Upon hearing this, Wave smiled with satisfaction and was applauded by most of the people on stage, nearly all of whom were friends and colleagues from years past.

"I want to thank all of you and Marco for your trust!" Wave said, standing up and greeting everyone before sitting back down with a proud expression.

"But before we start any workshops, I have some news to share..." Marco began, looking worriedly at his phone and the door. "But it seems like the first piece of news has decided not to show up."

As Marco said this, a loud noise from the entrance drew everyone's attention to the back of the theater. A boy had rushed into the auditorium and quickly made his way down the stairs to the front of the stage. When he reached the row where Marco and Wave were, he lowered his head and clasped his hands in a gesture of apology:

"Dan! Finally, I thought you weren't coming!" Marco said to the boy, who was still catching his breath.

"I had an incident with my bike and..." he started in an extremely low tone but stopped when he noticed Wave.

Wave, in turn, felt his breath catch for a few seconds, surprised to see that the person in front of him was exactly the same one he had hit less than an hour ago. What were the odds of that happening? For a moment, Wave thought his life was being scripted in a very cliché way, and I know I promised you that wouldn't happen, right? But I promise again, it's just a huge coincidence.

"You! The bike guy!" Wave exclaimed excitedly. "I really didn't expect to see you! So, you're not mute and actually speak my language!"

"Do you two know each other?" Marco asked, making Dan shake his head in denial several times.

"Well, yes!" Seeing the other boy's gesture, Wave corrected himself. "Actually, no! I just hit him a little while ago with my car! Well, it wasn't really hitting; I just knocked him off his bike and—"

"You what?" Marco looked at Wave, completely surprised, but then turned his attention back to the other guy. "Dan, are you okay?"

Dan simply nodded, looking at the two people in front of him as if he were utterly scared. What was going on in that boy's head? Wave was intrigued and began:

"Why did you run away when I tried to help you? I've seen plenty of cases where the criminal who caused the accident runs away, but it's the first time I've seen the victim run away. Although I'm not a criminal since the light was green and I got out of the car to help, so that took me out of the criminal role, which means my initial comparison doesn't really make sense." Wave was talking to himself again.

"Wave, sit down. I'll talk to you later," Marco indicated, seeming a bit lost in the situation. "Dan, are you really okay?" He received a positive nod from Dan and felt relieved, sighing as if trying to gather his thoughts and raising his voice to address everyone. "So, folks, here at the company, we always welcome new aspiring talents in the entertainment and acting arts, and today we have someone new to learn with us! This is Dan, my nephew!"

"Your nephew??" Wave almost shouted. "I ran over your nephew? I feel even worse about it now!"

"You should feel that way about running over anyone, Wave," Marco said condescendingly. "Dan, please take a seat with the rest of the group on the stage."

Dan hesitated slightly, as if wanting to oppose his uncle's order, but after looking at the two of them a few times, as if considering something, he promptly moved to the indicated spot. Wave followed every step of the boy, troubled by a sense of familiarity that was bothering him. He prided himself on his impeccable memory, able to retain details from books, studies, and conversations, but Dan's identity remained shrouded in fog. What was preventing him from answering Wave's questions?

He didn't take his eyes off the figure sitting on the stage; it was clear how uncomfortable the situation made him, with every feature of his face showing it. Wave observed the serious expressions, noting the thin lips and piercing eyes, whose subtle green blended with brown. His hair was neatly styled, but a few stray strands made it look a bit messy, which somehow suited him. As Marco's nephew, he probably had Italian features that blended with his Asian heritage.

The next hour passed quickly. Marco explained the season's schedule, audition days, workshops, rehearsals, and it seemed like they had a lot of work ahead. Throughout the time, Dan stared intently at the stage floor, as if he wasn't really paying attention to Marco's words. Wave, on the other hand, was focused, but his focus was on Dan.

"Wave, do you think you can handle it?" Marco asked, pulling Wave from his thoughts during a brief pause.

"Handle what?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? The schedule, preparations, rehearsals..." He began, but was interrupted.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes! With years of practice, I've got this covered." Despite being distracted, he had easily grasped everything; after all, he was Wave.

"Oh, there's one more thing I wanted to ask you." Wave looked at him, and Marco continued. "I need help with Dan. He's here because of my sister, due to family reasons. He's never done theater before and I'm not even sure if he likes it, but he needs to stay with us this season. So, I need you to help find a place for him here, maybe even make him fall in love with theater, who knows... I understand it's a lot, and it's not your responsibility."

"He's being forced to be here?" Wave asked, frowning in deep curiosity.

Marco answered tersely, "Let's say so," seeming to swallow some hidden truth behind his words.

"And why?" Wave insisted. But seeing Marco's apprehensive eyes, he understood he wouldn't get a direct answer. He continued, resigned: "So my mission is to make someone who's here as a punishment... like this punishment?"

"In short, yes," Marco said, holding back a chuckle at the boy's perceptiveness.

"Marco," Wave began, sounding excited, "that sounds like a challenge."

"And it is. Dan is a great kid, but at the same time, he's quite difficult."

"I don't think he'll be very difficult for me," Wave said with a smile, having no idea what awaited him.