#exo was literally built on baekhyun’s voice

[tulsa24]

idk if exo is falling apart (like much more than normal) or if exo’s gonna pull a shinhwa and continue as a group independently but good god i pray that exo stays 9.

[fyexo]

191016 Breaking Down the SuperM Phenomenon: The K-Pop Debut Group With the No. 1 Album in America

When K-pop super label SM Entertainment was deciding where to launch its new all-star boy band, it settled on an emerging growth market for the genre: the U.S. Now at the top of the Billboard charts, the group may have revealed a path for other Korean acts to follow.

K-pop fandom in America is an increasingly accessible way of life, but never has the industry catered to U.S. fans as directly as it did in Hollywood this month. In early October, new seven-member boy group SuperM made their official international debut at Capitol Records, notably choosing to focus on the American market from day one. Compiled from several established SM Entertainment acts—SHINee, EXO, NCT 127, and WayV—and created in partnership with Capitol, the all-star supergroup took over Los Angeles, shutting down Hollywood streets for their first showcase and popping up everywhere from billboards and posters to an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

SuperM’s self-titled EP dropped on October 4, and the group promptly made history as the first debut Korean act to hit no. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart—they are the only K-pop group other than BTS to reach the top spot. To those unfamiliar with the industry, it may seem like SuperM came out of nowhere, but the group was constructed from some of SM’s most popular boy groups for a reason—they brought with them a dedicated legion of fans. SuperM’s immediate sales success could reveal a path to follow for other K-pop groups hoping to make it in America.

SuperM’s first week of U.S. promotion was designed with their established fans in mind, and there were plenty to be found in L.A. alone. The weekend began with a live Q&A broadcast from Capitol Records, during which the group answered Twitter questions, interacted with fans, and watched their new music video from casual seats in the audience. Then they closed down Hollywood for a live performance on the following Saturday, performing three of their new songs for a crowd of thousands on a giant stage built outside Capitol Tower. And on Sunday—once they’d been deposited practically on my doorstep—it was time to get to know the boys in real time.

When I walked into the interview room at Capitol Records, I was greeted by raucous hellos and bursts of recognition from the seven members of SuperM: SHINee’s Taemin, EXO’s Baekhyun and Kai, NCT 127’s Taeyong and Mark, and WayV’s Ten and Lucas. No, we’re not longtime BFFs, nor had I interviewed them before; the group had been inexplicably seated directly behind me in the press section for the first viewing of their “Jopping” music video a few days before. After offering to move several times, dodging photographers, and enduring a series of increasingly ridiculous interactions, I finally gave up and appreciated my literal front-row seat for SuperM’s video premiere. Despite my best efforts to make sure they could actually see their hard work play on the big screen, several members—Baekhyun especially—became extremely well acquainted with the back of my head.

On Sunday, it was clear that they were slightly less familiar with the front of it. As I got set up, the guys chatted among themselves in Korean, laughing quietly. It was only when I heard Mark (born in Canada, and the group’s most fluent English speaker) ask, “Wait, should I translate?” that I looked up and realized I was on the receiving end of a table full of amused gazes. “Are you talking about me?” I asked. Group leader, eldest member, and unofficial comic relief Baekhyun nodded mischievously and gestured to Mark—no matter that there were several professional translators in the room—who said, “They’re asking whether you were at the afterparty yesterday.” I replied that I hadn’t known there was one—“Sick invite, though!” I added. When Mark sheepishly relayed my answer, Baekhyun erupted out of his seat with a shout of indignation, which quickly turned into an embarrassed bow.

I tried to start the official interview, but Baekhyun refused to move on until he figured out how he knew me, if not from the afterparty. Mark helped me explain, and when Baekhyun realized I was the one awkwardly slouching in front of him so that he could see his own music video, he decided there was no recovering from our rough start. “Sorry, I’ll go!” he said in English, dramatically shoving away from the table and pretending to walk out with a flippant wave. The exchange was scored by giggles from the rest of the group—a constant soundtrack to just about everything Baekhyun does.

He returned with a grin, and Mark got things back on track—already a familiar scenario from the first month of promotion, as the youngest member of SuperM stepped up into his role as the unofficial English voice of the group. The 20-year-old’s original awe of his older, more experienced groupmates has been an ongoing narrative during the first few weeks of their debut, but it’s hard to imagine him as shy or intimidated now. Many fans may still think of Mark as the endearingly goofy NCT youngster of years past, but SuperM has brought out a new side of him—confident, eloquent, and thoughtful. As their primary English speaker, he was under a lot of pressure during the group’s first week in the U.S., but he said he left the anxiety in Korea.

“You always worry the most before the actual thing happens, so I guess I was worried before we came to America,” Mark said. “But once I was here, I realized that we’ve all worked so hard. To see everyone learn even the shortest English lines took my worries away.”

The members of SuperM said they’re invested in learning English because they want to communicate with American fans, but fans aren’t the only ones appreciative of their hard work. SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man attended Thursday’s Q&A, serving as SuperM’s biggest hype man. Every time a non-fluent member attempted a sentence in English—which was impressively often, for their first U.S. appearance—Lee erupted in whoops from the audience. That energy extended through the first live “Jopping” viewing, as Lee sat with and practically tackled the boys during standout moments in the video. It’s no surprise that Lee has made his support painfully obvious—they’re his golden boys, and he has a lot riding on this venture. Providing a little hype is perhaps the least he can do.

Despite the fact that many of SuperM’s members have never worked together in a group setting, most of them have known each other for years. Longtime best friends Taemin and Kai are the main dancers of their respective groups, and widely considered two of the best dancers active in the industry; it’s not the first time they’ve collaborated, but it’s their first time working together as fellow group members, which inevitably ups the stakes. In the room, I asked both of them, sitting side-by-side like two perfectly coiffed peas in a pod, whether they’ve learned anything new about each other now that they’re groupmates. They turned to each other simultaneously and seemed to be at an utter loss. “We know everything, right?” Kai asked. Taemin agreed; both were smiling, but clearly serious. “They’re so close,” Mark told me. Everyone nodded.

“We’ve known each other for such a long time, there’s nothing new to learn,” Kai said in Korean. “But if I had to add something … we’ve been friends for such a long time, but we’ve never worked together as artists. We’ve had separate groups and careers, so coming together on the same team like this has changed the way we communicate, because we’re teammates now. We’re not just friends, and we’re not just giving each other advice, but we share the same goal and create team synergy. So that’s something that’s changed with our dynamic.”

Before SuperM officially debuted, theories abounded that Taemin would be named the group leader—a designated role in nearly every K-pop group that amounts to an official team captain of sorts. At 27, Baekhyun is one year older than Taemin, but the latter has been active in the industry longer and has an impressive solo career to boot. In fact, early teasers seemed to paint Taemin as the architect of SuperM. But Taemin appeared to have no interest in the role, and when Baekhyun was officially announced as the leader, it became clear that Baekhyun’s primary focus would be on keeping everyone happy and relaxed at all times.

Thus far, I’d been addressing different members at random, trying to follow the natural flow of conversation, and I’d unintentionally ignored the leader’s corner of the table after our initial chaotic beginning. As I swiveled toward Baekhyun, he made an exaggerated “Finally!” expression, rolling his shoulders, leaning forward, and sucking in a deep breath as if he was about to hit one of those iconic high notes. But no, this time it was just a steadfast commitment to the bit. The other members craned their heads, already grinning, as he pretended to psych himself up for my incoming question. I asked Baekhyun whether he had any newfound empathy for Suho, the leader of his other group, EXO, now that he is a leader himself.

“I can’t really relate, because I feel like I don’t actually do much,” Baekhyun said in Korean. “My biggest role here within this team is to keep the spirits high, and that’s easy for me—because I’m usually in high spirits myself, and it’s really easy for me to do that with these guys.”

Fellow EXO member Kai laughed at Baekhyun’s over-the-top delivery, but piped up in disagreement. “I’ve been in EXO with Baekhyun for a long time, but before he was just a member. Now, with him as a leader, I definitely see the difference. I can see that he has more sense of responsibility for what he does, and he really goes out of his way to care for each of the members. When it’s hard for us to voice our opinions or complaints, Baekhyun makes sure that everyone’s opinions are relayed, and that everything is communicated. He doesn’t realize he’s good, but I’m 100 percent satisfied with his leadership.”

Language barriers aside, Kai was feeling talkative—our Korean translator was forced to scribble intricate outlines to keep up with several of his elaborate answers. At one point, Kai told a story about shooting the “Jopping” music video, complete with dramatic gestures and poses.

“It was my first time in a helicopter,” he said. “They told me it was going to fly really low, and I thought I could handle it. But all of a sudden, they put me up in the helicopter, and it flew around the area four times. The director and cameraman yelled, ‘Keep your eyes open! Have good facial expressions! Fight the wind!’” Kai imitated the shouting crew members, then leveled his signature intense gaze at me in a re-creation of the action-star pose he was going for.

It was a lot.

“I tried my best, and kept my eyes open for as long as possible, and when I came back down, there was sand in my eyes and I couldn’t open them. I thought, ‘OK, I did a good job,’ but when I saw the final cut, none of the footage was used! Nothing at all!” He burst out laughing as Lucas clapped him on the back. Ever the optimist, Kai continued. “It was still a good experience. It’s motivated me to work harder until I can ride a helicopter again—maybe from Korea to America.”

The younger boys seemed impressed by his goal, but Taemin was skeptical. “Wouldn’t it take too long?” he asked. Baekhyun had other concerns: “From Korea to America? You’d get shot down with a missile.”

Ten and Lucas had their own iffy encounters with heavy machinery on the “Jopping” set. There were no helicopter rides for them, but they posed on a giant tank in Dubai in the summer. Lucas summed it up nicely. “So hot!”

Ten elaborated: “We couldn’t really touch the tanks, but we needed to pretend that we were cool on top of the tank.” He struck a pose as if he was leaning against the combat vehicle, then flipped back one stylish sleeve to gesture at his elbow. “I got burned a little,” he said. “But it was pretty cool. It’s not every day you get to sit on top of a tank and like, take a selfie.”

Ten, born in Thailand, collects languages like he collects earrings, and they were all on full display during our chat. In a light, lilting accent, Ten said that his (near-perfect) English hadn’t gotten much practice during the past few years in Korea and China, as he and Lucas promoted with NCT and WayV in quick succession, and he’s still self-conscious about using it around native speakers in the U.S.

That said, Ten loves getting the opportunity to learn about new cultures and languages. “If you know multiple cultures, it’s easier for you to express yourself in performance. You learn more about dancing, singing, and expressing. It makes you grow and mature, I think. You don’t need to care about people’s race. No matter what, you can empathize with them. That’s the most important thing.”

It’s not immediately obvious from his answer, but Ten was demonstrating his aptitude for learning in real time. According to fellow reporter Elizabeth de Luna, who was helping record the interview from the other side of the room, Ten had leaned over to Mark earlier as I asked Baekhyun about having newfound empathy for his EXO group leader. “What does ��empathy’ mean?” Ten asked Mark. After a whispered discussion, Ten nodded and returned to attention. Then, just a few minutes later, he inserted the word perfectly into his own sentence. So goes the quadrilingual life–and, to a certain extent, the future of K-pop as an ever-evolving, increasingly global industry.

To wit, Ten and Mark aren’t the only SuperM members juggling several languages. WayV’s Lucas is Chinese, born in Hong Kong, and he’s actively working on his English and Korean. Still, he doesn’t have any trouble communicating with his groupmates, four of whom are native Koreans. “Anything can be overcome by music,” Lucas told me in Chinese. “Cultural differences do exist, but music gets rid of all that. I just use music to simplify everything, and I don’t think too much about the differences.”

It’s a sweet sentiment, but music can’t do it all—Lucas and the rest of the boys devote immense effort and concentration to even simple interviews like this one. When I first posed a question to Lucas via the Korean translator, there was a flurry of activity and laughter as the game plan was decided upon: First, Kai suggested in Korean that Lucas answer in Chinese, and Lucas turned with his ever-present smile to address a Chinese translator who was seated against the wall. Ten was then recruited to help from the other side of the room (“I will try, but my Chinese is not that great!” he chirped) and Lucas just leaned back in his rolling chair, swiveling his head around, and looking massively entertained by the commotion. In the end, Lucas gave his answer—with various interjections from Ten—to the Chinese translator, who relayed it to the Korean translator, who then gave it to me in English. It was like a game of multilingual hot potato. Lucas was rewarded for his efforts with scattered applause and high fives from Kai and Baekhyun. The group effort, energetic as it was, is painfully representative of the extra effort K-pop groups have to expend in order to break out in the U.S. market.

NCT 127 leader Taeyong is no stranger to the multilingual interview scene. As the face of the NCT megaunit, he’s worked with group members from China, Thailand, Canada, the U.S., and just about everywhere in between. He’s also unique in that he’s the only SuperM member with a producing credit on the EP. When I asked Taeyong to talk about his work on “No Manners,” which is basically a song about savagely dumping someone, I received a brief panicked look. “Speak from your heart,” Baekhyun suggested. Taeyong did his best. “At first, it was difficult to understand what the song was trying to say, so I tried to make my rap into a story to help listeners understand. I’m not saying that breaking up is always the answer, but a bad breakup is … ” he trailed off, and looked around for an assist. Baekhyun stepped in, saying that the song is about how sometimes it’s best to cut a relationship off before it hits rock bottom.

In our current context, it was hard to imagine Taeyong as an expert on breakups of any kind. He’d been engaged and friendly, but very quiet—mostly just watching the other members speak with wide-eyed attention. As he sat tiny in his seat, in an oversized T-shirt and fluffy purple hair, it was difficult to reconcile him with the fierce, steely-eyed Taeyong of the stage. Next to him, Taemin was quiet and serene as well, but no less attentive—just beaming cherubically as he sipped on his Starbucks. Such is the duality of some of K-pop’s most arresting performers.

After all, no matter how transcendent they can seem on stage—they’re called “idols” for a reason—at the end of the day, they’re just guys. It’s something they reminded us of during their showcase stage for “Super Car,” when it was revealed that the official choreography is centered around hitting the woah.

As soon as I brought up the viral dance move, I was faced with an entire room of boys hitting the woah, like it was impossible for them to talk about it without doing it. Lucas jumped out of his seat to put his whole body into it. “It’s just a feeling!” he exclaimed in English. The guys persuaded me to try hitting the woah a few times myself—unfortunately, it appeared to be a feeling I couldn’t quite grasp, but they very sweetly pretended I nailed it.

Always ready with the polished take, Mark weighed in. “We feel like ‘Super Car’ has a really trendy vibe to it. We wanted to include a movement that the American audience would find familiar. The woah has been popular for awhile now, but it’s all a cycle–it started in America and took a while to make its way over to us, so we brought it back. It just made sense for us to perform it in America.”

American music fans may think it would have made more sense for a group to incorporate the woah a few years ago when it first became popular here, but Mark is self-aware enough to know that it takes time for things like this to make the rounds in Korea. Besides, we all have a teenage cousin who refuses to stop dabbing—viral dances don’t come with expiration dates. Incorporating the woah into “Super Car” seems less like an attempt to cater to American audiences, and more a statement that this is what K-pop looks like in its current state—even if SuperM knows that the woah is passé in American culture, K-pop groups still love it. So, by god, they’re going to hit it as hard as they can.

“Super Car” was one of the three songs the group performed at their debut performance on a massive stage outside Capitol Records. It was a highly anticipated moment—for a group made nearly entirely of idols known for their dance skills, the first live show felt like a make-or-break moment for SuperM.

No one should have worried. SuperM’s first performance proved that they know how to play to each member’s specific strengths, numerous as they are. Need a standout high note? Baekhyun and Taemin are on it. Time for a rapid-fire dance solo? Ten is your man. What about a blue-steel gaze directly into the camera? Well, options vary, but Kai and Taeyong have turned it into an art form. Mark and Lucas have thrived both onstage and off, as the official crowd-pleasing charmers. It’s an all-star formula, and it’s no surprise that it has been a success. But the extent of that success in the U.S.—the blanket press coverage, the Billboard chart record—has exceeded expectations. SuperM’s immediate impact, both on the charts and in the history books, raises the question: If SM can beat the odds by debuting a new group in the U.S. market, who will follow? Other K-pop labels may now focus on America from the get-go, or create their own collaborative groups, following SuperM’s lead.

That, of course, is not SuperM’s concern. As we wrapped up the interview and said our goodbyes, Baekhyun dragged Mark over to apologize for him once more, and dramatically resolved our short-lived beef—as any good leader would. I told them I’d see them again on their upcoming U.S. tour, which kicks off in Fort Worth, Texas, in November.

To the person who will be sitting behind me at said concert, apologies in advance. You’ve got a tough act to follow.

source: Kate Halliwell @ The Ringer

[miss-pearlescent]

my experience at a Super M concert :)

Y’all I saw Super M in Vancouver this Thursday and my eyes and ears were BLESSED! IDK how to describe it, but Kai is even more Kai in person. Like his dancing is 100x harder than what you see on screen, and his proportions...OMG HIS PROPORTIONS. I used to think his Jopping outfit did him dirty but seeing it in real life...WOW HIS LEGS ARE SO LONG BUT HIS TORSO BALANCES EVERYTHING OUT PERFECTLY. Like when I see Ten or Taeyong, I’m like “damn they are pretty skinny” and Lucas is like BUILT for a kpop boy, but Kai is like peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerfectly inbetween!!!! I could not take my eyes off of him during the group numbers (except during times like when Taeyong was grinding on the floor during No Manners fkjaldhalfjds) because he’s just soooo beautiful and his movements are sooooo expressive and purposeful and I just CAN’T.

I have been a Kai stan since 2012 and missed the chance to see the EXO concert in New Jersey so I had to make it to Super M. No regrets travelling across the country for it :’) I just wish he had more performance time LOL everyone had a solo stage but his was at the veryyyyy end and you can kinda see that he’s a little bored lol or maybe I’m just projecting LOL Also omgggg his solo (side note: CONFESSION SHOOK ME UP EVEN THOUGH I BARELY WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE BECAUSE the choreo is kinda boring ngl) is at the end and then he has to run and change to do No Manners and then get all cute for With You AND HE LOOKED SOOOO TIRED. He kept doing that thing where he has his hands on his knees (me when my anemia catches up to me lol) when the other members aren’t looking BUT THEY NOTICED and I think they were a little worried but they couldn’t show it so they just kept patting him on the back. Like right when With You began, Kai stands between Mark and Lucas and they’re both like “o_o u ok?” and he just waves it off and i’m like “OMG HE’S NOT OK” from across the stadium LOOOL He kept trying to be cute for the number, but he still hadn’t recovered even for the commentary section after ;__; he had asked backstage for a water but nobody noticed djkalhgdkalfjdskl I’m so sad.

Then he took a towel/napkin from the front of the stage and started wiping down his shirt with it and I forgot about being sad lol

ANYWAY they had to perform Jopping right after that and I was genuinely worried because he looked soooooo tired but he still went hard during Jopping. Like....I was shocked LOL He was so fine LMAO.

I would love to post videos of my commentary during the concert because they’re hilarious but it’s just me going “OMG WOW WOW WOOOOOW OMG AHHHH WOW HE’S SO HOT WHAT THE FUUUUCK”

OK about the other members:

Ten is literally an anime boy! They drew his eyebrows soooooo sharply for the show and during his solo, he literally looked like a hot anime villain like wOW. And his dancing!!!! He’s soooo strong but flow-y and everything looks easy but difficult at the same time LOL he was the member that often diverted my attention away from Kai because sometimes Ten would do some next level shit and my brain’s like “WHAT was that.”

Taeyong....he’s the sweetest thing omg He did a hard rap solo stage and then comes out and says shit like “Vancouver, you are so beautiful...like Mark!...You are so hot...like Mark!” He’s PRECIOUS with his English. He tries soooo hard and I feel like all he wants to do is make people happy ;__; i wuv him

Mark IS HILARIOUSLY AWKWARD. And he just runs with it! Sometimes he’ll make accidental innuendos with his words (he wouldn’t stop talking about how much time he and the members spent in a ~spa~ like bitch he LOVED that spa) and when he realizes he’s being awkward, he just tapers off his sentences and hopes nobody realizes but THE WHOLE STADIUM REALIZES and it doesn’t matter that he’s speaking in Korean because his members all know when he’s said something awkward LOL my whole son.

Lucas WOW LUCAS IS WHAT I ASPIRE TO BE IF I WERE A BOY. He’s really goodlooking (as we all know) but he’s just soooo funny with the shit that he does. I’m sure there are fancams of his solo stage (Go Boom??) online but I had never watched them and I was SHOCKED by how fun it was. I loooove that he doesn’t go for the sexy or hard concept because he’s sooooooo fun and cute and entertaining when he’s just being himself T____T Please go watch his solo stage online and cry at the video playing behind him. He’s SOOO cute.

Taemin..............Taemin taemin teaalfdklah WHAT THE FUCK. SHINee was what got me into kpop when they came out with ring ding dong and I fell in looooooooooooove with Jonghyun and his blond hair lol But Taemin!?!?! What?!?!?! So the concert starts off with I Can’t Stand the Rain and then Taemin does his solos.......that’s like almost 15min straight dancing/singing HARD. And then they do a bit of talking and his voice is so different! Like I knew it was different but hearing it in real life?!! wow

MY BOY BAEKHYUN I LOVE HIM WOW. I thought they would lipsync a bunch of their songs because hello it’s tiring af BUT BYUN BAEKHYUN SHOCKED ME WHEN HE DID HIS HIGH NOTES AND YOU COULD SEE HIS VEINS ON THE SCREEN JFKALHGKLSJFKDLS And he’s sooooo cute and cheesy and his voice during UN Village omggggggggggggggggg I’m soooo glad I got to hear it live ;____; I’m just a little sad that nobody really does fanchants around here other than singing along to the song because when there are those silent beats during UN Village, nobody did “BAEK-HYUN-NIE” and it just felt awkward to me and I was so sad screaming it by myself LOL

ANYWAY the show was a short 1.5hrs where we stood the ENTIRE TIME even though we all had seats -_- Jopping came on in the beginning as the background to an intro vid and everyone was shook so we all stood up...AND THEN NOBODY SAT BACK DOWN FOR THE ENTIRETY OF THE SHOW LOOOL The boys are soooooo energetic and I can’t believe they do this every two days while hopping on and off a bunch of planes/buses (they bussed to vancouver from seattle T_T) Watching them honestly makes me fear that they’re going to collapse after every set because THAT’S HOW I FEEL LOL

The concert was such an amazing experience and I hope everyone loves these boys forever and ever because they deserve it T____T

[im-just-trying-to-survive-man]

ok so i feel like telling the world my bias list (kpop) for no reason and i was a little scared to but oh well lol

im gonna do this in parts. this list is my bias’ in boygroups pt.1

soo yeah if you wanna see some beautiful asian men you can keep reading lol

kinda turned out long oop

imma do nct on another post bc thats fucking loonngggg

1. kim hongjoong; stage name: hongjoong (leader of ateez, rapper, lyricist, producer and composer (i forget if those are the same thing) )

king of the lesbians

personally i think hes SOME type of gay but, y’know, you do you baby (’good lil boy’ is the song he wrote on their new album akjsdl)

prince of mullets in kpop (king is minghao from seventeen)

so?? pretty???

he paints his nails for the polished man campaign!!! (this was before the group became ambassadors.) v socially aware as well

his voice is very high for a rapper but i rly love it

wanna hear what he thinks of atinys?? (the fandom) listen to ‘aurora’

korean big minion 

very very good at english, despite what he says

is so caring for his ‘children’ ugh such an amazing leader

also a little brat sometimes but we dont talk about it

a MAN

fuck gender roles

5′7 skirt guy you’ve probably heard of in the kpop tiktok community

the official campaign pic:

2. han jisung; stage name: han (main rapper of stray kids, lead vocalist, producer and composer, lyricist, ult bias uwu)

heres the tea

this man literally saved my life

he has been through so much and i relate to that. seeing that he made it through the worst gave me hope.

his music and lyrics just speak to me (wanna see me cry? send me the song ‘19′, its written by him)

on to the happier things

his s q u i r r e l   c h e e k s

hes honestly so pleasing to look at ugh

vocals????? fricking great???? listen to ‘hellevator’ and ‘district 9′ for his vocals

jEoGiYa NoOnA HoKsI nAmJaChInGu IsSeOyO (’wow’ 3RACHA)

part of 3RACHA, a rap group between him and two other members

his american name is peter and he loves nat geo wild and cheesecakes and honestly if thats not amazing idk what is

lived in malaysia??? for 6 years???? lovin the melanin y’all

THE FUNNIIEST MAN ALIVE Y’ALL WAIT PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO IDK WHY BUT ITS SO FUNNY TO ME

3. im changkyun; stage name: I.M. (lead rapper of monsta x, sub-vocalist, maknae (the youngest), producer and composer)

fam im WHIPPED for this man like honestly i dont like subbing or sex in general lol ace things but i’d let him r a i l me

lived in america for 3 years and israel for 4; speaks fluent english and its SEXY

rapping skills??? on point???? both in english and korean ugh

LOOK AT HIM HIS DIMPLES AND HIS FACE AND UGH

is one of those people that does n o t like to be touched but then he’ll kiss your cheek out of nowhere

babie

VERY SOCIALLY AWARE LIKE HE SAID FUCK TOXIC MASCULINITY AND MISOGYNY 

confident in his own skin and super open about it

“For IM, ‘Wearing a harness is just to express our song concept. Showing the audience what we want to show is the most important thing. We’re not ashamed. We’ve done a lot of sexual items, like harnesses and chains. We’re comfortable.’ “ 

“But, for argument’s sake, where does your own sense of masculinity come from? IM pauses for a long moment. ‘Having a dick,’ he says bluntly, sipping coffee as his bandmates’ jaws drop and shocked laughter ripples around the table.”

that interview is here 

kinky lil bitch

i can go on and on about this man but im just gonna stop there

i lied he has tattoos (one on his wrist [ :): ] and the one on the nape of his neck, it reads “the one who wants to wear the crown must bear the crown”)

i like this picture bc its his hands and theyre pretty and fuck gender roles from a kpop idol

thats enough of him 

4. kim wonpil; stage name: wonpil (pianist, synthesizer, and keyboardist in day6, lyricist, vocalist, also a a dj and mc for a podcast)

Y’ALL LOOK AT HIM UGH

was the maknae but then dowoon came along and now hes not lol

Unbothered™

honestly like hes such a good pianist and is really great on the keys

is really good at making song lyrics out of thin air

like, he can hear the sentence “i really want chicken rn but i can’t have it im on a diet” and he’ll get “i crave your taste, but there is a wall i built myself blocking you from my love” like literally

im pretty sure he wrote the chorus for their song ‘zombie’

honestly bruh his vocals are so good

like pls go listen to ‘emergency’ and ‘congratulations’ (theres an english version for that song alsjdk)

guys hes just a big babie honestly

so pretty to look at omg

HES SO FUNNY AND HE DOESNT EVEN KNOW IT 

“i dont really care what my spouse looks like or what gender they are, as long as we’re happy and they love me” (wish i could find that photoset)

5. kim namjoon: stage name: RM (leader of bts, main rapper, sub-vocalist, lyricist, producer and composer)

literally the reason im into kpop, so thank you namjoon

a 5′11 babie, tbh

i remember finding out he had his own like, mixtape (’mono.’) and iT WAS SO GOOD AND IT STILL IS KAJHDJ

an amazing rapper and leader

can sing and i do not CARE what anyone says

so as you can see by now i kinda of have a type (except wonpil, idk wtf is going on there with me biasing him laksjk #no regrets)

anyway yeah he was the first kpop boy i found, and it was on his birthday

so every year on september 11th 11:50 p.m., i start i planting a tree in my backyard (bc then its on his birthday in america and korea lakajs so quirky i know) also bc its the day i started listening to kpop so its an anniversary for me lol. 

mOoNcHiLd

very very psychological

also very inspiring and loving (to the fans)

doesn’t really show affection, hes better with words than actions, and i really relate to that

dimples aGAIN

and last but not least for this list bc its already so frickin long

6. byun baekhyun; stage name: baekhyun (main dancer of exo, main singer, sub rapper, pianist, actor)

he’s so talented???? and amazing???? and overall just kinda perfect??????

AMAZING FUCKING VOCALS LIKE Y’ALL GO GO GO GO GOGOOG OG LISTEN TO HIS GROUPS SONG ‘ONE (MONSTER AND INFINITY)′ BECAUSE THAT SHIT SLAPS UGH

AND LIKE GROWL??? BRO????? MY VOCAL CORDS SNAPPED

dated another idol in the past but personally i think he’s a little *hand goes limp* if you know what i mean

my sister (4) calls him bacon he said it in an interview one time and it stuck to her

chesticles

MONSTER ERA UGH GOT ME DEAADDDD

is a solo artist too!!!!!!! go listen to his albums!!!! theyre really good!!!!

hes so frickin funny omg like i can laugh at with him all day

understands english but refuses to speak it

honestly kokobop baek was amazing idc what anyone says

is in like 3 different groups damn (like two of them are sub-units of his group and the other one is superm lol)

pls go watch the ‘men on a mission’ episodes with exo bc hes so fucking hilarious i will never get over it

a clown ass bitch that is always ready to square tf up a caring and v nice person that wont fight anyone ever

AN AMAZING ACTOR OMMGGGG BABIE GOT SKILLS

can also tapdance

lots of video games

very very very very very loud when playing video games

another man i endlessly love

well. if you made it this far, congrats!!! and thanks!!! i honestly dont care if no one sees this lol i just kinda wanted to do it, so, yeah lol. theres still more groups (superm, nct (seperate post), seventeen, vixx, pentagon, the rose, annnd oneus)then like idk if i’ll do a soloist one, so yeah. this kinda gives me something to do its one big infodump and im sorry lmao. yeah, love y’all !!!

[taexual]

EXO / Your weird sleeping habits

Request: Hello, could you do an Exo reaction about waking up and see their gf/wife’s feet next to their faces? Thanks! 

Thank you @mymisstina for requesting this! I know it’s not exactly what you wanted but hopefully you’ll still enjoy! 💕      

Xiumin

He loved cuddling and spooning very much, which is why the two of you always fell asleep holding each other and sharing your body warmth. What happened after you fell asleep, however, was a complete mystery to you and him, both.

Every single morning, your limbs got entangled so horribly that it took you at least five minutes to understand which hand was yours, and which wasn’t.

“Babe, you just kicked me,” Minseok said in his morning voice as you tried to get off of him one morning. “Oh! You did it again!”

“Sorry. I don’t even understand where my legs are, so I don’t know how it’s possible for me to kick you,” you told him, still half-asleep.

“Well, it’s definitely possib—ow, Y/n, seriously!” he was wide awake now. “Let me help you.”

He tried to sit up but his movements turned out not as graceful as he expected and he ended up pulling your hair by accident.

“Is this your revenge for me allegedly kicking you?” you asked with a pout while you gathered your hair away from him so he wouldn’t damage it again.

“Allegedly?!” Minseok asked. “I’ll have bruises. You should become a professional… kicker or something.”

“Minseok, that’s not a thin—”

“Ah, you know what? I can’t seem to figure a way out of the mess that we’re in,” he said, suddenly falling back down into the pillows and dragging you down with him. “So, as long as you don’t kick me anymore, we can just stay in bed the whole day.”

Suho

He didn’t like to fall asleep before you and claimed that this never happened but you had recordings on your phone that proved him otherwise. Tonight was another one of those nights where you were lying in bed, wide awake, and Junmyeon was already snoring softly next to you.

Quietly, you picked up your phone from the bedside table and turned the voice recorder on. You held your breath for a few seconds so you could record the sounds of him sleeping to show him later.

Once you were satisfied with the recording, you turned it off and titled it dramatically, in capital letters, JUNMYEON FALLING ASLEEP BEFORE ME, PT. 67.

Only right before you were press ‘save’, you felt one of those random, weird muscle twitches in your arm and that forced you to release your phone. You heard it land loudly on Junmyeon’s face, startling him awake.

“Huh?!” he looked around in bewilderment while you covered your mouth with your hands, not really sure if you were about to apologize or laugh. His eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly, and he found your face. “Y/n, what happened?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said innocently. “Your voice woke me up.”

“You were sleeping?” he asked, smug all of a sudden. “I knew you fell asleep before me.”

You resisted the urge to smile, knowing very well that you had a lot of proof that this was not the case. You chose to ignore his statement for now, and instead make him a surprise presentation, titled ‘YOU ALWAYS FALL ASLEEP BEFORE ME but I still love you’ and list all of the times when he didn’t realize he was so tired, he fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes, and yet still claimed he stayed awake long enough to hear you fall asleep.

Lay

Yixing’s favorite part of the day was waking up next to you. He loved cuddling up next to you and kissing your neck while he waited for you to wake up. However, you made this hard to happen due to the fact that you tossed and turned a lot in your sleep.

More often than not, you woke up on top of him, or halfway hanging out of bed, or even with your feet on your pillow, next to his face.

The latter was exactly the case when Yixing woke up this morning. He tried to wrap his arm around your waist and got really confused when he felt your legs next to him.

He opened his eyes and it took him a few seconds to realize that you were upside down and that your head was on the other side of the bed.

“Y/n… how do you even do that?” he asked but you were still sound asleep and didn’t hear him.

Not wanting to wake you up, he chose to get the most out of this situation and positioned himself so he could comfortably lay his head on your thighs, using them as his new pillow. He felt you twitch under him but didn’t react.

“Yixing, what are you doing?” you groaned out, not fully awake yet.

“Shh,” he hushed. “Go back to sleep.”

“Why are you laying on me..? Is that even comfortable?” you continued to ask.

He cuddled up into you, smiling in content. “I’ve never felt more comfortable in my life.”

Baekhyun

Your sleeping schedule consisted of laying in bed together, arms around each other, whispering sweet-nothings and talking about the day that you both had. Even if you spent the whole day together, you’d be telling each other about the moments that you enjoyed most of all.

None of you knew which one fell asleep first because it always seemed as if both of you dozed off at the same time. But by the time you did fall asleep, you were so exhausted that you didn’t move the entire night and always woke up in the same exact spot that you fell asleep in, both of your arms numb from having it wrapped around each other the entire night.

“I can’t move,” you complained when you woke up and tried to roll away from him.

“Me neither,” Baekhyun agreed. “But I don’t mind staying in this position until my arms and legs fall off.”

You laughed. “You have to go to work in a few hours, though.”

“My work is holding you in my arms right now. It’s the most important job in the world.”

Chen

Jongdae loved to spend the night at your house because this way he had a chance to spend even more time with you, despite both of you being asleep. However, lately, he realized that sleeping with you was close to a hilarious nightmare.

“Oh my God!” you gasped one night, jolting him awake.

“Y/n? What’s wrong?” he asked, opening his eyes.

“I can’t believe this!” you continued.

He waited a few seconds until his eyes adjusted to the darkness and then he realized that your eyes were closed and you were most likely asleep.

“Y/n?” he tried again, not being able to believe that you actually sleep-talked.

“How could you have built a fence around our house without asking me?!” you questioned someone in your sleep angrily.

Jongdae had to cover his mouth with the duvet to stifle in the sudden wave of laughter that overcame him.

“You’re unbelievable,” you mumbled. “I can’t believe I married you.”

A smile that decorated Jongdae’s face got even bigger when he heard you say those last words. He took a mental note to tease you about the fence around your house when you finally got married someday.

Chanyeol

Chanyeol was sleeping peacefully next to you with one of his arms draped over your waist. Soon, however, he was rudely awakened from peaceful slumber with a harsh slap to his cheek. He jumped up in bed instantly, looking around with terrified eyes, too confused to understand what just happened.

The only other person in the room was you and you were snoring calmly right next to him, a little drool on the pillow next to your face. The realization that you had just hit him in your sleep reached him really fast and he didn’t have enough time to cover up the laugh that escaped his mouth.

Your eyes shot open instantly. “What happened?!”

“N-nothing, baby,” he tried to say through laughter. “Go back to sleep.”

“Why are you awake?” you asked, squinting. “What time is it?”

“You kind of woke me up,” he admitted, still laughing. “What did you dream about?”

“I… I think I was in a race or something,” you tried to recall. Chanyeol burst into another wave of laughter.

“Babe, I don’t know what kind of races you’re participating in, but you literally hit me in the face in your sleep,” he told you finally, forcing your eyes to shot open.

“I hit you? Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” you sat up so you could inspect his face even though it was dark. “Are you okay? Did it hurt?”

“No, not really. It did wake me up, though,” Chanyeol admitted.

“I’m so sorry,” you said, biting your lip. “I can’t believe I did this.”

Chanyeol laughed again. “It’s okay. Let’s get back to sleep. Only maybe let’s sleep with your back turned to me so you’ll punch a lamp on the nightstand instead of my face, yeah?”

You groaned, lying back down. “You’ll never let me live this down, will you?”

“Hey! You just punched me in the face, I think I have the right to tease you about it.”

D.O.

You and Kyungsoo were generally pretty calm when it came to sleeping. However, what Kyungsoo failed to realize, was that whenever he was really exhausted, he slept in a starfish position, hogging the entire bed, and more often than not, holding you in a death grip under his right arm and leg.

And Kyungsoo was like a furnace, which was extremely hard on you in the summertime. So, naturally, you tried to get out from under him without waking him up.

And that worked.

Only downside of that was that you ended up on the floor after having miscalculated the size of your bed.

“Y/n?” Kyungsoo’s sleepy voice called out. “Where did you go..?”

“I’m right here, baby,” you groaned, getting up from the floor. “Just… taking a quick walk.”

“A what?” he wasn’t awake enough to understand anything you were saying.

“Nothing. Sleep,” you said, kissing his temple quickly and trying to find a spot on the bed which he hasn’t occupied yet.

“I can’t sleep when you’re not in bed with me,” he said, despite being basically asleep already.

“That’s a problem, considering you’re in the very middle of the bed,” you said quietly as you lied down next to him carefully.

He heard you lie down but didn’t feel you. “Come closer.”

He had raised his arm, waiting for you to roll under it so he could cuddle your closer. Sighing deeply, you prepared to be burned from his body warmth, as you moved closer to him. Hearing him sigh happily once he felt your body next to his was worth the discomfort, though.

Kai

This happened multiple times and caused Jongin indescribable panic each time. He would wake up at night and find you standing next to the bed, staring at the wall in front of you.

“Y/n, are you okay?” he asked awkwardly as his heartbeat sped up immediately.

You didn’t reply anything.

He was suddenly scared that you were angry at him, so he got out of bed and walked around, so he could look at you. He jumped back when he saw that your eyes were closed and you were seemingly asleep, and yet you were standing.

“How are you…” he waved a hand in front of your face but you didn’t react.

He tried to touch you but you didn’t react, either.

“Okay. Let’s go back to bed,” Jongin whispered, then.

He tried to carefully guide you back into bed without waking you up but it proved to be hard because one of his dogs woke up and got scared to see him awake, so it began to bark loudly.

“Shh!” he tried but the dog paid no attention to him and continued to bark. “I don’t know what happens when you wake a person who’s sleepwalking but I’m not excited to find out, so, Jjangu, please, shut up.”

Somehow, though, he managed to guide you back to bed. Quickly, he hurried to lie down next to you and hug you tightly, so you wouldn’t get out of bed and wander off somewhere in the middle of the night.

Sehun

Sehun was on tour and hasn’t slept in the same bed with you in so long that he almost forgot what it felt like. However, soon he was rudely reminded.

Every morning after spending the night with you, he woke up at the very edge of the bed with your back pushed into him and your limbs scattered all over the free space of the bed.

“Y/n,” he whispered quietly, hoping you’ll move a little. “Babe, can you move? Just a little bit. Please?”

Your answer was a loud sigh. But you did move. A few centimeters.

This allowed him to remove himself from the edge of the bed that was starting to hurt his back but he was still dangerously close to falling out of bed.

“Baby,” he whined as he snuggled into your back. “Do you want me to break my back by falling out of bed?”

“Mmhmm,” you hummed happily at the feeling of him so close to you, but Sehun took this as a positive answer and opened his eyes in shock.

However, he didn’t dare to wake you up when you looked so cute, so he just decided to suffer one more night and then tell you about your sleeping habits in the morning. Once the morning came, though, he had already forgotten what was wrong the night before. And this endless cycle of him nearly falling out of bed every night was only over when he found an alternative.

“Sehun,” you screeched in horror when one night you felt him climb on top of you. “What are you doing?”

“You leave me no space in the bed,” he explained with a teasing smile. “So I’m sleeping on top of you.”

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[villainsblog97]

EXO Mafia AU Reaction (They Find Out You’re an FBI Agent) Pt. 1

Summary: They were your target, nothing else, but what happens when you fall for the target, hard?

Warning: Some Language, PG-13ish?

Suho:

He was the Boss, and you were his pride and joy, which is why he had to know about your secret.

You stood outside on a cold November morning, you and Suho and been staying in a little cabin on the mountains, he needed to get away and wanted his beautiful girl by his side.

Your nights were Long and romantic, filled with love and passion, but still a knot tied in your stomach, because you were still lying to him.

You stood outside with a wool blanket wrapped around you, with your shorts and Suho’s black dress shirt on, with a hot cup of coffee in the Palm of your hands, you were watching the sun rise, illuminating off the lake you were standing near.

You felt two strong arms wrap around your waist and pull you into a well built torso, it was the body of the man you’d fallen madly in love with.

“Good morning beautiful” he purred into your ear, sending a thrilling chill down your spine.

He was suppose to be your target, nothing else…. but the closer you got, the more crazy you became for him, and it was the same way with him too.

“Good morning” you smiled, but it shortly disappeared, you had to tell him.

“Suho…listen… I haven’t been completely honest with you… and you deserve to know…about me” you stuttered as you turned to face him properly.

“What is it my love?” He asked.

“I’m… I’m with the FBI” you looked away from him knowing he would either fall apart or kill you right where you stood.

He simply laughed.

“You think I didn’t know?”

“Come again?” You asked.

“I found your badge when you were in our base… I thought you’d tell me when you were ready…” he smiled, you couldn’t help but smile with him, you felt relieved to have this weight lifted off your shoulders, and happy that he still accepts you and loves you dearly.

Xiumin:

“So I guess now is not a good time to tell you… I’m an FBI agent?” You asked Xiumin, however the only thing you could see, from the corner of your eye, was his back, but that’s only because you were currently tied to it.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed!” He snapped.

“I’m sorry Minseok… I wanted to tell you I just… didn’t know how” you whined.

“Never mind that now, we need to get out of here” he sighed.

You were currently tied back to back in a dark basement, you got caught by a mega killer in Seoul, that you just so happened to have been trying to catch for the past three weeks, and what’s worse is you boyfriend, who’s one of the members of the deadliest gang in all of Seoul, was caught in the middle of it.

“Hold still now love… we’re getting out of here”

He slide his arm around the rope till he was able to pull a pocket knife out of his pocket, he flipped it open and finally sliced the rope in half, breaking you two free.

“And for the record I’ll have you know, I don’t like lying, keep that in mind ‘babe” he cocked his head your way.

You nodded and pulled out a gun from your boot and checked the bullets in it.

“Alright let’s go” you said slipping your gun into the waist of your jeans, you headed for the door but Xiumin stopped you at the entry.

“Also… if you’re an FBI agent…” he smirked at you, “does that mean you also have handcuffs?”

Kris:

He felt betrayed, he glared at you as he sat behind the bars of a cell at the police station.

“Please stop looking at me like that” you said sitting at a desk a few feet across from him.

“Like what, like you lied to me, this entire time, that were part of the fucking FBI and never once told me!” He snapped.

“What would you have done or said, if I told you?” You asked as you sat up in the chair.

“Just tell me, was everything a lie… what we had, did you even actually care about me?”

You got up out of your chair and walked up to him.

“I told myself you were my target, and I wasn’t going to get close to my target, that’s all you were to me…” you watched him walk up to you and lean his arms against the bars on the cell door, he didn’t look upset the way you thought he did, he looked more pissed than anything.

“That’s all you were to me….until you weren’t anymore….and I fell in love with you” he looked up at you, though you couldn’t read his expression.

“Then look me in the eyes and tell me… you love me…” he begged, you didn’t think twice about it, you unlocked the cell door and ran in and threw your arms around his neck, practically jumping into his arms, you crashed your lips against his, and he accepted it, you ran your finger through his hair as he spun you around and pressed you against the wall, giving the most tender and passionate kiss the two of you have ever shared.

Chanyeol:

You just couldn’t do it anymore, you couldn’t continue to hurt him like this, you threw the last shirt in your suit case and picked up your Badge, staring at it, wondering if all this was worth it, quit your job and be with a killer, or just disappear and hope he wouldn’t go looking for you.

You heard the door open and you quickly slipped your badge into the sleeve of your jacket, hoping it wasn’t the one you were thinking it was.

“Going somewhere?” You heard the voice a lot closer than you thought, you turned around to see the love of your life, your whole world in front of you, Chanyeol looked like you just shot his dog, you had never seen such eyes the way he looked at you.

“Its better this way…” you looked down.

“Why?” He asked trying to keep you from walking out the door.

“I can’t tell you Chanyeol… I wish I could, but I literally can’t, you just have to respect that”

“Respect that you want to leave? You can’t expect me to do that!”

“You have to Chan, please don’t make this harder than it already is!” You pushed past him and that’s when he grabbed your hand spinning you back to face him, your arm swung back and out flew your badge from your jacket sleeve, crashing to the floor.

Chanyeol froze looking down at the floor and picked up your badge looking at you confused.

“You’re in the FBI?” He asked.

“Y-yes…. I am…” you looked down.

“Is that why you’re leaving?”

“I thought you’d be better off without me…. and if you ever found out… you would be mad that I didn’t tell you”

“Do you think that will change how I feel about you, FBI, CSI, even part of NASA…. I don’t care, I love you (Y/N) and that will never change”

Baekhyun:

It was a long day, Baekhyun had just returned from a stressful job, he went into the bathroom and washed the blood off his hands, he leaned against the sink and looked into the mirror, before exiting and saw you sitting at the vanity running a brush through your hair, that’s all he needed, he walked into the room and took the brush from your hand and started to run it though your hair.

“When did you get back?” You asked as you closed your eyes feeling the sensation of your hair being brushed.

“Just now, you stay in that robe with wet hair, you’re gonna catch a cold” he smiled at you as he continued to brush your slowly drying hair.

“I know” you smiled.

“Hold on… I’ll find you some clothes” he smiled as he walked to the dresser.

You shot up out of your chair and ran to the dresser, but it was too late, he had already picked up your FBI badge.

“What the hell is this?” He asked, your heart Sank to the pit of your stomach.

“Baek… let me explain please…” you begged.

“You’re with the FBI?” He looked at you with hurt eyes.

“I was assigned to… turn you and the boys in…. but the closer I got to you, the more I didn’t want to anymore!”

“Why is that?” He snapped as he slapped the badge down on the dresser.

“Because I love you Baekhyun…. I’m in love with you, and I don’t ever want to turn you in…. I couldn’t, no matter how badly I had to”

His attention was caught, hearing you say you loved him for the first time, definitely caught him off guard, he walked up and cupped your face in his hands and pulled you into his lips, his kiss was strong and almost desperate, like it was the only thing he needed right now.

“You mean it?” He asked as he pressed his head against yours.

“Every word Baek…. you’re my life, and the only person I want to be with”

He smiled and leaned down and kissed you again, his hands slid down to the tie on your robe and he slowly pulls it loose sliding your robe off your shoulders.

D.O:

You sat at a bar drinking your glass of whiskey, when Kyungsoo slid in by you, offering you another drink, on him.

You gladly excepted knowing exactly who this was, you played it cool as he introduced himself, you gave him a fake name and held out your hand to shake it.

Hours passed by and you two were laughing and talking about everyday life, really starting to hit it off, though you had your priorities straight, no matter how many drinks you were at by now.

By the end of the night you were outside at the back of the bar, against the wall being drowned in Kyungsoo’s perfect lips, God could this man kiss a woman.

His hands snake around your waist pulling you in closer to deepen the tender kisses, however you had your own surprise waiting for him, and he pulled away when he heard the sounds of police sirens across the alley.

“FBI…. D.O Kyungsoo you’re under arrest for murder, possession of drugs, illegal weapons dealing, grand theft auto, I could keep going down the list, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law” you smile as you hook the hand cuffs around his wrists.

“You’re a cop!?” He snaps.

“And you are a wanted criminal, who’s finally going where he belongs” you smirk.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re one hell of a kisser”

You watch them drag him away and push him into the police car, you fluff your hair and walk away to your car.

As soon as you enter your apartment, your phone rings, you see the number is one of the officers that you work with.

“Hello?” You answer.

“Game on Agent (L/N)…” you nearly drop your phone hearing Kyungsoo’s voice.

The last thing you hear is the sound of an explosion, before the line goes dead.

[volcanofireflame150]

When Different Paths Cross

About the Characters; Intro; Ch21

Chapter 20

When Chanyeol and Kai were let in, Chanyeol gave me a sad look, then said, “I’m sorry for not waking up when you needed me to.” “It’s alright,” I told him, “It was sort of great that I didn’t because I wasn’t going to let you stop me.” “Well true, plus, if I would’ve stopped you, you wouldn’t have fell into that hole,” said Chanyeol.

“Yeah, then I wouldn’t have met Donghae and Eunhyuk, they are lovely people,” I said to Kai and Chanyeol. Kai asked, “What do they call their pack?” “This pack that we are in? Donghae said that they call their pack Super Junior, Suju for short,” I answered.

“Ah, makes sense, these guys are very friendly, it’s been a while since we’ve seen them, we haven’t seen them in like 15 years,” said Kai. I sat there wondering if there are more than just Donghae and Eunhyuk, I want to meet the rest of this pack.

Chanyeol said, “I believe that there are 9 members of the Suju pack, so you only met 2 so far. I believe the others are resting still while Donghae was leading me and Kai here so we can check up on if you are alright.” “Speaking of which, I overheard you guys,” I said.

Kai’s face went pale when I looked at him, he smiled and said, “I have no idea what you are talking about.” “Kai,” I said, “Chanyeol said that you were the one that ate MY last piece of chicken!” “I was hungry!” he shouted.

“You had like 20 pieces, Kai!” I shouted back. Kai said, “I was still hungry, plus, I didn’t think you wanted it.” “I was going to eat it Kai,” I told him. Chanyeol said, “Ha! I told you that she wanted it!” “OH! Don’t be on my side, Mister!” I shouted at Chanyeol.

“Uh oh,” he said, in a high pitch voice. Kai said, “This is what the end feels like.” “Chanyeol, what did you burn?” I asked him. He gulped loudly, “I burnt your couch.” “You do realize that the now burned couch was given to me by Yixing right?” I asked.

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry,” he said, panicking, “Please don’t hurt me!” “Eh, alright, I won’t,” I said, calmly. Chanyeol and Kai exhaled sharply until I said, “For now I’ll spare the hits and the kicks.” “Dang it,” I heard Chanyeol faintly say.

I always giggle at the comments he makes, I know that it was a complete accident but I like messing around with him. Besides, it wasn’t THAT couch, the couch that he actually burnt I’m glad that he did, I never really liked couches that are made out of leather.

The one Yixing worked hard on making was a very beautiful one, it withstands anything, like Chanyeol’s fiery tantrums or his fiery outbursts, it is still healing up the one spot that Chanyeol accidentally made.

We were playing a game called Mario Kart and I kept on winning which means he kept losing, I saw his eyes turn fire red and that’s when we felt the couch getting very hot. He saw the spot, we stopped playing, he felt immediately bad, I got a little upset, and made him sleep somewhere else other than my house.

He understood that I wanted space to be alone but I forgave him in like 2 hours later, but I was still fuming, back then I was having trouble controlling my power of Fire, Chanyeol somehow made it somewhat impossible.

When we had a little make out session, it calmed me down a great deal, even though it grossed out Kai and Xiumin but they refused to leave the room so they had to suffer through our make out session. But anywho enough about that, I told Chanyeol, “Chanyeol, I already forgave you, it was a total accident, well, on the couch Yixing made, I’m glad that you’ve burnt the leather one.”

“Yeah, that one was so uncomfortable for anyone to sleep on,” said Kai. Both Chanyeol and myself nodded, then I said, “I have no idea why I bought it in the first place.” “Maybe it looked nice?” Chanyeol asked.

“Yeah, it looked so nice that I accidentally bought it instead of getting the one I really wanted to get, when I showed Lay the couch I wanted to get, he got it for me and did modifications to it,” I told him. Chanyeol said, “Lay is very smart when it comes to creating beautiful things.”

“Indeed, I even heard that he built a music studio just for you Chanyeol,” I said to him. Chanyeol asked, “Did he really?” “Yes, he’s not finished with it though, he’s still working on it,” I said to him, “Also Kai, Lay is thinking about building you a dance studio so you can stop going into mine.”

“Why should I?” Kai asked. I asked back, “Do you really want to continue suffering through mine an Chanyeol’s make out sessions?” “Okay, never mind, I’m looking forward to my own dance studio, so I don’t have to suffer through that anymore,” said Kai, “I’ll take Xiumin with me if I have to.”

“He’ll probably go with you in a heartbeat because remember we make out for like 20 minutes,” said Chanyeol. Kai asked, “Do you really need to remind me every time? Stop bringing it up!” “You and Xiumin refused to leave the room the first time!” I shouted at him.

“You were supposed to be on my side, Lindsey!” Kai said. I raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why would I? You know its true!” “Dang it! I’m trying to forget that time you guys! You are making it worse!” he said. Chanyeol said, “Then leave the room next time we ask you and maybe you don’t have to suffer.”

“I will do that, I will leave if I see any intense eye contact, wait a minute, WAIT A MINUTE YOU 2!!” shouted Kai, “I couldn’t leave because I was stuck in between you 2 when you guys made out! I couldn’t move, I tried to move but due to your weight, Chanyeol, I was literally pinned down to the couch she had in her dance practice room!”

“Oh, yeah, but that was our fault,” said Chanyeol, “But we are not talking about that. We were talking about when you and Xiumin refused to leave the bedroom.” “Oh, that,” said Kai, “Well, we weren’t sure if you two were going solid.”

“Our relationship is none of your business, keep your nose to yourself, she’s my girl, not yours, go find your own,” said Chanyeol. Eunhyuk came in and looked concerned, “Is everything alright in here?” “Everything is fine Eunhyuk,” I told him.

“Good, because the rest of your pack is here,” said Eunhyuk. Chanyeol, Kai, and myself followed Eunhyuk outside, he wasn’t lying, there they were, before I walked out, the pain in my left ankle was still there. Eunhyuk said to me, “You didn’t heal it all the way.”

“I healed it to where I can walk on it, I know what I was doing,” I said. Eunhyuk said, “Oh, alright then, just making sure.” “Trust me I’m fine, just as long as Donghae doesn’t dig a hole that deep again,” I said. Eunhyuk said, “Well, he’s a digger, he can’t help himself.”

“But still,” I said. Eunhyuk surrendered by saying, “You are correct but don’t worry Donghae will learn through his mistakes.” “No doubt that he’s going to forget in a few moments after I leave,” I said. Eunhyuk burst out laughing, “That is so true, he does the same mistake.”

“Did anybody else other than me fell into that hole?” I asked. Eunhyuk nodded his head, “A girl named Jennie, she’s another female wolf, she’s from the BlackPink pack. I’m guessing you’ve met a girl named Lisa?” “Yeah, what about Lisa?” I asked.

“She’s from that pack, you know the one from the audition that split the prize money with you?” Eunhyuk asked. I nodded, he said, “That Lisa is from the BlackPink pack, they’re sweet girls, they are extremely sweet and harmless.”

“Oh,” I said. I am still very new to this whole wolf thing, I love learning new things from people that are not from the EXO pack. I love Suho and the others don’t get me wrong, it’s just that I like learning from others that I haven’t met yet.

“Lindsey?” I hear Suho calling my name. I looked at him and walked towards him, asked, “What is it, Suho?” “Do you feel any pain?” he asked. I told him, “Well I healed the wound to where I can walk on it, I didn’t heal it all the way, I didn’t want to use up all my energy because remember I have the power of Balance.”

“That’s right, you do have that power,” said Sehun, “You should’ve used the power of Teleportation and teleported yourself back to our base.” “I didn’t do that because I was learning new things from these guys, well, mainly, Eunhyuk,” I said to Sehun.

“Oh right well, still you should’ve used it,” said Baekhyun. Chanyeol said, “Don’t get her started, man, you do not want to see her angry, she is scary when she’s mad. Trust me, she had me in a corner.” “Me, as well, because I stole her favorite blouse,” said Kai.

We all looked at Kai, I said, “Well I was chasing you out because you walked into my bedroom while I was changing, you were lucky enough that you didn’t see me all bare.” “I wouldn’t mind seeing that,” said Chanyeol.

I giggled, “I know you would love to see that.” “Okay,” said Suho, being grossed out. Kai said, “Trust me Suho, Xiumin and myself had to suffer through their make out sessions.” “Why bring it up?” Xiumin asked.

“You suggested that we should stay hoping that they are in a solid relationship! We didn’t know they were going to do that!!” Kai shouted. Xiumin said, “Yeah, next time we will not be in the room.”

Baekhyun asked, “Was your make out sessions magical?” “Yes, it was,” I said, sounding like I was moaning. Baekhyun eyes went wide, same with Suho, Kai said, “Guys, get a room!”

“Make us,” said Chanyeol. Baekhyun said, “Calm down you guys, we are starting a scene from this pack.” We looked and Chanyeol or Kai was right there was 9 members of the Suju pack, I was starting to get scared right now, Suho said in a calm tone, “Easy, they are not gonna hurt you.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m familiar with only Eunhyuk and Donghae,” I said. Suho said, “Trust me, you can trust some of these guys better than those 2.” “Why?” I asked. Suho said, “They don’t act their age.” “So? I don’t act my age, Chanyeol doesn’t either, same with the rest of the pack of ours,” I said, making a great valid point.

Chanyeol said, “She got you there, sometimes you act childish too, Suho hyung.” “No I do not, I have no idea what you are talking about,” said Suho, trying to deny it. He’s lying, I know he is, he acted so childish when I got him a shirt that he always wanted.

“Sure whatever you say Suho, just for that I’m taking that shirt back,” I said. His eyes went wide, I hit a spot, I added, “I’ll give Kai the rubber ducks back to him, the stuffed puppy can return to Baekhyun, may I go on?” “Alright, you got me, just please don’t take that stuff,” he said.

“I won’t, I was just messing with you, even leaders can be childish, and Kris, if you say ‘not my style’ I will take back my galaxy painting away from you, not only that but the Mickey Mouse plushie, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Luhan’s Donald Duck, and my Daisy Duck,” I said to Kris.

His eyes were twitching, apparently if I take that stuff, he’s going to go nuts, Luhan asked, “You took my Donald Duck plushie?” “I was planning on giving it back,” said Kris. I asked, “Then why is it still in your room, Kris?” “I decided to keep it,” he said, surrendering.

I promised Luhan, “I’ll get you another one, Luhan.” “Thanks, maybe you can trade back my Donald Duck,” said Luhan.

I agreed, “Alright, I can do that.” “Good luck,” said Kris. I asked, “Kris, do you really want to tempt me?” His eyes got wide again, Chanyeol said, “I’m gonna warn you hyung, when she says that, it usually means something very very bad.”

“I ain’t scared,” said Kris. I asked, “Do you want to have kids in the future?” His eyes got wider than before, I heard all the guys catch their breath, especially Kris. Eunhyuk said, “Anyways, let’s eat breakfast you guys.”

We met up with the rest of the Suju pack, of course, as always Chanyeol remained at my side, I didn’t mind of course because he’s my lover and I’m his lover, he’s the only one for me.

[katherinedoeskpop]

Taeyeon Comeback Review: “Fine”

Love her or hate her, Taeyeon is undeniably a major force in the K-pop industry.  Her album is charting well, and she got both an all-kill and a certified all-kill only a few days after the release – after the major changes to the chart, no less.  Her new album shows her at her best and proves her versatility.  “Fine” is another strong addition to her already impressive discography and helps solidify who she is as an artist.

My reviews for solos are a little different.  If you want to know what I look at, click here.

*WARNING! This review assumes the reader has either listened to the music and/or watched the music video.*

SONG:

Music: Michael Woods, Kevin White, Andrew Bazzi, Shaylen Carroll, MZMC, Rice n’Peas

Taeyeon has tried several different genres since she officially debuted as a soloist.  Her voice is versatile enough that she could pretty much sing anything she wants to. But I personally think that “Fine,” a classic pop ballad, is the kind of song that suits her best.  The structure is very simple, and the instrumentals are fairly low-key.  It’s not a song with a lot of bells and whistles, mostly acoustic guitar with some percussion in the chorus.  The simplicity of the song allows her voice to shine, both at times where she belts out high notes and moments that are more delicate.

I’m actually not a huge fan of ballads.  (This spans all kinds of music, just not K-pop) They usually just don’t captivate my attention. I’ve slowly been learning to appreciate them over time, and part of that is because of Taeyeon.  Her voice sounds so pretty and clean, but it carries so much emotion. The reason that “Fine” is so good is because of the heart and soul that she pours into it.  K-pop in general has a very processed sound, but with Taeyeon I can sense what she took from herself and put into the song. It makes it much more interesting and appealing.

Score: 19/20

LYRICS:

Lyrics: Jin Ri

“Fine” is about a woman who has had a break-up. The details are slightly vague, but it seems like it was supposed to be amicable – or at the very least not overly dramatic. It also seems like a certain amount of time has passed, because she sings “One day, one month, one year later / I said I would smile and it would be a memory.” Yet she finds it difficult to move on. Those unresolved feelings remain, and there’s no indication of when they will go away.  This idea is the core of the song, which we can hear in the chorus:

Not for me, I don’t think it will be easy

You still fill my day to day

Not yet, I repeat it like a fool

I can’t swallow the words in my mouth / It’s not fine

“Fine” depicts the sentiments and internal struggles of moving on from a break-up so perfectly. The lyrics are very simplistic and to the point, laying everything out on the table without much subtlety.  There are certain phrases that just stick out and get to me.  For example, she sings “Our last, that moment comes to mind / calm goodbye that was only words saying be well.” It reminds me of when my high school boyfriend and I broke up and it was very messy. We somehow managed to come to neutral territory, but I was definitely pretending.  This is the kind of song that I would listen to repeatedly if I was trying to move on from a break-up, because it voices exactly what I’d feeling.

It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite songs from Rent (“Without You”). They both have this idea that the world goes on without us while we’re experiencing tumult in our personal lives. Everything keeps moving and sticking to the routine, and the day to day of your life follows suit. But inside there’s this weird feeling, because you’re not actually moving on. It feels like your life should be significantly different after a major event, and it’s the fact that it’s not that is so jarring.  You may appear fine on the outside, but on the inside you’re actually a mess. It’s a very realistic and relatable feeling.

Score: 9/10

PERFORMANCE AND STAGE PRESENCE:

One of the reasons that I got into K-pop was for all of the flashy dance routines.  While I appreciate nice voices and good vocal technique (or at least what I think is good vocal technique), it’s not enough to get me to regularly watch more low-key performances.  The fact that Taeyeon can stand in one spot on the stage and captivate me solely with her voice shows how strong her stage presence is.

It’s one thing to fill a song with emotion and meaning in a studio recording, when you have multiple chances to create the desired effect.  To be able to do it on the spot in live performances is an entirely different animal.  Having a nice voice doesn’t necessarily mean you will be able to deliver a compelling performance. I’m not going to pretend that I know what’s going on in her head every time she sings, but it’s clear that she’s living in the moment and pouring whatever she has into her voice.  “Fine” is already pretty powerful when you’re listening to the recording.  When she sings it live, her voice has a more unpolished quality.  K-pop is usually so manufactured that so it’s nice to hear some rawness in a live performance.

Although Taeyeon is the main vocalist of SNSD, I wouldn’t necessarily say she’s the member that draws the most attention.  She blends in well with the rest of them, unless she’s belting a high note.  These moments when she’s alone let her show what she’s really capable of. K-pop is an industry that’s built on making idols feel like they’re your best friend. You have so much access to them all the time, and you feel like you know them.  Taeyeon is rather unique in this sense because she seems like such a private person to me.  So I really enjoy her live performances because feels like it’s one of the few times she opens up.

Score: 18/20

MUSIC VIDEO:

I could honestly go on about how great this music video is for hours, but I’ll try to sum up the major points. In film school, my teachers were always showing us how to find visual ways to express internal feelings. Music videos can sometimes be the best examples of this, because they have to rely solely on images and can’t hide behind dialogue.  “Fine” in particularly is filled with all sorts of little technical goodies that clues us into how Taeyeon is seeing the world after her breakup.

The most prominent example is the different items that represent her relationship.  There’s a concept in film called “plant and pay-off,” which can happen either in terms of narrative or image.  The is that you “plant” the idea of something early on in the story, and the “pay-off” comes later when it turns out that element has a further meaning.  In short, things that might seem like a throwaway actually turn out to be very important. In “Fine,” we see a lot of small things that hold significance for the couple: cookies they like to eat, plastic cups that they like to play with, etc. At first glance, they might seem like minor illustrative details. But later on, we see visual signs of the breakdown of her relationship.  These items reappear, but they’re broken.  One of the cookies is smashed, and the plastic cup is crumbled.  It’s a simple way of showing how a break-up can really permeate everything in your life, down to the smallest of things.

Another major element is the use of effects.  As Taeyeon moves through the music video, it becomes very evident that she’s seeing things through a different lens. A lot of sections of the video have this effect that looks like crumpled paper.  Her ex’s toothbrush and paper literally become pieces of paper that get balled up and thrown away (a super cool effect, in my opinion).   The “plant and pay-off” idea comes back with her ex himself.  A bunch of shots of him that we see in the becoming come back in the bridge, but this time his face is blurred out. On one hand it kind of feels like Instagram filters for your emotions, but they’re super effective.

There’s a lot of emphasis on the image to portray Taeyeon’s state of mind. There’s the camera, which shows some intimate personal close-ups of her.  There’s the editing, which at one point moves into a disjointed stop-motion like sequence as she wanders around aimlessly. There’s the lighting and the quality of the image, where everything becomes consistently darker and/or more grainy. When she starts to show signs of closure at the end, all the shots are bright and crystal clear.  Everything is so detailed, and it’s obvious that there has been a lot of thought put into the video.

The most emotional moment comes right after the bridge.  Taeyeon is singing and looking into the camera when she’s overcome with emotion and has to stop. Given all of the emphasis on all of the visual elements, it’s a little surprising and jarring.  It’s easy to think that this could be a commentary about her very public relationship (and break-up) with EXO’s Baekhyun.  However, I don’t think that this is the case.  Taeyeon seems like a very private person, and I don’t really think that she would put herself on display like that – especially after everything she went through when the news broke.  I would make a case that she could have naturally thought of him during the shoot, and that she method acted for a more convincing performance.  But I don’t think the song and comeback were specifically made to revolve around her past.  She may be playing a singer who writes a song about her break-up for closure, but she’s not necessarily playing herself.

 I already tend to be on the sensitive side, but I tear up every time that I watch this music video. If you look closely at Taeyeon, she’s not even really acting most of the time. She’s just mastered staring with a solemn and blank expression. But she’s managed to convincingly portray a woman in distress after a break-up, and there are a lot of elements that technically and visually support thus idea.  I would say this music video is very close to perfection, both in terms of narrative and in technical elements.  It’s very rare to find something that fires on all cylinders.

Score: 20/20

STYLING:

Taeyeon is very low-key with her fashion in this music video, looking very much like a girl next door.  Her outfits are very stylish and feminine, but most of them doesn’t overly stand out (although I really like the pale turquoise outfit with the earrings). Unlike “I Got Love,” the story is more the focus.  The clothes she wears for promotions are a little more glamorous.  So although the fashion is great, it’s not really the priority. As for her hair, I used to think that she looked better blonde but the dark brown hair is really starting to grow on me!

Score: 9/10

ARTISTRY AND IMAGE:

I feel like I keep bringing up Taeyeon’s voice, but I think that’s what makes her so successful and well-liked as a soloist.  Her voice is so clean and malleable, fitting a bunch of different genres.  Her signature is pop ballads, but they all manage to have a different tone and style. “I” and “11:11” are both pop ballads, but the latter is more low-key. “Rain” is more jazzy, and “Why” is a fun dance track.  I was surprised when she released the sassy “I Got Love,” but that track confirms that her voice can indeed adapt to many different genres. That being said, I think her ballad side is the strongest.  She sounds much more authentic when she’s singing these types of songs, and I get the feeling that it’s her more preferred style. It’s a very different style from SNSD, but I think that it’s closer to who she is as a person.

Taeyeon has been in the industry for a long time, and I bet a lot of fans anticipated her solo debut because it was only a year and a half ago.  I personally think that she was already guaranteed to have success to some extent.  After all, she’s from one of the biggest groups in K-pop at arguably the biggest agency.  But over time, she’s proven that she can truly stand apart from her group and be successful on her own.  And while her notoriety as an SNSD is obviously a factor, most of it is thanks to her abilities and her appeal.

Score: 19/20

FINAL TALLY

Song – 19

Lyrics – 9

Performance and Stage Presence -18

Music Video – 20

Styling -9

Artistry and Image – 18

Total: 93

CONCLUSION:  Taeyeon isn’t my favorite member of SNSD, but she’s quickly becoming my favorite soloist. Her music is just so compelling and relatable.  Her last two releases have reduced me to tears every time I listen, and I’m in a stable relationship!  “Fine” is perhaps my favorite song that she has released so far, and the whole album is really worth a listen. I feel like a lot of the times K-pop isn’t actually about the music, but that’s the core of who Taeyeon is.  She’s not a dancer or an actress or a variety star, although I imagine she could do well in any of those areas.  In an industry that is filled with multi-faceted and multi-talented idols, she is first and foremost a singer.  And she’s damned good at it.

Sources: Youtube, SM Entertainment, Wikipedia, SBS Inkigayo, Soompi, Omona They Didn’t (Livejournal)

Taeyeon Comeback Review: “Fine”

Love her or hate her, Taeyeon is undeniably a major force in the K-pop industry.  Her album is charting well, and she got both an all-kill and a certified all-kill only a few days after the release - after the major changes to the chart, no less.