#hope you guys dont mind and enjoy regardless!! your comments are always so motivating and i appreciate them so much

[arckook]

around and around - three

pairing: cho seungyoun x reader, kim wooseok x reader

au: idolverse

warnings: none

wordcount: 4.1k

description: you’ve had a one-sided crush on your close friend seungyoun for who knows how long, but things don’t stay so black and white when he introduces you to his new groupmate kim wooseok.

next

It’s November now, which means it’s a little chilly. The first few days of being back in Korea were a dramatic change from the warmth of Hawaii- you’d gone outside without a coat, and were immediately shocked by the prick of cold air, having to run back inside to get something to put over your outfit.

You’d almost done it again today.

Where are you :( 

It’s cold!!!!!!!!

You send the texts one after the other, then quickly tuck your hands under your arms, shivering. You can handle the cold during the day, but at night, it feels like it really gets into your bones.

Your phone buzzes in your hand, so you pull it out to look.

Pink coat + beret?

You glance around to see if you can spot him, but you guess he’ll just pop out of nowhere like last time.

That’s me!!

Kim Wooseok doesn’t respond, and you’re right in your guess that he’ll appear at your side within thirty seconds. It takes you a moment to get that it’s him, since he’s wearing not only a mask and those glasses, but a hat too.

“You look like you’re hiding from the police or something,” you tell him, sticking your phone in your back pocket.

“And you look like you’re trying to make yourself recognizable.” he retorts, reaching up to pull his mask down. “Better?”

You nod, smiling. “Yup. It’s weird talking to someone when you can’t see half their face. Anyway, I wore this so you could find me easier, so if I were you, I’d be saying thanks.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Wooseok deadpans, then glances around, almost looking nervous. “Let’s start walking.”

You shrug, following his lead when he starts going down the street. “Did you pick a place to eat?”

“No,” he says simply, which explains why it feels like you’re just walking without a destination.

“Hey!” you exclaim, frowning over at him. “You had three weeks and you still didn’t decide?”

Wooseok glances sideways at you. “You don’t like my favorite food, so you can just pick.”

“Huh?” you tilt your head. “What’s your favorite food?”

“Chicken feet,” he answers, and you almost physically gag. Wooseok cracks a smile. 

“How’d you know I don’t like those?” you ask, shaking off your disturbance at the thought of eating that cursed dish. You’d tried them when you first moved into the dorm with Jiseo, Eunmi, and Soohyun- who all like them. That was an experience that, regretfully, you’ll never forget.

“The youngest in our group won’t eat them either. Seungyoun mentioned you while we were all talking about it.” Wooseok says, which catches your attention.

“Seungyoun mentioned me?” you ask, holding back a smile. “Did he say anything else?”

Wooseok glances at you again, with a sort of vague expression. “No, sorry.”

You nod, looking back towards the street. “Oh, okay.”

“...Well, what do you like to eat?” he asks after a few seconds. “We should go somewhere unpopular.”

Since he actually met you closer to your dorm, you know the area pretty well.

“Oh!” you grin. “There’s a really good budae-jjigae place nearby! The lady who owns it has known me since forever so she’ll give us a discount, and there’s a private room if you’re nervous about being seen together.”

Wooseok nods. “Sure.”

“Looks good,” Wooseok remarks after your food arrives, the pot of stew steaming hot. “How many calories do you think this is?”

“I don’t know and I’m not going to think about that,” you tell him, picking up your chopsticks and digging in right away, putting some of the meat and tofu in your smaller bowl so it can cool off faster.  

He snorts, probably at your brazen response, but you deal with people questioning how much you should be eating practically every single meal, and once in a while, you’d like to ignore that you have to watch your weight.

Wooseok takes some of the stew for himself, mentioning something to you about eating the noodles quickly so they won’t get soggy. 

You eat in silence for a little while- you think he must have been hungry and just hadn’t said anything about it. And you were definitely hungry too, after having been busy shooting photos for a pictorial the entire day.

“So,” Wooseok eventually starts, surprising you. “How was your trip to Hawaii?”

You sit back in your chair and finish chewing as you nod. “It was fun. The scenery was so beautiful, I’ve always wanted to go there to see everything for myself. It lived up to what people say about it.”

He hums, sipping some of the soup. “Guess I’ll have to go there someday.”

“If you ever get the chance, you should,” you say, starting to eat again. “It was really relaxing. I think being in nature like that puts your mind at peace.”

Wooseok sighs. “I could use that.”

You frown, teeth latching onto your bottom lip as you watch him dip his head down towards his bowl to lift some noodles into his mouth. You didn’t notice before outside in the dark, but in here with the bright lighting, you can see that the skin under Wooseok’s eyes is dark with fatigue, and his posture seems weak.

“Wooseok-ssi,” you say, a little quieter than before. He looks up to meet your eyes and you almost say nevermind, but you force yourself to go on. “I really meant it when I said you could vent to me. I’ll still pay for the meal.”

He pauses, in what you think might be consideration. For a second, you’re expecting him to set down his chopsticks, and start letting out all of the things that are bothering him.

Instead, Wooseok offers you a hint of a smile. “I’m doing fine, Y/N-ssi.”

“Alright,” you mumble, looking down at your bowl and beginning to scoop more of the stew into it. 

Wooseok clears his throat. “...Did you want to hear anything else about Seungyoun?”

Remembering that that was the whole original deal you two had made, you glance up, mouth full. “Yeah, tell me!” you try to say, but you’re pretty sure it comes out unintelligible. Despite that, you guess Wooseok understood that you were saying yes, because he nods and starts talking.

“Besides the chicken feet thing, I got Seungyoun to talk about you another time.”

You swallow quickly, then start coughing, then choke a little, desperately grabbing a napkin and ducking away so that Wooseok can’t see you dying in front of him. Once you’ve recovered, you set the napkin down and smile. “What’s the context? What’d he say?”

Wooseok gives you a look of plain disgust, shaking his head. “How can you have possibly told me that you’re not weird, with confidence?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you say, still smiling. “Go on about Seungyoun?”

He rolls his eyes, but obliges. “I asked him if you’d sent him any pictures of you in Hawaii, and he said you sent them in your friend groups’ groupchat but he hadn’t seen them yet. I asked if he could show me since you hadn’t put any on your social media yet, so we looked at them together-”

“What’d you two think of the one where I’m on the mountain, and I’m pointing at the sky?” you interrupt, squinting. “Eunmi-unnie took that one literally, and I’m not exaggerating, thirty times, so I was worried it would come out looking unnatural.”

Wooseok gives you yet another look, this time just seeming tired. “I thought it looked fine, if that’s what you’re asking. Seungyoun didn’t say much, he just said that he thought it looked really refreshing there.”

You stare at Wooseok for a second, wondering if you just heard what he said right, and then remembering how few times Seungyoun has really said anything about how you look in photos, you look back down at your bowl, pushing what’s left around inside it. “Ah.”

You hear Wooseok sigh, and the sound of him setting down his chopsticks. “Y/N-ssi, are you sure you really want me to tell you these things? Isn’t it just making you feel worse?”

You shake your head, trying to smile at him briefly. “No, I appreciate it. Maybe hearing this stuff will put me in my right mind.”

Wooseok is quiet. 

You don’t really have much of an appetite anymore.

“Wooseok-ssi,” you say, sitting straight again. “Am I wrong for wanting him to say that I look pretty in a photo? I hear it often, but I just want to hear it from him.”

The man across from you looks at you with a vague expression, but you think, by the way he hesitates, that Wooseok feels bad for you. “I think that’s just what liking someone is.”

“...I guess so,” you say after a moment, doing your best to smile again. 

Wooseok sends you off in a taxi when you’re both done with the meal, promising to meet up with you again soon, when you have time.

“Again,” 

Your dance coach’s voice is sharp when it rings out. She’s said the word ‘again’ probably a hundred times in the last hour. You sigh, but walk to your starting spot.

“Wait a minute,” 

You look to the side, surprised to hear Jiseo speak up. Your leader has her hands on her hips, her bangs are stuck to her glistening forehead. She looks exhausted.

“The kids are all tired,” Jiseo says, gesturing to the other three of you. “We’ve run this a thousand times in the past two days, and it’s eleven pm. Ssaem, don’t you want to go home too?”

“Are you kidding?” your coach stands up from where she’d been sitting in front of you. You don’t know what’s been up with her, but lately she’s been getting antsy and harsh so easily with the four of you. “Award season is starting soon and you want to go home without making sure it’s perfect? You have three more dance breaks to learn, and you think you can slack off on the first one? Park Jiseo, are you a leader or not?”

“Am I a leader?” Jiseo snaps back. You match eyes with Soohyun, who looks visibly distressed. “I’m trying to take care of the members, because ever since we got back from Hawaii, we’ve been worked to the bone every day! We’ve been here for thirteen hours, the routine looks perfect in the mirror- it’s not going to get any better if we do it again right now!”

Your coach’s jaw is clenched tight, and her arms are crossed over her chest. “...Fine. You think it looks perfect, then you don’t need to practice that one until the day you perform it. I hope it looks perfect then, too, for your own sake.” she snatches her bag off the floor next to her, and stalks out the door.

“Ssaem, you know that’s not what I was saying-” Jiseo gets cut off by the slam of the door. 

The four of you stand there in a tense and thick silence.

“Did her husband cheat on her or something?” Eunmi mutters, and you crack a smile, then Soohyun chuckles behind her hand, and even Jiseo lets out an amused puff of air from her nose.

“Sorry that I probably just made tomorrow’s dance practice ten times harder,” Jiseo says, running a hand through her hair. “I just wanted us to have time to eat some dinner tonight.”

“It’s okay, unnie,” Soohyun chirps, already looking brighter now that the mood has been lifted. “I want fried chicken, does anyone else?”

“Sounds good to me,” Eunmi says, stretching out her limbs. “Is Dowoon-oppa gonna be at the apartment when we get back? ‘Cause if he is, we need to eat it here.”

“He’ll probably make us get on the scale when we go back anyway,” Jiseo rolls her eyes. “Let’s just go home and pretend we ate. I’ll make sure he leaves, and then we can order chicken.”

“Mmm,” Soohyun throws her arm around your shoulders, and you smile at the youngest’s antics. “Unnie, doesn’t it sound so good? Some crispy chicken… mmmmmmmm…”

“It sounds good,” you nod, patting her cheek. “Let’s get going, then.”

“Y/N!” Seungyoun’s voice calls out brightly into your earphones. “I didn’t think you’d pick up, honestly.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” you joke, setting your phone on the dashboard of the treadmill so you can actually see his face. “And also sorry that I’m answering at the gym.”

“I thought you’d be at dance practice,” Seungyoun says, brows turned up. “Why are you at the gym?”

“Because I’m not at dance practice,” you answer, knowing it’s going to annoy him ever so slightly.

“Just answer the question,” Seungyoun whines.

You sigh, slowing down the speed of the treadmill so you can talk easier. “Jiseo-unnie argued with our dance coach last night, and I guess she got mad enough to cancel practice today. She said we should dilly dally since that’s what we want to do anyway.”

Seungyoun cackles, and even though you know he’s about to tease you and your group members for always being so stubborn, his laugh makes you smile. 

“I should send a bouquet to Jiseo for never letting anyone mistreat you,” he says, still chuckling. “It seems like you guys always have something to say to your staff.”

“That’s not true at all!” you frown at your phone, hoping the connection is good enough that Seungyoun can see your scrunched up face. “We loved Sungjoon-oppa, and we love all of our makeup artists and stylists and the female managers, and our CEO is nice to us, too. Something’s just up with Haeyoung-ssaem lately, and our new manager Dowoon-oppa is frustrating too.”

“Tell me in person!” Seungyoun says, surprising you. 

“Huh?” you frown deeper. “In person?”

“Yeah, let’s hang out today,” he says, smiling that peaceful, Seungyoun smile at you through the screen. “You promised, remember? And you just exposed yourself for having a day off.”

“Oh, well, I was still going to work, though,” you say, and then mentally smack yourself. Why did you not immediately accept his offer? 

“On what? You’re really going to work on a day off?” Seungyoun’s bright look fades. 

“Well… I figured since it wasn’t really meant to be a day off, I’d go to my studio and work on some music or something.”

“To your studio?” he pipes up again. “When? I’ll meet you there.”

You laugh. “Oppa, do you even know where it is?”

He shrugs. “It’s in your company building somewhere, right? I can find it!”

“If you really want to come, just meet me in the building lobby at five,” you say, smiling. 

“I’ll hold you to that,” Seungyoun says, winking. “Don’t leave me stranded alone in another label’s headquarters, Y/N!”

“I won’t,” you tell him. 

Seungyoun smiles again, that smile.

Ugh.

“I’ll see you later, then.” he says, and waves. “Bye!”

“Bye,” you say back, and he hangs up.

“Excuse me,”

You look to the side, seeing what looks to be about a thirty-five-year-old woman in a Gucci tracksuit and diamond earrings standing by you.

“Uh, yes?” you ask, taking out one earpod. 

“You’ve been on there for forty minutes, dear, and the maximum is half an hour. I know you’re some celebrity, but you’re not all that. Let’s give other people a chance.”

You smile, grabbing your phone and your water and hopping off the treadmill. “Yes, ahjumma.”

Her eyes widen, and she sputters something about not being old enough for you to call her that. You chuckle as you walk to the showers, thinking that you’ll have to tell Seungyoun later.

You walk up to your company building a few minutes before five, pushing your sunglasses up onto your head with one hand, and digging in your bag for your ID with the other, not really looking where you’re going.

“Oof!” 

You smack into someone, and nearly fall as you step back to try and balance yourself. The person spins around, and your eyes widen when you see that it’s Seungyoun, reaching out to grab and steady you.

“What a greeting,” he says, holding both your arms and helping you back to your feet. He grins, letting go to pat your head. “What if I hadn’t been there to catch you?”

“Catch me?” you roll your eyes, but give him an appreciative smile. “What if you hadn’t been standing in front of the door?”

“What?” he exclaims. “The door is at least a few feet away! You just weren’t watching where you were heading.”

You shrug, finally getting a hold of your ID, and flash it to the secretary. You don’t know why you even still need to do that- you’re pretty sure they all know your face around here. “That’s true.”

You start walking, heading through the first door into the room with the elevators and some seating. “I thought I’d have to wait for you, why’d you come so early?”

“I only got here a couple minutes before you did,” Seungyoun says, looking around the room. You press the up button on the elevator.

“Oh, good.”

You hear Seungyoun breathe in to start talking, but the elevator doors open right at that moment, and a few trainees at your company get out.

“Sunbaenim!” one of them says, and you recognize him after a moment as the oldest, who your CEO always talks about being “the next big thing”, or something dramatic like that. 

“Oh, hello,” you smile, bowing your head slightly as they bow to you. “Are you all going to eat?” 

“That’s right,” the main boy says, his grin half-crooked. “Sunbaenim, do you want to join us?”

Surprised, you can’t help but laugh at how confidently he just asked you that. “Thank you for the invitation, but not this time. I’ll treat you all to a meal when you debut. Enjoy your meal.”

The boy winks as the other trainees seem to cringe at him. “Thank you, sunbaenim,”

They all bow to you and you bow your head back as they leave. 

“They seem to like you,” Seungyoun comments, pressing the up button again as the elevator doors closed while you were talking to the trainees. The doors open up quickly, and the two of you step in. 

You reach forward to press the number 8. “I try to look after some of the trainees. Lately they’ve all been practicing a lot. It’s always nice to hear some encouragement from your seniors.”

Seungyoun hums. You glance over, and he meets your eyes, smiling. 

The elevator dings, and the doors slide open. You look away and walk out, gesturing to the hallway you stepped out into with pride. “This is where all of our studios are!”

Seungyoun chuckles. “I feel like I’m going somewhere top secret.”

You raise a brow at him. “You totally are. Pretty much our whole discography comes from that room right there.” you point to Jiseo’s door, which is plain and undecorated aside from the standard plate with her name on it.

“Where’s yours?” Seungyoun asks, walking leisurely a bit ahead of you.

“End of the hall,” you say, trailing him. “You can’t miss it.”

And indeed you can’t. Nobody can. Seungyoun definitely doesn’t.

He laughs, pointing at the door. “Yah, L/N Y/N! Who does this?”

“I’m not accepting criticism,” you tell him with an amused look. “I worked really hard on this door.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” he says, shaking his head. 

“You don’t like the balloon hands?” you ask, flicking one of the blown up plastic gloves that is taped to the door. “Or the distorted mirror?” 

“Y/N-ah,” Seungyoun says, turning to you. He wipes his hands over his face, still laughing a little bit. “This might be the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. When did you have time for this?”

You shrug, pulling out the key from your bag. “I don’t know, it was when we first debuted. People kept knocking on the door and bothering me so I decided to make it creepy and hard to approach.”

You haven’t thought about how truly bizarre your studio door looks until now, and you’re kind of regretting showing Seungyoun, but, well, you can’t change things now. At least it’s funny, you hope.

“Anyway,” you say, opening the door. “It’s only weird on the outside.”

You lead him into your studio. You wouldn’t say you’re the most amazing interior decorator, but you do follow a lot of aesthetic pages on instagram, and have taken influence. It’s mostly white, with light wood accents, and a lot of knick-knacks and photos that have good memories.

“You can sit down wherever,” you tell Seungyoun, setting your purse down on the desk where your computer and other equipment are.

“It’s nice in here,” he says, looking around. He sits down on the small couch you have pressed against the wall. 

“Thanks,” you smile, adjusting the framed picture of you and your group members that’s sitting on the desk. “Sorry it’s kind of cramped. Jiseo’s the only one who has a big room.”

Seungyoun shakes his head as you sit down in your computer chair, spinning around to face him. “No, I like it. It suits you.”

“...So,” you say, tugging at your fingers. You feel a little awkward alone with Seungyoun. He had said that it’d been a long time since just the two of you met up, but you honestly aren’t sure if you ever have. Vernon is the one who introduced you two, and in the beginning of yours and Seungyoun’s friendship, he tagged along a lot. 

“I thought you said you wanted to do something fun next time we see each other,” you finally finish. “There’s not that much to do in here. I was just going to work on a melody for a track that Jiseo started a few weeks ago.”

Seungyoun shrugs. “Yeah, I guess I did say that, but I just wanted to see you.”

You try to hide your smile, heart racing as you subtly spin your chair back around to face the desk so Seungyoun can’t see the expression on your face. How can he just say things like that, nonchalantly? “Oh, well, thanks.”

“Play me the song!” he says, and you hear him stand up. Seungyoun leans on the desk, looking down at you. “I’m curious.”

“Alright,” you say quietly. Your heart is beating painfully fast with him so close to you, after he just said he wanted to see you, and the way his hair is falling over his forehead…

Shit. Focus.

You unlock your computer and open up the music program Jiseo works on (you just followed her lead on all this production stuff). “There’s no words or anything,” you tell Seungyoun as you connect the sound to your speakers, and press play. 

It’s one of Jiseo’s simpler instrumentals- it begins with a low distorted vocal sample and some soft, pulsing chords. Then the beat comes in, the kind that hits right on the hits of the music, and sporadically after that, light bells and occasional piano decorating the atmosphere of the song. It’s slow enough to have a somewhat sensual vibe, but fast enough to keep your foot tapping along. 

You play through the end of the first chorus, and then pause it, not wanting to bore Seungyoun as the song is a little repetitive without vocals. 

“Pretty good, right?” you ask, leaning back in your chair and looking up at Seungyoun. His eyes are on the computer screen, trailing the different tracks showing in the music program.

Seungyoun hums, then reaches over you to the keyboard, tapping a few keys that pull up a menu on one of the instrument tracks. “I think it’ll sound better if the chords drop out right before the chorus, just for two counts. And a snare roll would work right at the drop, too…”

He adjusts things naturally, easily. You weren’t expecting Seungyoun to add some input to the song, but you can’t say no now that he’s leaned down right beside you, brows furrowed in concentration, a hand coming up every few seconds to push his hair back. You almost do it for him, but catch yourself before lifting your hand.

“Okay, listen to it now,” Seungyoun says, pressing the spacebar without moving. He’s looking at you, so you feel pressured to look away, instead pretending to watch the movement of the screen. 

You nod once it finishes. “I like it.”

“Got a mic around here?” he asks, standing back up to his full height and glancing around. “I think you should sing a little. I’ll help you figure something out to add.”

“Are you sure?” you frown, not reaching for the mic that’s under the desk. “Oppa, this might not ever even make it on an album. You shouldn’t waste your time.”

He shrugs, smiling over his shoulder at you as he continues looking around. “Y/N-ah, we both love music. What’s more fun than doing something we love together?”

And, like always, you can’t turn him down.

[seigyokus]

8.4 - So May We Reach Them

Idolish Seven - Part 3, Chapter 8.4 For more Part 3 translations, click here!

Translation below the cut!

Nanase Riku: How about something like 'cheering on the people trying their best' as the theme? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: They've been supporting us all this time, so it'd be great if we could return the favor and cheer for them too. We should sing and dance in a way that'll give them lots of energy! Izumi Mitsuki: I want lots of people to sing the song, so I think we should make it something that'll cheer you up as you sing it! It’ll make you more confident and blow your worries away! Momo: I want it to be a song that you can happily dance to with your friends or your work buddies! Full of love and gratitude! Rokuya Nagi: A great, positive song that will help you take on your love life, studies, work, and travels, and face them with excitement. Izumi Iori: Given the people assembled here, I'd like the song to bring out a sense of opulence and completeness. Within the framework of the charity, of course. Osaka Sougo: I hope it'll be something bright and vivid, with all of IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, and Re:vale's colors mixed in. Yaotome Gaku: All twelve of us will be dancing. I'd like for everyone to show their individuality, and I also want our teamwork to come across to the audience. Nikaidou Yamato: Definitely. Something that'll cheer ya on, like 'You're not alone. Look around you, you're surrounded by friends.' That kinda feeling. Yotsuba Tamaki: That special, fun feeling. Kinda like when you're at a school festival! Kujou Ten: Something that won't bring shame to the charity telethon or ourselves. Yuki: ......That's a lot of requests, but I think I have an idea. Yuki: Let's make it a song that feels like a once-in-a-lifetime anniversary, but brings out the fun from everyday life. Yuki: It'll be special, but also normal. It'll be filled with a wish to cheer on someone out there, or even ourselves. It's our very essence. Yuki: Let's send ourselves as a message to them. (1)

Osaka Sougo: I remember hearing that we'd have design references in this room.... Nanase Riku: Woah! They've got every single one of our stage outfits here! TRIGGER and Re:vale too! Nikaidou Yamato: Hey, Mitsu! You should put on Tsunashi-san's outfits! Izumi Mitsuki: The hell are you excited for! It's really obvious you have ulterior motives!! Yotsuba Tamaki: Rikkun, you should try on Tenten and Momorin's clothes. You're all the same height, yeah? Nanase Riku: If I remember correctly, you're the same height as Yaotome-san, right? You should try on his Leopard Eyes outfit! I bet you'd look super cool! Osaka Sougo: This is amazing! Just looking at the outfits makes me remember all of the songs. Ah! This is his "SECRET NIGHT" outfit! Izumi Mitsuki: I bet you'd look good in that one, Nagi! Here, put the hat on! Rokuya Nagi: I can pull of any kind of clothing. How does it look? Izumi Iori: All of you are acting like women in the Ladies' Section! Stop with the chit-chat and get to work! Yuki: How is it? Momo: It's really good! I love it! Yuki: That's what you always say.... Momo: If it's bad, I'll tell ya it's bad! I'm a fan though, so I'm happy to hear anything you write, Yuki. Yuki: I see.... Momo: Would you like me to critique you more? Yuki: From time to time, yes. Sometimes, when I'm trying to write a really good song, I lose sight of what makes a song splendid. Yuki: During times like that, I feel like I'm lost, all alone. It's painful. Momo: Oh.... Yuki: But knowing there's someone out there that will enjoy what I make, regardless of what it is, helps me keep my hands moving. Momo: Really? Yuki: Yeah. Stay here, and listen. *click*  Nanase Riku: Yuki-san, Momo-san! I wanted to ask you guys about the song so we could match the T-shirt designs to it! Yuki: What's your question? Nanase Riku: We were thinking of using the Chinese zodiac as a motif since there's twelve of us! So how about going with a more traditional Japanese style-- Ahahaha! (2) Yuki: Do you know what happens to naughty boys when they try to drastically change the composition this late in the game? (3) Nanase Riku: A-alright, then how about playing cards? There'll be one extra, but those are also numbered! Momo: IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER would line up pretty nicely! Wouldn't we be different though? Yuki: What do you picture me as, Riku-kun? The jack? The queen? Or the king? Nanase Riku: Um.... The queen? Heeheehee! Yuki: The theme is love, isn't it? You're going to design it around love, aren't you? You wouldn't put the Chinese zodiac or playing cards into that, would you? Nanase Riku: 'Love' is too abstract, so it's hard to design around that! That's why we-- Ahahahaha! Yuki: I was struggling with the exact same thing! Momo: Yuki, Yuki! Don't threaten our kouhai! Yaotome Gaku: ......I get it, but isn't the demo a little late? When are we gonna start choreographing....... Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: How about I send them a RabbitChat about the tempo and mood of the song? Kujou Ten: Wouldn't it be better if we asked in person? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: That's true, but Yuki-san's probably stressed right now and might pinch my cheeks if I go. .......Ah! He replied. Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: He says it's like "RESTART POiNTER." Yaotome Gaku: Huh. Ten, can you dance it out? I'll sing. Kujou Ten: Got it. Yaotome Gaku: Lalala la-lala la-lala la-lala.... Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Ah, wait. He says it's like "Leopard Eyes." Yaotome Gaku: Isn't that really fast? Ten, one more time. Kujou Ten: .... Got it. Yaotome Gaku: Da-dada dadada dada, da-dada dadada dada.... Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Wait, never mind. He says it's "SILVER SKY." Yaotome Gaku: Man, it's all over the place! Ten, one more time. Kujou Ten: ...... Hah.... Got it. Yaotome Gaku: Dadada bum-bum bum bum, bum bum bum..... Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Huh? I guess it's more like "Let's☆SUMMER!" then...? Kujou Ten: ......Can he contact us once he has a more concrete image? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: "By the way, this is because your little brother told me to add in things like the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, the twelve-layered ceremonial kimono worn by court-ladies, the twelve apostles, or magnesium...." (4) Kujou Ten: Magnesium...? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Because it's the twelfth element. Yaotome Gaku: Are our T-shirts gonna explode or what......?

Izumi Mitsuki: Woah! You're really good at drawing, Tamaki! Yotsuba Tamaki: Is it too empty? What should I add? Whatever it is, I want people to be happy when they see it. It's really hard to make people happy.... Izumi Mitsuki: That's such a grown-up thing to say. Did something happen? Yotsuba Tamaki: So like, the other day, I was strolling around on my way back from school. Yotsuba Tamaki: And this random older dude told me, "You've been such a goody two-shoes lately, Yotsuba. It's boring." Izumi Mitsuki: ....... Yotsuba Tamaki: You know how I was like before. I used to think stuff like 'shut up' or 'I'm bored' and didn't really care. Yotsuba Tamaki: But sometimes, you just wanna make the people watching you happy. You feel? Well.... That's me right now. Yotsuba Tamaki: So that's why.... Like.... Umm.... Like...... Yotsuba Tamaki: You know how you're always tryna make your fans happy, Mikkii? Izumi Mitsuki: Yeah..... Yotsuba Tamaki: I thought that was just you being nice, or a good guy, but.... Yotsuba Tamaki: You're not all bright and sparkly like that, it's more like, someone who gives you that really strong gut feeling.... Someone who works really hard.... That's what I think.... (5) Yotsuba Tamaki: Now, I'm just like, 'Wow, he's really got guts. He's really, really strong.' Yotsuba Tamaki: I gotta be a good kid, gotta be strong, gotta be funny and interesting. Yotsuba Tamaki: That's why stopped thinking stuff like 'I wish they'd shut up' or 'what a pain in the ass'.... Because I wanna be all of those things. Yotsuba Tamaki: Man, I wanna be like that.... Izumi Mitsuki: You can, and you will. Yotsuba Tamaki: Really? Izumi Mitsuki: Of course. Izumi Mitsuki: When you try really hard to make people happy and the opposite thing happens, it eats away at you. I was really down in the dumps back then. Yotsuba Tamaki: You, Mikkii? No way.... Izumi Mitsuki: Yeah. I was really, really sad. It was awful.... Hell, I wanted to disappear. I'd think stuff like, 'What the hell are you doing?' or 'What should I do?' Izumi Mitsuki: I was distressed about all sorts of things. But because I love you guys and the fans so much, I was able to stick it out. Yotsuba Tamaki: ......I really love everyone too. Izumi Mitsuki: Haha.... I know. You've become such a great guy, Tamaki. And to think you used to be such a selfish beast back then! Man.... Yotsuba Tamaki: Oh! He praised me. Izumi Mitsuki: You're the coolest! If it were possible, I'd cover your ears so you won't have to listen to all of those mean voices. Izumi Mitsuki: But you're not gonna lose to them, because I know you're a strong boy. Yeah? Yotsuba Tamaki: Yeah! Izumi Mitsuki: Ahaha! Aw come on, you can't just draw a pudding on there! Yotsuba Tamaki: Haha! this one's mine.

To be continued....

TL Notes/comments:

thank u @kuriiii for proofing!!

(1) This is actually what the title is referring to but I modified title since a direct 'Let's send ourselves' would've been... A little....... Strange. 

(2) Just wanted to point out that there is indeed a SSR set where all of the i7 characters are dressed up in zodiac-themed clothing! Also, 'Chinese' is there to clarify that they're doing the animal set and not the virgo, libra, etcetc zodiac. 

(3) translating it directly ("So I guess this the mouth of a bad kid who tries to make drastic changes this late in the game?") would've been kinda weird so I went with my [tamaki voice] FEELING 

(4) juunihitoe = probably easier to visualize than explain, so here's a pic!  

(5) tamaki literally says 'makes you clench your stomach/abdomen really hard, that feeling' and i searched high and low and it's not some idiomatic phrase (Dont Ask Me how many 'how do i flex my abs :c' chiebukuro questions i sifted thru what the Fuck) so i went with my best interp of it?????? chikara wo ireru can also mean to try hard so Classic Me, I put in one line with the stomach part tl'd and another bit without the stomach part tl'd so pls correct me if Im wrong

As usual, if you see any mistakes/mistranslations/etc, please message me!

Thank you for reading!!