I slowly opened my eyes and woke up in an unfamiliar place.
I looked around. The place was very quiet, and everything was white. No one was around. I glanced at the door, the window, and everything in sight.
Everything around me looked as modern as the things in my world.
I placed a hand on my chest, but I couldn't feel any pain. I touched my clothes—they were different from what I had been wearing in the palace. Then, I noticed something on my right hand. An IV (intravenous infusion)!
I sat up in bed. What is happening? I was utterly confused.
Just then, the door opened, and I saw Von walking in.
I gasped, my eyes widening. "Von!" I shouted.
"Are you okay? You're looking at me as if you've seen a ghost." Von came closer, brushing my hair gently.
"Why am I here?" I asked, though it wasn't exactly what I meant. What I really wanted to ask was—why am I back in this world? In my world?
"You collapsed in your apartment," Von said.
"Huh?"
She sat beside me and hugged me. "You scared me. You haven't gone to work for three days."
"Three days?" I echoed in shock.
She looked at me and nodded. "You were gone for three days, and you've been confined for two days."
How? What is happening? I couldn't understand any of this.
"Anyway, I took a leave from work so I could take care of you."
"No, no. This isn't happening."
"What do you mean? The doctor said you collapsed from overfatigue. I told you not to spend too much time reading books."
Books?
I looked at her, panic rushing through me.
"Where is the book?"
"Huh?"
"Where is it?"
"Even now, you still want to read?" Von sighed. "I told you, I'm not against it, but you should rest. Let your eyes recover first."
I shook my head. "I need to go." I reached for the IV, trying to remove it, but Von grabbed my hands.
"Hey! You're making me nervous!"
"Where is the book?" I asked, my voice trembling as if I were about to cry.
"I... I actually threw it away."
"What?!" My voice came out louder than I expected.
"You're hurting my eardrums!"
"Why did you do that?" Tears started streaming down my face.
"Hey... Calm down. I threw it away because it made me mad. I was so worried about you."
I buried my face in my hands, sobbing.
"Hey… didn't you miss me?" Von asked softly.
That made me pause. This is what I wanted, right? To return to my real world?
But why didn't I feel happy? Why did I feel like I missed the characters in the book so much? I was so worried about the King… and Min Yun. What if the palace finds out that I'm gone?
"What are you thinking? Are you hungry?" Von asked.
I looked at her. She said I had been missing for three days and confined for two. But I had already spent months inside the book. That means time here moves differently from the book?
"I want to go out." I needed to find that book and return. My mission wasn't over—not until I caught the culprit.
"Ji Han..." I murmured.
"Ji Han?" Von repeated, looking at me curiously.
I stared at her intently.
"Please, let's go home. I need to do something."
"But the doctor won't allow it."
"Try to persuade them. I have to go."
"But you're not okay."
"It doesn't matter. I need to find the book you threw away."
"Please, Teresita. Listen to me."
"Von, you listen to me. I need to go back."
"Back where?"
I froze. Right... She doesn't know. She has no idea.
"Just please help me get out," I pleaded, my voice hoarse. I felt exhausted. Useless.
What would happen to Min Yun and the King? And Ji Han—why was he in Shibuya Town? I needed answers.
Von hesitated, then sighed. "Fine. I'll talk to the doctor."
She left the room. I was alone. Alone with my thoughts.
I sobbed, my chest tightening as the fortune teller's words echoed in my mind.
"How can I go back home?"
"When you don't want to go back home."
Tears streamed down my face. It wasn't that I didn't want to be in my real world… but I was so close to catching the culprit. I had left the King without warning. This was the one thing I never wanted to happen.
"How can I go back to the other world?"
I had to finish what I started. I had to help the King and Min Yun. I couldn't just leave them like this. Even if they were only fictional characters, they needed me.
A few minutes later, Von returned.
"The doctor agreed. Let me just settle your bill, and we can go home."
I nodded and lay back on the bed. But I still couldn't stop crying.
After Von settled my bill, we left for my apartment.
As we drove, she wouldn't stop talking and asking questions.
"I still don't understand why you were so desperate to leave the hospital. You know it's for your own good."
"Where did you throw the book?" I asked.
"Why does that book matter so much to you?"
"Because it's important to me!" I snapped, my voice rising.
Von slammed on the brakes. The car jerked to a stop.
She turned to me, her eyes glistening.
"You're scaring me. You're not the Teresita I know. You seem like... a different person."
Her voice shook, and I realized—she was teary-eyed.
I was caught off guard by my own reaction. What did I just do?
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.
"I'm sorry," I murmured. "That book is important to me."
"More important than our friendship?"
I sighed and turned to look out the window.
"You know how much I value you, Teresita. You're like family to me."
"I know." I closed my eyes, my head throbbing.
"Then can you please value me more than that book?"
I opened my eyes and met her gaze. "You are important to me, Von, but the book you threw away... it's valuable to me."
"More important than me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
I sighed again. "You are more important," I admitted in a defeated tone.
Von's expression shifted from sadness to relief. A small smile crept onto her lips.
"What do you want for dinner?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Anything."
"Do we have a viand called 'anything'?" she joked.
I exhaled sharply. "Burger and fries."
"Not healthy."
"Just get whatever you want, then."
"I just want you to eat healthy and sleep more."
We arrived at my apartment building. Von parked the car, and we took the elevator to the fifth floor.
Von unlocked the door with her spare key.
Stepping inside, I looked around. It's been months since I last saw this place. My bed, my books, my world—I missed all of it.
But… why wasn't I happy?
Why did I feel so empty?
"I'll go out and buy food," Von said. "Just rest for now."
"Wait." I hesitated. "Can you tell me where you threw the book?"
"What for?"
"I just need to know."
She sighed. "Outside the apartment. The usual place where you throw your garbage."
I nodded, pretending it didn't bother me.
Von wouldn't understand. She would never understand what I had been through.
As soon as I was sure she had left, I rushed downstairs.
I walked toward the garbage bin, my heartbeat echoing in my ears.
Then, without hesitation, I started searching through the trash.
The smell was unbearable, but I didn't care. The dirt, the filth—none of it mattered.
"What is she doing?" People around me started whispering.
I ignored them.
I climbed further into the pile, my hands digging through discarded bags and waste.
"Ouch!"
A sharp sting shot through my hand. I looked down—shards of broken glass. Blood dripped from the fresh wound.
"Hey! Stop what you're doing!" an old woman scolded me.
"What are you looking for?" another person, around my age, asked.
"A book," I muttered, still searching.
"A book?"
"Just stop this already," the young woman insisted. "Look at your hand. You're bleeding."
I glanced at my palm. Blood smeared across my fingers, but I barely felt the pain. I can't stop now.
I clenched my jaw and kept digging.
"You're stubborn," the old lady muttered before walking away.
Minutes passed
.
Still nothing.
I slumped back, breathing heavily. Where is it?
Then, a familiar voice called out.
"Teresita?"
I turned toward the voice.
It was Von.
Her eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in fury as she took in my bloodied hand.
"What have you done?" she demanded, her voice shaking.
I didn't answer.
"Are you trying to hurt yourself over that book?"
I clenched my fists. "I told you—it's not just a book."
Von exhaled sharply, frustration evident in every breath. "So what? Now you're saying that book is more important than me? I thought you made it clear earlier that our friendship mattered more."
"Stop comparing yourself to the book," I snapped. "You are both different."
"Yeah, I am different," she shot back.
"Because all I do is care about you. Did that book ever care about you? No. It just made you sick."
"You don't know everything."
Von shook her head. "You're right. I don't know everything. But do you even realize the effort I put into this friendship?"
I swallowed hard, my vision blurring.
Tears spilled down my cheeks. "Just leave me alone."
Von's lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something else. But instead, I saw her own tears fall.
"You're impossible," she whispered. "It feels like I'm talking to someone I don't even know."
Then she turned and walked away.
I stood there, watching her leave.
I had hurt Von—the only person who truly understood me.
So why couldn't I tell her what I was going through?
People stared at me, murmuring among themselves. But I barely noticed.
And then—
The sky broke open.
Rain poured down in heavy sheets, soaking my clothes, drenching my hair.
I gasped, feeling the cold seep into my bones.
I cried harder, louder.
Maybe the rain had come to hide my tears.
The water mixed with the blood on my hands, swirling into crimson streaks that ran down my arms.
But I didn't care.
I didn't care about the pain.
I didn't care about myself.
All I wanted was the book.
The one thing I was still searching for.