apartment block 17

[ 404 ]

fronting theatre - backstage

"wonwoo, stop jittering so much," hyungwon chided, attempting to reapply light eyeshadow to the creases of his eyelid.

mingyu glanced over; which proved to be difficult as he, too, had makeup being reapplied to his upper cheek; and saw wonwoo's hands clasped tightly into fists and his eyelid flickering as his makeup artist poked at his face with a flat brush.

"wonwoo," mingyu whispered, catching the boy's attention. he boldly reached over and forced his hand into wonwoo's, intertwining their fingers. wonwoo's hand was all kinds of clammy, cold yet warm and slick with sweat, and trembling uncontrollably.

"you're going to be fine," mingyu said softly, "just focus on me, not the audience."

"that won't really help much," wonwoo muttered, looking away. but he didn't let go of mingyu's hand.

"we're back on in 5!" a frantic voice called out from the stage.

jihyo finished touching up mingyu's makeup with a smile. she reached up and fixed a loose strand of his hair and said, "ready to get back out there?"

"as ready as i'll ever be," mingyu grinned, squeezing wonwoo's hand simultaneously.

• • •

somehow, they were able to make it through half the play without any incidents or noticeable mistakes. frankly, mingyu thought it was a miracle.

mingyu could tell that wonwoo was much more nervous than he was in rehearsals. there was a slight tremor in his voice that contradicted the cocky confidence that his character, chanyeol, was meant to have.

• • •

"Then what about you? Who do you like?"
Baekhyun asked teasingly, leaning over the table with a smirk and nearly knocking over his untouched cup of black coffee.

• • •

wonwoo leant forward with an equally playful smirk. to the audience that was metres away from the stage, they surely wouldn't have been able to see the slight quiver of wonwoo's bottom lip (but of course, mingyu being an observant boy who was mere inches away from wonwoo, was able to pick up the small motion).

• • •

"What if I said I liked you?"
Chanyeol said without hesitation.

• • •

mingyu could hear gasps in the audience as wonwoo uttered his line. just as in rehearsal, mingyu's heart leapt and he couldn't help but wish it was wonwoo saying that; not 'chanyeol'.

• • •

"Excuse me?"
Baekhyun flinched back in response to Chanyeol's declaration.

"I--"
Chanyeol stuttered.

• • •

mingyu looked at wonwoo expectantly. the next line was "i like you", so mingyu wasn't sure why wonwoo was stuttering. did he forget his line?

the audience grew expectant and restless, murmurs rising as wonwoo continued to remain silent and instead stared intensely at the table. mingyu noticed wonwoo gripping the sides of the table tightly, so tight his veins became visible through his pale, almost translucent skin.