boyutpedia Chapter 1356 It doesn’t matter
Chapter 1356 It doesn’t matter
Chapter 1356 It doesn’t matter
The floor of the SM practice room was bathed in the cool white light of the overhead lamps as Ji Kyung-won and Minatozaki Sana began practicing their collaborative stage performance of "Uchiage Hanabi".
"...Use this as the central axis of the stage. Sana, you will walk out from this spot in a moment."
In the practice room, Chi Jingyuan pointed to another spot of blue tape on the ground with his fingertip: "Then walk here and stop."
Unlike the previous recording where Ji Kyung-won and Mina used the same part allocation, the collaboration was canceled after the recording was completed due to an accident, and stage practice did not actually begin.
Therefore, there was nothing to learn from the stage design for this collaboration, but the stage design for the duo collaboration was completely new.
However, although he hadn't reached this stage when he was with Mina before, Ji Kyung-won actually already had a complete design for the live stage. He stayed up all night to draw the stage flow and thought of the interaction details... but he just didn't have time to bring it out.
I thought these ideas would just stay buried in a folder and remain in my mind forever, but I never expected that this time, due to an unexpected collaboration, I would have the opportunity to showcase them again.
What's even more unexpected is that it was with Minatozaki Sana.
Chi Jingyuan watched as Minatozaki Sana, who had been practicing her movements, walked over step by step. He remained outwardly calm, but a subtle sense of bewilderment welled up inside him.
The accompaniment flowed softly, and in my line of sight, Sana Minatozaki walked quickly from the side along the route that had been designed for her to go on stage. Her figure was covered by a black oversized hoodie, but as she took a step, the movement of her body revealed the faint curves of her waist and abdomen.
As the accompaniment of "Uchiage Hanabi" flowed gently, Sana Minatozaki stood at the stage marker, her hands hanging naturally at her sides. When her white sneakers landed lightly, her ankles twitched almost imperceptibly, and her right leg trembled slightly, but her expression remained completely unchanged, and her movements were not hindered in the slightest.
A typical event schedule might involve walking around and recording a program while sitting down, with the help of other members, so even if you get injured, you can manage.
But stage rehearsals are not something you can just do by standing around for a bit. Even though "Uchiage Hanabi" doesn't have complicated dances, the movement, positioning, and camera coordination require physical exertion and involve using my injured right foot.
Others might not notice, but because he was so close, even though Sana Minato tried her best to hide it, Chi Jingyuan could still catch the strange look in her eyes and the trembling of her eyebrows as she endured the pain.
Chi Jingyuan had been wondering how long she could keep up the act, but when she actually started working, he realized that if he hadn't been observing her closely, he would have actually believed her earlier statement that "it's nothing serious and I'll be fine soon."
Without a single distraction or complaint, her injuries and pain seemed to have no impact on her focus on the job. She not only fully cooperated with Chi Jingyuan and the stage design teacher's guidance, but also continued to think and participate.
"Teacher, should I walk over faster or slower? I think it would be better if I stopped here for a bit, sang this line, and then continued?"
Sana Minatozaki bowed slightly, carefully explaining her ideas to her instructor, gesturing with her hands as if afraid the instructor might not understand.
"...When I moved closer to Kyungwon oppa during the chorus, should I have taken smaller steps? If the camera is facing him directly, I feel like I'm blocking his movements."
As Sana Minatozaki spoke, she subconsciously lifted her right foot, intending to demonstrate the movement she had just made, but she wobbled slightly upon landing. She quickly steadied herself, pretending to adjust her posture.
Not only the teacher, but she also seemed to have forgotten the clash of the previous two nights, communicating with Chi Jingyuan naturally in her signature high-pitched, melodious tone:
"Oppa, should I do this now?"
Standing next to Chi Jingyuan, she looked at her position in the mirror and then turned to look at him, saying, "Oppa, do I look better standing like this than before?"
"Would it be better if I sided with you at this point?"
"In this part, should we interact a bit? Add some eye contact or something... Just moving around seems a bit empty, eye contact would probably better fit the atmosphere of the song."
Sana Minato looked at Jingyuan Chi with bright, focused eyes, and a thin layer of sweat had already seeped from her forehead.
She kept asking all sorts of questions, offering various suggestions and sharing her own ideas, seemingly taking this collaboration very seriously and genuinely wanting to do her best to make this stage the best it could be.
Chi Jingyuan looked at Minatozaki Sana, who was walking around beside him, singing non-stop, wiping away sweat from time to time, and even thoughtfully bringing him a glass of mineral water.
This was his first time working alone with Sana Minatozaki, and the first time he had felt her stubborn focus and seriousness in her work.
To be honest, when I first arrived at the practice room and started practicing with Sana Minatozaki, Ji Jingyuan had some mixed thoughts in his mind.
After all, a violent conflict and almost irrational intimate contact had just occurred at the gym a couple of days ago. Now, after such a short time, the impact and emotions from that previous encounter are still lingering in my mind.
When he saw Sana Minatozaki walking around him, and that familiar scent entered his nostrils with each breath, even though she was wearing an oversized hoodie that covered her entire body, Ji Jingyuan couldn't help but imagine her in her yoga clothes that night, and what she looked like after taking them off...
These are all fine, it's just a certain restlessness and strangeness in my heart. But more importantly, the song "Uchiage Hanabi" was originally a collaboration with Mina, but the stage that even Mina hadn't rehearsed was suddenly changed to a collaboration with Sana Minatozaki.
Furthermore, during the conflict at the gym a couple of days ago, the two of them openly stated their disagreement, saying that "it was because Chi Jingyuan felt that Minatozaki Sana was somewhat jealous and inferior." And now, the development of events seems to confirm what Chi Jingyuan said at the time.
Although he knew it was the decision of the MAMA organizers and the company, the result did give him a strange feeling that "Sana Minatozaki somehow replaced Mina Mina". This made Ji Jingyuan feel a little strange when he practiced with her.
However, as he practiced and watched, looking at Minatozaki Sana beside him wiping away sweat and breathing softly, appearing very serious and focused, some of the thoughts in Chi Jingyuan's mind unconsciously dissipated.
She is genuine; you can feel her active and authentic focus, and her hard work.
Some complex speculations and subtle feelings seemed somewhat superfluous in the face of her earnestness.
"Take a break for now."
Everyone was a bit tired. Mainly, Chi Jingyuan noticed that Minatozaki Sana's right leg was trembling slightly, and he could tell that she seemed to be unable to bear the pain in her foot. So he took the initiative to signal to the teacher, and the SM teacher readily agreed and immediately announced that it was time to rest.
Upon hearing the word "rest," Minatozaki Sana visibly relaxed, her tense shoulders slumping slightly.
Although her foot was hurting a lot, she didn't walk away immediately. Instead, she smiled, bowed to the teacher naturally, and sweetly thanked her, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, teacher."
Then she bowed slightly to Chi Jingyuan and slowly walked over to sit down on the sofa next to her.
JYP's manager went to the restroom with SM staff and hasn't returned yet. Apart from an invisible SM assistant and a teacher who just went out to smoke, only Ji Kyung-won and Minatozaki Sana remain.
Chi Jingyuan also found a place to sit down... but unlike when they were sitting together in the music room, the two were now far apart. The naturalness and closeness they had during practice seemed to be just work. Now, it was as if there was an invisible wall between them, and even the air felt distant.
Clearly, after some things happen, even if you do it under the guise of work, you can't hide the shadows left in your heart.
He used his phone to communicate with the "Spying" production team about the arrangements in the group chat. A few minutes later, Ji Jingyuan put down his phone, looked up and glanced around. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Minatozaki Sana sitting on the other side of the sofa, looking down and holding her phone.
She had one leg on the ground, while her right leg was raised, and her right hand quietly reached to her leg, gently massaging her right ankle.
There was a mineral water bottle on the ground next to it, but the bottle was empty and had several creases on its body.
Chi Jingyuan glanced at it and realized that he had just finished his water, so he didn't think much of it and went to the small refrigerator next to him to get two glasses of ice water.
His movement startled Sana Minatozaki, who immediately withdrew her hand and looked up at him.
Chi Jingyuan walked up to Minatozaki Sana, handed her a bottle of mineral water, and then, without saying anything or even nodding politely, turned to leave.
"Is it for me?"
She had barely turned around and taken a step when she heard Sana Minato's voice behind her, light and airy, yet with a hint of sarcasm.
Chi Jingyuan stopped and turned around, only to see Minatozaki Sana's eyes, which were filled with a certain emotion.
He frowned. Although it was just a sentence, he could keenly sense the aggressiveness in the woman's tone... She had already handed him the water directly, and there was no one else around. Wasn't she saying this on purpose so that he could hear it?
Just like when we first met, she suddenly asked, "Which song?" Only now, because there was no one around, she seemed to be being more direct.
"..." Chi Jingyuan squinted at her, but did not speak.
"I was quite surprised that Oppa suddenly handed me a bottle of water because he hadn't spoken to me for so long."
Sana Minatozaki looked at Jingyuan Chi, tossing her hair with her right hand. Her delicate voice carried a subtle hint of yin and yang, as if she were talking to herself: "It seems that sometimes you really have to be bold. Making some intimate contact really works, even for a woman like me..."
Without avoiding Chi Jingyuan's gaze at all, Minatozaki Sana tilted her head back, the corners of her mouth slightly downturned, as if she were smiling, as if she were being sarcastic, or as if she were mocking herself: "So I can get Oppa's water too."
Despite their natural greetings upon first meeting and their serious and enthusiastic practice during work, even their way of addressing Ji Kyung-won has changed to the most familiar and intimate "Oppa".
But... how could she possibly forget what happened at the gym that night?
On the contrary, the memory of that day pierced my heart like a needle.
Many of her other negative emotions, such as resentment and anger, were released during the uncontrolled scuffle. However, the real reason why Chi Jingyuan kept his distance from her and his despicable view of her left a deep scar in her heart.
'Knowing full well it's his best friend's boyfriend,' 'Is it jealousy?' 'Is it envy of Mina's treatment?' 'Is it jealousy?' So this is the kind of woman you are?'
The thought of the meaning she sensed in Chi Jingyuan's eyes back then made her feel breathless.
Deep down, there was even a sense of resignation and despair.
Stubbornness is the underlying personality trait of Minatozaki Sana; resentment is the most painful emotion brewing from the grievances left in her heart; and rebellion is her clumsy yet stubborn way of retaliating against Ji Jingyuan.
Even if I explain, you won't believe me. You're just an arrogant person who only knows how to judge others without permission.
Since you think I'm that kind of woman, then I'm fine with it.
Anyway, since that's the kind of person you think I am...
The feelings of liking and longing that I've always kept buried deep in my heart are now hopeless.
Of course, she wouldn't have acted this way when she first started working; Minatozaki Sana had always hidden it well. But now that it was just the two of them, she couldn't help but speak up during their first conversation.
She stared straight at Chi Jingyuan, even wanting to see his reaction, and even harboring a faint longing for him to get angry and scold her.
Chi Jingyuan exchanged a couple of glances with her, but it was unclear whether he couldn't see anything or simply didn't want to pay attention to her. He slightly pursed his lips, his expression unreadable, neither mocking nor helpless. He shook his head and prepared to turn and leave again.
"correct."
Seeing his actions, Minatozaki Sana spoke up again: "It should be okay, right, Oppa?"
"mo?"
Chi Jingyuan stopped and asked curiously.
"Because I got injured during practice."
Sana Minatozaki bit her lower lip slightly. Seeing him stop, she immediately returned to normal, pointed to her right foot, and spoke in the same tone as before, with a deliberately light touch in her voice:
"The company originally planned for me to practice stage every day in addition to my scheduled activities, but I didn't really want to practice, so I told my manager that I'm very close to Oppa, so I didn't..."
Towards the end, her tone became somewhat hesitant, as if she were alluding to the intimate moment in the gym locker room earlier.
"Buzz~"
Just as Sana Minatozaki was speaking, her phone, which she had been holding, suddenly vibrated, interrupting her.
'Sana, do you want to hang out next weekend? Oppa has already booked a restaurant…'
Sana Minatozaki lowered her head, glancing at the text message and the sender's name—a name that she found both offensive and irritating.
She paused slightly, then quickly pressed the lock screen button without thinking, and then flipped the phone over, gripping it tightly until her knuckles turned slightly white from the force.
The next second, she looked up again, as if she hadn't seen anything, and resumed her previous somewhat sassy, aggressive smile and tone, continuing what she had been saying:
"I didn't expect the company to actually give me a vacation. Oppa's name is really useful."
She smiled sweetly, tilting her head to look at Chi Jingyuan:
"Is it okay to use Oppa's name?"