**

A lone figure stood on center stage. Expectant stares were drilling holes in his entire body. They were all patiently waiting for him to start – they were waiting to either be amazed or be dissatisfied.

A single spotlight shone above him. He hated spotlights – always have and always will. Those horrid lights would always annoyingly glare and blind his eyes. And they were unbearably scorching hot too. He always felt he’d melt under them.

Yet he has no choice but to swallow his hatred. He needed to be under the cursed lights. No matter how hot or blinding they may be, he needed to be under the spotlight.

Because he simply needed to be on stage.

Luhan has always loved singing. Ever since his grandmother taught him how to sing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,’ he knew his life would revolve around singing and singing alone.

With a lot of convincing and pushing, he finally got his parents’ approval to take up singing as his major in college. Under one condition though, he needed to take up something else entirely as a minor. Luhan gladly agreed of course.

Standing now on stage, Luhan gripped his fists tightly. His eyes wandered around the almost empty theatre. Only a few people were there – namely the stage director, the producer, and some other professors from their department. All of them were keenly staring at him.

He gulped a lump in his throat. His palms were starting to sweat. His heart was even beating like a beatbox – a mix of anxiousness and thrill was buzzing in him.

He made eye contact with the director. He knew her. He knew her well. His lips curved up seeing her pretty eyes looking at him. She smiled back when she noticed he was smiling.

“Luhan-ssi, you could start any time now,” the director told him. He nodded his head in understanding.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. And when he opened his eyes and released his breathe, he had finally mustered up enough courage to start.

“I’ll be singing Act 1, Scene 10: If I Can’t Love Her,” he said with a firm voice. The panel nodded their heads.

Luhan then again made eye contact with the lovely director. His smile grew wider.

With confidence surging in his veins, he opened his mouth and started singing.

**

Exhausted from the long day of school, Luhan stumbled into his shared apartment loudly.

A head then popped out from the kitchen to check out the ruckus. “You look awful,” Minseok commented. Luhan just glared at his best friend slash roommate and dragged his tired body to the living room. He slumped down the couch and grunted.

“Dinner will be ready in a few, Lu. You could take a nap if you want,” his best friend told him. He sleepily nodded his head and replied with a soft, ‘okay.’

Minseok and Luhan had been friends ever since their middle school days. Being in the sa