iseullgc

[iseullgc]

"maybe that's just how you react to pick up lines," he points out, laughing a little. he hasn't really tried too hard to flirt with minki lately, maybe because his heart does weird things when he does, but he doesn't think he needs to state that part aloud or anything. it's not like it's important information that minki needs to know or anything. definitely not.

iseul grins though, striking a thinking position with his fingers at his chin as he pretends to ponder the choices. "i mean ... there are some really good options in your group," he says, acting as if he's going through all the members and assessing the pros and cons of stanning them all. or something. he's not really.

there isn't really another choice for him, after all.

"as the hwang minki fanclub president, i have no choice but to stan the man himself," he says playfully, as if after careful consideration, shrugging like he has no choice.

"they won't! fanclub president's honour," he says, before he grabs his own phone and he leans in. "now let me show you how to take cuter poses so your fans can lose their minds."

— FIN —

“to gain the hearts of fans earlier into the game?” minki questions, but he also has a feeling it’s also because that’s how iseul’s personality is like on default too. “you still haven’t exposed me to a pick-up line that worked on me, by the way. the last time you tried all it did was make me happy. nothing got me flustered yet!” honestly, minki can’t remember the last time he was properly flustered in that sense though. he always found himself too busy… or dense… to think about it.

minki raises an eyebrow, as if questioning iseul’s bold statement of being the fanclub president. “then i guess this session is also special treatment for you, as my fanclub president.” he finds the notion hilarious, really. “so you’re saying you’re never going to look at the other members? hm, i find that kind of hard to believe…” he’s saying all this in jest, of course. he would never dictate his placement on iseul’s tier list.

he pretends to be shocked, hand over his mouth, as iseul implies the possibility that the other boy would leak this information. “you’ve broken my trust… you’ll have to demote yourself from your position. you can’t be president anymore!”

minki lets out a dramatic sigh. “if these photos somehow end up with dispatch, i’ll know it was you!”

[iseullgc]

"yeah, i covered it in a dance group before i was a trainee," he explains easily, not really having anything to hide. he's sure if people looked hard enough, they could find his covers online in the depths of youtube history somewhere. he doesn't remember if they had posted it, now that he thinks about it, but he has a feeling they might've. back when his friend group had had dreams of going viral on youtube or something like that.

he nods slowly, thinking about outfits now that they've been mentioned in conversation. it's not that he thinks he's good at that stuff, but he thinks the vibe is important enough that maybe they need to play into it more.

"i think i should definitely have a leather jacket or something," iseul comments, scrolling through youtube to see if he could find the performance he thought he remembered watching years ago. "maybe ... fishnets? or ripped tights for you?" he says, careful since he's not sure if he's using the right words for the clothing pieces he's thinking of.

her words make him nod again, thankful that his own voice is also in a higher range and therefore would suit the tone of the original too. "i think i shouldn't have too much problem either," he says, humming the part he would be singing. "it's in my range so i think we should be fine. though, i guess we'll have to run it through a few times live, after we learn the choreography, to make sure we do well."

“have you tried the choreography before?” a brow raises curiously. it wasn’t that the song, itself, was out of lili’s realm of expertise but she had never been the street cover performer type. her strengths lay elsewhere, attempt and execution pending. 

she nods, agreeing to his sentiments. outfits also played a role in setting the mood and the overall stage of a performance. while being overly sensual hadn’t been the plan going into this evaluation, lili can’t help but deduct similar concepts from the original piece. “did you have any suggestions? i’m honestly not for the grunge vibe but …. if we must…” lili tries not to make a face in light of being a team player.

“we only have two minutes but i think we’ll be able to pull it off. thankfully, it’s in my range so i won’t have to do too much tweaking when it comes down to it. what do you think?”

[iseullgc]

LGC GROUP EVALUATION / CHO ISEUL

earth, wind and fire was a choreography he had learned for fun because he had wanted to support mzsd and didn't know how else to do it aside from streaming the songs.

dangerous was definitely the song that he had the most confidence in performing, despite his affinity to earth, wind and fire. he enjoyed both songs and had a blast performing earth, wind and fire but he felt the most confident when he was performing dangerous.

it was something about the vibe of the song, even though he's not sure what type of concept he would want for his own debut. he thinks classy is fun though and he's always like haru and their songs.

he thinks that the general vibe of dangerous was something that he admired from haru to begin with, which meant that he tried his best to emulate that same feeling when he was performing it.

though, admittedly, he thinks that his own personality probably fits earth, wind and fire the most.

hard was, pun not entirely intended, was a bit harder for him. he's not sure if it was the vibe of the song or the song itself, but he had a bit more trouble with getting into the groove of things for that performance than the first two which he enjoyed a lot.

honestly he thinks he probably went from the song that he was the best in to the song that he wasn't as good in, even if he hopes that he had done well in all the group performances in general.

he knows he performed the choreography correctly, he just wasn't sure if he had given the correct vibes for hard, specifically.

he definitely thought he shone the most during dangerous though, considering it was his favourite.

[iseullgc]

after reviewing the song, and multiple others, it was pretty easy to see that now was probably one of the better choices between all the songs they had come up with to review together. it highlighted both of their strengths, and hopefully would allow them to empower each other in this performance.

thankfully, that's something that they agreed on.

"yeah," iseul agrees easily, taking out the earbud to stretch his arms over his head, muscles itching to attempt the choreography already. it's a dance he had learned years and years ago, back when it had been popular and he wonders how much he would remember from muscle memory alone. the foggy memories of learning the song with his dance friends back in canada bring up feelings he had thought he had buried long ago, and he pushes them away for now.

the vibe of now by troublemaker fits him well too, and the original singer has a similar vocal tone to him so he thinks they would be able to do well in this evaluation. "i think we can pull it off if we nail the overall sound and vibe, so we'll have to think of outfits too eventually."

୨୧     BEFORE THE STARLIGHT DISAPPEARS     —     @iseullgc

lili doesn’t play well with others — at least she thought she didn’t until she finds herself meeting her match in the form of cho iseul. while it would be far-fetched to say they were two sides of the same coin, lili finds it hard to find any sense of incompetence in his wake — his first green flag, she thinks.

so, she sets aside her familiar prickly nature for a more … team-player appropriate persona; retracting her claws and fangs for a smile and peaceful branches in the form of bottled waters. if the cap is closed, he couldn’t possibly think she poisoned it, right? ( not that she would, her excelling at this evaluation also depended on how well he did as well )

“mm,” she hums, reviewing the audio files they had downloaded on the laptop in front of them; pulling the earbud from her lobe to have her words fully resonate without the interfering buzz of the song echoing in her ear. “so we’re in agreement, yes? now by troublemaker would probably suit us the best? since we’re trying to show off our strengths without overpowering each other …”

[iseullgc]

he rolls his eyes, all too aware that haru was well-known for his acting skills and yadda yadda. also, once again, he knows that haru wouldn't have agreed to come and meet him to hang out if he hadn't wanted to. not with how busy of a schedule the other had. he's sure that haru wouldn't have wanted to spend a day off spending time with someone he doesn't like.

at least, iseul would never. he didn't have the patience for that.

"crane games, gotcha," iseul agrees, though he's never been to great at those. he has money to spare though, if they blow through the original bit that he had brought for them to start with. he doesn't really care, not when his account is so full of money that he doesn't spend.

"let's start with those then and then we can go do some arcade games after? we can do like,. the mario kart bikes or something. maybe that zombie shooting game ..." he rattles off a few more that he's interested as he leads the way over to the claw machines, indicating for haru to pick the one he wanted once they're there. "ladies first," he teases, pushing the other forward. "what plushie are you aiming for?"

"you're right," haru agrees easily with a calm nod of his head before he glances at iseul sideways. "i tolerate you," is what he clarifies with, pretending to be completely serious and taking advantage of the mask covering the lower half of his face for a few moments before letting out a laugh, instantly breaking his act.

he pulls his mask down slightly as he feels the bills in his hand next then looks down, smile growing wider. "thanks for delivering the goods," he snorts and pockets the money for now so he doesn't drop or lose it.

"what do you want to do first? i don't remember the last time i came to one." haru wonders if anything has changed since he last visited an arcade, like if any new games had been added or if anything's been removed. "i kind of want to do some crane games though," he admits.

[iseullgc]

"technically i just meant to a cafe anywhere," he says with a shrug, glancing at her in amusement. he's glad that the idea seems to be one that works though, when the two kids perk up immediately because of sori's words to them. he doesn't say anything else but he does wave at the kids as they escape leave.

he tugs his mask up a little, not wanting to get caught and get in trouble or anything, since he really is just friends with her but he's also very aware that she's an idol.

at least, they can easily clarify that there's nothing romantic happening between them and mention the kids if anything arises from it. the situation that they've found themselves in is an amusing one though, he'll admit. considering that it really wasn't anything they could control, iseul actually thinks it's hilarious, he won't lie.

"okay, deal, you can't back out," iseul jokes, though he had originally been planning to pay but he guesses he had gotten them out of the situation at hand. he waves at the kids as they leave though, knowing they were watching and he laughs a little to himself. "how did you get yourself into that?" he asks, amused and wondering if they had ambushed her or if she had known them.

iseullgc

"they're listening to our conversation too," he replies with a quiet sigh, wondering how he got put into these types of situations truly. he glances subtly at the kids, who are standing listening distance away and trying their hardest to pretend to not be paying attention while very obviously listening with all of their might. iseul can't help but laugh, honestly, because they're kids. which makes this entire situation very funny and somewhat adorable. he's never had random kids try to set him up on a date before, that's for sure. this is a first. at least he knew sori already. and this isn't awkward. not really. he makes a sound, thoughts whirring as he tries to think of a way to get rid of the kids without it looking like they needed to escape but also in a way that would actually get rid of them. "i mean, we could ... try to leave? i don't think they can follow us too far, their parents are probably around here." but that also brings up the part of them being seen together, and he doesn't want to stir up any problems for her in public, even if both of their faces are hidden. "we can go ... get coffee or something. then it looks like a date to the kids? and hopefully it's far enough away they'll stop watching us. i dunno. do you have any ideas?"

sori kind of just hopes this is the first and last time such thing will happen. sori’s never been one for blind dates, always saying no when friends requested to put her on one. this is the closest sori has ever been to a blind date, and she honestly wouldn’t call this a blind date, more like… a weird way of meeting someone she hadn’t seen in a while. as much as sori lately has been a bit regretful how little attention she’s given romance, as someone who’s only been an idol for a year, she knows dating won’t be in her life for a while.

sori is thinking of an escape plan, how to escape these girls playing matchmakers, who seem too interested in their little game. iseul is quicker at coming up with a plan though, and it’s not a bad plan, sori does want to catch up with the other now that they finally meet again.

“while i don’t like coffee, i think your idea is good” she nods her head “we could get juice, or tea or something? i’ll pay” she shows a smile to the other before turning around to look at the two girls who are still standing and listening “thanks for the matchmaking, we’ll be going on a date, so we’ll need some private time”.

[iseullgc]

"they're listening to our conversation too," he replies with a quiet sigh, wondering how he got put into these types of situations truly. he glances subtly at the kids, who are standing listening distance away and trying their hardest to pretend to not be paying attention while very obviously listening with all of their might.

iseul can't help but laugh, honestly, because they're kids. which makes this entire situation very funny and somewhat adorable. he's never had random kids try to set him up on a date before, that's for sure. this is a first.

at least he knew sori already. and this isn't awkward. not really.

he makes a sound, thoughts whirring as he tries to think of a way to get rid of the kids without it looking like they needed to escape but also in a way that would actually get rid of them. "i mean, we could ... try to leave? i don't think they can follow us too far, their parents are probably around here." but that also brings up the part of them being seen together, and he doesn't want to stir up any problems for her in public, even if both of their faces are hidden.

"we can go ... get coffee or something. then it looks like a date to the kids? and hopefully it's far enough away they'll stop watching us. i dunno. do you have any ideas?"

iseullgc

considering that he's practicing for a few things right now, he decides that he deserves a break on one of the days that he's not as busy. so he goes out for a walk, to get some coffee without having to think about choreography and lyrics and stuff, just wanting to clear his brain so he can return to everything with an empty mind and renewed focus. or something like that. he's settled on a bench, feeling glad for his relative freedom today even if he should probably head back to practice soon when he's kinda ambushed by two kids, dragging along someone familiar behind them. his eyes widen slightly when they say why they've brought her over, and iseul does a double take seeing sori in front of him. it's been literal ages since the last time they spoke, though he's never really sure if he should be approaching any of the debuted idols in legacy anymore. "hi?" he greets, a little thrown off by what the kids were saying. "wait, why are we being forced to talk?" he asks, confused.

had two adults dragged her along she would’ve been screaming thinking she was going to be kidnapped, but when two kids dragged her along after asking if she had a boyfriend, all she could be was confused. originally she thought, hey maybe they want an autograph, but then they asked the question ‘do you have a boyfriend?’ and sori had to sit there confused and give them an answer, no she did not.

the condusedment kept growing as she was being dragged around until they at last found what seemed to be their other target, pushing sori their way and then for the kids to walk a bit away, but close enough to be able to monitor her conversation with the person they had dragged her over to.

“not entirely sure but… before dragging me over here they asked if i had a boyfriend… and then they told me that you match me, so my guess is they’ve put us on a blind date without asking either of us if we want to go on a blind date” she shrugs. “what a coincidence they’ve brought me along to someone i know, it’s been ages since we last saw, wasn’t it?”. 

sori looks briefly back at the matchmakers before returning her look to iseul again “how do you think we’ll be able to get rid of them? as much as i’d like to talk with you again, it feels a bit weird when there’s two kids staring this much at us”. 

[iseullgc]

DEBUT EVALUATION PERFORMANCE / CHO ISEUL

PART 1: FIRST LOVE (UTADA HIKARU)

he had chosen this song because he's fluent in both english and korean, having grown up bilingual but this was one of the first songs he had heard in japanese. it's a slower song so he had been able to practice it and not think about dancing while singing it.

PART 2: NALINA (DBSD)

he wanted to showcase his weaker skills, so he had specifically chosen a song with more rap and singing. because of this, he didn't learn the choreography despite there being one for this performance.

HEADCANONS

considering that he is dance focused and just generally a dancer himself, he struggled a little when he forced himself not to learn the dance and practice all the other skills instead. he hasn't done any rapping in a long time, since it's not something he thought he would do well at, and this has reinforced that thought. but nalina is a good song despite how much he doesn't think he's good at performing it and he's grown to like how it sounds solely in his voice after practicing it for so long.

he was much more confident in the singing parts, for both parts of the performance, though he'll admit that his japanese isn't great. though it's part of the challenge, so he had brushed up on it and referenced back to the original song quite a few times before being satisfied with his own pronunciation.

he also struggled a bit in picking a song, mostly because he had been unsure of which genre he should go for. the songs that he's prepared before have all been upbeat and with a cooler vibe, so he had wanted to continue down that round, but part of him had wondered if he should branch out and try a more refreshing vibe.

in the end though, he's relatively satisfied with the performances. he won't deny that his slightly perfectionist side will never really be able to be fully satisfied, but he's more pleased with himself than maybe if he had done a dance performance.

he learned that despite his own misgivings, he can do anything he puts his mind to. not wanting to rap but still managing to give a rap performance that he's not too disappointed in is something he had never thought would be possible but he had managed to pull it off.

[iseullgc]

DEBUT EVALUATION INTERVIEW / CHO ISEUL

when he goes to do the interview for the debut thing, he takes a while looking through all the questions that they had to answer. it doesn't surprise him that these are the things that are being asked, considering that it's possible that they would only need specific positions to be added to existing groups.

he worries at his bottom lip for a long time, knowing he wanted to debut but unsure if he would be able to handle rejection a third time.

he's sure if he asked anyone they would tell him yes, it's worth it. that it's just another learning experience. but part of him doesn't know if he could handle rejection again?

in the same vein though, iseul really does want to debut and if this is the next step to take ... he can't really say no, can he?

he starts the video quietly, getting into position after pressing record. he's not sure how professional it's supposed to be, but he guesses he can ask if he can edit the video after he finished filming it. and if not, then they get the raw footage—him pressing record and all.

if you were assigned a position, what role would you naturally take — vocals, dance, rap, or something else? and how would you feel if you didn’t get the position you had in mind?

he swallows before letting himself just speak freely, having looking over the questions ahead of time to figure out what he wanted to say roughly. "i would hope to fall into the main or lead dancer category," iseul starts, thinking of all the hours he had put into dancing since he had taken that one class years and years ago as a child. "dance has always been my biggest passion, so it would be really nice to be able to focus on that and be able to shine with that. but i also don't mind if i got a vocal position, since i've been working really hard on vocals recently. i was told to practice it more, so i've been doing my best to focus on that too."

thinking about the second part of the question though, iseul hesitates for a moment before answering truthfully. "i don't think i would be a good rapper, if i'm honest. i could probably learn if i had to though, but my vocal tone doesn't really suit it, i don't think."

out of everything ( training, competition, public image ), what part of idol life worries you the most?

"i think public image worries me a bit, if only because i talk a lot and i sometimes just say things without meaning it," iseul admits, laughing a little. he knows he has a bit of a rough personality, but he guesses that if he ends up debuting with people he considers friends it probably wouldn't be too bad.

"i have full faith in my future members and managers to keep me in check though."

would you rather be someone known for talent, personality, or presence? why?

he thinks about this one for a little bit because he feels like he could go with any of the answers and possibly be satisfied. "i think my personality would be the best way to go," he says once he's considered all the options, hoping that the beat of silence wouldn't be an issue for the higher ups watching the video.

"since i would consider that my talent lies within dancing, i would always be a bit worried that if i were to suffer an injury or something, that could put me out of commission permanently, right? or singing ... a lot of people's voices change as they age and what if my tone changes and what people liked me for during debut is my original tone? i think with my personality, i could go into mcing or hosting eventually and hopefully make a lasting impression on the industry there."

pausing for a second, he grins cheekily at the camera. "though, i do want to be known for my dancing skills. don't get me wrong!"

(TEAM UNKNOWN) what have you learned from past evaluations or near-debut experiences?

"i feel like i've learned discipline, and how to time manage a lot better," he says, deciding to go with the positive aspect instead of what the more pessimistic side of him wants him to say. he shrugs a little bit, "and i've learned that i have to keep my head held high no matter how an evaluation goes. to just keep going and doing my best."

what’s your perception of the currently debuted groups?

"i think they're all doing really great!" he answers, nodding because it's true. he's a fan of most of the legacy groups and with the new generation debuting, he's actually friends with a few of the members in them too. it's great to see his friends thriving and he can only hope that it will be his turn soon too. "i really admire that they all bring their own vibe to the table, and that each member is important to the group. i hope that once i debut i'll be able to bring my own colour to whichever team i'm in too."

once he's done answering, he gets up and goes to stop the camera from recording. he watches it over and shrugs a bit. there isn't really much he can do with an interview and he just hopes that it all goes well for him this time.

[iseullgc]

considering that he's practicing for a few things right now, he decides that he deserves a break on one of the days that he's not as busy. so he goes out for a walk, to get some coffee without having to think about choreography and lyrics and stuff, just wanting to clear his brain so he can return to everything with an empty mind and renewed focus.

or something like that.

he's settled on a bench, feeling glad for his relative freedom today even if he should probably head back to practice soon when he's kinda ambushed by two kids, dragging along someone familiar behind them.

his eyes widen slightly when they say why they've brought her over, and iseul does a double take seeing sori in front of him. it's been literal ages since the last time they spoke, though he's never really sure if he should be approaching any of the debuted idols in legacy anymore.

"hi?" he greets, a little thrown off by what the kids were saying. "wait, why are we being forced to talk?" he asks, confused.

playing matchmakers

sori has very mixed feelings about kids, sure sometimes they’re fun, mostly they’re not. sori’s never been great with kids, not even when she was a kid herself. they’re just so… unpredictable, and they have no filter, they lie about things they shouldn’t lie about, and tell the truth about things where they should’ve just kept quiet about. as the youngest sibling, she’s never had to take care of a younger sibling, and her younger cousins she rarely saw, there wasn’t a lot of kids in sori’s life.

with the summer hitting, warmer weather has come, and once practice was finished sori went to go for a walk, after some time she ended up at the park and found a bench to sit on. she’s looking at her phone, reading some texts from a brother when she’s suddenly hit with a ‘hi’. sori looks up from her phone to find two young kids, probably twelve or something, staring at her. at first she thinks they know who she is and wants and autograph or photo or something, but then they speak again “do you have a boyfriend?”.

sori finds herself confused as hell, silent for a bit before she shakes her head “uh… no?” she finally manages to get out. “we’re playing matchmakers, we’ll find you one!” they say, and sori wants to run away “uh i’m not inter-” but before she can finish they grab her hands and drags her away. they’re looking very carefully around, and sori looks for a moment where she can escape. when the two kids let go of her hands to whisper sori figures she can escape, only for them to once again grab her hands and drag her.

“he matches you!” they say, pointing at a dude sitting in front of them all “go talk!” they say, both stepping a bit back. “uh i’m sorry… i don’t know what they’re doing. wait-- iseul? is that you? we haven’t seen each other in ages”.

GO! @iseullgc

[iseullgc]

he does catch the smallest change in rowon's expression, though it doesn't click right away why that would be. iseul's never claimed to be the smartest or anything, and his nerves are a little fried right now at the sudden interrogation.

when rowon starts completing names that start with min, iseul tries his very best not to react to any of them even when his friend actually says minki's name.

instead, he swallows his mouthful of chicken and takes another bite.

"there's a lot of min names," he tries to say, the most nonchalant of nonchalance, before he realizes that they're strayed off of that topic for now. and hopefully never approaching it again because he's totally going to slip up if rowon keeps heckling him. which is probably why rowon is heckling him to begin with. but that's neither here nor there.

"what?" he asks, looking around for the actual cat in the room. before he remembers what he had done earlier. "yes? no? i dunno what you're looking at."

it’s kind of funny how quickly his face drops at the mention of min even though he knows it’s a different min from his own. ( but what if? the unreasonable side of him chides. what if it’s the same person? you said it yourself that it could be—hush. )

“min—who?” the mischievous glint in his eye is all the warning rowon gives before launching himself at iseul to tickle torture a confession out of him. “min—who? out with it, iseul. minsu? minhyuk? … min … ki?” damn, there’s a lot of min’s here. “i’m not letting you go ‘til you—”

he pauses.

squints.

there, plastered against the table is something that definitely wasn’t there when he cleaned this morning. it’s dark and strangely shaped, almost like a spider, except not … wait, is that … “is that a cat?” when did that get there? and more importantly: whomst the fuck?

[iseullgc]

WHAT IF ... / CHO ISEUL

if iseul had never become a trainee at legacy, he would've been following his original dream and journey to become a professional chef and then possibly going into becoming a private chef for some celebrity or someone who would want to pay him for his services.

he would've gone to europe to go to culinary school at le cordon bleu since his family background is wealthy enough to have helped him pay for that.

he's always been very interested in culinary arts and would've loved to learn from all the greatest master chefs in the area.

culinary school probably would've been very tough for him but still rewarding, since he's actively learning about something that he's passionate about. he probably wouldn't have time to think about dance, but that's something that he will (hopefully) have more time for down the line. but he has to focus on learning all the different skills and techniques that will help him when he works in a restaurant later.

after graduating from culinary school, he would probably move to the states to work in a few different restaurants to really hone his craft. he would start as a line cook and move up to being sous chef before eventually becoming the head chef at a restaurant he had spent years working at.

i think that after working as the head chef at a michelin star restaurant for a few years, he would get burnt out and quit for a while. this would probably be when he started looking to be a private chef instead, starting with a small catering business before he finds a client that wants him to just be their private chef.

he would stay with that family and happily live his dream of cooking for a living and still having some time for himself outside of it.

maybe he would start filming this and get a following on tiktok/youtube and then eventually come out with a cookbook of easy recipes that he reuses or something.

[iseullgc]

"why do you think i've been posting the way i have on instagram?" he points out, laughing a little. they had a conversation once, ages ago, about the pick up lines he used in the captions of his instagram posts. he hopes one day that he'll be allowed to post as much as he wants, and won't be limited to just posting on the company instagram that's mandated for trainees. actually, it would probably be nice to have his own official one one day but that's neither here nor there right now.

rolling his eyes, iseul shakes his head and takes the phone back from minki to swipe through the pictures the other has taken so far, humming a little as he looks them over. he's taking this class as seriously as he can, considering he's with one of his best friends and really, they're mostly just fooling around under the guise of a 'master class'.

"i don't think it'll be that easy to steal your fans," he says, amused at the thought. "i'm sure you'll have some super loyal ones that won't be swayed," he says, mostly serious before he casts a glance at his friend. "like me. i'm fan club president, of course."

it amuses him though, when minki says that he doesn't get called cute often, considering iseul thinks his friend's personality is the epitome of cute. he guesses not everyone is as privy to this information as he is.

he lets out a laugh, pursing his lips and resting his chin on his fist in a mock thinking pose. "aaaaand ... what will happen if i leak this information?"

minki thinks it’s kind of ironic, that iseul is teaching him all about what he should do once he debuts, fanservice that he’s supposed to perform. surely there’s a proper class all about this—there is, but minki isn’t exactly the model student when it comes to the material. besides, having to practice all this in a professional setting has been rather… awkward. so it’s nice, having someone he deems close to helping out.

“you really have all this figured out, don’t you?” minki isn’t all too surprised, it’s iseul after all—whatever that means. “you have all this down and ready once you debut. from there, you can probably steal our fans just from fanservice alone.” he jokes, but there’s some truth to that. not that he’s complaining.

he thinks iseul is basically already a good enough idol for the future, hoping that his friend would get the opportunity he so clearly deserves later down the road.

“i’ll sign a bunch—but you should keep one for yourself, or i’d feel offended and stop signing anything that you give me,” he nudges iseul with an elbow, followed by a laugh. “i do wonder how high the market would go for a signed photocard though.” what a mystery.

and then iseul calls him cute—an unexpected compliment. “really? that’s the first i’ve heard of it. i don’t usually get people calling me cute these days!” he did have some sort of growth spurt and started hitting the gym more often. that changes people’s perspectives.

“okay, you’re the only one who gets to see these spoilers though. so don’t share with anyone else!” he warns, wagging a finger in front of iseul.

[iseullgc]

the sudden admission from his friend is an unexpected one, mostly because he knows rowon likes to keep his secrets. it's surprising, and even though he's aware that his friend is probably actively baiting him, he falls for it anyway.

"there's no way," iseul stutters, almost choking on the chicken he hurries to swallows, waving the bone around like it's a baton and not something that was just in his mouth.

he's always been a little dramatic.

"i don't think you've ever met min—" he cuts himself off abruptly this time, pointing the bone at the other this time, realizing his mistake belatedly. "anyways." he coughs, not knowing how to cover up his slipup and just eating the rest of the chicken drumstick sullenly.

as the great alchemist alphonse elric once said—one cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. that is the law of equivalent exchange.

it’s rare for rowon to disclose intimate details about himself. he keeps people at a distance, keeps them thinking. if he’s sharing any story in exchange, most of it would be fabricated to make it sound like he can relate a lot more.

but iseul knows him. rowon can’t outright lie.

“there’s someone i’m interested in too.” he lets this linger between them, this admission that he hasn’t spoken to anyone else about. a part of him almost regrets it. for some strange reason, saying it out loud makes it feel more real and, consequently, more susceptible to being stolen. “perhaps it’s the same person.”

it’s not, but he’s curious how iseul would react.

[iseullgc]

"yeah, i'll start taking pictures of your photocard with the food i eat and stuff," he says, sounding very amused though honestly? he would totally do it for the bit. it would be even funnier if someone saw him doing it once he's debuted, but that's still just a pipe dream.

for now, he'll just amuse himself by being minki's tutor in all things idol.

he laughs a little, and he thinks he would do that anyway. "would you sign a photocard for me?" iseul asks, eyes bright with laughter and he looks very pleased with himself. "i won't sell it i swear," he adds after a moment, playful and teasing but he's always been this way with minki. maybe more so because it's minki but that's not something he wants to look into right now.

he makes a soft sound and he glances at minki, watching the other as he pulls up the pose that he had told him to do.

oh.

why is he cute.

iseul has to take a moment to shake him out of the stupor that had settled over him before he can answer. "yeah i think that works," he nods, very seriously considering the other's expression. he tilts his head and holds up his fingers to form a makeshift camera, closing one eye to look at minki's face.

"i mean ... as your coach, i think i deserve the spoilers," he grins, playful and teasing. "since i'm not charging you for my services, you know?"

“really? okay, well… since i know you’ll be collecting, i should do my best now.” minki plays along, as usual. then again, he always had trouble saying no in general. it’s even more difficult when it’s iseul. sometimes he does want to see what happens when something doesn’t go iseul’s way, if iseul will try to fight for it or if he’d pout—but he should save that for later. definitely not when it comes to the art of posing for photocards.

minki blinks though, when iseul mentions putting a photocard on the back of his phone. “oh, right, that’s a thing,” minki says, sounding like he’s kind of impressed. “does that mean you’d be carrying me everywhere?” that’d be a little amusing. “i heard there’s cute photocard holders out there that you can put me in.” he has seen a few designs, some of them strapped onto the bags of a few trainees in legacy.

as iseul delivers his review, minki listens diligently. there’s no point if he doesn’t take this seriously after all. “i didn’t realize my hand was shaking that much.” instead of trying again with the camera, minki turns to iseul and poses exactly as iseul has instructed, puffing out his cheek a little more this time. he stays like that for a while, giving iseul a moment to asses, before he relaxes his face muscles.

“what about like that? was that good enough?” minki asks. “i wish someone else could just hold the camera, maybe it’d be easier. but i guess that makes it a lot less personal? i’m not sure,” minki hums. “hey, doesn’t this mean you’re getting free spoilers to my future photocards? that sounds kind of special.”

[iseullgc]

MODELLING PORTFOLIO / CHO ISEUL

3 words to describe your image? loud, hyperactive, refreshing

3 words to describe your personality? extroverted, bubbly, talkative

3 interests of yours? video editing, choreography, vlogging

3 special skills/talents? can talk really fast, can build a computer from scratch, all animals seem to like him

Which color would you give to your aura? baby blue

3 products that fit your image? sportswear, soju, fast food

3 products that don’t fit your image? luxury cars, whiskey, underwear

[iseullgc]

"honestly, big mood," iseul agrees, probably too casually. it feels like they're all running on empty right now, especially with the big showcase coming up and iseul is no different. it's been relatively fun to get to practice these songs and also to be travelling for this tour but part of him wants more sleep.

he yawns, stretching his arms above his head and cracking his back. the sound is loud but it feels good, and he sighs as he lowers his arms back to his sides.

he shrugs a little, glad they had grabbed food together and he makes a sound under his breath. "just the usual, you know," he says, sighing. "practice, practice, practice?"

𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒎𝒃 —

written for 𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐥 ( @iseullgc ) ♡

Kentaro flops sideways onto the lounge's seat with a dramatic groan, half-buried in a hoodie that didn’t belong to him and smells vaguely like his dormmate's laundry detergent.

“I think my blood is 90% convenience store coffee right now,” he mumbles. “If I don’t blink for too long, I can hear colors. And I really mean it. Hear colors.”

There's the clatter of retrieving his chopsticks against a bowl, then he presses it against his hands, finally something steaming and homemade and not triangle-shaped. He's been awful at keeping up with trainee life, missing practice and workshops... It's been bad. "What are you up to today, Iseul?"