After Story 236

“It sure is good because it’s newly built,” Choi Mina muttered as she looked at the glossy floor and the walls.

The facilities and interior design of this place were easily distinguishable from other places as though to prove the slogan “the cutting edge cultural facility” that was on their main website.

She was taking some photos of the interior with her camera when she found a photo zone. The faces of the musical actors were framed in photos.

In front of the photo frames was a black cloth in the figure of a person. Mina took photos in the photo zone.

“Don’t run.”

She heard that there was an event in the kid zone, and indeed, there were many children around. Mina walked around the children who lined up in front of the photo zone and headed to the wall where full-body photos of the actors were hung up on the wall.

“Han Haneul. She sure is pretty.”

Haneul was looking up at the sky with a face of liberation while wearing a torn black dress. Chin raised wasn’t an angle that actresses preferred, but it looked good for Han Haneul.

Mina pressed the shutter from a distance so that all the actors were in the frame.

-Lady Lune will now be starting. Visitors, please go to….

An announcement sounded. Mina put away the camera and took out her ticket. The audience which was scattered throughout the hall flocked towards the entrance. Mina entered the theater under the guidance of an employee.

The ceiling was high and the dark red seats were laid out in a semi-circular fashion. A faint citrus smell tickled her nose.

She thought back to the aromatic system introduced on the website. It mentioned that perfumes that went with the scenes of the musical would be sprayed intermittently throughout the performance.

The very attempt of giving a new feeling to the performance was good, but whether the results were good or not was up to question. From what she could remember, a similar attempt was made in the movie industry, but the responses weren’t the best.

When she sat down, she could see a small display on the back of the seat in front of her. It let her know that there were five minutes left until the performance began.

She turned her phone on silent and laid back against the backrest. There was almost no height difference between the front and back seats. If she sat upright, she would be blocking the view of the person behind her. It was not surprising that the employee told everyone to lean back when they came in.

The seats were packed to the point that she couldn’t see any empty seats. It really was a performance that became a hot topic online.

Mina had also gotten her ticket because her blogger friends who watched the first performance were all praising it.

The weekend performances where Han Haneul was playing the lead female were hot enough that getting a ticket was hard.

She had a look at the program book before the lights turned off. She always bought the program books of whatever musical she watched. She also went to the merch booth to buy merchandise if she liked the performance. Thanks to that, there were a lot of mugs, coasters, and various diaries that she hadn’t even used.

The lights slowly dimmed. Mina closed the program book and looked in front of her with slight nervousness.

It cost 100 thousand won to watch the performance. As a salarywoman who earned 2.4 million a month, it wasn’t a small amount. She was watching this musical after having endured the craving to eat at night and the urge to buy new cosmetics.

It was natural that she was worried that the performance was bad or wasn’t to her liking. Then there was the fact that the last musical she watched was so terrible that it was one of the worst ones she ever watched. She had bought a ticket for it because she liked the composition of the performance despite the fact that the theater was rather notorious for not having good acoustics.

However, her expectations were betrayed. It had been a long time since she found the lead characters’ acting to be sloppy. The production quality was also terrible to the point that they used low-quality speakers that ripped high-pitched notes, and the background was just a single computer-generated image. She couldn’t feel any of the emotional changes that the lines and songs were supposed to convey. She ended up just closing her eyes shut.

The program book she bought that day was stored in a box underneath her bed. It was like a graveyard of sorts. A place to honor musicals that did terribly.

For today though, she had recommendations from multiple people and the evaluations of it on blogs were overwhelmingly positive, so she was looking forward to it. The sound system was also known to not lose out to Sejong Center of Performing Arts, so her ears would be relaxed as well.

As she was thinking about various things, the stage darkened. It took about three seconds for light to appear in the pitch-black darkness.

Light from a beam projector decorated the screen. Strange purple symbols adorned the stage.

The sound of horse hooves and carriage wheels could be heard on top of a dreamy song. The opening led the audience into a world of fantasy, away from the modern world.

Mina was satisfied with the sounds that could be clearly distinguished as well as the light that filled the whole stage. The facility was better than she had expected. What was left now was the story and the acting. If these two things were satisfied, the program book for this musical would be displayed in the display case next to her bed.

If under her bed was a graveyard, the display case was an art gallery. The works that made her feel happy just by thinking about them were placed there.

The sound of horse hooves stopped. It was then followed by the sound of something crashing. From how the sound of the wheels had disappeared, it seemed that the carriage had been overturned.

The screams of a man and a woman came out from either side of the stage. The screams continued until the eerie sound of the wind came out.

The light messily adorning the stage had disappeared as well. Dark brown lighting came on, and the actors came on stage.

The one who appeared with clothes looking messy from dirt and dust was Han Haneul.

Mina recalled the photo she saw in the hall as soon as she saw Haneul on stage. She thought the photo was good, but now that she saw the actress for real, it turned out the photo didn’t do enough justice.

“Zess, Zess! Can you hear me? Zess!”

Haneul floundered as she ran across the stage. Her name in the musical was Fiana.

Haneul, who was looking around for Zess like crazy with messy hair, eventually stopped in the middle of the stage. Her eyes which were drenched in sorrow became murky for a while before they widened rapidly.

Even though Mina was seated quite a distance away from the stage, Haneul’s emotions were clearly conveyed to her. The way she used her body to express her emotions showed she was very skilled. Of course, her distinct facial features played a role in that as well.

Light descended upon the dark stage. There was a man laying on the ground all bloody. He was actor Choi Dongwon, presumably playing the role of Zess.

Haneul stiffly went over before falling down. Haneul threw her body forward so harshly that it startled Mina. The actors really increased the immersion from the beginning.

“Zess. Zess, open your eyes,” Fiana said desperately with her head against Zess’ lap. However, there was no reply. He seemed to be dead.

“Please, don’t do this to me. Please.”

The moment Fiana’s line ended, an actor clad in black cloth came out from the left of the stage. Mina couldn’t tell what kind of devices were attached to the cloth, but the cloth wobbled around like a living creature.

While the black cloth moved toward the center, the music began.

“Fiana, Fiana, pitiful is your name.”

It was an eerie voice. The actor’s voice topped the music that had a fast rhythm showing the urgency of the situation.

The way it turned from plain lines into a song was rather smooth. The black cloth, who revealed himself as the devil who liked to play pranks, kept circling around Fiana and sang,

“Meaningless life, meaningless man, meaningless death. But I can reverse this. How about it? Should I bring your loved one back to life?”

“Please, save him. I’ll do anything,” Fiana said, walking over to the devil on her knees.

The devil crouched down.

The cloth was taken off, revealing the actor’s face. It was just a blank face with no eyes, nose, or ears. The disguise was creepy.

At the same time, it made Mina wonder how he was looking in front of him.

The condition the devil offered Fiana was rather simple.

“I don’t expect great things from you. You just need to love Zess, that’s all.”

“Is that really all I need?”

“Of course. There might be a problem if your love towards him changes, but you two are going to love each other for all of eternity, aren’t you? Isn’t that a great condition?”

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Remember my words. You have to love him unconditionally.”

The stage darkened for a moment before the devil disappeared. Mina could feel that a lot of effort went into staging the performance. As for Han Haneul’s performance, she liked it from the get-go. It had been a long time since she came across an actress like this. An actress that made her forget that this was a performance and made her absorbed with a single change in expression.

Following that, the love of the revived Zess and Fiana continued for a while. Although the stage was adorned with beautiful music and bright lights, it felt strangely ominous.

The reason behind the bad omen was revealed soon enough. This musical was not about a harmonious, beautiful love story, just as the program book indicated.

“Nelly, you’re the only love in my eyes.”

“Don’t do this. You have Fiana. Fiana and I are long-time friends.”

“I know, but I can’t help it. These emotions of mine aren’t momentary. I truly…”

Nelly, who was refusing at first, eventually fell in love with Zess as well. Warm light enveloped the two of them.

A melody tickled her ears, blessing the new meeting. Meanwhile, the light moved to the corner of the stage, where Fiana was watching.

Mina clenched her fist. Yeah, now that’s some drama.

Zess eventually went off stage, and Fiana was left alone. Fiana optimistically told himself that Zess was just playing around for a moment and would return to her soon.

However, the more the story progressed, the more isolated she became. Zess no longer whispered his love for her. All of his interest and affections were directed at Nelly.

The music indicated that ruin was nigh. It was just as Fiana reached her limits and was about to tell Zess that the devil appeared again.

“O, Fiana. Pitiful is your name. You must not forget our contract. You must love him, even if he wants you no longer.”

“How can I do that? I can’t hold on anymore. He doesn’t love me. I don’t know how I feel anymore.”

“What you feel is not important. The contract is. Bear in mind. You must love him. The moment you hate him, you will die. No, you will suffer in a place worse than death.”

Fiana shouted in despair that she didn’t want that. The fast-paced music that increased the tension started coming out, mixed with the horse hooves that could be heard during the opening.

“Then shall I take care of this problem for you? You just need to watch. I will take care of everything.”

“Okay, I’ll go with that.”

Before the stage darkened, the black cloth enveloped Fiana. A stifled scream like they were screaming underwater filled the stage.

Fiana, who was floundering under the black cloth, suddenly stood upright. Taking the black cloth off herself, Fiana looked into the audience seats emotionlessly and spoke,

“O, Fiana. Foolish is your name.”

* * *

Mina left the building in a daze before she looked at the paper bag in her hands. She had a whole lot of merch in both of her hands.

A brochure, a handkerchief, a mug, a photo book, the original book, a brooch, stickers, etc.

She bought all the products that Han Haneul modeled for. It wasn’t just her. All the people who came to the merch booth looked for Han Haneul’s photos. If she hadn’t bought them during the intermission, they would’ve run out of stock. Though thinking back now, she really should’ve just visited the bathroom during the intermission.

She ended up buying too much.

“How much is all this…”

It was good that the musical got her excited and she bought the souvenirs, but she felt stifled when she thought about the credit card expenses she would have to pay next month.

She combed through her memories before taking out her phone. 210 thousand won. That was the amount that left her credit card.

She made a teary face and looked behind her. Han Haneul’s face could be seen on the outer wall of the building.

“Geez, what am I gonna do now?”

If it was just a decent musical, no, if the actors did just a little more moderately, she would’ve bought just a mug or something.

Han Haneul’s acting, after having offered her body to the devil in Act 1, could only be described as crazy.

If Act 1 consisted of Fiana, who was pure and gentle, but frustrating, the Fiana of Act 2 was someone of passion and coquetry.

She whispered false love in front of Zess and threatened Nelly.

She laid out deceits and traps to make Zess suspect Nelly and eventually had him kill her.

Han Haneul’s acting when she laughed like a lunatic while witnessing the death of Nelly was truly exhilarating. It was eerie and yet strangely cathartic.

She played two dramatically different characters extremely well. The devil and Fiana, any other actor wouldn’t have done it as well as her.

Ultimately, Fiana was deprived of everything by the devil and died tragically, and Han Haneul showed everything through her performance on stage.

Mina wiggled her toes and looked back at the entrance. If she ran over there now, she could get a refund. If she got a refund, then her life would be more plentiful during the next month.

However, she could not take that step.

“I’ll just starve. I just have to starve, right?”

The merch was so good that she couldn’t bear to refund them.

On her way back home, she was glued to her phone. The moment she left behind a short review on the blog, comments started appearing.

The most asked question was if the play was good.

She replied to those comments without hesitation.

-Everything’s good, but just going there to watch Han Haneul is worth the price of the ticket. No, it’s more than sufficient.

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