The train doesn’t appear in front of her. Instead, she is already on the train, and someone is holding her. It is the masked man. She doesn’t hesitate for a moment and tears the mask from his face. The king’s face stares back at her, his eyes filling with tears.

“Who are you?” she demands, shaking him by the shoulders. “You’re the king and you’re the conductor. But why? How? None of this makes any sense to me.”

“The king is me, but he also is not me,” the conductor replies, still infuriatingly cryptic.

“Then…the time I thought I saw you…at the ball…”

“That wasn’t me. That was the king.”

“I…”

“He snuck off to have some fun, taking advantage of the occasion. Nobody was expecting him, and very few people had seen him in a while, so it was pretty much safe for him to roam about, under the cover of a mask.” He casts a glance at the white mask lying on the floor of the train, which has slowed almost to a stop.

“So the words he spoke…’Remember why you are here’…?” The more he reveals, the less sense anything makes. The conductor walks toward the end of the compartment and steps off of the train, with the girl close on his heels.

“They were meaningless, pretty much. Just the king telling a girl to enjoy herself, to relax, live in the present.” At present they are standing on solid ground, but they are surrounded by an expanse of whiteness.

She decides to forget that incident. If there was no meaning to it, then it does not matter anymore. Instead, she asks again, “Who are you?” Her voice is desperate. She knows his face now, but she cannot connect it to the other pieces she holds. The place they have arrived at is an empty world, with no clues to what she is looking for. It is a bitter disappointment. Such a long journey…for nothing.

“Your answer is with you,” the conductor says, pointing, much in the same way that king did.

Looking down, she finds that she is wearing the locket. But it is different. The one Seulhee had was shaped like a heart. This one is a star…and she recognizes it. It is the locket that Sungyeol—the real Sungyeol—gave her all those years ago. It is not dented, but rather has been preserved in its original state, treasured for a long time.

Slowly, the girl pries the locket open to see what lies inside. When she does, that is when everything falls into place.

All the wisps of memories begin to weave themselves together into a seamless whole. The flood of thoughts and feelings crystallize into a solid structure, like water to pure ice. The answer that has evaded her for so long breaks free from its bonds, filling her mind and echoing throughout.

“Oh.” That is all she says, softly, barely audible, but sounding as if she is seeing the world for the first time.

The conductor/king smiles briefly, and then he is gone, and so is the train, leaving her with nothing but darkness once more.