“Minari!”

Momo burst into the classroom yelling Mina’s name. She ran all the way to Mina’s seat and slammed her hands on Mina’s table. The noise certainly startled the shy girl, for she slightly jumped in her seat. Mina stared at Momo with an expectant look.

“Mina, Mina,” Momo tried to catch her breath, the effect of excitedly running towards her classroom obviously catching up on her. “Musical… Play…” She breathed heavily in between words, trying her very best to relay the message quickly.

Mina tilted her head sideward, a confused expression on her face.

“Y-You’re going to play the lead role…” Momo explains, still doing her best to breathe properly. “With Son Chaeyoung.”

Eh?

Mina felt the heat rush from her chest to her neck, before feeling it slowly creep up until her cheeks. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she started to blink rapidly as she looked at Momo.

“Eh?” She mimicked the sound she made in her head, clearly speechless. She didn’t believe a word Momo said.

Momo nodded rapidly, trying to convince Mina that she was being honest. “It’s true,” she whipped her phone out from her pocket, opening the gallery. She touched the latest photo and almost shoved it in Mina’s face, evidently showing Mina the proof.

An almost blurry image of a paper pinned to the bulletin board was the first thing Mina saw.

CAST FOR “FIGHT THE STARS”
SON CHAEYOUNG as SONU SHI-WON
MYOUI MINA as KASAI MAYA

Mina couldn’t even comprehend the rest of the names listed on the photo. Her eyes burned holes into Momo’s phone as she stared at her name in shock.

Lead role!?

Staring at it made her feel uneasy. She knew that it was going to be hard for her to act in front of her crush. Not only that, they’re going to be acting like they're in love. People from all over the town will come watch their play and they’d all see Mina be a stuttering mess. It doesn’t help that her social anxiety makes it hard to talk to people, now she’s going to have to sing in front of them.

Still staring at the photo, she noticed one thing.

“My name’s still Japanese…” She mutters with her eyebrows furrowed since she had no idea what the story was. Momo nods, agreeing to Mina's statement.

“Apparently, it’s kind of a cliché.” Momo says, pulling out the chair in front of Mina. She sat down and put her phone away, glancing towards Mina who still looked like she couldn’t believe what was happening. "Something about the scriptwriter not wanting to shock the town too much, I think."

Mina hums first. “What kind of cliché?” Mina asks, genuinely curious.

“It’s this thing where you’re a transfer student, I guess? Something ‘bout your dad’s business…” Momo murmured as she said the words, fingers tapping rhythmically against her cheek.

Mina nodded. She felt at ease since her backstory was pretty common. It made it easier for her to act out up onstage.

“Actually, the play kind of resembles you and Chaeyoung…” Momo thought out loud, trying to spot the similarities between the actors and their characters. Mina whipped her head to look at Momo incredulously.

“Shi-won would apparently get Maya to break out of her shell, which eventually leads Maya to fall in love with her…” Momo continues, taking note of the curious gaze Mina was shooting her. “Who knows, right? Maybe Chaeyoung wo