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(this has been an idea for so long that it makes me sad i haven't materialized it yet, so here it is as i try and rework the other parts i left open :))
(i hate to feed in to the filipinas r scared of driving stereotype but im terrified fr. but anyways—)
(edit: i think this'll end up longer than i thought 😭sorry for reposting))
<<<
lea lay there in the dark. with her eyes having adjusted to the lack of light, she could make out the shadowiest corners of the ceiling.
what was she gonna do? she shouldn't have said anything when hoyeon was talking about how no one wanted to take up the school's annual play, which was supposed to take place before winter break. it was nearing the first of september—three months to pull it together. investors came to see the school this time around, and hoyeon was wondering aloud if she would have to go and find a new job.
lucky for her, lea was at a stage in her college life where she didn't know what she wanted to do. it was causing much internal turmoil, especially since the majority of her friends had either already found out or were steps ahead of her. she didn't like being behind—it gave her a melancholy, slightly sour feeling. she's meant for much more than this, she's sure.
and so here she was, with a production in her hands that can't fail. but at least that was one perk—the fresh worry of something else.
sleep evaded her, dodging like an arrow of unrequited love. it's not that she doesn't know what they were going to do, or that she had no ideas. in fact, she had so many; and among those she had already chosen her favorite, most beautiful and well-fitting ones.
but when no one in the audition was a perfect fit for juliet, and romeo didn't want to be romeo, she found herself unable to relax. maybe she needs to lower the standards for juliet, she thought. that's doable.
but then there's the romeo situation—which she flat out refuses to change. she can't. this part of the vision's been set. it's so clear in her mind, so perfect, that to alter it in any way might kill her.
romeo is fast asleep in the room next door. if she listens very carefully, she could hear him snoring through the walls. that brat.
she would make him do it, she swore.
<<<
the sun wasn't even up yet when she woke up, but she had to get the costume preparations ready. it's so nice to have a rich school with a high budget for a simple play! she had been practically brimming with excitement, but she knew the hard part was coming when she got home.
"but mom!" lea exclaimed, pointing to the boy slouching on the couch with his eyes on the tv. "look at him! he's not doing anything!"
said boy was now glowering at his sister.
"kai, listen to your sister," a woman's voice said from the kitchen as she cut apples. she was half-listening, half-caring about their argument.
"don't want to—i have a life, if you guys didn't know. i'm meeting up with beomgyu and taehyun today."
"it's my artistic vision. changing someone's artistic vision is disrespectful!" she believed this fully, but that wasn't the only reason. there were, in fact, two more.
one: the guys that auditioned for romeo... most of them were doing it for jokes, she could tell. and everyone's just so halfhearted otherwise; it's embarrassing, probably, to recite such "sappy" lines. her brother thinks the same way, but since she's his sister, she certainly has the rights to whip him into shape.
and two: he's perfect for the role. how she knew this, you wonder? she saw him reciting the lines to taehyun in his room the week before through the open door. though it may have been to tick him off, he was speaking in a tone that she didn't hear from anyone in the audition. sure, it's her little brother—he looked princely enough, she supposed—but everything could be fixed with a costume and some bullying.
"it's artistic vision," their mother echoed.
"i don't care!" he snapped, standing up with a huff, "i don't want to be in a stupid play!"
at the word play, their mother finally grasped the situation.
"play? this is about the play?" she wore a look of surprise as she came out of the kitchen, apple in hand.
lea stared at her. had she really not been listening till now? but with a newfound energy, she began to fight harder on lea's side.
"you should! that would be fun!"
she could see it now—watching her son on the stage, under the spotlight.
"no thanks! i don't want to be prancing around in some tight pants! that's not my style!"
lea almost laughed, but stifled it with a sigh. "you don't have to wear tight pants."
"see?" their mother backed up. "no tight pants."
kai looked between them with a frown etched into his face before turning to go to his room. he was muttering something under his breath, and lea caught the words "lame" and "tight pants."
closing the door to his room, he sighed. it was beginning to prove very difficult to shake his sister off the idea of casting him as romeo in her dumb play. ugh, he thought, grimacing at the teasing that he could already hear. they were going to make fun of him for days—taehyun especially.
"this sucks!" he lamented out loud, falling into a sulky pit on his bed.
