How to Stop Being Delulu - Chp-3 She Said Yes

The moment the word left her lips, Arden’s eyes softened.

Not in a smug way — not like someone who had won.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonvyjTgbnH
It was gentler than that — like relief tinged with something unspoken. Maybe fear.

“Meet me after final period,” he said, brushing a hand through his hair. “The old library wing. No one uses it anymore.”

There was a quiet certainty in his voice, like he already knew she’d say yes.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52d5QJUrr7
Maybe that’s what unsettled her most — not his confidence, but how natural it felt to follow him.

By the time the last bell rang, the school had slipped into that strange, in-between silence.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkM62DfVjt4
Elowyn moved through the side stairwell, her footsteps echoing too loudly.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eWGtiE668
Her heart thudded in odd, glitchy rhythms — fast, then slow. Like it wasn’t sure which world it belonged to.

He was waiting.

Leaning against the wall like time passed differently around him. Like he was part of something bigger, older.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPmfcBzVdA0
But when he looked at her, it was just Arden again.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3I5Qk3ebJ
Eyes warm. Smile small. Hands in his pockets.

“I want to show you something,” he said.

And this time, she followed.

The room felt forgotten — dust swirling like memories in the slanted light.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7oaUVmXC2
A projector hummed in the corner, looping a broken school presentation that flickered like a dream half-remembered.

But it wasn’t the projector that caught her eye.

It was the wall. Or rather... the part that shouldn’t exist at all.

A glitch. A shimmer. Like someone had sliced reality and stitched it back — badly.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5iyf1iPTU
Behind it, the desks warped. The shadows pulsed. A silent crack that felt alive.

She stared.

“What is this?” she whispered, stepping back.

“I don’t know,” Arden said. “But it’s been… appearing more. In dreams. In real places. And you…”

He turned to her, voice softer now. “You’re always near it.”

That last sentence landed somewhere strange in her chest. A flutter. A warning.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshLS7J0yqN
She didn’t know how to answer, so her mind grasped for distraction.

The cultural fair — last weekend.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡelPqCpyuai
That woman at the origami table, folding paper with calm hands and unreadable eyes.

“If you could live anywhere?” she’d asked, smile tilted.

And Elowyn, full fangirl reflex, had said, “South Korea.”

The woman had simply smiled — kindly, but with something sharp underneath.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkxLo4qnXE
“It’s not like K-dramas,” she’d said softly. “There’s no soundtrack whenyourheart breaks. No lines to follow when you’re trying to heal.”

Elowyn had laughed, a little too brightly — like she wasn’t still half-waiting for the slow-motion close-up and a perfect OST to swell in the background.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHZBXbNkuz
But now, standing here with Arden and the glitching wall, the woman’s words returned like truth wrapped in soft disappointment.

Now she was in a dusty room, with a glitching wall and a boy who felt like a story she hadn’t meant to write — and that woman’s words echoed like a prophecy.

Because this moment?559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0woRWjuAkC
It did feel like a scene.

The mysterious boy.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxg2GTg0kZq
The flickering lights.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhCqyet9FN
The secret no one else could see.

But unlike a K-drama, there was no soft filter.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPtGMMNx9L
No guarantee of a happy ending.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAWPqalF5i
Just Arden.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVS29XrKPn
Just her.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhNuexGM0u
It felt like a tear in the world — one they didn’t know how to mend.

He stepped closer, careful, like he was approaching something fragile.

“I don’t know what this is yet,” he said. “But I think… we’re already inside it. The glitches. The warnings. The notes. Maybe they’re not about me exactly.”

He paused, gaze flicking toward the shimmer.

“Maybe they’re about the version of me I haven’t become yet.”

A chill slid down her spine. The idea of versions. Of futures. Of selves.

She looked at him — really looked.

He was warm. Familiar.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNYImJr9ZZL
But there was something else in his eyes now.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbblhYwHs4W
Not danger exactly.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdb6ncei212
But possibility — like he hadn’t yet decided who he was going to be.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

She hesitated.

The projector buzzed louder. The glitch shimmered.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt34TdLQSzE
And for a single breath, she saw something shift behind it.

A shadow.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡByRpHb4IND
A version of her.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXWiuise1K
Of him.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlW7h8zdhlg
Watching.

And still...

Elowyn nodded.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Show me.”

Somewhere deep inside, a truth stirred — fragile, flickering, half-formed.