a little bit of black with a little bit of pink

I've had the time of my life (and I owe it all to you), part 1

Lisa's the lead actress in the fall production, and Jennie's a backstage crew member who really needs to keep her crush under control.

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Theater, for Jennie, started out as a pastime.

When she first entered Seoul University, she hadn't thought she'd ever want to join any clubs, or do any form of activity that required a major investment of her time. She'd done some theater before, in high school and middle school. She remembers being the tree in fifth grade, and getting the lead role in seventh grade. She remembers doing work behind the scenes all throughout high school.

Doing work behind the scenes is enjoyable to her. She prefers it over acting, simply because she can make a contribution without having to be under the spotlight. The idea came to her when she realized that her knowledge involving machinery and technology would be useful to help with sound, lighting and so on.

When she came to college, she'd thought that theater was history to her. But she had time between classes, and classwork was so easy that she ended up with a lot of free time. So after much contemplation, she signed up to do behind-the-scenes work for the spring musical.

Theater became a way for her to spend her time without feeling completely unproductive. She could go in whenever she wanted to work on the sound and lighting, trying to enhance the machinery to make the production more entertaining, and to prevent malfunctions on the day of the performance itself. She made good friends – Jisoo who worked in cues and general production, and Jinyoung, who specialized in sound and lighting, just like Jennie.

And now, in her junior year of college, she's helped out with a total of four productions so far. Currently, she's on her fifth – the fall production. It's a modernized Romeo and Juliet, which really isn't Romeo and Juliet at all. The vocabulary is stellar, probably courtesy of Dara, and Jennie's pretty sure that the main characters don't die in the end, and the plot is completely different from the original play. It's definitely not Romeo and Juliet, but somehow, on the surface, it does seem like Romeo and Juliet.

It's weird, but Jennie chooses not to question Dara's decisions. After all, all her productions end up perfect, and they're so good that most students actually want to watch the musicals and plays.

"Each and every one of you here has the potential to do great things," Dara says, looking at all the students sitting in the seats. Jennie looks out from backstage, peeking her head out of the curtain to see how many people have to come to audition for the fall play. She's not particularly surprised to see close to a hundred people – theater has gained a reputation in Seoul University over the years. "I want to see that potential come out during the auditions. There will be no dilly-dallying around whatsoever, I don't have the time for that," Dara continues. Then she claps so loudly that even Jennie jumps slightly at the sound, "Let's get started."

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It's pretty funny to see some people audition. Jennie knows it's a little mean, but it's true. Some people do their own adaptations of the script, which Dara is known not to tolerate, and Jennie can see the scowl on Dara's face even before the student is done with their audition. And there's a moment of silence in the whole auditorium as they finish their lines, then a clear shout, "Next!"

Jennie can admit to herself that it's pretty funny. She doesn't laugh, because there's a little bit of sympathy in her heart for the people who walk away dejectedly, knowing they definitely won't get the role. Then they sit down, slouching back against the seat, while Dara doesn't even spare them a glance. Jisoo stands beside her backstage, arms crossed and watching the auditions.