Sol spared a glance towards Se-jin, but could only shrug helplessly. It wasn't that he didn't know anything--- or at least, Sol had suspicions, anyway--- but it wasn't like he had a solution to offer. Whatever was happening to Yeong-sik, he had rebuffed Sol's entreaties to talk about it, and Sol wasn't the type to push someone until they were ready.
And in the meantime, he had more pressing problems to attend to. Ji-won wasn't their best dancer or their most accomplished vocalist, so he wasn't in the center a lot, but he was generally reliable enough that Sol hadn't anticipated having to chroeograph
around him. And five people were easier to plan for than six, but planning around a sixth member who wouldn't always be there...
Was it too late to ask the company to make their title track a ballad?
While Sol sighed and scratched his head, Julian fired off a text at Ji-won.
Hey Mr Big Shot, you weren't even going to tell us you had a drama? >c >c >cHis effort was wasted, however. Three hours of practice later and it hadn't even shown up as read. Only later that evening, when Julian had finished eating dinner, did his phone ping with a reply.
busy. can't talk. ask manager.
And so they fell into a pattern. The boys of Nova got up, went to practice, recorded sessions, filmed variety shows if they had any scheduled--- all the typical pre-comeback activities. And for the most part, they saw neither hide nor hair of Ji-won. He was doing some of it, he must have been; but even then, his schedule didn't align with theirs.
It was only when it came time do the jacket photoshoot that they saw him again, and then only because it would have been impossible to do group shots without him there.
Ji-won walked into the studio after everyone else had arrived and were already in the process of being styled. His hair and make-up was already done, but even then, he looked a little... worn around the edges. There was a slow, distracted air to his movements, a look in his eyes that spoke to the fact that his mind was elsewhere as the coordi stood him in front of a rack and held up jackets against his chest to see which one she wanted him to wear.
The drama... The filming wasn't going well.
The first meetings with the director had been fine. It had been a little strange to come back to them the way he was now, having been away for so many years, but everything had felt familiar. And then the cast was finalized and the preliminary readings began, and Ji-won had been faced with an unpleasant surprise of his own.
"Oh, and here comes our leading man! Let me introduce you... Ah, but Ji-wonnie, you've already met, haven't you?"Kang Tae-oh.
He had gotten taller, his shoulders broader, his features sharpened without that middle-school softness from when Ji-won had seen him last, but that serious, sober expression had stayed exactly the same.
At least Ji-won had the satisfaction of seeing Tae-oh caught off guard, just as he was. But it was Tae-oh who recovered first, who smiled and reached out a hand for Ji-won to shake.
"It's been a long time. I'm looking forward to working with you again.""Likewise," Ji-won had said. There was nothing else to say.
But he had been away from the industry for six years, and in the intervening time, Tae-oh had been working through the circuit, accumulating experience and training with his own company. It was the first time either of them had been cast as leads, but the difference was apparent even during the readings. Tae-oh was already on his way to embodying his character, while Ji-won stumbled over his lines, apologizing awkwardly as he broke the rapport again and again.
And then there were the sessions, which had to be squeezed in at night, poring over routines and lyrics and everything else he'd been given. It was funny. Ji-won had always thought he might work better alone, without all the hubbub and annoyance of the other members getting in his way. But it was hard to practice a dance routine alone, and there was so much to remember... At one point even the vocal director had walked out of a late night recording session, insisting he needed a smoke, after Ji-won made a mistake on the same part for the fifth time running.
At 3 AM he tumbled into bed--- or, increasingly, into the back of a car to be shipped off to an early morning schedule--- and snatched a few fitful hours of sleep. Then someone would shake him awake and he'd repeat the whole process again.
Maybe he should have been glad to see the others, but it was like he was walking through a haze. But then, it wasn't as if he had known how to talk to them before. Back then it hadn't seemed relevant, and now...
He saw Julian's eyes flick over him, and--- it was so ridiculous--- he felt something like hope gutter in his chest. He didn't even know what he was hoping for, least of all from
Julian...But whatever it was, it didn't come. Julian took one look at him and grimaced; Ji-won could see the words dying on his tongue. Julian turned away, and chatted up one of the make-up artists instead.
"Put this on," said the coordi, and shoved a denim jacket into his hands.
Right. A jacket. That... That was something he could do.