Chapter 7

Hakyeon

After classes, the cast of the musical gathered on stage. We sat in a large circle and read through the full play. There was a lot of laughter as words were mispronounced and accents were butchered. Mr. Hwan informed us that there would be plenty of time to get accents and words straightened out. He gave us two weeks to memorize lines, and stated that for the next week we would gather every day after class to read through our lines. Blocking and acting would start the following week.

When we were finished I made my way to the costume closet. Rubbing the back of my neck I groaned. "I have no clue how I'm going to memorize all of these lines, and seduce a prince."

Once inside, I set the script down on a stack of boxes. I quickly changed into my gown and tucked the key into my bodice before putting on the wig. After ensuring that the wig was on secure, I turned the dial and stepped through into Saint Malo.

Retracing my steps from the day before, I made my way back to the small room. I found Jaehwan laying on the bed playing with his fingers. "Seem's like you are having an exciting day."

Jaehwan shot up in the bed with a large grin on his face. "N! I'm so happy to see you. It was so boring waiting for you all day."

I chuckled, as he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. "Wait, Jaehwan where are we going?"

He stopped and turned to face me. He wore the most serious expression I had ever seen from my friend. "You need to call me Ken. People here will kill you for having a drop of Vannes blood."

"But Hongbin?"

"Yes, Hongbin." He interrupted, "He has the protection from his father's family. He is technically a bastard child, but being that his father's wife had no children, he is his father’s heir, and only a few steps away from the throne. He is the Prince's cousin." He turned back and opened the door. We began to walk through the hallways to meet the others. Ken was no longer laughing or joyful.

"I'm sorry Ken. I didn't know that things were so serious here." I apologized, feeling guilty. I was used to him being the cheerful boy that grew up down the street. It was hard to think that this was not the same person, and that he had been through harder times than I could ever imagine. It strengthened my resolve to help them. He deserved to truly laugh and enjoy himself. I didn't want to see a false laugh coming from him, hiding the pain and fear he lived with every day.

We came to a stop. "It's ok. You are here to help us and that means a lot to all of us. If we can pull this off, we will owe you our lives, and the lives of two kingdoms." He took a deep breath and exhaled. His smile returned and any sign of the previous tension was gone.

On the other side of the room was Wonsik. "Hey Ravi." Ken winked at the other boy, and Ravi chuckled. He became fascinated with something outside the window, but I could see the hint of red on his cheeks and knew that he did find the other boy attractive.

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