audition
an interview consisting of a practical demonstration of the candidate's suitability and skill

"Fine!" Ga Eul slammed a hand on the piano, hiding a wince at its protesting creak. "I never wanted to stay here anyway!" She her heel and stalked toward the stage exit, but slowed as she came closer.

What can I do? I'm in the middle of improv, so I can't leave. No—Eun Ah wouldn't leave anyway. She's in conflict because she knows it's dangerous out there. And she... she doesn't want to displease Jin Young.

She just couldn't understand why Yi Jeong chose to change that line. "Because I love you!" It would make more sense to start ad libbing after that line.

So why had he decided to change it?

The crowd was completely silent, waiting for the next move. Ga Eul felt her knees begin to shake. She wasn't ready for this! She wasn't an actor. She wasn't even going to audition!

Focus, Ga Eul. She closed her eyes. No, wait—you aren't Ga Eul anymore. Focus... Eun Ah.

She opened her eyes. She was Eun Ah. Naive, vulnerable, but with the kindest heart anyone could see. Too kind to hurt her guardian's feelings.

She turned. "Jin Young..."

He was still facing resolutely away from her. She waited for him to speak, but he remained silent.

She—her distant, Ga Eul self—realized it was a good choice. Rather than make the atmosphere awkward, it was building tension.

Does he expect me to speak? Eun Ah wondered. He looks hurt... But he told me to leave.

Her eyes hardened. She turned and strode toward the curtain.

"Eun Ah."

She stopped.

"If... if you go out there..." She felt Jin Young's eyes on the back of her head, heard his ragged breath. "He'll... he'll find you. Do you know what he'll do to you?"

Eun Ah didn't speak.

"He'll... ruin you. He won't take your life. He'll make it so miserable, until—until you're just a shell. A shell, floating through this sad, lonely world." He drew his hand up and slammed it against the piano bench. "Aish! Eun Ah, why can't you just stay here? Why can't you just stay silent?"

Eun Ah turned. "Because I feel caged! You've gone to school, studied with friends, eaten from a street vendor, had a girlfriend, visited a tented bar... I can't do any of those things! I'm stuck in one place, and I can't get out!"

"You don't even like going outside!" Jin Young stalked to her.

"But can't you see? It's different to be able to do something and choose not to do it, rather than not be able to do it at all!" Eun Ah stepped forward. "I just want to see the sun and feel the wind again. I want to be with other people—besides you and Sa Rang!"

Pain swelled beneath Jin Young's gaze. "We should be enough."

"You're just two people," Eun Ah said softly. "You can't do everything."

Jin Young drew closer; not softly, smoothly, like his Yi Jeong self might, reminiscent of honey; but every step was heavy, like weights falling from the sky. They  pounded at her heart, fists on a flour sack, freezing her to the ground.

"I should be more than enough," Jin Young whispered, voice husky.

Eun Ah's heart fluttered rapidly beneath her chest.

No. Not Eun Ah's heart. Her heart.

The name slipped through her lips before she could stop it.

"Y-Yi Jeong sunbae..."

Yi Jeong's eyes darkened; not in anger or dislike, as she would have guessed for her slip up, but in something deeper. Something that enveloped her...

"Don't go outside." His hand slipped over hers, tightening, but gently, as if he were trying to comfort a frightened bird in a cage. "Don't go outside... Ga Eul-yang."

Ga Eul's eyes widened.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

That scream... She would have guessed it would be Jan Di's, but no. It was hers.

She realized she was huddled on the ground, crouched in a protective ball, hands over her head.

"Ga Eul-yang!" Yi Jeong quickly knelt by her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Ga Eul-yang, what's wrong?"

"I—I can't act!" Ga Eul wailed. "Don't—I don't understand—why—I shouldn't—" She leapt to her feet, nearly banging her head against Yi Jeong's chin. "I'm sorry! I'm very sorry for wasting your time! Please, I'll be happy just to be a member of the audience!" She bowed fervently. "G-goodbye! I'll... I'll go now. Please, Yi Jeong-sunbae is very good at acting... Do not let my feeble performance affect his audition results!" She slid off the stage, snatched her bag from her chair, and raced away as fast as she could.

She didn't hear the scribbling of Mrs. Kang's pencil, nor see the memo she wrote: Get Ms. Chu to play Eun Ah.

(Took long enough for this. I know...)