the voice echoed softly, almost accusing."But why do I still feel like two people inside the same body?"154Please respect copyright.PENANAo9HNAZeiVX
The silence that followed was thick, stretched between timelines. Zhang Huan-An—no, Yu Yong-An—stood before the mirror, unsure who exactly was speaking. Himself? A remnant? Or the ghost of a choice never made?154Please respect copyright.PENANASQy9o0hf2y
"I remember your memories," he whispered, fingertips brushing against the cold glass."But they don't belong to me. Not really."154Please respect copyright.PENANAUo5FFCtsa7
From within, a reply surfaced—not spoken aloud, but felt like an echo threading through his veins.154Please respect copyright.PENANA7TsJliyXpQ
"Then whose life did you live during those 281 days?"154Please respect copyright.PENANA96ENGxVkxV
He didn't answer.154Please respect copyright.PENANAZwB3mFPpvJ
His reflection stared back at him—not quite right. The posture was his, the scars too. But the eyes? The eyes held a weight he had never known until that dreamlike season where time broke apart and remade itself.154Please respect copyright.PENANAoGeopg1f78
"Do you remember the rooftop? The rain?"the voice inside pressed."That was my fear. My ending. And now it's become yours."154Please respect copyright.PENANAPlvWcZqOtC
He turned away. The room behind him was dim, dust suspended in unmoving air. Nothing had shifted since he woke—yet everything had changed.154Please respect copyright.PENANAoQXeKTAHUE
"They said integration would bring peace," he muttered."But this… this feels like exile. I can't go back. I can't move forward."154Please respect copyright.PENANAiZMwkPwm6J
"Then choose."154Please respect copyright.PENANAwyYXm12KFt
The whisper again. No longer from within—but from just behind. He didn't turn. He knew nothing would be there. And yet—154Please respect copyright.PENANAHk44mr6wVZ
"Choose who you want to remain."154Please respect copyright.PENANAAuX5TkmjIM
He clenched his fists. The names—Zhang Huan-An, Yu Yong-An—lay heavy on his chest like layered truths. Too real to discard. Too overlapping to claim.154Please respect copyright.PENANAxRfZsQoTOA
"What if I don't want to be either?"he asked the air, voice hoarse.154Please respect copyright.PENANA5MZ0XzHnQj
"Then become what only you can be—""The memory that survives the collapse."154Please respect copyright.PENANAglDfVmBPRV
The mirror cracked.154Please respect copyright.PENANAjByS4fo9UL
Not from pressure, not from sound.154Please respect copyright.PENANAGpVMDRkCr2
From time.154Please respect copyright.PENANAdN742wgfGJ
And as the fracture split his reflection in two, he realized:154Please respect copyright.PENANAtRQAqh5pkg
They had never truly been separate.And now, they could never truly merge.They would simply continue—154Please respect copyright.PENANAFeehGzdeBb
Layered.154Please respect copyright.PENANAKy7rSwSDtw
Fragmented.154Please respect copyright.PENANA1eayprMRak
Echoing.154Please respect copyright.PENANAtdb243fhU8
"Reflections That Do Not Return"154Please respect copyright.PENANAhCxoa09v63
When the mirror shattered, time fractured with it.154Please respect copyright.PENANAsZr8lQyGzI
The cracks radiated outward like webbing, each fissure revealing a version of himself—some younger, others older, some cold and unfeeling, others brimming with unshed tears.154Please respect copyright.PENANAQkwD1e97Ys
"Are these… all me?"154Please respect copyright.PENANAA2Wz3kKo3O
His voice wavered in the still air, unsure whether he was questioning the mirror—or the fractured soul it reflected.154Please respect copyright.PENANAAfI6tt8eKt
A shard broke loose, falling to the floor with a soft chime. Yet the reflection it cast wasn't of the room he stood in—it was of time:Friday's dusk. Tuesday's echo. The moment the cross appeared. The final turn of her silhouette.154Please respect copyright.PENANAGxdLvBTMwJ
"You're not choosing an identity,"said a voice—feminine, calm, not quite Yang An-Ting, not quite Li An-Qing, but holding the gentleness of both."You're choosing which version of yourself will survive."154Please respect copyright.PENANAZsRW3bcSzR
He gazed down at the scattered fragments.Each one led to a future that could never return to the beginning.154Please respect copyright.PENANAYZ8qGGEc1Q
"And if I choose nothing?" he asked, barely audible.154Please respect copyright.PENANALQ6lhyIhyV
"Then you'll remain trapped here—in this fracture—until the next cycle calls you back."154Please respect copyright.PENANAosRIp5mj22
Silence again.154Please respect copyright.PENANAss45mLDsiS
And then, softly, he said:154Please respect copyright.PENANAXEDgjLbmev
"I don't want to wake again—Not if waking means forgetting her."154Please respect copyright.PENANA1qmhXQsdvx
The mirror flickered.154Please respect copyright.PENANA8k80zKAMff
A memory surfaced, replaying on its own:"You won't remember what I said. But you'll remember that it turned dark… and I didn't leave."154Please respect copyright.PENANAqr6Xz1kPir
It was her voice—Li An-Qing.154Please respect copyright.PENANAlAW3SrrIQb
It was the eternity hidden within Friday.154Please respect copyright.PENANAhNp671o0UH
No more ticking clocks.No more voices.Only the sound of breath—and something deeper, like the echo of his own heartbeat splintering through time.154Please respect copyright.PENANACoJa3QGUQ4
A crack ran across the floor, slow but certain, as if time itself was fracturing.One wrong step—and he would fall into a past that no longer wanted him.154Please respect copyright.PENANAyuiWBCCD6F
He knelt, picking up the fallen shard.In its surface, memory stirred—not his, but sharp enough to cut.154Please respect copyright.PENANAx2G1qPgB8o
"He said he'd come back… He promised me."154Please respect copyright.PENANA6qrcYs1jHl
It was Yang An-Ting's voice—young, certain, heartbreakingly full of hope.154Please respect copyright.PENANAQwWONcDYWh
Another fragment reflected Li An-Qing, standing at the edge of an abandoned railway.A timestamp flickered in her eyes:2025.2.19 // 28:01154Please respect copyright.PENANAA1Fb65TUGC
She whispered,154Please respect copyright.PENANAh1VhHObXgB
"Memory isn't for forgetting. It's for choosing."154Please respect copyright.PENANAd7enbqtJks
Something inside him pulled—gently at first, then with force.A sorrowful gravity.154Please respect copyright.PENANABe4n3ue6W0
The kind that lived in her voice,in her silence,in every name lost to time.154Please respect copyright.PENANA6LBE31y3Zb
"Then how do I choose?" he asked—not to the mirror, but to everything.154Please respect copyright.PENANAZjMR4lkPQ5
"Choice," the voice answered from beyond the glass,"isn't an answer. It's a cost."154Please respect copyright.PENANAx4eK9JfkHh
He opened his eyes.The fracture was pushing him toward a precipice—an end written long ago but never read aloud.154Please respect copyright.PENANAsqgyqSLPSJ
"You've remembered too much," the voice murmured,"and forgotten more than you know.So now, only one question remains—Who will you stay for?"154Please respect copyright.PENANA9Hndh3Xi4i
154Please respect copyright.PENANATXkrcEynaU
"You've always remembered,"Yang An-Ting's voice was gentle, but unwavering."You just didn't want to admit it."154Please respect copyright.PENANAHy1pecaEWP
"And you've never let go,"Li An-Qing's voice followed, soft and clear, like light after rain."Because deep down, you knew—it wasn't yours to end."154Please respect copyright.PENANAKMVsYGlJyU
He stood between the mirror and the rift,Behind him, the remnants of the past.Before him, an exit with no name.154Please respect copyright.PENANAcHzVvHjLue
"If I can't be him, and I can't remain only myself… then what's left?"154Please respect copyright.PENANAHnlP1AK0Q5
"Memory,"they said together.154Please respect copyright.PENANA0Iz1MGSOKG
Not a name.Not an identity.But something heavier—something that could pierce through time itself.154Please respect copyright.PENANA8sU75mnslZ
If names could be forgotten, then let them fade.If identities could collapse, then stop defining them.154Please respect copyright.PENANAcrDBIE9azb
"You don't need a name,"Yang An-Ting whispered."You've already remembered us.""You just need to keep walking,"Li An-Qing followed,"Not for anyone. Not even for yourself."154Please respect copyright.PENANA9tt7PU6cR8
The rift began to close—not as an end, but as a quiet reconfiguration.The shattered timelines wove into each other, forming a new path—one that required no right or wrong, no labels, no return.154Please respect copyright.PENANAbI4lvs0UFe
It was the third route.154Please respect copyright.PENANAMpzEEg7QC1
Not back.Not in circles.But—154Please respect copyright.PENANAa2ugkaqCmq
Toward a future unnamed.
arrow_back
A Promise In Four Fragments
more_vert
-
info_outline Info
-
toc Table of Contents
-
share Share
-
format_color_text Display Settings
-
exposure_plus_1 Recommend
-
report_problem Report
-
account_circle Login
Search stories, writers or societies
Continue ReadingClear All
What Others Are ReadingRefresh
X
Never miss what's happening on Penana!
A Promise In Four Fragments
Author:
烙燁 Luòyèh

ISSUE #40
Fragmented Unity — A Dialogue Beneath Time
LIKES 0
READS 150
BOOKMARKS 7
Suggest Edits

Click to load the next chapter
X
After each update request, the author will receive a notification!
smartphone100 → Request update
X
Sponsor again
Click to login
Login first to show your name as a sponsor.
Thank you for supporting the story! :)
Please Login first.
×
Write down what you like about the story
×
Reading Theme:
Font Size:
Line Spacing:
Paragraph Spacing:
Load the next issue automatically
Reset to default
×
People Who Like This