girl (space) friend (purinz/chaewon x yunjin)

Chapter 13

The theater was in absolute chaos. Only a few hours before the big show, and Chaewon did not feel prepared at all. She was going to lose it. She was going to get up on stage, and forget all her lines instantly. How many times had she practiced her part? Obsessed over her lines and meticulously block her scenes. All of that would be wasted because as Chaewon had learned in the past few weeks, she was incredibly gay and Yunjin was incredibly attractive.

Yeah, she had noticed it before, but with Yunjin in her Prince costume Chaewon literally had trouble breathing. What gives someone the right to look so good in a shirt and pants? It looked so good on Yunjin, showing off her toned arms, the openness of the collar showing off her nice collarbones. Her hair was left untouched by Yuri, so every few minutes Yunjin would be pushing it out of her face and running her fingers through it, leaving Chaewon staring like an idiot. No one had the right to be that fine.

The reality of the situation had set in as she heard people beginning to gather outside the theater, waiting to come in and take their seats. Chaewon still hadn't put on her dress, and she had yet to see Yunjin at all.

The cast and crew alike were running about the theater, putting things in their places and taking the last little while to wish each other good luck. Chaewon could see Yuri and Yena up in the catwalk, hands discreetly intertwined and a wide smile on Yuri's face. Cute, she thought. Ningning and Aeri were running their lines for the millionth time, because Ningning was still worried about messing up. Soyeon and Yuqi had put their costumes on already, dressed up as knights of the castle. The younger girls were now dressed in maid's dresses, now it was only the leads that needed to get ready.

"Chae?" Chaewon felt a hand on her shoulder and recognized Sakura's voice. "You okay?"

"Yep," Chaewon tried to exhale and relax. "Just nerves,"

"You're going to do great," Sakura told her. "I'm sorry about your Mom,"

Chaewon tensed. She had told Sakura about the phone call after they wanted to know why Yunjin took her to ditch the entire practice. According to Sakura they needed a pretty good reason, and as soon as Sakura saw the tears forming in the corners of Chaewon's eyes, she stopped giving them any trouble.

"I wish she was here," Chaewon admitted softly. "She said she would be, she promised,"

"Isn't your brother here, at least?" Sakura offered.

"Both of them are, Felix's been staying at my house already and Jaemin just flew to see me," Chaewon grinned at the thought of seeing her brother again. "They know it's hard to be without mom, that's why they come to my performances and stuff,"

"That's cool of them," Sakura agreed. "If I gave you permission to say hi to them, and only them, before the show, would that brighten your mood?"

Chaewon looked back at her with her mouth hung open. "Really? Sakura that would mean so much-"

"I know I know, I'm a saint," Sakura patted her head. "You'll have to do it before costume changes, so do it soon. And don't take too long,"

"I won't, I promise," Chaewon hugged her. "Thank you Sakura,"

Sakura tried to play it off like she didn't care but Chaewon could see the genuine smile in her eyes. "Yeah yeah, just don't make me regret it,"

Chaewon watched her figure disappear into the anxious crowd of cast members and tried to keep her breathing steady. She could do this. Totally fine.

Chaewon spotted Minjeong among the crowd, without Jimin hanging off her which was, frankly, an unusual sight these days. Minjeong also looked...suspicious? Like she was doing something she shouldn't be. She had a box in her hands and was looking around like a thief expecting to be caught.