Unforgettable You {Extraordinary You Sequel!}

Episode 5: Juda Knows

KRRCHK.

She is at her desk, in a lecture.

•••

KRRCHK.

She is having lunch with Dohwa.

•••

KRRCHK.

She is in a crowd of people in the assembly hall.

•••

KRRCHK.

She is with Gyeong.

•••

Dano opens the door to her dorm and slams it shut behind her. Juda looks up, but just barely. Her eyebrows arch, like she's surprised. For Juda, that's a lot. The only emotions you ever see in her are sarcasm, bitterness, and boredom.

She scoffs, "What's that about?"

"What?" Dano demands, going to her bed and falling back onto it. Her long dark hair fans out, her arms resting limply on either side of her. She wants to fall asleep, but at the same time she doesn't. She doesn't know when—or where—she'll wake up if she does. She doesn't even know how much time she has in this very moment.

She has enough stress about her studies, and now she has the possibility of a mental asylum to worry about too. So... that's just nice, isn't it?

Juda tosses away her phone, reclining back against the wall her bed sits directly next to. She cocks her head at her roommate, her eyes narrowed, "You're weird these days, Eun Dano."

"I am, aren't I?"

"I heard you say something the other day in the stage, something like you couldn't move. I mean, I think you said that, anyway," Juda sighs. "Honestly, I'm not sure if that was just in my head, or not. So far I'm the only person around here with an ego, and at the rate this story is moving, I'm not sure that's going to change..."

"What are you talking about?" Dano groans, her eyes sealed shut.

Juda laughs abruptly.

"Nothing," she says. "Don't worry about it, Little Stutter. You won't remember when the next stage comes."

Her words dawn on Dano one minute too late. She opens her eyes. Juda's words prick thought and feeling inside Dano.

Wait...

She pulls herself upright, whirling to face Juda, "Juda—"

KRRCHK.

Dano stands on the balcony of the third floor of the right wing, her forearms resting on the railing. Her fingers are  loosely threaded together. Someone walks up to her, but when she tries to see who it is she can't.

"Taking a breather?" It's Gyeong.

Gyeong... for someone reason, Dano is quite soothed by this fact. She doesn't hate Gyeong. Despite this odd situation, and the universe's attempts to set her up with him, she is not exactly opposed to the idea.

She's not startled when she sees him, but she still acts like it, looking sharply up, her eyes wide. When she turns to face the front again, she shifts awkwardly. She smiles meekly to herself, "O-Oh... yeah."

He grins, "I'm glad I caught you. Psych is in about half an hour... should we walk together?"

Dano bows her head, fiddling with her fingers, "...um. I-I—yeah, sure."

"Hey," and he does something that actually surprises Dano; he takes her hand. He pulls the hand closest to him out of her threaded grip, and slips her hand lightly into his own. She glances up at him, eyes widening. He says, "Chin up, okay?"

Why is he so bold? Dano wonders... those words are also kind of random, aren't they? She is starting to like him, but she didn't think he had started to like her too. She assumed he was just being friendly.

Suddenly holding her hand—that is enormously obvious.

"Okay," Gyeong grins at her. "Well, let's go!"

Their hands linked, he tugs her gently from the balcony and they turn to walk into the hallway. But they stop shortly, because Juda is standing right in front of them.

Juda!

"Hey," she says to Gyeong, like she's feigning friendliness. "Can I talk to my roommate? It's really important."

"Oh," Gyeong says, caught off-guard. "Sure." He lets go of Dano's hand and turns to look at her. She meets his gaze. "See you in Psych?"

"Y-Yeah," she whispers, smiling at him. He waves as he leaves, and she returns the gesture.

After he is gone, Dano expects to have her body back—but there's more.

"Hey, you," Juda barks. "Do you like that jerk?"

I don't have time for this, Dano wants to shout. I need to talk to you about the thing. This thing! This thing that's happening right now! It's more important than how I feel about Gyeong. "I... I-I don't know..." she stammers. "Maybe."

Not maybe. Yes. She does like him.

"Well," Juda says. "You shouldn't. I know guys like that. He'll break your heart if you let him. Trust me, Dano. Take my word on this."

WWHHS.

Juda bursts out laughing. Dano opens her mouth to speak, but pauses when she sees Juda laughing so hard. She has doubled over, and when she pulls herself upright again, her face is red and she's wiping tears from her eyes.

"Holy shit," she sings. "I did not know what the hell I was doing in this story until now—I'm the f*cking friend of an extra, trying to stop her heart from being broken? How is that important to the main story whatsoever?"

"Juda!" Dano shouts.

"What?" Juda says indifferently.

"You... y-you... you know what's happening, don't you? Like... the weird noises? And the teleporting?"

Juda stops what she's doing. She drops her hand. She turns to stare at Dano, her eyes growing wider with undeniable shock. It's the first real emotion Dano has seen on her.

"You found your ego?"