This is it. Our final and last test that marks the end of our journey in S.M Academy. Be it good or bad, this is one helluva roller coaster ride of my life. As the Principal announced for the entire school to gather at the auditorium, most of the seniors grew hysteric.

One of them is me.

“Yeah! Come on man! Let’s get into back stage~! I want to wear that maid dress already!” Kim Bear pulled all of us, excluding Luhan, into our individual backstage room to get ready. Watching Kimmy getting happier and worriless was beyond me. All of us were feeling fidgety except for her.

“Tada! Makeup artists and stylists from UK itself! The tailored dresses and clothes are here so get ready for our act 1, scene 1! And we need to put on our mics and our shoes! Be careful not to trip during the show…” Kim Bear babbled one and I understand now. She is indeed nervous.

We got ready for our act 1 – which was Duke Paris asking Juliet for a marriage proposal. A short and sweet dance with Takashi. It was one of my favourite segment of this show. Putting on my pearlescent blue dress, I adjusted the small little folds of the dress and proceeded to do my hair and make-up.

Time ticked by and seconds passed. It was finally time for the first group to get up on stage. We’re the only special group with six people. The rest only had five. Through the television, I could watch them perform.

“Woah, they are good.” Minhyuk commented. “They twisted the story line of Beauty & the Beast. Interesting.”

I nodded in agreement.

In a few hours time, it’ll be our turn.

I can’t wait.

*

It was nearly time for our turn to be up and Luhan isn’t here yet. All of us tried contacting him via phone but he didn’t pick up. That piece of , he’s so dead if he’s not here.

I tried calling Lay but he too, didn’t pick up. I hope the first act would buy some time for him to get his here. My groupmates was getting panicky and worried. All of us wanted this to be a humongous success and not because of one person and fail.

Our make-ups and hair was all done. In just five minutes, we’ll be called by the staff to get up on stage and from there, we’ll shift our other dresses and stuff behind the stage to change after each and every act.

“Erm, group 10, you may proceed to the backstage now. Please put on your mics.” The staff came. I slammed my phone on the dressing table we hastily packed our stuff and scrambled backstage. Group 9 only had one more act left which is the finale before it is our turn.

We settled down as our own stylists placed our walking dressing room neatly at one side. The staff came with our mics and we put them on. Unknowingly, my hands were trembling. That jerk Luhan better be here. And oh my God, I needed to pee…

“All right, act 1, scene 1, please get ready in 5.” The crew in front said. My hand snapped in that direction and I paced around the stage. Bile rose up to my throat and I flexed my hands, trying to calm myself down.

“Eun Ji-ah!” somebody called. I whirled around and found Daehyun running up to me, a wide grin spread across his face. “All the best for this show.” He hugged me tightly and I was grateful for this hug.

“Thank you, Daehyun.”

“Group 10, act 1, scene 1, please come forward now.” The crew guy called. I hear the audience applauded loudly for the previous group and I stiffened up again.

Daehyun squeezed me one more time and placed a kiss on my forehead. “You can do this. I’ll be supporting you at the audience seat.” he winked. I smiled and with Takashi beside me, we waited for the signal to start.

“Fighting, Eun Ji ah! Don’t worry too much! Luhan will be here!” Kim Bear shouted from behind. Aish, this girl.

“And, go!” the crew guy said.

Towards the bright spot light, both of us stepped out.

*~*~*~*~*

Act 1 passed quickly and without knowing it, it’s time for the lead two to appear. I changed into a male’s outfit since this scene requires me to cross dress as a man. Kim Bear twisted the story plot so that the Romeo first met Juliet is when she was dressing as a boy, roaming around the streets of England.

“Where’s Luhan?” I nearly screamed, if not for the loud music on stage, all of them could’ve heard me. “Where the freak is he?!”

“He will appear, I promise. But – “ Minhyuk said. Kim Bear and the others were up on stage.

The stylist bundled my hair up and put a hat over it. They helped me on with the cape and I was ready. The crew guy signaled for me to move forward and exchanged places.

When their scenes ended, it was my turn.

Only me and my voice and my dance.

I stood on stage as the sets behind shifted accordingly to our scene which was at a market. Getting ready, I posed and waited for the music to cue.

Suddenly, a pair of familiar hands filled the missing formation of this dance. Just in time the music starts, the lights brightened in front of me was Luhan – fully dressed with a bright smile on his face. “Surprise, sissy.” He winked. A blush rose up to my cheeks.

Surprisingly, he led the dance well enough and even though it’s just a short dance, he managed to captured the most important part of this dance. Which was the ‘oh-you’re-a-lady’ part. With his graceful hands, he swept my hat back from my head and my black hair spilled down my back just in time.

The lights dimmed down, indicating the end of our act.

“Thank you for coming.” I breathed.

“No problem.” He replied.

I pulled back, needing to rush back to change for the next act but Luhan held my hand back. “And I’m sorry.”

A smile crept up to my cheek. “We’ll talk later. For now, let’s soar.”

*

“All right, this is our last act and since our play is the longest, the judges requested for us to shortened it by cutting out or supposedly last act. In other words, Romeo & Juliet will be a happy ending after the ball. Juliet marries Romeo and the end. Understand?” Kimmy said hastily as we prepared. She pulled me close to her.

“Eun Ji – I don’t care if you and Luhan haven’t patch up or what but I want you two to kiss. Not a peck. But a freaking real kiss. If you seal it, then we’re as good as sealing this record deal with the school. You got it?” she placed her hand behind my .

Oh my gosh, kissing Luhan? “I’ll see what I can do.”

The dance was fairly easy with Luhan leading again. He was all full of smiles as he turned me around, catching me as I did some dance stunts. My dress was surprisingly good. I didn’t trip at all. Just as we moved on to the of the musical, Luhan whispered into my ear. “I remembered.”

“I know.” I replied as he pulled me in another twist.

“Am I forgiven?”

“No, because you’re late.”

“If I wasn’t late, I will not remember you, my love.” The music slowed and our mics were on. The audience could hear us perfectly well. It’s time to recite the script.

With my arms around his neck and he’s around my waist, we did a slow dance. Cheekily, Luhan leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose moving on to brush his lips against mine. His touch was electrifying that it made my blood and heart raced.

The audience gasped.

“Be mine forever, Juliet.”

“I am yours, from the start, Romeo.”

The music was turned up again and I tiptoed and tilted my head so that Luhan could kiss me better. The audience cheered and clapped thunderously. However, we were so absorbed with each other that we didn’t notice that our act was done.

When we pulled back, I was blushing like crazy.

“Oh my gosh, so embarrassing.”

“Wait.” Luhan grabbed my hand and slip a nice looking ring on my ring finger. “Happy birthday, Eun Ji-ah.”

*~*~*~*~*~*

A/N: hold up! Click next for the final chapter!:)