“I woke up to find the truth that my wish had been fulfilled.”
A choking sensation consumed my entire body, generating a tremendous force that stirred me awake amidst confusion and a heavy head. I struggled to open my eyes against the light hitting my body, which lay somewhere on this earth. My throat was parched and painfully sore. The first thing I saw was a ceiling full of dirty cobwebs. I took a huge, gasping breath. All my memories began flooding back as I regained my composure, as if my slumber had been incredibly long.
I thought I’d never wake up again....
My heavy body made it extremely difficult to sit up straight now, but I had no choice. I looked around the place I was in once more. It was an old room that looked like it hadn't been occupied for a very long time. Things were scattered about, but the clearest thing in my sight right now was the mirror placed near where I had awakened.
I frowned, and the pain intensified, forcing me to raise my hand and hit my head hard. I didn't know where I was, and what I knew even less was which world this was.
I supported myself and walked around before finding the single notebook I had brought with me dropped in a corner of the room. I staggered, intending to explore this room a bit more, but the room door opened, revealing a newcomer who stood there gaping.
"Who... Who are you!" she asked from there, too afraid to come closer. "How did you get in here?"
I didn't know how to explain. I closed my eyes tightly as the stabbing pain in my temples intensified again. My weary demeanor made the other party bravely, yet fearfully, hurry over to me.
"Are you okay?"
"I... I have a headache," I could only manage to reply. And that auntie was too kind to let me faint and collapse right there. She supported my body out of the room, even though she still seemed somewhat afraid of me.
I turned to look at the building I had just walked out of after slumping onto a nearby bench. I started feeling a bit better because of the soft breeze hitting my face. Until the person who had run to the convenience store came back with a large bag, I had to divert my attention from everything else.
Even though I'd only seen her a few times through that mirror, I remembered well.
She was the auntie, the owner of Aksorn's dorm....
"Drink some water first." Slender hands handed me a water bottle after opening the cap. I took it with a thankful smile. I was now sure that my interdimensional travel had succeeded. It's just that, comparing the age of the auntie I saw in the mirror to now, the time of the two worlds might be significantly out of sync.
I accepted the bread she insistently gave me to eat so I could take medicine later. That alone made me grateful beyond words. We talked until I learned that she had just bought that old building a few months ago. But today, while inspecting the place, she heard footsteps coming from the room I was in and came to check.
And yes, we met.
"I thought you were a ghost, I was scared to death."
She's been quite the chatterbox since forever, huh? I remember Aksorn saying the dorm-owner auntie was the warmest.
"But how did you get in there? Were you beaten up and passed out?"
"Yes, Khrap," I nodded along, because I hadn't thought of what to say yet.
Seeing this, the auntie nodded before sighing wearily. "Kids these days, always using violence to solve problems. But are you hurt badly? Should I take you to the hospital?"
"What? Khrap?" "It's nothing, Khrap. This is already too much trouble." I replied, feeling much better than before, and took the chance to ask what was on my mind. "Auntie, what are you planning to do with that building?"
"I want to make a small dorm of my own. Even though this place is very old, if repaired properly, it should be usable. I have this image of my future self when I'm old: I want to be a dorm owner who gets to meet lots of people, talk with others, water plants, and play with stray cats."
I couldn't help but smile at what I heard. It was these simple expectations that created that dorm owner auntie.
"Does it sound delusional? Working and saving money until almost forty just to water plants and play with cats." She laughed at herself before turning to look at the mysterious young man who spoke softly.
"I believe you will be happy, Auntie."
It was as if a film of tears glistened in the middle-aged woman's eyes from joy...
"You speak so well." But in the end, she laughed to cover her embarrassment. I looked down at the notebook in my hand that I refused to let go of. The fact that I was now living in the same world as Aksorn made me smile.
"It might be strange, but may I ask one thing of you, Auntie?"
"Try asking first."
I looked up and met her gaze determinedly. There was no hint of joking.
"That mirror, the one in the room where you found me earlier. Please let it remain there."
The listener raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding what she heard. But strangely, she finally smiled and nodded.
"Okay."
***
I couldn't believe that the starting point of our meeting happened because of me...
“And then I met the best friends of my life.
I wasn't sure about the workings of the out-of-sync time between the two worlds. But from estimating based on the dorm owner auntie's age, Aksorn might not even be born yet. Because of that, I had to find a way to survive.
It was surreal, but at the same time, it felt like I was starting a new life.
I met people from an orphanage who took me in to live with dozens of other kids there. All the staff took good care of me and would find funds for me to continue to university if I wanted.
So I just kept to myself reading. One downside of coming here at 17 was that I wasn't close to the friends who grew up together here. But since I'd have to leave for further studies in just a year, building relationships with others wasn't something I was very interested in.
Until one day, I remember it was summer, a girl who was a similar age came to talk to me while I was reading under a tree in front of the orphanage.
Her name was “Likhit”.
Likhit was the first person to often initiate conversations with me. Seeing that I liked reading, she often invited me to the community library a block away, with her close friend named “Phallop” tagging along.
"Hey... Songjam, can you tell us who you really are?" Likhit asked one afternoon when the three of us were reading together at the library.
Phallop heard this and put down his book before looking up at his friend too. "But if you don't want to talk about it, it's fine."
I continued summarizing content into my notebook with a faint smile decorating my face, as if something had been lifted from my heart.
The loneliness I once had.
"Have you guys heard of parallel worlds?"
Even though we hadn't known each other long, I felt that I could trust these two friends.
"What do you mean?" Phallop was the first to ask. Seeing this, I put down my pencil and made eye contact with both friends who were looking at me puzzled.
"I'm from there. That other world."
It was the first time I told someone else about what happened, and I didn't expect either of them to believe me.
"...It started from me meeting someone through a mirror in my room. He lives somewhere just like me. Only the two of us know that parallel worlds truly exist." I glanced at my friends' faces periodically. But both of them listened thoughtfully. Even if they didn't fully believe, they were willing to listen.
That alone put me at ease.
"...He and I met every day, like we were living together. But we only existed in each other's mirrors. I started getting attached to him, until I..."
"You love him." Likhit guessed, and was completely right when I nodded with a shy smile.
"Yeah. I love him. So I tried to find a way to exist in his world, until I found a way to cross the dimension of time to come here to find him, see?"
"Sounds like you've been reading too many novels," said Phallop, half-believing, half-not. Which I didn't feel sad about him saying.
Because if it were me, I probably wouldn't believe it either.
"Likhit, if you really become a writer, don't forget to write this story."
Phallop's half-joking, half-serious remark made me freeze for a moment.
I wasn't entirely sure, but there was a possibility it could be true. Since even the mirror that allowed us to meet existed because of me.
Therefore, it was also possible that that novel was written by this friend.
"You've gone quiet, Phallop. So what happened next, Songjam? After that, did you just stay in this world?" Likhit's clear voice snapped me out of my trance.
I nodded, hiding my previous speculation in my heart.
"Yes. I can't believe it myself either."
"Have you found him yet?"
I shook my head at the girl's question, my expression clearly sorrowful. "It seems like the time dimension of this world and the one I came from are out of sync. Right now, he might not even be born yet."
"That's so sad." Likhit lowered her head slightly, but Phallop, sitting next to her, knocked on her head like that, making her almost not have time to scold him. "That hurts!"
"I don't like it when you make that face."
I laughed out loud seeing my friends arguing again. Both Likhit and Phallop acted normally. Even if I didn't know if they believed me, as long as they didn't see me as a freak, it was enough.
"You guys don't have to believe me. I'm okay with it."
"Even if it's a bit strange—actually, more than a bit—there's no reason for you to lie to us." It was Phallop who said that sentence. The more I looked at Likhit's smile, the less I could hide the feelings overflowing in me now.
"Thank you. Thank you, really."
"What's this, are you crying?" the girl teased me. With tears welling up in my eyes, I quickly shook my head before pretending to bend down and continue reading.
"Not at all."
"Stop joking, we saw you crying! Ouch! Did you knock my head again, Phallop!!"
"He said he's not crying, so he's not. Why do you have to tease our friend?"
"But you shouldn't hit me!"
"Don't be so loud. We'll get kicked out of the library."
I looked up at my two friends who were fighting again. I laughed softly before realizing that that afternoon was another one of the happiest days of my life.
I felt grateful to this world again for letting me meet such good people.
“I prayed to God every night,
'Please, send him into my life.'"
The night was quiet. After helping the staff put the younger kids to bed, I went out for a walk in the small garden in front of the building. The full moon hanging in the sky made me remember the place I had left.
How many more full moons would I have to wait before I could finally meet Aksorn...
"So here you are." The owner of the sweet smile came to stand beside me, also looking up at the sky, even though I turned my gaze to look at her instead.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?"
"Probably the same reason as you," Likhit said, turning to smile at me. And in that second, I felt a strange sense of familiarity.
This smile.
These eyes.
They were so similar...
"Phallop and I came up with a new name for you."
"Hmm?" I made a questioning sound in my throat. I'd often heard both of them say that the name Songjam was really strange, and I wouldn't object if my friends found a new name for me. Likhit made eye contact with my tall, determined frame with a bright smile, like a child who had found something fun. I might have found it fun too, if not for what she said next.
"From now on, we'll call you 'Khiao'."
My eyes widened.
"...Cool, right? Phallop and I really like this name."
I pressed my lips together tightly. Something constricted inside my body, too tight to make any sound in response to Likhit other than standing still. So this was it... I finally understood why that man was so involved in Aksorn's life.
"Why are you quiet? Don't you like it?"
"N...No. I like it. I like it very much," I replied with a smile. I looked up at the moon again as Likhit spoke beside me.
"Khiao means memory too, you know. This name suits you best."
"Yeah, that's right. Thank you so much." I smiled wider than before. Now that I finally knew, I was sure I would find Aksorn.
It's just that all this time, was I jealous of myself?...
“Nice to meet you again."
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