ardeur

the movie theatre

"it's not all about hurt."

—n to k

❁

n had always been disgusted by the concept of love. he told himself at a young age that he didn't need to rely on anyone else for his happiness. he closed himself off from people and focused on things like sports and academics. he thought of love as a distraction, something unnecessary that would only make you weak.

but n had also never been in love.

n despised romance because he told himself that leaning on others would be what would hurt him the most. he knew nothing of a fulfilled love, as all n had ever seen were his mother's disastrous relationships that resulted in self-destructive behavior. he didn't want that for himself, so he guarded himself against it.

so he was annoyed when he met k.

k was bright and naive and made love sound like a cure to every illness in the world. love was something that she fantasized about as a child and she was a sucker for princesses falling in love with princes and stories about people that fell in love at first sight. k found love to be pure, innocent, and oh so beautiful. she enjoyed cliché pick-up lines, romantic notes, and flowers as a gift for every little anniversary.

she was the opposite of him.

n would look at happy couples and think about how foolish they were and k would wonder if she would ever find a love like that. the boy could go on about dismantling the system and the girl would be busy dreaming up a whirlwind wedding. they had very little in common, so naturally, n steered clear of the naive girl, and k made sure not to cross paths with the cynical male. they didn't like how the other's thoughts contrasted so much from their own.

they would argue about it sometimes, and neither would ever give in. eventually k realized that it was pointless to fight with n, so she left him alone. she wanted nothing to do with the male who was so eager to taint her perfect image of romance. all she wanted was to find someone, fall in love with them, and get her happy ever after.

and k thought she had found that with w.

she thought that w was her prince charming. the male would take her on long walks by the beach and watch sunrises with her at the top of a hill. he got her flowers, showered her with compliments, and left chaste kisses on her cheeks every time they saw and left each other. he was exactly what she dreamed of as the "ideal gentleman" when she was a child. she thought that he was perfect, and she would love him for the rest of her life.

but it turns out he was nothing but a conman. w was a snake who used his charisma to sneak into the girl's heart only to tear it right back out.

w never cared about k's future and dreams. he liked her lovely face and body and how well she appeared by his side. he enjoyed the way she looked at him as if he was her everything, as he looked back at her knowing she wasn't his. k's childish perceptions of romance and the way she idolized him made him feel important, and he thrived off of that.

he did everything he could to string the girl along. he gave her roses and tulips from his neighbor's yard, whispered lazy compliments into her ears, and laughed at whatever jokes she made. he did the bare minimum to keep up his image of being her prince so that she would expect nothing of him but perfection.

w had k in the palm of his hand. his only complaint was that the pace she wanted the relationship to move at was very different than his. he wanted to be able to grip her waist as they swayed closely together at crowded clubs while she wanted him to take ballroom dancing with her and dip her at the end as they did in movies. this frustrated the male and he soon found himself looking for other ways to satisfy his desires.