#hyojongrk

[rkwon]

heavy feet.

@hyojongrk !!

as much as he hates to admit it, he’d been hesitant at first. joining any well pre-established group is scary ( not that won would really have known that before now, but he thinks better late than never to find out ) and to do so for something so important ( at least to him, all of this still painfully fresh ) amplifies each of his worries by triple, maybe even quadruple the size. his confidence comes and goes like a tidal wave, crashes down on him and splutters a “yes!” from his lips when he’s asked if he’d like to be part of the collaboration, yet washes away later that night, a cold sweat running down his spine as he makes an categorised mental list of all the ways this could go wrong. neither are overly pleasant, the can-do attitude overwhelms him, makes his bones ache long before they should, and the worry keeps him from getting the rest he needs but he knows he has to do this — to make a good first impression. 

still, it’s hard to ignore the urge to clean the dirt from under his nails ( even when it’s long gone ) and stretch and fold his legs in front of him restlessly when his seniors are so close by and the pressure weighs his shoulders down to the floor. he knows he’s thinking about this far too deeply, making a mountain out of a molehill, but all he’s ever wanted to do was please those around him, even if a bitterness does run a little deeper in his blood. 

he glances at hyojong out of the corner of his eye. maybe the other doesn’t notice but won doesn’t hold his breath; subtlety has never been his strong suit. instead, he accepts his fate, continues to nervously fidget until pins and needles settle in his right foot. karma, he supposes. 

“h-hey, so you’ve been here a lil while, right? so you guys have done a lot of collaborations together before?” 

[rkgray]

//derpy dance

since there wasn't much time left, until his contract run out and he didn't know if he would get a chance to renew it or what he should do in that case, he decided to have as much fun as possible. sure, he was more of a perfectionist, and he strived to give his best, whenever another evaluation was coming around the corner, but he somehow felt like in these last 6 weeks he shouldn't be as stiff as the past two years. everytime he tried to be serious about a performance, he was looking grim and even older than he actually was, so loosen himself up was something he should at least try once. but when he was observing at himself going through his chosen song's dance routine, the rapper somehow felt he was looking too loosened up. sure the dance of "shall we dance" was kinda relaxed and not sticking to perfection that much, but gray wasn't too sure, if he should seem like making fun of the trainers who came up with this month's task.

while still trying to fix his derpy dance moves, he heard someone coming into the practice room. gray stopped for a momet and put the music on pause, to turn around and greet his fellow trainee. then he took his water bottle and took a big sip, before giving out a big sigh. "this is much harder, than it thought it would be..." the male ruffled through his hair, thinking hard.

@hyojongrk

[rkyeosang]

━ bubble pop !

@hyojongrk

(* jaewon hasn’t been this excited in a while. he’s been in much better spirits as of late-- despite the setbacks he’s experienced. he’s dipped a toe back into society, so to speak, and smiles come just a little bit easier recently. to be quite fair, however-- his good mood today has anything and everything to do with the male walking next to him. ) ... (* he glances over at the other silently, the colorful, bendy straw of his juice pouch hovering at the edge of his lips which quickly curl up at the corners. he can’t remember the last time they’d been able to spend time together like this in public-- even if they can’t hold hands or even if he can’t show the other all the affection that he wants to-- it’s still a good feeling. he holds his pouch out for the other boy with a soft hum. ) try some of this hyo-- it’s good. (* his eyes are darting around to take in the sights as much as possible, before they fix on an attraction in the distance: a large, inflatable castle, miraculously almost devoid of festival goers for the time being. he points at it, blinking at hyojon with wide, round eyes. ) let’s go on that one!

[rkbyunbaek]

( fever ) ;

@hyojongrk

a groan slips past baekhyun’s lips as he slides onto the polished floor with exhausted limbs, shining underneath him because of the bright neon lights lining up on the ceiling. mouth parted, sucking in air as his breath is still heavy, chest rising and falling quickly. baekhyun’s eyes flutter shut for a brief moment. “god,” he says, and it’s a mixture of another groan and a whine, “this heat is unbearable.” they fall back open and one of his hands comes up to push his fringe out of his face, strands of hair damp with sweat. water dripping down the side of his face. his shirt is sticking to his back as well like a second skin -- everything just feels gross.

his other hand reaches for the collar of his shirt, pulling it away to fan himself a little. it’s not like it helps much, though.

it seems like nothing can help right now when the room’s air conditioning is broken, only to repaired the upcoming day. no windows to open, no way to let the stuffy and humid air escape; if they open the door, the music will blast through the halls and that’s not good as well. no other room is free, only those where air conditioning is broken as well, every other room cramped with trainees trying to go with their practice under humane conditions.

so, he’s stuck here with hyojong.

baekhyun isn’t sure anymore if suffering through this is better than staying in a single room with thirty other trainees, though. he leans over, body spreading across the floor to reach for his water bottle. “watch me die of a heat stroke.” he makes a face. “they can’t do this! they should fix stuff like this immediately!”

[jooheonrk-blog]

* the pits.

jooheon is struggling.

he’d wandered the festival with different people that he’d met along the way, ( not that they planned to come together... just happened to be in the same place at the same time ), and he’d lost his cousin in the throng at some point. so... he amused himself as a jooheon would-- buying more snacks, and a lot of water, and strolling through the festivities, reaching out and popping some bubbles along the way-- like a child, honestly.

the ball pit catches his eye and he slows down, humming and debating playing around in it a bit. the area didn’t seem too busy ( so he couldn’t be judged ), and he’d avoid the stampede of children. or-- so he thought. it seems that as soon as he leaps into the pit... a storm of children follow him in ( although, he really, really should’ve expected this. kids love him for some reason ). and soon, he’s half laughing and half crying as he tries to maneuver his way around while dodging screaming kids trying to crawl onto his back.

to his slight relief, he sees some older kids and maybe even a few fellow college kids join in on the chaos. but chaos it still is. and weakly, shoulder deep in the colorful plastic balls, an arm shoots out as he weakly utters “someone help--”

[rkkangjoon]

.maskless

@hyojongrk

it was nice to see new faces around, he supposed, especially now that they had more royal boys to perform with. but even when the burden of being one of the few remaining male royal trainees had been lifted from his shoulders, kang joon couldn't help but feel a little helpless. he wasn't exactly close with the other males, sometimes he wasn't even sure if they counted him in as one of them, but it wasn't like he could let his anxiety show. maybe it was just him and his eternal fear of being left alone in the darkness, maybe it was a groundless panic attack of feeling lost and overwhelmed in between everyone else. in comparison to them he was just a mediocore singer, a overly bad dancer and nothing close to what could be called a adequate rapper. people were triple threats, while he was more of a triple fail. now that they had enough guys around, the possiblity of a group match up didn't seem to far away and sometimes he played with the thought of what kind of position he could fill in a group. in all honesty there was non beside the visual position he could think of and in place of visuals, everyone else was as good as him maybe even better.

royal entertainment had been always his absolute favorite company, the company of his dream. his ceo must had seen something in him, so why couldn't he see it himself?

everytime kang joon was in deep and gloomy thoughts, he always looked for a place to play the piano in order to calm down and let go of his negativity. so the male wandered to the instruments room late at night, after most of the others had already left. turning on the lights, he looked around before sitting down at the piano, sighing heavily before touching the black and white keys. as soon as he was connected to his favorite instrument, he felt relaxation taking over his body and he closed his eyes, giving in the urge to play. there were plenty songs he had internalized, so without looking at any notes, he started to play with closed eyes. even with his voice, he wasn't able to convey what he really felt, who he really was without the proper mask of a friendly smile on. just the piano was able to.

[rkrosememories]

GAME ON.

♡ ┋ @hyojongrk​!

most people probably believed that rose hated video games, but that wasn’t really the case. rose being rose, just wasn’t too good at them and instead of trying to improve, she simply ran away from any chance she got to actually get better. unlike a lot of teenagers, back in the day rose never went to pc rooms after school or even on the weekends for that matter. she was very much a bystander when it came to gaming, happy to sit back and watch rather than play herself.

“y’know, i really don’t think i emphasised how bad i am at gaming.” rose murmurs, sitting on the arm of the sofa, glancing across to hyojong with narrow brows. “like, you get bad and then you get me.” she was beyond what she believed was bad. still, maybe now was a good starting point to actually get good. rose wasn’t really too sure as to why she wanted to start “gaming” all of a sudden, perhaps she had led herself to believe that it was a good way to alleviate stress and connect with others. it wasn’t as though she had much time to indulge, though.

“you sure you’re up for this?” rose asks with a raised brow. “it’s gonna be a long night.”

[rkjisoo]

june 2018 evaluations                   part 1. preparation !

the last few weeks have been despondently glum. 

life in general just doesn’t seem to be looking up for her at the moment, save for a few glimpses of a smile here and there. jisoo takes pride over the fact that she does not feel sentimentality quite often and sadness is more of a foreign concept. but beyond frustration, it’s what she has been feeling more or less over the course of the month.

she knew it was brought upon by her chaotic fight with hyojong and jennie’s inevitable moving out. between these two occurrences, a lot of things just doesn’t step right into place.

her coping mechanism during the off chance when she feels sadness or anger used to always be in the form of finding a character to embody who has a lot of similar pent up negative energies -- they really aren’t so difficult to find. she’d memorize lines, let a few tears out, and even scream if she has to. at the end of the day the emotional release would bring her comfort and a clearer sense of mind. but this time around, the month’s evaluation offered the perfect opportunity to change gears. perhaps being one with a character would have to be done some other time.

the first color that popped into her head was red for it was the color best associated with feelings of anger. but it has been weeks since the fight and after she’s had much time to think about it, she is just left with feelings of hopelessness. and the same thing goes with her feelings about jennie’s debut and impending moving out. jisoo recognizes that she’s bounded by selfishness but that in reality, she’s got nothing to do about it. so it appears that the month of june has wrapped her in unwarranted feelings of hopelessness unlike anything she has experienced before.

but she’s not a quitter -- she knows how to turn her hopelessness into hopefulness.

blue. she thinks; the color of hope and of holding onto good things. of realizing that people would always have problems but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t rise above them. it’s all just a part of the never ending turn of life, as always.

[rkyooa]

our story.

shiah hadn't had the chance to get close with many of the boys in royal. she had kangjoon as a friend, dongmin was her child, and she supposed baekhyun could be considered a casual friend at this point too, but outside of that she wasn’t super close with any of the other boys. she was spending most of her time training with the girls and getting to know them, which made sense since they’d end up in a group together one day, but shiah still wanted to have friends among the boys too. 

hyojong was one of the boys she hadn’t really gotten the chance to get to know. they had met when he had been signed but that had been a while ago. so, when she saw him in one of the rap studios, she decided to peak her head inside. she let herself in, bowing to him in greeting. “hello~” she hesitantly took a few steps towards him, maintaining a friendly smile as she approached. “i don’t know if you remember me, my name is shiah. we met around when you were first signed. i hope your training has been going well!” she sort of waved a fist in an encouraging motion, trying her best not to feel awkward. “i saw you here and thought i should check in, say hi, maybe see how you’re doing? i know we aren’t close but i’m here if you need someone to talk to about anything!”

@hyojongrk

[rkwon]

secret garden.

@hyojongrk​ !!

it’s been a long time since won has had to experience settling into new surroundings like this. he hesitates to compare his first few weeks to starting to high school but he can’t help it — endless new faces he doesn’t know, can’t predict or prepare for. maybe he’d just become complacent in the few months he’d spent away from most of civilisation, only interacting with new people in short bursts of customer service until he joined the mgas. he hadn’t had to worry about anyone taking issue with him there because if they had, it’d be aired; they’d have to risk their own image to take it up with him. now, though, no one’s watching; no one’s seeing the way hyojong’s hands flatten against his tensing back to guide him through the royal building. 

he’d only met hyojong here at royal, seen his friendly nature immediately and decided that whilst he’s probably the easiest type of person for a defensive won to accidentally make a bad first impression on, he’s also the easiest to get to know in the event he doesn’t. won doesn’t say much as they’re wandering somewhere else, doesn’t say much in general around those he doesn’t know, but hyojong seems excited about wherever it is they’re headed next so won obediently follows his lead, curious about what else could possibly be left to see. 

[rkmg]

hello, hello!!

this is sort of an event plot call for all three of my muses, though i’m going to let it double as a tracker, too!! it’s been a while since i’ve done one and it’s a good way for me to make sure that i’m keeping up with everything since i feel so behind. school is really kicking my ass, honESTLY. like, i feel like i owe so many things right now. luckily, i only had one class today so i’m going to try to get caught up on some assignments and rp things, starting with this!! i just really, really suck at trying to balance work and play. i don’t multitask well so i don’t think i’ve really plotted or talked to anyone in over a wEEK. pls forgive me if i owe u messages, i’m just drowning. bUT ANYWAY!! NOW TO THE EVENT THINGS,,

mingyu:

luxe viewing [ 1/1 ] - @rkwon ( 0/4 )

enjoying festivities [ 1/1 ] - @rkwon ( 0/4 )

new person interaction [ 3/3 ] - @jaehyunrk ( 0/4 ), @rkiny ( 0/4 ), @taeminrk ( 0/4 )

hoseok:

luxe viewing [ 1/1 ] - @rkjei ( 0/4 )

enjoying festivities [ 1/1 ] - @rknahee ( 0/4 )

new person interaction [ 3/3 ] - @yutark ( 1/4 ), @rkhaechan ( 0/4 ), @changminxrk ( 0/4 )

juyeon:

luxe viewing [ 1/1 ] - @rkxsicheng ( 0/4 )

enjoying festivities [ 1/1 ] - @rkseungjoon ( 0/4 )

new person interaction [ 3/3 ] - @rkchaeyoung ( 0/4 ), @rkwon ( 0/4 ), @danielxrk ( 0/4 )

pls reply to this or message me if u can help a friend out!!

tracker time!! ( i’m just putting down what i owe )

mingyu:

catching lightning, happy xmas, remedy, grand theft otter, rain to the sea, right here, tonight, help! i’m a fish (au), healing, make me melt, turning page - @rkwon

new blood @hyojongrk

we’re in - @rkmseok

hoseok:

unavoidable irritation - @rkhyunggu

i’m good - @rkjiwvn

fan favorite - @rkhyunjin

juyeon:

icy summer - @hyunark

cake and cosmetics - @jihycrk

[rkseonho]

with a wave.

@hyojongrk

“hyung this doesn’t make sense.” seonho pouted as he lowered the fan again, his shoulders slumping as he messes up the same part for what feels like the 100th time today. him and hyojong had been working on the dance for a while now and seonho feels like he’s literally dying now because he can’t get this one part down. its exhausting and frustrating for him. but he doesn’t want to let anyone down so he’s kept at it.

until now he hadn’t voiced any of his frustrations but it was only a matter of time before it got the better of him. for as mature that he likes to be, the teen is still only 15 and not always the best when it comes to keeping his cool. of course it only shows in the forms of pouts and sometimes beating himself up for not getting something like he is now. this fan thing just isn’t clicking with him, his awkward limbs don’t want to move correctly while holding the fan. 

“these fans hate me.” he turns his pout into a glare, holding the offending object up as if it was trying to attack him or ruin him. maybe he does believe it will sprout legs and run away from him... he would only be so lucky. 

[rkyeosang]

mga season 4 ... episode 2 #4041 -- jung jaewon performing :: how r u today < 0:00 - 0:40 // 1:24 - 1:43 > -- instrumental [ x ] < 2:04 - 2:24 >

his pen taps restlessly against the corner of his lips as he sits cross legged on the floor, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. he resorts to biting on the end of the cap before he’s readjusting-- his arms at an awkward position with his guitar wedged between his body and the low coffee table. he manages to reach his notebook anyway, scribbling on it haphazardly and dropping the pen to the side, replacing it with a guitar pick between his teeth as he strums quietly.

he is so focused that he barely registers the soft thudding of padded feet along the scuffed hardwood of his floors, until the nudge of a wet snout against his arm has him pulled out of his trance. he blinks at his dog who has plopped right next to him, reaching out to scratch between the pup’s ears. “what’s up, dubu?”

his voice falls on deaf ears, and jaewon follows his pet’s line of gaze to fix on the television muffled in the background. he blinks, letting out a soft huff of surprise at his own face filling the screen, grabbing the remote to turn the volume up just the slightest. “you’re right, dubu. that’s me!” he places his guitar aside to scoop up his pet, ignoring the fact that he’s grown slightly too large to be considered a lap dog anymore. neither of them mind, as dubu settles down so happily in his lap that he has to view the tv through wisps of fur on top of the dog’s head.

“that’s me.”

jaewon isn’t quite sure how he’s made it here. as in-- to the second round of the show. he’d watched the first episode as he’s sure many people had, and he’d been in awe at the talent. not that he’d been expecting much less-- but still.

he’s not sure how he made it.

all he knows is that for the first time in quite a long time... his brain had kicked into overdrive and he’d started writing lyrics in a frenzy. he’d spent hours on youtube finding a song to play and he’d even decided to rummage into his old instruments-- managed to unearth his old guitar. he’d had to spend a good amount of time tuning it until it sounded presentable.

but here he was, his beat up case strapped around his shoulder and slung across his back, and he feels slightly out of place. he’s the picture of ease-- not a wrinkle line or furrow of his brow in sight, but a close look shows his lips moving subtly, rehearsing silently. he’s got his earbuds plugged in as he sits and waits, a recording of his own voice making him wince.

here he was, hands still and calm as they call his name for the stage.

he walks with a calm gait, brushing his overgrown bangs out of his face with one hand, the other holding onto the strap of his case as if for security. he takes his place behind the microphone, gives a small bow, before he’s slinging his guitar around his shoulder, feeling it rest comfortably across his hip.

he opens his mouth, the intake of breath caught in the sensitive mic before the first few, clear notes of his voice travel throughout the studio, the strumming of his guitar following soon after.

he feels bad, but eternally grateful, for hyojong-- who’d gotten the brunt of the shaky warble of a singing voice as he was preparing in the dead of the night (no matter how quiet he’d tried to be). with his partner’s ears and advice, even though jaewon was far from perfect, he could at least hold his voice steady and clear at this kind of range.

“how are you today how are you doing? how are you today seems like I’m the only one like this”

and from there he launches into his own lyrics, rapping over the steady strum of his own hand-- he wills them not to shake. the lyrics this time aren’t anything too substantial-- nothing too permanent.

they’re vague, inconspicuous, written just to be written about nothing in particular. written with the idea-- the concept of a bittersweet line of thinking. written in a way that anyone can relate, and while performing it, jaewon finds himself thinking of his mother. he guesses, in a way, the lyrics weren’t so nonsensical after all.

but no one really needed to know, and if the slight frustration, the slight longing bleeds into his voice near the end, he won’t know until the episode airs.

the last twenty seconds or so, jaewon focuses on the guitar, having finished his rap. finished his piece, his message. he focuses on the way his fingers move, focuses on the dull sting of the strings against his fingertips until he finishes the last stretch, leaning forward against the microphone to deliver the last line.

“hope you’re doing well.”

 and with that his playing stops as well, and he collects everything before he finally flashes a gentle smile at the panel and everyone in the studio-- and at the cameras.

“thank you.”

[rkbyunbaek]

royal evaluation, august 2k18;

center stage ; feat. ♦ @rkseonho , @rkjunixr ♫ loona odd eye circle — girl front             ( position — choerry, lines — kim lip  )

baekhyun loves girl groups and everyone probably knows that by now, because it’s not a big secret or anything with how he’s always going off about them, entering ‘fanboy mode’ too often for some people’s taste. he simply loves everything about them -- the colourful outfits and the pretty makeup, all those different songs they’re blessing them with, all various genres from cute to strong to sexy and mature. the fun choreographies. and the awesome music videos as well.

honestly, he thinks girl groups are so much better than boy groups.

that’s also why he uses every single chance to use those songs for evaluations, for every possible performance as long as it fits the requirements, the task for the month. it makes practice easy on him too because baekhyun is pretty much a walking girl group trivia, can at least sing or dance a portion out of most girl group songs ( and state random facts about those he likes the most ) and it helps a lot with practice. it’s always helped him with practice.

and this month, it’s three of them.

it’s a challenge for him to do more than the required performances for once, giving him a little more workload than usual because he’s feeling up to it. because he wants to. he’s helping out hyojong and yooa, both using songs he loves dearly. groups he loves dearly. and his own -- of course, he’d use one too for his own performance. it’s a center stage. it’s about being the eye catcher of the performance;

and baekhyun easily shines the best while doing girl group songs. when he can be bright and happy and smiley in a different way while bouncing across the stage. he prefers cute ones the most. the one he picked is more bright, though. a bit on the cuter side. it’s different from the song he had in mind at first, the one he actually wanted to do before he heard it blast through the speakers in one of seocho’s practice rooms, knowing that someone else chose it as well.

at first he was a little upset but, now, that he’s standing on stage ready to perform he’s not anymore.

he has a good team, one that’s fun to work with. like, seonho is always fun, he’s the best person to work with. and jinyoung’s pretty cool too. he still thinks that they all worked together well, that they’re fitting for each other -- he’s glad that seonho dragged jinyoung with him into this. parts were easily divided, baekhyun even grabbing his favorite lines for himself even though they collided a little with his center position. even their outfits are coordinated after the colours of the girls, baekhyun feeling way too comfy with his purple pants and the ribbon around the collar of his dress shirt. it all makes it pretty easy to beam on the stage, for baekhyun’s eyes to twinkle as they start their performance.

i wonder what love is, a to z i still don’t really know. my heart only keeps getting closer to you.

everything goes smoothly, his voice pretty and clear and his dance moves full of confidence, baekhyun knowing every step. the smile stays easily on his lips when his mood is this good, how it hasn’t been in a long time. when he’s fully enjoying himself, eyes bright.

he ends up in the middle when the song ends, posing with his body leaned forward slightly and a cute grin showing, his hands framing his face.

[rkmeiqi-archived]

AUGUST EVALUATION — CENTER PERFORMANCE !      now playing: runaway by pentagon || line distribution        ╰ ft. @rkhoon, @rkjimin, @rkkangjoon, @rkxjongsuk, @hyojongrk, @rkkmh, @bambamrk, npc #1, npc #2

when she had first heard about the month’s evaluations, the concept should have excited her. taking on the role as a center in a performance of her choice—for someone who thrives off of attention, this should have been meiqi’s priority for the next 31 days. but life, she hates to say it, worked in callous, unjust ways no matter how hard she tried to rewire her brain to think otherwise. she can’t change facts.

the thought of even going to the nova building didn’t dare cross her mind for the first three days of august. meiqi found temporary purchase in a hospital chair by her cousin’s side, and only when he woke from the coma did she bother to remember that she’s a trainee with responsibilities, and she had disregarded them all without as much as a notice. so, after promising yukhei that she would visit with every chance she had, meiqi took off towards the nova building before any of the staff members noticed (she figured they already had, but were being lenient due to her recent model behaviour).

the lecture she got upon arrival had grated on her nerves. rather than punish her for her sudden disappearance, they wanted to reprimand meiqi for posting a god damn song. there was no “hello, meiqi, how have you been?” or “gee, you look like shit. did something happen?” at that point, she would have preferred to get yelled at for acting rashly so that she could unleash all of the emotions about her cousin that weighed on her shoulders. she hadn’t talked to anyone about it except her aunt, so a few sobs might have gotten her off the hook.

but no. nova didn’t care about anything except the possible profits they could lose off of a mere upload onto soundcloud. despite the staff member being semi-kind, meiqi couldn’t control how… insignificant she felt, and so of course, she had to make it worse.

“i’m not sorry for it.”

she had ranted about it to yukhei that evening, without knowing what else was to come. in a desperate attempt to get her to stop complaining, her cousin offered to help her choose her song for the evaluation (she ended up picking another, but she didn’t tell him that).

in the morning, meiqi had dashed around the seocho complex to find groups to join. initially, she had wanted only one other performance so that she could work on it quickly and then return to the hospital before visiting hours were over. somewhere along the way, after images of yukhei wrapped in bandages kept appearing behind her eyelids every time she blinked, meiqi had joined three other groups so that her mind could constantly be occupied; if she gave it no free time, then maybe she wouldn’t have to think about the fact that she almost lost her cousin the same way she lost her father.

and then those assholes had to make everything worsen, tenfold.

was hyun bin really stooping so low? meiqi couldn’t help but wonder if katie lee would treat her trainees in a similar way, or if she’d be much warmer. she liked to believe the latter, and for once since joining nova, she wished it had been another company.

for the next week, she had to deal with being monitored at a two-to-one ratio from lunch to dinner. the instructors were not kind, but maybe that was because meiqi refused to abide by their rules for the first two days. by day three, she decided to just grit her teeth and smile contemptuously. they had learned that running laps was no hindrance to meiqi, but push ups were; there was no way she was going to get down on that filthy floor, nor was she going to deal with the ache in her arms that followed.

though her afternoons were ruined, meiqi still tried to put her all into practicing each and every performance. rather than going to the hospital as soon as training ended, like she had promised, meiqi stayed until the early hours of the morning. whether it was to practice with other trainees, or to go through the motions of choreography herself, or memorize lines, almost every night consisted of only 3 hours of sleep at most, with the floor as her bed and her jacket as a pillow.

when august 11th came around, it got easier. she didn’t have to worry about the snobbish ladies whose sole job was to torture meiqi. from the texts her aunt sent her, yukhei was also doing much better and would be discharged soon. two of her biggest stressors were gone, and that was the first night meiqi returned back to her apartment and slept in her own bed, for a good 6 hours (she slept like a baby in chungha’s arms). the experience had her feeling refreshed, bringing back her positive attitude so that she could collaborate with her teams to the best of her abilities.

by the time evaluations rolled around, the colour had returned to meiqi’s face and the dark circles under her eyes had almost completely faded away. though her frame looked thinner from the intense weeks prior, most of her energy had returned, and her body was tingling in excitement to finally perform as a center.

she introduces her team and the song she will be performing: runaway by pentagon, and eagerly urges everyone to get in their places.

when the music starts, meiqi steps out into the front. she had practiced her facial expressions in front of a mirror whenever she visited the restroom, and had cycled through many before settling on the perfect one for the opening beats. she found that the best faces were the most natural-seeming ones, especially when it came to being sultry. being in a group of all boys, she had shown them each of her flirtatious expressions to find the best one to showcase; she does so, effortlessly, and hopes that when everyone rewatches these performances in september, they’ll collectively cheer in acknowledgement.

she delivers her first lines easily, what with the lack of movement so far, and they come out loud and smooth as if they were pre-recorded. meiqi comes to the front of the stage, her hand trailing across her neck as she sings: “just leave me alone. you can’t stop me” and then, along with jihoon and another trainee, she drops to her knees.

meiqi’s glad her performance is only the second out of all the groups she’s a part of. she’s not harbouring much prior fatigue from having already taken the stage one too many times, and she doesn’t have to worry as much about carefully pacing herself, since at this point, she has lots to give. the only performance she has done so far is kangjoon’s and it served as more of a warmup-slash-rehearsal for hers.

when meiqi takes center again, this time for the killing part in the chorus, her movements are fluid and concise. she doesn’t hesitate to bite her lower lip at the slow part, before replacing her alluring gaze with an intensely focused one as the choreography gets harder.

while watching the choreography of the song at the beginning of the month, meiqi was most eager to do the part where she could have the spotlight solely on her, to showcase her skills without anyone else moving. it just so happened that, following that split second, meiqi had to get close with one of the trainees.

“i’m being colored gray more and more with a frustrated heart, i close my eyes again oh yeah”

she doesn’t mind physical contact at all. jihoon was another case, but they had practiced enough for her to not dwell on the what-if’s regarding his failure, and just do it. meiqi trusts the boy, and she knows that he’s worked hard to improve and not let his timidity get in the way. when his hand passes down her arm confidently, meiqi has to suppress the proud smile that threatens to ruin her performance. instead, once he grabs her hand, she gives it a quick squeeze, as if to say “good job, you did great” before spinning around and crouching to the floor.

her cousin viian had asked, during one of their routine skype calls, why meiqi had chosen a boy group song instead of a girl group because it would have been easier to balance dancing, expressions, and singing live. meiqi had snorted at the idea. she wanted to display how much she’s improved in the 8 months between her audition and now, but also, why would she ever take the easy way out? meiqi loves the difficult choreography and the sort of elegant vibe that “runaway” has. no girl group song out there right now could take runaway’s place, or even had a chance at doing so.

“take me out, please hold me”

following meiqi’s last line, she can finally throw caution to the wind regarding breath control. she can give her all, knowing that she’s done incredible. in some twisted way, she wants to thank those trainers that pushed her for that first week, because the amount of extra exercise she had done, had done wonders for her stamina. meiqi, despite dancing like she’s never danced before, feels like she could do it a million times more (perhaps that’s good, considering she has two more non-center performances coming up).

the final chorus has meiqi placed in the center, and it feels like she belongs there. ever since she was a kid, she had a feeling that she was born to be in the spotlight, but this performance just solidified the thought. it feels like she’s actually an idol, performing on a music show stage, with cameras capturing her every smirk. she loves it. she wants to feel it again soon.

the song ends with every trainee holding one arm in the air, their heads tilted backwards to stare at their fist. seconds pass before meiqi drops the pose and cracks a smile. she bows a full 90 degrees in the direction of the panel of coaches, hoping they know that she’s being sincere right now rather than how she had been acting two weeks ago, before thanking all of the trainees that had helped let meiqi shine. she hugs each and every one of them, and even if all of their skin is sticky with sweat and they’re still panting to catch their breath, meiqi’s smile doesn’t fade.

[rkxjongsuk]

RKGHOST Tracker:

Jongsuk -  Jughead Jones  EDIT  GHOST TASK hyojongrk (planning) GHOST HUNT 

Sungyeol - Prince Philip  EDIT  GHOST TASK rkssoojin -(2/4)  GHOST HUNT rkjei (1/4) and rkyerim (2/4) 

Minhyuk - Kyoya Ootori  EDIT  GHOST TASK  nahee (1/4) GHOST HUNT x1 and minghao (1/4)