November 1st

Jinki was very very very lucky that try-outs ended up on a Friday. He knew for a fact that if he had it on the other days of the week he would have been screwed because of his academy classes.

The only person that knew he was trying out was Kibum and he asked him not to tell anyone. He didn’t want someone like Taeyeon breathing down his neck about his decision.

Jinki had been practicing in his room the past few weeks, his house was big enough to the point that his parents wouldn’t be able to hear him.

Saying Jinki was nervous was an understatement.

He was panicking. 

Currently try-outs were taking place in his schools auditorium. To his surprise many people had shown up, some probably wanting future careers in acting and singing and some hoping that some music scouts would be secretly in the crowd looking for a young new entertainer to debut. Jinki wasn’t concerned for those things, he just wanted to sing in his school play for the time being.

Jinki wasn’t trained in Opera singing, but honestly how many kids his age were? He had heard that they were basically looking for someone to be able sing in general, whether they could sing Opera or not. That took some stress off of his shoulders. But he was still nervous.

He realized many of the kids there knew each other, figuring out that many of them were in the Drama club, meaning they were more experienced than him or at least more knowledgable. 

Jinki’s gripped the sheet that contained the song lyrics and script to his mini scene in his hands tightly.

He knew the song well but he still brought a printed version of the lyrics to look over.

He decided he wanted to try out for one of the main character named Raoul. He choose to perform the song “All I Ask of You”. It was a duet, but he was singing his parts. He only needed to sing a minute of the song to try out anyways.

Jinki watched and waited as the boys tried out first for the roles in the play.

Jinki was starting to loose his self confidence the more people he saw trying out. They were good. Really good. Jinki had a nice voice but he definitely only sang as a hobby, he hadn’t taken it seriously enough to the point where he practiced and perfected his voice. His hands were becoming wet and clammy. He watched as more and more people took turns and acted out scenes or sang songs.

“Okay, relax.” He whispered to himself.

His hands and breathing were starting to become shakey. He started overthing and losing focus.

What was he thinking? He couldn’t do this!

Jinki wasn’t meant to sing! He was meant to be a doctor! Yes, that was it! He shouldn’t be there wasting his time like this!

Jinki was becoming so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize his heavy breathing was becoming noticeable. The people he sat around started looking ta him stangley as his heavy breathing became loud. He started sweating. The longer he sat through the performances they worse he started to feel.

He laid a hand lightly to his forehead to wipe off his perspiration. His heart started beating faster. 

Jinki knew what was about to happen.

He stood up on shaky legs pulling at the collar of his shirt to try to give him some room to breathe. 

Some students looked at him nosily as he made way towards the exit.

He walked himself to a spot where no one would notice him outside in the lobby of the auditorium.

Jinki didn’t understand why he was being so worked up. 

Well he knew why, but he didn’t understand why he was letting himself get like this.

He sat on a bench as he gripped his knees and breathed heavily. His eyes were closed shut and they started to water as he was struggling to calm his breathing down. 

Pessimistic thoughts ran through his head.

What if he couldn’t sing the song right? 

What if people laughed at him?

What if he didn’t get the part? 

What if this was a huge mistake? 

What if his parents found out?

How was he so brave before but now suddenly he was scared less?

Jinki’s head was racing with thoughts and breathing erratically when he suddenly felt a small weight on his shoulders. 

He realized it was a hand when he felt it moving up and down in a circular motion. He open his eyes slightly, but his vision was blurred by his tears.

“It’s okay. Take a few more moments to breathe, okay?” The voice rang. It was a sweet and angelic voice.

He took a moment to wipe at his eyes with the sleeve on his shirt so he could get a better look at who this person was that was talking to him.

When he looked up he saw a familiar face. 

She was very petite and pretty. She had a long black hair with a bang that helped shaped her round face nicely. Her eyes and smile were kind and it made him feel more at ease. 

“Are you okay?” She asked.

Jinki suddenly felt embarrassed that she had seen him freaking out and crying in a corner by himself.

“Y-yea...thank you...” He said holding his head down in shame. His breathing had slowed down and his mind started to focus on the girl in front of him.

“I’m Luna. I’m in your Biology Class. I-I saw you in the auditorium! I didn’t know you were interested in the arts. I just got a little worried when I saw walk out because they started calling your name for your turn to go on stage…it’s Jinki right?...I just wanted to check on you because you also looked sick, I hope this isn’t weird...” She rambled. She was blushing and fidgeted with her fingers.

“No...umm it’s okay. Thank you really...I was just...just... having a moment.” Jinki said not really sure how else to explain it. He didn’t want to to tell her he was have an anxiety attack, she would think he was weird! 

“I see...do you feel better now?” She said. She smiled. It was such a pretty smile.

Now it was Jinki’s turn to blush.

“Umm yea, I do. I swear.” He scratched his head awkwardly and stared at her. He was awkward, he cursed himself for this.

“Well, they called your name...do you think you should go back in there?” She asked hinting at what she previously said.

“Oh! Yes yes! Your right!” He said jumping up. He nearly tripped on his own feet as he made his way back to the auditorium. 

“Wait! I’m-I’m Jinki by the way.” He said turning around before walking through the doors that led back to his audition.

“I know.” She laughed.

“Right, uhh this way!” He said opening the door for her signaling that they should walk in together. She took him up on the offer.

“And hey, don’t be nervous. Just think about singing. Okay? Let the emotion in the song take you over and just...sing. And when you do your scene just focus on the character. Don’t worry about the crowd right now.” She said offering some advice.

Jinki nodded thinking that it was good advice as walked in.

“Do you...sing often?” He asked.

“You must be new! I have been apart of almost every school play here since my freshman year.” She said squealed confidently. “I love singing.” She said.

“Me too!” He admitted quickly.

“Well I can’t wait to hear you.” She said sweetly.

“Good luck.” She said before running off to her seat that was surrounded by a group of girls. He noticed how they all squealed when she sat down.

It wasn’t because of him…was it?

He brushed the thought off. He needed to focus. He went up to the judges to let them know he was deeply sorry for missing his call and he was ready to audition again if they allowed him, excempting that he was nervous and that this was his first time doing something like this. They forgave him and allowed him to go last after all the men were done auditioning. Luckily for him there were only two more boys before him. He was starting to feel a sense of nervousness every few passing minutes, but when he threw a few sneaking glances at Luna and saw her throw him a thumbs up when she caught his eye his heart beat slowed down. He decided to rehearse the song in his head while quietly humming the tune to himself. His train of focus was cut short because his name was called. 

“Lee Jinki?” A judge called.

He quickly made his way up the stairs and tripping over his foot which caused a few laughs. He frowned at embarrassing himself. He stood at the center of the stage and quietly waited for their words.

“Name?” The judge said.

“Uhhh Lee Jinki.” He said wondering why they would ask him that question after they clearly called him.

“Year?”

“Fourth Year. Senior.” He replied.

“What character are you trying for?”

“Raoul.” He said somewhat proudly.

The judge raised a brow at him, but nodded her head and wrote down some notes.

“Okay. You may begin.” The judge said.

Jinki squeezed his eyes shut and gulped. A shiver ran through his body when he a moment of panic soaked in him. But he was able to calm himself down when he thought about the advice given to him. Just think about the music.

He suddenly let out the first few words of the song, allowing himself to raise the volume of his voice so that he was heard. His voice was smooth and firm and he made sure he conveyed the feelings of the lyrics with his voice. He sang with his eyes closed so he did not notice the judges and audience looking at him with shocked faces. He knew he was supposed to audition for about a minute but felt that he had got on longer past that as the judges didn’t stop him. Once he felt like he had gone on for too long he opened his eyes and finished the last lyric he felt comfortable stopping at. He saw the judges looking at him with big eyes.

Did he do bad?

He twirled his paper in his hands unsure of the outcome.

The judges nodding not giving any kind of verbal compliments or critics. They only instructed him to continue and perform the scene he wanted to do to show off his acting. He took a few moments to get into character. He tried not to look at the crowd but instead feel the emotions his characrter was feelings and try to become that character. He struggled a little bit and stuttered a few times, but he thought he was able to get his point across well enough. He again stood awkwardly once he was done and looked at the judges for confirmation. 

He was still nervous as hell.

“You will definetly be hearing back from us soon.” One judge said.

That was good he supposed?

He smiled awkwardly and bowed before leaving the stage. His fellow students were whispering and also wore surprised looks on their faces. Was he that bad?

The sudden though of him completely messing up his try out struck fear in his heart. He suddenly felt embarrassed. He quickly gathered his things and left, not noticing the longing gaze that stared after him when he left.

When he made it home he made sure greet his Mother and Father before disspaearing into his room as he usually did. His. Father sought out his Father knowing he would be in his Man Cave as usual. When he announced his presence his father looked at him.

“How was the study session?” He asked looking at him inquesivetly. 

He called his Father to let him know he would be “studying” with Taeyeon after school at the library. His parents usually never bothered him about his plans if it involved studying. He knew if his parents called Taeyeon would cover for him immediately so he wasn’t too worried.

He nodded before saying, ”Good. Go find your mother she’s been worried about you.” 

“Did you tell her where I was?” He asked sounded a bit worried. His Mother worrying and acting frantic wasn’t good. The last thing he needed was to feel anxious because of his mother.

“I told her you were studying, but she kept asking about what time you would be home” He watched as his Father rolled his eyes, annoyed at his Mother’s antics. “I wasn’t sure, but I told her not to bother you while you study.” He said focusing his attention back to his newspaper.

He took this as his sign to leave. He sighed knowing that his Mother was about to get on his nerves once he found her.

He ended up having to ask his house maid where his Mother was. He ended up finding her in their garden behind their house. 

“Mother?” He said as he saw her bent over tending to her flowers. She jumped up at the sound of his voice.

“Lee Jinki! Where have you been? You usually come straight home on Friday’s!” She said not even bothering to ask how his day was.

“I was studying with Taeyeon. Father said he told you.” He said quickly. She had a look of worry and anger etched on her face. His parnets were overly protective but his Mother was on another level. 

“You were gone for almost three hours! You should have called to let me know? I called Taeyeon’s mother and she said she didn’t know what time you were getting back!”” She said frustrated.

Three hours wasn’t that long in Jinki’s opinion. 

“I was so focused on studying, I’m sorry…” He said. She continued on giving a speech about how it was irresponsible to not ask for permission and how she should always know his exact whereabouts at all times. He wanted to roll his eyes and walk away, but he wouldn’t dare be that disrespectful towards his parents. 

“It won’t happen again.” He said once she finished her speech that he had tuned out, he heard it a million times.
“Go upstairs and change! Dinner should be started soon. I told the chef’s to wait on your arrival but I had no idea when you would be here!” She huffed before walking off.

He just couldn’t do anything right according to his parent’s. But he was used to it.

He looked down to see his phone vibrating to see a message from Taeyeon.

 Ya, thanks for standing me up on our study date. It read.

Jinki, did actually make plans to study with her not realizing he scheduled it the same day as his try-out’s…

He was so caught up on try-out’s he forgot to text her to let her know he wasn’t coming.

Sorry, Noona. Something important came up…

He said not even bothering to come up with an elaborate lie to explain his whereabout’s. He was too emotionally tired.

-

The following Monday is when the students were told they would hear back. They had to go to the auditorium and check the list of names that would be hung on the door in the lobby area.

During a break between classes he asked Kibum and Minho to come with him to check out the list. He asked Kibum because if it weren't for him he may have never have tried out and he asked Minho because he was always so supportive of what anyone did. 

“Hurry, Hyung. Taemin and Jjong will be looking for us soon.” Kibum commented. The three made their way to the auditorium and saw a swarm of students surrounding the audition list. He saw a few happy smiling faces and a few disappointed expressions, he was afraid he would be the latter. Jinki stood nervous and chewed at his bottom lip.

What if he didn’t make it?

“I’m sure you did good! Just go check it out. If you don’t make it then it’s okay. At least you tried.” Minho said wrapping an arm around his shoulder and reassuring him.

“Go get em.” Minho said giving him a nudge forward.

He walked clumsily towards the small crowd and looked back at the two to see them easing two thumbs up and smiling stupidly.

He politely asked people to make room for him to be able to read the list. Once he made his way to the front he looked for his name to see if he made the role of Raul. His eyes searched hurriedly across the paper only to see...that he hadn’t made it. 

A sudden sense of anxiousness struck his body and frowned. He thought he did well. He was so disappointed. He hung his head down wondering how he could face his young friends to tell them that he failed. He was embarrassed.

“Right here.” 

That voice. 

Jinki looked to his side to see the girl from yesterday standing next to him smiling brightly. Luna. 

He looked at her a bit shocked, he wasn't expecting to see her.

“Look, your name is right here.” She said again. She sounded excited.

Her pink colored finger nail was tapping at his name on the list. He looked.

How did he miss that?!

But when he took a double look he realized how.

He was casted as The Phantom! He was the lead character!

“W-what?” He gasped.

“You’re The Phantom! Look, I’m Christine! Your counterpart.” She said cheerily. 

Jinki blinked. He didn’t try out for The Phantom. How did he get this role? He was confused.

“Good job. Let’s work well together.” She said.

Jinki had to quickly snap out of his dazed state to respond back.

“T-thank you. Good job to you too. Sorry I’m just shocked. I didn’t think I would make it.” He said honestly. He felt nervous talking to her. He didn’t know why. He grabbed at the hem of his shirt nervously. 

“Why are you surprised? You sounded amazing.” She said in awe.

“I did?” 

“Yes! Everyone in there just knew you would make it.” 

Jinki was stunned. He didn’t think his voice was that good. 

“B-but, I didn’t try out for The Phantom.” He mentioned. 

“Hmm. It’s one of the most important roles and you have the best voice for it. They must think it suite you well.” She explained.

“Ahh...” He sighed.

“Let’s do well, Oppa.” 

Jinki blushed at the name. He didn’t even notice how the small crowd of students had dwindled and Kibum and Minho were staring at him suspiciously.

“Yes, umm-let’s do well.” He repeated. 

Suddenly she reached for a small notepad from inside of her school bag. She took out a pen amd quickly scribbled what looked like numbers on a piece of paper.

“Here. My number. Just in case you want to practice a few scenes outside of practicing at school. We have quite a few scenes together actually...” She said shyly. But her action was bold.

Jinki looked at her dumbfounded for a few seconds before taking the piece of paper and stuffing it in his pocket awkwardly. 

“Bye.” She covered half her face with her hand as she scurried off with a group girls that squaled when she made her way over to them. 

Once she left Minho and Kibum quickly came to drag him off to taunt him.

“Yaaaa, Hyung! Who was that?” Minho asked excitedly.

“I could feel your awkwardness  from where I was standing.” Kibum mentioned.

“Who is she? Eh? I’ve never seen her before?!” Minho said wrapping his arm around Jinki’s neck as they walked.

“Wait, wait. Before you start your gossip Min, we need to know the most important thing first. Did you make it Jinks?” Kibum asked hopeful.

Jinki smiled big and nodded his head.

“That’s great Hyung! We’re so proud of you!” Kibum cheered. 

“Soooo, aren't you going to tell us about the girl?” Minho said while shaking his Hyung by the shoulders. Nosey isn’t he?

“S-She’s my counterpart in the play.” Jinki said dazed.

“You two seemed comfortable already. How did you two meet, hmmm?”

“Uhh...we just-she...she helped me with something the other day. And apparently we have class together but I never noticed.”

“I’m sure you will now.” Minho said wiggling his eyebrows. 

His friends always made such a big deal out him speaking to girls because he was so shy when it came to that. Taeyeon and Sunny didn’t count as he had known them for some time now, they were strictly his friends. 

“Don’t pick on him! You know how he is!” Kibum said defending his friend.

“Yea, yea. He just needs a little push. Not everyone can be in such a sappy relationship like you and Hyung.” Minho said referring to Kibum’s relationship. Kibum just rolled his eyes. 

“If you need a wing man Jinki Hyung, just give me a call!” Minho sneered.

-

“Oppa!”

Jinki turned around clumsily to see Luna skipping her way towards him. 

“Let’s walk to class together, yea?” She asked. 

Right! They had Biology class together!

“Of course.” He said giving her a slight bow and making for her to walk next to him.

“So how come...I’ve never seen you in class before?”

Luna laughed. Jinki looked at her confused. He wasn’t the best at small talk but is what he said funny?

“It’s not surprising you don’t notice. Your such a nerd, you sit in the very first seat in the front. I always sit towards the back when the teacher can’t see, so I can try to slip in my headphones.” She admitted proudly.

“But don’t tell, yea?”

She said putting her finger over as if to shush him. 

Luna was very cute. He felt a little nervous around her, he could feel his palms getting sweaty.

“Promise!” He said.

“Good. I’ll see you at practice.” She said as she entered class and twirled around to make her way to the very back of the class. 

Jinki never realized he never payed much attention to the back. 

But from now on he thinks that he will. 

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Finally, I have been waiting to introduce Luna for a while. I know the Lunew hardly exist anymore, but I often look back on their old performaces and interactions and I still think they are the cutest.

AND now offcially with this new chapter this has now become the longest story I have ever written!!! 

While you're here please check out my new one-shot and please leave a comment <3  It's called: Sweet

Also please check out my new story After Everything as well, and leave a comment please <3