Love's a fragile little flame || Jenlisa Adaption

Chapter 1

Her mistake, in retrospect, was sharing that with Mino. The next thing she knew he was texting motivational quotes and talking about "challenging herself creatively" and "diversifying her brand" (whatever that meant). He went radio silent for a week and she thought he'd finally dropped the matter, but then he started sending her scripts.

Scripts that she ignored... until one came with a post-it note stuck to the first page.

You'd co-star with Lisa Manoban. -M

*

Jennie [2:02 p.m.]: you're playing dirty with that sticky note

Jennie [2:02 p.m.]: i'm never disclosing any celebrity crushes to you again

Mino [2:07 p.m.]: 🙄 okay sweetie

Mino [2:08 p.m.]: i'll messenger you the paperwork

*

Lisa Manoban isn't the only thing the film has going for it.

The screenplay was written by an edgy up-and-comer, who's slated to direct too. And the plot is so riveting that Jennie read it in one go, staying up into the early hours of the night.

The elevator pitch goes something like this:

It's 'Black Swan' meets 'Save the Last Dance.' Two rivals at Julliard are competing for a spot in an advanced vocal arts course in London's West End.

Ella is one of the most talented singers in her year, but what she really wants to do is compose music, and the West End is the best place to learn. She doesn't care about making friends with her classmates, least of all the popular Charlie.

Charlie loves dancing as much as she loves singing, and she doesn't get why Ella's never liked her. Especially since they sound so good together.

As competition heats up it forces the two closer together, building tension, creating conflict, and, ultimately, helping them come to terms with feelings that they didn't know were there.

Looking back, Mino had majorly buried the lead on his post-it note.

Jennie wouldn't just be co-starring with Lisa Manoban.

She'd be her love interest.

***

The film isn't a musical, exactly, but it does feature a handful of songs, which happen to have been developed by a producer Jennie's worked with before.

It's just the two of them in the studio when she records her vocals — a couple of solos, a group number, and a duet — two months ahead of filming. After the first song, it occurs to her that this is probably the most comfortable she'll feel while making this movie, but she shoves that thought to the back of her mind.

It's good to get out of her comfort zone. That's why she's doing this, right?

They record the duet last. Jennie skims over the scene in the script to get in the right mindset. It's a pivotal moment between Ella and Charlie, when they finally give up on fighting and come together, turning their solos into a duet, making each other better.

Lisa has already recorded her parts, and Jennie gets goosebumps when she hears the first few notes Lisa sings in her headphones.

When Jennie steps out of the booth and listens to the updated track, a long-dormant ember crackles to life inside her. She and Lisa sound good together, especially when they sing in harmony, and before she knows it she's sitting at the mixing console, playing with the levels.

She has Mino get the film execs to bring her on as a music consultant, after that.

*

Jennie's first day on set is a whirlwind.