all the world's a stage

Apartment Block 17
[PLEDIS PERFORMING ARTS HIGH SCHOOL]
 
“Welcome back to school everyone. I hope you all remembered your books, because our first lesson is English,” the teacher drawled. 
 
The best subject,” Hansol said in English, leaning back in his chair relaxedly. Seungkwan, who sat in the seat behind Hansol, flicked the back of his head.
 
“Sir, is there time to go to the toilet?” a student asked.
 
“Yeah, sure,” the teacher said dismissively. Out of all the subject teachers, Seungkwan had to admit that the English teacher was the most chill. Maybe a little bit too chill.
 
“Oh, I’ll go as well,” Hansol stood up and followed the student out the door.
 
Left alone, Seungkwan involuntarily eavesdropped the girls’ conversation behind him. They were squealing about something, as usual, but the mention of Hansol’s name caught Seungkwan’s attention.
 
“...Hansol’s got a girlfriend!” one girl announced proudly. What?
 
“No way,” another girl said.
 
“A junior told me that he asked out a girl in her class!”
 
“Who? Is she pretty?”
 
“Wait, that’s her!” The group silenced and Seungkwan looked out into the hallway, seeing a girl in a rush, holding a precarious stack of papers. With her short, light brown hair, petite and innocent features, he couldn’t help but stare as she rushed past. Her beauty was that of a girl that he would never talk to, or even think of associating with. He was far too shy and awkward around girls; whether it be classmates, or fans, he could never talk to a girl without clamming up and sweating all over. Well, not counting people like his sister or cousins.
 
“No way! Isn’t that Chaeyoung?”
 
“She’s an idol trainee in JYP, isn’t she?”
 
“Are you sure they’re dating? Well, I mean, who wouldn’t want to date her...”
 
“I don’t know... A junior heard it from other girls, not Chaeyoung herself. But don’t you think they would look cute together?”
 
Seungkwan spotted Hansol walking back from the toilet just as the girl - Chaeyoung - disappeared down the hallway, and he could’ve sworn he saw Hansol gulp nervously. 
 
“Hansol... Are you dating anyone?” Seungkwan prodded him the moment he sat back down in his chair.
 
“What?” Hansol spluttered.
 
“It’s not a difficult question,” Seungkwan said curtly. 
 
“Uh... no,” Hansol replied confusedly.
 
“Oh, ok,” Seungkwan sighed. He would’ve felt slightly annoyed if his roommate and best friend didn’t tell him about something as important as getting a girlfriend.
 
“But there’s someone I wanna ask out,” Hansol continued.
 
“... Who?” Seungkwan asked as he felt his heart drop to his stomach. He wasn’t sure why the idea of Hansol dating someone bothered him so much. Probably because his apartment would no longer just be his and Hansol’s. 
 
“This girl called Chaeyoung,” he said. Looks like those girls were right... How do girls find out these things so accurately?
 
“She’s in the year below us,” he continued.
 
“Oh, that girl that just walked past?” Seungkwan narrowed his eyes.
 
“Yeah, that was her! I didn’t know you knew who she was,” Hansol said.
 
“Yeah, well, I know people,” Seungkwan muttered. 
 
The bell rang, signalling the start of classes and their teacher called for attention to the front, forcing Hansol to turn around and cease their conversation. 
 
English class ended an hour later, giving them a short break whilst their next subject teacher came to their classroom. Seungkwan couldn’t concentrate at all because of what happened before class. He tapped Hansol’s shoulder a little too urgently.
 
“When are you going to ask her out?” he asked.
 
“I don’t know, but I heard some guy in her class wants to ask her out too,” Hansol said sadly.
 
“Oh, that’s a shame,” Seungkwan said, in a tone that sounded a little too happy.
 
“How are you supposed to ask a girl out?” Hansol muttered.
 
“You don’t,” Seungkwan smirked.
 
Hansol pursed his lips and gave Seungkwan a look. Seungkwan put his hands up jokingly.
 
“You’re just jealous that I’m about to get a girlfriend,” Hansol smirked back. “Before you do.”
 
“Since when was this a competition?” Seungkwan narrowed his eyes. “How are you so sure she’ll actually go out with you?”
 
“Because I’m Choi Hansol,” he said triumphantly, before turning back to the front as their next teacher entered the room.
 
Biology was never Seungkwan’s favourite subject, but their new teacher, who insisted to be called ‘Mr. Bang’, taught in such a way that Seungkwan didn’t feel like throwing himself out of the window whilst learning about enzymes. It made the rest of the hour less agonising.
 
Several periods of needless subjects and endless writing passed, and it was finally time for after school club activities. Seungkwan had been looking forward to them even before school started. 
 
“Hansol, coming to the theatre?” Seungkwan stuffed his books into his bag in a hurry, afraid that his roommate would leave as soon as he could.
 
“Theatre?” Hansol cocked an eyebrow, playing dumb. “Don’t you have choir practice or something?”
 
“Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten,” Seungkwan tutted, referring to the promise Hansol made, saying he would try out the drama club with him.
 
Hansol sighed. “Do I really have to?”
 
“Just come watch. It’ll be fun!” Seungkwan insisted.
 
“Fine.”
 
They made their way hastily to the school’s theatre, arriving just in time as the club’s apparent leader was about to start talking. 
 
“So.. welcome back to semester 2!” the boy said. He was incredibly tall, with fluffy dark hair and an inviting eye-smile. Everything about his visual and aura screamed ‘manga boy’.
 
“For all the newcomers here, welcome! My name is Cha Eunwoo, and I’m the drama club’s unofficial leader,” the boy said with a smile. “Today, we won’t actually be doing anything here, since the dance students have booked it out for an upcoming performance. So instead, Pledis University has kindly let us sit in on their auditions for today.”
 
“We’re going over to Pledis?” Seungkwan asked, drawing the attention of all twenty or so club members.
 
“Yes, looks like it. Are you two new?” Eunwoo looked over at Hansol. 
 
“We’re just trying it out,” Hansol said uncertainly.
 
“Everyone’s welcome! This isn’t a club for anyone in the drama scholarship program, but more for people who just want to have fun on stage. So don’t feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to,” Eunwoo said reassuringly. Seungkwan smiled. 
 
“We’ll do introductions and whatnot next time, okay?” Seungkwan and Hansol nodded. 
 
Following Eunwoo out just as the dance students began assembling in the theatre, the group headed towards the prestigious Fronting Theatre, located in Pledis University.
 
--------------
 
[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - FRONTING THEATRE]
 
“Mingyu, stop jittering so much,” Junhui slapped Mingyu’s back as they entered Fronting Theatre. Already gathered were fifty or so hopeful actors and actresses.
 
After signing their name on a sheet at the front desk, Junhui and Mingyu were both given a number tag which separated them into different audition groups. Each group would read out a different, random part of the script they were meant to have practised. 
 
“Looks like we’re in different groups,” Junhui sighed. His number tag said ‘4’ whilst Mingyu was in ‘1’.
 
“Please don’t tell me that group 1 means I’m going first,” Mingyu sighed. 
 
Much to his dismay, a short while later, group 1 was called backstage to begin the auditions while groups 2-5 were to take a seat in the audience.
 
Junhui punched Mingyu’s shoulder lightly and pushed him off towards the stage. “You’ll be fine, you’ve practised this even more than I have. Believe in yourself,” he assured Mingyu.
 
Scanning the audience after sending Mingyu off, Junhui finally caught sight of Minghao and Wonwoo, who had followed him and Mingyu to the theatre. 
 
Junhui had met Minghao after his morning classes to go get lunch, but the latter had seemed visibly shaken about something, but he wouldn’t tell Junhui what happened. Minghao had never been this reserved since they first met, so Junhui was above worried that something bad happened during his classes. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time to worry about it now, as he was terribly worried about the upcoming auditions.
 
Taking a seat next to Minghao, Junhui noticed a big group of Pledis High students take a seat at the back of the theatre. Among them were two teenage boys he knew quite well; Seungkwan and Hansol.
 
Upon seeing Junhui, Seungkwan narrowed his eyes. He nudged Hansol, who waved and smiled at Junhui. Junhui huffed jokingly and sat down, turning his back to them. What are they doing here?
 
“You okay?” Minghao lightly tapped Junhui’s forearm, seeing his frowned expression. I should be the one asking you that...
 
“Yeah. I just saw Seungkwan and Hansol. I’d rather they not watch me audition,” Junhui muttered.
 
“Oh, alright,” Minghao accepted and relaxed in his chair. 
 
Junhui tuned out the ongoing auditions as he took out his script and pored over the lines in a last-ditch effort to memorise as much as he could.
 
--------------
 
[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - FRONTING THEATRE BACKSTAGE]
 
“Where is it?” Mingyu muttered, searching desperately through his bag. “I swear I put it in here...”
 
“Next is... Kim Mingyu and Kim Sohye**. Please make your way to the curtains,” one of the backstage crew members announced. The auditions were to be done in pairs of one boy and one girl, since there were about the same numbers of each. The audition was general, so roles would be distributed according to this one audition. The play that year was said to be primarily focused on the three lead characters - two male, one female - so it was obvious that everyone was vying for a spot as one of the three main characters.
 
Mingyu, who always had the best luck, couldn’t find the audition script in his bag and was slowly reducing into a shaking ball of anxiety. I knew I was forgetting something today... 
 
“Kim Mingyu!” the crew member called out once again.
 
Mingyu stumbled towards the curtain just as the previous two actors ended their audition. 
 
“Um, sir, I can’t find--”  Mingyu began.
 
“Alright, you’re up,” the crew member said in a hurry, pushing Mingyu and his audition partner - Sohye - out onto the brightly lit stage.
 
The auditions allowed you to bring a script on stage, even though you were given it beforehand. Of course, the more you could memorise, the better, but Mingyu hadn’t acted in front of a large audience before. He didn’t feel like he could remember the lines unless he had paper in his hand.
 
Sohye didn’t seem to be nervous at all. She had a wide smile on her face that felt warm and welcoming, which put Mingyu somewhat at ease. C’mon, Mingyu. You’ve practised this till your voice broke. Stop worrying over a simple audition.
 
The audience was dead silent as Mingyu and Sohye walked out into the spotlight. Mingyu could hear every step he took on the echoing stage and wondered if Sohye could hear his heart threatening to break his chest open. His palms started sweating so much it became uncomfortable. Nevertheless, he tried to hide his nervousness and instead smiled as attractively as he possibly could in that situation.
 
“Please start from the top of page 20. When the male lead suggests that they break up,” one of the judges instructed.
 
Mingyu gulped and clenched his fists. He remembered practising that scene, but he wasn’t 100% sure of his lines.
 
He glanced out into the audience, covered in shadows as no light reached beyond the stage. But through the darkness, he spotted his friends sitting in one of the front rows. Aren’t you guys sitting a bit too close to the stage?!
 
His eyes met with Wonwoo’s, who was sat right in the middle of the row in perfect view of the stage. He didn’t know whether it was the darkness or not, but he saw Wonwoo quirk his lips in a slight upwards crescent in what could only be described as an encouraging smile.
 
Wonwoo held Mingyu’s gaze with such intensity that Mingyu was sure he looked like a dead fish on the stage. 
 
Huh. I’m not that nervous anymore.
 
Sohye flicked to page 20 and glanced at Mingyu, who was still staring intently out into the audience.
 
“Whenever you’re ready,” a judge said.
 
Mingyu broke from Wonwoo’s gaze reluctantly, cleared his throat and glanced at Sohye. Breaking up scene? So, we have to act like we’re mad at each other...
 
“Let’s break up,” Mingyu began, putting as much emotion and strength into his voice as he could. It was a simple scene, line-wise, but portraying the character’s emotions correctly proved to be quite difficult for Mingyu, who had never had any sort of romantic experience in his nineteen years of living. 
 
“What are you talking about?” Sohye retorted, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Wow, this girl is pretty good.
 
“I can’t be with you anymore,” Mingyu said after a moment’s hesitation. Crap, what’s the next line?
 
Sohye took a quick glance at her script, and said, “What’s wrong? Why are you saying this all of a sudden?”
 
“It’s just...” Mingyu wracked his brain, trying to remember what came next. In the split second of his hesitation, his eyes unconsciously drifted back out into the audience. Back out to Wonwoo.
 
I’m so busy with schedules,” Wonwoo mouthed. 
 
... Oh, that was the line! 
 
“It’s just, I’ve been so busy with schedules lately...” Mingyu relocked his gaze with Sohye and delivered his line. Do I even want to know why Wonwoo knew my lines?
 
“But, you said you liked me!” Sohye argued.
 
“I liked you... I used to like you,” Mingyu frowned.
 
“I’ll treat you better!” Sohye pleaded.
 
Mingyu paused. He wasn’t sure if he was mixing up scenes, but the next line he remembered was a bit abrupt, so he decided to build it up more than he remembered was written in the play.
 
“I’ve been meaning to tell you this for a while, but... I have another girl,” Mingyu said.
 
Sohye huffed and turned away from him. “Seriously? You’re so obnoxious!”
 
“I know... that’s why we should break up,” Mingyu repeated.
 
“Do you like her that much?” Sohye furrowed her eyebrows again. “What does she have that I don’t?”
 
Mingyu laughed emotionlessly. “You’re one to talk, Nayeon. You say I’m obnoxious, but aren’t you the same?”
 
“What the hell are you on about?” Sohye demanded angrily. She stepped closer to Mingyu, so that her face was a hand’s width from Mingyu’s. I never noticed before, but... she’s really tall. Her face is so close... well, it’s in the script, I guess.
 
“A boy with brown hair and looks that rival those of an idol. Don’t lie to me, I saw you making out with him at the club last Friday!” Mingyu shouted, voice rising in anger. 
 
Oh, that’s right! This was the scene Junhui and Wonwoo were practising the first time I met them... I’m glad the lines for this scene are seared into my mind...
 
“You always misunderstand! He was my cousin, for god’s sake,” Sohye said, exasperated.
 
Mingyu sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Oh shoot, did I just mess my hair up too much? What if I look like a raccoon in a tornado?
 
“I’m sorry,” Mingyu said quietly. “I’m just not feeling the best today...”
 
Alright, my character’s supposed to collapse due to his sickness...
 
Mingyu clutched his head and sunk to his knees. His knees hit the stage with a loud thump, and he bit his tongue to prevent himself from breaking character. 
 
“Jaehyun!” Sohye cried, rushing to catch Mingyu as he fell towards the stage, clutching his head in pain.
 
“Alright, you can stop there,” a judge announced. 
 
Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief, bowed a full 90-degrees to both the judges and Sohye, and practically ran off the stage in embarrassment. 
 
“How am I supposed to be an actor like this?” Mingyu muttered to himself as he grabbed his bag and rushed to join his friends in the audience.
 
--------------
 
[PLEDIS UNIVERSITY - FRONTING THEATRE]
 
“See, you did fine, didn’t you?” Wonwoo said quietly as Mingyu sat down next to him, flustered.
 
Mingyu turned to face Wonwoo and stared intently at him. “Th-that.. back there. How did you know my lines?”
 
“Oh. How could I not remember after hearing them repeated over and over for hours?” Wonwoo said innocently.
 
Mingyu buried his face in his arms. “Sorry,” he said in a muffled voice. “You saved me. I forgot to bring my script.”
 
“I figured,” Wonwoo smirked. “Lucky you had me,” he said in a quieter voice.
 
“Don’t get so full of yourself,” Mingyu laughed and pushed Wonwoo’s shoulder. 
 
“Hey, good job,” Junhui reached over Wonwoo and high-fived Mingyu. “Pretty decent for someone who hasn’t had much experience on stage.”
 
“You’re the one to talk! Korean isn’t even your first language, and you’re acting with it!” Mingyu said incredulously. 
 
Junhui grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.
 
The rest of group 1’s auditions breezed through, and the judges announced a small break before group 2’s turn to audition. 
 
“Junhui, was it?” a familiar voice called from behind them.
 
“Seungkwan and Hansol. What are you two doing here?” Junhui asked the two boys standing behind.
 
“Just... appreciating the fine arts,” Seungkwan smiled. “Are you auditioning?”
 
“Of course. You’ll get to watch my genius up close. Consider yourselves lucky,” Junhui grinned.
 
“I’ll make sure to wear a blindfold, then,” Seungkwan grinned back. Hansol held back a laugh and pushed Seungkwan lightly.
 
Behind Seungkwan and Hansol, Wonwoo saw Jisoo walking up towards them.
 
“Hey guys!” Jisoo greeted. Hansol high-fived him in greeting.
 
“Oh, Jisoo-hyung!” Mingyu gave him a warm smile.
 
“Just ‘Jisoo’ is fine,” he laughed. “I told you I would come and watch. But, they wouldn’t let me in earlier because auditions already started. Please tell me I didn’t miss yours...”
 
“Haha,” Mingyu scratched the back of his neck, grinning.
 
Jisoo sighed and sat down in the row behind them. “Anyone else auditioning?”
 
Junhui raised his hand with a grin. “Oh, Junhui! Should’ve known. You definitely have the visual for it,” Jisoo smiled. 
 
“I know,” Junhui grinned, prompting Minghao to frown and hit his stomach. Junhui groaned in over-exaggerated pain and sat back down to watch the rest of the auditions. Seungkwan and Hansol took a seat next to Jisoo.
 
Jisoo began talking to Hansol about something in an excited hushed voice, to the point that one of the judges turned around and gave them the stink eye for being so noisy. Junhui suppressed a laugh.
 
“You know, watching these auditions...” Wonwoo whispered to Mingyu, after about an hour of auditions from groups 2 and 3, “...you might actually have a chance.”
 
“Aw, thanks,” Mingyu said sarcastically. “Glad to know you have faith in me.”
 
“I’ve always had faith in you. What are you talking about?”
 
“You’re just saying that everyone’s worse than me. That doesn’t mean I’m actually good,” Mingyu pursed his lips.
 
“Is it a bad thing if everyone’s worse than you? Means you’ll get the role,” Wonwoo nudged. 
 
Mingyu rolled his head back in the chair and whined. God, he looks like an upset puppy. Why is he like this...?
 
“Group 4, please proceed backstage to begin your auditions,” a judge announced. 
 
“Well, looks like it’s my turn. Try not to be too impressed,” Junhui grinned as he stepped over Wonwoo and Mingyu to get out of the seat row. 
 
“You’re not using a script?” Mingyu asked, seeing that Junhui left his script on his seat.
 
“Nah, I want to do this like it’s a real performance,” Junhui said.
 
“Don’t stuff up, and maybe you’ll have a chance,” Minghao said with a smug smile.
 
Junhui gave him a look, but kept on walking.
 
While they were waiting for Junhui’s audition to begin, a familiar person snuck in and sat down next to Mingyu.
 
“What’re you guys doing here?”
 
Wonwoo turned and came face to face with a grinning Seungcheol.
 
“Watching auditions,” he replied, unfazed.
 
“Cheol, what the hell are you doing here?” Hansol leaned forward in his seat and placed his hands on Seungcheol’s chair.
 
“Oh, Seungcheol! Nice welcome speech today, by the way,” Mingyu smiled.
 
Seungcheol waved him off. “I was meant to be here two hours ago but I forgot. My father sponsors part of this production every year, and as his only available son, I’m meant to show up to rehearsals and stuff. Just to make it seem like we care, but it’s really all for my father’s good name. It ,” Seungcheol sighed. “Since you guys are here, can you tell the judge people I had urgent... apartment matters to deal with?”
 
“Why don’t you just tell them yourself?” Wonwoo frowned.
 
“I’m not sitting through boring auditions. I have places to be. Like, my bed,” Seungcheol gave him a look. “If they see me here, they’ll ask me all sorts of questions to try and get on my good side, since I’m the sponsor’s son,” Seungcheol sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I’ll give you a rent discount if you do me this small favour.”
 
“I’m not that low, Seungcheol,” Wonwoo sighed. “Don’t you want to watch Junhui’s audition?”
 
“Junhui?” Seungcheol raised an eyebrow, just as the judges called out the next audition duo; Wen Junhui and Jung Eunji.
 
“Oh, Eunji-noona!” Jisoo exclaimed. 
 
“You know her? Is she a good actress?” Hansol asked with a yawn. “I wanna see something more jaw-dropping than the past few auditions.”
 
“She works at Love Letter with me. I’ve always heard how much she wanted to try out acting, so I’m sure she’s decent at least.”
 
The judges indicated for them to begin. Just like the past few auditions of group 4, they were to act out a scene where the male lead is at death’s door in the hospital and the female lead is beside herself with grief.
 
Junhui lay himself on the floor of the stage and closed his eyes; something that none of the previous actors did. Everyone else simply read out the lines in a standing position.
 
His partner, Eunji, seemed to adapt quickly. “Jaehyun!” she sobbed.
 
Junhui opened an eye slowly, and smiled with so much emotion that even Wonwoo could feel the intensity of his gaze. 
 
“Is this why you kept pushing me away? Why would you never tell me something like this?!” Eunji cried.
 
“Damn, Eunji really is good. She looks good with Junhui,” Mingyu commented, earning a glare from Minghao. Mingyu shrunk away and put his hands up with a smile.
 
Junhui sat up slowly. “Nayeon?” he rasped in a sickly tone. “What are you doing here?”
 
“I-I... found these papers in your locker. They asked me to clear it out, because I was the only one who knew your combination,” Eunji her script at Junhui.
 
“My... medical papers? Nayeon!” Junhui exclaimed and sat up suddenly, staring intently at Eunji.
 
“Why... didn’t you tell me?” Eunji said, her voice wobbling and eyes on the verge of tears.
 
“It’s not--”
 
“Stop giving me this kind of bull, Jaehyun!” Eunji shouted.
 
“Ma’am, please calm down!” the judge read out a nurse’s line.
 
“Stay out of this!” Eunji whirled towards the audience, eyes already filled with tears.
 
“Jaehyun, did you really thing breaking my heart would make me any less devastated?”
 
“I... didn’t know what else I could do...” Junhui croaked.
 
Eunji collapsed next to Junhui. “How long do you have?” she asked as she raised a hand to Junhui’s face, caressing it gently.
 
“Is this in the script?” Wonwoo heard Minghao mutter. Looking over, Wonwoo could see Minghao gripping the seat handle a little too tightly.
 
“About six months,” Junhui whispered, grabbing Eunji’s hand and staring into her eyes.
 
“Oh,” Eunji broke away from his gaze and turned around. “Well, I guess we’ll have to condense decades of being together into six months.”
 
Junhui laughed quietly. “I thought I said we should break up. There’s no getting rid of you, is there?”
 
“Hmm, aren’t you afraid I’ll go back to ‘the boy with brown hair and looks that rival those of an idol’?” Eunji said smugly, drying off her tears.
 
“Shut up,” Junhui laughed, which triggered a fit of coughs, causing him to double over into Eunji’s arms.
 
“Jaehyun! Nurse, what’s wrong with him?!” Eunji cried out.
 
“Alright, you can stop there,” a judge said.
 
“What?” Seungcheol exclaimed, a little too loudly. The judges turned around and caught sight of him, and immediately stood up.
 
“Choi Seungcheol! I-I--”
 
“Oh, ,” Seungcheol whispered. He stood up reluctantly, the audience and judges’ eyes on him. Junhui and Eunji both stood up and sheepishly walked off the stage.
 
“Um, sorry. I was just pretty into the story there,” Seungcheol said, embarrassed.
 
“Oh, did you like their acting?” a judge asked, wringing his hands nervously.
 
“Yes! Those two were great! Felt like I was watching an actual drama,” Seungcheol said earnestly. “Uh, not that I watch dramas, of course,” he added hastily.
 
“Oh, we’re glad they impressed you! Please, let us know if there’s anything we can improve about this production! We are incredibly appreciative of your father’s support every single year.”
 
“Yeah...” Seungcheol laughed nervously. “Um, it was great watching all those auditions, but I have some urgent business to attend to!”
 
Yeah, right. You watched like, one and a half auditions.
 
“Oh, of course! Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to watch the auditions!” another judge bowed in Seungcheol’s direction.
 
“Wow, it’s like he’s some sort of god to them,” Hansol pursed his lips. 
 
God of Losers,” Seungkwan said in English and rolled his eyes. 
 
Seungcheol bowed hastily and snuck out as the judges prepared for the next audition. They seemed visibly shaken by Seungcheol’s appearance. 
 
“Knowing Seungcheol, I can’t imagine how people are actually intimidated by him,” Minghao laughed. 
 
“He’s such a pushover, it’s adorable,” Jisoo agreed.
 
Junhui joined them several minutes later, and seeing as they had no point in staying longer, decided to leave the audition hall as quietly as they could. Seungkwan and Hansol said goodbye, as they had to stay with their school club that they came with.
 
“Well, you did alright, I guess,” Seungkwan shrugged.
 
“Thanks,” Junhui grinned, slapped his back and followed the others outside.
 
As they exited into the bright sunlight, Junhui felt Minghao’s hand wrap around his waist.
 
“You alright?” Junhui asked. Minghao had a thoughtful expression and wouldn’t look Junhui directly in the eyes. 
 
“Junhui! That was amazing!” Mingyu interrupted, slinging an arm around Junhui’s shoulder.
 
“Thanks, Mingyu! Eunji was a good partner,” Junhui said with a smile. He felt Minghao tense up slightly. 
 
“Uh, anyway, thanks for coming along for me and Mingyu. It was great of you to watch us embarrass ourselves,” Junhui laughed, pulling Minghao slightly closer for good measure. 
 
Parting ways to return to their apartments in Apartment Block 17, Junhui debated whether he should ask Minghao why he looked so down. 
 
“Alright, we should celebrate a successful audition and first day at school with some ramyun!” Minghao exclaimed as soon as they entered their apartment. 
 
Deciding against ruining the good atmosphere, Junhui smiled and followed Minghao to the kitchen. He’s probably just a little tired from his first day at uni.
 
 

a/n;
** mingyu & sohye acting on star show 360 xD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu0asFtK1og
 
thanks to everyone who suggested idols to ship hansol with ;)
i ended up choosing chaeyoung from twice because she’s a year younger than hansol and that kinda worked out bahahaha
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hosaki
[190302] wow its been a while

Comments

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JustMe
#1
Chapter 28: Look at this hoe not updating anymore smh
bluequartz_a
#2
Chapter 28: Ok... I knew I shouldn't have started to read this 'cuz it's been like ages since the last update. Yet, here I am hahahaha so happy to read this and so happy to see your love for Seventeen through the years. I'll be here, silently waiting for my Verkwan and SoonHoon resolution.

Thank you for writing this fic <3 hope you can update tho hahahahha
yihshinee17
#3
Chapter 28: I actually clicked on the SHOW MORE .......( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) and then realised that i shouldn't click on it
anyway, welcome back~~!!
JustMe
#4
Chapter 28: Look who remembered to uPDATE I WAS WAITING FOR SO LONG
marisajaneweiman
#5
Chapter 27: omg please keep updating this is my favorite seventeen fanfic!
nsy317
#6
Chapter 27: Been a long time ago authornim. Welcome back :)
chocolatemeimei #7
omg hi i'm the same person from wattpad
found u hehe
TheiaP #8
Chapter 26: This is so goooooddddd
Love the ending of the last chapter XD got so confused and went awww until i saw it was a joke XD
The play is good toooooo. Funny funny. Sad that soonhoon didn't get a closure or verkwan really but the meanie made up for it
Lucinda_Serenity
#9
Chapter 26: Asdfghjkl yaaaas!!! Like they all said. FCKING FIN-AL-LY!!!!