When she awakened, it was nearly noon. She got up and prepared to attend her afternoon class. Afterwards, she found herself going towards the direction of the auditorium.

Since she had been going there everyday this semester, even on Saturdays, something was amiss in her routine if she didn’t spend time rehearsing. She belonged there and was the happiest when stepping on stage, because there she could be anybody and she could do anything without the judgment and validation of others. For her, that was the most liberating experience—whenever she was acting onstage.

It was like jumping on a cliff and not knowing where or how or if she was going to land. It was where she could experience love and hate and passion and sadness and joy and anger and desperation without even leaving the precincts of its oval structure. It was a whole world of opportunities right there for her, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

She peeked in cautiously before fully opening the door. The lights were on but it was empty. She slowly walked down the aisle, her eyes fixated on the stage, noticing that they had erected the balcony upright again. She set her things at the center of the platform when she heard a repetitive drive of a hammer from somewhere backstage.

Her sight zoomed in upward on the improvised balcony. There was a person on his knees, putting it back together! “Chanyeol?” she called uncertainly, not believing her eyes for a second.

He looked down at her, stopping his pounding. “Kyungsoo?”

“What are you doing here?” They asked each other at the same time.

Then they both looked away as they tried to mumble their answers:

“I was working on the props...” he murmured.

“I got bored so I visited...” she reasoned softly.

Since both of their explanations trailed off, Chanyeol ignored her and went back to securing that last nail. Then he put down the hammer and stood up.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened when Chanyeol started jumping up and down. Was he demented?

He stopped at the third time and dusted himself off, satisfied with the balcony's state of durability.

He looked at her again, didn’t know what to say to her yet. He had received her text message early that morning, before he went to his class for his exams. It was just something about life bringing us unexpected gifts and that she was grateful that he was one of them.  

What was she trying to say with that? He should’ve been the one who followed up on her, called her at least to ask how she was. But he didn’t—douchebag—because he was hesitant about how to act around her now. It felt like she had already caught him guilty of not pretending. He was still afraid to tell her what he felt out loud, because there was always a chance that she would say they were better off as friends...

Amidst all of his thoughts, that was when he realized that Kyungsoo was gone.

He looked around frantically for a few moments. Then he saw her at the bottom of the flimsy stairs going to the balcony. “Kyungsoo!” he scolded, dead serious when she determinedly took that first step. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Chanyeol sounded really angry but she didn’t care as she went on going up as though it were the sturdiest stairs in the world. “I’m going up here tomorrow anyway so why not test it?”

When she finished her statement, she was already at the top and facing him squarely, matching his glare.