#...what does south Korea have besides K-pop? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kirakiraaa42 · 8 months

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Chapter I - Chance encounter

JANUARY 2023

THURSDAY

Seoul, South Korea

It was 2 pm in the afternoon, in a coffee shop. A certain young man is just sitting at his table, with an iced choco drink beside a pile of what seemed to be like schoolworks.

A certain woman was also in the coffee shop as well. She just finished dance practice with the other members of her group, and was feeling hungry after hours of doing routines and correcting some errors in the choreography.

After she grabs her coffee and doughnut from the counter, she notices the young man at his table. While holding the plate of doughnut and iced coffee, feeling bold, she comes up to the young man and tries to strike up a conversation with him.

"Hello! Is this seat taken?" The woman says, pointing at the empty seat next to him.

The young man looks up at the woman, and responds politely.

"Eh? Oh, uh... sure! Please sit down." The young man moves the empty seat slightly to give space to the woman.

"Thank you very much!" The woman then sits down beside the man, and responds back politely. A few seconds of awkwardness fills the air for a while.

While enjoying her iced coffee, the woman just looks around the coffee shop with her big, beautiful eyes. She then looks at the young man beside her, just doing his schoolworks.

"Hey!" She taps his shoulder lightly. "I see you've been busy."

The young man turns to her, and drops his pen for a while. "Oh, sorry... I was so caught up in my schoolwork that I forgot you were there, haha."

"It's okay! I know you're pretty hardworking and smart, just by looking at that pile of paper you got over there, hehe." The woman points to the pile of paper that the young man has on his table.

"Oh, by the way..." She brushes a few strands of her hair to the side so that the young man could see her glowing face. "I'm Momo. Hirai Momo." She offers her hand for him to shake, while looking at him with those big and beautiful eyes again.

The young man was a bit astounded at the woman's beauty. Though, he managed to be friendly and welcoming towards her, as he shook her hand. "Oh, you're Momo? From that K-pop girl group, TWICE?"

"Yes, I am Momo from TWICE. It seems you are already familiar with me, though! Are you ONCE?" She asks as she lets go of his hand.

The young man does the same. "Only familiar. But I'm not, like, a K-pop fan or something like that. I do listen to a few K-pop songs, but I'm not really like a die-hard fan, or "ONCE," as you may call it." He responds to her honestly.

Momo gives the young man a soft smile, realizing that he isn't ONCE, but she doesn't get disappointed at him for his honesty. "Oh, it's okay! It's good to know that there are some people out there who know us, even though they aren't fans."

Momo then widens her eyes, as she realizes she hasn't asked the young man's name yet. "Oh, sorry for being so impolite! By the way, what's your name?"

"Axelle. Axelle Hutchison is the name." The young man smiles at her softly.

"Ooh! Axelle! Your name sounds so cool." Momo says, with a smile. "So are you working, by the way? What have you been up to?"

Axelle looks at the papers on his table, answering Momo's question.

"Oh, it's schoolwork, haha. I have already done a lot for today. Especially those ones from the Finance subject, haha."

"Ah, you're a college student!" Momo nods. "So what course did you take up?"

"Business Administration, Entrepreneurship major. I want to become a businessman someday."

Momo nods, delighted to hear that the man she is talking to right now has ambitions in life. "That's really cool! What business do you wanna set up in the future?"

The young man thinks about it for a while... then he answers her question. "I don't know... maybe food or... shoes... I don't know... I'll probably think about it when I graduate in a few months..."

"That's all right! I'm sure you will be a great businessman someday!" Momo smiles at him sweetly, sipping her iced coffee.

"Thanks, Momo." Axelle nods at Momo, then he turns back to his paper, picking up his pen again and continues to jot down answers on his answer sheet.

After a few minutes of more talking, Momo then speaks up.

"Hey... soooo... do you have something to do later after?"

"No... why?" The Brit asked curiously.

"Well... I wanna introduce you to a fellow member of TWICE back at the JYP building. I want you to come with me... but if you're super busy at the moment, I understand." Momo says, with a soft smile. She really does want Axelle to come with her. It's still the first day that they have met, and yet she feels somewhat attached to him.

"Eh? I mean... I only have one work left to finish, and then I'll be free after... but why at your company's building, though?" Axelle asks.

Momo shrugs. She doesn't know why she would bring someone she just met at the JYP building, but she just wants to go along with it anyway. "I just... I don't know... I mean, I have found a new friend now... so why not introduce you to her?"

"But would they even allow guests at JYP?" Axelle asks.

"Of course they would. I'll be informing the staff of your visit once we refer to the front desk. Besides, I'm right here beside you, so there's no need to worry!" Momo says to Axelle with a soft smile, looking at him with her big, beautiful eyes. It has become a signature trait of her to charm people with her eyes now.

Even the young man was taken aback at this move again. But nonetheless, he is also curious to find out what it's like in the JYP building.

"Yeah, sure, I'll come along. Wait..." Axelle then picks up his things from the table, and puts them in the bag. "Let me just put these in the bag."

Once all of his things are kept inside the bag, Axelle then wears it, then he stands up. Momo does the same.

"Let's go, Axelle! I'll lead the way!" Momo then takes Axelle's hand, and leads him out of the coffee shop, and into the streets of Seoul.

While walking through the streets of Seoul, Axelle then looks at Momo while her hand is holding his. "This is just the first time that I have met a K-pop idol... yet I didn't expect her to be this friendly to me..." Axelle thinks to himself.

They stop at a pedestrian crossing, as soon as the signal shows the 'stop' symbol. Momo looks at Axelle, smiling at him, before turning her focus on the streets again.

"Wow... I mean she is pretty, I'm not going to lie..." Axelle thinks to himself again, looking at Momo.

She tilts her head, still looking at Axelle with those eyes. "Hey... why are you looking at me like that?" She giggles.

He shakes his head, looking away at her, trying not to think about Momo's beauty. "It's uh, nothing..."

The pedestrian signal shows the 'walk' symbol, and she holds Axelle's hand again, continuing to walk along the streets.

A few minutes later, the two arrive at the JYP Entertainment building. Axelle looks up at the building amazed. "Woah... that building is amazing. I mean it's not like really, really large, but at least that's what I think..."

Momo chuckles. "Hehe. You're so funny, Axelle. But yes, the building is amazing."

Momo then refers to the front desk to refer Axelle to the company as a visitor. After that, she leads Axelle into the entrance. He was mezmerized at the building's interior. There were a lot of staff walking in and out of the building. One of the staff was even greeting Momo as soon as she passed by.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Hirai..."

"Good afternoon to you, too!"

Then the two went up to the third floor through an elevator. They are about to enter the hallway leading to the practice room, where Momo and the other members would usually do the dance routine, or sometimes just hang out there.

As the two enter into the practice room, Axelle looks around with curiosity. "Whoa... this room is too big..."

"Welcome to the practice room, Axelle! And yes, it is big enough for the 9 of us to practice in, which is really helpful."

The other members who were just sitting on the sides, noticed Axelle coming into the practice room. To avoid awkwardness, Axelle then bows politely. The girls give a little wave at him.

One of the members, Jihyo, then goes near to Axelle. "Oh... who are you, mister?"

Momo notices Jihyo speaking to Axelle. But before Axelle could even show courtesy, Momo goes near the two.

"Oh! Sorry, Jihyo. This is Axelle, a new friend that I made!" Momo says excitedly.

"Hello. I'm Axelle Hutchison. Nice to meet you..." Axelle bows politely.

Jihyo nods, somewhat approving of Khlyd's politeness. "Nice to meet you Axelle! I'm Jihyo, the leader of TWICE! So what brings you here?"

"I-uh-"

Momo then interrupts Axelle before he could say anything. "I'm going to introduce Axelle to Nayeon. Where is she?"

"Nayeon? She's over there." Jihyo points to Nayeon, who is reading a magazine just in the corner.

As soon as Momo sees Nayeon, she beckons Axelle to come over. The two gather around her, and just stand there awkwardly.

Nayeon puts her magazine down on her lap, then looks up at Momo and Axelle. Nayeon was a bit surprised at the sight of Axelle standing there. To Nayeon, Axelle looked so much like a tall skyscraper just by looking up at him.

And that was exactly what she said.

"Woah... I thought I saw a skyscraper here..." Nayeon looks at Axelle, then she turns back to Momo. "Who is this guy?"

"Oh, Nayeon, this is Axelle! A new friend of mine. I thought I could introduce him to you!" Momo says, smiling at Nayeon.

"Hello... nice to meet you... uh..."

"Nayeon. Call her Nayeon-ssi, if you want to be more polite." Momo whispers to Axelle.

Axelle nods. He does the greeting again, now remembering Nayeon's name. "Hello. I'm Axelle Hutchison. Nice to meet you, Nayeon-ssi." He bows politely.

Nayeon softly smiles at Axelle's manners. "Hi, Axelle. Come sit down. I wanna talk to you two."

Momo sits beside Nayeon, while Axelle sits in front of them. Funnily enough, it feels like he's been interrogated by the police.

"So... you're Momo's new friend?" Nayeon folds her arms, saying in a stern, but a bit welcoming way, to not threaten Axelle (kind of).

"Yeah... we met randomly at a coffee shop, haha." Axelle says, and adds a slight chuckle to not make it awkward.

"So what happened? How did you two meet?" Nayeon turns to Momo.

"Well, I saw an empty seat beside him. I felt bold enough to ask him if I could sit beside him. Luckily, he let me, and then after a while, we then began to talk." Momo explains.

"Yeah. It was a random meeting, but I got to warm up to her eventually. It was a bit overwhelming at first because she suddenly just started to talk to me, haha." Axelle adds.

Momo chuckles at the thought of just suddenly talking to a random stranger that she just knew. "Yeah... I mean, I had to... because... you're pretty interesting to me, Axelle. I know we just met, but I think you're a really friendly guy, you know?" Momo then softly smiles at Axelle.

Axelle smiles back at Momo. "Thanks. I think you are a friendly person, too, Momo."

Nayeon looks at the two of them. She puts her hand on her cheek, signifying that she seems to be more intrigued about Axelle now.

"So, Axelle... what do you do currently, if I may ask?"

"Oh, I'm a foreign exchange student from the UK. I have been living here in Seoul for 5 years."

Nayeon nods. "That makes sense... your Korean is actually fluent. Not bad for someone who has lived here for 5 years."

(To reader, just assume they are speaking Korean right now. I mean they are speaking in Korean, but everything is just translated into English.)

"Thank you very much." Axelle bows politely again. "I am just trying my best to speak the language for the sake of communicating with other people here."

Nayeon then points out that Axelle is too polite, and just wants him to be a bit more casual now. "Hey, no need to be too polite, Axelle, haha. But I'm glad you were able to interact with the people here."

Nayeon then asks another question to Axelle. "So how did you end up here in Korea? Why did you decide to study here?"

"My Mum left me a house here in Seoul. She commissioned her Korean friend to build a house for me. Then Mum left me her fortune here. I was also taken care of by a neighbor here until I became 20 years old, and then I began to become an independent person."

Nayeon nods, seemingly interested at Axelle's story.

Momo then adds another question. "But Axelle... does your Mum provide for you? Like paying your college tuition and stuff like that?"

Axelle nods at Momo. "Yeah, she does. The remittance money is used for tuition. Then I usually get commissioned for designing shoes and other footwear as a sideline."

"Oh, so aside from being a student, you're also a freelance footwear designer... That's pretty cool!" Momo says with a smile. "I would love to see your designs someday, and hopefully buy your shoes that you designed."

Nayeon agrees with Momo's statement. "I agree. We probably need new kicks especially when we are practicing choreos."

Nayeon then switches topics, now looking at Axelle and Momo. "Okay, let's switch things up, shall we?"

She then turns back to Momo only. She still seems to be genuinely curious about Momo's sudden meeting with him. "Why did you randomly meet Axelle, Momo? Was it because he sparked your interest? Or... is there another... reason...?" She narrows her eyes teasingly.

Momo notices this, and then answers Nayeon's question. "Okay... let me clarify to you, Nayeon, and you too, Axelle..." She clears her throat, then she begins to tell her story.

She clears her throat, then she begins to tell her story.

"Prior to meeting Axelle... I have been seeing him everywhere around Seoul. When he's talking to other people... he was like, so sweet and so polite. And I figured, 'why shouldn't I talk to him?' He just seems so genuine ... so caring, and..."

Axelle blushes when he hears Momo complimenting him like this. He isn't used to receiving this much compliments from people.

"And... I don't know. I figured I should just be polite and friendly to him, and that's why... I... sat with him at that coffee shop..." Momo seems to be very shy now, indicated by her scratching her cheek softly with her index finger, and her blushing.

Nayeon smiles at the sight of both Momo and Axelle blushing, so she takes advantage of the situation and teases the two of them. "You two look really cute together! You'd make a really great couple, hehe."

Axelle and Momo look at Nayeon. Next, the two look at each other, and then look away, still blushing.

The man cleared his throat. "It's not like that, N-Nayeon-ssi..."

"Yeah, Nayeon... stop teasing us like that..." Momo gulped.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, you two, I am TOTALLY convinced that you aren't falling for each other now..." Nayeon says sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the two.

"No, we're not, we just met, though!" Momo and Axelle utter. They gaze at each other again after realizing they had both said something jointly, but then blush and turn their heads away. Nayeon's words indeed sank in.

"You two are just so cute to watch, haha!" Nayeon laughs whilst she claps.

Momo then looks down, as she fidgets her hands like a child. Axelle sees this, and then thinks to himself again. "Cute..."

The three continue to talk with each for a few hours more, until the dusk falls. It was then that Axelle would have to leave the practice room and go home, accompanied by Momo.

Before Axelle walks out the door, Nayeon then lightly taps his arm. "Hey, Axelle! I gotta tell you something." She then turns to Momo. "Turn around for a bit, Momo... I'm going to say something to Axelle first."

"Okay..." Momo then turns around.

"Bend over a bit, Axelle, you're too tall, haha!" Nayeon says to Axelle, because she can't reach his ear. Once he does exactly that, Nayeon then begins to whisper something to him.

"Take care of Momo for me, okay? Hehehe. Don't tell her what I said though."

Axelle widens his eyes as soon as Nayeon says that, which means that that exact sentence says something along the lines of "I ship you and Momo. You'd make a great couple."

Nayeon then giggles, then turns back to Momo. "Okay, Momo! You can turn around now."

Momo turned around and faced the blushing young man. "All right. Axelle, let's go?"

"Right. Lead the way, please."

Nayeon then waves at Axelle. "Nice meeting you, Axelle! See you!"

"You too, Nayeon-ssi." Axelle gives a little wave at Nayeon before turning front again, where Momo would lead him out of the practice room, all the way back to the exit of the JYP headquarters.

As soon as Axelle and Momo exit the building, they can easily notice that it is really now dusk, just by looking at the sun about to set.

Momo then stops, and she turns to Axelle who is right behind her. "Hey... soooo... you going home now?"

Axelle shrugs. "Probably. How about you, Momo?"

"Well, I... um..."

Axelle notices that Momo is looking down on the ground, exuding her shyness.

"Please do tell, Momo. I'm listening." Axelle says softly.

"I wanna hang out with you a bit more... I don't wanna go back inside the JYP building yet." Momo says.

Axelle looks at Momo for a few seconds, then he turns his head around, looking for a place so that they could hang out for a bit longer.

"Why don't we sit down at that bench over there?" Axelle points at a metal bench sitting not too far away from the JYP building.

It would be nearing sunset at this point. The two went to the nearby bench where they would just sit down and look at the view of the city while the sun was setting. Despite how awkward it was back there at the JYP practice room, Axelle and Momo managed to find comfort in each other in the short amount of time that they have known each other.

Axelle then begins to speak to Momo, looking at the sunset sky. "Sunsets are beautiful aren't they?"

"Yeah, I agree. Especially when combined with the view of the cityscape." Momo smiles, looking at the sunset as well.

The two just bask in the silence of their environment right now. There was nothing for them to talk about just yet.

Axelle notices a pigeon flying above them, and it was about to drop bird poo on Momo. When it did, he uses his fast reflexes and sharp eyes to catch the bird poo with his right hand.

"Hmmm? Axelle? What happened?" Momo asks him.

Axelle was hesitating to tell Momo what happened. He doesn't even move his hand.

That was when Momo smelt the stench of bird poo. "Axelle... do I smell..."

"Yeah, you are literally smelling it right now. The bird was about to... land a dropping on you. So... I- I caught it." Axelle is now feeling disgusted by the texture of the bird dropping on his hand. "Momo, please help me out. Do you... have a-"

"Yeah, I have tissues here in my purse. I also have sanitizer..." Momo grabs a sheet of tissue and sanitizer from her purse. "Just show me the hand with the thing on it..."

Axelle slowly puts his right hand down, then Momo puts sanitizer on it. With his left hand, he wipes the bird poo off his hand with the tissue, and throws it off the nearest bin with a perfect shot.

"Wow, that was a perfect shot, Axelle!" Momo claps her hands.

"I will never get over this moment..." Axelle sighs, rubbing his forehead in distress (He's using the left hand) "That bird dropping was the most disgusting I've ever felt in my life..."

"It's all right, Axelle. And I'm glad you saved me from that little mishap, haha." Momo lightly chuckles, but also feeling grateful for Axelle.

Axelle begins to smile sheepishly at Momo's comment. "I'm glad you had your sanitizer and tissue, so you basically saved me as well, haha."

Then the two continue to look back at the sunset sky, until it was almost evening. When the evening comes, he then begins to speak to Momo once more.

"I have to go home now, Momo... I guess I'll see you soon, then?"

"Me too. I have to go back to JYP and continue practicing. I'll see you soonest, Axelle."

The two give each other soft smiles, before they stand up from the bench and go their own separate ways. Axelle goes back to his house, while Momo goes back to the JYP headquarters to continue practicing with the other TWICE members.

9:00 PM

Axelle just took a little break after he had done the rest of his schoolworks. Laying his head on the cool surface of the table, he thought about what happened earlier, from meeting Momo, to seeing the sunset with her a few hours ago. The swirling memories that he had been retracing, lingered like it was the fresh, delicate scent of newly-cooked food.

"I should've gotten her number at least..." Axelle lightly taps the table with his knuckle. "She's... lowkey cute."

A gentle sigh escaped his lips as he said the words “lowkey cute”, which made the young man contemplate the image of her face that showed various emotions, from bold and brave to shy and cute. Even the lighting on his room seemed to match what he felt this almost silent night.

Even if he hadn't gotten her number, he hoped he might see her again by chance.

9:00 PM

Momo has finished practicing with the other members of TWICE. She has already showered, the confines of her dorm room waiting for her as she got ready for bed. But before she could even drift off to sleep, she began to think about what happened earlier, when they sat on that bench under the setting sun.

Fate brings people together. A simple and peculiar saying, yet it tells a thousand interpretations. That was what Momo believed in, and that saying significantly deepened her belief even more as she reflected on what happened on this glorious day. Despite living the glamorous spotlight of stardom, she had found peace and comfort with Axelle, hoping that it would be the same when she would meet him again.

"He's someone I would definitely hang out with..." Momo thought to herself, the bedside lamp illuminating her red face. "He's... dreamy..."

She had envisioned the possibility of meeting him again, while also wondering why he hadn't gotten her number, which she had expected to happen. But that wasn't even a big deal in the least, because she upheld the concept of fate.

Their thoughts went vastly beyond even the boundaries of their distance between each other, reaching out across the well-lit streets. Staring at their own ceilings, they separately began to think out loud, hearts beating with anticipation, a smile forming on their lips.

"I want to see her again, she is an interesting person, an amazing one at that."

"I want to see him again, he is one of the sweetest people that I have met..."

TO BE CONTINUED

#hirai momo #twice #twice momo #misamo #original character #fanfic #twice fanfic

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dreamescapeswriting · 3 years

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Rent An Oppa ~ HHJ [Request]

WORD COUNT: 4.5K

PAIRING: Hyunjin x Reader

GENRE: non idol AU, strangers to lovers, rent an oppa, fluffy, a little angst but nothing too major, pining for one another, first kiss,

A/N: I made this one a fluffy one without smut hunny, I hope that this is okay hunny

Moving to South Korea was one of the best decisions you'd ever made. It had been your dream for years to move somewhere that wasn’t where you were from. You’d finally made it happen, you were here. Sitting in your new apartment staring out at all of the sights that you could see. The apartment you’d gotten was a loft apartment which was something you’d never thought of having before, but it was perfect. The ground floor was open plan, besides the bathroom of course and you had large floor to ceiling windows that looked out at the city of Seoul. Your bedroom was just up a flight of stairs and it looked out at the ground floor, it was unbelievably perfect for your first home in Seoul. There was only one thing wrong with everything and that was that you didn’t know your way around. Sure there were maps and people you could ask for help but you wanted a tour guide.

You’d seen an app being advertised on your plane ride over which you were tempted to use. “Rent an Oppa.” It sounded like it was straight out of a K-Drama but it was real and monitored wonderfully. Everyone had a screening test, background test and everything is done before they were allowed to become an “Oppa” for the app.

“Let’s see what this is then,” You mumbled to yourself as you sat down on your sofa, pulling your knees up to your chest as you began to scroll through the app. Everyone had profiles set up with verification photos to prove that they were who they said they were, then there were some small descriptions about the boys or girls there.

Endlessly scrolling and swiping through profiles you couldn’t find anyone you thought you would get along well with. You wanted someone that you had things in common with, if you were going to be paying them for their time you might as well do something you both enjoy doing it.

About to give up hope and go at it alone a profile popped up. A new profile that caught your eye. The photo was of a boy around 21-years-old standing on top of a rooftop, dressed in a smart shirt and tie aiming a camera at whoever was taking the photo of him. Photography-nut was written in his profile making you giggle a little as you flicked through his images. In each of them, it began to reveal his face and mid-length blonde hair. He looked as though he was really sweet and kind, the kind of boy you took to meet your parents.

“Hyunjin,” You smiled as you said his name, swiping onto his profile to see what rates he was charging. It wasn’t expensive and just in your budget range so you messaged him. There was no harm in seeing if he was free that day.

[12:03] Y/n:

Hi there, I’m not entirely sure how this thing works 😅😅 but could we arrange a meetup? I’m new in Seoul and need a tour guide 🥰

Staring at the phone you debated with yourself if that was the right way to start a conversation with someone on the app. There was no tutorial on how to message them or if you had to wait for them to message you first.

[12:07] Hyunjin 🍀

Hey! I would love to arrange a meetup. I can meet you anywhere you feel comfortable! Welcome to Seoul! 💞🌺

Smiling to yourself you gave him the address to the shop right beside your apartment building. It was the only play you really knew so far and you wanted to meet him somewhere you knew the exact location of. Rather than wandering around lost trying to find somewhere to meet him you didn’t know yet.

Dressed in a long-sleeved Beige shirt-dress and some black leggings you waited outside the shop, acting as though you were busy on your phone so you didn’t look as though you were staring out for Hyunjin. It was already going to be awkward enough without you looking around gormlessly for him.

“Hey,” A voice called out making you jump a little as you looked up from your phone to see him. He was identical to his photos though his hair was a little longer now.

“Hi, I’m Y/n.” You shook his hand and he smiled nodding his head,

“I’m Hyunjin and I know this is probably going to be awkward for a while so I hope we can become friends throughout it,” He smiled as he let go of your hand. This time you looked at him you took in his whole appearance, he was wearing a black and white striped turtle neck and some black jeans.

“I’m new to the app so we’re both doing firsts here,” He smiled as he looked around you both, taking in everything around him as he tried to figure out what you could do for the day.

“It’s still quite early in the afternoon...I can show you around, show you all of the shops, shopping mall and just around Seoul itself if you like?” You were completely taken by his voice, appearance and how sweet he was being with you.

“I would love that, the only place I know is the shop and my apartment.” You laughed weakly as he nodded his head.

“Would you mind if I linked our arms?” You shook your head and you linked arms with one another as he began to lead you down the road.

“So what brings you to Seoul?” He questioned as he tried to break the ice. It was nice that he was trying, you had rented him for the rest of the day and you were going to have to get to know each other.

“I fancied a change in pace. I’ve always loved South Korea and the culture,” You admitted as your eyes glanced around at all of the people you were pacing. Everyone in their own worlds as they went about their daily lives. Each person you saw looked as though they had been plucked out of a fashion magazine, their outfits were so effortless yet stood out in the large crowds.

“When did you get here?” He asked as he waited at the side of the road for lights to change and you could cross without being in any kind of danger.

“About two days ago...I’ve been locked up in my apartment eating Ramen. I was so worried I’d get lost.” You groaned thinking back on it while Hyunjin laughed a little, shaking his head.

“I’ll add a shopping trip on our list of things to do. I can’t have you living off only ramen.” He chuckled and your whole heart seemed to swell up when you saw the smile on his face. It was honestly one of the prettiest smiles you’d seen and his dimples were so deep you wanted to reach up and poke them. But you didn’t.

The rules of the app were very simple. No inappropriate touching, no exchange of social media or phone numbers. Once the dates were over that was it unless you rented another one but only through the app.

“I should take you to see Cheonggyecheon River, a small walk down and we’ll be at the nicest cafes,” Hyunjin explained as he seemed to be enjoying this almost as much as you were,

“So why did you join the app?” You questioned as you looked at him, it had been a question on your mind since seeing him on the app.

“I needed the extra cash for art supplies...I’m studying at the moment so this seemed to be the perfect side job.” He explained as he began heading down some stairs towards a small river that ran through the city.

“Cheonggyecheon River,” You whispered as you looked around, it had only been something you’d seen in photos but now it was real.

“So you do art?” You questioned as you went back to looking up at Hyunjin while you walked.

“Yeah. I try to, I’m learning to draw, I thought it would be fun.” You smiled wanting to know more about it.

“Do you have any pictures?” He nodded as he sat down on an empty bench with you, pulling out his phone to show you photos of the drawings he’d been doing in his spare time.

“These are amazing! You did these?” You were truly shocked to see someone who was just learning to draw create amazing pieces as he had done. Some were anime characters, others were drawings of himself and another was a drawing of a dog.

“This is my favourite,” You told him as you looked at the Chihuhaha drawing he’d done,

“My little Kkami, I missed him so I drew him from a photo.” You smiled at the drawing again,

“Do you not get to see him much?” He shook his head as he looked out at the water.

“I live in a dorm with seven guys who are studying, Kkami is at home with my family.” Your heart clenched at the thought of him not getting to see his dog much,

“I’m sorry.” He shook his head at you, you had nothing to be sorry for.

“Don’t be, it makes the time I have with him all the more special. Shall we start to go?” You nodded getting up from the bench once more and heading in the direction he was leading you in.

The two of you had gotten to know each other more on your walk over to the supermarket, getting to know about him and all his roommates that seemed adventurous.

“Felix came here at 2 am once just to get baking ingredients.” He laughed as he pushed the trolley around the store, adding things he thought you would enjoy as well as ingredients to make Kimchi with.

“Why was he baking at 2 in the morning?” You laughed adding some pasta products into the trolley, looking around at everything in shock. It was so much larger than any other supermarket you had been in and it was empty. Hardly anyone besides you and Hyunjin was around and there was soft music playing through some speakers.

“It’s Felix, who knows why he does what he does,” He laughed as he watched you. You were standing in front of ramen packets and he smirked a little,

“You could get the cups. They’ll be better for you and cheaper in price.” Thanking him you added a bunch into the trolley and smiled a little,

“Noodles are the only thing I can successfully cook.” You chuckled while Hyunjin shook his head at you,

“I need to give you cooking lessons but we’re almost out of the day...I can send you some cooking books if you like.” The thought of the day almost being over made you sad to think you’d never see him again.

“I could book you for another day? I would love to learn to cook from someone who’s lived here their whole life,” Yes. That was the reason. Totally not because every time he smiled or laughed your heart fluttered. Hyunjin’s heart seemed to flutter at the thought of getting to meet you again, although he was getting paid to hang out with you it didn’t feel forced. It felt natural to be around you as though he had known you for years and he couldn’t wait to do it all over again.

“Sure! We should get some ingredients to cook with tomorrow. Your Kimchi will stay good for three to six months if you keep it in the fridge and once you know-how. You’re pretty much great for everything,” You smiled before nodding. Both of you grabbing more and more ingredients for recipes you could freeze and add to the freezer.

Laying in bed that night you couldn’t help but smile to yourself at the day you had. Hyunjin bought you home in a cab, helping you in with the bags before he helped you put everything away. You’d already paid him before he got home and booked another day together but none of it felt like a job or obligation to either of you. Hyunjin went home with a giant smile on his face having enjoyed the day much more than he had expected to.

“I told you that you’d have fun,” Chan said as he walked into the kitchen later that night to see Hyunjin couldn’t stop smiling.

“I had a lot, she’s amazing Hyung.” He explained as he began to pour himself some hot chocolate and get ready for a few hours of studying before bed.

“Just don’t get attached. The rules were simple Hyunjin.” He nodded as he headed back to his dorm room to find Felix sitting there waiting for everything that had happened that day.

“Felix made cookies.” Was the first thing Hyunjin said to you as you opened the door to see him standing there. Today he was wearing a white t-shirt, a grey jacket and some shorts. It was the hottest day of the year.

“His famous ones?!” You asked a little too excitedly as you saw the Tupperware box filled to the brim with cookies all of different shapes and sizes.

“He was baking last night and he thought I could share them.” It was a lie. Hyunjin had practically begged Felix to bake you some the night before. He’d told you so much about them and he’d seen the look on your face when he mentioned them. He wanted you to try them.

“Tell him I said thanks,” You hummed as bit down into one of the cookies, instantly rolling your head back at the taste of them.

"He could run his own bakery, oh my goodness," Hyunjin smiled as he walked into the kitchen pulling out an apron he'd brought from the dorms and getting ready to help you cook.

"We'll start with the Kimchi, it'll be the best thing to start with and then whatever you're planning for your dinner." You nodded at him, finishing off the cookie before you washed up and pulled on an apron you'd gotten from the store yesterday.

While you were chopping and washing up the ingredients Hyunjin was telling you everything you needed to do.

"You know you should be a chef...Or give out cooking classes." You told him as you began adding all of the ingredients together.

"I would give you five stars," He laughed softly as he looked at you,

"Like a Michelin chef?" You nodded at him as you continued to add everything together. Hyunjin laughing a little as he began to stir some of the stew he'd been making, scooping some up for you.

"You've reached the peak of taste, you'll never go back to normal food I promise." He laughed as you hummed at the taste of the stew.

"You'll have to take some home with you, there's no way I'll eat all this to myself." You mentioned as you stared at the huge stew pot he was cooking with.

"I'm sure the guys would love it," Hyunjin said before adding a little more spice to the stew and leaving it.

The two of you camped out on your sofa for hours just spending time getting to know one another. He told you all about his life at the dorms while you told him about life back at home.

"Do you miss it?" He asked as he bit into one of the cookies and looked at you,

"Sometimes. I miss the people more than the place but it's home." You frowned thinking back on your time, it wasn't as though you were never going to go back again, but this was your life now.

"I suppose that's how it is with many people." He smiled weakly putting down his plate and looking at the time, he only had an hour left with you before he had to head home for the night.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" You shrugged your shoulders as you thought about it. Nothing was planned for at least a month, your job was waiting for some final paperwork to be done.

"Nothing that I know of,"

"Do you want to go to Seoul Tower, it's one of the best tourist spots. I think you'll enjoy it there," You smiled while nodding your head, wanting to spend all of the time in the world with Hyunjin. For as long as you could at least.

"Sure!" You smiled at him before going over to the stew to get everything put into smaller tubs for him to take home. The subject of payment was growing closer and neither of you wanted to feel awkward about talking about it again.

"Hyunjin. You're growing attached," Chan warned as soon as Hyunjin stepped through the door that night. All eight of the boys were on the app to earn some extra cash and for them, it had been routine days out. A cafe, a shopping spree here and there but that was it. None of them ever spent so much time getting to know their clients or even cook with them.

"I'm not. She's just being a nice friend Hyung," He complained as he placed the stew down onto the counter. Calling out to the boys that there was food if anybody was hungry for it.

"She's a client Hyunjin. Nothing more." He rolled his eyes as he listened to Chan bring up the subject of the rules again.

"No exchanging numbers, social media or inappropriate touching. I know Hyung, Gosh what do you think we're doing? Fucking in some park?" He grumbled taking a cookie and heading for his bedroom. He didn't want to hear the same speech over and over again reminding him that he couldn't have you the way that he wanted. There were feelings growing between you and he knew he was never going to be able to act on them and it killed him inside.

The days you spent together began to grow more and more and you forgot that this wasn't just friends hanging out together. That you were paying him for spending time with you. That was until the end of the night when you would wire transfer him the cash when he left leaving you both feeling awkward the next morning. Only for that to fade whenever you got on with the day that you had planned together. You'd seen almost every tourist attraction there. Hyunjin took you to Nami Island, ice cream dates, cafe dates, Seoul Tower and today you were going to Gyeongbokgung Palace.

"Everything okay? You seem quiet." He chuckled as you waited in line together to get tickets for the palace. Your eyes wandered up to him as you smiled weakly.

"Fine...I just can't wait to get in there." You lied not wanting to make anything between you more awkward than it had to be.

The palace was beautiful and filled with history Hyunjin couldn't wait to tell you about it. Explaining everything and tell you all of the facts he knew about the palace.

"Did you come here a lot?" You asked as you both sat down on some grass patches by one of the lakes. He'd brought along a picnic basket and a blanket for the two of you. The basket was filled with food he’d cooked and baked goods Felix had been forced to make once again,

“When I was a kid. I love history so I used to beg mum into taking me.” He laughed as he remembered all of the weekends he would spend there, learning about everything that he could.

“That’s amazing,” You smiled as he held up a spoon to your lips, spoon-feeding you some yoghurt he had bought along with him. You hummed letting him feed you when you looked around at different people around you. Lots of couples were doing the same thing as you both. Sitting together on the grass as they fed one another.

“Hey I was-” Hyunjin stopped speaking when you turned to look at him, neither of you realising how close you were to one another until your lips almost touched. Neither of you moved. You just stared at him, eyes flicking from his lips to his mouth your whole body aching to lean in and kiss him. But you didn’t. You sat there looking at him as he looked at you.

No one would have to know, he could just lean down and kiss you right now and no one would know about it. It wasn’t as though there were guards on the apps that tracked their every move. Placing down the spoon he looked at you, scooting closer to you as he watched to see if your facial expression changed at all. His right hand slowly rose to your face and he cupped your face in his hand, running his thumb along your bottom lip as you let out a small whimper.

“If I do this, there’s no going back.” You shrugged your shoulder. You didn’t want to go back. You wanted his lips on yours, you didn’t care about anything else.

Hyunjin pressed his lips against yours and instantly it was sweet yet filled with passion, your arms wrapped around the back of his neck as you kissed him back. Lips moving in sync with one another as he pulled you closer to him. The world around you faded away as you made out on the small patch of grass together, forgetting that he was paid to be there and you were renting him for the day. None of that mattered when you felt the way you did. Your whole body prickling with tingles as he kissed you. Lips parting and tongues touching. Everything around you was gone. All you cared about was this moment.

After taking you home Hyunjin came in to have hot chocolate with you, well over his intended time limit and continued to kiss you. Cuddle you. Only making you yearn for him to stay longer but he had to go home. He had classes the next day.

“I don’t know when I’ll see you again,” You admitted as you stood by the front door of your apartment. Neither of you moving as you stared up at him. It was your last week before work and you could no longer afford to pay him. Though the subjects of paying for dates had gotten too weird for you and Hyunjin to talk about.

“I’m sure we’ll see each other around,” He sighed knowing he couldn’t give you his number or any way of contacting him outside of the app. He’d hoped he’d told you enough about his personal life for you to accidentally bump into one another somewhere.

“Hyunjin I think-” He kissed you softly not wanting you to finish the sentence. He was getting feelings for you too but admitting them out loud would make him stay and he couldn’t.

“I will see you around,” He whispered putting an emphasis on the “will” before he leant down to kiss you one last time. His hands on your waist as he smiled against your lips, pulling away and leaving you alone.

Weeks passed by and Hyunjin saw no sign of you in any of the spots he had told you about, he even made an effort to walk by your apartment building every night home from classes but there was no sign of you.

“You’ve been so weird lately. Why haven’t you been going to see Y/n?” Felix grumbled as he rolled over in bed one night to see Hyunjin laying wide awake at almost 1 am. Just sitting there and staring at the top of the bunk bed he was under.

“I can’t...I have feelings for her and I didn’t want to keep taking her money.” Crawling down from the top bunk Felix came to see Hyunjin. He was fully dressed and staring at the ceiling still.

“It’s creepy. Stop staring like that. Just go and “accidentally” bump into her...What’s the problem?” Hyunjin sat up and shook his head,

“You don’t think I’ve been trying that? I’ve been walking by her apartment building almost every night. Sitting in cafes...Maybe I was reading into it wrong.” Hyunjin’s phone flashed up and he darted toward it only to see it was an email from the Rent an Oppa app telling him that his account was deactivated.

“You quit?”

“I didn’t want to do it anymore.” He mumbled before getting up from the bed and grabbing a jacket,

“Where are you going? It’s almost 1:30?” Hyunjin said nothing as he left the bedroom.

The account was gone and all that was left was a stupid message telling you that Hyunjin has left the account. Staring down at your phone you hated yourself for not messaging him sooner to arrange something. You had to see him again. For the last two weeks, you had been going to what he said was his favourite cafe and waiting for him. You’d do the paperwork for work there, read books. You’d been in there so much the owner knew you by name.

“I’ll make you some goodnight tea,” The elderly owner whispered as she walked over to your table. They were open 24 hours which was nice at times like this when you couldn’t get to sleep.

“Thank you,” You whispered as you went back to looking through the paperwork you had to finish. The job wasn’t what you expected it to be so you were trying to file paperwork whilst look for something else to do there.

“Nightcap for you too?” The elderly woman called out to someone who had just walked through the door. Frowning to yourself you glanced up to see a hoodied boy walk through the shop and stand at the counter.

“You’re not alone tonight. Someone else who can’t sleep,” The hoodied boy began to turn and as soon as you locked eyes your heart lept to your throat.

“Hyunjin?” You whispered to yourself as he began heading over to your table, eyes wide as he saw you sitting there.

“Fancy meeting you here,” He laughed as he sat down beside you, both of you just as happy to see each other.

“I-I’ve been coming here almost every day,” You admitted as he looked at you, hands finding yours and holding onto them as tightly as he could. He never would have thought you would come here, he’d only mentioned it once and how much it meant to him.

“I only told you about this place once,”

“I could see how much it meant to you...I thought I might catch you here and then we could...Go on a normal date.” He let out a breathy chuckle as he nodded his head.

“Sounds good to me. I’m paying.” He told you as he kissed your lips softly. All of a sudden all of those weeks away from one another melted into nothingness. It was just the two of you together once again giving you the freedom to date, exchange numbers and hang out without some pesky app or their rules in the way.

Tagline: @minholuvs @taestannie @sw33tnight @acciocriativity @mwitsmejk @taeechwitaa @justbangtanthingz @stillwithlix

#skz #skz x reader #skz x you #skz imagine #skz imagines #stray kids #stray kids x reader #stray kids imagine #stray kids imagines #hwang hyunjin #hyunjin #hyunjin x reader #hyunjin imagine #hyunjin imagines #hwang hyunjin x reader #hwang hyunjin imagine #hwang hyunjin imagines

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sweetestofchaos · 3 years

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♫ 𝐵𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠 ♫ Y/N is an American music artist and Seokjin takes a liking to her ♫ Part 1 ♫

SFW // Interracial Relationship // Strangers to Lovers // .9K // Part 2

a/n: dividers made by @benkeibear

🇲🇦🇸🇹🇪🇷🇱🇮🇸🇹

Y/N sits at her desk in her room staring down at the notebook in front of her. The speaker beside her plays a random playlist quietly as she tries to think. The words are on the tip of her tongue, but her mind can’t seem to make sense of them. Nothing sounds right or flows together. Pushing away from the desk with a sigh, Y/N throws herself down on her bed. Closing her eyes, she listens to the music that is playing, and she smiles softly to herself when she hears BTS. Y/N’s foot bounces to the beat of the song and she starts to hum along. Her mood shifts and does a complete one eighty. Reaching for her phone, Y/N puts BTS on shuffle as she sits back at the desk. Grabbing her pen, she takes a deep breath and starts to write.

Y/N’s first single Be Honest has put her on the map; her album has been out for a little over a month and it’s holding the number six spot. It wasn’t until recently when people found out that Summer Gravity, Y/N’s stage name is the same as SG who wrote Doja Cat’s lyrics for Starboi3’s song Dick. Once that was discovered everyone started to dig into Summer Gravity’s social media and it was pointed out that she was a fan of BTS…the world went crazy. There were speculations that the lyrics were really saying the BTS members’ names, but Y/N never confirmed or denied it. There have been countless interviews and each time Y/N is asked about her love of K Pop and how it started. Y/N lived in a diverse neighborhood growing up and one of her best friends was Korean, so she took an interest in the culture.

“So, who is your favorite K Pop group right now?”

Y/N smiles at the question, “I’m a proud Army…BTS.”

“BTS? Do you know all the members' names?”

“Oh, for sure! 'Kim Namjoon, Kim Seok-Jin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook.”

“Okay, now I have to ask. The lyrics you wrote for Starboi3’s song Dick…a lot of people are saying that you played around and used the BTS members’ names. Any truth to that?”

Y/N shrugged her shoulders as she laughed. “You know, people are going to hear what they want to hear. Who am I to tell them they are wrong or right?”

The interviewer nods his head at the answer, “I’ll accept that…for now. So, who is your bias?”

Y/N’s eyes widen at the sudden question, and she laughs. “I really like all of the members, but Jin’s voice gave me goosebumps when I first heard him sing.”

The interviewer looks surprised, “Really? Jin’s voice gave you goosebumps?”

“Y-yes. I heard Wake Up a year after I graduated high school. My friend invited me to spend the year in South Korea with her extended family and that’s where I first heard of BTS.”

Seokjin paused the Youtube video and leaned back in his chair. “Wha…wow.” He was surprised that such a great artist was a fan of BTS and even considered him to be her bias. Seokjin had listened to Dick since so many people tagged BTS in their posts to listen to it and it was a hard call. If Summer Gravity meant to play around with their names, she did a great job. Seokjin was stuck, his mind couldn’t fathom such a thing. He shook his head and stood up, he needed something to drink, something stronger than water. Leaving his room, Seokjin was in his own little world, lost in thought as he passed all the guys. Namjoon watched his friend confused and a little worried as Seokjin grabbed a few beers and went back to his room.

“What’s wrong with him?” Taehyung asked and everyone shrugged their shoulders.

Yoongi peeked his eyes open from his place on the couch and sighed as he looked at all the concerned faces. “He’s fine. Probably watching the interview of Y/N that you all pestered him into watching.”

Jimin frowned, “Do you think he’s upset?”

“Why would it upset him?” Jungkook fired back and Namjoon rolled his eyes.

“He calls himself worldwide handsome, but you know he has his insecurities,” Hoseok pointed out.

“He’s fine,” Yoongi huffed and went back to taking his nap.

Seokjin got it bad and there was nothing that his friends could do for him. Seokjin was crushing and he was crushing hard. His phone background changed to a photo of Y/N from the interview where she revealed that Seokjin has always and will always be her bias. He played her songs on shuffle and repeat all the time, Seokjin knew every lyric and he even learned some of Y/N’s choreography. The guys were happy for him, but they also felt bad because there was a very slim chance that they would ever be able to meet Y/N.

They were miles and miles apart and they had no real reason to meet each other. That was until Y/N announced on her Instalive that she was having a mini world tour since so many people asked and South Korea was on the list. Seokjin got six front row tickets and Taehyung was able to stop him from buying them before it was too late.

“Hyung…why don’t you just message Y/N? We can’t be in the mix of her concert; we’ll be recognized, and everyone will flip shit.” Taehyung pointed out.

Seokjin pouted, but he knew what Taehyung said was true. Sitting on the couch with his phone in his hands Seokjin opened the BTS Twitter account and sent a direct message to Y/N. He was nervous, but it had to be done. Seokjin really wanted to see Y/N perform live one way or another.

#soc writes #butterflies #bts #bts jin #kim seokjin #jin x black reader #black!reader #jin x y/n #exqueuese me #soc seokjin

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dailykoreanpop · 3 years

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Ateez sells out 2022 World Tour tickets in MINUTES, fans say ‘your power is unreal’

The 2022 world tour from Ateez titled, ‘The Fellowship: Beginning of the End’ was sold out in 10 out of 12 cities within minutes of opening for sale

Ateez is one of the steadily growing groups in the K-pop industry and it looks like the eight-member group is showing no sign of slowing down. The group announced their 2022 world tour dates on November 15 alongside many other K-pop acts. Now that most of the world trying to go back to normal after being vaccinated for Covid-19 and agencies as well as groups following government-established protocols, it is becoming easier for fans and audiences to greet their favorite artists.

This year itself is going to be seeing one of those fan interactions with BTS meeting fans in LA for their ‘Permission to Dance on Stage’ concerts as well as many other K-pop groups meeting fans with in-person fan meetings, things are going back to normal. Not for Ateez though, because what just happened in the fandom does not seem just normal, it is beyond fabulous.

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Ateez World Tour sold out!

On November 19, it was reported that Ateez’s 2022 World Tour for America and Europe concerts were ‘sold out’ as soon as ticket sales were opened. Ateez's 2022 World Tour titled, 'The Fellowship: Beginning of the End' (stylized in all caps) will start in Seoul in January next year, followed by international cities like Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Amsterdam, London, Europe, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, and Madrid. The group is expected to give an “out of the world” show to fans with a total of 14 performances in a total of the 12 aforementioned cities.

It is reported that Ateez has recorded a new high with the group selling out all tickets for 10 out of the 12 cities with Seoul and Paris tour tickets still remaining. The sale of tickets for Ateez’s 2022 concerts was opened at 11 pm KST (9 am ET) on November 18 and within a few minutes, fans reported that they were not able to buy any more tickets as they were declared to be “sold out”

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Ateez receives an overwhelming response

In particular, the United Kingdom ticketing sites reported that they saw a total of 54,000 simultaneous users on their sites all attempting to buy tickets for the concerts as soon as the sales opened which is an explosive response to a group like Ateez that comes from a comparatively smaller label like KQ Entertainment and have made it to the top based solely on their talent, skills, and hard work.

When asked about the overwhelming response Ateez was seeing in terms of ticket sales, a representative of KQ Entertainment that said, “We are realizing the warm reaction of global fans who have been waiting for Ateez to meet them soon.” As of now, Ateez has opened the sale of tickets for their opening concert in Seoul, South Korea.

‘Proud is an understatement’

Fans are now shocked by Ateez’s as well as Atiny’s (their fandom) unreal power. One fan said, “Ur telling me.. that this big ass stadium… sold out in a matter of minutes. @ATEEZofficial ur power is unreal.” Another fan said, “THIS IS CRAZY. ATEEZ TICKETS SOLD OUT IN MINUTES.” One more fan said, “Guess I can cross seeing ATEEZ off my list. there wasn’t anything available besides seats in the back & it wouldn’t even let me add it to my cart so I’m assuming it’s sold out already.” One fan noted, “Ateez really sold out this venue in berlin.”

One fan pointed out that, “This was how loud the crowd was for the NY ateez concert last tour with like 800 fans.. imagine how loud a sold out prudential stadium with 20k seats will be.” One more said, “ATEEZ sold out tickets in 8+ cities within minutes. proud is an understatement. i’m so excited they’ve waited so long to perform in front of atinys again!!” One fan said, “The way i pulled an all nighter for ateez ..just so ticketmaster COULD LEAVE THE STATUS AS " SOLD OUT" for Chicago."

One fan said, “Ateez entire Europe and US tour sold out within MINUTES ohhh the headlines are gonna be good for this one.” Another fan said, “Ateez and kq should really consider looking into bigger venues for the next tour, because the way tickets sold out SO quickly and there’s still people who want to go…it’s insane. 17-20k capacity arenas won’t be enough anymore.” One more fan said, “Ateez concert tickets getting sold out in under 5mns on various venues. its not just a tour, its ateez WORLD DOMINATION.”

Credit: Meaww

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uncloseted · 4 years

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how can asian people like kpop idols or actors in kdrama looks so good? they look very "put together" i don't know if that make sense

I think it’s tempting to assume that there’s one special trick to looking put together that Korean celebrities are using that Westerners aren’t, but the real answer is that there’s a huge cultural pressure in South Korea to be beautiful. Despite only having a population of 51 million, South Korea is 3rd in total number of cosmetic procedures, right behind the US (pop: 328 million) and Brazil (pop: 211 million). South Korea has 1 plastic surgery per 5 people, compared to the US's 1 plastic surgery per 20 people, making it first in number of cosmetic surgeries per capita. One study found that approximately one third of South Korean women between 19 and 29 have undergone some type of plastic surgery, and another done by the BBC suggested that number is as high as 60%. And that’s excluding non-surgical procedures like injectables, eyelash lifts/dye/extensions, etc. Crash dieting is also a major issue; there’s a cultural pressure to be as thin as possible, and many Korean celebrities have shared their super restrictive diets in interviews. Makeup, 10-step skincare routines, and other image enhancers (like hip/butt padding) are also super common.

Within the k-pop and kdrama industries, that number of people who have had cosmetic surgery is significantly higher, although it’s hard to estimate exactly how high because Korean celebrities’ images are very carefully managed. This article (https://star.mt.co.kr/stview.php?no=2017031417334310773&type=3), for example, says that the K-Pop group Sixbomb spent nearly $100,000 USD on plastic surgery for its four idols before the release of their video, “Becoming Prettier”. The members of Sixbomb have had "almost every kind of surgery that could be done on a face" and breast implants, according to their manager. Many celebrities are required to undergo surgeries to trim their cheekbones, jaw, and chin to create an oval shaped face before making their public debut. Besides the cosmetic procedures they’ve gone through, Korean celebrities have entire teams that are dedicated to making them look good whenever they’re seen publicly. They have makeup artists, hair stylists, fashion stylists, professional lighting, and post-production editing (for video as well as still images). If you had an entire team dedicated to making you look good, you would look “put together”, too.

There are many different factors that motivate people to undergo cosmetic surgery, but one major factor is that it impacts your job prospects. In South Korea, it’s a common practice to attach a headshot to your resume when applying for a job. People who are better looking have an advantage in the job market, meaning that getting cosmetic surgery can actually be a good financial investment. Additionally, South Korea has a different approach to beauty than the US does- in the US (and many Western/Christian countries), we have a (unconscious) cultural bias towards thinking that God makes good people beautiful and bad people ugly. By contrast, in South Korean culture, beauty is seen as something that’s attainable through hard work. There’s no shame in trying to improve your appearance, because it shows you’re a hard worker and willing to do whatever you need to to achieve your goals. In the US, we associate the pursuit of beauty with vanity, something that is to be avoided at all costs. In South Korea, it’s also more common for people to comment on your appearance to your face, letting you know what you “need” to fix and creating more pressure to alter how you look, while in the US, commenting on someone’s appearance is largely considered rude.

South Korea has actually had its own version of the #metoo movement called “Free the Corset”, which likens societal beauty standards to being bound in a corset. The movement is a backlash against unrealistic beauty standards that require women to spend hours on their appearances, and aims to create space for South Korean women to feel comfortable with their natural appearances.

#Anonymous #effys-closet #effys closet

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your-brilliant-lady-m · 4 years

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South Korean music industry at a glance: an outsider perspective

I watched one particular AMV last week. The song used for the video was “I’m afraid” by Korean rock band DAY6. I was pleasantly surprised as someone who values lyrics in song first and foremost. The music itself was great. I’ll listen to their songs again. It’s a nice fit for my music taste. Naturally, YouTube’s algorithm decided that I’m a fan of everything Korean after 1 video and started spamming my recommendations with k-pop songs, documentaries and everything in-between.

I watched a couple of videos, listened to some songs and discovered fascinating patterns. So, I went down to the comment section. And it was rather interesting experience, should I say? The concept of entertainment industry in South Korea simply begged to be explored more after this. I dug deeper and visited Tumblr k-pop tags and briefly glanced upon Instagram and Twitter. And, oh...

I am a big picture person and I enjoy both studying and creating systems. This one was particularly fun to explore. I discovered a lot of new things for myself. Perhaps, you can discover something new for yourself too or take a step back and look at this from a new angle.

Disclaimer: it’s impossible not to offend someone on Tumblr, so keep that in mind. That being said, I do NOT intend to insult of offend anyone. It’s just a little research done for fun, because I love research with a purpose. This post is NOT A HATE post. No hate intended for fans, artists or other people involved. It’s meant to be a discussion, nothing more and nothing less. If it sounds like hate, it’s just my sarcastic sense of humour.

Content Warning: I mention suicide, death, depression, rape in a couple of sentences. There’s nothing major or graphic, but it’s there.

In this long post I decided to share with you my opinion, a so-called outsider perspective, on the world of music entertainment industry in South Korea and people involved in it on different levels. I use the word “outsider” mainly because, that’s exactly what I am in this case, as someone who is in no way involved in k-pop community. I can’t name you a single band or their members. I don’t know any solo artist and can’t neither sing nor name you any song.

And to be completely honest, I don’t think I will set my foot into k-pop fan-circles ever again after everything I saw.

Think of this as “In this essay I will...” meme, except there’s an actual essay.

As far as I know, in South Korea “k-pop” refers to all music produced in SK, including solo artists, various bands, singers-songwriters. It doesn’t even have to be pop music. Koreans include in this definition all genres of music. However, around the world “k-pop” means primarily music made by idol groups and bands marketed for children, teenagers and younger people. In this post I use the latter definition, because that’s how most people understand “k-pop” in other countries. Therefore, my statements, opinions and conclusions here would concern only idol music.

The music industry in South Korea is heavily influenced by culture and traditions of the country, just like all things are. And there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, different backgrounds are what makes people so interesting and unique. However, when combined with consumer mindset, desire to generate profit at any cost and fast-paced nature of modern life these neutral cultural elements could produce something concerning, and it can lead to disastrous consequences.

1. Idol

These people are called artists, musicians, singers, bands, groups, performers. In South Korea and in Japan, however, people call them Idols or Stars. I’ve also seen Muses, Princes and Queens. Interesting, isn’t it? The terminology used to describe these musicians in South Korea is one of the key elements in this whole entertainment system. You’ll see why.

But who or what is an idol exactly? Let’s take a basic definition from Wikipedia.

“In the practice of religion, a cult image or devotional image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, person, spirit or daemon ... that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Rome, and modern Hinduism, cult images in a temple may undergo a daily routine of being washed, dressed, and having food left for them. Processions outside the temple on special feast days are often a feature. Religious images cover a wider range of all types of images made with a religious purpose, subject, or connection. In many contexts "cult image" specifically means the most important image in a temple, kept in an inner space, as opposed to what may be many other images decorating the temple.

The term idol is often synonymous with worship cult image. In cultures where idolatry is not viewed negatively, the word idol is not generally seen as pejorative, such as in Indian English.”

Cambridge Dictionary defines idol as follows:

And here’s the definition from Oxford Dictionary:

This is a centrepiece of this tapestry. Surely, you have noticed by now what these definitions have in common.

Idol = a cult image of a god, a deity

By calling these musicians “idols” industry makes society and audience treat them in certain way, namely as gods. What characteristics do gods possess? They are beautiful, talented, funny, confident and graceful, blessed by eternal youth of immortality. Gods have no flaws, they do not bleed, they are above human concerns. They are an embodiment of perfection. They are stars, you could not reach.

But real people are not like that. They can be sad and angry, insecure. People don’t have perfectly symmetrical faces. They can’t dance in sync without preparation. They can’t sing like angels at any given moment throughout the day.

What happens when idols accidentally reveal their humanity? What happens when people see, that they make mistakes and do stupid things, that they need to train hard to appear graceful on stage?

I will tell you. And it’s not pretty. But, first, let’s look at other elements of this system.

2. Y/N and Self-insert fantasy

Aside from the music, K-pop sells the self-insert fantasy to the audience. It’s carefully arranged to appear real, where the cracks are masked and every word is scripted. The reality is so vivid that one doesn’t even have to use imagination all that much, because all scenarios and decorations already exist. Countless interviews for TV and magazines, fan meetings, talk shows, reality shows made sure people are privy to all juicy details of personal lives and opinions of musicians. And also one word - merchandise. Some of that merch made me question my life choices. Some of it is, ah, creepy or has weird vibes. All of this provides plenty of material for people to work with. Fans can effortlessly imagine themselves beside their idols or even in their place.

In a highly competitive society, where people throw themselves into studying and work since young age, forming deep and lasting connections with others is very hard, sometimes impossible. As a result, people long to have a group of close friends with similar interests, a loving partner who would cherish them endlessly. People want to be rewarded for their backbreaking efforts to succeed by the carefree life of fame and music, everlasting friendships and love. And in a way you can’t really blame them for his.

Does this dream life sound familiar? We are looking at K-pop bands here. It doesn’t really matter if their members don’t always get along or that they can live in debt, that fame is fickle and adoring fans can tear your self-confidence to shreds. Audience wants the glamour of fantasy and the industry is more than happy to cater to these desires.

Perhaps, knowing that even for idols this fantasy is sometimes unattainable makes the whole set up feel just a little cruel.

3. Fans, stans and fandom culture

We’ve already established earlier that idols are gods in the eyes of people and listed traits they must possess. So, what else do gods need to exist? Worshippers. Because a cult is worth nothing without its followers. Gods need a group of people to worship them and spread their beliefs. The role of worshippers is performed by a fans in this case.

Apparently, there is a running joke that girl groups need to win a general public popularity and boy bands need a big passionate fandom. It seems to be true according to my observations.

In k-pop fandom people use the word “stan” to state that they like or support particular group. Now, I am sure everyone here knows that in other fandoms, dedicated to movies, shows, books and games there’s an important distinction between being a “fan” and a “stan”. What is it?

A fan is someone who likes a ship or character, creates and/or consumes fandom content, supports certain ideas, discusses things they enjoyed and disliked, criticises canon. Stans, however, are a different breed. They engage in all typical fandom activities, but their support and enjoyment becomes obsession. Stans believe their favourite characters and ships are immune to criticism, that they are superior no matter what others say. Stans start shipping wars, send anon hate, death threats over fictional characters and hurt real people. Stans are considered toxic fans. And majority of normal civilised people don’t like them and try their best to let stans hang out in their echo chamber by themselves.

In other fandoms and communities, to be a fan means to love, support and enjoy something, while to stan means to obsess over and hyperfixate on these same things. Words “I stan” rarely mean “I support” for most people, and if they do mean that, it’s only used in a joking manner (”We stan procrastination legend!”, “I stan our miscommunication kings”).

Everywhere else “stan” has only negative connotations, except in k-pop. But what has changed? What’s the difference? Why do international fans scoff at “shipper stans” and then turn around calling themselves “stans of X k-pop group” at the same time? Does it make you wonder?

And this is another core theme of k-pop, in my opinion. In fandom where stan = obsession = support, you can see interesting patterns.

Fandom loves their flawless gods. But watching them from afar is not enough for some people, because unlike deities in different religions, these gods live among us. People are very much aware of that. Industry has created a cult and laid the groundwork for worshippers to express their adoration in every way including personal contact. And who wouldn’t want to meet their god? Who wouldn’t want to know more about them or tell them how much you love them? In talk shows and fan meetings there is only so much one can do after all.

People desire to know more, to have more so much that their obsession transforms into concerning stalker tendencies. These crazy individuals follow idols, stalk them on social media, in hotels, research flight numbers, bribe security. Musicians were attacked and poisoned. I strongly suspect there were cases of rape that no one knows about. There is even a special term for these fans - “sasaeng”.

Is there a definition for stalkers of actors or musicians in western world? No, I’m pretty sure there isn’t. They are just called “invasive/obsessive fans” or “stalkers”.

Also, there are sasaeng memes. Yeah, you heard that right. I enjoy some classy dark humour as much as the next person, but there is a fine line between normal and questionable.

Back to the topic of stalkers. Do you realise how disturbing that is? Such behaviour is so common that there is a term for it. You create a fandom-cult, encourage people to worship k-pop idols as gods and then act surprised when members of said cult become fanatics and their adoration becomes obsession.

And it’s so easy to step on this slippery road. The system makes it ridiculously easy. Lines begin to blur. How much is too much? Where do you draw the line?

While sasaeng fans engage in extreme real-life obsession, people online aren’t that far off, to be honest. I’ve seen it all: imagines, headcanons, fanfiction, real-person shipping, reactions. Real person shipping is a controversial topic. Some people support it, others don’t. I suppose I’m among those who don’t get it. I’m not exactly against it, but I find it strange. Mainly because it’s based on assumptions made by fans about personalities and behaviour of real people.

Assumptions. Dear me! K-pop fandom has this thing with video compilations. I’ve never seen this phenomenon being so widespread in any other community or fandom. Basically people edit together a collection of short clips from talk-shows, interviews, Instagram stories, some YouTube videos, etc and then proceed to analyse every gesture, word, facial expression of idols and provide both audio and on-screen commentary. These videos and many other forms of similar analysis allow people to imagine what kind of personalities idols have, what kind of life do they live. It’s the source material for fanfiction, imagines and headcanons.

But it’s not real. It’ll never be real. It’s an illusion, an image, a stage persona. They fall in love with a face and made up personality. And I think that when people create this content they can forget this. Fans can develop certain emotional dependence and unhealthy attitudes in the long run. In some YouTube comments even supportive and encouraging words sound whiny and obsessive. And semantics of being a “stan” of certain group or individual doesn’t help.

4. Industry, companies and liars

At last we arrive at the most important aspect of music entertainment industry - its creators.

Have you seen “The Road to El Dorado”? It’s one of my all time favourites. It has iconic characters, adult jokes that I didn’t get as a child and iconic soundtrack. I’ll quote “It’s Tough To Be A God” a lot here.

In South Korea music industry is a factory, the production line to be exact. This kind of set up affects everything in the grand scheme of things. Companies and agencies play the role of training centres and record labels. And there are so many of them that a whole new scamming system developed based around fake idol agencies. It implies that there are people who fall for offers of these agencies and continue to do so. I suspect that victims must pay a fortune upfront before they realise their mistake. Are there any kind of legal protection against such scams? How can people verify the authenticity? Because a well masked scam can exist for a long time before someone discovers it and calls them out on their nonsense.

As far as I understand legal companies work like this. After high school, which is often focused on performing arts (and private schools can get away with using talents of students for personal gain, which is totally not surprising), young people can audition for an agency and become an idol in training or idol-trainee. And passing audition is hard. But good recommendations can help, connections too.

During training you don’t get paid. Only a few companies pay aspiring musicians. People can spend years in training and don’t debut. But rent, necessities, clothing and food (not that you need much of it, but more on that later) cost a lot. Where do you get the money to live then? Support from parents, one or two part time jobs at most and bank loans. Surprise! We found an unexpected (just kidding, it’s very obvious) party, who reaps benefits from the system.

You need skill to be an idol. Natural talent helps too. The more skills you have, the cheaper and faster your training is. To level up your game you attend classes every month offered by your agency, which are not cheap (dance classes range from 400$ to 1000$ per month, sometimes more). There are four main categories in evaluation process: vocals, rapping, dancing and visuals. Idols are multitaskers, to have a chance on stage one must be perfect at everything. And people are ready to invest thousands of dollars into their kids training so that they could have a chance in entertainment industry. South Korea thrives on revenue k-pop industry generates every day.

Let’s pause here for a second and think about what kind of people come to these agencies. The answer is easy. People who have a dream, a desire, a real goal. You don’t wake up one day and decide to become a k-pop idol. Sometimes people get invited by agencies (after prior acting, modelling career or any other form of exposure). These people are usually very young. Some start straight after high school, some after university, but 25 years old is considered a late start. Compare that to western musicians who start singing at any age and still become famous.

But why this age limit? Because idols are eternally young. So that in public eye musicians are remembered as 20 year old gods. People would listen to their music and imagine a young attractive face. Career in k-pop is short, it lasts 5-7 years, rarely longer than that. It’s even less than modelling or acting can offer. And professional sportsmen retire in their late 30′s. Some play longer, but usually, that’s it.

If you live in Los Angeles and say that you want to be an actor or performer, no one would bat an eye. It’s like saying that you want to be an engineer or accountant. Similarly, in South Korea becoming an k-pop musician is a real career. Because part of the self insert fantasy that the industry sells is the idea that anyone can be an idol. It’s easy after all. Anyone can pass auditions and become a trainee. A trainee with no guarantee of debut. But one should never underestimate the power of idol-dream. After all, idea is the most resilient parasite.

“My friends started training in kindergarten. They have wanted to become idols since young”

“A lot of young kids get interested in Korean music”

A 6-year old child sees the performance of k-pop group for the first time on TV. Let’s say it’s a girl. She is enraptured and decides that she will be like that too someday. She grows up, while being part of the fandom, just like all idols are in one way or another and whose fan-obsession transforms into desire to succeed. Her parents spend time and money to find her tutors, to fund dancing and singing classes. Perhaps in high school this girl decides to fix the shape of her eyes and make nose straighter. She trains hard and passes the auditions in her dream agency. And during training this girl faces the reality of behind the scenes life in music industry.

“Why are you crying? I’m not even pushing you”

“How many times have I told you? The rest are doing it perfectly”

“She is dancing like an elementary school student“

“I watched your performance as a spectator who bought a ticket to your concert. I want a refund“

“You make my ears hurt. I don’t want to listen at all”

“Listening to you was tiring”

“I’ll kick you out instead. You won’t debut”

“I thought I was going to die. That’s how determined I was”

While I do understand that keeping a high quality standards in media industry is important, there are more productive and healthy ways to motivate someone to improve and be more passionate, you know? Constantly insulting people with sadistic glee and putting them down at every opportunity or calling them ugly to their face doesn’t do much.

Do you think that children know about this? Do they know about soulless teachers and belittling managers? Do they know about friends who are really your competition, so you shouldn’t get attached? Do they know about living in debt? Do they know any of this? No, I don’t think they do.

Children dream about the stage, about the sea of lights and crowds who chant your names. They want adoring fans and photoshoots. They want to appear on TV and magazine covers. Teenagers want the thrill of performance, they want to share their music and dancing with others.

“I don’t know how many times I cried alone”

The truth is cruel. But they won’t give up easily even if it means sleeping 4-5 hours and consuming no more than 500 calories per day. Because giving up means that your whole life was a lie. One can’t afford not to be good enough. Giving up means admitting that all efforts and money your family invested into your dream were in vain. It means losing face before your family and friends - a fate worse than death. Imagine living this idol dream and building your whole future around it and then being told that you’ll never debut because of the circumstances outside of your control or something minor, like face shape or 1 kg of weight that your body refuses to lose. It can break you. Especially if you are like 18 or something.

5. “And who am I to bridle if I'm forced to be an idol If they say that I'm a God, that's what I am”

“I don’t think there’s anything a tough as being a trainee in Korea”

Once you are a trainee at the agency your personal life does not belong to you anymore. You can’t go out without permission of the agency. You phone is taken away. Your diet and weight are monitored. Bad habits are not allowed (no smoking, drinking or drugs). Oh! I think I found the good thing in the system! Unfortunately, it won’t last. Trainees can’t date or meet with family without permission of agency. Dating is very taboo. Even established idols can’t openly date.

Why is that? Because gods can’t belong to anyone. Their lives are property of the fandom. Because openly dating idols destroy the self-insert fantasy. There was a former idol girl who dated another musician. She was called a whore by her fans, her loving and adoring stans. You might know who I am talking about. Would you call an American actor or singer a prostitute for dating someone?

Trainees sign the contract. And how can a young person straight out of school or university know much about what makes a good contract in entertainment industry or what makes a good contract in general? Even if you do understand the terms fully you would still sign it because if you have come so far, you can’t let your dream slip this easily. There isn’t a choice. Not really. If you want to debut, you will agree to anything.

What about life after debut? You have to pay off your loans. And company takes 60-70% of your group’s earnings. Artists themselves get 30-40% and split it between themselves. K-pop groups have from 5 to 10 members or more than that. Each person gets less than 6%. Idols are not filthy rich. They are not. These earnings are practically nothing compared to the work you have put into this.

Idols are musicians, who often don’t even write their own songs, music or create choreography. But if public doesn’t like the song and musical number the company created, they blame idols for the failure. Such an amazing logic we see right here. But people say that sharing music is the best part of idol life. But whose music?

Models on catwalk are not there to demonstrate their physical beauty, they are blank canvas for works of clothing designers. Same with k-pop musicians. They act like puppets in a way, whose faces and voices are used to show audience someone’s music and songs. Some groups do write their own music and lyrics and it’s nice to know that. But those, who don’t are rather unfortunate. It’s a nice tool of psychological control and pressure for an agency. They can hold it over group and use the following rhetoric: “We gave you everything! Why can’t you follow the simple instructions” or “Where would you be without us? It’s not even your music!”

I called k-pop industry a factory. That’s true. Dozens of people become trainees every year. These talented young people are fully prepared to do anything to achieve their goal. They are ready to practice until they collapse, starve themselves and pour themselves into every song. Companies know that. Tell me why would they value their idols as individuals, as people, as human beings if they always have a replacement? Why bother with mental health of their artists if next year they could have a fresh set of people, who are younger and prettier? Why try to improve relationships inside groups if you could fire any member and replace them within a month or two?

In western countries famous bands have different stories. Some were friends since high school, who played in bars and during festivals and then they were noticed by some representative of label company, who offered them a contract. Some groups were formed by like-minded people who bonded and decided to share their music with the world. There are many stories, but ultimately the have one thing in common. Bands in the West often form themselves. These people had time to bond, connect, discover each other, solve some disagreements and learn to work around their differences.

K-pop groups are formed by their agencies. They are their property in a way. Company selects the best and puts together these total strangers, appoints the leader with marketable face and personality and then expects them to work together like a well-oiled machine. No one has time to bond during training, because other people are you competition, not friends. And then you must learn to work as a team and be best friends on camera for the audience to support the self-insert fantasy. It’s no wonder that k-pop groups don’t get along sometimes. And every member knows that they are replaceable. It doesn’t help in forming connections. Groups can’t just terminate contract and go to work with another agency. I heard it happens sometimes, but it’s not a done thing. Unlike in other countries where bands just sign the deal with a different label and release their music under their name if they don��t like the old conditions.

“It's tough to be a God But if you get the people's nod Count your blessings, keep them sweet, that's our advice Be a symbol of perfection Be a legend, be a cult Take their praise, take a collection As the multitudes exalt Don a supernatural habit We'd be crazy not to grab it So sign up two new Gods for paradise”

But is it really a paradise?

Idols are expected to act cute, to match personalities created for them by fans or media. They have to act according to the concept of their group. They have to be a symbol of perfection: skinny, single and with a face perfected by surgery. They are allowed to mess up, but only in a cute way. They can break down and cry, but only if it’s “aesthetic”.

Weight issues are a separate topic. Sometimes I wonder whether managers in companies understand how weight loss or human body in general works. To be honest, I think that scales in agencies are rigged. And only managers know that. I know it can be done from personal experience. Some beach resorts tweak their scales and make them show 4-6 kg less than actual weight, so people wouldn’t get upset if they gain some. There is no way a girl as tall as I am (173 cm) could weigh like 47-50 kg and be able to perform complex choreography on stage and sing without being out of breath, visit the gym on a regular basis and generally function as a normal human without fainting every other day.

“I developed a lot of eating disorders”

“I think I consumed about 300 calories today“

“Someone, please, trim the fat off her arms”

If you grow up thinking of idols as gods and then, when you become one of them you think that you must act as one too. But being an easily replaceable god is a heavy burden. The industry, companies and audience want you to be perfect, to always be on your best behaviour. And the thought of not being good enough or divine enough terrifies you, because stans have no mercy (black ocean concept is the most stupid thing ever by the way). This kind of pressure can destroy even the most resilient. And it does.

Almost everyone knows that situation with mental health in South Korea is not the best to put it lightly. In many ways it’s a cultural thing. But in k-pop mental health issues are treated with even less care. Gods are not supposed to be depressed or suicidal. They are not supposed to have fears or insecurities, can’t be upset or angry. They try hard to be this deity, this image. So, even when they realise they need professional help or even a friend to talk to, they either won’t seek said help or reach out only to be met with silence. Some agencies disapprove or forbid therapy altogether.

Sometimes fandom becomes self-aware.

“Don’t forget that idols are people too!”

“Your favourite idols are running out of breath just to keep you entertained“

“They are humans, who have feelings!”

Oh, but here’s the thing, my friend. The industry doesn’t want you to think of them as people. Companies and media repeatedly reinforce the idea that they are not people, they are your idols. And strangely enough, the audience supports this idea. People continue to call them idols, developing worshiping tendencies in the process, imitate them, scrutinise their flaws and triumphs. Because, you know, only “real and ordinary humans” can have flaws, not “idols”.

So people who say “they are human too” and people who say “wow, this concert was amazing, but vocals in the beginning were so off-key, I simply can’t” are one and the same.

This thought process would have been funny if it wasn’t so disappointing. But that’s just my observation.

And here’s another thing about sexualisation. I said before how appearances are everything, marketable face and body could drastically improve your chances to succeed. Companies know about this too and concepts and aesthetics of groups are designed accordingly. Girls are dressed in skimpy outfits, their dances are unnecessary suggestive, they wear heavy make up and try to have “mature” vibes. Boys don’t avoid such objectification either: suits, tight pants and dress shirts along with make up and hairstyle to give audience a promise of the things to come. Grown adults are not supposed to lust after 15-17 year olds. You can’t just create a sexy stage persona for teenagers. Do you remember my earlier words about creepy merch? Yeah. All of it neatly plays into the self-insert fantasy and encourages obsessive behaviour.

This happens in western countries too. In some way that’s understandable. Beautiful and sexy image with a hint of innocence attracts more people and sells, because it caters to one of the base human instincts. But some things make your skin crawl.

Sponsorships are another topic. Some k-pop bands seek out sponsors to provide financial aid and cover expenses, when earnings are not enough. Sometimes these sponsorships are fine, perfectly civil. But sometimes it’s a prostitution. Girl groups receive money and provide sexual favours to their patrons. It’s a way for the group to gain financial support and even find new opportunities in the industry. Companies can encourage such deals. Let that sink in for a moment.

6. “Any advice to those who want to become a k-pop idol?”

A lot of former idols and trainees have similar responses to this question.

“I don’t want to discourage anyone, but think twice”

“You only see the glamorous side, but don’t see all the hard work that goes into it”

“It’s not what you think”

“They think ��Since I am good looking and can sing and dance really well, maybe I should become an idol?’, but there is much more to it“

“They think it’s something that is easy and will keep their family set for life financially”

And this implies that most people don’t know what kind of lifestyle k-pop stars truly have, despite the amount of information available online about “behind the scenes” proceedings.

7. Moving on

I am a practical person and every decision I make is subjected to scrutiny. And after seeing everything I can't help but wonder whether idols believe it's truly worth it. What keeps the industry alive is the idol-dream, the wilful ignorance of its reality and youthful idealism, the beautiful naïve belief that it'll get better, even if it never does in the end.

Sure no one would ever admit it out loud, because it's one of those things you never say on camera, no matter how sincere you have to be. It's the matter of professionalism after all, and idols have it spades. And also, because admitting this would equal admitting that you spent your best years doing something you both loved and hated, admitting that this was a mistake.

When you grow up in a society where appearances matter the most, where saving face and being polite is more important than staying true to yourself, where individuality is tolerated only to a certain point, it takes a lot of courage to admit that you need a break. I greatly respect those who decided that idol lifestyle is not for them and moved on.

8. Conclusion

To sum up, I hope you enjoyed my small research and this perspective, since you have read it all the way to the end.

You have noticed that entertainment industry is an intricate system and its every component makes sure nothing changes. Companies have power over idols and audience, fandom has power over idols and their careers, and musicians themselves have fame and their music, but not always the promised fortune or happiness.

It’s important to understand the big picture to draw your own conclusions and encourage positive and heathy attitudes in fandoms. Being open minded and allowing people to make mistakes and live their lives the way they want to is a part of being a decent person. People don’t owe anything to others. Art is about sharing your thoughts and feelings, promoting ideas and spreading beauty. It’s not always about money. And I think that this is what k-pop lacks as an industry. It turned dreams and human need for self-expression into business. Here everything is turned into a product. Everything idols touch can be sold, sometimes literally. Industry created problems, which can’t be solved anymore, because doing so would topple the system. And I find it tragic. Trapped in an endless chase after perfection creators of k-pop forgot that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

If you take a look at comment sections and posts on different platforms, what will you see? What kind of things resonate with audience? What makes people laugh and cry? When people start to appreciate the substance?

“Everyone needs to hear this song in their darkest moments”

“Thank you for your music!”

“They always deliver! These guys can’t make a bad song!”

“It inspired me to write again!”

“Their songs brought me and my sister together once again”

“This is what happens when you let groups write their own music - they make incredible things”

“They really are legends of k-pop! I love that they are not afraid to show their inner strength”

“Stay strong! You rock!”

I believe that the answer is quite simple: when it’s real, sincere. It’s all about the message you choose to send to your audience, because only superficial things cause obsession. When you say that the sparkly façade is all that matters, then that’s the only thing people will ever care about. Your audience will never give a damn about the meaning behind dancing, music or lyrics, if you tell them that performance is more important. No one would praise WHAT k-pop idols sing, instead they would prefer wasting breath to criticize HOW they sing or look or move.

I dare the k-pop industry to prove people that it’s not just about looks or perfection, or laser shows, or being a branding machine. Prove to your fans that k-pop artists are also passionate people with big dreams and talent, who love every moment of their job, who live and inspire, who are human just like us and whose humanity is real!

Do it, you cowards!

And now, I’m finished. I can hear the raging crowd of k-pop fandom in the distance, which means it’s time to hide. See you some other time!

#k-pop #korean music #k-rock #k-pop idol #k-pop meta #k-pop discussion #k-pop fandom criticism

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mxupdate · 5 years

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[ARTICLE] Monsta X Pushes Against Boundaries in ALL ABOUT LUV, K-Pop's First All-English Album in a Decade

The members of K-pop group Monsta X entered the interview room as though it were the set of a music video: fully hair-and-makeup-ready, some wearing clothes identical to the attire they wore in the video for one of their latest releases, “Middle of the Night.” Kihyun donned a checkered coat with bright yellow stripes and a green collar, Minhyuk a light brown coat with a dark tiger print. The group had just completed a Q&A on Facebook Live, after more than a week of non-stop interviews and meet-and-greets on both coasts of the U.S. The frenetic pace was par for the course for a K-pop act promoting a new album, though in this case, the group from South Korea had just released something a bit different: its first all-English album, ALL ABOUT LUV.

See full article here or read below.

ALL ABOUT LUV is the first all-English album released by a K-pop group in more than a decade — the last one was from trio JYJ in 2010. The new album quickly accomplished an impressive feat, ranking fifth on the Billboard 200 albums chart, making Monsta X only the third K-pop group, after BTS and SuperM, to break the top 10. Members Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney, I.M and Wonho — who left the group near the end of last year — participated in the recording of the album, whose 11 tracks are uncharacteristically sensual and seductive for a K-pop act. A few days after the release, five of the six members of Monsta X sat down with TIME to discuss, at times via a translator, ALL ABOUT LUV, and the experience of both singing in English and speaking more frankly about what happens in the bedroom. (Rapper Joohoney is on a break, taking time to focus on his mental health due to anxiety, but will return for the group’s North American tour beginning in June.)

In the nearly five years since the group was formed in the reality competition show No.Mercy in 2015, Monsta X has carved a space in K-pop with EDM- and hip hop-heavy tracks paired with aggressive choreography. In 2019, the act began to shift gears in its sound. While continuing to release Korean albums with the same explosive energy, Monsta X dropped a number of tracks recorded in English, with a sleeker, smoother vibe. The rollout of these English-language songs led up to the release of ALL ABOUT LUV, which dropped on Valentine’s Day to the warm embrace of “Monbebes” — the name for the group’s fans, derived from the French term for “my baby.”

A new language introduces a new mode of expression

The group began working on ALL ABOUT LUV back in 2018, when they recorded “Besides U” featuring Pitbull, though “Who Do U Love?,” a collaboration with French Montana, would be the album’s first single. “At that time it was really difficult to record,” Kihyun, the main vocalist whose honeyed falsetto is a standout in the new album, tells TIME of working in English. “But it’s really comfortable now, every song.” A combination of speaking more English during stateside events, covering American pop songs — such as Bruno Mars’ “Versace on the Floor,” performed on a Korean television show in 2018 — and receiving help from youngest member I.M, who has lived in Boston and is fluent, has gradually increased the artists’ comfort working in the language.

Releasing an English album doesn’t just mean the words sound different. Vocalist Minhyuk describes a more technical difference in singing the two languages, which can lead to increased expressiveness. “When you speak Korean, there are lots of words that if you pronounce that word, your mouth is closed and it’s not really that smooth — it can sound a bit intense,” he says. “But when you are speaking English words, it goes with the flow. Word and word connects.” Minhyuk says the more flexible pronunciation helps him “give more emotions” to the English words. This can be heard, for instance, as he tenderly delivers the line, “I only feel alive when I don’t feel safe” from the new track “Misbehave.”

A laid-back, gentler approach to choreography

The emotions expressed in the new album, and the dances that accompany the songs, also mark a change from those of Monsta X’s past tracks. The group’s Korean music is known for its intensity — the latest title tracks “Follow” and “Alligator” are EDM-infused anthems whose choreography features fast-paced stomps, kicks and punches. In contrast, the numbers on ALL ABOUT LUV, as the album’s name suggests, share a laid-back mood expressed by soft and fluid dance moves. The performance for the new song “Middle of the Night” is filled with hip swaying, finger snapping and caressing of the microphone stand.

“In ALL ABOUT LUV, the whole album vibe is very moody and chill,” says leader Shownu, who is also the main dancer and has participated heavily in the group’s choreography. “We just wanted to match the dance moves with the songs.” The members contributed to shaping the routines of the new tracks. Shownu points to “Middle of the Night”: at the line, “we’re kissing in the car underneath of the night,” the idols tilt their microphone stands sideways and lean down as if to kiss them.

“Our Korean album performance and our ‘Middle of the Night’ performance are different types of sexy,” Minhyuk explains. “Korean album is…” he pauses as rapper I.M jumps in — “strong sexy.” “Yeah, strong and powerful,” Minhyuk agrees. Meanwhile, “Middle of the Night” has a “gentle” type of sexiness, Kihyun says.

‘Honest things happen on the bed’

But the sex appeal doesn’t only stem from the choreography. Throughout the album, lyrics making sexual references carry Monsta X into a beyond-PG-13, but not-quite-R-rated realm to which few K-pop acts have ventured.

In the track “Misbehave,” the chorus goes, “Love it when we mess this up, every time we argue, straight into the bedroom.” When asked about these lyrics, I.M says, “When you are loving somebody you need to be honest, and honest things happen on the bed.”

“What?!” Kihyun exclaims. “B-E-D? B-E-D?” Minhyuk asks, spelling out the word. “It’s about your imagination,” I.M responds, offering a laundry list of chaste activities. “We can just sleep, or just yawn…”

“Watch Netflix on bed,” vocalist Hyungwon, who has been mostly quiet up until now, chimes in. “Yeah, everyone has their own time on their bed,” I.M says. Kihyun fans himself. “Whew, I’m sweating!”

“Using the straightforward words, I thought it was very erotic,” Shownu says, using the Korean word yahada, which is also sometimes translated as “sexual.” “I felt shy,” Minhyuk shares about his recording experience.

Minhyuk reflected on the lyrics of “Love U,” a cheery electro-pop track suggestive of something more physical. The members sing, “I really, really wanna love you / But I can’t say the word I want to / ‘Cause they won’t play it on the radio / But I know you know / What I mean, what I mean.” It’s not hard to guess the word the lyrics suggest.

“When we were recording ‘Love U,’ I thought it was just a song about love,” Minhyuk explains. “But it went in a different direction.”

To be clear, the lyrics in All ABOUT LUV never explicitly mention sex. But compared to previous tracks in Monsta X’s discography — and, on a broader scale, most love songs across K-pop — the words are significantly more sexual. “It’s fine, we’re all adults.” Kihyun says, “and this is an American album.” If it were a Korean album, there would “maybe” be fewer of these references, he says. “The Korean society is more strict to lyrics.”

Pioneering a new sound

While the majority of K-pop tracks have a balanced distribution between singing and rapping — as most idol groups are formed with a mix of singers and rappers — ALL ABOUT LUV has significantly fewer rap verses. I.M and the group’s main rapper Joohoney, who boast some of the most dynamic rap delivery in the industry, tabled that specialty to record vocal-heavy sections. “I think I forgot how to rap by now,” I.M jokes.

“It was so funny,” Kihyun shares about Joohoney’s time in the studio. “Joohoney yelled at me, ‘Hyung, help me! I can’t do this,’” Kihyun says, referencing the Korean term for “older brother.” “The notes were so high to Joohoney, but he did it.” Indeed, Joohoney and I.M displayed their versatility across the album’s melodies, from the ad-libs in “Who Do U Love?” to the sultry introduction in “Middle of the Night.” In blurring the rap-vocal divide, the group is pioneering a new sound for Korean groups releasing music in the U.S.

“The Korean fans liked it because they saw a feeling they had never seen,” Hyungwon says. “The American fans liked it because it was fully in English.” Music from the album is already making its way into spaces where K-pop is rarely heard. On a recent episode of Riverdale, “Who Do U Love?” plays in the background. Elsewhere, fans have recorded hearing ALL ABOUT LUV tracks in stores from an H&M in Turkey to a Hollister in the U.K. When the group announced its North American tour taking place this summer, it became clear that Monsta X is returning to cities in venues much larger than the ones they performed in just a year ago, a testament to their rapid growth.

A few days before the Billboard 200 list was announced, TIME asked Monsta X how they will measure the success of ALL ABOUT LUV. Leader Shownu says he does not want to “get stuck inside of ‘success,’” and his teammate Kihyun offers a simple but emphatic response: “If we and our fans are satisfied with this album, that is good.”

#monsta x #200228 #t: interview #e: aal promo

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everythingwrong · 4 years

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EVERYTHING WRONG WITH KPOP

Before we start discussing about the problems or the backlashes faced by the Korean Pop industry, we need to know a little about how and where this entertainment industry began. A term now widely used to refer to the popularity of Korean entertainment and culture across Asia and other parts of the world, Hallyu or the “Korean Wave” first appeared during the mid-1990s. After Korea entered into diplomatic relations with China in 1992 and Korean TV dramas and pop music gained great popularity in Chinese-speaking communities.

Me personally being a Korean entertainment fan cannot choose to ignore the various flaws in the Korean entertainment industry. As a K-pop the music given me positivity and happiness. And I do think that a lot of fans of the K-pop and K-dramas will agree with me that the Korean Entertainment industry has brought in more happiness in our lives. And, I think a lot of us are well aware of the tight schedules, unhealthy diets and toxicity within the industry. Through this video I would like to address the problems the idols face due to this beauty standard and perfection that Korean entertainment industry showcases.

Now, let's start addressing the actual problems that this industry faces. This industry is racist, xenophobic, sexist and fatphobic.

1. EXISTENCE OF SLAVE CONTRACTS

The idols are made to sign slave contracts with the entertainment labels. And, these contracts gives the entertainment labels complete control over the idols and their daily life is strictly monitored by their managers. Even, the food that they consume is monitored by their managers. Now, addressing about "slave contracts ".In the past, K-Pop contracts usually were around 7-15 years, so they were nicknamed “slave contracts. However, many artists started filing lawsuits due to how unreasonable these contracts were. Over the years, companies started settling down and shortened the length of their contracts. Despite all of this, even if an idol group becomes famous majority of the money goes to the managers and the entertainment label.

We all know how draining the kpop industry is,the idols are overworked, pressured and always have to be on their best behaviour. This makes them sacrifice their mental health. And along with all of these they even have to deal with a lot of criticism from the audience. And we have also seen several cases of kpop idols who not having been able to deal with the pressure in the industry and having received hate from people choose to end their lives. And, the scandals in industry are on a different level and that it.

2. THE BEAUTY STANDARDS

Idols are sometimes forced to have a plastic surgery to meet the beauty standard. But, nowadays due to a lot of emphasis on the freedom of idols, the idols can sue the company if they are forced to undergo a plastic surgery, but majority of the time the idols are trainees when they are asked undergo surgeries and stuff. What more would a trainee want than getting a chance to debut. So instead of taking any legal courses the idols end of altering themselves to just be part of the industry. And, this negatively influences not only the idols but also the fans who follow them. All Asian countries in general have a perception that if a person has white skin he/she beautiful. And this perception is overemphasised by this industry. Now, about them being fatphobic. Any female idol weighing above 50 kgs is forced to go on a strict diet,due to this a lot of idols end up being underweight and and they also develop several health complication. And on several instances companies and idols have been caught lying about their weight just to maintain the image and be a part of the beauty standards. And we have also seen instances where idols have fainted while preforming on stages.

3. HARDSHIPS THAT TRAINEE'S HAVE TO UNDERGO

Trainee's. We all know that before a new idol group is formed the entertainment label conducts auditions. There are usually many auditions held each year but it’s pretty hard to pass the audition since there are many people auditioning.

When you become a trainee you have to take singing, dancing, and acting lessons as well as some language classes if you are a foreigner. Life as a trainee can be hard because of the tight schedules and also the mistreatment. During the evaluations the trainees have to perform their best to show the company that there are making progress in their training or else they’ll get kicked from the company if they’re not improving. And they are also graded on a monthly basis and ranked, due to which the idol trainees are under constant pressure to be number one.

In addition to their training, trainees also usually receive homework to do on a daily basis, and if they don’t do their homework given to them by their company, they’re going to get left behind. There are many trainees who give up their dreams of becoming a kpop idol because of the tight schedules and all the training and practice they have to do in order to not get kicked from the company. And also, there are certain companies who request to get paid training fees by their trainees,but, it’s not common. And, in addition to this, there have been situations in which several people who have trained for years to be become an idol ,have not been able to become one. Just think,what career options do they have left, they would have put in all their efforts into becoming a idol and if they or their group fail to debut what are they supposed. How are they supposed to fend themselves.

4. RACISM

There have been several instances of racism that kpop stars belonging to different ethnicities or mixed race stars have undergone.SBS Pop Asia reported that Fei from Miss A had stated that during her early days in the kpop she was tormented by people who thought that she showered only once a week as she was Chinese. And,singer Shannon was repeatedly called a foreigner despite her being half korean. Mamamoo, a girl group has also given a lengthy apology for putting on a blackface to portray Bruno Mars.

5. CULTURAL APPROPRITATION

https://twitter.com/adorebybeykook/status/1270817395242827778?s=20

https://youtu.be/uUCrK4aQOlg

youtube

On June 26, one of the biggest groups in the K-pop music industry made their long-awaited comeback. Blackpink, a four-member girl group, released their single "How You Like That" and its accompanying music video after over a year, breaking several records. It became the YouTube video, as well as the music video, with the most views in a day at a whopping 86.3 million. But as fans rejoiced about their favourite group’s comeback, another corner of the internet outraged. In yet another incident, K-pop idols were called out for misappropriating South Asian culture and religion.In a scene that has now been removed, one of the members could be seen rapping sitting beside a sculpture of Lord Ganesh, a Hindu god. South Asian K-pop fans expressed their anger at the fact that the bust was just used for aesthetic purposes on the set—which had nothing to do with Hinduism. In Hindu religion, the elephant-headed god is invoked at the beginning of prayers, important undertakings, and religious ceremonies. Fans not happy about seeing the deity being used as prop then spoke out against cultural appropriation in the music industry, lashing out against it on social media.

In 2017, Korean idol Lee Hyo Ri came out with a song called “White Snake”.The song was just one of the thousands that K-pop idols had released that year, except for the one thing that made it stand out: It had a stanza of the Gayatri Mantra, a Sanskrit chant that is said to be one of the holiest mantras in Hindu culture. It is a Vedic prayer, associated with the divine and the pure. So obviously, when South Asian fans saw her perform a seductive sequence to it, they weren’t very happy, to say the least.

Despite all of the flaws in the industry. I will continue to support my favourite idols because they deserve a lot of support for what they are doing. And it is our support that keeps them going. And again,thank you for watching this video and do not forget to like, subscribe and comment.

#kpop #racism #slavecontracts #fatphobic #Spotify #Youtube

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mysticalmusicwhispers · 4 years

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APH College AU: South Korea

Thanks to @bizarrejelly for ideas for SK’s major!!! Go look at their drawings and headcanons y’all! AU intro

- Broadcasting/mass communications major. His dream job would be to host his own talk show so he can meet all his idols (let’s be real, this probably would end up being his job because he’s just really lucky and works super hard, and he’d be over the moon about it). - Tech side job, works at a Samsung store sometimes, helping fix people’s phones. He kinda hates telling people that their phones are broken beyond repair; when he talks about it to HK though he gets 0 sympathy: “Why are you sad?? It’s not your fault they broke their phone.” “Yeah, I know, but still! I’m supposed to be fixing it, aren’t I?!” - K-pop fan, knows all the singers and all the bands. He’s written fan letters to a lot of them in the neatest Korean he can manage, on one or two occasions he’s actually gotten a response. - Eats instant Ramen 5 out of 7 days for lunch, even though Japan offers to bring him stuff from China's restaurant. He just can’t be bothered, and wants quick meals he can wolf down in 10 minutes. (Slightly illogical because he could probs do that with China’s food as well but he just. Refuses.) - But because China insists on family dinners at least once a week, Yong Soo does have to show up to his apartment. He’s always first to arrive and usually gets dragged into helping prepare food by Yao. “Aiya, don’t be lazy and help me! You’ve got nothing else to do anyways besides sit there.” *Sigh* “Fine... but you need to repay me later.” (He never does get favors back, but he doesn’t really mind either.)

- Good cook, but nobody really knows about his skills because they just kind of assume he’s the type to be kinda klutzy and burn things, plus he doesn’t cook much, even for himself. Those who do eat his food are often blown away, just because their expectations got shattered and the food is really tasty. - A fashionable nerdy jock: he’s on a fair amount of sports teams, looks good all the time no matter what, writes really long and convoluted D&D scripts when playing Dungeon Master that have 10 spontaneous twists and no planning (he wings it), and puts a lot of effort into his schoolwork (on the honor roll a lot) because he just wants to do his best all the time. Nerd 100%, but not your stereotypical “shy, in the corner, ugly glasses person” nerd (I think that’s the most common stereotype?) - From @hongkongenthusiast‘s headcanons, he plays foot volleyball and shouts about how fun it is to anyone who’ll listen. He’s trying to create a school team, but can’t find enough people yet (or a coach). Also does taekwondo and is trying to learn fencing. - Wears fake glasses sometimes to look “cool” but it just ends up making him look super studious and rather smart (which he wouldn’t mind either). - Writes notes in English and Korean, does the whole thing of mixing in words from his two languages. His writing is pretty legible, but only because he writes fairly slowly to make it look good. However, he uses his laptop to take notes as well, because it’s faster and he doesn’t have to lug several thick notebooks around. Plus it saves trees. - Annoys the heck out of his teachers sometimes, but they appreciate his enthusiasm. He’s the person who gets reprimanded a lot for fooling around but is still a favorite of the teacher. - Has started a podcast series where he hosts local performer people and ask them about their work and life stuff. HK cohosts episodes with him sometimes; his siblings and a lot of his friends follow the series (which is actually of decent quality). Spain and Austria have also been in episodes. - Drags his family out for karaoke nights a lot. He’s a good singer, but only on some songs that vibe with him; really bad and off tune at other songs. - He’s fairly decent at English, mostly because he approaches each book as a drama series and can predict a lot of twists, good at math (and knows it) and average at all other subjects. He takes a lot of film classes though because he finds them really interesting (and he gets to watch movies for class). - B to A+ range. Rather variable grades because sometimes he just completely misses the mark on an assignment. He does pretty ok though most times. - Chugs Starbucks coffee on late nights, which is 3 out of 5 weekdays. Isn’t really picky with the quality of drink as long as it keeps him awake. He doesn’t really need it though, because often times he wakes up still functioning perfectly after going to bed at 1 AM. Japan and China (and Macau sometimes) always tells him he seriously wouldn’t need the coffee if he just stopped procrastinating and planned ahead a little (and it’s totally true) but he doesn’t really do anything with their suggestions. - Sometimes he just goes back to his room after class with a whole ton of assignments and flops on his bed and watches kpop for a while because it’s just so much stuff that he doesn’t even want to get started until he’s watched enough entertainment. - I don’t think he’s the type to really laze around in bed in the morning, just because he thinks that’s a waste of time where you could be doing so many other things. Sometimes he just goes outside and does morning stretches on the sidewalk just because it’s refreshing. - He’s not really stressed a lot, because even when he stays up late he just takes it in stride and thinks of it as a normal part of a college student’s life, doesn’t feel bad about putting off work to the last minute or anything. Oftentimes he brags about it actually, being like “ahaha I got an A with this assignment assigned a week ago that I did sloppily last night in 2 hours”. Everyone just kinda shakes their heads in half admiration and half exasperation; some people feel jealous about how he can pull off such good grades but nobody really hates him for bragging. - However he does get frustrated/upset when he can’t think of what to do for a creative assignment/project. When he doesn’t have any ideas he just gets really burned out and flops into a pit of watching Netflix for four hours while he should be doing work - Does a lot of self care and knows how to pamper himself. Face masks and cucumbers, that sort of thing. On weekends, he forces China to lend him the bathtub in the apartment so he can pretend to have a spa day kinda thing, usually ropes Taiwan into it as well (she’d be totally into it) - Very sociable, knows most of the people he sees in the hallways and always gives them a wave or smile, makes you kinda light up inside if he says hi to you because he’s just that sweet. - Joined the anime club (which Japan is also in) and works for the school news channel, sometimes as a video editor, sometimes as a reporter. - Rocks the oversized hoodie look. - Kinda just hangs around his friends and their homework a lot, even if he doesn’t know anything about what they’re doing. He’ll fiddle with HK’s recording equipment (he knows how to work most of it because of his broadcasting major but just likes to annoy him sometimes), look at Alfred’s notes on astrophysics and gravity and forces and things (and doodle pictures of astronauts and rockets on them), mess around with other people’s stuff in general. - He’s the idea creator in friend groups. Spouts out fun things that they could do, either for projects or side hobbies or just weird competition thingies. Really fun to have around, and never makes a conversation awkward. - Really smooth when talking to people about sensitive subjects; he’s compassionate and knows when to stop pushing. But he’s a mess when flirting with someone he genuinely likes. - Slow to let you in on his secrets. Like I said, he has a lot of friends and knows a lot of people, but he never talks about really serious subjects unless he’s really close with the person, which takes a little while.

Ok I wrote a little too much, but I just have a lot of ideas. Also, tumblr tried autocorrecting “taekwondo” to “wonderland” *facepalms*. Anyways, I’m gonna try and finish a fic about China first so there might be a break in content for a while. Feedback is welcome and appreciated!!

#college au musings #aph south korea #aph #musings #hws #hetalia #hws south korea #headcanon musings #aph south korea headcanons #aph korea #hws korea #hws south korea headcanons #aph south korea college au #hws south korea college au #aph college au #hws college au #hetalia college au #aph south korea college au headcanons #hws south korea college au headcanons

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