forecast | oc bg

backstage & performance

June 1st 2017

Chen let out a loud cough, the noise being amplified by the mic near his mouth which resulted in Kaito quickly rushing to his side, clicking off the accessory with the small button near his ear. The older moved the microphone ball away from Chen's mouth as he coughed a few more times. 

"Sorry," Chen let out after a few seconds, clearing his throat to avoid sounding so groggy.

"Try not to cough into the microphones, it's pretty loud," Kaito said with a smile, using a piece of cloth to wipe off the microphone as he patted Chen on the back. He took a step away, observing Chen for a few seconds.

"You okay?" he asked, watching the younger's eyes. Chen blinked a few times, nodding his head and wiping one of his eyes.

Kaito glanced back behind him, quickly replying "I can still talk to them about changing up the line distribution so that you don't have to worry about it as much. Don't let-"

"I'm fine, Hyung," Chen whispered quickly, making an small nod to keep Kaito's concern at bay. He clicked on his microphone again, for they were ready to start recording as soon as the show director was ready, but Kaito clicked it off again. Chen raised his hand to click it back on in annoyance, stopping himself and letting his hand float near his head as he saw someone behind Kaito.

"Chen," Hyunwoo began, raising his eyebrows as he noticed Chen's slightly reddened eyes. He rushed over, standing on his toes and wiping the side of Chen's eyes. "Don't tell me you cried again," he said quietly, backing off and grabbing a tissue from his pocket and handing it to the younger.

"I wasn't," Chen said quietly back, letting the tissue rest at the corner of each eye. "I think I'm just tired."

"Remember what you said on the first day of practice?" Hyunwoo asked, eyes so large and almost glimmering in some sort of admiration.

Chen laughed a bit, rolling his eyes, "You make it sound like an impressive life quote every time." He reached over click on microphone, stopping himself yet again as Hyunwoo reenacted a scene from more than a year ago.

"'As long as I keep going, I won't fall, right?'" Hyunwoo said shyly for Chen's imitation, making Kaito suppress a laugh behind his smile.

"And I was like, 'If you even try to fall I promise you that we'll be there to catch you,'" Hyunwoo replied with a big smile, Chen shyly laughing and pushing Hyunwoo's head down.

"That's because you're extra," he smiled, patting the shorter's hair before releasing Hyunwoo's head.

"Stoppp," he complained, wanting to get away from the nostalgic conversation as soon as possible. Hyunwoo followed the younger with a laugh, poking him in the side.

"I cheered you up, right?" he asked with a cheeky smile, getting ready to click on his microphone. Alex joined the group as the made their way to stand near the stage, per the director's orders.

"As long as you live up to your promise, I'll be alright." Chen whispered, the director's call through a speaker interrupting any continuation of the conversation.

"We're running late, did everyone do tests already?" a man asked loudly as the four members found their positions on the stage, looking around at the staff and different cameras.

A few staff members made gestures to simply continue, the director giving cues to the cameramen. "Let's just get started, everyone good?" he asked, barely waiting for an answer before cueing the music.

Alex started the song, everyone keeping small and relaxed movements until the drums of the instrumental arrived. The rapper lingered a dramatic stare into the camera before walking around the three other boys as Kaito began singing his part.

"I said the empty words, go away; You were probably hurt by it, I'm sorry...
I was a fool, what more is there to say?"

Kaito slid backwards, allowing Chen to take his turn in the front of the group for his "story-line" verse.

"..."

Yet as the music continued and Chen opened his mouth, there was a moment of unsung silence. Kaito quickly caught on halfway through the line, finishing up the short verse for Chen.

"...cafe where I'm waiting for you. It's filled with couples but I'm here alone waiting for you."

There seemed to be a sudden clash of directions behind the camera where the director told them to switch the camera onto Kaito. One of the cameramen froze up at the sudden order that no longer followed the (newly printed) lyric and line distribution paper that each staff had next to them. Another camerawoman picked up on the slight change, going with the flow and trying to smoothly transition to the oldest member on stage.

As Kaito finished the verse, Chen moving out of the way for a sympathetically smiling Hyunwoo to move towards the center, Chen moved his hand towards his ear to click on his microphone that he had forgotten to turn back on before getting on stage. As Kaito and Chen were across from each other, they exchanged thankful and apologetic glances, which was simultaneously stopped by the music cutting out and Hyunwoo opening his eyes from his emotional singing that he was cut off during.

The vocalist brushed off the embarrassment of his impassioned performance, Chen and Kaito immediately calling towards the director and camera staff in apology. The director glanced around, letting out a sigh.

"It's fine, I should've checked everything instead of just starting... and now we're even more behind. Let's check everything really quick, then try this one last time. We probably only have the extra time to run through this once. We're taking whatever we get."