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hippopotamusdreamer · 13 days

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SKZ Code: Behind the Scenes

genre. A (heavy), F (eventually at the end)

warnings. Cheating, gaslighting, arguing, grabbing, cursing, swearing

additional notes. Female! Reader | You/Your pronouns, reader is aged between Hyunjin and Han, includes all members of Stray Kids

pairing. Yoon Jeonghan x Reader, Platonic!Felix x Reader, ot8 x 9th member reader

w.c. 7.6K

synopsis. Things get heated as emotional problems follow Y/N on set after an overdue encounter with her boyfriend. So what happens when something happens to triggers that fresh memory?

a/n. This is my first ever "published" kpop fic...be nice to me LMAO After having watched SKZ CODE ep. 40, that scene between Hyunjin and Han really stuck with me and just would not get out of my head, thus, this is the result. Constructive criticism would be nice, I feel like I added a lot of detail and it could get muddled and just become a wall of text, let me know what you think.

This in no way reflects the actual persons involved/based in this fic, nor their actual character. This is purely fiction.

Friday, 11:53 PM, unknown club in Hongdae

There were people all around you. Many of which were bumping and grinding on each other as they enjoyed themselves in all corners of the darkened building. The bass that reverberated throughout the entire club you were currently in was thumping so loud that you couldn’t differentiate it from the wild beating of your heart. The thrumming in your body kept you grounded as you walked through the dense crowd. LEDs were blinking with multicolored filters and there were even a few fog machines that made the place more hip than cliché. Unfortunately, the constant flashing of said lights made the oncoming headache you had, worse.

God, you wanted to leave.

You weren’t even supposed to be there in the first place. But you had gotten a text from Nayeon an hour earlier that just had “???” and then immediately after a photo of what looked like your boyfriend looking really fucking cozy with some girl for someone who had supposedly stayed late for practice at his company that night.

So there you were, in some random club in Hongdae, trying to keep yourself from turning into a mess. Dating ban be damned, you weren’t the only idol that had tried to date in secret, and you certainly wouldn’t be the last. Yet in this instance, as you made your way to the second floor VIP area, maybe you should have just followed the rules instead…

Was sneaking out of your dorm at the risk of your reputation and that of your group to get some answers a good idea? Absolutely not. And having had left yours and Hyunjin’s nightly skin care routine; claiming a, now very real, headache to go there didn’t make it any better. You’d be in for the scolding of a lifetime if any of the guys were to find out you where you were.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Saturday, 12:45 AM, VIP lounge, unknown club in Hongdae

Moving past the bouncer of the VIP section, Nayeon walked up, having waited for you to come. One look at your distressed state and she quickly pulled you into a hug. Letting go and without another word she turned you to the left and you finally came face to face with what you had been hoping was misunderstanding until this very moment.

Just like it had been in the photo Nayeon had sent earlier, there he was. An overly relaxed looking Jeonghan manspreading in his seat as an unknown pretty girl, who looked far too comfortable for it to be their first time together like this, sat perched on his lap. You both watched as she leaned down to whisper in his ear, placing her hand none too subtly on his chest in the process. The grin he gave her as he wrapped his arm around her waist was what snapped you out of your stupor.

“Y/N, wait!” Nayeon yelled after you as you finally found the will to move forward. Certain now that the thrumming you felt earlier was your heart and not the music.

You were practically in front of them and yet they paid you no mind. In their own little bubble, ignorant to the storm inside you. “Yah… Yoon Jeonghan, are you fucking kidding me?”

Jeonghan glanced at you slowly, like he hadn’t a care in the world for whoever was interrupting him, only to sit up from his slouched position, eyes wide in shock. Instantly pulling away from the girl that had basically plastered herself onto him. “Y-Y/N! What are you doing here?” He managed to stutter out, frantically looking around, unsure of how you got there.

“I should be asking you the same thing. The PLEDIS building sure got a damn upgrade since the last time I was there,” the venom in your voice apparent even over the loud music.

“Baby, please, it’s not what it looks like!” He gets up from his seat to get into your personal bubble to be heard. You see from your peripheral that the girl he was with slink off to somewhere else. The booming of the music made it hard to hear him but it’s easy to tell that he was trying to make excuses. Jeonghan probably felt the same way because in the next instance he was grabbing you by the arm and all but dragged you to the outside smoking balcony. You try to jerk free but he’s stronger than you, though he is struggling.

“Let me go!”

The balcony is empty of other people surprisingly and the music is still loud out there but at least you’re able to hear each other better as he whorls around to face you.

“Not until you hear me out!”

“There’s nothing for me to hear! It looks like my boyfriend was about to get Real. Fucking. Personal. With. Someone. Else.” You punctuate each word with a jab to his chest.

He grabs on to the appendage only to then forcefully let go as he steps away from you. The tick in his jaw letting you know he was already annoyed.

Good. So were you.

“Look would you just chill the fuck out! We weren’t even doing anything.”

“…She was sitting on your lap and you weren’t doing shit about it…”

“So she was sitting on my lap, who the fuck cares?”

“I do! And as my “boyfriend”, you should have had some respect for your partner and not do shit like that! How do you think that makes me feel Jeong?”

“Oh my god babe, it’s not that serious,” he says as he rolls his eyes, as if exasperated. He raked a hand through his hair, frustration evident in his body language.

“Ok, so if you were to see me with some random guy in the position you were in just now, it’d be fine? Is what you’re telling me?” You question hypothetically while aggressively gesturing to the building behind you.

“Babe…”

“No, I want to understand. Cause you’re saying it wasn’t that bad right? So I can just go inside and find some guy to get with and you’ll be ok with it, right?”

“…You’re starting to piss me off.”

“News flash, I’m already pissed off. If Nayeon hadn’t—”

“Nayeon? Oh yeah,” he spat out as he rolled his neck, “now it makes so much fucking sense. You know she fucking hates me babe, hasn’t liked me since you introduced us eight months ago. I told you she’s not a good friend if she keeps trying to break us up.”

“Oh my god, not this again...,” Now it’s your turn to roll your eyes.

“She’s always putting shit inside your head about us! She’ll say anything—"

“That’s not the fucking point right now! The point is that if you’re willing to do this in front of people, what kind of things are you doing when no one’s a-fucking-round! I know what I saw Jeonghan!”

“Jesus fuck! I made out with someone one time at a party and now you hold it over my head!”

“Because if DK and I hadn’t’ve caught you you probably would have slept with her! You practically had your hand up her dress that time!”

“She literally means nothing to me!”

“So, you’re willing to risk our relationship for nothing?”

“You’re being so dramatic right now for no reason!”

“No reason?” You were stunned.

“It’s not that big a deal! God, if I had known that you were going to be this insecure about our relationship, I wouldn’t have even asked you out!”

“I’m only like this because of what you did!”

The both of you were far too into your heated argument to notice that the door to the balcony open and close.

Only a split second passed as Jeonghan latched onto your arm tightly again and got in your face. You whimper out at the sudden contact knowing full well you’d most likely have a hand shaped bruise to cover up later.

You wince as pain radiates up your arm.

“Let’s get one thing fucking straight—”

But he never got the chance to finish his sentence as he was forcefully yanked away from you. The familiar multicolored hair of you bandmember stands in front of you as Jeonghan nurses his now bruising cheek.

“Felix…?” You whisper in wonder. What was he doing there? How did he know where to find you? Your heart picks up from the adrenaline of this night.

“Don’t you ever put your hands on her again, do you hear me?” Felix said evenly, glaring daggers at Jeonghan. Felix may have been shorter than him but in that moment, he was the most intimidating of the two.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Saturday, 2:19 AM, Felix’s bedroom – VOCALRACHA dorm

You sat in the back of the blacked-out car that Felix has pulled up in. The driver giving the two of you a moment as Felix comforts your hunched over crying form.

You had learned that when you had first confronted Jeonghan, Nayeon had a feeling something would go wrong and immediately went to call Felix. He had been in the middle of playing one of his games when he got the call and proceeded to also sneak out if his dorm to meet her at the front of the club. From there, he got the gist of the information and made his way upstairs with the thought of being a mediator. Only with what he witnessed, it quickly put an end to that idea.

It was Felix who had opened the door to the balcony in the middle of your argument and lost it when Jeonghan put his hands on you.

After that was a bit of a blur for you as Nayeon and Felix maneuvered you through the club discreetly in case someone saw and the media get a hold of that information. All you knew is that Jeonghan tried to come at the two of you but the 63 taekwondo medal holder put him in his place. Felix eventually managed to get you out of there safely but not before letting you confirm out loud that it was officially over between you and Jeonghan.

Jeonghan was too busy writhing in pain to argue back.

So here you were, finally allowing yourself to feel all the emotions of the night, crying into Felix as he pats your hair soothingly, protective arm wrapped around you.

“I’m sorry you had to come out h-here,” you hiccup.

“It’s alright Jellybean, I’m just glad I got there in time to stop him from doing anything more to you. How’s your arm?”

Sniffling, you pull back from him and shift your arm forward. He turns on the flashlight from his phone to see and the both of you come face to face with the repercussions of angry actions. As you thought, an outline of bruised digits were beginning to form like a bad tattoo on your bicep.

He sucks a breath between his teeth as he ghosts his fingers over the bruise. He’s silent as he tries to reel in his anger as he fights himself on going back inside and beating the shit out of the other idol.

But one look at your tear-stained face stops him.

“I’ll tell Chan and Lee Know-hyung that I called you over to our dorm later so they won’t go looking for you. That way you can just stay in my room.”

“Oh Lix, you don’t have—”

“No it’s ok, I don’t think you should be alone right now and I’m pretty sure you don’t want anyone to know about what happened.”

You stay quiet because you know he’s right. Reluctantly, you nod at his offer, grateful for the angel of your group.

He gives you a small sad smile as he brings you back into his arms, placing a comforting kiss on your head. Doesn’t say a word when you quietly start to cry again; just continues to pat your hair as the driver comes back into the car and takes the both of you back to Felix’s dorm.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

You spent a total of 5 days in Felix’s room, crying. You finally managed to explain to Felix that you and Jeonghan had been secretly dating for about 10 months until then but that he had already cheated one you at least once, that you know of, before at an after party of one of the award shows. One of Jeonghan’s members had been with you when you caught him in the act and had gotten you out of there before a scene was caused.

You’d forgiven him after some heavy persuasion on his part but that left you feeling insecure about the relationship since it happened just about a month ago. He’d always had anger issues, but the night at the club was the first time he ever tried to grab you like that. When Nayeon eunnie messaged you that Friday night about seeing him with a different girl this time; you had to confront him before he had a chance to deny it.

You felt bad but Felix kept reassuring you that it was ok that you stayed there and that made you want to cry more. As he promised, he messaged the oldest members of your whereabouts. And with good timing too since according to Chan, Hyunjin had went into your room Saturday morning to wake you for the morning skin routine, but you were gone and he was about ready to freak out.

After that first night, Felix came up with the plan to say that you got hit with a weird bug and that it’d be too much of a hassle to move you back to your room in the 3RACHA dorm (plus you and Hyunjin) so you might as well just stay in his room for the time being. Minho came to check on you that night, but Felix managed to convince him that it wasn’t bad enough to go to the hospital; you just needed to rest and eat something not too heavy. It wasn’t that far off from the truth honestly, and it was a good excuse to stop anyone else from checking up on you.

So Felix’s room was now a designated “quarantine zone” and no one was allowed to go in and bother you. Felix being the only one able to go in and out since it was his room after all. Your phone had been bombarded with texts from all your members trying to check up on you, pinging every few minutes with memes and well wishes. It wasn’t until you kept getting back-to-back calls and texts from your now ex-boyfriend that you turned off your phone, not wanting to deal with him now or ever again.

Just like you thought, the bruise on your arm had gotten darker and it was easy to tell what had caused it. With just one glance at your arm, you knew that with how protective the guys were over you, that the entirety of Stray Kids would go looking for a fight with your ex and your group absolutely did not need any heat in the media right now. It was hard enough keeping Lix from going out there once he looked at your arm again and taking matters into his own hands. Let alone all eight of them if word got out.

No, you had just wanted to wallow in self-pity for now.

Currently, Felix sat next to you in bed as you lay curled up by his side. He was letting you know that Chan had stopped by again to check on you when you were asleep earlier and had left you your designated SKZOO, a bear cub named Gom-N/N-ie, to “help you feel bettah.” You felt guilty for lying to him, all of them really, after that while accepting your SKZOO from the sunshine man. Bringing it to your chest, you bury your face in the familiar feeling of your plushie.

“You know you don’t have to go tomorrow, right? We can tell the managers that you’re sick, too,” Felix’s deep voice broke through the quiet of the room from his spot next to you as he gently combed his fingers through your hair. Tomorrow all of you were to begin shooting for a special new episode of SKZ Code for Chuseok. You’d completely forgot about it until you overheard Minho and Innie talking about it outside of the door earlier.

You were quiet for a moment, contemplating on what you should say and do. You know you can’t keep hiding out in Felix’s room like this, it’s not fair to him. He doesn’t like lying to the other members either yet is doing it just for your sake. He’s been working hard to deflect any and all questions, comments and concerns about your wellbeing while also placating everyone else. You’ve definitely put your younger member in a difficult position.

You owe him a lot, your little sunshine.

“…I’ll go.”

His hand stills in your hair, waiting to see if you’ll say anything else.

“I’ll go with everyone tomorrow. You’re probably sick of me being in here anyways,” you quietly laugh out.

“Naur, what?” His Aussie accent coming out as he switches from Korean to English and back again. “I’m not sick of you, I could never be. If anything, the others are jealous cause I’m the only one that’s gotten to see you!”

“That’s such a lie, Lee Yongbok!” you finally laugh out loud for the first time since Friday night while swatting him in the leg playfully.

“It’s true, noona! Binnie Hyung was about ready to tackle me to get inside the room yesterday!”

The image alone of your buff bun trying to tackle your sunshine lad had you in stitches. What you didn’t see was the loving gaze of said sunshine, glad to see you at least somewhat happy again after everything that’s happened.

For this moment in time, that’s all he could ask for.

Felix gently grazes his fingers over your bruised arm, his smile slightly faltering at what he sees. Moving his hand back to your hair, he gently pulls a few strands just to get your attention.

“It’s gonna be ok, you know. I’ll be there to help you if you need it, alright? You’re not gonna be alone.”

“I know Lix…thank you. For everything.,” you respond quietly.

His only action is to bend down and give you another comforting forehead kiss. The two of you remain quiet for the rest of the night until it was time for bed.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Thursday, 8:15 AM, VOCALRACHA dorm

As soon as you followed Felix out of the bedroom, you were accosted by the one and only maknae on top.

“Noona!” Jeongin yelled out, too loud for what time it was. “Are you feeling better? Do you need more medicine, a doctor?”

“Yah! Let her breathe.” The three of you jump in the middle of the hallway as the admonishing tone of Minho could be distinguished from the kitchen. He’d probably heard Innie from all the way over there.

Chuckling, you give him a small smile and a pat to his head to calm him down.

“I’m ok right now Innie, thank you for checking up on me.”

“You really had us worried noona, Lee Know-hyung was about to burst in there and take you to the hospital himself as soon as he found out you weren’t feeling good if it weren’t for Felix hyung.”

You’d figured something like that was bound to happen. You were even more grateful to Felix for all his efforts. You giggle at his comment and the three of you continue to the kitchen where Seungmin was also waiting.

“Morning everyone,” you greeted, sitting down next to the second youngest of you all.

“Are you sure you’re feeling ok enough to shoot today?” Seungmin asks quietly while placing a cup of juice in front of you which you gratefully take. You nod in agreeance as a bowl of porridge is placed in front of you. Minho pats your head before walking away to get the other dishes for breakfast.

“We’ll let the director-nim know that you should take it easier today at least,” he says while serving the rest of the guys at the table. Before you can protest, he sends you a heated look that leaves no room for argument.

With a twitch to your lips, you can’t help but to agree with him too. “I understand, thank you for breakfast.”

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Thursday, 11:15 AM – SKZ Code shoot location, dressing room 1

Meeting the other half of your group went just about the same. Except more scolding from Hyunjin for skipping out on your daily routine. Although that was mostly an excuse because he was just so worried when he didn’t see you in your room that first morning.

“Really Y/N-ie, you should have messaged me first!” the pout on his lips not hard to find as he tugs on your sleeve.

“Y/N-ah, you should have seen him!” the boisterous voice of Changbin joins the two of you as you sit in your designated dressing room waiting for your leader’s return. The two of them immediately ambushing you, much like Jeongin this morning, upon your arrival. “He wouldn’t stop bothering Channie hyung for information on how you were doing!”

That evokes the lankier one of the two to get flustered and from there the two start a playful argument of no-I-wasn’t’s and yes-you-were’s. Just being with them again really did set your mind and heart at easy after the past couple of days. Not to mention a good distraction.

A quiet “noona” catches your attention from the squabble in front of you and has you turning to face Han questioningly.

“I brought you a red ginseng drink to keep your health up today.”

You wanted to cry again for an altogether different reason. Your members cared for you so much, each in their own different ways. You don’t know what you’d do without them.

“Ahh, thank you, Hannie. I’ll drink this right now.” The initial taste of the ginger is gross but it had a hint of sweetness at the end so the overall drink wasn’t too bad. Especially if you try to take it all in one go.

Han sits next to you on the couch, Felix following shortly after, as I.N and Minho join in on the fray to annoy the already hyped-up boys. Although they could all be loud and wild sometimes, it was just a part of their charm.

Chan comes back into the room about 5 minutes later gaining everyone’s attention.

“Alright, I got everything squared away with the director and producers. Y/N, they know you’re just getting better,” he states, staring directly at you as if he—, no there was no way, right? “So, you’re going to be given more of the easier things to do alright?”

The panic in your head only allows you to nod at him as you grab Felix’s hand for a quiet support. He doesn’t skip a beat in intertwining your hands together.

“Great, we’ve got 10 minutes before they want us to start going to make up and changing. Then we’re all going to film an intro piece for the episode. Anyone have any questions or problems with that?

When no one responded, Chan just nods and heads to the far corner and sits with his phone for a bit. You can’t help but think you feel his gaze every once in a while but brush it off as paranoia.

The time eventually comes to split off as the boys go to their own designated dressing room and you stay in the current one. The stylists helping you to get ready for what is surely to be an interesting shoot if the hanbok you have to wear is anything to go off of.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Thursday, 1:15 PM – SKZ Code shoot location

[I.N - Lee Know's younger sister, Yongbok and Y/N's aunt]

[Changbin - High school jock / Always steps up to keep his family together]

[HAN - A sweet but strict father (But somewhat seems polite)]

[Hyunjin - The sassy mother]

[Lee Know - A tough woman but a lenient mother to Yongbok and Y/N]

[Seungmin - Survives through the attacks by Lee Know, I.N, and daughter’s Y/N and Yongbok]

[Yongbok - Sassy and brave like his mom, sister, and aunt]

[Bang Chan - The youngest son, loves his mom the most and hates his brother / Is always losing out to cousin Yongbok]

[Y/N – The exasperated oldest of the grandkids back from university/ Yongbok’s sister]

One rainy Chuseok morning, the SKZ Family are gathering in a long while today CHUSEOK SPECIAL : SKZ Family Returns

You stand off to the side, waiting for your cue to join, with the rest of the group as Channie and Felix do the beginning of the intro skit. It’s hard to keep the giggles in with how cute the both of them look and act.

“Hi...,” Chan started out shyly.

“Hi!” Felix sassed out immediately in response.

“How old are you?”

Felix counts slowly with his fingers, “…Three. How about you?”

“I’m five. I’m older than you.”

Felix plucks out two more digits to make five on his hand.

“You’re right.”

“Mm”

“You don’t look older though.”

“Why are you talking down to me?”

“Mind your own business.”

“Don’t talk down to me!”

“Don’t yell!”

“Okay…,” Chan whispers out. “Mommy!”

“Daddy!”

They both start crying and that’s your you cue to walk into the frame behind them.

“Hey! Stop crying!”

“Noona!” “Eunnie!”

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Filming was going smoothly so far. It was just the beginning though so nothing too taxing had happened yet. Felix just finished introducing himself as three-year-old Yongbok who gets her good looks from her mom and wants to live with her mother after their divorce.

“Waaah, my little sister is so cute,” you say out loud with a smile, Felix sticking his tongue out at you in response.

“Yes, both of my daughters are so cute,” Lee Know says while pinching your cheek since you sat beside him. There went your smile.

“Ahh! Mom!”

“Y/N-ie, it’s your turn to introduce yourself,” Seungmin, as your father, says not even bothering to help you out. You make a noncommittal sound as you fight with Lee Know to let go of your cheek still. More than half the guys laughing at your antics.

“Mom, please!”

“Ohh, but how can I let go of these cheeks huh,” he says in a babying tone, as he does in fact, let you go.

You rub your cheek as you sit down on the stool and face the proper direction.

“Hello, I’m Yongbok’s older sister, Y/N. I’m tirelessly working on maintaining my high marks in school but currently on break from university. So I’m glad to be home and able to spend this time with my family.”

“You get you book smarts from your dad,” Han says chuckling.

“And your street smarts from your mom,” Seungmin joins in. Lee Know, jokingly takes the bubble gun blower in front of him and aims it at his ‘husband’.

“That’s right, so you better watch what you say.”

You’re laughing at the scene before you as Hyunjin continues the skit, “Y/N-ie, what are you studying in college?”

“Uhh,” you didn’t really have a concept for this character, until you lock eyes with Chan and then the kiddie computer in front of him. “I’m studying…m-music producing?” you get out before laughing since producing was certainly not your forte. And everyone in front of you knew that.

“Noona is so cool,” Chan says from his spot on the ground. “Better than my older brother.”

“Aww, thanks Channie,” you beam at him as he beams back.

“Yah Bang Chan!” Binnie yells from behind him before yelling in pain because Chan leaned back against his legs.

“Changbin, don’t yell at you brother,” Hyunjin says as his mom.

“Mmm, my daughter is so talented. Getting in the best university of the country, getting good grades and look at her face, just like me,” He strikes a little pose. “Maybe next holiday she’ll bring home a boyfriend,” Lee Know continues in character.

The smile on your face freezes as your heart zings in pain. You’ve become still in your seat as you feel Felix’s eyes on you. He being the only ones to notice your hands balling into fists on your skirt.

“…Mom,” you start off slowly. Your hesitancy easily mistakable for your character’s young adult/college student love life being interrogated by their parent. “That’s…”

“She doesn’t need to be dating in college,” Seungmin cuts you off. “We met in college and now we’re getting a divorce!”

“Yeah but she won’t meet a mistake like you and go through any hardships. So she’ll be fine .”

Grin faltering, you begin to bite the inside of your lip to stop your eyes from getting glossy. Your nose starting to sting, a tale tell sign that you wanted to cry. Your actual hardships flashing in your mind.

“Mommy, daddy, don’t fight,” Felix tries to distract them.

“We’re not fighting,” Lee Know quickly responds as you get up from your seat to switch places with him. Felix quickly looping his arm around yours, taking your hand in his, giving it a quick squeeze.

You give him one back as you stare at a spot by your feet.

Despite the earlier hiccup, everything was going fine. Both Lee Know and Seungmin went on to introduce themselves, which was a skit about how Lee Know got married for money and that they were in the process of getting a divorce more than anything. And then Innie looking out for his nieces because what was said in front of them.

It was then decided that Yongbok was going with Lee Know and you were going with Seungmin. Both kids pouting at this information for being separated.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Next up was Han, who’s outfit immediately got torn to pieces by everyone in the room. Him trying to explain that he got his style from his father caused everyone to derail in laughter.

He brings back everyone’s attention by restarting his introduction.

“I’m Yongbok and Y/N-ie’s uncle, but I could be their new father.”

“Their new father?” Lee Know questions immediately as you and Felix looked shocked at him.

“I mean, I’ll be that much kinder to them.”

A few of the members understand what he means by that and Hyunjin speaks up in relief, “I was worried.”

“Hey, just a few days ago,” Seungmin speaks up from beside you asking a seemingly innocent question until it wasn’t. “Did you enjoy dinner with the friend I introduced to you?”

There was a pause in the room. Han looking a little shell-shocked as he responds.

“Why are you mentioning that now?”

Everyone’s quiet as Hyunjin gets up from his seated position. Your heartbeat picking up, flashes of your very recent tragedy of a relationship flashing in your mind. All the heartache came rushing back as the scene before you kept unfolding. Your heartbeat picking up in your chest as you look between the two.

“What does that mean?” Hyunjin asked cluelessly.

“You knew mom’s a jealous person!” Changbin yells from his spot next to I.N.

You can’t say anything as the ball of emotions in your throat gets bigger. Felix tries to comfort you but gets pulled away by Lee Know who’s trying to cover his eyes.

“Close your eyes and open your nose,” he says to Felix. If only you could shut out the blood rushing in your ears.

The deep breath that Hyunjin takes is something you felt from deep within your core. “Try explaining yourself.”

“What?”

“Try explaining.”

“You didn’t tell her?” Seungmin jumps in with a grin, making the situation worse. “I thought you did.”

It’s a joke. It’s a joke. It’s a joke.

You repeat to yourself as you try to control your breathing. It’s not their fault that you basically went through something so distressingly similar not even a week ago and they didn’t know about it. Staring at your lap, your hands begin to tremble and you can just feel your lips wobbling.

“Honey,” Han laughs out nervously.

“Was she prettier than me?”

You bring your hands up to cover part of your face. That had been one of many questions that had been plaguing you since the first time Jeonghan had cheated on you. You never got a good look at the first girl and the second girl was definitely pretty to you. You close your eyes, eyebrows furrowing, to try to block out the scene. You hope they can’t here you sniffling.

“…Yaaahh,” is all that Han can respond with, wanting to avoid answering the question.

Did he even feel guilty for what he did? Or did he just move on as if the last 10 months together didn’t mean anything?

A warm hand on your knee makes you open your eyes and you’re met with Chan’s concerned gaze as your eyesight becomes blurry with the tears quickly gathering there. His concern quickly becomes full on worry as a single tear drops down your cheek.

You needed to get out of there, quickly. It was a wonder how the others haven’t picked up on how upset you’re getting.

“Mom, no one’s prettier than you,” Changbin pipes up as he stands up next to Hyunjin.

“That’s right!”

Did Jeonghan ask his members not to tell you anything? Were they in on everything?

“Lee Know…?” Han questions.

“Huh?”

“Don’t tell them we met yesterday.”

Would they have told you if they knew? Or did they all laugh about you behind their backs? Did Jeonghan even like you, or did he just keep you around because you were convenient?

This endless cycle of negative questions kept spiraling in your mind as the skit the boys were doing continued to play out before you.

Lee Know, with a grin on his face, turns to look at Hyunjin who’s sat down next to Seungmin again. “It’s fine, I saw someone today too.” Hyunjin says in retaliation as he grabs onto Seungmin.

“Wait a minute…” Han starts but you’ve had enough by this point. The sob you try to hide was heard throughout the group and everyone freezes.

You hurriedly get up from your spot between Seungmin and Felix and trip twice trying to get out of there. The chaos that ensues as the fabric of your hanbok getting caught under your foot was instantaneous as Chan, Changbin, and Felix immediately try to catch you. The small leg space not making it easy to leave quickly.

“Noona?” I.N asks fearfully, breaking character as he sees the state that you’re in.

“Y/N-ah?” Minho asks from his side of the couch starting to get up from his seat.

Han, Seungmin, and Hyunjin quiet in their shock of what’s happening.

“Sorry—, I—, Please…,” you sob out as you finally get out of the cramped space. Felix and Chan following right behind you as you run to the restroom to lock yourself in there. The door closing in both of their faces. The brief look at your expression, blotchy and covered in tears, breaking their hearts.

You hug yourself as you slide down against the door, finally allowing yourself to cry fully. Even through your sobs, you can hear the other members coming up to the other side of the door to check on you. You could faintly make out the deep timbre of Felix’s voice most likely trying to diffuse the situation which makes you cry more. You weren’t ready to face any of this, or them, now. Should have just stayed home instead of making a mess like this.

You weren’t sure how much time had passed when you heard a gentle knock on the door behind you. Your tears still flowing slowly but at least you weren’t full on sobbing now. Sniffling, you’re hesitant as you look towards the locked doorknob.

“Y/N-ah, it’s just me,” Chan says from the other side. “Everyone else went to go talk to the manager and director to give us a break right now.”

Not saying anything, he clears his throat before asking quietly, “Do you think you can let me in?”

The double entendre isn’t lost on you. Whether Chan knew what he said or not was unknown to you. With some tentativeness, you manage to wiggle to the wall to be able to unlock and open the door for him.

Chan slips into the restroom and closes the door swiftly behind him. You look small to him as you sat huddled into yourself on the ground. Not like your usual boisterous self. He doesn’t say anything as he sits down next to you. Doesn’t pressure you to say anything, either. Just sits with you, waiting patiently for you to be comfortable enough to tell him what’s wrong.

So you sit there in silence for a few moments more. Trying to gather the courage to lay yourself emotionally bare to your leader. You pick at the fabric you have on, sniffling every now and then until Chan gently places his hand over yours in comfort. And to probably stop you from tearing a hole in your clothes…

He lets you play with his hand until you manage to take a deep breath. For the second time since the whole fiasco happened, you find yourself confiding your problem with a member. Going into a bit more detail than what you did with Felix.

You told Chan everything while on the floor in that little restroom.

How you first met Jeonghan, how you kept bumping into him after the shows you all did, how you ended up exchanging numbers. To how you kept in touch after that, kept meeting up until he eventually asked you out. Occasionally sneaking out of the dorm to meet up with him at his insistence.

You thought Chan would get mad at that, but he didn’t say anything. Just squeezed your hand to get you to continue with your story.

You told Chan how you caught Jeonghan cheating the first time, and how DK all but dragged you out of there but it didn’t even matter because you saw everything. That messed you up mentally and was the reason why you had messed up a lot during dance practice the next day.

Chan remembers the day you were talking about. He thought something was wrong but kept it to himself, hoping you’d come talk to him about it, but you never did.

You explained the fight that happened a week after catching him back then. How you eventually, and stupidly, ended up forgiving him and continuing the relationship only for him to go behind your back and do it again a couple of days ago.

“So you weren’t sick?” he cuts in, finally breaking his silence.

“I mean…not in the contagious sense…,” you explain while turning to him. He nods, letting you continue as he tries to wipe the dried tears off your face.

“So yeah, Nayeon called me up that Friday night and I had to sneak out to Hongdae. Sorry…about that by the way…,” you clear your throat, avoiding eye contact with him altogether. “So I saw him literally in the act again and had to confront him about it this time. We ended up going outside and basically just having an all-out screaming match with each other. Where, by the way, he tried to gaslight the shit out of me, but it didn’t work. Thankfully, Felix showed up when he did though because Jeonghan ended up grabbing me really hard. Who knows what he could have done if Lix hadn’t gotten there in time.”

You let go of Chan’s hand, which was still intertwined with yours, to rub against your bruised shoulder.

“Wait…he put his hands on you?”

You don’t pick up on his tone as you nod and take off the jeogori jacket layer of your hanbok. Presenting your, now, heavily bruised arm, Chan takes it delicately in his hands.

“I asked the stylist to try to use coverup on it, but it was just so dark and it still hurt so she couldn’t do much about it in the end.”

Gently, he touches the colorfully marred skin not saying a word, his jaw ticking in anger at what he’s seeing.

You don’t even get a word out before he’s up and bolting out of the restroom. Face clouded in rage.

“Ch-Chan!” Scrambling, you grab the jeogori from the ground and run after him, not even bothering to put it back on. “Channie, wait!”

The other members of your group had managed to clear the room of the staff and had been hovering close the door the entire time, waiting patiently for the two of you to come out. What they weren’t expecting was an infuriated Chan and an anxious you to come out of there.

“What’s happening,” Changbin asked, lowkey getting worked up just seeing his leader on edge.

“I’m gonna kill him,” is all Chan says.

“Who?” Han asks, also getting anxious.

“Noona, what happened to your arm?” Innie asks from beside you, gently grabbing your bruised arm. That captures everyone else’s attention. Your face pales as you realize your mistake.

“Is that a bruise?” “Why does it look like a hand?” “Who the hell touched you?” “Noona, are you ok?”

“I— ,” you’re on the verge of panicking, not knowing what to do.

This catches Chan’s attention and breaks the trance of rage he’s in. He makes his way back to you and brings you into a big hug. He holds you in his arms as you try to hide away from everyone’s prying eyes.

But honestly, they’re just so worried about you.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Channie whispers into your hair. Shaking your head, you understand everyone’s concerns, you just wish it wasn’t revealed this way.

Keeping your face in Chan’s chest to hide, your muffled response is heard. “Long story short, I got into it with an ex a couple of days ago because he was cheating and he…put his hands on me…”

Just like you thought, they were all visibly upset for you.

“This happened to you…and I was…” Han became visibly pale compared to the others as his actions up until you ran out sprang to his mind. That prompted the other boys, besides Felix, to realize why you had gotten upset enough to leave the set in the first place. All of them immediately apologizing to you, getting upset with themselves and begging for your forgiveness.

“Who is it?” Seungmin asks menacingly from somewhere behind you, voice quivering with emotion. Guard dog mode being activated.

“No, guys—”

“He’s gonna wish he only got a bruised arm once I’m done with him,” Changbin says while rolling his neck in annoyance now. Minho and Felix are taking off their own hanbok’s as I.N and Hyunjin stretch out themselves, preparing for a beatdown.

“Noona, seriously, who did this to you?” Han asks you quietly next to you, mood sad yet protective.

“Guys really, there’s nothing to forgive. You didn’t know what was going on, you don’t have to do anything,” You pipe up, finally pulling away from Chan a little. His arms tighten around you slightly, not wanting to let you go fully.

“Y/N-ah, we have every right to want to have your back on this. He’s not gonna get away with putting his hands on you,” Chan explains to you still upset about all the information that you’ve shared with him.

“No, I get that, I swear,” you rotate in his arms to face the others. “I appreciate all of you wanting to go and kick his ass. But I swear it’s not necessary. Felix already beat the shit out of him. His company put out a statement saying he’s taking a break for a bit for ‘health reasons’.”

All of you turn to Felix, who’s now taking off his headband, cool expression on his face. “I’m not against kicking his ass again, Jellybean.”

You stare at him dumbfounded until you burst into laughter because of course he wouldn’t. None of them would be. Because this is your family away from family. They’re dead set in wanting to protect you, and each other, from any and everything that could be harmful.

The others stare at you as if you’ve finally lost your mind which prompts you to just say, “I love you guys.”

Felix, besides Chan who is still holding you, is the first to step up and give you a very much needed hug. A little confused, the rest of the guys follow suit and you all end up in one massive hug.

Until one of the younger boys starts fighting with Changbin and they all break away.

“Don’t think this lets you off the hook for sneaking out of the dorm, Y/N-ah,” Chan says out loud from behind you as you’re still wrapped in his arms.

“You did what?!” Minho could be heard yelling, which causes you to groan.

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hotasfahrenheit · 5 months

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So you wanna get into NCT, eh?

Part 2 - NCT 127 - Introduction and MVs

I promised I would do more of this and the holidays are done and today is the first of the year so that seems like a great time to get to it!

Tumblr has a 10 video limit so I'll actually make a second 127 post tomorrow(?) with some more MVs, but these are my personal picks for 10 most crucial 127 MVs so that's what we're starting with.

I mentioned in my intro post to NCT that NCT 127 debuted in July 2016, on the 7th, after the larger whole group of NCT had debuted in April of that year. 127 is the longitude of Seoul, and with the original intent of NCT to have a multitude of subgroups focused on different parts of the world, 127 were established as the first of these groups with a focus on Seoul and South Korea.

NCT 127 debuted with seven members:

Taeil, Taeyong, Yuta

Jaehyun, Winwin

Mark, Haechan

In December of 2016, two ungrouped, already debuted members of NCT were added to 127, Johnny and Doyoung, and then the final member, Jungwoo, was added in September of 2018 after he joined NCT earlier that year.

Johnny, Doyoung, Jungwoo

(All pictures taken from the NCT official Facebook page from the Golden Era promo posts, so these photos are all from summer 2023 and I'll use the same set of photos for the other subgroup posts to be consistent)

If you're interested in putting in the effort to learn the members and looking at this single set of photos isn't going to get you there (how could it?) my pro tip for learning kpop group members for ANY group is to pull off a split screen or makeshift split screen and make use of the many many fan-made lyric videos on Youtube. If you have a computer, have two windows open on Youtube with one having the official MV and the other a lyric video (you can find these by typing in the group name, song name, and "lyric video" and trust me, you'll find plenty). Mute one, compare the video lengths, then time them to coincide- the lyric videos will typically light up a picture of the member singing as well as have their name at the bottom of the video with the lyrics, so you can have a constant guide to who is singing what throughout. Makeshift split screening can be done by watching the MV on your TV while watching the lyric video on your phone at the same time. I've done both of these and it's helped me a lot!

Okay, back to 127 members specifically- despite the focus on Seoul, 127 is an international group member-wise, with Winwin coming from China, Yuta being the first SM artist to come from Japan, and members Mark coming from Canada and Johnny from America. Jaehyun also lived in America for four years growing up, so they started out with a pretty solid English speaking base.

They debuted with Fire Truck (소방차) in July 2006 as we've already covered, and their first EP which was just titled NCT #127 - The First Mini Album. They've released a whole pile of albums, mini albums, various singles, special releases, and several Japanese albums over the years so there's quite a big pile of songs and material to go through.

Now a factual, historical way to get into discussing them here would be to list songs in order of how they were released and talk about how successful songs and albums were and etc, but I don't really feel like doing things that way so I'm just going to follow my heart and list them in the way that feels right to me to talk about them. These posts are a formalized version of the spam of messages that friends of mine have gotten when they dare tell me they want to get into a kpop group, so I'm going to follow more of that kind of format where I'm going to post the songs that I think will hook you with only a few bits of info between most of them so you can just get into the music. If you really want info about album successes and statistics, Wikipedia and other websites have got you. I got you for the music videos and fun facts instead.

HERE WE GO.

youtube

Kick It (Mar 4, 2020) reigns supreme as NCT 127's most viewed song on Youtube, and is one of NCT's top viewed MVs overall out of all releases. This song has a grip on everyone after almost 4 years and it's not letting go anytime soon. They've performed it live at all kinds of big awards shows and music festivals and still do, including a few days ago at the big SBS Gayo Daejeon festival, and Taeyong is famous for complaining about his older sister watching one of their award show performances and him discovering later that all the screenshots she took were of shirtless Johnny and none of him or anyone else dancing or singing.

youtube

Listen, I wasn't going to include songs I put in the intro post, but Fact Check (Oct 6, 2023) made it into my top 5 Spotify songs of the year in barely over a month so like I had to include it anyway, and I figure some people will see this post first without seeing that one or whatever. This song feels triumphant and bombastic and the number of times I've blasted this while cruising down the highway recently is HIGH so you get it again. A fun fact I didn't include in the other post is that Taeyong did some of the choreography for the song, so uhhh yeah that can justify me posting it again I guess.

youtube

Ahhh Superhuman, my criminally underrated beloved. I'm constantly waffling on what my favourite NCT 127 track is, but Superhuman is definitely one of the top contenders. It's such a gem and I managed to miss it when it originally came out since I wasn't super into NCT yet at the time, which is a shame since it came out the day after my birthday (May 24, 2019) so it was a birthday gift I didn't even realise I was getting. The MVs always cover a decent amount of the choreo up with other things happening but it has some of my absolute FAVOURITE choreo that 127 has ever done which thankfully someone preserved the dance practice video of so you can appreciate it fully. Stellar song, stellar vibes, stellar choreo, it's perfect, thank you.

youtube

If you're newer to kpop and you haven't learned about repackage albums yet, it's something that happens where a second version of an album will be released usually a month or two after the initial release. A few songs will be added, a new lead single MV will be released, and a new theme will go with the whole thing. Punch (May 19, 2020) was the new lead single on the repackage for the album that Kick It was the lead single off of (Neo Zone) and is one of the many NCT 127 songs that a lot of people have lumped into being so-called "noise music" since it has some less traditional sounds with the electronic, synthy bits in it but it's honestly amazing with layered sounds and textures and very much worth taking the time to give it the chance it deserves.

youtube

The benefit of coming to a post like this instead of only listening to released albums is you get the overlooked masterpieces like Save (June 4 2021) thrown at you! Save was a special collab with Amoeba Culture, an independent record label in South Korea, so it didn't get regular promotion and it's not on any of 127's albums but it is SO CATCHY and such a treat. It's got heavy dance beats and it's so hard to not move while listening to it. I DARE YOU TO TRY.

youtube

Cherry Bomb (Jun 14, 2017) is close behind Kick It as 127's second most viewed MV and is an absolute classic from the song itself to the iconic choreo. You'll understand why the choreo is iconic after you watch it, trust me. They've ripped a lot of pants for this song over the years. Mark has an epic rap break, Winwin was still around, Taeil hangs from a giant hook in the middle of a warehouse, Johnny gets dragged around on a couch, there's a lot going on.

youtube

Simon Says (Nov 22, 2018) is another repackage album song (from the repackage of Regular-Irregular, Regulate) and is from the brief, sweet spot where 127 had all ten members active, making it one of only two MVs with everyone before Winwin debuted as part of WayV and became inactive in 127. Haechan and Taeil always crush high notes but something about their section that starts with Haechan at 2:53 and has Taeil right at 3:00 always gives me goosebumps.

youtube

The original version of Highway to Heaven was released on the Superhuman album, but the English version got an MV (Jul 22, 2019) so that's the one you're getting here. Just 127 playing around in the American desert with a sparkly jangly feel good song with immaculate vibes, what more could you want?

youtube

Limitless (Jan 4, 2017) has some truly tragic hair and was one of the worst eras for 127's hair health, and this MV is a really weird assortment of incredibly random nonsense (what is even GOING ON in this entire video) but the song itself is another one of my favourites so I usually just try to pretend the MVs don't exist (yeah there's multiple) and appreciate the song itself for what it is and try to forget Mark's ramen hair and Winwin's dreads (that I think are mainly only in the second MV) and Jaehyun's icicle hair and whatever it was that they did to Taeyong.

youtube

READY TO GET DIVISIVE? Either you're going to love Sticker (Sep 16, 2021) or hate Sticker, there is no middle ground. This song SPLIT the fandom and general public, but according to Wikipedia, the album sold "a combined 3.58 million copies [and] broke the record for the best-selling album of all time by an act under SM Entertainment and earned the group the Daesang award at the 31st Seoul Music Awards". Internationally, it "debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, becoming the longest and highest-charting K-pop album in the US in 2021", so obviously some people loved it (it's me, I'm people). This is peak 127 being weird and experimental and there's viral memes of the boys reacting to the demo of the song before recording their version of it that are hilarious. I think it's great. You might not. That's okay.

Okay that's the 10 song limit so you'll have to come back for more MVs hopefully tomorrow. The next post is going to include some more divisive stuff, some softer things, and some Japanese releases so stick around for that! (haha get it, stick around, since I just posted Sticker, see what I did there?)

This post is the second in a series of posts introducing new fans to NCT in a way that makes sense, by getting familiar with one subgroup at a time before moving on to the next. Linked down at the bottom is the intro post, and the rest will be linked as they're added.

Still to come about 127? More MVs, then a guide to some of the fun stuff like their extra content they post on Youtube, before we move on to NCT Dream!

Dedicated as ever to @catatonicrainbow and @poetry-protest-pornography 💖

[So you wanna get into NCT eh? 1 | 2 | 3]

#so you wanna get into nct eh #nct basics #how to get into nct #nct info posts #nct info #nct #nct 127 #mia talks about kpop things #mia talks about nct things

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absolutebl · 2 years

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This Week in BL - When Bad Gossip Happens to Good BL

Aug 2022 Wk 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

The Eclipse (Fri YT) Ep 2 of 15 - This is a great show and the leads are killer! Their conflict contrasted to moments of empathy contrasted to flirtation and then hints of genuine affection is nuanced and beautifully performed. I expected no less from this pair, but I’m delighted to see that they’re executing so well. This show has the sophistication and balance of something like Gifted, Not Me or Bad Buddy, which basically means this is the best we can expect from GMMTV. NeoLewis are also doing a better job than I expected. They aren’t my favorite pair. However Neo unexpectedly excels in a serious part. Finally, an actually deserved and appropriate pratfall moment. Very nice.

Vice Versa (Sat on YT) Ep 6 of 12 - Living together = fake out. Curse you GMMTV! Look, here’s the thing, flaws and all I pretty much spend this entire show smiling. I don’t mind being manipulated when we are all having so much fun with it. Is Tun/Puen super suss. Oh yes. Do I care? NOPE. *bats eyes in Jimmy nation*

21 Days Theory (Sun YT ) Ep 2 of 4? - X is def flirting in the “pulling pig tails” fashion. Also wooing his bf2b’s mum is very smart. (Why is BF2B not a 3rd gen Kpop group? I ask you.) Meanwhile Q & his friends are the new candidates for the “only one brain cell between them” club. Like Tine’s crew in 2g all over again.

THAI LIGUISTICS CORNER

X is older than Q. X uses pom/khun & rao +kap which is stiff, adult, and somewhat formal (and pom is age backwards for him and Q). Pom is oddly servile coming from an older kid.

Q jumps around a lot in response to this adult speech from a phi: pom/khun but also rao/nai + (a reluctant) kap, but never phi. (I don’t think I’ve ever heard a high school BL use nai this much.)

There was a conversation about formal speech and the end of ep 2. Q was telling X that he could use guu/mueng rather than rao|pom/khun. Q had been sort of attempting to match X’s formality by using nai as a more formal version of phi, and was struggling because, I think, it’s too grown up sounding. X declined guu/mueng, he finds them too rude to apply to someone he likes. X then offered to call Q just by his name (avoiding having to choose entirely), but I think Q finds that too intimate. But phi is still not discussed and Q goes back to rao/nai at the end. So honestly I’m really not sure what the hell is happening.

I rewatched all their interactions through 3 times and I’m still mostly mystified.

My Only 12% (Fri iQIYI) Ep 2 of 15 - Cake and Eiw’s relationship reminds me of a high school version of the friendship that’s central to the movie Big Eden. There’s a part of me that wants that to be where this narrative is going too. I’m not gonna say more, because everybody should watch Big Eden. Yes, it’s ultimately happy. However, if this narrative does choose to go with a more mature approach, then this show will ultimately be sad, as a BL. Regardless, SantaEarth are doing a really killer job with this set up. They couldn’t have chosen a better pair. Cake calling a Eiw a sheep when Eiw’s name essentially sounds to me like ewe is hilarious. I don’t think they’re being that clever, though.

Coffee Melody (Mon Viki) Ep 5 of 10 - I do love how tough Jean is - flame on, indeed. Plus his boyfriend 2B has magical pink hair. (Are they secretly a marvel superhero team?) This was another ep of a show where I didn’t care that the leads were apart, because that just meant more side dishes. It’s not bad, this show, it’s not good either, tho.

Love Mechanics (Sun WeTV) Ep 9 of 10 - Random new faen fatal in the 11th hour is annoying. And the boxing match is a dumb plot device. But the theme around food, family, affection, and acceptance was great. Mark is so good at flirting and Vee is so confused when that skill is targeting him. Someone give YinWar a better BL. Please?

Love in the Air (Thurs iQIYI) Ep 1 of 13 - Mame’s creature has indeed whipped me into a verbal frenzy. So yeah, that’s another dumpster fire trash watch happening. Come with me if you wanna BURN and smell bad. Good times. So what’s this show like? Terrible. Also entertaining and engaging and kinda hot. Like all good dumpster fires.

Unforgotten Night (Weds on GaGa) Ep 9 of 12 - I don’t have very much to say about this episode. I guess they are cute boyfriends? But do we want cute boyfriends from our mafia daddy? I ask you? TRASH WATCH IS HERE!

Check Out (Sat IQIYI) Ep 11 of 12 - Jumping back to high heat like we in 2021 ep 0 I see. Fine. Also: chalk one up for an uke bj (usually bjs are seme penance) thats 3 i think: Gen Y 2 (sort of, PokeTongue always strike me as verse), SCOY, and now Check Please Out.

My Secret Love (Sat YT) Ep 12fin - This drama suddenly got sensible and interesting in the finale after the time jump, and the reason for the split turned out to be a decent one. But frankly, that was just frustrating. Because I got a glimpse that this could’ve actually been, if not a GREAT show, at least a passable one. But they saved this for the last 2 eps? That’s just annoying. Another wedding makes me feel like this trope is becoming ubiquitous in Thai BL. Who knew Grey Rainbow would end up with us here? In the end, I can't really recommend this. There's much better Thai BL these days, and tons of it. DON’T BOTHER 6/10 Full review on MDL.

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us (Mon GaGa) Ep 1 of 8 - As others said this is a queer family drama not a BL. It’s fine but I don't like the lead character. He's a brat in the wrong way. Especially at 20 years old. It’s also a bit slow moving and oddly paced. I’m DNFing for now. Maybe I’ll watch it when it’s completed.

I gotta say iQIYI is really taking a stab at cornering this market and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry (Japan Weds GaGa) Ep 8 of 12 - So it finally came, the episode where Minato has to break Shin’s heart. It was more delicately handled than I thought it would be, and that did surprise me. It was wistfully sad rather than gut wrenching. I still loved it, of course. SQUEE WATCH ALONG

Takara-kun and Amagi-kun (Japan Thurs GaGa & Viki) 1 of 8 - GaGa’s subs are more poetic but Viki’s are more comprehensible, so I’m doing... BOTH. It’s cute. Amagi is an ADORABLE sunshine bean nugget but I’m not sold and his confession came out of nowhere. It’s maybe too high school? (GASP, did I just actually type that?) I did really like that we switched perspectives to Takara so soon in the series. Now we know their tortured pining is mutual. I like that, even if it means the whole rest of the show will be about miscommunication. “I like him so much that it feels stupid” is a killer line (GaGa’s version). Taraka is a seme who is scared of his own semeness. That said, this show is from the Mr. Unlucky and Senpai studio featuring Jpop idols, so I’m not expecting much. But I do love a high school setting and JBL has been killing it lately.

Papa & Daddy 2 (Mon GaGa) Ep 3 of 8 - I hate hate HATE the grandparents bloodline = have another child plot. It’s really upsetting to me in a visceral way. I didn’t even realize I had a trigger around this kind of bullshit. However, the gender plot-line is interesting. And, to no one’s surprise, I continue to have terrible 2nd lead syndrome.

Want to See You (Vietnam YT) Ep 13 - What happened? Did I miss it? Was last week the ending? Are they on hiatus? Is it a crowd funding tactic? Why tf MDL can’t list VBL is increasingly annoying.

In Case You Missed It

GaGa stepped up and will broadcast War of Y, if any of you want more PAIN in your lives.

GMMTV dropped Zero Photography to their YouTube, it’s a GL advert special featuring InkPa from Bad Buddy. It was cute and sweet. But that’s it.

Gossip

Apparently Jimmy (of JimmyTommy) has withdrawn from Middleman's Love and so they need to recast both leads. Bed Friends seems unaffected.

There are quite a few pairs that Cheewin could hand this too. Anyone wanna take bets? Who would we fantasy cast from his line up? (Cheewin uses his pairs in Y-Destiny, War of Y). Middleman’s Love requires and YOUNGER seme and an older but nerdy (or capable of being nerdy) uke for an office set romance about an intern pursuing his boss. So I think BillySeng and MaxNat are NOT right for this. Other options? Toru & First, KimCop (of course), BoomPeak if you wanted to dip into the well (and if they were up for it), PerthLay if they need bigger names.

More bad news, Korean BL Oh My Assistant probubly DOA. Read this.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting: Thai BLs What If & Work from Heart.

Ending: Love Mechanics and Check Out the series (thank fuck).

Still to come in August? About Youth (Taiwan), Ghost Host, Ghost House (Thai), Ai Long Nhai (Thai). I’m gathering data for September releases now, so if you have any you’re excited about, leave a comment.

I’m streamlining my systems to better keep track of BLs as they are announced and put into production, yes, there is a NEW spreadsheet as part of the DOOM (currently with 96 entries). Look, I never said this was easy. But now I can answer peeps when they ask me about upcoming stuff.

This week’s best moments?

Yeah I know it was a sad bit, but that’s why I liked it. Vice Versa needed a bit of a low point. But also...

How to catch a live husband 101.

Truth in BL, 21 Days Theory.

Epic eye rolling in Love in the Air. Also, accurate picture of me the whole time I was watching the first ep.

The shoe tie! A pretty rare trope in BL actually. Common in Kdramas. Of course, I like it because it’s always fun to see a seme kneel.

This was SO FUNNY. This is what the GMMTV boys excel at: snappy dialogue and great friendship groups. (The Eclipse)

I LOVE A boy who crush-sniffs another boy’s shirt.

The pining is strong with this one. (Takara & Amagi)

But then when he’s THAT CUTE, what can ya do?

(last week)

current earworm? P1Harmony’s Doom Du Doom

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inkkayyy · 2 years

Text

[ ꜱᴋᴢ ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ ꜱʜᴏᴡ: ᴇᴘ.ᴏɴᴇ ]

>finding the right path for us; i’m holding out my hand.

The 2017 reality show Stray Kids ( 스트레이 키즈), created by JYP Entertainment and Mnet, follows hopeful trainees on their journey to debut. episode one see a competition between two teams - a female trainees' team named 2team, with members selected by the agency, and a Project Team- created by long-time trainee Bang Chan, as they compete for the chance to debut.

“Who’s my favorite member? Oh that’s an easy one.” Sunhee shifted to sit cross legged on the stool, the cameras blink at her as they record. Maybe she should have been a bit more nervous for her first ever on screen appearance- but whelp, too late for that. “None of them.”

“None of them?” The lady from MNet asked, peaking out from behind the camera.

“They’re all too damn dramatic.”

[ ep. 2 ] [ sunhee’s masterlist ]

( wc; 5.4k) (format; english in italics)

Sunhee’s trainee days were very formative for her. They marked the beginning of independence for her, moving out of home (admittedly in rather dramatic fashion- moving to a whole new country was a bit of a curve ball for her parents), the ending of high school and a realisation of her dream.

Endless memories were formed in the JYP dorms throughout her years there. From friendships formed to scoldings received, Sunhee was ready to embrace the next stage in her life that came with becoming a Kpop idol.

Originally, before the Survival show had been posed and Straykids were on the track for debut, the group was going to be very different- at least on a conceptual level.

See, when Chan was given the opportunity to make his own project team, he of course chose good trainees, but he also chose his friends and people he knew could survive hardships with help from each other.

After seeing the success of SM Entertainment's NCT, the company had requested something more unit based, with thirteen members and the potential for more, Chan had gathered what is considered to be the best, including both female and male trainees.

The case he presented was very compelling and Sunhee could recall late nights spent meticulously planning out how exactly he was going to pitch it and convince the higher-ups that his chosen members could work, writing and memorising refutes for any and all complaints and hesitancies they may have had.

And she remembers the day, waiting nervously in the downstairs cafe, too apprehensive to do anything other than bounce her leg up and down and continuously check the clock. But the board was completely convinced and JYP himself was setting the wheels in motion to have their debut scheduled and start the process of the lot of them becoming idols.

Everything had been great. Until it wasn’t

The survival show had thrown everything into disarray. Apparently, some of the higher up producers had been approached by MNet- who had somehow discovered they were planning to debut a large team. As Sunhee had so kindly described them to Changbin in a rant about the company ruining their dreams “The fucking snakes.”

Changbin: “What does that mean? Sunhee: “It’s an English thing- don’t worry. I was being really rude.” Changbin: “Ah, good. They deserve it.”

It was posed as an opportunity for people to get to know the individual members of the group better before debut and make a bit more of a splash and the uniqueness of the concept

But when it came to signing contracts, they ended up losing four members. Two of them were still legal children and their parents weren't happy for them to participate in such an emotionally distressing experience. The two who were adults, however, just didn’t agree with signing away their dream for the sake of reality tv. The already ‘dubbed’ Stray Kids, ended up losing one male and three female trainees.

A memory that would not be easily forgotten was a mere week after the survival show concept had been presented and she’d had read through her contract and signed it, when- in the midst of a vocal session, Sunhee'd been called into JYP’s office.

Despite his iconic yet questionable music publications, Park Jinyoung was a truly kind man who wanted the best for the trainees under his care. His smile was soft and telling of bad news as he welcomed her into his office.

“Ah, Kang Sunhee- please,” He gestured to the chair opposite him at the large wooden desk, “sit, we have a lot to discuss.”

Her nerves palpable, Sunhee had sat and immediately balled her hands up in the fabric of her grey sweatpants, shoulders drawn back in fear of criticism but muscles strung tight in apprehension.

“Regarding the survival show concept, there had been an issue with contracts and I’m afraid only nine members have agreed to sign and participate.”

‘What- no one said-”

“Most of those who haven’t signed have left the company and terminated their trainee contracts, others were asked to refrain from bringing the topic up with other trainees until a solution could be reached.”

Sunhee nodded, unsure what to say, and curious as to why it was her there, not Chan.

“Of the members who chose not to sign contracts, were the three other female trainees.” Sunhee’s mouth ran dry at his words because now she knew why it was bad news. Co-Ed groups weren’t uncommon, but the split was typically 50-50 or something along those lines. If the three other female trainees dropped the contracts, then Sunhee was the only female member, and that just wouldn’t work.

“Ah, I understand. So this is one of those meetings.”

“No, no. Not at all Sunhee.- please don’t be nervous.” He waved her worries off as she shuffled her seat forwards to be more attentive. It certainly seemed like an important conversation. “I would just like to talk to you privately about how you would be comfortable handling this situation moving forwards.”

He laid out the revised concept for the survival show. Since Chan’s project team had gone through such significant change, it was not the only choice for debut, and the female trainee team had been selected to compete for the opportunity as well. The two groups would compete at the upcoming JYPE showcase for the chance to debut and be the focus of MNet’s survival show.

And her first thought was, ‘he wants me to join the female trainees’. Which there was nothing wrong with at all, Sunhee could manage them just fine, and of course, she’d worked with them over the years she’d been at the company, but it was a bit heart-wrenching after she’d spent so much time in Chan’s project team- which although now down four members, were still the people she’d thought her debut would be alongside.

“Now, I’m discussing this with you first because I feel that it is unfair to offer you a dream and rip it away due to the faults of others.” He flicked through the stack of paper on his desk, that with a bit of a lean forward to peek at the title page, Sunhee realised was the contract she’d signed with MNet. “Joining the girls' team at this stage would not have any major setbacks, and overall I believe you could make a huge impact on their stage presence and performance ability.”

And that felt like a compliment, it really did but with how much her heart felt like it was about to be carved out from her chest, Sunhee couldn’t find the strength to focus on it.

“However, I understand that removing you from the project team would have a very negative effect. You are an essential member in terms of morale and performance, and the manner in which you help the other project team members improve has not gone unnoticed by the staff.”

“So I wanted to ask you which team you would prefer to stay with. Keep in mind that you would be the only female member and that is something that would open you up to significantly more criticism than we had earlier discussed with the larger project team.” With folded hands and a resigned expression, he stayed silent, waiting for Sunhee’s response.

She remembered that meeting, with all the other girls, where the four of them had sat down and talked to regarding the heavy criticism that female Kpop idols faced and that being in a Co-Ed group would only increase that. They had all agreed then- that they would push through the possibilities of hardship and struggles they would face as women in a male-heavy group. Sunhee couldn’t figure out what had changed.

“What would… you recommend?” Ever the approval seeker she was, Sunhee wanted to know what their CEO thought. Because while her friends- at least, whichever ones decided to stay, were there, in a team she was at risk of losing, this very conversation was her future and if her presence could torpedo their success, then she would feel more comfortable joining the female trainees, even if it meant she would have to compete against the people she considered friends.

“I think that you are equipped to deal with the challenges that come with the project team and that your presence would benefit Chan’s team more. However, if you do not feel that you can’t handle those challenges, then I recommend joining the female trainees.”

Even then, the choice was obvious. Sunhee may have been young, but she wasn’t stupid, and she knew where she wanted to be.

“I’ll stay with Chan’s project team.”

“I was hoping you would,” And there it was, Park Jinyoung’s famous smile, the one that charmed first generation Kpop and built an empire. And maybe, Sunhee thought, he might just have her best interests at heart.

She couldn’t help but smile back.

And MNet was hesitant, but why agreed to keep Sunhee on the show at JYP’s insistence. It felt nice having someone fight in her corner, after being in Seoul alone for so long, Sunhee felt the comfort that came with people willing to fight for you.

She would recall for years after, a night spent in the cramped studio, sitting on the floor and relishing in the feeling of acceptance as Chan worked away at a track, unknowing of the heavy conversation she’d had that morning providing silent comfort in a way he wasn't even aware of. And once she did tell them, the boys- her boys, were just as thrilled that she had decided to stay with them.

When the showcase was announced to be themed after ‘homecoming’ they had been eager to start, the nine of them that were left at least. Sunhee was learning to deal with the new energy of the group, it was more compressed and concise than before. While she missed the four that had left, Sunhee found the new energy refreshing, thankful that everyone had an opportunity to show what they could offer as opposed to the manner some members used to outshine others.

After the departure of so many members, things had been shuffled around a bit, and each component of the group had been assigned three members. To make up for their main vocalist leaving, Sunhee had been declared one, despite the fact she joined the company as a dancer. Not that she was bad at singing, her tones were stable and her skills as a dancer meant her stamina was good enough to hold notes while performing.

Similarly, Hyunjin was asked to rap rather than sing in their performances as in larger portions his singing was less concise. Chan had been asked to sing more than rap- much to his disappointment, but he was still technically part of the rap team, no amount of micromanaging or board directors could pry that title from him.

They’d decided- under the guide of their instructors, to cover HOT’s Descent of Warriors. Meticulously planned with added parts and an extended playtime to include a Minho-led dance break, everyone had an equal opportunity to showcase what they had to offer.

And sure enough, as the performance date edged closer, camera crews began to sit in on their practices, and individual members were taken aside to film introductions. SUnhee’s was strained, questions loaded about whether she was insecure about being in a group of male trainees or who her favourite was amongst them. It made her want to punch MNet really, but most questions were brushed off with- “Why do you keep asking who the most handsome is- clearly it’s me.”

“Come on Minho- let me flip Felix, really I can!” It had taken a week of whining at him to give her the choreography point opening, he’d been hesitant because Sunhee was their female member and he hadn't really been around that long- she didn’t blame him for not having properly adjusted to their dynamic yet. It didn’t make sense for her not to, otherwise, it would provide further complication in the chorus choreography in terms of member positions.

“Sunhee, I think We'll give you these lines here and this section of the chorus.” Chan held out the highlighted lyric sheet. It’s most of the high notes and stable chorus sections- understandably she does have the highest vocal range and can keep high notes with more ease than the others. She literally has no balls. Makes it a lot easier in her opinion. (Chan had hit her particularly swifty in the shoulder when she tried to explain that English statement to the korean members while Felix died of what may have been laughter or secondhand embarrassment in the corner.)

And the day before their final showcase, when the stage is set up and staff are available to do tech run-throughs and mic-equipped practices it’s a bit of a hiccup in their confidence.

The entire performance for Sunhee is spent screaming-singing into her mic because the volume balance was off and it just wasn’t coming out as loud as the music.

Both Jisung and Changbin drop their mics mid-song, making a mad dash and scramble to pick them back up

Chan absolutely stacked it, grip-less shoes sliding on the smooth stage resulting in him slamming onto the stage- he brushed it of course and kept performing (he would be Chan if he didn’t- ‘stubborn asshole’ Sunhee had cursed after they’d finished and made him sit down for a breather- much to his resistance).

Sunhee frowned at the hand dragging hers down the footpath, the august air stick and hot, the threat of rain dangling over their head. “You know, this would be easier if you asked someone who was already at the company practicing dance.”

“Lix is already asleep. You know that.”

“I wasn’t talking about Felix.”

Jisung scoffed and rolled his eyes. Nudging the door open with his foot. “Why ask that bastard for help with dance when I have a more talented and much nicer option.”

“You can’t keep doing this you know- once we debut .” She scolded, plugging her phone into the speakers as she blinked the tiredness away from her eyes. Sunhee ran a hand down the side of her face, mind lagging with exhaustion. “Shit, I’m tired.”

“I donno- maybe he’ll come to his senses and stop being such an asshole.”

“Maybe you’ll realise that the two of you are far more similar than you think.”

He met her gaze, noting the challenge in there. The two of them had been through this a thousand times. The immature and childish squabbling between Hyunjin and Jisung being the main- if not only, cause of conflict within their group. And Sunhee was getting fucking sick of it- as she had expressed many times to the pair, who often responded with scoffs and bit insults.

This time though, Jisung just sighed, shoulders slumping slightly. “Can you just play the music please?”

And she did. She set up a camera in the corner (because MNet had instructed them to film any and all practices) while Jisung refamiliarises himself with the movements of their choreography.

“So what exactly do you need help with?” Sunhee asked prepared to cover the dance break- it was, objectively, the most difficult section of the performance.

“Not dropping my damn mic.”

“Well, you hardly need me for that.”

“But you never drop your mic- you’re so steady with all your movements and you look so relaxed but I can't even hold my mic without locking it in a death grip.”

“Huh.” Sunhee slumped to the floor, back to the mirror, watching curiously as Jisung stood in the room’s centre, eyes set on her- waiting for something. “Well then here,”

Sunhee threw her water bottle at him- at his head more precisely (if he was going to drag her out of the dorm at 1 am then she would at least be a bit mad about it), he catches it clumsily with two hands right before it crashed into his nose. “There’s your mic. Get practicing.”

The weighted water bottle was plastic, meaning it crumpled under his ‘death grip’ but was heavy enough to slip from his hand if he wasn’t careful enough.

She watched, joined him for a few run-throughs, gently correcting mistakes that she knows he would spit at Hyunjin for even mentioning. But when they come from her mouth he simply nods in determination and fixes the next time round. It’s only after ten run-throughs in a row without dropping the water bottle that Jisung relents and the two of them leave the stuffy basement practice room.

Rain drizzled down outside as they exited the company, caps pulled over their heads and masks pulled up over their noses. Ever since MNet had teased the idea of a JYPE survival show, people had been camping the company, paparazzi trying to get images of trainees and publishing articles about who might be on the show.

And of course, all the showcase posters had all their faces on them, but other than that, Sunheee had gotten pretty lucky and gotten off with very few images of her circling around fansites and entertainment-focused news blogs. There had been a brief stint where a video of her and Felix squabbling about soft drinks in a convince store, with netizens talking about the new Australian JYPE trainees- (disregarding the fact Sunhee had been there for two years longer than Felix at that point).

She and Jisung duck into a tiny little convince store on the corner, its bright LED lights welcoming them from the dripping rain and humid August night. They grab drinks one each- Sunhee stuck with her usual lemon iced tea and Jisung snagged a Fanta. “I’ll never understand how you can drink that crap.”

His challenging smile is there, one that’s indicative of his pleasant mood and joking attitude. “What’s so wrong with Fanta huh?”

“Everything- the colour the taste the stench-”

“Okay okay, I get it. No Fanta for you.” He cut her off, smushing a hand against her face to stop the impending rant. It’s an odd gesture, but it’s them, and sometimes, when Jisung and her have those playful little squabbles and he ends it in a way that the korean public would describe as disrespectful- especially to a noona, it reminds Sunhee of her little brother back home- it made her smile more often them not. Even if she missed him dearly.

There was a pause when they reach the counter, and Jisung gently pried the drink from her hand, placing it on the counter next to his revolting choice of soft drink. “Thank you for your help tonight noona, really. I- I know I can be difficult.”

“We’re all difficult Jisung-ah, that’s part of our charm.” She smiled easily, sliding a KitKat onto the counter with their drinks as Jisung paid with a few crumpled notes.

They split the chocolate on the way home, walking side by side as they gulped down refreshing drinks, soft breeze and gentle rain cooling off their dance-heated skin.

The next day, when Sunhee adorned her stage outfit- designed to mimic Korean school uniforms (custom name badge and all) fitting with the ‘homecoming’ theme, she’d laughed with Felix about how different school uniforms were in Korea than Australia.

Last-minute stylists had tried to change her outfit- namely the black pants, there was an attempt for a skirt but it was quickly dismissed at Chan's insistence. Her black graphic tee that she’d been dragging around since her early underneath the white button up in addition to a pair of beaten-up combat boots she’d liberated from the old JYP fashion storage rooms marked the competition of her outfit.

Boy-Story opened the event, followed by fellow Aussie Lilly (who Sunhee clapped very loudly for and gifted a bone-crushing hug to afterwards).

The girls' dance unit that Sunhee would have led if she’d chosen to leave the project team was next and she gave her dorm mates her sincere congratulations, nerves building as 3RACHA took the stage with their self-produced track ‘Runner’s High’ But they pulled it off without a hitch- as she expected of them, cheek splitting grin welcoming them back off stage.

She watched the girls' team perform in apprehension- it was her competition. They were good, but as someone who spoke fluent English, Sunhee found the song very repetitive- easy to choreograph but something she wasn’t a fan of. Their chair choreography was reminiscent of classroom seating plans with the way they all gravitate back to their original chair and it made her smile.

Yeji’s ease of performance was always something to look out for, her ability to execute sharp movements in such a relaxed manner was always something she’d received praise for. In terms of vocals nothing really stood out, but that again was probably because Sunhee couldn’t push past the repetitive lyrics and focus on the actual tone, as each verse blended together.

The audience loved them- which was warranted because the girls were always a marvel to watch perform, something Sunhee always made a point to compliment them on. Their stage presence was amazing because they looked like they were having fun- because they were having fun.

She smiles at them as they walk off stage, giving Yeji a fist bump and firm nod of congratulations- careful not to talk as there’s a history of Yeji forgetting to switch off her mic- which Sunhee points out with a tap and poked out tongue at the still blinking red light. Yeji was quick to shut it off.

As the project team walks on stage in the darkness, the crowd roars Hyunjin’s name as he is, by this point, a well-known student at Seoul Performing Art. There were a few screams for Seungmin too- fans accumulated after his broadcasted win of the 13th open auditions. It makes Sunhee bite back a smile as their track begins.

She links arms with Felix, whispering a ‘We’ve got this’ to him in their native English, he gives her arms a tug in response.

On the beat, she pulls him forward, and he flips over her back, landing smoothly on the ground, giving her a smile that the audience can’t see. The second beat strikes as the other members who were spread out roll in, Sunhee’s the only one standing- save for Changbin who’s on the raised platform behind them.

He began rapping and then things just sort of went. Sunhee remembered the cheer she received for her high note just before the dance break, and the even louder ones that echoed as she danced in the centre and for the final chorus, ending the performance with a tilted head and eyebrow raised at the audience- maybe not so subtly to Park Jinyoung who‘s glancing up from the paper at his observation desk.

The nerves only built as they waited for the audience to funnel out, sitting in apprehension- scattered through the green room as they contemplate their performance.

Chan bumps his shoulder against Sunhee’s- a familiar gesture at this point. One of those wordless ways they’ve learnt to say, ‘don’t worry. we're both here, aren’t we?’.

And when they did gather onstage and JYP approached from where he’d watched the showcase, Minho slipped his plan into hers where they stayed hidden behind the flared nature of the stage outfits. She gave him a reassuring squeeze. It was his first showcase. Leaning into his side and whispering to him. “Don’t worry Minho-shi, he is more kind than you expect.”

He started out with his obligatory remarks, Sunhee having been to enough showcases by now to know this was how he concluded each one. When he asks who’s been to the most everyone’s head looks to the left, right down to Chan who stands at the end of the long line. He looked sheepishly at the ground from all the attention.

Then JYP moved on to more individualised remarks, complementing specific trainees like Lilly and one of the youngest Boy-Story kids for his dancing. Then came the proper stuff- the comments that had the camera crew zooming in and shooting close-up shots of each debut team.

He gave compliments to Chan on his well-roundedness but mentions that he needs more charisma when performing. Similarly, he called out Changbin for his impressive rapping and individuality on stage.

“Sunhee-ya,” And to her credit, Sunhee managed to stop her heart from leaping into her throat at his words. He’s standing right there in front of her and she meets his eye, posture straightening, hands clasped together like they’d been taught in idol etiquette training. “Your stage presence is unrivalled, and I want you to know this is the right path for you to travel on.”

Maybe to the others, it sounded like a nice compliment and some vague praise, but to those who knew, he was telling her that she’d made the right choice- that it was where she belonged. Sunhee smiled and thanked him with a curt bow, biting her bottom lip to hold in the smile that threatened to split across her face.

The female trainee’s team are given the compliments they deserve, with Yeji and Chareyong getting the compliments they had certainly earnt.

“To those of you who were unaware- today’s showcase was to determine the next debut group.” There had been talk around the company- the word floating around for the past few months, but only those in the running had been given the specifics of it- and of course whoever they complained to. “And after discussing thoroughly with the company staff, we’ve reached a conclusion.”

There was complete silence- Sunhee didn’t think she’d ever seen the stage that quiet over her years at the company. When her hand fell back to pull up the sagging waistline of her plants, Minho’s hand found her’s again.

“The project team.”

Those three words marked the next stage in Sunhee’s life. She claps of course, for her teammates, for the female trainee team, for herself. It’s a big moment, one that’s accompanied by the cheering of others, but can’t be celebrated in the full nature she’d wished- not while they still had to be respectful with their CEO standing in front of them all.

“It feels like the members are moving together- like one organism. It’s amazing to watch and I know you can succeed.” And it made Sunhee want to thank Chan, because it was him that made their team, not a company manager, and he was who they had to thank for bringing them together, for their future together.

Later, when they were back off the stage, it was the first thing she did. Sunhee took a running start and leapt at chan, he catches her of course and the two spun from the momentum before he grounds her feet again. But she doesn't let go, smashing her face against his t-shirt as she drags in heavy breath to hold back tears of happiness. He holds her close. “Thank you Chris- thank you so fucking much.”

They all celebrate with ice cream that most definitely broke their diets- it’s such a momentous occasion that Jisung and Hyunjin even sit next to each other and hold a conversation without insults and bitter jabs. Jeongin convinced Sunhee to give him a piggyback for the walk to the dorm. “You’re so strong noona, debuting in an all-boys team. You should carry me- just to prove how strong you are.’

The next morning was spent- for sunhee at least, karting clothes up a staircase. The JYPE trainee dorms were all one building, split across the levels depending on age and gender. The youngsters were on the bottom floor with the dorm manager- a precaution considering they had nine-year-olds down there. The girls were on the second and third floors and the top two floors had been designated for the male trainees.

All the members who already lived in the dorms were on floor four (CHan, Felix, Jisung and Jeongin). Sunhee would make the trip up to move in with them while the other four who didn’t live in dorms, packed at their homes and made the journey.

Jisung followed her around with the camera as she hauled her belongings up the staircase, not offering to hold anything other than her precious guitar but with the way he was handling it- she began to regret letting him.

She calls Changbin and reminds him sweetly to pack everything- especially underwear. “Yah- Sunhee, don’t talk about my underwear.”

Sunhee: “Why not?” Changbin: “Why would you in the first place?.”

She would later learn that he’d called Seungmin asking the same question in hopes of embarrassing him.

“Please?” Chan whined, hands gripping on the dark blue hoodie she’d slipped on, flapping her arm around as she moved thought the dorm. Sunhee gave him a raised eyebrow. “You're really insistent on this one aren’t you.”

“Yeah- come on, you’re the cleanest, the only one in the house that will remember to do their own laundry- you don’t even smell!”

“I don’t even smell.” Sunhee quoted back at him, steps paused to look at him properly. “It's hard to tell if that a complement or an insult.”

Chan’s face turned the slightest of red, ears burning up with sudden embarrassment. He had the decency to look sheepish. “A compliment- you smell nice. Like strawberry shampoo.”

He draped himself over her from behind. Shoulders on her as he let his arms hand, slumping all of his weight down on her (which admittedly wasn’t much, strict diets and all). Sunhee groaned despite being completely capable of carrying the man. He laughed and buried his face in the crook of her neck. For a short moment, Sunhee revelled in the close contact, affection she didn’t receive as often in the foreign country than she did back home. Then Chan buried his nose in the puffs of dark hair that sat behind her ears and took the most obnoxious, deep inhale. It made her pause.

“Are you smelling me?”

He hummus in response- taking another inhale and relaxing his weight further onto her. “You smell nice.”

“I smell like kids 3-in-1.”

“Strawberry kids 3-in-1.” Chan corrected, moving his arms to squeeze tight around her mid section. For a moment she was about to make a comment about it being too tight, but then he leans back and lifts her feet of the ground with his leverage. She squealed, hands trying to find a decent grip on his to wrench them away.

“Jeongin-ah! Help me!”

He looked up from where he’d been following Jisung around with a camera like a lost puppy. He smiles in the most innocent way as he shifts the camera angel to capture Chan, as he waddles his way through the dorm, a wiggling Sunhee in his grasp. “Sorry noona- content comes first!”

Their similar heights make it difficult but Chan manages by leaning back as Sunhee instinctively curled her legs up a bit while she squirmed. “Christopher, you better put me down!”

“I will.” He mused, shouldering open a door. “Once we make it to our room.”

It’s a marvelous thing, happiness. But she doesn't think there’s a better way to start her newest chapter and travel down her road to debut.

There’s a lightness to her chest and a bubbliness in her laugh now, one that doesn't go unnoticed by her members, who hug her extra tight for the next week once she explains her choice to stay with them, and that she too believed it was the right path for her in life. With them- with her boys.

[ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ ] [ ɴᴇxᴛ >>> ]

#9th member of stray kids #skz 9th member #skz addition #skz female oc #stray kids 9th member #skz ninth member skz oc #stray kids oc #kpop addition #kpop oc #stray kids female member #skz female member #stray kids female oc #stray kids female addition #skz female addition #kpop female addition #kang sunhee skz #sunhee's mixtape era #sunhee on skz survival

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shawoluvs · 1 year

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I was tagged by the lovely @fourseascns to do this tag game thing~ I usually try to stick to a kpop theme on this blog but I'm gonna just scratch that 'cause they're not relevant~

☆ three ships ㅡ Three ships I am very much in love with atm are Nikolai/Zoya (the Grisha verse), Chandler/Monica (FRIENDS) & Alina/The Darkling (the Grisha verse)~ Like I've not even watched Shadow & Bone yet but every time I see something about it it takes me right back to the books and the energy that DarkLina have is just so so so so so so good, it's so perfect, little scared the show is gonna fail to capture it as it has failed to capture some other things...

☆ last song ㅡ The last song I listened to was F U Anthem by Leah Kate~ I'm seeing Hayley Kiyoko in literally like two weeks and I'm pretty sure she's the opener for her and I'm very excited about it all because her songs are kinda all edgy heartbreak songs and going to bring such a good energy to the show before Hayley comes on~

☆ last movie ㅡ The last movie I watched in full was Carol but the last movie I caught on TV, that I absolutely adore, was Legally Blonde~

☆ currently reading ㅡ King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

☆ currently watching ㅡ I'm kinda really slow with watching stuff at a moment, partly because I tend to watch random youtube stuff instead and other stuff I save to watch with my sister but the shows I'm currently watching very slowly are Love (it's on Netflix, it's kinda alright, I'm only a few eps in so we'll see) and Twenty Five, Twenty One (I'm liking it but I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the main couple yet with their sort of age difference and how this guy kinda only hangs out with high school kids... idk it's a bit of an odd one but it's got great people in it)

☆ currently consuming ㅡ Mentally ejbgjre lots of Sims 4 youtube videos... I have this weird thing where I watch a lot of Sims 4 youtubers but I actually refuse to play the Sims 4 partly because I'm a Sims 3 loyalist and partly because without so many of the ridiculously priced packs it doesn't seem worth it??? So I like to watch youtubers with all the packs play it and live vicariously through them, y'know, like a normal person.

☆ craving ㅡ Something sweet and/or water right now, I just had bacon and cheese pita sandwiches which were very delicious but that's a lot of savoury/salt and I tend to eat in extremes like that????

I'm gonna tag a few of my lovely mutuals as usual, if you fancy taking part then here ya go and if not I hope you're having a lovely day~ Also I'm sorry I always end up tagging the same people ejgberjge I cannot remember urls for the life of me~

@seuiqi, @kseulgiz, @joshriku, @solaarflaree, @eternallys, @ohmuqueen, @justdoityo, @mizugucci, @mykindofkpop

#[ tagged ]#literalllyyyy don't know how to answer a simple question without rambling so apologies for that #also I know my sims 4 thing is weird ejgbrhbgejg #the weirdest thing about is I do in fact own the sims 4... and have several packs...#but I just like but one pack every time there's a big sale because I don't wanna pay full price #and there are so many features in the game that seem essential but come in packs ejbgerbgjege #and also sims 3 issssssssssssss the best sims game~ I will die on this hill~ thanking you~

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rainytypology · 1 year

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you can’t type idols because a lot of them are giving personas by their companies. you say rm is “careful with his words as to not offend others” but as an INFJ and someone who’s been a fan of bts for years i can say this is the farthest thing from the truth and that he’s generally out of touch and tone deaf when it comes to other people’s feelings. bts also took an MBTI quiz during one of the most recent run bts episodes (not 16 personalities, but the official mbti test using functions). rm got ENFP in that episode which is basically what he is. even if you wanted to categorize him as an INXJ type which he’s not, he’s definitely not introverted in any way neither does he exhibit any J tendencies. the closest INFJ in bts is probably hobi, because aside from the whole “sunshine” persona if you listen to what others who have worked with bts have said about him, what other members say about him, and what he’s said about himself (especially in those Disney+ promo interview he did) then you’ll know. he himself said he’s quiet when he’s by himself and he says his parents worry about that too, plus in group settings he always listens while everyone else talks, he’s considers himself a sponge and soaks in other people adapting to their thoughts and feels, he’s a stickler for details and organization, and a complete perfectionist. hobi also isn’t the stereotypical ESFJ that a lot of people would have you believe. so if you’re going to type people then do a better job than surface level observations.

Yes I'm well aware most idols have a persona and I try my best to look past their set image by looking at interviews, watching the shows they're on, their personal content, reading about other's perspectives on them etc. So no I do not only have surface level observations, I actually do try to dig deeper into them. I only have short descriptions for my post (I'm sure you're referring to my recent post of the list I made) as I didn't want to make the post too long. If you look through my blog, I actually have longer analysis posts for idols, so I didn't see the point of going more in depth in that post.

Here is my bts mbti post with brief explanations. I don't have individual ones for them yet, which will have more details. You can see the other posts I've made here.

And yes I did watch that ep where they took the MBTI test... I'm pretty sure it was still 16personalities or something similar to it bc I did not see them discuss cognitive functions in the videos. The test typed Jungkook as an INTP and Suga as an ISTP. Do you really think Jungkook is an Ne user and Suga is a Ti dom with aux Se? I don't see Ne usage with Jungkook, the same with Ti and Suga. Suga uses Se, but he is not comfortable with it enough to have it as his aux; he's always had much better use of Ni and Te, hence INTJ.

Hobi is not an INFJ and your explanation for him being the closest to it is vague and can apply to any type honestly. ESFJs can be quiet and observant...It's very Fe to watch the reactions and emotions of others and the environment. Adapting to their feelings and thoughts is very Fe. That is why I think he is a dom Fe user. I also don't see him use Ni...his perfectionism stems from Si, along with his need for organization and structure. It's also why he's very detail oriented. Ni does not bother with the details or at the least is not as attentive as Si. Intuitive perceiving functions are generally more focused on the big picture. Hobi is pretty good with his tertiary Ne, it's prominent in his creative process compared to Ni doms Suga and RM (yes I'm still going with INFJ. I know there's a huge debate between ENFP and INFJ with him though).

Also I'm not an expert in MBTI, it's just something I've always been really interested in. I happen to like kpop as well and noticed the misconception of MBTI within it and decided to make this blog. It's mainly more for my entertainment and to learn more. I know I will not be accurate 100% and state that in my posts that they're subject to change, but I know for sure I am likely more correct than 16personalities lol. Honestly you can't really type anyone - only people can type themselves accurately.

#ask #anon #mbti #bts #bts mbti #do enough research and honestly anyone can be better at typing than 16personalities 🤣#they rly need to change their concept or smthing so ppl can stop thinking it's real mbti #typology #cognitive functions #myers briggs type indicator #myers briggs

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death2normalcy · 2 years

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Curious about the K-pop boy group that I never shut up about? Want to know more about them? Well, here you go!

This is Stray Kids!

They are an 8-member self-produced Kpop group that debuted in 2018 and have been pushing tons of quality content since then (trust me, there is a lot). Their sound is a mix of genres. Wikipedia refers to it as kpop/ hip hop / electronica. Many fans refer to their sound as being very unique and critics say their music is just noise music. I personally say they have 3 specific styles they do when it comes to songs / music videos. There’s chaotic and upbeat (God’s Menu, Maniac, All In), chill and laidback (The View, Time Out) or soft and sentimental (Your Eyes, Sorry, I Love You, Waiting for Us). There’s other stuff, but these are the three we tend to see the most, I’d say. But even within those, there is always that distinct sound they have. They’ve written songs about a diverse range of topics from unrequited love to mental health to finding your own place in the world, etc. And they work hard to keep their music pretty much gender neutral and inclusive, so more people can relate!

They originally debuted as a 9-member group, the ninth member being Woojin, but I’ve mentioned in the past that I won’t talk about him much on here, so if you want to know more about him, I’d recommend looking him up. I’ve heard he has his own solo career now, if that interests you. He was mainly a vocalist in the group and he left in late 2019.

The current members are (in order of age): Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. Bang Chan actually chose the members himself (which, from what I understand, is very unusual in the industry they’re in) and that extra special touch from the beginning has clearly given these boys a special bond!

As of now (August 2022), the group has 2 full studio albums, three compilation albums, one reissued album, 10 EPs, 2 single albums, and 24 singles (according to Wikipedia). That doesn’t even include all the covers, collabs, etc that they’ve done with other artists or put out on their Youtube channel! They’ve put out a lot of music and content since their debut in March 2018 (and even some before that!), so there is a lot of content to experience. Their most recent release was their Japanese EP, Circus, which consists of 6 songs, as well the single ‘Mixtape: Time Out’, which was a gift to their fans (called Stays) on the anniversary of the naming of the fandom. There’s also currently nearing the end of there Maniac ‘World’ Tour and there’s rumor of another comeback in September!

The majority of Stray Kids songs are written and/or produced by 3Racha, which is a rap sub-unit that was created pre-debut and consists of Bang Chan (a.k.a. CB97), Changbin (a.k.a. SPEARB), and Han (a.k.a. J.ONE). They’ve had a hand in writing pretty much every single Stray Kids song, and they also have a ton of songs of their own on their Youtube channel! They’ve also done a lot of the composition of the songs, and Chan has helped with a lot of the arrangements. They’re all multi-skilled and could be considered the backbone of the group.

Another sub-unit within the group is danceracha, which consists of Lee Know, Hyunjin, and Felix. They are all extremely skilled dancers and have a big helping hand in the choreography for a lot of their performances. They’ve also written a unit song together, which was featured on their ‘In Life’ album. Much like everyone in this group, these boys are multi-talented at many different things, not just dancing!

And the final sub-unit within the group is Vocalracha! Although 2 other members are classified as vocalists within the group (and honestly, all 8 members are very skilled at singing), Vocalracha just consists of Seungmin and I.N. They’ve done a couple unit songs together (one which also features Changbin and another which features Han). And of course, these two are skilled at other things, not just singing.

The group was formed through the survival reality show by the same name as the group, Stray Kids. I, personally, have never watched it, because the clips I have seen have made me emotional as hell. But it looked like a very stressful and difficult time for the boys, so I’m glad they were all able to debut together and truly become successes!

As I mentioned above, the boys have a wide variety of music to experience out there. I would recommend starting with the more popular stuff (it’s popular for a reason!) and than, if you like it, delving deeper into their discography. (On a side note, from what I understand, there is ongoing lore behind their music videos? Like, there’s a whole story line at play throughout all of them. I have very little knowledge about this, but I believe some people have made videos or posts about it, if you’re interested in that!)

Songs that seems to be really popular (or ones people tend to flock to first): Hellevator (a pre-debut song and an extremely impressive one at that); District 9 (actual debut song); Miroh; God’s Menu; Back Door; Thunderous (my personal favorite video, but not song); Maniac

Songs I personally love that aren’t mentioned above: Beware (Grrr) (another pre-debut song); Side Effects; Easy; Wow; All In; Cheese; Red Lights; Sorry, I Love You; Domino (okay, I wouldn’t normally link a dance practice, but the choreography for this one is amazing, and it never got a music video); Scars; Charmer; Venom; Circus

So, I think that’s most of the basics. I’ll get in to more stuff with the individual posts and recommend more songs/videos, etc.

As I mentioned above, the boys have a ton of content out there. A ton. Like, so much. My recommendation is just googling for it, or when you see a clip you like, asking about it. I haven’t seen everything, probably not even half, so I’m only going to recommend what I have seen. Pretty much everything I’ve watched is on Youtube!

SKZ Code, which is like a reality type show that they post on Vlive and Youtube. It always has subtitles on first upload and it’s hilarious. The boys are usually given a theme/scenario/mission for the episode/s and they’ve ranged from scary (finding stuff in the dark) to funny (playing a life-sized board game) to chill (their current 5-episode run of them on Jeju Island). Each episode is full of fun and hilarious moments/lines and it really helps showcase the boys individual personalities.

2 Kids Room. There’s been a few different versions of this over the years, at least...3? 4? I’ve only ever seen full episodes of the most recent ones though. Each video is basically 2 of the boys talking about their dynamic and the other boys discussing it behind the scenes. They’re full of sweet and funny moments and really showcases how each friendship works in the group. Also helps you learn a lot of stuff about the boys that you may not have known!

There’s also ♡ Kids Room. It’s a little older (from last year, I think), but it’s a cute game show style thing. You can find it on Youtube.

There’s their SKZ TALKER episodes. It’s an ongoing series on their Youtube channel of behind the scenes moments with the boys. There’s lots of cute and funny moments on there too, however, a lot of the times, these get uploaded without subtitles at first. They usually get subtitles eventually though! They also post behind the scenes of a lot (if not all?) of their music videos, those are always interesting. AND. I recommend their dance practice videos, if you want to see or really enjoy their choreography.

There’s a ton more, so much more. Variety shows, interviews (both in English and Korean!), lives, so much. I’d recommend checking out compilation videos on Youtube (I watched so many in the beginning, and still enjoy going back to rewatch them!) if you’re really curious, and if you like a clip, kind of doing your research from there. That’s what I did, lmao. Also, there’s a lot of older stuff I’m missing, like Finding Skz, I know. I haven’t personally seen any of it, so I don’t want to speak on it too much, but I’ve heard good things!

So, that’s my first post! I don’t know if anyone will actually read these or find them useful, but I like doing this kind of thing, so I’m going to make one of these for all the boys!

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