The student council building’s third floor was lined with club rooms adorned with signs in various fonts. The president of Moonmyung University’s Theater Arts Society burst into one of these rooms, nudging her dozing classmate with her foot.

“Hey! Wake up. Aren’t you going to audition for the actor role?”

“…Ah, that’s today, right?”

The one sprawled on the floor muttered, slowly getting up from where he was virtually glued to the club room floor.

“Why are you always lying down like you’re dead whenever I see you?”

“Eh… I’m going now.”

The girl left the room with a vacant look in her eyes, hastily putting on a hat. She was Heo Jiyu, the director of this play.

“Hey, Heo Jiyu. Get a grip. Even without that guy, we should have at least one candidate who can act.”

“…Yeah.”

Heo Jiyu was like a person who had lost a few screws. Just last week, the lead actor they had carefully selected after a lot of consideration for her last production before graduation suddenly announced he was going abroad for a language course. She had to start from scratch again.

 

Heo Jiyu sighed and settled into an empty classroom that was soon to be the audition venue.

‘Can’t even drag him back from his studies…’

After three mediocre applicants passed by, it was time for the last one.

“Please come in.”

Heo Jiyu listlessly raised her head, almost resigned to her fate, but her eyes widened at the sight of a tall man with a fair and handsome face.

“Hello, I’m Han Yooil.”

“Okay, please perform any two of the specified scripts.”

“Understood.”

Han Yooil bowed his head briefly, then slowly lifted it again.

Soon, a solid baritone voice flowed.

 

“My love, my wife.”

In that instant, Jiyu, who had been watching Yooil without much hope, took a deep breath.

“…Even the god of death, who has drunk the honey of your breath, has not conquered your beauty.*”

‘…Wait. This isn’t one of the specified scripts?’

But neither the president nor Jiyu could interrupt him. Han Yooil had already begun the next line.

“…I will stay with you forever. Not leaving this dark palace of night… but staying with you in eternal rest.*”

 

Han Yooil, articulating each word clearly, slowly lifted his hand into the air. His fingertips trembled slightly.

Heo Jiyu was unable to think, just staring at Yooil’s trembling hand and eyes.

Romeo and Juliet.

A play by Shakespeare that had been remade into movies and plays countless times. It would be strange not to know it.

 

‘But this performance…’

Heo Jiyu narrowed her brows. The Romeo portrayed by Han Yooil was different.

His Romeo was not just filled with grief and anger from losing his beloved but also a human being afraid of the impending death.

The fear of death he was feeling was clearer than the image of a boy fallen in love.

“…I will proceed with the next performance.”

Snapped out of her trance by Han Yooil’s voice, Heo Jiyu came back to reality.

Yooil, who had been closing his eyes for a moment, continued with another script. This time, it was one of the specified ones.

“Where… where is this place?”

The young man standing in front of Heo Jiyu began to look around, his clear eyes filled with confusion.

“Who… are you?”

Heo Jiyu held her breath. Han Yooil had come right up to her, staring directly into her eyes.

“It’s my first time seeing such attire…”

Heo Jiyu almost responded instinctively before catching her breath.

It felt as if he was speaking right in front of her nose, but Han Yooil had only stepped a few paces forward.

‘…That startled me.’

The ‘Romeo’ in front of her seemed to be reaching out to grab the hem of a garment in front of him. He then urgently continued.

“Wait, Juliet! Where’s Juliet? I must find her at once!”

 

However, the imaginary passerby ignored ‘Romeo’ and walked away. ‘Romeo’s’ gaze despondently swept through thin air.

“Please… someone tell me… I must go to Juliet…”

‘Romeo,’ with a face full of pain, lowered his head. Slowly, small tears formed in his eyes.

“…!”

Heo Jiyu blankly watched his tears roll down his cheeks.

“That’s all.”

After watching Han Yooil for a moment, Heo Jiyu asked in a low voice.

“…Mr. Han Yooil.”

“Yes.”

“You realize the first script you performed wasn’t one of the specified ones, right?”

“Yes. But I thought it was necessary.”

“Why?”

“Because the play the theater society is presenting is <Romeo in Wonderland>. It’s a reinterpretation of a famous original work, so I believed it was also necessary to analyze the existing characters.”

Indeed, the play Heo Jiyu wrote was a modern fantasy reinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet.

It was a story about Romeo, who committed suicide after seeing Juliet’s lifeless body, waking up in modern times, and struggling with confusion as the modern Juliet does not remember him.

‘What’s with this guy?’

Heo Jiyu bit her lip. It was hard to hide her expression.

‘…It’s not perfect yet.’

The current Yooil was clearly unfinished. Probably he hadn’t been acting for long.

But.

‘Something’s different.’

Most people have stiff masks.

Masks hardened by frequently used expressions and words. Breaking one’s mask and making others immerse in their ‘performance’ is a difficult task.

Han Yooil was different.

‘He doesn’t have such a mask.’

That was talent.

“Mr. Han Yooil?”

“Yes.”

“Welcome to the theater society.”

Heo Jiyu said, lifting her head. The president, who looked at her in surprise, was even more startled.

She was smiling softly, a radiant smile on her face.

* * *

“…Did this really work?”

Yooil muttered in disbelief as he left the student council building. Then Brion confidently spoke.

【Congratulations, Mr. Han Yooil.】

In fact, Yooil had been skeptical right up until just before the audition.

As soon as he decided to participate in the audition, Brion started Shakespeare lessons. It was understandable up to the Shakespeare lessons, but preparing Romeo’s original script instead of the specified ones was hard to grasp.

But it actually worked.

【As predicted, the project required analysis of the original characters.】

‘…You’re quite useful.’

【Thank you.】

Why did Brion say his destined career was ‘actor’?

Han Yooil couldn’t easily guess why.

He wasn’t entirely inexperienced with admiring the performances of actors in movies, dramas, and plays, and wishing to be like them… But he had never thought he had that much talent.

…Especially since he had never planned to start.

【So now it begins, Mr. Han Yooil. …And there’s something I need to tell you.】

‘What’s that?’

【You have 15 minutes left until your part-time job starts.】

“Damn.”

Even if he couldn’t prepare for the civil service exam, he still had to do his part-time job.

Brion, acknowledging Yooil’s immediate lack of financial comfort, accepted the situation through analysis.

A calm voice resonated in his head.

【I will guide you to the ‘GU Convenience Store’ via the optimal route.】

Yooil, following Brion’s guidance, started running like mad.

* * *

Time flew by swiftly.

Yooil had returned to school, and the campus was bustling with students. Just like when he first entered the school, Yooil juggled part-time work and lectures. But he was busier than before due to the daily theater practice.

Yooil’s classmate, Kim Jinwoo, who had failed to get into the theater society, muttered while looking at a poster attached to the student council building.

 

“What the, Han Yooil. You said you weren’t interested in the theater society or anything, yet you’re participating as an actor?”

“That’s… it just happened.”

Kim Jinwoo glanced sideways at his classmate, who awkwardly changed the subject.

He was gentle and tall, capturing the attention of the girls as soon as he enrolled, yet he barely participated in any department activities and left for the military right after the first semester.

Frankly, Kim Jinwoo thought Han Yooil was a rich kid when he first saw him. It wasn’t just because of his fair, clean skin, but also because of his aloof aura. It was only towards the end of the semester that he realized Yooil’s intense studying and avoiding get-togethers were to not lose his scholarship and part-time job income.

“Hey, you should have told me first at least.”

“I didn’t know I’d get in.”

“How did you even think about acting? You weren’t even interested.”

“That’s… well…”

He didn’t want his brain to explode.

“…I thought acting might be fun.”

It was a convenient response, but saying it out loud made him realize it was true.

‘I didn’t hate the practice I’ve done so far.’

All the practices he had been pushed to do by Brion, even the daily exercise and voice training, weren’t unenjoyable.

Yeah, it was honestly fun. He was not without worries, though.

【Don’t worry. Brion will take responsibility and help you become the best actor.】

‘No, that’s not what I meant…’

Never mind. Better not to speak.

Yooil sighed, then halted as his phone alarm suddenly went off. After checking the content, he stopped.

“Oh, right. There’s extra practice today.”

“Extra practice for the play?”

“Yeah. I’m off!”

As he watched Yooil running off, Kim Jinwoo muttered under his breath.

“Why does he seem to get more handsome every time? Lucky guy.”

* * *

Tension filled the rehearsal room. The performance was only a week away.

“Sound team. When the 3rd line of dialogue is delivered, the sound of rain should immediately follow. No stumbling in the control room, got it?”

“Yes.”

“And stage crew, don’t forget to move the chairs and table during the blackout here.”

“Yes!”

Heo Jiyu, who initially seemed half-asleep, was now delivering corrections to each team member with sharp, intelligent eyes.

“Oh, is Yooil here?”

The members gazed at her in disbelief as her expression visibly relaxed.

“Yes. Sorry for being late.”

“No, it’s me who called the other teams early.”

“Shall we start practicing from Scene 1 right away?”

“Let’s do that.”

Han Yooil, after placing his bag down, immediately walked to the center of the rehearsal room. Another actor, Lee Minji, was already there.

“Hello.”

Lee Minji, a computer science student of the same age as Han Yooil, was also the actress playing ‘Juliet,’ the main character of the play.

“The run-through begins now.”

As Minji lay down on the floor as if collapsing, Heo Jiyu’s voice immediately followed.

“Bring up the lights.”

Han Yooil, standing upstage, slowly bent at the waist. As he slightly opened his eyes, pure eyes filled with fear were revealed.

And in an instant, he transformed into Romeo.

Romeo, approaching hesitantly, collapsed as if crumbling upon seeing Juliet lying on the ground. Everyone watching held their breath.

“This can’t be, Juliet…”

Trembling, Romeo’s large hands reached towards Juliet’s face. He lowered his head to check for breath… but his wife no longer exhaled.

Romeo’s voice quivered finely.

Romeo, while fearing the death he had no choice but to choose, took out a vial. A whirlwind of emotions surged in his eyes.

“…My love, my wife. Even the god of death, who has drunk the honey of your breath, has not conquered your beauty.*”

The last line of Act 1 was added after Yooil’s audition.

Romeo, belonging solely to ‘Juliet.’

This was the reason why everyone in the Theater Arts Society understood Heo Jiyu’s favoritism.

Everyone watching. Gazed at him with their mouths agape.

If one were to witness this scene, they would all agree.

No one could think of a ‘Romeo’ other than Han Yooil.

Heo Jiyu nodded in satisfaction. Her eyes, shadowed by fatigue, sparkled with vitality.

‘He’s really good.’

Forgetting even her chronic fatigue, Heo Jiyu immersed herself in the preparations for the play. Everything was flowing smoothly in its own way.

Until an unforeseen problem erupted from somewhere else.

*William Shakespeare, “Romeo and Juliet”