DRAMA CLUB | hyunin ✔

.53

by the time neo culture high left the stage, jeongin was too mentally tired to decide whether he liked their performance or not.

there were just too many characters being played by the same person, and too much world exposition to keep up with both the characters, the story, and the lore, all the while pushing the imminent doom aside and the voice inside jeongin's head that tried to convince him their performance was going to be shit.

quitting now would be even more humiliating than trying their luck, so jeongin tried to reason jeonghan into not freaking out. it consisted of jeongin repeatedly saying cheesy things like, "the show must go on!" and resisting the impulse to slap both sides of his face.

once jeongin went back to the backstage, dragging jeonghan behind him (the other still woefully muttering something about the gay and diversity points), jeongin was stopped by chan.

he was already in his costume, simple black clothes and fake tattoos. jeongin somehow didn't feel anything for that. maybe he really wasn't into bad boys, after all.

chan seemed to hesitate before he talked to him: "uh, hi... jeongin." he gulped nervously. jeongin raised an eyebrow at him, willing for him to speak already. they didn't have much time! "is felix... like, okay? the team is just wondering if he'll appear to play, or if he quit or something?"

jeongin could feel the heat traveling to his face. was that what chan wanted to talk about? felix? right now, when they had a literal disaster waiting to happen? fuck chan being a criminal, murderer, whatever! jeongin didn't care! that wasn't his problem. his problem right now was to make the play go as smooth as possible, because now both leaders were moping and sulking like actual toddlers and jeongin had to take responsibility for the whole damn thing! fuck!

and he told chan just that, word by word, before he stormed off to find jeonghan's assistants and make them hurry up so they could perform already.

from across the room, as if jeongin was seeing through a tunnel, he caught hyunjin's eyes. then looked away. there was no time.

on his way to quickly check his makeup, though, jeongin caught felix's flushed face behind him on the mirror, as if summoned. he was panting, supporting himself with a hand on jeongin's shoulder and the other on his knee.

still stressed and frustrated, jeongin blurted out an angry, "what is it?"

felix's tomato-red face was slowly transitioning to an ugly green. jeongin distanced himself a bit as to not risk any vomit on his costume.

after struggling to breathe a feel times, the things that came out of felix's mouth started to become somewhat intelligible, and jeongin finally realized he'd been trying to say words.

"for... your... mom..." felix gasped for air, "i--"

and, as if also summoned, jeongin's mom appeared right behind felix.

"mom!" jeongin exclaimed as he ran towards her for a hug. although she'd promised to attend the play, jeongin was still worried her work would get in the way. "you came!"

he could swear felix stopped breathing for a moment, since his annoying pants were subdued for a moment.

"what are you still doing here," his mom playfully scolded when they pulled apart. her hands burned his face where they met skin, and jeongin wasn't sure if it was because he was so stressed at the point of messing the temperature of his own body, or if his mom had suddenly joined the fantastic four. "go there and make me proud."

jeongin nodded like a young cadet obeying orders from the general, stepping forward with purpose towards the flood of restless people panicking in the backstage.

"shimmy shimmy shimmy yuh, shimmy yuh, shimmy yeh!" the sound instantly captured jeongin's attention, with the same surprise as a foreigner hearing their mother tongue for the first time in ages.

he sharply turned to catch a simple glance of hyunjin, yearning to see him in his natural habitat --- doing stupid, goofy things --- but, consequently, soon crashed into someone in the anxious swarm that was the crowd.

it was soonyoung. in his hand, there was jeongin's wig.

his face looked alarmingly apologetic, and jeongin felt conflicted over whether he was sorry for (gasp!) stealing his wig or fighting with seungkwan.

but they didn't have time, and soonyoung clearly knew that, so all he did was plop the mess of blonde wavy hair on the top of his head, smooth down the frizz, and nonchalantly say, "you're going to do good."

and, for the first time in his life, jeongin didn't say something like "i know!" but instead it was, "i hope so."

---

"i need coffee. right now. any kind. mocha, latte, black! just the beans is fine, too!" jeongin dramatically waved around, the skirt of his dress swishing like waves in the ocean.

he'd been saying his lines with no problem, confidently reciting them to the audience as natural as a theater play could portray. but, as a side effect of a medicine, jeongin was cursed to stutter at hyunjin's presence, so he'd been avoiding his eyes like a vampire did to a cross.

that was what jeongin dreaded: letting his personal life interfere with the professional environment. it was physically painful to look at hyunjin. mostly because that devilish elephant's trunk haircut made jeongin bit his lip so hard to the point he couldn't distinguish the peach taste of the gloss from his own blood.

"sorry ma'am, we haven't opened yet. if you come again in ten minutes maybe--" and, as soon as hyunjin said his lines, jeongin froze on the spot, their eyes finally meeting. hyunjin seemed to regret it instantly.

ma'am. jeongin's character was rewritten to be a genderfluid person!

jeongin could basically hear jeonghan's voice in his head: the precious gay points! this was already ruined. it became a heterosexual play again.

with his extreme professionalism, jeongin managed to play off his blatant shock as part of the scene.

"no, you are not sorry... yet!" jeongin retorted, "but you'll be in a minute if you don't get me coffee right now!"

hyunjin's brows came together, maintaining the passive-aggressive treatment of an underpaid coffee shop employee in the presence of an entitled customer. he said, "i'm sure you can buy some instant coffee on any convenience store nearby, man. it's 7:50. we only open at 8:00."

jeongin widened his eyes. first ma'am now man? was hyunjin trying to completely sabotage the whole thing?

"excuse me? is that how you treat your customers? such disrespect! do you know who my father is?" jeongin raised his voice, swatting a strand of fake hair away from his face.

hyunjin smirked and looked at him from head to toe, taking in his blonde wig, heavy makeup and fluffy dress, "a disappointed man, if he looked at you right now."

that was when jeongin hesitated. they had barely rehearsed this part, and jeongin's head was torn between two parallel realities: the pre-jeonghan-modification versus the post-jeonghan-modification. in one, he had to trip and fall into hyunjin's arms, the other... what was it? oh, right!

"how dare you comment on my appearance?" jeongin snapped at him, "what? are you perhaps insinuating i am gay? well, i'll tell you, sir! i am not!"

"there! right there!"