Backstage smelled like sweat, hairspray, and nerves.
The auditorium was packed. Parents, teachers, classmates—every seat taken. Even the principal showed up, wearing a scarf with the school's emblem and a bemused expression like he couldn't believe the drama club pulled this off.
Leo stood near the curtain ropes, tugging at the edge of his costume. No more glittery reindeer onesie—thank the gods—but instead a clean-cut school uniform with a crisp winter coat and an old scarf Rin had repurposed from the costume closet.
Yuki paced behind him, reciting lines under her breath. She wore a long white coat that made her look like she'd stepped out of a winter fairy tale. Every few seconds, she'd pause and shake her hands like she was throwing the nerves out of her fingers.
"You good?" Leo asked.
Yuki looked at him.
Her eyes held a storm of emotion. But she smiled.
"No," she said. "But that's okay. Let's mess up beautifully."
Leo managed a crooked grin. "Deal."
---
The play began with soft piano music and fake snow drifting down from the tech crew's elevated perch. The stage lights bathed the wooden floor in soft blue, and a hush fell over the audience.
Leo walked onstage first.
Every step echoed in his ears.
He remembered the lines.
He remembered the blocking.
But he didn't expect the audience to disappear the moment he looked at Yuki.
She entered from the side, clutching the scarf she was meant to give him in Scene Three. Their eyes met, and for a heartbeat, everything else fell away.
Not the script.
Not the audience.
Just her.
Yuki.
She delivered her first line, and it hit him—not because of the words, but the way she said them. There was something real underneath. A tremble that wasn't acting.
He responded.
They danced through the script. Not literally—though Scene Five did include an awkward slow dance under stage lights—but emotionally. Moment by moment, beat by beat, the story unfolded.
Kai, from backstage, whispered into the mic, "They're killing it."
Rin, seated by the light controls, didn't respond. But she smiled.
---
Scene Seven was the dramatic confrontation.
Leo's character was meant to walk away.
But for the briefest second, he didn't want to. Even though it was scripted.
Even though it was just pretend.
He looked at Yuki, tears trembling in the corners of her eyes, and something in his chest twisted.
He turned. Walked away.
And behind him, Yuki's line echoed across the auditorium:
"If you leave now, I won't chase you again."
The line wasn't in the script.
Leo stopped walking.
He slowly turned back.
The audience held its breath.
So did the cast.
So did Yuki.
And then Leo smiled.
A small one.
Barely there.
But real.
And he spoke.
"I don't want to be chased," he said softly. "I want to walk beside you."
The audience erupted.
Applause, cheering—someone in the back screamed "GO GET HER, KING!"
Backstage, Kai slapped the tech table. "THAT WASN'T IN THE SCRIPT!"
Rin whispered, "But it was perfect."
---
The final scene melted into the snow-lit epilogue.
Yuki wrapped the scarf around Leo's neck.
And the lights dimmed.
Blackout.
Curtain.
---
Backstage was chaos.
People high-fived, shouted, some even cried. Parents stormed in with bouquets, club members were lifting Kai in the air like he won a championship.
Leo found a corner, drinking water and trying not to combust from adrenaline.
Yuki found him.
"You improv'd," she said, breathless.
"So did you."
She grinned. "I didn't plan that line. It just… felt right."
He nodded. "It was."
A pause.
Then Yuki reached out and fixed the scarf on his neck.
"You looked good tonight," she said. "Like a real leading man."
Leo gave a soft laugh. "Guess you make me brave."
And in that chaotic, echoing backstage whirlwind—
Yuki leaned in.
And kissed him on the cheek.
Soft.
Quick.
Undeniably real.
---
Later that night, Leo lay in bed staring at the ceiling, the scarf still around his neck.
He didn't know what tomorrow would bring.
But for now, under the stars of stage lights and amidst the snow of fake plastic flakes, something had changed.
And it felt like the start of something new.