The story ends with Daehyun getting a broken arm and his first kiss and Youngjae ending up with the nickname Younggay for the rest of his high school life.

But the story begins with the last months of Himchan's senior year and him realizing it needs to go out with a bang.

So he decides to ask the drama teacher if he could direct the school's spring play and the teacher gladly hands the reins over to her star pupil.

"And thats why you should audition for the play." Himchan tells Daehyun one day when he's running a poster for the play past him for review.

"I don't know, Himchan. The fact you're directing it makes me want to avoid it even more."

"Oh cmon. You're a good actor and you know it. You could easily get the lead role and its not because you're my friend."

"You should make the font color a little darker so its easier to read from a distance." Daehyun says, tapping the title.

Himchan settled on Shakespeare's Macbeth, a classic tale of murder and greed for his goodbye play and already worked out most of the details. His boyfriend, Yongguk, a freshman in college would help with the music and Youngjae, a junior and Daehyun's best friend would help with his theater tech class in the lighting and set building.

"Hyung, are you sure you can manage this play all by yourself?" Daehyun asks again.

"Dae, I keep telling you I'll be fine. Plus I'm not alone. I got Yongguk and Youngjae to help me work on it and even Jongup and Junhong said they'd help when they can. They're working on Macbeth in their sophomore English class anyway so it'll be perfect!"

Himchan's junior friend sighed, "Fine. I'll go audition. But only because this play means so much to you."

"Yes! Thank you!" Himchan exclaimed as he nearly jumped over the lunch table to hug him.

 

 

"So you've already heard about Himchan's play?" Daehyun asked as he hovered over a circuit board in physics class.

"Yeah!" Junhong replied.

"Himchan hyung said that we could be extras in it if we want." Jongup smiled.

Sunhwa, their fourth lab partner shot the board with a charge gun. "Kim Himchan? He's directing the spring play? I heard he's supposed to be bossy and particularly about what he wants."

"I'm sure he can't be that bad. He's always nice to me." Jongup answers.

Sunhwa shot it again and sighed, "Yeah. Last year when I was a freshman he just about strangled some poor sophomore who broke one of the props from the prop room he was supposed to use."

Daehyun laughed, "Oh yeah I remember that. Yongguk had to restrain him."

Junhong reached out a hand to the circuit board.

"No!" Sunhwa yelled, yanking his hand away. "I didn't ground it. If it isn't grounded and its charged it'll shock you."

"Oh." Junhong said, slinking back into his seat.

"Really?" Daehyun asked. "How much would you guys pay me to touch it?"

"Dude don't...I'm pretty sure it'll hurt a lot." Jongup said cautiously.

"I'm gonna do it."

"Dude, no."

"Don't tell me what to do, Junhong."

And Daehyun got the worst shock of his life.

 

"No, no, no. The lights are too bright on stage right. I want the main lights to be focused on stage left for this scene."

Youngjae shifted the lights to stage left and rolled his eyes. "I think you're overthinking this. You're getting way too ahead of yourself. You haven't even held auditions yet."

"Doesn't matter. I'm pressed for time. I need to use every moment I got working on this play."

"The play is four months away."

"That is eight months less than I need!"

"You need a year to direct a high school play?"

"At the minimum a year! Ugh, just give me a blue light, would ya?"

 

Daehyun twiddled his fingers in the green room. There was only one other person waiting to audition.

Jeon Hyosung took out her pocket mirror and began to fluff her large purple curls. Daehyun gawked at how natural she could make that purple hair look. She was such a nice girl that Daehyun had been surprised when Himchan introduced her as his fellow actress classmate and only friend the same age as him.

All of the girls scoffed in anger when they saw the senior strut into  the room, knowing she would once again steal the female lead from their wanting hands.

Youngjae wobbled into the room balancing a tower of boxes in his arms. "A -A little help here?" He asked trying to peer over the top of the boxes.

"Jeon Hyosung!" Himchan's husky voice called from the stage signalling it was her turn to audition.

"Break a leg." Daehyun smiled.

"Thanks." She smiled back, tucking a tube of lipgloss in her pocket.

"Hey, Dae, if you're done looking at her s can you help me with these?"

"Oh yeah, sure." Daehyun quickly began taking the boxes from his best friend's arms and placing them on a nearby table.

"Thanks." Youngjae breathed a sigh of relief as he rolled out his shoulder.

"What's in these boxes anyway?" Daehyun asked, taking note of the heavy weight.

"Every prop from the prop room. Himchan wanted to me to bring them up."

"Why didn't he just go down to the prop room to look at them?"

"He said the light down there was bad and he wouldn't be able to look at the color properly." Youngjae said, annoyed. "I don't know when I became his little personal slave."

"Jung Daehyun!" It was time for him to audition.

He nervously gulped and began to clutch his script tightly. Youngjae noticed his friend's nervousness and opened his arms up. "Hey, gimmie one of these."

Daehyun embraced Youngjae as the other rubbed his back. "Don't worry, you'll do fine."

"You think so?"

"Of course. Afterall, its just Himchan out there."

Youngjae released Daehyun and he smiled. "Thanks Jae."

"Thank me by getting the part of Macbeth."

 

"Ready to go, Jongup?" Junhong asked, shouldering his bag.

Jongup shoved his headphones into his pocket and nodded.

"Leaving so soon?" Hana asked.

"Yeah. Me and Jongup are gonna go get some snacks on the way home. Wanna come?"

"Hey, Hana!" One of her classmates jogged over from the other side of the school's dance studio. "Are you going to the party tonight?"

Hana rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "No. They're stupid and unfun. All you guys do is drink and get high."

"But it's cool!"

"Literally everyone gets invited. Stop trying so hard." She gave one final annoyed glare before walking over to some of her friends.

Junhong and Jongup glanced at each other. "Parties like those really exist?" Jongup whispered to his best friend.

The other sophomore boy shrugged, "I guess so. And what did she mean 'literally everyone gets invited'? I've never gotten invited to one of those."

"Maybe its cause we're not popular enough."

Junhong sighed, "I guess we'll never get to experience a true high school party."

Jongup thew an arm around his discouraged friend and led him out of the studio. "Hey, would you rather go to some dumb party or stuff your face with fries with your best friend?"

"Fries." Junhong smiled.

 

"Hyosung got the lead...again." a student sighed as they observed the cast list Himchan had just posted on the school's announcement board.

"Who got Macbeth?" another student asked.

"Some guy named Jung Daehyun. Know him?"

The other student shook his head.

Daehyun stopped in his tracks upon hearing his name as the lead and quickly pushed through the crowd of students gathered around the list.

"No..."

There it was in all it's beauty. Daehyun's name at the top of the list, right next to the role of Macbeth.

"Oh, are you Jung Daehyun?"

Daehyun had never actually expected to get a part; much less the lead. He had auditioned because Himchan begged him to, not because he had any desire to work under the eye of dictator Kim Himchan.

"What am I gonna do..."

Suddenly, an arm was wrapped around him. "Daehyun! Is it true? Did you really get the lead?" Youngjae quickly glanced at the cast list before hugging the other again, "Oh its true! Dude, congratulations! I knew you'd get the part."

Daehyun felt his cheeks redden a bit. "Really?"

"Yeah. Remember back at our elementary school musicals? The teacher always gave you the main because you had the prettiest voice."

"There's no singing in this though."

"Doesn't matter. You got the lead! Just bask in the glory and limelight while it lasts. You deserve it, even if Himchan is directing it."

 

 

"Sketch the walls a little wider. The more real the stone looks, the better." Himchan instructed to one of the students working on the set.

"Himchan."

Himchan turned around and was greeted by the sight of his boyfriend. "Yongguk! You made it!"

"Of course I did, babe. Why wouldn't I?" He smiled, pecking the other boy's lips.

"So...what did you bring me?" Himchan asked, placing his hands on hips.

"Well I brought you my friend." He said, gesturing to the girl standing next to him. She smiled and waved. "This is Song Jieun. I met her in class and she agreed to help me with the music."

"Hi, Himchan. Its nice to meet you." She smiled and said in a sweet voice.

"Oh." Himchan's voice dropped a bit. "Listen, Jieun. I really appreciate you wanting to help out and all but I don't know how qualified you are." He replied, trying to usher the perfect girl away from his boyfriend.

"Oh don't worry." Yongguk quickly jumped in. "She's plenty qualified. She's been studying Shakespeare since middle school and even played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet during her sophomore year."

"Really?"

Jieun nodded in agreement.

"Well okay then...work hard you two." Himchan put on a fake smile and quickly shuffled to the side.

They're just friends. They're just friends. They're just friends. Yongguk can have female friends that shouldn't be an issue at all.

 

 

"Which battery is this again?"

"A nine volt." Sunhwa replied, writing down some information.

"Hyung, is it true? Did you really get Macbeth?" Junhong asked, excitedly.

"Yeah. Its true." He sighed a little. "But surprisingly its not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I've nearly memorized the entire script."

"That's a surprise." Sunhwa said, reaching for another battery. "You can't even remember to do your physics homework."

"Hey, I've been busy, okay? Junior year is the toughest year. You kids will understand next year." Daehyun barked at his three lab partners.

"Yeah, right. You copied my homework all throughout our freshman and sophomore years." Youngjae, who had materialized out of nowhere, rolled his eyes.

"Youngjae!" Daehyun jumped, "What are you doing here?"

"My chemistry teacher wanted me to drop something off."

"Oh."

"Now you better get back to whatever you're doing...you're making that little girl do all the work." Youngjae said, gesturing to Sunhwa before walking off.

"Yeah. He's right. Why am I doing all the work again? Junhong, would you mind wetting your finger and touching the top of this battery?"

"Yeah sure." He dipped his finger in a cup of water and touched the top of the battery. Sunhwa measured the voltage.

"Does it hurt?" Jongup asked.

Junhong shook his head, "Nope. I don't feel a thing."

"Hmm okay." She wrote some more stuff down. "Hey Daehyun would you mind... Hey, Daehyun!" The brunette snapped her fingers in front of the eldest.

"Huh, what?" Daehyun asked, breaking his daydream.

"Why are you still staring? That boy already left. Is he your boyfriend or something?" Sunhwa smirked.

Junhong and Jongup laughed as Daehyun began to blush and furiously wave his hands. "No! He's my best friend, geez you guys."

Jongup laughed, "Of course. Because the between you two is only as thick as Himchan's ego."

"Would you guys shut up?" Daehyun exclaimed, annoyed. "What did you want me to do, Sunhwa?"

"Wet this battery." She said, handing him a rectangular battery.

"With my tongue?"

"Yes, with your tongue." she replied, sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"If you say so."

He ran his tongue over the top if the battery before jolting backwards. "OW !" He yelled. "My mouth tastes like someone set a ton of coins on fire."

Junhong, Jongup and Sunhwa all simultaneously facepalmed.

 

 

Youngjae walked through the sticky, night air. Summer was just around the corner and Himchan had been working him to death on his play.

Stupid ing, Himchan. I'm not the only one in theater tech. Why can't he get some other students to organize everything?!

Upon arriving home he immediately kicked off his pants and cranked up the air conditioner. He barely had a minute to breathe before he was interrupted by the ringing of his cellphone.

"What's up, Junhong?"

"Hyung! Come back to the school quickly! Himchan is freaking out and Yongguk isn't around to help!" the other frantically yelled over the phone.

"Are you kidding me?! I was literally there twenty minutes ago. What could have possibly happened?!" Youngjae yelled back, rubbing a sweaty palm down his face.

"Something with the set up. I'm not entirely sure."

The exhausted boy sighed, "I really can't deal with this right now, okay? Tell Himchan I'll help him tomorrow."

"O-okay."

Youngjae threw himself onto his bed and rolled over, clutching his cellphone. He began to scroll through his facebook, which was blowing up with days old messages from Himchan about something related to his play.

Youngjae often wondered how he had ended up friends with Himchan, anyway. Himchan was outgoing and straightforward, always eager to try new things, no matter how dangerous. That didn’t mean he was dangerous or irresponsible, per say, he just enjoyed life. Youngjae was quite the opposite. He enjoyed his small circle of friends and never wandered too far out of his comfort zone. But he liked Himchan. He liked that they were able to balance each other out.

His phone rang again. It was Himchan.

“What?!”

"I need you here, now."

Youngjae groaned, "I already told Junhong I would help you tomorrow."

"No. I seriously need you here like right now. Its an emergency." His voice sounded serious.

"Is someone dying?"

"Someone will be dying if you don't get your over here right now!" Himchan yelled.

Youngjae held the phone away from his ear, "Okay, okay! Just wait a second."

Upset, he rushed to the school. Youngjae was unsure exactly what Himchan wanted, but he really hoped it was important.

"Okay, I'm here! What's so important?" Youngjae crashed through the doors of the school theater, disrupting some of the students working on the set.

He marched onto the stage, where Yongguk had been discussing things with an older girl he had never seen before. "Uhhh, Youngjae? I thought you went home." Yongguk said.

"I did." Youngjae rolled his eyes, "But then I got some urgent call from Himchan that I needed to come here ASAP."

"Something urgent?" The girl asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"Pssst! Youngjae!" Himchan motioned from the curtain behind Yongguk.

"Umm... Nevermind." Youngjae hurried over to the beckoning senior. "This better have a good explanation!"

Himchan furiously pointed at Yongguk and the girl, "Is that good enough explanation?!"

"Ummm... Yongguk and some girl?"

"Not just any girl, Song Jieun!"

"And Jieun is...?"

"Helping my boyfriend on the music!"

"Okay, I really don't see the problem with this."

Himchan gestured over to the two, who were pointing at a piece of paper and discussing something. "Look at those two. Probably talking about getting drinks after this and heading back over to her place."

"I highly doubt that."

"Its because you're not looking hard enough!" Himchan yelled, grabbing the younger by the collar.

Youngjae pulled himself off of Himchan, who's face was still knit together in fury, “Okay, so even if this Jieun girl was coming onto Yongguk, what does it matter? Last time I checked Yongguk was 200% gay for you.”

“Because she’s pretty enough to slap the straight right into him!”

“I don’t think it works like that...” Youngjae eyed him.

“What doesn’t work like that?” Daehyun asked, popping around one of the curtains, “Oh hey, Youngjae! I thought you went home.”

“I did. But Himchan called me because he’s afraid that Yongguk is gonna-mmph!” Himchan clasped his paint covered hand over Youngjae’s mouth.

“Afraid Yongguk is gonna...?” Daehyun asked, with a suspicious look.

“Nothing, nothing!” Himchan nervously smiled, waving his hand in the air. “It’s nothing, right Youngjae?” He asked, freeing Youngjae’s mouth.

“Sure, it’s nothing.” He rolled his eyes.

“See? Nothing.”

“Umm, okay. So is it alright if I head home now?” Daehyun asked, checking the time on his phone.

“Yeah. That should be all for now.” Himchan replied, flipping through some papers on a clipboard, “Yup that’s all you have for today.”

“Can I go too, then?” Youngjae asked, tapping his foot impatiently, “Because obviously, your problem is none of my concern.”

Himchan sighed, defeated, “Okay fine. Thanks for coming back.”

“Yeah, whatever. Hey Daehyun, didn’t you drive today?”

“Umm, yeah. Why? Do you need a ride?”

“Mmmhhm.” Youngjae replied, brushing past them and already walking outside in the direction of the parking lot.

Daehyun quickly shuffled after him, digging into his pocket for his car keys. Youngjae was already there, leaning against his best friend’s car. “Need a little help there?”

Daehyun looked up surprised, dropping his keys. Youngjae quickly retrieved them and plopped them back into the owner’s hands. “Cmon. I’m tired.”

As soon as Daehyun started driving, Youngjae the radio and flipped it to his favorite station.

“I thought it was law that the owner of the car gets to pick the music?” Daehyun asked.

“I thought it was the driver.”

“Either way I get to choose.”

“No, shut up. You love this song.” Youngjae replied, turning the music up more.

“No I don’t.”

“Don’t lie.” Youngjae smirked, jabbing Daehyun in the side, “I hear you sing it all the time.”

“You do?” Daehyun asked, surprised.

“Yeah. When you’re rehearsing backstage, I always hear you sing it to calm yourself down or something. It’s kinda cute.” He laughed a little.

“Y-You think it’s cute?”

“Yeah. I keep telling you that you have a pretty voice.”

Daehyun tried not to blush, but before he could talk to Youngjae anymore, they pulled up in front of his house.

“Thanks for the ride. See ya tomorrow.” Youngjae smiled, grabbing his things and waving.

“Yeah...see ya.”

 

“Hey, Hyosung? Can I ask you something?” Daehyun looked up from his script. He had been practicing his lines with her under Himchan’s demands.

“Of course.” She smiled, “What’s on your mind?”

“Promise not to tell anyone? And promise not to laugh?”

She laughed, “I promise, sweetie. My lips are sealed.”

“Okay...I think my best friend is in love with me?”

“Who? Youngjae? What makes you think that?” She replied, surprised.

“I don’t know...It’s just a feeling. I can’t exactly place it...but maybe it’s because he’s been acting like closer to me?”

“Haven’t you known him since elementary school? I don’t think you can get any closer than that.”

“It’s just a feeling, okay? I don’t know why I feel like he likes me. I just really feel like he’s in love with me.”

“And how will that affect you?” She asked.

“I don’t know...I don’t think I like him back. It just makes things awkward, you know? Because I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”

Hyosung brushed some of her hair from her face, “Honey, I think you might have got this mixed up just a bit.”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you sure you’re not the one in love with him?”

“In love with who?” Youngjae asked, wheeling in a rack of costumes.

“Nothing!” Daehyun exclaimed, hoping his best friend hadn’t heard the conversation.

“More secrets, huh? That’s not fair. I thought we were best friends.”

“Hey! You’re the one who refused to tell me about Himchan’s problem the other day.”

“Fine, you really wanna know?” The other sighed, “He called me because he was upset that Jieun might be trying to steal Yongguk away from him.”

“Song Jieun?” Hyosung said, “I met her. She was a nice girl.”

“I don’t think she would do that.” Daehyun added in.

“I know. But you know Himchan; he’s always been paranoid someone is out to get him.”

Youngjae began to shift through the costumes and pulled a couple off the rack, “Anyway I came here to drop off your costumes.”

He handed two dresses to Hyosung and one outfit to Daehyun, “Can you try these on to make sure they fit? The play is like...in two weeks and Himchan wants to make sure they fit perfectly so theres still a little time to alter them if they don’t.”

“Okay. I’ll go change over there.” Hyosung said, heading towards one of the dressing rooms.

“Dae, you can just change here.” Youngjae said.

“Wh-What?” Daehyun exclaimed.

“Umm, yeah. You never know when anything fits anyway. I always have to go shopping with you for clothing, remember?”

“Oh yeah...” Daehyun replied, nervously taking his shirt off.

Youngjae held Daehyun’s costume in his hand, swaying it back and forth on the hanger, “Wow. Dae, look at you!”

“What is it?!” He asked, trying to cover his upper body with his arms,

“Nothing. Dude, I didn’t know you got that muscular!” He laughed, hitting his friend’s chest, “Have you been working out a lot?”

“Just a little...” The other replied, trying to his pants.

When his pants were finally off, Youngjae handed him the costume and helped his friend get into it, which made Daehyun feel a little uncomfortable for some reason; but Youngjae didn’t break a sweat.

“Hmmm...yeah I guess it fits good. Hyosung! Are you done trying them on?”

Hyosung emerged from the dressing room, obviously in discomfort, “It’s too tight...”

“Where?” Youngjae asked, getting out a piece of paper and moving closer to Hyosung.

“H-Here...” She pointed to her chest and Youngjae tried to get a better look at it.

“Oh yeah, I see that. Do you mind if I just measure your bust again? I think the person who took your measurements must have got it wrong.”

“Yeah sure.” She replied.

Youngjae retrieved a measuring tape and began to wrap it around her chest, as she spread her arms out.

Daehyun didn’t know why, but at that moment he felt as bad as Himchan when he saw Yongguk with Jieun.

 

“You’re Han Sunhwa, right?” Himchan asked, tapping the brunette on the shoulder.

She quickly turned around, stunned by the sudden approachment in the silent school library, “Yeah. You’re Kim Himchan?”

Himchan nodded, “How did you know?”

“Umm..it’s hard not to?” She replied, careful with her words. She had never really formally met the older boy.

“Anyway, I’m directing this year’s spring play and I was wondering if you would help out with the makeup. Daehyun said you’re pretty good at it.”

Sunhwa stiffened, “Ummm...I don’t know. I’m not really used to doing makeup on other people.” Truthfully, she just didn’t want to work under Himchan. She was sensitive and didn’t want to be exposed to Himchan’s dictator like tendencies.

“You won’t be alone, if that’s what you’re worried about. I got another girl named Jung Hana to help out too. Know her?”

Sunhwa quickly nodded, she was good friends with Hana, “Yeah. I know her.”

“Great. So dress rehearsal is next Wednesday after school. And heres a schedule of all the performances. You need to be there at least an hour before the play so you can help get the actors ready.” Himchan said, quickly pulling out a sheet of paper from the folder he was holding and shoving it into the younger’s hands.

“Wait I never agreed to-”

“Great! So I’ll see you on Wednesday, mmk? Love ya!” He waved and happily trotted away.

Sunhwa sighed and glanced down at the schedule. Defeated, she shut her textbooks and packed up her things to head home. Finals would have to wait.

 

Daehyun chewed his bottom lip as he quickly paced backstage. It wasn’t out of stage fright, since opening night was still a few nights away, but it was because of Youngjae. Because Youngjae was furiously being yelled at by Himchan since they were at dress rehearsal, and his best friend had asked if he wanted to get dinner with him after rehearsal, and knowing Daehyun, he had eagerly agreed.

“Careful, you’ll drill a hole in the ground.” Yongguk smiled, popping in behind the junior.

“Oh, Yongguk. Don’t do that. You scared me.”

“Sorry.” Yongguk shrugged, “You seem pretty focused on something. Stage fright?” He asked, patting Daehyun’s back.

“No...”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know. I already tried to talk to this about Hyosung but she said I had gotten it all mixed up.”

“Got what all mixed up?”

“My feelings towards Youngjae?” The younger shrugged, “I think he likes me but I don’t know.”

Yongguk immediately broke out laughing, “Him? Hyosung was right, you really have this all mixed up.”

“What do I have mixed up?!” Daehyun exclaimed, angrily.

“It’s quite obvious that you’re the one in love with Youngjae.”

Daehyun stood there, mouth ajar, “No. I don’t love Youngjae! He’s my best friend!” He said a little too loudly, earning a few odd looks from some of the stage crew.

Yongguk shook his head.

“Okay, fine.” Daehyun said, lowering his voice, “So what if I was in love with Youngjae? I don’t even know what love feels like.”

“Well tell me what you feel when you think about Youngjae. When you’re around Youngjae.”

“Umm...I get nervous. But I think it’s cause I think it’s awkward since I know he’s in love with me. And when I see him with girls I feel...upset? I don’t know why. Also, I want to spend a lot of time with him. But that’s because we’re best friends, right? And when he sings while he works my heart clenches and I can’t help but smile...”

Daehyun stopped himself when he realized what he was saying and quickly looked back at Yongguk, who was smiling.

“Well?! Why are you smiling like that?! Okay, fine, fine! I’m in love with Yoo Youngjae! I’ll admit it! I did have it all mixed up!” He buried his face in his hands.

Yongguk chuckled, “That’s the same way I feel about Himchan. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Really?” Daehyun asked, lifting his head out of his hands.

“Yeah.” He replied, wistfully, “When I see Himchan...” He peaked out from behind the curtain and looked at his furious boyfriend, still yelling at Youngjae, “No matter how angry he is...I still think he’s the most beautiful man on the planet. I want to make him smile. I want to cheer him up whenever he’s angry. If he ignores me I feel like the worst. I just call him and beg for forgiveness and wait by the phone for his call back. I guess you could say I’m whipped, but I don’t really care. As long as I have Himchan in my life, nothing matters.”

Daehyun felt his whole body warm up, “Is that what love feels like?”

Yongguk looked back at him and nodded, “Love feels different for everyone. But it all boils down to just wanting to be around the person you love...no matter how far.”

“I love Youngjae.” Daehyun whispered, “I am really, hopelessly in love with Youngjae.” He buried his head back into his hands, “I’m in love with my best friend.”