“Hyung, wake up.”
But I want to sleep more…
“Hyung, all of us have to record together now.”
Nnnh… Judging from the low voice that was ringing my ears, it was probably Oh Rion speaking. I rubbed my face as if I was washing my face with virtual water and sat up so as to wake myself up.
Huh?
“Where’s Park Jitae?”
Why was I sleeping on Oh Rion’s shoulder? I was certain that I had fallen asleep on Park Jitae.
I looked around to search for Park Jitae as I sensed his absence. I was looking around for quite a while before Park Jitae walked out of the recording booth.
“I’m here.”
“Why are you there?”
“I went in for another recording right after Ryu Sunho finished his.”
Ah…
I nodded as I replied,
“Good work,”
On being my pillow.
“It was hardly work. Did you get some sleep?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“If you’re tired, just say so. Don’t just hold it in. Your body looks so fragile and it'll be annoying for us if you collapse."
Yeah. There's no way you'd be purely concerned.
"Suan-hyung, did you sleep well? You should've just lied down to sleep!"
"I slept fine. Good work recording today."
I touched Ryu Sunho's soft-looking light brown hair as I thought to myself that it looked like that of an actual retriever. Just then—
"We have to record all of you. You can go in."
""""Yes.""""
We walked into the booth as Producer-hyung spoke to us in an exhausted voice. Inside the booth, Seo Yoon-hyung, who had been hard at work recording until a moment ago, waved at us as he put on the headphones.
"Did you sleep well, Suan?"
"Yes."
Seo Yoon-hyung smiled playfully and handed me a headphone.
"I stretched out my recording time as much as possible so that you could sleep more. I even made some pitch misses on purpose. I was good, right?"
Haha?
Why would he strain his throat like that?
"No. Please take care of your voice."
It frustrated me. Someone over here had been struggling for 3 years because he couldn't sing.
"Yeah. I'll be careful from now on."
"Are you ready? This is the final recording, so let's get it over with and go eat."
"""""Yes."""""
「The sky, painted red
Memories being forgotten
The place where everything's gone
This is an illusion
This is paradise」
My voice was still sunken from the nap. Nobody made a mistake, as if they had already gotten used to recording.
However, my voice stood out from the crowd—perhaps because it broke in a subtle manner.
"Let's call this a wrap."
""""Yes, good work.""""
No. If this gets released in the album, then I'll stand out.
"Um, can I ask you to record it one more time?"
"Why? It was good just now."
"I just woke up, so I think my voice cracked a little."
"It sounded better that way. All of you must be tired, so let's pack up quickly and go eat."
Ah, damn it.
Ryu Sunho lay on the ground with his arms and legs spread out on the floor and gasped, I can't dance anymore. Literally a moment later, he sat up and looked at me.
"Suan-hyung, what do you think about changing the choreography a bit for the climax?"
Why are you asking me?
I wondered at Ryu Sunho's question. However, I didn't think for long. I tried not to give his words any meaning as I replied nonchalantly.
"You do you."
"Really? Then I'll modify the climax a little!"
Sunho ran to the two members who were rewatching the video as he shouted, "Hyung! Let's change up the choreo in the climax a little."
Does he ever get tired? Maybe it's because he's still in his teens.
.
.
"Do you want to wrap up after running through it once more?"
"Yes."
"Let's do that."
"Okay!"
I nodded and stood up to walk over to where the members had gathered.
We lined up in front of the mirror in order of height. The music began and we moved our bodies in sync with the introduction.
When Oh Rion's voice sang the first verse, we circled around Oh Rion and changed our lines of movement, putting on our masks. As Ryu Sunho's voice seeped out of the speakers, I slid to the furthest ends with Oh Rion. Behind Ryu Sunho, Seo Yoon-hyung and Park Jitae crossed their bodies over as if to depict a set of wings. When his part emerged, Seo Yoon-hyung pushed Ryu Sunho over with his hand and stepped forward.
The original choreography was for him to pull me in and take my mask off from behind; however, this seemed to be one of Ryu Sunho's changes. Seo Yoon-hyung pulled me in and grabbed my mask as Ryu Sunho embraced me from behind and covered my eyes.
Park Jitae and Oh Rion faced me from the front and kneeled on one knee, posing as if they were about to choke me.
.
.
I faced my rounded back towards the front and kneeled down, looking up to the ceiling and slowly bringing my arms down. I turned my torso to look at the members' faces, and the song ended.
"Ah, this is my limit."
"I feel like death."
"Are you alright? Maybe we should've taken more breaks."
"I'll go get us some drinks."
"A soft drink for me, Rion! How about the rest of you, hyung?"
"Soft drink."
"It must be hard to carry them all back by yourself, Rion. Would you like me to come with you?"
"I'll be fine by myself."
Hahh, I'm actually gonna die.
I practically collapsed on my back onto the floor of the dance studio. I grabbed my sweat-soaked t-shirt and wiped my face as I regulated my breaths. I repeatedly gasped out hasty breaths as air choked me up to my chin. The sheer difficulty of the choreography made me grimace. I regretted changing the lyrics.
Park Jitae's clothes were soaked as if he had been standing in the rain. As he was taking off his heavy t-shirt, Seo Yoon-hyung and Ryu Sunho were playing over the video of our choreography from just now.
"Can you pause right there?"
"Here?"
"Yeah, there."
How do they have that kind of stamina left? If I knew that the choreography would turn into something this murderous, I wouldn't have touched the lyrics. I regret my choice.
Continuously regretting the changes I made to the lyrics, I raised an arm up to my eyes and closed my eyes. About five minutes into lying down in that static position—
Ah, cold!
—I was startled by the cold sensation spreading on my cheek, and turned to face the source of my trouble.
"Hyung, you like to drink sports drinks, right?"
I looked up at Oh Rion whose arms were holding a stack of drinks. It seemed that he had touched my cheeks with a sports drink.
"Yeah, thanks!"
I was beginning to get used to being looked after. The members remembered what I liked without having to ask me, and took the first step to take care of me. As soon as I accepted the canned drink that was against my cheek, Oh Rion turned to the members who were gathered in one place.
"You can take whichever one you like."
"Yay, soft drinks!"
"Thanks for getting them, Rion. I'll gladly take one."
"Hyaah, I finally feel refreshed."
I guess they were all really thirsty. It's weird. Had we always been smiling like this when we had first practised together?
— knock knock knock!
"Guys! Hurry up and go take a shower! We decided that we'll film the music video today."
"""""Yes."""""
So the members were repeatedly bleaching and dying their hair at the hair salon yesterday because of the music video, huh.
It seemed like all the extra talk had went in one ear and out the other while I was rejoicing at the fact that they decided to keep my natural brown colour.
Oh Rion and Park Jitae's lemon hair was the result of bleaching, and Seo Yoon-hyung and Ryu Sunho had respectively dyed their hair pitch black and reddish-black. Despite this, I hadn't even thought about filming the music video today.
"You guys have to act in the music video today. You finished recording the dance video that will be uploaded to NoTube, right?"
"Yes, we just finished looking over the video as well."
"Good. Send me the video right away, and go shower."
"Yes, I'll send it right now."
While Seo Yoon-hyung went on his phone to send the video over LANE, Oh Rion and Park Jitae headed out to shower. Ryu Sunho turned to Chief Kim Miyoung, who was waiting to receive the video, and asked,
"We're acting?"
His mouth was agape with surprise. I could tell from his flushed cheeks that he was full of excitement.
"We have to edit the video and put in on our company homepage to get you guys some publicity. We held a meeting and concluded that it would be best to make a teaser video to arouse curiosity."
"The video was just sent. Please confirm it."
"But I've never acted before, and I'm not very confident in it."
Ryu Sunho replied, his eyes cast downwards. His voice was slightly whiny and full of regret.
"I'll check it now. About acting, you can learn as you do it, so stop whining and go shower, all of you!"
""Yes.""
Having finished their conversations, Ryu Sunho and Seo Yoon-hyung pulled me up by my hands and exited the dance studio without letting go of my hands.
"Suan-hyung, let's go shower as well!"
"Suan, were you waiting for us? You should've went ahead first."
I shook my head as we walked over to the shower room doors together. I opened the door and pushed their backs with my both hands. They turned around and nodded without saying anything following my words:
"I'll shower last. You guys can go first,"
I said nonchalantly, my face void of expression. I confirmed that the two had gone into the shower and waited for the members to come out as I leaned on the door.
My t-shirt kept sticking to my back because of the sweat. The droplets of sweat that trickled down my face and the sensation of my now-cooled—but still wet—clothes against my body were making me feel gross.
Still, I'd rather die than to shower with them.
"Christ, you surprised me! Why are you standing in front of the door like that? You're gonna kill somebody."
Park Jitae knit his brows in surprise as he stepped out, ruffling his hair with a towel. Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into the shower room.