Chapter Text
Lights, camera, action… Theater as a whole is something that has always fascinated me, but I could’ve never imagined it could have such a big impact on others’ lives, especially when you mix it with music.
“A concert mixed with theater… without giving ‘musical’ vibes?” Hongjoong asked, looking at the flier in front of a live house. “And it’s free entry, maybe I should take a look…” Hongjoong didn’t expect much from that show, how could they mix a concert with theater without it feeling like a musical? However, that night would be something that would impact him forever.
“Sadly, this is where the hermits' journey ends…” one of the idols said after the third song.
“No, it can’t end here! God, how did they manage to convey so much feeling? I want to be like them… Yes, I’ll be like them! I’ll share a story that has never been seen before!”
A morning just like any other, Hongjoong was talking with his classmates, before their teacher arrived. Hongjoong was that kind of extroverted person that could make everyone like him, so it wasn’t weird seeing him hold a conversation with anyone.
“So, you want to do concerts that tell stories?” one of the classmates asked.
“Yes, exactly!”
“Sounds complicated… wouldn’t it be better to do normal concerts? Or just call them musicals?” the other classmate asked.
“No, I want to do them like this because it’s complicated. And because I know I’ll make it.”
“Doesn’t that dude for the class next door do something similar? Uh… what was his name?”
“Dang, I know who you’re talking about, but I can’t remember his name…” the first classmate said. “It was Park… Park something.”
Suddenly, the teacher entered the classroom, so Hongjoong and his classmates had to cut their conversation short. During the day, Hongjoong kept thinking about the person his classmates mentioned, but he couldn’t figure out who he was. During the afternoon he and his classmates were around the city, and kept telling Hongjoong that the shows he wanted to put on were basically impossible.
“I don’t care about what you say, I’ll tell a story through music. I know I can do it.” Hongjoong said.
“I hope that, at least, you have a plan for it.” his classmate said.
“Of course I have a plan! I auditioned for a small company the other day, and tomorrow they’ll tell me if I passed or not. If I get it, I’ll make it.”
“Tell a story… with music… I have to find him tomorrow.” someone had been listening to the conversation, but didn’t want to approach them since he thought he’d look like a stalker.
After a while, Hongjoong went back to his house. It was pretty late already since he had dinner before going back home, and was almost done with his homework, when his gaze drifted to a VHS tape that was sitting on a shelf.
“That concert… it’s been a while since I rewatched it, and the tape is getting dusty… Maybe watching it again makes me feel like my dream isn’t impossible to achieve.”
When Hongjoong went to grab the tape, a white flash coming from his phone distracted him.
“Wh-what was that?”
Suddenly, a hologram appeared on his screen.
“The pirates are about to cross paths… there’s not too long until the first act finally starts.”
Just as it appeared, the hologram disappeared.
“D-did I just see Hatsune Miku on my phone?! Maybe… I should go to sleep. Yeah, I can finish my homework before I leave, and I can watch the concert when I come back from the company… Yeah, I’ll go to sleep.”
Thinking that the lack of sleep caused him to see the Miku hologram, Hongjoong went to bed. The next day, after class, he waited for the results at the company where he auditioned. They kept calling the other people that were waiting with him, so he started to get nervous.
“Excuse me, you’re Hongjoong, right?” someone asked.
“Y-yes, that’s me.”
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Of course, is it about the audition?”
“Ah, n-no, I don’t work here, but-”
“Then we can talk after they call me.”
“It’ll be just a minute, please.”
Hongjoong looked around for a moment; only the both of them were left there.
“… Alright.” Hongjoong said.
“First of all, I’m Wooyoung. I'm looking to start a group at my company, and I thought someone like you was essential.”
“Sorry, but I’m not interested in being in a normal group.”
“I know. I know that you want to tell stories… but a bit more complicated than that, and that’s why I brought some of my scripts I’ve been writing for a few years now.”
“… Really”
“I thought we could take a look at them together to see what you think about them, and if you had any we could read them too.”
“Sure! We can go to the park nearby, it isn’t too crowded.”
“O-okay, but weren’t you waiting for…?”
“They’re not going to call me, don’t worry about it. Let’s go.”
Wooyoung and Hongjoong left the company and headed for the park. Just as Hongjoong said, it was practically empty, so they sat down on the first bench they saw.
“Do you want to see mine or should we read yours first?” Hongjoong asked.
“Let’s start with yours, that way I can so I can get an idea of the themes you prefer.” Wooyoung replied.
Hongjoong turned on his phone and, again, the screen flashed white.
“Again? Maybe there is something wrong with my phone… Anyway, most of my scripts are about pirates…”
“Hold on… you don’t happen to have an untitled song in your phone, do you?”
“Ah, I haven’t noticed, why?”
“It’s just that last night my phone flashed like that too, and when I looked I saw that an untitled song appeared on the player. I meant to listen to it this morning, but I completely forgot… It’s just to make sure it isn’t a virus or anything like that.”
“Let me see… Oh, would you look at that.”
Hongjoong started to turn the volume up, but it was Wooyoung the one that, impulsively, played the song. Hongjoong wanted to tell him not to touch his phone without permission, but the white flash, now more intense, blinded them both. When they recovered, they saw that they were on a ship, docked on an island surrounded by a vast ocean.
“Wh-where are we?” Hongjoong asked, looking around. “This ship… I’ve seen it before… N-no, how could I have?”
As Hongjoong kept looking around, exploring the ship with his eyes, Wooyoung approached the edge facing the island.
“Hongjoong, come, look!” Wooyoung exclaimed.
Hongjoong approached Wooyoung and looked at the island, where he saw two people singing together on what seemed like a wooden stage.
“Th-they’re Miku… and Gumi? So I… didn’t imagine anything last night?”
Wooyoung and Hongjoong watched the singers until the song ended. They intended to get off the ship to talk with them, but something else caught their attention.
“Now I get it, Captain Minji! I’ll never doubt your word again!” Gumi acted.
“Don’t worry, my dear Gyuri. I only wish for you to be in your best spirit…”
“They’re acting too… You see it, right, Hongjoong?” Wooyoung asked.
“The song… wasn’t part of the story… it was about a feeling…” Hongjoong said.
Wooyoung and Hongjoong looked at each other for a moment, before running before running off the ship to join the singers.
“Oh, you finally arrived.” Miku said.
“Wh-what is this place?” Wooyoung asked.
“This is your SEKAI, a virtual world created by your true feelings, even if you haven’t discovered them yet.” Gumi explained.
“Are they about… our dreams?” Hongjoong asked.
“That’s the thing you need to discover on your own, but we’re here to help you.” Miku replied.
“To come here you just need to play the untitled song, and stop it to leave.” Gumi added.
“Okay!” Wooyoung exclaimed.
“This is all I needed… Now I know my dream can become true…” Hongjoong thought.
Wooyoung and Hongjoong talked with the singers for a while, until it started getting late and decided to leave the SEKAI. They were still sitting on the bench at the park, and kept quiet for a few seconds.
“So… we’re going to become a group, right?” Hongjoong asked.
“Before we do anything, there are… a few things I need to tell you.”
“Of course, go on.”
“My company… isn’t really a company; it’s a small business, owned by my dad. He’s Youngjae, maybe it rings a bell. Well, two of his biggest clients suddenly terminated their contracts and… let’s say he might not have enough to own the business for another month.”
“Oh, I see…”
“And, since the business only hosts groups, not debut them, I thought I could help with the expenses by making my own group… I-I know it’s a big deal, but I think we could make it big.”
“And we will! Trust me, other companies will envy your father’s business.”
“For now let’s focus on making end meet… Do you want to go to the business and see my dad? We have a few hours until it gets dark.”
“Sure!”
The business wasn’t far from the park, so it didn’t take them long to arrive. Once there, they went directly to Youngjae’s office.
“Wooyoung, son…” Youngjae said. “When you asked me if anyone around your age was trying to audition recently I didn’t think it would be to kidnap them.”
“Hey, I haven’t kidnapped anyone!” Wooyoung protested.
“N-nice to meet you, mister… uh…” Hongjoong tried to say.
“Don't be shy, kid, just call me Youngjae. So, you and my son are going to become a group?”
“That’s right! And we’re going to save… to save this industry!” Wooyoung exclaimed,
“It would work better for you if you were three or four. You don’t know anyone else who could be interested?”
“Actually… I think someone from my school could be interested.” Hongjoong mentioned.
“Really?” Wooyoung asked.
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow and then tell you.”
Wooyoung and Hongjoong spent some more time at Youngjae’s office before leaving. Wooyoung wanted to go straight to his house, but Hongjoong stopped him.
“You really haven’t told him?” Hongjoong asked.
“T-tell him what?”
“What you actually want to do? Save his business? He really doesn’t know?”
“Listen, if he ever found out this is why I want to make a group he’d never let me. His pride wouldn’t let me. He hated when my mom offered to lend him money for the business, if he found out… if he thought I’m not genuine about my love for music…”
“Then let’s make a deal.”
“Huh?”
“You’ll have to tell him after we make enough to cover the expenses. If you can’t do that you can’t count on me for this. I say this for your own good.”
“I guess after the business is safe it’d be okay…”
“I mean, it won’t be long, I bet our first show will be so successful he’ll have enough for three months straight.”
That last part made Wooyoung smile, which Hongjoong considered a win. After their talk, they finally went home. The next day, Hongjoong looked for the person he mentioned around the high school, but wasn’t lucky. Finally, during recess, he went to look at the rooftop.
“Hey, come here, you slippery bandits!… No, it doesn’t even sound alright… or natural…” that person said.
“Why don’t you try to remove the ‘slippery’?” Hongjoong asked.
“Huh?”
“The scene itself should already tell that they’re slippery; it doesn’t sound natural because, according to the context, you’re being redundant.”
“I can try… Hey, come here, you bandits! Ah, it does sound better! Thank you!”
“It’s nothing. You’re Seonghwa, right?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“I’d like to propose something to you: my friend and I are looking for members for our group, and we-”
“No, thanks.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not interested in being in a normal group.”
“Oh, I know, that’s why I’m asking you.”
“I’m all ears, then.”
“So, our gimmick right now is to seem like a regular group, with its albums and songs, but the concerts would be like a musical, but instead of the songs continuing the story, they’d just focus on the feeling, what the scene is trying to portray. We’d also like to include details about the lore in our albums, things that we can’t cover with the concerts or music videos. Oh, and our theme is ‘pirates’.”
“I see… Okay, I accept.”
“Really?”
“But with a condition, or two: that I’d be the director, and that a friend of mine joins the group too.”
“Oh, that’s perfect, the more, the merrier. It you want we can meet at the business.”
“Alright. Still, you should know that my friend… let’s say he has a love-hate relationship with theater right now. I’ll tell him to speak with you in private later.”
“Okay, see you later, then.”
Hongjoong left Seonghwa at the rooftop, and spent the day thinking about how successful his conversation with Seonghwa was. Later, Hongjoong was already waiting for Wooyoung and Seonghwa near the business, when someone approached him.
“Hi… are you Hongjoong?”
“Hm? Yeah, that’s me.”
“I’m Seonghwa’s friend… I-I don’t know if Seonghwa told you my name; I’m San.”
“Ah, yeah! He told me he wanted to talk to me first.”
“It was more to warn you… A few years ago, during one of my most important shows, I lost my voice. I managed to act, but I messed up the songs…”
“Oh, that must’ve been horrible.”
“They asked me to improvise, that I could come up with an excuse to skip my songs, but I didn’t want to, I tried to convince myself that I could do it… That’s why, every time I try to sing on stage, I freeze. I know that with time that can change, but I don’t know if I want to sing again… I-I can dance, but not sing, so if this isn’t what you’re looking for…”
“No, no, it’s okay, San. Dancing is okay as long as I can see your passion for theater and music, and we can always help you work on your singing. If you want we can wait for the others inside.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Not even a minute after going inside, Seonghwa arrived, and a few minutes later Wooyoung showed up.
“Huh? San?” Wooyoung asked.
“You know each other?” Seonghwa also asked.
“Yeah, we go to the same club… but we barely talk…” San replied.
“Well, look, a nice coincidence.” Hongjoong said. “We should talk about what we’re going to do as a group.”
They went over things like their theme, the music genres they’d work with… Wooyoung didn’t mention anything about wanting to help his father with the business because he thought he’d sound a bit selfish, so he wanted to wait until they practiced together for the first time. Since it was getting late they decided to have dinner together at a restaurant, and they’d go home after. While they were eating, Hongjoong remembered something.
“Oh, right, I have a tape of a concert, which is, like, my biggest inspiration, so I think we could watch it the next time we reunite or something.”
“What group is it?” Seonghwa asked.
“‘MXT’, I-”
“Oh my, ‘MXT’, I didn’t know anyone else knew them.”
“They had a concert here, like, four years ago.” Wooyoung mentioned.
“Yeah, they gave the tape as a freebie after, it was insane.” Hongjoong said.
“I know! I was there!”
“You were?!”
“Seonghwa and I went together too.” San added.
“This has to be fate or something, then.”
They spent the rest of the dinner talking about that concert. When they left the restaurant, Wooyoung also remembered something after seeing the streets mostly empty.
“Hey, Hongjoong.”
“Yeah?”
“We should tell them about… you know.”
“Ah, right!”
“Tell us what?” Seonghwa asked.
“So… let’s see how I explain this without sounding crazy… Do you have an untitled song in your music player?”
“I don’t really know.”
“Oh, I do, I saw it this morning…” San replied.
“Can you play it for a second?” Wooyoung asked.
San, hesitating for a moment, did as Wooyoung asked, and in just a second they were back in the SEKAI.
“What… just happened?” Seonghwa asked.
“A-are those Miku and Gumi?” San also asked.
“Yeah, well, quick summary:” Hongjoong started explaining. “Our true feelings or whatever created this virtual world, and it’s supposed to help us discover those feelings.
“Oh, San and Seonghwa are finally here!” Gumi exclaimed.
“I guess you’re officially a group now.” Miku said.
“Well, we’re working on it.” Hongjoong replied.
“I’m so happy!” Gumi exclaimed again. “Soon the SEKAI will be as lively as ever thanks to you.”
“So… let’s meet up on Monday after class at the business?” Seonghwa asked.
“Sure! This weekend Hongjoong and I will prepare the show we told you about so you can see our style, and then we’ll decide the rest, okay?” Wooyoung said.
“Yeah, sounds good… H-how do we leave?” San asked.
“You just have to stop the song.” Miku replied.
“Okay, thank you, Miku.”
Wooyoung gave Seonghwa and San a short tour around the SEKAI, while Hongjoong stayed with the singers.
“You seem a bit worried, Hongjoong.” Miku said.
“Huh? Well, I was just thinking… San told me he has trouble singing, he freezes, and I guess Seonghwa won’t want much improvisation if San is going to be acting more than us… And I wonder if everything will be alright knowing Wooyoung and I want to act a bit more… carefree.”
“I bet it will, you just have to adapt to each other. Still, you’ll have to talk about that in the future.” Gumi said.
“Yeah, I guess so… Thanks.”
After a while, they left the SEKAI.
“Oh dang, it’s so late. I have to go home now.” San said.
“Yeah, me too. As said, we’ll meet on Monday after class.” Seonghwa mentioned.
“Yes, perfect.”
Seonghwa and San went home, and Hongjoong and Wooyoung stayed back.
“… This is actually happening, Hongjoong.”
“Yeah, it is… We’ll be the best actors of the moment and we’ll save the business, I promise.”
“I know, Hongjoong. I believe in us.”
Eventually, Hongjoong and Wooyoung also went home, and spent the weekend preparing the performance they’d show San and Seonghwa, since Seonghwa wanted to see their acting style to know how to act as the director.
On Monday, already at the business, Hongjoong and Wooyoung started acting.
“Alright, my dear boatswain! Let's raise anchor and conquer the oceans.” Hongjoong acted.
“But, my Captain, are you sure we’ll make it?”
“Your heart is too small to have any speck of doubt in it, believe in you, we’ll do it.”
As Hongjoong and Wooyoung acted, Seonghwa and San watched; after a while the musical part arrived, and Seonghwa already had some mental notes.
“Hongjoong’s acting could improve a bit, and Wooyoung definitely needs vocal training, but generally… they’re pretty good.” Seonghwa thought.
Seonghwa looked at San for a moment in case he could think of anything else seeing his expression.
San was fascinated.
“San… I haven’t seen him this excited since he got his first big role… I have to protect that smile by any means…”
Finally, Wooyoung and Hongjoong finished the show, and Seonghwa gave his final verdict.
“With your skills right now… we can go straight to making shows and acting.”
“R-really?” Wooyoung asked.
“It might take us a while to adapt to each other’s styles, but I think we can start now.”
“Still, let’s take it slow. We don’t need to jump to fame with our first show.” San mentioned.
“Yes, of course, we’ll take our time…” Hongjoong said. “We should go talk with Youngjae so he knows we’re being serious.”
“… Before anything, I have to tell you something.” Wooyoung said. “This group is… a bit of a whim of mine. Two of my dad’s biggest clients suddenly terminated their contracts, and for now I just want to help him with the expenses… It’s not that I want this to be temporary, I want to act for as long as I can, but for now I want to focus on that…”
“Oh, I see…” San said.
“If… you don’t want to go ahead with the group because of it I get it, really.”
“… No, we’ll put on a show that’ll make people want to come for the next, and for the one after, and for every show we put on.” Seonghwa said. “And your father won’t have to worry about anything else.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, we’ll have to start rehearsing as soon as possible, and then we’ll discuss the date of the show.” San added.
“Just a second, I think it’s time to choose a name for the group, and I already have a suggestion.” Hongjoong said.
“Go on.” Seonghwa said.
“So, I had thought of ‘L’alba’. It means sunrise in Italian, and it symbolizes a… sunrise… to a new future… together…? I-It can be temporary.”
“I love it!” Wooyoung exclaimed. “‘L’alba’… God, it sounds amazing!”
“Yeah, it’s cool, Hongjoong, we can use it for now.” San mentioned.
Wooyoung felt really relieved knowing that San and Seonghwa wanted to help with the business and, as San said, they started rehearsing as soon as they could. They also came up with a date for the show and started promoting it; surprisingly, they managed to sell out the small live house Youngjae’s business owned. Meanwhile, Youngjae was a bit suspicious of how soon they wanted to start performing as a group, but dismissed it as just teenage excitement for chasing their dreams.
The day the live house sold out, they met to see how much they made with the tickets.
“Let’s see… Oh, it’s enough for the month!” Wooyoung exclaimed.
“Really? Then we know what we need as minimum.” Hongjoong mentioned.
“Well, if everything goes well, what we make will keep increasing…” San added.
“Alright, let’s show them what we’re capable of.” Seonghwa said.
Wooyoung and Hongjoong expected a more carefree acting, but Seonghwa and San insisted on trying to be as strict as possible. That discouraged Wooyoung a bit, but Hongjoong assured him that, after a few shows, they’d want to loosen up a bit, so they kept rehearsing under Seonghwa’s directions. After a week or so they almost mastered the acting, and even managed to include a singing part for San right at the beginning of the show, which encouraged him and Seonghwa to be a bit less strict. Between practice sessions, they usually spent their evenings together: at the theme park, at the park or in the SEKAI. And when they were in the SEKAI they asked Gumi and Miku for advice.
Two weeks later, the afternoon before the show, they had just finished rehearsing; Wooyoung and Hongjoong had already left, but Seonghwa was waiting for San.
“You should leave now, I’m going to keep practicing for a bit.” San said.
“Well, don’t overdo it. Tomorrow will go great, don’t worry.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s just to make sure, so I can see I’ll really do it okay.”
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
San stayed for a few more hours, and finally went home. The next day, the four of them were ready for the show; Hongjoong had the opening line.
“Alright! The moment has come! Our long journey starts today!”
Suddenly, when Wooyoung went to say his line, the power went off. The audience exchanged confused looks, San and Seonghwa didn’t know what to do, and Hongjoong turned to look at the others; Wooyoung mouthed “What do I do?” at him.
“Try to improvise something.” Hongjoong whispered.
“Uh, but, Captain, isn’t it… a bit dangerous to… sail at night?”
Even if the improvisation seemed to work, Seonghwa approached Wooyoung.
“Wooyoung, leave it.”
“But…”
“People are leaving, we can’t do anything.”
At the end, the four of them left the stage. After a few minutes, Seonghwa spoke again.
“We’ll have to postpone the show, right? What do you think-?”
“N-no, we won’t put on a show like this.” Wooyoung interrupted.
“No, I mean, when the power is fixed…”
“It’s not because of the power, Seonghwa, it’s because of everything that happened before. I’m the first one that wanted everything to go well, really, but… but you kept rejecting my ideas, or Hongjoong’s, you said that ‘they weren’t clear enough’, or that ‘they deviated from the script's continuity’, and everything we settled on was suggested by you or by San, and we ended up with a really strict script. How can someone enjoy something that doesn’t allow improvisation? Not to mention that, just by improvising just a bit more and saying we’d do everything during the night we could’ve finished the show, and San’s song wasn’t a problem either since we made it in a way that if anything that could make him freeze happened we could remove it. We have a power reserve for something, and the speakers could’ve worked perfectly.”
“I-I just wanted everything to go well…” San mumbled.
“Yes, and I get it, but how can you make sure everything goes well if you don’t know how it can go wrong? Your way of doing theater… it… it isn’t good.”
San wanted to say something else, but the words wouldn't come out, and he decided to run out of the room.
“… Seonghwa, I get why you did everything like you did, but… you were just too strict, and that’s not what we’re looking for.” Hongjoong added.
“Well, if that’s how you see it, don’t expect me to come back tomorrow.” Seonghwa replied.
Seonghwa left too, leaving Wooyoung and Hongjoong alone.
“… You should go home too, Hongjoong.”
“But-”
“I’ll figure it out, just go.”
Sighing, Hongjoong left too, but didn’t go home, he went to the SEKAI. Gumi and Miku were anxiously waiting for the others, but they became worried when they saw Hongjoong's expression.
“How… did it go?” Miku asked.
“Horribly. The power went out, San and Seonghwa didn’t want to finish the show, and I don’t think they’ll want to act with us again… Why did this happen? I tried to adapt to what they wanted, why did it go wrong…?”
“Maybe… I don’t want to sound mean, but maybe you thought too much about yourself, and not about the others.” Gumi said.
“Huh?”
“After all, you’re the only one with the full story, the others only have loose pages.”
“That’s true… Wooyoung knew that San could freeze, but didn’t know why that happens to him. He didn’t know that Seonghwa’s way of directing was to make sure San wouldn’t freeze either. And San and Seonghwa only knew that Wooyoung wanted to act for the business; they saw a bit of his style the first time they saw you two act, but that’s it. And you just became a blueprint for whatever they wanted.” Miku added.
“Ah… yeah… you’re right… I know it sounds selfish, but even after everything, I don’t want them to leave. I don’t want to perform with anyone else than them.
“And you know what you have to do for that to happen, right?”
“… Yeah, I know. I have to go.”
“Good luck, Hongjoong.” Gumi said.
After leaving the SEKAI, Hongjoong knew that the first thing he needed to do was to find Wooyoung. He knew it wouldn’t be too complicated; he found him sitting on a bench at the theme park.
“I didn’t think you’d come here, Hongjoong.”
“I didn’t want to leave you alone, and something told me you’d be here.”
“… Do you want to ride the Ferris wheel?”
“Yeah, sure.”
They paid for their tickets and got on the Ferris wheel. Both of them were quiet, and Wooyoung wouldn’t look up from the floor.
“… My dad’s going to sell the business.”
“Wh-what? But didn’t we make enough with the tickets?”
“Yeah, but… after the disaster at the show many people asked for a refund, and he doesn’t have enough anymore… But it’s okay, I never actually got the chance to tell him, so he didn’t know…”
“Wooyoung…”
“I just wanted to make the audience smile, to make Seonghwa and San smile, to make you smile… I want to try again, really, but Seonghwa and San…”
“Wooyoung, listen. I know I should’ve told you this sooner, but… Well, as you know, San and Seonghwa had already performed together, but something happened during a show, which caused San to freeze when he needed to sing. The only way they found to prevent that was to make sure they knew exactly what would happen at every point during the performance.”
“That’s why they wanted everything to go perfectly…? I… I get it. So when you said they just needed time you weren’t lying…? If I could talk with them one more time… But I know they won’t forgive me for what I said to them…”
“I mean, it’s not that they need to forgive you, all of us just need to learn to understand each other. I won’t let our dreams be destroyed like this, so we’ll go look for them. We’ll talk with them, and we’ll perform together again. Does it sound good to you?”
“… Of course! Let’s go look for them as soon as we get off. Do you know where they could be?”
“Well, I thought of a few places.”
As soon as the ride ended, Hongjoong and Wooyoung ran out of the theme park. Meanwhile, San had just arrived home. He kept repeating the conversation they had after the show in his head, so he wanted to take a bath and try to stop thinking about that day altogether. However, before making it to his room, he heard his brother talking with his friends. He didn’t mean to listen, but he couldn’t help it.
“… and I know he’s been more lively lately, he has a new acting group and stuff, but it’d be easier for him if he let himself be helped.” Jongho said, not sounding annoyed, but worried. “I’m his brother, I care for him, and if the same thing happened again with them… I don’t want to imagine what could happen… which is crazy coming from me, but…”
“… Jongho’s right… And Wooyoung’s too… I don’t know what to do anymore…” San thought.
“… Wait, let me close the door.”
San stepped back a bit so Jongho wouldn’t see he was spying on him, and sighed. When he went to turn his phone on, Gumi appeared on the screen.
“Ah! Gumi…”
“S-sorry, did I scare you?”
“A bit…”
“I heard that the show… didn’t go too well.”
“Ah… No, it didn’t. The power went out, and Hongjoong only managed to say the first line. Wooyoung tried to improvise, but Seonghwa insisted it wouldn’t work… Hey, Gumi, can you keep a secret?”
“Of course, San.”
“It’s my fault the power went out.”
“Huh?”
“Yesterday I stayed late rehearsing, and I went again this morning, and I think the equipment ended up overheating…”
“San…”
“I wanted everything to be perfect… but I messed everything up again.”
“San, for you, what do music and theater mean?”
“Freedom… After all, they allow me to express myself how I want to.”
“If they mean freedom, then it would be okay if mistakes happened, right? I mean, if you try to make music and theater perfect, you take their freedom from them, don’t you?”
“… I don’t know.”
“San, if you want to express yourself how you want to, a strict script won’t let you. Think about it this way: you have six classes daily, and you prepare accordingly, but the teacher for your fourth period couldn’t come. Still, you used that class to do your homework so you’d have fewer things to do later. Your plan didn’t go how you expected, but you improvised. If life is full of improvisations and setbacks, why remove them from art?”
“I… I’m going to look for Wooyoung and Hongjoong. Thank you, Gumi.”
“It’s nothing, San. Good luck.”
San grabbed his things again and left his house. At the same time Wooyoung and Hongjoong were still looking for Seonghwa and San around the city. The places Hongjoong thought of were good, but they weren’t anywhere. After asking in the restaurant they had dinner when Seonghwa and San accepted to be part of the group, Wooyoung and Hongjoong walked around the city center.
“I really thought they’d be there, the restaurant was a good call…” Wooyoung said.
“And the last… If we can’t find them today there’s no way they’d want to talk with us at school…”
Suddenly, Hongjoong and Wooyoung heard steps rapidly approach them from behind.
“S-San?” Hongjoong asked.
“I have to talk with you…”
“San, I-” Wooyoung tried to speak.
“I’m sorry, for everything. I didn’t realize I… enjoyed seeing you two acting so much before Seonghwa took over, and I was frustrated because I didn’t feel the same way when everything was so strictly scripted. I thought that if everything was perfect I’d believe in myself again and I could go back to singing and acting normally, but no, I had the answer in front of me all along. Music, theater… they are what I love the most, and I want to enjoy it, without stupid rules, without strict scripts… I want to act again, I want to sing again, and I want to do it with you.”
Wooyoung and Hongjoong looked at San for a moment, before Wooyoung hugged him tightly.
“You don’t have to apologize for anything, San. I know how important this show was for you, but that doesn’t matter now. We’re going to perform again, and it’ll be the best performance everyone will see… But we need Seonghwa for that.”
“Do you know where he could be?” Hongjoong asked.
“Seonghwa? He’s probably been home for about an hour already…” San replied. “But you go to the same high school, don’t you? Can’t you talk with him tomorrow?”
“Do you really think he’d be willing to talk after what happened today?”
“Right…”
“Although… I know what we can do!”
“You do?” Wooyoung asked.
“Yeah, but we’d need to go to the SEKAI… and probably spend the night there…”
“We could convince Youngjae to let us spend the night at the live house.” San suggested.
“It won’t be hard. We can tell him that it's gotten very late and it was closer.” Wooyoung mentioned.
“Then let’s go.” Hongjoong said.
They arrived at the live house as fast as they could, easily convinced Youngjae to let them stay and started planning. Once they were in the SEKAI Hongjoong explained his idea to the others, and got to work; they managed to finish everything sooner than expected, they only had to wait.
The next day, just as Hongjoong thought, Seonghwa was avoiding him, but he had a plan for that too. After class, Hongjoong made sure to be having a conversation with some friends at the school gate, so Seonghwa decided to exit through the back gate, which no one used. When Seonghwa was far enough, Hongjoong started following him until they left the school.
“Seonghwa.” Hongjoong said.
Seonghwa stopped, sighed and turned around.
“Hongjoong, stop it. If you think you can convince me to go back-”
Suddenly, Wooyoung approached Seonghwa and grabbed his arm.
“Wooyoung, let go.”
At the same time, San also approached Seonghwa and grabbed his other arm. There was no way they could make it on time from the other high school, so they’d been waiting there since recess.
“San?”
“Hongjoong, let’s do it.” San said.
Hongjoong took out his phone and played the untitled song. Once they were in the SEKAI, Seonghwa was left alone, in front of the wooden stage.
“Wh-where did they go?” Seonghwa thought.
“‘L’alba’, first act.” Miku started narrating.
“Huh?”
“Once upon a time, on a remote island, there lived a solitary captain who sought to bring joy to the hearts of the people.”
“Such a strenuous task… am I even fit to carry it out?” Hongjoong acted.
“You there! The captain!” Wooyoung entered the scene.
“Young bandit, you must know I do not carry anything valuable with me.”
“Don’t you worry about that, for stealing from you is not my intention; I heard about your ambitious task. Being both a pirate and a trouper does sound complicated, but I’m not a coward, and I offer my services for you to accomplish it.”
“So be considered my boatswain, then! We will find more crew, and we will be the best on the island. No, on the archipelago!”
“When did they prepare all of this…?” Seonghwa thought.
“The not-so lonely captain and the renewed bandit walked around their small village, hoping someone would join their crew.” Miku kept narrating. “And, eventually, they came across a sailing master.”
“So you'd be willing to complete the task?” Hongjoong kept acting.
“Not so fast, captain. I will accept the offer as long as my dear friend and retired gunner joins the crew as well.” Gumi entered the scene too.
“Onward, then! This task requires unity, so let us meet the gunner and set out on the journey.”
“So you are the captain my friend mentioned?” San was the last to enter the scene. “You must know we follow strict morns.”
“He said morns instead of norms… San…” Seonghwa thought, way more invested than he’d thought.
“… M-morns? As in… ‘mourns’?” Wooyoung tried to improvise.
“N-norms, strict norms. It is quite hard to talk… sometimes…”
“Oh, it worked out… thanks to Wooyoung…” Seonghwa thought again.
“Are not strict norms but the opposite of our objective?” Wooyoung resumed acting.
“We will make it work, my dear boatswain. Let us set sail, then.” Hongjoong finished the segment.
“After a long and arduous journey, the young crew members docked on the neighboring island and prepared to perform.” Miku narrated. “The townspeople's great anticipation heightened their nerves, but they were ready. However, the lute strings came loose, the percussion box broke, and the tambourine fell apart. Faced with such a fiasco, the entire audience left.”
“That is why we could not be so strict! It was a disaster!” Wooyoung exclaimed.
“But… It was meant to be perfect…” San continued.
“A perfect song matters more than a nice experience? There is no way my crew could be like this.” Hongjoong added.
“Let it be it, then. Carry on alone.” Gumi left the stage.
“One by one, the crew left their captain by their ship, alone once again.” Miku narrated again. “However, his boatswain came back shortly after.”
“… I know we can make it, let us try again, Captain.”
“The captain nodded to his boatswain, who boarded their ship again. Meanwhile, the gunner returned too.”
“I have seen my mistake, Captain. Happiness cannot be planned. Let us accomplish the task, but with our hearts.”
“The gunner boarded the ship too, and their captain soon followed. However, the sailing master, who was looking from afar…”
Silence, everything on the island stopped; Miku stopped narrating, Gumi stood still, Hongjoong stopped on the stairs, and Wooyoung and San kept their conversation on the ship static.
“Wh-what is the sailing master going to do?” Seonghwa asked, realizing he actually said it out loud.
“I don’t know…” Hongjoong replied, turning around. “What are you going to do, Seonghwa?”
Hongjoong extended his hand, awaiting Seonghwa's response. Seonghwa just watched the scene, but he couldn't help but smile, and ended up going up the ship's stairs.
“Well, you can still improve your acting a bit, and we could try to use the ship more…” Seonghwa replied, grabbing Hongjoong’s hand. “I-if you let me be the director again, of course.”
Hongjoong hugged Seonghwa tightly, surprising him.
“Of course… I’d never let anyone else be it.”
“I’m sorry… I know I’ve been too controlling…”
“Don’t worry about that now, Seonghwa, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Are you getting up here or what?” Wooyoung asked.
“You still need to complete the task, let’s finish the act.” Miku mentioned.
“Did you prepare the song too?” Seonghwa asked.
“N-no, we didn’t prepare anything.” San replied.
“Don’t worry, you’ll know what to do once the music starts.” Miku said.
A bit confused, Seonghwa and Hongjoong got on the ship with Miku. They weren’t so sure about what could come of performing a song none of them knew about but, just as Miku said, they knew what to do.
“That… was amazing.” Seonghwa said.
“Since you’ve already found your true feelings, the untitled song became the song you just performed.” Gumi explained.
“So, what do we think about going to speak with Youngjae to set another date for the show before the month ends?” Hongjoong asked. “I don’t want to risk him selling the business before we talk with him.”
“Is he really selling it?” San asked. “But what about…?”
“People asked for refunds, so we don’t have nearly enough.” Wooyoung replied.
“Then let’s go, it’s getting late.” Seonghwa said.
They left the SEKAI and went straight to Youngjae’s office. Wooyoung asked his father directly for another date for the show.
“No way.” Youngjae said. “Wooyoung, you know we’re not in a position to spend money on the live house.”
“I-I know, we can pay, we just-”
“Listen, I know you’re excited about this, but there’s no way this specific show is so important to you. It actually seems fishy to me; you kept saying you were looking for the perfect group and think carefully about its direction, but now that you have it you want to jump at the first opportunity?”
Wooyoung wanted to reply, to argue, but he couldn’t think of anything.
“… Wooyoung, I think it’s time you tell him the truth.” Hongjoong mentioned.
“The truth?” San asked. “W-wait, he doesn’t know?”
“What are they talking about, Wooyoung?” Youngjae asked.
Wooyoung sighed; he didn’t want to, but he knew he had to come clean if he wanted his group to survive.
“… This show was meant to help you with the business.” Wooyoung finally confessed. “We were going to use the money we got to cover most of the expenses…”
“Then I’m even less willing to let you put on this show.”
“Oh, come on, you really won’t budge?” Seonghwa asked. “Can’t you see how much Wooyoung is making an effort to help you? And how far he’s willing to go? Not everyone would put their first ‘paycheck’ towards helping their family.”
“And… and as I’ve told the others, this won’t be temporary, and I’m not doing this just for the money.” Wooyoung added. “I love music, I love theater, and I’d love to do this for the rest of my life, but if I can help you I will. I don’t care if you tell me ‘no’ a million times, I’ll insist until it’s a ‘yes’.”
“… You can perform the day before I need to make the payments.” Youngjae said.
“R-really?”
“But you need to promise me that this will be the only time you help me out.”
“… Okay, I guess it’s fair.”
“So, this means we should start rehearsing now, right?” San asked.
“Oh, yeah. It’s a bit late already, but I think we can start planning everything today.” Hongjoong replied.
“These kids are going to be the death of me.” Youngjae thought. “But… they remind me of when I was young. Maybe it isn’t too bad.”
They spent the next few days rehearsing for the show again, but with a new mentality, and the improvement was extremely noticeable; they were able to fix a few plot holes, they refined some scenes, and San managed to finish his song consistently, even when Youngjae was watching them rehearse. They also promoted the show with a few videos on social media, with helped them get the audience back.
They had three shows that day, and it was a success.
“That took a while… I can barely stand…” San complained.
“But we managed to make enough, right?” Hongjoong asked.
“I’m on it… we doubled it!” Wooyoung exclaimed.
“Really? What a relief…” Seonghwa said. “Then… We’re keeping ‘L’alba’ as our name, right?”
“Yeah, well, it already means a lot to us, so I think it’s perfect.” Hongjoong replied.
“Well, I was thinking we’re going to need a slogan, quote or something like that.”
“Slogan?” San asked.
“I have a perfect suggestion!” Wooyoung exclaimed.
“Yeah? What is it?” Hongjoong asked.
The Solar Team! L’alba sailing!