I could see Jonghyun heading towards me when I glanced up.  I smiled as he stood in front of me. 

            “So, did you look up the hint I gave you?” he whispered.

            We were at the library.  I was looking over my homework when I saw him.  I nodded my head.  “Yeah, I did.” I replied.  “But, which version was it?”

            “What?” asked Jonghyun, confused.

            “You know, The White Snake and the Sorcerer.” I shrugged.

            Jonghyun stared at me, obviously not knowing what I meant.  “The movie.” I clarified.  He blinked, still not understanding.  “What is this musical about?”

            “The folklore.” replied Jonghyun, confused.

            “Oh…” I said, understanding.  “The movie is good though.”

            “I’ll check it out.” said Jonghyun.

            “Why that folklore story then?” I asked, curious.  “Of all the Korean folklore stories, why a Chinese one?  And, it’s not even a musical too.”

            Jonghyun just smiled.  “Kim Eunmi was the one that decided on that.  If you have any questions, just ask her.” he said.  “I’m just a co-writer and make the lines more creative and heartfelt.”

            “Wow.  You’re only a freshman and you’re helping out a senior on her senior project.  That’s amazing!” I smiled.

            Jonghyun shrugs.  “I just love writing and using my mind like that.” he said.

            “That’s good, isn’t it?  My mom said that you wanted to be a writer.  This will be good on your resume so then you can be well rounded with many types of writing styles.” I commented.

            Jonghyun blushed and then let out a small laugh.  He nodded his head awkwardly.  “I-I suppose.” he said.

            Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, I thought.  I couldn’t help it.  Mom talks all the time about the students that she’s close with, mostly personal things.  And, it’s not like I blurt everything out to the world like crazy.  I keep things to myself and I have to admit, I did let myself slipped there.  That was only because I thought that Jonghyun and I had a comfortable relationship to some degree.  He was the one that gave me the hint for the musical after all.

            Jonghyun quickly excused himself before I could say sorry and left.

            I hope that I didn’t just kill my relationship with him on accident, I thought.  I was thinking about buying him some coffee because he was so nice.

            As a music major, BYU’s annual musical is a big deal, especially for the vocalists.  To have the main leads would be any of those people’s dreams because of the publicity you get.  The town’s newspaper writes an article on you.  The news station has a special 5 minute interview with all the performers.  As far as I’m concerned, now town has ever put a college musical in the spotlight like this: complete publicity and free advertising. 

            In addition, you may be discovered.  Our little town may be small, but there are a ton of (rich) people here with good connections.  You many never know who knows who.  2 years ago, Jang Hana was scouted by YG Entertainment after someone from town gave them a heads up.  She was the star of the musical and she was talented.

            I honestly wouldn’t care if I didn’t get a spot or not.  Even if I was given a small role, I would be happy about it.  Like I said before, my career goal is not to become a singer.  It’s to become a composer.

            I focused back on what I was doing before getting side tracked.  I need to go practice singing after class, I reminded myself.

            For the musical try outs, there were a lot of people from different backgrounds and some high school students too.  Since I’ve never tried out for anything like this before, I was worried that there will be some competitive people.  Thank God everyone was nice.  Each individual was given a few scenes to perform last week. We were supposed to interpret the characters and incorporate that into our acting.  That was how the leads will be chosen.  In addition to the try out, we were supposed to sing one of the songs from the musical on the spot.

            No one knows what type of song it might be and everyone has their own interpretation of the characters.  Although Jonghyun had given me a hint, it wasn’t good enough.  I let out a breath, worried.  I quickly looked over the lines again, trying to remember them. 

            “How could they not give us the music score for the song?” asked a high school student.  She was complaining to her mom.

            “I think it’s because the student music composer was having trouble with finding songs that would fit the musical.” I commented.

            The girl looked over at me.  “Really?” she asked.  I nodded my head.

            One of my sunbaes, Shim Haerin, was doing this as her senior project.  She was having trouble with coming up with good songs for the musical.  Technically, she needed create at least 4 original songs and use any songs for the others.

            Lu Han, Miyoung, Eunsung, and Minyu were all in class…  So I had no moral support there.  I decided to skip math class to come to the try outs because I can care less about math right now. 

            Heawoo and Mason already wished me luck through twitter.  And, I seriously needed a lot of luck.  The story is taking place in the modern world.  It’s not a historical musical like what I had expected.  Kim Eunmi had only used the folklore as an inspiration, but totally turned the tables and made it her own.  Damn.

            “Chung Mia.” called out Dr. Lee, who is the advisor of the musical.

            I quickly looked up and stood up from my seat on the ground.  I gave her a small bow and headed into the theater.  My heart was thudding loud as I walked down the aisle.  The stage was lit up with a bar stool.   There was no mic.

            I stepped on the stage as the student director, Jeon Jinsang, and Kim Eunmi looked at me.  I passed them and saw a camera, recording. They just politely smiled as I took my place in front of them.  They were at least 5 rows away from the stage.

            “OK, Mia.” started Jinsang.  “You applied for the lead female character, Boyoung, right?” I quickly nodded my head.  “Why don’t we start with your acting first?”

            I quickly in a breath.  “OK.” I said.

            “Jinsang will read the lines of Taehyun and you respond accordingly with your given lines.” added Eunmi.

            I nodded my head, speechless.

            “Why didn’t you tell me what you really are?” asked Jinsang, reading Taehyun’s lines.

            A knot formed in my throat, out of nervousness.  “I-” I started, stumbling.  “Do you really expect me, a monster, to tell you, a human, what I really am?”

            “How can you possibly say that?” asked Jinsang, angry.

            I closed my eyes, thinking of how I would feel if someone I love asks me something like that when all I was trying to do was to protect them.  All the sudden, I forgot the lines and I panicked.   I quickly opened my eyes.

            “All I wanted to do was to protect you.” I defended, trying to remember the lines.

            “How can you possibly say that?” repeated Jinsang.  “That’s not good enough.  So what if I am human and you are a demon?”

            I felt my eyes tearing up at the frustration.  How could protecting someone you love not be good enough?  “Of course it wouldn’t matter that you are human and I…  A demon.  But, I know that you would never love me as I am.  I am a monster that feed on the heart of humans.” I said, improvising. 

            Trying to remember the lines was useless because I was too nervous.

            “A monster?  Of course that’s what you are...  A demon after all.” said Jinsang, in a harsh tone.

            “Yes, I am a demon!” I replied, getting angry.  “Of course that is what I am!  But, you will never understand what I’ve gone through to wait for the day to meet you!  I’ve been waiting for 1,000 years for this!  I’ve been waiting all these years for love!  How can you possibly judge me like this?!

            “Yes, I am a demon!  But, I am a woman.  I want to be loved like a woman.  I want a life like awoman.  Why don’t you just love me the woman I am?  Is a demon woman different from a human woman?  Is love different from love?  Tell me!!”  I finished my ranting with a huff.

            There was a silence.  “Regardless, I love you.”

            A wave of emotions washed over me as I could feel how Boyoung would feel in this situation.  She was frustrated at why her lover wouldn’t accept her and then to find out that he really does love her…  It was a relief to know that she was not being judge by what she is.  And, that she is loved because of who she is.

            I let out a cry as I felt tears run down my cheeks.  “Thank you, Taehyun…  Thank you so much for your love.” I said, as I wiped my tears. 

            “We’ll end there.” said Dr. Lee.

            I nodded my head, as I continued to dry my eyes.  I wasn’t sure if they were marking me down or not.  I was so focused on my acting that I couldn’t even see anything.

            “Let’s move on to the singing.” breathed Jinsang, as he sat back in his seat.  “You may tell us when you are ready.”

            Eunmi walked up to the stage with the music sheet.  I looked at it and over the lyrics.  It was a song that I’ve never heard before.  It had to be Haerin’s original song.  After looking over it long enough, I told them that I was ready.

            The music and it was a soft guitar strumming in the background.  “I know that this is cliché, but I honestly think that this is love…  Knowing well that you and I may never be together, I will try my best~” I started.  “Please don’t turn away from my love and give me a chance, oh babe~  To fall in love in an instant is a fairytale, but this is real…

            “Knowing well that you and I may never be together, I will try my best~  Please don’t turn away from my love and give me a chance, oh my love~  I like you so much that I can’t sleep.  I can’t eat all because of you just like a cliché story…”I continued.  “I love you so~”

            Jinsang signaled for me to stop singing and I did.  I was done with the audition and I let out a breath.  This was just for a musical and it was nerve wrecking…  I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to audition for an entertainment company.

            I quickly walked down the stage, bid good bye, and then quickly headed out of the theater.  The lobby was stuffy and there were more people now.  As soon as I opened the door to walk out of the building, a refreshing breeze wiped my hair way from my face.  I smiled, feeling lighter.

            I could hear a guitar strumming.  Thinking that I became paranoid, I quickly looked around.  I found someone was playing the instrument.  He was sitting on the wooden bench that was diagonal from where I was standing.

            That looks like Jonghyun, I thought.

            I quickly walked over to him.  “Hey.” I said.

            As soon as I said that, Jonghyun jumped in his seat and messed up his chords.  He looked up at me.  There was a blush on his pale face.  He smiled shyly.  “Hey…” he said.

            “Thank you.” I said.

            “That wasn’t much of a hint that I gave you.” nodded Jonghyun.

            I shrugged my shoulders.  “It wouldn’t be right anyways.” she said.  “In a way, I’m glad that I was caught off guard.  It made me worked hard.”

            “How did the audition went?”

            “Bad.”

            “How?”

            “I forgot the lines and improvised…  Hopefully Eunmi won’t be offended.”

            Jonghyun just smiled.  “Don’t worry.” he said.  “She had a ton of writer’s blocks just writing Act 1.”

            I nodded my head, in relief.  “I was wondering…  Is it OK if I get you coffee just for that hint?” I asked.

            Jonghyun stared at me and then looked away.  “Uh…  I-I don’t think that it’s a good idea…” he said, with a confused tone.  And, then, he quickly added, “Yet!  I don’t think it’s a good idea yet.  Maybe after we find out who gets in, then you can treat me to some coffee.”

            I smiled.  “Sure.” I said.

            “They release the results the day after tomorrow.” reminded Jonghyun.

            I quickly nodded my head.  “I have to go.  So, bye.” I said, remembering Lu Han.  He and I were supposed to meet each other near the library and head home.

            “Bye.” said Jonghyun.

            I quickly turned to leave and saw Lu Han walking towards me.  I grimaced as I approached him.  He raised his eyebrows at me.

            “You f-ed it up?” he asked.

            “Yeah…   I improvised because I forgot my lines.” I stated.

            Lu Han tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help himself as we headed home.  I hit him on the shoulder.  “Yah!  Don’t be mean, Lu Han!” I said.  He stopped laughing, but was smiling.  He patted me on the head like how Mason would.

Author’s Note:

            This chapter was LONG…  Sorry about that… 

            It was kind of boring to me…  A lot of explaining and not enough talking…

            keke  Jonghyun and Mia on a coffee date. 

LOVE,

loveFORyunho