Chapter Text
The days blurred together after that first conversation in the library. Megan divided her time between studying and chasing answers for why Yoonchae remained invisible to everyone else. The more she researched, the more the walls of her room seemed to close in, illuminated only by the blue glow of her laptop and the frantic scribbles in her notebook— Yoonchae loves iced coffee, hates calculus, bites her lip when thinking —each detail a desperate anchor against the tide of forgetting.
When the lapses began—waking up with a name on her tongue she couldn’t place, staring at her phone with no memory of who she’d meant to text—Megan started documenting everything. Evidence , she told herself, tracing Yoonchae’s name until the ink smudged. Proof she was real .
With three days left until finals, Megan made a decision. She would not sleep. The fear of forgetting was a more potent stimulant than any caffeine, and the extra time would be useful for studying anyway. Her desk became a graveyard of empty energy drink cans and blister packs of caffeine pills. She moved through her life like a ghost herself, a hollow-eyed zombie going through the motions.
In the library, under the warm, dusty light, Yoonchae’s keen eyes narrowed with concern. “ Unnie ,” she said, her voice soft but firm, her finger pausing mid-equation. “ Your eyes… you look exhausted. Are you sleeping at all? ”.
Megan waved a dismissive hand, the gesture feeling heavy and unnatural. “ Just exam nerves ,” she lied, forcing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “ Trying to cram in as much as I can ”. She could feel Yoonchae’s skeptical gaze boring into her, seeing right through the flimsy excuse. To placate her, Megan promised to go straight home and rest.
She did not go home to rest.
Instead, she went to the minimarket near her house, her sneakers scuffing against the cracked pavement under the harsh fluorescent streetlights. Her mission: to ration more supplies for her sleepless vigil. As she pushed the door open, a familiar voice cut through the chilly evening air.
“ I thought you were going home to rest ”.
Megan’s heart leaped into her throat. Yoonchae was leaning against the brick wall outside, one eyebrow arched, her arms crossed in a way that was far too serious for her delicate frame.
“ Yoonchip! I—I just… last-minute nerves ” Megan stammered, her voice tired and her gaze dropping to the ground. “ Tomorrow’s the last day. I’ll rest then, I promise ”.
Yoonchae’s expression softened. She stepped forward and took Megan’s hand, her touch surprisingly warm “ You’re studying with me. You’re not going to fail. But if you’re this nervous, we’ll study at your house. I’ll help you through your marathon ” She exhaled a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of the world and gently led the taller girl away.
“ You’re serious, Yoonchip? ” Megan asked, a real smile finally tugging at her lips, which she tried to hide by ducking her head “ I might get too distracted by your beauty and fail anyway ,” she joked, the words feeling light and foreign on her tongue.
The house was empty and silent, holding its breath. They settled at Megan’s desk in her bedroom, a sanctuary of soft lamplight that pushed back the encroaching darkness of the evening. Textbooks and notes formed a fortress around them. As Megan struggled through a particularly vicious calculus problem, Yoonchae broke the comfortable silence.
“ Do you want some coffee? It’s got to be better than those energy drinks, and it’s cold. Besides, I want one too ”.
“ Sure ,” Megan mumbled, not looking up from her work “ You know where everything is ”.
Yoonchae padded softly to the kitchen. A few minutes later, she returned and placed a warm mug beside Megan’s elbow. The rich, familiar aroma briefly cut through the sterile smell of highlighter ink.
They kept studying. Megan made weak jokes every so often, but a strange, heavy warmth was spreading through her limbs, a comforting weight that was becoming impossible to fight. Her head nodded, her pencil slipping from her fingers before she collapsed onto the desk, her cheek pressed against the cool wood.
From her perch on the edge of the bed, Yoonchae watched. Her gaze fell on the empty strip of sleeping pills she had crushed into Megan’s coffee. “ Finally ,” she whispered into the quiet room, her voice thick “ They worked ”.
“ Can’t… ” Megan murmured in her drugged sleep, her eyelids fluttering as she fought a losing battle against the chemical tide. “ I can’t… ”
Yoonchae moved to her side, her steps silent. With a tenderness that ached, she brushed the stray hairs from Megan’s damp forehead “ You can sleep, Megan ,” she whispered, the words laden with a heartbreaking gentleness “ You’ve done enough. Thank you… for everything you did for me. For trying to find a solution. But you have to stop now ”.
Megan whimpered in protest, a faint “ mustn’t sleep ” escaping her lips.
“ I’ve always been alone, Megan ,” Yoonchae continued, a knot of emotion tightening her throat “ I’ll be okay. So please, don’t worry about me. I don’t care… if you forget me ”. A tear traced a path down her cheek, followed by another. She offered a watery, bittersweet smile “ Goodnight, Megan ” She watched as Megan’s breathing finally evened out into the deep, steady rhythm of true sleep.
Yoonchae had suspected Megan’s desperate plan. How could she not? In their weeks together, she had learned to read Megan like her favorite book. She began a quiet, sorrowful search, gathering every note, every hidden reminder Megan had left for herself—the evidence of her own existence. She had to let Megan return to a normal life. A life without her.
She carefully maneuvered the sleeping girl into her bed, pulling the comforter up to her chin. For a long moment, she simply watched her. Then, driven by a impulse she couldn’t name, she leaned down and pressed a soft, fleeting kiss to Megan’s lips. It tasted of salt and goodbye.
Her heart in her hand, she walked away, leaving behind the last person who had ever truly seen her.
Megan woke to her father’s voice yelling up the stairs for her to hurry or she’d be late. Disoriented, she sat up, a dull throb behind her eyes. On her desk, next to her school bag, was a strange notebook. She picked it up, flipping through pages that described meeting a ‘ cute Jangsanbeom ,’ but the name was always smudged, unreadable. A strange chill went down her spine. Confused, she shoved the notebook into her backpack.
Megan was barely through the school's main doors when a familiar voice cut through the morning chatter.
“ Whoa, upgrade! What happened to the walking dead I had to practically carry to Calculus yesterday? ”
Megan turned to see Manon leaning against a row of lockers, a grin playing on her lips. She fell into step beside Megan, effortlessly matching her pace and nudging her shoulder with her own.
“ Shut up ,” Megan groaned, but a small smile broke through her tired facade “ I got a full eight hours. Don’t act so surprised ”.
“ A miracle! ” Manon declared, throwing a dramatic arm around Megan’s shoulders. “ I was this close to checking you for a fever. You looked like you’d fought a ghost and lost ”
The word ghost was like a key turning in a lock. And then, Megan felt it. A gaze. Not the casual, drifting glance of a passing classmate, but a sharp, focused weight between her shoulder blades. It was so intense, so specific, it felt like a physical touch—a cold spot in the warm, noisy hallway.
She stopped walking so abruptly a freshman almost slammed into her backpack, her head whipping around to scan the crowd behind her. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat of inexplicable panic.
“ Hey ” Manon’s teasing tone vanished instantly. Her hand tightened on Megan’s arm, pulling her back to the present “ Megan? You just went pale. What’s wrong? ”.
“ I… ” Megan’s voice was a breathless whisper. Her eyes kept searching, finding nothing but curious and oblivious faces “ I don’t know. I just… felt like someone was staring right at me. Like, really staring ”.
Manon followed her gaze, her own expression turning from concern to mild confusion as she scanned the same ordinary scene. She saw nothing. With a soft sigh, she turned back, her grip on Megan’s arm softening to a reassuring pat.
“ Okay, well, the only thing staring at you is Mr. Henderson’s poster of the periodic table, and I’m pretty sure helium isn’t judging your outfit ” she said, her voice gently prodding “ You’ve been mainlining caffeine and stress for a week. Your nerves are shot. It’s probably just… phantom exam syndrome ”.
She tugged Megan forward, pulling her down the hall “ Now, move it. You’re gonna crush this test, and then we’re getting real food. I am not letting you celebrate with another energy drink ”.
Manon launched into a story about her mom’s disastrous attempt at making pancakes, her voice a steady, grounding force that slowly pulled Megan away from the edge of that eerie, unseen gaze.
When she reached her classroom, Lara was waiting, a triumphant smirk plastered on her face. She practically vibrated with pride as she shoved a piece of paper into Megan’s hand.
“ What’s this? ” Megan asked, her mind still foggy from the strange morning.
“ The answer to your weirdo question from yesterday ” Lara announced, puffing out her chest “ You owe me lunch. My sister and I spent all night on it. She’s a physics nerd, just like me ”.
Megan looked down at the paper. It read: “ Matter confirms its state as matter when it is observed and its existence is acknowledged ”.
She stared, the words swimming before her eyes. Observed . Acknowledged . A cold dread began to pool in her stomach. Why had she asked that? The memory was hazy, like trying to recall a dream. There had been an urgency to it, a desperate need to know that felt out of place amidst her usual exam anxiety. What had she been thinking about that made this abstract concept feel so critically, personally important?
Lara, misinterpreting her silence for confusion, rolled her eyes with a huff “ Ugh, see? You don’t get it. It means if no one observes the matter, its existence isn’t confirmed. That’s why it disappears. If no one acknowledges it’s there, it’s like it never existed ” She laughed, a light, carefree sound that grated against Megan’s sudden unease “ I don’t know why you even asked some random philosophical thing. You’re such a weirdo sometimes ”.
But Lara’s laughter faded into the background. For Megan, the world had just narrowed to those two words on the page. Observed . Acknowledged . They weren't just a physics concept anymore. They felt like a key, and she was terrified to discover what lock they might fit.
They took their seats as the teacher entered and demanded silence. A heavy pressure built in Megan’s chest, a hollow emptiness in her stomach she mistook for test anxiety.
But as she stared at the exam, the numbers and formulas began to swim. Echoes of a soft voice explaining these very concepts rang in her ears. Fragments of a girl—a smile, a sigh, the way she tucked her hair behind her ear—flashed behind her eyes. She couldn’t see the face, but a profound, inexplicable grief welled up inside her. Tears pooled in her eyes, and a tremor started in her hands.
Suddenly, she shot up from her chair, the legs screeching against the floor and shattering the silence. Every eye in the room turned to her.
“ I—I have to go to the bathroom! ” she blurted out before bolting from the room.
As she ran, the pieces crashed together in her mind. Observed . Acknowledged . She remembered asking Lara the question, banking on her friend’s brilliant, challenge-loving mind for help. She had her answer now. And she would make everyone acknowledge the existence of her Yoonchae.
She thought of everything they had done to Yoonchae, how they had whittled her away until she almost vanished. Yoonchae teases me for being older she thought, a memory surfacing of a risqué joke that had made her blush, and how Yoonchae had played it cool. She’s sassy, stubborn, acts like a princess, but she’s sensitive and so innocent. I won’t let them ignore her. I will carve her into their memories .
She burst into the AV room, doubling over to rest her hands on her knees, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She no longer cared about making a scene. She would force them to look.
She locked the door behind her, flipped the switches, and grabbed the microphone. Her voice, shaky but clear, echoed through every speaker in the school.
“ Everyone, listen to me! I’m Megan Skandiel, and I’m in love with Jeong Yoonchae! ”.
Silence. She had expected this. She snatched a megaphone from a storage closet and ran back into the halls, her voice amplifying into a roar.
“ Yoonchae! I love you! I love you! I love you !”.
Doors began to open. Students and teachers poured into the hallways, confusion and curiosity on their faces. Megan kept running, the megaphone held tight.
“ I want to hold your hand! I want to see you dressed as that monster again! I want to hug you and kiss you! ” She was crying now, tears streaming down her face as she poured her heart out for everyone to hear “ In summary, Yoonchae, I love you more than anyone! ”
She stopped, chest heaving, and closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable fallout. The silence was absolute, a thick, suffocating blanket thrown over the entire courtyard. Hundreds of eyes were pinned on her—some wide with shock, others narrowed in judgment, phones held aloft like a digital jury recording her every trembling breath. The weight of their collective stare was a physical pressure, and Megan felt utterly, completely alone in the center of it all. This was it. She had thrown a stone into the universe and now had to face the terrifying, silent ripple.
Then, a shift. A murmur, not at her, but to her left. Heads turned in unison, a wave of confusion moving through the crowd as students subtly shuffled aside, creating a narrow path. It wasn't a dramatic parting, but something more instinctual, like water instinctively making way for a ship it didn't understand.
And then, a voice, quiet yet impossibly clear, cut through the tension as if it were tissue paper.
“ I heard you already. You don’t have to shout ”.
Megan’s eyes flew open. Her heart stuttered to a stop. She turned slowly, the motion feeling like it took a lifetime, hardly daring to believe it.
There she was. Not a ghost, not a memory. Yoonchae stood at the edge of the path the crowd had made, solid and real and seen . Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, a familiar, serious expression on her face that did nothing to hide the storm of emotions in her eyes.
“You’re going to bother people,” she said, her gaze fixed only on Megan, as if the hundreds of gaping students were merely scenery.
Megan’s composure returned in a flash, a brilliant, tear-streaked smile breaking out “ I wanted the whole world to know ”.
“You’re an idiot,” Yoonchae said, her tone flat.
“ It’s better to prove it than to pretend to be smart ,” Megan shot back, her voice strong.
“ You’re a real idiot ,” Yoonchae countered, her own voice beginning to waver “ If you draw this much attention, the rumors will start circulating again! ”.
“ If they’re talking about you and me, they’re welcome to! ” Megan said, taking a step closer.
“ That’s not what I mean! ” Yoonchae’s voice broke completely. A sob escaped her “ You’re an idiot, Megan ” Suddenly, she surged forward and gave Megan a small, frustrated shove.
Megan stumbled back, grabbing her stinging shoulder in surprise “ Why ?”.
“ You’re a liar! ” Yoonchae cried, anger and pain warring on her beautiful face, tears flowing freely now “ You promised you would never forget me! ”.
“ I’m sorry, ” Megan whispered, her own eyes filling with tears.
“ I won’t forgive you ”.
“ I’m sorry ,” Megan repeated, stepping closer.
“ I said I won’t forgive you! ” Yoonchae insisted, though she didn’t move away.
Megan closed the final distance between them, placing her hands firmly on Yoonchae’s shoulders “ Then I won’t let go until you do ”.
Yoonchae looked down at the ground, her voice becoming a small, defiant mumble “ Then I’ll never forgive you ”.
Megan huffed a wet laugh. Yoonchae’s gaze snapped back up, challenging her. “ Got a complaint? After making me say all that? ” Her expression was the picture of a spoiled princess, even through her tears.
“ I’m sorry ,” Megan said again, a genuine laugh bubbling up.
“ Do you have anything else to say? ” Yoonchae asked, sniffling.
“ I want to see you in that monster costume again .”
Yoonchae stepped squarely on Megan’s foot.
“ Ow! Okay, okay! ” Megan yelped, hopping on one foot before growing serious. She looked directly into Yoonchae’s eyes. “ I love you ”.
“… Really ?” Yoonchae asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“ Yes ,” Megan said, sure and steady “ I love you, Yoonchae ”.
Yoonchae took a small step back, creating a sliver of space between them “ Megan ,” she said, crossing her arms again, a new resolve in her voice “ Repeat those words to me in one month ”.
“ Why? ”
“ If I answered you now, ” Yoonchae said, her cheeks flushing a delicate pink, “ I’d just be getting swept up in the moment ”.
Megan grinned, a real, bright, effortless grin. “I was already thinking about the kiss. I can’t wait a month, so I’ll just say it every day until then ”.
“ Fine ,” Yoonchae conceded, trying and failing to hide her own smile “ But it has to be a full month. If you stop, I’ll interpret that as you changing your mind ” She pointed a finger at Megan in mock sternness.
They finally noticed the entire student body gathered around them in a stunned semicircle, Lara and Manon at the front with identical looks of shock and dawning amazement at their friend’s audacity.
A teacher finally pushed through the crowd. “ You two. To the principal’s office. Now ”.
Megan and Yoonchae simply looked at each other and shared a smile. They walked side-by-side, happy to have each other again, and this time, it was real.
And so, the world got Yoonchae back.