#But it's mostly K-pop tbh

[amethystina]

Spotify Tag Game

I got tagged by @sofapup17! Thank you so much 💜

The game: Put your Spotify On Repeat playlist on shuffle and post the first 10 songs!

Honestly, I'm the worst person to do this x'D I don't use Spotify all that often so right now all songs on my On Repeat list are from the Who Holds the Devil playlist I made. So this turned into less of a "what music do you listen to" and more of a "let me explain why I put these specific songs on my Who Holds the Devil playlist." BUT I guess there might be an audience for that, too?

So let's go, I guess?

___

1. Heroes Rise - Tommee Profitt, Sam Tinnez

Definitely more of a Ga On-focused song what with that whole "hero" thing he's got going on and his attempts to make a change in the world. But there are also definite hints of Yo Han in that whole "heroes never die" aspect. Because while what he did was technically illegal and he's more of an antihero than anything else, he IS definitely still a hero. And what he did will be remembered for a long time to come, if nothing else because it gave rise to new heroes (see what I did there? ;D)

This is just a very good song to convey the overarching plot of heroes and the power they hold — but also the amount of conviction and dedication it requires.

2. I Didn't Ask For This - Beth Crowley

I am OBSESSED with this song right now, specifically in relation to Yo Han. There are parts of this song that hits just right for his character, both in the original drama and Who Holds the Devil. I mean:

Take what's left Of my fractured heart Bloodstained 'cause The pieces are so sharp

*chef's kiss*

But also:

*pterodactyl screech*

3. The Sacrament - HIM

My teenage emo phase coming back to bite me in the ass x'D No, but really, there's just something with this song that vibes with the whole religious themes of The Devil Judge. And the longing, desperation, and reverence of Who Holds the Devil.

Also, I just really, really love that piano. So sue me.

4. Die For You - PENTAGON

This one is pretty self-explanatory, I feel. Very much Ga On at the start of Who Holds the Devil, desperately longing for Yo Han. It also perfectly conveys his recklessness and just how far he'd be willing to go to be forgiven for his mistakes.

5. Dancing's Done - Ava Max

Possibly added during a bit of a YOLO moment, not going to lie xD BUT, there are definitely parts of the lyrics that apply:

I wanna give into your dark temptation I wanna touch you like nobody does, oh People like you and me were born to run So where we going when the dancing's done? (Oh)

Because Ga On sure has hell wants to give in to Yo Han's dark temptation, even if he pretends that he doesn't.

6. A Little Bit Dangerous - CRMNL

Yo Han. Through and through. It also has a bit of the same cheekiness as the original soundtrack, which I like. And, I mean:

Let out of the cage, took my chains away I'm so tough to tame now Look at what you made me Look at what you made me do

7. I Want You To Want Me - Chase Holfelder

Another Yo Han song. Like, if you've read The Gentle Light? You know why this song is here. You know about the desperation and the yearning and the need. So, really, I HAD to put this on the list.

BECAUSE PINING.

8. Let Me Be Your Armor - Assemblage 23

I am SO glad this song made it onto the list because this one actually requires an explanation. It's one that might not make a lot of sense in terms of style (it definitely has a different vibe than the rest) BUT. The lyrics. The LYRICS. Like, babes. Listen to the lyrics. Listen to the lyrics ALL THE WAY THROUGH and then tell me this isn't Yo Han (as he sees himself).

This is a song I've had in my folders for literal YEARS (a friend sent it to me as a mood song for one of my OCs) and the moment I decided to make this playlist, I KNEW this song had to be on it.

9. A Dangerous Thing - AURORA

Honestly, I'm not sure if I need to explain this one all that much. It kind of speaks for itself in a lot of ways. Though I WILL say that while the dangerous thing is Yo Han in most situations, just maybe, there might be times when it's Ga On. Especially in Who Holds the Devil.

(... you'll understand after chapter 37)

10. Addicted - MONSTA X

Look. I know we haven't really gotten to that part yet, but they be horny, okay? Desperate and horny. And very much addicted to each other. What more do you want me to say? xD

(for real, though, MONSTA X sure know how to make desperate and horny songs. Mercy is even worse, in the best way possible).

___

Well, I hope that was fun! Even if it turned into an advertisement for Who Holds the Devil and the attached playlist x'D

As for tagging, I tag @shi-toyu because I know you at least use Spotify ;) And everyone else who wants to do it!

[usedpidemo]

Acquainted (Red Velvet Yeri)

(Thank you for the commission! I hope it's to your liking.)

You’re just about ready to head off to sleep when you check the group chat. This is your nightly tradition. These strangers, now your closest friends despite the anonymity, are active and in good spirits, as usual. Outside of your weekday 9-to-5, these few moments are the most interesting parts of your day, and you just so happen to join during a particularly lively conversation:

> [22:48:01] yerimiese: (posts a link to a red velvet album article)

> [22:48:14] flutter mane: :sanapog:

> [22:48:23] silksong sulker: k-pop is saved

> [22:48:33] wonyoung cockjuicer: ew red velvet

> [22:48:37] wonyoung cockjuicer: wonyoung can peg me tbh

> [22:48:39] irene’s tokki: Bae J:floshedjiggle::floshedjiggle:hyun

> [22:49:06] milf hunter: :floshed:

> [22:49:11] milf hunter: gape sugalo

So of course, you chime in as well.

> [22:50:12] You: lets get it, new rv fancams

You’re in no mood to chat for longer than five minutes, but before you head offline, you receive a private message from your closest friend:

> yerimiese: so when are you in korea again?

> You: Next week, why?

> yerimiese: nice. why don’t we meet up, that would be dope as fuck

> You: You’re in Korea? 

> yerimiese: yeaaaah? why wouldn’t i be? 

> You: I thought you’d be doing other schedules abroad

> yerimiese: nah sm definitely won’t fly us out to film an mv. cheap ass bastards ㅋㅋㅋ

Yerimiese then sends you a video link. It’s a Yeri fancam, her weapon of choice. Your conversations began with small, intimate talks about your personal life, soon transpiring into open fapping, degrading, and casual lewdness with each other. Despite the usually depraved nature of your messages, you both continued sharing snippets of your day to day lives. That’s how close you’ve grown as friends.

> You: Well i’m very tired, today was a long day at work, had to work overtime. No time to lewd, sorry

> yerimiese: it's alright. you did well today

Yerimiese sends you a pic this time. It’s an event; the internet can’t load any quicker. You’re hungry, impatient, dying. Whether it’s intentional or not, the photos she sends whenever you’re tired or stressed out are hotter than her usual swimsuit or photoshoot reel. You’ve shared enough about your daily routine to her that a camera crew might as well be recording you.

It’s nothing out of the ordinary; a simple candid pic of herself lying in bed, her face perfectly cropped out of the background, showing nothing but her body on full display in front of the huge mirror, dressed in skimpy black panties and a white shirt  that accentuates her shapely breasts. As usual, she’s not wearing a bra; you can clearly see her hard nipples demanding all of your attention.

> yerimiese: no need to send a dick pic tonight if you don’t feel like doing it 

You can’t help it. Tired as you are, you feel obligated to send her one. Luckily, every pic she sends is more than enough to make you instantly hard. It feels more guilty not to be turned on, rather. 

It’s a mostly quick and painless affair, powerful enough to put you out of commission within minutes. Even though you’re mentally checked out, Yerimiese’s sexy body is too hot not to crank one out. Taking a pic of your erect cock as you pump yourself to her is second nature; sending it on sticky fingers after you’ve spurted all over your phone and blankets is a different story. There’s no other way to put it, she was the perfect reprieve from the day’s exhaustions—a perfect high note to go out on.

> yerimiese: fuck you’re THROBBING THROBBING tonight :ningasm: your dick looks so damn nice. i can taste your cum through the screen

> You: Happy now? 

> yerimiese: more than, and then some. I wish you were here right now so you could feel how wet I am

> You: Just wait. I can’t wait to fuck you hard. Goodnight

> yerimiese: goodnight

> yerimiese: :tukkwithkiss:

—————

The next time you’re able to communicate with her, you’re one day away from being in Korea. In that period, you’ve been inactive in the group chat because work. What welcomes you back is a barrage of lewd photos and Yeri fancams.

> yerimiese: see you tomorrow :chuupeek:

It’s an open secret that you know she’s Kim Yerim. Yes, that Kim Yerim of Red Velvet fame. It was a giveaway right from the first explicit photo she sent you; those tits in a tight, petite package couldn’t have belonged to anyone other than hers. That, and the fact that her username is the same as her Instagram handle, and that she has a photo of herself in the group as a display pic. How she would end up stumbling into your private K-pop server objectifying her body and her profession is one of life’s biggest mysteries, yet here she is, giving you a very personal look into her shapely figure, better than any fancam and photoshoot could ever provide. To others, she’s merely a casual acquaintance, but to you, she can freely open up herself.

Mainly because you’re one of three people in the group chat that still cares about Red Velvet.

Her latest sent photo is relatively tame; a tight fitting white silk sundress, and the skirt is virtually nonexistent, her panties practically out in the open. Luckily for you, she seems to be sitting down, but not in her usual living room. The notion that this is what welcomes you to Korea, that you’ll be balls deep inside an idol’s pussy right when you land—it ruins you. 

Almost. 

An airport guard manages to break your deep train of thought. “Sir! No phones please,” he sternly commands, saving you from total disaster; you’re inches away from walking straight through a metal detector with your phone in hand, the belt around your pants, and some spare coins lying deep in your pocket after you bought some traditionally expensive bottled water. Luckily, no one manages to see the photo—and even if they did, she’s still smart enough to cut out her face, leaving nothing else to your imagination. 

If there’s one thing you’ve learned about immigration and airport security, it’s that there’s little need for repetition. You go through security four times. At the entrance, after the check-in counter, then within your departure gate, and even before boarding your flight—repetitive. It’s frustrating enough to tell Yerim, to which she responds with more lewd photos of herself. 

> yerimiese: yeah ive been there before ㅋㅋㅋ

> yerimiese: how long’s ur flight?

> You: About 13 hours

> yerimiese: cali?

> You: Yes

> yerimiese: kinda random, but seulgi misses los angeles

> You: How come? 

> yerimiese: something about an ex-boyfriend that i didn’t know about until the other day ㅋㅋㅋ i bet she’ll be jealous when she hears about you coming over just to clap my cheeks ㅋㅋㅋ she’d wish it was her bf instead of you

> You: does she know about this?

> yerimiese: of course not LOL i bet you’d rather fuck her instead of me, so she’ll never know. smh.

> You: That’s not true ur my RV bias since day one!

> yerimiese: stop lying LMAO i don’t blame you tho seulgi has some really toned legs and a nice slappable ass XD anyway, i’m gonna send you something to pass the time while ur onboard

> You: If it’s a masturbating clip i swear to god

> yerimiese: fuck you got me LOL

> You: Goddamit if anyone finds out on a plane of all places…

> yerimiese: i still can’t get over your clip of you jerking to me. i can taste your dick. you’re depriving me by leaving me out to dry for a week ㅋㅋㅋ

> You: You’ve been touching yourself to that clip for a week??

> yerimiese: can’t help myself, album prep has been tiring and i haven’t really found any opportunity to relax in the meantime

> You: I’ll be there soon, just wait a bit longer

> yerimiese: can’t trust me with that, i’m very close to making a huge mess of my hotel room ㅋㅋㅋ

> You: You’re in a hotel?

> yerimiese: just to meet you! I won’t be able to meet you at the airport (duh, idol dating shit), so this is the next best thing. just message me when you’ve landed here, okay?

> You: Sure

—————

It’s ingrained deep within Yerim’s mind. A core memory. If her phone could present count how many times she’s played the clip, it would be over a thousand. 

It’s very straightforward. A 45 second clip of someone masturbating between the sheets, pressing their erect cock against their phone with a brightened image of a scantily clad woman on the screen. But it’s not just any woman, it’s her. She’s pleasuring herself to the idea of a man jerking off to her. She’s following his rhythm, timing the pace her fingers rub her clit to the tempo of the man’s cock pumping to her zoomed-in breasts. 

And she’s mere minutes removed from a conversation with that exact same person.

Slumped against the hotel room walls, her bliss spirals out of control rapidly. Her legs are instinctively spread wide, juices already leaking through her panties and spilling to the floor; that’s how used they are to Yerim’s impulses to pleasure herself. In those brief moments, she imagines how the next few days play out, skipping past the formalities and pleasantries and going straight to the fucking. She moans and shouts as if that very man’s cock is penetrating her pussy hard at this very moment. Her other hand bashes the wall, tongue screaming streams of profanities, as if he’s manhandling her, using her to his personal delight.

“Fuck! Suck those fucking tits!” she screams, slipping one strap of her sundress down to pinch her own tit, enhancing the illusion. Her phone rings; in her mind it's functionally a vibrator. He’s come fully prepared, and she’s riding high knowing that this person is doing exactly what he said in their private messages from the very start.

Yerim drags her fingers along her clit violently, desperate to reach climax, the realization that this is her third orgasm of the day way beyond her. The evidence can be found everywhere: on the soiled bed sheets and in the smell of the shower; she envisions herself getting railed in those parts of the room, and then some—essentially turning the entire hotel room into the backdrop for all of the things he’d do to her: fingers around her throat, sunk into her ass, until it’s red and hurting, the way she’d quiver and cream all over his throbbing cock. Her neediness has no limits; it even breaks past her very own personal quarters, the loudness of her own self-induced pleasure drawing concern from occupants nearby.

Only after the blissful haze of orgasm does everything fall back in place. That repetitive knock on the door is a huge wake up call. Yerim’s eyes widen. 

“Shit.”

She checks her fingers—they’re coated in copious amounts of slick—and after a little further inspection, she realizes the aftermath.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.”

—————

Being honest about yourself, you couldn’t have asked to feel hornier at a worse time than this. Thirty thousand feet high up in the air, stuck in economy class because you don’t get paid enough to deal with the bullshit back in the office. Using your one of two allowed leaves in the year for a trip to see a girl you’ve mostly known online, and it isn’t even paid. To make things worse, there’s no layovers—just a point-to-point flight from San Francisco to Seoul. 13 hours.

And boy, is the ride absolutely miserable.

By what you might as well call divine intervention, you’re conveniently seated between a nun and a little girl—the two worst kinds of people to be alongside with. No, not because they’re annoying or anything like that; aside from the girl getting up every thirty minutes from her window seat to get something from her parents across the aisle, you’re practically barred access to your glorified archive of lewd Yerim pics. Opening them up with a kid barely in the first grade beside you is openly asking for trouble.

And the few times you get up for a lavatory break, you can’t get yourself going. There’s always someone at the door every five minutes. 

Eight hours deep into the flight, you look over your shoulder, catch one of the male flight attendants sneak inside one of the vacant lavatories with a fellow stewardess while everyone’s fast asleep. Fucking sickening. That should be you with Yerim right now.

When you arrive on the other side of the planet, you’ve gotten only a couple hours’ worth of sleep. You almost fumble your passport at immigration, getting them mixed up with a slew of business and membership cards. Then there’s your forgetfulness working against you, remembering you need some kind of pocket Wi-Fi, and now you have to spend a little more to get back online. It’s a mess, and it wasn’t that long since you were in Europe for a seminar, where these things were merely second nature to you.

At least you remembered that VPNs exist. You message Yerim on the taxi ride out of the airport, unsure of where to begin.

> You: Just got out of immigration

> yerimiese: fuckin finally! 

> yerimiese: you got a place to stay here?

> You: Not yet

> yerimiese: don’t bother, lemme send you my hotel address, you can stay here

Of course you don’t know Korean, despite the constant back and forth with Yerim for months. Learning’s been on the backend of your itinerary, and has never been your top priority, even now. You show the cab driver the address, who merely looks at you and the phone with a particularly vacant and dumbfounded expression, as if you’re stupid for not planning this out—which, in that regard, he’d be correct.

When you finally arrive at the hotel, only one message stands between you and finally meeting Yerimiese, once and for all.

> yerimiese: I’ll be at the poolside, third floor. can’t wait to meet you :P

And that’s exactly where you end up going. Forget that you’re lugging two whole bags and a traveler’s backpack on your shoulders; you drop them off at the front desk, expecting the staff to have a clue of what’s going on and what’s about to happen.

Stepping out into the poolside, it’s a completely barren sight. It’s three in the afternoon on a Tuesday; most people probably aren’t even booked, let alone in this supposed five-star hotel. You don’t really question whether she’s being serious or not, the evidence was in the previously sent photos; you’re dying to meet her at this point. 

And as if perfectly timed for dramatic effect, a woman emerges from beneath the waters, shaking off the wetness from her damp hair.

Yerim casually swims over the deep waters’ edge, without a care in the world, let alone your presence quietly shadowing over the large pool. Even halfway submerged, you can make out the outline of her shapely bust and hourglass figure, tightly hugged by a pink swimsuit. She was sultry and intoxicating to gawk at from candid photos, but seeing Yerimiese herself in the flesh, that’s when the realization hits you: this is happening.

And you can’t move a muscle, let alone react from the actualization that you’re right in front of her. Even as the waves of water splash on your new loafers, you simply observe. It’s creepy, it’s morally dubious, but it’s one in a million. You’re taking in every moment, every second; soak it all in, you’ll never get an experience like this ever again. 

You should be friends by now, if your definition of friendship means sharing explicit body photos and exchanging devious intentions about how you’ll fuck each other online or how much cum you’ve given to each other. But when she turns in your direction—catching you casually observing her, your hands tucked away in your coat’s pocket, grinning like a little kid— it’s back to square one.

Like the very first time.

Yerim takes all the time in the world to wade over from the other side of the pool, her smile growing closer as she approaches you. She lifts her eyebrows, expecting you to make a first move, to which you barely open your mouth, and ultimately only a deep breath, a stilted sigh, comes out.

Well, this is awkward.

Yerim giggles. You’ve previously heard her loud moans and cries, but a genuine laugh—this was your first. She never hops on calls in your group chat, most likely because idol shit, as she often refers to her line of work. Her laughter, her energetic expression—it’s as perfect of a translation to real life as it is online, and embodies the idol Yeri you know on screen. 

“How long have you been standing there?” she asks, trying—and failing—to suppress more of her laughter.

Your answer is concise, but doesn’t seem quite right. “A while.”

In reality, about five minutes. You probably won’t be there any longer when she props herself out of the water with her strong elbows. Water cascades down her shapely figure, thicker and meatier than it's ever been, more than what the cameras and pictures present. She’s truly the entire package, through and through. 

She walks over to her sunlounger, granting you a nice peek of her ass peeking through her skimpy swimsuit before she wraps herself with a towel. Apart from that, your only other notable observation is that she’s soaking wet, even bundled up. That, and also: she’s barefoot. No sign of slippers or any footwear—she willingly walked on what appears to be scorching cobbled floors.

“I would give you a big hug right now, but you know—” she comments, looking down at her drenched self, pool water endlessly dripping down to her feet. Even if she isn’t soaking wet, you’d still be frozen in place, or even worse, some eagle-eyed stranger or Dispatch reporter catch you in secret and you both end up on national news the very next day.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine,” you say, trying to dodge Yerim’s eyes. “I left my stuff at the front desk. I should probably go and grab them.”

“Smart.” Yerim sizes you up, nodding in amazement at how you’ve managed to get yourself past the entrance. “See you upstairs, then? Room 1015.”

—————

The difference between you and Yerim couldn’t be any more obvious.

Granted, you’re fresh off a 13 hour flight, followed by an hour's travel from the airport to a five-star hotel in the heart of Seoul. Yerim had all the time in the world to prepare, and yet when she emerges from the bathroom in nothing but a modest bathrobe and her dark hair bundled up, she’s never looked better. 

Facing an idol in such a haggard condition, it gives you an underlying feeling of shame. And if you’re being completely honest, if not for your cock, she’d probably be repulsed and call security on you.

But there's no security in sight. Just you, just yeri, the two of you standing in this room - which is, for the most part, quite nice. Multiple bedrooms, a lovely view of the city beneath you, and all sorts of amenities and features you’ll never get to use—you half expect her members to come in later, but perhaps for your sake, you’re better off with just her and her alone.

When Yerim begins to talk, she rambles. She goes on about the status of the next album, discussions about a possible solo debut, her relationships with her members—conversations about topics that you never really had online. It was mostly dirty talk and lewd captions. At best, you knew each other at a surface level, but here she is, sharing everything from her heart like you’ve been lifelong friends since day one.

You let her. She’s as charismatic as what she portrays on screen, and her sass is no different than the private messages she sends you. There’s not a single dull moment whenever Yerim speaks. Though you know her mostly for her body, her personality is what has you sticking around.

You wonder if she feels the same way about you.

“So, how’d you find out about us?” Yerim asks, after blabbering for a while, and you genuinely believe she’d keep going till nightfall. Close enough. Five minutes away from five in the afternoon, and you’d already spent the last hour and a half listening to a personalized podcast from her. You hope she doesn’t notice the plate of bulgogi on the table now completely empty.

“Well, a friend was a K-pop fan and had an extra ticket when you toured here,” you say, casually, slumped on the sofa. “Forgot how long that was—” you pause, “five years ago?”

“Five years? Five years since we went to America?” Yerim appears flabbergasted, face in utter disbelief at the passage of time. The realization causes her to stand from her chair. You’d be too after listening to her drone on endlessly. “Fuck.”

“SM! Give us a fucking world tour already!” she screams, pretending she’s inside the company building and you’re an executive in the room. Watching her snarkiness come to life never ceases to amuse you. You’ll let her go on for as long as she needs to; she’s entertaining in such a unique and charming way that it disarms you.

“Argh, sorry, you know me.” She suddenly stops, faces you, arms crossed, mocking up a pout. “Look at me suddenly losing my shit for no good reason.”

“Are your members used to this?”

That didn’t come out right.

She bats an eyelid. On her face is a mild, blank look of displeasure. That didn’t come out right. 

“Used to what?”

“Well, uh, I—I mean—”

You gulp your throat.

“Stop.”

Then, an air of awkward silence. Her eyes quickly scan you, lazing on the sofa.

“Let’s just get to fucking each other right now.”

—————

It isn’t that you’ve forgotten the one purpose you’re there to begin with, it’s that Yerim is very, very impulsive. One moment, upset at her company for doing the bare minimum for her group and her career, the next she’s using you as an outlet to release her frustrations. It’s a good thing your first impression of her was that she was very busty, because otherwise, the other description you had of her was—simply put—bratty.

You’re on your back, plopped against one of the beds, completely caught off-guard by her show of strength. Eyes rolled to the back of your head, you find Yerim already at the bed’s edge, loosening the belt around her waist, quickly disrobing herself within seconds. It’s nothing new; you’ve seen glimpses of her nude figure in pictures, imagined many scenarios where you’ve got your hands on her, but this—to see her completely bare in the flesh—is new. 

This is different. 

“Just so you know,” you mutter, frantically panting, your heart jumping, as Yerim undresses in front of you, “I haven’t actually had sex before.”

Just like that, the mood instantly changes. She stops. Abruptly.

“What?” 

Her mouth drops—again. Might as well stay agape. 

You consider retracting your statement. It was a joke, you’d say, something to get her even more aroused, fired up. The sex would be wilder, hotter than anything your fantasies would conjure. Then again, you wouldn’t be in this exact situation if you weren’t so chronically online, simping over pop idols like a kid about to enter puberty.

“I guess that’s to be expected,” she comments, snarkily, grabbing the edges of your pants, daring to rip them off you. “That’s fucking life, baby!” 

If you were in her shoes, obsessively waiting for someone with equally unhinged horniness, expressing precisely how you’d get fucked every single time you’d send a remotely lewd photo, you’d feel just as disappointed. You can tell by her partially scornful expression: she’s been fantasizing this moment as much as you have, too. You can’t blame her, but you kind of expected her to anticipate this; after all, you connected in a private group chat that’s been sexualizing her, of all places. 

Surely the signs of virginity were right there.

“At least this is real,” she says, leaning her head forward while cupping your growing bulge poking through your trousers. Your tip, at full mast, mere inches away from her chin, instead of a little phone screen. She’s pushing you around, growing slightly more mischievous and uncontrollable with the prospect of throwing someone like you around instead of the opposite. Something her members may have taught and ingrained in her. 

It isn’t quite the picture you expected from all the erotic snapshots and clips she’s been sending you. Every photo and video, designed to rouse the filthiest and wildest of your thoughts, was an act, a ruse to let your guard down, to give you this fixed headcanon that you can toss her around like she’s your personal plaything and object of pleasure. Instead, she’s using you for her own desires and wants.

It’s not that you don’t want her to use you and fuck you like this, it’s how completely in control she is that has you reeling, leaves you in a dizzy spell.

“I was gonna let you use my pussy and fuck me to ruin,” she says, playfully rolling her eyes, teasing and mocking. Her hand grips around the denim of your bulge, and it fucking stings. You’re sucking on loose air. “But since we have a virgin over here, I’m gonna do whatever I want.”

The implied connotation is what terrifies you, and no, it isn’t the revelation that Yerim isn’t a virgin—you assumed that much—but the notion that you were gonna have free reign over her cunt that has you contemplating some deep, long forgotten life decisions that set you back years. Their consequences are now starting to show.

She releases her ironclad grip on your pants, frees you of your obstructive clothing, both trousers and boxers down to the floor. Your hard cock springs free, terribly aching, already red and sore from her suffocating clench, and already leaking bursts of precum. The last day and a half hasn’t been kind to your cock.

To add insult to injury, she makes this licking motion with her tongue, aimed at your tip, but relents at the last minute. It leaves your throbbing cock aching harder, without any point of relief. The teasing sight almost renders you unconscious, and sends Yerim into a laughing frenzy. 

“Remember when I said I could taste your cock?” she says, chuckling. It’s not playful in the slightest—quite the opposite, in fact. It’s sinister. “I’ll wait a little longer to taste it. Don’t worry.”

Not the most reassuring of words, especially when you’ve got your hands tied—at least, not yet. Actually, you appreciate that she isn’t going to milk your cock dry just yet; when you finally look past the situation at hand, you come to treasure her chest. Her shapely chest, freely bouncing while she bounces her thick body on your lap—keep doing that, you say inside your mind, letting your wandering gaze soak in the unreal scene. 

She notices your intrigued eyes, rising and falling in rhythm with her tits. Subtlety was never your intention, and she probably knows from experience, as she says she does. Fixated attention is how she gets herself off, based on how she seems to respond to the lewd messages you’ve sent her in the past, and it shows when she repeats some choice remarks back to your face:

“I’d kill my boss to fuck those tits right now, you’re so goddamn sexy.”

She grips a hand around your throat, another down to the buttons of your shirt, pulling them apart. 

“Let me be your personal titty towel.”

Halfway there.

“I’d suck on your tits first, go down on your delicious pussy, then fuck that wet hole of yours three times straight.”

Just like that, you’re both even. Equal in nakedness.

You’re unsure whether it’s the sight of Yerim asserting her dominance over you, tits all up in your face with a devious smirk as she bares you down to your essentials that’s leaving you short on air, or if it’s the hand cautiously coiled around your neck. Either option seems sensible enough. This is how she lives in your head rent free, just being her sassy, sexy self. Even repeating some of the same particularly questionable lewd things you’ve written to her sounds hot with her brazen tone. 

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” she raises an eyebrow, leaning her head close, as if demanding an answer. 

Really, there’s no multiple choice here. Of course you nod.

She rolls her hips upward, inches her body across yours little by little, til her dripping pussy completely shadows your view. Her hand grabs the back of your head, meaty thighs pressing between your face. Now you’re truly suffocating. Even with the rather shameful admission, she rolls her crotch on your lips, expecting you to know what to do. No words, just the expectant grind of her crotch on your face, her wet folds opening up for you to take them.

Then, she begins moaning. 

Admittedly, the closest you’ve had to trying out oral is using your phone as an outlet for your tongue whenever she sends a boob photo. Thankfully, your inexperience doesn’t show when you first dip your tongue inside her folds, getting your first taste of pussy. Saltier than you expected, but fuck, you’d be lying if you think it wasn’t completely intoxicating—everything you hoped for, and more. 

It incites a few expressive reactions from Yerim—some loud, others quieter—with the end result usually a sharper, deeper grind of her waist on your face, splaying her cunt for you to devour. You’ve got one hand pressed on her ass, holding her plump flesh down while the other is at her mercy, pulled by hers, forced to squeeze her breast. You won’t complain. Not when her cries of pleasure motivate you to push yourself harder.

You repeat this addictive cycle, stretch moments into minutes, minutes into hours. Even when you’ve drained her completely, you’ll still be craving for more of her; that’s how hungry she’s made you. Your tongue meets her clit, and it draws out this especially sharp whine that she’s never hit once. Not on a track. Not anywhere. She swears up a storm, juxtaposed between soft, gentle pleas of “yes, more, and you’re so good.” 

In return, you take more of her, soak yourself in the continuous downpour of her slick juices freely flowing all over your mouth and tongue. As her pleasure escalates, her fingers tighten their grasp on your head, grab your tousled hair. You add soft, intimate kisses between streaks of licking her folds, and they send the young idol writhing, shaking atop you. Her words have been reduced to nothing but short, needy bursts of “please.” Even in this uncontrollable state, she gyrates her hips around you, rhythm steady, but more determined than ever to let herself go.

By the way her pussy throbs, you’re certain she’s a few critical points away from climax. It doesn’t change your plans, not one bit. You continue to lap at her sensitive folds, bask in her intoxicating heat, purposefully teasing her clit. She won’t demand that you end her —not this quickly, not when you’ve magically learned the art of giving oral to a woman under short notice.

You slowly work her through it. Your tongue dives into her slick entrance, deeper than it's ever been so far. The overpowering sensations send ripples that reach even the foundations of the bed, unlike anything it’s ever felt. Even in the wild throes of bodily pleasure, Yerim has enough willpower to stay in character, delivering a demand in her usual playful, fast talking tone. “Please do it! I’m going to cum!”

You contemplate the thought, completely drunk in her divine taste yourself, but you oblige. 

Your tongue sticks to her bud, and it causes this instantaneous, elaborate chain reaction. Yerim cries a sharp cry, waves of orgasm washing down all over her body. She stops in her tracks, completely rigid, mouth wide open, and this torrential gush of slick and orgasm swamps you, drowning you so deep that it's nearly fatal. Her thighs involuntarily clench tighter, too, and you’re temporarily trapped in your own pocket dimension, impossible to clean with all the cum left behind, especially on the sheets.

The most surprising observation from her orgasm is how suddenly calm it becomes. Only the sound of your tongue licking her clean can be heard, and it’s nothing but a gentle rustle. She hangs her head up, face completely flushed, catching needed oxygen in her lungs, letting the aftermath of her climax pass over. 

While her breath normalizes, she lifts herself up, moves to the side of the bed. In her wake, she’s left behind a drenched lake of slick around your face, leaking down to the muddled sheets beneath you. 

“Well,” she says, panting and pausing for air. “There goes the other bed.”

It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out what she meant. Even when you’re still mindlessly occupied by the sticky residue around your lips. You let out this muffled exhale, designed to be a laugh, but it backfires in your face. Amused, she giggles on your behalf.

“Not bad.” Yerim smiles at you. Charming and cute, a contrast to what had just transpired. “I thought you said you never had sex?”

It takes you a moment before you answer back, “I haven’t. You just taste really good.”

“You still have some left on the edges of your face,” she comments, her eyes mesmerized by how much she’s cum all over you. “Let me help you clean that up.”

And she helps, but not in a conventional way. She lifts you from the bed by your torso, then submerges you again, this time at the mercy of her bosom. You’ve got your arms wrapped around her waist while you’re kissing and sucking on her Yerim’s  tits, not exactly tidying up, but creating a larger mess that no amount of tongue cleaning can resolve. 

In the meantime, she whispers in your ear some of your more—questionable—comments:

“They need to give her a solo debut with a very sexy concept and trust me, I’ll be the guy who breaks the world record for jerking off if they do that.”

“It must feel heavy to carry them all the time. Let me lend a hand to you.”

“The only thought I had inside my mind when I saw her is every member would milk her 3x a day so that they don’t have to go outside and buy milk to eat cereal to the point they would just drink it from the source.”

You stop. You give her this strange, confused look. Even you couldn’t believe you said that.

“Did I actually say that?”

“Yes!” she replies, quick and straightforward, unable to hide her enthusiasm, while brushing your hair. “Not gonna lie, that sent me to the floor. I was laughing so hard, Irene ran in to check up on me!”

To make things worse, she flashes this wide, toothy grin that makes you regret your life choices. 

“God. I don’t wanna drink anymore.”

“Hey, if there’s any consolation, you wouldn’t be sucking on my tits and eating me out now if you never made that comment,” she says, caressing your chin and giving you a peck on the lips. As if it’s still not one of the most out of pocket comments you’ve ever made about anyone, let alone a celebrity—and you weren’t fully yourself.

“Relax. Don’t think about it too much.” Yerim pushes you back down to the bed, crawls atop you, meeting your lips again for an intimate kiss. Your hard cock, which has been left unattended for quite a while, captures your attention—and especially hers. “Lean back for me, will you?”

You comply. Involuntarily, your legs straighten, but Yerim pushes them apart, places herself at center view, seemingly ready to take you in her mouth. It makes sense; a woman with a mouth that runs like hers probably only stops when there’s cock stuffed inside them. The theory proves to be plausible when she gives your sensitive tip a delicate, yet dangerous lick, her eyes glinting at you with renewed vigor and lust.

“I told you I’d have a taste of that cock,” she says, half smug, half seductive, gloating with her brows. Your tenseness slightly recedes—until you realize your cock’s moving past her lips, in the direction of the space between her cleavage. “I didn’t say I wanted to suck on it.”

And she was right—not once has she ever expressed her desire to choke, gag, deepthroat on it. 

You grit your teeth, watching your cock disappear between her shapely tits, with Yerim personally making sure you comfortably fit like a glove. You fold. It’s snug. Hot. Breathtaking.

“Fuck, Yeri,” you mutter, closing your eyes as her inviting warmth leaves you weak in the knees, trembling. You don’t realize you’ve used her stage name over her real name. “God—”

“Does this feel like everything you wanted?” she asks, tone sultry and triumphant. A little slide up sends you into a frenzy.

You nod—even though there’s no other available options. The erotic image in front of you is permanently seared into your head: Kim Yerim, popular idol and to an extend, your ‘friend with benefits,’ grinning like a maniac, slowly fucking your cock between her tits, coated with your saliva, sweat, and copious amounts of precum. To think your little crude messages on a random forum would have such long term and drastic consequences such as this.

Not that you’d want to make sense of it all, especially when she gets into a rhythm. Sliding her breasts up and down, she’s delicate, intentional, and masochistic; you’re on the receiving end of how she felt when you were slowly eating her out. She’s dangerous, teetering between the line where your cock can be safe between her bosom and where she can break you in half. You’re already falling apart—and fast.

“Holy shit, Yerim. Fuck.” 

Each word you deliver is long and drawn out, especially the profanities. Heavenly music to her ears. She’s out of reach where you can pull by her hair, so you settle for the sheets instead. Your gaze wanders, travels everywhere but in her direction, because you don’t need to see the tortuous scene happening between your legs. Looking at the descending sun, this is probably the last time you’ll see the sun set in your life.

Her eyes challenge you to look at anywhere from her. Panting frantically, you find yourself at the mercy of Yerim’s whims, your cock fading and swelling into view, sticky and wet, gushing cum all over her tits. The sight drives you further mad, has you making sounds that have never been recorded—ever. She takes you in, delights in your suffering, eager for you to say the magic words.

“Ready to cum? I know you want to cum.” 

Even under duress, you’re not ready to fold just yet. There’s a little stubbornness inside you fighting back, pulling all the stops to keep you from surrendering to Yerim’s demands. You close your eyes, grip on the sheets even tighter, control your breathing, but it’s too little too late. You can only do so much with two hands.

“Cum for me.”

You hold onto a particularly deep breath, desperate to cling to whatever dying vestiges of control there is left, but your fate has already been sealed from the moment you’ve allowed your cock to enter her chest.

“Yerim, I—”

The exhale you release is the most relieving and satisfying. With it, comes out a rope of thick, creamy cum splashed all over her neck and chest. The aching, violent sensation doesn’t stop; more seed spills between the warmth of her cleavage. In one fell swoop, you feel all of your energy sapped from you, leaving you completely weak and powerless. 

In the gap between your climax and post-orgasm haze, you wonder if she’ll take some of your cum in her mouth, with the way she looks at your cock as it throbs beneath her chin. No. She lets it drip down her perfect naked body with a sticky white sheen that glows under the natural light piercing through the hotel’s window. 

“Just like that, hm,” she comments, casually flicking the last of your withering orgasm and cum with her wrist. She lathers the slick on her fingers on her shoulder, then places some into her mouth for a taste. 

After you regain a semblance of normalcy—after Yerim’s finished entertaining herself with your cum, staring at her coated body and fingers with curious interest—she rests her elbows on your knees, in the process of relearning how to bend. You sink back against the headrest, watch as the fading sun glimmers on an idol like her, destined to shine for every occasion possible—on the stage and under the afterglow of sex. She smiles, bright and wide, taking you in, as you are.

There’s something brewing, especially in the tender few minutes that follow. Something special, something more than just a spark. 

“So—” Yerim runs a sticky finger on your knee, dangerously close to stirring up your cock again. “You wanna try anal with me next?”

You pause. Widening your eyes, staring back with a look of disbelief. Just when you’re about to open your mouth to reply, she adds:

“Kidding. You do know that you’re gonna have to delete those tweets and comments, right? If they find out you’re here, you’re fucked. And I mean, a thousand times worse than now.”

—————

(A/N: This was an absolute joy to write. The nature of the request meant I could go very meta with it. About time we get a proper Red Velvet full album, so perfect timing! If you're able to figure out some of the references and easter eggs, then you, my friend, are too engrossed in the Tumblr K-pop male reader smut lore. Thank you for reading!)

(P.S. If you want to have your own story/idol written, you can ask for a commission :D)

[snowball-doie]

✮⋆˙ 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏 ˙⋆✮

| pairing: johnny x manager!oc

| warnings: 18+ MDNI.

| aurora's note: i want to preface this with the fact that this book's original form is written as an AU (semi original plot tbh) and has been adjusted for posting as an NCT fic, so not everythingggg is going to be perfectly NCT, and i do some timeline fuckery as well. but ya. keep in mind this is somewhat of an AU as you go into it <3

Truthfully, it was a spur of the moment decision which Aurora felt wouldn’t have anything come out of it. Her life was good, she had a solid job which she enjoyed, she had one or two close friends whom she enjoyed hanging out with after work or on the weekends, and she had ample opportunity to go back to the United States to visit her family whenever she wanted. But she was itching for something new. Maybe she had gotten too comfortable with the securities in her life. It felt like it was time for a challenge, and she longed to meet new people whom she felt completely drawn to rather than settling with. Yeah, it was shitty to think, but it was true. So Aurora took a silly, off the whim chance to apply to be the new manager for a K-Pop group in Seoul called NCT 127.

The group had been around for a long time, even before Aurora got her current job; So it came as a surprise when their long-time manager was fired following some very public scandals concerning his behavior and conduct with the boys. Of course she doubted her ability to actually replace him. Aurora knew her place well ever since moving abroad following college— Being a foreigner and a woman set her back in many opportunities which she craved. Applying was for shits and giggles… But the fact that she actually managed to get the job was what surprised Aurora the most. Her luck was probably far better because she knew English, Korean, and Japanese, which were all the three main languages of NCT. Whatever, a win was a win in her book.

On the day the email came in, Aurora was at work, finishing up a project so that she could send it for confirmation before posting on social media. When she saw the notification from the company that owned NCT, SM Entertainment, her jaw dropped. She wondered if they sent the email to the wrong person. But no. Her name was listed at the top in Korean and English, and there were details outlining how she was their ideal candidate for the position, so they were offering her a nice pay and a long lasting contract to secure the deal, if she wanted to accept.

Of course she accepted. She wasn’t fucking stupid.

So she quit her job, packed up her belongings, found a new place to live in Seoul, made all the other necessary arrangements, then said, “Fuck it,” and went. Beforehand, she was based in Japan and would fly to Korea every once in a while for work since she was mostly a freelancer that focused on esports and content creation for different J-Pop and K-Pop groups, but this was the first real opportunity she’d been given in Asia, so she knew that she would have to move indefinitely because it was obviously unrealistic to stay in Japan while working in Seoul.

Once she moved, she lived about ten minutes away from the SM building by subway. On her first day, Aurora was shocked when she exited the station and found that the office was right on top of it, like she only had to walk a few feet to the entrance and suddenly she was inside. At least she would never get lost.

When she entered the building, Aurora was immediately greeted by a woman who approached her with a smile and a security guard on her heels. She stuck out her hand for Aurora, then introduced herself as an executive at SM who would be showing Aurora around and getting her settled in on her first day. It was overwhelming from the get-go. Aurora was too shell shocked to say or do anything aside from following the woman, Seyeon, through security on the first floor, then up to the second floor where the front desk gave her an employee badge with her name and photo on it that would give her access to anywhere in the building, as well as a laptop with all the work information she would need. Once all of that was settled, a quick tour around the office went underway. Floor by floor, Aurora was told what each department did, who to contact in each department, how to reserve meeting rooms, and so on. Since Aurora was a manager, she would be handling a lot having to do with the boys’ schedules, so she was also shown the recording studios, the dance rooms, and also how to schedule those for the boys too.

“Speaking of the boys, they’re up on one of the top floors today— They’re rehearsing for a new comeback, according to their schedules left behind by their previous manager. You’ll find everything in the Google Calendars on your computer. If you want to see them, go ahead, I’ll have to leave you here so I can catch a meeting with our casting executives in Los Angeles before they have to go to sleep.” Seyeon checked her watch then smiled up at Aurora. “This is your office. Decorate it how you want, I know you Americans like to do that… Um… If you need anything, send me a message on Teams. Other than that, there’s a list of items you need to complete before the end of the day, and I’ll check in at the end of the week to see how you’re doing. Sound good?”

Aurora nodded and bowed. “Thank you.”

Seyeon smiled before stomping off in her high heels, her hips swaying with so much confidence and suave that Aurora immediately found herself aspiring to be like her one day. She had to work her ass of a fuck ton before then. No time like the present, she supposed.

So Aurora sat down at her desk in her office… Behind her were three windows that let in plenty of natural sunlight when the blinds weren’t pulled down, her desk was big enough to accommodate the monitor, keyboard, and mouse provided by the company and there was even a stand for Aurora’s own laptop to be plugged into the monitor as well. There was a chair across from her so that she could host people for meetings, but there was plenty of space on the far wall for a couch if she could ever afford one to decorate her office with. That would be comfier.

Aurora leaned down to turn on the PC that was under her desk. While it booted up, she leaned back and spun in her office chair to look out the windows. Up and down the street there were just skyscrapers filled with all different kinds of businesses, no one concerned with the entertainment company that lured over the rest of them— The only people who cared were the confused fangirls coming out of the subway station in search of the merchandise store the company ran nearby. From Aurora’s office, the people on the street looked like ants. She was so high up… And she had an entire office all to herself. What were the odds? Her computer turned on, so her attention turned around to it again, and the first thing she did was login to her new Google work account so that she could review the boys’ schedules on Google Calendars.

As expected, it was messy, but it was worse than she could have ever fucking imagined. Each of the boys had a separate calendar that was shared with their managers and assistants, and there was a shared calendar for NCT 127 events, so there was plenty of overlap and tons of conflicts which Aurora could already foresee giving her a fuck-ton of trouble. Shit. Those boys were so busy, how did they possibly manage it all?

When she checked Teams next, she found a to-do list already waiting for her in her inbox. Upon reviewing everything while writing notes down on paper so that she had it all set in stone in her mind, she realized that none of it was difficult, it was just scheduling and emailing which she had done at her last job plenty of times. The minimal workload for the day meant that Aurora expected to be out of the office before the end of the day, which she didn’t like too much, so she decided to take another moment to take in her surroundings since she could spare the time.

Her office was fairly basic. They had all the furniture set up  for her the way every other office was organized, but that was it— Not even a nice framed painting on the opposite wall or something. Aurora wondered about decorating. Seyeon said that she could indeed decorate if she wanted to because that was an American thing, and despite the back handed comment, Aurora wanted to spruce up her work space. She figured that she would try to keep it lowkey since she didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention by sticking out like a sore thumb more than she already did. Maybe a picture from home on her desk… and a picture from her favorite spot in Japan with her old friends? Yeah, that would be nice. She’d have to get some things printed and framed, but that wouldn’t be too difficult, she could have everything set up by the weekend.

When she finally felt settled at her desk with the workload she’d been given, Aurora checked the Google Calendar one more time to find that the boys were meant to be returning from their lunch break to continue practicing for their new comeback, like Seyeon said. So she gathered her courage then decided to make her way up. Putting her new employee badge to the test, she entered the elevator then scanned her badge before heading up to the practice floor the boys were on.

Unlike the floor where the offices were, the tenth floor was revealed to be nothing but a thin hallway stretching out from the elevator with doors on either side every few feet to indicate a new practice room’s entryway. The rooms were numbered with black plaques at eye level on the gray doors, below the plaques were screens that lit up if the rooms were in use or scheduled for an upcoming reservation to prevent people from hosting impromptu practices at the same time. Aurora found the second door on the left— Room number four— which also had a screen lit up with: NCT 127 CLOSED REHEARSAL written in English, surprisingly. “Closed rehearsal.” Well, she was their manager, wasn’t she? She was entitled to entering a closed rehearsal.

The elevator dinged, catching Aurora off guard before she could grab the door handle. And for whatever reason, perhaps out of embarrassment or even fear, Aurora stepped back from the door to glance at the elevator’s opening doors. A frog got caught in her throat the second she saw who it was stepping into the hallway with an iced Americano in his left hand, his phone in his right hand, Airpods in his ears, a gym bag slung across his torso which was only covered by a thin white tank top that was tucked into a pair of green sweatpants. When he saw that there was someone in his path, the man glanced up and took out his Airpods.

Of course Aurora immediately recognized who she was dealing with, but she didn’t make a big deal of it, all she said was, “Hello,” in Korean. Johnny smiled at her and said, “Hi,” in English before he opened the door for her. Though she was expecting something more polite than that, Aurora still didn’t say anything that would give either of them away before she entered the practice room with Johnny following behind her. The others were already inside and warming up in separate areas. Some had headphones in while they stretched after eating their lunches, others were huddled in groups to chat while they slowly began dancing in order to loosen up.

The choreographer was the first to spot Aurora standing in the doorway. He took a moment to silently figure out who she was before he whistled in the direction of Taeyong, the leader of NCT, to catch his attention in order to call for the rest of the group— Which he did. Taeyong took a look at Aurora, realized that she was the blonde foreigner they hadn’t been expecting, and within an instant he was up on his feet.

“Everyone, gather around.”

The seven other boys groaned and slowly began moving into formation. However, Taeyong was not impressed by their improper behavior in front of their new manager. He was frowning at them. Suddenly, he shouted at them to be more respectful, and the fear instigated by his tone kicked the boys into full gear. They ordered themselves in a line in front of her so that she could get a good look at each of them.

Aurora bowed deeply at the hip while politely greeting with, “Annyeonghaseyo.”

The boys, while still in a line in front of her, followed Taeyong's lead after he called out, “Hana, dul, set!” by replying to her with a salute and a bow, “Annyeongaseyo! To you, we are NCT 127!”

She smiled at them. No one said anything. Panic settled in her stomach. After glancing around, she realized that they were all waiting for her to say something to them.

She gulped. “I’m very excited to be working with you guys. I promise to do my best and not overwork you, to the best of my ability.” She giggled anxiously. “It may be very Western, but my office door will always be open for you, so if you ever need anything or wish to voice your concerns, I invite you to do so.” She nodded with an even brighter smile to indicate that she was done.

Jungwoo raised his hand.

“Ne?”

“Are you fluent in Korean?”

“Not yet.”

“English?” Mark asked.

She nodded. “It’s my native language.”

“Nihongo?” Yuta questioned.

“Hai.”

Within an instant, his face brightened ten times more from the dull, exhausted, bored look he’d been presenting previously. She smiled at him. Before joining SM, Aurora researched each of the members she would be working with, secretly putting together notes and files filled with everything that she would need to know about them before arriving— Not just to impress, but so that she could fit in easier and have them warm up to her faster. When she saw in Yuta's notes that he was from Japan and had struggled to learn Korean when he first moved to Seoul as a teenager, Aurora knew that speaking Japanese with him would help because it would win her kudo points with him that wouldn’t be transferable to any of the other members except Shotaro, but who knew when she would get around to meeting him, and if he’d be interested in hanging out with her when he was already trying to fit in on his own. Seeing Yuta react so visibly, though, was a relief. Aurora had faith that speaking Japanese with him would land well, but there was always that small bit of anxiety lingering in the back of her mind that maybe he would despise her for it… She didn’t know why she imagined it going that way, but… She was relieved that he was just as excited as she was.

“What’s your birth year?” Haechan asked.

“1996.”

That made her younger than Taeyong and Johnny, so they didn’t have to show her the same degree of respect that the others had to.

When it was clear there were no remaining questions, Taeyong stepped forward and told them that they needed to warm up while he brought them up individually to introduce themselves to Aurora. Immediately, they went to work. They huddled up in a corner to do stretches together, but Taeyong came towards Aurora with Haechan.

He bowed to Aurora while stating his name and that he was a vocalist and the maknae of 127.

“What’s your favorite food?”

He stared at her blankly. “I, uh… Kimchi jjigae.”

“Same. We should get some together sometime, my treat.”

He looked warily at Taeyong. It was obvious that he was used to droning the same work information time and again that he wasn’t prepared for Aurora to take an interest in him personally and wanting to invite him out.

���Ne,” he told her.

Taeyong smiled supportively before sending his maknae back to collect the third youngest, Jungwoo.

“Anyounghaseyo. I’m Jungwoo. I’m a vocalist. I do the fanservice and aegyo.”

“Do you… enjoy that?

He nodded enthusiastically.

“Do you write up some of your jokes when you’re bored?”

He looked like he had just been caught with his pants down around his ankles, that was how shy and red he got when he nodded vaguely. “Ne…”

“You should show me one of these days.”

Suddenly, he perked up again— Like a dog whose ears go tall and they start wagging their tail excitedly as they bark like he did when he said confidently, “Ne!”

“You like to dance, too, right?”

“Ne.”

“Show me today.”

And that set him off like a dog too, immediately jumping to go back to the choreographer so that he could push along the process of starting practice even while the rest of the boys still had to introduce themselves to her.

“This is our second youngest,” Taeyong explained in broken English, bringing another member over with him.

Honestly, if Aurora had to guess without any prior information, she would have taken one look at Mark and guessed that because of his height and baby face that he was the youngest and not Haechan. Despite his height and the assumption that he was young, Mark was by far one of the most impressive members of the entire group since he was also the leader of NCT Dream, so both he and Haechan had to juggle two sets of group schedules along with their own personal schedules, which Aurora imagined was a complete nightmare to do. Yet Mark didn’t seem fazed at all. He didn’t look any more tired than the other boys in the room, he looked ready for practice, eager to meet Aurora, and almost relieved that there was yet another English speaker with them.

“The Canadian,” Aurora said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

That threw him for a loop a little bit because Mark looked like he had anticipated Aurora speaking to him in their native language but she chose to stick with Korean. He went along with it, “Nice to meet you too.”

He then formally introduced himself with his long list of credentials that Aurora found to be so impressive before she even touched down in Seoul. He was the culprit for busiest Google Calendar which was sure to give Aurora a panic attack at some point later down the line— Which he himself knew and actually apologized for in their initial meeting, making Aurora laugh and reassure him that it would be alright.

“Is it okay if we talk in English sometimes?” he asked shyly. “It’s nice to give my brain a break once in a while— But we don’t have to—”

“I’m more than okay with that.”

He relaxed with relief washing over his body. “Thank you.”

“We’ll have to go over that schedule of yours soon so that we’re on the same page, we’ll talk in English then.”

He bowed at the hips slightly. “Thank you.” And then he looked at his leader, “Hyung…”

Taeyong nodded, approving Mark's request to return to practice. With one last quiet, “Thank you,” and another, “Nice to meet you,” Mark hurried off with a smile on his face, prompting the rest of the boys to give him a hard time. Aurora grinned. Their unconditional brotherly love for each other was entirely contagious to the point Aurora had to pry her gaze away so that she wouldn’t laugh anymore and appear unprofessional on her first day.

“Jae!” Taeyong called out.

A man wearing glasses and an oversized hoodie who was lounging on the couches heard his name being called out and moved. Well, he certainly made an impression on her by sneezing so loudly and suddenly when it was his turn to go meet her. One second he was pushing himself up to his feet while smiling welcomingly in her direction, the next he was apologizing and turning to the side to let out an earth shattering sneeze that took Aurora by surprise, but none of the others flinched a bit. Must’ve been a common occurrence for him.

“Mianhaeyo,” he apologized shyly, faltering a few steps closer towards her before holding his ground and bowing. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Jaehyun. I’m a vocalist.”

“And a rapper.”

Jaehyun blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I wouldn’t say that…”

“I would. You do a good job, don’t doubt your talent, I have a pet peeve for that kind of thing.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” she then complimented him with a smile to boost his energy up a bit.

“Same here.”

Since they’d already bowed to each other plenty, Jaehyun reached out for a polite Korean-style handshake which shocked Aurora with how strong and sturdy he really was, like all those muscles of his weren’t actually just for show like some people thought.

“I’ll send over Doyoung,” Jaehyun said to both Aurora and Taeyong before he turned to grab another member’s attention.

Though he was loud with the members, the second Doyoung approached Aurora, he suddenly had nothing to say to her. It wasn’t out of disrespect or anything like that— He didn’t give that kind of vibe— Aurora guessed that he was shy around new people, and that maybe he wasn’t sure what to say to Aurora, so she decided to keep it brief in order to let him warm up to her over time.

Yuta and Aurora clicked almost immediately because she impressed him with her ability to speak to him fluently in Japanese— She was sure that it came as both a surprise and a relief, which was why he clung so quickly. However, things didn’t fall into place with anyone as easily… But that was okay! It was her job to be there, so she wasn’t meant to be besties with them, even though she had hoped in an ideal world that they would have been so that going to work wouldn’t be an awkward endeavor. She figured she’d stick to Yuta's side for a bit. With him, she could get comfortable around the boys who weren’t as easy to get along with, like Johnny.

Still wearing that thin white tank top and loose green sweatpants, he approached her casually and shook her hand like an American would, no bowing necessary, and in English, he introduced himself briefly, “Johnny Suh. Pleasure.”

“Nice to meet you,” she replied in Korean.

She didn’t wish to start off on the wrong foot, giving him any indication that it was okay to treat her differently than the other boys would. They were in Korea, she knew Korean, he was fluent, everyone else spoke in Korean. They would speak to each other in Korean. Though he was older, she had positional seniority over him, so he had to go with her flow.

Johnny smiled at her. “Welcome to our humble company.”

He was the jokester of the group, there was no doubt about it. If Aurora had to describe his humor, she would have referenced boomers who had an old wit about them and thought the smallest details were fun to point out, though they weren’t— And while it was endearing, Aurora didn’t quite understand it. Some of his jokes made her laugh, but most of them had her confused. She could have blamed it on translation errors if it weren’t for the fact that he was American, too, and many of his jokes had an English punchline in order to include Aurora as much as possible. She sighed a lot in response to his dad jokes. She could tell that he was trying to impress her, but her soul would die just a little bit here and there, which would only make the other boys laugh more in reaction. 

“What’s your position?” Aurora asked him.

“I don’t have one.”

“You don’t?”

“No, ma’am.”

Aurora looked at Taeyong who nodded as well, reaffirming Johnny's answer. Huh. Interesting. All the others had introduced themselves with a role within the group, but not Johnny.

“How come?”

“I joined 127 later than the others… All the others were taken… I’m the spare, I suppose.”

Aurora rolled her eyes again. How could he make fun of himself like that? She knew from her research that he had debuted later, despite his long run as a rookie at the company since he was a kid, so he earned his spot in the group more than anyone, if she had to argue on his behalf. Maybe it hurt less to make fun of himself. Maybe, like Jungwoo, Johnny hid behind his humor so that people wouldn’t pry or know that he was upset or uncomfortable.

“But you’re the oldest in NCT.”

“Ah, yes, the grandpa.”

“Well, if you had to pick a role, what would it be? Rapper?”

“Sure.”

“Dancer?”

“Why not?”

Aurora crossed her arms and squinted at him. “Token foreigner?”

“Fuck it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Alright, you win.” She sent him off just as quickly as he had approached her.

“Pleasure, like I said.” He lazily saluted to her with two fingers and a grin before walking off.

Taeyong was the last to introduce himself. Though he was the second oldest, he was the leader of NCT, so he waited patiently for his juniors to politely interact with Aurora before he finally had his chance. Aurora was surprised by how put together he seemed. There was no sneezing, no blushing or awkward bowing, and he didn’t give her any lip like his hyung. Taeyong was an incredibly well mannered man who bowed so deeply at the hip that anyone could have been tricked into thinking that Aurora was a far more important and respectable person than she actually was; and when he introduced himself, he chanted it like he was a squad leader in the military, listing off his name, his credentials, and how grateful he was for having a new manager. Most importantly, he hoped that they could be good friends.

Aurora understood that as leader, Taeyong was the mouthpiece for his members. If there were anything they felt they couldn’t say directly to her, then it would come from Taeyong. That meant that they needed to work together well. It wouldn’t be efficient if they didn’t have an open line of communication and were on bad terms. Both of them knew that. So though their introductions felt kind of forced because of that, Aurora recognized that from what she knew about Taeyong through her research that they would get along just fine because of their dedicated work ethics and love for the industry.

“Do you mind if I watch some of your practice today?” she finally asked him with a hopeful smile.

Taeyong stopped breathing for a moment. “You want to… watch? Why?”

“I’d like to see how you guys interact with each other and perform when there are no cameras so that I can get to know you better before we really get to work. I promise I’ll be quiet, you won’t even know I’m here.”

He checked with the head choreographer who was eavesdropping because he was impatiently waiting to begin his practice. Once Taeyong received a confident nod, he looked back at Aurora. “You might get bored, but we don’t mind.”

She chuckled. “Thank you.”

Finally, the choreographer got to call for the boys’ attention so that they filed into a huddle around him in order to look at the iPad he was holding to review their formation for the next part of the choreography. Aurora took a seat on the couch that was now abandoned since the boys were getting to work. She tried to make herself small by crossing her legs and keeping her hands on her lap, and she tried not to be a disturbance at all so she stayed completely silent— Not even a cough or a hiccup.

The boys fanned out to get in position, then they followed the choreographer’s lead as he showed them the second chorus of the song in one go before turning to them and starting the music over for them to give it a shot. Aurora was shocked by how quickly they picked it up. They moved lazily, but the idea of the choreography was there, and they all practiced in their own ways to make sure that they got the timing right before they perfected the technique the next time the music started over. She knew that she wouldn’t have been able to pick up an entire chorus worth of dancing in just one go, but that was why they were the professionals and she was just there to gawk at them in wonder.

Some were better than others. Johnny was one of the best, even though he was always put in the back because of his height and lack of lines in the song. Taeyong was very specific about everyone else. If he noticed that they were out of sync or their technique wasn’t perfect, he sniped it every time and called it out to make sure they made the proper adjustments until he was content and they could move on. Mark was still as impressive as Aurora assumed he would be— He was positioned all over the place, he had a long segment of bars so he was stationed at the front of the formation for a fair bit of the choreography, and he was absolutely perfect from the get-go.

For about an hour, the boys worked on just the one chorus while Aurora watched. Even though there were still a few more hours left of rehearsals for the boys, Aurora realized that she needed to get back to her work so that it didn’t look like she wasn’t doing anything. Quietly, she decided to make her leave. She collected her things, pushed herself to her feet, then began walking towards the exit. However, just as she was about to leave, she was stopped by a tall figure running over to her and standing between her and the door, his hand on the door handle like he was going to open it for her.

“Hey, so if you ever need any help with translations or something, I’m pretty good at that stuff.”

Aurora stared up at Johnny, expressionless.

“Since you’re still learning Korean and all…”

Still, she wasn’t fazed.

“Just, uh, let me know if there’s anything you don’t understand from these idiots and I’ll translate for you.” He chuckled nervously.

“I can handle it. But thanks, all-rounder.”

Johnny grinned like he was imagining fighting back against her snarkiness that was brought on by his unwillingness to supply her with an actual group position due to feeling inferior to his colleagues. Instead, Johnny just nodded respectfully instead of fully bowing. Aurora took that as a sufficient reply, then left.

Immediately after practice, Aurora got to work. She didn’t believe in delaying her list of to-dos any longer than necessary, so in the days following meeting the 127 boys, she was holed up in her office, trying to learn the ways of working at SM while trying her best to blend in. Obviously she stood out amongst the others. It was hard not to notice the new employee in the first place, but the fact that she was a pale, blonde, plus size foreigner made it impossible for her to try to be like everyone else. She had to accept that she was different and that it was okay to not immediately click with her coworkers. However, her hard work seemed to pay off because everyone in the cafeteria only complimented her work ethic instead of judging her in Korean— Which benefited the other staff members, too, because they slowly learned that Aurora knew Korean and suddenly any and all gossip about her halted in the hallways, cafeteria, and meeting rooms whenever she was around.

After about a week, when things became normal, Aurora attended every single one of the NCT 127 dance practices, despite her own work she had or should have been doing at her desk— Which she figured most of the boys didn’t understand at first since every other manager at all other companies didn’t operate the way she did. None of them cared about boring dance practices. They didn’t care about the repetitive process of recording the music. Managers cared about focusing specifically on the scheduling and wrangling of their members, which Aurora understood, but it was important to her to be as involved as possible because of how fascinating it was, but also because as they warmed up to her, they allowed her to have a say in some of their practices. Taeyong liked that. Aurora was the only one who was as strict as he was, yet she still respected the choreographers themselves, so she obviously never interfered whenever they were teaching or when the choreographers were there to oversee. On the days she was allowed to speak, however, she would sit on the floor, playing the music for them, pausing it when there was a note when she or Taeyong wanted to give, and she called for water and rest breaks.

Whenever Aurora had meetings, Taeyong would come along with her, even though he technically wasn’t supposed to. At some point it became common at the company that he and Aurora were breaking the norm for what was expected of them. The execs stopped questioning it, the choreographers welcomed Aurora into every practice, Taeyong was given the chance to speak on behalf of the NCT members in meetings, and so on. They were like the mom and dad of the group. They kept everything oiled and running. Because of that, the two of them were attached at the hip most of the time, so he and Yuta were the only ones Aurora felt she could go to about everything— To the extent that Taeyong eventually started calling her “noona” out of habit even though he didn’t have to, or really shouldn’t have because of their ages.

It was because of Taeyong and Yuta that the others felt comfortable enough to cling to Aurora as quickly as they did. She noticed that it happened in a very specific order— One which told her everything she needed to know about each of their personalities. First it was Doyoung, someone who appreciated Taeyong's advice and input, so once he knew that Taeyong trusted Aurora wholeheartedly, Doyoung also began going to Aurora for help. She was a good ear to him. If he was ever frustrated, or overwhelmed with a million swirling thoughts in his head, then Aurora would hear him out and find the right thing to say in return.

Haechan was after Doyoung. She chalked it up to the fact that they went out to dinner together semi-frequently, specifically out to get kimchi jjigae, as promised. Haechan knew a good spot where he enjoyed getting stew, so Aurora followed him there while making it very clear that as his superior she would be paying the bill in order to treat him, so he didn’t have to be the gentleman and try to steal the bill away. Haechan, the little gremlin he was, accepted with a gleeful smile and a pep in his step. Outside of that, however, Aurora could tell that Haechan was a bit nervous to be out and about with her— Which she could understand because he was an idol and she was a woman, so there would always be people out there who could get the wrong idea and spin terrible lies until they would take on a life of their own and start negatively impacting both Aurora and Haechan. She tried to not think about it. She kept her distance from him, she tried not to look at him too long or smile too much, and she definitely didn’t do anything flirty.

“Don’t worry,” she told him as they sat down at a table in the restaurant and she caught him nervously looking left and right, “I’ve got this down to a science.”

He smiled gently at that.

Aurora looked around to see if there would be any problems. Standing at the register in the back corner was an old man whose hair was nearly gone, his wrinkles had taken over his face, and his back was perpetually hunched forward to show that he had spent his life behind that very same register. Behind him, sitting down in a chair, scrolling through her phone by looking at the screen under her glasses and down the bridge of her nose with her mouth stretched open in concentration, was likely the ahjussi’s wife— Aurora only assumed because of their matching wedding rings and the fact that the ajumma was wearing an apron. As for patrons, there weren’t any concerns. Sitting in the back corner opposite the register was an old couple who weren’t saying a word as they slurped down their kimchi jjigae.

“Jogiyo!” Haechan shouted, still in an indoor voice, waving his hand around for the waiter’s attention.

The old man looked up from the register while grabbing his order pad before noticing that it was Haechan who called out for him, and when his eyes settled on Aurora again, he beckoned his wife over alongside him. Aurora watched from the sidelines as Haechan welcomes them like old friends. It was clear from the get-go that they knew each other well because of how comfortably they were talking about everything except what the order. Eventually, their attention diverted to Aurora. With big smiles, they inspected her from head to toe, trying to figure out if she knew Korean or if they wanted to stretch out their English skills by using her as a guinea pig.

“Is this your girlfriend?” They both asked, looking at Aurora.

Haechan chuckled. “Aniyo—”

Aurora politely introduced herself in Korean to them, bowing her head, telling them her name, and explaining that she was his new boss and as such was treating him to dinner.

Their smiles widened. “Ah, well…” They seemed genuinely surprised by Aurora’s Korean skills. “We hope you enjoy our food. And hopefully Haechan-ah doesn’t give you too much trouble at work.”

Haechan blushed.

The wife took that as her cue to scurry to the kitchen behind a cloth “doorway” while the husband continued to chat with Haechan for another minute or so before he went to ring in their order officially on their thirty year old manual cash register.

“They were the first non-celebrities I met who treated me like a normal person after I debuted. For about two years, they had no clue who I was, so they would always ask about school, girls, my family…” Haechan chuckled before bringing his water glass up to his lips. “Now that they know, they still pester me about all of that and work. They think that I should have a girlfriend regardless of being an idol.”

Aurora poured some water for herself. “And what is school, girls, and family life like for you?”

“Non-existent.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, I moved away from home before I could finish school properly, so even though I graduated high school, I’ve never really considered a higher education than that because I’m so busy with work. Girls…” He shrugged and moved on, “I don’t get to see my family often… because of work… I haven’t been home in years, they usually come to me. My sister works hard but says she’s going to quit in order to take care of her son soon because he’s a handful. One of my brothers makes close to what I make, financially speaking, so he wants practically nothing to do with me, while the other one makes next to nothing so he leeches off of me.” He sarcastically grinned and let out an exacerbated laugh. “Life of an idol.”

“Sounds like you’ve been over it for a while.”

“Work? No—”

“No, I mean the side effects of work.”

“Oh, that? Yeah… Not much I can do about it, though.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

Haechan smiled at her gratefully.

When the food arrived, the ahjussi placed Aurora’s bowl in front of her first out of respect, then handed Haechan his more casually. Aurora thanked him with a bright smile. He seemed charmed by her, for being a foreigner who seemed to understand the culture and fit in so well. He looked endeared.

After Haechan said a quiet prayer, the two of them dug into their meals. All it took was one bite to make Aurora melt into her seat. She swallowed and immediately sat up, spinning around to look at the ahjussi and the ajumma who were huddling around the cash register to spy on Aurora, eagerly awaiting her reaction. They were definitely entertained when she called out to them, “This is the best kimchi jjigae I’ve ever had. It’s delicious, thank you!” before digging in for more. Haechan laughed out of embarrassment. Americans could be loud, Aurora was no stranger to that, but she had to show her appreciation for her new favorite restaurant in town, all thanks to the youngest member sitting across from her.

The meal helped to break down Haechan's personal defenses that protected his life and deep thoughts. Having a delicious, warm, spicy kimchi jjigae on a hot day was all he needed to finally start spilling all of his thoughts and feelings to her without any worries about saying too much or being too personal with his boss. And Aurora didn’t dare to slow him down. The thing she was most desperate for at her new job was trust amongst each other, and if Haechan could truly trust her with all of his struggles and achievements, then she was making the progress she was actively striving for; and who was she to tell him to shut up, anyhow? Of course she would never pry— That would be an incredible invasion of his privacy. But in return for his honesty, Aurora opened up about her life too, telling him everything about herself that she had already told Yuta and Taeyong when they were going out for dinners as well.

“Do you see yourself working here forever?” he finally asked her after his last bite.

Aurora shrugged. “I go where the wind takes me… Right now, I don’t see myself going anywhere else.”

Haechan smiled happily before pulling out his wallet to go pay at the register where the ahjussi and ajumma were still eavesdropping, though they were playing naive when they were caught.

Soon after Haechan and Aurora’s dinner dates, the rest of the pieces fell into place. Jungwoo, Johnny, Mark, and Jaehyun all took to her— In that order— each of them having their own unique way to connect with her over time. It was a relief. She’d tried so hard to get on their good side, and it was finally paying off.

The first concert of the season approached faster than Aurora expected. One second she was still getting adjusted to working at SM, the next she was being thrown to the wolves by having to manage an entire boy group’s concert on her own. Well, not on her own. Of course she had Yuta and Taeyong by her side, and there were a million assistants and department heads who were there to help, but Aurora still felt alone in the endeavor since it was her first concert with them. It was her first test too. Not only were the execs keeping a close eye on her during her “transition period,” but the boys were also watching to see how she would do. Would she prepare well, perform well under pressure, adjust accordingly when things would inevitably go awry and she would have to problem solve on the spot? Aurora trusted herself to do all of that but she was a stranger to them, they weren’t sure how much they could trust. She knew that she couldn’t fumble. She couldn’t have a single hiccup. Because if she fucked up one thing, then all of the effort she had put into earning everyone’s trust and respect would crumble to pieces within a blink of an eye after trying for so long to build it up from the ground.

All of the pressure on her shoulders seemed overwhelming the morning of the concert. Before then, Aurora had maintained her cool— Never wavering in the face of difficulties. But that morning sucked. She woke up in a bad mood, nothing seemed to be going her way, and she worried that all of that bad luck was going to carry over into the concert which was a terrifying thought. So she did the first thing she thought of as a solution. She called Taeyong. For the first ten minutes of the call, Taeyong let her just rant into his ear without a single bit of input from him, and it felt relieving to get everything off her chest; but even better than that was the feeling of hearing him reassure her that it would be okay. She was going to be okay. Everything was going to turn out alright. He was right, of course. Obviously he was right. Aurora knew it even before she dialed his number, but hearing it from him, someone who had just as much of a right to not trust her and instead judge her, made all the difference in the world. He lit the fire under her ass that she needed to immediately get to work.

Aurora was at the concert venu first thing in the morning to oversee things as they were being set up. Honestly speaking, however, she was there before most people were… There wasn’t much to “oversee” until crew members showed up to start building the stage, setting up the floor chairs, working on the lights, stuff like that. So Aurora spent her time greeting people as they trickled in slowly while she multitasked setting up the boys’ green room to be perfect for them and all of the staff members whenever they would arrive. The stylists needed their own space in one corner to get the boys dressed, the makeup and hair teams needed the entire wall lined with mirrors and make up tables to pretty the boys up, and the boys needed chairs to lounge in while they would wait for call time.

The boys weren’t scheduled until later in the morning to early afternoon, so it was mainly just Aurora keeping herself busy with tasks that came up randomly while dealing with the shocked looks of staff members who didn’t expect to see her there so early. But the looks on the boys’ faces when they did start to appear was priceless. Mark and Jungwoo arrived together, and they nearly fell over when they saw Aurora rushing around the halls of the stadium with a stylist in search of a necklace that fell somewhere between the car that brought the outfits and accessories and the green room where they were setting up. Johnny came on his own, and when he saw Aurora helping the stylists organize the wardrobes, he raised a brow at her and made a sly comment about how she didn’t need to do that since it wasn’t her job.

“I’d rather help than sit around and do nothing,” she replied.

Johnny glanced around the greenroom to note that she was judging some of the stylists and staff members who weren’t lifting a finger, and the boys who were just sitting and talking. Johnny smiled before also going to take his seat between Doyoung and Jaehyun who arrived moments earlier.

Like the perfect friend he was, Yuta showed up with an extra coffee with Aurora’s name on it— Figuratively, not literally. She sighed and pouted with relief as he passed her the cup with a laugh.

“You’re the best,” she told him.

“I know.”

They sipped out of their straws simultaneously, then Aurora scurried off to do some more work that came to mind. She forgot to thank him. She only realized it when she was too far to turn back, so she made a mental note in the long list of to-dos for the day to thank him properly later and hope that he didn’t think she was a complete asshole in the meantime.

“Noona, I brought something for you,” Haechan announced after finally tracking her down.

Aurora looked up to find him carrying an extra coffee for her. When he saw that she was already matching cups with Yuta, he slumped with defeat, not knowing what to do with the coffee he was so proud of himself for bringing in the hopes of being her savior.

She laughed. “Put it in the fridge in the green room with my name on it. I’ll have it later. Thank you, Haechan.”

Another ten minutes later, Aurora was being disrupted again by someone else trying to get her attention while she was in the middle of talking to Mark's assistant about his schedule the following day and how they would be able to get him home early so that he could rest before having to wake up early the following day. She tried to keep talking through whoever was interrupting, but they kept trying to get her attention until she finally snapped.

“Yes?”

Taeyong stared at her, shocked.

“Sorry,” she apologized quietly, brushing her hair behind her ears and taking a deep breath. “What’s up?”

He held up a cup of iced Americano for her, but he didn’t hand it over since she was already holding one and he looked concerned for her. She was about to tell him to label it and put it in the fridge like Haechan had, but Taeyong beat her to it with a sincere topic change. “Noona, how long have you been here?” he asked her worriedly.

She didn’t stop moving when she replied, “Don’t know. What time is it?”

“It’s only eleven.”

Aurora shrugged; That wasn’t as late as she thought it was, there was still plenty of time to get everything done. “Uh, I got here around five, so… Six hours?”

“Why?”

“Someone has to make sure everything’s ready to go for you boys.”

“That’s why concert directors exist.”

“I got here two hours before she did, so, I’ve just been keeping myself busy, is that a crime, or—”

Taeyong reached for the coffee in her hand and stole it from her. They stared at each other. He just took her lifeline. What the fuck was he thinking?! She needed that to survive the rest of the day!

“Noona.” He held the cup out of reach when she lunged for it. “You need to sleep.”

“After the show.”

When she lunged for it again, Taeyong rolled his eyes. “We won’t get out of here until midnight, if we’re lucky. Please sleep before you pass out in front of everyone.”

“I won’t pass out, Tae.” She finally got a hand on the cup so they began playing tug-of-war with it. “That’s why I have the coffee, to keep me upright.” She won. Her victory lap consisted of taking big gulps of the coffee to finish it before he could steal it again. “See?”

Taeyong sighed to himself, “Americans.”

As he started walking off to find the boys, Aurora called out to him, “I’m telling Johnny you said that!” But Taeyong didn’t seem bothered, so Aurora huffed and took a moment to silently inspect her surroundings. What had she been doing before she was interrupted? What was next on her list? “Shit.”

Stage check began around noon, which meant Aurora had to drop everything else she was doing so that she could corral the boys out of their comfortable green room where they were all spread out on the couches doing various things like napping or playing games on their phones, and she had to guide them up to the stage where the choreographer and concert director were already quietly meeting to review some last minute details.

“Look who showed up,” the choreographer teased.

The boys laughed lightheartedly. In a team effort, the choreographer and the concert director began moving the boys around to show them their stage marks for the first few minutes of the show, meanwhile Aurora dragged Haechan who was a straggler in the back up to his assigned spot as well. Once she was sure that they were all there and ready to work— Though they were lazily standing there in what was basically pajamas— she knew that she was done.

Aurora finally took a brief moment to breathe while the boys were on stage and she sat in one of the front row chairs in the audience seats to watch them. Before she even realized that her first coffee was done, an assistant approached her with the coffee Haechan left for her in the fridge. Unprompted. Aurora looked up at her, confused, but the assistant was smiling and insisted that Aurora take the cup by silently switching them. The assistant wasn’t hers, so why did she go out of her way to get Aurora some more coffee?

“Fighting!” she whispered to Aurora with her fists lifted at eye level to show her encouragement.

Still a bit confused, Aurora mimicked her for an awkward moment before settling. “What’s your name?”

“Hayoon.”

“Thank you, Hayoon.”

“It’s no problem,” she reassured Aurora. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

During the entirety of stage check, Aurora and Hayoon sat together, exchanging socials, talking about the boys— Since Hayoon worked with them far longer, she had all of the gossip and the inside scoops to help Aurora out. At one point, when Aurora finished her second cup of coffee, Hayoon said that she would recycle the cup for Aurora, and when she returned to their seats in the front row, Hayoon brought the coffee gifted by Taeyong. Aurora chugged that. Her heart and mind were racing, her stomach felt like it was about to crawl out of her body like she was in Alien or something, and her whole body was shivering with the jitters of caffeine. She was wired.

By the time the boys were finally done with rehearsal, Aurora was ready to run a marathon with the amount of pent up energy she had. Yuta took notice first while they walked together back to the green room.

“Have you eaten anything today?” he asked, side eyeing her.

“No, why?”

“Have you had anything to drink except for coffee?”

“No.”

Yuta sighed, disappointed. When they entered the green room to start getting ready for the concert, Yuta walked to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water and a small box of grapes that the boys requested to snack on in order to keep up their energy throughout the four hour long show.

“Sit,” he told her.

“I don’t have time—”

“Yes, you do, sit.” Yuta pushed on her shoulders to plop her down on one of the couches before handing her the water and grapes. “A five minute break won’t kill you, but all that caffeine might.”

“Aren’t you guys to blame since you brought all the coffee in the first place?”

“And whose decision was it to chug all three cups?”

“Touché.”

Aurora sat and ate the grapes while Yuta watched her closely to babysit her, despite the fact that the designers were trying to encourage him to put on the first outfit of the night, and the makeup artists were telling him that they needed to start his makeup soon or they would fall behind schedule. It was only after Aurora gave him a stern look and threatened to stop snacking that Yuta gave in. Everyone else was already getting ready, so she didn’t have to do much aside from wait for something to happen so that she could “manage” or “assist.”

Since they were dressed and pretty much ready to go, Mark pulled Haechan and Doyoung to the side where they huddled up tightly and bowed their heads before quietly praying. Aurora tried not to stare in order to give them some privacy. Instead, she attempted to keep herself busy by moving all of the boys’ phones and personal belongings off of the makeup desks and into each of their personal bags so that nothing would get lost or stolen, but also because she wanted everything to be neat.

“Is she ever going to rest?” Jungwoo whispered to Johnny.

Aurora glanced in the mirror of the makeup desk she was standing at to watch for Johnny's reaction, but all he did was shrug before looking over at her, the two of them making eye contact through the mirror. Panicked, Aurora realized she should have looked away, but instead she froze and continued to look at him the same way he continued to look at her, even while he told Jungwoo, “I’m not sure she needs it… Not yet, at least.” That was when Aurora finally looked back down.

“Alright, let’s move!” the stage manager called out.

The boys quickly finished adjusting their microphone packs on their pants before filing out of the room to follow Aurora and the stage manager through the halls and to backstage where they silently got into position. Aurora watched from the side as they all pushed their in-ear monitors to settle comfortably right as the lights in the venue went dark, prompting the audience to cheer loudly with anticipation of seeing the boys come out briefly. With one last deep breath, Aurora calmed herself down. They did good. Taeyong looked over in her direction with a smile and a thumbs up just before the stage doors opened and the boys stepped forward into the spotlights.

[mecachrome]

some light thoughts re: sports rpf 4th wall discussion

i made that post in like 5 minutes so didn't really delve into any of the specifics or considerations for any of these fandoms, but this is something i've pondered frequently and written about before:

tbh to me the notion of user-locking fic on ao3 is less of a moral stance and kind of more like, keepingthepeace SEO reasons "do you really want your rpf to be a google hit" and knowing that there are people who lack public twitter linking etiquette who will inevitably blast rpf and invite critique from normie-leaning fandom users... but i think everyone is entitled to their own take and opinion of how fandom limits should be maintained/delineated

that being said f1 rpf is kind of a unique space because its massive boom is entirely and objectively dts dependent — even though it's had its core ships beforehand its growth in the past few years has been nigh exponential in comparison to hrpf remaining mostly linear throughout the years. hockey functions strangely as a fandom space because it's both more insular and accessible but also in a way more resistant to narrative manipulation... of course the reporting is highly market-dependent and some places are batshit but there are just SO many players and teams that the focus is spread out across the continent, and there is no well-oiled dts-feeding machine regurgitating the same rivalry narrative 24/7 in 50 languages to the extreme degree that f1 is capable of.

perhaps some of it is that hockey has learned its lesson the hard way multiple times, both in the lj/ao3 space and in the booktok space, but it's (not justifiable but) understandable that a fandom like f1 focused around such a tiny network of inaccessible and (in most cases) born-massively-wealthy from a pr circus of Ship Names Peddled By The Official TikTok Accounts has a feeling of "otherness" that makes it read similarly to an rpf fandom like k-pop, where the language/cultural barrier to western fans incentivizes them less to ship things in a private/restricted bubble.

at the end of the day i like locking fic because it's just been ingrained in me from 10+ years in hockey rpf... but people will be people. the post was not meant really as a direct critique but just a presentation of facts that everyone can do with what they wish to!

[zurgles]

Comedy Anime I’ve Liked

Asobi Asobase

Daily Lives of High School Boys

D-Frag!

Mob Psycho 100

One Punch Man

Tonari No Seki-kun

Kaguya-sama: Love is war

Hinamatsuri

Poyopoyo

Love is hard for Otaku

Haruhi Suzumiya (and light novels)

Servant x Service

Senyuu

Ouran High School Host Club

Lovely Complex

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions

Romantic Killer

Toradora!

Arakawa Under the Bridge

Disastrous Life of Saiki K (can’t believe I forgot this, I was obsessed. Top 5)

Handa-kun

Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun

Nichijou

Aho Girl (it was just ok tbh)

Fudanshi Koukou Seikatsu

Heaven’s Design Team

Tesagure! Bukatsu mono

Magical Witch Punie-chan

If you have any recommendations for comedy anime, let me know! I’m gonna edit this as more shows come to me.

More shows under the cut.

More anime I like / am watching

Kimi ni todoke (read the manga in high school but fell off, watching again now years later)

One Piece (still in the hundreds)

Dungeon meshi

Monster

Sousou no Frieren

Spy x Family

Mashle

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan

Anime I fell off

Sailor moon (few years ago, might have finished R)

Inuyasha (back in high school, think I made it halfway)

Uncle from another world (plan to finish)

The Way of the Househusband (season two, plan to finish)

Ranma 1/2

Chio’s School Road

Devil is a part-timer (finished season 1)

Bungou Stray Dogs (think I made it through season 3? plan to finish)

Detective Conan

Space Dandy

Other shows I like

Avatar the last airbender

Legend of Korra

There are other manga and anime I’ve watched, mostly in high school like Special A, Maid-sama, Fruits Basket, Absolute Boyfriend, Nodame Cantabile (did I finish this? I remember I watched the live action), Skip Beat (was pretty obsessed but fell off around the setsuka arc), Rurouni Kenshin (finished the manga in high school, fell off the anime), Beauty Pop, Crimson Hero (never finished), probably more that I can’t remember. edit: All the Sayonara Zetsubou Senseis when I was in high school. Ace Attorney. Death Note. Cowboy Bebop. Hyouka.

[agendabymooner]

fashion week ! alex a. x ofc (k-pop idol!ofc)

“everything she do is for the media.”

summary: alex albon and polly berkshire are just extremely active on social media — they really aren’t just a couple made for the sake of their public image. OR moments in which the two were the power couple of formula one.

content warning: established relationship, use of explicit language, alex and ofc shitting on each other’s lives (affectionately), haters gonna hate shake off, full view the photos to enlarge the text messages!

note: vibes based on steel banglez’s song fashion week (with aj tracey and mostack) enjoy xx

masterlist

tagged thepolsci

liked landonorris, georgerussell63, lewishamilton

roses_are_rosie 🔥🤧 liked by alex_albon

landonorris peak editorial page era

alex_albon stay mad ☺️

charles_leclerc you’ve always been my favourite model 😍 liked by alex_albon

arthur_leclerc what do you know about fashion shal 🤣🤣 liked by alex_albon

user1 ABSOLUTE VIOLATION 😮‍💨😮‍💨

user2 LMFAO ALEX LIKING ARTHUR’S COMMENT BAHAHAHA

georgerussell63 thepolsci blink twice if you were forced to go blonde too

thepolsci tbh we don’t know why we both got our hair bleached but it was lit tho (my scalp, i mean)

thepolsci unnecessarily hot, babe 😮‍💨😮‍💨 liked by alex_albon

alex_albon no u 😍

landonorris alright, just kiss and move on. some of us just want to go through the day

boamckinnon what lando said^

thepolsci lance_stroll get your shit together and take her away from my timeline i might pull a worldstar on her 🙄🙄

boamckinnon 🤬🤬

user3 JENNIE ROSÉ COME GET YOUR GIRLS 😭😭

user4 everything hits different when you’re british— just look at bora and polly.

user5 i’m surprised neither of them called the other the c word yet tbh

user6 soon enough, i’m certain

user7 alex being invited to these shows as her plus one is the best thing that could’ve happened this season 😭

user8 real 😮‍💨 it’s been boring lately

user9 albono cleans up real good tho 🥵

user10 sliding through this instagram carousel really is just a game of smash or pass. surprisingly i keep saying smash

tagged alex_albon

liked by lance_stroll, boamckinnon, logansargeant

user1 i just know his skincare routine is expensive 😭

user2 he does look like he invests money in the ordinary or something 🤭

user3 guys… he has a brand deal with cerave

user4 okay yeah maybe his skincare routine is sacred indeed

logansargeant drop your skincare routine 🤨

thepolsci men’s tears mostly

logansargeant that should be easy. i just need to show alex a photo of you two together then i’ll get a handful liked by thepolsci

williamsracing sarge this isn’t very team player of you 😭😭 we cry too

user5 bro just exposed his own teammate 🤣

alex_albon i got the hydroflask with those silly stickers we got from amazon filled with cold water. i’ve been consuming water. is that good? liked by thepolsci

thepolsci absolutely 🫡 proud of you my love

alex_albon hydrated for you, my girl 🫡

user6 mama y papa 😁😁

user7 i love my favourite wag, alex albon. he’s so babygirl 🤧

bonus !!

[porcupine-girl]

The BJYX Store!

Ok, it wasn’t a whole BJYX store, but it did have a BJYX section! It was an idol store, whose existence I was tipped off to by @marlo-noni. This mall (Shanghai Joy City) had two idol stores in addition to a million anime/donghua/etc stores–I’ll make separate posts for all the non-bjyx merch I saw (and bought). Both idol stores were 75% kpop but with Cpop/Cdrama sections if you looked around.

And this one had an actual shelf that was not labeled Xiao Zhan or Wang Yibo or both, but actually labeled 博君一肖 bjyxszd!

It wasn’t huge, but the fact that it’s still there five years after the Untamed aired speaks volumes about how mainstream this is.

See more under the cut!

Yes, there was a full-size (well, not quite as tall as he really is) XZ cutout next to it. :)

It had a lot of stuff that was just XZ or just WYB–photo cards (which seem VERY popular, they were like 50% of the content of both idol stores), standees, pins, etc–but also actual BJYX merchandise! Mostly fanart-based, some of which I'd seen before. This stuff was definitely not officially licensed by either of them (which makes me wonder if anything in this store besides the K-pop CDs was actually officially licensed?)

Two sets of wedding-themed fanart standees:

Also this kind of ugly/awkward pin of them... kissing? Ish?

This store (I wish I'd taken more photos of the whole store, tbh) had a ton of these double-sided posters/banners about 6"x18" for all the different idols, and in addition to individual ones for XZ and WYB they had a whole bunch of BJYX ones. They were on the shelves with the other banners, rather than in the BJYX section. I wound up buying three–the first photo is one side of each, the second photo is the other (not sure which is "front" and "back").

I'm honestly not sure what "Doll's Fate" is about on that third one. Tagging in the BJYX experts: @rainbowsky @accio-victuuri @wwx-lwj-ai-ni @bjyxobsessed any of you know what that's referring to?

The other idol store in Shanghai Joy City wasn't as explicit about the BJYX, but they did have a whole shelf just for the two of them, separate from all the other Cpop people:

All the merch was just one boy or the other, though, I couldn't find anything with both on one item, let alone explicitly shippy.

For the record, I scoured three malls in Beijing (SoShow, Xidan Joy City, and Chaoyang Joy City) and while I found various other cool merch, I could not find any dedicated idol stores in any of them. Although I will admit I didn't have time to go through Chaoyang JC as thoroughly as the others – these malls are all huge, like 8-11 stories!

Bonus #1: This eyeglasses kiosk that was right outside the bjyx store knew exactly what it was doing:

Bonus #2: Can you believe they just happened to be playing Wu Ming when I was browsing the BJYX merch? It's not surprising that they were playing music by the idols they sold, but the fact that they just happened to play one of Yibo's songs in the 15 or so minutes I was there was amazing.

[legend-of-voltron-rewrite]

(This is just a few random questions I think abt when i find an author i like-)

What other media/hobbies do you indulge in? What's some of your biggest interests? (Other than voltron ofc) Is there another Fandom you'd write for? Favorite childhood show(s)?

Big question, favorite volron paladin? Favorite character in voltron? (No limitations- you could answer bii-bob-bi tbh. hes a fantastic choice)

BIGGER QUESTION!! What inspired you to write this rewrite and how do you motivate yourself to continue?

That's all! Hope you're having a lovely day! :)

Hello!

-

I'm very big into anime - I started watching them when I was eleven and never stopped. I watch other animated shows (Western), which I'll list in a later segment.

I'm also into manga, though not comics, (never really knew why, just couldn't get into it). Games, too, mainly RPGs, though I have been into FPS co-op as of late.

Don't judge me: K-Pop. I only really interact/watch content for one group, (will come up later), but I used to juggle between many groups.

As for hobbies other than writing: I'm big into art. Took classes for them and everything. Though this may have been obvious from early chapters of book one.

I've tried to get into making animatics, but I ended up stopping half-way through everytime I started. I like voice acting, though I've only ever done it once for someone I'm no longer friends with haha.

I used to be big into baking, but was never good at it. I'm much better at cooking, though mainly Asian dishes, (due to heritage and such).

My biggest interests... I'll keep it limited to five, else this segment would be much longer.

One Piece, (generic but it's popular for a reason), is a favourite of mine. The writing, world building, characters, relationships, messages, themes - I love it all. Definitely a high reccomendation.

Gravity Falls, because it's just that good? Even the weakest episode would be considered top tier if it was in another series. Dipper and Mabel's relationship is everything to me, and Stan was the uncle I always wanted. Love him.

Fullmetal Alchemist, mostly MangaHood, but the 2003 anime adaptation is great too. It's honestly of the best written works I've ever interacted with, and it makes perfect sense that it's highly rated.

SHINee, the K-Pop group I mentioned before. I'd call them standards for the industry, but then nobody would be able to share the stage with them. I'm a Shawol for life baby!

Finally, Katekyou Hitman Reborn. This was the first fandom I wrote fics for, back on my WattPad days, and I still love it to this day. I wish for the fandom to be revived so I may read the trashy fanfics I once adored and now hide my face in shame to.

Other fandoms I write for: Fairy Tail, though I haven't touched the AU I started in months. My Hero Academia, though only through my Tumblr page @my-rewrite-academia. I've been working on a Persona 5 fanfiction behind the scenes for a while, though I haven't progressed past chapter three.

I have an alt AO3 account, where I've written for MHA, Kuroko No Basket, Persona 5, SuperM, and the Banana Bus Squad (Vanoss and Friends).

My old WattPad has mostly Katekyou Hitman Reborn, and a sprinkle of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Neither of the previous two shall be linked, as I honestly just want to leave behind those fixs behind, considering I wrote them when I was thirteen and nothing made sense.

My favourite childhood show(s): Spongebob, Mr. Maker (only British kids will understand), Pokemon, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Also Sonic Boom, though that was exclusive to my teen years than childhood. The How To Train Your Dragon shows were also a favourite of mine, including Riders and Defenders of Berk.

If movies count, then How To Train Your Dragon, Shrek, Megamind, and Scary Movie(s). Scary Movie(s) sound like a weird thing, and it was. I was in the room with my older siblings when they put it on and never bothered to leave.

-

Now the Voltron-related segment!

Favourite Paladin: Keith. I hope it's not entirely obvious in my writing, as I wish to treat every character equally, but he is my favourite. I relate to him a lot and he ticks a lot of my boxes.

Favourite character: Keith, again. Other than Keith, however, it's Coran, the Gorgeous Man. He's always so jolly despite the heartbreak he's been through, and the writers were able to balance his comedy so well.

(Apart from the Voltron Show where they were clearly running out of ideas and/or time and made him more annoying than funny.)

-

BIGGEST QUESTIONS:

"What inspired me to write this rewrite–" (first half)

I actually started writing it in 2021, where I went on a three-year break due to losing motivation and my interest dwindling, at the time anyway. I was initially inspired to write it when I grew more and more frustrated with how canon handled many things.

As with many teen shows, I began to wonder if it would be handled better had it been intended for a more mature audience. It didn't help that I read the fanfics before I watched the show, so I had a certain level of expectations that weren't quite met.

I won't blame the writers, as it's usually just two or three people higher-up who make all the decisions. I was disappointed in DreamWorks, not the team behind it who have no choice but to follow orders.

But, yeah. The turning point, what really pushed me into starting and publishing the rewrite, was when I started thinking about how I'd handle each character and each arc. How I'd write different relationships, how I'd write each theme.

From there, I decided to put my money where my mouth was, so to speak.

It was a terrible start, really. When I first started writing it, I only had a vague idea of how I'd go about it. When I came back to the rewrite, the first thing I did was create a proper plan, else it'd just end up like the show - disappointing and missing so much.

I can remember, when I started, I just wanted to write a better story, which is a terrible mindset. This idea that the only thing that mattered was being better than the show is a toxic one.

My mindset is a lot better, of course. I've grown up since then, and spite-writing is something of the past. Maybe there are things I'm displeased with in canon, but I don't allow that spite to control me.

Rather, I feel more enthused, viewing it as more like adding onto what canon missed - filling in scenes rather than being better.

So, consider this a PSA to authors who spitewrite - get out of your minds. It feels much better to write if done with good intentions rather than negative. Words come easier and it doesn't feel like a chore.

-

"–and how do you motivate yourself to continue?"

Keeping a schedule, first and foremost. It differs from person to person, but having a set schedule of every '—day' helps a lot. It urges me to write, and the pressure helps me more than debilitates.

Of course, others may disagree. For others, having a strict schedule may feel constricting and thus hinder creativity, but it's helpful to me. This idea of, 'I have to do this', 'if not now then when?', helps me a lot.

It's also my longest fic to date, so to stop now would feel like a large disservice to both me and to the people who read each new chapter.

Then there's you! I'm not kidding, either. Comments, now more than ever, are usually so rare.

I once saw a post about an author discovering a discord server where their fic, (which had very little comments), was being heavily dicussed, and people had nothing but praise for it. When they asked why they didn't comment, they said that they didn't feel the need to, or that it would be embarrassing. That they never knew what to comment, despite the praise they had for it.

The author then decided to abandon the work upon finding this out. Because we don't get anything from posting our works. All we ask for is some form of praise or acknowledgement, and comments are just that.

Even if it's [<33] or [This is good!] or even [please update], we appreciate it all. Honestly, the only time I refuse to comment, rather than simply forgetting, is when an author holds fics hostage. The whole, 'I want x-many comments or else I won't update'. At that point, I lose any respect they had.

Comments are our lifeline, yet the idea of asking for comments feels like tabboo. As if we're less for leaving even a small note of, 'comment please', feels like it's asking for too much.

So to have a repeat commenter, to have you, is everything to me! If all else fails, if I can't find the motivation, I often think about those people who subscribed, who have my fic bookmarked, who comment on each update, and I think about how there are people who get excited with each update, who want to know what's going to happen next, who want to see this fic to its end.

It may sound corny, but my biggest motivation really is my readers, and those repeat comments give me life. It helps in ways that I never realised could.

-

And that is the end of the AMA/Q&A segment!! Thank you for sending this, stay tuned for the next update, have a great day, and look both ways before crossing the road!

[yakuzacanons]

Karaoke And Music Headcanons - Yakuza 1-4 Protagonists Edition

Karaoke is one of my favorite parts of Yakuza and they are genuinely bangers tbh, plus the VAs do a great job so here are some of my thoughts on how our protags are when they go out to karaoke and what they like to listen to.

Kazuma Kiryu

Mostly listens to classic rock. Has a small vinyl collection at Morning Glory tucked away into a corner of his room. However, he rarely listens to music loudly as he does not want to disturb the kids.

Will not dance to music but will bob his head to the beat. Sadly his dancing days are behind him, along with the bubble era. He didn’t mind cutting loose on the dance floor when he was in his early 20′s though.

On the other hand, he loves karaoke. He will usually go by himself and just belt out his favorite songs. It’s honestly a form of stress relief for him. Sometimes he’ll take the kids with him and they all have a blast.

Since he does enjoy singing, he is extremely proud of Haruka for pursuing an idol career. He will never brag about Haruka to others to avoid ruining her chances at success but secretly he is THE proudest dad. Will memorize all the words to anything she sings.

Majima Goro

Mostly listens to pop music. Prefers 80′s and 90′s pop but anything on the radio suits his taste. If it’s catchy, he likes it.

Is very bad at memorizing lyrics so he hums all the time instead. He often gets caught at work humming some jingle to himself. Only knows all the words to his company construction song.

Despite this, he loves writing his own silly songs in his head. Usually they’re rather silly. He loves to annoy Saejima with whatever random tune he’s come up with.

At karaoke, he is good at singing if it’s a song he is somewhat familiar with. If he has never heard it before, he will just improv his way through most of it, cackling to himself. He prefers dancing to singing karaoke.

Saejima Taiga

Like Kiryu, he’s more of a rock guy. Also fond of blues. More of an old school music fan. He’s not up to date on new singers or bands.

He’s very self conscious so he will not play music on speakers or sing out loud. He prefers to wear headphones while listening to music. You might catch him humming VERY quietly to himself, which sounds like a low rumbling almost.

Rarely seen at karaoke but Majima drags him there anyways. Even if neither of them know the words or are good at singing, Majima wants to make up for lost time with his sworn brother.

Very shy when he sings but once he gets going, he has a smooth bassy voice. Prefers to do backup. Great at keeping a beat with a tambourine.

Akiyama Shun

Up to date on all the music trends. Part of the territory with running a hostess club, honestly. He picks up a lot of new music from the girls there.

As an extension of his work, sometimes he takes his hostesses to karaoke as part of their training for after hours dates. They’re all a little intimidated when he does this as he tends to sing better than all of them.

Loves going to karaoke, especially with Hana as she is the only one who can keep up with his energy. They sing a lot of duets.

He’s big on love songs. Akiyama is a romantic and daydreamer at heart so his music taste reflects that. Loves a sappy ballad. Also really into jazz music but he doesn’t talk about it much and prefers to listen to it in the comfort of his home when he’s trying to unwind.

Tanimura Masayoshi

Being able to speak so many languages has given way to Tanimura exploring a lot of world music. He’s really into k-pop lately but will not admit it, even if you ask him. The other cops tease him for it but he and Mei Hua bond over it. He is also fond of rap music.

He’s very shy about singing and will try to avoid karaoke as much as possible. However, if he does get roped into it, he’s a pretty decent singer, albeit he does tend to sing rather softly.

Surprisingly fond of dancing and is kind of good at it. He tries to learn choreography from k-pop or j-pop routines in his spare time as he finds it both entertaining and good exercise. Helps him stay light on his feet.

Usually listens to music with a pair of earbuds and a music app on his phone. Since he’s always on the go, he doesn’t really have any form of music system at his apartment.

Bonus Round! Haruka Sawamura

Despite being an idol, she’s pretty neutral on most pop music. She is partial to girl groups and other girl idols as she looks up to them but she mostly ever listens to them as a means to better understand the industry rather than out of enjoyment.

Actually a metal fan but keeps it under wraps. Listens to music using earbuds and will quietly mouth the lyrics to herself under her breath.

At karaoke though, Haruka will always belt it out. She’s a lot like Kiryu in that way. They have the best jam sessions at karaoke.

She is not shy about singing at all, given her career. However, she is not the showboating type and will never brag or boast about her abilities. She’s very humble and to this day compliments on her singing make her blush.

[honoviadakai]

Diaboys at a Crane Asada with Hispanic S/O/Reader: Mukami edition

Ruki

Please warn him in advance. Like, minimum one week ahead of time

He wants time to study up on your culture and language to impress both you and your family

Tbh he can study for a week straight and still feel incredibly under prepared

When you guys arrive, he’s going to try and speak as much Spanish as possible throughout the entire event.

His Spanish is not fantastic, but for a beginner, it’s not half bad.

Doesn’t mind the music but good lord why is it loud??

Of all the drinks served there, his favorite is sangria soda

He thought it was actually wine and he felt so sophisticated that you didn’t have the heart to tell him…your dad did on the way out though

Again, the music is really loud for his taste but damn he’s amazing at Tango ;)

He find the food to be delicious, but heavy. His favorite dish being menudo

You need to help him because your abuelita keeps pushing tamales onto his plate and no mater how hard he tries, he can’t say no to her sweet face

Hates the beer your dad and tios are drinking but he will participate in any guy talk they’re having and they’re gonna enjoy it cuz Riki’s gonna mispronounce some words

He’s surprisingly good with kids so your younger cousins love him. He tired out after a few games so you’ll have to save him

Will absolutely help clean up afterwards. Your mom ain’t touching a single dish because he has designated himself as the night’s dishwasher

Kou

So Kou is canonically a famous idol, and if K-pop Stans have taught me anything…it’s that being part of a different culture/country doesn’t stop their love of their favorite artists

So if you have family that’s a huge fan of Kou’s music…maybe leave him at home until you can safely bring him

If he DOES come along though…good luck

Any family that are fans of his are going to swarm and either try to get an autograph or steal him away.

If things go down civilly, they’ll still gawk, but they’ll probably ask you in private/over text to talk to him/get an autograph

He’s a charmer so even if no one knows who he is, he’s gonna charm the pants off your family…hopefully not literally.

He thinks a lot of the food is WAY to heavy for him but watch this man scarf down 12 quesadillas and an entire bowl of mango salsa after complaining that the food is gonna destroy his figure 🙄

Loves Fanta, piña colads and mojitos like the rich white woman he secretly is 💅

If you guys have a chihuahua or Pomeranian, he’s gonna hold them the rest of the night cuz it’s a cute tiny doggo

If you have cats…they’re his now…sorry

You have to translate for him or he’s gonna have a translation app open but he’s not gonna attempt to speak the language purely cuz he has outs

Will not touch the beer, and he’ll probably only talk to your dad or abuelito in terms of guy talk

Will play with your cousins, but only for a bit

Will not help out with clean up, he doesn’t wanna chip his nails or hurt his back…even though he’s not human and could totally handle it 😒

Your family might give him nicknames like “guerito”, “flacito” or “sancas largas” cuz he just…gives off a vibe 🍌

Your family’s impressions will be…mixed…but mostly positive!

Yuma

Oh god this one’s gonna be a wild ride

Yuma is HUGE so already I can see him being nicknamed “El Gigante” or something the moment he sets foot in the host’s home

Thankfully he has a lot of energy so he doesn’t mind the loud, rowdy atmosphere, it’s very welcoming to him actually

Which is good because first thing that’s gonna happen is your much younger relatives are gonna wanna climb him like a tree

Absolutely will play with the kids, he thinks they’re endearing, especially when they talk about his height, so he’ll play whatever games they want

Will try to learn Spanish, he’s literally only gonna pick up the bad words though

Manz can pack away the food so your family loves him

He loves the Agua Frescas because they’re so refreshing and handmade so he’ll swap recipes with someone just so he can make these drinks at home, same thing goes for the food

Your family loves all the gardening, cooking and other suck tips cuz they’re genuinely helpful. He’s probably gonna end up helping out a lot around the place

The men in your family love having a couple beers with him cuz despite his big, gruff personality, he’s very down to earth and they appreciate that

Actually really likes the music so he’s gonna dance any chance he gets

Really good at bachata dancing

One of your cousins got the oh so devilish idea to play ‘Hoedown Throwdown’ and Yuma tore it up on the dance floor like his life depended on it

Your family filmed it, your cousins sent you the videos later…you’re grateful for the multiple angles ;)

He’s gonna do almost all the cleaning when the party is over

Your parents want you to marry him tbh xD

Azusa

This boy is both one of the best and worst people you can bring

He’s the best because he’s very polite and he has a high spice tolerance so your family will very quickly start to love him

But he’s also the worst because well…the spicy food wasn’t enough pain…he wants more…

Please for the love of god do not take your eyes off him, he might try to make the biggest Tio there punch him in the face as hard as he can if you’re not careful

If you can manage to keep him in check he’s honestly lovely to bring to events like this

He’ll play with you’re younger relatives whenever they ask…might be a little too keen on playing fútbol because the ball might hit him or someone could hurt him…

Because he’s on the smaller side, your family is relentlessly offering him more food and he’s gonna eat every bite both for the stomach pain and because he doesn’t wanna be rude

Will be invited to have some cerveza with the men in your family and tbh they really like hanging out with him!

He’s very chill and a good listener, this kinda becomes a bright green flag to your family that he’s gonna treat you right and one of your tios and your Abuelito give him their blessing after some drinks

Surprisingly likes cerveza??? And he’s weirdly not a lightweight either so he’s kinda just trying all the drinks there

His favorite is the Micheladas

He wants to learn some Spanish but he’s only gonna pick up a little bit of the language by the days end, his pronunciation isn’t perfect but it’s not terrible either

If anyone asks him to help out after the party’s over l, he absolutely will help

Your tias and Abuelita love him, expect them to pinch his cheeks

[hallasimss]

— surprise 모두 기립 박수 (hala, hala) | ( 🎧 ) ( an introduction. click photos for better quality. )

it's patch day, everything has gone to sh*t for those who don't play vanilla (read: me, i refuse to update until my essential mods are back in working order) and somehow i figured this was well overdue since i've been mostly lurking in the community and spam liking (plus i uh. may be lacking in simblrs to follow). time to stop being creepy and make sure the rest of you know who i am sksksksk

* about me, or; an overview.

halla. non-binary, they/she/xe, they/them preferred. bi/pan. xviii. neurodivergent. afro-carribbean with south asian ancestry. islamic christian and religious pluralist. tired high school senior, video editor/translator volunteer and k-pop/indian cinema stan in their free time. (mostly) wcif friendly, stick to the inbox when inquiring. (if i see you in the comment section it's going to be very hard not to convince me to soft block you i'm sorry) currently tracking #hallasimss. follow from my main @theinfinitedivides.

* what to expect.

mostly cas and lookbook edits since i suck ass at sticking to legacy gameplay—will try to share shots here and there from my current playthrough, but do not be surprised if three months in there's another sim that is getting the main spotlight instead of the one before them. also trying my hand at converting a few illustrations into cas tattoos for personal use, so we'll see how it goes on the cc end

* where to find me.

i don't want to make it seem like i'm chronically online but i am chronically online in a way? if you can't catch me here or on my main you'll most likely find me on my pinterest or the deepest recesses of mydramalist if you're lucky and i'm back in my k-drama phase voluntarily (no, i'm not leaking my username. take a wild guess and tell me if you're right). discord invites are for mutuals only—otherwise, stalk me on spotify to get a glimpse into my mental health!!! you will however be asking yourself why i have a specific song on loop for six hours and i will not be able to answer that

* simblrs i recommend.

@softerhaze (sunblind is one of the only reasons i am able to make this post, ty) ∙ @cinamun ∙ @simelune ∙ @rhdweauni0 ∙ @tau1tvec ∙ @farfallasims ∙ @wildmelon ∙ @literalite ∙ @kadelyka ∙ @miilkymoonsims ∙ @kashisun ∙ @gunthermunch ∙ @bananasplit-sims ∙ @pralinesims (when i tell you that most of my mods folder is just their content i am not lying. absolute godsend) ∙ @puppycheesecake ∙ @glimersims

* fin.

and that's it, ig? i'm terrible at these sorts of things but hopefully all of this made some kind of sense—if you are an active simblr pls interact or say hi so i can follow you back, otherwise how tf am i supposed to find y'all if i'm now stuck in this community for the foreseeable future sfjsfdnkjsdnj (mobile navigation post coming soon-ish. if i can get more of my sh*t together. tbh that's highly unlikely but we're trying to be optimistic)

[mecachrome]

fic writer questions

haiii thank u @bright-and-burning for the tag :') nobody is online so i will Reflect and return with a worse image...

how many works do you have on AO3?

20 (16 on my main account, 4 on my sports account)... and then 15 more on dreamwidth 🥲

what's your total ao3 word count?

175.5k T__T

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

gurllll. no one needs to see my 11th grade k-pop fic like that

do you respond to comments? why or why not?

i try my best but i have a difficult relationship with my writing so i often block out that i wrote a fic at all after some time and it hinders my ability to acknowledge commenters directly ;__; and then i always feel awkward responding like 6 months late to someone so i just let it go even though i know no one actually minds... i really do appreciate every comment i get though and deeply cherish everyone's kind words and generosity!!!

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

i don't really write angsty endings tbh i just write vaguely bittersweet ambiguous stuff... perhaps sharl character study i wrote for a friend's birthday would be up there because the whole thing is just inelegant whump LOL

what's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

for my own birthday a couple of years ago i wrote an extremely self-indulgent k-pop fic with all of my favorite tropes and also coded elaborate interactive html/css elements with multimedia messages and notifications you could tap on and the whole thing was just sweet secret relationship toothrutting fluff 💗 anyway extremely cringe but i enjoyed myself and thought it was mostly cute

do you write crossovers?

i haven't for any fictional fandoms... the concept is fun though!

have you ever received hate on a fic?

not directly 2 my face !!!

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

i'm an ambiguous fade 2 black kind of guy even if i do try my best at times... TT i'm just too repressed 4 this life unfortunately. pwp writers have my major respect it really is sooo difficult to write cohesive compelling comprehensible porn 

have you ever had a fic stolen?

idts but i have had oomfs/people adjacent my circles turn out to be plagiarizers which is always an unpleasant surprise!

have you ever had a fic translated?

yasss shoutout to anyone who has translated my random fics to russian or spanish 🧡

have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes ! i wrote a bnha au for a k-pop ship with my friend once lol she wrote most of it and i kind of just contributed a scene and the concept but it was still really fun, she's a much better writer than i could ever hope to be... also helped friend finish a fic for a fest once because it was overdue and she tapped out so i was up until 6am filling in scenes randomly for her. oh to be 18 again <3

what's your all-time favorite ship?

unfortunately in f1 it is simply landoscar... all-time i don't know!!! actually i do but i don't want to say it. nvm

what's a wip that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

arghhh... all of my 814 wips at the moment honestly. especially my kidfic verse that i'm deeply attached to but tragically incapable of working on TT and the jb81 that i totally gave up on!!!

what are your writing strengths?

this is an oxymoron.... i have never written anything good in my entire life. i love to beta read other people's fic for grammar though that's always fun

what are your writing weaknesses?

poor/stiff dialogue, horrible romantic development, inconsistent scene lengths, completely flat plot, no concept of good writing practices in general, a horrible tendency to purple prose, inability to write any actual conflict, i could go on

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

ehmmm i had a lot of strong opinions on this in k-pop fandom LOL and then it was funny to see the same thing happening in f1 but just with different languages (so much random french/german dialogue...) but i think there are untranslatable or commonly recognized words that can be sprinkled in verbatim, like in k-pop it makes sense to use certain honorifics that don't have english equivalents but i draw the line at not translating existing terms like "mom" lol... but i have a lot of thoughts on how languages are communicated in fic in general (perhaps too many), like i also overthink how to communicate grammatical structure - so if i'm writing a french character speaking french but presenting the dialogue in english or same with korean in k-pop fic i usually try to make it flow in a way that is as grammatically reasonable as possible, which goes beyond simple semantics but into the actual logic of syntax + verb order... ok i'll stop actually

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

i was writing crasy fanfiction in middle school 🧡 earliest i remember though is probably naruto circa 6th/7th grade... honestly hard to say because i purged a lot of my ffdotnet output out of shame in 8th grade lmfao

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I Forgor...

what's your favorite fic you've written?

for my sports fics i'm partial to my latest 814 fic because i feel like it's just generally inoffensive and not plainly awful 🤔 in general though i'm attached to some of my like most niche audience_of_2 dw fic that i've written for nugu boy groups with literally 0 fans. like a level of total nobodyness few can comprehend........... we were in the trenches

no pressure tagging @piastrisms @chelemlem @miamimaiden @liamlawsonlesbian if it would be of any interest ! 🥰

[ryumantic]

❀ ༉‧₊˚. We Were In Paris

A Jake Sim SMAU

Ripple Effect just debuted five months ago and they’re already one of the most successful global bands! Y/N was killing it as lead singer and guitarist. All her worries were long gone! Until now. What will happen when she finds out her short-time Paris romance is actually also a K-pop idol… who turns out to be a member in one of the biggest boy groups nationally and internationally?

PAIRING: Rockstar Fem!Reader x Idol!Jake

GENRE: smau, fluff mostly, reunion(?), invisible string energy, lowkey cracked, a bit of angst, hookup to strangers to friends to lovers

WARNINGS: kms/kys jokes (rarely though), dirty jokes, oc band, itzy’s yuna is y/n’s faceclaim, friendly bullying, a lot of panicking, lots of swearing, very shit humour tbh im sorry

Character Profiles: Team Edward and Crying En Dying

Chapter One. rockstar behaviour!

Chapter Two. who’s ripple effect?

Chapter Three. ohhhhh! oh… noo!

…

[beatsboy]

7.28.24 / day 35 of romanticizing my life until i love myself again

it’s almost 2am, i woke up about an hour ago from a 5 hour “nap” after going to a queer day market to support my friend selling their art, and it was really cute and i was honestly super social as i have not had that much social interaction lately (getting used to living alone and having to actively go out and seek social interaction has changed my capacity when i do have it so much, like crazy not feeling drained every time i leave the house because i’ve already been like 5 people’s father/therapist/cleaner/etc before getting to the place i’m going to be supportive/present for someone else) but god damn it was so f u c k i n g hot and tbh i’m very proud of myself for making it as long as i did i only made it thanks to the ice cream vender who put my ice pack necklace (shoutout to my mom who has these for menopause and told me about them) in her cooler so it could get cold again and the lemonade vender who gave me a giant cup of ice to hold against various parts of my body to stay cool af and i got to talk about the music video, and future music videos, the more we talk about this stuff, the more motivated i feel to work on music i want to get to the part where i get to be the thing i’ve been building mostly in my brain for so long

originally, we were going for summer release, and then everything got all fucked up with my roommate situation and moving but i think it was meant to happen this way; this project is better suited for the fall, regardless, and clearly brat has taken over this summer in terms of music, on all levels, especially in the hyperpop scene there are still brat parties going on in la, smaller artists are still reaping the benefits of this album (though not getting much credit, as per usual) love seeing the dare dj a petal supply remix of a brat song and getting all the credit, it’s fine we can continue letting cis white dudes get the credit for queer artists, it’s fine i was literally at a brat market today, where everyone had brat merchandise it’s hard for any other music to break through the brat noise in pop/hyperpop right now, not to mention, boypop is kind of fucking freaky, so i do think sept/oct release would be good for the theme

i rewatch the assembly of the first minute or so of footage and literally cannot believe that that is me these are the movements i practice in the shower, in the corner, in my room, when no one’s looking, movements, expressions, i rarely actually see and the thing is, when i do see, i often shrink from them when i tried to practice performing like this in front of a mirror, i always lost it, the authenticity of it, the commitment, giving fully into the performance, the character, the self that’s the only way, in my opinion, to perform, because any level of restraint pulls you back to reality, that i am just a human, an insecure boy, going through puberty for the second time in his life of 27 years, afraid that he hasn’t done enough in his short time on this earth and wishes he’d taken a life-altering journey to a faraway planet where pop music was the harbinger of liberation instead of a stint in rehab and a coke addiction

anyway, market was fun, although so so hot, and after not going out all weekend, especially after thinking i was going to go to the rave on friday night and not, i really needed some socialization, with friends, and new people, and really needed some real time spent out of my apartment i got a really cute trucker hat that says “gay son” that i’m obsessed with and a really beautiful zine made by a trans guy about his gender journey (originally to raise money for his top surgery, which he had evidently already had, as he was standing there, fearlessly, with his shirt off) i honestly didn’t want to spend another $10 (i literally still have to make my rent in the next 3 days but telling myself i got this) but i think i just feel this intense awe when i see other trans guys post op shirtless, so free in a way i cannot imagine being so, naturally, i was blinded and overcome with this feeling, so i paid the $10 for the zine, and of course i do not regret it at all another vender had a kitten cafe with two 2 week old kittens inside (pictured) because they were too young to be left alone and while i was worried about them and the heat, they were quite cute

after being at the market for over 4 hours, af and i came back to my place, where i made us greek wraps with ground turkey and homemade tzatziki and cucumbers after we walked to h mart to get fresh tortillas i showed them the latest version of “boypop” which is so close i can taste the final mix (and am a bit mad i didn’t work on it today, but it’s fine, i was exhausted) they noticed the automation, the changes i’ve been making, i feel like i’ve actually been moving forward in my work this past week instead of just hyperfixating and going in circles, which is a danger i face in the finishing phase it’s hard to let go of a project, to let it be done i still listen to “king” and think of different harmonies i could record now with my current voice and i can sing whatever i want live, but the recording is done, the mix is done, there are no more changes to be made

i think, in the same way that i love people for their potential, and not always for who they are right now, i see a song as it’s potential, which is why i can imagine so much more than what is actually in front of me, and translate that symphony in my head into the daw, and i also why it’s so hard to let go, to stop, to step away from the infinity of changes and evolutions each project could still face sometimes it feels like i could just work on something forever and as i learn new things it will keep getting better and better, but at some point, i just have to let go

when i was a kid, my dad told me that an artist’s first album is always the best because it’s the cumulation of only their best works at the time, but then they just have to keep creating and they slowly get worse and worse i don’t know why i let this stick with me, more insidious influence from my father on a career i hadn’t even chosen when i knew him, it was just some dumb musing from a middle-aged man making himself feel smart by making a comment about maroon fucking 5

his birthday was 2 weeks ago i wonder if it makes him sad, on his birthday, at the age of 66, knowing he’s grown to be the kind of man who would offer back his relationship to his child, who has grown to hate him more than he hates himself, at a price, who has grown to be a man who can put a price tag on anything, even his love and support knowing he is one of the only people left in this planet, soon including even TSA agents and the DMV, to call me that name to wonder if i will ever come back, if i will ever call, if i will ever reach out, if i will ever show up and say i’m sorry dad you were right all along i got off the path and i sold my body and i want to go back to my normal life with a check for $5000, crying, and return to his control (i won’t) he tells my brother that it’s on me, ball’s in my court, if i want to come back that’s all i have to do, say sorry and pay the fine my terms have always been more simple, which i have communicated let’s talk, with a therapist present you two (parents) schedule (since they have crazy schedules) and i will be flexible (even though i too have crazy schedule) “he said he’s willing” my mother claimed, but it never came to fruition, of course not i blocked his number at first, i had to he wouldn’t stop calling, threatening me, telling me i’d made my mother sick with my behavior (becoming financially independent after realizing i was being financially/emotionally abused) i responded to his emails for a while, but they got worse, so i stopped then, his dad died, and i unblocked him just to call and give my condolences i left him unblocked after that. he could have called any time he wanted, but he didn’t i would know if he’d even tried

i wonder if my dad, too, ever sat alone in his first solo apartment journaling about his thoughts and reflecting on the ways his actions impacted other people mostly i hope not, because i don’t want to know if he did good things before he went bad, i want his fate to feel impossible for me to come to i already know that he read the tao te ching and the four agreements, things i’ve read as a young adult, that have brought me peace, that have taught me ways to move through the world, that don’t make sense when i think of him, and it makes me uneasy i don’t want to envision him being a morally good person and suddenly turning it makes me fear that i could still face the turn, when i want to believe that i have avoided it, that i am not capable of becoming a man like That

but, in truth, we are all capable of becoming like that, of selling out to some idea worse than what we believe in because it’s easy, because what we’re doing now is hard, because the rat race is tiring on the ground because our bodies are tired because maybe our fathers were right and the world’s a hard place and maybe i won’t because i know he wasn’t right, he never was, he was a professional bully who practiced on his wife and children but it is in every decision we make, daily, hourly, minute by minute, that determines who we are, and in ever decision, we can make the turn, we can cave and be cruel, we can give in and take the easy route, knowing that each of those decisions pulls us closer to That which we fear becoming the evil you fear lies as much in buying all your furniture on amazon as it does saying something cruel to someone who doesn’t deserve it just because you’ve had a stressful morning as much as the goodness you chase lives in being friendly to the coffee employee who’s taking forever on your drink when you’re late because it’s not their fault and their morning is just as important as yours as much as it lives in buying from local artists every decision determines how you move through the world, connecting each step and choice like a river, that is where you find where you’ll end up, which ocean you end up submerged in, which fish you will find yourself swimming into the dark night with and i crave free, calm waters for when i my end

[the-sslimmest-shady]

Okay time to make a proper intro post since I'm trying to actually be more active on here LMAO.

‼️Disclaimer‼️: Even tho some of my posts aren't directly about it, this is mostly an ED/SH vent blog. Please just block me instead of reporting cuz I really like my url tbh. I am pro recovery, I just like talking into the tumblr void on here. ‼️AND‼️: I interact from user "mikehasfleas" cuz this is technically a side blog that I use as a main. I wish you could swap em but wtv lol. I also post a fair amount of reblogs so be prepared for other people's content I guess haha

Okay, time for the good stuff:

Name: Michael 😎

Age: 15 (ikik, but I swear I'm chill. I don't *always* read intro posts so if you're minors dni just block me haha)

Dms: Absolutely! I might take a day to respond, but I totally wanna talk to yall B)

Fun facts ig?: I listen to SO much music. Like, when I say "I listen to all genres" I'm telling the truth lmao (besides k-pop, i respect yall but its just like, the one thing out of my taste haha). I also have a pet ball python named Bella!! I'll prolly post pictures of her at some point for yall

Basically just a mental issues rant, I changed the title after writing it lmfao: As mentioned in the disclaimer, I struggle with an ED, and various other mental issues (those being anxiety, depression, severe paranoia, adhd, occasional hallucinations, substance abuse, and probably some kind of schizoid disorder or bpd but I'm a teenager so who knows lol) and I'll likely be talking abt them lmfao. I've been like this for nearly 3 years atp so I ain't changing now (esp since I'm in highschool hell) and I'll likely be going back and editing this post in a few days haha

Anyways, I'm prolly gonna edit this post as time goes on so, interact if you want! I check almost all my notifications on here at some point :)

[33446699]

Tbh those girls are very immature and if you see their ages it proves for itself, i wonder if that women has been doing something like shamans too like she did With BTS. Because this kind of attachment is a lot....they are literally risking their careers at this point and not seeing the reality and people who are backing her up like guys have you seen her account!?? What she did!?? She is also accused for being a ped0h!le for a reason, and have some very strange and strong accusations. I'm not backing hybe up but you can't deny that she isn't problematic herself, she was given a lot of advantages too. See this from a bigger and more mature perspective, hybe is wrong in many ways too but you can't deny that she's all innocent. They risked a lot by posting that video, and the fact they are so young too they shouldn't be speaking because they were told to not contact her for a reason. When there's an ongoing lawsuit against someone ofcourse your label would suggest you to not engage because first you all aren't proper adults, new in the industry and doesn't know half of the stuff. Also no idols are allowed to speak against big topics like these even if they are adults-!! Whatever way they are reacting it's not a normal behaviour they are just being manipulated but to a higher level, attachment is normal but not to the extent you start risking your career..!! Don't blind faith in anyone.

this is just my opinion i would like to hear eveyone else's too.

Honestly this is what I think

This kind of attachment isn't normal at all ,Idk about shamanism things done to them ,but it can be a possibility too ,min heejin literally spend lots of money on shaman , but to me either they are manipulated and literally groomed or new jeans members are opportunists to know about everything about her and still siding with someone as problematic as min hee Jin

She not only has strong accusations against her of being a pedophile and I remember how whole K-pop fans used to pinpoint those things ,and now being silent because they just are against hybe ,and people who say she is a feminist, ignore the fact that not only she mocked a SA victim ,sided with the person who harassed her employee but is also under SA case filed by the victim ,if people still support her ,this is actually kinda disturbing

Hybe is wrong at some points too like you said but them creating a channel and posting video tells alot ,if they were in some other company SM etc SM would have taught them a lesson like they did with their other idols and they wouldn't be able to post videos like they are doing now , wouldn't be able to support so openly min heejin at every point ,hybe is really patient to let them do anything they want

About saying groups are avoiding them ,it's natural how they are supporting mine hee Jin so openly ,how many law suits are going against her and how she was so problematic to other groups ,no sane person would like to interact with them and will try to be at a distant

Them literally risking their careers and group ,is again likely a calculated move by them and min hee Jin ,they are puppets at this point which are fighting for min heejin and she knows she wouldn't be able to fight without new jeans and tokkis support so she is using them to maximium extent ,either they want to end contract and want to get rid of fine they have to pay hybe by pushing hybe to terminate their contact by going to these insane extent ,or they really want to push hybe to only support them and make min hee Jin as incharge of everything

Hybe messed up really bad by giving leverage to min hee Jin in pasts and giving facilities to them no other group had ,so they are just idiots at this point to side with min hee Jin and not with hybe as most of the things which are happening now and the facilities they think they are ripped off is mostly because of min hee Jin being so problematic

Hybe is correcting their mistakes and they shouldn't let any CEO in future,have this much authority as it can back fire and it's not fair to other groups ,new jeans members ,their fandoms ,their lawyers are honestly trying everything to ruin their careers

Minors shouldn't be debut in K-pop as NJ members are really telling what happens if you let debut minors ,but again other groups also have minors and they don't act like this ,so I don't really understand what is going on with them

Then saying they have the right to their MV ,do they really know at this point what are they even saying ?them blindly trusting her is a problem,and them thinking they are nothing without her ,is an insult to themselves not min hee jin