|Recap: After regaining consciousness, Krystal woke up to find herself in an old and mysterious wooden home. She meets Luhan, a stranger who claims himself as a prince from the Abyss land and eventually learns to trust the two of them. Instead of escaping, she decides to stay, using her time there to learn more about the three dimensions.

Through the rain, Kai’s eyes glittered, a too-bright blue. Rain rapidly landed on him, causing his dark strands of hair to dampen and overlap onto his silvery, sparking mask. As water pounded on the concrete, he suddenly appeared behind me. The cold, misty rain continued to pour over us as he whispered into my ears a frightening statement.

“I will find you.”

All in one go; my eyes shot open and I bolted up the creaking bed. Slightly raising my hand, I wiped off the small droplets of sweat dripping down my temples. I could feel that my face was swollen. The thin and sensitive layers of skin under my eyes were heavily bruised from yesterday’s late night tears.

Realizing that it was just a nightmare, I heavily exhaled the air in attempt to calm myself down. It wasn’t real, it was only a nightmare. I knew that, but my permissive mind continued to inject me with eccentric thoughts. Perhaps I was just having difficulty adjusting to my new or so-called, fantasy life.

When I was finally able to grab hold of my breath, I stepped out of the comforting blankets and head out towards the door.

Gently turning the rusty doorknob, I took a peek of what seemed to be an old hallway. It was plain, ordinary, and very human. The wooden walls were the colour of bark on the trees, filled with inconsistent cracks and openings within every few inches.

As I widened the door, a soft fragrance of warm tea flowed into the room, inviting me to follow along. The old, worn out floor creaked to every step I took and before I knew it, I was standing in front of an elegant room, very much like an outdated library filled with dusty books and age-old antiques.

“Tada! Welcome to earth’s one and only antediluvian bibliotheca!” said Luhan, standing proudly with his arms outstretched.

“Antedu-vian...lan what?” I said with my eyebrows raised.

“Ante-dilu-vian bibliotheca,” he repeated.

“Err, how should I put this in human terms? Pretty much like a long-established library I guess.”

I nodded my head, impressed with what was in sight. Everything seemed so ancient. Even the jagged marks and printings carved onto the walls looked thousands of years old.

“So, do you like it? From now on it’s all yours,” said Luhan, breaking my mind free of other thoughts.

“Mine?” I asked in order to reconfirm what he said.

Walking right past me, Luhan stopped at an odd looking shelf. He easily reached up to a small corner, specifically grabbing onto a thick, maroon coloured book pilled in dust. Using his bare hands, he carefully tapped the book, getting rid of all the dust clasping onto its outer cover.

“That’s right. Since you’ll be staying with us for quite some time, you can use this opportunity to learn more about the three dimensions. Everything that you would need to know is here, published into these sacred novels,” he said, eyes still focused on the book sitting on the palms of his hands.

He skillfully flicked through the book as I stared around the room in amazement. These were no ordinary books, they are sacred, specially published with facts and knowledge concerning the three cross dimensions. Everything which I wanted and needed to know was hidden in these profoundly resourceful novels. I in particular am not too fond of reading, but knowing that this is such a rare opportunity, triggered my curiosity.

“There’s still alot for you to learn. The universe is far much more complex then what you perceive it to be. If you want to know more, then start from here,” he said, tightly closing the novel before throwing it to my grasp.

It was heavy, far much heavier than what I’ve expected. The huge novel fell straight onto my arms, bruising my thin wrists and aching my shoulders.

I was taken aback. Now that the book was in close view, thoughts about reading it immediately vanished. Of course I wanted to know more about the dimensions, but I wanted to know it without having to spend an enormous amount of effort. I know that I was being unreasonable, but this was how things used to be.

Back home, things would always go my way. There was no need for me to read, my oppas would take turns telling me stories throughout the late winter nights. There was no need for me to cook, D.O oppa was always the master in the kitchen. Basically, I’ve relied on them too much and so much that now even doing the simplest of things was difficult.

“What’s with that look? Is this all too much for you?” Luhan smiled, looking right through me.

“No! Of course not! This is nothing compared to what I usually read at home,” I stubbornly denied.

He lightly shook his head and gave out a wide grin, making me feel uneasy.

“It’s written all over your face. Don’t try to deny it,” he stated with confidence.

I carefully looked away in shame, making sure that he won’t get a grip on how I was feeling.

“There’s nothing to worry about. That’s why we’re here to help you,” he clarified.

Heavy footsteps started to approach from behind. I immediately turned around to find Kai walking in. I wasn’t able to clearly see his expression as the silver mask completely concealed his face. But from his eyes, I sensed that a dull expression was overshadowing him.

Walking over and standing beside Kai, Luhan looked at me as he spoke, “Now, let’s begin the lesson shall we?”

He nudged his head to the side, signaling me to go and sit on the wooden desk. Kai silently stood there with his eyes fixed onto the ground, ignoring everything that was going on around him, even me, who was secretly taking a slight glimpse of him.

The floor gave out a loud screech as I pulled the seat from behind, dragging it over the rough wooden surface. I hesitated as I obediently settled myself down on the chair, placing the enormous book onto the table with much difficulty.

I continued to steal glances of Kai as Luhan began rummaging through his pockets, searching for something. It was strange. Kai didn’t look up even though it was fairly obvious that I was spying on him. I saw his eyes twitch and immediately sensed that he was smirking behind the mask, just like how he did under that lifeless tree.

Swiftly turning my head away, I looked elsewhere. I had completely forgotten what he told me yesterday. Even though he wasn’t looking, he was still aware of everything.

“Here,” Kai said out of the blue, throwing a metal pendant taken out of his pocket to Luhan.

“Thanks. I’ll give it back to you later,” Luhan replied in a grateful manner.

He clicked and twisted a small knob before releasing the pendant from his palms, only grabbing onto the very tip of the long chain with his fingers. It was a pocket watch, attached to a long, silver chain.

“30 minutes is what you’ll get. Finish this novel with the time given and once I return, I’ll expect that you would have all the basic knowledge about the Abyss and Sky dimension. All should be fully and detailedly memorized, in here,” he said, tapping on the right side of his head with his finger.

My eyes and lips automatically widened in disbelief. This was not what I expected. At the very least, not after all his claims that he’d help and support me.

Without looking back he casually walked out the door, leaving me and Kai in the room...alone. I looked down at the book. In dark, thick letters it read, ‘Utopia’ and right under in italic words it spelt, ‘The book of secrets.’

It seems that I was wrong. Luhan didn’t only possess a soft and tender disposition; he also had a strict and tough side to him. Now I finally understand what George Eliot meant by the quote ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’

Immediately, I began to regret my foolish decision, as well as my promise to stay here. I heavily dropped my head onto the table, no longer having the mindset to start worrying about pain.

“This is not happening. Bad things never ever happen to Krystal Jung!” I whined, trying my best to hypnotize myself into believing that everything was an illusion.

I twisted and turned violently on the chair with my head still glued stiff onto the table. As I finally sat up and brought myself back to reality, I caught Kai in the corner of my eyes, which reminded me of his presence.

The room which was filled with my whimpers and moans suddenly went dead silent. I felt so embarrassed at the thought of him hearing all my immature complaints. It made me want to squeeze and hide myself away in a hole.

I awkwardly cleared my throat and resumed to reading. The sound of crumbling paper echoed in the room as I carefully turned the cover of the book.

“You don’t have to be nervous,” Kai suddenly spoke.

His voice was so bluntly deep, it stopped the silent room from echoing. Or perhaps it was just me who blocked out the surrounding sounds, only listening to the words which left his lips.

“Everything will be fine as long as you do what you were told. Leave everything else to us,” he said, with his eyes still looking elsewhere.

“O-Oh,” I instinctively replied.

The soundless room made me feel uneasy. In order to tackle the awkward atmosphere, I continued to flip through the pages, only reading bits and pieces of what was written.

He didn’t feel like a brother to me; more like a stranger, or maybe worse than that. Being near him was just way off my comfort zone. Skeptical, I know.

As I was skipping through the pages, immersed in my own little world, he sat down with his back leaning against the wall. Straightening his left leg, he folded and placed his right arm onto the other.

A bright light suddenly reflected into my face. I tightly squinted my eyes before looking up, searching for where the source was coming from.

It was Kai. Slowly with his hands, he released the silver mask from the frame of his face. Underneath the disguise revealed a nostalgic being. His skin was pure white and lips were tainted a dry, soft pink. He had a deep scar, running right across the cheekbone to the corner of his eyes.

That was the thing hidden under the mask; a physical scar which marked the existence of his emotionally wounded soul. This one thing told me so much. It was a small clue to who he really was, envisioning me with all the fights and struggles he went through, all done in the name of one thing...love.

With a timid expression he spoke, eyes still focused on the ground.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

I immediately shifted my attention to the book.

“Huh? What do you mean, afraid of what?” I asked in a blundering manner.

“Humans, they find these kinds of things disturbing.”

If there was one word to describe the tone I felt in his voice, then it would be sorrow. However that contrasted to the expression he had on his face. He was smiling. For the first time he showed me a genuine smile, filled with truth, yet pain all at the same time.

Maybe we weren’t that different after all. Maybe the immortals from the Sky and Abyss dimensions aren’t as fearful and powerful, like what fairytales depict them to be. And maybe, just maybe, they also have a humane heart, and could also feel what all humans fear most...pain.

I didn’t know what type of trauma he’s been through, and knew that everything couldn’t be healed just by my words. Yet strangely, I felt the urge to say something, something that I would have never said in the past, something that just wasn’t me.

“No...it’s not.”

His eyes which were wandering on the wooden ground froze. He heard it.

“Only the weak and ordinary humans would find it disturbing. But I’m no longer considered as ordinary, remember?”

It was a strange feeling. I’ve never said anything quite like this before. Normally I would be the weakling who needed to be coaxed. Never once was I the one who comforted someone else.

There was no reply. 

I tilted my head up, taking a glance in front of the room, but he vanished. Stunned, I abruptly stood up and looked around the empty room, only realizing that there was a small handwritten message in front on the wall.

‘Faith.’

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached the tightly closed door. I know who it was. Luhan is back to check on me. I panicked, regretting that I didn’t spend my time wisely in memorizing the novel. Grabbing the seat of the chair, I quickly sat back down and skimmed through the pages of the book. It was no use; my eyes saw nothing else except lines of blurred out words.

The doorknob turned, causing the door to slightly creak. There was no time to think. I closed the back of the book and looked up with a pitiful expression, hoping that he was lenient enough to let me off.

“God please help me,” I quietly mumbled to myself in an insincere manner.

I didn't even know which god I was praying to. I had no religion.

The door opened, and Luhan took a peak in before officially making his entrance.

“Wow! That was quick! I gave you 30 minutes but you’ve managed to finish it in only 15 minutes. Indeed, you are an excellent reader. My apologies for not believing you from earlier,” he said excitedly.

“Wait, so do I still have another 15 minutes?” I asked in anticipation.

“Yeah you do. But, haven’t you finished it already? Kai told me you did.”

Opening my jaws in bewilderment, I nodded, deciding to just go along with the flow.

“Err, yeah. I guess I did,” I awkwardly replied.

What does this mean? Was Kai trying to help me or did he intend to get me into trouble? Whatever it was, I couldn’t care less. Now that I went along with it, there’s nothing else that could be done.

“Ready for the question?” Luhan asked with his eyebrows raised.

“O-okay,” I stuttered in regret.

At that moment, I just prayed that whatever question he was going to throw at me would be a fairly obvious one. That way, I’ll be able to say random things on top of my head without getting caught. After all, D.O and Sehun oppa already gave me an insight about the Sky and Abyss Dimension.

For a few heart pounding minutes, he looked up at the dusty ceiling with his arms crossed. It didn’t take long before he finally looked down at me, and gave out a grin with high expectations.

“What was the very last word written in the novel?” he asked.

It was absurd. Out of that whole thick novel with billions of facts and quotes regarding the Sky and Abyss dimension, he chose to ask me about the very last word.

I stayed silent for a few minutes before spurting out, “What?” in order to buy myself some more time.

“On the bottom of the very last page, what did it say there?” he reworded the question.

“If you’ve read the whole novel, then this should be fairly easy to remember. Or perhaps, you didn’t read it at all?” he asked in a suspicious manner.

I bit my lips, trying to recall the words written on the last page, but didn’t remember anything except for a few blurry lines. Out of the blue, my mind shot back to what Kai wrote on the wall before disappearing.

“Well, everyone should get a punishment for lying, and you’re no exception. Krystal, go out the field and do 50 laps before—”

“Faith!” I finally managed to spurt out.

He stood silent. Looking at him in the eye, I repeated myself. This time, with confidence. 

“The last word on the very last page...was faith.”

He looked at me, seemingly pleased with my answer.

“I knew that you wouldn’t let me down,” he said innocently.

Heading out towards the door, he abruptly stopped in the midst of his steps, turned around and told me, “Lesson’s over. See you during lunch break.”

With that said, he carefully closed the door, leaving me in the empty room, again. I leaned back on the chair, resting my sore back and shoulders onto the hard, wooden surface, whilst allowing my arms to freely hang off the sides of the seat.

This incident has allowed me to see Kai under a new light. In fact, I believed the whole experience made me grow. I never once pleaded him to help me. He did it voluntarily. Kai is a person who I labelled as my brother. However, now I realize he isn’t. He is merely a stranger, one who coincidentally took part in my rescue 17 years ago. My true brothers are the ones who I grew up with. The ones who fed me, raised me, and gave me a home. Now that this was clear, I wanted to face him as a new person. Not as a brother, nor as the girl who he saved 17 years ago, but as a friend.

I tensed my arms, pulling them up for a finale stretch before releasing them with a loud and awful moan. It was only the first day and yet Luhan was already expecting so much from me. However, the first lesson wasn’t unbearable. Maybe, this wasn’t such a bad idea after all... 

Authors' Note: Sorry for the longggggg update! Anyways there was more to this chapter but I kind of cut it out sonce it was 4,000 words long. Omg...It will be continued in the next chapter instead. Thanks! MUAH MUAH MUAH!!