𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒 - 𝐉𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐨

||Fight for me||

An unspoken rule of the theatre was that everyone had to wear black to rehearsals. According to Mr. Choi, the theatre owner and main director of every show, dressing in all black had a deeper meaning than it looked like: not only it made everyone equal on stage, but it also symbolized the willingness of the actor to become a blank slate, waiting to morph themselves into a completely different person. That was exactly what she needed now: to forget that she was Park Haru and become a silhouette just waiting to take form.

"Are you okay?" Soojin asked as she started changing too.

"Yeah, I think...I'll try to be civil with him while on stage. Let's just hope he'll be just as professional" she replied, quickly taking off her hoodie and jeans to wear her trusted black, extra-large t-shirt and a pair of black leggings. She then slid on some non-slip socks: another rule, maybe the most sacred of all, was no shoes on stage during rehearsals.

Part of the cast was already there: she recognized Jongho, Mr. Choi's son, who was chatting with Seonghwa and Jimin. Upon seeing her, the girl immediately stood up from the floor to engulf her and Soojin in a hug.

"This is going to be awesome!" she beamed "We're going to be the baddest Heathers in history!"

"Correction: you're a Heather, I'm a Veronica" Haru spoke, freeing herself from Jimin's hug.

"Still, it's going to be great, I can feel it," Jimin said, clapping her hands.

"Plus, my father has a new composer to make the musical arrangements... I have a great feeling about this"

Jongho was her age: he was cast as an extra, but he looked happy overall: he was a firm believer that every single member of the cast was vital to the show, be it an extra or the main character, hell even working behind the scenes. In fact, he didn't shy away to help set up the props and the scenography for a show and even offered to style anyone's hair when in need. He was a real ace, and Haru knew that.

"Yeah, there's only one thing that upsets me..."

She didn't even get to finish her sentence when she was stopped by Seonghwa.

"We know. Listen, I am willing to kick his ass if you want me to"

"Damn, already getting into character I see" Haru joked, causing the rest of them to laugh as well.

All of a sudden, a blinding light lit up the whole stage. A general groan of annoyance erupted from the people on stage that knew exactly whose fault it was.

"Jung Wooyoung! Giving us a heads-up next time won't kill you, you know?" Mingi shouted towards the light tech cabin.

Wooyoung's laugh was heard before he turned the stage light off.

"I'm sorry, I must test the new equipment..."

"Then do it so we don't all go blind!" Soojin retorted.

A few minutes later, all the cast was reunited for the first read-through of the script. Mr. Choi invited them to sit in a semi-circle and handed them their scripts while doing a brief recap of the musical's plot.

Mr. Choi was a peculiar man: he used to perform with a famous company when he was younger, had been on many tours across the country, then decided to settle in his hometown and create a place where everyone, no matter the level of experience, could enjoy the beauty of theatre. And there he was, surrounded by young adults that shared the same passion as him and were eager for him to share what he had learned in many years of acting. And he was more than eager to guide them.