“It’s happening! It’s really happening!” Himchan threw his arms open, as he watched Junhong and Jongup pull up the last wall of the beginning set. He was riding on cloud nine. Opening night was the following day and everything had gone according to plan.

Well, almost everything.

Himchan shot back a glare at the sound and light corner at the back of the theater where Yongguk and Jieun were a little too close for comfort, fussing over something.

This week had been one of the most stressful weeks of his life. Aside from preparing for the play, he had been keeping a close eye on Jieun. She always got her work done on time, helped out on set whenever she could, always asked Himchan if he was feeling alright and if she could get him anything, and had even helped alter some of the costumes. She was driving Himchan up the wall. She was driving him up the wall because she was perfect.

“Umm, hyung?” Junhong and Jongup shuffled off the stage towards Himchan, “There’s something on one of the walls and I think we’ll need a new-”

“Not now!” Himchan gave Junhong the hand as he stared daggers into Jieun and Yongguk. With a huff he quickly began up the aisles of seats, ready to come between them again.

“I have the costumes!” Hana, yelled through the theater, getting in the way of Director Kim’s war path.

“Oh good!” Himchan quickly spread out the dresses and looked them over, “Yes, these are perfect! Hyosung!”

“Yes?” Hyosung appeared from the dressing room, makeup half done, as Sunhwa had been testing different makeup looks on her.

“Be a dear and try these on, will you? I want to make sure they fit.” He said, shoving the dresses into Jongup’s hands and sending him off to the leading lady.

“Ooo! Of course!” She replied excitedly, looking at the dresses bunched up in Jongup’s arms.

His mind off of the BangSong couple and the urgent news Junhong had been trying to tell him earlier, Himchan quickly went back to checking things off his clipboard.

 

“Nervous about tonight?” Sunhwa asked, plugging a black and red wire into their science table.

“Not really.” Daehyun replied, “I’m actually really excited! I wonder how Himchans doing...He must be bouncing off the walls right now.”

“I hope everything goes okay. Himchan has been working so hard on this play, I would hate to see anything go wrong.” Jongup replied.

“I’m sure everything will go fine.” Junhong said, helping Sunhwa set up their physics experiment.

"What about you, Sunhwa? Are you excited to put makeup on the actors?" Daehyun asked.

 

"Nope. I am genuinely not excited at all. I really don't like school events, to be honest."

"Really?" Junhong asked, "Why?"

 

"Because aaaalll of me hates aaaalll of school." She sing songed.

 

"Wow. You're actually a really good singer." Daehyun said, impressed. "Have you ever thought about becoming a singer or something?"

 

Sunhwa blushed a little, "Thanks...and yeah I have. But I don't think that dream is for me."

"Aw, cmon. Thats my dream. And I sing every chance I get!"

 

"Its true." Jongup added in, "When I was sick he came to my house and sung me a lullaby of Lil Jon's Turn Down for What."

 

Sunhwa did a slow clap, "Yup. That sounds like something he would do."

 

"You should sing it today at the performance." Junhong smiled.

 

"That reminds me, did you know it's considered bad luck to say the name of this certain play before a show?" Sunhwa perked up.

 

"Really?" Jongup asked, intrigued.

 

Sunhwa nodded, "Most actors just call it The Scottish Play."

 

Daehyun laughed, "That's bull."

 

"Hey! It's better to bring safe then sorry, hyung. We don't want anything to go wrong tonight."

 

"Fine."

 

"Good."

 

"MACBETH MACBETH MACBETH MACBETH MACBETH."

 

"Dammit, Daehyun! " Sunhwa exclaimed, "Now if we get bad luck it's all your fault."

 

Daehyun continued to laugh, "Sorry I just couldn't resist. But I highly doubt anything will happen."

Sunhwa shot him a look.

 

"I finished setting up!" Junhong exclaimed.

 

"Yay! We hooked up a battery! Okay, time to get started." Sunhwa said, touching the two metal tips together, creating sparks.

"Wow that's so cool!" Jongup said, trying to do the same with wires with clips on top, but failing.

 

"I wanna try!" Daehyun exclaimed, grabbing the clips away from Jongup and sticking a stick of pencil lead in between them. In a puff of smoke, the lead glowed red hot.

 

Daehyun hovered his hand close to and tried to touch it. Sunhwa quickly snatched his hand away.

 

"Don't even think about it."

 

Himchan tapped his pencil anxiously against his desk. His tapping was in rhythm with the clicking school clock.

"Relax." Hyosung whispered, rubbing her friend's hand. "Everything will work out." The jangle of her bracelets mixed with Himchan's tapping.

"Are you sure? There could be million things going wrong. An actor could get sick, something could break...oh god... Yongguk and Jieun could kiss!" Himchan whispered loudly, throwing his head on the desk at the last statement.

"Stop over thinking everything. Just focus on the lesson." She said, pointing her pencil up to the board.

Himchan looked up at the board and tried to get lost in whatever literature his English teacher was spewing. But to no avail; he just found himself making a mental checklist of all the things he needed to retrieve from home after school. Thinking he should instead write it down, he dug around in his folder, but it was empty. Turning to his notebook, he was upset when he realized he had already given up on trying to focus these last weeks of school and not a page had been spared from his doodling. Defeated, and too lazy to ask Hyosung for a piece of paper, he settled on a mental checklist and got lost in his thoughts.

Only once the bell rung, did he break his train of thought.

 

Daehyun could barely calm his beating heart. Mixed with the fact he was feeling slightly nervous over the play and that he had been sitting next to Youngjae all last period, he felt like he was about to vomit. The only thing he remembered from class was that one minute when he zoned back in upon hearing his history teacher say that the final would not be curved following Youngjae's 'I don't need curves they disappoint me.'

He was confused. In denial over his crush, but mostly confused. Could it be? Could it have been him the whole time who was in love with his best friend? Daehyun didn't know what to do. Did he want Youngjae?  When did he fall in love with him? What if Youngjae didn't love him back? No, he had to be overthinking this. He had definitely had to be overthinking it.

 

Sunhwa dusted powder over Daehyun's smooth skin, watching the loose powder flutter down to the towel wrapped around his costume. Daehyun almost sneezed when Sunhwa ran the brush under his nose.

"Please don't sneeze. I still need to do highlighting and contour."

"I have no idea what is but is it gonna take long? I really have to go take a piss."

"Yeah. Just wait a couple more minutes."

"Okay everyone! Gather round." Himchan clapped his hands excitedly. "The house is open and in just half an hour the Scottish play will begin! Remember, it's considered bad luck to say this certain play in the theater." Himchan's cheerful expression went dark, "So don't let me catch any of you ers saying it."

Daehyun was trying to peer past Sunhwa and into the crowd gathered around Himchan, "Oh. You got it wrong, Sunhwa. It's only bad luck if you say it in the theater."

"Oh so I did." Sunhwa absent mindedly replied, grabbing a highlighting powder.

Daehyun began to open his mouth, and Sunhwa's eyes went wide when she realized what he was going to do.

He took a deep breath, "MAC-" Sunhwa clamped her foundation covered hand over Daehyun's mouth.

"Jung Daehyun!" Himchan angrily screamed, pushing through the crowd and shoving Sunhwa aside, "Don't even think about doing that."

Daehyun smirked, "Its a load of bull."

Himchan clamped his hand over Daehyun's mouth, nearly suffocating him.

"H-his makeup..." Sunhwa squeaked from behind.

Himchan leaned in close enough to smell the powder on his face. He stared deep into his eyes, "Don't. Even. Think. About. It."

Daehyun muttered back a muffled reply.

"I'm going to let you go but you need to promise me not to say it." Himchan hissed with a hostile look.

Daehyun nodded.

Himchan released his hand and wiped the smeared makeup on a shuddering stage crew first year. Sunhwa rushed in to fix his makeup, armed with a tube of lipstick.

"Places people!" Himchan called.

"MACBETH MACBETH MACBETH MACBETH MACBETH."

The whole room turned around, a scared expression on their faces. Daehyun sat there with half of his lipstick applied and the other half smeared across his cheek. Sunhwa stood there, stunned.

"I ing told you!" Himchan screeched, hands already in a strangling position as he barrelled through the crowd towards Daehyun.

"Himchan!  Himchan!  Come quick!" Yongguk ran in, forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat and a distressed look on his face.

"What is it?!"

"One of the beams on the castle wall snapped!"

Himchan ran out from the backstage dressing room and onto the darkness of backstage. "Lights!" He screamed.

The backstage lights went on and Himchan quickly laid eyes on the slightly askew wall and the two boys holding up the beam.

"Junhong!  Jongup!" Himchan gasped, seeing the boys hold up the toppling wall without much effort. "What happened?!"

"The beam already had a crack in it and snapped. Luckily me and Jongup were able to hold it up in time."

"It doesn't look that bad from the audience and stage." Yongguk said.

"Oh god... " Himchan wiped some sweat from his brow, "is there some quick fix we can do to hold it up for tonight's show?" He asked, turning to Yongguk.

Yongguk shook his head, "We can get a new beam tomorrow, but for now I'm afraid there's nothing we can do but hold it up."

Himchan once again glanced over to the two boys and sighed, "I guess you two will have to hold up the beam tonight."

"What?! No! I don't wanna hold up this beam all night." Junhong protested.

"Its not all night. Its just for like, three hours." Yongguk replied.

Jongup let out an exasperated sigh, "Yeah, because that's such a big difference." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Please just hold it up!" Himchan begged.

"And why should we?" Junhong narrowed his eyes.

"I'll give you twenty bucks each." Himchan sighed, rolling his eyes.

This immediately peaked the youngers' interest , "Okay. We'll do it!" They said in unison.

Himchan blew his bangs out of his eyes. With that problem solved he ran back to the dressing room to try to solve Daehyun's problem.

 

"You ." Himchan yelled, stomping back into the room.

"Himchan, calm down! It's not the end of the world!" Jieun piped up.

"Don't tell me what to do, woman!" Himchan snapped back.

"Hey!" Sunhwa yelled at the other, upset with his attitude, "She's right. There's a way to cleanse the curse."

"Really?!" Himchan asked, sounding relieved.

"Yup. All we have to do is recite a line from Hamlet or Merchant of Venice." Jieun replied, naming off two more of Shakespeare's plays.

"Great!" Daehyun exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. Sunhwa had just finished fixing his makeup. "Ooo. I know one!"

"Spit it out!"

"Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?!" Daehyun exclaimed.

Himchan slapped Daehyun on the shoulder, "That's a line from Romeo and Juliet, idiot!"

"Oh...my bad." He replied, shrugging.

"Ugh. Let me go get my Shakespeare anthology." Himchan said, going over to his bag and rummaging through it.

"Poor Himchan..." Hyosung sighed, fanning herself. The night was hot, and her dress was heavy.

"You can say that again." Yongguk replied.

"Oh god no...no, no, no, no, no!" Himchan flipped his bag over and shook it, letting all its contents fall to the floor.

"What is it?" Yongguk asked, rushing over to his boyfriend's side.

"Its not here! I left it at home!" He sank to the ground in a heap. The play was suppose to start in fifteen minutes.

"I'll go get it." Yongguk replied, already getting out his keys.

"No. You're too important. I need you to stay here." Himchan answered.

"Is that anthology really that important?" Hyosung asked.

"Yes! Its important. Like really, really, really important. I just can't believe I left it at home in my...oh ."

"What is it?!"

"I left it in my dad's office! The only way to get in without his key is through the window." He facepalmed upon remembering leaving the book next to the computer after his older sister helped print out programs for the play.

Hyosung sighed and reached for her street clothes, "Okay. I'll go get it."

"What?! No! You're the leading lady!" Himchan objected.

Hyosung had already began to shuffle to a changing room, "Doesn't matter. You and me have broke into his office before and I don't appear until a few scenes in. It won't take long since you live a few minutes away."

"Fine." Himchan said, defeated. "Hana, go with her."

"Okay!" The girl said, grabbing her purse.

"Hyosung will need someone to stand on."

"Wait, what?!"

It was only after everyone had left and only Yongguk, Jieun and himself were left in the room that he finally exploded.

"This is all your fault!" Himchan screamed, jabbing a finger at Jieun.

"M-my fault?" She asked, shocked and confused.

"Yes! If you had never joined the play and threw yourself all over my boyfriend, this would have never happened!"

"Hey!" Yongguk yelled, gruffly, standing in between Himchan and Jieun. "It's nobody's fault."

"Yes it is!" He stomped his foot like a child.

"Okay. If it's anyone's fault, its that stupid curse, alright?" He replied, trying to comfort his boyfriend.

"No its not! Its Song Jieun's fault!" He continued whining.

"Maybe I should go..." Jieun whispered.

"Yes! Leave!" Himchan threw his arms into the air.

"No, don't." Yongguk replied.

"Why?! She wants to leave!" He said, gesturing to the girl.

"Just go to the soundboard, Songji."

Jieun nodded and quickly scurried off.

"What's wrong with you?!" Yongguk shook his boyfriend once Jieun was gone.

"Nicknames for her too, huh?" Himchan's voice cracked and he was chewing on his lip.

"Channie...are you jealous? There's nothing going on between us, I swear. We're just good friends."

"That's what they all say." You could feel the grief in Himchan's voice as he looked down at his shoes and tried not to cry.

Jieun was the perfect girl for Yongguk. They both knew that. Yongguk's family had not been too thrilled when they learned that the boy who used to come over to their house to play everyday had become their son's significant other. They wanted Yongguk to have a girlfriend, not a boyfriend. They wanted a sweet, kind, helpful girl who was bursting with beauty and treated Yongguk well. Jieun even shared Yongguk's love for music. Himchan knew she could love him better than he could.

“Himchan, please...” Yongguk began to walk towards his boyfriend, arms outstretched to embrace the troubled other.

“Don’t touch me...I need to make sure everyone gets in their places. The play is starting soon...” He cleared his throat and sniffled and walked out of the dressing room. A few moments later Yongguk, alone in the room, could hear his boyfriend below, “PLACES EVERYONE! DON’T THIS UP!” As if nothing was wrong.

It was times like this that Yongguk felt that Himchan was too strong for his wellbeing. But he couldn’t stop it. After all, Himchan was his Strong Chan. The only one for him.

 

Luckily for stressed director Himchan, the first scenes went off without a hitch. To his continuing misfortune however, it was only the first scenes that went off without a hitch.

“Where the is that dagger?!” Youngjae ripped apart the prop box, searching for the key prop for an upcoming scene.

He stomped backstage, eyes locked every which way searching for the plastic dagger. Finally he laid his eyes on it. It was in the hand of Daehyun. Who was swinging it back and forth and reciting a line while the girl who played Lady Macduff stood by.

“Daehyun, what the ?!” Youngjae ran over, ready to rip the dagger out of his hand.

“Is this a dagger I see before me?” Daehyun recited a line, eyes a little too focused on the prop. “Aw, I forgot the next line.”

“Let me clutch it.” Lady Macduff replied, reading from the script.

“Ah, yes. Let me clutch it!”

“Give me that!” Youngjae yelled, ripping the dagger from his hand. “Why would you play with it at a time like this?!”

Daehyun shrugged, “I dunno. I was bored.”

“What, you egg?!” Youngjae hissed, jabbing the dagger into Daehyun’s stomach.

 

Himchan had been chewing his bottom lip out of anxiety so hard, he swore he could feel the dribble of blood on it. Hyosung was suppose to go on for her first scene soon but there was no sign of her anywhere. The clock was against him.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket, “Yes, hello?! Hana?! Where are you guys?!”

“Hyosung is hurt! She fell off the roof and now we’re in an ambulance!”

“What?! What do you mean she’s hurt?! She can’t be hurt! She needs to be here right now in the big dress ready to say her lines!”

“Well excuuuse me. But Hyosung is pretty banged up. I mean luckily she’ll be fine and can probably perform tomorrow night but I feel like that’s the least of your worries. Can’t you be a little more considerate?! She got hurt doing an errand for you and all you’re worried about is your dumb play.”

Himchan sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Hana was right. He was being a total , “You’re right, Hana. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Hyosung when you come visit her in hospital. You are gonna come visit her, right?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Tell Hyosung to get well soon for me!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Hana hung up and a flood of panic rushed through his body. Hyosung was gone. Lady Macbeth was gone. And he had been stupid enough to not cast an understudy because he knew Hyosung would be there on the day of the play and he didn’t want to be responsible for another actress. This was his fault. Everything was his fault. He needed a replacement and fast. He needed someone who knew this play front and back and it couldn’t be him. Searching desperately around the theater, his eyes finally landed on Yoo Youngjae, leaning against a shelf, appearing to be taking a breather.

“Oh, Youngjae!”

 

Youngjae was horrified. He had been horrified when his clothing had been ripped off and he had been stuffed in a dress. He had been horrified when Sunhwa yanked all of his hair back and shoved it into a long wig. And he had been especially horrified when she began to pile on layers and layers of makeup onto his face, smearing foundation, blush and other products all over his face as if her life depended on it.

But most of all, he was horrified when he had to face Himchan in his full attire.

Sunhwa approached Himchan backstage with Youngjae in tow. She was holding up her hands as if they were covered in the blood of the man she just killed. Her hands were dripping in foundation, glossy liquid highlighter, and her fingertips were covered with smeared eyeliner and eyelash glue. She had a glassy look in her eyes, and Himchan could see she even had some makeup smeared on the bottom of her baby pink dress.

“Thanks Sunhwa, I really owe you one. Youngjae looks great.” Himchan smiled.

Sunhwa merely nodded.

“What about me?! I never agreed to this!” Youngjae protested, trying to stomp a foot, but his heel tripped him up.

“Yeah, whatever.” Himchan brushed it off, “Hyosung is in hospital and you’re the only one who can play this part.”

“Hyosung is in the hospital?” Youngjae’s eyes went wide, “Will she be okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, she’ll be fine.” He brushed it off again, “Just go out there and strut that .” And with that he pushed his friend onto the stage.

Youngjae blinked at the blinding lights and looked down at the audience. It was too dark to see. Once the initial shock wore off, he decided there was no turning back now. Trying to make his voice a couple octaves higher, he recited his first line. Surprised at how great it felt to be in the limelight, he recited the next few lines without falter, and soon found himself submerged into the blood thirst, power hungry role of Lady Macbeth.

 

Himchan finally let out a sigh of relief. Everything was going good. Youngjae hadn’t strangled him yet, and he was pretty sure Daehyun was doing a damn good job at concealing his over seeing Youngjae in such a fashion. Nothing could go wrong after this. Nothing at all.

“Be gone, spot!” Youngjae recited in such a dramatic tone, scrubbing at his hands. The audience was fixated on Youngjae’s amazing performance. Himchan wondered why he didn’t pressure his friend into acting earlier.

Smiling, his eyes landed on Yongguk and Jieun, on the other side of the stage. His blood immediately began to boil. What were they doing over there?! They should be at the soundbooth!

Jieun was pointing at something on the lights and Yongguk was looking at her and nodded. Once again, they were too close for comfort. Himchan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

“Umm..Himchan? Are you okay?” Sunhwa asked, seeing as Himchan looked like he was about to explode.

“I’m. Fine.” Himchan was gritting his teeth so hard Sunhwa was afraid they would crack.

“Are you sure?” She asked again.

“I SAID I’M ING FINE.” He yelled at Sunhwa, disrupting some of the audience in the front rows. Youngjae looked back at them and glared.

Himchan didn’t know what happened next; Sunhwa had said Jieun slipped, but the next thing Himchan saw was Jieun in the arms of Yongguk. They were looking at each other and laughing.

“GET YOUR ING HANDS OFF MY BOYFRIEND.” Himchan yelled. It was gone. Himchan was gone. No going back now.

Sunhwa immediately tried to hold the fuming director back, but he shoved her to the ground with little effort. “Junhong! Jongup! Help me! Himchan is going crazy!” Sunhwa begged, clutching to one of Himchan’s legs.

Junhong and Jongup quickly let go of the beam and rushed over to help Sunhwa. The two boys each grabbed one of Himchan’s arms and Sunhwa tried to grab his flailing legs.

Daehyun who was standing a little behind the troubled director, saw Jieun and Yongguk’s shocked expressions towards Himchan and wondered if he should help. But that thought quickly went away when he noticed that the wall Jongup and Junhong had been trying to hold up was beginning to topple. And Youngjae was standing right under it!

“Youngjae!” Daehyun screamed, as he pushed Jongup, Junhong and Sunhwa aside, making Jongup and Sunhwa release their grip and freeing the wild beast that was Himchan.

Youngjae looked at Daehyun with a confused expression as he saw his friend running towards him, then he looked up when he heard more screaming and saw the castle wall crashing down towards him. He was frozen in fear.

“Youngjae! Look out!” Daehyun grabbed Youngjae and threw him to the ground, rolling the two bodies away from the top of the castle wall.

When the dust settled, Daehyun realized something. He was on top of Youngjae. And their lips were touching. He swore he could hear Sunhwa gasp something along the lines of “Are you ing kidding me?!”

“I WILL END BOTH OF YOU!”

Daehyun was so close to Himchan but he could barely hear his friend’s war cry as he tore across the stage followed by Junhong and Jongup quickly padding after him yelling, “No, hyung! No!”

Daehyun was too fixated on what was happening to him and Youngjae right now. He couldn’t even feel the excruciating pain in his left arm.

“Umm...Dae...you’re kinda crushing me.” Youngjae murmured out, trying to move his lips from Daehyun’s so he could talk...and breathe.

Maybe Daehyun hadn’t been overthinking it at all.

 

“And what did we learn from this?” Yongguk asked, arms crossed as he stared his roughed up boyfriend down.

“That if I have a problem I need to talk to you about it instead of hiding my feelings.” Himchan murmured, looking down at his shoes in shame.

“Good. And I learned that I should ask you how you’re doing more often. And tell you how much I love you. Because I love you, Himchan. I really do. And if you were to leave me I would probably cry and end up stalking you.”

“That’s creepy.” Himchan eyed him.

“Proves how much I love you.”

“That makes it even more creepy.”

“Okay, okay, it kinda does. But I really love you, okay? And I always will.”

Himchan finally smiled and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, “Me too.”

“Sorry about your play.” Yongguk whispered into Himchan’s ear as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“It’s alright. Theres always tomorrow night.”

“How about we go visit Hyosung now?”

 

After cleaning up the mess, everyone found themselves packed into Hyosung’s hospital room. She was awake and bubbly, eager to take the stage the next night. Hana explained to the group that Hyosung just had a sprained wrist, and was scratched up a bit, but other then that she should be fine.

“They just wanna keep her overnight for surveillance. She’s scheduled to be discharged tomorrow morning.” Hana said.

“Thats great!” Himchan smiled, “Hyosung...I’m really sorry this happened to you. It’s all my fault...if I hadn’t made you go get that anthology this would have never happened to you...and well...then Youngjae wouldn’t have had to dress like a girl...and the stage probably wouldn’t have collapsed either. Everything is my fault.”

“Nothing is your fault.” The purple haired girl reassured him, “I volunteered to go so I should take responsibility for that. The last thing I want you to do is feel guilty over what happened.”

“You’re too nice, Hyo.” Sunhwa teased, “If I were you, I would jump right out of that hospital bed and bash his brains out.”

“Pssh. He’s had a pretty hard time tonight. Better just to let him off with a warning.” She smirked, giving a sly wink towards Himchan.

“Oh god please tell me that doesn’t mean you’re gonna push me down the stairs at graduation.” He groaned.

“Close guess, but nope.” she laughed. “Wait, where’s Youngjae and Daehyun?” She looked around the room, just noticing the two absences.

“Oh, Youngjae is with Daehyun...Daehyun broke his arm rescuing Youngjae. I wonder if they’ll stop by...” Yongguk replied.

Hyosung clasped her hands together, looking starry eyed, “Daehyun got hurt rescuing the damsel in distress, how romantic!”

 

Daehyun sat on the edge of the hospital bed, trying to wiggle his fingers in the hard, plastic cast. The white in the room was blinding him.

“Does it hurt?” Youngjae asked, breaking the awkward silence the two had been sitting in since the nurse left.

“Not anymore...it just kinda feels weird.” Daehyun replied.

“Oh...that’s good.”

Silence again.

“Okay, listen, I’m just gonna rip off the bandaid right now cause I can’t stand this awkward moment we’re sitting in right now.” Daehyun finally sighed.

“Okay?”

“I like you. No...I love you. Yeah, I know it’s weird. It’s really weird and I don’t know when I started feeling like this but it just happened. And I can understand if you don’t want to be friends with me anymore but it’s just...I’m sorry.” His words were getting jumbled together and his tongue felt numb.

Youngjae smiled, “I know.”

“Wh-What?”

“It’s not that hard to find out stuff like this when your phone’s password is 42069.” He rolled his eyes.

“I-I-I...”

“And I already know your computer password is ‘twerk4daehyun’ so don’t even try to hide that from me.”

“Okay, now that’s kinda scary.” Daehyun replied, confused as to where Youngjae was trying to get with this.

“Yeah I guess...but I mean...couples are suppose to know each other’s feelings, right?”

Daehyun was speechless, “Couple?!”

Youngjae turned a bright shade of red, “I mean! I mean like if you want cause...” he rubbed the back of his head, “I feel the same way about you too.”

Daehyun’s heart sped up, “Come again? You love who?”

“You...” Youngjae muttered, knowing Daehyun was trying to .

“Sorry, I can’t hear you, try again?”

“You...”

“Gonna have to speak up, honey.”

Red faced and angry, Youngjae got up from his seat and pressed his lips against Daehyun. He kissed him. Daehyun couldn’t believe it. Youngjae was actually ing kissing him.

“I love you, .”

 

Himchan heaved the heavy tool bag down the halls towards the school’s theater. Yongguk was back there fixing the broken beam so it would be all ready for tonight’s show. Hyosung had already called him and told him that she was going to be discharged in a couple hours so she could definitely get on that stage. Himchan was happy. Everything had worked out. Now if he could only carry this damn toolbag.

“Need some help?”

Himchan turned around and saw the last person he wanted to talk to.

“Oh...Jieun...” He tried to cover his face. He hadn’t seen her since last night where he almost tried to claw her eyes out.

“Is Hyosung doing alright?” She asked.

“Yeah, she’s doing fine. She’s gonna be discharged soon so she’ll be able to perform tonight.”

“Oh thats good! She was such a great actress, I’m happy she’s doing fine.”

“Yeah...Um, listen, Jieun.”

“Hm?”

“I’m really, really, really, really sorry. For everything...I was just overreacting and stuff. I really didn’t mean any of it. You’re a really nice girl and I’m an . I’m super, super sorry.”

Jieun smiled, “It’s alright. I forgive you.” She laughed, “Truthfully I would’ve done to same thing to my boyfriend if I were in your situation.”

Himchan mentally face palmed, of course a girl like Jieun would have a boyfriend. Why was he even worrying? He should have just asked in the first place. After all, Jieun didn’t seem like the type to go behind her boyfriend’s back.

“So we’re cool?”

“Of course, Himchan. We’re totally cool. Now do you need any help with that?”

Himchan nodded, and struggled to pick the bag up with both hands, “It’s really heavy.”

Jieun walked over, grabbed the bag with one hand and swung it over her shoulder like a purse, all without breaking a sweat.

Himchan went slack jawed, “H-How did you...?”

“Girls have a heavy load to carry, you know?” She called over her shoulder, before strutting down the hall towards the theater.

And Himchan smiled and followed after her, because he understood. He finally understood.

In the end, Himchan never needed the anthology, and it sat in his dad’s office collecting dust. And it remained there until even Jongup and Junhong went off to college, and it remained there for many years more.

And in the very, very end, after everyone had found their own happy ending, they all agreed that the curse of the Scottish Play, might have been a blessing instead.

But who knows? Because at the end of the day, who actually agrees that high school is nothing but one giant high school ical?

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HOW DO YOU WRITE ENDING UGGHHH????