Chapter Text
After three months of hiding away from the Writer, making out in library corners, sneaking to his apartment, staying in the backgrounds of every other scene, and pretending to be a mindless extra, Ha Ru thinks that everything will be alright.
After class ends for the day, he meets Kyung a hundred meters away from the school, and together they walk to any place they can find before the page flips and he's back in his studio apartment, alone.
Today, he wakes up and reheats yesterday's leftovers, sitting down on the table alone and playing with his phone like every other teenager.
I want to grab sth for breakfast but my dad's at the table.
Option A : don't eat
Option B : eat and possibly get a slap in the face
I have some leftovers.
Do you want persimmons? They're in season.
I have some though I didn't buy it.
I'll knock on your door in 5 mins.
If I'm not there, tell Namju he has
to take care of my dog.
Also, I don't know whether the Writer
gave them to you or not, but please
don't steal other's persimmons.
Ha Ru smiles. Although never texting him good morning every day like most boyfriends do, Kyung never forgets his morning text, though it mostly consists of him trying to find somewhere safe to get breakfast.
Too focused on his phone, Ha Ru didn't notice the swirling black vortex on the ceiling, small and silent and watching.
-
He heard his doorbell ringing not long after, and rushed to open the door. Kyung stands on the other side, backpack slung over his shoulder and his shirt a little askew.
"Hey."
"I cut your persimmons."
Baek Kyung smiled, and Ha Ru let him in.
"Also, Dan Oh wants to treat us to some seafood tomorrow night. Or not, I think she wants me to pay. Apparently it's the payment for my attitude towards her before I became aware."
Ha Ru laughs, grabbing several extra plates while Kyung grabs two boxes of food.
"She deserves all the food in the world for how 'Secret' Baek Kyung treated her, honestly. You were a total asshole."
"Agreed. If I could find that damn Writer I would smack them with the thickest encyclopedia I could find. How dare she make a face this handsome become a mean bully?"
"Whatever. That one's spicy, by the way."
"Fuc-"
-
"Ha Ru!!!"
Dan oh greets him first thing in the morning, Do Hwa magically appearing next to her. They look fresh and cheerful in comparison to most of the student body who are not early birds, mostly relying on coffee and their mothers to keep them awake and functioning.
"Hey, have you done Ms. Kim's homework?"
"WE HAD HOMEWORK?!"
"Dan Oh, I-"
The short girl ran away quickly, followed a frantic looking Do Hwa screaming about her heart. Next to him, Kyung frowns at the wall, muttering things without a sound. After ten seconds, he looks at Ha Ru,
"We don't actually have homework, do we?"
Ha Ru's grin answers everything.
"Her heart is extremely weak, you-"
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, stop pinching me! She magically doesn't have heart disease offscreen!"
-
Classes passed by quickly, only having one scene of Nam Ju and Ju Da in between. Ha Ru stayed in the background perfectly, as if he was just classmate #13 who never had a mind of his own.
It was lunchtime now, and he was spending it with Kyung inside the school gardens, under a huge tree to both protect them from the sun and the Writer.
"How long do you think we have until Secret ends?" Kyung says suddenly.
Ha Ru shrugs, "I haven't seen the book for weeks now. It'll end at some point, I suppose. What do you think will happen to us?"
"Huh," Kyung mutters, "probably disappear."
-
It was time to go home now, and Kyung walks back home with Ha Ru, not wanting to go home that day. They walk in a comfortable silence, hands clasped together, ignoring everything going on in the background.
Two hours later, Kyung was comfortable in Ha Ru's bed, five seconds away from falling asleep. Ha Ru climbs into bed with him, and with their bodies pressed together and hands intertwined, the two fall into deep sleep.
The swirling black vortex grows in size.
-
'It stings like a paper cut.'
'I don't really know what to do with that, honestly.'
'You could kiss it better.'
"Ah, seriously!"
"What happened?"
"Weird dreams have been bugging me for days."
'I hate these scenes. Why am I suddenly your best friend who sticks close to you?'
'Hah, you think I know?'
"Ahhhh, shut up!"
"What the hell is wrong with you?"