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Acting, that is where Nayeon’s passion lie. But sometimes acting can be a little boring for her. That’s why she had this hobby of sitting in, in some classes inside their university just to relieve her boredom, and her favorite class was this art class with a really kind professor that lets her come to their class ever so often.
Sitting-in in classes was just some kind of past time she had to kill time before her next class, however, she enjoyed some of the classes she attended, especially that art class she always attends.
Now she always attends that class not to kill time but also to enjoy it, she’s learning new things after all, she always welcomed learning new things even though it’s not related to her major.
“you’re still going to that class?”
“Uh huh. It’s fun. I learn new things.”
She was with her classmate from one of her classes, they were doing some kind of project together that’s why they’re at this café near their university.
“Learning new things is good. But you’re just clearly there for that cute Professor, right?”
Nayeon blushed.
Well, it wasn’t really a lie when she said that she liked the class, but what made her stay was the kind Professor; aside from being kind, they’re also cute.
“That’s one of the reasons, but seriously, I enjoy their class.” She defended.
Her friend just looked at her with a mischievous smile plastered on her face.
As soon as they finished jotting down notes, she directly went to the art class that she’s been attending.
She immediately grabbed a seat near that window, after a few seconds the real students of the class come in one by one. And as if she’s really one of them, some of the students greet her like they’re her classmates.
“Oh, you’re really diligent in attending my class huh” the professor said as soon as they entered the room and saw Nayeon.
“I don’t have much to do anyway.” She replied and smiled at the professor.
A few minutes in, the door opened, a student with a giant canvas entered the class, her clothes looked like she just came from a paintball game, her short hair was messy as if she just woke up, her pants were also filled with different colored paints.
As soon as Nayeon’s eyes landed on her, tears ran down her cheeks.
Huh? What’s happening?
She felt a constriction in her throat, as if she was trying not to sob, her chest felt like they were about to burst.
But it was her first time seeing that person.
What’s happening with me?
She wiped the tears away and tried to calm herself down.
“Ms. Yoo, I thought you dropped out of my class already, how many weeks has it been?”
“Sorry, I was just too preoccupied I forgot to attend classes.”
“Well, it’s good to see you again in my class”
The woman just nodded and sat on an empty seat and her thoughts immediately wandered off to space.
Nayeon’s eyes was glued to the woman. She was watching every single move that the woman was doing, as if she was an art piece that she was examining. Every habit that the woman was doing was being engraved in Nayeon’s memories.
After that class she immediately went back to her dorm not attending the next class she was supposed to attend.
What the hell was that?
She tossed and turned on her bed trying to think of the reason why she felt something as soon as she saw that specific person, but nothing came to mind. Rather she just felt tired from tossing and turning and eventually falling asleep.
“What a beautiful name…”
“I know, it suits me”
The woman in front of her laughed and then looked at her lovingly as if she was the most beautiful person in the world.
“Now I want to know your name, it’s not fair if I’m the only one giving my name.”
“Name…”
The woman chuckled.
“My name is— “
Before she could even hear the woman’s name, she woke up
Nayeon felt tears on her cheeks and beads of sweat on her forehead. She already forgot the face of the woman in her dreams but the feeling she felt while she was with her, she still felt it. The warm feeling inside, the loud beating of her heart, it’s as if she was the one in that dream.
Her name… What was her name.
That same day she attended all her classes and decided not to attend that art class that she usually sits-in.
“Wow, you’re here today. What happened to ‘It’s fun sitting-in, in other classes’?”
“…”
She didn’t answer her friend’s question, rather she just sat there facing the window of the café watching the people passing by, while sipping her Iced Americano and her thoughts wandering to that dream that she had this morning and that mysterious person in her dream.
“Nayeon? Are you listening to me?”
Nayeon just nodded but she wasn’t obviously paying attention to what her friend was saying or asking her.
Who was that, and why did I feel like that?
As she was daydreaming, that student that made her cry in that art class passed by. She immediately sat up straight and her eyes were once again glued to that woman.
“Na—”
Her friend noticed that she was staring at someone so she followed Nayeon’s gaze and saw a woman.
“Isn’t that, The student from the Art department?”
When Nayeon heard that she snapped her head towards her friend
“Who?”
“I don’t know her name, but her face is quite famous because of an incident that happened last semester. And some professors hate her for not attending classes, but still passes her because she’s quite an excellent student, or so I heard.”
“What incident?”
She isn’t really the type of student to stick her nose in every other student’s business, but she was quite curious about this particular art student
“You’re really interested in her aren’t you.” Nayeon’s friend joked
“Just tell me!”
“Well…”
Her friend told her about the incident where the police got involved because her roommate thought that she was missing because she hasn’t been seen for a few weeks, but then she was just being holed up in one of the art studios inside the university because she’s cramming an art project.
“What the…”
“Yeah, it was really chaotic.”
Nayeon finished her Iced Americano and headed towards the Art department and scanned all the empty studios in hoping that she would find that specific student, but to her demise she wasn’t able to find that student.
The next day she had another dream with the same woman in her past dreams, but it was a different scene. They were under a large tree, and was just looking at clouds.
It was really peaceful.
As soon as Nayeon woke up she felt tears again in her cheeks.
Her name… I forgot to ask her name again
This day she attended that art class, however, there were just a few students present and they were all busy making sketches.
The professor approached her
“You won’t be hearing any lectures today, sorry.”
“Are they busy about something?”
“I’ve given them their final project that will also serve as their final exam. So, we won’t be having any lectures until the end of the semester.”
The professor explained, and apologetically smiled at Nayeon. Nayeon just smiled at the professor and looked around to find a specific student.
“Ah, professor, why are there a few students?”
“Oh, that, some students prefer doing their projects at home or somewhere else where they can get inspired, and I heard that there’s one specific student that went on a vacation.”
The story that Nayeon’s friend told her immediately flashed in her mind.
“I think I know of that incident”
“Oh, so you also heard about what happened last semester.”
The professor laughed as they remembered the incident last semester. It was really something that they won’t forget.
“That student is quite peculiar, but at the same time she’s one of the best students that I have. She may not be attending classes quite often, but she probably delivers with her projects and assignments.”
After that, Nayeon decided not to attend the class anymore since she won’t be hearing any lectures.
Eventually she forgot about that class and focused on her own classes and finals.
The next term she totally forgot about that specific student. And after that last conversation with the Art professor, she never dreamt of that mysterious woman again.
“I told you, you shouldn’t have signed up for that class!”
“I already did. Don’t worry I’ll be fine!”
Nayeon said, she was collecting her stuff from the table and was ready to go to her next class when someone bumped into her.
“S-Sorry”
The woman who bumped onto her was wearing sunglasses and looked like she just woke up. She wasn’t able to see the person’s face since the latter was wearing sunglasses and mask but for some reason, she felt like she has seen the woman before.
“It’s fine.”
They bowed at each other, and separated.
The woman staggery walked towards the counter to order.
Hangover?
Nayeon thought before going out of the café.
After Nayeon’s classes. She went back to the very same café and met up with her friends. And to her surprise the woman was still there, already on her 4th cup of Iced Americano. Doing something on her tablet.
She was still wearing the sunglasses, but she already took off her mask.
She really looks familiar.
A few minutes passed, another group of people entered the café and sat in front of the mysterious woman that Nayeon has been observing.
As soon as the group of people greeted the woman, she removed her sunglasses and revealed her swelling eyes.
“I am never going to drink ever again with you guys.”
“It’s your fault for signing up for a 9 am class”
She really looks familiar
Nayeon thought and continued chatting with her friends.
As soon as she came back to the dorms, she suddenly remembered why that person was so familiar.
“Ah! She was that student at the Art class that I was Sitting-in last semester!”
After that encounter, Nayeon had been having weird dreams again.
It was the same woman, but they seem to be doing things that only lovers do. And every time she wakes up, tears are trickling down her cheeks.
This is getting ridiculous.
She thought to herself, but at the same time she’s getting really curious as to what was the name of the woman in her dreams.
A few weeks passed by and she has been seeing that art student everywhere she goes. And somehow, she felt like she had known that person for a long time. Like they knew each other. At the same time, her dreams feel more vivid the more she dreams about that mysterious woman. Like she was really spending time with her through her dreams.
As the days pass by, she kept attending a specific elective class where that woman was attending just to see her. She can’t explain it but every time she sees her, she feels all the same emotion that she feels towards the woman in her dreams.
It’s as if they’re the same person.
“Father, please! I love her!”
“No! This—This is unacceptable! You are a noble Nayeon!”
Rage was visible in her father’s eyes, but at the same time there were hints of concern but it was laced with disgust.
“My daughter, I promise. I will cure you from that disease”
“Father! I am not sick! How many times do I need to tell you that I am not ill!”
His father knitted his eyebrows as he looked at her daughter, kneeling in front of her, begging for a commoner’s life.
“Father, all my life I obeyed all of your rules, I obeyed whatever you told me to do. But getting married to someone I do not have any affection for. That I cannot accept, as I have a lover.”
Tears were welling up in her eyes, as she looked up at her father, her arms raised protecting her lover from the rage of her father.
“Nayeon, my lovely daughter…”
Her father knelt and hugged his daughter tightly
She smiled. She was relieved, she had pursued her father to let her and her lover be. However, the next words from her father were something she did not expect.
“… I apologize…”
“Behead her”
“Father?!”
She tried to escape her father’s grasp but she was too weak.
“No!”
Right before her eyes, she can see her lover being taken away, she felt angry at herself because she can’t do anything about it.
Her lover on the other hand was looking at her with the most loving eyes, and a smile on her lips.
“Nayeon, even in my next life, you will always be the one who will have my heart. Remember that.”
The last thing that she saw was a warm smile, before they cut her head off.
“NO!”
Nayeon woke up form what seems to be a nightmare.
Tears were falling down on her cheeks, and her heart was aching. Her hands were shaking, the dream was so vivid, and it frightened her.
Even after the woman in her dreams died, she wasn’t able to know her name, nor what she looked like.
However, that very feeling that she felt in her dream. The feeling of being in love, the feeling of loving someone, she also felt those same things towards a specific person. She can’t explain it, but that person makes her feel things.
She already fell for that woman. That peculiar art student without even knowing it.
“I still don’t know her name tho.”
After that dream, she stopped dreaming about the mysterious woman. However, the beheading was still vivid in her memory.
It was like it really happened right before her. Like she was there at that place and time, to witness the beheading of that woman.
A few years had passed and she already graduated, she’s already a rookie actress that takes up minor supporting roles. She’s still new to the industry but she’s trying her best.
She already forgot about that peculiar art student that she fell for without even knowing their name.
Now she’s here at an art Exhibit because she was invited by one of the Lead actors of the movie that she was starring. The whole cast were actually invited even the people who plays supporting roles.
“I’ll be fine, I promise. Look at the other exhibits too and enjoy yourself! Don’t worry about me!”
“I’m not worried about you. I’m more worried to your stalkers!”
“Yah! Is that how a manager react?!”
It was just a playful banter between her and her manager. It was a usual sight.
While looking around at the exhibit, she passed by an exhibit that was closed off from other people. She got curious about it, but she just shrugged off that curiosity and walked off to see the other art.
While walking at the sea of people she felt like she was being followed by someone so she intentionally tried to lose them. And when she was sure that someone wasn’t following her anymore, she waled back to see if the person was still there and they were.
Nayeon can still see the person’s back from where she is, so she quietly sneaked and twisted that person’s arms. Even though she’s just a minor celebrity, she still had her fair share of stalkers so she studied self-defense for times like these.
“Ow!”
That voice, it seemed familiar to her.
“You’ve been following me around, haven’t you?!”
She wasn’t able to see the person’s face. But this build and voice.
She immediately remembered the woman in her dreams.
“No, No. I was just looking at other paintings!” She defended as she tries to look over her shoulder. “I’m actually one of the artists of this exhibit!” She added.
Nayeon was still suspicious of this person but she seemed to be telling the truth so she released her. As soon as the woman turned around, her heart frenzied.
What is this?
She was trying to calm her heart down when suddenly she heard a sob. The woman was crying in front of her.
Nayeon felt her heart clench at the sight of the woman crying. She didn’t know what was happening but she knew she had to do something.
“Are you… Are you crying? Did It hurt too much?” She asked.
Of course! You twisted her arms!
She internally scolded herself.
The woman just chuckled and shook her head. She wiped her tears and smiled at Nayeon.
“I’m Yoo Jeongyeon” The woman said and reached her hand out for a handshake.
As soon as Nayeon heard that name. All the dreams she had with the mysterious woman flashed back before her eyes.
“What a beautiful name…”
“I know, it suits me”
The woman in front of her laughed and then looked at her lovingly as if she was the most beautiful person in the world.
“Now I want to know your name, it’s not fair if I’m the only one giving my name.”
“Name…”
The woman chuckled.
“My name is, Yoo Jeongyeon“
Not only the woman in her dreams have appeared in her memories, but also that peculiar student that she fell for without knowing the name. It was the very same person in front of her.
Jeongyeon was just smiling at her while still reaching her hand out.
Nayeon smiled back and accepted her hand.
“Im Nayeon.”
It was the same smile from my dream. Maybe this was the next life she was talking about.
“Finally… I’ve found you…”