Prologue
Some people say 11:11 is a magical time.
If you make a wish, the universe might hear you.
If you keep seeing it, it means your wish could come true.
Eiji used to laugh at things like that.
He wasn't the type to believe in fate or magic or signs from the universe. He believed in stories. In fiction. In worlds built by words and imaginations. Not because they were real, but because they gave him comfort.
But everything changed the night he read Tranquility. The moment he met Ashton.
A character too vivid to feel fictional. Golden-blonde hair. Green eyes that burned with quiet sadness. A mysterious past, a sharp tongue, a soft heart hidden beneath bruises and scars. The kind of boy you root for. The kind of boy you fall in love with, even if he was never meant to be real.
Eiji didn't mean to get attached. But somehow, Ashton became more than just a character on a screen. He became Eiji's escape. His favorite heartbeat in a world made of fiction.
Someone he was never supposed to love, but did anyway.
And so, it became a habit.
Wishing at 11:11 PM.
Silly, maybe. But every night, without fail, Eiji whispered a wish into the quiet.
But tonight felt different. A place in his chest that pulsed with longing.
"I don't care if it's impossible" he whispered to no one in particular.
He stood from his bed, feet cold against the floor. Slowly, carefully, he walked toward the window. Each step felt weighted, like the air itself was holding its breath. He reached out and slid the window open just a little. A soft gust of night air brushed past him, cool against his skin, making the curtains shift gently behind him.
Outside, the world was quiet. The streetlights hummed faintly. Leaves rustled somewhere in the distance. The sky above was clear, and stars blanketed the heavens like glitter scattered across black silk. They twinkled gently, as though alive. As though watching.
He tilted his head back and stared at the stars until his eyes watered.
His phone screen lit up on the table behind him.
11:11 PM.
He didn't move. Just closed his eyes.
"I wish…" His voice cracked as the words caught in his throat.
"I wish Ashton could be here. In this world. Even just for a little while. I want him to live. To breathe. To be safe. To be free from all the pain the story gave him."
He opened his eyes, still looking at the stars.
"Ashton, if anyone or anything out there is listening… give him a chance. Let him escape the page. Let him be real, just this once." His voice grew softer.
"Let me be the one to protect you now." And then, as if the universe had heard the sorrow in his voice, the air shifted.
A strange stillness filled the room. A breathless silence.
Then, almost imperceptibly, the stars above seemed to pulse brighter, like they had blinked in unison. A low vibration hummed faintly beneath Eiji's feet, barely there, almost like the sound of the world holding its breath.
The lamp on his desk flickered once.
Then again.
His laptop screen lit up without being touched, only to flash black and then on again.
Eiji spun around, heart thudding hard against his ribs.
A loud crash from behind him. Something heavy hit the floor behind him.
His breath hitched, and for a moment, he couldn't move. His body froze in instinctual fear and wonder. Slowly, he turned.
There, collapsed on the carpet in front of his bookshelf, was a boy.
He was sprawled on his side, breathing shallowly. His skin was pale. Blood trickled from a small gash on his temple. His clothes were torn, his jacket ripped at the shoulder. His hands were scraped. His golden-blonde hair fell across his forehead in messy strands.
But what caught Eiji's breath completely was the face.
The face he had memorized from countless rereads. The face that lived in his mind every night before he fell asleep. The character he thought he could only ever love in secret.
It was him.
"Ashton..." Eiji whispered, voice cracking, eyes wide with disbelief. A tear slipped down his cheek. Eiji dropped to his knees, crawling forward on trembling limbs.
The boy's chest rose and fell slowly. Weakly. But he was breathing.
Eiji reached out with shaking fingers and brushed Ashton's hair away from his face. His skin was warm.
It wasn't a dream. It couldn't be. He was real. And he was here.
The wish had come true.