extraordinary disaster || baek kyung

19. lila and kyung

"Dodo bird!" Lila squawks, running down the corridor to greet her friend. "Why do I feel like we never see each other?"

Dohwa scoffs, pretending to shrivel in the vice-like grip she puts him in. "Probably because you're two hours late to school every day."

"Not on stage days." Lila counters, tightening the hold a bit more.

"Well, clearly today we're jobless-"

Hijack!

Dohwa, Namjoo and Lila sit, stiff as rods, on the round tree bench.

Why did I have to be in the middle, Lila thinks, eyes warily darting between the tense pair.

"Are you two still fighting?" Stage Lila sighs.

Dohwa clears his throat awkwardly, and Namjoo clicks his tongue.

"I'm telling our class that Juda and I are an official couple today."

Dohwa stiffens. Lila internally rolls her eyes. She'd thought that had already happened by now. The writer was dragging the Namjoo and Juda storyline on and on.

"What about your engagement?" Dohwa grumbles.

Stage Lila and Namjoo visibly flinch in disgust. Her character smirks.

"I'll handle that. You enjoy your honeymoon phase, Joo."

"Are you sure, princess?" Namjoo frowns. "My mother and your stepmother seem persistent."

"I can help- wait, guys," Dohwa's eyes gauge, he grabs both of them with disbelief, "Look over there."

The trio's eyes snap to the site of interest two benches over. Haru gets up, and Dan Oh walks over, bouquet placed beside Baek Kyung.

Lila's heart drops to her stomach.

"This belonged to my mother." Stage Kyung starts.

They're a fair distance away yet his voice rings clearly in Lila's ears like the writer wanted to personally taunt her.

Kyung produces the small black velvet box. It doesn't take much to infer what this Stage is really about.

Fists clenched at her side, where she stands and belongs, and Lila can do nothing in fear that more havoc will wreak over them all.

"I wanted to give you this. I mean it with all my heart." Stage Kyung smiles, with that adoring look which Lila wishes was directed at her.

The ring slides onto Dan Oh's finger. A piece of Lila dies.

It's just a stage. It's just a stage.

And before she knows it, Stage Lila's face is drenched with tears as she watches on. Her character heaves on a sob and sharply turns, legs dragging Lila away. And she's grateful for her character's dramatic antics because that was a little too raw and real for her to handle. Her throat feels tight on her own accord, fingernails digging into her palm with free will.

It's just a stage.

Footsteps pound behind her, Stage Lila tearing down the path, tears blurring her gaze until she collapses in some random, abandoned corner of the school. Except it's not, the wall she and Kyung swung over to bunk off school looms above her. Jeers at her. Stage Lila bursts into another frenzy of sobs.

"Lila! Are you okay?"

Stage Lila looks up at a rather frazzled Lee Dohwa, who offers her his neon green handkerchief out of nowhere.