Aimer, 1/3 (Multi-chaptered, GOT7)
Title: Aimer
Fandom: GOT7
Character(s)/Pairing(s): JB/Jr
Summary: JB was no stranger to detention, but never before had one involved becoming the lead in a musical.
A/N: Written for the def_pepi fic exchange. The musical I chose is one of my personal favourites, and can be watched here, it comes with subs for various languages but you might need to select it from the menu.
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Rage. All Jaebum was feeling was pure unadulterated rage. How dare that prick try and prank him. Did he have a death wish or something? But then again... it was Jackson Wang, school prankster and student, who was known not to really put any effort into his school work. Not that Jaebum could talk. He was so close to just dropping out altogether.
He had never been overly fond of school, his passions taking him on a different path, or had started to. That had all changed when his little sister became ill though. She had developed some rare illness that nobody really knew what it was, and as such there was no cure. And Jaebum had found himself turning his dreams away from dancing and back onto graduating. He might not be able to get the best grades possible, but he would at least be set up for the future. Because in his eyes... with the chance that his sister wasn't going to be able to complete schooling herself, then he would do it for her. That was the only reason that he stuck around this stupid place.
That vow was frequently put in jeopardy, though, by Jaebum's temper. He was very short tempered and didn't know how to deal with it other than with harsh words and his fists. Something that Jackson seemed to have forgotten by targeting him for his most recent prank. A prank which had resulted in Jaebum being absolutely soaking wet, and a water pistol being broken into numerous pieces on the ground.
Did Jackson seriously not expect him to react in such a negative way? He was Im Jaebum, his temper was well known. Of course he was going to shout at the younger before taking a swing at him. It came as no surprise to anyone that he reacted as such, the other students around them not really batting an eye. They did pay attention though when Jackson retaliated, his voice just as loud and his arms being thrown out to his sides, almost as if he was persuading the other to take a shot at him. "Come on man, it was just a joke. Lighten up."
"Lighten up... I am soaking wet, you ass. And I still have classes this afternoon." Jaebum growled, his left eye twitching in anger. He was going to blow, and very soon at that. He doubted that Jackson saw the danger though. He never did. Jackson was someone who didn't think before doing or saying anything. Something which was known to get him into trouble frequently.
And just as expected, the younger simply laughed, throwing his head back and gifting the forming circle of spectators a wide view of the inside of his mouth. "Not my problem, man. And besides... it's just water, it will dry. It's not like I used food colouring or dye or anything, which I was planning to by the way."
"I swear to god, Jackson, if you don't shut up, I'm going to make you."
"Why? I didn't say anything wrong. Stop getting yourself so worked up, Im." Jackson said, shaking his head with a smug smirk on his face. "It was just a joke. Seriously. You need to get a grip on that temper of yours."
"Jackson... stop. Let's just go." Another voice piped up then, one of Jackson's friends who, by the seems of it, was trying to stop his friend from getting his face bashed in. Good call. Because if the prankster didn't shut up and soon then no way was Jaebum going to be able to stop himself from lashing out.
Unfortunately it didn't seem like Jackson was willing to listen, as he shook his head levelling Jaebum with another infuriating smirk. "No, Jinyoung. Not until Jaebum, here, apologises for breaking my water pistol. That thing cost money you know."
Was he being serious? Was he seriously expecting Jaebum to apologise to him? It was almost laughable. And Jaebum would have thrown his head back and let out a deep belly laugh if he wasn't so fuming angry. Instead he scoffed, shaking his head in denial. "No chance. You shouldn't have pranked me in the first place."
The crowd around them was beginning to grow in numbers as other people realised that a fight was likely about to break out. Jackson's friend, Jinyoung he thought his name was, was looking anxiously between the two. That was almost... cute. But also not important. Jackson and his stupid smug face was the immediate problem that he had to deal with and soon.
Said smug face was drawing closer to Jaebum, and the older boy grit his teeth to stop himself from growling in annoyance. Jackson seriously had a death wish or something. The younger was walking closer to him, deliberately trying to rile him up, and unfortunately... Jaebum's hold on his temper was growing increasingly thinner with every word that left the other's smart-ass mouth. "It's not my fault if you can't take a joke, hyung." He said, his tone of voice turning mocking.
"You are walking on very thin ice, Wang." Jaebum did growl this time, his expression dark as he glared at the shorter student. "You might want to listen to that friend of yours and go away."
Jackson just laughed again as he continued his approach, not stopping until he was all up in the older's face. "What's the problem? Did my little stunt put a dent in your ego?" He spat, smug smile still plastered across his face. "You ain't all that, Im. You don't own this place. It's about time you got over yourself."
Jaebum really wanted to punch that smug smile right off of the shorter's face... and that was exactly what he did as he raised his fist and swung it at the other, smirking himself in satisfaction as his knuckles impacted with Jackson's face. That would serve him right for being such a smart-alec. That prick needed to learn a lesson, and that lesson was not to prank those students who were senior to him, and not to be so irritating and rude. He had had this coming for a long time.
If Jaebum was being honest, he had been after a good fight for a while now. It was the best way to release his emotions and stress, and he frequently could be found looking for a fight when he needed said release. Just, this time, he didn't need to look far since the perfect opportunity practically delivered itself at his feet. And with Jackson being Jackson, he of course was going to fight back.
Too bad he wasn't as skilled at fighting as Jaebum was, seeing as the older boy managed to duck out of the way of the other's flying fist, and instead sink his own into the prankster's stomach. This was almost too easy. And the groans and pain filled grunts coming from the shorter just brought a sense of happiness and relief to the older student.
He couldn't avoid Jackson's attempts at hitting him forever though, especially not as Jaebum's body grew tired and thus more clumsy. To every three hits that Jaebum managed to get in on the other, Jackson was scoring one of his own in response, but that number was decreasing over time, until it was just a free for all of punches.
The crowd around them was just background noise, a static buzz that did little to encourage or distract the two from fighting. Even with friends of both of them standing there, telling them to stop or cheering them on, the two didn't even acknowledge anyone else's existence, only each other's. They definitely didn't notice as the noise level of the crowd began to drop, the sea of students parting as one of the teachers stormed through towards them.
They only noticed his appearance when they were ripped apart from each other, firm hands grasping their upper arms and a stern voice ordering them to stop. "What do you boys think you are doing? This is a place of learning, not a boxing ring."
With the show now being over, most of the crowd began to drift off, leaving the trio in the middle and a few friends of either boy watching curiously for what was going to happen to their friend. Jaebum looked over to see Yoongi smirking at him, flashing him a thumbs up. The shorter boy was his usual partner in crime when it came to fights, so no doubt he was going to be moaned at later for not waiting for him to arrive before launching himself at Jackson.
"Mr Im, are you listening to me?" The teacher, Mr Lee Changmin, Maths Professor, asked him, shaking him out of his thoughts and bringing Jaebum's attention back to the situation at hand.
"Sorry sir." He simply muttered, purposefully ignoring Jackson's snickering from the other side of their teacher.
"I should think so." Mr Lee muttered before he tightened his grip on the two boys. "Both of you are in serious trouble. Fighting is against the school rules, as you both know. So, I think a meeting with the headmaster is in order. To his office, both of you. Now!" He finished, his words growing in volume until he practically shouted the last.
Great. This was just what Jaebum needed, being sent to the headmaster's office... again. Like he hadn't only recently finished his last lot of detention. Stupid Jackson and his need to deliberately rile him up. He should have seen this coming really.
Ripping himself away from the teacher's hold, Jaebum glared darkly at Jackson before turning and stalking off down the hall. The footsteps behind him indicated that both Wang and their teacher was following after him, but he didn't care. Truthfully he didn't really care about getting in trouble again. No, all he did care about was how soaking wet he still was. His socks had become soggy and every step brought squelches in between his toes. Urgh... how pleasant.
---
Detention. Of course they were both going to end up in detention. It was expected with how they had broken one of the school rules by fighting in the middle of the hall. Heck, they had been lucky not to get suspended or something. But nope, they only got dealt with a detention. They had fully expected to be told that they would be serving it under Mr Lee's beady eyes in the maths department. He had been the one to catch them fighting after all.
But no. They weren't in the maths department at all. They were far, far from it.
In fact... they were in the drama department.
Walking into the theatre hall, Jaebum looked around before sighing rather loudly, elbowing the shorter boy who had entered the room next to him. "I can't believe you got me into this mess, Wang. I'm holding you solely responsible."
Jackson merely rolled his eyes before clapping the older on the shoulder. "Oh of course, your bad temper has nothing to do with it. Nothing at all." He snorted before letting out a loud bark of laughter. "Lighten up, JB, we got off lightly! We're only going to be, like, painting sets or something else just as simple. Talk about an easy ride." He laughed, the sound echoing across the expanse of the hall.
"Don't call me that." Jaebum muttered, his nose wrinkling at the sudden nickname bestowed on him by the other, as he continued to look around. He had a very bad feeling that the other student had just jinxed them. Surely, the detention wasn't going to be that simple. He had had worse punishments for lesser things here, so no way were they only going to get such a simple task for their detention.
"Mr Im, and Mr Wang, I presume?" An overly jolly voice called out to them, pulling Jaebum's attention back as he turned to face the incoming teacher. Mr Park Jinyoung, head of the entire theatre department, was making his way up the aisles of the seats towards where the two of them were stood by the door. Well, whatever their punishment was really going to be... they were about to find out.
"You got it." Jackson replied, lifting a hand and giving the teacher a jaunty, and probably disrespectful, salute. Jaebum restrained himself from smirking as the shorter only got a vague blink in his direction in response.
"That's us, sir." The older boy replied himself, nodding in affirmative as the theatre head turned to face him instead. He received a much better response as the teacher grinned at him, his own head nodding enthusiastically as he began to usher the two down the steps and aisle. Not having any other choice, Jaebum followed after the teacher, a sense of dread filling his gut.
As batty and barmy as Mr Park was, he was also known to give rather interesting punishments, ones that usually lasted a long time too. And looking around the hall, Jaebum couldn't see anything that might indicate what they were going to be forced into doing. "Follow me, follow me, that's it boys. You can't do anything remaining lurking in a doorway now, can you?" Their teacher laughed, trying to break the clear tension but failing miserably. This was detention after all. And Jaebum was still blaming Jackson for it completely.
Reaching the aisle just in front of the stage, Jaebum expected their teacher to lead them into the backstage area or even out of the hall or something. That didn't happen though. And it was with growing horror that the two boys were ushered up onto the stage. "Quickly, quickly, we don't have all day." Mr Park continued, still acting way more happy than the situation called for.
"Uh... Teach'? What are we exactly going to be doing?" Jackson asked, his voice continuing to echo rather obnoxiously around the room. Did he seriously have to talk so loudly all the time? Talk about irritating.
"It's Mr Park to you, young sir." Their teacher responded holding up a finger and looking sternly to Jackson for a moment before he laughed again and crossed his arms over his chest. "And I was just getting to that. You will be serving your detention with me, as both of you know. However, due to the nature of your rule breaking... you will not just be painting sets or whatever easy task you might have been hoping for."
Jaebum couldn't help but flash the shorter student a look that clearly read 'I told you so'. He knew that they weren't going to get off as easy as the other was hoping. He had had detention too many times before to know what it was like. He focused again though as the theatre head pushed some sheets of paper into his chest before doing the same to Jackson. Looking down at said paper, Jaebum's heart dropped into his stomach... he was currently holding onto a script. "S-sir..." He started, wanting clarification on just what this meant.
Their teacher cut him off, though, already hurrying on to explain. "One at time you will read this script aloud for me, then you will each sing a song, of your own choice of course, and if you wish to show me some of your dancing skills too, that would be fantastic." He said, already turning and making his way back down to the seats.
"Uh... why?" Jackson asked, one eyebrow raised and a clear look of disbelief on his face. Jaebum was feeling the same to be honest, but he also had a very bad feeling. A suspicion. Mr Park wouldn't have just given them these scripts for no reason...
"I would have thought it was obvious, Mr Wang." Their teacher said, turning to face them with another bright grin on his face, once he reached the front row of seats. "You will both be auditioning for our upcoming production. That is how you are going to be serving your detentions this time."
He knew it. As soon as he had seen the script, Jaebum had known that they were going to be forced into taking part. It was so typical. He decides to give up on his dreams of performing and he is then forced into taking part in a whole theatre production. So typical. If he had wanted to be in the show, then he would have auditioned before this. This wasn't fair. He didn't want to. But he had no choice.
This was all Jackson's fault.
---
If he was being honest, the audition hadn't actually been that bad. He had forced Jackson to go first, allowing him enough time to warm up properly. He couldn't exactly remember the speaking or singing parts, but the dancing? As soon as he had started moving to the music it was like he had been transported back to the years when dancing was his entire life. It was... it was fun.
He still didn't want to be in the show though.
Jaebum didn't even know what the show was, but he didn't want to be in it. He had no choice, however, and he begrudgingly entered the first rehearsal with his hands shoved in his pockets and a look of disinterest painted across his face.
This time, when he entered the theatre hall, he made his way directly to the stage where groups of people were dotted about. So they had all already formed little friendship groups? How very... unsurprising. But then again, they were probably all friends before hand and just automatically grouped up together.
Jaebum would have nobody to fall back on but himself really, his friends were not exactly the theatre type. There were a few people he recognised as having hung out with him and his friends occasionally, but he couldn't exactly call them much more than acquaintances. Not that he cared. He wasn't here voluntarily after all, and was in no mood to be sociable. He just wanted to get through this rehearsal, and all of the ones succeeding today's, with minimal effort and fuss. And that involved not talking to any of his 'cast mates'.
Just as was about to sit down, silently, by himself at the back of the stage, a loud bark of obnoxious laughter echoed noisily around the hall. It didn't take a genius to work out who that laugh belonged to. The owner was the sole reason that Jaebum was even here in the first place. Looking over, he couldn't stop himself from glaring at Jackson who was sat among a group of his friends, one of which Jaebum recognised as being the kid who had tried to stop them from fighting, Joonyoung or something? Not that it mattered, it was just so predictable that the prankster would have friends in the theatre club.
"Hey Hyung! I didn't know you auditioned for the show." Came a cheerful voice from his side as a body dropped down onto the ground next to where he was sat.
Looking over Jaebum came face to face with one of his 'acquaintances', Park Jimin. He was a sweet kid really, a right bundle of never-ending energy. He joined their group from time to time, mainly due to Hoseok who he had a brotherly type bond with. The kid, though, had taken rather a shine to Yoongi and whenever he did hang out with them, would always try and get the older male to talk to him. It was highly amusing to the rest of them, watching as their friend tried to shake off the excitable 'puppy' that was Jimin.
"I didn't." He answered simply, letting out a mental sigh. As much as he wanted to be alone, he also didn't want to tell Jimin to go away. He had seen what the younger looked like when someone pushed him away and it wasn't something he particularly wanted to see again. And would it really hurt to have someone to talk to here? "I was forced to for my detention."
"Detention?" The younger asked before a look of understanding passed over his face. "Oh, yeah! You were fighting Jackson in the hallway, right? Who won?" Yep, he was definitely someone that hung out with them a little too often.
Lifting his shoulders, Jaebum shrugged gently before gesturing to Jackson and his group of friends. "Well, we're both serving this detention. What do you think?"
He felt a gentle pat on his shoulder, Jimin trying to placate him or something. "Sorry about that, Hyung. It could have been worse though. You could have gotten suspended or expelled or something? And at least you're not here alone. I'll keep you company, Hyung."
There was something so incredibly earnest about Jimin. He tried so hard and Jaebum had to commend him for it. Truthfully he didn't find the younger that bad, none of them did. Even Yoongi who was often the kid's main focal point didn't mind that much when he hung around with them. One of these days they should just adopt him into their group full time, he thought.
Offering a small smile in reply, Jaebum nodded softly. "Thanks Jimin. You might just save me from boredom." He chuckled, before looking around the gathering cast idly once more. "Do you even know what the show is going to be? Mr Park didn't tell us anything when he forced us to audition."
"Afraid not. He's not told anyone anything about the show. So we're all in the same boat." Jimin shrugged, his expression and tone of voice apologetic. "He's not even told us any of the casting yet. So I'm guessing he'll do that today."
"He sure does have a flair for dramatics, huh?" Jaebum laughed, shaking his head in mild amusement. It must be something about drama teachers in general or people who work within the performing arts... everyone he had met from that industry all had that same dramatic spark. Even some of his dance teachers had been like that, and he had been learning hip-hop as a dance style.
"That's one way to put it." Jimin replied, his own higher pitched giggles complimenting Jaebum's own. They remained sat there, laughing for a few moments, drawing curious looks from some of the other cast members before they calmed down. Just in time for the theatre head to make his dramatic entrance into the hall, striding up onto the stage, where they were gathered, with a box in his hands.
"Welcome, everyone, to our first rehearsal!" He chirped, throwing his arms out wide in a flourish. "Now, I am sure you are all curious about what show we will be performing, am I correct?" Nobody really responded, but that didn't seem to faze the teacher as he simply continued on, picking up one of the musical scores from the box he had brought with him. "Well, I am pleased to announce that we will be doing an all-male, obviously, adaptation of 'Gérard Presgurvic's Romeo and Juliet'."
His announcement was met with silence, all of the cast simply blinking in confusion at the teacher. The spell was broken by, of course, Jackson who piped up in his typically obnoxious way. "Yo... I thought Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare. Not this Gerald dude..."
"Gérard, Mr Wang, it's pronounced Gérard. And yes, the original play is by William Shakespeare, but Mr Presgurvic took Shakespeare's masterpiece and turned it into a musical phenomenon."
A... musical. They were going to be performing a musical? Jaebum couldn't mask his quiet groan as he buried his face into his hands. He had been hoping that the singing and dancing aspects to the audition had just been their teacher making it seem more like a punishment. He had hoped that it didn't mean that they would be forced into a musical. But nope, of course not. Why would Jaebum's wishes come true? A musical... and not just any musical but a version of Romeo and Juliet. Romance. He hadn't cared about his casting before but now he actually felt nervous.
He missed what Mr Park had said next, too busy mourning his fate with his head in his hands. He was brought back to attention though when Jimin playfully, and gently, hit him with his musical score. "Here you go, Hyung. We're all gonna need these apparently." He said, before he quickly flipped through the pages of his own. The younger let out a low whistle before speaking again. "Wow... that's a lot of songs."
"It's a musical, Jimin, of course there is going to be a lot of songs." Jaebum muttered, already flicking through his own score book. They were doing a male-only version... which was obvious since they were an all-male student school. But this score... there was an awful lot of female roles. They would have to adapt a lot of songs, since Jaebum doubted that any of the guys here could sing exactly like a girl. It was going to be a lot of work. But no doubt the theatre head had it all worked out already. He just had to hope that he hadn't been cast in one of those female roles.
Hearing a loud clap, Jaebum returned his attention back to Mr Park who was looking around the room with an almost predatory glint in his eyes. "Now... casting! I'm sure you are all desperate to know just who you will be playing. Well, right here in this box," He began shaking the box which he had finally picked up from the floor, "are badges. And on those badges are the names of all of the characters and roles in the show. I will be going around each one of you and handing you a badge. That is the role you will be playing. I thought this was much more fun than just a simple piece of paper pinned to the board with the casting on."
This was going to be a long show. If they were going to have to deal with a director such as the theatre head for the whole duration, Jaebum was almost positive that he was going to end up with numerous headaches by the end of it. Maybe this was a fitting punishment for their detention after all? Even if Jaebum did still insist that it wasn't his fault, and that Jackson was completely to blame for everything.
Watching the teacher move around the room, Jaebum couldn't help but chew on his bottom lip, nervously. He hated to admit it but he did care about what role he got. He didn't want anything huge or headlining, but he also didn't want anything female. He blocked out Jimin's excited chatter from next to him, as he watched their director move from person to person, handing out badges.
As the older man reached Jackson and his friends, Jaebum narrowed his eyes at them, watching their reactions. All three of them seemed a little stunned. Jackson was scratching at his head in confusion but still seemed happy enough. The blond kid was barely concealing his happiness, and that Junyoong guy was just staring in ill concealed shock at his badge. Did he get a lead role or something? He watched as Jackson and the blond one looked at their friend's badge as well before they let out whoops of delight and thumped him on the back. Yeah... he must have gotten a lead. Well if he was Romeo then who was Juliet?
"Im Jaebum and Park Jimin." Their teacher said once he was stood in front of them, the box of badges in his hands. "I hope you two won't let me down with your roles. They are both very important characters." Why did it seem like he was simply trying to boost their spirits? They must have both just gotten ensemble roles or something. Jaebum mentally shrugged to himself as he took the offered badge. An ensemble role was fine by him, he didn't want anything more than that. Just a nice easy ride through the show, at the back, would suit him nicely.
"Wow, I got Mercutio... A main role..." Jimin chirped up next to him, astonishment seeping through his tone of voice before he turned to Jaebum with a bright grin. "Hyung! I got Mercutio!" He beamed, practically bouncing on the spot as he hurried to pin the badge to his chest. Jaebum simply chuckled, smiling in a mixture of amusement and affection as he watched him. It took the younger a few tries before he managed to successfully lock the pin in place, and once he was done he was back to grinning at him excitedly. "Who did you get, Hyung?"
"Oh, um..." Jaebum started, his fingers suddenly fumbling with his own badge before he looked down at it. The name he saw wasn't what he had been expecting. He couldn't believe his eyes really.
"Well?" Jimin asked, his tone growing impatient.
Jaebum was still in shock, however, and couldn't speak just yet. He definitely hadn't expected to get a role like this. Never in a million years did he expect to get something so... important. He hadn't even tried that hard in his audition, only doing the bare minimum, and yet he had ended up with this? How? It made no sense.
But there, written in a beautiful cursive script was a single name.
Romeo.
He had landed the lead role. But if he was Romeo then... Looking up his eyes fell onto Jackson's friend who had pinned a similar badge to his chest finally, the name Juliet clear. Oh no... The easy ride which he had been hoping for had disappeared by the handing over of a simple badge. Not only was he the lead role but he was going to have to deal with no doubt endless awkward situations as he tried to act with his 'Juliet'.
The badge in his hands was suddenly taken away as Jimin, who had grown incredibly impatient in Jaebum's silence, decided to take matters into his own hands. The older heard a gasp from next to him before the shorter student was shaking him excitedly. "You got Romeo!?! Congratulations Hyung! That's the lead role! You must have knocked your audition out of the park!"
"I didn't even try..." He mumbled, snatching the badge back and reluctantly pinning it in place on his chest. He had no idea how he was going to get through this. He wasn't cut out to play a lead, especially not a romantic one.
"Well you must have done something right for Mr Park to give you that role. Well done, Hyung." Jimin beamed next to him. It was sweet how excited he was on his behalf, but Jaebum wished that he wasn't being so enthusiastic. This was a punishment, a cruel and harsh punishment.
The theatre head clapped his hands loudly again, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Quiet down, quiet down. I know that it's exciting finally having your roles." He said, throwing a rather cheesy wink in Jaebum's direction. The student just shuddered as he looked away, resisting the strong urge to just pout. "But we need to get to work. However, I know that not all of you are familiar with the piece we will be performing, so... we shall spend the rest of this rehearsal watching the original French version." He said, waving a DVD case vaguely as he spoke. "So everyone, take a spot in the seats down there and let's get watching." He finished, before turning around and sauntering off of the stage, no doubt heading towards the projection box.
Jaebum sighed to himself as he pushed himself to his feet, letting his young eager friend pull him down to the seats. They, thankfully, were sat near the back of the group, and Jaebum slouched down into his seat with a groan. He supposed that watching something for the rest of the time was better than playing the usual 'get to know each other' games. Those were just embarrassing and cringe-worthy, and so not worth Jaebum's time.
As the lights dimmed, Jaebum let out another sigh. This was all Jackson's fault. If it hadn't been for him then Jaebum wouldn't have ended up in this situation. It was so unfair. He didn't want to be in a musical. He didn't want to spend weeks and weeks rehearsing. And he definitely didn't want to be a lead role. But he was... and it was all Jackson's fault.
Glancing over, his eyes fell onto his co-star and he observed him silently in the dark, the light from the screen shining onto his features. He was cute, that was for sure, perhaps even beautiful. That wasn't so bad then, and if he got the other lead role then that meant he was good. The kid was Jackson's friend, which was a big negative, but Jaebum might be able to overlook that... He watched as a soft smile slowly spread across the other's face, something on the screen causing such a reaction. And yeah... maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he had originally thought.
---
There was something incredibly relaxing about a low buzz of chatter and the gentle clinking of cutlery and crockery. That was why a local cafe a few streets away from the school was the usual hangout for Jaebum and his friends. They were frequent customers, even having a usual table which the rest of the patrons knew not to sit at. They met up there at least once a week, if not more. The current meeting of which taking place on a Saturday, so the cafe was fairly busy.
Jimin wasn't with them, for once, though more because Jaebum had simply forgot to invite him, too focused on his ill fate with the musical. Not that the others seemed to mind, especially not Yoongi. The shorter was sat with a smug grin on his face as his thumbs speedily swiped across the screen of his phone. "It can't be as bad as you're making out, Jaebum. Stop being such a drama queen."
"How can he be a drama queen though if he's playing Romeo?" Namjoon piped up, his deeper voice ringing out clear across their table and the surrounding ones. Not that anybody else in the cafe was paying them any attention, too used to the sight of the group of boys sat at that particular table.
Hoseok laughed from where he sat right next to Jaebum, his elbow flying out to jab into his friend's side gleefully. "Yeah! Wouldn't he be a drama king instead? He's not pretty enough to be a queen."
"Jinyoung is though. Have you seen that kid? I think Mr Park might have been casting you guys on your looks." Yoongi finished, smug grin turned towards Jaebum, who was purposefully trying to avoid looking at the lot of them as he sat with his forehead resting on the table in front of him.
"Shut up." Jaebum grumbled, glaring redundantly down at the table top. "I'm gonna have to act all lovey dovey and stuff with him... He's Wang's friend. How on earth am I meant to act like I'm in love with one of Wang's sidekicks?" He lamented, his voice coming out more like a whine. Hoseok idly patted his head, resulting in Jaebum stirring enough to swat at his hand before he continued his miserable tirade. "This is all that stupid prick's fault. If Wang hadn't pranked me, I wouldn't be in this situation." He paused to let out a sigh, his shoulders dropping before he continued. "At least I get to kill him every night of the performances... he's playing Tybalt after all. I'm so going to make the most of that."
Yoongi, who was sat directly across from Jaebum, let out a rather loud snort, his attention focused once again on his phone as he spoke. "You need to stop blaming that Jackson kid. As annoying as he is, you know that you are just as much to blame. It's your own damn fault for losing your temper."
"I don't know why you're complaining so much, Hyung." Namjoon's voice rose, distracting Jaebum from his musings about how to hit Yoongi without retaliation from the shorter male. "I mean everyone knows that you love to act. And you'll wipe the floor with everyone else dance wise. You're going to kick ass in this show, and you know it."
Finally raising his head from the table, Jaebum gazed at his friend rather blankly before his hand darted out, screwing up one of the paper napkins and launching it at Namjoon's head. "Shut up." He muttered, grunting in satisfaction as his projectile hit it's mark before replacing his head back on the table top again. He wanted to continue sulking, and that was just what he was going to do. Whether his friends were going to laugh at his misfortune or not.
---
The difficult thing about rehearsing such a large show early on is always the lack of set. They were supposed to be rehearsing the balcony scene after the party, after Romeo and Juliet met for the first time. However... without having the set built yet, it was rather difficult. Jinyoung, who Jaebum was finally remembering the name of, was having to stand up on a box, just to give some sense of the different levels. Not that it was really working. He wasn't exactly going to only be like a foot above Jaebum after all.
They had to work with what they were given though. It wasn't like they really had a choice. They just couldn't rehearse the scene properly with Jaebum climbing up to the balcony and other such things. So instead they were mainly focusing on the lines and portraying the right emotions needed for the scene.
Jinyoung was clearly distracted though. He was glancing at his watch, frequently throughout the rehearsal, which was rather irritating to Jaebum. He was so tempted to speak up and ask the younger if he had something else to do or somewhere else to be since his watch was apparently more important than the scene. But he held his tongue, keeping quiet. He didn't want to make this whole show ten times worse by causing tension between himself and his co-star.
They were in the middle of rehearsing the song, walking through the steps they would need to take once they had the actual set, when the theatre head called for a break. Immediately Jinyoung sprang away from Jaebum, who simply raised an unamused eyebrow at him. Not that the younger saw, as he was already hurrying away, trying to grab the attention of their teacher.
"Mr Park, it's 5:30." He called, jumping down from the stage.
The older male turned around, a look of amazement on his face as he spoke. "Oh, is that time already? Well then... off you go, and we'll see you again at the next rehearsal."
Wait... Jinyoung really did have somewhere else to be? That was... strange, actually. Being involved in such a big production, he should know how important the rehearsals were. And yet he had to bail out of one early? That wasn't right. Talk about special treatment. Jaebum knew that if he had asked to leave early he would have been met with a resounding no. He watched after his co-star's retreating back with a mixture of confusion and annoyance on his face. It really was unfair.
"Hyung, I'll drop by after rehearsal!" The blond kid, Youngjae, who was playing Benvolio, called out to his friend as he was leaving. Jaebum turned to glance over at him, his confusion growing.
He turned to face the other side as Wang's annoying voice screeched out as well. "Save me a flapjack!"
Okay... Jaebum was definitely missing something here? Did everyone know where Jinyoung was running off to, bar him? He looked back to the younger's retreating form, who was just about to slip out of the door, and caught the idle wave he shot back towards the rest of them on stage. Just where was he going?
He didn't have long to mull over it though before Mr Park was calling for their attention again with orders for them to rehearse 'Le Duel' instead, seeing as their Juliet had other commitments he had to attend to. Groaning, Jaebum pushed himself to his feet again to return to the centre of the stage. He had been hoping that with his co-star missing he would get a bit of a break but of course he wasn't so lucky. At least this scene and song involved Jimin and Jackson more than he and Youngjae. And then, most likely, they would continue on with the scene and he would get to practice killing Jackson.
With that gleeful thought in mind, he completely forgot about Jinyoung and his strange behaviour. It wasn't like it really mattered any way. And Jaebum certainly didn't care. Or so he tried to convince himself.
[1] [2] [3]
Fandom: GOT7
Character(s)/Pairing(s): JB/Jr
Summary: JB was no stranger to detention, but never before had one involved becoming the lead in a musical.
A/N: Written for the def_pepi fic exchange. The musical I chose is one of my personal favourites, and can be watched here, it comes with subs for various languages but you might need to select it from the menu.
[1] [2] [3]
---
Rage. All Jaebum was feeling was pure unadulterated rage. How dare that prick try and prank him. Did he have a death wish or something? But then again... it was Jackson Wang, school prankster and student, who was known not to really put any effort into his school work. Not that Jaebum could talk. He was so close to just dropping out altogether.
He had never been overly fond of school, his passions taking him on a different path, or had started to. That had all changed when his little sister became ill though. She had developed some rare illness that nobody really knew what it was, and as such there was no cure. And Jaebum had found himself turning his dreams away from dancing and back onto graduating. He might not be able to get the best grades possible, but he would at least be set up for the future. Because in his eyes... with the chance that his sister wasn't going to be able to complete schooling herself, then he would do it for her. That was the only reason that he stuck around this stupid place.
That vow was frequently put in jeopardy, though, by Jaebum's temper. He was very short tempered and didn't know how to deal with it other than with harsh words and his fists. Something that Jackson seemed to have forgotten by targeting him for his most recent prank. A prank which had resulted in Jaebum being absolutely soaking wet, and a water pistol being broken into numerous pieces on the ground.
Did Jackson seriously not expect him to react in such a negative way? He was Im Jaebum, his temper was well known. Of course he was going to shout at the younger before taking a swing at him. It came as no surprise to anyone that he reacted as such, the other students around them not really batting an eye. They did pay attention though when Jackson retaliated, his voice just as loud and his arms being thrown out to his sides, almost as if he was persuading the other to take a shot at him. "Come on man, it was just a joke. Lighten up."
"Lighten up... I am soaking wet, you ass. And I still have classes this afternoon." Jaebum growled, his left eye twitching in anger. He was going to blow, and very soon at that. He doubted that Jackson saw the danger though. He never did. Jackson was someone who didn't think before doing or saying anything. Something which was known to get him into trouble frequently.
And just as expected, the younger simply laughed, throwing his head back and gifting the forming circle of spectators a wide view of the inside of his mouth. "Not my problem, man. And besides... it's just water, it will dry. It's not like I used food colouring or dye or anything, which I was planning to by the way."
"I swear to god, Jackson, if you don't shut up, I'm going to make you."
"Why? I didn't say anything wrong. Stop getting yourself so worked up, Im." Jackson said, shaking his head with a smug smirk on his face. "It was just a joke. Seriously. You need to get a grip on that temper of yours."
"Jackson... stop. Let's just go." Another voice piped up then, one of Jackson's friends who, by the seems of it, was trying to stop his friend from getting his face bashed in. Good call. Because if the prankster didn't shut up and soon then no way was Jaebum going to be able to stop himself from lashing out.
Unfortunately it didn't seem like Jackson was willing to listen, as he shook his head levelling Jaebum with another infuriating smirk. "No, Jinyoung. Not until Jaebum, here, apologises for breaking my water pistol. That thing cost money you know."
Was he being serious? Was he seriously expecting Jaebum to apologise to him? It was almost laughable. And Jaebum would have thrown his head back and let out a deep belly laugh if he wasn't so fuming angry. Instead he scoffed, shaking his head in denial. "No chance. You shouldn't have pranked me in the first place."
The crowd around them was beginning to grow in numbers as other people realised that a fight was likely about to break out. Jackson's friend, Jinyoung he thought his name was, was looking anxiously between the two. That was almost... cute. But also not important. Jackson and his stupid smug face was the immediate problem that he had to deal with and soon.
Said smug face was drawing closer to Jaebum, and the older boy grit his teeth to stop himself from growling in annoyance. Jackson seriously had a death wish or something. The younger was walking closer to him, deliberately trying to rile him up, and unfortunately... Jaebum's hold on his temper was growing increasingly thinner with every word that left the other's smart-ass mouth. "It's not my fault if you can't take a joke, hyung." He said, his tone of voice turning mocking.
"You are walking on very thin ice, Wang." Jaebum did growl this time, his expression dark as he glared at the shorter student. "You might want to listen to that friend of yours and go away."
Jackson just laughed again as he continued his approach, not stopping until he was all up in the older's face. "What's the problem? Did my little stunt put a dent in your ego?" He spat, smug smile still plastered across his face. "You ain't all that, Im. You don't own this place. It's about time you got over yourself."
Jaebum really wanted to punch that smug smile right off of the shorter's face... and that was exactly what he did as he raised his fist and swung it at the other, smirking himself in satisfaction as his knuckles impacted with Jackson's face. That would serve him right for being such a smart-alec. That prick needed to learn a lesson, and that lesson was not to prank those students who were senior to him, and not to be so irritating and rude. He had had this coming for a long time.
If Jaebum was being honest, he had been after a good fight for a while now. It was the best way to release his emotions and stress, and he frequently could be found looking for a fight when he needed said release. Just, this time, he didn't need to look far since the perfect opportunity practically delivered itself at his feet. And with Jackson being Jackson, he of course was going to fight back.
Too bad he wasn't as skilled at fighting as Jaebum was, seeing as the older boy managed to duck out of the way of the other's flying fist, and instead sink his own into the prankster's stomach. This was almost too easy. And the groans and pain filled grunts coming from the shorter just brought a sense of happiness and relief to the older student.
He couldn't avoid Jackson's attempts at hitting him forever though, especially not as Jaebum's body grew tired and thus more clumsy. To every three hits that Jaebum managed to get in on the other, Jackson was scoring one of his own in response, but that number was decreasing over time, until it was just a free for all of punches.
The crowd around them was just background noise, a static buzz that did little to encourage or distract the two from fighting. Even with friends of both of them standing there, telling them to stop or cheering them on, the two didn't even acknowledge anyone else's existence, only each other's. They definitely didn't notice as the noise level of the crowd began to drop, the sea of students parting as one of the teachers stormed through towards them.
They only noticed his appearance when they were ripped apart from each other, firm hands grasping their upper arms and a stern voice ordering them to stop. "What do you boys think you are doing? This is a place of learning, not a boxing ring."
With the show now being over, most of the crowd began to drift off, leaving the trio in the middle and a few friends of either boy watching curiously for what was going to happen to their friend. Jaebum looked over to see Yoongi smirking at him, flashing him a thumbs up. The shorter boy was his usual partner in crime when it came to fights, so no doubt he was going to be moaned at later for not waiting for him to arrive before launching himself at Jackson.
"Mr Im, are you listening to me?" The teacher, Mr Lee Changmin, Maths Professor, asked him, shaking him out of his thoughts and bringing Jaebum's attention back to the situation at hand.
"Sorry sir." He simply muttered, purposefully ignoring Jackson's snickering from the other side of their teacher.
"I should think so." Mr Lee muttered before he tightened his grip on the two boys. "Both of you are in serious trouble. Fighting is against the school rules, as you both know. So, I think a meeting with the headmaster is in order. To his office, both of you. Now!" He finished, his words growing in volume until he practically shouted the last.
Great. This was just what Jaebum needed, being sent to the headmaster's office... again. Like he hadn't only recently finished his last lot of detention. Stupid Jackson and his need to deliberately rile him up. He should have seen this coming really.
Ripping himself away from the teacher's hold, Jaebum glared darkly at Jackson before turning and stalking off down the hall. The footsteps behind him indicated that both Wang and their teacher was following after him, but he didn't care. Truthfully he didn't really care about getting in trouble again. No, all he did care about was how soaking wet he still was. His socks had become soggy and every step brought squelches in between his toes. Urgh... how pleasant.
---
Detention. Of course they were both going to end up in detention. It was expected with how they had broken one of the school rules by fighting in the middle of the hall. Heck, they had been lucky not to get suspended or something. But nope, they only got dealt with a detention. They had fully expected to be told that they would be serving it under Mr Lee's beady eyes in the maths department. He had been the one to catch them fighting after all.
But no. They weren't in the maths department at all. They were far, far from it.
In fact... they were in the drama department.
Walking into the theatre hall, Jaebum looked around before sighing rather loudly, elbowing the shorter boy who had entered the room next to him. "I can't believe you got me into this mess, Wang. I'm holding you solely responsible."
Jackson merely rolled his eyes before clapping the older on the shoulder. "Oh of course, your bad temper has nothing to do with it. Nothing at all." He snorted before letting out a loud bark of laughter. "Lighten up, JB, we got off lightly! We're only going to be, like, painting sets or something else just as simple. Talk about an easy ride." He laughed, the sound echoing across the expanse of the hall.
"Don't call me that." Jaebum muttered, his nose wrinkling at the sudden nickname bestowed on him by the other, as he continued to look around. He had a very bad feeling that the other student had just jinxed them. Surely, the detention wasn't going to be that simple. He had had worse punishments for lesser things here, so no way were they only going to get such a simple task for their detention.
"Mr Im, and Mr Wang, I presume?" An overly jolly voice called out to them, pulling Jaebum's attention back as he turned to face the incoming teacher. Mr Park Jinyoung, head of the entire theatre department, was making his way up the aisles of the seats towards where the two of them were stood by the door. Well, whatever their punishment was really going to be... they were about to find out.
"You got it." Jackson replied, lifting a hand and giving the teacher a jaunty, and probably disrespectful, salute. Jaebum restrained himself from smirking as the shorter only got a vague blink in his direction in response.
"That's us, sir." The older boy replied himself, nodding in affirmative as the theatre head turned to face him instead. He received a much better response as the teacher grinned at him, his own head nodding enthusiastically as he began to usher the two down the steps and aisle. Not having any other choice, Jaebum followed after the teacher, a sense of dread filling his gut.
As batty and barmy as Mr Park was, he was also known to give rather interesting punishments, ones that usually lasted a long time too. And looking around the hall, Jaebum couldn't see anything that might indicate what they were going to be forced into doing. "Follow me, follow me, that's it boys. You can't do anything remaining lurking in a doorway now, can you?" Their teacher laughed, trying to break the clear tension but failing miserably. This was detention after all. And Jaebum was still blaming Jackson for it completely.
Reaching the aisle just in front of the stage, Jaebum expected their teacher to lead them into the backstage area or even out of the hall or something. That didn't happen though. And it was with growing horror that the two boys were ushered up onto the stage. "Quickly, quickly, we don't have all day." Mr Park continued, still acting way more happy than the situation called for.
"Uh... Teach'? What are we exactly going to be doing?" Jackson asked, his voice continuing to echo rather obnoxiously around the room. Did he seriously have to talk so loudly all the time? Talk about irritating.
"It's Mr Park to you, young sir." Their teacher responded holding up a finger and looking sternly to Jackson for a moment before he laughed again and crossed his arms over his chest. "And I was just getting to that. You will be serving your detention with me, as both of you know. However, due to the nature of your rule breaking... you will not just be painting sets or whatever easy task you might have been hoping for."
Jaebum couldn't help but flash the shorter student a look that clearly read 'I told you so'. He knew that they weren't going to get off as easy as the other was hoping. He had had detention too many times before to know what it was like. He focused again though as the theatre head pushed some sheets of paper into his chest before doing the same to Jackson. Looking down at said paper, Jaebum's heart dropped into his stomach... he was currently holding onto a script. "S-sir..." He started, wanting clarification on just what this meant.
Their teacher cut him off, though, already hurrying on to explain. "One at time you will read this script aloud for me, then you will each sing a song, of your own choice of course, and if you wish to show me some of your dancing skills too, that would be fantastic." He said, already turning and making his way back down to the seats.
"Uh... why?" Jackson asked, one eyebrow raised and a clear look of disbelief on his face. Jaebum was feeling the same to be honest, but he also had a very bad feeling. A suspicion. Mr Park wouldn't have just given them these scripts for no reason...
"I would have thought it was obvious, Mr Wang." Their teacher said, turning to face them with another bright grin on his face, once he reached the front row of seats. "You will both be auditioning for our upcoming production. That is how you are going to be serving your detentions this time."
He knew it. As soon as he had seen the script, Jaebum had known that they were going to be forced into taking part. It was so typical. He decides to give up on his dreams of performing and he is then forced into taking part in a whole theatre production. So typical. If he had wanted to be in the show, then he would have auditioned before this. This wasn't fair. He didn't want to. But he had no choice.
This was all Jackson's fault.
---
If he was being honest, the audition hadn't actually been that bad. He had forced Jackson to go first, allowing him enough time to warm up properly. He couldn't exactly remember the speaking or singing parts, but the dancing? As soon as he had started moving to the music it was like he had been transported back to the years when dancing was his entire life. It was... it was fun.
He still didn't want to be in the show though.
Jaebum didn't even know what the show was, but he didn't want to be in it. He had no choice, however, and he begrudgingly entered the first rehearsal with his hands shoved in his pockets and a look of disinterest painted across his face.
This time, when he entered the theatre hall, he made his way directly to the stage where groups of people were dotted about. So they had all already formed little friendship groups? How very... unsurprising. But then again, they were probably all friends before hand and just automatically grouped up together.
Jaebum would have nobody to fall back on but himself really, his friends were not exactly the theatre type. There were a few people he recognised as having hung out with him and his friends occasionally, but he couldn't exactly call them much more than acquaintances. Not that he cared. He wasn't here voluntarily after all, and was in no mood to be sociable. He just wanted to get through this rehearsal, and all of the ones succeeding today's, with minimal effort and fuss. And that involved not talking to any of his 'cast mates'.
Just as was about to sit down, silently, by himself at the back of the stage, a loud bark of obnoxious laughter echoed noisily around the hall. It didn't take a genius to work out who that laugh belonged to. The owner was the sole reason that Jaebum was even here in the first place. Looking over, he couldn't stop himself from glaring at Jackson who was sat among a group of his friends, one of which Jaebum recognised as being the kid who had tried to stop them from fighting, Joonyoung or something? Not that it mattered, it was just so predictable that the prankster would have friends in the theatre club.
"Hey Hyung! I didn't know you auditioned for the show." Came a cheerful voice from his side as a body dropped down onto the ground next to where he was sat.
Looking over Jaebum came face to face with one of his 'acquaintances', Park Jimin. He was a sweet kid really, a right bundle of never-ending energy. He joined their group from time to time, mainly due to Hoseok who he had a brotherly type bond with. The kid, though, had taken rather a shine to Yoongi and whenever he did hang out with them, would always try and get the older male to talk to him. It was highly amusing to the rest of them, watching as their friend tried to shake off the excitable 'puppy' that was Jimin.
"I didn't." He answered simply, letting out a mental sigh. As much as he wanted to be alone, he also didn't want to tell Jimin to go away. He had seen what the younger looked like when someone pushed him away and it wasn't something he particularly wanted to see again. And would it really hurt to have someone to talk to here? "I was forced to for my detention."
"Detention?" The younger asked before a look of understanding passed over his face. "Oh, yeah! You were fighting Jackson in the hallway, right? Who won?" Yep, he was definitely someone that hung out with them a little too often.
Lifting his shoulders, Jaebum shrugged gently before gesturing to Jackson and his group of friends. "Well, we're both serving this detention. What do you think?"
He felt a gentle pat on his shoulder, Jimin trying to placate him or something. "Sorry about that, Hyung. It could have been worse though. You could have gotten suspended or expelled or something? And at least you're not here alone. I'll keep you company, Hyung."
There was something so incredibly earnest about Jimin. He tried so hard and Jaebum had to commend him for it. Truthfully he didn't find the younger that bad, none of them did. Even Yoongi who was often the kid's main focal point didn't mind that much when he hung around with them. One of these days they should just adopt him into their group full time, he thought.
Offering a small smile in reply, Jaebum nodded softly. "Thanks Jimin. You might just save me from boredom." He chuckled, before looking around the gathering cast idly once more. "Do you even know what the show is going to be? Mr Park didn't tell us anything when he forced us to audition."
"Afraid not. He's not told anyone anything about the show. So we're all in the same boat." Jimin shrugged, his expression and tone of voice apologetic. "He's not even told us any of the casting yet. So I'm guessing he'll do that today."
"He sure does have a flair for dramatics, huh?" Jaebum laughed, shaking his head in mild amusement. It must be something about drama teachers in general or people who work within the performing arts... everyone he had met from that industry all had that same dramatic spark. Even some of his dance teachers had been like that, and he had been learning hip-hop as a dance style.
"That's one way to put it." Jimin replied, his own higher pitched giggles complimenting Jaebum's own. They remained sat there, laughing for a few moments, drawing curious looks from some of the other cast members before they calmed down. Just in time for the theatre head to make his dramatic entrance into the hall, striding up onto the stage, where they were gathered, with a box in his hands.
"Welcome, everyone, to our first rehearsal!" He chirped, throwing his arms out wide in a flourish. "Now, I am sure you are all curious about what show we will be performing, am I correct?" Nobody really responded, but that didn't seem to faze the teacher as he simply continued on, picking up one of the musical scores from the box he had brought with him. "Well, I am pleased to announce that we will be doing an all-male, obviously, adaptation of 'Gérard Presgurvic's Romeo and Juliet'."
His announcement was met with silence, all of the cast simply blinking in confusion at the teacher. The spell was broken by, of course, Jackson who piped up in his typically obnoxious way. "Yo... I thought Romeo and Juliet was written by William Shakespeare. Not this Gerald dude..."
"Gérard, Mr Wang, it's pronounced Gérard. And yes, the original play is by William Shakespeare, but Mr Presgurvic took Shakespeare's masterpiece and turned it into a musical phenomenon."
A... musical. They were going to be performing a musical? Jaebum couldn't mask his quiet groan as he buried his face into his hands. He had been hoping that the singing and dancing aspects to the audition had just been their teacher making it seem more like a punishment. He had hoped that it didn't mean that they would be forced into a musical. But nope, of course not. Why would Jaebum's wishes come true? A musical... and not just any musical but a version of Romeo and Juliet. Romance. He hadn't cared about his casting before but now he actually felt nervous.
He missed what Mr Park had said next, too busy mourning his fate with his head in his hands. He was brought back to attention though when Jimin playfully, and gently, hit him with his musical score. "Here you go, Hyung. We're all gonna need these apparently." He said, before he quickly flipped through the pages of his own. The younger let out a low whistle before speaking again. "Wow... that's a lot of songs."
"It's a musical, Jimin, of course there is going to be a lot of songs." Jaebum muttered, already flicking through his own score book. They were doing a male-only version... which was obvious since they were an all-male student school. But this score... there was an awful lot of female roles. They would have to adapt a lot of songs, since Jaebum doubted that any of the guys here could sing exactly like a girl. It was going to be a lot of work. But no doubt the theatre head had it all worked out already. He just had to hope that he hadn't been cast in one of those female roles.
Hearing a loud clap, Jaebum returned his attention back to Mr Park who was looking around the room with an almost predatory glint in his eyes. "Now... casting! I'm sure you are all desperate to know just who you will be playing. Well, right here in this box," He began shaking the box which he had finally picked up from the floor, "are badges. And on those badges are the names of all of the characters and roles in the show. I will be going around each one of you and handing you a badge. That is the role you will be playing. I thought this was much more fun than just a simple piece of paper pinned to the board with the casting on."
This was going to be a long show. If they were going to have to deal with a director such as the theatre head for the whole duration, Jaebum was almost positive that he was going to end up with numerous headaches by the end of it. Maybe this was a fitting punishment for their detention after all? Even if Jaebum did still insist that it wasn't his fault, and that Jackson was completely to blame for everything.
Watching the teacher move around the room, Jaebum couldn't help but chew on his bottom lip, nervously. He hated to admit it but he did care about what role he got. He didn't want anything huge or headlining, but he also didn't want anything female. He blocked out Jimin's excited chatter from next to him, as he watched their director move from person to person, handing out badges.
As the older man reached Jackson and his friends, Jaebum narrowed his eyes at them, watching their reactions. All three of them seemed a little stunned. Jackson was scratching at his head in confusion but still seemed happy enough. The blond kid was barely concealing his happiness, and that Junyoong guy was just staring in ill concealed shock at his badge. Did he get a lead role or something? He watched as Jackson and the blond one looked at their friend's badge as well before they let out whoops of delight and thumped him on the back. Yeah... he must have gotten a lead. Well if he was Romeo then who was Juliet?
"Im Jaebum and Park Jimin." Their teacher said once he was stood in front of them, the box of badges in his hands. "I hope you two won't let me down with your roles. They are both very important characters." Why did it seem like he was simply trying to boost their spirits? They must have both just gotten ensemble roles or something. Jaebum mentally shrugged to himself as he took the offered badge. An ensemble role was fine by him, he didn't want anything more than that. Just a nice easy ride through the show, at the back, would suit him nicely.
"Wow, I got Mercutio... A main role..." Jimin chirped up next to him, astonishment seeping through his tone of voice before he turned to Jaebum with a bright grin. "Hyung! I got Mercutio!" He beamed, practically bouncing on the spot as he hurried to pin the badge to his chest. Jaebum simply chuckled, smiling in a mixture of amusement and affection as he watched him. It took the younger a few tries before he managed to successfully lock the pin in place, and once he was done he was back to grinning at him excitedly. "Who did you get, Hyung?"
"Oh, um..." Jaebum started, his fingers suddenly fumbling with his own badge before he looked down at it. The name he saw wasn't what he had been expecting. He couldn't believe his eyes really.
"Well?" Jimin asked, his tone growing impatient.
Jaebum was still in shock, however, and couldn't speak just yet. He definitely hadn't expected to get a role like this. Never in a million years did he expect to get something so... important. He hadn't even tried that hard in his audition, only doing the bare minimum, and yet he had ended up with this? How? It made no sense.
But there, written in a beautiful cursive script was a single name.
Romeo.
He had landed the lead role. But if he was Romeo then... Looking up his eyes fell onto Jackson's friend who had pinned a similar badge to his chest finally, the name Juliet clear. Oh no... The easy ride which he had been hoping for had disappeared by the handing over of a simple badge. Not only was he the lead role but he was going to have to deal with no doubt endless awkward situations as he tried to act with his 'Juliet'.
The badge in his hands was suddenly taken away as Jimin, who had grown incredibly impatient in Jaebum's silence, decided to take matters into his own hands. The older heard a gasp from next to him before the shorter student was shaking him excitedly. "You got Romeo!?! Congratulations Hyung! That's the lead role! You must have knocked your audition out of the park!"
"I didn't even try..." He mumbled, snatching the badge back and reluctantly pinning it in place on his chest. He had no idea how he was going to get through this. He wasn't cut out to play a lead, especially not a romantic one.
"Well you must have done something right for Mr Park to give you that role. Well done, Hyung." Jimin beamed next to him. It was sweet how excited he was on his behalf, but Jaebum wished that he wasn't being so enthusiastic. This was a punishment, a cruel and harsh punishment.
The theatre head clapped his hands loudly again, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Quiet down, quiet down. I know that it's exciting finally having your roles." He said, throwing a rather cheesy wink in Jaebum's direction. The student just shuddered as he looked away, resisting the strong urge to just pout. "But we need to get to work. However, I know that not all of you are familiar with the piece we will be performing, so... we shall spend the rest of this rehearsal watching the original French version." He said, waving a DVD case vaguely as he spoke. "So everyone, take a spot in the seats down there and let's get watching." He finished, before turning around and sauntering off of the stage, no doubt heading towards the projection box.
Jaebum sighed to himself as he pushed himself to his feet, letting his young eager friend pull him down to the seats. They, thankfully, were sat near the back of the group, and Jaebum slouched down into his seat with a groan. He supposed that watching something for the rest of the time was better than playing the usual 'get to know each other' games. Those were just embarrassing and cringe-worthy, and so not worth Jaebum's time.
As the lights dimmed, Jaebum let out another sigh. This was all Jackson's fault. If it hadn't been for him then Jaebum wouldn't have ended up in this situation. It was so unfair. He didn't want to be in a musical. He didn't want to spend weeks and weeks rehearsing. And he definitely didn't want to be a lead role. But he was... and it was all Jackson's fault.
Glancing over, his eyes fell onto his co-star and he observed him silently in the dark, the light from the screen shining onto his features. He was cute, that was for sure, perhaps even beautiful. That wasn't so bad then, and if he got the other lead role then that meant he was good. The kid was Jackson's friend, which was a big negative, but Jaebum might be able to overlook that... He watched as a soft smile slowly spread across the other's face, something on the screen causing such a reaction. And yeah... maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he had originally thought.
---
There was something incredibly relaxing about a low buzz of chatter and the gentle clinking of cutlery and crockery. That was why a local cafe a few streets away from the school was the usual hangout for Jaebum and his friends. They were frequent customers, even having a usual table which the rest of the patrons knew not to sit at. They met up there at least once a week, if not more. The current meeting of which taking place on a Saturday, so the cafe was fairly busy.
Jimin wasn't with them, for once, though more because Jaebum had simply forgot to invite him, too focused on his ill fate with the musical. Not that the others seemed to mind, especially not Yoongi. The shorter was sat with a smug grin on his face as his thumbs speedily swiped across the screen of his phone. "It can't be as bad as you're making out, Jaebum. Stop being such a drama queen."
"How can he be a drama queen though if he's playing Romeo?" Namjoon piped up, his deeper voice ringing out clear across their table and the surrounding ones. Not that anybody else in the cafe was paying them any attention, too used to the sight of the group of boys sat at that particular table.
Hoseok laughed from where he sat right next to Jaebum, his elbow flying out to jab into his friend's side gleefully. "Yeah! Wouldn't he be a drama king instead? He's not pretty enough to be a queen."
"Jinyoung is though. Have you seen that kid? I think Mr Park might have been casting you guys on your looks." Yoongi finished, smug grin turned towards Jaebum, who was purposefully trying to avoid looking at the lot of them as he sat with his forehead resting on the table in front of him.
"Shut up." Jaebum grumbled, glaring redundantly down at the table top. "I'm gonna have to act all lovey dovey and stuff with him... He's Wang's friend. How on earth am I meant to act like I'm in love with one of Wang's sidekicks?" He lamented, his voice coming out more like a whine. Hoseok idly patted his head, resulting in Jaebum stirring enough to swat at his hand before he continued his miserable tirade. "This is all that stupid prick's fault. If Wang hadn't pranked me, I wouldn't be in this situation." He paused to let out a sigh, his shoulders dropping before he continued. "At least I get to kill him every night of the performances... he's playing Tybalt after all. I'm so going to make the most of that."
Yoongi, who was sat directly across from Jaebum, let out a rather loud snort, his attention focused once again on his phone as he spoke. "You need to stop blaming that Jackson kid. As annoying as he is, you know that you are just as much to blame. It's your own damn fault for losing your temper."
"I don't know why you're complaining so much, Hyung." Namjoon's voice rose, distracting Jaebum from his musings about how to hit Yoongi without retaliation from the shorter male. "I mean everyone knows that you love to act. And you'll wipe the floor with everyone else dance wise. You're going to kick ass in this show, and you know it."
Finally raising his head from the table, Jaebum gazed at his friend rather blankly before his hand darted out, screwing up one of the paper napkins and launching it at Namjoon's head. "Shut up." He muttered, grunting in satisfaction as his projectile hit it's mark before replacing his head back on the table top again. He wanted to continue sulking, and that was just what he was going to do. Whether his friends were going to laugh at his misfortune or not.
---
The difficult thing about rehearsing such a large show early on is always the lack of set. They were supposed to be rehearsing the balcony scene after the party, after Romeo and Juliet met for the first time. However... without having the set built yet, it was rather difficult. Jinyoung, who Jaebum was finally remembering the name of, was having to stand up on a box, just to give some sense of the different levels. Not that it was really working. He wasn't exactly going to only be like a foot above Jaebum after all.
They had to work with what they were given though. It wasn't like they really had a choice. They just couldn't rehearse the scene properly with Jaebum climbing up to the balcony and other such things. So instead they were mainly focusing on the lines and portraying the right emotions needed for the scene.
Jinyoung was clearly distracted though. He was glancing at his watch, frequently throughout the rehearsal, which was rather irritating to Jaebum. He was so tempted to speak up and ask the younger if he had something else to do or somewhere else to be since his watch was apparently more important than the scene. But he held his tongue, keeping quiet. He didn't want to make this whole show ten times worse by causing tension between himself and his co-star.
They were in the middle of rehearsing the song, walking through the steps they would need to take once they had the actual set, when the theatre head called for a break. Immediately Jinyoung sprang away from Jaebum, who simply raised an unamused eyebrow at him. Not that the younger saw, as he was already hurrying away, trying to grab the attention of their teacher.
"Mr Park, it's 5:30." He called, jumping down from the stage.
The older male turned around, a look of amazement on his face as he spoke. "Oh, is that time already? Well then... off you go, and we'll see you again at the next rehearsal."
Wait... Jinyoung really did have somewhere else to be? That was... strange, actually. Being involved in such a big production, he should know how important the rehearsals were. And yet he had to bail out of one early? That wasn't right. Talk about special treatment. Jaebum knew that if he had asked to leave early he would have been met with a resounding no. He watched after his co-star's retreating back with a mixture of confusion and annoyance on his face. It really was unfair.
"Hyung, I'll drop by after rehearsal!" The blond kid, Youngjae, who was playing Benvolio, called out to his friend as he was leaving. Jaebum turned to glance over at him, his confusion growing.
He turned to face the other side as Wang's annoying voice screeched out as well. "Save me a flapjack!"
Okay... Jaebum was definitely missing something here? Did everyone know where Jinyoung was running off to, bar him? He looked back to the younger's retreating form, who was just about to slip out of the door, and caught the idle wave he shot back towards the rest of them on stage. Just where was he going?
He didn't have long to mull over it though before Mr Park was calling for their attention again with orders for them to rehearse 'Le Duel' instead, seeing as their Juliet had other commitments he had to attend to. Groaning, Jaebum pushed himself to his feet again to return to the centre of the stage. He had been hoping that with his co-star missing he would get a bit of a break but of course he wasn't so lucky. At least this scene and song involved Jimin and Jackson more than he and Youngjae. And then, most likely, they would continue on with the scene and he would get to practice killing Jackson.
With that gleeful thought in mind, he completely forgot about Jinyoung and his strange behaviour. It wasn't like it really mattered any way. And Jaebum certainly didn't care. Or so he tried to convince himself.
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