself to go get it while the others stayed at the table. They all smiled at Clara and thanked her. It was the last time she would saw them smile, work or simply live.

The little girl reached the cabinet when she heard heavy and loud sounds coming from the opposite side of the room. She was heading to where the sounds was coming from when her teacher grabbed her and hide her inside the cabinet closing it after saying her last words “Stay in here Clara.”  Hidden there she heard the screams, the fear, and the bullets crashing on the walls, on the cabinet, on people.

And then the silence filled the room, a scary silence. She opened carefully the door of the iron cabinet and got out. The first thing she saw once out was that puddle of blood, staining her shoes and her white dress. She froze when she saw that this blood was her Teacher’s. She was there all eyes opened on her side empty of life. The little screamed and ran away from the dead body. The image she saw then will forever be settled in her mind. All the little bodies on the floor, all the blood on the tables, books, shelfs, walls, ceiling, and the smell of the blood then the eyes of the murderer set on her. The madness shining in his globes, the smile fending his all face proud of what he made froze the little Clara. He looked at her deeply, ripping her soul forever. “Remember me” he said before killing himself. Clara screamed until her voice couldn’t come out anymore, and tears fell on her cute cheeks until her eyes dried. When she realized she was walking in the blood of all her class she ran back into the book cabinet that felt so comfortable suddenly. She closed her eyes, covered her ears with her hands and start singing the song her mom sings in her sad moment.

She stayed inside that small place for 40min. The time for all the class to end and realize that hers never came back from the library, the time for people to run to the other building, to see what have happen and to call the police and ambulance. When the police arrived they heard the little voice coming from the locker and opened it. When Clara saw the light entering her black bubble she screamed. “There’s a survivor!” told a policeman happy. But the little girl wasn’t that happy to have survived. All the sounds that were coming from were screams. Clara wasn’t able to speak for months after that incident.

*~*

She laid her back against a bookcase and covered her ears. She could hear the sound of the gun again, the screams all over. She could see all the blood spread everywhere again so she closed her eyes and start to sing a song again. Someone talked to her in a language she couldn’t understand, and even if she could she wouldn’t have because all the word sounded like “Remember me”. She was suffocating, on the verge of throwing up. “Someone please save me, save me.” Clara was whispering. The man kept on talking to her but she was already out of this time. But suddenly he patted her shoulder making her come back to reality. She looked at him and the horrible smile locked on the murderer showed up on his face. She covered to avoid screaming and the image went away to leave a perfectly normal face. The man looked worried and his friend too. They were talking in Korean to Clara and she couldn’t understand. “Fresh air, I need air” she succeed to mouthed. The man showed something with his finger. Clara followed it and saw windows, big windows showing a blue sky.

She ran to it almost falling on her knees. Her heart was beating like crazy and she was breathing hardly. She had some difficulties to open it but when it was finally unlocked, the wind filled her lung and freedom released her heart and mind from the horrible memories. 

“Air… Thank you. I need to go out. It’s okay Clara, everything is fine. You need to calm down. Look the sky is blue, the air is fresh, and the sun shining. See everything is perfectly fine, just breathe. – Clara tried to convince herself - Why did I had to land here?

- Close the window please. – Said a voice in her back

- I can’t, I need air right now.

- Clara close that window now, people are getting angry.

That person called her name? – How do you … Key… If you close that window, bring me out please…”

Her face was white as porcelain and her eyes were red. That was actually really scary to watch. She seemed like a walking dead.

“Okay. But first I need to borrow this … – He looked at the thing he had in his hand and was wondering if he really could say that it was a book - …book.

-Just take me out, that’s all I ask.”

Key closed the window and asked her to follow him. He walked a bit when he realized that Clara wasn’t following. She was gripped to the frame of the window, looking down trying to stand on her legs. Something was obviously wrong she wasn’t the smiley girl he used to see the few times they bumped on each other. He walked back and took her arm and head for the exit. She wasn’t stable on her legs and Kibum really started to worry.

Suddenly Clara saw the exit. She freed her arm from Kibum grip and walked the fastest she could to get out. She walked far of the library until she couldn’t even see a book. Once it was out of sight she realized that she wasn’t out. She was in a mall? A mall with coffee shop, clothes stores, convenience stores, even escalators and everything was revolving around the library. How can a library be in the middle of a mall? All the walls surrounding the library where made of glass and making a circle. It was like a tower of glass in the middle of a squared shape shopping mall. Clara couldn’t escape the library since the library could be seen from every corner. She wanted to run away, but she also needed to wait for Key. So she did the only thing that could isolate her from her fear. She curled up, closed her eyes, and covered her ears with her hands. She then sang a song, the first song that came to her mind.

She walked so fast that Kibum didn’t have time to follow. He registered the fact he was borrowing the useless book and walked out. Once out Clara was not here. “Again?!” - He thought. He was slightly worried though. He walked around the tower of glass and there he found the all curled up girl. She seemed so small. He walked slowly to her. When he got closer he heard her singing a song he knew. It was one of their songs. “Clara, are you okay?” he tried but she didn’t heard him. She was isolated in her world, not taking attention to her environment. Key understood that and touched her shoulder making her jump of fear.

“Omo, omo, you scared me. – Said the trembling Clara.

-Are you fine?

- … Yes, well no, but yes. Don’t worry it happens time to time. I must have caught a cold – She told him trying to make it sounds legit.

- Yes might. –He agreed knowing perfectly that cold couldn’t make a person in that state. However he didn’t ask anything it was none of his business and rude.”

Clara got back to her feet looking only at Key to avoid the library view.

“What is your book about? – Clara tried to change the conversation.

-Legend. Maybe …

-Maybe? Can I check it? I love legends – She smiled a bit.”

Clara was really not at ease. Kibum handed her the book telling her that it was empty and that he took it to solve its mystery.

When Clara opened the book something unusual happened. The necklace under her thin pink sweater was shining. Kibum couldn’t stop staring at it.

“What do you mean empty? It is certainly half written but it not empty. Look – She showed him but Kibum wasn’t looking – Where are you looking? Ya you’re a …

-Is it your Swarovski necklace under your sweater?

-Uh? Ah yes … How do you kno…

-It is shining, why is it shining? – He kept cutting her”

Clara passed her hand under her sweater and Kibum looked slightly away. It wasn’t a good idea to look at that move. Clara grabbed her pendant and took it out. The little blue gem was shining so bright. A light she has never saw.

“Try to close the book – Kibum said his eyes on the necklace

-Pardon?

-Close it that all.”

Clara closed the book and the light disappeared. She opened it again and the same light shone from the gem. Kibum asked the book and inspected it. This is when Clara saw her loop on Kibum wrist.

“Oh my loop! You kept it?

-Ah yeah, I did. – He said not interested at all by what she was saying.

-Can I have it back? It was a promise, no? Without it my hair got paint all over and is hard to wash.

-Just by some other silly.

-But … that one got my perfume on it and I love its color. – she whined a bit.”

True that elastic smelled so good. It never left Kibum wrist since he left the shaman. He couldn’t know when Clara would show up again so he just kept it around his wrist. He realized its smell when he went to sleep. He could smell a sweet yet strong perfume that wasn’t his and there had been no woman in his bed since some time now. He looked for its origins for one hour before realizing it was Clara’s loop. He even thought that if her loop smelled like that it might be Clara’s perfume. He was right, as always. The past few days he used to smell it time to time without even thinking about it. That loop had something relaxing.

“Are you going to give it back to me or not? –asked Clara.

-Ah – In fact no he didn’t want – Come with me!”

He closed the book and took Clara elbow. He brought her to an accessories store and chose the package of loop he thought looked the cutest.

“Yes, fits you! – He smiled”

Clara was clueless. He was buying her loops? Why? She just wanted hers back. She didn’t ask for new ones.

“Here new loops for you, miss artist. I keep the other one.

-Why? – Clara raised an eyebrow.

-Because I like yours. It makes a cool bracelet. – He lied to her

-I see… well… Thank you…?

-You’re welcome!”

The illustrator girl put the precious package in her pocket, hoping it will still be there when she’ll wake up. She looked at her watch and saw that she had only 1 hour left. She spent 1 hour in that frightening library? No matter she almost died of anxiety.

“Can I borrow you, your necklace too?

-And then you won’t give it back? No way, I bought it, it’s mine. – She pouted”

Key looked at her and laughed. Her expression was so hilarious.

“Okay, okay, then I borrow you. Let’s sit on that bench. I need to read the book.”

He opened the book and read the few sentences that were showing.

“If you broke the heart of a moon stone in two, both parts would only belong to soulmates.

…

The power of the stone only works when the moon is up in the sky

…

What the moon stone will do at that moment is opening the way from the limbo to the real world to reunite the soulmates”

"It doesn’t make any senses" thought Key. Firstly what a moon stone looked like? Then power? Soulmates? It was really an enigma.

“Clara do you understand? – he showed the book the girl.”

Clara looked at the book all written in hangul that she couldn’t read. She looked at key, then the book and Key again, she blinked her eyes fast and smiled at him. A smile meaning “I can’t even read how could I understand?” The boy sighed and scolded her wondering how she can live in Seoul without knowing how to speak or read Korean. Clara didn’t say a thing knowing the answer.

“I’ll do you a translation – he rolled his eyes

-But it is only half written how can you translate something without having the full text? You can do mistake and erase its sense.”

It was her time to scold him. When she realized it she stopped. How could she scold him? She looked at her watch and only 5min left.

“So if I understand the words appears only when my necklace is near right?

-Yes. Apparently, I wonder why…

-Then you should recopy it somewhere because I’m going to leave shortly. –She said with obvious sadness in her voice.”

Kibum looked at her and felt his heart becoming a bit heavier. He really liked to be with her, it was always nice. He took a pen and a paper out of his bag and Clara called him Mary Poppins making him chuckle.

He was recopying like a smart student. Clara was admiring him. He was really the most handsome man she ever saw and even if it happens to be only dreams, she was happy next to him. She saw her hand disappearing and sadness filled her body.

She said a low “Good bye” to avoid disturbing him from his work and fade away.

When Kibum just had finished recopying everything the word flew away. He rapidly looked next to him to find an empty bench. She was gone, and this time he didn’t saw it. Did she fade away or did she just walk away? In case she just walked he stood up and ran around the library looked at the transparent elevators, went to the lower floors but Clara was gone. Without knowing why he was really sad and started caressing the small red loop on his wrist by rote. 

Hey !! 

Did you enjoyed that chapter? 

Clara's past is very sad >< and it's just a glimpse of it. But even she is a smiley panda ~ 

Key's heart is flutering under Clara's charms =3

Oh do you thing the loops will be there when Clara will wake up? 

Stay tuned ;))

Comment, subscribe and love it ^^ 

Kiss

Lexie