Chapter 96. Musical "Dejanor" (1)

"We have arrived."

"Thank you for your hard work. Did you already tell them?"

"Of course. I told the management team. But Mr. Jin Yuhan doesn't know yet."

With Minsoo's answer, Yeonwoo got out of the car.

"Yeonwoo!"

"Joo-hyung is here."

Click.

At that moment, Minsoo opened the trunk from the driver's seat, and inside, many bento boxes were divided into several bags.

Soon, Minsoo got out of the car and walked to the trunk, and Yeonwoo introduced Kim Joo-hyung.

"Hyung Minsoo, this is my college friend, Kim Joo-hyung."

"Oh, hello. We spoke on the phone at the beginning of the semester, right?"

"Yes, Manager. Hello!"

Yeonwoo took out the bags from the trunk and distributed them.

"Joo-hyung, help me out today. It would have been tough for just two of us, but with three of us, it should be enough."

"Come on, it's no big deal."

The three of them, each holding several bags in both hands, headed for the elevator.

"What floor is it?"

"5th floor."

"Wow, so you practice here?"

Kim Joo-hyung, who had thought the building looked ordinary from the outside, tilted his head.

He had vaguely thought that musicals were practiced in theaters.

"Yeah, it's my first time seeing a theater group practice."

As they chatted, the elevator opened, and a staff member from the management team was there to greet them.

"Hello. Thank you so much for coming to such a humble place."

"You're welcome."

"Please, this way. They probably think the food delivery has arrived now that practice is over."

Yeonwoo and the group followed the staff member down the hallway, and a spacious hall with high ceilings appeared.

The staff member opened the door, and Yeonwoo went in first.

"Food delivery has arrived."

As Yeonwoo entered with a smile, holding the bags, the theater members, who were getting up to receive what they thought was a food delivery, had their eyes widen in surprise.

"Wow! What is this?"

"Is that not Mr. Ryu Yeonwoo?"

"What is this? Is it a hidden camera?"

The members, surprised by the unexpected situation, buzzed with excitement.

Meanwhile, Jin Yuhan, who was wiping his sweaty face with a towel, heard Yeonwoo's name in the commotion and turned his head sharply toward the entrance.

"Hey? Yeonwoo?"

Seeing Ryu Yeonwoo really walk in, Jin Yuhan was surprised and quickly got up to approach him.

"Really, Yeonwoo! What brings you here?"

"I came to cheer for the musical. Hello, I'm Ryu Yeonwoo, Yuhan's friend."

Wow!

Amazing!

As Yeonwoo greeted the musical actors, who were standing behind him in shock, cheers erupted.

"Yuhan, my arm is going to fall off."

Jokingly offering a bag to Jin Yuhan, who was equally surprised, he quickly took it.

"Here's lunch for today."

"What did you buy all this? I'm sorry."

As Jin Yuhan took the bento, Kim Joo-hyung, who was standing behind Manager Minsoo, poked his head out.

"Yuhan, I'm here too."

"Hey? Joo-hyung!"

Jin Yuhan, who had fought alongside him and recently went on a trip together, smiled brightly and welcomed Kim Joo-hyung.

"Everyone, come and eat. I brought some simple bento."

"Wow, thank you."

"You look good!"

As Yeonwoo put down the bento they had brought, the musical actors gathered and clapped.

"Wow, amazing. It's beef sushi."

"They said the team leader was going to order jajangmyeon, but here you are with Ryu Yeonwoo and sushi..."

The members, after thanking Yeonwoo, dispersed and sat down to enjoy the sushi.

Yeonwoo and the group also sat cross-legged with Jin Yuhan on the stage and opened their bento.

"Yeonwoo, if you take care of me like this, I'll feel obligated. What can I do for you later?"

"Hmm, maybe prepare some lobster?"

"Lobster, okay."

"Yuhan, I'm joking."

Yeonwoo, seeing Jin Yuhan nodding quietly after feeling guilty, quickly stopped him.

"Wow, I've never seen a musical practice before. It's so interesting to see it here."

Kim Joo-hyung, eating sushi and looking around, said this.

Smiling, Jin Yuhan spoke.

"If you have time, would you like to watch us practice after lunch? We get more motivated when there's an audience."

"Really? I'm totally fine with that..."

Kim Joo-hyung, nodding vigorously, looked at Yeonwoo.

"Sure, I'm fine too. I don't have any filming today. It's my day off."

"Yay!"

Seeing Kim Joo-hyung, who was excited like a child, Yeonwoo smiled.

At that moment, the head of the musical's publicity team approached Jin Yuhan and whispered something to him, making him look troubled.

"Um, Yeonwoo, would you like to try matching your breathing with the practice for a bit? It might be fun, but it might be too much, right?"

The management team's intention to use the making-of video featuring Ryu Yeonwoo and Jin Yuhan for noise marketing on YouTube was obvious.

However, Jin Yuhan, who wanted to match his breathing with his friend on the musical stage, couldn't refuse and relayed the publicity team's words to Yeonwoo. Some of the musical actors, who were sitting nearby eating sushi, perked up their ears and chimed in.

"Wow, I want to see Mr. Ryu Yeonwoo act!"

"Wow, then we'll see the real 'Beyond the Stars' combination with Jin Yuhan and Ryu Yeonwoo."

Yeonwoo, feeling the expectations pouring in from around him, was sweating.

Although he wanted to do it because it was his favorite musical, ...

"It's a musical. I want to be on stage, but I can't sing because I'm tone-deaf..."

"Hmm, right. You said that."

As Jin Yuhan stroked his chin, thinking about Yeonwoo's words, another actor sitting behind him spoke.

"What about scene 16?"

At his colleague's suggestion, Jin Yuhan snapped his fingers.

"Scene 16 is where 'Ezel' appears, and there's no singing. You can memorize the script in no time. The actor playing Ezel couldn't make it today due to some circumstances."

Yeonwoo, hearing Jin Yuhan's words, stroked his chin.

If there's no singing, it should be possible to memorize the script in about 30 minutes.

Since "Dejanor" was Yeonwoo's favorite musical, he knew the lines in various languages, so he only needed to memorize the parts adapted for Korean.

'If it's Ezel's entrance scene, it's probably the argument between the factory workers and the Detroit gang.'

After a moment's thought, Yeonwoo nodded.

"Sure, let's try it. I've always wanted to perform this work on stage."

Yeonwoo's answer made Jin Yuhan smile, and the nearby actors cheered.

The publicity team leader, who was filming the making-of video for YouTube, quickly raised the camcorder to capture Yeonwoo.

'Wow, this will definitely get a few million views.'

At that moment, another actor, who was eating bento behind them, looked at Jin Yuhan and the publicity team leader with a bewildered expression.

"Come on, even if you look at the script for a bit, it's not right to go on stage. This isn't a child's play."

The publicity team leader quickly approached the actor and whispered something to him.

From his expression and mouth movements, it seemed he was saying that even if they couldn't act properly on the practice stage, it would be enough to edit it for noise marketing.

"Man, in my time, even beginners couldn't think about going on the practice stage, but now Jin Yuhan pops up out of nowhere to become the lead, and his friend is going on too. Do as you please."

Although he tried to speak quietly so that Ryu Yeonwoo and Jin Yuhan wouldn't hear, Yeonwoo, who was focused on their conversation, heard it clearly.

He had heard that in the musical and theater world, there was a tendency to look down on actors from TV or film when they transitioned to musicals or theater, and it seemed not all the theater members viewed Jin Yuhan positively.

However, the management team was overjoyed.

Ryu Yeonwoo and Jin Yuhan were celebrities whose popularity was second to none.

The idea of Ryu Yeonwoo, who was a topic of conversation with every work and every move, visiting Jin Yuhan's practice room and spontaneously matching their breathing was making the management team very happy.

"Thank you for the meal."

"Thank you, Mr. Ryu Yeonwoo."

"No, thank you for allowing me to visit today."

After finishing their meal and exchanging greetings with the musical actors, Jin Yuhan approached Yeonwoo and handed him the script.

"Yeonwoo, we start from this part. We have about an hour before the previous scenes, so is it possible?"

"Hmm, since I know the content of the musical, it should be possible."

"Just for fun. Don't feel pressured. But it will be really fun."

Jin Yuhan, excited about matching his breathing with Yeonwoo on stage, not on screen or TV, said this.

"Anyway, no wonder you're called the best actor."

On the other hand, Kim Joo-hyung, who was as excited as the best actor, couldn't hide his excitement.

"Wow, this is amazing."

This is beyond an A-grade seat; it should be called an SS-grade seat.

Kim Joo-hyung, thinking he was watching a live performance right in front of him, was very excited.

Yeonwoo, skimming through the script, focused on the stage.

He had a natural talent for memorizing and had seen the original many times, so even though it was a new script, memorizing the lines wasn't difficult.

More importantly, he focused on the actors' breathing, the degree of exaggeration in their expressions compared to dramatic acting, and the intervals between their lines.

Finally, the stage began.

The musical team was a bit tense, as it was the first time showing their practice to outsiders.

First, Jin Yuhan, playing the role of 'Shane Dillinger,' the boss of the Detroit gang, walked out in sync with the footsteps heard through the speakers.

"Let there be light!"

As he spoke, a spotlight fell.

"Jane, do you know why light exists?"

In response to Jin Yuhan's question, another actor walked out from behind.

"Because the sun rises. You always say strange things, brother."

"No, Jane. Light makes gold and diamonds shine beautifully."

Jin Yuhan took two more steps forward, a cold smile on his face, and scanned the audience with a piercing gaze.

"In this land of Detroit, there are pigs brimming with greed. But their greed is very important. Without greed, there is no hate, and without hate, our Detroit mafia business doesn't work. Isn't it ironic? We need hate to have happiness."

His delivery, emphasizing important words and showing the character's distinct personality, was clearly different from dramatic acting.

Even with just a few lines, the character of Shane Dillinger was strongly etched in the mind.

He lifted his gold bracelets, studded with jewels, and gave a chilling smile.

"Look, happiness is shining brightly in the light."

The spotlight then moved to the actress playing his sister, 'Jane Dillinger.'

"You always seem to be running from someone."

"Me? There's no one who can chase me in this land. I'm the wolf of this jungle."

"But you always seem anxious."

Then, Shane Dillinger's famous solo, and the first song of the musical, "The Wolf of Detroit," began to play.

A clear voice and solid delivery.

A voice that matched Jin Yuhan's usual acting style and appearance.

Yeonwoo, quickly memorizing the script, closely analyzed the actors' performances.

'The lighting is coming from that side, so he's tilting his face diagonally.'

'The delivery is stronger than typical musical acting, probably to draw more attention with so many characters on stage.'

Of course, he had learned stage acting when he studied with Jung Chulmin, who ran a theater company, but there was a difference between learning and actually performing, and subtle adjustments were needed based on the content, the scene, and the co-actors.

"I can't just stand by anymore. Darkness is only tolerated in dark places. When those mouse-like creatures start crawling out into the sunlight and making things that kill people, that's when society has a problem."

For Yeonwoo, who had always watched his favorite musical "Dejanor" in foreign languages, hearing it live, especially from his friend's voice, was a new experience.

'I've always wanted to perform it, but of course, I thought it would never happen because I can't sing...'

Having seen and analyzed it so many times, he was confident that if he memorized the Korean lines, he could play any role.