Between Truths ║Dahkook║K.DH J.JK

making shapes out of shadows

CHAPTER IV

Dahyun threw her bag on one of the front row seats in the small theatre in her hurry. She barely convinced herself to turn up on such a lazy afternoon. She could have spent the rest of her day in the comfort of her bed.

Instead, she wound up on the stage to gingerly sit amid the circle others had formed carelessly on the floor. It was noticeably sparse but that was hardly unexpected.

Dahyun counted heads. Five. Including her. There were also two new nervous faces she had never seen before. Freshmen, she assumed. Like how she assumed that no one else would be showing up. Because it had been as scant as this last year.

Although she might be mistaken considering just how often she had missed the club meetings last year. Dahyun could not blame the muted bewilderment she saw on the two familiar faces.

"Nice to see you again. Mina, right?" Dahyun angled her body to the left to greet the one nearer to her in hope to break the icy scrutiny.

She nodded then said apologetically, "Forgive me...I never got your name."

Dahyun had never bothered to be involved with the club, never mind cared to be friendly with the club members. She offered now, "I'm Dahyun."

Dahyun sensed the quiet attention of all those in the room shifting onto the both of them so she turned to face them in turns, "Hi," she waved carefully, "I'm Dahyun," she repeated louder for them, "I'm a second year in journalism. Why don't we go around to introduce ourselves?" Dahyun turned to Mina, wordlessly encouraging her to start.

Dahyun breathed when she did, "I'm Myoui Mina. A third-year majoring in psychology," then softer, "What about you?" She asked the new girl to her left.

"My name is Sohye," she said, meek, shoulders folded in small with the attention, "We're friends," she politely indicated to the girl who came with her.

"Hi," The friend supplied easily at Sohye's introduction of her, "My name's Mina too. Kang Mina," she clarified, "We're both freshmen in engineering. It's nice meeting all of you," she ended with a smile.

"That's cute! We have two Minas," the last person in the circle cooed, "I'm Sujeong by the way. Business. A third year like our president here too," she pointed to Myoui Mina as she spoke it.

Dahyun looked at Myoui Mina in surprise. She did not look like the type to lead. The thought did not mean to be a disservice to the older girl. It was just an observation.

"Oh no. This doesn't really count. It's not even a proper club," Myoui Mina waved her hand dismissively, a shy gesture from her friend's statement.

Dahyun flinched at the unthinking words but could not find fault at the statement because it was true. It was known as the club for slacking and no one took it seriously. Dahyun could almost see how things would unfurl now. A script of from a classic play would be given to them. Dahyun had heard that the same play was used every year. If that were true...Romeo and Juliet again it would seem. Then, the haphazard assignment of the characters would follow. And that would be it. Although they did say the room could be used to practice for the first reading that would be on the following week, Dahyun doubted anyone would. She reckoned it was hard to take the club seriously even if they had wanted to. Not with its pitiful history. Just last year, a petite girl ended playing Romeo. Maybe Dahyun was being mean, and the small girl had been a superb actress who could play her part perfectly. But she was not, and that was that.

Dahyun planned to stay this year. She refused to let things unfurl like its repeats of cyclical history. So, before it could, she proposed, "Let's do something different."

"What do you mean? A different piece?" Myoui Mina asked, gracious.

"Not just that... I'm writing something. I want audition for parts. Rehearsals. Lights. Everything. I want a proper production."

"Is that possible? We don't have a budget," Sujeong said, an unwelcome voice of reason.

"We can find a way. Sponsors. Fund raising," Dahyun answered.

"Do we have time for that?" Sujeong asked, again.

"A year is a long time. I can do the planning for it," Dahyun said.

"Even if that is true...you would need people for this to work," Sujeong said, "But I wasn't expecting this production when I was planning for the year. I made other commitments and I can't see myself doing this. I'm afraid that I'll spread myself too thin. How about you Mina?"

"Honestly..." Mina, the president started softly, "It's the same for me. I'm with the dance team, and this year I'm competitive. Most days of the week I'm blocked training with them. Maybe, we should do things like how it has always been here?

So many questions...Dahyun had expected them. But she saw the real hesitance behind these excuses. Who was she, really? A non-absentee member suddenly stepping in to take interest in a dying club? Dahyun was prepared for them to say no. But hearing them...she did not actually want to hear them.

"Don't say no before I could show you that it'll work," she pushed through.

There was a pause. Dahyun had played how this would play out in her head countless of times. Yet, when in the actual situation her thoughts became errantly elusive, and her words were less of what she had wanted them to be.

"Will you show us what you have?"

"I will," Dahyun said, wearing the bravado like a shield, "When I'm done."

"When will that be?"

"Soon," she said assuredly; stubborn. She refused to give anything definitive. Because she could not trust that things would not go wrong. She was afraid of promises; had not always been, but her confidence had been battered down to a weird shape, "Let me take charge of the play this year. I'll manage."

"And if you don't?" Myoui Mina pressed for the first time.

"Then we've got nothing to lose. You said it yourself: this isn't even a real club," Dahyun echoed the president's words earlier even as her heart wavered from going against the direction of the ongoing storm. With renewed efforts, she planted her feet even more firmly, "This is just something that I really want to do," with a softer tune.

There was a pause. Dahyun waited and the silence burgeoned with clear hesitation. She forced herself to sit still, still her hands from tracing useless patterns on the ground, steal away the expectation from her face and steel her heart from rejection.

"Okay," Mina, the president said finally. The words confused her for a moment. She had been prepared for another rejection that she did not quite know how to react to the approval.

"Okay," Dahyun let out the breath she had not realised she held.

"Okay," she said again, louder.