acting
HARBORED"ahh. so, seulgi here is not sad. she was internalizing her role for the play," said amber, looking amazed.
she and joohyun stuck around for dinner. and you're glad they did because amber had incredible social skills she's able to make everyone feel comfortable like you all have been long-time friends.
"yup. that's the reason seulgi's one of our bests," said sooyoung.
"and what is this role all about?" asked joohyun. she pointed at the warm choco mug in front of you for you to drink and sober up.
you obeyed and sipped the drink.
"it's about a woman who's secretly in love with her best friend for years," said yerim, making you cough.
"hey. you okay?" sunmi handed you a tissue.
"thanks." you wiped your mouth, subtly shooting yerim across you a glare.
"a guy best friend," added sooyoung. "seulgi can't relate because she doesn't have any guy best friend. plus, we all know she's not into guys. so, you know, it's a tough role."
"does the internalization includes her being drunk?" asked joohyun, still looking disappointed.
"there's a scene where the character went out to drink with her friends," explained yerim. "we were discussing and reenacting the scene earlier."
"wow. i'll give you guys 'a' for dedication." amber raised her glass. "cheers?"
everyone followed suit, leaving you with no choice but to lift your mug of hot choco.
"cheers!"
"wait! i need to take a picture of this," said yerim. "i want to tag seulgi on the hot choco. it looks so out-of-place."
you grunted. everyone laughed.
"cut her some slack," said amber. "her royal highness joohyun over here won't allow seulgi to drink anymore." she chuckled. "but i didn't know actresses are doing this internalization stuff."
"only a few performers do this. not all of us," answered sunmi. "the superb ones are taking it to a higher level. they get too attached to the role to the point their own personalities disappear when they're on stage. it's like the character is the one doing the acting, not the actor."
amber whistled. "cool."
"sunmi unnie here is one of our finest," said sooyoung. "she usually takes the hard roles."
"thank you, sooyoung. you're a fine actress yourself," said sunmi. she rested her elbow on your shoulder. "but we all know nothing can beat seulgi here when it comes to dancing."
"nah. c'mon. you guys are all good." you turned to sunmi. "and you, unnie, you should try watching a recording of your performance for once. you have no idea how beautiful you look when you dance."
"tss. stop that." sunmi punched your arm playfully. "i don't know. i feel embarrassed when i try watching myself. i can't take it."
"that is why our directors and choreographers always want you two performing together." sooyoung pointed at you and sunmi. "do you have any idea how much you're driving the audience crazy?"
yerim tapped sooyoung's arm. "you know what. i think i know now why they have this chemistry on stage. it's because seulgi and sunmi unnie spend a lot of time together alone--aw!"
"what's wrong?" asked amber.
"nothing. a bug just bit my leg." yerim kicked you back under the table.
you drank from your mug, pretending nothing happened. you noticed joohyun folded her arms on the table, clearing .
"by the way, where is seungwan? you guys work together, right?" she asked you.
"she's out celebrating her anniversary with her girlfriend," you said. "i'm not sure if i've already mentioned eunji to you, but they have been together for a year now."
"what! i didn't know eunji and seungwan are a thing!" exclaimed yerim.
"of course they are. you're just too dumb to notice." sooyoung rolled her eyes.
"i didn't realize they were serious!" said yerim. "i always thought they were like seulgi and sunmi unnie here who were--aw! ! i'm going to kill that bug now! seriously!"
you tried holding that laughter while still pretending to drink on your mug. sunmi leaned on you, laughing silently.
from your peripheral vision, you noticed joohyun glanced at you and sunmi. you straightened and composed yourself.
"i don't see any bugs here," said amber, who looked under the table. "maybe it's gone now?"
"i think i already killed it." yerim glared at you.
"oh, good." amber turned to joohyun. "babe, you okay?"
"yeah. i'm oka--" joohyun paused, then blinked. "no. i don't feel well. can we head back to the hotel?"
"what's the matter?"
"indigestion, i think. i can feel it already starting in my tummy."
you put the mug down and held joohyun's arm. "do you have your meds?"
you've seen her in that situation several times before. it was not a pleasant sight.
joohyun turned to you, looking at your hand on her arm first before making eye contact. "i... i have it in the hotel room..."
"you sure? i can buy one for you if you want. there's a drugstore nearby."
"no need. i have my meds." joohyun pulled you closer by your arm so she can rest her head on your shoulder. "but i want to head back now."
you sat there frozen, surprised by the gesture. yerim and sooyoung had the same expression as yours. sunmi shook her head, smirking.
amber agreed taking joohuyn back to the hotel room and asked you to come over as well.
you said goodbye to your friends, thanking them for accompanying you that night. you rode with amber and joohyun back to the hotel.
joohyun insisted you stay over for the night. knowing she's not feeling well, you agreed. you know they wouldn't do anything sensual with you there around. plus, you're more worried about joohyun's condition than yourself getting hurt.
after making sure you're comfortable on the couch, joohyun went straight to their room to sleep.
you find it odd she didn't take any meds that night.
---
you opened your eyes, realizing it's morning.
the couch in joohyun's hotel room is so comfortable you had a long-dreamless sleep.
you weren't able to sleep well the night before in your apartment because you were crying. but you feel recharged now, so you stretched your legs and arms out.
"uuuugggnnn..." you hear your bones cracking.
"good morning."
"what the--" you fell off the couch of shock. you pushed yourself up and saw joohyun sitting comfortably on the couch across yours. "unnie?"
"yes?" joohyun looked fresh. she's wearing spectacles. her hair is tied up.
"w-what are you doing there?"
"watching you sleep."
you raised an eyebrow. "f-for how long now?"
"maybe for about an hour?"
you composed yourself and sat back on the couch. "where's amber?"
joohyun jerked a thumb to their room. "still snoring."
you nodded. "how's your stomach?"
"better. thanks for sticking around last night."
"psh. as if i could say no."
"yah!" joohyun threw a pillow at you.
you laughed. "what time is it now, unnie?"
"past 6 a.m. what time is your work?"
"rehearsal starts at 10 a.m."
"perfect. you can still have breakfast with me. i'll go prepare now."
there's something weird about joohyun today. she's usually weak the day after whenever she suffers from indigestion. today, she seemed vibrant.
not wanting to ponder too much about it, you looked for your phone and saw a bunch of messages. you felt guilty after reading all joohyun's worried sms.
there were several messages from yerim too that caught your attention:
'wow. didn't know your joohyun unnie can act.'
'she's jealous.'
'i'm sure she's jealous of sunmi unnie.'
'she may hide it with her acting, but i can tell. i'm an actress myself.'
'anyway, i know you won't read this message right away as you're busy taking care of her.'
'but tomorrow, maybe you should ask her to audition for us as well? 😂'
you looked up and watched joohyun, who's humming in the kitchen.
you don't want to believe it, but something inside tells you yerim is right.
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