A human once entered their world. He was filled with innate curiosity and hunger for knowledge, but most of all, he was hungry for domination. He was the first human to ever cross the boundary between his world and theirs. 

They welcomed him and provided him with anything he asked for. In their world where technology flourished, he wanted to bring that science to his own world. But when they refused, it was like something switched in him that caused for destruction. He called them aliens, but to them they were simply beings. Chaeyoung remembered it as the beginning of an end. 

Fire engulfed their world, a wave of red and orange in all directions, devouring everything it set its eyes on. The screams of their people were numbed through the pain; none of them could even cry out. Chaeyoung knew outside was chaos, but per instructions from her mother, she remained inside, too scared to move, too afraid to speak. In a house of six, only two remained. Chaeyoung was one of them. She looked at her younger sibling from across the room, struggling to get free. The little boy of only about 8 years had a big piece of the broken-down cement on his leg. She had to run to her little brother; she had to save him, but the fire served as a barrier between her hands and his. Darkness soon blinded her— the teary eyes of her little brother, the last thing she saw. The building collapsed over him and soon, he was buried under the rubble. 

Chaeyoung opened her eyes with a start, her breathing uneven. She was clenching her fists hard that if she were a normal human being, she might have bled. The door to her room opened and Tzuyu came in, hands in her coat pocket. “Your vitals are skyrocketing. Are you okay?” she asked her.

The girl sat up and nodded. “I’ll be fine.” She took deep breaths to calm herself down, moving her mind away from her nightmare and into reality. She was no longer engulfed in the fire, but she didn’t know if being trapped in a room with nothing was that much better. 

Tzuyu bit her lip, hesitating on what to say at times like these. She sat on a chair across from her with a concerned look on her face. She reached up to her and started patting her head. Chaeyoung looked up, confused. “Sorry. I don’t know how to console people well, so this is what you get,” Tzuyu told her. 

The girl chuckled. “Thanks for trying. Also, thank you for stopping me the other day. I can’t die just yet.”

“Did you dream about it again?” Chaeyoung nodded to her question. Tzuyu gave a look of wonder, fascinated by it. “That’s interesting. You know, when we’re asleep and dream, the brain’s limbic system becomes highly active. But the monitor didn’t show the obvious signs that you were dreaming. It’s interesting...”

“Maybe I wasn’t dreaming it. Maybe I was reliving that day. Over and over again...”

The scientist watched her melancholic face. Anger didn’t consume this girl, someone who’s lost so much and gone through the pain. Buried deep within her must be the desire to get angry, to lash out and demand revenge. But instead what surfaced was an unexpected guilt. Tzuyu found Chaeyoung’s response of emotions just as rare as her abilities. “Did you see him?” she asked her, referring to the dream.

Chaeyoung shook her head. “It’s frustrating how my memory fails me at important times like these.”

“And what will you do when you remember?”

“You already know.” Chaeyoung looked at her, her face filled with seriousness. She spoke as if the next course of action was the most logical thing anyone would think of. That look scared Tzuyu. “I’m going to find him, and I’ll kill him.”

~

The kingdom was always bright. Night never came, and very rarely gloomy clouds ever appeared in the sky. But what made the town brighter was its princess. As the only daughter of their ruler, Mina was a young maiden adored by all.  

On her first birthday, she received mountains of gifts that filled three rooms. On her tenth birthday, the townspeople dedicated a statue to her name. There was no one in the kingdom who hadn’t heard of her name, and who didn’t awe at the sight of her beautiful face. But amidst all the love she got, Mina had always been a curious child. A troublemaker at heart, there were times when spontaneity would get the best of her and she would act against her family’s wishes. But the position she was born in would be engraved in her head, and she would once again step up to be the leader she was raised to be. 

There were so many things Mina wanted to do, so many plans she wanted to try. She would sit still in the gardens and think of the most ridiculous things she could do.

Once she had read a novel by a man named Charles Dickens. His novel, Oliver Twist, occurred in a faraway city called London and follows the journey of an orphan living in poverty. He runs away and succumbs to crime to make ends meet, along with a group of boys trained to pickpocket as a means of “earning” a living. 

Having grown up as a princess, Mina knew nothing about poverty aside from what she read in books. The town flourished enough that people had ample food to feed their families, and their kingdom was particularly well-known for its wealthy farms. Mina became curious about what it’s like to be Oliver Twist. That curiosity bore the first instinct of dressing up to blend through town and observe her people as one of their own. 

Taking the garments of the servants, she had covered her status and strolled into town, all the while keeping her hat low to obscure her face. 

The bustle of the town was like any other bustling towns. Everyone seemed to move with an objective, going from one place to another with purpose, that Mina wondered if she looked odd for only taking a simple stroll. 

The paths had an array of shops lined up— fruit stands, souvenir shops, pottery shops, jewelry stores. And many went from one stand to the next, filling their baskets with the daily necessities of vegetables and fruits. Children ran about in laughter, losing sight of their parents and only finding them to be scolded. So this is what my town looks like, she thought.

She had spotted a mango stand and placed her sights on it. That’s to be my door to Oliver Twist’s world. Biting her bottom lip, the 12 year old girl swiftly moved to its back, following the light footsteps she’d learned from the novel. To be quick and efficient was key. Waiting for the merchant to bring her guard down, she lie in wait like a tiger behind the tall weeds. 

A gentleman went over to buy a basket of mangoes, that was when Mina took her chance to snipe one from the merchant’s pile. And without looking back, she ran for the river bank just in front of the castle.

Her heartbeat had been loud, she couldn’t stop it. Beads of sweat formulated under her arms; the servants’ garment was unexpectedly hot, the mango in her hand felt surprisingly cold. But as she arrived at a safe spot where no one could find her, she had stared blankly at the piece of fruit that should’ve tasted like freedom. And like a fool, the goodness in her got the best of her. She didn’t want the lady to experience of having taken from. 

It had taken her less than 5 minutes, to stroll back to the market with shame. She brought the mango back to the merchant, confessing that she had stolen it and apologized for her impulsiveness. But what had surprised her then, and even now, was how the older lady just smiled at her. 

“What made you take such a course of action only to take it back?” the merchant had asked. 

“Charles Dickens. I wanted to experience the world Charles Dickens created himself. You might not have heard of the novel; it’s quite rare, but my fa- I mean, someone I know had read it and shared the story of Oliver Twist.” Mina kept her head low, afraid that she might recognize the princess. If her father caught wind of what she had just done, for sure it was going to result in more than just a scolding. 

“It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded. I‘m aware of the story quite well.” The lady smiled at her as she quoted the novel, surely pleased to see Mina’s surprised face. The merchant gave her the fruit as a token of the experience and Mina ate it with gusto at the river bank.

That was one experience that she would never forget. Now, having aged 8 years, she never saw that merchant again. Mina often wondered what happened to her. She might have gotten really old and passed away. The wrinkles on her face suggested that she many have been in her 80s. She never even got to ask for her name. 

Mina found herself thinking of that day as she sat in the study and caught sight of the bindings of Oliver Twist. Her mind wandered to the bookshelves at the back, the voice of the scholar passing through her ears. Taehyung sat with her in the small study adjacent to the big library. The king was the only one who used the Great Library, though it was more of an unspoken rule, so Mina would often use the study to read and practice writing. It was her little sanctuary in the castle as not even the king bothered to spend his time there. But now there was a man in her refuge, tainting its memories of solitude. 

Her father had told her what Taehyun already said. And Mina couldn’t say anything back, but simply nodded. He mentioned the convergence of two kingdoms, but skipped over Park Kingdom’s financial status. He never said anything about the marriage either, and Mina was too fearful to confirm. And now Taehyung was in the study with her going over textbooks and recent histories. 

“Are you even listening?” he asked her, hands folded. Mina turned her gaze from Oliver Twist to him. Taehyung tapped on a section of the passage in the book with his finger. “I’m asking if you’re familiar with the concept of metaphysics.”

Mina looked down at the book. It was a study of philosophy in the time of Socrates. “An unexamined life is not worth living,” she said, quoting one of the philosopher’s sayings. “Tell me something, what exactly makes a life worth living?”

Taehyung seemed taken aback by the question. He straightened his posture and put his hands together as he thought about it. “I think the only one who can ascertain that his life is worth living is himself. No one else should be able to say so otherwise. Do you find that the life you’re leading now lacks its worth?”

“I’m not sure. How will I know what’s lacking when I don’t even know what’s there to lack? Do any of your books tell that? I’m about to be sold off to some older man I don’t even know, without my consent at that. Is that something I should myself value for? To save this country’s financial destruction, to be a hero to all the people, and yet I find myself sinking deeper— is that something anybody should be truly happy about?”

The man heaved a deep sigh, leaning back on his seat and folding his arms together. “Listen, I’m only paid to teach you what I know. The story of your life and what its worth is something far beyond my knowledge. Now if you’ll let me, I would like to get back to Socrates and Aristotle.”

“Aish,” Mina rolled her eyes, which seemed to surprise Taehyung.

“Did you just… roll your eyes at me? I heard the princess was someone of grace and good manners...”

“That’s just a facade. How am I supposed to keep myself graceful in a place like this?”

“You ask a lot of unnecessary questions, don’t you?”

Mina leaned on the table and rested her head on her hands. Her eyes seemed to indicate she was seeing something nobody else could, like peeking into the door of her mind. “Do you know anything about the moon?” she asked him.

“The moon?” The man was confused. Any indication of the moon should’ve been buried a long time ago. He was told as a young lad that it was much too dangerous to poke into it when it didn’t even exist in their world in the first place. He scrunched up his nose and gave a clear of his throat. “What of the moon?”

“The moon,” Mina said, “is something of ancient history, so long ago that nobody alive has any recollection of it. But it exists, or used to exist. It’s like somebody feared it and buried it to the end of the world. But I once read somewhere, a book that was overlooked of which Father got rid of after I first read it, that it was just like the sun, only much dimmer and less powerful. But how can something like that cease to exist just like that? I find it odd, is all. The moon didn’t do anything, yet it took the blame. It’s an unfair tale.”

“Humans make decisions with reason. No matter how evil or senseless it may be, an underlying motive comes with it. I’m sure something occurred that led to our world today.”

“What could that something be?”

“Something that doesn’t concern you at the moment.” Taehyung tapped her little forehead and pushed the philosophy book towards her. “Now, recite this line for me.”

Supper was the same as usual. The clock showed exactly 6 p.m. but of course the sky was still bright. The dining room consisted of a long table with exactly eight chairs, three on the long side and one on each end. The king sat on one end and Mina placed herself on his left side. 

An additional set was placed across Mina, but when she expected that it was to be the young scholar’s, her father corrected her assumptions. “The leader of Yang will be joining us,” he told her. 

Mina’s hands tensed around her utensils. She had only ever seen the neighbor king in posters and drawings, but from it all she’s always thought he was a frightening man. He smiles otherwise, but his eyes tell a different story. They were eyes who’ve seen blood and evil, but also eyes who were capable of such things. 

The whole meal went by in a blur, or rather Mina was too numb to see the reality of it. The neighboring king came in and sat across from her and Mina bowed to exchange a greeting. Her father introduced them, spoke great things about his only daughter and the other king smiled and nodded throughout. 

I thank you for saving my kingdom in these times of crisis, Park had said. However, as you mentioned earlier, there cannot be two kings. I’ve pondered on it for quite some time. It saddens me to let go of my position, but the survival of my people is my priority. Therefore, I have reached the conclusion that you shall lead this newly-created kingdom, with me as your Chief Minister. I hope you will not have any objections.

Yang gave a gruff response, quietly tapping his fingers on the table. What of your daughter? It would be a waste to have her serve a mere position. My queen had passed long ago and my kingdom hasn’t seen anyone at my side for years. I would be glad to have her serve that role. For the better of your kingdom and mine. 

Are you proposing that you marry my daughter?

That is what I hope for. You see, I have no children to pass my heir to. This kingdom will die without such hopes for the future. We do not want to build a kingdom without prospects for the future. It’s unheard of!

Why are they speaking as if I’m not here? Mina had thought. She kept quiet, as she found no opportunity to voice her objections. Marry? This guy? Impossible. Please, refuse.

Let me ponder on it for some time. I believe my daughter is not yet ready to take on such a position. She’s young and doesn’t know anything about the world. Let me groom her into a suitable leader before she takes up your offer.

Mina walked out of the castle after supper, with only having eaten a thirds of her meal. But she did not feel hungry. She heard the exchange with her own ears, she was to be married to an old guy and possibly have children with him. The thought sickened her to the stomach that she lost her appetite. She walked out of the castle feeling sorry for herself. Walking and walking, without a destination in mind and nowhere to turn to. Hopelessness must’ve blinded her for the next thing she knew, she came face to face with darkness. She had crossed the bridge of the river and stood at the entrance of the Forest. 

~

The room Chaeyoung was kept in is one that contained nothing but a single bed with a blanket and one pillow and one chair. The dome-like space was nothing but white without a speck of dust or dirt; they felt like walls that cleaned itself overnight. 

Boredom often overtook her and she would spend her time reading it all away and mindlessly staring out through her little window. Chaeyoung had two powers she used quite often to satisfy her restlessness: materializing and see-through. Chaeyoung can materialize objects from her memory for a limited about of time, which she often used to pick out books she’s read as a child. And if she touches the wall, she can see the outside world which surrounds her prison. But materializing takes a great toll on her body, so she rarely used both at once. All she wanted was to read a book with a view, but even that was too much to ask for. 

In her world, day never seemed to exist. The place she was in was in the middle of a forest, dark and gloomy, devoid of life. There wasn’t any point for her to try and see the outside because it was always the same rickety branches and dried leaves. The world she had once saw as the perfect hideout now became an ugly, unwanted prison. 

Time was unnecessary. Chaeyoung didn’t have a single clock nor the sun’s rays to inform her of the time of day. There were only two ways she could inquire about the time: when Tzuyu comes in to check up on her and when a certain bell lightly chimes from somewhere. Tzuyu almost always visited her at 6 p.m.; Chaeyoung used to always ask the time.

She still didn’t know the purpose of that chime; it seemed to come from the outside so she didn’t feel like letting the scientists know. But as she’s counted multiple times, about three hours later, Tzuyu would come in, so Chaeyoung suspected that the chime occurred everyday at 3 p.m.

Bored out of her mind, Chaeyoung counted the seconds again until Tzuyu’s arrival. Her counting was, without a doubt, perfect, not a millisecond off, the rhythms of the seconds seemed to flow naturally off her tongue like the rhythm of a regular heartbeat. 

Tzuyu came in at exactly 10,857 seconds. “You’re almost a minute late,” Chaeyoung told her.

The doctor glanced at the watch on her wrist. “Once again, your futile skills have gotten the best of me. I don’t have to come at exactly 6 o’clock, you know.”

“And yet somehow, you always do.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” Tzuyu asked, but then as if remembering the lack of point in her question, she shook her hand at her. “Forget about it. Anyways, you know the drill.”

Chaeyoung held out her arm towards her in which Tzuyu gently took. Placing a finger on her wrist, Tzuyu listened— the girl’s pulse was still as weak as ever. If she didn’t concentrate hard enough, she wouldn’t have heard it. 

“Hey, wanna bring me the recent Murakami novel next time?” Chaeyoung asked with a smile. 

“You know I’m not allowed to bring you anything.”

“I know, but this isn’t even dangerous! I just want to read my boredom away. How would I inflict chaos with a mere novel? Pleeeease.” It wasn’t her usual style, but Chaeyoung placed both her hands together in prayer gesture and held it out to Tzuyu. She rarely pleaded to her about anything. 

The taller one scratched her head. “I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t guarantee anything. Don’t get your hopes up. I’ll just try.”

The girl pumped her fist in celebration. “I’d hug you but then you’d go off about your stupid policies on skinship and whatnot, so I’m just going to say thank you. In advance. No guarantees, I know, but thank you anyway.” 

Tzuyu watched her, amused, as she skipped towards her bed. No matter what the numbers say, no matter how they portray her, Chaeyoung was indeed a teenage girl at heart. If raised under normal circumstances, Chaeyoung would’ve been a year older than her. But when she was found, the scientists froze her, forcing her into a somewhat hibernation, thus halting her growth. Tzuyu was there when it happened— a 15 year old girl watching someone of her age trapped in a cylinder of wires and gadgets. Tzuyu felt sorry for then, and she felt sorry for her now. 

Tzuyu went home that night and searched up on her computer the latest Haruki Murakami novel. The last she’s probably read would be almost 10 years ago… That means she’s behind three books… “Hmmm…” She scrolled through an online bookstore, placing three books in a cart. “Momo-ya,” she called out. “Is it okay if I bring books for 160 to read?”

Her roommate, Momo, looked up from her clatter of CDs and vinyls on the floor. “Experiment 160? Is that even allowed?”

“Frankly, I don’t think so, but I don’t see how these books could be seen as dangerous. She just wants to read.”

“Why are you even asking when you’re gonna do it anyways,” Momo grinned. 

“How would you know? I’m asking because I don’t know.”

Momo pointed a finger at her, turning her body towards her, still cross-legged. “Let me guess, you already looked up the book she asked for and placed it in the cart. She probably only asked for one because she’s not a greedy person, but you have at least two books in that cart hoping that she would like it. And now, you’re browsing for other modern books that she might like, just to read about what she might’ve missed in those years that she’s locked up.”

Tzuyu looked at her roommate and then at the computer screen. Sure enough, she was in the ‘top best-selling’ list eyeing a recent publication about a college girl moving away from her parents for the first time and having teenage problems blending in at her new school. Tzuyu narrowed her eyes and ignored Momo’s babble, which just made the other one laugh out loud. Momo knew she was right, which was why she laughed and chose not to pry into Tzuyu’s flushed face. 

The doctor purchased the four books— three Murakami novels and one the world seemed to give high praises as of recent— and stretched her body out on the bed. She glanced at Momo who was still seated on the floor trying to arrange her music collection on the shelf. 

“How long are you going to do that for?” Tzuyu asked.

“‘Till I’m satisfied,” Momo answered without looking. 

“Let’s go to sleep.” Momo ignored her, her seriousness was implemented on the CDs alone. “Momo, Momo, Momo, Momo, Momo.” Tzuyu kept on bugging her in a whiny tone that nobody in the lab would’ve expected her to make. If they could see her now, they would drop their jaws and do a double-take.

Momo groaned and rolled her eyes at her. “Fine.” She dropped her current task and slipped between the sheets and next to Tzuyu. Momo hugged her tightly, both in annoyance for interrupting her and an irresistible urge to squeeze her for acting cute.

Tzuyu rested her chin on Momo’s head as she embraced her in return, all the while thinking about work. Momo knew how tough her situation was and she felt sad that she couldn’t do anything about it. 

“How was she today?” Momo asked in a whisper, her face half buried on Tzuyu’s chest. 

“The same as always,” Tzuyu softly said. “I think her pulse has gotten weaker. I’m scared that she won’t last before we even finish. I want to give her the freedom she deserves.”

“But you can’t. You can’t go against your superiors.” They were silent for a moment. Tzuyu’s slow breathing grazed the top of her head and she felt the slow rising and falling of her chest. “Why don’t you stay with her a little longer tomorrow. I can fix dinner myself and watch television or something. Talk to her. You’ve been in charge of her for a few years now and you haven’t had an actual talk.”

Because I don’t want to get more attached than I already am, Tzuyu thought. But she didn’t say it out loud. She didn’t want to admit that she was indeed attached. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of her beloved in her arms, and drifted to sleep. 

Meanwhile, the moment Tzuyu left, Chaeyoung witnessed something amazing, a life-changing occurrence that she for sure knew wasn't supposed to happen. 

In desperation to satisfy her boredom once more, Chaeyoung sat by the wall farthest from the door and placed her hand on it. Concentrating, she longed to see the dead trees once more. For some reason, she craved for its gloominess and darkness. Perhaps, she wanted something she could relate to. 

Chaeyoung used her see-through and made a part of the wall transparent, making it only as large as a television. But what she saw wasn’t the dead leaves she was used to, or the brittle branches and the dark aura. The trees were alive. It was still dark, but it was alive. The leaves grew out from the branches, green and young. A slight shadow emerged from a few of the trees. A shadow! It wasn’t completely pitch black, as if the sun had just set and the moon was starting to rise up. Bits of evidence that the sun had once shone upon this forest were scattered right in front of Chaeyoung. The sight threw her off that she took her hand off the wall and her scenery was blocked. 

“The hell...” Chaeyoung muttered. “Maybe I’m hallucinating.” She shook her head and slowly placed her hand on the wall again. She made the transparency slightly bigger this time, about the size of an average dining table. Sure enough, the sight was still there. It was the same forest, for sure. The position of each tree was the same as always, and their sizes and the shape of their trunks hadn’t changed. Chaeyoung memorized this scene well, engraved it in her head and even went as far as counting the branches on each tree. There was no doubt about it, this was her forest. 

When did the change occur? How long had it been since she last saw the outside? Two days? Three days? She couldn’t remember. But how could she fail to notice such a change. Something this extravagant would surely make her senses tingle. Chaeyoung was awfully good at sensing things, but she remained unaware of the grand change happening behind her. 

Can the scientists see this as well? How come Tzuyu hasn’t said anything? No, she wouldn’t say anything about the outside world. Maybe it happened, and everyone is just as shocked as me and they’re trying to figure out what’s going on. The scientists didn’t know the extent of Chaeyoung’s powers; she didn’t want them to know. Tzuyu was aware of a few of Chaeyoung's powers. One power she tried to always be wary of was being able to hear past one wall with great clarity. But the other scientists were only truly concerned with one, and that was the great destruction of the world, which was something Chaeyoung herself didn’t even understand. 

Of course, as a high-class subject, Chaeyoung was surveillanced 24/7. Someone was always ordered to watch her, every hour and every minute. But Chaeyoung knew when they would be watching. The camera was considered one wall for her. She could sense the people behind it and get a faint sound of their voices. And after years of being surveillanced, Chaeyoung knew they did not pay attention to her 24/7. Granted, Chaeyoung hadn’t caused major problems before and they figured she never would under their watch. Often times, her watchers would be fiddling on their phone, eating, reading magazines, or sleeping. Another great aspect about her powers was that it couldn’t be seen through a digital lens, which means the transparency was still the same wall through a camera. 

Chaeyoung concentrated and tried to see all the changes that occurred outside. The trees, the leaves, the shadow, the light. It looked like a whole other world, something she wasn’t familiar with. And she wasn’t sure if she’s stumbled upon a different world or this forest itself stumbled upon hers. And if she wasn’t already in shock by the changes, a white fluttering of something from behind the trees caught her eye. 

A human, for the first time since its creation, was walking in her forest. 

___________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Sorry if the updates are taking a while >< Since there's actually more to the plot that the usual school-life setting, it takes time to put it all together. Please, bear with me and thank you for reading!