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๐
Right as wrong
ft. impulsive confessions
” ๋ ๋ณ์ ์์ ํ๋์ฒ๋ผ ๋ ๋๊ณ ๋ค๋ “
–
From the moment he heard his class’s giddy whispers whenever he turned his back, Scaramouche knew something was up. Especially with the whole backup actor situation he wasn’t planning on believing anytime soon. But his coworker’s accidental video call a few minuted prior confirmed it.
These bastards set them up together.
For a good amount of time, he considered texting the unfortunate other party that still remained blissfully unaware of their situation. But what good would that even do for them? Increase the tension by tenfold? Silence their dinner conversation even more? Add to the chaos? All of the above was the only right answer. And even so, the students still tried so hard to bring this all together. Maybe.. For another unspoken, unacknowledged, unknown reason too.
Although he barely had a full day to process it, love was truly a weird thing. One moment, he hated the world and everything within it. Then it felt like his chest was lit on fire and about to dissipate away all because of one person.
Did someone like him even deserve such feelings?
And yet, the curtains continued to unfurl. The two actors stared at each other with widened eyes. Scaramouche was still not given enough time to accept and take in the fact that non other than his roommate would be the face he saw on stage instead of the female lead who graced the audience previously. Meanwhile, the very teacher facing him looked like their planet just dropped out its orbit. Thinking this was just a part of the opening, the audience hustled down and awaited for their lines.
Giving him a disarrayed look with furrowed brows, she shot a silent what’s going on stare in utter disbelief. Pursing his lips, he glanced into the audience and sighed. The teacher cleared his throat much to Y/n’s unprepared horror.
“What can I get you today?”
The barista that was supposed to be around Xingqiu was wrapped around who she recognized as her roommate and coworker. A black turtleneck and a gray apron that faintly resembled the toy soldier’s armour from far away. Scaramouche was stood behind the counter prop of their coffee shop setting. Her mind jumbled into pieces and flew away in the hurricane of thoughts, reality finally settling in. The audience, to their blissful ignorance, eagerly watched the scene unfold. The cello soloist softly danced their bow across strings that wove out gentle upbeat tunes, adding to the bittersweet atmosphere it was meant to create.
Hiding the trembling right hand behind her back, Y/n took a deep breath. Whatever happened to Xingqiu, she couldn’t mess up everyone’s hard work until now. After a firm bite to her quivering bottom lip, she closed her eyes and peeled them open.
“The days are growing warmer, is it not?”
She hummed in the soft spoken whispery tone of the Ballerina. “At last, the coldest winters are over and spring comes once more. I’m in the mood for….
โA large white mocha with quad shot, 2 shots on bottom, two on top- but pumped only about two-third way instead of a full pump. Almond milk, extra hot, caramel drizzle inside the cup instead of on the whip cream because that would weigh it down and not mix in with the drink. Oh, could you also use half 1/3 decaf espresso roast and the other half with blonde espresso?”
The whole audience burst out laughing for a few moments as Scaramouche shot her the deadpan expression that was scripted. But that face directed towards her only felt so natural. Even off stage, he could already see and hear her actually saying something like that to a poor part timer at a coffee shop. As the silence continued and he kept his hand paused over the notepad, the crowd chuckled once more.
“….”
“That would be all~”
“…Your total is ten mora.”
The two teachers carried on their act with one desperately trying to catch an eye contact for some sort of mutual confusion or an explanation, but he avoided meeting her gaze by any means possible. Their lines were mostly lighthearted interactions with one another, with even some jokes meant to recover the audience from their heartbreak from the three previous acts. Y/n even faintly recalled Furina joking with the crowd to keep the free mini tissues by the venue handy at the beginning.
That wasn’t the main issue here.
Finally, the halfway through. She wasn’t able to tell if time flew or froze, mind and body working elsewhere and almost entirely depending on muscle memory. Everything just felt like a fever dream by this point. Yeah.. Maybe this was all just her hazy afternoon nap, the kind with random people appearing everywhere and anywhere. And Scaramouche just so happened to be one of those people in her dream.
She could only hope.
Sitting at the chair positioned so that her side was revealed to the audience, the art teacher leisurely (not quite there) pretended to sip away at her drink. It was soon one of the major scenes. Along with the sounds of shuffling by the counter prop, Y/n was soon forcibly awakened to the fact that this was her current reality. Who was supposed to be the backup Wooden Soldier grabbed the pen from his apron’s front pocket and scribbled something down onto the receipt. The cameras immediately focused on his image. The auditorium had multiple screens by the front, which was used to cast different angles of the stage during important scenes. One screen showed Y/n by the prop window seat, one on the concert band somewhere down below, and the biggest one zooming into Scaramouche’s pen.
“You left your receipt, barista-hater.”
Flicking the sheet down on her table, he stormed off oddly in character. Cracking a smile, she followed the script and picked the paper up. Her grin widened. Picking up the pen he conveniently dropped on the ground, she added her own part to his drawing.
By this time, Y/n had thankfully grown more comfortable with the fact that Scaramouche was sharing the stage with her. Well… Good thing it wasn’t a minor?
She prepared her exit after standing up slowly and waving to the barista. “Until we meet again.. My soldier.” As rehearsed, Scaramouche froze mid step. Even the music paused in a dramatic halt and left everyone holding their breaths. At an agonizing pace, he turned around and their eyes half forcibly met one another. But they were too focused in the act to question each other any longer. Taking a deep breath for what was to come and what was expected, Y/n picked up her prop purse and began her unrushed approach to the door.
The screens now focused on their expressions and the hollow space between them that only widened as the female lead walked further and further away. Until,
“Where do you believe to be swaying away from me once more, my Ballerina?“
Despite having been embracing herself for it since the beginning of the day, Y/n still inaudibly yelped as they finally made contact. Twirling from a classic wrist grab, Scaramouche spun the both of them in a cliche waltz hold. Hand on her back, one holding onto her hand. One of her legs lifted up into the and while her body angled and faced him. The said teacher had to force herself to hold back from cringing slightly at the crowd’s quiet squeals.
Spotlights on them that once felt like hot rays of sweaty summer light drowned the people out and enclosed the two in their own world, even for a split moment. Was their eye contact supposed to last this long? Probably not. By this point who cared, everything was off track and messed up anyways at this point. Everything blurred. But it wasn’t the static and numbing kind of blur. Anything that wasn’t one another faded away in their world, leaving only the two of them gazing at their reflection in each other’s eyes. One drowned in everblue seas of indigo, the other finding himself staring at who appeared to be a stranger wearing his face amidst mirrors of h/c.
The music by a melancholy hymn, Y/n was the first to snap out of her trance. Frantically rolling her lines in her head, she smiled fondly with a knowing expression. “We meet again at last, hm?”
Was acting always his forte? That tender twinkle deep within the surface of his eyesโ that..
That wasn’t the kind that could be replicated by mere script-memorized words.
“Perhaps it is the very fate that finally pitied down upon us and rebound our tragedy to meet in another life.” He responded softly back, their fingers intertwining with one another. Y/n couldn’t breathe anymore. The air felt two tons’ worth. Scaramouche blinked slowly and twirled her back into a more stable standing stance, their eyes still locked onto one another. From what was practiced, this wasn’t supposed to feel this intimate among the actors… Before she knew it, a hand was ossteteched by his kneeling figure. “We’ve danced through the moon’s light and accompanying burning inferno. This time… May I have this sole dance?”
Breath coming out in shattered shudders, her eyes trembled ever so softly. What.. What was this tugging feeling in her chest? Noโ this is just an act. An act. A lie. Line memorized words Y/n, he was saying those lines off a script he engraved into his mind.
Still, just for a moment in that magical world, she wanted to pretend such words were spoken while looking at the realest her.
What an irony as someone who was also lying on stage.
“Just until sunset, I suppose.” She placed her fingers in his palm, tensing her arm to halt the small shivers. Ignoring the fact that they both skipped at least five lines so far, they positioned themselves as practiced with different partners. Since Xingqiu, who was originally meant to be facing her was a tad bit on the shorter side, the position felt a little awkward. Well.. It wasn’t like her current partner made a huge difference if it came to height aloneโ
But physical portions aside, it never felt more right as it felt wrong.
They mindlessly glided across the stage, ignoring small missteps here and there, utterly enchanted by one another. Whether that was the characters or the actors, was up to the audience to decide. On cue, the students higher up behind the curtains began to flow down the fake cherry blossoms. Y/n would have laughed upon remembering Itto and Childe who were evenly distributing the petals with fans, but her thoughts were elsewhere.
Even if the music’s sweet melody could not catch up to them, they swayed away without a mind to the world unfolding around them. Silently, two prayers were sent to the heavens above right then and there. That the time may stop, just for a few minutes more.
And yet the clock ticked on.
Their dance that felt barely a breath came to a halt along with the melody that hushered into the background. Amidst the fluttering petals and under the spotlight, they regretfully paused their movements. “Both of our wishes came true in this life.” Placing a hand on her chest, she closed her eyes and smiled at the rhythm that steady beat within. Her eyelids snapped open as another hand placed itself on top of hers.
“Perhaps.” He agreed. Y/n questioningly stared up at him. His lines were on cue.. However, was the hand holding part included…? “But I’m turning greedier by the days. What I desire is no longer a heart.
“โInstead, become my heart. Replace the very beat to my existence, pulse and fill my entire body with every last ounce of your being.”
No…. Please, don’t say those words like you mean it.
“This time, accompany my side word by word through every chapter. Through bloody pages and smooth roads, I selfishly ask for the chance to walk by your side and dance until this story in inevitably ends yet again. And when a new journey begins..”
The hand tucking her hair behind her ear felt anything but casual.
“I’ll find you, again and again.
So let us dance, until the flames consume us into ashes once more.”
The screens focused on the receipt that was left on the table prop, showing what they were scribbling on it earlier. On it was a neatly drawn toy soldier figure with a heart in the center of its chest. Next to it, a slightly crooked attempt on a ballerina twirling by the soldier’s side.
Her vision was blocked. More specifically, something was pressing against her… Lips.
Mrrphing a muffled squeal of shock, Y/n stood there with wide eyes, unable to see his expression. The smell of his usual perfume permeated through her senses, his discount price grocery store shampoo mixing and creating a distinguish aroma she had gotten used to over the last few months. The stage and people all dissolved into but a quiet hum, leaving only them close enough to feel their heartbeat and hear their breath. When had the space between them disappeared?
It wasn’t the passion-filled or hungry makeout session that she had seen in movies, the two actors slurping their faces off before pulling off each other in a rushed huff. Instead, it almost felt like a conversation of their own, wordless and soundless yet both could hear everything spoken. Featherlight. Like if she dared to pull away first, the fragile world that enveloped the air would shatter into pieces that could never be picked up again by trembling fingers.
The whole audience blew into cheers and whistles, everyone’s eyes widened at the unexpected ending. If the outside was chaos, backstage was a frenzy. Students that had never even known each others’s names were embracing and screaming, staring at the screen that displayed mr. Raiden’s move that left everyone speechless. Although, silently sobbing for the future selves probably about to holler curses to their past selves under the math teacher’s unprecedented fury. If his former lectures were storms, what was soon to come was a cosmic explosion.
Best case scenario, ms. L/n (hopefully to-be mrs. Raiden) would save them like a god appearing from the skies.
Realizing what he had just done, Scaramouche pulled away from her face and blankly stared at her in return.
“Happy birthday ms. L/n!!!”
Everything spun. Colours that spun her vision until she couldn’t see anything else. The confetti popping above, blues and purples to vibrant crimson and dizzying yellows. Deafening cheers from the audience. Ground vibrating from the cheering and thumping by the backstage. The spotlight that only felt white hot against her skin now. No one assumed her paused state was that of distress, obviously taking it as just a shocked response.
Maybe except one person.
The moment she was about to give up and fall to the ground, a hand firmly supported her from the waist. Explosions of senses finally began to dull as someone else’s hands cupped around her ears and began to guide her off stage. Too distracted by everything happening, the crowd luckily didn’t notice the pair stumbling behind the drawing curtains. Scaramouche’s expression was unseen through the sides of her hair that acted like curtains against the overwhelming sight.
As the pair of honour exit the stage, cheers that erupt quickly died down upon seeing the teacher’s state. The desire to melt and disappear into the ground was unbearable. She didn’t want to be seen like this. Why was everyone staring at her like she just popped off a movie set… Whyโ why, why???
One of the students hesitantly approached, a concerned hand outstretched. “Ms. L/nโ are you alright?” Despite hearing the words, she ran out of the capacity to process it. Another voice responded in her place instead.
“Move.” He snapped with an impatient glare. The poor student flinched and everyone shuffled out of the way. Quickly walking to the exit sign glowing in the dark walls, the duo disappeared with the closing door.
Everyone nervously glanced at each other, confusion and worry brimming their features.
โ
Leaving the chaotic mess of people and sounds behind, the two teachers walked in silence. Since just about the whole building was by the auditorium for the performance, it was nearly dead silent other than their footsteps that sounded side by side. Neither of them found it necessary to speak. Frankly, unable to find the words even if they wanted to.
Both flushed and quickly snapped their heads the other way at a faint knuckle brush. Scaramouche silently placed a step’s worth space between them right away.
The memory of the sudden kiss re-sent alarms off in her head. She had so much to ask, too much to ask. No words came to properly convey any of them. Her coworker wasn’t any better in terms of mental state. Cursing himself off in every possible expression he knew by heart, nails digging into the palm of his hands before he shoved them in his pockets. Since when did these stupid hallways feel this long…
“…”
“…”
As soon as they neared their classrooms, subtle slams came from behind them. The teachers both slid onto the ground, back leaning against the poor door. Reality had finally begun to dawn upon both, and it felt like the world had closed in on its end day.
‘Why did I do that….’
‘Why did he do that…??!’
‘She probably fucking hates me now. Who just kisses their coworker in the middle ofโ ugh.’
‘He probably thinks I’m so unnecessarily overreacting about this… Is this what friends normally do?? Well, probably not. But who knows???’
‘So, what now?’
This was going to be a long, long night.
โโ
A/n KISS FINALLY
Are you guys proud of me (2 updates in a whole month thats not 3 weeks apart)
3025 words
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