Chapter 5
Keiji's job was pretty simple: live with Yuzuru, make sure he wore clothes instead of Winnie the Pooh pyjamas when he was in public, make sure he ate properly, and generally take care of him. He acted as his makeup artist for photo shoots and his designer for both his clothes and his album art. He ran an Instagram account that featured scenic pictures and hosted the little videos of Yuzuru diving into piles of pooh bears after concerts. The comment sections on every photo, from a sunrise to the Canadian winter snow, were filled with questions from hungry Yuzuru fans. He drove him to and from the studio for months at a time, picking up ice cream on the way home for the singer whenever he wanted, and Yuzuru would open up a little, occasionally showing him the music he was working on. Yuzuru got the nine songs of his own recorded and the two with Jun done before he approached Keiji at home, shuffling around the house with a mug of tea in his hand.
"So, the music has all been recorded," Yuzuru explained to him as he watched Keiji wash the rice before he put it into the rice cooker for them, "so we'll be recording the videos soon. Whenever you're ready, and when we've given Jun's manager notice."
"Sure," Keiji dug around for his notebook that he'd tucked underneath their sofa after he'd been working on sketches earlier. He flicked through the pages and showed Yuzuru the art he'd sketched out for an album, "what do you think of this? I tried to channel grief."
Yuzuru took the book from him, letting Keiji turn back to their meal, and he traced the sketch. Being given only the one word to go from, Keiji knew Yuzuru well enough to understand what he wanted for his album art. Keiji had coloured in part of it with black and red, leaving the rest of it white. He'd drawn Yuzuru holding his electric guitar close to his chest and leaning forward over it. His hair had fallen in front of his face and behind him, on the red wall, the album title was written in black.
"It's amazing," Yuzuru gave Keiji a smile, "it's incredible. Thank you. Thank you so much Keiji!"
"I'll note it down as a photograph that we need to take when we're on set," Keiji served him up some takikomi gohan alongside some grilled fish before he slipped into the other seat at the table beside him. "Photographs for the album and promotional material, and then the music videos. Did you see Jason's videos for the songs on his album?"
"I did," Yuzuru smiled but it fell off when he looked back down at the meal, pushing it around his bowl. "I liked Dancing on My Own. And he looked like he had a lot of fun with Cotton Eyed Joe. Which was your favourite?"
"I liked Go Your Own Way," Keiji leaned back in his seat as he ate, watching Yuzuru carefully, "cause Jason looked like he was having fun with it. I wonder why he wrote such an upbeat song with such sad lyrics though. Is something going on with him?"
"Not that I know of," Yuzuru chewed his lip and stood up, leaving Keiji alone with his thoughts and the soft sounds of Yuzuru's guitar. The designer sighed, boxing up Yuzuru's barely touched meal into Tupperware boxes and putting it into the fridge in the hope that he'd have more later.
Yuzuru stayed up late into the night, just playing his guitar as he sat in his bed and looked through the gap in the curtains, eyes lighting up with the light of the stars.
Bright and early, Jun was already at the shoot when Keiji and Yuzuru arrived. He gave a little wave to the pair of them as his eyes were being framed with black winged eyeliner and a gentle gradient from white to dark brown eye shadow. As Keiji started doing Yuzuru's makeup beside him, using bolder lines but keeping the colours similar to Jun's, the director of the shoot came over with a clipboard in hand.
"Morning Mr Hanyu. For the shoot, everything is going to be gentle and in a home. Bit different to your normal ones, no?"
Yuzuru laughed lightly that had nothing behind it before he sipped at his green tea. "I can do gentle. Any live playing?"
"Jun Hwan will be playing the piano for a little bit of it, but we'll put the music over the top. All of it will be synchronised with what you've recorded, so just make sure you pretend you're singing and we'll make sure it looks good."
Yuzuru nodded, eyes flicking over to Jun. The pair of them had been given clothes fitting the soft aesthetic of the gentle piano music; Yuzuru had a soft red jumper where Jun had a soft white one, and both had black jeans for the fangirls. Jun's soft curls had been given a little extra volume to make them extra bouncy, and Yuzuru couldn't help but smirk at the dirty look they were throwing him.
"Mr Hanyu, would you mind removing--"
"The earrings stay," Yuzuru said indignantly, "as does the nail varnish. And the tongue piercing."
"Can you at least put some makeup over that eyebrow slit please?"
"No," Yuzuru's tone was firm and he stretched out his legs with a deep frown, "and these are too tight."
"That's the point." The director walked off, silently demanding that the other two follow him into the main room. A black Yamaha grand piano sat there and Jun sat in front of it, giving the instrument a secret smile. "First, Mr Hanyu, sit up here please. We'll have shots of Jun Hwan playing and then we'll cut to you singing. Jun Hwan, you can actually play the piano and we'll just cut out the sound."
When they'd finished arranging the pair, the director stepped out of the view of the camera and nodded.
"Okay! Action!"
"God, it was dreadful," Yuzuru sipped at his yuzu and lemon drink, leaning back in his seat with Keiji, Jason, and Shoma sitting beside him around the table, "Seriously, who works for six hours straight without a break and then complains that we shouldn't take breaks because we're behind schedule? We're not machines!"
"What asses," Jason agreed, and Shoma nodded in silent agreement, "but did you get it all done?"
"Thankfully," Yuzuru rolled his eyes and sighed. "Worst three days of my life, and I've spent weeks in hospital."
Shoma half laughed at that before he checked the clock on the wall and nudged Jason with his shoulder. "Meeting with Tracy."
"Thanks Sho." Jason gave him a bright smile. "See you guys around!"
As Jason left, Yuzuru raised an eyebrow at Shoma and sipped at his juice.
"So. You two are—"
"I wish," Shoma mumbled, "but have you seen him? He's a super talented artist about to release a new album, and I'm a sleepy mess who does his makeup and helps him choose what to wear in his music videos."
"I take that as an insult thanks, given that we basically do the same job," Keiji said with a dramatic pout as he sipped at his tea.
"You know what I mean," Shoma said, rolling his eyes. "Yuzuru doesn't function nearly as well as Jason does." Yuzuru made an indignant squeaking noise and the other two just gave him a look. "And you're not in love with Yuzuru."
"True. I've got a beautiful photographer and journalist who has my heart." Keiji smiled with a dopey in love look that the other two found incredibly endearing. "So. How do we get you two together?"
"You don't," Shoma was firm in his response. "You just sit back and let me come over when I need to cry and have ice cream and comfort."
"Oh Sho," Yuzuru reached across the table for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, "he'll see. He'll see eventually."
"Thanks," Shoma gave them a very weak smile before he left, heading out of the club with tears burning in his eyes.
"So," Keiji broke their silence with an attempt at a lighter tone, "you've got a meeting with Brian later this afternoon to finalise everything for your album to be released and sort out your tour dates. Any ideas about where you want to go?"
Yuzuru nodded, sipping his juice as he thought. "Maybe Canada, the US, Brazil, the UK, France, Spain," his cheeks turned pink, much to his irritation and he cleared his throat, "Germany, Russia, South Korea, Japan... Maybe China... Anywhere else?"
"You should discuss that with Brian, not me. He's more knowledgeable about this sort of thing." Keiji raised an eyebrow at Yuzuru, half smirking. "So, Spain, huh?"
"Don't tease. Barcelona and Madrid."
"Madrid—"
"Don't tease!"
"I'm sure he'd be happy to see you," Keiji patted him on the arm to comfort him, but Yuzuru's shoulders sagged.
"He probably won't come."
"Why wouldn't he?"
"Well, why would he?" Yuzuru's tone had a finality in it that Keiji didn't bother trying to argue with. "Come on."
Brian's office was warm and cosy. Pictures of Brian and his husband adorned the walls between his old guitars and pictures of his album covers. Pictures of Brian on tour with Javier and Yuzuru from years back sat on the desk beside paperwork. A keyboard sat in the corner and a sofa was on the opposite side of the room to the desk. Yuzuru and Keiji occupied the free seats at the desk and Brian gave the artist a smile.
"So, your album and poster art looks good. You've got the songs and music videos recorded. I say we plan out a music video release schedule for after the album release and then, once the last video is released, then announce your tour dates and locations. Sound good?"
Yuzuru nodded and gave Brian a little smile. "Gives them a chance to get merchandise ready for the tour, and gives me time to negotiate with Jun about joining me. How's his album coming along?"
"Oh, the album is done, and they're getting ready to release music videos now. He probably won't join you for all the places, but maybe some of the ones in Asia? Speaking of," Brian's tone turned much more serious and his eyes were full of paternal concern, "do you know where you want to go? Do you think you might want to try Shanghai again?"
Yuzuru chewed his lip and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think it's time I tried again. I mean, it's been four years since I did a concert in China at all, and I feel bad for the Chinese fans."
"Only do it if you think you can," Brian dug around in his drawer and pulled a laminated map out for them to draw on. "So, where are you thinking we should start?"
"Start here in Toronto," Yuzuru circled the city on the map, "do a concert here. Then Winnipeg. For Pooh-san, of course." He smirked and Brian fondly rolled his eyes. "Then Calgary and Vancouver. Is that enough for Canada?"
"You've covered a good amount there," Brian nodded and they worked across the United States and down to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, circling the cities. They worked for a while, with Keiji occasionally chipping in with suggestions, until their little bubble of productivity was popped by knocks on the doors.
"Sorry to disturb you," Tracy poked her head in and passed Brian a mug of coffee, Yuzuru a mug of green tea, and Keiji a mug of black tea, "but Jun's album is about to be released. It's going live in five minutes so that it drops in the morning in Seoul."
"We'll be right out," Brian said with a smile as he put the map back into his desk drawer. "We'll discuss this more tomorrow, okay? And then we'll come up with a list of venues ready to announce after your album drops in two weeks."
Yuzuru nodded, and he and Keiji joined Jason, Conrad, Evgenia, and Jun on the sofa. Conrad had his arm around Jun's shoulder, whispering to the other that everything would be fine. Nerves still built inside the youngster as he watched the countdown his management had set up for him on his website, showing the time slipping away like the sand in an hourglass. He hardly dared to breathe as it reached zero and his album went live along with the singles for download.
"Did you just buy my album?" Jun asked Conrad, shaking his head lightly in disbelief.
"Hey, you're my favourite artist!" Conrad defended. "You're lucky I haven't started refreshing it to see if the tour dates are updated."
Jun rolled his eyes but gave the other a hug, letting the relief flood his system. For a little while now, he didn't have to balance everything else with learning the choreography. He could prepare for his tour with nothing else to worry about. Unconsciously rubbing a hand over his stomach, he grimaced.
Well, almost nothing else.
@Jun_July_August
Album has just dropped! Here is Love Story! Keep your eyes open for music videos, and tour dates will be dropped in 11 days’ time!
Love Story
Ah Yeah
Dorothy
Crooked
What's Going On
Without You
You, Clouds, Rain
Lonely
My Turn to Cry
무제 (Untitled)
Love Song
Love in The Ice