⭒ amphitheater.

‹ October 1, 2021 — Around 1:00PM ›

For most of the day, every day, Mingyu was fairly distracted. Maybe it was a mistake to choose seats that were close or next to the windows – Medina had so much to offer after all. Thus, it was hard for him to get out of the frequent abstractions that had been bothering him for quite some time. Today though, he has surrendered to such – dragging himself to an open amphitheater for study hall period. The writer had chosen to ignore any readings and schoolwork that needed to be done, he has plenty of time to do so when he is back at the house. His chosen activity to spend such free time, however, would be too much of a challenge if he were to do it at the house. /He/ was there, after all.

The writer had settled to sit on the farthest row, afraid to catch anyone’s curiosity and attention. He puts his belongings on the seat beside him, just to make sure – even though there were more or less a hundred other seats to choose from. Mingyu gave the amphitheater one last scan, taking note of the few people who were immersed in what they were doing. After that, he looks at his wristwatch, making sure that he would not be missing his final class for the day. Within a few seconds, he was able to open his laptop and a new blank document: its destination folder, ‘What You Leave Behind’.

「 I remembered thinking about the moon during that night – how it appeared so early, somehow a little dull situated on the auburn sky. Yet it caught my attention, and if I only knew, I would not have fixated on it, so I could have spared most of it to you. 」

Mingyu furrowed his eyebrows as someone gathered their stuff and left the amphitheater. The noise was not overwhelming, but it somehow irritated him, causing him to fish out his earphones as quickly as possible – drowning one of his senses with the sound of whatever his shuffled playlist would stir towards.

「 It was not the first time I lost you in a crowd, but it sure was the first time I felt that I would never see you again. Funny as it sounds, given that we were about to be chained to this place—our equally (or so I hope) peregrine souls in melancholy—I was dreading, dreading because of a possible paradox. 」

He pauses, trying to gather the words free-floating in his head, attempting to string them together to form a cohesive continuation of what he had started.

「 It could have been the sudden proximity – no wonder I kept running. After all, I am so used to seeing you from afar, not knowing the things you say; second-guessing what words are formed through the movement of your mouth. Now, I hear it all – especially when you call me. Till now it makes me feel so—oh so 」

A deep inhale and a couple of taps on the backspace.

「 …when you call me. Somehow being proven wrong about what your voice would sound like made me feel triumphant – that now I could correct all those wrong assumptions about you, and that the image I have of you now is the true you. Or am I being too presumptuous? If I am though, I hope you’d forgive me. And give me a chance… 」

Mingyu blinked a couple of times before he decided to hit save and close his laptop, standing up to walk a bit – he needed something better than what he had in his head to finish the entry. The moment it came to him, he halted his movements. It was something he would add later when he got home, but in his head, it went like, 「 And give me a chance to picture you with the auburn sky – the dull moon that will shine so bright come forth the night. 」