The Early Days IV

Play Acting

            Kyuhyun paced around the living room, holding his script in one hand, reciting lines from The Three Musketeers.  He’d just begun practices at the theater a few days prior and I knew that he already had his lines memorized, so I was a little curious about why he was still obsessively reciting them. Was he afraid he was going to forget them?  Was he blanking on the words when on the stage in front of an audience?   Perhaps he had stage fright.  This was his first venture into theater.  Maybe he was starting to discover acting wasn’t his thing…but I kind of doubted it.  He was so excited about getting the part.  And he was used to performing in front of a packed stadium.  Then again, acting wasn’t quite the same as singing and dancing…although it was a musical, I suppose that helped.

            After finishing my prep work for dinner, I finally got curious enough to walk into the living room to check on him, standing against the wall and listening in until he noticed me.  He had, at this point, laid down on his back and was singing a song called An Angel in Front of Me and humming through the female lead’s parts, trying to pretend like she was there.  Suddenly, he got frustrated and threw the script across the room.  It landed close to my feet.  I bent down to pick it up. 

             “Something bothering you?”

             Kyuhyun ran this hands through his hair.  “The director is complaining about my chemistry with the actress.  He says I need to look as if I’m in love with her and every time she bends down to kiss me, it looks like I’m about to vomit.”

             I began laughing and walked over to him.  “Is she that repulsive?”

            “No—I mean, I don’t like her in any romantic way—but she’s not hideous and her breath is fine.”

            I glanced over the script and music.  I’d heard him practicing it so many times, I figured I could probably sing it myself at that point, including the woman’s part.  “Even if you don’t have any feelings for the actress herself, you have to pretend that you’re D’Artagnan, who’s in love with Constance.  You’re not Cho Kyuhyun!  Have you ever been in love before?”

            Kyuhyun suddenly looked up at me, startled.  “In love?”

            I nodded.

            For a moment, he just stared at me.  “I…yes…I think so…”

            I crossed my arms over my chest, peering down at him.  “You would know if you’ve ever been in love,” I told him.

            “Then I have, but don’t ask me about it,” he said, looking away.

            “All right,” I said.  “My point is just that you should remember what it felt like when you were in love—remember what you felt for them—and try to recreate those feelings in D’Artagnan.  Do you think you can do that?”

            Kyuhyun let out a frustrated sigh.  “I don’t know.”

            “Do you want me to practice this scene with you?  I have a little time before the food needs to go in the oven.”  I knelt down beside him, already assuming I knew the answer. 

            Kyuhyun quickly sat up.  “Practice?  Now?”

            I began laughing.  “Of course.  Isn’t that what you were trying to do?  How are you going to get better at it if you don’t have someone playing the part of Constance?”

            “I—well, ah—are you sure?”

            “Yeah,” I said, placing my hand on his chest and pushing him back down onto the floor.  “Now, how are you positioned when the scene starts?”

            “I…I’m on my side and she rolls me onto my back…onto her lap.”

            I waved for him to get into the position.  “Go on then.”

            Kyuhyun did as he was told and began reciting his lines.  I sat the script beside me.  Then I grabbed him and rolled him onto my lap.  I began to caress his face and finger his hair, speaking to him as he opened his eyes, looking up at me in mild shock.  I almost forgot he was acting.  After one spoken line by me, he began to sing the song.  Ah, even without music, his voice is so damn beautiful to listen to, I almost got too caught up in it to remember when I was supposed to start singing.  For a moment, there was a pause, and then I began to sing my part.  I cupped his face as I began singing and looked into his eyes, remembering the song without having to peek at the script and his gaze never wavered from mine.  He smiled at me the entire time I sang, as if he were enamored with me, and I had a hard time believing that the director found no chemistry between him and the actress that played Constance. 

            Kyuhyun had another brief line to sing before we sang another part as a duet.  Once again, as we sang together on our own, I was reminded of how well we harmonize together.  Honestly, if voices and singing were any indication of whether two people were meant to be together—romantically—then there was no question in my mind, even then, that we belonged together.  We sounded perfect together.  I felt my eyes watering a little at the thought of it.  But then I quickly had to look down at my next line, which was spoken.  Then I was supposed to interrupt his next spoken line with a kiss.  As he began speaking, I leaned down and pretended to kiss him.  Suddenly, Kyuhyun stopped, his brows furrowed. 

            “You’re supposed to kiss me!” he told me.

            “I did,” I responded.

            “No!  You kissed the air!” he pointed out, almost angry.  “How am I supposed to get better at acting with her if I don’t practice pretending to be kissed and responding to it as if I’m in love with her?  Wasn’t that your idea?”

            I smiled at this and had to fight my urge not to hug him because there was nothing I wanted to do more than kiss him at that moment.  “All right.  You’re right.  Let’s start at your singing part.”

             He nodded and began to sing.  Then we sang the duet again and I could feel my heartrate begin to accelerate.  I was holding his head in my arm, so I was a little worried that he was going to notice, but there was nothing I could do about it.  I spoke my line, still staring down at him with eyes full of love.  I had loved him for so long at that point already.  Then I spoke my lines and, as Kyuhyun spoke his, I bent my head down and pressed my lips against his, slowly closing my eyes. 

             I don’t know how long I was supposed to kiss him, and it probably only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity.  At first, Kyuhyun’s body felt frozen, but he gradually began to relax.  His muscles lost their tension, his lips became pliant and began to kiss me back a little, and he brought his hand up and lightly grasped mine.  Finally, I pulled away.  I took a breath and began singing my next line while he just opened his eyes wide, staring up at me.  When I was done, he was silent.

             I glanced down at the script.  “Aren’t you supposed to be sitting up and singing at this point?” I asked.

            “I, ah…I’m sorry.  I forgot my lines.”

            I smiled at this and handed him the script.  “Do you want to look them over?”

            “No, I remember now,” he said, tossing it off to the side.  “But I think we should start over again.”

            “From the beginning?”

            He nodded.  “But…did I…”

            “What?”

            “Did I look convincing?” he asked.  “Did I look like I was in love?”

            , yes.  I almost forgot that he didn’t want to kiss me in real life.  I momentarily forgot that this was just acting practice.  “You did,” I simply answered.

            “Good,” he said, taking a deep breath.  “Good.”

`

The Voice on the Other End

            In the fall of 2011, all the members were given a vacation and some of us made plans to take trips.  Ryeowook, unfortunately, had plans to go to Jeju Island with his family.  Unlike my family, who would have just told me to invite my best friend with, they want as much time alone with their only child as they can get, since they don’t see him much.  So, since I couldn’t go anywhere with him, I made plans to go to Spain by myself. 

            As luck would have it, I was nearly mugged outside the hotel in the early morning by some guy that started talking to me and then tried to start a fight.  He then whipped out a knife and I fully admit to being completely terrified.  Kangin probably would have decked the guy.  I screamed bloody murder and ran for my life.  I didn’t stop until I was in my hotel room and I’d triple checked that the door was locked and all the windows were closed, although someone would have to climb up several stories and risk falling to their death to get in that way.  Then, when I felt assured that I was safe, I called my best friend.  The fact that it was early in the morning in Korea made no difference. 

            After a few rings, Ryeowook picked up the phone and answered, still groggy.  “Hello?”

            “Next time I take a vacation, you’re coming with!  I don’t care how much your parents whine about it!” I told him.

            “Why?  What’s going on?  Are you lonely?”

            “Yes, but that’s beside the point.  I almost got killed!  Some guy just pulled a knife on me!”

            There was a pause for a moment.

            “Did you hear me?”

            “I’m sorry, I just woke up.  Did you say someone tried to kill you?”

            “A guy tried to rob me and he pulled out a knife!”

            There was a soft gasp on the other end of the line.  “Kyu…are you hurt?”

            I sat down on my bed and fell back against the mattress.  Just the sound of his voice was beginning to calm me down.  Although I was still bitter about the fact that he’d gone somewhere with his parents instead of me, despite my suggestion that we both come to Spain together, I didn’t want to worry him needlessly.  He’d already been through enough when I’d been in the accident, several years back, and almost died then. 

            “No, I’m fine.  I’m just a little shook up about it…and I realize that it probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been alone.”

            “Did you call the police?”

            “The police won’t understand what I’m telling them and they probably won’t be able to find him anyway,” I said, rubbing m