bejaeyoung

[bejaeyoung]

inho replies with a snort, which jay caught. not that he minds, because what inho is saying isn't factually incorrect. at the same time, it isn't the full truth either. "i'm not walking around with my face stuck to a book, at least. and i'm not socially awkward... not in the conventional sense." it's simply that he doesn't care to conform, even though he knows he should—especially in a path like this. he's starting to care now, a little, enough to be a team player. he knows he should be liked, to a degree. it's only now, in next gen, that he realizes how important it is.

he inspects his teammate from head to toe with his eyes, humming. "i wouldn't label you a nerd either," jay agrees. inho doesn't seem like one, but he's sure the stylists can work with that. or someone else in the team more in-tune with fashion; that's not jay's strong suit. they can workshop this.

jay claps his hands once, proud of himself that inho liked his suggestion, shown in the way he has a prideful smile on his face. he had worked with inho before, and he's grateful that inho properly listens to everything jay has to say. not a lot of people would. "see, see? since you're already dragging around an instrument for a bit, might as well make yourself a band geek. something like that. that can work for you."

inho had been labeled as more a menace throughout his childhood, a bad boy even. it wasn't a secret that he smoked and maybe did some things he wasn't so proud of, and now was covered in tattoos underneath all his clothing and wore all black. being a nerd wasn't anywhere near his usual element, but he accepted that not being himself all the time was a part of fame to some degree.

he snorted out a bit of amused laughter as jaeyoung claimed to be an enigma. it was only more amusing knowing the younger was serious about the statement. "isn't that you everyday?" inho asked teasingly, enjoying a light moment with jay. they'd been locked into practicing and figuring out their performance, a bit of laughter was nice.

"i don't think anyone would ever label me as a nerd," inho admitted honestly. it was hard to deny from his appearance. music nerd....that would make sense. it added to the fact that he would have his guitar briefly at the performance as his skill to impress their shared "crush". "that is wonderful summary of the concept, thank you jay," inho chuckled. "the music nerd, though, that makes sense for me i think."

#( inho / ep 4 ) #( threads. ) #inhobe #be:ngs2p4 #/ jay appreciates u inho #for actually liking his idea LOL

[bejaeyoung]

jay has sort of settled into the concept, he’s confident that his team can make it fun and the unspoken rivalry between all the ‘nerd boys’ for the hand of the popular cheerleader would make for an interesting chemistry on stage. still coming up with what type of nerd he should be—he wonders whether inho is going through something similar.

inho posed jay a question, and for some reason he laughs. “me? i consider myself an enigma,” he replies, genuine but with a light tone. always the prideful menace. “i think nerd can be subjective, but we’re obviously here to play into stereotypes. if i had to say… i guess i’d be the nerd spitting random facts and talking incessantly because i’m socially awkward and spend most of my days buried in books.”

oh, yeah. that makes for an interesting character. he should note that down sooner than later.

“what about you? you don’t look it.” he squints, leaning closer as if to inspect inho’s nerdiness. “you can be the musical nerd. theatre kid vibes, maybe.” he’s just throwing out suggestions. “teen crush, teen crush… all about spontaneity and awkwardness! you think you’re doing something cool and bam, you regret your embarrassing decisions years down the line, all the things you did to impress ‘your crush’ for no merit.”

@bejaeyoung helps inho connect with his youthful side

teen crush wasn't the worst choice, but it wasn't the best either. inho was curious how the judges had evaluated him since the beginning to believe he fit best in this idea. or maybe they wanted to challenge him to step away from his slightly more confident and arrogant presentation and try something new.

at least he wasn't in the cute and bright group.

but, as sarang had kindly joked about, inho was the eldest of the group and occasionally acted like he was 40 years old instead of still being early into his 22nd year of life. with their concept of all the boys portraying high school nerds, it was time he learned to be youthful and a little nerdy (while still being flirty).

honestly, inho was both a little nervous but intrigued by whatever jay would suggest. "do you consider yourself a nerd?" inho asked, amused, as the younger had asked if he would consider himself one. the answer was no, even if some of his school grades suggested otherwise. he managed his computer engineering program well.

#( inho / ep 4 ) #( threads. ) #inhobe #be:ngs2p4 #/ thank uuuu #sorry for his… jayness

[bejaeyoung]

jay raises an eyebrow, listening to everything kaito is saying. this is another thing he learned when it comes to teamwork: he has to listen, not just inject his own thoughts and go on an intangible ramble that only makes sense to himself. he thinks he's been doing a great job so far, but again, who knows if that translates well to the viewers at home.

sharing ideas can be fun though, so it's not entirely a loss to someone like jay. turns out brainstorming and coming up with concepts with other people can be pretty productive. jay's kind of stuck on what cool thing he should be doing himself, so that's another reason why he's seeking kaito out.

"i think someone else is bringing a guitar?" jay says, surprised at himself that he remembers. maybe he's becoming a better person after all, a functioning member of society. but at kaito's next ideas, jay can't help but laugh a bit. "aren't we supposed to be doing something cool though? pretty sure tripping and falling on your butt isn't a cool thing." but they are supposed to be nerds—then again, nerds aren't incompetent. "also, isn't that... dangerous? you could twist something." he wonders whether kaito is just setting himself up to fail on purpose, but who knows? cute failure might fit the teen crush vibes after all.

having no sense of personal space as usual, jay fixes the glasses on kaito's face, still laughing. "it suits you. not all nerds wear glasses though. should we add braces to the costume?" it's just a joke, not a real suggestion.

kaito honestly didn't know many of the others on the show, aside from the few he had met in his last group and obviously touma, and when it was announced they'd be thrown in new groups he couldn't help but feel a bit burdened about meeting even more people.

it's not that he hates meeting new people; it just means he has to sit here and memorize more names of people he may never even see again. kaito has to admit though, it is nice to expand his social circle, and it's nice to finally chat with people who share something in common with him.

watching as jaeyoung approaches, kaito manages a friendly smile as he looks at the other male, listening to what the other has to say before responding with a small chuckle at the quick change of topics. "honestly i'm stuck on either bringing a guitar, 'failing' to dance, or even just straight up tripping and making myself look like a fool." he states, eyebrows slightly furrowed inwards as the thoughts are put out there. "how about you?" he asks this before looking the other male up and down and giving a nod of approval. "you look great. what do you think about me?" he asks, pushing up the round glasses that are on his face.

#( kaito / ep 4 ) #be:ngs2p4 #bekaito #( threads. )

[bejaeyoung]

jay has never been one to watch romantic comedy, at least not often. that doesn't mean he's entirely clueless about the tropes though, especially when they're everywhere. almost in every medium. he understands the concept though, maybe it'll start making more sense what they execute what they had in mind in their practices. starting with the dance break.

it's hard swallowing his pride to get advice from someone who basically beat his team last time—but compromises! teamwork! be a team player jay! now he knows the importance of collaboration and the like, so he nods along as stevie explains, hearing nothing to refute or counter so far. "so we'll have to act basically desperate, or hopeful but delusional." yeah, he thinks he can work with that.

acting, he'd have to practice more of that too. at a later time, though. "that makes sense." jay hums, thinking. "are we kind of covering her in the beginning then? maybe we can add a bit of... how to say this..." verbal communication was never his strongest suit, if he could beam his thoughts to the other person's head he would. "you know, like we're trying to keep her from the audience because we want to gatekeep her, but then she emerges, and we move to the side... and wow, she's stunning! no wonder the nerds were hiding her!"

does that make sense? jay scratches the side of his head. "well, that's just an idea." he also learned not to take it as offense when his ideas gets shot down.

going with a concept is...kinda fun, stevie's finding out. last episode is vastly different than to what he's doing now, and the switch up is kinda...refreshing. makes things exciting, he thinks, added onto the ecstatic nerves of reaching this far.

teen crush had caused quite a bit of discussion, at the beginning. catching one another up on the concept and then finding one that everyone agreed on; it's the safest one, for sure-- but now they've gotta make it theirs, in a sense.

"yeah. like setting the scene." stevie comments, rubbing the back of his neck. he thinks back to what they've got going, expression pinched in thought. "we're all goo goo ga ga over her and like, nerdy. out of her league." or that's what stevie's been getting; that's what the stereotypes in the movies go for.

"since there's a few of us too, i think we can make up some fun transitions into center positions for it. like, all of us moving out of the way and boom! she's in the middle." or something along those lines-- he'll have to workshop a few ideas and go over it with everyone else.

#( stevie / ep 4 ) #be:ngs2p4 #bexstevie #( threads. ) #/ im so sorry for jay he's sooo annoying #promise he doesnt actually hold a grudge #hes just CHILDISH

[bejaeyoung]

@bekaito is someone entirely new. honestly, jay had kind of forgotten about him—then again, his memory only allows him to remember a few people at a time usually. he hadn't gotten the opportunity to interact with kaito much throughout next gen. up until now, that is. and kaito hadn't done anything... jarring(?) noteworthy(?) enough to cement himself in jay's loaded brain.

but he learned that group chemistry is super important when it comes to performances, he thinks it's even more significant when it comes to teen crush concepts like these. if they're going to compete for one girl's hand, they should probably cook up some sort of rivalry too between each other right?

"have you thought about what cool thing you want to do to impress the popular cheerleader?" he asks, humming the song to himself while he strikes up a conversation with someone new. "actually, do you think i look nerdy enough as is?" he follows up the question with another one, his brain easily jumping from topic to topic.

#( threads. ) #be:ngs2p4 #( kaito / ep 4 ) #bekaito

[bejaeyoung]

working on choreography is fun, for the most part. jay didn't do enough of that in the previous mission, as much as he wanted to. then again, there was already so much going on with the concept they had, putting too much into the choreography might've been overkill. this time around though, his new team agreed on a dance break as their intro. he thinks it fits the theme, as long as they keep the choreography fun and... bouncy, for a lack of a better term.

another thing that's funny is being put in the same team as someone who was technically his opponent in the episode prior, like @bexstevie. jay isn't bitter—not really—because his team got compliments too, but still. he isn't one to dimiss someone else's talents when it's right there in front of his face. stevie is good at what he does, a capable dancer too.

"so the point of this dance break is to highlight jiayi as the one everyone has a crush on, right?" he starts, recalling their discussion when brainstorming for the concept. "i'm guessing she'll take the center spot during the introduction, then? that'd make the most sense. like we're introducing her to the audience."

#( threads. ) #( stevie / ep 4 ) #be:ngs2p4 #bexstevie

[bejaeyoung]

this teamwork thing is tiring. not that jay is going to complain—it's mostly because a part of him is disappointed that he's separated from his current and only happy pill in next gen ( fly high, hwang jingren ). he's also not the best at working with people he isn't familiar with, he lucked out when he ended up being with teammates he can mesh with in the previous episodes. now, though, he has to learn to connect all over again. somehow, that's the hardest part.

still, he does try. he can do nothing but try, because he wants to make it at the end of the day. despite his attitude, he's serious about music, about winning this show. whether that comes across to the audience or to the others in the competition though, he doesn't know. surely the judges can tell at this point? even jay throwing out outlandish ideas like monster high as a concept is him trying his best. it worked last time, what with their mad max concept receiving praise. this time though, they have to be more contained, it seems. so jay's idea gets—gently—turned down.

jay's fine with that. he knows how to compromise now, which is honestly a testament to his character development so far. now the team's story is a bunch of nerds wooing the popular cheerleader. each one of them has to think of a 'cool thing' they can do to impress the appointed cheerleader. admittedly, jay's still racking his brain for something. even though they've split off to individual practices and jay's mid-dancing, he finally gets an idea—so he pauses whatever he's doing to write it down. otherwise, knowing his brain, he'd forget it as soon as he thinks it.

no paper, only a pen and a dream. he clicks his tongue and starts writing on his own palm instead.

@renxbe

#renxbe #be:ngs2p4 #( threads. ) #( ren / ep 4 ) #/ fight! fight! fight!

[bejaeyoung]

"do you know you're funny?" jay means it—he doesn't know why it's so damn easy with jingren, when this entire time he'd been branded as the grumpy and angry one in the show. what does that say about him? but it's the truth, jingren keeps him laughing for some reason, especially with all the random things the other boy is spewing out. jay doesn't know whether he should take them seriously or not at this point, so just like with everything—he takes it seriously and not so seriously at the same time. he had always been a great multi-tasker after all, juggling a billion things at the same time.

"i think you're good. i mean, you got me hooked right now just talking. oh, i guess that isn't exactly writing. but if you put all that into writing, i'd still want to read it." he nudges jingren's side with an elbow. even with all the cameras around them, definitely capturing this moment because they won't actually have a second to themselves when they've given themselves to the show, jay doesn't feel as tense. does jingren just have that effect on everyone? or does jay just have a strange sense of humour that jingren somehow unlocked?

but then jingren starts talking about the what-ifs. jay tries to imagine it—the possiblity that they'd be seperated for the next round ( if they even make it, that is, he doesn't know if he can wow the judges this time ). "are you trying to make me cry right now? don't even start!" he's kind of whining, which is usually a sign not to take his antics so seriously. but this time, it's sort of genuine. "i think i'd feel the same way... it'd feel so weird. oh no, i've grown attached to you! let me go find some glue so i can stick us together for the entirety of the show." it's a joke, obviously, but—lowkey, jay wants that.

"woah, woah, woah..." jingren says immediately with his hands up. "i mean.... leave me kidnapped on the stage or something and we can have some ransom, cops versus abductor concept instead and i won't have to dance. although that might be a bad idea because that's one of my few assets," he chuckles. he doesn't really know what sort of concepts he fits yet, but nothing like figuring that out here. a rap heavy song might be his downfall though. boy does not know how to rap. "not sure how the others would feel about that concept though. 'don't call me... unless you have the money,' " jingren trails off, mumbling. "never said i was good at creative writing," he quips, bopping jay lightly.

honestly, it may seem like all fun and games with anime references here and there but jingren was really starting to get that feeling. the next group challenge, or solo challenge, if he wasn't with jay - it'd feel so weird. or maybe if they were lucky and could make it through, they could have those cute television, competition friendships that could go viral. ( hey, it could happen. ) but so much of his positivity came from being around jay's vivacious personality. analogies were much easier to say than the actual words themselves. yea, yea. "i mean you do have power.... more than me anyway." vague, but there are some things that are better not said with prying ears.

"what am i going to do without you? i mean, i know i'll always see you after the show and whatnot too but..." funny how they got here from random outings as students in their day to day life. this has been a bonding experience. "if we're split up for the next section, i'd feel so bizarre and i'm not even joking. thanks for... being here. even if it wasn't necessarily your or my choice. thank you rng gods!"

#( jingren / you again ) #bejingren #( threads. ) #/ sorry for this #jay rllyyyyy wanted me to reply to this #u dont have to reply again tho!

[bejaeyoung]

NGS2P3 — interview

jay thinks one way for him to fix his current reputation on the show is probably to complete a stellar interview that can change the people's mindset about what he's really like. he'll give it a try but—when he starts talking, he usually can't stop.

any thoughts on your team?

"oh yeah, they're great." and he's not being sarcastic at all this time! not an ounce of sarcasm in him, he means it 100%. "they're all creative people, we mesh well. thank god. it'd be hard to be in a team with people you just don't... click with, you know? but we did." he's certain their chemistry off-stage will show on-stage as well. "our brainstorming sessions are always productive too. and we came up with an ambitious concept for our performance."

speaking of, can you explain your concept?

jay was a little worried that their concept would be too ambitious for the lay man to understand. honestly, he thinks they gave off the vibes perfectly well. "retro vibes, think saloons but also cyberpunk. like mad max, if you know the movie. that's our concept. we watched the mv and was inspired by the costumes and the sets, so we decided to go all out with that." jay grins. "i think our storyline is sick too, honestly. a bittersweet fight, just like the song almost."

how do you think you've improved since the last episode?

"ah, well." jay doesn't know—he doesn't want to come off as arrogant either this time around. "i was a bit confused on what balance meant, and what counts as being too intense. but being around other people and having to work together with the others, i'm starting to get it. i also know i need to be a teamplayer now. and, well—i don't know, i had a lot of fun on stage. it wasn't just a... battlefield."

anyone you're thinking about in particular? someone helpful?

"helpful? everyone in the team obviously. every single person in the team contributed. although i was pretty pumped about being in the same team as jingren. i wanna watch him grow too, and now i have front row seat. haha, just kidding." there's another person that comes to mind. "jueun too. thanks to her... i kinda get what the judges are trying to tell me. it sounded like nagging, but i needed it. don't tell her i said that though."

#( solos. ) #be:ngs2p3 #bc mentioned #bejingren #jueunbe #( wc: 399 )

[bejaeyoung]

NGS2P3 — jay performs don't call me / line distribution

jay isn't used to performing with a team, and although it's highly unlikely that he'll say this out loud—a part of him is glad that he's with this team. as they practiced and brainstormed together jay finds that the team has pretty good chemistry, and everyone's an active participant with creative ideas that jay actually wants to contribute more to instead of insisting on his usual solo act of being 'too intense' for the judges to handle. he kind of gets it now—that there needs to be balance, that not everything is a battlefield for him to defend himself again. he should take jueun's advice; have fun with everything, actually immerse himself into this project and stage.

so, that's what he'll do.

the concept that they've come up together as a team is—in simple terms—cool as fuck ( he can't say this part out loud ). retro with a mix of cyberpunk, and he'd worked on the remix with his teammates too, deciding on adding a tinge of grunge for a more unique take on the song. nothing too astray, seeing as the song in itself already fits the concept that they're thinking of; retro mad max. he's a fan of the original song, so getting the dance moves down is easy. no issue. he can make do with the expressions too. instead of the explosive rage and bout of emotions he's used to displaying on stage, he opts for a more shimmering approach—like fierce emotion bubbling under his skin he's trying to control. that fits the concept of the song; a broken love that ends in bitterness. he doesn't forget the advice of his teammates when it comes to channeling the emotions, but he also remembers jueun's words—that he needs to look like he's enjoying his time on stage too. that he needs to feel the music and have the audience feel it as well.

the lines come out of his lips with ease. chemistry with his teammates on stage is important. he makes sure to interact, make eye contact—but not to overdo it either. keeping that 'balance' isn't easy, but he's doing the best he can. and truth be told, he does think this is the best performance that he's been able to pull off so far. but who knows? maybe there's something else amiss that jay hadn't clocked yet. all he can do now is wait for the results.

#( solos. ) #be:ngs2p3 #( wc: 407 )

[bejaeyoung]

jay has never really had to discuss his ideas with someone else, he'd always just went along with his own vision for his songs. sure, he'd taken inspirations from existing creations or aesthetics, had even done short collabs—but never anything that required brainstorming with another person. it helps that he likes his teammates' ideas, all of them; they're creative people and he's not so arrogant that he can't admit that. jay has never really been much of a team player, but he wants to try. he probably needs to if he were to advance further into the show.

"hm, it might be. then again, i guess a piano already gives... old saloon vibes. or should the guitar riff be during the intro?" he's trying to make it work—too many changes might make the song jarring, remixes don't always require so many. "since we're keeping the essence of the song, which is already... retro." he hums. "i think it'd be cool if we could actually perform the piano bit on stage, honestly. but it'd probably be too much."

but ahyoung seem to clock what he's trying to say immediately, which jay is grateful for. he's never been one to express his thoughts and ideas in a manner that makes sense, which is why he's usually a solo act. adjusting to something new is hard. "yeah, classical western sounds would fit. i watched the mv, one of them was wearing some sort of... cowboy hat." he'd been studying the mv in general, trying to find out how they could make their version of the song more unique but without killing the song itself.

"hmm, i personally don't think it's too silly... but if we're going for something mad max style they'd probably prefer something more... epic?" retro and epic. "sand dunes, and whatnot. for the intro." he scratches the back of his head, wondering if his vision even makes sense for a stage of their scale. it's not like they have the award show budget. "are we going too far?"

ahyoung is a pretty chaotic person. that was probably evident in her suggesting about 15 different concepts at the start of their brainstorming. half of the time she was just kidding, like when she suggested don't call me: farmer version. eventually, the team managed to hone in on some cyberpunk-mad-max-retro fusion. now, sitting with jay and trying to think of what to do for their remix, she wonders if the concepts clash. is it too much going on at once? can they really represent all of it well in their instrumental? she hopes so. if anything, it'll be a fun challenge, right?

"what part do you mean, like, leading up to the part of the bridge that's just the piano backing? the structure of the song is kinda weird. we could replace the piano leading up to that with a guitar, maybe...that could be cool. do you think that would be too much of a change?" their concept itself is already kind of ambitious, so ahyoung doesn't want to overdo it with the remix. at the same time, though, a lot of their team has experience with composition and song production – it would be best to show that off, right?

you know a thing or two about sound mixing, don't you? jay asks, and ahyoung nods, grinning. "i'm a sound engineering student, so you could say that. it's mainly like, working sound for concert venues and performances, but i know a lot about sound and working related machines in general. you'll be in good hands!" the studio they're allowed to work in at the sr media building is definitely better than anything she's used.

jay mentions nature sounds, and ahyoung's eyebrows must furrow together in confusion. what, does he mean...birds? he elaborates though, and ahyoung lets out a silent ahhh of understanding. desert sounds. she can't help but laugh a little at that, anyway. "wait, okay, what about the classic...western sound?" she tries to whistle it and fails. "hold on, hold on!" she takes out her phone, and a quick youtube search presents her with her desired result.

she cranks up the volume, then holds it so jay can definitely hear it. she can't help but snicker. "is it too like...silly? we could just use it as an intro. i think it would be funny and definitely get people's attention, but i don't know if that's necessarily...the vibe we want. what do you think?"

#( ahyoung / 2young ) #( threads. ) #ahyoungbe #be:ngs2p3

[bejaeyoung]

maybe it’s simply in jay’s nature to laugh at the stupidest things. he doesn’t hate that side of himself, it just means his humour is an acquired taste. seeing jingren blabbering on about his throwaway line about red strings is making jay laugh though, it’s downright hilarious. he’s commending the effort of course, he wouldn’t call the entire thing nonsense. “are you suggesting being tied up on stage?” jay can’t exactly help it, bouts of laughter escaping his lips. jay probably hasn’t laughed this hard since the competition started, maybe the cameras are wondering what the hell is so funny that it got the ‘grumpy one’ laughing. the answer is just jingren.

“don’t stop talking, i wanna hear more. particularly about how you’re gonna let me smack you. i’m already picturing it,” he teases, letting himself be pushed away but not before giving a light pat to jingren’s forehead, as if he’s stimulating the aforementioned smacking in his head. “i could be the rika to your yuta,” he says, not missing the reference. “i want to be the queen of curses too. imagine having that much power.”

but then jingren asks jay if he’s okay, and—honestly, he doesn’t know. for all intents and purposes he’s technically just peachy, but he’s been doing a lot of thinking and coming up short on most things. “i guess so. i’m pretty sure i’m fine.” not the most confident answer, but it’s honest. “i think i’m better now. it kinda helps that we seem to mesh well as a team.” he smiles, though. “oh, and because you’re part of the team. naturally.”

"need it? we can do this without luck. yea. yeaaa." usually more neutral than anything, being around this group has hyped his mood up. a supportive group who seemed to toss out so many creative ideas. despite all the other ideas, it's funny how jingren's still hung up on the idea of a cowboy hat... despite it not ending up as what they would likely select for the final concept. and it's fine. they're trying things out. some definitely won't make the cut but its all in good fun and better than being completely dry. granted he hasn't actually thrown out anything amazing for any suggestions in his opinion but jingren was never the most creative. but he's trying. "red string of fate, huh- well."

"that'd actually be a hilarious concept if that was the case since our song is about not calling someone. or not contacting someone i mean. hashtag, stalker but tied-- okay this is why i don't throw out ideas. bt it'd be funny. and i'd let you smack me on stage," jingren continues before trailing off at the idea. maybe not. "you're the curse? no way. i'm sure that's blessing in some other secret code unless you want to be the rika to my yuta or... i think that analogy is getting lost on me and i'm the one who said it. stop me before i keep talking."

he pushes jay lightly away by the cheek playfully and settling down a little. they were working so hard, but well. where were the mental checks? and with cameras following their movements nonetheless. "you doing okay though, for real, for real?"

#( jingren / you again ) #be:ngs2p3 #( threads. ) #bejingren

[bejaeyoung]

now that he’s thinking about it, performing with a collection of people as a group wasn’t something that jay had done before. he had always been a solo act—playing ‘nice’ and working out chemistry with someone was something entirely new to him. he had never been in a band, was never a part of a dance group. even as an underground producer the most he’d do are short collabs through a distance. then again, jay isn’t the best when it comes to socializing either. finds it kind of a hassle.

it helps that the team he’s in are full of people he can admit he likes, to a degree. the brainstorming session went well, now all they need to do is work on the performance itself. jay is plenty tired of the criticism thrown his way, he’s motivated to prove the judges wrong but—that hasn’t been going as well as he had hoped. maybe being an eager team player could do the trick.

he doesn’t hate getting feedback, much to the disagreement of the people watching the show probably. he’s nodding along as inho goes on, accepting what needed to be improved on for their upcoming performance. “so it’s best if i keep it even, basically. more of a shimmering rage than an explosive one. got it.” jay can work with that.

“i think we did pretty good save for the few technicalities. guess this means we need to match each other’s energies to a certain point.” he’s humming, wondering what else he should say. “should we maintain eye contact or take glances at each other and see if that will make the performance more… real?”

the moment inho had both been invited for an in-person audition, along with getting through said audition, he'd made it much farther in next gen than he thought he would. anything was farther considering he hadn't been the one to submit himself for this competition. the fourth place he got coming out of the auditions was surprising, but something he was proud of. the fall to tenth wasn't fun to see but he understood why he was there. it was the middle ground, he could work with that. his stamina was an area he continued to dedicate time to dilligently.

it wasn't often that inho found himself performing with others. the sets he played at the bar were usually on his own. of course, he'd had duets, but a five person group was new. however, he knew the song from his little sister's love of a.maze, it was a starting point.

the back and forth section he had with jaeyoung was cool in his opinion, especially with the tone and message of the song. he'd made sure to practice the sequence with the other male to ensure it played off correctly. it could throw off the rest of their performance if it wasn't correct.

inho considered the run through they had as jay asked for his opinion. "you started off really solidly," he complimented immediately. "as we continued you got a bit heated." they would work on it. they had time. "if you can maintain the energy you started with i think it'd be perfect and set a good tone for the rest of the song." he wasn't an expert by any means, he made note to himself to ask their group mates when they gathered again soon for their opinions as well.

"how do you feel about how that sounded?" inho inquired, wanting his group mate's feed back as well, both for how jaeyoung perceived himself, along with inho's part.

#( inho / cool it ) #inhobe #( threads. ) #be:ngs2p3

[bejaeyoung]

it's not that jay isn't used to being scrutinized under a meaningful eye before. there have been countless comments turned his way too, although most of the time he has learned to tune out the voices and focus on what he wants to do. as long as the music in his head continues to repeat itself and there's a melody that he could write into blank sheets, he's fine. unfortunately, he can't exactly do that with his current circumstances.

that being said, sarang hasn't actually said anything, which confuses jay somewhat. it's why he asked straight up, wondering if sarang didn't want to hurt his feelings or something lame. that would've ticked jay off too, he doesn't need the pity of one of the previous winners—more than anything, it'd be a significant blow to his pride and ego. if that was the route sarang chose to take, jay had half a mind to stand up and leave the room entirely without saying a word. but that doesn't seem to be necessary.

on the contrary, what comes out of sarang's mouth sounds more spontaneous, with a teasing cadense jay hadn't expected. jay hadn't missed the hint of pink on the other boy either. he even took a glance at where he suspected a camera was carefully placed, almost out of sight. like sarang had uttered something that shouldn't be caught by the audience. those types of remarks aren't forbidden in shows like these, he'd watched them before. but there's something about the way sarang said it that rang a few alarms.

"is that something you can say in front of the cameras?" he asks, but he's not that concerned, genuinely. if he wasn't in such a strange mood, he'd even find it funny and amusing. unfortunately, jay's mood has been violently shifting around like a roller coaster ever since he got on the show. nonetheless, he takes sarang's observations and advice seriously.

jay gives a short hum. "don't think i should be sharing something personal like that to the masses. fortunately for me, i honestly haven't experienced a bad break-up of that sort." it's not a lie, not that jay felt the need to elaborate further on the matter. "but the feeling of wanting to permanently block someone from my life... that's nothing unfamiliar. there have been many moments where i'd hover over the block button." particularly whenever his parents call, but again—nothing he needed to say aloud.

"everything's about emotions and passion... i get that, i agree with it even. but i'm supposed to find 'balance' because i'm 'too intense' with it." if he could, he'd mention those choice words with a gesture of air quotations, but he's busy trying to not get eliminated. "that's the annoyi—difficult part." what a confusing message.

everyone who knows sarang will tell you that he gets bored easily. some would say even too easily. he's a person who needs a lot of stimulation, a lot of action. one could argue that filming for next gen season two should be enough for him to be remain comfortable, but that's sadly not the case for him. this isn't the type of stimuli that satiates him. if anything, showing up to set each day has become painstakingly dull; humdrum monotony that he's getting tired of, even if there are more missions ahead of him to look forward to.

speaking of which, he's thankful to not be competing this year, but he sometimes wonders if he'd find being a competitor more thrilling. the stakes would be higher, at least. as a coach, his job is easier, to a degree. sarang was feeling immense pressure to be perfect before, and the realization of how dumb it was to pile so much unnecessary weight on his shoulders has freed him from those constraints. while he couldn't be more thankful for that, the stress he once felt has been replaced with devastating ennui, and he doesn't know if that's better or worse.

so far today, sarang's spent most of his hours overseeing the others as they practice, and for the better part of the last thirty minutes, his rosy gaze has been fixated on one of his teammates, song jaeyoung, or jay, as he prefers to be called. now, others may notice how long sarang's been staring at him and think that he's only being highly analytical of jay—capturing each lyric jay raps so he could provide necessary feedback—but they're technically wrong.

is he being analytical? sure—in a way he is, but it's not in the way an onlooker would assume. instead, he's merely appreciating how beautiful the other man is. there's something so delicate, and so symmetrical, about his facial features. his body line is just as impressive, too. while he's been rapping, sarang's been admiring the shape of his lips; watching them move and curl around each syllable he spits. however, when jay opens the door for sarang to give him criticism, the younger of them is thrown off-guard; blushing slightly as if he's been caught redhanded doing something bad.

"i'm sorry," he begins, voice a delicate, flirtatious lilt even if he's only uttered three syllables so far. "i guess i've just been a little distracted by how handsome you are..." the instant the words leave his mouth, he grins; his vulpine eyes curling upward to look even more mischievous. "so, i guess the answer to your question is yes—i have been having fun just watching you." with that, he winks, emphasizing his playfulness. "the truth is, i can't rap well, so i'm unsure if i should even be giving you advice. however, what i can say is that, with rapping, i find that it's all about attitude, and the message."

that's what he's heard anyway, and he decides to elaborate. "the song is about not wanting to get back with an ex-lover after they didn't appreciate you, or wronged you. they keep calling you, but you want them to stop. personally, knowing your rap style, i think you could do a lot with your parts. have you ever experienced something like the song is conveying before?"

#( sarang / soft ) #be:ngs2p3 #( threads. ) #sarangbe

[bejaeyoung]

his reputation preceeds him, he supposes. jay doesn't know how he got branded the 'grumpy guy' or the 'angry one'. he's been spiteful, yes—but doesn't that mean he's all but eager to improve and achieve greater heights. apparently that's a bad thing, which is something he doesn't get. maybe he's meant to figure it out during this new mission, but all he's learning is that he's becoming genuinely frustrated at this point. maybe there's something off about his own mindset.

either way, he's not exactly the most likeable contestant. not with the audience, certainly not with the judges. he doesn't care about likeability though, he doesn't even mind being the villain of the season; but he'd like to be evil and competent, instead of being portrayed as incompetent and discarded. the more he thinks about it, the more he feels his head about to explode. which is rare, that only happens a few times in his life.

jueun doesn't seem to dislike him though. she's offering him a bottle, willingly interacting with him. still, he can't help but roll his eyes—not because he's annoyed with jueun or irritated with what she's saying. he's just… something. he can't exactly describe it. but he laughs, for good measure. to let her know he's not offended.

"i'm not even always… angry. hell, i'm not even that easily angered." he shrugs, knowing he can't change how he's being perceived now. but he flashes jueun a smile anyway, not to prove a point; just because he can. "is being passionate too intense? i'm not even trying to criticize their feedback, i'm genuinely trying to make it make sense in my head."

accepting the bottle that's being handed to him, he lets out a small groan. his brain isn't functioning the way he'd like it to. "how loose should i be? aren't we supposed to take all this seriously? here i thought i was loose enough. god knows i yap too much."

✦ . ˚ — @bejaeyoung

admittedly, jueun was a little upset that she didn't end up with the center position for their mcountdown performance, but she was relieved to find that she hadn't slipped in rankings. that had to be a good sign, right?

while the contestants have now been split up into groups for the next evaluation, they still had the mcountdown stage to prepare for, whicih meant they were all stuck around one another for now. she had just finished going through her new positions for the group stage when a familiar face caught her sight. although she wasn't there to hear exactly what the judges had to say to jaeyoung, she had overheard that they said something about his attitude.

approaching the other, she offered him a water bottle like last time, except she wasn't expecting him to spin it this time around. "have you ever thought about smiling a little more? maybe the judges will like you a little more if you do," she says a little jokingly before offering him a softer smile.

"i'm just teasing you, but i do think it'd help you in the long run if you loosened up a little, and i don't mean to slack off but just, you know, really loosen up," she said while shaking her arms to show him that sometimes he had to show that he was having fun on the show.

#( jueun / loose ) #( threads. ) #jueunbe #be:ngs2p3 #/ get him

[bejaeyoung]

apparently, there's a lot for jay to work on. being frustrated over his results so far is not good, which doesn't make sense—wouldn't they want him to be? isn't that where motivation comes from? of course he's irritated, he doesn't want to stay where he is. especially with what's at stake next, but showing the fact that he cares is where they draw the line ( and maybe that spite he's feeling is slowly turning into something a lot worse, but he swallows that thought the moment it appears ).

it's not all bad, though. the team he's with seem to mesh with him, at least. it'll be brainstorming session too, and jay has heard the song that was assigned to them. he has a few ideas, a vibe that he's feeling and a few pop culture references that they could take inspiration from when it comes to creating a concept. they could even have a storyline for the stage, if they wanted. despite whatever happened, jay is still ambitious—one thing about him is that he won't go down without a fight.

hell, maybe he's happy that there's a familiar name in the roster too. and just like that, jingren pops out of the woodworks, poking his arm. which, somehow, makes jay laugh. "your lucky day? you better share that luck of yours then. god knows we need it," jay responds. he slings his arm around jingren's too, bringing the other boy closer, too used to teasing at this point. "and who knows, maybe we're bound by a red string of fate. or, maybe you're just stuck with me forever. did someone curse you and i was forced to take the form of your sleep paralysis demon? this can't be a coincidence."

okay, maybe that's too much teasing. but it's hard not running his mouth when he's with jingren, because the other always seems to listen. "by the way, i know i'm many things but a liar is not one of them!"

you again?

to say he hadn't gotten that well acquainted with the artists would be the truth, but jingren thinks he has been able to get along with people he crossed paths with in the competition. and @bejaeyoung was also there the last time to give him some friendly encouragement, which- after his performance and review, jingren did feel decent about his own execution- he still had a lot to learn. there was barely a hiccup or hop before they were on to the next assignment already.

however, with the roundout of the groups, jingren was overthinking ( as per usual ), worried that he'd do too little in contrast to his members and fall behind the expectations- would he fit in? would the coach be alright with him? what if nobody wanted to talk to him- -- only to be faced with the familiar name. which dispelled all of the nervous feelings within him. the song concept was lingering in one corner of his mind, but this time, jingren was the one to pounce on jay this time around. "you again! my lucky day," he all but yelps as he pokes the other on the arm, relief seeping through his body. this eases his concerns which can only mean one thing: that jingren can actually focus on the concept of their song and cooperating with the group. "hope you're glad to see me too otherwise now i'll know you were lying when you were hyping me up last time around."

#( jingren / you again ) #( threads. ) #be:ngs2p3 #bejingren #/ jay: u will never escape me

[bejaeyoung]

soft.

he doesn't know what to make of @sarangbe, truthfully.

that's not necessarily a bad thing, in jay's opinion. he certainly didn't mean it in a manner that's negative. after the criticism and feedback dished out to him, and how they seem to dislike the way he goes about things in general; jay expected to be paired up with someone a lot more strict. hard and tight in all the wrong places, basically. a sucker for rules, someone who refuses to let loose and would force jay's head in the game. not in the fun way, though.

but that isn't exactly how sarang turned out to be. in fact, sarang can probably be described as the complete opposite of that. sarang is… soft, gentle. not the most coach material, not that jay would say that out loud. then again, sarang basically won the last season of next gen, so jay clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. either way, there's something to learn from sarang. he just… doesn't know what yet.

the other boy had been encouraging, though. which is another thing jay hadn't expected, because he thought he'd be hearing another onslaught of critical comments up until their performance. but even after jay had been practicing and rehearsing his lines in front of sarang, spitting his verses out like they're fire on his tongue, sarang had nothing bad to say.

"i can take your criticism, you know." jay informs, throat rather dry after repeating his lines over and over in an attempt to get it perfect. "i don't need any sugarcoating either," he adds. "surely there's something off you wanted to point out this whole time you've been watching and listening to me."

he turns to sarang, eyebrow raised. "or what, are you just having fun watching me?" he says in jest, not forgetting to add in the sarcasm to his tone.

#( sarang / soft ) #( threads. ) #be:ngs2p3 #sarangbe