Unforgettable You {Extraordinary You Sequel!}

Episode 9: A Sky Full of Stars

KRRCHK.

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WWHHS.

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The story appears to be progressing smoothly. Every few nights, Dano and Juda search for one another, seeking the book in eager curiosity of the most recent plot-point. Haru and Saemi have been partners on a creative writing project for the last two chapters. There have been reportedly intimate moments in the library, and plenty of eye-contact... but Dano refuses to lay eyes on Haru's face in the comic. She won't even look at it for a second.

"So, what? Do you remember Haru from the last book?" Juda inquires, perplexed. "Was he your arch-nemesis or something?"

"Nemesis? No!" Haru. Haru? "Just please stop saying his name. Okay? Do you promise?"

Juda frowns. She stares after Dano as she makes her way towards her side of the room.

Dano tugs a white cashmere sweater over her head, hauling it down over her torso. It is too big, but then again she's tiny: a lot of things are too big for her. Like the weight of her anxiety. She pulls her long wavy hair out from under, tossing it so that it cascades across her shoulders.

"How much longer do you think we have until the next stage?" she asks Juda.

"Who knows?"

Dano grabs her phone and wallet and heads for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Juda shouts, eyebrows furrowed. "It's dark out. It might be midnight, or something."

"It's fine. We're in a freakin' comic book. If I need to be in class bright and early tomorrow to say something totally random and redundant to Saemi—I will be."

Dano opens the door to leave. She is startled to hear laughing. Juda is chortling into her hand, eyes bright with amusement.

It takes Dano a moment to register this. "Are you... laughing?"

"It's just, you've really changed since you found your ego," Juda grins at her. "And I guess... I'm glad you did."

•••

Hearing those words was strangely comforting to Dano. She was never close to Juda, and never expected to be. (To be honest, Dano hadn't even really thought about Juda at all before she found her ego.) Now... what were they? Acquaintances? Companions? Friends?

Dano hops down the staircase two steps at a time, gripping the handrail. She is wearing warm Ugg boots and thin cargo trousers in this chilly weather... maybe she should have changed to jeans.

Whatever. It's fine. Who knows how much time she has, anyway?

Descending to ground level, she fishes her phone from her pocket to call Dohwa. If he is not awake, she'll rattle him awake with this call.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

The phone rings on. He never picks up.

Dano's lips tilt into a pout. She quits the call, "Idiot. Why won't he pick up?" she mutters bitterly. "Is he asleep? We hardly have free time outside the stage..."

She eventually decides that she won't let a pretty night go to waste. No way. Even if she has to spend it by herself.

She leaves the dorm building alone.

•••

Dano doesn't notice there is a stage currently happening until her eyes graze two figures lying side-by-side on the grass, in the vast field of the university. They're like two tiny shadows, their elongated bodies embedded into the grass. Dano takes a few steps closer, wondering who it is... but she should have known better.

Haru and Saemi.

Something aches in Dano's stomach when she realises this: a reopened wound.

The protagonists lie comfortably on the stage of their Shakespearean love story, fingers laced comfortably on their stomachs. Saemi points at a star in the sky.

Dano follows their line of sight. A thousand constellations lay embedded on a scatter board deep blue. They encrust every corner of the night. They glimmer in overwhelming amounts, threatening to drown out the rest of the world—

And then Dano remembers something.

A flash of faded colour.

Soft faces and white smiles.

Haru.

Herself. With short hair, curled at her shoulders, puffy blunted bangs—grinning so wide as if she has just been handed the whole world.

"Thank you. For gifting me with the most beautiful night sky. And... for remembering my wish."

It is like her oxygen is cut off. Dano staggers and falls, her hands barely catching her. Her thoughts race in shambles, palms sweaty. The wound in her stomach quenches to the point that Dano wants to scream. Instead, she cries tears. Her eyes ache too, and they blur her vision. Her face is suddenly wet, like a marsh.

She doesn't understand what is going on.

What is happening to her? Why does she feel like this, why is she crying? Why does she have memories of stars?

And then the stage has ended. Haru and Saemi's romance deepens with every turned page. Dano wasn't part of the stage, yet somehow, she knows this fact. She feels it in the space between them, when the stage dies and shadow comes alive.

Haru sits up first.

He stands up. Saemi pulls herself upright too, saying something incomprehensible to him. He turns to head back to the dorm building.

That's when he sees Dano.