forget-me-not || lee dohwa

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜-𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐤

The Comic-verse Loves to Play This Sick Game of Hide and Seek.

Time was different for Gyeoul.

Kyung had come to the library the next day, asking where she had gone. "Nowhere," she replied, placing the encyclopedia on Modern Art back into the shelf, "I saw you off at the gate yesterday evening."

"No, you weren't here yesterday," he said adamantly, "You were gone."

Sometimes, she'd spend what seemed like days locked in the library only to find that she had seen Kyung a few hours ago. This didn't make sense. But by now, Gyeoul had gone through so much that she had decidedly stopped trying to make sense of things. Her, walking into a different world. Comic characters coming to life. Levitating objects. The fact that nobody could remember her. Yeah, what was one more strange phenomenon as compared to all of these?

When Gyeoul found the doors blocked by the same invisible force, Kyung brought her lunch to the library. They found the farthest corner of the hall at his behest and ate together.

"Have you apologized to Eun Danoh?" Gyeoul asked distractedly as she picked out the beans from his lunch box.

Kyung frowned, confused and not used to the gesture. "I did," he said and then quietly added, "I tried to, anyway."

She knitted her brows, sad from the closed-off expression on his face. "Don't be upset, Kyung," she reached across the table to pat the back of his hand comfortingly, "I understand how much it hurts. But it's not the end of the world if she doesn't like you back."

"It's not that easy," he shot back.

"I know."

"The reason for my existence was to add to her pain, hoping she'd live long enough to fix me and..." he grew agitated with each word only to trail off. He stabbed the lump of rice with his spoon, "Forget it."

Gyeoul shifted in her chair, "It's not her job to fix you, Kyung."

"Don't I fucking know it."

"Watch your language."

He glared at her. Kyung wasn't used to being told off like this. It was all so new to him. His first response to being told off was to do was to reply with a 'fuck off'. Unless, of course, it was his father. He did wish he could tell his father to fuck off sometimes.

"Why don't you make new friends?" Gyeoul suggested casually, "Be nice to your classmates or something. You don't need to be romantically involved with someone to feel as if your life's complete."

"Are you planning on coaching me in life lessons the whole time you're here?" He scowled.

She made a face at the stir-fried squid and picked them to place them over Kyung's lunch, "I'm just saying...you can't hang out with me the whole time. You need to talk to more people and, well, find out what you like and don't like when you're out of Stage—oh, jeez, is this how you felt every time you lectured me?" She let out a 'hmm' and concentrated on a spot on the table, thinking.

"I wouldn't know," Kyung replied flatly. Gyeoul smiled at him apologetically and he momentarily wished he knew what it felt like to actually lecture her for not being outspoken. "Is this a way of driving me away so that you can spend more time with Lee Dohwa?" He casually said, with a teasing undertone.

The intense red that spread across her face made her freckles stand out. Gyeoul ducked her head, "I don't think he wants to be around me anymore."

"After all the fuss he made while searching for you?" Kyung raised a brow, "I doubt that."