when @hannaxbe walked into the hallway of axis building for the first time, jay thought he had started hallucinating—it’d be the second time he questioned his own sanity to the point of testing his own fabric of reality, but after careful consideration ( and the fact that jay had been doing relatively okay mentally ), he came to the conclusion that his sister was actually present in the building and she is truly a trainee now. not that hanna ever told him!
apparently, his sister had gone through the process of dream wave auditions ( something jay had forgotten about really ), eventually ending up in sr media. after a few whines and complaints from jay that hanna never told him, jay decides to drop the topic—he isn’t that offended anyway!—and congratulate her instead.
but he did tell hanna that he’ll forgive her only if hanna becomes the sailor venus to his sailor moon for the halloween party. a sprinkle of bribery, if you will.
“noona!” he walks up to her with a skip on his step, smiling. “did you try out all the snacks? the cake was really sweet, i couldn’t stop eating it!” he already has a decent amount of snacks stashed into his back, for them to eat later at their apartment. it’s only fair! if it’s there for the taking, then he’ll take them for the long road home too!
“oh yeah, what did you think of the performance?” he asks, curious. “you know,” he leans closer, dropping his voice to a whisper, so that only she can hear him. “my boyfriend was on stage. he’s one of the project green boys. can you rate him from one out of ten?”
when eunbin initially auditioned for the drama, she didn't expect to be picked. of course, it was a great opportunity, and she was elated to be a part of the project, but she couldn't help but worry about her actual acting.
it seems like the company was more than aware of this because they had made it clear that she should get some extra acting lessons in. that's what she was hoping to focus on this month. looking around, she felt a bit of relief upon realizing that she wasn't on this ship alone.
"i think the hardest part is making sure my dialect doesn't pop out." while eunbin's been living in seoul for a couple of years now, she couldn't completely stop her busan dialect from slipping out from time to time. that's why she wanted to work on her pronunciation more than ever to ensure that it didn't happen during the actual filming. "pronunciation seems to be like the most basic skill when it comes to acting. i dont' want to miss out on it," she explains to hanna who happens to be beside her.
[ performance portion - feat. @hannaxbe ]
performing: jazz bar, by wonderland (ballad/acoustic ver.)
( inspirations: style/visual theme similar to that of this, visual set up like a jazz lounge to the best of their ability )
yuji's meticulous and serious about this performance the moment it's given. she doesn't miss the subtle nudges or queues-- the pinpointed looks and even mention of her name. yuji has to straighten up and get focused.
she's paired with hanna, which yuji spends maybe all of five minutes being a little offended about before she realizes it could be worse. at least they had the foresight to mention that she looks awkward on camera before they revealed the pairings. hanna shows exceptionally well on camera, so yuji takes note of that. it's to help, complement where you lack. it's not a dig. so yuji plasters on a smile and gets to work.
at least hanna's nice. it makes falling into the ease of preparing for the performance simple for her. musical creativity? hanna doesn't bring much to the table there, but yuji's fine with that. it's an example of something yuji can take a hold of and make for the two of them; brainstorming comes easy enough. the older trainee is already working through potential options and directions to go.
they bounce through a couple of different ideas, noting what they lack and what to focus on. dancing is pushed to the back burner for now, so yuji focuses on other aspects. instead of title tracks, they go for b-siders, and at least yuji is familiar with wonderland's discography to have a few to pop out to her. once they've decided on their choice-- jazz bar, yuji gets to work reworking the line distribution and production changes, while hanna focuses on thematics and a proper visual for their performance. she presented to tell a story through the song, put their acting skills to use!
they go for something a bit more musical theatre esque, the set up as close to a jazz lounge as they could get with minimal props. it sets enough of a scene-- and hanna does an excellent job of selling the idea to yuji. as someone who worked at a jazz lounge before, yuji finds that settling into the role shouldn't be very hard for her at all. she's happy with it, and pleased with the direction hanna took with it.
it's nerve-wracking, though. just as they talked about-- standing on opposite sides of the 'bar' they've created. all in all, yuji's happy with how hanna's put it to life. it's easy to fall into the rhythm, and when the instrumental starts-- she sways idly with the music, glancing over at her partner with a soft smile.
acting face on, vocals on. performance set!
yuji starts vocal scatting at the beginning, bringing them into the song as she makes a motion to glance over at hanna in her peripheral. they're supposed to be shy, watchful and longing while they inch closer and closer to each other throughout the performance.
through the descending red light
i feel your eyes ah
endlessly entranced by my humming
you give me sweet looks
they switch off verses, the two of them glancing over at each other when the other isn't looking. small, casual little steps to the side-- until their distance is shortened. from hanna, to yuji, then back to hanna. a hand sliding on the 'bar-top' then back, hesitant. longing.
did you slip in through open doors and sit down
just to look at me like that every day
when our two eyes meet i want to stop singing
and draw closer to whisper oh nah
it's a song about yearning, and yuji finds herself falling into it seamlessly. hanna's a good actress, and yuji finds herself matching her energy.
"i feel i love you," she sings, soft and ethereal. "oh, i love you. oh, i like you. do i know you?" she hums, glancing over at hanna, the softest smile on her face.
oh I love you (love you)
oh I like you (like you)
maybe you’ll feel it, too
another step. distance lost, and now they look like they're standing intentionally by each other, their eyes slowly gravitating towards each other and away from their audience.
perhaps we are similar
thinking the same thoughts
deemingly wanting for something oh
...
when our two eyes meet i want to stop singing
and draw closer to whisper oh nah
their eyes meet, and they move into the final chorus. they harmonize this part, voice blending in together, another step closer.
i feel I love you
oh I love you
oh I like you
do I know you? oh ah
i think I love you (love you)
oh I love you (love you)
as the song comes to an end, the scatting makes a return. hanna starts this time, and yuji follows up after, both of them humming together the final notes until the instrumental fades off.
nayoung is trying to be friendlier with the novus girls.
to be fair, that's mostly just manifested as her not always being in her room and actually being accessible for conversation should any of the others decide to approach her. she still doesn't entirely know how to talk to girls as allies – friends, even – opposed to competition, but it doesn't seem like any of them are really scared of her. that counts for something, right?
now, she sits on the living room sofa in the dorm, on the other side of the couch from hanna. they turned on a drama they've both already seen before, what nayoung thinks was a silent agreement to find something to do together that doesn't actually require them to talk to each other.
nayoung less-than-half pays attention, spending most of her time on her phone playing block game with the sound off.
she takes a break from the game and focuses more on the drama after she's lost the same round three times in a row and she feels herself getting frustrated. she reminds herself there are far more important things going on: her approaching debut – hopefully. their approaching debut?
there's also that drama that axis is holding auditions for. she's still a little bitter that the project novus girls can't participate. she understands why, but the timing of it all is stupid. why would they hold auditions for a drama that the most talented actors in the company can't even attend? their lead actresses are probably going to be awful in comparison.
hanna has a history with acting, right? nayoung thinks she remembers that. at the very least, she has a history now thanks to their lessons at sr media. she wonders if she feels the same way. it's worth asking about, isn't it?
"did you hear about the drama axis is auditioning trainees for?" she speaks up during the next ad break in their drama. what better way to bond than complaining over the same thing, right? or something like that.
