I would never see my friends or parents again—in this world, at least. Let me explain.
About a week before the trip, Chanelle had recommended a BL manhwa for me to read. Yes, I know, but I really liked that stuff, and I didn't care what anyone said. It was called Fated Entangled Hearts, and the cover featured several hands on the main character, probably to signify how possessive the male leads were. It was about the most generic BL you could imagine, and I don't know why Chanelle even picked it up. Well, I did too. Even with its many tropes, I read it all, because, why not? The story was engaging, and I had run out of what to read anyway.
The story revolved around a very pretty boy whom I could never relate to. His name was Eliam Jiang. He had a very soft appearance (like most BL bottoms), milk-brown hair, vibrant green cat-like eyes, and despite his good looks, he was abandoned, poor, abused, and raped throughout his life. The author tortured him with every possible hardship, which made me feel terrible for those who live such traumatic lives. Even for a guy, life treats anything feminine like crap.
I had an easy and peaceful life, with a good childhood. So, I would never know what it's like to endure such hardships—except for financial difficulties, but that's nothing compared to Eliam's struggles. Eliam was popular with the girls due to his appearance, but rumors about him being a horrible person at his old school ruined his reputation, leading to bullying by some of the guys. Yet, following the plot, two extremely handsome men—the most popular in the entire school—fall in love with him. Their names were Choi Jaehwa and Jeong Daehyun.
Daehyun was tall; well, they were both freaking giraffes (like all BL tops), but Daehyun was the tallest. He had tidy, slicked-back jet black hair and exuded an air of immense wealth. He was homophobic, however, Eliam's charms managed to lure him in. Jaehwa was more like his younger brother, looking more playful, somewhat similar to Sam. Brown, fluffy hair (not the ice cream kind some guys have). But Sam is so much less malicious and is actually a good person. Don't let their good looks fool you.
In their relationship with Eliam, they were incredibly possessive, affecting him constantly. It didn't help that Eliam slowly fell in love, allowing both men to push his boundaries until he became little more than a sex slave. To redeem them in the readers' eyes, the author later turned them into 'loving husbands,' ignoring their past and portraying them as green flags.
Honestly, these male leads were gigantic red flags. Everything about their personalities screamed danger. The first chapter featured a non-consensual sex scene between Eliam and Jaehwa. Later, Daehyun joined them, resulting in a ménage à trois, or like, a threesome I guess. Ugh. A good chunk of the manhwa was smut. I don't get the appeal of two or three men having sex; occasionally is fine, but why dedicate entire chapters to it?
From my memory, it started going downhill when Eliam gave himself to Jaehwa in exchange for money. Daehyun joined the mess as well, and that's why there was smut in every chapter—because Jaehwa and Daehyun did whatever they wanted with Eliam.
Enough of my annoying ranting; I apologize. They were around 18-19? I read all of it in one sitting, so my memory might be a little fuzzy on the details involving numbers. The manhwa was ongoing, so I don't know the ending. It seemed like they were heading towards some sort of polyamorous relationship, but I didn't bother to read the novel it was adapted from.
So why am I telling you all this seemingly useless information? Probably because it's essential to my life right now.
Have you ever heard of.. Transmigration? Traveling to another world, a story perhaps? Maybe some people call it isekai. But It's not like I was hit by a truck and reincarnated in a fantasy world, nor was I visibly sent to a realm that broke dimensions. It was an underwhelming transmigration. In a blink of an eye, I was suddenly transported here. And even worse, I have somehow managed to transmigrate into the very same manhwa that I had mentioned.
My first question, looking at the familiar school, was… Why? How? Didn't Fated Entangled Hearts take place in a different country? Forget about the country. Am I even in the same universe? I recognized the dorms, the store, the library, and even the gym where Eliam was forced into sex multiple times. I hoped this was just a different location that the manhwa had copied.
As I approached the area where my basic, boring school was supposed to be, I was instead greeted by a six-story, 19th-century-style building. It was beige, with ornate and church-like windows and multiple spires. It looked more like a historic church than a school, and the only reason someone would even recognize it as a school was the vast number of students in fancy blue uniforms crowding the green, freshly mowed lawn. Exactly what the students in the manhwa wore—a light blue plaid vest over a white uniform with a darker blue tie.
I saw a green sign in the distance. It read 'Haneul Academy.' It had letters in a different language, but I could only understand English! Why could I suddenly read it? I had too many questions. I didn't even notice I was speaking a different language, as if it was natural to me. Let's just move on and not dwell on it.
I had never seen the outside of the school from just the manhwa panels, but seeing it in person was impressive. But none of that mattered right now. The important thing was, how the hell do I get back? How did I even end up here? Has there ever been an international community with a 19th-century school replicated from a BL manhwa? Nope. I studied my home country for so long; I'm confident I'm in that stupid story. From the mountains to the roads, I knew I was not in the place I was supposed to be.
Okay, I was telling myself it was impossible to go back to my original universe if I had transmigrated, but if I ended up here, then there must be a way to get back. But how? A rip in the universe?
Oh… I'm just dreaming! I'm so stupid. I should have thought of that first. This is the most realistic dream I've ever had—I can feel temperature, surfaces, everything. I could probably even taste that piece of dirt over there. No, I'm not going to test that.
I sighed in relief. At least I didn't need to break the laws of physics to get back; I just needed to wait for this dream to end. I guess I can enjoy this dream world for now. I might just regret this.
I entered the school gates, hoping there wouldn't be any consequences. I was hoping this wasn't real, otherwise, there was no logical explanation other than a god of some sort.
I decided to enter the school building. It was freezing outside, which was strange because I had been in a warm tropical country just a few hours ago. I recognized the interior, though, a lot different from my own school, despite having the same land area—- Heaters instead of air conditioners lining the ceiling, marble floors instead of concrete, blue lockers, decorated wooden doors instead of boring glass doors. I knew them all too well. And I don't think the main characters would be here; there were way too many people in here, all giving me strange looks. I even heard a group talking about someone with my name.
"Did you see? I think that Leon dyed his hair again… It actually looks good for once at least…" Someone giggled to their friends.
"Oh, you mean that guy who confessed to Daehyun before he left abroad in front of everyone at the gate…?"
Maybe it was another Leon? Daehyun is really popular, I guess. Lots of people confessed to him in the story, but Daehyun turned them down harshly each time. Why even bother? That sounds so dumb. I don't even know how people muster the confidence to do such a thing, unless they're super hot or something. I guess Daehyun being here just proves I've been transported into the manhwa. A very subtle way to do so, though.
An older guy, probably a teacher, confronted me while I was exploring the halls. "Leon?" The teacher asked politely. "Why aren't you in your uniform?"
"You know me…?" I asked, puzzled by the fact that people could recognize me. Maybe that one video I uploaded online reached multiversal popularity.
"Yes… A student in Class 1, am I right?" He questioned, adjusting his glasses to look at a document on a clipboard.
"Wha…?! I'm here…?! A student??" I unintentionally yelled, causing people around me to give me strange looks. No way. He must be confusing me for someone else.
I grabbed the clipboard, ignoring the teacher's annoyed look. There it was, full name, photo, and everything. Leon Jin Yanse. I was a student at this school. If this is a dream, then maybe my brain was just trying to fit me into this story. Basically like lucid dreaming, but I can't control anything.
Judging by the photo, I had fully dyed red hair, different from my small highlights right now, didn't wear glasses, and had a mean look. I always look tired, but I've never been told I looked mean. I'm not sure what is happening with the Leon of this world. Also, I was three years older than I was just yesterday in my world, according to the description. This story must have taken place three years into the future. Confusing timeline. This was the total opposite of me right now. My eyes are bad, and I would never fully dye my hair—just highlights are fine.
I looked closer and saw my dorm room number below. I'd never been in a dorm; I always walked from home to school. But I already knew this school was a boarding one. So I prepared myself to put up with a roommate until I woke up from this strange dream. Or maybe it isn't a dream.
I looked further into the chart printed out on the paper and saw my roommate.
Eliam?! My roommate? Why was that never mentioned in the manhwa? Well, then again, I never knew who Eliam's roommate was, but I never saw a 'Leon' in the story. I guess this would be interesting.
Okay, I decided I'd stay at this school until the dream ended. Hopefully, I'd see the main characters, and just treat them like eye candy.
I quickly shoved the clipboard back to the teacher and sprinted away. I needed to head to my dorm first. I needed to find out more about myself—literally. I didn't know my classes, and my uniforms were probably in there.
I opened the door slowly, wondering if anyone was inside. I closed the door behind me, and nervously stepped on the soft, gray carpet. The dorm room was beautiful, much cleaner and fancier than my cozy small apartment where I lived in. I browsed the room, searching for something useful, something that could at least help me adjust before I could try to think on how to get back to where I belonged, then I saw an open door, wind blowing out and everything. That was my roommate's room. Eliam's room. I carefully entered, maybe I could just say hi.
I did not prepare for this. I almost stumbled when I saw him. The main character. Eliam. He was even more beautiful in person. His lashes were long, his hair was messy but looked so tidy at the same time, and the manhwa didn't do justice to how gorgeous his face was, even though it was praised for its art.
"Um… Hi…" I nervously said, as he literally outshone me, like sunshine was in his part of the room.
"Don't talk to me." He said sternly, looking down. He seemed even more miserable than before. I wanted to feel bad, but I was too shocked by what he said.
"H-huh? What did I—Okay…" I replied, maybe he was going through a hard time.
"What, talking now that Daehyun rejected you?" He turned to me, his face showing signs of crying. I wanted to feel sympathy, but I was too stunned by his words.
I didn't respond, just turned back and continued rummaging through Leon's stuff. Those students back there were talking about me. It's so stupid—how could you be this goddamn stupid, Leon? At least I'm not talking about myself for the first time.
I found it. A notebook that seemed like a diary of some sort. Purple in color, with a hard cover. How dramatic. I didn't know there was a reality where I ever had one because how do you have motivation?
As I opened the first page, I instantly needed mental help from whatever I was looking at. It was all about Jaehwa and Daehyun, all about how obsessed 'I' was with them. There were even parts where I was blaming Eliam, being jealous of Eliam, just because of things not going my way.
This was all brain-damaging. Why the hell was 'I' like this?! Gross, ew! I'm not even going to talk about the part where I wrote a very specific and detailed scenario about Jaehwa and myself. So this version of myself had an obsession with those two and decided to confess to Daehyun. You know what? Eliam has every right to hate me. He's probably terrified of my mental state.
I shut the book tightly and shoved it in the drawer, hoping it would never see the light of day again. I looked at Eliam; he seemed exhausted and was taking a short nap. Better not disturb him. Maybe I need to find a way to gain Eliam's trust. I know he's a good person. Or I could be lazy and just not talk to him. But he's my roommate! I've always wanted a roommate as someone who has lived alone or with just a few family members at a time. I guess this is going to be boring. And that's not even factoring in my reputation—I couldn't care less about how Jaehwa thinks about me, but the whole school knows that 'I' like him apparently. This is so stupid. This is why everyone was staring at me weirdly.
I threw myself onto the bed. This day was too much to wrap my head around; I was getting a headache from it all. From the disappearance of my world to the realization that I had made my way into a manhwa as a person with mental issues. It's all insane, and I hope I'll wake up back on the bus. I thought to myself before falling asleep.