CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

Under The Lights

A new start is always something he looks forward too. Ready to learn, ready to greet the chilly crisp of autumn. There is a gentle tap on the table, returning half of the attention from the window back to the classroom. Even a week into the fourth semester, he greatly affected by the incident though not many caught his wandering thought. It is more evident when he is seated as his usual spot. This time instead of seeing his good friend by his side, the chair remains empty.

Jungkook apologises for letting himself distracted and proceeds to turn his focus back to class. Nonetheless, it does not help that it is Ms Han’s class and that surely triggers his mind. It is too obvious that even the lecturer misses her smartest student. It had always been his friend who constantly asked questions, some were more random and personal than the other. He smiles upon remembering a memory he is able to recall in between the dull Cinematography lecture.

Early Third Semester’s Lunch Meeting…

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re so good at this thing, okay? How about I let you do the sewing thing and tell me what you think about that!” Mingyu spoke and his words tumbled out fast. A verbal habit when he is annoyed and it never fails to amuse Jungkook, even the slightest bit. This was deemed interesting because he never got the time to know Shinyoung up close.

“You know me better I at costume…” Shinyoung replied dejectedly, pouting at Mingyu’s remark. “Besides, it’s not my fault you’re bad at this. Blame Myungho for putting you in this situation.” The mentioned boy laughed when the girl passed the baton to him.

As it was still an on-going discussion for the group assignment, Mingyu proven himself dense on the lighting department when they conversed about the topic. They were implementing whatever knowledge they had and all the boy did was eyeing on them, completely feeling left out.

“Alright guys. We can agree that you’re not good at that so how about you focus more on audio with Jungkook then? I’ll work with Shinyoung for lighting. We’ll meet up again after we nail this down.” Minghao suggested kindly. A smile included to assure his teammates that everything will be just fine. He was not the leader for nothing.

“Fine. If that is your way to find an excuse to be alone with Shinyoung, I’ll do it.”

Present day…

The fellow lightly chuckles when he remembers his reply to his friend’s suggestion. Looking at it on another light, maybe there was more between the two that he missed. But admittedly, Minghao is admirable and understanding.

Yes, Mingyu refuses to use past tense to describe his friend. It is strange and it will take a lot of time for him to get use of the fact even after months. The season already makes its clear indication, letting him know that it is alright to move on.

Similarly, his mind is not in class. Even though truth to be told, he anticipated this very class last semester once they pulled of the group presentation. He tried his best to comprehend with the subject and worries disappeared when he knew there will be her to teach him more of the department. The ‘A’ in Cinematography II does not seem worth it now that two of his group mates are no longer with him.

Turning his head back, Mingyu sighs when the table used to be claimed by Shinyoung is vacant. Disappointment strays in his heart and only in the Technical and Lighting Design class he senses her disappearance. He should have taken the chance to know more about her before she decided to take a break from university. Nobody knows where she is gone to.

That includes her best friend, housemate, Soonyoung as well.

After the disastrous night and forcing her to head home, he recalls accompanying her through the night. She was a mess. Her hair was tousled horrifyingly. Tears ran out after pouring them hours straight. She could not sleep properly and held on his hand while he provided emotional support. That was the only he could offer and too bad there was no one who was able to do the same for his side.

“I’m sure I’m already ahead of you two. So for that, I’ll leave first.”

Minghao high-likely did not mean whatever he said to him literally, right? No wonder Soonyoung was bothered by the way the boy articulate those final words before he exited the dressing room back then. Well, there is this belief he read somewhere. Something about one able to sense his days coming to an end yet he did not notice every statement made.

The news regarding the Silver Diamond Hall taken down by a fire was all over the papers and internet. According to the fire department in charge, it was due to a short circuit started from the right stage after every member who was deployed there were gone. Yerin was interviewed as a person who was responsible that night. The girl was too stunned to remember anything from the night so there was no clear sign how the short circuit actually happened.

Eunkwang expressed his condolence to everyone who came to see the show and directly helped Seungcheol to deliver the unfortunate news to Minghao’s parents in China. The boy’s parents immediately flew to Korea, bawling their eyes out as soon as they arrived at the hospital. It was a tragedy that will forever embed in their minds. Soonyoung even kicked an innocent newsstand after reading the report through his phone.

Not everyone was allowed to crowd the hospital at two in the morning. So the team came by at eight only to hear their lead actor did not make it out alive. They were told that he passed from lack of oxygen and his lower body were in a bad shape from a set of spotlights landed hard on them.

Wonwoo does not want to recall it. Recollecting the memory only enhances the final visual in his mind. He too could not get a proper sleep as nightmare and the younger fellow’s face were all he witnessed after the accident. He feels guilty for leaving him alone, facing his end. Minghao definitely does not deserve to leave so soon. Nobody deserves that.

He could not take a single step out and beyond their shared apartment (he is staying with Seungcheol). His friend has long packed the bad memory but never tossed them out entirely. Losing Minghao took a toll on him too as he was the one to deliver the news to the rest of Rose Quartz and Serenity Production. After all, he sees the fellow more than a mere actor under his direction.

Being in a production meant everyone in the team is his family. Wonwoo would agree with him if he is in his right state of mind. Fortunately for Seungcheol, they are living under one roof for a long while so he can keep a close eye on Wonwoo to prevent him from diving deep into his depressive state. And there is that one room completely empty.

There is a snake slithered among them and Seungcheol felt hurt the most to experience the poison. He never thought he had kept a backstabbing friend all this time. He did not know when, why, and how it went down. The last thing he did to the fellow was throwing all his stuff out of the apartment before kicking him out.

Apparently Junhui thought it was a good idea to betray the production and helped the so-called man in black. The said person promised him a huge acting gig if he managed to take down Night & Rain team for him. Dragged along the way was Chan who was threatened to keep whatever he heard in secrecy to himself. Or better, provided extra hand. Chan’s clumsiness actually did cause multiple malfunctions like that time where he cut the plywood wrongly and purposely toyed around with Taehyung’s vacuum cleaner.

One of the former directors, Jinho to be precise stepped out of the production house he has been working with. He rarely met with the owner of Purple Studio Production but once he learned the bad deed the fellow done, he ditched every connection he had with the man. To add more drama, Jinho spread the information to all members in the production and it did not take long for Minhyuk to be put under probation although all former directors of RQS would be happier if he is locked behind bars.

Hyunsik knew it was strange for Eunkwang and Changsub to fight for no apparent reason in the past. Who would have known the reason first generation of RQS ended on a bad note because of an unsatisfied co-founder, former assistant director: Lee Minhyuk – the one face the third generation members failed to recognise back when they found the photo-book containing the teams past pictures.

After investigating the various problems, opening old books within their consciousness, Namjoon came up with that conclusion. Seokjin was the most furious among them because it never slipped his mind that Minhyuk who was the one who intentionally set up audition dates the same as the second generation’s casting call dates, pulling a huge numbers of talented actors, dancers, and crew members before they managed to hold onto them. Changsub was surprisingly calm about it though, as if he already knew the answer to most of the troubles they faced.

Ilhoon did the honour of questioning about the missing sponsorships and random invitation too. Hyunsik proposed that it was Junhui’s doings under Minhyuk’s supervision. After all, he was the one who knew everything about the third generation’s first production besides Seungcheol, Wonwoo, Sungjae, and Yanan.

With that mostly settled, we come down to one girl.

Upon arriving home after a dreadful trip to the hospital, she locked herself in the bedroom again, turned down Soonyoung and Jihoon’s offer to have their late lunch together in the living room. While the two boys were chatting lackadaisically, she took the chance to pack her stuff and snuck out of the apartment when they dozed off on the couches.

She hopped on the late night bus trip. Hoping that her memory did not betray her at time of need, she found herself jumped off to a secluded village area in the dark night. The cold wind accompanied her throughout the journey and a quick glance upwards, she sighed in dismay as stars did not dot the sky.

The clouds were thick. A sign of a bad weather and she was nowhere near to her desired destination. Unlike the cityscape, there were small lights littered in the area she was in so it would consume more time to find a place to rest. Since she slept in the bus on the way there, she had some energy to walk with no sense of direction in mind. To ease her wired mind, she played a song from her phone only to stop her feet.

Reminiscing is like a stream, slowly drifting towards the ocean

Constantly reminding myself that I need to become stronger

Shinyoung’s shoulders began to shake as she clutched the phone in her grasp. His voice sang in her ears before she realised tears were falling from the bridge of her eyes. She instantly seek for a spot to sit on and as if someone calling for her attention, her gaze landed on a bench that conveniently stood alone under the lights.

The clouds that hang in the sky appear really beautifully

Yet who would know of the tears they hide

She had no idea how she managed to safely gone into her dreamland on the bench before a woman shook her body. Waking up slowly, the drowsiness faded away at the sight and she could not hear whatever the woman was saying to her. Her phone had long died in the middle of her sleep but she could not remain sane before she glimpsed at a figure hiding behind the woman. A young girl who seemed to have similar face as hers.

“Mom?”

The reunion was beautiful yet painful.

It was beautiful because they were able to find her though she was in a rough shape. She did leave in a bad condition and the heavy bag on her back was a call that she would be there for awhile.

It was painful because it led her to a negative thought. How come she never had the urge to find them after her father passed away? Why must it be Minghao’s that triggered her to search for the remainder of her family members?

Right…because she cannot afford to lose another person she loves from her life.

Now she sits on a porch, enjoying the autumn breeze the village has to offer. Her legs are held back by her arms as she perches her chin on top. Dangled in her right hand is her phone. On it displays a collection of videos and photos she never bothered to check out yet her subconscious mind did the honour to download the media before leaving the city.

Jungkook sent them to her after he and Mingyu chose to help their late Chinese friend’s parents to collect their only son’s stuff before heading back to China. The fellow classmate was taking his sweet time roaming around the bedroom instead of doing any help until his eyes stopped on the desk where his friend last place his laptop.

“Hey, Kook…”

“Yeah?” Jungkook answered without tearing his gaze away from his phone’s screen as he made an attempt to defeat the current game level he was playing. “In case anything happens to me, I keep my passwords on this corkboard.”

Back then, he ignored Minghao completely. However, it returned to him and he cursed at the reminder. Throwing himself on the chair by the desk, he easily the laptop after going through all the passwords written. The first thing Jungkook did is deactivating all social networking sites the fellow owned. The next few things he had done were not as important as the last thing.

Minghao must have a major crush on Shinyoung to a point he dedicated an entire file with her name. But a crush that massive somehow turned into something more along the line. He shared his findings with Mingyu but not Minghao’s parents. It was better for them anyway.

As for the two boys who harboured the same feelings on the girl…

Let’s just say the future has something for them.