My thoughts on the stars:

DanOh was upset that the stars Haru made for her disappeared. Haru reassured her, “It didn’t disappear. Even if the stage changed, the time we spend together will still continue.”

It’s quite interesting that the stars were there in the night sky in the original manhwa, “Flower” but not in the “Secret.” To me, it would appear that the writer deliberately erased them so DanOh and Haru wouldn’t remember the moment under the stars.

But Haru remembered her liking for stars, even in the past.

To me, the Sageuk Haru was the one tasked to prepare the presents that Prince Kyung gave to Sageuk DanOh. He was sent to spy on DanOh, to observe what she liked and to get them for her on the Prince’s behalf.  Just like in the present time, Kyung’s father bought him the gifts to give DanOh in order to win her hand in marriage, in the “Flower” manhwa, Sageuk Haru prepared the Prince’s gifts for him.

From Chapter 22, 5:13.

He was there when the Sageuk DanOh told the Prince that her wish is “to see the stars in a vast field like this…with you, whom I like.”

When he was awakened from his trance, he concluded that DanOh had always liked the stars, even back in time.

When he patted her head affectionately, he already had a plan to recreate the stars for her enjoyment.

That’s why Kyung saw him at the locker holding with the blanket. When Kyung was curious about his blanket, he curtly told him to mind his own *business.*

But ironically enough, Kyung’s business” was HIS business, too, because he was Prince Kyung’s sidekick, his personal guard. He’d been ordered by the Prince to find the weakness of the father of Sageuk DanOh, and he dutifully reported on DanOh’s likes and dislikes.

From his flashback of the past (Ch 22 at 6:00), he realized that he had been INSTRUMENTAL in wrecking DanOh’s life since he followed the Prince’s command to find out the weakness of Eun DanOh’s father. She was her father’s weak spot, and Haru essentially used this piece of information against her.

Haru must have felt guilty that in his previous life in the manhwa “Flower,” he aided in entrapping her to a marriage to Prince Kyung.

Because of his allegiance to Prince Kyung, and because he was involved in Prince Kyung’s *business,* he was complicit in Eun DanOh becoming a pawn in Prince Kyung’s political ambition.

But PAY ATTENTION now. The very instant when a) realized that he did something wrong, b) experienced regret and remorse for endangering an innocent girl, and c) knew he could have protected DanOh was also the moment he achieved self-awareness.

That’s why he could say that his beginning was DanOh. He began to exist as a creation separate from the writer’s imagination when he developed feelings (i.e., guilt, remorse, protectiveness, etc.) for DanOh.

He heard the click and he swung his sword, expecting an enemy behind him, (BTW, notice the “Flower” all around him in the garden? They were in her garden.)

He gained an awareness, or consciousness that the writer had not intended to write for his character. As he would tell Kyung later on, these feelings were NOT written by the writer. “The feeling of liking someone and protecting them. These feelings weren’t drawn by the writer. They were done by DanOh.”

In the present time, Haru remembered in a long flashback everything that he did to make DanOh fall in love with Prince Kyung.  Everything was orchestrated so that Prince Kyung would leave an impression on DanOh. The Sageuk Haru was already aware that some events did not appear right but he thought he couldn’t stop them. He resigned himself to fate. ‘What’s bound to happen, will happen.”

However, it was also becoming obvious to the Sageuk DanOh that the Prince didn’t care for her. She went to their meeting at a flower meadow, and he didn’t show up again. But Haru was there in his place.

Sageuk Haru: The Prince said that he’s busy today.
Sageuk DanOh: I know. I knew that he wouldn’t like flowers. Tsk. Why is he so busy everyday? (she sat down and started picking flowers) Do you like flowers?
Sageuk Haru: (smiling) Yes. I like them.

Duhhh. His robe had floral pattern.

Sageuk DanOh: (standing up to laugh at him) I knew it! I’m going to walk all the way to the end of the path. Do you want to go together?

He nodded and she started going down the hill. But she tripped and broke her norigae. She pouted. He was going to help her up but then took his hand back.

This was the last image Haru had before suddenly waking up from his trance. He began running.

He searched for DanOh in the school. When he found her in the clinic, he realized that tears were streaming down his face.

He found her.

Yah, Haru! You should have extended your hand back then and helped her. I Ithink he was looking at the hand that wiped his tears but also pulled back from helping DanOh.

To me, he was born to be her protector, her “backmate.” However, in the “Flower”, he had unwittingly put her in harm’s way (by Kyung’s side), against her heart’s desire.

To me, that’s why he found himself crying. It was just like what the art teacher said during the pottery class. If the voice of the unformed clay is ignored — or if the unspoken wishes of DanOh — are not heeded, it hurts the heart of the creator.

And by creator, I don’t mean the manhwa writer, okay? I mean Haru…because Haru is the new creator. He’s re-creating DanOh’s fate to give her what she wanted. Remember the destiny stone? Back then, she wished to live, and he built the tower of rock for her so her wish could be granted.

Same thing here. Haru was re-creating a “secret story” for DanOh which varied the manhwa writer’s intended story.

When Haru visited the Squid guy at 17:00, he admitted to feeling pain when he recalled his memories of DanOh.

Haru: You said my beginning is not “Secret” right? The memories I’ve forgotten are starting to come back. Ever time I remember a scene from the past, a wave of emotions hits me. My heart hurts and somewhere I feel uneasy and sad. In there, Baek Kyung and DanOh are also —
Squid: Fiances. Our writer has no creativity. They keep using the same characters time and even if the settings change, the plot is similar.

Here he goes again, spouting the same line! But he himself had wondered whether Haru’s reappearance would change the story or not.

Squid: (continuing) Therefore, if you regain your memory, it’ll be painful. You need to stop the person who’s changing the stage, even if that’s Eun DanOh. Don’t repeat the same mistake.
Haru: Repeat?

This is interesting to him: the concept of his memories being repeated. Remember now, he wasn’t sure if the visions that he saw were of things that already happened (“past perfect” or deja vu) or things that would happen in the future (and therefore prophecies or previews like DanOh’s visions). Unlike Kyung, he didn’t see the book “Flower.” He only held it in his hands when the Squid guy dropped it.

Squid: You’re only provoking the writer by changing stage. Do you still want to change the story? Because of Eun DanOh?
Haru: What’s the ending of that story?
Squid: You and DanOh can never be together. That’s what the writer decided since the very beginning.

Okay, there may be several reasons for his heartaches but I’ll limit myself to two.

One, he was jealous of Prince Kyung — of course, this doesn’t really make sense because he knew that in that past, DanOh was beginning to distance herself from the Prince.
b. he regretted not protecting DanOh — he should have extended that hand out to her. He didn’t try hard enough to rescue her.  <— I’m going with this one.

Later in the episode (at 26:02) Dano got sick again on Stage. She couldn’t go to school and her first concern was that Haru was going to worry a lot again.

Meanwhile at school, Haru waited for her to come. When she didn’t come, he knew she was sick again and he couldn’t do anything. Just like last time. (This is a constant refrain for me, “Just like last time” I should as well abbreviate it into “JLLT.”)

Wellll…he couldn’t run to the hospital to visit her but he could wait for her. And that’s what he did.

He spent his time in the art room to work on his project for her.

Her remembered her wish to see stars, “It’s my wish to see a sky full of stars. There’s no stars that we can see from here.”

And he also recalled the sageuk DanOh who thanked Kyung for remembering her wish about the stars. Back then, he’d been listening to her at the foot of the pavilion.

Note: I can’t tell exactly what sageuk Haru was feeling that time, whether he was jealous, upset or at peace. All I can say is that he listened to her express her joy and thanks to the Prince. Although I’d like to think that stargazing was most HIS idea, they were both at the flower field when DanOh said she wanted to see the stars in a vast field.

However, in this present lifetime, he wasn’t willing to let Kyung steal this moment from him. That’s why he told him to mind his own business. He was making the stars again for her. The stars were his idea.

He was lying in the art room, thinking of DanOh’s stars when he woke up from his trance.

He said, “Why does my heart hurt so much? Why do I feel so uneasy? I miss you, Eun DanOh.”

When DanOh arrived at school, they hugged each other and he showed her his handiwork in the artroom.

Haru: DanOh, you know it might be a really funny story but…
DanOh: What? I really life funny stories.
Haru: I think that maybe we’ve known each other since a long time ago, way before know it.
DanOh: Since a long time ago?
Haru: Yeah. Way before than we thought.
DanOh: What’s this? It’s not funny at all.
Haru: I’m going to do everything for you.
DanOh: What?
Haru: The thing that you like. Creating your fate.
DanOh: I’m not going to change it anymore.
Haru: I don’t think that we’re doing things only the writer wants. That’s why I think you found this nameless me. From now on, wherever you are, I’m going to find you again. I think I know now why my beginning was you.
DanOh: Haru. Thank you. Thank you for showing me the most gorgeous night sky. And for remembering my wish.

He teared up again. She was repeating the same lines, just like what the Squid said earlier.

But they’ve added their own “variation” to this one. They stood under the starlight and caught the light in their hands.

Handholding is a staple of many kdramas, but this catching the starlight is new to me.

DanOh noticed the wounds on his hands.

DanOh: Did you get hurt? Let me see. Did you perhaps while preparing all this? What the heck is this? Because of me.
Haru: (silent. I’m sure he’s ready to be hurt a whole lot more than this.)
DanOh: I’ll never forget this moment for the rest of my life. I’ll remember it forever.

Now, one interpretation of this event is to discount or minimize the importance of this whole scene because it’s merely a repeat of the events in the manhwa “Flower”.

But if we remember our lessons from Beethoven, a variation is the creator’s attempt to create his or her own expression.

“This piece is Beethoven’s Variations in F Major, opus 34. Let me tell you how variations work. They add their own style to the songs of the past generation and end up creating various musical expressions. They don’t limit themselves to the conventional styles of music. By doing that, they are looking for the joy of music.”

Haru and DanOh are re-creating their own secret story which varies from the writer’s recycled manhwa.

That’s why Kyung became enraged when he saw the couple “stealing his lines” from the manhwa “Flower.”

In Ep 23 at 4:01, he stormed into Squid guy’s kitchen and started ranting about losing his main lead spot.

KY: You probably know it, right? What’s the story’s ending? Is it me and Eun DanOh? Or Eun DanOh and that bastard?
Squid: The story’s ending…
KY: I’m obviously the main character in this story. But why do I keep feeling like crap?

Me. Me. Me. Me. 

KY: (continuing) Don’t beat around the bush, and pretend you don’t understand. Tell me properly. What’s with that bastard, Haru? Just what exactly is he?
Squid: You also know this. The person that can change it.
KY: Ahh…all those stupid stages? I can change it, too.

But he’d been saying this for the past 3 episodes, ever since that episode Haru went missing. Why didn’t do something?

Squid: (snort) You? How?
KY: I’ll find a way.

What a pathetic fool! Haru had been finding ways all this time to change the Stage for DanOh. Ever since she approached him for help, he’d been thinking this through on his own because he wanted to save HER from her illness and to give her life.

Meanwhile, Kyung wanted to change the Stage so he could return to being the Main Lead. No matter how many times, DanOh told him about her resentment and frustration with her setup, he did NADA to change it.

Sure, he fought his childhood fears and visited her at the hospital. But Haru “died” and disappeared for her, remember?

But he was content with her setup and didn’t want her to change it because it was advantageous to him. He needed her to be “his person” just like he needed the Haru to be “his person.”

Now: “Eun DanOh. You’re the only one I have.”

Back then, “You’re the only one who’s loyal to me.”

That’s why I liked it when Squid lost it with Kyung.

Squid: You will change the stage? Because of that, I lost everything that was precious to me.
KY: I told you to say it in a way I can understand.
Squid: Because of you, I… because of you… Go away! I have nothing to say to you. (lol. But he was the one who left?)

He wanted Haru stopped so DanOh could follow the script and get on with the program.

To sum it up: 

For Kyung: to follow the storyboard = to follow the stars = to follow what’s been preordained = his way

For Haru: to create their own secret story, a variation = to rewrite the stars = DanOh’s fate

Whereas Kyung frantically clings to those remnants of burnt pages of the manhwa for his own sake, Haru uses his memories of the events to create new memories with DanOh.

Kyung’s version of love:

Haru’s version of love:

From Ch 23, 4:01

DanOh: However, it seems like the writer is a bit ignorant the more I think about it. They don’t even know how to draw the stars. As expected, I don’t like them. Still you gave me a pretty night sky. I really won’t forget that. I’m serious. Never.
Haru: So what if you forget it? It’s alright as long as I remember. I won’t forget it either. The happy expression you made when you saw those stars.