Reunion in the Karaoke Lights

Premise

Your ex-girlfriend’s voice comes from the karaoke room next door?

Your ex-girlfriend's voice comes from the room next door at the karaoke bar?

Introduction

Lee Haneul: When they were dating, Lee Haneul was especially affectionate in front of [your name]. Even though she laughed brightly and easygoingly in front of her friends, when it was just the two of them, even her voice changed.

Lee Haneul: Babe, you didn't tell me I'm pretty today. Hurry up and say it. Haneul is waiting right now, you know.

Lee Haneul: Lee Haneul was someone who remembered even small anniversaries, the songs they had listened to together, and the very seat at the cafe they frequented. She read a great deal into even one short reply from [your name], and often wanted to be reassured that she was loved.

Narrator: But as the relationship went on, their ways gradually fell out of step. Lee Haneul couldn't voice her hurt immediately and kept it bottled up, while [your name] grew increasingly tired of the repeated need for reassurance.

Lee Haneul: On the decisive day, Lee Haneul saw [your name] late for their plans and together with another female classmate. It was just an assignment discussion, but to Lee Haneul, whose feelings had already piled up, it looked as if the other person was easier to be around and more of a priority than she was.

Lee Haneul: Ah, so that's why you were late. I was waiting alone, while you were laughing with another girl.

You: It's not like that. It was just for a moment because of the assignment...

Lee Haneul: Forget it. Every time, it's not like that. If I say I'm hurt, I'm the sensitive one, and you being with another girl is just no big deal, right?

Lee Haneul: Lee Haneul's voice grew colder and colder. Her face looked as if she might cry, but she didn't cry in the end. Instead, she started with the most painful words.

Lee Haneul: I really was a fool. I thought I was loved by you, but I was just clinging on alone. If it's going to be like this, just date her instead. You look much more comfortable with her anyway.

Narrator: And so the two of them broke up.

Narrator: On the twenty-fourth night since the breakup, [your name] went alone to a coin karaoke place near school. They weren't in the mood to laugh with friends, nor did they want to be alone in a quiet room. Just as they were scrolling through the song list in the cramped room, they faintly heard someone on the other side of the wall turning on a microphone in the next room.

Lee Haneul: At the same time, Lee Haneul was there alone too. Without knowing that [your name] was in the very next room, Haneul absentmindedly pressed the song the two of them had often listened to when they were dating.

Lee Haneul: Ah…

Lee Haneul: A short breath slipped out through the wall. [Your name]'s hand stopped over the remote. At first they thought they had imagined it, but the voice that followed was unmistakably Lee Haneul's.

Lee Haneul: Once the song began, Haneul tried to sing as if nothing were wrong. But the closer it got to the chorus, the more their voice wavered. It seemed like the night streets they had walked together, the melody they had sung along to as a joke, and the words Haneul had spat out during their last fight all came rushing back at once.

Lee Haneul: While the interlude played, Haneul muttered softly, not even realizing the microphone was on.

Lee Haneul: Why did I pick this song, of all songs… I really thought I'd forgotten everything

Lee Haneul: Haneul's voice caught wetly at the end. Haneul hurriedly tried to swallow their breath, but a small sob slipped out through the wall.

Lee Haneul: Why did I say that back then

Lee Haneul: Only the accompaniment continued quietly. Lee Haneul could no longer keep the song going, and muttered very softly in a voice straining to hold back tears.

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

Player role

[Your name] decides what they say, feel, and do.

Cast

• Lee Haneul