#look up the word ''han'' because that's us....that's koreans

[skzhua]

Episode five.

MASTERLIST

pairing: XO, Kitty's Min Ho x Female Reader

genre: Fluff, angst, enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, coming-of-age.

word count: 3.8k

warnings: Swearing, mentions of divorce, mentions of deceased parents, some cringey asf moments.

summary: Transferring to KISS was the last thing you had asked for and, yet, a certain tall boy made it seem both worse and better than you expected.

note: Bold - Korean, Italic - Over the phone

a/n: I am beyond overwhelmed by the amount of love this series is receiving. It means so much to me, you have no idea. Thank you <3

(let me know by filling the form in my bio if you want to be added to the taglist!)

There were bad days, and then there were bad days. And Min Ho was clearly having the second one. After you slammed the door in his face, he dropped on the couch next to Q. He might have hoped a little that his friend was going to be of any moral support but he couldn't be any far from the truth. Q was still pissed at him. In fact, almost everyone he knew was.

Dae came back to the dorm after Q left to go to bed. Seeing Min Ho alone, he greeted him kindly.

"You're here. How was your day?"

"It sucked." Dae gave him a sad look as Min Ho let out a sigh. "It sucked."

He went to sit across him and gave him a sad smile. "What happened earlier, I'm sorry... Things are crazy these days."

"I know, that's why I'm trying to help you." he said in frustration. "Why are you keeping secrets from me? You didn't even tell me you were dating Yuri all summer... And why did you tell Kitty about Poopy Baby?"

Dae gulped, not saying anything back.

"Are you really my friend?"

He let himself fall back on the seat in defeat. "I'm such garbage."

"Well, at least you know that."

"Hey. You still have feelings for her, right?" he was replied with a hum. "If I can be honest, I saw something today. On the Internet. Randomly! Accidentally!"

There was a pause before Dae hopped on his chair as he suggested they play Overwatch. After agreeing to order hot wings and do face masks, Kitty walked in and rushed to go see Q in his room. Dae's stare lingered to the door and Min Ho snapped him out of it.

Overhearing it all, you heard them call Kitty out of the room to show her something. Curiosity got the best of you, so you joined the others and walked up behind Q to watch what was going on. The sight horrified you. Why would someone stream their roommate in their sleep?

"What? My roommate put me on some weird website as I was sleeping." Kitty scoffed.

"I don't see the appeal." Min Ho sighed.

"And yet you somehow found the site."

He looked at you as you grabbed his attention but only received a death stare from your part. You definitely needed to work on your weird dynamic.

"Kitty, you should move." Dae said, more like an command than a suggestion. "You can't live with this girl anymore."

Q nodded. "Yeah, I agree with Dae. This is kind of sketchy."

She huffed. "I tried but there is no other room."

"Uh, how about a hotel? My driver could take you right now." Min Ho offered although he was well aware this wasn't an option.

"I can't afford that for an entire semester."

"I'm sure Dae can hook you up with a discount at Han Hotels."

"Shut up, Min Ho." you said, growing more annoyed with him by the second.

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Just trying to help."

"You helped enough today."

Before another argument broke, Q's face brightened as an idea popped in his mind. He offered to switch rooms with Dae for Kitty to come live with the rest of you again. In secret. Though unsure, she agreed because of how much she couldn't take her roommate anymore.

Chuseok used to be your favourite day of the year. You would have a delicious meal with your parents at home, free of worries and problems. Your mom's japchae was what truly kept the tradition living. Needless to say, their death definitely left its mark on you but it became easier with time. And tomorrow, you were going to enjoy it to the fullest. At least try to.

Kitty had spontaneously offered to organize a Chuseok for the expats of the school and begged you to help her out. You would have turned it down but her pleas were almost getting on your nerves that you gave in. She asked you about traditional meals you'd cook with your own family and you put together a list of ingredients she would need to buy. As the list only got longer, you opted to go grocery shopping together.

"Can you get soy sauce? I'll get the gochugaru."

You went to the end of the aisle as she called out for you to ask which kind of sauce she needed to get. Being already in front of the gochugaru, you assumed she could wait a second more for you to pick it up. You crouched down to get it off the shelf. Satisfied with the brand you chose, you got up and were greeted by Min Ho standing in front of you, a basket in hands. His shoulders dropped as you stared back at each other, you doing the same.

"You're seriously everywhere." he complained.

"It's not like I intend on seeing you everywhere."

Kitty came next to you with her cart, having picked out herself a random bottle of soy sauce. "Min Ho."

"And Kitty? You two are like my own sasaengs." he scoffed which Kitty seemed to not have understood.

"What's a sasaeng?" she asked, confirming your thoughts.

"Like a very obsessed fan." you explained. "But we're not."

"Yeah, sure." he smirked at you.

"What are you even doing in a grocery store?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah." you added. "Shouldn't you be on a yatch being rich and annoying?"

He faked a smile. "My dad is doing that with wife number three with her new fillers. I have decided to stay here as a favour to all women who want a piece of me this Chuseok."

He sent you a look before pulling a box of chocolates out of his basket. You could do nothing but roll your eyes at how pathetic it looked.

"Strawberries and chocolate? I'm going to be sick." Kitty said in a boring tone.

"I'm sure Lulu would appreciate it."

This caught your attention. "Lulu? The pop star? You got her to be one of your Min Hoes?"

He scoffed as his infamous smug look appeared. "That's cute, puppy. And she's only the fastest rising popstar in the country."

"And?" Kitty said, not sure what point he was trying to make.

He held up his phone to show you a picture of Lulu but you only frowned.

"We've been flirting since her trainee days." he justified.

"What a surprise." you said sarcastically.

Nonetheless, you couldn't ignore the feeling in the pit of your stomach. It felt like it was ripping apart and you only hoped it didn't mean what you thought it meant.

"She's on break from tour for the holiday. Even K-Pop stops for Chuseok." he continued.

"Okay." Kitty said, unimpressed.

Min Ho analyzed the content of your cart and frowned at you. Taking a pack that laid on top of the rest of your items, he showed it to you.

"Do you even know what to do with this?"

You snatched it back from him. "We're fine, thanks."

"I am admittedly entering new territory but with the help of TikTok, Y/N, and a positive attitude, I'll manage just fine." Kitty said and you facepalmed. "If not, I've won awards for my mashed potatoes."

She was about to push her cart forward and walk away but Min Ho stopped her. "No, no, no. As a Korean national, I cannot in good conscience let you desecrate my native cuisine like this."

"You do know I'll be doing most of the cooking, right?" you asked.

He acted as if he hadn't heard you and dropped his basket in your cart before removing Kitty from her spot to push it himself. "Do you want to poison your classmates or do you need my help?"

"Min Ho." you exhaled.

"This is me being kind right now."

Kitty sighed. "Fine. But I'm still making my mashed potatoes."

You and Min Ho groaned at her words and walked towards the next aisle. She followed behind in panic, telling you to not mess her system up.

While she was watching you two add products to the cart, you kept on bickering on anything really. Disagreeing on certains articles, disputing over a certain dish he wanted to cook, complaining about what you wanted to make...

You managed to go up to the cash register and he insisted on paying for it all. Having fought enough with him, you didn't protest and he helped you and Kitty with getting everything back to the dorm.

You got up from bed earlier than usual, wanting to focus on the side dishes you planned on making. It was going to take a while to get everything done so the sooner you started, the better.

What you didn't expect was to see Min Ho already standing in the kitchen as he dressed in a black tank top with a funny-looking apron over it. He didn't see you right away but he was quick to do so when you let a laugh slip out of your mouth.

"Well, well. Who's decided to be an early bird this morning?" he snickered, referring to your usual moody self when you wake up.

"Looks like we've had the same idea. I wanted to start cooking right away." you said as you went to stand next to him. "Need help?"

He shook his head. "I'm good. You can start on the budae jjigae, though."

Doing as told, you took the ingredients out of the refrigerator and Min Ho moved his own material to leave you space to work. It was silent but unlike normally, it felt nice. You almost dared to think that you liked being this comfortable with him.

"What's this?" you asked about the basket on the stool.

"My mom got it for me, my love language is gifts."

"I would have never guessed." you joked.

"She sent it from Los Angeles since she couldn't be here." He looked down. "We usually spend Chuseok together."

You smiled sadly. "It must suck, I get that. My parents and I never missed Chuseok together. Well, until... yeah."

"Right."

He cleared his throat to ease the tension and continued to chop his onions. You watched him go at it and were pleasantly surprised by his skills.

"I would have never guessed you knew how to cook. Nor would I have expected you to help Kitty. I suppose you can be nice."

He gave you a side eye. "I'm famously anti-Kitty, I'm only doing this to honour our traditional food properly."

"Try to convince me. You have a soft spot."

He chuckled while shaking his head. "Well, if you want me to be nice so badly, should I ask if you're okay?"

You cocked your head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"With your parents and all. I bet it's not easy."

You nodded. "Yeah, definitely a difficult holiday." you breathed out.

"I'm sorry but can I ask what happened?"

You looked at him and saw his eyes softened. "It's..." you hesitated. "They had a business trip and never came back." you kept it short

He rubbed your arm and you shivered at the contact. "That's awful. I'm sure they're looking after you. They must be proud."

Your breath hitched as you felt his head hover yours. You didn't dare to look up but you knew he was looking at you.

"Thank you, Min Ho."

You felt him breathe on the top of your head. It was unsteady and hot, you felt like you were about to melt.

"Good morning." Kitty yawned, coming to join the two of you.

You jumped away from each other and focused back on your tasks, attempting to forget what had just happened. "Hey, slept well?"

"I guess." she yawned again. "Oh, Pepero." she said excitedly and reached out to get it from Min Ho's gift from his mother.

He slapped her hand away. "Don't."

Hours of cooking went by and you were happy to have almost forgotten about your moment with Min Ho. Almost. Having finished with your budae jjigae, you sat at the stool and watched Kitty make her mashed potatoes. Growing bored, you connected your phone to the speakers and scrolled through your playlists to find something to add to the ambiance. After selecting one song, you heard a phone buzzing. Min Ho took his device out and smiled as he replied to a text.

"Confirmed Lulu will be at the premises at 8pm." he said with a smirk before putting his phone away.

Your stomach felt weird again.

"I'm sure she'll love the chocolate." Kitty smiled sarcastically.

"The chocolate was actually for," he began to say and moved his gaze to focus on you. "someone else."

Kitty eye-judged him as she kept mixing her potatoes.

"Hey, don't judge." he exclaimed. "Not all people need to be star-crossed lovers to be compatible. Like, hot people, for example." he pointed to himself. "We can, and want to play the field."

You mentally thanked him for saying that as it gave you a reminder that he was nothing but a jackass. That helped the weird tug in your belly go away.

"That's because you haven't found your perfect match." she looked at you for a second and you coughed in disapproval.

Min Ho grunted. "I've found many, many matches."

"I'm just saying, I've seen the magic when people find the one." she smiled to herself.

"That's sweet to think, Kitty." you said in a bored voice, not believing in what she was saying.

"Y/N's right. My parents both thought they found the one." Min Ho continued. "They were the 'it' couple. Beautiful, young starlet. Chaebol heir. The tabloids literally called them the perfect match. Look at them now."

Visibly, the divorce of his parents seemed to have impacted him more than he would admit. You kind of felt bad but, again, this was Min Ho. He didn't deserve your empathy.

"I'm sorry." you let yourself spill out unintentionally.

He shrugged. "Whatever."

Kitty coughed to clear the atmosphere and served him a bowl of her potatoes for him to taste. He took a spoonful of it and hummed as it was better than he thought.

"It must be weird to have people know all about your family." you continued on topic.

You were glad that he didn't mind keeping on telling you about it. "They think they know, they don't really. That's my point."

You nodded in agreement and he continued.

"There's really only one thing that matters at the end of the day."

"Which is what?" Kitty asked curiously.

"The truth." he responded as if it was obvious.

You helped Kitty with organizing the place. As more people came to her gathering, you welcomed everyone nicely by offering them drinks. You saw Q and Florian arrive and joined Kitty's side to say hello.

"Wow." Q breathed out in amazement. "People are calling this Chingu-seok."

"What?" Kitty asked and you were starting to wonder if she really was working on her Korean like she told you she was.

"It's a pun with chinggu, which means 'friends' and Chuseok." Florian explained. "You started a new tradition."

She was in awe but it was ruined when her eyes spotted Professor Lee. "Oh, no. Why is he here?"

"Because he's sad and lonely." Min Ho answered making you almost choke in your orange juice. "Mind helping me, Y/N?"

You followed him to the main table where you had placed the food dishes. He passed you a bowl of cold noodles and asked you to bring them to a table. As he was placing a plate himself, Madison appeared out of nowhere and waved at him.

"Min Ho, hi."

He shut his eyes closed, clearly not wanting to converse with her. "Hello, Madison."

"I wasn't expecting you to be here." she frowned but then noticed the plate he was holding. "Oh my God, you cooked."

"Yes, but I'm not staying long. Got a date tonight."

You had heard enough and moved to the entrance to invite people in. The weird knot in your belly came back and you absolutely hated it. You hated even more that Min Ho was seemingly the cause of it.

"Y/N!" he called out for you again.

With a lack of enthusiasm, you came to him and he asked you to put the plates away with him. Madison had left so you saw no problem in giving him a hand. Happy with the result, you went to Kitty's table together and stopped to look for which seat to take. You sat at the edge of the table, two seats away from your professor. Although awkward, Kitty was going to be in front of you anyway. Plus, you were only there to enjoy the food.

"Hey."

You raised an eyebrow at Min Ho. "You're sitting here? Willingly?"

He repositioned himself on the seat next to you and shook his head. "No. Yes? Just drop it."

"My bad."

Q insisted for Kitty to make a toast and she did a great job as she mentioned sweet thoughts such as gathering together and her mother. She ended her speech with a 'cheers' and you clang your drinks together. With Min Ho's first.

"Happy Chuseok, little pup." he nudged your shoulder. "Thank you for the food."

"Thank you to you too." you smiled.

You started to serve yourself and were, honestly, overwhelmed by how much food there was. You wanted to taste each one of them.

"Can you pass the japchae?" Min Ho asked Q.

Your head rose from the mention of this specific food. "You made japchae?"

He put it down in front of you two. "Yeah, first thing this morning. Didn't you see?"

You shook your head as a no. "I haven't eaten that in years."

Min Ho brought your plate closer and dumped some in it. "Dig in."

The last time you had actual good japchae was at your last Chuseok with your parents. None had own up to it so far and you were curious to see if his cooking skills were as good as he claimed them to be. You took a bite and chewed slowly. Your eyes grew bigger and you shook his shoulder.

"This tastes exactly like my mom's."

He chuckled. "Really? She might have sent you my way so you could taste it."

You rolled your eyes. "Don't ruin the moment."

He shrugged. "I'm just saying." he checked his phone quickly. "I'm off... to fulfill my destiny."

"Ah, Lulu?" you asked and he wiggled his eyebrows at you while getting up.

"Can't wait to read about it tomorrow." Q commented.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Kitty stopped him.

"Hello, hot date with popstar? Later, sasaeng." he tapped her head and walked away.

You felt disappointed he left. Of course, you would never admit it out loud. To suppress the annoying tingle that seemed to never go away from your chest, you focused on the japchae. Taking more and more bites of it, you reminisced your parents. You missed them terribly. But you were convinced they were watching you and you wanted to make them proud. Min Ho said they would be, after all.

And there it was again, Min Ho coming to your mind. You tried to shake it off but he simply wouldn't go away. And now you pictured him being with his date at this exact moment...

Ping.

You took out your phone from your pocket and read the messages you had just gotten.

Min Ho: Y/N!

Min Ho: Y/N, answer!

Min Ho: Help me!

Min Ho: I don't know who else to call, come help me!

He was definitely going to be the death of you. Putting your pride aside, you left the dinner to head to the school's entrance. You looked around but there was no one. You yelled out his name a few times but you were left unanswered. As you were about to give up and go back to the others, Min Ho's head popped out of the bushes.

"What the hell did Kitty put in those potatoes?"

You looked at him curiously. "What the- Weren't you going out just now?"

"Y/N, answer, please."

You shrugged. "Milk, cheese... I heard her mention it."

He squinted his eyes in shame. "Really, that little piece of-"

"Min Ho." you stopped him but he then groaned in pain and you heard his tummy rumble. "Awe, Poopy Baby. Are you okay? Do you need help with the potty?" you teased him.

"Real funny." he said while his face stayed still. "Lulu could come any minute now. You have to get rid of her. She can't see me like this. But keep her hooked on me."

You scoffed. "And why would I do that?"

"If her fans find out, I'm done for."

"Sounds like a you problem." you replied and started to walk away.

The sound of a car brought your attention back to where Min Ho was and you immediately connected that this was Lulu. Cursing at yourself, you turned back on your heels and greeted the idol with a forced smile.

"Hi." you bowed at her as she stepped out of the car. "Min Ho's running late."

"Who are you?" she asked in a bored voice.

"Min Ho's fanclub president, first in line for a date night with him."

You wanted to die just then and there. Fanclub president, what were you thinking?

"Uh?" she said, confused.

"My date with him just ended. I can't believe I even got to see him up close."

And more will to bury yourself ten thousand miles deep.

"That jerk double-booked me?"

You smiled, almost afraid of what you were going to say next. "He is the most handsome guy at school. I'm not going to lie, he ruined me for other guys. He's just so... well, you know."

"Intriguing... But I refuse to come second. You tell him I come back at 6pm tomorrow night. And that he better clear off the rest of his schedule."

"Oh." was all that you could say.

"When he has a night with me, he won't be seeing anyone else after."

She got back into the car, not leaving you time to say something back, and took off. Min Ho scoffed in disbelief.

"How did you do that?"

"Talent?" you answered, although it came out more like a question. "You owe me."

"I know, I know."

You stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do next. "Well, I'll go now."

"Y/N, wait."

Halting on your steps, you looked at him, confused, and waited for him to go on. He cleared his throat and looked anywhere but at you.

"The chocolate. It was for you. You can take them when you get home."

You froze. "For me?"

"Yeah." he affirmed and finally looked at you. "As an apology for the other day when I yelled."

You let out a small laugh. "Love language is gifts, uh?"

He rolled his eyes. "Say thank you and we move on?"

"Thank you, Min Ho." you smiled.

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Copyright © 2023 skzhua. All rights reserved.

#xo kitty #xo kitty fanfic #xo kitty x reader #xo kitty minho #xo kitty minho x reader #xo kitty min ho #xo kitty min ho x reader #min ho x reader #sang heon lee #sang heon lee x reader

[sfstranslations]

how hard(?) would you say it is to translate? Ive been kinda curious about that, like does anything get lost in translation/ just not make that much sense without knowing the og language? or anything like that? 🤔

Hm, maybe 7 or 8 on a scale of 10? Though it can easily go higher at times, haha. (Always when Sung Hyunjae is in a scene because his name is a misspelling and it pisses me off.* This is a joke. Only half, though.) Basic word-by-word dictionary lookup is simple, which is why machine translators can do it well enough. But then you have to string all of it together in a sentence where you:

figure out and find a way to convey any difference in connotation between this specific chosen word and other words that mean the same thing (think the connotations of "regal" VS "royal" in English), and

do the same as above, but on a sentence-wide level translating the nuance of a particular grammar/sentence structure (thousand and one sentence endings in Korean, I swear -_-), and

make sure distinct character voices are retained or translated from the original Korean (think Song Taewon's stiff formality VS Han Yoojin's more casual speech VS Sung Hyunjae's middle-aged rich guy-type speech), and

make sure this sentence flows with the overall paragraph/chapter.

All those priorities have to be juggled throughout the chapter and add up to make it a fairly hard task. It definitely gets easier with practice once you're more familiar with the language (especially the nuance/connotation stuff), though, and I did get lucky in that my native language shares some aspects with Korean so the grammar is easier to intuitively grasp. Of course, I'm still learning, so I do have times I need to call in more experienced speakers for help.

(I definitely wouldn't say I'm good with the language period. Recently I've tentatively picked up a new novel—people following my personal blog will know which one—and it turns out I'm familiar with the way Geunseo talks and familiar with the vocabulary typical to dungeon fantasy novels, but kind of. Majorly hopeless when it comes to other stuff. The phrasing is juuust off enough that I keep getting tripped up and taking thrice as long to understand what's being said.)

There's definitely stuff that wouldn't make sense in English—certain idioms, cultural stuff, and all that, but that's why I try to localize wherever possible and add footnotes with relevant info/links if not. And there is stuff that gets lost in translation—you can look at the chapter titles from 302–307 for an example of that, where the joke is much more immediately obvious in Korean but had to be translated differently as chapter title VS in-chapter text messages and lost the clear parallel. I also remember being grumpy back during the virtual reality dungeon arc because Yoohyun would use 네놈 (ne-nom but typically pronounced ni-nom, a derogatory way to say "you", LMAO) towards Sigma and there was no concise way to get that across in English except having him be aggressive and direct. Especially since he isn't the type to swear by word of god, so I couldn't have him addressing him with "asshole" or "jerk" to convey it.

TL;DR: Fairly hard to translate, but gets easier with time, and there is stuff that's lost or difficult to understand, but I do what I can to make it understandable in English!

--

* Sung Hyunjae uses "ae" at the end, but that implies it's 성현재, which is wrong—the correct spelling is 성현제, which should be "Sung Hyunje". (If you wanted to go the full Revised Romanization route, it'd be Seong Hyeonje, but I've weathered my share of name changes and that's a step too far even for me.) I've been meaning to make a poll about changing it like with the Lauchitas spelling, but I keep forgetting.

#not update #ask #anonymous

[cheeseceli]

Love looks good on you

Pairing: Han Jisung × gn!Reader

genre: angst, drabble

inspiration: this scenario and the song i want you by stephen sanchez

description: you are going on a date and han, your best friend, can't help but regret not confessing to you earlier

Warnings: no happy ending (unless i do a part 2), not proofread and the use of the world asshole like once, ft. Yeonjun from txt because why not

Han was trying. He was trying with all his will to be happy for you and the fact that you were going to your first date after what felt forever. But he knew he would be so much happier if the date was with him. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

While you were deciding on what to wear and talking so happily about this someone new, the boy was sat down on your bed trying to understand what went wrong.

Was he wrong when he fell for you? That was inevitable though. How could he not fall in love when you were so kind since the moment he saw you for the first time? He was infatuated with the way you closed your eyes when you smiled, the way you laughed at his jokes even when he knew they were not that funny and how simply ethereal you looked. He loved the way you would comfort him and the way he did not try to love you. He just did. It was natural and meant to be, he believed.

That could never be the mistake. And if it was something wrong, he would admit he made a mistake but would never regret doing so.

Maybe he should have made the first move. He was scared that maybe he was making up things from his imagination. Everytime you would hold his hand without even noticing and how your gaze would linger on him for more than it should were not enough signs. He needed a confirmation that you were into him as much as he was into you so he could ask you out. Confessing without a guarantee would mean that there were risks of ruining the friendship you guys had. He could not, never, loose you for a silly mistake like this one. If keeping his feelings would also keep you around him, he would be more than satisfied.

Maybe that was why he was in such a situation. He kept quiet. This guy that had the chance to go out with you now didn't. If he had spoken up before, would he have a chance now?

You were still talking. Jisung had noticed that you were happier talking about the clothes you could wear than about your date. Was he projecting or maybe you didnt want to go? He remembered how you didn't even know the dude, Changbin who was the "wingman" just thought you guys should meet each other. Maybe you would like to ditch your date to stay with him a little longer. Maybe...

"Ji? What do you think about this one?"

He looked at you and if you paid a little bit more of attention you would have noticed the way his eyes shone when he saw you. See, he was a songwriter. He knew hundreds of words in korean and english. He knew a lot of metaphors and wrote a lot of beautiful love songs. But he was speechless. No word, in no language, could ever describe how perfect you looked like right now.

"You look beautiful."

"Are you sure? I am afraid he won't like it." you looked to the mirror analysing what you saw in front of yourself "Maybe I am wearing too much..."

"You are perfect. I wouldnt change anything."

You looked at him once more, straight to his eyes and he saw the universe for a second. Maybe, somewhere in those galaxies you held in your eyes, there was a place where you guys could be together. A place where he was there first, asked you first and you said yes to him first.

Sadly, he wasn't there. He was in front of you now, preparing himself to wish you good luck on a journey he didn't want you to go.

Time has passed. You probably thanked him for the compliments, you probably talked a little bit more but suddenly he was waiting for you to lock your door so you could go to this date.

"Well, that's it I guess" you said to him, a little bit awkwardly "Thank you for the help."

"That was nothing, don't worry. Do you want me to wait with you until, uh..."

"Yeonjun."

"Right, Yeonjun" gosh, he already hated that name. And he couldn't even blame the man for taking interest in you "Until he picks you up?"

"I am going to meet him in the diner."

"He is not picking you up?"

He probably didn't hide his displeasure when you told him you'd need to walk to the place to meet the guy because you giggled before saying "Don't worry, Changbin said he is a cool guy."

"Of course he is. Well, if anything happens don't hesitate on calling me. And if it's too late when you get out of there I can pick you up."

"Okay" you smiled. God, Han wished he could live in that moment forever. Only the two of you and your smile "Thank you once again."

"Don't worry about that. I'll be going then. I hope you enjoy it."

That was it. That was the perfect thing to say. He could now go back to the dorms and just wait until he had any updates of you, without putting your relationship at a stake. But his mouth spoke before he could stop it.

"Y/n?"

"Yes?"

"I like you."

For what felt like eternity, there was silence. He didn't dare to look at you. He messed, he shouldn't have done that. But he did. Since you already said the most confidential part, say everything already.

"Actually, I think I love you. And I am so incredibly sorry for telling you this in the worst timing ever, I don't know what came over me. I just needed you to know. I love you and I want you but I will be more than happy to just be your friend if that's what you want me to be" you could hear his breath get heavier, like he was holding his tears back "And I must be messing up your mind now, I'm sorry."

He turned around as fast as he could, trying to get out of there. He was almost breaking down in front of you and the last thing he needed was to make you comfort him even though he is the one who created this mess. He was already kinda far from you when he turned around to look at you again.

"And I know we'll be awkward for a while but please don't go back home alone if it's already late. You can call me to pick you up, i won't say anything. Or you can call one of the boys. Just please be safe."

You tried to say something, you don't even know what, but he went away before you could come up with something. You didn't see his face. And he was relieved, because his cheeks were wet from all the tears. He wished he could've been stronger. He felt like the biggest asshole to ever walk on earth because he probably destroyed your friendship and brought your date down with it.

But deep down, even if it hurts to admit, he wishes you fall in love with Yeonjun. And he wishes he can treat you right. Because even if Han himself can't be the one to make your eyes shine, he knows love must look good on you, and you deserve to experience it.

Feedbacks and reblogs are very much appreciated!

#skz fluff #stray kids fluff #stray kids soft hours #stray kids soft thoughts #skz #skz x reader #skz x you #stray kids #stray kids x reader #skz drabbles #skz fanfic #skz au #stray kids angst #skz angst #han jisung #han angst #han #han drabble #stray kids headcanons #stray kids drabble #yeonjun #celi drabbles

[chiskz]

▶️ Changbin being in love with Chichi for 8 minutes straight [probably part1]

🎬🎬🎬

Changbin sits staring at his phone on the couch backstage during SKZ-TALKER. Han comes over with the camera and asks something when Chichi inadvertently enters the frame trying to improve the micro port. Changbin immediately gets up to help, but Chichi manages to fix it. Changbin slowly sits back down and Han laughs at him.

🎬🎬🎬

Another scene from SKZ-TALKER, behind the scenes of the famous photos posted by Changbin on Bubble, Chichi doodles on a piece of paper. She finally looks up at Changbin with the camera and blinks a few times.

"Are you recording?"

"I'm recording."

Chichi laughs, then hides behind a piece of paper.

"Why?"

"What are you drawing?"

"Something for STAY. I want to send it to them on Bubble later."

"Ah, okay, okay..."

"Where's Hyunjin? I'll ask him what it looks like."

"Why do you need Hyunjin, I can tell you that it looks so good."

Chichi laughs again, but this time hiding her face in sleeves, Changbin laughs too.

🎬🎬🎬

One of the "Your Friendly Neighbour, Chichi!" episodes.

"Changbin is very good at Korean. I know how it sounds, it should be obvious, he's Korean after all. But trust me, his vocabulary, his ability to make wordplay... He's on a whole other level. Just when I think learning Korean is finished for me, Changbin comes with a rough version of the song and shows it to me. I read it and sometimes I don't understand a word, as if he was creating a new language. But he explains what the phrase means, he is very patient and enriches my vocabulary. I love him, I love our moments together when he explains to me what he meant. He opens up to me and I want to listen and listen and listen to him endlessly."

🎬🎬🎬

One of the interviews, the Stray Kids are sitting on raised stools holding plastic pointers with a hand with the index finger outstretched.

Question: If you could be in a relationship with one of the members, who would you choose?

Changbin and Chichi do not look at each other, but they chose each other. Chichi hides her face behind sleeve and starts laughing, so Changbin has to explain his choice first.

"Well... Chichi is a really good and caring person. She takes care of all of us along with Chan and is a huge support."

MC: Why are you talking about "us"? Tell me why YOU chose her!

Changbin laughs, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"She always listens to me. Since she's with us, she's the first one who listens to my songs and what I have to say about them. She's like my safe place. I always come to her when I want to feel at home. Plus we have a lot in common interests, so it's always nice to talk to her. Also, she's so talented, I could watch her dance for hours."

Chichi finally looks at him, grunting softly.

"I chose Changbin because I also think we get along great. He's helped me a lot with Korean, he's really helping me all the time, to be honest. He's always interested in whether I ate or slept, he asks a lot about my life and tries to make it easier. It's really sweet... And of course, in addition to a good heart and great talent, he is also... handsome."

Chichi laughs and buries her face in Hyunjin's shoulder, the rest of them, including him, start laughing at her.

🎬🎬🎬

A scene from "Stray 9th", Chichi and Changbin are together at the gym doing his challenge. Chichi is working out on the treadmill, and Changbin is staring at her with buttery eyes, speechless.

🎬🎬🎬

Video recorded by a fan during one of the concerts. Changbin hugs Chichi from behind during "Scars"* as her eyes fill with tears.

🎬🎬🎬

One of the newer SKZ-TALKER episodes. Chichi records from the plane.

"Hey, hey." She adjusts her hair and mask. "I'm coming back from Japan. The rest stayed over, but I'm coming back to Korea, straight from the show. I haven't even changed my clothes yet... I have an exam tomorrow, so I have to go back." She showed her notebook and laughed a little, then glanced to the side for a moment. "But I'm not coming back all alone." She pans the camera and briefly shows Changbin sitting next to her, doing something on his phone. "Silly. He insisted on flying with me so I wouldn't be lonely. My precious..."

🎬🎬🎬

An episode of "Your Friendly Neighbor, Chichi!". Chichi reads the comments on her phone, then glances at the camera. "Hee? A ring? Oh!" She shows a ring on her other hand, with a small diamond on it. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I got it from Changbin when I passed the exam... It's beautiful." She reads the comments again with a dreamy smile, then puts her hand over her mouth and laughs, embarrassed for a moment. "No, no! Don't get this wrong, it's not an engagement ring! No, no, how can you think that!"

🎬🎬🎬

One of the encore stages after Stray Kids win in the music show with "Case 143". Changbin during his "Can I be your boyfriend?" line points at Chichi, who, embarrassed, runs to hide behind Hyunjin.

🎬🎬🎬

An episode of "All Night Duo's Night"**. Chan creates something on the computer and Chichi reads something on the phone, then smiles. Chan notices this.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

"Changbin asks if I'm hungry."

"It's 3am, why isn't he sleeping? And why doesn't he ask me stuff like that?" Chan pretends to be offended, but Chichi blushes and hides behind the phone.

🎬🎬🎬

One of the Stray Kids group lives at the hotel. Chichi, Felix, Hyunjin and I.N read the comments. Hyunjin looks up from his phone.

"Who is whose roommate?"

"Mine is Changbin." Chan answered. "But he has never slept in my room with me yet!"

"Heee? What do you mean?" Han moved closer to him.

"He never came back to his room at night."

Chichi laughs under her breath, putting the phone aside for a moment on the bed.

"Because he was with me! I was studying for the exam and he was next to me working on the laptop."

"So he hasn't slept at all this time?!"

"We slept together!" Changbin called, and Han sighed dramatically and hit him on the knee, and Chichi hid her face in her hands.

"But not like this!"

____________________________

* "Scars" is a very important song for Chichi due to her self-harm issues in the past.

** "All Night Duo's Night" is an irregular live series of Chan and Chichi, who are known for not sleeping much - Chan is producing and Chichi is choreographing and studying for college. During some of these late-night get-togethers, they decide to do a short livestreams.

#kpop addition #kpop oc #stray kids 9th member #idol oc #kpop added member #stray kids oc #idol au #stray kids female oc #stray kids female addition #chichi x changbin

[dbgdbw]

530.Party In Progress (3)

파티 중 (3)

‘Aigo, I’m dying….’

As soon as I entered the break room, I collapsed face-first onto the sofa. Approaching me, Gyeolie and Peace asked me if I was okay. Of course, in Peace’s case, it was him going ‘ki-yang.’ Responding with an affirmative, I dragged over a cushion to wedge under my head, and settled into a comfortable laying-down position. 

‘...definitely took some of the wind out of my sails.’

Though I’d done what I could to try and prep in advance, there was very little that I could actually get involved in. While the lawyers on our side had made a conscientious effort to explain things to me in simple terms during our discussion, that side had, obviously, extended no such courtesy. And on top of that, the corresponding paperwork had only been generated in English, as though it were de facto procedure. Though I had been provided with a translation, when they had zero qualms about barrelling right ahead in English, I’d repeatedly been left scrambling in the dust while looking for the relevant text, having missed my window of opportunity. 

On the other hand, their lawyers were capable of reading Korean without any difficulties. So why couldn’t we just use Korean then! Of course, they would hardly entertain the prospect of giving up an advantage, but.

- Appa, are you very tired?

- 끼앙.

“No, it’s just that… It really is a whole ‘nother ball game when it comes to expertise on a subject matter, huh.”

The baseline itself was a different animal altogether. Though team lead Kim-nim had mentioned at the beginning that this was why you have a lawyer on retainer, to handle these types of things, and that there’s no need for Director Han-nim to be overly concerned about the proceedings. Well, they were the experts for a reason. Even those experts would probably feel out of their depths like I was, if it was outside of their respective wheelhouses.

Even so, I wondered if it would be better for me to pick up English. On second thought, relying on Myungwoo and the Newcomer was probably the more efficient route……. Why didn’t people just speak a universal language. In this era of globalization, we should be able to dialogue together. In Korean.

- Feels like a fever, maybe.

The fairy dragon said, pressing a tiny hand against my forehead.

“Probably ‘cause I’ve been preoccupied by a few things. It’s alright.”

How many hours on end had I been trapped there, anyway. It had started in the morning, and it was nearly dinnertime, now. Nor had matters been squared away; it really was ludicrous. This was why it was called ‘an endurance contest’, I supposed. Once lunch had ticked over and things had bled over into the afternoon, the accumulated fatigue had meant that my brain couldn’t even function properly anymore. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have opted to send me away earlier. ‘We’ll finish up for now, then, and resume tomorrow’… Though, it probably had been about time to wrap things up.

Honestly, wasn’t it insane. How many pages upon pages of red tape were they planning on generating, when the source material itself could be summed up so briefly. It seemed that they were hell-bent on producing a several-thousand word count book from what amounted to a single sheet of paperwork. Scary, lawyers were really scary. A type of scary that even a fear-resistance attribute couldn’t work against.

Gyeolie, who had been looking me over, picked up a phone that had been laying on the table. Seeing him appearing to covet the phone that belonged to Peace, I’d prepared a phone for Gyeolie, too. It was a flip phone, to make it easy to use even in his fairy dragon form. With the phone half-opened to support itself on top of the table, he began fiddling with it with a surprising ease.

- That bad guy is supposed to be released today, I saw.

“I’d mentioned no internet-surfing allowed, hadn’t I.”

- I only saw it because it was a headline, appa.

Even if I’d given him the phone, should I have blocked off the internet access on it first. Since, unlike Peace, Gyeolie could read Korean. Fishing out my phone, too, I skimmed over the files I’d received, that I had sorted away for later. There was heavy discourse regarding the matter of compensation, as well as the numerous added conditions. 

‘Direct requests of sacrifice from participants will not be permitted.’

This, too, was a new motion that had been introduced. It had been either Sung Hyunjae or Noah-ssi who had brought up the topic. It meant that, for example, the creation of a scenario where being unable to proceed unless one of the participants was dead would be prohibited. It was a measure designed to protect the physically weaker party members who would be at a disadvantage in such a situation, e.g. an F-rank–namely, myself. And there was another thing.

‘Participants may not be conferred disadvantages based on majority vote.’

Another addendum that had been introduced for my benefit. Though I may have had a few allies in the other contestants, when it came to the potential of an audience vote, well. Just imagining it was enough to make my eyes water.

‘It was a good decision to let them handle it instead, after all.’

With the slightest misstep, we might’ve ended up reduced to tatters before the first half was even concluded. And despite having labored as industriously as we had to expose and counter these hostile conditions, we couldn’t afford to let our guards down yet, still. Savvy individuals who possessed a deft hand at exploiting the loopholes in regulations kept popping up, and being on the offensive was infinitely easier than being the one rebuffing those attempts. 

Just then, the door opened, and Sung Hyunjae stepped inside. His hair neatly slicked back, wearing glasses, and dressed in a far more sedate suit than his typical garbs–rather than a guild leader, he resembled someone who worked in the legal field. Specializing in corporate law, particularly. Setting the right tone was important, when it came to something like this, was what he’d said, or something. Of course, it would have been far more convenient to simply force them to cave via the pressure exerted by an S-rank’s aura, but that method was obviously a no-go. 

“Looks totally like a, whatd’you call it.”

- A total dweeb.

Gyeolie sneered, sniggering. And just where had you picked up a word like that, huh.

“Your coloring has yet to recover, I see.”

As Sung Hyunjae began to approach, Gyeolie snapped his phone shut and flung himself in Sung Hyunjae’s path, as though to protect me. Peace, who had been lying at the foot of the sofa, lifted his head as well.

- Peace-yah, bite him!

- 그르릉.

Peace regarded Sung Hyunjae with a look of displeasure, but made no move to bite him.

“As things presently stand, it will likely prove beneficial for you to partake in this.”

Saying so, Sung Hyunjae held out the box he’d been carrying towards me. He wouldn’t have been able to leave and come back in that short span of time, so had he ordered some underling to pick it up for him, then. Placating Gyeolie as he pitched a fit, I opened up the box. An assortment of macarons in various colors had been delicately stacked inside.

“Here, Gyeol-ah.”

- Gyeolie can’t be won over by this kind of cheap ploy. Though I’ll eat it still, ‘cause it’s from appa.

Responding tartly, Gyeolie took the mint colored macaron handed to him. Sweets work a treat to take the edge off of fatigue, no, Sung Hyunjae said, taking a seat while pulling off his glasses. Like Noah-ssi, rather than being an indicator of poor eyesight, the glasses he wore were a preventative measure for their advanced sight. Since his vision wasn’t as sharp as Noah-ssi’s, he typically forgoed their use; but because today, we’d be spending all day pouring over an endless flow of words, well.

Owing to that, not only Noah-ssi and Sung Hyunjae, but Section Chief Song-nim and Hyuna-ssi had all ended up modeling glasses. Even if they weren’t a necessary measure, it was still more comfortable than going without, or something. Yoohyunie seemed to own a pair as well, and it occurred to me that I should probably pick out a set for Yerimie, too. Once she hit her third year of high school(1), wouldn’t Yerimie become deeply entrenched in her studies. Though there was a chance she’d decide to opt out, I supposed.

“I had hoped to petition for indirect sacrifices to be barred as well, in addition to the direct demands for sacrifice, in truth.”

“It stands to reason that it would broaden the parameters beyond an acceptable threshold in that case though, sir. Then, even in a situation as innocuous as presenting two biscuits to two individuals, it could be argued that they had been coerced into a situation where one of them had been indirectly forced to make a sacrifice by proxy–something like that.” 

“As, ordinarily, both persons would simply take one each to resolve the matter, but you–Han Yoojin, lad–would not.”

“I do plan to make use of them as well, sir.”

“And if the biscuit in question were capable of raising one’s stats, and it so happened that either the young master or the little lady were by your side?”

“That’s, well… One of them eating it instead would result in better long-term returns, objectively speaking.”

That was the truth, wasn’t it. Rather than a shortsight attempt at raising my own measly stats to E-rank or D-rank, it would be far more constructive to be able to boost Yoohyunie or Yerimie to SS-rank instead. Sung Hyunjae looked at me with a ‘see, what did I say’ sort of expression. The fuck, it really was the most logical route of action, though.

“Particularly with that sort of mark branding your throat, mind.”

Reflexively, I touched my neck. I’d left the vibrant bruising there in full view, as though openly inviting Chatterbox’s delegates to drink in their fill. Since it was evidence of the damage I’d suffered, as a result of Chatterbox’s actions.

“...I’ve already gotten an earful from the others on the matter, sir, thank you very much.”

“But even then, lad–you’ll simply repeat the same pattern when confronted with the same scenario, I imagine.”

“Truth be told, though, it really was a golden opportunity–isn’t that right, sir. And it was nothing dangerous, at that.”

- …appa, don’t force me to side with that thing.

Gyeolie groused, face screwed up in a petulant look; and, skin-crawlingly enough, Sung Hyunjae gave a most benevolent smile. 

“Sung-Han–”

- AAAAAAAAAHH! ACK! ACK! ACK!

Gyeolie flung the remaining half of the macaron at Sung Hyunjae at full force. Easily catching the offending macaron, Sung Hyunjae simply held it back out to Gyeolie in a seemingly kindly way. Squawking angrily, the fairy dragon made a beeline towards the far side of my shoulder, away from Sung Hyunjae.

“I believe I’d asked that you refrain from antagonizing him, sir.”

“Simply a display of my charitability, wouldn’t you say. In fact–I’ve acquiesced to accept but a measly return on its inclusion, no. As part of my team.”

I could hear the faint sound of Gyeolie’s pained whinging. Good grief.

“I’ve yet to give my assent to it as his guardian, sir. Gyeolie doesn’t have to be involved, alright?”

Though Chatterbox wasn’t part of the Benign King’s faction, you never knew. He might end up becoming more curious about the fairy dragon’s unique existence. And on top of that, Gyeolie’d had a hand in the Benign King’s death as well… Had it been up to me, I absolutely would’ve ordered him to stay away from this, but Gyeolie could be stubborn as anything. He’d mentioned that me being forced to go by myself, was even more reason for him to follow along.

At first, he’d insisted that he could pretend to be a pet dragon, rather than a party member, in order to be allowed to accompany me. Though it wouldn’t have been possible anyway, on account of the invitation counting each dragonkin as an ‘individual’ as well.

“Director Han-nim, you doing alright?”

As the door swung open again, Moon Hyuna, then Song Taewon stepped into the break room as well.

“And Noah-ssi, ma’am?”

“He’s seeing Chatterbox’s envoys off. Volunteered for the role, saying it’d be better off to have him do it, than making Section Chief Song-nim.”

During the proceedings, Noah-ssi had displayed a diplomatic side that was leaps and bounds beyond my expectations, all considered. The French Hunter world displayed similarities to the Anglo-American one, after all; and in his capacity as the Vice Guild Leader to Liette, he’d been exposed to a vast amount of literature regarding legal proceedings, apparently. Practically speaking, he probably stood on par with Sung Hyunjae when it came to Korean(2) Hunters who could parley on even ground with the Hunters from that side. 

Liette, well… Likely hadn’t seen a point in resolving matters with litigation, probably. Which meant that Noah-ssi was likely to have been burdened all the more, as a result.

“And what’s Sung Hyunjae gone and said now, to get our little dragon all puffed up like this.”

“I was in the midst of proposing to Director Han Yoojin-nim, you see.”

“Hyung-nim, someone who sees fit to pursue a person not even in the ballpark of their own zodiac cycle, is low-life scum.”(3)

Wearing a smile, Moon Hyuna took a seat next to me. 

“He's barking mad, clearly. Though I am thirty, that matter aside.”

“That so? What d’you think about a younger partner, in that case?”

What was with the abrupt–, …then, my eyes locked with Hyuna-ssi’s. A smile still playing on her lips, her eyes slowly scanned down my person. ‘A younger partner’–that was to say–since I’d just mentioned being thirty, what she meant was……. Suddenly, it felt like the back of my neck had been set ablaze.

“Ah, c’mon, sir–I’ve said that you shouldn’t tease me like this, haven’t I.”

“Don’t like it, then?”

“I’m not opposed, but… At any rate. Ah, honestly.”

I got that it was just joking around, but it was still bad for my heart. When Hyuna-ssi was looking at me with that face, wearing that sort of expression, and talking about younger partners……..

“That’s right–Section Chief Song-nim seemed incredibly adept at navigating foreign Hunter laws as well. I was slightly taken aback.”

“...there had been a precedent set that necessitated familiarity with the subject matter.”

Song Taewon spoke, a sigh mingling with his words. Ah, so it had been because of Sung Hyunjae. As Sung Hyunjae made a quip about Section Chief Song-nim certainly being particularly adroit, playing the ‘I’m completely oblivious’ card, Moon Hyuna guffawed.

“Section Chief Song-nim definitely ended up taking the brunt of it, when Sung Hyunjae first began stirring up trouble overseas. There was even an instance when I gave them a lift on my private plane, in fact.”

“You had, Hyuna-ssi?”

“I’d needed to tend to a matter, and our paths happened to coincide along the way, y’see. And in the face of an incident caused by Sung Hyunjae, what could a poor government worker or Hunter Association staff member possibly hope to do to mitigate things, especially if they’re not an S-rank. So it all fell to Section Chief Song-nim, when it was all said and done. He used to be real adorable, back then. It might’ve only been for a brief period, but there was a time where even he used to wear the dazed expression of a lost child, too, would you believe?”

My apologies to Section Chief Song-nim, but I kind of wanted to be an audience to it, too. The first time Section Chief Song-nim had had to venture overseas on account of Sung Hyunjae–it must’ve been an incredibly disorienting time, being forced to meander like that.

“Hyuna-ssi, your English skills seemed to be outstanding as well.”

As Yoohyunie had ended up having to go on a Dungeon raid he’d been putting off, Yerimie had been projected to accompany me, alongside Noah-ssi. But saying unnie, I’ll conduct the Dungeon raid for you instead!, she had requested Hyuna-ssi look after me as a proxy.

“Despite the current state of my affairs, I’d received a lot of love calls from overseas too, y’know. Pre-Awakening, I mean.”

“...should I be applying myself as well, then, after all.”

“There’s no downside to it, really. And it’s fine to leave it to others for now, but you really should consider university still.”

Moon Hyuna spoke solemnly. 

“Things being what they are, it’s a good idea for you to enroll. Feel free to push it off a while longer if the Party doesn’t pan out well, but barring that–unless you’ll face pushback for going, you should absolutely start attending.”

Saying that I should at least make an effort to begin preparations in spite of the year having nearly drawn to a close, she slung an arm around my shoulders.

“People may not be capable of achieving perfection, but it’s still a good idea to minimize the number of flaws one possesses. If you can whittle ‘em down, then you should reduce ‘em.”

“There’ll be talks of preferential treatment, most likely.”

“That’s all temporary. And besides, Hyung-nim is plenty deserving of preferential treatment, I reckon.”

Well, that’s. Should I actually be considering enrolling for real then, after all. Though there was still a bit of time left before the new year rolled over, it already felt anxiety-inducing. When was the cutoff for university applications, again. The testing season was over, so would it be around the time deposits were due, right now? They said that a lot of places had an open enrollment ongoing, nowadays. Because Yoohyunie had Awakened before hitting his third year of high school, I was murky on the details.

In the meanwhile, Noah-ssi had slipped into the break room as well.

“Noah-ssi, you’ve been working very hard.”

“Ah, it’s no trouble at all. And Yoojin-ssi, you’ve been exerting yourself a fair bit as well.”

Noah-ssi, too, had cleaned up nicely in a business suit. It fit him like a glove, honestly. To be frank, the term ‘nobility’ seemed to apply perfectly in this instance. And even then, he’d been as cutthroat as anything in the midst of actual negotiations. Once again, I felt immensely grateful for Noah-ssi’s involvement with the rearing facility.

But backtracking a bit–if I did come to enroll in university, did that mean Noah-ssi and I would end up becoming year-mates(4)?

“As it has been announced that the parameters for the Party are set to be released in three days’ time, please make certain to have concluded your preparations by then.”

Song Taewon informed all of us. 

“The event location will be announced shortly, tomorrow.” 

We’d received word ahead of time, through a representative. The place where Chatterbox’s party was set to take place was none other than the United States. I’d entertained the possibility, on account of all the threads leading back to that place, but to think it really would be held in the U.S.. 

“Hunter Sung Hyunjae–has Hunter Liette’s participation in this matter been confirmed?”

“Just so. Seeing as an SS-rank bow hangs in the balance, I imagine.”

“Section Chief Song-nim, would you be granted leave for this, sir? The U.S. is quite far, after all.”

“In light of Hunter YoonYoon’s presence, I believe it will be permitted.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Since, even if it was taking place in the U.S., he could make it back to Korea in the blink of an eye. Then, it seemed YoonYoon would be making an excursion out to the United States, too. He probably hadn’t gone to the U.S. before, right? And it would be my first time there too, of course.

A brief discussion regarding the situation at hand stretched on for a bit longer, before it was decided that we should turn in early for the negotiations that would continue the following day.

And then, three days later, the details of Chatterbox’s Party were finally released.

- - - - -

(1) this would be senior year of hs (~entrance exam period) for her, bc of the way korea’s educational system is laid out: 

(2) yoojin makes it a point to identify noah, kang soyoung, and sung hyunjae as ‘korean Hunters’ re: their legal statuses/citizenship ambiguity (respectively), which is why he deliberately categorizes them as ‘domestic’ Hunters instead of ‘foreign’ whenever the subject comes up

(3) mha once again calling shj out on his questionable conduct, even if he’s being facetious in this instance, by framing it with the zodiac mention to put things in perspective: 

because it mirrors situations frequently created by korean men in positions of power irl:

remember how both moon hyuna and yoojin pointed out shj’s ‘people collector’ hobby as being a distasteful facet of his personality? and shj himself mentioning how his attention wandered towards yoojin in the first place because of a prior interest in yoohyunie, until yh didn’t give him the reaction he wanted–which then evolved into inserting himself with yj for leverage instead, after finding out his connection to yh/yj’s potential usefulness. shj’s intervention turns out to be benevolent for narrative purposes, yes, but it’s a deliberate subversion of expectations because of how contrary it is:

the point i’m making–the author is repeatedly identifying shj’s one-sided ‘forced affection’ towards yoojin to be a negative trait in-verse, as that’s how it’s intended to be perceived by the audience, because a good amount their interactions are largely a portrayal of how power+age differentials get abused in korea’s confucian society, particularly when people (including readers) dismiss yoojin’s genuine discomfort in various scenes. ‘it’s the implication,’ as background social commentary for the intended audience. that's why mha also segues into talking about the importance of yj continuing his education, too.

similar situations come up frequently enough in korea, after all:

+ more on ‘sponsorships’ in footnotes for ch197

(4) footnote on 동기 in ch203

[nicksolemnlyswears]

OMG that old ask of yours about Han being a boy dad made me so 🥺, it stole my entire heart in just a few sentences. The babygirl on your headcannon also made my heart flutter in the best way possible. Which made me think: How do you think Han would react if he sees someone making mean comments about his son or daughter being mixed? Like calling him or her "crossbreed", "half-breed", "hafu/gaijin" (or other derrogatory terms in japanese or korean, besides english) or also making comments about their appearence (such as eye shape or skin tone) 👀

Hello there lovely!!!

Okay this is a good one! Let me know if you like what I wrote!

So...how would Han react to his kid being teased about their appearance as a foreigner?

-if his kid comes over to him and tells him there are kids teasing them his first reaction would somewhat like this:

"don't pay attention to them, bubs. they don't know what they're talking about"

-because although han has faced some racism he's never thought twice about it. he's confident in who he is. he's used to deflecting all those comments.

-but then maybe han would find them digging through mom's make up to somehow make their skin lighter, or they would refuse to simply go out into the sun if it's not without a hat, hoodie, and long pants. maybe they insist in always using their sunglasses to cover their eyes because they are different from all of their classmates.

-that would be an alarming signal for han to seriously step in and talk about the issue at hand.

"what's going on, bubs?" he'd ask them as he takes off the hat and/or sunglasses.

they would be shy to look han in the eyes but they melt into the arm wrapped comfortingly around them, "some kids at school are making fun of me because i'm different. they call me names."

"i'm sorry i didn't do anything sooner. would you like me to go to school with you and help you talk to the teacher?" he'd ask them, kissing the top of their head.

"yes, please," they would cutely murmur, nodding along.

"look at me, bubs," han says, catching their attention properly. his heart aches seeing their glassy eyes, "there is nothing wrong with looking different than your classmates. i'd say it's actually pretty cool, it makes you unique."

"really?" his young kid would sniffle, cleaning the snot with their arm.

han would chuckle, cleaning the stray tears away from their chubby cheeks, "yeah! how do you think i got such cool friends and got the prettiest girl ever to marry me?"

they would laugh with a giggle and shrug to their dad's words. afterwards they would go out as planned with nothing unnecessarily covering their appearance.

-han would go to school asap to get everything sorted out. he would talk to the teacher along with his kid.

-if he sees any of the kids making fun of his child...let's just say he'd not above scaring a couple of snotty kids. trust me, a glare and some carefully picked words can go a long way when it comes to kids.

-as a last resort, han would give the typical 'if they make fun of you, make fun of them back' or, if it comes to violence, 'hit them back harder. i wont let you get in trouble.'

-safe to say han would get called to the principal's office the next week.

#fanfiction #han lue fanfiction #fast and furious fanfiction #han lue #han lue request #anon asks #nicksolemnlyswears

[aro-screams-into-the-void]

Random TCF Shower Thoughts Time:

do you think Cale would K.O. if he used Instant and Record at the same time?

How bad would Cale's records act up if he was trapped under some rubble somewhere for days during part 2, far from his family?

(longer idea inspired by us questioning Cale's third ability below)

Give me Cale with some sort of Survivor ability. Where Kim Rok Soo lives because he literally can't die. Where whenever he's on the edge of death, when his heart is about to stop, Survivor kicks in and goes above and beyond his limits to keep him from dying, be it by fighting or running away. Where during a battle Cale is fatally injured and his body stills for one second before immediately getting back up, forcing broken bones back into place and wiping blood from his face and gunning it towards the enemy like doom incarnate.

His family is screaming because "gods dammit Cale-nim/Unlucky bastard/Cale-nya/Human/Young Master/Dongsaeng you're bleeding out!!! you've done enough, stop fighting!!!" And something feels so Wrong about this and they don't like it one bit. But they can't place what's wrong until after the battle once they've forced Cale to lay down and realize he hasn't said a word and has been diligently listening to their demands that he rest and let them handle the rest.

His eyes are blank, not like when he uses Record, no it's worse somehow. There's nothing behind his eyes at all-Survivor is active and in control, not Cale. Cale's down for the count, deep deep down somewhere recovering because that attack did more damage than anybody realized and he's not waking up anytime soon.

Give me everyone losing their minds over this with worry and fear because there is Something walking around that looks like their beloved red head, Something that mechanically eats apple pie and drinks lemon tea but doesn't pet the kittens and give them a scammer smile. Give me the kids rambling about their days in his lap. Give me Alberu offering Cale golden plaque after golden plaque. Give me Choi Han quietly whispering to Cale in Korean while he guards him day after day. Give me everyone doing everything they can think of to get his attention and wake him up, only for Survivor to ignore it all.

Survivor is there to ensure Cale's physical wellbeing-to help him survive, not to help him live (because yes there is a difference)

#cale henituse #tcf #lcf #trash of the count's family #lout of count’s family #aroscreams

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 절대 그이/My Absolute Boyfriend

My Absolute Boyfriend is the 2019 Korean live-action adaptation of the Watase Yuu manga "Absolute Boyfriend." (There are two other adaptations, one Taiwanese and one Japanese.) It tells the story of a woman who has just broken up with her celebrity boyfriend, and the robot who becomes a real boy by falling in love with her.

(And yes, the reason we started watching it was because of Yeo Jingoo, since the tantalizing prospect of "that guy who played Han Juwon, playing a robot boyfriend" was too amazing to pass up.)

I need to note right off the bat: I am not usually a consumer of bippy k-dramas, romcoms, or het romance in media in general. No shade to anyone who likes these thing; they're just not my regular cup of tea. So if your tastes are akin to mine, you may have looked at the poster and been like, hm, no thank you.

Thus I am here to try and sell you on it even if you are not a fan of these genres.

This show is so unwatched that (as far as I can tell) there is nothing for it on AO3. There are a mere eight hits for the manga, Zettai Kareshi | Absolute Boyfriend, but there's nothing at all for this adaptation. This is an absolute crime, for reasons I will detail in the forthcoming five reasons to watch (above and beyond the simple pleasure of watching Yeo Jingoo be a handsome goober, though that remains a serious point in its favor):

1. Balls entirely to the wall

You know those Tumblr posts where someone comments and is like, at no point could I have predicted what the next word in that sentence would be? Yeah, that, only the sentence is the show.

This show is absolutely bonkers. It is absolute storytelling mayhem. It is gleefully head-clutching weird. Someone told it that girls like exactly three things -- cute boys in adorable outfits, cute boys with their shirts off, and cute boys in Situations -- and it is ready to deliver.

I could tell you what the plot of the show is, or at least I could try, but that wouldn't convey the sheer volume of shenanigans it gets up to. I feel like every time it had a flashback montage (set to one of its six licensed pop songs), I was like, oh yeah, that happened.

The thing, too, is that it's so self-aware. This show knows precisely what it is, and it's having fun with it. The acting is often melodramatic, but obviously very consciously so. I'm not going to say the show never takes itself seriously (because it does -- see my point #5), but it never doesn't know exactly what it is.

Browsing the MyDramaList page, I can see that a lot of viewers had lukewarm feelings on the show as a whole. (Normally I don't make the mistake of reading the comments, but since this is such a non-property in English-speaking fandom, I had to go find out what the hell.) And yeah, I can imagine that if you came into this expecting a more straight-faced entry in the genre, what you get could be confusing and alienating.

If you watch this, take off your nitpicker's hat. There are many, many points that do not make sense. Just go with it. Let the cute boys take off their shirts. Kiss a robot. Embrace chaos.

2. A++ Girlfriend

Eom Dada is great. She's just so weird. I love her and I absolutely understand why those two boys want to get with her.

She is a special effects makeup artist who runs her own three-person team that specializes in sci-fi/horror properties. One of the first things we see her doing is mixing up a bunch of different types of fake blood, because, hey, a lot of different stunt people are going to die today, and you can't just use one type of blood for everybody!

She is a dadgumn professional, is what she is.

What she isn't, however, is a pick-me, not-like-the-other-girls girl. Several times, she gets dressed up real cute and femme, and she never expresses negativity toward her more girly-girl friends. It's not that she's rejecting femininity so much as that her vision of femininity is big enough to include creating beautiful fake severed body parts. When someone describes a female character as "quirky," I cringe reflexively. But that's what she is! She's got quirks! She's a nice, normal girl who is also a big weirdo.

Since I did go read the comments, I found out pretty quickly that a lot of viewers hate her. Part of this, I'm sure, is just your generic vitriol you see aimed at any woman in a show, because holy fuck, we sure do hate women.

But I think part of it may come from how she's not asking "how high?" every time those boys tell her they'd like her to jump. There's some real viciousness out there toward women that turn down men, epecially from other women. Without getting too much into psychoanalysis about it, an awful lot of hate gets directed from other women toward the female ex-/partners of desirable men, much of which comes from the terrible assumption that if you were in her position, you'd be appropriately grateful! You'd treat that boy right! That lucky bitch doesn't know how good she's got it!

...You see how that's bad, though, right? Like, really bad and toxic?

Eom Dada tells those boys "no" when she doesn't want what they're offering. She's realizes early on that setting yourself on fire to keep your partner warm is terrible, so she stops. She's going to make them wait until she wants it -- and if she never wants it, well, those boys just get to keep right on waiting!

Read me loud and clear: I'm not saying the only reason to dislike Eom Dada is misogyny. Sometimes you just don't like a character! It happens! It's legal! What I am saying, though, is that when you look at a lot of the hate toward her all at once, certain trends emerge, and they're more than a little bit ugly.

And I think that's unfair because she's an absolute pumpkin who deserves all the smooches and spicy noodles she wants.

3. ...Are they gonna kiss?

And by "they" here, I don't mean Girlfriend and Robot Boyfriend, who obviously smooch. I mean Robot Boyfriend and Ex-Boyfriend.

They hate one another! They make heartbreaking sacrifices for one another! They're vicious rivals! They team up to solve mysteries! They're incredibly suspicious of one another! They trust one another completely! What the actual hell is going on with these two? Because oh boy, the show itself sure doesn't know.

Their relationship yo-yos constantly throughout the length of the series. They're never friends, but they get weirdly close on several occasions, including rescuing one another from terrible predicaments. They also both seem fascinated with each other, above and beyond how they're competing for the affections of the same girl. The actors have some solid chemistry (much of it comedic) in their shared scenes. They're certainly not afraid to get right up in each other's personal space.

This isn't queerbaiting, it's not using gay as a punchline, it's ... something, that's for sure. And by that I mean, I don't know if I've ever seen a more powerful vindication of the principle that the optimal solution to every love triangle is a threesome.

This to me is one of the flaws of the show, that it has decided it must never acknowledge the strength of their independent bond outside of its place in the central love conflict, and to keep from doing so, it keeps nuking Ex-Boyfriend's character back to square one. He learns about love and trust and growth! ...and then we need the plot to have a which boy will she choose??? conflict, so he's got to unlearn all of that real quick so he can be a real dillhole again. If it didn't feel obligated to do that, things would get sexy fast, I'm just saying.

Here is the main reason I'm baffled that I'm getting no AO3 hits for this: These three would be one hell of a throuple. Where are my bisexual horndog fix-it fics where all three of them wind up sharing Ma Wangjoon's comically large bed?

4. Weirdly healthyish messages about romance?

I mentioned earlier that het romance in media is not my thing, and one of the main reasons it's not is how many just gross messages it delivers about normative gender roles and behaviors.

This show absolutely starts that way. Robot Boyfriend is raised on all your classic romcoms and taught that love is all about giving everything with no concern for your own well-being, while at the same time overriding all your partner's objections because you know what she really wants. When he first latches on to Eom Dada, he's kind of your classic overbearing comedy stalker who doesn't take no for an answer, because True Love.

And then ... he changes. He realizes that his romcom education is not going to help here, so he decides to figure out what kind of boyfriend she actually wants. Once he does that, he starts to figure out that he wants to be loved too. And that's when things get interesting.

He never stops being pretty forward about things, but it becomes far more playful when he's not pressuring her, just reminding her that the offer is still on the table. Eom Dada then responds by becoming clear about how she definitely wants to take this boy out for a spin -- just at her own pace, when she herself is ready for it.

It makes an interesting contrast to how, when she was with Ex-Boyfriend, all she wanted was for him to acknowledge her (which he wanted to do too, but couldn't, for absolutely bonkers reasons, because this show is just Like That). The two of them are still in love, but the show makes it clear that being in love doesn't mean you're going to be good together -- and it doesn't mean you have to forgive the bullshit your ex-partner pulled back when you were together.

But the love triangle isn't even the sole source of romance! There's a whole 'nother love ... triangle? quadrilateral? Whatever, you've also got Robot Boyfriend's charmingly goofy MIT-educated co-creator/trainer/big brother, who becomes the object of affection for at least two of the supporting characters.

My take on this is that Handsome Robot Hyung deserves the whole harem: the boss lady who can pick him up, the cute thirsty girl who does yoga, and the sweet gay-coded boy who is so impressed that he knows robots. (This is another tragic casualty of the NO HOMO attitude of the show, where that boy should be treated as a legitimate love interest, but can never be. But we know better!)

I'm used to seeing love triangles solved in one of three ways: 1) one point on the triangle gets demonized so significantly as to make the other one the obvious choice; 2) the eventually unchosen point gets given a Consolation Prize Significant Other so we don't fell too bad about how they didn't get chosen; or 3) one point dies or is otherwise removed from the narrative, letting the other two hook up without guilt. None of those things happen to either of these love polygons. Despite some genre-appropriate catty, melodramatic speed bumps, everything gets resolved in the manner of adults with reasonable amounts of emotional maturity. It's weirdly kind of nice.

(This isn't to say there's no toxic bullshit that slips in -- for instance, I still don't know what to make of that one arguing couple, or what Robot Boyfriend says to them. It's just much less than I expected.)

Your mileage may vary about the choices the show makes at the very end. It's not how I would have ended it, sure, but I also don't think it could have ended any other way -- remember, this is a show that never forgets what it is. It is contractually obligated by its genre conventions to keep certain narrative promises. If anything, I think it's interesting how much it feels it can get away with leaving hopeful yet unresolved, up to and including how many people are still comfortably single at the end of the show. Partnered romance isn't always the solution to everything! Sometimes you've got your career and you've got your friends, and now you've got some time to work on yourself! Maybe it won't always be that way, but it sure is right now. And that's great.

5. A surprisingly sophisticated meditation on memory and mortality (say that five times fast)

Real talk: In the past four months, I have lost a lot of people, places, and animals who were very dear to me, and had some close calls with a couple more. It has sucked exactly as much as you think it has.

So yeah, in the last few episodes, I blew through some tissues.

To a certain degree, it's exactly the kind of melodramatic tearjerker narrative you'd expect from a property like this. And let me tell you what, there is nothing wrong with getting a good, sappy cry going because of the overwrought dramas of fictional people. There are plenty of objectively mediocre shows and movies I put on because I know I'm going to be a blubbering wreck by the end.

This show, however, has the extra layer of interest that Robot Boyfriend is both Boyfriend and Robot. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say that having a guy designed to be reformatted every time a new person smooches him adds a whole lot of interesting layers to what counts as death and mourning.

Add that to how Eom Dada is still grieving the loss of her beloved father, who taught her everything she knew about her career, and you get some surprisingly moving little moments that creep in through the wacky hijinks that make up the rest of the show.

Look, it's nothing I'd ever teach in a Philosophy seminar, or anything so profound as that. But it's quiet and nice, and it has more depth than I expected, and it all hit me right in my tender little feels box. If that's the kind of thing you're open to, you could do a lot worse.

Thinking about giving this one a shot?

Viki's got the series in its full 40-episode run. (It's actually 20 hour-long episodes split in half because of commercial break rules, if you're wondering why it's sometimes Like That.) So does Tubi. I guess your choice then becomes which one's ads you'd rather sit through.

I think if you go into this with the attitude that you're just going to go with it all and laugh at how zany it is, you're in for a fine time. Whether or not you think it's good is up to your standards of quality. But it's hard to deny that it's a whole lot of fun.

And then get your ass to AO3 and give me some OT3! Mama needs these three cutie patooties to smooch~

#절대 그이 #my absolute boyfriend #absolute boyfriend #k drama #rec post #i made this #honorary danmei

[orithyia-eriphyle]

Bewilder

Stray Kids x Reader

Fem!Reader

Synopsis: A compilation of Y/n using her ability to speak multiple languages to confuse the ever-living-fuck out of the other members of Stray Kids and the fandom.

Warnings: I am not completely fluent in Portuguese! I have been studying it for about 3 years now but do not have a perfect understanding of it. Please forgive me for any mistakes I make.

Now, it was common knowledge that the members of Stray Kids all spoke English fairly well, Felix and Chan obviously being completely fluent. Y/n on the other hand was fluent in English, Korean, and Portuguese. Of course, Y/n and the other fluent English members helped the others with their English quite often. Though the other members are 99% sure Y/n uses her ability to speak a foreign language to tease them.

Not that they really mind.

***

"Você é o ser humano mais adorável que eu já vi." Y/n said to Han whilst she and the other members all sat outside on the porch, the heat of the fire keeping them warm. You were filming the 12th episode of SKZ Code, the one where the 9 of you lived in a house together for two days.

It was the part of the video where everyone was complimenting Han because the hairband he was wearing looked good on him. It was a pink fluffy hairband with little ears on it. "Did anyone understand what she just said?" Han said, eyes wide in confusion. You were sat comfortably between him and Felix, a warm muffin in your hand. "I only understood 'you' and 'I'," Changbin said, equally as confused.

Since the 9 of you were so close, the boys had picked up on some of the words that you said often. Most of the words they knew were simple ones like 'and' 'I' 'you' and 'me.' Along with various other curse words and insults. They typically found out what you said after a fan translated it and posted the translation onto some form of social media.

"Give it a few days and we'll figure it out," Minho said, taking a bite of his snack afterward. "She said something along the lines of 'an adorable human'," Chan spoke from the log he was sitting on. Chan and Felix typically had an easier time understanding what you were trying to say because there were multiple Portuguese words that sound similar to English words.

Han just smiled and laughed, happy to have you complimenting him.

"She only speaks Portuguese when she has something nice to say or to cuss someone out, there is no in-between," Hyunjin stated as a matter of factly.

***

There was once a clip on YouTube that you found highly amusing. The video was of SKZ at a fan sign, each member sat in their respective spots behind the table. You were speaking with a female fan in an animated manner, hands waving and eyes sparkling. Fans who found the video had managed to figure out that you and the fan were having a conversation in Portuguese, which is why you were so excited.

Now that wasn't the amusing part. The funny part was the two men you sat between, Hyunjin and Changbin. They were staring at you and the fan with the most focused yet confused faces you had ever seen on them. Clearly, they were trying their very hardest to understand what you were saying. They would mumble to each other when they figured out a word or understood a certain phrase.

The clip was titled "Y/n L/n confusing Changbin and Hyunjin for 3 minutes straight." You laughed at the fact that they sat there for an entire 3 minutes to decipher your conversation with the fan. You of course had to show the other members, each laughing at the faces that Hyunjin and Changbin pulled.

***

Stray Kids was standing on stage at one of their many concerts around the world. You were more excited than usual, not that performing didn't get you excited. You were just elated because you were performing in Portugal.

The members were taking a break on stage, chatting with the fans happily. You were standing next to Bang Chan, both of you having an arm slung around the other's waist. "Não conte a ninguém, mas Bang Chan é o meu favorito." You said with a coy smile, pulling the Australian closer to you. The crowd burst into cheers and laughter, Chan snapping his head in your direction with a gasp.

Felix held a hand to his heart in faux offense, the blonde man having understood what you said to a degree. Chan's face lit up in a bright smile, his dimples on full display. "Aww, I didn't know that." You huffed out in faux annoyance. "You weren't supposed to understand." Chan laughed and smiled down at you. "You underestimate my intelligence."

You turned your head to look behind Chan after hearing the other members shout at you in protest. Apparently, Felix had told them what you had said. "Don't lie Y/n, we all know I'm your favorite." Minho said cockily, snatching you away from Chan's grasp. "You're only my favorite when you bring me food." You said into the microphone, the crowd of fans laughing at your insult to the older man.

"You shouldn't talk to your oppa like that." The man sighed out, not knowing what else to reply with. You stuck your tongue out and ran back to Chan, "Too bad."

***

"Eu vou te matar da maneira mais dolorosa possível." You spoke as you body shook with fear. You were on the set for the Thunderous music video. You were taking a break from filming and Felix took this as a chance to torture you.

You were cowering behind a chair that the staff had set up in the village you were filming in. Felix was chasing you around with a creepy bug in his hand, the man cackling at your misfortune. "Your threats mean nothing to me if I can't understand them, Y/n." The man chuckled, his hand with the bug in it creeping closer to you.

"I swear to god Felix, I will scream." Felix laughed, clearly not believing you. Next thing you knew, squeals of fear were leaving your lips. Felix had thrown that gross ass creature at you. You were shouting at Felix, your words alternating between the three languages you spoke. "Espero que você apodreça no inferno." You yelled out as you ran in fear.

Your eyes seem to have their own form of aim-bot considering you managed to spot Seungmin amongst all the chaos. You ran to the younger man, latching onto him like a koala. "Protect me, Seungmin." You peaked over his shoulder to see Felix having the time of his life, his body hunched on the floor as he laughed so hard he couldn't breathe. "What did he do?" Seungmin asked, not really acknowledging the fact that you're practically suffocating him with your body. "He threw a bug at me." The brown-haired male laughed, also finding your misery amusing.

"Você terá sorte se chegar ao final de hoje,"

***

"Y/n sounds so pretty when she speaks in Portuguese." Jeongin spoke as the 9 of you moved about the room set up backstage. You looked up from the game of cards you were playing with Hyunjin. "Eu te amo." You said, staring at the white-haired boy. Each member automatically looked to Felix, who understood Portuguese better than the rest of them. "She said she loves you."

Each member either 'awwed' or grumbled in mock jealousy. Jeongin just laughed, his ears turning red as he became increasingly flustered at your nonchalant statement.

"I can't believe you said it to I.N. first." Hyunjin grumbled, his arms crossed over his chest and a pout on his lips. You laughed, standing up from your spot across from him and walking around the table. You haphazardly threw yourself into Hyunjin, wrapping your arms around his neck. "Stop whining, I love you too, if that's what you wanted to hear." Hyunjin smiled, seemingly no longer upset.

Suddenly, numerous amounts of bodies were thrown on top of you and Hyunjin. The black leather couch now full. Changbin was now next to you, drawing you closer to him. "Now you have to say it to all of us." You groaned, rolling your head back and onto Changbin's shoulder in exasperation. "But I don't wanna."

Han, who was seated in your lap was the next to speak. "We won't move until you say it to all of us." Han spoke in defiance. You groaned once again, reaching out to the one member not suffocating you on the couch, only to be disappointed. Bang Chan, who was standing in front of the couch, was recording the entire ordeal. He had a hand held up to his mouth in order to muffle his laughter.

"I hate all of you." You glanced over Hyunjin's shoulder, noticing I.N. staring at you with a coy smile. "I thought I already told you I love you." You spoke with a raised brow. "You did, but I want to hear you say it again and then I'll move." You sighed.

"Fine."

"Eu amo tanto todos vocês. Eu provavelmente morreria sem você." You said reluctantly, already dreading the weeks of teasing that are to come.

Minho, who was smart enough to pull up a translator before you started speaking, translated for everyone. "She said, and I quote, 'I love you all so much. I would probably die without you.'" The multiple sets of arms around you tightened after Minho finished speaking.

"See? It wasn't that hard." Felix spoke with a teasing smile.

***

Translations:

"Você é o ser humano mais adorável que eu já vi."

You are the most adorable human I have ever seen.

"Não conte a ninguém, mas Bang Chan é o meu favorito."

Don't tell anyone, but Bang Chan is my favorite.

"Eu vou te matar da maneira mais dolorosa possível."

I will kill you in the most painful way possible.

"Espero que você apodreça no inferno."

I hope you rot in hell.

"Você terá sorte se chegar ao final de hoje,"

You'll be lucky if you make it to the end of today.

"Eu te amo."

I love you.

#lee felix #stray kids #skz #skz code #x reader #felix x reader #bang chan x reader #chan x reader #hyunjin x reader #stay #changbin x reader #minho x reader #i.n. x reader #lee know x reader #lee felix x reader #christopher bang x reader #seungmin #seungmin x reader #y/n #x you #han #jisung #jisung x reader #fanfiction #han jisun #jeongin #jeongin x reader #kim seungmin #thunderous #kpop

[lee-hakhyun]

601, 602, 603

look what we have here. a bunch of orv readers gathered together. surely nothing could go wrong.

immediately, skills similar to sage's eye, albeit less powerful, are used on lhh

right, he still can't see his attribute window. but he doesn't have the fourth wall..? well, there's no time to linger on that right now. the two who used the skills experienced a rebound, and lhh identified them as an old guy with a gombangdae, and an woman with an iron flail

this is a gombangdae (곰방대), a smoking pipe

checking their reader stats,

he's using killer king as a baseline...???? the guy who has read orv basically 100 times????? that's like using yoo joonghyuk as a baseline for beauty, which. hm.

anyway, the readers notice lee jihye, and lhh's a little nervous about all these readers being here. he's been lucky so far with the readers he's met being friendly, but he still has to be careful. and. look who shows up

hi paul...

a screen appears, and the incarnations challenging the upper floors are shown. there's kim namwoon and lee hyunsung! they're in a zombie movie, and kim namwoon is having the time of his life (most importantly, kim namwoon is alive!!)

but at the end of the video,

damn it paul, the readers are going to misunderstand and misunderstand they did. a white coat? kim dokja??? even kyung sein asked lhh if it was kdj. with the lemon candy in his pocket, i'm pretty sure lhh knows who it is.

so, why is paul here?

paul is working with the theater dungeon master,, and a new sub scenario was created

blue marble is like korean monopoly. pretty interesting actually, i had fun looking at the differences. space travel...

they're given 10 minutes to make teams. lhh's group is 5 people, so they've got to split into two teams. someone speaks in lhh's ear with a skill, [full sound]. it's the strawberry1137 woman from before, and she says her group has s-grade items and narrative-grade sponsors, and asks for him to join their group. however.

he'd have to leave lee dansu and kyung sein behind. obviously, he won't do that

the other guy who tried to use a skill on lhh is also heard using [full sound], and makes a similar offer. they're not bad offers, but. eugh. there's also this guy

yeah

a group of people come out, and the leader starts to tell people that they should work together. this guy, he's got a white coat and a broken sword. the woman pushes him, it's just a broken sword, right? but he activates it, and an ether blade appears. he's not kim dokja, though

hm.

602

well, he's not han sooyoung. so.. he's this worldline's author? but. wait, first, jung heewon and lee jihye are hearing everything???

quote from chapter 60 ^^ jhw and ljh do not care at all, so the readers can keep talking without hiding anything. so, this guy claims to be the author? but lee hakhyun is right there?

that's an interesting reaction well, while lhh is checking his information, ksi goes and asks him a question

HAHAH okay this guy is ruining lhh's image i should maybe feel bad but this is fucking funny sorry lhh

before he can speak up, the woman with the flail does first, asking if he is really the author. there's a bit of back and forth banter here, and the author brings up [lie detection]. but it doesn't seem like anyone has lie detection here. the author signals to the woman next to him, and she activates lie detection:

?

even with this, there were still people who weren't convinced.

'serials' and 'textpia' are slightly misspelled 'series' and 'munpia' in the kr text, i changed it to similar sounding words. don't remember if i mentioned that before (it shows up in star writer too)

lhh seems to not believe him, but most people are convinced at this point. well, it seems it's time for him to step in

now this is interesting, because this also applies to him.., lhh asks if the author would know more about orv than the readers, and proposes a small quiz, which the author accepts

lee hakhyun then makes fun of the author

these are questions the host of the original kdj's banquet asked, and obviously the author wasn't there so he just gets humiliated. but he was just joking around, so what's the final question?

this is true, actually! it's not the 14th but 41st. both the epub and official webnovel text it has it as the 14th regression (it's fixed in the webtoon tl). presumably when orv was translated the typo hadn't been fixed at the time, and when it was later fixed in korean the english translation was not updated (expected, tbf, there's also a lot of typos. no fault to the translators, but webnovel is huge could they not have paid a little more attention to the translation they're hosting?)

the text from webnovel

and the text on munpia

now, if this guy was actually the author, he obviously would have known about the change. so why does he only know of it from before it was fixed? the 'author' asks who lee hakhyun is and how he would know all that, and lee hakhyun says that he's read orv more than 100 times. obviously the author doesn't believe him, but lie detection confirms his words.

and if you haven't guessed by now, his reader stats

he's an ohdokhyup who uploaded orv to the illegal site (and he took the name tls456. do you understand how excited i was to see that name with no context before realizing who this guy ACTUALLY was)

603 jung jaewoo -> jjw

again, this is brought up. can lhh really call orv his story?

everyone in lhh's group finishes preparing, and they decide to split the group this way: kyung sein, lee dansu, lee jihye jung heewon, lee hakhyun

lee jihye <3

paul appears, and then says that people who haven't found a team will be randomly matched. lee hakhyun did not expect that, and a random third person joined his group

jung jaewoo! he was the guy who asked if anyone had read orv before, haha. lee hakhyun uses [reader's comments list], and his profile is normal. 1.62 completed readings. he checks the comments jaewoo left, and,

jung jaewoo originally read orv for free cookies, and then got hooked and kept reading. good for him!!

the scenario starts, and they're given dice to roll for progressing. lee hakhyun rolls the dice,

???????

lhh remarks that he's usually unlucky, so? nothing in the star stream is an accident. lhh asks jjw if he has any skills, and he admits he has the attribute [little luck], a skill that literally gives you a little luck. jung jaewoo goes on a tangent and explains his luck so far in survivng the scenarios.

a series of stores that nobody asked about... come on, lhh.... it's interesting yeah, this guy has incredible luck also! kim dokja was originally going to have [little luck]!

i don't think this would be added for no reason, singshong might have considered this at one point too? that's really cool if so, singshong adding in extra facts about orv into the side story in a perfect way,,

they roll again, and get a 5. however, they hit a trap stage, and go down three steps, and enter a regular stage. they end up in a movie.. and the landscape is familiar. it's the dinosaur movie that was in orv.. and the system mentions that there are other contestants in the movie.

if there's other people here.. yoo joonghyuk?

#orv side story #orv #orv spoilers #side story rambles #had to open webnovel.com for this one. sigh. #i already have 604 translated but 1. i hit image limit and 2. that chapter deserves its own post dear GOD

[tiffanylamps]

After watching beyond evil, I was drew into this universe created by the drama and refused to leave. I am crazily seeking for more content around the characters, rewatch to capture more details, curious to know more about the MLs… it is a very unique experience for me and seems I am not alone.

I am wondering what set this drama apart? Why does BE has this strong psychological pull on the audience? Is it because the strong emotions yet revealed in a such reserved way that makes people wanting more? Is it because of the plot? The design of the characters? Really like your detailed analysis. Hope to see your view on this topic.

Firstly, thank you for your ask! I love talking about this show, so this is super cool for me. 

Secondly, I’ve taken a few days to think through my answer because you gave me such wonderful questions, I wanted to reply with something worth your while. 

Okay… WHERE TO START?!

Beyond Evil (Monster/괴물) is a show that ensnares its audiences and gives them a disease that is angrily, desperately, and affectionately named Beyond Evil Brainrot. Many of us on this website are victims of this disease. It is long-term and tends to affect the everyday lives of its victims. 

[Grab a snack, make a drink, get comfortable and forgive my grammar mistakes.]

I can’t really talk about this show in an essay format today (my brain is fried), so I will give bullet points and explanations of why I think this show has such a “psychological pull” (as you brilliantly put it) on its audience. 

The visuals!!  Beyond Evil’s cinemaphotographer, Jang Jong Kyung, and director Shim Na Yeon are a real dream team when creating a suspenseful and intimate atmosphere. Beyond Evil’s three signature visual motifs are:

Visually appealing cinematics

Unconventional blocking (i.e, actors' faces won't fully be in the frame, actors' backs to the camera, etc.)

Extreme closeups 

  Not only do these visual languages convey the tone of a thriller crime drama wonderfully, as it leaves the audience feeling on edge, but its main focus is to convey the emotions of our main two characters. Especially, the closeup shots. These shots encourage the audience to feel the intimacy of the scene; its gravity, intensity, and its importance. The actor’s face will take up the entire screen, so, all we are left to digest is the character’s words and emotions. 

It’s a powerful move that not all crime dramas use (it is usually reserved for Han Joo Won and Lee Dong Sik). The common motifs for the crime genre that I have seen in dramas (from Western and Eastern media) are darker lighting exposure, darker colour palette, night-time scenes, uncomfortable or liminal location settings, and grand or dramatic moments. 

Beyond Evil does utilise all of these visuals as well. However, what I find to be so appealing about Beyond Evil (in comparison) is how ordinary everything is. The main focus is Manyang and its small-town simplicities. The creators really pulled this off. Manyang feels tiny, it doesn’t look or feel like a financially well-off area and its people seem just like… normal human beings. They achieved this with brilliant location scouting, clever shot choices, and a colour palette (of the sets, clothes, and the post-edit).

The small town/village "vibe" is created through these choices and it produces a town that feels very South Korean but also international. I know this town, I know these people. It goes beyond culture, whilst still honouring their culture.

Beyond Evil’s strength is its visual simplicity. It isn’t grand or luxurious; it’s beautifully mundane and intimate.

Visually, the show replicates how everyday people experience their lives so beautifully: not everything is pretty, most things are boring and mundane, and every now and then, everything can become so intense that the rest of the world falls away.

2. Complexities Okay, now let's get to the juicy part of the show: its storytelling and characters.  [This is quite a complex section that has a lot of moving parts, so I’ll try to be as concise as possible. I won’t go into as much detail as I possibly could as I’m trying to be conscious of how much I am rambling.]

A very simple summary of this show is it is complex. I’m not talking about the murder mystery, as (personally) I found that to be very obvious (I figured out who did the murders in episode 2) but it is the characters themselves and their relationships/lives that are complex.

[I'm going to break this up into little mini sections and then go into more detail about our two main sweet baby boys.]

Beyond Evil's scriptwriter, Kim Soo Jin and director, Sim Na Yeon, provide its audience with an array of characters that are multi-faceted, complex, flawed and so real. (Also due to the fact that they are both cis women, they tell the story through the female gaze.) Let's focus mainly on Han Joo Won and Lee Dong Sik, as they are the main characters and they are the most fully explored characters. But I must first say, the secondary characters in this show are bloody fantastic! They are human, they have their own shit going on, their own flaws, traumas, and quirks. The secondary characters are a joy and all of them really add something either to the plot or to the world-building. (hello?? Ji Hwa?? I love her. Ji Hoon? He scares me but I also want to be his friend. Jae Yi?? She can slap me any day. Jung Je? Let me hug him. Hyuk? Let me dissect him and love him forever. Gwang Young?? That man is smarter than he lets on and I want to gossip with him. Sang Bae? He loves Dong Sik like a son and I love that for him. Gil Goo? Well... hm, he needs a talking to but he was very nice to Jae Yi... and so on.)

Anyway... Beyond Evil is a show that can be seen in two parts (I go into a bit more detail about this here): first viewing it is a murder mystery and on a second viewing, it is a love story. The creators don't just focus on romantic love but all the different kinds of love someone can have in their lives.

The way they do this is by focussing on these elements:

false perspectives, broken families and found family, morality, acceptance, trauma, and human connection.

We are shown these elements through Dong Sik and Joo Won getting to know and accept one another. These two men are so wonderfully complex and flawed. Their choices feel organic and represent the thought processes of two emotionally damaged people. They have both been through a lot, either because of people's actions or because of their own. They aren't always kind. They both have a temper but both are actually extremely good, gentle people, that are so in need of love. They both want love but struggle because of the trauma they experienced early on in their lives. Their story is so beautiful. They are two flawed people forced into a terrible situation and through their own mistakes (a lot of Joo Won's mistakes, let's be honest...), they face even more trauma. But instead of it pushing them apart, it brings them closer together. Lee Dong Sik has a community around him but he doesn't fully trust them, and he doesn't want to hurt them. He is a man that is on the edge of being suicidal. He clearly has some deep-seated mental health issues and is in need of extensive therapy. His life is in a rut, and he's just going through the motions- he's not really experiencing life to its fullest. Then Joo Won comes SMASHING through like a fucking thunderstorm and drenches Dong Sik's entire life with his being.

Han Joo Won has two people in his life: his emotionally (maybe physically???) abusive and negligent father and his father's former employee and Joo Won's former tutor (but also his best friend) Kwon Hyuk. Joo Won doesn't have a community, he's emotionally stunted and literally doesn't recognise kindness or love when it's presented to him. (the emotional abuse he must have continuously faced growing up to make him this way... fuck. side note: I fully believe Joo Won has ASD also.) Joo Won is a purposely unkind person, who - despite appearances - doesn't have any of his shit together. Then Dong Sik brings Joo Won into his community (kicking and screaming and crying) and tells him that it's okay. He shows Joo Won that he doesn't have to be perfect, he doesn't have to have his shit together, he just has to be good and kind (which Joo Won is) and everyone will accept him.

They both started the story unable to fully trust people. Both were afraid to let other people in. They purposely caused trouble for themselves and were as unlikable as possible for display, whilst keeping secrets and enduring dangerous situations by themselves. Until they grew to know one another, and then, by the end, they have no secrets (from each other) and trust one another completely. But they're far from perfect and actually need time apart to get over their relationship/shared history. But still, they have a bond that they don't have with anyone else. (Isn't that the purest and sweetest form of love? Acceptance and unity.)

That is the beauty of this show. It allows its characters to be as human as possible. They aren't always pretty, they make mistakes and can be outright awful sometimes. But it gives them the time to grow and forgives them. Not everyone is 100% good or 100% bad. Life would be so much easier if that were the case but it isn't.

Even the villains in this show are multi-layered...

3. Victim focussed I'm going to be a bit quicker with this one. The show's focus is on the victims, their families, and their communities. It highlights how murder affects not just the victim but everyone who knew them. It doesn't shy away from the darker side of women being murdered (the smear campaign against Min Jeong) without focussing on sexual assault (unlike all those male writers that love writing about women being sexually assaulted. ew). The show REFUSES to slut shame sex workers and instead, gives us wonderful feminist ideology through Dong Sik. The murderers and their accomplices are not glorified or glamorised. The why, what, and how is not the main importance of this story. And personally, I don't give a flying fuck why Jin Mook did what he did- I'd rather find out what the victims did in their lives beforehand. The villains are the weakest characters, AS THEY SHOULD BE. It's not about them, as it shouldn't be. They get forgotten. I remember the names of more victims than Jung Je's mum's name. As. it. should. be.

4. Acting Again, going to be short with this one. This show has some of the best acting I have ever seen! Everyone fucking kills their respective roles. But let's give a huge "shout out" to Shin Ha Kyun (Lee Dong Sik) and Yeo Jin Goo (Han Joo Won). They are outstanding and so brilliantly matched in their talents. They understand their characters and their dynamic so well... Really, this show has the best casting. I can't imagine any other actor playing these characters.

5. Chemistry Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Goo have the best chemistry. Seriously, I have seen them both in other projects and they never disappoint, they're wonderful opposite their respective co-stars... but their on-screen chemistry is special. It is tangible, it's magnetic, it's outstanding and so natural. Who does unresolved sexual-angry-undying-love tension quite like them??

(^ a better summary than I could ever give)

6. Queer subtext/ Queer audience I hate to break it to anyone who missed it or doesn't want to see it (or disagrees, which is fine but... confusing) but this show is queer. Han Joo Won and Lee Dong Sik are into each other. Obviously, their story is far more complex than that, nor it is always healthy. But they do have some sort of feelings for one another. These two are queer coded to high heaven (or hell, if you're being cute) and it's not just the audience projecting their feelings onto the characters, but the actors themselves saw that Joo Won and Dong Sik were in a "secret relationship" (as Jin Goo put it). Queer-coded shows and characters resonated deeply with queer communities/audiences. I think because their relationship was never fully 100% confirmed either with a "yes, we are a couple" or an on-screen kiss, or something, it is instead shown through hints and clues, it causes queer people to fall in love with it. This is partly due to everything I have previously mentioned but also because of the lack of representation, especially in the crime/mystery genre. I could go on forever about this but... I won't because that would be tedious.

[Side note: this show has a very interesting relationship with religion. It is explored through Dong Sik who grew up in a religious family but actively didn't partake in the activities/belief. Then he goes on to lose his family and the community. Then has Joo Won come into his life and promises to go to hell for him, and then have scenes where Dong Sik looks up to the skies and whispers his name like it's a prayer... and then the arrest scenes... It's just. a. lot. That mixed with the queer subtext, it is very delicious.]

(^ Joo Won making himself into the sacrificial lamb to protect Dong Sik, either with the end goal of dying or "going to hell" in his sted.)

7. Wonderfully attractive people They're good to look at. It helps.

 8. The Ending Episode 16 is a bitch.

I believe it is the reason that a lot of people are left wanting more of this show. Obviously because of the previous 15 episodes but also, because, about 40-50 minutes of that episode is just trauma. It is so beautiful and heartbreaking. Then BAM! The last few scenes are so light (visually and subject matter) in comparison that it is a breath of fresh air... but it doesn't last very long. We barely get any happiness after so much heavy shit.

The ending is treated as an epilogue but it ('it' being the whole show) is actually the prologue to these characters' lives. We know that the last scene isn't the end of Dong Sik and Joo Won's story. The last shot is Joo Won walking away but we know he's coming back. Because Joo Won always comes back to Dong Sik. Now that he has him, he's never going to let go again.

(I don't want a season two, I NEED a season two. But we're probably never going to get one and that is a good and sad thing)

This show is so beautiful and it grows on its audiences. I, personally, didn't like it as much the first time I watched it as I do now. I found the music to be really off-putting and some of the choices to be slightly lacklustre. However, after rewatching it and digesting it, I just can't... I love it so very much. It's my favourite TV show. I adore the message of togetherness, love, perseverance, and the importance of found family. I love the way they included queer-coded characters with affection and sensitivity. I love that they included actors who took (the story and the underlining love storyline) seriously and wanted to explore it further.

There's so much more I go talk about but I'm not going to. It is complex and multi-layered, and different parts of it speak to different people in different ways. Also, to be really honest, I'm not entirely sure why this show sticks with people the way it does. It's just one of those things that I don't think humans can fully explain. Sometimes, a piece of media just captures you and speaks to you on a level that you can't fully comprehend and THAT'S OKAY. We don't always need to understand.

I really could just go on and on and on. But I have already taken up far too much of your time. So, please forgive my ramblings, I hope you feel like I answered your questions. If you have any more, please feel free to send them my way.

Finally, if anyone else wants to add to this, or disagrees with me, please feel free to give your opinions. Or maybe share why this show resonates with you! I'll love to read that, and I'm sure anon would love that, too!

-Thanks and bye!

#beyond evil #jtbc beyond evil #beyond evil meta commentary #beyond evil analysis #han joo won #lee dongsik #jwds #shin ha kyun #yeo jin goo

[skzhua]

Episode one.

MASTERLIST

pairing: XO, Kitty's Min Ho x Female Reader

genre: Fluff, angst, enemies-to-lovers, slow burn, coming-of-age.

word count: 2k

warnings: Mention of deceased parents.

summary: Transferring to KISS was the last thing you had asked for and, yet, a certain tall boy made it seem both worse and better than you expected.

note: Bold - Korean, Italic - Over the phone

(let me know by filling the form in my bio if you want to be added to the taglist!)

"Yuri is coming later if you want to meet with her."

You smiled politely to Jina. "Thank you, I'll let her know I've arrived."

"Welcome to the school. I hope you'll have a great experience with us."

You bowed and left her office. Orientation day was supposed to help you discover the campus, broaden your social circle and make you believe you chose the right path. In your opinion, all it did was put more stress onto you as you went on to get your school schedule. It was flooded with tons of classes you didn't even know existed. The only good thing you got from it was that there was going to be a welcome party at the end of the day. You hoped there was going to be free food.

"Hey, do you know where I can find the cafeteria?" you asked the first person you saw as you walked around campus.

The man turned around and removed his sunglasses in a smooth motion. Although you couldn't deny he had the looks of a prince, you would recognize that smug look as the typical face a fuckboy would make.

"Wow, I've got two stalkers today so far."

"Stalkers?"

His eyebrow raised. "Why else would you be speaking to me?"

You rolled your eyes. "Because I literally am lost and need to find my way to the cafeteria."

"Sorry, little lost puppy. I have other things to tend to."

He left without bothering to let you respond and put his sunglasses back on as he nodded his head towards a girl walking nearby. You already hated having tranferred here.

You weren't initially going to KISS but your uncle had a job there and managed to get you a scholarship. The only condition for you to stay was that you had to keep your grades up. With your uncle being one of the professors and your aunt as the vice-principal, they were close to the Han family. Meaning you were somewhat close to Yuri.

You ended up going outside to take some fresh air. Visiting the common areas could wait. Plus, you needed a break from it. You sat on a bench and looked at your schedule again. The simple sight of the word Chemistry written was enough to make you want to barf.

Some time after, a much recognizable car pulled over in front of the school. You knew immediately who it was.

"Y/N!" she waved at you as she stepped out of the car, a foreign-looking girl standing next to her.

You stood up from your bench and walked towards her as a forced smile spread on your lips. "Yuri, good to see you."

"Same with you. I'm glad we finally go to the same school. I can show you around if you want."

You shook your head. "Thank you but I already explored today." You, then, finally turned your attention to the girl who was still standing awkwardly next to Yuri, visibly not understanding Korean. "I'm Park Y/N."

"Katherine Song Covey but you can call me Kitty."

You were taken aback from the enthusiasm in her tone but smiled kindly nonetheless. "Pretty nickname. I'll see you two around."

Yuri smiled at you. "See you around, Y/N." She then turned to Kitty. "And good luck with everything."

You left the girls and headed towards the entrance of the school. To your great luck, you almost bumped into Q. He was one of the few people who had actually been nice to you during your visit in the morning.

"Sorry, I didn't see you."

He chuckled. "It's all good, no harm done."

"Are you busy? I was trying to find the cafeteria and the first person I asked for help was being an ass."

"Sure, this way." he said, putting his hand on your back to lead you inside.

He walked you to the main common areas and then showed you where you could get your documents for the dormitory you were going to stay in. He seemingly had other things to do so you didn't hold him back and told him you'd be fine on your own.

"I'll add you on Kakaotalk if you need anything."

You exhanged your contacts and waved him goodbye before lining up to get your documents. The girl in front of you seemed familiar to you from the back. You hesitantly tapped on her shoulder and she turned around immediately. As soon as she saw you, she smiled widely.

"Y/N, right?"

"Yes, and Kitty?" you asked and she nodded. "You're staying in a dorm too?"

"I kind of have no other choice. I don't have any family here, everyone's in Portland."

"Ah." you said as realization hit. "You're American? I should've guessed by how energetic you are." you chuckled but her face fell for a second. "I meant it as a compliment, don't worry."

"I guess I do have a lot of energy. Honestly, I just can't wait to see my boyfriend. I'm surprising him, he has no idea I transferred here."

Your eyes went wide open. "Wow, you two must be serious for you to do such a thing."

"We've been in a long-distance relationship for years, it is serious." she squealed.

Your turn came to get your forms and, funny enough, yours were put together with Kitty's. You stuck with her to fill it in and she asked you a few times about some of the things she had to write down.

"Jina!" you heard from afar.

You shot your head up and exchanged glances with the principal. She nodded her head at you in acknowledgement before going back to her conversation with whoever she was speaking to.

"Why does this name seem so familiar?" Kitty mumbled to herself.

"Maybe because she is the head of the school." you replied with a shrug.

"No, wait."

She pulled out some sort of book out of her bag and flipped the pages. She stopped and showed you a picture. It was of young Jina with another young woman.

"How do you have this?"

"This is my mom's. She used to study here and I'm guessing she was close friends with the principal."

She hopped out of her seat and went to talk with her. It was very brief as she came back to you not even a minute later.

"She acted as if she didn't know my mom..."

"Weird."

"Yeah."

The both of you finalized the forms snd gave it back to the lady at the front table. She gave you your keys and you were surprised to learn you'd be rooming together which would explain why your files were with one another.

The dorm was cute and simple. You found the kitchen rather big and the living space was wide enough for approximately ten people. You and Kitty picked a room to share where there was another bed that already had bags on it. You assumed your other roommates must have dropped their things earlier.

"I have a call with my dad if you don't mind." Kitty informed you whille you were both testing out your new beds.

Out of respect, you left the room and sat down on the couch. The softness almost made you want to drop asleep but your phone ringing told you that it wouldn't be in your plans for now.

"Hello?" you answered the call.

"Hi, Y/N dear. I was just checking on you if everything was to your liking. I know the offer was a bit last minute so it must be hard for you to adapt."

"I know, I'm just worried."

You sighed loudly at your aunt. "Give me a week or so before asking me how I'm doing. I've barely stepped foot on campus."

You were very grateful to her. She was your father's younger sister and had to take you under her wing after your parents passed when you were a child. It had been hard but she loved you so much, same for you with her.

"If I have any issue, I'll let you know. You're the vice-principal after all."

She chuckled. "I'll see you tonight at the welcome party."

"See you then!"

You woke up to a frantic Kitty getting ready. You hadn't realized you fell asleep while chatting and as you checked the time, you understood why she was rushing to do her makeup.

"Can I help you with that?" you laughed.

She gave you a pleading look. "Please? My sisters usually help me but I can't do a good fancy makeup look."

You took her brush and applied the eyeshadows on her eyes. After doing her eyeliner and mascara, you went to your own makeup bag to pull out one of your lipsticks.

"There." you said as you finished her look. "All done."

"Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver."

"No problem." you smiled and went back to your bed to unpack your things.

"Are you coming tonight?"

"Later, I don't like parties that much other than for the free food."

She laughed at your words. "I'll wait for you!"

As she closed the door behind her to let you changed, you started to get ready yourself. You picked a simple short dress and put your hair is a messy but put-together ponytail. You went for a shimmery makeup look and finished it all with some gloss on your lips.

Satisfied with your appearance, you left to join the party. Kitty ended up leaving a bit before you so you easily spotted her when you got there. She had found Q as a friend to keep her company. You were about to join them until you exchanged glances with the other person who was with them. Nonetheless, you made your way to the group and greeted Q kindly.

"I see that you two met." you commented.

"Not exactly." Q chuckled. "You look good, Y/N."

You returned the compliment and the guy next to him gasped as realization hit him.

"Ah, wait." he spoke and pointed at you. "I knew I saw you somewhere. You're Park Y/N."

The tone of his voice didn't seem like he was pleased with knowing who you were. It wasn't like you didn't feel the same as him.

"Am I supposed to know who you are?" you snapped back.

"I thought my stalker would at least know my name."

"Look at our boy." Q interrupted the conversation and nudged the guy.

His eyes grew bigger. "Where did Dae get that suit?"

"Yo, Dae!" Q called out which caught his attention.

The instant his eyes landed on Kitty, he grinned like a child and ran to her while she headed his way. You watched them reunite from afar only to be interrupted by a loud scoff.

"What is it with you?"

He gestured the couple as if the cause of his discouragement was obvious. "This isn't going to last."

"How is it any of your business?"

He sighed and shook his head as to shrug it off. You weren't worth wasting his time and you were more than happy to not care. Your eyes moved back to the pair only for it to have turned into a trio. Yuri held onto Dae's arm firmly and Kitty was at loss for words. It took her no time to run outside of the room as you saw sadness spread all over her face. Yuri held Dae back from going after her which seemed to have cause some sort of argument between them. You were rather confused on what was going on and, before you knew it, you were walking towards Yuri.

"You really had to cause a fuss not even on our first day of school?"

She straightened her posture and smiled. "You know me. Y/N, this is Dae, my boyfriend."

You bowed at him. "I remember you."

"I remember you, too. I think my father drove you around with Yuri a few times." he said and you nodded in confirmation. "You were with Kitty, right?"

Yuri nudged his side to shut him up and you frowned. "What kind of plan did you come up with now?"

taglist: @nanaspalette | @schniti-is-in-the-house

Copyright © 2023 skzhua. All rights reserved.

#xo kitty #xo kitty minho #xo kitty x reader #xo kitty minho x reader #min ho x reader #xo kitty fanfic #sang heon lee #sang heon lee x reader #xo kitty min ho #xo kitty min ho x reader

[beautifulpersonpeach]

YES! BPP! YES! I KNEW YOU'D SHARE MY EXCITEMENT!!!! I don't know anyone in real life who is an army and shares my love for BTS' music and story, so it's so awesome to see a fellow enthusiast gush over such a stellar magnificent artist!!! Yoongi looks so in the zone on the stage. Like he can finally breathe again, like he has found himself again, like he is finding the meaning of his life over and over again. He looks so at home. It's mind boggling how at ease he is in front of 15k(?) ppl?? +

*

Ask 2: His command of the stage, much less the audience and his music, is impeccable. "Electric" is definitely the word for it. I mean how does he look more relaxed here than his variety/advertisement gigs!? The word natural comes to my mind but I know that's not quite it. It's like how gravity works, like how water flows. He just is. With his music. And I'm just in awe watching him, and thankful. Every time I look at them perform their music, my worry kinda vanishes and it's unbelievably addicting. +

*

Ask 3: Sorry! I thought I was done but I wasn't!!! Did you know that this is the VERY FIRST MINIMINI LIVE TOGETHER EVER!?!?@! Like what?!? But you know what that's ok cuz they were hilarious and lovely and made me so happy! lol Don't worry tannies, I'm confused about barking thingy, too. haha. Also did you see the crowd control wristband and the arena lightning colors (prudential was awful tho, UBS ftw!!)?? It has to be intentional, right? Along with that rainbow cake, everything is just chef's kiss

*

Ask 4: BPP, pretty pretty please can you try to describe Yoongi's music? What does he sound like to you?

***

Hi Anon(s),

Yoongi's music sounds like nothing I've heard anywhere else. Nobody, past or present, sounds like Yoongi.

But if I were to make a rough approximation, I'd say his sound is something close to if Hans Zimmer, Jimi Hendrix, Pop Smoke, and Andre 3000 had a four-way, with Eminem directing and filming the whole affair. The product of whatever that is, is kinda close to Yoongi's core soundscape. In my opinion. Yoongi too, more than any other member, loves infusing Korean texture, sounds, and proverbs, into his music and it’s something I really can’t get enough of. In terms of lyrical focus, he's similar to Kendrick Lamar, Lupe Fiasco, and Tablo. Also, from the way Yoongi makes music, you can tell that he plays musical instruments. Yoongi's songs are some of the most fun to play on guitar or keyboard/piano. If any of my followers play guitar, I'd like y'all to actually let me know if you've tried playing Amygdala, and tell me how you felt playing it. (You can DM me if you like.) The music Yoongi makes is angst, it's unapologetically emo, and I'm an emo girl who refuses to outgrow this phase. He makes music for people like me. People who want to scream "burn it!" on the disgusting beat he crafted from scratch. Yoongi makes music for carpenters, sluts, philosophers, queers, parents, rebels, misfits, for anybody who finds themselves caring too much about the world around them, and those who sometimes struggle to know themselves.

I'm just going to stop here because I can't do this. Writing about him is hard.

Let's just talk about how hot he is instead. :)

(Even his scars are pretty)

*

(…he deadass looks like that. In real life.)

*

(Yoongi’s vocal inflections fuck me up. By the way. He reveals what he is, every time he uses his tone to make his point. He reveals just how insane he is every time he does that. It drives me mad.)

*

(He likes to be tied and spanked fyi. He’s recently taken to pouting a lot too. And now barking apparently gets him excited. Any way you look at it, he’s trouble.)

*

(Yoongi is so beautiful.)

*

(Pretty)

*

(Cute)

*

Anon in ask 3, Yoonmin’s live was the cutest, sweetest, most wholesome and queer interaction I’d seen from the tannies in a good while. I love what they have. Jikook is jikook, but I mean, I actually bias Yoongi. Seeing how he is with Jimin, how he’s always been with Jimin, is impossible for me to ignore. It’s one reason I started paying attention to Jimin in the first place. Anyway, everything about their conversation - the way Yoongi introduced him, the Tony Montana sneak, their mutual barking, the smiles, jokes and stares, the cutting sarcasm and bickering rallies - I’d missed seeing that and I’m glad they shared that moment with us.

I’m really hoping Yoongi is able to keep his health up the whole tour. He goes all out 100% every time he’s on stage, and that would put a strain on even the most fit person alive. His shoulder surgery was ~3 years ago yeah, but he likely still does physical therapy, and excessive use during the tour could strain it again. My hope is for him to be healthy the whole time. And ARMYs who always show up for BTS, being there to be the energy he needs. He deserves all the support he gets.

#min yoongi #Yoongi #Suga #Agust d #d day tour #d day #kpop #BTS #yoonmin #jimin #park jimin

[asian-fiction]

Cultural Notes for Alchemy of Souls Episode 1

So the whole thing is that people who haven’t watched enough Korean fusion dramas are crying, “But so much like Xian Xia“ while ignoring the actual history of East Asia, and East Asian relations, history of K-dramas, and also have 100% ignorance about the Hong Sisters. I am Korean, BTW, I do make Hanbok, (I also make hanfu before so I could figure out influences on Hanbok) but I hate cultural fetishists.

Oh yay, more Koreaboo nonsense.

Look, I don’t hate ignorance, but I do hate willful ignorance while acting like you actually know something, when you never put in the effort. So let’s get into it.

The aesthetics of the drama aren't Wuxia or Xianxia, since the majority of Xianxia tend to be based around the aesthetics of the Han, Tang and Song dynasty clothes. (And believe me, I studied my butt off about it.) But the majority of the clothes in Xianxia are ahistorical and are made out of chiffon and organza, rather than historically accurate cloth. And as Avenue X often says (Chinese BTW), bland as anything.

(For that reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pclx90lcxoQ

)

Here are actual  (Chinese) Han dynasty clothes:

Here are Xianxia Clothes:

(Pillow Book) The clothes from the Alchemy of Souls are from Joseon, (though scattered from various times in Joseon) that's equivalent to "Ming" and "Qing" So if you think the clothes are "exactly the same as Xian Xia and Wuxia--Oh man, you've just shown your ignorance about China and Korea in one go. (And Chinese have a right to breathe on you just the same as I'm about to). 

But for Alchemy of Souls, the aesthetics are from the Joseon era:

For China, this is equivalent to Ming-Qing Dynasties, which is a different aesthetic. (Korea held onto Ming and modified them later on, but getting into the whole thing takes a history lesson and a half.) 

Joseon==1392-1897 CE

Han Dynasty==202 BCE – 9 CE, 25–220 CE

So equating them is being totally ignorant of Chinese and Korean history and the reason Asiophiles are problematic. Love the art, have none of the knowledge about history, wider culture and then make false assessments on that ignorance.

They bent the aesthetics in several ways:

- the windows aren't from any specific historical era and are ahistorical.

- The patterns used on the clothing are ahistorical and would have gotten them killed during Joseon. (There was color coding on clothes during Joseon)

- The clothes are spread across several eras, for example, the lower class is dress like early Joseon, but the gisaeng are dressed Late Joseon.

You can tell which is which by the length of the jeogori (or the top of the hanbok). REALLLY short and it's 19th century. And longer is early Joseon. Since this is supposed to be a fictional country, etc (not found on any map) and the whole thing is ahistorical on purpose. This explains the mishmash.

- some is simply ahistorical, such as on Mudeok's yellow/orange hanbok--the pleating at the side of the hanbok is 100% ahistorical. Explaining why is a whole chore though (I would have to go into a whole historical thing about geography that would take up way too much word count). So trust me, that Joseon people would have recoiled in horror seeing a detail like that.

Also taking out the 동정 Dong Jeong (paper collar) (boo~~) The paper collar is important. Did they actually use interfacing (double boo). TT Breaks my hanbok-making heart. The reason for the Dong Jeong was because the collar would often get dirty without it and it would add stiffness. Since Korea wasn't rich with cloth (with a large percentage of the richer cloth was historically imported) having a collar like that was important for fabric conservation. (This also explain a section of why pleating at the sides is ahistorical)

Some of the fabric is clearly synthetic (made of plastic) TT But I suppose common watchers won't get that. I mean there is synthetic--like the brocade and Jacquard often used in K-dramas, but then there is ahistorically synthetic *with* shine that's synthetic plastic.

- The mirrors are actual mirrors and not made out of bronze. This is not historically accurate for Joseon.

- The book they have is 100% in hangeul, which isn't possible until much later in history. Even after Sejong (et al) invented Hangeul, pure hangeul texts were rare. Often official texts were in Hanja (or Chinese characters)

-The hairstyle on Mu-Deok is ahistorical as well.

This means it was done on purpose to create “Joseon-eque” fantasy feel.

For those who are saying, BUT THE SPECIAL EFFECTS are like Xian Xia.--you haven't watched many fusion Korean dramas, have you? I also have to point out that often between Japan, Korea and China they share Special effects artists. Sometimes China exports to Korea, sometimes Korea exports to China (depending on political relationships, granted.) But yeah, they share. And also, Hong sisters have watched Chinese dramas, like Chinese have watched Korean dramas. It's part of the whole system of East Asia, if people weren't paying attention. (You can read about it in detail here: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/chinas-hegemony/9780231179744

Though note that the term “Hegemony” is an approximation of the original term.)

Fusion Korean Dramas, BTW: - Arang and the Magistrate--this mixes Mugyo (religion) with imported Chinese religion about the Jade Emperor, which attested is probably around late Goryeo to Early Joseon--honestly in Korean lore not used that much.)

- The Moon that Embraces the Sun- This is an Alt history drama based on a book which uses Mugyo as the center.

- Kingdom is also a Korean fantasy Historical drama

I should note that Scarlet Heart Ryeo was a remake and not loved in Korea that much for that reason. (It’s a remake of Bu Bu Xin, but I should also make clear that China and Japan have also imported and remade Korean dramas) Japan imported not to much success, “You’re Beautiful” (which was from the Hong Sisters. China did a few knock-offs of “Coffee Prince”, but have also officially imported other dramas from Korea.)-- As I said, The East Asian system of cultural trade is still ongoing.

And so on. The Hong sisters themselves also did fantasy and Historical dramas in the past but combined their skills for this one:

- Hong Gil Dong was a historical drama they did, which bordered on Fantasy at times. (Referenced Chinese ghosts, BTW--Hong Sisters like international influences)

- My Girlfriend is a Gumiho

- Hotel Del Luna

- Master’s Sun

Each time they tackled the occult they mainly used Korean native religions. Mago, for example is a native Korean Goddess. And Master’s Sun uses Mugyo.

For this one, they used a kinda of mishmash of various religions. For example, the concepts of souls is very loosely taken from Mugyo. The “Other continent” parallel, is loosely taken from the imported version of the Jade Emperor mythology, etc. It’s a whole fantasy world that’s made up.

Explaining Mugyo is a chore because it’s so complicated, especially on the concept of souls. So you’ll have to trust me on this one. But a portion of the soul swapping is Mugyo in feel.

To be clear, for those who are totally ignorant of Chinese Xianxia, the *majority* of the mythology of Xianxia has a backbone in Taoism. For the entirely ignorant, this is where you get the idea of “Balance” “Yin-yang” etc. And also where the hatred towards women with curly hair, freckles, and dark skin comes from. The second backbone of Xianxia in mythology is Buddhism, which you can see in the usage of monks, prayer beads, often the *objects* in the dramas (such as lotus, etc) and the concepts of reincarnation, demons, levels of hell, etc. The last backbone is the Jade Emperor Mythos, which is natively Chinese. Sometimes, very rarely Xianxia will also include parts of Wu Jiao, which is the native Shamanistic religion, which was forced underground because of suppression and varies, much like other shamanistic religions by region and throughout time. This is sometimes seen in the belief of spirits/evil spirits, etc, and was somewhat supplanted by Taoism later in history, but pure Wu Jiao is a lot more rare in Xianxia dramas.

The last thing you should know is how the martial arts are used in K-dramas (because of the accusation about Wuxia) is different. I know this isn’t very accurate, but a lot of Xianxia and Wuxia tend to defy gravity more, and I tend to think about it more like “Wind”. House of Flying Daggers, for example, exemplifies this a lot. Of course Stephen Chow set in modern times in “Kung Fu Hustle” tends not to have this as much, but Xianxia and Wuxia doesn’t tend to take from him. TT (I don’t get why not).

Korean martial arts tends to be more “gravity bound” so the jumps aren’t as high, there’s more dust thrown around and the element I tend to think of is “Earth”. You can particularly see this in the movie “Arahan” dust flying everywhere and “Superhero landings” (one knee with fist to the ground) as called in the US is something Korean love aesthetically.

I know this is weird, but I tend to think of the element of “Water” for Japanese Martial Arts. “Ice” and “fluidity” and the whole concept of Jo-Ha-Kyu somehow strikes more more like water. The quickness, the Kurosawa pause-sword fall, and how one has to move. (Also much more Earth bound, but the bounding over rooftops is a running affair of invisible legs often like water, whereas China it’s mostly like running and then tons of aerials, rather than parallel jumping.)

Not saying “Superiority” here, but if you pay attention, the martial arts is different in feel and the wire work is different. (in general, not specifically, because ya know, exceptions and parodies, etc)

Mu Deok is using a Jeolla accent. lol My Maternal side is from Jeolla. It's not a very good one, but I think that's the point... (My nitpicks are on the inflection which is terrible and she should be holding the vowels longer on some word)- Short hair for men wasn't possible until late Joseon.

If you want to pick it out: Yuuuu (lower in tone and held) and the Keundi are indications.

The inflection is usually like a rolling hill (with words like Keundi at the bottom of the hill), but the acting of the inflection makes it really flat. (Oddly flatter than Seoulmal... which is why it feels like a put on.)

TT Netflix over translating lines is the bane of my life. I caught two already. They turned a negative statement into a positive. And they took out "pabo" out of one of the translated lines. They messed up a few lines so changed "Why are you using banmal with me" into "Use formal speech (Jeondaemal) with me" doesn't have the same bite. And you might think it doesn't matter, but it does. It does. And I don't care what native Koreans say. It does matter because the meaning shifts significantly. Screw English-speaker’s accessibility, care more about being true to what it means to increase cultural competency and disability access.

If you would like to continue to Episode 2, it is here:

https://www.asian-fiction.com/post/693059732535132160/cultural-notes-for-alchemy-of-souls-episode-2

#Korean dramas #cultural notes #alchemy of Souls

[chiskz]

CHICHI THEN VS CHICHI NOW - TWITTER THREAD

♡𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @alyszaen , @smh-anon , @neohyxn , @stealanity , @alixnsuperstxr , @kimcheon-sa , @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs , @qtnoaly

______________________

➥ 𝟏. 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍

The loudest situation with laughing at her Japanese accent occurred after her first live performance with Hellevator. Chichi took over W00jin's lines and according to her pronunciation, "Hellevator" sounded like "Herebeta", which agrees with the word's notation in katakana. A huge wave of criticism was then poured on Chichi. "Even non-English-speaking members pronounced it better. You are fluent in English, and you were defeated by one word? You should have stayed in Japan." From then on, Chichi gave up her lines and for a long time did not sing at all during the song.

𝐍𝐎𝐖

These days, her Japanese accent is no longer as audible when she speaks Korean or English. She has retained it only with some words, mainly when pronouncing group names (BTS -> BiTiEsu, TWICE -> TuAiSu, Stray Kids -> SuToRei Kizzu, etc.), but everyone now considers it her charming point. Funny, isn't it?

➥ 𝟐. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍

One of Chichi's habits (easily picked up) was confused blinking when someone in her presence spoke too fast in Korean. She also did this during variety shows when the rules of games were being explained. This was probably simply related to her not being able to understand everything.

𝐍𝐎𝐖

Now she does it much less often, being apparently more comfortable with the language.

➥ 𝟑. 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍

Chichi didn't speak much. She always tried to stand as far to the side or behind as possible, so that others would shadow her. This was also because virtually no questions were directed to her during interviews. On some videos, you can see her trying to say something, but quickly giving up. You can also find fragments from interviews where the fact that her microphone is turned off is clearly visible - Chichi sometimes didn't even turn it on.

𝐍𝐎𝐖

Chichi is currently one of the loudest members (together with Han they create pure chaos). She speaks freely in interviews when she has something to say. Even if she can't speak her thoughts in Korean, she tries anyway and uses word substitutions.

➥ 𝟒. 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍

During one of the behind-the-scenes recordings of Stray Kids' song, Chichi could be seen staring at a sheet of paper with the lyrics, then looking at Chan and saying something like "Shouldn't I.N sing this? I can't do it." Chan says she should try, but Chichi gives up after half a line, close to tears. Similar situations also occurred later, with Chichi often trying to give away her lines to other members.

𝐍𝐎𝐖

In the latest Channie's Room, the reason for Chichi's transfer to vocalracha was finally revealed - Chan wanted Chichi to sing more, because she is willing to and able to, but afraid of doing so. He didn't do it without her consent, of course, and as we can see, it worked out well for her. Chichi now sings much more often and more, but she finds herself better at rap, in Korean, which she was so afraid of. She has also released a solo digital album, where she mostly sings alone. Her voice is now considered one of the most distinctive in the kpop industry. She is also willing to take up singing during her lives.

➥ 𝟓. 𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍

Chichi was seen with Korean textbooks almost all the time and everywhere, at the airport or during group activities. She also often carried a dictionary with her. In Stray 9th, she could be seen transcribing Korean pronunciation into katakana so that she would be able to pronounce the words, which also probably translated into her audible Japanese pronunciation. She confessed that she continued to do so for some time after her debut.

𝐍𝐎𝐖

Now Chichi no longer uses them. As she confessed, she now feels much more comfortable with asking members for advice on language issues, something she used to be very shy about.

➥ 𝟔. 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍

Chichi found it quite difficult to control her stress on stage, except when she didn't have to sing, just dance. Her hands shook a lot when holding the microphone, causing her to often hold it much tighter than she should to cover it up.

𝐍𝐎𝐖

She no longer has any difficulty with this. Her stage presence is so on point, she is much more confident and watching her on stage is a pure experience.

➥ 𝟕. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍

Chichi did not know how to accept compliments, often denying them. She choreographed dances so that she herself was as invisible as possible.

𝐍𝐎𝐖

She has become really confident. She realizes her mistakes, admits them, and tries to correct them and keep improving. She is already able to occasionally give a killing part to herself during choreography.

➥ 𝟖. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍

Chichi keeps her hair short all the time. If we assume that the story shown in The Sound Story Ver. MV is her story then it is probably related to trauma.

𝐍𝐎𝐖

She still does it, except that now she's fine with hair extensions during photoshoots or video recordings.

➥ 𝟗. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍

I left the saddest for last. Chichi was not treated as a member of Stray Kids at all in the beginning. During fansigns, some fans skipped her completely going straight to the next member. Her photocards at one time were the cheapest, often sold for not even half the proper price, some of which were added as freebies to other orders. Also, for a while her name was omitted from fanchants. Fortunately, it was not a long period, but it was certainly very painful.

𝐍𝐎𝐖

Currently, Chichi is the most popular member in Japan, whose merch can be sold out in minutes. She is credited with collaborating with J-HOPE of BTS, is the first Korean person featured in Omosan Street Magazine, is the first female idol invited to SUGA's SUCHWITA and successfully sold out all the showcase slots for her first DIGITAL album. She was honored as an ambassador for Kawasaki city, and took part in one of the most popular recent series - Alice in Borderland.

《 ♡ 》

#stray kids 9th member #kpop addition #kpop added member #kpop oc #stray kids oc #idol oc #stray kids female oc #stray kids added member #stray kids addition #kpop extra member #stray kids extra member #fake kpop member #skz imagines

[lotus-soup-pot]

SKZ-Replay

I know I'm late to the party but here are my impressions of SKZ-Replay:

FAM (Korean Ver.): I loved that they used the concert footage for the music video, the boys seemed to have really fun and looked so happy, that listening and watching it made me also feel happy!

Connected (Bang Chan): Gosh Channie, no that was Christopher, singing in English got me weak. I especially like the phrase "we're pulling at each other like magnets" - it shows how little control you have over your attraction, you're naturally drawn to the other and once you connected nothing can separate you.

나지막이 Limbo (Lee Know): His falcetto gives me life!! I absolutely love this rock ballad. And the lyrics are just so beautiful - the pain of the bottled-up untold feelings and the recurring memories of the relationship that is no more there - The way Lee Know expresses these emotions through his vocals is heart touching. I hope we get more from Lee Know in terms of lyrics and composition, this song is truly beautiful.

DOODLE (Changbin): Changbin's rap!!! He's delivering the lines! While his rap is so gritty, I love the way he says "doodle" - it sounds so adorable and the effect this contrast causes sends shivers down my spine. And damn do I love the message of this song: Be yourself and don't let you restrict by the expectations and rules of others. Be the change you want instead of waiting that the world will change.

Love Untold (Hyunjin): I really love the way you immediately know this is a song written and composed by Hyunjin. The artsy choice of words, and the way he raps enhance the beauty of the song - the lyrics are so heartbreaking and at the same time painfully beautiful. "Maybe my universe was bright because of you and within it, I never lost my smile but in this world so dark, I can't even see my shadow" Hyunjin is so a romantic and I love it.

RUN (Han): Han showed once again that he can nail any genre. His lyrics always touch your heart and you just feel them. I think everybody had a phase in life where they want to run away, leave every problem, worry and responsibility behind, and just breathe without feeling suffocated.

Deep End (Felix): Help, how can a person have so different voices? His deep low voice, his sweet honey-like voice, and his breathy emotionally loaded falsetto, I love all of them. And I'm so so happy we got this beautiful masterpiece by Felix. I hope we can hear him sing more because his singing voice is just so beautiful and his versatile voice opens up so many possibilities in different genres. The desperation to want to be together once again with the person you love...

내려요 Stars and Raindrops (Seungmin): I love, love his voice. This song showcases his beautiful high tones and falsetto and just in general his amazing singing voice. Seungmin's calming yet emotional voice gives so much comfort. I easily can imagine this song as an OST for a K-Drama. And I love the metaphor of shining stars as the happy memories and the raindrops as the break-up. The regret, self-doubt, and self-criticism of the failing relationship and the bittersweetness of the happy times, all these thoughts swirling inside and eventually spilling over.

안아줄게요 Hug Me (I.N): It's so sweet and fluffy~ I'm just smiling and feeling good after listing to this song. Innie's voice matured the most of all the members and you can hear the confidence he has in his voice and how he has grown comfortable with his voice. I'm happy that I can hear Innie in vocal-focused songs because just like Seungminnie's voice I love Innie's voice too.

Each of the songs is beautiful in its own way and I love how each member could explore and showcase his musicality and we got to see new sides and talents of the boys.

My personal favourites are Deep End, Limbo, and Stars and Raindrops.

#skz replay #skz #stray kids #i love these guys #thank you for these wonderful songs #connected #bang chan #limbo #lee know #doodle #changbin #love untold #hyunjin #run #han #deep end #felix #stars and raindrops #seungmin #hug me #i.n