"this play is called 'the savior of christmas'. it's about a teenager who hasn't believed in the magic of santa and christmas", mrs. cha explained but yejoon interrupted her by yawning loudly.

"that's basically how all christmas movies are", he blurted out while rolling his eyes. renjun's eyes widened at his words as he covered his mouth to shut him up.

"please elaborate, mrs. cha", the pink haired boy asked kindly and yejoon received glares from both jaemin and renjun, warning him to stay polite and quiet.

"sure", the older woman smiled softly and had no hard feelings towards yejoon's opinion.

"the protagonist finds the belief and 'magic' of santa childish, fake and ridiculous. however, one day they wake up in the factory of santa. the news about santa's sudden and mysterious disapperance were spread and heard everywhere", she continued to tell in suspense.

chenle and jisung gasped loudly, holding onto each other as they were genuinely invested in the story.

"everyone is in panic because their boss isn't here to guide them and to deliver the gifts to the children. christmas is in serious danger."

mark and haewon covered their mouths dramatically as they were feeling the story too much.

"that's why the protagonist has to carry out santa's missions. they have to take over the role of santa this christmas to save it. even though they haven't believed in christmas before, they have to do it this time."

"why them?", renjun questioned skeptically and raised an eyebrow.

"they're the chosen one... more or less", the older woman replied chuckling.

"what do you mean by that?", sooyun asked irritatedly, confusion was written on her face.

"well, funny story. the protagonist works in a mall and has to dress up as santa claus who takes pictures with children — which is truly ironic at how much he despises christmas. it also happened that a sleep-deprived reindeer has been around his area, searching for his boss. due to the reindeer's sleepiness, he has mistaken the protagonist for santa claus."

the students snickered at the silly and goofy storyline, they were looking forward to act it out. it would definitely be hilarious.

afterwards, mrs. cha shared the entire plot of the winter play — from being mistaken as santa to saving christmas and solving the mysterious disappearance of the true santa claus.

when she had finished telling the story, almost every question was answered — except for one.

"who's going to get which role?", chenle asked curiously and eagerly. he felt how he grew slowly impatient and so was everyone.

"glad you asked", the woman responded grinning before announcing the role.

"so, what roles do we have? we have the teenage protagonist who is the main role in this play. santa claus and his wife mrs. claus. the sleep-deprived reindeer, the elves and the children", she listed casually while the tension became stronger in the room.

the woman noticed how all eyes were glued on her, seeing how everyone glanced in anticipation. a delightful smile appeared on her lips as she decided to announce the roles.

"the main role goes to...", the teacher started dramatically, everyone was dying to know the answer.

sooyun hoped and prayed internally to get the main role. she had always wished to play the main character in a bigger, more serious act. "please, please, let me get the main role this time", she thought to herself, finger crossed as her hopes were high.

mrs. cha grinned teasingly before she revealed the person who will present the protagonist in the play.

"...to jaemin!", she announced enthusiastically, causing the pink haired boy to widen his eyes in surprise. jaemin's jaw dropped to the ground as he refused to believe it. his best friends were shouting cheerfully for him, shaking him at his sides.

"what? me?", jaemin questioned in disbelief, feeling utterly honored, happy and shocked at the same time. it was hard for him to process it as he thought someone else would get the main role. the pink haired boy was beaming at the news.

"duh, who else is named jaemin?", yejoon asked sassily with a playful grin. however, chenle wore a wide and mischievous smirk on his face when hearing the question. in that moment yejoon knew what the chinese boy will reply.

"your mom", the orange haired boy replied proudly, causing yejoon to gasp in offense while pressing dramatically his hand on his chest. "how dare you—"

"anyways", the teacher began amusedly and gained everyone's attention, "yes, you get the main role jaemin."

"oh my— mrs. cha, thank you so much! i can't believe it... may i ask why you chose me to play the main character?", jaemin asked gently with a genuine smile.

"sure thing! first at all, your acting has a lot of potential and i want to give you a chance to expand it. your previous role as 'seojun, the second male lead' in the k-drama act let you play a sweet and selfless person. however, the role of the protagonist of the winter play offers you to show another side of you. you will be able to potray another character who is quite the opposite of the second male lead in some aspects", she explained precisely so that everyone could understand her choice.

"second of all, due to the unlucky accident last year, you weren't able to participate in the winter play so i wanted to give you a second chance in which you can shine even brighter", the older woman added sweetly and jaemin felt touched at her thoughtfulness.

"i absolutely cherish your kindness, mrs. cha. thank you very much", the pink haired boy mentioned in gratitude and bowed.

loud cheers were heard in the room, especially from jeno and donghyuck — they were almost screeching at that point.

"OMG BRO, YOU MADE IT", jeno hyped him up and donghyuck joined him. "WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU FOR GETTING THE MAIN ROLE!!"

the pink haired boy smiled brightly and hugged his best friends. he was glad that his friends were genuinely happy for him and supported him. after ending their group hug, jaemin faced his two-toned haired friend.

"congratulations, jaemin!! you have totally deserved that", the chinese junior mentioned with a soft smile that made the pink haired boy melt on the spot.

"thank you so much, renjun", jaemin responded cheerfully and pulled renjun into a soft hug without thinking much.

the two-toned haired boy was clearly taken aback, needing some seconds to process what happened before hugging him back. it felt so comfortable and warm to both of them.

after they let go, the shorter but older boy noticed the pink blush on jaemin's cheeks. "your cheeks", renjun pointed out, making the younger's blush turn into a darker shade.

"uh... i'm just feeling hot since it's quite warm here", jaemin excused himself and facepalmed himself internally. "damn, why am i panicking over a hug and why am i suddenly so bad at making excuses wth", he thought to himself.

"it's already autumn!", haewon yelled randomly in the background but shut herself up when she saw the dangerous glare of the pink haired boy.

renjun let out some chuckles and found jaemin's reaction sweet. his blush made him even cuter in his eyes. "wait, what am i even thinking?!", the two-toned haired boy thought to himself and was shocked by these thoughts, wondering why these kind of thoughts suddenly appeared in his mind.

before these two could exchange another word, yejoon interrupted them.

"omg cotton candy boy, your fanclub is going crazy when they receive the news of you playing the main character", yejoon teased smirking and wiggled his eyebrows, making jaemin snicker and shake his head.

while mrs. cha assigned the roles to each student, sooyun couldn't help but feel disappointed and angry that she didn't make it.

was she a failure? was she so bad to play the main character? is she really that incompetent? why doesn't she get to play the protagonist?

even though sooyun got a role which is almost as important as the main role, she didn't feel as satisfied as she thought. and yet she put on a smile for the act.

too bad that donghyuck could tell that she was upset about her role.

━━━ ☆★☆ ━━━

[ author's note ]
hello everyone, here's another update and i hope you liked it ♡

i'm looking forward to nct u's new comeback called 'baggy jeans'. i'm curious and can't wait for the release, especially since it's the original the 7th sense line up (iconic af)!!

have an amazing day / night <3