You skipped down the halls of the school, humming the song you had to sing for your audition. Specifically, your audition for the school musical. It was coming up any time now, and there were many who you knew that hoped to get the role of the female lead. Though, most of these people had little to no talent, and only wanted to audition due to a rumor that the most handsome guy at school was going to be the male lead.

To be honest, you couldn't care less who the male lead was.

Always the overachiever, you had prepared to audition for all the characters, as well as the chorus group who would accompany the characters. You'd worked quite hard, though you still managed to keep your grades up. Anything to get yourself out of that musty boarding school dorm that you were forced to stay in as soon as school ended.

"Hmm..." you muttered to yourself, stopping in front of the announcements board. There were all kinds of flyers on there: club advertisements, anonymous love confessions, school dance ticket advertisements, and... the musical audition. You stared at the musical flyer, widening your eyes in distress. The auditions were taking place today, rather than tomorrow, as you had marked on your calender.

Shoot. 

You ran off to the music room, your footsteps echoing across the hallways. The few people returning from their classes and leaving the school stared at you, and some rolled their eyes. "Knew she'd be the one to be late, haha."

When you stumbled into the room, pushing the door open, the others turned around and stared at you. 

Eeh, this is so embarrassing. 

Your best friend, Areum, skipped over to you, grinning. "Fashionably late, as always?" She flipped her long black hair back, blinking her long eyelashes in a manner that irked you.

"Yeah," you chuckled half-heartedly, "I guess."

"Well, what are we going to do~? Only the audition for the lead role is next! And that means... we're going to be competing. I mean, I guess there are other people, too. But... we all know that I'm the best singer at this school, and you're second!"

"Oh. Aish, that's not good..."

"Ey," she interjected, quickly changing the subject, "You know that boy I always talk about? The most handsome one?"

"Mhm...?" You rolled your eyes slightly, looking at your friend. Why couldn't she ever take a hint and realize that you didn't want to listen to her boy-crazy talk? That true love was all you cared about, and that was something that could only be written about in books?

"Well, he's auditioning for the play, for the main role!"

"...You told me that. Many, many times."

"Yeah, but well..." Dramatically, she lowered her voice to a whisper and continued, "There's rumored to be a hugging scene."

"Ew."

"I want to hug him... even if it's just acting."

"Uhh... but, would the school actually let that happen?"

"Our school, being known for its astounding performing arts, would never stoop to the level of a fake hug. That would be stupid, anyways. It's just a hug." 

You groaned in annoyance, "Why couldn't I have come earlier, and auditioned for something else...? Either way, I have to get some kind of role..."

"Hmm. Still, I hope you don't get this one. This is the only role I'm auditioning for! Maybe you could, I dunno, convince the director to let you audition late, or something. Yeah, that works, right~?" The way she inflected her voice on certain words gave them a different meaning. She meant what she said, and wasn't just being the frilly person she normally was.

"Areum..." you groaned, shaking your head in annoyance.

"Auditions for the female lead, Eunhye, are beginning now. Please line up and enter as instructed," an announcer interrupted, pointing to the door to the audition room.

You walked over quickly to the door, wanting to be first in line. If you were the first, the judges would be more likely to choose you, or at least remember your voice. You'd have more of an effect. Then, even if you didn't get this role, they could assign you to another part. Hopefully. 

"Hah, late girl is going first. Verrryyy brave," Areum remarked sarcastically.

Sometimes, you couldn't tell if she was really your friend, or just faking.

One of the music teachers opened the door and led you inside, smiling. "Ah, good luck. I'm proud of you for auditioning, even with your current situation..."

It's that annoying situation that's making me do this in the first place. Hah.

"Thanks, Mrs. Choi," you replied, trying to add a grateful tone to your voice. It seemed to work, as she gave you another sympathetic smile that made you want to gag.

"Alright, then stand over there. You'll do well, I'm sure. As you can see, there's a panel of three judges watching you, and they'll be grading your performance."

I'm not blind. I can see them.

"Okay." With light steps, you walked over to the spot she pointed to, looking at the judges. The judge in the middle squinted at you, and asked with a bored voice, "What's your name and grade?"

You told the judge quickly, tapping your finger against your leg to release your nervousness. Then, they gave you the cue to start.

Shifting your weight to a more comfortable position, you began to sing. Your voice floated over the melody, as you sang the words with no hesitation. Even the high notes, you were able to reach effortlessly. People were right when they said that practice really helped, as you weren't shaking as you expected that you would've been. Though, there wasn't much emotion in your voice as you sang. Singing about love was difficult when you didn't understand it, or haven't experienced it before. Probably. Once you finished the section, you let out a soft sigh, looking into the judge's eye.

"All right, miss. Results will be posted tomorrow."

You adjusted the collar of your blazer and nodded curtly. "Thank you," you said, placing your hands over your stomach and bowing at the waist, as the school custom instructed its students to do. With quick strides, you walked out the door, your heart pounding.

Just one day to wait...

a/n: Wow, thank you so much to those who subscribed so far! I hope you all enjoyed the story! No Jin yet, but he'll show up soon :) I'd really appreciate it if you subscribed or commented~ Thank you for reading the first chapter!

Edit (11/27): Made minor changes :)