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she who was sincere
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🌸🌸🌸
Hana and Do Hwa rushed towards the school cafeteria to find Jinmichae after finding out Haru came back, but he was acting different as if he was someone else and not their Haru.
"Hana!"
Hana turned and saw Jinmichae running towards them with Secret in his hand.
"Jin Mi! What's going on?! Haru--"
"Haru's back." Jinmichae said and handed her Secret.
Hana grabbed the manhwa and her eyes widen in horror seeing a new character in the character description page of Secret. "Haru. Male, 18 years old. Tennis team, loyal to Kyung." she read and heard Do Hwa gasped in shock. "Loyal to Kyung?!"
She looked at Jinmichae and saw how troubled and worried he was. She knew he wanted to stay out of the story as much as possible. He was adamant not to help Dan Oh change the story. He wanted to stay away from trouble. She knew why he was worried about her all the time when Dan Oh tried to change a stage, and she understood he was just protecting her from getting hurt again. Jinmichae warned her that if she wanted to help her friends, she must do as little as possible not to be noticed by the writer.
Hana looked determined as she grabbed Do Hwa and ran off to find Dan Oh, leaving Jinmichae sighing heavily.
"Where will this story even go from now on?" he muttered and watched Hana and Do Hwa's retreating figures. 'Prince Do Yun, Haru, Prince Kyung, what would happen if you knew what you did to Chun Hwa before? I'm not gonna let you hurt her here.'
Hana and Do Hwa found a shock Dan Oh staring at Haru and Kyung's retreating figure.
"Dan Oh!" Hana called out loudly to Dan Oh and stood beside her.
"Hana! Haru, he's back. He's---"
Hana handed her Secret. "He's not the Haru we knew. Read this first, then you'll understand." she explained as Dan Oh grabbed the manhwa.
Hana looked at Kyung, who glanced at Haru in confusion and looked back at them. Her eyes widen in shock as realization dawned of her that he was now aware.
"Kyung's aware and Haru's an extra?" she said as she, Do Hwa and Dan Oh stared at Haru in shock before hearing a flip of a page.
page flipping...
Stage Hana watched as Joo Da approached the table full of beverages for the students that Sae Mi's father donated for sport's day. She was about to take a water bottle, but it was knocked out from her reach by Sae Mi.
Sae Mi and the other girls boasted about their parents' sport's day donations to Joo Da, like food trucks run by chefs, baristas, and massage chairs in every classroom.
"Everyone is pitching in. I hope there's no one at our school who'll try to enjoy all that so shamelessly." Sae Mi said as the others laughed.
"Yah!"
The girls turned around and gasped in shock seeing an angry Hana. They huddled together in fear as they backed away from Joo Da.
"Siu Hana!"
"Princess Hana!"
Hana walked over to them and stood beside Joo Da. "Your parents' donations are all for the students out of their own good will. Did you even know where the money they bought the donations come from?" she mocked as she crossed her arms. "If that's the case, what would happen if I called my parents and told them to pull out their shares in each of your company and terminate their contracts as business partners? Wouldn't that be fair?"
With the sound of a book closing, Sae Mi and the other girls sobbed and ran away, leaving a victorious Hana and a smiling Joo Da.
"Thank you for saving me again, Hana." Joo Da said, gratefully and bowed to her.
Hana shakes her head. "Don't bow, Joo Da. That's what friends are for, we protect and defend each other." she said and took something out of her pocket. "Here's your favourite."
Joo Da's eyes widen in excitement when she saw the strawberry milk in Hana's hand. "My favourite."
Hana nodded and leaned to whisper in her ear. "I hid an entire box of it inside my homeroom. It's yours." she said and grinned happily.
Joo Da smiled shyly and looked at her class t-shirt. "Class 2-8 t-shirts are cute." she said as she and Hana walked towards the school field.
Hana chuckled. "I didn't even know who chose this design. Class 2-7 shirts are cute too, well excluding the fact that it has Nam Ju's name and kids on it." she joked, making herself and Joo Da laughed and ignored a flip of a page.
page flipping...
Stage Hana dodged an incoming dodgeball that Do Hwa threw her way. Class 2-8 and other classes were practicing for the next game, which was dodgeball inside the gymnasium.
One by one her classmates were hit and left the game, until it was only her and Do Hwa. They ignored the loud cheers and yells of their classmates as they narrowed their eyes at each other.
"Siu Hana! Go, go Hana!"
"Way to go, Lee Do Hwa!"
The ball was securely in Do Hwa's hand as Hana stared warily at him. Do Hwa smiled softly as he gently tossed the ball towards her and she caught it easily. She stared at the ball in confusion as she heard their classmates grumbling how soft Do Hwa was with her.
"What was that? Did he really just toss the ball towards her?"
"Woah! Do Hwa really likes Hana."
"He's so soft when it comes to her."
"Hit him, Hana!"
"Come on, Hana!"
Hana glanced at her cheering classmates before looking at the ball she was holding. She looked up at Do Hwa, who was smiling at her. She thought for a minute if she would dare hit Do Hwa or not before smirking and threw the ball towards him, hitting him.
Do Hwa stared dumbfounded at Hana, who was surrounded by their classmates cheering loudly for her. They heard the sound of a book closing as Hana turned to Class 2-7 and saw they were in the middle of playing dodgeball. She saw Dan Oh trying to get Haru's attention, but he was too busy protecting Kyung from getting hit.
"Woah, what kind of character did the writer give to Haru?" she asked in disbelief as Do Hwa stood beside her.
"He's like Kyung's servant."
Her eyes widen at what Do Hwa said and looked at Haru, protecting Kyung. 'Is the writer---'
"Isn't dodgeball the game we played with them when Haru saved Dan Oh?" Do Hwa asked.
Hana flinched in surprise as she looked at him before looking back at Haru, who was aiming to throw the ball towards Dan Oh. "Will he actually hit her? He saved her once." she mumbled.
She, Do Hwa and Kyung quietly watched as Haru wind up the ball and Dan Oh cringed, but instead hitting her hard with the ball, gently hit by her hip.
"He actually hit her." Do Hwa mumbled in disbelief.
Hana looked at Kyung and saw him smirk before narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously. 'He always hated Haru for being so close with Dan Oh. It's messed up if he started caring for Dan Oh now. Where is this story even heading?'
As she was about to confront Kyung, she heard the flip of a page. "Wrong timing, as usual." she grumbled.
page flipping...
Stage Hana and Kyung faced each other inside the tennis court. Class 2-8 and Class 2-7 were having a tennis game as part of the annual sport's day and they picked Hana and Kyung as their representatives.
"Hana! Hana! Hana!"
"Kyung! Kyung! Kyung!"
Students cheered loudly as they gathered around the court to watch the two play. The two were on par with their game, until they heard the sound of a book closing and Hana stood still as the ball Kyung was serving went past her, making Kyung win the game.
Everyone went silent as they stared dumbfounded at Hana, who let Kyung win. Kyung frowned at her, confused at what she did.
Hana sighed softly and looked at Kyung. "I only let you win because I care about you more." she said sincerely and turned to walk away from the tennis court, leaving everyone in awe.
"Hana's so cool!"
"Woah, Hana's amazing!"
Kyung stared at Hana's retreating figure with an amused smile. "What was that, Siu Hana?"
🌸🌸🌸
Hana quietly entered the cafeteria and saw Jinmichae reading her copy of Trumpet Creeper.
"If there's no answer as to how I came to this world, I will make my own answer with Dan Oh."
Hana abruptly stopped walking towards Jinmichae and smiled sadly when she heard Haru's familiar line. "Haru's still Haru when you think about it."
Jinmichae turned around and saw Hana smiling sadly at him. "He has no memories." he told her as he grabbed a high chair for her.
Hana sat down beside him as she shakes her head. "No, that's not it. Haru is Haru, whether he's from Trumpet Creeper or Secret. He still has his memories hidden inside his heart, waiting for Dan Oh." she explained and grabbed Secret from him.
The two heard soft footsteps entering the cafeteria and turned around to find Dan Oh sluggishly walking towards them.
"Dan Oh?" Hana softly called out to her.
Dan Oh stood beside Hana. "This was the only place I could think of." she told her and sat on the chair nearby, looking at Jinmichae. "Haru came back."
"I know." Jinmichae said nonchalantly
"But he can't remember me." Dan Oh added as he looked back at her.
"Didn't you say you'll do anything if he can come back?" Jinmichae said and Dan Oh became quiet. "Eun Dan Oh. You're one needy girl. Why? Are you going to run after him and make him self-aware again?"
Dan Oh shakes her head sadly. "No. I loved it whenever Haru and I changed the story together. I didn't care if the story got twisted. I had the hope that I might be able to live. I thought the answer I could create in this world is to change my fate to face death as a terminally-ill patient. But, I became frightened of everything ever since Haru disappeared. I tell myself that I should just live as an extra.But then I get really scared. I don't want to die."
Dan Oh began crying as Hana rushed towards her side and embraced her tightly, while Jinmichae looked down sadly.
"Haru was the only one who helped me find my answer. But it's all ruined now." Dan Oh said and sobbed in Hana's arms.
🌸🌸🌸
Hana watched nearby as Dan Oh stared at Haru, who was surrounded by his fans. She smiled sadly at the two before hearing a flip of a page and turned around to find Nam Ju's mother, Ji Hyun bumped into Jinmichae and dropped her phone. Jinmichae quickly grabbed her phone from the ground and handed it back to her. He looked at her and eyes widen in horror, recognizing her from Trumpet Creeper.
Hana sighed softly, seeing his reaction and waited for the stage to end. As soon as it did, she ran over to him.
"Jin Mi? Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
Jinmichae sighed. "It is worse to be an extra who is controlled by the writer." he muttered and smiled at Hana. "No wonder you were engaged to Nam Ju."
Hana rolled her eyes. "She always liked me, you know."
They heard a flip of a page and Hana sighed.
"Here we go again." she muttered as she and Jinmichae smiled at each other.
page flipping...
Stage Hana sat on the table in front of Dan Oh in Class 2-7 classroom with Do Hwa standing beside her.
"Let me make a formal announcement."
Hana looked up, confused. "Nam Ju?"
"From now on, Joo Da is the only woman for me."
Everyone went wild as the stage ended. Hana, Do Hwa and Dan Oh glanced at each other before looking at Haru, who was looking outside the window.
"The story will happen as planned no matter what." Dan Oh said sadly and looked at her medications on her table.
Hana looked sadly at her. "Are you just going to accept the way things are and forget about Haru?" she asked sadly as Dan Oh went quiet. "You're just gonna let the story continue just like that?"