The Stage and the Silence Between

> “Sometimes, what breaks you isn’t the spotlight.

It’s the silence when it fades.”

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📍Scene: Daehan Academy – Rehearsal Room, 6:00 PM

The rehearsal was supposed to end an hour ago.

Everyone left already. Except two.

The piano in the corner hums with the faint memory of a tune.

Stage lights off. Only the hallway light bleeds through the door.

Raeon sits alone on the edge of the platform.

Uniform tie loosened. His shirt’s half untucked.

One shoe off. His script thrown somewhere across the room.

He doesn’t cry.

He just stares at his hands like they betrayed him.

> Raeon (thinking):

“What am I doing here? Why am I trying again? I’m not… enough.”

---

🌑 Flashback – Earlier That Day

Minjo Ahn had read the confrontation scene as Ghost, just for warm-up.

Everyone laughed. Raeon didn't.

Because Minjo added a line.

> Minjo (reading):

“You think you’re the only one performing your pain?

You think silence makes you deep?

You’re just loud in a prettier way.”

The line landed. Like a slap in Raeon’s chest.

No one stopped him.

Not Eun Jisoo. Not the director. Not even Haneul.

And that’s what hurt the most.

---

🐾 Footsteps enter the room

Haneul Seo stands in the doorway.

Hands in pockets. Hoodie on. Headphones resting around his neck.

> Haneul: “You forgot this.”

(He lifts Raeon’s script.)

“Again.”

Raeon doesn’t move. Doesn’t answer.

> Haneul (softer):

“You skipped the stage notes. You were supposed to cry in Act III.”

Raeon:

> “I don’t know how to fake crying anymore.”

---

🎬 The Emotional Unraveling

Haneul walks closer. Not too close. Just enough.

He places the script beside Raeon’s foot. Sits on the steps a level below him.

> Haneul:

“You don’t have to fake anything with me.”

Silence.

Raeon whispers, voice cracking a little:

> “Do you know what it feels like to be stared at every day… and still feel invisible?”

> “To be told you’re special, gifted, golden…

And still lie awake wondering if you’re just… convenient?”

> “I don’t want to be someone’s favorite performance anymore.”

Haneul doesn’t respond right away.

He lets the silence sit, warm and heavy.

Then—

> Haneul (quiet):

“You were never a performance to me.”

Raeon’s breath hitches.

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🤲 The First Real Touch

Raeon covers his face. He doesn’t sob.

He just… shakes. Quietly. A tremble in his shoulders.

And for the first time, Haneul does what he hasn’t dared to do:

He reaches out.

Slowly. Carefully. Like Raeon is something fragile that might break if touched wrong.

He places his hand on Raeon’s knee.

Not romantic.

Just… grounding.

And Raeon leans into it like he’s been holding his weight up too long.

> Raeon:

“…Please don’t leave me alone right now.”

> Haneul (whispers):

“I won’t. I’ll stay until the lights come back on.”

They sit there.

Two boys.

One breaking, one holding.

No roles. No script. Just the kind of silence that says, you’re safe.

---

📝 Scene: Haneul’s Sketchbook – That Night

A new drawing appears.

A boy sitting barefoot on a stage.

Eyes glassy. One spotlight above him. Another boy sitting lower, steadying him.

Beneath it, Haneul writes:

> “I saw him without the crown tonight.

And he was still beautiful.”

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🎭 END OF CHAPTER 3

Next Chapter: “Dress Rehearsals & Confessions that Aren’t Confessions”

The lines get too personal.

A scene ends with a gasp—not from the audience, but from Raeon.

And Minjo? He’s not done playing mind games.

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