[The air was heavier now.
The room felt suffocating.
Eyes covered every wall —
watching, breathing, judging.
The mirror glowed faintly.]
Ashe wasn't crying anymore.
He was just... silent.
As silent as he had been
when he heard her voice back then
...and said nothing.
[He sat on the floor.
Head in both hands.
His body trembled quietly.]
Ashe (to himself):
"Did I really forget her?
Or did I just pretend to?"
[From the mirror — a faint breath.
Like someone trying to speak from between two realities.]
Voice (soft, whispering):
"Ashe... why did you erase me after writing me?"
[Ashe looked up.
In the mirror — a blurred girl's face.
Tears falling from eyes that weren't fully visible.]
Ashe (shivering):
"You... who are you?"
Voice (deeper now, sorrowful):
"I was the one you treated like a story.
You wrote me…
And then burned me."
[The walls began to shift slightly.
The room tilted…
reality bent softly inward.
The typewriter began typing on its own.]
Chik chik chik chik chik…
> "She was never a story.
She was your escape."
[Ashe's eyes filled with a helpless guilt.]
Ashe:
"I couldn't live without her…
So I forgot her…
to survive."
[The mirror began to clear —
and then, one name was typed out — letter by letter.]
> "Eyla."
[Ashe's mouth opened.
It was like the truth had punched him in the chest.]
Ashe (whispers):
"Eyla…"
[FLASHES —
Eyla laughing.
Sitting beside him.
Writing something.
Then…
Her voice, screaming:]
Eyla (flashback):
"Ashe, please…! Don't let me disappear!"
**[He collapsed.]
**A full breakdown.
The kind where a person loses even the strength to lie.
Ashe (screaming):
"I DIDN'T WANT TO ERASE HER!!!"
[The typewriter stopped.
The mirror went completely white.]
[Then slowly — new words appeared.]
> "But you didn't write her.
You buried her."
"And when you never said her name again…
She became nothing but static."
[The eyes on every wall closed.
The room seemed to pause —
like it was paying respect
to a soul that was once real.]
[From the mirror —
Eyla's voice returned.
Soft.
Fragile.
Heartbreaking.]
Eyla:
"Ashe… I'm still here.
But I can't be a story anymore.
I'm just a memory…
that was written once,
but never read."
[Ashe whispered, shaking with emotion.]
Ashe:
"I'll write you, Eyla.
This time, I'll write the truth.
Who you were…
Who you still are…
Everything."
[The typewriter awakened.
But this time — it didn't force him.
He stood up on his own.
His hand still burned.
But he didn't care anymore.]
[He typed. Slowly. Painfully.]
> "Her name was Eyla.
Her smile was more honest than all my lies.
And I never wanted to forget her."
[From the mirror — a soft smile appeared.
For the first time,
the room felt… a little less heavy.]
But it didn't last long.
[The typewriter paused.
Then typed one final line.]
> "The first step to truth…
is accepting the first lie you ever wrote."
---
END OF CHAPTER 2