Chapter Text
“Love arrives exactly when it is supposed to
And Love leaves exactly when Love must”
When Love Arrives by Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye
***
Stars are born from pain. From an explosion.
This Cha Eunjae knew very well that she was going to make it to Broadway no matter what it takes . At an early age her mother had raised her to be self-willed. If she wasn’t the prettiest, most talented person in the room, then someone else was going to be prettier and more talented than her, was what her mother would always say. It had been long drilled in her head that the path she chose wasn’t going to be an easy one. And the only way to survive was to be the best.
So not once, did she ever complain. It didn’t matter when the other kids made fun of her growing up for her strange theatrical quirks. It didn’t matter that she never once experienced a real vacation her whole life since her free time was dedicated to theater lessons and her academic breaks were spent performing live shows. The blisters in her feet no longer hurt her, for they had been long calloused from the hours of practicing ballet, jazz, and tap.
One day, she was going to audition for hotshot Broadway director Park Minguk and it was going to make everything worth it in the end.
And that fateful day came. However, what Cha Eunjae did not anticipate was for so-called hotshot Broadway director Park Minguk to casually dismiss her, not once even looking up from his phone while she belted her heart out to ‘On My Own’ from Les Miserables.
Dedicated and self determined Cha Eunjae was not going to have it just at that.
“But why?” Eunjae stood her ground, “I worked hard for this more than anyone. I want this more than anyone. Please let me know what else I could do.”
For the first time, Park Min Guk looked up and acknowledged her presence.
“Your acting reminds me of a highly specialized robot -- cold, perfect, and emotionless.” He told her the hard straight facts.
“A r-robot?” Eunjae sputtered in disbelief.
“You’re talented and well-skilled, everyone could see that.” Park Min Guk pushed back his glasses “The problem here sweetie is I could tell that you’re just merely acting, emotionally detached if I dare say so. I’ve seen your clips, ‘a musical actress prodigy’ they call you. But all I’m seeing is someone who knows her script well. You can cry, laugh, and take a shaky breath on cue. But not until you become one with the character you’re playing, this is just half-assed acting I’m seeing.”
Dumbfounded Eunjae gaped at him. Her whole life, she was surrounded with people praising her, for her nailing every performance the first time.
“Cha Eun Jae, is it?” the lady beside him, Ms. Shim said “By any chance, have you ever fallen in love?”
“Love? What does that have to do with anything?” Eunjae scoffed.
“Ah, but it has to do with everything.” Ms Shim continued on “Have you ever liked someone so bad that you couldn’t wait for the sun to come up just to see them the next day? Have you ever loved entirely that there’s just this serene peace inside of you? And have you ever felt so heartbroken it felt like a gaping hole inside your chest?”
Eunjae thought for a moment letting Ms Shin’s advice sink in. Could it be possible that that was the missing piece in her musical actress career. Would falling in love help her actually achieve greater success in her performances?
“Well… No. Not yet. But I could learn! I’ll do it!” Eunjae now said determined. “Please, let me do this audition again. I’ll learn the emotion of love and I’ll get back to you with an amazing performance.”
“Isn’t your last run of auditions not until two months? Don’t you think her talent is a shame to be wasted?” Ms Shim looked to Director Park.
“If I learn this emotion of love, what would be my chances of getting in?” Eunjae asked.
Park Min Guk scratched his chin and looked at her thoughtfully.
“Honestly, very high.” Park Min Guk leveled his gaze with hers “I’ll see you until then.”
Eun jae slammed the door open to the music room and pulled off Euntak’s headphones.
“Aaaah! Noona, didn’t I tell you that you should at least knock before entering in?” Euntak huffed. He quickly saved the audio clip he was editing, knowing full well that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate now that Eunjae was here.
“I need to find someone to fall in love with!” Eunjae shouted at him.
Euntak whipped his head towards Eunjae’s direction. “N-n-noona… You.. I…” Euntak sputtered, his ears turning red.
Eunjae took a step forward looking down at Euntak who was a head shorter than her. “Not you, dummy!” She flicked his forehead.
“HA! Haha! Hahaha!” Euntak choked out a laugh.
Then the door slammed open for the second time of the day.
“Unnieeee!!” Ahreum sobbed “How did your audition go? Why didn’t you call me? I was so worried!”
“It was a disaster.” Eunjae pinched her nose and sighed dramatically. She suddenly jolted up and stared down at the two “Do you two think I’m a highly specialized robot -- cold, perfect, and emotionless?”
“Yesss!”
“Of course!”
Ahreum slapped Minjae’s back, glaring at him.
“What? She even once pinched my cheeks right after I told her I got my wisdom tooth pulled out.” Euntak grumbled.
“You have your quirks, unnie.” Ahreum told her reassuringly “Besides, you’re way too pretty and talented at that. What’s this about anyway?” She asked carefully, threading the waters of the ultimate diva, Cha Eunjae.
“Well, hotshot broadway director Park Min Guk called me that!” She whined.
“Apparently I’ve been given this homework of falling in love, then I can re-audition in two months.” Eunjae ranted, just the thought was already stressing her out. “Anyway, it should be easy. I’ll think of it as some kind of like a work immersion, right?”
“This is so exciting! Sounds like some kind of plot for a romcom drama!” Ahreum squealed “So unnie, any cute guys you're eyeing on?”
“Oh!” Euntak exclaimed, snapping his fingers “I was just doing soundcheck with the idol trainees earlier. There’s one particular guy, that’s quite a catch. He’s got powerful vocals too and amazing visuals. Honestly speaking, he’s the best among them. He’s from Canada and quite popular amongst the girls here already. He goes by Paul Seo but his Korean nickname is Woojin.”
“Well that should make falling in love with him easier then.” Eunjae shrugged while Ahreum squinted her eyes at her self-proclaimed future boyfriend. “And you he’s a catch because?”
“I’m just stating facts.” Euntak held his hands up.
Eunjae clapped her hands. “Alright, I’ll be off now!”
She skipped her way out of the music room only to come back in a few seconds later.
“Yaah, Euntak! Where do I find him?” Eunjae crossed her arms.
Hunting down idol trainees in YG Star Production Co turned out to be harder than what Eunjae thought. Even Euntak’s connections, who worked in the company, were of no use since security had always been tight especially towards their male idols. Luckily, Ahreum was able to provide her with necessary information.
[Group Chat]
Ahreum : They’re wrapping up their dance rehearsal right now and will be on their way to the male locker room. If you sneak in there now, you’ll be able talk to him privately.
Euntak : Yaah! Noona! Are you crazy? You can’t just barge in the male locker room!
Eunjae : It’s something that I have to do at whatever cost.
Euntak : I SWEAR YOU BOTH ARE GOING TO GET ME FIRED
Euntak : DON’T YOU DARE WALK INTO THAT DOOR NOONA
Euntak : OHMYGOD
The funky manly scent was what Eunjae first noticed when she entered the locker room. She was never one to be interested in Kpop groups nor did she have the time to do so. And from what she witnessed -- a group of half-naked boys comparing biceps and slapping each other with wet towels, she realized she wasn’t even missing a lot in her life.
She scanned across the room, immediately recognizing Paul Seo from the picture Ahreum sent her. On one hand, she was relieved that the guy she was supposed to fall in love with was even more good looking than the photos. The downside was he turned out to be an idiot, a really dumb idiot. Because there he was with his friends testing out each other's perfumes and sniffing each other’s pits.
“Well, you guys look like you’re having fun.” Eunjae said, finally making her presence known.
“H-ho-holy shit! It’s a girl!” someone shouted and all the guys scrambled, shouting and panicking.
“Ahhh! Why is a girl in here?”
“Don’t touch her! Don’t you know who she is?” Someone said when one of the guys attempted to approach her “That’s Cha Eunjae!!!”
All the guys took a step back at her horrified and whispering to each other.
“Cha… Cha Eunjae?” Paul said, his eyes wide. Then he shrugged his shoulders and relaxed. “Lol. Who’s that?” He laughed.
“Paul Seo.” Eunjae pronounced his name for the first time. “I came to speak with you.”