A Hazy Awakening

“Ah Chen…”

A hazy call reached Bai Qiao. Instinctively, she reached out in that direction, but her hand was empty, her palm devoid of anything. She yearned to grasp the elusive image, yet before her eyes lay only a vast, shimmering expanse of white, like an impenetrable mist.

Bai Qiao rubbed her eyes, attempting to bring the scene into focus. Towering buildings, clearly an aristocratic estate, and a sprawling sports field confirmed it was a school.

She stared blankly at the high school where she had spent three years, a place she was supposed to be leaving soon for her college entrance exams.

‘Wait, what exactly happened? Why are my memories so muddled?’

‘Yes, I should be heading to school. What am I doing just standing here?’

Bai Qiao walked towards the classroom in a daze. The atmosphere was eerily quiet, though she paid it little mind. The rooms were all locked, unyielding to her attempts. An inexplicable, unsettling sensation crept over her.

No longer lingering at the school, Bai Qiao turned, intending to go home. It was a luxurious residential area, every surrounding building a grand villa.

From a distance, she spotted her mother standing on the balcony. Bai Qiao felt an odd sense of familiarity, as if they hadn’t met in an age. She didn’t even register why her mother was standing there so strangely.

She quickened her pace, eager to return, when suddenly the ground beneath her trembled violently. The floor began to crack, massive fissures tearing through it.

Black holes and swirling whirlpools—these terrifying images brought back vivid memories of that fateful day. She glanced down at her own body: the prominent swell of her chest, her slender frame, her fair skin. These were undeniably the hallmarks of a girl.

The black abyss rapidly swallowed everything. All around her was pure, suffocating darkness, save for a single, colossal white opening at the very center.

She stretched out her hand, striving with all her might to touch that lone beacon of light. The moment her index finger made contact, a surge akin to an electric current coursed through her entire body, instantly paralyzing her.

It wasn’t a true electric current, but rather an overwhelming force that spread throughout her being. Her mind became a chaotic blur of indistinct images.

Through the haze, Bai Chen’s face appeared. ‘How she longed… how she longed to return to her own body!’ Her consciousness ceaselessly yearned to reunite with her male form.

‘She could read his thoughts… she wanted to read his thoughts!’ Yet, there was no response. He simply turned and walked away.

‘This resolute departure, was he truly hiding something from her?’

“Ugh…”

She jolted upright from the bed, cold sweat already drenching the sheets beneath her. ‘Was this… the kind of silent departure one made only when something had happened that they didn’t want others to know?’

She hastily threw back the covers, intending to get up, but her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor.

A maid, carrying a basin of water, entered the room. Seeing Bai Qiao, she gasped in alarm, rushing over to help her up.

Bai Qiao rubbed her numb legs, a hint of confusion in her voice as she asked: “How long… have I been asleep?”

“F-four days…” the maid stammered.

“What?!” Bai Qiao exclaimed, utterly astonished. Four days? Then… “What about Bai Chen? Is something wrong with him?!”

“Uh… n-nothing…”

‘It’s not that simple,’ Bai Qiao thought. ‘Bai Chen and I are one person. I know him completely, so naturally, I can faintly sense that his situation isn’t good, even if I can’t feel anything now.’

Pushing the door open, Bai Qiao was eager to leave. Instead of the cold blast she anticipated, she found herself enveloped in a warm embrace. The maid glanced at the newcomer, then quietly retreated without a sound.

“You—Mmph!”

She had just looked up and seen the person’s face. Before she could utter a word, before she could even think to push him away, her lips were already forcefully claimed.

Her lips, untouched for so long, were suddenly covered by another soft pair. A strange, unfamiliar sensation bloomed within her.

Her tightly clenched teeth were pried open in her moment of stunned surprise, and a warm, foreign object aggressively entered her mouth, sweeping through with fierce intensity.

She let out a pained whimper. Bai Qiao suddenly realized that Bai Chen… was now a married man.

She instinctively pushed Bai Chen away. He swayed a few times, his face growing even paler.

Bai Qiao, once again, instinctively pulled him back. Such a haggard appearance hadn’t been present even when they had just escaped. Had something truly happened during this time?

While she was still dazed, he pulled her into an embrace. Bai Chen spoke with a touch of intimacy into Bai Qiao’s ear: “So you… still care about me…”

“W-what?!” Her face flushed crimson. She forcefully pushed Bai Chen away. ‘Care? It’s all fake! Fake!’

****

“Ah Chen… what exactly is this place? Why are you here?” In a vast room, a girl with long purple hair sat half-upright on a wide bed.

Mandara-like purple sheets and bed curtains surrounded her, creating an indescribable sense of mystery.

‘She had liked Bai Chen for a very long time, truly a very long time. Liked him enough to want to chop off his limbs, just to keep him by her side forever.’

‘Ah, it would be best to gouge out his eyes, so he couldn’t see any other girls.’

‘To think that ever since falling into this inexplicable otherworld with Bai Chen, she hadn’t seen him in so long.’ Her delicate hands tightly gripped the expensive sheets.

‘I will find you, absolutely. I won’t give up. I want you by my side forever, no matter what means it takes.’