Alright, everyone familiar with the tale of Narcissus, please raise your hands. Right, okay, some of you aren’t. Here’s a quick rundown. You might’ve already noticed a striking resemblance between the name Narcissus and the word narcissistic. And righty-o you are! That’s exactly where the word came from! Narcissus is the literal embodiment of narcissism, because—well—he was practically the first of his kind; kind of like the forefather of the Community of Excessive and Borderline Dangerous Obsession with One’s Looks—Oh my God, I Am Absolutely Ravishing—Club Community… Thing.

Since Narcissus was Greek himself, we’ll stick to the Greek side of his story. Which is equally just as bad as the Roman version.

So, Narcissus was the son of a river god and a nymph, and the guy was extremely drop dead gorgeous. He sported a chiseled jaw so sharp it could cut cheese, chocolate abs that were imported straight from Belgium, and D-Cup Pecs unlike any other before him. Even the Gods acknowledged his beauty.

Then there was a man named Aminias. Aminias was a popular guy, he had some suitors of his own, but after seeing the living perfection that was Narcissus, he pulled out every cliché excuse in the book: “It’s not you, it’s me. I just need to work on myself right now. We should see other people. You deserve someone better than me. I just can’t emotionally handle a relationship right now. I just don’t feel that spark.”

Aminias pursued Narcissus—completely head over heels for him—but instead of winning over the latter’s heart, he got a sword instead. Which, in Ancient Greece, must’ve been the equivalent of getting dumped via text message, because Aminias took it hard. With the same sword, he killed himself right at Narcissus’ doorstep, and prayed for the Gods to punish Narcissus for all the pain he caused him.

The Gods could’ve done anything, really. They were pretty creative when it came to implementing punishments onto deserving (and many underserving) mortals. Zeus could’ve struck him with lighting, they could’ve tricked him into falling into a pit of snakes, or they could’ve sent some demonic boar to poke him in the behind. Nope, this beautiful man was going to be put through an incredibly ironic misery.

Being a handsome guy was hard work, and Narcissus really needed to quench his thirst. Since there weren’t any bottles of distilled mineral water back in the day, he made his way to the nearest pool of water. But before he could take a drink, he saw an extremely divine person staring back at him—his reflection. It was love at first sight. He played it cool; he didn’t wanna come off as desperate. He stared at his reflection flirtatiously before asking it out for a few drinks. He tried to cup his reflection’s cheek, but alas, he couldn’t. I mean, it’s a reflection, what was the guy expecting?

Upon realizing that he could never have the object of his desires—his own damn reflection—he fell into a deep sorrow and died soon after. I wonder what the Greeks thought of it at the time. It’s not everyday news of a man dying of depression over an unrequited love with himself spreads like wildfire.

Tragic, isn’t it?

And this very tragedy was the tragedy that Taehyun was planning to recreate into a full feature film. But this story’s a little too short, isn’t it? Which is why she decided to add two more in: the tales of Apollo and Daphne, and Eros and Psyche. I don’t know if you’re willing to sit through another set of Greek tales, so we’ll skip through the long introductions for now.

The class was gathered at the theater hall, as per usual.

Taehyun stood atop of the stage, calling out the lead roles, with everyone listening intently.

“Choi Minho will be playing the role of Narcissus,” she announced, “Opposite to Park Chanyeol who will be playing the anguished Aminias.” Chanyeol was about to protest when Taehyun cut him off.

“Which is a very challenging role,” she said, half-heartedly, “And will need a spectacular actor to pull off his scenes of utmost heart-wrenching despair.” Chanyeol eased up, grinning snidely from one large ear to the other. In reality, Taehyun just wanted to see him stab himself for funsies.

“Agreed,” he commented, “Only a seasoned veteran like myself can pull it off.” Beside him, Jongdae and Minseok were fighting the urge to literally slap some humility into him.

“For Act Two, Lee Jinki will be the God Apollo,” Taehyun continued, meeting his eyes briefly. He winked at her, and she rolled her eyes in jest. “Opposite to Apollo, we have the man-hating Apollo-anti Daphne, who’ll portrayed by Park Sunyoung.” A few murmurs and awkward looks were shot around. Taehyun dismissed this as a select few not settling well with the fact that a newbie would be taking an important role. Nope. Unbeknownst to her, there were rumors of the two being ‘involved’ in a ‘certain way’.

Sunyoung suddenly felt weighed down. Sure, she was excited to be the lead, but ‘did it really have to be with him? I mean I’ve been totally avoiding him for the past two weeks but people still think we’re being nasty—dear Lord.’

“Now, for the role of Eros,” Taehyun said, “I decided to give it to someone outside from the class.” She motioned towards a tall, lean male, sporting the ever-popular comma hairstyle. Multiple eyes fell on him, except for a hesitant pair. From the moment Taehyun saw him, she knew he would be perfect for the role.

“Oh Sehun?” she asked, forwardly, “Can you star in this film I’m making?”

“What?” he replied, unsure of why this person randomly came up to him and—

“You’ll be the lead alongside someone I know you’ll love.”

“Eros will be handed over to Oh Sehun,” Taehyun said. She cleared . “Oh, and Psyche will be given to Bae Joohyun.” Yup, there it was. That totally sent everyone over. The awkward tension hung thickly in the air. Oh Sehun, three years Bae Joohyun’s junior, was like Eros in every way—devilishly handsome, responsible for many achy breaky hearts, and—more importantly—was in love with the beautiful Psyche.

“Any objections?” Taehyun asked, loudly. Before anyone could utter anything, she clapped her hands together. “I’ll take that as a no. Right, on to the supporting cast.”