CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ten Ticks

“Oh my God, please tell me that everything is fine.” Shinyoung’s voice fills the so-called communal space in the apartment. She was on-call with Seungcheol for an hour and Soonyoung can barely keep up on the topic of the twos’ conversation. Since he is also within an earshot, he spins his chair once he hears her putting her face on her palms, ruffling her hair seconds after.

“This will be a stupid question. Are you alright?”

No. She is not alright, she answered.

Let’s see, on the bright side, Taehyung already went on a head start with the set making at the performance hall which is honestly earlier than scheduled. However, though it is a good sign that they are able to start off as early as possible seeing that a couple of former directors from the previous generations are coming down to see the rehearsal, trouble bound to happen. A young fellow in the name of Lee Chan, Taehyung’s crew member made a mistake in cutting one of the large pieces of plywood. Meaning, they are one down since they did not have any extra to use to finish making the actual platform.

Long story short, Shinyoung who is currently preparing to go to the film shooting in a day time will have to swing by the place to check on the progress and how should she make use of the remaining material. Wonwoo will probably not be happy with the end result but his outburst is the least of her concern. Oh Chan, she is not in the mood to yell yet when she almost does, Soonyoung holds her, capturing her shoulders to calm her down.

“Breath in, calm down, breath out.” He kindly instructed and it surely helps her to tone down a minute after. “It isn’t as bad as Seungcheol said, right?”

Wrong.

It is the worst case scenario she ever seen.

“How’s the production budget doing?” Shinyoung ambushed Sungjae as soon as she and Soonyoung walk through the hall’s entrance, eyes land on the main stage instantaneously. From metres away, she is able to pin point the boy’s apologetic face whilst his leader apparently switch his job to painting instead of sawing as planned – which honestly something he should have done from the beginning.

“Artistic team wise, we don’t exactly have the money to cover. He did mess up not one but two actually.” Sungjae offered that piece of information calmly, the total opposite of how Seungcheol reported her. “Great.” She replied shortly.

“I’m sure we’ll get around it.” Soonyoung said positively by the time they reached the front stage to get a closer look on the Scenic team’s work. They have to make an extra elevation on the premade stage for a better view for the audiences in the back and towards the end of the hall. If the venue is filling to the brim, she wants to make sure no one should see each others’ head during the show.

“You’re being too optimistic.” The Scenographer clicks her tongue as her mind visualises a way to seek remedy for the problem. Taehyung joins them along with a battery powered driller in his hand. “Well, we’ll need all the optimism right now.”

“I’m not trying to be too optimistic but I do literally mean we can get around it.” The dancer stated, gesturing the group to join him up stage and points on the platform and a ramp which were already constructed by Taehyung and his team.

“If you can’t make a perfect rectangular, have the plywood with rounded corners at the front instead. The audience will not see much of it since most of the acting area will consist of the cast standing…here.” He stops on a spot after climbing onto the platform to show what he meant. He stood on the end of the platform and assures them it is possible to salvage the mistake.

“I can see why you were suggested to be the Scenographer now, Soon.” The girl spoke with a small smile and hops to see his explanation better. “Not only it can be saved but it also means that the dancers will less likely to get injured from sharp corners later on. This also includes Myungho and Seungkwan’s fighting scenes.”

“Exactly. But is the perspect you guys are using the flexible ones?”

“Luckily,” Taehyung points his index finger across the stage where a pair of boys stripping the mentioned material and black coloured perspects is seen. “It is super flex-ie. Bought most of the things according to Shinyoung’s specification.”

“What do you mean by most?” Shinyoung questioned all of the sudden as she tries to use the newly screwed ramp to get off the platform and Soonyoung holds out his hand to catch her from below. “We did need more of those an inch long screws since we’re running out and you didn’t list it down.”

“Sound legitimate.” Sungjae added a nod. “Anyway, is the lighting design doing alright? The audio team will be here to bump in four days before the show. The night before the full dress rehearsal.”

“Oh, my team will come by at the same time. The design is mostly done and touched up but I still need to see the finish version of the set to get a clearer view.” Soonyoung informed and looks at Shinyoung to ask her. “That design was approved, right?”

It took him three days to create an entire lighting plot for the play. The idea of colours, patterns, and sequences were already jotted down in a diagram and schematic. Thankfully, Shinyoung did about forty percent of it and the fifty is his doings. The remaining ten is still in the making. She respected his commitment and how he stays true to his words to take over his position as the Head of Lighting Department once he is done with choreographing.

“You owe me after saving your design by the way.” Soonyoung intentionally spoke about it once they walked out of the performance hall and decided to swing by RQS Studio where Jihoon is waiting for them to arrive. “I know. You don’t have to mention it. What do you want? A drink? Food? Wash your clothes?”

“None of those. I only want your time.”

“Time?”

“Yeah,” He simply said and continues, “I don’t know when but I will probably need your time in the future. Save them for me.” Once he is done, he suddenly moves ahead of her which leaves a confused Shinyoung. As a former Creative Writing student, she should understand and learn how to read deeper context. But this context is not written so she cannot catch up quick enough.

“No, it is not supposed to sound like that. That has to be higher. Can you go higher?” The first thing the two of them heard when they push the practice studio open. Situated in the corner of the room is Jihoon helping Minghao practicing on a song that he has to sing. Among five, he has two originals to perform live and unlike Seungkwan who is more confidence in that department, he requires extra practice up till now.

The rest of the ensembles are sprawled in multiple directions. While some are reciting their lines individually in front of the mirrors, a few are cleaning their choreography which makes the choreographer smiles at the effort put up without telling. He expected the director to be in the room as well and asks his friend when he did not see any of them.

“Wonwoo is on his way. Seungcheol has an errand to run. Something about Yanan needing his help. I don’t hear the rest of his panic when he ran out an hour ago.” Jihoon answered as his fingers are hovering about the white keys of his MIDI. “Anyway, feel free to take over the practice. I’m tutoring him for awhile.”

“I don’t know you’re a singer, Myungho.” Shinyoung plops herself nearby and Minghao scratches the back of his not-actually-itchy head when he realises she is not joining Soonyoung who chose to help the dancers perfecting the choreography. “Myungho is a lot of thing and untalented is not one of it.” The Musical Director nonchalantly mentioned, causing the boy to blush even more than he is willing to be.

“Which song are you guys practicing anyway?”

“Oh, there’s this song called ‘I’m Willing’. He has to sing with another actor and Sujeong.” The girl’s eyes sparkle in delight when she hears the title of the song and instinctively scoots closer to the desk to speak, “Wait, does that mean it is you who sing in the recorded version? Oh my, I love the song so much! It is my favourite after ‘Night and Rain’. You have to let me listen.”

“Now, that’s not fair, Shinyoung. You’ll have to wait just like anybody else.” Jihoon chuckled when he witnesses the girl dejects. “Fine. Live vocal is different to recorded, am I right? I guess I have to join Soonyoung then.”

“Hey, you don’t have to go. Help him practicing his lines. He doesn’t need it but he’s too shy to seek help from other actresses in the room.” The mentioned actor’s face turns sour at the suggestion or really blowing up his plan so openly. He knew it is a bad idea to talk a bit too much with the older.

“And you’re fine with Sujeong? Anyway, I can help but lend me a script. I don’t have the latest one, assuming Wonwoo made hell a lot of changes for the past weeks.” Shinyoung waves the script right by Jihoon’s side which he grabs and passes to her with much effort. His hand is extended before his body leans forward that causes Shinyoung to laugh. “You do know you can push the chair back instead of doing that, right?”

“Yeah, but I’m too lazy to move and I still need to finalise the audio work with Hansol and Hyunggu later.”

“I honestly don’t see the connection with not wanting to move.”

“Just go away and practice with the kid, will you? Some of us actually have work here.” Jihoon spoke aloud and ushers them by lightly pushing Minghao who had been standing on his right.

“Don’t get that stuck on your head. Jihoon’s just playing with you.” The girl assures him once they find a spot in one vacant corner. Conveniently, most of the cast members gather in front of the mirrors with Soonyoung leading the impromptu dance practice session. It is easy to admire the determination shining out of them yet there seems to be extra sparks on the choreographer’s steps this time around. Or was she exaggerating her words.

“So,” She finally cuts her attention from the dancer to face the film student turned actor. Similarly, he is stuck on following his friends’ moves to notice her change of view. When he heard her calling, he too cranes his head to see her better. “Which part are you planning to run through?”

“Well, I just need your opinion on one part. Just be brutally honest, alright?” Minghao stated straightforwardly, hoping Shinyoung gets the idea to be frank and not holding onto anything for the sake of being kind. “I can be honest but not brutally. Fire away.”

There is a particular scene in Shinyoung’s opinion that is far most the most difficult to deliver. She ran into a session where it was Seungkwan’s doing it and even the boy had trouble working on the emotion. She guessed Wonwoo has yet to see the entire part to fix it. And guess which part is Minghao trying to do? It is exactly that.

Picture yourself, standing metres high off ground, eyes looking past the imaginary horizon. Not facing the audiences, the side profile is all he needs to show the intense thought of the character that is apparently facing tough time after going through what assumingly was the biggest rejection in life. During the minutes of the actor vocalising his lines, she goes into a pit of thought.

‘What is he thinking while writing this piece? Does it have to be this deep? Is this supposed to give her a wakeup call of the current state of relationship they are in? Whose fault was it?’

“Is it alright?” Minghao said after a minute of pausing for him to step out of Shin Minseo and be Seo Myungho once again. Eyes widening, she glances to her side where he is waiting for her reply. “You weren’t paying attention.” He continues when he catches the blank face on hers. He low-key expected it when he recited the lines.

“You know,” The boy slowly turns his body to fully face her and her eyes are no longer meeting his at this point. Minghao feels bad at his next words but if she is going to continue being like this whenever she steps into the practice room, she might as well spills it before it explodes.

“You still owe me that one back-story about you and Wonwoo.”

“I owe everyone on that one…even Wonwoo himself.” Shinyoung mumbled and slides her legs up to her torso, trapping them with her arms. “I don’t even know where to start or how.”

Does Minghao even deserve to be the first one to listen to her side of the ordeal? She is questioning that to herself. Sure, she feels comfortable talking to him. He is one of the few lucky ones that managed to warm up to her so quickly. If it isn’t for the minor subjects she has to take, will they even be here, conversing something so personal?

One…

Two…

Three…

It takes ten seconds after ending her train of thoughts to admit, she should probably tell the person who deserves the most explanation first before anyone else. And that person should best be Jeon Wonwoo himself.

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