RETROGRADE PLANET

➳ 1.6 | theatre kids

THE VERY FIRST REHEARSAL is what Jinyoung dreads the most. Meeting with the cast of Romeo and Juliet (a play in which he is cast in one of the title roles) is a terrifying idea. Horrifying, in fact.

But he still goes along to the auditorium after school, when the final bell goes at the end of the day. Mark tells him, in a sulk at the end of last period, that he'll go over his and play video games with Hyunjin. Jinyoung apologises profusely, but he knows his best friend is only kidding. Mark is never as mad as he pretends to be, and he can tell how much Jinyoung would rather ditch rehearsal and hang out with him instead.

"Just go," Mark waves him off at the auditorium entrance, "I know how much SNU means to you. Make it up to me another day."

Jinyoung watches Mark skip away, yellow backpack bouncing with every step. At least Mark gets it. Seoul National University has been Jinyoung's dream since elementary school - getting into the school his mother narrowly missed out on years ago when she fell pregnant with him and decided not to go at all. His father was a Yonsei student, but Mr Park's university exploits have done nothing except discourage Jinyoung from even applying. He doesn't want to live in his father's shadow there. SNU is the dream.

"Romeo, Romeo, where foreart thou Romeo?" says a voice behind him, and two of the theatre kids fall into step with Jinyoung as they enter the auditorium - a serious looking boy and a girl with a cheerful smile.

"Everyone knows that line, Jisoo," says the boy. His uniform is immaculate and a script bursting with organised sticky tabs is held to his chest. "Don't start pretending you've memorised the script already."

"Don't be jealous, Doyoungie!" Jisoo chimes in with a smirk, "We all know how much you're dying to play Juliet." She's about average height for a girl, with dark brown hair and bright eyes, and a pair of baby blue sneakers on her feet.

"Shut up," Doyoung scowls.

Jisoo just laughs and turns her attention to Jinyoung, who would rather not be there at all. "We were all surprised to see your name on the cast list," she remarks.

"Mr Kang must have some ulterior motive," Doyoung says, only to have Jisoo reach across and slap his arm.

"But I'm sure you'll have lots of fun!" Jisoo says, almost unconvincingly. "You'll have us to act alongside anyway. He's Benvolio and I'm Juliet."

Jinyoung almost says 'and I'm Romeo' but realises that pretty much everyone knows that already. It's the bane of his existence, but he knows he won't back out now. Especially if Jaebeom shows up. Not that this has anything to do with him at all.

Rehearsal begins and Jinyoung is thrown into the world of velvet curtains and cue lines, all of it unfamiliar and strange to a boy so focused on his dream of SNU. When they gather in a circle on the stage for the very first read through of the first few scenes, the mood feels cold and somewhat hostile.

"Can't believe the Mathlete got in," quips one of the boys with a teasing grin, looking up to meet Jinyoung's eyes from across the circle. He wears his uniform without much care, tie loose and shirt untucked, but when Jinyoung looks closer he's certain that he can see gold eyeshadow glittering in the stage lights.

A tiny girl gives his leg a warning slap. "Don't be rude, Hyuk," she tells him, in a tone that says she has to do this a lot.

"Exactly, Minhyuk," says Mr Kang, nodding in their direction. "And thank you, Hayi. As a theatre department, we should be welcoming of all students, regardless of their previous interests."

"Yeah, but a Mathlete landing Romeo?" Minhyuk points out, an amused smirk twitching on his pink lips. "That's a first in theatre history, sir."

"It's kinda weird to cast someone with no performing experience," mutters Doyoung in apparent agreement from where he sits on the other side of Jisoo.