Baekhyun is having his morning coffee when he sees an email from the casting director of Seoul Playground, the theater company he’s currently employed in. The final casting for their production of Les Miserables is the subject. Baekhyun skips to the bottom of the email to download the attachment. He quickly finds his name next to Marius Pontmercy. He expected as much, he usually gets the part he auditions for.

He’s about to read through the other castings when his phone buzzes and then continuously buzzes for the next few seconds. The group chat he’s in with his fellow theater troupe sounding off must mean they all just saw the email too. Baekhyun opens the chat. He didn’t even have to read through the document since they’re all sharing what part they got.

Baekhyun sips his coffee as he watches the chat move on its own, chuckling softly when Chanyeol (jokingly, perhaps) expresses his disbelief in not getting the part of Jean Valjean. A few congrats are sent towards Baekhyun in playing Marius.

A message from Jieun (who got the part of Marius’ love interest, Cosette) pops up, separate from the group chat. Baekhyun goes to read it, Did you notice who your Eponine is? Baekhyun straightens up, holding his phone in two hands as he swipes back to the casting doc.

Kim Jungda, Eponine, he reads. The name doesn’t ring any bells which is kind of a red flag to Baekhyun right away. He thought Seungwan was going to get that part for sure. Baekhyun is now noticing a number of unfamiliar names in the list. He sends question marks back to Jieun. She replies, I think we’re going to get an explanation when we have our first pre-prod meeting.

Baekhyun mutes his group chat as he takes his curiosity to Google and enters Kim Jungda theater in the search box. He taps on the first link which seems to be the site for her personal profile. There isn’t much listed in her experience and it looks like she’s just graduated from university. Aside from roles in her theater program’s productions, she has no real professional experience.

 How could this girl have gotten casted as Eponine? Sure, Seoul Playground is not one of the biggest theater company names around but they’ve been doing pretty well for a production company that’s been around for almost five years. Their last production of “My Sassy Girl” was actually nominated for a few awards. Baekhyun’s been a part of Seoul Playground for the past two years because he genuinely believes in the vision of their company director, Jung Yunho, and his belief that hard work and determination will eventually put them where they want to be in the industry.

Baekhyun has to keep the trust he has in Yunho in mind as he looks at the profile picture of a very blonde Kim Jungda one last time before he exits the browser.

-

 The day of their first pre-production meeting has arrived and even though Baekhyun has been in a number of musicals and plays, he can’t help his excitement for the first read-through of Les Mis. It’s the first official gathering since the casting list came out so only immediate directors, producers, and actors are present.

Inside the large meeting room, there are seats labeled with the actors’ names and their respective characters. Eponine is to be seated next to Marius. Baekhyun takes his seat next to his Cosette, Jieun.

“Excited?” Jieun asks as she puts her phone away.

“Can you tell?”

“Yeah, you keep looking around at everything like you haven’t seen this room a hundred times before.” Jieun jokes as she smiles in greeting towards familiar faces.

“Just gauging how everyone else is feeling.” Baekhyun finally stops trying to spot a certain blondie to face Jieun, “And, how are you?”

“Fine. Thinking about how hard I’m gonna have to mentally prepare when it’s time to act like I’m love with you.” She forces a smile which Baekhyun laughs at.

The seats in the room slowly fill up. Baekhyun can’t help but feel the weight of the absent Eponine. His curiosity since the casting has been eating at him. His eyes have been darting between Yunho speaking with some new producers (this is the first time Baekhyun’s seeing them anyways) and the door, which no one has walked through in the last ten minutes. Nobody is considered late until Yunho takes his seat at the head of the room. Conversation in the room gradually comes to a lull when Yunho walks to take his place at the front.

“Good morning, everyone! And welcome--”

Loud, frantic steps are heard, then “Sorry! I’m so sorry!” Everyone turns to the disturbance. She’s panting like she just ran a marathon, whatever is in her bag looks like it’s about to fall out, but this must be her. This must be Kim Jungda, Baekhyun thinks. The fact that she is clearly not blonde anymore kind of throws Baekhyun for a loop, though he would never admit it.

The now-brunette Kim Jungda bows in apology one more time before she takes the seat marked Eponine. Yunho gathers the attention of the room again by clapping loudly. After welcoming everyone (again), he starts a roll call wherein each cast member stands up and introduces themselves.

Kyungsoo gets an applause with extra vigor after she introduces herself as playing the part of Fantine. It’s not a surprise to Baekhyun. Everyone in the company adores her.

“Hello, I’m Lee Jieun, playing Cosette.” Naturally, an equally resounding applause. Baekhyun stands up after, “Hello, I’m Byun Baekhyun and I’ll be your Marius.” He’s used to the applause but it isn’t until now that Baekhyun notices the earnest clapping coming from his right. He bows slightly in Kim Jungda’s direction before he sits.

There’s a slight pause when Baekhyun looks to Jungda and she’s looking right back at him. He gives her a terse smile before signaling her to stand up. Jungda flusters a bit before she stands up, bows, introduces herself as Eponine, sits down, stands up again to say ‘And my name is Kim Jungda!,’ and then sits again, keeping her eyes down. Yunho laughs good-naturedly and initiates the clapping while Baekhyun has to stifle his laugh with his hand before joining in.

“Alright, good.” Yunho says after the last cast member sits down. “Since the email went out, you’re all probably wondering a few things.” His gaze sweeps from one side of the room to the other. “Like, there were some names you didn’t recognize right away. And after today’s introductions, you have probably noticed there are some new faces sitting with us.” Baekhyun glances at Jungda who doesn’t notice because she’s focused on Yunho.

“As most of you know, our company has been in good fortune since we started. We’ve only grown and I’m not the only one to have taken notice. As a request from many of my colleagues, I had decided to hold open auditions for our production of Les Mis this year.”

Yunho waits as a few murmurs are heard around the room. “The casting directors and I screened many potential actors’ videos in the weeks following our company’s in-person auditions. We were very grateful to have received so many applications but we are confident that the decisions we’ve made have resulted in the best cast we’ve seen for Les Mis in the area. Let’s put on a good show for everyone to see!” Yunho finishes strongly as the room erupts in applause.

-

El Dorado was the type of bar where if you didn’t know it was there before, you would’ve missed it. It’s been around for only two years but the service and general good vibe of the place made it seem like it was always a part of their town. This was where most of the theater community (the ones Baekhyun associated with anyways) spent their late evenings. It was, to no one’s surprise, Chanyeol’s idea to go to El Dorado. They just had their first script read-through with the immediate cast and everyone was in high spirits. Only a few of the elder actors excused themselves, most of them having families to get home to.

At El Dorado, the four new actors to their company, including Jungda, took turns explaining a little about themselves. Jungda was just starting to feel less uneasy with her new castmates but now that she’s currently the center of their attention, that anxious feeling of wanting to impress them creeps up again.

“So, where’d you study Jungda?” Jieun asks.

“At Ewha. Actually, I just graduated.”

“What? How old are you?”

Jungda blushes when she answers. “25. I entered university a bit later than my high school class.”

Everyone at the table nods in understanding. “Ah, is that so, unnie?” Jieun chuckles and nudges Jungda happily. “You’re not alone. These oldies over here are the same age as you too.” Jieun throws a thumb in the direction of Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun. “There’s literally a one-year difference, Jieun. One year!” Chanyeol holds his index finger in front of her face.

Jungda nods and smiles at the three. Chanyeol lifts his glass to initiate a toast with his fellow 92-liners. Kyungsoo easily joins in but has to kick Baekhyun under the table to get him to pick up his glass. Jungda, on the other hand, really thinks her face can’t get any more red. She’s about to clink glasses with one of her idols.

Kyungsoo notices how Jungda’s gaze stays on Baekhyun as she puts her glass down. Baekhyun, as far as Kyungsoo can see, doesn’t seem to be the least bit interested in his fellow castmate.

“Jungda, how did you hear about the company?” Kyungsoo turns to ask as their group now slips into side conversations.

“Oh, well, my professor was contacted by Jung Yunho, one of his good friends apparently. He was asking if any students in my theater club would be interested in auditioning for a musical. I couldn't say no. Les Mis is one of my favorites.” Jungda’s focus flits from Kyungsoo to Baekhyun.

“Actually, I heard about you guys before that.” Jungda starts softly. Kyungsoo looks on in interest. “I saw when your company put on Singing in the Rain. I was in my second year of university. It was really inspiring.” Kyungsoo kicks Baekhyun under the table again, causing him to mutter at her.

“Jungda came to see Singing in the Rain. Remember that one, Baekhyun?” Baekhyun can take a hint but he doesn’t know why Kyungsoo is acting this way. He decides to play along. “Yep. That was my debut as a musical actor an--”

“Yes! It was! Your portrayal as Don Lockwood was my favorite. Jay and Cho Kyuhyun’s performances were good too but I thought that you, even as a rookie, brought more life to that character than they did-- Oh my god--” Jungda slaps both of her hands over . Kyungsoo could laugh at how big both Jungda and Baekhyun’s eyes have grown. Jungda faces the floor, wishing for it to her into the ground.

“Don’t look so embarrassed, Jungda.” Kyungsoo laughs now and claps her on the back. “You’re a fan of Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo glances at Baekhyun, who (finally) is focused on Jungda.

Baekhyun chuckles. “Thank you.”

The center of conversation easily switches to Chanyeol’s retelling of the time he auditioned for three different companies and they all wanted to sign him. “I swear this story changes every time I hear it.” Kyungsoo shares while rolling her eyes. Jungda is just thankful that she doesn’t have to speak anymore. She refrains from looking at Baekhyun for the rest of the evening, only sparing a glance before they all part ways.

Maybe it was seeing how her eyes brightened when she spoke so fondly of him or even realizing that she had gone to see Singing in the Rain at least three times, but whatever it was, Baekhyun is starting to see Jungda in a different light.

-

Baekhyun pushes past the entrance doors to the theater their company is planning to rent out. Surprisingly, he’s the last one to arrive as he takes note of all the people taking over the first two rows closest to the stage. Yunho’s message had asked specifically for only the immediate cast to show up for their first run-through of all the songs.

“Byun! Glad you could make it.” Yunho greets him as Baekhyun steps up to the stage. He can only smile back apologetically at his director.

As Yunho goes over logistics about the theater (more so for the newcomers), Baekhyun recalls the night before.

His roommate, Yixing, had just returned from an overseas work trip in China. Baekhyun wanted to order in, Yixing wouldn’t let him unless he had some beer to go with it.

“How’s the play going?” Yixing asked as he popped the top off a bottle and set it in front of Baekhyun.

“It’s not a play. It’s a musical. They’re different.”

“Right, my bad. Did you get the main part or what?”

Baekhyun watches Yixing slurp the noodles faster than the time it took to mix the sauce in. “Do you even bother to read my texts?” Baekhyun throws a few tissues at him. “You’re getting sauce all over the table. And no, not the main. I’m Marius.”

Yixing widens his eyes. “Hey, he’s the one in a love triangle, right?” Baekhyun nods. He knows his character is more than that but he’s finally got Yixing’s full attention so he’ll take what he can get. “Bro! That’s better than the main! Who are the other two?”

Baekhyun takes a swig of his beer before groaning. “Don’t remind me.”

Yixing laughs. “Why?” He looks at Baekhyun seriously and whispers, “Are they ugly?”

Baekhyun pinches his nose bridge because Yixing has once again missed the point but he shares the names of his co-stars.

Yixing squints his eyes in thought. “Okay, I remember Jieun. Who’s the other girl?”

Baekhyun takes another long sip. “Exactly. She’s new to the company. There’s actually quite a number of new people on the roster this time around.”

“Is something wrong with that?”

“It’s just-- How did a newbie, with almost no experience to speak of, get the part?” Another swig.

“Uhh, maybe she’s good?”

Baekhyun scoffs. “We’ll see.” Yixing raises an eyebrow. “Tomorrow, we’re going through each song so it’ll be all our first times hearing each other sing.” Baekhyun explains.

“Ooh, are you excited?” Yixing jokes, Baekhyun ignores him.

They eat in silence a little more until Baekhyun slaps his chopsticks down. “And she doesn’t even have, you know, stage presence. I can tell these things.” Baekhyun points out when Yixing gives him the questioning eyebrow.

“Well, I hope you can help her and share some of your overflowing talent and massive stage presence-ness.”

-

“That’s us!”

Baekhyun feels Jieun tap on his shoulder. She gives him a look saying, ‘I know you aren’t paying attention so get up and follow me.’ Luckily, he’s come to learn what Jieun’s certain looks mean so he follows.

Yunho had called for Marius, Cosette, and Eponine. “Okay, you three are the youngest characters. Marius and Eponine,” Yunho points at Baekhyun and Jungda with each hand. “Strong, friendship bond. Jungda, you’re new but Baekhyun is pretty easy to get along with so you’re in good hands.”

Jungda nods and takes a look to see Baekhyun’s reaction, only there isn’t one. He keeps his eyes trained on Yunho.

“Alright.” Yunho focuses on Jungda. “Since most of us are already acquainted with how Jieun and Baekhyun sound, how about we hear a bit of Jungda’s Eponine?” Baekhyun, along with everyone else in the room, now look to Jungda. Nobody’s surprised, Yunho usually does this to the newbies. He thinks it’s a sort of icebreaker.

Jungda points at herself, surprised but undeterred by the director’s request. “Right now?”

Yunho nods and orders someone to play the backtrack for “On My Own.” As Jungda moves to take center stage, Baekhyun and Jieun move to take their seats in the front row.

Jungda sticks to her lower register as the song’s opening piano chords play. Her nerves get the better of her when she looks upon her castmates and it shows in her voice so she keeps her eyes on the edge of the stage. As the song progresses, she catches Jieun cheering her on silently and next to her, Baekhyun, who is looking on in mute interest. She steadies her voice as she gets lost in the melancholic emotion of Eponine’s song.

Baekhyun, for all the expectations and prior judgement he had of this girl, can only sit in awe during her performance. Her voice is powerful yet controlled and soft in the most important moments of the song. She may be a rookie but she sounds like a professional. Baekhyun personally felt chills run down his spine as she was closing out the song, her gaze directly on him.

-

Baekhyun will definitely bring a treat for Jieun later during their evening practice. She’ll eye him suspiciously (like she always does when he gifts her with food) but she’ll eventually accept it. She’ll ask what’s it for and Baekhyun will say something along the lines of ‘They had a 2 for 1 deal.’ He won’t tell her that the real reason for his gratitude is due to the fact that Jieun made a group chat between themselves and Jungda, which means Baekhyun got Jungda’s number without having to lift a finger.

Baekhyun woke up to Jieun’s message welcoming them into the group chat followed by an unknown number (Jungda’s) sending in cute text emojis and thanking Jieun for making the group.

Baekhyun goes to add Jungda to his contacts and is about to send her a message when he receives one from said girl.

hi baekhyun, this is jungda just wanted to let u kno i saved ur number from the gc. okay have a nice day!

She’s so cute, Baekhyun thinks. What should he text back? That he did the same? No, that’s lame. Why is this even worth wracking his brain for?

Baekhyun decides on: hi jungda, thanks. u too

He reads and rereads the message thinking that a response will appear if he keeps doing so. Nothing comes and Baekhyun rethinks giving Jieun that treat...

-

Their weekly practices have been going well and everyone has gotten much closer compared to when they started almost a month ago. Baekhyun certainly expected he would be spending a good amount of time with Jieun and Jungda since they were playing his love interests. What he couldn’t predict was how much he would enjoy the company of the girl behind the voice that he’s come to admire since that first vocal practice.

To Baekhyun’s surprise, Jungda is the one who has initiated a lot of their one-on-one practices. He honestly looks forward to their meetings.

“I thought you were going to practice?” Yixing walks into their shared bathroom and grabs his toothbrush.

“Yeah, I am.” Baekhyun can’t use the ‘Can’t you knock?’ excuse because he’s always walking in on Yixing while he’s showering.

Yixing pokes Baekhyun’s well-coiffed hair. “Why’s your hair all fancy?” Baekhyun swats his hand away.

“Are you trying to impress someone?” Yixing calls out as Baekhyun walks out of the room.

“Yeah, I am!” Baekhyun calls back as he leaves their apartment. 

-

Jungda still can’t believe her own reality wherein she’s able to text the Byun Baekhyun casually to meet up to go over their scenes together. She won’t attribute her admiration for Baekhyun as the main reason she got into music, she’s always loved singing since she was young. Although, he definitely played a part in inspiring her to take the musical theater track in school.

Due to her father’s health condition, she couldn’t go to college right out of high school. Jungda began working as a waitress to help her family out. She continued working there even after making it into university.

Balancing work and school was tough, but the four months of taking on extra hours at the restaurant she worked at just to save up for tickets to multiple shows of Singing in the Rain were worth it in the end. For her, seeing Baekhyun so in his element made the desire of wanting to be up on a stage even stronger.

“So, I entered university about two years after the rest of my high school class.” Jungda explains to Baekhyun. They’re in a practice room at the theater. Baekhyun’s sitting at the piano while Jungda is seated on a stool nearby.

Baekhyun nods in understanding. “Ah, so you were a freshman when I was a junior?”

“Yeah, probably.” Jungda smiles at the ground as she blushes and Baekhyun can’t help his heart racing upon seeing that.

Baekhyun turns to the piano to focus his mind on something else. He plays the intro chords to “On My Own” and sings a few lines. Jungda watches him, mesmerized. She moves beside him and sings the next few bars as Baekhyun continues playing the song in downtempo. He smiles back at her as he joins in the following line, harmonizing with her.

Jungda laughs as Baekhyun’s fingers strike a glissando across the keys. “What would Yunho say if we wanted to turn that song into a duet?”

“I think he’d make us write an apology letter or something. You do the song enough justice as is.” Baekhyun looks her straight in the eye when he says that. It stuns Jungda for a second before she remembers to show some modesty. “Thanks, Baekhyun. That really means a lot.”

They continue to gaze at each other until Jungda breaks the silence, “I like your hair.” Baekhyun moves his hand to his styled hair now that he’s self-conscious about it. “Well, actually, when it’s down and natural is the best.”

Baekhyun isn’t sure if he’s happy from the fact that he no longer has to spend an hour on his hair now or from the fact that he doesn’t seem to mind the mini heart attacks Jungda’s sweet smile give him.

-

They’re all gathered at Baekhyun’s apartment for a group meal. Out of the four of them, only Kyungsoo and Jungda brought home-cooked food.

“There wasn’t a rule that we had to cook, right?” Chanyeol hesitates as he sets down the boxes of Chinese takeout. The girls shake their head at him, either to give him his answer or just because Chanyeol is hopeless sometimes.

After going through a case of beer, Kyungsoo mentions that she heard some scouts were going to be at their opening show, which was only a few months away now. This seems to be news to everyone.

“Woah, from where?” Jungda asks.

Kyungsoo shrugs. “Not sure, but they’re probably interested because of how Yunho casted since auditions were open to virtually anyone.”

Baekhyun nods. It makes sense for scouts to come this time around since there’s a lot of new people in this production and they’re all worthy of being backed by a bigger company. Baekhyun glances at Jungda, who coincidentally catches him looking.

“Hey, we have to do well, alright? I wanna get scouted.” Jungda jokingly wags a finger at Baekhyun before she takes a sip of her beer. Everyone laughs, the mood is light but Baekhyun can’t help a weird feeling in his gut.

-

“Let’s go from the second chorus of A Heart Full of Love again.” Baekhyun gruffly stands up from the piano to change the sheet music.

Jungda stays quiet as she sips from her water bottle. Jieun speaks, “Baekhyun, I think we’re good on that one. It’s getting late.” Baekhyun scoffs and continues scribbling acting as if he didn’t hear her. He’s been a little off this entire practice.

“Okay, you let me know what time you wanna practice tomorrow. But I’m going home now. Jungda?” Jieun grabs her coat and stops before the girl.

Jungda raises her eyes to Jieun and then to Baekhyun, whose eyes are dark and moody. She’s a bit tired too, but she doesn’t think it would be good to leave Baekhyun alone like this. She knows he’s not going to leave anytime soon.

“I think I’ll stay a bit longer.” Jungda answers.

“Alright, see you tomorrow then.” Jieun sighs, spares another look at Baekhyun, then leaves.

It isn’t their first time alone in the practice room but this time the room is heavy with negative tension. Jungda stands up from her seat to walk to the piano.

“You can leave too, if you want.” Baekhyun says.

“It’s okay, I want to practice.” Jungda moves to take a seat on the piano bench next to Baekhyun. “Since Jieun left, we should just go over A Little Fall of Rain and--”

“I know you want to leave, so just go.” Baekhyun interrupts her. Jungda can hear the tone of anger in his voice.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been a little--”

“Just go! I know you’re tired! I can hear it in your voice--” Baekhyun stops himself then. He turns to Jungda, whose back is turned to him as she gets up from the piano bench. “Jungda, wait-- Sorry, I’m--” He grabs onto her wrist lightly only to be shaken off.

“See you later, Baekhyun.” He cannot mistake the sadness in her words. He watches her grab her things before he faces the keys on the piano, the last thing he hears is the slam of the door.

-

Baekhyun still hasn’t properly apologized for yelling at Jungda. They still meet up to practice, but that’s about it. No more late night hangouts and her texts have been short and only about the show. Aside from his drama with Jungda, thoughts about big time scouts attending their show have occupied Baekhyun’s mind of late.

As much as he’s enjoyed being apart of Yunho’s company, to be represented by a big name entertainment company would be a dream come true for Baekhyun. He’s positive that this role could be his golden ticket to that dream. But he can only give his best performance if his co-stars do their best as well. He’s learned that much from the past, especially with a passionate character like Marius who has two love interests. The pressure he’s putting on himself to do well, he can’t help but place on Jieun and Jungda. Especially, Jungda.

Since that night in the practice room, things have been different between them. So much that even Yunho has to bring it up. They’re going over Eponine’s death scene (again) and as much effort Baekhyun is putting in, Jungda is giving about half as much.

“Stop. What’s going on with my Eponine and Marius, huh?” Yunho can feel his blood pressure rising. It’s a week and a half until their opening night. Jungda and Baekhyun fail to answer their director.

“You two, in my office. Everyone else, run through the last half of Act II.” Yunho exits with Baekhyun and Jungda in tow.

In the office, both Jungda and Baekhyun keep their eyes trained on anything but their director or each other. Yunho calls them so they look to him.

“Is something going on between the two of you?” Yunho watches them finally turn to each other and just as quickly look away. Yunho releases a deep sigh.

“Sir, I’d like to apologize. My mind wasn’t in the right place today. I will do better.” Jungda stands to bow. Baekhyun watches her and his breath catches when he sees a sign of tears welling up in her eyes. She blinks them away when she stands. Easy-going Jungda, as always.

When she isn’t going to say any more than that, Yunho excuses her. Jungda thanks him and leaves, leaving Baekhyun in the room.

“So, are you two, what, having a couple’s quarrel?” Yunho looks way too tired, Baekhyun feels for him.

“No, nothing like that. I think we’re just feeling the pressure since the show’s coming up soon.” Baekhyun hopes the excuse is enough.

“Pressure, huh? Well, you’d know all about that, right, Baekhyun?” Yunho jokes. “Alright, go on. Back to work.” Baekhyun nods and guesses he’s off the hook now.

When Baekhyun returns to the stage, he’s surprised to see Seungwan in Eponine’s costume. “Hmm? Where’s Jungda?” he asks her.

Seungwan gives him a confused look. Yunho walks over, “We have to practice with the understudies, too.” Baekhyun gives him that, but still. His eyes roam the stage and he catches Jieun’s attention. She just mouths ‘She went home’ and shrugs.

-

Baekhyun is having his morning coffee when his phone buzzes. Incoming messages from the cast group chat, he guesses. When he goes to check, a red flag raises in his head when he sees Yunho’s name.

Hey Byun, have you heard from Jungda? Haven’t been able to get in touch with her..

More red flags. He goes to his messages with Jungda. The last message was from her saying okay to when he asked if she would be able to make evening practice two days ago. He sends a quick message, hey where are u and just as he taps send, an incoming call from Jieun notification pops up. Baekhyun answers.

“Hello--”

“Baekhyun, have you talked to Jungda?”

“No, why is everyone asking about her?”

“She’s gone.”

A sinking feeling starts to build in the pit of his stomach. “What, what do you mean? It’s ing opening night.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Jieun usually doesn’t lose her cool, but then again, this usually doesn’t happen. “Look, we went drinking the night of our last practice two days ago,” Baekhyun figured she would. Yunho believes in not practicing the night before their first show so everyone can relax and take a day off before performing. “I only had one drink, but Jungda was almost at four bottles by herself. She kept going on and on about the show, wanting to do well, and stuff. And, of course, you came up, too.” Baekhyun’s breath hitches. “Yeah, she said she’s the reason why you’re putting so much pressure on yourself. She’s blaming herself because of you.”

“No… that’s not true--”

“Listen Baekhyun. I know you really want to impress the scouts coming tonight, right? Well, that’s not gonna happen if Jungda’s not your Eponine, right? So, your better find her and get her back here ASAP.”

“If she hasn’t contacted any of you guys, what makes you think she’ll talk to me?”

“Have you even tried?” Dial tone.

Baekhyun sighs and groans in frustration. He goes back to his messages to Jungda, his finger hovers over the call button next to her name before he finally taps it.

It rings twice then the line connects.

“Baekhyun?”

-

Baekhyun’s on the bus towards Gyeonggi Province. He’s familiar with the area, his own childhood home located in Bucheon. Jungda told him she was at her parents’ home in Siheung. He gets off the bus to see her waiting at the bus stop she said she’d be at.

They walk to a nearby park and sit at an empty bench. Baekhyun notices the dark circles under Jungda’s red-rimmed eyes. She had received news of her father suddenly falling ill and out of fear, left for home immediately. She didn’t know how long she’d be gone so how could Jungda know how to tell Yunho that the day before opening night, his Eponine wouldn’t be able to perform? The guilt must have eaten at her.

“How’s your father?” Baekhyun asks.

“He’s fine now and resting at home. My mom actually made it seem worse that it really was.” Jungda chuckles softly.

“That’s good, right? So, you can still make the show tonight!” Baekhyun claims, turning to her.

After Baekhyun had explained to Yunho that he had found Jungda, the exasperated director had worked out that he could have Seungwan play Eponine for the unofficial first matinee show, which was just for close colleagues and fellow industry people. The scouts would be attending the official opening show that evening. Baekhyun needed to get Jungda back before then.

Jungda focuses on something in the distance and keeps mum.

“Jungda,” Baekhyun throws all doubts against the wind and takes hold of Jungda’s hand. He’s definitely got her attention now. “I’ve been a complete idiot lately. My anxiety over the scouts coming to our show got the better of me. I placed a huge amount of pressure on myself and I didn’t even see how much of a burden that was on Jieun and especially, you. I realized too late that this was hurting all of our performances in the end. I’m so sorry. Really.” He feels her small hand squeeze his back.

“It’s okay, Baekhyun. I know you were going through a lot. And I know I’m lacking a lot so I’m sorry I didn’t know how to help you more.”

“No, you did-- I mean, that’s something you shouldn’t have to worry about. God, you were always giving your best. Nobody else can play Eponine like you do. I couldn’t see that at the time but you coming into practice with a smile probably did a whole lot more good than the attitude I was giving you and Jieun.”

Jungda laughs, sincerely this time. The two share another look. Baekhyun can feel that Jungda’s truly forgiven him when she places her other hand on top of his. It’s warm and familiar.

“I was always going to do the show. I’ve put in so much effort towards it so far. It’s just that-- I know it’s acting but I just didn’t want to feel like I was forcing a feeling on stage. I wanted it to feel right.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Jungda, if you’re willing to put your all into tonight’s performance, I’ll go all-in right there with you.” Baekhyun smiles and Jungda can feel the confidence in his words, the confidence he has in her.
 

-

epiologue

Seoul Playground would sell out their next twenty showings of Les Miserables. The media was having a field day with critics making Cinderella stories out of the unknown newbies to the company who exceeded the expectations of spectators. Jung Yunho became a sought-after director and Lee Jieun was recently offered a contract to become a solo artist. 

So, what became of Byun Baekhyun and Kim Jungda?

“Well, if it isn’t Byun Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun looks up from the script he’s reading and sees Jungda, her hair an auburn red now. She looks good.

“Jungda,” he still has to catch his breath around her. “You look good.”

She smiles and takes a seat across from him. “So, what part are you reading for?”

“Danny Zuko. You?” Baekhyun’s lips spread into a grin because he can already guess which part she’s auditioning for. And he doesn’t even have to guess. Jungda had already told him. When she was over at his place, just the night before.