royal boys opportunity
reply 1997: confession scene
acting. jaehyun’s no stranger to it, and if anything, this is the kind of opportunity he’s more than happy to try for. he majored specifically in theatre back in sopa, and ever since, he’d take workshops every now and then in royal to keep up with his skills. as much as he liked music, he wanted to one day take the actor route as well.
it was an opportunity he wasn’t about to give up, something he had to take a chance on. acting, jaehyun liked that, and he whatever it was, he wanted to be a part of it.
finding a scene is the hard part. because there’s too many scenes to choose from and he’s never too sure which one would suit best; which one would be the most ideal. he’d juggled between the intensity of sky castle and the lightheartedness of strong woman do bong soon before he stumbled upon a scene from reply 1997. a classic drama about family and growing up that had taken the nation by storm. in particular, it was yoonjae’s confession to shiwon. while it wasn’t a loud scene my any means, it was an emotional one, one that showed the emotions that spiralled through yoonjae as he finally told his best friend he was in love with her and had been for years.
he practices the scene, goes through the lines over and over again. the more he practices, the more he finds himself absorbed into yoonjae’s emotions. every guy must’ve felt this once, he thinks, falling in love with your friend.
...
“jung jaehyun,” they call out his name and he enters the room.
he stands in front of the coaches and smiles. “i’m jung jaehyun,” he bows, “i’ll be acting out a scene from reply 1997.”
...
a deep breath before he gets into the right emotions; you love her, you’re in love with her. but she loves someone else. and you’ve held it in for so long. it’s painful.
he takes a seat and places both his hands together as he looks on at the coach. the scene is set at a karaoke room, him and shiwon are alone, and she’s asked him about a birthday present. she’d wanted a ring from a lover and jaehyun’s character, while deeply in love with her, isn’t her lover and only a friend.
“get it from my brother,” he begins, and his voice is laced with tiredness, because yoonjae is tired, he’s tired of being in love with someone who can’t love him back. “that present... as long as it isn’t from me, right?”
he pretends to take a sip of the can of ‘beer’ and lets out a loud sigh, face contorting into one of pain. “you’re so cruel,” he continues. “how can you ask me for that?”
why not? i’m too stupid to know why not.
a tilt of the head, eyes filled with hurt. “because i like you,” he says, “i’m really into you.” there’s a pause and he takes in a deep breath. “i’ve been at your side since we were born. we’ve seen each other everyday. i even remember your first period. but i still see you as a woman,” there’s anger in his voice, frustration that he’s still in love with her. “the first day of high school was the first time i thought you were pretty. after that day, i always gave you a hint.”
he moves closer. “i liked you. i wanted you to like me. but you didn’t notice.” bitter laughter. “fine, maybe you had only ever seen me as a friend. so i should confess. so i told you to meet me after the college entrance exam. i told you to meet me at the school playground at eight. that, it was my d-day,” desperation begins to seep through his voice, he lets himself feel as fragile as yoonjae had, letting his walls down in front of the girl he loved.
“but my brother said, ten minutes before... he told me... he liked you,” his eyebrows are furrowed, and he lets the pain show on his face, the hurt. “what should i do?” a pause as he looks at the coach for an answer she can’t give. “there are only two people i love,” desperation shows as he speaks, “one is my brother... who gave up everything for me. and the other is you,” his voice softens with the emotions. “it’s you... but... my brother likes you... a lot. like i do. what should i do?” and then it rises and softens once more. he’s desperate. yoonjae’s desperate for an answer but he knows that there’ll never be a right one. that it’s his fault for losing timing, for falling in love with a girl his brother did too. “what do you want me to do? i said what do you want me to do?” he almost yells out of frustration. he slams the can down.
so... you’ll still be my friend, right?
he stares at the coach in front of him, and he feels himself tearing up. the thought of being friends with someone you love, someone you care about, but the emotions aren’t shared (not like that). it hurts. his voice quietens down as he speaks.
“if a man... if he tells a girl who doesn’t like him... like a pathetic fool...” he takes in a deep breath and puts a hand to his chest. “if he confesses everything...” there’s a long pause, like he’s afraid to let this all go, to let her go. and then he speaks, “it means he never wants to see her again.”
he holds back his tears as he stands up and pulls a small ring box from his pocket. gently, he places it on the table. “throw it away,” he says, and yoonjae’s given up now, on loving her and having her love him back. he tries his best to convey the end of a friendship. he begins to walk but pauses for a moment. “a friend?” he asks, trying to find sense in the pain. “are you kidding me?”
the scene ends there and jaehyun takes in a deep breath before he thickly swallows his saliva, getting out of the yoonjae mood he was in.
You receive a call from Royal Entertainment: “Hello, Mr. Jung. We’ve been keeping an eye on you since your performance for our contest with KT. We were quite impressed with your photoshoot for The Samsung C&T Fashion Division’s casting process, and we’d like to offer you a contract with Royal Entertainment. Can you visit the office this week?”
he doesn’t expect too much out of the day, really. if anything jaehyun’s got his best pair of jeans on and a good tee to complete his clean cut look. he’s just about ready to head out for a job-interview of sorts ( through a few good contacts jaehyun’s heard about a nice little opening at a high-end japanese restaurant ) after deciding that he’s spent long enough doing nothing. his last shot at the samsung advertisement didn’t go as well as he’d hoped either so he’s decided to give it all a rest and pick up something to do before his father starts bugging at him to help out with his business.
when his phone begins to ring he doesn’t recognize the number and immediately he furrows his brows in confusion. “hello?” he answers, ( he nearly says moshi moshi as a joke but decides against it. his strong point has never been his sense of humour anyway ) and when he hears the voice on the other line immediately he freezes up.
he doesn’t know what to say –– because who would know what to say in a situation like this really. truth be told jaehyun hadn’t thought that he’d even be receiving a call like this and the shock is probably evident in his voice as he replies the speaker on the other line. “oh –– wow. i,” he turns to rest his body against the wall of his bedroom and catches his reflection in the mirror. hadn’t this been what he’d wanted for so long? and now here it was, handed to him. for some reason, the nineteen year old was still in disbelief.
he lets the shock process through his mind and then he smiles, runs a hand through his hair and nods ( even though he knows the lady on the other line can’t see him ). “thank you. that’s –– this is amazing news.” a look at his pants and his shirt and then he laughs softly to himself, happiness overwhelming him. “i could stop by this afternoon. thank you!”
when the conversation ends jaehyun’s left staring at his own reflection, lips still parted with no clue know what to do. a part of him feels like yelling, like pumping his fist in the air but instead he just laughs and slowly opens up the text messaging app.
( txt to : hyung ) sorry!! could you tell your friend that i’ll have to cancel on the job
his fingers hover for a while before he sends the next message.
( txt to : dad ) royal entertainment called me today. they’re offering me a spot as a trainee!
( from : dad ) good job
and that’s about enough for him –– at least for now.
