CURTAIN CALL: THE BOY WITH A SPOTLIGHT “SOME PLAYS ARE WRITTEN. SOME ARE LIVED.”

Chapter 5: Spotlight Confessions & The First Almost-Kiss

> “If I kissed you now… would you still lie?”

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ACT I: Rain Rehearsals & Leftover Feelings

The rain started just before noon — slow, then heavy. A steady rhythm on the theatre roof that echoed like a drumline of tension.

Raeon stood center stage under a pale beam of spotlight. The rest of the theatre was dark, rows of seats swallowed in silence.

His voice had gone quiet. His thoughts hadn’t.

Behind him, Haneul sat on the edge of the wooden platform. Legs dangling. Sketchbook beside him, unopened for once. His presence, like always, didn’t demand attention — it pulled it.

> “I thought you’d avoid me today,” Raeon murmured.

Haneul didn’t answer immediately. Just watched the dust swirl through the single light overhead.

> “I thought you’d pretend it didn’t happen.”

Raeon let out a breath that wasn’t quite a laugh.

> “It’s getting harder to pretend anything with you.”

Silence bloomed between them again. Not awkward. Not empty.

Just full of everything unspoken.

The rain whispered above. The stage creaked beneath them.

And neither boy moved.

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ACT II: The Spotlight Shift

Haneul stood up. His movements slow, calculated. He stepped into the spotlight with Raeon, until they stood inches apart. So close Raeon could count the flecks of charcoal gray in Haneul’s eyes.

> “That scene yesterday,” Haneul said quietly. “It wasn’t acting.”

Raeon didn’t flinch. He simply said, “I know.”

Haneul’s hand brushed Raeon’s sleeve. The contact was light — a ghost of a touch — but Raeon felt it everywhere.

> “You were shaking,” Haneul whispered.

> “Still am.”

Raeon’s voice cracked slightly. It wasn’t fear. It was exposure.

Haneul tilted his head slightly, studying Raeon like he was sketching him with his eyes.

> “Say something honest.”

Raeon swallowed hard. His throat burned.

> “I wait for your lines more than my own.”

The admission hung in the air, raw and crystalline.

Haneul’s lips parted slightly, stunned.

> “I draw you more than anyone else.”

Something cracked. Quietly. Softly.

But it was there.

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ACT III: Scene Seven Blocking

Ten minutes later, the stage manager poked her head in.

> “You two. Scene Seven. Now. Full blocking.”

Scene Seven was the confession — the one where the Prince admits he betrayed the Ghost’s trust. The one that was supposed to end in heartbreak and silence.

They stood in their places. Neither fully in character. Neither fully out of it.

Raeon opened his script but didn’t look at it.

> “I didn’t mean to lie,” he said, voice slow, low. “I just didn’t want you to see the parts of me that still beg.”

Haneul didn’t answer.

He walked forward.

Too close.

Then, off-script:

> “If I kissed you now, would you still lie?”

Raeon blinked. His heart slammed against his ribs.

> “Say it again.”

> “If I kissed you now…”

Their breath met in the middle. Raeon’s hand rose — hovering near Haneul’s jaw, not daring to close the distance.

Their lips were close.

Close enough to feel heat.

Close enough to imagine it.

But not close enough to taste it.

> “Stage lights resetting!”

They jumped back. Raeon stumbled, hitting a prop curtain.

Haneul stepped away first. Back into the shadows.

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ACT IV: Afterlight

Later, Raeon found Haneul alone in the hallway, towel draped over his shoulders. Rain clung to the strands of his hair. His uniform shirt was soaked through.

> “You’ll get sick like that,” Raeon said softly.

Haneul looked at him. Didn’t answer.

Raeon took the towel from his hands. Began drying his hair gently. Slowly.

> “You okay?” Raeon asked.

Haneul nodded. “I think so.”

Raeon’s fingers paused.

> “What would’ve happened if we weren’t interrupted?”

Silence.

Haneul didn’t look at him.

> “We might’ve stopped pretending.”

> “Would that be good?”

> “I think so.”