Clang-

Romeo drops the sword he was holding. He drags his weary body, moving his steps painfully towards his cold, lifeless wife, Juliet.

“Juliet, Juliet…” He murmurs as if whispering, checking for Juliet’s pulse.

Cruelly, his lover’s heart no longer beats. Romeo, shivering, strokes Juliet’s face endlessly.

Lee Hyejin watched this scene in a daze.

‘He’s… completely different.’

Is this really the same person who gave her the ticket to the performance? Really?

Hyejin watched, holding her breath, focusing on his trembling fingertips and eyes.

Romeo takes out poison from his pocket and swallows it.

With eyes filled with fear, horror, and sorrow.

 

Then suddenly, the stage goes dark. Only then Hyejin finds herself able to breathe a little.

‘Wow…’

It was her first time seeing someone act up close. It was more dynamic and intense than she thought.

‘Amazing.’

Hyejin clutched her pounding heart and blinked.

Then, a new scene began.

In the darkness, the noise of a busy city began to emerge. The sound of cars passing by, people walking, and noises from advertisements all mixed together and flowed out.

As the stage slowly lit up, Romeo, still in the same spot, appeared lying down. The Romeo who had been lying down slowly opened his eyes.

Someone who discovered Romeo approached him.

“Hey, why are you lying down here? Have you been drinking?”

 

“Who are you? You look unfamiliar.”

“Huh? I’m just a passerby.”

“Juliet, Juliet?! Where is Juliet?!”

In desperation, Romeo extends his hand. His flailing hand grabs the passerby’s collar. The passerby, caught off guard, shakes off his hand roughly.

“What the heck, I was trying to help and this is what I get…”

“Wait, just a minute…!”

Romeo, with a bewildered face, slowly rises and looks around. Soon, he realizes something is off.

No matter how much he walks, familiar scenery doesn’t appear.

The streets made of stone, the beautiful low buildings, the lively squares always full of exciting news, and Ponte Pietra are nowhere to be seen.

Only then does Romeo realize. This is not Verona.

 

“Where is this… exactly… where am I?”

And so, Romeo, who lived in 15th-century Verona, Italy, suddenly finds himself in the middle of 21st-century Seoul.

Romeo continues to speak to the people passing by. No real actors appear on stage, but Romeo, as if catching people who aren’t there, asks where this place is, how to get back to Verona.

‘Even though there’s no one on the stage, it feels so natural.’

Hyejin quietly admired, watching him.

As Romeo continues to be rejected by people, he spots Juliet distributing flyers.

Seeing Juliet, the first thing that melts into Romeo’s face is astonishment.

Then, longing and joy begin to mix in turn.

It’s as if drops of different colored paints are falling into water, his face comes alive.

“Juliet!”

With a cracked voice, Romeo calls out the name he has longed for.

‘…!’

Hyejin covers her mouth with her hand. It was because Romeo had run and embraced Juliet in one swift motion.

“God, you’re alive…”

Romeo murmurs with an expression as if he has gained everything in the world. Hyejin, who had been happily watching them, suddenly changes her expression. The scene that follows is something she had not anticipated at all.

“What the heck, you crazy man!”

With a crisp sound, Romeo’s beloved Juliet delivers a strong slap to his face.

“…!”

Hyejin, who had been expecting a romance, was taken aback. A Romeo getting slapped by the leading lady and dragged off to the police station was beyond her expectations. Amidst it all, Romeo adamantly claims to be Juliet’s husband.

The actor who previously appeared as a passerby now appears as a police officer. The trio creates a situation resembling a sitcom, eliciting laughter from the audience. Hyejin, too, chuckled while watching Romeo continue his bizarre antics.

‘Ah, this is really funny.’

The play, not overly serious, allowed for enjoyment even when the pace slowed. Before she knew it, she was seeing him not as ‘Han Yooil’ but as ‘Romeo’.

Romeo, who has landed in the strange land of Seoul, is shocked to realize that the woman he calls ‘Juliet’ is completely different from his Juliet, except for her face.

The woman Romeo calls ‘Juliet’ is actually Kim Juhee, a regular college student.

Thinking he’s dreaming, Romeo tries all sorts of ways to return to his previous world, even contemplating falling from a height. At that moment, Juhee appears from somewhere and shouts, catching him.

 

After a brief commotion, the two manage to have a conversation in a safe place.

“Excuse me.”

“…”

“Why do you think I’m your wife?”

At Juhee’s question, Romeo turns his head.

He looks for a long time at the woman who closely resembles his lover but is not his beloved.

“I know because I can see. In my eyes, you are undoubtedly Juliet. My wife, my love…”

He slowly lifts his hand. But his hand doesn’t reach Juhee.

“…No, I know. You are not her.”

“Good to know you realize that.”

“That’s why I am trying to die. To meet her, I have to go to the god of death.”

A transparent tear falls from Romeo’s clear eyes.

“…!”

Hyejin covers her mouth again, barely holding back an expletive-laden exclamation.

‘Is this for real?’

Hyejin felt that if a man looked at her like that up close, she would be ready to give him anything he asked for.

But Juhee, looking at his face, frowns deeply.

“…Nonsense.”

Her neatly arched eyebrows twitch. Surprised, Romeo blinks several times.

“…What did you just say?”

“Seriously, what’s more important than life? It’s ridiculous… If my mom were alive, she’d be smacking your back right now.”

At Juhee’s blunt words, Romeo is taken aback. To the romantic 15th-century Italian, her words are too realistic and harsh. Romeo looks at Juhee as if he’s seen a living corpse.

“Hey, wake up. This is Seoul. The cutthroat city of Seoul. Instead of moaning about love, go work.”

“Work?”

“Do labor and get paid. You’re saying you have no money and no home, right?”

That’s how Romeo begins to do what he had thought of as lower-class labor.

Initially making laughable mistakes, Romeo eventually finds his niche.

He starts working at a medieval-themed café!

There, Romeo meets people who like him and gains recognition. He finally begins to live not just as someone’s lover, but as a person with his own dreams.

“You are my savior.”

At Romeo’s warm words, Juhee shakes her head.

“To be honest, Romeo, you are my savior.”

“What do you mean…”

“The day you were about to fall from the rooftop, I actually went up there to die. Life was just too hard.”

Avoiding Romeo’s shocked gaze, Juhee continues,

“The things I said about mothers and all, I was really talking to myself. …But after saying that, I really wanted to live.”

Juhee continues her speech slowly.

“Also… seeing someone who wanted to die for love start working and living well… it made me want to live well too.”

Romeo looks at her quietly and then smiles softly.

“You are braver and stronger than any knight I’ve ever seen.”

Then he extends his large hand and asks,

“Will you accept me as a friend?”

“…What, weren’t we friends already?”

“From now on, we are even stronger friends.”

Juhee chuckles at his remark.

“Okay. Friends.”

She shakes Romeo’s hand in a straightforward handshake, and their faces, looking at each other with bright expressions, are visible…

…and then slowly fade to black.

* * *

Not long after, the lights on the stage turn back on. From the first blackout to the actors taking their final bows, applause resonates for a long time in the audience.

Among those clapping is So Yijin, a senior of the theater club and a writer active in Daehak-ro. She genuinely liked the play.

 

Not just the appropriate humor and touching conclusion, but especially the role of Romeo couldn’t have been more perfect.

Immediately after the play ended, she caught Heo Jiyu, who was mingling in the crowd.

“Oh, Jin unnie! Thank you for coming.”

“Jiyu, who is that guy?”

“Ah, Yooil?”

Jiyu is not surprised by the pointed question. Instead, with a proud face as if bragging about her child, she says,

“He’s new this time. Han Yooil.”

“Is he from the theater department?”

“He’s from the Department of Korean Literature. Surprising, right?”

“Will he continue to act?”

“I haven’t asked that far… Ah, Yooil!”

Then, Heo Jiyu catches Han Yooil, who is coming off stage to cool down. So Yijin, with sparkling eyes behind her glasses, approaches Yooil, pushing her short, permed hair behind her ear.

“I really enjoyed the play.”

Han Yooil awkwardly bows his head, thinking,

‘…Somehow, she really looks like a writer.’

【You are correct. This person is playwright So Yijin. She wrote the play <Your Glass Bottle>, and the musical <Archive>, both scheduled for a rerun in Daehak-ro at the end of this year. If you want to know the exact location of the theaters…】

‘Enough.’

Han Yooil ignores Brion and looks at So Yijin. She suited the round glasses and short hippie perm hair.

“Where did you learn to act?”

After a brief hesitation, Yooil answers,

“Ah… I’m self-taught.”

“Self-taught? Including voice projection and movement practice? All by yourself?”

“Um, yes.”

‘…Impressive.’

So Yijin looks at Yooil, hiding her expression. She had thought he would at least be an aspiring actor, not a theater major.

‘No overacting on stage, clean articulation… It’s evident he practiced professionally.’

But self-taught?

Impressed, Jin begins to scrutinize Han Yooil from his toes to his face.

‘He’s tall, has good proportions, and a decent face.’

“…Yooil, have you considered pursuing theater?”

“Yes… Uh, what?”

Yooil looks at her, surprised. So Yijin still has a serious expression.

Han Yooil watches So Yijin’s back as she leaves with his number, a pleased expression on her face.

【That went well. A good start, Mr. Yooil.】

After their first show, the theater club team ordered an early dinner together in the empty theater. While Yooil was biting into a large egg sandwich, Brion addressed him.

【Yooil, it seems you don’t have to worry about the reservation rate anymore.】

‘What? Why?’

At that moment, a production team member eating a ham and cheese sandwich suddenly stood up.

“Wha… What! This is crazy!”

“What’s going on?”

“Did someone cancel their reservation again?!”

“No, it’s not that…”

She immediately held out her phone. The screen was filled with recently added reservation details.

“Wow, what’s this?”

“Look at the reservation rate increasing in real time!”

“This is insane!”

Amidst the surprised voices of the theater club members, Brion’s voice resonated again.

【30 minutes ago, a new post about ‘Romeo in Wonderland’ was uploaded by Lee Hyejin on BlueChat. Would you like to see it?】

‘Is that even possible?’

Then, a semi-transparent window appeared before his eyes.

‘Damn!’

Yooil bit his lip to stop himself from screaming. Over the gray window that obstructed his view, white letters appeared.

[@jinnnny

Guys, if you have time, you must see Moonmyung University Theater Club’s regular play ‘Romeo in Wonderland’. The story is one thing, but the acting is insane; btw I’m going to watch the evening show again ffs the aftertaste is still with me… I’ll summarize the content below.]

And below the post, the number of re-chats sharing the post was rising in real time.