Chapter 1: The Boy Who Forgot to Breathe

There are two types of people in this world.

Those who perform.

And those who write the truth they’re too afraid to say aloud.

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🏫 Scene: Daehan Academy of Performing Arts

Spring. The petals haven't even fully bloomed yet, and already, the gossip is louder than the bell.

> "Did you hear who transferred in today?"

"Is it true?! Raeon Myung? From The Silver Crown?"

"Didn’t he… collapse on stage last year?"

Panel: Students swarm the hallway, some with camera phones, others whispering behind locker doors.

But Raeon doesn't hear them.

Not really.

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🎭 Enter: Raeon Myung

He's walking down the corridor like it’s a runway made of silence.

Long lashes. Pale skin. Uniform crisp and perfect—too perfect.

But his eyes? They're glazed, like glass that's been screamed at for too long.

He isn’t here to shine.

He’s here because it was either this…

or shatter completely.

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🧍 Scene: Classroom 2-A

Raeon opens the door.

And there he is.

Haneul Seo.

The only boy not staring. Hoodie up. Headphones in. Scribbling something in a weathered notebook, like the whole world doesn’t exist outside of his mind.

> Raeon (thinking): He doesn’t look at me. Everyone else does… but not him.

Why does that bother me?

He takes a seat two rows behind him.

Pretends to be reading a script.

He’s not.

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📣 Scene: Drama Club — First Meeting

The rehearsal hall still smells like varnish and dust and dreams too big for the room.

Eun Jisoo, the club president, stands by the whiteboard, glasses sliding down his nose, holding up a thick script titled “The Ghost Prince.”

> Eun Jisoo:

“It’s original. It’s raw. It’s written by one of our own.”

“And this semester, we’re not just acting. We’re telling stories that hurt.”

He looks at the back corner.

> “Haneul Seo. Step forward.”

The boy lifts his eyes.

> Eun Jisoo: “Meet your playwright.”

Gasps. Murmurs. Raeon’s eyes widen.

> Raeon (thinking): Him? He wrote the script?

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📜 Scene: First Readthrough

The script is bruised. Honest. About a prince who doesn’t want to rule.

About a ghost who can’t touch the living but still watches over one boy, unseen.

> Minjo Ahn (reading lines):

“If you leave, I won’t follow.”

Raeon (softly, unsure):

“…Then I’ll stay. Even if it kills me.”

Silence.

Everyone looks at Raeon. It wasn’t his turn to read that line. But it came out anyway.

Haneul stares at him. Something flickers in his eyes.

> Haneul:

“That line was meant to be whispered. You shouted it.”

> Raeon:

“How do you whisper something that’s breaking you?”

For the first time… Haneul smiles.

Just barely.

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🕯️ Scene: After Hours – Empty Stage

Raeon finds himself in the rehearsal room alone.

> He lights a single stage bulb.

Stands in the middle.

And whispers:

> “If you’re watching… I don’t want to be the prince anymore.”

“Can you write me something else?”

“Anything but this.”

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Meanwhile...

Haneul sits on the rooftop, script in lap, sketchbook open.

He draws Raeon. Not the actor. Not the prince.

Just… the boy sitting alone under a spotlight, begging quietly for escape.

> Haneul (thinking):

He wears the spotlight like a noose.

But he still chooses to walk on stage.

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💬 Final Scene: Unexpected Encounter

The next morning, Raeon finds a folded page on his desk. A script scene.

It reads:

> The Ghost:

“You keep standing where the light burns.

But you never ask why you’re bleeding.”

> The Prince:

“Because if I stop… no one else will remember I was here.”

Handwritten at the bottom:

“Let’s rewrite the ending. Together. – H.”

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💔 End of Chapter 1

> Title Card Appears:

CURTAIN CALL: The Boy with a Spotlight

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