Chapter Text
Jisung’s eyes scanned the paper that his best friend Jeongin was waving excitedly in his face. It was a flyer announcing their school’s upcoming theatre production. Auditions for the main roles were that afternoon.
Jisung had some experience in theatre, mainly when he was a little kid. He actually played the lead role of Doraemon in his primary school’s play when he was 7.
“You have to try out, I know you’d get the lead!” Jeongin exclaimed.
Jisung leaned back in his chair and peered up at Jeongin in confusion.
“Why in the world would I want to do that?” He asked.
“Because, if we all have roles, it’s gonna be so much fun! This is the last year that we're all in high school. We should do something memorable together,” Jeongin explained.
Jisung realized with a start that this was, in fact, their last year all together. Sometimes he forgot that their friend Chan would be graduating this year.
Jisung nodded, weighing the idea over in his mind. Sure, he did miss acting a little bit, since he spent most of his time alone working on producing music. Jisung didn’t want to agree immediately, though. He wanted to mess with his friend a bit, first.
“I don’t know Jeongin. My schedule is already full this semester, and I don’t know if I have time for all those rehearsals... Besides, what would I get out of being in a play?”
“The cast gets cheesecake after the performance,” Jeongin reminded him.
“I’m in.”
Jisung stood up, straightening his bucket hat as he followed Jeongin out of the music room to go find and convince the rest of their friends to audition as well.
* * *
Jisung pushed open the auditorium door that afternoon five minutes before auditions began. He wasn’t exactly prepared for this audition, but he had a lot of experience in them so he wasn’t too worried. His one concern, though, was that because he had decided to audition that morning, he never did get the chance during the day to learn what the play was actually about.
He looked around the room, searching for anyone he knew so he could go ask. He spotted Minho across the room, scrolling through his phone. Minho had at least another hour before the auditions for smaller roles began. Jisung wondered why he was there so early, instead of doing his homework somewhere else. Minho basically lived in the library, which was actually where they had met. Minho had noticed Jisung struggling with math during his first year, and had offered to tutor him. Since then they had become really good friends despite the fact that Minho was a nerd.
Jisung figured that Minho likely knew the play and could help him out in the few minutes left before his audition
“Hey hyung,” Jisung said as he approached.
Minho looked up, his eyes brightening when he recognized Jisung walking towards him,
“Hey,” he replied, looking up at the clock on the wall. “You’ve got a few minutes left before auditions start, are you ready?” Minho asked.
“Oh, absolutely not. In fact, I was wondering if you could give me a super simplified summary of the plot so I know what I’m about to audition for?”
“Don’t tell me you’re auditioning for the lead role but you don’t even know what it is,” He implored.
Jisung puffed his cheeks out at him and shrugged.
Minho’s eyes widened in disbelief, but this was Jisung they were talking about. He shouldn’t be surprised by his friend's procrastination.
“Wow...” Minho shook his head before he quickly explained the lead character to Jisung. He didn’t have enough time to explain the plot, but he gave him a few pointers on how to best portray the character in the audition. Jisung would audition with someone who was trying for the other main role. This was in order for the director to judge their chemistry and find out who best worked together. Minho believed that the audition excerpt would be a scene from the play in which the two leads have an argument. This scene was critical to the story, so the leads would have to portray it with the right energy.
At 4:00, the director began calling students onto the stage to audition.
“Han Jisung for Lead 1, please collect your script, and head to the stage”
Jisung thanked Minho, before collecting his script from the director. He walked towards the stage, bending the paper with his fingers. He felt several people’s eyes on him as he walked, and he felt his pulse quicken. As he stepped onto the empty stage, clutching his script, he heard the director call out a second name.
“Hwang Hyunjin for Lead 2, please come collect your script and join Jisung on stage”.
Jisung’s breath caught in his throat. He peered into the audience as the room fell silent. He watched Hyunjin stride over to their director, Mr. Park to collect his script. Everyone's eyes were on him and Hyunjin. Jisung stood frozen on the stage for a moment. His figure illuminated by the single spotlight shining down. He pulled himself together and walked to the center of the stage. He looked up in time to see Hyunjin walk across the stage to stand in front him. His footsteps rang out through the silent auditorium as he approached. Once he reached the center, they stood, facing each other with narrowed eyes.
The director called for them to begin running through the script.
Hyunjin didn’t even glance at his script before he began, reciting the lines with ease. He looked up at Jisung and smirked. Jisung glared in response, then began to read his part.
Jisung and Hyunjin actually were well suited for this. As the two read their lines, they fell into a rhythm. Their pace was impossibly fast, yet still full of clarity. It was clearly understood by the audience, none of whom could avert their eyes as the scene unfolded between the two.
As each minute of the audition passed, Jisung grew more irritated. He couldn’t believe the audacity of the other boy. This play was meant to be Jisung and his friends having fun together before Chan graduated. He did not need Hwang Hyunjin ruining it.
At some point Jisung became aware that more people had arrived. Word had spread of Han Jisung and Hwang Hyunjin's audition. From the corner of his eye, he saw his group of friends. They had gathered in the center of the audience and stood, watching intently.
Their audition ended as Hyunjin hurled one last insult. Hyunjin looked up as he finished reading, and their eyes met. The silence was broken by the sound of one person clapping. Mr. Park stood in the audience with an excited gleam in his eye. He clapped for a moment, before signaling to the two that their audition was over. Jisung looked away, and the tension dissipated from the air. Jisung searched among the gathered students in the audience, looking for his friends. He saw them in the same place they’d been earlier. Jeongin clung to Seungmin’s arm anxiously, his eyes large as he gazed up at the stage. Seungmin whispered something to an intrigued looking Felix. Changbin spoke to Chan under his breath, while Chan nodded thoughtfully. Minho's eyes flitted between the two onstage, an indiscernible expression on his face.
The director dismissed the two from the stage. Jisung looked back at Hyunjin once more, before he turned and walked off stage. Hyunjin called after his receding back.
“Hey Jisung, I’ll see you at rehearsal,” He said, before he too, turned and left the stage in the opposite direction.