𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙡𝙤𝙦𝙪𝙮 | chensung

Ch.2

"I'll follow you to the ends of the earth, Jichan! If you take that flight, I'll take it too!" And blah blah blah, the overly dramatic girl continued to awe the stage team with her third-rate acting skills.

Chenle was watching from his seat in the school's gym-turned-theatre. He was the next person to audition, and so far, no one seemed to tickle the team's fancy.

"Yeah, how about you show people who actually care," Renjun (the director) spoke up and cut off the display of unskillful acting.

"I still have a few lines left!" The girl pleaded, her eyes trained on the short boy sitting amongst the judges.

"You're making my ears bleed! Scram!"

She hurried off with a tear in her eye and her head hung low. Chenle actually felt bad for her, although he didn't know why she was auditioning with that particular script. The female lead was Jichan's sister, but she was auditioning using Jichan's love interest's script - the second male lead Chinhae. Chenle was too shy to aim for the role of Chinhae, so he was more focused on the background characters. All the boys auditioning had to use Chinhae's script and girls had to read the sister's.

"Zhong Chenle? Zhong Chenle!"

"H-here!" He called and stood up, dropping his script over the row of seats in front of him. His cheeks burned red as the boy in front of him passed it back.

"Get a move on, Zhong. We don't have all day," Renjun said flatly. He ushered him onto the stage and watched as the mortified boy looked at the audience in fear. Jaemin wasn't there to give him a thumbs-up and Jisung wasn't there for him to admire. "Show us a Chinhae that I won't want to strangle."

Chenle nodded and felt his hands shake as the script quivered between his fingers. The pages suddenly began to toss the words around, making it hard for him to read and only adding to his apparent distress. His lip trembled when his eyes passed over the group of bored students waiting for their turn. "J-Jicha-an," he began, feeling his mouth produce excess saliva from the embarrassment of his stutter. "Why do yo-ou insist o-on leavi-ing me?" The script fell from his hands and he bent down to pick it up, nearly letting tears of regret cloud his vision. He shouldn't have checked the board. This never would have happened if he hadn't looked at the board.

Just then, the door opened and created a creak across the theatre. "Ah, Jisung. You're just in time."

The taller boy wandered through the aisles until he reached the desk where the judges were sitting. The panel included Renjun and other producers, script-adaptors and drama teachers (who didn't seem interested in putting the rude director in his place). "Sorry, guys. I had to call my parents."

"Don't worry about it. How about you read Jichan's lines with him," he pointed to Chenle. "He's reading Chinhae's part."

Jisung nodded and looked up at Chenle, who was watching the whole ordeal with wide eyes and shaking legs. Public displays were not part of his genetic make-up. "Sure." He jumped up onto the stage and moved to stand opposite the Chinese boy. "Which page?"

Renjun sighed and tapped the desk with his pen. "Page pay-attention-in-future, Park. It's the scene when Jichan plans to go abroad."

Jisung chuckled and nodded, finding the sassiness in the director's personality amusing. "Okay. Do you want to start?" He looked at Chenle, who was paling by the second. He smiled warmly and leaned towards the shaking boy, moving towards his ear. "Don't be nervous, Chenle. Think of it this way - the judges start on zero and figure out ways to give you points. They don't start on one-hundred and take points away."

How does he know my name!? The older boy nodded, brushing his thoughts away and taking a deep breath, losing himself in the eyes of his crush. His heart calmed, strangely enough, considering he was in Park Jisung's presence. He had such a soothing voice, scent and presence. "Thanks."