The orientation started at nine o’clock in the morning, the students from the middle school section and the high school section gathered in the auditorium.  This year, the school admitted two hundred students in total.  Around eighty percent of new high schoolers were admitted from the middle school section.   The school’s principal gave a speech, followed by the school’s president, Kwon Eunbi who received a student leader award from last year.   

After, the students were separated to meet their classmates, the classes were categorized based on their special track.  Yuri chose to focus on vocal training and she was put in class 2A.  Lucky for her, she was in the same class with Minju, the only friend she knew during summer because they had received a vocal training before the fall started. 

“Hey Yuri, Is there any event that interests you in the afternoon?”,    asked Minju while looking at the orientation’s brochure. 

“There is, — Here— The last memory”,     Yuri pointed at the stage play that was scheduled at 4.30 pm.  

“I did not know you are interested in musicals”,    said Minju. 

“I did not know either”,   Yuri’s answer left Minju’s with a confusing expression.

“I actually wanted to watch a performance from the cheer squad”,   said Minju.

“Eh? We do have cheerleaders at our school”.  It had never crossed her mind that cheerleading would be one of the school’s activities, especially, not in the art school. 

“Don’t you know? The cheer squad is the most popular club in this school. The captain actually received the inspiring student leader award two years in a roll”, “She is the most popular in the high school section”, said Minju. 

“Really, Is she a senior?”,   asked Yuri.  

“She is still a second year”,   said Minju.  Minju was a middle school student here, while Yuri was new to the school and Seoul in general.

Unfortunately, the event was conflicted with the stage play, but Minju insisted that they did not have to stay for a whole event which Yuri agreed.  

Despite how much the school encouraged the students to participate in clubs’ activities, it was not mandatory.  Less than half did join the clubs, which was understandable, the students had extra curriculums on music that left them a little amount of time.

Yuri and Minju strolled around different booths to kill their time.  Today was a sunny day, the weather was perfect to be outside.  Since the fair was opened to the public, Yuri enjoyed observing other students around her.  She noticed that as they walked, they occasionally caught people staring at them.  Then, she realized it was Minju who caught their attention, it was undeniable that her beauty could be easily recognized.  

When they arrived at the grass field, quite a number of people had found their spots.  

“Wow, there are more people than I expected”, said Yuri as she looked around.

“I told you, they are popular”

“Are those banners?, —wait? ”, asked Yuri.  Yuri squeezed her eyes to see the banners clearly. There were girls and boys showing them written in, presumably, the names of cheerleaders.  

“Oh oh, here they come”.

The cheer squad had quite a number of people, Yuri tried to count how many but they were moving fast and wearing the same uniform, so she gave up.  One word she could think of to describe the performance was ‘charisma’.   The squad had so much energy and was entertaining to watch.  Yuri couldn’t keep her eyes off of one person, particularly, the only person she could recognize.  This person had this weird aura that captured your attention when Yuri asked Minju who the person was, Minju told her she was the captain they had been talking about.  

——

At four o’clock in the afternoon, Yuri and Minju were striding from the grass field toward the theatre. 

“I hope we are not late”, said Yuri.

“We still have twenty more minutes before the stage begins”, said Minju

A line of students was formed in front of the theatre’s door. The staffs were checking the tickets.  Minju was blessed when she realized that Yuri had VIP passes.  They received a booklet which outlined the plot and the performers.  After, they headed to the front row which Minju exaggerated to be inches away from the stage.  It was Yuri’s first time to watch a stage play.  Yuri imagined the feeling to be similar to watching a movie but it was not.  Yuri was feeling calm, joy and art.  Yuri could not help but wonder how Yena’s performance would be like.  When Yena was with her, she never took anything seriously.  Most of the time, Yena was being playful and joking around, except when they worked together.  

Minju, on the other hand, was checking on the booklet.

“Look!, There is your name on it!”, Minju pointed at Yuri’s name.  “Is this you? Wow!”

Yuri was shocked to see her name on the booklet, it was literally her name.

THE LAST MEMORY (4.30-6.00 pm)

Directed by :  KWON EUNBI

Choreography : LEE CHAEYEON

Music and Lyrics : CHOI YENA, KIM CHAEWON, JO YURI

Book by : KANG HYEWON

Characters

Lily : The main character.  Lily came from a precious family, she has been struggling with her parents’ legacy and pressure.  Lily is unable to follow her dream.  (portrayed by Chaewon)

Eve : Eve is the only daughter of the owner of a Chinese restaurant in town.  She is the only student in her high school who comes from a lower class family.  Eve works part-time at the coffee shop to help her parents. (portrayed by Yena)

Sam : Sam is Lily’s childhood friend.  Unlike Lily, Sam is allowed to follow her passion in music (portrayed by Chaeyeon).  

Kate :  Lily’s older sister.  Kate is seen as an unwanted child who couldn’t fulfill her father’s path as a lawyer.  Kate decided to live by herself and worked at the coffee shop with Eve.  (portrayed by Hyewon)

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“When did you join the club? You haven't told me, Jo Yuri!”,   Minju was disappointed that her friend kept this secret.

“It’s not a secret, come on, I only helped Yena unnie”

“Choi Yena?”,   asked Minju

“Yes, you know her?”

“Yes, —here— on the booklet”,   Minju pointed at Yena’s name.

“YAH!, I meant, Do you know her as a person?”

“No, Do you?”

“I just told you I helped HER”

Minju laughed at  Yuri who was being annoyed. Sometimes, Yuri was not sure if Minju was really naive.  There were times when Yuri believed Minju just wanted to annoy her.    

Not long before the theatre was completely filled.  Then, the opening song was played at 4.30 pm - sharp.  

While Yuri was still awaiting for Yena’s performance, Minju was already drawn to Chaewon who portrayed Lily.  The plot began with Lily’s struggling story.  The storyline emphasized Chaewon’s voice a lot.  She had a sweet voice which seemed to suit many genres.  After, Lily’s best friend, Sam, was introduced.  Despite Lily being unlikable, Sam had a great personality.  The performer also had crazy dancing movements that Yuri had never seen before.  Her movement was sharp, strong and on point.  In scene 3, Yena finally appeared as Kate’s co-worker.  One of the songs, Yuri helped Yena composed, was used in this scene.  Yena’s performance gave Yuri so much surprise as it was different from what she experienced.  In the real stage, Yena delivered her emotions perfectly.  The way Yena moved on stage was flawless and captivating.  The other song was played in the ending scene in which Yena’s character died.  Yuri and Minju shed tears and they gave a big round of applause to the performers.  

“Why did not you tell me it was a sad story?”, asked Minju.

“I did not know either”,   Yuri answered while clapping for all the performers that came out on the stage.  Yena and Chaewon were the last performers to come out.

Yuri and Minju stood up and clapped for them enthusiastically.  Yena did not seem to notice her though. 

When the audiences were lining up at the exit,  Yuri spotted Yena walking toward them.  She still had her make-up on but she was already in a school uniform, her hair tied into a ponytail.  

“You came, hamster”,     Yena rubbed Yuri’s hair playfully.  

Yuri hugged Yena tightly which seemed to surprise the girl. Yuri then let her go.

“My friends can’t wait to see you”,   said Yena.     “Do you have time?”

Next to Yuri, there was Minju who looked obviously excited when Yena invited them to the backstage.  They followed Yena and found the main performers awaiting for them.  Minju couldn’t hold back her admiration for Chaewon and she kept staring at her.  

Chaeyeon was the first one to greet Yuri and Minju, then followed Chaewon and Hyewon. 

It turned out that the main performers were the only members of the club.    This made the club had 4 members in total if they did not count Kwon Eunbi. 

The other students, portrayed in the play,  joined to get the experience in musical theatre but they weren’t committed.

“So Yuri, have you decided on what club you want to join?”,   asked Chaeyeon. 

“Not really unnie”, said Yuri.    “I haven’t explored much”.  

Chaeyeon smiled as if she expected Yuri to not be part of the club yet.

“We are thinking about recruiting more members, interested?”,      asked Chaeyeon.

“I’m interested unnie!”,      Minju quickly responded. 

Yuri unbelievably looked at her friend who had no whatsoever experience in musical theatre but quickly accepted the invitation.

“That’s great”, said Chaeyeon.  “I understand, it’s hard to decide when you have little information”,

“I would love to sit down and talk with you two, but I can’t make it today”, 

“If you want to hear about our club more, these guys would be able to do it, tonight”,    Chaeyeon spoke while referring to Yena, Chaewon and Hyewon who were standing beside her.

“Ah—-Chaeyeon, I can’t do it today”,     said Yena.     “But I will count on these two”,  Yena padded Hyewon’s back. 

Chaewon and Hyewon could not believe that Yena actually left the rest up to them as she said previously.  

Yena looked at her phone before saying, “I have to go”. 

Yena then told Yuri, “You can trust these two, they are good people”,  before she left. 

Yuri saw a girl waiting for Yena at the door.  The person looked familiar to her but she couldn’t recall where they met.  

“The cheerleaders are done too, huh?”, said Hyewon. 

“Apparently, Juri is here”, Chaewon replied.