" Do you remember that place, you really liked it
The doodles we left for fun
Are still there without change... "
- Beautiful Time by NCT Dream
OH ARA'S POV
Right after saying good night to Namju and walking inside my room, it was already Monday, and Stage Me was getting ready for school. I was already screaming and cursing at the Writer for being so insensitive. I didn't even get to sleep.
Stage Me finished getting ready within one hour and when she left her bedroom, that was when she heard Namju waking up in his bedroom down the hallway. Usually, it is quiet inside the Oh Residence, but ever since I was adopted by my cousin's parents, Namju had been playing music in his bedroom after waking up. Even the kitchen staff would be singing or chatting while making breakfast early in the morning for me and Namju.
I'm not complaining at all. I actually like how it isn't too noisy and quiet at the same time. Because deep down, I feel like I'm home with my late parents.
Well, that's how Stage Me feels.
"Morning, Ms. Ara," Maid Kwon greeted as she sees Stage Me walking down the stairs.
Stage Me greeted back with a bright smile and Maid Kwon grinned at this. The two talked for a while before Stage Me continued on to the Dining Hall where Namju's mother is currently sitting on her seat while sipping a cup of warm coffee and reading the front page of Monday's newspaper.
"Ara, I see you're awake," Ms. Cha spoke up when she finally noticed her only niece walking in.
"Good morning, Auntie," Stage Me replied back with another bright smile while walking over to an empty seat across from her aunt.
Ms. Cha placed the newspaper down and looked back at Stage Me.
Then she started talking again.
"I heard from one of the maids that you came back home after dinner. Where did you go if I may ask?"
Stage Me then remembered what happened the night before and the stage that I changed showed up in snippets of memories one by one. Stage Me wanted to talk about the little boy and the polaroid picture of a girl who had the same face as her. But something was stopping her when she stared at the eyes of her cousin's mother.
"For the first time... I see that she is hiding something..." Stage Me thought as I wondered what it was that Ms. Cha would be hiding from me.
Then Stage Me answered, "I was hanging out with Kyung. We bumped into each other at a playground and decided to spend some time together like before."
Ms. Cha took another sip from her cup of coffee before asking, "Kyung? Baek Kyung? You mean, Mr. Baek's eldest son?"
Stage Me nodded her head gently and a second later the head chef of the kitchen staff passed by and placed her breakfast in front of her on the dining table.
"I heard that Mr. Baek's eldest son is engaged," Ms. Chan continued on as Stage Me was about to pick up the fork and spoon in front of her. "Why hang around with a taken man, my niece?"
Suddenly the vibe inside the Dining Hall changed and when Stage Me looked up to face the woman sitting across from her, I saw the look on Ms. Cha's face.
She looked disgusted as if she had remembered something. But what?
"Mother, as you should know, Kyung and Ara have been friends way before I knew him," Namju spoke up as he entered the room. "Their mothers both knew each other as well."
Ms. Cha was surprised to see her son but she still continued, "Namju, of course, I know that, but Baek Kyung has a fiancee what if-"
THUD!
"What if?" Namju asked in disbelief after shutting his Mother off by pulling his chair and making it fall back onto the ground. "Please, Ara is different from those kinds of girls!"
Then Stage Me was pulled up to her feet by her cousin and out of the Dining Hall.
"I've texted Dohwa to come and pick you up," Namju whispered before shutting the doors in between them.
The stage ended after that but I can still hear the mother and son yelling at each other neck-to-neck. I sighed and heard Butler Lim calling for me from the Main Hall. I grabbed the backpack that I left outside the Dining Hall and walked to where Butler Lim is at. I see him talking to Dohwa who was standing by the front door. I greeted the two with a smile and I said a quick 'goodbye' to Butler Lim before heading out with my best friend who had a worried look on his face.
He must have heard the stage.
"Are you okay?" Dohwa asked as we both got inside his family's car.
I looked at him and faked a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Morning classes ended in a blink of an eye and the next thing that I know I'm walking down the school's hallway with Dohwa on my right when out of nowhere the tall guy pulled me inside my classroom.
"Do, I told you not to pull my arm like that!" I scolded him and earned a quick apology.
Then he whispered, "What do you think Danoh is doing by the windows?"
I looked across the classroom and soon saw my other friend staring outside one of the windows. I tilted my head at this and shrugged my shoulders as my answer to Dohwa's question. Then I noticed Namju had pushed Danoh to the side to stare at something or someone from the grounds. I chuckled at the scene and realized that my cousin must be in a mini stage at the moment.
"Hey, Danoh, do you wanna grab some banana mi-" I cut myself off when I noticed that Danoh didn't turn around to face me.
I looked around the classroom and realized that everyone is in the mini stage, too.
I mentally groaned and whispered to myself, "Damn you, Writer."
Then the stage ended and I quickly saw Danoh pushing Namju away from the window. I bit my bottom lip from laughing out loud and Dohwa gently grabbed my arm this time.
He slightly pulled me to where Danoh is at and had asked her, "What are you doing?"
Dohwa stood on Danoh's right while I sat on an empty desk behind the two.
"You're the other guy in the love triangle," Danoh spoke up while crossing her arms and looking down at someone by the grounds. "But you look completely free."
Dohwa grinned at the statement and said, "Because I'm the other guy."
Then he added in, "My role is to follow the main character," and looked over at me while saying, "same goes for Ara since she's the second female lead."
I raised my left eyebrow at that and teased, "Looks like someone adjusted pretty fast."
"Is that so?" Dohwa replied back with a snicker, Danoh following right after him.
Then the two became quiet as Dohwa noticed what or who Danoh has been looking at.
"That's him, right?" Dohwa asked and that perked my interest up.
I stood up from the empty desk that I was sitting on and stood on Danoh's left side.
"What?" Danoh asked, surprised.
Then Dohwa continued on, "The back that you were looking for."
I softly laughed at that and earned a short death glare from the girl standing on my right. I innocently smiled at her and we both heard Dohwa asking for Haru's name. My smile faded as I looked away from the two and over at where Haru is at. I see him drawing in a white notebook while sitting on a bench. Bits of my memories of Haru from when I was in Trumpet Creeper showed up. The first time he painted was a few weeks after my father took him in, those times when he would ask me if he can use my face as his reference for his paintings, and lastly, the last time he ever painted of me and started to paint Danoh.
Bittersweet memories of my adopted brother soon faded out when I heard Danoh answer, "He doesn't have one."
Of course, he wouldn't.
I didn't bother to say anything since I didn't want to give away that I know who Haru is. So I bit my tongue until I tasted something metal.
"What do you mean?" Dohwa asked in confusion.
Then Danoh replied back with a sad look on her face, "He's not on the character list, and he's not drawn in full either. I can't even look for him in the manhwa."
"Because he's just an extra, Dani," I reminded her while wondering what Haru is drawing in that notebook of his.
I heard Danoh sighing to herself before saying, "But look at how handsome he is! It makes no sense that he's just an extra."
Then out of nowhere Namju started to talk to himself, breaking the sad atmosphere between me, Danoh, and Dohwa. The three of us looked over at my cousin and gave a weird look at the loverboy.
"Ah, she's driving me crazy," Namju spoke up, still looking at Juda from the other window. "Why... Why is she so cute?"
"I didn't need to hear that," I muttered under my breath, earning a nod from Danoh.
Namju smiled to himself. "She's so cute."
Both Danoh and I shook our heads. She was making faces while I was rubbing my ears.
"Ugh, I feel nauseous," Danoh said, making me and Dohwa chuckle.
"Don't mind him," my best friend told her.
But then I added in, "Try living with him."
The two gave me an apologetic look while Danoh had also given me a side hug.
"Why don't you change a stage and stay over at my place instead?" She suggested while making a cute face.
"And hear you talk about him?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and pointing at Haru.
Danoh gave me another death glare and I stuck my tongue out at her, making Dohwa laugh to himself.
Then suddenly Danoh gasped and had pulled both Dohwa and me to the floor. This time I gave her my share of a death glare while Dohwa was asking what that was about.
"Why are we hiding?" Dohwa asked, confused.
Danoh then came into a realization and said, "You're right! It's not like I did anything wrong!"
Then I groaned in irritation, "Gosh, you go crazy for handsome men," and facepalmed while standing back up.
"Yah! That's not true!" Danoh exclaimed at me. "It was because I was hoping that he would change my fate!"
Then the two followed right after and we looked back outside the window.
"But you said he's an extra with no name. How can he change your fate?" Dohwa asked as we noticed that Haru is no longer sitting on the bench with his notebook and pencil case.
I looked outside the window from the bench that Haru was on to the garden where Juda is flowering the plants and to where the other students are at. But I don't see my adopted brother anywhere.
Where did he go all of a sudden?
"Oh!" Danoh gasped from my right side.
I looked back at the short girl and saw Dohwa holding her steady.
"Danoh?" I called out in worry as I watched my friend place her hand on the side of her head.
Then she returned back to us in a minute and said, "This is so weird!"
I raised my left eyebrow at her and asked, "What is it?"
"I saw Number 13 on the storyboard, but why?" She exclaimed while looking between me and Dohwa.
Then Dohwa pointed out, "But he's a nameless character."
That suddenly took my interest.
What if the Writer is planning to make Haru into a character with a name?
Then does that mean he'll... have a background and have stages, too?
Wait, what if he also starts to remember his past life from Trumpet Creeper?
Will he help Danoh change her fate if he remembers?
I... I can't let him.
The bad memories of what had happened back in Trumpet Creeper haunts me once again as I heard Danoh saying, "I must check one more time... if Number 13 holds the key in changing my fate or not."
I look at Danoh with furrowed eyebrows as she and Dohwa nodded at each other.
I absolutely cannot put Haru in this position again.
I'm sorry, Danoh...
But even if Haru isn't aware, he is still my family and friend who I can't give up on.
I can't lose him after what happened in the old manhwa.
"What are you going to do?" Joon spoke up as we walked down the hallway after Danoh left and Dohwa went to who knows where.
I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. "I am going to break my promise to Jinmi," I answered simply, but deep down I was already feeling guilty about changing my plans.
Then my older brother stopped walking and faced me. "You're going to do what?" He asked in surprise.
"I promised Jinmi that I won't change my stages or any stages that are related to me... Well, I'm going to go against my words and make sure that Haru won't get in the Writer's way."
"Okay, Seol. I understand that you're both scared and anxious now that Danoh found Haru, but Haru isn't aware. I've checked, and the young one doesn't even talk. Just let them be, sister."
I couldn't believe what I am hearing.
I glared at Joon and exclaimed out loud, "Let them be? Like how we did back then in the old manhwa?"
The 19-year-old had many expressions on his face after hearing what I just said.
Then he shouted in desperation, "Haru isn't aware. But you are! Do you not understand what I'm trying to tell you? Seol, if you go against the Writer, he or she will make you do things you don't want to do! What if you get hurt again? What will I do? What will Jinmi hyung do? I can't lose you again, Seol..."
Tears were forming in my older brother's eyes. I bit my bottom lip stopping myself from saying anything else. I gently placed my right hand on Joon's cheek and forced myself to smile at him. Joon shook his head at the action and spoke up, "If you're going to get in the way of the Writer then you better do a good job at it. Do better than me, sister," and he turned and walked back to the direction to where we first were at.
"Ara! There you are!" Danoh called from down the hallway. "Do you remember the plan?"
The plan... Right, Danoh's stage with the main characters will happen later in the Science Lab. If I alter her plan, then the stage will change. I will most likely be her substitute like last time when she and Kyung fought. If I end up as her substitute then... I wonder how the stage will be like.
I nodded my head and said, "Yeah, I remember it. So, when did you say Juda will show up?"
Then right at that moment, I heard the sound of pages being flipped.
"Nevermind," I said making Danoh open and close her mouth. "See you in class-"
사작 !
🌼 a/n.
Y'all... Ara is about to see and talk to Haru real soon- the Three Musketeers and D'Artagnan will finally be formed in the next few chapters!! I can finally write the scenes between the two siblings and have Joon as a third-wheeler. 😂😂😂 Word count: 2676