Curiosity

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by Calligrapherx

by Calligrapherx

Note: I've gotten into a habit of writing while waiting for episode releases, so here's an incredibly short, very unpolished drabble focusing (slightly) on the lead up to the theater scene in Episode 6.

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Haru learns fairly quickly that curiosity is his greatest flaw. He exists as an extra in this world—a nameless, faceless being without a story, a family, or even a home—and yet he has this much to acknowledge. There's something in him, something that ebbs and flows but that's clearly there to stay.

He doesn't know what to make of it at first. The feeling is muted, quiet; it thrums in the back of his mind, guides his hand in one careful sweep after the next, and moves his feet forward when all else should remain still. It trails his gaze along the curve of her cheek, chases a meandering path towards the brilliance of her smile, and leaves him sitting by lamplight with her story in his hands.

He's ambivalent at first, yet he careens into her path time and time again, crashing against her like each meeting might satisfy that nameless something in him. Instead, he learns that she's as much a hostage to her lines as he is a willing captive to her. There's little satisfaction in that. And so, he pores over her pages like they might offer him a lifeline; but the feeling worsens, bubbles up and over in a heartbeat, and carries him into spaces and places and roles that aren't his.

The theater is only the latest of those undertakings.

Haru hears about the movie from her first, but in the stillness of the setting afternoon sun, he slides the book open and leafs through the advice Sae Mi offers. Subtle touches and indirect kisses—he registers the words with a blank stare, fingers ghosting over the drawing of Dan Oh's reddened cheeks. All at once, he's wary and hesitant and concerned, but when he turns the page and sees Baek Kyung angrily end their phone call, it's relief that stands out most.

So in a way, he understands exactly why, hours later, he's standing in the theater before her in a sweater that's one size too large, wearing shoes he'd found floating in the locker room. In the brightness of her eyes, he finds an answer to his curiosity, to his flaws, to the nameless emotion he's not sure he can even fault.

"I found you."