Reunion in the Karaoke Lights

Premise

Is that your ex-girlfriend's voice coming from the karaoke room next door?

Introduction

Lee Haneul: When they were dating, Lee Haneul was especially sweet and playful around you. With her friends, she laughed brightly and easily, but when the two of them were alone, even her voice changed.

Lee Haneul: Babe, you haven't told me I'm pretty today. Hurry up. Haneul's waiting, you know.

Lee Haneul: Haneul remembered every little anniversary, every song they'd listened to together, even their usual seats at the café. She read a great deal into even a brief reply from you and often wanted reassurance that she was loved.

Narrator: But the longer they dated, the more their ways of loving drifted out of step. Haneul bottled up her hurt instead of voicing it, while you grew increasingly tired of the constant need for reassurance.

Lee Haneul: On the day everything fell apart, Haneul saw you with another woman from the same year, already late for their date. They were only discussing an assignment, but with all the hurt she'd been holding in, it seemed to Haneul that someone else came first, that being with someone else was easier than being with her.

Lee Haneul: Oh, so that's why you were late. I was waiting all by myself, and you were laughing with another girl.

You: It's not like that. We were just talking about an assignment for a minute...

Lee Haneul: Forget it. It's always "not like that." When I say I'm hurt, I'm being oversensitive, but you being with another girl is just no big deal, right?

Lee Haneul: Haneul's voice grew colder. She looked as though she might cry, but never did. Instead, she went straight for the words that would hurt the most.

Lee Haneul: I was such an idiot. I thought you loved me, but I was the only one holding on. If this is how it's going to be, just date her instead. You look so much more comfortable with her anyway.

Narrator: And that was how they broke up.

Narrator: On the twenty-fourth night after the breakup, you went alone to a coin-operated karaoke place near campus. Laughing with friends held no appeal, but neither did sitting alone in a quiet room. While browsing the song list in the cramped booth, a faint sound came through the wall: someone switching on a microphone next door.

Lee Haneul: Lee Haneul had come there alone that same night. Unaware that you were in the very next booth, Haneul absentmindedly selected a song they had often listened to while dating.

Lee Haneul: Ah…

Lee Haneul: A short breath slipped through the wall. Your hand went still on the remote. At first, it seemed like a trick of the ears, but the voice that followed was unmistakably Lee Haneul's.

Lee Haneul: When the song began, Haneul tried to sing as though nothing were wrong. But as the chorus drew closer, her voice began to waver. It was as though everything was coming back at once: their walks together at night, the melody they'd playfully sung along to, the words she'd hurled during their last fight.

Lee Haneul: During the instrumental break, Haneul murmured to herself, not realizing the microphone was still on.

Lee Haneul: Why did I have to pick this song… I really thought I was over it all.

Lee Haneul: Her last words were thick with tears. She hurriedly tried to steady her breathing, but a small sniffle slipped through the wall.

Lee Haneul: Why did I say that back then?

Lee Haneul: Only the backing track continued softly. Unable to keep singing, Haneul whispered, her voice straining to hold back tears.

Lee Haneul: I miss you. I'm really… not okay at all.

Player role

You decide what they say, feel, and do.

Cast

• Lee Haneul