Entranced

Soulmates, But Not Like That

"And, turn...yes, that's how you do it!"

"Lift her up in the air. Alright very good!"

The background music rose to a climactic finale as the performance ended brilliantly, sending Hyejeong and her partner to their feet as they clapped for the grandest sight they hadn't seen for a long time: a show on the cirque stage, with Yulhee as the centrepiece atop the men's shoulders, her hands up towards the sky as she beamed down at them.

They had planned on a rehearsal for the theatrical idea Hyejeong had created, based off a plot that she and Taeha had agreed on: a girl runs away from an overbearing family to a circus and metaphorically falls into the wonderland of curiosities there that she has never known, filled with flying people, optical illusions, and in the middle of it all, finds a place with the strange band of misfits.

For now she had suggested Yulhee for the role, for the young girl's innocence as well as her demure personality seemed to remind her of her own. The whole performance was about her and she knew it, but she dodged any of the others' suggestions on letting herself be the star of the show.

She couldn't. She couldn't do that, both for her own safety and for the safety of her dignity. She couldn't expose herself like that, and she was never the extrovert, never the one who was comfortable with the crowd.

So she told Yulhee to stand in as the main character, and so far the young girl had proven herself a worthy protagonist, conveying emotions like they were nothing new to her.

But there was one aspect of the story that Hyejeong couldn't quite tap into. In her rough planning, she had wanted to create a kind of happily ever after, for the protagonist to experience a romance she hadn't expected to have.

In a way, Hyejeong wanted everything to be perfect, to raise the hopes of the audience, but only to smash them down when the ending - the girl ends up taken away and never returns - befell the anticipating crowd. She could see them already, their stares of shock and disbelief as the story comes to an unsatisfying end. The irony would drive them insane, and she would be credited for the false hope.

But before that happened, she needed help with the romance department, seeing as she was the last person in the cirque to even conjure up anything remotely romantic.

Naturally that was where her co-writer Taeha was to help her, considering that she wasn't entirely comfortable coming up with a plausible scene where the main character falls for the love interest, played by-

-that was it. Apparently no one knew who to assign as love interest. Everyone was considered, and Hyejeong had gone through each one with him.

Taewoon was out of the question, since he was like the mad hatter of the show, speaking in abstract speech and generally too absorbed in his own world of cards. Taeil would seem a little of a paradox, considering he had such a babyfaced look to him but tattoos all over his body that would put art to shame. He was just her height, but he had mentioned that the audience would not particularly be open to the idea. And neither was he, seeing as he was practically like a father to her.

Jaehyo had volunteered, but just as quickly, he was voted out since he was needed backstage for costume change and more. Minhyuk was a little too spotlight shy, and Yukwon was definitely not going to pretend to be in love with his own sister.

And obviously Jiho was absent so he was out of the production and definitely for the performance as well. Hyejeong was glad she didn't have to contend with his emotional grouchiness, so she wasn't complaining when he didn't turn up. She could proceed more confidently that way without him questioning her methods.

Yuhwan was needed for the trapeze, Jungwoo personally backed out since he was indifferent to the whole thing, Sejoon was too awkward with the idea, Jongkook had to perform with the cats because Yulhee was not able to, and that left Jihoon, Kyung and Sungmin.