Take 1

Understudy

 

 

“Stoooooop, I don’t want to,” Seulgi said exasperatedly as she tried to reach around Yeri. “You know I hate stuff like this!”

“Stuff like what? Being on stage? Okay, Miss Captain-of-the-Dance-Team,” the blonde teased sarcastically, elbowing Seulgi off of her. She continued to write Seulgi’s name on the audition sheet posted outside of the Drama Club’s classroom.

“That’s different. This is like… talking and stuff. I’ve never tried acting before!”

Yeri capped her pen, and turned to look at Seulgi like she was an idiot. “You were in that play in middle school!”

As a backup dancer,” Seulgi emphasized. “I was an extra for one number!”

Yeri chose to ignore that detail. “Whatever, I put you down at 1:00pm for your audition. Let’s get a couple copies of the script so we can practice at lunch.”

Seulgi often found herself helplessly swept up in Yeri’s eccentric fixations, and today seemed like it would be no different.

+++

 

Wendy knew the auditions sign-up sheet for this season’s play was supposed to be posted today, so she made a beeline for the Drama Club’s room as soon as she got out of class. As an active member of the club for the past two years this was always an exciting day for her, better sometimes than even performing the play itself. She enjoyed the encouragements and criticisms from her peers in the club during the auditions and rehearsals - it meant more to her than the accolades of her regular classmates. But this time she found quite a number of people who weren’t in the club crowded around the sign-up sheet as she reached the room.

She quickly spotted Joy, the vice president of the club, standing head and shoulders above the rest and sidled up to her. She couldn’t even see the sheet over the crowd.

“What’s going on?” Wendy asked curiously.

Joy sighed. “Some jock signed up for the play so now everyone’s trying to audition.”

Wendy frowned. It wasn’t that she shared Joy’s disdain for their school’s athletes, but she was worried that with the sudden popularity of this season’s play, she wouldn’t be able to snag a part. She didn’t even know what the play was yet.

Joy saw that the waifish girl wasn’t going to be able to get anywhere near the door, so she helped Wendy push her way through, using her height to her advantage.

“Oh, nice, West Side Story.” Wendy was always up for a musical, and she much preferred this version to the old Romeo and Juliet standby. She scanned the list of audition times and saw her fears were confirmed: all of the slots were taken, even the additional lines at the bottom of the page that had been drawn in by hand.

Joy saw her expression fall and clapped her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, you’re in the club, unlike these dilettantes,” she said, giving their classmates a disdainful look. Wendy applauded her vocabulary and Joy inclined her head appreciatively. “We won’t make any final decisions without letting you try first.”

Wendy smiled gratefully. She examined the crowded list again; there were an awful lot of names she didn’t recognize as belonging to any of the club members, and as she drew her finger down the page, she finally saw the source of all the fuss.

Oh.

“Yup,” Joy said with a tired sigh, seeing Wendy’s finger pause at the name. “Kang Seulgi, Captain of the Dance Team.”

Wendy cleared uncomfortably.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re one of her fangirls, too,” Joy said with a look of obvious disappointment.

“Ha ha! Me? Hoo, no. Of course not. I would never- how could you think…? Psh. I mean, really…”

“Alright, alright,” Joy said, rolling her eyes. "You know, for an actor, you're a pretty lousy liar."

Wendy took her arm and led Joy inside the classroom. When Joy had mentioned a ‘jock’, Wendy had assumed it would be someone from the basketball team or the swim club or something, not the dance team, which she considered to be more of an art than a sport. She supposed the fact that the team went to competitions every year put them more towards the sport end of the spectrum, though. “Listen, I just have a healthy appreciation for our team’s hard work.”

“Yeah, well your school pride is making you drool,” Joy muttered as she allowed herself to be dragged inside.

Wendy and Joy entered in on the club in chaos.

“We can’t just tell her no.”

“Why not? It’s our play!”

“We already decided to hold open auditions! It’s a big cast.”

“Can’t we just tell her she didn’t make the cut?”

“Do you want to incite a riot? Did you see how many girls are crowded around out there?”

“We don’t even know what part she’s going to try for.”

“Can she even sing?”

“Can she even act?”

“Ladies!” Yoona cried out, standing up from the table she had been sitting on. “Just calm down. We’ll figure this out.” After a moment, the president of the club was finally able to restore order and everyone else took their seats, including Joy and Wendy.

“Thank you. Okay, so clearly we have a bit of a problem,” Yoona began, “but we need to be as fair as we can about this. I know some of you didn’t make it onto the audition list, but obviously we’ll still give you all a chance if you want to try out.”

“Ugh we’re going to be here all night judging the auditions,” Secretary Krystal complained as she clicked her pen irritatedly.

The rest of the club council groaned collectively at the thought. They were the ones who would ultimately have to decide the part assignments.

“If Seulgi thinks she’s going to try out for the lead, she’s going to have some stiff competition,” Treasurer Moonbyul said with a greasy smirk.

There was more groaning, but now for a different reason.

+++

 

“There’s kissing in this,” Seulgi stated.

Yeri was flipping through the pages of the script, highlighting the lines for TONY. “It’s a love story,” she said.

“We go to an all-girls school,” Seulgi pressed, gesturing around the packed cafeteria.

Yeri slapped the marker on the script and gave Seulgi a leveling look. “It’s acting, Seul.”

Seulgi glowered, and suddenly Yeri threw her arms around the taller girl’s neck, making kissing noises.

“Ah-! What are you doing?!” Seulgi cried, trying to peel the blonde off of her.

“What’s the matter, Seulgi~? Afraid of a little kissing~?” Yeri teased as she rubbed her cheek against Seulgi’s.

“Get off!” Seulgi complained ineffectively. She stopped struggling, though Yeri remained in her personal space. “It’s a musical. Can’t I just be a backup dancer again?” She had seen the movie once or twice a long time ago, and guessed that either way the Dance Team could offer their services to the Drama Club and help with choreography.

Yeri glared up at Seulgi. “No way. You’re only in high school once, Seulgi! You should try everything! Besides, look at how many dance scenes are in this for the main characters. This should be easy for you.”

Seulgi wasn’t about to comment how there was no way dancing and acting and singing all at once would be easy, but another thought suddenly occurred to her. “Hey, wait, why aren’t you auditioning, then?”

Yeri sat up and resumed highlighting lines, not meeting Seulgi’s gaze suddenly. “I’m your agent. I’ll be around to make sure you don’t get screwed over.”

“Screwed- agent? This is a high school play!” Seulgi thought for a moment, then she suddenly squinted over at the blonde.

“... Isn’t Saeron in the Drama Club?” Seulgi asked suspiciously.

“I wouldn’t know. Is she?” Yeri asked with an air of affected disinterest.

“Uh, huh,” Seulgi said skeptically, her eyes narrowing further. She was getting the idea that perhaps Yeri wasn’t trying to make sure she got the most out of her high school years after all.

As Yeri continued to flip through the pages, Seulgi folded her arms on the table and rested her chin upon them.

“... There’s so many lines…” she groaned. “How am I supposed to remember all of this? And why are you making me try out for Tony, anyway? Can’t I be Maria?”

Yeri looked at her askance. “Do you really think they’re going to give you Maria when they have girls in the club like Irene and Sae- uh…”

“Aha!”

“Listen!” Yeri sputtered, turning red. “This is your shining moment, Seulgi, embrace it!”

“I thought winning the regional championships was my shining moment,” Seulgi grumbled, thinking of the Dance Team’s trophy on display in the school’s trophy case.

“You’re already a heartbreaker, just accept your calling,” Yeri continued. Usually Seulgi was more easygoing than this. Yeri wasn’t used to having to fight so hard to bend the girl to her will.

“A heartbreaker?!” Seulgi cried out, causing several heads to turn in their direction. She hunched down in her seat. “Fine, geez! I’ll do it, just… stop talking!” she whispered harshly.

Yeri smiled to herself. Victory at last. She passed the highlighted script over to Seulgi and took the plain copy for herself. “Good. Okay, now, let’s start here,” she instructed, leaning over to flip Seulgi to the correct page.

Seulgi read down the lines briefly. [Tough? Doc, I’m in love!]

“Oh, brother.”

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ThisIsHaro
Whew, it's been a minute huh? I need to hype myself up for some more antics and get this fic going again.

Comments

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Narutinho1 #1
Chapter 12: Just re-reading even
xiahmixtin
#2
Chapter 12: had to reread it to remember some happenings and it's still funny, thank you for continuing it
Eris78
#3
Chapter 12: LMFAOOOO! This is too funny, the whole story. So much weird drama and gossip. I feel bad for one person, though: YOONA. She literally has zero idea how to reign in the chaos.
whyareyoureadingthis #4
Chapter 12: This is such a delight to read omg hahaha everyone is just so adorable and silly I can’t wait to see how nationals and opening day work out!! My guess is that slug won’t make it in time for opening day but be there for the next shows so both she and wannie get their time to shine as tony hehe

The only part I could take seriously was wenjoy’s run ;—; I always feel so bad for joy in fics when she has unrequited feelings for wendy bc it’s always the latter being so unbelievably dense and the former silently lending unconditional support

But I love their characterizations here - especially irene’s. Just her competitive and mischievous nature cranked up to a 10. And I am always a er for noble, earnest, and hardworking seul.. basically her irl pls >~<

Thank you for writing such a cute and light readdd
neuneu24
#5
Chapter 12: Welcome back :)
born10966 #6
Chapter 12: OMG. I was so worried about Joy punching Seulgi when she thought the bear was trying to do both (Wendy and Irene) hahaha 🤣. But thanks God they cleared up just on time. Well now Irene is already expecting a confession from Seulgi ☺️ and she looks like mad, but what will she feel when find out it's a different issue, will she be disappointed? Will she be able to figure out what is she feeling for Seulgi. If Seulgi start her speech ambiguously I'm expecting another hilarious mess like when Seulgi talked to Wendy and Joy.

Thanks for the update Author Nim
Kang_bae_rene
#7
Chapter 12: Whenever I read wenseulrene fic I always got confused but there is another ship too like Wenjoy and Joyri not even helping

Who is going to end up with whom ❓ no angst please 🙏
RedVelvet_baby
#8
I prefer wenrene but if all are happy together, I'm happy too
KaiserKawaii #9
Chapter 11: Aw.... this too funny
born10966 #10
Chapter 11: Yes. You are continuing this story. Yes Yes 👏👏👏🎊🎉✨💯👏👏👏