Bunny paced back and forth sa loob ng dorm room niya habang si Elio ay tahimik na nakaupo sa sahig, watching her like she was the most interesting thing in the world. Which, honestly, made pacing very difficult.

“Okay. Recap,” Bunny said, holding a pen like it was a wand. “You came out of a book. You have magical story rules. And now may threat na parang… fictional bounty hunter?”

“I didn’t say bounty hunter,” Elio corrected, smiling. “But the term is oddly fitting.”

Bunny groaned. “This isn’t funny, Elio! I have a research paper due, a roommate na suspicious na, and now this?! I’m not even sure kung may handbook for ‘How to Hide Your Hot Fictional Crush from the World’!”

“I would read that handbook,” Elio said seriously. “Preferably if you wrote it.”

“Stop flirting! I’m trying to panic properly.”

After a moment of silence, Bunny slumped into her beanbag chair. Elio crawled beside her like a curious golden retriever.

“Do you regret opening the book?” tanong niya quietly.

She looked at him.

“Honestly? No. I mean, the screaming part was traumatic. And you snore.”

“I do not snore.”

“You hum in your sleep,” she deadpanned. “Parang love song from the 1800s.”

Elio laughed. “Romantic melodies are embedded in my soul.”

“Wow, humble.”

Later that afternoon, they sat by the dorm window with peanut butter sandwiches and juice boxes—because Bunny had no idea what fictional boys were allowed to eat.

“So,” Bunny said in between bites. “Tell me something about your world. Bago pa ako magbreakdown.”

Elio stared at the sky, eyes distant. “Where I came from… emotions are currency. People wear their hearts like pins on their sleeves. You can’t lie about how you feel.”

“Sounds exhausting,” Bunny whispered.

“It is,” Elio agreed. “But it’s also beautiful. Walang ‘seen-zoned.’ Walang mixed signals. If someone loves you, you feel it—like a story finding its ending.”

Bunny suddenly found it hard to swallow her sandwich.

Just then, may biglang nag-vibrate sa loob ng book na nakapatong sa desk.

Both of them froze.

A faint golden light glowed from its pages, and a new word appeared where there was once only blank space.

“Chapter One… Revised.”

Bunny’s voice cracked. “Revised? What does that mean?”

Elio stood, his face now serious. “It means the story’s been altered. Someone’s rewriting it.”

“And that’s… bad?”

He met her eyes.

“Bunny, if someone rewrites my story—I might disappear.”