Chapter 2

8 years Later

(Y/N's POV)

Little did I know that the promise you made me do that day, it didn't matter in the end. I wasn't the one who abandoned you, you were the one who abandoned me. Weeks later you just disappeared, I went to your house to investigate. After ringing the doorbell, I was met with an unrecognizable couple who informed me that the family that once lived here had moved away. Texts and calls I had sent went unanswered leaving me staring at my phone.

Why... why did you just leave me? Did everything that we went through mean nothing to you?

Years went by like a blur.

High School

Military service

College

All of them went by in a blink of an eye and none of them had I received a text back from you.

Over the years, I developed a new hobby. Drawing was a fantastic way to get my mind off things. The way my pencil effortlessly glided across the page, filling in the gaps to create a detailed work of art. The way I am able to transport myself and others into a whole new world, simply just with a couple of sketches.

That is how I find myself in the present, sitting idly in the subway. My arms wrapped closely around my backpack that contains my sketchbook along with my laptop. A small squirrel charm dangling from one of the zippers. My head nodding in and out of sleep due to the early morning fatigue. Large black headphones covering my ears, allowing me to find solitude in my own world.

After a bit of time, the train slowly reaches a stop, making me open my eyes to read the station.

Slowly, I felt my eyes begin to widen and my body jolt out of its seat as the words began to register in my mind. A small curse escaped my lips as I weaved through the crowded subway to the other side. This action earned me various looks from the passengers, but what mattered to me right now was leaving this train.

Then after narrowly squeezing past the last passenger, I was able to escape the doors of the subway and make my way out of the station. Now walking down the street, the large high rises of Gangnam began to fill my view, providing large amounts of shade against the early morning sun. MY hands clutched the straps of the backpack tightly before adjusting the headphones. My feet began moving on their own as if it was muscle memory to reach the destination in mind. Then after turning one last corner, my eyes locked in on the location. My hand pushing open its door

The smell of rich, freshly brewed coffee began to fill my nose as I began to lower my headphones, positioning them around my neck. Due to a short wait, I was able to place my order earlier than usual. Then I made my way over to the side and fished out my phone from my pocket. A single email found its way onto the screen, one with big bold letters on it.

Lead Editor: Meeting at 9am to discuss the progress on the newest chapter. ALL MUST ATTEND

A small sigh escaped my lips as my hand held the strap of the bag again tightly.

"Another one," I muttered to myself, "wasn't there just one the other day?"

After closing the email, I went over to my messages app, looking it over to see if anything had updated. However, to my disappointment, the most important message at the top still had no response. Not even a notification that it was read? I thought to myself, crap, the deadline isn't far from now...

"One Iced Americano?" The barista called out, laying the drink on the counter. I quickly made my way to the counter, not diverting my attention away from my phone, actively resetting the page for an update. Then extending out my hand, I went to grab it. However, instead of the cold cup, I touched what felt to be a human hand

"Huh?" I said, turning towards the drink. To my surprise, there was another human hand there, one smaller and more delicate looking. A pretty pink color covered their fingernails as a simple silver ring rested on their index finger. Moving up the arm, it was connected to a girl who was shorter than me. Her face was covered by a black mask as a simple black bucket hat rested on her head. Her shoulders were tense as her eyes began to scan me. Seemingly looking at me as if I was a threat.

"Sorry," I quickly apologized to the masked girl. "I thought that this was my drink,"

The girl continued to scan me for a couple more seconds, my face getting more and more nervous with each passing moment. Then she finally spoke, her tone neutral and her shoulders relaxing.

"It's alright," she said, looking at a barista, "we can just ask who's drink this is,"

Slowly I nodded to her words and a barista was quickly called over. Turns out the drink on the counter was hers as it contained an extra shot inside. Conveniently, the barista was bringing over my drink as well. We both thanked the barista quickly, each of us grabbing our own respective drinks. Red couldn't even begin to describe my face throughout the duration of this encounter. It was obvious it was her drink from the beginning, it said so on the tag attached to the drink!

I quickly apologized to the girl once again, bowing my head a bit deeper than usual. A soft chuckle was let out at the sight of this as she gestured for me to stand up straight. She then leaned in and whispered, "Make sure to read the tag from now one,"

My face quickly turned red again, making the girl chuckle once more. She then quickly grabbed her drink and made her way to the door. Pushing it open, she didn't spare me a second glance as she walked out into the street. My eyes linger on her for a moment longer than they should've. I was only shaken back into reality after feeling a vibration from my pocket.

"Shit" was all I muttered, knowing what that vibration meant. Turning off the alarm on my phone, I grabbed my own drink and sprinted my way out of the cafe. Making my left and right, I eventually found my way towards a small brick biddle in the middle of main street. At the top of the building hung a simple sign that read Parapanel

Infamous for their legendary manhwas, Parapanel quickly rose in the ranks to be amongst the best publishing apps. They published various stories, each of them hitting number one at some point. Right now, they hold number one with their publishing of a story called "Sengoku." An isekai sort of story where the male lead is transported back in time to the Sengoku period in feudal Japan. They also have many other works like a love triangle story called "Supernova Love," an action story called "Love War," and finally a feel good story called "As You Wish."

Approaching the building, I watched as various people began walking in and out of its glass doors, each of them with their own busy agenda. After slipping through a small gap, I quickly passed the cardboard cutouts of the main character of "Sengoku" before making my way to the elevator.. A relieved sigh escaping my lips as I watched the doors close.

Silence overcame the elevator except for the occasional ding signalling everything we passed a floor. But after the third one, I exited the elevator. A brightly colored lobby filled my view before I was stopped by two glass doors, a scanner to the right of them. Sliding my backpack off my shoulder, I grabbed my ID which hung off one of the zippers.

Pressing my badge to the scanner, the glass doors in front of me began to open. Swiftly, I walked over to a desk by the window, pressing the cool drink down. I began unpacking my backpack, laying my laptop on the desk before opening it. Then suddenly, my phone lit up with a notification. I glanced over it for a moment before transferring the message to my laptop. It was a file reading "Sengoku Chapter 75 script." I stared at the message for another moment before turning my attention to the other object on the desk. A large tablet that connected to the laptop, a digital pen holder at the top. I booted the machine on, connecting the cable to my laptop. The screen then began to light up to show a drawing app, various panels of feudal Japan began filling the screen.

Yep... I'm the main artist of "Sengoku," tasked with making the writers' script into a reality. Cracking my knuckles, I got comfortable and pressed my digital pen against the tablet. My mind slowly drifted as the sounds of reality slowly began fading away...

.𖥔 ܁ ˖⋆ ˚❆

(??? POV)

"That was interesting," I muttered to myself as I made my way up the elevator to the 11th floor. Taking a few steps after the ding, I entered the code at the door and walked inside. Loud noises swiftly filled my ears as I made sure that the door was shut. A soft sigh escaped my lips as I accepted that the dorm was in its normal mode of chaos today.

Stepping into the living room, I was met with two girls, both of them lounging on the couch. . The first girl was simply on her phone, airpods adorning her ears as she seemed to be scrolling reels. Next to her, the other girl was engrossed in the television. A recording of last night's drama playing on it.

"I'm home," I simply said, marching over to the kitchen.

Upon stepping inside, chills made their way up and down my spine. My gaze scanned the room, looking for anything that could be the source. Eventually, they landed on its target, and my eyes slowly began to widen.

A singular woman stood there, their face hard and scrutinizing. Immediately my flight response kicked in mentally, but physically, my body refused to move. Slowly, the woman took steps towards me, her slippers clacking against the floorboards,

"Ning Yizhuo," she spoke, her voice icy and cold, "explain where you were this morning."

"N-nowhere Unnie," I tried to lie, avoiding the gaze of the older woman, "I-I was just sleeping in bed! Yeah! I was under the cov-"

"Don't lie," was all I heard in response. The room went colder as I watched the lady get closer, "I checked the bed, and you weren't there.

"U-Unnie?" I stuttered, backing myself into the corner, "y-you're scaring me..."
"Just answer the question, Ning, and this will all be over," she gently pushes me into the counter, my breath hitching, "now... where did you go this morning?"

Quickly, I tried to look away, but something, some force, made it so that I couldn't. It made me look straight into her cat-like eyes, their desire for the truth prominent. Every feeling of defiance slowly left my body, her gaze peering into my own soul. Slowly, I felt my mouth open, and the truth spill out.

"I went to a cafe this morning to get coffee."

"Did you get recognized?"

"N-no," I explained, "I only had a small interaction with a guy there. A barista just sent out an order without saying the name or number. Both of us thought it was ours,"

The older woman opened her mouth to speak more, but as the words were about to leave her lips...

"Was he cute?" a third voice interjected.