Episode 2: The Old Theater and Fingertips Nearly Touching

Episode 2: Fingertips almost touching the old theater The deep, soft texture of the red velvet seats wrapped Siwoo's entire body warmly. The solid oak wood of the handle and backrest was engraved with subtle scratches that had been worn down by numerous visitors over the decades.

The grain of the wood, which had been filled with the warmth of people over a long period of time, gave a comfortable and heavy sense of stability, like the embrace of an old friend. Seo-ah was sitting right next to Si-woo, less than a span away. The faint scent of vanilla and fresh freesia flowers bloomed from her dark brown hair that fell over her slender shoulders.

The cool and musty air typical of the old movie theater was immediately warmed up like the sunlight of a spring day. Siwoo swallowed his dry saliva trying to calm the sound of his heart, which was pounding so violently that it felt like it was going to explode. He is currently in a deep sleep on an old bed in a rooftop room in Huam-dong.

While clearly aware that the entire scene unfolding before my eyes is the time and space of a miraculous lucid dream,

The sound of Seo-ah's even breathing, the slight brushing of her collar, and the dazzling sense of existence felt every time our eyes meet.

It dominated his five senses more clearly and sharply than any other physical entity in reality. Is this really just a false illusion created by the electrical signals of brain cells? Seo-ah’s pale skin texture, the fine fluff on her earlobes, and even the shadows of her eyelashes blinking in the light of the projector.

Everything contained a perfect, breathing vitality. They say that all senses are awakened in a lucid dream, but the thrill I was feeling now went far beyond the limits of a simple dream. Siwoo's dry fingertips trembled, wanting to touch the hem of her dress. “Seoya... is it really you? What I’m seeing right now... isn’t just a sad mirage created by my poor, exhausted brain from work, is it?”

Siwoo's voice was trembling like a piece of paper pulled out of the water. Every night for the past year, I was so filled with longing that I called her name in my dreams hundreds or thousands of times, as if I was vomiting blood.

Every time Seo-ah tries to reach out and grab it, it crumbles and disappears like the morning fog.

I used to walk out into the cold rain without even looking back. Never before has someone sat like this, with their whole body and body temperature within arm's reach. The intense fear that he might break at any moment was freezing Siwoo's heart. Seo-ah slowly turned her head to the side, looked at Si-woo, and blinked her clear eyes. In her deep, transparent eyes, blue and silver rays pouring from the projection window above her shimmered like the Milky Way in the night sky. She gently opened her lips and answered in a low, clear voice.

"It doesn't matter if it's an illusion or real, Siwoo. The cold world we call reality is nothing if the heart doesn't feel it. The daily subway commute, the dull computer monitor, the boss's reprimands... Are those things real to the soul? The fact that you are by my side and I am by your side at this moment... And that we are feeling each other's body heat... That alone is enough. If it is a space created by touching hearts, that is the best place in the universe. "It's a real world."

Seo-ah's sweet and deep voice gently embraced Si-woo's frozen soul like melting spring snow. Chirrrrrrrrrrr, tick, tick, tick... rattle. Inside the small overhead projection window, the analog driving sound of a 35mm movie film projector rotating with a heavy motor is heard.

It rang softly like a rhythmic lullaby, awakening the silence of the theater. A huge beam of white light extending in a cone shape makes fine dust particles in the air shine like diamonds.

It filled the huge silver screen in front. On the screen, the black and white scenery of Paris, France in the 1960s was quietly unfolding like Jean-Luc Godard's Nouvelle Vague film. The Pont Neuf, a graceful stone bridge on the Seine River, moistened by the autumn rain,

The shabby silhouettes of lovers walking while holding transparent plastic umbrellas under the light of old gas lamps,

And the lyrical reflection of the antique stone reliefs of Notre Dame Cathedral and street trees reflected in a rainwater puddle. In the old theater wooden horn speakers and vacuum tube amplifiers installed majestically on both sides of the screen,

A jazz trumpet solo with a warm and fuzzy texture and a smooth contrabass walking line.

It flowed with the familiar crackling noise typical of old LP records and gently pounded my heart. The classic sound was vague, like a melody of old memories coming from an old radio. The sweet and savory smell of caramel popcorn spread a warm buttery scent in the cold air. On Seo-ah's lap was a classic paper popcorn box with vivid red and white stripes. “Siwoo, this theater... do you remember where it is?”

Seo-ah looked up at the screen and asked in a low whisper. Siwoo held his breath and looked around the inside of the theater. A vintage brass chandelier hangs from the high domed ceiling, candelabra-shaped bracket lights neatly installed along the wall,

And velvet seats with numbers on each armrest carefully painted in golden paint. “We… during the winter break of our second year of college, we went to the independent art cinema on the third floor of a shabby building in the alley behind the Piccadilly Theater in Jongno 3-ga… right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Seo-ah folded her eyes into a half-moon shape as if she was happy and let out a small, clear laugh. The small dimples on her cheeks glowed peach-colored in the light of the projector. "That day, Seoul had a record-breaking snowfall in 10 years. The subway was delayed and buses were cut off, and the entire streets of Jongno were covered in white snow. You ran into this old theater, wading through snow that was deep up to your ankles... You dug into your pockets to buy two cups of warm milk tea, and I saved up my coins to buy this caramel popcorn. The heating wasn't working well in the theater, so my breath was white. Even though it comes out,"

You held my hand, which was red from the cold, tightly with both hands and blew on it to melt it. At that time, your hands were shaking so much that I laughed and said, ‘Siwoo, your hands are colder’... I honestly don’t remember any of the movies we watched back then. Only the warm trembling of you holding my hand remains vivid in my heart until now. Seo-ah's quiet reminiscence resonated deeply in Si-woo's heart. That winter day of my youth, when I was poor and cold, but richer and fuller than any billionaire in the world.

All those moments were coming back to life in vivid watercolor before Siwoo's eyes, as if they had happened just yesterday. The words Siwoo wanted to ask Seoah swirled in his heart as thousands of torrents. That day, why did I have to empty the small drawer in the rooftop room and leave without any warning? I was so bad and helpless that I couldn't wipe away your tears and just listened to those cold words of farewell. Where had he been in pain and alone for the past year? Did he not skip meals? Did he sleep well? But Siwoo couldn't bring himself to say out loud the countless regrets and questions that had filled his throat.

The moment when the heavy and cold memories of reality are drawn into this space,

This brilliant and fragile dream bubble bursts

It was because I felt like I would be thrown back into the cruel forest of gray buildings in Seoul and the dark living quarters of Huam-dong. Seo-ah sees the corners of Si-woo's lips trembling slightly, as if she already knows all about his anxiety and fear.

He quietly lifted the index finger of his right hand and placed it gently on his plump, red lips. “Shh... Siu, you don’t have to ask anything. Why you left, why you were left behind... You left all those painful memories outside the door of that cold reality. This theater is a place where the river of time stops for a moment and rests. This is only the moments when we loved each other the most passionately and shined most purely.”

It is a temple just for the two of us, wrapped and screened in eternal film. So for now... don't worry, just watch this heartwarming movie with me. Her eyes were deep and kind like a lake. Eyes of absolute forgiveness and love that seem to block all the storms and winds of the world. Siwoo nodded, barely able to swallow the hot cries that stung his throat. “Yes... I will, Seo-ya. I will do as you say. I will stay quietly next to you like this.” The two people leaned side by side again and looked at the screen. In the black-and-white screen, the male and female protagonists were looking at each other and sharing warm wine on the terrace of an old cafe in Paris. The sound of raindrops hitting the window spread softly through the speakers,

The sound tenderly filled the silence in the theater and bound the two people's breaths together. Between the two people's seats, there was a long, old wooden armrest about 10 centimeters wide. Siwoo's right hand was carefully holding the end of the armrest with the sleeve of his leather jacket rolled up.

Seo-ah's left hand was also resting quietly on the front edge of the armrest, with a box of popcorn resting on her lap. The distance between the two people's fingers is only 2 centimeters. It was so close that I could reach it just by taking a deep breath, but

In that two centimeter space, the separation, tears, and thousands of hours of silence of the past year were stretched out in a tight tension. Siwoo's heart began to beat as if it would burst again. Filling in that 2-centimeter gap by moving just one fingertip,

It felt like an adventure as big and scary as defying the gravity of the entire universe. ‘Can I touch it? The moment my rough, cold hand touches Seo-ah’s hand, won’t all these illusions disperse like smoke? Could it be that I am too greedy and end up ruining this miraculous reunion?'

But the warmth of her skin, which I have desperately longed for every night for the past year,

The unbearable thirst for her body heat broke through the barrier of fear and surged forward. Even if this dream had to be broken a second later, I felt like I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't touch her fingertips at this moment. Siwoo began to very slowly, millimeter by millimeter, extend the trembling little finger of his right hand towards the back of Seoah's hand. A moment of silence where all the air in the theater held its breath. A dazzling beam of white light poured down from the ceiling projection window.

A warm circular light shined on the backs of the two people's hands resting on the armrests, like a spotlight from the sky. And finally, the tip of Si-woo's little finger touched the soft surface of Seo-ah's finger. Tingling-! It was a momentary, subtle touch, but

It is as if an ultra-high voltage current of tens of thousands of volts passes through the nerves in the fingertips and through the spine and heart in an instant.

It was a powerful and dazzling shock of life. Hot, red blood surged like a waterfall into Siwoo's veins, which were frozen like a cold corpse. It was the most ecstatic and holy thrill in the world, as if all the peripheral nerves of my body were awakened and screaming at the same time. It was not simply the friction of skin, but a miracle where the frequencies of two long-disconnected souls were finally tuned into one perfect note. Seo-ah did not withdraw her hand. She looked at the black and white image on the screen without being surprised or avoiding it.

He slowly spread his slender fingers to the side and affectionately covered the back of Siwoo's trembling hand. The warmth emanating from Seo-ah's small palm warmly embraced Si-woo's rough and thin hand. It was not a cold dream vision. The soft texture of the skin on the joints of the fingers, the hard and smooth feel of the nails,

From the concave skin in the center of the palm to the regular pulse beating inside the wrist. Her hands were alive. Her body temperature was seeping into Si-woo’s chest, hotter than the sunlight of any spring day in reality. Siwoo took a deep breath and slowly turned his palm over and interlaced his fingers between Seoah's fingers. The moment when ten fingers interlock perfectly. The huge dam of love that had been sealed in their hearts finally burst. Si-woo squeezed his clasped hands tightly,

Seo-ah also gave strength to her little fingers and squeezed Si-woo's hand as if she had been waiting. ‘I’m here, Siwoo. I will never run away from you.'

An unspoken promise at the fingertips that is more eloquent and firm than any language of a hundred words. The tears that had formed around Siwoo's eyes flowed down like jewels in the blue afterglow of the screen. Over the past year, I have walked alone, cried alone, fallen alone, on the cold sidewalk blocks of Seoul.

All the wounds of misery and loneliness that I couldn't tell anyone and just swallowed inside.

In that split-second moment of holding Seo-ah's hand, it was healing as if it had been washed away, as if it were a lie. Confidence that you are loved and that you are still alive. That was the only salvation in life that Siwoo had been searching for so long. The two were holding hands tightly and being reborn in each other's body heat. The most moving climax of the movie was playing on the screen. On the terrace of an old attic in Paris, the male and female characters were dancing a waltz, embracing each other passionately.

White snow was falling from the sky outside the window like blessed pollen. The orchestra's string quartet and warm piano melodies hit the arches of the theater's ceiling.

The entire theater was filled with the magnificent and faint waves of love. Seo-ah held Si-woo's hand tightly, slowly tilted her head and rested her forehead on Si-woo's strong shoulder. Her flowing brown hair brushed Siwoo's chin and the nape of his neck, spreading a cozy vanilla scent. Seo-ah’s warm breath is transmitted through her shoulder. Her chest and heartbeat rising and falling regularly,

Before we knew it, it resonated perfectly with Siwoo's heartbeat and began to beat in one rhythm. Thump, pound, pound, pound... It was a moment of absolute unity, as if only two people existed in the world. “Siwoo...”

Seo-ah leaned on his shoulder and whispered softly. "Every night, when you cried in a room with the lights off and couldn't sleep, it felt like my heart was breaking along with you. Every time you sat down in front of the blueprint, hands trembling, I wanted to run over and rub your cold back. But in reality, I... I couldn't stay by your side because I was afraid of becoming an even bigger burden to you. So I left the door of this dream open every night and waited for you. Whenever you got tired of the world and collapsed, you could always run away... to this old theater. “I left the light on.”

Upon hearing her tearful confession, Si-woo felt a pain in his heart. She never abandoned him or forgot him. In an invisible dimension, she was embracing Si-woo's pain as her own at every moment and crying with him. Si-woo raised his free left hand and carefully wrapped Seo-ah's slender shoulders and waist. Her small body in my arms was warm and fragile, like a small bird. “Seoya... During the year you were gone, I didn’t even know why I had to open my eyes in the morning. The architecture I drew, the songs I wrote every night... they all came alive only when you smiled by my side. After you left, I was just a breathing, rotting corpse.”

“No, you idiot…”

Seo-ah slightly raised her head and smiled softly, looking at Si-woo's wet cheek. Her warm thumb gently wiped away the tears that had flowed under Siwoo's eyes. The warmth of love oozing from her fingertips healed Siwoo's sore wounds. “You are neither a corpse nor a ghost. You are an architect with the warmest and clearest emotions in the world.”

You are the only musician in the world who makes my heart beat. Those beautiful spaces you wanted to build... Those love songs you wanted to let people hear... You should never give up. Whenever you get tired, I will be here to hold your hand. Because I will be your eternal audience. The time we spent together hasn't disappeared. In every line of every drawing you design, in every rest of every melody you sing

“I will always be breathing with you like air and sunlight.” The black and white movie on the screen was finally slowly coming to a close towards the final scene. The camera that was showing the snow-covered Seine River slowly rises toward the sky,

Elegant cursive subtitles called ‘Fin’ in French appeared all over the screen. Chirrrrr- clunk, thud. The image on the screen turns off with the dull sound of the last tag of the film spinning around the projector reel,

Only the light from the pure white lens brightly illuminated the silver screen. And the brass chandeliers on the ceiling of the theater gradually began to increase their illumination. Soft and dreamy amber lights colored the entire theater warmly. The crimson velvet panels surrounding the walls gave off a golden glow.

The red carpet on the floor glowed softly like a palace corridor. If it were a real theater, the moment the lights came on would have been the exit time for the audience to pack up their bags and leave.

In this empty dream theater, there was no deadline or urge to say goodbye. The movie's running time has ended, but their real movie is just beginning. Only two people stood outside of time, breathing an eternity of moments. Seo-ah slowly got up from Si-woo’s arms. Her two pretty cheeks turned peach-colored under the amber light,

Big, clear eyes filled with love, longing, and new excitement. Still without letting go of Siwoo's clasped hands, she stood up and lightly dusted off the hem of her clothes. The hem of the light floral vintage dress fluttered elegantly like flower petals on a spring day. The small silver violet earrings on her ears sparkled brightly under the light. “The movie was really warm and nice, wasn’t it?”

Seo-ah looked down at Si-woo with a playful smile. “Now, let’s go out of the theater. There are so many wonderful worlds I want to show you tonight. We have to walk the streets of Seoul at night, go to the forest where fireflies dance, and see the ocean with crashing waves. It’s a very special night I have prepared for you.”

Siwoo slowly stood up, guided by Seoah's hand. The body was surprisingly light, like a feather or wings. In reality, the terrible chronic fatigue, migraines, and tightness that were weighing on his shoulders had disappeared without a trace. Like a plant that drank the water of life after a long period of starvation, the cells of my entire body were filled with vitality. The two walked down the red carpeted hallway side by side, holding hands, toward the exit of the theater. With every step I took, overwhelming anticipation and new hope rose like waves in my heart. The moment you push on the huge stained glass door with a heavy brass handle,

The cool, refreshing autumn night air fragrantly enveloped the foreheads and cheeks of the two people. What unfolded before my eyes was not the cold, narrow, gray alley of Huam-dong. It's like walking into the jacket of a 1980s city pop album.

Multi-colored neon signs and brilliant bokeh lights sparkle as brightly as the Milky Way in the night sky.

It was the world's most fantastical and romantic dream city at night. Emerald and magenta pink lights were reflecting brilliantly like jewels on the moist asphalt road surface.

Far up in the night sky, meteors were falling between purple clouds with long silver tails. A sweet city pop synthesizer melody and the laughter of lovers can be faintly heard from somewhere on the street. For the first time in a year, a pure and bright boyish smile appeared on Siwoo's lips. He squeezed Seo-ah’s small, warm hand even more tightly. With the earnest wish that if I were in this dream, I would never have to wake up again.

The steps of the two people were moving brilliantly down the street at night, full of lights.