Onew #Imagine You are a junior at Konkuk University, studying Asian languages. Things are going well, but you realize that you need a job. One day, you see something on the bulletin board about an auditorium in town that is reopening. You decide to go and see about applying for a job there.
"Yeboseyo!" You walk in to the building shyly.
"Ah, hello!" A spritely lady walks over toward you. "Can I help you?"
You pull out the paper about the reopening. "Well, I saw this at school and came wondering if you need help."
She smiled. "Do you have any theatre experience?"
You nod. "In high school and university. Mostly a light tech, but I've done sets, costumes, and sound too."
Her smile widened. "That's good. What was the last show you worked?"
You indicated toward Konkuk. "Konkuk's production of Jekyll and Hyde not too long ago. I was lighting head at the time."
She clapped her hands, elated. "Perfect! But, we're still working on remodeling right now..."
You shake your head. "That's alright! I can help. I'm not afraid of physical work."
She looks at you like you're an angel. "That'd be wonderful. When can you start?"
You smile and shrug. "Now. I'm done with class for the day, so I'm free."
She nods and lead you back to meet the crew so far. "What's your name, by the way?"
"I'm __________."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Kim HeeYoung." She shouts to the rest of the crew, who come over to meet you. They're all guys, but they don't seem to have a problem with you working alongside them, especially when you show you can hold your own. You work into the evening and walk back to the dorm with a smile. For the next few weeks, you spend every afternoon and evening at the theatre. The numbers grow with the time, and more girls join as things get finished and ready for decoration. You continue working with the guys though. 

About two months after joining the crew, HeeYoung comes rushing in and yells for everyone's attention. Up on the catwalk, prepping for the delivery of the lights. You lay on your tummy and lean your head over the edge to listen. 
"You won't BELIEVE what just happened!"
Everyone starts pestering her for information.
"We have an opening show!!" Everyone starts cheering. "BUT that's not the best news!!"
You finally get impatient. "Well, tell us then!!"
She looks up at you and laughs. "Well, I'm sure you all remember when they had a run of Rock of Ages, right?" Your eyes widen. No way. "Well, they decided to bring back the cast and have a three month run! In OUR THEATRE!!!"
Everyone starts cheering even louder. You start bouncing happily. You know who the lead is.
"But we have to hurry and finish up! They want to start rehearsals in two weeks!" Everyone nods and hurries off. You turn back over and stand up on the catwalk. One of the guys shouts up to you that the lights have arrived. You hurry down, knowing it would be a long night. 

Two weeks later, rehearsals begin. The cast had been introduced to everyone in the crew, but your introduction had been leaning out over the catwalk, your pigtails framing your face, waving briefly before going back to work on the lights. You'd just passed your certification test, and were now the lighting head. You had work to do.
You listen to the runs of the music. The rehearsals aren't like most other rehearsals you remember. Since this cast already knows their parts, it's more of a refresher course. 
A couple weeks into rehearsals, you and a few members of your crew are on the catwalks, changing gels. You and one of your more senior crew are working the second catwalk, while another senior light tech and a newbie are working catwalk 1. Onew is on-stage, practicing a solo bit, while the rest of the cast is sprawled out over the first couple of rows of the house. You look up to check on the newbie, working just in front of you, when you see disaster about to happen. The 35k light he is working on isn't fully secured to the bar, and he's getting ready to safety line it. Without thinking, you vault over the small gap between the catwalks, dive out and catch the light with one hand as it starts to fall. You wrap one leg around the vertical pole on the catwalk and wait until you stop swinging. You feel something pop in your shoulder and quickly switch the light to the other hand. You look out for a moment and lock eyes with Onew, who's staring at you with a shocked expression. He'd seen everything. You know you probably make a weird sight, hanging upside down from the catwalk with one leg, holding onto a light for dear life. You ignore him for now though. Tightening your grip on the light, you stretch upward. You hold the light up toward your light tech and he grabs it, hauling it up onto the catwalk. Your other tech grabs your outstretched hand, pulling you back up onto the catwalk. 
"_________, are you alright?"
You nod before indicating your left arm. "Do me a favor," you say, standing up. He nods. "Hold that arm straight that way," you say, pointing. He looks at you oddly, but does what you say. "Thank you." You jerk your body, and, with a slight noise, your shoulder relocates. "Perfect." You roll your arm as you turn to your newbie. "Alright. From now on, the order is this. Hang light on bar, tighten as far as you physically can, safety line, plug in. Ok?" He nods , eyes wide. You return the nod. "Well, let's get this done." You feel eyes on you, and turn back, looking down to the stage. Onew is still standing there, gaping at you until the director gets his attention again. A few of the cast look up, confused as to what had caught his attention. You wave and smile before going back to work. 

A few days later, you are sitting in your dorm room after an early night, studying your language flashcards for a test the next day, when your roommate walks in. From the light in her eyes and the way she was staring at her phone, you can tell she is in a world of her own. 
"You look happy."
She looks up at you and you can see her mind reverting from her phone. "You look like crap."
You shrug, knowing your tank top shows the bruises you routinely get at work, and probably that burn mark from the light you got to close to the other day. "I just got off of work, what do you expect?"
She shudders and you suppress a giggle. "This job had better be worth it."
You smile brightly. "It's more than worth it. You HAVE to come see the musical when it opens. I'm SO glad they're doing it again." Unthinking, you start humming 'The Final Countdown' and go back to your flashcards. You hear her giggle before her phone rings again.

Finally, it's opening night. You offer to get your roommate tickets for her and her boyfriend, but she says her boyfriend has plans for the two of them. You shrug and hurry to the theatre as soon as class ends. Rushing into the green room, you see some of the cast and crew sitting around. You pull your black hoodie over your shirt and tug your hair into your typical pigtails. One of the crew chuckles behind you.
"You're so strong, work with the guys, and yet, you wear pigtails."
You turn to him and laugh. "Hey, it keeps my hair out of the way, off my neck, and out of my face. I'm good." He chuckles again. "Where are my gels?"
He nods. "On the catwalks. I separated them based on where they are, so you don't have to haul them around."
You smile. "Thanks. That'll make things easier." You and the crew had reworked the lights for the show, making them more fitting, but it required gel changes during the show. You look at him. "Ready to run the board?"
He nods again. "Absolutely."
You smile. "Alright. I'm going up, then."
You turn away and make your way up to the catwalk. The doors aren't open quite yet, so the house is quiet. You walk carefully, readjusting the gels to make the changes quicker and quieter. A few minutes later, you can hear people talking in the lobby and your heart jumps in excitement. You look down, watching people filter in, and are surprised to see your roommate there, arm in arm with a tall guy who looks a bit familiar. You can't place him though. You shrug and keep watching people. A little while later, the house lights dim a couple of times and you pull on your gloves.
"Show time," you whisper to yourself, smiling.

As far as opening nights go, it's not...horrible. You know that there had been worse. You have to hand it to the cast though. They're masters at ad-libbing. You had to bit your glove to keep from bursting out in laughter when a blocking mistake had Onew almost taking out the guy who played Stacee. Now that the show is over, you put away your gels, make sure everything is taken care of. Dropping your hoodie off in the green room, you sigh in contentment. It's really hot on the catwalks, and your tank top feels so much better. You decide to wander down into the lobby. You see your roommate with the tall guy, and they're both talking to Onew. NOW you recognize him. He's one of Onew's bandmates. You lean against the doorway and cross your arms, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Suddenly, your roommate looks your way and rushes over.
"_________-ah!!! The show was AMAZING! You were right!" She hugs you and you return the hug and giggle.
"Told you it was worth it."
She pulls back, grabs your hand, and hauls you over to Minho. "Minho-oppa, this is my roommate, ________."
Minho and Onew both turn and you can see Onew recognize you. "Pleasure to meet you. She's told me so much about you." You smile and bow.
Your roommate grabs your arm and pulls it to her. "______-ah, what have you been doing?!"
You look down, confused, before seeing the bruises. You shrug. "It's part of the job."
She glares at you. "And did you ever go to the doctor about your shoulder?"
You avoid her eyes. "Um...no..."
She puffs out her cheeks in annoyance. "You dislocated it! How could you not go to the doctor?" 
You shrug and she looks about to go on before Minho steps in. "Yah! This date isn't over. I distinctly recall promising you dinner too."
Your roommate suddenly seems to forget all about you. "Oh yeah! And we get to go to that place with the great BBQ, right?" 
He smiles and nods. "Right." Locking eyes over her head, you mouth 'thank you'. He just nods slightly, leading her away.
As soon as they're out of sight, you drop your head and sigh. "That...could have been bad," you mutter to yourself. 
When you look up, you jump back slightly, startled. Onew is in front of you, staring at you intently. "Dislocated...shoulder?"
You throw a hand to your face. "Oh not you too. I put it back in place without issue and the bruising is gone. I'm fine."
He looks at you for a minute before his eyes widen slightly. "The day you caught the light..."
You sigh and nod. "Yeah. 35k in motion, then stopped tends to do that sometimes." You shrug. "Not a big issue."
He stares at you for a second, before someone calls him away. You blink, confused as to what just happened, but you shake your head and head back to the booth.

The show continues, but with one change. Onew now hunts you down after every show and chats for a bit. You start learning about each other, and after a few days of you calling him 'Onew' he stops you.
"Don't call me Onew."
You frown. "Then what am I supposed to call you?"
He smiles. "You know me well enough. Call me Jinki."
You blush slightly and nod. "Alright. Jinki, then."
A couple nights later, he finds you on the catwalk, rubbing your shoulders and groaning.
"What's wrong?"
You just point. One of the larger lights is sitting on the catwalk. "Blew a bulb mid-show. Had to change it without help."
He kneels behind you and you feel strong hands start massaging your shoulders. You want to protest, but the release from the soreness doesn't let you. You just lean forward over your legs and groan when he finds a knot.
"You know, you're interesting."
You scoff. "In what way?"
You can tell he's smiling from his voice. "Lots of ways, but, take this for example." You turn your head a bit. "Most girls would be in heaven in this scenario, but you're taking it in stride. Why?"
You chuckle. "My roommate's dating Minho, I'm lighting head of one of the best musicals in the world, and I'm getting a shoulder massage from you. Tell me where in the world this is normal? So much random stuff has happened recently that, now, just about anything is normal to me."
He laughs. "You certainly look at life in an interesting way."
You smile. "What can I saOW!" You yelp as he finds a rather mean knot. "I'm an optimist."
You can hear that he's smiling again. "I can see that." He goes quiet for a minute before talking again. "May I ask you a question?"
You nod. "Sure."
"Why didn't you go to the doctor?"
You giggle. "This again? Well, in all honesty, if I'd have gone to the doctor, he'd have looked at my shoulder, said that it was in place, then sent me on my way. Not worth the trip."
He laughs. "You aren't one for wasted things, are you?"
You shrug slightly. "Depends on your definition of wasted. A few hours staring at the stars at night, doing nothing else? Not wasted. A few hours in a waiting room to be told something I already know? Wasted." You sigh contentedly as you roll your shoulders, the knots gone. "Thank you. That feels so much better."
He smiles and helps you up. "Come on. We should get out of here."


The shows continue, and your nightly talks with Onew, wait, Jinki also continue. All too soon, however, it's closing night. The show goes off perfectly and before you know it, it's curtain call. Closing nights are different. EVERYONE, cast and crew, take their bows, but you knew you weren't going to be on that stage. There was too much to do, and your job would be mostly on the catwalks, so you decide to stay up there. You smile as the cast takes their bows, and when they move offstage to haul the crew onstage, you giggle. Jinki takes off into the wings, and you can't see him anymore, but you're sure he's going after your stage manager, who had told everyone she wasn't going on stage. A few seconds later, you see the SM, but Jinki isn't the one hauling her out. Suddenly, you feel the catwalk vibrate and Jinki runs at you, picking you up and running back down the stairs. 
"Jinki!! Put me DOWN!"
He just laughs. "Not a chance." You flail until you reach the stage where he puts you down. The audience is still standing, cheering and whistling. "Our beautiful lighting head, everyone!" Jinki calls out then takes your hand and bows with you.
You glare at him and point. "I'll get you for this later."
He grins cheekily. "I'm sure."
Once the audience has finally cleared out, the cast and crew set about celebrating. You sit on the top of one of the set pieces, drinking a soda and watching everyone when you feel a familiar presence sit next to you.
"You like high places, don't you?"
You shrug. "Yeah." You smile over at him. "Gonna miss it?"
He nods. "Yeah. You?"
You smile. "Absolutely. Nothing like headbanging on the catwalk."
He laughs, then looks at you. "_________-ah..."
You turn to him. "Yes?"
Suddenly, his hand is behind your head and his lips are on yours. You're stunned, but somehow manage to return the kiss. When he pulls back, you look at him, wide-eyed.
"What...what was that for?"
He laughed, slightly embarrassed. "Actually, that was my unspoken way of asking you out."
You look at him in astonishment for a second before laughing. When you look at him again, he looks hurt.
"Hmmmm." You smile, then lean forward and pull HIM into a kiss.
He looks at you, confused. "Consider that my unspoken answer." You smirk.
He stares for a second before both of you burst out laughing. He reaches for your hand and you intertwine your fingers with his and lean into his shoulder.
"This was a good run, wasn't it?" he asks, looking out over the now applauding cast, who, unbeknownst to either of you, had been watching the entire thing.
You lean your head on his shoulder. "Best run EVER."