#i know the song from hong seasons

[wheeboo]

mine | joshua hong

SYNOPSIS. in which joshua is the best thing that's ever been... yours. PAIRING. joshua hong x gn!reader (ft. cheol, jeonghan, soonyoung, mingyu, chan - they don't rlly have dialogue tho lol) GENRE. fluff, some angst, hurt/comfort, friends to lovers, established relationship WARNINGS. a very very brief shirtless joshua moment LMAO, implications of reader having a toxic ex, mentions that reader's parents have a rocky relationship and separate, kissing, terms of endearment, reader and joshua have a lil argument WORD COUNT. 3.6k

requested from @staranghae: joshua + mine by taylor swift for the 2k followers event please 🩷🎀

notes: i am fluent in this song!!!! whenever my love playlist comes on and this plays i literally scream lungs out!!! and shua fits this vibe so much <3

join the 2k celebration!

ONE. "i was a flight risk, with a fear of falling / wondering why we bother with love, if it never lasts..."

Maybe you've always underestimated how the feeling of fresh air hitting your lungs makes you feel so replenished, free, like a single whiff blows away those gusts of worry in an instant.

Your fingers carry a tight, secure grip on Seungcheol's surfboard𑁋you volunteered to carry it for him so he could unload the other things from the van𑁋soft sand meeting your toes the second you step onto the beach for the first time of the summer season. Salty air tingles at your nose, the late afternoon sun baring down on your shoulders, and the expanse of the ocean opens up right before your eyes.

This place had basically watched you grow up. It carries a lot of memories that you hold dear to your heart.

You see Soonyoung already digging into the sand with an abnormally large stick, and Mingyu carrying a bunch of firewood in his arms before dropping them down onto the ground (and accidentally one on his foot, but you won't say anything about that).

However, your eyes drift and land on a figure running up from the beach shore. His dark hair is wet and sticking to his forehead, chest and arms revealed in all its glory before quickly covered up by a white, somewhat lacy button-down shirt that still doesn't do much in concealing the muscles underneath. For a moment, you nearly loose the grip on Seungcheol's surfboard.

Joshua Hong seems to spot you from even a mile away. He's running up to you before you even have the minute to breathe, a grin splitting his face that's as warm as the setting sun. Sand clings to his damp flip-flops and the hem of his black shorts as he nearly skids to a halt in front of you, chest heaving and out of breath. His shirt isn't even buttoned, dammit.

"Hey," he greets you breathlessly, letting his eyes take you in for a second. "Glad you could make it."

A soft smile of your own blooms on your face. "It's good to see you too, asshole."

A flicker of feigned hurt plays across Joshua's features. "Come on. That was so two years ago! I didn't want to push you in the water. You should know that by now."

"Wow, you care so much about me, don't you?" You nearly swing Seungcheol's surfboard playfully in his direction. "You listen to Jeonghan more than your own little brain."

"I swear, it's changed. Everything's changed since then," Joshua reasons lightly. "You have my ears for the entire night, I promise."

His words hang in the air for a moment, and there's perhaps a sliver of fondness in his eyes that you catch when your gazes meet. You feel a certain warmth spread through your chest that you try so hard to ignore each time he's around you.

You brush it off with a roll of your eyes before strolling past him, hoping that Seungcheol's surfboard was enough to cover up the slight flush creeping up your cheeks. The smile to your face still lingers as you walk towards to where Soonyoung and Mingyu are, whom dash up to you the moment they see you to engulf you in a welcoming hug.

Mingyu is almost done setting up the bonfire by the time you and Seungcheol bring all the food and supplies from the van. Jeonghan and Chan had arrived by the time the fire is lit up and crackling, casting a warm, inviting glow on the beach scene. And it isn't long when the yearly traditions of a group bonfire and beachside barbecue commence.

The smell of grilled food fills the air, mixing with the salty breeze and the crackle of the fire. And just for those moments, you forget these fuzzy feelings swirling around you as familiar laughter and camaraderie take over instead.

You've known all of your friends for different amounts of times, but being here with all of them makes it feel like time hasn't passed by at all. Inside jokes are exchanged, memories from as far as childhood resurface, and stories are told that leave you all doubled over with laughter (and Soonyoung nearly choking on a marshmallow).

It's almost natural in the way your eyes seem to search for Joshua's every single time that feeling of happiness threatens to overflow within you. The fire flickers upon his face, his eyes crinkled deeply when he smiles. Happiness looks good on him, you think. It always has.

...does his eyes search for yours too?

By the time the fire dies down, you find yourself sitting near the edge of the beach, with your legs stretched on the sand and the waves barely lapping against your feet. Seungcheol and Mingyu are already out on the ocean on their surfboards, then there's Chan and Soonyoung struggling to get their sandcastle to stay up, and Jeonghan is already knocked out on a beach towel. It's just you, and wherever the hell Joshua is.

"Something's bothering you, isn't it?"

The voice snaps you away from your thoughts, and you pick your head up to see Joshua walking up to you. A cool breeze flows through his strands of his hair as he approaches.

You blink at him. "What?"

He sits down beside you on the sand, close enough that the warmth of his body brushes against yours. "You were too quiet earlier."

You face back towards the water, cowering your head down as if guilty of some sorts.

"Oh," You murmur, somewhat to yourself. "Sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Joshua asks, nudging you lightly on the shoulder. "I told you earlier that I would be all ears for you."

You smile faintly at that. Would you still be all ears if I told you that I've been such a coward with my feelings for you?

"It's... just boy problems, I guess," You respond, though you feel a twinge of regret for wording it like that. It's more than just simply boy problems.

Joshua's jaw seems to tighten at that. "Did that jerk contact you again?"

You know who exactly he's talking about, and you let out a sigh. "No, not him. I... I blocked him a few months ago when he tried spam calling me again. Sort of gave me a good scare, to be honest."

At the corner of your eye, Joshua's hand digs aimlessly into the sand, clenching and unclenching a fistful before smoothing it out again.

"I'm glad you're okay," he says softly, gaze fixed on the grains of sand slipping through his fingers. "You deserve someone way better than him."

You chuckle at that, and a bittersweet pang shoots through your chest. It's true, you deserve better. But really, the problem isn't just jerks and bad relationships. It's the thought of falling for someone again and it all comes crashing down... again.

But it's not like you could hold back from falling when you've already fallen. The truth is undeniable at this point𑁋your heart already beats a little faster for the boy right next to you.

"Guys! Look at the sunset!" Chan's voice rings out into the cool, evening air, pointing an excited finger towards the horizon.

Simultaneously, you and Joshua bring your eyes up tot the sky together. The last rays of the sun are painting the sky in a breathtaking display of fiery oranges, pinks, and purples, like a fleeting masterpiece before nightfall takes hold.

"Wow," You mutter out in awe. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Joshua cocks his head to the side, a low hum leaving his lips. "Hmm, I could think of something more beautiful than that, honestly."

You scoff, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. "You ruined the sentimental moment, idiot."

Joshua lets out an amused laugh, a sound that sends those flutters blossoming in your stomach, one you haven't realised you've missed until this very moment. A small giggle of your own escapes your mouth as you bring your eyes back to the sunset together.

Then a low yawn stifles out of you. Maybe everything that has happened the past few hours are finally catching up to you. You let out another yawn, hoping Joshua doesn't notice. But of course, he does.

"Getting tired?" he asks you.

You give a small nod. "Just a little."

A few moment pass, before you feel an arm drape casually over your shoulders. The scent of Joshua and his warmth seeps within your bones. You almost want to protest, but the words get caught in your throat, and you lean your head on his shoulder, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

Perhaps you could spend a long time staying in this position and hope the silence is able to spill all the words you've been meaning to say for all this time, but you know it's easier said than done. Because what's the point of confessing anymore if you know it won't ever last? That you know it'll ruin everything you've built up to get this far?

You've seen it happen around you𑁋with you, your parents, hell even strangers online. It's taught you nothing but to run. That's what your mind tells you to do, but not your heart. And maybe you listen to your mind more often than not.

"Yo, Josh!" Mingyu's voice hollers out from the ocean, and you feel a certain pressure be lifted up from your head (when did he lay his head on yours?) as you catch the sight of Seungcheol and Mingyu motioning to their surfboards. "Wanna hop on?"

Joshua briefly glances down at you, and you meet his gaze, seeing the indecision in his features.

"I don't mind," You tell him. "I'll be fine here."

He hesitates. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me." You pick your head off from his shoulders. "Go have your boy-fun."

Joshua gives you a small smile, though there's a hint of reluctance in his expression. He shouts back to Mingyu and Seungcheol before standing up and brushing the sand off his shorts. You could hardly pull your eyes away from him as he does so.

He starts trotting away as you face back toward the ocean with a sigh, relinquishing the moments you get to have to gather up your thoughts.

"Hey, Y/N?"

You pick your eyes back up to Joshua marching back towards you. He stops in front of you, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

"You look beautiful today, by the way." Then he gives shoots you a wink before turning back around. "Just wanted you to know."

The kiss you leave to his cheek later on was really worth the risk.

TWO. "you learn my secrets and you figure out why i'm guarded / you say we'll never make my parents' mistakes..."

A picture frame of a four-year-old Joshua is staring back at you. He still has that same silly grin on his face, the one that has his own eyes smiling as well and makes your heart feel lighter every time you look at it. You reach out to touch the frame, tracing the outline of his little face with your fingertip.

Sometimes, you wish you could experience what he was like at this time𑁋to grow up with him, to know what exactly led him to meeting you. But then again, he's already here with you now, and maybe that's all that matters.

"All ready for bed?" Joshua's voice popping in makes you swiftly place back the picture frame back on his desk. You turn around to see him leaning against the doorway with a soft smile playing on his lips, clad with a simple white t-shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants.

"Mhm," You hum out in response as you settle back under the covers of his bed.

It isn't the first night you've spent with him at his place, but you seem to seek the feeling of his comfort more often than sleeping in your own bed. Jeonghan has been kind of nagging you the two of you to move in together at this point, but that's a leap you're a bit hesitant to jump right now. But the drawer of your own clothes in his wardrobe is a bit of an argument that's hard to defend.

Joshua crawls his way into the spot right next to you, slipping under the duvet and wrapping an arm around your waist to pull you more into his embrace. You feel his breath meet the nape of your neck, warm and soothing against your skin, and your eyes flutter to the feeling.

You shift your position so that you're facing him. His eyes are already closed, lips pursed up slightly, and even then he still looks absolutely stunning. But you know he isn't asleep. Not yet, at least.

"My parents had uh... another argument today," You confess lowly, hesitantly.

Joshua's eyes open up slightly, adjusting his head so he can look at you better. A faint crease of concern appears between his brows, the arm around you tightening imperceptibly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

You bite at your bottom lip anxiously. There are times you feel as if the only thing that could get you talking is always something revolving your parents, and you wonder if Joshua ever gets tired hearing about all of it. The thought courses insecurity to crawl in your veins, tightening your throat.

But Joshua's patient gaze towards you cuts through the uncertainty bubbling in your chest.

"Just same old, same old, you know?" You attempt to explain. "It just feels like they can't see eye-to-eye anymore. There's like... I don't know... nothing left between them, I guess. And it scares me that... it'll happen to us."

The last sentence suspends thickly into the air. Even then, you know it's more than the truth𑁋you've grown up witnessing and overhearing arguments from your parents that laid down this pessimistic view on the world around you.

You could feel your heart racing from all the anticipation. There's a wave of emotions that washes over Joshua's face, then he takes a deep breath and squeezes you tighter in his hold.

"Hey," he mutters. "Look at me."

You hesitantly meet his eyes.

"We're not like them, okay?" he assures you simply, bringing his hand up to cup your face oh-so gently in his hold. "We may argue sometimes. But the difference is, we communicate. We listen to each other. And we may not have all the answers to everything, but we'll figure it out together, alright?"

You swear you can feel the way he's holding your face also on your heart, like he's protecting you in a way from any doubts that might creep in. A small sigh escapes you, the tension leaving your shoulders as his words wrap around you comfortingly. The faintest, appreciative curve appears to your lips as you feel Joshua's thumb brush against your cheek.

He dreamily smiles at you as well, despite his face being half-buried in the pillow. And the thought of being able to wake up to this sight every single day suddenly feels a lot less like a leap and a whole lot more like a promise.

Somehow, the gap between the two of you disappears as your lips meets his. He kisses you so tenderly, mouth moving against yours with a delicate urgency, and the tiny sound that leaves you brings that smirk you could feel forming on his face.

You feel almost dizzy when you pull away, nothing but a shy look gracing over your features.

"Feeling better?" Joshua asks softly, brushing a stray strand of hair away from your face.

You could only gaze at him, wondering to yourself how he's even in real, how someone like him could exist with his sleepy smile, messy hair, and perfect features carved by the angels above, yet cherish you so dearly.

"Can you..." Your eyes flicker from eyes to his lips. "Can you... keep kissing me?"

It feels really silly to ask that, however Joshua just chuckles, the sound rumbling from deep within his chest as he peers at you with nothing but adoration.

"Of course," he replies, leaning back in. "Whatever you want."

THREE. "braced myself for the goodbye, 'cause that's all I've ever known / then you took me by surprise / you said, 'I'll never leave you alone...'"

The tears streaming down your face burns through the concrete below like acid.

"Y/N, wait𑁋"

"I told you that I-I can't do this right now."

The leaves crunching at your feet echo in your ears as you walk away from Joshua, each step feeling heavier than the last. It's around two in the morning or something, and you can't remember the last time you felt this lost and broken ever since your parents' separation. It's like the ground beneath you has crumbled away, leaving you suspended in midair, grasping for something𑁋just anything𑁋to hold onto.

You've been here before, standing at the edge of this cliff of vulnerability. It's easier to leave before you get left, easier to build walls than to let someone in only to watch them walk away.

But you've come to understand that Joshua isn't one to give up easily. He catches up to you quickly, his hand gently grasping your arm to stop you in your tracks. You try to shrug him off, but his grip only tightens slightly as he turns you around to face him.

"Talk to me," he pleads insistently, and the subtle tremble to his voice has your chest clenching. "If you're just going to keep pushing me away, then𑁋"

"Then leave." The words leave you before you can stop them, fueled by the ache in your chest and the fear in your heart. "You don't have to stay with me when all I-I do is push you away. Don't you think you deserve someone better?"

Joshua's grip on your arm loosens at your words, but it doesn't fall. His eyes scan over your tear-stained face, the quiver to your lips, and all of it has you bracing yourself for the inevitable, final blow𑁋for him to turn and walk away like so many others before him.

But instead, he just steps closer to you.

"This isn't about me staying because I have to, Y/N," he explains. "It's about me wanting to stay because I love you. I knew what I was getting into the second I realised I was falling for you. So no, I'm not going to leave you. And I'll never leave you alone because I know you're worth fighting for."

Your breath catches in your throat, his words piercing through you like a bullet straight through the heart. Even Joshua appears out of breath himself, as if he's poured his own heart out to you in those few simple sentences. The silence stretches between the two of you.

With a quiet sigh and a faint smile, he lets the tension simmer down by trailing his eyes over you.

"When I look at you, I think... I think I fall in love with you all over again like the first time I saw you," Joshua admits shyly, followed by a sheepish chuckle to himself. "It's cheesy, I know. But I can't help it. It's hard not to look at you."

You feel the heat crawling up your face as you blink away your tears clumsily, peering up at him inquisitively. "Really?"

This just draws another laugh from him. Joshua steps closer to you, trailing a hand to cup your face and the other to slide to your back to shorten the gap between the two of you even more. He places a soft kiss to your forehead, his lips lingering there for a moment before he pulls back slightly to meet your gaze.

"Really," he confirms, voice gentle yet firm. "I meant every word I said, darling."

This brings a genuine smile to your face as if it was the first one that night. You instinctively lean more into Joshua's touch, letting your eyes close for a moment to the simple feeling of him holding you.

"I'm sorry," You mumble, voice barely above a whisper. "for pushing you away like that. It's just... I'm scared."

Joshua takes one of your hands into his own to bring up to his lips, pressing a reassuring kiss to your knuckles.

"It's okay," he assures you. "We can be scared together."

FOUR. "do you believe it? / we're gonna make it now / and i can see it / i can see it now."

A pair of arms snake around your waist from behind, the relaxing melody of a piano floating through the air of the kitchen. You take in a deep breath, leaning back into Joshua's embrace as he rests his chin on your shoulder.

"Smells amazing, honey," Joshua murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to your temple.

You smile contentedly, feeling the peace of the moment wash over the two of you. The enticing smells of the pasta you were cooking waft around the kitchen, mingling with the scent of fresh herbs, garlic, and Joshua's presence right behind you.

"It should be ready soon," You say, clutching the wooden spoon in your hands to give the sauce a final stir.

Joshua's eyes arms tighten around you, pulling you even closer as he sways gently to the music. You hear the sounds of his hums hit your ears as you turn to the heat off to the stove. And as you attempt to pull away from him to grab for some plates, Joshua's grip on your waist hardly budges.

You groan exaggeratedly. "Shua, I need to𑁋"

"Marry me."

You freeze immediately, and you swear time halted right at that moment. Turning around in his hold, you're met with the sight of Joshua's eyes on you. You try to pinpoint any doubt in them, any sign that this is some sort of joke, but his gaze remains unwavering, dark eyes serious yet painted with a shine of hope that tugs right at the strings of your heart and the walls of your hesitation.

There's always that fear gnawing at in the back of your mind. But beneath it all, a warmth spreads through your chest, a certainty that feels as natural as breathing.

And perhaps, you see nothing but forever in him.

You can see it in the way his eyes soften, in the way his hand trembles anxiously against your waist, in the way his lips part ever so slightly as he waits for your response. You can see it all in him. You've made it.

You kiss him just seconds later. It's a question your heart has already answered long before the words left Joshua's lips. You lean more into his touch, feeling your heart overflow past the brink of joy, and the feelings all melt together into the singular realisation that he's the best thing that's ever been yours.

When the two of you finally break away, a single word escapes your lips, "Yes."

another note: sorry this ending was slightly rushed T-T

taglist (open) ʚɞ @enhazen @haowrld @icyminghao @slytherinshua @jeonride @lockburn-castle @vrnism @weird-bookworm @mhlsymlysn @ryuwonieebae @yeonjuns-redhair @wonwooz1 @woohaeyo @mark-geolli @caramyisabitchforsvtandbts @aaniag @wootify @carlesscat-thinklogic23 @phenomenalgirl9 @roziesmei @mirxzii @bookyeom @parkjennykim @melodicrabbit @bewoyewo @honglynights @bananabubble @treehouse-mouse @tanya596carat @starshuas @totomoshi

[scrumptiousstuffs]

are there more iconic moments that will go down in the FK rabbit hole like this taipei fanmeeting? moments that every somsom needs to know!

Cracking knuckles, stretching my neck and ready to dive in hehehe....

I already mentioned many of my favorites (and iconic) moments of FK during previous asks…

But other moments including way, way back when they were babies (back in 2018) and not officially a CP:

First saying in front of Khaotung’s fans he will love him forever (so, even back then, First has decided who he wants, y'all)

Plus the IG live in 2020 where they stared deeply into each other eyes like separated lovers in a regency novel and calling each other handsome/cute

Hopefully, you already know all the thirdwheeling First did when Khaotung was promoting with Podd for Tonhon Chonlatee.

(I say the boys were laying the ground work so that their fans would get behind them when they finally officially became a CP)

Once they are officially a CP:

Who could forget First’s inner voice during GMMTV safe house season 4, which led to countless gentle teasing by everyone to the point First now just accepts it and says it out loud in front of everyone he finds Khaotung cute (he said this during the GMMTV Live House on 15/09/23 when he and Khaotung were guests on the show) or call his bestie boyfriend in front of live TV 📺

Also, I highly recommend you read through the thoughtfully curated recap FK moments in GMMTV Safe House Season 4 by @firstkanaphans (if you haven’t got the chance to do so!)

This particular interview where First earnestly (and cue more waterwork) informed the interviewer and Khaotung he sincerely wants to build a house that share a fence with his bestie🥺😭

And while the whole GMMTV StarLympics is not my cup of tea, it gave moments like our boys becoming dramatic actors on the field or First being possessive of his bestie (what else is new? 🫣). Plus, Khaotung being a princess 💅 by wearing the dainty diamond necklace and Cartier watch while playing futsal

Both LOLfanfest (2023 and 2024) have great moments from First twerking to Khaotung shaking his booty (also the song is a banger!) and of course who can forget First stripping off his jacket in both events in front of his bestie 🤭🤭🤭...

And anon, I really, really recommend (if you haven’t yet) to watch both ArmShare episodes when they featured First & Khaotung's birthdays. Not only do we get to see them being their emotional self but they have unhinged moments like the iconic forehead kiss by Khaotung causing his bestie to breakdown into giggles.

I'm going to finish up with my most favorite clip of FK: First sabotaging himself (ThaiFuLove Event). Instant serotonin boost! Also, how do First go through all the intimate scenes with his bestie without breaking out of character???

It is also the same event we learnt our boys have GPS? (or something equivalent) on their phones, which allows them to keep track of each other.

(The interviewer and Chinese translators were giggling and laughing cause of these 2 and it made the whole thing even funnier 🤣🤣🤣)

Special mentions: FK Fanmeeting Hong Kong 2023 and the EFMFandomLive event. The latter where we have FK meowing (no seriously, like actual meows) where they were having a conversation in front of the hosts

[yizmiu]

KISSES FROM YOU 〻ᯇ # yang jungwon

001. your girlfriend | smau + written (1351 wrds)

IN WHICH ✶ a long time rivalry being used as a cover up for secret feelings. hwan y/n and yang jungwon have always seen each other as competition, being known as some of the cities bests track stars, hatred between the two was bound to happen.

“You’re joking.” Y/n scoffed after hearing all her friends say, ‘Not it’. “That’s not fair! I thought we were all going together…what if they catch me?” Y/n asked.

“They won’t catch you, all you have to do is climb the gate, find the main room, replace their flag with ours and spread fake raven feathers around the building... Easy.” Song Eunseok shrugged his shoulders. “Easy? that’s not fucking easy.” Y/n groans in annoyance. “You got the legs to climb that gate, you never skip leg day and you’re a long jump pro so…” Jang Wonyoung said, sucking her lips in.

“Seriously, if I get caught then it’s over for me.” Y/n sighed, thinking about how this was her last season competing for the ‘Iris Ravens’.

“Please, Please, Please keep a lookout for me and clap five times if you see a security guard.” Y/n begged. “Of course, you got this, and besides this is just payback from the time they got dogs to pee on our track and fields.” Hong Seunghan took hold of the varsity jacket Y/n was just wearing. She needed to disguise herself as someone—not from Iris.

“But you guys had to seriously trick me into doing it?” She groaned. “You’re the one that suggested payback.” Sim Jayun (Yoon) chuckled.

“If you get caught, just pretend they borrowed our starter blocks and we need to get them back.” Haku Shota (Soul) suggested. “Wish me luck, and if I get caught just know I’m gonna hold grudges against you all.” She pointed her fingers to her fellow friends on the varsity team.

She got out of the front seat of Seunghan’s car, then silently walked across the street. In front of her stood a school with a D1 track team, a track team they’ve been head to head with at the championships every year.

At first she was looking for a way easier than just climbing the gate. She walked around for a little trying to find anything that was broken or maybe a lost id. She had felt relief when she had found a lost id, not sure who it was’ until she flipped it around.

“Yang Jungwon,” She read out quietly, “How does he even lose something like this?” Y/n laughed as she stuffed it in the pocket of her sweatpants. She walked back to the entrance of the school, then held the id close to the camera so it didn't catch who’s holding it.

She buzzes the intercom, waiting for it to buzz back, making it known the gate was unlocked. She silently cheered when she heard the familiar buzz.

Y/n walked into the school freely, as if there weren't a million security cameras around every corner. She's never actually been here so it took her a while to find the main room. Walking past the gymnasium, noticing that there was a pep rally going on she knew it would make this dare easy.

As she walked into the main room she started to pull out their dark purple colored flag that had their mascot, a raven displayed. She removed Decelis’ flag that had their fancy logo and the vampire mascot, replacing it with Iris’ flag.

Then making her next move, scattering fake raven feathers around the huge room, making it more known who had done this mess.

Y/n halts for a moment. Hearing a walkie talkie behind a door close to her she tried to run towards the corner of the hallway, but as she did she bumps into someone. Y/n was gonna just push the body and run, but instead she played it off as normal; hugging the teenage boy in front of her.

“Please, cover for me.” Y/n whispers into the boy's ear. Yang Jungwon sighed, then gently pushed her head into the crook of his neck and his hands around the girl’s waist.

Jungwon looks at the staff and mouths a “Sorry.” The staff understands and nods her head, smiling apologetically and turns the other direction.

After she is long gone, Jungwon pulls away from the girl finally getting a good look of the girl he was just hugging.

“Jungwon.” Y/n jumps a little. She was not expecting the boy to be Yang Jungwon, one of her rivals.

“Why are you here, Y/n?” Jungwon asked, he was surprised just as the girl but he was expecting an Iris student to show up sooner or later.

“No reason, we left our blocks here.” Y/n excuses. “I know you’re here to get your ‘get back’.” Jungwon chuckled. “Then why’d you even ask?” Y/n scoffed. “Because I wanted to hear your stupid excuse.”

“But for real, how’d you even get into the school?” Jungwon asked. “With this, you dropped it.” Y/n cheekily smiled as she pulled out the boy’s student id from her pocket. “I bet you were just about to go look for it, weren’t you.” Y/n teased him.

“Yes, I was.” Jungwon glared at the girl, snatching it from her hands. “You should get out of here, don’t want to get caught do you.”

“You are the school president, get me in major trouble if you want , you have the power to do so.” Y/n teased, knowing the boy wouldn’t do something like that. “I do have the power to do so, but we both know I’m not an asshole like that.” Jungwon gently grabbed the girl's arm, leading her back to the gates of the school.

“Tell everyone I say hi,” Jungwon waves to the group of teens in the car across the street. “Tell me what you think of our get back when you see it.” Y/n says excitedly waiting for the boy's response.

“Yeah, Yeah. I’ll let you know—.”

“Jungwonie, make sure you kiss your girlfriend goodbye.” The front desk ladies tease him from the intercom. His face quickly drops mid sentence, face palming.

“Yeah,” Y/n gets closer to the boy, standing on her tippy toes to boldly give the boy a cheek kiss. “Kiss your girlfriend goodbye.” Y/n laughed, teasingly waving goodbye as she ran to Seunghan’s car.

“HOLY SHIT GUYS WHY DID I DO THAT.” Y/n freaks out as she opens the door. Jungwon is still standing at the gates, being able to hear the first part of her sentence and laughing at it.

“What the fuck just happened?” Wonyoung asks, just as freaked out as Y/n. “Did you seriously just cheek kiss, Yang Jungwon? What even happened there?” Yoon asks.

“I did what I had to do and then I almost got caught and ended up running into someone so I just hugged that person and it ended up being him, and now the staff think we’re dating so they teased him on the intercom and I felt silly so I kissed him but like…it was just so I could tease him back y’know?” Y/n spat out words by the second.

“I mean if you had said you wanted to just kiss him then we would’ve understood that more than what you just said.” Eunseok said truthfully, earning a look from Y/n.

“What? I know how you look at him.” Eunseok shrugged his shoulders.

“Eunseok is right, you guys honestly have this weird tension. I see it every time we run into each other.” Yoon agrees, and so does everyone else as they nod their heads.

“Okay, whatever.” Y/n sulks in her seat, she didn’t like hearing the truth sometimes.

“Hyung, why’d you take so long?” Nishimura Riki asked as Jungwon sat beside the boy. “Yeah, you missed your speech I had to fill in for you, I literally came up with words on the spot.” Myung Jaehyun said, he had just finished the speech that Jungwon was supposed to give.

“I realized I lost my id this morning so I went to go look for it.” Jungwon explained, “Also, Iris got their payback. You’ll see it when the pep rally is over.” He pursed his lips in a awkward smile.

m.list — previous — next

ᯇ ೀ taglist ( open ) ; @yenqa @dilrmma @hyukaaa @ilovejungwonandhaechan @jiamini @jwonistic @lovely-yunashane @yongbokified @floweryang @mokangelic @txtbrainrot @drunkhee @lcvclywon @jiawji @skzhoes @theothernads @ahnneyong @erehkinnie30 @dimplewonie @iheartjayke

[xiakeponz]

for modern AU fics - what chinese media did diaspora consume?

making this post because some of us in the diaspora server were having a chat about what Chinese media "Diaspora Chinese" watched in the 90's - 2000's (and even sooner than that) while not having access to satellite chinese media or streaming services - this is in the context of writing modern AU fics based off Chinese media/novels (so your main character's grandpa or uncle is not, in fact, watching an episode of Friends or Shortland Street or something as flavour text because sorry what the hell-)

We generally watched a lot of stuff on VCDs, including bootlegged and non-bootlegged movies, shows, anime/donghua. My household had a whole VCD album of this, and a lot of VCDs (even if they were pirated editions) would have a fancy hardcover box with a magnetic clasp and some artwork representing the show on it.

All of this is Mandarin - so not TVB stuff, because I'm from Northern China and I don't know any cantonese - but Canto friends, please feel free to add to the list! This is mostly stuff my parents liked to watch, or I liked to watch with them, with the exception of a few which I mainly watched with friends/cousins when I was maybe (in most cases) eleven/twelve years old onwards. This is a pretty personal list, meant to give people general idea of a possible "ballpark" of sorts, and by no means exhaustive.

Now, for the list of shows which I can confirm I had or someone I know had on VCD or some kind of offline media format lol (I'll try add release year stamps and links to the EN wikipedia where possible):

Period dramas (mostly Qing Dynasty stuff):

Huan Zhu Gege 还珠格格 (1998, April-) This is a classic, so many memes come from this show; hugely popular series, basically cemented Zhang Tie Lin's face as the face of the Qing Emperor for about a decade. Tie Chi Tong Ya Ji Xiao Lan 铁齿铜牙纪晓岚 (2002-2010) - I loved this show as a kid and watched all four seasons on repeat with family... The "trio" in this show are well known and loved.

Amazing Detective Di Ren Jie / 神探狄仁杰 (2004) A very popular and addictive show. Ok now the Big Four:

Romance of 3 kingdoms 1994 / 三国演义 (1994) - a classic that has had many remakes, my older cousin would play this on repeat...

Hong Lou Meng/红楼梦 （1987） - another classic with many remakes, but I think the most recognised by the public one is the 1987 one.

Journey to the West / 西游记 live action (1986) - I think the 1986 version of the live action is the most recognised one. *Shui Hu Zhuan / 水浒传 (1998) - I am not too familliar with the live action of this one in my household tbh bc my mum doesn't like it lol (she keeps saying it's too depressing) but I'm sure it's up there with the rest of the big four, if anyone has an opinion on this one please let me know!

Modern setting shows:

My dad loved all the Sun Honglei (孙红雷 - actor name) stuff, iirc it was a lot of MinGuo period espionage stuff, your shanghai 1920's sxc aesthetic. This actor has been around since 1999? Qian Fu （潜伏）was very famous, and Ren Jian Zheng Dao Shi Cang Sang （人间正道是沧桑）。 These were around '08 and '09.

Chuang Guan Dong - 闯关东 (2008) (Baidu link, sorry - couldn't get an EN wikipedia one). This show was huge when it was airing, everyone was watching it. I was pretty young but even I watched it and got invested ... and I thought it was such an "old person" show at the time lmao. Xiao Bing Zhang Ga / 小兵张嘎 （2004） (sorry, again Baidu link) - yo, anti-japanese war movies set between 1937-1945 were crazy popular - this is one of them and was very popular):

Donghua/Anime (all the stuff kid me watched and some which I didn't but were popular):

喜羊羊与灰太狼 (2005-) Calabash Brothers / 葫芦兄弟 （1986-1987） Black Cat Detective / Hei Mao Jing Zhang 黑猫警长 （1984-2010） Lan Mao Tao Qi 3000 Wen 蓝蓝猫淘气3000问 AKA 蓝猫 (blue cat) (October 1999 - Present) Legend of Ne Zha 哪吒传奇 (2003) Journey to the West/Xi You Ji 西游记 This was truly the Donghua I grew up on from when I was a bb, the OP song and ED song are classic bangers all kids know. Slam Dunk/ 灌篮高手 - People truly watched a lot of anime that may or may not have been terribly dubbed into mando (possibly canto too). Late 80s and 90s kids were all over this, and Dragon Ball, Crayon Shinchan (labixiaoxin).

Taiwanese Dramas:

This is mid-late 2000's, I would be remiss to not talk about the Taiwanese dramas of this era. Mike He, Rainie Yang, Wu Zun (amongst many, many others) were huge. Stuff like Dou Niu Yao Bu Yao, it started with a kiss, Hua Yang Shao Nv (Taiwanese version of Hana Kimi) were all pretty popular. Not sure if these shows all hold up in 2023, but boy were they popular at the time.

Note about CNY:

For CNY, people would try to tune into 春节联欢晚会 (the CCTV official CNY show) at that One Friend Who Had China Satellite TV's house. Zhao Ben Shan / 赵本山 was a comedy staple, and the show would often feature people from the music industry to perform. Eventually these people became more and more relevant to my gen and Jay Chou etc started appearing.

Last but not least Xian Jiaaaan 仙剑:

In 2005 I was all over 仙剑奇侠传 (Chinese Paladin), based off the video game. This show was crazy popular and probably sent me and a whole lot of other kids into Xianxia / Wuxia hell (and Hu Ge hell, and later I came back to love Liu Yifei). Thank you. The OST is a true banger.

[hellohannie]

Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince | hjs

“𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪”

all you've ever wanted to do was graduate high school and get out of the small town you grew up in. that was until you met (and fell hopelessly in love with) joshua hong. part of the taylor swift x seventeen collection

♡ PLAYERS - joshua hong x f.reader

♡ WORD COUNT - 8.4K

♡ TAGS - high school au, cheerleader!reader, drum major!joshua, mutual pining, fluff, minor angst

♡ INSPIRATION - Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince by Taylor Swift

♡ NOTES - hi :) this is my first ever fic on tumblr! i write on other platforms , and i wanted to get a masterlist running on tumblr as well. also, this story takes place in a high school setting and revolves slightly around the american football season. however, for the purpose of the plot, we are going to pretend that state championships happen in april…lol

ok hope you enjoyyyyy :))))

Go! Fight! Win!

You stood on the sidelines, cheering as loud as you could. Your throat was burning, your legs aching, but the adrenaline pumping through your veins kept you from feeling it. It's the most important football game of the season. Not only is it the playoff game that would determine which high school would make it to the state championship, but it's also the night all the college scouts come to recruit seniors to join their teams the next year. 

As the senior cheer captain, the pressure was on to be perfect. With all eyes and cameras on you, this was your chance to get scouted by the most elite colleges in the nation. A scholarship to a coastal university is your only ticket out of the godforsaken town you live in. There was nothing holding you back.

Except...

"Touchdown, number 13 Choi Seungcheol!"

The sounds of students cheering, the announcer yelling, the scoreboard buzzing all faded away when the marching band began the play the school's fight song. The rest of your team members, along with the students in the bleachers, ran past you to rush the field, but you stood in your place, focused on something else.

Someone else.

All the way on the opposite end of the bleachers, in the designated band section, stood Joshua Hong. While his attention was on conducting the band, your attention was on him. He was beautiful, even in his stuffy uniform, with the wind blowing hair into his face. 

You'd loved Joshua since sophomore year, when you were just sixteen years old. It was the beginning of the spring semester, and he was a new transfer student. As the sophomore class rep for student council, you were asked to give him a tour. You remember being breathless when you first saw him, his soft features and doe eyes so inviting. 

"Hi, I'm Y/N, the sophomore class representative," you'd said, blood rushing to your cheeks when he smiled at you.

"I'm Joshua Hong, it's nice to meet you!"

He'd told you, as you gave him a tour of your school, that his parents moved here from Los Angeles. 

"From LA? Why would anyone want to move to middle of nowhere America when you could live in LA?" You were dumbfounded. All your life you'd wish to move out of your little town, so you couldn't imagine why anyone would want to move in. 

Joshua just shrugged. "I don't know, I think it's nice how everyone here knows each other. It feels warm and intimate in a way."

"You don't know anyone here though, aren't you upset you had to leave all your friends behind?" 

He turned to look at you, flashing you a smile that made his eyes turn into little crescent moons. Your heart stuttered to a stop. "I have you, so at least I have one friend here."

You decided then and there that maybe you could bear living in this town if Joshua lived here too. 

From that day forward, you'd meet up with Joshua after school every Friday. When it was cold, you'd meet him in one of the practice rooms in the music hallway. He'd play something on his guitar while you told him gossip about all your classmates. Once it started to get warm, you'd meet him under the big maple tree in the courtyard. 

If there was one thing Joshua loved most, it was music. You'd never seen him look as serene as he did when he played his guitar.

If there was one thing you loved most, it was Joshua.

When he was gone all summer visiting his family in South Korea, you felt empty. Of course you had other friends. You'd known the girls on the cheer team since you were children, cheering on the junior team together. Yet, no one understood you quite like Joshua. There were times when you'd sit under the maple tree and not say a word to each other. You'd do your homework while Joshua played, and you were the happiest you'd been all day. If you'd had a good day, Joshua would play happy music. If you'd had a bad day, Joshua would play somber music. If you'd had a stressful day, Joshua would play calming music. He could read you like the back of his hand, and you loved him more for it. 

It was no surprise to you when Joshua came back in the fall and joined the marching band. You were happy for him, ecstatic even, because this meant you'd be able to hang out with him at all the games. 

Or so you thought. 

You're not sure where you went wrong, but you and Joshua began to slowly drift apart. With classes getting harder, and you having cheer practice every day after school, you barely had time to talk to each other in the hallways, let alone meet up after school.

Then, one Friday in September, cheer practice got cancelled. While your teammates all rushed home to enjoy their evening off, you ran to the music hallway. You felt giddy as you approached practice room B and heard the familiar chords of Joshua's acoustic guitar. The thought of Joshua still going to your practice room, following your old routine, made your heart race. He still remembered. 

Your fingers just barely touched the door knob when you heard a voice, a female voice. Your blood ran cold. You peeked through the little window on the door of the practice room and saw a girl leaning over Joshua's shoulder, pointing at something on the paper in front of him. It was Kim Minhye, another student in the band. 

You took a step back, hand slipping from the door knob as you tried to blink away the tears gathering in your eyes. Of course Joshua had other friends, you wanted  him to have more friends. He was kind and charismatic, it would be impossible not to like him. Yet, it still hurt, knowing your guys's thing, was no longer yours. He was doing it with someone else.

From that day forward, you only ever saw Joshua like you did tonight, at football games. During the game, you focused on cheering, in hopes of catching the attention of a scout from a D1 school. At the end of every game, you'd turn and look at Joshua, and watch him do what he loved. You'd tell yourself that you'll always love him, even after you ran away from this town. 

When you got home and went to sleep, you'd dream of him. Except, in your dreams, he'd be running away with you. 

It was the first week of March. The weather was getting warmer and senior prom was steadily approaching. Ever since you'd met him, you wanted to go to prom with Joshua. However, you would've never anticipated the competition you would have. 

You'd be lying if you denied the popularity you had at school. As a top student who was involved in all sorts of extracurriculars and captain of the cheer team, it was a given that you'd have friends in nearly every circle. Now, Joshua's popularity was a shock, and that has nothing to do with his personality. It had everything to do with his antisocial tendencies. 

You could count on your right hand the people you'd consider Joshua's friends, and they were all in the band. Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung, and Choi Hansol were just as much in love with music as Joshua, so it was a given that they'd pull him into their circle. The only other person Joshua really interacted with was Kim Minhye, who was now also a drum major. 

Besides these four, Joshua never spoke to anyone else. That, however, didn't stop everyone else from wanting to speak with him. You supposed that when Joshua looked like he did, of course people would want to be friends with him. Wasn't that what you wanted when you met him two years ago?

The courtyard was alive with students after school, everyone wanting to soak in the first warm day you'd had in months before going home. As you walked, you noticed a crowd of people whispering and pointing. Curious, you walked in a direction that you hadn't been in so long, yet felt like second nature. 

There, below the maple tree, sat Joshua. 

There, like every other day, was a new girl, timidly asking Joshua to prom.

And there, once again, she was turned down by the Heartbreak Prince. 

It started the first week of February, the prom proposals. A girl from student council, Shin Nari, approached Joshua in the cafeteria during lunch. You envied her a bit, envied her bravery. She did something you wanted to do, but never could. That's why you felt bad for her when he turned her down. You thought it was obvious that Joshua would say no. Of course it was, because who else would he go with if not the girl he spent every day with, Minhye. Still, you couldn't blame Nari. This was Joshua. If you still had feelings for him, despite knowing he only had eyes for Minhye, why wouldn't anyone else. 

Since then, there was a new girl every day who would ask Joshua to prom, in hopes that she'd be the one to win over the Heartbreak Prince. Every day, another heart was broken. 

You stood there, watching as the girl walked away from the maple tree, brushing away tears. The students around you began to disperse, criticizing the girl for being naive enough to think she was the one Joshua wanted. Joshua went back to plucking his guitar, the newly growing maple leaves casting shadow patterns on his body and the ground around him. 

When Joshua was under the maple tree, he was always alone. You never understood why his friends never joined him. Instead, they'd sit at one of the benches nearby until Joshua joined them, at which point they'd leave together. Under the maple tree is the most peaceful place on campus, so it's a shame they never thought to experience it. 

You considered walking over and talking to Joshua. It had been so long since you'd heard his voice, it wouldn't hurt to just ask how he's been.

You're about to take a step forward when someone blocks your path. You glance up to see it's Seungcheol, one of your oldest friends. You and Seungcheol met in sixth grade, when your junior cheerleading team would cheer for his junior football team. Both of you shared a dream of becoming team captains when you were seniors, a dream you both achieved. 

"Hi Y/N," Seungcheol smiled, dimples pressing deep into his cheeks. 

"Hi Seungcheol, how are you?" You glanced down and noticed the single white rose he held in his hand.

Seungcheol responded to your question, but you didn't hear a single word as your mind drifted away. Joshua's mom adored roses, to the point where their house was surrounded by rose bushes. It's why Joshua's clothes always carried the scent of roses.

A hand waved in front your eyes and you jolted, looking up to see Seungcheol looking at you with worry. "Are you alright? I asked you something, but I don't think you heard me."

"Oh, I'm sorry Cheol," you replied, feeling guilty. "I think I just need to head home and rest. What it is that you wanted to ask me?"

It was only when Seungcheol extended the rose towards you that you realized what was happening. "I wanted to ask you if you'd be my date to prom."

Your heart dropped to your stomach, and one look at Seungcheol's shy smile was enough to make you wish the ground would just swallow you whole. "Cheol..."

"I've been wanting to ask you since freshman year. We've been friends for so long, it only makes sense that-" 

You couldn't bear to let him continue. "Seungcheol, I'm sorry," you cut him off, shaking your head. He looked at you, eyes wide in confusion. "I can't go with you."

You fisted your hands into the skirt of your dress, trying so hard not to just cave and say yes just to make him stop looking at you so hurt. 

"Why not?"

"You're really sweet and you're a great friend but," you turned your gaze to the grass below you to avoid looking at Seungcheol's expression. "I don't want to lead you on or give you false hope."

The silence was so long you had to look up to see what he was thinking. "Is there someone else you want to ask you?" His voice had dropped in pitch, face devoid of all emotion.

"Of course not!" you stammered, thrown off by the question. "Listen Cheol, I'm really, really sorry," you started to step back. "I just, I'm sorry." You turned and walked towards your car, eager to get home and out of this awful situation.

Seungcheol stood rooted in his spot, tightening his grip on the rose as his hands began to shake in anger. He knew you were lying. 

It was quick. So quick and reflexive that you probably didn't even realize you did it. Didn't realize that you took a quick glance over his shoulder when he asked you if you wanted someone else to ask you to prom. Seungcheol looked over his shoulder towards the maple tree. Towards the boy who you really wanted to ask you to prom. Towards Joshua Hong, who you didn't even realize was watching you wistfully as you walked away. 

When you got to school the next day, you looked for Seungcheol. You felt awful for lying to him and running away the day before. You owed him an explanation, and felt comfortable with telling him the truth. He was a close friend of yours after all. 

As you walked through the hallways, you felt eyes on you. As usual you smiled at your classmates as you walked by them, but today they didn't smile back. Instead they were glaring and whispering. It wasn't until you overheard what they were whispering that you realized they were talking about you.

She's such a bitch.

I can't believe she just pretends to be so sweet only to stab him in the back like that.

What a two faced liar. 

When you caught sight of your teammates, you rushed over. 

"Hey guys, do you know what's going on?" Your question was met with glares.

Dani, another senior on the team, scoffed. "You're kidding right? Just drop the act Y/N."

To say you were confused was an understatement. "What? What do you mean?"

"We know what you did to Seungcheol, the whole school knows," another girl responded, crossing her arms as she looked at you in disgust.

"Oh," you nodded in realization. "I know, I reacted horribly, that's why I wanted to find him and apologize. I feel like I owe him an explanation-"

"An explanation?" Dani asked, incredulously. "What explanation is there for using someone just to make someone else jealous?"

You paused, mouth open in shock at what Dani just said. "What?!"

Dani rolled her eyes, while some of the other girls in the group just scoffed and walked away. "Seungcheol told everyone the truth. That you guys had been dating since the summer, but you wanted to keep it lowkey until college admissions were in. Then when he told you that he got into UCLA and would go to college with you, you broke up with him and told him that the only reason you were with him was because you wanted Joshua, but you knew he'd turn you down."

By now, the hallway was dead silent, everyone listening in on your conversation with Dani.  

"You're nothing but a two faced liar. I can't believe I have to spend my last year cheering with a captain like you," Dani slammed her locker shut and walked away before you could respond. You stood frozen in shock, the students around you pointing and whispering until the bell rang and it was time to head to class. The sound jolted you out of your stupor and you went to class, simply going through the motions until the end of the day.

You were walking to your car when you noticed a figure leaning against it. It wasn't until you got closer that you realized it was Seungcheol. Quickly, you walked over, betrayal clear on your face as you asked, "Why did you tell everyone we dated and that I used you?"

Seungcheol smirked at you, still leaning against your car. "You lied to me Y/N. You told me you didn't want anyone else to ask you to prom, but you did. You wanted Joshua to ask you to prom."

You stiffened, "How did you kn-"

Seungcheol suddenly stood straight, bending over to meet your height. "The boys on the team all know I've liked you since freshman year. Do you know how humiliating it would be for me if they found out you turned me down for Hong? I couldn't let you ruin my reputation like that."

By now you were seething with anger. "So you ruined mine? I came to school today with the intention of telling you the truth because I thought you were my friend. How could you do this to me?" You were yelling, and people were staring, but you didn't care. 

"Oh please," he scoffed. "You should be thanking me, I did you a favor. You think the Heartbreak Prince would make an exception for you?" He cooed, mockingly. "Besides there's only two months of school left. Who cares if your reputation is ruined, you've always wanted to run away from this town anyways. Now you've got nothing left to hold you back." He patted your head condescendingly before walking away.  

You stood by your car, waiting for everyone to leave your sight before turning and running away. A pair of doe eyes followed.

It's been years since you sat under the maple tree. While you used to sit under it and laugh, this time, you were crying. 

Seungcheol was right, there was nothing holding you back from leaving now. The only thing you cared about enough to keep you in this town was Joshua, but there's no way he'd ever want you back now. 

You sat in the shade, arms wrapped around your knees, head buried between them. You shoulders shook as you sobbed, your breath getting caught in your throat. It was then that you heard it. Music.

At first you thought it was your mind playing tricks on you. As if the ghost of memories past was lingering around the maple tree, playing back the music that used to bring you comfort. Then you heard the crunch of leaves under shoes. 

You looked up and your heart stuttered. Even the thick tears blurring your vision could never keep you from recognizing Joshua. He stood there in front of you, acoustic guitar hanging from his neck, his delicate fingers plucking at the strings. The sun formed a halo around his face from behind, and he looked as ethereal as ever. You dropped your head to your knees again, sobbing harder at the heartbreak and embarrassment you felt after seeing him. 

You felt some movement next to you, and suddenly, the air felt warmer, music louder. Joshua had sat next to you, leaning against the trunk of tree as he continued to play the guitar. For the next thirty minutes, Joshua was a steady presence next to you. He didn't stop playing until you turned to him, breathing finally evened out. You sniffled and rubbed at your swollen eyes while Joshua rummaged through his backpack. There was so much you wanted to say to him, but your throat choked up every time you tried.

Joshua handed you a pack of tissues and kindly looked away as you blew your nose and wiped your tears. "How can I help you?"

Despite it all, you couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh. Of course he didn't ask you something ridiculous like are you ok? or what's wrong? This was Joshua, who always knew the right thing to say. You think in a different circumstance, you would've felt endeared. 

"Are you sure you want to be seen sitting with me? I'm a liar and a snake after all," you looked down at your hands, chipping at the polish on your nails. 

Joshua considered you for a second. "Have you ever lied to me?"

Your eyes snapped towards him as you shook your head frantically. "Never!"

Joshua smiled, reaching out to pat your head. "Then yes, I want to be seen sitting with you. You were my first friend here Y/N. I'd never abandon you."

The whispers still followed you down the hallways, but you didn't care anymore. People called you names, said you were a bad person who used people to her advantage, but it didn't bother you. The students stared and pointed as you made your way to the maple tree that Friday. Your companion was waiting for you, guitar perched on his lap as he scribbled on some sheet music. 

Joshua looked up at you inquisitively, searching your face for something. When he found what he was looking for, he turned back to his guitar, playing an animated tune. You sat beside him and opened your notebook, working on your homework as Joshua played out your emotions for everyone who was eavesdropping.

She's happy, the chords announced. You couldn't help but smile, because he was right. For the first time since sophomore year, you truly felt happy again. 

Once again, you and Joshua fell back into your Friday afternoon routine. One Friday in mid-April, you sat under the maple tree alone. Usually Joshua was there before you, but for some reason, you beat him there this time.

You looked up as voices approached you, and you recognized the girl with Joshua as Minhye. Like always Minhye was a constant presence by Joshua's side and while the sight of them together made your heart clench with jealousy, you tried your best to will it away. After months without him, you were finally back to having Joshua as a friend. If that's the only way you could be with him in this lifetime, then so be it.

They stopped by the bench where the rest of Joshua's friends usually sat. Minhye quickly looked your way before turning back to Joshua. "So anyways, I just wanted to remind you about the scholarship audition. Don't forget to sign up for it."

Joshua nodded his assent before walking towards you. You gave him a quick smile as he sat down and unzipped his guitar case. 

"So...what was that about?" You asked, hesitantly. 

"Oh, it's nothing," he replied, quietly tuning the instrument in his lap. "The state university opened their scholarship portal for prospective music majors and Minhye was reminding me of the deadline."

You nodded, picking at the grass tickling your calves. "Ah, ok."

You paused. "Wait," you scrambled to your knees. "You got in??"

Joshua looked up at you, sheepishly, then nodded. 

You couldn't stop the squeal that made it's way out of your mouth. "Shua, oh my god! That's amazing." 

Before you could process your actions, you lunged at him, holding him tightly around his shoulders. The smell of fresh roses sent your heart racing again, and it wasn't until a few moments had passed that you realized Joshua wasn't hugging you back. 

You pulled away quickly and fell onto your butt, scooting back a bit for good measure. Joshua sat frozen, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. You on the other were apologizing profusely. 

"Joshua I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me, I-"

A warm hand took ahold of your forearm and yanked you back into Joshua's chest. This time, it was your turn to sit shock still as Joshua wrapped his arms around your waist. 

"Thank you," he whispered, his cool breath brushing past the shell of your ear. You felt a shiver run down your spine as you pulled away, looking every where but at Joshua. 

You listened intently as Joshua told you about the incredible music program the state school had to offer. You chanced a glance at him once, and it was probably one of the biggest mistakes you'd ever made. Joshua's eyes sparkled as if the galaxy was held in them. You steeled your resolve. You can't leave this town anymore, not if this is the only place Joshua wants to be. The scout from the state university would be at the championship game. You plan to impress her so much she'll sign that scholarship check then and there, even if it kills you.

It was the night of the state championship game, and for the first time since junior year, you dreaded going. You expected it all, the glares from the students, the whispers from your teammates, the mocking laughter from the football players, but it didn't hurt any less. Still, you led the cheers and did the stunts that were muscle memory by now. 

Your school won and you watched wistfully as your peers rushed the field. The football players lifted their teammates onto their shoulders while everyone hugged and cheered. That was you once before. Now, you walked towards your bag with your head hung, hoping to quickly put away all of your equipment and leave the field before drawing any attention. Unfortunately for you, you were still one of the most talented cheerleaders in the state, and you were still in the running for some major scholarships. 

"Y/N L/N!" You heard your name being called from behind. You turned to face the flock of news reporters, microphones thrusted in your direction. You were asked an endless amount of questions on the game, the upcoming cheer competitions and your thoughts on college. Like you were trained to by your coach, you answered them all professionally, without giving too much away. 

"You know Y/N," a male reporter began, "Word on the field is that you are Lakeside High's own Miss Americana." 

You tilted your head to the side. "Miss Americana?" You asked with a fake smile. 

The reporter laughed, "No need to act so coy Y/N! Miss Americana, the encapsulation of all things good. You're the perfect student: beautiful, smart, talented. What's it like, to be the very thing everyone wishes they could be?"

The microphones were pushed closer to you, everyone curious about your answer. You fisted your hands into the straps of your duffel to alleviate your anxiety, while you kept the pageant smile plastered on your face. 

"Um...well-"

You felt your body get jerked to the side as a heavy arm threw itself across your shoulder. "I should've know it was Y/N hogging all the reporters," Seungcheol joked. "I was waiting so patiently to be interviewed on my winning touchdown." He mock pouted at the cameras, effectively charming the reporters. It took everything in you not to roll your eyes and throw Seungcheol off of you. 

"We were just asking Y/N what it's like to be Miss Americana," the first reporter told Seungcheol. You froze, afraid of how he'd respond. 

Seungcheol pulled you closer to his side, flashing you his infamous dimpled smile. "She's perfect isn't she? They say humans are flawed, but you'd think she's an exception to the rule."

Seungcheol turned back to the reporters while you continued to look at him, bewildered. Why is he suddenly being so nice to you, as if he hasn't been spreading malicious rumors about you all week.

All of a sudden, you noticed his gaze shift towards someone at the back of the group. His smile turned into a smirk. The reporters may not have noticed the shift, but you did. Your heart began to race when you followed his line of sight and saw the scout from your state college. She was looking at you with a smile, and you started to feel giddy. 

She was here to offer you a scholarship, she had to be. If you committed to the university then you'd be close enough to see your family often, to see Joshua often. Finally, it felt like things were falling into place.

Seungcheol let out a theatric sigh, "Too bad our school's sweetheart is going to leave us soon."

Your eyes widened, and you accidentally let your facade slip. Murmurs of confusion rippled through the group in front of you. 

No, no, no. Please don't say it, please-

"Y/N's biggest dream is to leave this little town and go live in a big city on the coast. She's a free spirit," Seungcheol moved his arm from your shoulder to grab a hold of your hand with both of his. "While we'll all miss her, we know we have to let her go so she can thrive. I just hope she doesn't forget us out there in the big leagues."

His eyes flashed to yours, triumph gleaming in his eyes. While the reporters all gasped and started bombarding you with questions, you looked around desperately for the scout. It was too late though. She had already left to go talk to another senior on your team. 

All of those cameras taking photos and videos of you, but not a single one caught the cries you muffled inside as you lost your last chance to be with Joshua Hong.

You didn't have to wait until Friday to see Joshua this time because he came to find you at lunch the following Monday. 

"Hey Y/N!" he sat down in the seat across from you. The cafeteria was full of students, but you had the table all to yourself. You supposed that's what happens when you become public enemy #1. 

"Dani has been running her mouth all over school about how the scout from the state university offered her a full ride," Joshua rolled his eyes, something he seemed to have picked up from you. "Was anyone from UCLA there?" He sounded hopeful. 

You were a little thankful that he seemed to care so much about your future. Lord knows you've given up. It didn't matter where you ended up anymore, not if it meant you'd have to leave Joshua behind. 

You shrugged, "Not that I know of." You pushed around the salad on your plate with a fork. 

Joshua nodded solemnly, staring at your plate. 

"Shua?" He looked up at you, eyebrows raised in question. "Did you apply anywhere else, besides the state school?"

He blinked. "Why?"

You sighed, a bit disappointed. "No reason. Hey, I have to go, I forgot I have to print something for class." You quickly grabbed all of your things before turning towards Joshua. "I'll see you Friday?"

He looked like he was going to say something, but you had already turned and walked away. 

It was the Friday before prom. You sat under the maple tree, waiting for Joshua to join you. You watched as his group walked through the courtyard, when a girl stopped them to get Joshua's attention. While he split away from them to speak to her, the rest of Joshua's friends moved to their bench. When you made eye contact with Minhye, you gave her a cordial smile, which she took as an invitation to approach you. 

"Hi Y/N," she greeted you kindly.

"Hi Minhye, how are you?" You watched as she sat in front you, tucking her legs underneath her as she smoothed out her skirt. 

"I'm fine, thank you for asking!" You glanced over her shoulder as she spoke, distracted by the interaction between the girl on volleyball team and Joshua. "Looks like he's turning her down too," Minhye commented, when she noticed where your gaze was directed. 

You nodded, silently, hoping the relief wasn't too evident on your face. You played with your bracelet, feeling awkward as Minhye studied you. 

"Are you going to prom tomorrow?" She asked after a moment of silence. 

You shrugged, "I'm not sure yet. I don't really have anyone to go with." A part of you was afraid you'd be met with pity when you made eye contact with Minhye. Instead, you were pleasantly surprised when she simply nodded in understanding. 

"If you do decide to go, Hansol, Jihoon and Soonyoung will be there. They'll definitely keep you company if you'd like," she smiled reassuringly. It was just as you feared. You couldn't dislike Minhye no matter how hard you tried. She was refined, thoughtful, and clearly very talented. No wonder Joshua liked her. 

"You're not going?" you asked, genuinely curious. 

Minhye sighed in disappointment. "I can't, the Dean of Fine and Performing Arts from the state university is coming tomorrow to hold scholarship auditions. Mine is at 8 pm and Josh goes at 8:30, so he can't go either."

You're not sure why your heart clenched in pain. It wouldn't have mattered whether Joshua went or not, it wasn't like he was going to go with you. Still, whatever small flame of hope you had in you that Joshua might ask you to the dance was finally snuffed out. There was a sudden chill in the air around you. 

You plastered on a smile as you looked at Minhye. "Good luck for tomorrow then. You won't need it though. I've watched you perform. They'd be at a loss if they pass you up as a student."

You brushed away the curl that fell into your face as Minhye grinned at you. "Thanks!" A burst of laughter caught both of your attention as your turned towards the bench where Joshua had joined his friends. 

"You know Y/N," Minhye turned back you, speaking in hushed tones. "I used to think it was so cold sitting under this tree. I never understood why Josh insisted on sitting here every week, even if he was by himself." She stood up, brushing the dirt off her clothes. "I get it now," she dropped a wink in your direction. 

By now, Joshua had joined you both, setting his things down as he greeted you. "What do you get now?"

"Oh nothing," Minhye smiled cryptically. "It's kinda warm under the tree today, isn't it Josh?"

He hummed thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess it is."

As you laid in bed that night, you thought back to the conversation you had with Joshua after Minhye left. 

"What was she talking to you about?" Joshua questioned, skeptically. 

"She was just asking me if I was going to go to prom," you answered, rummaging through your bag for a calculator. 

Joshua wordlessly handed you his own before asking, "Are you? Going, I mean."

You shook your head. "Nah, I might pass."

Joshua's eyes widened in shock. "Why not? You've been looking forward to this since your mom gave you her old dress for your 15th birthday!"

Your mouth dropped open as your heart fluttered in your chest. You couldn't believe he'd remembered that small detail you'd shared with him one day years ago in practice room B. 

You turned your head away, hoping your hair would hide your red cheeks from him. "Yeah but I don't have friends to go with anymore. Minhye said your other friends would keep me company but I don't want to submit them to the life of being friends with a social pariah"

Joshua began to speak but you interrupted. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that I shouldn't let what everyone else thinks about me stop me from doing what I want." He snapped his mouth shut, shoulders slumped as a sign that you were right. "But, it's exhausting Shua. To pretend it doesn't bother me. Prom is the only other big social event we have left, besides graduation. I'd rather just skip it and lay low."

He watched you for a moment as you scribbled equations in your notebook. Then, he slammed his binder shut, causing your jump and streak your pen across the paper. Joshua turned to completely face you before grabbing ahold of your shoulders. 

"Y/N, you've spent the entirety of this semester avoiding everyone but me because you wanted to avoid being the center of attention. Yet, you were all anyone ever talked about anyways. I know it's a cringe nickname that you hate but you're our school's Miss Americana for a reason. Seungcheol spread those nasty rumors because he couldn't have what he wanted, you. Dani has been telling anything with a pulse about her full ride because she thinks she took it away from you. People want what's yours because they envy you. Use it." 

You were so fascinated by Joshua that you couldn't look away. His eyes were wide, alight with a mixture of emotions you couldn't quite place. You'd only ever seen him so passionate like this with one other thing: music. He was looking at you the way he did when he played music. 

It was like the whole world melted away. You couldn't hear anything but Joshua, see anything but Joshua. You felt like you were falling in love with him all over again.

A knock at your door startled you out of your reverie. 

"Hi sweetheart," your mom poked her head into your room. "I just wanted to say good night!"

You scrambled out of bed. "Mom!" She came back into your room, alarmed by your agitation. 

"Remember your old prom dress?"

A smile started to slowly take over your mom's face. "The one you said you didn't need anymore because you weren't going to prom."

You nodded, blushing as you thought back to Joshua's speech. "Can you bring it back out?"

It was seven o'clock at night when you stood outside the convention center, goosebumps erupting on your skin from both the wind chill and nerves. 

They envy you. Use it.  

Joshua's voice echoed in your mind as you willed up the courage to step inside. You looked down at your phone, quickly sending a text to the boy.

I'm at prom. I hope you're right about this. And good luck with your audition. You'll kill it.

With one last deep breath, you made your way to the ballroom. The music was loud, the bass vibrating the ground beneath your feet. Still, it was deafening, the way people began to whisper, a ripple of silence making its way through the room as your classmates began to notice that you had shown up after all.  

You considered tucking your tail between your legs and running back home. You were only confident when you were with Joshua, you should've known this was a bad idea from the start. Suddenly, a hand grabbed your wrist. You jumped and turned, yanking your hand away. 

"Woah, it's just me!" Hansol held both his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you."

You placed a hand to your chest as you caught your breath. "No I'm sorry, I guess I'm a bit jumpy." You nodded hello to Jihoon and Soonyoung, who both gave you kind smiles. 

"C'mon you can sit with us," Soonyoung said as he led you to one of the tables lining the side of the room. "You're a little late for appetizers but Jihoon grabbed an extra plate for you just in case you decided to show up. Here, eat!"

A small paper plate with some french fries and a cookie was placed in front of the empty chair that you guessed was yours. Your heart swelled at the boys' kindness, but you were also a bit worried. Everyone was still staring, except now, they were looking at the boys too. 

"Don't worry," Jihoon leaned in and whispered. "Any friend of Josh's is a friend of ours." You looked at the three faces who were smiling sweetly at you as you sat down. You hoped your own smile conveyed the gratitude you were unable to put into words. You sat with your back towards the dance floor. Maybe this was also planned by the boys, to keep your face hidden from the others and their faces hidden from you. 

They boys conversed with each other as you sat and listened, adding your own comments when they included you. When the music changed, Soonyoung shot to his feet. "I love this song, let's dance!"

You giggled at the pure joy in his face. That was until he grabbed your hand instead of Hansol's or Jihoon's. "Let's go, please!" he begged, bouncing on the balls of his feet. You looked at the other boys for help but they just snickered, amused at the scene. 

"There's no way he'll let you go now Y/N, you have no choice but to dance with us," Hansol called as he walked away with Jihoon. You surrender to Soonyoung's pleading, allowing him to drag you to the dance floor. You feigned annoyance, but secretly, you were glad the boys pushed you to dance with them. You finally felt you were enjoying the night. 

About an hour later, it was time to announce Prom King and Queen. Everyone returned to their tables and you applauded kindly as the couples who were voted for Prom Court walked down the dance floor to the stage. When you saw Seungcheol and Dani walk by, you sighed. There was a time, when you were a child, that you imagined you'd be Prom Queen, like your mom. Then, there was a time, after you'd met Joshua, that you imagined you'd be Prom Queen, and he'd be Prom King. It was just a fantasy though, and fantasies are just that: an imagination about something that's impossible to make true. 

To no one's surprise, Seungcheol and Dani were voted King and Queen, and they basked in the attention as everyone cooed during their slow dance. When it was time for all the couples the join, a few girls approached your table, asking the boys if they'd like to dance. Your three companions turned to you, eyes big and hopeful. It was clear that while they didn't want to leave you alone, they wanted to dance with these girls. 

"Go ahead," you gave them your signature (fake) smile. "I'll be fine!"

Soonyoung didn't look so convinced. "Are you sure?"

"We'll stay here with you if you want, just say the word!" Hansol added.

"If you'd like, we can dance with you instead," Jihoon nodded in agreement.

You tried to ignore the glare the girls shot you after that last comment. "Seriously you guys, I'm fine, go!" You waved them away, the smile staying on your face until they were out of your sight. You watched wistfully as everyone but you danced under the glittering chandelier. After two slow songs played in a row, and a third one started, you huffed. You took this as a sign that it's time for you to go home. You had just risen from your seat when the people on the dance floor began to gasp and turn to stare at the door to the ballroom. You tried to peek over the crowd but you couldn't see anything. 

"What's going on?" you muttered to yourself, as you walked towards the crowd. The gasps began to turn into whispers of a name.

Is that Joshua? What's he doing here? I can't believe Joshua came.

Your heart began to pick up speed absurdly in hopes that you heard right, that Joshua was here. 

Your brain began to scold your heart to be reasonable, Joshua is at his audition, why would he be here?

The students in front of you began to step to the side, and when you were finally able to see what was going on, you were astonished. There, standing on the other side of the room was Joshua. Your Joshua. 

Your feet were rooted to the ground, unable to move as you stared in pure shock. Joshua was here. Alone. Walking towards you.

When he got close enough, when you caught the scent of roses wafting from his skin, you reached out and slapped his arm.

"Ow!" Joshua looked at you, betrayed. He rubbed at his bicep. "What was that for?" 

"What are you doing here?" you hissed, completely oblivious to the onlookers around you. "Don't you have an audition at 8:30?"

Joshua simply nodded. "I do."

You looked down at the watch on his wrist. "It's 8:20, why are you here and not there?"

You stared, dumbfounded as he shrugged, nonchalantly. "I realized that it's more important for me to be here. With you." He was looking at you with the same smile he gave you the day you first met. The one that made you fall in love with him. The one that meant don't worry, you have nothing to be worried about. It was carefree, brilliant, beautiful.

You were at a loss for words, completely mesmerized by the boy standing in front of you. Your mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Joshua laughed endearingly, reaching out to tuck a curl behind your ear, before cupping your cheek.

"How long have you loved me?"

This snapped you out of your trance. You jerked back as a strangled noise escaped your throat, but Joshua reached out with his other hand and gripped your upper arm, holding you close to him.

"How long have you loved me Y/N?" he whispered, so softly you were sure no one else could hear but you, despite the pin drop silence that engulfed the whole room. "Because I've loved you since my first day here."

Your heart stopped beating. Your brain stopped thinking. Everything stopped. It was like the world froze, and only you and Joshua existed in it. 

"I should've told you from the start but you dreamt of leaving this town, I didn't want to hold you back. I was afraid that if I told you I loved you, then I would've also asked you to stay, and I couldn't let myself be the one thing that stood in the way of your happiness."

By now, Joshua's hands were holding yours, and he began to speak louder, as if he wanted everyone in the room to hear what he had to say. "So I pulled away from you. I thought that if I distanced myself from you, then the feelings would go away. Except they didn't. I still loved you, and it was a steady sort of love, one that didn't waver whether you were with me or if you were gone. I found comfort in that, knowing that I'd still love you, even if you left me behind some day."

You choked on a sob, remembering when you'd told yourself the same thing. That you'd always love Joshua, even if you left this town, with him in it. 

Joshua let out a breathy laugh, wiping your tears away with his thumb. "I didn't go through with my audition because I don't want to be here without you. You asked me once why someone would want to move to middle of nowhere America and leave all their friends behind. My answer is you. If I had known back then that I'd find someone like you in the middle of nowhere America," you couldn't help but laugh as you cried harder. "I'd leave LA all over again. In a heartbeat."

You reached up to hold Joshua's shoulders and pressed your forehead to his. "You have a flair for the dramatics, who would've guessed," you teased, and he laughed, holding your face in his hands so delicately, you felt precious. 

"I'm confessing to Y/N L/N, the town sweetheart, I couldn't be boring."

You smiled so wide, the way you do only when you're with Joshua. "I've loved you since I first met you, and I've been dying for you to kiss me ever since."

"Thank God," Joshua sighed in relief. "I'm tired of waiting."

When he leaned it to kiss you, it felt like you could finally breathe again. It wasn't explosive or dramatic. It was steady and warm, just like Joshua. His lips felt like silk against yours, his eyelashes tickling your skin as they brushed against your cheek. The sweet scent of roses engulfed you, and you felt your body relax into Joshua's chest. His grip tightened around your waist, causing your breath to hitch. Joshua pulled away slightly, gently bumping your nose with his as you opened your eyes to look at him.

You vaguely hear voices around you, but it doesn't register that you kissed Joshua in front of the entire senior class until Soonyoung whoops "Finally!"

You pull away and look around at all the faces staring back at you. Most of them were shocked, some of them were accepting, and a few were fond (Hansol, Jihoon and Minhye, who must've come with Joshua after her audition). Seungcheol and Dani looked at you with a mix of defeat and anger, and for the first time in a while, you didn't care. 

You look back at Joshua proudly, who smiled at you knowingly. "It's just you and me."

The music started up again, and while everyone around you started to dance, you stood there in Joshua's arms. People still whispered about you, but you didn't care. Right now, your whole world was just Joshua, and nothing else around you seemed to matter anymore.

"Babe, c'mon!" More knocks sounded on the door to your dorm room. "We're going to miss our flight!"

You opened the door to your loving boyfriend, who at the moment, was scowling at you. "I called you thirty minutes ago to tell you I was on my way. What happened?"

You rolled your eyes, "Shua you should be proud of me. I packed all my stuff in under thirty minutes." You brandished your arms wide, showing off your neatly packed luggage.

You felt a bit guilty for riling your boyfriend up on purpose, but you thought it was incredibly endearing how big his eyes and smile got when he got upset. "I can't belie-"

You cut him off with a quick kiss, pulling away with a big smile. It was physically visible, the way he melted when you looked at him like that. "It's just a one year reunion Shua." You say as you pass him your bags. "If you ask me, it's way too soon to 'get back in touch' with the people who made my life a living hell last year."

Joshua shot you an amused look before reaching out to tug on one of your curls. "Really? Because I think you're secretly dying to show off your new life in Los Angeles, and how you're so much better off."

You shot him look of fake annoyance. "I hate how well you can read me."

"No you don't!" he sing-songs back, walking down the hallway towards the elevator with your luggage. 

You turn to grab your keys off the wall hook, eyes catching on the photo above it. Preserved in a simple black frame is a page from your senior yearbook. Written under a candid picture of you and Joshua sitting under your maple tree are the words 

Most likely to run away together: Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince. 

[random-potat]

and they were roommates - kjs - profiles 1.

7ucky members.

introducing 7UCKY (pronounced lucky), a newly formed 4 member girl group under pledis ent. who debuted with a retro concept. fandom name is 4leaf. all members are close with their brother group TWS as they all trained together.

yn + yn's priv (🎧): '05, our main girlie, produces almost all songs of 7ucky, thinks she is the leader of the pledis' 05z, takes music is life seriously, is always baking (mostly eating) cookies, running on caffeine, part of the kpop canadian line.

choi bada (����): '04, leader of 7ucky, takes care of 3 literal children; one who runs on caffeine, one who thinks she's a cat, and one who would literally go to jail for fighting their ceo, clearly knows she doesn't get paid enough for this, oblivious pt.1, just wants to live life peacefully.

hong ria (🐈‍⬛️): '05, wants to live life as a cat, the actual leader of the pledis 05z (cause shes the oldest), somehow knows almost everybody's secrets, if she cant become a cat she wants to retire as a cat lady.

kang eunwoo (🌙): '07, maknae, joined pledis in 2019 to stop pristin from disbanding (clearly didn't happen), barely hanging on with fromis_9, trying to prove that a pledis gg can last, defends women's rights and wrongs.

a/n: honestly it was very hard to come up with a name for a group like looking at it it looks weird but it was the best name i could think of that actually had some sort of meaning (ーー;)

synopsis: With long-time K-pop fans asking for another season of the infamous variety show We Got Married, MBC brings it back with a spin-off, We Became Roommates. As a way to bring K-pop fans together, the first season involves six idols born in 2005. With seeing each other every day, doing missions for every episode, making memories, and fans watching and shipping, blossoming friendships and a bubbling romance can't be helped. pairing: idol!jongseob x fem idol!reader genre: idol au, crack, fluff, humour, coworkers to friends to lovers

next ✉︎ masterlist

likes and reblogs are appreciated ⋆˙⟡♡

taglist; open 📌: @yoizhrs @sunoostripletriple @seobluv @sirenla @rkivegirlsblog @tkooooop @forever-atiny ~ (send an ask or comment if you'd like to be added to the taglist ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ,<)~✩‧₊)

[bizarrequazar]

GJ and ZZH Updates — December 31-January 6

previous post || all posts || following week

And we're back! Sorry for the break between posts, thank you all for your patience.

This is part of a weekly series collecting updates from and relating to Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan.

This post is not wholly comprehensive and is intended as an overview, links provided lead to further details. Dates are in accordance with China Standard Time, the organization is chronological. My own biases on some things are reflected here. Anything I include that is not concretely known is indicated as such, and you’re welcome to do your own research and draw your own conclusions as you see fit. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or additions. :)

[Glossary of names and terms] [Masterlist of my posts about the situation with Zhang Zhehan]

12-31 → Gong Jun's studio posted eleven photos of him rehearsing for his performance that evening. Caption: "The lark @ Gong Jun Simon shines, see you tonight"

→ Deeyeo posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ 361° posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun. (1129 kadian)

→ Dragon TV posted a short video with footage from Gong Jun's rehearsal.

→ Chinese whalers who bought the scam's photobook (the one that was being sold on a soft-core porn site, see 10-26) started posting photos from it. The content includes such things as Zhang Sanjian shaving, eating, etc. and feels very voyeuristic, so 100% it's aimed at dreamgirls. Photoshopping quality is on par with the scam's usual stuff.

→ The Instagram posted six photos of "Zhang Zhehan".

→ Gong Jun performed at Dragon TV's New Year's Eve show, performing his song 明天晴空万里. [performance video] [on stage with Justin and Johnny] [backstage interview]

→ Gong Jun's studio posted nine photos of him from a New Years photoshoot. Caption: "The blue sky is thousands of miles away, and the clear waves are vast; whatever your heart desires, you will go wherever you go. @ Gong Jun Simon is gilded with colour and feels the beauty of the past."

They later also posted a video from the same shoot. Caption: "The sound of pressing the shutter, and the smiling expression was frozen. Waiting for the update of the four seasons, enjoy the clear sky with @ Gong Jun Simon."

01-01 → Gong Jun's studio posted four photos of him holding balloons spelling out "2024". "Starting a new journey in 2024, @ Gong Jun Simon wishes everyone a happy New Year and a fun and promising new year!"

→ Gong Jun posted a douyin of him doing a little dance with Justin and Johnny Huang (two of his costars from Go Fighting). Caption: "Dance with your brothers! Happy New Year 🎉" BGM is Stay by The Kid LAROI feat. Justin Bieber.

→ The Instagram posted ten photos of "Zhang Zhehan" at a New Years fanmeet in Thailand. During this fanmeet, Zhang Sanjian reportedly said that he has been less active(???) recently because his mother has been in and out of hospital due to a viral infection, and has gone blind in one eye. The post he later made about this was worded in a very impersonal way. A reminder that the real Zhang Zhehan was very private about family matters like this, including never mentioning his father's death in 2016 until his post-813 interview with Li Xuezheng.

→ 361° posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

→ Gong Jun posted two photos of himself with a puppy. Caption: "Wishing everyone a prosperwoof 2024!" This was reposted by his studio with the added caption, "@ Gong Jun Simon and everyone will be prosperous in the new year!" He also posted these and two more photos to his Xiao Hong Shu, caption "Woof woof woof! Happy New Year!", and his Instagram, caption "2024 woof woof woof!"

→ Gong Jun's studio posted a year in review video for 2023. Caption: "Annual report, please check it out! In 2023, cultivate 'Ye' morally, be meticulous in every 'Si', and interpret various forms and postures with ingenuity. In 2024, actor @ Gong Jun Simon is 'modest' and a 'beginning' of a brilliant generation, running towards the ideal 'rank' with enthusiasm."

→ The Instagram posted four photos of "Zhang Zhehan" holding an apple.

→ For New Year's Day, Gong Jun changed his Weibo auto-reply to "Happy New Year, I send you a song of wealth, Do re mi fa fa fa fa fa!" The following day, he changed it back to the "Now that you're here, won't you stay?" auto-reply that he's had it set to since the Word of Honor concert. [screenshot]

01-02 → One of Gong Jun's lawsuits against an anti was announced to have been settled in Gong Jun's favour. It's worth noting that it was closed in September but could not be made public until now.

→ 361° posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun. (1129 kadian)

→ Gong Jun's studio posted a video of Gong Jun with the puppy. Caption: "@ Gong Jun Simon: Is it warm? 🐶: Warm, but want to escape."

→ Gong Jun posted a commercial he did for 361°. [subbed video] Caption: "Put down your endless work and trivial matters in life, go out, and you will discover the big world. In the new year, let’s go wild with me and @ 361degrees."

→ The Instagram posted five photos of "Zhang Zhehan" and one of a bedazzled music note.

01-03 → Gong Jun posted a commercial he did for L'Oreal. [subbed video] Caption: "This time, [L'Oreal] and my care are not just about the scales of the hair, making the hair smooth and shiny; they are also extended to nature to jointly protect the strange and rare scales and life of pangolins. Let's 'protect your skin and shine' with @ L'Oreal Hair Care."

→ The Instagram posted five photos of "Zhang Zhehan" and one of clouds.

01-04 → Nothing of note.

01-05 → 361° posted a photo ad featuring Gong Jun.

01-06 → Gong Jun's studio posted a behind the scenes video of a photoshoot he did with Tissot. Caption: "Behind-the-scenes footage drop TIME! @ Gong Jun Simon rode on his beloved motorcycle"

→ LaLaTV re-aired the first five episodes of Castle in the Time.* They previously aired these on 12-27, but people aware of the Zhang Sanjian situation have been avoiding bringing attention to it. *Zhang Zhehan's old drama that is suddenly and suspiciously being aired in Japan, see [here] for info.

Additional Reading: → N/A

previous post || all posts || following week

[applejongho]

2023 has come to a close so that means it's time for my year in review! i've been a gif maker on tumblr for more than two years now and this account keeps growing and getting so much love. im so grateful for all of my (jong)homies and mutuals that have let me get to this point and have fun along with it. like, i hit 1k and 2k followers in the same year! thats fucking rad!

i giffed a lot more this year than last and i think it's because i was finally able to get ps and vapoursynth near the end of 2022. my confidence soared as a result. not to get mushy, but this year on tumblr has been amazing because of that. :( this was the first full year i felt like a "real" and "competent" gif maker because i finally was using the tools that everyone else was using and i knew how to use them. thats a big thing for me, because for so long i struggled with figuring out how to download vs (and ps) (on mac btw) and i felt jealous that everyone else could do it so "easily." ps and vs are also really unintuitive if you dont know what youre doing so to basically brute force my way to success is something i want to pat myself on the back for. i did this. im insane. and now ive been properly expressing my insanity via gifs for over a year now that ive been so proud of! yippie!!!! as a result of my Trials and Tribulations, ive been thinking about creating tutorials for how to download ps, vs, and how to properly use ps to make gifs for those that dont even know where to begin now that i am a Seasoned user. bc i fucking get it. let me lend a hand.

but anyway.

some highights of this year that are worth mentioning:

i hit 1k followers in january! heres my 1k followers event posts

i hit 2k followers (!!!!!) in november!!!!!! heres my 2k followers event posts (so far)

i dabbled in combining ateez x (usually) alt/metal/rock songs now that i am a Confident and Certified Alternative Lady. here are those gif sets

still insane for jongho. also happy one year to biasing hongjoong. also happy almost three years of being an atiny.

i learned some new coloring tricks. i learned some new sharpening tricks. slayage all around!

below the cut are my most popular and my personal fav posts from each month this year as well as the total number of gif posts made each month!

tagging mutuals to view and to also do their own 2023 year in review (only if u want! absolutely no pressure ❤️): @yunwooz @hwanswerland @miinsang @booskwan @wifehwa

JANUARY

most popular: hongjoong doing a handstand

my favorite: short hair jjongie comp set

total posts made: 39

--

FEBRUARY

most popular: guerrilla era hong comp set

my favorite: also guerrilla era hong comp set!

total posts made: 13

--

MARCH

most popular: cruella hair hong comp set

my favorite: red hair jjongie

total posts made: 23

--

APRIL

most popular: driver yunho

my favorite: gorgeous brown-red long hair jjongie just standing there

total posts made: 31

--

MAY

most popular: barefaced ot8 (top post of the year!)

my favorite: gorgeous brown-red long hair jjongie pt 2

total posts made: 35

--

JUNE

most popular: hong says fuck

my favorite: sparkly jjong

total posts made: 37

--

JULY

most popular: bouncy relay dance ot8

my favorite: guerrilla one year anniversary post

total posts made: 32

--

AUGUST

most popular: thanxx woo

my favorite: hala hala jjong

total posts made: 19

--

SEPTEMBER

most popular: gorgeous blond hong

my favorite: dune yeo

total posts made: 22

--

JJONGTOBER

most popular: one day at a time san

my favorite: jjong according to the tags birthday post!

total posts made: 12

--

HONGVEMBER

most popular: hong according to the tags birthday post!

my favorite: also hong according to the tags birthday post!

total posts made: 10

--

DECEMBER

most popular: hong smirking and giggling

my favorite: halazia yeo comp set

total posts made: 20

--

i hope that 2024 brings a lot of new opportunities for me. i'll be graduating from uni in this spring and will hopefully obtain a Big Girl Job. thanks for sticking with me, jonghomies. have a happy new year!

-- anne 🍎🐻

[fayewongfuzao]

[TRANSLATION] Harper's Bazaar Hong Kong, March 2001

Faye Wong’s ‘I do what I want’ demeanor might give one an untouchable feeling that is so high it can’t be reached. She even projects an image of being a thousand miles away. But is this only an 'image’ or is it the truth?

Facing the pressure of the media who often distorts stories of celebrities’ private lives, does she have to directly put her feelings, her happiness, and her sadness in everyone’s faces? Is this the responsibility of a public figure? Perhaps in her own self-protecting way, like anyone else, hidden in her is a heart full of passion.

Maybe this interview will allow us to see what Faye Wong’s deep thoughts are.

About fashion/image…

Do you think you are beautiful?

I never use the word “beautiful” to describe anything to do with myself. I understand that everyone has different definitions for this word. But for me, I don’t even use this word to describe some people that I like very much. Maybe “beauty” feels too external to me! If the individual is attractive to me, it is beyond the level of “beauty”.

The media often lauds you for being a stylish singer. Every time you appear in public, your looks are often reported on by the media. What is your opinion on this? Are you bored by it?

I always try to be indifferent to any media reports. But there is no denying that when your image or appearance is appreciated or recognized by others, I believe it’s not hard to accept! However, I think these media reports are just gimmicks. They are really meaningless and will not cause me any emotional distress.

Do you think that as a singer, your clothing style and image shouldn’t be manipulated by a stylist?

Not only singers, but even ordinary people. If our appearance is only manipulated by stylists, it wouldn't be gratifying. The person who knows yourself best is always yourself. If you only allow outsiders to guide you on how to dress, then your own style will be completely lost. At least I would feel uncomfortable. I firmly believe that no matter how much an image is designed, the most basic truth should be based on personality. What’s the point if you can’t even understand yourself!?

Do you have any fashion designers you admire or love?

Never thought about this. Basically, I start with the “garments”. I rarely buy a certain designer’s design every season just because of my love for them. The most important thing depends on whether their seasonal works [collections] can meet my personal preferences.

From the days of  "Wong Jing Man", your image was “ordinary” at the beginning, and now you are recognized as a person with outstanding style. How did you cultivate such a unique personal taste?

I have never tried to cultivate any unique style. Are you speaking of the changes from my debut to the present? I believe that everyone will inevitably go through different changes as they mature. From beginning to end, what I wore was purely out of my different preferences at different times, and I never cared about the likes and dislikes of the public.

Do you think the public is more interested in your image or your music?

There are two aspects.  For example, for some who love to listen to my songs, one day I might wear some clothes that do not suit their “eyes”, but I believe they will still support my music. It is also possible that some people loved my style and started trying to get familiar with my music and fell in love with the songs I sang. For me, it doesn’t really matter which way they start [as fans].

About the media…

What do you think about the media in Hong Kong?

Compared with Hong Kong, the Taiwanese media gave me a “quiet” feeling. Gossip news is inevitable. But it is obviously not as severe [as Hong Kong]. The Hong Kong media pays particular attention to the development in this area and it has even become a common practice. Local competition is fierce, so they often have to “win by a surprise move” [aggressive tactics].  But in fact, there is fierce competition everywhere! Why is it only the Hong Kong media [that does this]? I am not denying the need for this type of reporting. But it does seem to be too widespread now and it has reached the point of “going overboard”!

Often harassed by paparazzi, it seems that you have lost your private life! It may be as simple as eating a bowl of wonton noodles and the media will make an exaggerated and inaccurate report so that it becomes another “drama” to entertain the audience. How do you feel about this? Is it tiring?

In these circumstances, the only thing you can do is try your best to protect your privacy. I can only look a little bit at these false reports! I believe that the audience and readers just smile after seeing these reports, so why take it too seriously? Besides, its purpose is only to entertain the public. I know how to separate it from my private life.

Is the price of fame worth it?

There is certainly a price. To become a public figure, you have to face the curiosity of the public, and naturally you will be affected by these curiosities. I understand this and it is human nature, but I don’t think that because of this reason, I need to lose all privacy. This is not my responsibility. If the media and the general public think that just because I am a celebrity that I “should” have no privacy, then it is a very wrong idea.  I believe they should also adopt an open attitude towards their own comments and criticisms.

If you have the opportunity to choose again from the beginning, would you rather choose the fame you have today or just be an ordinary person?

There is no choice! Even if you start from scratch, it will only go with the flow. Actually, everything that happened, I didn’t “choose” it, maybe it’s fate…

About myself…

What is your goal in life? Is it everything you obtained now?

I hope that in any environment and situation, I can be carefree and at peace. Actually, this is very difficult to achieve. I am only trying to learn the principles of being a human being from every moment.  

Was it your childhood wish to be a singer?

It was not. I never thought about becoming a professional singer. But I loved to sing since I was a child. It was an inevitable thing.

Do you love making movies?

Actually, sometimes I don’t have much confidence in acting. But at the same time, I am strongly interested. The situation is very contradictory. So I will only take a film if I have enough confidence. Singing is always more natural for me.

Ever wondered what you would do if you were not a singer?

Never thought about it. I am not a person with a long-term plan, so I am more comfortable going with the flow.

Do you like living in Hong Kong? Or is there another place you want to settle down?

It has been 13 years since I have settled in Hong Kong. It has been a long time and I have become accustomed to everything that happened in Hong Kong. And in the future, I hope that I will not settle in only one place….Hong Kong… or Paris which I love… That’s what I hope!

At the present moment, what do you think is the most important thing in life?

Same as what everyone else wants every moment: carefree mind and healthy body.

Are you satisfied with your current life?

Satisfied. Actually, I have a lot now, so I should be satisfied! The only other thing is hoping that oneself can be better. What I mean here is not wealth or career, but spiritual experience and pleasure…I just hope that I can “practice” this better. Right!

[boysplanetrecaps]

Build Up Episode 0: Getting to Know the Boys Part 2: Team Soul

Hey friends! Continuing my introductory posts about the guys on MNET's Build Up before I can dive into proper recaps, here's the low down on Team Soul -- their background, basic info, and my opinion on their teaser performance (and other performances). (I did Team Allround last time.) Let's go!

Same disclaimers apply -- 1) these are all excellent vocalists and I am just splitting hairs here 2) this is taking forever and screencaps with my video source are tricky, so please forgive my awkward screencaps and occasional typos. Thank you!!

Ma Jaekyung

Jaekyung is 27 and from a group called Romeo, where he was the main vocalist and performed under the name of Kyle. He also appeared on Mixnine, that blighted show that produced a group that never debuted. It was such a fiasco, ugh, and so many trainees went through hell for nothing. Bitsaeon from M.O.N.T. , Jeong Inseong from KNK, and Donghun from A.C.E. all went on that as well, so they all might have gotten friendly then. 

Jaekyung (and the other members of Romeo) also went on Peaktime, a show for idol groups that had already debuted but weren’t super successful, including Vanner (who won!), M.O.N.T, and BDC, so he may have met Taehwan, Bitsaeon (again), and Hong Seongjun. When Romeo was on Peaktime, they performed the SHINee song Juliette, which is a cute choice since that’s the name of their fandom. And then MNET didn’t bother airing that performance. Thanks, MNET! Themnet. 

So, as for his group itself. Romeo was a 7 member group that debuted in May of 2015, when he would have been 18 years old. The group did slightly better in Japan than they did in Korea, but none of their Korean singles charted at all and most of their MVs have fewer than 200,000 views. Their biggest hit appears to be Lovesick. When the guys from Romeo went on Peaktime, they revealed that Romeo had disbanded at some point in the past. 

In Jaekyung’s k-profiles listing, it says he’s” a 4D” kind of guy, so I guess we should watch out for his personality, if MNET will show it. It’s hard to picture a guy in a tan blazer as wacky, but we’ll see!

His teaser song was V25, Passing by Kim Bum Soo. For me, he has a really nasal tone to his singing that isn’t my favorite, and I am not a huge fan of his kind of wobbly vibrato, but like everyone on this show, he’s essentially a very good vocalist, with what seems like a very good sense of pitch. Again, it’s a ballad and my ears sort of turn off, so I’ll keep an open mind. 

Seokhwa

Here is Kang Seokhwa, who is in WEi. He also went on YG Treasure Box, where he would have met CIX’s Seunghwan, and Produce X 101, where he ranked 35th and would have met two of the all rounders on this show, Choi Suhwan and BDC’s Hong Seongjun.

WEi, pronounced something like “we-eye”, is a six member group that debuted in 2020. WEi is almost entirely made up of contestants from Produce 101, Produce X 101, and Under 19, including some who won their seasons. Seokhwa is their main vocal. The WEi song Spray spent some time on my playlists recently, but I don’t know many of their other songs. WEi’s most popular member, Johan, is significantly more popular than the others; he came in first place in Produce X 101. Their videos get around 10-15 million views each, putting them slightly lower in the popularity ranking than CIX and AB6IX, but leagues ahead of IMFACT and Romeo. 

I checked out an MR removed video of Spray and Seokhwa was really stable, so I can see why he’d come on the show. He’s V37, and it’s a ballad and you know me by now so it’s hard for me to give this a chance but he has a sweet voice that sounds best when he’s singing more softly, which can’t be said of everyone on this show. We’ve got a lot of belters here! He strains a bit on the higher notes, and I feel like he closes his throat a bit when he belts, but doesn’t get too nasal, which is good. He’s young yet -- he’s only 23, one of the younger people on the show -- and I hope he keeps working on his voice, because he has a lot of potential. 

Donghun

Donghun will turning 31 at the end of February of this year (2024), and he’s already done his military service.

He is the main vocal of A.C.E., a five member group under Beat Interactive/Swing Entertainment that debuted in 2017 with the song Cactus. Their songs don’t chart in Korea, but they get into the top twenty on the US World Chart, because USA has taste, yo. 

If there’s one song of theirs that I think you’d know it would be Goblin (Favorite Boys). But there’s also Under Cover, which is also a banger. Whoever did the subtitles on their older videos puts the names of the singers in, so you can easily find Donghun in their videos. Some of their older songs have 15-20 million views, but their newest comeback, an English language mid-tempo ballad called Effortless, has less than a million views, maybe because it’s in English? Or because it’s a mid-tempo ballad? I don’t know, if you like Who Do You Love by Monsta X, songs like that, you might like Effortless. Really, their songs are good. I feel like it’s a weird situation where everyone likes A.C.E. but somehow they’re still kind of nugu. I know, that doesn’t make sense. 

Donghun went on Mixnine (he won 8th place and should have debuted), so he probably knows the other Mixnine contestants on this show: Bitsaeon from M.O.N.T., Ma Jaekhyung from Romeo, and Jeong Inseong from KNK. He may also know Park Jeup from when they both went on I Can See Your Voice 4.

He set himself up for a tough time by singing an EXO song for his teaser song (V20, Miracles in December). Literally no one can sing it like they can. Still, he does pretty well. He has an appealing warm vocal color and he really goes for that long held note, holding it with good breath support. I just worry because I can almost feel his throat straining on the higher notes. He hits them, but it’s got to hurt. He also relies on some pretty loud background vocals so it’s harder to tell how much of it is live. Despite that, he’s an excellent idol singer and I’ll always support A.C.E. and him.

Lee Minwook

Minwook is 23 and is in a group called Newkidd. I guess he likes vests? What, oh what, what on earth is up with the styling for these guys? Most of them are dressed like they’re going to a college interview. I don’t get it!  

As far as I know, Minwook hasn’t been on any other survival type shows, making him one of the 15 members of the cast who haven’t (and 4 of those are musical actors). 

Newkidd is a 7 member group under J-FLO Entertainment, an agency that manages only them, and the debuted in 2019. Most of their MVs get a million views or fewer. From what I can tell, their most popular song is Tu Eres, featuring the Spanish refrain “tu eres, tu eres, tu eres bonita” (you are, you are, you are pretty). The comments on the video are mostly in Spanish and show a lot of excitement about hearing Spanish in a Kpop song, and I can’t blame them! Representation! So maybe Newkidd is more popular in Spanish speaking countries and is courting that market. That’s smart -- it’s a huge market! 

In his teaser, Minwook was V09, The Manuel by Eddy Kim, an example of a ballad I actually like -- it has some interesting chord progressions and isn’t sappy at all. I also like his performance. He seems to just be singing live while accompanied by just one guitar, which gives me faith in his vocals. I think his voice might be more “unique” than “soul” but these categories are pretty reductive anyway. He puts a lot of warmth into his lower notes and makes you almost feel like you understand what he’s singing. He doesn’t display his higher register or belt as much here, so I’ll be waiting to see more of what he can do. 

Lim Sanghyun

Sanghyun is listed as a singer-songwriter, and he’s 27. He’s considered a ballad artist specifically, and is signed to MNH entertainment, where he releases mostly digital singles. I know the ballad market in Korea is really big, even if it’s not my favorite, so go for it, Sanghyun! 

His teaser was V14, one of those kinds of ballads I hate so much that it’s hard for me to be fair. He sings in that classic K-ballad style, that kind of gruff whisper-sing, which can go either way for me depending on the song.I don’t think he ever really lets go and belts in his teaser, so I’ll be curious to hear what that would sound like. 

Bain

This is Bain, age 22, and I adore his voice. (His name is pronounced “bane”, if you’re wondering, based on the hangul.) 

Let me talk about him for a moment. 

No, wait. Instead of me talking, you should just listen to this. It’s just a straight forward, earnest cover of Oliva Rodrigo’s Driver’s License, with no winky “ha ha I’m a boy singing this,” no sarcasm. Just a pure performance. His vibrato is so sweet. He exhibits barely a trace of nasality, and when it’s present, it’s for the emotion of the song. The notes he hits in his full chest voice? I can’t believe it. And his mixed register is like, chef’s kiss. I can’t. I just can’t. I’d never heard of him before this show, but I heard this performance and I was good. Even my fella was like, “wow, this guy has technique.” So you’re going to have to accept that I’m a Bain fan and will be cheering for him. 

I had to look into Just B. They’re a 6 member group under Bluedot Entertainment, a subdivision of Kakao that manages only them. They debuted into 2021, and their members were contestants on Under 19, I-land, and a few other survival shows. (Side note: I watched a lot of I-land, but never saw any of Under 19. Starting to think I should add it to the list.) JustB has a few title tracks out at this point and they usually get about 10 millions views each. I listened to a few of them over the last few days (it’s taking me a while to write this recap) and I’ve come to like a few of their songs. Their most recent comeback is called Medusa, and though the lyrics make negative amounts of sense, it’s pretty catchy. I also liked Damage quite a bit. The group doesn’t seem to have set positions, but it seems that Bain and Geonu are more or less the main vocals. 

Jay

Jay Chang, V02, age 22, famous for almost making it into Zerobase1, landing in 10th place. He’s American, with a white-Filipino-Chinese ethnic background, and on Boys Planet, he was extremely popular among the “Global” voters, but not very popular among the Korean voters. He also went on another show called Under 19 at some point, if you watched that -- I didn’t, but maybe I should. In case you didn’t watch Boys Planet, here is his initial audition to Rush Hour,and here is his performance of Exo’s Love Me Right (he was main vocal).

I know that most of my 3 or 4 readers are Jay fans, and that is cool by me. I’ve always thought he has a really really lovely, clean vocal color, he has good stage presence, and I think he’s basically a nice guy, though he sorta gives me fuckboi vibes sometimes. I also think -- and don’t get mad at me, ok? -- I also think that he needs to work on his pitchiness and nasality. That’s true in both the opening notes of his Rush Hour audition, and at points in his Baby Baby teaser song. He was one of the top 3 or 4 vocalists among the Boys Planet boys, but he’s in a different setting now and might just be outsung by the other vocalists here. I hope that you’re ok with that. I’m not saying that he’s a bad singer. Everyone on this show is a very good singer, and Jay is also a very good singer! I’m just looking for a voice that can compete with D.O.’s voice, and my standards are up in the sky. (Hanuel wilo fly fly!)

Jung Soomin

Jung Soo-min loves slightly goofy, informal outfits that scream “Hi, I’m American!” Which he is -- born in Chicago. That's about all I know about his background.

Check out his performance, V30, a really sweet cover of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You,” in which he accompanies himself on the guitar. I think it speaks for itself, but I’ll say a few words anyway. I really like his voice -- sweet, light, a little textured. Great agility, and good performance of the emotion/feeling of the words. Just delightful. I’ll forgive your hat. 

Here he is on tiktok talking bout his experience on the show (in English). He says that his attitude toward competition is to just do the best he can, that the competition is really with himself. He seems like a nice guy.

Kim Seongjeong

Seongjeong is a musical actor, and his performance in V16 shows that. It’s not a style of singing that I tend to respond to, but I respect its natural quality and hard-earned technique. Vocally, he wouldn’t at all be out of place on Broadway. Considering his rich timbre and excellent breath support, I’d be interested to hear him sing something more in the pop or r&b style to see what it would sound like. My sleuthing tells me that he’s 25 (born in 1999) and acted in Hadestown and West Side Story. And look at that smile! Totally transforms his face. 

Park Joohee

Joohee is another one of the contestants I just can’t find much info on. His teaser song was V15, Stand by Me by SHINee, and it was perfectly nice. Not mind blowing, but easy to listen to. He has good agility and a nice vocal color, but seems to lack breath support -- either that, or he was just really nervous, which seems likely.  Also, the camera hardly ever shows him, so it was really hard to get a screencap of him.

Ok, that's team Soul! Feel free to go on to the next post, Team Power.

And thanks for your amazing response to my first post -- I was really worried you all would murder me for saying slightly negative things and thus far that hasn't happened, so thanks! You're all peaches. Have a beautiful day.

[groenendaelfic]

ˏˋ°*♡➷ get to know me ༊*·˚

Thank you @sflow-er for the tag!

The aim of this tag game was to take your favorite movie, character, animal, drink, song, season, book, color and hobby and create a mood board.

I apologize for the super long delay. Was there a common tag everyone used? I was on a grief retreat mountain wondering about the meaning of life and so missed everyone's entries and I'd love to catch up.

Movie: Enter the Phoenix (2004) this movie is full of my favorite tropes. Secret & mistaken identity, power dynamics, competence kink, enemies to lovers friends, swords, loyalty. It also has a well written and portrayed out and proud queer lead. It didn't age super well, but it makes me nostalgic of the Hong Kong that once was, especially from a queer perspective, and remains my favorite comfort comedy.

Character: Methos from Highlander the Series. Wilhelm is my precious and my baby and I love him, but Methos has had an almost thirty year head start, okay? Maybe after season 3 and with some time to digest things will change, but for now it's still Methos all the way.

Animal: Elephant. I also like cats and guinea pigs but elephants always made me feel safe (as a kid elephants where about as real to me as dinosaurs)

Drink: Assam tea. Never come near me with Darjeeling. In a pinch a strong espresso macchiato will do. Bonus points if there's some vanilla in there as well. (Ostfriesen Sonntagstee ftw, even if it's kinda tricky to get here)

Song: Sogno di Volare by Christopher Tin. I've had musical anhedonia since I was eleven so I don't really listen to music, but hearing this always brings be joy because it means I have hours of playing Civ ahead of me. Also the lyrics are cool.

Season: Summer all the way. You can be outside, the days are long and I've always associated that time with freedom and carefreeness.

Book: 琅琊榜 by 海晏. I adore this book. All the tropes from above (except not explicitly queer) and with bonus historical low fantasy elements and lots of elaborate politics. Also all the idioms and very well written. Better known by the title of the excellent tv series it inspired and which I never have the time to rewatch called Nirvana in Fire. (won because it's great and because the three defining book (series) of my youth turned out to be written by authors of varying degrees of horridness)

Color: light turquoise green. Is that what it's called? Anyway that color.

Hobbies: writing about power dynamics Wilmon fic

[italy1stan]

⟲ ◯︎ ￮︎ ﾟ︎⤺ ↶.. Introduction! ..↷ ⤻ ﾟ︎￮︎ ◯︎ ⟳

◠ ⤥ ﾟ︎*name* … You can call me Italy1stan or Ren!

⚪︎◦︎⤤ *pronouns* … She/Her

ﾟ︎ ◠ ⤥ ﾟ︎ *age* … I'm 18 y.o!

ﾟ︎ ◠ ⤥ ﾟ︎ *nationality* … I'm from Portugal!

ﾟ︎⚪︎◦︎⤤ *languages* … I can speak English, Portuguese, some Spanish, and I'm learning Italian

ﾟ︎⚪︎◦︎⤤ *MBTI and enneagram* … INTP 9w1

◌ ⟲ ◯︎ ￮︎ ﾟ︎⚳ ⧂ ︎⚪︎.⟳ ｡︎ ◡ ◯︎

ﾟ︎￮︎↶.. boundaries ..↷￮ ﾟ︎

ﾟ︎ ◠ ⤥ ﾟ︎ Everyone is welcome!

Just know that I won't follow (or on rare occasions interact) with proshippers (usuk and spamano included) and toxic people. That doesn't mean you're not allowed to be here, but just know that I'm not very comfortable with those ships. Let's all have fun and relax a bit together!

◌ ⟲ ◯︎ ￮︎ ﾟ︎⚳ ⧂ ︎⚪︎.⟳ ｡︎ ◡ ◯︎

ﾟ︎￮︎↶.. likes, favs ..↷￮ ﾟ︎

ﾟ︎ ◠ ⤥ ﾟ︎ *anime/shows/games I like* ... Hetalia (obviously), Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, Undertale, Dead Plate, Gravity Falls, Yuri on Ice, Kakegurui, Spy x Family, Digital Circus, Splatoon, Tetris, and many more!

ﾟ︎⚪︎◦︎⤤ *fav characters* … Italy Veneziano, England, Hong Kong, China, Portugal, Spain, Prussia, Italy Romano, Germany/HRE, Luxembourg

ﾟ︎ ◠ ⤥ ﾟ︎ *ships I like* ... GerIta, FrUk, Prumano, Rusame, HongIce, AusHun, EngPort, Kimchibowl, Itapan, Ameripan, PruIta, PruHun, LietPol, etc...

ﾟ︎⚪︎◦︎⤤ *fav season* … Hetalia the Beautiful World!

ﾟ︎ ◠ ⤥ ﾟ︎ *fav musical* ... Hetamyu the World is Wonderful!

ﾟ︎⚪︎◦︎⤤ *likes* … History, traveling, Europe, Italy, Portugal, learning cultures, learning languages, pastéis de nata, being home, staying up late, singing, writing, learning how to cook/bake

(Hetalia related stuff: FACE family, Bon San Valentino Episode/Chapter, that fruk marriage song, seeing fanart, interacting and helping other fans, Italy Veneziano my beloved)

Welcome to my page and thanks for getting to know me!! <3

[psychosodomy]

tagged by @bigshoeswamp for this fun lil game :3

Last song: the way you look tonight by Billie Holiday (from a greatest hits CD i got for $2)

Show I’m watching: too many to count. Um. Im always rewatching We are lady parts for one thing. im about to hit season 2 of kimi ni todoke, and from whats currently airing/in production, Fiona and cake, Harley Quinn, heaven official’s blessing, and Ramy

Book I’m reading: house of leaves, my pocket arabic dictionary (mawrid al qareeb), sit and solve mini crossword puzzle

Currently obsessed with: collecting CDs, glenn copeland, house of leaves by mark danielewski, passionflowers, homesickness for a country i havent visited in 17 years, we are lady parts (2021), raven by kelela, curating my bedroom walls like a museum gallery, “and you will always know what time it is in hong kong”, this morning I pray for my enemies by Joy Harjo, lesbian sex, the number of hairs on my upper lip, lesbians, women (and their hands and the shapes of their backs), un-women, hiam abbas [and her filmography], farewell my concubine (1996), cillian murphy’s filmography[ but not cillian murphy himself], not buying cigarettes, and finally, my girlfriend [:

im tagging @sawasawako

[dojae-huh]

hi! briize here to answer ur riize qns :D

riize gained attention initially due to 1) sungchan & shotaro & their new grp 2) a bit bc of anton being yoon sang's son and 3) siren mv because of their difficult choreo!

personally, their success in enlargening their fanbase probably came from tiktok as well? i saw them getting viral in tiktok due to the get a guitar challenge, sohee's talk saxy bridge & anton being 'riize's tiktok social manager' since he (and the members) were rly active in liking and commenting briize's tiktoks + creating rly gen z tiktoks w themselves too

their mainstream success probably came from 1) their performances (they debuted nearing towards award season, so they did a lot of performances i.e. rising sun by tvxq which highlighted their proficiency a lot) & 2) the members' visuals going viral (i.e. wonbin & sungchan who are constantly getting mentioned by hong seokcheon)

riize has rly become monster rookies since they debuted, earning rookie of the year titles less than 6 months of their debut. sohee is being lauded by his seniors for his vocals, wonbin is constantly on the spotlight for being a 'once in a generation' visual who's likened to jaejoong (and jaejoong knows this as well).

and although most news do center on seunghan's situation, that still pushes riize's name to the forefront, esp when it comes to briize's relentless support (rii7e forever 🥹)

and yes, there's no leader! they don't exactly have set titles aside from the basic dancer, vocal, rapper (sohee's the only one labeled as 'main' as the main vocal!)

riize's name was formed by sungchan, and riize as a group was set to debut due to a choreo by shotaro & wonbin which the 7 of them did together. they still don't have a full album yet, and is going to comeback in april iirc?

hope i was coherent and it's helpful 😭

Hi, thank you for the detailed overview!

So several factors contributed: virality of challenges and choreo, timing of the debut, members' visuals. It's interesting that Anton supervises tiktok, heh. SM's early attempts at using the platform for promotion were very clumsy, the staff didn't know what to do, while few neos, aside from Tae, are interested in tt. Younger people are needed, who grew up with the platform and know it and its algorythms well.

I'm somewhat baffled about Seunghan's situation. I'd think he is on hiatus to let the group go through the debut stage more smoothly, have time to gain strength and a dedicated core fanbase, however, other members also get accused of things. And the fandom seems to stand with him, asking for OT7. Taeyong was also hated by knets during the debut, SM didn't remove him. Demands to get rid of Irene, Chen also were ignored. Which makes me think that either Seunghan's mental state plummeted and he asked for a leave himself. Or there are more idols and companies involved, I heard a rumour that one of the winners of Girls planet was taken out from the final debutet line-up (Illit) due to her connection to Seunghan's group of friends.

How dooes Riize function without a leader? Fans invented positions in the first place, and, as far as I know, NCT got theirs with a delay. It seems that it's a 5gen trend for groups to not have fixed positions.

A full album is too early. It takes a couple of years for a group to make one. Some groups never release a full album. But, perhaps, you meant an EP? I see only singles in their discography. 4 songs with language versions + 1 special project.

Wish also started with singles. So did aespa, actually. Seems like a new strategy in SM. 127's first EPs are poorely know. People buy/download single songs, and often don't look into the whole discography.

[alwaysandforeverlost]

Music tag game

rules: put your music on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that come up and tag 10 people

Thank you to @salamander89 @just-slightly-chayotic and @risu442 for tagging me 💙💙💙 you know I appreciate it a lot 🌻

So I picked my current favorites playlist:

1. Dance the night by Dua Lipa

2. Car's outside by James Arthur

3. Phase me Woosung

4. Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo

5. Farewell wanderlust by The Amazing devil

6. Ruin by Isaac Hong

7. Changing of the seasons by Two door cinema club

8. Italodisco by The kolors

9. I'm just Ken by Ryan Gosling

10. Drinking song for the socially anxious by The Amazing devil

If you spotted songs from your previous music tag games... Yes you did 👀👀

I tag @wardog-of-the-endless @shubaka @snake-and-mouse @divorcedmalewife @vegasandhishedgehog @fawndlyvenus @sniggerwarning @xxatlasxx @xylemrys @micuko (sorry if you were already tagged and as always no pressure to do it 🌻)

[sidecharactersdomatter]

Thoughts I had during TGCF S1 Ep 1

Note: I have just seen all 12 episodes of Season 1, and I’m watching the entire donghua in English. Now here we go!

-Is that a Jiao? (The red palanquin the servants are carrying the woman in)

-Welp, it sure got gorey fast, and the Jiao has been dropped.

-That Origami Crane has seen better days, and it doesn’t even have eyes!

-Don’t go out there… don’t go out there… don’t go out there… don’t go out there… *Bride gets snatched* Okay, maybe you should’ve gone out there.

-An intense first start to a really interesting Donghua!

-Now I know not to skip the opening song this rewatch~!

-It’s an actual live Crane!

-It’s Laputa from Castle In the Sky (So need to actually finish that movie)

-It’s that town background from Genshin Impact (I literally know nothing about that game, and I’m not interested in playing it)

-It’s that bright light column from Legend of Korra (I haven’t seen the full series and I also don’t plan to watch it, Die Hard Last Airbender fan here)

-That was good animation, and the person running towards that light beam inspired a scene I’m writing my TGCF OCs Hong Hai and Qing Tao are running towards it to see who just ascended.

-Right after XL ascends, Hong Hai and Qing Tao then go, “Huh, Who is that?”  Then everybody yells at them, “PRINCE XIE LIAN!”

KOI FISH!

-Why didn’t they have the “Most likely to be cast out of Heaven reward” in my High School Yearbook, heck I could’ve gotten nominated that easy…

-I wasn’t kidding when I said Xie Lian’s English voice was like butter melting on warm fluffy flapjacks!

-Ling Wen is a savage!!!  She might the Chinese Equivalent of Athena or Themis.

-He has a fanclub?!?!?!  (I might be one of the members)

-The Official’s Okay!!! And a badass!

-So much property damage…

-Yeah it kind of is, (Hehehehehe Last airbender quote)

-They are using Yuan as currency right?

-Not like the Matrix movie right?

-That’s Lucien Dodge

-Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!

-Really?  He got banished over a tea break?!

-Woah they’re all just harsh on his return to heaven

-Those translucent viewing cloths…

-Is ‘mana’ how they say ‘qi’ in the Dub?

-Magic Sleeves of Holding!  count: 1

-Aw he thanked her!

-He said his famous line people “And may all taboos be shattered…”

-It’s the Jasmine Dragon Tea shop from The Last Airbender

-And ‘Hear no Evil’ to complete the iconic Monkey Trio!

-Awww it didn’t land on his finger like in Book 1 (Oh yeah, I’m reading the first two books I purchased JSYK)

-She has him on Speed Dial (DCAU Justice League reference)

-I love how they both looked really pissed off at him, yeah XL it’s totally the latter option.

-And then she hangs up on him

-Green tea!  (I hope it’s Jasmine)

-Hahahahaha he spat out his tea! XD

-Fu Yao, *Is sarcastic and rolls his eyes* Basically me: He’s just like me fr!

-Oh and they’re staring daggers at each other!

-FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!

-Xie Lian’s such a peacemaker!

-The fact they responded in sync

-That explains the intense cold opening

-That mission briefing took the whole afternoon?

-See what did I say?  Ghostbusters!

-Those people in the wedding procession do not look professional at all

-Hey I’m half Asian with freckles, and I think I look awesome so I’m taking full offense at your insult!

-I think it’s an unwritten rule that Alejandro Saab is typecast as a self serving asshole I’ve seen it in Nomad of Nowhere

-Wow brutal Fu Yao

-Well I honestly hope he dies

-He ripped her skirt, freaking bastard!

-How is he doing that without mana????

-Yeah beat his ass!

-Thanks Nan Feng!

-Yeah you better run

-No!  Not the Tea shop!

-Aand he got slapped W H E E Z E!

-An abacus!

-The tea shop got fixed!

-Well Fu Yao ain’t wrong

-Hehehehehehe Dick joke XD

-Fu Yao’s giggle!

-“Go sweep the floors!” “What was that?” OOOOOHHHH!

-Don’t give him Cinderella’s chores Nan Feng!

-OOOHHHHH!

-FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

-That poor poor altar!

-Not only is it dirty but you’d be disrespecting the god it was offered to SMH

-Wow diplomacy really does solve everything

-He’s got her on Speed Dial too

-The fact that they stared at him together! XD

-Sees Bride!XL: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I’m Sorry XD!

-Honestly, Fu Yao, VALID.

-She fixed her skirt.

-Yeah right a few alterations, she totally fixed his make up calling it.

-Oh so now you’re smart enough to know Proverbs SMH again

-U said it Fu Yao,

-*Sees Bridesmaids NF and FY like* W H E E E Z E XD XD XD XD

-Is he smiling?  I can’t really tell in the animation.

-I can see why this episode literally came out on Halloween

-The Jiao got dropped again!

-So basically ancient Chinese zombies

-So that’s how he was able to last longer than the previous bride

-That Owl again

-There’s that butterfly

-Well there’s his groom (Not the Ghost groom obviously that’s for sure)

-Oooooohhhh! Backstory!

-Pass me the Aux cord!  You better not be playing mainstream garbage! *Turns on One Flower and One Sword and vibes like there’s no tomorrow*!

-My favorite song out of the Season 1 soundtrack!

-He’s out of the Jiao and in strong arms!

-Yep that’s totally gonna be important later

-Oh that’s how he was able to confront that bald jerk at the tea shop!

-That battle animation is so freaking fluid!  *Chef’s Kiss*

-There go the wolves

-That looks really bad, and it explains his bad reputation in heaven

-Aiaigasa!  AIAIGASA people!!!! *Fangirls like there’s no tomorrow!*

-It’s the same umbrella!

-I knew that kid was gonna be important, called it~

-I now pronounce you both husband and husband!  You may now kiss the gro- I mean, bride!  

-Don’t mind me, just gonna go jam to the rest of the ending!