#ajs:lyx001

[lgcjaesun]

GUIDING LIGHT

a starter for @lgcyuxi

jaesun was excited that he was given the opportunity to be a mentor on future dreams this season. it felt like a lifetime ago that he himself was on the show, but he hoped that he could be of help to his mentee. he admittedly didn’t know yuxi well, if at all really, so he did a detailed read of her profile and watched the footage that they shared of her trying to figure out how he could be of help. 

he scheduled a first meeting with her, making sure to bring drinks and snacks since he imagined that it might be a nice touch. or she might hate him for bringing things that she probably shouldn’t be eating, but that he would push towards her anyway. he awaited her in the practice room that he had found and checked the time. he was still too early, but hopefully, she would be here soon.

[lgcjaesun]

jaesun nods his head though he admittedly believes that they likely won't actually talk again unless either he reaches out or they run into each other in the company again. it's nothing personal, simply that the spheres they were a part of just likely didn't necessarily intersect. but who knows ... maybe he'd be surprised.

and as she continues on, it seems like it just confirms what he thought to begin with. "ah, okay. yeah, of course," he shrugs his shoulders but gives her a smile to let her know that it's really no big deal. "well, i mean, i guess we'll see when we run into next then?" he looks to her and gives a small head nod, figuring that likely this is where they'd part.

“Sounds good, at any rate I have your contacts,” she readily agreed. While she wasn’t quite sure if she would ever actually take up on his offer, having that option open would never hurt.

Right, about that. “I’m sure you’ve noticed I’m a poor communicator, don’t really follow up on stuff outside my immediate concern, no offence,” Yuxi shrugged. “You’d really have to keep chasing me down for it otherwise.” Easier said than done of course, with her odd skill in evading attention when she wished to do so. “I wouldn’t even put the effort in that if I were you,” she added, “not worth it.” Plus, it wasn’t as if she herself had put any effort in doing so either. Leave and let be, that was her philosophy for things she didn’t care for. It wasn’t a personal slight against Jaesun, but continuing any socializing from Future Dreams was pretty low on her priority list.

[lgcjaesun]

( several months later ! )

it's been some time since future dreams had happened, and while he's heard some things about what happened with his mentee, he admittedly hadn't seen her since all of that had happened. however, by some crazy coincidence, just as he was thinking about all this, she was turning the corner. "yuxi!" he exclaimed, giving her a wave as he jogged in her direction.

"i was literally just wondering what you were up to these days and there you were," he noted with a laugh. "how is everything? have any of my pearls of wisdom come in handy? i'm just kidding." he was most definitely the type of guy who probably pretended he knew more than he did. well, he did know a lot, just considering how long he's been here and how long he's trained, but that was beside the point.

“Likewise,” Yuxi responded politely, giving a firm shake of the hands in return as she quickly settled into the open seat. AJ looked every bit as awkward about the general situation as she did, so at least she wasn’t all on her own there? She pointedly ignored how that was very likely going to create a feedback loop. At any rate, it was nice knowing that, in the very least, mentor and mentee were on the same page. Even if that same page constituted of a completely blank one. 

She nodded in acquiescence at that. Fair point. “Right, about me. Liu Yuxi, born on November 11, 1999 in Shanghai, spend high school onwards in England and studied archi prior to being accepted into LGC,” she started with her general profile, “current specialties are dance and modelling.” The tell me about yourself question sounded — and was — highly rehearsed. She would’ve been able to rattle it off in her sleep even. But always knowing your story, your personal pitch, your skills and relevant experience at all times was something drilled into her since she was in middle school. And was weird as it sounded, Yuxi got it, even at that age. 

 “It’s been… OK so far.” That much was an understatement: nothing stellar, nothing disastrous either. Just plainly mediocre. “I feel stuck,” Yuxi admitted, “I know I can do better, I just don’t know how or why. So right now I’m just practicing blindly hoping that something will stick. Not very efficient or effective, I know, but that’s what you’re here for, right? An outside perspective?” Straight into business it was. “Please be as blunt as possible, I promise I won’t take anything personally.”