HOSHI;

[Kwon Soonyoung]

“Yah, you punk. Are you not going to do it properly? Look at this stage! What kind of stage is this?!”

Skidding to a halt on his way back from the bathroom, Soonyoung glanced around as he checked to see if anyone else had noticed the stern shout. The hallway was currently bustling with various staff members working diligently to prepare for the start of rehearsals. No one seemed to be paying the loud shout any mind and as Soonyoung thought to follow suit and continue on his way back to the waiting room, he was distracted once again by another frustrated yell.

“Didn't I tell you that it was too close to the front?! How many times do I have to show you, this goes here, not there!”

Poking his head into the open doorway that led to the stage, Soonyoung  noticed a senior staff member scolding a new intern, who looked deeply embarrassed and was constantly bowing his head in shame.

“Due to your stupid mistake look at the amount of room on this floor. There’s barely enough room for people to perform without feeling squashed.” the senior staff grunted, rubbing a hand through his hair in frustration before continuing, “I know that this is a new venue since we’re doing a special broadcast in a new building but I gave you distinct instructions that the stage set up needed to be placed further back near the wall so that there would be enough space for the artists to perform freely and safely. It is our job to ensure that the show goes on smoothly and if you can’t even do this, you shouldn’t be here! You’re lucky I don’t kick you out right now!”

Wincing slightly at the harsh tone, Soonyoung couldn’t help but feel slightly sorry for the new intern. He remembered his years as a new trainee and just like this intern, he had his own share of mistakes as well. It didn’t feel good to be scolded but he knew the senior staff was only doing his job and if someone couldn’t do their job efficiently then it would only hinder others.

Nonetheless, Soonyoung couldn’t help but worry about what the senior staff had said about the stage. Seventeen was a big group and it was important that they were given a sufficient amount of space when performing. True to what the senior staff had stated, rather than the stage prop being set up further towards the back it was set more forward and in the middle of the stage. Thus, this lead to the area where artists could perform to be severely limited. The platform of the stage was also quite elevated, being at least a few feet higher than normal stages. Therefore, if anyone accidentally fell, major injuries were likely to occur. This caught Soonyoung off guard as he didn’t expect the problem to be this bad. Biting his lips slightly in worry, Soonyoung continued to listen as he silently observed the stage.

“Now, this,” the senior staff said while waving his arms wildly around the room, “definitely isn’t going to work. Unfortunately, I still have other tasks to do before rehearsal starts. I’m going to trust you again, even though I honestly don’t see why I should, and have you fix this mess! Not to mention the first group up for rehearsal in twenty minutes is Seventeen! There are thirteen members in this group so make sure you make enough room!”

“Yes sir, sorry sir...” the embarrassed intern responded before the senior staff member rushed off stage mumbling about how he was busy with more demanding and important work to do than to babysit an incompetent intern.

Realizing that it’s been awhile since he’s been gone, Soonyoung felt it was time to take his leave before any of the members decided to come look for him. Glancing back once more at the dejected intern, Soonyoung decided to put his worries aside for now and hope that the intern would be able to fix the stage properly in time for their rehearsal. Rushing back to the waiting room, he saw that a few of the members were relaxing and some were still in the process of installing their mics and wires into their clothing.

Joining the group installing their mics, Soonyoung settled himself beside Mingyu and stood still as he let the staff start installing the mic and wires into his own clothing. As he is waiting, Soonyoung couldn’t help but let his mind drift back into his thoughts and worries about the stage set up and whether it will be safe to perform. In the back of his mind, he wondered whether to bring the situation up to their manager so he could check up on the stage situation and make sure that the intern did fix the stage correctly by rehearsal time. However, before he could fully invest too much thought into that notion he felt a playful nudge in his side and glanced up only to come face to face with Mingyu, who was shooting him an amused look while pointing towards a corner of the room.

Curious, Soonyoung glanced over in the given direction and feels a smirk edging its way on his face as he spies Jihoon and Seungcheol together chatting away in their own world. He could see that Seungcheol was turned towards Jihoon and the two were happily talking with smiles on their faces. Soonyoung felt glad as he saw Jihoon give Seungcheol a radiant smile and snicker in response to the conversation he’s having with his significant other.  

As the two began to playfully bicker, Seungcheol smiles gently at Jihoon when he saw that he was slowly beginning to fidget due to nerves as rehearsal time neared, evident by the increasing tapping of his foot and the wiggling of his fingers. The adoring gaze in Seungcheol’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Soonyoung and when the two made eye contact, Soonyoung couldn’t help the slight chuckle that erupted from his lips when Seungcheol quietly mouthed, “He’s cute.”

Suddenly, Seungcheol draped his arm around Jihoon’s shoulders before pulling him in slightly for a one armed hug and began whispering into his ear fervently with a smirk on his face. Soonyoung could only imagine what was being said to cause Jihoon to frown and hints of a slight blush to begin forming on his cheeks. Not long after Jihoon began to squirm in an effort to get out of Seungcheol’s sudden show of affection but Seungcheol, being the stronger one out of the two, wasn’t letting go. Soonyoung smiled as he knows that this is Seungcheol’s way of relaxing Jihoon’s nerves before a performance and despite the discomfort Jihoon was currently displaying, it was obvious what a calming effect Seungcheol had on him when he eventually settled down and succumbed to Seungcheol’s antics.

Thinking back to his jokes earlier, Soonyoung couldn’t help the slight guilt he felt for teasing Jihoon about his work and lack of time with the group. He knows that Seungcheol tries extremely hard to reassure Jihoon and steer him away from his dark thoughts. Seungcheol is aware that Jihoon already has a lot on his shoulders as the composer of the team so he didn’t want Jihoon to unnecessarily stress himself out over his lack of involvement in their relationship. As he ponders this, Soonyoung realizes that his jokes with Seungkwan were uncalled for, not to mention insensitive, and might have unintentionally filled Jihoon with more doubts about himself. Overcome with guilt, he couldn’t help but feel that he had damaged a portion of the work that Seungcheol has been working so hard on to gain Jihoon’s confidence back.

Feeling a hand on his shoulders, Soonyoung snapped out of his thoughts only to back away in shock when he found his face dangerously close to Seokmin’s, who was leaning in towards him with his signature wide grin.

“It’s time for rehearsal!”, he informs him cheerily before it slowly faded into a concerned gaze, “Are you okay? You seemed like you were in a bit of a daze there.”

“Aish…” Soonyoung responds in exasperation. Rubbing a hand lightly on his chest to slow the rapid beating of his heart from the shock he received, Soonyoung whined, “You scared me!”

“Sorry!” Seokmin chirped but the apology sounded insincere to Soonyoung’s ears. Rolling his eyes, Soonyoung playfully pushed Seokmin’s hand away from his shoulders. Not minding the playful push, Seokmin smiled as he softly retaliated by pushing Soonyoung back slightly.

“So, what were you thinking about?”

“It’s nothing” Soonyoung replied as he gives Seokmin a wry smile. He didn’t need Seokmin to know about his guilty thoughts. If he told Seokmin, he would just try to tell Soonyoung that it wasn’t his fault and that he didn’t mean any harm in his jokes.

“If you say so”, Seokmin shrugged,  not fully convinced that was the truth, “but let me know if there’s anything you want to talk about. We got to lookout for each other, right?”, Seokmin smiled and clapped Soonyoung lightly on the shoulder. Soonyoung smiled gratefully and felt a slight blush grow on his cheeks and instead of shoving Seokmin’s hand away this time, he took a hold of it as he dragged them both along to follow the rest of the group out for rehearsal.

They settled into steps behind Chan and Joshua and soon enough, they arrived in the now busy backstage where several staff members were running around and shouting instructions. In the audience area, he could see that a few groups of fans were settling into their seats, most likely VIP admissions, since they were allowed early seating.

“Seventeen up for rehearsal!” they heard before they were all ushered onto the stage and several handheld mics were shoved into Seungkwan’s, Seokmin’s, and Vernon’s hands, “Get into your positions everyone!”

Gathering onto the stage, all the members got into their respective positions for Mansae. A few of the fans cheered and Soonyoung smiled and waved a bit before settling into his spot in the choreography.

As Soonyoung surveys each member, he suddenly feels a sense of unease settle into his gut. Something was off. In that exact moment, he recalled his concerns about the stage and how he had forgotten to bring it up to their manager. Scanning the area frantically, Soonyoung’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach when he finally realized that the stage looks exactly the same as it was when he had encountered it earlier. From the corner of his eye, he could see the senior staff from the feud not too long ago has realized the same problem before he began shouting into his headset, no doubt trying to locate where the intern has gone.

Hearing the introduction to Mansae start, Soonyoung curses under his breath, knowing that it was too late to stop now, especially with fans present, and he could only hope that nothing would go wrong as everyone set into motion.

Going through each move and motion that he choreographed, Soonyoung feels the dread inside of him increase as the performance drags on and he completes his part. Even though everything is running smoothly, he can’t stop but to keep glancing left and right in an attempt to keep all the members in his sight. Getting into position to do the basketball hoop part where Vernon jumps in and out, he sees Chan and Minghao give him questioning looks but before he could respond to their glances, the swift change in choreography stopped him from doing so.

Finally facing forward for the first time since the rehearsal started, Soonyoung feels his blood run cold when he sees that they’re all too close to the edge of the stage. Belatedly, he realizes that the next part in the dance is the jump portion where Mingyu, Wonwoo, Seungcheol, Joshua, and Jeonghan will execute. However, the jump portion was impossible to complete now without anyone falling off due to the group being pushed forward in the dance due to the limited stage space. Turning sharply around, as everyone else in the front row did as well once they realized the situation, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

“STOP! STOP!”

To his horror, his voice was overpowered by the music and the fans’ cheering, resulting in his words to fall on deaf ears.

Feeling time stop before it began moving again in a pace like a film on slow motion, he watched the events unfold before him in dismay.

On his right, he could see that Joshua had somehow either heard his warning or was able to interpret his and Vernon’s frantic gestures and had stopped in time before he made the jump. However, Jeonghan did not and had landed right on the edge of the stage, his body wavering back and forth in unbalance. Jun and Joshua immediately grabbed onto him to pull him back to safety and all three toppled over in their haste.

On his left, he felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw Mingyu soar over the edge of the stage. However, an exhale of relief escaped him soon after when he saw Mingyu manage to catch himself on the edge, dangling precariously by his arms. Wonwoo, who like Joshua, must have stopped himself in time immediately raced to his boyfriend’s rescue and pulled him up.

Finally as he swept his gaze forward, Soonyoung locked eyes with a devastated and frozen Jihoon, who was watching from the side of the stage helplessly. Feeling a tinge of confusion as he thought everyone had managed to make it to safety, Soonyoung felt his heart rate speed up as he directed his gaze straight forward and briefly made contact with Seungcheol’s wide and shocked eyes. Reaching his hand out in an attempt to grab onto Seungcheol and bring him to safety, Soonyoung’s breath hitched when just a few millimeters away from grabbing onto Seungcheol’s outstretched hand, he completely disappeared from his view, falling backwards off the stage.

BAM!

A shrill and loud crash resounded throughout the room. The music shut off and everything and everyone seemed to have paused for a second as a short silence followed after the crash. Then all at once, it was like sound was ignited again and the fans’ terrified screaming reached his ears and the manager and staffs raced onto the stage.

“S. Coups!”

“No one touch him!”

“Seungcheol!”

“Someone call the ambulance! Now!”

“Seungcheol Hyung!”

Soonyoung stood frozen for a moment, trapped in his disbelief and horror of what had just occurred until he catches sight of Jihoon racing out from behind him. Snapping back into reality, he moves as if a heavy weight sat upon his shoulders. Trembling and breaking out into a cold sweat as he made it to the edge of the stage, Soonyoung’s head felt like it was filled with lead as it forced him to look downwards and through the crowd of people surrounding the eerily still and lifeless body of his hyung and leader. Feeling nausea threatening to overtake him, Soonyoung raised his hand to his mouth in shock as his eyes filled with tears.

There, lying on the cold and hard floor was Seungcheol, unconscious, and with a deep red puddle of blood rapidly pooling around his head.

TBC

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