All eyes on her make Irene self-conscious. She feels her ears and cheeks burning, drying and soon she notices that her partner is looking at her straight in the eyes, eyebrows raised, his big hands suddenly capturing her own in between. It is then that the young woman realizes how sticky her hands are because of her nervous sweating. She wants to retract them, scared that the young man would feel disgusted, but he seems to ignore it. Instead, he takes a quick breath and a wide smile appears on his lips as he starts reciting eloquently,

 

'If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.'

 

She sees 'Romeo' lower his head to allow his lips to touch the back of her trembling hand.

That is her cue.

Irene knows that she has to barely let him kiss her hand, then remove it abruptly and say something. So she does the first two things, but...

... what is her line? What does 'Juliet' says here?

 

'Good pilgrim... good pilgrim.' The light brown haired girl hears another girl's voice whispering behind her back. 'Juliet' moves her head slightly to her right, eyes looking down, to hear the prompter better. 'Good pilgrim, you do wrong...'

Oh, snaps! Yes! Now she remembers! She fixes her eyes on her partner again, blinks repeatedly, and takes a quick breath before saying,

'Good pilgrim. you do wrong your hand too much, which-'

Suddenly, Irene stops speaking. Her mind has gone blank again. The frightened girl lowers her head and steps back briefly before biting her nails. Panic takes over, unwilling to let her go.

 

'Stop! Stop! Irene!' The loud voice of the stage director sounds threatening. The chubby young man approaches the stage and shouts at the girl again.

'Damn.' She hears her 'Romeo' mutter. She glances at him and catches him shaking his head at her, sighing frustrated while looking at the ceiling.

 

'What is the matter with you? Why are you doing this to us now? The play premieres in 2 days!'

'I am deeply sorry, sunbae-nim. I don't know what happened.' The girl bows apologetic.  

'Didn't you hear the cue given by the prompter? Huh?'

'I did, but-' Irene bows again.

'But? But what?' He yells once more.

'I'm sorry.' She murmurs.

'Being sorry doesn't solve anything, you know that, right? Focus, dammit! Have you forgotten all your lines? Huh? Do you want to ruin this? Are you dumb or what?'

The girl remains quiet, embarrassed to the core. Everybody else remains silent, too, worried and upset because the main lead's sudden mental block can spoil the whole performance if she continues like this. And she knows it, she knows everybody is judging her at the moment and it feels horrible. Humiliating. A feeling of constriction in becomes unbearable and her eyes get watery, ready to shed tears.

 

When suddenly,

'Yah! That's enough! Stop yelling at her!' A woman's voice raises among the cast on stage. Everybody, included Irene and the director, turns around to see who it is.

A petite girl, whose wavy chocolate hair falls messily on the sides of her round face, the nostrils of her somewhat concave nose flare, her small lips twist in disapproval and her very, very expressive brown eyes glare at the offender, walks fearlessly among the people (most of which tower her) and approaches the scolded girl and puts a hand behind her back. The latter cannot hold it anymore and breaks down in tears, hiding under her embrace.

'Don't you see that you're making her even more nervous with your scolding? Stop!' The brave girl nags the grumpy man.

The stage director is surprised by the girl's attitude. And despite acknowledging her point, he notices that she is also discrediting him in front of all the people present, so he insists, 'This is our most important play of the year as the drama club of this prestigious school. We have no time left and we can't disappoint, Wendy. You cued her and yet she forgot her lines. If she's gonna keep panicking and dragging everything because of that, I'll put the understudy in her place.'

Irene lifts her head after hearing this, and stares at him, eyes begging, saddened at the big plausibility of his threat.

'You won't need to do that. She knows her lines, she's just nervous now. She won't mess on stage, I promise.' Wendy asseverates with conviction.

'How are you so sure she won't?'

'Because I'll help her practice.'

After hearing the girl's words, Irene looks back at Wendy, her lips part and her eyebrows raise in surprise.

The latter keeps staring at the upset man, her hand tightening her grip around Irene's forearm.

'Don't worry. The play will be a success as it has always been. OK?'

'I'm making you responsible for this if it doesn't.' The young man points a finger at Wendy before leaving the stage and announcing that the rehearsal is over.

 

'Calm down, OK?'

Irene nods after hearing Bogum, her Romeo, and sees him grabbing his copy of the script and then leaving the stage alongside the rest of the cast. But Wendy remains standing by her side.

'Don't worry, unnie. Everything will be alright.' Wendy's comforting voice and sweet smile eases her.

'Thank you, Wendy. I'm a mess. I don't know what's wrong with me. I know the script. I've practiced over and over again, but I keep messing my lines. I feel so dumb.' The older girl's sobbing breaks the younger's heart and she wraps her arms around the former's back, trying to console her.

'Shhh, it's alright. I'll help you. You can do this, unnie. It's alright.'

 

The conviction in Wendy's words, the genuine care with which she speaks, her bravery to stand up for Irene when the director nagged her was not a spur of the moment. She has always been like that, Irene remembers.

From the moment both met each other for the first time a year ago, when Irene barely made it on time the last day of enrollment in the drama club. Wendy was the student in charge. The moment she was about to leave the classroom where it took place, Irene arrived. Panting, face blushing and spleen aching from running fast, she approached the younger girl ready to beg, but she did not need to. With an understanding smile on her face, Wendy allowed Irene to write her personal information and sign the list.

'That's so kind of you, Wendy.' is a phrase Irene constantly hears among the people that surround her peer.

A polite, humble, hardworking, attentive girl, Wendy wins people's hearts with ease. Three years younger than Irene, she has always been part of the drama club, ever since elementary school. She is a natural on stage. She loves musicals the most but, everything about the world of theater fascinated her.

Irene has always been in awe of Wendy's passion for this art. The younger girl is committed to experience every staff role there is during the making of a play. For her, it is not the flashing lights and the thunderous applause that drew her, but the ability to make interesting, varied scripts come to life on stage. She believes that by getting a grasp of every aspect of said process she will be able to truly understand its foundation and be ready for a bigger challenge and, admittedly, her ultimate dream: make and direct her own play and run her own theater company one day.

 

So here she is now assisting bossy, grouchy Kangin in his stage manager duties, and helping as a prompter during rehearsals.

 

**

'I am really embarrassed with you, Wendy. The fact that you have to spend time helping me with this is too much, I don't deserve it.' Irene receives the warm cup of lemon tea that the brunette is handing her.

'Don't say that, please, unnie. I'm gonna get mad if you keep treating yourself like a nuisance.' Wendy shakes her head, frowning.

Right afterwards, the latter opens the file containing the script and starts selecting every scene where 'Juliet' appears.

'Let's start from the beginning.... hmmm... Act I, scene III. You have your first scene with Lady Capulet and the nurse. I'll play both and you just do your lines, OK?'

Irene nods and clears ready to start...

 

 

Minutes after, they finish the scene and Wendy gives Irene a satisfactory smile and congratulates her enthusiastically. 'Good job, unnie. You were very, very good!'

Irene shakes her head in negation but smiles at the same time, 'Thanks, Wendy. It's just the first scene, though.'

'Now to the second one... let's see.' Wendy skims through the pages until she finds it. 'Here, ah! Right, right! this one is during the party. Your first encounter with Romeo.'

'Oh god.' Irene takes a deep breath, visibly nervous.

'What's the matter, unnie?' Wendy asks with genuine concern.

'I-I get nervous staring at Bogum while we have to do this scene.' The older girl stutters.

'Why?'

'Because I have to hold his hand in a way that seems so intimate, I feel uncomfortable. My hands immediately start sweating and it feels gross. And I fear so much to disappoint him, because he has been kind and supportive to me, but I can see that his patience is ending after the way he looked at me today.' Irene lowers her head, visibly sad.

'Ah...' Wendy deviates her sight and twists her closed lips. 'Unnie, sorry to ask but, do you, perhaps, like him? Maybe that's why you get so nervous during your scenes together.' She asks the older gingerly.

'What? No, no, no.' Irene scrunches her nose with disgust. Her gesture is so blatant that it makes Wendy smile.

Relieved.

'So then it's just stage fright, right?'

'I think so. I know what I have to do, this is not the first time I've been on stage, but, I'm just-' Irene ruffles her hair, annoyed. 'I'm stupid.'

Wendy stares at the girl for a moment while the latter rants. Irene's pissed off expression and the chaotic way she runs her fingers through her hair, messing it, is making Wendy's chubby cheeks feel unusually warm.

A sudden lack of oxygen in her lungs forces the younger girl to take a deep breath and clear to refocus.

'Let's continue, OK? Let's see, the moment 'Romeo' comes close to you and holds your hand, he tries to kiss it as an apology.'

'Yes, and I remove it to avoid that.' Irene almost sounds happy and Wendy is endeared by her childish attitude.

'And then you say?' Wendy's eyes widen in expectation as Irene's narrow to concentrate and remember her line,

'I say-' Suddenly the older girl looks back at Wendy and sits straight.

Taking a deep breath, she recites:

 

'Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows in this;

For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss.'

 

Irene slowly places her palm against Wendy's, and looks into the younger's eyes, doubting that she has recited the line accurately.

'Is it correct?'

No answer comes from Wendy's lips. She just stares at their hands touching each other.

'Wendy?'

Suddenly the younger gets out of her trance and scoffs.

'Oh? Ahem! Yes, yes, it's correct. Well done, unnie!'

Wendy cheers nervously, afraid that the girl has noticed it.

No, she cannot. She should not notice it. It is supposed to be a secret and remain as such buried deep inside Wendy's heart.

So far, Irene has been oblivious about it and it should be like that until they go separate ways after school graduation. Just the thought of Irene finding out about it, makes Wendy wish the ground to open and swallow her entirely, makes her wish she had the Men in Black weapon to erase people's memories and make Irene forget about the fact that Wendy has the biggest, most delusional crush on her.

From the moment Wendy saw Irene for the first time, storming inside that classroom, she could not resist that relieved, grateful smile on the girl's beautiful face. Yes, beautiful. Strikingly beautiful. Perfectly proportioned face, big dark brown eyes, thin nose, small heart shaped lips, unblemished milky skin, long straight cinnamon hair, slim and petite yet curvaceous body convinced Wendy that God truly must have spent a little more time on Irene.

 

Her beauty mesmerizes Wendy. More than that, it inspires her, in many ways, actually. Irene's beauty is the reason behind Wendy's numerous love poems and unfinished scripts that she keeps writing and saving on her laptop. Sonnets comparing the sublime symmetry of her features to nature's wonders. Fictional stories where the coveted girl is many things: a princess, a fairy, a forest nymph, a goddess or even an angel, but the constant is that she's always an impossible love in all of them. Wendy admits to herself that most of her work is cringe-worthy and cheesy as hell. That is why imagining Irene reading them terrorizes her and yet she cannot bring herself to delete them. In the end, they are her only way to express what she truly feels.

Wendy tries to treat Irene the same way she treats everybody. However, it is hard, because her eyes betray her whenever she stares at the gentle, fragile, shy girl.

But Irene must not know it. Never. Wendy is just a helping hand. For her, Irene is a hardworking girl and it is not true that the pretty girl got the 'Juliet' role, as well as several others previously, just because of her good looks, Wendy believes that she has the talent for it.

On the other hand, Irene never feels satisfied with her effort and recriminates herself constantly. The distressed girl does not feel confident enough to admit her talent, so she stumbles her way through her lines a lot.

 

But not tonight. Tonight, Irene seems able to recite and emote her lines with conviction. She seems able to stare at her 'Romeo' with confidence, and to him saying: 'I must be gone and live, or stay and die.', she eagerly replies,

 

'Yon light is not day-light, I know it, I:

It is some meteor that the sun exhales,

To be to thee this night a torch-bearer,

And light thee on thy way to Mantua:

Therefore stay yet; thou need'st not to be gone.'

 

The only issue is that it is not him really who she says this to, but to Wendy. And the younger's face is almost as red as a cherry now that she feels Irene's soft, thin hands gripping her arms, desperately trying to prevent her from leaving her side.

The scene Wendy and Irene are now practicing takes place the morning after the star-crossed lovers have consummated their feverish love for each other in Juliet's bed chamber, and they are at the window, with Romeo ready to escape for his life before he is found by his wife's parents.

And Wendy knows what she has to say next (as a diligent prompter, she has the whole script memorized at this point) and the line is about Romeo desisting and throwing himself into Juliet's arms before he is ultimately sent away.

But the young girl cannot utter a word, ashamed. Because her mind has dared to picture herself in said scene. Holding Irene tightly in her arms, caressing her soft skin, scattering sweet kisses all over it. And it is wrong.

So wrong.

 

'What's the matter, Wendy? Did I mess the line again?' Irene looks at her, perplexed.

'No. It's perfect.' Wendy fakes a smile and looks away.

'Then, what is it?' Irene reaches for the embarrassed girl's face to meet her eyes again.

They stare at each other for a moment, and for Wendy it appears that time has stopped. Lost into the puzzled gaze of the beauty in front of her, she moves forward, her half lidded eyes focus on those strawberry thin lips and her own get dried. She craves for Irene's moisturizing lips over them. So close now, she can sense the girl's soft mint breath.   

No! This isn't a dream, Wendy. You're not writing another story plot about her. She is actually in front of you. Stop!

Wendy moves away abruptly and in her attempt to stand up, she stumbles and falls off her chair.

'Oh my god! Wendy, are you OK?' A startled Irene stands up to help the clumsy girl to do so as well.

'Yes, yes. I'm-I'm-I'm ok, ok, ok-' Wendy stutters and tries to regain her composure. Her shame seems endless now. She tries laughing to cover it up and this eases Irene's initial shock.

'What happened?' Wide eyed, Irene starts laughing too and playfully hits the younger girl's shoulder. 'You scared me.'

'Sorry, unnie.'

Before their eyes can meet again, Wendy turns around and excuses herself.

'I-I'll go to the bathroom. Please wait.'

 

The moment Wendy closes the bathroom's door, she stares at the mirror in front of her.

'What on Earth were you trying to do? Kiss her? Are you out of your mind?'

She shakes her head violently and slaps her cheeks, scrunching her eyes and nose.

Then suddenly hears Irene reciting her lines to herself outside.

She needs your help. Stop being stupid. Stop being delusional.

Wendy takes a deep breath and leaves the bathroom to go back to do what she must do.

Help her peer.

 

 

**

The following day, Wendy goes to the school's auditorium hours before the last rehearsal starts. Kangin asked her to come urgently because there is a problem.

'Bogum called me today. He won't be able to perform tomorrow. His father didn't know he was part of the drama club and he got mad and forced him to quit, because in his opinion it's a huge waste of time that he should be spending on his college entrance exam preparation.'

'What? This is horrendous!' Wendy feels aggravated and insulted at the fact that such ignorant person could exist. 'What should we do now?'

'Use the understudy. There's nothing left.'

 

**

Wendy can see the terror in Irene's eyes as she is informed that Bogum is gone and she has to do her part with the understudy, with whom she has barely exchanged words before. At least knowing with one day of anticipation that the main lead has been changed has given the stage director the chance to do one rehearsal with him.

 

'It's gonna be alright, unnie. You can do this. Relax.'

Wendy rubs Irene's arms trying to encourage her before they start. Later, she feels the older girl's hands reaching for hers and gripping them tightly, an anxious look in her eyes.

'You can do this.'

Wendy leaves the stage to watch the cast practice for the last time before the important day. And sees Irene struggle again, but luckily the girl doesn't panic and finishes the rehearsal fairly well.

Just before leaving, Wendy hugs Irene and gives the trembling girl her last word of advice.

'Everything is gonna be alright, unnie. You have the talent. You just need to believe in yourself and enjoy it. I know you can. I trust you.'

Irene looks at her. Her eyes are full of gratitude and fear at the same time.

'I don't know what I'd do without you, Wendy.'

Wendy's stomach starts tingling and her breath hitches. Those words will not let her sleep that night. Wendy knows Irene just said them because of the current situation, and yet she cannot help but scream overjoyed inside because they're the unexpected materialization of all her scripts' final scenes. Irene always confesses her love to whatever Wendy portrays in each one of them. But no matter the scenario, it always ends with them drifting apart.

As it should be. At least she keeps it real in the end.

 

**

Hours pass way too quickly and it's less than two hours for the big performance to start already.

Wendy is behind the stage checking that everybody has arrived as Kangin requested her to do.

When suddenly, the latter comes, a panicked, horrified look in his eyes.

'This can't be happening. This is the end.'

'What?' Wendy exclaims.

She is not ready for what he tells her next.

 

**

'My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

My love as deep; the more I give to thee,

The more I have, for both are infinite.'

Irene closes her eyes as she recites in front of the big mirror that the dressing room has. She remembers the passion with which she uttered her lines in Wendy's presence.

How easy it was. How confident she felt while staring into the younger girl's eyes.

If only...

 

 

**

The time has come, and Irene stands up in front of the audience alongside the students that play her mother and the nurse. She recites her lines accurately, and her self-confidence benefits of this.

Maybe she can after all. Maybe Wendy is right.

Wendy... sweet, selfless Wendy.

 

 

The moment she leaves the stage once her first scene is over, she goes backstage, her hands tremble in anticipation. She walks in circles while mumbling her following lines. Absorbed in her thoughts, she loses track of time and for that gets shocked when she's called back on stage.

The party scene has started.

She can do this, yes. Wendy believes in her, she cannot let her down.

 

The curtain is lifted and she alongside Capulet and others of his house start dancing as music is played. She hears 'Romeo' exchanging words with the rest of the cast. There is something about his voice that sounds a bit strange. But she ignores it.

Her first scene with him is next.

They are left alone by the rest of the cast and approach each other. By now Irene has noticed the obvious.

Short height, long brown hair in a ponytail, dashing blue 15th century-like male costume. And a charming smirk on his face.

That Romeo is not the understudy.

She feels his hand touching hers and looking at her eyes as he speaks.

Suddenly all her fear is gone. She cannot understand why or how is this happening, but she is happy that it is.

That her implausible wish came true.

That it is no other but Wendy who says now:

'... thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged.'

 

 

It is supposed to be faked. Covering Juliet's face with her back for the audience to get the illusion that they have locked lips. But what Wendy feels against her lips is too wet to be the skin of Irene's cheek.

And it feels so good, she blushes instantly.

 

As the scenes go by, every encounter with 'Juliet' gets steamier. And Wendy feels like floating, elated.

 

'O blessed, blessed night! I am afeard.

Being in night, all this is but a dream,

Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.'

 

Romeo's euphoric words could not fit better the overwhelmed girl's current situation.

 

And when the last scene between the lovers takes place at the fateful tomb, Wendy pours her heart out as she drags her poisoned self close to the laying body of her beloved and exclaims:

 

'Thus with a kiss I die.'

She places her lips over those coveted numb ones one last time, feeling the pain of the realization that this is just a play, and as the lovers' lives, Irene's love for her will perish once the curtain goes down after the final scene.

It feels so real, so convincing, the audience cannot help but clap enthusiastically after they witness Juliet stab herself and lay over her Romeo's body.

 

 

'Great job, Wendy! It was a blessing in disguise that poor Ilhoon was indigested, to be honest. You were brilliant! You saved the night!' A few cast members congratulate the girl as she and Irene stand up to leave the stage for the final scene to take place. She remains astounded and her eyes look for Irene's but the latter evades them and walks away.

It is indeed over.

The applause continues while the props are changed and Wendy goes backstage. No imaginary love scene written in her solitude compares to this. Despite the fact that the magic has ended, she is grateful. She got the chance to embrace Irene's fragile body and to touch her velvety lips.

She cannot ask for more.

 

 

'Wendy.'

The brunette turns around at the sound of that sweet, soft voice calling her name.

'Unnie. What's the matter?'

She sees Irene standing in front of her, fidgeting where she stands, unsure of what she is about to say.

'I have to do something. Something wrong. Please forgive me, but I have to. Otherwise I'd go crazy.'

'What is it?' Wendy asks her with sincere concern. 'Unnie?' Her eyes widen as the older girl approaches her all of the sudden.

Next thing, she is pinned against the wall, feeling those precious lips pressed over hers once more.

 

'I don't know why, but I want you to be my 'Romeo' for real.' Irene coos longingly.

Wendy is speechless, she feels tears running down her cheeks and is only able to smile lovingly in return.

'Would you?'

Another kiss is Wendy's answer.

As their hands intertwine and their bodies blur the lines between them, Wendy realizes that they will soon have to go out for the curtain call.

 

Romeo and Juliet's love story might have come to an end, but theirs is just about to start.

 

***

---

A/N: sorry for the delayed post. Hope it was worth reading. ^^