junmyeon was pretty darn sure that when he had volunteered to be in charge of the drama club they’d switched the forms so that he’d signed on to be in charge of the crackheads anonymous club instead. the eleven students who met annually every tuesday and thursday all seemed to be bent on causing total mayhem anytime, anywhere. still, he was kim junmyeon, vice-president of the student body three years running, captain of the bowling team, champion cup-stacker of the seoul district 2009, certified administer of first-aid and editor of the school newspaper’s advice column, and he never gave up. 

(although maybe in the face of the great big monster known as Shakespeare week his knees trembled a little)

a. the actors

“kyungsoo, come out of the closet.”

“no!”

“you’ve been in there for three periods! also, the janitor needs his mop.”

“those spills don’t clean themselves you know!” the elderly man snapped irritably. 

there is a pathetic whimper and sigh from behind the teal door before the doorknob turns and the door opens. baekhyun grins in triumph but his smile quickly fades when kyungsoo instead sticks his hand out holding a sad-looking mop. the janitor grunts and snatches it from him before continuing on his way, shoving past baekhyun mercilessly. baekhyun straightens himself and smooths his uniform before sniffing at the back of the janitor indignantly, nose high in the air. he then springs forward and grabs kyungsoo’s retreating hand before the door can close and yanks the wide-eyed boy into the hallway. 

“AH THE LIGHT! IT BURNS!”

baekhyun rolls his eyes as kyungsoo promptly smushes his face into the sleeve of his blazer. “and I wondered why you joined the drama club...”

kyungsoo makes a soft noise and then proceeds to go “Idnjslfnjdkajkl”

“what?”

“I got the role of juliet.”

“oh.....well it’s not that bad. you do have the legs of a woman-”

“and jongin is ro- EXCUSE ME?!”

with a shriek kyungsoo stands back up, looking more bewildered than offended at baekhyun’s honest statement. baekhyun chuckles sheepishly, hoping his eyesmile will somehow distract kyungsoo, but then curses his luck when he realizes it only makes chanyeol malfunction. 

kyungsoo’s face proceeds to crumble back into depression and his shoulders slump. “i’m going back into the closet,” he mumbles before starting to turn.

“oh no you don’t!” baekhyun grabs him by the shoulders firmly and turns him around. 

“you listen to me, do kyungsoo. you are going to go out there are you are going to put on a fabulous show no matter what. you are going to go out there and be the best juliet you can be, even if it means we have to stuff your dress!” he says this last part a little too loudly and kyungsoo cringes and tries to avoid the curious stares of passing students. 

“but baek, jongin is romeo.”

at this, baekhyun promptly lowers his raised fist, biting his lip. 

“well uh...that’s not so bad, right? I mean he’s good-looking and all...” baekhyun is probably going to receive the worst best friend award this year. kyungsoo lets out an agonized groan and baekhyun catches him as he falls forward, patting him on the back.

“there, there, everything is going to be okay.”

kyungsoo has had a massive crush on jongin for the past two years. trouble is, kyungsoo is incredibly awkward for someone who is amazing at acting and has trouble coming to terms with his emotions. (kyungsoo has squawked one too many times and run in the opposite direction whenever jongin’s appeared in front of them) baekhyun knows jongin adores kyungsoo, of course, going out of his way to spend time with the wide-eyed boy, only going to parties when kyungsoo just happens to be there as well, actually bothering to wrap the birthday presents he gives him every year with decent looking wrapping paper (baekhyun still has a grudge from that time when jongin had given him a piggy bank wrapped in newspaper) and etc etc.

anyway, baekhyun knows the two of them are meant for each other, and this is the perfect opportunity for them to realize it as well.

“maybe I’ll just go to junmyeon and tell him my parents won’t let me be a girl...” baekhyun promptly grabs kyungsoo. 

“no, kyungsoo! you’ve always wanted to be in romeo and juliet, remember?” 

“but really though, baekhyun, how am I supposed to play a girl?” kyungsoo mourns. a devilish smile suddenly appears on baekhyun’s face and kyungsoo’s expression turns cautious.

“why are you looking at me like that?”

---

junmyeon does not, of course, expect juli- kyungsoo to report to their first rehearsal in full costume- well, drag.

minseok promptly shrieks and shields his eyes with his clipboard when he sees kyungsoo. baekhyun hides a grin behind his palm as he notices the others freeze and stare at him.

“I figured I’d get a head start on the costumes, junmyeon-hyung. you know how rushed a production can be,” baekhyun says coolly from kyungsoo’s side. kyungsoo’s been dolled up to perfection, fake lashes and all, black wig positioned perfectly on his head. the gentle curls fall next to his face and cascade past his shoulders perfectly, and the tight, short, black dress frames him incredibly well. for shoes baekhyun’s taken the liberty of finding heels that actually fit him, but kyungsoo has trouble enough walking in his sneakers without tripping over his laces so he tries to move as little as possible. the dress is tight enough, anyway. 

jongin’s mouth is agape (although chanyeol’s is too, but baekhyun will beat him up later) as he stares at kyungsoo. the latter is looking down shyly and jongin finds it incredibly adorable, but he can’t help but stare at kyungsoo’s bare, shapely legs. 

junmyeon clears his throat in an attempt to make things less awkward. “yeah uh....good thinking, baek.” baekhyun beams at him and skips backstage to find zitao to start designing the other costumes. kyungsoo looks at him leave a little helplessly.

“let’s uh...get started, shall we?” he gestures to jongin and goes to find his seat behind the desk. jongin makes his way to his mark and kyungsoo bites his lip.

“is everything alright, kyungsoo?” junmyeon calls.

“u-uh...I can’t really...walk in these things,” kyungsoo replies sheepishly. he takes a few steps forward gingerly but barely covers any ground. he doesn’t register jongin walking over to him.

suddenly he’s being lifted up bridal-style and the wide-eyed boy yelps, clinging onto the fabric of jongin’s shirt. jongin, meanwhile, is rather delighted that kyungsoo’s skirt hitches up a little higher with this action as he carries him to his mark. jongin thinks kyungsoo smells like vanilla and fresh cookies. kyungsoo begrudgingly admits to himself that jongin smells like mint and soap, which is nice. 

as soon as kyungsoo is back on the ground he tugs his skirt lower. he’s blushing furiously and jongin can’t help but smirk a little. 

“thanks,” kyungsoo mumbles, still talking to the floor. 

“HAVEN’T GOT ALL DAY, GUYS!” junmyeon’s suddenly speaking through the loud-hailer and it makes the two of them (and most of the backstage crew) jump. kyungsoo takes a moment to compose himself. he’s going to have to look in jongin’s eyes for this scene and he can barely look at jongin without getting that weird feeling in his stomach. 

“whenever you’re ready,” junmyeon instructs.

as soon as kyungsoo tilts his head up a little more jongin has his hands in his grasp. jongin’s hands are warm and smooth and kyungsoo feels his heart jumping around against his ribcage like chanyeol after ice cream that one time- 

“Don’t saints and pilgrims have lips too?”

jongin delivers his line softly and the affection in his eyes makes kyungsoo want to kick himself. come on, kyungsoo! don’t lose out to this guy of all people! you didn’t get a scholarship for nothing!

“Yes, pilgrim—they have lips that they’re supposed to pray with.”

”Well then, saint, let lips do what hands do. I’m praying for you to kiss me. Please grant my prayer so my faith doesn’t turn to despair.”

jongin’s voice echoes in his ears and kyungsoo’s face feels like it’s on fire. it’s juliet he’s talking to, not kyungsoo! jongin watches in delight at kyungsoo bites his bottom lip, not caring whether he’s acting or not. it doesn’t occur to either of them that everyone in the drama club has their eyes on them.

“Saints don’t move, even when they grant prayers.”

kyungsoo lifts his hand up and rests it on jongin’s cheek as naturally as possible (junmyeon told him to when they first ran through the script). it doesn’t help the feeling in his stomach that jongin is so damn warm that kyungsoo actually feels like throwing himself at him and hugging him forever. there are a million thoughts racing through his mind. after the next line jongin will kiss juliet. after the next line jongin will kiss juliet. after the next line jongin will kiss me- juliet.

“Then don’t move while I act out my prayer.”

jongin leans in for the kiss and on instinct kyungsoo closes his eyes, wondering if jongin can hear his heart pounding in his chest. he can feel jongin’s arms wrap around him and he can feel jongin’s breath on his lips and-

“OKAY! WE’LL STOP WORK ON THIS SCENE HERE!” junmyeon’s on the loud-hailer again and kyungsoo nearly shoves jongin back, snapping back to reality. he starts to lose his balance but jongin catches him easily. kyungsoo steadies himself, nearly squirming out of jongin’s arms because god this is getting uncomfortable. “thanks,” he mumbles quickly before walking backstage as steadily as he can. he can practically feel jongin’s eyes on him but his heart is beating too loudly for him to care.

(he also realizes that he fits perfectly in jongin’s arms)

b. the costumes

it’s junmyeon’s turn to shriek the next time he goes backstage.

“BAEKHYUN!” the boy practically skips up to him, measuring tape hanging proudly around his neck. 

“yes, hyung?”

“what. is. that.” junmyeon doesn’t take his eyes off the strange form in front of him.

“oh it’s zitao in his mercutio costume.”

zitao is decked out from head to toe in glittery spandex, complete with silver platform shoes that make him almost taller than wufan, their assistant director. and wufan is tall. 

“....do I have to ask...why...”

“well you see, hyung, I did some research and mercutio’s supposed to be this really kind of...‘crazy’ guy right? like parties and all that stuff. so, I got a bunch of glittery fabric because I figured nothing says party like glitter, as kesha would agree. and then, I figured, what if mercutio was like a rock star or something? I mean he’s best friends with romeo and if romeo’s family is supposed to be like super rich and stuff then he’d obviously have rock star best friends.”

zitao, meanwhile, is too busy playing pokemon on his gameboy while blasting indie music on his ipod through his headphones to notice the looks he is getting. it is then that junmyeon realizes that zitao also has a lightning bolt drawn across one of his eyes.

“...so you decided to dress him up like david bowie?”

“yup!” baekhyun chirps and junmyeon resists facepalming himself with the clipboard.

“baekhyun, when I said we’re doing a modern-day version of romeo and juliet I didn’t mean....um...” junmyeon’s voice wavers when baekhyun turns on his puppy dog eyes. dammit.

“I mean it’s perfect,” junmyeon forces out. baekhyun gives him a wide grin. “oh really? that’s great, hyung!” he skips off again and junmyeon sighs, taking out his walkie-talkie.

“wufan-”

“I told you, it’s kris.”

“we don’t need codenames wufan, this isn’t a CIA operation.”

“oh come on, junmyeon, don’t act like you don’t like being called guardian.”

“....okay fine.”

“go for kris.”

“baekhyun dressed zitao up like david bowie.”

there’s a soft scuffle on the other line before a loud crash and junmyeon figures wufan fell over while laughing too hard. he also thinks he hears a distant ‘he really did it’ and ‘you owe me thirty bucks, sehun’ before there’s a groan. then he hears wufan clear his throat.

“right, ok. I’m on it. kris out.”

junmyeon starts to turn but then something, or rather, someone, is running up to him. he has to squint a little as the person sprints across the stage rather clumsily, costume prohibiting all forms of normal movement.

“chanyeol, what....”

“zitao finished my tree costume! what do you think?” chanyeol doddles a little as he turns around and junmyeon can only blink at him.

“I...don’t recall putting you in as a tree...” junmyeon checks the sign-up sheet again.

“oh yeah, you didn’t. you put me down for guard number two and the messenger. but I figured I could do so much more as a tree! watch I’ve been working on this!” before junmyeon can even respond, chanyeol raises his two arms up and stretches them out frantically. junmyeon ducks to avoid being swatted away like a fly. he’s been there too many times.

chanyeol abruptly starts swaying from side to side.

“what....are you doing?”

“I’m swaying in the breeze, hyung! I can play a tree in a storm too, watch!” he starts moving more violently now and junmyeon is forced to grab his arms before he damages the nearby set piece minseok and jongdae have just finished painting.

“okay. chanyeol, listen to me, okay?” he uses the tone he uses with the five-year-old kids he babysits when he helps out at the childcare center on wednesdays. it works on chanyeol pretty perfectly.

“you’re a great tree, like, the best tree I’ve ever seen, but I need you to be the best guard number two and messenger I’ve ever seen, okay? I gave you those roles because I only trust you with them, chanyeol-ah.”

at this, chanyeol promptly stands up and rips his costume off. (junmyeon thinks he hears the familiar scream of zitao from the wings) he then realizes chanyeol is only wearing boxers and promptly fixes his gaze on chanyeol’s face instead, blushing for him.

“you’re right, hyung! you’re the best director ever!” he promptly pulls junmyeon into a painful bear hug and junmyeon has to gasp for air to alert him to put him down. chanyeol then gives him a thumbs up and strides backstage, boxers and all. junmyeon sighs and pulls out his walkie talkie again.

“wufan- I mean, kris-”

“I’m on it.”

(when he sees baekhyun pouting with watery eyes at his sheets of designs and zitao patting him on the back comfortingly later he quickly walks in the other direction.)

c. the set

“...and then we can have a big chandelier lower down during the party scene!” minseok says excitedly. junmyeon frowns as he checks his notes.

“you didn’t mention that when we discussed the budget.”

“I know. I figured you’d say no anyway. so I bought one on my own with our class fund.”

junmyeon promptly shrieks - again - “YOU DID WHAT NOW?!”

“oh don’t worry! it’s not like we use the class fund anyway. I didn’t use all of it, of course. I calculated and left enough for three pizzas for our party.” junmyeon runs a hand over his face in frustration.

“you can’t decide on a chandelier, minseok. that goes under lighting. how much money was in your class fund anyway...”

“oh...did I say my class fund? I meant the class funds of every freshman and sophomore class.”

junmyeon thinks he’s about to faint.

“I also managed to get my hands on the soccer team’s funds.”

“dare I ask how-”

“luhan,” minseok replies with glee. junmyeon figures if minseok starts rubbing his hands together he wouldn’t look that different from one of the henchmen on those saturday morning cartoons he used to watch as a kid. luhan’s always had quite a thing for minseok and his cheeks. it’s rumored that once luhan made a list of his favourite things in the world and number one had been minseok (number two had been minseok’s cheeks and then luhan had made a sidenote of ‘interchangeable order’).

“don’t worry though, joonie!” minseok uses the pet name they normally use whenever they send a little bit of aegyo his way. “I’m sure we can find a way to raise two-thousand three-hundred dollars before the end of this year!”

---

“minseok-hyung! what did you do?” wufan frowns as he jogs over and stops in front of junmyeon who is now sprawled out on the ground, chair tipped over.

“junmyeon fainted.”

d. the lighting

junmyeon finds himself stomping into the control panel where jongdae has been waiting with his lighting plans. the younger looks up, rather startled at first by the loud sounds of junmyeon’s boots on the floor but then relaxes back into his usual playful demeanor once he recognizes who it is.

“hyung, why are you stomping?”

“because i’m angry, jongdae.” junmyeon sits down in the seat next to jongdae and folds his arms. he tries to glare but fails, of course, and jongdae watches him, rather fascinated.

suddenly he reaches over and promptly squishes junmyeon’s face. “you’re so cute, hyung!” he pulls his hands back before junmyeon can react, so junmyeon looks like an idiot spluttering and grabbing at the air around his face.

jongdae’s staring at him with this stupid ‘I love puppies’ look and junmyeon doesn’t have the heart to kick him so he places his head down on the control panel with a soft ‘thunk’. he accidentally hits the ‘on’ switch on the sound system and it starts playing an all too familiar song.

let’s get down to business ~ to defeat the huns ~ 

at this the few people on stage (baekhyun is fixing jongin’s costume while yixing, zitao and luhan are helping to move set pieces) promptly stop what they’re doing and break out into song, complete with martial arts moves (courtesy of zitao of course). junmyeon promptly glares at jongdae.

how could I ~ make a man ~ out of you ~

“oh come on, hyung. everyone has at least one disney movie soundtrack in their ipod.”

junmyeon hits the switch again and the music stops. there’s a collective whine from the people on stage before they resume their jobs.

“anyway, your plan?” junmyeon braces himself. jongdae will probably ask him for fireworks at the end of the show and for at least ten new lights to be installed on the rig and for extra gobos with heart-shaped patterns on them-

“well I figured for the first act we go for a more neutral lighting and then for the party scene we have some hues of pink and blue...” jongdae pushes a list towards him. junmyeon’s eyes widen as he scans over the neat sheet of notes where jongdae has matched color to mood to scene, complete with the equipment required to achieve the look he requires and their prices all totaled at the end. it’s the most beautiful (and affordable) thing he’s ever seen.

junmyeon promptly throws himself at jongdae, nearly clinging onto him for dear life. jongdae stiffens, confused by this sudden notion. he decides to pet junmyeon on the pack awkwardly.

“um...there there?”

“you’re the best, kim jongdae. like THE freaking best most perfect human being to ever walk this planet.”

“I...uh...thank you?”

junmyeon grabs the mic in his elation and yells out “KIM JONGDAE IS THE GREATEST HUMAN BEING THAT HAS EVER LIVED” into it. the sound booms around the auditorium and everyone in it jumps, even junmyeon, who’s momentarily surprised at how loud it is. 

undeterred, junmyeon takes the paper and practically skips out of the room, leaving jongdae staring after him with wide, concerned eyes. 

performance day

junmyeon calls for all twelve of them to gather in the main dressing room backstage half an hour before house opens. their costumes have all been perfected (although sehun is still checking himself out in the mirror and for some reason baekhyun has decided to put eyeliner on even though he’s not even going onstage) and everything else seems to be in place. 

“well, I can’t believe I’m saying this but...break a leg, you guys!”

for some reason everyone suddenly looks very upset at this and zitao looks at junmyeon with an offended expression.

“it means ‘good luck’ in theatre.”

there’s a resounding noise of ‘OHHHH’ and then they’re patting each other’s backs and saying ‘break a leg’.

“why can’t you just say ‘good luck’, hyung?”

“because it’s considered bad luck.”

“oh! like how you can’t say ‘macbeth’ in a theatre?”

“CHANYEOL!” eleven heads turn and snap at him.

“sorry!” chanyeol raises his hands up in front of himself defensively.

“right, ok, so have a good show and uh...” he pauses for a while, scanning the room.

“what’s wrong, hyung?” wufan asks, rather amused as junmyeon has to tip-toe to count everyone.

“where are kyungsoo and jongin?” junmyeon says finally. the group looks around and true enough, their two leads are missing.

“find them, please!” junmyeon hisses with such urgency that the group scramble to find them. 

baekhyun is searching the upper floors of the stage with chanyeol when the both of them hear a soft whimper of ‘jongin’ and promptly freeze. baekhyun nudges chanyeol to look around the corner for the source but chanyeol shakes his head furiously and nudges baekhyun to do it. they end up playing rock-paper-scissors and chanyeol loses. 

as soon as he looks around the corner he promptly lets out a horrified scream and runs back down the stairs screaming something along the lines of ‘MY BEAUTIFUL INNOCENT EYES’ and somehow managing to not trip over his coat. baekhyun rolls his eyes and pokes his head around. jongin and kyungsoo jump as soon as they see him; they’re in the middle of hurriedly fixing their costumes. baekhyun glares.

“do you know how expensive that skirt is?” he snaps. kyungsoo blushes furiously as jongin reaches over to help him with the material and he promptly slaps jongin’s hands away. jongin smirks and baekhyun makes the sounds of someone throwing up.

jongin takes kyungsoo’s hand and leads him down the stairs past baekhyun. “you guys are going to pay for chanyeol’s therapy, you know that right?” kyungsoo gives him a sheepish smile and baekhyun sticks his tongue out at him in response.

“at least don’t make out in costume!” he yells down the staircase. kyungsoo ducks his head in embarrassment but jongin only laughs and pulls him closer, pressing a kiss to his temple. 

---

kim junmyeon sighs and leans back in his chair backstage as he watches the audience give them a standing ovation. aside from the moment where jongin and kyungsoo had made out a little too convincingly (and someone had hissed ‘get a room!’ from the wings -  junmyeon suspects it was baekhyun), the play had gone incredibly well.

yes, he, kim junmyeon, vice-president of the student body three years running, captain of the bowling team, champion cup-stacker of the seoul district 2009, certified administer of first-aid, editor of the school newspaper’s advice column and now director extraordinaire had achieve the impossible of directing a high school production of a shakespeare play at 19-

there’s a prompt snort from his pocket and he realizes he’s been thinking aloud and wufan has been listening in the whole time. 

“you took up cup-stacking?”

junmyeon takes this opportunity to promptly collapse over his stack of notes as dramatically as possible. 

------------

• idk what i’m writing what genre is this nsfjfndjk
• anyway enjoy some fluffy kaisoo (there’s too much angst in this pairing gdi)
• o thanks to magnaeobsessed for helping me ‘dress up’ kyungsoo hurhur :3
• I will make baekhyun sassier next time 
• shakspeare lines are translated into modern english thanks http://nfs.sparknotes.com/romeojuliet/page_66.html”>sparknotes