#suhork

[rkfanfic]

— ◉ — @suhork .

[jkookrk]

☉ 30 minutes ago   ♥  ㅁ ⇛                                  :

125.892 likes JHopeTM two great centers! Minhee and Junmyeon. originals here: https://jhopegallery.com/entry/jeju • #jeju #jejusamsungshow #yearendshow #sphere #sphereent

[rkseokwoo-blog]

— face masks and foundations

@suhork

While preparing for last months evaluation, the topic of conversation had gone from costumes to skincare to make-up, and that would have been the best explanation for why Seokwoo currently stood with his fellow Sphere trainee in the make-up section of the store. His gaze running over the ingredients of the current face cream that he was considering, before he put it back onto the shelf where he’d got it from. The crinkle in his nose disappearing as he refocused his energy on the reason they were there and not his shameless fascination with anything stamped with a ‘new formula’ sticker. It only took the twist of his head for his eyes to land on Suho, coming up behind him and wrapping his arm around the shorter male’s shoulders, hanging it there loosely. “Found anything?” He asked, already leaning in to peer at the various types of eye make-up that filled the shelves in front of them to the left and then over the shades of powders that Seokwoo recognised as highlighters and blushers.

Without hesitation he plucks one of the highlighter sticks from the shelf and smiles to himself. “I like these, they’re fun to use,” he confesses, holding it up to show it to Suho, before he uses the edge of his pinky finger to trace along the youngers cheek bones. “You put some here, and here--” Seokwoo touches his own face seconds after, running down the bridge of his nose and then tapping to his chin. “I’ve even seem the do it here sometimes and near your eyes,” his voice grows a little uncertain in the latter two. He’d never felt the need to put them in those places, but he’d watched make-up artists do it to models who had worked for him and ones he’d done shoots with. The corners of his eyes crinkle, soon offering the item out for Suho to have a look at and turning his attention back to the shelves. “There’s something else as well... It’s kind of like that, I forget what it’s called..” He trailed off, trying to see if he could spot it or find a clue among the rest of the make-up.

[rkxsungwoon-blog]

✦ — MGA4: INTERVIEW #4048: HA SUNGWOON

to be honest, he’s not really comfortable with this.

when the staff lead him out of the practice room to a different part of the nova building, sungwoon follows, seizing on the chance to get away from his performance-related obligations for a while. the less said about how things are going, the better, but it’s clear to everyone involved that he could use a break. the dark circles under his eyes are more prominent than ever before and his eyes are bloodshot, but he brushes away any and all concern with a shaky smile. upon entering the room the staff have got set up, however, he freezes and laughs nervously. “this isn’t going to be a ‘pick your favorite contestant’ segment, is it?”

it is, of course. he should have known. sungwoon’s pretty new to the world of survival shows, but even he expected something like this to happen eventually. he just didn’t think it would be now. he’s stressed enough as it is; the last thing he wants to do is choose between talented people who all deserve to be here. it’s too bad this interview doesn’t seem to be optional. swallowing his protests, he takes a seat and stares down at the pictures spread over the table. “i really don’t think i’m qualified to pick who’s the most talented in anything,” he shrugs, passing a hand over the pictures of his former teammates. “i hope nobody takes my opinion seriously; i’m just going with my gut here.”

the staff ask him about the most talented dancer first, and without a moment of hesitation, he picks up kim jinhee’s picture and turns it towards the camera with a smile. “listen, i know this might seem predictable seeing as we were on a team together, but i genuinely think jinhee is a fantastic performer. she’s always in complete control of the stage, and you really can’t take your eyes off her when she’s performing.” maybe sungwoon is making a general statement about a very personal feeling here, but he knows his eyes, at least, follow her the most during her stages.

“i think she’s also insanely creative too; when we were on the same team, she basically put together our whole stage on her own—the concept, the individual choreography, everything.” one of the staff members raises an eyebrow and sungwoon splutters over whatever he was going to say next, letting the picture fall from his hands. his face is the slightest bit warm, but he’ll blame it on the seoul heat if anyone asks. “she’s a pretty overlooked dancer in the competition too,” he continues after a pause, clapping his hands together. “so please pay attention to her! support kim jinhee!”

it takes him longer to settle on his rapper pick. before revealing the picture, sungwoon clears his throat. “i don’t know anything about rap,” he says frankly. “i don’t listen to it and i haven’t worked with many rappers in the competition so far either, so this isn’t really based on anything.” as he finishes, he turns the picture around to reveal kim mingyu. “i like mingyu’s tone and flow from what i’ve heard, and i think he has a lot of hidden potential. he’s also a really good kid who works hard to improve himself.”

but again, he knows nothing about rap, so his choice is entirely motivated by personal sentiment. sungwoon sets the picture down and leans forward. “i don’t think mingyu has been able to show everything he can do yet in this competition, so i hope he gets a chance to move forward and showcase his skills. mingyu, fighting!”

if his selection for most talented rapper took a while, choosing a singer takes even longer. when a staff member politely asks him to hurry up, sungwoon lets out a sheepish laugh while shuffling through a couple of pictures. “i actually do have some experience here, so i’ll be a little bit more picky. sorry.” he finally ends up with three picks and refuses to go down to a single one (“all these are important for different reasons! don’t do this to me!”). “for best singers, i think kim yongsun has a powerful voice and good control. i would listen to her sing ballads or drama osts or even rock songs. she’s versatile and can suit many genres.” he trades yongsun’s picture for lee luda’s next. “luda’s voice is just a pleasure to listen to, simple as that. i think she would do really well in a girl group with her visuals and personality too.”

his final pick for singer is koo junhoe. “i think our vocal tones are opposites, but he’s very skilled and i’ve been enjoying the way he’s utilized his falsettos during the competition.” when the staff member asks why he didn’t pick himself as one of the best singers, sungwoon blinks, then bursts into laughter. “oh man, no way. i don’t think i would put myself on that list in a million years.” he doesn’t want to say more than that on camera, but he fidgets with the rip in his pants for the rest of the interview, unable to shake off the unease that spread through him at the question.

as for who sungwoon thinks will win the competition? “i really don’t know,” he replies honestly. it changes week to week, and who he would have named last week is seeming pretty uncertain now. “i think any of the people i already mentioned could win, but if i’m being truthful, i don’t think being the most talented in any catagory will help you secure the win in the end. if you don’t have a strong balance of skills…” he shrugs, staring off at something in the distance. one of the staff have to gently nudge him to get him back on track. “ah, right.” sungwoon scans through more of the pictures and selects a few people he feels have what it takes. “i pick kim junmyeon, of course. he’s charismatic and a fair singer. i think out of everyone here, he’s probably the most solid contender for the ideal ‘idol’ type.”

next is jung jinsoul, and sungwoon holds her picture up for the camera with both hands. “jinsoul’s a really good singer, a decent dancer, and she’s got a great personality. she could really shine if given the chance, and i think she could be exactly what the ceos are looking for in a trainee.” he’s reluctant to put it down because he wants to give jinsoul as much screentime as possible. “i can’t find her picture, but i hear there’s been a lot of buzz around kim hyuna as well. she’s probably a strong contender.”

finally, sungwoon picks up one last picture with a grin and unveils it with a flourish. “and kang daniel!” he lets out a short, loud cheer for his friend before laughing at himself and turning back to the camera. “i know some people out there think he’s just lucky, but daniel is really talented and he’s more than proved himself up on stage. i hope people will keep an open mind about him and recognize his hard work. i’m looking forward to him surprising all the people who doubt him and taking the whole thing.”

after arranging the pictures into a pile, sungwoon stands up with the staff and makes for the door. “d’you think i can stop to get some water? i talked myself hoarse,” he says, just short of leaving the room. the staff member’s answer is cut off as the door swings shut behind them.

[rkxtae]

* ☆ ·˚ — mga4 episode 8 !! fxxk it by big star RISING STAR w/ @rkmg, @suhork, @rkmxrk, @rkssoojin

taehyung had been excited, practically bouncing off the walls when he found out he’d be able to do a big star song again. they’re one of his favorites, and this time, he has to commemorate the occasion.

he’s going to cover most of baram’s parts in the song, and for promotions the original rapper had pink hair. so, when he shows up on wednesday for practice with bright, bubblegum pink hair, he’s grinning ear to ear at the other’s reactions. they’re overwhelmingly positive, taehyung running his hand through his hair dramatically to show it off to everyone. it’s been a while since he’s had a change of color, and never an unnatural color.

unrelated to his new hair color, taehyung had been able to get along with his new team members ( he thinks it’s crazy that he’s still meeting new people in every group he’s in ). meeting mingyu had been fun, and the two fo them even went shopping for outfits together. mingyu goes through multiple coats, all very dramatic and not unlike the one he’d worn for his performance two weeks ago. he giggles, snapping pictures of mingyu’s different coats to send to the rest of the group later.

again, the song itself is not hard. he’d chosen this one so he wouldn’t have to dance, and for the chance to rap, of course. he can sing ( arguably better than he can rap in some cases ), but this far into the competition— it’s likely not the best idea. so, he sticks to rap, and his ability to shine on a stage with it.

especially after being proclaimed as the best rapper among the six from last week ( and by tiger jk himself, no less ), it’s needless to say he’s more than pleased. getting praised by his greatest idol and inspiration only makes him desire winning even more.

so, once they’re all on stage about to perform, taehyung’s determined to give his all into this one.

“hello, we are rising star, and i’m taehyung! that’s a tribute to my first team— little star!”

throughout the first half of the song, taehyung adds his own adlibs, just little “uh-huh”’s and “yeah”’s to accentuate the lyrics. they’re deep, quieter so that he’s not overpowering his teammates lines. when it comes to his turn, he struts to the front of the stage to deliver his rap.

설렘을 찾고 싶어 마르고 닳도록 난 여러 명의 포로 도망치네 이곳 빠삐용 나 지긋지긋 희끗희끗 흰머리가 나 양아치 이제 끝 바람둥이 한 가닥

나라는 남자를 모르던 그런 네가 좋았지 몰래 난 원래 모든 girl 싫증 잘 느끼는 벌레 나이를 먹어도 사랑은 단 1도 모르겠어

all the while, he’s dancing in his space, bopping along to the lyrics and sticking his tongue out once during a pause. once mingyu takes over, he steps to his side, facing sideways from the audience and closing his eyes to get into it. he bounces, making smooth waves with his hands and grinning widely.

they all join in for the chorus, bouncing along and syncing their movements until the end, where taehyung holds up his signature v-sign.

[danielxrk]

    ✞ MGA SEASON 4  - ROUND 7 - SHOOTING STARS

                                        ⊰  amazing kiss - boa ⊱ ( line distribution )                                     ⊰  featuring: @rkyngsun, @suhork, @rkxluda ⊱                                                  ⊰  #4050 ; kang daniel  ;  ( *✞  ) ⊱

⊰  ———– EPISODE SIX  ⊱

daniel tries to distract himself from the impending results by draping himself over his teammates-- one arm over guanlin’s shoulders and the other over rose’s, respectively, giving him a false air of casual security he doesn’t actually possess. what matters most is that the team buys it, his role of leader not over yet, and perhaps more important now in the face of results than ever. he’s come a long way from his hesitance at the beginning of the week, now dedicated to the role and looking out for his team, becoming someone reliable for them.

he prepares himself for an elimination under his leadership-- expects his own, but it doesn’t come. instead, the ceo judges name them as in the top two, and daniel lets out a long exhale of breath he’d been holding. either way, it’s likely no one will go home. either way, he kept them safe, and relief floods his senses.

it ushers in shock when they’re revealed as the first place winners, too, and daniel beams-- only has a moment to process the news himself before guanlin’s leaping into his arms, practically knocking daniel off his feet, and he can’t help but laugh heartily, overjoyed. maybe he wasn’t a bad leader, after all. his first stop in first place off of a song and concept he recommended, and then now, during the week he lead; maybe he is doing something right.

it’s regretful to leave behind his teammates and the bond they fostered during the week-- this one, the strongest for daniel since girl crush during the 2018 releases week. he already misses them the second the mnet staff calls him to make his song selection for the week.

as if the pressure of selecting his own song, and by extension, teammates, isn’t enough, as leader of the first place team, he’s the first one to make the selection. there are no closed spots to guide him in his pick, no lessened numbers for him to guess at those who came before him, and where they might be placed.

                             SINGING                      DANCING               RAPPING                          Amazing Kiss (4)           Instruction (6)          Born Hater (3)                        Love In The Ice (6)           Handclap (6)            Who You (3)                                                                    Stay (7)

“ah, what should i do,” he laments aloud, holding his head in his hands. there’s a moment where he actually considers going for rap this week, but when he looks at the numbers beside the rap songs, and thinks of the amount of rappers in the competition, he couldn’t take a spot from them in good conscience. now, this far in the competition, probably isn’t the time to venture out and try something new, either. realistically, that leaves singing, and only two selections for him.

truthfully, he doesn’t know either of the songs, but mina listens to tvxq, and as far as he’s heard, they’re a really impressive vocal group. daniel, on the other hand? pretty far from impressive. the knowledge of that doesn’t make it any easier for him to toss himself into a vocal category. people like sungwoon are the ones that deserve a singing group. daniel fits more in a group of charming-but-minimal-talent. somehow, knowing these songs are likely ballads, where he’ll be judged solely on vocal ability makes his burden worse this round than any other. 

instead of choosing for himself, daniel thinks of people he hopes to sing with, namely, sungwoon and jinsoul, and tries to imagine what song they would choose to give them higher odds of reuniting. should he go to love in the ice, with more slots and more chances for him to run into friends, or go where his heart is leading him-- amazing kiss?

in the end, daniel wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t follow his heart, and he’s a little intimidated by love in the ice, anyway. “i’ll go with amazing kiss,” he decides with a nod.

  ⊰  ———– PRACTICE  ⊱

daniel wouldn’t say he’s disappointed when he sees his team, they just don’t meet his high hopes. the only familiar face is yongsun, though he has watched junmyeon and luda throughout the competition, and is pleased to meet them. he can’t help but feel dejected at missing out on the opportunity to perform with his friends, however, and aside from that, daniel’s inadequacy immediately becomes apparent.

yongsun and luda: vocal powerhouses in their own right. junmyeon: a solid vocal, but more importantly, able to charm the entire nation. daniel doesn’t even know how he can compete. it’s all he can hope that he’ll even survive, but his own elimination seems more eminent than ever.

early on, the team discusses whether they all got their first pick of songs, and daniel confesses this. “i was hoping i’d be on a team with sungwoon hyung or jinsoul,” he admits, and he quickly regrets it, eyes widening, and he shakes his head, clarifying-- “but i think you’re all great! i’m not disappointed!” it’s not entirely truthful, but they don’t need to know that. 

junmyeon says he misses him, and daniel’s about to make some childish comment about missing him more because he feels like he hasn’t properly seen him in months, the longest he’s gone without properly spending time with sungwoon in a near year, when junmyeon says, “don’t worry, i’ll be here for you in his absence. you can count on me.” daniel can’t help but smile, if only because the sentiment is heartwarming. “hmmm, i can see why people like you so much,” daniel replies, playfully, and his eyes disappear into crescents as he grins. 

yongsun takes the brunt of distributing lines, with luda assisting her, leaving daniel and junmyeon to their own devices- a horrible mistake, honestly. daniel listens to the song first, trying to familiarize himself with it, but before long, he and junmyeon get involved in a charisma showdown of a sort. naturally, this means junmyeon biting his lip in daniel’s general direction, and daniel bursting into laughter, covering his face in embarrassment. junmyeon wiggles his eyebrows, and daniel accepts his inevitable defeat without even putting up much of a fight. (at least he’s cute when he’s embarrassed-- he hopes.)

the girls have the line distribution done by then, and as they go over it, daniel’s heart sinks when he realizes he only really has two proper lines, then a few extra, small tidbits in the rest of the song. he knows it’s fair; he knows he lacks in vocal prowess by miles compared to the others, and that they need to put on a good performance, but in the back of his mind lurks the truth that this is an individual challenge with an individual ranking. what are his chances, if he barely sings, even in a song with only four people? he was hoping for at least a moment to try to shine-- an opportunity to do something with, even if ultimately, he fell short in the time he had.

he stays silent, keeping his concerns to himself for a few minutes, but when the team splits up to practice their parts individually, daniel lurks behind, and seeks out yongsun. “yong noona,” he ventures, unable to meet her eyes due to shame at first. “it’s about the line distribution. you worked really hard, and-- i know you all are much better singers than me, but i was wondering...if there are any other lines you think might suit me? i don’t want to be an inconvenience, but i was hoping i might be able to sing more.” at least he voices it well.

to his relief, yongsun is willing and eager to help him out, and she splits one of her choruses with them, allowing daniel to share her spotlight and harmonize with her, instead of her taking it entirely for herself. he doesn’t want to push his luck or yongsun’s patience, so he accepts these additional lines graciously. “thanks so much, noona,” he thanks her, and flashes her a bright smile, and he’s genuinely grateful. 

the week passes more slowly than others and more quickly all at once, with no choreography to split his attention. all he focuses on is his vocals, and putting on a good performance, and thankfully, yongsun is right there to help him.

he still doesn’t have much faith in his vocals, but he thinks he just might make it, and come performance day, might even hold his own.

 ⊰  ———– EPISODE SEVEN ⊱

there’s no time to waste. as they were the first song listed, so too are they the first team to perform. daniel’s thankful-- doesn’t want any more time to linger and get stuck in his head. as far as he’s concerned, the sooner they get the performance out of the way, the better. there’s no leader this time, all four of them theoretically created equal, and they walk out on stage together. (even knowing this truth, and having height over them, daniel still can’t help but feel small in comparison.)

“hello, we are shooting--” and they all form their hands into guns, shooting them off in time with the announcement of their name, “star!” (junmyeon got so into this introduction during practice, and daniel has no doubt he smashed it on stage, judging by the cheers of the audience.)

they run through their individual intros. “i am kang daniel, shooting star’s bassline,” he says, a throwback to his introduction during girl crush, and one he still thinks suits him and sums him up the best of them all. “are you ready to up the level again?” he cups his hand to his ear, turning his head toward the audience to goad them into cheering more, and when they do, he grins. 

with that, they take their spots on the stage, and their music kicks in-- background of their performance twinkling to go along with their name. 

yongsun opens up the song, well-deserved with a voice as enchanting as hers, and luda lends her voice to a harmony. it doesn’t take long for daniel’s turn to come, and his most significant lines, at that. he practiced these two over and over again, desperate to perfect them for this day.

i don’t want to forget the dream that approached us your lips that smiled towards me

he delivers it well, all of his practice paying off, and once his line is done, he feels a bit empty. all of that practice throughout the week for one moment of eyes on him, his voice carrying the melody. junmyeon sings after him, and undoubtedly garners more attention with his magnetic presence, making daniel’s own pale in comparison. yongsun and luda are untouchable vocal goddesses of the stage, and daniel is just...there.

the thoughts aren’t ideal for a performance, but thankfully, looking forlorn during the song is in style.  he tries to change his mindset-- tries to find enjoyment in the performance in case this one is his last. (he would deserve elimination, if it finally comes-- if he finally loses the race he’s run against it since the second episode, when the axe fell on hyunjoon instead of him.)

to do so, he thinks of the people that support him, and the lyrics of the song-- the friends he’s met, and how overall, this experience he joined spur of the moment to support sungwoon has become something treasured to him. instead of a love, like the lyrics allude to, daniel applies it to this show, and everyone chasing after their dreams together, and suddenly, it means a little more. 

he adds to the harmony at the end of the chorus build up, and then again during yongsun’s chorus-- the one she shared with him per his request, and he makes sure he sings strongly (with confidence, like she kept telling him) to make sure she doesn’t regret doing so. 

he gets the line at the end of the chorus, as well. 

it becomes a star

junmyeon belts out an “i remember,” leading into luda’s long stretch of vocals, and daniel sways a little along to the song, lips quirking up in the slightest smile, without breaking the expression of nostalgia on his face. he harmonizes with the others again, and then moves into his solo catchy little line, undoubtedly left to him because it was simple.

tu ru tu tu, yeah

this ushers in the bridge, the song elevating, yongsun’s voice rising in power. junmyeon chimes in, voice suitably dramatic, and yongsun and luda sing together, a loud yet beautiful harmony, as if their voices duel over destiny and light and vowing to see one another again. daniel thinks of this competition, and the separate paths they’ll all head down once it ends (soon) and daniel vows to remember all of this, too.

then comes the most dynamic part of the song-- yongsun belting out her line, and luda meeting her, two power vocals singing with all their might in a duo of high notes. they nail it, and daniel can’t help but smile the slightest bit.

they fly into another chorus, lighter and softer, yet their vocals shine through, and daniel gets an adlib, everyone singing one after another, over one another, in succession, voices melded together as result of all their practicing. 

i remember~

it’s perhaps his hardest line of the song, and daniel ventures higher in his range than he ever has on the show so far, and he succeeds. in comes the final chorus, everyone singing together, one individual voice standing out above the others at moments, like when daniel gives a short “oh,” or luda belts out another adlib high note. he and junmyeon sing together, their final lines of the song.

kept inside a star, i want to keep it

and as yongsun closes them out, daniel wonders if it’s selfish to want to keep this-- to want to evade elimination again and keep going, just a little longer, even though he never dreamed of becoming an idol like so many of the others, and still doesn’t desire the end prize.

[rkmg]

〈★〉MGAS SEASON 4 - EPISODE EIGHT - TEAM PERFORMANCE                     ↳ team: rising star ( #4003, #4024, #4028, #4037, #4049 )                                ↳ song: “fxxk it” by bigbang bigstar - line distribution

Getting here was hard. He’s sure that statement doesn’t only apply to him, but for every single contestant still remaining on this show. They’ve all had to have worked their asses off, otherwise, they wouldn’t be here today. That’s definitely not insinuating that those that were eliminated didn’t work their asses off, however; some were luckier than others.

He’s forced himself to stop counting his losses. After nearly completely dropping out of the competition (he was a hair away from doing it... so close to quitting that he could practically taste failure on his tongue), he realized that something about his mindset was in dire need of changing. If he didn’t gather his thoughts and stop looking at every single downside instead of what he’s been given, this wasn’t going to work out. After all, he was still here. That’s more than most people that started on this show can say. He’s lucky; he’s grateful for this. He just wished that he wasn’t so insecure. Maybe if he viewed himself with a higher regard, ranking low every week wouldn’t get to him as badly as it did.

If he was truly not talented and not deserving of being here, then he wouldn’t be. Simple.

Let’s rewind back to the event that nearly pushed him to throw in the towel; it was another week where your rank from the previous round determined whether you’d get your pick of song. Before, he’d been lucky. There were few rappers left so he was practically guaranteed to land a spot in the song that he desired most. Now, there were even less rappers since both of his teammates had been eliminated (disregarding the fact that one of them wasn’t even a rapper, he just had very little choice about performing with them). Perhaps it wasn’t his fault, exactly. If it’d been those that had been dropped from the MGAs’ fault that he scored so terribly, then it made little sense to him. It was their fault, but now they’re gone and he has to suffer the consequences? It didn’t seem right. He’d much rather those in charge rank each contestant individually so things like this didn’t happen.

Now, he had the song that he wanted to do in mind, but he had very little hope that he would get it. And then... of course, obviously, he didn’t. MYNAME was one of his absolute ult groups and it would have meant the world to him if he’d had been able to perform it. He’d had the opportunity to learn dancing from Jun.Q when he participated in the NOVA dance classes. Mingyu just imagines how wonderful it would have been to be able to dance onstage to one of his songs, knowing that he was only doing so well because he’d had some help from him— his idol. It would have been an incredible moment, though it wasn’t one he was meant to live out.

Then, later, he found out that Won did manage to secure a place in performing it. After that, all he can imagine is how wonderful it would have been to finally be on stage with him. He’s happy to see his boyfriend doing so well on the show, that’s incredibly clear. He values him way more than he values himself, after all. Still, now he has this feeling in his chest and this voice in his head that is telling him that he would only hold the other back. He wishes he could feel like he was succeeding, too. He doesn’t want to be better than Won; to him, that isn’t even possible. He just desperately wants to feel like he truly deserves to stand next to him and for them to both achieve this dream together.

But, you know, his team wasn’t as bad as he convinced himself they’d be. He was bitter at first and didn’t want to open his eyes and accept his current place, though once he did, he felt rather content. Everyone was friendly enough and they all were able to joke together and bond to an extent. Weirdly enough, despite as long as he’s been on this show, he was meeting new faces every week. Well, they weren’t exactly new since he recognized them well enough, though he’d never actually been given the chance to get to know them up until now.

Mostly, he bonded the best with Taehyung. Very quickly did he warm to the other boy and he stuck to him like glue. He was friendly and bright, which was absolutely something that Mingyu needed to have in his life right now. The two of them even went shopping for coats together, which was a fun experience. Lately, he hasn’t had many chances to be normal and playful like he had been in the past, so it was a breath of fresh air when he was posing in ridiculous and dramatic outfits for pictures snapped by the other boy, laughing cheerfully once he no longer had to hold his position. They were instructed by Soojin to not wear anything that was a fashion crime, though they seemed to have differing opinions about what classified as such.

Practicing wasn’t as intense as he wanted it to be. This, once again, just made him think about how much he would have enjoyed performing ‘Tell Me’. There wasn’t much choreography in a song such as this one so he wasn’t going to be needing to practice much dancing. Rapping was already easy for him, and he wasn’t even tasked with writing his own lines or anything, so there wasn’t a lot for him to do this week. It was a lot more boring than some of his previous weeks, though he supposed he should enjoy this sort of free time. Especially considering he wouldn’t be given as many opportunities such as this one once he was actually signed to a company.

Relaxing wasn’t entirely easy, though. He had too many things on his mind to feel completely calm and he hated being by himself. He would try to cling to Taehyung during these moments, hoping that he would provide him with company and a proper distraction.

The week went by a lot slower than he hoped it would, so he was very happy once Friday rolled around. He was going to be participating in the hi touch after this performance, which both excited and disappointed him. His disappointment wasn’t intense, however. He was just nervous about waiting so long for the eliminations since he was extremely worried and nervous about the results. Just knowing that it would drag out for a while gave him a bit of anxiety, though he tried to push it away. In the end, meeting people who were excited to see him would be a wonderful experience. He didn’t know it just yet, but it was going to free him of many of his worries.

Once finally on stage, Mingyu introduced himself to the crowd and then braced himself for the performance.

난 씩씩하게 말을 걸어 넌 저기 시시한 여자와는 달리 틱틱 거려 칙칙하던 분위기에 한 줄기 빛 설렘 정도가 지나쳐 마치 사춘기

The lines weren’t too challenging, so he managed to complete his first verse with ease. Honestly, at this point, he was counting his blessings. He was thankful for what he was given. It’s never good to be discontent with your life when things aren’t even bad. He felt glad that he was here, performing on stage with the other survivors of the show. Also, he had a lot more lines than he would have if he was given his original choice. This was a good thing, he now thought. He wasn’t getting to perform with Won, but he had faith that he was going to debut with him. Then, they’d always get to perform together. This was just a small sacrifice for a huge win.

에라 모르겠다 에라 모르겠다

He would dance a little, or at least ensure that he didn’t look like as stiff as a statue onstage as the performance went on. He made sure that he was smiling and appearing carefree and confident. When he was onstage, that kind of thing never felt like a lie. After all, this is still where he felt comfortable. The nineteen-year-old always felt like he was in his element here.

뒤처리를 못해 피눈물 없는 로맨스 장단 없는 game 너는 오락가락하고 멜로디가 다른 알토와 소프라노 어차피 우리는 끊어질 거��� 딱 잘라 말할게 타락해버린 꿈에 Eldorado

As he executed his second long verse, he made sure that he did so perfectly and effortlessly. Just looking out at the crowd and examining all of the eyes glued to him felt exhilarating. His heart rate picked up as the adrenaline pumped through his veins, eyes sparkling with determination and awe.

에라 모르겠다

The majority of his lines were over but the stage wasn’t finished just yet. He did his best to hype up the rest of his group as they did their lines, continuing to smile and move about in a way that didn’t make him appear as though he was made of stone, though he also didn’t want to look like his limbs were crafted from noodles (despite what Yerim seems to believe).

에라 모르겠다 I Love y’all 에라 모르겠다 에라 모르겠다

With each week spent on the MGAs, the easier this seemed to become. He briefly found himself wondering if this is what it felt like for idols. Did they get used to this kind of attention and schedule over time? Or, did they only get used to it for a while, before it begins to feel draining and tiring? He wouldn’t know until he was in that position... or until he has the opportunity to ask one for himself, though he doesn’t feel like they would answer truthfully either way.

Girl I wanna get down Girl I wanna get down

He was going back and forth with this line as the song began nearing an end. In just a little while he would be touching hands with those that wanted to meet him, then he would find out where he stood tonight. It was an intimidating and scary thought, but he couldn’t let it distract him until after this was completely finished and he was standing offstage somewhere.

에라 모르겠다 I Love y’all

And then, not long after, the music stopped. He stood there, chest once again rising and falling faster than usual, though also not as harshly as it would have been if he’d been exerting more of his energy into dancing. He felt pleased with their performance, hoping that it would be enough to get him to a rank that was higher than he’d placed before. If it didn’t, though, he wouldn’t let it get to him. As long as he survives tonight, he will feel grateful.

Mingyu really wants to be here; he really wants to succeed. He realizes that now.

[rkjei]

    WELCOME TO THE MGAS   //   episode four       . .       #4011  -  김진희.*  KIM JINHEE.      ━━━━━━       .   .   .      DDU-DU DDU-DU, BLACKPINK             TEAM PINK PUNK

and for the second week in a row, she’s thrown for a loop.

this time, it’s almost worse.  all four members on her team have at least had the pleasure of working with one other person in the group - except for her.  it makes her the odd one out, in more ways than one considering that jei once again is the only female in a group full of men.  but she resigns herself to the idea, knowing that fighting against it mentally is only going to bring more exhaustion to her already tired mind.  perhaps this will be like the last group - maybe it won’t be so bad.

but she already misses dynamiq.  the thought of that in and of itself makes her weary because she knows that they’re supposed to be her opposition.  they’re supposed to be competing against each other, but all she wanted to do was help them win.

at this point, it seems jei truly is tired.  the last round, despite being something of a pleasure, almost thoroughly depleted whatever reserve of determination she had for this show considering the reaction of the judges.  it’s not that they got second place - she’s actually quite proud of that, all in all.  there’s no shame in admitting that someone was more in line with the theme and thus, did better than you did.  but it’s that she felt as if it was made out to be her fault as a leader, for not noticing the lack of skill through the hard work all of the boys put in.  it’s true that jei knew the boys weren’t dancers, but she still thought they looked good - and she was wrong.  big surprise.

although that in and of itself is a huge wound to her pride, it isn’t the only thing that’s bothering her, either.  upon hearing that she’d be in sphere for this round, it immediately kills the last of of jei’s willingness to perform even though she has to for the rest of her team.  why, of all places, did they have to pick sphere for her home base? knowing that she’d be going to the same building that hyun should be in every day and still not being able to see him no matter if they’re in the same vicinity or not is like slowly sticking needles into her body.  it doesn’t hurt much in the beginning, but as time goes on, it will.

that’s still not something that she can talk about, though.  their relationship is a secret, so there’s only resignation to her fate.

at least this time, there are dancers in her group - honestly, they’re in the majority.  maybe the ceos thought to give her some kind of reprieve by allowing her to work with dancers who could actually keep up with her, or perhaps the grouping really is just random.  that’s something that she’d never know, unless they decide to reveal it.  regardless, it seems most of her group - save for junmyeon - have rapping under their belt as a secondary skill, which means this time jei’s going to have to sing a lot more, with less of a spotlight on her dancing.

which would be fine in any case, but she’s only an average singer with much of her skill left untapped and untrained.  jei already knows this is going to go over well.  sense the sarcasm in that last sentence.

but jei has no choice.  after all, she signed her life away on a dotted line when she said that she’d try out for this show.  all of this was something that she devoted herself to, simply out of loyalty to one of her best friends.  now, she has to be devoted to her team - it isn’t their fault that she’s tired.  it isn’t their fault that she has to sing, and they’re counting on her for it.  thankfully, junmyeon will be able to carry a lot of the vocal aspect, but there’s still a lot she has to work on herself.

considering the fact that she can’t be suggested as a leader this round, at least she’ll be able to focus a little more on the things that she needs to do to ensure the success of the team.  which means working a little more on her singing, because that’s where jei lacks the most.

with three rappers, though, they have to pick a song that sets the mood.  as junmyeon is leader, he says they’re a group heavy in charisma - jei knows it well enough, considering that most of the team has gotten quite a fair amount of screen time.  mnet surely loves them, which means they’d also love to watch them struggle if they do.  after all, everybody loves a tragedy.

jei isn’t the kind of person who goes down without a fight.

it’s probably why she’s a little more interested, and grows a little more invested when they choose blackpink’s ddu -du ddu -du as their song.  blackpink has a style that jei enjoys at least, even if she never thought she’d be in a situation where she’d be performing their song.  when they split the parts, jei finally expresses her interest in jisoo’s role and the mantle is passed to her.

good.  she can work with this.

what she can’t work with, is the teasing.

at least, that’s what jei tells herself.  it’s like the boys all somehow started ganging up on her, softening her edges and getting her guard down.  somehow, whatever she’s doing with them equates to motherhood, or so jonghyun says when he jokingly suggests that they should change their name to jei and sons.  she’s sure the look on her face suggests her disapproval of the concept, but hyunjin chimes in with his jokes, too - saying they’d have to change their entire concept to one of carpools and soccer moms.

“ i’m the furthest thing from your mother.  get back to practicing -” she mutters, shooing them off and going back to magazines and catalogues, trying to piece together outfits that would look flashy enough to catch eyes while they’re on the stage.  all the while, jei’s singing the parts she’s been given under her breath, trying to focus on hitting notes and thinking of expression.  her eyes look up and watch the boys, the ones practicing on their own and the ones practicing together after she told them to.

what jei doesn’t realize is that all of the things she’s doing is still mothering material.  she just doesn’t believe she’s worthy of such a noteworthy title.

the day of the performance arrives with almost little notice, in spite of big preparations being made by the team.  jei still believes that the idea of putting together an entire stage properly is a lot harder than the week they’re given, especially considering the ceos themselves take months, if not years, to prepare a trainee for debut.  why they’re gifted so little time in between challenges is beyond her, but again - she has no room to complain, or to say anything at all.

she just wishes that she could.  jei’s finding her growing disenchantment with the show has nothing to do with the people - because all in all, she’s liked both of the teams that she’s landed in.  rather, it has everything to do with the show itself.

it still doesn’t mean that she won’t perform her best, if not for herself, then for the boys beside her who really want what they could be given in the end.  that much, jei’s confident in.  that much, she can do.

being on team a means that they’re first up to perform.  jei doesn’t find that much of a problem; the most important thing about being first is also making sure you’re memorable - that the team altogether is memorable.  it’s a hard feat going first for many, because they don’t have the confidence in it. they can’t see what the other teams have shoved up their sleeves.  jei is different.  jei knows that what they’ve practiced is enough to set the stage on fire.

before they go onstage, the first thing she does is check to make sure her wig is secured well enough to stay with the choreography, and then, it’s time.  “ hit you with that pink punk! hello, we are team pink punk!“ again, the introductions are enough to make her cringe with embarrassment, but jei doesn’t show it on her face.  it still rolls off her tongue with relative ease, and it helps that the other members say it proudly with her too.  her expression is a cool neutral, eyes drifting at the shouts of names filling the hall.  there’s junmyeon’s, of course - being one of the most popular contestants, it’s bound to happen.  but there are a few for each of the members, and .. some shouts of her name, too.

jei doesn’t know why, but it’s still thrilling nonetheless.

some people might have found a surprise at their choice in song, but jei didn’t.  although the song itself has been criticized twice over for anything and everything, the main fault lies in the fact that it didn’t seem to live up to expectation.  be it the dance, be it vocally, be it the way it was performed, somehow someone always had something to say.  

just like someone always had something to say about the contestants on the show.  if you think about it that way, it wasn’t really a surprise that they went for this song, a brush off to the haters and a surprise to the people who thought it was a messy choice.  they’re going to do it, and they’re going to pull it off well.

starting with the choreography.  hyunjin and jeno worked on it together this week, a new dance that added more emphasis than what the original disappointed with.  jei relented easily after a feeling of defeat the week before and knowing all too well what a chance this would be for the younger boys to prove themselves.  this is all about a chance, and the eldest of the five wants to give it to them.  (  and yet, she still doesn’t know why they want to call her mom.  )  instead, the time she was given when she didn’t have to put together an entire choreography alone allowed her to throw her practice into singing, and into the aesthetics - and a watchful eye over the boys from the sidelines.

everything would go off without a hitch, and it starts off well.  jeno pulls off his rap well despite the worry and the anxiety that rested on his shoulders from the week before, and that’s a breath that was held amongst all of them.  whether or not it showed, they all wanted to do well.

they all wanted this to be a performance the judges, the audience, and the other contestants wouldn’t forget.

every key point of the choreography is one that jei hits perfectly - it’s all sassy moves and holier -than -thou looks, and one would say that it fit her personality well enough.  it gives her the confidence to hold her notes well, in spite of being an untrained singer -  the week’s practice and the confidence in her dance swell enough to carry her voice well.

you still don’t really know but if you really want me, test me it’s obvious, like looking at fire if you wanted something easy…

the good thing is that jisoo’s tone matched jei’s well enough, so it wasn’t too hard of a song to manage even without being the top singer in the competition.  and there’s something like pride in her eyes when she manages it, easily falling in line with the next steps of the choreography and the chorus.

it isn’t until it’s her turn to sing again that the most important piece of her choreography comes up.  to keep up with the music video, they planted a seed of story within her sung lyrics.  she ruffles the hair of her wig, bringing attention to it while she sings -

think twice cuz i can’t act nice like everyone else don’t misunderstand my easy smiles are for myself -

on the last note, jei rips off the wig and shakes out her hair, glittering with a sparkling hair spray from beneath it.  she tosses the wig far enough across the stage so that no one trips over it, again falling in line to finish out the choreography.  the biggest concerns she has with the vocals she’s meant to sing are the high notes, not originally part of jisoo’s but still given to her (  to share  ) nonetheless.

with every like fire that she sings, jei’s voice surprisingly manages to snag the note - though it could be confidence, it could be the adrenaline, or it could just simply be the practice she spent throughout the week.  all she knows is that they finish smoothly - powerfully, just like they wanted.

hopefully this week, hyunjin and jeno managed to gain some confidence.  

hopefully, that means something to the judges.

[jenork-blog]

⊹ ˚.  UPDATES ; july ‘18. last update ( june 22nd )  / current points ( ♔ )

˚.  OOC NOTE. wassup babes! here we are with our second update for this boy and wow oh my is it a big one. needless to say, the mgas will be referenced a lot here and has bettered him in a way. he’s sad to go but excited to see where his ambitions will take him. aaand to anyone who read this far, thank you and to those who read like... ALL of it extra kudos to you ♥ 

RELATIONSHIPS

the mga’s have left him with quite a few new faces in his life to name a few: jinhee, jonghyun, hyunjin, yerim, junmyeon. he enjoyed his time at the mgas and will continue to support everyone from afar. GO BABIES GO!

his family was originally excited for his participation in the mgas, but now that he’s been eliminated his parents have gone on a pity fest and he’s not happy about it. he’s like “i was eliminated, it’s cool. i’m fine.” and them just constantly consoling him over it is making it kind of hard for him to move on :( so he’s just kinda sticking to himself and hanging with hyunjoon whenever they’re home.

he and yerim have grown closer after their not-so-great first encounter. he might have also formed a tiny crush on the girl. maybe...

jaemin and jeno have moved on passed that awkward, tense position they were at and are relatively okay with each other at the moment.

he has removed himself from social media completely, deleting his instagram on thursday, july 26th. 

HOBBIES

the mgas had a lot of influence on him, even more so since his elimination on july 22nd. his desire to expand his talents increased as he began to take interest in other areas besides dance and guitar.

after some thought, jeno has decided to begin vocal lessons. he will begin them under teacher seo ( npc ) on tuesday, july 31st. 

his time spent on the show has also opened his eyes to the fact that he shouldn’t let his guitar skills fall behind so he begun practicing on his regularly. 

he frequents the arcade less often and instead as taken up liking to a particular underground band, making himself a groupie of some sorts.

and in turn of sort of abandoning the arcade, he’s looking into online gaming as well as buying a PS4? is it a no go? should he?

his busking days have been halted as he wishes to expand his vocal abilities more before continuing. 

DAY TO DAY

you can probably find him at more parties now, still not as bad as he was his first year of high school but he’s wanting to let loose some. 

his job at cho bloom is seeming to go fairly well but since his time during the show took time away from some of his hours, he’s picking up whatever he’s offered right now.

he’s doing okay since his elimination - it hasn’t even been a week yet but!! he’s refusing to let it push him into a slump. he’s trying his best to get out and do things, to occupy his time with whatever so he’s not stuck at home with his parents.

jeno’s hair is blonde thanks to haechan and he is Living.

he entered the mgas without much thought, mostly due to jinsoul’s encouragement, but he is very happy to have made it as far as he did. his intentions were a bit hazy during the show but he’s confident now to say he wants to better himself. maybe being an idol isn’t for him, but he wants to make music and be proud of whatever he does.

[haknyeonrk]

⋆｡°✩ mga season four. ep vi. summer. ‹ #4010 ›   ⇢ performance: love me right –– exo // line distribution         UNIVERSE ( #4003 #4012 #4033 #4039 #4042 )

the thing about competitions is that you sort of learn the hard that that is what they are... competitions. in it’s very essence, haknyeon knows that he isn’t supposed to be here to make friends –– that the teams last a week and then they’re reshuffled and the cycle starts all over again. yet his heart is weak and having a team member be up for elimination again is painful (especially since he’d gotten so close to said team member).

this week he’s put in a new team and it feels like a reunion of sorts between him and the team he’d been in during the first week. yongsun and sana are in his team and haknyeon feels comfortable already, the both of them people that he’d worked with before and would gladly work with again.

he’ll have to do well. he has to. this time it’s the royal building and truth be told by now haknyeon’s unable to keep up with which company’s he’s been in to practice. the only thing ever on his mind really is practice, practice and more practice.

entering the practice room, he’s glad to see familiar faces and his face lights up when he sees sana. “noona!” he greets, “looks like we meet again,” his smile is playful but he’s a little more careful. he’s read the comments, knows that people assume that him and sana are... a thing. which, in his opinion, couldn’t be further from the truth. after all, how could a girl like sana ever date a guy like him? he’d simply been trying to cheer sana up that day, though he’s glad that at the very least it worked in helping the older girl feel better.

introductions are made and haknyeon looks at every contestant. junmyeon is... undeniably handsome. sure, he’s seen junmyeon around, knows just how popular the boy actually is, but now that his visuals are so up close haknyeon can’t hide the way his eyes widen at the boy. his smile visibly becomes brighter though when he finds out that hyunjin is his age and that they both love to dance and that they’re both rappers as well.

like he’d done in previous weeks it’s time they pick leaders next and haknyeon... he isn’t too sure what it is, what overcomes him but he raises his hand and looks around the room. “i, uhm,” he begins, “i’d like to be leader. i think i can do a good job!” throughout his time on the mgas, haknyeon hasn’t once volunteered to be leader, usually letting the older members do so but this time it’s different. perhaps he wants to change something, wants to get out of this streak of eliminations his teams had gone through.

thankfully, he isn’t met with any denial and they all agree to let him be leader. “i’ll work hard i promise!” standing up, haknyeon bows and his cheeks turn a peachy colour at how wide he smiles. he’s nervous –– of course he is –– because leader, even the name felt heavy. though it was something that haknyeon wanted to carry (something that he felt as though he could). 

“summer”, or something that could capture the good feeling of summer. they’d decided to go with love me right, a bright song that they thought would fit in well with the vibe of summer. they practice and haknyeon is eagle eyed. if there’s one thing he’s confident about it’s his dancing. he watches as the members move, works hard.

after his previous incidents with his nosebleed, haknyeon’s mother had practically bombarded his phone, leaving messages to check on her son constantly. he understands why she’d be so concerned but when he wakes up one morning and sees boxes of tangerine with a letter from his mother, haknyeon could only let out a gasp.

he enters the practice room the next day with a box of tangerines. “hello!” he exclaims loudly, heaving slightly from having carried the box of tangerines. “first things first! as leader, i need to make sure that all our members are healthy! so please take one of these jeju tangerines okay!” he places the box down and picks up a tangerine before passing them to the members. “my mum sent these from jeju and i think it’ll help us a lot and keep us energized!” he wipes the sweat from his forehead and gestures to the box, “take as many as you want!”

the last thing he’d want was for someone else to hurt themselves. haknyeon knows that his nosebleeds have been a concern for those that were supporting him as well so he brings a large water bottle to practice, makes sure to drink in order to keep himself hydrated.

being leader, haknyeon realizes, is more than just a name. there’s a feeling of responsibility that feels as though it weighs on top of him and he wants to make sure that all of them, if possible, do as well as they can for the performance. love me right is a fun song and the dance something haknyeon had been able to pick up thanks to years of dancing. still, there were some... other members in his team that had him worried.

haknyeon walks to the front of the room and furrows his brows. it’s best that he watches each individual member perform one by one so he could pick out any sort of flaw they’d have in the choreography and be able to give them pointers. the first person he decides to call out is yongsun. they’d been in the same team before, and haknyeon remembers having helped her in her dancing too back when they performed the boys. he has a basic idea of her skills.

“noona,” he says, “do you think you could show me the dance all by yourself?” his face is a little more serious than it usually is, eyebrows furrowed. she’s hesitant at first but says yes.

he watches her as she dances to the music. his face is stoic, almost unreadable. it’s a contrast to his usual bright and smile filled face. it wasn’t something that he particularly did on purpose; the face something that came out whenever haknyeon began to concentrate on something a little too hard. with eagle eyes, he watches her movements, eyes moving quickly from her hand to her feet.

once she’s done, haknyeon nods. “noona,” he begins, walking up to her. “you’ve improved so much!” a smile makes it way across his lips and his face brightens up. “i knew you had it in you! woah! compared to the first week… you’ve got the basics down pretty well!” and it’s the truth. she’s improved from the first week, a difference that was noticeable to haknyeon’s eye, and he was glad that she did. “remember how i told you that angles were really important last time?” he stands next to her and levels himself, “well you’re a lot better now at angling your movements!” 

he puts a hand on her back and nods his head reassuringly. “there’s just a few things we have to clean up but you’re seriously doing good noona! i can tell that you’ve put in a lot of effort in your dancing. i’m proud of you!” he spends his time pointing out things to her then, focuses on movements that he knows she can improve on and teaches her ways to steady herself on the stage before he goes on to the others.

(he doesn’t forget to eat a tangerine during breaks).

by the end of the day, once everyone’s gone home, haknyeon carries the box of tangerines back. and everyday haknyeon arrives at the practice room with a box full of new tangerines. whilst the summer sun is hot and haknyeon finds himself sweating from carrying the boxes, it at least serves as a good workout and nutrition for his team. ( “remember to eat well!” he’d say, pointing to the tangerines. )

“you’re a good leader,” sana says, approaching him one day whilst he’s busy going through the choreography and lines for the members. this time, it’s as though she’s the one that’s able to read him. 

haknyeon smiles, genuine, and something warm forms in his chest. “thank you,” he replies.

aside from being leader, something new about this group is that haknyeon finally has someone his age with him. which is also why it isn’t really a surprise when haknyeon finds himself clicking almost instantly with hyunjin. despite it being only a few days of the both of them having known each other, he’s already hugging hyunjin and playing around with the boy on breaks. it isn’t a rare sight to see him and hyunjin randomly poking each other’s cheeks, or haknyeon teaching hyunjin how to say words in mandarin when the other boy asks.

it’s getting late and haknyeon’s still in the practice room, dancing and practicing his lines. but his eyes dart to the clock at the top of the wall and then at the door. he’s evidently worried but continues practicing. it’s only when he hears a little ‘click’ by the door and sees hyunjin standing there does a smile immediately form on his face. “hyunjin!” he beams, running to the boy. “you’re here! yay!” he lunges himself at hyunjin and engulfs the boy in a hug. “i missed you!”

hyunjin returns the hug and wraps his arms around haknyeon’s shoulders before ruffling his hair. “staying here until eleven? what a hardworking leader you are.”

“got to be a good leader for the team,” he laughs. he places both his hands on hyunjin’s cheeks lightly. “you look tired. you’ve worked hard hyunjin ah, i bet cram school was tiring,” he pouts a little before he finally pulls away and gives hyunjin a bottle of vitamin water. “here, they were selling these at the convenience store and i thought of you! do you want to rest a little before we start practice? i don’t want you to push yourself too hard…” he adds worriedly. unlike hyunjin, haknyeon didn’t attend cram school, so he didn’t have to travel back and forth as much.

hyunjin refuses rest though, saying he’d rather dance and have haknyeon help him with his rap. the both of them start with dancing to ease themselves, hyping each other up as they did so. once they’re done they finally turn to focus on the rap and spend the next few hours in the practice room. haknyeon coaches hyunjin with his rap, the two boys getting along well.

the day of the performance comes and haknyeon’s a little more nervous than he usually is. it’s probably because he’s the leader this time and wants the team to do well. the feeling that something rides on him, that how well they do could possibly ride on him, is there. 

yongsun is encourages him, “you did well this week leader nim.” he smiles, relieved and genuine.

they’re called on stage and are the first to perform. this feeling, of having an audience, of people watching you on the stage, it’s something that haknyeon basks himself in.

“hello! we are universe!” they introduce themselves. “i’m universe’s leader and earth! joo haknyeon!” haknyeon puts a palm on his chin as though to symbolise that he were a planet.

getting into position, theres the usual thumping in his chest as it returns. he needs to do well, he has to.

the song starts off with luda, strong. haknyeon dances, getting into the rhythm of the song, confident with his movements. junmyeon sings next, the song bright. 

“nana nana nana nana,” they all say in unison as they get into the next formation. “yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah!”

it’s haknyeon’s rap next. last week he’d shown something darker and this time, it’s a brighter song. he looks at the camera, dances as he raps.

just right shidongeul georeo eksere bareul ollyeo modeun geoshi teukbyeolhae neowan jal eoullyeo mueoseul weonhadeon imma make it work ( just right ignite your engine, step on the pedal everything is special, we look good together whatever you want, imma make it work )

haknyeon winks at the lines, “imma make it work,” boyish smile spreading across his face as he rapped. he’s aware that he’s got some fans out there so he tries to be as heart fluttering as he can for a song like this. hyunjin raps next and haknyeon continues to dance, glad that hyunjin’s doing a good job.

the chorus dance is fun and the thing about love me right was that there was a lot of shift in formation. still, haknyeon’s always enjoyed dancing and with a song as fun as this, it’s even more enjoyable. 

his part comes up again soon and haknyeon gets into position, standing beside hyunjin as he dances. 

uril bichuneun dalppicheun yeojeonhaji ne gwedo an hemaego isseo nan ajik ( the usual moonlight that shines on us i’m still lost in your orbit )

he moves along to the choreography as he raps, smirk on his face. he dances to the rest of the song, confident as he does so. “just love me right uh huh, just love me right,” his hand movements are sharp, winking to the audience and camera.

after luda and sana’s lines, they all come together to say the chorus, clapping their hands in the air as they do so, a sense of comradish. 

doro wie yeogin runway nal baraboneun nun sok milky way just love me right (aha) baby love me right (aha) ( on this highway, it’s a runway milky way inside your eyes looking at me just love me right (aha) baby love me right (aha) )

the poses change at each aha and haknyeon smiles at each change before they break out into the full dance. “just love me right, just love me right,” as the song reaches the end, the dancing gets a little more complicated, with haknyeon spinning and a lot of footwork. this is the peak of the song, and haknyeon’s feet and hand move in unison as choreographed, changing from one movement to another. still he enjoys it, smiling throughout the whole thing.

once the song comes to an end, haknyeon smiles, bright. 

backstage haknyeon feels something rush through him, it’s a feeling that’s sort of new. maybe it’s come with being a leader for the first time, of leading something. he isn’t too sure himself, but the summer sun shines on him and he’s happy with this performance.

[memoirsofrkxjiyeon]

➥ 민희 💕 (@juminhee): 02-07-18

First thing, please remember to wear sunscreen to protect your skin.

It’s really hot outside so be careful! 😖🔆

On the topic of hot things, did you see mgas first episode?

Such beautiful, handsome probably talented people! 

Shout out to few of lovely babies~ ♥

#4002  - Jaewhanie! You got this! Win everyone hearts ok?! o/

#4003  - Junmyeon! Hwaiting! If you good at putting make-up on girls, you got this heh.

#4007  - Dongsaeng! You know I always believe in you, show them what you can do!

#4008  - Ash Ash Baby! Looks like I gotta get my fansign out again, you go girl! ^-^

#4010  - Lil Cousin! Why haven’t spoken in while?! I kid, good luck with the show!!

#4011 - Jei Jei! Who’s best ?! You are! Knock them dead !! 

#4012 - Sweet sweet Solar! It was such a delight to work with you, good luck !! 

#4024 - Soojin! i’m so proud you made it onto the show! Hwaiting donsaeng!!

#4026 - You are chubby bunny champion so let see if you can be mga champ!

#4030 - My favourite lil artist! I hope you can follow your dreams! 

#4033 - My lil libarian! I remember when I heard your voice for first time, I always be in love with such angelic vocals. Its time for you to shine! 

#4040  - Chungha! You go girl, dance little socks off keke~

#4043 - Yah, you just be you and try not cause too much trouble, good luck!

#4047 - Gym buddy! You pretty work your butt off alright?! 

#4052 - Irene!! My coffee buddy, pray you are successful in this endevour! 

✏ comment  ♥ like

[rkkyularch]

 tiny dancer @jkkyul_   •   40m ago

okay wtf i wasn’t expecting the groups to be this professional. mildly impressed

tiny dancer @jkkyul_   •   40m ago

live updates unless i get carried away when my baby gets on stage

tiny dancer @jkkyul_   •   37m ago

team a is perfoming that weird ddu song.  wasn’t expecting it buT DAMN OKAY JUNMYEON I SEE UR FINE ASS OKAY YES. 

tiny dancer @jkkyul_   •   30m ago

tEAM B MY BABY!! SUPPORT HIM EVERYONE #4034 LAI GUANLIN DONT U FORGET IT  he did so good 대박... so proud ㅠㅠ

tiny dancer @jkkyul_   •   27m ago

okay team c has hyuna and i’m *** 

tiny dancer @jkkyul_   •   11m ago

we’re down to team f and can i just say,,, jinsoul is??? so freaking good like??? i was totally missing out on tHIS and yerim bby girl ye s i see u 👀

tiny dancer @jkkyul_   •   11m ago

btw anyone hating on yerim just step tf up bc like. really?

tiny dancer @jkkyul_   •   5m ago

...

tiny dancer @jkkyul_   •   1m ago

okay i’m just gonna be upright and say it. chungha and her ass stole the damn show okay

[rkxluda]

MGA season 4, ep. 7 - Skills Team 1 - Shooting Star #4003 ( Kim Junmyeon ) #4012 ( Kim Yongsun )  #4033 ( Lee Luda ) #4050 ( Kang Daniel ) Boa - Amazing Kiss | Lines

Second place – she'd never expected that, especially after placing last twice. The last two teams she was in, did really well and yet she was still stuck on the first two performances. Still worried she could fall back to the bottom anytime.

But now wasn't the time to worry, she had to choose. She was glad that their team placed 2nd this out of all episodes, otherwise all the vocal spots might have been taken already. And she was extra lucky because her favourite pick out of all of the songs had only one spot left. She didn't even want to imagine what would've happened, had she been forced into one of the rap teams. She'd definitely have been kicked out with her complete lack of rap skills. It gave her hope that now, in the vocal team of her choice, she would have a chance.

SINGING: Amazing Kiss (1), Love In The Ice (5) DANCING: Instruction (5), Handclap (6), Stay (5) RAPPING: Born Hater (2), Who You (2)

“I choose amazing kiss,” she said somewhat confidently. Love in the ice could have been a good choice too, though she knew amazing kiss better. Plus the latter had fewer spots, meaning she would possibly get more screen-time, which seemed like a good choice in her case. She knew that barely anything more than the performances of her were shown and that she wasn't really all that popular either. While she didn't mind others being more popular than her, she was worried that her lack of popularity could be a factor in her elimination. She would have to do her very best and choose the song that suited her the most.

As she walked to the practise room for this week, she felt a bit restless. Usually Luda was a very positive person, always expecting the best to happen, but the past weeks had taken their toll on the young girl. What if she wouldn't get along with her team? What if they all had opposing opinions and didn't work well together or would fight over parts? In contrast to before, she had no idea who her teammates would be and Luda took a deep breath before opening the door.

Once everyone had arrived, Luda could finally calm down. She'd worked with Junmyeon in the previous week and from what she knew of Daniel, she was looking forward to being on the same team. She was especially happy to work with Yongsun again and looked forward to practising lines together.

This week she wouldn't have to dance, which made her even happier and more confident as well. She wasn't too bad with expressions and knew the song. Luda was hopeful again and her positive attitude returned.

Singing was her favourite part as expected, but practising her expressions and body language was interesting as well. She felt that as a group they would do really, really well, but of course after eliminations were skipped last week and this was a skill challenge now, she had to do well by herself. At first she thought she'd go home to sleep more often – like she did on the first night – feeling like a lot of pressure was lifted from her shoulders this week, but the more she wondered if she could go on to the next round, the more nights she decided to stay. Next to the first, the last night was the only one she went home. Soon it became a habit to say good night to the cameras whenever no one from her team was around.

Wednesday was the most difficult day for her. Only two days left and they had to choose favourites for each skill. She wasn't even sure if her part would be aired – she could imagine they'd only show those who'd been named the most and those who voted for them. But either way she didn't feel happy with having to choose only one person each, when she couldn't objectively compare every single contestant. In the end she chose those she thought were best and quickly concentrated on practising afterwards.

Her favourite nights were those, where she wasn't alone, like that one night Yongsun stayed late to practise as well. They'd started to go over a few parts together but as both were tired, they ended up falling asleep, leaning against the wall and each other. Even though it wasn't the most comfortable position, she slept really well that night.

Practising went well, she probably made the best progress so far, compared to all other weeks and while she'd had fun on stage before, she really enjoyed practising as well. It was still exhausting, but she didn't feel quite as tired. Daniel often brought them drinks, especially tea for their throats and he even addressed that she didn't go home or rest much. She was touched that he noticed, but also felt bad that she made someone else worry. Luda was glad though, that he'd talked to her, because otherwise she might have overworked herself much more – she probably wouldn't have gone to sleep at home on Thursday and who knew, maybe she would've lost consciousness on stage. It really made her realise that she had to take better care of herself, so she was thankful to him.

On the last day before the performance, after getting ready to go home, the girl positioned herself in front of one of the cameras. While she felt somewhat more confident, she was also worried that this could be more of an individual challenge �� and her last one. She'd wondered on previous days if she should do this or not, talk to the camera – the viewers – about how she felt and now she'd spontaneously decided to do so. Her expression was serious and suddenly she worried that this would be too negative, so she quickly smiled and cleared her throat.

“The performance is tomorrow already, time went by quickly again, didn't it?” the girl suppressed a yawn and after thinking for a moment, continued. “I learned a lot over the past weeks and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, even though I'm not completely confident. It's difficult to switch teams every week, but also nice to meet new people, so whatever happens, this was a really nice journey. Of course it isn't over just yet,” she grinned, “and I'll make sure to show you my best performance so far,” she winked at the camera and left the practise room. The girl didn't expect her words to be aired, but she wanted to try and convey her feelings either way.

The next day she was already backstage, waiting again and when it was their turn, she took a long breath, burying her worry of failure as deep as possible. The week had gone well.

I can do this!

To her, a vocal position was the only option. She could challenge herself with a dance position, sure, but if she messed up, she wouldn't only place low for that, but surely also for her lack of good decision making. She wasn't here to become the best dancer, she was here to show her vocal ability, even if her dancing had developed a lot over the past weeks.

They greeted the audience with their practised intro. “Hello, we are shooting,” they lifted their hands to make finger guns, “star!” and they ended their intro while “firing” their guns. It was a bit embarrassing, but the crowd was cheering – though surely not because of her, she thought – so it was fine.

They entered their starting positions and she took a last deep breath.

Vocal condition, expression, body language, she'd done her very best this week and when they went through the performance while practising, she'd done well. She might not have been the most charismatic of the four, but she did do well.

Yongsun was the first to sing, her soft voice filling the hall. Luda joined in on the last line to harmonise with her. She put emotion into the line as she sang softly and looked at the camera, holding her free hand over her heart.

The tip of the starlight, approach my heart Shine the love that is pointing at you

She waited patiently for her next line, her body language fitting to the song as she tried to convey emotion not just while singing, but also physically to the best of her ability. She began her next part while looking up and pretended to catch a star before turning back to the audience and camera. Her voice was still soft, but began to become a bit clearer as the part asked of her and they all harmonised as her line came to an end.

The song picked up a bit in speed and she was already immersed, not thinking about any worries, not even thinking about doing her best, just doing the best she could.

This is only shooting star I believe in our eternity In that sky where our happiness and love is melted Precious in my love which has become a star

She sang her next lines just as well as the previous, but showed more power and her vocals were as clear as usual. The lights always focused on those singing and whenever it shone on her, her heart started pumping faster, while the screens in the back showed a night sky filled with stars.

The song became more “dramatic” and she took a deep breath for the next lines she harmonised with Yongsun, turning towards her.

Finding the meaning of that light Illuminated by each others trust

Her voice sounding emotional, she looked at Yongsun, moving her free hand as though underlining the emotion, before looking up with a longing expression at the end.

Two more lines and she ad-libbed, turning towards Yongsun again, but with closed eyes this time. Their voices matched nicely and both sang powerfully. She quickly had to breathe as she had to continue with her next lines right after.

Amazing kiss Hidden in the darkness Where that light shines The view of two shadows gently leaning on each other Kept inside a star, I want to keep it So it cannot be seen

First Junmyeon ad-libbed as she sang, then she harmonised with Yongsun and Daniel repeated the last part, before Junmyeon ad-libbed once more. She looked at the audience again, excited as she sang and happy to be on stage once more.

The last part they sang together, she puts power into her ad-libs and they all harmonise well, before Yongsun ends the song.

They stand still until they have to leave the stage. “We did!” Luda agrees with Yongsun and grins earnestly. “We all did great!” The adrenaline still pumps through her veins and it's only later, after it died down that she starts to wonder whether she did great enough.

[rktshx-blog]

Event: MGA4 Audition Part: Departing With: Kim Junmyeon

The whole processes of receiving the name tag and handing it in feel like such a mundane transaction in comparison to everything else they were made to do that day. As Minho watched the hard working, exhausted-looking and yet smiling workers around him. He couldn’t help but let a small sense of admiration wash over him. The rapper knew this was counted as nothing more but a day’s work, but that alone made things less ‘nerve-working’ and more human. As the trendsetters go, it was ‘relatable’.

God, he must really be tired of even referring to such catch phrases to himself; alone. Because at times, he would allow himself to indulge in the puns and conform to the trends, usually when he is surrounded by his friends. Although it was more for their entertainment purposes than anything else. With the thought of friends in his mind, Minho quickly scans the area where people were mostly exiting from.

It didn’t take long for him to gather that Junmyeon is probably still inside doing the last bit of his audition. Swiftly walking near the exit, Minho resisted the urge to take a smoke as he waited for his friend. Probably wouldn’t be best to be caught doing something that might be thrown in his face right after putting up with everything that day. Instead, he pulls out his headphones and blasted something that calmed him down; j-rock.

Closing his eyes, Minho replayed the entire day through his resting mind. Suppressing unwanted nerves, and focusing on the good parts, slowly the dancer’s statute started to relax. The scene of finding Junmyeon amongst the crowd of hopefuls, had Minho practically tackling the gorgeous model. Honestly, if they hadn’t been forced to separate due to the events of the day, Minho would probably latch on to Junmyeon. Purely because the man could easily have kept him saner, and vice versa.

During one of the breaks, the two had agreed on going home and just having a chilled night together. Perhaps game a bit or binge watch an anime. They might even touch upon the matters of the day, but Minho wouldn’t allow it to go beyond the casual ‘how do you it go?’, not when he was sure that they both probably just wanted to end the day already. It was an agreement that he genuinely looked forward to, and couldn’t wait to get started on.

Soon enough the familiar sight of his friend made his way through the fading out crowd. Minho pushed himself off the wall, raising a hand to call attention himself of Junmyeon’s gaze. Smiling warmly as the other man met him halfway. ���Watcha say we go home, buddy? Get some anime going and some food coming in, eh."

[rkxsungwoon-blog]

✦ — MGA4 EPISODE 5: MASH UPS #4048: HA SUNGWOON ; outfit + look [ x ] TEAM A (CELESTIAL): @suhork, @junhoerk, @rksomi, @irenerk performance: save me x starry night - bts x mamamoo / line distribution

team fresh n’ fruity survives the round of eliminations unscathed, but barely. the gravity of their situation isn’t lost on sungwoon, even as his body seems to lose all strength at the news as the week’s worth of tension finally leaves him. fourth place is fourth place—they could have easily been in the position of the fifth place team; their feedback was nearly the same. it’s fourth place, but it’s not good enough. he wonders if he’s gotten greedy after placing second with dynamiq. lighting rarely strikes the same place twice, however, and he might’ve used up all of his good luck last week. 

sungwoon doesn’t let any of his disappointment show while congratulating his team. part of being a leader means you have to make sure your teammates have confidence in themselves and their own hard work, so he hypes up their survival for all it’s worth. he doesn’t think their rank is a reflection of their shortcomings anyway; everyone did a fantastic job. the fault probably lies with sungwoon, and he accepts responsibility for it. he was the weakest dancer in their group, and maybe that’s where they lost points? either way, it was his job to make sure they shone up on that stage, and while he’s glad he was able to keep his promise to mingyu, he wishes he could’ve delivered more for his team. 

but sungwoon sets it aside for a moment to congratulate daniel. from someone who didn’t want to be here to the winner of the week’s challenge—and with a band concept too! it further affirms sungwoon’s belief that daniel is talented and deserves to be here just as much as everyone else, and that he truly shines when he gets the chance to do what he’s good at. after daniel and his team are done celebrating, sungwoon tackles him in a hug, laughing and pretending not to notice daniel’s tears. “i knew you had it in you,” he says. privately, he hopes the win will help daniel believe in himself more as well. 

if only sungwoon could believe in himself. his earlier confidence stripped, he goes back home after the filming and tosses and turns in bed before giving up on sleep and trudging to the nearest corner store to get some spicy ramen. while he eats, he runs simulations of team f’s performance in his head, attempting to figure where they went wrong or what they could’ve done better. there are too many answers, in the end, and he gives up before he can start feeling worse about himself. as leader, he should have—

but he’s not the leader anymore. tomorrow, he meets a new team and starts fresh. it’s a little terrifying; sungwoon isn’t the biggest fan of rapid change, but then again, he should’ve kept that in mind before he joined this competition. there’s nothing he can do except force himself to adapt to the circumstances and do his best. sungwoon might’ve been the weak link in his team last time, but he refuses to fall into the same complacency this week. if he works his ass off and plays to his strengths, maybe he’ll avoid ending up in the same position (or worse). 

if it doesn’t work out—well. that’s something else. 

sungwoon doubts this week will be as fun as the last one. there’s more of a learning curve associated with this challenge, more growing pains when it comes to settling in with team a. initially, he thinks he won’t be able to vibe well with them. the whole group intimidates sungwoon; they have two number one winners in junmyeon and rose, with junhoe and somi placing second together. all strong candidates, all people to watch for, while sungwoon is… not. calling it an inferiority complex would be going too far, but he’s definitely afraid of fading into the background during their performance.

he remains muted during their first meeting, not really speaking much at the beginning. with a new team comes a new building to practice in as well. all he knows of royal entertainment is sayyes, and the new practice room is strange after spending two whole weeks in the kt building. fidgeting in his seat, he looks pretends to be fascinated by his new surroundings to get away from the awkwardness. once they actually start talking, it’s a different story. everyone in team a is pretty nice and sungwoon feels foolish for assuming the worst of them. like him, they’re also people trying to do their best to survive in this competition.

loosening up considerably after that, he makes more of an effort to be involved. the first (almost amusing) obstacle they hit is that of the team leader. junmyeon, junhoe, rose, and sungwoon have all held the position before, which means the title falls on their youngest, somi. she seems a little panicked at the prospect, but the rest assure her they’ll be here to support and help out if she starts feeling overwhelmed. sungwoon feels a sharp pang of sympathy for her; it’s a lot to put on a kid’s shoulders on top of the competition itself. the rules are a bit cruel in this regard, but there’s nothing they can really do about it.

song selection comes next. they grab a couple of mashups off the internet to choose from: one is a combination of bts’ save me and mamamoo’s starry night, and the other is a combination of sistar’s i like it, twice’s heartbreaker, and red velvet’s rookie. neither tracks are really to sungwoon’s taste. truthfully, he’d want to do something like a ballad or, more dangerous but more satisfying as well, a rock song, but he decides to conform for the sake of the team and votes for save me and starry night. it’s not ideal, but he thinks it’s the more vocally interesting song of the two choices and is relieved when it wins out.

rose offers to work on the choreography with somi’s help, and sungwoon’s grateful for that. the majority of their team aren’t dancers and couldn’t pull off anything close to bts’ choreography, so adjustments are necessary. while that gets worked out, sungwoon focuses on learning the vocal parts. once again, he lost out to junhoe for the main vocal position, the same thing having happened in team dynamiq previously. he honestly doesn’t mind—junhoe is the better singer and sungwoon has no problems with the line distributions. if he wants to fight for a position like that, he’s just going to have to work harder and hone his skills.

while rehearsing, sungwoon slides over to junmyeon and, with an embarrassed laugh, asks the man for his autograph “for my sister in hong kong.” she’s only been asking sungwoon to get this since episode one aired, and while he’s been too intimidated by junmyeon to ask before, he has no excuse not to when they’re in a team together. surprisingly, junmyeon reacts shyly to the request, which throws sungwoon for  loop—he always imagined junmyeon, at least, would be used to the attention, but he’s just as embarrassed as sungwoon while giving the autograph. sungwoon laughs and asks him to throw an extra one in signed to sungwoon as well. he’s sure it’ll be worth a lot someday.

the choreography is, once again, the hard part of the week’s performance. sungwoon’s pleased to discover he isn’t the worst dancer of the group, but he’s not the best of them either. in order to make up for that, he spends every moment he can practicing, even sleeping overnight in the practice room to minimize the commute from his house to the royal building. he’s pretty sure his housemates might burn down their home in his absence, but the stakes are high this week and the expectations even higher. sungwoon even comes fully prepared, packing a pillow and his favorite pokemon blanket to bust out during the night.

junmyeon becomes his partner in dance-related struggles, his comrade in incoordination. rose and somi are helpful when it comes to learning the dance, but most of his jokes are shared with junmyeon, since he’s the one who can truly understand sungwoon’s pain here. most days, they practice right into the night in order to not bring the team down and do their parts right. one night, they just fall asleep next to each other, both too tired to even think about leaving.

the following morning, sungwoon’s woken up by a scream; somi, having come in early to set up, is shocked to find junmyeon and sungwoon asleep side by side. still bleary eyed, he yells instinctively and darts upright into a crouch vaguely resembling some kind of martial arts stance at the thought of an intruder, but it’s just their baby leader, as he’s taken to calling her.

sungwoon rubs his eyes and tries to flatten his hair while apologizing, but junmyeon doesn’t seem to be making the same efforts, instead shooting him a wink and finger guns while looking sleepy and yet effortlessly good. sungwoon feels cheated. robbed. hoodwinked. he stares into the camera like he’s on the office and says “did i ask for this? no. am i getting it? yes. am i slightly jealous god has not given me the ability to wink? also yes.” he gets the junmyeon hype now, he does. dude is just that handsome and charismatic.

the day before filming, sungwoon ducks out for a couple of hours to get his hair dyed. it’s something he’s always wanted to try after coming to seoul but could never work up the nerve to. now is as good a time as any, though, and he goes for a bold color: red. cherry red, in fact, but the descriptor just makes him think of team fresh n’ fruity. he misses them, truly. especially cherry yerim, who he learned had dropped out of the competition for personal reasons. part of him panicked at first—was it because of him? was it because they’d come in fourth?—but she’s doing what she has to and he’s proud of her for making such a difficult decision. he tries to stay in touch with the rest as much as he can, and though they’re all busy, they promise to meet up soon.

team f would’ve definitely made fun of his new hairdo, or the fact that sungwoon seriously suggested wearing jorts on stage during their performance. team a is kinder and don’t tease him about his sudden hair color change (no ronald mcdonald jokes, at least). by the end of the week, he’s relaxed more into his group, and while it’s not the fast friendships and good times of team f, sungwoon genuinely likes these people too. they’re not so different from him, and he feels dumb for thinking they were at first. he’s truly honored to have gotten the chance to work with them, and they’re in this together, for better or for worse

unlike previous fridays, sungwoon’s team is up first to perform. he’s too used to waiting till the end of the show to take the stage that he almost forgets and manages to make it onstage just in time, only a little short of breath from having sprinted to get here. they named themselves ‘team celestial’ to fit with the theme of starry night, and playing off the joke, he introduces himself as the contestant with the angelic voice. it’s a little weird, standing up here showing a different face than he usually does. his hair color has faded a little from the vibrant firetruck red to a more subdued garnet, brushed back and styled up to #freetheforehead. he’s wearing pink too, a far cry from usual fair (especially if you count empty enigma), but it suits the theme and sungwoon feels good in it. 

he feels good about this performance too. sungwoon doesn’t want to enter into this doubting himself or his team’s hard work over the course of the week. while it’s true creativity wasn’t their strongest suit, save for maybe rose, they still tried hard to put together a performance worthy of this stage. he’d be doing them a disservice if he got up there alongside them with anything but the fullest of confidence in their abilities. giving his team a nod and a grin, sungwoon takes his position and waits for the music to start. 

sungwoon gets to utilize his lower register more at the beginning, something he hasn’t really been able to during this competition. there’s a lot more to his voice that he hasn’t been able to show at all and hopes he’ll get the chance to before his luck really runs dry and he’s asked to leave. he delivers his lines smoothly, working in tandem with junhoe, his mind running on overdrive as it juggles clean vocals, choreography, and charisma all at once. he’s always going to put his voice above the other two, but working with this versatile group of people has made him reconsider some things too. 

the shadow of the darkness remaining in the deep night drawing out a light

give me your hand save me save me i need your love before i fall, fall

the overlapping chorus is busy, with each vocal getting a part of their own to sing. timing is just as important as delivery here, and no one person should overpower the rest. it’s a tough balance to strike but sungwoon thinks the team does a good job, all the while following the choreography rose made for them. he puts more faith in his dancing that previous weeks; sungwoon’s put in the work and has come to realize that, if he’s not confident in his own moves, other people won’t be receptive to them either. after watching junmyeon practice, he’s also learned how important expressions are, and does more to channel those to the camera and audience than in previous weeks. 

save me save me save me 

save me save me save me

ya ya ya yi ya

save me save me 

the girls are the rappers of this team, and sungwoon finds that really cool—he has limited experience with the genre, but he thinks they do a good job with the material they have. somi, especially, has taken on rapping in addition to vocals and the leader title; he really hopes people see all the hard work she’s put into this team despite being the youngest. he hopes people can support all of them. yes, there are people here who’ve tasted or almost tasted victory before, but now that sungwoon’s seen how much of themselves they give to their performances, he thinks it’s well deserved. no one should make the mistake of thinking they’re coasting because of mnet or anything; they’ve worked their asses off to get here. 

starry night, it’s a starry night you blow over to me

starry night 

starry night

his vocal delivery is more restrained than normal during this performance, since his parts lack the ability to really ‘go off,’ so sungwoon tries to make up for it in his energy and his dedication to the dance and making sure the stage looks good. there’s so much to being an idol that he didn’t realize before, but he’s learning slowly and surely, thanks to the efforts of the people he’s met during this competition. he wants to do well for himself, but also to honor them. he wouldn’t be here—hell, he wouldn’t be able to do this—if it weren’t for all his teammates, former and present. 

( starry night, it’s a starry night you blow over to me ) give me your hand save me save me i need your love before i fall, fall

starry night

starry night

as junmyeon utters the final line, they freeze into their ending pose, sungwoon brushes his damp hair back and fixes a smile on his face. the end of a performance always brings a lot of thoughts, primarily, have i done enough and will i make it? but if there’s one thing he’s had to come to terms with, it’s that he has no control over what happens. the only thing sungwoon can have any direct effect over is himself, and he’s done the best he could with what he was given. everything else is—random, left up to the will of the cosmos. all he can do is accept it with grace. 

[rkohsehun]

sehun smiles at junmyeon's words. he already knows what the older male really means. junmyeon has always been a solid support system for him even before convex. he's also seen how the older male fawns over everyone, being that warm, motherly friend. it's unfortunate that most people don't know or hasn't seen this side of junmyeon. it's probably why there had been a number of hate thrown his way for winning the show. it's sad, really, when they're only saying it because they know nothing about the person.

"awesome! you know i love you, hyung~ i'm going to cheer for you all the way, so you can count in me!" he chirps, shaking their linked hands with a grin before he moves so that they're holding hands properly instead. they have time. they can just enjoy each other's company for now. it's been a while anyway. "now, has anyone given you a grand tour of the place yet? if yes, then i can just take you out on a date. we haven't properly celebrated your win and getting into sphere yet after all."

peekaboo.