“This is Kim Kibum.” Ryeowook said, leading Kyuhyun to a seat at the front row in the auditorium.
Kibum had a cool expression on his face, almost cold.
He nodded at Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun felt more than a little flustered, “Uhm, nice… to meet you? I’m- I’m Cho Kyuhyun.”
Kibum lifted an eyebrow, “I won’t bite, Cho Kyuhyun-ssi.”

‘He may say that,’ Kyuhyun thought, ‘But, with that look, I wonder.’

Kibum smirked and for a split second, Kyuhyun wondered if maybe Kibum could read minds.
Ryeowook pushed Kyuhyun into a seat and sat between him and Kibum, “Kibummie-ah is the best actor here. He’ll get the lead, definitely.”
Kibum chuckled, “We’ll see.” He directed his cool gaze at Kyuhyun, “You planning on auditioning for the lead?”

“No way.” Kyuhyun said immediately, “I don’t think I’m cut out to be an actor.”
“Then what’re you doing here?”
“My mom thought it’d be good training for later. I’ve only ever seen musicals or theater productions on school field trips.”
“Training for what?”

Kyuhyun ducked his head, a little embarrassed at the admission, “Uhm… I’m going to audition for a company next year and hopefully, become a singer.”
“Oh.” Kibum thought about this, “That’s cool. You like singing?”
Kyuhyun nodded.
“Cool.” Kibum sat back in his chair.

After a few moments he and Ryeowook began chatting about the previous evening.
Ryeowook had spent the evening trying out a new recipe and promised to make it for Kibum in the future.
Kibum had spent the evening memorizing his lines during loading screens while he played Starcraft.

Kyuhyun leaned in a little closer.
Ryeowook chuckled, “You and that game.”
“You play Starcraft?” Kyuhyun asked shyly.
Kibum glanced at Kyuhyun, eyes narrowing, “Yeah, what of it?”

“Nothing. I play, too.”
Ryeowook groaned, “Oh no.”

Kibum’s expression changed immediately, the cold exterior disappearing.
He smiled warmly, “Yeah? Been playing long?”
“As long as it’s been out.” Kyuhyun grinned, “I just got the latest expansion pack.”
“Me, too!” Kibum leaned over Ryeowook, “Hey, give me your username, we’ll play sometime.”
Kyuhyun and Kibum whipped out their mobiles to record each other’s usernames and numbers.

“God, save me.” Ryeowook sighed, “I’m never going to escape Starcraft, am I?”
“You should just give in to peer pressure, Wook-ah and play.” Kibum told him matter-of-factly.
“You’ll never take me alive.” The small boy declared.
“Sooner or later, the game will get you.” Kyuhyun interjected wisely, “You can run… but not forever.”
Ryeowook shook his head defiantly, “When I can no longer run, I’ll crawl.”
The three dissolved into laughter.

Jongwoon appeared on stage and held his hands up, “Can I get your attention up here?”

Everyone began quieting.

“First off, thank you all so much for coming out today to audition! I see lots of familiar faces and many new faces so I’m sure this is going to be really exciting and interesting! Allow me to introduce myself, I am Kim Jongwoon and I’m one of the producers of this production, alongside me is Lee Sungmin.”
Sungmin stood up from his seat, just a seat away from Kyuhyun, to wave at everyone with both hands.
“Our assistants are Kim Ryeowook.” Ryeowook stood to smile brightly at everyone, “Hello!”
“And Kim Kibum.” Kibum stood to give a slight bow and a small smile.

“We’ll begin auditions just as soon as our director arrives! Everyone do your best! Fighting!”
The audience applauded for a moment before returning back to their casual chatter.
Jongwoon sat next to Kyuhyun, “Excited to audition?”

“Nervous.” Kyuhyun admitted, “What do I even do?”
“You can sing or do a short scene. It’s up to you.”
“Like… acapella?”
“Most people bring their musical accompaniment.”
“Oh… I didn’t bring anything.” Kyuhyun frowned, “I don’t suppose anyone has a piano in their pocket?”

Sungmin giggled at Jongwoon’s other side.
Jongwoon grinned, “I left my pocket piano at home today but there is a piano off-stage. We’ll pull it out for you when you audition, ok?”
Kyuhyun sighed in relief, “Thanks, uhm… hyung.”

After a few more minutes of chatting, the doors at the back of the auditorium opened and two young men followed.
“Hello!” the thinner of the two called out, “My apologies for my tardiness.”
He was blond and handsome, climbing the short stairway to the stage, “I’m Park Jungsu, the director of this production. That is Kim Youngwoon, my assistant.” He gestured to the stockier fellow who had followed him in, “I’m sure Jongwoon-ah has already welcomed everyone so I will say thank you, once again, for coming today. Everyone please work hard!”
Jungsu turned towards the stairs.

“Hyung, what are we performing this year?” Jongwoon called out.
“Oh!” Jungsu laughed, “This year we’ll be performing West Side Story!”
The audience applauded and many people began murmuring excitedly.

With that, Jungsu made his way down to the audience and sat by Sungmin.
The two greeted each other happily and Jungsu reached out briefly to squeeze Jongwoon’s hand.

Youngwoon busied himself pulling out four clipboards from the bag he carried and passing them to Jongwoon, Sungmin, Jungsu and kept the last for himself.

Jungsu turned in his seat to face the audience behind him, “We’ll be going in order of the people who signed up! First off, Kim Kibum!”
Kibum stood up, puffing his cheeks out and exhaling.
Ryeowook cheered him on as the boy made his way to the stage.

Kyuhyun noticed everyone lean in a bit towards the stage, obviously getting ready for whatever Kibum would do as his audition.
“Kim Kibum, auditioning for the role of Tony.” Kibum said by way of introduction.
There was some scribbling on the clipboards before Jungsu nodded, “Anytime you’re ready.”

-

Kyuhyun watched with interest as the auditions progressed.
Kibum with his dramatic monologue that even had Kyuhyun swallowing against a lump in his throat.
Ryeowook had a birdlike voice that hit notes and octaves Kyuhyun had never heard from a human.

Kyuhyun finds himself watching attentively when it’s Sungmin’s turn.
The young man is handsome, no question there.
His sweet voice was almost an odd juxtaposition from his slightly stockier build. He wasn’t huge but he was well muscled, shoulder’s wide.

Ryeowook seemed to notice Kyuhyun’s gaze, “Sungmin-hyung does martial arts. He sings well and he dances very well.”
“Oh?”
“Min-ah is good at everything he does.” Jongwoon chimed in from Kyuhyun’s other side.
The youngest glanced sideways to see Jongwoon staring at Sungmin on stage, a small smile on his lips.

Sungmin’s singing voice is like his speaking voice – sweet and pleasant to listen to.
He sings a cheerful song, even doing a cute dance along with it.
Kyuhyun felt happy just to hear him perform.
When the song ended Sungmin bowed to the applause of the audience.
He skipped down the steps leading to the stage, flashing a smile to the audience, and flopped down into the seat next to Jongwoon.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kyuhyun saw them grasp each other’s hand and thread their fingers together.

After a few moments of scribbling on the clipboards, Jungsu called out Jongwoon’s name.

Jongwoon stood and Sungmin cheered him on as he walked onstage.
“Kim Jongwoon, I’m not auditioning for any specific part.” He smiled, almost shyly.
He waited for a bit and then his accompanying music began playing.
When he sang the first few words, Kyuhyun’s couldn’t help but gape in astonishment.

Having played piano for some time now and a singer himself, Kyuhyun could pinpoint the notes Jongwoon sang. The man was pretty much technically pitch-perfect.
But that wasn’t all.
When Jongwoon sang, he put his whole heart into it.
The song was one that Kyuhyun was unfamiliar with but he could sense the sorrow beyond the lyrics.

When the Jongwoon sang the last lingering note, the entire room was dead silent.
Then, a roar of applause and cheers.
Jongwoon smiled and bowed before the audience and Kyuhyun wondered why this man hadn’t debuted yet as a singer.
“You’ll catch flies like that.” Sungmin said, grinning at Kyuhyun from his seat, “Our Jongwoonie-hyung is pretty good, huh?”

Kyuhyun snapped his mouth shut, “He’s… very good, yes.”
“Better than good.” Ryeowook said, “He’s the best singer in the company.”
Jongwoon smiled happily as he walked past Kyuhyun and into Sungmin’s arms.
They embraced tightly for a moment and Kyuhyun could hear them talking to each other.

When they sat down, Kyuhyun could see their hands were once again entwined together.

When the hubbub died down, Jungsu called the next name on the list.
Kyuhyun tried to pay close attention to each audition but every so often his eyes would stray to his side and he’d see Jongwoon and Sungmin.
Jongwoon with his arm around Sungmin’s shoulders.
Sungmin with a hand on Jongwoon’s knee.

Kyuhyun couldn’t explain the feeling he experienced when he saw them being so… intimate.
His heart pounded in his chest and he convinced himself it was nerves due to his own audition drawing ever closer.
Still, he couldn’t stop himself from glancing over.

Ryeowook helped to distract him by pointing out who was who.
Choi Siwon was the model-handsome boy who did a funny monologue – a pleasant surprise for everyone as he seemed kind of stiff and overly polite off stage.
“Siwon-hyung is like that. He’s actually very warm and sweet.”

Lee Donghae and Lee Hyukjae seemed to be glued together until each of their respective turns on stage.
Donghae seemed silly and childish off-stage but when he performed, he took on his role excellently.
His monologue was touching and thoughtful.
Hyukjae was a dancer, moving effortlessly across the stage, smooth as silk.

There was Kim Heechul who seemed to hide a razor sharp tongue behind a beautiful face and Han Geng who spoke little Korean but danced beautifully.
Shin Donghee was funny and had the audience rolling.

There were several other people and Kyuhyun was having a hard time keeping up with everyone’s names. Ryeowook seemed to know each and every person alongside stats and details.

Finally, it was Kyuhyun’s turn.
His legs shook as he stood up after hearing his name called.
Jongwoon and Sungmin raced ahead of him to run offstage and drag the piano into view.
Kyuhyun thanked them profusely and Jongwoon squeezed his shoulder as they made their way off the stage.

“Uhm- Cho Kyuhyun… I- I’m not auditioning for a specific part.”
He sat down on the piano bench and took a deep breath.

Fingers splayed across the keys, he began his song.

--

tbc