CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Rehearsal Mishap

“Good evening to fellow cast members, production crews, and respected seniors.”

Junhui with the help from Sungjae and Yanan managed to gather the entire team to the neatly arranged audience space to begin with an opening speech before starting the full dressed rehearsal. Vernon passes the wireless microphone over to Seungcheol, the director bows, mainly to the former directors of Rose Quartz and Serenity Production.

Most of them are already seated in the front row with expectant expression plaster on their respective faces. By most, Seungcheol meant the second gens directors. Claiming chairs according to a sequence of experience as the head director which is: Jo Jinho, Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon, and Jung Ilhoon. The only first generation director there is Lim Hyunsik himself.

“We are happy to welcome everyone to the first play of the third gen Rose Quartz and Serenity Production, Night & Rain, A Musical. The play is directed by me, Choi Seungcheol, and co-directed and written by Jeon Wonwoo.” The mentioned boy too bows in respect before returning to stand straight to let his friend continue.

Seungcheol introduces the rest of the main people of the production.

Lee Jihoon as the Music Director.

Kwon Shinyoung as the Scenographer.

Kwon Soonyoung as the Choreographer and Head of the Lighting Department.

“Two major positions in a play?” To say he, Seokjin is surprised is already an overstatement. He is beyond that if it is a possibility. Soonyoung who is being the central focus meekly nods and Shinyoung playfully nudges him to properly address the matter. “I was scouted for this play as the lighting head. But I took the dancing aspect too as a part of my final year project.”

“That’s very daring of you, honestly. Reminds me a lot like Jinho.” It was Ilhoon that stated those and having to sit far from the mentioned former director proven to be the best decision since he cannot hit him. “The only thing I did was becoming the vocal coach and a temporary piano teacher. Do you have to make it sounds like a bad thing?”

“It’s not. It’s admirable. No one can tackle a lot of positions in a production at once, Jinho. So I agree on Ilhoon for this one.” Hyunsik chuckles good-naturedly, patting the same-aged fellow to calm him down. “As if you ever rejected Ilhoon…” Jinho jokingly rolls his eyes and waves the random bicker away.

The formal introduction goes on for the next minutes before Shinyoung spins on her heels upon catching the sight of her juniors running from the bunched up crew members towards the second level where the technical area is. Frowning at the pair, she wonders secretly on why there are alarming vibes radiating from them so she immediately asks to be excused to join them.

“Yein? Hyunggu? Is there something wrong? You guys can’t just leave the briefing like tha-”

“Hansol told me one of the body mics aren’t working. Oh my goodness and it just had to be Myungho’s too. We don’t have any left from what I remembered.” The boy ruffles his hair messily whilst going under the table, attempting to seek for a replacement the quickest possible although hope is not exactly the correct word to apply. He, Shinyoung understands but why is her ‘understudy’ there too with the same look?

“The follow-spot for stage right is rigged. I can see it even from way down.” Yein told her before sprinting to the spotlight on the left side of the hall. The Scenographer hates to admit the younger girl is right. The main body of the follow-spot is hanging dangerously on the border that if she missed it, it might actually fall down to the sitting area. So Shinyoung leaves the audio boy to aid the lighting girl.

And that is not the only trouble rose from seemingly nowhere.

“Are you sure? The crews’ dinner are supposed to be here an hour ago? What do you mean they’re not here yet?” Sungjae who is in the midst of a phone call halted to question Yanan when the younger fellow gently pats him on the arm. “I’ve been trying to call the catering for the last two hours too! They’re complaining about not eating before the rehearsal as we speak.”

The Production Manager sighs, turning off the call once it enters the annoying yet innocent voice owned by the communication service enters his ears. Similarly, the two dejectedly slip their phone into their pockets before figuring out a way to salvage the mad production members in the backstage, waiting for their promised meal.

“I’m going to borrow Tae’s car and we’ll buy the food and drinks ourselves. This will sure burn my wallet for the next few weeks.” Sungjae winces as he eyes on the mentioned object in his hand. “I’ll pitch in whatever I can.” Yanan assures and they sprint to the backstage to seek for the Scenic Department head.

As if it is not enough of drama written in the script, Wonwoo’s brain grows dizzier as the time swings by. With Seungcheol far from his line of sight, he has to deal with the cast members face to face while they are doing last minute touch up for a perfect full-dressed rehearsal. In front of him is a bawling Boo Seungkwan who messed up his forehead after bumping onto Chan. The young one was there too to ease the situation. Poor boy was at the wrong place at the wrong time without proper grasp of the boxes, resulting an injured actor.

“He’ll be alright, right?” The assistant director asked or rather wishing for his lead actor to be well. “The pain will be gone with ice on them. I hope.” Yerin informed calmly before extending her hand to Junhui who comes in with a cool gel pack.

“I don’t like how things are going down so fast today, frankly.”

“No one likes it, Jun.” Wonwoo replied without delay. “I’m going out. Call-time is 8.45. Let’s just pray this runs smoothly. We can’t afford to disappoint the former directors before the show even starts.” Junhui voiced and jogs out of the male’s waiting room to deliver the same message to the female’s room.

“Moon Jun!” The stage manager seeks for the caller down the path he is taking and true to his assumption; it is Shinyoung running over to his direction. “One more problem and I might actually explode.” The Chinese fellow hollered before they meet up in front of the male’s restroom door.

“Oh no, I’m just going around the place wishing ‘good luck’. That’s all.” Shinyoung good-naturedly smiles and it amazes Junhui. It is clear to him that her shoulders are shaking slightly. Perhaps the nerves are overwhelming to say verbally. “Anyway,” He heard her saying before the smile turns upside down.

“Have you seen Soonyoung? Jimin was looking for him and he’s nowhere to be heard and seen.” She stated in concern. “He’s not with you? I saw him up by the tech area with Yein minutes ago.”

“Really? Funny you said that. Yein didn’t see him aside from the briefing session half an hour ago.”

“He’s wearing black hoodie today, right?”

“Yeah,” Shinyoung bobs her head before lightly patting Junhui on the left arm. “He’s bound to be in the hall regardless. Anyway, let him know I’m looking for him. What is the call-time?”

08.45pm.

It is not a smooth sailing. That is for sure and the visible faces owned by the managers appear to be calm like the unbothered sea. The heat is bothering everyone in the area yet thanks to the full blown air-con surrounding the old Silver Diamond Hall, it eases all minds including their precious directors.

“I don’t recall the hall can be this cold. Do you?” Seokjin threw the question to his good friend, Namjoon who merely shrugs. “Maybe they had the unit fixed.”

“And I wonder where they got the money to fix it, Joon.” Ilhoon spoke, sarcasm laced in between his produced words. He doubts that is the case but he rather not let his thought wander too far off. Maybe he underestimated Seungcheol and his team. Nonetheless, he notes that this is in fact his first show after letting the production fall into the younger director’s hand. Speaking of the fellow director…

“Sorry for letting everyone wait. They’ll start at 9.” The current director of Night & Rain claims the chair by Ilhoon’s side and puts up a tired smile. Any of them should be and Ilhoon can see most of the crew members are plastering the same expression for the past hour. He figured there must be something more than just a delay from the promised 8.30 rehearsal.

Soonyoung comes in sprinting to the second level as Yein lets a sigh escapes her lungs once she finally gets a glance of the older boy nearing her spot. It is her first big production and for them to have such high trust is bringing out the pent up nerves up to . At least she can relax a bit when the Head of the Lighting Department is with her.

He apologised with his short intake of breaths. After pulling the hoodie that has been rested on his head, Soonyoung lowers his bottom on the chair provided by his assistant before turning to the right where Vernon and Hyunggu have their eyes fixed on the stage. He supposed they are as nervous as he does.

And it is not even the show night.

‘He looks relatively new.’ Hyunsik contemplated by himself as the rehearsal proceeds. Ten minutes into the show, he gets a glimpse of the supposedly lead male of the entire play. It surprises him and his fellow line of directors to see someone fresh to take the lead. Initially, Jinho guessed the recognisable figure (Seungkwan) being the male lead character but not until Namjoon spoke how there were an empty gap in his character.

That’s daring. Seokjin often uses fancy words to describe a lot of things and it is apparent to the others. Hence, they outspokenly agree on him after awhile. They got the name half way through when Ilhoon asked Seungcheol. The young director merely smiled after listening to their comments and he rather not beat around the bush and let them know that it was Wonwoo who picked Minghao to act as Minseo.

To conclude, all of the former directors complimented the preview. It is not perfect, Hyunsik stated straightforwardly but it is better than he envisioned. He wanted to ask the use of the massive scaffolding and he did which he got a tiny curve on Wonwoo’s lips. Seeing that himself, Hyunsik knows there is a lot more since they did purposely cut the show in half.

“Will Eunkwang and Changsub be here on the actual show?” Shinyoung did the honour of asking the golden question. Really, she is curious just as much as Seungcheol. However, he has too much in mind to put it out. “They might. I even invited Yoongi. That is if you wanted to see him too during the show night.”

The girl sheepishly chuckles at the statement and she hears light giggle coming from her friends. Even Yein has an idea behind her sudden shyness. Junhui on the other hand is too preoccupied with his file in hand to listen closely. He is busy writing and giving out imaginary instructions to care the hinted jokes.

“Are you alright?” Junhui switches his attention immediately when he catches the familiar black sneakers underneath his file. Looking upwards, he finds Minghao staring at him which he returns in the same manner. “Just tired.”

“I guess we all do.” The younger Chinese boy admitted instantly and clearly, he is already out of the directors’ circle. There is remaining energy running in his body and he knows better than to waste them when the first show night is in a day time. “Will there be a final practice tomorrow?”

“No,” The stage manager informed kindly, offering a smile to accompany with the short reply. “Seungcheol told me to give you guys a full day break before the show. And for once, he actually has a working brain. I respected him for that.” Minghao lightly laughs at the answer.

“It is technically the semester break after all. I’m sure no one knows it better than Seungcheol does.”

“That and the ones who have work can do their last minute catch up before they collapse for the show.” Junhui good-naturedly said as his smile getting genuinely brighter. “Right. I almost forgot not everyone in this production is a student like us.”

Minghao exits the Silver Diamond Hall with his bag pack slung on his shoulder, purposely letting the other free from burden. Unlike any other nights, there is no message dinging his phone to let him know the next day’s schedule. Well, there is one from Yanan and that is to tell them to get a decent rest before the show. The next couple of notifications are the cast and crew members celebrating the brief freedom. The rest is history as he mutes the group to get a break he deserves.

As he is about to take his first step out through the main door, he turns to see Jihoon, Soonyoung and Shinyoung walking out of the hall in the same drained expressions. While one is visibly sweating from physical work, the other two are mentally exhausted. Followed after the trio are Seungcheol, Wonwoo, and Junhui but all they exchange is a short goodbye before they find Minghao standing and eyeing on them.

“Hey, Myungho! Do you want to join us? We’re going to get some late midnight snacks.” The girl invited him all of the sudden which surprised him a bit though he should not be because it is only polite to drag the actor along. Are they not friends? “Can I?”

Of course, Soonyoung answered, already wrapping his arm around the boy’s shoulders before literally dragging him along. The leftover two laugh when Minghao starts to question if the friendliness provided to him is even necessary. He can barely catch up to the dancer’s powerful stride that he has to limp for a quick second before able to walk properly.

“I don’t remember seeing your hoodie strap glow in dark like that, Soon.” Shinyoung told him and Soonyoung takes the mentioned subject closer to his face. “This? It’s cool right? I dropped them in a highlighter concentrated liquid.”

“Your science-y side is showing.” Jihoon spoke which he much regretted saying because by then Soonyoung switches target from Minghao to him. “There is science in art that we need to learn, little one.”

“There’s nowhere out of that, isn’t it?” Minghao questioned randomly and glances to his side where Shinyoung shrugs at the question. “Well, Soonyoung can be very clingy but it’s alright, I guess.”

“Does he cling on you like that too?” He can feel it when he asked the question. He felt out of place seeing the three of them laughing but one feeling stands stronger than the other.

Jealousy – when the girl simply replies with a ‘yeah’.

 MEET THE CREW