SHOWCASE D-DAY
"is everything set?" mr jeon questioned the technician who was in charge of the lights and music for tonight.
"yep, everything's been double-checked for the show." the technician lied, a fake smile etched on his lips. of course he barely checked anything, it was the same show every year and nothing ever went wrong. what was the point in checking?
"perfect, i'll begin letting the audience in." mr jeon smiled, heading towards the school entrance.
backstage, izumi was busy getting ready for the first stage she has. she was dressed in black high waisted shorts which had red slits on each side, and tucked in it was a white, oversized tee with the word 'ANOTHERYXXTH' written on it. her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail with a few loose strands to frame her face.
she was getting her makeup done whilst monitoring their rehearsal. izumi immediately noticed her mistakes, her eyebrows furrowing as she scrutinised her every movement. she made note to go over it again after she was finished with her makeup.
a sigh escaped her lips as she stared at her reflection. her makeup was completely light since she'd be sweating most of it off tonight anyway. just enough to cover her blemishes and make her look good for the photos that they'd be taking tonight.
the showcase was the biggest performance for the school, usually during their last term after exams were over. izumi had participated in the showcase every year, during her first few years, she was just a backup dancer for the bigger performances, but this year, her and the boys had the biggest spots in the showcase. she was just excited to be up on the stage, doing what she loved the most with the people she loved.
"izumi, you're done." hani, the person who was doing her makeup, snapped her out of her thoughts. izumi looked up at her, sending her a bright smile.
"thanks, hani." hani smiled, mumbling a 'no problem' as izumi hopped out of her seat, allowing the next person to get their makeup done. her eyes landed on hyunjin who was sat on one of the sofa's, scrolling through his phone.
"yo, jinnie!" izumi called for him, walking over. the boy's head snapped up at the sound of his nickname, finding his best friend walking over with a bright smile. "let's go over the dance once more." she demanded more than asked.
hyunjin rolled his eyes as she stopped before him. "i see you're worrying again." he accused as izumi gave him a sheepish smile. he leaned forward, grabbing hold of her hand before pulling her down next to him.
"yah-" she landed with an 'oomph', surprised at the action.
"just relax, trust me, once you're on the stage you'll completely forget about everything. just have fun izumi, you're a talented bean and i know you'll blow the whole audience away, so just believe in yourself like the rest of us do." he smiled, placing a reassuring hand over hers.
"thanks." izumi gave him a genuine smile that hyunjin missed seeing. she was much happier than before, hyunjin was satisfied even if he wasn't the reason.
however on the other end of things, sooji was fuming at their contact. she had already killed izumi over 9000 times in her head. "sooji?" minah cautiously questioned, approaching her after getting her makeup done. "shouldn't you get ready? our stage is first and-"
"our?" sooji cut minah off, turning to her. she burst out laughing after giving minah a once over. "you seriously got dressed up and everything? did you really think you were performing with me? oh please, i only dance with real dancers, thank you very much." sooji scoffed, completely offended by minah for even bringing it up.
"b-but then why did we practice together? and why-"
"you were just filling in." sooji sighed in exasperation. "plus you have a more important job to do." she grinned maliciously, finally turning to face minah. "when i shove izumi in place, you'll drop it. i unscrewed it so it'll be easier, but i need you to do the finale."
"finale?" minah gulped. "sooji, isn't this going too far? what if someone finds out-"
"finds out?" minah cut her off, raising her eyebrows. "they'll only find out if someone tells them and i'm sure no one will be snitching," sooji leaned closer, her eyes narrowing at the shorter girl. "unless, of course you want everyone to find out your dirty, little secret?" sooji threatened, making minah wince.
"i-i'll do it." minah gulped, her gaze fixed on the ground as her hands limply lay by her side. sooji smirked, patting her head.
"good, little puppet."
-
"oh, there's our parents." izumi whispered, pointing towards the left where she could see seungmin's, hyunjin's and her parents conversing happily. noticing the peeping heads, her father glanced over towards the stage where the three kids were in awe at how big the audience was.
"looks like the kids must be nervous." he chuckled, catching the other parents' attention as they turned to where he was staring.
"wow, izumi looks beautiful." mrs kim, seungmin's mother gushed. she had always adored izumi as if she were her own daughter, some would even believe that she was here for izumi tonight instead of seungmin and felix.
"should we go find our seats?" mr hwang suggested. the others nodded in agreement. just before izumi left, her father glanced at her one more time. he froze in his step. it was a sudden change, just like how it was for izumi when she first met felix, but it was noticeable as the bright colour overpowered her figure and the timer numbers stood out.
30 minutes. blue? blue meant accidental.