C h a p t e r  T w e n t y  O n e

Last night was unbelievably real.

That thought first came as she woke up the next morning. Everything was well. Or that’s what she thought.

Do you know what comes after an eerie calmness of atmosphere?

Storm.

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Another one week and Naeun would be standing on the stage, showing the world what she was made of. She was feeling nervous and excited, as anyone would do. And a tiny bit of her heart wished her parents was still living, to watch her proudly. She chased the wishful thinking away as she geared up for the full rehearsal. Jenny was there too, since early morning to watch them. Naeun greeted her with wide smile and the producer gave her words of advice and encouragement.

Afterwards, she saw Hyungsik wandering around the backstage, hands clasped behind his back. She creeped behind him and tapped his shoulder, “Johnny!”

He startled as he turned around before chuckling, “What are you doing?”

“You’re a nerve-wrecked, Hyungsik.”

“Of course I am!” He claimed, putting a hand on his chest, “Aren’t you?”

Naeun shrugged, “Not really. I’m feeling pretty confident.”

Her partner gave her a knowing look, “Look at you, you’re in a good mood. Did something happen last night?”

“I’m not telling!” She sang the words as she skipped away from him, leaving him a little frustrated, “Oh, come on! Don’t end a story like that!”

He kept pestering her until the director called everyone for the full rehearsal. Naeun gave Hyungsik a mocking look before laughing merrily and the poor guy only shook his head, disbelief. All casts stood on the stage with the pair of them were at the center, suddenly feeling all eyes on them. Jenny and the director sat on the front row, watching them with much concentration.

Jenny stood up, “Can I have your attention, please?”

As no sound heard, she continued, “When the writer came to me about a play idea of Dirty Dancing, I was immediately hooked. This story was about innocent and passionate love. You don’t just find those anywhere. And I must say, I’ve found the perfect casts for Frances and Johnny.” She pointed at the two of them, “You two will be amazing, I just know it. So, I just want to say, good luck and do your best, okay? Make this mama proud.”

They clapped at her words and soon the rehearsal began. As Naeun had expected, it was pretty good for the first time. There were flaws here and there (misplaced props, an audio problem when Naeun was about to belt to the song ‘Yes’ and a few forgotten lines in the scenes). Nevertheless, everyone was actually satisfied with the first full rehearsal. Everything was revised, the good and the bad. Even the director (with his ridiculous plaid pants) seemed in a good mood. With a few last words from Jenny, everyone was then dismissed.

Hyungsik offered Naeun a lunch treat but she declined as she planned on talking with Jenny about the play. They bid goodbye at the parking lot as Naeun saw Jenny walked out of the entrance, heading to the road. Jenny, in her glamorous metallic blue dress stood there, as if waiting for someone. Naeun’s eyes squinted as she contemplated, of ambushing the producer now or just wait for tomorrow.

But before she could even take another breath, a car stopped right in front of Jenny. With much curiosity as a cat, Naeun stepped a little nearer. The window on the passenger side rolled down, revealing a familiar face. The man gave a smile and Jenny opened the door before getting inside the car. The car drove off and Naeun caught a clearer glimpse of the driver as her heart dropped.

It was L’s father.

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That night, Naeun stirred in her sleep. Or rather, she wasn’t sleeping at all. She was closing her eyes, shutting off her brain, hoping the scene she encountered today would go away. It didn’t, of course. She changed her positions; lying on her sides, burying her head into her pillow, hung her head down at the corner of the bed. None of them worked. She still couldn’t sleep.

As the sun rose, Naeun found herself with bed hair and twitching eyes on the floor of her room, surrounded by her play scripts and dancing costumes. She wasn’t able to recall what had happened exactly as her head was throbbing painfully. She rummaged through the drawer of her nightstand for some medications but couldn’t find any. Naeun groaned and forced herself to get up and take a shower.

When she was done, Naeun noticed she got a text from her boyfriend. The word sounded weird in her head but she felt at home. L texted her saying he would be there in 30 minutes. It was sent 20 minutes ago which meant she had another 10 minutes to get dressed. Naeun flailed as she dug out any decent clothes she had from the bottom of her cave-like wardrobe. She settled for a simple white cotton dress that went just below her knees and let her hair down loosely.

Turned out she took almost half an hour to get ready as she found L leaning on his car, dawning a black button down with a perfectly fitted pair of jeans. He looked extra handsome today, Naeun thought. Well, he looked extra handsome everyday anyway, Naeun just wanted to brag.

His eyes lit up as he saw her and that made Naeun’s stomach fluttered. As she stepped nearer, L threw her a charming smile that she almost tripped. She maintained her composure and smiled back.

“Darling.” He called out, leaned in for a peck on her rosy cheek.

“Hey.” She replied with the same tone of admiration.

They got in the car and L announced, “We’re going for a breakfast at Pink Panda and then I’ll take you to somewhere special.”

He