“The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.”

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Jieun’s POV

            Impatiently, I shoved through the increasing crowd of gossiping students blocking the narrow hallway that led to my locker. School was designated to end exactly ten minutes ago but my unreasonable math teacher insisted to keep us in later! The theatre club is so going to kill me for showing up late! I shook the thought of each member punching me on different regions of my arm off and quickly shoved my hefty backpack filled with various textbooks carelessly into my locker before slamming it shut. Being an old fashioned dork who still wore a watch on a daily basis, I lifted my wrist up to eye level and read the two clock hands. I was fifteen minutes late now; they’re going to make me mop the stage after rehearsal again! Groaning, I pushed arrogantly past another group of loitering students and sprinted towards the mini theatre provided by my school.

            “There she is!” Our musical theatre supervisor, Ms. Kim sighed with relief the moment I entered through the heavy wooden doors. Rushing towards the grand piano, I nearly tripped on the last set of stairs which caused a few classmates to erupt in giggles over my clumsiness. This was completely embarrassing and unnecessary! I took my usual seat at the unoccupied piano and placed my hands naturally over the keys, hoping that everyone would overlook the fact that I was late. Nothing seemed to be in my favour today, though.

            “Hey Jieun,” Eunjung, the astonishing female lead in our year-end musical greeted me with loathe, “You do know the consequences for being late, don’t you?” I could feel myself slowly inching away from her as she neared the piano, resting her elbow rudely on the keys causing a disruptive and unpleasant reverberation. Intimidated by her authority I nodded slowly with hopes that she wouldn’t interrogate me further.

            “Where did Wooyoung go?” Ms. Kim panicked as she held the wooden clipboard with the script attached close to her chest, scanning the room frantically for the male lead. A few seconds later, Wooyoung dashed through the wooden doors with a bright and shameless smile, holding a can of Pepsi in his right hand and joined Eunjung on centre stage.

            “Wooyoung! You’re cleaning the stage after rehearsal with Jieun today.” Ms Kim ordered with a satisfied grin on her face. He rolled his eyes and shrugged, popping open the can of Pepsi and taking a huge gulp.

            “We’re starting now! Put that drink away!” pleaded Ms. Kim who was trying to get everything in order from the props to the lighting. Today was the final rehearsal for our school’s last musical tomorrow, and even though originally it was supposed to be a dress rehearsal, we obviously did not have enough time to get changed. Wooyoung slid the half-opened can of Pepsi to the side of the stage and took his place confidently beside Eunjung who pretended to look annoyed for her role as his ex-girlfriend. Even though I wasn’t part of the cast myself, without me the musical wouldn’t be able to proceed because I was the only capable pianist in the musical theatre club other than Wooyoung. A piano was crucial for the musical part of our play, and guided each cast into their delegated solos or duets. To add some spice to our year end performance, it was voted that we incorporate a dance scene near the very end of the musical for a memorable twist. We were in our senior year, and this was the last musical we’d perform in this building.

            “Lights!” Ms. Kim commanded, and almost simultaneously, the lights dimmed, leaving the only individuals visible in the room Wooyoung and Eunjung. Their acting was flawless, and watching them from the shadows at the back of the stage I envied their convincing chemistry on stage. On cue, at the end of Eunjung’s last verse in the scene I began to play a depressing melody, not sparing a glance at the piano keys as I did. My eyes were locked on Wooyoung’s ‘hurt’ expression after Eunjung walked off stage, and I felt my heart break when he slid onto the floor with teary eyes. This was just pure acting, and though I knew this very well, the emotions they portrayed on stage felt absolutely real.

            “Cut! Let’s skip to the dance scene, shall we?” Ms. Kim suggested as she eyed the clock on the wall. We were really short for time today, having lost over fifteen minutes because of me.

            “But this is our final rehearsal before the performance tomorrow! We have to get the entire play to perfection.” Eunjung argued, but was shushed by Ms. Kim who insisted,

            “We’ve rehearsed this musical for two months, after school every day. The scene that needs most work is the dance scene because we all know you’re always half a beat behind Wooyoung.” Eunjung immediately shut and stepped back. It was true that even though her dancing was captivating, alongside Wooyoung who was a more fluid and experienced dancer, she looked completely off beat. She turned to Wooyoung who only shrugged at her and took his position on centre stage routinely. After receiving a nod of approval from Ms. Kim I began playing a very fast beat song, still watching the stage rather than the keys my fingers pressed. Playing the piano was so mindless to me—almost like breathing. It was coming, the part where Eunjung jumps into Wooyoung’s arms and spins outwards. This was the move that Eunjung failed to perfect for the past month, and everyone insisted on taking out this part of the choreography but she never agreed. She promised us that she would master it before the performance night and so we put our faith in her. I watched as she pivoted her foot skillfully, perfecting her form before gracefully making her way towards the jumping point, and then leaping through the air into Wooyoung’s arms. His form was always flawless. The spin looked more graceful than it had ever looked, but something unexpected happened.

            “Kwaenchanah?” Wooyoung asked, unsure of what to do in this situation. Eunjung was groaning helplessly on the floor, clutching to her ankle in pain. I watched powerlessly from the sidelines, glued to my spot at the piano. Everything had gone so smoothly until the landing, and now Eunjung was injured! Ms. Kim rushed onto the stage and urged one of the other kids to get an ice pack as she tended to Eunjung. A harder realization hit me shortly after the initial shock; our female lead is now injured! How will we perform the musical tomorrow in this condition? Wooyoung didn’t seem to realize or care so much; he just ventured back to his can of Pepsi and finishing chugging it. Ms. Kim moved Eunjung off the stage and held the ice pack against her swelling ankle, looking completely calm and collected under pressure.

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            I sat in the circle of musical theatre students who were all worrying about the same thing; the musical tomorrow. How will we find an adequate replacement? We knew it was far too late to cancel or postpone it after one month of ongoing promotions around our school as well as the neighboring communities. This was going to be big, and like the popular saying goes, ‘the show must go on’, but how? Ms. Kim scanned all the girls sitting in the circle and her eyes stopped at me.

            “Jieun, will you be Eunjung’s replacement?” What?! My mind completely blanked out at her offer. In my three years of being in musical theatre, I had never played the female lead before!

            “Seonsaengnim, couldn’t one of the other girls do it?” I really wasn’t confident enough to take on this role, but the other girls shook their heads at me. Biting her lip, she shook her head at me adding,

            “You’re the only female who doesn’t have a role in the musical.” What she said was completely true. Every other girl had a minor role in the musical except for me; all I did was play the piano. Inhaling and exhaling deeply I thought long and hard about this offer. Was this one of the ‘once in a life time’ opportunities that teachers and parents always encouraged us to take or regret not afterwards? Noticing my hesitance with deciding, Ms. Kim implored,

            “Jieun, why did you join musical theatre in the first place?” She wasn’t demanding an answer; her smile signaled that she only wanted me to make a responsible decision. I fiddled with my thumbs, keeping my head down as I thought. I loved musical theatre—absolutely adored it. It was the only thing about school that I could look forward to, and the only time I could escape the harsh expectations of my family and peers. Escaping couldn’t be my only reason for staying so loyal to this club.

            “I like to act because it allows me to experience situations in other people’s shoes as well as escape my own life for even a short time. I love to sing because it expresses everything my heart needs to let out...” I could only answer with that on the spot, but my mind was racing with uncontrollable thoughts about what my true ambitions are. I looked up when I heard a soft chuckle from Ms. Kim, and after noticing my confused stare she smiled,

            “If anyone is capable of being a replacement for Eunjung it’s you.” I was caught by surprise with her response and cocked my head to one side, hoping that she would elaborate.

            “You already memorized all the lines,” She winked at me, as if she were hiding something she knew from me. I immediately covered my mouth with my hands when I realized that she had been the one watching me after musical practice for countless weeks, rehearsing the lead female’s lines and song lyrics after everyone had gone home. Secretly, a part of me wished that I could stand in the spotlight alongside Wooyoung, but my lack of confidence kept me from reaching that goal. I could see the other students pleading for me to just agree so they could go home so I reluctantly nodded.

            “Now that that’s settled, you two can begin mopping the stage and preparing for tomorrow!” Ms. Kim beamed, probably relieved that she wouldn’t have to clean up instead. As I snapped out of my deep thought and began to push upwards into a standing position with my arms, a mop was stuck in front of my face to startle me. I fell back into a sitting position and blushed, embarrassed. The one holding the shaggy mop directly in front of my face was none other than the mesmerizing Jang Wooyoung, and for the next few hours I’d be stuck in this stuffy theatre alone with him.

A/N: I wasn't planning on releasing the first chapter until I got a poster but it turns out my anxiety to start writing this got the better of me XD! i Please leave your thoughts on this chapter in the comments, and if you're interested, subscribe! Thanks for reading; I appreciate every view!